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© Paul Sancya and Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press
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Tempers are running hot in Washington, with the political world caught in a cycle of outrage over the rhetoric being used in the final days of the campaign between former President Trump and Vice President Harris.
With the election only four days away, every utterance is magnified, as Republicans and Democrats battle for any small advantage that might tip the scales in their favor for what’s lining up to be a photo finish.
The volume was turned all the way up Friday:
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Trump ignited an uproar among Democrats and the media for remarks he made to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson about Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.): “She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK. Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face. You know, they’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, oh, gee, we’ll, let’s send — let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.”
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Harris said the remarks should be “disqualifying.” Cheney said Trump’s remarks were akin to a death threat. Cable news channel’s went wall-to-wall with the controversy. The Drudge Report headline blared: “Trump calls for Cheney’s execution.”
- Republicans seethed, accusing Cheney and the media of distorting Trump’s remarks. Trump later clarified on Truth Social, saying Cheney is happy to send other people off to fight wars but “wouldn’t have the guts to fight herself.”
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The Trump campaign responded: “The press has been disgracefully covering these remarks by saying that President Trump suggested that Liz Cheney should be put in front of a ‘firing squad.’ Are these reporters malicious or dumb? President Trump was clearly describing a combat zone.”
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An editor for The Dispatch who accused Trump of wanting to put Cheney in front of a “firing squad” later walked back his remarks, which were made on CNN.
That dust-up was the latest outrage to dominate discourse in the closing days of the campaign.
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Fallout continues from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist joke about Puerto Rico from Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. LeBron James featured the remarks in his endorsement of Harris on X. On Friday, some of Puerto Rico’s biggest stars, including Ricky Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Rita Moreno, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times decrying the “willful ignorance” on display.
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Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who has been acting as a surrogate for the Harris campaign, said Trump doesn’t surround himself with any “strong, intelligent women.” Republican women who work or worked for Trump took issue. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) called on Harris to disavow the remarks. Cuban later clarified and apologized.
- The White House is ensnared in controversy after The Associated Press reported the Biden administration altered the official transcript of President Biden‘s remarks referring to Trump supporters as “garbage.”
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Republicans have likened Biden’s remarks to Hillary Clinton referring to half of Trump’s supporters as “deplorables.” Democratic Sen. Peter Welch (Vt.) expressed frustration with Biden and Cuban’s remarks: “I don’t like it. We all know there’s really smart women. Some of them support Trump, some of them support Harris. This is not about qualified men or women who support either candidate.”
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Conservatives are furious at a Democratic ad narrated by Julia Roberts that encourages women to tell their husbands they’re voting for Trump, and then to secretly vote for Harris. Republicans say it strips agency from conservative women by casting them as fearful and subservient to their domineering husbands. “For them to tell people to lie is just one further example of the depth of their corruption,” said former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga). “How do you run a country where you’re walking around saying ‘wives should lie to their husbands, husbands should lie to their wives’?”
- Democrats reacted with the same fury over Trump saying he’d protect women “whether the women like it or not.”
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Conservative columnist Hugh Hewitt stormed off a Washington Post live show and resigned his contributing job after an argument with host Jonathan Capehart about Trump’s claims of fraud and a court ruling in Pennsylvania.
How are the campaigns feeling with the candidates effectively tied in the battlegrounds and election forecasters calling the race a toss-up?
Both Trump and Harris officials are striking notes of cautious optimism:
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Harris adviser David Plouffe said on CNN that late-deciders are breaking their way, in part due to the Puerto Rico controversy: “The people who’ve made up their mind in the last week, we’re doing quite well with. And we like the people who’ve yet to make a decision in terms of who they look like from a data perspective and what they self-report in terms of who they’re likely to vote for. In the early vote so far, we are on pace in all seven states to reach the number we think we need, combined with Election Day turnout.”
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Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio released a memo titled “Trump is on the Verge”: “President Trump’s position nationally and in every battleground state is significantly better today than it was 4 years ago. in fact, President Trump holds the lead in 5 of the 7 battleground states that account for over 270 electoral votes. I point this out not to stoke overconfidence or complacency, but to illustrate just how close this election is and that victory is within our reach.”
💡 Perspectives:
The Weekly Dish: Does liberal democracy end next week?
The Atlantic: Why Black men are drifting toward Trump.
The Wall Street Journal: Dems trash talk voters.
The New Yorker: Garbage time at the 2024 finish line.
The Wall Street Journal: Why Harris will lose.
The New Republic: Your vote matters if Harris is to win.
The Guardian: Bidenomics is working in Pennsylvania.
The Hill: Why the public dismisses Biden’s legislative accomplishments.
Read more:
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It’s Friday. I’m Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming. Not on the list? Subscribe here.
