Just asked Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision Monday to lift the state’s indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people, set to go in effect Feb. 15. “I didn't know he did. When is that? When was that?”
Ann Dorn, widow of David Dorn who was murdered last year during the St. Louis riots, campaigning for
@GlennYoungkin
in McLean, VA. “I am standing with the Glenn to go against our liberal politicians and prosecutors, to protect our way of doing the job.”
Asked whether he will vote for McCarthy in next round, KEN BUCK tells me: “I have not made up my mind on that.. I'm getting close to that point. And I just talked to the group of 20 and they're not moving.”
Liz Cheney on the House floor, night before House GOP votes to remove her: “I will not sit back and watch and silence, while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy.”
CYNTHIA LUMMIS says Trump is partially to blame for Senate Republicans’ “underperformance” in midterms.
“In my opinion, the current leader of the Republican Party is Ron DeSantis.”
NEW: In response to AL Supreme Court IVF ruling, a Feb 23 NRSC memo “encourages Republican Senate candidates to clearly and concisely reject efforts by the government to restrict IVF.”
Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley, who has called on Biden to step aside, tells
@NRO
lots of other House Dems are privately with him. “The line is, ‘I agree with you. I'm not going public — yet.’”
Some personal news: Beginning next Monday, I’ll be joining
@WSJ
as a Bartley Fellow for the whole summer (was deferred a year because of the pandemic.)
Excited for this opportunity and thrilled to announce that I’ll be rejoining
@thedispatch
as a reporter this fall! ⚡️
News — GOP nominee for U.S. Senate
@ODeaForColorado
says on today’s
@Rossputin
show he hopes Trump won’t run in ‘24. “I hope he doesn't run. I don't want to see him as president again.”
Today marks my first day as a political reporter at National Review covering all things 2024! Thrilled to join the
@NRO
team. Please add me to your mailing lists and send tips to afahlberg
@nationalreview
.
More context—Shortly after Feinstein made those comments, she added: “Well before I make a comment, I'd want to see what the basis was. And I have not heard that he scheduled it back to be candid with you. So let me find out.”
Scoop: Sources familiar confirm former congressional candidate
@HungCao_VA
is meeting with NRSC Chairman
@SteveDaines
tomorrow about potentially challenging Dem Sen.
@timkaine
in 2024
Today marks my last day
@thedispatch
. I’m beyond grateful to
@stephenfhayes
and
@JonahDispatch
for taking a chance on me when I was fresh out of college and letting me join the skiff for 3 great years…
Humiliating Rosendale just hours after he announced Fri AM he will run for Senate GOP nomination in MT, Trump announced Fri afternoon he's backing businessman Tim Sheehy. NRSC recruited Sheehy to avoid repeat of '18, when Rosendale lost to Tester
@NRO
NEW: Ex-Bridgewater CEO Dave McCormick plans to announce a 2024 Republican primary bid for U.S. Senate next Thursday, September 21, in PITTSBURGH, two sources familiar with the matter tell The Dispatch.
@MichaelRWarren
@DavidMDrucker
CHIP ROY: “I'm not gonna talk about any of this at this point, these are momentous conversations we're having, they're serious and consequential and we're not going to negotiate this in the press, we're gonna get behind closed doors and go work for the American people.”
Asked about whether it’s time to transition into the endemic stage of the pandemic: “This pandemic has a lot of very serious data of death and illness. And I think if you can prevent it, wearing a mask is the least you can do…”
Scoop in
@NRO
: RNC Denies Virginia GOP’s Request This Week for Cash ahead of 2023 Elections ⬇️
VA Republican operatives worry about optics here after Biden directed DNC in September to pour more than $1 million in VA in state leg elections Nov 7
Scoop: Two former Jaime Herrera Beutler donors say the former pro-impeachment GOP congresswoman from WA-03 is considering running for governor in 2024. Read more from me
@DavidMDrucker
and
@EggerDC
in today’s Dispatch Politics newsletter:
Energy is high at tonight’s “Parents Matter” rally tonight in Leesburg, VA where Glenn Youngkin prepares to speak nearly two hours behind schedule because of traffic
Scoop:
@MickMulvaney
, a McCarthy supporter and former GOP Rep, confirms to me that several GOP members have approached him about being a consensus speaker candidate. He laughed and said “No, no, I'm not” interested in job.
But shows how members are grasping for straws…🧵
Scoop: Republican
@HungCao_VA
, who lost to
@RepWexton
in November in a Biden +18 VA district by 6.6 points, confirms he’s considering a Wexton rematch or even a U.S. Senate challenge against
@timkaine
.
in
@thedispatch
:
Haley campaign volunteer on frustration that so many GOP lawmakers are falling in line behind Trump before votes any votes have been cast:
“They’re all cowards... It drives me mad that they would endorse Donald Trump again and again and again.”
Scoop in
@NRO
: GOP Sen. Thom Tillis is endorsing wealthy attorney Bill Graham’s in North Carolina’s GOP gov primary.
It’s a knock against controversial Republican gubernatorial frontrunner and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson
#ncpol
NEW: VA’s Republican Lt. Gov.
@WinsomeSears
is assembling a new political team ahead of a likely bid for governor,
@thedispatch
has learned, though she has no plans for an immediate announcement.
W/
@DavidMDrucker
“About half of the vice president's staff is paid by the Senate, which requires regular disclosures. Of the 47 Harris staffers listed in 2021, only five still worked for her as of this spring, according to the disclosures.“ via
@AlexThomp
New: On the first day of the GAGOP convention, Kemp’s federal super PAC will release a Georgia statewide Cygnal poll they commissioned of 600 likely general election voters (June 5-7, before indictment news dropped) hitting Trump on electability 🧵
NEW: Pro-impeachment House Rep. Tom Rice on Trump’s endorsement of a primary challenger in his race today: “Well it was it was getting kind of embarrassing—all those guys parading down to Mar-a-Lago every day and then begging for endorsement…Everyone’s known this was coming…”
GOP candidate Joe Kent (vying for
@HerreraBeutler
’s) seat, called Putin’s demands to control Donetsk and Lutansk “reasonable” when speaking at a conservative conference today via video. “Putin has laid out what he wants in Ukraine—a decent starting point...”
Scoop: New deets re RNC's mass firings today,
@NRO
confirms
- state & regional political directors also fired
-staffers were told by their bosses over weekend to come in at 8AM Monday, leaving folks expecting layoffs
- digital & finance teams moving to FL
Milwaukee -- “What I see now about him is kind of a new calm," Roger stone told me here of Trump earlier Thursday. "A new clear understanding that his life was spared for a purpose. It’s a slightly different Donald Trump than we’ve seen before.”
“Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), a centrist and former FBI agent, encouraged his GOP colleagues to ‘be responsible and measured right now’ in how they’re responding to the Mar-a-Lago search,” via
@AndrewDesiderio
GOP Rep. Mike GALLAGHER tells me a prospective Senate run against Dem Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin in 2024 is “not on my mind… I just got appointed chair of the Select Committee on China, so fully focused on that. There’s no hidden conspiracy here.”
“….I know it's controversial but I think we've got an unusual situation and I think it's up to the local counties and state about what they'll do —“ interrupted by staffer, who said “which is what his order does, preserves all of the counties to maintain their—”
SCOOP: Trump campaign is hiring
@CLewandowski_
, Trump's 2016 campaign adviser, to advise the GOP convention and delegate process in Milwaukee
“He’s very helpful to me, and he’s helpful to the RNC, and he’s helpful to the president,” LaCivita tells
@NRO
Scoop: GOP Rep. Dan Bishop is accelerating plans to run for North Carolina attorney general in 2024 and could announce a statewide bid as soon as August, five people familiar with the matter tell
@thedispatch
.
W/
@DavidMDrucker
&
@thomasndorsey
MULVANEY: “There's only two viable ways out of this. It’s either McCarthy, with the support of 218 Republicans, or it's somebody with a combination of Republicans and Democrats. I call it the Fred Upton choice. That's the only way this gets done.”
New: Now 3 years after he identified himself in an op-ed for The Dispatch as a member of “Ohio’s coronavirus task force” in July 2020,
@VivekGRamaswamy
is now downplaying that panel and his participation on it.
w/
@DavidMDrucker
in
@thedispatch
Rice: “I just couldn't stomach these guys that are having to pledge in blood undying loyalty to a guy who’s willing to sack the Capitol to keep his hold on power.”
SCOOP: After AP’s Bernie Moreno/Adult Friend Finder story ⬇️,the pro- Moreno Buckeye Values PAC is sending out mailers to Ohioans hitting Senate candidate rival Frank LaRose on LGBT issues…
“What Team Does Frank LaRose Play For?”
“Is he with us…Or is he with they/them?”
NEW:
@AP
review of leaked data from the website Adult Friend Finder confirms private GOP worries.
#OHSen
candidate Bernie Moreno's work email was used to create a profile in 2008 seeking "Men for 1-on-1 sex.”
