theguardian--2020-10-29--John Kerry: 'People want a future. The orange menace is not providing that'

In 2004 , the Democrats ’ presidential candidate , John Kerry , was on the receiving end of one of the most egregious smear campaigns in modern history .
At the height of the Iraq war , the Republicans came up with a strategy to combat the glaring military mismatch between Kerry , a decorated Vietnam vet , and the incumbent George W Bush , whose record consisted of a spell in the Texas Air National Guard .
They concocted the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth , a group of Vietnam vets who claimed that Kerry had lied about and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later discredited , but the lies travelled around the world , and the damage was done .
“ It was really the first of the fake news elections , ” says Kerry , speaking via Zoom from his home in Massachusetts .
“ Where you can take a legitimate military record , which the US navy had certified , and you can lie about it .
And that ’ s where we are today : massive lies .
We ’ ve had tens of thousands of lies told by the president of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ completely divorced from the reality of what is happening to people ’ s lives.
” Does it still make him angry ?
“ Yeah , ” he says , “ which is why I try not to think about it too much .
I made the decision very shortly after that I did not want to get lost in anger.
” Having seen what Al Gore went through in the 2000 election , which saw similarly questionable tactics , Kerry decided against a long court process , but now , with the 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The recent machinations about voter-suppression and interference in the election have prompted me to question not litigating .
Because we ’ re seeing it still challenging our democracy in ways that are unacceptable .
I wonder if that would have changed if we ’ d done it.
” Since he left office as President Barack Obama ’ s Secretary of State in January 2017 , closing a five-decade political career , Kerry has kept a relatively low profile , but he has been transitioning from hard power towards soft .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gore making An Inconvenient Truth , and the Obamas signing a deal with Netflix in 2018 .
“ After a long career in politics , if you ’ re doing it right , it ’ s about storytelling .
It ’ s about having an impact on culture , and understanding what the culture is , ” he says .
It is not just about politics , although it is difficult to avoid , and it ’ s certainly not about negative attack ads .
“ This plethora of new platforms , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much greater ability .
There ought to be more content telling stories in a more powerful and different way.
” Kerry is no newcomer to this landscape .
In 1972 , aged 28 , he was the star of the landmark anti-Vietnam war documentary Winter Soldier .
In recent years , he has appeared in numerous eco-docs such as the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced Before the Flood .
He and DiCaprio are now friends , and are working together on a new documentary series about oceans .
Kerry ’ s latest initiative is his involvement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Content , based in London .
Its founders are three British women with backgrounds in media , production and campaigning : Melanie Dicks , Jess Hines and Lia Walton .
Kerry came into contact with them via Walton ’ s association with his old film-maker friend George Butler .
Best known for 1977 ’ s Pumping Iron , which launched Arnold Schwarzenegger to fame , Butler also made a documentary about Kerry in 2004 .
Called Going Upriver , it attempted to set the record straight on his military record and undo the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Truth .
Kerry ’ s role with Fingerprint is described as executive producer and senior adviser .
“ I ’ m certainly qualified as senior , ” the 76-year-old jokes .
“ I ’ m a person who can open a few doors .
I have many years of engagement on some of these issues , whether it ’ s racism , poverty , the pandemic or the climate crisis.
” It might sound like Kerry is “ doing an Al Gore ” , but his commitment to , say , environmental issues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first Earth Day in Massachusetts in 1970 , has been involved in senate-level climate discussions since the 1980s , and last year founded World War Zero , a zero-emissions initiative whose participants include a mixture of politicians and celebrities .
Kerry also headed the US delegation for the 2016 Paris climate change agreement , from which Trump infamously withdrew the moment he entered office ( technically , the US does not leave it until 4 November , the day after the election – Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin should he win @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one way to do it , ” he says , “ but there are ways to tell this differently.
” Fiction can be as powerful as fact , he argues , perhaps more so , since it can reach the gut and the soul as much as the intellect .
He talks of the effect The Deer Hunter had on him when he returned from Vietnam , and of 1983 nuclear holocaust TV drama The Day After , which prompted Ronald Reagan to negotiate with the Soviet Union to reduce nuclear stockpiles .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ where you tell a story the right way , it has enormous impact.
” Kerry ’ s own cultural interests range far and wide , from French cinema to Star Wars .
The night before we speak , he was doing a Star Wars trivia quiz with Mark Hamill , AKA Luke Skywalker .
“ I loved the early ones but I confess I ’ ve not seen every one of the last ones , mostly because I was too busy as secretary.
” During lockdown , he binge-watched Homeland , Succession and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fingerprint ’ s content , projects in the pipeline include a mobile-friendly short-format “ eco detective series ” starring the Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan ; a “ female-led , heightened genre film set in Corfu ” ; and a high-end “ cli-fi [ climate fiction ] conspiracy thriller ” series – all delivered with gender parity and minimal environmental impact .
Programmes about such issues as climate don ’ t have to be deadly earnest , argues Dicks , they can also funny and inventive .
“ It feels a little bit like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ ‘ Entertaining climate show ’ – but there is a way to do it.
” They hope to put Kerry in front of the camera as well : “ He ’ s a little bit reticent , but I ’ m very good at getting actors out of trailers.
” At the same time , factual and fictional narratives , and the distance between them , has become one of the key issues of the age .
Few could argue against a powerful story about the climate crisis , but is America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be stuck in a place where the very existence of the crisis must still be argued .
At her recent Supreme Court hearing , Amy Coney Barrett refused to say whether or not climate change was happening since it was a “ very contentious matter of public debate ” .
This is the reality of the post-truth landscape .
Despite the sincerest and noblest intentions of such operators as Kerry and the Obamas , the narratives that have been moving the dial most successfully in recent years have been populist , rightwing and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , voter fraud , immigration , even the Covid pandemic , not to mention the vanishing sunlit uplands of Brexit .
There is the feeling that our entire culture has been swiftboated .
“ Trump is the great example of that , ” says Kerry .
“ He ’ s a walking , living manifestation of a shift to lack of facts , to believing what you might want to believe , to being ‘ entertained ’ in the process.
” Kerry has watched this transition take place in the US since the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tea Party to the Freedom Caucus .
“ And now you just have Trumpism , which has no relationship to any of the stuff preceding except the anger .
It taps into the anger.
” The upcoming election is a chance to “ break the fever ” , he feels .
“ People want to get on with their lives .
People want to solve real problems .
People want to see a future , and they ’ ve learned that the flim-flam , con-artist , orange menace is not providing that .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ third is going to produce a resounding rejection of what has been going on , and a quick resurgence , even a release of energy of creativity , that ’ s going to be quite remarkable .
And this is where the narrative is so important .
People are now feeling the paucity of what has happened , the diminishment of the American Dream .
It ’ s not gone , there are a lot of dreamers still , but it has been tarnished .
”

