Hello soon-to-be-friends! I'm Rebecca Morin, senior national news reporter at USA TODAY. Starting today, I'm your new guide for the never-ending political news cycle. Couple of things about me: I'm Tejana, a Taurus and always up for a jog. |
Got questions or thoughts on what you'd like to see from this newsletter? Email me at rdmorin@usatoday.com. Now that you know a little about me, I would love to learn some more about you. Help me by filling out this survey. |
Now, let's get to why you're here. It's election season. |
There are 7 days until the Democratic National Convention. 84 days until Election Day. And most importantly (at least to my sanity), 58 days until the new season of "Abbott Elementary." |
Live from the presidential election |
Who will be gracing your screen as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris (and their respective running mates) next month when "Saturday Night Live" returns? Truthfully… we don't know the full cast just yet. But we do know one: Maya Rudolph will reprise her role as Harris, who she played in 2019. Read more. |
Other contenders I'm eyeing: |
📺 SNL castmate James Austin Johnson played Trump earlier this year and some of last year. He may be looking to portray the former president again… But could Alec Baldwin, who's involuntary manslaughter charge was dismissed, make a comeback? |
🎥For Tim Walz, we already know Steve Martin said no. But other names we're seeing tossed around: Bradley Whitford (of West Wing fame), comedian Danny Devito, and SNL alum Julia Sweeney volunteered in a post on X . |
🎞️ What about JD Vance? There are several current SNL cast members who could portray the Republican vice presidential candidate. Some names include: Colin Jost, a leading writer and co-anchor of Weekend Update, or Michael Longfellow, whose deadpan cadence could be used to portray the GOP VP pick. |
Who do you want to see? And don't forget to mark your calendar: "Saturday Night Live" (its 50th season!) returns Sept. 28. |
Trump's AI lie on Harris' crowd size |
Now back to the actual election. Over the weekend Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social, cast doubt over images showing supporters greeting Harris as she stepped off Air Force Two at a Michigan campaign stop. He accused Harris of using AI. Read more . |
I chatted with John Wisely, reporter for the Detroit Free Press (which is part of the USA TODAY Network), who was at Harris' Michigan rally last week. Here are some takeaways: |
| • | Several sets of bleachers were packed full of people surrounding the stage. | | • | In front of the stage, people were "elbow-to-elbow." | | • | Dozens of buses were used to take supporters from parking to the venue. | |
"It took a couple hours to get everyone off site and there was plenty of griping (from the media and the visitors) about the delays with the buses," Wisely told me. |
But does crowd size really even matter in the election? It's not a perfect statistic, but it can demonstrate some momentum. |
| • | In 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama drew huge crowds, at one point gathering 75,000 people in Portland, Oregon. We saw how that election ended. | | • | Trump drew huge crowds in 2016, but so did Hillary Clinton. She actually drew some of the largest crowds that election, with some rallies reaching up to 40,000 people. Reminder: Trump won the 2016 election. | | • | Harris, per her campaign, saw around 15,000 people turn out to her rallies in Romulus, Michigan, and Glendale, Arizona. About 12,000 people attended her events in Philadelphia and Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Guess we'll see what it means in November. | | |
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