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Senate Democrats seek 51st vote — and some breathing room — in Georgia runoff

A win by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in next week’s Senate runoff would hand Democrats a crucial 51st vote in the upper chamber, along with something else they’ve been seeking: breathing room.

Some room to exhale could do wonders for a party that has been forced to navigate the tricky waters of a 50-50 Senate. No longer could a single Democratic member — including Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) — derail a contentious nominee or long-sought legislative item, handing Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) a boost in the process. 

“It’s night and day,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told The Hill. “Being able to lose one is 100 times better than not being able to lose one.” 

A win for Warnock, coupled with Republicans retaking the House, would serve as a one-two punch that would drastically reduce the pressure on and influence of both Manchin and Sinema, the two foremost moderates in the Senate Democratic caucus.

In addition to being able to lose a Democratic vote on legislation, reconciliation bills, which require only 50 votes and have been the center of Democrats’ hopes for major legislation and frustration with Manchin and Sinema, would no longer be possible with the House in GOP hands, nor would passing bills simply by getting rid of the legislative filibuster.

“There’s pressure on everybody, but the focus on any one or two members dramatically reduces, which makes Schumer’s job so much easier,” Kaine added.  

“It means all the difference in the world,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) added. 

Of all the Senate Democrats, perhaps no one claims to be happier about a possible Warnock victory than Manchin himself. The West Virginia moderate, along with Sinema, is also up for reelection in 2024, raising the stakes on the next two years for him personally as he seeks to appeal to both Democrats broadly and more conservative voters in his home state.

“I wouldn’t wish 50-50 on anybody,” Manchin told The Hill.

Democrats appear to be in the driver’s seat heading into Tuesday’s runoff. Warnock topped Republican Herschel Walker by more than 36,000 votes on Election Day. According to the latest RealClearPolitics average of surveys, Warnock leads by 3.2 percentage points over the former University of Georgia running back.

A 51st Senate Democrat would also be a godsend on the committee level. Gone would be the power-sharing agreement between the two parties that has forced a time-consuming process just to bring some nominees to the Senate floor for votes. Once again, the party in power will be able to pass partisan nominees without the minority side having the opportunity to gum up the works. 

“It’s an extra seat on committees. It makes things flow better,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “On committees like Judiciary, for example, it’ll make a big difference.”

And an extra vote will almost certainly be key simply because absences from the Senate floor, whether for health issues or other reasons, are not uncommon. Over the past two years, Senate Democrats were down at least one vote on a number of occasions, including because of positive COVID-19 results that sidelined members. Two senators — Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) — even suffered strokes that temporarily kept them out of action. 

Couple those concerns with possible health issues for older members, and that 51st vote will almost certainly prove crucial during the 118th Congress. 

“It means a huge difference in our ability to operate,” said Van Hollen. “It gives you a little more operating flexibility.” 

An upset win by Walker, however, would not only stymie Democratic hopes for the next two years but also give Republicans a major boost heading into what they believe could be a winning cycle for the party. Of the 33 seats up for reelection, 23 are held by Democrats, including a number in red or purple states that will give the party a prime chance at winning back the upper chamber. 

“Well, we could put this one in the hole for 2024 when we expect to have a pretty good map,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “There’s no reason to go backward,”

However, there’s trouble at play for the GOP in the Peach State. On top of his own personal issues, Walker will not have the benefit of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on top of the ticket as he did last month. Kemp defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams on Election Day, winning 2.1 million votes — roughly 203,000 more than Walker earned.

Due to Democratic wins in Pennsylvania and Nevada, Walker and Republicans have also been deprived of having the race decide the majority, which the party was counting on as being their biggest get-out-the-vote calling card. 

“Warnock has all the advantages. I think Herschel might even be the favorite if this was to determine the majority. … It’s not going to be close,” one GOP operative told The Hill. “Our people just have no motivation to vote. Herschel Walker and his campaign are not a motivation for people to vote.”

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House Republican won’t denounce Trump over call to terminate Constitution’s election rules

Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio) on Sunday declined to denounce former President Trump for  suggesting the termination of the Constitution’s election provisions over unfounded claims of mass electoral fraud in 2020.

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” anchor George Stephanopoulos pressed Joyce on Trump’s Truth Social post on Saturday calling for the “termination of all rules,” including those in the Constitution, following the 2020 presidential election.

“He says a lot of things,” Joyce said. “You have to take him in context, and right now, I have to worry about making sure as the Republican Governance Group in the Republican majority that we make things work for the American people. And I can’t be really chasing every one of these crazy statements that come out from any of these candidates.”

Trump formally entered the 2024 race late last month, while other potential contenders, like former Vice President Pence, have indicated they will make a decision after the holidays.

