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The look on his face: shock, annoyance, betrayal and … maybe a bit of relief? JON LOVETT was the first person voted out of "Survivor" 47 on Wednesday night, in a dramatic cap to the podcast host’s first (and final) episode on the long-running reality tv show.

The BARACK OBAMA alum gave up the cushy comforts of his Los Angeles podcast studio to try his hand at a much more ruthless form of campaigning: Can he survive 26 days of eating only a bit of rice, charming his tribe into forming alliances and avoiding getting thrown off the island?

He proved that he could do it in Democratic politics more than a decade ago. But those political chops, apparently, did not transfer to a reality-TV tribe of Gen Zers.

It doesn’t take a "Survivor" genius to know that you don’t want to be the first contestant to get the boot. But we didn’t watch 1,000 seasons of this show to let this moment slip by without a thorough analysis.

The 42-year-old “Pod Save America” host watched as "Survivor"’s JEFF PROBST snuffed his torch at the end of Wednesday’s episode. “Burned bright and fast,” Lovett said with his back turned to the tribe of six strangers who showed no mercy in eliminating their quirky tribemate.

Lovett’s exit was a shock to the people who fall into the middle of the political junkie/"Survivor" fan Venn diagram. Just yesterday afternoon, he joined a CBS affiliate in Indianapolis where he was asked about the toughest part of being on the Fiji island: “The endurance part of it … The survival part is obviously challenging.” Well … we’ll let last night’s outcome speak for itself.

Lovett’s tribe came out of the gates strong, winning their first award challenge and in turn, receiving flint — a "Survivor" essential because, ya know… fire — and a large pot for cooking (God, they’ve gone so soft from the good ol’ days of feasting on literally nothing). Vibes were through the roof. Things were looking up for our friendly neighborhood podcaster. But Lovett soon found himself deserted on an island within an island as the younger tribe members quickly formed alliances.

Youth was once Lovett’s edge as the wunderkind White House speechwriter in the Obama years. Suddenly facing middle age, as a reality TV contestant, it was his downfall.

After one of the 20-somethings asked Lovett if he knew what “Vine” was, he knew he had to nix his original strategy.

“Looking at my tribe, I’m not getting to know a group of people. I’m getting to know a group of young people,” Lovett confessed to the camera, his crow’s feet crinkling for effect. “There’s so much back-in-my-day stuff coming out of my mouth. But being a speechwriter, I learned that you need to be able to put yourself in other people’s shoes.”

So, Lovett looked for ways to relate. “I’m addicted to TikTok,” he told the group. It didn’t land. Another Gen Z contestant shot back: “All the Boomers are like, ‘We got to ban TikTok.’” Lovett looked uncomfortable.

Any elder millennial who has spent time with a pack of Gen Zers can attest to how isolating of an experience it can be. Lovett was lonely. And desperate. So when an AI research assistant named ANDY RUEDA appeared open to making an alliance, Lovett perhaps was too willing to overlook the glaring warning signs of this newfound friendship.

Rueda quickly became jealous over Lovett’s coconut-cracking ability (he was genuinely really skilled at this). “When I’m cracking my coconut, people aren’t even watching me,” Rueda said in a confessional. “Jon, he cracks a coconut, and there’s cheers from everyone else at camp.”

But directly after Lovett’s tribe lost a challenge, forcing the group to kick someone out, Rueda came clean. Yes, Lovett was his “best friend.” But this is “Survivor.” Rueda was not here to make friends. “I was going to throw him under the bus,” he said, as Lovett stood to his side looking shocked and betrayed.

Lovett was left paranoid (and missing L.A.). That paranoia got the better of him. The obvious move here for anyone with "Survivor" 101 skills would have been to take advantage of Rueda’s guilty conscience. Lovett could have taken the spotlight off himself by baiting Rueda into putting someone else’s name on the table.

But Lovett wanted to make a splash. “If I’m going to be on this show for one episode, one glorious and perfect episode, I’d rather go out swinging and making some kind of a move rather than just hoping for the best,” he said.

He put together a last-ditch plan to save himself, but it fizzled quickly and the tribe was left with a choice: Keep Jon, the more stable and level-headed tribemate, or Andy, the stronger player challenge-wise. Unanimously, the tribe went for strength, with every piece of parchment paper reading “John” (Spell it right, people!).

Lovett, as well as the other Pod bros, did not respond for comment on this story.

Our expert read: The first torch snuff is a difficult image to overcome. He may never recover from this. On Thursday morning, he posted on X, “stop the steal.” Frankly, it’s an embarrassment he couldn’t have gotten to at least the second round (which, to grandstand a bit, we predicted he would in May.) Even Probst was shocked!