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Speaker Johnson prepares for uncertain future
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Will Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hold onto his position in the next Congress, or will the GOP lose its majority and pick a new leader?
Johnson has been crisscrossing the country to elect Republicans to the House, but he took a few minutes off the campaign trail in Pennsylvania to sit with The Hill’s Emily Brooks to discuss his future.
- Trying to maintain the GOP’s majority has been an “all encompassing” job, Johnson said, particularly because he was introducing himself to many of his colleagues for the first time after taking over from former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the middle of the Congressional term about one year ago.
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The interview is chock full of colorful quotes from Johnson, who said he’s spent half his time as Speaker acting as a “mental health counselor” for “exotic animals” with “rabies.”
- Trump has announced his support for Johnson to continue on as Speaker if Republicans maintain a majority in the House. Johnson would likely step aside as GOP leader if they lose.
Those outcomes appear equally likely at this point, with The Hill/Decision Desk HQ giving Republicans a 53 percent chance of holding the House.
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In its final ratings, the Cook Political Report moved six House seats toward Democrats and two toward Republicans. The expected outcome ranges from Republicans gaining five seats, to Democrats gaining 10 seats. Democrats need to gain four seats to win the slimmest majority possible.
- Erin Covey, the House editor for Cook, writes:
“The race for control of the U.S. House remains as close as it’s ever been. The battleground is confined to a few dozen seats, with neither party having a clear advantage in a majority of seats. And with several competitive races in West Coast states that take longer to count their ballots, it’s highly possible we won’t know which party has control on election night.”
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According to Cook, Republicans have a slight edge in the number of seats they’re favored to win, but they’re also defending more swing seats.
The Senate is more clear cut, with Republicans having a 71 percent chance of winning a majority, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ model.
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Cook forecasts Senate Republicans will hold between 51 and 54 seats in the next Congress. Election victories in deep red Montana and West Virginia should get Republicans to a majority, if they don’t fumble away races in Nebraska, Texas or Florida.
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If Republicans can oust Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in a state former President Trump should win handily, it could get them to 52 seats.
- After that, Republicans will look to pad their potential majority with Senate wins in presidential battlegrounds, such as Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
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Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors editor for Cook, writes:
“The battle for the Senate fundamentally ends where the cycle began — with an overwhelmingly favorable map that very likely portends a GOP majority. But the size of that majority is still up in the air. If Republicans sweep the ‘Blue Wall’ states, which have all tightened in the final weeks, they could reach as high as 54 or 55 seats — a cushion for a tougher 2026 midterm cycle. However, if they only attain a narrow 51 or 52 seat majority, look for moderates like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins to wield outsized influence in the next Congress.”
Read more:
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Here’s who’s talking…
- NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
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MSNBC “Inside with Jen Psaki”: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
- FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.); Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).
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CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.); Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
- NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.); North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R).
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CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.); Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
– Compiled by The HIl’s Elizabeth Crisp.
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Elections roundup: Trump, Harris camps meet with transition planning officials
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Federal agency transition members met with key figures in both campaigns to prepare for either former President Trump or Vice President Harris to be sworn in as the next president in 80 days. The Agency Transition Directors Council met with the campaigns at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to focus on “post-election readiness to ensure agencies and the transition teams are ready to execute responsibly and efficiently,” according to ABC News. The Wall Street Journal has the inside story on Trump’s “Headhunter in Chief,” Cantor Fitzgerald Chief Executive Howard Lutnick, who will be responsible for staffing a potential second Trump administration.
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Federal and gubernatorial campaigns spent at least $4.5 billion on TV and radio ads this cycle, according to an analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project. That doesn’t including digital or online advertising, which would push the total past the $5 billion mark.
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Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, has asked Elon Musk’s X and other social media sites to remove a video purporting to show a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia IDs who claimed to have voted multiple times. Raffensperger’s office said that the video is false, while U.S. intelligence agencies on Friday publicly blamed Russia for being behind the video, calling it disinformation.
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What will happen if the outcome in a battleground state is so close that a candidate wants a recount? NBC’s Ben Kamisar and Bridget Bowman have a helpful primer here on how all seven swing states would handle a recount. In some states, the recount is triggered automatically, while other states require candidates to request one and to pay for it.
- Does your state have a dress code for going to a polling place? Some states don’t allow voters to wear political gear.
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“America’s civil service must remain nonpartisan,” by Ron Sanders, Robert J. Shea, and Robert Tobias for The Hill.
“The quiet, terrifying weaponization of state judicial conduct commissions,” by Bryna Godar for The Hill.
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4 days until Election Day.
80 days until Inauguration Day 2025.
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Friday
- Trump and Harris hold dueling rallies in Milwaukee.
Saturday
- Trump campaigns in North Carolina and Virginia.
- Harris campaigns in Georgia and North Carolina.
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There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: jeasley@thehill.com<
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