The Ohio Republican expressed doubt that Trump would ultimately win the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, pointing to the other prominent party figures who are considering a run while avoiding asking if he would support Trump himself if he is that year’s nominee.

“I will support whoever the Republican nominee is, and I just don’t think at this point he will be able to get there, because I think there’s a lot of other good quality candidates out there,” Joyce said of Trump on ABC.

When pressed by Stephanopoulos on supporting Trump after he called for suspending the Constitution, Joyce argued he could because the former president would have no ability to do so.

“He says a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean that it’s ever going to happen,” Joyce responded.

“So you got to accept fact from fantasy, and fantasy is that we’re going to suspend the Constitution and go backwards,” he continued. “We’re moving forward, and we’re going to continue to move forward as a Republican majority and as a Republican conference.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Why Biden is keeping his distance from Georgia's Senate runoff

With just two days to go, President Biden is staying away from the Georgia runoff, where Democrats are hoping Sen. Raphael Warnock can defeat Republican Herschel Walker and secure a crucial 51st Senate seat for the party.

Biden has had basically no role in the runoff race despite a better-than-expected midterm showing for the party last month. While former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have shown up to boost Warnock, Biden is keeping the contest at arm’s length.

The move appears to be an extension of the White House’s midterm strategy, where Biden largely did not campaign alongside House and Senate candidates in close races. Strategists argue it’s a smart play that allows Warnock to focus on local issues and comparisons with Walker, as opposed to making it a referendum on the party in power.

The president was asked Friday why he wasn’t going to Georgia to help Warnock. He responded that he’s “going to help Senator Warnock” by attending a fundraiser in Massachusetts, a Democratic stronghold, for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. There, he will also participate in a phone bank for the incumbent.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that “one of the things” the midterms demonstrated “is that it didn’t matter where the president went, his message very much resonated.”

“We made that contrast very clearly with … what Republicans in Congress were trying to do. And that worked. Right? That worked,” she said.

Democratic strategist Michael Starr Hopkins argued that the strategy to not send Biden to Georgia is wise because his presence could energize Republicans.

“The White House is smart to not nationalize the run-off. That plays into Republicans hands. Republicans are suffering from an enthusiasm gap. They know what a disaster Walker has been as a candidate. Bringing President Biden into the fold would only increase Republican turnout,” Hopkins said.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told reporters on Thursday that she’s confident in the president’s strategy for Georgia, even if it means he won’t be traveling there.

“I think the president will go wherever he’s wanted and needed,” said Lance Bottoms, White House senior adviser for public engagement.

Barack Obama, meanwhile, traveled to Georgia to campaign for Warnock at a rally on Thursday, while Michelle Obama taped robocalls urging Georgians to vote. 

The former president made headlines for mocking Walker at the rally over his recent discussion of vampires and werewolves during a campaign appearance. The former president, who said he entertained similar thoughts when he was 7, told Georgia voters that the comments “would be funny” if Walker wasn’t running to represent them in the Senate.

It was Obama’s second trip to Georgia this cycle. He also rallied for Warnock in the Peach State in October, ahead of Election Day.

Hopkins said that Obama is the best surrogate for Democrats and his star power and popularity is essential for turnout for targeted demographics.

“As President Obama showed during the midterms, he is still the most talented messenger in the Democratic Party. He’s the best surrogate to increase turnout among new voters, African Americans and suburban women. That’s the trifecta that carried Senator Warnock to victory in 2020 and the constituency that he’ll need to activate again to ensure victory,” he said.

Biden did not visit Georgia in the lead up to the Nov. 8 midterm elections or appear alongside Warnock or Stacy Abrams (D), who ultimately lost her bid to unseat Gov. Brian Kemp (R). 

Despite Kemp’s comfortable margin of victory, Warnock came within 0.6 percentage points of avoiding the runoff altogether and winning reelection outright. The senator’s margin over Walker in November was also a few thousand votes greater than Biden’s margin of victory over former President Trump in 2020, a sign that Warnock is a strong candidate unto himself.

Meanwhile, GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rick Scott (Fla.), have campaigned for Walker in recent weeks, as has Kemp.

Trump, however, has not visited Georgia during the runoff campaign and is only expected to hold a tele-rally for Walker.

Trump’s absence is particularly notable given that the former president, who recently announced a campaign to return to the White House, almost single-handedly cleared the GOP primary field for Walker to get on the ticket.

Many in the party were concerned that Trump’s 2024 campaign announcement or any visit to Georgia before the runoff would drive up Democratic turnout, particularly after Trump-backed candidates struggled in November’s elections.

Fred Hicks, a Georgia-based political strategist, said Warnock can already rely on the votes that Biden would turn out if he came to the state, so the focus for the senator is on winning over voters who are disaffected or frustrated with the White House but may still vote Democratic.

