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Trump nips Biden in New York Times poll among likely voters

Former President Trump leads President Biden by 1 point in a hypothetical rematch, according to a New York Times-Siena College poll published Monday.

Trump leads Biden, 45 to 44 percent, when likely voters were asked whom they would support if the 2024 presidential election were held today.

That’s roughly in line with previous polling showing Trump leading Biden, Vice President Harris and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in hypothetical match-ups.

Other polls have been more favorable for Biden, including a Yahoo News-YouGov poll last month that had Biden leading Trump by 6 points.

Last week, Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he “can beat Donald Trump again” and in the past he has said he would welcome a rematch with Trump, whom he defeated with a historic amount of votes in the 2020 election.

Biden and the White House have repeatedly said the president intends to seek reelection, but have stopped short of a definitive announcement. Trump has flirted with a 2024 run and said his mind was made up but has not announced his candidacy.

The New York Times-Siena College poll also shows Biden’s approval ratings are underwater, even after the president had climbed higher in other polls.

In the new poll, just 39 percent approve of how Biden is handling his job, which comes as inflation remains at a 40-year high and accelerated in September.

Meanwhile, about 43 percent of likely voters currently have a favorable opinion of Trump, according to the poll, compared to 52 percent who have an unfavorable opinion.

The New York Times-Siena College poll was conducted from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12 among 792 registered voters. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.

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McCarthy says if he doesn’t win Speakership, it’s ‘not God’s plan’

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is expressing extreme confidence in his chances of becoming Speaker next year if Republicans win control of the House in the midterm elections, suggesting that divine intervention is the only thing that can keep him from the gavel. 

McCarthy said in an interview with Punchbowl News published Monday that he believes he can win the votes of the House Republican Conference no matter how large a GOP majority is, that the prospect of losing does not keep him up at night, and that if he doesn’t win, it wasn’t in “God’s plan.”

“I think I can win with any seat majority,” McCarthy said. “If I’m even up for Speaker, that means we won seats. I’ve been [the top House Republican for] two cycles. I’ve never lost seats, I’ve only won.”

Republican insiders privately muse that McCarthy could have a harder time winning a Speakership vote if Republicans gain only a slim majority.

The GOP leader predicted last year that his party could flip as many as 60 seats, but Republicans have since publicly tempered expectations. It is typical for at least a handful of members to vote against their party’s ultimate pick for Speaker.

But McCarthy has not faced any serious internal challenge to his Speakership ambitions, based in part on his embrace of the confrontational right wing of the House Republican Conference that previously clashed with former GOP Speakers John Boehner (Ohio) and Paul Ryan (Wis.) before they left Congress.

“If I’m not going to be acceptable to the body having that scenario this time, no one’s acceptable,” McCarthy said. “I don’t worry about it at night. I don’t worry about the attacks. I’m sure the attacks will come, they want to demonize.”

McCarthy said that if he does not win the Speakership next year, it is “not God’s plan for me to be speaker.”

The GOP leader also told Punchbowl that he would like at least a 10-seat majority, which would mean gaining at least 15 seats, in order to account for various issues like unexpected deaths in the House.

He said it would be “a little hard” to win the Speakership for a second time in 2025 if Republicans hold on to the House but their majority shrinks.

“When you study Speakers who take it from the minority to the majority, they’re not long-lasting Speakers,” McCarthy said. “What happens in it, you become a household name. And you just take all these arrows. So you’re the guy running up the hill with the flag, it’s always the person behind you that wants to pick it up after you’ve been shot. They never had to go through the war, they just get to hold onto the flag.”

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Justice wants six-month jail sentence for Steve Bannon

The Justice Department is calling for one-time White House strategist Steve Bannon to serve six months of jail time and pay a $200,000 fine for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The recommendation comes ahead of a Friday sentencing hearing for Bannon, who was among the first four people to be subpoenaed by the panel, claiming executive privilege barred him from testifying before the panel despite their interest in actions he took well after his short stint in the White House.

A $200,000 fine is the maximum for the two counts of contempt of Congress – one for refusing to testify, and the other for refusing to produce any of the documents requested in the deposition. 

Bannon was subpoenaed by the panel in September of last year, with the full House voting to hold him in contempt roughly a month later.

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Republicans hold new polling advantage for taking back Congress: NYT poll

Republicans hold a 4-point advantage over Democrats with the midterm elections less than a month away, according to a New York Times-Siena College poll published Monday.

