Morning Minute: It's Like Jousting — Only With Bots

Thursday, October 22, 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 

Ilhan Omar's New Interview: Describes Raid, Gives Bizarre Answer When Asked If She Married Brother

Most normal people wouldn't need to be asked the question. But if they were asked the question, the answer would be something like, "No, that's ridiculous." Not, "Not to my knowledge." That's like leaving open the door to arguing that somehow it was; she just didn't know it. 

Pentagon Patched the Breach, Now Two Marines Want Answers

Who got in? Publicly, that remains unanswered. There is no established finding that a foreign government acquired the records. But knowing a servicemember’s job, along with personal details that identify that person, could give an intelligence service something useful to work with.

Dem House Nominee Mercilessly Mocked for Staging Olive Harvest Arrest — 'Virgin or Extra Virgin?'

How harvesting olives for Palestinian farmers will help the good people of Lower Manhattan is anybody's guess, but Lander felt it was vitally important to his campaign. Well, no. He felt it was vitally important to show off his anti-Israel bona fides to help boost his status with the pro-Palestinian faction of his voter base.

Trending Across Townhall Media

Bearing Arms — This Oregon Gun Control Proposal Is One Second Amendment Fans Can Actually Support

There are important legal and practical differences between abortion and firearm ownership, of course, but I'm not the one who suggested we treat them the same. And if the principle is that the government shouldn't impose unnecessary barriers between Americans and the exercise of their rights, then that principle can't disappear the moment we start talking about the Second Amendment.

HotAir — Oh, Brother: 'Not to My Knowledge'?

Get ready for bumpy days ahead, Ms. Omar-ish. And maybe M-SNOW 'news' anchors might try to catch up at some point rather than chuckle through a scandal that has unfolded for years.

PJ Media — Elon Musk Will Have His Revenge on Democrats, and I Can't Wait

This isn’t oversight. Democrats may call it that, but this is revenge. And Musk has no intention of playing the quiet victim. He has already shown that he's willing to spend whatever it takes, say whatever needs saying, and outlast anyone who comes after him. In a battle between Democrats and Elon Musk, my money is on Musk.

Townhall — Dem Hack Drops the Mask and Lets Her Fascism Freak Flag Fly

Make no mistake about it. What Elissa Slotkin and her friends want is tyranny. We know because she just told us.

Twitchy — This Chick Is TOAST! Ilhan Omar Officially Makes Things WORSE Answering Bro Marriage Question -WATCH

Ok, well OUR truth says she's in deep trouble. Is that how this works? Our truth also says she should be deported... 

WHAT'S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill...

Under two weeks to go, and we're continuing to keep close tabs on several of those key races.

El-Sayed Bumbles, Fumbles, Gaslights As He Tries to Convince Michiganders He Won't Defund the Police

Maybe not putting quite so much stock in polling, though...

You Can't Make This Up (but They Did): Polling Firm Admits Fabricating Election Results (Updated)

White House What's Up

President Trump’s schedule for Thursday includes:

• 8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — The White House
• 11:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT receives his Intelligence Briefing — The White House
• 12:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting — Oval Office
• 3:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Signing Time — Oval Office
• — THE PRESIDENT departs the White House en route to Sioux City, Iowa — The White House
• — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Sioux City, Iowa — Sioux City, Iowa
• 6:30 PM CDT — THE PRESIDENT delivers Remarks — Sioux Gateway Airport
• — THE PRESIDENT departs Sioux City, Iowa en route to the White House — Sioux City, Iowa
• — THE PRESIDENT arrives at the White House — The White House

Keeping Up With the Cabinet

Sec. Interior - Doug Burgum — Burgum recently touted the recent USGS assessment of natural gas resources in Alaska's North Slope.

Alaska is one of our greatest energy frontiers, and @POTUS is committed to unlocking its extraordinary potential. This assessment helps underscore the importance of understanding the vast resources beneath the North Slope and using world-class American science to turn that potential into opportunity!

— Secretary Doug Burgum (@SecretaryBurgum) October 21, 2026

Full Court Press...

Some notables from Wednesday: 

• ❌ In Kingdom v. Trump (housing of TG inmates) SCOTUS DENIES the admin's application to stay a district court order blocking the Bureau of Prisons' revised restrictions on gender-transition-related medical treatment and accommodations for inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

New York Body Armor Ban Ruled Unconstitutional in Major 2A Win

Judge Issues Harsh Rebuke in Major Setback to Lindsay Clancy's Defense Team

COMING ATTRACTIONS

As noted above, President Trump heads to Iowa later today. He is set to travel to the Philippines and China in mid-November.

The next round of oral arguments at the Supreme Court starts the week of November 2. 

MORNING MUSING

I'm just a simple unfrozen cavewoman lawyer/editor, so most of the techy stuff is above my pay grade, but I'm cognizant enough to recognize that things are getting rather chippy out there in Cyberspace. 

Our Ben Smith has an excellent write-up of how things ratcheted up a quantum notch on Wednesday. And when I saw some of the chatter/alarm filling up my X stream this AM, he's the first person I thought of (primarily because I know he understands this stuff far better than I do). 

He's been kind enough to explain it to me like I'm a 5-year-old — basically, we're at the point now of using AI to try and catch AI that's exploiting our reliance on AI. Which prompted this analogy for me: