ROCKY MOUNT, N.C.—The 2024 presidential election is only the second election in which 38-year-old Cody Morris has voted. He says he chose to vote this time because he remembers a “way of life” he’d like to see again.   Despite having “the best job I’ve ever had and [making] the most money I’ve ever had,” Morris told The Daily Signal, “it feels like I’m worse off than when I made the least in my life.”   “I can’t even afford basic stuff,” Morris said.   Morris and his girlfriend, Aysha Maryland, cast their ballots Monday afternoon for former President Donald Trump at Braswell Memorial Library here in Rocky Mount in North Carolina’s Nash County. Both are longtime residents of the county, which Democrat Joe Biden won over Republican Trump by 120 votes out of over 50,000 cast in 2020. Democrat Hillary Clinton lost the county to Trump in 2016 by only 118 votes.   Nash County, about 45 miles east of Raleigh, North Carolina, has a population of about 95,000.   The state, with 16 votes in the Electoral College, is one of seven swing states in the Nov. 5 election. The winner of the 1st Congressional District, which includes Nash County, is likely to win the entirety of North Carolina. Trump comfortably defeated Clinton in North Carolina in 2016, but enjoyed a much narrower margin of victory, 1.4%, over Biden in 2020.  Standing beside her boyfriend in a pink hat with Starbucks drink in hand, Maryland said she works a flexible seasonal job but also has her own small business selling organic skin and hair care products.    Cody Morris and Aysha Maryland stand outside an early voting site Monday in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. (Virginia Allen/The Daily Signal) “When he was in office,” Maryland said of Trump, “I was able to … make a business for myself.”  After Trump left office in January 2021, Maryland said, she had to pick up her seasonal job again because her small business no longer provided enough income.   Early voting runs through Nov. 2 in North Carolina ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5.   If the voters casting ballots Monday at Braswell Memorial Library—one of four early-voting sites in Nash County—are any indication of state politics, there will be no red or blue waves out of Tar Heel State come the Nov. 5 election.   Husband and wife Tony and Sherry Davis, both of whom work for Walmart, have lived in Nash County for only a little over a year and a half. The couple said they believe it’s time for a change and that Harris is the right woman to bring it about.   “Her mother raised her and her sister as a single parent, and so she had those qualities [instilled] in her to keep pushing and to keep thriving,” Sherry Davis said of Harris.   After “women have been suppressed for a lot of years,” Tony Davis said, he is hopeful that electing the first female president “will change things for the ladies.”   “She can get the job done, she really can,” his wife added.   Tony and Sherry Davis, husband and wife, chat Monday outside Braswell Memorial Library in Nash County, North Carolina. (Virginia Allen/The Daily Signal) “I believe she will do great,” retiree Joann Harold told The Daily Signal after casting her ballot for Harris. “She more like came from where I came from, and I feel like she might do what she says she will do,” Harold, who has lived in Nash County for 15 years, said.  Abortion is the main issue for Harold, along with help for the lower class and a higher minimum wage.   “I’ll catch up,” Brian Stevenson told two friends as they walked ahead while he stopped to talk to The Daily Signal in the polling center’s parking lot.   “I actually elected for President Trump,” Stevenson said, “only for the simple fact that Kamala Harris, it has been shown that she jailed three or four rapists and murderers, and she let them out, just to have them do the same thing back over again.”   Nash County resident Brian Stevenson. (Virginia Allen/The Daily Signal.) Harris was a vocal supporter of the Minnesota Freedom Fund during the June 2020 riots in the state, and Biden’s future vice president called on Americans to donate to the fund to “help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.”   “Of the $3.5 million the Minnesota Freedom Fund subsequently spent during those following months bailing people out of jail, only $210,000 was spent to bail those out who participated in the riots,” according to a report by Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation. “Instead, much of the money was used to free violent criminals … like Timothy Wayne Columbus, who allegedly raped an 8-year-old girl.  Tasha Bulluck, 41, said she doesn’t “care too much for Trump” when asked why she chose to support Harris.  “I feel like she is for the people,” Bulluck said, adding, “I feel like there’s going to be some changes” under her leadership.    Tasha Bulluck talks with The Daily Signal after casting her vote Monday. (Virginia Allen/The Daily Signal.) Edwiena Christian, 42, says she is neither Democratic nor Republican but chose to support Trump, who will hold a rally Wednesday on the far east border of Nash County in Rocky Mount.   “Mainly, I don’t believe in abortion, so that was a deal-breaker for me,” she said. “And most definitely keeping our country safe and keeping funds in our county as well.”  Abortion was also an important issue for Gertie Phillips.   “I prayed about it,” Phillips, 76, said when asked why she chose to support Trump, but also noted that she doesn’t like Trump’s “personal life.”  