Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[Edge-]

https://www.al.com/news/2020/10/tax-...-spending.html

Tax returns from a charity founded by U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Tuberville show that in 2015 and 2016 about one-third of its spending went to the veterans’ causes the charity was set up to benefit.

The foundation’s tax returns don’t make clear the amount the organization spent on charitable purposes in 2017 and 2018.

The Tuberville campaign sent AL.com documents from the foundation showing it spent money on a program for veterans in 2018 that was not included in the tax return for that year. Including that amount, 50% of the foundation’s expenditures were for charitable purposes in 2018.

Charity watchdog groups generally say at least 65% of expenses should go to the programs for which charities receive their tax-exempt status.

The Tuberville campaign characterized criticism of the foundation as an unfair attack on the candidate’s efforts to help veterans, which Tuberville says were inspired by his father’s service in World War II.

Coach Tuberville seems to have similar problems with his charity that the Trump Family Foundation, which was operating as an unlawful charity, had.

[PhaelixWW]

CNN: C-SPAN political editor Steve Scully suspended after admitting he lied about his Twitter feed being hacked

C-SPAN said Thursday that Steve Scully, the network's senior executive producer and political editor, has been placed on "administrative leave" for lying about being hacked earlier this month.

Scully admitted to "errors in judgement" and apologized in a statement.

And President Trump took a victory lap, proclaiming on Twitter, "I was right again!"

Scully had been selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates to moderate the town hall-style debate that was supposed to take place on Thursday night. It would have been a pinnacle moment for his career. Last week, however, the debate was scrapped after Trump objected to the virtual format imposed by the commission.

While the debate was up in the air, and Trump was criticizing Scully publicly, the C-SPAN veteran sent a tweet to Trump friend-turned-foe Anthony Scaramucci.

"@Scaramucci should I respond to trump," Scully wrote on the evening of October 8, shortly after Trump labeled Scully a "Never Trumper."

When the strange tweet to Scaramucci went viral the following morning, Scully claimed he was hacked. The commission and C-SPAN both vouched for him.

"Steve Scully did not originate the tweet and believes his account has been hacked," C-SPAN said in a statement.

Conservative media outlets expressed skepticism about that claim and pointed out that he had used the hacking excuse in the past. Fox News devoted multiple segments to the subject.

Nearly a week later, on Wednesday night, Scully admitted to C-SPAN and the commission that he did send the tweet.

"For several weeks, I was subjected to relentless criticism on social media and in conservative news outlets regarding my role as moderator for the second presidential debate, including attacks aimed directly at my family," Scully said Thursday in a statement.

Some of the social media commentary was about the fact that Scully briefly interned for former Vice President Joe Biden more than forty years ago, when Biden was a senator. Other commentary was much harsher.

"This culminated on Thursday, October 8," Scully wrote Thursday, "when I heard President Trump go on national television twice and falsely attack me by name. Out of frustration, I sent a brief tweet addressed to Anthony Scaramucci. The next morning when I saw that this tweet had created a new controversy, I falsely claimed that my Twitter account had been hacked. These were both errors in judgement for which I am totally responsible. I apologize."

Scully asked for the forgiveness of C-SPAN and the commission "as I try to move forward in a moment of reflection and disappointment in myself."

Mere minutes after The Associated Press broke the news about Scully's suspension, Trump tweeted, "I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. The Debate was Rigged! He was suspended from @CSPAN indefinitely. The Trump Campaign was not treated fairly by the 'Commission'. Did I show good instincts in being the first to know?"

Trump is still slated to attend the commission's final presidential debate of the season, on October 22, with moderator Kristen Welker of NBC.

C-SPAN, beloved by political junkies for its uninterrupted coverage of Washington events, said Scully "understands that he made a serious mistake. We were very saddened by this news and do not condone his actions."

The network said he has been placed on administrative leave "starting immediately," but also signaled a possible path forward for Scully, one of its best-known hosts.

"During his 30 years at C-SPAN, Steve consistently demonstrated his fairness and professionalism as a journalist," the network said in a statement. "He has built a reservoir of goodwill among those he has interviewed, fellow journalists, our viewers, and with us." That's why, the network said, "after some distance from this episode, we believe in his ability to continue to contribute to C-SPAN."

