memeorandum: Trump unveils the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history (Stephen Collinson/CNN)

11:15 AM ET, October 28, 2024

Top Items:

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:

Donald Trump's Racist NYC Rally Was Vile. It Was Also Political Suicide — FINAL ACT — The Madison Square Garden rally, operatic in its repulsive bigotry, will almost certainly alienate more voters who might have voted for Trump. — OPINION — To all those Republicans …

Discussion: Daily Kos, New York Daily News and Balloon Juice

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

Trump unveils the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history — Donald Trump anchored his bid to win a second White House term next week on searing anti-migrant fear at a rally at Madison Square Garden, doubling down on his promise for a massive deportation program on Day 1 to reverse an “immigrant invasion.”

Discussion: Billboard and Eschaton

New York Times:

Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism — The inflammatory rally was a capstone for an increasingly aggrieved campaign for Donald Trump, whose rhetoric has grown darker and more menacing. — Donald J. Trump's closing rally at Madison Square Garden …

Discussion: The Independent, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, DNyuz and The Guardian

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:

October 27, 2024 — I stand corrected. I thought this year's October surprise was the reality that Trump's mental state had slipped so badly he could not campaign in any coherent way. — It turns out that the 2024 October surprise was the Trump campaign's fascist rally at Madison Square Garden …

Meridith McGraw / Politico:

Trump's New York homecoming sparks backlash over racist and vulgar remarks — A pro-Trump comedian's racist diatribe drew widespread condemnation. — NEW YORK — Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden, billed as a triumphant homecoming, instead turned into a political fiasco …

Discussion: The Guardian, Raw Story, The Times of Israel, DNyuz, Semafor, Reuters and PoliticusUSA

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

Trump's MSG Rally Incited MAGA To Do Whatever It Takes To Seize Power — A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM's Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. — Madison Square Garden Redux — The narcissism, the rancid “jokes,” the racism, the misogyny …

Discussion: Politico, New York Post, WTTG-TV, israelhayom.com, RedState, BizPac Review, The Independent and Daily Mail

Kaia Hubbard / CBS News:

Kamala Harris says she'd take a cognitive test; challenges Trump “to take the same one” — Vice President Kamala Harris, responding to former President Donald Trump's claims about her IQ, said she would take a cognitive test — and “would challenge him to take the same one.”

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Axios

Adam Wren / Politico:

Who won the day? Harris — If Donald Trump loses on Nov. 5, the racist carnival he curated at Madison Square Garden could be remembered as the day that cost him this margin-of-error election. As Kamala Harris visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Pennsylvania, talking about her …

Discussion: USA Today, KENS, The Gateway Pundit, Rolling Stone, CBS News, Raw Story, New Jersey Online, DNyuz, The Hill and The Independent

Seth Masket / Tusk:
Race is the theory of the campaign

Discussion: Mediaite

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:
Trump Campaign Scrambles to Disavow Racist MSG Rally Joke

Discussion: HuffPost and ABC

Rebecca Morin / USA Today:
Harris, Trump locked in dead heat in battleground Wisconsin, new exclusive poll says

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News and tippinsights

Sabrina Rodriguez / Washington Post:
Anti-Puerto Rico comments at Trump rally spur outrage as Bad Bunny supports Harris

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, HuffPost, Mediaite, CBS News, DNyuz and Los Angeles Times

Libby Cathey / CBS News:
DNC projects message tying Trump to Hitler on Madison Square Garden during rally

Discussion: Washington Post, HuffPost, The Guardian, RedState, Breitbart, Alternet.org, Issues & Insights, Daily Mail, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, USA Today, Raw Story, Associated Press, The Hill, The Independent and Fox News

Erica L. Green / New York Times:
A Trump Rally Speaker Trashed Puerto Ricans. Harris Reached Out to Them.

Discussion: CBS News, Variety, Axios, Alternet.org, Associated Press, Wisconsin Examiner, NPR, The Hill, WHDH-TV, HuffPost, Bloomberg, New Jersey Online, DNyuz, The Guardian, NBC New York and UPI

NBC News:
Before Election Day, Trump is increasingly sowing doubts about the results

Discussion: Wisconsin Examiner

The Guardian:
Puerto Rican stars Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin back Kamala Harris after racist comments at Trump rally

John L. Dorman / Business Insider:
2 new polls show Harris leading Trump as the election nears. Women continue to propel the VP's candidacy.