About 49 percent of likely voters said they would back the GOP nominee, while 45 percent said they would support a Democratic candidate.

The figures are rounded; when the unrounded figures are used, the GOP holds closer to a 3-point edge at 48.51 percent to 45.47 percent.

This is a shift since September, when the Times poll found Democrats holding a slim 1-point edge over Republicans among likely voters.

But it is in line with several other polls suggesting Republicans have regained a lead over Democrats, who appear to be losing ground after a surge of support following the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in June overturning abortion rights.

A CNN poll last week showed Republicans led Democrats 48 percent to 43 percent.

Inflation and the economy are hurting President Biden and Democrats. They remain the top concern for voters this election cycle, and last week the Labor Department showed inflation accelerated once again in September and remains at a 40-year high.

Twenty-six percent of likely voters list the economy as a the top concern, the highest on the list, according to the New York Times-Siena College poll.

Another 18 percent list inflation as a top concern, while just 5 percent list abortion as a top issue.

The poll also has Biden’s job approval rating down to 39 percent, lower than recent polls showing he had gained some ground with voters.

About 24 percent of likely voters said the country is on the right track, while 64 percent said it’s headed in the wrong direction, according to the poll.

The New York Times-Siena College poll was conducted from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12 among 792 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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GOP sees parents' rights as sleeper issue in midterms

Republicans are seizing on the issue of parents’ rights ahead of November, arguing it could swing key Senate and House races toward their party and help them win back power in Congress. 

The descriptor covers an array of issues that bubbled to the forefront after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but broadly argues in favor of giving parents a say in their children’s education, including where they attend school, what they are taught and how LGBTQ issues are discussed.

“Parents want education, not indoctrination, and we should expect this movement to have a major impact in the midterm elections. This is one of many issues causing voters to support conservatives — the same people who care about education care about others like inflation and crime,” Jessica Anderson, executive director of the conservative group Heritage Action, said in a statement to The Hill. 

Republicans believe Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) victory last year provides a blueprint for how the issue can propel GOP candidates to success. Youngkin capitalized on frustration over mask mandates and remote learning even after vaccines were widely available, as well as the handling of LGBTQ issues in the classroom, in his campaign to defeat former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D).

Republicans believe many of those same issues apply to parents across the country and that they can convince voters that Democrats are a party that overreaches and makes decisions that are better left to parents.

“Whether it’s unscientific lockdowns and mask mandates, destructive ideologies, or an open border that’s allowing ‘rainbow’ fentanyl targeting children to pour into our country, Democrats consistently put their special interests first, and our kids suffer for it,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote in an op-ed earlier this month for Newsmax.

Republicans this week seized on legislation put forward by a Virginia state delegate that would make it a crime for parents to not affirm their child’s gender identity. The delegate, Elizabeth Guzman, recently campaigned with Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), who is in one of the most closely contested House races on the ballot this November.

“Abigail Spanberger is campaigning with woke radicals that don’t believe in parental rights and want parents jailed because Spanberger agrees with these insane policies,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Camille Gallo said in a statement.

Strategists largely agree that the midterms will turn on voters’ views on the economy, with much of the focus on the cost of gas, groceries and other goods. Abortion rights will also likely be a major factor in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and some Republicans subsequently pushing for national restrictions on when women can get the procedure.

But parents’ rights are an issue many voters feel strongly about, according to Republican strategists and grassroots activists, and lawmakers have been publicly discussing the topic for months.

House Republicans last November released a proposed “Parents Bill of Rights” that calls for parents to know what is being taught at their kids’ schools, to be aware of budgeting decisions in school districts and to be able to protect their child’s privacy. Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), a member of House GOP leadership, promoted the proposal on Twitter as recently as last week.

Heritage Action conducted polling in early September of 1,900 likely voters in Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire, Nevada and Wisconsin — five battleground states that will likely determine control of the Senate that also have key House races.

The poll found that roughly one-third of voters listed something other than the economy, inflation or abortion as the most important issue to them heading into November. It also found voters in those states overwhelmingly agreeing with Republicans on the issue of “age-appropriate schooling.”

Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed, including 71 percent of independents, said public schools should not be teaching children younger than the fourth-grade level about sex, sexual preferences or gender identity, and that it should instead be left up to parents to discuss those topics.

