Clicky

Tim Walz Calls for the Electoral College to Be Abolished: ‘We Need a National Popular Vote’
Connect with us
Citizen Frank

Published

on

Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz said on Tuesday that the “Electoral College needs to go,” forcing the Kamala Harris campaign to release a statement saying it does not support abolishing the Constitutional mechanism for presidential elections.

At two campaign fundraisers on the West Coast, Walz called for abolishing the Electoral College, arguing that it forces candidates to focus too much attention on a handful of battleground states, The New York Times reported.

“I think all of us know, the Electoral College needs to go. We need a national popular vote,” Walz told donors at California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s home in Sacramento. “So we need to win Beaver County, Pennsylvania. We need to be able to go into York, Pennsylvania, and win. We need to be in western Wisconsin and win. We need to be in Reno, Nevada, and win.”

At an event earlier on Tuesday, Walz told supporters that he is “a national popular vote guy, but that’s not the world we live in.”

Following the Minnesota governor’s call for the Electoral College to be abolished, the the Harris campaign said in a statement, “Governor Walz believes that every vote matters in the Electoral College and he is honored to be traveling the country and battleground states working to earn support for the Harris-Walz ticket.”

“He was commenting to a crowd of strong supporters about how the campaign is built to win 270 electoral votes. And, he was thanking them for their support that is helping fund those efforts,” the statement added.

The Electoral College was established in Article II and the 12th Amendment of the Constitution, which calls for “Electors” to “meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President.” The system requires presidential candidates to gain support from voters across the U.S. instead of focusing on states and cities with the largest populations.

As governor, Walz has pushed for presidents to be elected by popular vote instead of through the Electoral College. In May of 2023, Walz signed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact into law, making Minnesota the 17th state to agree to award its electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote.

Walz is not the only Democrat pushing for the end of the Electoral College. After losing the 2016 election to former President Donald Trump, Democrat Hillary Clinton argued for electing presidents through a national popular vote. While Clinton won the popular vote against Trump, she lost to the Republican nominee in the Electoral College 227 to 304.

During the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) all called for abolishing the Electoral College while on the campaign trail. Harris said in 2019 that she was “open to the discussion” of abolishing the Electoral College.

“I mean, there’s no question that the popular vote has been diminished in terms of making the final decision about who’s the president of the United States and we need to deal with that,” Harris said.

Advertisement
Click to comment

Top picks for you

News

Pennsylvania Judge Allows Elon Musk’s $1 Million Voter Giveaway

A Philadelphia judge on Monday denied City of Brotherly Love DA Larry Krasner’s effort to block billionaire Elon Musk from giving away daily $1 million payouts to registered swing state voters.

Krasner argued that the giveaways amounted to an illegal lottery, but Judge Angelo Foglietta spurned the DA’s bid to stop the prizes immediately after Musk’s lawyer testified that the winners were not randomly selected.

“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” attorney Chris Gober told the court, according to the Associated Press. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”

Chris Young, the head of Musk’s America PAC, testified that the prize winners were vetted prior to being selected in order to “feel out their personality, [and] make sure they were someone whose values aligned” with the political action committee.

Musk’s lawyers further argued that recipients of the million-dollar prizes become paid spokespeople for America PAC and that their “core political speech” would be violated if the giveaways were halted. The Tesla and X CEO’s team also argued that Krasner’s effort was moot since no other Pennsylvanians would be selected before the giveaway ends on Election Day.

Since Oct. 19, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has given away $16 million to voters who have signed his petition backing freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.

To be eligible for the seven-figure prize, signatories must also be registered to cast a ballot in one of the seven swing states that will decide the election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Amid the revelation that winners were not being randomly drawn, Krasner derided Musk’s program as a “grift.”

“This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery,” the DA said. “That’s what it is. A grift.”

“They were scammed for their information,” added Krasner. “It has almost unlimited use.”

Musk, who has endorsed former President Donald Trump, is expected to reveal the final prize winner on Election Day.

The Harris-Biden Justice Department reportedly warned Musk last month that his program may be illegal.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Georgia Supreme Court Blocks Cobb County from Accepting Absentee Ballots Past 7 pm Tuesday Night.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that certain absentee ballots can only be counted if they arrive by Election Day, a move that will set aside at least 3,000 late-arriving ballots pending further litigation.

The decision by the state’s highest court marks a monumental victory for the Republican National Committee‘s election integrity efforts.

The RNC’s appeal was in response to a lower court judge who extended the deadline for counting around 3,000 absentee ballots to Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. after Cobb County officials admitted to failing to mail out a certain subset of ballots on time.

“HUGE election integrity victory in Georgia,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley posted to X on Monday afternoon as he applauded the state Supreme Court’s decision to reverse a lower court’s order and maintain that all ballots must be postmarked and received by Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Superior Court Senior Judge Robert E. Flournoy III ordered Cobb County last week to “process received ballots by Affected Voters” so long as their ballots were postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day, and that those ballots could be counted for the general election until 5 p.m. on Nov. 8.

“Democrat-run Cobb County wanted to accept 3,000 absentee ballots AFTER the Election Day deadline. We took this case to the Georgia Supreme Court,” Whatley said.

The Georgia Supreme Court’s decision means that any late-arriving ballots by the roughly 3,000 “Affected Voters” that come in after Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. will be set aside for now, barring any potential appeals to the Supreme Court.

The Georgia Supreme Court noted that the order “does not pertain to voters entitled to vote under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act,” which pertains to military and overseas voters.

According to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s Office, “All ballots postmarked by the date of the primary, election, or runoff will be counted if received within three days of Election Day” for those subject to UOCAVA.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Joe Rogan Endorses Trump on Eve of Election Day

Joe Rogan endorsed former President Trump for president on Monday evening.

The podcaster’s endorsement of the GOP presidential nominee on the eve of Election Day could be a major boost for Trump as “The Joe Rogan Experience” is particularly popular among young men — a key voter demographic for the Republican.

In announcing his endorsement on X, Rogan hailed the “great and powerful” Elon Musk.

“If it wasn’t for him we’d be f–ked,” Rogan wrote in the post, which links to his interview with Musk.

“He makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way. For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump. Enjoy the podcast.”

Rogan’s three-hour interview with Trump reached tens of millions within days.

He had also pursued an interview with Vice President Harris and said her campaign had not turned him down, but requested that he travel for it.

“I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin,” he said on X last week.

“My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being. I really hope we can make it happen.”

Go deeper ( < 1 min. read ) ➝

News

When Will We Know Who Won the 2024 Election?

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck and neck heading into Election Day, and it’s nearly a certainty that a 2024 winner won’t be declared until later this week.

Both the 2020 and 2022 midterm elections saw some significant delays in declaring a winner. President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory wasn’t solidified until the Saturday following Election Day. During the 2022 midterms, the House also took four days to be decided, while the Senate took a full eight.

According to 538, there are two key factors in determining when results will be returned. First, the actual tightness of the race, as opposed to the margin in the polls, will impact how quickly critical states can be called. Actual vote tallies are unpredictable, so there’s no real way to know just how tight this race is in advance.

For example, the Des Moines Register’s final 2024 poll, conducted last week and released over the weekend, showed a 7-point swing since September that gives Harris a 3-point lead over the former president among likely Iowa voters.

Trump won Iowa by more than eight points in 2020 and was leading Biden by nearly 20 points before this summer’s ticket switch. If Harris were to somehow win the state this cycle, Trump’s path to the White House would significantly change.

Secondly, the speed at which votes can be counted is determined by the total number of ballots cast by mail, which require additional levels of verification. Furthermore, each state, including the seven critical battlegrounds, all have different rules about when election workers can begin counting mail ballots, and when those early votes must be reported by.

Roughly 46% of the more than 155 million votes cast in the 2020 general election were by mail, and this cycle, nearly 69 million voters requested absentee or mail ballots.

The Harris campaign said in a memo over the weekend that they won’t expect results in the seven battleground states to be known until Thursday or beyond. The Trump campaign did not answer questions about their own timeline for when they expect votes to be counted.

