Top Items:
Axios:
Scoop: Senate GOP to send $5m to shore up Graham in South Carolina — The main super PAC supporting Republican Senate candidates plans to inject $5 million into the South Carolina campaign as an “insurance policy” to help GOP nominee Darline Graham, a source familiar with the move tells Axios.
Discussion:
Daily Mail, NewsMax.com and New York Times
RELATED:
Raquel Coronell Uribe / NBC News:
Trump uses anti-trans slur against Democratic Senate candidate in South Carolina — Annie Andrews is a physician running against Sen. Darline Graham.
Discussion:
New York Post, CNN, The Hill, The Independent, Mediaite, PinkNews, Political.org, Washington Examiner and The Gateway Pundit
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Grandpa Trump Is Getting Desperate — The hot-mic moments just keep coming for Texas GOP Senate hopeful Ken Paxton. Last week, it was leaked audio of Paxton admitting that Trump's ballyhooed midterm convention had actually hurt his numbers. This week, it's audio of Paxton complaining …
Ben Kamisar / NBC News:
Republicans fight red-state midterm chaos with hundreds of millions in late money
Discussion:
NewsMax.com and Political.org
Politico:
Obama returns as closer-in-chief
Obama returns as closer-in-chief
Discussion:
Deadline, Roll Call, The Washington Sun and Jewish Insider
Erin Doherty / Politico:
Democrats pull back some North Carolina Senate spending after GOP's retreat
Democrats pull back some North Carolina Senate spending after GOP's retreat
Discussion:
The Hill and Political.org
Jordain Carney / Politico:
John Thune hopes to flood a ‘big map’ with a GOP money wave
Ken Thomas / Wall Street Journal:
Republicans Bind Their Senate Hopes to New Hampshire's Sununu Dynasty
Republicans Bind Their Senate Hopes to New Hampshire's Sununu Dynasty
Discussion:
Newsweek, The Daily Wire and WMUR
Los Angeles Times:
Trump suggests letting Iran ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego at campaign rally — 3 min Click here to listen to this article — California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the president ‘deranged and dangerous.’ — The crowd in Grand Island, Neb., cheered the remarks about Los Angeles and San Diego.
Discussion:
OutsideTheBeltway, Informed Comment and PinkNews
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Laura Chung / New York Times:
Fury in California After Trump Suggests Iran Could ‘Take Out’ L.A. or San Diego — Gov. Gavin Newsom called the president “dangerous and deranged” after his remarks at a political rally, where Mr. Trump said the Iran war was necessary to “keep the world safe.”
Discussion:
NBC News, Rolling Stone, The Hill, CNN, Mediaite, Mercury News, Alternet.org, KTVZ-TV, TMZ.com, Forbes, The Independent, Political.org, The Wrap, CBS News and Al Jazeera
Brett Meiselas / MeidasTouch:
Trump Says to Let Iran ‘Take Out’ Los Angeles, San Diego in Nebraska Speech
Discussion:
New York Post, The Hill, MS NOW, HuffPost, NewsMax.com, Washingtonian, The Guardian, The New World, Mediaite, Alternet.org, WTTG-TV, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Examiner
Nicholas Kerr / ABC News:
Trump suggests Iran could ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego
New York Times:
Facing Backlash, Trump Says His Super PAC Will Pay for Taxpayer-Funded Ads — The president said that his PAC, MAGA, Inc., would pay for TV ads promoting him which had been paid for with taxpayer money. — President Trump reversed course on Monday and announced that his super PAC would now pay …
Discussion:
Scripps News, Straight Arrow, Wall Street Journal, Politico, abc7NY, CBS News, Mediaite, Trump's Truth, emptywheel, The Hill, The Guardian, RedState, Washington Post, MS NOW, Political.org, Roll Call, The Wrap, ABC News, The Independent, CNBC, Bloomberg, Deadline, Washington Examiner, The Washington Sun, Reporting From Alaska and Variety, more at Mediagazer »
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Raquel Coronell Uribe / NBC News:
After bipartisan criticism, Trump says taxpayers' dollars will no longer be used for TV ads promoting him — The president said the ads, which the White House has defended, will be funded by him and his super PAC, MAGA Inc. … Trump made the announcement on Truth Social after intense criticism …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, NewsMax.com and The Hill
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
Why Trump unexpectedly reversed course on taxpayer-funded campaign ads — The president is taking a step toward resolving an ongoing election-season scandal, but there are plenty of unanswered questions that need answers. — As this week got underway and JD Vance prepared to hit …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Independent, Newsweek and Mediaite
Marist Poll:
Midterm Elections in Maine, October 2026 — Jackson and Collins Competitive in Senate Contest in Maine... Pingree Leads Charles by Double Digits in Race for Governor — Jackson (51%) is +4 points against Collins (47%) among registered voters in the U.S. Senate race in Maine.
