BY MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

TUESDAY
OCTOBER 29, 2024

I’m the opposite of a Nazi!” 

— Donald Trump, reassuring us that he is definitely, totally, absolutely not a Nazi.

CITIZEN MUSK

Billionaires are running amok in the final phase of the 2024 election, vetoing newspaper endorsements and splashing out huge sums to influence the outcome. This is the American oligarchy, Bernie Sanders told Crooked Media. 

- Is the Washington Post okay? This week, the paper seemed to embody the [“this is fine”]([link removed]) dog meme, doing business as usual while suffering through a red-hot-flaming scandal after billionaire owner Jeff Bezos blocked its editorial board from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris — [prompting 250,000 subscribers]([link removed]), about 10 percent of its total, to bail. The newspaper — which famously brought down the Nixon administration and won Pulitzers for its work [chronicling authoritarianism]([link removed]) — appeared to fall victim to Bezos’s own capitalistic desire to stay on speaking terms with whoever becomes the next president… especially if its former President Donald Trump. The Amazon overlord has many reasons to cozy up to Trump, which is, ironically, explained in a TikTok… [by the Washington Post]([link removed]). 

- Bezos [insisted there’s]([link removed]) no quid-pro-quo here. At the end of the day, however, he still owns Amazon and space launch company Blue Origin, which compete for government contracts. (It’s especially fishy, considering Blue Origin executives [met with Trump the same day]([link removed]) that Bezos stopped the endorsement.) Bezos admitted the situation doesn’t look great, writing: “When it comes to the appearance of conflict, I am not an ideal owner of the Post.” That’s an understatement!
 

- Bezos isn’t the only billionaire throwing his weight (and shit-load of money) around. The Los Angeles Times, owned by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, also snubbed a Harris endorsement last week. Billionaire conspiracy theorist Elon Musk splashed out $44 million to boost Trump in the first two weeks of October alone, after giving his pro-Trump America PAC $75 million over the summer. Musk had already been boosting Republican profiles and tweets [more than those of other users]([link removed]) on his X social media platform — and, lately, he’s been raising questions about the [legality of his $1 million daily giveaway]([link removed]) to swing-state voters who sign his PAC's petition. A group of just 150 ultra-rich families has spent a total of $1.9 billion to support presidential and congressional candidates in this cycle — 60 percent more than billionaires doled out in 2020, according to a new report by a [group called Americans for Tax Fairness]([link removed]).

Rich people spending on elections isn’t new — but “we're now seeing it in a way we have never seen it before,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told Crooked Media’s own Jon Lovett [in an interview released today]([link removed]). 

- The long-serving progressive senator (correctly) blamed the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court case, which declared that corporations can spend literally as much as they want on campaigns. Big money now owns the political process, Sanders said: “So it's Elon Musk putting in zillions of dollars and working very hard for Trump.”
 

- Other factors make 2024 feel new, too, like the rise of Silicon Valley and social media oligarchs; the decline of traditional media and digital media alike; and Trump’s self-interested, transactional approach to politics. Some billionaires just seem scared of Trump — who is, after all, yet another billionaire in this drama, with his own new social media company, Truth Social. Over the past two years, Trump has [vowed to punish or prosecute]([link removed]) his political enemies over 100 times. He [threatened to imprison]([link removed]) Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for “the rest of his life” if the [recently-swagged-out]([link removed]) tech bro plots against his rise to power. Trump has meanwhile floated giving Musk a job in his potential administration. The message is clear: Get on Trump’s good side, or else. 

- Sanders says there’s not enough talk about getting billionaires and corporations out of politics. “The Democratic establishment has not been strong enough in saying, ‘You know what? We are going to stand with the working class of this country against big money interests and we're going to create an economy that works for ordinary people, not just wealthy campaign contributors,’” Sanders said. “That's the message … I need to be hearing.”

The rich have enough expensive toys. It would be kinda cool if they’d stop treating American democracy like their plaything.

 

THE STRUGGLE ISRAEL

Israel is facing international criticism for banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) — the main aid group helping Palestinians in Gaza — from operating in Israel. The new law would “devastate” the humanitarian response in the territory, a senior U.N. official told What A Day.
 
