Ivana Trump’s passing resurfaced Sarah Palin’s first appearance in the news: a 1996 article about a promotional appearance by Trump hawking her new perfume.
Said Palin: “We want to see Ivana because we are so desperate in Alaska for any semblance of glamour and culture.”
Politico: “Democrats see it as a sign of momentum after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last month and an uptick in their chances of keeping the Senate.”
Politico: “Republicans knew the minute Roe v. Wade was overturned that they had a political problem, particularly with moderates in the suburbs who they need to vote for GOP candidates in the midterms. The unfolding story of a 10-year-old rape victim who crossed state lines from Ohio for an abortion in Indiana is confirming just how damaging the issue may be.”
Associated Press: GOP governors mulling 2024 run aren’t rushing abortion laws.
“Democrats aren’t just eager for Donald Trump to cannonball into the 2024 presidential race before the fall midterms. Across the country, they are actively plotting ways to immediately capitalize on a pre-November announcement,” Politico reports.
“Campaigns and officials at major Democratic outfits are planning to capture the anticipated cash windfall that would come their way should Trump announce he’s making another run at the White House. Candidates also are exploring ways to exploit Trump’s premature entry to energize despondent base voters and coalesce independents and suburb-dwellers who have soured on the party over stubbornly high inflation.”
“It’s important that every young person, every activist, the majorities of this country who are demanding climate action understand very clearly this is not the Democrats… This is one man named Joe Manchin. When it comes to the most important existential issue of our time, this man is a wrecking ball.”
— Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), quoted by Politico.
New York Times: “Prices are rising at the fastest rate in four decades, a painful development that has given Republicans a powerful talking point just months ahead of the midterm elections. With control of Congress very much in play, Republicans are investing heavily in a blitz of campaign advertisements that portray a dark sense of economic disarray as they seek to make inflation a political albatross for President Biden and Democrats.”
“Senate Democrats are planning to advance domestic computer chip production legislation as soon as next week, signaling an end to formal talks on a broader China competition bill as the White House presses for action before November,” Politico reports.
“Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has told senators to expect votes as soon as Tuesday to move forward on $52 billion in initial funding for chip factories, as well as a tax credit for ongoing semiconductor production… Any movement would elate vulnerable Democrats who have pressed party leaders to break through a logjam on the bill, which lawmakers have spent nearly two years crafting.”
“Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) informed Democratic leaders on Thursday he would not support an economic package that contains new spending on climate change or includes new tax increases to pay for the legislation,” the Washington Post reports.
“The major shift in negotiations threatens to upend the delicate process to adopt sweeping legislation. Manchin already scuttled the original $2 trillion Build Back Better Act that House Democrats and President Biden supported.”
“But Manchin did say he was open to revising federal laws that might lower prescription drugs costs for seniors… And the West Virginia moderate expressed support with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), the party’s chief negotiator, for extended subsidies that help keep health insurance costs down for millions of Americans for the next two years.”
The chair of the January 6 Committee said the panel will try to ”reconstruct” deleted U.S. Secret Service text messages flagged by an agency watchdog, Axios reports.
“A Washington, DC, police officer has corroborated to the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, details regarding a heated exchange former President Donald Trump had with his Secret Service detail when he was told he could not go to the US Capitol after his rally,” CNN reports.
“The officer with the Metropolitan Police Department was in the motorcade with the Secret Service for Trump on January 6 and recounted what was seen to committee investigators.”
Richard “Dickie” Braswell (R), an elected commissioner in Johnston County, North Carolina has been accused of “indecent liberties” with a 13-year old girl, the Raleigh News and Observer reports.
Ty Cobb, who led the Trump White House response to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, issued a blistering statement about Donald Trump:
“One thing the Democrats know for certain is that Trump’s uncontrolled ego is his own worst enemy. They are praying they are able to goad him into an announcement for a 2024 presidential run.”
“A 2024 declaration of his candidacy serves no interest but his self-defeating and overwhelming need for relevance, attention and money. Such an announcement also does not inoculate him from criminal investigation.”
“He is a disaster for the Republican Party for which he prevented a Senate majority in 2020 and, as time will demonstrate, has already done the same for 2022 with his endorsements of unelectable candidates all based on their loyalty or his own driving desire for revenge.”
Despite speculation about a close race, a new SurveyUSA poll in Washington finds Sen. Patty Murray (D) leading challenger Tiffany Smiley (R) by a wide margin, 51% to 33%.
Tom Brady told Variety that he hasn’t spoken to Donald Trump in “a lot of years.”
“The two’s friendship became the subject of intense media scrutiny after a 2015 photograph went viral for showing a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat in Brady’s football locker. Prior to the photo, Brady and Trump golfed together on several occasions.”
Said Brady: “This was 17 or 18 years ago. I was so young. I got to go to a private golf course. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.”
When asked if the two are still in touch, Brady responded: “No. I haven’t talked to him in a lot of years.”
“Of all the selfish things he does every minute of every day, it would probably be the most.”
— A “prominent” GOP strategist, quoted by the Washington Post, on Donald Trump possibly announcing a presidential bid before the midterms.
The Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and January 6, 2021 after oversight officials requested the agency’s electronic communications, The Intercept reports.
Ivana Trump, the ex-wife of former President Donald Trump, has died at age 73, ABC News reports.
Ivana Trump was Donald Trump’s first wife. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump.
“Texas on Thursday asked a federal court to block the Biden administration’s requirement that physicians and hospitals provide abortions in medical emergencies,” CNBC reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.