Mediaboss Marketing

In less than two weeks, we will have a strong indication as to who the 2024 Republican nominee for president will be.

Put another way, it will become clear whether the G.O.P. is beginning to move on from former President Donald Trump, or whether Trumps grip on the Republican Party continues to endure.

By May 18, three general election battlegroundsOhio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania will have held their Republican primaries for U.S. Senate. Each race represents a test of Trumps strength with Republican voters, as he has backed candidates in all three primaries that were by no means shoe-ins for the nomination.

While we wont know anything for certain until North Carolina and Pennsylvania hold their primaries, the trajectory of these two races thus far taken together with the outcome in the Ohio primary point to Trump remaining a dominant figure in Republican politics through 2024, and indicate that he could very well be the partys presidential nominee.

Indeed, the result of the Ohio Republican primary for U.S. Senate, which was held this week, is telling of Trumps primacy within the G.O.P., as his endorsement of J.D. Vance undoubtedly helped catapult Vance to victory in a seven-way race.

Prior to Trumps April 15 endorsement, Vances position in the race was relatively weak there were no publicpollsthat showed him leading the field, and he often ranked in third place. Notably, a poll byTrafalgarGroup released the day prior to Trumps endorsement showed Vance trailing challenger Josh Mandel by 5 percent.

Following Trumps endorsement, Vance jumped to the lead ineverypublic poll conducted in the remainder of the campaign, and he won the nomination by 8 percent.

To be sure, the two other Trump-endorsed Senate candidates Tedd Budd in North Carolina and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania both also have a strong shot at securing their partys nomination and have clearly benefited from Trumps backing.

In North Carolina, all candidates in the Republican Senate primary were jockeying for Trumps support at the outset of the campaign. Trumps endorsement of Ted Budd, who tied himself to the former president in his campaign announcement, has propelled Budd to double-digit leads in most publicpolls, and he appears poised to secure the nomination.

Perhaps the most significant test of Trumps power over the G.O.P base will come on May 17 in the Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania. Trump recently endorsed celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz over former George W. Bush staffer and hedge fund CEO David McCormick, causing intenseblowback, even within the MAGA movement.

Both Oz and McCormick have tried positioning themselves as the America First candidate deploying Trumpian rhetoric to that effect and notably, McCormick has surrounded himself with former Trump staffers, including Kellyanne Conway.

In the weeks prior to Trumps endorsement, anEmerson pollshowed McCormick with a 6-point lead over the crowded Republican field, and Oz trailing him in second place, 27 percent to 21 percent. Following Trumps endorsement, Oz jumped to a 3-point lead in the race, 23 percent to 20 percent, per recentpollingconducted by Trafalgar Group.

It should be noted that, unlike in North Carolina, the Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary is too close for us to be able to predict a winner at this stage, and its unclear how impactful Trumps endorsement will ultimately be in this race.

Roughly 7-in-10 (69 percent) Pennsylvania Republicans say that Trumps endorsement did not change their opinion of Oz, per a recent Monmouth Universitypoll.Just 22 percent said it made them view Oz more favorably though, in a close contest, that number still may boost Ozs prospects.

Ultimately, if three of Trumps handpicked Senate candidates running in battleground states prevail in their primary, it will indicate to the Republican rank-and-file that the G.O.P. is still Donald Trumps party.

If this outcome comes to fruition, it would all but end the presidential ambitions of Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) or any other Republican planning on running in 2024 until Trump officially makes his intentions clear that is, whether he plans to run for office again, or plans to put his full weight behind another candidate.

Though the Trump-endorsed challengers to G.O.P. incumbents in the Idaho and Georgia gubernatorial races will likely not prevail, if Oz and Budd win their primaries because of Trumps endorsement as Vance did Trump is almost certain to be the nominee.

Candidly, many Republicans would likely welcome the chance to put Trump behind them. The G.O.P. establishment understands that their political prospects will be in jeopardy if the party continues to focus on Trumps priorities namely, his Big Lie, rather than on their agenda for the future.

Indeed, relitigating the 2020 election is about the worst thing the Republicans can or should do if they are trying to build a strong base going forward into the 2024 election. Voters, and particularly swing voters, are focused on addressing the challenges of today not fighting about alleged voter fraud in the last election.

