Kat Timpf readies for 2024 and ‘how stupid things are going to get’

NEWS AND OPINION:

So what does Kat Timpf — media personality, writer, comedian, libertarian commentator and Fox News regular — have to say about the 2024 presidential election campaign?

“None of us are prepared for just how stupid things are going to get between now and November of 2024,” she said in an exclusive written statement to Inside the Beltway.

She of course cites President Biden and former President Donald Trump in this process.

“It’s going to be Biden versus Trump. Lots of people don’t want to admit that, but lots of people don’t want to admit a lot of things. Like that time I kept hoping that guy in high school might like me as more than a friend — even after he kissed one of my friends in front of me at his birthday party. All the signs are there. Truly, the only thing harder to accept than an unrequited love is that we are really going to have to go through this again,” Ms. Timpf said.

“Each side will argue that the very existence of our country hinges upon their guy winning — creating issues in any politically mixed relationships that did manage to survive 2020. People will get into nasty arguments with people they actually know on behalf of candidates who don’t even know they exist. This division will rob us of the countless ways we could have found common ground and connection with each other, but will work great for the government, which loves to use division and fear to gain more power and control,” Ms. Timpf continued.

“Since I think both sides are corrupt, high-spending, hypocritical tyrants, I’m going to vote third party (Libertarian) like I always do. I already know that my candidate won’t win; all that remains to be seen is which party is going to spend the next four years blaming me for having cost them the election,” she concluded.

Ms. Timpf is the author of “You Can’t Joke About That: Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We’re All in This Together” published in April by Broadside Books.

‘COMMONSENSE’ GOVERNORS

The latest state jobs report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday has good news for the Republican Party.

“It shows that eight of the top 10 states for jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic began are led by Republican governors, and all 10 states have Republican-controlled legislatures,” the Republican National Committee said in a report Tuesday based on the latest numbers, which cover August.

“Out of the top 11 states with the lowest unemployment rates, nine are led by Republican governors,” the report said.

“Republican governors continue to lead the way in job creation and our economic recovery. In spite of Bidenomics, Republican-led states are providing economic relief for families who are burdened by falling real wages, out-of-control spending, and skyrocketing costs,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“With more and more Americans losing faith in Biden, Republican leaders are proving how our commonsense, pro-jobs agenda works for the American people,” she said.

ABOUT THAT DEBT

While we’re thinking about economic numbers, here’s the current public debt according to the Treasury Department, which offers a fascinating little feature at its website called “Debt to the Penny,” found at Treasury.gov.

Here’s the nation’s debt to the penny, as of Sept. 15, when the agency offered the latest update:

$33,044,858,730,468.04.

BOWING OUT

Sen. Mitt Romney, Utah Republican, announced last week that he would not run for reelection in 2024, becoming the second Senate Republican and sixth senator overall to retire at the end of this term. So says Ballotpedia.com, a research group which is tracking their trend.

“There are 33 U.S. Senate seats up for election in 2024 — 10 Republicans, 20 Democrats, and three independents who caucus with Democrats,” the organization said in an analysis of this trend released Tuesday.

“Including Romney, 19 members of Congress — six senators and 13 representatives — have announced they will not seek re-election in 2024. This includes 13 Democrats — four in the Senate and nine in the House — as well as six Republicans — two Senators and four House members,” the analysis said.

Is this trend increasing? Well, maybe.

“The six U.S. Senators who have announced they are not running for re-election are one more than the five who had announced at this point in the 2022 election cycle and two more than the four who had announced at this point in the 2020 cycle,” the Ballotpedia analysis stated.

FOXIFIED ONLINE

Fox News Digital — the online presence of the news channel — finished August marking 30 consecutive months as the top news brand with multiplatform minutes — or how long visitors spent at the cable news network’s website.

Here are the numbers according to Comscore, an industry source.

Fox News Digital drew 92 million viewers to the site. They spent 3.2 billion minutes there, and accrued 1.8 billion total views of the network’s online fare in the process.

The Fox News mobile app, meanwhile, reached an additional 6 million visitors in August.

The network was once again the most engaged brand on social media when compared with other news organizations — with a total of 24 million interactions. This marks the 108th consecutive month Fox News has emerged on top, according to Emplifi, an industry source.

And the numbers: Fox News drove 6.3 million interactions on Facebook, 15.2 million on Instagram and 2.6 million Twitter interactions. On YouTube, Fox News accumulated 158.2 million video views, according to Shareablee, also an industry source.

POLL DU JOUR

• 12% of U.S. adults would describe their own political viewpoint as “very conservative.”

• 23% would describe their political viewpoint as “conservative.”

• 28% would describe their viewpoint as “moderate.”

• 17% would describe their viewpoint as “liberal”

• 9% would describe their viewpoint as “very liberal.”

• 11% are not sure what their political viewpoint is.

SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 10-12.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin.