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UPDATE: The impact of the January 6th Committee hearing was probably felt more in the Cannon Caucus Room than outside of it: As an extended video was played of the attack, it was particularly wrenching for the lawmakers, law enforcement and members of the media who were there that day and witnessed it.

But the hearing itself went by rather briskly relative to other congressional events, as the committee seemed to want to give a taste of their case ahead that Trump is to blame for what happened on January 6th. The bits of revelation were like teasers of the topics for the hearings ahead.

What happened on January 6th is kind of the end of the story, but really the root of it is that Trump was determined to stay in power, regardless of the election, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said afterward.

As the committees vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) put it, President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame.

Committee members promised new revelations, and there were some.

Among those that stood out:

What Trump said about Pence: According to Cheney, when Trump saw rioters chanting to hang Mike Pence, he said, Maybe our supporters have the riot idea. Mike Pence deserves it.

What Mark Milley said about Mark Meadows: On January 6, as the attack unfolded, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley spoke with Mark Meadows, Trumps chief of staff, who told him, in effect, We have to kill the narrative that the vice president is making all the decisions. We need to establish the narrative, you know, that the president is still in charge and that things are steady or stable.

What Ivanka Trump said about her fathers election claims: After Attorney General William Barr said that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud, Trumps daughter told the committee in video testimony, It affected my perspective. I respect Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he was saying.

What Jared Kushner thought of the White House counsel threatening to resign: Trumps son in law and adviser Jared Kusher was asked in video testimony whether he was aware of instances where White House Counsel Pat Cipollone threatened to resign. But Kushner tried to distance himself to what was going on in the Trump circle post-election, saying that he was focused on pardons and that he took Cipollones threats as just whining.

Members of congress sought pardons: Cheney said that Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) sought a presidential pardon for his role in trying to reverse the election results. Multiple other Republican congressmen also sought presidential pardons for their roles in attempting to overturn the 2020 election, Cheney said, giving a preview of more to come.

PREVIOUSLY: The January 6th Committees hearing concluded with the videotaped testimony of Trump supporters who trekked to Washington, D.C. on January 6th, answering his call to show up in the capital on that day.

He said, I have something important to say,' Matthew Walker said in one of the clips. Another supporter said, He laid out what is happening in our government.

Their words were a bit of a teaser for the next hearing, as the committee will try to establish that Trump was the one who motivated his supporters to turn out at the Capitol for an attempted coup.

PREVIOUSLY: Nick Quested, a documentary filmmaker who was following the Proud Boys on January 6th, testified that they attended Trumps speech at the Ellipse that day but he was confused when they left it early to go to the Capitol.

That is important as the committee tried to make the case that the siege on the Capitol was pre-planned, and that groups like the Proud Boys scoped out security at the Capitol to seek out weak spots where barricades could be breached.

For anyone who didnt understand how violent that event was, I saw it, I documented it, and I experienced it, Quested said.

Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards described trying to fend off the mob. As it grew, she said that she made the understatement of the century to her sergeant. Sarge, I think were going to need a few more people down here.

She, like other officers that day, described scenes of carnage and chaos.

It was just hours of hand to hand combat, she said.

I saw friends with blood all over their faces, she said. I was slipping in peoples blood. You know, I was catching people as they fell. She described the attack as more of a battle than a riot.

Edwards was injured when she was struck on the top of her head by a bike rack and she stumbled on some concrete stairs. Her chin hit a rail and her head struck the stairs, knocking her unconsciousness. When she came to, she returned to try to help the other officers. One of those she saw was Officer Brian Sicknick, and he was ghostly pale. He died the next day of a stroke. His mother was in the hearing room, along with other members of law enforcement, including Aquilino Gonell and Harry Dunn, both of whom testified at a committee hearing last year. Dunn had a T-shirt with the definition of the word insurrection on it.

At one moment, she said looked out over the Capitol grounds and recalled just seeing the war zone that the west front had become.

PREVIOUSLY: The January 6th Committee presented an extended, graphic video of the attack on the Capitol, including footage not seen before, intended to show the magnitude of the siege, chaos and the violence.

Included in the video were officers calling for help as the rioters began to surge forward and break through barricades.

