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• Best Buy participates in Cyber Monday every year in a big way, bringing deep discounts on tech, TVs, and so much more.
• Listed below are the best early deals available now from the retailer in anticipation of the event coming November 30.
• We've answered any questions you might have in the build-up to Cyber Monday to help you be fully prepared to shop the deals.
• For the best Cyber Monday deals from every retailer, not just Best Buy, check out our roundup here. 
• Visit Business Insider Coupons to find the most up-to-date Best Buy coupons and promo codes.

Every year, Cyber Monday comes in right on the heels of Black Friday, bringing exceptional deals for shoppers to snag online. Best Buy is a major retailer that, year after year, participates by bringing some of the best prices we see on tech, laptops, gaming, and so much more. 

Below, we've highlighted the best deals you can get from Best Buy before Cyber Monday launches on November 30 and answered any questions you might have about the event. 

Best early Best Buy Cyber Monday deals

How do we choose the best deals from Best Buy?

• We only choose products that meet our high standard of coverage, from brands we've tested and trust.
• We compare the prices against other retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart and only include the deals that are the same or better (not including promotional discounts that come from using certain credit cards).
• We research price history thoroughly, to ensure that every deal we list is actually worth your time.

When is Cyber Monday 2020?

Cyber Monday 2020 takes place on November 30 and, if last year's sale was any indicator, the deals will start rolling in at 12:00 a.m. CT this year. It's a bit different than Black Friday; as the name suggests, Cyber Monday sales are typically online-only, whereas Black Friday will still offer some in-store discounts. The discounted products are generally the same, though Cyber Monday leans a bit more tech, and you can snag equally exceptional deals both days.

Can I order online and pick up in-store?

Best Buy offers both in-store and curbside pickup for online orders. Just select the option that works best for you when adding to cart to knock off any extra shipping costs and sometimes, expedite your order's arrival. You'll need your ID, the credit card used for the purchase, and order number when you get to the store. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, you must also wear a face covering to enter the store to pick your order up. 

Here are the options:

• Contactless Curbside Pickup: Keep contact to a minimum by selecting this option at checkout; you'll receive step-by-step instructions via email to receive your order as smoothly as possible, all from the safety of your car. 
• Fast Store Pickup: Or just store pickup at checkout, you can get your order as soon as within an hour of placing it. 
• Free shipping to stores: If the item you're ordering is out of stock at your local Best Buy, you can have it shipped to your store for pickup, free. 
• Friends and Family Pickup: Send a gift to a loved one via your closest Best Buy location or have someone you trust pick your order up for you with this option. Shipping to store is still free. 
• Warehouse Pickup: For larger purchases like home appliances, select warehouse pickup to avoid scheduling conflicts and heavy shipping costs by picking your order up straight from the warehouse. Most metropolitan areas have a Best Buy Warehouse nearby; find a warehouse (it'll say in the name) near you here.

What should I buy from Best Buy during Cyber Monday?

The discounts you should expect from Best Buy this Cyber Monday are very similar to those you can hope to see during Black Friday. It leans a bit more tech: TVs, audio gear, smart home accessories, gaming peripherals and the like are all deeply discounted over Cyber Monday.

If you're planning to buy a TV, do so on Cyber Monday. Last year we saw notable drops like $450 off the 75-inch Vizio P-Series Quantum, $500 off the 75-inch Samsung Q60R, and $50 off the 65-inch Vizio M-Series Quantum. This year, we expect to see the same range of TVs on sale; no matter your budget or size requirements, you're sure to find something that fits your needs this Cyber Monday. 

Headphones and speakers always drop to notable lows during the event, and 2020 should be no different. Whether you're looking for earbuds, Bluetooth headphones, portable speakers, home theater soundbars, or bookshelf speakers this year, so long as you can hold out til Cyber Monday rolls around, you can find a solid deal. 

Smartening up your home is never as affordable as it is during Cyber Monday. Highlights from 2019 include $80 off the August Smart Lock Pro+ Connect, $30 off the Nest Learning Thermostat E, and $30 off a Google Home Mini. Discounts always include accessories compatible with both Google smart assistant and Amazon Alexa, along with the speakers and smart displays.  

Though typically less pricey a purchase than something like a TV, PC and gaming peripherals always fall to lows on Cyber Monday. Gaming mice, keyboards, headsets, and SSDs from brands like Logitech, Razer, HyperX, and Samsung see deep discounts every year during the event, so don't miss out if you're looking for something specific.

What is My Best Buy?

My Best Buy is the free program offered by the retailer that can get you some extra discounts and perks, members only. Some of the perks include, but aren't limited to, early deal access and the Black Friday price guarantee going on now. You don't need to be signed up to shop the deals, but if you're planning to shop from Best Buy at all this Cyber Monday, it's worth signing up — it's free. 

Which is better, Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

This year, with most shopping taking place online, the difference between the two days will be less distinct — in-store exclusives will be a thing of the past as buyers stay home and opt for safety. Both days will offer exceptional savings, of that you can be sure. 

If you're worried about encountering buyers' remorse amongst the flurry of discounts, don't fret; when buying through one of our posts, you can be sure you're getting an actually good deal (and we'll always include details so you can make the most informed purchase possible). As a rule of thumb, it's always safe to buy a deal on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday themselves, especially if we note that it's a new low.

• The White House said "we are not going to control the pandemic."
• But Dr. Anthony Fauci disagrees, and fresh scientific evidence is on his side that we already have the tools at our disposal to get the virus under control. 
• Fauci told JAMA on Wednesday that universal mask wearing "really, really does" make a difference, backing up a recent article he and his colleagues wrote. 
• Here are 5 key reasons why Fauci says it's time to "put aside these extraordinary excuses for not doing it."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The White House is calling it quits on fighting the coronavirus. 

"We are not going to control the pandemic," President Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told CNN on Sunday. 

But America's top infectious disease expert is still in it to win it, and masks, he says, are crucial to our pandemic battle.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), says that masks are a "flagship" piece of "low-tech" coronavirus-fighting armor that we already have at hand. Problem is, masks are still not being universally used in the US — yet. 

"We can't have this very inconsistent wearing that you see, where you see some states that absolutely refuse to wear a mask," Fauci said on Wednesday during a conversation with Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) editor in chief Dr. Howard Bauchner.

"It almost becomes a political statement. We've got to get away from that." 

When pressed on whether the US might need to institute a mask mandate in order to "get masking to 90-95% of the population" Fauci was unequivocal.

"I think we do," he said. "If you don't want to shut down, at least do the fundamental, basic things — really the flagship of which is wearing a mask."

The talk backs up what Fauci and two of his colleagues from the NIAID, Dr. Andrea Lerner and Dr. Gregory Folkers, said on Monday in a JAMA viewpoint article. 

"If you put masking with keeping distances, and avoiding congregate settings and crowds, and trying to do things outdoors more than indoors, it makes a difference," Fauci said. "It really, really does."

Here are the five of biggest reasons why Fauci and his colleagues are consistently arguing that it's really important for everyone keep on donning their mask during this pandemic, especially as the US is dealing with its greatest surge of coronavirus infections yet.

1. Where masks are used, coronavirus infection rates tumble

There is a clear pattern that has been established at this point in the pandemic, based on studies conducted in hospitals and homes around the world: wherever masks are worn, coronavirus transmission rates tumble.

A study of 124 households in Beijing conducted early-on in the pandemic, which Fauci and his JAMA co-authors cited, found that Chinese families who wore masks at home before anyone in the house ever knew they were sick with the virus saw lower odds of secondary infections (face mask use was "79% effective in reducing transmission," the study said.) 

Likewise, in Massachussetts' largest hospital system, after all health care workers and patients started wearing masks, virus "positivity rate among health care workers declined from 14.65% to 11.46%, with a decline of 0.49% per day," Fauci's viewpoint said. 

Modeling studies back up this same idea on population-wide level, suggesting that putting on a face covering not only prevents more disease, it also saves lives. 

Mask mandates may have "averted more than 200,000 cases of COVID-19 [the disease caused by the coronavirus] by May 22, 2020," according to another study Fauci that and his co-authors cited. 

More recent modeling estimates suggest that if every American put on a mask now, 63,000 more US deaths could be saved by March.

2. Masks keep other people's germs closer to them than you

Masks are the kind of armor you want everyone to wear. 

They keep infected people's germs closer to them, and as such are "a logical strategy to curb transmission," Fauci and his colleagues said.

Even when people aren't shouting, laughing, or singing (activities we know can spread the virus well) "masks can reduce respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath," which means not only are other people less likely to get sick from being around infected individuals who are wearing masks, they may, possibly, also get a milder case of the coronavirus, if indeed they do become infected. 

3. It's important to keep your mask on, even when you're talking

Indoors, in stuffy, stagnant spaces without good ventilation, coronavirus particles can more easily linger in the air. 

That's why you should try to keep your mask on as much as possible when interacting with others outside your home.

"With the onset of colder weather in the northern hemisphere, activities will increasingly occur inside, resulting in often-unavoidable congregating," Fauci and his colleagues said. 

Knowing that such crowded, indoor spaces can be prone to a buildup of more virus in the air, "the commonly observed practice of individuals removing their mask when speaking is not advisable," Fauci said. 

4. Some people might never realize they have COVID-19, so everyone should wear a mask when in public

Another reason to wear a mask? Asymptomatic virus spread.

"Recent evidence suggests that up to 40% to 45% of people infected with [the coronavirus] may never be symptomatic, but still can transmit the virus," Fauci and his colleagues said. 

Because this means we can never, really, know exactly who has the virus and who doesn't, "universal mask wearing in the community for source control is recommended," they added. 

5. 'Testing alone,' without masks, does not work

This strategy was tried, and failed, at the White House already.

"No test is perfect," Fauci and his colleagues said. 

Tests can produce false negative results (telling people they're sick when they're really not), and all tests "have a lower limit of detection," the doctors said, which means some cases of the coronavirus will never get picked up by a test. 

In addition, tests are but a snapshot in time, and they can't continuously measure whether we're getting sick at every moment of the day. A negative test one day then won't, necessarily, mean you'll test negative for the virus the next. Coronavirus tests need to be used in conjunction with other virus-fighting strategies, including social distance, and masks. 

"We have to sort of shake each other by the collar and say, 'take a look at what's going on. Look at the data. It speaks for itself,'" Fauci said.

"Let's put aside these extraordinary excuses for not doing it when we're dealing with a situation that's not trivial. You know, we have 225,000 deaths. The modeling tells us we're going to get a hundred or more thousand as we get into the winter. That is just something that's unacceptable."

Correction: A previous version of this story cited an inaccurate statistic about how many more lives could be saved by March 2021 if the US adopted universal mask wearing. The correct figure is 63,000 lives. 

• Spotify emailed managers following Alex Jones' appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast that's hosted on the streaming service, BuzzFeed News reported Wednesday.
• In the internal email, Spotify exec Horacio Gutierrez said "it's important to have diverse voices and points of view on our platform" and that it wouldn't prevent podcasts from having particular guests on.
• Jones himself, however, was previously banned from publishing on Spotify in 2018 after repeated violations of Spotify's policies.
• Joe Rogan's reported $100 million deal with Spotify brings millions of listeners to the platform, but it's also led to internal backlash following Rogan's remarks about trans people. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Spotify emailed managers talking points to help field questions from employees following podcaster Joe Rogan's controversial decision to have conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on a recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," according to Buzzfeed News.

Joe Rogan struck a multi-year deal with Spotify reportedly worth over $100 million that will eventually see the streaming platform be the exclusive hosting platform for his podcast. But the decision has led to headaches for Spotify, as the podcast host's past statements about trans people prompted backlash among Spotify employees, and Rogan hosting Jones is likely to further exacerbate the issue.

While the email did not mention Jones by name, it instructed managers on how to respond to questions or concerns regarding content hosted on the platform, according to BuzzFeed News.

"If a team member has concerns about any piece of content on our platform, you should encourage them to report it to Trust & Safety because they are the experts on our team charged with reviewing content," Horacio Gutierrez, the Spotify's chief legal officer, reportedly said in the email. "However, it's important that they aren't simply flagging a piece of content just because of something they've read online. It's all too common that things are taken out of context."

In other talking points in the email, Gutierrez reportedly said, "We are not going to ban specific individuals from being guests on other people's shows, as the episode/show complies with our content policies," and "It's important to have diverse voices and points of view on our platform."

Jones has spread many conspiracy theories across the internet, including one in which Jones claimed the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. Jones has been banned from publishing content on Spotify since 2018, for "repeated violations" of the service's policies. He has also been banned from Apple, YouTube, and Facebook.

This wasn't Jones' first time on the podcast, but it was his first since Rogan struck the deal with Spotify. This time around, Rogan pushed back on some of Jones' statements, pressing for his source and conducting some follow-up fact-checking on the fly. He called Jones out on some of his past "f--kups," as the host called them, including Sandy Hook, but also defended Jones overall. 

"You've gotten so many things right. This is why I keep talking to you about these things, and that's why I defend you and why I think it's f--king dangerous to censor you," Rogan said. 

In the podcast episode itself, Jones also talked about censorship and denied climate change.

On average, Rogan has about 190 million monthly downloads, according to The Verge. Previous episodes with Jones are not on the platform, and Spotify has not addressed the reason why.

Spotify did not respond to requests for comment, and as of Wednesday afternoon, the episode is still available on the platform as of Wednesday afternoon. 

When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more.

