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“You create your own reality. The truth is malleable,” Roy Cohn tells a young Donald Trump in the new movie “The Apprentice.”

It’s a lesson that the starry-eyed scion from Queens will take all the way to the White House.

The crude patriotism expressed by both Trump and Cohn may be self-serving, but it’s hard not to see it as preferable to the pessimistic inertia dragging this once great city down.

But it could also serve as a warning to anyone trying to make a film about Trump: The reality-distortion field surrounding our 45th president affects his critics no less than his fans.

Man, myth, monster

Trump is one of the most controversial human beings in contemporary history; a populist messiah or rage-fueled fascist, depending on who you ask.

It is almost impossible to portray him in a neutral or sympathetic light, to grapple with the humanity under the accumulated detritus of five decades of public life.

Past attempts, like Showtime’s “The Comey Rule” — a blatant piece of “resistance” propaganda uninterested in any coherent depiction of the Trump administration’s inner workings — don’t bother trying.

As a result, most film and TV versions of Trump barely rise above Alec Baldwin’s crude “Saturday Night Live” caricature, driven by partisan resentment and mesmerized by Trump’s often disagreeable public persona.

Trump in training

“The Apprentice” largely avoids this trap by approaching its subject indirectly. Instead of the fully-formed scourge of democracy, it gives us a portrait of the deal artist as a young man.

Set in the 1970s and 1980s, the film opens on boyish Donald Trump still struggling to break free from his boorish, domineering father and his modest, outer-borough real estate empire.

A company vice president whose duties include going door-to-door collecting overdue rent from disgruntled tenants, the young Trump dreams of turning the family business into something bigger but is hampered by a federal lawsuit alleging racist housing discrimination (a charge the movie suggests is true).

It isn’t until a chance meeting with infamous Joseph McCarthy prosecutor and political fixer Roy Cohn that Trump sees a way out from under his father’s shadow. Taking the aspiring mogul under his wing, Cohn guides him through the early stages of his career by teaching him the three cardinal rules of winning: attack, deny everything, and never admit defeat.

Sympathy for the Donald

Echoing themes from “Citizen Kane” and classic Greek tragedies, “The Apprentice” presents the rise of Trump as a cautionary tale; director Ali Abbasi and writer Gabriel Sherman are smart enough to understand that their protagonist needs a sympathetic core if his hollowing out is to be effective.

Superficially, the movie isn’t shy about its contempt toward the man and his influences. Family patriarch Fred Sr. is unabashedly racist, Cohn drops homophobic slurs and rambles about liberals and socialists stealing from great men, and one of Trump’s opening scenes is him as a landlord threatening to evict Section 8 renters overburdened by medical bills.

Trump himself is depicted as a venal adulterer who goes as far as to rape his wife (as Ivana Trump alleged and later backtracked on in her 1990 divorce deposition). The movie works overtime to earn its bleak conclusion, in which the student callously discards the master.

Surgical strike

“The Apprentice” emphasizes Trump’s ultimate dehumanization and moral degradation in the graphic, close-up shots of scalp-reduction surgery and liposuction (on a patient coyly suggested to be Trump) with which it ends. Evoking both Darth Vader and Dr. Frankenstein’s abomination, this clinical, creepy scene makes the movie’s subtext clear: We’ve just witnessed the creation of a monster.

Trump may be a monster, but he’s also very much a product of his environment. As “The Apprentice” takes care to establish, the New York City of this era is rotting, with even the iconic Chrysler building in foreclosure. The crude patriotism expressed by both Trump and Cohn may be self-serving, but it’s hard not to see it as preferable to the pessimistic inertia dragging this once great city down.

According to Abbasi, his goal was not to portray Trump as “a caricature or a crooked politician or a hero or whatever you might think, but as a human being.” As Politico puts it, he’s an anti-hero. “He’s tragic, not evil.”

High-rise Hamlet

Sebastian Stan brings this tragic note to his portrayal of Trump, especially in scenes with his alcoholic older brother, Freddy (a suitably dissolute Charlie Carrick), summoning a tenderness not often associated with the former president. Stan ably captures his subject’s more peculiar eccentricities, speech patterns, and mannerisms — even if the face of the Winter Soldier occasionally proves distracting.

This is a quality film, to use one of Trump’s favorite descriptors. But its nuance may well have hurt its commercial prospects. Despite being marketed as “the movie Donald Trump doesn’t want you to see” (bolstered by Trump’s threats to sue the filmmakers for “pure malicious defamation”), “The Apprentice” hasn’t done much business after a week in theaters.

Not much of an October surprise after all. But then, maybe it was too much to ask a well-crafted period piece like “The Apprentice” to compete with the riveting drama playing out before us in real time.

Trump isn’t one for dwelling on the past, and neither are those drawn to him, whether out of love or hate. Where’s he’s been has always been far less compelling than what he’ll do next.

​The apprentice, Donald trump, Culture, Ivana trump, Sebastian stan, Gabe sherman, Ali abbasi, Movies, Review, Roy cohn, Trump tower, Movie review, Entertainment 

New York police say a woman was kidnapped, carjacked, and brutally beaten by two assailants before she was able to escape the harrowing ordeal.

‘She’s holding down my head as she’s just repeatedly beating me and telling me I’m going to die tonight.’

Allison Smith told WHAM-TV about the Sept. 13 incident that put her in the hospital.

The 29-year-old says she was cashing out at the Four Guys deli in Rochester when a woman offered to cover her tab and gave her a five dollar bill. Smith only needed 10 cents, so she gave the woman $4.90 back and promised to go to her car to get a dollar. That’s when the woman became visibly upset.

“I said, ‘No problem, I’m going to go across the street and grab it from my car, then I don’t want any issues,'” said Smith.

Instead, the man and woman threatened her with a gun and got into her car. They forced Smith to drive them around the city and even picked up another woman whom they referred to as “wifey.”

Smith said they began to beat her brutally and at one point shoved a broken pipe into her mouth, which bloodied her lips.