The footage also include excerpts from Donald Trumps rally at the Ellipse that preceded the attack, as he told his supporters, Mike Pence, I hope you are going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. The committee is trying to show how Trump incited the attack.

The footage also highlighted the role of the Proud Boys, the far-right, neofascist group whose members were part of the attack.

Among those in the gallery in the hearing room was Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), who fought back tears as she watched the footage, having escaped the House chamber that day. It was difficult to watch, she told reporters. Its not a movie. Its not like something that happened in a different country that is removed from us. These folks (the rioters) are from our communities.

PREVIOUSLY: The chairman of the January 6th Committee opened its primetime hearing by laying the blame for the attack on former President Donald Trump and suggesting that it was a pre-planned attempt to subvert democracy.

Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the chairman of the committee, said in his opening remarks.

He said that it was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt.

Thompson looked directly at the camera, as he introduced himself to viewers and, recalling his background from his home state, noting that he grew up in an environment where people tried to justify the actions of the KKK. He compared that the the voices trying to justify the actions of the insurrectionists on Jan. 6, 2021.

Thompsons opener also included a clip of video testimony from former Attorney General William Barr, who told the committee that he told Trump that his claim that the election was stolen was bullshit. In another clip, shared by the committees vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY, Barr said that he told the president that he didnt see any evidence of fraud. In another clip, Ivanka Trump said that she accepted what Barr was saying. In the hearing room, the clips were played on a large screen above the committee members.

Cheney said that Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power.

She also said that Trump, reacting to January 6th rioters calls to hang Mike Pence, said in private, Maybe our supporters have the riot idea. Mike Pence deserves it.

Cheney also put Trumps actions in historical context, noting that Trump was the first president in history to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

PREVIOUSLY: The chairman of the January 6th Committee, getting its first primetime moment, plans to start the hearing by warning that our democracy remains in danger.

We cant sweep what happened under the rug, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), plans to say. The American people deserve answers.

Addressing his remarks to the viewing audience, Thompson will say that the hearing, the first of six planned over the next few weeks, will remind you of the reality of what happened that day. But our work must do much more that just look backwards. Because our democracy remains in danger. The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over.

Thursdays event may be less important for the potential bombshells and more as a way to garner the publics attention again, with the benefit of a high profile time slot and coverage across broadcast and cable news networks, save for Fox News Channel, which has diverted live coverage to their business network. Unlike other committee hearings, which have typically deferred to lawmaker seniority, this hearing was expected to be a greater mix of video segments and witness testimony, with former ABC News president James Goldston enlisted to assist in the presentation.

Some 100 members of the media were credentialed to cover the hearing in person in the Cannon Caucus Room, a stately, chandeliered venue that, according to House history, was the site of the House Un-American Activities hearings. Some House members not on the committee were gathered as spectators, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D_WA) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN).

The January 6th Committee has held a hearing and public business meetings before, but with public interest potentially fading, there is some pressure on the panel to lay out a narrative of their findings, with the expectation that a share of the blame will be to former President Donald Trump.

Trumps allies have dismissed the committee itself as a partisan exercise, even though it contains two Republicans, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who have broken with their party orthodoxy, which has been to deny the importance of January 6 or embrace conspiracy theories over its cause. The former president has been helped out by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who blasted the hearing earlier on Thursday, and the three Fox News primetime hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, whose shows will not be pre-empted despite a major news event. They each were expected to attack and even mock the committee, as they have done in the past, but Hannity and Ingraham have found themselves part of the panels investigation. Cheney last year read texts that the Fox personalities sent to then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as the attack unfolded on January 6, urging him to try to get Trump to try to put a stop to it.

Fox News decision to forgo coverage on its main network has drawn harsh criticism from lawmakers and media critics. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor earlier on Thursday and called Fox News decision cowardly and one that should end any debate that they are not a real news organization.

Fox News is a propaganda machine of the hard right and it is plain as day that they are scared of their viewers learning the truth about January 6th, he said, arguing that they have isolated their viewers in an alternate reality of conspiracy theories.

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January 6th Committees Primetime Hearing: Officer Testifies On Capitol Hill War Zone - Deadline

Voters in swing House districts are fixated on rising inflation and rising gas prices, according to fresh Republican polling, highlighting the difficult political challenges confronting Democrats ahead of midterm elections.

