The Trump campaign announced Wednesday that it had raised $130 million in August, leaving it just shy of $300 million total cash on hand as the presidential race enters its final months. About 98% of the donations were less than $200, with an average gift of $56, the Trump campaign said. The August total was about $8 million less than the $138.7 fundraising total for July, when the former president was nearly assassinated. Trump’s campaign now says it has $295 million cash on hand, a decline from the $327 million at the beginning of August.  “With Republicans united and a growing number of Independents and disaffected Democrats crossing partisan lines, the Trump-Vance campaign has momentum for the final stretch of the race,” senior Trump campaign adviser Brian Hughes said. “These fundraising numbers from August are a reflection of that movement and will propel President Trump’s America First movement back to the White House so we can undo the terrible failures of Harris and Biden.” In June, the Trump campaign wiped out President Joe Biden’s cash advantage before Biden dropped out of the race. Since then, Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden on July 21 and says she has raised $540 million.  Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. Both candidates have focused on crucial swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, where polls show a close race. Those states also have critical Senate races, which Democrats are looking to hold onto their slim majority.  Republican leadership, which believes the races are winnable, says that they are currently being outspent and out-raised in those battleground races.  “The only thing preventing us from having a great night in November is the massive financial disparity our party currently faces,” National Republican Senatorial Committee executive director Jason Thielman previously said. “We are on a trajectory to win the majority, but unless something changes drastically in the next six weeks, we will lose winnable seats.” Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), head of the NRSC, said at the Republican National Convention in July that he was being kept up at night because “left-wing billionaires are massively outspending us.”

A North Carolina man has been arrested and charged with multiple crimes after allegedly using bots and artificial intelligence (AI) to generate songs to collect $10 million in royalties. Michael Smith, 52, was arrested on Wednesday on charges of wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Each charge has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Smith’s complex scheme involved using automated programs, also known as “bots,” to stream songs created with artificial intelligence, the federal indictment said. He used the bot accounts to stream those AI-generated songs billions of times across multiple streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, per The New York Times. The revenue he received from these plays resulted in royalty payments exceeding $10 million. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. Smith began using the illegal tactics in 2017 and continued through 2024 before being caught. His methods are said to have diverted money from other artists on the platform who had legitimate listeners and fans. “Through his brazen fraud scheme, Smith stole millions in royalties that should have been paid to musicians, songwriters and other rights holders whose songs were legitimately streamed,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “Today, thanks to the work of the FBI and the career prosecutors of this Office, it’s time for Smith to face the music.” The defendant used software to continuously stream songs he owned, and he is accused of paying co-conspirators and individuals living overseas to sign up for bot accounts. Smith avoided detection by creating the bot accounts using false names and using debit cards issued to fake people to pay for them. Smith had hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs, each with a nominal number of listeners so they wouldn’t be noticed. Smith estimated that he could use the bot accounts to generate about 661,440 streams per day, resulting in annual royalties totaling $1,027,128. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI Some songs had unusual names, such as “Zygotes” and “Zymoplastic.” The fake artists were called things like “Calm Baseball,” “Calorie Screams,” and “Camel Edible.” The Southern District of New York Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit is prosecuting the case. Smith has been ordered to appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in North Carolina on an undisclosed future date.

Lauren Chen is no longer with Blaze Media after the Department of Justice (DOJ) accused her of misleading other conservative influencers about Russian money her company had been paying them. Semafor reported on Thursday that Chen had been fired by Blaze Media, where she had contributed videos to Blaze TV, a day after she was referenced in a federal indictment against two Russia Today (RT) employees. “Lauren Chen was an independent contractor, whose contract has been terminated,” Blaze Media CEO Tyler Cardon said in an email. Semafor also noted Chen did not return a request for comment. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. The RT employees, a pair of Russian nationals, were charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the DOJ announced on Wednesday. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the defendants were implicated in a “$10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging.” Chen, a Canadian-born YouTuber and former RT employee, and her husband, Liam Donovan, are not named but referenced in the indictment as founders of a company identified as Tenet Media. The Russian defendants allegedly worked with Chen and Donovan to “mask” the “true source of funding” for the company, which the indictment revealed to be RT — a Russian state broadcaster. Chen and Donovan were accused of “falsely portraying” to commentators that their company was sponsored by a private investor named “Eduard Grigoriann” — a persona that turned out to be fake. Tenet was also not named, but as noted by The Washington Post, a quote from its YouTube Channel is identical to one that appears in the indictment. The company’s Tennessee roots are also a match. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI Similar extrapolations have been made to identify conservative influencers who may be referenced in the indictment as potential victims of deceit, some of whom have since released statements. “These allegations clearly show that I and other commentators were the victims of this scheme. I knew absolutely nothing about any of this fraudulent activity. Period,” Dave Rubin said in a post to X. Podcast host Tim Pool also posted to X about the indictment, declaring, “Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims.”

CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings said on Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic vision for America is not just bad, it’s horror movie bad. Jennings joined former Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield and CNN anchor Erin Burnett to discuss the most recent swing state polling and the economic policies promoted thus far by President Joe Biden and by Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. WATCH: Discussed @cnn swing state polling tonight and compared Biden & Harris tax & econ plans to being killed by Jason Voorhees or Mike Meyers – both are scary as hell and you are dead either way! pic.twitter.com/sJrsR2xwfR — Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) September 5, 2024 Jennings kicked off the conversation by recapping the most recent swing state polls, saying that a large percentage of the polls in 2016 and 2020 had been less than accurate and that he was still anticipating “an incredibly close race” in November. “Either of these candidates could win any of these states we’re talking about,” he said, adding that he believed the best way to reach particularly male voters who were “in the middle” would be to focus on the competing economic policies represented by Biden (and now Harris) and those represented by a second term under former President Donald Trump. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI “I had to chuckle a little bit today, listening to [Harris] talk about her tax policy,” he continued. “She’s like, ‘See, Joe Biden’s tax policy’s only going to kill you as much as, you know, Jason Voorhees. But I’m more like Mike Myers, see, isn’t that better?’ No, it’s not better! They’re both scary as hell, and either way, you’re going to be dead.” “And so, I think she’s going to have to come up with something a little better than ‘I’m going to raise your taxes a little less than Joe Biden is,” he concluded. Burnett interrupted then, attempting to provide cover for Harris and Biden and claiming that Harris and Biden had similar tax policies, other than proposals regarding the taxation of unrealized capital gains.

Sometimes, the bonds that we see represented on screen go beyond the cameras. That is the case with The Love Boat stars Jill Whelan and Gavin MacLeod. Jill got candid in a recent interview and Q&A session discussing the special bond that she shared with her on-screen father. Jill Whelan and Gavin MacLeod: A Connection Beyond The Screens PEOPLE Magazine reported that the former child star said she and her on-screen dad had “a really special bond and a special chemistry.” Several of The Love Boat stars gathered on the Enchanted Princess for the Princess Cruise’s “Love Boat” Celebration at Sea. The stars included Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, and Jill Whelan. However, Jill’s on-screen dad, Gavin MacLeod, was not there. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2021 at age 90, but his memory was alive on this trip. Whelan made sure to share wonderful memories of her late costar. She stated, “He is such a fine actor, truly a gifted, full-of-range actor.” Then, she continued to reflect on MacLeod’s skills. She said, “And so many people don’t have that knowledge about what an amazing actor he was and as a human being, which is what I was saying before.” “Love Boat” Memories The star went on to mention how Gavin MacLeod was more than just a wonderful actor, he was a wonderful person. She discussed one of her favorite things about him. “The thing about Gavin that I will remember more than anything is his love for life.” From there she mentioned a phrase that he said often, which was, “Isn’t this just the best?” Besides just being kind and uplifting individuals, another thing bonded The Love Boat costars—their love of food. Jill Whelan added, “He loved food probably more than anything. And that’s why I loved him because me too.” Jill goes on to explain that she took a lot of Gavin’s lessons to heart, including his optimistic outlook on life. She also credited the show and her character’s success in large part to him. “All roads lead back to Gavin MacLeod,” she said in the Q&A. “I really believe that. And Gavin and I had a really special bond and a special chemistry that I think brought another side of the captain to an audience who already loved him.” Whether it was his incredible acting skills, the way he effortlessly connected with people, or the special friendships he formed with his costars, Gavin MacLeod is a name to remember. Seeing his costars honor his memory with so many loving words was so touching. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post “The Love Boat” Star Jill Whelan Recalls “Special Bond” She Had With Late Costar Gavin MacLeod appeared first on InspireMore.

'It’s a little bit late for some of those options'

'Left is doubling down on lawfare'

'Avoid using water other than for flushing until further notice'

'They tend to under-deliver for Trump'

'awesome'