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The Washington Post obtained audio of Donald Trump discussing his sexual assault strategies, the timing of which made us realize that “October Surprise” would be a great name for a douchebag’s speedboat. Republicans are already positioning themselves for 2020, as if our nation’s foremost clown hunter won’t be the party’s presidential nominee in four years. And Trump says immigrants are pouring across the border to vote illegally, though how they find the time what with their raping and drug-selling is beyond us. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, October 7, 2016:
WELP, THAT’S THE ELECTION, WE GUESS? - David Fahrenthold, in his magnum Trump opus (magnum trumpus? Trumpum opus?), got video of the Republican presidential candidate talking with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” in 2005, in a way we can only describe as “rapey”: “They were arriving on the set of ‘Days of Our Lives’ to tape a segment about Trump’s upcoming cameo on the soap opera. In that audio, Trump discusses a failed attempt to seduce a woman, whose full name is not given in the video. ‘I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it,’ Trump is heard saying. It was unclear when the events he was describing took place. The tape was recorded several months after he married his third wife, Melania. ‘Whoa,’ another voice said. ‘I did try and f―- her. She was married,’ Trump says. Trump continues: ‘And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’’ ‘I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married,’ Trump says. ‘Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.’...’Grab them by the p―-y,’ Trump says. ‘You can do anything.’” [WaPo]
Trump’s statement is a non-apology apology so unrepentant it makes Jesse Watters look like a self-loathing child at confession: “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course ― not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.” Thanks, Donald!
@HillaryClinton: This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president.
@rickklein: traveling Pence press pooler removed from restaurant Pence was in when Trump audio broke.
TRUMP SERIOUSLY OVERESTIMATING HILLARY’S GOTV OPERATION - Don’t get us wrong, it’s strong, but not international conspiracy strong. Laura Bassett: “Donald Trump is accusing the government of letting undocumented immigrants ‘pour into the country so they can go and vote’ in November ― the latest conspiracy theory the Republican presidential nominee is perpetuating to delegitimize the election. ‘You hear a thing like that, and it’s a disgrace,’ Trump told members of the National Border Patrol Council, a union that has endorsed him, at Trump Tower in New York on Friday. ‘Well, it will be a lot different if I get elected.’ Trump was responding to a comment from the union’s vice president, Art Del Cueto, who said immigration agents are setting aside criminal background checks because they’re ‘so tied up with trying to get the people who are on the waiting list to hurry up and get them their immigration status corrected.’” [HuffPost]
TRUMP LOOSENING BRAIN BELT, LETTING MIND FLAB SPILL OVER INTELLECTUAL WAISTLINE - Let Trump be Trump, homie. Marina Fang: “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday held a rare town hall event in New Hampshire that looked a lot like a trial run for Sunday’s second presidential debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton. But the softball questions selected from a Trump-friendly crowd offered little practice for a nominee who desperately needs to overcome his widely panned performance in last week’s debate. Trump rarely appears before small audiences, preferring raucous campaign rallies in large arenas, so Thursday’s town hall provided him an opportunity to practice speaking in a more intimate setting and to prepare for Sunday’s town hall-style event with Clinton. The GOP nominee insisted that Thursday’s gathering, moderated by conservative radio host Howie Carr, a Trump supporter, ‘has nothing to do with Sunday.’” [HuffPost]
BROOKLYN READYING FOR BLITZ - No, that’s not a new Jewish deli/bar that only sells Narragansett and reubens. Gabriel Debenedetti: “Hillary Clinton is walking into the final stretch of this 2016 presidential contest with as much cash at her direct disposal as any White House contender in history. And her operatives expect her to use it to blanket the battleground states with both organizers and a heavy dose of anti-Donald Trump ads. In-state Democratic operatives are planning for a significant tranche of the money — coming from the $150 million Clinton’s campaign and associated accounts had in the bank to start October — to be added to the previously announced $80 million television investment her team previewed at the start of this final phase, on top of other paid media and a heavily-funded get-out-the-vote push...The enormous cash position gives Clinton nearly $5 million to spend per day— even before money from the Democratic National Committee, which entered September with roughly $11.5 million, and the main super PAC Priorities USA Action, which started last month with $40 million, is taken into account.” [Politico]
Like Trump said, so many damn illegals casting votes: “President Barack Obama cast his ballot for his successor on Friday, during a fundraising trip home to Chicago. Obama joked with poll workers that he is a little bit younger than his birthdate indicates, saying he was born in 1981 when he was born in 1961. As he was voting, Obama looked at reporters following him and said, ‘They can’t see who I’m voting for, can they?’ When he was asked which candidate he voted for, Obama just smiled. While it is technically a secret ballot, it’s a pretty safe bet that the president didn’t choose Donald Trump’s name.” [HuffPost’s Sam Levine]
Seth Meyers paid a visit to our office today. His hopes for a funny 45th president are not high.
