Could This COST Trump the Election?

Could this joke cost Trump the election? Virginia's purged voter registrations cause controversy. And most Americans expect post-election violence, as opposed to all this pre-election violence. They must have their ear to the ground. So it doesn't get shot. That and more on this week's America Uncovered headlines. Welcome to America Uncovered, I'm Chris Chappell. The election is just days away. And there are tons of questions on everyone's minds. Who will win? What will the reaction of citizens be? And most importantly, can I make some money off of this? Well, we can now answer that last question, because the electronic trading app Robinhood has launched a presidential election betting market that allows users to bet on whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be elected president. Because the only thing more American than performing your civic duty in voting is trying to profit off it. Obviously, this is silly, because they don't let you bet on the obvious winner. America Uncovered's officially endorsed presidential candidate Chris Christie. He should be a 3-to-1 favorite, because he's three times the candidate of either Trump or Harris by policy and girth. But there's one person who is definitely profiting off the election. Donald Trump. Trump media stock has surged, nearly tripling in a matter of weeks, between late September and mid-October. Shares shot up 21% after his rally in New York City, but ultimately dropped after trading was halted five separate times for being too volatile. The surge has doubled Trump's net worth since the beginning of October, to a not inconsiderable 8 billion dollars. This is all coinciding with betting markets picking him as the favorite to win the election. However, Trump's newfound wealth hinges on him winning the election, as a lot of these stock bumps are speculative on his victory. Wow, who knew that becoming president could be so financially beneficial? Besides the Obamas. And every other modern president making a fortune just for giving speeches. Though I'm not sure if folks are going to pay top dollar to hear Biden speak after his debate performance. Unless they're big fans of mumble rap. Speaking of entertainers, the stars have come out to show support for their chosen candidate. Beyonce and fellow Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland appeared and spoke at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston. I'm not here as a celebrity. I'm not here as a politician. I'm here as a mother. About the world my children and all of our children live in. Would her children technically be Destiny's grandchildren? I'm getting old, man. Meanwhile, Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Which featured celebrities such as the immortal Hulk Hogan, who ripped off his shirt...eventually. Man, it's sad seeing the guy who defeated Andre the Giant get defeated by arthritis. I'm getting really old, brother. The event also featured comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, host of the popular Kill Tony podcast and close friend of Joe Rogan, who hosted Trump on his podcast a few days prior. Hinchcliffe, who's known for roast humor, understood this was a political rally, and that his usual brand of edgy comedy could reflect poorly on the Trump campaign, so he kept his jokes lighthearted and politically correct. A lot going on. Like, I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it's called Puerto Rico. Okay. Alright. Okay. We're getting there. Again, normally I don't follow the national anthem, everybody. Crushed it. Hinchcliffe also did jokes about Black people enjoying watermelon, and Jewish people not wanting to part with their money. For many, this was horribly racist and unacceptable. But for people who've seen Hinchcliffe before, this was tamer than what he usually does every Monday. As a fan of stand-up comedy, I'm mostly offended that Hinchcliffe is an open mic host that insists on doing time between everyone's sets. But that particular joke about Puerto Rico being a floating island of garbage garnered the most controversy. Republicans joined Democrats criticizing Hinchcliffe, with Florida Senator Rick Scott saying the joke bombed for a reason, and praising Puerto Rico. Which is somewhat surprising, since Rick Scott looks like the middle of the Pokemon evolution chart going from Tony Hinchcliffe to Voldemort. Even Trump's campaign distanced itself from Hinchcliffe, saying his jokes don't reflect Trump. And Trump himself denies knowing who Hinchcliffe is. Wow, cutting ties with Hinchcliffe after he does a bad set? Who do they think they are? Netflix pulling a stand-up special 7 years ago? I guess the way they decided to kill Tony was by throwing him under the bus. Biden appeared to respond to this joke by calling Trump supporters garbage. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. Now I know, that sure sounds like Biden called Trump supporters garbage. But did he? The Washington Post said it really all depends on the placement of an apostrophe. Meanwhile, Biden walked it back at lightning speed. While Harris distanced herself from it. But Trump retaliated to the retaliation by showing up to a campaign rally in a garbage truck. I'm loving these costumes. Garbage Man Trump. McDonald's Trump. I'm hoping we get to see more classic Trump characters. Remember Farmer Trump? I can't wait to see Fire Chief Trump. Sailor Trump. And Dracula Trump. What Sleepy Joe and Lying Kamala said about Frankensteins is a disgrace. We're up bigly with mummies and inflatable dinosaurs. It was a great big beautiful mash we were having. Oh you should have seen it. It was a graveyard smash. Now people can't afford to mash. Of course the media would then fact check him. Trump falsely conflates Frankenstein with his monster. Anyway, one of the reasons Trump and Republicans are so eager to distance themselves from Hinchcliffe's remarks on Puerto Rico is because Puerto Ricans are According to the Pew Research Center, Puerto Ricans make up 8% of Pennsylvania's population in 2021—nearly half a million. And in 2020, Biden won Pennsylvania by just 80,000 votes. It's so important that while Trump's Madison Square Garden rally was taking place, Kamala Harris was speaking in Philadelphia, saying the path to victory runs through Pennsylvania. So yeah, potentially alienating a large portion of one of the most crucial states in the Electoral College was about as sound of a strategy as a football