• In-person early voting kicked off this weekend in Nevada, one of the key swing states that will decide the upcoming election. Like all the other major battlegrounds, polling averages show the race there between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is a statistical dead heat. Four years ago, President Joe Biden won Nevada’s six electoral votes by about 2.5 points. But Nevada is also a state where Republicans could chip away at the Democrat Party’s historical advantage with two major voting blocs: union voters and Latino voters. Manuel Santamaria, the Nevada state director for the nonprofit Mi Familia Vota, talks about where things stand in the state with just about two weeks to go until Election Day.
• And in headlines: Trump waxed poetic about the late golfer Arnold Palmer’s genitalia, Cuba suffered its worst blackout in decades, and letter carriers agreed to a tentative new contract with the United States Postal Service.

Show Notes:

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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Monday, October 21st. I’m Jane Coaston and this is What A Day, the show where well, here we are. 

[clip of unnamed reporter] Mr. Trump, what’s your favorite thing to order at McDonalds? 

[clip of Donald Trump] I like it all. I like every ounce of it, everything. But I do like the french fries while I’ll be working. [music break]

Jane Coaston: I hope Trump had fun playing job. On today’s show, Israel ramps up attacks in Lebanon again. Plus, Russell Brand is selling a magical necklace. Yes, I am being serious. But first, in-person early voting kicked off this weekend in Nevada. And I’m sure I’ve told you this before, but it’s one of the key swing states that will decide the upcoming election. And like all the other major battlegrounds, polling averages show the race there between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is a statistical dead heat. [sigh] Of course it is. Anyway, to get voters excited, the Harris campaign deployed one of its most popular messengers to stump for the vice president in Las Vegas on Saturday. 

[clip of Barack Obama] Hello, Vegas. Are you fired up? You ready to go?

Jane Coaston: Former President Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of about 4000. In a state dominated by the tourism industry, voters in Nevada named the economy and the cost of living as their top issues this election. And Obama acknowledged that yeah, a lot of Nevadans are struggling right now. But he said voting for Trump isn’t going to fix those problems. 

[clip of Barack Obama] So I get why people are looking to shake things up. It’s understandable. I understand it. What I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you. Because there’s absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself. 

Jane Coaston: Well, we now know he does think about the late golfer Arnold Palmer or parts of Arnold Palmer, but more on that later. Four years ago, President Joe Biden won Nevada’s six electoral votes by about two and a half points, roughly the same margin Hillary Clinton did in 2016. But Nevada is also a state where Republicans could be chipping away at the Democratic Party’s historical advantage with two major voting blocs, union voters and Latino voters. Last week, we talked about how recent polls show Harris underperforming Biden’s edge with Latino voters. And in a state like Nevada, where 30% of the population is Latino or Hispanic. They’ll be key to deciding which way the state ultimately goes in the election. So for more on where things stand in Nevada, I spoke with Manuel Santamaria. He’s the Nevada state director for Mi Familia Vota, a nonprofit that works to mobilize Latino voters. Manuel, thanks for coming on What A Day. 

Manuel Santamaria: Thanks for having me. 

Jane Coaston: Can you tell me a little bit about Mi Familia Vota and your work, particularly how it differs and changes during an upcoming election? 

Manuel Santamaria: Yeah. So Mi Familia Vota is concerned with expanding the Latino electorate right through the vote at the ballot. We also fund and build local infrastructure here so that we can push our community’s agendas forward. Right, what’s important to the Latino community. What’s different in an electoral cycle over other ones is off years we worry about things like citizenship work, right, helping people navigate that process. And then any legislative priorities here locally, at least in Nevada where I’m at, where Latinos concern themselves. And then during cycle, obviously, then we’re trying to build that Latino electorate and expand it as much as possible. 

Jane Coaston: When you’re doing door knocking or you’re talking to people, what are you hearing on the ground about this election from folks? 

Manuel Santamaria: For a lot of them, it’s the first time that they’ve heard anything from, you know, somebody trying to get them out to go vote or to check on their voter registration, because a lot of them, they’re considered unreachable. Right. They kind of exist outside of those normal contact kind of things that campaigns do. So a lot of them are just grateful that someone’s reached out to them and reminded them. But mostly economic anxiety and just wondering, hey what are they doing for me this time? 

