Republicans

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Florida is using millions of dollars in settlement money from opioid manufacturers and distributors on an ad campaign against marijuana, according to state records. The state Department of Children and Families last month spent $4 million to pay a marketing agency for an “advertising campaign aimed at educating Floridian families and youth about the dangers …

Axios reports: With less than two weeks left in the presidential race, Republicans have stepped up attacks on overseas and military voters looking to cast ballots from abroad in critical swing states. The challenges are the latest in a spate of efforts to sow doubt about the election results if former President Trump loses. The attacks have “had a chilling …

USA Today reports: A Trump-aligned group that has filed lawsuits in several swing states challenging voter registration lists is already planning to sue over this year’s election results, one of the group’s founders told USA TODAY. “We feel compelled to file in defense of this beautiful country,” said Marly Hornik, who co-founded United Sovereign Americans in 2023. “We already have …

The Meidas Touch reports: In a scene captured by a Redditor at an early voting location, an elderly woman—wearing Trump-themed attire — became irate when poll workers asked her to follow the polling place’s rules prohibiting political merchandise. Instead of simply complying, the woman reportedly unleashed a tirade of insults and obscenities at the workers. When asked again to remove …

Charleston’s ABC affiliate reports: Thirty-five devices were seized from a South Carolina representative for Lexington County in August, according to a federal document filed on Thursday. A criminal indictment against Rep. RJ May, R-Lexington, is expected within the next three months, according to the unsealed federal filing. It’s unclear what charges are expected to be brought against May, who has …

CNN reports: New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito’s campaign spent tens of thousands of donor dollars at steakhouses and bars, a foreign hostel and on unaccountable payments to a close aide and friend, according to a review of federal filings. FEC filings from the launch of his first campaign in the spring of 2022 through the latest October quarterly filing found …

Mediaite reports: CNN’s Jake Tapper trolled Republican congressional leaders Friday by reminding them former President Donald Trump had repeatedly called Vice President Kamala Harris a “fascist,” among other insults. The CNN anchor enlisted his production team to play a clip of Harris calling her 2024 opponent a “fascist” during a network town hall earlier this week. The bit resulted in …

Ars Technica reports: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he is investigating Google, claiming that the tech giant censors conservative speech and manipulated search results about Donald Trump. The New York Post quoted a Bailey spokesperson saying that “evidence has come to light that Google is deemphasizing conservative speech or content—such as putting conservative reporting on Page 11 rather than …

Semafor reports: NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told Semafor’s Burgess Everett Friday that a Wall Street Journal report about calls between SpaceX founder Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin “should be investigated.” “I don’t know if that story is true,” Nelson said. “If it’s true there have been multiple conversations with Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then that …

“Donald Trump is going to win this election, and he’s going to win the election because the closing message has been the message all along: Kamala, you broke it. Donald Trump is going to fix it. “Donald Trump has a positive message for the future, for Americans on the issues they care about most — the economy, the border, crime, …

NBC News reports: Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL running for the Senate in Montana, has said he was discharged from the military for medical reasons because of injuries he sustained on duty, but his discharge paperwork tells a different story. The heavily redacted, two-page document obtained by NBC News indicates that Sheehy voluntarily resigned his commission and does not …

The Associated Press reports: In a rare move, the Pentagon strongly pushed back Thursday against misinformation spread on social media that falsely suggests U.S. troops have been authorized to use force against American citizens during the election. The misinformation — spread online by former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., among others — suggests …

Florida Politics reports: Florida’s Governor may have wanted people to support him for President this time last year during his attempt to get the GOP presidential nomination. But with that option long since foreclosed to him, Ron DeSantis is discouraging Republicans and others who may be dispirited about Donald Trump from marking his name down as a misguided protest vote. …

The Washington Post reports: A super PAC with Republican Party ties has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent days to support the Green Party presidential candidacy of Jill Stein in Wisconsin, in another sign that the supporters of the major parties believe her campaign could affect the election result. Badger Values PAC, a new federal PAC founded by …

NBC News reports: The top Republican on a key House subcommittee issued a subpoena Thursday to the Biden administration as her panel probes whether the federal government is attempting to limit information being shared on social media platforms ahead of November’s elections. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation, is …

The Detroit News reports: West Michigan Republican and former U.S. Rep. Fred Upton is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 bid for the White House, saying his party’s nominee, former President Donald Trump, is divisive, unhinged and has “not changed his colors.” “Watching Trump day after day, he’s ignored the advice of many senior, respected Republicans to stay on the …

Florida Politics reports: Florida’s Attorney General is fuming as the state is sidelined from probing a potential assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life. Ashley Moody, who previously said “dual sovereignty” dictates the federal government allowing the subordinate levels of government to allow an investigation, said that “while we hoped this day would not come,” Tallahassee is suing because the feds …

The Huffington Post reports: Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) crossed a virtual picket line by publishing an opinion piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday, according to the union whose workers are on strike at the newspaper. Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild-CWA, told HuffPost that there was no excuse for Vance, the running mate of former President …

The Texas Tribune reports: The City Council on Tuesday banned transgender people from using restrooms outside of the sex assigned to them at birth, following an emotionally charged exchange between residents and city leaders. In a 5-2 vote, members of the council expanded a 1989 ordinance that prohibits individuals from entering restrooms of the opposite sex, suggesting they were doing …

CNN reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a scathing assessment of the modern Republican Party in an upcoming biography, saying the “MAGA movement is completely wrong” and that Ronald Reagan “wouldn’t recognize” the party today. “I think Trump was the biggest factor in changing the Republican Party from what Ronald Reagan viewed and he wouldn’t recognize today,” McConnell told …