In 2004, the Democrats’ presidential candidate, John Kerry, was on the receiving end of one of the most egregious smear campaigns in modern history. At the height of the Iraq war, the Republicans came up with a strategy to combat the glaring military mismatch between Kerry, a decorated Vietnam vet, and the incumbent George W Bush, whose record consisted of a spell in the Texas Air National Guard. They concocted the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group of Vietnam vets who claimed that Kerry had lied about and exaggerated his record. The claims were later discredited, but the lies travelled around the world, and the damage was done.
“It was really the first of the fake news elections,” says Kerry, speaking via Zoom from his home in Massachusetts. “Where you can take a legitimate military record, which the US navy had certified, and you can lie about it. And that’s where we are today: massive lies. We’ve had tens of thousands of lies told by the president of the United States. We’re just completely divorced from the reality of what is happening to people’s lives.”
Does it still make him angry? “Yeah,” he says, “which is why I try not to think about it too much. I made the decision very shortly after that I did not want to get lost in anger.” Having seen what Al Gore went through in the 2000 election, which saw similarly questionable tactics, Kerry decided against a long court process, but now, with the 2020 election days away, he is reconsidering.
“The recent machinations about voter-suppression and interference in the election have prompted me to question not litigating. Because we’re seeing it still challenging our democracy in ways that are unacceptable. I wonder if that would have changed if we’d done it.”
Since he left office as President Barack Obama’s Secretary of State in January 2017, closing a five-decade political career, Kerry has kept a relatively low profile, but he has been transitioning from hard power towards soft. This is becoming a well-trodden route, with Gore making An Inconvenient Truth, and the Obamas signing a deal with Netflix in 2018. “After a long career in politics, if you’re doing it right, it’s about storytelling. It’s about having an impact on culture, and understanding what the culture is,” he says.
Kerry with Leonardo DiCaprio at a screening of Before the Flood in New York, 2016. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
It is not just about politics, although it is difficult to avoid, and it’s certainly not about negative attack ads. “This plethora of new platforms, the democratisation through technology; there’s much greater ability. There ought to be more content telling stories in a more powerful and different way.”
Kerry is no newcomer to this landscape. In 1972, aged 28, he was the star of the landmark anti-Vietnam war documentary Winter Soldier. In recent years, he has appeared in numerous eco-docs such as the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced Before the Flood. He and DiCaprio are now friends, and are working together on a new documentary series about oceans.
Fiction can be as powerful as fact. There are moments where if you tell a story the right way, it has enormous impact John Kerry
Kerry’s latest initiative is his involvement with a new production company named Fingerprint Content, based in London. Its founders are three British women with backgrounds in media, production and campaigning: Melanie Dicks, Jess Hines and Lia Walton. Kerry came into contact with them via Walton’s association with his old film-maker friend George Butler. Best known for 1977’s Pumping Iron, which launched Arnold Schwarzenegger to fame, Butler also made a documentary about Kerry in 2004. Called Going Upriver, it attempted to set the record straight on his military record and undo the damage of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
Kerry’s role with Fingerprint is described as executive producer and senior adviser. “I’m certainly qualified as senior,” the 76-year-old jokes. “I’m a person who can open a few doors. I have many years of engagement on some of these issues, whether it’s racism, poverty, the pandemic or the climate crisis.”
A student in New York protests on Earth Day, 1970, which Kerry helped organise. Photograph: AP
It might sound like Kerry is “doing an Al Gore”, but his commitment to, say, environmental issues is well established. He helped organise the first Earth Day in Massachusetts in 1970, has been involved in senate-level climate discussions since the 1980s, and last year founded World War Zero, a zero-emissions initiative whose participants include a mixture of politicians and celebrities. Kerry also headed the US delegation for the 2016 Paris climate change agreement, from which Trump infamously withdrew the moment he entered office (technically, the US does not leave it until 4 November, the day after the election – Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin should he win).
“An Inconvenient Truth was one way to do it,” he says, “but there are ways to tell this differently.” Fiction can be as powerful as fact, he argues, perhaps more so, since it can reach the gut and the soul as much as the intellect. He talks of the effect The Deer Hunter had on him when he returned from Vietnam, and of 1983 nuclear holocaust TV drama The Day After, which prompted Ronald Reagan to negotiate with the Soviet Union to reduce nuclear stockpiles. “Historically, there are these moments where you tell a story the right way, it has enormous impact.”
Kerry holds his two-year-old granddaughter for the signing of the 2016 Paris climate change agreement. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Kerry’s own cultural interests range far and wide, from French cinema to Star Wars. The night before we speak, he was doing a Star Wars trivia quiz with Mark Hamill, AKA Luke Skywalker. “I loved the early ones but I confess I’ve not seen every one of the last ones, mostly because I was too busy as secretary.” During lockdown, he binge-watched Homeland, Succession and The Morning Show.
In terms of Fingerprint’s content, projects in the pipeline include a mobile-friendly short-format “eco detective series” starring the Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan; a “female-led, heightened genre film set in Corfu”; and a high-end “cli-fi [climate fiction] conspiracy thriller” series – all delivered with gender parity and minimal environmental impact. Programmes about such issues as climate don’t have to be deadly earnest, argues Dicks, they can also funny and inventive. “It feels a little bit like an oxymoron,” she says. “‘Entertaining climate show’ – but there is a way to do it.” They hope to put Kerry in front of the camera as well: “He’s a little bit reticent, but I’m very good at getting actors out of trailers.”
My hope is that the election produces a rejection of what has been going on, even a release of energy of creativity John Kerry
At the same time, factual and fictional narratives, and the distance between them, has become one of the key issues of the age. Few could argue against a powerful story about the climate crisis, but is America ready for this when it seems to be stuck in a place where the very existence of the crisis must still be argued. At her recent Supreme Court hearing, Amy Coney Barrett refused to say whether or not climate change was happening since it was a “very contentious matter of public debate”.
This is the reality of the post-truth landscape. Despite the sincerest and noblest intentions of such operators as Kerry and the Obamas, the narratives that have been moving the dial most successfully in recent years have been populist, rightwing and often dishonest: be it on climate, voter fraud, immigration, even the Covid pandemic, not to mention the vanishing sunlit uplands of Brexit. There is the feeling that our entire culture has been swiftboated.
“Trump is the great example of that,” says Kerry. “He’s a walking, living manifestation of a shift to lack of facts, to believing what you might want to believe, to being ‘entertained’ in the process.” Kerry has watched this transition take place in the US since the mid-1990s, from Newt Gingrich to the Tea Party to the Freedom Caucus. “And now you just have Trumpism, which has no relationship to any of the stuff preceding except the anger. It taps into the anger.” The upcoming election is a chance to “break the fever”, he feels. “People want to get on with their lives. People want to solve real problems. People want to see a future, and they’ve learned that the flim-flam, con-artist, orange menace is not providing that.
“My hope is that November the third is going to produce a resounding rejection of what has been going on, and a quick resurgence, even a release of energy of creativity, that’s going to be quite remarkable. And this is where the narrative is so important. People are now feeling the paucity of what has happened, the diminishment of the American Dream. It’s not gone, there are a lot of dreamers still, but it has been tarnished.”


theguardian--2020-10-29--Can late-night comedy recover from the Trump presidency?

As the results trickled in on election night 2016 , Stephen Colbert , host of The Late Show on CBS , processed Donald Trump ’ s victory live , before a shocked audience .
He lamented America ’ s partisan divide ( “ how did our politics get so poisonous ?
” ) , professed belief in the utility of comedy ( “ in the face of something that might strike you as horrible , I think laughter is the best medicine .
You can not laugh and be afraid at the same time ” ) and offhandedly prefigured the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ I ’ m not sure it ’ s a comedy show any more.
” Colbert performed the role of late-night host nimbly , even if the genre of an election night comedy hour was poorly suited for the victory of a candidacy that had been viewed by many as a joke .
Trump , as the TV critic Emily Nussbaum argued in January 2017 , had long performed , and audience-tested in rallies , the role of a boozy , heckling , aggrieved standup comic , one who shrugged off countless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one with an endless appetite for attention .
Nussbaum ’ s essay , published in the first week of Trump ’ s presidency , evinced the trap facing liberal political comedians : “ How do you fight an enemy who ’ s just kidding ?
” How do you skewer a performer who never made any attempt at sincerity ?
How could network and cable comedy , overwhelmingly delivered by straight white men , effectively lampoon a self-evidently ridiculous social media troll whose only currency was attention ?
Trump may have seemed at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but his presidency – the flat denials , the destabilizing cascade of crises and a fractured , contemptuous media landscape – has killed political comedy .
Where does late-night go from here ?
Regardless of whether or not Trump is re-elected , his presidency has altered the genre in form and function .
For four years , political comedy , and in particular late-night television , has lurched through a cyclical Trump attention loop : hosts mock the president , Trump continues with the next galling lie or lashes out on Twitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump again , attention paid and courted and repaid .
In the 2010s , as the lines in American cultural commentary blurred – political propaganda , social life and memes blended in a gorging timeline of content – Trump jokes became the default late-night currency .
Even Jimmy Fallon , the affable Saturday Night Live ( SNL ) alum who infamously tousled Trump ’ s hair in 2015 , was forced by a ratings war into more political monologues .
In the Trump era , the genre has morphed to shoulder two burdens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump jabs ( Seth Meyers ’ Closer Look segments , SNL ’ s too-numerous cold opens , whose main insight seems to be the sight of various celebrities game for impersonation ) ; and to process the torrent of headlines in our confounding , infuriating , oversaturated reality .
The latter is not an insignificant function , given the time and sanity-erasing blankness of constant disruption and , say , a global pandemic .
During the nationwide protests against anti-black police brutality this summer , late-night shows helped keep people tethered to , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ timeline of deeply unfunny police crackdowns and ongoing pandemic surges .
Many people got the gist of impeachment , the Mueller report , the Russia investigation , Trump corruption and justice department manipulations through late-night comedy shows .
( The leading program , Colbert ’ s Late Show , averaged 3.45m viewers in 2019-2020 ; Saturday Night Live drew 8.24m viewers for its 46th season premiere last month , its highest audience since 2016 . )
There ’ s certainly a democratic function to that processing ; when everything is politicized and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faith propaganda ( Fox News ) or norms of impartial politeness ( the Sunday talkshows ) , late-night “ comedy ” – a pastiche of recaps , clips and jokes delivered by a host allowed to call bullshit – becomes a manageable way to keep up with things .
But that doesn ’ t mean it was necessarily funny or sustainable or , to quote Colbert on election night , really a comedy show any more .
Kimmel and Fallon seem to view jokes as a formality before the more entertaining work of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Seth Meyers has almost dispensed with jokes entirely in his outrage-laden , indignant Closer Look warnings on America ’ s descent into authoritarianism .
Late-night political comedy , following the model of The Daily Show , built a common language through the George W Bush and Barack Obama years : point out bad faith and dishonesty through videos stitched with hard news reports , then voice collective outrage at the con .
But the past four years have undermined the belief that comedy could serve as an effective weapon against an administration whose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , very real “ accomplishments ” .
The late-night shows once seemed to get under Trump ’ s skin , but to what effect ?
He might call the hosts “ very weak and untalented ” on Twitter , or continue his longstanding feud with SNL ( and especially his impersonator , Alec Baldwin , although his attention for late-night shows appears to have waned this year ) .
But in a polarized , post-hypocrisy world , jokes don ’ t so much thwart the hypocrite as draw viewers back into the reactive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at navigating the Trump years , and the most critically acclaimed , is John Oliver , whose unsparing , morally clear , melodically ranting explainers on HBO ’ s Last Week Tonight focus on the rot around or tangential to Trump , rather than the man himself .
Full Frontal ’ s Samantha Bee similarly works in allusive jokes around issues-driven monologues , as one of the few female hosts and a rare success in the 2010s boom and bust of liberal news comedy shows which evince the struggle to break fresh ground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Show With Larry Wilmore , Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj , The Opposition With Jordan Klepper , Wyatt Cenac ’ s Problem Areas , The Jim Jefferies Show and The Break With Michelle Wolf all premiered after January 2015 , and have all since been cancelled .
Sharp-toothed political comedy , meanwhile , has shifted to the masses on social media , and in particular TikTok .
Political accounts run by Zoomers , which overlay pop music on bespoke factchecking , dances , healthcare advocacy and nihilistic memes , have become “ cable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cooper ’ s lip-syncing Trump impressions blew up on TikTok and Twitter , leading to a guest-host gig on Jimmy Kimmel Live !
.
But her Netflix comedy special , Everything ’ s Fine , slams into the wall of Trump-centric satire and exemplifies the dilemma of traditional comedic forms ; absent the fundamental insight of her impressions – that nothing satirizes Trump more than his own words – comedy rooted in the destabilizing chaos of the current moment sprouts starchy , disposable bits , jokes that strain when they should zing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ do ?
The shows do , after all , retain huge audiences , with institutional legitimacy and social media platforms that reach millions .
Their guest slots can and have elevated diverse and “ radical ” perspectives , such as prison abolition advocates and Black Lives Matter activists .
In 2020 , late-night TV has gained the most cultural cachet when it embraces not redundant Trump jokes but the flexibility of the format – performing the duties television journalists refuse to do , for example , such as Colbert ’ s grilling the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bolton .
Ironically , it ’ s perhaps most relevant when it ’ s serious , self-aware , stripped down .
In June , Trevor Noah released a quarantine-filmed video in reaction to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police , in which he spoke plainly to white audiences as a person of color , a child of apartheid South Africa who understood state violence .
“ That unease that you felt watching that Target being looted , try to imagine how it must feel for black Americans when they watch themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
“ Because that ’ s fundamentally what ’ s happening in America : police in America are looting black bodies.
” Noah ’ s video was shared widely on social media and cited by activist Kimberly Jones in Minneapolis , whose words were then incorporated in an episode of Last Week Tonight .
More recently , Colbert has straight-up implored people to vote out the president ; “ We have two weeks to decide what kind of country this is gon na be , ” he said last week , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still had not reunited 545 children , separated from their families at the border , with their parents .
There ’ s no laughter in such statements , no finding humor as an antidote .
Earnestness – anathema to internet humor – is an awkward spot for late-night comedy to find itself in .
But it ’ s cutting through bullshit , the leg work of sorting context and promoting inquiry , where late-night comedy can still find wiggle room , fresh territory with or without Trump .
It ’ s not so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – humor as a prerequisite but not the punch .

