Thursday, November 7, 2024

November 7, 2024

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Harris formally concedes one day after Trump's sweeping victory . . . Vice President Kamala Harris, in her first public comments since losing the 2024 White House race to former President Trump, urged supporters to "accept the results." But Harris on Wednesday afternoon emphasized that "while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign." The vice president spoke at Howard University, her alma mater, where her campaign held a large election night watch party. Harris never addressed the crowd on Tuesday night, as initial optimism about the election turned dour as the clock struck past midnight. Fox News

Why did this take so long when violent demonstrations might have broken out? Where were the calls for unity we heard time and again during the campaign? Unity apparently was a campaign talking point, not a goal.

Politics

Hispanic shift toward Trump drove his momentum in Northeastern Democratic strongholds . . . Trump cut into Democratic margins in blue strongholds in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan areas, where Republicans have often floundered. Latino support for Trump, particularly among men, boomed in comparison to 2020. According to NBC News, support for Trump among Latinos went from 32% in 2020 to 45% in 2024, a 13-point gain. For Latino men, it went from 36% to 54%. The GOP leader also made gains among Asian voters from 34% support in 2020 to 38% in 2024. Washington Examiner

Maybe Democrats will start trying to limit immigration.

Democrats' election abortion strategy falls flat . . . Democrats' strategy of tying former President Trump and Republicans to abortion bans across the country appeared to fall flat with voters on Tuesday. Democrats saw major victories on the issue in the 2022 midterms and Virginia's off-year elections in 2023, but the party largely underperformed up and down the ballot on the issue with key groups on election night. The Hill

Trump zeroes in on Cabinet, White House picks

Jon Stewart rages at inaccurate pollsters: 'You don't know s--- about s--- . . . Amid President-elect Donald Trump's victory, "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart scorched media and poll analysts for being wrong not only in this election, but across recent decades. After what was frequently considered a dead heat election, Trump won a commanding victory over Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday. Late on election night, Stewart noted that while the results were still coming in, pollsters already appeared to be some of this election's biggest losers. Fox News

Harris allies blame Biden . . . As Democrats pick up the pieces following President-elect Donald Trump's decisive victory, some of the vice president's backers are expressing frustration that Biden's decision to seek reelection until this summer — despite longstanding voter concerns about his age and unease about post-pandemic inflation as well as the U.S.-Mexico border — all but sealed his party's loss of the White House. Associated Press

Walz was another big mistake . . . Following a decisive defeat by former President Donald Trump, the Kamala Harris team is already identifying problems with their campaign — and Harris VP-pick Tim Walz is at the top of the list. Harris notably passed on Josh Shapiro, who's the governor of crucial swing state Pennsylvania, as her running mate, reportedly because Shapiro is Jewish and Harris was worried about upsetting the far-Left. Daily Wire

They can blame all the people they want, but the problem was the candidate.

Sanders: Democratic Party 'has abandoned working class people' . . . Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday accused the Democratic Party of largely ignoring the priorities of the working class and pointed to that as the biggest reason for why they lost control of the White House and Senate. "It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them," Sanders said in a statement about the results of Tuesday's election. The Hill

How Kamala Harris killed the celebrity endorsement . . . Kamala Harris' candidacy is dead and so is the Hollywood celebrity endorsement. She officially killed that too. By turning her failed presidential effort into a three-month-long variety show with splashy performances, boldface speakers and a carefully rolled-out succession of endorsements from La La Land's most coddled citizens. Why not? It worked so well for Hillary Clinton and her "Fight Song" of 2016. New York Post

So stupendously out of touch. It wasn't a mistake, it was a symptom of her campaign.