In polling commissioned for former Vice President Mike Pences political nonprofit group, 25% of registered voters in four battleground House districts cited inflation and rising gas prices as the issues they are most concerned about. Another 12% said their top priority was the economy and jobs. With President Joe Biden struggling to connect with voters on these issues, the Democrats five-seat House majority is increasingly in jeopardy as is their slim Senate majority.

Pences group, Advancing American Freedom, is in the middle of a $10 million campaign to boost Republican prospects in the midterm elections as the former vice president mulls a 2024 presidential bid. As a part of that investment, Advancing American Freedom hired veteran Republican pollster Dave Sackett to survey voters in four swing House districts to gain a broader understanding of the issues driving the electorate. As suggested in national polling, the economy, specifically inflation, is king.

Sackett, from the Tarrance Group, examined voter attitudes in Iowas Des Moines-anchored 3rd Congressional District; eastern Kansass 3rd Congressional District, dominated by the Kansas City suburbs; Minnesotas St. Paul-anchored 2nd Congressional District; and northeastern Pennsylvanias Scranton-anchored 8th Congressional District. The sample size was 400, with 100 coming from each district, and the margin of error was plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

BIDEN IS TRAMPLING ON SEPARATION OF POWERS COURTS SHOULD REIN HIM IN

There was one bright spot for Democrats in the data. After inflation and rising gas prices, the issue most concerning to voters (20%) was the Supreme Court and a pending decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminating federal protection for abortion rights. Coming in third on voters priority list, at 14%, was climate change and the environment. But overall, the polling pointed to more advantages for the Republicans.

Among the surveys key findings:

Accelerated activity by Advancing American Freedom is another sign that Pence is gearing up for a 2024 presidential run, although no decisions have been made.

The former vice president, who is traveling prodigiously to support GOP candidates on the 2022 ballot, has made several trips to key early primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Pence was recently in Georgia to support Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who held off a primary challenge from former Sen. David Perdue, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Pence is making it known that his decision on whether to seek the White House in 2024 is not predicated on Trumps plans. In a March interview with the Washington Examiner, the former president said he was disinclined to pick Pence as his running mate should he run for president a third time and win the GOP nomination. Pences inner circle has made it clear that the feeling is mutual.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

In comments Pence posted on Twitter just after Kemps victory over Perdue, the former vice president took a veiled shot at Trump and his focus on the last election. Trump continues to insist that the 2020 election was stolen and has made that issue both the centerpiece of his messaging and a priority when considering candidate endorsements.

Republicans can only win by offering real, lasting solutions to the problems Democrats have created for the American people, Pence tweeted. If Republicans come together and focus on the future, we wont just win the next election, we will win a future of freedom for all the American people.

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Inflation and gas prices are the top concerns in swing House districts: Poll - Washington Examiner

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Mark Curtis, MINDSETTER

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Former VP Mike Pence and former President Donald Trump - now foes, Pence won the first battle big

Georgia on My Mind" To no ones surprise former college and pro football great Herschel Walker easily won the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. Yes, its a big Trump win as he and Walker are long-time friends. But Walker is a legend in Georgia and would have likely beaten any opponent. The real test for Trump is whether he can help Walker knock off Sen. Ralph Warnock (D) Georgia. Warnock preaches at the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr., both presided. In all my years covering politics, this may be the most prominent and consequential race where two popular Black men faced off against each other. It is the marquee Senate race in the nation in 2022 and is key to which party controls the Senate.

Trump-Perdue vs. Pence-Kemp This is like a WWE World Championship tag-team match, and in the world of TV wrestling this is the dreaded loser leaves town match. In 2018 President Donald Trump backed then-candidate Brian Kemp (R) Georgia who won the office. Two years later the relationship soured as Trump blamed Kemp for not overturning the 2020 election results in which Joe Biden won the Peach State. (Kemp has no power to overturn the vote). So, Trump endorsed the Republican challenger David Perdue, while former Vice president Mike Pence split with his old boss and endorsed Kemp. It got ugly, but the Pence-backed Kemp blew Perdue away, 74 percent to 22 percent. So, its a sharp Trump rebuke. The winner still has to face Democrat Stacey Abrams who nearly won four years ago.

