Idiocracy

Talking Points Memo reports: Maine voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to become the first state in the nation to expand Medicaid by ballot initiative, approving the measure by a nearly 20-point margin. But Republican Gov. Paul LePage, a vehement opponent of Medicaid who has vetoed expansion bills five times since the Affordable Care Act became law, is threatening once again to …

The Hill reports: President Trump congratulated his supporters on the Wednesday anniversary of his historic victory in the 2016 election, calling them “deplorables” in a nod to former Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. The anniversary tweet came attached to a photo of the president with key White House aides aboard Air Force One on Trump’s 13-day trip through Asia, including White …

Media Matters reports: On Fox & Friends, one of the president’s favorite shows, co-host Steve Doocy took issue this morning with the idea that the election results were a “Trump rebuke,” saying of the Republican gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, “Neither one of them really brought Donald Trump on board.” “It’s a wake-up call for establishment Republicans,” he …

Politico reports: Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Tuesday night his “memory has been refreshed” regarding his email exchange with Carter Page in which the former foreign policy adviser requested Lewandowski’s permission to travel to Moscow. Page, who testified last week before the House Oversight Committee as a part of their ongoing probe into Russian election meddling in 2016, …

Newsweek reports: With President Donald Trump out of the country, his son Donald Trump Jr. decided to urge people to vote Tuesday in the Virginia gubernatorial election. Except he completely messed it up, and, of course, Stephen Colbert had great fun at his expense. Colbert remarked: “Donald Jr. woke up this morning to urge people to get the vote out…but …

Mediaite reports: During his major address to the South Korean National Assembly, President Trump invoked his Bedminster golf club. Trump was complimenting South Korea and at one point talked about Korean golfers being some of the best on earth. And then the President said this: “In fact, and you know what I’m going to say, the Women’s US Open was …

The Washington Post reports: In a tweet after the election, Trump, who is traveling in South Korea, tried to explain away Gillespie’s loss by claiming that it did not reflect poorly on his own political potency. But it was not clear that a further embrace would have produced any better results. Virginia, which has been trending blue in recent years, …

Forbes reports: Fresh off a tour through Thailand, Laos and China, United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr. picked up the phone on a Sunday afternoon in October to discuss something deeply personal: how much money he has. A year earlier, Forbes had listed his net worth at $2.9 billion on The Forbes 400, a number Ross claimed was …

The Washington Examiner reports: Justice Department prosecutors dropped their case against the woman who was arrested after laughing during Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing, according to a report Tuesday. Desiree Fairooz, who was set to face a second trial next week, is a 61 year-old veteran activist associated with the organization Code Pink. She was arrested during Jeff Sessions’ …

Standard reality show behavior: One Saturday in early April, Omarosa Manigault caused a stir in the White House. The Apprentice villain turned senior White House official brought members of her 39-person bridal party to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for an extended wedding photo shoot, catching fellow senior aides and some security officials by surprise in her bridal attire. They loudly wandered …

The Hill reports: Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday urged Virginians to get out and vote for Republican candidate Ed Gillespie for governor, mistakenly telling them twice that the election is Wednesday. CNN host Jake Tapper quickly pointed out that Trump Jr. had the wrong day, but a few hours later, the president’s son made the same mistake. Let’s take @EdWGillespie …

Politico reports: When senior White House officials wanted to know what mood the president was in before a meeting, they used to look for guidance from Keith Schiller, a man with a hangdog face who sat in a small, shared office off the Oval. When friends and advisers outside the West Wing wanted to share a news article, gossip or …

The Washington Post reports: Asked during a Seoul news conference whether he would entertain “extreme vetting” on guns, Trump appeared irritated by the question and suggested it was not appropriate to talk about “in the heart of South Korea.” He then answered by saying “if we did what you are suggesting it would have made no difference three days ago.” …

Those people in Texas were literally praying in church when they were murdered. But prayer totally works. The Hill reports: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in an interview broadcast Monday dismissed criticism of his tweet saying the Texas shooting victims “need our prayers,” arguing “prayer works.” “It’s disappointing. It’s sad and this is what you’ll get from the far secular left. …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump took time out of his trip to Asia to weigh in on Virginia’s gubernatorial election taking place on Tuesday, slamming Democratic candidate Ralph Northam as “weak.” Northam heads to the polls with a slight edge over opponent Ed Gillespie, who has targeted Northam over his opposition to statues depicting leaders of the Confederate …

Raw Story reports: Addressing how he first became acquainted with Japanese Prime Minister Abe — who Trump referred to by his first name, Shinzo — Trump made the off-hand comment, appearing to go off-script from his prepared remarks. “So my relationship with Shinzo got off to quite a rocky start because I never ran for office, and here I am,” …

EcoWatch reports: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service released a recommendation Wednesday to lift former President Obama’s uranium mining ban in the watershed of the Grand Canyon. The move was made in response to President Trump’s sweeping “energy independence” executive order in March to ease regulatory burdens on energy development. “This appalling recommendation threatens to destroy one of the …

CNN reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions is once again under scrutiny on Capitol Hill regarding his candor about Russia and the Trump campaign amid revelations that he rejected a suggestion to convene a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump last year. According to court filings unsealed this week, Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos suggested at …

NBC News reports: Fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Thursday. Perry described his belief at an energy policy event in Washington hosted by Axios and NBC News, while talking about how bringing power to African villages would save lives. “But also from the standpoint of sexual assault, when the lights are on, when you …

The Hill reports: National security adviser H.R. McMaster joins White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the White House for a briefing with reporters on Thursday. McMaster will likely address the federal government’s response to the deadly terror attack in New York City on Tuesday, in which 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov allegedly drove a truck on to a bicycle path, …