Far from making America "great" again, Donald Trump has instead made America (and himself) a worldwide laughingstock. This week, a statue was unveiled in the European Parliament building that portrayed a naked golden Trump sitting on top of the shoulders of a struggling man. The text on the base of the statue read:

THE ORANGE PLAGUE

I am sitting on the back of a man.

He is sinking under my burden.

I will do anything to help him.

Except step down from his back.

-- The King of Injustice

Today, this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner was announced. Needless to say, it wasn't Donald Trump. The woman who did win joked to reporters: "If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump." Ouch.

Thankfully, the voters of America seem to have realized that Trump is leading the country into a spiral of doom and derision. The midterm elections (which are a little over three weeks away) could be a landslide of epic proportions as voters everywhere band together to express their revulsion and disapproval of Trump. Trump didn't just lose the Nobel Peace Prize again, and he's not just going to lose the midterms, he is just losing it before our very eyes.

Trump is notably becoming even more unhinged than he already was. He is sinking into the mire of hatred and fear and increasingly bizarre behavior. He seemingly invited Iran to nuke Los Angeles and San Diego this week, for starters. This led to a rather extraordinary headline (even in the age of Trump): "White House Denies Trump Wants To Let Iran Bomb California Cities." But that was just one line in a rally speech that contained so much fearmongering and hatred towards Democrats that it's hard to accurately portray the depths to which Trump has now sunk.

Trump being Trump, what's really eating at him is the clear fact that his rallies just aren't all that big anymore. Even his own supporters have gotten tired of his schtick, it seems. This led the New York Times to run an article which began:

If President Trump's earlier political rallies felt like standing-room-only rock concerts, the latest ones are starting to feel like the first stops of a farewell tour.

The events are a ritual. He will attack Democrats. His words will probably stop making actual, logical sense for a moment, or for many moments. (It's "the weave," you see.) He will accuse Democrats of rigging the 2020 election (they didn't). He will attack the news media. Then he will dance to a Village People song.

Instead of filling 30,000-seat stadiums (which he used to regularly do), Trump is now struggling to draw enough people to fill up high school gyms and other modest venues. And (of course) he went absolutely ballistic on those journalists with the temerity to point this reality out to the public (such as C-SPAN did, with a simple camera pan of the upper decks of a Trump rally, while he was speaking). He posted on social media: "The New York Times, and many other Artificial Media Outlets, should be arrested... for their dishonesty and disservice to our Country."

About that "artificial media" line -- Trump is going bonkers trying to rename everything, with increasing frequency and lunacy. This week, he declared from on high that everyone in the universe must change from using the term "artificial intelligence" and instead start calling it what Trump wants, which is "super intelligence." As a side riff, he declared that he would henceforth be replacing "fake media" with "artificial media." And he darkly warned everyone, on social media:

The White House considers anyone that uses the term, "Artificial Intelligence," as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, "Super Intelligence," THE ENEMY!

As Darth Vader might have pointed out: "The stupidity is strong with this one."

Also from this week, Trump tried to comment on elections in Brazil, but had a brain fart and posted a rant about elections in India instead (note: India is not currently holding elections, and is half a world away from Brazil). Trump belatedly discovered that his pet bill in Congress to make Daylight Saving Time permanent has not advanced, so he started ranting at the Senate to pass it -- right after the Senate had gone home until after the midterms. Trump doxxed the phone number of Senator Tom Cotton to the public, which brought a rather amusing response from fellow Republican Senator John Kennedy:

The president, as we know, can be sometimes -- um -- he exists loudly. He can be tempestuous. He can go from zero to a-hole in three seconds.

Can't argue with that, Senator Kennedy.

Trump is getting increasingly desperate, because he is waking up to the fact that he's about to get his clock cleaned in the midterms. Polls are showing Democrats with increasing leads in some pretty red states, the Cook Political Report keeps moving more and more races (including 18, today) to being more favorable for the Democratic candidates, and the only question now seems to be how big the blue wave is going to be in November.

