'Thanos Trump' SNAPs Away Americans’ Food
Peter Rothpletz on Donald Trump’s 'Let Them Eat… Nothing' moment, Stephen Miller’s wife’s racist, viral crash out, and the royal formerly known as 'Prince.'
🎃👻 Happy Halloween! In 1958, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower decorated the White House for Halloween for the first time. Black cats, goblins, and disembodied witch heads hung from the foyer chandeliers, jack-o’-lanterns and shocks of dried corn were placed around the State Dining Room, and scattered all about were autumn leaves and decorative gourds.
Good morning! Peter here with a little list of Team Zeteo’s Halloween costumes this year. As I told you last week, I will be dressing as “PokémonGo To The Polls.” Check the bottom of the newsletter for a sneak peek. Prem plans to be Dug the dog from Disney/Pixar’s Up. Akshay is scrambling to be “a last-minute version of Rocky.” Melanie is glamming it up as Lisa Vanderpump of ‘Real Housewives’ fame. Omar is embracing the avant-garde as “a millennial midlife crisis.” And Asawin has resigned himself to “whatever my wife and kids are making me do this year.” Mehdi, sadly, isn’t dressing up, although he was The Mandalorian not long ago!
In today’s ‘First Draft,’ Donald Trump tells 42 million Americans to kick rocks and starve, the DOJ opens an investigation into Black Lives Matter, Mallory McMorrow gets a big boost in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary race, and Marjorie Taylor Greene agrees to go toe-to-toe with the ladies of ‘The View.’
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Trump and MAGA Tell the Poor to Starve
In the lead-up to the climax of ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ Thanos, “The Mad Titan,” tells the heroes who oppose him: “I could snap my fingers and you’d all cease to exist.”
Oh, how life imitates art.
Come Saturday, according to Trump, JD Vance, and Speaker Mike Johnson, unless the shutdown impasse in Congress is resolved, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the linchpin of food aid for roughly 42 million Americans, will stop issuing benefits.
SNAP is one of the largest anti-hunger programs in the country, serving about 12% of the US population and providing an average benefit of $187 a month. Nearly four in 10 recipients are children, and one in five are retired. About 28% of participating households work for a living, often full-time, but still earn too little to keep up with grocery prices that have spiked more than 20% since 2020.
And the program doesn’t just feed families, it literally juices the economy. Every dollar in SNAP benefits generates up to $1.50 in economic activity. In many rural towns and low-income neighborhoods, grocery stores rely on this spending to survive.
Donald Trump, the mad, wannabe titan, doesn’t give a rat’s ass.
How can I say that so confidently? How can I state it as a point of fact? Because the president, his futon-fondling deputy, and Magic Mike Johnson are lying about SNAP funding.
As Senator Bernie Sanders stated in a video posted on Twitter last night, the Trump administration is refusing to utilize contingency funds that Congress has LITERALLY already appropriated for situations just like this to feed hungry Americans. They have some $6 BILLION to keep the most underprivileged among us from starving, and they’re refusing to touch it.
Why?
Well, Speaker Johnson gave the game away during an interview with CNN yesterday. Asked why he wouldn’t consider emergency measures to fund SNAP, he responded “Because if you deviate from the goal of reopening the entire government, Chuck Schumer and the radicals over there will continue to play games with people’s paychecks, their livelihoods … and if you do just part of this, it will reduce pressure for them to do all of it, to do their basic job, and that is reopen the government.”
So how is the GOP getting away with this vile canard? For starters, the most moronic bad-faith actors in MAGA media have been flooding the zone with, shall we say, bovine diarrhea.
Enter Newsmax.
MENSA candidate Rob Finnerty (pictured above) delivered a barnburner of a monologue this week, declaring, “59% of all illegal aliens are collecting food stamps, meaning that most of the people getting food stamps from the US Government and the US Taxpayer are not even Americans.”
First off, undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible for SNAP. Second, the fact that big proportions of immigrants get SNAP doesn’t, of course, mean the biggest proportion of SNAP recipients are immigrants (most are white). Mr. Finnerty is the reason we require warning labels on bottles of Windex.
But I digress.
Trump and the entire GOP leadership class want people to starve. They want enough poor Americans to miss just enough meals that the bleeding heart liberals come crawling back to the negotiating table and allow Republicans to skyrocket your healthcare premiums.
Like Thanos, they believe their ends justify their means, no matter how cruel or inhumane.