As the results trickled in on election night 2016, Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show on CBS, processed Donald Trump’s victory live, before a shocked audience. He lamented America’s partisan divide (“how did our politics get so poisonous?”), professed belief in the utility of comedy (“in the face of something that might strike you as horrible, I think laughter is the best medicine. You cannot laugh and be afraid at the same time”) and offhandedly prefigured the identity crisis to come for late-night television: “I’m not sure it’s a comedy show any more.”
Colbert performed the role of late-night host nimbly, even if the genre of an election night comedy hour was poorly suited for the victory of a candidacy that had been viewed by many as a joke. Trump, as the TV critic Emily Nussbaum argued in January 2017, had long performed, and audience-tested in rallies, the role of a boozy, heckling, aggrieved standup comic, one who shrugged off countless taboos as “sarcastic” jokes, one with an endless appetite for attention.
Nussbaum’s essay, published in the first week of Trump’s presidency, evinced the trap facing liberal political comedians: “How do you fight an enemy who’s just kidding?” How do you skewer a performer who never made any attempt at sincerity? How could network and cable comedy, overwhelmingly delivered by straight white men, effectively lampoon a self-evidently ridiculous social media troll whose only currency was attention? Trump may have seemed at the outset like a boon to jokesters, but his presidency – the flat denials, the destabilizing cascade of crises and a fractured, contemptuous media landscape – has killed political comedy.
Where does late-night go from here? Regardless of whether or not Trump is re-elected, his presidency has altered the genre in form and function. For four years, political comedy, and in particular late-night television, has lurched through a cyclical Trump attention loop: hosts mock the president, Trump continues with the next galling lie or lashes out on Twitter (or both), hosts mock Trump again, attention paid and courted and repaid. In the 2010s, as the lines in American cultural commentary blurred – political propaganda, social life and memes blended in a gorging timeline of content – Trump jokes became the default late-night currency. Even Jimmy Fallon, the affable Saturday Night Live (SNL) alum who infamously tousled Trump’s hair in 2015, was forced by a ratings war into more political monologues.
In the Trump era, the genre has morphed to shoulder two burdens: to metabolize liberal outrage through short-circuited Trump jabs (Seth Meyers’ Closer Look segments, SNL’s too-numerous cold opens, whose main insight seems to be the sight of various celebrities game for impersonation); and to process the torrent of headlines in our confounding, infuriating, oversaturated reality.
The latter is not an insignificant function, given the time and sanity-erasing blankness of constant disruption and, say, a global pandemic. During the nationwide protests against anti-black police brutality this summer, late-night shows helped keep people tethered to, rather than escape from, the feverish timeline of deeply unfunny police crackdowns and ongoing pandemic surges. Many people got the gist of impeachment, the Mueller report, the Russia investigation, Trump corruption and justice department manipulations through late-night comedy shows. (The leading program, Colbert’s Late Show, averaged 3.45m viewers in 2019-2020; Saturday Night Live drew 8.24m viewers for its 46th season premiere last month, its highest audience since 2016.)
There’s certainly a democratic function to that processing; when everything is politicized and the news landscape is calcified either in bad faith propaganda (Fox News) or norms of impartial politeness (the Sunday talkshows), late-night “comedy” – a pastiche of recaps, clips and jokes delivered by a host allowed to call bullshit – becomes a manageable way to keep up with things. But that doesn’t mean it was necessarily funny or sustainable or, to quote Colbert on election night, really a comedy show any more. Kimmel and Fallon seem to view jokes as a formality before the more entertaining work of interviewing celebrities; Late Night’s Seth Meyers has almost dispensed with jokes entirely in his outrage-laden, indignant Closer Look warnings on America’s descent into authoritarianism.
Late-night political comedy, following the model of The Daily Show, built a common language through the George W Bush and Barack Obama years: point out bad faith and dishonesty through videos stitched with hard news reports, then voice collective outrage at the con. But the past four years have undermined the belief that comedy could serve as an effective weapon against an administration whose reality show is outdone by its horrifying, very real “accomplishments”. The late-night shows once seemed to get under Trump’s skin, but to what effect? He might call the hosts “very weak and untalented” on Twitter, or continue his longstanding feud with SNL (and especially his impersonator, Alec Baldwin, although his attention for late-night shows appears to have waned this year). But in a polarized, post-hypocrisy world, jokes don’t so much thwart the hypocrite as draw viewers back into the reactive loop.
The host perhaps most successful at navigating the Trump years, and the most critically acclaimed, is John Oliver, whose unsparing, morally clear, melodically ranting explainers on HBO’s Last Week Tonight focus on the rot around or tangential to Trump, rather than the man himself. Full Frontal’s Samantha Bee similarly works in allusive jokes around issues-driven monologues, as one of the few female hosts and a rare success in the 2010s boom and bust of liberal news comedy shows which evince the struggle to break fresh ground in the Trump era. The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj, The Opposition With Jordan Klepper, Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas, The Jim Jefferies Show and The Break With Michelle Wolf all premiered after January 2015, and have all since been cancelled.
Sharp-toothed political comedy, meanwhile, has shifted to the masses on social media, and in particular TikTok. Political accounts run by Zoomers, which overlay pop music on bespoke factchecking, dances, healthcare advocacy and nihilistic memes, have become “cable news for young people”. Sarah Cooper’s lip-syncing Trump impressions blew up on TikTok and Twitter, leading to a guest-host gig on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. But her Netflix comedy special, Everything’s Fine, slams into the wall of Trump-centric satire and exemplifies the dilemma of traditional comedic forms; absent the fundamental insight of her impressions – that nothing satirizes Trump more than his own words – comedy rooted in the destabilizing chaos of the current moment sprouts starchy, disposable bits, jokes that strain when they should zing.
What, then, can late-night comedy do? The shows do, after all, retain huge audiences, with institutional legitimacy and social media platforms that reach millions. Their guest slots can and have elevated diverse and “radical” perspectives, such as prison abolition advocates and Black Lives Matter activists. In 2020, late-night TV has gained the most cultural cachet when it embraces not redundant Trump jokes but the flexibility of the format – performing the duties television journalists refuse to do, for example, such as Colbert’s grilling the motives of the former Trump adviser John Bolton.
Ironically, it’s perhaps most relevant when it’s serious, self-aware, stripped down. In June, Trevor Noah released a quarantine-filmed video in reaction to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, in which he spoke plainly to white audiences as a person of color, a child of apartheid South Africa who understood state violence. “That unease that you felt watching that Target being looted, try to imagine how it must feel for black Americans when they watch themselves being looted every single day,” he said. “Because that’s fundamentally what’s happening in America: police in America are looting black bodies.”
Noah’s video was shared widely on social media and cited by activist Kimberly Jones in Minneapolis, whose words were then incorporated in an episode of Last Week Tonight. More recently, Colbert has straight-up implored people to vote out the president; “We have two weeks to decide what kind of country this is gonna be,” he said last week, in reaction to news that the administration still had not reunited 545 children, separated from their families at the border, with their parents.
There’s no laughter in such statements, no finding humor as an antidote. Earnestness – anathema to internet humor – is an awkward spot for late-night comedy to find itself in. But it’s cutting through bullshit, the leg work of sorting context and promoting inquiry, where late-night comedy can still find wiggle room, fresh territory with or without Trump. It’s not so much telling jokes as telling it straight – humor as a prerequisite but not the punch.


