Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) was bombarded with phone calls Saturday after President Donald Trump publicly shared what he said was the senator’s phone number, and the flood soon spread to payment requests after a journalist found a Venmo account linked to it.

As flagged by The Washington Sun’s Oriana González, an account on the mobile payment service Venmo was discovered to be linked to the same phone number Trump shared. After González flagged the account, countless figures began bombarding the Arkansas Republican with payment requests.

“People should start requesting their doge checks,” wrote Democratic strategist Max Flugrath, referencing the $5,000 DOGE checks Trump said would be sent to Americans, checks that ultimately never materialized.

Julian Andreone, a Capitol Hill reporter for Drop Site News, said he intended to send Cotton’s suspected Venmo account a request for “2 billion a day for the Iran War,” and libertarian writer David Brady Jr. said he would prematurely request the “$5,000 promised by the President,” referencing Trump’s latest promise to send Americans $5,000 checks.

Trump publicly shared what he said was Cotton’s phone number amid their spat over the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent. Trump has attacked Cotton for being among the lone holdouts among GOP senators, though Cotton has remained defiant, arguing that “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark.”

Trump has since attacked Cotton’s “ego,” mocked his support among Arkansas voters, and demanded that Cotton “take the win” and cave to his demand to help Republicans achieve a “win” ahead of the midterms.

Well over a dozen small trucking operators filed for bankruptcy over the past month amid soaring diesel prices, and an increasing number of truck drivers have been forced to adopt extreme cost-saving measures, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

“Out at the fuel bays, truckers spoke about cooking meals inside their cabs, sleeping where they unhooked their trailers to avoid overnight parking fees and waiting for rainstorms to clean their rigs rather than paying $100 for a wash,” the Journal’s report reads. “Some were parking their trucks altogether.”

The national average price for a gallon of diesel fuel was $6.36 on Saturday, up $2.65 from a year ago, and only 17 cents less than the all-time high recorded on Sept. 22. Diesel costs soared following disruptions to global oil trade sparked by President Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran.

Now, small trucking operators are increasingly filing for bankruptcy, with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association warning more will follow if fuel prices remain elevated.

“Small operators, which dominate registered motor carrier companies, can’t keep up: More than a dozen have filed for bankruptcy in the past month, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association warns more will follow if fuel prices don’t drop,” the Journal reported.

The Journal spoke with several truckers at a Flying J Travel Center in Orange, Texas, including Agron Berani, whom the Journal documented paying $944.44 to fill up his 18-wheeler with diesel fuel, which the Journal noted would have cost around $500 a year ago.

“We have to do what we have to do,” Berani, who voted for Trump in 2024, told the Journal. “I can’t sell the truck. What am I going to do if I sell the truck?”

President Donald Trump mourned the loss of his life prior to entering politics during his rally in Ohio Saturday night, telling attendees he “didn’t have to” be “working my a-- off” and could have instead opted to live a private life in luxury.

“I had a great life, I had a nice, simple life before this. I didn’t have to be here on Saturday night going like this, working my a-- off in front of you people!” Trump said. “I could have been home, I could have been in Monte Carlo, I could have been wherever the hell I wanted to be! I didn’t need to be here, but I love you people, and I love it. I wouldn’t switch!”

Trump has made similar remarks for more than a decade. In 2016, he said ahead of that year’s presidential election that he “didn’t need this” and that he “could be doing other things.” He made similar remarks last month during the RNC midterm convention in Texas, telling attendees he “had a great life before” and that he “didn't need to be here tonight.”

Attendees erupted into applause at Trump’s remarks and began chanting “four more years!” Trump laughed in response and admitted that he’d “love to do the four-more-years thing” before pivoting to attack the media.

President Donald Trump shared an anecdote Saturday night that he claimed was proof that he had “among the highest IQs anywhere in the world.”

Speaking at his rally in Vandalia, Ohio, Trump doubled down on his pledge to authorize $5,000 checks to every adult citizen should Republicans maintain their congressional majorities after the midterms. Amid doubts that he would follow through on his promise — with critics having noted that Trump failed to deliver on two previously promised checks for Americans — Trump pointed to the $1,776 “warrior dividend” checks his administration paid out to U.S. service members.

As he recalled the “warrior dividend” checks, Trump said that he was initially presented with a plan to send out $1,775 checks to U.S. service members. Trump then claimed that he, and only he, noticed that the dollar amount was one dollar shy of $1,776, a reference to the year of American independence.

“Nobody saw it but me, I'm very proud, it was very intelligent,” Trump said. “I'm a high-IQ person unlike some other people I can tell you about... among the highest IQs anywhere in the world!”

Trump’s rally comes just 31 days out from the midterms, which polling data suggests may be dire for Republican candidates across the country.

Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was ridiculed en masse Saturday after nearly dropping a child at a GOP rally in Vandalia, Ohio.

Video of the rally, at which President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak later Saturday night, showed Ramaswamy peering into the crowd and zeroing in on a young attendee holding a sign. According to Ramaswamy, the sign read, “My dad is deployed — proud military kid for Trump.”

Ramaswamy is then seen asking the young attendee, who identified themself as being 10 years old, to join him on stage.

“You want to come up here? Are you okay? You want to just come up here? Bring that… is it possible to get this young man up here or no?” Ramaswamy is heard saying.

After the child joined Ramaswamy on stage, the gubernatorial candidate is then seen attempting to pick him up.

“I’ll pick you up. There you go — whoa!” Ramaswamy said as he appeared to lose his grip on the child. “Big guy!”

