Archives

Supreme Court Tie Blocks GOP Effort To Limit Mail-In Voting In Pennsylvania

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a blow to Republicans on Monday with a split vote that effectively allows Pennsylvania to keep its extended mail-in voting period. The justices’ 4-4 tie leaves in place a lower court ruling that will let state officials count ballots received after Election Day unless there’s evidence they were sent after the deadline. Election […]

Presidential Debate Commission Adopts New Rules To Mute Microphones

President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will have their microphones cut off in Thursday’s debate while their rival delivers their opening two-minute answer to each of the debate topics. The 90-minute debate is divided into six 15-minute segments, with each candidate granted two minutes to deliver uninterrupted remarks before proceeding to an open debate. […]

Stephcast 10-19-20

Fauci admits administration has restricted his media appearances, says he’s not surprised Trump got COVID

This weekend, Americans face another surge in the COVID-19 pandemic. Infections have passed the 8 million mark and are rising rapidly. There are more than 218,000 dead. During the course of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been the physician most Americans have relied upon for their information. But now, instead of worrying soley about […]

More than 27 million ballots have already been cast. Here’s where early voting opens this week

Election Day is still 16 days away and more than 27 million ballots have already been cast, according to a survey of election officials by CNN, Edison Research, and Catalist.   Voters in the 45 states and the District of Columbia that make pre-Election Day data available are already setting records. The ballots cast so […]

Nancy Pelosi: Pandemic Relief Needs A Deal By Tuesday To Pass By Election Day

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that the U.S. House and the Trump administration would need to come to an agreement on the next phase of pandemic-related economic stimulus by Tuesday for a coronavirus relief package to have any chance of passing before Election Day.  “We have to freeze the design on some of […]

Eric Boehlert: Enablers — NBC rewards Trump for blowing up Biden debate

One week after refusing to participate in the officially sanctioned presidential debate, an unprecedented move in modern American politics, NBC News has rewarded Trump by clearing its Thursday primetime schedule to air a last-minute town hall with the previously Covid-19-infected president. As Trump stumbles to the end of his re-election campaign and denounces the press […]

The Rude Pundit: Trump Has Faced Less Punishment Than Three Women in Mississippi Arrested for Getting Health Care for Their Kids

I can’t stop thinking about this story. The Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration announced last month that law enforcement had arrested and charged three separate women for committing fraud against the state’s health insurance system, which falls under its TennCare program. Two of the women, Nikki Carr and Nakina Brooks, face 24 years in […]

Michigan Gov. Lashes Trump For Endangering Her Life After Rally ‘Lock Her Up’ Chant

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer demanded an end to President Donald Trump inciting violence against her after she accused him of doing it yet again at his latest rally in her state on Saturday. Whitmer, the target of an alleged kidnap plot by Trump-supporting militia members, called out at the president after he attacked her at […]

Global Coronavirus Cases Rise By One-Day Record Of 400,000

Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 400,000 for the first time late on Friday, a record one-day increase as much of Europe enacts new restrictions to curb the outbreak. Europe, which successfully tamped down the first surge of infections, has emerged as the new coronavirus epicentre in recent weeks and is reporting on average […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 10-16-20 Bradley Whitford

Stephcast 10-16-20

Biden routs Trump in September fundraising, $383M to $248M

President Donald Trump, the Republican National Committee and affiliated joint fundraising committees raised $247.8 million in September, Trump’s campaign announced, leaving him at a significant cash deficit to former Vice President Joe Biden entering the final stretch of the 2020 election. Biden’s campaign and affiliated committees raised a record $383 million in September, and they […]

Chris Christie, out of hospital after battling Covid, urges Trump to go further on masks

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, newly recovered from the coronavirus, urged President Donald Trump on Friday to encourage the wearing of face masks among Americans. In his first TV interview since contracting Covid-19 earlier this month, Christie — a close ally of the White House who served as the president’s debate coach last month […]

In Town Halls, Trump Defends Dangerous Theories As Biden Paints Vision For Future

President Donald Trump refused to denounce dangerous conspiracy theories and undercut efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 as former Vice President Joe Biden called for a national strategy to combat the pandemic and painted his vision for America as the two held dueling town halls Thursday night that forced viewers to choose whom to […]

Stephcast 10-15-20

Kamala Harris suspends travel after staffer tests COVID-19 positive

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign said Thursday that vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will suspend in-person events until Monday after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for coronavirus. The campaign said Biden had no exposure, though he and Harris spent several hours campaigning together in Arizona on Oct. 8. Harris was scheduled to travel […]

Senate Judiciary Sets Oct. 22 Vote On Amy Coney Barrett’s Nomination

The Senate Judiciary Committee convened on Thursday set an Oct. 22 vote on Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination as Republicans race to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick before the Nov. 3 election. The session is without Barrett after two long days of public testimony in which she stressed that she would be her own […]

Anthony Fauci Urges Americans To Reconsider Thanksgiving Gatherings Amid Pandemic

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday revealed that his family’s Thanksgiving “is going to look very different this year” and said Americans “may have to bite the bullet” and rethink holiday gatherings as the coronavirus pandemic continues raging. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, told “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell that his children, who live in […]

Trump ‘not happy’ with Barr, won’t commit to keeping AG in potential second term

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is “not happy” with Attorney General William Barr after the Justice Department’s investigation of the Obama administration found no wrongdoing and quietly concluded with no criminal charges. Trump made the comments to Newsmax TV. He also declined to say whether he would keep Barr on as attorney general […]

Biden continues to hold double-digit national lead over Trump in NBC News/WSJ poll

Less than three weeks before Election Day, Joe Biden maintains a double-digit national lead over President Donald Trump, with 6 in 10 voters saying that the country is on the wrong track and that it is worse off than it was four years ago. What’s more, a majority of voters say they have major concerns […]

Dr. Irwin Redlener: It’s Time for Trump’s Top Doctors to Step Down and Speak Up

Dear Colleagues, I certainly don’t need to tell any of you how unprecedented and difficult these past eight months have been. As I write this, more than 7.5 million Americans have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The tragedy of what the country has been through is what you all have been living non-stop. Most tragic, of […]

Stephcast 10-14-20

Trump’s Probe Into ‘Unmasking’ Conspiracy Ends With No Wrongdoing Found: Report

A federal investigation meant to target Obama administration officials for “unmasking” the names of individuals in classified intelligence reports ended recently without finding any wrongdoing that the Trump administration could use as political ammunition, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Attorney General William Barr appointed Texas U.S. Attorney John Bash in May to look into the […]

Obama to hit the campaign trail for Biden ‘soon’ as race enters final weeks

Former President Barack Obama is expected to hit the campaign trail “soon” for Joe Biden, his former vice president — a move that could help animate Democrats as the presidential race enters its pivotal final weeks. “President Obama plans to hit the trail soon, in addition to all the other activities he’s undertaken all year […]

Key takeaways from the 2nd day of the SCOTUS nomination hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee spent Tuesday questioning Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, in a marathon session that featured exchanges about judicial independence, the future of the Affordable Care Act and any election-related cases that could come before the Supreme Court later this year. Here are the key takeaways from the second day of […]

Supreme Court allows Trump administration to end census count early

The Supreme Court on Tuesday effectively allowed the government to stop the census count immediately, blocking a lower court order that would have required the Trump administration to continue gathering census information in the field until the end of October. The Census Bureau said it wanted to stop the count so that it could start […]

Bob Cesca: Why the Democrats must fight to stop Barrett… With her on the court, the ACA is toast

Donald Trump and his henchmen keep promising to protect health insurance coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions. They’re lying to you, probably because it’s what they do best and also because the president has no idea how to spell “ACA,” much less describe what’s in the law.  The truth is that Trump’s entire agenda circulates around […]

Stephcast 10-13-20

White House doctor says Trump tested negative for coronavirus ‘on consecutive days’

Sean P. Conley, Trump’s doctor, said Monday that the president recently tested negative for the coronavirus on “consecutive days,” although he did not specify which days. Conley added that the negative tests were one of several factors contributing to the conclusion by Trump’s medical team that the president “is not infectious to others.” “In response […]

Two Parties Offer Dueling Views of Amy Coney Barrett as Confirmation Fight Begins

Republicans and Democrats offered sharply divergent arguments on Monday in a Supreme Court confirmation fight whose outcome is likely to steer the court to the right for years, vying to define Judge Amy Coney Barrett and frame the political stakes of President Trump’s rush to install her before he faces voters. In a marathon day […]

Johnson & Johnson pauses clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine over participant’s illness

Johnson & Johnson has paused its clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine candidate after a participant fell ill, just weeks after it announced that trials were in their final stage. A pause is not entirely unexpected in vaccine trials. When another vaccine trial was temporarily stopped last month, experts hailed the move as an example […]

Trump tells Florida rally he feels ‘powerful’ and wants to ‘kiss’ everyone after Covid-19 battle

President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail on Monday, his first since he was hospitalized for Covid-19, taking familiar hits at his Democratic rival Joe Biden and urging his supporters in the crucial battleground state to vote . At Trump’s Florida rally, the president was also cavalier about his battle with Covid-19, telling the […]

Charlie Pierce: Amy Coney Barrett’s Nomination Is the Culmination of Various Long-Term Right-Wing Projects

If the Senate Judiciary Committee were to eliminate the roundelay involving opening statements and get right to the questioning of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, I, for one, would not be sad about that. I realize they’re aimed at the greater world outside the hearing room, and I realize that the historic basis for having a […]

Stephcast 10-12-20

Poll: Lead among women fuels Biden’s 12-point edge

A huge edge among likely female voters is fueling a 12-point national lead for Democratic nominee Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday. The Post/ABC poll showed Biden leading Trump among likely voters, 54 percent to 42 percent. The lead is consistent with other national polls conducted […]

Anthony Fauci Says He Didn’t Consent To Trump Ad That Takes His Words Out Of Context

A campaign ad that appears to show Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsing President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic used a clip taken out of context and was not approved by Fauci before it aired, the doctor told media outlets Sunday. “They did this without my permission and my comments were taken out of context,” […]

Eric Trump Says Nonexistent COVID-19 Vaccine His Dad ‘Took’ Worked Really ‘Well’

Eric Trump on Sunday touted a nonexistent “vaccine” that he claimed dramatically helped his father, President Donald Trump, recover from COVID-19 after the president “worked” hard to get it developed.  The president didn’t get a vaccine, nor has he developed one, nor is it clear he’s recovered. In fact, doctors administered a steroid, an antiviral drug […]

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Hearings Begin Today. Here’s What to Watch For.