theguardian--2020-10-29--Fight to Vote: the final countdown to the election begins

Hi there Fight to Vote readers , It ’ s the final countdown to election day , with less than a week to go .
The election is in full swing , so we thought it would be helpful to highlight some of the BIG battles and themes we ’ re looking at next week : • None Voter intimidation : From the president ’ s promise of 50,000 poll watchers to online militia groups getting ready for election day , we ’ re on the watch for any attempts to pressure voters at the polls or incite violence thereafter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal fights raging over ballot counting deadlines , postmarks and other technicalities , we ’ ll be watching for last-minute decisions in state and federal courts that could shape the outcome of the election and leave voters without representation .
• None Historic turnout : As of Wednesday , more than 74 million Americans had voted early , either in person or by mail , surpassing 2016 numbers by more than 19 million , according to the US Elections Project .
Experts are still expecting a huge surge of voters on election day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could get in their way .
• None Calling the results : The Guardian will be working closely with the Associated Press to call election results accurately , but it ’ s likely that politicians ( not least of them Trump ) will try to call elections before all the votes , especially mail-in ballots , are counted .
Be sure to have a few reliable sources at hand next week to find out who wins .
• None Mail-in ballot counts : In an unprecedented year for mail-in ballots , we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were able to distribute and count these ballots in time , and accurately .
This could change how Americans choose to vote in the future , and possibly expand access to some who have a hard time getting to the polls .
But it ’ s also helpful to note that so many of these issues started before 2020 Republicans restricting voting rights access have taken center stage in this election – from the governors limiting the number of mail-in ballot drop boxes to the groups filing lawsuits to limit the number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those efforts didn ’ t start this year .
This week our reporters Sam Levine , Spenser Mestel and Open Secrets ’ Anna Massoglia took a deeper look at three conservative lawyers – J Christian Adams , Hans von Spakovsky and Kris Kobach – who have spent much of their careers making the myth of voter fraud and election insecurity mainstream .
Their work , bankrolled by conservative donors , has helped set the stage for Trump to falsely claim Democrats are rigging the election by making it easier to vote or have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ misinformation and skew statistics in their favor , they ’ ve done a lot of damage .
Things like : We ’ ll be back next week with an analysis of the election results , and a specific focus on the voters who were left out of the political process .
Those are voters like the men at San Quentin state prison in California , who ran a mock election in prison with help from the Guardian and Solitary Watch .
I highly recommend taking some time to read through their experience behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want to vote .
You won ’ t regret it .

Sign up for the Guardian’s Fight to Vote newsletter
Hi there Fight to Vote readers,
It’s the final countdown to election day, with less than a week to go.
The election is in full swing, so we thought it would be helpful to highlight some of the BIG battles and themes we’re looking at next week:
Voter intimidation: From the president’s promise of 50,000 poll watchers to online militia groups getting ready for election day, we’re on the watch for any attempts to pressure voters at the polls or incite violence thereafter.
Court drama: With legal fights raging over ballot counting deadlines, postmarks and other technicalities, we’ll be watching for last-minute decisions in state and federal courts that could shape the outcome of the election and leave voters without representation.
Historic turnout: As of Wednesday, more than 74 million Americans had voted early, either in person or by mail, surpassing 2016 numbers by more than 19 million, according to the US Elections Project. Experts are still expecting a huge surge of voters on election day but long lines and poor election infrastructure could get in their way.
Calling the results: The Guardian will be working closely with the Associated Press to call election results accurately, but it’s likely that politicians (not least of them Trump) will try to call elections before all the votes, especially mail-in ballots, are counted. Be sure to have a few reliable sources at hand next week to find out who wins.
Mail-in ballot counts: In an unprecedented year for mail-in ballots, we’re about to see if election officials were able to distribute and count these ballots in time, and accurately. This could change how Americans choose to vote in the future, and possibly expand access to some who have a hard time getting to the polls.
But it’s also helpful to note that so many of these issues started before 2020
Republicans restricting voting rights access have taken center stage in this election – from the governors limiting the number of mail-in ballot drop boxes to the groups filing lawsuits to limit the number of days votes can be counted.
But those efforts didn’t start this year. This week our reporters Sam Levine, Spenser Mestel and Open Secrets’ Anna Massoglia took a deeper look at three conservative lawyers – J Christian Adams, Hans von Spakovsky and Kris Kobach – who have spent much of their careers making the myth of voter fraud and election insecurity mainstream.
From left: Hans von Spakovsky, J Christian Adams & Kris Kobach. Photograph: Eric Audras/Getty Images/Onoky/Reuters/AP
Their work, bankrolled by conservative donors, has helped set the stage for Trump to falsely claim Democrats are rigging the election by making it easier to vote or have votes counted. And while they peddle misinformation and skew statistics in their favor, they’ve done a lot of damage. Things like:
Suing small rural counties for allegedly bloated voter registration rolls
Helping craft strict voter ID laws that have disenfranchised minority voters
Creating a database of supposed voter fraud cases, with incorrect information
Ready to go?
We’ll be back next week with an analysis of the election results, and a specific focus on the voters who were left out of the political process. Those are voters like the men at San Quentin state prison in California, who ran a mock election in prison with help from the Guardian and Solitary Watch.
I highly recommend taking some time to read through their experience behind bars this year, and why they want to vote. You won’t regret it.
Ballots from San Quentin. Photograph: Solitary Watch


theguardian--2020-10-29--'To me, it's voter suppression': the Republican fight to limit ballot boxes

