Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea, our chance to sample some of the latest news.

Another Effort to Steal the Election After the Polls Close?

America needs a blowout on Election Day — a decisive win, a definitive call.

But will we get one? The head of Fox News’ Election Decision Desk, Arnon Mishkin, told Politico he thinks the network won’t be able to call the race until four days after the election. “The over/under is Saturday,” he said, “which was when we made the call last time.”

We have reason to raise an eyebrow over this. Mishkin is the one who called Arizona for Joe Biden suspiciously early in 2020. And we know what happened that night: The nation went to bed with Trump far ahead in most swing states, only to wake up to discover hundreds of thousands of ballots had magically appeared overnight to erase those leads and push Biden to the fore.

Mishkin expects the pivotal state of Pennsylvania to be one of those that lollygags in getting its ballots counted. Keystone State officials are already promising this will be the case.

The longer the count drags out, the greater the chance for mischief.

As we continue praying and fasting for the nation, let one of our steadfast prayers be for a free and fair election with a rapid, indisputable resolution. 

Is the Stress Getting to Kamala Harris?

Kamala Harris had an interesting town hall session yesterday: She wouldn’t let those attending ask questions. The moderator admitted the questions were preselected, so it really wasn’t a town hall — it was an infomercial with a bunch of extras.

Still, even in that fixed setting, Harris made an curious confession. She admitted the campaign has her waking up in the middle of the night.

Kamala: "I wake up in the middle of the night usually these days. Just to be honest with you."

The pressure is getting to her! pic.twitter.com/gR2gRlgRFI

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 21, 2024

Whether she’s cracking or not — and no doubt the Trump team is editing the clip above in its most unfavorable light — this admission stomps on Harris’s own messaging. In recent days, she and her campaign have been accusing Trump of being exhausted, spent, and mentally deteriorating, even as the man is bouncing around the country at all hours as perkily as a high school cheerleader.

Interestingly — tellingly — the only thing Harris is doing today, less than two weeks from Election Day, is a friendly interview with NBC News. The exhausted Trump? He did the “Latino Summit” in the morning, a “Make America Healthy Again” event with RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard earlier this afternoon, and tonight he’s got a rally in North Carolina.

We’ve previously mentioned that there are some grumblings within the Democratic machine that Harris isn’t putting in the work necessary to win the race. Each day at this point matters. Who wins the day matters. With momentum favoring Trump, how Harris spends her time is crucial. A friendly interview while Trump is wooing Latinos, pushing a health agenda, and whipping up support in storm-ravaged North Carolina just doesn’t cut it two weeks out. 

Trump and the Hand of God

Last evening, Donald Trump spoke at the “11^th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting” in North Carolina, not only in strong defense of Christianity and religious liberty, but getting unusually personal in describing how the first attempt on his life earlier this year has impacted his faith. He spoke of how he felt “the hand of God” pushing him to the ground in Butler, Pennsylvania.

BREAKING: President Trump says that on July 13th he was knocked to the ground by a powerful supernatural hand

The Hand of God

And his faith has now taken on new meaning pic.twitter.com/RnifM7qB9C

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 22, 2024

It’s amusing to watch media bias at work. What was The New York Times headline about Trump’s appearance? “Trump Courts Christian Voters Days After Vulgar Remark at a Rally.”

What was The New York Times headline when Kamala Harris spoke at black churches Sunday, two days after telling Christians “you’re at the wrong rally”? “Harris’s Faith, Inside and Outside the Black Church.”

Newsweek Fact-Checks Clearly Artificial Meme

Polls can give you some idea of who’s winning and who’s losing the race for the White House. But so can counting up silly statements and attacks.

Take, for example, Tim Walz ripping on Trump for his McDonald’s event. When you’re two weeks out from an election and harping on your opponent’s publicity stunt at a fast-food chain, you’re in trouble. However, in Walz’s case, accusing Trump of being “disrespectful” to McDonald’s workers because it included photo ops led to this devastating response on X:

Here is McDonald’s in Walz’s Minneapolis during the Floyd riots https://t.co/nUfM3YEzJX pic.twitter.com/f0Boi01y07

— Logan Ratick (@Logan_Ratick) October 21, 2024

Walz let a McDonald’s burn down. Trump didn’t even burn the fries.