A forward-looking, moderate Republican agenda that offers solutions where Democrats have failed to provide them while avoiding pandering to the partys extreme fringes and relitigating past grievances is essential for the G.O.P.s prospects in 2022, 2024 and beyond.

Though only time will tell, if these three Trump-endorsed candidates ultimately prevail, Republicans might not be able to escape the ever-present shadow of Donald Trump.

Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to former President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. He is the author of The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.

Read more from the original source:
Does Donald Trump still control the GOP?: Three Senate races will give us an answer - The Hill

Conservative groups perpetuating Donald Trumps false charges that the 2020 election was rigged have sparked a lawsuit against one in Colorado, and a congressional panel investigation of another in New Mexico, over aggressive tactics allegedly used to seek out possible voter fraud.

The scrutiny and criticism facing these conservative groups underscore how Trump loyalists in several US states are working to sustain falsehoods about Trumps loss, while launching new drives that voting rights advocates say smack of voter intimidation, often targeting communities of color.

A lawsuit was filed by the NAACP and two other groups in March charging that Colorado-based US Election Integrity Plan (USEIP), which has echoed Trumps baseless claims about 2020 election fraud, has gone door to door in some counties aggressively questioning residents about their voting status and sometimes bearing arms.

Moreover, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform has been investigating EchoMail, a firm that helped push false claims of election fraud in Arizona and has reportedly been paid $50,000 by a New Mexico county to oversee a local audit force doing intrusive door-to-door voter canvassing.

Other states including Michigan and Utah boast conservative groups that, under the guise of protecting voting integrity by ferreting out fraud, have been criticized for the methods they employed in seeking out potential voter fraud.

As Americans, we expect and demand an open and participatory democracy that welcomes all voters equally, said Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. Those engaging in these pressure tactics should know that voter intimidation is a crime with serious consequences.

The lawsuit against USEIP filed by the NAACP in Colorado, the League of Women Voters in Colorado and Mi Familia Vota charges that USEIP has engaged in door-to-door voter intimidation, including taking pictures of some houses, in neighborhoods with a large number of minority residents.

The lawsuit alleges, without providing specific cases, that USEIP representatives have at times worn badges or carried firearms when visiting voters residences, although they are not government officials.

Were very concerned about reports that Colorado voters have received visits at their homes from people, sometimes openly armed, posing as government officials who imply, without evidence, that fraudulent voting activity occurred at their address, Beth Hendrix, the League of Women voters executive director in Colorado told the Guardian.

A Colorado judge last week rejected a motion by USEIP to dismiss the lawsuit. A separate motion by the plaintiffs two counsels, the nonprofit legal group Free Speech for People and the law firm Lathrop GPM, to obtain a preliminary injunction to halt USEIPs efforts is pending.

The lawsuit partly rests on a measure that passed after the Civil War, called the KKK Act, aimed at stopping white terrorists from using violence to interfere with Black voters.

USEIP, which started after Joe Biden defeated Trump, is run by Shawn Smith, a retired air force colonel who also leads Cause of America, a nationwide group that boasts that its role is to enable, facilitate and support citizen grassroots action to restore trust in local elections.

Mike Lindell, the multimillionaire Trump loyalist who is CEO of MyPillow and has been the chief financier of Cause of America, told the Guardian that the group serves as an information hub with a presence in all 50 states and on his website FrankSpeech.com.

Lindell estimated he has spent between $100,000 and $200,000 monthly for salaries for the groups employees except for Smith, who is unpaid and other expenses.

Smith was reportedly tapped by Lindell to run Cause of America last fall, after Smith attended a Lindell-organized cyber symposium last summer in South Dakota which promoted conspiratorial and baseless claims of voting fraud in 2020.

An organizing manual for USEIP thanks Lindell, but he told the Guardian that he had no ties with it.

Smith can be seen in a 39-second video clip in a large crowd of Trump loyalists who were at the Capitol during the 6 January assault and another photo that was released by Colorado Newsline and relied on ProPublica research.

Smith did not reply to emails sent to Cause of America seeking comment.