On the East Side of Youngstown , Ohio , a steady stream of early voters drop off completed absentee ballots into the new drop box outside the Mahoning county board of elections .
Gloria Phifer is one of them .
The 68-year-old retired mail carrier drove about 15 minutes to the former hospital-turned-county office center .
She doesn ’ t mind walking , so she found a parking spot outside , walked up to the entrance and dropped her ballot into the red drop box – the only one in the county .
“ My fellow mail carriers , God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thought it would easier just to bring it down here , ” Phifer said .
“ This is an important election and I wanted to just make sure [ there were ] no problems.
” In response to safety concerns spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and worries about potential mail delays , drop boxes are popping up all over the country – in many places for the first time .
The largely secure voting method has long been available to voters in states like Colorado and Washington .
But amid the partisan battles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials in battleground states are still fighting to limit their usage with only days left until 3 November .
Directives from Ohio secretary of state , Frank LaRose , and Texas governor , Greg Abbott – both Republicans – limit drop boxes to one per county .
In Harris county , Texas , home to Houston , that ’ s one box for 4.7 million people .
For the 228,000 residents in more sparse Mahoning county , a single drop box could result in a lengthy trip to the board of elections .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ million residents of King county in greater Seattle , there are 73 24-hour drop boxes within easy reach of voters .
The ongoing litigation limiting the number of drop boxes has created confusion for voters in the middle of an election in which 46 million people have already voted by mail .
But in many cases , officials are also seeing that voters ’ increased anxiety about the safety of their ballots is matched by their determination .
“ When they see it ’ s so much harder for them to cast their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying , ‘ I ’ ll show you , ’ ” said the Harris county clerk , Chris Hollins .
In July , the Travis county clerk , Dana DeBeauvoir , planned to establish three locations for Austin , Texas , for voters to hand-deliver their completed absentee ballots .
The sprawling city is home to nearly 1 million people , and is one of the most diverse and Democratic-leaning areas in the mostly Republican state .
But on 1 October , Governor Abbott issued his executive order limiting the number of drop-off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stymying DeBeauvoir ’ s plans and others .
In nearby Harris county , officials were preparing 11 drop-off sites locations .
“ We got no prior notice , ” said DeBeauvoir .
“ We were completely surprised by an abrupt order by the governor to cancel the three areas that we had planned and advertised for hand-delivery downtown.
” Ohio ’ s Republican secretary of state , Frank LaRose , issued a similar directive on 12 August .
He said multiple boxes would invite lawsuits , further complicating an already confusing election year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or deliver completed absentee ballots “ to the director ” .
LaRose interprets the law to prohibit drop boxes in places other than county election boards .
The deputy director of the Mahoning county board of elections , Tom McCabe , described the limit as “ the way it should be ” .
“ That ’ s what the law allows , ” he said .
“ That ’ s what the secretary of state interprets , and I think that ’ s a good thing.
” Drop boxes are a new added @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many methods of voting available this year , he said .
But critics argue the directives amount to voter suppression , and in both states , voting rights activists sued to block the orders .
A Texas appeals court on Friday upheld a Travis county state district court order permitting multiple hand delivery locations , but the decision will not yet lead to the reopening of closed drop boxes in Travis and Harris counties .
On the same day , Ohio voting rights advocates dropped their suit when it became clear the issue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day .
On 10 October , a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by the Trump campaign that tried to bar the use of drop boxes in Pennsylvania , stating the campaign did not provide tangible evidence of fraud .
The Trump campaign plans to appeal against the decision .
To drop off an absentee ballot in the box at the Mahoning county board of elections , “ you don ’ t even have to get out of your car ” , McCabe said .
The red mailbox is located outside the entrance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a roundabout .
Voters can drive right up to the box .
Pat Morningstar , who lives in nearby Austintown , drove to the board of elections on 19 October to drop off a bundle of ballots – for her and her husband , two daughters and two grandchildren .
The Ohio secretary of state stipulates voters can submit ballots of “ near relatives ” .
“ I got everybody ’ s , ” she said , “ I told them all , ‘ Do them over the weekend , I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I just did that , so , we voted !
” The process of submitting a completed absentee ballot is not as simple in other states .
In Pennsylvania , election workers will not permit voters to drop off ballots other than their own .
In Texas , even calling the delivery system a “ drop box ” is misleading .
Voters must deliver their completed absentee ballots in person to a drop-off location and show approved identification to a poll worker ; voters can ’ t submit anyone else ’ s ballot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Travis county clerk ’ s office created 16 bays in the parking lot for voters to drive in , pull into a bay , and then go through the hand-delivery process from their cars .
“ It ’ s kinda like Sonic , ” DeBeauvoir said , referencing the drive-in restaurant .
With only about three weeks until election day , Florida election officials tried to create new security requirements for the state ’ s drop boxes .
In 16 October letter , the office of the Florida secretary of state , Laurel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staffed at all times they are in use by an election employee or a sworn law enforcement official .
The last-minute announcement presented an obstacle to counties using surveillance cameras to protect drop boxes .
Florida law simply requires that drop boxes be “ secure ” but does not define the word “ secure ” , said Ronald Lubasky , an attorney representing local election officials .
Election supervisors , therefore , have the discretion to determine the meaning , he argues .
Meanwhile , earlier this month , Thelma Smith , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her 79-year-old husband to submit his ballot at the county ’ s only drop-off site , NRG Stadium in Houston .
Smith ’ s husband is disabled and was unable to join her when she voted early in person .
Smith called Abbott ’ s order “ unbelievable ” .
“ To me , it ’ s voter suppression , ” she said .
“ Almost 5 million people and one drop-off ?
Oh my goodness .
I can ’ t believe he did that.
” In Ohio , Erin Calaway drove her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ board of elections so they could both drop off their absentee ballots .
The box is located in front of the building ; voters must park in the limited lot and walk to the entrance .
Schnayder is disabled and unable to drive .
Regarding the single box , Calaway said , “ I prefer security over quantity , ” though she added , “ it ’ d be nice to have increased access , especially for people with disabilities.
” As election day approaches , local officials are spending more and more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about mail delays , getting the correct ballots and the security of their votes .
In Trumbull county , Massullo said he reassures voters over the phone , but the best comfort he can provide is getting correct ballots to voters on time .
When voter Bill Dray drove to the board of elections , he didn ’ t even feel comfortable putting his ballot in the box – he wanted to hand-deliver it to an election official inside .
Dray ’ s concern about the safety of his ballot isn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fire to a drop box outside the Boston Public Library – though tampering with mail-in votes is very rare .
But Massullo was standing outside when Dray arrived and assured him his ballot would be safe in the box .
Setting aside partisan brawls and the resulting voter anxiety , it ’ s the responsibility of election officials to make sure votes are counted , said Chris Hollins , the county clerk in Harris county , Texas .
“ It ’ s my job to protect the right to vote for every voter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I don ’ t care who you ’ re going to vote for , what color you are , or what language you speak .
Every single voter has that constitutional right .
It should not be a partisan issue .
It ’ s mind blowing to me that folks are still on the other side of the argument – trying to pick and choose who is allowed to vote.
” “ It ’ s frustrating that those who claim to be leaders in a democracy are fighting democracy.
” • @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nick Fiorellini contributed to the reporting

