A new Fox News poll found that 50% surveyed said the U.S. should continue to support Ukraine “as long as it takes to win” while 46% polled said the timeline should be limited.
Pritzker Pledges to Help Block Trump and DeSantis
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said he’s willing to spend what it takes in the next election to help President Biden keep his job — and keep Republicans like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump out of the White House, Bloomberg reports.
Said Pritzker: “It’s very important to me that we elect a Democratic president and that we make sure to keep DeSantis, Trump and the retrograde views that they carry out of the White House. I’ll continue to support Democrats in the best way I can to help them get elected.”
PAC Money Fell Slightly for Electoral Count Objectors
“Donations from corporate and trade association PACs declined in the 2022 cycle by 10 percent to Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 election for President Joe Biden,” Roll Call reports.
Jason Chaffetz Mulls Challenging Mitt Romney
Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) is leaving the door open to challenging Mitt Romney (R) in 2024 as the Utah senator mulls his own reelection plans, the Washington Examiner reports.
Marianne Williamson Confirms 2024 Bid
Marianne Williamson confirmed to Medill News Service that she will indeed jump into the Democratic presidential primary.
“Williamson described the country as in the midst of a threat of authoritarianism, where corporate oligarchs, fossil fuel companies, gun manufacturers, and the military industrial complex ‘suck the juice’ out of democracy.”
More Classified Docs Found in Trump’s Office
“The Justice Department wants to know how a box containing a handful of classified records scattered among copies of presidential schedules turned up at Mar-a-Lago late last year, well after several rounds of searches of the property by federal agents and aides to former President Donald Trump,” CNN reports.
“Investigators working for special counsel Jack Smith in recent weeks have interviewed a Trump aide who copied classified materials found in the box using her phone to put them onto a laptop. After a voluntary interview with the aide, prosecutors subpoenaed the password to the laptop, which she provided.”
“People familiar with the Trump legal team’s efforts to locate documents describe a confusing chain of events that delayed discovery of the box, including having its contents uploaded to the cloud, emailed to a Trump employee, and moved to an offsite location before finally ending up back at a Mar-a-Lago bridal suite that is now Trump’s office – the very place that the FBI had searched just weeks earlier.”
Some Donors Feel Ignored by DeSantis
Some “middle-class” wealthy donors are annoyed by the lack of attention from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Semafor reports.
2024 Campaign May Have No Texans
Associated Press: “It’s early yet, but next year’s presidential race may feature something the political world hasn’t seen in the last 50 years: no Texans.”
“The Texas-size hole in the field will be on stark display Friday at a closed Republican donor event outside the state capital, Austin, featuring the likes of former Vice President Mike Pence, who is expected to mount a campaign, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who announced her bid last week.”
How Biden and Zelensky Forged a Wartime Partnership
New York Times: “After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, President Biden reflected privately on his long-distance conversations with President Volodymyr Zelensky. He did not know the man well — and might never get to. It was chilling, several people remember him observing grimly, to think that he might be talking with a dead man.”
“Mr. Biden was hardly the only one to assume that Mr. Zelensky might not survive the Russian onslaught, given the target the Kremlin had put on his back. But the American president was happy to be proved wrong — and surprised to discover, like the rest of the world, that Mr. Zelensky was more than a former comedian and tougher than anyone imagined.”
“By the time Mr. Biden made a dramatic unannounced visit to wartime Kyiv this week, the two had grown close enough to greet each other with the easy familiarity of old friends.”
Time Is Not on Ukraine’s Side
Josh Rogin: “By providing Ukraine with just enough weaponry to fight to a medium-boil stalemate, the Biden approach is seen by many Ukrainians as an intentional strategy to nudge Ukraine toward negotiations. Ukrainian officials maintain that talks are possible only when Putin feels more pressure.”
“The first thing you will hear from any Ukrainian is “Thank you.” Ukrainians are not ungrateful or greedy — they are trying to survive. But their desperation is increasing. ‘As long as it takes’ must not become an excuse for a lack of urgency. By next year’s anniversary, there might not be a Ukraine to save.”
