Recap of Today in Politics, 10/16

… Bret Baier showed today that he turned in his journalism card years ago. It is clear the backlash he got from the Fox audience after his 2023 interview of Trump, followed by 30K plus vicious comments from MAGA after his announcement of the Harris interview, has intimidated him into reverting back to partisan hack.

… Really not even that, just someone who is afraid of MAGA and very comfortable with his salary and lifestyle and doesn’t want to upset his apple cart. Fox has zero straight journalists left. Chris Wallace was the last one.

… Despite the fact that Baier constantly interrupted Harris and argued with him the way no Fox interview would ever dare to do with Trump, Harris handled herself quite well and didn’t allow Baier to run roughshod over her. She made the points that she wanted to make. Perhaps the most powerful point for the handful of sane Republicans in the Fox audience was that so many former Trump officials refuse to endorse him because he’s mentally unfit.

… Kamala Harris spent the day in PA before the Fox interview showcasing those very same 100 former ‘Republicans for Harris’ officials who have endorsed her. They include former Reps Barbara Comstock and Adam Kinzinger, Denver Riggleman, and former NJ Gov Christine Todd Whitman. The event also featured former Marine Corps General and FL Republican Comptroller Bob Milligan.

… Milligan said he is voting for Harris because Trump “doesn’t respect NATO” and “kisses Putin’s ass.” Ouch.

… Campaign finance reports indicate that Elon Musk has put $75 million in his PAC to help turn out the vote for Trump, who really didn’t have a ground game. But Democrats keep buying his cars.

… Colin Allred had an excellent debate against Ted Cruz. His best moments were hammering him on abortion, great line about Ted hiding in a closet on J6 after having helped instigate it, Ted fleeing to Cancun while millions of Texans were without power and freezing, and Ted playing a leading role of ushering in the “angertainment” era of Republican politics. It was their only debate, and Allred did what he needed to do against someone who has been debating politics since Colin was tackling running backs in the NFL.

… Ted seized on Allred making a equivocal answer on trans athletes playing women sports as his moment to emphasize post-debate. I don’t understand why Democrats allow themselves to get sucked into some of these culture war issues. The easy answer to this question is that it is up to each local, state, national, international, amateur and pro sports organization to decide their own rules, not politicians.

… When Trump was asked how he would be able to get sports leagues around the country to ban trans athletes, he said he would “just ban it” since the president has the power to do anything. Seems like we’ve heard that before.

… Barack Obama will do a rally for Harris in Detroit on October 22. This follows up his announcement of one in Arizona. Every bit of Obama is most welcome right now. All hands on deck.

… Jimmy Carter officially cast his mail-in ballot today for Kamala Harris. His first vote was for Franklin Roosevelt in 1944.

… Trump gave a bizarre and misogynistic answer when asked about IVF at his Town Hall focused on “women’s issues.” He claimed that he was “the father of IVF,” but also said he never heard of it until the “fantastically attractive” Alabama Senator Katie Britt called him about it. And he wonders why he is getting destroyed in the polls in the female demo.

… When Trump was told during the Town Hall that the family of Amber Thurman, the GA woman who died because of an infection after the state’s abortion ban went into effect, was speaking at another event at the same time, Trump’s response was that he would get better ratings than them. He’s a monster, plain and simple.

… John Deere issued a rare statement that Trump’s claim at the Economic Club of Chicago that he used a tariff to stop the company from moving plants to Mexico was complete fiction. Never happened. Another Trump fantasy.

… Scott Perry, one of the main ringleaders of the insurrection on J6 in the House, may be the Republican most likely to lose his seat. The PA Republican is running against popular local news anchor Janelle Stelson. Gov Josh Shapiro held this seat before Perry, and Democrats badly want it back.

… Rep. Thomas Massie voted for himself for VP and Ron Desantis for president as write-in candidates. He endorsed Desantis in the primary, never endorsed Trump, and although he rarely publicly criticizes Trump he clearly will not support him on anything other than impeachment.

… James Comer complained on Newsmax about “massive turnout” in Georgia from “public housing units in the big cities” (he means Black people) due to universal mail-in voting in 2020, but he has been assured that “that problem has been solved” by Republicans in the GA legislature for 2024.

… New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft said he “couldn’t believe it” when his friend Donald Trump got elected president in 2016: “It was like having someone who was a drunk fraternity brother become president.” Kraft says they are not longer friends, and