Scaramucci, for one, struck a forgiving tone in a Twitter post on Thursday afternoon.

"Brutal outcome for a silly non political tweet," he said. "Nothing objectionable. Cancel culture going too far."

[Benggaul]

CNN: C-SPAN political editor Steve Scully suspended after admitting he lied about his Twitter feed being hacked

Yep. Good going, Scully. Giving Trump and his jackass supporters something to create another false narrative around. "OMG they're conspiring against us!" For fuck's sake the performative pearl-clutching is ridiculous.

[PhaelixWW]

Yep. Good going, Scully. Giving Trump and his jackass supporters something to create another false narrative around. "OMG they're conspiring against us!" For fuck's sake the performative pearl-clutching is ridiculous.

I mean, seriously, who thinks "I must have been hacked!" is a believable defense in this kind of situation? He made an impolitic tweet, then compounded the error 100-fold by pretending not to have done it.

Yeah, he should have just fessed up to the tweet originally and said "so what?"

[Felya]

I mean, seriously, who thinks "I must have been hacked!" is a believable defense in this kind of situation? He made an impolitic tweet, then compounded the error 100-fold by pretending not to have done it.

Yeah, he should have just fessed up to the tweet originally and said "so what?"

This happens in sports news on almost a weekly basis...

[pathora44]

CNN: C-SPAN political editor Steve Scully suspended after admitting he lied about his Twitter feed being hacked

WTF is this controversy about before Scully lied about being hacked? He sent a tweet to Scaramucci if he should respond to Trump after Trump personally attacks him, HOW THE FUCK IS THAT CONTROVERSIAL!? Sure he did fuck up by lying about being hacked and he deserves to be suspended for that but where is the original controversy? I know Trump loves fast food burgers but how can the whole Republican party survive on only Nothingburgers?

- - - Updated - - -

This happens in sports news on almost a weekly basis...

Seriously, if I was famous I wouldn't touch Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and just allow my paid professional social media operators to run them.

[Edge-]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...covid-n1243589

I guess spending 7 days in the ICU can change a Chris Christie.

He thinks this covid shit is pretty serious and masks are pretty rad now. Weird that these fucks need to get laid out and suffer before considering accepting science or having human empathy.

[Felya]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...covid-n1243589

I guess spending 7 days in the ICU can change a Chris Christie.

He thinks this covid shit is pretty serious and masks are pretty rad now. Weird that these fucks need to get laid out and suffer before considering accepting science or having human empathy.

Pretty much saying that Trump treated Americans like children, is a solid burn... even if he didn’t call him out by name.

[Ghostpanther]

While the polls clearly show Trump is going to lose the election, this article brought up a interesting point...https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/...-edge-jpmorgan

The 2020 presidential race may be closer than the polls suggest, according to an analysis of voter registration trends by JPMorgan Chase.

Changes in the number of voters registered to each of the major parties have proven to be a significant variable in election outcomes in the past, according to strategists at the New York-based bank, which analyzed trends in some of the battleground states that will be crucial to an electoral college victory.

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Trump by 9.2 points nationally, according to an average of polls compiled by RealClearPolitics, but his lead is at a tighter 4.9 points in hotly contested states.

Four years ago, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also outstripped Trump in national polling and won the popular vote by nearly 3 million, only to lose the electoral college, where she took just 227 votes to Trump’s 304.

This year’s campaign may be won or lost in some of the same battlegrounds as that race, which has made them focal points for politicians, pollsters and observers alike.

In Pennsylvania, for example, a blue-leaning state that Trump won by 44,292 votes in 2016, the Republican Party has since picked up nearly 200,000 voters.

JPMorgan says the gains suggest Trump could win the state by a margin of more than 240,000 in the upcoming election.

Similar progress in battlegrounds Florida and North Carolina suggest Trump may take those states by a larger margin than in his first campaign as well.

I still think it will be a close election. And we may not know for sure who the winner is for several days.

[DingDongKing]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...covid-n1243589

I guess spending 7 days in the ICU can change a Chris Christie.

He thinks this covid shit is pretty serious and masks are pretty rad now. Weird that these fucks need to get laid out and suffer before considering accepting science or having human empathy.

He's basically responding the way you'd have hoped for Trump to react.

[Omega10]

While the polls clearly show Trump is going to lose the election, this article brought up a interesting point...https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/...-edge-jpmorgan

The 2020 presidential race may be closer than the polls suggest, according to an analysis of voter registration trends by JPMorgan Chase.

Changes in the number of voters registered to each of the major parties have proven to be a significant variable in election outcomes in the past, according to strategists at the New York-based bank, which analyzed trends in some of the battleground states that will be crucial to an electoral college victory.

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Trump by 9.2 points nationally, according to an average of polls compiled by RealClearPolitics, but his lead is at a tighter 4.9 points in hotly contested states.

Four years ago, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also outstripped Trump in national polling and won the popular vote by nearly 3 million, only to lose the electoral college, where she took just 227 votes to Trump’s 304.

This year’s campaign may be won or lost in some of the same battlegrounds as that race, which has made them focal points for politicians, pollsters and observers alike.

In Pennsylvania, for example, a blue-leaning state that Trump won by 44,292 votes in 2016, the Republican Party has since picked up nearly 200,000 voters.

JPMorgan says the gains suggest Trump could win the state by a margin of more than 240,000 in the upcoming election.

Similar progress in battlegrounds Florida and North Carolina suggest Trump may take those states by a larger margin than in his first campaign as well.

You have a lot more faith in Biden winning than I do. I am thinking it's about 66% of a Biden win, 33% of a Trump win. I think Biden has a better chance of becoming President than Trump being reelected, but I don't think it is in the bag at all.

[Milchshake]

He's basically responding the way you'd have hoped for Trump to react.

It wont last. Christie has a higher resistance to Good Faith than insulin.

For people with bad memories:
Christie swore he Saw the Light after Hurricane Sandy! His goodwill toward democrats lasted until ... Rupert Murdoch yanked his leash.

[Zaydin]

The White House was warned that Rudy Giuliani was the target of a Russian intelligence operation. Unsurprisingly, the White House apparently tried to bury these reports and may have known about it since December of last year.

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/brooklynmutt/sta...83609421254656

This is all from a SINGLE interview. Trump is fucking insane. But we already knew that. Bonus points for Stuart Varney being Stuart Varney.

[Breccia]

This article gives a list of actions you can/should take, if you feel you're being intimidated by a "poll watcher" or more realistically unofficial Trump thug.

1) If you feel you're in danger, call the police.
2) If you feel intimidated, also call the police, because what they're doing could be illegal.
3) Tell the actual official poll manager on site.
4) You might very well still have time to mail in votes and bypass the issue entirely.

[Paranoid Android]

Fluff questions off the start from Guthrie at NBC. Trump is so stupid he is flubbin it but horrible.

[cubby]

The White House was warned that Rudy Giuliani was the target of a Russian intelligence operation. Unsurprisingly, the White House apparently tried to bury these reports and may have known about it since December of last year.

Biden is going to have to invent a new Department/Cabinet to investigate all of the illegal actions of the Trump Crime Family and his Caporegime's.

[DingDongKing]

Fluff questions off the start from Guthrie at NBC. Trump is so stupid he is flubbin it but horrible.

I actually get palpitations just listening to him talk live. Because it's just frustrating knowing he's out there talking right this very minute.

[cubby]

This article gives a list of actions you can/should take, if you feel you're being intimidated by a "poll watcher" or more realistically unofficial Trump thug.

1) If you feel you're in danger, call the police.
2) If you feel intimidated, also call the police, because what they're doing could be illegal.
3) Tell the actual official poll manager on site.
4) You might very well still have time to mail in votes and bypass the issue entirely.

I'm hoping that the legion of lawyers and volunteers that Biden has assembled will be showing VERY early to the polling places and themselves reporting any intimidation tactics to the police.

[Paranoid Android]

Trump is horrible at this. Lying and blaming Gold Star again.