It may be a day late, but at least it's not never. That said, this will have to do it for is for the weekend. We'll be back to normal on Monday. And the series on Minnesota will be back Tuesday.

TrumpWatch 2026: The President Is Making It Harder and Harder to Believe He's Not a White Supremacist

We do not think it is controversial, at this point, to say that Donald Trump is a racist. The very most forgiving reading of his views is that he embraced a moderate-to-liberal understanding of race while growing up in the 1950s, and then he never evolved beyond that. That was a time when it was basically acceptable, even among liberals, to talk about the "good" people of color and the "bad" people of color. It was also acceptable to indulge in "complimentary" racism, like "You know, you Black people sure are good dancers!" Sometimes this is called "country club racism."

The less forgiving reading is that he looks down on, and often hates, people who are not white. His actions as a landlord/slumlord add weight to this line of thinking. So too does his insistence that the Central Park Five were guilty, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Since he became president, the list of "he's more than just a benign racist" evidence includes: "sh**hole countries," much of his border policy, his scapegoating of Chinese people for COVID-19 (aka the "China virus") and his palling around with people like Nick Fuentes.

Yesterday, there was yet another entry in the racism logbook. On Friday night, at the same time that Trump usually gets out his phone and starts going hog wild on his Whites Only social media platform, "someone" reposted a video to Trump's feed, a video from the same guy who made the AI video of Trump dumping sh** on No Kings protesters from an airplane. The video was about a minute long, and 98% of it was the recounting of one of the many conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. However, for about two seconds, very near the end of the video, there was a completely incongruous clip inserted, showing the Obamas as apes:

The message has been deleted from Trump's feed (keep reading), but we saw it while it was still up, and the Obama thing was completely out of nowhere, to the point that while we watched the clicked-upon link, we thought "Did CNN link to the wrong posting?"

We have three theories for what happened here. The first is that Trump is careless about the crap he posts to his feed, and had not bothered to actually watch the video. The second, which we think we probably favor, is that Trump hoped the two seconds of Obamas-as-apes would get lots of attention, and cause people to click on and watch the whole video. The third is that Trump knew full well it was there, and it was an easter egg for his supporters.

Notice that two of these three explanations imply Trump being 100% OK with over-the-top racism. The third merely implies carelessness. But the real clincher is that when the White House was called out on it, it flipped and flopped, claiming, at various times, that: (1) the video was the work of a staffer, and not Trump; and (2) the video was not offensive, and was just a piece of a longer AI video re-casting Democrats at characters in The Lion King. This second claim is sort of true, though it is worth pointing out that there are no apes in The Lion King.

What finally caused a change of course was that while some right-wing podcasters and media figures (though definitely not all) called Trump out on the video. They were joined by numerous Republican members of Congress. For example, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), who comes from a state that put the Freedom Riders on death row, a state that did not remove the Confederate battle flag from its state flag until 2021, tweeted that it was "totally unacceptable." Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the only Black member of the Senate Republican Conference, concurred: "Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House." That statement, of course, makes clear that Scott has also seen OTHER racist things out of this White House. One wonders how many items are on his list, and how he ranks them.

Eventually, after the posting had been up for 12 hours or so, it was deleted. However, Trump made clear that he has no intention of apologizing and that, in fact, he has no need to apologize because he is "the least racist president you've had in a long time." Upon reading that, readers might well say: "Uh, what about Obama himself, who was just two presidents ago?" The damn thing is that MAGA would respond to that by saying: "So? What about Obama?", having long ago internalized the notion that Obama himself is a racist and is allegedly "the most divisive president in U.S. history." It is that segment that Trump is pandering to with all of his racist dog whistles, both subtle and deafening. (Z)

The Midterms, Part I: Garden State Election Too Close to Call

NJ-11, the House district that Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) left in order to take her current job, is D+5. That's pretty blue, and between that, and the general anti-Trump sentiment that is in the air, the assumption is that the winner of the Democratic primary will also win the election to finish Sherrill's term.