team choosing Stephen Hawking as their quarterback. You know, because he's British. They don't get American football. At such a critical swing state, the Republicans are even seeking votes from the Amish. Obviously by putting a billboard, since the Amish can't receive those endless annoying texts and emails from politicians begging for your vote and donations. I think I want to be Amish. Is there a reverse rumspringa I could sign up for and give it a try for a couple weeks in October every four years? And after the break, McDonald's E. Coli outbreak. Welcome back. I want to give some hope and perspective leading into the election. I know a lot of people are anxious and fear that should their preferred candidate lose, the country will face irreparable harm. But America has been through worse. And any problem can be solved. Even seemingly unsolvable issues. Such as McDonald's ever broken ice cream machines. As crazy as it sounds, McDonald's may now actually be able to fix their ice cream machines. You see, the reason these machines are always out of service is because their manufacturer, Taylor Company, owns the copyright and exclusive right to fix these machines. However, the US Copyright Office granted an exemption that allows restaurants the right to bypass digital locks and fix the equipment themselves. So if we can fix McDonald's ice cream machines, by golly, we can fix America. And what better way to fix America than by eating quarter pounders again. McDonald's has started selling their quarter pounders again after an E. Coli outbreak that McDonald's determined came from a contaminated onion supply. They resumed selling their quarter pounders without onions for now, which will ideally stop the outbreak. I'm glad we don't have to worry about E. Coli killing us. Now we can enjoy a quarter pounder and feel secure knowing the hamburger itself will be the only thing killing us. Speaking of which, in another spot of hope, despite the controversy from Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, no one on the left overreacted or made a hyperbolic attempt to call Trump a Nazi. I can't even pretend anymore. Of course, many on the left, including Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz, compared Trump and his followers to Nazis. With MSNBC being criticized for splicing clips from Trump's rally with clips from a 1939 pro-Nazi rally that took place at Madison Square Garden. Which is silly. Trump's rally was nothing like the Nazi rally. Because the Nazi rally didn't have Hulk Hogan, brother. But regarding the Nazi comparisons, you know who has come to Trump's defense? Mayor of New York City Eric Adams, who said Trump is not a fascist and urged Democrats to dial down the temperature. I guess American politics can still surprise. And for what it's worth, Trump and his allies insist he's not a Nazi. And Harris and her supporters insist she's not a communist. Which I'd say should make you feel better. Except it doesn't feel great when the two main choices in the presidential election's biggest selling points are probably not a fascist and probably not a communist. Just keep thinking about how McDonald's can fix their ice cream machines. If they can fix that, then anything can be fixed. A federal judge ordered the state of Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations she says were illegally purged in an attempt to stop non-citizens from voting. Virginia said this ruling would allow non-citizens to vote, while the judge said there wasn't enough evidence to prove all of these people are non-citizens to strip their right to vote, especially so close to the election. However, the Supreme Court ruled that Virginia can resume its purge of voter registrations in a vote of, you guessed it, 6 to 3. Seems like something Voter ID might be able to clear up, but come on. IDs? What do you think this is? This is an American presidential election. Not a trip to Costco. Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance also appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast this week. This came about a week after Donald Trump's appearance on the podcast, which racked up over 40 million views on YouTube alone in just a week. Rogan was in talks with Kamala Harris' campaign to have the vice president also appear on the podcast, but he turned down their conditions. He says they offered him a date, but he would have had to travel to her to do it, and she only wanted it to last an hour. Rogan says he thinks the best way to conduct this interview would be in his studio in Austin. A Script News slash Ipsos poll found that 62% of Americans surveyed believe the likelihood of post-election day violence is somewhat or very likely. 70% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans surveyed felt the same way. So fearing civil unrest following this election is a bipartisan issue. I prefer bipartisan issues like ice cream should be half price on Tuesdays. But sure, existential dread. I'll take agreement wherever I can get it these days. These survey results shouldn't come as a surprise, what with left-leaning media constantly showing footage of carnage from January 6, and right-leaning media constantly showing footage of carnage from left-leaning protests. Tensions are already literally heating up, with ballot drop boxes set ablaze in Oregon and Washington, where hundreds of ballots were severely damaged. And Pennsylvania has seen allegations of voter fraud, with 2,500 voter registration forms turned into Lancaster County being investigated for irregularities. And this footage appeared of someone in Kentucky allegedly trying to vote Trump, it wouldn't work, and then selected Harris. Which, of course, the Simpsons predicted. Can we all just please calm down? Reacting to the results of an election or trying to change the results of an election with arson and violence and fraud is un-American. However, making some money betting on whether or not there will be violence, let's make that wage a Robin Hood. That's as American as a McDonald's Quarter Pounder. Hopefully E. Coli free. And you know what else is American? Watching America Uncovered. Specifically, this video the algorithm knows you'll adore. It's fed brain patterns to learn what you'll like. So give it a click, and don't let those gorged up brain patterns go to waste. And America Uncovered wouldn't exist without your support. Click that orange button to support the show on Patreon. Once again, I'm Chris Chappell. See you next time.