Republicans look poised to keep the House after taking the Senate . . . In the House, Democrats' path to take back control narrowed as Republicans outperformed expectations on the strength of Trump's ability to make inroads among working-class Black and Latino voters, especially men, supplementing his support among white working-class voters. Democrats' hopes for a slew of pickups in California didn't materialize, greatly tempering their hopes of flipping the House, which Republicans currently control 220-212 with three vacancies. Wall Street Journal

Trump Whistleblower Eugene Vindman Wins in Tight Virginia Race . . . Vindman gained national attention for blowing the whistle on then-president Donald Trump's phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, a move that led to Trump's first impeachment. Leveraging the media spotlight, Vindman raked in millions of dollars for his congressional campaign, over five times the amount raised by his opponent. In a district heavy with defense contractors and military veterans, Vindman repeatedly touted his military service. Washington Free Beacon

Culture

Late night show hosts lose their minds over Trump's triumph . . . Jimmy Fallon jabbed that America 'got back together with its crazy ex' while Stephen Colbert hysterically admitted he's 'not doing great' as late night show hosts miserably went through their paces after Donald Trump had the last laugh at the polls. While not every late night show had a specifically political bent, all of the left-leaning talkers addressed Trump's victory in a depressed manner. Daily Mail

Bye Bye! Barbra Streisand, Sharon Stone, Cher are among celebrities who have expressed interest in leaving US

They may leave the US, but on vacation.

Corporate Media are This Election's Big Loser . . . The biggest loser following Tuesday's astounding election—besides the Democrat Party's agenda—is the corporate media that desperately tried to manufacture a president. The legacy media's full-blown implosion has been a long time coming. In the span of a few decades, America's biggest media outlets have entirely squandered their credibility. And Americans are going elsewhere for their news and commentary. Daily Sifgn

National Security

Trump's return to White House sets stage for far-reaching immigration crackdown . . . "Build the Wall" was Donald Trump's rally cry in 2016, and he acted on his promise by tapping military budgets for hundreds of miles of border wall with Mexico. "Mass Deportation" was the buzzword that energized supporters for his White House bid in 2024. Trump's victory sets the stage for a swift crackdown after an AP VoteCast survey showed the president-elect's supporters were largely focused on immigration and inflation — issues the Republican has been hammering throughout his campaign. Associated Press

It's called "a mandate."

International

Australia plans social media ban for under-16s . . . Australia's government says it will introduce "world-leading" legislation to ban children under 16 from social media. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the proposed laws, to be tabled in parliament next week, were aimed at mitigating the "harm" social media was inflicting on Australian children. "This one is for the mums and dads... They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online," he said. BBC

Money

Fed readies rate cut, but what's next? . . . The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter-percentage point at its meeting that ends Thursday. The bigger question is how many more cuts officials expect will be warranted to preserve a solid job market without reversing recent declines in inflation. This week's decision lacks the suspense of the last one, when markets weren't sure how big the Fed's rate cut would be. That means that Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday will be the main event. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

Trump's legal jeopardy is about to evaporate in criminal cases . . . President-elect Donald Trump's big victory is not only a historic return to the White House, it likely spells the end of four long-running criminal prosecutions of him by the Biden Justice Department and Democratic state prosecutors. In the most immediate case, Mr. Trump faces sentencing on Nov. 26 on his felony convictions in New York City for falsifying business records. But Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan was unlikely to give Mr. Trump jail time, anyway, and now must decide whether to proceed at all during a presidential transition. Washington Times

Trump's stamina at age 78 impresses the experts: 'Mental and physical resilience' . . . While past presidents have appeared to age quickly during their administrations, experts say Trump maintains high levels of energy and vitality eight years after he was first elected president. "The fact that he attended 120 events in 7 months — often multiple rallies in a single day in different states — is proof-positive that Trump has a tremendous amount of stamina, mentally and physically," Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon and longevity expert, told Fox News Digital. Fox News

Rudy Giuliani is set to appear in a NYC court after missing a deadline to surrender assets . . . Rudy Giuliani will appear in a New York City courtroom on Thursday to explain to a federal judge why he hasn't surrendered his valuables as part of a $148 million defamation judgment. U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ordered the former New York City mayor to report to court after lawyers for the two former Georgia election workers who were awarded the massive judgment visited Giuliani's Manhattan apartment last week only to discover it had been cleared out weeks earlier. Associated Press

Guilty Pleasures

Philippines resort features world's largest chicken-shaped building . . . A hotel in the Philippines that stands 114 feet, 7 inches tall was awarded a Guinness World record for the largest building in the shape of a chicken. Campuestohan Highland Resort, located in Negros Occidental, unveiled its new rooster-shaped building, which features 15 air-conditioned hotel rooms. UPI