A deeply divided Senate Judiciary Committee will kick off four days of contentious confirmation hearings on Monday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, drawing battle lines that could reverberate through the election. Democrats will arrive ready to go on the offensive, portraying Judge Barrett’s nomination as an election-season power […]

Debate Commission Cancels 2nd Trump-Biden Debate After Campaign Disputes Over Covid Safety Protocols

The Commission on Presidential Debates officially canceled its second candidate forum between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, scheduled for next Thursday, October 15th. According to a statement from the CPD, the bipartisan group has scrapped next week’s town hall after Trump refused to participate after the commission insisted on holding the debate […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 10-9-20 Buzz Burbank

Stephcast 10-9-20

White House, Congress continue pressing on economic relief package but Pelosi bristles over Trump approach

The White House sent mixed signals Thursday about the direction of renewed stimulus talks, resulting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confronting Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over who speaks for the president. The developments occurred two days after President Trump ordered Mnuchin to stop negotiating with Pelosi, only to announce Thursday that talks were back on. […]

Rasping And Coughing Trump Insists He’s ‘In Great Shape’ As Voice Cracks In Crazy Rant On Hannity

President Donald Trump was hoarse throughout an extended telephone interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity on Thursday, yet insisted he was feeling great. At one point, Trump lost his voice while accusing former Vice President Joe Biden of “choking like a dog” during their debate last week. He also struggled with his voice while discussing […]

McConnell says he’s avoided the White House for months because of Covid concerns

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday he hasn’t gone to the White House since August because their approach to safety during the coronavirus pandemic “is different than mine.” Speaking at an event in Erlanger, Kentucky, McConnell, the most powerful Republican in Congress, suggested he didn’t think the Trump administration had been doing enough to […]

‘Just Grab The Bitch’: Militia Plotted To Kidnap Michigan Governor, Feds Say

A Michigan militia was plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has come under fire from President Donald Trump, according to the FBI. Defendants Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to court documents. The domestic terrorism investigation involved […]

Stephcast 10-8-20

Trump vows not to participate in virtual debate with Biden

President Donald Trump vowed Thursday not to participate in next week’s debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden after organizers announced it will take place virtually because of the president’s diagnosis of COVID-19. “I’m not going to do a virtual debate” with Biden, Trump told Fox News, moments after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the […]

Second Presidential Debate Will Go ‘Virtual,’ With Candidates in Remote Locations

The second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden will be “virtual,” with the two participants holding forth from separate remote locations, a new twist to the event added in the wake of the president being exposed to the coronavirus. The debate’s “town hall” format will remain in place, the Commission […]

5 Takeaways From The Vice Presidential Debate

Vice President Mike Pence didn’t come to the first vice presidential debate against Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) to answer questions about what’s going on right now. Since the train wreck of a presidential debate last week, the nation’s government has been in a total frenzy.  President Donald Trump was just hospitalized for several days after […]

Stephcast 10-7-20

Justice officials drove family separation policy, draft watchdog report says

Top former Justice Department officials, including U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy Rod Rosenstein, helped drive a Trump administration policy that resulted in the separation of children from their parents, a draft inspector general report shows. The “zero tolerance” policy ultimately separated nearly 3,000 children from their parents for crossing the border illegally, which […]

Pence, Harris to debate in sole VP matchup of 2020 amid heightened COVID-19 concerns – Pence agrees to Plexiglass divider

With plexiglass and more than 12 feet of distance separating them, Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic nominee Sen. Kamala Harris of California will debate in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night in the first and only one-on-one matchup between the vice presidential candidates. The showdown comes as President Donald Trump and several in his […]

Stephen Miller, top White House aide, tests positive for coronavirus

Stephen Miller, a senior policy aide to President Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus, he said in a statement on Tuesday. “Today, I tested positive for COVID-19 and am in quarantine,” said Miller, who has been one of the chief architects of Trump’s immigration policies. He added he has been working remotely for the last […]

Trump chaotically reverses course on coronavirus relief talks, dangles new $1,200 stimulus checks

President Donald Trump reversed course Tuesday night and urged Congress to approve a series of coronavirus relief measures that he would sign, including a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks for Americans. Earlier in the day, he had halted talks between top Democrats and Republicans until “after I win” the election, which appeared to have […]

Bob Cesca: Trump’s Chernobyl moment… Phony patriotism can’t defeat this virus

There are so many scenes in Craig Mazin’s brilliant HBO miniseries “Chernobyl” that remind me of what’s happened here and now, in the United States, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Obviously, there are myriad similarities between the Soviet Union’s deceptive response to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the White House’s deceptive response to COVID-19 — principally, Donald […]

Stephcast 10-6-20

Kamala Harris And Mike Pence To Be Separated By Plexiglass During Tomorrow’s Debate

Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris will be separated by a plexiglass barrier during their debate on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter said, in an effort to lower the risk of coronavirus transmission. The debate, the only one scheduled between the vice presidential candidates, is scheduled for Salt Lake City, […]

Biden says he’s not surprised Trump contracted the coronavirus

Joe Biden said Monday that he wasn’t surprised that President Donald Trump contracted Covid-19 because the president hasn’t followed health experts’ guidelines to wear a mask and social distance. “Quite frankly, I wasn’t surprised,” the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee said during an NBC News town hall with host Lester Holt in Miami. Read the rest […]

Trump returns to White House after leaving hospital, sheds mask for photo opportunity

President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday evening after being treated for Covid-19 for three days at Walter Reed Medical Center — and immediately took off his mask to pose for pictures before walking in. The highly choreographed moment on the Truman Balcony came hours after Trump suggested online that the disease […]

CNN Poll: Biden expands lead over Trump after contentious debate and President’s Covid diagnosis

Joe Biden’s advantage over President Donald Trump has expanded and the former vice president now holds his widest lead of the cycle with less than a month remaining before Election Day, according to a new nationwide CNN Poll conducted by SSRS. Among likely voters, 57% say they back Biden and 41% Trump in the poll […]

Charlie Pierce: Trump’s Little Sunday Road Trip Is Another Failure of His Ego

This was unprecedented in the long history of the human ego. Quarantined because he has a serious case of a deadly and highly contagious disease, the president* of the United States on Sunday decided to throw himself a parade. So he arranged to be locked in an airtight vehicle with a couple of sacrificial lambs […]

Stephcast 10-5-20

New Jersey Health Officials Say Hundreds Of Trump Fundraiser Guests Exposed To COVID-19

New Jersey health officials said Sunday that at least 206 guests may have been exposed to COVID-19 at President Donald Trump’s campaign fundraiser on Thursday, just hours before he announced his positive test result. The White House gave state officials the names of 206 people who attended the high-dollar event at the Trump National Golf […]

Pence and Harris prep for a debate with suddenly higher stakes

Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris are expected to take the debate stage Wednesday night against an extraordinary backdrop that has raised the stakes of an event that for decades has been a routine, inconsequential fixture of presidential elections. No vice president has debated while the president is known to be sick and […]

Doctors say Trump on steroid therapy, health improving after brief ‘episodes’

President Donald Trump’s medical team said Sunday that Trump’s condition was improving after multiple “episodes” over the weekend while also disclosing that Trump was placed on a steroid therapy typically used in more severe Covid-19 cases. The update came as Trump sought to portray himself as unaffected by the deadly disease, posting photos of himself […]

Trump criticized by medical experts after leaving hospital to drive by supporters

President Donald Trump on Sunday briefly left his hospital room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he is being treated for Covid-19, to drive past a group of supporters, a move medical experts and Democrats swiftly criticized as “insanity.” The president posted a video to his Twitter account around 5:15 p.m. announcing that […]

Eric Boehlert: Trump has Covid-19… How Fox News infected America

News that Trump and first lady Melania have tested positive for the coronavirus means our national health emergency has taken an extraordinary turn. “If he becomes sick, it could raise questions about whether he should remain on the ballot at all,” the New York Times reported early Friday morning. After months of purposefully downplaying the […]

The Rude Pundit: Donald Trump Is Sick and I Really Wish I Could Feel Good About That

You’re gonna hear from a lot of people today imploring you to offer sympathy, thoughts, and prayers to President Donald Trump and Christmas-hating wife Melania since they have tested positive for COVID-19. You’re gonna hear how Democrats should show how above politics we are when it comes to the human pain of our opponents. And […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 10-2-20 Laura Flanders

Stephcast 10-2-20

Stock Shares, Oil Prices Sink After Trump Tests Positive For Virus

U.S. stock futures and Asian shares fell Friday after President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the new coronavirus. The future contracts for both the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials lost 1.9%. Oil prices also slipped. Trump tweeted news of his test results just hours after the […]

Hope Hicks Tests Positive For Coronavirus After Traveling With Trump

Hope Hicks, a counselor and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, has tested positive for COVID-19, the president said Thursday night. Hicks, one of Trump’s closest and most trusted aides, traveled on Air Force One with the president to Cleveland for Tuesday’s presidential debate and to Minnesota for a rally on Wednesday, Bloomberg said. She […]

House passes Democratic pandemic relief measure as bipartisan talks continue

The House of Representatives passed a $2.2 trillion Covid-19 relief bill Thursday night as negotiations between the administration and Democrats have failed to yield a bipartisan deal and the time to pass new relief measures ahead of November’s election ticks away. The measure passed 214-207. No Republicans supported it and 18 Democrats voted against it. […]

Donald Trump, first lady test positive for Covid-19

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, he announced on Twitter early Friday. “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” Trump, 74, tweeted. Trump’s doctor, Sean Conley, said, “The President and First Lady […]

Stephcast 10-1-20

Stephcast 9-30-20

New York City’s daily positivity rate tops 3% amid ‘alarming increase’ in COVID-19 cases

New York City reported its highest daily positivity rate since June on Tuesday, the same day elementary schools started welcoming students back in person and a day before restaurants began indoor dining. The number — 3.25% — has been driven by rising cases in nine neighborhoods in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, officials said. […]

Chaos of 1st presidential debate prompts reactions of dismay, disappointment

Viewers from across the country let out their frustrations on social media while watching the first presidential debate as the face-off between President Trump and former Vice President Biden was marked by interruptions, name-calling and shouting from both candidates and moderator Chris Wallace. Many Twitter users were critical of Wallace for his moderating skills and […]

Trump Refuses To Condemn White Supremacists — Tells Proud Boys To ‘Stand By’

President Donald Trump refused to condemn white supremacist violence on Tuesday night, insisting without evidence that violence is a left-wing problem.  During the first presidential debate, moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News asked Trump if he was willing to condemn “white supremacists and militia groups” and tell them to “stand down” in places like Kenosha, […]

‘Will you shut up, man?’: Debate devolves to name-calling as Trump derails with interruptions

The first presidential debate Tuesday devolved into name-calling, shouting and insults as President Donald Trump derailed the discussion with constant interruptions, unfettered by a moderator who struggled to keep calm. Trump talked constantly through the 90-minute debate, sometimes incoherently and other times rattling off unfounded and baseless attacks against Democrat Joe Biden while refusing to […]

Bob Cesca: Trump’s resort business is collapsing — is that why he pushed to reopen the economy?

For the past several decades, Donald Trump has been widely regarded as a great big phony. Everything about him is a mirage. He steals credit for the accomplishments of others, especially his predecessor, Barack Obama. His business model is all about slapping his goofy name on properties built by others. Even his outward appearance is […]

Stephcast 9-29-20

House Democrats unveil new $2.2T proposal for virus aid

House Democrats unveiled a scaled-back $2.2 trillion aid measure Monday in an attempt to boost long-stalled talks on COVID-19 relief, though there was no sign of progress in continuing negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The latest Democratic measure would revive a $600-per-week pandemic jobless benefit and send a second […]

White House Reportedly Pressured CDC to Downplay Risks of Reopening Schools to Align With Trump’s Re-Election Agenda

According to a report by the New York Times, multiple White House staffers spent this summer pressuring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to relax its recommendations about restarting schools in the fall and succeeded in getting several key documents and communications edited, because President Donald Trump wanted schools reopened before the election. […]

Trump’s Tax Debt Could Make Him A National Security Risk, Ethics Experts Say

Revelations that President Donald Trump is personally liable for more than $400 million in debt are casting a shadow over his presidency that ethics experts say raises national security concerns he could be manipulated to sway U.S. policy by organizations or individuals he’s indebted to. New scrutiny of Trump, who claims great success as a […]

Coronavirus has now killed 1 million people around the world

More than 1 million people have died from Covid-19 since the coronavirus was first identified late last year in China, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. With more than 200,000 deaths, U.S. continues to lead the global death toll, followed by Brazil at 142,000 and India at 95,500, the tally on Monday showed. […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 9-28-20 Debby Boone

Charlie Pierce: Trump’s Tax Returns Have Exposed Him as a Massive Failure Who Thrived in the Age of Plutocracy

By happy accident, the latest bombshell from The New York Times dropped one day after some nice folks in New York sent along a copy of Without Compromise, a collection of pieces written for the late, lamented Village Voice by the late (and equally lamented) Wayne Barrett, who wrote that newspaper’s “Runnin’ Scared” column for […]

Stephcast 9-28-20

Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale hospitalized after threatening to harm himself: Police

President Trump‘s former 2020 campaign manager and current campaign senior advisor, Brad Parscale, was taken into custody Sunday evening by Fort Lauderdale Police after allegedly threatening to harm himself at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ABC News has confirmed. According to a public information officer with the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department, a 911 call […]

Amy Coney Barrett Confirmation Hearings To Begin Oct. 12, Sen. Lindsey Graham Says

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Saturday that confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett are scheduled to begin Oct. 12. “That’d be 16 days from nomination,” Graham told Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, adding that confirmation hearings for 24 of the 42 Supreme Court justices were held within 16 days of their […]

Biden Campaign Mocks Trump’s Drug Test Puffery: He Can ‘Have At It’

Joe Biden’s campaign showered Donald Trump with mockery on Sunday after the president again demanded that his presidential opponent take a drug test before their first debate on Tuesday. Trump baselessly suggested, first in a Sunday morning tweet and then later during a press conference, that Biden was taking performance enhancing drugs. Trump has been making similar […]

Trump lashes out at New York Times report alleging years of tax avoidance

The New York Times obtained two decades of President Donald Trump’s tax information, reporting Sunday that the president paid only $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency and again during his first year in office. The Times, which said it plans to publish additional stories based on the documents, reported that […]

Eric Boehlert: Trump trying to steal the election is the only campaign story that matters

Faced with an authoritarian ruler who proudly announced he has no intention of abiding the election outcome, the New York Times faced an editorial choice this week — how big to play the story? How much attention should the Times give to one of the most un-democratic things any sitting U.S. president has every said […]

The Rude Pundit: If Trump Was Telling the Truth About Voter Fraud, People Would Be Arrested (But He’s Not)

Donald Trump is currently the president of the United States, whether we like it or not. And that’s apparently his plan for the 2020 election, as he savagely sows doubt about the validity of the vote for the presidency. He keeps speaking in desperate but vague tones, with his accusations now having reached  Trumpian shorthand […]

Stephcast 9-25-20

Trump booed while visiting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s casket at Supreme Court

President Donald Trump was loudly booed by members of the public on Thursday while visiting the casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has been lying in repose outside the Supreme Court. Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, stood behind the court’s massive columns at the top of the court steps as people from […]

2 vehicles hit protesters in Los Angeles as Breonna Taylor protests continue throughout US

A pickup truck hit a protester Thursday night in Hollywood, California, and moments later a second vehicle hit a car participating in the same protest as it tried to leave the area, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The “largely peaceful” group of protesters began marching around 7 p.m. local time with only isolated […]

Sexy Liberal Virtual Tour #4 is THIS SATURDAY!!

Stephanie Miller, John Fugelsang, Hal Sparks and Frangela…..the Sexy Liberal All Stars are comin’ back with ALL NEW and fully charged doses of hilarious insanity. And you don’t even need to mail in a ballot!! The perfect event for the run-up to the election….It’s ALL NEW…it’s badass…it’s the Sexy Liberal Virtual Tour #4!! Get your […]

Trump Announces Phony New Health Care ‘Plan’

President Donald Trump really, really wants to fool voters into thinking he has a plan to make the health care system great again. But he really, really doesn’t. In Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday, Trump signed executive orders he claims address two of the biggest concerns Americans have about the health care system: coverage for […]

Adam Schiff: Why major democracy reforms are necessary – Los Angeles Times

Having wrested hard-won independence from a monarch, the founders of our nation sought to form a new union where executive power was constrained by other branches of government. They did so knowing that men are not angels, and believing that through a system of checks and balances that set “ambition against ambition,” a fledgling democracy […]

Stephcast 9-24-20

Fauci Slaps Down Rand Paul’s Idiotic Coronavirus Claims: ‘You’re Not Listening’

Dr. Anthony Fauci slapped down Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a former ophthalmologist with dubious qualifications, for “repeatedly” misrepresenting coronavirus data to support politically motivated attacks during a Senate hearing Wednesday. When Paul asked why Fauci is a “big fan” of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo despite the state having one of the world’s worst death […]

Public mourns Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she lies in repose at Supreme Court

Three days of public mourning for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of equality and pioneer of women’s rights, began Wednesday when her casket arrived at the Supreme Court for a dramatic procession up the steps that were lined by more than a hundred of her former law clerks.   Her casket was placed on […]

Trump Refuses To Commit To A Peaceful Transfer Of Power Post-Election

President Donald Trump declined to say if he would accept the election results in November. Asked at a press conference Wednesday if he would “commit to a peaceful transferal of power” if he lost the election, Trump said: “Well, we’re gonna have to see what happens.” The president then tried, again, to delegitimize mail-in voting, […]

No Cops Charged With Murder In The Killing Of Breonna Taylor

A grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, has indicted Detective Brett Hankison in the case of the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, charging him with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. No charges were filed against Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove, the other two police officers who were at the scene the night Taylor was […]

Stephcast 9-23-20

Romney supports election-year Senate vote on Trump’s Supreme Court nominee

Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, announced Tuesday that he will support a vote on his Supreme Court nominee this year — which could happen before the Nov. 3 presidential election. “The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate and the Senate the authority to provide advice and […]

As nation surpasses 200,000 deaths, Trump keeps downplaying coronavirus

President Donald Trump this week continued to minimize the severity of the coronavirus pandemic even as the United States surpassed the grim milestone of 200,000 reported deaths related to COVID-19. Months after admitting to intentionally “playing it down” in order to avoid “panic,” Trump has bucked public health experts’ warnings about the virus at an […]

Trump To Announce His Supreme Court Nominee On Saturday

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the announcement of his nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will likely be made at 5 p.m. EDT on Saturday. “We’re getting very close to having a final decision made,” Trump told reporters at the White House. He said the announcement will be “I […]

Cindy McCain endorses Biden for president in rebuke of Trump

Cindy McCain on Tuesday endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president, a stunning rebuke of President Donald Trump by the widow of the GOP’s 2008 nominee. Trump has had a fraught relationship with members of John McCain’s family since he disparaged the Arizona senator during his 2016 campaign. But the McCains have stopped short of […]