That primary was held on Thursday, and it was almost literally Hillary vs. Bernie, Part 493, since former representative Tom Malinowski had the backing of the establishment, while insurgent progressive Analilia Mejia had the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) himself, as well as the other usual lefty suspects. At the moment, roughly 48 hours after polls closed, the election is too close to call.

Actually, to be 100% accurate, the election was already called, by several outlets, for Malinowski. But then, several tranches of votes where Mejia outperformed Malinowski by a roughly 2-to-1 margin came in, and she not only caught up, she pulled ahead. The latest released totals have her with 18,058 votes and him with 17,382. That's a margin of 676 votes with an estimated 4,900 ballots left to count. That means that Malinowski would have to take about 57% of the remaining votes to pull off a victory. Not impossible, but a pretty tall hlll to climb.

Because Mejia is progressive, and because the district itself is blue-purple, her likely victory is being treated as a watershed moment in advance of this year's midterms. For example, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) opined that the candidate's success "shows that the progressive wing... is ascendant." Steve Kornacki wrote a piece for NBC News in which he called it "an anti-establishment earthquake."

We aren't quite ready to buy this assessment. First, as we have written a million times, special elections are wonky. Second, as a D+5 district, it's not especially blue, but it's not especially swingy, either. A progressive winning in, say, Rep. Jared Golden's (D-ME) district would be a much, much bigger earthquake. Third, while Malinowski outspent Mejia (about $1.2 million to $500,000), AIPAC outspent them both ($2 million) in an effort to defeat Malinowski. That's a wildcard that won't have an analogue in most House contests this November.

If there IS a lesson to be found in NJ-11, we think it's this: It's more evidence this is likely to be a "throw the bums out" election. Voters, particularly Democratic voters, want new blood. And we suspect that Malinowski's biggest problem, whether he wins or not, is not that he's moderate, and is not the AIPAC money, it's that "former representative" means "old blood" in the eyes of many voters.

It is possible that, at this point, readers might think that our unwillingness to assign great meaning to the NJ-11 result is inconsistent with the significance we perceived in a different special election, the one for SD-9 in Texas. We've actually already heard from readers who think we overshot the mark. For example, R.T. in Arlington, TX:

I held off a few days reacting to the Texas SD-9 election results because it feels like a wonky special-election result to me. I live in Tarrant County (though not in that district) and I was completely unaware an election was going on. As I have written before, you need to think of this county (surrounding Fort Worth) as the most urban rural county in the state. When I look at the map of the district I see an economic barbell. The southeastern portion inside Loop 820, south of Hwy 183, north of I-30 is working class, heavily Latino in northwest Fort Worth and mixed White/Black/Asian/Latino to the east of that. The northern portion of the district, a band running from Southlake to Saginaw, is new-money, newer housing, upper middle-class and lower upper-class. So the results of a special election in this district will be dominated by which kind of voter shows up in greater numbers. In a low-turnout, low media election it doesn't take much of a difference in grassroots campaign engagement to swing the percentages. The lesson here is not that there is a big broad Latino shift in sentiment, just that Rehmet's team tried harder, á la AOC's first run for Congress, and the Republicans took their advantage for granted. They won't make the same mistake twice.

With the benefit of a couple more days' reflection, well... we still don't agree.

Yes, special elections are wonky. However, it is not correct that the Republicans did not take this one seriously. Quite a few prominent Republicans lobbied for the GOP candidate, among them Donald Trump. Further, a 32-point move toward the Democrats? That's almost impossible to explain away, no matter how wonky the electorate is, and is considerably more instructive than "progressive MIGHT eke out narrow victory in blue district." It is also important that Latinos might be the single-most important bloc in deciding the 2026 elections, this district is overwhelmingly Latino, and it turns out that Latino votes were what propelled Taylor Rehmet (D) to victory (he took nearly 80% of the Latino vote).

Ultimately, though, it doesn't matter much what we think. What matters is what the professional politicians think. And, as we wrote, Republicans across the nation are scared witless that SD-9 is a canary in a coal mine. By contrast, it is improbable that Democrats will be left shaken to their cores by NJ-11, whatever happens there. So, it's a different kettle of fish.

