Backlash builds against Bezos as non-endorsement sparks huge surge in cancellations
I agree with Jeff Bezos on one thing: Nobody trusts the media anymore. But killing the Washington Post’s Kamala Harris endorsement days before the election was a colossal blunder, a giant stink bomb tossed into the campaign. And the damage just keeps escalating. LIBERAL PAPER’S NEWSROOM IN UPROAR OVER OWNER BEZOS’ ‘TONE-DEAF’ OP-ED, STAFFER SAYS One-third of his editorial board, including some prominent journalists, have resigned from those positions. NPR says 250,000 people have canceled their subscriptions, 10 percent of its 2.5 million paid subscribers. He couldn’t have wounded the Post’s reputation more if he had set the Washington headquarters afire. Nice work, sir. Sure, national newspaper endorsements don’t matter much these days. If Bezos had announced the no-endorsement policy six months ago, nobody would have cared. And in his first defense, an opinion column posted on the paper’s website, the billionaire admits as much. “I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it,” he writes, chalking it up to “inadequate planning” on his part. I’ve been saying this for days. Not having enough Amazon van drivers is inadequate planning. This was a fiasco. RACIST TALK AT RALLY MARS TRUMP’S MESSAGE, BUT HE SCORES ON JOE ROGAN PODCAST The reason he did this is clear to me: fear of Donald Trump. The two men have had a testy relationship. Bezos figures Trump has a good shot at winning and history of bearing grudges, even labeling opponents “the enemy within,” a phrase he defended in his Trump Tower interview with me. Why antagonize the guy further? Killing the Harris endorsement is a win for Trump. Amazon and the Blue Origin rocket company do a lot of business with the federal government. Bezos even sued the Trump administration for denying a contract he felt he should have had. So this is sort of a peace offering. But at what price? The surge in subscription cancelations reflect a deep feeling among readers that the paper betrayed them. It’s very hard to earn that back. Former Post editor Marty Baron, who covered the Trump administration, has accused his old paper of “spinelessness” and was on TV yesterday, saying such actions destroy trust. Top columnists are taking on the boss in published pieces, which the newsroom, to its credit, has also covered aggressively. It’s a similar situation at the Los Angeles Times, where biotech mogul Patrick Soon-Shiong killed a Harris editorial and adopted a no-endorsement stance. Three top opinion editors quit the paper outright. In that case, his daughter was involved and spoke of the U.S. backing “genocide,” meaning in Gaza. USA Today has now jumped on the no-endorsement bandwagon. But there’s far more interest in the Post, where I worked for three decades, because of the Bezos factor and its inside-the-Beltway status. Even Woodward and Bernstein have spoken out against the move. MAYOR ADAMS SCOLDS MEDIA FOR ASKING ABOUT HEINOUS TRUMP COMPARISONS Bezos and his billions actually deserve credit for saving the Post since buying it 11 years ago. He poured money into his new acquisition, trying to improve its digital side, and didn’t meddle with the newsroom. I don’t care if these and other papers endorse or not. As the owner, Bezos has the right to set editorial policy. It’s just the bungling that has caused this incredible backlash. Look, for the past two years, the Post’s left-leaning editorial pages have told us what they think on every issue under the sun, mostly with anti-Trump attacks. Then, with the election approaching, the owner has a fainting spell and says oh no, we couldn’t possibly tell you what we think about this – the most important decision a newspaper has to make every year, short of opining on war and peace. Heavens, no. Bezos had no problem with the Post endorsing Democrats in 2016 and 2020. Only now does he pull the plug on that. And if backing a White House contender is such an outrage, why does the paper continue to make endorsements in state and local races? There’s one other thing on which I agree with Bezos. While newspaper editorial pages are focused on racial and gender diversity, they lack ideological diversity. Bezos wants more conservative voices. That’s why he brought in Will Lewis, a Brit who previously worked at the Wall Street Journal. But when Lewis was under scrutiny in the old British hacking scandal, he clashed with then-Post editor Sally Buzbee, who said of course we have to cover that controversy. She soon resigned rather than accept a demotion. Intentionally or otherwise, Bezos has set the Post back 10 years. What I mean is that a decade from now, people will still be talking about this. But all these subscription cancellations are hurting the paper that they profess to care about, undermining the journalists who work there, especially since the staff was decimated by a recent round of layoffs and buyouts. What many are saying is that if your beef is with Bezos, why not cancel Amazon Prime instead?
Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024: BJP to fight 148 seats, Congress 103; nominations end but still no clarity on…
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has fielded candidates on 80 seats, while Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s NCP has nominated 53 contestants for the November 20 polls to the 288-member state assembly.
Republicans react to Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments as Trump-Harris 2024 election nears
President Joe Biden threw what appeared to be a final shot across the bow of the Trump campaign just one week before the election, referring to Trump voters as “garbage.” It’s similar to right before the 2016 election when Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters “deplorables.” Just like eight years ago, Republicans have once again circled the wagons and are using the “garbage” verbiage to offset Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid to become president. BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT AS VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY Here’s what happened. During a virtual Harris campaign call with Voto Latino, one of the largest Latino voter and civic outreach organizations in the U.S., Biden was asked about comedian Tony Hinchcliffe who, during a Trump rally on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said of Trump on Tuesday. “[Trump’s] demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it is un-American.” Republicans came out in droves to condemn the president’s remarks. “Add this to the “basket of deplorables” and “nazi” slurs against Americans. Why to so many Democrat leaders hate so many of our fellow Americans?” Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt said. “Garbage? What they say about us actually says more about them. What are we going to do about it? Get to WORK. Elect @realDonaldTrump. Elect Republicans. Call our friends and neighbors to VOTE!,” South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said. TRUMP CALLS FOR SUPPORTERS TO ‘FORGIVE’ BIDEN IN SHOW OF UNITY AFTER PRESIDENT CALLS SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ “As a Republican member of Congress, I’ve met with many of my constituents who are Democrats, Libertarians, NPA, and Independents. I would NEVER call them garbage. What are you doing @POTUS?” Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna tweeted. “Holy s***. The media spent all week crying about a joke from a comedian. Meanwhile, Tim Walz called Trump supporters Nazis. Kamala Harris refused to condemn it. And now Kamala’s biggest Democrat ally, Joe Biden, is calling all Trump supporters “garbage.” Absolutely disgusting!!!” Donald Trump Jr. wrote. “Tonight, the sitting Democratic President of the United States just called Trump supporters “garbage.” After two failed assassination attempts against Trump followed by the DNC state run media lecturing republicans to “tone down the rhetoric,”” Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt said. “A mother mourning her son who died of a fentanyl overdose is not garbage. A truck driver who can’t afford rising diesel prices is not garbage. A father who wants to afford groceries is not garbage. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden ought to be ashamed of themselves,” wrote vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance. LIVE UPDATES: BIDEN ATTEMPTS TO DENY CALLING TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DESPITE VIDEO “Obama called us clingers. Hillary called us deplorables. Kamala calls us fascists. And Biden just called us garbage. They don’t respect us & don’t want unity. But we do. We want to Make America Great Again. Our coalition is for ALL AMERICANS,” Florida Rep. Byron Donalds tweeted. The Harris campaign has yet to respond to Biden’s “garbage” remarks. Just before the presidential election in 2016, then Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton referred to Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables.” Though she was leading at the time, Trump eventually won the election. Early voting has begun around the nation, and Election Day is Nov. 5. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Delhi pollution: Air quality mildly improves ahead of Diwali, AQI remains ‘poor’ category
The CPCB recorded AQI of 302 at Anand Vihar, 193 at Chandni Chowk, 280 at ITO, 273 at IGI Airport, 321 at Wazipur, 239 at Lodhi Road and 312 at Narela.
Kerala CPI(M) leader Divya arrested in ADM suicide case after bail plea rejected
A large number of Congress and BJP workers gathered at the locations where Divya was taken as part of the remand proceedings, shouting slogans against her and waving black flags.
