Trump and Harris shake on it
Plus: Pols react to T Swift endorsement
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Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump shook hands not once but twice in two days. After meeting for the first time at their debate, the candidates greeted each other in person again in New York City at the 9/11 memorial ceremony and shook hands a second time. Then in Shanksville, Pa., President Joe Biden briefly donned a Trump campaign hat during a conversation with a Trump supporter, a lighthearted gesture, and one White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explained was done in the spirit of bipartisan unity. For a moment on Patriot Day, peace, I guess.
It’s easy for Democrats to extend a hand considering Harris’ strong debate performance, but the detente will not last. Ahead of a Trump campaign rally in Johnstown, Pa., 57% of ad spending in its media market came from Trump’s campaign and allied super PACs, and all of it was attack ads, data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact showed. It’s an example of a broader trend. Harris has enjoyed an extended honeymoon period since she entered the race, so Trump is going negative, hoping to drag her approval down.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released today found Harris leading Trump 47% to 42%, but this election won’t be won by popular vote, but instead state by state. Trump’s team is trying to soften their own candidate’s image with calming ads and a soft-focus podcast strategy while simultaneously hammering Harris’ favorability by casting her as a soft-on-crime far-left liberal. If the right voters in just a handful of states find that argument convincing, all the vibes and post-debate push polls in the world might not prevent Trump for returning to office. This campaign still is close. After Brat Summer comes Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat Fall. — Hunter
The Harris-Trump debate had more viewers than the Biden-Trump debate:
More than 67 million people tuned into ABC News’ presidential debate with Harris and Trump Tuesday across 17 networks. That’s more than the more than 51 million who tuned into the CNN debate between Biden and Trump in June, according to data from Nielsen.
Harris raised $47 million after the debate:
The Harris campaign said in the first 24 after the debate she raised $47 million from 600,000 donors. That’s the highest single-day amount raised since Harris announced her campaign in July and raised $81 million.
Trump says no more debates:
Trump wrote in a post on his social network Truth Social today that “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE” because “When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH.’” Harris responded saying, “we owe it to the voters to have another debate.”
Biden administration rolls out plan to tax the biggest companies:
The Treasury Department just unveiled a 603-page proposal for the corporate alternative minimum tax, or CAMT, which would raise taxes on about 100 of the biggest companies with annual profits of $1 billion or more. The proposal aims to tax the largest profitable companies at 15%, and Treasury officials said these companies would be taxed at an average of 2.6% without it.
Higher corporate tax rates are one reason analysts for Goldman Sachs, a bank, said earlier this month they believe the U.S. economy would be stronger under Democrats than Republicans. Goldman said it believes tariffs and tighter immigration policy under a second Trump term would hurt economic growth. Should Democrats win control of both the presidency and Congress, though, Goldman said it believes new government spending, middle-income tax credits, and a higher corporate tax rate would result in “a very slight boost to GDP growth on average over 2025-2026.”
Harris referenced the Goldman note during Tuesday’s debate, saying the bank said “that Donald Trump's plan would make the economy worse. Mine would strengthen the economy.” Trump responded saying it’s “just a sound bite” and that Harris just copied Biden’s plan.
Vance weighs in on possible government shutdown:
With Congress facing a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government, Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) asked in a Wednesday podcast interview why Republican lawmakers shouldn’t be trying to force a shutdown.
“Why shouldn’t we be trying to force this government shutdown fight to get something out of it that’s good for the American people?” Vance said during a conversation in which he criticized government spending on foreign aid and border security. “Like, why have a government if it’s not a functioning government?” House Speaker Mike Johnson postponed a vote Wednesday that would have funded the government for six months.
Pols react to T Swift endorsement:
Taylor Swift’s Tuesday post-debate endorsement of Harris had people in the debate spin room reacting in real time. When asked about it, Trump told the press, “I have no idea” and his campaign subsequently put out a $36 Eras Tour-style tee that showed images including his mugshot.
Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz learned the news live on air with Rachel Maddow. “I am incredibly grateful, first of all, to Taylor Swift,” he said. “I say that as a cat owner.” Walz then invited Swifties to visit his campaign website. “Give us a hand, get things going.”
Even Romney thinks Harris won the debate:
Outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) thinks Trump bombed on Tuesday and he gave Harris props for her performance. “This was classic President Trump,” Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday. “A performance, in the case of Kamala Harris, most people didn’t know her terribly well other than a few clips that were not flattering that you might see on the internet. And people saw, actually, she’s an intelligent, capable person who has a point of view on issues. And she actually demonstrated that time and again.”
Malia Obama hits film festival red carpet:
Former first daughter Malia Obama was on the red carpet at the Deauville American Film Festival in Deauville, France, last week to show her debut short film The Heart, which she directed under her first and middle name Malia Ann. The 26-year-old wore Vivienne Westwood. “I don’t know as much about fashion, but I’m happy to be wearing it,” she told Paris Match, a French-language outlet.
A 65% majority of U.S. adults can name all three branches of government:
A majority of Americans can recall basic facts about their government, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center released the results of its tenth annual Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey today. The survey of about 1,600 U.S. adults found civic knowledge remains largely unchanged from last here. Here are some of the findings:
65% can correctly name the three branches of government.
74% can correctly name Freedom of Speech as one of the specific freedoms protected by the First Amendment. In addition, 39% can name Freedom of Religion, 29% can name Freedom of the Press, 27% can name Right of Assembly, and 11% can name Right to Petition, while 22% incorrectly named the Right to Bear Arms, which is the Second Amendment.
