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Good morning and Happy Thursday! Trump has sunk to bribing voters with $5,000 if Republicans hold the House and Senate.
We’ll get into that, plus:
All the other insane things happening at Republicans’ “midterm convention” — including an appearance by John Fetterman
Ken Paxton's new AI ad puts fake Bible verses in a fake James Talarico's mouth
Trump's DOJ is ghosting European investigators on Epstein
And: Ted Cruz offered a bonkers defense of Trump’s bizarre 9/11 story
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1. Trump’s new bribe: $5,000 to every American adult — if Republicans hold the House and Senate
The Republican midterm convention in Dallas — internally branded "Trump-a-Palooza" — was supposed to be a show of force.
Instead, it opened Wednesday to a partly empty American Airlines Center, a stage malfunction that drew immediate Fyre Festival comparisons, and organizers literally begging attendees to go sit in Section 108.
The headline offer from Trump's Dallas keynote?
Every adult U.S. citizen gets a $5,000 "dividend" if Republicans hold the House and Senate in November.
Of all the things that will never happen in this world, this is the thing that will never happen the most.
The proposal would cost over $1 trillion, has no legislative vehicle, and no one in the room appeared to ask how it would be paid for. What it does have: a Fox News host immediately confronting JD Vance on all the reasons it’s not going to work.
The sad part? There are people that will still fall for it.
2. Paxton's new AI ad puts fake Bible verses in a fake Talarico's mouth
Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton released an AI-generated deepfake video of his opponent, state Rep. James Talarico.
The fake Talarico sits with a book labeled "The King James Talarico Bible," scribbles in it with a yellow crayon, and reads lines he never said. A disclaimer buried at the bottom admits some of it was AI-generated.
The ad splices those invented lines in with things Talarico actually did say, including a 2021 comment about the Hebrew language in Genesis that he's since called "intentionally provocative." Real quotes and fabricated ones, blended until you can't tell which is which.
Talarico's previous response said it plainly: Paxton is "intentionally clipping my cringy comments to distract from his career of corruption."
A late-August poll had Talarico ahead by six points anyway.
A Trump and Stephen Miller-backed dark money group has begun running absolutely deranged ads against James Talarico.
These AI-generated videos can have profound effects on people, especially voters who aren’t tech-savvy enough to realize that what they are seeing is NOT real.
3. Fetterman crashes the Republican convention to reject "socialism" — and endorse a GOP senator
Democratic Senator John Fetterman appeared via video at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas to praise "great friend" Dave McCormick, the other Republican senator from Pennsylvania, and announce that he will "always reject extremes and socialism."
Fetterman has been breaking with his party since 2022. He chose to do it this week on the Republicans' stage, in front of their cameras, at their convention. No comment from the Democratic Party.
Fetterman is now more popular among Republican voters in Pennsylvania than the Democrats who actually elected him.
5. Trump's DOJ is ghosting European investigators on Epstein
Law enforcement officials in Poland, Norway, and Latvia have all reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice for assistance with their ongoing Jeffrey Epstein investigations, and none of them have received a response.
Britain's investigation has also stalled.
Norway's state prosecutor said publicly that the DOJ has "not at this time approved the request" and called it "very unfortunate." The administration that promised to release the Epstein files is now actively blocking the countries trying to investigate what those files actually contain.
KEPT OUT OF YOUR FEED
What the algorithm buried:
Ted Cruz offered a bonkers defense of Trump’s bizarre 9/11 story
Then, Trump flipped out with a personal attack on the journalist who asked the question
Jon Stewart exposed Trump's lies about the USS Abraham Lincoln
Trump gave $45,000 cash gifts to young women on his staff — including Natalie
Tetris sent Trump a cease-and-desist letter and the White House immediately caved
Trump also tried to hijack a beloved video game character for meme purposes; the internet responded by making it all about Epstein
Conflicting court rulings on Missouri map threaten November’s midterm election: the map is now both illegal to use and illegal to replace
Experts are warning that Trump's budget cuts, staff departures, and diverted resources have left the U.S. measurably less prepared for a terrorist attack than it was before — as we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11
Progressive organizers are registering Gen Z voters with donuts, heart-shaped sunglasses, and "Hot People Vote" signs — and it's working
And, in case you missed it, the $170,000 reason Hakeem Jeffries abandoned Medicare for All:
NOTICE POLLING
Yesterday, we asked: Do you think Mamdani should be attending 9/11 ceremonies?
EXACTLY 100% OF YOU SAID YES:
““Mamdani should definitely attend the ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11. He's the mayor of the city that had the most victims of the horrific attacks that day, and the people who think that he should stay away are Islamophobic, plain and simple! ”
- cdmalin
“There are a tremendous amount of Muslims that do not support the Islamic terrorists. And there are a huge majority in the U.S. that doesn’t support our own racist terrorists. Solidarity with the New York mayor shows that we stand against the deviders that are trying to weaken our country.”
- elevan23
“These old men are trying to be relevant - Guiliani and Pataki. I am curious who signed the petition and if the signatures are authentic.”
- khassett95
“If he wasn't part of the problem, then why not be part of the solution and healing. Enough people believed in him to elect him mayor.”
- callajr.jc
“He is probably one of the best mayors New York City has ever had.”
- leilanisay
“Not only is he the mayor, he cares for the people he serves. Something rare in our current government. ”
- nworkman51
That’s all for today — thank you so much for reading. We’ll see you tomorrow!