White House seeks to play clean up after Biden calls Trump supporters ‘garbage’
The White House attempted to walk back President Biden’s comments after the president unleashed a firestorm after calling Trump supporters “garbage.” During a virtual Vice President Kamla Harris campaign call with Voto Latino, Biden took a swipe at former President Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden, which made headlines after insult comedian Tony Hinchiffe made jokes mocking different ethnic groups, with one joke referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said. “[Trump’s] demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it is un-American.” His remarks were quickly likened to Hillary Clinton’s labeling of half of Trump supporters as belonging in “a basket of deplorables” in 2016, a comment that was widely seen as undermining her campaign. TRUMP CALLS FOR SUPPORTS TO ‘FORGIVE’ BIDEN IN SHOW OF UNITY AFTER PRESIDENT CALLS SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich that President Biden “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’” “The president was referencing a joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe in which he likened Puerto Rico to an island of floating ‘garbage’ in the middle of the ocean,” he said. BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT AS VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY The White House earlier told NBC News that the president was referring to Hinchcliffe. WATCH: Later, Biden tried to further clarify his comments, saying that he was denouncing Hinchicliffe’s comments – not Trump supporters. “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” Biden wrote in a post on X. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.” Speaking at a campaign event with Trump on Tuesday in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) picked up Biden’s remark as “breaking news” and told Trump supporters that Biden had marginalized a huge number of everyday Americans as “garbage.” Trump Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Biden and Harris “despise the tens of millions” who support him. LIVE UPDATES: BIDEN ATTEMPTS TO DENY CALLING TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DESPITE VIDEO “There’s no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don’t just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him,” she wrote in a release. Backlash from the comments came from both sides of the aisle, with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro condemning Biden’s remarks. “I’m giving you my fresh reaction to it,” he told Fox News Radio Political Analyst Josh Kraushaar on Tuesday. “I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn’t support.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. Fox News Digital’s Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Trump calls for supporters to ‘forgive’ Biden in show of unity after president calls supporters ‘garbage’
President Trump called on a crowd of supporters to “forgive” President Biden after he compared the former president’s supporters to garbage. “Wow. That’s terrible,” Trump said, invoking Hillary Clinton’s infamous “deplorable” remarks in the weeks before the 2016 election. “And then she said irredeemable. That didn’t work out.” The Republican nominee called on his supporters to forgive him during a packed rally at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “Garbage, I think, is worse,” he said. “But he doesn’t know. You have to please forgive him.” BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT AS VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY Trump said that Biden “really doesn’t know” what he said. JON STEWART ADMITS HE FINDS WIDELY CRITICIZED TRUMP RALLY COMEDIAN FUNNY “Please forgive him for not knowing what he said,” Trump said. “These people are terrible, terrible, terrible to say a thing like that. But he really doesn’t know. He really honestly, he doesn’t. And I’m convinced that he likes me more than he likes Kamala. But that’s a terrible thing.” WATCH: Trump’s call for unity – and forgiveness – came after the president called Trump supporters’ garbage during a get-out-the-vote call for Voto Latino. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said. “His, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.” LIVE UPDATES: BIDEN ATTEMPTS TO DENY CALLING TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DESPITE VIDEO Biden’s comments came after Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. “And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico ‘a floating island of garbage.’ Well, let me tell you something,” Biden said. “I don’t know the Puerto Rican that I know… or Puerto Rico where I’m – in my home state of Delaware – they’re good, decent, honorable people.” Biden’s remarks came just as Vice President Kamala Harris was set to take the stage for a major rally in Washington, DC. “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” Biden posted on X later that evening after his comments drew swift backlash. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say,” he said. “The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich that President Biden “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’” “The president was referencing a joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe in which he likened Puerto Rico to an island of floating “garbage” in the middle of the ocean,” Bates said. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024: CM Eknath Shinde’s wealth triples in five years
CM Eknath Shinde’s total assets has gone up from 11.56 crore in 2019 to Rs 37.68 crore in 2023-2024, however, his financial declaration reveals a negative shift in his income.
