THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2020

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Paul Rudd

When a celebrity's name trends on Twitter, most of the time it is unfortunately for all the worst reasons. 

Not so for Hollywood's Ageless Wonder, actor Paul Rudd. The Avengers star had a viral social media moment when he showed up at an early voting site in Brooklyn to thank people for coming out to vote as they stood in line in the cold, rainy weather. 

And he brought cookies.

Wearing a face mask and gloves, Rudd passed out individually-wrapped baked treats from Milk Bar to delighted voters, who posted photos and videos with the well-liked actor. 

"What a MENSCH," wrote one happy cookie recipient. "I like him 100x more," added another.

Rudd, along with several of his Avengers co-stars, has endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but the cookie giveaway was nonpartisan and nonpolitical, simply thanking voters for coming out in the inclement weather.

The final days of the election have been stressful for many people, so we're going to cheer a friendly gesture, and let's be honest, we've all earned some therapy carbs. And in this month of cringeworthy Borat scenes and scandalous Zoom mishaps, we like the idea of celebrating a viral moment that's just plain sweet. 

MEDIA LOSER:
Donald Trump, Jr.

We've gotten used to Donald Trump Jr. saying outlandish things in his cable news appearances -- and even more so in his social media posts -- but a comment he made on Thursday's episode of Fox News' The Ingraham Angle really takes the cake (we''re having a baking-themed newsletter today, folks, just roll with it). 

Brushing off concerns about the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Donald Trump's son and namesake blithely claimed that deaths from the virus have dropped to “almost nothing” on a day when more than 1,000 Americans died from the outbreak.

"The numbers are almost nothing," claimed Trump Jr., "because we’ve gotten control of thing and we understand how it works."

This is completely false.  He also pushed another lie, that the increase in cases was due to an increase in testing. The latest data shows the viral spread outpacing any increase in testing.

Host Laura Ingraham gets a dishonorable mention here for letting Trump Jr. spout these misinformation with little to no pushback. 

MSNBC's Kasie Hunt perfectly framed the heartlessness of Trump Jr's comments, saying that for the Americans who had died from Covid, "your loved ones are not nothing to us."

NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Hallie Jackson
Gives Us An Inside Look at the Final Days of the Trump-Biden Race

The A-Block

Don't rain on my parade

Biden didn't let a sudden Florida rainstorm drown his spirits Thursday at a campaign stop in Tampa, delivering a fiery speech slamming Trump's pandemic response and urging his supporters to get out the vote in the critical swing state. 

Watch Biden make his pitch to voters as the rain pours down here.

Blue wave blues

Polls leaning favorably for Democrats have liberals salivating over the idea of taking control of the Senate, but Fox News' Chris Wallace had a bucket of cold water to toss on their optimistic hopes. 

Pointing out how close the races are in key states, Wallace said Democrats will "need a blue wave."

"That could happen...but it's certainly no sure thing."

Kamala, Ka-mah-la, to-may-to, to-mah-to

Biden's running mate Kamala Harris had a poignant response for those who have been deliberately mispronouncing her name, telling a story to The Daily Show's Trevor Noah about her family and the power of names and traditions. 

When you share a name with a chicken company

Lots of squawking in the Georgia Senate race, with Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff enjoying a viral moment for his evisceration of the incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue at their debate earlier this week -- and then Perdue suddenly bailing on their final debate.  

Polling has the race in a dead heat, but we're predicting more headaches for a certain chicken company.


FOUR DAYS OUT

With just 4 DAYS to go until Election Day, the lead remains with the challenger but the gaps, and the margins for error, are hot topics.

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE POLLS TODAY.
 


Texas Texas Texas

The early voting turnout in the Lone Star state has been tremendous -- surpassing the state's entire vote from 2016. Whether that will be enough for Biden to manage the shock upset and turn Texas blue remains to be seen.

Bunkers

Stressed from the election? Worried about the seemingly unending series of hurricanes as we progress further into the Greek alphabet? How about a nice safe bunker retreat? A real estate website is reporting that searches for "homes with bunkers" have skyrocketed since June.  

Bye Felicia

CNN's Don Lemon said he has dumped some friends for being Trump supporters, because of their opinions on the coronavirus, calling them “too far gone” and similar to “addicts.”

Changing plans 

The Trump campaign had a rally scheduled in Minnesota Friday, originally planned for 6,000 supporters to attend. State Democrats insisted on enforcing long-standing regulations on crowd sizes and the event is now much smaller, having been shrunk to a mere 260 attendees

The president also cancelled his plans to have his Election Night festivities at his hotel, instead moving the event back to the White House. That's a federal property where D.C. authorities cannot limit the size of the gathering.

3 am tweet

It's generally not reassuring when the President of the United States is tweeting at 3 am, and this particular Trump tweet certainly raised some eyebrows. Read why here.

VOTE VOTE VOTE

ONLY FOUR DAYS LEFT UNTIL ELECTION DAY!

The prevailing advice is that it is now too late to return an absentee ballot by mail for you to be sure it will count, but they can be dropped off at elections offices and even early voting locations in some states.

Find your polling place, early voting locations, and election websites for your state at www.Vote.org.

Must See Clip

'Wear the mask and vote for Trump!'

Chris Cuomo has been a very vocal Trump critic, but at the end of Thursday’s episode of Cuomo Prime Time, the CNN host took the unusual step of urging the president’s supporters to get out to the polls and vote for him.

“OK? Wear the mask and vote for Trump,” said Cuomo said. “Please, do not make yourself sick to make a point. We are not rounding the corner. It is not going away. The spikes aren’t gone. Those are all lies.”

Cuomo also acknowledged the criticism he had received about being seen running without a face mask was a fair discussion.

It was a heartfelt, candid segment and worth watching.

Links We Like

Nate Silver on why 2020 isn’t 2016
- Ezra Klien, via Vox
Me, Joe, and the Worst Phone Call in the World
- via The Bulwark

Occupational Licensing Reform Is a Biden Policy We Can All Favor
- via Reason

These are the hottest political design trends of 2020
- Hunter Schwartz, via Yello
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