Jane Coaston: What are the main challenges to convincing unregistered Spanish speaking citizens to vote? 

Manuel Santamaria: Trust is a big one, right? You’re asking them to fill out a form that is going to be sent to the state that even if it’s in Spanish or in English. Right. They they may see that as like, well, are you keeping tabs on me for other purposes or things like that. So that’s one of the big things, really. 

Jane Coaston: Do you think that in some part that comes from some folks having like, you know, I know that having been through the immigration process myself, some people are just very nervous about having to have interactions with the state. 

Manuel Santamaria: Yeah. Like when you’re going through the process, right, you have to keep them updated on where you’re moving to. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Manuel Santamaria: Where you’re living. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Manuel Santamaria: So afterwards, I feel like they kind of feel like, well, I’m I’m free, right? I’m an American now. So why are you still keeping tabs on me or why do you need this information? I thought that was the whole point of coming here. 

Jane Coaston: Right. So what do you say to those voters? How do you get them to say like, yes, obviously this involves sending a form to the government, but this matters to you and your family. How do you have that conversation? 

Manuel Santamaria: So a lot of it is our org itself, right? You trust who we are because we are there for you during off times, right? We’re not just showing up for the first time. This is not the first time you’ve heard from us. We’ve helped you in the past. So we’re trusted messengers in the community. And so through that, we kind of explain like, hey, we’re not collecting that data ourselves and keeping it and and marking you as where you’re at. You know, maybe if we can make phone calls later, sure. But not for any other reason than that. And then making sure that they understand that this is just going to the secretary of state here locally and they’re going to ask you to update it next time you want to vote as well. 

Jane Coaston: What are some of the issues that Latino voters in Nevada are telling you that they care about most this election? 

Manuel Santamaria: So Latino voters in Nevada are concerned with everything that regular Americans are concerned with. Right. The economy, housing, the cost of goods, all those things that are affecting Americans all over the nation. In a place like Nevada, that’s very heavily centric on tourism, it’s almost magnified here. You know, if you’re a Latino, you work in the service industry and people aren’t coming here and spending as much money, that affects you directly. 

Jane Coaston: And and on that point, both Trump and Harris have come out in support of ending taxes on tips, a policy that might resonate with folks who are service in the working in the service industry in Nevada. Is that shared policy goal making it any harder to convince some voters to support the Democratic ticket? 

Manuel Santamaria: So there are two dueling policies out now, right? Kamala Harris introduced hers, Donald Trump had come out first and uh done this no tax on tips thing. There are very marked differences in them and really getting through the misinformation on what would actually be, one of them was very much, hey, we’re just not going to tax your tips. But the Harris proposal was more in depth about, well, you still have to declare them right, because you need to declare this if you want to get a mortgage so you can prove to a bank that you’re making this income. Right. It’s great if you don’t want to get a tax and you don’t want to declare it. But if you’re just making all this money under the table, you can’t prove to anybody what money you’re making. 

Jane Coaston: So recent polling from the New York Times and Siena College found that Latinos nationwide are supporting Vice President Harris over Donald Trump by about a 19 point margin, but that’s down from 26 points in 2020 and 39 points in 2016. What do you think explains some of that shift right, among some Latino voters? 

Manuel Santamaria: I don’t want to push back, but I do want to say I haven’t noticed a rightward shift. I’ve more noticed like an apathetic type shift. Right. So a drop in interest. And a lot of it, again, comes from just the fact that Latinos, a lot of them being blue collar workers, are just struggling, you know, with the economy and everything like that. So if you’re a shift worker on the strip, for example, and you work 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., you’re not watching the news normally, you’re not– 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. 

Manuel Santamaria: –listening to the news. Hard to contact you. So–

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Manuel Santamaria: You would you would mark that as a as a drop in interest or as someone that’s not supporting [?]. If you can’t get a hold of them. 

Jane Coaston: What do you think the Harris campaign needs to do in the next few weeks in order to strengthen support among Latinos in Nevada? 

