Cockburn

Cockburn

Mischief, mayhem and Washington gossip. Send tips and party invites to cockburn@thespectator.com.

Jennifer Rubin’s resignation from the Washington Post is surely imminent

From our US edition

The non-endorsement is the new endorsement! Hot on the heels of the Los Angeles Times’s decision not to endorse a candidate in the presidential race, a controversial call made by the paper's owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong that has been met with multiple staff resignations, the Washington Post is following suit. A statement published Friday reads: "The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates." Public statements from leading Post personalities have been aghast. Columnist Karen Attiah tweeted, "Jesus Christ." Then, an hour later, "..." Then an hour later still, "What an absolute stab in the back.

jennifer rubin
election

Election night plans… soirée or flee?

From our US edition

Clinton dips in the Lake You can’t teach the Big Dog new tricks… Bill Clinton cemented his reputation as the Harris campaign’s least helpful surrogate this week in an appearance where he branded Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Arizona, “someone who is physically attractive.”“Bill Clinton has officially turned into every other married man over the age of sixty-five in Scottsdale — embarrassing themselves by publicly hitting on women thirty-three years their junior,” a Lake staffer told Cockburn. Lake is only two years older than Monica Lewinsky.

Can Kamala Harris answer a single question?

From our US edition

It’s official. Donald Trump is “like Hitler” and Kamala Harris — even though she does “pray everyday, sometimes twice a day,” can’t seem to answer questions. Her "joyful" campaign took a confusing turn in her CNN town hall in Pennsylvania Wednesday night. She opened with an attack on Donald Trump, in answer to Anderson Cooper’s question about John Kelly’s claims. Kamala says Donald Trump is “increasingly unstable,” “unfit,” “fascist to the core” and that “he himself has said he would terminate the constitution of the United States.” It wasn’t until much later that “joy” and “optimism” were mentioned. The audience at the Delaware County town hall consisted of undecided voters.

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AOC sets the stage for herself at Pennsylvania Harris-Walz rally

From our US edition

State College, Pennsylvania Cockburn wandered curiously up a bustling College Avenue in State College yesterday toward the State Theatre, where Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was set to take the stage and stump for the Harris-Walz campaign. He was waylaid along the way by a group of Republicans waving flags and ringing a cowbell alongside a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump. The “counter-protesters,” as they described themselves, were garnering numerous supportive honks and thumbs-up from cars driving by. They told Cockburn only one person had yelled an obscenity. So much for the Divided States of America! Down the street, two lines had formed half an hour before AOC’s scheduled showtime.

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Donald Trump, king of comedy?

From our US edition

In spooky season, it’s only appropriate that the “joy” has been drawn out of the Harris campaign like a demon facing an exorcist. It may have found a new host in her opponent: former president Donald Trump brought down the house at the Al Smith dinner for Catholic charities in New York City last night, which Kamala opted to skip. Trump has also faced criticism this week for canceling events and dodging interviews with CNBC and the Shade Room. His remarks are worth watching in their entirety (you can do so below), but here are some choice one-liners. Clearly Trump has benefited from keeping the company of comedians Andrew Schulz and Theo Von lately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

comedy

Russell Brand lauds magical amulet keeping him safe from WiFi

From our US edition

Comedian-turned-“right-wing Christian influencer" Russell Brand has discovered a new stream of income: hawking enchanted objects. Brand appeared in a recent TikTok ad for Aires Tech, claiming “airports are places full of WiFi and all sorts of evil energies,” and so everyone needs a “magical amulet from Aires Tech” to keep you safe from “all sorts of signals out there.” The amulet, or the “Lifetune Flex,” sells for $239.99 on their website. The gold encasing and green center make it look like something that belongs around Doctor Strange’s neck: very majestic, very wizardly. Criticism, understandably, abounds. “They are gutter-slime,” a video essayist tweeted, grouping Russell Brand with Jordan Peterson.

russell brand amulet

The New York Times guide to ignoring Kamala’s plagiarism

From our US edition

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo found five instances of plagiarism in Kamala Harris’s book Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer, he revealed in a Substack article Monday. Harris, or her ghostwriter Joan O’C. Hamilton, lifted five passages almost word-for-word from an NBC News, Urban Institute and Bureau of Justice Assistance report, as well as a John Jay College of Criminal Justice press release and, most embarrassingly, Wikipedia. The book, though some of the wording is changed slightly, cites none of these sources. “Taken in total, there is certainly a breach of standards here,” Rufo writes.