“My first impressions were what you might expect. I wrote, ‘He’s amazing. Very compelling. Incredible storyteller. He will be great. Yes, he should be on the show,’” Probst said on the “On Fire with Jeff Probst” podcast following the show.

“And then as we continued to talk more in future conversations, I wrote, ‘He does overthink things. This could cause decision-making issues.’ And then after another interview, I wrote, ‘He should and could go very deep, he’s so smart. What would stop him?’”

MESSAGE US — Are you JEFF PROBST? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at [email protected].

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POTUS PUZZLER

Which president had a cat named SLIPPERS?

(Answer at bottom.)

CAMPAIGN HQ

YOU GET A CAR! AND YOU GET A CAR! More than 200,000 people have RSVP’d for Vice President KAMALA HARRIS’ livestream event Thursday night with OPRAH WINFREY, her campaign announced. Harris' advisers are “anticipating some surprises” during the “Unite for America” (so not actual surprises then), which will be broadcast from just outside Detroit with a few hundred people in the live audience at 8 p.m. Eastern.

The event, which the campaign sees as illustrative of its broader voter engagement strategy, will be streamed across Winfrey’s and Harris’ YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok and Twitch accounts, which together boast tens of millions of followers.

UHHHHH … WTF?? On Thursday, CNN published a story revealing that North Carolina Lt. Gov. MARK ROBINSON, the already-controversial Republican nominee for governor, made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornograpy website more than a decade ago — including referring to himself as a “black NAZI!” The Harris campaign is doing everything it can to remind voters in North Carolina of DONALD TRUMP’s support for Robinson, seeing an opportunity in a state that Democrats hope to flip blue this November.

The Kamala HQ X account blasted out pictures of Robinson and Trump together and videos of Trump calling Robinson, “Martin Luther King on steroids,” and someone who is going to be “one of the great leaders in our country.”

“Donald Trump and Mark Robinson have been all over the trail together this cycle,” campaign spokesperson SARAFINA CHITIKA wrote on X. “Trump elevated and endorsed this man at every opportunity.”

ZEROING IN ON THE MAP: The Keystone State is likely crucial to winning the Electoral College for both candidates, and it remains razor tight according to two new polls out Thursday. As NYT’s SHANE GOLDMACHER and RUTH IGIELNIK report, a new NYT/Siena College/Philly Inquirer survey shows that, while voters overwhelmingly saw her as the winner of last week’s debate, Harris has only a slight lead over Donald Trump that’s unchanged from August: 50 percent to 46 percent. The lede from WaPo’s DAN BALZ, SCOTT CLEMENT and EMILY GUSKIN is almost identical, referencing a new Post poll that has Harris up by just one point in Pennsylvania.

As our JONATHAN MARTIN writes, Pennsylvania is one of the three swing states (along with North Carolina and Georgia) that will determine who wins the White House. Trump, JMart writes, could win by putting all three of those states in his column. For the vice president, he adds, “a narrow Pennsylvania loss could prove moot, though, if Harris is able to make inroads with perhaps the two most pivotal constituencies in the Southern states: Black men and moderate Republicans.”

ALL UP IN OUR BUSINESS: Iranian hackers sent sensitive information stolen from the Trump campaign to President JOE BIDEN’s campaign earlier this summer, U.S. investigators said Wednesday. The emails were sent in June and July — before Biden dropped out of the race — to people “associated with the Biden campaign” and “contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign,” our MAGGIE MILLER and JOHN SAKELLARIADIS report.

The Iranians have also continued attempts to leak “non-public” Trump campaign material to media organizations since June, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and CISA.

WHAT WILMINGTON DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by Axios’ ALEX THOMPSON and TOREY VAN OOT about how the Harris-Walz ticket is doing far fewer interviews and press conferences than any major party’s presidential ticket in modern U.S. politics. It’s a slightly risky strategy: The Harris team is betting they can skirt tough interviews and still win the White House. On the other hand, voters are saying they want to learn more about the vice president.

The Oval

ACCESS DENIED: The White House is facing significant pushback from the press corps following its decision to limit press access at this weekend’s Quad Summit in Wilmington, Delaware — a major break with precedent.

Reporters will not have access to the meetings taking place at Biden’s Wilmington home on Friday or Saturday. TV crews won’t even have the opportunity to get a shot of the leaders getting out of their cars. If NARENDRA MODI falls into Biden’s swimming pool, and no journalists are there to see it, does he make a splash? A question the 13-member protective press pool that shadows Biden wherever he goes can ponder while holed up in vans somewhere down the street from his house.

The topic was a point of contention during press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE’s briefing on Thursday, as reporters pointed out that Biden did not have to hold the summit at his private home if he — or the Secret Service — were nervous about having the press pool trampling through his living room.

