A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Related | Even Fox News says hell no to Hegseth's ridiculous demands

By Stephanie Armour for KFF While plowing a wheat field in rural Washington state in the 1990s, William Wallace spotted a gray plane overhead that he believed was releasing chemicals to make him sick. The rancher began to suspect that all white vapor trails from aircraft might be dangerous. He shared his concern with reporters, acknowledging it sounded a little like “The X Files,” a science fiction television show. Academics cite Wallace’s story as one of the catalysts behind a fringe concept that has spread among adherents to the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement and is gaining traction at the highest levels of the federal government. Its treatment as a serious issue underscores that under President Donald Trump, unscientific ideas have unusual power to take hold and shape public health policy. The concept posits that airplane vapor trails, or contrails, are really “chemtrails” containing toxic substances that poison people and the terrain. Another version alleges planes or devices are being deployed by the federal government, private companies, or researchers to trigger big weather changes, such as hurricanes, or to alter the Earth’s climate, emitting hazardous chemicals in the process. Several GOP lawmakers and leaders in the Trump administration remain convinced the concepts are legitimate, though scientists have sought to discredit such claims. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to investigate climate and weather control, and is expected to create a task force that will recommend possible federal action, according to a former agency official, an internal agency memo obtained by KFF Health News, and a consultant who helped with the memo. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears during a budget hearing before a House subcommittee at the U.S. Capitol on May 14. The plans, along with comments by top GOP lawmakers, show how rumors and conspiracy theories can gain an air of legitimacy due to social media and a political climate infused with falsehoods, some political scientists and researchers say. “When we have low access to information or low trust in our sources of information, a lot of times we turn to our peer groups, the groups we are members of and we define ourselves by,” said Timothy Tangherlini, a folklorist and professor of information at the University of California-Berkeley. He added that the government’s investigation of conspiracy theories “gives the impression of having some authoritative element.” HHS is expected to appoint a special government employee to investigate climate and weather control, according to Gray Delany, former head of the agency’s MAHA agenda, who said he drafted the memo. The agency has interviewed applicants to lead a “chemtrails” task force, said Jim Lee, a blogger focused on weather and climate who Delany said helped edit the memo, which Lee confirmed. “HHS does not comment on future or potential policy decisions and task forces,” agency spokesperson Emily Hilliard said in an email. The memo alleges that “aerosolized heavy metals such as Aluminum, Barium, and Strontium, as well as other materials such as sulfuric acid precursors, are sprayed into the atmosphere under the auspices of combatting global warming,” through a process of stratospheric aerosol injection, or SAI. “There are serious concerns SAI spraying is leading to increased heavy metal content in the atmosphere,” the memo states. The memo claims, without providing evidence, that the substances cause elevated heavy-metal content in the atmosphere, soil, and waterways, and that aluminum is a toxic product used in SAI linked to dementia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, asthma-like illnesses, and other chronic illnesses. The July 14 memo was addressed to White House health adviser Calley Means, who didn’t respond to a voicemail left by a reporter seeking comment. High-level federal government officials are presenting false claims as facts without evidence and referring to events that not only haven’t occurred but, in many cases, are physically impossible, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California. “That is a pretty shocking memo,” he said. “It doesn’t get more tinfoil hat. They really believe toxins are being sprayed.” Kennedy has previously promoted debunked chemtrail theories. In May, he was asked on “Dr. Phil Primetime” about chemicals being sprayed into the stratosphere to change the Earth’s climate. “It’s done, we think, by DARPA,” Kennedy said, referring to a Department of Defense agency that develops emerging technology for the military’s use. “And a lot of it now is coming out of the jet fuel. Those materials are put in jet fuel. I’m going to do everything in my power to stop it. We’re bringing on somebody who’s going to think only about that.” DARPA officials didn’t return a message seeking comment. Federal Messaging Deploying chemtrails to poison people is just one of many baseless conspiracy theories that have found traction among Trump administration health policy officials led by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist before entering politics. He continues to promote a supposed link between vaccines and autism, as well as make statements connecting fluoride in drinking water to arthritis, bone fractures, thyroid disease, and cancer. The World Health Organization says fluoride is safe when used as recommended. Delany, who was ousted in August from HHS, said Kennedy has expressed strong interest in chemtrails. “This is an issue that really matters to MAHA,” said Delany, referring to the informal movement associated with Kennedy that is composed of people who are skeptical of evidence-based medicine. The memo also alleges that “suspicious weather events have been occurring and have increased awareness of the issue to the public, some of which have been acknowledged to have been caused by geoengineering activities, such as the flooding in Dubai in 2024.” Geoengineering refers to intentional large-scale efforts to change the climate to counteract global warming. “It is unconscionable that anyone should be allowed to spray known neurotoxins and environmental toxins over our nation’s citizens, their land, food and water supplies,” Delany’s memo states. Scientists, meteorologists, and other branches of the federal government say these assertions are largely incorrect. Some points in the memo are accurate, including concerns that commercial aircraft contribute to acid rain. But critics say the memo builds on kernels of truth before veering into unscientific fringe theories. Efforts to control the weather are being made, largely by states and local governments seeking to combat droughts, but the results are modest and highly localized. It isn’t possible to manipulate large-scale weather events, scientists say. Severe flooding in the United Arab Emirates in 2024 couldn’t have been caused by weather manipulation because no technology could create that kind of rainfall event, Maarten Ambaum, a meteorologist at the University of Reading who studies Gulf region rainfall patterns, said in a statement on the floods. Similar debunked claims emerged this year after central Texas experienced devastating floods. The Government Accountability Office concluded in a 2024 report that questions remain as to the effectiveness of weather modification. Research into changing the climate has been conducted, including work by one private company that engaged in field tests. Still, federal agencies say no ongoing or large-scale projects are underway. Study of the concept remains in the research phase. The Environmental Protection Agency says there are no large-scale or government efforts to affect the Earth’s climate. “Solar geoengineering is not occurring via direct delivery by commercial aircraft and is not associated with aviation contrails,” the agency says on its website. Widespread Misinformation Misperceptions about weather, climate control, and airplane contrails extend beyond the Trump administration, scientists said. In September, a congressional House committee hearing titled “Playing God With the Weather — A Disastrous Forecast” involved two hours of debate on the once-fringe idea. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who chaired the hearing, has introduced legislation to ban weather and climate control, with a fine of up to $100,000 and up to five years in prison. Marjorie Taylor Greene outside the Capitol in May 2024. Some Democrats objected to the nature of the discussion. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) accused Greene of using “the platform of Congress to proffer anti-science theories, to platform climate denialism.” Frequently citing chemtrails, GOP lawmakers have introduced legislation in about two dozen states to ban weather modification or geoengineering. Florida passed a bill to establish an online portal so residents can report alleged violations. “The Free State of Florida means freedom from governments or private actors unilaterally applying chemicals or geoengineering to people or public spaces,” GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press statement this spring. Meanwhile, the chemtrail conspiracy has permeated popular culture. The title track on singer Lana Del Ray’s seventh studio album is entitled “Chemtrails Over the Country Club.” Bill Maher dove into the chemtrail myth on his podcast “Club Random,” saying, “This is nuts. It’s just nuts.” And “Chemtrails,” a psychological thriller, wrapped filming in July. Social media has given wing to the chemtrails concept and other fringe ideas involving public health. They include an outlandish belief that Anthony Fauci, who advised both Trump and President Joe Biden on the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, created the AIDS epidemic. There is no evidence of such a link, public health leaders say. Related | EPA chief clashes with MAGA over weather conspiracies Researchers say another false belief by those on the far right holds that people who received covid vaccines could shed the virus, causing infertility in the unvaccinated. There is no evidence of such a connection, scientists and researchers say. More severe weather events due to global warming may be driving some of the baseless theories, scientists say. And risks occur when such ideas take hold among the general population or policymakers, some public health leaders say. Climate researchers, including Swain, say they’ve received death threats. Lee, the blogger, said he disagrees with some of the more far-fetched beliefs and is aware of the harm they can cause. “There are people wanting to shoot down planes because they think they are chemtrails,” said Lee, adding that some believers are afraid to venture outside when plane vapor trails are visible overhead. Related | RFK Jr. fails to solve yet another MAGA conspiracy There is also no evidence that plane contrails cause health problems or are related to intentional efforts to control the climate, according to the EPA and other scientists. The memo and focus at HHS on climate and weather control are alarming because they perpetuate conspiracies, said David Keith, a professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago. “It’s unmoored to reality,” he said. “I expected there were documents like this, but seeing it in print is nevertheless shocking. Our government is being driven by nonsensical dreck from dark corners of social media.”