• Sony's PlayStation 4 has dominated the video game industry since it launched in November 2013, and deals on consoles, games, and accessories are frequently offered.
• Though the PlayStation 5 is due out in November 2020, Sony says it plans to continue supporting the PS4 for years to come thanks to its huge install base.
• The PlayStation 4 still has plenty of new games on the way, and you can find lots of great discounts on PS4 classics, even with a new console generation on the horizon.
• Right now, "The Outer Worlds" is on sale for $30, which is $10 off its regular price.
  

The PlayStation 4 is one of the best-selling video game consoles of all-time, with more than 100 million consoles sold around the world since its debut in 2013.

Sony has dominated the current console generation with PlayStation 4-exclusive games like "God of War," "Horizon Zero Dawn," and "Marvel's Spider-Man." Hit franchises like "MLB the Show" and "Uncharted" also continue to keep fans dedicated to the PlayStation brand.

Beyond a library of more than 2,500 video games, the PlayStation 4 also serves as the anchor for countless home theater systems, providing Blu-ray and DVD playback, digital movie rentals, and support for popular streaming apps like Netflix, Spotify, and Twitch.

The PlayStation 5 is due to launch on November 12, but Sony says it will continue releasing upcoming games, like "Spider-Man: Miles Morales," for the millions of PS4 owners while gamers gradually adopt the new console. As an added bonus, the PS5 will support hundreds of the most popular PS4 games, so you can start building a library now and bring them over to the new console when you're ready to upgrade.

Below, we've collected the best deals on PlayStation 4 consoles, exclusive games, and accessories. These discounts should all come in handy whether you're picking up a PlayStation 4 for the first time, building your library of games, or trying to find the cheapest price on a PlayStation peripheral.

Here are the best PS4 deals for October 2020: 

• "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2," $33.99 (originally $39.99) at Best Buy [You save $6]
• "The Outer Worlds," $29.99 (originally $39.99) at Best Buy [You save $10]
• HyperX Cloud wireless headset, $69.99 (originally $79.99) at Amazon [You save $10] 
• Pre-owned DualShock 4 Wireless Controller, $39.99 ($59.99 new) at GameStop [You save $20 buying pre-owned]

Prices and links are current as of 10/28/2020. Added new deals for PS4 games. Removed deals that are no longer active. Updated by Kevin Webb.

Best PlayStation 4 console deals

After releasing the original PlayStation 4 in 2013, Sony released two new versions of the console in 2016 — a slim model replacing the original, and the more powerful PS4 Pro.

The PlayStation 4 Pro is capable of playing games at 4K resolution, while the standard PS4 is limited to 1080p. Despite the resolution limits, every version of the PS4 is capable of HDR color output, and a 1TB hard drive is now the PS4 standard.

Though there are no discounts currently available on new PlayStation 4 consoles, with the PlayStation 5 on the way, buying a used or refurbished PlayStation 4 could be a wise choice if you just want something to hold you over until you're ready to upgrade to the next generation console.

Unfortunately, stock for all PlayStation 4 consoles remains low at many retailers. With that in mind, the below products might not currently be available for shipment. We'll update this section with more retailer options as stores add more inventory. 

• PlayStation 4 Pro, $399.99 (originally $399.99) at Best Buy
• PlayStation 4 Slim, $299.99 (originally $299.99) at Best Buy
• Refurbished PlayStation 4 Pro, $369.99 ($399.99 new) at GameStop [You save $30 buying refurbished]
• Refurbished PlayStation 4 Slim, $279.99 ($299.99 new) at GameStop [You save $20 buying refurbished]

Best deals on PlayStation 4 games

There are thousands of games available for the PlayStation 4, so we've chosen to focus on the some of the console's most popular titles. Games also go on sale via the digital PlayStation storefront on a regular basis.

• "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2," $33.99 (originally $39.99) at Best Buy [You save $6]
• "The Outer Worlds," $29.99 (originally $39.99) at Best Buy [You save $10]
• "Borderlands 3," $21.99 (originally $29.99) at Best Buy [You save $8]
• "Judgement," $16.99 (originally $39.99) at Best Buy [You save $23]

Best PlayStation 4 controller deals

The DualShock 4 is the standard PlayStation 4 controller but it's also compatible with Windows, iOS, MacOS, and Android devices.

With controllers like the Xbox Elite Series popularizing the use of rear paddle buttons, premium controllers like the SCUF Vantage have become popular choices for the PlayStation 4 as well. Sony released a special attachment to add back buttons to the DS4 controller in January 2020, but it's been hard to find in the months since.

Though there are no discounts on brand-new DualShock 4 controllers right now, you can save $20 by purchasing a pre-owned controller via GameStop.

• Pre-owned DualShock 4 Wireless Controller, $39.99 ($59.99 new) at GameStop [You save $20 buying pre-owned]

Best PlayStation VR and PS4 accessory deals

The PlayStation VR is the top-selling VR headset, thanks in part to the 100 million people who already own the required PlayStation 4. The headset connects directly to the console and can be used to play standard games in 2D as well as immersive VR titles like "Firewall: Zero Hour."

The PlayStation Move Motion controller has been around since the days of the PlayStation 3 and works in tandem with the PlayStation VR to track arm and hand movements. They're not mandatory for playing games in VR, but some games require them for proper motion control, like "Superhot."

The Gold Wireless Headset is one of Sony's official headsets for the PlayStation 4, but the PS4 console and controller are compatible with a wide range of third party audio devices.

There are no discounts currently available on brand-new PlayStation VR headsets or bundles, but GameStop has refurbished PlayStation VR units for $99.99 when they're in stock. We'll update this section with more PlayStation VR and accessory deals as they are announced.

• HyperX Cloud wireless headset, $69.99 (originally $79.99) at Amazon [You save $10]
• Refurbished PlayStation VR (HDR Compatible), $99.99 ($199.99 new) at GameStop [You save $100 buying refurbished]

Best PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now deals

PlayStation Plus is a subscription service that's required for online play with nearly all PlayStation 4 games.  The subscription also offers special discounts in the PlayStation Network store, and subscribers get free games each month that remain available as long as the PlayStation Plus subscription is active.

If you're already a PlayStation Plus subscriber, buying a discounted membership will add time to the length of your current subscription.

Meanwhile, PlayStation Now is a subscription streaming service that lets you stream hundreds of games to your PC or PS4. Think Netflix, but for PlayStation games. The service includes games for PS2, PS3, and PS4. As an added bonus, PlayStation 4 owners can download the full version of their PlayStation Now games to play offline.

• 12 Month PlayStation Plus Membership, $59.99 from GameStop
• 12 Month PlayStation Now membership, $59.99 from GameStop

• The outcome of the 2020 presidential election remains in doubt, but is clear is that if Joe Biden wins he will inherit a country wracked by a pandemic and riven by political polarization.
• In his three-month lame duck period, President Donald Trump seems likely to do little to alleviate Americans' economic pain while sabotaging the incoming administration as much as he can, writes Rajan Menon, the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Professor of International Relations at the City College of New York.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Donald Trump isn't just inside the heads of his Trumpster base; he's long been a consuming obsession among those yearning for his defeat in November.

With barely more than a week to go before the election of our lifetime, those given to nail biting as a response to anxiety have by now gnawed ourselves down to the quick. And many have found other ways to manage (or mismanage) their apprehensions through compulsive rituals, which only ratchet up the angst of the moment, among them nonstop poll tracking, endless "what if" doomsday-scenario conversations with friends, and repeated refrigerator raids.

As one of those doomsday types, let me briefly suggest a few of the commonplace dystopian possibilities for November.

Trump gets the majority of the votes cast in person on November 3. A Pew Research Center survey found that 60% of those supporting the president intend to vote that way on Election Day compared to 23% of Biden supporters; and a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll likewise revealed a sizable difference between Republicans and Democrats, though not as large. He does, however, lose handily after all mail-in and absentee ballots are counted. Once every ballot is finally tabulated, Biden prevails in the popular vote and ekes out a win in the Electoral College.

The president, however, having convinced his faithful that voting by mail will result in industrial-scale fraud (unless he wins, of course), proclaims that he — and "the American people" — have been robbed by the establishment. On cue, outraged Trumpsters, some of them armed, take to the streets. Chaos, even violence, ensues. The president's army of lawyers frenetically file court briefs contesting the election results and feverishly await a future Supreme Court decision, Mitch McConnell having helpfully rammed through Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to produce a 6-3 conservative majority (including three Trump-appointed Supremes) that will likely favor him in any disputed election case.

Or the vote tally shows that Trump didn't prevail in pivotal states, but in state legislatures with Republican majorities, local GOP leaders appoint electors from their party anyway, defying the popular will without violating Article II, Section I, of the Constitution, which doesn't flat-out prohibit such a stratagem. That was one possibility Barton Gellman explored in his bombshell Atlantic piece on the gambits Trump could use to snatch victory (of a sort) from the jaws of a Biden victory. Then there are the sundry wag-the-dog plots, including a desperate Trump trying to generate a pre-election rally-around-the-flag effect by starting a war with Iran — precisely what, in 2011, he predicted Barack Obama would do to boost his chances for reelection.

And that, of course, is just part of a long list of nightmarish possibilities. Whatever your most dreaded outcome, dwelling on it doesn't make for happiness or even ephemeral relief. Ultimately, it's not under your control. Besides, no one knows what will happen, and some prominent pundits have dismissed such apocalyptic soothsaying with assurances that the system will work the way it's supposed to and foil Trumpian malfeasance. Here's hoping.

In the meantime, let's summon what passes for optimism these days. Imagine that none of the alarmist denouements materializes. Biden wins the popular vote tally and the Electoral College. The GOP's leaders discover that they do, in fact, have backbones (or at least the instinct for political survival), refusing to echo Trump's rants about rigging. The president rages but then does go, unquietly, into the night.

Most of my friends on the left assume that a new dawn would then emerge. In some respects, it indeed will. Biden won't be a serial liar. That's no small matter. By the middle of this year, Trump had made false or misleading pronouncements of one sort or another more than 20,000 times since becoming president. Nor will we have a president who winks and nods at far-right groups or racist "militias," nor one who blasts a governor — instead of expressing shock and solidarity — soon after the FBI foils a plot by right-wing extremists to kidnap her for taking steps to suppress the coronavirus.

We won't have a president who repeatedly intimates that he will remain in office even if he loses the election. We won't have a president who can't bring himself to appeal to Americans to display their patriotism through the simple act of donning masks to protect others (and themselves) from Covid-19. And we won't have a president who lacks the compassion to express sorrow over the 225,000 Americans (and rising) who have been killed by that disease, or enough respect for science and professional expertise, to say nothing of humility, to refrain from declaring, as his own experts squirm, that warm weather will cause the virus to vanish miraculously or that injections of disinfectant will destroy it.

And these, of course, won't be minor victories. Still, Joe Biden's arrival in the Oval Office won't alter one mega-fact: Donald Trump will hand him a monstrous economic mess. Worse, in the almost three months between November 3 and January 20, rest assured that he will dedicate himself to making it even bigger.

The motivation? Sheer spite for having been put in the position — we know that he will never accept any responsibility for his defeat — of facing what, for him, may be more unbearable than death itself: losing.

The gargantuan challenge of putting the economy back on the rails while also battling the pandemic would be hard enough for any new president without the lame-duck commander-in-chief and Senate Republicans sabotaging his efforts before he even begins. The long stretch between Election Day and Inauguration Day will provide Donald Trump ample time to take his revenge on a people who will have forsaken, in his opinion, the best president ever.

More on Trump's vengeance, but first, let's take stock of what awaits Biden should he win in November.

Our Covid-ravaged economy

To say that we are, in some respects, experiencing the biggest economic disaster since the Great Depression of the 1930s is anything but hyperbole. The statistics make that clear.

The economy had contracted at a staggering annual rate of 31.4% during the second quarter of this pandemic year. During the 2007-2009 Great Recession, unemployment, at its height, was 10%. This year's high point, in April, was 14.7%. Over the spring, 40 million jobs disappeared, eviscerating all gains made during the two pre-pandemic years.

There were, however, some relatively recent signs of a rebound. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's survey of economic forecasters, released in mid-August, yielded an estimate of a 19.1% expansion for the third quarter of 2020.

But that optimism came in the wake of Congress passing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, on March 27th, which pumped about $2.2 trillion into the economy. The slowdown in job growth between July and September suggests that its salutary effects may be petering out. Even with that uptick, the economy remains in far worse shape than before the virus started romping through the landscape.

However, while useful, aggregate figures obscure stark variations in how the pain produced by a Covid-19 economy has been felt across different parts of American society. No, we aren't all in this together, if by "together" you mean anything remotely resembling equalized distress. A Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) release, for instance, reveals that September's 7.9% nationwide unemployment rate hit some groups far harder than others.

The jobless rate for whites dropped to 7%, but for Hispanics it was 10.3%, for African Americans 12.1%. Furthermore, high-skill, high-wage workers have gotten off far more lightly than those whose jobs can't be done from home, including restaurant servers and cooks, construction workers, meatpackers, housecleaners, agricultural laborers, subway, bus, and taxi drivers, first responders, and retail and hotel staff, among others.

For workers like them, essential public health precautions, whether "social distancing" or stay-at-home decrees, haven't just been an inconvenience. They have proven economically devastating. These are the Americans who are struggling hardest to buy food and pay the rent.

More than 25 million of them fall in the lowest 20% of the earnings scale and — no surprise here — have, at best, the most meager savings. According to the Fed's calculations, of the bottom 25% of Americans, only 11% have what they require for at least six months of basic expenses and less than 17% for at least three.

Yes, unemployment insurance helps, but depending on the state, it covers just 30% to 50% of lost wages. Moreover, there's no telling when, or whether, such workers will be rehired or find new jobs that pay at least as much. The data on long-term unemployment isn't encouraging. The BLS reports that, in September, 2.4 million workers had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more, another 4.9 million for 15 to 27 weeks.