China Urges Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks
“China called Friday for urgent peace talks as it released its plan to end the war in Ukraine, but Western powers quickly rebuffed the proposals while warning against Beijing’s closening ties to Moscow,” AFP reports.
U.S. Commits $2 Billion More in Aid to Ukraine
“The Pentagon announced a new package of long-term security assistance for Ukraine on Friday, marking the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion with a $2 billion commitment to send more rounds of ammunition and a variety of small, high-tech drones into the fight,” the AP reports.
Playbook: “But political reality is going to set in later this year, with a Republican House already warning that it won’t keep signing ‘blank checks’ to Ukraine. Yes, there’s a sense among folks in the White House and Capitol Hill that it’s mostly bluster, at least for now, but the question continues to take on a partisan flavor.”
Yellen Confronts Russian Officials
“Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen directly confronted senior Russian officials during a meeting of finance ministers of the Group of 20 nations on Friday, calling it a ‘moral imperative’ to end the war in Ukraine,” the New York Times reports.
“Her condemnation of the war was a rare direct interaction between American and Russian officials and occurred on the anniversary of a conflict that has divided the world and roiled the global economy. The United States has pledged to deliver more aid to Ukraine and to level more sanctions on Russia.”
Ron DeSantis Tries to Avoid Being Pinned Down
David Brooks: “I suppose all contemporary young politicians dream of meeting their moment. At the enthusiastic dawn of their politico careers, they entertain a fantasy that some day, as a great historical challenge looms into view, their future selves will rise to the occasion — and masterfully dodge it!”
“They envision themselves bobbing and weaving, triangulating and feinting — filling the air with meaningless clichés so that no one knows where they stand and no one can hold them accountable. Their political career sails on, soaring upward, their electoral viability unbruised and glorious!”
“Ron DeSantis is now trying to live out that dream.”
Gallego Peels Off Sinema’s Silicon Valley Donors
Tara Palmeri: “Chuck Schumer has likely been up all night with desert-hued nightmares of the 2024 Arizona Senate race—in particular, how the current murder-suicide pact between Ruben Gallego and Kyrsten Sinema could deliver the seat to the election-results denying Kari Lake, essentially a more telegenic Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
“As that showdown looms in the distant-but-not-too-distant future, Gallego has peeled off much of Sinema’s Silicon Valley donor base, the same crew of influential female philanthropists who paved the way for her 2018 election in the name of girl power and turning purple Arizona blue. Critically, Gallego has won over rising mega-donor Karla Jurvetson, who famously gave Elizabeth Warren’s super PAC a $15 million check when her 2020 campaign was low on cash.”
“Winning over Jurvetson was a coup for Gallego—not just because of her deep pockets, but also on account of her status among the Silicon Valley set as an alpha fundraiser who wealthy women in the Bay Area looked to for guidance.”
Trump-Allied Group Wants January 6 Staffers Blacklisted
A conservative non-profit group allied with former President Donald Trump urged “Hill staffers and their colleagues” to cut off meetings with any former Jan. 6 committee staffers who have since joined firms that lobby, Politico reports.
The Fever of Trumpism Isn’t Breaking
Molly Jong-Fast: “Trumpism isn’t just a series of slogans; it’s also a bit of a fever dream. Since 2015, Never Trump Republicans and more mainstream pundits have predicted it would break. But so far, despite candidates like Kari Lake, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Herschel Walker, and Don Bolduc getting shellacked in the midterms, there’s still a fantasy that somehow Trumpism is a scalable phenomenon. If we’ve learned anything since 2015, it’s that Trumpism generally only works for Trump. I could see, theoretically, Donald Trump Jr. being able to pick up the Trump mantle, but the idea that some unrelated party would be able to take over seems less likely.”
“As for the non-Trump lane of this GOP primary, I just don’t understand how these more normal candidates break the fever that is Trumpism.”
First Republican Debate Will Be in Milwaukee
“The Republican National Committee will hold its first presidential primary debate in Milwaukee in August, its debates committee decided in a vote on Thursday,” the New York Times reports.
“The committee is seeking to have all candidates sign a loyalty pledge vowing to support the eventual nominee in order to be part of the debates.”
