With just days left in the 2020 presidential election season, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci is doubling down on a Joe Biden win next Tuesday.
Scaramucci told Cheddar that "weapons-grade-style" propaganda and a focus on culture war issues, rather than his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, are the only reasons President Donald Trump has held onto his supporters.
"He's made us weaker, sicker, and poorer, but he's got a standing because of the way they've set this up as a culture war narrative," he said. "That's why he's still in the race. I mean, he's going to get annihilated, but he's still in the race."
Scaramucci also blamed Trump's own coronavirus diagnosis, and the erratic tweeting during his recovery, as one reason the administration was unable to push another stimulus package through Congress. He alleged that inconsistent messaging from the president gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi an opening to delay the vote until after the election.
"He could have probably gotten one, but I think it was the unpredictability of his personality that led to where we are right now," he said of a fourth stimulus bill.
On the current polling, Scaramucci pointed out that results have been fairly consistent over the last year, as opposed to the "roller coaster movement" of the 2016 election season.
"If anything, they may tip more into [Biden's] favor because of what's going on with COVID-19 now," he said.
In the case of a loss for Trump, Scaramucci offered this insight on his former employer:
"I think he's going to surprise people because, listen, all that is bluster and overcompensation born from his personal insecurities," he said. "I think if he gets annihilated — I predict he will — he'll give a concession speech, and then he's got to figure out how to work with Vice President Biden."
The prospect of Trump denying the election results is "smoke and mirrors," he added.
A record number of women are on the ballot next week, but many have struggled to finance their campaigns. Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of Republican Main Street Partnership, explains the funding gap that follows women on the campaign trail.
Axios is taking a different approach to success than many of its traditional media rivals. In a click-bait media universe, the digital media start-up is prioritizing engagement over page views. "We need engaged users, not just users," co-founder Roy Schwartz told Cheddar.
On Tuesday, Missouri could become the 32nd state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana. Cannabis legalization has garnered more public support in recent years, and medical pot is often thought to be the gateway to fuller legalization. While the Missouri medical community is split on the drug's medicinal value, much of the student body at the University of Missouri has a pro-legalization stance.
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Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the Democratic candidate running in Florida's 26th district, is slamming ads attacking her, including one that shows a man pointing a gun. Mucarsel-Powell lost her father to gun violence.
The markets looked to recover losses for October in the last day of trading for the month. Facebook shares were making solid gains on the heels of its third-quarter earnings results. Revenue slowed but the company beat estimates on earnings per share. Plus, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, an Ecuadorian immigrant running to represent Florida's 26th district, tells Cheddar the changes she would make if elected to office. The midterms are just six days out.
October's reputation as a volatile month for stocks will remain unbroken ー at least for now. The S&P 500 will close its worst October since the financial crisis a decade ago and its worst month in eight years. The gains in equities from a summer rally have been wiped out across just about every slice of the market.
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It's been nearly two weeks since Canada opened the retail market for recreational marijuana, and now it faces a shortage of supply across many of the retail operations in a number of provinces. "Given the robustness of the demand, suppliers clearly did have challenges getting the stores full and adequately supplied," Cowen Managing Director Vivien Azer told Cheddar's CannaBiz Tuesday.
It's not a coincidence that President Trump said he would sign an executive order to end birthright citizenship a week before a pivotal election. That's according to David Graham, a staff writer at The Atlantic, who explained the politics behind the bombshell announcement.