The moment was instantly met with ridicule by countless critics.

“Absolutely brutal video: Terrible decision, terrible execution,” wrote Nick Field, an independent politics and culture writer. “This type of video haunts a candidate forever.”

Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko reacted to the clip with shock, writing, “Good God.” Veteran journalist Sam Stein issued a similarly short quip, writing, “Oh man.”

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) responded to the clip with laughter, and Majid M. Padellan, a prominent liberal commentator and advocate, called the incident “pathetic.”

“How embarrassing!” Padellan wrote in a social media post on X. “Not only is Vivek Ramaswamy an insufferable, smug jack---, but he can't even lift a small child!”

A new Marist Poll survey found Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott trailing behind his Democratic opponent by three points, a development that left several onlookers in absolute shock.

“I cannot stress enough how much modern republican identity is bound up in Texas, and how monumental of a blow to their psyche it would be if Greg Abbott goes down,” wrote Leah Greenberg, a progressive activist and co-founder of Indivisible, in a social media post on X. “Oh my.”

The survey was responded to by 1,139 registered Texas voters between Sept. 17 and Sept. 20, and found that 49% of respondents said they would be supporting Texas gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, a progressive Texas state House member and public education advocate. A total of 46% indicated they intended on supporting Abbott.

“Everyone wake up! Big things are happening in Texas,” wrote Rebecca Katz, a Democratic political strategist and communications consultant, in a social media post on X Saturday.

Despite Democrats not having won a statewide race in Texas in more than three decades, Hinojosa has steadily climbed in the polls as the midterms fast approach. Additionally, polling has shown GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton increasingly trailing his Democratic opponent, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, despite the “staggering” amount of cash that has been poured into the state to bolster Paxton’s electoral prospects.

“Greg Abbott is a way better candidate than Ken Paxton, Gina Hinojosa is clearly cooking here,” noted Armand Domalewski, a prominent housing-policy activist and commentator.

Veteran Democratic strategist and analyst Adrienne Elrod responded to the new poll with a single word — albeit one repeated three times: “Wow. Wow. Wow!” she wrote in a social media post on X Saturday.

Hinojosa’s performance among independent Texas voters was far stronger. According to the poll, 52% of independent voters indicated they intended on supporting Hinojosa to Abbott’s 39%.

Vice President JD Vance's rally ended with a Democratic candidate behind bars Friday, but the heckler quickly became a hero to countless onlookers after video of the confrontation went viral.

“Thank you so much, Vice President Vance, for the gas prices!” shouted Ben Braver, a Democratic candidate for the Florida House, during a GOP rally in Lakeland, Florida on Friday.

“Thank you for helping us win in Iran! Thank you, President Trump! Thank you so much, JD, you are such a good vice president, you pedophile protector! I’m excited for the $5,000 check, I’m so excited!”

In the video, rally attendees can be seen angrily shouting down Braver as he was escorted out of the event. The video also shows Braver being forcibly thrown to the pavement by what appears to be a law enforcement officer. The Florida Times-Union reported that Braver was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.

“Holy heck, this man just ended JD's presidential ambitions in 3 sentences,” reads a statement from AllChronology Media Group, an independent digital media company, published on social media.

Australian academic and writer Peter Cook argued that Braver “deserves a medal” for his outburst, while others took issue with how the political candidate was treated by security.

Vem Miller, a media producer who’s claimed to be a “caucus captain” for President Donald Trump — and was also arrested and charged for bringing loaded firearms to a Trump rally, though the charges were later dropped — argued that “tackling a dude for speech is never a good look.”

U.S. Marine Corps veteran and advocate Carl Wheless also took issue with how Braver was treated by law enforcement.

“That was straight-up bull----. The man was exercising his right to free speech. He was not resisting and was complying with law enforcement,” Wheless wrote Saturday in a social media post on X.

“There was absolutely no reason that I could see to slam him to the ground and place him in handcuffs. I hope he sues whichever law enforcement agencies that officer works for, and the organizers of the event if that officer was off-duty and working as private security.”

Fears mounted Saturday that the Trump administration was “gearing up for something” ahead of Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday, in which incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off against far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally to the White House.

“They are absolutely gearing up for something and they won’t try to hide it because they assume nobody will do anything to stop it,” argued Vesper Jordan, an independent filmmaker and video essayist.

In what some critics called an “unprecedented move,” the Trump administration suspended all U.S. consular services in Brazil on Friday, just two days before Brazil’s first-round presidential election. The U.S. State Department said the suspension was due to unspecified “security concerns,” though critics feared the move was part of an effort to “interfere in the country’s democratic elections.”

Critics also expressed outrage over the apparent lack of media attention that the Trump administration’s actions in Brazil had received. Foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor argued that “the U.S. role in Brazil’s election” was “criminally under-discussed in the U.S.,” and journalist Noah Kulwin issued a similar but far more blunt assessment.

“If we had a real news media instead of smug a------- who do video podcasts and video podcasts that are now broadcast on TV, this is the kind of thing that would be breaking through,” Kulwin wrote in a social media post on X.

Bolsonaro is a lawyer, politician and son of Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president who’s currently serving a 27-year sentence on charges related to an attempted coup after his election loss in 2022.

Last year, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil in response to Jair Bolsonaro’s prosecution, calling it a “Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY.”

“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,” Trump wrote in a July 2025 letter to Lula. “This Trial should not be taking place.”