kamala harris plagiarism

The Gretchen Whitmer chip video IS the Democratic message for 2024

From our US edition

Early voting has started and the efforts to sway undecided voters are growing more unorthodox as we head toward Election Day. Donald Trump deconstructed the art of the dismissive nickname on Andrew Schulz’s podcast; Kamala Harris likewise partook in a much-vaunted “media blitz” through the friendly studios of The View, Call Her Daddy, Stephen Colbert — and the slightly more testing environs of 60 Minutes. Dem VP pick Tim Walz is also kicking off what Politico bills as a “man-focused media blitz,” which comes across a bit Harvey Fierstein. As for high-profile Harris backers?

Tim Ballard files lawsuits against women accusing him of sexual assault

From our US edition

Timothy Ballard, the founder of Operation Underground Railroad and subject of the film Sound of Freedom, has filed lawsuits against seven women who are accusing him of sexual assault: Celeste Borys, Sashaleigha Hightower, Mary Hall, Kira Lynch, Krista Kacey, Bree Righter and Amy Morgan Davis. Specific accusations against Ballard include pretending to have sex with Borys in the shower, grinding, grabbing, kissing and licking. “It was obvious that he had an erection,” Mary Hall said at one point. Ballard founded OUR, a nonprofit organization in 2013 after working for the Department of Homeland Security for eleven years and a short stint with the CIA in 2001. OUR’s mission is to end sex trafficking.

tim ballard

Karine Jean-Pierre spars with Peter Doocy while dressed as Batman villain

From our US edition

Another day, another spat between White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Fox News’s Peter Doocy. This time Jean-Pierre, dressed in an outlandish pinstripe suit, snatched up her fastidiously labeled binder and walked out after attempting to answer Doocy’s questions about hurricane relief funds, which she claimed were based on “misinformation.” Karine Jean-Pierre faced reporters Tuesday in an oversized gray — male? — suit and a bright purple collar shirt. After giving her “topper,” which mainly memorialized lives lost on October 7 and addressed the devastation and conspiracy theories surrounding Hurricane Helene, Jean-Pierre took questions from reporters. “Thank you, Karine,” Peter Doocy said in minute forty-four, after thirty or so minutes of questions.

Boeing workers fight for fair pay… on beach vacation

From our US edition

“When Boeing fails... BET ON SPORTS! #STRIKE #IAM751 #NFL #MLB,” a striking Boeing employee recently posted on Facebook, geotagging a three-star hotel and casino in Washington State. Posts in a private Facebook group purporting to belong to the striking workers of Boeing reveal that, amid the first Boeing employee strike in almost two decades, the workers of the world are uniting on vacation. The group, called “Boeing Employees (Lazy B),” contains a multitude of posts from striking members on vacation in Mexico, gambling in casinos and on fishing trips. “On strike in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Mexico. #iam751 #boeing,” another post reads. A third reads, “strike fishing again.

Eric Adams’s Turkey trot

From our US edition

“Brooklyn is the Istanbul of America,” now-Mayor Eric Adams told a pair of Turks on camera after they asked him for political favors in a cameo he made in a Turkish romcom. Now, in real life, Adams is accused of doing just that, following a sweeping indictment unsealed by prosecutors in Manhattan who allege that he fraudulently obtained $10 million in public campaign funds and accepted over $100,000 in bribes in order to facilitate a new Turkish consulate.“In 2014, Eric Adams, the defendant, became Brooklyn borough president.

New York mayor Eric Adams indicted on federal charges

From our US edition

Talk about making history: New York City mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a federal grand jury, the first sitting NYC mayor to face a federal charge while in post. Adams, who has served as mayor for three years, has been the subject of a federal investigation into whether his campaign was on the receiving end of illegal foreign donations from the Turkish government. New York is currently hosting the annual United Nations General Assembly; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey's president, left the city hours before Adams's indictment. The indictment itself remains sealed, with more details expected to be revealed later today. Adams previously served as Brooklyn borough president and was an officer in New York City police forces for two decades.

