Court deals setback to Trump allies in ballot hand-count case | The Excerpt
On Wednesday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Georgia's top court declined Tuesday to hear an appeal by Republicans of a decision blocking a new rule that would have required poll workers to hand-count ballots. Paste BN Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page discusses new Paste BN/Suffolk University polling into Americans' views about what's next after Election Day. A judge has ordered the Pentagon to release records of Donald Trump's controversial Arlington Cemetery visit. Paste BN Trump Campaign Reporter Zac Anderson talks through Donald Trump's latest tactics with male voters in the final stretch before November. Abercrombie's former CEO Mike Jeffries and two others have been charged with sex trafficking male models.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more Paste BN podcasts right here
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson. And today is Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, what a decision in Georgia means for county election board members in a major battleground state. Plus, what polling tells us about American's views on what will happen after election day. And Donald Trump keeps leaning into a hypermasculine approach to male voters in the final stretch before November.
♦
Georgia's top court declined yesterday to hear an appeal made by Republicans of a decision blocking a new rule that would've required poll workers to hand count ballots. Voting rights groups warned that such a challenge could have caused chaos. The decision means that county-level officials in the state will not have enhanced authority to challenge precinct-level results. The state Republican Party set in a statement that it did not plan an appeal of the decision before the election, but called the move disappointing. The rules passed by the Georgia Board's Republican majority would've empowered county election board members to investigate discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and voters in each precinct and examine election-related documents before certifying their results.
One controversial change would've required poll workers to open the sealed boxes of ballots scanned by machines and conduct a hand count starting as soon as election night. Voting rights groups had said the rule could allow rogue county election board members to delay or deny certification of election results. Georgia's one of seven battleground states expected to play a major role in deciding next month's election.
♦
With less than two weeks to go until election day, Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are neck and neck in the race for the White House. An exclusive Paste BN Suffolk University poll released Monday puts Harris at 45% and Trump at 44%, a closer race than the poll found in August. And polling tells us election angst won't end on election day. I caught up with Paste BN Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page for the latest.
Susan, thanks for making the time as always.
Susan Page:
Hey, Taylor, it's always a pleasure to be with you.
Taylor Wilson:
So Susan, interesting findings in this polling. Let's start with the results themselves of the election. What did our polling find here in terms of trusting results and then ultimately accepting those results? And what was the breakdown between Harris and Trump supporters?
Susan Page:
Most voters think they can trust the vote count. But what's of concern, I think, in this poll is that about a third of Trump voters said they were not confident that they could trust the vote count. And you see the repercussions of that when you ask, "Will you accept the results as legitimate?" 24% of Trump voters, that's about one in four, say they are ready to refuse to accept Kamala Harris as a legitimately elected president if Trump should lose.
Taylor Wilson:
We've heard stories about threats against election officials, but it seems like most respondents have some level of trust in their local election officials. What did you find on this point?
Susan Page:
Much more trust in local election officials than in those in other states or other places. That includes among Trump voters who tend to be skeptics. Eight out of 10 Trump voters say they trusted their local election officials, even more of Harris voters said they did. This may be a case of people see their local operations or local vote operations, they go to the polling places and they see how they work, so they believe that they're being run well, but then they hear stories or allegations about what is happening elsewhere and that's what raises this level of skepticism about whether the vote is going to be accurate and fair.
Taylor Wilson:
Susan, one of the interesting parts of this poll that really stood out to me was how different groups of supporters would feel after the election. What did you find here?
Susan Page:
You really see how stressed people are about this election because we gave people four choices of how they might feel the morning after the election depending on who won. And in both cases, whether Trump wins or Harris wins, more people said they would be scared than they would be enthusiastic. 37% of the people we surveyed said they would feel scared if Trump wins. Just 23% would be enthusiastic. If Harris wins too, it's a negative finding. She tilts negative. 30% would feel scared, 27% enthusiastic. I think that just says where we are in our politics today.
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. And Susan, it appears there are real concerns about potential violence after election day. How big are those concerns and did respondents feel a peaceful transition of power will happen?
Susan Page:
Americans are braced for violence, for political violence around the election. 2/3 of the people we surveyed said they are concerned about the possibility of violence on election day and afterwards. And there was a divide, a partisan divide on this question, but it's kind of the reverse of what you might've expected. Almost all Harris supporters are worried about the prospect of violence. 86%, nine out of 10. But almost half of Trump supporters are not particularly concerned. So much lower levels of concern about violence among Trump voters than among Harris supporters.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. So Susan, another interesting aspect here, whether the loser should go to the inauguration. What did the findings center on here?
Susan Page:
Hey, clear message to the candidates from the voters, don't be a sore loser. Most Americans think they should go to the inauguration even if they're not going to be the one being sworn in.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Less than two weeks to go. Susan Page is Paste BN's Washington bureau chief. Thank you, Susan.
Susan Page:
Hey, thank you.
♦
Taylor Wilson:
A federal judge yesterday ordered army officials to release internal records regarding Donald Trump's controversial August visit to Arlington National Cemetery by the end of the week. Judge Paul Friedman of the US District Court for DC granted the request Monday in response to a lawsuit brought by American Oversight, a nonpartisan group dedicated to getting the government to release records. The group said he signed the order yesterday. American Oversight said it's sued for the rapid release of military records, including any incident reports from the August incident, following a Freedom of Information Act request.
