"During the interview, I saw President Trump's eyes focused in a way I'd not observed in his first run for the White House," Salcedo claimed. "Not only could I see the weight that he was carrying, knowing that his candidacy is likely the only thing standing between us keeping our republic or losing it to the ash heap of history, but I saw a steely resolve in those eyes."
"What many in the dishonest press chalk up to lack of focus is, in my opinion, just the opposite," he added. "I actually sat there and watched President Trump's mind working faster than the spoken word allowed him to convey."
The pro-veteran group Vote Vets is out with a new ad — with Halloween-themed music — highlighting what it calls Donald Trump's cognitive issues, showing him misremembering situations and slurring words.
Among the pieces of evidence the group showed: a clip of Trump on Fox News talking about the crowd's response to the debate — when there was no crowd.
"Donald Trump's mind is old and failing," the video says across the screen.
A Bangor Daily News headline flashed across the screen: Donald Trump confuses Janet Mills' gender on rambling call to Maine supporters.
Another headline appeared: Trump confuses the name of his doctor when bragging about taking a cognitive test.
Trump foe George Conway, a Washington, D.C. lawyer and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, started a political action committee to run ads questioning Trump's mental fitness as well.
The latest Anti-Psycho PAC ad calls Trump a “D.E.I.” candidate, an acronym for "Deranged, Egomaniacal, and Incompetent."
Another ad questioning Trump sprung up this week when Healthcare For Action PAC began airing its commercial on MSNBC asking for people to sign its petition.
Its pitch is that each leader in the U.S. military, except the commander-in-chief, must take a mental fitness test.
"Is this what we want in a president?" the ad asks as Trump uses two hands to drink from a tiny water bottle.
The mayor of Los Angeles warned Monday that the nation's homelessness crisis would be far worse under a second Trump administration.
Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead," on Monday afternoon, Karen Bass was asked about homelessness.
"Nearly half of all people experiencing homelessness in the United States are doing so here in California," said Tapper. "You recently announced that more than 1,000 people were able to enter new shelters thanks to a new program in Los Angeles that allows you to slash red tape for the construction. This is through a partnership with [Department of Housing and Urban Development]. The city has seen a 10 percent drop in street homelessness. Is this a model that others should copy?"
Bass said she believes so — and warned "it's also a perfect example" of why the nation needs to elect Vice President Kamala Harris. The Biden administration, she said, has been "incredible" working with HUD.
"They've been willing to slash regulations," she said, pointing to one program for homeless veterans.
"If you were a veteran and you receive benefits, we counted it as income and then said you made too much money to get a housing voucher," said Bass. "So we were able to get waivers on that and we are going to be able to house veterans now. We have over 3,000 vouchers that veterans can now use, but that's an example of the progress that was made during this administration."
Bass added there's "no telling" what Donald Trump would do.
"He would decimate HUD," she said. "If you look at Project 2025 and the chapter that's on HUD, they're basically talking about dismantling it by taking pieces of the entity and distributing them around."
Bass added: "I think homelessness would get far worse under a Trump administration."
A host of Right Side Broadcasting Network interviewed a poodle named Ginger, an apparent candidate for Pennsylvania attorney general, at a rally for Donald Trump on Monday.
While speaking to Trump supporters at the rally in Oaks, host Paul Ingrassia met a woman who said her dog was running to become the state's top prosecutor.
"Her name's Ginger," the woman said of the dog. "And she would love to be written in as attorney general."
"Ginger for attorney general," co-host Nikki Stanzione announced. "Vote Ginger."
"Well, Ginger, even the dogs," Ingrassia explained, "of course, the dogs [support Trump] because they're eating the dogs. The Democrats are."
During a Monday appearance on Fox News, Baier acknowledged a controversy surrounding an interview with Harris that was allegedly edited by CBS News.
"I thought Bill Whitaker did a good job asking matter-of-fact questions and following up," Baier said. "I think the controversy over the edit was a big, big deal for CBS."
"So that's not going to happen with us," he continued.
Baier then shared some details about the interview.
"It'll be essentially live to tape and no stipulations on the questions, wide open, there's no caveats that are coming to do the interview," he insisted. "So she'll take all and any questions."
