Thursday, October 15, 2026
Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
TOP O' THE MORNIN'
Red-Hot at RedState
Catholic Texas Prof Busts Talarico After Absurd Abortion/Bible Claim in Campaign-Ending Moment
Abortion, though, is one issue that Talarico has previously (and wrongly) asserted the Bible is "silent" on. The absurd statement has been resoundingly debunked, which we reported here, but Talarico continues to make the claim, as we saw during a CNN town hall Wednesday night, which was held in the Lone Star State.
Dem. Katy Padilla Stout Brought Tacos to a Gunfight, While Brandon Herrera Was Locked in for Debate
Padilla Stout did herself no favors when she assumed that talking points, finger-pointing, and vibes would get her through a debate, let alone a national campaign.
Hoo Boy: Talarico Trips Over Reality and All His Prior Extreme Positions at CNN Town Hall
I don't think even slippery fish have flipped more times than James Talarico.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Bearing Arms — California Police Make Arrest Over Jankiest .50 Cal Rifle You'll Ever See
Anyway, my point is that no law can stop you from acquiring the skills needed to make a thing like this.
HotAir — Living in Post-Reality Cornell
We live in an age where shame is disdained, which is a shame.
PJ Media — Millions Are Fleeing Blue States, and It's Not for the Sunshine
In the upcoming midterms, voters should ask whether the records of Democratic candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, James Talarico, and Peggy Flanagan show the same self-serving politics Simon describes in California.
Townhall — Did the Democrats Peak Too Soon?
Still, the vibe has shifted. The tone has changed. That’s not mainlining copium; that’s looking at all the facts objectively. The tsunami has morphed into an undertow and over the next three weeks may morph again into still water, and we may end up with a Senate that hasn’t changed much at all. And, compared to where we were a month ago, we will be glad to take it.
If we're being fair (and c'mon, we are ALWAYS fair here at Twitchy), he probably expected CNN to protect him since, you know, he's a Democrat and stuff ... but surprisingly, they did not. Well, they did, but not as much as one would expect.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
The critters are out crittering, and the campaigning is full speed ahead:
Abolishing ICE Wasn't Enough: Democrat Now Wants to Dismantle DHS and Border Patrol
Holy Smokes: Things Get Super Uncomfortable When NBC Confronts El-Sayed on Muslim Brotherhood Ties
White House What's Up
Fresh off his jaunt out west, President Trump’s Thursday schedule includes:
- 8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — The White House
- 12:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Rose Garden Lunch — Rose Garden
- 2:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting — Oval Office
- 4:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Pre-Tape Interview — The White House
- 6:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Tele-Rally — Oval Office
- 6:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Tele-Rally — Oval Office
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
U.S. Trade Rep. - Jamieson Greer — Greer's office just announced a reciprocal trade agreement with Argentina.
Today the U.S. and Argentina signed a protocol of amendment to the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade and Investment. We look forward to continuing to work with Argentina on their ratification and implementation of this historic agreement. Read more: https://t.co/EivOkVPsHa
— United States Trade Representative (@USTradeRep) October 14, 2026
Full Court Press...
We had more notable court decisions on Wednesday, including:
- ✅ In Federal Communications Commission v. Brown (political ad rates), SCOTUS GRANTS the FCC's application to stay a 4th Circuit order requiring the agency to resolve a dispute over discounted political advertising rates within 48 hours, finding that the extraordinary mandamus order improperly interfered with the agency's ongoing deliberations. Justices Sotomayor and Jackson would have denied the stay.
- ✅ In United States v. California (No Secret Police Act/No Vigilantes Act), 9th Circuit REVERSES the denial of a preliminary injunction against California's No Vigilantes Act, holding that the law's requirement that federal officers visibly display identifying information while conducting enforcement operations violates the Supremacy Clause's intergovernmental-immunity doctrine, and remands with instructions to enjoin its enforcement against federal agencies and officers.
9th Circuit Hands Trump Administration Decisive Win Over California's 'No Vigilantes Act'
Sidebar: USDA Overhaul Put on Hold As Judge Sides With Congress on Spending Restrictions
Programming Note:
Former CIA Director John Brennan is scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, Thursday as part of a Justice Department investigation into a "grand conspiracy" inquiry targeting former intelligence and law enforcement officials.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
President Trump is heading to Dalton, Georgia, and Highland Heights, Kentucky, later this week. He's set to travel to the Philippines and China in mid-November.
MORNING MUSING
There's tempering expectations...and then there's dooming. The former is typically wise. The latter gets you very little — maybe a couple Cool Points in the Internet Olympics? It's easy to understand why people get discouraged — the whole Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football meme works for a reason.
But I think some folks are too quick to let that turn into negative snowballing energy. I happened across this tweet this morning, and I thought it offered some welcome perspective.
I think the “nothing will happen” people are gonna be surprised when they realize the reason they waited to go after Ilhan Omar just before the midterms wasn’t just political strategy to hurt the Democrats in the Midterms. The real political strategy might be to take down the entire party before the 2028 election. I think the Trump DOJ has been spending the past 2 years building cases on multiple corrupt politicians and high profile figures, and they’re timing prosecutions to come out back to back over the next two years, beginning just before the midterms. I think Omar is just the first of many dominos to fall, and we’re about to see the greatest criminal enterprise this country has ever seen brought to its knees one indictment at a time, until the evidence is so overwhelming, the Democrat Party wont just lose 2028, but they’ll be lucky if they can win another election before the 300th anniversary celebration of Americas founding. You can say I’m being naive, or putting too much trust in the government because you believe they’re all corrupt and protected and uniparty both sides blah blah blah. You can say it’s going to be just like Hillary Clinton, Fauci, the Biden crime family, and all the other corrupt criminal elites who should be in jail but were never charged or convicted. You can say Trump wont do it because it will look like lawfare, retaliation, weaponization, etc. You can say it would set a dangerous precedent and would just backfire when they’re back in power. You can keep saying it will never happen, because nothing ever happens. My question to the doomers and black pillers would be whether or not they actually want something to happen, or do they just want nothing to happen, so they can be right? What would disappoint you more? If you’re right and nothing happens, or if I’m right and you have nothing left to bitch about? People said nothing will ever happen to end the tyranny of the British government, they got away with raising taxes and limiting the rights of our forefathers. Nothing happened to the tyrants who seized property, jailed anyone who spoke out against the king, controlled the means of production, restricted trade, commerce, etc. Nothing ever happened, until the revolution happened. People said nothing will ever happen to end slavery in America. They got away with treating human beings as property. Nothing happened when they were working men they purchased to death in their fields, treating them like animals, raping their female slaves, whipping them, hanging them when they tried to escape. Nothing ever happened, until Lincoln decided to make something happen. People said nothing will ever happen to end Roe V Wade, people said nothing will ever happen to shut down the border, people said nothing will ever happen to deport illegals in record numbers, people said nothing will ever happen to reduce crime rates, people said nothing will ever happen to designate Antifa a terrorist organization, people said nothing will ever happen to stop Irans nuclear program, people said nothing will ever happen to lower drug prices, people said nothing will ever happen to crack down on fraud, people said nothing will ever happen to end the Maduro regime, people said nothing will ever happen to get military bases in Greenland. Nothing ever happened, until THIS administration and Donald Trumps leadership made it happen. So if you want to keep blackpilling, at least stop lying to people by telling them nothing ever happens. I’d have a lot more respect for the people who are constantly pushing doomslop if they just said what they really mean. So try this instead: “I don’t want anything to happen because even if everything I complained about gets fixed, I’ll still be lonely and miserable, only then I won’t be able to blame anyone but myself.”
— The Misfit Patriot (@MisfitPatriot) October 15, 2026
It's lengthy, so I won't requote the entire tweet here, but I'll highlight a key portion of it.
My question to the doomers and black pillers would be whether or not they actually want something to happen, or do they just want nothing to happen, so they can be right?
What would disappoint you more? If you’re right and nothing happens, or if I’m right and you have nothing left to bitch about?
People said nothing will ever happen to end the tyranny of the British government, they got away with raising taxes and limiting the rights of our forefathers. Nothing happened to the tyrants who seized property, jailed anyone who spoke out against the king, controlled the means of production, restricted trade, commerce, etc.
Nothing ever happened, until the revolution happened.
Think that's a fair point. So, yes, temper expectations — don't be naive. But don't be a doomer, either. Remember: "Nothing ever happens"...until it does.
Chin up, friends.
LIGHTER FARE
Yep — that's the only name that works here!
Dobby..🐱😅 https://t.co/z29zJXqrRQ
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) October 15, 2026
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