Other outfits with track records for claiming the 2020 election was rigged have popped up in New Mexico, where ostensibly in the name of ferreting out voting fraud, they have sparked concerns about intimidating voters in areas with large minority populations.

Top Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in March announced an investigation into allegations from state officials that EchoMail was retained by tiny Otero county to examine potential voting fraud in part by overseeing a door-to-door voter canvass.

The founder of EchoMail, VA Shiva Ayyadurai, has been a frequent promoter of unfounded conspiracies about the 2020 election results as well as a Senate primary in Massachusetts that he lost, and the firm was also a subcontractor for a widely debunked Arizona audit of its largest county.

EchoMails contract, according to records obtained and published by the watchdog group American Oversight and first reported by NBC News, called for it to supervise a door-to-door voter canvass by a groupcalled the New Mexico Audit Force, to check the accuracy of voter rolls. The companys contract also said it would inspect ballot images in the county, and assess voter signatures for accuracy.

The House Oversight Committee chair, Carolyn Maloney, and the chair of its subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties, Jamie Raskin, wrote Ayyadurai in March that it is investigating whether your companys audit and canvass in New Mexico interferes with Americans right to vote by spreading disinformation about elections and intimidating voters.

The House letter pointed out that 40% of the countys residents are non-white Hispanic, and raised the concern that the companys canvas could have a particular impact on minority communities in Otero county.

Otero county, which has a population of 67,000 people, was won by Trump by more than 25% of the vote in 2020.

In response, Ayyadurai denied EchoMail was playing any such role in Otero county and did not provide requested documents, prompting another letter to Ayyadurai with evidence and statements from a New Mexico couple involved in the audit force.

A committee spokesperson told the Guardian that Dr Ayyadurai has denied EchoMails participation in the sham audit and canvass, directly contradicting statements made by leaders of the New Mexico Audit Force and raising serious doubts about his credibility.

The panel is now weighing its next moves to get to the bottom of this so-called audit and prevent other attacks on our elections, the spokesperson added.

The oversight committee also wrote in March to justice department assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke of the civil rights division to share its concerns about possible negative impacts of EchoMails Otero county efforts.

On a related voting front, congresswoman Maloney told the Guardian in a statement that another investigation she launched last month with congresswoman Zoe Lofren, the chair of the House administration committee, is looking into election disinformation in Arizona, Florida, Ohio and Texas. This is a fight for our democracy, and I am committed to finding solutions.

Lang of the Campaign Legal Center stressed that groups trying to find fraud while harassing voters or spreading disinformation wont succeed and will be challenged. The right to vote is the bedrock of our society and voters wont be bullied out of exercising their rights, Lang said.

Originally posted here:
Groups perpetuating Trumps 2020 election lie face scrutiny and lawsuits - The Guardian US

NEWS AND OPINION:

The 2024 presidential election is exactly 911 days away, as of Monday. So we have a little time before the genuine political predictions begin about the big bout oh, wait. Those predictions are already arriving. Pundits, researchers and prognosticators are mulling over their lists of who might throw their proverbial hats into the ring. So lets join in.

What are the chances that former President Donald Trump will declare his intention to seek the White House once again? Two sources believe he will do it.

Former Trump attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani says signs point to a likely run.

My instinct is hes running. I have known him for a long time. I see what hes doing and how hes preparing and he sounds to me like a man who is excited about the possibility of running, he told the New York Post.

He also clarified that Mr. Trump had not explicitly revealed any plans. The former New York City mayor who ran for president himself in 2008 appears to be familiar with the signs of a potential candidate.

Mr. Giuliani said he was much more confident than not, that Mr. Trump will reveal his plans and move forward with his bid to reclaim the White House.

Other Trump watchers have similar expectations. Sen. Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president in 2012, also appears to believe that Mr. Trump is ready to run and that his supporters are still loyal.

Its hard to imagine anything that would derail that support. So if Trump wants to become the nominee in 24, I think hes very likely to achieve that, the Utah Republican told Politico in a new interview.

Veteran newsman Bill OReilly is inclined to agree.

At this point, Donald Trump wants to run in 2024, he told NewsMax host Greg Kelly.

He wants to run and cant announce it until January 2023 because of campaign finance rules. He has raised an enormous amount of money. I dont think anyone has raised the amount of money Donald Trump has raised, Mr. OReilly noted.

