Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump admitted that former President Donald Trump's recent visit to a Pennsylvania McDonald's was a political stunt after he was criticized for not wearing a hairnet while serving fries.
During an interview on Newsmax, host Bianca de la Garza told Lara Trump that Republicans had more "joy" than Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign.
"I think that that is why you've seen so many people move in Donald Trump's direction," Lara Trump agreed. "Well, Donald Trump was having a great time at a McDonald's, working the fryer there, putting extra fries in for people, handing them out through the drive-through window."
"Kamala Harris could never have gone in there and done this sort of thing and actually had the same impact as Donald Trump, and she knows it," she continued. "And that's why you see the left so upset about this. And they're saying, he didn't work the whole shift. It wasn't a full shift at McDonald's.
"I saw somebody say he wasn't wearing a hairnet. Everybody knows that this was a political stunt. Yeah, but it was fun and it was lighthearted."
The Newsmax host accused Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) of taking "cheap shots" at the former president over his McDonald's "costume."
"They are making fun of us. It's not a costume. It's a uniform," the host said.
"Yeah, and it's just gross," Lara Trump complained. "So when you hear people go out there and try to knock somebody for a retail politics-type stop, like at a McDonald's, I think it's ridiculous."
Donald Trump complained Tuesday that the value of his property in San Francisco takes a hit every time he complains that the city has become "unlivable."
Speaking to a Latino round table in Miami, Florida, that was supposed to be about immigration, the former president veered onto a familiar attack on Kamala Harris, claiming that her time as San Francisco's attorney general left the city crime-ridden and run-down.
Trump owns real estate in the city, including a flagship building at 555 California Street.
"It's very costly," Trump began as he complained about the hit on his pocket. "But I don't care, because this is a much higher calling.
"I hurt the value of my property tremendously when I say this, but it's almost unlivable now with crime and all of the things that are happening."
Trump repeated one of his favorite lines from Bob Tisch, part owner of the New York Giants who died in 2005. He said he loved the city of San Francisco, but that it had "gone to hell."
“It was a great surprise to hear that,” said Laurie Tisch, his daughter. “ ... To the best of my knowledge, I never heard my father say anything like that.”
Trump added that immigration was a big part of crime in the city and elsewhere. The statement has been repeatedlydebunked.
That's according to The Bulwark's Will Saletan, who says, "I watched all his rallies so you don't have to. Here's what he's been saying. Point by point, it fits the textbook definition of fascism."
Saletan published an 18-point piece supporting his assertion that "Donald Trump is running the most openly fascist campaign ever undertaken by a major-party nominee for president of the United States."
"In 2021, Trump used violence to try to overturn an election; in 2022, he called for terminating the Constitution. Now, on the brink of returning to power, Trump is reaffirming his intent to take America deeper into autocracy," Saletan writes.
He adds that Trump's agenda, "political violence, suspension of the Constitution, suspension of civil liberties, unchecked presidential power, censorship of the media, imprisonment of opposition leaders, execution of people for nonviolent crimes, and legal immunity for the president and his thugs—isn’t just close to fascism. It is fascism. It’s what fascists have advocated and practiced in other countries."
Here are the first ten of Saletan's 18 reasons why Trump is a fascist:
"1. He says he’s legally immune to all current charges against him."
"2. He claims the right to do whatever he wants as president."
"3. He advocates 'one really violent day' of police action."
"4. He vows to indemnify police against 'any prosecutions' for doing what he wants."
"5. He threatens to use the military against 'the enemy within.'"
"6. He says some of his political opponents shouldn’t be allowed to run for office."
"7. He says he could have jailed Hillary Clinton."
"8. He has called for jailing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer."
"9. He has accused Harris of murder."
"10. He vows to prosecute anyone who, in his view, has 'cheated' in an election."
The Atlantic's Ronald Brownstein, who is also a senior CNN political analyst, calls it "a remarkably comprehensive list...of the ways Trump is now threatening to overturn the rule of law to indemnify his allies & attack his opponents."
In a companion video, Saletan further supports his charges.
"That's the enemy, I guess, that maybe is the enemy from within as I talk about," Trump said. "We have an enemy from within."
The room broke out in applause.
The former president has repeated this phrase many times in the past weeks and each time has added a new layer to his concept of internal enemies.
In September, Trump claimed without evidence that Democrats were responsible for multiple attempts on his life.
"It is called the enemy from within," the former president declared. "They are the real threat."