In Texas, James Talarico is polling six points ahead of Ken Paxton. In Alaska, Mary Peltola is polling seven points ahead of the incumbent Republican senator. And Republicans' biggest worry right now in the Senate races is Kansas -- a state which has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. Democrats are expanding their map of battleground districts and states so fast even the pollsters are struggling to keep up with the pace. And things are looking good down-ballot too, as Democrats are doing well in both governors' races and in state legislative races too.

Republicans have reacted predictably, by throwing money at the problem. However, after spending half a billion dollars in the past month, the polls either stayed the same or actually moved towards Democrats.

Trump, in reaction, is trying some desperation moves. He is going to pay 20 million seniors $90 before the midterms, for no particular reason. He erected a statue of Christopher Columbus on the White House grounds, desperately trying to win the Italian-American vote. He made a desperation move to try to get the price of diesel down, but it's not going to help all that much. Trump has been reduced to even begging Republicans to vote by mail, which must really chafe (since he is convinced main-in voting is somehow illegitimate and rigged). And, of course, he's still using taxpayer dollars to run propaganda ads that laud him to the skies.

Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth announced that not only will the execution of the Fort Hood shooter be carried out by firing squad, but that it would be live-streamed to the public -- the first public execution in America since 1936. This was too much for even some Republicans to stomach, including JD Vance (who said he wouldn't watch it).

Hegseth needs to offer up some distractions, obviously, since Iran has resumed lobbing missiles at ships in the Strait of Hormuz and we had to pull all our bombers from a base in England due to fears Iran could successfully attack them with drones. America is retreating, in other words. Trump apparently isn't going to attack Iran until after the midterms, which is another sign of retreat. And when Congress comes back after the elections, the first order of business in the House is going to be impeachment articles against Hegseth.

We have one comment on the editorial practices of the mainstream media this week -- one that is just stunningly jaw-dropping. After spending more than a week reporting on a rape on a college campus as the lead story every single night, we were astonished that a different story was apparently deemed not newsworthy enough to even mention by the mainstream media. In Arizona, a Democratic candidate for a House seat reported that she was raped while fixing a campaign sign late at night in a parking lot.

Here is the grim story:

Bernadette Greene-Placentia, who is going up against incumbent MAGA Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh, said the attack occurred in a parking lot in mid-August around 2 a.m. as she was about to fix a campaign sign.

She said she blacked out after being hit in the head and woke up on the ground, partially clothed, feeling pain below her waist as a man assaulted her, according to the police report.

She recalled fighting back when a second man assaulted her immediately afterward. The man responded, "Not even worth it," and backed off, the report added.

Greene-Placentia also believes one of the men called her a "Democratic bitch."

We understand if this is news to you, because as mentioned, this wasn't even covered by the national news (or at least, "the national news we've been watching").

How is this not headline news? We must confess, we are astonished that it isn't, because it truly deserves to be. Where is the outrage?

But we always like to close out on a positive note here, and this week we saw two news items that were both rather notable. First, there are a record number of Native Americans running for office this year. And second, Democrats are getting optimistic that for the first time in American history they could have over 100 Democratic women elected to the House of Representatives in the midterms. Both of those are definitely worth celebrating.

 

It has been a fairly impressive week all around for Democrats. First up, we have some Honorable Mention awards for two actors, Robert De Niro and Mark Ruffalo. At an "election protection" event (called "Hands Off Our Vote") both actors spoke forcefully and powerfully, but we're going to feature what they said as talking points, since they were both so good.

We also have an Honorable Mention for all the Democrats -- both officeholders and members of their staffs -- who are already hard at work drafting ways to rein in Trump (and any future presidents) from all the disgraceful and disgusting abuses of power he's been getting away with (so far). We need to hit the ground running if Democrats do take back both houses of Congress, and so the people diligently working in preparation for that deserve credit (and our thanks).

And we also would like to hand Honorable Mention awards to every Democratic Senate candidate who had debates with their Republican opponents this week -- in Maine, Michigan, and Iowa. All were impressive in various different ways. The Michigan debate between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers was particularly feisty, in case you missed it.

But our Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week award goes to Senator Jon Ossoff for his debate performance this week in Georgia. Ossoff -- even more than El-Sayed -- absolutely took the gloves off and laid into his Republican opponent (Representative Mike Collins) in scathingly blunt terms:

"Mike Collins has brought dishonor to our state through his personal bigotry and his widely documented ties to white nationalists," Ossoff said in his opening remarks.