Discussion:
Newsweek, The Portland Press Herald, YouGov and Democracy Docket
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Burgess Everett / Semafor:
Collins stakes her future on her quiet Trump pushback
Discussion:
The Portland Press Herald, Alternet.org and Washington Post
ProPublica:
More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump's Immigration Crackdown — Experts have long warned that immigration dragnets and the erosion of civil rights for immigrants will inevitably result in the erosion of rights for citizens.
New York Times:
Potential Iranian Drone Attack Led to Exit of U.S. Aircraft From British Air Base — According to U.S. and British officials, 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from R.A.F. Fairford air base were withdrawn because of the risk of a drone attack ordered by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Discussion:
HotAir, Stars & Stripes, The Washington Sun, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, New York Post, Breitbart, Bloomberg, VINnews, Washington Examiner, GB News, Politico, Associated Press, The Daily Wire, The Guardian, Straight Arrow, Fox News, Axios, NewsMax.com, CNN, CBS News, Reuters, One America News Network and The Hill
Politico:
Trump approves firing squad execution for Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan — President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. — The U.S. military has not carried out the death penalty since 1961.
RELATED:
J.D. Simkins / Military Times:
Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan to die by US Army firing squad
Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan to die by US Army firing squad
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, CBS News, ABC7, Stars & Stripes, Ace of Spades HQ, Reuters, NewsMax.com, GB News, Task & Purpose, Mediaite, Political.org, Fox News, IJR News, CNBC and The Hill
Clyde Haberman / New York Times:
Jim Bakker, Television Preacher Felled by Sex and Financial Scandals, Dies at 86 — With his wife, Tammy Faye, Mr. Bakker built a broadcasting juggernaut around the gospel of prosperity. — Jim Bakker, a television evangelist who lost his popular and prosperous ministry in a 1980s sex scandal …
Axios:
Energy prices loom large in key Senate, House races — Scratch the surface of the year's biggest stories — the Iran war and AI — and both are bound up in the costs of energy. … - The war has kept gasoline prices way above $4 per gallon for months, and helped push diesel to record highs.
Steve Vladeck / One First:
256. So Unexplained: Justice Alito's Non-Responsive Emergency Docket Defense — Justice Alito's new book purports to answer the Court's shadow docket critics—by rebutting a caricature and by ignoring the ways in which his own behavior has contradicted nearly every claim he makes.
Discussion:
Salon
Jimmy Tobias / The Guardian:
Veteran conservative lawyer quits Trump's interior department and warns of ‘assault on the rule of law’ — John Murdock had been working for the agency for 18 years and his resignation comes during an exodus of longtime federal workers and scientists — An 18-year veteran of the US Department …
Natalie Muller / Agence France-Presse:
Germany's ex-spy chief arrested for espionage — August Hanning, the man who once led Germany's spy service, is now under investigation for passing on state secrets. — Police have arrested the former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency, August Hanning, on suspicion of espionage …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Associated Press, KTVZ-TV, Politico, Political.org, GB News, Bloomberg, WTOP News and Reuters
Sam Ogozalek / Politico:
Trump administration unveils plan to tie high birth and marriage rates to transit funding — Communities with high birth and marriage rates could soon gain an advantage in securing federal transit money — a long-sought goal of the Trump administration but one that a top Democratic appropriator calls “bizarre and dystopian.”