A simmering rivalry between two Republican heavyweights eyeing the White House spilled into public view this week, with one making it personal.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called Vice President JD Vance "insecure" in a phone interview with Politico on Saturday, responding to Vance's claim days earlier that the Texas senator was already running for president.

"In my experience, people engage in political bomb-throwing when they're feeling insecure," Cruz said. "So he's welcome to make whatever comments he likes. I'm going to keep focusing on the midterms and helping us win on Election Day in the next 30 days."

The jab followed an NBC News interview Thursday in which Vance accused Cruz of jumping the gun on a 2028 bid while the party fights to hold Congress.

"It is really obvious to me that, at this very moment, Ted Cruz is running for president," Vance said. "At this moment, I'm not. I'm trying to help elect Republicans. That's what I'm going to keep on doing."

Vance is widely seen as the early favorite for the GOP nomination, but Cruz has openly questioned whether the vice president has it locked up and has floated a run of his own. "I'll certainly be part of the discussion," Cruz told MS NOW in August.

Cruz insisted to Politico that his attention is on keeping Republican majorities in the House and Senate, pointing to campaign stops this cycle in Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas. He said he plans to stump for candidates in Alaska, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina later this month.

"Over the last 10 years, there's no Republican in the country who has campaigned for more Senate candidates, more House candidates, more gubernatorial candidates than I have," he said. "And this year will be no exception."

A spokesperson for Vance did not immediately respond to Cruz's remarks, per Politico. Vance campaigned in Texas and Florida this week and is set to hold a rally in Alaska on Monday.

A new GOP ad making the case for a scandal-plagued Texas Senate candidate drew swift mockery online because of who was delivering the pitch.

On Saturday, a Republican super PAC put out an ad featuring state Sen. Angela Paxton, the estranged wife of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running against James Talarico for a Senate seat. The ad was paid for by an affiliate of Senate Majority Leader John Thune's Senate Leadership Fund, the Washington Sun reported.

"People have asked my thoughts about this election, and turns out, I have some," Angela Paxton says in the 30-second spot. "Let's talk about the elephant in the room."

In the ad, Angela Paxton never mentions her estranged husband by name, but calls for voters to support the Republican ticket in the midterms.

Critics were quick to point out the awkward backdrop. Angela Paxton filed for divorce on "biblical grounds" shortly after Ken Paxton launched his Senate bid last year, and she sat through his 2023 impeachment trial, where his former chief of staff testified about his alleged extramarital affair.

"She wouldn't tolerate Ken Paxton's immoral and corrupt conduct. But she expects Texans to," blasted Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) in a post on X. "Vote @jamestalarico."

"This is probably the most embarrassing ad I've ever seen," mocked Scott Moore, a policy associate at the Searchlight Institute think tank.

"Doesn't this just remind people she divorced him on biblical grounds?" wondered progressive political analyst Molly Jong-Fast.

"The team may be led by my ex-husband who I divorced on biblical grounds and who is objectively one of the worst human scum in history," ripped MeidasTouch co-founder Ben Meiselas. "But we gotta remember that this is about the elephant team versus team America."

"This had to be part of the divorce agreement," joked popular internet personality Jared Shult.

"She couldn't utter Ken," marveled Democratic political strategist Bakari Sellers.

"Oh, honey," lamented Texas Democratic legislative candidate Sara McGee.

"This will just p— female voters off even more and drive them to vote for @jamestalarico or the Libertarian candidate," suggested Democratic pollster John Anzalone. "It is a swing and a miss."

President Donald Trump shared a bizarre story Saturday about “very distinguished people” who hate darkness in an apparent bid to deliver Senate Republicans a much-needed “win” ahead of the midterms.

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump shared the anecdote just moments after demanding Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) back a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, urging the Arkansas Republican to “JUST TAKE THE WIN,” adding, “YOU NEED IT, AND SO DOES OUR BELOVED REPUBLICAN PARTY!”

“I don’t know about anyone else, but a table full of very distinguished people just told me that they HATE, immediately after a mandatory time change, going home at night – and it’s DARK,” Trump wrote.

“It’s depressing! One of the gentleman (sic) stated that, ‘I just hate going home in darkness.’ It’s also, in Crime Ridden Blue States, a lot more dangerous to be walking home in the dark!”

Cotton openly defied Trump earlier on Saturday by vowing to oppose the bill to make daylight saving time permanent, arguing that “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark.” Trump responded by attacking Cotton’s “ego” and mocking his support among Arkansas voters.

President Donald Trump's camp threatened his alma mater in 2016 to bury his deepest insecurity, according to biographer Michael Wolff.

Wolff made the claim that Trump has been trying to hide his academic records in a Saturday episode of "Inside Trump's Head," which he co-hosts with Joanna Coles. The episode was built around the fears he believes drive the president. Topping the list was being seen as unintelligent.

Wolff recalled a conversation with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon about what Russian President Vladimir Putin might have on Trump. Bannon waved off the rumored tapes and the president's finances, Wolff said, before settling on Trump's school records.

"During the 2016 campaign, there was a fear that those transcripts were going to come out," Wolff said. "And then they came down very hard on the University of Pennsylvania and basically said, you know, we will take every action against you if those transcripts are not buried."

Wolff tied the effort to what he described as a lifelong struggle.

"I think that he probably does have some learning disability, which I think is very, you know, uncomfortable for him," Wolff said. "That is one of the roots of his major insecurities."

Coles asked why Fordham University, where Trump studied before transferring to Penn's Wharton School, had never released his records.

"I'm sure that he has already gone and secured these transcripts at both Fordham and the University of Pennsylvania," Wolff said.

"We haven't seen his high school transcripts. We haven't seen either of his college transcripts," Wolff said. "They have been so successful in locking that stuff down. And, you know, if they were good, he would have floated them out there immediately."

Wolff also recounted asking Sam Nunberg, one of Trump's earliest political hires, to explain the president during the first months of his term.

"Sam looked at me like he was incredulous," Wolff said. "And he said to me, he said, 'You don't get it.' And I said, 'What?' And then Sam said, 'He's an idiot.'"

President Donald Trump fired back at Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Saturday after the Arkansas Republican openly defied the commander in chief.

On Friday, Trump singled Cotton out for being among the lone holdouts on the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent. Cotton responded to Trump’s attack on Saturday, openly defying the president and vowing to remain opposed to the bill.

On Saturday afternoon, Trump clapped back at Cotton for his open defiance, mocking his support among voters, criticizing him for his “ego,” and demanding that he “take the win” and end his opposition to the Sunshine Protection Act.

“If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight and, more importantly, they wouldn’t have to run all over their houses, farms, work places, and everywhere else, twice a year, having to change their Clocks, and often forgetting to do so,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

“That is really putting Arkansas FIRST, and I know, because, unlike Tom, I won that Great State, three times, and by almost 40 points!”

Trump concluded his 369-word online post by demanding that Cotton back down.

“TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN!” Trump wrote. “YOU NEED IT, AND SO DOES OUR BELOVED REPUBLICAN PARTY! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

President Donald Trump's most dangerous shot at meddling in the midterm elections hasn't arrived yet, according to a voting rights expert.

Ari Berman, the national voting rights correspondent at Mother Jones, joined hosts David Corn and Garrison Hayes for the debut episode of the "Stress Test" podcast and warned that the stage of the election that matters most comes after ballots are cast.

"We're in the pre-election phase of the election. There's the voting period of the election. There's the vote counting period of the election. Then there's the election certification period of the election," Berman said. "What we saw in 2020 is all hell broke loose after voting ended."

He said that is where the administration would likely focus its firepower.

"That's likely where they would try to do the most targeted interference because they'll know this is how close the races are," Berman said. "This is where the margins are critical."

He warned the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies could "mobilize to try to manipulate the result if they feel like there's a close enough election and some kind of pretext for them to do so."

The warning came even as Berman argued Trump has so far struggled to bend the election his way.

"The Justice Department is 0 and 25 in federal court trying to get states to hand over their voter rolls," he said. Berman earlier noted that Trump "has been largely unsuccessful in his effort to try to rig the midterms."

Berman said Trump is being pitched on declaring a national emergency or martial law to stop mail voting or seize ballots and voting machines, but called that "a huge stretch."

The episode comes after Trump led a crowd at last month's Republican midterm convention in a jokey pledge to "cheat like hell," a moment Berman called "all projection."

"Don't give Trump any more power than he actually has," Berman said. "When it comes to elections he has very little power."

Ultimately, he predicted the fight ends with a whimper. "I think at the end of the day, Trump's going to see his party losing, blame someone else, and decide to fight the next fight, and go golfing," Berman said.

A former FBI official warned "something is very wrong" after the bureau demoted two supervisors over calls to Stephen Miller's wife.

Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director, made the remarks in a Saturday episode of "The Jim Acosta Show," where he and the former CNN anchor discussed a wave of turmoil at the bureau.

Acosta cited an MS NOW report that two veteran FBI counterterrorism supervisors were removed from their jobs after a disagreement over an investigation into alleged harassing phone calls made to Katie Miller, the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. The FBI confirmed the demotions.

Figliuzzi said the story got his attention because the moves hit "the top two people in the counterterrorism branch" of the Washington Field Office, "one of the most essential offices in the bureau."

"Why is this even being worked by the counterterrorism branch?" he asked. "Threatening, harassing calls generally go over to violent crimes."

He also questioned the field office head's public claim that the decision was his.

"I think he does protest too much because the head of an office has no authority to send particularly an SAC and ASAC back to headquarters," Figliuzzi said. "A senior executive by governmentwide regulation cannot be demoted without a Senior Executive Service disciplinary board, which I sat on for a period of my career."

"So something is very wrong with this story," he added. "A head of an office saying, 'I did this. It's not headquarters. Don't look there. Look here.' Sounds wrong."

"The bottom line is, look, the rules aren't being followed," Figliuzzi said. "If you're someone special or someone special's spouse, you're going to be treated differently obviously than you and me."

Figliuzzi also weighed in on the ShinyHunters breach of the FBI's jobs portal, which The New York Times reported swept up agents' home addresses, Social Security numbers and secretive job assignments.

"This, to me, Jim, sounds like multiple databases at headquarters have been hacked," he said, adding that a transparent investigation under FBI Director Kash Patel was "less than likely."

Asked whether he plans to declare a state of emergency before the midterms, President Donald Trump wouldn't rule it out. On MS NOW, the remark was called a "startling admission."

The exchange came in Trump's recent interview with Time magazine, which "The Weekend" highlighted Saturday morning.

"I don't rule anything out or in. We'll see," Trump said when asked about an emergency declaration.

Asked specifically about the Insurrection Act, which lets a president use the military inside the country, Trump didn't directly answer.

"No, I've never used it," Trump said. "I could use it. A lot of people think I should use it sometimes."

The show then brought on Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, the Democratic nominee for governor, to talk about how states are preparing for possible federal interference in November.

