Happy Halloween: Donald Trump’s efforts to mess with the midterms are getting downright spooky.
There may be just one thing that President Donald Trump spends more time thinking about these days than
Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-OH) badonkadonk: rigging the midterms. Personally, I’ve heard more than I ever needed to about Husted’s caboose. Unfortunately for all of us, however, Trump’s persistent threat to democracy still deserves a lot more airtime.
Serious people are asking unnerving questions. Will Trump go full Dictator Mode and try to stop ballot counting, or try to discredit the results (again!) with baseless claims of foreign interference? And what happens if he does?
Many Republicans are already bracing for electoral defeat. “It could be quite a brutal evening,” a senior GOP lawmaker
told Politico. Indeed, early voting hasalready surgedin key battleground states — and Democrats areturning outmore than Republicans so far, according to states that share such data. Trump does not — shall we say — have a track record of taking defeat well.
Here’s a rundown of what to expect from Trump and his minions.
**Federal agents:**One of the most pressing questions of Trump’s second term has been: Will he send armed federal agents, or even troops, to polling locations? Doing so could deter people from voting, given Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. In a court filing this week, the Department of Justice said that FBI and ICE agentswon’t monitor polls— but other agents from the DEA and ATF will. None of these agents will be armed or acting in a law enforcement capacity, DOJ maintained. There was no word about the National Guard, which deployed to cities across the country earlier this year (and remains in the nation’s capital).
Some Republican state officials
haveconfirmedthat DOJ election monitors will be at polling locations. Attorney General Todd Blanche recently defended the move and said that the administrationwill deploymore than 1,000 monitors. “We are not doing anything improper. We’re not doing anything we’re not allowed to do,” Blanchetold CNN. How reassuring!
**Voter fraud accusations:**Trump has been screaming about alleged voter fraud from the top of his lungs for weeks. It’s part of asweeping effort by his administrationto sow distrust in the results — which seem very likely to favor Democrats. Trump’s DOJexpanded an investigationinto alleged noncitizen voting in California yesterday, after a federal judge slapped down its effort to disqualify 20,000 ballots in the state. Trump saidthis weekthat he’ll respect the results “if they’re honest elections.”
**Claims of foreign interference:**Will Trump try to blame any losses on shadowy foreign powers? Over the summer, Trump appeared tolay the groundworkfor doing just that, asserting (without evidence) that China has “bought, stolen, or hacked” voter data in more than a dozen states. Experts worry that if Trump goes that route, he’ll use “classified intelligence reports as a pretext for trying to seize ballots or stop vote-counting by the states,” theAtlanticreports.
All of those threats are spooky. But if Trump can’t stop Pope Leo from casting his ballot from around the world, he can’t stop you either.
** The U.S. oil industry has earned more than $130 billion **in profit since Donald Trump launched his war with Iran. Meanwhile, Americans spent an extra $147 billion on gas and diesel — equivalent to about $1,100 per household — since the war began, according to a Brown University analysis.
** The Pentagon has urged European countries** in recent weeks to tone down their rhetoric against Russia. “We are helping you. The Americans are there,” a European official told Reuters, describing the Defense Department’s messaging. “Just don’t be loud. Don’t make noise.”
** Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola denied** any knowledge of an effort reportedly undertaken by operatives working with
** Trump fumed to his aides after learning **that Alina Habba, one of his former lawyers, secured a
Hackers stole $6.3 billion in crypto from Binance, the world’s most popular crypto exchange, according to the company. This heist is believed to be the largest crypto theft in history, and experts are pointing the finger at North Korea.
** Trump’s Qatari Air Force One conducted an incredibly** low flyover in the nation’s capital yesterday evening, startling residents. Trump’s team only gave a 15 minute heads-up about the flyover, according to the city council. I happened to be walking a few blocks from the White House when I saw the flyover and thought I was imagining things, because
** Norway’s tourism agency is trolling Donald Trump** after he described the country as a “shithouse,” publishing a guide to “some of the world’s most beautiful and spectacular toilets” that can be found across the Nordic countryside. “When life gives you lemons or quotes like this, you just do the lemonade — and all the viral content,” the tourist agency’s social media lead told the Associated Press.
** An Englishman who made it his life’s mission **to find a way to walk home
** Babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at** Mass General Brigham are dressing up as cowgirls and cowboys this year… for their first rodeo.
** Government scientists saved an orphaned baby walrus **named Annautaq, after finding him on an Alaskan beach between two walrus carcasses. “They dispersed the gulls scavenging him, walked a half mile to the nearest shelter (an abandoned building open to the elements), and protected him from polar bears until the storm passed and a local rescue team could boat him across the lagoon,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Annautaq has been fully rehabilitated and will serve as a “species ambassador” at SeaWorld Orlando.
** Conservation groups have been given permission** to reintroduce beavers around Loch Ness in Scotland, half a millennium after the critters were last spotted in the area. I hope they build a nice wooden home for the resident monster.
** Think you’re a good pumpkin carver? **Check out this Danish artist, who uses a
Meet Livvy Boo McFlufferbutt!
She’s a six-month-old poodle, who is always “ready to scrap” for democracy!
— Erin