“He needs voters to get excited about him delivering for Georgia,” Hicks said. “The reality is the successful campaigns this year, like Kemp, have been all focused on Georgians. Warnock is pushing that this is not about [Vice President] Harris or [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi or Biden. This is about what I’ve done as your Georgia senator.”

Already more than 1 million votes have been cast in the runoff election ahead of election day on Tuesday, reflecting the intense focus on Georgia and the importance of the result.

A Warnock victory would give Democrats a 51-49 edge in the Senate, one extra seat over their current majority. It would be a small but significant cushion for the party and its ability to confirm judicial and administrative nominees, and it would tip the balance of Senate committees more in Democrats’ favor.

It could also provide a much-needed margin looking ahead to 2024, when several Democrats in purple or red states are up for re-election.

Democrats are optimistic about the runoff, especially coming off of momentum from the midterm election last month and with Warnock holding a slight lead over Walker in multiple polls this week. A CNN poll released on Friday showed Warnock leading Walker by 4 points.

Lance Bottoms said on Thursday she was impressed by the early turnout numbers and predicted success in the Peach State on Tuesday.

“I think it’s going to be a great night in Georgia,” she said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump loss ignites next steps for DOJ in Mar-a-Lago investigation

A federal appeals court decision has paved the way for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to use the remaining cache of unclassified records it seized at former President Trump’s home, halting the special master process and lifting an important roadblock into its investigation of the potential mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals court issued a strong repudiation this week of arguments from Trump and the lower court judge who awarded his request for a third-party review of the evidence seized from his home.

It also frees up the Department of Justice to use 22,000 pages of seized government records — an important green light that will allow investigators to review every piece of evidence in hopes of building an airtight case.

“The law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so,” the judges wrote.

It’s the latest sign that Trump’s initial success in the case is diminishing, with the three-judge panel for the court rejecting a number of arguments his legal team has offered since the August 9 search and determining even the unclassified records may be used in the department’s investigation.

The Department of Justice has made clear the classified records found at Mar-a-Lago represent the bulk of its potential case, which could include charges under the Espionage Act.  

But the thousands of records found at Mar-a-Lago that do not bear classification markings could also be important to the case. 

“One of the biggest challenges for the prosecutors in this case was always going to be establishing that Trump had personal knowledge of the fact that the classified documents were at Mar-a-Lago, and that he was personally involved in not returning them, which will go to obstruction,” Brian Greer, a former CIA attorney, told The Hill.  

“The fact that these classified documents were intermingled with unclassified documents that he was accessing, or would have been accessing, is potentially very valuable evidence demonstrating Trump’s personal knowledge,” he added.  

Previous court filings indicate that Trump’s passports were found among the documents and that the search found government records not just in a storage room, but in Trump’s personal office.  

Thursday’s ruling notes that while other personal effects listed by Trump’s team, like golf shirts and pictures of Celine Dion, may be his property, “we do not see the need for their immediate return after seizure under a presumptively lawful search warrant.” 

Even if the items are not central for building the government’s case, they could be useful in responding to possible Trump defenses. 

Greer said that could be key, as the investigation differs from other cases dealing with mishandling of national security information given that Trump is “a wealthy man who’s not necessarily involved in packing his boxes.” 

“If the classified documents were just in a storage room, in a box that wasn’t being accessed, that would be a harder case. But we know some of the documents were found in Trump’s personal office instead, and if DOJ can use the unclassified, intermingled records to show that Trump was accessing the classified documents, its case will be significantly stronger,” Greer said. 

The Department of Justice responded quickly to the 11th Circuit ruling, filing a motion in the Florida court where Trump’s challenge to the warrant initiated, asking for an extension of deadlines before the special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, given that Trump has a week to appeal the ruling before it takes effect on Dec. 8. 

While Trump’s legal team opposed the government’s motion, it did not indicate whether it plans to appeal the 11th Circuit ruling.  

Experts say it will take the government little time to parse the 22,000 pages but caution that the Department of Justice has just as much an institutional interest in winning the case as an investigative one. 

The 11th Circuit was for the second time highly critical of the decision by federal district court Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to award Trump’s request for a special master, noting that keeping it in place would represent “a dramatic and unwarranted” use of the court’s authority. 

“It set a really bad precedent, Judge Cannon’s order,” said Ankush Khardori, a former DOJ trial attorney specializing in major financial fraud. 

“If they just had this out there, every defendant or prominent defendant would try to do something similar to Trump,” he added. 

Khardori agreed that the DOJ likely viewed retaining the unclassified documents as an essential step for proceeding with its investigation, but he warned it is hardly the last domino that needs to fall for bringing charges against Trump. 

Following Trump’s announcement of a new 2024 presidential bid, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as a special counsel to oversee the Mar-a-Lago case, as well as its investigation into efforts to block the transfer of power. 