Ford said Democratic attorneys general "have been working together for years" to get ready for any attempt to undermine elections. He said his office has beaten Trump in court at least six times.

Asked what he'd do if the FBI showed up with a court order for ballots after the vote but before certification, Ford said he already had a response ready.

"I have a document ready that says, meet me in court," he said.

He also predicted trouble ahead.

"There is no doubt in my mind that there will be shenanigans. There have been shenanigans," Ford said. He pointed out that his office prosecuted Nevada's fake electors from 2020 and is preparing to appeal what he called a "wrongful dismissal" of that case.

Ford said Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar has asked for federal observers to monitor the state's upcoming elections.

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins fired back at President Donald Trump this week by turning his favorite insult into on-air desk decor.

A mug emblazoned with the words "America Needs Nasty Women" sat in clear view on Collins' desk during multiple broadcasts of her CNN show "The Source," The Daily Beast reported Saturday.

The message is a pointed callback to an insult Trump has hurled at Collins for years. During a 2023 CNN town hall in the Republican primary, Collins pressed Trump on the classified documents the FBI said he had kept at Mar-a-Lago and refused to hand back, a standoff that ended in a search of the property. Trump shot back, "You are a nasty person."

The attacks have only intensified since Trump returned to the White House. In a December Truth Social post, he misspelled her name and branded her "always Stupid and Nasty."

In September, the Trump administration barred CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House and removed CNN from Air Force One. After a judge Trump himself appointed struck down the ban on First Amendment grounds, the president turned his fire on Collins directly, telling her she "shouldn't be here."

Trump went after her again this week in a lengthy interview with Time, complaining that the press refuses to cover his accomplishments fairly.

"She's a very average person. She's the most unhappy young person I've ever seen," Trump said of Collins. "If I did something spectacular by any standard, and they would write about it, they will only write badly."

Collins first displayed the mug Wednesday while talking with CNN data analyst Harry Enten, and it reappeared on her desk for Friday night's broadcast. CNN contributor Jennifer Mascia flagged it on X in a post that went viral.

"Loving Kaitlan Collins' mug on CNN tonight," Mascia wrote, quoting the slogan alongside fire and devil emojis.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) isn't backing down after President Donald Trump publicly targeted him over permanent daylight saving time. Trump even posted what appeared to be Cotton's personal cell phone number.

"For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it's very easy to do, it only takes one!" Trump wrote, according to the Associated Press. "If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight."

Trump told his followers to call Cotton and "tell Tom to, GET IT DONE!" His post included what appeared to be Cotton's personal cellphone number, with an Arkansas area code, the AP reported. Trump did the same thing to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) during the 2016 campaign.

"No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter," Cotton wrote on X Saturday in his first response.

"Arkansans don't want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I'll always put Arkansas first," he added.

That last line was aimed at Trump. A day earlier, the president blamed Cotton for blocking the Sunshine Protection Act, which passed the House in July and would make daylight saving time permanent.

Cotton chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee and is one of the most senior Republicans in the chamber. He's also usually a loyal Trump ally.

Cotton's history lesson is accurate. Congress put the country on year-round daylight saving time in 1974 during the energy crisis. It reversed course within a year, after dark winter mornings set off a public backlash, including concerns about children waiting for school buses before sunrise.

Cotton's post had more than 150,000 views within hours.

No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter. Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch…
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) October 3, 2026

A new New York Times/Siena polls show Democrats gaining across five red states since June. One of the biggest swings is in Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott now trails his Democratic challenger.

Political data analyst Adam Carlson posted a chart comparing the Times/Siena polls from June with the latest round, taken in late September and early October.

"Sheesh," Carlson wrote.

The biggest shift was in the Texas governor's race. In June, Abbott led Democrat Gina Hinojosa by 6 points. Now Hinojosa is up by 4, a 10-point swing toward Democrats.

Other races moved the same way. In Alaska's Senate race, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan led by 2 in June, and now Democrat Mary Peltola leads by 7. In Iowa's governor's race, Democrat Rob Sand went from a 2-point lead to an 11-point lead. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown erased a 3-point deficit against Sen. Jon Husted and now leads by 3.

"This is wild," writer and podcast host Molly Jong-Fast wrote while sharing the chart.

Daniele Angrisani, an Italian journalist who founded the U.S. politics site Focus America, said a loss for Abbott would mean far more than a typical bad night for Republicans.

"If Abbott, one of the most powerful and prominent Republican governors in the United States, were truly to lose the reelection challenge against Hinojosa, it wouldn't just be a blue wave anymore," he wrote in Italian. "But a full-blown devastating tsunami for the Republicans."

Kasey O'Brien, a vice president at the progressive digital firm Middle Seat, cheered the result: "D+10 shift for Gina Hinojosa — let's go!"

Republicans held their ground in a few places. Carlson noted that Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson is "the only Republican candidate who has not experienced much slippage" since June. She still leads Democrat Josh Turek by 1. In Kansas, Republican Ty Masterson leads the governor's race by 4. Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska) also leads his race by 6.

This is wild https://t.co/Qc7V0f6Lbh
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) October 3, 2026

A newly hired White House spokesperson for President Donald Trump is facing scrutiny after a provocative photo from her campaign days resurfaced online.

Beni Rae Harmony faced backlash on Saturday, the day after she posted about landing a job as an assistant press secretary and White House spokesperson, because an image surfaced of her gripping a rifle while wearing a shirt cursing Joe Biden, according to reporting by the Daily Beast.