"Looking for young guys to have fun with"
TRUMP on press call with reporters minutes ago:
"She's the same as Biden, but much more radical. She's a radical left person, and this country doesn't want a radical left person to destroy it....She wants open borders. She wants things that nobody wants."
Anti-Harris playbook: Lay blame on her for every single one of the Biden admin’s failures, argue she’s more liberal than the current incumbent, & accuse her of being part of the conspiracy to hide her boss’s decline. Her gaffes & CA roots = cherry on top
NEW: About an hour before the DeSantis took the stage at his election night party to a cheering crowd, the mood was far more somber, with many DeSantis supporters telling
@NRO
they feel dejected by Trump's Iowa win. Here's DeSantis supporter Gene Church:
Following
@RepGallagher
’s retirement announcement today,
@alexbruesewitz
says “good riddance” after Gallagher voted against impeaching Mayorkas
Tells
@NRO
he’s meeting w/ local county chairs about a prospective congressional run & plans to decide “sooner rather than later”
Scoop:
@alexbruesewitz
tells me in the coming weeks he will be forming an exploratory committee to primary MIKE GALLAGHER, following his vote against impeachment.
“Expect the entire MAGA movement to come out en masse to support him,” a Trump ally said.
Scoop in
@NRO
: After losing Tuesday’s elections, Virginia GOP casts blame on RNC for refusing to answer Democrats’ abortion-ad spending spree
VAGOP Chair Rich Anderson: “They told us that being an off year, they simply just didn’t have the resources.”
Chicago — always funny to see which politicians dance to the music and which ones don’t know the lyrics. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester v. Sen. Chris Coons on the convention floor when “Turn Down For What” plays during roll call
NEW: In today’s Dispatch Politics,
@ChrisChristie
tells
@DavidMDrucker
: “I’m sure as heck not going to worry about what Ron DeSantis is going to do or not do, because none of us really know who he is outside of Tallahassee, Florida.”
BUCK, who said he’s mulling voting against McCarthy in next round, on a prospective alternative to McCarthy if things don’t change? “Anybody but Ken Buck is good with me.”
SCOOP: The Trump campaign is planning a “large” event for Trump in Virginia on Friday June 28 after the first presidential debate.
One of the areas they are looking to hold the rally is Virginia Beach/ Chesapeake area which has a heavy military population. First to
@CBSNews
SCOOP: After pro-Matt Dolan super PAC, Buckeye Leadership Fund, reserved ads hitting Bernie Moreno on controversial AP story…
Source familiar tells
@NRO
multiple radio/tv stations are refusing to run the ads after receiving cease & desist notices from Moreno’s legal counsel…
New—GOP Rep. Lloyd Smucker (PA-11) says state Sen. Doug Mastriano’s 15-point general election loss in the gov race to Democrat Josh Shapiro is a “huge liability” that hangs over the state senator’s lingering political ambitions (i.e. PA’s 2024 Senate race)
Senior Biden officials to meet with Osama Siblani in MI. Here's a quote from Siblani to WaPo in '03, flagged by
@NRO
's
@jackcrowe
:
“Mr. Bush believes Hezbollah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions are terrorists, but we believe they are freedom fighters.”
Dearborn state Rep. Alabas Farhat and Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani have both confirmed with
@AP
that they will attend a meeting with senior Biden officials on Thursday.
NEW: Republican Raul Garcia abandons gubernatorial campaign in Washington, endorses former GOP Rep. Dave Reichert for gov and launches Senate campaign instead. "...After consulting with Congressman Reichert" Garcia "will be running for U.S. Senate as a united team for Washington"
Thrilled to announce that I was selected as a 2024-25 Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship recipient for
@TFASorg
! My project will focus on the politicians, policies and personnel shaping a shifting GOP. Email or DM me with story ideas!
Scoop in
@NRO
: Pro-DeSantis super PAC Fight Right places $1.4 million ad buy in Iowa thru caucus day hitting Nikki Haley for joking that N.H. voters will "correct" Iowa caucus result
“Nikki Haley doesn’t respect you. She thinks New England knows better.”
NEW in
@NRO
: Rumors swirling in NH Christie will use Wed town hall in Windham to announce he's dropping..
Christie campaign: “We have a public town-hall event in Windham so have invited our supporters. Hardly some sort of ‘huddle.’”
W/
@brittybernstein
PA Dem Sen. John Fetterman jokes that today’s closed-door Senate Democratic caucus meeting was “electric and magic” & stands by Biden.
