Episode summary
Midterm Races Heat Up; Milwaukee Brewers Win World Series | Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
· · 18 min · Hosts: Tom Keene, Jon Ferro, Lisa Abramowicz
Summary
The biggest political focus was the final five days before the midterm elections, with control of Congress on the line and both parties making late pushes in key states. President Trump campaigned in Ohio while former President Barack Obama rallied Democrats in Atlanta, even as several races were complicated by controversy: Vive Ramaswami’s campaign ad in Ohio drew backlash, and the New York Times reported that Mary Peltola’s team in Alaska secretly recruited spoiler candidates, which her campaign denied. A federal judge in California also rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to throw out up to 20,000 mail ballots over suspected non-citizenship.
Internationally, the program covered Israel’s unresolved election, where Benjamin Netanyahu fell short of a majority and will likely face a difficult coalition fight. Bloomberg’s Dan Williams said the president will first assign a candidate to try to form a government, with Netanyahu’s path complicated by the Arab parties and ongoing allegations of vote buying.
The show also noted Flávio Bolsonaro’s arrival in Florida after leaving Brazil, adding strain to US-Brazil relations. On markets, Microsoft rose on stronger cloud results while Alphabet fell sharply after missing search revenue expectations. The Fed held rates steady, but Kevin Worsh signaled inflation remains too high and suggested another hike could still come this year.
Key takeaways
- The midterm race narrowed into a five-day sprint, with Trump and Obama both stumping for their parties in battleground states.
- Vive Ramaswami’s Ohio ad and the Alaska spoiler-candidate controversy gave Republicans and Democrats fresh late-cycle headaches.
- A federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration’s bid to set aside up to 20,000 ballots, calling it disruptive to an election already underway.
- Israel’s election left Netanyahu short of a majority, and Bloomberg’s Dan Williams said coalition math still looks difficult even if he gets the first chance to form a government.
- Microsoft climbed nearly 4% on stronger Azure results, while Alphabet dropped about 10% after search revenue missed Wall Street’s expectations.
- Kevin Worsh said inflation is still too high and signaled the Fed could raise rates again this year.
Notable quotes
“We are down to the final five days before the election that will determine control of Congress”
“Leaders from both parties have called on Ramaswami to take that ad down, but President Trump doubled down in his defense”
“doing so would wreak havoc on a vote that's already underway”
“Inflation is too high. Energy and related prices have moved higher again in recent weeks”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. — And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today.
Karen, we begin with the countdown to the midterms. We are down to the final five days before the election that will determine control of Congress. President Trump was at Ohio State University last night where Republican gubernatorial candidate Vive Ramaswami is facing controversy over a political ad that features his Democratic opponent Amy Actton's aranged mother.
Leaders from both parties have called on Ramaswami to take that ad down, but President Trump doubled down in his defense. The mother said that Amy Actton, the daughter, is a liar, that she's no good, that she lied about the opponent. How the hell is that his problem?
Well, despite President Trump's comments, many Republicans are worried the ad could drag down other candidates in Ohio, including Senator John Houston. The latest Real Clear Politics polling average has Houston trailing former Democratic Senator Sherid Brown by more than three points while Actton leads Ramiswami by more than four.
While President Trump rallied Republicans in Ohio, former President Barack Obama hit the campaign trail for Democrats in Atlanta, Georgia last night and he doubled down on a joke where he compared President Trump's White House renovations to Saddam Hussein opening a cheesecake factory. The president wasn't even mad about the Saddam Hussein comparison. That part didn't bother him, but he was very upset about the Cheesecake Factory Congress.
And former President Obama appeared alongside Senator John Oaf and Democratic gubinatorial nominee Kesha Lance Bottoms. Osaf has a comfortable lead over Republican Mike Collins in this race while bottoms trails Rick Jackson by about a percentage point in the Real Clear Politics average.
And Karen, the Democrat running for Senate in Alaska is facing a controversy.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- midterm elections
- political advertising controversy
- world series result
- bolsonaro asylum news
- us brazil relations
Companies and tickers mentioned
- New York Times
- Bloomberg
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Tampa Bay Rays
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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