“A number of companies that were associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy. There can be no assurances that TMTG will not also become bankrupt.”
— A disclaimer in the SEC filing for taking public Donald Trump’s social media company, the Trump Media & Technology Group.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) hinted the state would take control over Disney World’s self-governing district, instead of handing it over to local governments if it is dissolved next year, WTSP reports.
“Two leading Republican Senate hopefuls in Pennsylvania are savaging each other in TV ads over who supported transgender surgery more. In Missouri, another GOP candidate for Senate surged when she criticized transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in a commercial. And in Alabama, a charter school for transgender kids has been invoked in ads as an issue in the Republican primary for governor,” NBC News reports.
“Like never before, Republicans in primaries across the country have made attacking transgender rights central to their paid media campaigns and stump speeches — focusing on issues of education, gender transitioning and sports.”
Elon Musk stoked speculation that he could seek to renegotiate his takeover of Twitter, saying a viable deal at a lower price wouldn’t be “out of the question,” Bloomberg reports.
Matt Levine: “Donald Trump’s social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which runs the ‘Truth Social’ app, plans to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company called Digital World Acquisition Corp., raising something like $1.3 billion. Today TMTG and DWAG filed the registration statement for their merger, a key step in actually making it happen.”
“You can read it — here it is — and of course I will discuss it, because it is funny and because that is what I do for a living. But in a sense there is no point in reading it. It will not tell you much about TMTG’s business, because TMTG doesn’t have much of a business.”
“Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) was resoundingly booed on Saturday while giving a commencement address at the University of Wyoming after she said it is a ‘fundamental scientific truth’ that there can only be males and females,” the HuffPost reports.
Said Lummis: “There are those in government who believe not that the creator endowed us with inalienable rights … but that government created those rights. And the government should redefine those rights, including our rights to freedom of speech, religion, property, assembly and to keep and bear arms. Even fundamental scientific truths — such as the existence of two sexes, male and female — are subject to challenge these days.”
“Students erupted in boos and jeers after that last sentence — and they continued on for nearly 30 seconds as Lummis stood awkwardly smiling onstage.”
Former Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke to the New York Times:
“Even under the benign scenario, we should have a slowing economy. And inflation’s still too high but coming down. So there should be a period in the next year or two where growth is low, unemployment is at least up a little bit and inflation is still high. So you could call that stagflation.”
Associated Press: “The confirmed number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 336 days. It is roughly equal to how many Americans died in the Civil War and World War II combined. It’s as if Boston and Pittsburgh were wiped out.”
Charlie Sykes: “The leading GOP candidate for governor, Doug Mastriano, is so batshit bizarre that GOP leaders launched an eleventh-hour attempt to derail him and avert almost certain defeat in November… only to have Trump endorse him.”
“The GOP is also panicking about the Senate primary, as fringe candidate Kathy Barnette has been surging in the polls. Her rise has even rattled and divided the party’s entertainment wing. On Fox, Sean Hannity is savaging her as an unelectable extremist, while Laura Ingraham continues to give her air cover.”
“A former Republican minority leader of the Colorado legislature is among the recipients of a trove of sensitive voting data leaked by a county official working with an activist seeking to prove President Donald Trump’s false stolen-election claims,” Reuters reports.
Just one day before the North Carolina primary, former President Donald Trump reiterated his support for scandal-plagued Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) saying he deserves a “second chance.”
Trump added that Cawthorn has “made some foolish mistakes, which I don’t believe he’ll make again.”
The new congressional district map for New York proposed by a court-appointed special master leans into competitiveness, according to the Cook Political Report.
As opposed to the struck 22D to 4R gerrymander, this map is more like 15D to 5R and includes six highly-competitive seats.
Here’s the new map.
Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show in 2018:
How, precisely, is diversity our strength? Since you’ve made this our new national motto, please be specific as you explain it. Can you think, for example, of other institutions such as, I don’t know, marriage or military units in which the less people have in common, the more cohesive they are?
Do you get along better with your neighbors, your co-workers if you can’t understand each other or share no common values? Please be honest as you answer this question.
The Buffalo gunman in a 180-page manifesto explaining his motivations behind last weekend’s mass shooting:
Why is diversity said to be our greatest strength? Does anyone even ask why? It is spoken like a mantra and repeated ad infinitum “diversity is our greatest strength, diversity is our greatest strength, diversity is our greatest strength…” Said throughout the media, spoken by politicians, educators and celebrities. But no one ever seems to give a reason why.
A new Monmouth poll finds 77% of Americans back the economic sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. This is down only slightly from Monmouth’s poll two months ago (81%), due entirely to a decrease among independents (from 78% to 71%).
However, the percentage who support a ban on Russian gas and oil imports (78%) is identical to the March poll.
“Kash Patel, a former Republican aide on the House intelligence committee who Donald Trump weighed installing as deputy CIA director, is publishing a children’s book that perpetuates the false claim the Steele dossier sparked investigations into Russian collusion,” The Guardian reports.
“The book features characters such as ‘King Donald’ and his enemy ‘Hillary Queenton.'”
“The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in a case involving the use of campaign funds to repay personal campaign loans, dealing the latest blow to campaign finance regulations,” CNN reports.
“The court said that a federal cap on candidates using political contributions after the election to recoup personal loans made to their campaign was unconstitutional.”
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.
