A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
A Closing Message You Can Believe In
Vice President Kamala Harris appears set to close her presidential campaign with a rousing defense of American democracy and a withering indictment of Donald Trump’s fascistic inclinations.
A series of developments Wednesday portend a final 10-day stretch until Election Day in which Harris more directly and powerfully confronts the Trumpian threat than she has to this point:
- In a move heavy with symbolism, Harris plans to hold a rally next Tuesday on The Ellipse in which she will make her closing argument to the American people writ large, before presumably spending the last week of the campaign barnstorming swing states. Taking her campaign to the site of the instigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection is a potent reminder of the stakes of this election and a bold, confrontational, affirmative stroke: reclaiming public ground on the National Mall that was soiled by Trump’s infamous “Stop the Steal” rally. Contrast that with Trump’s planned Madison Square Garden closing event.
- In brief midday remarks from the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory in DC, Harris directly addressed the new public remarks by former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly calling Trump a fascist. “We know what Donald Trump wants,” Harris said. “He wants unchecked power. The question in 13 days will be, ‘What do the American people want?’”
- Asked Wednesday night on a CNN town hall if she believes that Donald Trump is a fascist, Harris didn’t miss a beat in responding unequivocally: “Yes, I do.” But she was also quick to say don’t take my word for it, just listen to those who have worked for and most closely with Trump. Later in the town hall, she said voters “care about our democracy and not having a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.”
I don’t know if it’s the winning message, but it’s the right message. It’s hard to imagine waking up the day after Donald Trump wins and wishing you’d spent more time talking about inflation and economic anxiety.
At least we’re going to have a plain choice right in front of us and there can be no doubt what a Kamala Harris win would mean: a rejection of fascism.
Quote Of The Day
Chris Geidner: “[T]his election isn’t about alliances in the way that we normally think about them in politics. This isn’t about who you want in your boat. It’s about if you want the boat to stay afloat.”
‘Sleepwalking Toward a Crisis’
Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt on Donald Trump and the response from America’s elite to the threat he poses:
We have been studying democratic crisis and authoritarianism for 30 years. Between the two of us, we have written five books on those subjects. We can think of few major national candidates for office in any democracy since World War II who have been this openly authoritarian….
The U.S. establishment is sleepwalking toward a crisis. An openly antidemocratic figure stands at least a 50-50 chance of winning the presidency. The Supreme Court and the Republican Party have abdicated their gatekeeping responsibilities, and too many of America’s most influential political, business and religious leaders remain on the sidelines. Unable to rise above fear or narrow ambition, they hedge their bets. But time is running out.
WTF?
The U.S. Naval Academy’s history department invited NYU historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat to give a guest lecture this month about what happens to militaries under authoritarian rule, then the Heritage Foundation and other right-wing figures launched a pressure campaign and the academy disinvited her.
‘In Dangerous Times, Honest People Need To Stand Up’
The LA Times editorials editor has resigned in protest after the newspaper’s owner – South African-born billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong – blocked the editorial board’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris for president.
Election Threats Watch
- WaPo: “A former deputy Palm Beach County sheriff who fled to Moscow and became one of the Kremlin’s most prolific propagandists is working directly with Russian military intelligence to pump out deepfakes and circulate misinformation that targets Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, according to Russian documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post.”
- CNN: “Georgia’s secretary of state’s office this month fended off a cyberattack believed to have come from a foreign country against the website voters use to request absentee ballots, the office told CNN.”
- AP: “An Arizona prosecutor said the man arrested in the shooting of a Democratic National Committee office in suburban Phoenix had more than 120 guns and over 250,000 rounds of ammunition in his home, leading law enforcement to believe he may have been planning a mass casualty event.”
Is This All For Show?
Out: Project 2025
In: America First Policy Institute
Sell The Steal
CNN: How Michael Flynn built a business and MAGA following out of election denialism
2024 Ephemera
- Justice Department warns Elon Musk that his $1 million giveaway to registered voters may be illegal.
- Former longtime GOP Rep. Fred Upton (MI) has endorsed Kamala Harris.
- WaPo: A GOP operative accused a monastery of voter fraud. Nuns fought back.
What The Fascism Looks Like
Hitler apologias, yearning for daddy, and other snippets from Trump defenders in just the past day:
- “German generals who were Nazis or whatever” …
Fox host Brian Kilmeade justifies Trump wanting German generals
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) October 23, 2024
Kilmeade: I can absolutely see him go it'd be great to have German generals that actually do what we ask them to do, maybe not fully being cognizant of the third rail of German generals who were Nazis or whatever pic.twitter.com/6lpjH6foEk
- “You’ve been a bad little girl” …
Tucker Carlson, campaigning for Trump: “There has to be a point at which dad comes home…Dad comes home, and he's pissed…You know what he says? ‘You've been a bad little girl, and you're getting a vigorous spanking right now.’” pic.twitter.com/HGx9jXp3em
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) October 23, 2024
- “Daddy’s home” …
After Tucker Carlson likened Trump to "daddy" tonight, and said a reelected Trump would need to give the media and Democrats a "spanking," the rally crowd "went wild," @alaynatreene reports. Later, when Trump came on stage, the crowd screamed "Daddy's home" and "Daddy Don" pic.twitter.com/c11wtHoGV6
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 24, 2024
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
are they trying to throw us off for “first-posting” by having two comments threads?
cat:
So I think I’ll just buy it.
Tucker is a freak. The whole “when dad gets home you’re in trouble” thing is so GQP. Yep, we’re all in a weird abusive relationship now…can’t wait to vote.
This is a BFD. Waukesha is a deep GQP city.
“The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.” – Maximilien Ropespierre
Here is that story about Daddy spanking a little girl that Carlson ranted about. It’s just weird……
https://archive.is/4JZ16