“Education and parents’ rights is an important issue this election, just as it was in Virginia last year, and Republican candidates will be victorious, just ask Terry McAuliffe,” Danielle Alvarez, communications director for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement.

Democratic leaders have argued it is Republicans who are overreaching on these issues, specifically those dealing with LGBTQ issues in the classroom. They have condemned legislation passed in Florida that prohibits the discussion of sexual orientation in the classroom as an attack on transgender youth who are already at risk.

“Look, our thinking is we are going to focus on the here and now. We’re going to focus on the wins that we have been able to make for the American people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last month when asked about the GOP’s proposed agenda, including a parents’ bill of rights.

There are already signs the issue will linger beyond the midterms and into the 2024 race.

Youngkin is viewed as a possible under-the-radar candidate to run for president, and he has delivered on many of his campaign promises focused on education and parents’ rights.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has for years championed expanded school choice initiatives, and he traveled to Arizona last week to speak about that very issue with outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey (R).

And former President Trump sought to nationalize the issue during the 2020 election when he railed against the teaching of critical race theory and sought to promote “patriotic education.”

“One of the first things that we must do when we have Congress and the White house is stand up for parents’ rights,” Trump said earlier this month in Miami. “Can you imagine 10 or 15 years ago trying to say, ‘We have to stand up for parents’ rights’? I mean, parents’ rights are under attack.”

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Juan Williams: Kanye West and Herschel Walker are puppets for Trump

The rapper and the Senate candidate each, in their way, offer up a ridiculous caricature of Black conservatism.

Fox News viewers tell me I’m a Black liberal.

A lot of people who know me personally, tell me I’m a Black conservative, citing the fact that I work for Fox News, my church-going and my long marriage. 

I’ll give both sides this much:

I am a Black Democrat with some conservative views. And I am always happy to defend the value of Black conservatism in American history. 

To my eyes as a civil rights historian, Booker T. Washington and other Black conservatives did well to advocate Black self-help, for creating Black business, supporting Black churches, and celebrating the Black family.

So, it hurt last week when the mantle of Black conservatism was claimed and then degraded by the rapper Kanye West, who now calls himself “Ye.” 

First, he claimed to be thinking for himself by appearing at a Paris fashion show wearing a shirt that read: “White Lives Matter.”

No, he thoughtlessly used the shirt to call attention to himself while undermining the power of the words “Black Lives Matter.”

At a moment when Black Americans are responding to rising white supremacy with a powerful message — Black Lives Matter— he faked being an independent or conservative thinker to escape responsibility for being offensive. 

This is the same man who years earlier, again without thought, called for the repeal of the 13^th Amendment ending slavery. He has also argued that Black people bear responsibility for slavery because it lasted so long.  

Then, in a second act of hate, while again pretending to defy orthodox thinking, he unleashed an anti-Semitic Tweet.

He suggested that fellow rapper Sean “P Diddy” Combs is under the control of Jews. He then Tweeted that he was “going Death [sic] Con 3” on “Jewish people.”

Ye’s despicable behavior came as another Black man tried to hide by disguising himself as a Black conservative.

Herschel Walker, the Black GOP senate nominee in Georgia, said he is being unfairly attacked for his conservatism. In fact, it is the women and children in his life who are pointing to his hypocrisy.

He says he is running as an opponent of abortion, a Christian and family values candidate. But his family, not his political rivals, are telling reporters he paid a woman to have an abortion, failed to raise children he had with several women, and even held a gun to the head of his former wife.  

There is a cruel hand chaining the rapper and the football player together as they pretend to be Black conservatives.

They are puppets for former President Trump.

They are useful distractions from Trump’s record of racism by entertaining Trump’s followers as Black faces who insult and mock other Black people.

In my book, “What the Hell Do You Have to Lose? Trump’s War on Civil Rights,” I chronicled the damage Trump has done to race relations.

His awful record on race includes damaging the noble tradition of Black conservatism.

Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah called out Trump’s exploitation of West and Walker.

“Especially in our MAGA era, anti-Blackness and misogyny are profitable in America, especially if you’re a rich and famous man of any color,” she wrote.

“West will get the publicity, the outrage clicks, a spot in the news cycle… In Walker’s case, he got the MAGA-activating endorsement of Trump. And he’s getting even more cash and support from other Republicans.”

Attiah concluded that because “our culture rewards anti-Blackness and misogyny, we will be sure to see more Wests and Walkers.”

Real Black conservatives are nothing like that.

