memeorandum: Helene response hampered by misinformation, conspiracy theories (Washington Post)

11:00 PM ET, October 5, 2024

Top Items:

Matt Novak / Gizmodo:

Truth Social Users Are Losing Ridiculous Sums of Money to Scams — Read the complaints submitted to the FTC by users of Donald Trump's social media platform. … Donald Trump launched Truth Social in 2022 as a social media platform where the MAGA faithful could hang out without any liberals to spoil the fun.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mock Paper Scissors and Joe.My.God.

Lily Mae Lazarus / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Truth Social Riddled With Scammers Ripping Off Users

Discussion: Plain Dealer, more at Mediagazer »

David McAfee / Raw Story:

‘This is voter fraud’: FBI alerted as Elon Musk's mom accused of committing federal crime — Donald Trump's embrace of the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, hit another speedbump on Saturday as Musk's mom was accused of encouraging her followers to commit voter fraud.

Ryan Mac / New York Times:

Elon Musk Leaps to Trump's Side in Rally Appearance — Mr. Musk, the world's richest man and the owner of Tesla and X, endorsed the former president after the attempted assassination in July. On Saturday, he returned to the scene and made a spirited rally appearance.

Ben Blanchet / HuffPost:
Trump Made Another Joke About Supporter Killed At Pennsylvania Rally: Report

Discussion: The Daily Beast, IJR, The Sun, Townhall, New York Times, RedState, Washington Examiner, The Hill and WSAV-TV

Kate Kelly / New York Times:
Security Is Tighter for Trump Rally at Site of July Assassination Attempt

Discussion: Mediaite, NPR, Townhall, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Business Insider, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Breitbart and CBS News

Annie Karni / New York Times:
As Lawmaker Claims Trump's Shooting Was Inside Job, G.O.P. Indulges Him

Discussion: Washington Post, Progress Pond and Joe.My.God.

Raquel Coronell Uribe / NBC News:
Election 2024 live updates: Trump rallies in Butler, PA, for first time since assassination attempt

Politico:
Trump's return to Butler marks a dramatically changed race

Politico:

Trump is everywhere. Anxious Dems wonder why Harris isn't. — Trump is everywhere. Democrats are increasingly wondering why Harris isn't. — Democratic operatives, including some of Kamala Harris' own staffers, are growing increasingly concerned about her relatively light campaign schedule …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Twitchy, RedState, Mediaite, New York Post, Axios, Washington Examiner, Althouse, Reuters, Daily Kos and Breitbart

Jared Gans / The Hill:

Where the Harris-Trump race stands 1 month out from Election Day — Vice President Harris and former President Trump have one month to convince voters to side with them in what appears likely to be one of the tightest presidential races in American history.

Politico:

Playbook: Michigan messes mount for Harris — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — TICK TOCK — One month until Election Day. — RETURN TO BUTLER — Former President DONALD TRUMP heads back to Butler, Pennsylvania, today …

Discussion: The Hill

Washington Post:
Harris is running a much bigger campaign than Trump. Will it matter?

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story, Althouse, Axios and Fox News

CNN:
Trump's ground game relies on untraditional strategies to draw out battleground voters

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Post, Raw Story, Marketplace and Politico

New York Times:
30 Days Out, the Harris and Trump Campaigns Brace for ‘Trench Warfare’

Discussion: emptywheel, Washington Examiner, New York Post and Twitchy

Washington Post:

Helene response hampered by misinformation, conspiracy theories — False claims are adding to the chaos and confusion in many storm-battered communities. Social media platforms such as X have allowed the falsehoods to spread. — One day after Hurricane Helene slammed into Asheville …

Discussion: The Hill and Truthout

The White House:

Interested Parties Memo: Fighting Hurricane Helene Falsehoods with Facts — Senior Advisor to the President and Communications Director Ben LaBolt, and Director of Digital Strategy Christian Tom — Under President Biden and Vice President Harris's direction, the Administration has mobilized a robust …

Discussion: Associated Press, KGTV-TV, WSAV-TV, Media Matters for America, KSDK-TV and The Gateway Pundit

David Klepper / Associated Press:
After the deluge, the lies: Misinformation and hoaxes about Helene cloud the recovery

Discussion: Ned Hamson's Second Line View …, Washington Times, Forbes, New York Post, al.com, alicublog and Florida Politics

Stephanie Kelly / Reuters:
US officials struggle to quash Hurricane Helene conspiracy theories

Discussion: The Guardian, American Thinker, New York Daily News, UPI, The Hill, WHDH-TV, ABC News, E&E News, HuffPost, New Republic and Washington Post

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
October 4, 2024 — MAGA Republicans are now lying about the federal response to Hurricane Helene …

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Al Jazeera, The Post Millennial, Breitbart, The Daily Signal, Fox Business, Washington Times, Washington Post and BizPac Review

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

The Supreme Court Is Waiting Until After the Election to Do Its Next Damage — The first Monday of October is the traditional start of the Supreme Court docket-harvest festival, when a handful of cases are plucked by the justices to be argued before the highest court in the land and previewed by a deferential press corps.

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
Trump's Election Bid Is a Wild Card as Supreme Court Term Opens

Discussion: Associated Press, Mother Jones and New Republic

Amy Beth Hanson / Associated Press:

Colorado judge who sentenced election denier Tina Peters to prison receives threats — A rural Colorado county courthouse beefed up security Friday after threats were made against staff and a judge who sentenced former county clerk Tina Peters to nearly nine years behind bars and admonished …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Hill, Joe.My.God., The Colorado Sun and KING-TV

Hugh Dougherty / The Daily Beast:

Melania Trump Reveals Why Donald Keeps Phoning Her Personal Doctor — ‘GENUINE AND CARING’ — The former first lady opens about surprising aspects of her marriage in her forthcoming memoir and confirms she is an unrepentant election denier. … Melania Trump has opened up about a surprising aspect …

Kelly Rissman / The Independent:

Florida is nearing toss-up status as top Republican poll shows Trump's lead nearly vanished — Race and age of Florida respondents seemed to correlate with which candidate they supported — Your support helps us to tell the story — As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.

Discussion: AZ FREE NEWS

Steve Abbot / USA Today:

Trump lost the respect of veterans - including me. He's a risk to our democracy. — I am one of hundreds of former national security leaders who have endorsed Harris for president. We have been concerned for some time about the truly troubling prospect of the return of Trump.

Juliann Ventura / The Hill:

Biden administration sends $100 million to repair roads, bridges in NC after Helene — The Biden administration announced Saturday that it would be sending $100 million to help the North Carolina Department of Transportation pay for immediate emergency repairs from Hurricane Helene damage, according to a press release.

Discussion: USA Today, CBS News, Joe.My.God. and The Gateway Pundit