Manuel Santamaria: They’ve been doing a great job in outreach this cycle. Here in Nevada especially, they’ve hired a lot of young um Latinos that are first gen that have gone through this experience of, you know, everything that Americans are going through now. So continuing that outreach and also just emphasizing the policy suggestions that the Harris administration would put in that would help Latinos overcome these economic anxieties. Right. The messaging around that and really just not overpromising. Just keeping it light and saying like, hey, we’re here, we hear you. We support you en español. 

Jane Coaston: Manuel, thank you so much for joining me. That was my conversation with Manuel Santamaria, Nevada state director for Mi Familia Vota. We’ll get to some of the news in the moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: And now the news. 

[sung] Headlines. 

[clip of Donald Trump] Hello, everybody. Hello, Pennsylvania. We love Pennsylvania. 

Jane Coaston: Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump were in overdrive over the last few days on the campaign trail with a focus on battleground states. On Saturday, Harris held campaign events with pop stars Lizzo in Michigan and Usher in Georgia. Trump campaigned in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of famous golfer Arnold Palmer. Trump began his speech by waxing rhapsodic about Palmer for over 12 minutes, including this interesting anecdote. 

[clip of Donald Trump] And I say that at all due respect to women and I love women, but this guy, this guy, this is a guy that was all man. This man was strong and tough. And I refuse to say it. But when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there they said, oh my God. That’s unbelievable. [laugh] I had to say it. I had to say. 

Jane Coaston: Folks, I have heard a lot of things I don’t want to hear in this election cycle, but descriptions of Palmer’s genitalia is way up there. Trump also had some harsh words about Kamala Harris. 

[clip of Donald Trump] So you have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore. We can’t stand you. You’re a shit Vice President, the worst. 

Jane Coaston: Now, I could go into a historical discussion of past vice presidents and say that actually Andrew Johnson was the worst vice president. But I will actually center on Trump using shit as an adjective. Not shitty, but shit. Trump, you’ve been spending way too much time with English people. Tell Nigel Farage to knock it off. Harris fired off a couple of zingers of her own. While she and Trump held competing rallies in Wisconsin on Thursday. She responded to hecklers in her crowd. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] Oh you guys are at the wrong rally. [laughter and applause] No, I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street. [laughter and cheers]

Jane Coaston: And on Sunday, both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, went to church. In Michigan, Walz slammed Trump over his $59 branded Trump Bibles, which are made in China, of course. And Harris spoke at a church in Georgia where she drew a sharp contrast between the values of the two presidential campaigns. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] Our country is at a crossroads, and where we go from here is up to us, as Americans and as people of faith. And now we ask a question and we face this question What kind of country do we want to live in? A country of chaos, fear and hate, or a country of freedom, compassion and justice? 

Jane Coaston: And the congregation sang happy birthday to the vice president, who turned 60 on Sunday. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] [clip of people singing a birthday song] Thank you. Thank you. 

