It’s Tuesday. Election Day is ONE WEEK away!!!
I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. |
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Well, this backdrop sure is a perk of the job:
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Vice President Harris will make her final case to voters this evening, delivering an address on the White House Ellipse, the place former President Trump spoke right before a mob of supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The expected theme: Harris is using this backdrop to remind voters of the 2021 attack and urge voters to turn the page on the Trump era.
Five things to watch in her address, via The Hill’s Alex Gangitano: - Harris to emphasize Trump’s threat to democracy
- Roughly 20,000 people are expected to attend.
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Harris to invoke Jan. 6, Trump contesting election results
- Will she call Trump a fascist?
- Possible pro-Trump or pro-Palestinian protests
Brief explainers for each 💡 There’s still a week left. Why is this considered her ‘closing argument’: Harris will hold battleground state rallies over the next week, but this is one of the few formal addresses to be given outside the single presidential debate. This is an opportunity for her to command widespread media attention. Where is Trump today?: Trump is spending the day in Pennsylvania. He will speak at a campaign rally in Allentown this evening.
🗨️ Live updates from today’s campaign events |
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Trump just accused Harris of running a “campaign of hate,” even as his opponents the “enemy from within” and his allies are facing backlash for making racist attacks.
Trump told a room of supporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort: “She’s running on a campaign of immoralization and really a campaign of destruction. But really perhaps more than anything else, it’s a campaign of hate. A campaign of absolute hate,” Trump said. “I said yesterday that she’s a vessel. She is a vessel. It’s a very big powerful party with smart people … but they’re vicious and they’re perhaps even trying to destroy our country.”
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➤ STEVE BANNON IS OUT OF PRISON: |
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was released from prison this morning after serving a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6 investigation. |
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Hey, Tony Hinchcliffe managed to anger the entire country with one comment. Unity!!:
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“The Trump campaign is struggling to contain an October surprise of its own making, just one week from Election Day,” writes The Hill’s Niall Stanage.
Specifically: Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s comment about Puerto Rico
Democrats want that quote ~everywhere~: Harris and other Democrats are trying to make sure as many Latino voters as possible watch the clip.
And Republicans are trying to separate themselves as much as possible: The Trump campaign has tried to distance itself from the comment. And some Republicans are trying to downplay the joke.
The possible electoral repercussions: “More than 400,000 people born in Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent live in Pennsylvania, the largest of the seven battleground states. The state is essentially deadlocked, with Trump leading Harris by just four-tenths of a percentage point in the polling average maintained by The Hill/Decision Desk HQ. There are also tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans in other swing states, including Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina.”
Read Stanage’s reporting on the political repercussions: ‘Trump campaign struggles to contain Puerto Rico October surprise’
Related: ‘Puerto Rican voters rise as key bloc in 2024,’ via The Hill’s Rafael Bernal |
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➤ MORE READS FROM THE TRAIL:
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- ‘MAGA world's hyper-confidence raises risk of post-election meltdown’: Axios’s Zachary Basu
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‘How The Enemies List And The To-Do List Fit Into Kamala Harris’ Closing Message’: HuffPost’s Kevin Robillard
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‘Michelle Obama Is Finally Ready to “Go Low” Against Donald Trump’: The Nation’s Joan Walsh
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‘Trump Touts CEO Calls as Close Campaign Nears Its End’: The Wall Street Journal’s Chip Cutter, Theo Francis and Preetika Rana
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A panelist on CNN was kicked off the show after making an offensive comment on Monday night toward Muslim journalist Mehdi Hasan. “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” GOP commentator Ryan Girdusky told Hasan, appearing to reference pager bomb detonations last month in Lebanon.
What sparked this comment?: Hasan had started by saying, “if you don’t want to be called ‘Nazis,’ stop …,” which sparked the back-and-forth.
The panelist later claimed there was a “double standard” and downplayed his remark as a “joke”
📹 Watch the clip
📹 Watch host Abby Phillip discuss the segment afterward |
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The Washington Post is dealing with intense fallout over the decision to break its more than three-decades-long tradition by not endorsing a presidential candidate. What happened?: The Post’s editorial board had reportedly drafted its letter of support for Vice President Harris and was ready to publish. Then, Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post and founder of Amazon, personally blocked the endorsement.
Timing of the decision: On the same day the Post made its announcement, the CEO of Blue Origin (one of Bezos’s companies) met with former President Trump.
The fallout: The decision sparked intense scrutiny, including several resignations from members of its editorial board and vocal protest within its newsroom. Plus, more than 200,000 readers have canceled their digital subscriptions.
Bezos broke his silence on Monday: He published an op-ed, where he confirmed that he personally blocked the endorsement. Bezos argued he did not block the endorsement over business interests, but instead wanted to uphold the paper’s reputation when trust in media is eroding. He said he “sighed” when he found out the Blue Origin CEO met with Trump because it would “provide ammunition” to critics.
Except from Bezos’s note: “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one. I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here. Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It was made entirely internally.” Read Bezos’s op-ed
💡 Why are many concerned?: The Washington Post has issued anti-Trump endorsements in both of his other presidential elections, so breaking the tradition in 2024 sends a message, whether it was intentional or not. Some are worried that Bezos was concerned about potential business retribution for going against Trump. A former columnist at the paper resigned, making the argument that the Post is “bending the knee to Donald Trump because we're afraid of what he will do.”
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🥣 Celebrate: Today is National Oatmeal Day!
💬 Find me someone who doesn’t feel this way: Washingtonian’s Nancy Scola asks, “Why Are Annoying Political Texts Out of Control?” Scola elaborates: “Often unwanted, increasingly unhinged, and almost always asking for money, political texts have become a campaign cash cow—turning America’s touchscreens into a perpetually pinging nightmare of inescapable irritation.”
🏈 Everything really is political!: 'Is the Commanders’ Win Good News for Kamala Harris?' Another interesting Washingtonian story, this one about a long-time political/sports superstition in D.C. "The sports lore holds that if the team wins its last home game before an election, the incumbent party will prevail." 👀
👬‘Timothée Chalamet Showed Up at His Own Look-Alike Contest’: There was a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest in Washington Square Park in New York, and the actor himself showed up. 📷 The photos are pretty funny
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The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in Maryland and Washington, and Vice President Harris is in Washington. (all times Eastern) |
- Noon: Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) campaigns in Saginaw, Mich. 💻 Livestream
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1:45 p.m.: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) campaigns in Savannah, Ga. 💻 Livestream
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2 p.m.: Biden delivers remarks in Baltimore on his Investing in America agenda. 💻 Livestream
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3:30 p.m.: Vance campaigns in Holland, Mich. 💻 Livestream
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4:45 p.m.: Biden attends a political engagement in Potomac, Md. He then returns to the White House.
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6 p.m.: Walz campaigns in Columbus, Ga. 💻 Livestream
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7 p.m.: Former President Trump campaigns in Allentown, Pa. 💻 Livestream
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7 p.m.: Former first lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Harris in College Park, Ga. 💻 Livestream
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7:30 p.m.: Harris delivers an address on the Ellipse in Washington. 💻 Livestream
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