Thinking back to the best of Black conservatives in recent history, I have reverence for the late Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Transportation William T. Coleman. 

These days I have strong disagreements with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. But he was once a Malcolm X acolyte, an admirer of the Black Panthers, looking for new solutions to advance Black America.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson are Black conservatives with records of success who are models of Black achievement. 

Too often Black progressives and white media elites are suspicious of Black conservatives for rejecting the mainstream Black approach to advancement.  

Yes, it is true that Blacks vote for Democrats roughly 90 percent of the time — but that does not mean we all think alike.

But West and Walker are not coming up with new ideas outside the canon of mainstream strategies to help Black Americans. What they are doing is making money with a clownish act, a masquerade that perverts and distorts Black conservatism.

For years, I have been critical of liberals who demean conservative Black intellectuals as sellouts. Frankly, it is condescending for liberals in the media and academia to dismiss brilliant Black conservatives with different views — people like Thomas Sowell.  

But Trump’s Black provocateurs cannot escape history’s judgment that they are cashing in by dancing to the former president’s hateful, authoritarian tunes.

All their fame can’t hide them from the scorn of people who see them as useful idiots for Trump, Ultra-MAGA ethno-nationalists, and corporate interests throwing around media distractions while they take the money and run.

They do not represent Black conservatism. It is time for Black conservatives of every stripe to call them out.

Who will join me?

Juan Williams is an author, and a political analyst for Fox News Channel.

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Skyrocketing inflation is raising mortgages, putting first homes out of reach

A new report showing inflation rising again in September is just the latest bad news for new homebuyers, who are increasingly seeing the cost of a first home pushed out of their reach. 

The latest news puts lenders, already on edge amid a grim economic outlook, on high alert as they look to further cut costs and avoid mortgages that might end up in delinquency. 

As a result, buyers are going to find it increasingly difficult to obtain a loan that enables them to purchase a quality home amid sky-high prices and mortgage rates. 

Buying a home in January 2021 required roughly 19 percent of the median household income to afford the average home, Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research at the data analytics company Black Knight told The Hill. 

“Today, with 30-year rates nearing 7 percent, it requires 39 percent —more than twice the share —of that same median household’s income to make the mortgage payment on that same average home purchase,” Walden said in an email. “That’s simply made it unaffordable for many potential buyers, significantly shrinking the pool of potential buyers in the market.” 

The Consumer Price Index released from the Labor Department Thursday found that inflation increased in September by 0.4 percent and 8.2 percent over the past 12 months. 

The latest report will most likely result in added pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates once more, and its trickle-down effect could lead to higher mortgage rates. 

Rates are already at a 16-year high, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate jumping to nearly 7 percent last week, more than doubling the rate from a year ago, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). 

The Federal Reserve’s battle with inflation resulted in several big rate hikes over the summer, which had already cooled the housing market substantially after a two-year pandemic-fueled boom. 

Mortgage credit availability fell for the seventh consecutive month to its lowest point since 2013 last month. A decline in the index means credit standards are tightening, while an increase would indicate loosening credit. 

“With the likelihood of a weakening economy, which would lead to an increase in delinquencies, there was a smaller appetite for lower credit score and high LTV [loan-to-value] loan programs, along with a reduction in government streamline refinance programs,” Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said in a statement earlier this week. 

Rising interest rates have also led to a decline in applications for both new mortgage and refinancing options. Mortgage applications decreased by 2 percent from the previous week, according to data released Wednesday by MBA. Applications fell by 39 percent from the same point last year. 

Although the Fed’s rate hikes have actually brought home prices down in recent weeks, the average home value is up by more than 14 percent from a year earlier at $357,810, according to the real estate company Zillow. 

And lower prices won’t help first-time home buyers a ton when their monthly mortgage rate is jumping higher. 

The total monthly cost for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 6.81 percent would be approximately $2,465 if the buyer can secure a down payment of $71,562, according to Zillow’s mortgage calculator. 

These heightened costs, along with the prospect of a weakening economy, are adding pressure on both lenders and buyers.

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Typically, lenders evaluate an applicant’s three Cs, Jason Sharon, owner and broker at Home Loans Inc, told The Hill. 

These stand for capacity, character, and collateral, or if the person has the income to withstand the new debt, has a sufficient credit score, and if the property the buyer is aiming to purchase is worth what they are looking to borrow. 