On the East Side of Youngstown, Ohio, a steady stream of early voters drop off completed absentee ballots into the new drop box outside the Mahoning county board of elections.
Gloria Phifer is one of them. The 68-year-old retired mail carrier drove about 15 minutes to the former hospital-turned-county office center. She doesn’t mind walking, so she found a parking spot outside, walked up to the entrance and dropped her ballot into the red drop box – the only one in the county.
“My fellow mail carriers, God bless them and everything, but I thought it would easier just to bring it down here,” Phifer said. “This is an important election and I wanted to just make sure [there were] no problems.”
Sign up for the Guardian’s Fight to Vote newsletter
In response to safety concerns spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and worries about potential mail delays, drop boxes are popping up all over the country – in many places for the first time. The largely secure voting method has long been available to voters in states like Colorado and Washington. But amid the partisan battles over access to the polls, election officials in battleground states are still fighting to limit their usage with only days left until 3 November.
Directives from Ohio secretary of state, Frank LaRose, and Texas governor, Greg Abbott – both Republicans – limit drop boxes to one per county. In Harris county, Texas, home to Houston, that’s one box for 4.7 million people. For the 228,000 residents in more sparse Mahoning county, a single drop box could result in a lengthy trip to the board of elections. In stark contrast, for the 2.3 million residents of King county in greater Seattle, there are 73 24-hour drop boxes within easy reach of voters.
The ongoing litigation limiting the number of drop boxes has created confusion for voters in the middle of an election in which 46 million people have already voted by mail. But in many cases, officials are also seeing that voters’ increased anxiety about the safety of their ballots is matched by their determination.
“When they see it’s so much harder for them to cast their ballot, they react to that by saying, ‘I’ll show you,’” said the Harris county clerk, Chris Hollins.
A woman casts her ballot in Santa Ana, California, on 13 October. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images
Ongoing litigation
In July, the Travis county clerk, Dana DeBeauvoir, planned to establish three locations for Austin, Texas, for voters to hand-deliver their completed absentee ballots. The sprawling city is home to nearly 1 million people, and is one of the most diverse and Democratic-leaning areas in the mostly Republican state.
But on 1 October, Governor Abbott issued his executive order limiting the number of drop-off locations, citing enhanced election security and stymying DeBeauvoir’s plans and others. In nearby Harris county, officials were preparing 11 drop-off sites locations.
“We got no prior notice,” said DeBeauvoir. “We were completely surprised by an abrupt order by the governor to cancel the three areas that we had planned and advertised for hand-delivery downtown.”
Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, issued a similar directive on 12 August. He said multiple boxes would invite lawsuits, further complicating an already confusing election year. State law requires voters to mail or deliver completed absentee ballots “to the director”. LaRose interprets the law to prohibit drop boxes in places other than county election boards.
The deputy director of the Mahoning county board of elections, Tom McCabe, described the limit as “the way it should be”. “That’s what the law allows,” he said. “That’s what the secretary of state interprets, and I think that’s a good thing.”
Drop boxes are a new added convenience, and just one of the many methods of voting available this year, he said. But critics argue the directives amount to voter suppression, and in both states, voting rights activists sued to block the orders.
A Texas appeals court on Friday upheld a Travis county state district court order permitting multiple hand delivery locations, but the decision will not yet lead to the reopening of closed drop boxes in Travis and Harris counties. On the same day, Ohio voting rights advocates dropped their suit when it became clear the issue wouldn’t be decided before election day.
On 10 October, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by the Trump campaign that tried to bar the use of drop boxes in Pennsylvania, stating the campaign did not provide tangible evidence of fraud. The Trump campaign plans to appeal against the decision.
Barbara Cull deposits a ballot in the ballot box at a drive-through drop off location in Austin, Texas, on 1 October. Photograph: Jay Janner/AP
Drop boxes and drive-thrus
To drop off an absentee ballot in the box at the Mahoning county board of elections, “you don’t even have to get out of your car”, McCabe said. The red mailbox is located outside the entrance to the building, in the middle of a roundabout. Voters can drive right up to the box.
Pat Morningstar, who lives in nearby Austintown, drove to the board of elections on 19 October to drop off a bundle of ballots – for her and her husband, two daughters and two grandchildren. The Ohio secretary of state stipulates voters can submit ballots of “near relatives”.
“I got everybody’s,” she said, “I told them all, ‘Do them over the weekend, I’m taking them down Monday morning.’ I just did that, so, we voted!”
The process of submitting a completed absentee ballot is not as simple in other states. In Pennsylvania, election workers will not permit voters to drop off ballots other than their own. In Texas, even calling the delivery system a “drop box” is misleading. Voters must deliver their completed absentee ballots in person to a drop-off location and show approved identification to a poll worker; voters can’t submit anyone else’s ballot.
To streamline the process, the Travis county clerk’s office created 16 bays in the parking lot for voters to drive in, pull into a bay, and then go through the hand-delivery process from their cars. “It’s kinda like Sonic,” DeBeauvoir said, referencing the drive-in restaurant.
With only about three weeks until election day, Florida election officials tried to create new security requirements for the state’s drop boxes. In 16 October letter, the office of the Florida secretary of state, Laurel Lee, announced drop boxes must be staffed at all times they are in use by an election employee or a sworn law enforcement official. The last-minute announcement presented an obstacle to counties using surveillance cameras to protect drop boxes.
Florida law simply requires that drop boxes be “secure” but does not define the word “secure”, said Ronald Lubasky, an attorney representing local election officials. Election supervisors, therefore, have the discretion to determine the meaning, he argues.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Thelma Smith, a 75-year-old resident of Harris county, drove her 79-year-old husband to submit his ballot at the county’s only drop-off site, NRG Stadium in Houston. Smith’s husband is disabled and was unable to join her when she voted early in person.
Smith called Abbott’s order “unbelievable”. “To me, it’s voter suppression,” she said. “Almost 5 million people and one drop-off? Oh my goodness. I can’t believe he did that.”
In Ohio, Erin Calaway drove her friend Anna Schnayder to the Trumbull county board of elections so they could both drop off their absentee ballots. The box is located in front of the building; voters must park in the limited lot and walk to the entrance. Schnayder is disabled and unable to drive.
Regarding the single box, Calaway said, “I prefer security over quantity,” though she added, “it’d be nice to have increased access, especially for people with disabilities.”
Poll workers help a voter put their mail-in ballot in an official Miami-Dade county drive-thru ballot drop box in Miami, Florida, on 18 August. Photograph: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
Box security
As election day approaches, local officials are spending more and more time answering calls from frantic voters anxious about mail delays, getting the correct ballots and the security of their votes.
In Trumbull county, Massullo said he reassures voters over the phone, but the best comfort he can provide is getting correct ballots to voters on time.
When voter Bill Dray drove to the board of elections, he didn’t even feel comfortable putting his ballot in the box – he wanted to hand-deliver it to an election official inside. Dray’s concern about the safety of his ballot isn’t completely unfounded – recently a man set fire to a drop box outside the Boston Public Library – though tampering with mail-in votes is very rare.
But Massullo was standing outside when Dray arrived and assured him his ballot would be safe in the box.
Setting aside partisan brawls and the resulting voter anxiety, it’s the responsibility of election officials to make sure votes are counted, said Chris Hollins, the county clerk in Harris county, Texas.
“It’s my job to protect the right to vote for every voter in Harris county,” he said. “I don’t care who you’re going to vote for, what color you are, or what language you speak. Every single voter has that constitutional right. It should not be a partisan issue. It’s mind blowing to me that folks are still on the other side of the argument – trying to pick and choose who is allowed to vote.”
“It’s frustrating that those who claim to be leaders in a democracy are fighting democracy.”


theguardian--2020-10-30--'You're a crook': barbs-strewn Georgia election debate goes viral – video

Republican senator David Perdue has pulled out of the final debate with his Democratic challenger , Jon Ossoff , after @ @ @ @ @ during a televised debate on Wednesday .
In the debate moderated by WTOC-TV , Ossoff @ @ @ @ @ crook ' , while Perdue accused his rival of profiting off 'communist China ' .
@ @ @ @ @ after Ossoff shared the clip on social media • Sign up for Fight to Vote @ @ @ @ @ newsletter

Republican senator David Perdue has pulled out of the final debate with his Democratic challenger, Jon Ossoff, after the pair exchanged personal attacks during a televised debate on Wednesday.
In the debate moderated by WTOC-TV, Ossoff called the incumbent 'a crook', while Perdue accused his rival of profiting off 'communist China'. The exchange later went viral after Ossoff shared the clip on social media


theguardian--2020-10-30--'Division and discord': Biden says Trump's rallies are 'spreading more than the virus' – video

The Democratic presidential candidate has slammed the president 's campaign rallies , saying they are spreading more than just Covid-19 @ @ @ @ @ nation politically .
'Donald Trump just had a super-spreader event here again , ' Biden @ @ @ @ @ Florida .
'They 're spreading more than just coronavirus .
He 's spreading division and @ @ @ @ @ criticised the Trump camp 's approach to managing the spread of Covid , with the @ @ @ @ @ despite rising case numbers across the country • US election roundup : Biden and Trump @ @ @ @ @ Florida • US election 2020 : confusion after court rules to separate Minnesota ballots that @ @ @ @

The Democratic presidential candidate has slammed the president's campaign rallies, saying they are spreading more than just Covid-19 – they are dividing the nation politically. 'Donald Trump just had a super-spreader event here again,' Biden told supporters in Tampa, Florida. 'They're spreading more than just coronavirus. He's spreading division and discord.' Biden also criticised the Trump camp's approach to managing the spread of Covid, with the president playing down its impact despite rising case numbers across the country


theguardian--2020-10-31--Biden and Trump battle for swing states as election enters final weekend - live

US unions have begun discussing the idea of a general strike if Donald Trump refuses to accept an election result showing a Joe Biden victory .
Such a move would be unprecedented in the modern era .
There has not been a general strike in the United States since 1946 – and that was restricted to Oakland , California .
The local labor federation in Rochester , New York , was the first union group to officially support the idea .
Union federations in Seattle and in western Massachusetts have followed suit , approving resolutions saying a general strike should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election outcome .
Dan Maloney , president of the Rochester-Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation , said his 100,000-member group adopted the resolution to get people discussing the idea – from local unions to the AFL-CIO , the nation ’ s main labor federation which represents more than 12.5 million people .
On 8 October , the Rochester federation voted to support preparing for and holding “ a general strike of all working people , if necessary , to ensure a constitutionally mandated peaceful transition of power as a result of the 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voted to stand “ firmly in opposition to any effort to subvert , distort , misrepresent or disregard the final outcome ” of the election .
The Rochester move spurred discussion and debate of a possible general strike in union after union , even though some labor leaders see it as a drastic , hard-to-pull-off action .
“ The idea has gotten a lot more legs than I ever thought it would , ” Maloney told the Guardian .
“ Our democracy is in jeopardy of a wannabe dictator .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it takes to remove him from office if he attempts to retain power against the will of the American people.
” Maloney said that in a 22 October call with labor leaders , Richard Trumka , the AFL-CIO ’ s president , stressed that until 3 November , unions should overwhelmingly focus on maximizing voter turnout for Biden .
After that , Trumka said , unions can focus on what to do if Trump resists a peaceful transition .
The AFL-CIO ’ s executive council , approved a resolution on 19 October saying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last analysis , protected by judges or lawyers , reporters or publishers .
The survival of democracy depends on the determination of working people to defend it .
And America ’ s labor movement is indeed determined to defend our democratic republic .
”

Maanvi Singh (now), Joanna Walters, Joan E Greve ,Martin Belam and Tom McCarthy (earlier)