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Political Pattie’s

DC bar Political Pattie’s gets hazed for being bipartisan

From our US edition

A new DC bar dedicated to crossing partisan lines, “Political Pattie’s,” has taken the “political” out of its name... though Cockburn will note the removal is “temporary.” Owners Drew Benbow and Sydney Bradford dropped an Instagram post on Tuesday about their name and logo change, as the “representation of the red elephant was hurtful to the community.”  “Political Pattie’s aims to be a fun, inclusive space that pokes fun at politics, not the pain politics often causes,” the post read. The disclaimer and apology (or more accurately, apologia) came after “mean-spirited online backlash.” But here’s the tea: Benbow and Bradford bought out “the Dirty Goose,” an LGBTQ bar.

Inside Tucker Carlson’s ‘Zyn competitor’

From our US edition

The predilections of Pastor Robinson 2024 is proving to be an election year where so much seems to happen and so little seems to change. This week, for example, you might have found yourself alarmed as Donald Trump met the Red Scare girls at a crypto bar in New York (Cockburn agrees that someone should get Barron to convince him to go on the podcast, for what it’s worth).Or you may have drawn a sharp intake of breath as New York magazine placed its Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi on leave after, per Nuzzi’s statement to Status, “the nature of some communication” between her and RFK Jr. — what can’t that man do? — “turned personal.

Softballs for Kamala at the National Association of Black Journalists

From our US edition

Vice President Kamala Harris met with the National Association of Black Journalists for an interview this afternoon. Instead of going back-to-back with Donald Trump for his explosive interview with the NABJ in July — she spoke to a historically black sorority instead — Kamala rescheduled for September. And bless Politifact’s heart, they partnered with the NABJ, per a tweet before the interview, to fact-check her. These ruthless and cut-throat journalists would not let Kamala get by without a real grilling. Harris avoided many pointed questions. The journalists — who included Politico’s Eugene Daniels, a big Harris fan — seemed to think Kamala’s policies weren’t radical enough.

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Donald Trump’s Project 2025 problems

From our US edition

Project 2025 problems Despite Donald Trump’s best efforts, Project 2025 isn’t going anywhere. Its former director, Paul Dans, made the media rounds this week, where he attacked the leadership of the Trump campaign in a New York Times interview, while simultaneously telling CNN that “Trump has nothing to do with Project 2025.”Dans, who stepped down from Project 2025 over the summer, accused top Trump aides Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles of “malpractice” for scheduling a presidential debate so early that it allowed President Joe Biden enough time to drop out. He is, however, excited at the involvement of Corey Lewandowski, Ben Carson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Azealia Banks flames Milo Yiannopoulos as they sever professional ties

From our US edition

Milo Yiannopoulos has fallen out with another Trump-supporting musical artist. The right-wing provocateur and one-time intern of Marjorie Taylor Greene had been teasing his intention to start managing Azealia Banks, a rapper and singer as talented as she is controversial best known for her songs "212" and "Anna Wintour." "At Yeezy, I discovered a gift for navigating, protecting and advising mercurial and demanding geniuses," he tweeted ten days ago. "I deliver and close ruthlessly, effectively and efficiently. So I’m moving into artist management full time. Signing my first client in a few days. You will, as they say, gag." Banks retweeted his post. Yet days later, on the eve of Banks's UK tour, the blossoming working relationship appears to have unraveled.

azealia banks
melania trump

Melania Trump disgusted by assassination attempt in book promo

From our US edition

“The attempt to end my husband's life was a horrible, distressing experience,” Melania Trump, former first lady, said in a polished video on her social media pages Tuesday. The short reel was a promo for her new memoir coming out on October 8, per the book’s Amazon page. https://twitter.com/i/status/1833476085998063741 Melania continued: “Now, the silence around it feels heavy. I can’t help but wonder, why didn’t law enforcement officials arrest the shooter before the speech? There is definitely more to the story, and we need to uncover the truth.” Cockburn was riveted as he watched Melania’s beautifully edited face fade into the background and her new book, titled Melania, appear with the words “order now, melaniatrump.com.

Swift endorsement: Taylor backs Kamala after debate

From our US edition

Cockburn knew Taylor Swift was trouble when she walked in. Too much time in Hollywood (Cockburn saw it coming when she switched genres from country to pop), has turned the Tennessee Christian girl into a "childless cat lady" who just endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Swift took to Instagram immediately after presidential debate to declare: Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.

taylor swift