The spar from afar
As the president's combative performance at last night's town hall made clear, he is acting increasingly unhinged and taking no responsibility for his failures in office. It's no wonder that so many former senior administration officials have taken the extraordinary step of coming forward to oppose their former boss and encourage other Americans to do the same. We invite our TOPLINE readers to hear directly from some of these officials about life inside the White House and why they are urging Americans not to support Donald Trump. Please join me and Mindy Finn on Zoom as we host "Inside the White House: Former Trump Officials Speak Out," featuring former senior Trump officials Olivia Troye, Elizabeth Neumann, and Miles Taylor, on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7pm ET. To register, please click here. We hope you'll join us for this unique and important event. —Evan McMullin
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America's split-screen town hall
— They are who they are. President Trump expressed skepticism about mask-wearing, rebuked his FBI director, and attacked the legitimacy of the 2020 election, while his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, pushed a disciplined campaign message anchored in concerns over public health and promises to restore political norms.
— "Possibly I did. Possibly I didn't." Trump flashed impatience with NBC moderator Savannah Guthrie's persistent questioning in an outdoor setting at a Miami art museum. When she asked him several times for specific information about his recent bout with COVID-19, the president largely resorted to generalities and declined to say if he had taken a virus test on the day of his first debate with Biden.
— Meanwhile, in Philly... Biden, seated across from ABC moderator George Stephanopoulos at the National Constitution Center, sought to connect with the voters sprinkled throughout a mostly empty auditorium by making constant references to his plans to confront the major challenges facing the nation. He concluded many of his lengthy responses by expressing hope that he had answered the voters' questions, and he stayed after the event ended to chat with attendees. —The New York Times
MORE: US authorities investigating if recently published emails are tied to Russian disinformation effort targeting Biden —CNN
For Trump, there's no quitting Q
It should have been a softball. But in one of the standout moments of the Donald Trump town hall, the president refused to disavow QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory that purports that an underground cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats and celebrities runs child sex-trafficking rings and controls the so-called "deep state," which Trump is working to expose. As is Trump's habit, he claimed to know nothing about it, then added, "They are very strongly against pedophilia, and I agree with that." Right. —The Hill
— A Trumper draws the line. A former Navy SEAL and vocal Trump-supporter rebuffed the president this week for retweeting a QAnon-linked account that promoted a baseless conspiracy theory alleging that terrorist Osama bin Laden is still alive, and his body double was instead killed. Robert O'Neill, who says he killed bin Laden in the 2011 raid, tweeted, "Very brave men said [goodbye] to their kids to go kill Osama bin Laden. We were given the order by President Obama. It was not a body double." —Politico
— That's "You," not "Q." YouTube has become the latest social media giant to take steps to stop QAnon, announcing yesterday that it was updating its hate-speech and harassment policies to prohibit "content that targets an individual or group with conspiracy theories that have been used to justify real-world violence." The new policy expressly prohibits content promoting QAnon. —The New York Times
— Q in the USPS? The U.S Postal Service inspector general is investigating one of its mail carriers after bags of undelivered mail were reportedly discovered in eight trash bags outside of his home in Baldwin, Pa. The mail carrier, who has been suspended without pay, is Sean Troesch, a supporter of QAnon who has also posted against "staged race riots" and quarantine restrictions. —New York Daily News
MORE: How QAnon uses religion to lure unsuspecting Christians —CNN
Rubin: What was the point of the Amy Coney Barrett hearing?