Baier's interview with Harris is set to air Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET on Fox News.
Former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews is one of a collection of young women who worked for Donald Trump during his first term who are now sounding the alarm against him.
Speaking to MSNBC on Monday, Matthews said she's joining with other Republicans like Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris because she's fully aware of the dangers another Trump presidency poses.
"I think if you would have asked me four years ago if I would be excited to vote for Harris, I would be like, what are you talking about?" Matthews said flatly. "But obviously, I didn't think an insurrection in the Capitol was going to happen either. I saw firsthand how unfit Donald Trump is to serve because of his unwillingness to call off the mob and accept the results of the election."
Matthews was one of the staff members who quit after the Jan. 6 attacks.
She also pointed out that Sen. J.D. Vance's (R-OH) tactic when reporters ask why he won't admit Trump lost the 2020 election has been to avoid answering until the questioner gives up.
"They still refuse to admit it," said Matthews. "To me, it just shows the type of character of these two men and why it's so important to keep them out of the Oval Office. It wasn't enough just for me to talk about the dangers. I knew it was important for me to take that next step and show that it's okay to put partisanship aside and prioritize your country. That's why I was willing to endorse Kamala Harris. I believe we need to do everything we can to ensure Donald Trump never steps foot in the Oval Office again."
"That's obviously a calculation in the decision to speak out. I know there's harassment and backlash in terms of my career prospects, and I probably won't be able to have a career in Republican politics, at least in the current makeup of the Republican Party. But for me, what scared me more was the idea of a second Trump term."
After a weekend of speeches dehumanizing immigrants and threatening to use the U.S. military on Americans who oppose him, Donald Trump in a 1 AM dead of night post lashed out at his Democratic presidential opponent in what some are saying was projection.
"I believe it is very important that Kamala Harris pass a test on Cognitive Stamina and Agility," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform at 1:12 AM. "Her actions have led many to believe that there could be something very wrong with her. Even 60 Minutes and CBS, in order to protect Lyin’ Kamala, illegally and unscrupulously replaced an answer she had given, which was totally 'bonkers,' with another answer that had nothing to do with the question asked. Also, she is slow and lethargic in answering even the easiest of questions. We just went through almost four years of that, we shouldn’t have to do it again!"
Late Monday morning Trump posted the same message on the social media site X. He also recently called Vice President Harris “retarded,” according to The New York Times.
"So, let me get this straight," noted Zeteo News media columnist Justin Baragona. "The 78-year-old GOP presidential nominee, who has been showing serious signs of age-related decline, refuses to release his medical records -- but he is now demanding his much younger opponent take a cognitive test?"
SiriusXM host Michelangelo Signorile observed, "Trump is furious that Harris is saying Trump's 'staff' won't let him do 60 Minutes or release his medical records."
"Claiming Harris is 'slow and lethargic' is a heavy lift even for this pathological liar and his MAGA mob."
The Harris campaign mocked Trump in response.
"Trump posts at 1:12am that VP Harris must take a cognitive test," wrote campaign spokesperson Ian Sams. "As he refuses to release his medical records, sit with 60 Minutes, or debate her again— instead retreating solely to rambling rallies where he’s increasingly making no sense."
Republican Voters Against Trump, a project of the Republican Accountability PAC declared, "It's always projection with Trump."
Before Trump's post on Saturday, MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin told viewers: "For Trump and his party, the strategy in this final stretch to the election is about one thing and one thing only: projection."
"Everything Trump and his party accuse Democrats of doing ultimately ends up being a cynical projection of themselves, from defending democracy to free speech, reproductive rights, and free and fair elections."
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance was mocked on Monday after he called for the United States to "conquer" distant stars.
Following a successful test of SpaceX's Starship, Vance took to X to praise billionaire owner Elon Musk, who has endorsed Donald Trump's Republican presidential ticket.
"I believe the destiny of this country is to conquer the stars," Vance wrote. "Whatever your views of Elon's politics, this is something that should inspire all of us."
But some struggled to get behind Vance's call for an interstellar crusade.
"Wtf does 'conquer the stars' mean?" one Vance parody account noted. "What a bizarre thing to say."
"Can we conquer the stars and also not become a dictatorship?" Jay Collins asked.
"Our destiny is to never allow an authoritarian dictator to become president," Steve Martin wrote.
"The View" used several segments of its Monday show to discuss the ongoing concerns about Donald Trump's mental and physical health and the lack of transparency around it from his campaign.
But Ana Navarro came prepared with photos illustrating just how different Trump's public face is from his actual one.
"It wasn't but a few weeks ago that Republicans in Congress were actually subpoenaing some of the top advisers of Joe Biden and Jill Biden, accusing them of covering up Joe Biden's health," said Navarro, a former Republican communications consultant. "Well, okay. Can we please look at this picture of Donald Trump and you tell me what kind of healthy this looks to you?"
The photo showed a stark difference between where Trump's makeup ends and where his actual skin tone begins.
"Okay, so, I know it's pumpkin spice season," she joked about Trump's coloring.
"But I want to show the Trump Campaign. This is a makeup sponge. You use it to blend because I think the biggest border crisis that Donald Trump is encountering at the moment is the border between his real skin and his bronze skin," Navarro quipped.
Trump's former White House communications director, Alyssa Farah Griffin, attempted to bring the discussion back to the president's health and wellness.
A Republican strategist's attempt to minimize former President Donald Trump's threat of "enemies within" spurred a swift fact-check and heated debate on CNN Monday morning.
Conservative commentator Shermichael Singleton was checked by CNN anchor Jim Acosta as he tried to claim Trump's threat to sic the military on political enemies was limited only to those who live in the U.S. without citizenship status.
"I think he's talking about immigration," Singleton said. "And when you look at—"
"No, no, no," interrupted Acosta. "He was talking about what he called radical left people in this country. Americans. Political opponents."
Singleton shrugged off what Acosta described as a "dangerous" threat — arguing Republicans cared more about policy than rhetoric — and in doing so outraged Democratic strategist Julia Roginsky.
"Let me just say something right now," Roginsky said. "This is not Donald Trump saying crazy stuff...he's done this before."
Roginsky argued Trump meant what he said at a Coachella rally over the weekend that he'd bully Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) into supporting his border control policies by threatening to withhold "fire money....for all the forest fires."
She pointed to recent reports from two former staffers who said Trump tried to block wildfire relief from reaching California in 2018 until he was shown voter data proving supporters lived there and raised a crucial concern.
"There were people around him [during his first term] to stop the worst impulses...they're not going to be there this time around," she said. "He's basically letting the voters know that, you know, this is what you're voting for."
When Acosta asked if Democrats needed to do more to call out Trump's authoritarian rhetoric, Roginsky replied with an incredulous shake of the head and a figurative finger pointed at his industry.
"The media has not done enough to call this out," Roginsky snapped back. "Here you have a fascist — and General Milley is right because all of the markers of a fascist exist in Donald Trump — and yet our news media has not done enough, by any stretch of the imagination, to call this out."
As proof, Roginsky pointed to intense media scrutiny of President Joe Biden's age and Gov. Tim Walz' (D-MN) location during the Tiananmen Square protests 35 years ago.
Singleton, given a chance to respond, interestingly did not slap back with a defense of his political party — but of colleagues in the media he argued could not be blamed for focusing more on important issues than Trump's rhetoric.
"We have covered it," he said. "i just think there are far more consequential issues that impact people's day-to-day lives."
"With all due respect," Roginsky replied, "Take a look at the ratio. This is an existential problem."
Kamala Harris claimed Monday that Donald Trump's team is hiding him from the public because they're worried about his mental decline.
The vice president was speaking on Roland Martin Unfiltered, a daily politics broadcast.
Harris began by discussing her economic policies and unveiled a list of plans specifically aimed at helping Black men, a key voting bloc that Trump has attempted to peel away from Democrats. She contrasted them with Trump's history of racism, from the full-page "Central Park Five" ad in the New York Times to birtherism aimed at former President Barack Obama.
Then she changed direction to claim Trump's refusal to take part in more debates or to do interviews in which he will be fact-checked is being controlled by his handlers.