Harris campaign officials expect most of the results from Georgia and North Carolina to be posted by Tuesday night, but warned that those results might be delayed if they are particularly close.

The campaign also expects mostly complete results from Michigan and Wisconsin to be in by 6 a.m. EST Wednesday morning, and the majority of votes in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Nevada to be counted later that day.

Campaign officials note that in Nevada, “ballots can continue to arrive through 11/9, and voters can cure ballots through 11/12.”

Furthermore, the campaign expects that “tens of thousands of provisional ballots will be counted starting 11/8” in Pennsylvania and some challenged ballots in North Carolina won’t be counted until Nov. 15.

“It will take a long time to count every single vote, and we can’t place too much stock in the early returns. The tally in certain states is going to change a lot as additional ballots are counted,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in an email sent to supporters over the weekend. “For example, some states that count absentee ballots first may start off blue and shift to red as time goes on. Those would be your Michigans and Pennsylvanias.”

There is a chance that Trump might declare victory before all the votes have been counted, like he did in 2020.

Toward that end, Harris has begun telling reporters that she has a team of lawyers ready to challenge the former president in court.

“Of course,” Harris said in an interview with NBC in October when asked if she thought Trump would declare victory early. “This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo a free and fair election, who still denies the will of the people, who incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol and 140 law enforcement officers were attacked.”

You can find a state-by-state breakdown of poll closing times below, in addition to any state laws that could delay results from being published:

ALABAMA

Polls Close: 8:00 pm EST

State law requires specific excuses for absentee voting, resulting in high rates of in-person voting. The majority of Alabama’s votes should be counted by election night.

ALASKA

Polls close at 12:00 am EST 11/6 and 1:00 am EST in the Aleutian Islands

Alaska begins reporting results at 1:00 am EST, and the state’s Division of Elections will provide updates every half-hour until 3:00 am EST. The next update, including the majority of mail ballots, will be counted and announced on Nov. 12

ARIZONA

Polls Close: 9:00 pm EST

Arizona will not post results until all precincts have reported or 10:00 pm EST at the latest. After 10:00 pm, counties will begin counting and announcing mail ballot totals, but Maricopa County, a hotbed for voter fraud claims in 2020, said that it might take until 5:00 am EST on Wednesday to count and report all of the Election Day votes and potentially two weeks to count all of its mail ballots.

ARKANSAS

Polls Close: 8:30 p.m. EST

Arkansas consistently is able to report all of its results on election night.

CALIFORNIA

Polls close at 11:00 pm EST

California will begin publishing results as soon as the polls close, but the state still accepts mail ballots through Nov. 12, so it will take at least a full week to tally all the votes.

COLORADO

Polls close: 9:00 pm EST

Election law requires Colorado counties to begin posting results one hour after the polls close, but election officials have warned that a full count could drag into the following week based on the sheer number of mail ballots.

CONNECTICUT

Polls Close: 9:00 pm EST

Connecticut consistently is able to report all of its results by election night, or the Wednesday after at the latest.

DELAWARE

Polls Close: 8:00 pm EST

Delaware consistently is able to report all of its results on election night.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Polls Close: 8:00 pm EST

Most but not all results will be known on election night, as Washington, D.C., allows ballots to be received by Nov. 15, as long as they were postmarked by Nov. 5.

FLORIDA

Polls Close: 7:00 pm EST, 8:00 p.m. in the Western part of the state

Florida requires all early voting, both in-person and by mail, to be reported 30 minutes after polls close.

GEORGIA

Polls Close: 7:00 p.m. EST

State laws passed after the 2020 election require early votes to be counted and reported by 8:00 pm on Election Night. The state election office predicts posting 90% of all results to be posted by midnight on Election Night, with all remaining absentee ballots counted by 5:00 p.m. EST the next day.

HAWAII

Polls Close: Midnight EST

Hawaii reports its votes in three batches, with the first coming shortly after polls close, the second by 3:30 a.m. EST on Nov. 6, and the third sometime later on Wednesday.

IDAHO

Polls Close: 10:00 p.m. EST in the South, 11:00 p.m. EST in the North

Idaho consistently is able to report all of its results by the day after the election.

ILLINOIS

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

Illinois reports its early voting numbers shortly after the polls close, but the state allows mail ballots to be counted through Nov. 19.

INDIANA

Polls Close: 6:00 p.m. EST in most parts of the state, 7:00 p.m. in the West

Indiana state law requires results updates to be published on the hour beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST through midnight. Results updates resume at 9:00 a.m. EST until the count is completed.

IOWA

Polls Close: 9:00 p.m. EST

Iowa consistently is able to report all of its results on election night.

KANSAS

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST in most of the state, 9:00 p.m. in the West

Kansas allows mail ballots to be counted through Nov. 8, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.

KENTUCKY

Polls Close: 6:00 p.m. EST in the East, 7:00 p.m. in the West

Kentucky consistently is able to report all of its results on election night.

LOUISIANA

Polls Close: 9:00 pm EST

Louisiana consistently is able to report all of its results by Wednesday morning.

MAINE

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

Maine uses ranked choice voting, which can delay counting by several days if neither Harris nor Trump wins a majority of the vote.

MARYLAND

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

Maryland begins reporting results shortly after polls close, but the state still receives and allows mail ballots to be counted through Nov. 15.

MASSACHUSETTS

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. ET

Massachusetts may begin posting results on election night but is not required to do so until Nov. 8, the received cutoff for mail ballots postmarked by Election Day.

MICHIGAN

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. in the East, 9:00 p.m. in part of the Upper Peninsula

Newly enacted state laws allow Michigan to begin counting mail ballots before Election Day, and the state is expected to return all of its results by Wednesday.

MINNESOTA

Polls Close: 9:00 p.m. EST

Minnesota consistently is able to report all of its results by Wednesday.

MISSISSIPPI

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

Mississippi allows mail ballots to be counted if received by Nov. 13, as long as they are properly postmarked.

MISSOURI

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

Missouri consistently is able to report all of its results on election night.

MONTANA

Polls Close: 10:00 p.m. EST

Montana consistently is able to report all of its results by Wednesday.

NEBRASKA

Polls Close: 9:00 p.m. EST

Nebraska typically reports nearly all its votes on election night, but the state election’s office will deliver an update on Nov. 8 followed by additional updates as necessary.

NEVADA

Polls Close: 10:00 p.m. EST

Nevada allows all voters waiting in line when the polls close to vote, and the state will not report any results until after those final votes are cast. Furthermore, the state allows mail ballots to be counted through Nov. 9, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Polls Close: 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST depending on the municipality

New Hampshire consistently is able to report all of its results by Wednesday.

NEW JERSEY

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

New Jersey allows properly postmarked mail ballots to be received and counted through Nov. 11.

NEW MEXICO

Polls Close: 9:00 p.m. EST

New Mexico begins reporting results shortly after polls close, but if not all votes are counted by 1:00 am EST on Wednesday, the count must be paused until 11:30 a.m. EST.

NEW YORK

Polls Close: 9:00 p.m. EST

New York allows properly postmarked mail ballots to be received and counted through Nov. 12.

NORTH CAROLINA

Polls Close: 7:30 p.m. EST

North Carolina will report all early voting totals between 7:30 p.m. EST and 9:30 p.m. EST on election night, followed shortly after by Election Day totals. The state will continue to count provisional ballots, absentee ballots, and special ballots for voters in regions hit by Hurricane Helene over the following 10 days.

NORTH DAKOTA

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST in most of the state, 9:00 p.m. EST in the Southwest

North Dakota allows mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 4 to be received and counted through November 18.

OHIO

Polls Close: 7:30 p.m. EST

Ohio allows mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 4 to be received and counted through Nov. 9.

OKLAHOMA

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

Oklahoma consistently is able to report all of its results by Wednesday.

OREGON

Polls Close: 10:00 p.m. EST in Malheur County, 11:00 p.m. EST in the rest of the state

Oregon allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received and counted through Nov. 12.