Bob Cesca: How bad will it get if Trump wins a second term? Let me count the ways

It’s been 160 years, almost to the day, since the last time American voters faced an election with consequences as grievous as this one. The 2020 contest is a referendum on Donald Trump’s fascist idiocracy and the rise of a tyrannical Putin-style kleptocracy. Here. In our time. This harrowing assessment includes the rise of an […]

Stephcast 9-22-20

Biden refuses to say whether he’d expand the Supreme Court if he wins

Joe Biden would not say whether he opposes the mounting calls in his party to add more members to the U.S. Supreme Court in retaliation for Republicans filling a vacancy right before the presidential election. Biden told a local Wisconsin TV station Monday that he wants to keep the focus on President Donald Trump and […]

‘We’ve Got The Votes’: Lindsey Graham Says Senate Will Fill Ginsburg’s Seat Before Election

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the powerful chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Monday that the Republican Party has the votes to confirm Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement on the Supreme Court before the Nov. 3 election. “They tried to destroy Brett Kavanaugh so they could fill the seat,” Graham said Monday on Fox News, lambasting […]

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Will Be First Woman Ever To Lie In State At U.S. Capitol

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at 87, will be the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, allowing mourners to come pay tribute to the trailblazing feminist litigator. After civil rights legend Rosa Parks died in 2005, she lay in honor at the Capitol — a distinction given to […]

CDC Reverses Guidelines Stating The Coronavirus Is Airborne Virus, Further Undermining Its Credibility

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reversed an update made to its coronavirus guidance that stated COVID-19 is an airborne virus. The health agency said that update, posted to its website on Friday, was made in error. “A draft version of proposed changes to these recommendations was posted in error to the agency’s official website,” the […]

Stephcast 9-21-20

The 6 Republican senators who will decide the Supreme Court fight

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on Friday kicked off what is sure to be the most consequential Supreme Court confirmation fight in decades — and puts a spotlight on the handful of senators whose votes will determine the future of the court. The universe of potential swing votes in the Senate is surprisingly small considering how […]

Pelosi says Democrats will ‘use every arrow in our quiver’ to block Trump’s Supreme Court nominee

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid tribute to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sunday, calling her a “powerful, brilliant brain on the court” in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” while refusing to take another impeachment inquiry off the table in order to block President Donald Trump’s upcoming nominee to the Supreme Court. “We have […]

Republicans are usually more fired up over the Supreme Court. Now, polls say Democrats are.

For decades, Republicans have galvanized voters around reshaping the Supreme Court, and they have benefited from it at the ballot box. But in a stark reversal, polls indicate that Democrats have the edge this year. National and battleground state surveys taken before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday showed that voters trust Joe Biden more […]

Eric Boehlert: The press is desperate for a horse race

On Sunday, The New York Times released fresh polling data from four swing states. The results were so good for Democrat Joe Biden that his campaign may have allowed itself a cautious smile or two — Biden had huge lead in Minnesota, and was ahead in Wisconsin, Nevada, and New Hampshire. Accompanying the polling article, […]

The Rude Pundit: Blaming 2016 Voters for the Supreme Court Is Worthless

Last night, right after I checked my phone after a joyful happy hour with friends on a rooftop bar, my buzz disappeared and I went immediately from chilled out to furnace-on-full-blast rage and gut-churning sadness about the death of Supreme Court Justice and genuine giant of American jurisprudence Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I thought about how […]

McConnell: I will fill Ginsburg’s seat with Trump’s nominee. Schumer says don’t dare.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Friday night that he intends to allow for a floor vote in the Senate to confirm a new nominee made by President Donald Trump to replace the Supreme Court vacancy left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected […]

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice who was as pioneering as she was brash, died Friday, the high court said. She was 87. The court said Ginsburg, a lifelong champion of women’s rights and a fierce advocate for gender equality, died “surrounded by her family at her home in Washington, D.C., due to complications […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 9-18-20 Adam Smyer

Stephcast 9-18-20

Ex-Pence aide blasts Trump over Covid response, says she’ll vote for Biden

In an ad released on Thursday, a former senior adviser on the White House coronavirus task force lambasted President Donald Trump as a stonewalling, capricious leader with more concern for his reelection than the pandemic, and said she would be voting for his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, in November. Olivia Troye, who worked as an […]

Trump administration scrapped plan to send every American a mask in April, email shows

The White House scrapped an effort to send hundreds of millions of cloth masks to every U.S. household in April, choosing instead to distribute the masks to nonprofit organizations and state and federal agencies, according to an internal email from a senior Trump administration official obtained by NBC News. A spokesperson for the Department of […]

Federal judge blocks Postal Service changes that slowed mail

A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide, calling them “a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service” before the November election. Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima, Washington, said he was issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction sought by 14 states that sued the Trump administration […]

At CNN Town Hall, Biden Blasts Trump’s ‘Criminal’ Response To Coronavirus

Joe Biden on Thursday went after President Donald Trump again and again over his handling of COVID-19, calling Trump’s downplaying of the pandemic “criminal” and his administration “totally irresponsible.” “You’ve got to level with the American people — shoot from the shoulder. There’s not been a time they’ve not been able to step up. The […]

Stephcast 9-17-20

Biden: ‘I trust vaccines. I trust scientists. But I don’t trust Donald Trump’

Former Vice President Joe Biden expressed his hope that the development and distribution of a vaccine for COVID-19 is free from political influence on Wednesday, asserting that while he places his trust in scientists, he cannot say the same for President Donald Trump. “Let me be clear. I trust vaccines. I trust scientists. But I […]

Top HHS official takes leave of absence after Facebook rant about CDC conspiracies

The top spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services is taking a leave of absence, the agency announced Wednesday, days after he promoted dangerous conspiracy theories during a Facebook Live video. In the video, first reported by The New York Times, Michael Caputo, HHS’ assistant secretary for public affairs, charged that scientists at […]

Barr blasts his own DOJ prosecutors, equates them to preschoolers and ‘headhunters’

In scathing remarks against his own staff, Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday that the Justice Department has recently acted “more like a trade association for federal prosecutors than the administrator of a fair system of justice” and equated some prosecutors to preschoolers and “headhunters.” Too much deference is given to career prosecutors, rather than […]

Trump contradicts CDC director on Covid-19 vaccines after Biden slams president’s promises

President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that a Covid-19 vaccinecould be ready for distribution as early as mid-October — hours after the head of the CDC testified it likely wouldn’t be ready until the end of the year and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden voiced concerns he was putting politics ahead of safety. “We’re all set […]

Stephcast 9-16-20

5 key takeaways from President Donald Trump’s ABC town hall in Pennsylvania

There are less than 60 days until many voters head to the polls to cast ballots for President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden — but some voters are still not committed to either candidate. In an ABC News town hall Tuesday, the president faced questions from some of those voters living in […]

Biden Calls Trump a ‘Fool’ for Speculating He’s Taking Performance-Enhancing Drugs

President Donald Trump has recently taken to calling for himself and Joe Biden to be drug-tested before they debate because Trump thinks that Biden is on some kind of performance-enhancing drug. Trump used the same tactics against Hillary Clinton four years ago, and has been hammering away at it — saying on Fox News Tuesday morning […]

Trump fumbles during tough encounter with undecided voters

President Donald Trump faced life outside his own political bubble on Tuesday, where his self-congratulation, buck passing and audacious falsehoods conspicuously failed to meet the moment when he was confronted by undecided voters. Trump appeared at an ABC News town hall in Philadelphia, and peppered a socially distanced audience with the rhetoric and talking points […]

Trump tells town hall he ‘up-played’ the coronavirus pandemic despite recordings saying he downplayed it

President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday to have “up-played” the threat of coronavirus early in the pandemic, contradicting his own remarks to the journalist Bob Woodward that he wanted to minimize the disease to avoid panic. Speaking at an ABC News town hall moderated by George Stephanopoulos, Trump rebutted a student who asked why he […]

Bob Cesca: Trump thinks he gets to be president of just the Republican states… But they’re a total mess

Donald Trump appears to be seceding from the Union, which is bizarre given his status as the president of it. Make no mistake: Trump appears to be deliberately marginalizing himself by repeatedly insisting that he’s not responsible for certain states and cities, despite technically being the president of the entire United States. We’ve all heard […]

Stephcast 9-15-20

City of Louisville reaches settlement with Breonna Taylor’s family

The city of Louisville, Kentucky, has reached a settlement with Breonna Taylor’s family six months after she was killed in her homeduring a police drug raid. A source familiar with the details of the settlement told NBC News the agreement is in the millions of dollars and will include a list of police reforms that […]

‘Nothing more could have been done’: Trump’s final phone call to Woodward

On August 14, the coronavirus pandemic was on fire in the US. More than 168,000 Americans had died, with more than 1,300 deaths that day alone. But when President Donald Trump called legendary journalist Bob Woodward, it was to find out one thing: He had recently learned that Woodward’s new book “Rage” was done and […]

Trump alma mater says Biden plan would lead to more economic growth

Joe Biden’s economic proposals would create a faster growing economy, higher wages for American workers and reduce the debt compared to where the U.S. is headed under President Donald Trump, according to new analysis from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.   That conclusion could give a further boost to the Democratic presidential candidate, who […]

Health Official Out To Manipulate CDC Reports Has Deep Russian Ties

The Health and Human Services official who has been pressuring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change COVID-19 reports to reflect well on President Donald Trump has troubling Kremlin ties stretching for years. Politico was the first to report last week that HHS Assistant Secretary Michael Caputo has been orchestrating a pressure campaign on the […]

Trump Has Head-Scratching Solution For California Wildfires : ‘It Will Start Getting Cooler’

President Donald Trump touched down in California on Monday to survey the wildfire damage and immediately launched into his usual talking points about poor forest management while denying the role of climate change.  Trump arrived in Sacramento as more than two dozen major wildfires burned across the state. More than 2 million acres in the […]