Sharon said the biggest stress in the current market is a buyer’s capacity to carry the new debt. Interest rates and home prices have made monthly payments so high that even a borrower who would qualify for a home loan under normal economic circumstances could now exceed the allowed monthly debt-to-income ratio. 

“The stress in today’s market is ‘monthly payment,’ which is part of the debt-to-income ratio. With the recent jump in rates combined with the 2-year run on housing price increases, many people have been priced out of the market completely or what they now qualify for does not meet their needs [or] desires,” Sharon said in an email. 

Ira Rheingold, executive director at the National Association of Consumer Advocates, generally agreed with Sharon, although he said he has not seen a tightening in lending standards.   

“I think it’s simply houses are too expensive. People don’t have enough money saved. Interest rates have gone up,” Rheingold said. 

“And so, I think that’s why there are less mortgages being made. Not that it’s tougher for an individual to get a mortgage. It’s tougher for an individual to get a mortgage that will allow them to buy the house that they want to buy,” Rheingold added. 

If there is a recession, something that is an increasing worry for policymakers and business leaders, it could leave lenders steering clear of riskier loans. 

Banks do not want to give out loans to people who can’t pay them back. 

“Every major recession has a leading indicator of a rise in unemployment. Usually unemployment is very low, then has a turn for the worse. Obviously, if you can’t get a new job, you can’t pay your mortgage,” Sharon continued. 

A further weakened economy might lead to a rise in the number of home loans that are denied. Data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows the overall denial rate for home purchase applications in 2021 was 8.3 percent, falling by 1 percentage point from a year earlier. 

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Utah emerges as wildcard in battle for the Senate

The Utah Senate race between conservative Republican Sen. Mike Lee and Independent Evan McMullin has emerged as a potential wild card in the battle for the Senate.

Recent polls show the race is close, with McMullin trailing Lee by only a few points in a state where Republican victories are usually all but guaranteed.

Lee, a conservative who supported then-President Trump’s effort to challenge the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, is a star among many members of Utah’s Republican base, but his unpopularity among moderates and Democrats has driven his approval rating down to the low 40s.  

“This is within the margin of error,” said Richard Davis, an emeritus professor of political science at Brigham Young University, citing recent polls by Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics. “It could go either way. It’s basically neck and neck.”  

If McMullin manages to pull off an upset, his pledge to not caucus with either Democrats or Republicans could throw the battle for control of the Senate into turmoil.

If Republicans wind up keeping retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R) Pennsylvania seat in GOP hands and defeating the Democratic incumbent in Nevada or Georgia, McMullin could still keep the Senate under Democratic control by voting for Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) as majority leader.  

Conversely, he could swing it to Republicans by affiliating with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) or simply not affiliating with either party, which would give Republicans a 50-to-49 seat majority with one unaffiliated senator in the chamber.  

“He’s in the catbird seat because as an Independent both sides are going to want to give him something” to get his vote for determining the Senate majority in an evenly split chamber, Davis said.  

“I can’t imagine that he’s going to caucus with the Republicans, but he had to say that he wasn’t going to caucus with the Democrats to win over the very people he’s trying to win over right now,” Davis said of the moderate Republicans who aren’t thrilled about voting for Lee but wouldn’t consider voting for a Democrat, either. 

“He could be in an extremely powerful situation if he gets to determine which way the Senate is organized, which party gets the majority,” he added. “I think what he’s going to do is negotiate on Utah’s behalf, get things for Utah out of this.”  

The latest Deseret-Hinckley poll shows Lee leading McMullin by four points, 41 percent to 37 percent, with 12 percent of Utah voters undecided.  

The poll found that 40 percent of respondents had a favorable view of Lee, while 47 percent had an unfavorable view.  

Lee’s allies, however, argue that the Deseret poll put too much weight on registered instead of likely voters, skewing the results in favor of McMullin.  

Lee’s allies think it’s more likely that the incumbent wins by a healthy margin of 10 or more points.  

The poll, however, found the numbers stay largely the same among likely voters and the race tightens among those who say they will definitely vote, with Lee leading McMullin 42-40 percent.  

“Mike Lee is leading this race. Every reliable poll shows Sen. Lee with a significant lead and our internal polling gives us even greater confidence in the strong support he has across the state,” said Matt Lusty, an adviser to the Lee campaign.  

