President Donald Trump told a crowd of his most loyal MAGA supporters in Tennessee that he could "say the stupidest things" and they'd still clap " as Republicans ramp up their campaigning ahead of the midterm elections. The 80-year-old president appeared at a rally in Clarksville, about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, to "supercharge" his loyal supporters on Saturday, according to the Republican National Committee. Trump's MAGA base didn't seem fazed by his blunt remarks, or even as he questioned why he was even campaigning in the state since Sen. Bill Hagerty and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running for governor, are both polling ahead in their respective races.
Three decades before the Pentagon announced plans to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood mass shooter, legendary comedian George Carlin imagined an America where capital punishment became televised entertainment as a handy distraction from the country's problems. The late comic's infamous riff was part of his 1996 HBO special "Back in Town," when he proposed executions as public spectacle, leaning in on the idea with increasingly gruesome ideas, including "naked upside down crucifixions on TV once a week at halftime in the Monday Night Football game." The old bit, however, was revived Friday by dozens of internet users on X who saw some parallel in reporting about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's announcement that Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at Fort Hood in 2009, will face a firing squad on Dec. 3 and that Americans will be able to watch.
The Pentagon admitted that more troops have died in the Middle East than it had previously publicly reported, raising the official number of U.S. service members who died during the war against Iran to 21. The two deaths were from noncombat causes. Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, a member of the Army National Guard from Queens, New York, died in Kuwait on March 6. In September, an unidentified member of the Navy died by suicide, according to a Pentagon official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A third death occurred as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. military's effort to combat ISIS. Sgt. Devin A. Seibel, 26, died in Iraq in May after a training accident.
The federal budget deficit rose to nearly $2 trillion for the past fiscal year, spurred in part by ballooning interest payments and tariff refunds, the Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday. read more
An ICE officer shot a man in New York City on Thursday as the man's 5-year-old child was in the car, officials said ... read more
Putin thought Ukraine would be as easy to conquer as the GOP. What a dipshit.