Charlie Pierce: Scientists at These Agencies Should Stage a Walkout

The most recent outrage against good government and common sense involves the technique most popular down at Camp Runamuck. If it’s not installing a useful tool at the U.S. Postal Service, it’s making sure a hopeless hack is in a position to barber the reports on the pandemic at the Centers for Disease Control. And […]

Stephcast 9-14-20

Stephanie Miller, Hugh Jackman, Janelle Monáe, John Oliver, Regina King, Laverne Cox appear in LGBTQ Entertainment Critics awards special

Hugh Jackman, Janelle Monáe, Regina King, Pose sensation and fashion trailblazer Billy Porter, groundbreaking trans actress Laverne Cox, Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy and vaunted political satirist John Oliver are among the slew of actors, comics and performers lending cheer to GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ inaugural Dorians TV Toast 2020 on Revry, […]

Fox News just proved why it shouldn’t be hosting first debate

Don’t reward awful behavior Days after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced its misguided decision to reward Fox News’ Chris Wallace with hosting duties for the first debate between Trump and Joe Biden this month, the GOP network proved once again why it has no business taking its place alongside legitimate news organizations. The debate […]

The President Is Our Mass Murderer

Sometimes, oh, my sweet, weary people of Donald Trump’s America, it feels like we’re sailing in skiffs on a sea of shit and some of us believe we can get across the shit sea to shore and some of us believe that we’re gonna sink but we all know we’re damned to keep sailing as […]

Trump brags about Bill Barr’s DOJ killing a man: ‘That’s the way it has to be’

President Donald Trump praised the killing of Michael Forest Reinoehl by a Department of Justice fugitive task force. Hew was wanted for the fatal shooting of Aaron “Jay” Danielson, who was a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer, which had organized a Trump caravan through Portland. Reinoehl had claimed the shooting was in self-defense.

‘Biden didn’t stop the black plague’: GOP chair Ronna Romney humiliated trying to blame Biden for Trump’s COVID failure

COVID-19 is so-named because it first surfaced on the planet in 2019. It’s something that Republicans seem to be struggling to understand.  It was just a few months ago that senior White House counselor Kellyanne Conway claimed it wasn’t the first COVID, assuming that the 19 meant there were 18 versions of the virus before this […]

Nora Dannehy, Connecticut prosecutor who was top aide to John Durham’s Trump-Russia investigation, resigns amid concern about pressure from Attorney General William Barr

Federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy, a top aide to U.S. Attorney John H. Durham in his Russia investigation, has quietly resigned – at least partly out of concern that the investigative team is being pressed for political reasons to produce a report before its work is done, colleagues said.

Health Official Reportedly Pressured CDC To Alter COVID-19 Info To Back President

Health Department public affairs and former Trump campaign official Michael Caputo called pressure on scientists a defense against the “deep state.”

SM Happy Hour Videocast 9-11-20 David Ferguson

Stephcast 9-11-20

Senate Votes 52-47 to Block McConnell’s $500 Billion Coronavirus Stimulus

The Senate on Thursday voted 52-47 to block a $500 billion stimulus package proposed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), likely ending hopes that such a deal might pass before the November election. “My home state just passed a sad milestone yesterday,” McConnell said in a statement Thursday morning in which he called on Democrats […]

‘I saved his a–‘: Trump boasted that he protected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder, Woodward’s new book says

President Donald Trump bragged that he protected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after the assassination and dismembering of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. “I saved his ass,” Trump had said amid the US outcry over Khashoggi’s killing, according to Bob Woodward’s new book. “I was able to get Congress to […]

Russian hackers who disrupted 2016 election targeting political parties again, Microsoft says

Russian military spies who hacked and leaked Democratic emails to inject chaos into the 2016 presidential election are active again, targeting political parties, advocacy groups and consultants, Microsoft announced Thursday. China and Iran are also attempting to penetrate the Microsoft email accounts of people affiliated with the political campaigns, though the efforts against the campaigns […]

Stephcat 9-10-20

Whistle-Blower: Homeland Security Leaders Downplayed Threats From Russia and White Supremacists

The former head of the Homeland Security Department’s intelligence division has accused three senior leaders of warping the agency around President Trump’s rhetoric.

Trump adds 20 names to Supreme Court shortlist, including Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton

President Donald Trump on Wednesday added 20 names to his list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court and called on his Democratic rival Joe Biden to do the same, renewing a tactic he first employed during his last presidential campaign.  Among the nearly two dozen additions to the list are GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of […]

Emails show HHS official trying to muzzle Fauci

Paul Alexander, a Trump appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services, has been trying to prevent Anthony Fauci from talking about children wearing masks and getting COVID-19 tests, according to emails obtained by Politico. Emails that Alexander sent to staff at the National Institutes of Health show that he has been trying to […]

‘Play it down’: Trump admits to concealing the true threat of coronavirus in new Woodward book

Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump admitted he knew weeks before the first confirmed US coronavirus death that the virus was dangerous, airborne, highly contagious and “more deadly than even your strenuous flus,” and that he repeatedly played it down publicly, according to legendary journalist Bob Woodward in his new book “Rage.” “This is deadly […]

Stephcast 9-9-20

Trump Reportedly Considering Investing $100 Million of His Own Money in Cash-Strapped Campaign

President Donald Trump has reportedly been weighing whether to invest up to $100 million of his own money in his 2020 reelection campaign. Trump “has talked about the idea with multiple people, though he hasn’t yet committed to any self-funding,” according to a Tuesday report from Bloomberg.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Is Now Linked to More Than 250,000 Coronavirus Cases

The inevitable fallout from last month’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, an annual event that packed nearly 500,000 people into a small town in South Dakota, is becoming clear, and the emerging picture is grim.  According to a new study, which tracked anonymized cellphone data from the rally, over 250,000 coronavirus cases have now been tied to […]

Trump Campaign Paying to Repair Damages to White House Lawn, Just-Renovated Rose Garden After RNC Campaign Speeches

The Republican National Committee’s unprecedented — and possibly illegal — use of the White House for key events in last month’s convention has left Donald Trump’s campaign with unexpected costs after RNC attendees and heavy equipment damaged both the South Lawn and the newly-renovated Rose Garden. According to the Washington Post, the convention exacted a noticeable […]

Justice Department wants to defend Trump in E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit

(CNN) — The US Justice Department, in an extraordinary move on Tuesday, asked to take over the defense of President Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by E. Jean Carroll, a woman who has accused Trump of sexual assault. While the alleged sexual assault occurred long before Trump became President, the Justice Department argued that it […]

Stephcast 9-8-20

In new book, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen describes alleged episodes of racism and says president likes how Putin runs Russia

President Trump’s longtime lawyer and personal fixer, Michael Cohen, alleges in a new book that Trump made “overt and covert attempts to get Russia to interfere in the 2016 election” and that the future commander in chief was also well aware of Cohen’s hush-money payoff to adult-film star Stormy Daniels during that campaign.

Louis DeJoy Reportedly Pressured Former Employees To Donate To GOP, Then Reimbursed Them

“When we got our bonuses, let’s just say they were bigger, they exceeded expectations,” a former employee told The Washington Post.

Trump Campaign Official Mocked Joe Biden For Visiting Graves Of Late Family Members

While the president was out golfing, one of his campaign advisers made fun of the Democratic nominee for paying his respects after church on Sunday.

Jeffrey Goldberg’s Atlantic Piece Shows the Difference Between Battlefield and Political Courage

The most infuriating part of the soon-to-be-legendary story is what it says about the men who continued to serve this president*.

How Trump’s Billion-Dollar Campaign Lost Its Cash Advantage

Five months ago, President Trump’s re-election campaign had a huge financial edge over Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s. The Times conducted an extensive review of how the Trump team spent lavishly to show how that advantage evaporated.

SM Happy Hour Videocast 9-4-20 (Vintage) Best Friends Episode

StephCast – 9-4-20

Biden, in Kenosha, vows that America will address racism and ‘original sin’ of slavery

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden thrust his campaign into the roiling national debate over police violence and racial justice on Thursday as he traveled to Kenosha, Wis., and pointedly embraced the nation’s racial reckoning, vowing improvements if elected president. During an emotional meeting held in a church not far from looted downtown buildings, Biden made […]

Fauci Warns 7 States To Take Extra Holiday Precautions Against COVID-19 Surge

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is getting the word out to Americans — especially those in seven central states — to be extra vigilant over the holiday weekend amid concerns about a spike in COVID-19 cases. He warned that carelessness about the coronavirus could trigger a surge, similar to what happened after the Memorial Day […]

Trump Reportedly Referred To American War Dead As ‘Losers’ And ‘Suckers’

President Donald Trump, who has been criticized in the past for making disparaging remarks about veterans and military families, reportedly referred to American service members who’d died in World War I as “losers” and “suckers” in conversations with his staff. The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, citing multiple anonymous sources who had firsthand knowledge of the conversations, reported Thursday […]

StephCast – 9-3-20

StephCast – 9-2-20

There’s a legitimate way to end coronavirus vaccine trials early, Fauci says

A COVID-19 vaccine could be available earlier than expected if ongoing clinical trials produce overwhelmingly positive results, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official, in an interview Tuesday with KHN. Although two ongoing clinical trials of 30,000 volunteers are expected to conclude by the end of the year, Fauci said an independent […]

Trump Raises Eyebrows With Tweet Declaring He Did Not Have ‘a Series of Mini-Strokes’

President Donald Trump posted a baffling tweet on Tuesday declaring that he has not had a series of “mini-strokes”— and had the White House physician release a statement backing up his claim, NBC News reports. “It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favorite President, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Center, having suffered […]

Trump Returns To Fox News To Make 3 More Wildly Crazy Claims And Accusations

Fox News aired the second part of President Donald Trump’s lengthy interview with Laura Ingraham on Tuesday and it was nearly as wild as the first one.  On Monday, Trump claimed “shadow” people were controlling former Vice President Joe Biden. He said the city of Portland, Oregon had been burning for decades (untrue). And he made […]

