A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
John Kelly Goes On The Record
In on-the-record interviews with The Atlantic and NYT, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly issued new warnings about the danger Donald Trump poses to American democracy if he is re-elected in November.
After years of sharing his criticisms of Trump with reporters in more subdued ways, Kelly – who was Trump’s White House chief of staff and secretary of the Department of Homeland Security – said he felt compelled to come forward more publicly by Trump’s recent remarks about using the military to target the “enemy within.”
In unprecedented-until-this-month remarks by a former high-level U.S. official, Kelly said that Trump fits the definition of fascist. “Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure,” he told the NYT.
Coming on the heels of former Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley’s warnings about Trump’s personal fascism, we now have two of the military men that Trump disparaged as “my generals” publicly denouncing him as a fascistic threat to the rule of law and American values. Never before have flag officers raised these kinds of concerns about a president or presidential candidate.
“Where we’re at is that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under Trump says he is ‘fascist to the core’ and Trump’s former White House chief of staff says he ‘certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure,’” CNN reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere observed.
In his interview with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, Kelly offered new and buttressing accounts of some of the awful things he heard Trump say while president about the military, service members, and Hitler:
- “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” Trump said. “People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.”
- “President Trump used the terms ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ to describe soldiers who gave their lives in the defense of our country. There are many, many people who have heard him say these things. The visit to France wasn’t the first time he said this.”
- “Vietnam would have been a waste of time for me,” Trump said. “Only suckers went to Vietnam.”
- After Trump volunteered to pay for the funeral of a murdered soldier, he became outraged when presented with the bill: “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!”
But it was Trump’s urge to use the military against Americans, exhibited both while in office and more recently on the campaign trail, that most troubled Kelly: “And I think this issue of using the military on — to go after — American citizens is one of those things I think is a very, very bad thing — even to say it for political purposes to get elected — I think it’s a very, very bad thing, let alone actually doing it.”
Kelly’s dual interviews came the same day Trump touted at a campaign event the “extreme power” he would have if elected again: “As president, you have tremendous — it’s called extreme power. You have extreme power.”
MUST READ
NPR:
Since 2022, when he began preparing for the presidential campaign, Trump has issued more than 100 threats to investigate, prosecute, imprison or otherwise punish his perceived opponents, NPR has found.
A review of Trump’s rally speeches, press conferences, interviews and social media posts shows that the former president has repeatedly indicated that he would use federal law enforcement as part of a campaign to exact “retribution.”
Election Threat Watch
- WSJ: The Secretive Billionaire Network Funding ‘Stop the Steal’ 2.0
- TPM’s Emine Yücel: Musk Encourages People To Post About Voter Fraud, Playing Into Conspiracy Theories
- CBS News: North Carolina “election protection” activist says he plans to flag voters with “Hispanic-sounding” names as “suspicious.”
Harris: We’re Ready For Trump’s Post-Election Shenanigans
“We will deal with election night and the days after as they come, and we have the resources and the expertise and the focus on that,” Kamala Harris told NBC News in a sit-down interview Tuesday at the vice presidential residence at the Naval Observatory in DC.
Disinformation Alert
- WSJ: Spy Agencies Warn of U.S. Election Violence Stoked by Iran and Russia
- WaPo: “U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday said Russians seeking to disrupt the U.S. elections created a faked video and other material smearing Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz with abuse allegations.”
- NYT: As Election Looms, Disinformation ‘Has Never Been Worse’
Good Read
WaPo: How a conspiracy-fueled group got a foothold in this hurricane-battered town
Georgia Supreme Court Trumps Georgia Election Board
In a major unanimous decision, the Georgia Supreme Court let stand a lower court order blocking controversial new rules promulgated by the Georgia State Election Board, meaning that they will not be allowed to go into effect for the 2024 election. The two rules were among the most eyebrow-raising moves by the MAGA-infused election board: (i) hand counts of the number of ballots cast; and (ii) requiring counties to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into the election before certifying the results.
2024 Ephemera
- NYT: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has eschewed his usual aversion to electoral politics and contributed $50 million to Future Forward, the main outside fund-raising group supporting Kamala Harris.
- Greg Sargent and Michael Tomasky: Are GOP Polls Rigging the Averages in Trump’s Favor?
- Kamala Harris will hold a rally Friday in Harris County, Texas (Houston), a foray into a red state where Sen. Ted Cruz (R) is facing a legit challenge from Rep. Colin Allred (D).
Rudy!
A federal judge ordered former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to begin surrendering assets to Georgia election workers Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman to satisfy their $148 million defamation judgment against him.
Among the assets that Giuliani must turn over: his Manhattan apartment, a Mercedes-Benz, more than two dozen luxury watches (including one his grandfather gave him), furniture, his television, sports memorabilia, cash, and his $2 million legal claim for unpaid attorneys’ fees from the Trump 2020 campaign and the RNC. He has seven days to comply.
The judge kicked Giuliani in the seat of the pants one last time in denying his request for a delay past the election, noting the “profound irony” of a leading purveyor of the 2020 Big Lie professing to worry about a “media frenzy” close to the election.
Attorney General Aileen Cannon?
I don’t know how much credence to give any work product of the Trump II transition operation here in October, but for your awareness ABC News has gotten ahold of a personnel roster titled “Transition Planning: Legal Principals” that lists U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon – who famously dismissed Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents indictment – second among nearly a dozen potential candidates for attorney general.
A ‘Very Serious’ Escalation In Ukraine
NYT: “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III confirmed on Wednesday that North Korea had sent troops to Russia to join the fight against Ukraine, a major shift in Moscow’s effort to win the war. Mr. Austin called the North’s presence a ‘very serious’ escalation that would have ramifications in both Europe and Asia.”
Read It And Weep
Following on last month’s revelation that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was hosted by a flaming right-wing uber-Catholic German princess the year after he authored Dobbs decision overturning Roe, Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis invited the NYT to interview her in her palace where Alito was a guest. The story traces her arc from 1980s party girl to doyenne of the European far-right set.
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