memeorandum: Ted Cruz Refuses to Say If He Supports Abortion Exceptions: ‘Why Do You Keep Asking?’ (Rolling Stone)

9:35 AM ET, October 16, 2024

Top Items:

Harris Agrees Trump Is a Fascist: 5 Charlamagne Interview Takeaways — During a free-flowing interview that was by turns friendly and pointed, the vice president went beyond her previous remarks in casting Donald Trump as an authoritarian. — Vice President Kamala Harris agreed on Tuesday …

Aaron Rupar / Public Notice:

Trump's campaign is trying to hide his sad state from voters — His decline is undeniable. They're hoping you don't notice in time. … MAGA-friendly CNBC host Joe Kernen dropped an interesting nugget right as Squawk Box went to commercial break on Tuesday. — “Well, Trump canceled, and he was going to come on,” Kernen said.

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, HuffPost, Deadline, The Hill, CNN, Alternet.org and Joe.My.God.

Wall Street Journal:

Harris Sharpens Negative Attacks on Trump — Vice president tells her campaign to use more of the Republican's words against him, as Democrats again debate best way to take him on — When Vice President Kamala Harris walked off the stage of her rally in Erie, Pa., which included …

Discussion: Raw Story, Townhall, The Daily Beast, FOX 32 Chicago, HuffPost, ABC News, IJR, 6abc, The Guardian, The Independent, PoliticusUSA, Daily Mail and CBS News

Elena Schneider / Politico:

Harris campaign to run abortion rights ad during Trump town hall — Kamala Harris' campaign will air an abortion rights ad featuring Hadley Duvall, who was raped by her stepfather when she was 12, during Donald Trump's “women's issues” town hall on Fox News Wednesday morning.

MSNBC:

Rachel Maddow calls the bluff of Trump supporters who claim to be making a ‘business decision’ — Rachel Maddow looks at some of the reasons why a Trump supporter might claim to look past his many shortcomings because they consider their vote a business decision, and why those business …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Democrats, Blaze Media, HuffPost and Daily Kos

Rolling Stone:

Trump Crumbles When Pressed on Economic Policy in Tense Interview — The former president attempted to “weave” his way through an interview with Bloomberg News, but couldn't escape his own policy black hole — Donald Trump continued his pre-election economic event tour on Tuesday …

Washington Post:

‘Off the charts:’ How Trump tariffs would shock U.S., world economies — If implemented, the former president's tariff plans would lead to higher costs, stock market volatility and feuds with the rest of the world. — Former president Donald Trump is campaigning on the most significant increase …

Discussion: Raw Story, Reason, Sun-Sentinel, Las Vegas Review-Journal, HotAir, Roll Call, Ohio Capital Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg and Associated Press

Reid Hoffman / Bloomberg:
US Business Leaders Want Harris' Stability Not Trump's Chaos

Discussion: New Republic

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:

Judge Blocks Hand-Counting of Election Ballots in Georgia — The ruling was confined to the current election, halting the measure from going into effect for 2024 while the judge further weighs its merits in the future. — A county judge in Georgia on Tuesday blocked a new rule mandating …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Daily Beast, The Hill, NBC News, Townhall, Joe.My.God., NPR, CBS News, KDFX-TV, WAGA-TV, Forbes, Raw Story, Georgia Recorder, Bloomberg, Fox News, USA Today, Axios, Washington Post and Diane Ravitch's blog

Matt Cohen / Democracy Docket:

Virginia County Officials Declare They Will Refuse to Certify November Election — Election officials in Waynesboro County, Virginia filed a lawsuit on Oct. 4 that says they will refuse to certify the upcoming general election unless the state's policy on counting ballots is changed.

CNN:

Record number of early votes cast in Georgia as election gets underway in battleground state — A record number of early votes have been cast in Georgia on Tuesday as residents headed to the polls in a critical battleground state that is grappling with the fallout from Hurricane Helene …

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

Suddenly, the Electoral College Is Posing a Problem for Trump — Americans of color are apparently moving to the right. Donald Trump is poised to make historic gains with nonwhite voters in November, according to recent polling, accelerating the racial depolarization of the electorate.

Discussion: New York Times, The Free Press, Raw Story and Atlanta Black Star

NBC News:
Early Vote — Early voting has begun in states across the country where voters are able …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Fox News and Louder With Crowder

New York Times:

Trump Escalates Threats to Political Opponents He Deems the ‘Enemy’ — Never before has a presidential nominee openly suggested turning the military on Americans simply because they oppose his candidacy. With voting underway, Donald Trump has turned to dark vows of retribution.