The Washington Post reported in August that a former staffer for Collins shared images in June and July on his X account of a swastika and one that depicted himself in Ku Klux Klan robes. CNN reported in July that Collins's son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, has shared Nazi imagery online.

Collins has faced scrutiny over his own social media feed where he has shared posts that were called racist and antisemitic.

"You've hired half the Third Reich to staff your congressional office and you have promoted neo-Nazi content online," Ossoff told Collins. "If John Lewis were marching today from Selma to Montgomery, Mike Collins would be grabbing a billy club."

Ossoff also had some good one-liners as well, but again we're going to save them for the talking points (since any Democrat could easily use them).

There is wide speculation that Ossoff is considering a run for the presidency in two years, and that this debate was somewhat of an audition on a national stage. We have to say, if that is true, that we were indeed impressed by his performance. So much so that we're handing him this week's Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week award.

[Congratulate Senator Jon Ossoff on his Senate contact page, to let him know you appreciate his efforts.]

 

We weren't sure at first what to make of this when we heard of it. In the "before-times," it would have almost automatically won a Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week award, not for what the candidate did but for thinking it would stay hidden during the election. But in these Trumpian times, Chris Gallant decided to lean into it instead.

Gallant is running to unseat a Republican in the House who represents part of Long Island in New York. It was always going to be a tough race to win -- the last time a Democrat won it was 2012. But Gallant is a former Black Hawk pilot who served two tours in Kuwait in the Army National Guard, so he thought he had a chance.

Then his past was exposed, in a tabloid, which featured pictures of Gallant being a fashion model for a San Francisco fetish-wear leather shop: "One shows him in a cage, wearing a harness and a muzzle, with another man behind him performing a sex act on him. A second image had him above the same man, again in leather, this time receiving oral sex."

The Daily Show wryly commented on the scandal that Gallant was getting his butt beaten, "but not in the polls."

Gallant then decided to face the issue by essentially saying: "Who cares?" His message is that people -- even people in politics -- are complex and multifaceted:

Specifically, Chris Gallant can be a Long Island-raised Black Hawk pilot in the Army National Guard who flew choppers during one of his two tours in Kuwait, worked for five years as an air traffic controller at John F. Kennedy International Airport, serves as a volunteer firefighter and is an unabashed gun owner as well as a union man who posed for those photos almost 17 years ago, not because he was manipulated but because he was into it.

"I mean, all my friends know I'm kinky" as hell, he said, using a saltier word. "I make Christian Grey look like amateur hour."

Within 48 hours from the story appearing, Gallant posted a video of himself on social media and called it a "coordinated political hit meant to drive me out of this race." Then he leaned in even more:

Then, his social media team posted a new ad of him in a tight black T-shirt that showed off his Marvel-worthy biceps. The slogan running across it read, "Make Politics Sexy Again."

Sexiness, the ad went on to say, includes his plans for improving the lives of the voters in his district, including support for veterans and lowering the cost of living on Long Island.

That's a pretty good attempt at political jiu-jitsu, we have to admit. When a participant at a question-and-answer session brought up a recent comment made by his opponent -- that he was "weak and woke," Gallant responded: "I've carried people out of burning buildings; I've flown helicopters in the Middle East. If that's weak and woke -- well, I just think that's inaccurate."

As we mentioned, in earlier times we would have felt some disappointment by this late-breaking scandal in a district Democrats have a shot at flipping. But that was then, and this is now.

Now, we must admit that we're actually impressed by the way Gallant is handling the scandal. So we have no negative award to hand him, and we're going to put the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week award back on the shelf until next week instead.

 

Volume 860 (10/9/26)

Our talking points this week heavily feature the voices of others, as promised. So let's just get right to it, shall we?

 

   Go fill up your tank

As mentioned, we are starting off with two quotes from Senator Jon Ossoff, from his debate this week. Both can easily be used by other Democrats (after removing or changing the name of Ossoff's opponent), and both are short, sweet, and to the point: It's Trump's economy, stupid.

If you want to understand whether the Trump-Collins budget has helped you, just go fill up a tank of gas. Diesel prices are at their all-time high in American history under Mike Collins and Donald Trump. It costs more than ever to buy a tractor for your farm, or to plant an acre of cotton.