“Do you have any friends at the New York Times? Tell them that they're gonna be pissed that Joe Biden’s our guy, and it's going to be that way.”
NEWS: NCGOP votes to censure GOP Sen. Thom Tillis at this weekend’s Republican Party convention. Adds the following paragraph to this resolution: “Does hereby censure Senator Thom Tillis for his blatant violations of our party platform.”
#ncpol
GOP Rep. John Rutherford, who did not support Jim Jordan in today’s floor vote, issues statement calling for “consensus” speaker candidate and says “it’s time for Rep. Jordan to understand this race is over.”
HOT MIC ahead of Christie town hall livestream, seems to be speaking about Haley..
“She’s gonna get smoked and you and I both know it, she’s not up to this”
Someone interrupts to say she’s still 20 pts behind trump in NH
“Desantis called me, petrified I would..”
MIC CUTS
Check out my first byline in
@thedispatch
, where I profile four conspiracy mongering Republican primary candidates and explain the GOP’s losing fight to hold its center.
Milwaukee— Lots of laughs from South Carolina delegation when Nikki Haley tells the convention crowd that she’s doesn’t always agree with Donald Trump. Extra guffaws when the camera pans to Trump smirking
Lots of cheering and standing ovations from her home state delegation
Study shows the G614 mutation of the coronavirus possesses a higher transmission rate, increased viral load, and becomes the dominant form of the virus wherever it spreads. But it’s also highly sensitive to antibodies = good news for vaccines! My latest:
SCOOP: In recent days people close to DeSantis have begun making calls to top donors laying out what the campaign sees as their options at this point, which include possibly dropping out of the race in the coming days,
@NRO
Campaign declined to comment
NEW: NRSC's Michigan recruit Mike Rogers, who previously said Trump's "time has passed" and explored a '24 White House bid of his own, endorses Trump.
“If you weren’t disagreeing at some point along the way, you weren’t engaged in politics,” he tells
@NRO
News: Former Senate candidate
@SmileyForWA
will primary GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse, one of two remaining pro-impeachment House Republicans
It’s time for fresh leadership,” Smiley tells
@NRO
New: Mike Johnson winning the gavel comes as welcome news to the moderate Republicans who received death threats for opposing Jim Jordan’s speaker bid.
@NRO
has new audio of death threats against
@DonJBacon
’s famiy: “I hope your kids f***ing burn alive”
Heritage President Kevin Roberts’ embrace of
@PM_ViktorOrban
is not surprising. Read my story with
@lawsonreports
on Heritage’s shifting new right foreign policy here:
It was an honor,
@PM_ViktorOrban
, to meet with you. One thing is clear from visiting Hungary and from being involved in current policy and cultural debates in America: the world needs a movement that fights for Truth, for tradition, for families, and for the average person.
Ohio GOP wants Gonzalez to resign over impeachment vote...“Meanwhile, the party has taken no action to censure Rep. Larry Householder...who is accused of orchestrating a nearly $61 million bribery scheme to pass and defend a $1 billion nuclear bailout.” 🧐
Will be reporting on the Maricopa County recount today. Gray shirts are inspection tables, red and blue are counting tables, orange are observers.
#azauditpool
Harris-Walz campaign memo shared with press today says that the campaign drew a crowd of 14k to last night's event inside Temple University's Liacouras Center. The center's own website says the venue has a 10k seats. Am I missing something
NEW in
@NRO
: While CEO of Roivant, Ramaswamy attended 2018 Shanghai summit featuring Chinese gov officials & Pharma execs with ties to Thousand Talents Plan, Chinese recruitment program flagged by FBI as vector of intellectual property theft/espionage
Key quote to reporters from swing-seat GOP Rep. Nick LaLota of NY earlier regarding Jordan's speaker bid: "I think that somebody advising him thought it was a good idea to try to shine a spotlight on us and to try to shame us on the floor. That tactic obviously didn't work.”
GOP. Rep. DAN MEUSER, asked about other potential speaker candidates names he’s hearing if Jim Jordan doesn’t make it to 217, tells
@NRO
:
“Are you kidding? If we go back to it, I'm considering it because I’m not gonna let this kindergarten continue. I’ll do it.”
Interesting nugget I learned in Phoenix last week: The Maricopa County audit organizers may have hijacked the state GOP, but they’ve demonstrated time and time again that they’re incapable of appealing to vast swaths of Arizona Republicans:
THIS. A thousand times over —
@EggerDC
and I were on the ground, everyone we spoke to was an avowed Trump supporter. Many of the people we interviewed — who admitted to storming the Capitol — gave us their names: