The Billionaire’s Secret

Trump Spin Cycle • Attacking the Moderators • The Taylor Swift Effect [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( The Billionaire’s Secret Good morning! Since Kamala Harris dismantled Donald Trump at [Tuesday night’s debate](, the former president has tried spinning his way out of it—to no avail, [writes]( Eric Lutz—and claimed victory on Fox News. Though, “obviously,” Bess Levin [points out](, “in no sane universe did Trump win.” Trumpworld has settled on two lines of defense, Gabriel Sherman [reports](. One is blaming moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, who deftly [fact-checked]( some of Trump’s most outlandish claims, like that Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets. (This is a familiar strategy: Trump [has whined]( about moderators for three election cycles.) In addition, Sherman writes, “Trump’s proxies asserted that Harris’s performance wouldn’t win over undecided voters in battleground states.” Meanwhile, Kase Wickman [finds]( Trump insisting he’s “not a Taylor Swift” fan and that he [much prefers]( Brittany Mahomes. Stepping outside of the 2024 race, this morning we published a fascinating David de Jong [piece]( on one of the world’s richest people, German industrialist Klaus-Michael Kuehne, and how his family’s company has yet to publicly come to terms with its Nazi past. Drawing from interviews and newly unearthed archival material, de Jong sheds light on how Kuehne’s father and uncle “began profiting from the persecution of Jews…mere months after Hitler seized power in Germany.” Thanks for reading, and look out later today for the next episode of [Inside the Hive](. —Michael Calderone, editor [Image may contain: Advertisement, Poster, Art, Painting, Adult, Person, Collage, and Modern Art]( [The Richest Man in Germany Is Worth $44 Billion. The Source of His Family Fortune? The Nazis Know.]( By [David de Jong]( [Klaus-Michael Kuehne, born in 1937, has more money than Ken Griffin, MacKenzie Scott, or François Pinault. Just don’t ask him how he got so rich.]( [Read more button](   [Disaster? What Disaster? In Trumpworld the Debate Was a Win]( By [Gabriel Sherman]( [Despite a nearly unanimously panned performance in Tuesday night’s debate, Donald Trump and his campaign were claiming victory on Wednesday morning. It’s a brazen tactic Trump learned from Roy Cohn.]( [Read more button](   [Not Even the Spin Room Could Help Donald Trump Save Face]( By [Eric Lutz]( [Republicans argued the former president was led astray by his opponent’s rhetorical traps and biased moderation. But his performance was simply a showcase of the vacuous, venal buffoon he’s always been.]( [Read more button](   [Trump Claims He “Won” the Debate Despite Rambling Incoherently About Transgender Operations, Baby Executions, and Pet-Eating]( By [Bess Levin]( [It’s pretty clear the candidate who said “they’re eating the dogs…they’re eating the cats” did not win.]( [Read more button](   [Taylor Swift’s Kamala Harris Endorsement Has Triggered a Donation Windfall—and Donald Trump]( By [Kase Wickman]( [Democrats saw donations roll in as social media popped off, and Donald Trump had a little Brittany Mahomes outburst.]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2024 Condé Nast