Mayoral Hopefuls Tread Lightly In First Major Debate

“Donald Trump on Tuesday falsely claimed in a campaign fundraising email that President Biden was ‘locked & loaded ready to take me out’ during a 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate for classified documents, an extraordinary distortion of a standard FBI policy on the use of deadly force during such operations,” the Washington Post reports.

Nearly three in five Americans wrongly believe the U. S. is in an economic recession, and the majority blame the Biden administration, according to a Harris poll conducted exclusively for The Guardian. The survey found persistent pessimism about the economy as election day draws closer. For members: Everything Is Terrible, But I’m Fine

“The Congressional Leadership Fund, an independent group affiliated with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), plans to reserve $141 million in fall advertising this week, with spending planned for about 30 races that it has identified as likely to decide the balance of Congress,” the Washington Post reports. “The initial spending plans are nearly $20 million larger than similar reservations that the group made in 2022, while focusing on a much narrower battleground map — including money for just 37 media markets, down from about 50 markets two years ago.

Donald Trump leads Joe Biden 48% to 44% across the seven swing states being polled by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult. In the “Blue Wall” battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Biden and Trump are separated by no more than 2 percentage points. Biden also gained ground from April in each of the competitive Sun Belt states.

“The fourth member of Speaker Mike Johnson’s senior staff is leaving the Capitol, another noteworthy departure from the Louisiana Republican’s office in the months leading up to an election,” Punchbowl News reports.

“More than one in 10 Americans with federal student loans have been approved for some measure of debt relief under President Joe Biden, the White House said, as it announced a new round of forgiveness,” Bloomberg reports. Associated Press: “The Education Department announced the latest round of cancellation on Wednesday, saying it will erase $7.7 billion in federal student loans.