Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has raised a whopping $18.3 million dollars this election cycle to help GOP incumbents and candidates — putting him ahead of his leadership opponent Sen. John Thune (R-S.D), Axios reports.
RFK Jr. Says Americans Are ‘Voting Out of Fear’
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought to make the case on Sunday that he can do something no third-party or independent candidate has come close to doing in modern U.S. history: win a presidential election. Although polls show him far behind, both major-party campaigns, those of President Biden and former President Donald Trump, view Mr. Kennedy as a potential spoiler,” the New York Times reports.
“The reason he is behind in a three-way race, he maintained, is that ‘so many Americans are voting out of fear.’”
Said Kennedy: “Their only strategy is to try to keep me off the ballot and then to make everybody terrified of Donald Trump, and on the other side, they do the same thing. When somebody is telling you to vote out of fear, they are trying to manipulate you into abandoning your values.”
College Protests Over Gaza Deepen Democratic Rifts
“Nearly seven months after the Israel-Hamas war began, the demonstrations convulsing college campuses nationwide are exposing fresh tensions within the Democratic Party over how to balance free speech protections and support for Gazans with concerns that some Jewish Americans are raising about antisemitism,” the New York Times reports.
“From New York and Los Angeles to Atlanta and Austin, a surge in student activism has manifested in protest encampments and other demonstrations, drawing significant police crackdowns and sometimes appearing to attract outside agitators. The protests also have emerged as the latest flashpoint in the internal Democratic debate over the war.”
“As scenes of campus turmoil play out across the country in the final days of the school year, the moment also carries political risk for a party that has harnessed promises of stability and normalcy to win critical recent elections, and faces a challenging battle for control of the government in the fall.”
Japan’s Ruling Party Loses Special Election
“Japan’s ruling party lost a special election Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had described in part as a judgment on himself, months ahead of a party leadership vote,” Bloomberg reports.
“Public anger over a slush fund scandal helped the main opposition candidate Akiko Kamei defeat the Liberal Democratic Party’s Norimasa Nishikori by about 83,000 votes to 58,000 in what had been a party stronghold in Shimane prefecture.”
Sunak Braces for Key Test With Tory Opponents Ready
“Rishi Sunak has spent 18 months as prime minister fending off internal Conservative Party criticism and rumors of plots to oust him. So far it’s come to nothing — though his team is taking nothing for granted this week,” Bloomberg reports.
“His critics on the Tory right have spent months gearing up for Thursday’s local and mayoral elections across England as their final chance to oust Sunak. If the party suffers a bad result — it trails Keir Starmer’s Labour by about 20 points in polls — they will use it to try to persuade colleagues that only a change of leader can prevent a wipe out in the UK-wide vote expected in the autumn.”
Trump Allies Under Indictment in Majority of Swing States
“At least four of the seven swing states expected to decide the 2024 presidential election have active criminal cases against pro-Trump fake electors,” Axios reports.
Kristi Noem Again Defends Killing Her Dog
“Amid waves of backlash from both sides of the aisle, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Sunday defended her decision to shoot and kill her 14-month-old puppy named Cricket years ago,” Politico reports.
Said Noem: “The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did.”
Quote of the Day
“The scale of the abnormality is so staggering, that it can actually become numbing. It’s all too easy to fall into reflexive habits, to treat this as a normal campaign, where both sides embrace the rule of law, where both sides are dedicated to a debate based on facts and the peaceful transfer of power. But, that is not what’s happening this election year.”
— George Stephanopoulos, opening This Week on ABC News.
DeSantis Meets with Trump
“Donald Trump met privately Sunday with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Miami to discuss how the latter can help with the 2024 presidential campaign,“ USA Today reports.
“The gathering came as a surprise as Trump and DeSantis have had an icy relationship since the governor launched his failed presidential bid.”
Exchange of the Day
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was interviewed on CNN by Dana Bash:
BASH: David Pecker testified that he paid to catch and kill stories about Trump specifically to help his presidential campaign. You don’t have any concerns about that?
GRAHAM: You know, apparently a lot of people do this. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, I think the whole thing is a crock.
BASH: Obviously, Tiger Woods is not running for president and the allegation is about campaigns.
Trump’s Confidants Battle for Sway on Tax Policy
“Economic advisers in Donald Trump’s orbit are clashing over their favored policy ideas, a fight that is spilling into public view as they jockey for influence over the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s second-term plans,” Bloomberg reports.
“In recent weeks, informal advisers have floated ideas such as penalties for countries that shift away from the US dollar; a proposal for a flat tax and reforms to the Federal Reserve to give the president more control over the independent central bank.”
Jill Stein Arrested
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was among scores of protesters arrested Saturday at Washington University in St. Louis, USA Today reports.
Eric Trump Defends His Father’s Toughness
Eric Trump defended his father’s stamina, in a Sunday interview, even as the former president remains stuck in a New York courtroom instead of on the campaign trail, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “He will be in trial all day long … only to step out and go to events at bodegas and wake up and speak to union workers and go to Michigan and go to Pennsylvania and go to Ohio and go to all the other swing states.”
He added: “The guy is really a remarkable human being, and I love him to death, and I’m proud of him. And I think the whole world knows his backbone and his toughness, and it’s exactly who we need behind the Resolute Desk in Washington, D.C. It’s the exact person we need in the Oval Office.”
A Tight Race in Three Battlegrounds
CBS News polled three key swing states:
- Michigan: Biden 51%, Trump 49%
- Pennsylvania: Trump 50%, Biden 49%
- Wisconsin: Trump 50%, Biden 49%
How Trump Plans to Wield Power in 2025
New York Times: “Beneath these public threats is a series of plans by Mr. Trump and his allies that would upend core elements of American governance, democracy, foreign policy and the rule of law if he regains the White House.”
“Some of these themes trace back to the final period of Mr. Trump’s term in office. By that stage, his key advisers had learned how to more effectively wield power and Mr. Trump had fired officials who resisted some of his impulses and replaced them with loyalists. Then he lost the 2020 election and was cast out of power.”
Trump Maintains National Lead Over Biden
A new CNN poll shows Donald Trump leading Joe Biden in the presidential race nationally, 49% to 43%.
Key takeaway: “Looking back, 55% of all Americans now say they see Trump’s presidency as a success, while 44% see it as a failure. In a January 2021 poll taken just before Trump left office and days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, 55% considered his time as president a failure.”
“Assessing Biden’s time in office so far, 61% say his presidency thus far has been a failure, while 39% say it’s been a success.”
Even Bill Barr Should Prefer Joe Biden
David Frum: “Former Attorney General Bill Barr gave an interview to CNN on Friday to explain why he plans to vote for Donald Trump after previously denouncing him as unfit for office. Trump might be an unfit president, Barr conceded. Trump had only recently belittled Barr personally. But President Joe Biden might overregulate kitchen stoves, Barr complained, and faced with that dread possibility, Barr had to prefer Trump as the lesser evil.”
“Barr feels how he feels. But as a rational matter, he’s not thinking clearly. Even for a conservative Republican such as Barr who wants to maximize power for conservative Republicanism, Trump is a choice that makes sense only if you have no long-term imagination at all.”
“To see how wrong that choice is, consider a hypothetical: how much better Republicans’ political prospects would look today if the Electoral College had followed the popular vote in 2016, and Hillary Clinton had won the presidency that year.”
Doug Burgum Moves Up Trump’s Short List
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is quickly moving up former President Trump’s list of possible vice presidential picks because Trump’s team believes he would be a safe choice who could attract moderate voters, Axios reports.
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