In Kenosha, Trump blames ‘political violence’ on ‘radical ideology’

President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured the site of a building that burned during the protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and met with local law enforcement officials, a trip meant to underscore his re-election argument that America is under a threat of being overtaken by violent mobs. “To stop the political violence, we must also confront […]

Bob Cesca: We just passed 6 million cases, and it didn’t have to be like this — if we’d had a leader

The United States this week surpassed 6 million cases of COVID-19, the most in the world. Even when measuring relative to population, America’s standing is dismal and depressing. We’re currently ranked 10th in the world with 18,675 cases per million people, and growing by 30-50,000 new cases every day. As I begin to write this essay, midday on […]

StephCast 9-1-20

Pence was on standby to ‘take over’ during Trump’s unannounced Walter Reed visit, new book reports

Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby to temporarily assume the powers of the presidency during President Donald Trump’s unannounced visit to Walter Reed hospital in November 2019, according to a copy of New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt’s forthcoming book obtained by CNN. Trump had undergone a “quick exam and labs” as part […]

Trump alleges Biden controlled by people in ‘dark shadows’

President Donald Trump alleged unnamed people in “dark shadows” are controlling Democratic nominee Joe Biden in an interview with Laura Ingraham that aired Monday night on Fox News. In discussing what he characterized as anarchists and thugs terrorizing American cities, Trump said, “People that you’ve never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows” […]

Charlie Pierce: Joe Biden Wants to Know If We’re Willing to Rid Ourselves of Donald Trump’s Poison

Thus did Joe Biden bring forward the only question that really matters in this election on Monday in a speech from a suburb of Pittsburgh. It was a good, thwacking indictment of a criminal and incompetent presidency*. It got Biden out in public again, which needed to happen. And if all he did was ask […]

StephCast 8-31-20

Trump Set To Visit Kenosha Today As Turmoil Over Jacob Blake Shooting Continues

President Donald Trump defended his decision to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, despite calls from local leaders that he stay away from the state amid fears that the trip will only inflame tensions in the city.  The president said Monday that he would go to the region, even […]

Trump’s Intel Chief Ends Election Security Briefings To Congress – Schiff and Pelosi are Livid

The nation’s top intelligence official has informed Congress that his office will no longer give in-person election security briefings on Capitol Hill, a move that raised concern among lawmakers Saturday about the public’s right to know about foreign interference in the upcoming presidential election. President Donald Trump said National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe made the […]

U.S. tops 6 million coronavirus cases as nation continues to struggle with pandemic

The U.S. has surpassed 6 million coronavirus cases as the country struggles to reopen schools and rebuild its economy as the pandemic rages with no end in sight. The number of coronavirus cases topped 6 million Sunday, according to NBC News data collected from health departments nationwide. The country has recorded more than 183,000 deaths […]

‘Fanning the flames of hate’: Biden slams Trump for ‘encouraging violence’ in Portland

Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, blasted President Donald Trump as having “recklessly” encouraged violence after a man died following clashes Saturday in Portland, Oregon, between people attending a pro-Trump vehicle rally and Black Lives Matter protesters. In a long statement Sunday afternoon, Biden called “the deadly violence” in Portland “unacceptable” and said he condemns […]

Harry Litman: New York’s investigations into all things Trump may be the best bet for holding him accountable

President Trump faces incoming fire from three different directions in his native New York, and his odds of escaping unscathed look long. We’ve known for a while about the Manhattan district attorney’s dogged pursuit of the president’s tax records. That odyssey is poised to end soon and probably successfully for the D.A., at least in […]

The Rude Pundit: RNC Night 4… “I Alone Can F*** It All Up”

One of President Donald Trump’s ultimate tells is the phrase “as you know.” Whenever Trump says something and follows it with “as you know,” it’s got one of two purposes. The first is flattery, as in, “I know that you are privy to this incredible insight that I have, too.” The second is conspiratorial, making […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 8-28-20 Katie Hill

Stephcast 8-28-20

Homicide charges announced against Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of killing 2 at Kenosha protests

A 17-year-old accused of killing two protesters and injuring another with an AR-15-style rifle in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night has been charged as an adult with two counts of first degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide. The teen, Kyle Rittenhouse, also faces charges of recklessly endangering the safety of two other victims […]

Melania Trump Wore A ‘Green Screen Dress’ And It Played Out Just As You’d Expect

Repeat after me: Bright green clothing is not safe for the internet. First lady Melania Trump learned that the hard way when she wore a lime green dress to the closing night of the Republican National Convention, which was held, in an unprecedented move, on the White House South Lawn Thursday.  The moment she emerged from […]

‘Abomination’: Critics Rip Trump For ‘Desecrating’ White House With RNC Speech

Critics slammed President Donald Trump’s use of the White House for a political stunt on Thursday as both unethical and illegal. Trump spoke to a crowd on the South Lawn as he accepted his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention, one of several purely political events done on government property lately.  Earlier this week, […]

President Trump Ends RNC 2020 With Divisive Rhetoric Emblematic Of His Tenure

President Donald Trump capped the Republican National Convention on Thursday with an ominous speech warning of an end to American exceptionalism in an effort to unite the fervent base that helped propel him to victory four years ago. “Your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent […]

Stephcast 8-27-20

SM Happy Hour Videocast 8-26-20 Ernestine, the White House Operator

Teen arrested in Kenosha shooting promoted ‘Blue Lives Matter,’ posed with firearms online

The videos that spread rapidly across social media Tuesday evening all showed a similar figure: a white man of medium build, a backward tan cap, an olive green T-shirt, dark pants, blue gloves, a rifle and a side bag. “I’m Kyle, by the way,” the man says in one video. That man now appears to […]

Pro sports teams delay games after Milwaukee Bucks refuse to play in protest of Jacob Blake shooting

Professional basketball, baseball and soccer teams postponed their games Wednesday after the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t take the floor during a playoff match in a protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. Top-ranked pro-tennis player Naomi Osaka also said she would sit out a semi-final match at the Western Southern Open scheduled for […]

Hurricane Laura Makes Landfall In Louisiana As Category 4 Monster

Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana early Thursday as a strong Category 4 storm, bringing maximum winds of 150 mph and dire warnings of extensive damage. The National Hurricane Center described the hurricane as “extremely dangerous” as it moved across the state, warning of catastrophic storm surges, extreme winds and flash flooding across portions of […]

The RNC Ignored Police Brutality And Kenosha Violence To Praise Trump For ‘Law And Order’

Republicans leaned into President Donald Trump’s “law and order” message on the third night of their party convention Wednesday. But with no substantive mentions of the unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the night felt very separated from the moment.  Before the Republican National Convention kicked off for the night, the country was in severe turmoil stemming […]

Stephcast 8-26-20

Dozens of coronavirus infections traced back to Sturgis Rally

The hundreds of thousands of bikers who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have departed western South Dakota, but public health departments in multiple states are trying to measure how much and how quickly the coronavirus spread in bars, tattoo parlors and gatherings before people traveled home to nearly every state in the country. From […]

Officials link more than 100 COVID-19 cases in 8 states to Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

The hundreds of thousands of bikers who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have departed western South Dakota, but public health departments in multiple states are trying to measure how much and how quickly the coronavirus spread in bars, tattoo parlors and gatherings before people traveled home to nearly every state in the country. From […]

Two people are dead and a third injured after an overnight shooting in Kenosha, police say

Two people are dead and a third was injured in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following a shooting late Tuesday night, police said. The shooting happened amid the third night of protests over the police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake on Sunday evening. On Tuesday, officers responded to reports of multiple gunshot victims around 11:45 p.m., the Kenosha […]

From Hunter Biden to ‘defund the police,’ some RNC headliners play fast and loose with the truth

On the second night of the Republican National Convention, several members of the Trump family made the case for President Donald Trump’s re-election in a program devoted to cultural flashpoints and dire predictions for the country under a Joe Biden administration. The president’s son Eric Trump offered a number of false or misleading claims about […]

Bob Cesca: Don’t cry for Kellyanne Conway… Like the whole corrupt Trump enterprise, she must pay

In keeping with the neck-snapping pace of the news these days, several breaking stories happened all at once Monday morning.  Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before the House Oversight Committee, repeatedly declaring that he would not reverse the sabotage he imposed on the Postal Service mid-pandemic, and with a presidential election 70 days away. Donald Trump […]

Stephcast 8-25-20

Jerry Falwell Jr. tells paper he is resigning from Liberty University

Jerry Falwell Jr. has resigned from his role as president of Liberty University after 13 turbulent years at the helm of the prominent evangelical Christian school, he told the Wall Street Journal late Monday. It follows a day of back-and-forth after Liberty University released a statement that said Falwell had offered his resignation and then […]

Protesters return to streets in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Black man was shot in back by police

A day after a police officer shot a Black man multiple times in the back, law enforcement deployed what appeared to be tear gas as protesters defied a curfew in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Multiple fires were burning at buildings in Kenosha lat Monday night, NBC affiliate WTMJ reported, but it was not clear how or when […]

GOP Convention Embraces Anger And Fear, Despite Being Billed As ‘Optimistic’

“Rioters must not be allowed to destroy our cities. Human, sex, drug traffickers should not be allowed to cross our border.” “People of faith are under attack.” “Look at what’s happening in America’s cities ― all run by Democrats. Crime, violence, mob rule. Democrats refuse to denounce the mob.” Those were all comments from speakers […]

Charlie Pierce: ‘Trump Time’ Is the New Doomsday Clock

Prior to embarking on his new career as an alleged pirate king of the bounding main, Steve Bannon used to talk bullishly about destroying the “administrative state.” Recently, there have been two epic reported stories that went spelunking into what that actually means. First, the good people at ProPublica went deeply into the history of […]

Stephcast 8-24-20

Everything We Know About The 2020 Republican National Convention

The Republican National Convention is set to begin this week, on the heels of Democrats’ convention in which they nominated former Vice President Joe Biden to be their party’s presidential candidate. Similar to the Democratic National Convention, the RNC will conduct most of its events and speeches virtually and remotely, with the exception of convention business […]