Newsweek especially is getting desperate. We mentioned yesterday that the publication roasted the McDonald’s franchise that hosted Trump. They followed that by fact-checking a meme. After Trump attended Sunday night’s Pittsburgh Steelers game, somebody used AI to generate a clearly fake image of him suited up in a Steelers uniform.

Thank God for legacy media pic.twitter.com/oEIJbVZX9f

— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) October 21, 2024

Newsweek thought it was worth the ink to assure people that Donald Trump does not actually play for the Steelers.

But wait! There’s more. According to Fast Company, mocking Kamala Harris’s laugh is racist.

Mocking Kamala Harris’ cackle is a story of America’s racism. pic.twitter.com/ErN9CCRRJs

— Andy Ngo 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) October 22, 2024

Oh, we can go so many directions with that one. But we’ll leave it by simply saying, “Wanna tell that to SNL’s Maya Rudolph?”

White People Need to Be Held “Accountable” if Trump Wins?

Here’s another bit of ridiculousness. Donald Trump is polling historically well among black people. Harris right now is polling at 78% of the black vote. Joe Biden got 90% in 2020 and Hillary Clinton got 92% in 2016. Trump also has the advantage with Hispanics, and now even Arab-Americans are tilting his way.

As minorities are moving toward Trump, what does CNN commentator Angela Rye conclude when asked about Barack Obama arrogantly chiding black men who won’t support Harris? If Donald Trump wins, “white people” should face “accountability.”

According to The Blaze, Rye said, “I think that it’s wonderful that President Obama is out hitting the trail for democracy, frankly. And what I think is a mistake is to let white folks escape the accountability that they must face for not showing up to save democracy themselves. Like, they want to get mad at presidential candidates, right, when they don’t wear a flag lapel pin or they don’t see you pledging allegiance to the flag.”

The Easiest Job in The World, Continued

We keep saying the easiest job in the world is being one of Trump’s campaign ad people. Just listen to what Harris, Walz, and their surrogates say, snatch it, add “I’m Donald Trump and I approve this message,” and you’re done.

Yesterday, Liz Cheney offered what she thought was a slam on Trump. In fact, the Harris team thought it was such a slam that they posted it on X.

.@Liz_Cheney: If you wouldn't hire somebody to babysit your kids, you shouldn't make that guy the President of the United States pic.twitter.com/lN6XXbFHmF

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 22, 2024

There’s just one problem: Trump has five great kids and a slew of adoring grandchildren, and everywhere he goes, kids gravitate toward him. What does Harris have? No kids of her own, but two stepchildren whose father impregnated their nanny. In addition, one of those kids raises money for the pro-Palestinian groups that are in bed with Hamas terrorists when she’s not cavorting with the Hollywood elite.

Being a girl dad is a gift. It’s also one of the reasons @BenStiller and @Andy are voting for @KamalaHarris. pic.twitter.com/2CIL7ZTYZ2

— Doug Emhoff (@DouglasEmhoff) October 21, 2024

Harris replaced the duly elected Democratic presidential nominee on the ticket — a man who sniffs little girls’ hair, whose two surviving children struggle with drug and sex addiction, and who won’t acknowledge one of his own grandchildren because her mother is a former stripper with whom his son had an affair.

Breaking: Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Busted for Sex Trafficking

Remember how people who talked about how the world’s elites are neck-deep in sex trafficking were considered to be crazy conspiracy theorists? Then you saw the arrests of financial advisor Jeffrey Epstein and his sidekick, Ghislaine Maxwell. More recently, you saw the arrest of rap mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, whose litany of federal charges range from transporting commercial sex workers to drugging and raping men, women, and children who were aspiring artists, then using his extended business network to cover up the crimes and intimidate the victims. And earlier today, we saw the arrest of former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries for sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

The details are still coming out, but Jeffries is charged with forcing young men to perform sexual acts on both him and his gay partner after luring them with promises of work in the fashion field. Jeffries rose to the company’s helm in the 1990s and revamped the brand, largely through sexually suggestive ads featuring mostly male models. At the time, Abercrombie & Fitch was owned by Leslie Wexner, who also was the scion of Victoria’s Secret — and a client of Jeffrey Epstein. According to The Wall Street Journal, Jeffries’s alleged methodology closely resembles that of which Combs stands accused.

On the Stream Menu

Stream contributor David Marshall returns with “Democrats and Broken Windows.”

Timothy Furnish offers the ominous “The Past, Present, and Future Dangers of the Islamic Belief in the Mahdi.”

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.