Trump then told Fox News viewers on Oct. 13 he worried about peace on Election Day considering the state of the "radical left."
"We have some sick people, radical left lunatics," Trump said. "It should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military...The enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries."
"And it is the enemy from within," Trump said. "And they're very dangerous. They're Marxists and communists and fascists. And they're sick...This is a guy like Adam Schiff, because they made up the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax."
On Monday, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) defended the sincerity of his running mate's threats to use U.S. military during yet another interview on Fox News.
"He's not just running on slogans," Vance said. "When people ask him questions, he speaks from the heart."
On Tuesday, Trump appeared to hurl the phrase at the Defense department whom he accused of purposefully leaking classified information about Israel’s plans for retaliation against Iran.
A subsequent investigation has yet to reveal whether the documents were obtained through an intentional leak or a hack, according to multiple reports.
Harris' campaign did not provide context for Tuesday's claim when it shared video on X with the message, "Trump says Americans who don’t support him are “the enemy within."
The co-hosts of "The View" said on Tuesday that one of the reasons Donald Trump is talking about bizarre things is that he can't address actual issues.
Over the weekend, Trump ranted about the late golfer Arnold Palmer's genitalia — a comment that promoted shock and concern among critics already questioning the ex-president's sanity.
But the co-hosts of "The View" argued such bizarre outbursts are his only option.
"While the Harris campaign focuses on issues at stake in this election, you know who is pretending to work at a drive-through and focusing on different issues?" asked Sara Haines.
"Is all this noise a distraction from the threat he's posing?" Whoopi Goldberg asked. "Because Speaker [Mike] Johnson, this poor thing, he says that [voters] want a change and that's what they see in Donald Trump, so he's having fun at the rallies, so he says things that are 'off the cuff.'"
"I'm sorry," Goldberg continued, "that's not off the cuff. That's not locker room — that's just downright disrespect for Arnold Palmer."
Sunny Hostin called it "crass."
But it was his former aide, Alyssa Farah Griffin, who claimed it's part of Trump's strategy to "throw so much out there and see what voters pay attention to."
"I feel like there's a lot of coverage of the silly, ridiculous things he says, like Arnold Palmer's package, but then there's less talk about Mike Johnson, who got owned by Jake Tapper pretending Donald Trump didn't refer to the enemy within. Then Donald Trump doubled down and said this is about America. That matters to us."
Haines noted most people don't comment on other peoples' genitalia.
"Women see this, they're voting on serious issues. They're here voting on the autonomy of their bodies," Haines said.
A fed-up CNN anchor cut away from former President Donald Trump's campaign event Tuesday to complain about blatant falsehoods and incoherent rambling.
Jim Acosta cut live coverage from a Latino roundtable event at Trump National Doral to share his views on the Republican presidential nominee's commentary.
"That is former president Donald Trump holding what is being described as a Latino roundtable in Miami," Acosta said. "Although as you just heard a few moments ago, it was sort of a rambling, incoherent stream of consciousness."
In the approximate 75 seconds before Acosta cut away from Trump, the former president touched the following subjects: the number of days left until the election, his opinion that Vice President Kamala Harris is "lazy as hell," whether Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was more liberal than Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) (to whom he referred only as "Pocahontas"), why the media has not interviewed Harris' father, the state of the modern press, and the Atlanta Constitution.
"Who the hell takes off?" Trump began. "We have 14 days left. And she'll take a couple of more days off too, you know why? She's lazy as hell and she's got that reputation. She's a radical left lunatic. She's further left than Bernie Sanders or Pocahontas. Now, Pocahontas, because I think, is Pocahontas, Rick, is Pocahontas further left than Bernie? Just about, right? It's close. It's close. Who the hell cares right? Rick says, 'Eh, I don't know.' But they're out there. But she's, but she's furthest left. We can't have a person, she's a Marxist. Her father's a Marxist professor, by the way. The fake news, look at all of them, where's the father? We should interview because I'd find it interesting to see what he has to say. I don't know, they seem to have a problem, but it would be nice to interview the father. He's a Marxist professor and I think that's okay. that's good, fine. but I think it's appropriate that the father be interviewed by the fake news. They don't want to interview him and I wonder why. If we had a real press in this country, this wouldn't even be a race. And I'm not sure it is a race anyway. They just came out with the Atlanta constitution—"
Acosta and CNN fact checker Daniel Dale then proceeded to provide viewers with a lengthy fact check — noting the former president far outpaces his political opponent for falsehoods.