Trump announces emergency authorization for COVID-19 treatment after accusing FDA of delays

President Donald Trump announced Sunday his administration was providing an emergency authorization for the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19, a treatment that more than 70,000 patients have already received. One day prior to the start of the Republican National Convention, Trump made the announcement in an evening news conference. He said the authorization […]

Longtime Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to leave White House

Kellyanne Conway, the longtime adviser to President Donald Trump and wife of outspoken Trump critic George Conway, is leaving the White House at the end of August, she said in a statement Sunday. Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager before she became one of his staunchest defenders in the White House, said that she and […]

Eric Boehlert: Trump, Putin, and the emails — Hillary deserves media apology

Confirming the disloyal ways of Trump’s 2016 campaign, the Senate Intelligence Committee released more bipartisan findings on Tuesday, reporting that the GOP election team worked closely with Russian operatives. Trump then lied about those contacts to Robert Mueller’s investigators. “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the 2016 hacking of Democratic Party accounts and the release of […]

The Rude Pundit: Biden and Harris Believe You Deserve Sanity in Your Daily Lives

Everyone is talking about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s speeches at the Democratic National Convention this past week as being a return of empathy or decency, but I’d go one further with another overarching theme: “Remember sanity?” It was truly like watching a funhouse mirror version of our reality, except it took the warped world […]

Trump ‘Has No Principles’ And ‘You Can’t Trust Him,’ His Sister Reportedly Said On Tape

President Donald Trump’s sister was recorded saying that her brother “has no principles” and “you can’t trust him,” The Washington Post reported Saturday. Maryanne Trump Barry, who was serving as a federal judge at the time, made the slashing comments to her niece Mary Trump, who was secretly recording her, the Post reported. At one […]

Stephcast 8-21-20

Trump loses court ruling to quash subpoena for tax records

A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to quash a subpoena for his tax returns as part of an investigation into hush payments to women who alleged affairs, which Trump long has denied. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had subpoenaed Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars, for eight years worth of the president’s personal and […]

Trump Cooks Up Wacky New Birther Slam: Joe Biden Wasn’t Born In Pennsylvania

President Donald Trump expanded his “birther” conspiracy theories on Thursday to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, telling a crowd in Pennsylvania that Biden “wasn’t born” in the state because he moved to Delaware with his family when he was a child. “He’d say he was born here,” Trump told listeners in Scranton. “But he left when […]

Joe Biden Accepts Democratic Presidential Nomination: ‘I’ll Be An Ally Of The Light’

Joe Biden officially accepted the Democratic nomination for president on the final night of the party’s virtual convention on Thursday. As he accepted the honor, Biden promised to work hard for everyone, including people who didn’t vote for him.  “While I’ll be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president,” Biden said in his remarks. […]

Stephcast 8-20-20

Former Trump aide Steve Bannon charged with swindling donors in private border wall effort

Stephen Bannon, a former senior White House adviser to President Donald Trump, has been arrested and charged along with three other men with swindling donors who supported a private effort to build sections of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon and the other men were indicted by a federal grand jury in New York […]

Poll: Most Americans embarrassed by US response to coronavirus

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans say the US response to the coronavirus outbreak makes them feel embarrassed, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, as 62% of the public says President Donald Trump could be doing more to fight the outbreak. The new poll finds disapproval of Trump’s handling of the outbreak at […]

Trump seethes in all-caps tweetstorm during Obama’s DNC speech

President Donald Trump attacked former President Barack Obama on Wednesday, criticizing him for the message he delivered at the Democratic National Convention condemning his successor. Trump appeared to be tuning into Obama’s address, tweeting “HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!” as the former president began his speech — a message Joe Biden retweeted, […]

History made as Harris accepts VP nomination; Obama condemns Trump’s ‘failure,’ ‘lies,’ ‘conspiracy theories’

Sen. Kamala Harris of California officially became the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee Wednesday night, making history as the first Black woman and Asian American on a major party’s presidential ticket. Harris, the child of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, accepted her party’s nomination with a blistering speech that capped a star-studded night of programming on […]

Trump calls for Goodyear boycott after company bans MAGA attire among employees

President Donald Trump on Wednesday promoted a boycott of Goodyear, angrily reacting to a viral company policy that banned employees from wearing “MAGA Attire.” “Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES – They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “(This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two […]

Stephcast 8-19-20

Facing public scrutiny, postmaster general halts changes blamed for delays until after election

The postmaster general announced Tuesday he will be halting the operational changes put in place to cut costs at the embattled U.S Postal Service until after the November election after he came growing under pressure to reverse the shifts due to mail delays.   Louis DeJoy, a Republican donor who assumed the role of postmaster […]

10 highlights from the DNC Night 2: Food, song, emotional moments, biting attacks

Former presidents, ex-secretaries of state and a New York elevator operator provided some of the high points of Tuesday’s second night of the Democratic National Convention — but it was Jill Biden who stole the show. Here are some of the most notable moments from Night 2: 1. Jill and Joe Speaking from the high […]

Senate report details Russia’s efforts to meddle in 2016, ties to Trump associates

A new bipartisan report released by a Senate panel Tuesday outlines perhaps the most detailed accounting to date of Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election while accusing the White House and others close to President Donald Trump of refusing to cooperate with an investigation into whether the president’s campaign simply benefited or sought […]

Bob Cesca: We all know Trump wants to use the USPS to rig the election: Here’s how he’ll do it

Donald Trump is practically daring us to nab him in the act. That’s how obvious and unequivocal his latest conspiracy to cheat in the 2020 election happens to be. We all see it happening, we know what he’s doing and we know exactly why. The crisis is so urgent that it requires us to compile, step-by-step, […]

Stephcast 8-18-20

Trump denies delaying mail; Postal Service head slated to testify before Congress

President Donald Trump denied Monday that he had done anything to slow mail delivery as accusations grow that he, as well as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, have politicized the U.S. Postal Service and hamstrung the agency’s work. Meanwhile, DeJoy agreed to testify before Congress next week on the issue. Trump told reporters Monday that he […]

‘Disappointing’ and ‘disturbing’: Republicans sound off on Trump at DNC

A group of Republicans addressed the Democratic National Convention on Monday night to urge Americans to vote against the “disappointing” and “disturbing” Republican President Donald Trump. “Many of us have been deeply concerned about the current path we’ve been following for the past four years. It’s a path that’s led to division, dysfunction, irresponsibility and […]

Coronavirus updates: US reports under 40,000 new cases for 1st time since June

There were 35,112 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Monday, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. It’s the first time since June 28 that the country has reported under 40,000 new cases in a single day. Monday’s case count is also well below the record set on July […]

Michelle Obama delivers scathing indictment of Trump at the 2020 DNC

Michelle Obama delivered a scathing indictment of President Donald Trump’s policies and character Monday on the first night of the all-virtual Democratic National Convention, accusing the White House of sowing “chaos” and “division” and showing a “total and utter lack of empathy.” Coming at the end of a jam-packed two-hour program that tackled the coronavirus […]

Charlie Pierce: John Kasich Should Shut His Gob About What Qualifies as ‘Extreme’

In 1996, the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention said the following about the incumbent Democratic president. “Now, think about Bill Clinton. He promises one thing and does another. He hopes we’ll forget his broken promises. But I ask you — have you forgotten that Bill Clinton promised a middle class tax cut, then […]

Stephcast 8-17-20

Poll: Harris viewed more favorably than unfavorably

Kamala Harris is the only candidate on either major party ticket with a net favorability rating that is positive, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday. The California senator, announced last week as Joe Biden’s running mate, was viewed favorably by 39 percent of those polled, as opposed to 35 percent […]

Pelosi Calls On House To Return Early To Vote On Postal Service Legislation

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday the chamber will return from its vacation early to vote on legislation meant to limit changes to the Postal Service ahead of the presidential election in November.  The California Democrat said she would call on the House to return to the Capitol in the coming days. “Lives, livelihoods and the […]

Here’s What To Expect At The 2020 Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Committee’s presidential nominating convention kicks off Monday after the coronavirus pandemic caused significant delays and changes in the schedule.  While the host city for the convention was set to be Milwaukee, former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to accept the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination from his home in Delaware due to […]

Eric Boehlert: Kamala Harris sparks right-wing media meltdown

Taking their cues from Trump and dropping any pretense of not being blatantly sexist and racist, the right-wing media immediately dove into a feeding trough of ugly rhetoric this week when Joe Biden announced Kamala Harris as his running mate. The conservative media machine set off allegorical bomb blasts around Harris, frantically trying to depict […]

The Rude Pundit: Kamala Harris Will Hurt Trump and Pence and That’s What We Need

Last week, I said on Twitter that I wanted Sen. Kamala Harris to be Joe Biden’s pick for a running mate because I wanted her out there for the next couple of months prosecuting Donald Trump’s administration in the public space. Several responses were along the lines of “No, fuck you, she should be attorney […]

Obama: Trump is trying to ‘kneecap’ Postal Service

Former President Barack Obama condemned President Donald Trump in a new interview over his efforts to “actively kneecap” the United States Postal Service in order to frustrate mail-in voting ahead of the November election — casting the maneuvers by his White House successor as “unique to modern political history.” The criticism from Obama came in […]

Pelosi weighs bringing House back early to address Postal Service crisis

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are considering cutting short the August recess and bringing the chamber back into session to deal with the unfolding crisis at the U.S. Postal Service, according to Democratic sources. The House could return to vote with the next two weeks, the Democratic sources suggested. The chamber is currently […]

Trump Refuses To Say Whether Kamala Harris Is ‘Eligible’ To Be Vice President

President Donald Trump, who earlier amplified a racist conspiracy theory about Sen. Kamala Harris’ citizenship, refused Saturday to say whether the California-born senator was eligible to become vice president. Pressed by a reporter to answer a question on the topic, Trump said only that it was “not something that bothers me.” “I have nothing to […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 8-14-20 Craig Shoemaker