Much of the decision on charges in the Mar-a-Lago case will likely center on what sort of documents Trump was storing. 

“What is in these documents? How serious was the exposure? How significant was Trump’s retention of this material? What was in the actual documents is key to understanding the seriousness of the underlying conduct,” Khardori added. 

Despite the classification markings, Khardori said it’s still unknown to the public whether Trump left office with serious national security secrets.  

Though he said it’s unlikely, Khardori said it’s possible the documents could include classified records that are meaningless in isolation, along with other presidential records Trump may view as momentos, including letters from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  

While the case has excited many eager to see Trump prosecuted, Khardori warned that the DOJ could still decline to bring charges. 

“If it were not really terribly dangerous, then I think Jack Smith, Merrick Garland, they’re going to have to be thinking, ‘Okay, is this the kind of case that should comprise the first ever prosecution of a former president?’’ he said. 

Greer said if the Department of Justice did decide not to bring charges, it would represent a double standard. 

“It’s difficult to see DOJ walking away from this case. I just don’t see them saying, ‘No, we don’t think this case is worth charging,’ when DOJ brings several prosecutions like this against ordinary government employees every year,” he said. 

The immediate next steps for prosecutors will likely be interviewing witnesses about the documents and gathering all possible details about the national security information Trump had on hand. 

While Trump’s status as a presidential candidate has shifted the investigation to some degree — including Smith’s appointment — Khardori said the possibility of any activity coming amid an intensifying campaign season could actually slow the DOJ’s desire to bring charges. 

“They may be saying to themselves, ‘He’s running. And he may very well be in the general election. So what we need to do is put together the strongest possible case … so that if there comes a point in time where he’s charged, that the prosecution is as successful as possible,’ rather than, ‘Let’s put it together as quickly as possible,’” Khardori said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Musk's 'free speech' Twitter vision put to test by Ye

Elon Musk’s vision for a Twitter that allows any and all content was put to the test Thursday by rapper Ye’s tweet featuring a swastika. 

Musk has forged ahead with his plans to create a so-called free speech platform in the month since he took over Twitter as part of a $44 billion acquisition — removing the COVID-19 misinformation policy, cutting key staff and replatforming banned accounts. But his decision to suspend Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, highlights the tightrope Musk is walking between appeasing his supporters who welcome his “free speech” vision and running a viable social media site. 

“I think [Musk] saw a moment to try and work the room to say, ‘look what I did. I stopped the swastika,’” said Angelo Carusone, president and CEO of the left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters for America. 

The decision was made in an ad hoc manner and with special treatment for Ye, Carusone said. Before he was suspended, Ye tweeted a screenshot with a text from Musk saying, “Sorry, but you have gone too far. This is not love.” 

“This isn’t a system-wide thing and it doesn’t change the fact that there’s no policy framework in place or enforcement mechanism on cracking down on this type of hate,” Carusone said. 

Now, Musk is facing backlash from both his critics and his supporters. Twitter users who back his plans for minimal content moderation blasted him for suspending Ye and giving into the “woke mob.” At the same time, critics pressing Musk to reinstate Twitter’s content moderation policies said the seemingly ad hoc decision regarding the single celebrity doesn’t counteract the fact that other right-wing extremists are able to use the platform to organize and spread hate. 

“This isn’t really about Elon Musk or Kanye West. This is about a system that’s not being properly managed,” said Jessica González, co-CEO of the advocacy group Free Press. 

“Was it right for him to suspend Kanye West? Yes, but it shouldn’t take a swastika for us to get there,” she added. 

Less than three weeks after Musk reinstated Ye’s account, which was banned under Twitter’s previous leadership after Ye posted other antisemitic messages, the rapper tested the bounds of what he could now say under Musk’s rule. The limit appeared to come in the form of tweeting a swastika, following an antisemitic rant Ye went on during an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

“We need a comprehensive system that’s enforced across the board, across languages, across regions — and these ad hoc decisions, while I do think this is the right decision, it gives me no peace of mind because I don’t see rules being applied across the board,” González said.  

Musk told a user who pleaded with him to “FIX KANYE PLEASE,” that he “tried [his] best,” but Ye “again violated our rule against incitement to violence” and his account will be suspended.

Ye’s suspension, though, doesn’t appear to be representative of how Twitter is handling other hate speech, based on data compiled by advocacy groups that shows its rising prevalence on the platform since Musk became CEO.

Musk said that impressions on hate speech on Twitter decreased since he took over the company at the end of October. He tweeted a graph Friday illustrating the supposed decrease, similar to one he tweeted in mid-November showing the dip. But the graph, and Musk’s tweet, lacks information about the data or analysis Twitter used to reach that conclusion. 

The Hill reached out to Twitter for comment. 