"She's not a Marxist, obviously she's not lazy as hell," Acosta said. "She was a district attorney in San Francisco, attorney general in California, senator from California, and Vice President. You can't really be lazy as hell if you're doing all of those things."
Dale then checked Trump on his claim that Harris was taking the day off from her campaign.
"She is off the campaign trail in terms of rallies, also taping two pretty high-profile interviews," he said. "She's not on the beach."
Dale said Trump presented fact checkers quite the challenge as he stacked up tens of thousands of falsehoods and misleading statements.
"We're seeing just a deluge on things like FEMA and migrants, about immigration, about the legitimacy of American elections," Dale said. "We're very busy with Mr. Trump right now to a far greater extent than we're busy with Vice President Harris."
A massive new study finds a large number of Republicans, Trump supporters, and conservatives support violence under the guise of saving the country or ensuring the "rightful" leader is put in the White House.
Three in 10 Republicans (29%) believe "true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country," according to the nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization PPRI's "2024 American Values Survey."
Nearly one in four MAGA Republicans (23%) "say that if Trump loses the election, he should declare the results invalid and do whatever it takes to assume office." That view is also held by nearly one in five (19%) Republicans overall, including those who do not support Trump.
MAGA Republicans, or "Republicans who view Trump favorably" are three times as likely as those who hold unfavorable views [of Trump] to support political violence (32% vs. 11%).
More than one in five Republicans (22%) agree that “if the 2024 presidential election is compromised by voter fraud, everyday Americans will need to ensure the rightful leader takes office, even if it requires taking violent actions.”
The study also looked at the politico-religious component of support for political violence, and found one-third (33%) of "Christian nationalism Adherents and Sympathizers" agree that "true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country."
Additionally, one-third of Latter-day Saints (33%) and nearly one in three white evangelical Protestants (28%) "agree that true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country."
Where Americans get their news appears to be a factor in their views on issues including violence and immigration.
"Americans who trust conservative news outlets are the most likely to support political violence (41%), followed by 30% of those who most trust Fox News, 18% of those who do not watch any TV news, and 13% of those who most trust mainstream TV news."
Six in ten Republicans (61%) agree that "immigrants entering the country illegally today are poisoning the blood of our country," PRRI's survey finds, along with a "majority of Americans who most trust far-right news (70%) or Fox News (65%)."
Similarly, nearly two-thirds of Republicans (65%) support the “Great Replacement Theory,” and agree that "immigrants are invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background." PRRI also finds that the "vast majority of far-right news (83%) and Fox News viewers (66%) agree with this theory," as do the majority of Christian nationalism Adherents and Sympathizers (63%) and white evangelical Protestants (62%), as well as half (50%) of Latter-day Saints.
"Nearly eight in 10 Republicans (79%) favor putting undocumented immigrants in encampments," PRRI also found. "The vast majority of Americans who most trust far-right news (91%) or Fox News (82%) favor militarized encampments for undocumented immigrants."
"White evangelical Protestants (75%) are most likely to favor militarized encampments for undocumented immigrants, followed by the majority of white Catholics (61%), white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (58%), and Latter-day Saints (56%)."
"I've been doing this for 20 years, and these answers ... are keeping me up at night," PRRI president and founder Robert P. Jones told Axios. "It's all pretty dark and worrisome."
Axios had reported: "The growing number of Republicans willing to shun democratic norms — and possibly embrace violence — comes as Trump continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen from him and is saying the 2024 election is already rigged."
"Jones said those supporting the loser of the election doing whatever it takes to assume office are essentially endorsing a coup against the United States."
Last week, Jones told MSNBC's Joy Reid (video below), "There are [survey] questions that we have had to write during the Trump era as social scientists that I never thought we would have to write.
"So to write that question and put it on a public opinion survey and say, we actually need to know what the American people think about this statement, that whether immigrants are poisoning the blood of the country, right, is just, I think we just pause for a minute, to say how astonishing that is."
He added, "We're all taught to kind of not be knee-jerk and kind of use the Nazi analogy...but like, 'poisoning the blood' — Mein Kampf uses the word blood 150 times," referring to Adolf Hitler's autobiographical manifesto.
"That's Hitler's word, right? And it's often, it's almost always used in this way, this kind of idea of purity and defilement, contamination, and it's a politics of disgust that we're really seeing here."
Former President Donald Trump couldn't find the mayor of Doral, Florida, Tuesday — even though she was sitting directly to his left.