The photo dates to 2021, when Jarome Bell, a former Republican congressional candidate in Virginia, shared it on Instagram. In the photo, she has a menacing expression and is wearing a shirt that reads "F— JOE BIDEN."

"My campaign Public Affairs Director @beniraeharmony is a beast," Bell wrote in the caption. "This is how we roll."

According to the Daily Beast, Harmony's official Instagram account liked the post.

The account PatriotTakes, which monitors right-wing extremism, shared the image on X, and people reacted with disgust and alarm.

Legal and political analyst Marcy Wheeler, who runs the blog "emptywheel," reacted on X by writing, "Hey @AGToddBlanche? Will you prosecute @BeniRaeHarmony for threatening to 8646?" Wheeler was referring to the Trump DOJ's ongoing case against former FBI director James Comey for posting an image of seashells reading "8647."

"If not why not?" Wheeler asked.

Journalist John Harwood called Harmony "garbage" in responding to the photo. Former tennis professional turned political commentator Martina Navratilova sarcastically remarked, "Classy" in her reaction. USA Today opinion columnist Michael J. Stern took a jab by writing "the white trash White House" in a reaction on Bluesky.

Harmony spent the last year covering the White House for Real America's Voice, the right-wing channel that carries Steve Bannon's weekday program and "The Charlie Kirk Show." According to the Daily Beast, she worked at a TV station in Springfield, Illinois, and has said the station suspended her after she delivered an unscripted on-air tribute to Charlie Kirk following his assassination.

Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr said on Saturday that Republicans are panicking about the midterms, and she put the blame on President Donald Trump.

The host of the MS NOW panel pointed to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC for Senate Republicans. It has been cutting future ad spending in states including North Carolina and Alaska. Atkins Stohr said the numbers tell a clear story.

"They say that the map is changing in a very, very bad way for Republicans, and they are worried about it and they are freaked out about it," she said.

She said Republicans have no answer on the issues voters care about most. They aren't promising to end the war in Iran, "which is as unpopular as can be," and they have no clear plan to lower prices or deal with labor shortages hitting farms and businesses.

"And that's all because Donald Trump tying it in," Atkins Stohr said. "Donald Trump is the anchor that is weighing them all down."

She said Trump's own campaign is now keeping him in safe territory. "The fact that they're sort of limiting him like, okay, you can play over there, but don't go anyplace else tells you a lot," she said.

According to Atkins Stohr, voters are connecting Trump's decisions to their own bills in a way they didn't with Joe Biden.

"Gas and food prices are high. Why? Because of the war in Iran. The labor shortage is hitting farms. Why? In part because of the draconian immigration practice," she said. "And all he's talking about, or mostly what he's talking about, is the Kennedy Center or his art or a ballroom. And that really altogether has voters very fed up."

Another panelist compared the moment to 2006. That year, an unpopular war and doubled gas prices helped Democrats win both chambers of Congress.

Voters in a deep-red state are turning on President Donald Trump as he arrives to rally for struggling Republican candidates.

The Guardian reported Saturday that Trump's standing in Ohio has collapsed during his second term, with a Marist poll taken late last month finding 56 percent of registered voters there disapprove of his job performance.

Trump is set to appear Saturday in Montgomery County, a longtime swing county near Dayton that he lost by just 1,201 votes in 2024, to boost Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Both men are trailing their Democratic opponents, Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton.

Kelly Savage-Radich, a Dayton-area mother of three who backed Trump in 2016 and 2020, told the Guardian that her family may have to sell a vehicle because of gas prices and that her grocery bill has climbed roughly $100 a week. She blamed the Trump administration directly.

"He wants his name on everything," she said. "I'm sorry, but I don't give a s— whose name is on the Kennedy Center."

She also pointed to the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.

"The shooting of an American citizen dead in the street, and no one was held accountable?" she said. "I have two daughters, and I'm trying to teach them all the freedoms this country has, but it feels like our freedoms are being taken."

Savage-Radich added that she now plans to vote Democrat "all the way down" the ballot.

Another Dayton resident, who declined to give her name, put it more bluntly.

"Trump? I think he's a disaster," she said.

A former nurse and Republican identified only as Bill told the outlet that complaints about gas prices are overblown, though he said he hasn't decided whether he'll vote in the midterms.

The warning signs extend beyond individual voters. Republican turnout in Montgomery County during two primaries this year ran at only about two-thirds of Democratic turnout, and statewide GOP turnout in May's gubernatorial primary fell 33 percent compared with 2022.

Local Republican leaders concede the party is in a tough fight. Phil Plummer, who chairs the county GOP and serves in the state House, said engagement has been slower than in past cycles but is starting to build. He argued that rising costs trace back to Democratic spending under former President Joe Biden.

"We didn't create that, the Democrats did, and it's hard to fix it in two years," Plummer said.

Democratic strategist James Carville says one Virginia House race could decide which party controls the chamber next year.

"Eugene's race IS the map," Carville wrote in an email sent Sunday by the re-election campaign of Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.). "Hold this seat, and Democrats have a real path to the House majority. Lose, and we're cooked."

Vindman, a retired Army officer who served on the National Security Council, won Virginia's 7th Congressional District in 2024 in one of that year's most competitive House races. Carville wrote that this year's race will be just as close.

"This ain't my first rodeo," he wrote. "I've been around politics a long time, so TRUST me: I know which races are THE races to pay attention to."

He said control of the House comes down to this one race.

Carville also warned that national momentum alone won't carry Democrats to victory.

