President Trump holds midterm rally in Syracuse, New York – October 9, 2026
President Trump will deliver remarks this afternoon in Clarksville, Tennessee, as he continues his October rally blitz before the midterms.
Tonight, Trump is rallying at the F&M Bank Arena for Senator Bill Hagerty, who is running for reelection, and Senator Marsha Blackburn, who is running for governor.
Massive lines of supporters formed hours ago in the rain to see President Trump.
WATCH:
Trump said in a statement on Friday that he was canceling his appearance at the Georgia vs. Alabama college football game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, due to Hurricane Isaias in the Gulf of America but that he would still go to Tennessee to hold the rally.
Marsha Blackburn, he said, “will go down as one of the most impactful Governors in the State’s History.”
Full statement below:
Based on the fact that a huge Hurricane/Storm is coming, it is important to have our wonderful First Responders, Law Enforcement, and others, focused on that Storm, and in no way be thinking about the safety, or presence, of the President of the United States, ME! Therefore, I will miss that potentially unbelievable Game, Alabama vs. Georgia but, hopefully, the Game will go on despite the weather!
I will be visiting both of those Teams at a later date. Instead, I will go to Tennessee, where we have quickly called a Big Rally in order to get our fantastic Congressional Candidates, our Great Senator, Bill Hagerty, and a woman who will go down as one of the most impactful Governors in the State’s History, Marsha Blackburn, elected! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Trump told reporters while departing the White House earlier, “We’re gonna get a couple of great congressmen elected, etc, and we have a wonderful Senator that we’re gonna get elected; Bill is gonna be great.”
He further said he will have some “very big meetings,” adding, “things are going very well. Our economy, literally, we’ve never had anything like it; it’s so good. In terms of factories, plants, everything else being built, we’ve never had anything like it.”
Nine people, including two children, were killed in a shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday night.
Police confirmed that the shooter is dead.
Erie police’s SWAT team surrounded the residence after receiving reports of the shooting.
The identities of the victims have not been released. A motive for the mass shooting is unclear.
Pennsylvania’s soft-on-crime Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro released a statement on the deadly shooting.
“I’ve spoken with Mayor Devlin and offered my Administration’s full support following the tragic mass shooting in Erie last night — killing nine of our fellow Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro said.
“My heart breaks for this family. Lori and I are praying for their loved ones and the entire Erie community,” he said.
I’ve spoken with Mayor Devlin and offered my Administration’s full support following the tragic mass shooting in Erie last night — killing nine of our fellow Pennsylvanians.
My heart breaks for this family. Lori and I are praying for their loved ones and the entire Erie community.
Nine people, including at least two children, are dead following a shooting near E. 7th and Perry streets in the City of Erie Friday night, investigators confirmed Saturday.
The suspected shooter was among those found dead inside a home at 722 Perry St. Police said there is no ongoing threat to the public.
The City of Erie said Saturday that all nine deaths occurred before officers arrived at the scene, clarifying earlier reports surrounding the timeline of the incident.
Police responded within minutes after receiving a ShotSpotter alert. Officers initially had limited information about what had happened, including whether the suspected shooter remained inside the home or continued to pose a threat.
Two women were found dead outside the residence. Investigators later discovered additional victims inside the home, including children.
Erie police and the department’s SWAT team surrounded the residence as officers worked to determine what had happened and sought a search warrant.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — At least one person in Florida was killed by Hurricane Isaias’ landfall in the Panhandle Friday night.
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons confirmed on Saturday morning that there had been a storm-related death.
ECSO said rescue units responded to a home on Flagler Drive after receiving a report of a fallen tree.
There was also a death reported in East Birmingham, Alabama when a tree fell on a home, killing one person.
News Clip.
Watch:
DEADLY STORM: At least one person has died as result of Post-Tropical Storm Isaias. FOX News Multimedia Reporter Asher Redd confirmed a tree fell on a home in East Birmingham, Alabama, killing one. He brings us the latest as conditions worsen from the storm’s impacts. https://t.co/XF1ugKHLX8
The Kremlin said Saturday that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin relayed Iran’s terms for ending the war to President Donald Trump in a Friday phone call.