Phillips said the economy and the “immigration situation” also influenced her choice.   “We don’t know who’s here,” she said. “I don’t mind immigrants coming in as long as its legally and they’ve done a background check, but with the thousands upon thousands of people that cross the border illegally, we can’t afford [it].”   Nash County resident Gertie Phillips stands by her car Monday after voting for Trump. (Virginia Allen/The Daily Signal.) As voters like Phillips streamed in and out of the early-voting site, Republican and Democrat volunteers offered voters sample ballots and other information about the candidates. A voter who would identify herself only as “Miss Townsend” said she has volunteered previously to work at the polls in Nash County, but says she chose not to do so this time because voters can be rude.   Townsend, a 60-year-old Democrat, is backing Harris but repeatedly expressed frustration over the lack of resources the Democratic Party’s local office offers poll volunteers.   “Obama was [a] good time, they treated you nice in Obama time,” Townsend said. She said that when she volunteered at the polls when Obama ran for president, workers received a hot meal each day.  “Now, the money is, where is the money?” Townsend asked. “You got your workers out here working and you won’t feed them, but you gonna get them snacks like they’re kids in school. Really? Where’s the dadgum money at?”  The post Meet Voters in This Swing County in a Swing State  appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Steve Bannon, a political pundit and former White House chief strategist for President Donald Trump, was released from prison Tuesday morning after serving a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a Jan. 6 House Committee subpoena. Bannon departed from the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut on Tuesday morning, and mere hours later was back to hosting “War Room” on Real America’s Voice. The pro-Trump host was broadcasting from New York City, where he, along with his lawyers, hosted a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “Nancy Pelosi sent me to a federal prison,” Bannon said on Tuesday morning’s livestream. “She sent me to a federal prison as a political prisoner to do two things: To make sure that she tried to tamp down the power of this show… and also to break me.” Bannon had a message to the former speaker of the House: “Nancy Pelosi, take out your No. 2 pencil and write this down: This show has never been more powerful, the voices behind it have never been more powerful, the audience has never been more powerful, and we’re going to deliver a knockout blow to your progressive insanity on 5 November.” In 2022, a jury found Bannon guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress. The first related to Bannon’s refusal to sit down for a deposition with the Jan. 6 House Committee, whereas the second pertained to his refusal to turn over documents to the committee. At Bannon’s press conference in New York on Tuesday afternoon, Bannon said he learned a lot from his fellow inmates, which he described as mostly working class black and Hispanic men. In particular, he said that these men see Harris as someone who has incarcerated minority populations en masse. “The system of the Justice Department is broken,” Bannon said, adding that the DOJ and the federal government writ large has been “weaponized” by the left against a “conservative grassroots movement.” Bannon also said that he had spoken to Trump on the phone Tuesday morning after his release. It wasn’t long, however, before things got weird at Bannon’s press conference in New York. After opening up the floor to questions, YouTube personality “Robby Roadsteamer,” a man who infiltrates Trump rallies and other conservative protests to mock them, took over the press conference and asked Bannon when the next insurrection was happening. He was swiftly removed by security. Once an individual is held in contempt by Congress, it is the Department of Justice’s prerogative to prosecute an individual for contempt of Congress. Bannon, like Trump, felt the full weight of the federal government brought against him via the Biden-Harris administration’s DOJ. Meanwhile, though the House held Attorney General Merrick Garland himself in contempt of Congress for withholding information regarding President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents earlier this year, the Garland-run DOJ refused to prosecute. While Garland got away scot-free, Bannon was in a jail cell. Bannon reported to prison on July 1 after the Supreme Court rejected his bid to delay his sentence during the appeals process. Nevertheless, Bannon told his audience on Tuesday that “the four months in federal prison not only didn’t break me, it empowered me. I am more energized and more focused than I’ve ever been in my entire life.” With just one week before the presidential election, conservatives rejoiced in Bannon’s freedom. “Stephen K. Bannon is one of the most effective warriors the American right has. That is why he was a political prisoner of the Biden-Harris regime,” Saurabh Sharma, president of American Moment, told The Daily Signal. “But make no mistake, no one can make more of an impact in 6 days than he can. We’re glad to have him back stronger and more focused than ever.” “Few men leave prison stronger than they were before—Steve Bannon came out firing today, bigger and better than ever,” American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told The Daily Signal. “The regime threw him in prison for one simple reason—he’s a threat to their power. They never should have let him out. Because now he, along with the entire War Room Posse, is now going medieval on these bastards.” The post Steve Bannon Unchained: Federal Prison ‘Empowered Me,’ Former Trump Advisor Says After Serving Sentence appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Time is running out for former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris to court voters before Nov. 5.   