CNN Reporter Uses Profanity to Describe Debate: Campaign Update
Trump Campaign Poster Seeks Election Lawyers: Campaign Update
(Bloomberg) -- A CNN correspondent used one of the seven words you can’t say on TV to describe the debate. President Donald Trump told supporters in an email that he won the debate -- before it happened. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is trying to get Republican senators to put their position on Obamacare on the record.
There are 35 days until the election and 76 days until the Electoral College meets.
Other Developments:
CNN Correspondent Uses Profanity to Describe Debate
CNN’s chief political correspondent Dana Bash used a profanity on live television to describe the first presidential debate.
During a post-debate wrap up, CNN anchor Jake Tapper said that the debate did not go well.
“That was a hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck,” he said just minutes after the end of the debate.
”You just took the words out of my mouth. You used some high-minded language. I’m just going to say it like it is. That was a s---show. We’re on cable, we can say that, apologies for being maybe a little bit crude, but that is really the phrase that I am getting from people on both sides of the aisle on texts, and it’s the only phrase I can think of to really describe it,” Bash said.
The Federal Communications Commission bars “grossly offensive” language from broadcast television, but does not apply the same rules to cable networks like CNN because they are subscription-based.
Still, the network tries to minimize cursing, but both anchors and guests have been known to swear on air.
Trump Says He Won Debate -- Before It Began
Trump told supporters in an official campaign email that he won the first presidential debate -- hours before it even started.
“I finished debating Joe Biden,” the email reads.
It goes on to say “This debate will go down in HISTORY. I showed the American People that I will ALWAYS fight to put America First no matter what and that I will NEVER stop working to Make America Great Again.”
Campaigns typically have these kinds of statements pre-written and ready to send out the minute that a debate ends to raise small-dollar donations, and they sometimes get sent too soon.
In fact, the Biden campaign made the same mistake last November with an email that went out hours before a debate that said he was just “leaving the Democratic debate now.”
Schumer Tries to Box In GOP With Obamacare Vote (7:15 p.m.)
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is trying to force a vote later this week on his bill aimed at protecting the Affordable Care Act, a move that appears designed to put Republicans in close election contests on the record about whether they want to dismantle the health care law.
While Republicans have the numbers to block or filibuster Schumer’s bill, a roll call vote doing so would force GOP senators who are up for re-election to pick a side on a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump that would end Obamacare even as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage.
Schumer wants to pass his recently filed bill to prohibit the Department of Justice from advocating against any part of the Affordable Care Act in court, including in the case before the Supreme Court on Nov. 10, a week after Election Day. -- Steven Dennis
Earpiece Conspiracy Goes Viral Before Debate (5:39 p.m.)
A conspiracy theory that Biden plans to use a hidden earpiece during Tuesday night’s presidential debate is thriving on the internet, despite denials from the Democratic nominee’s campaign.
The rumor has gained thousands of shares on Facebook and Twitter and has been circulated by the right-wing conspiracy group, QAnon. It has also been discussed by right-media outlets, including Fox News and Breitbart News Network.
Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director, issued a statement Tuesday saying that Biden’s handlers had agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces, only to abruptly reverse themselves. The Biden campaign denied the allegations as little more than a “distraction.”
The conspiracy theory is part of a torrent of false claims as the presidential campaign nears its final month.
Facebook Inc. said it would block campaigns from submitting new ads in the week leading to the election, preventing candidates from posting uncontested messages ahead of the vote. Meanwhile, Twitter Inc. introduced a policy on “synthetic and manipulated media” earlier this year that flags content it deems “significantly and deceptively altered or fabricated.” -- Jackie Davalos
Postal Service Pledges Speedy Handling of Mail-In Ballots (4:40 p.m.)
The U.S. Postal Service is pledging to work overtime to ensure the speedy handling of mail-in ballots this fall.
In a Sept. 25 letter from USPS management posted online by Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the service is telling workers that it will authorize extra trips to carry ballots, and permit overtime “as needed.”
The letter falls short of necessary assurances, said New York attorney Ali Najmi, who helped to win a court order mandating overtime in a lawsuit in federal court in New York.
“‘As needed’ puts in discretion, and we don’t trust Postal Service discretion,” Najmi said in an interview Tuesday.
Najmi helped win an order that requires the USPS to automatically grant overtime for the 10 days surrounding the election. On Tuesday, the court left the overtime requirement secure as it ruled on a request for leeway from the Postal Service, Najmi said in a tweet. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in a filing had said the order could compel approval of “financially disastrous” overtime not related to elections.