PENNSYLVANIA

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

State law prohibits any mail ballots from being processed until Election Day, but once the count starts, it cannot stop until all votes are reported. State officials say they expect full results by Wednesday or Thursday.

RHODE ISLAND

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

Rhode Island consistently is able to report all of its results by Wednesday.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Polls Close: 7:00 p.m. EST

South Carolina consistently is able to report all of its results on election night.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m EST. in the East, 9:00 p.m. EST in the West

TENNESSEE

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST

Tennessee consistently is able to report all of its results on election night.

TEXAS

Polls Close: 8:00 p.m. EST in most of the state, 9:00 p.m. EST in the West

Texas cannot start counting early votes until after polls close, but the state also requires all Election Day voting to be tabulated 24 hours after polls close.

UTAH

Polls Close: 10:00 p.m. EST

Utah allows mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 4 to be received and counted through Nov. 19, depending on the county.

VERMONT

Polls Close: 7:00 p.m. EST

Vermont consistently is able to report all of its results on election night.

VIRGINIA

Polls Close: 7:00 p.m. EST

Virginia allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received and counted through Nov. 8.

WASHINGTON

Polls Close: 11:00 p.m. EST

Washington allows properly postmarked ballots to be received and counted all the way up until Nov. 26 in some counties.

WEST VIRGINIA

Polls Close: 7:30 p.m. EST

West Virginia consistently is able to report all of its results on election night, though the state does allow properly postmarked mail ballots to be received and counted through Nov. 12.

WISCONSIN

Polls Close: 9:00 p.m. EST

Wisconsin does not allow absentee ballots to be processed until Election Day, which historically has delayed full results for up to a few days.

WYOMING

Polls Close: 9:00 p.m. EST

Wyoming consistently is able to report all of its results on Election Night or early Wednesday morning.

Go deeper ( 8 min. read ) ➝

News

FBI Thwarts Planned Drone Attack on Tennessee Energy Facility

The FBI foiled a possible drone attack on an energy facility in Tennessee on Monday, the Justice Department announced, after a man allegedly planned to fly the drones packed with explosives into the plant, which would destroy critical infrastructure.

The Justice Department said the suspect, 24-year-old Skyler Philippi, was arrested and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility.

“As charged, Skyler Philippi believed he was moments away from launching an attack on a Nashville energy facility to further his violent white supremacist ideology – but the FBI had already compromised his plot,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “This case serves as yet another warning to those seeking to sow violence and chaos in the name of hatred by attacking our country’s critical infrastructure: the Justice Department will find you, we will disrupt your plot, and we will hold you accountable.”

He was caught with a drone powered up, and the explosive device armed and located next to the drone.

The DOJ said the man was already on law enforcement’s radar, after he allegedly confided in a confidential human source (CHS) about his desire to carry out a mass shooting at a YMCA near Columbus, Ohio, in June. He also allegedly told another CHS in July about the potential impact of taking out large interstate substations, and researched previous attacks on electric substations, where he realized explosives would be more effective than guns.

He additionally went to a substation with undercover FBI employees for reconnaissance. He ordered C-4 and other explosives from the employees on the drive.

The suspect also engaged in a Nordic ritual on Nov. 2, and told undercover FBI employees that it was “time to do something big” that would be remembered “in the annals of history.”

“Driven by a racially motivated violent extremist ideology, the Defendant planned to attack the power grid with a drone and explosives, leaving thousands of Americans and critical infrastructure like hospitals without power,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

“The FBI’s swift work led to the detection and disruption of the defendant’s plot before he could cause any damage. We are committed to holding accountable anyone who threatens the security of our critical infrastructure or seeks to harm American communities through domestic violent extremism.”

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Catherine Herridge Reveals How CBS Killed Hunter Biden Story: ‘I Felt Sick’

CBS News went to great lengths to squash correspondent Catherine Herridge’s reporting about the Hunter Biden laptop just weeks before the 2020 election, the award-winning investigative journalist claimed.

In her bombshell allegation, Herridge revealed she brought evidence to CBS News executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell in early October 2020 that the laptop contained material about “a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm,” along with business texts and emails from the son of Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

But later that month, Herridge wrote that she was shocked to see “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl say the laptop “couldn’t be verified” during a tense interview with then-President Donald Trump.

“As I watched the broadcast, I felt sick,” Herridge, who was controversially fired by the Tiffany Network in February, wrote Sunday night in her recently launched newsletter.

“I knew the laptop records could be vetted and confirmed.”

She added that she was surprised that “60 Minutes” — which came under fire last month for allegedly editing comments made by Vice President Kamala Harris to avoid a “word salad” answer about the Middle East conflict — had not been working with the news division to confirm her reporting.

There was such a “disconnect” between the two entities, she said.

Before Stahl’s segment aired, she was contacted by Ciprian-Matthews asking her if she had “confirmed reporting” on the Hunter Biden story for O’Donnell’s broadcast.

Herridge assured the executive that her extensive reporting included “working the phones, reaching out to people on the Hunter Biden emails for corroboration and cross-referencing court records.”

“I told Ciprian-Matthews the vetted materials included a million dollar retainer from a Chinese energy firm, emails with Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski as well as Hunter Biden text messages,” she said.

“Asked by Ciprian-Matthews if there was a ‘Hunter connection,’ I responded, ‘Yes, all of them,’” she wrote.

Herridge said that she then provided some of the vetted records directly to Ciprian-Matthews.

But her reporting was never aired.

“I don’t know at this point what happened,” Herridge said.

The journalist noted that based on her experience at the network, she found it odd that CBS News did not task the investigative unit in October 2020 to develop more reporting on the laptop.

“That would have been standard practice,” Herridge wrote.

The Post was the only mainstream publication to report at the time that the laptop belonged to Hunter Biden — leading to a ban of the story by social media giants Facebook and Twitter.

It took an additional two years for CBS to broadcast a forensic review of the Hunter Biden laptop data. By that time, Ciprian-Matthews had been elevated to the role of CBS News president.

Herridge said she continued to advocate for her report on the laptop, which “determined that both the data belonged to Hunter Biden and it had not been tampered with.”

“Our report was broadcast in November 2022, after the midterm elections,” Herridge said.

Herridge was ousted earlier this year amid sweeping cuts at the network and parent company Paramount Global. CBS News seized Herridge’s reporting materials upon her termination.

Sources close to the situation claimed that the decision to hold on to her files was made by Ciprian-Matthews. The files were returned days later amid pressure from the union representing Herridge.

Earlier this year, The Post revealed that Ciprian-Matthews was accused of sidelining white journalists and blocking Herridge’s reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop.

The exec abruptly stepped down in August, and moved to the role of senior adviser for coverage of the 2024 presidential election before. She is set to exit the company after the election.

Go deeper ( 3 min. read ) ➝

News

Tech Billionaire and ‘Lifelong Dem’ Mark Pincus Endorses Trump

Tech billionaire Mark Pincus announced on Sunday, just two days before the presidential election, that he is voting for Trump on Tuesday despite being a “lifelong Dem.

“I am voting for Trump,” Pincus wrote on X. “I have been a lifelong Dem, supporting the past 4 presidential campaigns at $1m each (including Biden/Harris).”

“This past year I have seen too much,” Pincus added. He is worth an estimated $1.4 billion and is known for his founding of the video game company Zynga, which is most famous for creating Farmville, the Daily Mail reported.

“Israel is America’s most loyal ally and the only Democracy in the Middle East. It is fighting Iran on 7 fronts and yet it can no longer trust the US. Anti semitism in America is reaching levels not seen since pre WWII,” he wrote.

“And there seems to be a war against freedom of speech. Happily MSM is no longer trusted but if our sources of free speech like X are censored we move a step closer to Russia and China where the state is the only voice allowed.

“I know America will continue to be great under the Dems or Trump. And yet, I think America and Israel will be stronger under Trump. My vote doesn’t matter since I live in a one party state. But I feel it’s important that I state my position anyway,” Pincus, who lives in California, concluded.