It’s such a boring cliche to say that when it comes to President Donald Trump, every accusation is a confession. But just because it’s a cliche doesn’t mean it isn’t depressingly, grindingly, predictably true.  That’s why it should come as no surprise that Trump is planning on using the Internal Revenue Service to criminally target left-leaning groups. In some ways, the only surprise is that it took him this long to get around to it.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a Trump ally, Gary Shapley, is set to replace Guy Ficco, the career head of the agency’s criminal investigative unit. Shapley is making a list, which always bodes well, right? This is a list of liberal donors and left-leaning groups that Trump wants to go after, and Shapley is the guy to do it.  Shapley’s main achievement at the IRS before this was ceaselessly investigating Hunter Biden and styling himself a “whistleblower” for doing it. So, pretty much the perfect guy to oversee Trump’s ridiculously illegal attacks on his political opposition.  George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations Of course, of course, of course, the Journal reports that billionaire George Soros and groups affiliated with him are on the list. Last month, The New York Times reported that a senior Department of Justice official had drafted plans for multiple U.S. attorney offices to criminally investigate Soros’ Open Society Foundations.  What for, you might ask? Well, arson and material support of terrorism, of course!  That’s patent nonsense, an absurd attempt to connect any random act at a protest Trump doesn’t like to some vast shadowy organized leftist criminal rebellion, but there’s no one stopping Trump from doing this, so why not expand to using the IRS as well, right? And to be perfectly clear: Shapley is being turned loose to do criminal, not civil, investigations here.  Recall how much conservatives howled over the fact that the IRS under former President Barack Obama had the goddamn gall to carefully review the applications of conservative groups for tax-exempt status? Even viewed through the most uncharitable lens, the Obama administration subjected those groups to heightened scrutiny in the application process at most—and even that is debatable.  They pretended that was weaponization, but this is what it really looks like. This was the inevitable next step after Trump’s designation of antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Sure, there’s no such thing as a domestic terrorist organization designation, and there’s no such thing as antifa as a defined group, but that’s the whole point: the definition is so deliberately mushy that it allows him to say any left-leaning group is terrorism.  Related | As IRS allows churches to endorse candidates, Texas pastors may gain political power At the same time, when it comes to conservative churches, the IRS has been ordered to stand down and no longer enforce the Johnson Amendment, which had prohibited them from endorsing candidates. Those organizations now get to keep their tax-exempt status while preaching right-wing endorsements from the pulpit, but on the other side of the aisle, not so much. Meanwhile, some folks like Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Mitch McConnell are going to have to update their talking points. And Ohio GOP Rep. Warren Davidson? This is not the time to be calling for the IRS to be closed because “It’s an agency that can be weaponized. And I think those kinds of agencies should just go away.”  Guys, weaponization is good now! All my cool dudes love weaponization! What’s the point of seizing all the levers of power if you can’t use them to prosecute the opposition? Please revise your rants at your earliest convenience and let Shapley get to work.