“She’s holding down my head as she’s just repeatedly beating me and telling me I’m going to die tonight,” the woman said.

The woman took a chance to save her life and fought back.

“Whoever’s arm is on me, I bite down as hard as I could, and there was a small release,” Smith said. “And then I ducked and just ran.”

She made her way to a convenience store, where someone called police for her.

Rochester Police Captain Greg Bello told WHAM that someone driving Smith’s stolen car led police on a chase the next day before hitting a curb. A group of people rushed out of the car, but police were able to arrest one suspect.

20-year-old Shawntae Hall was arrested and charged with assault, robbery, unlawful imprisonment, and multiple counts of grand larceny but was released and failed to appear in court. Police issued a warrant for her arrest.

Smith’s father told WHAM that his daughter was unrecognizable in the emergency room from the brutal beating she suffered.

“I want to see people protected,” Shane Smith said. “I mean, this could happen to anyone.”‘

The interview with the victim can be viewed on the news video report from WHAM on YouTube.

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FEMA has been claiming that threats from an “armed militia” have forced the agency to relocate workers in the Hurricane Helene disaster zone — but the Vice President of the United Cajun Navy, Brian Trascher, says that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“It turns out it was like the worst militia ever because it was just one guy who went on, and I believe this is the correct story, he went on TikTok, and he was showing videos of federal employees and federal vehicles going around, I guess, near his property,” Trascher tells Glenn Beck of “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“I believe he made a comment that was construed as like, you know, he was not happy about it. Maybe he was going to do something about it. Somehow, that turned into ‘There’s an armed militia,’” he continues. “Fortunately, the North Carolina National Guard came out fairly quickly and said, ‘Hey, look, we talked to our troops, they haven’t seen anything like that.’”

While it appears to be an issue of rumors and miscommunication, Trascher isn’t thrilled with the government response, or trusting of it.

“You know the federal government will tell you, ‘Don’t believe your lying eyes,’ and then their allies in media unfortunately will stand in front of the burning Hindenburg and tell everybody that it was just a mostly peaceful blimp landing,” Trascher says, offering a piece of advice for the feds: “At least try to tell the truth.”

“Well, that’s difficult for a lot of people to do, especially at the higher levels of government,” Glenn responds.

While it turns out that the threat was a bust, Glenn and Trascher both believe Americans should steer clear of threatening government agencies like that one-man “armed militia.”

“We should be skeptical of our government; we shouldn’t be violent against our government, or threaten violence, but we should be skeptical of them,” Glenn says.

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​Upload, Free, Video phone, Sharing, Camera phone, Video, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blaze media, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Fema, Hurricane helene, United cajun navy, Disaster relief 

The entire island country of Cuba was plunged into darkness on Friday after a major power plant failed, the state energy minister confirmed.

Severe power shortages had already forced the communist government to limit electricity use in an attempt to spare the power grid. State workers were sent home and non-essential industry as well as schools were shut down.

‘We went to a restaurant and they had no food because there was no power, now we are also without internet.’

Despite the last-ditch effort by the government, the Antonio Guiteras thermonuclear power plant near Havana failed Friday, though officials did not say what led to the failure.

The blackout has affected about 10 million people in Cuba.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero blamed the worsening energy situation on deteriorating infrastructure and U.S. embargoes that hindered the country’s efforts to obtain spare parts and fuel.

“The complex scenario is caused primarily by the intensification of the economic war and financial and energy persecution of the United States,” said Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council denied the accusation.

“The United States is not to blame for today’s blackout on the island, or the overall energy situation in Cuba,” the spokesperson said.

The blackout is also affecting tourism in Cuba, as shops and nightclubs were ordered to close.

“We went to a restaurant and they had no food because there was no power, now we are also without internet,” said Carlos Roberto Julio, a tourist from Brazil. “In two days, we have already had several problems.”

The power plant was named after Antonio Guiteras y Holmes, a communist revolutionary born in Pennsylvania who died fighting to overthrow the Cuban government in 1935.

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency was mocked and ridiculed on social media after U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted a video meant to promote the agency’s hurricane aid efforts.

The video shows government workers lined up to clear out logs from a residence as a chainsaw can be heard in the background.

‘What the f*** am I watching?… This right here is why government doesn’t work and can’t solve problems.’

“Along with our partners at @FEMA, we will continue with disaster recovery as a result of Hurricane Milton. The safety of the American people is our top priority,” the tweet read.

The video quickly went viral on social media after critics pointed out that having 14 government workers standing around to clear out logs was one of the least efficient ways to get the work done.

“And every single one of these people is drawing a full salary, pension benefits and medical benefits. While getting almost nothing done. Imagine that,” responded author Mike Adams.

“Is it just me or is this an insane waste of resources? Put the @cbp officers on the border to stop #fentynal and hire some folks with chainsaws — what am I missing?!” replied Leland Vittert of NewsNation.

“We can get 14 federal officers to move an 18-inch log, but we can’t get one Secret Service Agent to check out a sloped roof. Sadly, that tracks,” said Virginia Kruta of the Daily Wire.

“What the f*** am I watching? A couple of wheelbarrows, and you could do the same job with three or four guys. This right here is why government doesn’t work and can’t solve problems,” read another tweet.

“The U.S. Customs & Border [Protection] agency in action. This has to be a troll right? How many personnel are standing there moving one log at a time down the line? How many hours did this take? Are you punking us right now,” asked another user.

FEMA and the greater government effort to help hurricane victims has been under much scrutiny, especially on social media. In one instance, a National Guard helicopter flew far too close to private aid efforts and blew tents over, leading to a PR disaster.

Rumors that FEMA is using the hurricane as an excuse to seize land from homeowners led to false reports that armed militia members were “hunting” government workers. Aid efforts were shut down temporarily, and one man was arrested for allegedly making threats.