Should Mr. Trump seek the office again, hell join a very crowded field, however.

At this juncture, there are 32 potential Republican candidates who could jump in for the 2024 bout and 28 potential Democratic candidates who also could join the fray. So says an updated list compiled by Ballotpedia.org.

The meticulous research group assembled the list based on those who have been actively discussed as potential presidential contenders in national media outlets.

CLASH OF THE TITANS

Should President Biden and former President Donald Trump decide to run against one another, heres what could happen.

Each man thinks they could beat the other. But they also may not run unless the other chooses to do so. The 2024 election begins as a high-stakes staring contest, predicts Saul Anuzis, former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and now a political commentator and consultant.

As each camp gears up for a rematch of the bitterly contested 2020 contest, there remains a small hiccup: Neither is inclined to take the plunge first. Its a game of political chicken that as described by more than a half dozen advisers to the two men has largely frozen the field among Democrats and Republicans alike. It is also raising questions about the future health of two parties being led by a pair of candidates who, by that Election Day, would have long ago celebrated their 75th birthdays, Mr. Anuzis wrote in an analysis released Sunday.

A PSAKI MOMENT

Fox News host Howard Kurtz had a question for outgoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki in an interview that aired Sunday.

President Biden the other day called the MAGA movement the most extreme political organization in American history. Have you and the White House and the president decided that with Donald Trump still being by far the most influential Republican, that youve increasingly got to take him on? Mr. Kurtz asked.

Ms. Psaki advised that Mr. Biden was addressing the impact and the hold that former President Trump has on the Republican Party and the influence and the impact that he has on their policies are and he wants to use it as a reminder of how these policies can impact people every day.

But Mr. Biden could do more.

Hes also not going to hesitate, calling out what he thinks are extreme positions that are out of whack with the mainstream, said Ms. Psaki who will leave her White House post next week and become an MSNBC commentator.

So are you taking on Donald Trump more? Mr. Kurtz asked.

Were taking on what he represents and what the people who are currently in elected office making policies represent, Ms. Psaki responded.

THE SCIENCE OF BUG SPLATS

Counting bug splats on vehicle license plates shows the numbers of flying insects has dropped significantly, reports the Buglife project, a British charity now working with the Kent Wildlife Trust, a conservation charity.

Both groups are concerned that the population of flying bugs has gotten lower in recent years and have now asked the public to monitor the situation through the use of a specially developed smartphone app.

Participants are asked to clean their license plates before heading out on a journey in their vehicle and then to photograph and count the number of bugs they found splattered on the plates when they returned, noted Phys.org, a news site.

Buglife spokesman Matt Shardlow described the findings to the press as dramatic and alarming.

The bug splat project will continue through August; details can be found atBuglife.org.uk.

POLL DU JOUR

66% of U.S. drivers have or will make significant changes in their driving habits because of the high price of gasoline.

62% will cut back vehicle use except for necessary trips like grocery shopping or doctor visits.

41% will not fill up their gas tanks, but only put in what is affordable.

35% will leave their cars home and take public transit.

34% will drive to different gas stations to find the best prices.

29% have canceled summer holiday travel plans by car.

Source: A Yahoo/Maru Public Opinion survey of 1,392 U.S. drivers conducted April 29-May 1, and released Saturday; respondents were asked multiple questions.

Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.

Read the rest here:
Inside the Beltway: Donald Trump a 'likely' 2024 hopeful - Washington Times

Dana White has praised former US President Donald Trump. White explained that during the UFC season it was difficult to book stadiums.

Dana White, speaking to The Pivot Podcast, pointed out that it was Donald Trump who helped turn the ball into a UFC victory. Trump called on him and promised to host some events at the Trump Taj Mahal in Las Vegas:

This product was very bad, the places did not want us. Arenas did not want us. We had a hard time finding places. Trump really called us. We got there, very determined. We appeared in the first battle and he was there until the last battle. And we both went there.

White then praised the UFC success for people like Donald Trump. White cited this as the reason why he approved Trumps presidential campaign:

Everything that happened to me in my career from then on, he would take a phone call to congratulate me. Or send something. He has always been a strong boy to me. So he calls me and says he is running for president. Convention. Everyone told me not to do it Everything this boy did to me, I would tell him no? Thats not me.