These disparities and the steps the Fed has taken, including keeping interest rates low and buying treasury bills, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds, help explain why high stock prices and massive economic suffering have coexisted, however incongruously, during the pandemic. The problem with bull markets, however, is that they don't bring direct gains to the chunk of American society that's been hurt the most.

Nearly half of American households own no stock at all, according to the Federal Reserve Bank, even if you count pension and 401k plans or Individual Retirement Accounts — and for black and Hispanic families the numbers ;are 69% and 72%, respectively. Furthermore, the wealthiest 10% of households own 84% of all stock.

Trump preens when the stock market soars, as he did on April 10th, when 16 million Americans had just filed for unemployment. Tweets trumpeting "the biggest Stock Market increase since 1974" were cold comfort for Americans who could no longer count on paychecks.

The signs of suffering

Even such numbers don't fully reveal the ways in which prolonged joblessness has upended lives. To get a glimpse of that, consider how low-income workers, contending with extended unemployment, have struggled to pay for two basic necessities: housing and food.

Reuters reported in late July that Americans already owed $21.5 billion in back rent. Worse yet, 17.3 million of the country's 44 million renter households couldn't afford to pay the landlord and faced possible eviction. A fifth of all renters had made only partial payments that month or hadn't paid anything. Again, not surprisingly, some were in more trouble than others.

In September, 12% of whites owed back rent compared to 25% of African Americans, 24% of Asians, and 22% of Latinos. A May Census Bureau survey revealed that nearly 45% of African Americans and Hispanics but "only" 20% of whites had little or no confidence in their ability to make their June rent payments. (Households with kids were in an even bigger bind.)

The rent crunch also varied depending on a worker's education, a reliable predictor of earnings. Workers with high school diplomas earned only 60% as much as workers who had graduated from college and only 50% of those with a master's degree. And the more education workers had, the less likely they were to be laid off. Between February and August, 2.5% of employees with college degrees lost their jobs compared to nearly 11% of those who hadn't attended college.

Those, then, are the Americans most likely to be at risk of eviction. Yes, the federal government, states, and cities have issued rent moratoriums, but the protections in them varied considerably and, by August, they had ended in 24 of the 43 states that enacted them; nor did they release renters from future obligations to pay what they owe, sometimes with penalties. In addition, eviction stays haven't stopped landlords nationwide from taking thousands of delinquent renters to court and even, depending on state laws, seeking to evict them.

The courts are clogged with such cases. Eventually, millions of renters could face what a BBC report called a potential "avalanche" of evictions.

Nor have homeowners been safe. The CARES Act did include provisions to protect some of them, offering those with federal-backed mortgages the possibility of six-month payment deferrals, potential six-month extensions of that, and the possibility of negotiating affordable payment plans thereafter.

In many cases, however, that "forbearance" initiative hasn't worked as intended. Often, homeowners didn't know about it or weren't aware that they had to file a formal request with their lenders to qualify or got the run around when they tried to do so. Still, mortgage forbearance helped millions, but it expires in March 2021 when many homeowners could still be jobless or have new jobs that don't pay as well. Just how desperate such people will be depends, of course, on how strongly Covid-19 resurges, what future shutdowns it produces, and when it will truly subside.

Meanwhile, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the residential mortgage delinquency rate hit 8.22% as the second quarter of 2020 ended, the highest since 2014. Meanwhile, between June and July, mortgage payments overdue 90 or more days increased by 20% to a total unseen since 2010. True, we're not yet headed for defaults and foreclosures on the scale of the Great Recession of 2007-2008, but that's a very high bar.

As for hunger, a September Census Bureau survey reports that 10.5% of adults, or 23 million people, stated that household members weren't getting enough to eat. That's a sharp increase from the 3.7% in a Department of Agriculture survey for 2019.

In July, the Wall Street Journal reported, 12% of adults said their families didn't have enough food (compared to 10% in May). A fifth of them lacked the money to feed their kids adequately, a 3% increase from May. Recent food-insecurity estimates for households with children range from 27.5% to 29.5%.

Meanwhile, enrollments in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (known until 2008 as the Food Stamp Program) grew by 17% between February and May, forcing the government to increase its funding. Food banks, overwhelmed by demand, are pleading for money and volunteers. In August, a mile-long line of cars formed outside a food bank in Dallas, one of many such poignant scenes in cities across the country since the pandemic struck.

What happens after the election?

For those who have lost their jobs, the CARES Act provided $600 a week to supplement unemployment benefits, as well as a one-time payment of $1,250 per adult and $2,400 for married couples. That stipend, though, ended on July 31st when the Republican Senate balked at renewing it.

In August, by executive order, the president directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to step in with three weeks of $300 payments, which were extended for another three. That, however, was half what they would have received had the CARES supplement been extended and, by October, most states had used up the Trump allotments.

In the ongoing congressional negotiations over prolonging supplemental benefits and other assistance, President Trump engaged, only to disengage. With a September ABC News/IPSOS voter survey showing that just 35% of the public approved of his handling of the pandemic, and Joe Biden having opened a double-digit lead in many polls, the president suddenly offered a $1.8 trillion version of the CARES Act, only to encounter massive blowback from his own party.

And that's where we are as the election looms. If Trump loses (and accepts the loss), he will hand Joe Biden an economic disaster of the first order that he's made infinitely worse by belittling mask-wearing and social distancing, disregarding and undercutting his administration's own medical experts, peddling absurd nostrums, and offering rosy but baseless prognostications.

And between November 3, Election Day, and January 20, Inauguration Day, expect — hard as it might be to imagine — an angrier, more vengeful Trump.

For now, as his prospects for victory seem to dim, he has good reason to push for, or at least be seen as favoring, additional aid, but here's a guarantee: If he loses in November, he won't just moan about election rigging, he'll also lose all interest in providing more help to millions of Americans at the edge of penury and despair. Vindictiveness, not sympathy, will be his response, even to his base, for whom he clearly has a barely secret disdain.

So accept this guarantee, as well: Between those two dates, whatever he does will be meant to undermine the incoming Biden administration. That includes working to make the climb as steep as possible for the rival he's depicted as a semi-senile incompetent. He will want only one thing: to see his successor fail.

Once Trump formally hands over the presidency — assuming his every maneuver to retain power flops — he'll work to portray any measure the new administration adopts to corral the virus he helped let loose and to aid those in need as profligacy, and as "socialism" and governmental overreach imperiling freedom.

Last guarantee: He won't waste a minute getting his wrecking operation underway, while "his" party will posture as the paragon of financial rectitude. It won't matter that Republican administrations have racked up the biggest budget deficits in our history. They, too, will ferociously resist Biden's efforts to help millions of struggling Americans.

And think of all of this, assuming Biden wins, as the "good news."

Rajan Menon, a TomDispatch regular, is the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Professor of International Relations at the Powell School, City College of New York, senior research fellow at Columbia University's Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, and a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His latest book is The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention.

When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more.

• As travelers look to get back on the road, they're weighing options based on safety and the potential for risk — with disinfecting and distancing top of mind.
• Airbnbs and hotels are continuing to reopen and eagerly courting new travel business while implementing and publicizing stringent new cleaning and protocols. 
• So which option is safer: Airbnb vs. hotels? We asked doctors for their expert opinions — and which lodging solution they'd be willing to book themselves.
• Read more: Is travel safe? We interviewed experts on risks associated with flying, booking hotels or Airbnbs, renting cars, and more, plus ideas on safe vacations during COVID-19

With restrictions continuing to lift around most parts of the country, many travelers are getting back on the road. But the pandemic continues, and until there is a vaccine, safety will remain a top priority. When it comes to lodging, travelers have many choices, and just about all of them are actively courting their business with ambitious new policies and protocols.

Many large hotel chains have announced sweeping changes to their cleaning policies, often in combination with high-profile experts. But travelers who long valued hotels for on-demand housekeeping, room service, and other staff-backed services may now view those same person-to-person interactions as liabilities.

On the flip side, Airbnbs appealed to the type of traveler who valued a more private, residential-like, and DIY experience. But will travelers continue to trust their health in the homes of unknown strangers?

To help answer these questions and determine the safest lodging for travelers while the novel coronavirus threat continues, we spoke with a pair of doctors — whose conclusions represented a consensus.

However, it's important to remember that this is an evolving situation. It's crucial to follow guidelines and advice set forth by organizations such as the CDC and WHO, and practice safety measures no matter where you go, including wearing a mask, washing your hands, and maintaining social distancing.

What are the risks involved with hotels, Airbnbs, or other lodgings?

When you're making arrangements for overnight lodging — as with any other decision you make when leaving your house in this pandemic — consider that the most significant risk you can encounter is direct contact with other people.

And when you're traveling, you're likely to encounter not only other humans but those who come from backgrounds and locations unfamiliar to you.

"The first thing that potentially opens up risk is running into other people that you have no idea what their infectious status is. We know now that there's a lot of people who get the coronavirus who have no symptoms at all who could potentially transmit it," explains Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of the division of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo. "Therefore you have to assume that anyone you encounter that you don't know could be potentially infectious."

As for pools, beach chairs, and other amenities found at Airbnbs and hotels, "other bodies are the main concern," Dr. Russo says, not the water in the pool. So your safest leisure-time bet would be a chaise completely away from the crowd, a bike for a solo ride, or a swim in the chlorinated pool of a private Airbnb with no other guests present. To help with that, we rounded up some of the best Airbnbs in the US with private pools.

For dining, the safest option in a hotel would be no-contact room service or other delivery. In an Airbnb, you can prepare your own food, which is both safer and cost-saving, although remember with this style of lodging you can expect an additional cleaning fee. Increased fees post-pandemic have been in the range of $250, and that's just for cleaning, in addition to service fees and the like.

Again, no matter what lodging you pick, the main thing you'll want to consider is the likelihood you'll encounter other people and the number and length of such encounters. Plus, factor in the location, and if possible, avoid regions with high rates of infection.

"When booking any type of lodging, consider how many people you'll be surrounded by, when was the last time someone stayed in that accommodation, and how is the state or city doing in regards to flattening the curve," said Dr. Neil Brown, K Health's chief diagnosis officer. 

How can I mitigate my risks?

Whether you choose an Airbnb or a hotel, be aware of high-touch areas that might facilitate virus transmission. which are therefore good places to target for an extra cleaning pass you do yourself on check-in.

In both Airbnbs and hotels, these might include light switches, phones, TV remotes, doorknobs, sinks, bathroom faucets, and toilet handles. Additionally, look out for flat surfaces like bedside tables. "If someone was sick in the room and coughing, [those are among] flat surfaces it could settle onto," Dr. Russo notes.

If you're going to use kitchen items in Airbnbs, Dr. Russo suggests running them through the dishwasher just in case, an action that would neutralize the virus.

The virus is likely to settle out of the air quickly — about one to three hours under experimental conditions, and possibly much less in the real world — Dr. Russo notes. So that means the air quality is not likely to be a major concern in either a hotel room or an Airbnb if you are the only one in it. Nevertheless, you can mitigate your risk in both by insisting upon a margin of time passing since the last guest was in the space. 

As part of its Enhanced Cleaning Initiative launched in May, Airbnb implemented a multi-tier system that included levels hosts could choose to adhere to with overhauled cleaning protocols. The new policies were developed with guidance from experts in hospitality and medical hygiene, including former US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, which earned the Safe Travel stamp from the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) for meeting their guidelines.

While more than 1.5 million listings joined in the Enhanced Clean program, Airbnb has recently gone a step further and expanded its policies to require that all hosts and guests commit to following Airbnb's basic COVID-19 safety practices. This includes wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and, for hosts and their teams, abiding by a five-step enhanced cleaning process. All hosts must now commit to implementing Airbnb's five-step enhanced cleaning process by November 20.

However, hosts still have the option to offer even more stringent policies like added sanitation measures or adding a "booking buffer" and manually blocking off days between stays. At the most rigorous option, hosts undergo and enroll in an education and certification program known as the Cleaning Protocol. In addition to the cleaning mandates, listings in this program are required to maintain a 24-waiting period after a guest checks out before entering to clean, ensuring no property is flipped in the same day. 

Listings that go the extra mile and commit to the most stringent policies display an Enhanced Clean badge so that travelers may easily identify them.  

Without explicitly stated buffers, hotels may indeed turn guest rooms around faster than Airbnbs that earn these tags. But if you were to check into a room in which an infected person stayed right before you arrived, and the housekeeping crew did clean and sanitize everything according to guidelines, you would "probably" escape risk, Dr. Russo said, "but that's not an ideal scenario." 

You may further mitigate risk by specifically requesting a room that's been vacant for a day or more. As vacancy rates remain low for the foreseeable future, hotels are not likely to struggle to accommodate your explicit request.

Overall, most large hotel chains have announced sweeping new cleaning and distancing policies and procedures. But even with these in mind, Dr. Brown points to the main concern: the probability of direct contact with people.

"I think it's great that hotels are taking initiative and hiring these experts to help them implement better cleaning protocols," he said. "But my biggest concern is the amount of traffic going through these hotels."

Plus, there is the matter that stated policies ideally will be executed in good faith by every member of the hotel staff, and every Airbnb host or cleaner, in every instance. But that cannot be guaranteed by each individual arriving guest. 

"At the end of the day, the only people we can trust to protect us are ourselves," Dr. Brown said. "So if there is no need to travel at the moment, I would recommend everyone to continue staying home."

So, which is safer overall: hotels vs. Airbnbs?

The doctors we spoke with agreed that one lodging option is safer than the other as a general rule because the main risk in coronavirus transmission is directly from person to person. And you are more likely to have person-to-person encounters in hotels compared with private Airbnbs. So the safer option is Airbnbs.