Jane Coaston: Meanwhile, Ohio Senator and Trump running mate J.D. Vance campaigned with tailgaters at the Green Bay Packers game. And Trump was in Pennsylvania, where he pretended to work a shift at McDonald’s, a McDonald’s that was, to be clear, closed. They even rehearsed. Now, seriously, that actually happened. Palestinian health officials say nearly 90 people are either dead or missing after an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in northern Gaza late Saturday. Dozens more were wounded. Israeli officials initially disputed the death toll, but said they were examining what had happened. A day earlier, an Israeli strike killed another 33 people in a refugee camp in northern Gaza. And on Sunday, Israel’s military said it had targeted a, quote, “large number of economic targets tied to the Lebanese group Hezbollah” near Beirut. It came after Hezbollah sent dozens of projectiles into Israel over the weekend, including one that targeted a home owned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Taken together, the Israeli strikes are the latest indication it has no immediate plans to wind down its wars against both Hezbollah and Gaza’s Hamas. Despite the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week in renewed international hopes for a ceasefire. [clip of person speaking in Spanis plays] Cuba suffered its worst blackout in three decades after one of the island’s major power plants failed over the weekend. The entire island went dark Friday morning, leaving millions of people without electricity and just as power was restored to some regions, the power went out again on Saturday morning. Power outages are common in Cuba, but they’re usually limited to a few hours a day. Experts have long warned that the island could suffer a major outage because Cuba’s power grid relies on power plants that are more than half a century old. One Cuba resident told MSNBC on Friday that the island’s power grid is, quote, “on the verge of total collapse. [clip of that unnamed person speaking in Spanish in a short clip plays] Energy officials restored power in some parts of the island’s capital of Havana on Saturday. But much of the island was still in the dark on Sunday. The latest hurricane brewing in the Atlantic, Oscar, made landfall in the Bahamas on Sunday and later that night in Cuba as a Category one storm. Around 200,000 letter carriers have agreed to a tentative contract with the United States Postal Service. Their previous contract expired in May of 2023, and the new contract goes through November, just long enough to make sure that continuing negotiations don’t affect the election. The New Deal includes higher pay and a promise from the USPS to make every effort to put air conditioning in existing mail trucks. The USPS is also in the process of rolling out a new fleet of vehicles, complete with air conditioning. The contract still needs to be ratified by union members, which could take several weeks. Both sides have said they’re happy with the agreement, though neither got everything they wanted. Hurray compromise. And that’s the news. [music break] One more thing. We are in a golden age of grifters scammers, con artists, whatever you call them, we’ve got way too many of them. Take, for example, Russell Brand. You might remember him as an actor and generally famous person from the early to mid 2000s. Well, since then, he’s been credibly accused of sexual assault multiple times. Now he’s a podcaster, a convert to Christianity, and sadly, one of those guys on YouTube who yells about how they don’t want you to know about their globalist agenda. Sometimes he discusses this with Tucker Carlson. Obviously, earlier this year, he endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr for President, the candidate for people who spent a lot of time asking on TikTok why there are so many dangerous chemicals in our food and water and then vote for the people who help put the dangerous chemicals in our food and water. Anyway, Brand hit TikTok this week with a new ad for an amulet that promises to block wi fi from corrupting you. I am not joking. Take a listen. 

[clip of Russel Brand] Hello. I’m just back from Narnia where I had a holiday. Mr. Tumnus, Aslan, all those guys. And as you know, airports are places full of wifi, all sorts of evil energies, think of all the phones out there, all of the signals, corruptible and corrupting. Luckily, I wear this magical amulet from Aires Tech that keeps me safe from all of the various signals out there. You should get one as well. 

Jane Coaston: So a couple of things. One, Russell Brand reminds me of a streetwise rat from a children’s movie that I kind of forgot about. Two, this amulet costs $217.36 in American dollars. It will not block wifi. You don’t need to block wifi. And despite what the amulets website says, it will also not help heal your wounds. It will not do anything except cost you, a nice person, four times as much as a Southwest flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I am not talking about Russell Brand because he’s interesting, but what he is, is a grifter. He’s following the grifters path. Step one, convince an audience that they literally cannot trust anyone or anything except the grifter for some reason. Step two, scare your audience. Step three, sell your audience things they don’t need because of the things you scared them about because they trust you. Russell Brand isn’t worried about wifi corrupting his vital forces, and Alex Jones doesn’t actually believe the New World Order is coming to steal your mind. In fact, we know this for certain because back in 2017, Alex Jones’ attorney told a courtroom that his whole conspiratorial thing was, quote, “performance art” and that he was simply, quote, “playing a character.” But there are people out there, people whom you may even know and love and care about, who do believe people like Brand and Jones and Donald Trump, the grifter of grifters, someone right now who is about to purchase a $200 hunk of plastic because Russell Brand told them they could stop wifi from hurting them. [music break]

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Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave a review. Don’t buy anything Russell Brand tells you to and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading and not just thinking about how Donald Trump pretends to be a working class hero, but he actually hates paying overtime and would not answer any questions on raising the minimum wage and will fire striking workers like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston and I am not loving it, Donald. Not at all. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded by Jerik Centeno and mixed by Bill Lancz. Our associate producer is Raven Yamamoto. Our producer is Michell Eloy. We had production help today from Ethan Oberman, Tyler Hill, Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters and Julia Claire. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our executive producer is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. 

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