1/ A Georgia judge blocked a new state rule that would have required counties to hand-count ballots cast on Election Day. “Too much, too late,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his decision, expressing concern that the “11th-and-one-half hour implementation of the hand count rule” would undermine public confidence in the election results and lead to “administrative chaos.” The rule, passed by the Republican State Election Board, would have required poll workers in Georgia to open ballots and count them by hand to ensure that the total number of ballots matched the total counted by tabulating machines. It was set to go into effect Oct. 22 – two weeks before Election Day. Early voting in the state is already underway. Separately, McBurney also ruled that Georgia county election officials can’t delay or decline to certify election results based on suspicions of fraud, error, or abuse, writing that elections officials have a “mandatory fixed obligation to certify election results.” (NBC News / Washington Post / Axios / CBS News / Bloomberg / NPR / The Hill / USA Today / New York Times / ABC News / Associated Press)

2/ Trump’s top general called him a “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country,” according to Bob Woodward’s book, “War.” Retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, who served as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2019 to 2023, told Woodward that Trump “is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country.” Milley repeated: “A fascist to the core.” Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a senior member of the Homeland, Armed Services and Judiciary committees, said he expects Trump’s suggestion that he could deploy National Guard or U.S. military on American soil to handle what he called “the enemy from within” on Election Day to generate new support for his legislation to restrict a president’s authority to deploy the military inside the U.S. (Axios / The Guardian / The Independent / The Hill / Politico)

3/ Trump, repeatedly dismissing concerns by economists that his policies would have a net-negative impact on the economy, called tariffs “the most beautiful word in the dictionary” and claimed “I was always very good at mathematics” while discussing his economic agenda, in an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago. Trump has floated “automatic” tariffs of 10% to 20% on every import, 60% levies on imports from China, and higher rates in other circumstances. When questioned about the specifics of his plan and how tariffs on every imported product would lead to higher prices for consumers, Trump suggested that companies should just move production into the U.S. “All you have to do is build your plant in the United States and you don’t have any tariffs.” When told “that will take many, many, many years,” Trump replied: “You’ve been wrong all your life on this stuff.” The national debt, meanwhile, is approaching $36 trillion. Trump’s economic agenda is expected to cost as much as $15 trillion over a decade with gross domestic product 9.7% lower than current forecasts. (Bloomberg / Associated Press / Rolling Stone / New York Times / Washington Post)

⏭️ Notably Next: Kamala Harris will sit for an interview with Fox News tonight – her first formal appearance on the network. The interview will be pretaped and air at 6 p.m. Eastern on “Special Report With Bret Baier.”

✏️ Notables.

  1. Trump would be the oldest person to become president. He’s not sharing health details. “If he wins next month’s election, Donald Trump would be the oldest person in U.S. history to be elected president. Yet the 78-year-old Republican nominee refuses to disclose new details about his physical or mental well-being, breaking decades of precedent.” (Associated Press)

  2. “This Is Going to Be Too Close for Comfort.” “David Plouffe on the state of play for his boss, Kamala Harris, and what he thinks of the ‘bed-wetters.’” (New York Magazine)

  3. The Man Who’s Sure That Harris Will Win. “Allan Lichtman is known for correctly forecasting elections. But his record is not as impressive as it seems.” (The Atlantic)

  4. Don’t say ‘vote’: How Instagram hides your political posts. “How Meta’s Instagram, Facebook and Threads suppress content related to the election. Even discussing how to vote isn’t safe.” (Washington Post)

  5. Republican lawsuits target rules for overseas voters, but those ballots are already sent. “Ballots already have been sent to overseas and military voters under a federally mandated deadline. Trump and his Republican allies contend these ballots could be part of an elaborate scheme to steal the election from him, a claim for which there is no evidence. Their challenge comes as the voters who receive the ballots are increasingly from groups that are presumed to be Democratic.” (Associated Press)

  6. ‘Pennsylvania is such a mess’: Inside Team Harris’ unusual levels of finger-pointing. “Many of the state’s most well-connected Democrats have been worried about the operation for months.” (Politico)

  7. “His brain is completely out of commission”: Moderator repeatedly calls out Trump for rambling. “The 78-year-old Republican could not stay focused nor answer basic questions about tariffs and his economic agenda” (Salon)

  • 📅 The WTFJHT Calendar: Now until then.

  • 📺 TONIGHT: Harris Fox News interview.
    📺 Oct. 23: Harris CNN town hall
    🗳️ Nov. 5: Election Day.
    ⚖️ Nov. 26: Trump is sentenced.
  • ✅ Get election ready: Register to vote, update your address, or request an absentee ballot at Vote.org, TurboVote.org, RocktheVote.org, or VoteFromAbroad.org.

  • 📈 Election Polling Tracker

  • Harris +2.0 points (New York Times)
    Harris +2.6 points (538)
    Harris +2.8 points (Nate Silver)
    Harris +3.1 points (The Economist)
    Harris +1.7 points (RealClearPolitics)
    Trump +12.6 points (Election Betting Odds)

  • 🔮 Election Forecast Tracker

  • Harris wins 56 times out of 100. Trump wins 44 times out of 100. (538)
    Harris wins 50 times out of 100. Trump wins 50 times out of 100. (Nate Silver)
    Harris wins 54 times out of 100. Trump wins 46 times out of 100. (The Economist)