Discussion: USA Today, The Hill, New Jersey Online, Florida Politics, DNyuz, Boston Herald, New York Post, The Independent and ABC News

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Trump's Madison Square Garden rally overshadowed by his allies' crude and racist remarks

Discussion: Media Matters for America, CBS News, Public, New York Times, The Hill and Scripps News

Alec Hernández / NBC News:
As Trump courts their vote, comedian at his rally makes racist jokes about Latinos and Puerto Rico

Alex Galbraith / Salon:
Trump-supporting comedian opens MSG rally by calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”

Discussion: CBS News, Associated Press, The Wrap, Townhall, The Hill, The Independent, Alternet.org, HuffPost, RedState, Daily Mail, New York Post, Washington Post, New York Daily News, Fox News, Axios and DNyuz

ProPublica:

“Put Them in Trauma”: Inside a Key MAGA Leader's Plans for a New Trump Agenda — Private videos reveal Trump adviser Russ Vought's “shadow” plans for using the military on protesters, defunding the EPA and villainizing civil servants. — Co-published with Documented — Reporting Highlights

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

Some billionaires, CEOs hedge bets as Trump vows retribution — With the race tight, some business elites are toning down past criticism of the former president. — At a five-star resort in California last week, Wall Street executives, fast-food CEOs, a few dozen other industry titans …

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

William Kristol / The Bulwark:

A Hatefest at the Garden — Lots of good stuff coming down the pike: Sarah will be going live tomorrow evening at 9 p.m. ET in the Substack mobile app for a chat with Dan Pfeiffer, former White House communications director and now author of the Message Box to discuss the last week of the race.

Discussion: The Times of Israel

Brandy Zadrozny / NBC News:

Extremists inspired by conspiracy theories pose major threat to 2024 elections, U.S. intelligence warns — Candidates, elected officials, election workers, members of the media and judges involved in election cases are among those U.S. intelligence officials identified as targets.

Discussion: Wired

Joanne Haner / The Hill:

Liz Cheney: Jeff Bezos ‘afraid’ to endorse Harris in Washington Post — Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) criticized Jeff Bezos after The Washington Post, which the billionaire owns, broke with decades of the newspaper's history and decided not to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Alternet.org, Instapundit, Breitbart, The Wrap, Mediaite, The Guardian and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Mediagazer »

Judd Legum / Popular Information:
The billionaire-media complex — Jeff Bezos is the second-richest person in the world …

Discussion: Business Insider, Mother Jones, Semafor, The Hollywood Reporter, The Bulwark, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Beast and New York Post, more at Mediagazer »

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:

Billionaire media bootlickers obey in advance — The owners of the LA Times and Washington Post give the finger to their readers and democracy. … 🗞️ Subscribe to Public Notice 🗞️ — Both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post are refusing …

Discussion: The Guardian, Politico and Vanity Fair, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

How a Splintered Left Is Preparing for a Possible Trump Victory — After the former president's 2016 victory, they marched. Now, Democrats wrestle with how to mount an uprising—and whether to even do so. — By now America is well versed in the predictions of the political right's potential response …

Meridith McGraw / Politico:
Speakers at Trump MSG rally insult Dems, minorities

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Deadline, New York Post and Mediaite

New York Times:

Republicans Cling to Slim Leads in Nebraska and Texas Senate Races — In Nebraska, Dan Osborn, an independent, is in a tight race with Senator Deb Fischer, and in Texas, Representative Colin Allred is four percentage points behind Senator Ted Cruz. — Dan Osborn, a union leader …

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, Siena College Research … and ABC News

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

Philadelphia DA sues Elon Musk PAC to stop $1 million lottery for voters … The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a political action committee controlled by billionaire Elon Musk from awarding $1 million to registered voters in swing states, accusing them of “running an illegal lottery.”

Discussion: Bloomberg, Election Law Blog and WHDH-TV