 

   It's also the war

This one is similar, but it correctly places the blame where it belongs: Trump's disastrous war of choice with Iran.

Diesel is up 70 percent since Donald Trump was elected president. Ground beef and coffee are up 30 percent. These tariffs have crushed families and small businesses and Georgia agriculture. The war in Iran has sent gas prices near their all-time high.

 

   A thousand times yes

Robert De Niro is not a guy who minces his words. At a recent "Hands Off Our Vote" rally, he took the slogan and ran with it, spicing it up and then turning it into a call-and-response with the crowd. Instead of just picking one excerpt from this passage, we decided that the entire thing was worth pasting in, just because it is so visceral.

The Trump administration knows that their policies are not only crazy and cruel, they're increasingly unpopular. They can see it. They're not stupid. Well, OK. They are very fucking stupid. I mean, really stupid. They're stupider than I ever thought.

But they recognize what they're doing is turning away people. They can't get support from the voters. So, what do they do? They try to take our votes away. Are you kidding me?

Let me put it another way:

Keep your fucking hands off our vote.

When the weak and spineless Republicans in the House and Senate won't protect our rights, what do we say to them?

Keep your fucking hands off our vote.

When the Supreme Court rubber-stamps voter suppression, what do we say to them?

Keep your fucking hands off our vote.

When Trump's Department of Justice threatens election officials, demands voter rolls and seizes ballots, what do we say to them?

Keep your fucking hands off our vote.

When masked and armed ICE thugs stalk our polling places, what do we say to them?

Keep your fucking hands off our vote.

And when that coward, that fucking piece of shit Donald Trump tries to take our voice and power away, what do we tell him?

Keep your fucking hands off our vote.

I think they got the message.

Now, with your commitment and support, we won't just send them a message. We're going to send them away. Take back the House. Yes. Take back the Senate. Yes. Take back the power. Yes. Take back our country. Yes.

 

   Not just a lame duck...

De Niro was followed by Mark Ruffalo (who played The Incredible Hulk in Marvel movies, just for context). He was more succinct, but he also had a powerful message to share with the crowd, riffing on how the upcoming midterms are "one of the most consequential elections of our lifetimes."

I mean, we always hear that. But this is the one. We got to get this dumbass, fool ass, tired ass, lame ass, duck ass out of office. We got to make him a lame duck. We have to stop his policies now.

I know we're all tired. We are so tired, but we can't give up now.

[From the audience: "You tell 'em, Hulk!"]

I'm gonna Hulk out. You won't like me when I'm angry!

 

   A disturbing sign of the times

A lot of people are very worried right now about the election, but not for the usual "Will we win or not?" reason.

"With the biggest sore loser in American history in the White House, I keep hearing from voters how concerned they are that this election will be free and fair. Will armed federal agents show up at polling places? Will the ballots be secure and fairly counted, or will they be seized by Trump's jackbooted thugs? If Democrats win, will Republicans from Trump on down accept their loss? Will the winners be seated in the new Congress, or will Republicans cause a constitutional crisis by refusing to do so? All of these questions were absolutely unthinkable before Donald Trump, but now they are on the minds of far too many Americans. That is a sad commentary on the times we now live in, folks."

 

   Vote!

And finally we end with a call to action.

"I urge every American to get out and vote! Vote like your country depends on it -- because it does. This is the last best chance we all have to rein in Trump's corruption and abuses of power, and we have to send a clear and strong message to him and all the Republicans who enable him. So make a plan to vote right now, and then be sure to carry it out. Get out and vote, people! Have your voices heard! It is more important than ever that you do so."

 

   Vote early!

Because, why not?

"In fact, you should take advantage of the early voting your state offers, and get out and vote early this year. If you mail in your ballots, don't wait until the last minute! Don't let the Post Office slow-walk your ballot so it can't be counted! If early voting days happen, get to the polls before November! Fill your ballot out and put it in a drop box! Whatever method you use, make an extra effort and cast your vote as soon as your state allows you to. Bank your vote now, to be sure it is counted on Election Day. Don't just get out and vote, vote early this year!"

-- Chris Weigant

 

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground