January Archives - Page 2 of 2

January 7, 2023

Top Fashion Stories of the Week: January 6

Kicking off the new year, fashion presented a diverse mix of business dealings, creative director changes and new collaboration launches. If anything, it revealed the forthcoming year in fashion is set to include a wide array of discussion-worthy moments big and small.

adidas and Thom Browne appeared in court regarding their ongoing three stripes trademark dispute; Kering Q4 forecasts suggest that Balenciaga’s ad controversy could contribute to declining numbers; California became the first state to ban fur sales; and Louise Trotter exited Lacoste as its creative director. Outside of business, Marni and Carhartt WIP teamed up for a funkadelic offering, the Dior x ERL “California Collection” dropped at DSM, Louis Vuitton launched its Yayoi Kusama collaboration in NYC and Fendi and Tiffany & Co. united for a sterling silver Baguette Bag.

Below, HYPEBEAST has rounded up the top fashion stories of the week so you can stay up to date on trends in the industry.

adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court Over Three Stripes Trademark Dispute

Adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court and Kering Q4 Forecasts Declining Numbers in This Week’s Top Fashion News Fashion
This past Tuesday, adidas and Thom Browne appeared in Manhattan’s Southern District Court regarding an ongoing Three Stripes trademark battle. Although a trademark infringement and dilution complaint was filed against Thom Browne in June of 2021, the recent appearance marks a new point for the high-name matter. The sportswear brand claims that Browne’s brand “imitates [its] three-stripe mark in a manner that is likely to cause consumer confusion and deceive the public regarding its source, sponsorship, association, or affiliation,” which, in turn, is “irreparably harming adidas’ brand and its extremely valuable [mark].”

As such, adidas is seeking $867,225 USD in damages for would-be licensing fees alongside $7 million USD in profits, according to adidas’ attorney R. Charles Henn Jr. of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP via WWD. Check out the post in the link above for more details about both sides’ claims in court.

Kering Q4 Forecasts Imply Balenciaga Ad Controversies Could Contribute to Declining Numbers

Adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court and Kering Q4 Forecasts Declining Numbers in This Week’s Top Fashion News Fashion
Balenciaga is not out of hot water yet and as a result, it is looking like Kering will take a hit. Due to Balenciaga’s ad controversy in 2022, the brand has suffered significant business losses in the U.S. and U.K. markets, according to a WWD report on recent HSBC equity research.

The report details Q4 forecasts for Kering, which could see a 3.1{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} fall, which is comprised of Gucci’s 12.5{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} drop and an improvement figure of 8{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} from its other brands. But since the official figures report is yet to be released, it remains unclear to what degree Balenciaga’s controversy will harm Kering. Alongside Balenciaga, Gucci’s recent changes are set to produce changes at Kering as well given the recent departure of creative director Alessandro Michele.

Balenciaga represented roughly 10{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of Kering’s 2021 group sales, while Gucci’s figure rests at 55{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502}. Stay tuned for more details about Kering’s Q4 when the official Q4 report releases next month.

Louise Trotter Exits Lacoste

Adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court and Kering Q4 Forecasts Declining Numbers in This Week’s Top Fashion News Fashion
From Alessandro Michele exiting Gucci to Raf Simons closing his eponymous label, 2022 was a year for big creative directorship changes – sending waves through the industry. Well it’s looking like 2023 is continuing that trend as Louise Trotter has exited Lacoste as creative director following a four-year run.

Trotter came on board with Lacoste in 2018 and showed her first runway with the brand in 2019 during Paris Fashion Week. Upon her exit, Trotter showed her final collection to a private group last year and will be apart of the brand’s SS23 collection.

California Is Officially the First State to Ban Fur Sales

Adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court and Kering Q4 Forecasts Declining Numbers in This Week’s Top Fashion News Fashion
California took a new step in the direction of animal protection and environmental equity by becoming the first state to ban fur sales. The ban went into effect on January 1 and prohibits the sale and manufacturing of new animal fur products.

For clarity, the law does not prohibit the sale of used fur products that would appear via secondhand retailers or nonprofit thrift stores. The law also does not affect fur ownership rights. Therefore, it is still legal to wear real fur garments in California. Additonally, the ban does affect department stores like Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus in the state which have either closed their fur salons or shut not fur sales, according to WWD.

“We are grateful to California for taking a stand against the cruel fur industry by implementing this statewide ban on the production and sale of new fur products,” said Jenny Berg, California state director for the Humane Society of the United States, in a statement.

Take an Official Look at Marni and Carhartt WIP’s Funkadelic Fusion

Adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court and Kering Q4 Forecasts Declining Numbers in This Week’s Top Fashion News Fashion
Francesco Risso’s Marni first teased its collaboration with Carhartt WIP last year, and now the collection has finally been revealed. To bring the funky collaboration to life, the brands enlisted Bootsy Collins, his wife Patti Collins, Bootsy’s grandson Vincent and Babyxsosa.

Fusing Marni’s whimsical and colorful cadence with Carhartt WIP’s workwear style, uniform pieces take form in color-blocked constructions and floral prints with collaborative branding. Collection highlights include the Active and Chore jackets, which appear in green/white, yellow/black and warm-hued colorways.

The Marni x Carhartt WIP collection releases on January 14 at Carhartt WIP stores, Marni boutiques and on Marni’s website.

Dior and ERL’s “California Couture” Collection is Dropping at DSM This Week

Adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court and Kering Q4 Forecasts Declining Numbers in This Week’s Top Fashion News Fashion
Dior and ERL have finally released their “California Couture” collection at Dover Street Market, which was first revealed back in May. Filled with an array of dreamy colors, elevated style meets Cali comfort in the highly anticipated collaboration.

Pieces like quilted puffer jackets, pastel-colored satin suits and more graced the show’s bold blue runway. Dior’s Kim Jones noted that the glamour of Christ Dior’s period in the United States served as a focal point in crafting the collection. HYPEBEAST recently caught up with Kim Jones and Eli Russel Linnetz to discuss the collection’s vibrantly fun influences.

The Dior x ERL “California Couture” collection is available now at DSM before landing shortly at Dior boutiques.

Louis Vuitton Launches Yayoi Kusama Collaboration in NYC

Adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court and Kering Q4 Forecasts Declining Numbers in This Week’s Top Fashion News Fashion
After taking over Tokyo to start the buzz about its new collection, the new Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama collaboration has finally launched in NYC.

The bring forth the collab on the East Coast, the French luxury house has opened a special pop-up in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District – embedded with an array of Kusama’s signature multicolored dot artwork. Alongside the Meatpacking store is another pop-up in Soho. Both stores are set to include ready-to-wear garments, leather goods, accessories, shoes, fragrances and luggage.

Although the collaboration has landed in NYC, the second Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama has also launched worldwide at LV stores and at DSM Ginza.

Fendi and Tiffany & Co. Release Sterling Silver Baguette Bag

Adidas and Thom Browne Go to Court and Kering Q4 Forecasts Declining Numbers in This Week’s Top Fashion News Fashion
In September of 2022 during NYFW, Fendi hosted special fashion show that celebrated the 25th anniversary of its signature Baguette bag. In extending the celebration, the Rome-based luxury house teamed up with Tiffany & Co. to craft a sterling silver Baguette bag.

The bag came to be at the hands of a group of Tiffany Makers at the brand’s Rhode Island workshop. Taking over fourth months to make, the bag is made entirely from sterling silver bag and is complete with engraved lilies and roses, which nod to the flowers of Italy and New York. Alongside the unique sterling silver bag, the collaboration also includes a capsule of leather Baguette bags in Tiffany & Co.’s signature blue shade.