The White House Correspondents’ Association typically holds its cards close to its vest. But the organization's president, our own EUGENE DANIELS, took a rare step on Thursday when he publicly shared a letter he sent the White House asking them to rethink the decision.

In the letter, Daniels wrote that he could not “remember a time where this president has had a bilateral meeting on US soil and the press and therefore the American people were blocked from seeing it… While we understand that there are security concerns, it’s essential for the public to have direct and independent press accounts of the greetings at the very least.”

Bloomberg’s JUSTIN SINK, a longtime WHCA board member, also wrote in a social media post that the lack of access was “disappointing” because “it denies an important coverage opportunity” and “sets a terrible precedent when we go to other countries and argue for the first amendment.”

ZELENSKYY INBOUND: Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY will travel to the White House next Thursday for separate meetings with Biden and Harris, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Thursday. 

“The President and Vice President will emphasize their unshakeable commitment to stand with Ukraine until it prevails in this war,” she said in a statement. Zelenskyy will reportedly also meet with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by The Hill’s ALEX GANGITANO about how President Biden is kicking off a series of conversations focusing on his work to expand access to high-speed internet. As part of the effort, the White House released a video of Biden speaking virtually with a Wisconsin couple who benefited from his policies.

Deputy communications director HERBIE ZISKEND shared this piece on X.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by NBC’s MINYVONNE BURKE, who reports that Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan is facing yet another setback. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge RANDAL HALL extended a temporary restraining order against it, saying the plan would remain blocked for an additional two weeks. The ruling comes as the administration was expected to publish its final rule in October.

THE BUREAUCRATS

A LOT OF THOUGHTS ON COFFEE: You may not be TOM HANKS, but you had a LOT of thoughts about the under-utilized Pasquini espresso machine and the coffee setup in the press workspace. AP photojournalist EVAN VUCCI wrote in with a “reminder that your friendly AP photographer has a ton of espresso pods mere feet from the Tom Hanks machine. ALWAYS WILLING TO SHARE!!!!!”

And we got a slew of emails from readers. DOUG WAMBLE suggested replacing the Pasquini with a Breville Oracle: “It’s got a built in grinder and makes really consistent shots and is easy to provide you with perfect steamed milk.” G. SCOTT RAFSHOON recommended a Nespresso machine: “the best pod coffee there is.” SUSAN DAVIS concurred, specifically recommending the Nespresso Virtuoso machine that, she wrote, “even a blind person can use.” VINCE DEELY wrote: “Can't one of you knuckleheads spring (or all chip in!) for a Keurig machine or Hamilton 12 cup coffee maker(s).”

JOHN MELDRUM urged us to consider a simple Bialetti. “Nothing against Tom Hanks, but this is a great coffee maker,” he wrote. ERIC PIERCE suggested an even more straightforward approach: “Why not ask for a good old fashioned drip coffee machine. Easy to use, clean and grinding beans is easy.”

And MARY ELLEN GLYNN wrote that our piece “brought me fond memories of Helen Thomas, the venerable UPI correspondent. Way back during the Clinton Administration, when I was in the lower press office, one of our tasks upon arrival was to get Helen a large coffee from the WH Mess. She got there early every day and sat outside Mike McCurry’s office, waiting to get a jump on the gaggle. What I really love about it is that no one was under any illusion that she would go easy on the White House just because we got her a coffee every day.”

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair LINA KHAN will join LESLEY STAHL for an interview Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

PERSONNEL MOVES: RACHEL THOMAS will become the director of strategic communications for implementation where she’ll focus on communicating the president’s accomplishments across the Investing in America agenda.

— SYDNEY HARVEY is now an entertainment surrogate outreach manager for the Harris campaign, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. She most recently served as an adviser in the White House Office of Public Engagement covering the arts, entertainment and sports portfolios.

Agenda Setting

GOOD NEWS FOR PROSPECTIVE BUYERS: Mortgage rates continued to decline this week, taking some more pressure off the country’s tight housing market, CNN’s BRYAN MENA reports. The standard, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.09 percent this week, Freddie Mac said Thursday, down from last week’s 6.20 percent and substantially below a two-decade peak of 7.79 percent seen last fall. It’s the lowest level since early February 2023.

What We're Reading

Scarred by violence, lawmakers plan for possible ‘mass casualty’ event (WaPo’s Amy Gardner and Jacqueline Alemany)

The rush to get close to Kamala Harris and her inner circle is on (POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs)

A Campaign-Song Nightmare (The Atlantic’s Hanna Rosin)

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

President THEODORE ROOSEVELT and his family had a six-toed tabby cat named Slippers. Slippers was the type of cat known as a polydactyl, derived from the Greek word meaning “many fingers,” according to the White House Historical Association.

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Steve Shepard and Rishika Dugyala