At a roundtable campaign event with Latino leaders on Tuesday, Trump sought to "thank all of the representatives from the Doral area, because the mayor and everybody." He first called on Mayor Christi Fraga.
"Where's Christi?" Trump said, glancing around the room. "Is she around? Let's see. Christi? Christi?"
It's not the first time Trump has lost track of someone sitting beside him. At an event in Detroit he bragged of speaking with a local pastor who organized it, and then didn't realize he was sitting beside him.
CNN host Jim Acosta questioned Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), a surrogate for Donald Trump, after the former president used inappropriate language and recounted adult stories at recent rallies.
The lawmaker refused to answer the question directly.
"Jim, with all due respect to the question that you just asked me, none of that matters to what the American people are going to deal with in 13 days and 14 days, excuse me, because, over the next 14 days, voters are going to decide," Donalds said. "Because that's what's happening right now, Jim."
"So if you want to talk about a story he told about Arnold Palmer or the fact that young girls are being sold into sex slavery today because of Kamala Harris's wide open borders, I will tell you, give me a story about Arnold Palmer, but secure the country and save these young girls from being victimized by the drug cartels, because Kamala Harris doesn't care about that," he continued.
Acosta pushed back: "I guess my question is, the larger question is, when you have a president, a former president, somebody who's running for president, talking about Democrats as being the enemy from within, when he's making lewd comments about professional golfers, doesn't a candidate's character matter? Does Donald Trump have the character, in your view, to be the president of the United States?"
Donalds argued Trump had the proper character "because he's been president and the country was better off when he was president."
"So if you're going to talk about character, Jim, let's really talk about it," he added. "Let's not talk about stories about Arnold Palmer. Let's talk about the reality of leadership and the lack thereof from Kamala Harris and Joe Biden."
"I mean, do you find it entertaining when he's making these kinds of comments?" Acosta asked. "I mean, is that something you want kids to hear?"
Donalds insisted he wanted a president who did "not run around the law like Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have done."
"Well, I'm just asking, Congressman, because, you know, a president of the United States is a role model," Acosta pressed. "And is that is that the behavior of a role model?"
"Kamala Harris is just a new face on the same failure," Donalds griped.
CNN anchor Kate Bolduan roared disapproval at a political analyst Tuesday as he offered snarky advice to liberal voters ahead of Election Day.
Panelists Van Jones, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, and Scott Jennings, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, were both scolded by the outraged host as they debated the twists and turns of the 2024 presidential election.
"Not on my watch, boys!" Bolduan declared. "I literally just had a hot flash!"
The lead-up to this on-air meltdown was a video clip of former President Donald Trump suggesting Democrats would attempt to steal the election from him, echoing the notorious and baseless claims at the heart of his federal election interference case.
"They're trying," Trump said. "But they're not going to get away with it."
Bolduan demanded an analysis from Jennings, but capped the Republican strategist on answers she'd accept.
"Why do that?" she asked. "Don't give me 'this is Trump being Trump."
Jennings replied he was not "overly concerned" and pointed to Trump's admission that there is no evidence of voter fraud taking place as early voting continues.
"I'm for everybody getting to exercise their legal franchise," Jennings said.
Bolduan took a sly jab at Jennings — first echoing his rhyme in a southern accent then suggesting an underlying meaning of the Republican National Committee.
"Exercise your legal franchise," she drawled. "But if you're overseas, we might try to stop you — that's the message from the RNC."
The conversation turned to former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), her endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, and her message to women conservative voters the Wyoming Republican urged to not vote for Trump.
The panel began to consider the gender divide between the two candidates and who would actually show up to the polls and cast a ballot.
"It does seem to reinforce, kind of, how this election is really breaking down along gender," Bolduan said. "You've got, like, the Trump bro-talk masculinity play versus the Harris 'Women aren't going to let this happen' play. What do you think of that?"
It was then that Jones delivered the controversial advice that caused Bolduan to throw her hands in the air and deliver a mocking rebuke to her panelists.
"If you're at home watching this," Jones said, "get your niece to vote and tell your nephew voting's on Thursday."
"No!" shouted Bolduan as Jones burst out laughing. "We promise," she said with a smile, "that is not an endorsement."
The crew on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday expressed disgust after Sen. J.D. Vance excused Donald Trump's rants about using the military to go after "the enemy within" by saying that the former president speaks "from the heart."