The Fendi x Tiffany & Co. Baguette bags are available now in-store at select Fendi boutiques and online at Fendi and Tiffany & Co.

December 9, 2022

January 6 committee considers criminal referrals for at least 4 others besides Trump

CNN
—

The Home select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection is thinking of prison referrals for at least four people today in addition to previous President Donald Trump, several sources instructed CNN.

The panel is weighing criminal referrals for previous White House chief of employees Mark Meadows, correct wing law firm John Eastman, previous Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and Trump’s previous lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the sources explained.

The committee has not officially made a decision whom to refer to the Justice Office for prosecution and for what offenses, resources reported. The 4 people who are amongst people under thought, and whose names have not been earlier noted, give a window into the panel’s deliberations.

A further supply cautioned that whilst names are getting deemed, there is even now discussion prior to names are finalized.

Even though the felony referrals would largely be symbolic in character – as the DOJ has currently undertaken a sprawling investigation into the US Capitol attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 election – committee associates have stressed that the go serves as a way to document their views for the document.

A spokesperson for the January 6 committee declined to comment.

Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, reported Thursday that committee users are expected to achieve a selection on prison referrals when members meet virtually on Sunday.

Thompson told reporters on Thursday how associates developed to the plan of issuing criminal referrals as the panel’s investigation went on.

“I consider the a lot more we appeared at the human body of proof that we experienced collected, we just felt that when we’re not in the enterprise of investigating men and women for felony things to do, we just couldn’t forget some of them.”

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who potential customers the January 6 subcommittee tasked with presenting suggestions on criminal referrals to the complete committee, said Thursday, “I consider everyone who engages in felony steps needs to be held accountable for them. And we are heading to spell that out.”

“The gravest offense in constitutional conditions is the endeavor to overthrow a presidential election and bypass the constitutional get,” Raskin informed reporters. “Subsidiary to all of that are a full host of statutory offenses, which assistance the gravity and magnitude of that violent assault on The us.”

Raskin, along with Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Zoe Lofgren, the two of California, and the panel’s vice chair GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, comprise the subcommittee.

Schiff advised CNN there is a “consensus amid the members” pertaining to referrals and that members are getting a unified solution on that entrance.

Thompson explained to reporters earlier this 7 days, “we will make referrals. As to how numerous, we have not made a decision that yet.” CNN earlier described that the committee is weighing Trump and a range of his closest allies for criminal referrals.

Thompson explained the panel is aiming to release its ultimate report and vote publicly on legal referrals on December 21.

“There will be some sort of community presentation. We have not resolved exactly what that would be,” Thompson claimed.

The committee subpoenaed Meadows for files and testimony in September of last 12 months, and he handed above much more than 2,000 text messages he despatched and received amongst Election Day 2020 and Joe Biden’s inauguration. The textual content messages, which have been obtained by CNN, reveal how best Republican Celebration officers, proper-wing figures and even Trump’s spouse and children members mentioned with Meadows what Trump really should say and do right after the election and in the center of the insurrection.

Meadows did not convert around other paperwork he experienced, and the Dwelling committee voted to maintain him in legal contempt of Congress for it and for his refusal to testify, referring the make any difference to the Justice Office. The Justice Division has declined to indict Meadows for evading his subpoena, supplied his higher degree position in the Trump West Wing and promises of executive privilege.

Raskin also advised Thursday that earlier referrals to DOJ for contempt of Congress would not influence how the panel handles these legal referrals.

“We naturally did contempt of Congress referrals previously and there is a full statutory course of action for earning that transpire,” he explained. “But you know we will explain our decisions in detail – why we are producing specified types of referrals for specified people today and other sorts for other people.”

Eastman sat for an job interview with the panel past yr, but invoke his Fifth Modification legal rights that protect in opposition to self-incrimination.

In the midst of a lawful struggle to obtain Eastman’s e-mail, a federal decide ruled in March that Eastman, along with Trump, might have been arranging a crime as they sought to disrupt the January 6 congressional certification of the presidential election. The FBI seized Eastman’s cell phone in June as part of its prison investigation according to a courtroom submitting from Eastman.