"While there is no question hotels are working diligently to keep their hotels clean and sanitized, Airbnb has a huge advantage given that the renter is generally the only one occupying the property," said Dr. Brown. "With Airbnb's new Enhanced Cleaning Initiative, the company provides a better option than public hotel spaces. Airbnb homes are more private, so there is a lesser chance of being exposed to the coronavirus."

Dr. Brown does suggest confirming your listing meets Airbnb's new cleaning protocol even though it is now a requirement for all hosts. "I would double-check to see if the host is participating in the policies," he said.

Dr. Russo "absolutely agree[s]" that staying in a private Airbnb, especially one that allows no-contact check-in, such as through a lockbox, is the safer option now, given the probability of fewer person-to-person encounters.

Whatever lodging option you choose — if you choose to travel — both doctors recommend undertaking a serious consideration of the risks versus rewards. 

Dr. Russo said he would stay in an Airbnb, and as for staying in a hotel, said, "I think so." But if he'd have the potential to encounter anybody in person at any point in his travels, he'd definitely wear a mask and would weigh the importance of the trip to his quality of life before deciding to undertake it.

"If it's a trip that is important and necessary, I feel relatively safe using the proper protective measures like wearing a mask, distancing, disinfecting, and hand hygiene," he said, noting that individuals will have to weigh their own individual risk tolerance, risk factors, and risk-reward potential.

Dr. Brown voiced a somewhat more conservative view. "Personally, I would do my best to avoid traveling altogether, but if it is necessary, I would feel more comfortable staying at an Airbnb after doing my own disinfecting upon arrival."

For more reporting on whether it's safe to travel right now, click a link below to jump directly to related coverage.

• Is travel safe? We interviewed experts on risks associated with flying, booking hotels or Airbnbs, renting cars, and more, plus ideas on safe vacations during COVID-19
• Is flying safe right now? Experts break down the risks associated with boarding a flight during COVID-19.
• Are Airbnbs safe? We spoke to experts, a company representative, and an Airbnb host to share everything you should know before booking someone's home.
• Airbnb announced vigorous new cleaning protocols for hosts in response to COVID-19. Here's how to know if the listing you're considering is participating — or not.
• Is it safe to stay in a hotel right now? An infectious disease doctor, a cleaning expert, and hotel reps all share what you should know before you check-in.
• Are rental cars safe to drive right now? We talked to 3 leading experts to find out.
• Is it safe to travel by train during a pandemic? Doctors and cleaning experts weigh in, plus details on new protocols from Amtrak to minimize risks.
• Staying in a hotel will be very different post-pandemic — here are new safety and cleaning plans and precautions being implemented by every major hotel brand
• 6 safer, expert-backed ways to take a vacation during the pandemic, from road trips to private vacation homes and remote campsites

• US Air Force F-16s intercepted an unauthorized aircraft flying near a rally President Donald Trump held Wednesday afternoon in Arizona.
• The plane ignored initial intercept procedures, North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement, but it established radio contact when the F-16s deployed signal flares.
• When Trump saw the incident, he pointed at the sky and said, "Look at that. They gave the president a little display."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

US Air Force F-16 fighter jets tasked with defending US airspace intercepted an unauthorized aircraft that was flying in a restricted area near a Trump campaign rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, Wednesday afternoon, North American Aerospace Defense Command said.

"NORAD F-16 aircraft investigated a general aviation aircraft that was not in communication with [Air Traffic Control] and entered the Temporary Flight Restriction area surrounding Bullhead City, AZ without proper clearance," the command said in a statement.

NORAD added that the aircraft did not initially respond to intercept procedures. It made radio contact, though, when the F-16s popped flares. The NORAD F-16s then escorted the plane out of the area.

The command did not say what the intercepted aircraft was doing in the restricted area.

—North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) October 28, 2020

A NORAD spokesman told Insider that the airspace the plane flew into was temporarily restricted because of President Donald Trump's campaign rally.

Temporary flight-restriction areas are typically established by the Federal Aviation Administration and enforced in part by NORAD, which is responsible for defending domestic airspace. In a crisis, NORAD has the ability to rapidly scramble F-16 Fighting Falcons, F-15 Eagles, and F-22 Raptors.

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, domestic air defense has been strengthened, and the capabilities provided by NORAD are only one part of a layered defense.

Part of Wednesday's incident was caught on video by C-SPAN, which was covering the rally. Trump paused his speech to call attention to the aerial activity.

—Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 28, 2020

"Oh, look at that. Look, look, look," Trump said, pointing at the sky. "Look at that. They gave the president a little display." The crowd then chanted, "USA, USA, USA."

Trump, according to The Associated Press, told the crowd it was a fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. He then asked rhetorically, "You know how hard it is to get Democrats to pay for that?"

Hi! Welcome to the Insider Advertising daily for October 29. I'm Lauren Johnson, a senior advertising reporter at Business Insider. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. Send me feedback or tips at LJohnson@businessinsider.com.

Today's news: Tech giants argue against repealing Section 230, Domino's Pizza is leaving Crispin Porter and Bogusky after 13 years, and former Black DC Comics editors describe career obstacles.

Read the full story here.

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More stories we're reading:

— Lauren

• The Kenyan insect farm InsectiPro is chipping away at the 1,900 tons of organic food waste produced in Nairobi every day.
• The farm feeds more than 30 tons of discarded fruit to black soldier fly larvae, then dries and sells the larvae as animal feed.
• Demand for the company's animal feed has increased since the pandemic began.
• View more episodes of Business Insider Today on Facebook.

At an insect farm in Kenya, fly larvae are being used to combat food waste.

It's part of the InsectiPro farm's mission to chip away at the 1,900 tons of organic waste produced in Nairobi every day.

InsectiPro uses the larvae of black soldier flies to break down more than 30 tons of discarded fruit each day. The fruit scraps come in from markets, juice companies, and breweries, and are then fed to the larvae.

From there, the larvae are dried and sold as animal feed. 

Any excess waste created by these larvae are sold to neighboring farms to use in the soil.

"The biggest difference is that the [black soldier fly] manure, the plant converts it very fast, so it is like fertilizer," farmer Douglas Njoroge told Reuters. "It is taken up very fast, it breaks into the soil very well, and it also helps the soil maintain a very good texture."

Talash Huijbers founded InsectriPro two years ago. The farm normally produces around two tons of larvae each day, but the pandemic cut production in half.

Meanwhile, border closures slowed imports of other types of animal feed like fishmeal, which is popular in Kenya, creating more demand for InsectiPro's locally sourced larvae. Growing concerns over fishmeal's environmental impact have made room for more sustainable and affordable alternatives like insects.

InsectiPro isn't alone — entrepreneurs and startups in North America and Europe are part of the movement, too.

The company plans to eventually use every part of the insect, including the shell.

InsectiPro has more abstract goals in mind too, like getting people to think about waste, and these little grubs, in a different way. 

"We think InsectiPro is a company of the future, because we are where sustainability and profitability meet," Huijbers said. "And more importantly, we see the beauty within the beast. And I think you should too."

• New York City tailor Makayla Wray mends clothes on the streets of Manhattan from her mobile cart.
• She's pushing back against the fast fashion industry by urging consumers to save their old clothes and have them repaired rather than buying more.
• Fiber from discarded clothes amounts to over 37 million tons of material wasted each year.
• View more episodes of Business Insider Today on Facebook.

Makayla Wray wants to show people that style doesn't have to come from buying new clothes.

The 29-year-old is running her own mobile sewing shop in the streets of New York City, revamping old clothes on the spot.

People can stop by her mobile Manhattan sewing shop and drop off anything for her to revamp.

Wray has seen firsthand the piles of waste that come from big fashion manufacturers. Now, she's urging people to save their clothes.

"A lot of people do think that fast fashion clothes is only supposed to last them for that season of trend," Wray told Business Insider Today. "It's still material at the end of the day. Like, it still can be made into something."

"I would like to normalize people rewearing and saving their clothing."

A few times a week, she parks her cart in the heart of SoHo, surrounded by luxury and fast fashion retail brands. Her office is a former nut-roasting cart she's rigged to function as a mobile sewing workshop, stocked with secondhand equipment for quick repairs.

She can do all kinds of mending on the fly, from patching up torn backpacks to replacing buttons on old shirts.

"Buttons, man. Buttons have been a lot of my business here," she said. "People get rid of things because of not having a button. And it's such an easy fix."

When she's not at the cart, she's working as a seamstress for a vintage textile designer. And on the weekends, her apartment doubles as a workshop where she transforms cowhide rugs into jackets and a pup tent into a bucket hat, among other projects.

Seventy percent of the fiber produced globally each year ends up in a landfill or gets incinerated, amounting to over 37 million tons of material wasted.

Upcycling fabric is a huge logistical challenge for large manufacturers — but Wray believes that consumers have the power to change the fashion industry. 

"If those people would stop buying, that industry would not produce as much. And we could just go back to like more small-house manufacturers that treat their workers well," she said. "They don't have to be working all day and all night because millions of people are not asking for these jeans that are going to be worn for a week."

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the way people shop. Fashion retailers have taken a hit this year, but some secondhand clothing companies have seen an uptick in sales.

With less financial security, people are looking to sell off old clothes and buy used.

It's a mindset Wray can relate to — growing up, she found a way to develop her own style without spending much.

"We didn't have a lot of money," she said. "I got into making clothes because that's what helped me be able to compete with people that would be in high school, and all the new shoes and all the new stuff. Like, I could be unique."

Ever since then, she's been making clothes out of almost anything. 

"My clothing has stains, it has holes, and I'm able to fix them and mend them and add little patches and make them speak more than me," she said.

• Since the Trump administration took office in 2017, at least three counties, three cities, and one Indigenous Nation spanning more than 150 miles of international border have rejected a federal program designed to boost border security.
• "We want to reduce risk of deportation and profiling, including harassment, that comes with collaborating with federal law enforcement," a city councilor in Las Cruces, New Mexico, told Insider.
• "It seemed like dirty money," Joe Nole, the sheriff of Jefferson County, Washington, told Insider. "It felt like we were being paid money to assist Border Patrol," he added later.
• Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

Fed up with the Trump administration's harsh immigration policies, cities and counties across the US have been flexing their own political powers.

The administration's heavy-handed tactics rely on partnerships with a mosaic of local law enforcement agencies, but a growing number of them have rejected federal funding in order to limit collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security since President Donald Trump took office.

Since 2017, at least three counties, three cities, and one Indigenous Nation, totalling more than 150 miles of international border, voted to stop participating in the DHS grant program Operation Stonegarden. Over the summer, local governments in Rockland, Maine, and Jefferson County, New York, decided to end their Stonegarden programs.

"It seemed like dirty money," Joe Nole, the sheriff of Jefferson County, Washington, told Insider. "It felt like we were being paid money to assist Border Patrol," he added later.

Stonegarden was designed to increase law enforcement collaboration, including data-sharing, but growing distrust and resentment of the Trump administration has resulted in the opposite. These strategically important border communities are now forgoing more than $2.5 million in federal funding, and reassessing the need for such a program in the first place.

The politicians interviewed described the program's growing unpopularity among their constituents, a lack of flexibility from DHS regarding how the funds are allotted, and a lack of oversight in the program's administration.

An internal audit by the Office for the Inspector General in 2017 concluded that the Department of Homeland Security needed to monitor the grant's reimbursements more closely; FEMA and CBP had not been collecting "reliable program data or developed measures to demonstrate program performance" as far back as fiscal year 2008.

The lack of accountability has been particularly problematic because the program places local law enforcement officers in the position of enforcing federal immigration law. Under the pretense of border security, officers on Stonegarden shifts organized what the ACLU called an "immigration raid" in Chaparral, New Mexico, in 2007, and arrested the passenger of a car during a traffic stop in Aransas County, Texas, in 2018.

Yet the recent wave of rejections is a direct response to federal immigration law policy under Trump, whose administration separated an estimated 4,000 children from their parents and hasn't been able to locate the parents of 545 of them.

The political aspect of the decision is most visible when the votes defy the communities' top law enforcement officials who have argued, in border communities such as Pima County, Arizona, and Jefferson County, New York, that leaving the grant program will hurt public safety.

It started with an 'outcry'

The highest profile rebuke of Operation Stonegarden came from Pima County in February.

It's one of the busiest regions in the borderlands, and the Tucson Sector Border Patrol regularly sees the highest rates of apprehensions for illegal immigration, behind the Rio Grande Valley sector. Last year the Pima County Sheriff's Department received more than $1 million from the program.

The county has been participating in Operation Stonegarden for the past 12 years, yet in recent years the vote to approve the funding has been narrowly decided. This year, Democratic Supervisor Sharon Bronson, who represents the largest geographic district in Pima County, which includes roughly 125 miles of border with Mexico, cast the deciding vote.

Bronson had pushed DHS for greater flexibility on financial reimbursement from the program, requesting that the funds be applied toward non-overtime wages for the officers, and that an additional $200,000 be allotted under the grant program for humanitarian aid.

The grant program provides reimbursement for overtime hours, gas, and equipment resulting from border patrols and enforcing federal immigration law. Bronson's request, therefore, was a challenge to consider the problems posed by federal immigration policy enforcement more broadly, such as supporting the underfunded migrant shelters in the Tucson area.

DHS categorically denied this request.

"Taking care of the border is a federal responsibility; we need full reimbursement," Bronson told Insider.