MMA fans around the world will soon see the latest season of Ultimate Fighter. Two captains have been confirmed as bantamweight champion Julianna Pena and former champion Amanda Nunes.

Pena shocked the world when he introduced the Nunes to UFC 269 in December 2021. Few had predicted that Venezuelan Vixen would successfully face The Lioness, but he went as a champion.

Dana White pointed out that initially they could not get the UFC on television and it was often dominated by real television. Ultimate Fighter was created as a way to combine both and get organizational exposure.

The end of Season 30 will be the much-anticipated repetition between Pena and Nunes. Pena will be looking to add to his champion history by defending the belt for the first time.

Also Read: Michael Chandler says his fight with Conor McGregor would be Totally Huge

See the original post here:
"Donald Trump has always been a strong boy to me" - Dana White describes how Donald Trump aided the UFC in its... - The Sportsrush

Opinion: What should we do when the offspring of politicians provide ammunition by way of their behavior that can be weaponized against their famous fathers?

During her presidential campaign in 2007, Hillary Clinton famously quoted an African proverb that says, Its takes a village to raise a child.

I believe that to be true.

Unfortunately, the GPS coordinates to that village, along with step-by-step directions, have never been provided to those of us who are parents.

Given that, and recognizing my own inadequacies, I am generally disinclined to judge a parent based on the behavior of a child.

Particularly when the offspring is an adult.

Most long-time parents would agree with me on this.

Im sure of it.

Except when it comes to politics.

With a public figure (especially one with whom we disagree), the sins of offspring become the sins of the parent.

So it is with a son of President Joe Biden and a son and a son-in-law of former President Donald Trump. Each of these men has made a (sometimes questionable) living off the name association with a famous father (or father-in-law). One of them even hoped to stage a coup.

The scrutiny of President Bidens son Hunter began during his presidential campaign and has continued unabated. Trumps first impeachment involved Trump trying to strongarm Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into ramping up an investigation into Hunter, who had made a lot of money through dealings with businesses in faraway places, including Ukraine.

The U.S. attorney in Delaware, a Trump appointee, has an ongoing investigation into Hunter. The current president has not interfered with that investigation or moved to replace the prosecutor. Something I suspect Trump would have done in an instant.

Its not easy being a dad.

Meantime, the former presidents oldest son, Donald Jr., is in trouble on several fronts. Most recently texts have been released between him and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in which Don Jr. promotes a plan to invalidate the presidential election and keep his father in office.

Its very simple, Don Jr. texts in one of them. We have multiple paths. We control them all.

The legality of those paths … well … thats another question.

Don Jr. and his sister Ivanka also are under investigation by New York's Attorney General Letitia James, who said, We have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit."

The former president is tied up in this as well, but his children are adults. They make their own choices.

In addition to all this, The New York Times reported recently that Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner secured a $2 billion investment in his private equity firm from Saudi Arabias state-owned sovereign wealth fund only six months after the end of the Trump administration.

Two billion.

The funds advisory members didnt believe Kushner had anything close to the knowledge or experience required for such a financial windfall, but they were overruled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Kushner was a senior adviser to his father-in-law when he was president. He defended a massive arms deal to Saudi Arabia and subsequently became pals with the prince. So, is the sweetheart deal a form of payback?

You might remember Mohammed bin Salman as the person a U.S. intelligence officials blame for the operation that led to theabduction and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

And by way of comparison, $2 billion makes anything Hunter Biden did look like chump change.

The vast majority of politicians even those we dont like manage to rear children who become respectable adults whom we never hear about, mostly because respectable cant be weaponized against a political opponent. Other children provide their fathers opponents with plenty of ammunition.

Still, I am disinclined to blame a father for the sins of a son, particularly when the offspring is a full-grown independent adult whose troubles should be his own.

In matters of child rearing even after the progeny have long since flown the nest I find I am in agreement with the comedian Andy Richter, who said, I would say that the hardest thing about being a parent is these goddamned kids.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

For more opinions content, please subscribe.

Read more:
What Hunter Biden, Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner have in common - The Arizona Republic