This just popped up in Raw Story, but it does raise some interesting questions. Apparently, no one has actually seen our erstwhile President since his disastrously shambolic address to the military brass down at Quantico on Tuesday. Sure, he (or at least someone with access to his account) keeps posting the usual unhinged rants about various subjects on Truth Social, but it’s been three days now since he was last seen in public, and he doesn’t seem to have any appearances scheduled anytime soon:
President Donald Trump hasn't made a public appearance since his rambling and authoritarian speech to top military leaders, and people are noticing.
The president told high-ranking military leaders to prepare to deploy in American cities for "a war from within," saying he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use "dangerous cities as training grounds," but he disappeared from view for the rest of the week.
"Donald Trump is in the presidential witness protection program," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "No one can find him."
"Trump has not been seen in public since Tuesday and has no public events on his calendar today," noted journalist Aaron Rupar.
Many observers noticed that Trump's energy seemed low the last time he was in public and expressed confusion about his extended riff on taking care not to fall down stairs during the military speech, and they recalled the weekend at the start of September when his extended absence from view sparked rumors about his health and welfare.
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"The president laying back so other people take blame for the shutdown is an old tactic," opined Semafor's Dave Weigel. "But the question is: Are the Republicans on camera winning the argument? So far it's mostly been sombrero memes."
And speaking of the shutdown, here’s some interesting polling on that, also reported by Raw Story:
With the government shutdown fight over extending Obamacare subsidies reaching its third day on Friday, critics were left stunned after a new poll found that Republican voters were overwhelmingly in support of the Democrat-backed measure, despite GOP lawmakers taking a hardline stance against it.
“The Republican numbers here are nuts,” wrote Jordan Weissmann, writer and editor at The Argument, in an online post on X Friday.
Conducted by the nonprofit health policy organization the Kaiser Family Foundation, the poll found that 59% of Republican voters were in favor of extending Obamacare subsidies, the core issue at stake among Congress as its members fail to reach an agreement.
Of the 1,334 Americans polled by KFF between Sept. 23 and 29, a total of 78% in favor of extending the Obamacare subsidies. Democrats favored extending the subsidies at a rate of 92%, and of those that described themselves as “MAGA supporters,” 59% were in favor of extending the subsidies.
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With many Republican-led states having significant numbers of Obamacare enrollees, the debate has left the GOP “painfully divided,” though most ultimately sided with Republican Party leadership in refusing to support extending the Obamacare subsidies.
“Republicans are adopting the 22% side of a 78%-22% issue that's key to the shutdown,” wrote Dan Shafer, founder and editor of Civic Media US, in a social media post on X Friday.