Utah Democrats helped McMullin significantly by declining to endorse one of their own members and instead backing McMullin at their state convention in April. The Deseret poll found 68 percent of Democrats backing McMullin, and he leads with unaffiliated voters as well.

Davis said if McMullin can win over more Republican moderates who see themselves more in the same camp as Utah’s centrist Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, who voted twice to convict Trump on impeachment charges, he could wind up winning.  

McMullin ran as an Independent for president in 2016 and turned in his best performance in Utah, where he won 21 percent of the vote in the general election — trailing the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by only 6 points. Trump carried the state with 45 percent of the vote. 

Boyd Matheson, a prominent Utah radio host who formerly served as Lee’s chief of staff, said McMullin would find himself under tremendous pressure to pick a side if he manages to defy the odds and win election to an evenly divided Senate.  

The Senate’s two current Independents — Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine) — both caucus with Democrats. Neither, however, had to defeat a sitting senator to win their seats.

“He would be under immense pressure from both Democrats and Republicans and picking a side at this point matters because if you look at someone like a [Sen.] Joe Manchin [D-W.Va.], the reason Manchin has power because he’s in the room,” Matheson said.  

He said if McMullin refuses to caucus with either party, he won’t have any way to sit on a committee without getting a special deal from one of the party leaders.  

“That’s going to be the challenge for McMullin. If he wins, can he have any influence without any committee assignment without being in the Republican lunch or the Democratic caucus lunch?” he said.  

The race was largely overlooked until Lee went on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show Tuesday to plead for Romney’s endorsement, a surprising move since Romney made clear early in the race that he would stay neutral.  

“As soon as Mitt Romney is ready to, I will eagerly accept his endorsement,” Lee pleaded on Carlson’s show. “Evan McMullin is raising millions of dollars off Act Blue, the Democratic donor database based on this idea that he’s going to defeat me and help perpetuate the Democratic majority.”  

“I’ve asked him, I’m asking him right here again tonight right now,” Lee said. “Please get on board. Help me win reelection.”  

Senate aides say Lee’s pleas for help from Romney were especially surprising given that they have clashed repeatedly this Congress, starting with Lee’s strong support for Trump’s effort to challenge the 2020 election results through the courts.  

Romney, by contrast, was the only Senate Republican to vote to convict Trump after both of his impeachment trials.  

The two Utah senators have also clashed over major policy differences. Lee voted against the three major bipartisan initiatives that Romney supported during President Biden’s term: a $1 trillion infrastructure bill; legislation addressing gun violence after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas; and a $280 billion bill to support the domestic semiconductor industry.  

But Lee and Romney have also worked together on bills to help constituents in Utah, such as the bill they introduced in April to address housing supply and affordability by allowing parcels of federal land to be purchased at a reduced price.  

And they pool their staff to work jointly on constituents’ special cases.  

Even so, Romney and Lee are hardly considered friends.  

Davis, the emeritus political scientist, said Romney is “unlikely” to change his mind and endorse Lee “because I don’t think these two get along well.”  

“He can’t endorse McMullin because that would probably be a step too far to do that but by not endorsing [Lee] he’s certainly sending a message,” he added of Romney.  

Adding to the surreal moment on Carlson’s show, Trump waded into the race by releasing a statement praising Lee as an “outstanding senator” and criticizing Romney harshly for not endorsing his home-state colleague — bringing fresh attention to the possibility that Lee, who won reelection in a landslide six years ago, might be in trouble.  

Trump declared that Romney’s decision to stay neutral in the race “has abused” Lee “in an unprecedented way.”  

Lusty, Lee’s campaign adviser, said: “Sen. Lee sees it as important for all members of the party to stand together and he welcomes the public endorsement of all of his Senate GOP colleagues, including Sen. Romney.”  

But Romney’s defenders are quick to note that Lee refused to endorse late Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) when he ran for reelection in 2012 and Lee’s chief of staff at the time, Spencer Stokes, predicted that Hatch would lose because he had already spent far too much time in Washington.  

Fundraising data collected by the Federal Election Commission as of Oct. 14 showed that Lee had raised $7.9 million for his reelection while McMullin had raised $3.2 million. 

Outside interest groups are also pouring money into the race.  

The conservative Club for Growth, a group long allied with Lee, has already spent $2.2 million on the Utah Senate race and has vowed to pour more money into the race, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.  

On the other side, the Put Utah First PAC has spent more than $2.5 million to help McMullin. 

Source: TEST FEED1