President Donald Trump wants Americans to know that after months of embracing royal rhetoric and referring to himself as “king,” he doesn’t think of himself as one.  Trump’s revelation came on the eve of the nationwide “No Kings” protests during an interview with Fox Business conspiracy theorist Maria Bartiromo that aired on Friday morning. x x YouTube Video Bartiromo asked him if he believed that the planned “No Kings” rallies are connected to the Republican-initiated government shutdown. “The king—this is not a king. They’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump replied. As is often the case, Trump was lying. It isn’t protesters who have referred to Trump as a king. In fact, the entire protest movement is about the notion that America is not a monarchy and that Trump does not have unchecked royal powers as he has so often asserted. The No Kings website explains that “The president thinks his rule is absolute. But in America, we don’t have kings and we won’t back down against chaos, corruption, and cruelty.” Trump triggered much of the “no kings” rhetoric against him when the White House posted “long live the king” alongside a Photoshopped image of Trump wearing a crown in February. Trump also posted “he who saves his country does not violate any law” that same month, making it clear that he sees himself above the rule of law—like an out-of-control monarch. More recently, Trump has declared himself America’s “chief law enforcement officer,” which is a falsehood asserted to justify prosecuting his political detractors. Last week he even bragged that “we took the freedom of speech away,” which is a constitutional right of every American. Republicans have been attacking and smearing the “No Kings” protest movement nonstop, even absurdly asserting that the protests are violent with a “hate America” message and consist of “antifa-paid protesters.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has even repeatedly claimed that the movement was somehow responsible for the Republican’s government shutdown: “‘No Kings’ means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government.” It was already clear that Republicans feared “No Kings.” Trump’s decision to crawl away from his own rhetoric before a single protester has shown up to this new round of events speaks volumes about his weak standing on the issue of executive overreach.

President Donald Trump held a press conference Thursday, where he boasted that his deal-making skills have helped him end an imaginary eight wars. “I know about deals,” Trump said when asked about an upcoming meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I don't think any president’s ever ended a war, frankly. One war. I did eight of them.”  x x YouTube Video He didn’t, and he hasn’t. But that didn’t stop Trump from launching into a baseless attack on his predecessors.  “Did Bush ever end—do you think Biden ended a war? Biden started wars because he was stupid. But do you think Biden ended any wars? No, I don't think,” he said. Of course, Trump is wrong. President Joe Biden ended the war in Afghanistan, a conflict started by Republican President George W. Bush in 2001.  And Biden isn’t the only president who has ended a war. Richard Nixon ended the Vietnam War, Dwight D. Eisenhower ended the Korean War, Harry Truman ended World War II, Woodrow Wilson ended World War I, James Polk ended the Mexican-American War, and a guy named Abraham Lincoln ended a series of American wars. Then again, that’s nothing compared to Trump’s eight!

John Bolton—once President Donald Trump’s national security adviser and now one of his fiercest critics—has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland, according to CNN. Bolton, who’s expected to turn himself in as early as Friday, is just the latest in a string of criminal cases involving figures who’ve crossed paths with Trump and landed in his political crosshairs. The FBI raided Bolton’s home and Washington-based office two months ago, seizing several folders labeled “confidential” and documents that reportedly referenced weapons of mass destruction, according to Politico.  John Bolton It’s still unclear whether the charges prosecutors are pursuing stem directly from what agents found. CNN also reports that Bolton allegedly shared highly classified information with his wife and daughter over email. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador and longtime foreign policy hawk, has been one of Trump’s most outspoken detractors since leaving the administration. He called Trump unfit for office in his tell-all memoir and routinely blasted his handling of global affairs—making him a favorite target of the president’s wrath. Trump didn’t wait long to respond to the raid, calling Bolton a “sleazebag” and comparing the search to his own Mar-a-Lago ordeal. “It’s not a good feeling,” Trump told reporters. But his animosity toward Bolton isn’t new. Back in 2020, Trump told Fox News, “I believe that he’s a criminal, and I believe, frankly, he should go to jail” for allegedly mishandling classified information. Bolton’s legal team has rejected those claims. Attorney Abbe Lowell has said that Bolton committed no wrongdoing and that the seized materials were “ordinary records” for a former official to have. The timing of this case is hard to ignore, as it comes just weeks after the Justice Department brought charges against two other high-profile Trump foes: former FBI Director James Comey, who once ran the investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who went after the Trump Organization in a civil fraud case. Both have denied any wrongdoing, and critics argue that the wave of indictments points to a broader campaign of retribution. Former FBI Director James Comey According to ABC News, Bolton’s case is being run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland—unlike the Comey and James cases, which a Trump-appointed prosecutor is leading in Virginia. Reuters has also reported that some career prosecutors initially resisted moving forward, saying that more investigation was needed, but senior DOJ officials ultimately pressed ahead. The political stakes are obvious. Trump built his comeback campaign around punishing his perceived enemies, often leaning on the DOJ to act. Earlier this year, he even removed a federal prosecutor who he thought wasn’t acting fast enough against his opponents. Bolton, meanwhile, has already paid a price for speaking out. In January, Trump stripped him of his security clearance and Secret Service protection—a move widely seen as retaliation. The indictment is almost guaranteed to spark a fierce fight over whether the DOJ is upholding the law or caving to political pressure.  And for Bolton, it marks yet another collision course with the president he once served—a reminder of just how personal Trump’s pursuit of his critics has become.