Pincus is the latest Silicon Valley billionaire to throw his support behind Trump. Following the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, X owner Elon Musk endorsed Trump.

In August, the CEO and co-founder of Lightspark David Marcus announced that he was “crossing the Rubicon and backing the Republican Party and President Trump” after voting for Democrats for years.

In June, billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss announced that they had donated the equivalent of $2 million in Bitcoin to Trump’s campaign, citing the “war against crypto” carried out by Biden, who was still the Democratic presidential candidate at that point.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Dick Van Dyke, 98, Endorses Kamala Harris

Dick Van Dyke is the latest celebrity to throw his support behind Kamala Harris.

The beloved 98-year-old actor made a rare appearance on social media Monday to endorse Harris in Tuesday’s tight presidential race against Donald Trump.

“Hi! I’m Dick Van Dyke,” the “Marry Poppins” star began the black-and-white video. “You may remember I used to sing and dance and fall down a lot, actually.”

Despite turning 99 in December, Van Dyke was full of energy and enthusiasm as he set the scene for his endorsement.

“50 years ago — May 31st, 1964 — I was on the podium with Dr. Martin Luther King, who was addressing some 60,000 people in the Colosseum in LA and I was there to read a message written by Rod Serling, the guy who wrote ‘Twilight Zone,’” he said.

“I got it out the other day and I think it means as much today — if not more — than it did then, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to read it.”

Van Dyke, who wore a polo shirt and glasses, then read a short section of the original address, which Serling titled at the time, “A Most Non-Political Speech.”

“Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy [and] scapegoating…. none of those are the transcendent facets of the human personality,” he recited.

“They are diseases. They are the cancers of the soul. They are the infectious and contagious viruses that have been breeding humanity for years,” he continued.

“And because they have been and because they are, is it necessary that they shall be?” he asked. “I think not.”

As long as there is “one voice left to say ‘welcome’ to a stranger,” “one hand outstretched to say ‘enter and share’” and “one mind remaining to think a thought of warmth and friendship” then there is still hope for humanity, according to Serling and Van Dyke.

The “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” star believes there is “essential decency,” “basic goodness” and “preeminent dignity” in everyone — even if we don’t always act on it.

“There will be moments of violence and expressions of hatred and an ugly echo of intolerance, but these are the clinging vestiges of a decayed past, not the harbingers of the better, cleaner future,” he recited.

“To those who tell us that the inequality of the human animal is a necessary evil, we must respond by simply saying that first, it is evil but it is not necessary,” he continued. “We prove it, sitting here tonight in 1964. We prove it by reaffirming our faith. We prove it by having faith in our affirmations.”

Van Dyke closed out the speech by reciting a quote from Horace Mann, which read, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. I’d like to paraphrase that tonight. ‘Let us be ashamed to live without that victory.’”

While the actor noted that “a lot has happened” since he first read the passage 50 years ago, much has also remained the same.

“It’s not what Martin Luther King dreamed of but it’s a start,” he concluded. “Thank you and God bless.”

Although Van Dyke did not explicitly mention Harris in his video, he tagged the Vice President and her official campaign page in his caption.

“VOTE!!!” he wrote.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Washington Activates National Guard, Oregon “Standing Ready”, Heading Into Election Day

Washington Governor Jay Inslee is activating the Washington National Guard ahead of election day, according to KING 5, and neighboring state Oregon isn’t far behind.

The action by the governor follows two recent ballot box arsons in Portland and Vancouver, Washington, in late October, which destroyed hundreds of ballots. Officials are still seeking a suspect.

Governor Inslee announced that some National Guard members will assist local law enforcement and the State Patrol, with the exact number yet to be decided.

Homeland Security has warned of potential political violence and threats to election infrastructure ahead of the 2024 General Election. Guard members will be on standby from Monday through Thursday night.

“The southwest region of Washington state has already experienced specific instances of election-related unrest,” Inslee commented according to CNN.

“Based upon general and specific information and concerns regarding the potential for violence or other unlawful activity related to the 2024 general election, I want to ensure we are fully prepared to respond to any potential additional civil unrest,” he continued.

Oregon is taking similar measures, with its National Guard “standing ready”. In a statement, Gov. Tina Kotek said: “The governor’s office is closely monitoring and coordinating with local, state and federal agencies to ensure Oregon voters can safely cast their ballot.”

Meanwhile, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler noted there’s “no current information to suggest unrest” but acknowledged community tension. Oregon State Police, Portland law enforcement, and the Department of Emergency Management are coordinating efforts, with Portland increasing police staffing on Tuesday as a precaution.

In 2020, Oregon deployed the National Guard and a unified command for election security, and recently, states have increasingly activated the Guard for cybersecurity during elections, the report concluded.

Go deeper ( < 1 min. read ) ➝

News

Russia Accused of Plotting to Plant Explosives on US-Bound Planes

Western security officials say they believe that two incendiary devices, shipped via DHL, were part of a covert Russian operation that ultimately aimed to start fires aboard cargo or passenger aircraft flying to the U.S. and Canada, as Moscow steps up a sabotage campaign against Washington and its allies.

The devices ignited at DHL logistics hubs in July, one in Leipzig, Germany, and another in Birmingham, England. The explosions set off a multinational race to find the culprits.

Now investigators and spy agencies in Europe have figured out how the devices—electric massagers implanted with a magnesium-based flammable substance—were made and concluded that they were part of a wider Russian plot, according to security officials and people familiar with the probe.

Security officials say the electric massagers, sent to the U.K. from Lithuania, appear to have been a test run to figure out how to get such incendiary devices aboard planes bound for North America.

Lithuanian police arrested a suspect who sent four incendiary devices, including two from a DHL shop in the capital Vilnius, a European law-enforcement official said. The suspect identified himself as Igor Prudnikov, but his real name is Alexander Suranovas, the official said. Investigators said they believe he was used as a proxy by Russian spy services.

Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office said authorities there have arrested four people in connection with the fires and charged them with participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency. Poland is working with other countries to find at least two more suspects.

“The group’s goal was also to test the transfer channel for such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada,” the prosecutor’s office said, without saying who was orchestrating the group’s efforts.

But the head of Poland’s foreign-intelligence agency, Pawel Szota, said Russian spies were to blame and such an attack, if carried out, would have represented a major escalation in Moscow’s campaign against the West. “I’m not sure the political leaders of Russia are aware of the consequences if one of these packages exploded, causing a mass casualty event,” Szota said.

Szota’s comments echo what other Western intelligence officials said, indicating that Russia, and specifically its military-intelligence agency, known as the GRU, was responsible.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked for comment by The Wall Street Journal, said: “We have never heard any official accusations” of Russian involvement, adding: “These are traditional unsubstantiated insinuations from the media.”

European authorities allege that Russia is behind an expanding campaign of sabotage, including arson in the U.K. and the Czech Republic, attacks on pipelines and data cables in the Baltic and tampering with water supplies in Sweden and Finland.

Earlier this year, the U.S. warned Germany that Russia planned to kill the chief executive of Rheinmetall, the German armaments giant that supplies Ukraine.

In the months after the fires at the DHL logistics hubs, the heads of both U.K. intelligence agencies called out Russia’s sabotage operations. In September, Richard Moore, the head of MI6, the U.K.’s foreign-intelligence service, said that the Russian spy agencies had “gone a bit feral in some of their behavior.”

A month later, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, the U.K.’s domestic spy agency, warned that Russia was orchestrating “arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness.”

Downing commercial passenger or cargo planes would be a big step up and some Western intelligence agencies have questioned whether such a plot could be the result of Russian spies carrying out a plan without the full authorization of the Kremlin, according to people familiar with the matter.

A Central Intelligence Agency spokesperson in Washington didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The incendiary devices that ignited in July only narrowly missed being on aircraft used by DHL, the people said. German police who tested replicas of the incendiary devices said that once magnesium ignited it would be difficult to extinguish with the firefighting systems most planes have, people familiar with the German investigation said, and pilots would have been forced to make an emergency landing.