Jason Wilson / The Guardian:
US, Israeli and European far-right figures to gather for conference in Israel — Trump's counter-terrorism ‘czar’, Sebastian Gorka, was scheduled to speak at conference but White House says he will no longer attend — A National Conservatism (NatCon) conference beginning today …
Media Matters for America:
Megyn Kelly on Cornell's Jane Doe: “I'm just going to be honest, she's not the most attractive gal. She's extremely beefy in her arms and her legs.” — Kelly: Jane Doe “liked the feeling of being sexy and desired and wanted, ... and that's why she kept saying yes”
Discussion:
The Wrap
Axios:
Missing details keep U.S. plague response on hold — Two big unknowns stand in the way of determining how serious the plague threat in Russia is and whether travel advisories, restrictions at U.S. ports of entry or other precautions are warranted. — We still don't know which pathogen killed …
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
America.gov: Branding in Search of a Product — Last week the Trump administration held a big event, featuring Trump, his Cabinet, and Big Balls, to unveil America.gov. — What is America.gov? Two answers. — As of today, it's a chatbot that searches government websites and collates the answer using Grok and Gemini AIs.
Luke Fountain / CNBC:
Why deep-red Kansas has become an unexpected Senate battleground … In a state that hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1932, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall suddenly finds himself in a competitive race with weeks to go until the 2026 midterm elections.
Discussion:
NBC News, The Hill, NewsMax.com and Washington Examiner
Associated Press:
Arkansas campaign ad sparks conservative backlash for portraying lazy welfare recipient as white — A new video from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was standard issue Republican messaging for promoting her state's stricter rules for people on Medicaid.
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Trump wants to rewrite the midterm lexicon — President Trump has long nicknamed his opponents, and now, as November approaches, he's even trying to dictate the vocabulary around key issues. … - But as polling on those issues continues to haunt the president's party, Trump's new vocabulary may not be enough to change voters' minds.
Washington Post:
Ex-CIA official expected to plead guilty in $40 million gold bar case — FBI agents seized gold bars, money and luxury watches this year at the home of David J. Rush, according to an affidavit. — SummaryLoading... A former senior executive at the CIA is expected to plead guilty …
Discussion:
ABC News, NewsMax.com and NBC News
Richard Cowan / Reuters:
Ohio early voting begins with US Congress control on the line — Early voting begins on Tuesday in Ohio, where the winners of November's midterm elections will help determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the US Congress for the next two years, given the state has one Senate seat …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, NPR and Fox News
Matthew Yglesias / Slow Boring:
The permitting deal is good and should pass — Against the underpants gnome theory of climate action — I don't agree with her position on the new permitting reform bill, but I think Genevieve Guenther perfectly captures the disagreement between the left and center-left …
Jose Lev Alvarez / Washington Examiner:
Spain is becoming Europe's Cuba — and American capital is the next target — Spain is rapidly becoming a serious hazard for international investors. Instead of upholding property rights, the country's political climate now drives its institutional decay, threatening to compromise a fragile legal system.
Discussion:
Political.org and openDemocracy
Washington Post:
Kamala Harris has a 2028 opening — and a 2024 problem — The former Democratic standard bearer retains considerable respect in the party, but there's an undercurrent of anxiety about her return to the political conversation. — SummaryLoading... If Kamala Harris runs for president again …
Discussion:
Consequence
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
If the polls end up missing, this may have been our early warning sign — “Low-effort” survey respondents vote very differently than other poll-takers, and that could be biasing polls by up to 3.5 points against — The biennial freak-out over potential error in election polls is now in full force.