31 Oct 2020 04.39 GMT Summary Thanks for following Joanna Walters, Joan E Greve, Martin Belam, Tom McCarthy and I throughout the day. Here’s what’s happened today: The US surpassed 9 million cases of coronavirus. According to Johns Hopkins University, 9,043,957 Americans have been diagnosed with coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. The country hit the grim milestone one day after setting a new single-day record in new cases, amid surges in dozens of states.
According to Johns Hopkins University, 9,043,957 Americans have been diagnosed with coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. The country hit the grim milestone one day after setting a new single-day record in new cases, amid surges in dozens of states. Trump falsely claimed doctors are diagnosing more cases of coronavirus to bolster their paychecks. “Our doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid. You know that, right? I mean, our doctors are very smart people,” Trump said at his rally in Michigan. In reality, health experts say the US death toll likely undercounts how many Americans have died of coronavirus.
“Our doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid. You know that, right? I mean, our doctors are very smart people,” Trump said at his rally in Michigan. In reality, health experts say the US death toll likely undercounts how many Americans have died of coronavirus. Joe Biden and Donald Trump both campaigned in the Midwest, with just four days to go until election day. Trump stopped in Michigan and Biden in Iowa, and they held starkly different in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
with just four days to go until election day. Trump stopped in Michigan and Biden in Iowa, and they held starkly different in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Texas surpassed its total 2016 vote count with early voting. As of today, Texans have already returned a record 9,042,066 ballots, according to the US Elections Project. Kamala Harris campaigned in the state today, ending with a rally in Houston.
As of today, Texans have already returned a record 9,042,066 ballots, according to the US Elections Project. campaigned in the state today, ending with a rally in Houston. Trump criticized the supreme court for upholding an absentee ballot extension in North Carolina. The president said it was “crazy” that the justices ruled to allow North Carolina election officials to count ballots as long as they are postmarked by election day. US election roundup: Trump and Biden swing through battleground states Read more
31 Oct 2020 04.13 GMT Emily Holden Donald Trump’s environment agency “actually seems to have a war on the environment”, has been “utterly untenable”, and has brought about “deeply, deeply troubling times”, according to three administrators appointed under past presidents. Reflecting on Trump’s dozens of attacks on core environmental protections, a fourth put it another way: “[I’m] really god damned pissed off – and that’s being kind.” The former environment administrators, two Republicans and two Democrats, shared their frustrations on a Joe Biden campaign call and in a separate conversation with reporters within the last several weeks. They are: Bill Reilly, from the George HW Bush administration; Christine Todd Whitman, from the George W Bush administration; Carol Browner, from the Bill Clinton administration, and Gina McCarthy, from the Barack Obama administration. They have more than enough evidence to cite – Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reversed rules meant to clean up the air, defend waterways from industrial pollution and fight climate change. Trump has brought the agency to an all-time low, his critics argue. According to a report from the Environmental Protection Network of more than 500 former agency officials, the rollbacks have had “serious and measurable consequences, especially for already overburdened low-income communities and communities of color”. The impacts will include “more respiratory illness and heart disease” that shortens lives; “decreased water quality” for drinking water, fisheries and recreation; “reduced Superfund cleanups,”; and “devastating consequences” from unchecked climate change, the group said. Read more: Trump's environment agency seems to be at war with the environment, say ex-officials Read more
31 Oct 2020 03.51 GMT In Houston, Kamala Harris was joined by rapper Common as well as Tina Knowles, a designer and Beyoncé’s mother. Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to supporters at the University of Houston. Photograph: Mark Mulligan/AP She spoke about the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout – and addressed the Black Lives Matter movement. The Democratic vice-presidential candidate had met with and invited to the rally three relatives of George Floyd – whose killing at the hands of police launched a wave of protests across the country. “Joe Biden says we have got to reform policing,” she said – making a case for her running mate as president. “Joe has the courage to speak the truth about this.” Harris and Biden have complicated career histories when it comes to policing. As a prosecutor, Harris supported increased criminalization of sex work and resisted action in key police abuse cases. Biden sponsored the 1994 Crime Bill, which accelerated racially-biased incarceration. Now, the Democrats have committed to reform, and Biden’s $20bn criminal justice plan seeks to cut down incarceration rates and increase government oversight of police. Harris contrasted their approach with that of Donald Trump, who has taken a tough-on-crime stance and maligned protestors against police brutality.
31 Oct 2020 03.15 GMT The same Russian hackers that were accused of meddling in the 2016 US elections targeted Democratic officials this year, Reuters reports: The group of Russian hackers accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election earlier this year targeted the email accounts of Democratic state parties in California and Indiana, and influential think tanks in Washington and New York, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The attempted intrusions, many of which were internally flagged by Microsoft Corp over the summer, were carried out by a group often nicknamed “Fancy Bear.” The hackers’ activity provides insight into how Russian intelligence is targeting the United States in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election. The targets identified by Reuters, which include the Center for American Progress, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said they had not seen any evidence of successful hacking attempts. Fancy Bear is controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency and was responsible for hacking the email accounts of Hillary Clinton’s staff in the run-up to the 2016 election, according to a Department of Justice indictment filed in 2018. News of the Russian hacking activity follows last month’s announcement by Microsoft that Fancy Bear had attempted to hack more than 200 organizations, many of which the software company said were tied to the 2020 election. Read more here.
31 Oct 2020 02.53 GMT Trump and the rise of white supremacist extremism In May 2017, Demetria Hester was on her way home from work on a train in Portland, Oregon when Jeremy Christian, an avowed white supremacist, boarded and began shouting racist abuse. She says she told him to shut up. When they had got off the train, he threw a bottle that struck her in the face. The next day he killed two men and grievously injured a third. On the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast, Demetria describes to Anushka Asthana how she felt the police responded to the incident that night and how she watched her attacker walk away without being questioned.
Earlier this year, a court in Portland found Jeremy Christian guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder and sentenced to life without parole. But as the Guardian’s Lois Beckett tells Anushka, this is the extreme end of an ideology that has permeated all parts of US society, and that President Trump has repeatedly refused to condenm. As Americans go to the polls next week they must assess the record of a president who has professed to be the “least racist person”. His own Department of Homeland Security describes white supremacists as posing the most persistent and lethal terror threat in the country. US election 2020: Donald Trump and the rise of white supremacist extremism – podcast Read more
31 Oct 2020 02.29 GMT Will Arizona's suburbs abandon the party of Trump? Lauren Gambino The president won narrowly in Maricopa county, Arizona in 2016. Polls show his support is draining – and fellow Republicans are at risk. A sign reads “truth over lies. Biden for president” in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian Over the last four years, Republicans have watched their support collapse in suburbs across the country, as the president’s divisive rhetoric and incendiary behavior alienates women, college graduates and independent voters. But as Trump continues to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, even after more than 225,000 deaths nationwide and as cases continue to climb, his conduct is imperiling not only his own re-election campaign, but his entire party.
Read more in the latest installment of the special Guardian series, Phoenix Rising: 'Voters are fed up': will Arizona's suburbs abandon the party of Trump? Read more
31 Oct 2020 01.50 GMT Unions discussing general strike if Trump refuses to accept Biden victory Steven Greenhouse reports: US unions have begun discussing the idea of a general strike if Donald Trump refuses to accept an election result showing a Joe Biden victory. Such a move would be unprecedented in the modern era. There has not been a general strike in the United States since 1946 – and that was restricted to Oakland, California. The local labor federation in Rochester, New York, was the first union group to officially support the idea. Union federations in Seattle and in western Massachusetts have followed suit, approving resolutions saying a general strike should be considered if Trump seeks to subvert the election outcome. Dan Maloney, president of the Rochester-Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation, said his 100,000-member group adopted the resolution to get people discussing the idea – from local unions to the AFL-CIO, the nation’s main labor federation which represents more than 12.5 million people. On 8 October, the Rochester federation voted to support preparing for and holding “a general strike of all working people, if necessary, to ensure a constitutionally mandated peaceful transition of power as a result of the 2020 presidential elections”. The union leaders voted to stand “firmly in opposition to any effort to subvert, distort, misrepresent or disregard the final outcome” of the election. The Rochester move spurred discussion and debate of a possible general strike in union after union, even though some labor leaders see it as a drastic, hard-to-pull-off action. “The idea has gotten a lot more legs than I ever thought it would,” Maloney told the Guardian. “Our democracy is in jeopardy of a wannabe dictator. It’s time to be counted and do whatever it takes to remove him from office if he attempts to retain power against the will of the American people.” Maloney said that in a 22 October call with labor leaders, Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO’s president, stressed that until 3 November, unions should overwhelmingly focus on maximizing voter turnout for Biden. After that, Trumka said, unions can focus on what to do if Trump resists a peaceful transition. The AFL-CIO’s executive council, approved a resolution on 19 October saying: “Democracies are not, in the last analysis, protected by judges or lawyers, reporters or publishers. The survival of democracy depends on the determination of working people to defend it. And America’s labor movement is indeed determined to defend our democratic republic.” Read more: Unions discussing general strike if Trump refuses to accept Biden victory Read more
Updated at 02.29 GMT