The new law, if implemented, [would allow]([link removed]) the agency to operate in Gaza and the West Bank. But it’ll make it harder by blocking humanitarian aid routes, closing its office in East Jerusalem and restricting work permits for employees. Israel has long accused UNRWA of having ties to militant groups, which the agency has denied. 
 
“As it stands right now, if the government fully implements the legislation, it will basically devastate the humanitarian response in Gaza,” Bill Deere, director of UNRWA’s Washington Representative Office, said in a phone call today.
 
UNRWA fills a massive void in the region. It’s the primary organization providing food, medical care and even housing to millions of Palestinian across the Middle East, including the West Bank and Gaza. UNRWA educates thousands of children, runs dozens of primary health care clinics, and provides social service support to over 100,000 people in the region, Deere said. 
 
The law would hinder those efforts. There would also be no allowable contact between the agency and Israel, meaning that UNRWA employees wouldn’t be able to move around in Palestinian territories “without being subject to possible attack,” Deere added. Israel’s parliament [ruled that exceptions]([link removed]) could be made.
 
“You don't just wake up on Tuesday in Gaza and say, ‘I'm going to go here today. We're going there today.’ It all has to be de-conflicted before you go anywhere and that side,” he said. Asked whether UNRWA would be able to operate in Gaza or the West Bank: “Absolutely not.”
 

WHAT A SPONSOR

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WHAT ELSE?

Israel killed at least 109 people, including children, with airstrikes in the Gaza Strip overnight, [according to local health officials]([link removed]). It’s Israel’s deadliest attack in weeks, as the military shows no signs of slowing its operation in the territory.
 
The Hezbollah militant group [named cleric Naim Kassem]([link removed]) as its new leader, almost two months after Israel assassinated its former head. Hezbollah has repeatedly attacked Israel since last year, pledging to stop once Israel ends its war in Gaza. Kaseem vowed to continue the group’s objectives “until victory is achieved.”
 
In an exclusive interview with Pod Save America airing Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said that she understands why some progressives are hesitant to vote for Kamala Harris because of U.S. policy toward Gaza. But she has a message for them: “You're just never going to find a politician that aligns with you completely in every single way … I do not believe in ascribing to a strategy of giving up the power that we have and allowing this decision to be made not by us.”
 
Elon Musk purchased a brand new Musk family compound to house his unusually large family. That includes his 11 known children and two of their three mothers, the [New York Times]([link removed]) reports. Is this just a signature weird publicity stunt considering how little time he spends with his almost dozen children? You be the judge. 
 
The editor of Puerto Rico’s biggest newspaper today urged all Puerto Ricans to [vote for Kamala Harris]([link removed]). “The entire world has been stunned by such a repugnant display of hate that evokes memories of the speeches of Nazism and Fascism, which aimed to eliminate minorities,” reads the editorial in El Nuevo Día, citing the MAGA rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. “Is this the great America we want?”
 
MAGA crony Steve Bannon was [released from prison]([link removed]) today and feels “empowered,” he said. The rest of us are feeling “unsafe.” 

Barbara Pierce Bush, former President George W. Bush’s daughter, said that [she’s endorsing Kamala Harris]([link removed]) and hopes other voters will help “protect women’s rights.”

For election week, we’re going all-in with daily coverage of every race, every count, and every legal curveball. 
 
[What A Day]([link removed]) will be fresh in your feeds, with Jane Coaston breaking down what you need to know in 20 minutes.
 
[Pod Save America]([link removed]) will release new episodes with in depth analysis of the latest news every morning until the race is called.
 
And in case the Trump campaign is feeling loose with their legal challenges, Crooked’s go-to legal experts from [Strict Scrutiny]([link removed]) will stop by on shows across the network to unpack breaking news, plus drop bonus episodes on their feed for those who want more.
 
You can find all of this on your favorite podcast platform and YouTube!

 
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Nerds Gummy Clusters have [boosted the candy company’s sales]([link removed]) from $40 million in 2018 to $800 million last year, according to the New York Times. One day, these could overthrow Reese’s as America’s favorite candy, mark my words.

Travis and Jason Kelce were [named the sexiest podcast hosts]([link removed]'%20superstar%20girlfriend%20Taylor%20Swift.) of 2024, followed by Penn Badgley, Josh Peck and T.J. Holmes. I know a few guys who would probably beg to differ…
 
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