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On October 16, Kamala Harris made a bold move when she sat down for her very first interview with Fox News. Anchor Bret Baier challenged the Democratic candidate with questions regarding the border, using tax dollars to pay for gender transition surgeries, and what “turning the page” in American history looks like, among other topics.

However, once the curtains closed, Baier went on the air to explain how Harris’ team tried to sabotage the interview before taping even began.

Dave Rubin plays the clip.

“We were given the time of 5 p.m. Eastern Time. … We said we were going to tape as live — in other words, roll the tape and then just turn that around unedited, uninterrupted — but we had to do it before 5:15; otherwise we couldn’t turn the whole machine around before the top of the 6 p.m. show,” Baier explained.

“We were waiting at 4:55 and then 5 and then 5:05 and then 5:10. At 5:17, the vice president walked out, so it did feel a little bit like they were icing the kicker, or trying to,” he continued.

Dave isn’t surprised that Harris “showed up late knowing they had a quick turnaround.”

But that wasn’t all Baier had to say about how Kamala handled the interview. To hear more of his post-interview commentary, watch the clip above.

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Former President Donald Trump has taken the lead in the famed 538 election forecast model for the first time since it began measuring the 2024 presidential election.

‘A slow drip-drip-drip of polls showed the race tightening.’

Trump is now favored to win the election 52% in the model, which runs 1,000 simulations of the election. Harris has a 48% chance to win the election based on the model.

“The change in candidate’s fortunes came after a slow drip-drip-drip of polls showed the race tightening across the northern and Sun Belt battlegrounds,” explained data analyst G. Elliot Morris at the 538 site.

He said that new polling gave Trump a lead in Pennsylvania while lessening Harris’ lead in Michigan and tying up support in Wisconsin. Georgia and Arizona have also gone from toss-ups to being classified as leaning Republican.

Morris went on to caution against reading too much into the trend and said he still classifies the race a toss-up.

“While Trump has undeniably gained some ground over the past couple weeks, a few good polls for Harris could easily put her back in the ‘lead’ tomorrow. Our overall characterization of the race — that it’s a toss-up — remains unchanged.”

Other polling experts such as Harry Enten at CNN have cautioned Democrats that Harris needs to have a large lead in order to feel safe about the election results because Trump often underperforms in polling before an election.

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On Thursday, United States District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected a request from former President Donald Trump’s legal team to delay special counsel Jack Smith’s public release of additional documents pertaining to a federal case against the Republican presidential nominee, claiming he attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

In the defense’s request to delay, Trump’s lawyers stated that releasing the prosecution’s alleged evidence just weeks before the presidential election and amid “early voting creates a concerning appearance of election interference.”

‘Radical Democrats are hell-bent on interfering in the presidential election on behalf of Lyin’ Kamala Harris.’

However, according to Chutkan, withholding the release of documents to the public would have amounted to “election interference.”

“There is undoubtedly a public interest in courts not inserting themselves into elections, or appearing to do so,” Chutkan stated. “But litigation’s incidental effects on politics are not the same as a court’s intentional interference with them. As a result, it is in fact Defendant’s requested relief that risks undermining that public interest: If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute — or appear to be — election interference.”

Hundreds of pages of documents from Smith’s investigation were released on Friday.

A second federal case lodged against Trump was tossed in July by Judge Aileen Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Southern Florida after she concluded with the defense that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was “unlawful” because it circumvented Congress.

Cannon’s decision came just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court found that Trump does have some presidential immunity for actions taken in his official capacity.

Since then, Smith has been desperately grasping at straws to keep the federal election case alive and revive the classified documents case dismissed by Cannon.

Trump’s team has repeatedly called all the cases filed against him — including Smith’s federal prosecutions, the New York criminal case, and the Georgia case — a sham and a witch hunt.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital on Friday, “Radical Democrats are hell-bent on interfering in the presidential election on behalf of Lyin’ Kamala Harris.”

“With just over two weeks until Election Day, President Trump is dominating this race, and crazed liberals throughout the Deep State are freaking out,” Cheung continued. “As mandated by the Supreme Court’s historic decision on presidential Immunity and other vital jurisprudence, this entire case is a sham and a partisan, unconstitutional witch hunt that should be dismissed entirely — as should all of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.”

Much of the material unsealed to the public on Friday was previously released in other forms or already publicly available information, Fox News Digital reported. Most of the alleged evidence compiled by the special counsel remains sealed.

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Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey said on his show that he is voting for former President Donald Trump, and he pre-emptively mocked his critics who might seek to cancel him.

Ramsey is an influential financial counselor who often bases his teachings on his Christian faith. In a segment of “The Ramsey Show” published Wednesday, he told his viewers how he decided whom to vote for.

‘When you have to vilify or destroy a person because you disagree with their idea, you’ve already lost the argument.’

“I’m looking at ideas and which ideas land on each side of the aisle. Where am I most likely to get a tax policy I like, an immigration policy I like, a foreign policy I like? Where am I most likely to get a gun policy I like? A climate change policy I like? A woke policy I like, that I agree with?” said Ramsey.

“Where am I most likely to get that? I can check those boxes very clearly, very quickly on these two candidates. So I’m gonna tell ya, I’m voting for Donald Trump,” he added, “because I’ve checked those boxes and more of them are on that side than on the other side.”

He went on to ridicule people who might try to cancel him over his vote.

“That’s OK, I can deal with that. That’s happened to me for over 30 years. ‘I’m going to cancel you!’ That’s hard to do, I own the show,” he said. “And so you’re not gonna get to cancel me. You can leave but you can’t cancel me.”

Ramsey has criticized the overheated rhetoric in politics previously when he reminded people that the Bible orders them to pray for their leaders.

“Some of you are really too serious about what happens in the White House. If you’d concentrate half as much on what happens in your house, you’d be in a whole lot better shape. That’s really the common denominator of success. It hasn’t got anything to do with those guys up there,” said Ramsey on social media.

