Trump goes on a crazy spree and demands a shutdown, suggests that America’s top general deserves to be executed, and promises to investigate media outlets if he wins. Meanwhile, his GOP opponents who trail him by more than 40 points prepare to duke it out on the debate stage for the second time. The Washington Post releases an outlier poll that triggers a freakout. House Republicans turn on each other as they bring the government closer to a shutdown. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez gets indicted for bribery and corruption. And later, Tommy talks to Kal Penn about the youth vote and Hollywood writer’s strike.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Show Notes

TRUMP

• CNN: Trump to skip second Republican debate for Detroit prime-time speech 
• Reuters: Trump urges government shutdown in unlikely bid to ‘defund’ his criminal prosecutions 
• NBC: Trump breaks with McCarthy, pushing Republicans to shut down the government
• Atlantic: Trump Floats the Idea of Executing Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley 
• YahooNews: Trump demands all Senate Democrats resign over Bob Menendez scandal – despite his own slew of criminal cases 
• YahooNews: Trump demands MSNBC owner be investigated for ‘treason’
• C-SPAN: Former President Trump Campaigns in South Carolina

GOP DEBATE

• Politico: Debate moderator Dana Perino: ‘It’s crunch time’ for Republican 2024 hopefuls
• AP: RNC’s livestreaming partner for the GOP debate is a haven for disinformation and extremism
• NYT: Dana Perino of Fox News Is About to Face Her Biggest Test as a Journalist
• Axios: Fox’s Perino didn’t try to recruit Trump to this GOP debate
• NYT: How the G.O.P. Candidates Get Debate-Ready
• WSJ: GOP Candidates Head to Reagan’s Library as Party Drifts From His Ideas
• Fox: What Republican presidential hopefuls stand to gain — or lose — at second primary debate
• CNN: Third Republican debate will be held on November 8

POLL FREAKOUT

• WaPo: Post-ABC poll – Biden faces criticism on economy, immigration and age
• NBC: Poll – Overwhelming majorities express concerns about Biden, Trump ahead of 2024 race
• Playbook: How to make sense of those new Biden-Trump polls
• Axios: “I’m concerned”: Dean Phillips refuses to rule out Biden primary challenge

SHUTDOWN

• CNN: McCarthy confronts key decisions as Congress hurtles toward government shutdown
• Playbook: Kevin McCarthy’s Catch-22 on the shutdown
• Politico: McCarthy reverses on Ukraine aid as GOP scrambles on funding bills
• Hill: Senate Democrats put McCarthy in shutdown squeeze 
• Axios: The history of government shutdowns and how long they last
• WaPo: Was McCarthy distracted from governing by impeachment inquiry?
• AP: With House Republicans in turmoil, colleagues implore GOP holdouts not to shut down government
• Atlantic: Gingrich Shutdown the Government in a Tantrum 23 Years Ago 

MENENDEZ

• NYT: Menendez, Defiant, Says He Will Not Resign
• AP News: Democratic Sen. Menendez rejects calls to resign, says cash found in home was not bribe proceeds 
• The Hill: Why Menendez must resign  
• CNN: Democrats’ response to the Menendez indictment tells all you need to know about today’s GOP