Jay Peters
AOC is brushing up on Madden.
She’ll play the game with Tim Walz on a Twitch stream that kicks off at 3PM ET on Sunday.
US Elections
There’s a lot at stake in the 2024 US elections. The matchup of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump — as well as races in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the states — will determine the future of the FTC, the FCC, antitrust, artificial intelligence, broadband, online safety and privacy, climate change, the right to repair, and more.
Richard Lawler
‘Salt Typhoon’ hackers reportedly targeted phone numbers for Trump and Harris campaigns.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported Chinese hackers “engaged in a vast collection of internet traffic” from ISPs, including Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen, that reached the system used for court-ordered wiretapping requests. The New York Times now says Donald Trump and JD Vance were targeted in the Verizon breach.
Later on Friday afternoon, the WSJ followed up with another report confirming that, while saying other targets included people affiliated with the Harris campaign and even a WSJ writer reporting on the investigation. The FBI and Verizon also acknowledged an investigation without adding additional details.
Update: Added details from WSJ.
Sarah Jeong
Democracy dies in darkness?
The Washington Post is not endorsing a presidential candidate this year, for the first time since 1988. The editorial is bylined by publisher and CEO Will Lewis.
Sources told NPR that the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, hired Lewis last year “in part for his ability to get along with powerful conservative figures, including [Rupert] Murdoch.” According to Columbia Journalism Review, a draft endorsing Harris had already been approved by an editor a week before it was suddenly killed.
Jay Peters
A WhatsApp co-founder is throwing his support behind Donald Trump.
Jan Koum donated $5 million in Meta stock to a pro-Trump super PAC, The New York Times’ Teddy Schleifer reports.
Gaby Del Valle
Elon Musk’s $1 million America PAC giveaways may be over.
Though Musk said he’d give $1 million away daily until the election, the PAC didn’t announce a winner in the sweepstakes today. The money was only available to registered swing state voters who signed the PAC’s petition — which critics said was a clear example of buying votes.
Perhaps coincidentally, the DOJ recently warned that Musk’s lottery may be illegal.
Sarah Jeong
How many people are donating to Trump in your neighborhood?
Or Harris, for that matter. It’s not easy to make campaign finance data interesting, but The Washington Post has created this very cool interactive map showing the number of donors and total amount raised for either candidate by zip code.
See how your neighborhood is giving to Trump and Harris
[Washington Post]
Justine Calma
Jay Peters
Microsoft published a new report about efforts from Russia, Iran, and China to influence the election.
Since the last report, according to Microsoft:
Russian actors continue to integrate generative AI into their content, Iranian groups ramp up their preparations to enable cyber-influence operations, while Chinese actors shift focus to several down-ballot candidates and members of Congress. Russian actors have notably attempted to target the Harris-Walz campaign by attacking the candidates’ characters.
As the U.S. election nears, Russia, Iran and China step up influence efforts
[Microsoft On the Issues]
Richard Lawler
NYT: Bill Gates donated $50 million to an organization backing Kamala Harris.
The Times writes that Gates told friends he’s donated about $50 million to a 501(c)(4) “dark money” organization, Future Forward USA Action. It’s the nonprofit arm of what the Times previously described as “The biggest super PAC in American politics.”
Gates didn’t endorse Harris when asked, and is quoted saying:
I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty and fighting climate change in the U.S. and around the world.
I have a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum, but this election is different, with unprecedented significance for Americans and the most vulnerable people around the world.
Bill Gates Privately Says He Has Backed Harris With $50 Million Donation
[The New York Times]
Jay Peters
Yelp halted reviews at the McDonald’s Trump visited over the weekend.
The Yelp page for the Pennsylvania McDonald’s has seen an increased volume of politicized reviews following Trump’s visit on Sunday, but as reported by CNBC, Yelp has temporarily paused reviews:
Yelp said it typically pauses comments when a business receives heightened media attention that can result in people posting their personal views, without having a legitimate customer interaction with the business.
Richard Lawler
Tim Walz: “Look, Elon’s on that stage, jumping around skipping like a dipshit.”
Appearing at a campaign event in Madison, WI, with Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for vice president shared this characterization of Musk’s campaign event athleticism.
As seen in the clip below, it doesn’t end there, though, as Tim Walz explains his view of exactly what that $1 million daily voter sweepstakes is buying the MyPillow of government contractors.
Jay Peters
Donald Trump will reportedly be on The Joe Rogan Experience.
Trump is set to record the podcast episode on Friday, according to Politico.
Kamala Harris could appear on Rogan’s podcast at some point, too; last week, Reuters reported that Kamala Harris’ campaign has met with Rogan’s team.
Trump set to go on Joe Rogan’s podcast
[Politico]
Richard Lawler
The real Matthew Metro speaks up about a viral fake video.
The Washington Post tracked down Metro, who attended a high school where Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz taught, and confirmed somebody on X made false sexual misconduct allegations in his name in a since-deleted video from last week:
It’s obviously not me: The teeth are different, the hair is different, the eyes are different, the nose is different.
The video was widely called out as AI, but experts told the Post it was more likely a “cheap fake” — like a human actor doing an impersonation.