“Concentrate on fighting for or against ideas,” he added. “When you have to vilify or destroy a person because you disagree with their idea, you’ve already lost the argument because you’ve lost the high ground. You don’t have to destroy people for your idea to win.”

Ramsey’s comments can be viewed as part of his video on YouTube.

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Radio host Dan Bongino issued a strong statement to fact-check a campaign account for Vice President Kamala Harris after it claimed former President Donald Trump ended an interview early because he was tired.

Bongino, who interviewed Trump on Friday, said the presidential candidate stayed longer than what was originally scheduled and had to leave because of other events that were planned for the day.

“Trump abruptly ends his live interview after it is reported that he is canceling interviews because he is ‘exhausted’: ‘Off the record, I gotta get going,'” Kamala HQ posted on X.

“BULLS**T. He stayed LONGER than planned and signed a baseball and other items for charitable hurricane relief for another 10 mins afterwards. You can shove this absolute bulls**t right up your a**,” Bongino replied.

Harris and her campaign have been pushing the narrative that Trump is “exhausted” from the rigors of the election, citing a report from Politico.

‘I’m not even tired. I’m exhilarated.’

While Trump has backed out or not committed to some interviews and events, he has kept a busy schedule during these last few weeks before Election Day. Through the end of October, Trump has eight events listed in multiple battleground states. In response, Trump’s campaign has pointed out that Harris has done few interviews and solo events since being installed as the Democratic nominee.

“She’s a loser. Today I was at ‘Fox & Friends’ at 7AM. I then went to two different other appearances. I then made about 15 phone calls. I’ve gone 48 days now without a rest. I’m not even tired. I’m exhilarated,” Trump himself has said about the issue, further noting that he attended the Al Smith Dinner this week, while Harris skipped the event.

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​Politics 

An Arkansas pastor has been arrested and is facing 100 counts of crimes related to possessing child porn, according to police. The pastor has reportedly served in numerous roles as a youth pastor and fostered dozens of children.

Arkansas State Police said in a statement that its Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received two cyber tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children regarding a pastor.

‘They were blessed to be foster parents to 76 children in 4 years …’

Special agents with the state police executed a search warrant on Sept. 25.

During the investigation, agents reportedly found evidence that James Vincent Henry, 43, had possession of child pornography. The pastor allegedly obtained or distributed child porn on online messaging apps such as Snapchat and Kik.

Authorities obtained an arrest warrant, and Pike County sheriff’s deputies arrested Henry on Oct. 15.

Henry was charged with 100 counts of possession, viewing, and distribution of child pornography, and he’s being detained at the Pike County Detention Center.

Henry is the pastor of the Crossroads Assembly of God Church in Delight, and his profile was still on the church’s website Friday afternoon.

The site notes that Henry and his wife have been married for 12 years and have three young children.

“They love to serve others and to fellowship,” the profile says of the couple.

The profile indicates that Henry “has had the privilege to serve as youth pastor at Lacey Assembly of God, McGehee First Assembly of God, Mountain Pine First Assembly of God, [and] Newsong Church in Centerton, Arkansas.”

His wife “served in many roles as youth pastor, children church teacher, house mom, and other places she needed to fill in.”

The site states that the couple served as foster parents at the New Beginnings Children’s Home outside Centerton.

According to the church’s site, “They were blessed to be foster parents to 76 children in 4 years and then they moved to the transitional living program for young ladies 18-25 that needed some help getting life skills they need to be successful in life.”

The Facebook page for the Crossroads Assembly of God Church appears to have been set to private or was deleted as of Friday afternoon.

In related news

In June, a former youth pastor at four Texas churches was arrested by U.S. Marshals for alleged child sex crimes. Luke Cunningham faces charges of sexual assault of a child and aggravated sexual assault. Baptist News Global reported, “Prosecutors argued Cunningham is a violent offender who slapped and choked his victims into unconsciousness. They also claimed he is a manipulator and serial groomer who ensured his victims went on mission trips and camps, including out-of-state and international programs that were held in New Mexico and Guatemala.”

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For the first time in four decades, the majority of Americans said they are worse off now than they were four years ago, according to a Gallup poll released Friday.

Over half, 52%, of respondents said they are not better off than they were in 2020, while 39% said they are better off, according to the poll. This is the highest rate of dissatisfaction among Americans since 1992, when 46% said they were not better off than four years prior, while 38% said their situation had improved.

This trend coincides with the economic confidence index, which puts confidence at a 26-point deficit in 2024 compared to a four-point deficit in 2020, according to the poll. The ECI has remained in the negatives over the last four years, while Americans are burdened with inflation and surging prices.

Because of these hardships, the economy has risen to become the top priority for Americans, according to the poll. In January 2020, only 10% of Americans said the economy is the nation’s most pressing issue, compared to nearly half in October 2024.

Because of the country’s economic standing, Americans’ confidence in the job market has reached the lowest point since the pandemic, according to the poll. Nearly three-quarters of Americans said it was a “good time” to find a job in October 2021, compared to just 44% in October 2024.

The economy and immigration are tied at 21% for the most important issue, followed by 17% of respondents who said the government and 14% who said inflation is the most important, according to the poll.

Concerns about the economy, immigration, and the government in general have come to a head under the Biden-Harris administration.

In July, the national debt surpassed $35 trillion for the first time in American history. At the same time, the Biden-Harris administration has signed off on the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, which approved $1.9 trillion and $750 billion in spending, respectively.

The border crisis has also been on voters’ minds. Over the last three and a half years alone, there have been over 8 million migrant encounters on the southern border, according to the latest data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Historical trends suggest that perceptions of personal well-being and economic confidence can significantly impact election outcomes,” Gallup noted. “With a majority of Americans feeling they are not better off than four years ago, economic confidence remaining low, and less than half of Americans saying now is a good time to find a quality job, the economy will be an important consideration at the ballot box this year.”