Georgia Brawl, Round 3 Another person Mr. Trump targeted this year was Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who Trump also blamed for his Georgia loss in 2020. Trump wanted Raffensperger to join Kemp in overturning the election, even though they lacked the authority. Trump-backed the incumbents opponent, Rep. Jody Hice (R) Georgia, but Raffensperger won in a near landslide, 52 to 33 percent. So, Trump is 1-and-2 in the big Georgia races. This now purple state will have huge sway in 2022 and 2024. It certainly did in 2020, when it not only went for Biden, but also replaced two Senate Republicans with two Democrats, thereby seizing control of the U.S. Senate.

The Texas Two-Step Land Commissioner George P. Bush, (R) Texas represents the fourth generation of one of Americas most powerful political families. This year he rolled the dice and ran for Texas Attorney General against incumbent AG Ken Paxton who has serious legal problems. Former President Trump, who despises the Bush family, endorsed Paxton. Despite that Bush still ran ads praising Trump. It didnt work. Paxton crushed Bush 68 percent to 32 percent. One network commentator I was listening to said, The Bush Dynasty is over! Baloney! Bush is only 46. Hes a lawyer with ten years in the U.S. Navy. Hes also half-Latino. He checks a lot of boxes that make him an attractive candidate. Just remember his dad, uncle and grandpa also lost some of their early political races, only to bounce back big. This guy is in for the long haul.

Its All in the Family! In Arkansas, former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, easily won the Republican nomination for governor, with 83 percent of the vote. She, of course, is the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) Arkansas. Sanders had the endorsement of her former boss, President Trump, so put another win in his column. Arkansas has never had a woman governor. To my recollection, I dont think weve ever had a father-daughter combo serve any state as governor. But, for that to happen, Sanders will have to beat Democrat nominee Chris Jones, the first African American nominee for Arkansas governor. Arkansas has sent a lot of Democrats to the Governors mansion, so this is not in the bag until November.

Sweet Home Alabama" In a very strange race, Rep. Mo Brooks (R) Alabama was running to get promoted from the House to the Senate. Donald Trump endorsed Brooks, but later rescinded his endorsement. Brooks lost to fellow Republican Katie Britt, with a vote count of 45 percent, Britt to 29 percent for Brooks, and military veteran Mike Durrant placing third with 23 percent. Congressman Brooks was already in hot water in certain corners of the Republican Party, for telling the January 6th Capitol rioters to fight! Its not over yet. There will be a runoff as Alabama requires a nominee to win a majority of the vote. The winner faces Democrat Mike Boyd.

Gun Politics With two big mass shootings with multiple fatalities in the last few weeks one in Buffalo, New York, and the other in Uvalde, Texas - you can predict that gun legislation and mental health bills will rise to the forefront in Washington, DC (and on the campaign trail). Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in Gods name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it and stand up to the (gun) lobbies? said President Biden in his address to the nation.

An About-Face? -- To the surprise of many, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell instructed Sen. Jon Cornyn (R) Texas, to reach out to Democrats on potential common ground gun legislation. McConnell gave guidance, "in trying to get an outcome that's directly related to the problem. And so, I am hopeful that we could come up with a bipartisan solution that's directly related to the facts of this awful massacre." That may include so-called red flag laws, which allow relatives to get weapons confiscated from family members showing mental illness and threats to others. Another area of bipartisan compromise could be universal background checks. Again, it will be a fight, but the two sides seem willing to talk. Thats new.

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The Punishing Primary Path Continues The Sunday Political Brunch - GoLocalProv

AMES, Iowa For months, former Vice President Mike Pence has been edging away from his alliance of convenience with former President Donald J. Trump.

After four years of service bordering on subservience, the increasingly emboldened Mr. Pence is seeking to reintroduce himself to Republican voters ahead of a potential presidential bid by setting himself apart from what many in the G.O.P. see as the worst impulses of Mr. Trump. Hes among a small group in his party considering a run in 2024 no matter what Mr. Trump decides.