The judge's ruling stems from Trump's visit to the US military cemetery for wreath-laying ceremony, honoring 13 soldiers were killed in Afghanistan during the US military's withdrawal from the country. A cemetery official tried to enforce rules against political campaign activity at the site and was abruptly pushed aside by Trump staffers according to an army statement. The cemetery official contacted police but ultimately decided not to press charges.
♦
Donald Trump is leading with male voters and is leaning in trying to appeal to the group in the final stretch before November I spoke with Paste BN Trump campaign reporter Zac Anderson for more.
Zac, thanks for hopping on.
Zac Anderson:
Glad to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
So Zac, let's just start with the polling as we so often do. Really how is Trump doing in the latest polls with male voters?
Zac Anderson:
He's doing exceptionally well with male voters. Republicans traditionally do better with men than with women. Trump won male voters by eight percentage points over Joe Biden in 2020, but he's now leading Kamala Harris by 16 percentage points with male voters. So that's just a huge advantage with men.
Taylor Wilson:
And how is he really doubling down here with this hypermasculine approach? You and I have had variations of this conversation, Zac. I've talked with other reporters about Trump really leaning into this for months now. What are we seeing as we enter the final two weeks before election day?
Zac Anderson:
Trump has always tried to present himself as sort of a strong man. He really is very, very focused on projecting strength. And he's used that to appeal to men and I think he's taking it to even more aggressive level. In the closing stretch, there was this rally that he had in Pennsylvania in the hometown of golfer Arnold Palmer, who's a legend that passed away a few years ago. And Trump started the rally by talking about the size of Palmer's manhood. And he was joking around, but it was just joking around about somebody's genitalia is beyond what normal politics are about, but it's really sort of a masculine type of a boasting thing. He's really sort of leaned in into sort guy stuff going to an NFL game. Over the weekend, he's dropped a lot of profanities in his rallies. He's used swear words to describe Kamala Harris, this really aggressively macho approach to really drive out the base.
I think that the campaign recognizes that they're going to have a problem with female voters. Kamala Harris is winning female voters by 17 percentage points in the latest Paste BN poll. So similar to what Trump is winning male voters. And it seems like both of them are just doubling down and trying to drive out the voters on their base.
Taylor Wilson:
So he is leaning into the male vote, Zac. I mean, is this approach alienating women or possibly men who don't align with these versions of masculinity? I mean, what are some of the risks here?
Zac Anderson:
Absolutely, there's a risk that this is going to further alienate. In the past you would look at swing voters were often suburban women and a lot of women are not necessarily comfortable with the kind of talk that Trump uses. And he's been told over the years by advisors to tone it down. He's made sort of fleeting attempts to court female voters, but it's really nowhere near as natural for him. And it just seems like he is more comfortable with this very macho persona. And so that's what he's sticking with and it seems like they're just going to try and drive out as many male voters as they can. It's a bit of a risky strategy because in 2020, young men, which is really the demographic that they're aiming at right now, voted at a lower rate than young women. So Harris has an advantage there.
Taylor Wilson:
In terms of Harris, I mean really how is the Harris camp countering this approach? How are they approaching male voters? And you mentioned how she's doing with the female vote, a lot of success there. Is she really leaning into the female vote in similar ways?
Zac Anderson:
She is leaning into the female vote. Her campaign has really emphasized issues that maybe appeal more towards women, like abortion rights is really the centerpiece of her campaign. She also talks about healthcare and things that women voters tend to be more interested in overall. They've also tried to sort of blunt Trump's approach by saying that this is not the version of masculinity that we should be aiming for. You see, former President Barack Obama talk about this on the campaign trail and say that Trump is a bully and Trump likes to put people down and that's not what real men do. And if you think this is masculine behavior, think again. They've also used Tim Walz, Harris' running mate. They pushed him out to try to appeal to male voters. He's a hunter. He's a former football coach. He is from a rural part of the country and he sort of presented a different version of masculinity as well, more sort of the Midwestern dad vibe than the super macho man.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Zac Anderson covers Donald Trump and Republicans for Paste BN. I appreciate the insight as always, Zac. Thanks so much.
Zac Anderson:
Thank you.
♦
Taylor Wilson:
The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch has been arrested and charged with two others in the operation of a secretive international sex trafficking scheme that lasted for years, cost millions of dollars and involved dozens of victims, prosecutors said yesterday. Michael Jeffries, who served as CEO of the clothing from 1992 to 2014, and Matthew Smith and James Jacobson were charged with sex trafficking and engaging in interstate prostitution. The operation involved transporting young aspiring male models to events in New York and other places around the world and coercing them into having sex. The men believe participating in the events would lead to modeling opportunities and further their careers. Legal representation for Jeffries has vehemently denied any wrongdoing according to the BBC. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
♦
Pulitzer Prize finalist Eisa Davis, and Tony Award winner, Lin-Manuel Miranda joined my co-host Dana Taylor this afternoon to discuss their new concept album Warriors. The album was inspired by the 1979 cult classic movie, The Warriors. You can find the episode right here today, beginning at 4:00 p.m Eastern time on this feed.
♦
And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. Thanks to Sara Ganim for filling in for me the last couple of days. I'm Taylor Wilson and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.