"Think about it within the context of how he thinks and talks about Black folks in America," she told Martin. "And now you look at Black immigrants. Legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and he gets on a debate stage and says they're eating their pets. Come on. This man is dangerous."
"Not to mention, Roland," Harris continued, "his staff won't let him do a '60 Minutes' interview. Every presidential candidate for the last half-century has done one. Everyone who is running for president. Everyone has done it except Donald Trump. He will not debate me again."
She also pointed out that she recently released her medical records, while Trump refuses to share his.
"And you have to ask, why is his staff doing that? And it may be because they think he's just not ready, and unfit and unstable, and should not have that level of transparency for the American people," Harris said.
Former President Donald Trump's reputation as the more fiscally responsible candidate doesn't stand up to the high prices he charges for burgers, Bibles and kicks, a frustrated Democrat told a former TrumpWhite House adviser Monday.
Political commentator Paul Begala on Monday schooled former White House associate counsel May Mailman on one of the leading campaign issues defining the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
"He is the face of greedflation," Begala said. "People are pretty ready to believe that a businessman like Mr. Trump is avaricious, greedy, and causing inflation."
The political strategist told Democrats it was time to stop replying to Trump by using data, economists and reports and start focusing on the day-to-day problems most Americans face.
"What's important is, 'How much cost for me to buy a carton of eggs to feed my kids,' right?" Begala said. "I would personalize it."
Begala then pointed to series of Trump products pushed alongside his presidential campaign that he argued weren't worth the hefty price tags slapped on the side with the former president's name.
"Trump is charging $300 for a pair of ugly-a-- sneakers — Michael Jordan only charges $200 for really good sneakers," Begala quipped.
"He's charging 60 bucks for the Holy Bible," Begala said. "That money is not going to the good lord. You know what he does with that money? He goes out and he throws it up and says, 'Lord, take what you need and send the rest back down to me.'"
Begala also appeared outraged at the menu prices at Trump Grill in New York City, where a MAGA burger will cost diners $28 and truffle burger costs a hefty $33.
"Go to Shake Shack and get a better burger for $7.99," Begala fumed. "Democrats ought to be willing to say that."
Donald Trump has been spreading hateful lies about immigrants throughout his political career, but he has intensified those bogus attacks in the final weeks of his 2024 campaign — and analysts see evidence that his message is hitting home.
The former president has falsely claimed at his rallies that Venezuela and other Latin American nations have been emptying their prisons and sending criminals into the United States, but MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said there's simply no evidence to support those allegations.
"Study after study after study, year after year after year shows the same thing," Scarborough said. "Crime rates among immigrants are lower than crime rates among native-born Americans. This campaign has been reduced now to three things, and he's doing it because obviously he thinks it works.
"Number one, he's talking about illegal immigrants and he's saying that America is being destroyed by this invasion of illegal immigrants when he was the one that killed the bill that would have given us the toughest border security that we've ever had in the United States, and he said he killed it for political reasons."
"Then he talks about tariffs, goes higher and higher with the tariffs number, which hurts the middle class because they're the ones going to pay the tariffs," Scarborough added. "And the third thing he talks about is how he's going to deploy the Justice Department to arrest people and then stifle speech he doesn't like. That's his closing message and, again, up to this point, it seemed to be working very well with his base, because we are tied right now and we are tied because his base has come back home."
Jonathan Lemire, the White House bureau chief for Politico, agreed that the false claims about criminal immigrants seemed to be boosting his poll numbers against Vice President Kamala Harris.
"He is lying — he's lying about migrants, about crime, about the crimes committed by immigrants," Lemire said. "That's his closing argument, the rhetoric is getting more dangerous and darker and it might just be working — his base is coming home.
"It's still a tight race, no one is saying it's over by any means, but the Harris momentum of a month or two back does seem to have dissipated and Trump is closing on the claims of migrants that aren't true. The Republican mayor of Aurora, Colorado, fact-checked him and said how he depicts this is not true. 'Claims about the Venezuelan gang activity in our city, state, have been grossly exaggerated and have hurt the city's identity and sense of safety.'
"This is an unreality that Trump is propagating but the right-wing media is backing him up."