The Center For Countering Digital Hate said research compiled using data from Brandwatch found that in fact hate speech increased on Twitter under Musk’s leadership. In the week leading up to Musk’s first tweet of the graph showing the supposed decrease in impressions with hate speech, the center found triple the rate of tweets using the “N” word compared to the month before Musk’s takeover, and an increase of up to 31 percent for other derogatory terms aimed at Jewish people and members of the LGBTQ community. 

The Anti-Defamation League also found an increase in antisemitic content on Twitter and a decrease in the moderation of antisemitic posts since Musk’s takeover.

Carusone said Musk’s suspension on Ye is an example of exactly the kind of behavior Musk and his supporters were critical of: a seemingly arbitrary decision made on one account. 

Carusone said Musk is trying to use this one example of action taken as he tries to court advertisers back onto Twitter, especially since the decision came after Ye’s Infowars interview, during which the rapper praised Hitler and Nazis, among a number of other antisemitic comments.

“[Musk] knows the spotlight is on him, he’s trying to think about revenue, and so what does he do? He takes the moment … he gets to get out there and take this action,” Carusone said. 

Musk appeared to brush off the criticism Friday, arguing that the backlash from opposite sides indicates the suspension is a sign of Twitter “being fair.”

“You know Twitter is being fair when extremists on far right and far left are simultaneously upset!,” he tweeted. 

But he’s still facing an exodus of advertisers, which have historically made up the vast majority of Twitter’s revenue. Since Musk took over the company, half of Twitter’s top advertisers appear to have halted their activity on the platform, according to a Media Matters report published last week. 

Media Matters and Free Press are among a coalition of advocacy groups leading a campaign urging advertisers to halt ads on Twitter based on changes Musk made. 

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Twitter is offering advertisers incentives to increase their spending, including offers to match spending with a 100 percent value for those who book at least $500,000 in incremental spending.

“I think the pressure he is feeling is demonstrated by the dramatic action that Twitter is taking simultaneous to this with advertisers,” Carusone said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Here's where Trump's GOP rivals stand on potential 2024 bids

Former President Trump kicked off the 2024 presidential election campaign season when he became the first major candidate to announce a White House bid just a week after the midterm elections.

Trump has been the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party since he was first elected president in 2016, but he has garnered blame from many opponents and allies for the party’s disappointing performance in the midterms.

Several noteworthy Republicans have hinted that they are considering running for president in the aftermath of the midterms and indicated a willingness to oppose Trump.

Here’s where other potential Republican 2024 presidential candidates stand in their possible White House bids.

Liz Cheney

Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) emerged as one of the top GOP critics of Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection and has served as the vice chairwoman of the House select committee investigating the attack and the former president’s role in it.

Cheney said after she lost her primary race to a Trump-backed challenger in August that she was “thinking about” running for president. She told Politico in an interview that she hadn’t decided whether her run would be in a Republican primary or as an Independent.

The outgoing congresswoman said at The Washington Post’s Global Woman’s Summit last month that she is “confident” Trump will never be president again. She said in September that she will not remain in the party if Trump wins the Republican nomination.

Chris Christie

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was a Trump ally during the 2016 and 2020 elections but split with him after the end of the 2020 race and has become increasingly vocal about his opposition to Trump, most recently blaming the former president for the GOP’s performance in the midterms.

His recent remarks come after many Trump-backed candidates who were considered weaker general election choices lost in key races. Their defeats led to Democrats holding onto their majority in the Senate and Republicans only winning narrow control of the House.

Christie said during an appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher” in October that he was not ruling out running for president a second time, his first being in 2016. He said at the time that he wanted to see what happens in the midterms to determine if a non-Trump candidate can win the nomination.

Ted Cruz

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was a chief opponent of Trump during the Republican primaries in 2016 but emerged as one of his closest allies in the Senate during his administration. However, Cruz has hinted that he will consider a challenge to Trump in 2024.

He said at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual meeting last month that he is running for a third term to the Senate in 2024 but punted on the question of whether he should be considered a possible presidential candidate, saying there will be “plenty of time” to discuss the election.

Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has consistently placed in second in hypothetical GOP primary polls throughout this year, but polling since the midterms has shown him closing the gap with Trump even further — or in some cases leading.

DeSantis led Trump in polls in head-to-head matchups of four key states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida and Georgia — last month. And his support rose 11 points in a Harvard CAPS-Harris national poll last month from one taken the prior month, though Trump still led by double digits.

Analysts have pointed to the Florida governor as a big winner of the midterms, as he easily glided to victory in his reelection bid by 20 points, and Republicans in the state performed well up and down the ballot.

DeSantis himself has remained mostly quiet on any potential presidential ambitions and has avoided direct confrontations with Trump. But he criticized the Republican Party’s “huge underperformance” in the midterms and pointed to Florida as showing the party “how it’s done” at a press conference on Thursday.