The U.S. Postal Service has lost rulings in four court cases, with judges ordering a resumption of overtime and a halt to operational changes blamed for slowing mail and threatening the timely delivery of ballots for the fall election. -- Todd Shields
Biden Pulls Even With Trump in Georgia Poll
Biden is running even with Trump in Georgia, which last went for a Democratic presidential candidate in 1992.
In a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, 50% of likely voters in Georgia backed Biden, while 47% backed Trump, a lead within the margin of error.
Trump won Georgia by 5 percentage points in 2016, but the state has been trending Democratic in recent years.
The poll also showed growing support for Democrats in down-ballot races. Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff had the backing of 49% of likely voters over Republican Senator David Perdue, who is running for a second term. Voters were divided in a second Senate race between Democrat Raphael Warnock, Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and Republican Doug Collins, meaning the race would likely go to a runoff in early January.
The survey of 1,125 likely voters in Georgia was conducted Sept. 23-27 and has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
Trump Is a ‘Master of Distraction,’ Biden Ally Warns (2:24 p.m.)
A Biden ally says Trump is a “master of distraction” who will seek to change the subject at the debate.
In an interview with Bloomberg Radio, Delaware Senator Chris Coons said Trump would throw out a lot of different lines at the debate Tuesday night.
“I expect the unexpected from him tonight,” he said. “I think he’ll make some bold but baseless announcements. I think he’ll go after Joe’s family personally in ways that will be tough for Joe not to be distracted by.”
Coons said Trump has “an uneven relationship with the truth” and will make “wild misstatements and pronouncements,” but that Biden needs to stay focused on his own plans for fighting coronavirus and boosting the economy.
“You can’t chase every rabbit hole that opens up before you,” he said.
Trump Campaign Wants to Check for Earpieces at Debate (12:43 p.m.)
After alleging that Democratic nominee Joe Biden uses Teleprompters and performance-enhancing drugs, the Trump campaign is now calling for proof that he’s not using a hidden earpiece at the debate.
In a statement released Tuesday, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh claimed that Biden backed down from an agreement for an inspection.
“Joe Biden’s handlers several days ago agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed themselves and declined,” Murtaugh said.
He also claimed that Biden asked for “multiple breaks” during the debate, which the Trump campaign rejected, and again repeated Trump’s call for a drug test before the debate.
The Biden campaign was expected to respond to the allegations later Tuesday.
Mail-In Voting Gets Underway With Problems in New York (12:17 p.m.)
Problems with mail-in ballots marred the start of early voting in New York, potentially disenfranchising thousands of voters while boosting Trump’s efforts to discredit the election.
As the first ballots have begun arriving in mailboxes, New Yorkers have reported receiving ones marked for members of the military and return envelopes with a different voter’s name.
The latter problem could lead to ballots being rejected for failing to match the signature on file.
As a reliably Democratic state, problems in New York are unlikely to affect the outcome of the presidential election, but they will give Trump more grist for criticizing vote by mail. He has already cited New York’s botched primary, falsely arguing that the slow count and other problems meant it was a “rigged election.”
In recent days, Trump has suggested that he may not accept the results if he loses the election, making baseless claims of voter fraud, especially in vote by mail.
Trump Team Flubs Debate Expectations Game (11:36 a.m.)
It’s a strategy as old as the presidential debates themselves: Hype your opponent before a match so that you can claim you beat expectations.
But Trump has struggled with the tactic, and his top surrogates aren’t on the same page just hours before the first presidential debate.
Donald Trump Jr. stuck to the current script in an interview with Fox News Monday, saying Biden “should be decent in the debate” because “he’s been doing it for half a century.”
But on Fox News this morning, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani went off script, lowering the bar for Biden dramatically.
“The man has dementia, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “I’ve talked to doctors. I’ve had them look at a hundred different tapes of his, five years ago and today.”
Woodward Didn’t Intend to Release Trump Tapes (9:11 a.m.)
Secret tapes may have brought Richard Nixon down, but Bob Woodward didn’t think much of his own tapes of Trump at first.
The Watergate journalist said he taped his interviews with Trump for his book “Rage” for his own aid in transcription, but it was his wife, Elsa Walsh, and a CNN producer who convinced him to release the audio, Woodward told Bloomberg TV Tuesday morning.
It was Trump’s own frequent attacks on journalism as “fake news” that changed Woodward’s mind.
