Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Trump posted videos of lions and tigers attacking humans. Right-wing influencers spread a false story that Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was being treated for a mental health crisis in Ohio. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, spent New Year’s Eve 2024 in Dubai with two fugitives charged with defrauding the health care system. ProPublica reported that criminal syndicates stole $470 million from SNAP benefit cards last year. New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia gave a widely criticized first press conference. Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned as ambassador to Greece after reports that she pressed a donor to pay her American Express bill. Soaring diesel prices are hitting rural Americans especially hard. Trump dropped US sanctions on Russian oil, giving Vladimir Putin a lifeline in his war against Ukraine. Representative Ilhan Omar’s Washington, DC residence was searched for five hours. No Kings rallies on October 17 aim to get Americans out to vote.  Watch today's live recording here (https://www.youtube.com/live/PpbO-t8sn7M?si=y6IxVOS8oxUSuOU7) . Listen on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/politics-chat/id1873028393) Listen on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6KuFZk2S34bE6xjkA7klsN?si=a8353137c9ed4957) Get full, free access to Letters from an American here (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe) . You can also find Heather: YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson) Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/) Threads (https://www.threads.com/@heathercoxrichardson) TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@hcrichardson) Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)