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“Men for Kamala” is the name of Harris’ latest campaign ad. The title alone is enough to ignite a conflagration of mockery and criticism online, which it has. However, the content of the ad is where it gets really, really bad — so bad that comedian Dave Landau saw it not as Harris’ desperate plea for male support but rather as an opportunity to have some fun.

In the original ad, six men explain why they’re “man enough” to vote for Kamala. These men include a morbidly obese cowboy/farmer, a muscled-up guy in the gym, a bearded biker, a random dude with a horse, another random dude in a leather jacket and sun hat, and finally — by far the best character — a very effeminate man sitting with his legs crossed on a tailgate.

The commercial starts out with three of the men stating their specific reasons for why they should be regarded as men.

“I’m man enough to cook my steak rare,” said the tailgate queen.

“I’m man enough to deadlift 500 and then braid the s*** out of my daughter’s hair,” said the gym bro.

“You think I’m afraid of carburetors? I eat carburetors for breakfast,” said the corpulent man, who seems to have confused carburetors with carbohydrates.

Then the ad transitions into the characters explaining what they’re all not afraid of — supporting women. Several liberal talking points are repeated, including abortion, IVF, and the right to be “a childless cat lady.”

Some of the best snippets from this segment include the lines: “Full-throated endorsement,” “raw-dog a flight,” and “emotional in front of my horse.”

Such an utterly ridiculous skit is a gold mine for a comedian like Dave.

In his “man enough” remake, Dave stars in the role of an effeminate “macho, macho man,” who wears a leather jacket and pants, no shirt, a stick-on mustache, a dog collar, and a beret and says things like, “You had me at full-throated endorsement,” “pound me like a chicken breast,” and other things we can’t put in print.

Check it out above.

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Former President Donald Trump’s campaign released a new ad Friday alongside the Republican National Committee criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for her “broken record” responses during her recent media blitz.

The ad, which is set to run across Trump’s and the RNC’s massive social media accounts, features clips of Harris across several media appearances resorting to the same talking points, sometimes word for word, when she’s pressed about her plans to “turn the page.”

“Kamala Harris is a broken record,” RNC spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Blaze News. “She has no plan to lower costs because her policies increased prices in the first place. Kamalanomics has destroyed our economy, and now, she’s only offering four more years of economic misery. The more interviews she does, the more obvious it becomes.”

The clips show interviewers asking Harris whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago as well as about specific policy proposals she has to make life more affordable for people.

The ad shows Harris subsequently responding with her frequently used “middle-class” talking point on four separate occasions. These excerpts are followed by five more separate instances of Harris admitting that the American dream has become “elusive” and “unattainable,” followed by five more clips of her acknowledging that prices, in particular for groceries, are too high.

“Home ownership for too many people in our country now is elusive, you know?” Harris said in the ad. “Gone is the day of everyone thinking they could actually live the American dream.”

While voters see the American dream in their rearview mirrors, Harris has failed to answer how this could have happened on her watch. As the ad spotlights, even CNN anchor Dana Bash pressed the presidential hopeful on her leadership.

“You have been vice president for three and a half years,” Bash said to Harris. “The steps that you’re talking about now, why haven’t you done them already?”

“Only President Trump will make America wealthy again,” Kelly told Blaze News. “He did it once, and he’ll do it again!”

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​Kamala harris, Donald trump, 2024 presidential election, Rnc, Politics 

Former athletes and activists spoke this week at a United Nations assembly urging the international body to encourage sanctions on men who try to compete in women’s sports.

Olympic silver medalist Sharron Davies and former West Virginia athlete Lainey Armistead were among those who spoke at the Wednesday event in New York City, describing the obvious advantages men have over women in athletics.

‘NO males at all in women’s sport.’

“I’m here today because we’ve all seen what happens when males are allowed to compete on women’s teams. … It’s demoralizing and unfair, and just plain wrong,” Armistead said.

The soccer player explained that while West Virginia has laws that ensure only biological women can compete in women’s sports, she still heard stories at her university about women getting hurt during competitions against men in female athletics.

“In just the last three years, the one male athlete who has been allowed to compete against girls in West Virginia has already displaced nearly 300 girls. And that’s just one athlete.”

Davies was much more blunt in her speech, speaking on the simple biological differences that should be seen as “common sense.”

“Females are at a physical disadvantage,” she said. “This doesn’t mean that we’re worse or better; it just means that we’re biologically different.”

Davies is a former Olympic swimmer who won silver in Moscow in 1980, competing in three Olympics in total. She also won two gold, two silver, and two bronze at the Commonwealth Games between 1978-1990.

“I don’t know a single person that wants to exclude anybody. However, we do want to see women have fair and safe sport. And we cannot wait until a woman is seriously injured or worse still, killed, to be able to deal with the science and the obvious and the common sense,” she added.

Davies has consistently called for sex screening to return to the Olympics, stating explicitly that even in the 1970s it was a simple process.

“A sex screening test takes one minute once in your life only (because humans can’t change biological sex) which is a simple swab to the inside of your cheek. I had one at the Montreal Olympics. Not at all intrusive especially when Olympic athletes have to consent to drug testing,” she wrote on X in July.

“NO males at all in women’s sport,” she urged in September. “Inclusion is now exclusion of females from their own races by males!”

— (@)

Lawyers from the Alliance Defending Freedom — including Kristen Waggoner and Reem Alsalem, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls — joined the athletes.

Both called for the international sports community to ensure women can participate in athletics without being at risk of harm from men.

“Our plea to the world is to learn from the mistakes that have been made — and that are now being corrected — so that your daughters can walk into a future of fair and safe sports,” Waggoner asked.

Alsalem, a longtime advocate in the space, said that the failure to protect the female category has been one of the most egregious forms of discrimination against women.

She added that the essence of being female has been “willfully pushed aside” despite the pain, distress, and humiliation women are facing at the hands of men who want to beat them in their own competitions.

