Obama calls for big tent
Plus: Kim K didn’t pass the bar
The government shutdown has now passed a record 40-day mark, but we could be close to a deal, and after last week’s election, one former POTUS is calling for an all-of-the-above approach to fighting back against Trump.
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end to find out what The Rock said about knowing bin Laden was dead before the rest of America. — Hunter Schwarz
Senate eyes government shutdown end:
After Senate Republicans rejected Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s plan Friday which would have extended Affordable Care Act subsidies for a year to reopen the government, a group of seven Senate Democrats and one independent who caucuses with them crossed party lines to support a new short-term deal to fund the government through Jan. 30, 2026.
Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Dick Durban (Ill.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), John Fetterman (Pa.) and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) backed the deal, which would not extend subsidies.
Many Democrats are opposed to the deal, as is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who said it would raise premiums for more than 20 million Americans and throw 15 million more off Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. “This was a very, very bad vote,” Sanders said.
Trump issues new pardons in 2020 election interference bid:
President Donald Trump late Sunday pardoned Rudy Giuliani, former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and 75 others who were exonerated “for conduct relating to the advice, creation, organization, execution, submission, support, voting, activities in, or advocacy for or of any slate of presidential electors ... in connection with the 2020 Presidential Election,” according to the pardon.
As none of the people pardoned were facing federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the first place, the pardons were largely symbolic, NBC News notes. Trump’s just making a point.
Trump makes NFL history:
Trump became the first U.S. president to attend a regular-season NFL game in the 21st century, and the first since Jimmy Carter in 1978 when he attended the Commanders-Lions game on Sunday.
Trump, who also attended the Super Bowl earlier this year, was booed at the Commanders game and called one play while he was there. He attended with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and it came following an ESPN report that Trump wants the Commanders to name their planned stadium after him.
FLOTUS wins Patriot Award:
Fox News honored First Lady Melania Trump Thursday with the Patriot of the Year Award, and in her acceptance speech, FLOTUS called on Americans to “celebrate everyone who dares to think differently” and celebrate individual productivity.
“America, tonight let’s make a personal pledge to celebrate ambition and scale imagination to create a more advanced and prosperous society,” Trump said. “Individual productivity is not selfish, it’s the heartbeat of civilization.” Trump wore a Carolina Herrera gown to the ceremony.
Vance votes by mail:
Even as his boss disparages voting by mail, Vice President J.D. Vance, whose half-brother Cory Bowman lost his race for mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, last week, voted absentee in his home state, according to the Hamilton County, Ohio Board of Elections lol.
Supreme Court won’t take on same-sex marriage case:
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected without comment an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who refused to marry a same-sex couple after the court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015.
“The Supreme Court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences,” Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
Obama calls for big tent:
At a live Pod Save America podcast taping last Thursday in Washington, D.C., former President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance to tell the audience what he believes should come next for Democrat after last week’s off-year election results.
Last week’s election saw a win from progressive New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani even as moderate like Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and New Jersey Gov.-elect Mike Sherrill won their races. Obama called the results “a good reminder that the American people are paying attention.”
“Your task is going to be not to impose litmus tests,” Obama said. “We had Abigail Spanberger win and we had Zohran Mamdani win, and they are all part a vision for the future… Our job is to say that we want everybody engaged.”
🎬 No. 1 movie: 20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands.
💿 No. 1 album: The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift for a fifth week.
🎵 No. 1 song: “The Fate of Ophelia” by Swift for a fifth week, while Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” rose from the dead to No. 10, making Jackson the first artist in Billboard Hot 100 history to have a top 10 hit in six decades.
Kendrick Lamar leads Grammy noms:
The Recording Academy on Friday announced its 2026 Grammy nominees, led by Kendrick Lamar, who received nine nominations, including for Album of the Year for GNX and Record of the Year for “Luther” with SZA.
Lady Gaga, whose “Abracadabra” is nominated for Record of the Year, Best Dance Pop Recording, and Best Remixed Recording for the “Abracadabra Gesaffelstein Remix,” follows with seven nominations. Songwriter Jack Antonoff and producer Cirkut also have seven nominations.
