Recap of Today in Politics, 10/22/24

… The Atlantic broke a major story this afternoon about how Trump offered to pay for the funeral of an Army vet for the cameras, but when the bill came due it was $60,000 and he exploded, saying, “It doesn’t cost $60,000 to bury a f*cking Mexican! Don’t pay it!” The family said he didn’t pay. The Atlantic took their paywall off their story, which they very rarely do, so you can read it here.

… Trump also complained about the Generals who pushed back on some of his more insane demands, saying, “I need the kind of Generals that Hitler had. People who were totally loyal to him.” Wake up, America.

… Senior Advisor to Kamala Harris’s campaign and former Barack Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe told CNN that he thinks up to 7 states could be decided this election by a single point or less, which has never happened before in history.

… Plouffe says he still feels good that the Harris campaign is going to pull this election out because of their superior ground game, which is in-house and has been planned for over a year with loyal and well-trained Democrats while Trump’s is largely outsourced to paid third-party groups.

… These third-party groups have reportedly been ripping off their paymasters like Elon Musk by claiming door knocks for cash that they never did. This has been the problem with hiring mercenary soldiers since Alexander the Great invaded Persia - when they don’t believe in the cause and are doing it for money, bad things happen.

… ABC is reporting that Aileen Cannon, who granted Trump’s motion to dismiss his documents case, is on Trump’s shortlist for Attorney General.

… The good news about this is that Jack Smith now has what he needs to file a motion to recuse her from the case after the 11th Circuit reverses her ridiculous decision.

… The DOJ says it has received a formal inquiry request from many former federal prosecutors and Republican appointees to launch an investigation into Elon Musk’s various payment schemes to voters.

… Steve Bannon’s daughter Maureen said today that she is “disappointed with the fecklessness and gutlessness of Speaker Johnson” because “he didn’t step up” to do anything to help free her father.

… Laura Loomer has filed a $150 million defamation lawsuit against Bill Maher and HBO in Sumpter County, FL. Maher said on his show that he thinks Trump is “f*cking” Loomer. Sumpter County is where “The Villages” is located and where Loomer ran for Congress in 2022 and nearly won her primary against long-time incumbent Daniel Webster.

… A federal judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani’s NY condo and his personal property and assets to be put into receivership immediately to be auctioned off to pay GA election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. The $2 million in legal fees that were never paid by Trump were also ordered to be collected from Trump with Rudy.

… The fate of Rudy’s NY Yankees World Series Rings will be decided in a separate hearing. His son Andrew filed a claim alleging that Rudy “gifted” the rings to him before this this lawsuit began.

… Steve Bannon’s request for early release was denied today by a Trump-appointed judge. He will be out on October 29 when his sentence has been completed.

… Charlamagne tha God’s lawyers issued a cease and desist and threatened a lawsuit against Trump demanding that he take down his campaign ad which is using a deceptively edited video of him that makes it look like he doesn’t support Harris.

… Bill Gates has finally gotten off the sidelines in this election and put $50 million into the huge Super PAC supporting Harris. Gates specifically cited her commitment to climate change measures and sensible and affordable health care versus Trump’s conspiracies as his main reason for getting involved. Finally.

… In a surprise move, the Harris campaign announced they will do a campaign event in Texas! on Friday. She will campaign with Colin Allred with an emphasis on that state’s draconian laws restricting the rights of women.

… Eminem is appearing with Barack Obama at his rally for Harris in Detroit tonight. They drew a MONSTER crowd for this one. It’s Eminem, Tim Walz, and Obama.

… Bruce Springsteen will headline Harris’s big rally in ATL on Thursday with Obama.

… Trump, who is against early voting and mail-in balloting despite the fact that he has done it, told Fox today that he will be voting early in this election.

… Yes he is eligible to vote under Florida law since he is not incarcerated. It’s complicated.

… A total of $538 million has been spent in the state of PA alone by the Harris and Trump campaigns combined, according to a new report from the Philadelphia Inquirer. This is a record for any one state. Harris has spent $294 million and Trump $243 million. The next highest state for spending is Michigan at a combined $185 million.

… The Trump campaign announced today that he will be doing Joe Rogan’s podcast this Friday, which is something they have wanted for many months. Rogan, who was supporting RFK Jr before he dropped out, said previously that he wouldn’t have Trump on because “I don’t want to help him.” This could also mean that Harris has agreed to do his show but that hasn’t been announced yet.

… Tim Walz mocked Elon Musk today for going “on that stage jumping around skipping like a dipshit.”

… In his speech tonight, Trump referred to AOC as a “young girl” who proposed the Green New Deal.

… In the same speech, fascist Trump said that President Xi of China is “a brilliant man” because he “runs 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.” That is the part of Xi that Trump most admires - rule through fear and intimidation.

… Some of the NY Congressmen who won seats in 2022 in districts won by Biden to give Republicans the House majority are sinking badly underwater in the polls with two weeks to go. If Dems can pick up a couple seats they lost in CA and one here or there like Lauren Boebert’s old seat in CO and vulnerable Anna Paulina Luna in FL they can take the House back.

… Trump was fuming last night on Truth Social about Liz Cheney and ‘Republicans for Harris’ campaigning with Kamala in 3 key swing states yesterday. He knows that Republicans who voted for Nikki Haley and say they don’t want to vote for Trump is the largest bloc of remaining undecided voters down the stretch.

… The ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Trump event that was scheduled with RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard today was cancelled. No reason was given by the campaign other