Operation Stonegarden was formally expanded in 2006 from a series of pilot programs designed to support closer coordination between state and federal law enforcement agencies. It was a response to "an outcry from state, local and tribal law enforcement officials on the southwest border who were forced to utilize existing local funding to address a federal border problem," according to Ned Norris Jr., chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Yet when Janet Napolitano became DHS secretary in 2009 under then-President Barack Obama, she doubled Stonegarden's budget, modified eligibility requirements, and restructured the program to necessitate collaboration with local Border Patrol sector offices. Whereas initially the program was designed to help "offset some ... locally incurred costs," as Norris described, the money now came with strings attached.

"Since then, the Border Patrol has exerted strict participation requirements for local agencies that are designed by the Border Patrol to support the Border Patrol's mission and deployment strategy," Norris said.

The last straw

Although public records indicate hundreds of agencies have not renewed Stonegarden contracts over the years, including at least a dozen tribal governments, the first confirmed rejection of Stonegarden funding was in 2018.

The Tohono O'odham Nation decided that it was "neither operationally feasible nor fiscally responsible for [the Tohono O'odham Police Department] to continue its participation in Operation Stonegarden as the program is currently administered by the Border Patrol," Norris told Insider.

For the Tohono O'odham Nation — which includes 62 miles of the US-Mexico border — the decision hinged on the mandated deference to Border Patrol's operations. Not only did Border Patrol independently control the schedule and number of the Nation's police officers deployed, set two weeks in advance, the police department was not able to redirect its officers working on Stonegarden shifts to border-related issues when they occurred, and instead needed to notify Border Patrol first even though the Nation has jurisdiction on its own land. These calls therefore needed to be handled by officers on non-Stonegarden shifts.

The last straw was the fact that the final two reimbursement requests by the Nation were only partially filled. According to Norris, the police department was only reimbursed for a fraction of its overtime costs, and had to personally cover the majority of the costs from participating in Operation Stonegarden. The state of Arizona would not make the full reimbursement without securing approval from Border Patrol who, according to Norris, did not respond to repeated requests.

The Tohono O'odham Nation has been publicly engaged in a multi-year dispute with the Trump administration over the construction of the border wall over their sovereign lands, yet did not respond to questions about whether the decision to reject Stonegarden funds was directly tied to the Trump administration.

'DHS has become a lot more aggressive and less interested in human rights'

The late Richard Elías, supervisor in Pima County, voted down the Stonegarden funding for two consecutive years. His decision was explicitly based on the change in DHS policy under the Trump administration.

"DHS has become a lot more aggressive and less interested in human rights," Elías said.

The county sheriff, Marc Napier, was in favor of the program, and told Insider that it supported essential law enforcement activities. 

"Our challenges remain the same," Napier said. "This will definitely have an impact on public safety. Previously we had a million dollars of overtime to put deputies into areas that are ripe for drug smuggling and human trafficking."

Napier advocated for accepting the federal funding as preferable to using Pima County taxpayer funds, yet the city of Las Cruces set an example last summer when they decided to replace the Stonegarden grant with $48,000 from the city budget.

This way there is no longer any collaboration with federal law enforcement, says City Councilor Gabriel Vasquez. Las Cruces has invested in its own finger-printing technology, for example, so that it does not have to share information with Border Patrol.

"We want to reduce risk of deportation and profiling, including harassment, that comes with collaborating with federal law enforcement," Vasquez said."There were a number of issues [with the program], but now that it's under the Trump administration, I trust the program even less," he added later.

'The tenor and feel of the town changed dramatically'

Communities along the northern border have also voiced their skepticism of the program. Whether to accept these grants was a decisive issue in the Jefferson County, Washington, sheriff election last year. Sheriff Joe Nole, who beat out the incumbent, ran on a platform of ending the program.

Members of the community were upset that Border Patrol was boarding buses to check IDs and shutting down main roads to create checkpoints. Officers on Stonegarden shifts were supposed to collaborate with Border Patrol by reporting undocumented immigrants, Nole told Insider.

"I didn't like that we were accepting money for things the community wasn't in favor of," Nole said.

Rockland, Maine, faced the decision of whether or not to accept the Stonegarden funds this summer after it was proposed by the police chief, who suggested participation doesn't require immigration enforcement. The proposal nonetheless sparked strong opposition.

One councilor worried participation would "irreparably" damage the city's reputation, while Councilor Benjamin Dorr said "$7,000 is a meager price tag to attach to possibly being put in a compromising situation in the future," according to the meeting's minutes.

During the meeting, former state representative and Rockland councilor Elizabeth Dickerson said the neighboring town of Limestone saw unexpected consequences after accepting Stonegarden funds.

She urged the council to consider the "erosion of local control" that comes with participating in the program. "Border Patrol stepped in and over my office," Dickerson told the council, according to the Penobscot Bay Pilot.

"The tenor and feel of the town changed dramatically afterward," she said. "We had Border Patrol officers in those white and green pickup trucks on either end of town, constantly. They became a presence."

After hearing opinions and arguments from the community, the council voted. The motion to participate in Stonegarden did not pass.

Becca Shaw Glaser, a Rockland citizen, spoke out during the public forum.

"We have an opportunity to join with, and encourage, other municipalities in proudly proclaiming that we are not interested in cooperating with, coordinating with, collaborating with, nor having a joint mission with a government agency that is carrying out some of the worst human rights abuses on the planet," she said.

"Imagine if every municipality in Maine refused this money, refused this joint mission with CBP, took a principled stance against the atrocious actions of this agency. Rockland can lead the way."

• President Trump's three-day hospital stay cost much more than the treatment the average American COVID-19 patient receives.
• We estimate Trump's bill would have cost nearly $650,000 out of pocket, between experimental drug treatments, his hospital stay, and transportation.
• But the actual cost extends beyond the president's own infection — the costs of treatment for people he may have infected is still unknown. 
• View more episodes of Business Insider Today on Facebook.

• President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that courts should not allow states to count ballots after Election Day. 
• "Hopefully, the few states remaining that want to take a lot of time after November 3rd to count ballots, that won't be allowed by the various courts," Trump said at a press conference in Las Vegas. 
• But results are never finalized on election night and it's a normal part of the electoral process for ballots to be counted days or even weeks after voters go to the polls. 
• A record-breaking number of Americans are voting by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic, and mail-in, absentee, and provisional ballots take officials longer to process and count than in-person votes.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he hoped courts would stop states from counting ballots after Election Day, though it's a normal and legal part of the electoral process. 

"We'll see what happens at the end of [Election Day]," Trump said at a press conference in Las Vegas.

"Hopefully, the few states remaining that want to take a lot of time after November 3rd to count ballots, that won't be allowed by the various courts," he added.

But the results of elections are never finalized on election night and what Trump seemingly desires has the potential to disenfranchise his own supporters. 

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont issued a statement on Wednesday excoriating Trump's inappropriate suggestion. They were also critical of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh over his recent controversial opinion in a Wisconsin voting case.

"In America, we count the votes to determine who wins an election. Despite the incorrect assertions from President Trump and Justice Kavanaugh, election officials across the country accept ballots well after Election Day every year, and results are not certified until the votes are counted and a canvas to confirm the results is conducted. Absentee ballots counted after election day do not 'flip the results of an election,' as Justice Kavanaugh claimed. They are the results of the election," the statement said.

"These are not new rules and they do not serve any political party. It is on all of us to reject misinformation and to tell the truth," the senators added.

—The Recount (@therecount) October 28, 2020

There are laws in every state that grant local officials days or even weeks — deadlines vary from state to state — to canvass and certify election results. States technically have until December 8, which is known as the "safe harbor" deadline, to fully certify results. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of Americans are voting by mail this year. It's estimated that roughly 60% of voters, or approximately 70 million people, are voting by mail in the 2020 election, per NBC News.

Mail ballots take longer to process and count than in-person votes. Additionally, most states allow absentee ballots — including those from voters overseas and in the military — to arrive after Election Day and be counted. Twenty-two states and Washington, DC, count all ballots postmarked before or by November 3.

As Insider recently reported, election experts and officials are also expecting an increase in the rates of provisional ballots this year as they're issued to voters who requested a mail-in ballot but went to the polls to vote in person. Provisional ballots, which are issued to in-person voters whose registration can't be immediately verified at the polls, are also time-consuming for officials to count. 

In the past, TV networks have been able to declare a winner on the day of the election based on available results, but even in those instances, full results were not in on election night. Voters should expect a significantly longer wait-time for results in 2020 due to the unusual circumstances surrounding this election.

According to a New York Times report, only eight states expect to have at least 98% of unofficial results reported by midday on November 4.

Trump, who is trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in the national polls, has baselessly claimed for months that mail-in voting will lead to widespread voter fraud. The president has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses, and his campaign is expected to issue legal challenges in key states if results are close.  

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• The Home Depot's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales run from November 6 through December 2. 
• Its early preview is already available to view on The Home Depot app. We picked out some of the best deals, including $70 off a popular air fryer oven and $100 off a smart thermostat. 
• We'll be covering the best Black Friday deals around the internet here, plus we're following the best holiday deals at specific stores like Target and Best Buy. 

The Home Depot is one of many retailers getting a head start on Black Friday. From November 6 through December 2, the store is offering discounts on appliances, home improvement tools, holiday decor, and more. And, while you may not be able to take advantage of those Black Friday prices just yet, all of The Home Depot's upcoming deals can currently be viewed on the store's app. 

That means now is the perfect time to fill out your holiday wish list with seasonal decor (like trees, lights, and yes, a 10-foot inflatable Grinch), or simply bookmark the perfect tools for your next home project. If you plan on doing your shopping in person, note that all Home Depot stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. 

Here are the best Home Depot Black Friday deals: 

Shop all deals at Home Depot here

• A KitchenAid stand mixer is a valuable kitchen tool for thoroughly and efficiently whipping, creaming, and mixing; tasks that take a lot of time and effort to do well by hand.
• I've been reviewing kitchen equipment for seven years and worked in professional kitchens for more than a decade; our picks are based on many years of daily use with every model in this guide.
• The KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer is our top pick for most home bakers because it has the perfect balance of power, capacity, and size, and is versatile enough to both whip delicate egg whites and knead stiff bagel dough. Plus, it comes in 47 different colors.
• Read more: The best KitchenAid attachments
• Sign up for Insider Reviews' weekly newsletter for more buying advice and great deals.

A stand mixer is the crowning jewel of a kitchen, and KitchenAid's stand mixers have been the standard for over a century. I've used a KitchenAid stand mixer daily — sometimes all day — while working in professional kitchens for more than a decade. It makes efficient work of tasks that typically take a lot of time or effort to do by hand, like whipping egg whites to soft or stiff peaks, effortlessly turning cream into whipped cream, churning out big batches of cookies, and kneading tough, heavy bread doughs — which is exactly how I tested four of them to determine the best KitchenAid stand mixer for different needs. 

I have years of experience with each stand mixer in this guide. I've broken them, repaired them, purchased them for my own personal use, and am intimately aware of each model's advantages and limitations. 

But I didn't just rely on my previous experiences. I put each mixer through a standard set of tests for this guide. I used a King Arthur recipe for bagels, a stiff dough with a 10-minute mixing time; I prepared Compost Cookies (kitchen-sink cookies with five cups of mix-ins including chocolate chips, potato chips, and pretzels) from New York City's Milk Bar; and put each mixer through additional tests to evaluate its capacity, mixing capability, and ease of use. You can read more about how I tested KitchenAid stand mixers in our methodology here, along with how to shop for a KitchenAid and what to make with it.

Here are the best KitchenAid stand mixers:

• Best overall: KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer
• Best affordable: KitchenAid Classic Plus 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer
• Best for bread: KitchenAid Pro Line Series 7-Quart Bowl Lift Stand Mixer
• Best for small spaces: KitchenAid Artisan Mini 3.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer

Prices and details are accurate as of 10/28/20. We've rewrote this guide by re-testing previous picks to see if they still stack up, testing new KitchenAid stand mixers, and adding how-to and FAQ sections. We're continuing to test the stand mixers in this guide for durability while looking for new models for consideration.

The best KitchenAid stand mixer overall

This popular model balances power, capacity, and size for a mixer that is perfectly designed for most home bakers; plus it comes in more than 45 fun colors.

The Artisan Series 5 Quart model strikes a great balance of power, size, and design. Its 325-watt motor is ideal for most home bakers: powerful enough to handle the occasional stiff bread dough or sticky pizza dough, but adequate for common tasks like mixing batters or creaming butter and sugar. 

During testing, it quickly became my favorite mixer to use. At 23 pounds, it was easy enough to store and move around. Tilt-head stand mixers have a smaller base than bowl-lift stand mixers so the bowls tend to be narrower and can feel cramped. You often have to stop the mixer and tilt the head back whenever you want to scrape down the mixing bowl. With a functional capacity of 3.75 quarts (read more about the difference between stated and functional capacity here), the large bowl of the Artisan 5 Quart felt open enough that I could scrape the sides without adjusting the head, had a sturdy handle for easy lifting, and provided plenty of room for pouring in ingredients — particularly helpful when adding more than five cups of mix-ins for Compost Cookies. 

While it shook a bit when I made bagel dough, it was never overly noisy and I didn't feel like I had to babysit it for fear of it walking off the counter. That said, with its lower-powered motor, I don't think I would chance to make multiple batches of bagels in a row to avoid overheating the mixer. 

For many people, the real fun in buying a stand mixer is picking out a color and the Artisan Series 5 Quart comes in 47 different color offerings, the most of any of their stand mixers. Every color of the rainbow is represented, from a cheery "Orange Sorbet" to "Boysenberry" — the deep purple color I tested and loved seeing on my counter every day. In addition to the plethora of colors to choose from, the Artisan Series 5 Quart also offers customization, allowing you to engrave your stand mixer or switch out the standard bowl for a patterned ceramic or glass mixing bowl. It also works with all KitchenAid attachments, which can extend the versatility of your stand mixer.

Pros: Easily accomplishes common cooking tasks, a moderate 23 pounds, comes in 47 different colors and finishes, can further customize with interchangeable mixing bowls, works with all KitchenAid attachments, work bowl has a handle

Cons: Too underpowered if you regularly make a lot of stiff or wet doughs

The best affordable KitchenAid stand mixer

The least expensive model made by KitchenAid, the Classic Plus has all the quality components of more expensive mixers but it's compact, efficient, and powerful enough to accomplish most tasks for casual bakers. 

The KitchenAid Classic Plus 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer became my first mixer when I rescued an earlier version of this model from my dad's basement. Though it had seen regular use for most of the 15 years prior, I used it heavily for about five years before it gave out on me while kneading dough for hand-pulled noodles (a notoriously tricky dough, and one known to tax stand mixers). This issue first highlighted to me how most stand mixers break and the importance of choosing a model built to accommodate your typical usage. 

You can read more about the specifics of stand mixer wattage in our "How to choose a stand mixer" section here. But the gist is that lower wattage models have less powerful motors than higher wattage models. The stand mixers in this guide range from 250 to 970 watts and the Classic Plus is on the lower end of that spectrum with a 275-watt motor. This is perfectly adequate for common tasks like making cookies, brownies, whipped cream, cake, and the occasional bread loaf, but not hand-pulled noodles. 

I tested a new version of this mixer for this guide, and while it happily worked through cookies, egg whites, and even hefty bagel dough without issue, it's possible that with too much heavy use, like making many batches of bagel or pizza dough back-to-back, the mixer can overheat or — in the case of my old mixer — wear down its gears. While the issue is repairable, it requires seeing a KitchenAid repair specialist, which can be expensive, so you're better off purchasing a stand mixer with a wattage that meets your needs from the get-go. 

Don't let the lower price fool you into thinking it's not going to perform. If you're an occasional baker or just starting to dip your toes into cooking, this is a great model to get started with. It's made with the same metal parts as more expensive KitchenAid stand mixers, has a strong motor, and a relatively roomy work bowl. While its functional capacity is 3 quarts (smaller than its stated 4.5-quart capacity), it still easily accommodates single batches of common recipes, and it's moderately-sized at 22 pounds and 14 inches long. The machine also works with all KitchenAid attachments. My only wish is that the work bowl had a handle for better maneuverability.  

Pros: Relatively inexpensive, spacious but still maneuverable, can handle most common tasks and occasional tough doughs 

Cons: Work bowl doesn't have a handle, relatively low-powered motor, not ideal for heavy use

The best KitchenAid stand mixer for bread

The KitchenAid Pro Line Series 7-Quart Bowl Lift Stand Mixer is the largest, most powerful KitchenAid mixer you can buy without venturing into commercial models, which makes it perfect for avid bakers. 

Stiff or heavy doughs like bagel dough, pizza dough, and some noodle doughs require a large amount of power to knead properly, which can be taxing on some stand mixers. The 7-Quart Pro-Line model has a 970 watt motor for powerful and thorough kneading without overheating the mixer, as I've seen happen with smaller models. The wider bowl-lift design also provides more stability during mixing, so the mixer doesn't "walk" or shake as much during use. 

This is the model I primarily used during a decade of work in professional kitchens. The machine is reliable, nimble, easy to use, and remarkably quiet for such a large mixer. It can handle everything from whipping two egg whites to mixing triple batches of cake batter. KitchenAid claims the 7-quart size can make up to 14 dozen cookies in a single batch, and while I haven't ventured to test the limits of that claim (I love cookies, but I don't need 14 dozen), in my tests for this guide, it made a double batch of compost cookies and bagels with plenty of room to spare. 

The mixer particularly excels at making bread dough. The wide bowl, which has a functional capacity of 5.75 quarts and a large comfortable handle, is easy to remove and provides lots of space for adding ingredients during mixing and the powerful motor glides the included mixing attachments — paddle, whisk, and dough hook — effortlessly through stiff and heavy doughs. Avid bakers and especially those who make bread will appreciate its reliability — these mixers saw heavy daily use when I worked with them in professional kitchens and I rarely ever had one that needed repairs. If you take care of this mixer, it's likely to last you decades. 

That said, it's a hefty machine, weighing 27 pounds and measuring 16 inches in both height and depth. It's not the sort of mixer you want to lug around, so it's best for those with ample counter space to devote to its large footprint. It's also only available in six colors: red and five different neutrals. However, it is compatible with every attachment made by KitchenAid, including the ice cream maker bowl. 

Read our full review

Pros: Largest capacity of any residential model, bowl-lift design provides stability when mixing, wide mixing bowl for adding ingredients, powerful motor that can handle all kinds of doughs, work bowl has a handle

Cons: Heavy, takes up a lot of space, only comes in a few colors

The best KitchenAid stand mixer for small spaces

The smallest of KitchenAid stand mixers, this model is the perfect size and strength for occasional bakers, new cooks, and those with petite kitchens.

When my hand-me-down KitchenAid finally bit the dust after about 20 years of regular use, I decided to downsize to KitchenAid's latest model: the KitchenAid Artisan Mini 3.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer. At the time, I was living in a 600 square foot apartment and every inch felt precious. Since counter space was limited, I needed a mixer light enough that I wouldn't mind hauling it out from a cabinet every time I wanted to bake. The KitchenAid Mini hit all these marks for me. 

Measuring just over 11 inches wide and weighing 17 pounds, the Mini is about 25% smaller than our best overall pick. While this may not seem like a drastic difference in size, the Mini is much more maneuverable than any other stand mixer I've used, and I love that it fits easily under my cabinets or on a shelf. Less surface area also means less to clean, and the Mini's work bowl doesn't hog space in my sink or dishwasher.

Despite being more petite, the Mini is still perfectly capable of whipping up a single batch of cookies or biscuits just as nimbly as any other stand mixer. I've made muffins, pasta dough, bread dough, pizza dough, cake, frosting, and more cookies than I can count in the Mini with no issues or changes to the mixing times called for in the recipes. That said, its functional capacity is just 2 quarts, so it's too tight a squeeze for most double batches.

When I put my Mini through strenuous tests for this guide, it showed some of its limitations. The work bowl was just able to fit all the mix-ins for compost cookies, but it started to overflow a bit when I turned on the mixer. The cookies came out perfect, but cleaning up was a bit of a hassle since I had to wipe bits of dough from the counter and the top of the mixer. Bagel dough also came together fine, but the mixer shook and "walked" around the counter during the long kneading time, enough so that I felt like I had to keep an eye on it for the whole 10 minutes it was mixing. 

That said, if space is your primary concern or you're an occasional baker, the Mini is a great option for an unobtrusive machine that can do just about anything a full-size mixer can do. It has the same 10 speeds as other mixers, comes with the standard attachments (whisk, paddle, dough hook), and works with all KitchenAid attachments except the ice cream maker. It comes in a variety of fun colors from a pink "Guava Glaze" to a bright "Hot Sauce" red, and also makes a great (albeit generous) gift for kids who are interested in baking; one that they can continue to use well past childhood.

Pros: Perfectly sized for small kitchens, easy to maneuver, makes single batches of most recipes well, ideal for occasional bakers, a good size for kids, works with most KitchenAid attachments, comes in a variety of different colors, work bowl has a handle

Cons: Too small for double batches, shakes a lot when running at high speed, doesn't work with KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment

What else we considered

We also researched other KitchenAid models for this guide that we ultimately didn't end up testing. Here are the products that didn't make the cut and why: 

• KitchenAid Classic Series 4.5 Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer ($259.99): Previously our best budget pick, the Classic is identical in both function and design to our new affordable pick, the Classic Plus. We confirmed this with KitchenAid, who said the only difference is that the Classic Plus is available in a silver color. There used to be a slight difference between the Classic and the Classic Plus with the former having 250 watts, a slightly less powerful motor than the Classic Plus' 275 watts. However, both models are now being made with 275 watts and are priced the same. Both are great options, and since KitchenAids have been in short supply, buy whichever you can get your hands on. We've seen some retailers still selling the 250-watt version of the Classic, so be sure to check the specs before you buy. 
• KitchenAid NSF Certified Commercial Series 8-Qt Bowl Lift Stand Mixer ($699.99): Unless you're running a bakery, you don't need a mixer this large or this powerful. That said, if you are operating a bakery or food business, this is the only KitchenAid mixer that is certified by NSF International for commercial use. It has a two-year warranty (double the time of their other mixers) and a strong, durable motor for heavy use. However, home bakers are unlikely to need these extra features, which are designed to withstand hours of heavy use each day. 

Our testing methodology

While I drew from my own experience as a food editor working in professional kitchens and using these mixers over many years, I also put each model through a standard set of tests to see how they'd compare to each other. Here's how I evaluated KitchenAid stand mixers:

Size, capacity, and ease of use: I weighed and measured all the stand mixers, including comparing the stated versus functional capacity (the capacity when measured from the bottom of the work bowl to the top of the mixing attachment) of each work bowl. I carried the mixers around and noted how comfortable they were to move and handle.

Power: We consulted the company to learn the power of each motor in watts. Residential stand mixers range from 250 to 970 watts, and mixers with higher wattage motors can mix heavy, wet doughs more readily. 

Whipping: I whipped two egg whites to stiff peaks in each mixer, which tests the mixers' control during gradual ramping up of speed. It also tested the larger mixers' ability to function well even with a very small volume of ingredients. 

Creaming: I used each stand mixer to make Milk Bar compost cookies, which have more than 5 cups of mix-ins. Not only did this test the functional capacity of the mixers, but also their ability to operate on different speeds — high speed for creaming butter and sugar, and low speed for incorporating delicate mix-ins like chips and pretzels without breaking them. 

Kneading: Each mixer was used to make a batch of King Arthur bagels; a stiff dough with a long, 10 minute mixing time. I made a note if any of the mixers shook or walked, struggled, or made excessive noise during this tough task. 

Durability: The true test of a stand mixer is how it performs over time. While I included information from my own experience working with these models over nearly a decade, I'll continue to use the stand mixers in this guide and report back on any durability issues.

What we look forward to testing

Our picks encompass most of KitchenAid's offerings, but there are two models we're interested in testing that we weren't able to include this time around: 

• KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus Series 5 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer ($399.99): Previously our best KitchenAid for making bread, this model was out of stock at the time of this testing. I'm of the mindset that if you're going to upgrade from our best overall pick (which is also 5 quarts), it should also offer an increase in capacity. However, this model may be a good fit for those who prepare a lot of heavy, wet doughs but either don't make large batches or are prioritizing cost. 
• KitchenAid Pro 600 Series 6 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer ($499.99): This model offers a slight jump up in capacity from the 5-quart professional model and was also unavailable at the time of testing. It offers 15 colors; the most colors of any of KitchenAid's bowl-lift models. We'd like to test if the slight increase in capacity justifies the big jump in price.

How to choose a KitchenAid stand mixer

KitchenAid makes an overwhelming number of models. Here are some considerations to help you narrow down your selection.

Wattage: The higher the wattage of the motor, the more powerful the mixer will be. Mixers with higher wattage — like the 970 watt motor on the KitchenAid Pro — glide through tough doughs and don't easily overheat. If you bake at least once a week or you regularly make a lot of heavy, wet doughs like pizza or bread dough, then you'll benefit from a larger, more expensive model with a high wattage motor built for power and durability. However, if you're the kind of person who breaks out the stand mixer once a year to make holiday cookies, you don't need the Cadillac of KitchenAids. Occasional bakers will be perfectly well off with 250 or 275-watt models, like the Artisan Mini or the Classic Plus. Lower wattage models can also handle the occasional tough task like kneading bagel dough a few times a year. Be mindful that tough kitchen tasks can be hard on the gears of smaller machines, so give your machine time to cool down between uses if you're making a hard dough in a lower wattage model. 

Capacity: The advertised capacity of a KitchenAid mixer is not its actual capacity. The advertised or stated capacity refers to how much the work bowl can hold when completely full. Not only would you have a big mess on your hands if you tried to use a mixer at full capacity, but it also wouldn't operate effectively since the ingredients would actually cover the mixing attachment. Instead, the functional capacity is measured from the bottom of the bowl to the top of the mixing attachment and it's usually about 1 to 1.5 quarts less than the stated capacity. One quart is about the size of a large deli container, so if you have a recipe that regularly makes enough dough to fill four or five of those, opt for a mixer with a larger stated capacity of 6 or 7 quarts. It's also a good idea to buy a mixer with a larger capacity if you make a lot of bread since the mixer needs a fair amount of clearance to knead the dough effectively.  

Maneuverability and storage: The bigger the capacity and more powerful the mixer, the heavier and larger the mixer will be. The largest KitchenAid mixers in our guide can weigh almost 30 pounds. Unless you're comfortable regularly lifting an appliance of that size, you'll either need to consider a small mixer or have dedicated counter space. Larger mixers will take up about half the width of a standard size counter and may not fit readily under your cabinet overhang. If space is at a premium, consider a smaller, less expensive mixer.

Colors and customization: For some people, the most important factor in choosing a KitchenAid is the color. If a fun color is your priority, opt for a mixer from KitchenAid's Artisan series. Our best mixer for small spaces and best overall pick are both Artisan mixers and are available in up to 47 different colors. Our best overall pick also offers further customization with interchangeable decorative work bowls in various patterns and materials. The Classic and Pro Line series offer a much more limited color choice — just red and a handful of neutrals.

What to make in your KitchenAid stand mixer

We've put together a number of how-tos for making the most out of your KitchenAid stand mixer. KitchenAid makes more than two dozen different attachments that expand the versatility of your machine and let you make everything from zoodles to sausage to ice cream and more. Most of the attachments operate from the "hub" of the mixer — the portion underneath the metal disk on the top front of the machine. Since all KitchenAid mixers have this hub, almost all the attachments are compatible with every KitchenAid model in our guide. If you're interested in KitchenAid attachments, we reviewed them all here. 

Here are some of our favorite things to make with our KitchenAid mixers and attachments:

Fresh pasta: This is one of those tasks that shows the true versatility of a KitchenAid stand mixer. You use the stand mixer and work bowl to make the dough, and then the KitchenAid pasta sheeter or pasta extruder to form the pasta shapes. Read more about how to make pasta in your stand mixer. 

Bagels: Chewy bread like bagels are one of the hardest and most arduous tasks to do by hand, which means they're the perfect recipe to outsource to your stand mixer. While writing this guide, I used this recipe by King Arthur and it churned out perfectly springy bagels that reminded me of home in New Jersey.

Sausage: KitchenAid makes several attachments that allow you to grind your own meat for homemade sausage. Read more about how to grind meat and make sausage with a KitchenAid stand mixer.

Pizza dough: This type of dough is really wet and sticky, but a stand mixer excels at pulling it all together. Here's a recipe I really love for pizza dough made in a stand mixer. 

Ice cream: KitchenAid makes a special bowl that fits on all stand mixers but the Artisan Mini to make homemade ice cream. Read more about how to make ice cream in your Kitchenaid stand mixer. 

Glossary of KitchenAid terms

Tilt head: A common mixer design where the work bowl twists onto the base of the mixer. The head of the machine tilts forward for operation and lifts back so you can attach a paddle, whisk, or dough hook; add ingredients to the work bowl; or use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. These machines have a lever that allows you to lock the head in place so it doesn't accidentally lift during mixing or moving. This style is common in smaller capacity mixers and is contrasted to a bowl-lift design.

Bowl lift: A mixer design where the work bowl sits on a Y-shaped arm extending from the body of the mixer. A lever allows you to raise and lower the bowl. A raised position brings the bowl closer to the mixer head for operation, while a lowered position allows you to more easily add ingredients or add/remove the paddle, whisk, or dough hook. This design allows for more stability during mixing but comes at the cost of a larger footprint. 

Hub: A circular port at the front of the mixer head where you place KitchenAid branded attachments such as the meat grinder, pasta cutter, or spiralizer. When not in use, the hub is usually covered by a silver medallion with the KitchenAid logo. 

Paddle: A flat, open mixing attachment included with every KitchenAid stand mixer. The paddle is used for mixing ingredients together when you don't want too much air incorporated, such as when creaming butter and sugar, mixing cookie dough, and some batters. Think of it as the stand mixer equivalent of a wooden spoon. 

Whisk: A balloon-shaped wire whisk mixing attachment included with every KitchenAid stand mixer. The whisk attachment is used when you do want to incorporate a lot of air into the ingredients you're mixing, like when whipping cream, making meringue or frosting, or mixing cake batter. It's used in similar ways to a hand whisk.

Dough hook: A corkscrew-shaped mixing attachment included with every KitchenAid stand mixer. The dough hook is used for kneading bread dough. Typically you'll mix the dough with another attachment such as the paddle, and then use the dough hook to form the dough into a ball and knead it. The corkscrew shape pushes the dough against the sides of the work bowl in an action that approximates kneading by hand. 

Attachment: Can refer to the paddle, whisk, and dough hook that come with the mixer, but also used to describe the various accessories you can purchase to extend the versatility of your stand mixer such as the ice cream maker, food processor, or meat grinder.

FAQs

What is the warranty on KitchenAid stand mixers?

Almost all of KitchenAid's stand mixers come with a limited one year warranty, though you can purchase an extended service plan for another three years of coverage. 

What do I do if my KitchenAid stand mixer breaks?

When a KitchenAid stand mixer stops working, it can usually be repaired. The machines are designed so that inexpensive gears fail before the core part of the mixer; oftentimes a repair is as simple as replacing a gear. If your stand mixer is still within warranty, you should contact KitchenAid for a replacement. However, in my experience, don't expect much from KitchenAid customer service if you're out of warranty. While plenty of KitchenAid repair videos exist online, you'll get the best results from a paid repair from the KitchenAid factory or by visiting a reputable appliance repair service. Keep in mind that you can void your remaining warranty if you attempt to repair your stand mixer on your own.

Will my KitchenAid stand mixer last a lifetime?

With proper care, it's possible! Keep in mind that technology changes, so it's never a guarantee that a small appliance like a KitchenAid stand mixer will be forever compatible with modern home wiring or safety specifications. (Your grandma's toaster or microwave may still work, but it might not necessarily be safe.) While your stand mixer might not become a family heirloom, you should get many years of use out of it. 

How do I use my KitchenAid stand mixer?

I'd start with a solid recipe for something you like to eat often, like cookies or bread. Once you know what you want to make, a well-written recipe should guide you through when to add ingredients, what speed to use, and even when to scrape down the bowl. Recipes from cookbooks or food magazines are usually well-tested and thoroughly written. Some good cookbooks to start with include "Pastry Love," "Black Girl Baking", "Bravetart," "Cook's Illustrated Baking Book", "The New Way to Cake," and "The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook." It's also good to keep best practices in mind: avoid overloading the mixer or adding too many ingredients at once, and turn up the speed slowly to avoid kitchen messes. Only operate your stand mixer on a stable countertop or table, and don't leave it unattended while it's running. 

Can I use an electric hand mixer instead of a stand mixer?

Electric hand mixers are best used for light batters or frostings where you want to incorporate a lot of air, and it doesn't take a lot of mixing to bring the ingredients together. While the electric mixer is spinning the whisks, you're still responsible for moving the mixer around the bowl. This is much less efficient than a stand mixer where the whisk is rotating, but also moving in a circular motion around the work bowl. Electric hand mixers also aren't very good for heavy doughs or recipes with a lot of varying textures since these tend to get caught in the smaller tines of the beaters. While an electric hand mixer is an efficient way to whip up a batch of brownies or frosting, stand mixers are much more versatile.

Why buy a KitchenAid stand mixer

While there are a number of other stand mixer brands out there — including Breville, Sunbeam, Oster, and Bosch — none are as ubiquitous or revered as the KitchenAid stand mixer. Some people consider purchasing a KitchenAid stand mixer to be a life milestone, and according to The Knot, a KitchenAid stand mixer was the most-wished-for product on wedding registries in 2019. Julia Child's KitchenAid mixer even lives in the Smithsonian Museum. But what makes KitchenAid stand mixers so special?

KitchenAid stand mixers have been around for more than a century. According to KitchenAid, the brand got its name in 1919 when an executive's wife called the first home model stand mixer "the best kitchen aid I've ever had." The name stuck and KitchenAid has been synonymous with stand mixers ever since. While there are a number of great stand mixers from other brands out there, KitchenAid still stands out in a number of ways.

Durability: I've tried almost every brand of stand mixer out there in my seven years reviewing kitchen products, and KitchenAid mixers are the only ones that use an almost all-metal construction. Other brands cut costs by using plastic in part of the design: either in the body of the mixer, on knobs and dials, in the mixing attachments, or even in the gears. Mixers made with a lot of plastic are usually lighter and less expensive, but much less durable. KitchenAid mixers can last for decades because of their strong metal parts. While this stronger construction comes at a premium — KitchenAid mixers are among the most expensive out there — their durability makes them a great investment. Even the most affordable KitchenAid mixer shares this same hearty construction and powerful motor and will last for decades with proper care. There is also a robust network of authorized KitchenAid repair technicians who can repair your stand mixer if something does break.

Stability: The all-metal design makes KitchenAid mixers much heavier than most other brands. While they can be a pain to lug around, the added heft produces an important benefit: more stability when mixing. Lighter machines can shake or "walk" off countertops. The heaviness of KitchenAid mixers helps them stay put. 

A mixer for everybody: Many brands that make stand mixers only produce one or two models. KitchenAid makes almost a dozen models with different capacities, power, and price points. This allows you to choose a model that meets your needs and excels at the tasks you perform most.

Attachments: KitchenAid is the only brand that has produced a robust lineup of attachments that extend the versatility of their stand mixers. These attachments can turn your KitchenAid into a food processor, meat grinder, ice cream maker, spiralizer, pasta machine, and more — eliminating the need to buy separate appliances that are often larger and more expensive. 

Colors: It's undeniable that one of the major selling points of a KitchenAid mixer is the sheer number of colors available to choose from. KitchenAid offers its mixers in 47 different colors — no other brand even comes close to that much customization. While choosing an appliance based on color may seem silly to some consumers, the ability to pick out a color that matches your personality or decor is one of the reasons people feel such an affinity to KitchenAid mixers.

Read our guides to the best KitchenAid attachments and how to use them

The best KitchenAid attachments

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How to use a KitchenAid stand mixer to grind your own meat

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How to make sausage with a KitchenAid stand mixer

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• Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff, on Wednesday revealed that he was the anonymous author of the 2018 New York Times op-ed article that said there was a "resistance" in the Trump administration.
• "We do not owe the President our silence. We owe him and the American people the truth," Taylor said in a statement.
• Taylor endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden in August and launched an anti-Trump Republican group.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff, on Wednesday revealed that he was the author of the 2018 New York Times op-ed article with an anonymous byline that described a "resistance" in the Trump White House.

He was also the anonymous official who wrote "A Warning," a 2019 book critical of the administration.

"Donald Trump is a man without character," Taylor said in a tweet. "It's why I wrote 'A Warning'...and it's why me & my colleagues have spoken out against him (in our own names) for months. It's time for everyone to step out of the shadows."

Taylor released a statement explaining why he's "no longer 'Anonymous.'"

"We do not owe the President our silence. We owe him and the American people the truth," Taylor wrote, adding: "I witnessed Trump's inability to do his job over the course of two-and-a-half years. Everyone saw it, though most were hesitant to speak up for fear of reprisals."

Taylor said that he was still a Republican and that he joined the administration because he wanted the president to succeed. He went on to characterize Trump as extraordinarily unfit to be the commander in chief.

The president's "personal defects have resulted in leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives," Taylor wrote.

Numerous former Trump administration officials in top positions have offered sharp criticisms of the president's approach to the job — something Taylor noted in his statement as he urged Americans to speak out against Trump and vote him out of office.

"As descendants of revolutionaries, honest dissent is part of our American character, and we must reject the culture of political intimidation that's been cultivated by this President," Taylor said. "That's why I'm writing this note — to urge you to speak out if you haven't. While I hope a few more Trump officials will quickly find their consciences, your words are now more important than theirs."

Taylor added, "You can speak loudest with your vote and persuade others with your voice."

In August, Taylor, who was at the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president.

He's been publicly critical of Trump for months and previously denied that he was the official who wrote the 2018 op-ed article. The former top-ranking government official is also leading an anti-Trump group called the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform.

In February, Victoria Coates, a top official on the National Security Council, was reassigned, sent to be a senior advisor in the Department of Energy, after rumors spread that she was the anonymous author. The White House at the time denied that she was being booted from the White House over the rumors.

In a statement on Wednesday, Coates said she was "pleased that the bizarre and malicious allegation that I am 'Anonymous' has finally been definitively refuted."

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany in a Wednesday statement referred to Taylor as a "low-level, disgruntled former staffer" who is a "liar and a coward." 

And Trump went after Taylor on Twitter on Wednesday evening. 

"Who is Miles Taylor? Said he was 'anonymous', but I don't know him - never even heard of him. Just another @nytimes SCAM - he worked in conjunction with them. Also worked for Big Tech's @Google. Now works for Fake News @CNN. They should fire, shame, and punish everybody," Trump said.

—Annie Karni (@anniekarni) October 28, 2020

Though the president claimed he's never heard of the former Homeland Security official, he tweeted about Taylor in August. 

—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2020

• In June, the FBI processed a total of 3.9 million background checks, the most since 1988 when it began collecting that data. 
• This comes as gun sale attempts continue to surge nationwide with research and experts indicating that safety concerns might be causing a "seismic shift."
• Gun dealers surveyed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that first-time gun buyers represented roughly 40% of gun sales during the spring surge.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Gun sale attempts across the US have been climbing in the months leading up to the US presidential election. 

Firearm background checks, a key indicator of first-time gun sales, are up considerably this year. In June, the FBI processed a total of 3.9 million background checks, the most since 1988 when it began collecting that data. 

Fluctuations in gun sales around elections aren't uncommon, Business Insider has previously reported, with concern around new gun-control measures often driving sales leading up to an election.

But the record number of background checks comes as gun sales continue to surge nationwide with research and experts indicating that safety concerns might be causing a "seismic shift."

The growing demand for guns began in March, just around the time when the coronavirus reached pandemic status. Marc Oliva, a representative for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told Business Insider in July that the pandemic, as well as looting and calls to defund the police, had helped drive gun sales from people fearing for their safety. The last such demand spike linked to safety concerns was after 9/11, according to Oliva.

"If you were to walk into any big-box store or any small corner gun store, you would see the shelves are bare, and they are bare because of demand," Oliva said. "Manufacturers are working around the clock to be able to keep up with that demand."

Gun dealers surveyed by the NSSF found that first-time gun buyers represented roughly 40% of gun sales during the spring surge. 