🗞️ What You Need to Know
Filibuster? I hardly know her: Late yesterday, Trump called on Senate Republicans to initiate the “nuclear option” and get rid of the filibuster, allowing them to end the government shutdown and pass legislation with a simple majority. As a progressive, my reaction is 😁.
DOJ targets BLM: The Justice Department has opened a fraud probe into leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement. Per AP, those leaders have previously denied the accusations. This wouldn’t be the first time this administration has weaponized the DOJ against its enemies, and it likely won’t be the last.
The Belles of the Brawl: The ladies of ‘The View,’ the long-running, liberal-leaning daytime talk show, announced they will be joined by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday. Get your popcorn!
Senator Shivs Schumer: Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) has endorsed Mallory McMorrow in the Michigan Senate primary, a key race to watch in 2026. McMorrow, the state Senate majority whip, is up against establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed, a former gubernatorial candidate endorsed by Bernie Sanders.
Kneeling to Nazis: Kevin Roberts, president of the hyper-influential Heritage Foundation, released a statement defending Tucker Carlson after the former Fox host’s chummy interview with Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes. The tête-à-tête incensed many GOP bigwigs as the party is already dealing with a host of antisemitic scandals.
A Chilling Halloween: Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is urging ICE to suspend its brutal immigration raids in his state from Friday to Sunday so children can spend the Halloween weekend without fear of masked agents prowling their neighborhoods. “I’m asking for basic human decency,” Pritzker said. “I think their response will be revealing.” Guess what? DHS said… NO!
🧠 Pop Quiz!
Who was the first president to invite local DC kids to trick-or-treat at the White House?
Keep your eyes out for the answer below!
🗽 ‘Huddle Masses’ Need Not Apply
Donald Trump has announced the lowest refugee admission cap in America’s history, limiting entry to only 7,500 people for the fiscal year 2026. So much for Lady Liberty’s whole “give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses” mantra. Wanna hear the kicker? Priority for those precious few slots will be given to white Afrikaners from South Africa.
Yes, you read that right.
Recall, back in February, Trump issued Executive Order 14204, which instructed the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to fast-track resettlement opportunities for white South Africans who face “unjust racial discrimination.” As a former reporter for South Africa’s The Mail & Guardian (and a current white guy), I can tell you the administration is full of shit.
🇵🇸 Don’t Forget Gaza
Israel continues strikes: Israeli forces continued to intermittently attack parts of Gaza, despite saying it had returned to the ceasefire.
US’s own report highlights truth: The Washington Post, citing unnamed US officials, reported that a classified report by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General found that Israeli forces committed “many hundreds” of potential human rights violations. The possible violations are so numerous, the Post reported, that it would take the State Department several years to review.
Hamas returns hostage remains: Hamas handed over the remains of two Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement that began on Oct. 10. The remains of 11 other captives remain in Gaza. Israel also returned 30 bodies of Palestinian prisoners.
And in the occupied West Bank…
Israeli forces kill child: Israeli forces shot a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid in the village of Silwad and reportedly initially blocked ambulances from reaching him. He later died of his injuries.
Deadliest olive season: Local and international monitors said that they’ve recorded at least 126 assaults by Israeli settlers on Palestinian farmers attempting to harvest their crops during the first three weeks of October, per Al Jazeera. More than 4,000 trees in 70 communities have been destroyed by settlers or Israeli forces.
🚨 Don’t Miss It!
America’s wannabe “king” Donald Trump indicated this week he won’t try to run for an unconstitutional third term – one day after he said he “would love to do it.” Today, Zeteo’s Andrew Perez asks whether we should take his word for it – and which one?
The story will land in your inbox later today!
🌏 Anywhere But America
🇬🇧 Prince Andrew is a prince no more. King Charles III stripped his 65-year-old brother of his title and kicked him out of his royal mansion after new revelations of Andrew’s friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The unusual move comes three years after Andrew lost his military titles when he faced a sexual assault lawsuit in New York by one of Epstein’s victims.
🇸🇩 UN officials have spoken out against the genocide in Sudan at a Security Council emergency session, with the assistant secretary-general of the UN for Africa, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, discussing the number of reports on the killings and home searches received by the UN Human Rights Office.
🇦🇫🇵🇰 Following negotiations in Istanbul, Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire and will meet next Thursday to finalize a plan for ceasefire implementation
🇹🇿 The UN human rights office expressed alarm over the deadly protests rocking parts of Tanzania following this week’s general election. UN human rights spokesperson Seif Magango said his office has received credible reports that at least 10 people have been killed by security forces.
