Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton (R) and Republican nominee Donald Trump walk off the stage after the final presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 19, 2016. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
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Debate –> The big news, of course, from last night’s debate is Trump’s refusal to accept the outcome of the election. Instead, he said he would keep moderator Chris Wallace, of Fox News, Hillary Clinton and the American public “in suspense.” This decision is “unheard of in modern American history,” The Guardian notes, and will add fuel to the fires of conspiracy that Trump has stoked among his base. At The New Yorker, John Cassidy theorizes that this is Trump readying for a loss: “By reverting to conspiracy theories and openly threatening to call the result of the election into question, he made plain that, at this stage, his primary goal is to find someone other than himself to blame for what he, along with virtually everyone else in the political world, evidently sees as an impending defeat.”
Wallace selected the federal debt as the final, pressing issue for the candidates to discuss. Brad Plumer writes for Vox: “The national debt is an odd, recurring fixation in Washington. The fact that the US government borrows a lot of money each year just isn’t a problem right now. Interest rates are incredibly low. The US Treasury never misses a payment. The one thing that might be worth fretting about is that someday in the future, our children and grandchildren could have to pay higher taxes to pay down the debt if it gets unmanageable. But if you’re that worried about the future, why not talk about global warming?”
In fact, three crucial issues — climate change, poverty and campaign finance — received no attention, as BillMoyers.com’s Karin Kamp predicted would be the case before the debate started.
Polls seem to think Hillary Clinton won the debate — including, as of last night, an unscientific audience tally at Breitbart, the alt-right news source run by Trump campaign head Steve Bannon.
Silicon Valley’s misstep –> Sam Biddle for The Intercept: “Last week, a variety of women accused Donald Trump of a litany of vile acts across many years. He chose to defend himself by saying his accusers were too unattractive to sexually assault, at which point venture capitalist Peter Thiel decided to write a $1.25 million check to Trump’s presidential campaign — among the strongest ways possible to say I condone this person’s actions. This is, to use a non-loaded word, deplorable. But to some of Thiel’s colleagues in Silicon Valley, it’s political ‘diversity’ in action.”
The latest on Wells Fargo –> Was Wells Fargo engaging in identity theft when its employees, under pressure from supervisors, opened accounts on behalf of customers who had not requested them? The office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris is looking to find out: The Los Angeles Times reports that the state is investigating whether the bank is guilty of criminal identity theft. James Rufus Koren writes: “Harris’ office demanded the bank turn over a trove of information, including the identities of California customers who had unauthorized accounts opened in their names, information about fees related to those accounts, the names of the Wells Fargo employees who opened the accounts, the names of those employees’ managers and emails or other communication related to those accounts. Her office is also requesting the same information about accounts opened by Wells Fargo workers in California for customers in other states.”
Sue for the future –> Young people around the world have had some success suing governments for failing to protect their futures by engaging in activities that worsen climate change. The latest such suit was filed yesterday against the Norwegian government, which is allowing oil companies to drill in the Arctic Barents Sea. Analysts have repeatedly warned that to have a realistic chance of staying within 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius of warming, countries must keep their fossil fuels in the ground. Young people have also sued in all 50 states, and currently have a lawsuit in federal court against the Obama administration.
That was fast –> Roger Ailes, formerly of Fox News, and Donald Trump are no longer speaking.
Morning Reads was compiled by John Light and edited by Theresa Riley. See a story that you think should be included in Morning Reads? Tell us in the comments!
We produce this news digest every weekday. You can to receive these updates as an email newsletter each morning.