An aircraft far from land and over an ocean would have been at risk of going down, the people said.

Germany-based DHL uses cargo and passenger airplanes to transport packages. A spokeswoman for the company said the incendiary devices that ignited in July were carried in cargo planes and said the company was cooperating with authorities.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration declined to comment on the alleged plot. The agency said it has worked with U.S. and foreign air carriers to put additional safety measures in place on air-cargo shipments as part of continuing efforts to improve security.

Poland hasn’t named the four people arrested in connection with the incendiary devices, nor has it disclosed their nationalities.

The U.K. is investigating the device that caught fire in Birmingham and is working with other law enforcement authorities in Europe, a spokesperson for the country’s counterterrorism police said. No arrests have been made.

The head of Germany’s internal security agency, Thomas Haldenwang, told the country’s legislators that no one was harmed because a flight was delayed, describing it as a “lucky coincidence.” An airplane could have gone down in flames, he said.

Go deeper ( 3 min. read ) ➝

News

WATCH: NBC Airs Trump Message After Harris Saturday Night Live Appearance

NBC aired a message from former President Donald Trump one day after Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Trump spoke for about one minute during the message, which was prerecorded and broadcast during a NASCAR race on Nov. 3. It was aired again during an NFL game.

Trump, after greeting fans of sports, noted that the presidential election is slated for Nov. 5.

“We’re two days away from the most important election in the history of our country. We’ve got to save our country, and it needs saving. It’s in very bad shape,” Trump said.

“We’re going to end up in a depression based on what’s been happening,” he added later.

“We have to straighten out our country, we have to close our borders, we have to lower our taxes, we have to get rid of inflation. I’ll fix it.”

Harris appeared live during Saturday’s SNL. She participated in a skit that portrayed her speaking to another version of herself ahead of the election.

“It is nice to see you, Kamala, and I’m just here to remind you, you got this. You can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors,“ Harris told Maya Rudolph, who was playing the vice president and had said she wished she could talk to someone ”who’s been in my shoes; a black, South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area.”

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brandon Carr wrote in a Nov.3 post on social media platform X that the Democratic presidential nominee’s appearance may have violated an FCC rule against licensed broadcasters using public airwaves to influence an election in favor of a candidate unless the other candidate is offered equal time by the same broadcasters.

The rule in question “generally means providing comparable time and placement to opposing candidates,” according to an FCC fact sheet.

The regulator gives an example of a qualified candidate appearing on a station. In that scenario, the station “will be required to entertain requests for Equal Opportunities by opposing legally qualified candidates for the same office,” the FCC states. “However, the station is not required to seek out opposing legally qualified candidates and offer them Equal Opportunities.”

The FCC grants licenses to some broadcasters. The agency can revoke licenses, although its chairwoman said in October that revocation would not happen “for political reasons.”

Over the weekend, NBC lodged a notice with the FCC that said Harris appeared on its network for one minute and 30 seconds. The broadcaster said the appearance came “without charge.”

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Jordan Neely Was Alive When Police Arrived, Didn’t Give Mouth-to-Mouth Because He Was ‘Filthy’

Officers did not perform mouth-to-mouth on Jordan Neely, who still had a pulse, following the incident last year on the New York City subway car concerning former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny.

Penny restrained Neely, a troubled man with a lengthy criminal record and a history of mental health issues, after Neely allegedly threatened passengers. The 25-year-old has since been controversially charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s death and is facing up to 19 years behind bars if convicted on both counts.

It was revealed in court that Neely was still alive when officers arrived on the scene and that he was administered Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses. Moreover, jurors learned that, as a safety precaution, officers did not give Neely mouth-to-mouth because Neely looked dirty and disease-ridden.

“He was an apparent drug user and he was very dirty,” NYPD Sgt. Carl Johnson testified, according to the New York Post. “I didn’t want my officers to put their lips on his mouth. They could get hepatitis or AIDS … chest compressions would be enough to get him awake.”

Pressed by Penny’s attorney Thomas Kenniff about why only chest compressions were administered, Johnson reportedly said he “didn’t have a mask to wear to protect himself from potentially being infected by any ‘number of diseases,’” a Daily Mail report said.

“There’s a certain line where you have to protect your officer,” Johnson told the court. “Look at 9/11. I wouldn’t want one of my officers getting sick from this.”

If Neely did wake up, the sergeant explained, “he would have been vomiting.”

“I didn’t want my officers to do that,” Johnson said. “He was filthy. He looked like a homeless individual. You have to protect your officer. I wouldn’t want my officer to get sick if the person throws up.”

Notably, a synthetic cannabinoid called K2 was found in Neely’s system, according to a toxicology report ordered by the prosecution.

Kenniff, Penny’s attorney, spoke to The Daily Wire last month and said this would likely be disclosed by the state.

“I don’t think it would be a smart tactical move for the prosecution to try to hide it,” Kenniff said. “So I think it’s coming out one way or another. I think it’s gonna come out through the government’s case, but certainly, that is going to be part of what the defense will point to [as one of] many other factors to describe the [circumstances].”

“It’s very important that the jury be aware of that drug in Mr. Neely’s system, and the effects of that drug, because it affects behaviors, particularly when Mr. Neely was likely in a psychotic episode to begin with, which he has a history of,” the attorney added. “It’s going to affect how threatening Neely appeared.”

Use of K2, sometimes referred to a “spice,” has been linked to psychosis.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Arizona Restores 2,900 Voter Registrations Without Citizenship Proof

Local election officials in Arizona confirmed the nearly 2,900 voters who were previously flagged as needing proof of citizenship to vote in Tuesday’s election will ultimately be able to cast their ballots.

The last-minute decisions by officials in Maricopa and Pinal counties will allow 2,900 people to participate in the election despite not having provided valid proof of citizenship. Both counties said the affected voters were invalidated in error, blaming the Motor Vehicle Division’s automated system that was programmed to flag people who were part of a larger group of 218,000 driver’s license holders who lacked proof of citizenship.

“After further consideration, the decision was made to fully restore those voters from the not registered status, only if they were previously an existing, registered voter,” Maricopa County Recorder’s Office spokeswoman Taylor Kinnerup told the Washington Examiner on Monday. “This means any Maricopa County voter impacted by the previously discovered MVD data oversight has since been restored back to their original status of either full or fed-only ballot for this upcoming election.”

Maricopa County is Arizona’s most populous county and will likely be decisive in determining whether the state chooses former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.

The state’s third-largest county, Pinal County, had nearly 900 voters flagged incorrectly. Both counties have reversed the requirement, allowing affected voters to participate in the election without providing additional proof of citizenship.

Maricopa County officials said the roughly 2,000 affected voters had attempted to update their voter registration just before an Oct. 7 deadline. The county flagged these registrations because of recent changes in how it processed voter registration forms in response to two separate court decisions.

Arizona’s laws are unique in that proof of citizenship is only required to vote in state and local elections. Federal law only requires applicants to attest to their citizenship in order to vote. Without providing proof of citizenship, Arizona residents are placed on a “federal-only” voter list and are restricted from voting in federal elections, such as presidential and congressional races.

A Supreme Court ruling on Aug. 22 affirmed the state’s law that requires rejecting state registration forms without proof of citizenship while upholding the ability for residents who’ve yet to update their citizenship records to participate in voting if they registered using a federal form.

Additionally, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 20 that around 218,000 voters with discrepancies in the MVD database wouldn’t need to provide citizenship proof until after the November election.

Any early ballots previously placed on hold or voided have been restored and will be counted, ensuring these voters’ participation in a closely contested state.

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office sent guidance in October to county recorders informing them that even though the system was flagging these voters, they should still continue to allow the voters to vote a full ballot until after November.

Following reassessment, county officials restored the affected voters’ registrations, ensuring their eligibility for Tuesday’s election.