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SWANNANOA, North Carolina — Officials from the U.S. Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said despite widely disseminated accusations on social media, they are and have been performing rescues and providing humanitarian assistance for weeks across Western North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

More than 1,500 troops from the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps are working across the hardest-hit areas delivering food, water, and household supplies, clearing storm debris, and searching for the missing. They joined more than 3,600 National Guard members providing Hurricane Helene relief across multiple states.

The Army expanded its presence at the veteran-run Savage Freedoms Relief Operations center with 100 members of the 101st Airborne. The volunteer center has integrated its operations so well with the Army and National Guard that it received a visit October 16 from Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

Soldiers and airmen from the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st, and the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command fanned out across Western North Carolina delivering humanitarian aid, removing storm debris, working to get water service re-established, and assisting local businesses to clean up from Hurricane Helene’s devastating floods and mudslides.

‘It is a grant, not a loan. I cannot say that enough.’

“So the most important thing for us is getting as many people as we can to as many places as we can, as fast as we can to help the ones in need,” said Staff Sgt. Corey Reese of XVIII Corps public affairs in an interview with Blaze News.

Capt. Steven Cochrane, the North Carolina National Guard liaison officer assigned to Buncombe County surrounding Asheville, said the Guard did planning before the storm made landfall on September 26 and adjusted as Helene kept up its fury.

“We did anticipate some hard-hit areas, but just the amount, of volume, of devastation was unanticipated,” Cochrane said. “However, the National Guard did immediately do the assessments. The day of the storm and the day after, they started to plus-up because it started to look worse and worse as it came through. So the mobilization was quick from my standpoint. We definitely mobilized.“

The National Guard is working with FEMA to distribute thousands of pallets of supplies from massive warehouse complexes across the region. Officials from FEMA said the agency has provided more than $100 million in disaster assistance in North Carolina and brought in 1,400 staff to do search and rescue and process aid applications for those hardest hit by Hurricane Helene.

“We had an incident management team in Raleigh on September 26,” Dan Shulman, a FEMA senior external affairs specialist, told Blaze News. “Since then we’ve been moving more people, more commodities into the state to get to where we are now, which is staff across the state in all of the declared counties working with North Carolinians every day.”

Blaze News visited a FEMA supply chain warehouse stocked with pallets of supplies in Weaverville, North Carolina. National Guard personnel are staffing the warehouse, managing and moving out supplies.

U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, serve hot meals to Hurricane Helene survivors at Green Mountain, North Carolina, Oct. 13, 2024. Photo by Sgt. Nicholas Session/U.S. Army

“We’ve had an ever-increasing number of staff here every single day since September 26,” Shulman said. “The number has only gotten bigger. We’re at around 1,400 as of today.”

According to FEMA’s most recent statistics, more than $102 million has been approved in emergency aid for North Carolina storm victims in 39 counties and tribal members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. That includes nearly $84 million for “serious disaster-related needs like moving expenses, childcare and disaster-related dental, medical or funeral expenses.”

FEMA officials have performed 14,400 home inspections. The agency is providing free temporary hotel stays for more than 2,000 households through transitional sheltering assistance.

One of FEMA’s most pressing tasks has been to counter what Shulman said are rumors published on social media that the agency is seizing volunteer aid deliveries and that financial aid to disaster survivors has to be repaid like a loan.

“Number one, we’re not confiscating commodities,” Shulman said. “Number two, if you register with FEMA, it does not give us the ability to take your home. All of our assistance is grants, not loans. That’s the big one that we believe is keeping people from registering for assistance.”

Shulman urged storm survivors to register for aid by calling (800) 621-3362, using the FEMA website at www.disasterassistance.gov, or visiting one of the six FEMA disaster recovery centers operating in affected North Carolina communities. More centers will open soon.

Survivors who get an aid-denial notice should stay in contact with FEMA, Shulman said. Sometimes a denial requires something as simple as supplying additional information to the agency, he said.

“If you were affected by the disaster, register with us,” Shulman said. “Stay in touch with us and check on your neighbors and make sure they’re doing the same thing.”

‘I feel like what we’re doing out here has spoken for itself immensely.’

The construction of several FEMA staff housing centers has caused wild speculation on social media that there is some nefarious purpose involved. The opening of a FEMA responder village in Candler, North Carolina, west of Asheville resulted in voluminous speculation and media drone overflights to determine what the site is being used for.

The centers are designed to house FEMA staff and contractors so they can move out of hotel rooms to free up space for displaced families, Josh Wert, director of FEMA’s responder support branch, told Blaze News in an interview at the Candler location.

The housing centers have single units for FEMA staff. Each one occupied by an employee will free up a hotel room that can be used by a family, Wert said. Despite rampant rumors on social media, the housing centers are not internment camps or some kind of accommodations for illegal immigrants, he said.

“Our concern with contracting with hotels here is taking away rooms from the survivors,” Wert said. “So we’re trying to stay out of that, but we try to set these up so that everywhere they need to work, they can come back to one of our locations within a 60-minute drive time.”

The responder villages offer lodging, showers, electricity, medical care, food, dining, parking, “just anything someone would need if they had to leave their home and go out and support survivors,” Wert said.

“We had to ensure that there was capable lodging for the responders to come in before they could support the survivors,” he said.

Responder villages are built “so that our staff are not a burden to the community,” Shulman said. “So as people drive by and say, ‘What is this?’ We set this up so that our staff are not taking up hotel rooms from disaster survivors. These are small, single lodging [units]. It’s a small single room that I’ve stayed in so that a family of four can stay in a hotel room.”

A responder housing village was built in Candler, North Carolina, to accommodate FEMA staff and free up area hotel rooms for use by storm survivors.Photo by Steve Baker/Blaze News

Wert said his team has been on the ground in North Carolina for 25 days but began preparing for Hurricane Helene before the storm made landfall in Florida.

“We initially mobilized into the regional office into Florida and into North Carolina,” Wert said. “I had people in downtown Asheville within two days of the storm starting the coordination and communication, trying to find pieces of land like this that we could come in and set up these villages.