Viral attack on Walz features fake former student making false claim
[The Washington Post]
Gaby Del Valle
JD Vance’s claim that Ukrainian officials used US aid money to buy yachts originated with a Russian propaganda op.
NBC News traced the story back to a small, prolific group that researchers call Storm-1516.
Storm-1516 puts out faked primary sources, including “confessions” from fake whistleblowers. As a source put it:
“[I]t only takes one person, one influencer with outsized influence, to grab onto a video and amplify it in the United States.”
Alex Heath
Snapchat to the Trump campaign: We’ll take your money but not your posts.
An interesting look at how Snap has diverted from other platforms in its handling of former President Trump:
Unlike other major tech platforms, Snap has not lifted the ban on Mr. Trump’s personal account, which has drawn angry pushback from his campaign. Despite not allowing Mr. Trump to post personally, the company has said it would sell his campaign political advertisements, which must all go through an internal fact-check.
Trump Wants Young Voters, but He’s Nowhere to Be Seen on Snapchat
[The New York Times]
Gaby Del Valle
Gaby Del Valle
Richard Lawler
Meteorologists are getting misinformation-fueled death threats.
Rolling Stone reports that just like FEMA, meteorologists are dealing with more pushback than they’re used to — one is quoted saying “ideas that once would have been ridiculed as very fringe, outlandish viewpoints are suddenly becoming mainstream.”
CBS Morning meteorologist Katie Nickolaou also tweeted one example of what she’s seeing (below).
Elizabeth Lopatto
Sarah Jeong
When is a retweet an official act?
Earlier this summer, SCOTUS ruled that Trump is “absolutely immune” for any official acts on January 6. In an October Non-Surprise, prosecutors are arguing that Trump is being charged for unofficial acts.
A partly-unsealed brief asserts, among other things, that Trump used his Twitter in a personal capacity while attempting to overturn the 2020 election, by tweeting and retweeting conspiracy theories and attacks on public officials. Although Trump sometimes tweeted about official White House business,
... he also regularly used the account to post on unambiguously private matters — for example, when he posted a picture of himself golfing with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, and re-tweeted a Trump Organization post about the Trump New York hotel being “named the # 1 ‘Best Hotel in the World!’”
Judge Unseals New Evidence in Federal Election Case Against Trump
[The New York Times]
Lauren Feiner
Lina Khan is acting as Democrats’ celeb campaign guest.
The Federal Trade Commission chair is scheduled to appear at events with candidates including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), according to Punchbowl News. It’s an interesting statement, as Khan’s progressive enforcement — especially when it comes to tech — has ruffled feathers even within the Democratic party. Donors like Reid Hoffman have urged Vice President Kamala Harris to oust her, if elected.
Lina Khan hits the road with Democrats ahead of election
[Punchbowl News]
Gaby Del Valle
Look how they yassified my boy.
This obviously digitally altered photo of Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), posted the morning after the vice presidential debate, is supposed to signify... masculinity? Strength? I don’t know, honestly.
It’d be a little more convincing if we hadn’t spent two hours looking at the man’s face — and listening to his lies — last night.
Sarah Jeong
“You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. That’s the test, that’s the Supreme Court test,” said Tim Walz in tonight’s debate.
It is not the Supreme Court test. The SCOTUS case the quote is from was overturned in 1969, when the court replaced the “clear and present danger” test with the Brandenburg test.
Perhaps most incredibly, Yale Law School graduate JD Vance followed up and uncritically repeated the “fire in a crowded theater” phrase.
Lauren Feiner
We got our first mic mute of the vice presidential debate.
Impressively, it took nearly 30 minutes to actually happen. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) tried to respond to additional context moderator Margaret Brennan gave on Haitian immigrants’ legal status in Springfield, Ohio, accusing her of breaking the rules about fact-checking. “Thank you for describing the legal process,” Brennan told Vance before moving on after producers cut the candidates’ volume.
Justine Calma
How will Hurricane Helene affect voting access?
The monstrous storm devastated North Carolina, a key swing state in the presidential election. Communities face a long recovery ahead after Helene leveled towns. With so many people displaced and polling locations flooded, officials are worried about how much harder it could be now for people to cast their votes.
Helene sets off a scramble to keep voting on track in North Carolina
[The Washington Post]
Richard Lawler
NYT on the “genuine friendship” that links Laurene Powell Jobs and Kamala Harris.
This profile goes from a donation by Jobs to Harris’ first DA run in 2003, through personal trips together, and into their joint interview in 2017 at AllThingsD.
It also reports on Jobs’ role in mobilizing donors against Joe Biden’s continued presidential campaign:
One of her top aides, David Simas, a former Obama staff member who oversees her political research, circulated focus-group and polling data to other donors that painted a dire portrait. Several said that Mr. Simas’s research was influential in encouraging them to mobilize against Mr. Biden.
Behind Kamala Harris’s Rise: Silicon Valley’s Wealthiest Woman
[The New York Times]
Richard Lawler
Kamala Harris answers the internet’s questions.
No, an Autocomplete Interview isn’t going to answer all of our policy questions. But it does produce these 10 minutes of the presidential candidate answering the internet’s most searched queries in Wired’s now-standard format.
