Recap of Today in Politics, 10/28/24

… The Philadelphia DA has filed a lawsuit seeking an immediate injunction to stop Elon Musk’s $1 million daily giveaways to voters in swing states. First, Musk tried to call these efforts simply “signing a petition.” Then after receiving a warning letter from DOJ he claimed that the million was to pay them for one-week employment “as a spokesperson” for his PAC. He is buying votes, plain and simple, and he isn’t fooling anyone.

… DOJ reportedly declined to proceed with a criminal or voting rights investigation. Merrick Garland was probably busy writing strongly worded letters. His two-year dither before appointing Jack Smith is why we are in this mess.

… Chris Gober, the former treasurer of Musk’s ‘America’ PAC who left the PAC after it received the warning letter from DOJ, just registered a new PAC called ‘PRIZEPICKS PAC.’ Something very, very shady is going on with Elon’s election shenanigans and we probably won’t know the full truth of everything he has done until well after the election. If ever.

… NBC reported that Musk is using AI to boost false right-wing election conspiracies and disinformation about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. In addition to buying votes, he bought the most powerful social media platform in the world to manipulate an election. And that is exactly what he’s doing.

… Trump complained today in a long Truth Social post that Fox is being mean and unfair to him again, that they ran Michelle Obama’s speech live, and that they run commercials from Democrats and anti-Trump groups all the time. He says that Fox is “trying to save” Harris’s campaign. What a crybaby snowflake.

… Peter Navarro said that the racist, anti-Latino rhetoric at the Trump rally yesterday should be ignored because “no one worked harder for Puerto Rico after the hurricane hit than Donald Trump.” Throwing paper towels at people is hard work.

… Trump had a chance to denounce or distance himself from the racist comments at his rally yesterday when he addressed a group of pastors today in Atlanta. Instead, he said nothing about it.

… He was asked by nut job Christian nationalist Paula White to describe what his faith meant to him. He launched into a 3 minute word salad that had absolutely nothing to do with the question because he has no faith and is not a Christian, despite the act.

… The beginning of the Trump’s faith event was, like him, equal parts creepy, disgusting, dishonest and revolting. Charlatans prayed over him like he was the messiah sent by God to save us. One pastor told Trump that he “was a Chosen Vessel” sent by God.

… Stephen Miller’s Musk-financed group filed a Bar Complaint against Michael Teter for allegedly “abusing the attorney grievance process to target and intimidate lawyers affiliated with Trump” by filing bar complaints against them for their roles in J6.

… Kamala Harris reacted to Trump’s rally today in a press gaggle: “Trump’s MSG rally last night highlighted that he is fixated on his grievances and dividing our country. He’s not going to strengthen American families and workers. He has an enemies list, I have a to-do list.”

… Republican phony Rep Mike Lawler, who is in a tough election battle in NY, naturally pretended to be outraged, saying that he “categorically condemns the racist comments made by one unfunny comedian and over-the-top inappropriate rhetoric by others before President Trump took the stage.” Once again, it’s all just other people’s fault and Trump was innocent and had nothing to do with it. Just like J6.

… Ice T reacted to the rally: “What I hate most is finding out that people I consider friends are racists. They make like me, but they talk shit about other races openly and probably don’t like other black people. I’m not Democrat or Republican, but character is more important to me than politics. Fuck (clown emoji for Trump) and those that roll with him.”

… Ice T later posted that he put a clown emoji instead of Trump’s name in his previous post because it defeats the algorithm and keeps the bots away. He’s right!

… Trump’s Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt claimed that the issue at the rally was just “one joke” and it was fine because “the crowd, they didn’t mind.” Thats’ exactly the problem.

… Matt Gaetz said he doesn’t understand what the big deal is because it was only a joke. He also said right before the 2022 midterms that all the women protesting the Dobbs decision were fat and ugly. Gaetz can talk like that because he’s in a safe district where he could never lose, but he hurts other GOP candidates in the process. Not that he cares.

… JD Vance was asked to comment on the rally and he said, “I didn’t see the joke,” then said he wasn’t sure if it was funny or not and that “we have to stop getting offended at every little thing.” He DEFINITELY saw the joke, was briefed on how to respond, and this is how he responded.

… Spineless Marco Rubio weighed in late this afternoon. He said it was just one offensive joke from “an insult comedian” and that Trump doesn’t agree with or believe anything he said.

… AOC made several television appearances condemning the rally. She emphasized that this was not just a one-off joke but part of broader racist messaging that comes from the Trump campaign on a daily basis.

… Marge Greene responded to AOC’s comments by suggesting that she would be much happier if she had a child.

… Greene’s post then reignited her feud with Laura Loomer. Loomer responded to Greene going after AOC by saying that she is “a jealous bitch with roid rage” and “a hypocrite and jealous washed up hag.” Where’s the lie? Loomer siding with AOC against Greene is the most 2024 thing ever. Loomer finished up with, “No wonder your husband divorced you.”

… Ballot drop boxes, which Republicans have wanted to ban since 2020, have now been set on fire in Phoenix, and in the states of Washington and Oregon. Police said explosive devices were placed into the drop boxes in WA and OR.

… The district where the ballot box was burned in WA is a key battleground one where Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp barely beat far-right MAGA candidate Joe Kemp by just over 2,000 votes in 2022. Their rematch is one of the most hotly-contested races in the country where every vote is going to matter. The box contained hundreds of ballots.

… The NV Supreme Court denied the appeal of the Republican Party after they filed a lawsuit to attempt to block ballots received in the mail up to 3 days after the election. The polls in NV haven’t been great for Harris though. Trump’s fake “no tax on tips” may have made an impact there even though it will never happen even if he wins.

… Apparently the handful of Log Cabin (LBGT) Republicans who paid Melania $250,000 to show up at their events with 50 people have decided not to weigh in on Trump continuing to call Anderson Cooper by a woman’s name. What a surprise.

… Trump said at his rally that he and Mike Johnson “have a little secret” that leads him to believe “we are going to do well with the House, our little secret is having a big impact.” Some have speculated that this means Johnson is going to do something