Whichever Democrat advances, incidentally, will face Mayor Joe Hathaway (R-Randolph) on April 16. If Hathaway wins, THEN Democrats will freak out. If the candidate who loses (in this hypothetical) is Malinowski, there will be lots of carping about "See? We NEED new blood!" And if the candidate who loses is Mejia, there will be lots of carping about "See? We HAVE to choose candidates who are a good fit for their districts!" But for now, no freak outs. (Z)

The Midterms, Part II: Only GOP-Held Seat in Nevada Will Be Open

'Tis the season! The holidays are over, families and friends have been talked to, and there's been about a month full of reminders that Congress is dysfunctional. So, the retirements are coming fast and furious. Rep. Barry Loudernilk (R-GA) threw in the towel earlier this week and yesterday, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) joined Loudernilk in heading for the door.

Amodei is serving his eighth, and presumably final, term. In his retirement announcement, he explained: "I came to Congress to solve problems and to make sure our State and Nation have strong voice in the federal policy and oversight processes. I look forward to finishing my term. After 15 years of service, I believe it is the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch." That is a non-explanation explanation (though at least he did not bother with the cliché "I want to spend more time with family.") We think it's fair to interpret such a milquetoast explanation as "This job sucks these days, but I can't say that out loud."

Amodei's district, NV-02, is R+7 and has never sent a Democrat to Congress. Under normal circumstances, that would translate to "safe seat." Under the circumstances in play this year, it probably translates to "Who knows?" There were already five Democrats in the race, so the Party will certainly have a candidate. The only other Republican in the race is Rick Shepherd, who used to be a Democrat. The MAGA voters who powered Amodei's last several victories won't like that, so we would guess at least one or two more Republicans will get in before the filing deadline on March 13. If that does not happen, and Shepherd is the candidate, that will make the Democrats very happy. (Z)

The Sports Report: MAGA to Sit the Super Bowl Out?

When it comes to this year's Super Bowl, we are not sure exactly what the official MAGA Marching Orders are. It is definitely the case that any MAGA member in good standing is not to watch, under any circumstances, the halftime show. This is because the headliner is Bad Bunny, who: (1) is brown, and (2) primarily performs in Spanish. In this case, it's two strikes and you're out. Or maybe, since it's football, two downs and drive over.

For the viewing pleasure of the MAGA faithful, Turning Point USA will stage its own halftime show. It took them a while to find a "network" to broadcast on; eventually the organization ended up with "pretty much every right-wing social media platform/streaming service." And it also took TPUSA a while to announce the lineup of performers. Initially, the organization said that it was going to keep things under wraps until the show itself. This was pretty obviously a lie meant to cover for the fact that TPUSA did not have an actual lineup, because once it did, that lineup was splashed all over social media.

Here is the official announcement of the MAGA halftime show:

We have three comments. First, if you had Kid Rock in your pool, you win... nothing. He is the headliner for all these MAGA shows, and especially all these TPUSA MAGA shows. It is almost embarrassing that they picked him, because it says "We couldn't get anyone else." Second, it's a little surprising that Ted Nugent is not also on the bill; the real Super Bowl halftime show often has a "surprise" appearance, and maybe that will also happen here. Third, when (Z) saw the ad. he said: "Huh, they found a Black guy who is not Hootie, and who MAGA likes." But the guy at top (Brantley Gilbert) is, in fact, white. Whiter than Kid Rock, if that is possible. Is it possible they darkened him in the ad to make the show look more diverse than it actually is? In any event, if you like your halftime shows so white you need sunglasses, you can catch the show on TPUSA's Twitter/Rumble feeds, or on The Daily Wire, Real America's Voice, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Charge!, The National News Desk, New Tang Dynasty (NTD), and One America News. In case you are wondering what NTD is, that is the official TV channel of the far-right anti-communist Chinese movement Falun Gong.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), among other prominent MAGA Republicans, said that the TPUSA halftime is the ONLY thing he will watch on Sunday. Why can't he watch the game itself, since—as we understand it—Bad Bunny will NOT be putting on pads and playing? Tuberville explained: "Unfortunately, we've got, I call it the Woke Bowl, because we're getting more and more woke." The "Woke Bowl"? Boy, he is a clever one.

Donald Trump has not said whether or not HE will boycott watching the game. That tells us he knows full well that most of MAGA is loyal enough to change channels at halftime, but not loyal enough to turn off the TV entirely. That said, there is a good chance ratings will be down this year, in part because Seattle is not a marquee team like the Dallas Cowboys or the San Francisco 49ers, in part because Nielsen is tinkering with the way it calculates viewership, and in part because no Kansas City Chiefs, so no Swifties. If the ratings ARE down, don't be too surprised to see Trump claim credit.

As we have noted previously, Trump definitely will not attend the game. He's unspooled a litany of lame excuses, the last of which was that it's too far from Washington, DC to San Francisco. The real reason, as we noted in the earlier item, is that he knows he would be booed mightily, and he just can't handle that blow to his image. There were a couple of stories in the last few days that made clear that is what would happen. First, on Wednesday, there was an All Elite Wrestling event in Las Vegas, and the main card featured Brody King, who is outspokenly anti-ICE. It took a while for the match to actually start, because the crowd was chanting "Fu** ICE! Fu** ICE! Fu** ICE!" over and over. Meanwhile, J.D. Vance has been dispatched to serve as the administration's representative at the Winter Olympics, which officially began yesterday. When the American delegation entered the arena, during the opening ceremony's March of Nations, the camera cot to the VP and Second Lady, and then had to cut away very quickly, because of the booing that immediately commenced.

Trump will not be completely invisible on Sunday, as he sat for an interview that will air before the game. "Highlights" have already been leaked, and the interview is pretty whackadoodle. In it, he says that while he is a little sad about the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, they "weren't angels." He also says that the people who "feel worse about it than anybody" are... "the people of ICE." Uh, huh. He concludes that "the real tragedy" is "you get bad publicity." Undoubtedly, something we can all agree upon. (Z)

In Congress, Part I: In DHS Negotiations, Neither Side Wants to Play Ball

Technically speaking, with a whole week left before funding for DHS runs out, we are still in the "posturing" phase of negotiations. So, maybe it doesn't mean too much that the two sides are getting nowhere. On the other hand, a bill would have to be agreed upon, passed by the House, passed by the Senate, and signed into law by Donald Trump. Even if the two sides had a workable bill by, say, Tuesday morning, there are enough potential flies left on the ointment (say, a posturing Senator) that the remaining time might not be enough.

The focal point of disagreement, of course, is ICE. Democrats want some pretty strict restrictions imposed on that agency, Republicans are rather less enthusiastic. On Wednesday night, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (both D-NY) released a list of demands on behalf of their party. We suspect the list will gladden the hearts of many Democrats, because it's a real, aggressive opening bid. Initially, the total number of demands was just three, but on the Wednesday list, it was 10. Here is the executive summary:

1. No entering properties without a proper warrant; non-citizen status must be verified before detention
   
   
2. No masks
   
   
3. Agents must have and wear ID, and must verbalize their identity if asked
   
   
4. No ICE enforcement near "sensitive" locations, including hospitals, schools, churches and polling places
   
   
5. No racial profiling
   
   
6. Adherence to proper "use of force" standards
   
   
7. Coordination with state and local authorities
   
   
8. Safeguards, like people must be allowed access to their attorneys
   
   
9. Body cameras
   
   
10. Standardize equipment and uniforms; no use of military/paramilitary gear

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) responded, "It's totally unrealistic. Their demand list went from three items to 10 items. It just shows you they're not, they're not serious yet." He added that, "There are a few things that, actually, there's probably some room to maneuver on there, to negotiate on. But a lot of that stuff, obviously, just wasn't serious." Thune did not specify which things are open to negotiate on, and which are not. He did make clear, however, that—once again—those negotiations are not his job, and that the Democrats need to be talking to Donald Trump.

Inasmuch as Thune basically punted on the whole federal budget, he probably means it when he says he's not interested in getting involved. And so, Democrats—backed strongly by public sentiment, and with a base that will go nuclear if serious concessions are not extracted—get to talk to a man who is all-in on ICE, and who will presumably have Stephen Miller whispering in his ear. We would imagine that the only realistic way the government does not shut down is if there's another can-kicking bill that adds a few weeks to the negotiating window. Whether backing such a resolution, if offered, makes sense for the Democrats, we are not sure. There may be something to be said for "These are our demands. Take them, or else ICE shuts down indefinitely." (Z)

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: The Moon Is Made of Green Cheese

We had two hints for last week's theme: (1) "[W]e'll say that the 'Salt' in the next headline really should be SALT, if we are being completely grammatical" and (2) "If you are still puzzling over the headline theme, we'll admit that the answer is famously Tricky." And here is the solution, courtesy of reader B.P. in Salt Lake City, UT:

Each headline includes a Reference to Richard Nixon. "Only Chess" was a great extra hint.

• The Budget: It Would Seem that Republicans are Resigned to Limits on ICE—Nixon Resigned.
  
  
• Today in Fantasyland: Pardon Me, Mr. President, But It Was MY Turn to Kiss Your A**—Nixon got a pardon after that resignation.
  
  
• Today in Reality: The Trump Economy Is Nigh Upon Us, and China Has to Be Thrilled—Nixon was the first U.S. president to visit China in the PRC era.
  
  
• MediaWatch 2026: The Paper That Brought You the Watergate Scandal Is Imploding—The Watergate scandal imploded Nixon's presidency.
  
  
• Legal News: Maybe the VP Can Sue Over Those Couch Stories—Nixon was VP before he was P.
  
  
• In Congress: It Sure Looks like Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Is a Crook—Nixon famously claimed that "I am not a crook."
  
  
• I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Chess or Checkers?—Nixon's "Checkers" speech (the name of his dog, in response to an earlier scandal)
  
  
• This Week in Schadenfreude: Would You Like Some Salt for your Playstation?—Nixon and Brezhnev signed the SALT treaty for strategic arms reduction.
  
  
• This Week in Freudenfreude: Americans Turn to Books to Ford the Ocean of Tyranny Being Unleashed—Gerald Ford was Nixon's (second) VP (after Spiro Agnew)) and successor.

Yes, only "Chess" fit with the previous week's theme (which was games), as "Checkers" was a reference to the dog. Meanwhile, SALT is an acronym and is usually capitalized, and of course Nixon was "Tricky Dick." From today's headline, he was president when the U.S. reached the moon.

Here are the first 60 readers to get it right:

J.F. in Fayetteville, NC R.S. in Landing, NJ T.F. in Craftsbury Common, VT M.M. in Dunellen, NJ D.D. in Highland Park, IL R.S. in Pittsgrove, NJ D.L. in Springfield, IL J.N. in Zionsville, IN T.K. in Half Moon Bay, St. Kitts J.J. in Johnstown, PA B.F. in Baltimore, MD N.C. in Columbus, MS A.F. in Minneapolis, MN A.L. in Washington, DC S.K. in Ardmore, PA K.F. in Berea, KY M.S. in Canton, NY K.G.W. in Lafayette, IN C.W. in Atlantic Beach, FL M.L. in Simpsonville, SC R.M. in Summerville, SC K.M. in Jacksonville, FL A.D. in Gaithersburg, MD J.S. in Huntington Station, NY J.T. in Philadelphia, PA P.Q. in Metuchen, NJ S.G. in Durham, NC D.D. in Bucks County, PA R.H.O. in Portland, ME E.S. in Providence, RI

M.K. in Long Branch, NJ R.E. in Birmingham, AL E.V. in Derry, NH J.R. in Austin, TX M.B. in Albany, NY A.A. in Branchport, NY T.K. in Manchester, MO D.C. in Teaneck, NJ G.M. in Chevy Chase, MD E.P. in Windham, CT A.T. in Bloomington, IN M.C. in Falls Church, VA T.T. in Conway, AR J.L. in Ridgewood, NJ D.K. in Bethesda, MD N.H. in London, England, UK M.T. in Wheat Ridge, CO G.M.K. in Mishawaka, IN R.E.M. in Brooklyn, NY N.K. in Cleveland Heights, OH C.O. in Marion, IA M.H. in Ottawa, ON, Canada V.L. in Chester, CT K.R. in Austin, TX J.C. in Johns Creek, GA P.A. in Redwood City, CA H.B. in Toronto, ON, Canada J.S. in Columbia, MO D.W. in Manhattan, MT J.H. in Flint, MI

The 60th correct response was received at 6:56 a.m. PT on Friday.

For this week's theme, it relies on one word per headline, and it's in the category Language. For a hint, we'll say that a popular TV doctor of the early 2000s would have a big advantage, we think. For a couple of reasons, really.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line February 7 Headlines. (Z)

This Week in Schadenfreude: Melania Documentary Is Officially a Flop

It should come as no surprise that the propaganda film Melania became the latest battleground in the culture wars. A look at two popular movie-centered sites tells the tale. First, Rotten Tomatoes:

What that is saying, for those unfamiliar with the site, is that nearly all critics hated the film. However, the users who logged in and rated the film loved, loved, loved it. In fact, more viewers liked it than liked Titanic (88%), Blazing Saddles (90%), The Princess Bride (94%), Star Wars (96%), The Godfather (98%). It's not possible to cook the books when it comes to the critics, since each critic is vetted by the staff of the site before being included in the Tomatometer. It is definitely possible to cook the books when it comes to the user ratings. And whaddya know, the vast majority of users who reviewed Melania have never rated any other film on the site. The 91 points of difference between the critics and the audience is, incidentally, the biggest gap in the history of the site.

On the flip side, there's IMDB:

There was an attempt to ratings-bomb IMDB, but it was not successful. The roughly 5,000 IMDB users who gave Melania a perfect 10 were dwarfed by the roughly 45,000 users who gave the film a 1 (the site does not permit a rating lower than 1). Undoubtedly, on both sites, a lot of reviews and ratings were submitted by people who did not actually see the film. If the IMDB rating stands, then Melania will be tied for the second-worst rating among all of the 29 million titles the site tracks. Also 1t 1.3/10 are Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas and Foodfight!, while just a shade lower, at 1.2/10, are Daniel the Wizard and Smolensk.

Because the MAGA faithful turned out to support their dear leader, the film did a bit better than projected, racking up $7 million in its first weekend of release and about $10 million to date. The New York Times, presumably engaged in "performing balance," had the headline 'Melania' Arrives With Strong Box Office Showing for a Documentary. It is true that documentaries rarely pull in $7-$10 million within a week of their release. However, it is also true that this particular documentary opened in 2,000 theaters, far more than nearly any other documentary. It is also true that this particular documentary was backed with a $35 million advertising campaign, something that does not happen with ANY other documentary. Also, there have been some superlatives along the lines of "This is the highest-grossing documentary since [successful documentary from 10-20 years ago]." That is only true if you do not count the most common and commercially successful form of documentary, which is the concert film. For example, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour film opened with $93 million in its first week, which is rather more than $10 million.

In any event, even if Melania outperformed expectations by a bit, it's still a flop. That word, and we probably should have made this clear when we first wrote about the film, is a term of art. Technically, it means "Did not recoup its production and marketing costs." More commonly, it means "Did not COME CLOSE to recouping its production and marketing costs." Melania is going to finish its box office run with something like $15 million, and no matter how much Amazon "makes" from streaming the film, it will never come close to getting back the $100 million+ it spent. At least, not unless we factor in the value of the bribery that's going on right under our noses.

Other than the few flattering reviews, mostly from right-wing outlets, the critics have been savage, seemingly in competition to see who can show their disdain the most fully. A few selected quotes:

Calum Cooper, Cinerama: "Melania is shambolic, putrid, pitiful garbage: A brazen, awkward, irredeemable infomercial that ignores truth and scrutiny in favour of performative humility. It's not just wretched—it's offensive to the collective intelligence of the human race."

Nick Hilton, The Independent (UK): "[The] First Lady is a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda."

Xan Brooks, The Guardian (UK): "It's one of those rare, unicorn films that doesn't have a single redeeming quality. I'm not even sure it qualifies as a documentary, exactly, so much as an elaborate piece of designer taxidermy, horribly overpriced and ice-cold to the touch and proffered like a medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne."

Tessa Stuart, RollingStone: "It's like watching a $40 million book report..."

William Thomas, Empire: "An obsequious, ring-kissing portrait of the current U.S. administration, dressed in gauche, glossy reality-TV clothing. And yet somehow still better than Rush Hour 3."

Sean Burns, North Shore Movies: "At least Leni Riefenstahl could frame a shot."

They're pretty much all like that. Well, 92% of them are, at least.

Melania Trump deserves every bit of scorn directed her way. First, because she was an eager party to this obvious grift. Second, because she has been given a near-unparalleled opportunity to do good in the world, and all she wants to do is live a high-society life, now funded by her sleazy Amazon money. One hopes that the film rises (sinks?) to become the #1 worst film of all time on IMDB. (Z)

This Week in Freudenfreude: Speaking Truth to Power

The National Prayer Breakfast is an annual, bipartisan event that brings together a bunch of people who actually care about Jesus with a bunch of people who pretend to care about Jesus because it is politically useful for them to do so.

This week was the week, and the keynote speaker was, of course, Donald Trump. Readers can decide for themselves which of the two categories above he fits in. He delivered a speech that was characteristically rambling and characteristically full of attacks on the President's perceived enemies. It was just so very Christ-like. If you are a reader who cares about Jesus, and you are of the Catholic persuasion in particular, perhaps you can ask your priest at confession if you can watch the speech instead of saying Hail Marys this week. In our view, if you make it through the whole hour-plus, that should allow you to atone for this week's sins AND to bank at least 1,000 future Hail Marys.

Following Trump was a fairly brief final prayer from Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), who is the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. With Trump standing just feet away, Jackson offered up these remarks:

Today we pray for America and we pray for all parliamentarians around the world. The book of Timothy teaches us that you've been entrusted with leadership. Today we pray for the future of this nation, and that you would lead this president into greater levels of compassion for your namesake. We pray that you would protect him from the inequities of evil, that you would give him greater clarity, greater courage, and greater capacity to do what is right in forever challenges.

Today we remind him that the lives of millions of people are in his hands, and that he has the power to turn mourning into dancing or to reduce the country into a cosmic elegy of chaos and suffering. And it is because of this that we pray, that the best of this president would rise among us. For the sake of this nation, for the sake of this world, we pray that goodness and mercy would announce themselves in his life in new and powerful ways.

We pray that he would be mindful of the poor and that he would be invested in elevation, the alleviation of suffering happening on farms in the Midwest and the families preparing to bury their loved ones in Minneapolis. Remind him that we are all Americans, all made in the image of God. And that none of us are free unless all of us have our freedoms protected. Many people are not lazy. Many people are simply tired. Many people simply are not OK.

Here is what Trump looked like for the bulk of Jackson's remarks:

Was Trump pretending to pray? Sleeping? Listening respectfully? We report, you decide (though we will say that we very seriously doubt that Door #3 is the correct one).

In any event, it takes a fair bit of fortitude to stand right next to the leader of the free world and to tell him what's what. The kind of fortitude that, for example, few Republicans in Congress seem to have. So, a tip of the hat to Jackson for his bravery. His old man must be proud.

Have a good weekend, all! (Z)

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• questions@electoral-vote.com    For questions about politics, civics, history, etc. to be answered on a Saturday
• comments@electoral-vote.com   For "letters to the editor" for possible publication on a Sunday
• corrections@electoral-vote.com To tell us about typos or factual errors we should fix
• items@electoral-vote.com            For general suggestions, ideas, etc.

To download a poster about the site to hang up, please click here.

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Email a link to a friend.

---The Votemaster and Zenger