A cartoon by Mike Luckovich. Related | Trump's minions waste millions of tax dollars on ads kissing his butt

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. What the heil? Swastika found in House Republican's office. Weird how this kind of thing keeps happening to the GOP. Total coincidence! Trump plans to open door to more terror attacks in blue states But, you know, he’s ending crime, etc., etc. John Fetterman faces party plot to kick him to the curb Trump’s favorite Democrat might soon be on his way out. The GOP's Nazi problem has the House speaker flustered Being the party of Nazis is hard work, okay? Trump team claims national parks are 'thriving' amid GOP shutdown If by “thriving” you mean “more dangerous than ever.” Cartoon: Won't be needing these Miranda rights, schmiranda rights. Trump and Musk made up—so now some rich schmuck might land his dream job Nothing says “American values” like billionaires helping billionaires. Trump's bajillion-dollar fantasy We’d love to know who taught this man math. Australia, how dare you besmirch right-wing crackpot Candace Owens Well, that’s one country that has standards … Click here to see more cartoons.

The latest lucky ducks to learn they’ll be illegally paid during the GOP’s government shutdown are those terrorizing immigrants. Hey there, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents, come on down! HuffPost obtained an internal Department of Homeland Security memo showing that despite the federal funding lapse, the White House has ordered the agency to pay officers at ICE, Border Patrol, and Customs and Border Protection.  The memo appears to be light on details like “Where is this money coming from?” and “What is the legal justification for this?” Nonetheless, DHS is ensuring them “full and timely payments” for the entirety of the shutdown. In fact, just so the most fascistic federal employees don’t miss a cent, they’ve been promised the money (and back pay) no later than Oct. 22.  If you want any better symbol of how only President Donald Trump’s favorite employees are getting paid, the DHS staff required to cut checks will not be paid for their efforts until after the shutdown ends, according to one HuffPost source.  Well, maybe they get paid. The administration is plotting a way to ignore the law that requires furloughed federal workers to be paid when a shutdown ends. In other words, all those DHS payroll folks might get the privilege of working pro bono during the shutdown.  But who cares about them, right? America’s masked fascists at ICE and CBP will now join military troops, including the Coast Guard, in getting paid during the shutdown.  Is this illegal?  A protester is arrested by police and federal officers outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 6. Folks, it is so illegal, and it is all just vibes. Trump has ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget to “use for the purpose of pay and allowances any funds appropriated by the Congress that remain available for expenditure in Fiscal Year 2026 to accomplish the scheduled disbursement of military pay and allowances.” So, the president is directing the defense secretary to use whatever funds he feels like to pay the troops, regardless of the fact that Congress may have appropriated those funds for other things—and, of course, regardless of the fact there is a government shutdown and funding has lapsed.  The New York Times headline writers are not meeting the moment at all, reporting this as Trump “expanding his authority” to spend federal money without Congress. This is not a thing. The president doesn’t have this authority. There’s nothing for him to expand. This is just sheer lawlessness where Trump is singlehandedly deciding how all tax dollars are spent. It’s from the same playbook as his idea of taking the revenue he got from singlehandedly imposing illegal tariffs, and illegally shuffling it over to farmers, who are being hurt by … his illegal tariffs. Gotta keep them voting Republican!  It’s the same impulse behind DHS demanding that airports show Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s little propaganda video, in which she attacks Democrats for the GOP’s shutdown. The administration wants to tie shutdown pain to Democrats while saving its favored groups from any pain at all.   In another new and ominous development, Trump is claiming a “very wealthy” person offered to pick up the tab and pay troops during the shutdown.  Arguably, this is worse than Trump decreeing he can ignore congressional appropriations and the funding lapse, and use money however he wants. Linking the payment of the military to the purported largesse of some unnamed donor is some end-of-empire shit. The military should not be beholden to the whims of a random billionaire—but it’s something Trump is now discussing, even if he’s saying it won’t happen.  All of these are moves to consolidate the loyalty of the military and other favored groups under Trump. He, Trump, is the one who stood up for them, who made sure they got paid, all while the Democrats kept the government shut down. He, Trump, kept money in their pockets and food on their table and a roof over their family’s heads while the Democrats kept the government shut down.  What wouldn’t you do for a guy like that?

President Donald Trump won in 2024 largely by arguing that he—unlike the Democrats—was focused on people’s economic insecurities. While Democrats debated Gaza, transgender rights, abortion, and democracy itself, Trump’s message centered largely on economic security. Trump had no actual policy platform to lower prices “on Day 1,” but that didn’t matter to a lot of voters. They simply wanted to be seen. While Democrats (me included) pointed to improving jobs and economic numbers, many Americans weren’t feeling good about their own finances—and at least someone acknowledged their pain. That message was so powerful that 46% of Latino voters backed Trump despite his explicitly racist rhetoric. A person’s concerns about bigotry and democracy are almost always outweighed by their worries about feeding their family. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, shown in 2004. Years ago, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards spoke about “two Americas” during his 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns. His argument was simple: There was one America for the rich and well-connected—with privilege, access to quality health care and education, and political influence—and there was another America for everyone else, where people struggled to make ends meet, juggled multiple jobs, lacked health care, sent their kids to underfunded schools, and had zero political power. Today, this “two Americas” divide has grown more stark. Earlier this year, an economic analysis by Moody’s Analytics found that the top 10% of earners—those making roughly $250,000 a year or more—now account for an astonishing 49.7% of all consumer spending. Thirty years ago, that figure was roughly 36%. Moody’s chief economist estimated that this same 10% now drives nearly a third of the nation’s gross domestic product. “The finances of the well-to-do have never been better, their spending never stronger, and the economy never more dependent on that group,” he told The Wall Street Journal. Education and income remain tightly linked, which is shown in government studies from 2018 and 2022. And 56% of college graduates backed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris last year. But among non-college-educated voters, her support was just 45%. So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that she won those making more than $100,000 a year, 51% to Trump’s 47%, while losing those earning less than $100,000 by the same margin, according to exit polls. It’s distressing that Democrats have lost the very argument they once defined. Edwards warned of two Americas—one with power and privilege, another struggling to survive. Twenty years later, that divide has deepened, and somehow it’s Trump who’s managed to speak to the people living in the second America. He doesn’t offer them solutions, only recognition—and in a country where so many feel unseen, that’s enough.  The greatest con in American political history isn’t just that Trump sold himself as their champion. It’s that Democrats stopped talking to them at all.