🪓 Weiss Takes the Hatchet to CBS’s Race and Culture Team
Zeteopolitical correspondent Prem Thakker has the latest on the dumpster fire happening at CBS News under Bari Weiss.
In 2024, after CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil faced a backlash over his aggressive interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates on Israel and Gaza, he met with the newsroom’s Race and Culture unit – a team Bari Weiss slammed in the pages of her outlet The Free Press.
Now, one year later, Weiss, as the new CBS News chief, is overseeing the elimination of the Race and Culture unit, while having Dokoupil conduct a softball interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The elimination of the unit – created in the summer of 2020, amid worldwide civil rights justice protests after the killing of George Floyd – comes as Paramount carries out layoffs after acquiring Weiss’s The Free Press for $150 million. Many of these layoffs, per sources, seem to be disproportionately targeting staff of color. All the on-air staff eliminated are women, half being women of color. One Black CBS producer claims that only people of color were fired from his team, while white colleagues were relocated.
I have been told that at least one CBS-owned and operated station laid off its executive producer of impacting communities – a position also created after Floyd’s murder, to ensure more representative storytelling.
Thanks, Prem, for that most depressing report.
I’m sorry, this whole situation is absurd. The Ellisons have $150 million in spare change on hand to buy Bari’s glorified blog, but they can’t afford to pay the salaries of actual journalists at CBS News? What a crock of shit.
💬 Quote Unquote
“You better check your citizenship application and hope that everything was legal and correct...”
That’s none other than Katie Miller – Stephen Miller’s wife – crashing out and threatening Cenk Uygur of ‘The Young Turks’ during a heated debate about Zohran Mamdani on ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored.’ Cenk, who is 55, moved here when he was 8.
🧠 Trivia answer: John F. Kennedy.
🤦 WTF
As if millions of Americans facing possible hunger isn’t bad enough for MAGA, they’re now using AI to spread a deceptive (and completely fabricated!) video showing a Black woman bragging about being a SNAP fraudster.
And the worst part about it? People are actually falling for it.
☀️ The Bright Side
But look, we’re not going to leave you on a depressing note. Because Billie Eilish did what we’ve all been dying to do: Call out a group of greedy billionaires for being greedy billionaires. Here’s what she said during her WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards speech:
“If you have money, it would be great to use it for good things and maybe give it to some people that need it. Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but give your money away, shorties.”
She even donated $11.5 million from her ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ tour proceeds to organizations that support food equity and climate justice.
More celebrities like Billie, please!
📖 Weekend Reads
It’s officially another week in the books for ‘First Draft’! If you’ll miss having us in your inbox this weekend, have no fear because Team Zeteo has compiled a set of #mustread articles to keep you company before we return to your inbox next week.
‘Germany Is Back’ – and That Should Scare Us All
Earlier this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz triumphantly declared that “Germany is back!” He’s right, writes independent Berlin-based journalist James Jackson for Zeteo: The country’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech shows the Germany of the 1920s is back – and that should scare us all.
Why Biden’s White House Press Secretary Is Leaving the Democratic Party
“One of the most decent people that I know.” That’s how former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre describes Joe Biden in what is being called a car-crash interview with the New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner. KJP may have left the Democratic Party, but it appears she’s still taking hits for her former boss.
Washington’s ‘Blob’ is helping whitewash war crimes in Sudan
For two and a half years, the American political sphere has attempted to engage in a level of both side-ism in discussing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese armed forces (SAF), thereby equating the actions of the two. But this framing ultimately sanitizes the significant inhumane actions conducted by the RSF, argues Amgad Fareid Eltayeb, executive director of Fikra for Studies and Development. Eltayeb writes about the politics at play that foster this warped perception of the genocide in Sudan and what policymakers and advocates must do to counter this both sides-ism.
We’ll see you back here on Monday with a fresh ‘First Draft’ from Mehdi!
OH! I almost forgot! Here’s your “PokémonGo To The Polls” costume sneak peak. This was last year’s version. Tomorrow, I’ll have new stickers for a certain politician you probably have in mind…
Zeteo’s Melanie Riehl, Akshay Gokul, and Minnah Arshad contributed to this newsletter.
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That New Yorker interview is certainly something 😅💀
I think I'm going to have to tune in to The View on Tuesday just to see the shit show.