86% know Supreme Court Justices are appointed and not elected and 85% know they serve a lifetime term.
55% know Democrats control the Senate and 56% know Republicans control the House.
The survey also respondents about their views on reforming the Supreme Court and found U.S. adults with higher civic knowledge were more likely than those with lower civic knowledge to support reforms including a ban on Justices participating in cases in which they have a conflict of interest and a former ethics code.
🛰️ A record 19 humans are orbiting the Earth right now. Three people launched toward the International Space Station Wednesday aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, pushing the total number of people in Earth orbit to a new record. [Space.com]
💌 USPS’ long-awaited new mail truck makes its debut to rave reviews from carriers. Odd appearance aside, the first handful of Next Generation Delivery Vehicles that rolled onto postal routes in August in Athens, Ga., are getting rave reviews from letter carriers accustomed to cantankerous older vehicles that lack modern safety features and are prone to breaking down. [Associated Press]
☔ Millions face flooding as Hurricane Francine weakens and heads inland. As many as 14 million people from the Florida Panhandle to New Orleans, and as far north as Memphis, Tennessee, were under a flood watch Thursday after Hurricane Francine slammed into the Louisiana coast. [NBC News]
🔥 Three major wildfires scorch Southern California, forcing tens of thousands to flee homes. The state has already seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023. [CBS News]
T Swift ties Beyoncé’s record for VMAs wins, drives interest in voter registration
Swift took home the MTV Video Music Awards Moonperson last night for Artist of the Year plus six other awards, bringing her total career wins to 30 and tying Beyoncé VMAs record. Swift’s win for Video of the Year for “Fortnight” with Post Malone was her third consecutive win in the category following “Anti-Hero” in 2023 and “All Too Well: The Short Film” in 2022, and it was her record fifth win in the category overall.
The Harris campaign put out $20 two-for-one Harris-Walz friendship bracelets after Swift’s endorsement this week, and Swift’s Instagram Story linking to vote dot gov drove 337,826 people to the voter registration site, data from the General Services Administration shows. Swift also called on fans to register to vote during her Video of the Year acceptance speech.
“The fact that this is a fan-voted award and you voted for this, I appreciate it so much,” Swift said. “And if you are over 18, please register to vote for something else that's very important coming up: the 2024 presidential election.”
Chappell Roan dedicates her Best New Artist win to drag artists:
Wearing an actual hooded chainmail dress, Best New Artist winner Chappell Roan read her acceptance speech from a whole Moleskin notebook. “I dedicate this to all the drag artists who inspire me,” Roan said. “And I dedicate this to queer and trans people that fuel pop, to the gays who dedicate my songs to someone they love, or hate.”
“To all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you, I understand you because I’m one of you and don’t ever let anyone tell you you can’t be exactly who you want to be,” she added.
Video Vanguard winner Katy Perry wore a QR code tramp stamp to the VMA red carpet:
Katy Perry has a new album coming out, and if you followed the link on the QR code tramp stamp she wore to the VMAs red carpet, it would take you to a pre-order site for it. Cool, I guess. Perry powered through a medley of eight hits that mercifully skipped her flop Dr. Luke-co-written lead single “Woman’s World” before accepting the Video Vanguard Award from husband Orlando Bloom. Everything else aside, “Teenage Dream” really still is that song, isn’t it?
Britney Spears wasn’t at the VMAs in person, but her spirit was present:
Let me count the ways the spirit of Britney Spears was alive and well at the VMA’s 40th anniversary show. During the pre-show, host Megan Thee Stallion boasted about pulling off her new gladiator-themed Pepsi commercial on her own in contrast to the original ad, which cast three woman, Spears, Beyoncé, and Pink. Meg later paid homage to Spears during the show, wearing a recreation of her “I’m A Slave 4 U” VMAs outfit, but she got freaked out by the snake, something Britney would never do.
Sabrina Carpenter played a snippet of the skit from “Oops!… I Did It Again” (“I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end…”) during her performance, and Tate McRae wore a Britney-inspired look to the red carpet. “I think she’s one of the most incredible performers of the 2000s,” McRae told The Hollywood Reporter. “I remember watching her as a kid all the time.”
There’s a deluxe Brat coming out next month:
After releasing a slightly version deluxe of her breakthrough album Brat just three days after it came out, Charli XCX announced a new version coming out Oct. 11 with her latest remixes and more new music.
Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat will feature previously released remixes of “360” with Robyn and Yang Lean, “Von Dutch” featuring Addison Rae, “Girl So Confusing” featuring Lorde, and “Talk Talk” featuring Troye Sivan, plus other songs to be announced.
Justin Timberlake reaches plea deal:
Three months after being arrested in Sag Harbor, N.Y., Justin Timberlake has reportedly reached a plea deal in his drunken driving case. Timberlake is scheduled to appear in court Friday where’s he’s expected to enter the new plea.
Ron Howard, who directed the movie based on Vance’s book, is disappointed:
Hillbilly Elegy director Ron Howard told Deadline at the Toronto International Film Festival that based on conversations he had with Vance when they were making the Netflix film about his 2016 book, he was “very surprised and disappointed by much of the rhetoric that I’m reading and hearing.”
“Well, we didn’t talk a lot of politics when we were making the movie because I was interested in his upbringing and that survival tale,” Howard said. “People do change, and I assume that’s the case. Well, it’s on record.”
Thanks for reading! See you next time. ⭐