Among the first-time nominees are Tate McRae, for “Just Keep Watching” in the Best Dance Pop Recording category, and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, for the recording of her book Lovely One in the Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording category.
Cyndi Lauper stuns at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:
The 40th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was Saturday where Chappell Roan introduced Cyndi Lauper, who was inducted alongside Chubby Checker, Outkast, Soundgarden, The White Stripes, and others.
“Courage not only creates incredible art, it gives everyone who experiences it the permission to be themselves,” Roan said about Lauper, who used her greatest hits set to send a message.
Lauper performed “True Colors” in front of a Progress Pride flag background, said “girls just want to have fundamental rights” during “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” with Avril Lavigne and Salt-N-Pepa, and before “Time After Time,” Lauper had the crowd turn their phone lights on. “We’re a community of light,” Lauper said. “Don’t forget that in case it gets really dark.” The ceremony is streaming now on Disney+.
People has never gotten its “Sexiest Man Alive” more right than now:
People was so confident they got their pick for this year’s “Sexiest Man Alive” right this year they put “We know, we nailed it” on the cover. Wicked star Jonathan Bailey called it both “a huge honor” and “completely absurd.”
Bailey, who was photographed by Jason Hetherington for the issue, said his first celeb crush was Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid and some of his best dates have been dates playing with Legos. He said the traits he thinks are most important in a relationship are communication, transparency, and supporting and cheerleading your partner.
Sydney Sweeney speaks out about her American Eagle ad for the first time:
And… she didn’t have much to say. In an interview with GQ, Sydney Sweeney said the reaction to her ad for American Eagle earlier this year surprised her and Trump commenting on it felt “surreal,” but also, she claimed she wasn’t paying much attention to it because she was busy. When asked about the controversy, she said the ad spoke for itself.
“I did a jean ad. The reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans,” she said. “I kind of just put my phone away. I was filming every day. I’m filming Euphoria, so I’m working 16-hour days and I don’t really bring my phone on set, so I work and then I go home and I go to sleep. So I didn’t really see a lot of it.”
Olivia Rodrigo calls out DHS for using her song:
After the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, posted a social media video last week about undocumented immigrants self deporting set to Olivia Rodrigo’s “All-American Bitch,” the singer responded in the comments.
“Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” Rodrigo wrote in the comments of the White House Instagram post. The post no longer has sound and says “This song is currently unavailable.”
Kim K didn’t pass the bar:
In a social media post Saturday, Kim Kardashian revealed that she failed the California Bar Exam.
“Well… I’m not a lawyer yet, I just play a very well-dressed one on TV,” she wrote, referring to All’s Fair, the new legal drama she stars in. Reviews for the show have been wildly negative.
J Law on why she stopped talking about politics:
Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t think celebrities talking about politics makes a difference, so she’s stopped.
“As we’ve learned election after election, celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for,” Lawrence told The New York Times. “So then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart. We are so divided.”
The actress said that unless she can speak to peace, lowering the temperature, or “some sort of solution, I just don’t want to be a part of the problem. I don’t want to make the problem worse.”
What The Rock said about knowing bin Laden was dead before the rest of America:
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that his infamous tweet alluding to Osama bin Laden’s death before the news was public was due to then-President Barack Obama taking longer than anticipated to announce the news.
“I’ve got a friend of a friend who gave me a call. The call was like, ‘Hey, this thing happened.’ And I said, ‘Okay, wonderful news,” the Rock said. “I was told on the call that the president at that time was going to make his speech in 20 minutes or whatever. I said, ‘Okay, great.’ So 20 minutes go by, and at about the 25th minute, I tweet this.”
The Rock said he then got a second call, “and the call is, ‘Yeah, the president didn’t go on yet.’ And I went, ‘Oh s***.’” The Rock didn’t name his friend of a friend, but said, “If I tell you that, I won’t have to ‘kill’ you, but I’ll have to behead you.”
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