Other counties, including Pima, Yavapai, and Coconino, reported no similar errors.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Who Will Replace Mitch McConnell? Senate GOP Faces Biggest Leadership Shake-Up in Nearly 20 Years

Senate Republicans are bracing for the biggest leadership shake-up in nearly 20 years after the Nov. 5 elections no matter which party controls the upper chamber.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) preplanned departure from his post as the longest-serving Senate party leader sparked jockeying within the conference for coveted seats at the leadership table, positions that will undoubtedly raise lawmakers’ national profiles.

“I am no longer the young man sitting in the back, hoping colleagues would remember my name,” McConnell, 82, said earlier this year in announcing his scheduled exit as leader. “It is time for the next generation of leadership.”

Senate Republicans will choose McConnell’s successor, as well as other positions within the conference, via secret ballots the week after the Nov. 5 elections when Congress returns for the first time since late September. Committee assignments and chairs will be decided at a later date.

Senate Democrats, who face far fewer changes to their leadership rungs but will undergo their own game of musical chairs at the committee level, are expected to hold their elections in early December.

Only those serving in the next Congress and senators-elect are allowed to vote; retiring senators will not participate.

Here’s how Senate leadership posts and committee chairs for both parties could transform.

GOP Leader

Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rick Scott (R-FL) are gunning for the top spot. Scott will capture a sizeable chunk of the most conservative wing of the conference but is the underdog to longtime members Thune and Cornyn.

Republican operatives and staffers give Thune a slight advantage but say the race is still extremely close between him and Cornyn. Both have served extensive stints in leadership and been fundraising juggernauts for candidates this cycle.

Cornyn has raised $26 million for GOP senators and Senate nominees this cycle and north of a whopping $400 million since 2002. Thune, who’s been crisscrossing the country and has headlined some 200 events for candidates and the party, has raised $31 million this cycle for the GOP.

GOP Whip

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Republican Conference, is running unopposed for the No. 2 spot to replace Thune as whip.

GOP Conference Chair

Barrasso’s No. 3 spot is being sought by No. 4 GOP Policy Chairwoman Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). Ernst is favored to win.

GOP Policy Chair

Fifth-ranked Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is also looking to move up a rung by ascending to Ernst’s spot as GOP conference chair. Capito is running unopposed.

NRSC Chair

Current National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) confirmed he had no plans to emerge as a dark horse candidate for GOP leader. He also isn’t vying for another cycle as head of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.

That leaves Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former presidential candidate who was on Trump’s VP short list, likely to be unopposed for NRSC chair. Scott’s White House run elevated his national profile, which he’s used to campaign and fundraise for Trump and GOP Senate candidates across the country.

“The senator is grateful for the encouragement he has received from colleagues to run for chair of the NRSC,” Scott adviser Nathan Brand told the Washington Examiner. “He is working tirelessly to send Donald Trump back to the White House and take the U.S. Senate, then looks toward to growing the Republican majority in 2026.”

First-term Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Katie Britt (R-AL) expressed initial interest in the job but did not ultimately pursue it.

Committees

Majority control will determine whether the top Democrat and Republican on each panel are chair or ranking member.

With Barrasso’s ascent to the No. 2 whip spot, conference rules require him to relinquish his role as the top Republican on Energy and Natural Resources. Sen. James Risch (R-ID) is next in seniority but is expected to keep his top GOP spot on Foreign Relations, likely making Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) the top Republican on Energy.

Senate Republicans vote by secret ballot for their top-ranking member and do not have to abide by seniority but typically do so anyway.

“I don’t expect [Republican] senators to buck the trend,” a senior Senate GOP staffer said.

Senate Republicans also have a six-year term limit for its chairs in the majority and the same cap for ranking members in the minority.

That’s why Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), should the GOP retake the majority, plan to swap their top posts on the Judiciary and Budget Committees, respectively. Graham would become Budget chairman and Grassley would take over Judiciary.

Grassley, already the chamber’s oldest senator at 91, would also become third in line to the presidency as Senate President Pro Tempore. The oldest member of the majority party is traditionally selected for the role.

“Should Republicans take back the Senate majority, Senator Grassley looks forward to serving as President Pro Tempore and continuing to deliver on his conservative record as chairman of the Judiciary Committee,” said Grassley Communications Director Clare Slattery.

Senate Democrats

Senate Democrats’ leadership team is largely staying put, resulting in fewer shake-ups among its ranks. But the same cannot be said at the committee level.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will remain his party’s leader. His No. 2, Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), will keep his role and his spot as the top Democrat on Judiciary, Durbin’s office confirmed.

Policy and Communications Chair

Third-ranking Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) is retiring from Congress after nearly three decades. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), both former presidential candidates, are top contenders to replace her as the Democratic Caucus’s policy and communications chair.

DSCC Chair

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), another past presidential contender, is vying unopposed to become chairwoman of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Gillibrand recently hit the trail to campaign for battleground colleagues Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Bob Casey (D-PA), both facing “toss-up” reelections.

“Senator Gillibrand has offered to serve as chair of the DSCC for the 2026 cycle, but is currently focused on her reelection campaign and on helping Leader Schumer and [DSCC Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI)] hold the Senate,” Gillibrand spokesman Evan Lukaske said. “She has also spent her time building an unprecedented coordinated campaign in New York that will help flip competitive congressional seats and take back the House.”

Committees

With several chairmen up for reelection in vulnerable races or retiring from Congress, Senate Democrats could see a massive shift in their committee assignments next Congress.

Stabenow is chairwoman of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Klobuchar would be next in line to be the top Democrat, but she already chairs the Rules Committee. Neither party allows members to chair two committees simultaneously. That means the spot would likely go to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO).

Also heading for the exit doors of Capitol Hill are Foreign Relations Chairman Ben Cardin (D-MD), Environment and Public Works Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE), and Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Joe Manchin (I-WV), who caucuses with Democrats.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is line to be the top Democrat on Foreign Relations. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) or Jeff Merkley (D-OR) could take over Environment, although Whitehouse would have to give up his Budget gavel. And next in line for Energy who doesn’t already chair another panel is Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM).

Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT) and Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) face nail-biter reelections in red states. Their ousters by Republican challengers would add an extra layer of musical chairs for Democrats in the committee rooms.

Go deeper ( 5 min. read ) ➝

News

Boxer Imane Khelif Has XY Chromosomes, Testicles, and Micropenis: French-Algerian Medical Report

A shocking new development has emerged in the case of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif after a French journalist reportedly gained access to a damning medical report revealing Khelif has “testicles.” The news comes months after Khelif seized a gold medal in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics.

The report was drafted in June of 2023 via a collaboration between the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital in Paris, France, and the Mohamed Lamine Debaghine hospital in Algiers, Algeria. Drafted by expert endocrinologists Soumaya Fedala and Jacques Young, the report reveals that Khelif is impacted by 5-alpha reductase deficiency, a disorder of sexual development that is only found in biological males.

The genetic abnormality influences the normal development of a child’s sexual organs. At birth, male babies impacted by 5-alpha are often incorrectly assigned female due to the presence of deformed genitalia that sometimes takes on the appearance of a “blind vaginal pouch.”

This disordered development typically becomes apparent by puberty, when 5-alpha adolescents begin to experience signs of masculinization such as muscle growth, hair growth, and an absence of breast tissue development or menstruation. Without access to a proper clinical examination, males with 5-alpha may incorrectly believe they are female into adulthood.

At the end of October, French journalist Djaffar Ait Aoudia obtained a copy of a thorough physical examination that was conducted on Khelif in order to verify the presence of a disorder of sexual development.

According to Aoudia, the clinical report reveals that an MRI determined that Khelif had no uterus, but instead had internal testicles and a “micropenis” resembling an enlarged clitoris. A chromosomal test further confirmed that Khelif has an XY karyotype, while a hormone test found that Khelif had a testosterone level typical of males. Aoudia also noted that doctors suggested Khelif’s parents may have been blood relatives.

The report concludes by recommending Khelif be referred for “surgical correction and hormone therapy,” to help him physically align with his self-perceived gender identity, and adds that psychological support would be required because the results had caused a “very significant neuropsychiatric impact.”

This report coincides with an earlier admission by Khelif’s coach, Georges Cazorla, that the Algerian boxer had been subjected to an assessment at the Kremlin-Bicêtre Hospital after being disqualified from women’s boxing by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in March of 2023.