31 Oct 2020 01.24 GMT Guam goes to the polls but votes won’t matter. Guam residents are among the 4 million Americans living in US territories who can’t vote for president. Photograph: Mar-Vic Cagurangan/The Guardian Mar-Vic Cagurangan reports: Politics is a favourite sport on the streets of Hagatna, where voters are preparing for the US elections. Billboards adorn every street corner and conversations are dominated by candidates and their policies. But when Guamanians go to the polls on 3 November and mark down their preference for president, their “votes” won’t count. Despite being American citizens, an anomaly in US law means the residents of the island, which lies in the Pacific Ocean 8,000 miles from Washington, have no say as to who runs their country. They vote for a local legislature, a governor, and a delegate to the US House of Representatives – a delegate who cannot vote – but their choice for president, marked on the same ballot, carries no weight. Guam’s is a straw poll: a non-binding four-yearly exercise that serves merely as an early barometer for how the rest of the nation will vote. Guam residents are among the 4 million disenfranchised Americans living in US territories who can’t vote for president. And being left out of the election stings. “I am deeply unhappy that as a US citizen formerly residing on the mainland, I have to give up my voting rights for president simply by moving to another part of the US,” James Hofman, a corporate lawyer who moved to Guam from California in 2006, told the Guardian. Read more: The US election that doesn't count: Guam goes to the polls but votes won't matter Read more
Updated at 01.45 GMT
31 Oct 2020 01.04 GMT Kamala Harris, meanwhile, is in Texas. Speaking briefly with reporters in Houston, Harris responded to a question about why Biden wasn’t campaigning in the state. “We’re putting a lot of resources into Texas,” she said, according to the press poll report. “We understand that first of all the people of Texas - Texas has so much at stake in this election and they deserve to be heard, they deserve to be engaged by us because we intend to earn every vote.” No Democrat has carried Texas since 1978, but the solidly red state may have caught a purple tinge this year. Still, neither Trump nor Biden have plans to campaign in the state ahead of election day – with the Biden campaign instead dispatching Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, as well as Biden’s wife Jill Biden, and several surrogates and allies. Texas’ early votes so far have exceeded the tolal 8.9m votes cast in 2016 – in part because Democratic activists fought to extend early voting by a week.
Updated at 01.54 GMT
31 Oct 2020 00.41 GMT In Wisconsin, Joe Biden – speaking while wearing a mask – kept focused on the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re going to bring the Republicans and Democrats together” to pass an economic relief bill, he told supporters. “I’m not going to shut down the economy, I’m going to shut down the virus.” It’s a line Biden also tweeted out earlier today, responding to Trump’s attack lines. Joe Biden speaks at a hangar campaign event at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 01.00 GMT
31 Oct 2020 00.32 GMT Donald Trump was uncharacteristically brief – speaking for just over 20 minutes in Rochester, Minnesota. He complained several times that local authorities only allowed 250 people to attend. New record for @realDonaldTrump. 21 minutes, 49 seconds in Rochester, MN. That's officially the shortest in-person campaign rally of his presidency.
Next closest: 37 min, 55 sec in Nashville on March 15, 2017.
Transcript coming faster than normal. https://t.co/4Zy7NReBM2 — Factba.se (@FactbaseFeed) October 30, 2020
31 Oct 2020 00.08 GMT In the New York Times, Ron Suskind interviewed current and former Trump administration officials and aides who worried about what the president would do to keep his grip on power. They “are worried that the president could use the power of the government – the one they all serve or served within – to keep himself in office or to create favorable terms for negotiating his exit”, Suskin writes. They are worried that the president could use the power of the government – the one they all serve or served within – to keep himself in office or to create favorable terms for negotiating his exit from the White House. Like many other experts inside and outside the government, they are also concerned about foreign adversaries using the internet to sow chaos, exacerbate divisions and undermine our democratic process.
... Many of the officials I spoke to came back to one idea: You don’t know Donald Trump like we do. Even though they can’t predict exactly what will happen, their concerns range from the president welcoming, then leveraging, foreign interference in the election, to encouraging havoc that grows into conflagrations that would merit his calling upon US forces. Because he is now surrounded by loyalists, they say, there is no one to try to tell an impulsive man what he should or shouldn’t do. “That guy you saw in the debate,” a second former senior intelligence official told me, after the first debate, when the president offered one of the most astonishing performances of any leader in modern American history – bullying, ridiculing, manic, boasting, fabricating, relentlessly interrupting and talking over his opponent. “That’s really him. Not the myth that’s been created. That’s Trump.” Read more here. Indeed, political strategists, academics journalists are all anxiously awaiting election day, and wondering whether a president who has sown disinformation about voting, and whose political party is working to suppress Americans access to voting will step down easily, if polls and predictions that find his opponent leading come to fruition. Read more opinion and analysis from the Guardian’s Arwa Mahdawi: What is at stake for Donald Trump? It’s certainly not just the election | Arwa Mahdawi Read more
Updated at 00.28 GMT
30 Oct 2020 23.34 GMT Twitter updated its policies around hacked materials, the company announced Friday, lifting restrictions that were placed on the account of the New York Post after it published a controversial story a few weeks ago. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testified remotely during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing with big tech companies on 28 October. Photograph: Getty Images The Guardian’s Kari Paul reports: It is the latest move in an ongoing saga that called into question the moderation policies of social media platforms. Both Twitter and Facebook took measures to limit the spread of an article published by the New York Post on 14 October, which was reported based on documents gleaned from an abandoned computer formerly belonging to Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. “Our policies are living documents,” the company shared in a tweet on Friday. “We’re willing to update and adjust them when we encounter new scenarios or receive important feedback from the public. One such example is the recent change to our Hacked Materials Policy and its impact on accounts like the New York Post.” Twitter’s ban on the story marked the first time the company has directly limited the spread of information from a news site, as it works to address misinformation ahead of the 2020 elections. The blocking of the New York Post story was seen by some Republicans as censorship of conservative speech or a move favoring Biden over his opponent Donald Trump. Twitter’s reversal may have been a response to the Senate hearing on Wednesday, in which CEO Jack Dorsey was excoriated by Republican lawmakers. “Who the hell elected you and put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report and what the American people are allowed to hear?” Cruz asked Dorsey, asserting that Twitter was functioning as “a Democratic super PAC.” The New York Post, whose Twitter account remained silent following the limits placed on it on 14 October, resumed Tweeting on Friday evening. It said it has gained nearly 190,000 followers in the few weeks since it was blocked.
Updated at 00.01 GMT
30 Oct 2020 23.23 GMT Hi there, it’s Maanvi – blogging from the West Coast. Drew Ferguson, a representative of Georgia and the House Republican Chief Deputy Whip has tested positive for Covid-19. He said he took a diagnostic test after experiencing symptoms and is self-quarantining. He and Georgia governor Brian Kemp – who said he has been exposed to the virus – were both at a rally in Manchester on Tuesday, speaking with a largely maskless crowd. Georgia Public Broadcasting captured a photo of the two men shaking hands. pic.twitter.com/jQAJSh3g6j — Drew Ferguson (@RepDrewFerguson) October 30, 2020
Updated at 23.28 GMT
30 Oct 2020 23.08 GMT The campaign trail race continues. I’m handing over to my colleague in California now, Maanvi Singh, who will take you through developments over the next few hours, so stay tuned. Donald Trump is just beginning to speak in Rochester, Minnesota, after complaining mightily on the way in about crowd restrictions because of coronavirus. Joe Biden will be speaking in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shortly, as the two candidates wrap up a busy Friday in the heartland.
30 Oct 2020 22.49 GMT The National Guard Bureau has established a new unit made up mostly of military policemen that could be dispatched to help quell unrest in coming days, after a turbulent summer in which National Guard members were deployed to several cities, the Washington Post reports. National Guard patrols In Philadelphia this week after police killing of Walter Wallace Jr sparks protests. Photograph: Mark Makela/Getty Images The unit, which also could be used to respond to natural disasters and other missions, was formed in September and initially described as a rapid-reaction force. But as one of the most divisive elections in American history closes in, National Guard officials have softened how they characterize the service members, instead referring to them as “regional response units.”
A National Guard official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the new name more accurately details their mission. But the shift away from language used in war also hints at the complicated situation the National Guard could face, as President Trump signals that he might not accept the results of the election if he loses. National Guard members, who are organized within each state and territory and typically commanded by their governor, could be called upon to perform crowd control, safeguard landmarks or enforce curfews, based on roles they already have had this year. Some of them also could be deployed to the nation’s capital, if Trump decides to repeat his plan from June and amass a military force in Washington that teams with federal and local law enforcement. The new response unit, with a total of about 600 members split between Alabama and Arizona, is not large enough to provide a response like the one Washington saw in June. First reported on by the Associated Press this month, it could provide an initial wave of extra support in states where there is unrest or be used in the nation’s capital, where the Trump administration has broader control because of the city’s status as a federal jurisdiction. As we reported earlier today, what military brass are really hoping for is a decisive result. Why the US military would welcome a decisive 2020 election win Read more
Updated at 22.53 GMT
30 Oct 2020 22.38 GMT Political change is afoot in Arizona. Well worth a read this weekend, #ICYMI, is the Guardian’s special Phoenix Rising series this week. My colleagues Lauren Gambino and Maanvi Singh zeroed in on some topical voting trends in the Grand Canyon state to find out whether it will become the graveyard of Trumpism. Here’s Lauren a little earlier, on the late Arizona Republican Senator John McCain’s widow, who recently endorsed Joe Biden, and one of the pieces in the series: Cindy McCain is in so many ways an example of the trends reshaping Arizona politics. https://t.co/7xSALzJbIG https://t.co/PKAV2mZRzM — Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) October 30, 2020