J Lo hits the campaign trail
J Lo hits the campaign trail
Plus: FLOTUS goes panda mode
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She canceled her tour, filed for divorce, and her album bombed, but when her country needed her, Jennifer Lopez delivered, with a passionate speech in Nevada. Let’s get loud.
Welcome to today’s issue of Whig. Read to the end for this year’s best Britney Spears costume. — Hunter
Top headlines:
💸 “Some temporary hardship”: Elon Musk admits his plan with Trump would harm the economy. In a telephone town hall, Musk—whom Trump plans to put in charge of a government commission tasked with cutting spending—said that the spending cuts he’ll spearhead would cause “some temporary hardship,” but would lead to “long-term prosperity.” [Fast Company]
⚡ Ford to halt production of electric F-150 Lightning next month until January. The canceled production comes as sales of all-electric vehicles have not grown as quickly as many had expected amid higher costs and reluctant consumer adoption. [CNBC]
🤑 Russia fines Google more money than there is in entire world. A Russian court has fined Google two undecillion roubles - a two followed by 36 zeroes - for restricting Russian state media channels on YouTube. [BBC]
⚾ Dodgers defeat Yankees in World Series after Game 5 comeback. The Dodgers clinched their eighth title in franchise history. [ESPN]
Biden cleans up gaffe:
As former President Donald Trump faces fallout from the crass jokes and comments made at his Madison Square Garden rally, President Joe Biden entered the chat. During a call with the group Voto Latino, Biden referenced the joke told by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage” and said, “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters’,” with an apostrophe. Or at least that’s how the White House put it in a transcript, arguing Biden was referencing the rhetoric, not Trump supporters at large.
“Just to clarify, he was not calling Trump supporters garbage,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Wednesday’s press briefing. Trump, of course, doesn’t buy it, while Vice President Kamala Harris distanced herself and said Biden had explained himself. “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris told ABC News. “I intend to be a president for all Americans.”
FLOTUS goes panda mode:
First Lady Jill Biden dressed as a giant panda for Halloween to celebrate the new giant pandas at Smithsonian's National Zoo. Wearing her costume, she stepped out with POTUS for the White House Halloween event Wednesday on the South Lawn. While he handed out White House Hershey’s Kisses chocolates to the kids, Dr. Biden gave them the book 10 Spooky Pumpkins. President Biden also bit the leg of a baby dressed as a chicken lol. Hope y’all had a happy Halloween! 🎃
This week, on Undercover Boss:
Trump must have appreciated the response to his photo op at McDonald’s, because now he’s playing garbage man. Wearing an orange safety vest, Trump slipped before getting into a garbage truck with the Trump-Vance logo on the side Wednesday in Wisconsin “in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden,” he said. At a rally that evening where he kept the vest on, Trump said he would “protect” women “whether the women like it or not.”
Trump is also taking time out of the final days of the campaign to call Viktor Orbán, the autocratic prime minister of Hungary, make comments about shooting former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), and lay groundwork to claim the election was stolen. This week he’s made false claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) wrote Wednesday on X, “Over the past 24 hours, we’ve seen several videos be shared widely on the Internet that lacked proper context or were inaccurate, leading to false narratives.”
J Lo hits the campaign trail:
Harris spent Nevada Statehood Day with two stops in the battleground state, in Reno and Las Vegas, where Jennifer Lopez was her opening act. “I’m no stranger to this town… but this is the most important stage I’ve ever been on,” J Lo said, calling the election “a choice between backwards and forwards, a choice between the past and the future, a choice between divided and united.” Knocking Trump over his MSG rally, Lopez said, “I am Puerto Rican… yes I was born here and we are Americans.”
Harris said “we have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other. We’re done.”
Emhoff marks anniversary of Tree of Life synagogue massacre:
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was in Pittsburgh this week to speak at a campaign event a day after the anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre, the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history. Emhoff, who’s made fighting antisemitism part of his platform as Second Gentleman, said now is “an uncomfortable and unsettling time to be Jewish. These are hard days.”
“Kamala and I recommit ourselves to extinguishing this epidemic of hate,” he said. “We are not afraid and we do not cower. We take inspiration from communities like this one, which came together as one after Tree of Life.”
J.D. think he can win the “normal gay guy vote”:
Well this is certainly presumptuous. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) told podcast host Joe Rogan, “I wouldn't be surprised if me and Trump won just the normal gay guy vote.” Vance, who has a 0 score from the Human Rights Campaign, added, “they just want to be left the hell alone and now you have all this crazy stuff on top of it.”
Gwen Walz calls the campaign a “group project” and the due date is Tuesday:
Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz told campaign volunteers at a Phoenix office this week that the election was the “ultimate group project.” Walz, an English teacher, said the project “is due in just one week” and “guess what? It’s pass-fail.”
