Systemic Error Podcast

What happened At a Thursday rally in Durant, Oklahoma, President Donald Trump called White House communications adviser Margo Martin onto the stage, praised the 31-year-old aide as “beautiful” and attributed her appearance to her parents through what he called the “racehorse theory,” according to RawStory. Another aide, Natalie Harp, was also present. Daily Beast podcasters framed the moment again...

What happened RawStory reports that President Donald Trump attacked Sen. Tom Cotton after the Arkansas Republican refused to support the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent. Cotton reaffirmed his opposition Saturday after Trump had singled him out Friday. Trump then used a 369-word Truth Social post to mock Cotton’s electoral standing, accuse him of ego, and de...

What happened The supplied AlterNet text does not establish that any member of Congress supplemented a $174,000 salary with public money. Beyond the headline, it provides no reported transaction, payment, program, date, location, evidence, or response. The body consists only of disconnected names and phrases. It does not identify the congressman teased by the headline, explain what “on your dime”...

What happened RawStory reports that President Donald Trump promised “nearly $100” checks to more than 20 million seniors to help cover Medicare Part B premiums. The Friday-night announcement provoked backlash from some Trump supporters on Truth Social, who called the amount inadequate, insulting, or a political bribe. Trump also tied a proposed $5,000-per-citizen “Trump Dividend” to Republicans wi...

What happened RawStory, citing a New York Times report based on 12 people familiar with the matter, says President Donald Trump personally directed Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought to find government money for television ads featuring and praising Trump. On September 19, OMB transferred $20 million in Customs and Border Protection funds into a category labeled “One Big Beautifu...

What happened RawStory reports that Nevada Republican congressional candidate David Flippo blamed unnamed campaign staffers for falsely claiming he earned a Bronze Star with a valor distinction—an honor he acknowledges he did not receive. That explanation was undermined by photographs, cited from Mother Jones, showing Flippo wearing a cap marked with V-shaped symbols associated with combat-valor c...

What happened RawStory reports that a Republican super PAC aired a 30-second ad featuring Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, the estranged wife of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as he campaigns against James Talarico for a Senate seat. The ad, funded by an affiliate of Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s Senate Leadership Fund, asks voters to support the Republican ticket without naming Ken Paxto...

What happened RawStory reports that voting-rights journalist Ari Berman believes the likeliest opportunity for Trump administration interference in the midterm elections would come after voting ends, during ballot counting and certification, when close margins could make targeted federal action more consequential. Appearing on the debut episode of the “Stress Test” podcast, Berman said the Justice...

What happened According to RawStory, Wesley Britt ended a posting silence dating to August 2023 after a reaction shot of his wife, Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, became a meme. He captioned the image as her watching him sleepwalk and eat leftovers; she reposted it with “Nailed it.” The image came from a Tuesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt accused former s...

What happened AlterNet reports that Republicans face unexpectedly weak Senate prospects in five Republican-leaning states. Citing New York Times/Siena polling, it says Donald Trump’s approval across those states stood at 40 percent, with 57 percent viewing him unfavorably—a five-point decline since comparable June polling in four of them. The Times attributed the broader deterioration partly to ri...

What happened AlterNet reports that the Trump administration placed personality-driven videos praising Donald Trump on national television, including Fox News and CBS. One video pairs repeated images of Trump with the refrain “Love me”; another revives a 2024 campaign message promising a “final battle” against political enemies. CNN reportedly said Trump helped select the material himself. Citing...

What happened RawStory reports that Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Ted Cruz publicly accused each other of positioning for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. After Vance told NBC News that Cruz was “obviously” already running, Cruz told Politico on Saturday that political attacks often come from people who feel “insecure.” Both men claimed their immediate priority was electing Republic...

What happened RawStory reports that Donald Trump’s Justice Department is reviewing claims that Watergate prosecutors committed misconduct, though the department told The Wall Street Journal that no formal investigation is underway. The review followed a two-hour Justice Department presentation by former Nixon aide Geoff Shepard, who alleged that special prosecutors secretly met with judges and wit...

What happened AlterNet reports that a Senate hearing intended to discredit former special counsel Jack Smith instead exposed Republican senators’ factual sloppiness and fixation on defending Donald Trump. Senator Eric Schmitt accused Smith of lying about attending an Atlanta Hawks game in February 2024, but the messages Schmitt displayed reportedly placed Smith in College Park, Maryland, for an Io...

What happened AlterNet, citing Adrian Carrasquillo’s reporting for The Bulwark, says intensified federal immigration enforcement has emptied restaurants and damaged commerce in Doral, Florida, a heavily Venezuelan community that Donald Trump carried by 23 points in the 2024 election. A worker at El Arepazo estimated business was down 80 percent. The owner of Central Park Food Station reported a 40...

What happened Former South Carolina congressman Bakari Sellers laughed at Republican commentator Scott Jennings on CNN after Jennings blamed weak job growth and declining consumer sentiment largely on economic conditions President Donald Trump inherited from former President Joe Biden. Jennings argued that inflation had mostly normalized but that earlier price increases still shaped voters’ percep...

What happened AlterNet reports that AL.com fact-checked remarks President Donald Trump made Friday night in Mobile, Alabama, and found numerous claims false, exaggerated, contradictory, or unsupported. Among them, Trump linked an Interstate 10 bridge groundbreaking to “$3 billion” in administration funding, although AL.com reported that no single grant or appropriation of that size existed. The pr...

What happened RawStory reports that Democratic challenger Cait Conley leads Republican Rep. Mike Lawler 48 percent to 46 percent among likely voters in New York’s 17th Congressional District, with 7 percent undecided. The Emerson College Polling/PIX11 News survey of 400 voters was conducted September 27–29 and carries a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, so it does not es...

What happened AlterNet reports that Steinway grand pianos were removed from the Kennedy Center and moved for sale while the building was closed. A Washington Steinway representative said the instruments were being offered at heavy discounts; photographs taken by mover Van Lewis showed the removal, and Kennedy Center harpist Susan Robinson said musicians had noticed the pianos disappearing. The clo...

US President Donald Trump looks on next to a bust of Benjamin Franklin during the announcement of a Minnesota company’s plan to build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa, from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 28, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque What happened RawStory reports that President Donald Trump announced a proposed $15 billion steel plant in Iowa, with the Wh...

What happened AlterNet reports that President Donald Trump’s insistence that the economy is strong has collided with intense dissatisfaction among voters in four states he won by double digits in 2024. Navigator Research managing director Melissa Toufanian said polling in Alaska, Ohio, Iowa, and Texas put Trump’s net approval at minus 14 across the four states and underwater in each one. Toufanian...

What happened AlterNet reports that Republican strategist Rick Wilson called Ohio “one of the shock stories of 2026” after a Marist poll placed Democrats ahead in two major statewide races. Sherrod Brown led appointed Republican Sen. Jon Husted 51% to 43% among registered voters, while Amy Acton led Republican Vivek Ramaswamy 50% to 44% in the governor’s race. The September 24–27 survey of 1,298 r...

What happened AlterNet reports that Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt accused former special counsel Jack Smith of lying under oath about attending a basketball game on February 3. Schmitt suggested Smith had attended an Atlanta Hawks game and implied the trip connected him to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Smith said he was actually in College Park, Maryland, watching Caitlin Clark and t...

What happened RawStory reports that the American Restoration Coalition, a network of Florida Republicans using “Heritage American” rhetoric, is recruiting candidates and placing allies in local government. ARC leaders openly described a strategy of winning seats on planning and zoning boards, city councils and state legislatures. Its members helped Marshall Rawson win a Republican primary for a no...

What happened RawStory reports that video from a White House appearance on September 29, 2026, showed President Donald Trump standing awkwardly and apparently struggling to walk after a luncheon with technology executives. Commentators reviewing the footage said he seemed to drag his right leg and have difficulty walking straight. The reporting cites social-media speculation about physical injury...