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By Sarah Jane Tribble for KFF Megan Waiters can recite the stories of dozens of people she has helped connect to the internet in western Alabama. A 7-year-old who couldn’t do classwork online without a tablet, and the 91-year-old she taught to check health care portals on a smartphone. “They have health care needs, but they don’t have the digital skills,” said Waiters, who is a digital navigator for an Alabama nonprofit. Her work has involved giving away computers and tablets while also teaching classes on how to use the internet for work and personal needs, like banking and health. “It’s like a foreign space.” Those stories are now bittersweet. Waiters is part of a network of digital navigators across the country whose work to bring others into the digital world was, at least in part, propped up by a $2.75 billion federal program that abruptly canceled funding this spring. The halt came after President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the Digital Equity Act was unconstitutional and pledged “no more woke handouts based on race!” The act lists exactly whom the money should benefit, including low-income households, older residents, some incarcerated people, rural Americans, veterans, and members of racial or ethnic minority groups. Politicians, researchers, librarians, and advocates said defunding the program, along with other changes in federal broadband initiatives, jeopardizes efforts to help rural and underserved residents participate in the modern economy and lead healthier lives. “You could see lives change,” said Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, recalling how they helped grandpas in Iowa check prescriptions online or laid-off factory workers fill out job applications. The Digital Equity Act is part of the sweeping 2021 infrastructure law, which included $65 billion to build high-speed internet infrastructure and connect millions without access to the internet. This year, Congress once again pushed for a modern approach to help Americans, mandating that state leaders prioritize new and emerging technologies through its $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. A KFF Health News analysis found that nearly 3 million people in America live in areas with shortages of medical professionals and where modern telehealth services are often inaccessible because of poor internet connections. The analysis found that in about 200 mostly rural counties where dead zones persist, residents live sicker and die earlier on average than people in the rest of the country. Access to high-speed internet is among a host of social factors, like food and safe housing, that help people lead healthier lives. “The internet provides this extra layer of resilience,” said Christina Filipovic, who leads the research for an initiative of the Institute for Business in the Global Context at Tufts University. The research group found in 2022 that access to high-speed internet correlated with fewer covid deaths, particularly in metro areas. Related | Telehealth abortion access could be challenged nationwide in new lawsuit During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal lawmakers launched a subsidy program paid for by the infrastructure law. That aid, called the Affordable Connectivity Program, aimed to connect more people to their jobs, schools, and doctors. In 2024, Congress did not renew funding for the subsidy program, which had enrolled about 23 million low-income households. This year, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick revamped and delayed the infrastructure law’s construction initiative — known as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, or BEAD — after announcing plans to reduce regulatory burdens. More than 40 states and territories have submitted final proposals to extend high-speed internet to underserved areas under the administration’s new guidelines, according to a Commerce Department dashboard. In May, the Digital Equity Act’s funding was terminated within days of Trump’s Truth Social post. While many states in 2022 had received money to plan their programs, the next round of funding, designated for states and agencies to implement the plans, had largely been awarded but not distributed. Instead, federal regulators — including the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the federal agency overseeing implementation of the Digital Equity Act — notified recipients that the grants would be terminated. The grants were created and administered with “unconstitutional racial preferences,” according to the letter. In Phoenix, officials learned in January that the city was slated to get $11.8 million to increase internet access and teach digital literacy, but they received an email May 20 stating that all grants, “except for grants to Native Entities,” had been terminated. “It’s a shame,” said Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat. The money, she said, would have helped 37,000 residents get internet access. Georgia’s Democratic leaders in July sent a letter to Lutnick and NTIA’s then-acting administrator, Adam Cassady, urging reinstatement of the money, noting that the federal cut ignores congressional intent and violates public trust. The act’s creator, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), said during an online press conference in May that Republican governors in 2024 supported the law and its funding when each state touted completing its required digital equity plans and asked for resources. Sen. Patty Murray asks a question during a June 18 Senate committee hearing on Capitol Hill. “I cannot believe there aren’t Republican governors out there that are going to join with us to fight back on this,” Murray said, adding “the other way is through courts.” All 50 states developed digital equity plans after months of focus groups, surveys, and public comment periods. NTIA Digital Equity Director Angela Thi Bennett, during an August 2024 interview with KFF Health News, said the “intentional community engagement” by federal and state leaders to deliver broadband to unserved communities was “the greatest demonstration of participatory democracy our country has ever seen.” Thi Bennett could not be reached for comment on this article. NTIA spokesperson Stephen Yusko said the agency “will not be able to accommodate” a request for an interview with Thi Bennett and did not respond to questions for this article. Caroline Stratton, a research director at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, said the act’s funding allowed states to staff offices; identify existing high-speed internet programs, including those operating within other state agencies; and create plans to fill the gaps. “This sent folks out looking,” Stratton said, to see whether agencies in the state were already working on health improvement plans and to ask whether the broadband work could contribute and “actively help move the needle.” State grant applications included goals to promote health care access. In Mississippi, the plan consists of the state university and another agency’s health improvement plan, Stratton said. While states were required to create programs that would help specific covered populations, some states modified the language or added subcategories to include other populations. Colorado’s plan included immigrants and “individuals experiencing homelessness.” “In every state, there’s a loss,” said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. The nonprofit, which was awarded nearly $26 million to work with organizations nationwide but did not receive any funds, filed a lawsuit Oct. 7 seeking to force Trump and the administration to distribute the money. “The digital divide is not over,” Siefer said. The nonprofit’s grant had been planned to support digital navigators in 11 states and territories, including Waiters. Her employer, the nonprofit Community Service Programs of West Alabama, expected to receive a $1.4 million grant. In the past two years, Waiters spent hours driving the roads of rural Alabama to reach residents. She has distributed 648 devices — laptops, tablets, and SIM cards — and helped hundreds of clients through 117 two-hour digital skills classes at libraries, senior centers, and workplace development programs in and around Tuscaloosa, Alabama. People of “all races, of all ages, of all financial backgrounds” who did not “fit into our typical minority category” were helped through her work, Waiters said. Trump and his administration should know, she said, “what it actually looks like for the people I serve.”

You wanna see a dead body? Third-quarter sales numbers for Tesla’s misbegotten Cybertruck are in, and it is definitely spooky season for tech titan Elon Musk, who moved only 5,385 of the hideous things between July 1 and Sept. 30, a drop of 63% over the same time period in 2024. Sadly for Musk, this anemic quarter is a continuation of an already extremely sickly year for the hands-down world’s ugliest truck. For the whole of 2025, Tesla sold about 16,000 Cybertrucks, which is on track for about 20,000 for the year. Recall, however, that this is the vehicle Musk boasted receiving 250,000 pre-orders for when it was announced in 2019. In 2023, he was telling shareholders he could sell as many as 500,000 per year. Related | Tesla’s Cybertruck flop is historic. The brand collapse is even worse. But the world’s richest man has a plan to fix things, and it involves selling all those Cybertrucks he’s got rotting away in abandoned mall parking lots to … himself.  Well, technically, to his other companies, but you get the drift.  Over this past weekend, xAI took delivery of several truckloads of Cybertrucks. It’s unclear whether those counted toward that pathetic third-quarter showing or whether this is intended to shore up flagging numbers for the fourth quarter. Either way, perhaps some business genius will explain why Musk’s artificial intelligence  needs Cybertrucks. There don’t seem to be a lot of transportation needs while building out a gross tool to make hardcore AI porn more efficiently. Musk’s SpaceX technology company would at least seem to have legitimate needs to transport materials, but because no one can admit that these purchases are just to stave off Tesla’s stock from tanking, they’re just pretending it was always the plan. Here’s Wes Morrill, the lead Cybertruck engineer, absolutely embarrassing himself: “Love to see the ICE [internal combustion engine, not the people terrorizing immigrants] support fleets from Tesla and SpaceX get replaced with Cybertruck. When we were engineering it, this was always part of the dream,” Morrill claimed. “Never imagined how hard the fleet photos at starbase would go. Looking forward to more of this.” Come on, man. Have some dignity. Morrill is right about one thing, though. He’s going to see more of this. SpaceX took delivery of several hundred Cybertrucks in the past week, with a plan to purchase hundreds, or even thousands, more. Reportedly, Tesla is also going to be using some of the unsold Cybertrucks as part of their own mobile service fleet. Terrific idea to stock your service fleet with vehicles that have already been subject to eight separate recalls in two years.  If you’re thinking all of this looks a lot like Musk trying to juice his Tesla sales numbers—and therefore his Tesla stock share price—by playing a shell game with his own companies, you’re not alone. It isn’t quite the same as the disastrous special purpose entities that ultimately brought energy company Enron down, but it’s not far off either. Moving your own assets around between companies to hide your catastrophic sales numbers is not really a sustainable business approach. Musk is also running up against the fact that the third quarter of 2025 is likely going to be as good as it gets in the EV market for a long while. The federal EV tax credit expired on Sept. 30, and with Donald Trump in the White House, there’s no real possibility of seeing any tax credits related to woke shit like electric vehicles any time soon. Overall, EV manufacturers posted huge gains as buyers raced to take advantage of the credit, but even the promise of a $7,500 credit was apparently not enough to get many people to buy the uggo Cybertruck. Related | How Trump and Musk went from best friends to frenemies to nuclear war Since Musk fell out of favor with his former bestie, he can’t count on any more help from the White House to hawk his wares, which at least spares the rest of us a repeat of the embarrassing spectacle of Trump turning the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom.  What Musk is really dealing with is a complete collapse of the Tesla brand’s prestige—a collapse which he can entirely thank himself for. No one wants your fascist ride, dude.

Oh, the all too familiar woes of a leaked Republican group chat. A new scandal dropped Tuesday, revealing egregious text messages from Young Republican leaders.  As originally reported by Politico, people in the group casually used the N-word, advocated for sending people “to the gas chamber,” and openly aired other extremely homophobic, racist, sexist, and antisemitic remarks.  “If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked fr fr,” Bobby Walker, the vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans, texted to his colleagues. A screenshot of various bigoted texts and reactions from members of Young Republicans. Walker’s foresight could have been helpful, especially for the many people in the group who were either relieved of their roles or had job offers rescinded. As it turns out, blatant racism doesn’t bode well with employers—even if they’re Republican. And however shocking this might be, this kind of language—once thought to be culturally on its way out—is swinging back into the mainstream.  But why? According to Joe Feagin, a Texas A&M sociology professor who has studied racism for 60 years, it has to do with the emergence of President Donald Trump’s extreme language and bullying tactics. “The more the political atmosphere is open and liberating—like it has been with the emergence of Trump and a more right wing GOP even before him—it opens up young people and older people to telling racist jokes, making racist commentaries in private and public,” he told Politico.  Protesters against President Donald Trump participate in the Women’s March on Jan. 20, 2018. Since Trump’s emergence as a politician, Americans have become seemingly desensitized to his bigoted words and actions. Somehow, the country was able to overlook the 2016 leaked audio of Trump bragging about how he can grab women “by the pussy” because he’s a “star.” Then there was his debate against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, when he blamed U.S. drug epidemics on “some bad hombres.” But it’s also Trump’s crude humor and proclivity to call opponents demeaning nicknames that have emboldened people on the right to use bigoted language.  Even Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has no issue promoting similar bigotry in official government proceedings, including using “fat” to derogatorily refer to military troops. "No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris. As I've said before and I'll say it again, we are done with that shit,” Hegseth said during a September speech. Ultimately, this is a massive jump backward in a decades-long effort to denormalize hate speech, with the right feeling emboldened to make jokes and comments at the expense of people’s races, genders, and religions.  And instead of pushing back, young people are also feeling pressured to let it slide—or even to laugh along. So where is this train going? And, more pressingly, will it slow down before impending impact?

Add North Carolina to the list of Republican-controlled states that will redraw their congressional maps to help rig the 2026 midterm elections for the GOP. State Senate leader Phil Berger, a Republican, said on Monday that he is calling the Republican-controlled legislature back into session next week to pass the new map, which could steal another U.S. House seat from Democrats. «Earlier today [state House Speaker Destin Hall] and I agreed to return to Raleigh to back up [President Donald Trump] by redrawing our Congressional map in North Carolina to block blue state Democrats like [California Gov. Gavin Newsom] who want to take control of Congress from Republicans,» Berger wrote in a post on X. Of course, California is trying to redraw its maps only because Republicans in Texas heeded Trump's demand to redraw the Lone Star State's congressional map to squeeze out as many as five Democrats from the state's U.S. House delegation. California voters will decide whether to approve a ballot measure in November that would suspend the state’s independent redistricting commission and allow the Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw its districts to negate Texas’ partisan gerrymander. Polls show the referendum is on track to succeed. The North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh, shown in 2024. North Carolina, for its part, already has one of the most skewed GOP gerrymanders in the country.  Trump carried the state by just 3 percentage points in 2024, yet Republicans hold 10 of the state's 14 U.S. House seats. In 2024, Democrats broke the GOP's gerrymandered state legislative supermajority. However, even that won't matter if the legislature does redraw its maps, since the governor does not have the power to veto the new district lines. The new map can pass with a simple majority in the legislature. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein slammed Republicans for trying to rig the map to even further benefit GOP candidates. “The General Assembly works for North Carolina, not Donald Trump,« Stein said in a statement. »The Republican leadership in the General Assembly has failed to pass a budget, failed to pay our teachers and law enforcement what they deserve, and failed to fully fund Medicaid. Now they are failing you, the voters. These shameless politicians are abusing their power to take away yours. I will always fight for you because the voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around.” Newsom, whom Berger called out in his X post about the redraw, also condemned North Carolina Republicans for their redistricting effort. “The pathetic legislative leaders of North Carolina haven’t even passed a budget. And what are they busy doing? Rigging the next election for Trump,” Newsom wrote in a post on X. “Their priorities are clear—bend the knee to Trump, screw over North Carolina. Remember that.” If North Carolina passes a new map, it would become the latest GOP-controlled state to abruptly redraw its lines in order to squeeze out more seats for Republicans—an effort to prevent Democrats from taking control of the House in the 2026 midterms. Texas, Missouri, and Utah already redrew their districts to benefit Republicans.  Meanwhile, Ohio Republicans are expected to pass a new map before the end of November. Kansas Republicans are also gearing up to try to redraw their House district lines, as are Republicans in Indiana, Florida, and Nebraska.

Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills officially launched her campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday, with a video highlighting her opposition to President Donald Trump, who she characterized as a “bully.” x x YouTube Video In the campaign video, Mills highlighted her comment of “see you in court” to Trump at a February meeting in the White House. The statement was in response to Trump attempting to berate Mills for opposing his administration’s attempt to ban transgender children from participating in school sports. Trump attempted to withhold federal funding from Maine over the issue but in April a federal judge ordered the Department of Agriculture to pay out the money to the state. Related | ‘See you in court’: Governor refuses to bow to Trump’s bigoted ban “We stood up to Trump and stopped him from cutting the school lunch program for Maine kids,” Mills says in her ad, before going on to criticize Collins for letting “bullies like Trump have their way.” Collins has long presented herself as a moderate representing Maine’s mix of Democratic and Republican voters but has often allied herself with the right wing. She declined to vote to remove Trump from office in 2020 despite the House majority agreeing that he had committed high crimes. Collins also voted to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, whose vote led to the eventual repeal of Roe v. Wade and the loss of abortion rights for millions of Americans. Mills is not alone in challenging Collins. Oyster farmer Graham Platner is also running for the Democratic Party’s Senate nomination and has attracted the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders. A Zenith Research poll of Maine voters conducted Oct.7-10 found both Mills and Platner polling ahead of Collins, with Platner ahead by 14 and Mills up 8. In Morning Consult’s tracking poll of governors around the country, Mills was the most unpopular Democratic governor—but her approval rating of 49% to 46% disapproval is leagues ahead of Collins, who has a 38% approval rating and 54% disapproval. Maine is traditionally considered a Democratic-leaning state and former Vice President Kamala Harris won it in the 2024 election. Collins has been one of the top targets of the Democratic Party and the party’s Senate campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, has been criticizing Collins for siding with her fellow Republicans to shut down the federal government. “Collins is shutting down the government instead of working to address the health care crisis she helped create, and in 2026 Mainers will hold her accountable at the ballot box,” DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a September statement.

A cartoon by Clay Bennett. Related | Trump kisses yet another dictator’s ass at cringey ‘peace summit’

After spending the past few weeks blaming Democrats' rhetoric for the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, GOP leaders are now spouting their own dangerous rhetoric against thousands of people who plan to protest against President Donald Trump on Saturday. The Republican House speaker, House majority leader, and House majority whip are all falsely demonizing Americans who plan to show up to the hundreds of «No Kings» rallies across the country. «We call it the 'hate America' rally because you'll see the hate for America all over this thing when they show up,» House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said Tuesday morning on Fox Business. «The rumor is that [Democratic lawmakers] can't end this shutdown beforehand because this small but very violent and vocal group is the only one that's happy about this.» x x YouTube Video House Majority Leader Steve Scalise made similar comments during a House Republican news conference on Tuesday, also calling the “No Kings” protest a “‘hate America’ rally.” They follow House Speaker Mike Johnson, who made almost identical comments last week in an appearance on Fox News, saying that Democrats will not vote to fund the government until after the rally is over. “The theory we have right now—they have a ‘hate America’ rally that's scheduled for Oct. 18 on the National Mall. It's all the pro-Hamas wing and the antifa people—they're all coming out. Some of the House Democrats are selling T-shirts for the event. And it's being told to us that they won't be able to reopen the government until after that rally, because they can't face their rabid base,” Johnson said. “I mean, this is serious business.« x x YouTube Video Even Trump administration officials are getting in on the hate-filled lies, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy saying recently that the “No Kings” rallies will be filled with “antifa” and “paid protesters.” x x YouTube Video Of course, the “No Kings” rallies have nothing to do with hating America. Instead, they’re being held by Americans who are appalled at Trump’s trampling of the Constitution to consolidate his power and carry out his hateful agenda, which is hurting the most vulnerable among us.  George Conway, ex-husband of former White House aide Kellyanne Conway, recently cut an ad to gin up interest in the rallies, saying that authoritarianism is a “cancer” and that the “symptoms are here today.” “Masked agents grabbing people off the streets, the government threatening and prosecuting political opponents, attacks on free speech, soldiers in our cities—we thought it couldn’t happen here,” Conway says in the ad. “Other places, sure. Italy in the ‘20s, where fascism was born. Chile, Russia, Venezuela, Hungary, and now the disease is growing, the cancer metastasizing in America now.” Conway goes on to say that the “cure” is Americans standing up to voice their opposition at the “No Kings” rallies to “show them you’re not afraid.” x x YouTube Video In fact, all it takes to see through Republicans’ lies about the rallies is to look at images from past “No Kings” rallies. In June, thousands of regular Americans peacefully gathered, holding signs and chanting to protest Trump and the GOP’s agenda. Those rallies served as counterprogramming to Trump’s wasteful and embarrassing military parade, which took place on his birthday.  Still, Republicans’ inflammatory lies could inspire right-wing extremists to carry out attacks. The night before the »No Kings« rallies in June, a Trump supporter went on a shooting spree in Minnesota, leaving a top state Democrat and her husband dead as well as a Democratic state senator and his wife injured. As for the upcoming “No Kings” rallies, organizers say they are undeterred by Republicans’ attacks. Organizers told HuffPost on Tuesday that there are now 2,500 events planned in all 50 states »organized by average Americans across personal, political, and geographic demographics." But Republican efforts to blame the shutdown on Democrats and the “No Kings” rallies are a desperate attempt to find a new narrative to blame Democrats, since their current lies haven’t been working. “No, Speaker Johnson: The No Kings Rally on October 18 is not a ‘hate America’ rally. Quite the contrary,” progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont wrote in a post on X. “It’s a rally of millions of people who believe in American freedom and are not going to allow you and President Trump to turn us into an authoritarian country.”

Conspiracy theorist and Trump superfan Alex Jones suffered another setback on Tuesday after the conservative-majority Supreme Court denied his appeal of the $1.4 billion defamation judgement against him after he promoted debunked falsehoods about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Jones was sued after families and members of law enforcement were harassed by listeners of Jones’ Infowars, where he claimed that the shooting was a staged event with crisis actors. They were awarded after testifying about the severe emotional distress caused by Jones’ defamation. Bill Sherlach, husband of Mary, one of the Sandy Hook School shooting victims, speaks to the media after the defamation trial against Alex Jones in October 2022.  “We look forward to enforcing the jury’s historic verdict and making Jones and Infowars pay for what they have done,” Chris Mattei, a lawyer for the families, said in a statement. Jones’ lawyers unsuccessfully argued that his defamatory lies were protected by the First Amendment. While seeking relief in the Supreme Court, Jones has also been meeting with the Trump administration. After Jones met with Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, he sent a letter in September to former FBI Special Agent William Aldenberg. Martin’s letter—featuring Department of Justice letterhead—essentially accused Aldenberg of pursuing legal action against Jones with the help of Democrats. Martin later retracted his letter. The Supreme Court decision is just more bad news for Jones this year. His longtime collaborator Owen Shroyer left Infowars in September, alleging that Jones pressured him to ease up on criticism of President Donald Trump. In response, Jones had a meltdown on air, describing Shroyer as a “backstabber” and a “snake.” At the same time, Jones has been complaining about Trump mishandling the Epstein files scandal. Jones was among the most vocal on the right echoing Trump’s claims that the Epstein files would reveal sinister secrets about the global elite. But now that Trump is refusing to release the files, Jones has lashed out, calling Trump’s stonewalling “just crazy.” Jones has spent decades pushing lies about nearly every event in world history, without concern for the harm done to innocent people. Now he’s on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars—and he can’t even rely on the pro-Trump Supreme Court to help him out.

A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Related | Fact-checking Trump’s latest claims about mail ballots and voting machines