In an interview from August, Cazorla tepidly conceded that the endocrinologists had determined there was a “problem with [Khelif’s] chromosomes” at the time. Despite this fact, Cazorla insisted that Khelif should still be allowed to compete against females.

Cazorla also stated that Khelif was placed on testosterone suppressants following the 2023 medical assessment. However, the International Olympic Committee has not submitted athletes to chromosomal testing since 1999 and, at the Paris Olympics, the only requirement to participate in women’s boxing was to have a female sex marker on legal documents.

Further confirmation of the boxers’ karyotype was given by Alan Abrahamson, an associate professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, who is a specialist in Olympic sports and member of the International Olympic Committee’s press committee. In an August statement, Abrahamson said that he had personally viewed the results of the hotly-contested chromosomal tests ordered by the IBA in 2022 and 2023 which “concluded the boxer’s DNA was that of a male consisting of XY chromosomes.”

The news of Khelif’s leaked medical report comes after he won gold at the Paris Olympics in the women’s 66kg category.

In collaboration with the Independent Council on Women’s Sport (ICONS), Reduxx was the first outlet to break the news of Khelif’s participation in women’s boxing at Paris, raising alarm bells due to his previous disqualification from women’s boxing by the IBA. The news sparked a firestorm of controversy, with the IBA coming out in opposition to the IOC’s decision to allow biological males to box against women in Paris.

During a press conference in August, the IBA repeatedly confirmed that Khelif had failed multiple chromosomal tests, but was unable to release barred from releasing the results of those tests by the Algerian Olympic Committee.

Speaking to Reduxx on this latest revelation, ICONS co-founder Marshi Smith slammed the IOC and the Algerian Olympic Committee for allowing Khelif to continue his journey to Paris gold despite being fully aware he was genetically male.

“The IOC and the Algerian Olympic Committee are complicit in endorsing male violence against women under the guise of public entertainment on the world’s largest sports stage,” Smith said. “They stood by as women were subjected to physical assault for spectacle, stripped of safety, fairness, and their lifetime achievements. All those involved must face swift and serious consequences.”

Smith adds that she believes Khelif should be stripped of his gold medal, but doubts any action will be taken to rectify the injustice.

“We urge leaders in sports and governments worldwide to condemn the IOC and demand a public commitment to ensuring fair and safe sports for women from this day forward. This must never be allowed to happen again.”

Go deeper ( 3 min. read ) ➝

News

NYT Admits ‘Woke’ Ideology Is Losing Its ‘Grip on the Country’

The New York Times admitted in a news analysis over the weekend that “woke” ideology that peaked in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in 2020 has largely dissipated this election cycle as Democrats shun calls to defund the police and decriminalize border crossings.

Jeremy Peters, a national reporter for the newspaper, wrote a story titled “In Shift from 2020, Identity Politics Loses Its Grip on the Country.”

Peters noted in the analysis that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, “is boasting about protecting her home with a Glock, proclaiming her patriotism and campaigning with Republicans like Liz Cheney.”

During this election, Harris has also been “reminding voters of the drug dealers she put in prison” when she was a prosecutor in California.

Harris has also displayed a “change in tone” on gender identity issues.

Unlike in 2019, when she introduced herself during a CNN town hall by noting that her pronouns were “she, her and hers,” today she “changes the topic when asked” if she would have taxpayers foot the bill for sex change operations for detained migrants and prisoners, according to Peters.

The Times reporter noted that large companies were rolling back their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies amid a harsh backlash online from conservatives.

The article also recounted how top universities have stopped requiring job applicants to sign “diversity statements” — personal documents attesting to their commitment to diversity.

Even terms like “Latinx” are no longer required as references to Latinos. Peters cited polling from 2020 and this year which showed that less than 5% of Latinos had used the gender-neutral term.

That’s a far cry from the situation four years ago, when polls showed that large majorities of Americans — including those who described themselves as Democrats and liberals — said they did not always speak freely about their beliefs for fear of being shouted down by progressives, according to the Times.

“What seems to have shifted…is that people are now acknowledging that certain identity-focused progressive solutions to injustice were never broadly popular,” Peters wrote, citing academic scholars and political strategists.

Peters noted that Democratic Party candidates running for the nomination in 2020 were arguing about defunding the police, decriminalizing border crossings by undocumented migrants and doing away with private health insurance.

Since then, progressive candidates who have been outspoken advocates of those positions have not fared well in races, such as Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), both of whom lost their primaries to more centrist candidates.

“The question for those in the progressive wing of the party is whether they continue to pursue some of their more polarizing ideas about identity,” Peters wrote.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

RNC Files New Federal Lawsuit Against Fulton County

Republicans are taking aim at Democratic strongholds in Georgia that opened locations this weekend for voters to return their absentee ballots in person.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a new lawsuit Sunday after a state judge one day prior rejected allegations that deep-blue Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, was violating Georgia’s election law over its extension.

Republicans cite a provision that mandates drop boxes close when in-person early voting, known as advance voting in Georgia, concludes, which it did Friday.

The new case challenges both Fulton and six other Democratic-leaning counties that have similarly continued to accept hand-delivered absentee ballots through the weekend.

It was filed in federal court and claims the practice violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and its delegation of elections authority to state legislatures.

“The county’s actions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by granting special privileges to voters of those counties in violation of state law, thus arbitrarily and disparately affecting against voters and candidates in other counties,” the lawsuit states.

The areas being sued include Fulton County and swaths of the Atlanta area that make up much of Democrats’ base in the key swing state: Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Clayton counties. The other two are Chatham County, which includes the city of Savannah, and Athens-Clarke County.

President Biden won all seven counties in 2020 as he flipped Georgia blue in the presidential race for the first time in nearly three decades. This cycle, the Decision Desk HQ/The Hill election forecast estimates Trump has a 65 percent chance of winning the key battleground.

The announcements to allow people to return absentee ballots in person this weekend and Monday quickly came under fire from the GOP.

Republicans sued Fulton County late Friday night, leading to a hastily scheduled online hearing the following morning.

Judge Kevin Farmer ruled in favor of the county, which was backed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The state law provision at issue did not concern hand delivery of absentee ballots, he said.

“That refers to drop boxes. There are no drop boxes here. Drop boxes are off the table,” Farmer said.

Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, said 305 absentee ballots were ultimately returned this weekend during the extension, which will continue Monday.

Republicans have also criticized some of the counties for initially not letting the party’s poll watchers observe the continued ballot returns. RNC Chair Michael Whatley on Saturday wrote on the social platform X that observers were ultimately allowed inside.

Alex Kaufman, a Georgia attorney who represents the party, criticized Fulton County officials for announcing the extension just hours before it began.

“We have poll watchers that we would have had to have gone out. This clearly changes the time and conduct of the election at the last moment,” Kaufman said at Saturday’s court hearing.

The dispute over the extension is part of a broader legal battle playing out in key swing states over mail ballots.

The DNC and other groups convinced a Georgia judge to extend the return deadline until Nov. 8, three days after Election Day, for 3,240 absentee voters whose mail ballots weren’t delivered in Cobb County.

In Pennsylvania, the DNC similarly persuaded a state judge to extend additional options for Erie County voters that experienced mail ballot issues due to a vendor problem. The judge found that 365 voters received duplicate ballots and up to 17,000 others may not have received theirs.

And in Bucks County, a populous area located north of Philadelphia, the Trump campaign won its lawsuit to extend on-demand mail balloting after voters reported long lines and being turned away early on the final day.

Go deeper ( 3 min. read ) ➝

News

17-Year-Old Who ‘Killed Two’ on Halloween Refuses to Show Up to Court — Sends His Mother Instead

The teenage boy accused of shooting two people dead on Halloween has refused to show up to court – but his mom took his place instead.

Jaylen Dwayne Edgar, 17, who allegedly killed two men and injured eight other people in downtown Orlando, failed to show up to court Saturday morning.