With just one week until Election Day, the Trump-Vance campaign is not only looking to shore up their support in the all-important swing states, but also seeking to expand the electoral map.  The former president will continue to hold large rallies—the trademark of his three campaigns—stretching across the Sunbelt from Nevada to North Carolina and Rust Belt states from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin.   Meanwhile, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Trump’s vice presidential running mate, will be on the stump in Michigan as the Republican ticket looks to capitalize on discord among Democrats in the Wolverine State.  Voters started heading to the polls on Saturday in Michigan, as the state kicked off its early voting. Vance is set to hold two rallies there on Tuesday.  Starting the day with a rally in Saginaw, Vance will appeal to Michigan’s automotive industry to win Michiganders’ votes.  “Under Kamala’s failed leadership, Michigan families are being crushed by inflation, with cumulative rates hitting a staggering 20.5%, translating to an extra $1,032 per month in household expenses,” a Trump-Vance statement about the rally said. “From gas to groceries, hardworking Michiganders are being forced to pay more for everything, thanks to Harris’ dangerously liberal policies.”  Vance was set to make his second stop in Holland, Michigan, a city famous for its tulips, later Tuesday.  “As Michigan plays a pivotal role in this election, Sen. Vance will emphasize that every vote matters, and with widespread participation, Michiganders can secure the future of the country,” a Trump-Vance statement about the Holland rally said.  While Vance campaigns in Michigan, Trump will return to the so-called blue wall state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday.   That battleground state is crucial for either Trump or Harris to win if they hope to secure the presidency. Real Clear Polling averages show Trump winning the state by a slender 0.5 of a percentage point. Trump was to hold his rally in Allentown, Penn., Tuesday night before flying out to Wisconsin for a rally with Brett Favre, the former NFL quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, at the Resch Center in Green Bay on Wednesday.  Real Clear Polling shows Trump ahead in the Badger State by an average of 0.3 of a percentage point. That rally will serve as another chance for Trump to win over more voters and spread enthusiasm in the Upper Midwest swing state.   On Halloween, Trump will head to the Sunbelt state of New Mexico to hold a rally in Albuquerque, in hopes of expanding the electoral map in the traditionally Democratic-leaning state.   Later Thursday, he will continue his tour of the Sunbelt in Henderson, Nevada. There, Trump will address the state’s soaring housing prices.  “Republicans in the Silver State continue to turn out and outpace Democrats in early voting because President Trump’s winning message is resonating with Nevadans,” Team Trump Nevada Communications Director Halee Dobbins told The Daily Signal. “Nearly four years of failed leadership and policies are why families cannot afford groceries, hardworking individuals struggle to make ends meet, and businesses struggle to survive financially.” On Friday, Trump will head back to Wisconsin—America’s Dairyland—to hold a rally in Milwaukee, where he will focus on promoting his “Make America Affordable Again” agenda.  Trump will stop in Salem, Virginia, on Saturday, in the belief he has a chance to flip the state into the Republican column after losing it to Joe Biden in 2020. “Harris has turned every state, including Virginia, into a border state,” a statement released by the Trump-Vance team said. “In Virginia alone, since July, a grandmother was tragically murdered by an illegal immigrant in a brutal carjacking; a Bolivian illegal migrant was convicted of sex crimes against a child; a Salvadoran illegal immigrant was arrested for horrific child abuse; and a Peruvian illegal immigrant abducted a high school student.”  Although Harris holds a lead in polls in Virginia, Trump plans to campaign there to gain leverage on not only the border crisis, but also the economy. “The polling and reports from throughout the Commonwealth show that Virginia is in play for President Trump and Republican candidates up and down the ballot,” a spokesperson for the Republican Party of Virginia told The Daily Signal. “Virginians are fed up with the high inflation, unsecure border, and chaos overseas that [have] defined the Biden-Harris administration.”  The Trump-Vance campaign has not released the candidates’ schedule for next week yet. The post Trump and Vance Target Swing States, Seek to Expand Map in Final Push to Election Day appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Michigan Voters to NY Times: Trump is Probably Going to Win

If Kamala Can't Negotiate With Joe Rogan ...

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have taken leftist, biased media ratings firm NewsGuard to task for its ties to the Biden-Harris administration. Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to NewsGuard Co-CEOs Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz on Oct. 25, according to a committee press release. Comer asked the online ratings firm for all documentation related to past or present potential partnerships with and grants from the federal government. “The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is continuing to investigate the impact of NewsGuard on protected First Amendment speech and its potential to serve as a non-transparent agent of censorship campaigns,” Comer wrote. MRC has repeatedly exposed NewsGuard’s ratings system in multiple studies for being overwhelmingly skewed against right-leaning media. MRC’s most recent study, releasedDecember 2023, revealed that NewsGuard gave “left” and “lean left” outlets an average “credibility” rating of 91/100, whereas “right” and “lean right” outlets got slammed with an abysmal 65/100 score, a 26-point disparity. NewsGuard applies nutrition labels to media outlets and directly targets the flow of ad revenue to a media outlet based on NewsGuard’s opinion of that outlet’s reliability, objectivity and other factors. Comer continued: “Our investigation has particularly focused on abuse of government authority to censor American citizens under the guise of protecting them from so-called misinformation.” NewsGuard previously provided information to the committee on its contracts with the Department of Defense (DOD), the press release on Comer’s letter noted, but the collusion doesn’t stop there. Comer’s letterexplained that NewsGuard admitted in a briefing to working with the leftist anti-free speech interagency Global Engagement Center (GEC) and the Cyber National Mission Force within the U.S. Cyber Command. GEC fundedNewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index, which deliberately blacklist conservative sites from ad revenue. NewsGuard even coordinated with a foreign government entity, the Joint Research Centre of the European Union. The letter included a list of requests for documents related to potential NewsGuard collusion with the DOD, the State Department — including the infamous censorship-funding GEC — and any other federal entity. Comer’s letter added, “These wide-ranging connections with various government agencies are taking place as the government is rapidly expanding into the censorship sphere.” Between 2016 and 2023, no fewer than 538 grants and 36 government contracts were identified by the Committee to address so-called “misinformation” and “disinformation,” favorite leftist catchphrases to justify censorship. “Additional reporting, collectively known as the Twitter Files, showcase intelligence agencies’ interest in colluding with private companies and make our requests for fulland complete disclosure on all government relationships with NewsGuard all the more pressing,” Comer insisted. The Twitter Files provided evidence that government grant money funded NewsGuard’s activities to crush online speech. Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

With just a week until Election Day, Republicans' record early voting and registration turnouts may be sending warning signs to Democrats. Roughly 27.4 million Americans nationally have cast their votes early, with some swing states already exceeding 2016 rates. Although Republicans have historically hesitated to embrace early voting, several swing states that collect data based on party affiliation show that Republicans are now outpacing their Democratic counterparts. “You’d rather be in our position than theirs,” James Blair, a political director for Trump, told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s too early to start declaring victory, but the swings in our direction are very positive.”'Looking at who is showing up, I would say Republicans should feel good and Democrats may have some work to do.'Trump is currently outperforming Harris in Arizona by 1.5 points despite losing the state to Biden by 0.4% in 2020. At the same time, Republicans are also outpacing Democrats when it comes to early voting. As of Monday, 32% of Arizona's electorate have cast their ballots by mail-in or early voting. Of those 1.4 million ballots, 589,000 are Republican ballots, 486,000 are Democratic, and 326,000 are from third-party or independent voters. Arizona Republicans have also registered in greater numbers going into November compared to previous election cycles. As of October 2024, there are over 1.5 million registered Republicans and roughly 1.2 million registered Democrats. This nearly six-point registration gap between the parties is double the advantage Arizona Republicans had going into 2020. Republicans hold a similar advantage in the neighboring Sun Belt state of Nevada. There, Harris is trailing Trump by an average of 0.7 points, although Biden won the state by 2.4% in 2020. Republicans also have an unprecedented leg up in Nevada when it comes to early voting. Of the 712,000 early ballots that were cast as of Friday, over 280,000 are Republican ballots, 245,000 are Democratic, and nearly 