• Jon Taffer, host of the hit show "Bar Rescue" on Paramount, scored a sit-down interview in Las Vegas with President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning for "The Jon Taffer Podcast."
• Taffer told Insider he was "surprised" by Trump's grasp of policy details in the hospitality sector, particularly with the workings of the PPP loan program and the tax codes for restaurants.
• "The details that he spits out really surprised me," Taffer said.
• Taffer said he also offered Democratic nominee Joe Biden an interview for the podcast, part of what he described as an effort to drill into both candidates' plans to help bars and restaurants recover from the pandemic.
• "I'm not sure what Biden's positions are. And I put that on Biden, because he has not been very vocal or communicative in this regard," Taffer said.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Jon Taffer is known for his bombastic style as the host of "Bar Rescue" on Paramount, but he's donning a softer persona in his efforts to help the hospitality industry recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

After finishing up a podcast interview with President Donald Trump in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, Taffer spoke with Insider about the impression Trump made on him and what the industry will need to bounce back from shutdowns and reduced demand.

Taffer also talked about his interest studying political science in college, whether he'll run for office one day, and how he sees each candidate's approach to bringing bars and restaurants back. 

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Jake Lahut: Before we get into your interview with President Trump, I was wondering if you could put us in the shoes of most restaurant owners and what they're going through right now?

Jon Taffer: It's very regional: New Jersey is tracking ahead of last year in the restaurant industry because of the closure of Manhattan. Connecticut is also tracking ahead of last year in overall restaurant sales. Texas is getting close to about 70%. And there are other areas of the country that are hurt significantly. So it is a regional question. I just want to clarify that.

Across the board — with the exception of really New Jersey — everybody is significantly down and, the restaurant industry has lost more jobs than any industry in America. We've lost more revenue that any industry in America.

Lahut: When you had your chat with the president, what kind of impression did he make? Was it the first time you had met him?

Taffer: Well, I had met him socially before, just a quick handshake many years ago. He was extremely personable, gracious, very kind to me, very interested in talking about the hospitality industry. 

Lahut: And did he demonstrate a good grasp of not just the industry, but the policies around it and how things like the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans have worked?

Taffer: Oh, very much so. The details that he spits out really surprised me. And I did an awful lot of homework to be prepared for the interview, knowing all the various stimulus proposals and all the numbers. He has exceptional recall and knowledge, the way he looks into your eyes and communicates with you. You can see that he has a great comfort in who he is. There's no question about that.

And if I could say anything that surprised me, it was — I expected him to be cordial, I expected him to be reasonably knowledgeable — but his graciousness and his level of knowledge were impressive.

Lahut: That's interesting. If you're tuning into the Trump rallies and paying attention to the news pretty closely, his messaging on the stimulus has been a little all over the place. And a lot of the issues he's prioritized this late in the campaign have been largely around Hunter Biden and other kinds of cultural issues. So was it your feeling after talking to him that this really is a priority for him?

Taffer: I believe — and he said this in the interview — that he feels that Nancy Pelosi and the other side is not going to do a deal until after the election. And so he's eager to get it done after the election, but I believe he's in a position in his mind right now where he feels that any effort before the election is not going to to be met by the other side. 

Lahut: And did the president say anything else that caught your eye? Or if it didn't surprise you, did you at least take immediate note of it?

Taffer: A number of things, yeah. We were talking about the Employee Retention Credit, and his knowledge of that program is obviously extremely deep. And we talked about broadening that program to encompass more types of restaurants, and make that program far more encompassing, and he agreed with that and thought it was a good program.

You know, you mentioned earlier that it has been difficult to pin down these stimulus policies these past few weeks with all the noise of the campaign and such going on. That was the purpose of my interview. As a hospitality person, I wanted the president to articulate what his direct policy was with regards to stimulus for the hospitality industry. And I wanted those policies to be on the record, and front and center for my industry, for whether President Trump wins or Joe Biden wins — either way. I wanted to get these policies on the record somewhere in some place.

And we also sent out requests to the Biden camp to do the same interview. So there was nothing partisan in this whatsoever. This was strictly being an advocate for my industry and all my friends in my industry.

Lahut: And I did notice reading up on you that you started out in college studying political science. Have you found yourself wondering what the path not taken would have been like if you wanted to get into politics? And why did you want to study politics in the first place?

Taffer: Well, I grew up in the '60s, a pretty politically ignited time [laughs]. So I took political science classes and started actually tending bar in college. And that's when I started to fall in love with the hospitality industry. But no, I don't regret not taking that path. Sometimes these days, I'm almost glad I didn't.

Lahut: Do people ever come up to you and say 'Oh man, you should run for office! You really tell it like it is,' or something like that?

Taffer: Sure, I get it said to me. People post "Taffer for President" on social media pretty often. I get a kick out of it. The president even mentioned it today, but it's not something in my consideration at the moment.

Lahut: Oh wow. My last question for you, sir — since a bunch of our readers are probably familiar with your persona on TV — is now that you've had the experience of both speaking with President Trump in person and following his administration like any citizen, what's your assessment of his presidency at this point? For lack of a better term, would you "shut it down" and try to see what would happen under a Biden administration?

Taffer: You know, that's a very difficult question, and it's a very difficult question because I'm not sure what Biden's positions are. And I put that on Biden because he has not been very vocal or communicative in this regard.

So when I hear that all the tax cuts are going to go away, but I don't hear the rest of any kind of a plan, that scares the hell out of me. So I only know bits and pieces of the things that Biden has proposed. I don't understand his full program. 

I'm a business advocate, and I'm talking to you, Jake, trying to protect and support small businesses across America. And I worry, because I don't understand the full program of Biden. And then I'm concerned that there's, you know, layers of things that could have a negative impact on business that I don't understand yet. And when I hear about energy changes and tax raises, and possibly payroll tax increases — when I hear these types of things, they're layered on top of each other, and it scares me. Now that might be wrong as an assumption, but my point is, I don't know. I don't know what Biden is going to do.

Now with President Trump, he's been there for four years, so I know. I understand that business taxes are not going to go up. I have a greater understanding of the Trump agenda, which makes me more comfortable. And I'm being non-political in this statement.

Jake: Any final takeaways from chatting with the president? 

Taffer: There were four points that he put on the table as commitments from him, as far as his intentions for the industry. The first was to broaden the scope of the employee retention tax credit. The second was to either extend or reintroduce a PPP program that also covered debt. The third — and this was a biggie — was to reintroduce the business lunch tax credit, and implementing that immediate business meal write off, I'm excited about that move. I think that would have a positive impact on the business. And then the fourth thing that he committed to was the domestic travel incentive program. And that's a program that would incentivize any type of domestic air travel. And that's really important to destinations like Las Vegas, Miami, and business markets like New York, Los Angeles.

So those four elements were commitments that I got that now I can understand how the policies toward the hospitality industry will flow in the Trump administration. And I'm hoping that in the next few days, we can either sit down or do a Skype interview with Vice President Biden and ask the same questions.

• Gilead posted its first numbers detailing how much money the pharmaceutical company has made through Veklury, a COVID-19 antiviral treatment. 
• Gilead sold $873 million worth of Veklury, also known as remdesivir, in three months.
• The FDA authorized Veklury as the first antiviral treatment approved to treat COVID-19 patients. 
• Studies on the effectiveness of Veklury present mixed results. The World Health Organization tested  Veklury on more than 2,750 COVID-19 patients and found the antiviral drug Remdesivir had "little or no effect" on survival.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Pharmaceutical firm Gilead is raking in millions from Veklury, an FDA-approved antiviral treatment to COVID-19.

Gilead sold $873 million worth of Veklury, otherwise known as remdesivir, in July, August, and September. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use for the drug in May.

The FDA later granted authorization for Veklury in all uses in October. Veklury is the only FDA-approved antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 patients. 

Veklury helped give Gilead a 17% year-over-year increase in revenue, amounting in $6.6 billion. Of the total Veklury sales, US buyers generated $785 million while European and others comprised a smaller portion of customers. 

Research into Veklury's effectiveness in treating COVID-19 patients remains mixed. The World Health Organization accidentally posted a study of 237 participants that indicated Veklury did not help patients with severe coronavirus cases. A separate WHO study of more than 2,750 COVID-19 patients suggested that the antiviral drug remdesivir had "little or no effect" on survival.

Read more: Gilead is set to sell billions of dollars of a coronavirus drug that's far from 'amazing' after the US approved remdesivir to treat COVID-19

The National Institutes of Health conducted a placebo-controlled study with 1,000 hospitalized patients and found though Veklury shortened recovery times by five days for participants, taking the drug did not lower the chances of dying. 

On a call to investors, Gilead touted the success of the drug. Merdad Parsey, Gilead's chief medical officer, said factors in the WHO's study — including that it had not been peer-reviewed, did not disclose whether patients received a high flow of oxygen, and reported missing data in the preliminary analysis — may have contributed to "negative outcomes." 

Parsey said antiviral treatments are most effective during the early stages of a disease.

"I'm extremely grateful that a therapy exists that has been validated with all of the rigor required for an FDA approval," Daniel O'Day, chairman & CEO of Gilead Sciences, said on the call.

Gilead sales of Veklury could total $5.4 billion in 2020 and $8.5 billion in 2021, per SVB Leerink industry analyst Geoffrey Porges. Wall Street projects a more conservative estimate of $2.4 billion for this year and $2.7 billion next year, Business Insider's Andrew Dunn reported. 

• Health experts are encouraging people to get flu shots to avoid the possibility of getting the flu and COVID-19 at the same time.
• According to a preliminary study, flu shots may also reduce your risk of catching COVID-19.
• Researchers found that healthcare workers who got a flu shot in the 2019-2020 season were 39% less likely to have gotten the coronavirus by June.
• The study doesn't prove flu shots protect you from COVID-19, but additional research similarly suggests that vaccines can boost the body's innate immunity to other diseases.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As winter approaches, people are preparing for a looming "twindemic": the double threat of the coronavirus and the flu.

In the last month, coronavirus cases have surged worldwide. Meanwhile, the onset of cold, dry winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere heralds the start of flu season. So public-health officials in the US and Europe are pushing folks to get flu shots. The seasonal vaccinations reduce your risk of getting the flu by up to 60%, and also reduce how severely you get sick if you do catch the flu. 

But the shot might yield another important benefit: It may reduce your chances of getting COVID-19.

A new preliminary study, first reported by Scientific American, found that healthcare workers who got the flu vaccine ahead of the 2019-2020 season were 39% less likely to test positive for coronavirus by June 1.

"Influenza vaccination may contribute not only to reduction of influenza but also to the COVID-19-related burden on the healthcare system," the study authors wrote.

Vaccines may train our immune systems to fight other viruses

For the new study, the researchers examined data from about 10,600 employees at the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Of that group, they found, 184 healthcare workers had tested positive for the coronavirus by June 1. So they looked at who among all the employees had gotten a flu shot during the winter.

The study authors found that 2.23% of healthcare workers who had not gotten a flu shot tested positive for COVID-19, whereas only 1.33% of vaccinated employees did.

Two other recent studies from Italy found a similar trend: Coronavirus rates turned out to be lower among Italians older than 65 who'd gotten a flu shot.

The findings also align with previous research that suggests even vaccines targeting a specific virus, like measles or polio, can help train the body to fight other invaders, too. 

When a person gets sick, the immune system makes antibody proteins that recognize and neutralize that virus, then remember that virus the next time it invades — what's known as an adaptive immune response. But the body also possesses an innate immune response: a speedier, more general defense of white blood cells brought to bear against any pathogen. Vaccines can help boost the ability of that innate immune response through a process called trained immunity.

Trained immunity is when the body's innate immune cells get reprogrammed to react faster and more efficiently to future invasions due to exposure to germs over time, like a pump being primed. 

The authors of the new study also investigated what happens when human blood cells are exposed to the flu vaccine then infected with the coronavirus. Cells exposed to the vaccine, they found, developed a better trained immune response to the coronavirus than unexposed cells. This was primarily due to the production of immune proteins called cytokines that fight off infections.

The researchers also tried exposing the cells to both the flu vaccine and the BCG vaccine, which targets tuberculosis. Exposure to both vaccines created a synergistic effect, the results suggested, boosting the cells' cytokine production even more.

Scientists still need more evidence that flu shots help protect against COVID-19

Experts say more evidence is needed to determine whether there's really a link between a flu shot and lower risk of getting the coronavirus.

"This is an intriguing study, but it doesn't provide definitive evidence," Ellen Foxman, an immunobiologist at the Yale School of Medicine who was not involved in the study, told Scientific American.

There could be other reasons why healthcare workers who didn't get flu shots wound up with slightly higher rates of COVID-19. It's possible, for example, that people who got a flu shot were simply also more likely to take more precautions during the pandemic, Foxman said. 

Healthcare workers in the study also had varying levels of direct contact with hospital patients, which could have impacted the results. And the researchers did not collect information about whether workers had other health conditions that increased their risk, so that could be a factor as well. 

"As far as telling people, 'You should go get a flu vaccine because it can protect you from COVID,' that's a little bit of a stretch at this point," Foxman said.

But she added you should get a flu shot anyway, since, of course, "it's going to protect you from the flu."

The flu can be deadly 

About 0.1% of people who got the flu died in the US last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's about five to 10 times lower than the infection-mortality rate of COVID-19.

But influenza is no cakewalk. Every year, the seasonal flu kills tens of thousands of Americans. Last year, there were  more than 18 million flu-related medical visits and 405,000 hospitalizations in the US.

According to the World Health Organization, there are between 290,000 and 650,000 respiratory deaths related to influenza worldwide every year.

Unlike the new coronavirus, the influenza virus mutates very quickly, leading to the appearance of new strains that undermine people's immunity. That's why we have to get a new flu shot every year, and it's also why flu vaccines aren't always 100% effective.