David O. Carter, a federal judge in California, purchased Eastman to change about 101 emails from the period around January 6, 2021, that he has tried to continue to keep key from the Dwelling pick out committee, which soon after a lengthy court struggle, the panel finally gained.

Carter’s reasoning was a essential acknowledgment by a federal court that Trump’s fascination in overturning the election could be regarded felony.

“The illegality of the approach was noticeable,” Carter wrote.

In a hearing over the summer months, the panel presented revelations that delivered new perception into Eastman’s job as a central determine in the exertion led by Trump to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election. Eastman was integral to the powerful pressure marketing campaign that Trump directed at then-Vice President Mike Pence to compel Pence to support carry out a system to overturn the election final results.

In the hearing, the committee walked by how Eastman put forward a legal idea that Pence could unilaterally block certification of the election – a idea that was roundly rejected by Trump’s White Household attorneys and Pence’s workforce, but was even so embraced by the former President.

Clark invoked the Fifth Modification a lot more than 100 occasions throughout his deposition with the committee. Federal investigators have raided Clark’s residence as component of their very own legal investigation.

The previous DOJ formal was dealing with a criminal contempt of Congress referral at the time immediately after he refused to response the committee’s inquiries at a prior deposition. The referral was under no circumstances sent to DOJ due to the fact on the day the committee voted on the contempt referral, Clark’s attorney educated the committee that he planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment correct to not respond to questions on the grounds it could incriminate him.

The panel dedicated a great deal of a June listening to to Clark’s purpose in Trump’s attempts to weaponize the Justice Department in the last months of his time period as portion of the plot to overturn the 2020 election and stay in electric power.

The committee in specific zeroed in on the efforts of Rep. Scott Perry, the Pennsylvania Republican, who connected Clark to the White Home in December 2020.

CNN has formerly noted on the position that Perry performed, and the committee in court docket filings released text messages Perry exchanged with Meadows about Clark.

“He preferred Mr. Clark – Mr. Jeff Clark to choose above the Division of Justice,” Cassidy Hutchinson, a previous Meadows aide, claimed about Perry in a clip of her deposition that was played at that hearing.

Giuliani, Trump’s onetime individual attorney and a guide architect of his endeavor to overturn the 2020 election success, achieved with the panel in May for much more than nine hrs.

In its first subpoena, the committee alleges that Giuliani “actively promoted statements of election fraud on behalf of the former President and sought to encourage state legislators to choose measures to overturn the election final results.” The subpoena also stated that Giuliani was in get in touch with with Trump and users of Congress “regarding procedures for delaying or overturning the final results of the 2020 election.”

This tale has been up-to-date with additional particulars.

November 19, 2022

Former January 6 committee staffer says texts show evidence of ‘attempted coup’ – as it happened | US politics

Denver Riggleman’s interview with 60 Minutes is a rare breach in the carefully stage managed presentation the January 6 committee has given Americans over the past months about what happened during the insurrection at the Capitol.

A former Republican congressman who was ousted by a more conservative opponent in 2020 and now considers himself independent, Riggleman acted as a technical adviser for the committee, poring through evidence such as text messages and emails obtained from people thought to have knowledge of the attack. His interview provided a behind-the-scenes look at the investigation, most details about which have come from lawmakers’ comments or the public hearings themselves.

Perhaps his most startling admission is his belief that text messages then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows voluntarily turned over the committee amounted to a “roadmap to an attempted coup.” But Riggleman shared other disquieting details in the interview, such as that a White House number called one of the rioters who had stormed the Capitol as it was happening.

Then there were the text messages Meadows received containing an array of far-right conspiracy theories from Ginni Thomas, wife of rightwing supreme court justice Clarence Thomas.

“What really shook me was the fact that if Clarence agreed with or was even aware of his wife’s efforts, all three branches of government would be tied to the stop the steal movement,” Riggleman said on 60 Minutes.

Ginni Thomas’s involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results has been well documented in recent months, leading to calls for the January 6 committee to compel her testimony – efforts Riggleman said he supported. Last week, a deal was reached for Thomas to speak to investigators.

Key events

Closing summary

A former staffer for the January 6 committee went public with a claim that someone at the White House called a Capitol rioter on the day of the attack, while warning that evidence obtained from Donald Trump’s chief of staff looked like an “attempted coup”. The committee’s lawmakers downplayed Denver Riggleman’s interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes program, and have been busy themselves, sending a subpoena to the Republican speaker of Wisconsin’s assembly.

Here’s what else happened today:

Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic senator known for bucking the party’s priorities, offered few reasons for her mysterious politics in a speech alongside the chamber’s top Republican.
Joe Biden’s student loan relief plan will cost $400 billion, if not more, the independent Congressional Budget Office said, prompting criticism from budget hawks as well as defense from Democrats.
Doug Mastriano, a Trump-backed 2020 election denier standing as the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania, appears to be lagging on the campaign trail.
Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows exchanged texts with another conspiracy theorist and 2020 election denier.

Democratic senators hit back at claims student debt relief too expensive

The Senate’s Democratic leader Chuck Schumer along with Wall Street foe Elizabeth Warren have issued a joint statement underlining their support of president Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan, and drawing a contrast with Republican policies that slash taxes for the rich.

The statement came after the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found the plan announced last month would cost a sizable $400 billion or more. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget seized on that estimate to say the plan was too expensive, and could push inflation higher.

“Today’s CBO estimate makes clear that millions of middle class Americans have more breathing room thanks to President Biden’s historic decision to cancel student debt,” Schumer, who represents New York, and Warren, who represents Massachusetts, said in their statement.

“In contrast to President Trump and Republicans who gave giant corporations $2 trillion in tax breaks, President Biden delivered transformative middle class relief by cancelling student debt for working people who need it most — nearly 90{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of relief dollars will go to those earning less than $75,000 a year. We don’t agree with all of CBO’s assumptions that underlie this analysis, but it is clear the pandemic payment pause and student debt cancellation are policies that demonstrate how government can and should invest in working people, not the wealthy and billionaire corporations.”

Idaho’s abortion law is being challenged in federal court, but The Washington Post reports that the impact of the strict measure is already being felt by the state’s universities.

The University of Idaho has advised employees that because the law is not written clearly, it may prohibit employees from offering birth control, and thus they should refrain from doing so:

University of Idaho employees were warned Friday that they could be charged with a felony for talking about abortion, because of the state’s new abortion law.

They were also told *they could no longer provide birth control.*

Not just Plan B, but regular birth control. pic.twitter.com/qHJoDRzMc2

— Caroline Kitchener (@CAKitchener) September 26, 2022

The fiscal hawks at the independent Congressional Budget Office have released their cost estimate for the student loan relief plan president Joe Biden announced last month, and found it comes in at $400 billion, but could vary.

The plan partially satisfied Biden’s campaign pledge to provide relief for Americans struggling with loans from higher education, but was criticized both for not being generous enough, and for adding on to the country’s already mammoth federal budget deficit:

CBO estimates that the cost of outstanding student loans to the federal government will increase by about $400 billion because of an executive action canceling some debt. https://t.co/FgEHBn2XP6

— U.S. CBO (@USCBO) September 26, 2022

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which advocates for restraint in federal spending, criticized the plan as simply too expensive:

“.@USCBO’s new estimate confirms the outrageous cost of the White House plan to cancel large amounts of student debt, by executive order, to nearly all borrowers almost regardless of need.” https://t.co/KFs9DQ8KYp

— CRFB.org (@BudgetHawks) September 26, 2022

“The debt cancellation and pause alone will cost $420 billion – a bit more than we previously thought – and costs could reach $510 to $610 billion with their IDR changes. The Biden Administration’s failure to release their own cost estimate should have been a red flag.”