According to the Russian state-backed RIA news agency, Dmitri Peskov, a government spokesman, said, “In coordination with the Iranian president, Putin conveyed the Iranian side’s views on a possible resolution to the conflict to Trump.” Putin and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian met on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Turkmenistan last week.
The Trump–Putin phone call yielded a deal for sanction waivers on Russian diesel as the Trump administration tries to ease pain at the pump before the November 3 midterm elections. Iranian operations in the Strait of Hormuz have continued to pressure world energy markets, despite improved traffic through the waterway.
The ongoing conflict between the Iranian-aligned Yemeni Houthis and Saudi Arabia has also disrupted global logistics. Saudi Arabia closed the Riyadh airport Saturday after a Houthi missile attack.
Brent crude closed at $105 per barrel Friday, slightly up from its opening price. AAA reported a Saturday national average price per gallon of $4.37 for regular gas and $6.28 for diesel.
President Donald Trump is refusing to let the Deep State get away with the biggest political crime in American history!
President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his dismissed lawsuit against his 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, accusing her, along with disgraced former FBI Director James Comey and numerous Democratic operatives, of conspiring to undermine his 2016 presidential campaign by falsely linking him to Russia.
Trump filed the petition on Friday, after Justice Clarence Thomas granted an extension of the deadline.
The move comes after a federal judge threw out the case and imposed nearly $1 million in sanctions against Trump and one of his lawyers for bringing what the courts labeled a “frivolous” suit. A U.S. appeals court subsequently upheld both the dismissal and the sanctions.
As The Gateway Pundit reported when the landmark RICO action was first filed in March 2022 in federal court in Miami, Trump named Clinton, Comey, the Democratic National Committee, Perkins Coie, Fusion GPS, Christopher Steele, and a host of other co-conspirators in a sprawling racketeering scheme.
The complaint detailed how the Clinton campaign and its allies funded the Steele dossier, riddled with lies and uncorroborated claims, to smear Trump, abused FISA warrants to spy on his campaign, and launched the Crossfire Hurricane investigation that dogged his first term.
Trump sought treble damages exceeding $24 million for the legal fees, business losses, and political damage caused by the hoax.
Clinton-appointed U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks dismissed the case in September 2022, calling the lengthy complaint a “two-hundred-page political manifesto.” Middlebrooks declined to recuse himself.
He later imposed sanctions totaling roughly $938,000 on Trump and his then-attorney Alina Habba, accusing them of abusive litigation tactics, knowingly false allegations, and filing in bad faith to advance a political narrative rather than a legitimate claim.
Chief Judge William Pryor, writing for a panel that included Trump appointee Andrew Brasher, declared that “many of Trump’s and Habba’s legal arguments were indeed frivolous.”
The court rejected Trump’s argument that the statute of limitations should have been tolled because he postponed the lawsuit while serving as President to focus on his constitutional duties.
As The Gateway Pundit reported in May 2026, the full 11th Circuit then denied rehearing en banc, leaving the sanctions in place.
In the petition now before the high court, Trump’s lawyers argue that Supreme Court review is needed “to protect the presidency” and to stop “a deeply troubling trend of federal courts using sanctions and disciplinary threats to punish the president and his lawyers for legitimate legal positions that those courts (erroneously) reject.”
They contend the time limit for filing should have been extended because Trump deliberately waited until after his first term, concluding that any private civil lawsuit would consume substantial time and energy while he carried out his responsibilities as chief executive, the Washington Examiner reported.
The Russia collusion narrative has long been exposed as a fabrication. Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of conspiracy or collusion.
Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation documented the FBI’s reliance on the uncorroborated, Clinton-funded Steele dossier and the failure to investigate intelligence indicating the Clinton campaign planned to tie Trump to Russia as a distraction from her private email server scandal.
Declassified documents and Inspector General reports have repeatedly confirmed the political origins of the hoax and the abuses that followed.
Lower courts have protected the Clinton machine and the Deep State operatives who orchestrated the greatest political hoax in American history while punishing the victim of their scheme with nearly $1 million in sanctions.
The Supreme Court now has the opportunity to reverse this lawfare and allow the full truth about the 2016 election interference plot to be litigated.
“On October 8, at approximately 4:00 PM ET, ICE officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in the Bronx, New York, to arrest a criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic with a prior criminal conviction for grand larceny, and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, possession of drugs, and weapons possession. He has associations to the Trinitarios gang, the same gang who brutally shot a CBP officer last year,” DHS said.
“This criminal illegal alien was arrested by the NYPD on December 7, 2023, but was released into the community a few days later by reckless Democrat sanctuary policies that put American lives at risk,” they said.
On October 8, at approximately 4:00 PM ET, ICE officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in the Bronx, New York, to arrest a criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic with a prior criminal conviction for grand larceny, and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, possession of drugs, and weapons possession. He has associations to the Trinitarios gang, the same gang who brutally shot a CBP officer last year.
This criminal illegal alien was arrested by the NYPD on December 7, 2023, but was released into the community a few days later by reckless Democrat sanctuary policies that put American lives at risk.
During the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon and the criminal illegal alien was injured.
ICE officers immediately rendered aid. The individual is alive and at a local hospital. The FBI and HSI are on the scene. The incident remains under investigation. More information will be shared as it becomes available.
When dangerous illegal aliens are released back onto the streets by radical sanctuary politicians, our officers are forced to make arrests at large in the community in unpredictable and dangerous environments. Our officers should not have to risk their lives, and innocent Americans should not have to face unnecessary danger, because sanctuary politicians refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of an illegal immigrant who was shot Thursday during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in New York City, as local and federal authorities on Friday released video surrounding the shooting.
In a two-page order, U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken, an Obama appointee, ruled that the man — whom police identified as Oscar Belgal but who was named in a court document as Oscar Bergal — cannot be removed from the United States without a court order while his petition challenging his detention remains pending.
The judge also barred federal authorities from transferring him to any facility outside the Southern or Eastern Districts of New York or the District of New Jersey without prior court approval.
In a Friday court hearing, a judge dismissed a defense application for a temporary restringing order with prejudice because federal prosecutors didn’t challenge Oetken’s order that Belgal not be deported.
Maricopa County employees seen late at night using flash drives on equipment
Maricopa County election employees are believed to have been seen tampering with voting equipment late at night this week, appearing to install or download something on election equipment that has already been certified for use on November 3.
The county claims that they were just “working on a legitimate election task, late into the night.” But according to Phoenix-based election watchdog group We the People Alliance, the employees left for the day at approximately 6:20 pm, then returned late at night around 9:08 pm until 11:15 pm.
Additionally, co-founder of We the People Shelby Busch tells The Gateway Pundit, “There are two flaws with the Maricopa County Election Department’s statement of transparency. First, they fail to disclose to the public what this ‘legitimate election task’ was that required occurring late into the night, and second, they indicate this can be viewed 24/7 by the public; however, the feed published by WTP USA does not appear to be part of the public feeds.”
We the People obtained the non-public video from a source. This view is nowhere to be found in Maricopa County’s public livestream of election activities at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center. Still, Maricopa County claimed in a statement, “You can view our tabulation center 24/7 365 days a year.”
“We do not presume to know what was on those flash drives, but what we do know is that secure computers were unlocked and external devices were inserted into highly sensitive systems late at night and without any public oversight. Additional video footage we obtained also raises heavy concern over the chain of custody of the external flash drive,” she added.
One of the employees, We the People Alliance says, is Brian Ramirez, the same employee who was previously accused of deleting election files before voting machines were delivered to Arizona Senate auditors following the stolen 2020 election. The Gateway Pundit has not independently verified that Ramirez was involved in the latest incident.
Similar concerns about Maricopa County machine tampering after logic and accuracy testing to certify the accuracy of the election equipment arose in the 2022 election, which was stolen from Kari Lake.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Maricopa County admitted during Kari Lake’s court proceedings in 2022 to “install[ing] new memory cards on its Election Day tabulators” on October 14, 17, and 18, after the statutorily required October 11 logic and accuracy (L&A) testing. The tabulators went on to fail on election day, disenfranchising thousands of voters across Maricopa County and robbing Kari Lake of her victory over then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
Likewise, the external devices were seemingly plugged into the computers, just two days after the county’s testing. Maricopa County performed L&A testing for the November 3 election on October 5. Who knows what is on these USB drives?
Surveillance video from inside the Maricopa County tabulation center appears to show one of the employees using flash drives on the computers at 10:38 pm on October 7.
WATCH:
We the People Alliance sounded the alarm on Friday:
BUSTED: Exclusive Video of Maricopa County BOS employees (toddler in tow) in highly secure Ballot Tabulation Center at 10:30pm inserting flash drives into computers (Post L&A) during an active election obtained by our source! Additional video obtained shows 3 hours of activity (Leaving at 11:15pm)
This is why we MUST vote!
Turn out in masses this election and have your voice heard.
We must be vigilant, we are watching..
These employees worked a day shift that day, leaving at 6:23pm and then returned at 9:08pm alone (with child) and remained until 11:15pm. One of the 2 employees has been identified as Brian Ramirez, the same BOS employee who deleted files off the EMS system in 2020. (more details below)
These employees are hired and supervised by Scott Jarrett and the Maricopa BOS NOT the Maricopa County Recorders office.
*All relevant details have been reported to authorities.
BUSTED: Exclusive Video of Maricopa County BOS employees (toddler in tow) in highly secure Ballot Tabulation Center at 10:30pm inserting flash drives into computers (Post L&A) during an active election obtained by our source! Additional video obtained shows 3 hours of activity… pic.twitter.com/EqoOzQR9TY
— We the People USA Alliance (@WethePeopleAZA1) October 9, 2026
Maricopa County responded to the incident, with the elections department putting out a statement, claiming, “As occurs in the weeks preceding an election, these employees were working on a legitimate election task, late into the night.”
“These photos may be used on social media to imply wrongdoing. This is not the case. Know the facts, so you can vote confidently,” the statement continued.
County Supervisor Mark Stewart also said in a statement that the two employees were simply “trying to complete work before the weekend.” Notably, however, the two were seen on Wednesday night — days before the weekend.
In re: late night election center access:
My team and I have spoken with the Recorder and the Recorder’s Office and I was briefed by the County Manager regarding these images.
The County Manager confirmed that both individuals were county election department employees, and… https://t.co/A53fOCsxRa
— Mark Stewart Maricopa County Supervisor District 1 (@MarkStewart_AZ) October 10, 2026
This comes after Maricopa County election vendor Runbeck sent thousands of ballots to voters nearly a week before early voting is scheduled to begin in a so-called error.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, we also asked the President for his thoughts on the so-called mail-in ballot error in Maricopa County. “By the way, there were no errors. You know that, right? There were no errors,” Trump said, suggesting that the Maricopa mail-in voting is rigged. “They got caught,” he added.
At a time when lawlessness is rampaging across Western nations and violent repeat offenders are routinely set free by far-left activist prosecutors, the leadership at the Vatican is doubling down on their soft-on-crime narrative.
The first American-born pontiff, Pope Leo XIV (formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago), took to his official X account on Saturday to reaffirm the modern Catholic Church’s absolute opposition to capital punishment.
“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption. #NoDeathPenalty.”
The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption. #NoDeathPenalty
Leo’s post did not name Hasan or the United States, but it followed statements from Cardinal Pietro Parolin (Vatican Secretary of State) and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops President Archbishop Paul Coakley condemning the planned public/livestreamed execution as “unacceptable,” “incomprehensible,” and a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death.” Vatican News explicitly linked the Pope’s message to the Fort Hood case and the World Day Against the Death Penalty.
The timing could not be more pointed. Just days earlier, the Trump administration and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth finalized plans for the U.S. Army firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the radical Islamist Army psychiatrist who, on November 5, 2009, walked into a Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Processing Center shouting “Allahu Akbar,” murdered 13 American soldiers (including a pregnant service member), and wounded 32 more.
As The Gateway Pundit has extensively reported, President Trump approved the death sentence, Hegseth recommended the firing squad method, and the execution is set for December 3, 2026, at 1 p.m. Central Time at Fort Hood itself, the same time of day as the original attack.
The Pentagon has confirmed the execution will be livestreamed so the public can witness the consequences of such an atrocity.
In a September 14, 1952, address to the First International Congress on the Histopathology of the Nervous System, Pope Pius XII defended the state’s authority to execute a convicted criminal under certain circumstances.
Pius XII explained that, in such cases, public authorities could deprive a condemned offender of life as punishment for a crime.