He’s also set to release a memoir in late February entitled “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival,” which will be about his formative years and time serving in the military and the government. Book releases have often accompanied candidates announcing presidential runs.

Nikki Haley

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley initially said that she would not run for the presidency if Trump made a third bid for the White House. But she has changed her tune since the midterms.

She said at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting last month that she will look at running “in a serious way” now that the midterms are over.

“But I’ve never lost an election,” she added. “And I’m not gonna start now.”

Haley, who also previously served as governor of South Carolina, said at an event at Clemson University earlier this week that she will take time during the holidays to look at the “situation.”

Larry Hogan

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has been a vocal Republican critic of Trump since the former president launched his first White House run, refusing to vote for him in 2016 and considering a primary challenge to him in 2020.

Hogan did not deny a characterization that he was a rumored 2024 contender during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” last month, saying he thinks the “lane is much wider now” than it was weeks earlier.

Hogan, a moderate Republican who easily won the governorship in a solidly blue state, said the GOP needs to widen its appeal “like I’ve done in Maryland.”

Asa Hutchinson

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has called on the GOP to move on from the “Trump era” and said that the party needs more voices of “reality” in the aftermath of the midterms. He said he supports criticism that Trump has received from onetime allies following the election.

Hutchinson said in an interview on “CNN This Morning” last month that he is “very seriously” looking at running, saying he is planning to decide in January. He said he does not think Trump could win in a Republican primary since he is a “known quantity” spreading “chaos.”

“I’m encouraged that a governor who’s actually solved problems, who has a conservative, commonsense approach, can draw support and can be a good alternative,” Hutchinson said.

Mike Pence

Trump has sharply criticized former Vice President Mike Pence since his refusal to go along with the former president’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Pence has been critical of Trump’s role in the insurrection and has made several notable public appearances ahead of a rumored presidential run.

He traveled to early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire to campaign with Republican candidates ahead of the midterms and has given speeches outlining his vision for the party.

He said “there might be somebody else I prefer more” when asked, at a Georgetown University event in October, if he would vote for Trump again.

Pence said in an interview with ABC’s David Muir after the midterms that he expects “better choices” than Trump for the GOP nomination in the future and also met with CNN’s Jake Tapper for a town hall to promote his new book.

Mike Pompeo

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remained loyal to Trump throughout his presidency but has indicated an interest in running despite the former president’s own plans.

Pompeo told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on the day that Trump announced his candidacy that the announcement wouldn’t affect his own decisionmaking about whether to run. He called for “more seriousness” and “less noise” in the party.

“We need leaders that are looking forward, not staring in the rearview mirror claiming victimhood,” he said.

Pompeo tweeted after Trump’s announcement that the GOP is “tired of losing” despite Trump’s claims that it would become “tired of winning.” His tweet came ahead of his appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, where many rumored GOP presidential candidates made remarks.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump calls for ‘termination’ of election rules in Constitution to overturn 2020 election

Former President Trump called for the termination of the Constitution’s rules regarding elections to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election following the release of more detailed information about Twitter’s role in suppressing a story about Hunter Biden. 

“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. 

“Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!” he continued. 

Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates disagreed with this call to terminate Constitutional rules, saying, “Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned.”

“The Constitution brings the American people together — regardless of party — and elected leaders swear to uphold it. It’s the ultimate monument to all of the Americans who have given their lives to defeat self-serving despots that abused their power and trampled on fundamental rights,” Bates said.

Trump’s post comes after the first of the “Twitter files” on “free speech suppression” were posted on Twitter on Friday. The posts focused on the controversy surrounding President Biden’s son Hunter Biden and Twitter’s reaction limiting the spread of posts about it. 

The New York Post published a story in October 2020, less than a month before Election Day, alleging that Hunter Biden used his influence to connect a Ukrainian businessman with his father while he was serving as vice president. 

A laptop that allegedly was dropped off at a Delaware computer repair shop included evidence demonstrating Hunter Biden’s actions, former Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the Post. 

There were widespread concerns about the authenticity of the laptop’s contents at the time, and Twitter took steps to block users from sharing the link to the story on its platform. 

The Federal Election Commission ruled last year that Twitter did not break any election laws when it blocked users from sharing links to the story, saying that it was for a valid commercial reason and not a political one. 

Major news organizations were later able to verify some of the emails on the laptop. 

Trump said the revelations show “MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION” from Big Tech, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party, asking if the 2020 election results should be thrown out and he should be declared the winner or if a new election should be held. 

The posts on Twitter’s response to the Hunter Biden story do not show evidence of a widespread conspiracy to limit the content but some chaos, confusion and disagreement among Twitter employees about the platform’s reasoning for censoring it.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates responded to Trump’s comments on Saturday by say that “attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned.”

“You cannot only love America when you win,” Bates told The Hill.

Updated 12/4/2022 at 6:15 a.m.

Source: TEST FEED1

Taking on the elite becomes go-to brand for DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) loves to despise “the elite.”  

In speeches, remarks at news conferences and even in an op-ed he penned in The Wall Street Journal last year, his message has been the same: “Don’t trust the elites.” 

“We rejected the elites and we were right,” the governor said to a crowd attending the National Conservatism Conference in September, referring to how he bucked the system and railed against everyone from public health experts to government officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Even Republicans acknowledge that the 44-year-old DeSantis — who attended Yale University and Harvard Law School and served half a dozen years as a congressman — could be seen as a member of the elite itself.  

Yet like other Republicans — including former President Trump — rallying against the elite has become a major part of his political brand, his strategy and his blueprint for others in his party.  

“All of this anti-elitist stuff … he’s the first person to tell you where he went to school,” one top Republican strategist said of DeSantis’s tack. “It’s the performance art, when you know better. When you’re really smart and you act dumb.“

“He’s playing a role, but it’s a role the base says it wants,” the strategist added.  

The strategist and other political observers say the approach is working for DeSantis and parallels rhetoric used by Trump, who could end up being his rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.  

Trump is already in the race, and many Republicans see DeSantis as the strongest potential opponent against him in the primary.  

The former president, a wealthy New Yorker who was born into a well-heeled family and spent much of his adult life living on Fifth Avenue, won the 2016 election as a champion for the everyman.  

All that said, some Republicans say DeSantis’s story is quite a bit different from his would-be rival’s.  

“He came from a working-class family and used baseball to get a scholarship to an Ivy League university,” said Republican strategist John Feehery, an opinion contributor for The Hill, said of DeSantis. “A true rags-to-riches story, which is incredibly powerful.” 

“One of the truly exceptional things about America is you can work hard and no matter how rich or poor your family may be, you can possibly be president one day,” Feehery added.  

Tobe Berkovitz, a professor emeritus at Boston University who worked as a political media consultant, noted that a number of previous presidents from both parties have elite status when it comes to where they were educated.  

“Where did Obama go to college? Law school? Clinton?” he asked of the former Democratic presidents. “I rest DeSantis’s case.“  

Obama went to Columbia University and then Harvard Law School. Clinton attended Georgetown University and later graduated from Yale Law School. 

“It’s not your real background but how you portray yourself,” Berkovitz continued, adding that DeSantis can position himself as a “fighter for the ordinary families.”  

That’s what DeSantis has sought to do during his time as governor, and he’s unapologetic to establishment-types who stand in his way. 

Last year, for example, the governor pushed a controversial bill — later signed into law — that would regulate how businesses and classrooms handle discussions about critical race theory.  

“Nobody wants this crap,” DeSantis said last year as he lobbied for the legislation. “This is an elite-driven phenomenon being driven by bureaucratic elites, elites in universities and elites in corporate America. And they’re trying to shove it down the throats of the American people. You’re not doing that in the state of Florida.” 

DeSantis’s star is rising, political observers say. Last month, he was able to win reelection by a high margin — 20 points — over Democrat Charlie Crist.  

Since then, polls have shown him closing the gap with Trump as the favored candidate for the GOP nomination in 2024.  

A Club for Growth survey last month showed DeSantis beating the former president in several early primary states, including Iowa and New Hampshire.  

“It seems like he’s figured out the secret sauce — at least for now,” a second Republican strategist acknowledged. “In politics, you need a strong message, and he has one. The us-against-the-world message is working well for him. The rest of our party still has to figure that out.”  

Republicans have been doing some soul-searching on what went wrong for their party during the midterm elections. Asked this week for his thoughts, DeSantis pointed to a “huge underperformance” by Republicans across the country and said his state showed the party “how it’s done.” 

“I think what we’ve done in Florida is we’ve shown that we’ve exercised leadership, we’ve not kowtowed, we’ve been willing to take on big interests … but producing results,” the governor said Thursday at a press conference in Miami. “And so that ends up attracting more people to want to be on your team.”  

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden triggers Democratic battle with primary vote 

President Biden’s push to elevate South Carolina in the early primary calendar set off a fight this week between Democrats pleased with the changes and those seeking to protect their early voting status.

The Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) rules panel approved a shake-up to the schedule on Friday afternoon that would oust Iowa as the first caucus state in the presidential election cycle and replace it with South Carolina. 

After the Palmetto State, voters in Nevada and New Hampshire would head to the polls on the same day, followed by Georgia and subsequently Michigan.

The vote came after calls to replace the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary had escalated from lawmakers, party leaders and operatives who had pushed for more diversity to set the tone of the nominating contest.  