— CRFB.org (@BudgetHawks) September 26, 2022

“As @USCBO’s estimates help confirm, the President’s student debt plan would wipe out the ten-year savings from the #InflationReductionAct twice over, worsen inflationary pressures, and deliver benefits to millions of Americans with advanced degrees in upper-income households.”

— CRFB.org (@BudgetHawks) September 26, 2022

“This might be the most costly executive action in history. It’s unacceptable that the President would implement it without offsets and without Congressional approval. Including these actions, the President has now added nearly $4.9 trillion to ten-year federal deficits…”

— CRFB.org (@BudgetHawks) September 26, 2022

The Biden administration is generally keeping mum about Russia’s decision to grant citizenship to Edward Snowden, who leaked National Security Agency documents and fled the United States.

Here’s the little state department spokesman Ned Price had to say about it:

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price reacts to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden being granted Russian citizenship:

“Perhaps the only thing that has changed is … apparently now he may well be conscripted to fight in the reckless war in Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/ZemSN8CVur

— The Recount (@therecount) September 26, 2022

January 6 committee member says DoJ investigation proceeding, but slowly

A Democratic member of the January 6 committee revealed details of the department of justice’s investigation into the attack and its interaction with the congressional inquiry, describing the government’s effort as plodding, thorough and bolstered by evidence the lawmakers had uncovered.

“They have been very slow, though, on the much more comprehensive, and I believe, even more significant investigation of January 6,” California congressman Adam Schiff said of the justice department during an interview at the Texas Tribune Festival, according to CNN. However, he thought it was a mistake for the justice department to start their investigation with the individual rioters and proceed from there.

“That works when you have one plot, one conspiracy. It doesn’t work when there are multiple lines of effort to overturn an election, multiple plots, that may be all part of the same whole, but nonetheless each operating independently,” Schiff said.

The Democrat acknowledged federal investigators are matching the work of the January 6 committee, saying, “It does appear now that they have interviewed many of the same significant witnesses that we have.” He did note that the justice department had requested much of the committee’s materials, which he found “breathtaking”.

“My first reaction when we got the request – ‘Turn over all your files to us’ – was: ‘Why don’t you have your own damn files? Why haven’t you been conducting your own investigation? Why do you need us to do it?” Schiff said.

The lawmaker also found it strange that a district attorney in Georgia had been left to singlehandedly investigate Donald Trump and his allies’ involvement in trying to overturn the election there, but noted that situation might not last much longer. “That may be changing too, but it’s a long time coming,” Schiff said.

The day so far

Here’s what else happened today:

Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic senator known for bucking the party’s priorities, offered few reasons for her mysterious politics in a speech alongside the chamber’s top Republican.
Doug Mastriano, a Trump-backed 2020 election denier standing as the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania, appears to be trailing on the campaign trail.
Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows exchanged texts with another conspiracy theorist and 2020 election denier.

There are few mysteries in Congress bigger than Kyrsten Sinema.

Once a member of the Green Party, the Democratic senator from Arizona has seized on the party’s one-vote majority in the Senate to act a spoiler for progressive proposals, including changing the filibuster to get voting rights legislation passed, raising the national minimum wage to $15 per-hour and closing a tax loophole that benefited private equity firms. Unlike with Joe Manchin, the fellow Democratic senator and frequent holdout vote who already had a reputation for conservatism and support for the fossil fuel industry, Sinema’s reasons for acting this way aren’t quite clear, and somewhat inexplicable given her left-wing activism earlier in her career. The tactic doesn’t appear to have paid off, either. An AARP poll released last week showed that independents, Republicans and, most of all, Democrats in Arizona viewed Sinema unfavorably.