Instead, his mother made an emotional appearance on his behalf according to Fox 35 Orlando. She spoke only to confirm his identity. It’s not known why he did not show.

‘Could you speak into the microphone?’ the judge asked, ‘just take a moment, collect yourself.’

The suspect is expected to be charged as an adult due to the severity of the crimes he is accused of. The judge said he will remain in juvenile custody.

Edgar has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Teenage soccer star Timothy Schmidt Jr. was identified as one of two people killed in the Friday shooting.

The 19-year-old University of Central Florida freshman was enjoying a night out with some friends outside ‘The Block’ – a seven-venue entertainment district in downtown Orlando – when Edgar allegedly opened fire.

Schmidt and another man, identified as 25-year-old Tyrek Hill, were eventually pronounced dead at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Timothy’s heartbroken father, Timothy Schmidt Sr., opened up on the pain of losing his ‘one of a kind’ son in an interview with The New York Post on Saturday.

‘One month before I dropped him off for his summer session at UCF he was the best man in my wedding and gave the best speech ever,’ Schmidt Sr said.

‘He brought everyone to tears. He was my mini me and my best friend. We had such a special bond.’

After the shooting, people in Halloween costumes stood in the incident area as emergency personnel attended to casualties lying in the street.

Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said at a press conference that the alleged gunman, Jaylen Dwayne Edgar, had been identified and taken into custody.

‘He was just out with his friends having fun,’ Schmidt Sr. said about his late son.

A woman, 26, is said to have been hospitalized after she was trampled on during the chaos after Edgar allegedly pulled out a handgun and opened fire.

The suspect then ran and appeared a block away amid the mad scramble of the crowd at Orange Avenue and Washington Street, where he is understood to have pulled the trigger once again.

Edgar has been hit with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and six attempted murder charges.

Police have released footage of the moment he allegedly opened fire on the crowd in downtown Orlando, as well as cops tackling him to the ground and arresting him.

Schmidt Jr. was playing for USL League Two team Weston FC before his tragic death on Friday night. He was also in his first year at the University of Central Florida.

‘He was an extraordinary person, loving son, caring friend, talented soccer player, astounding teammate, kind soul, hardworking student and individual with an extremely warm heart and a witty sense of humor,’ said student Jacob Egozi, who created a GoFundMe to raise money to support Timothy’s father.

At the time of writing the fundraising page, which has a $40,000 target, has brought in just over $30,000.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

Oliver Anthony Quits Music Industry to Spread God’s Word

Country sensation Oliver Anthony has decided to leave the music industry.

In a lengthy YouTube video this week, the 32-year-old, whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford and who rose to fame a year ago with his hit song “Rich Men North of Richmond,” sat in a wooded area with his two dogs opining on life and his career.

“I’ve decided that moving forward, I don’t need a Nashville management company. I don’t even need to exist within the space of music. So, I’m looking at switching my whole business over to a traveling ministry,” Anthony revealed after discussing how he believes “our system is broken.”

He added that he wants to “kind of keep things in the family business,” noting that his great-grandfather had been a traveling minister.

“I have this vision for this thing that I’m calling the Real Revival Project, and it’s basically going to start as a grassroots music festival, but hopefully it grows into something that can literally change our landscape and our culture and the way we live,” he said in the video posted Tuesday.

Anthony said he’s doing his first “thrown together” show on Saturday, but he wants to create something that exists “parallel to Nashville that circumvents the monopolies of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and it goes into towns that haven’t had music in them in a long time.”

Anthony said he wants to stimulate the economies in these small towns, showcasing their culture while using local musicians and vendors, “so, you’re not having to drive to Pittsburgh to some concrete amphitheater to see a show.”

Earlier in the video, Anthony revealed he’s made enough money with his music success that “I never have to work another day in my life. I have everything that I wanted.”

But he said he’s feeling “this calling” to “this voice from God that keeps putting this vision in my head of a way to make a real impact in this world, to make a real change, to help light a fire that no one really can extinguish in my lifetime or after.”

Reflecting on his political views, Anthony said, “I’m a conservative because I believe in the First and Second Amendment,” but he said he doesn’t know if he’s a Republican.

“I’m just somebody who thinks the whole way we live is a–backward and so stupid, and it serves nobody but the people at the top of the hierarchy that we no longer really need to serve,” he explained.

Spending the last year in the music industry “has opened my eyes to how much control and how much visibility there is on the top down,” he added.

“Like, the analytics that I can pull on just my fan base is terrifying. It’s information that I feel the FBI shouldn’t even have, much less me.”

Anthony said he knows he’s not doing anything revolutionary: “I just want to help bridge the gap between millions of people who all believe in the greater vision of us all just getting back to living a normal life.”

Anthony, who lives with his wife and three children in Virginia, had a meteoric rise last year after “Rich Men North of Richmond” went viral online, propelling him to stardom. The song criticizes Washington, D.C., politicians who want “control.”

Before making the video, Anthony said he was “in the process of getting out of the music industry. It’s a big joke,” while responding to a fan on Instagram, according to Rolling Stone.

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

News

California Man Hospitalized After Fight with Neighbor Over Trump Flag Outside His Home

A California man ended up in the hospital after a dispute with his neighbor over his Donald Trump flag.

John Muder from Orange County said his neighbor recently had their Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz outdoor sign stolen.

Muder thinks the neighbor assumed he was the one who took it because of his pro-Trump display.

He told FOX 11: ‘He was thinking it was me because I have my Trump sign, which is the furthest from the truth.’

The next thing Muder knew, the Trump banner hanging above his Ladera Ranch home’s garage was missing.

With an inkling this may have been an act of misdirected retaliation, he checked the garbage pale of the Harris-supporting neighbor and discovered his flag stuffed inside.

‘I was on the sidewalk,’ Muder told the outlet. ‘I knew he had a Ring camera thing, so I said, “Hey, can you stay off my property?” I left. It was probably no more than 10 or 15 minutes later he came over to my house screaming and yelling.’

Surveillance footage captured the heated argument between the two men.

That is when the Trump-supporter said the situation took a violent turn.

He claimed his neighbor assaulted him inside of his garage and left him there ‘to die.’

Muder explained: ‘He knocked me out. I have a major brain bruise in the back of my head. I got kicked in the face, I believe.

‘There was mass blood. He left me there basically on my own to survive.’

Muder said he suffered from ‘bleeding of the brain’ and has been in the hospital for three days with a concussion.

‘He could be dead right now and this man didn’t care about it,’ his wife, Lourdes Barrueto, said to FOX 11. ‘All because we have a Trump flag.’

Muder told the outlet: ‘I just can’t believe the violence this guy alluded to. For what? A flag? Are you kidding me?

‘If you’re willing to hurt someone over a political view, you need some serious help.’

Police confirmed with FOX 11 that they did arrest someone from a Ladera Ranch home for a fight. He was taken into custody for assault and battery charges.

The neighbor is allegedly out of jail on bond.

This has been one of many politically-driven feuds arising just before Election Day.

For instance, Algoma, Wisconsin is the most ‘politically divided in America’ and is being torn apart by locals warring over politics.

The partition in ‘friendly’ Algoma is so deep it even runs between husbands and wives.

The city of 3,200 people has always been tightly contested, but this election things are heating up even further.

Residents have been drawn into screaming matches in the street and even say they fear being ‘shot’ for declaring their political allegiances too outwardly.

Meanwhile, the intersection between the homes of two politically opposed neighbors has become so overrun with competing campaign signs it has been dubbed ‘crazy corner’.

Dennis Paul, a Republican and Abbey Bridges, a Democrat, recently got into an online spat which spilled over into the real world when Paul, 65, began hurling insults at Bridges, 40 as she walked her dog, the New York Times reported.

Bridges ended up calling the police after she claims Paul made threats against her, which he denied.

She has resorted to keeping her shades drawn to avoid any further confrontations.

‘He called me a whole bunch of things that really didn’t make sense,’ she told the outlet. ‘Now, I am avoiding him like the plague.’

Go deeper ( 2 min. read ) ➝

Trending Today