Middleboro Review 2: ‘Off-the-charts arrogance’: Joe Rogan pummeled for Harris campaign comment

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

‘Off-the-charts arrogance’: Joe Rogan pummeled for Harris campaign comment

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Democracy's not the only thing that 'dies in darkness'

Gannett newspapers join Washington Post and LA Times in not endorsing for president

More newspapers are joining the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times in not making an endorsement in this year's presidential election.

David Mastio, a conservative columnist at the Kansas City Star, announced on Twitter that he was "sad to report that USA TODAY is joining the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post in not endorsing in the presidential race this year."

He added that none of "USA TODAY's 200 local publications," which are owned by Gannett, will be making endorsements either.

Mastio earlier this week said he was voting for Vice President Kamala Harris even though doing so made his "skin crawl" because he was so concerned about the threat that former President Donald Trump posed to America's constitutional republic.

ALSO READ: 'Gasoline on the fire': Analyst warns Trump to expect 'slap in the face' at upcoming rally

In his Twitter thread, Matsio noted that USA Today formally endorsed President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and did so on the grounds that "this is not a normal election, and these are not normal times" due in part to "Trump’s refusal to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power if he loses."

The Kansas City Star columnist then expressed sadness that Gannett papers are following leads of other major publications and declining to endorse a presidential candidate.

"I am deeply disappointed that USA TODAY has lost its voice at this critical time for our country," he wrote.

'Don't know who he is': Trump passes blame as he refuses to denounce racist rally jokester

Former President Donald Trump refused Tuesday to denounce a campaign event comedian's comment that Puerto Rico is a "floating island of garbage," according to a new report.

Trump denied any responsibility for the racist and vulgar remarks Tony Hinchcliffe made at the former president's rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, ABC News reported.

"I don't know him, someone put him up there," Trump told correspondent Rachel Scott. "I don't know who he is."

ALSO READ: Not all former Trump 'spiritual advisors' appear in public to support his 2024 campaign

Hinchcliffe on Sunday also joked that Latinos “love making babies" and mocked a Black attendee about eating watermelon.

Trump echoed claims made by running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) that he hadn't heard the jokes, despite the fact they were told at his own rally and have since appeared in various reports and aired on multiple television stations.

The Republican presidential nominee's campaign has said in a statement “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

The former president has not apologized despite calls from San Juan's archbishop that he do so personally.

Trump used similar language when he denied knowledge of Project 2025, the controversial conservative policy platform whose contributors reportedly include more than 140 people who have worked with him.

"I know nothing about Project 2025," said Trump. "I have no idea who is behind it."

'Gasoline on the fire': Analyst warns Trump to expect 'slap in the face' at upcoming rally

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'Dark, paranoid material': Trump hit for promoting 'outlandish information from anyone'

'Too late': Arizona court rules voting access law put in place last year can be ignored

The Republican-stacked Supreme Court of Arizona has shot down an attempt by Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to ensure an easier voting process in Pinal County, reported Votebeat Arizona on Tuesday.

In its ruling, "the court determined it is too late to force the county to follow the rule, which Secretary of State Adrian Fontes created in December 2023. It requires Arizona counties that assign voters to a specific polling place make it possible for voters to cast the correct ballot, even if they go to a site other than the one to which they’ve been assigned."

The opinion, written by Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer, found that forcing Pinal County officials to change their process to comply with Fontes' rule would cause “unacceptable risk of chaos, uncertainty, and confusion” — particularly since early voting is already underway.

Ironically, while Arizona's Supreme Court is mostly Republican appointees and Fontes is a Democrat, the ruling could potentially hurt former President Donald Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, as Pinal County, which has roughly 500,000 people located between Phoenix and Tucson, is heavily Republican, voting for Trump by 17 points in 2020. In fact, Pinal County is the most populous county in Arizona that reliably votes for the GOP.

ALSO READ: Not all former Trump 'spiritual advisors' appear in public to support his 2024 campaign

Pinal County will be the only county in Arizona not to be following Fontes' guidelines on voters going to the wrong polling place. Moreover, "Based on past patterns, it’s likely that a few hundred of Pinal County’s voters will vote at the wrong location on Nov. 5 and will have their ballots rejected. That happened to 274 voters in November 2020 and 235 in November 2022."

Arizona is one of the most hotly contested battleground states in the 2024 election, with Republicans hoping to break a long string of narrow losses to Democrats that began after Trump became president in 2016. The voting process there is being heavily watched, with a reported incident of arson damaging mail-in ballots in a heavily Democratic area of Phoenix.