180,000 were from unaffiliated voters. There has also been a favorable shift toward Republicans with respect to voter registration. Of the 2.4 million registered voters in Nevada as of September 2024, there are about 718,000 Democrats, nearly 674,000 Republicans, and about 1 million third-party or unaffiliated voters. In contrast, of the 1.9 million registered voters in September 2020, about 742,000 were Democrats, 626,000 were Republicans, and 604,000 were third-party or independent voters. Not only did overall voter registration in Nevada increase by roughly half a million, but there was also an increase in Republican, independent, and third-party registration while Democrats saw a decrease. However, unlike Arizona, Nevada implemented automatic voter registration in 2020, which may have contributed to this shift. Some voters attribute Trump's edge in the Sun Belt to a broader shift among Latino voters. Polls comparing Harris' and Biden's support among Hispanics have shown that the current Democratic nominee is hemorrhaging support with the demographic, while Trump has managed to gain ground. Farther east, in North Carolina, Trump is leading Harris by an average of 0.9 points, while also winning the state in 2020 against Biden and in 2016 against former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Although the race is tight, Republicans have made strides.Over a third of North Carolina's eligible voters, or 3.1 million ballots, have been cast as of Tuesday. Of those early votes, Republicans are slightly outperforming Democrats, with roughly 1.1 million votes from Republicans and about 1 million from Democrats. Despite the close margin, Harris has actually pulled ads and resources from the state just a week from the election. Although Republicans are slightly ahead, they are actually outnumbered when it comes to voter registration in North Carolina. As of October 2024, roughly 2.4 million voters are registered Democrats and 2.3 million are Republicans. The registration gap has significantly narrowed compared to October 2020, with over 2.6 million registered Democrats and 2.2 million Republicans. Republicans are also gaining ground in Pennsylvania, the most electorally significant of the swing states. Although Trump lost the state to Biden in 2020 by 1.2%, the Republican nominee now boasts an average lead over Harris of 0.4 points. Of the 1.4 million early ballots cast in Pennsylvania, nearly 815,000 have been cast by Democrats, while just 439,000 have been cast by Republicans. Although Democrats are outpacing Republicans, the GOP has begun to close the gap. Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin don't collect data based on party affiliation, but there is still a record turnout for early voting and voter registration. “Looking at who is showing up, I would say Republicans should feel good and Democrats may have some work to do,” Michael Bitzer, a professor at Catawba College, told the Wall Street Journal. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Weaponization of the government’s power against its opponents and even its own citizens has been steadily growing worse and for a reason. FBI whistleblower Steve Friend is well aware as to why that is. “To set the foundation for it, you have to go back to Barack Obama assuming office in 2009. So, a Kamala Harris presidency would mean 20 years. That’s an entire government career, a full generation of hiring that has gone across every single agency,” Friend tells Steve Deace of “The Steve Deace Show.” “Now you have 20 years of ideologies,” he continues, adding, “and that’s how you’re getting things like McDonald's the other day, who had one franchise allow him to do one photo opportunity and then we had an E. coli breakout, CDC all over that one, and then the United States senators accusing them of price gouging and driving the stock share price down.” Not only did the government jump at the chance to punish McDonald’s for allowing a photo op with a political opponent, but citizens across the country have fallen victim to the FACE Act. “In the Biden administration, it’s been applied more than any other presidential administration in history,” Friend explains. “92% application towards pro-lifers, not people who were subject to fire bombings at their crisis pregnancy centers.” “People do not know exactly the powers that are at their fingertips,” Friend continues. “They have the ability to have an assessment from the Patriot Act, which means that they can open up an investigation on any American for an articulable purpose. Don’t need probable cause of a crime.” Deace is rightfully disturbed. “In other words, you’re describing investigations in search of crimes. Not criminal investigations, but investigations in search of crimes. That’s what you’re describing,” Deace says. “Find me a man, and I’ll show you the crime,” Friend agrees. Want more from Steve Deace?To enjoy more of Steve's take on national politics, Christian worldview, and principled conservatism with a snarky twist, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Actress Teri Garr, Best Known for 'Young Frankenstein' and 'Tootsie', Dead at 79

Legend Hulk Hogan Backs President Trump so Democrats Counter with 'Mankind Mick Foley' on CNN