“In this era where people distrust everything, especially the media, Trump’s voice is the most recognizable voice in the world, perhaps,” he said. “Put it out, and then people can hear it for themselves.”
Woodward said he has released 38 audio clips of his interviews with Trump so far, but he estimated he has about eight hours and 30 minutes still unreleased.
He said he may release further clips as issues arise.
Biden Is Up 9 Points in Crucial Pennsylvania (8:44 a.m.)
Biden’s sort-of home-state advantage is paying off in Pennsylvania, where two new polls show him ahead by substantial margins.
The Keystone State, where Biden lived until he was 10, is seen as one of the most likely tipping-point states, and factors in most of Trump’s paths to re-election.
But Biden is ahead of Trump by 9 percentage points among likely voters in both a poll conducted by the New York Times and Siena College and a poll by the Washington Post and ABC News. Biden led Trump 49% to 40% in the Times poll and 54% to 45% in the Post poll.
The Times poll was conducted Sept. 25-27 and released Monday evening. It has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points. The Post poll released Tuesday morning was conducted Sept. 21-26 with a margin of error of 5 percentage points.-- Emma Kinery
Trump Campaign Merchandise Targets Lawyers (7:17 a.m.)
A poster being sold by the Trump campaign seeks lawyers to fight over ballots after Election Day.
Selling for $24, the 24-inch by 36-inch “limited edition fine art poster” features a drawing of Trump with a white spangled top hat and pointing at the viewer, done in the manner of Uncle Sam in a World War I propaganda poster.
“I Want You to Join Lawyers for Trump,” it says in large letters. Below, it adds, “Help prevent voter fraud on Election Day.”
The Trump campaign has already sued over election rules in Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Trump, who frequently makes baseless charges of fraud about vote-by-mail, has said he expects the election to end up before the Supreme Court.
Biden Tax Plan Forecast to Raise $3 Trillion (7:04 a.m.)
Get ready to hear this number from a conservative think tank more than once at tonight’s debate: $3 trillion.
That’s the amount that Biden’s tax plan would raise over the next decade, although it would even out to only about $2.65 trillion after accounting for economic effects from higher levies on companies and wages, according to new a analysis from the right-leaning Tax Foundation.
The bottom 20% of earners would see their after-tax income increase 10.8%, partially due to an increase in the child tax credit. The top 1% of earners would see their incomes decrease 9.9% as a result of higher levies on income, capital gains and additional payroll taxes.
Trump’s campaign has run ads saying that Biden’s tax plan would crush the middle class, but the data show that the bottom 80% of taxpayers would all see increases to their income in 2021 under the Democrat’s policies.
Over a decade, those individuals would see slight decreases because of indirect effects of higher taxes on businesses. -- Laura Davison
Biden Looks More Likely Than Trump to Pick Up Spare Electors
Both Biden and Trump hope to pick up a spare elector in Maine or Nebraska that could decide the presidency. But, for now, Biden has the edge.
The two states break up their electors by congressional district, which gives Trump an opportunity in rural Maine, where he won an elector in 2016, and Biden a shot in Omaha, where Obama won an elector in 2008.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday showed 48% of likely voters in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District backed Biden and 41% supported Trump, with 11% undecided.
Biden is also ahead by 4 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of polls in Maine’s Second District.
Six out of seven scenarios presented by the Trump campaign earlier this month had Trump winning at least one elector in Maine, including two in which it provided the winning margin. None showed him losing in Nebraska.
The poll of 420 likely voters in Nebraska’s Second District was conducted Sept. 25-27. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5.3 percentage points.
Pelosi Makes Plans for Electoral College Tie
In case this election hasn’t been strange enough already, Pelosi is making public plans in case of an Electoral College tie.
There are plausible, though still unlikely, scenarios in battleground states in which Biden and Trump tie at 269-269, both failing to reach the 270 electors needed to win outright.
If that happens, the presidential race is thrown to the House in January. But there’s a twist: Each state only gets one vote. And while Democrats have the majority in the House right now, Republicans control 26 state delegations.
In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi urged them to support the House Majority political action committee to try to win a handful of races that could tip more state delegations in their favor.
“Because we cannot leave anything to chance, House Majority PAC is doing everything it can to win more delegations for Democrats,” Pelosi wrote in the letter. “It’s sad that we have to plan this way, but it’s what we must do to ensure the election isn’t stolen.”
Coming Up:
Biden and Trump meet at the first presidential debate Tuesday night in Cleveland. The debate will be held from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern.
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