“We did have boots on the ground in Asheville early on, working with the state,” he said. “I do know that there are disaster recovery centers up that FEMA is at right now. There are disaster survivor assistance employees out canvassing the local area. So FEMA is here.”

The FEMA and military officials who spoke to Blaze News downplayed recent suggestions that militia groups are causing trouble for government relief efforts. One arrest was made this week regarding threats, but the militia story was debunked quickly.

“Everyone that I’ve encountered has been appreciative of the efforts of people here to help them,” Shulman said. “But those things [stories] were out there, but everyone that I’ve encountered has been appreciative and thankful of the work that people are doing to help them.”

Reese said the stories about alleged militias did not affect the operations of military units.

“The assessment was potential militia activity, and then the one individual got arrested and that got debunked essentially immediately,” Reese said. “We never withdrew. We never withdrew from that county ourselves. Active-duty soldiers never left that county.”

Reese said survivors have been grateful for the help being provided by the U.S. military.

“I feel like what we’re doing out here has spoken for itself immensely,” he said. “Every town we go to, there’s been no negative reception. We haven’t been turned around, asked to leave, anything like that.”

A U.S. Army soldier from the 20th Engineer Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps, saws through debris as part of a route-clearing project at Sweet Dreams North Cove, North Carolina, Oct. 16, 2024. Photo by Sgt. Dominic Acuna/U.S. Army

The XVIII Airborne Corps sent 30 soldiers to help a small business owner clean out mud and silt from his water-damaged building, Reese said.

“Some of these businesses are just one individual who has their entire shop gone,” he said. “And to have 30 soldiers in there clearing out a room instead of one — even an elderly person, one elderly shop owner — and instead of them having to do it all by themselves, we have 30 soldiers going there at one time and the whole shop is cleared out in a day.”

The active-duty military and National Guard have brought in heavy equipment that has been used for rescue operations, debris clearance, water purification, fuel storage, high-water transport, medical missions, and heavy construction.

Bulldozers, excavators, skid steers, and other engineering equipment have been used to clear emergency routes. Chinook helicopters from the National Guard and the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade provide heavy-lift capabilities and high capacity for delivering relief supplies for survivors and farm animals.

Shulman said FEMA plans to stay in the region for the long haul required to help with a full recovery from the hurricane. Even after the search-and-rescue teams move on to other assignments, more public assistance teams will move in.

“We have a housing task force that is specifically focused on identifying those intermediate and long-term housing solutions for North Carolinians,” he said. “They’re experts in this subject, and that’s all they’re focused on.”

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​Politics 

A California man was convicted Tuesday of nine felony counts in connection with the 2021 murder and torture of his girlfriend.

A jury found Saul C. Nava, 24, guilty of first-degree murder, torture, kidnapping, aggravated mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon, inflicting corporal injury to current/former spouse/cohabitant/fiancé, and possession of child pornography.

‘I’m scared. I’m really scared. I’m terrified.’

Senior Deputy District Attorney David Russell stated, “Although this result cannot erase the immeasurable pain the defendant inflicted on the victims and their families, we hope that this brings some measure of closure to see him held accountable for his horrific crimes.”

Officials said Nava tortured his girlfriend for days and murdered her on Christmas Eve. Then he called 911.

Police responded to the call and found a gruesome crime scene at Nava’s studio apartment in Thousand Oaks.

Nava tortured Alisen Takacs-Escobar, 24, for days, she and had injuries over her entire body. She suffered from extensive bruising and the top of her head also showed a large laceration.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said “degrading words” were newly tattooed on the center of her chest.

Police said Nava had used tattoo equipment, baseball bats, a hammer, a belt, and a screwdriver to torture his girlfriend.

Nava’s cellphone was found in the apartment. In the hours leading up to her death, Nava had recorded videos with the phone that showed him “taunting her and displaying no concern for her worsening condition.”

The Ventura County Star reported that there were four videos on Nava’s phone that showed blood streaming across a large portion of Takacs-Escobar’s face.

“Express yourself,” a male voice is heard saying in one of the videos.

Takacs-Escobar replies: “I’m scared. I’m really scared. I’m terrified.”

The male asks, “Is what you did worth it?” She answers no.

Nava was arrested at the apartment.

Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office found that Takacs-Escobar died of blunt force injuries and ruled her death a homicide.

The fatal attack purportedly occurred a few weeks after Nava noticed a phone message between Takacs-Escobar and a former boyfriend.

A police witness described the message as “flirtatious” and had discussed their former sexual relations.

The prosecution said they were not having a sexual relationship at the time.

Nava indicated he was aware that the pair were not having physical contact but said he considered flirting to be cheating.

An ex-girlfriend of Nava’s told authorities he had physically abused her and confined her in a closet when they were teenagers.

At one point in the relationship, the ex-girlfriend said she attempted to flee, but Nava allegedly found her and threatened her with a knife until she got into his vehicle.

The ex-girlfriend got pregnant when she was 17 and said Nava punched her in the stomach and forced her to get an abortion. She said Nava punched her in the face, choked her, and secretly filmed their sex life.

Sophia Nuno, a high school friend of Takacs-Escobar, testified that her friend “was super friendly, bubbly, happy and outgoing” before she started dating Nava and that her behavior changed after she started dating him.

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Kamala Harris’ campaign has created an “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men,” and it’s even more ridiculous than it sounds.

The list included supporting education training and mentorship programs that lead to good-paying jobs for black men, including pathways to become teachers, protecting cryptocurrency investments so black men who make them know their money is safe, and launching a national health initiative focused on the illnesses that disproportionately impact black men.

Also on her list of wild ideas is providing 1 million loans that are fully forgivable up to $20,000 for black entrepreneurs and others to start a business — and legalizing recreational marijuana.

Glenn Beck of “The Glenn Beck Program” is focused on the most ridiculous part of the list.

