The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack is expected to meet with Donald Trump Jr. in the coming days, ABC News reports.
Republican Gets Endorsement of Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times endorsed Lahnee Chen (R) for California Controller.
“Many Californians will balk at the idea of voting for a Republican… But one way to restore some sanity to the GOP is to elevate Republicans, like Chen, who operate in the world of facts.”
Don Jr. Endorses Eric Greitens for Missouri Senate
Donald Trump Jr. used a radio appearance to endorse former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) in the U.S. Senate race in Missouri.
Said Trump Jr.: “I see who the press hates the most, that’s usually the guy I like — it’s sort of like J.D. Vance in Ohio. When CNN hates you, the Washington Post hates you, the New York Times hates you, it’s like, ‘That’s my guy.'”
He added: “I see sort of the sham stuff that they’ve thrown at Greitens now… So we’ll see what my father does in it, but I certainly have my own opinions.”
Florida Votes to Revoke Disney’s Special Tax Status
“Florida lawmakers gave final approval to a bill that would end a special tax district that allows Walt Disney Co. to govern the land housing its theme parks, sending the measure to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made clear he would sign it,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
CNBC: “Dissolving the district would mean Reedy Creek employees and infrastructure would be absorbed by the local counties, which would then become responsible for all municipal services.”
This is a great example of the dog catching the car.
Powell Signals Half-Point Interest Rate Hike
“Lest there remain any doubt, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell knocked it down Thursday: The Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates half a percentage point at its policy meeting in two weeks, the first such move in 22 years,” Axios reports.
It’s Hard to Believe China’s Covid Numbers
“By the numbers, Shanghai has been an exemplar of how to save lives during a pandemic. Despite the city’s more than 400,000 Covid-19 infections, just 17 people have died, according to officials, statistics they have touted as proof that their strategy of strict lockdowns and mass quarantines works,” the New York Times reports.
“But those numbers may not give a complete picture of the outbreak’s toll. China typically classifies Covid-related deaths more narrowly than many other countries, labeling some chronically ill patients who die while infected as victims of those other conditions.”
Florida’s New Map Has a Huge GOP Bias
FiveThirtyEight: “This is about as big of a Republican bias that Florida’s congressional map could have — and darn close to the most egregiously partisan map in the country. The map has an efficiency gap of R+20, which means Republicans would be expected to win 20 percent more seats under this map than under a hypothetical, perfectly fair map.”
“Because Florida has 28 congressional seats, that translates to a 5.7-seat Republican bias — right on Texas’s heels for the ‘honor’ of having the biggest bias of any state.”
McCarthy Says Reporting on Trump-Bashing Is False
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) “vehemently denied reporting from a forthcoming book describing his sharp comments directed at former President Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, calling it ‘totally false’ and accusing the co-authors of not asking for comment before the book was printed,” The Hill reports.
Lula Confirms Comeback Run Against Bolsonaro
The Guardian: “The former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has confirmed he will kickstart his campaign to reclaim the presidency from his right-wing adversary Jair Bolsonaro next month, comparing their rivalry to a clash of the titans between Liverpool and Manchester City.”
“Lula’s desire to secure a third term as the leader of Latin America’s largest democracy has been an open secret since he recovered his political rights last year when a series of corruption convictions against him were quashed.”
Joe Wilson Endorses Nancy Mace Challenger
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) “wants to work with someone else in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district,” The State reports.
“The longtime South Carolina lawmaker on Thursday endorsed Katie Arrington in her GOP primary race against Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), taking the unusual step of intervening in a contentious party primary that’s playing out in his home state.”
David Drucker: “Well, this ought to make for an interesting weekly delegation lunch.”
Quarter of U.S. Covid Deaths Were Preventable
Philip Bump: “New analysis from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and Kaiser Family Foundation quantifies the effects of vaccination. Since June 2021, the point at which every American adult had access to coronavirus vaccines, they estimate that just over 234,000 unvaccinated Americans died who could have lived had they been immunized against the virus.”
“That’s nearly a quarter of the total death toll from the pandemic.”
Zelensky, Cheney to Receive Profiles In Courage Award
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) “will be among the recipients this year of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, which is given by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to underscore the importance of fighting for democracy,” the Washington Post reports.
Xi Defends China’s Covid Response Amid Economic Woes
“President Xi Jinping defended China’s lockdown-dependent approach to fighting the pandemic, even as he sought to reassure the world that the country was still committed to opening its economy,” Bloomberg reports.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports Shanghai reported “a sharp increase in its number of seriously-ill Covid patients.”
CNN+ to Be Shut Down
Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down CNN+ and is expected to provide details to staffers Thursday, Variety reports.
Wall Street Journal: “The move to shutter the service on April 30, merely a month after it launched, comes only a week after CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia was taken over by Discovery Communications. Discovery’s executives were dubious about the strategy of the service even before its deal to acquire the company closed.”
Biden’s Approval Rate Sinks to New Low
A new American Research Group poll finds 39% of Americans say they approve of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president and 54% say they disapprove.
This is Biden’s lowest overall approval rating for his presidency.
For comparison, FiveThirtyEight shows Biden’s approval still 1.5 percentage points above his low.
Momentum Builds for Sweden to Join NATO
“Momentum is building in Sweden for the country to apply for NATO membership after its biggest selling newspaper endorsed the move and an opinion poll showed a record number of Swedes supported the idea,” the Financial Times reports.
“The debate over membership of the western military alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been slower to ignite in Sweden than in neighboring Finland, where an application is expected in the coming weeks.”
“The main obstacle to Swedish membership has been the ruling Social Democrat party, which has long been ideologically opposed to Nato and wedded to Sweden’s 200 years of neutrality.”
New Hampshire’s Senate Race Looks Very Close
A new Granite State poll in New Hampshire finds Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) is in statistical ties with four possible Republican challengers.
Biden Reframes His Agenda With a Manchin Spin
“After championing the biggest expansion in federal aid to American families in decades, President Joe Biden is now putting the government’s budget deficit back in the spotlight –a nod to fiscal conservatism that may be needed to pass any more of his agenda,” Bloomberg reports.
“It’s a message the White House plainly hopes particularly resonates with Senator Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who blocked Biden’s ambitious ‘Build Back Better’ economic legislation in December. Manchin has argued that any revised plan — including higher corporate taxes, climate-change measures and prescription drug reform — must cut the deficit.”
