Trump news – live: Fauci issues stern warning to president's campaign on Covid as Amy Coney Barret grilled on guns, abortion

Trump discovers Brigette Gabriel’s Twitter account

No fewer than 12 (!) of the president’s fever dream retweets this morning have been from this right-wing national security nut’s account.

You can almost smell the fresh crazy.

Trump 'misled Fox News' over when he heard about Hope Hicks' Covid-19 result

The president continues to risk his friendship with a key media ally, it appears, after again disparaging Fox on Twitter last night.

As you will no doubt recall, Trump called into Sean Hannity’s show on the evening of 1 October, hours before announcing his own coronavirus diagnosis, and, when asked about his senior aide Hope Hicks testing positive for coronavirus, said he had “just” heard about it.

However, a report by The Washington Post claims that Hicks received her positive test result in the morning and that she immediately informed the president.

Even after learning of her diagnosis, Trump appears to have continued with his activities for the day, which included attending a fundraiser, without a mask, at his golf club in New Jersey.

What’s more, he had already returned a positive test before he spoke to Hannity and declined to tell him about it, denying his bread-and-butter network a major exclusive.

‘It’s going to be one of those days. Plan accordingly’

My colleague, Andrew Feinberg, sums up this morning’s Twitter activity from the president thusly:

Even Trump appears to admit there’s a problem with the “tone” of his tweets here (we’re well north of 40 for the morning now). 

Amy McGrath attacks McConnell and Trump over handling of pandemic during Kentucky debate

The Democratic challenger seeking to unseat Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell attacked his and the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic during their debatein Kentucky last night, saying she scored Washington’s response to the disaster “F”.

McGrath repeatedly referred to her background in the US military during the face-off and her experiences as a mother of three children.

“When you go into combat, you don't make excuses, you get the job done,” said McGrath, who served as a Marine fighter pilot and was the first woman to fly an active combat mission for the corps.

“He's the Senate majority leader. And all he can do right now is make excuses, in the middle of a national crisis. He has built a Senate – what was once the greatest deliberative body in the world – [that] cannot even function in the middle of a national crisis. And it's because of what he's built. That's why we’ve got to get rid of him.”

McConnell had threatened not to take part in the debate if there was a female moderator (booo!). In the end, the hour-long debate was overseen a male broadcaster, WKYT's Bill Bryant.

Andrew Buncombe has this report.

North Dakota farmer ploughs Biden-Harris endorsement into field

Check this out from lifelong Democrat, cattle rancher and grain farmer Peter Larson.

Louise Hall has more on his decision to sacrifice a sizeable portion of his soybean crop to back the Dem ticket.

‘For the good of America and the world, give Trump a full presidential pardon’

For Indy Voices, Sean O’Grady offers his take on the consequences of an election defeat for this president and puts in an appeal for clemency rather than legal persecution.

Kanye West releases first presidential campaign ad 22 days before vote

Yeesh Yeezy.

Clemence Michallon has this on the hip hop superstar’s rather half-hearted midlife crisis bid for the Oval Office.

Trump bullies Fauci: 'Tony’s pitching arm is far more accurate than his prognostications’

In amongst the president’s bizarre tweetstorm this morning was this nasty crack at Fauci, revenge for him kicking up a fuss about the Trump team using his quote out of context for a campaign ad.

Otherwise, his latest MAGA dispatches have been the usual spurious mail fraud hysteria and lies about healthcare.

Here’s Andrew Naughtie’s report.

Trump steaks enjoy unexpected revival

Before we get to today’s session in the Senate as the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett’s elevation to the Supreme Court continue, here’s a strange phenomenon cropping on Twitter lately.

To resemble a steak once is unfortunate. To do so twice begins to look like carelessness.

The president of course had his own line of “Trump Steaks” off the back of his Apprentice fame, you might recall.

Lindsey Graham opens today’s Amy Coney Barrett hearing by attacking Obamacare

We’re up and running in the Senate, with the Judiciary Committee chairman immediately launching an assault on the Affordable Care Act.