"Momentum may be on Democrats' side, but it won't mean a hill of beans if the GOP is able to outspend us and blanket the airwaves with lies that trick voters into re-electing their majority this November," he wrote.

Democrats have plenty of reasons to feel good. Forecasters give them strong odds of retaking the House, and House Majority PAC just had its best fundraising quarter ever. Early voting is also underway in Virginia, where a quarter of a million people had already cast ballots by the middle of last week, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

Carville said winning the House matters because it would put "a check on Trump's power for the last two years of his term."

A celebrity trainer turned MAGA podcaster has a blunt midterm warning for Republicans counting on President Donald Trump's base to save them.

Former "Biggest Loser" trainer Jillian Michaels made the case on her podcast "Keeping It Real," after watching coverage suggesting that strong MAGA loyalty to Trump could hold off a Democratic "blue wave" in November, according to reporting by The Daily Beast.

Michaels argued the math doesn't work in the GOP's favor.

"They talk about how MAGA is still very loyal to Trump, but MAGA is not a big percentage, not a big percentage, of the total voting pool, because it's not the entire Republican Party," she said.

To back up her point, Michaels pointed to Pew Research data showing 28 percent of voters call themselves Republicans, compared to 29 percent who identify as Democrats and 44 percent who consider themselves independent or something else. Among those independents, Democrats hold a slight edge, with 47 percent leaning their way versus 43 percent leaning Republican.

She also referenced a University of Massachusetts Amherst survey that found 32 percent of Republican voters don't identify with the MAGA movement at all.

Michaels said that what she hears on the road lines up with the numbers.

"I gotta be honest, in talking with people, I travel a lot across the country, people come up to me in airports, in restaurants, Uber drivers, and they talk to me," she said. "I meet a lot of people who are Republicans that are not happy right now."

She also played a clip of rapper Nicki Minaj appearing on Lara Trump's Fox News show "My View," urging Republicans to show up at the polls.

"The point is simply don't get confident," Michaels said. "MAGA is not the majority."

The real danger, she argued, isn't that disaffected Republicans and right-leaning independents will cross over to vote for Democrats. It's that they'll stay home.

"They may not vote Democrat, but they may not vote at all, and that's it," Michaels said. "That's the nail in the coffin if that is the case."

Callers rang Sen. Tom Cotton's (R-AR) cellphone Saturday after President Donald Trump posted what he said was the senator's number on Truth Social.

Trump shared the number in a long post urging Arkansas residents to pressure Cotton to stop blocking the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent.

"Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill," Trump wrote. "For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it's very easy to do, it only takes one!"

Political commentators quickly reported trying the number for themselves.

"Just tried him," posted Sam Stein, a reporter for The Bulwark, on X. "The mailbox is, shockingly, full and there is not enough space to leave a message. Got to it too late."

Journalist Aaron Parnas reported similar results, writing, "Just tried to call Senator Tom Cotton to get his thoughts on this, phone went straight to voicemail and the mailbox is full."

Former GOP strategist Tim Miller shared that he "texted @TomCottonAR to see if he'd like to have a discussion about this" on Miller's podcast.

Progressive political strategist Drew Savicki posted a screenshot of him texting Cotton, "Do you have a favorite Ninja Turtle?"

Afghanistan refugee advocate Shawn VanDiver wrote on X, "We never miss an opportunity to advocate," and posted a screenshot of texts to Cotton advocating for Afghans.

"Hey Senator...I'd really like to talk to you about our Allies. Do you have time this weekend?" VanDiver's message read. "I know you've been a big advocate for Afghans...but Stephen Miller won't let any of them come through."

Others had a more straightforward criticism of Trump's move.

"For Trump, loyalty goes one way," warned political scientist Norman Ornstein. "Always. Lickspittles like Cotton will never learn that lesson."

Catherine Rampell, an economy columnist for The Bulwark, noted, "Trump's masked vigilante gangs can't show their faces because that would be an invasion of privacy, and yet."

According to a New York Times report, President Donald Trump's favorite aide had a part in the backstory of the $20 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign praising him.

The Times investigation, co-written by Maggie Haberman, found that Trump personally told his budget director to find government money for the ads. It also described an Oval Office meeting on Aug. 7 where Natalie Harp showed the room the kind of images the president likes.

At the meeting, Trump met with Republican strategists, top political adviser James Blair and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Harp, whom the Times called "his ever-present assistant and provider of positive news about himself," was there too.

The strategists were waiting for Trump to approve super PAC spending for midterm candidates. "But during that meeting, the president was much more interested in looking at videos of himself," the Times reported.

Trump turned to Harp and asked her to show the group the imagery he prefers. She pulled up White House videos on her tablet: Trump in front of huge crowds, Trump next to Marine One, and Trump with fighter jets flying overhead.

One clip showed UFC president Dana White calling Trump "the toughest, most resilient person that I've ever met." The Times reported that Trump has repeated the quote "with delight" ever since.

A Trump-linked nonprofit later spent about $60,000 to air an ad with White's quote, mostly around Washington, where Trump was sure to see it. A few weeks after that, ads praising Trump started running nationwide, paid for by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Harp, 35, has come under growing scrutiny for her role in deciding what news reaches Trump. Last weekend, photographers caught her showing Trump something on her laptop during the Texas-Tennessee football game.

President Donald Trump's voters turned against him in focus groups led by a former GOP strategist, with one taking aim at his $5,000 promise.