"[W]e should seriously consider doing away with Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Nominated justices do not answer questions. They make disingenuous assertions about their views, which leads only to a loss of respect for them and the court. Senators can review written records, hear from other witnesses, and interview the justices privately. We might get more information about nominees that way and, as a bonus, bolster both the Senate's and the Supreme Court's reputations by avoiding these exercises in duplicity." —The Washington Post
MORE: Amy Coney Barrett's character, qualifications discussed by witnesses —The Wall Street Journal
POTUS spreads mask disinfo
Whatever you do, please don't listen to President Trump when he talks about masks. He made a dramatic claim about them at a campaign rally, in an interview, and at his town hall this week. All three times, he suggested that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 85% of people who wear masks catch the novel coronavirus. In reality, the CDC did not say that. In fact, it did not even attempt to figure out what percentage of people who wear a mask get infected. This is, as the president himself might say, "fake news." —CNN
— "It is something to take very seriously." Having spent a week being treated for COVID-19 in an intensive care unit, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he was "wrong" not to wear a mask in the days before testing positive. "The ramifications are wildly random and potentially deadly," Christie said in a statement. "No one should be happy to get the virus, and no one should be cavalier about being infected or infecting others." —northjersey.com
— A close call. Someone who has flown with former Vice President Joe Biden recently has tested positive for COVID-19. The positive test was a result of contact tracing after two of vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris' staffers tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. The Biden campaign said he was over 50 feet from the individual at all times, and Biden and his team, as well as the individual who tested positive, wore N95 masks during the entirety of the flights. —CBS News
— A rough winter ahead? Coronavirus cases are rising rapidly in many states as the U.S. heads into the winter months, and forecasters predict staggering growth in infections and deaths if current trends continue. It's exactly what public health experts have long warned could be in store for the country, if it did not aggressively tamp down on infections over the summer. "We were really hoping to crater the cases in preparation for a bad winter," says Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at Kent State University. "We've done basically the opposite." —NPR
MORE: Inside the fall of the CDC —ProPublica
Cortellessa: The USPS workaround that could save the election
"Rather than take ballots to mammoth processing plants, letter carriers can pre-sort election mail at local post offices themselves and then deliver those ballots directly to local election boards. The reform would cut ballot delivery time to less than 24 hours instead of either days, a week, or even more. The unions argue that this method of sorting should be temporary, just for seven to 10 days before the election. For decades, letter carriers in states and municipalities with a history of vote-by-mail have used this easy work-around to expedite the delivery of mail-in ballots." —Washington Monthly
MORE: US Postal Service agrees to reverse service changes that delayed election ballots and packages —New York Daily News
Global roundup
Tens of thousands of Thai protesters cheered and chanted into the night in central Bangkok yesterday in a mass show of defiance after the government imposed a state of emergency and banned demonstrations in a bid to end more than three months of pro-democracy protests. The growing demonstrations have targeted Thailand's monarch, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, in the biggest challenge in years to an establishment dominated by the palace and army. Protesters chanted for the release of some 40 activists arrested earlier in the week and yelled out insults against the king—an unprecedented act in a country where the constitution says he must be revered. —Al Jazeera
— Belarus. The Russia-aligned leadership of Belarus said today that it is seeking the arrest of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya for "jeopardizing national security," after she called for a general strike if the president does not yield to protesters' demands to resign. Ahead of the next weekly protest on Sunday, a senior police official said that officers would use firearms against demonstrators. Protests have been ongoing in the country since a disputed election last month. —U.S. News
— Guinea. In the runup to Guinea's elections on Oct. 18, voters there are grappling with a familiar problem: disinformation and a lack of transparency over who's providing the news they're getting. But in the West African nation of 13 million, social media platforms are a powerful tool for the government—not a foreign entity—to dominate the narrative around the campaign, promoting the incumbent as a "savior," and claiming his opponent will destabilize the country. —Bloomberg
— Kyrgyzstan. The president of Kyrgyzstan resigned yesterday, after 10 days of intense unrest sparked by disputed parliamentary elections. As protesters closed in on his residence, Sooronbay Jeenbekov said in a statement: "I'm not clinging to power. I don't want to go down in Kyrgyzstan's history as the president who spilled blood and shot at his own citizens." He is the third president to be overthrown in a popular uprising since Kyrgyzstan gained independence in 1991. —NPR
MORE: The persecution of the Uyghurs is a crime against humanity —The Economist
Gerson: A conservative's case for Biden
"Much of the initial work of a Biden administration would be to de-Trumpify public institutions, restore their independence and integrity, and return competence to governance. This is true of the Justice Department, which is being politicized by a pathetic factotum. This is true of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, which Trump has infected with his biases and brutality. It is true of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, which need to be restored as trusted sources of advice and information. It is true of the demoralized intelligence community and State Department. And it is true of the presidency itself, which Trump has turned into a stage for his obscene, playacted authoritarianism." —The Washington Post
MORE: Every major Republican to speak out against Trump just days before election —Newsweek
Girl power
— After the girls completed treatment, the close-knit moms, all in Florida, organized annual reunions. Once, they met in a park. The other times, they gathered at the hospital. Always, the girls wore their tutus, though they changed from purple to gold, the color that symbolizes the fight against cancer in the young.
— When the coronavirus pandemic descended, the moms realized an in-person reunion this year was out of the question, but they didn’t want to skip it. They used Zoom instead, to the delight of the tutu girls.
— During their virtual reunion last month, the four friends donned their tutus once again, comparing how many baby teeth they had lost and updating each other on their pets. The only disappointment? "I wish I could hug you guys," McKinley said. "Me, too," the others chimed in. Hopefully next year's reunion will be filled with hugs once again. —Associated Press
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It is amazing that such a big deal is being made about whether or not VP Biden supports "packing" the Supreme Court (the fact that he avoids answering the question). Everyone needs to know now; it is such a big deal. Yet the nominee for the Supreme Court answers practically no questions over a three-day period, and people just move on. —Bill T., Arizona
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