The senator appeared today alongside the chamber’s top Republican Mitch McConnell for a speech in Kentucky, where she extolled the virtues of bipartisanship. While it certainly does not clear up the senator’s mysterious approach to politics, her comments here may give some hints as to why she does what she does in Washington:

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), speaking at the McConnell Center, describes her “friendship” with Senate Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY):

“While we may not agree on every issue, we do share the same values.” pic.twitter.com/2vz5ioNFeA

— The Recount (@therecount) September 26, 2022

“Not everyone likes me.”

— Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) jokes with the audience at the McConnell Center, after saying Democrats will “likely” lose some control of Congress after the midterms. pic.twitter.com/naEjHhKO5D

— The Recount (@therecount) September 26, 2022

“I signed a permission slip for a College and Career Day. What I got was indoctrination and trauma.” That sums up the experience of some of the more than 2,100 high school seniors bussed to a church in Louisiana last week on what was billed as a college fair but, as Maya Yang reports, turned into something else:

More than 2,000 public school students in Louisiana were told earlier this week that they were going to a college fair. They were then shuttled to what parents later deemed a sexist and transphobic church event which left many of the students traumatized.

On Tuesday, more than 2,100 high school seniors from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System – which serves residents of Louisiana’s capital – were taken to the local Living Faith Christian Center under the promise that they would receive college and career advice, as well as free food.

The Christian nonprofit organization 29:11 Mentoring Program organized the event, calling it “Day of Hope,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reported. The permission slips distributed to students promised “free food”, “fun and games”, “college fair” and “special guest”.

The New York Times sent a reporter to Pennsylvania to check on how the Republican candidate for governor is doing, and the verdict seems to be: not that well.

Doug Mastriano is a Donald Trump-endorsed, 2020 election denier who chartered busses to Washington on January 6 and has pledged to completely ban abortion in the state if elected. However, he’s well behind in the polls, and as the Times reports, has shunned much of what amounts to modern campaign tactics.

Here’s more from their report:

There is little indication that he has built a campaign infrastructure beyond the Facebook videos that propelled him to stardom in right-wing circles and to the vanguard of Christian nationalist politics.

“I can’t even assess things because I don’t see a campaign,” said Matt Brouillette, the president of Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs, an advocacy group that is a major player in Pennsylvania Republican politics. “I’ve not seen anything that is even a semblance of a campaign.”

Mr. Brouillette, who backed one of Mr. Mastriano’s rivals in the G.O.P. primary, added: “Now, maybe he knows something we don’t on how you can win in the fifth-largest state without doing TV or mail. But I guess we’re going to have to wait until Nov. 8 to see whether you can pull something like that off.”

“The New York from which Trump emerged was its own morass of corruption and dysfunction, stretching from seats of executive power to portions of the media to the real-estate industry in which his family found its wealth,” writes Maggie Haberman in The Atlantic. “But Trump nevertheless stood out to the journalists covering him as particularly brazen.”

Haberman, a reporter for The New York Times and longtime watcher of Donald Trump, is one of the best-known chroniclers of his presidency, and the Atlantic article is a good read for those who want to better understand what drives Trump. Adapted from her soon-to-be-released book “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America”, the piece touches on some of the drivers of his inexplicable behavior, such as his insistence that the election was stolen, and that he could even return to office in August 2021.

It also shows how Trump viewed the people around him, particularly his supporters, whose ardency appeared to take him by surprise. For more on that, take a look at how the piece starts:

Can you believe these are my customers?” Donald Trump once asked while surveying the crowd in the Taj Mahal casino’s poker room. “Look at those losers,” he said to his consultant Tom O’Neil, of people spending money on the floor of the Trump Plaza casino. Visiting the Iowa State Fair as a presidential candidate in 2015, he was astounded that locals fell in line to support him because of a few free rides in his branded helicopter. In the White House, he was sometimes stunned at his own backers’ fervor, telling aides, “They’re fucking crazy.” Yet they loved him and wanted to own a piece of him, and that was what mattered most.