Host Joe Scarborough started off by picking apart Vance's earlier attempts to suggest that Trump was being taken out of context by pointing out that he has repeatedly specified Democratic lawmakers whom he believes to be "the enemy within."
"He keeps saying Democrats are the enemy within!" Scarborough exclaimed. "Nancy Pelosi is the enemy within... Adam Schiff is the enemy from within. And so he says that people on the left are the enemy from within. So he knows... exactly what Donald Trump is talking about."
He then noted that Vance seems to have pivoted from his earlier attempts to deny Trump's remarks, which Scarborough believed was almost a green light signaling Trump really would use the military against his political foes.
"When you say, 'Well, people love Donald Trump because he's unfiltered and he speaks from the heart,' so when he tells you he's going to use the military against his political opponents, J.D. Vance just told America: 'This guy means it!'" said Scarborough.
Guest Willie Geist then chimed in with a note of mock sympathy about Vance's predicament.
"Poor J.D. Vance, who obviously again is the beta in this relationship and has to say what he has to say to get through the interview and protect his guy," he said. "He's making excuses, he's deflecting, he's talking suddenly about Nancy Pelosi trading stocks."
Joking with his audience that the fast-approaching 2024 election is "surreal,” comedian Jon Stewart kicked off "The Daily Show" on Monday night by teasing Donald Trump for his appearance at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, quipping: “This campaign cannot get any weirder.”
The comedian began his opening monologue with the state of the race in the final stretch before Election Day by playing a clip of Trump at McDonald’s.
“My first day at McDonald’s. I’m looking for a job. So, if you don't mind, I want to work the French fry counter,” Trump said.
“Give him the job,” Stewart said seeming to be stunned by the clip as the show cuts back to him and the crowd cheers. “I implore you. I don't care if his references don't shake out. Save democracy, give him the job.”
Stewart said while Trump has engaged in somewhat unusual actions in recent weeks, “He’s out there having the time of his life.”
“That's his whole campaign right now. ‘Ave Maria’ dance party, ‘I'm going to deport everybody,’ football tailgate, blame the Jews if I lose, McDonald’s drive-thru. He’s out there having the time of his life and the poor, sweet media — oh, poor, sweet media — they know they're mad. They’re just not exactly sure which thing they should be maddest about anymore. But I can tell you one thing, media, it probably shouldn't be the McDonald’s thing,” Stewart said.
He played a clip of an MSNBC analyst criticizing Trump’s “inept” fast food stunt, and added that the former president was “incapable” of working a fry machine.
“Look I’m all for criticizing Donald Trump, but I got to tell you, I also don't know how to work the fryer at McDonald’s, and would be incapable of doing so,” Stewart joked.
He said the campaign is now at that point where “we can no longer discern the noise from the signal.”
"We've lost the ability to understand what level of outrage to even demonstrate,” he said. He continued by next poking fun at Trump’s lewd remarks over the weekend about golfer Arnold Palmer – which the comedian referred to as “where the absurdity-outrage cycle reached its apex.”
“First of all, I’m not here to fact-check the former president, but Arnold Palmer wasn't all man. He was half man, half lemonade,” he quipped.
A slightly uncomfortable moment on CNN surfaced Monday night after former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson offered her analysis on Donald Trump’s recent lewd remarks about golf legend Arnold Palmer – which prompted awkward laughter on the set.
“I don’t know why you guys are so flustered,” Carlson said Monday night on a CNN panel which included former Obama White House official Van Jones, ex-Trump adviser David Urban and CNN data analyst Harry Enten. The moment came during “The Source” with Kaitlan Collins when Carlson said she believed Trump’s remarks were purposely made as “his full-throttle attempt to get at men and their manhood.
“And no offense to guys on this panel, but what man does not like people talking about their manhood, okay?” Carlson said as the panelists – and host – filled the studio with laughter.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Enten said holding his hands up.
“Right off of that one,” Jones replied in a rare moment of agreement with Urban, a longtime Trump supporter.
"Well, I’ve known a few men in my day, and I’m just going to stand by that statement,” Carlson said before continuing what she thinks Trump’s strategy is. “He is hoping to God that they are listening to that and saying, ‘Wow, he's talking about me, and I like Donald Trump and I’m going to go out and vote for him.’”
The analysis animated the CNN panel with each guest reacting to the comments.
“I’ll defer to you on women’s issues Gretchen,” Urban said while chuckling.
“…But you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jones said right before the conclusion of the humorous, on-air moment, which prompted Collins to cover her laughter with papers.