“Clearly we were disappointed,” Rep. Ann Kuster (D-N.H.) told reporters on Friday. “The New Hampshire delegation made our case to the White House for keeping our first-in-the-nation status.” 

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) was more explicit.  

“I strongly oppose the President’s deeply misguided proposal for changes to the primary calendar,” Hassan wrote on Friday in series of posts on Twitter before the vote. “Make no mistake, New Hampshire’s law is clear and our primary will continue to be First in the Nation.” 

The DNC has yet to formally adopt the new schedule, but is expected to decide in 2023 at a larger meeting.

On paper, Iowa and New Hampshire, which have voted first and second for decades, are strikingly similar. They are both small and rural with largely white populations, a composition that created tensions among Democrats in other states who say they create a skewed vision of who should be nominated.  

Biden leaned into that argument this week, presenting a case for more diversity in the party’s primary calendar.  

“It is time to stop taking these voters for granted, and time to give them a louder and earlier voice in the process,” Biden wrote in a letter to the Democratic National Committee. 

While Democrats in the first two states agree with the idea of giving more prominence to voters of color, some are simultaneously frustrated about likely losing their coveted status.   

“I really hope it doesn’t happen,” said JoAnn Parmer Hardy, a lifelong Iowan and Democratic county party chair from Mason City. “I don’t care if they change the caucus. I just love the date.” 

In Iowa, things have been contentious for some time. The Hawkeye State, which has voted first for 50 years, was downgraded in many Democrats’ minds after a tech screw-up meant to make it easier to vote caused a confusing scene and sowed distrust in the process on caucus day in 2020, prompting broader questions about the setup. 

Biden explicitly said that he wants to do away with the caucus process in his letter to the DNC.  

“Our party should no longer allow caucuses as part of our nominating process,” he wrote, adding that “it should be our party’s goal to rid the nominating process of restrictive, anti-worker caucuses.” 

Hardy agrees the process needs work, calling it “unwieldy.” But she doesn’t believe the date should be reordered.

“I hate caucuses,” she said. “But I love the calendar.”  

A substantial bump off the first month of voting would change the nature of grassroots organizing, Hardy suggested, where local activists and workers spend a year in advance of the event and Democrats work with volunteers to raise money and help promote more marginal contenders. 

“We’ll watch the news, but we won’t get to meet the candidates,” she said. “We study up on the issues and we ask them good questions. We’ll really miss that.” 

The anxiety from Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats played out as South Carolina lawmakers and party operatives, meanwhile, were expressing their excitement. 

“This is a huge step,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist based in Columbia, S.C., and close ally of Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who delivered Biden a significant endorsement at a critical moment before South Carolinians cast their ballots in 2020. 

“Being in the early window is important, but being first sends a strong message about how much the president thinks of the most loyal and consistent voting bloc in our party, and that’s Black voters,” Seawright said. “It’s a recommendation from the president.”  

South Carolina holds a special fondness and electoral importance to Biden. He won the state handily during the last Democratic presidential primary and the victory effectively turbocharged his campaign, which had been lagging after poor performances in Iowa and New Hampshire.  

Democrats who support the move said that changing the lineup would show that the party intends to do more than court Black voters during election time and will give something back to the base that has been critical to Democrats’ successes at the ballot box. 

“It sends a message that South Carolina has proven to be a political laboratory to test a candidate’s message, to test their ability to navigate the geographic terrain,” said Seawright.  

The enthusiasm for broader representation is not confined to the Southern contest. Even some Democrats who have spent time in smaller rural states are acknowledging that the party needs to promote more diverse places first.  

“If you’ve worked in New Hampshire, a lot of the voters on the ground would always ask candidates how are they going to resonate with people of color?” said Michael Ceraso, who was a state director in New Hampshire for 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and also helped Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) there. “This is the way they do that,” he said, backing the South Carolina-first pitch. 

“If you’re a candidate running for president … instead of having to run for office in predominantly white communities, you’re now going to create a campaign strategy to focus and target your policies with voters who are often overlooked and marginalized, but are also critical to you winning or losing a presidential primary,” he said. 

Michigan was also affected by the rules committee’s reshuffle. It is now poised to hold the fifth primary.

The state is among Democrats’ most crucial for the general election. Biden captured it by less than 3 percent in 2020, and in November Democrats turned the state legislature blue, a show of force that caught the attention of national operatives.  

Michigan Democrats were elated at the prospect of moving up. 

“He knows that any road to the White House goes through the heartland of America,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said on Capitol Hill about Biden. “We fought for years that no one state should have a lock on going first.” 

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said she wasn’t aware of how the president came to his decision, but remained optimistic for her own state’s chances for a better position. 

“We’re just happy to be in the first handful,” she said.

Source: TEST FEED1