“Here in Arizona, you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders,” she said. “Kamala and Doug and Tim and me, too, we are right here with you and that’s why I’m here today. Because we are all in this together.”
Why Malia Obama dropped her last name:
Former first daughter Malia Obama went by her first and middle names “Malia Ann” in her debut film, The Heart, and her dad explained why in a podcast interview released Thursday. “I was all like, ‘You do know they'll know who you are,’” former President Barack Obama said. “And she's all like, ‘You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association.’ So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that.”
Obama said both Malia and daughter Sasha Obama are “very sensitive” and “very stubborn” about their famous parents helping out, and the attention they get “drives them nuts.” “Their attitude is, ‘We're not looking for all that,’” Obama said. “So they're grounded.”
This year’s hottest Halloween costume is Tim Walz:
Democratic governors all had the same costume idea. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer all dressed as their party’s vice presidential nominee Michigan Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz this year for Halloween.
Paris plays Britney:
Paris Hilton dressed as BFF Britney from the “…Baby One More Time” music video in a Catholic school girl outfit. “Love you icon,” Hilton wrote on Instagram. 💕
Tate McRae stuns for Skims:
Canadian Spice Girl Tate McRae is the face of Kim Kardashian’s Skims holiday campaign, appearing in a new winter-themed shoot for the shapewear brand. “I love the holidays, and Skims always nails the perfect pieces for every occasion,” she said in a statement to WWD. McRae announced her new single “2 Hands” will be released Nov. 14.
Ethan Slater sounds off on dating Ariana:
In an interview with GQ, actor Ethan Slater was asked about falling in love while filming Wicked, starring girlfriend Ariana Grande (Miss Squarepants, if you’re nasty).
“There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it’s really hard to see people who don’t know anything about what’s happening commenting on it and speculating, and then getting things wrong about the people you love,” he said. “But, of course, it was an amazing year and a really beautiful thing, and I’m just really excited. I’m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she’s done on this. She’s poured herself into it.”
Speaking of Wicked:
Cynthia Erivo is walking back her comments about fan edits to the Wicked poster. “I think I'm really protective of the role,” she wrote on Instagram Stories. “I know that the fans are passionate about it, and I think for me it was just like a human moment of like, wanting to protect little Elphaba. And it was like a human moment. I probably should've called my friends, but. It's fine.” We should all get journals.
Celebrities endorse Harris:
Harris’ list of celebrity endorsements continues to grow this week, with Madonna, LeBron James, Jennifer Aniston, the Avengers (AKA Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Danai Gurira, Don Cheadle, and Paul Bettany) and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) all coming out in support.
“I want to tune out,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “But I can’t. Because rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets. To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious. And I will always be an American before I am a Republican. That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
Meanwhile, Trump loses one of his celebrity endorsements:
Nicky Jam, a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer, has withdrawn his endorsement of Trump following the Madison Square Garden rally. “The reason I endorsed Trump was because I thought he was best for the economy in the U.S.,” the musician said. “I never thought a month later a comedian would speak bad about my country. Puerto Rico deserves respect… I renounce any support for Donald Trump, and I sidestep any political situation.”
Trump has won over one new celebrity endorsement, though, in the form of Jake Paul. But in a rich twist of fate, Paul won’t be able to vote for Trump himself this year because he moved to… Puerto Rico, which can’t vote in presidential elections.
Here’s who’s doing SNL the Saturday after the election:
Saturday Night Live announced today that comedian and actor Bill Burr will host the Nov. 9 episode with musical guest Mk.gee. Charli XCX is scheduled to pull double duty the following week, hosting and performing for the Nov. 16 show.
The Grammys are heading to Disney:
After more than 50 years on CBS, the Grammy Awards are heading to Disney. The media giant signed the rights to music’s biggest night for a decade, and the Grammys will air on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ beginning in 2027.
“Live events have never been more important to our culture and industry, and we just acquired one of the crown jewels, adding to our portfolio of world-class programming across all genres,” Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden said in a statement.
Music has $212 billion economic impact in the U.S., study finds:
Pop quiz: Music makes A. you lose control, B. the people come together, C. a lot of money for the U.S. economy, or D. all of the above. The correct answer is, of course, D. A report called 50 States of Music funded by the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, found the music business grew from contributing $180 billion to the U.S. economy in 2017 to $212 billion in 2020. The number of music business jobs grew from 1.13 million to 1.32 million in the same time period.
RIAA CEO Mitch Glazer, who wrote about the report, warned that artificial intelligence poses a unique, existential threat to the music business. “Large scale infringement and exploitation of sound recordings and lyrics threaten to rip a gaping hole in the fabric of America’s music communities, wrongfully appropriating our cultural legacy and siphoning off music’s economic value to enrich global tech giants at the expense of the artists, writers and music companies” he wrote.
Thanks for reading! See you next time. ⭐