A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
An All Of The Above Campaign
Seeming to ditch the long-held Democratic tendency to fight on only one front at a time, Vice President Kamala Harris is mixing in more attacks on Donald Trump’s authoritarianism to her usual campaign rhetoric aimed at middle class economic issues.
In recent days, Harris has more directly attacked Trump, calling him “weak and unstable” and “incredibly unstable and unhinged.” But she’s increasingly focused her attention on his anti-democratic rhetoric, going so far as to play clips of Trump at her own rally Monday. Today, in a speech in Pennsylvania, she will focus on the threat Trump poses to the Constitution.
“When Vice President Kamala Harris walked off the stage of her rally in Erie, Pa., which included a video compilation of Donald Trump’s recent comments about ‘the enemy from within,’ she told her campaign staff that she wanted to keep using the former president’s own words against him, advisers said,” the WSJ reports.
Harris wants to use Trump’s own words as “evidence” against him in the closing days of the campaign, according to the WSJ report.
In the plodding, “check the box” campaign strategy that Democrats often default to, candidates are given the false choice of either addressing voters’ most pressing concerns or warning that Trump is a menace and threat to democratic values. Harris’ “all of the above” approach in recent days weaves together both attack lines into a seamless whole.
Most notably, Harris has connected Trump’s essential weakness of character with his authoritarian impulses, his fondness for dictators, and his disregard for the Constitution. You get these threats with Trump precisely because he is a such a hollowed-out shell of a human. It’s a powerful reminder that fascism is a refuge for the weak and insecure, an argument that defuses the fear that Trump seeks to instill.
Trump’s Openly Fascist Campaign
Chris Hayes lays it out plainly:
Sign Of The Times
As Morning Memo touched on yesterday, Trump has entered a new, more sinister phase in his quest to retake the White House and fend off the criminal cases against him. These are the kinds of headlines that will be especially chilling in retrospect if Trump wins:
- NYT: Trump Escalates Threats to Political Opponents He Deems the ‘Enemy’
- ABC News: Trump’s ‘enemy from within’ threat spurs critics’ alarm about his authoritarian shift
- WaPo: Trump’s erratic endgame: Dark threats, personal insults and some dancing
Great Read
NBC News’ Ryan J. Reilly and Jane C. Timm have a new deeply reported piece on: “How Trump allies stoked election chaos in Detroit in 2020 — and what they’re planning in 2024”
Of Course …
Donald Trump falsely claimed that there was a peaceful transfer of power in 2020 and sidestepped a question about whether he would commit to a peaceful transition in 2024.
The Money Race
- Three billionaires poured a combined $220 million into pro-Trump groups in the third quarter.
- Elon Musk contributed nearly $75 million to his own pro-Trump PAC in the third quarter.
- Politico: “Democratic candidates across the 10 top Senate battlegrounds raised a collective $203 million last quarter, nearly 2.5 times the GOP’s $83 million.”
IMPORTANT
Politico: “Federal employees throughout the executive branch are panicking at the thought of another Trump administration.”
2024 Ephemera
- Kamala Harris sits today in Pennsylvania for her first Fox News interview, which will air tonight.
- WaPo: Harris urges Black Americans not to be fooled into sitting out the race
- NYT: With Trump Facing Threats, Security and Politics Intersect as Never Before
DOJ Will Monitor Ohio County With Renegade Sheriff
WaPo: “The Justice Department will monitor voting in Portage County, Ohio, during the November election, after the county sheriff last month posted on Facebook urging residents to write down the addresses of people displaying yard signs for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
The Fight Over Election Rules
- Georgia, Part I: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that certification of the vote at the county level is mandatory under state law, ratifying existing Georgia law that would prevent local officials from engaging in funny business by refusing or delaying certification.
- Georgia, Part II: Judge McBurney separately blocked the controversial new rule from the State Election Board requiring the hand-counting of total ballots cast, saying it was too close to Election Day to implement in this cycle.
- Alabama: A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump ordered a halt to the state’s ham-handed effort to purge the voter rolls of noncitizens immediately before the election.
Allred To Cruz: ‘You’re A Threat To Democracy’
Sen. Ted Cruz (R) was pushed hard on abortion by Rep. Colin Allred (D) during what is expected to be their one and only Senate campaign debate in a race that is closer than anticipated and may represent Democrats last best hope of flipping a GOP seat.
But it was on Jan. 6 that Allred hit Cruz the hardest:
On January 6, I got ready to defend my colleagues and texted my wife: “Whatever happens, I love you.”
Ted Cruz was hiding in a supply closet. If you summon a mob to overturn a free and fair election, you should lose your job. This election is his accountability.#TXSenateDebate pic.twitter.com/Fufk5I5Z7k
— Colin Allred (@ColinAllredTX) October 16, 2024
Sifting Through The SCOTUS Tea Leaves On Abortion
TPM’s Kate Riga: Inside The Mystery Of Why The Supreme Court Declined To Hear A Pressing Abortion Case
Mark Robinson Sues CNN Over Porn Report
GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN in state court in North Carolina over its report last month that he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a porn site message board.
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