Idiocracy

More Trumpian vetting by the Treasury Department: A Brooklyn man faces up to 20 years in prison after being accused of fraudulently securing $1.9 million in forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, using a portion of the funds to buy the most recent Bentley and Escalade vehicle, according to federal authorities. Leon Miles is accused of applying to the …

Bloomberg News reports: President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday making classical architecture the preferred style for federal buildings in Washington, a White House official said Monday. The presidential action stops short of mandating that all new federal buildings are built in a classical style, saying merely that they must be “beautiful.” Under the order, a “Council for …

The Daily Beast reports: A former Bloomberg News reporter quit her job, divorced her husband, and froze her eggs for imprisoned former CEO Martin Shkreli, known as the “Pharma Bro,” who now refuses to talk to her, Elle reported Sunday. Christie Smythe first broke the news of Shkreli’s arrest on fraud charges in December 2015.  Smythe said she and Shkreli …

The New York Daily News reports: The New Jersey seaside town’s mayor announced Wednesday that a fundraiser benefiting The Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City was being launched, with the highest bidder winning the right to press the button that will start the implosion of the failed casino Trump built in 1984. On Thursday, a GoFundMe account was started …

The Daily Beast reports: As he begins his final weeks in office, amid a winter surge in coronavirus deaths, President Donald Trump has mentioned to confidants that he’s thinking about resurrecting The Apprentice or The Celebrity Apprentice reality TV show, two people with direct knowledge of the situation, and another person close to the president, tell The Daily Beast. Among …

Changing America reports: Following the news of the Supreme Court decision, country singer John Rich responded to a tweet from journalist Adam Gold saying he still felt “very confident” that come January 20 Trump will remain in the Oval Office. He was feeling so confident he offered to put $10,000 on it that would go to charitable organizations. Unfortunately for …

Newsweek reports: President Donald Trump on Saturday night tweeted legal advice from former Fox Nation personalities Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, also known as Diamond and Silk, to support his unverified claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. In April, Fox News cut ties with Diamond and Silk—two pro-Trump vloggers who rose to prominence amid the 2016 election …

The New York Daily News reports: A lot of drunken Santa Clauses won’t be coming to town this year. SantaCon, the notoriously debauched yuletide-themed Manhattan bar crawl that each year fills city streets, subways and bars with stumbling and stewed St. Nicks, will not go forward this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, organizers confirmed to the Daily News Thursday. …

The New York Times reports: Others seeking creative ways to forge ties to the president include Joseph Maldonado-Passage, the former Oklahoma zoo owner who is better known as Joe Exotic. His representatives have been running a carefully orchestrated campaign to try to persuade Mr. Trump to pardon Mr. Maldonado-Passage, who is one year into a 22-year sentence for trying to …

The New York Daily News reports: Rapper Lil’ Pump, born Gazzy Garcia, gave his full-throated support to President Trump’s run for re-election. He didn’t, however, bother registering to vote, according to The Smoking Gun. The 20-year-old posted a video on Instagram where he has 17-million followers declaring “All I gotta say is Trump 2020, b-tch!.” It’s no longer online. The …

Mediaite reports: Scott Baio pulled off a stunt at Michael’s that sparked Donald Trump’s attention, even earning him some praise from the president. The Happy Days actor — a vocal Trump supporter — rearranged lettered mugs on display at the craft store chain to spell “Trump is still your president.” Baio then took to Twitter to share a photo of …

From the Facebook group Stop The Tires 2020: Our message is simple and hopefully effective. We fully intend to exercise our rights, and will not have politicians making crippling decisions, that will negatively affect our future and the future of our children. President Trump has worked diligently for four long years to protect the rights and freedoms of all Americans, …

From the FB page for Four Seasons Total Landscaping: Four Seasons Total Landscaping is a family-owned small business run by life long Philadelphians. We were honored to be asked to host a press conference at our facility. We thank all of those that have shown support for our business and while we understand the negative comments, it saddens us that …

South Carolina’s Post & Courier reports: The owner of a Charleston area chain of burger joints has taken responsibility for an Election Day menu featuring a sandwich named for President Donald Trump’s derogatory comments about women. According to Sesame Burgers and Beer owner Joe Fischbein, the specials sheet listing a $14 Cheeto-dusted “Grab Her By The Juicy Burger” was distributed …

Fox News reports: Several voters in Maricopa County, the largest in Arizona, brought a lawsuit today against Democratic County Recorder Adrian Fontes, the county Board of Supervisors and others, claiming that the use of Sharpie permanent markers at some polling sites left ballots too damaged to be counted. Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, whose office oversees elections statewide, told …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump’s closing argument in his bid for presidential reelection appears to be a two-plus minute montage of dancing to The Village People’s YMCA. That’s it. That’s the tweet. Trump added his own message of “VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!” to a video credited to the self-described “Digital Graffiti” artist and Twitter user Som3thingwicked. Future historians will almost certainly …

ABC News reports: President Trump on Friday teased Fox News host Laura Ingraham for wearing a mask at his Michigan campaign rally, chiding her for being “politically correct.” “I do believe Laura Ingraham is here some place. Where is Laura? Where is she?” Trump said, scanning the crowd for the Fox News host. “I can’t recognize you. Is that a …

The tech site Polygon reports: On Wednesday night, Nickelodeon announced former Vice President Joe Biden was the winner of the 2020 Kids Pick The President Vote,  despite a bot-driven effort to cheat the results. According to the network, nearly 90,000 kids cast their virtual ballot in the poll, which ran from Oct. 20 to Oct. 26. Biden received 53% of …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump called Sacha Baron Cohen “a creep” after previously unseen footage from the new “Borat” movie was shared to Twitter on Friday by Borat’s official account. While speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Friday, Trump was asked whether he was worried about security breaches after footage showed an actress from the movie apparently …

“What was an innocent sexytime encounter between a consenting man and my 15-year-old daughter has been turned into something disgusting by fake news media. I warn you: Anyone else try this, and Rudolph will not hesitate to reach into his legal briefs and whip out his subpoenas.” – Sasha Baron Cohen, speaking as Borat in a clip released last night. …