In a Saturday episode of "The Focus Group Podcast," Sarah Longwell played audio clips of Trump voters from her focus group. Longwell said Trump has been "pulling out all the stops" five weeks before Election Day and noted his pitch of giving out $5,000 checks if Republicans win the midterms.

One Trump voter wasn't buying it and scoffed, comparing it to a grade-school bribe.

"I did chuckle when he said he's going to give us $5,000 if we vote Republican," the voter said. "I'm waiting on my DOGE check, and I'm still waiting on my tariff check. It felt like kind of trying to buy people's votes, which honestly felt like an elementary school when the class president was like, 'Hey, we're going to take you to the water park if you vote [for] me.'"

"It's like I don't think it works that way," the voter added. "But yeah, I've done the math. The man owes me $22,200."

Other voters in the group vented about gas prices, the White House ballroom and the president's personal enrichment.

"Like you have diabetics rationing insulin and he's worried about a ballroom and a party and a coin," one said. "There's people that are literally dying because they are rationing insulin."

"I thought you weren't supposed to make money off of the presidency at all," another said. "And he is so much richer now than when he started."

Longwell's guest, Cook Political Report editor-in-chief Amy Walter, said the economy had long shielded Trump from that kind of criticism among his supporters, and that shield is now gone.

"That was what was protecting him from all those scandals and all that criticism was, 'Well, at least the economy is good,'" Walter said. "It's like literally that armor just fell off."

President Donald Trump has spent years warning that Democrats want to turn the country into a socialist welfare state. Now his critics, including conservatives, are mocking him for promising checks to millions of seniors just before the midterms.

On Friday night, Trump announced that his administration would "immediately" start sending "Checks" of "nearly $100" to more than 20 million seniors to help cover Medicare Part B premiums. He also promised a "$5,000 Trump Dividend" for every citizen "if, and when, the Republicans win the Midterm Elections!"

Gregg Nunziata, a former Republican Senate aide, pointed out the contradiction.

"'Stop socialism. Vote Republican.' They said," he wrote on X.

Progressive commentator Grant Stern took the same line. "Trump is giving away free money to show he promises to give away a lot more free money that nobody believes he will give away," he wrote. "But he says not to vote for Communists who will give you free things."

Others used a harsher word.

"We have no money. This is pre election bribery and should be stopped by Congress and the courts," wrote @kountry_kool, an account whose bio describes its owner as a "Principled Independent Conservative."

Attorney Jeffrey Evan Gold pointed to which seniors would get the money. He wrote that only recipients in 30 states qualify, and that 26 of those states voted for Trump in 2024. The administration says the difference comes down to whether state or federal governments oversee certain user fees, Gold wrote, but he called that explanation a "fig leaf."

The pro-Democratic outlet MeidasTouch summed up the announcement in three words: "Weak and desperate."

Journalist Sam Stein said, "Trump promising $2b in payments to seniors a month before the election drawn from the Medicare Improvement Fund. CBO makes pretty clear that this is not under statute, writing the fund may only be used 'to make improvements to Medicare’s hospital and medical insurance programs in ways that may include adjusting the amounts that Medicare pays to health care providers.'"

Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, once a close Trump ally, chimed in:

"Where are the DOGE checks and tariff refund checks and where is the cheap gas after stealing Venezuela oil and where is the reduction in national debt??? Hey but don’t be a panican!! Trump is now promising a $5,000 bribe only if you elect Republicans, which will cost $1.35 TRILLION tax dollars!!! The slop is so sloppy it’s beyond comprehension!!!"

A former Fox News host unloaded on President Donald Trump over his family's surging wealth, calling it corruption unlike anything the country has seen.

Geraldo Rivera made the remarks Saturday during a panel discussion with CNN host Abby Phillip, arguing that Trump is "unapologetic" about the money his relatives have pulled in since he returned to the White House.

"He thinks that as long as it's not illegal, let the good times roll," Rivera said.

Rivera singled out Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., pointing to the fortunes they've built through ventures running alongside the Trump administration.

"The fact that Jared and Eric and Don Jr. are making all this money with all of these, you know, side businesses, he thinks that's the American way," Rivera said. "And I look at it, and it's the most outrageously corrupt situation we've seen ever. Ever."

The former Fox News personality said there was no precedent for the scale of the enrichment.

"You've never had a situation where people's wealth has increased by the billions," he said.

Rivera tied the family's windfall to Congress's failure to pass a ban on stock trading by sitting lawmakers, noting that members can still own and trade shares while shaping policy that moves the value of those same holdings.

"There's a shamelessness to it," he said. "It's really tawdry."

Rivera did offer Trump some credit, saying he supports the president's push to remake Washington with monumental buildings and gold leaf in the Oval Office. He said he doesn't mind that the capital will look good and that its monuments will far outlive Trump.

"I'm proud of him for that," Rivera said.

But he said the goodwill stopped there, drawing a hard line between the building projects and what he described as the family cashing in on its proximity to power.

"The scummy thing is what they're doing with this side money and how they're making it," Rivera said. "People who are in a tight situation, those are the ones who are most affected and most hurt by it."

President Donald Trump posted a GOP Senator's cellphone number in a Truth Social post on Saturday in an effort to make daylight saving time permanent.

Trump posted the number of Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and urged Arkansas residents to call him and pressure the senator to drop his opposition to the Sunshine Protection Act because changing clocks is "very expensive for our Nation."

"Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill," Trump wrote. "For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it's very easy to do, it only takes one!"

Trump added, "GET IT DONE!" in his plea to voters.