Rolling Stone:

Ted Cruz Refuses to Say If He Supports Abortion Exceptions: ‘Why Do You Keep Asking?’ — The Texas senator was given three chances to clarify his views on whether abortion bans should include any exceptions. He did not answer — DURING A DEBATE against Rep. Colin Allred on Tuesday night …

Bill Allison / Bloomberg:

Adelson Spends $95 Million to Boost Trump in Michigan, Wisconsin — Billionaire is one of the top donors to Trump in 2024 race — Super PAC has just $7.4 million to spend in final weeks — Billionaire Miriam Adelson, one of the most prolific donors backing Donald Trump since …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Politico, more at Techmeme »

Jessica Piper / Politico:
Miriam Adelson dumps $95 million in pro-Trump super PAC

Discussion: Forbes, CNN, Bloomberg, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York Times, Jewish Insider, The Hill and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Meryl Kornfield / Washington Post:

Trump sidesteps question on committing to peaceful transfer of power — The GOP presidential nominee also falsely claimed there was a peaceful transfer of power in 2021 — when a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol to stop the affirmation of Biden's win. — CHICAGO — Former president Donald Trump …

Discussion: RedState and Mediaite

The Daily Beast:
Trump Gives Ominous Clue About What May Happen If He Loses

Discussion: Esquire, Raw Story, BizPac Review, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Axios and Daily Kos

Bill Galluccio / iHeart:

Kamala Harris Sits Down For Audio Town Hall With Charlamagne Tha God — Charlamagne Tha God sat down with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday (October 15) for a live interview, billed as “We The People: An Audio Town Hall with Kamala Harris.” Charlamagne hosted the Democratic candidate …

Discussion: New York Post, Mediaite, KDFX-TV, Loomered, HuffPost, The Hill, Washington Post and Rolling Stone

NBC News:
Election 2024 live updates: Harris to sit with Charlamagne tha God as Trump defends his age

Discussion: BizPac Review, The Hill, Democrats, Associated Press, Breitbart and National Zero

Phoebe Petrovic / ProPublica:

Right-Wing Activists Pushed False Claims About Election Fraud. Now They're Recruiting Poll Workers in Swing States. — Experts say these poll workers could sow distrust in democracy and bolster court cases challenging the election. ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch reviewed dozens of hours …

Lisa Friedman / New York Times:

The Flood-Protection Rule That Trump Rolled Back — A Trump-era rollback of flood-protection rules has left critical infrastructure projects at higher risk, experts say. — In the summer of 2017, Donald Trump stood in the lobby of Trump Tower and declared he would heal a …

Discussion: The Guardian

Washington Post:
Where climate change poses the most and least risk to American homeowners

Discussion: The Lever

Pluralistic:

Of course we can tax billionaires (permalink) — Billionaires are pretty confident that they can't be taxed - not just that they shouldn't be taxed, but rather, that it is technically impossible to tax the ultra-rich. They're not shy about explaining why, either - and neither is their army of lickspittles.

Associated Press:

What's behind the widening gender wage gap in the US? — Just how much of a setback was the COVID-19 pandemic for U.S. working women? Although women who lost or left their jobs at the height of the crisis have largely returned to the workforce, a recent finding points to the price many paid …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Reuters:

Israeli strike rocks Beirut after US says it opposes scope of air assault — At least one Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs early on Wednesday morning, Reuters witnesses said, hours after the U.S. said it opposed the scope of Israeli attacks in the city amid a rising death toll and fears of wider regional escalation.

Discussion: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Reuters, The Times of Israel, Middle East Monitor and Washington Examiner

Politico:

‘Pennsylvania is such a mess’: Inside Team Harris' unusual levels of finger-pointing — Many of the state's most well-connected Democrats have been worried about the operation for months. — PHILADELPHIA — Top Democrats in Pennsylvania are worried Vice President Kamala Harris' operation …

Discussion: The Bulwark, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Washington Times, New York Times and Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:

Biden Suggests He Wants Trump in Prison — After Kamala Warns Trump Will Prosecute Opponents — President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday that he is looking forward to seeing former President Donald Trump imprisoned — right after Vice President Kamala Harris warned that Trump would prosecute his opponents.

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:

Trump Breaks Down Onstage — At a campaign event last night, Trump got bored—and weirdness ensued. — Is Donald Trump well enough to serve as president? — The question is not temperamental or philosophical fitness—he made clear long ago that the answer to both is no—but something more fundamental.