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ABANDON ALL HOPE: WE’RE ALREADY DISCUSSING THE NEXT ELECTION - Our focus is on how Malia Obama’s 2034 run for Illinois attorney general will impact the 2040 redistricting cycle. Reid Epstein: “There is still one month before the 2016 presidential election, and already there are signs ambitious Republicans are planting seeds to seek the White House in four years if the current nominee, Donald Trump, falls short. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton begins a four-day, eight-stop tour across Iowa on Saturday, an itinerary raising eyebrows even in a state used to attention long before presidential campaigns begin. Mr. Cotton is hardly the only upwardly mobile Republican staking a claim on the next presidential campaign. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker spoke at a fundraiser for Iowa state senate Republicans last week in Dubuque — the same night Mr. Trump was stumping in his home state.” [WSJ]
EVANGELICAL LEADERS NOT DOWN WITH TRUMP - Might be time for another reading of “Two-Corinthians.” Elise Foley: “Nearly 100 evangelical leaders have signed onto a letter urging their fellow Christians to vote against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who, they write, ‘has fueled white American nationalism with xenophobic appeals and religious intolerance at the expense of gospel values, democratic principles, and important international relationships.’ The letter was posted to Change.org on Thursday, and had nearly 5,000 signatures by midday Friday. The evangelicals behind the letter do not necessarily endorse Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, they write ― but they are united in their opposition to Trump, who is working to maintain the Republican stronghold on the evangelical community.” [HuffPost]
WHAT IS ALEPPO? WHAT IS WINNING? WHO AM I? WHERE ARE WE? - Since we’ve crossed the Rubicon into 2020 speculation, we’d be very curious to see how a Gary Johnson 2020 GOP bid would do (not well, but still likely better than his aborted 2012 attempt). Jonathan Easley: “Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is fading in the polls, giving a boost to Hillary Clinton. Johnson has suffered through weeks of terrible headlines that have raised questions about his fitness to be commander in chief. Most notably, the former New Mexico governor couldn’t name a foreign leader he respected in one television interview and in another asked, “What is Aleppo?” in response to a question about the besieged Syrian city. Democrats have gone on the attack, using Clinton surrogates President Obama and Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to make the argument that a vote for Johnson is a vote for Donald Trump...The backlash against Johnson comes after Democrats watched with alarm as polls between Clinton and Trump tightened in August and early September. The surveys showed Clinton failing to win over left-leaning independents and millennials, who have been flirting with Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.” [The Hill]
TRUMP STILL WRONG ON CENTRAL PARK FIVE - [Very Trump debate voice] WRONG! Matt Ferner: “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump still believes the “Central Park Five,” a group of black and Hispanic men who were convicted but later exonerated in the 1989 rape of a female jogger in New York City’s Central Park, are guilty, he told CNN this week. The news comes more than a decade after the men were cleared by DNA evidence, leading the actual culprit to confess his role in the crime. ‘They admitted they were guilty,’ Trump told CNN’s Miguel Marquez. ‘The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous. And the woman, so badly injured, will never be the same.’ Trump’s statement underscores a fundamental disregard for the criminal justice system. While the five individuals accused in the case did at one point confess to crimes related to the rape of then-28-year-old Trisha Meili ― though never actually admitting to rape ― they all later retracted their statements to police. The suspects, then juveniles, claimed that during hours-long interrogations, police lied, intimidated and ultimately coerced them into falsely confessing to crimes they never committed.” [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here’s a cat reacting to a metronome.
RICK SCOTT KEEPING HIS EYE ON THE PRIZE - Mollie Reilly: “Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) refuses to extend his state’s voter registration deadline because of Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm approaching the U.S. southeast coast. The storm, predicted to be the strongest to make landfall in the U.S. in more than a decade, prompted Hillary Clinton’s campaign to call for extending voter registration beyond next Tuesday’s deadline. ‘We’re hoping and expecting that officials in Florida are adapting deadlines to account for the storm,’ Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told reporters Thursday. Scott, who has endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump for president, said he wouldn’t honor that request. ‘I’m not going to extend it,’ Scott said during a press conference Thursday evening. ‘Everybody’s had a lot of time to register. On top of that, we have lots of opportunities to vote, early voting and absentee voting, so I don’t intend to make any changes.’” [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- A Bad Lip Reading of the first presidential debate.
- The view from the cockpit as NOAA pilots fly into Hurricane Matthew.
- A very cool house built out of a cave.
TWITTERAMA
TOM COTTON: my five-point plan for economic growth is to bomb Iran five times
REPUBLICAN ELITES: whoa, this kid’s got it
Caller: “Say it and I’ll give you $50.”
Ted Cruz: “This is Jake from State Farm.”
@nickbaumann: Who had Billy Bush in the random celebrity who appears in the Trump scandal of the day pool?
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