Traditional Catholic teaching and Scripture (including Old Testament capital offenses and Romans 13’s affirmation of the state’s sword) have long recognized that the death penalty can be legitimate.
The revised teaching argues that even individuals responsible for serious crimes retain their inherent human dignity and that modern detention facilities can protect society without execution.
The Vatican has defended this revision as a development consistent with earlier Catholic doctrine, rather than a repudiation of it.
President Trump holds midterm rally in Syracuse, New York – October 9, 2026
President Trump roasted New York Democrats over a proposal to get rid of the words mother and father in state law and replace them with complex woke phrases that make no sense.
During a rally in Syracuse, New York, last night, Trump blasted the woke gender insanity of mutilizing children, putting men in women’s spaces, and installing their sick Orwellian Newspeak.
“Kathy Hochul supports transgender mutilization of your children, she supports men in women’s sports, and a bill that would change the terms of ‘mother’ and ‘father’ to ‘gestating’ and ‘non-gestating’ parents,” Trump told the crowd in Syracuse before calling out the clown-world situation they’re creating.
“You can no longer say mother, ‘hi mom.’ It’s ‘hi gestating,’” he said as the crowd burst into laughter. “Hi, gestating! I love you so much, gestating mom.”
Trump continued, “New York needs to throw out this radical left lunatic and elect Bruce Blakeman and get yourself back into shape!”
WATCH:
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, the New York legislature passed a bill earlier this year to remove the words “mother” and “father” in state laws and replace them with gender-neutral terms.
Mothers would be referred to as “gestating parents,” and fathers would become “non-gestating parents.” The word “paternity” also becomes “parentage.”
While Hochul has not taken any action on the bill, a spokesperson from her office said it is still under review but defended the legislation, claiming it “appears to address technical legal issues related to surrogacy and parentage.”
They further accused critics of the woke ideology of making “bad-faith arguments” and “deliberately misleading New Yorkers for political gain.”
World War II veteran Dominick Critelli, 105, played a saxophone rendition of the National Anthem during the New York Islanders’ home opener Saturday, and the crowd went nuts.
“105 year old World War II Veteran Dominick Critelli is back to perform the National Anthem on the saxophone at tonight’s home opener!” the team’s official X account read.
105 year old World War II Veteran Dominick Critelli is back to perform the National Anthem on the saxophone at tonight’s home opener! https://t.co/Ka6wD8bhTP
The decorated Staff Sergeant is no stranger to the National Hockey League. He is an Islanders favorite who had previously performed the anthem for a 2025 game against the rival New York Rangers.
During his most recent performance, he was sitting down getting ready to play and had to signal for the audience to stop applauding him so he could start the show.
The crowd began to sing the lyrics as Critelli played and exploded into applause when he wrapped up.
Some fans saluted him, others cheered, and he received a standing ovation. He responded by simply tipping his cap to the crowd.
Critelli served in the 95th Infantry Division and was a member of the 378th Infantry Regiment in an Artillery Aviation Unit.
His main job included gathering flying intelligence, surveillance, and carrying out reconnaissance missions. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge under the leadership of Gen. George Patton.
In November 1944, Critelli flew behind enemy lines for a supply drop to help American troops stuck on the enemy side of a bridgehead.
For four days, he flew 14 missions to carry out precision supply drops to aid U.S. troops.
His plane was even hit with dozens of bullets that pierced the wings. His heroism under fire earned him the Air Medal.
Critelli spent a total of 151 days in combat, and was also awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three Bronze Stars, the American Theater Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, and a Good Conduct Medal.
During his 2025 performance against the Rangers, Critelli held the last note so long that the crowd broke out into a chant of “USA!”
He saluted his fans before leaving the ice.
“I lost a lot of friends,” he said last season, referring to fellow soldiers who didn’t make it home. “I’m doing this for them.”
“I mean, is there any better song to play than ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’?” the veteran added. “Beautiful, you put your heart in it.”
During both performances, Critelli was given a custom jersey by the team that listed his age of 104 and 105 respectively.
BUSTED: Exclusive Video of Maricopa County BOS employees (toddler in tow) in highly secure Ballot Tabulation Center at 10:30pm inserting flash drives into computers (Post L&A) during an active election obtained by our source! Additional video obtained shows 3 hours of activity… 
