This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
The peaceful transition of power is at the heart of our democracy, and never in modern American history have we had to worry about it being undermined by a sitting president. Until now.
Continue reading “Why We Must Be Ready To Protect The Results “
Fox News host Tucker Carlson pulled back the curtain during his Thursday night show to give viewers a peek at a highly suspicious caper that thwarted his ongoing, all-encompassing effort to embarrass Hunter Biden, and by extension, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Continue reading “Carlson Swears He Had ‘Damning’ Biden Docs…Until They Vanished From The Mail”
This has been building for a while. But it’s really something and fully out loud now, an embattled President openly mocking and deriding a loyalist Senator struggling to defend her seat in state critical to the President’s own electoral fortunes. “You got one minute! One minute, Martha! They don’t want to hear this, Martha. Come on, Martha. Let’s go. Quick, quick.” Zoë Richards has the story.
I got asked yesterday what Trump’s deal is with McSally. I think he’s told us, ironically about another Arizona Senate. As he said, he likes heroes who don’t get captured. Yes, McSally has awkwardly tried to separate herself from some of the President’s most extreme antics. And Trump had various sources of bitterness with John McCain. But neither really captures this part of Trump.
Documents obtained by the House Oversight Committee show that the Trump administration tried to create a $250 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign on COVID-19, which was supposed to “defeat despair, inspire hope” on the pandemic, based on President Donald Trump’s politics.
Continue reading “Trump Admin Aimed To Create Taxpayer-Funded COVID PSA Based On Pro-Trump Politics”
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) said Wednesday that she was “not familiar” with a widely-cited Access Hollywood tape where President Donald Trump can be heard talking about sexually assaulting women.
“I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with that,” Loeffler told local NBC-affiliate 11Alive, pleading ignorance about the 2005 tape that revealed Trump bragging that his fame enabled him to kiss and grope women.
The video of @KLoeffler saying she's "not familiar" with the infamous Access Hollywood tape of Donald Trump bragging about groping women has to be seen to be believed https://t.co/26PqXK26WS pic.twitter.com/gtjClBVwbj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 29, 2020
“It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” Trump can be heard saying in the 2005 tape, which first made headlines weeks before the 2016 presidential election. “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything,” Trump bragged before boasting about grabbing women by their genitals.
The senator’s apparent ignorance about the famed tape comes after Loeffler suggested during a debate earlier this month that she doesn’t disagree with anything Trump has said or done — boasting that she is the Senate’s most reliable Trump supporter.
According to The Hill, Loeffler’s husband — New York Stock Exchange Chair Jeffrey Sprecher — donated $1 million in April to America First Action, a group supporting President Trump’s reelection. The couple has also funneled millions in loans and contributions to GOP races this year.
The Georgia lawmaker, who was appointed to her Senate seat earlier this year, is trying to hold off challenges from, among others, Rep. Doug Collin (R) and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is currently leading in polls by a narrow margin.
Loeffler came under scrutiny in the spring for making stock trades worth millions of dollars before the public was made aware of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked directly about the tape on Wednesday, Loeffler deliberately ignored the question, deciding instead to tout the President for a series of unspecific accomplishments like “being a conservative champion for Georgians.”
“Look, I agree with the approach President Trump has taken since day one to put America first. What I am focused on is working for Georgians in Washington and being their voice. And being a conservative champion for Georgians,” Loeffler said.
When pressed further, Loeffler remained evasive, pledging that she would always stand by President Trump.
Trump previously dismissed the remarks caught on the Access Hollywood tape as “locker room talk.”
President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to play drill sergeant when he mockingly rushed Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) onto the rally stage at an event in Arizona where the Republican lawmaker is fighting a bitter battle for her imperiled seat.
After going through the motions of saying she was “respected by everybody” and “great,” Trump rushed a breathless McSally to the stage in Goodyear, Arizona for truncated remarks.
“Martha, come up just fast. Fast. Fast. Come on. Quick. You got one minute! One minute, Martha! They don’t want to hear this, Martha. Come on, Martha. Let’s go. Quick, quick, quick, quick. Come on. Let’s go,” Trump said.
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 28, 2020
McSally spoke for a little over a minute, saying she was “proud” to work with President Trump — after dodging a question about whether or not she was proud of supporting him during a debate against Democratic challenger Mark Kelly earlier this month.
“I’m proud to be fighting for Arizona every single day,” she said at the time.
When pressed on the issue after the moderator suggested that it sounded like “she is proud of her support for President Trump,” McSally again demurred, saying,“I’m proud to be fighting for Arizonans here.”
In a flip-flopping move, the embattled lawmaker penned an op-ed reasserting her support for the President Trump’s reelection which was published by Fox News hours before she appeared alongside Trump at the rally in her state on Wednesday.
Yet polling shows a deepening distaste for Trump in Arizona and McSally’s apparent wavering Trump pride appears to reflect a growing fear that many conservative-minded voters may not support a Senate candidate who backs Trump this year.
Three other GOP lawmakers were also passed the mic at the Goodyear rally — Sens. Rand Paul (KY), Mike Lee (UT), and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA). Among them, only McCarthy is running for re-election in November, but all three of the lawmakers were permitted more time to speak than McSally, NBC News noted.
Yet it would seem she needs the air time — polling in Arizona has repeatedly shown McSally trailing her Democratic opponent.
During an earlier trip to Arizona last week, Trump told reporters that he and McSally were “very separated, but we support each other fully.”
“Fox and Friends” hosts Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy seemed to be feeling sour on Thursday morning over the Supreme Court’s latest rulings that allowed North Carolina and Pennsylvania to extend their deadlines for voters to return absentee ballots.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Wednesday two requests by Republicans that the court revive a tighter deadline for returning absentee ballots in North Carolina.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Denies GOP Requests To Revive Tighter Ballot Deadlines In N.C.”
It may be how things have always been done, but President Trump doesn’t like it.
In the final days of his reelection campaign, Trump has waged a full war against counting ballots that arrive post-Election Day, just days after a divided Supreme Court ruled in favor of upholding a ban on counting ballots that arrive after November 3 in the state of Wisconsin. The ruling, with the concurring opinion penned by Trump-appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh, forecasts a cliffhanger on election night.
While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump tossed precedent out the window: “Hopefully the few states remaining that want to take a lot of time after November 3rd to count ballots, that won’t be allowed by the various courts.” Never mind the fact that mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day have always been counted in every election, every cycle, no matter the year or type of race leading up to this era.
Follow along with the TPM staff as we cover the final stretch of the campaign.
Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos (D) formally requested, via a letter to the clerk of the Supreme Court, that a Justice Brett Kavanaugh opinion that mischaracterized the state’s plans for the election be corrected.
Continue reading “VT’s Election Chief Asks SCOTUS To Correct Error In Kavanaugh Opinion”