“If I even said that as a joke, I’d be off the air. ‘You want to buy their vote, you want to buy black men’s vote, give them free weed,’” Glenn tells Stu Burguiere, asking, “Isn’t it kind of racist to say that black people like drugs?”

“It sounds like a David Duke campaign proposal,” Stu jokes.

“Now white women, you get Ugg boots and Starbucks gift certificates. Venezuelans, we already gave them free apartment buildings in Colorado,” Glenn says.

“Well, they worked for those,” Stu adds.

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Comedian Jim Gaffigan emceed the charity Al Smith Dinner, and many on the left were outraged that he took swipes at Democrats while “normalizing” former President Donald Trump.

‘F*** everyone who normalizes that demented fascist rapist. What an obscene event.’

Gaffigan mocked Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for skipping the dinner and referred to her as a “mediocre vice president” during his speech. While he also took aim at Trump and others in attendance, many viewers were outraged that he would even sit at a dinner with the former president.

“Holy f*** Jim Gaffigan was embarrassingly bad tonight. Oh and he helped legitimize a f***ing fascist. So, you know, f*** all of that,” responded actor Jeff Locker.

“You stood and applauded a convicted felon and rapist who oversaw an attack on the Capitol in order to maintain power? For shame, Jim. For shame,” replied another detractor.

“Jim Gaffigan is now in the same s***pile with hair tousling Jimmy Fallon to me. F*** everyone who normalizes that demented fascist rapist. What an obscene event,” said an account identifying as a feminist.

“F*** Jim Gaffigan for hosting this s***!” read another tweet.

“I was a big Jim Gaffigan fan. All he did yesterday was prove being Catholic is more important to him than standing up for what’s right. Sitting in that room with that piece of s*** and tucking it up with him? F*** that noise,” read another response.

“Well, I never thought I’d say F Jim Gaffigan, but here we are,” said another critic.

Gaffigan especially ridiculed the event for catering to the powerful and wealthy elites of New York City. The dinner is named after Al Smith, the governor of New York from 1923 until 1929 and the first Catholic to run in a major political party in 1928.

Video of Gaffigan’s comments can be viewed on YouTube.

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​Libs hate jim gaffigan, Jim gaffigan alfred smith, Alfred smith dinner, Libs vs jim gaffigan, Politics 

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr. put out a new campaign ad Friday distancing himself from President Joe Biden, aligning himself with President Donald Trump, and altogether omitting any mention of Kamala Harris.

While Casey, the son of former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr., might simply be attempting to draw moderate and independent supporters away from Trump-backed challenger David McCormick — the combat veteran MSNBC talking head Chuck Todd recently predicted would win — keen observers have suggested the ad is a telltale sign that Democrats know Pennsylvania is going for Trump.

The ad features a couple who “just don’t agree” on politics but found their way to agreeing that Casey is worth their time.

The woman textually introduced as Marygrace of Old Forge claims that Casey is an “independent” who is “leading the effort to stop corporate greedflation and price gouging.”

‘You only run this ad if you think Trump is winning PA!’

Marygrace notes further that “Casey bucked Biden to protect fracking and he sided with Trump to end NAFTA and put tariffs on China to stop them from cheating.”

Of course, Casey is anything but independent, voting in lockstep with his Democratic peers to unsuccessfully impeach Trump on multiple occasions; to protect sanctuary cities and the illegal aliens therein; to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act; against ending the national COVID-19 emergency; for greater gun control; and against the completion of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Although he now complains about inflation, he previously joined his fellow Democrats in voting for Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

While Casey is seeking to distance himself from Biden, Casey had — as of last year — voted with the president 98.5% of the time while in the Senate.

The “independent” claim might be a stumbling block for Americans who know Casey, but the ad’s suggestion that Casey is aligned with Trump is all the more puzzling — especially in light of the Republican’s characterization by the Harris campaign and Democratic boosters as dangerous and unstable. Unless, of course, Democrats’ internal polling indicates that the situation on the ground is far worse than has been publicly admitted.

According to Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight polling, Trump and Harris are nearly tied in the Keystone State, Trump with 47.7% and Harris with 47.9%.

The Telegraph’s latest Redfield and Wilton Strategies polls shows the two candidates are tied at 48% a piece.

The Wall Street Journal noted last Friday that Trump actually had a narrow edge in Pennsylvania and that independent voters remain evenly divided.

Across several swing states, including Pennsylvania, the Journal noted that the top two issues of concern were the economy and immigration, in that order. Trump leads Harris by 10% on the first and by 16% on the second.

Mike Berg, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote, “Quite a tell. Bob Casey is now promoting DJT in his ads.”

“Leftist Pennsylvania Senator @Bob_Casey is currently running a TV ad trying to tie himself to Trump,” tweeted Donald Trump Jr. “Notice that he’s not running any ads tying himself to Kamala Harris or mentioning that he votes with her 100% of the time. You only run this ad if you think Trump is winning PA!”

Tim Murtaugh, the director of communications for Trump’s 2020 campaign, noted, “Bob Casey thinks Donald Trump is going to win Pennsylvania. That’s the only way to explain Casey’s new ad, which ALIGNS HIM WITH TRUMP. He bucks Biden by name, and does not mention Kamala Harris at all. An endangered Dem is RUNNING AWAY FROM HARRIS AND WITH TRUMP. Just huge.”

The Trump campaign resisted Casey’s desperate association with the president, writing, “Leftist scumbag Bob Casey — who supported BOTH impeachment hoaxes and votes with Kamala 100% of the time — is now desperately trying to embrace President Trump. Pennsylvanians know he’s a shill for Kamala’s deranged, radical left agenda — and always will be.”

Trump was the first Republican to win the state since 1988 and is said to have lost it in 2020 by 80,000 votes. The BBC highlighted that no Democrat has won the White House without taking the Keystone State since 1948.

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​Bob casey jr., Bob casey, Casey, Pennsylvania, Election, Polls, Ad, President donald trump, Trump, Kamala harris, David mccormick, Politics