Stephcast 8-14-20

Fauci says temperature checks not reliable to fight COVID-19

The novel coronavirus has now killed more than 753,000 people worldwide. Over 20.7 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much […]

Trump campaign adviser floats false birther theory about Kamala Harris’ eligibility for VP

A legal adviser to President Trump’s reelection campaign is amplifying a false theory from a conservative law professor that Kamala Harris may not be eligible for the vice presidency due to questions surrounding the immigration status of her parents at the time she was born.   Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October, 20, 1964. Constitutional […]

Biden and Harris call for three-month nationwide mask mandate

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris are calling for a three-month nationwide mask mandate to limit the spread of coronavirus.    During a briefing by public health experts in Wilmington, Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told reporters that all the nation’s governors should require this. “Every single American should be wearing […]

Trump‌ ‌says‌ ‌he opposes‌ ‌USPS‌ ‌funding‌ ‌in‌ ‌an‌ ‌effort‌ ‌to‌ ‌block ‌mail-in‌ ‌voting‌

President Donald Trump said Thursday he opposes funding for the U.S. Postal Service and election security grants in an effort to stymie mail-in voting for the upcoming presidential election. Democrats “want 3½ billion dollars for something that will turn out to be fraudulent, that’s election money, basically. They want 3½ billion dollars for the mail-in […]

Stephcast 8-13-20

Coronavirus update: US records nearly 56,000 new cases, over 1,500 additional deaths

The novel coronavirus has now killed more than 749,000 people worldwide. Over 20.6 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much […]

Biden raised $26 million in a day after picking Harris for VP

Joe Biden’s campaign raised $26 million in the 24 hours after he selected Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate — an eye-popping total that shows the campaign’s growing fundraising strength as the election draws nearer. Biden announced the fundraising total during the ticket’s first virtual grassroots fundraiser on Wednesday evening, immediately following Biden and […]

House Democrats demand Postal Service chief roll back changes ahead of Election Day

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and 174 other Democrats in the chamber signed a letter sent Wednesday to the new Postmaster General demanding the agency reverses operational changes they argue would hamper mail-in voting on Nov. 3. “It is always essential that the Postal Service be able to deliver mail in a timely and effective […]

‘America is crying out for leadership’: Harris gives first speech as VP candidate

Former Vice President Joe Biden described Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as “experienced,” a “proven fighter” and ready to handle the presidency on day one of a Biden administration in their first joint appearance as a presidential ticket in Wilmington, Delaware, Wednesday evening. Introducing Harris, Biden praised the senator’s bonafides and took aim at President Donald […]

Dr. Irwin Redlener: Reopening Schools in September Is a Dangerous Experiment

As Donald Trump keeps calling for the nation’s 124,000 public and private schools to reopen, even as he’s failed to contain COVID-19, we are about to embark on a massive, poorly controlled national experiment with the subjects being most of the nation’s 55 million school-age children, their families and their teachers. Unfortunately, this may not […]

Stephcast 8-12-20

White House acknowledges there is less jobless aid than Trump first said

President Trump’s senior aides acknowledged on Tuesday that they are providing less financial assistance for the unemployed than the president initially advertised amid mounting blowback from state officials of both parties. On Saturday, Trump approved an executive action that he claimed would provide an additional $400 per week in expanded unemployment benefits for Americans who […]

Big Ten, Pac-12 cancel fall football seasons over coronavirus concerns

The Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences on Tuesday canceled their football seasons over coronavirus concerns, ignoring pleas from President Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers and college athletes to play in the fall. College football has become a flashpoint in the fight over reopening the country, with government officials using the sport as a tool to encourage […]

‘Squad’ member Ilhan Omar defeats well-funded Democratic primary challenger in Minnesota

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of the progressive “Squad” in Congress, defeated a well-funded challenger in a Minnesota Democratic primary on Tuesday, CNN projected. Antone Melton-Meaux, an attorney who runs a mediation practice and is a first-time candidate for elected office, raised a substantial amount of money in his bid to take on the […]

Biden’s V.P. Pick Is Kamala Harris, 1st Woman of Color on Major Ticket

Joseph R. Biden Jr. selected Senator Kamala Harris of California as his vice-presidential running mate on Tuesday, embracing a former rival who sharply criticized him in the Democratic primaries but emerged after ending her campaign as a vocal supporter of Mr. Biden’s and a prominent advocate of racial-justice legislation after the killing of George Floyd […]

Bob Cesca: Is Trump destroying Social Security and Medicare by accident — or on purpose?

It’s quite likely that Donald Trump was unaware that payroll taxes are how the Social Security and Medicare trust funds are bankrolled. He might also be unaware that current Social Security checks to seniors are derived from payroll taxes — not those paid into the system when today’s recipients were working, but the ones being paid in, right […]

Stephcast 8-11-20

There has been a 90% increase in Covid-19 cases in US children in the last four weeks, report says

As the nation focuses on safety issues around going back to school during the pandemic, a new report found a sharp increase in the number of Covid-19 cases among children in the United States. There has been a 90% increase in the number of Covid-19 cases among children in the United States over the last […]

Russia Claims Its Coronavirus Vaccine Is Ready For Use Despite A Lack Of Testing

Russia on Tuesday became the first country to officially register a coronavirus vaccine and declare it ready for use, despite international skepticism. President Vladimir Putin said that one of his daughters has already been inoculated. Putin emphasized that the vaccine underwent the necessary tests and has proven efficient, offering a lasting immunity from the coronavirus. […]

Trump abruptly pulled from briefing after shots fired outside White House

President Donald Trump was abruptly escorted out of a White House press conference on Monday after shots were fired outside of the White House. The suspect was taken to the hospital and no one else was injured, Trump said. The Secret Service released a statement late Monday night that said a 51-year-old man approached an […]

Charlie Pierce: Nancy Pelosi Is Taking No Mess From Mark Meadows. Why Would She?

The New York Times went long on the current Republican-generated congressional stalemate regarding the next relief bill aimed at mitigating the combined effects of the pandemic and the spiraling national economy. The general tone of the piece is that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is taking no mess in her negotiations with the other side, which is true enough, […]

Stephcast 8-10-20

Biden closing in on final decision on vice presidential running mate

Former Vice President Joe Biden is closing in on a final decision on his choice of a running mate, four sources familiar with the matter told NBC News, as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee huddled with family at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, this weekend. The sources said Biden could announce a final decision […]

Pelosi slams Trump’s executive actions on coronavirus relief: ‘Absurdly unconstitutional’

Top Democrats on Sunday criticized President Donald Trump’s executive actions on coronavirus relief as “absurdly unconstitutional” and “way off base.” The measures, which Trump signed on Saturday and sidestep Congress after lawmakers failed to reach a deal on Friday, provide an additional $400 per week unemployment benefits among other relief measures such as a temporary […]

Trump signs executive actions on coronavirus economic relief

President Donald Trump signed four executive actions Saturday for coronavirus economic relief, upendingnegotiations with Congress after lawmakers failed to reach a deal on Friday. The executive actions defer payroll taxes through the end of the year for Americans earning less than $100,000 a year. They also defer student loan payments through the end of the […]

U.S. coronavirus cases top 5 million as pandemic rages on

The United States on Sunday surpassed 5 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has both the highest number of confirmed cases and the most deaths of any country in the world.   The total number of confirmed cases throughout the world is nearly 20 million, […]

Eric Boehlert: Why Trump doesn’t deserve a Biden debate

Just because Trump is the Republican Party’s nominee for president, doesn’t mean he deserves to debate his Democratic opponent on national television. For now, Joe Biden has committed to participating in the three scheduled presidential debates. I wish he would take a different path and tell Trump that if he doesn’t release his tax returns […]

The Rude Pundit: Another Week, Another Batsh** Trump Interview

Everyone’s got their line that pushed them over the edge from President Donald Trump’s interview with Jonathan Swan of Axios (motto: “When USA Today is too complex, you’ve got Axios”). Mine occurred when Swan asked Trump about why he didn’t bother to ask Russian dictator Vladimir Putin about the reports that Putin had put a bounty […]

SM Happy Hour Videocast 8-7-20 Sarah Colonna

Stephcast 8-7-20

Forecast: 300,000 U.S. COVID-19 Deaths By December 1

Nearly 300,000 Americans could be dead from COVID-19 by Dec. 1, University of Washington health experts forecast on Thursday, although they said 70,000 lives could be saved if people were scrupulous about wearing masks. The latest predictions from the university’s widely cited Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) comes as top White House infectious […]

Trump issues executive order barring U.S. companies from doing business with TikTok’s parent

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Thursday barring U.S. companies from doing business with ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok. The order, which is set to go into effect in 45 days, would be a major blow to the popular short-form video app if it is not sold to a U.S. company. Microsoft […]

New York Attorney General Letitia James sues to dissolve NRA for ‘fraud and abuse’

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the National Rifle Association and four individuals, including its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, on Thursday, seeking to dissolve the gun rights advocacy group and accusing top executives of “years of illegal self-dealings” that funded a “lavish lifestyle.” James said the NRA, a not-for-profit organization, undercut its charitable mission […]

Stephcast 8-6-20

Deutsche Bank Turns Over Trump’s Finances in Response to NY District Attorney Subpoena

Prosecutors in New York City have subpoenaed Deutsche Bank for records on President Donald Trump’s finances, The New York Times reports, and the bank has complied. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office issued the subpoena last year for financial records Trump’s businesses provided to the bank that may show evidence of fraud, according to the Times, […]

White House officials signal coronavirus relief negotiations will cease if an agreement is not reached by Friday

White House officials told Senate Republicans on Wednesday that if a deal is not reached with Democrats on coronavirus relief by Friday, negotiations will likely stop. “I think at this point we’re either going to get serious about negotiating and get an agreement in principle,” Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters Wednesday. “I’ve become […]