New York Republican in toss-up district gains momentum in key race to determine House control
An incumbent Republican congressman from New York now holds a surprising lead over his progressive opponent, according to a new poll. The poll, which was conducted by PIX11, The Hill and Emerson College, found that Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., holds a 49%-44% lead over former Democratic U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones. The two are running in New York’s 17th congressional district, and the poll comes a week before the Nov. 5 election. The survey, which was published on Tuesday, was conducted Oct. 24 through Oct. 26 and has a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points. According to Emerson College, the data was collected via cell phone surveys. Lawler gained a four-point increase in support, based on an earlier poll conducted by Emerson College. The other survey, conducted Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, found that Lawler had 45% of voters’ support and put Jones at 44%. BATTLEGROUND STATE OFFICIALS SAY FOREIGN ENEMIES USING MISINFORMATION TO ‘UNDERMINE’ DEMOCRATIC PROCESS The poll also found that 52% of voters have a favorable view of Lawler, compared to 44% of voters having a favorable view of Jones. The district still leans blue in presidential election polls, and the survey found that half of voters support President Kamala Harris and 47% support former President Donald Trump. “The top issue for voters in the 17th district is the economy, at 30%, followed by immigration (20%), housing affordability (15%), crime (11%), and threats to democracy (10%),” the findings read. “Half (50%) of voters in the 17th district say they are worse off financially today than a year ago, while 32% say they are doing about the same, and 18% are better off.” TRUMP MERCHANDISE OUTSELLS PRO-HARRIS MERCH BY STRIKING MARGIN, AS ELECTION DAY DRAWS NEAR Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said that the recent findings highlight a significant gender divide between voters. “There is a stark gender divide in the 17th district, with men breaking for Lawler by 27 points, and women breaking by 16 for Jones, while men are more divided in the 18th district: 47% support Esposito and 46% support Ryan,” Kimball explained. “Women break for Ryan by 20 points.” Earlier this month, Lawler was accused of dressing in blackface when photos of him dressed as Michael Jackson in October 2006 emerged. Lawler, a student at the time, said that his costume was intended to be complimentary and apologized for causing offense. Fox News Digital reached out to the Lawler and Jones campaigns for comments.
Colorado Secretary of State site ‘improperly’ displayed partial passwords for voting systems
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office mistakenly posted a spreadsheet to its website with a hidden tab that included voting system passwords on Wednesday. The Colorado Department of State issued a statement and acknowledged it was aware of the situation. “The Colorado Department of State is aware that a spreadsheet located on the Department’s website improperly included a hidden tab including partial passwords to certain components of Colorado voting systems. This does not pose an immediate security threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted,” the statement read. The Colorado Secretary of State spokesperson told FOX31 that the partial passwords leaked do “not pose an immediate threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted.” EARLY IN-PERSON VOTING BEGINS IN DC, COLORADO The state office said that Colorado elections include many layers of security and include two unique passwords for every election equipment component, which are kept in separate places and held by different parties. “It goes without saying how significant this is,” the Colorado GOP wrote to the Secretary of State’s Office. “We can only imagine that, since the discovery last week, you and your staff have been working tirelessly to remedy these vulnerabilities.” The state office added that passwords can only be used with physical in-person access to a voting system. “Under Colorado law, voting equipment must be stored in secure rooms that require a secure ID badge to access. That ID badge creates an access log that tracks who enters a secure area and when,” the state office said. According to the state office, there is also 24/7 video camera recording on all election equipment. MILLIONS OF VOTERS HAVE ALREADY CAST BALLOTS FOR NOV. 5 ELECTION “Clerks are required to maintain restricted access to secure ballot areas, and may only share access information with background-checked individuals. No person may be present in a secure area unless they are authorized to do so or are supervised by an authorized and background-checked employee,” the office explained. The state office added that there is also a strict chain of custody requirements that track when a voting systems component has been accessed and by whom, stating it is a felony to access voting equipment without authorization. Every Colorado voter votes on a paper ballot, which is then audited during the Risk Limiting Audit to verify that ballots were counted according to voter intent, the state office said. NEWS ANCHOR DROPPED AFTER SOCIAL MEDIA POST TELLING TRUMP-HATERS SUPPORTING HARRIS: ‘STAY HOME, DON’T VOTE’ Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams called the possible exposure of the election system’s passwords “shocking.” “We hear all the time in Colorado from Secretary Griswold and Governor Polis that we represent the ‘Gold Standard’ for election integrity, a model for the nation,” Dave Williams, Chairman of the Republican Party of Colorado said in a statement to FOX31. “One can only hope that by the Secretary of State posting our most sensitive passwords online to the world dispels that myth.” The Colorado Republicans also asked for confirmation or a plan regarding how the “exposed systems” will or still meet the certification requirements of a “trusted build,” noting that a breach by a party with BIOS access may be difficult or impossible to identify. “The Department took immediate action as soon as it was aware of this, and informed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which closely monitors and protects the county’s essential security infrastructure. The Department is working to remedy this situation where necessary,” the state office said. Fox News Digital reached out to the Colorado Secretary of State and Colorado GOP for comment but did not immediately receive a response.