Mr. Pence first used high-profile speeches to criticize the former presidents push to overturn the 2020 election results, stating flatly that Mr. Trump was wrong in his assertion that Mr. Pence could have blocked the Electoral College ratification on Jan. 6, 2021. Mr. Pence then unsubtly visited the Charlottesville, Va., memorial to Heather Heyer, who was killed in the 2017 white supremacist riot there that Mr. Trump sought to rationalize by faulting both sides.

Now, on Monday outside Atlanta, Mr. Pence is taking his boldest and most unambiguous step toward confronting his former political patron. On the eve of Georgias primary, the former vice president will stump with Gov. Brian Kemp, perhaps the top target of Mr. Trumps 2022 vengeance campaign against Republicans who didnt bow to his election lies.

Mr. Pence grew close with Mr. Kemp during the pandemic and 2020 campaign, and now he is lining up against Mr. Trumps handpicked candidate, former Senator David Perdue. But more than that, Mr. Pence is seeking to claim a share of credit in whats expected to be the starkest repudiation yet of Mr. Trumps attempt to consolidate power, with Mr. Kemp widely expected to prevail.

It is an emphatic break between the onetime running mates, who have not spoken for nearly a year but have also not publicly waged a proxy war until now. Mr. Pence, his aides say, knows full well what going down to Georgia represents and the symbolism alone will stand without him targeting Mr. Trump or even Mr. Perdue in his remarks.

In a statement ahead of Mr. Pences visit to Georgia, Mr. Trump belittled his vice president through a spokesman.

Mike Pence was set to lose a governors race in 2016 before he was plucked up and his political career was salvaged, said Taylor Budowich, the spokesman. Now, desperate to chase his lost relevance, Pence is parachuting into races, hoping someone is paying attention. The reality is, President Trump is already 82-3 with his endorsements, and theres nothing stopping him from saving America in 2022 and beyond.

Georgia may represent only the beginning of a new rivalry.

In an interview before a speech last month in Iowa, Mr. Pence pointedly declined to rule out running even if Mr. Trump also enters the 2024 primary. Well go where were called, Mr. Pence said, explaining that he and his wife would act on prayer. Thats the way Karen and I have always approached these things.

Recalling the gratitude he gets from resisting Mr. Trumps demands that he block Congress from affirming President Bidens victory, he said: I have been very moved traveling around the country how much people have made a point to express appreciation, it has been very humbling to me.

Yet in the same interview, he recalled spending five years in the foxhole with Mr. Trump, noting that he was incredibly proud of the record, before giving a dinner speech trumpeting the Trump-Pence administration multiple times.

His approach amounts to the first soundings of a sort of Trump-without-the-chaos strategy, a bet that Republican primary voters crave the policy record of the last administration but without the impulsiveness, norm-breaking and naked demagogy.

There may yet be a constituency for such an appeal, as this years G.O.P. primaries demonstrate how Trumpism is flourishing no matter whom its architect blesses.

However, its far from clear that the sober-minded Mr. Pence is the best vessel for that message at a time many G.O.P. voters thrill more to closed-fist Trumpian pugnacity than paeans to the power of prayer.

As of now, Mr. Trump is the clear favorite. Yet all his hints about becoming the first former president in over a century to try to reclaim the office havent stopped a host of other potential aspirants.

Whether its Mr. Pence or former Trump cabinet members or a range of other elected officials, ambitious Republicans are already visiting early nominating states like Iowa and New Hampshire, courting influential lawmakers and cultivating relationships with donors.

Even if Mr. Trump runs, many Republicans believe there will still be a hotly contested race.

I dont think it ends the primary, said Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, who is mulling a presidential campaign. My sense is youre still going to have a very robust primary here just because everyone has to earn it.

So far, Republican contenders are voting with their feet.

Among those who have beaten a path to the early nominating states: Mr. Pence; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; the former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley; and Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Rick Scott of Florida.

Should Mr. Trump run, he would most likely sideline some Republicans who would either find him difficult to beat or just as soon wait it out. A smaller group of contenders, however, may find the less crowded field more appealing.

Those ranks include former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who was one of Mr. Trumps earliest and most prominent supporters in 2016, but who has broken with him since the 2020 election.

Given the problems the country is facing at home and abroad, if you only feel up for it if somebody else doesnt run, well, then you better not run, Mr. Christie said. Everybody who is considering running for president in 24 should have a moral obligation to make that decision regardless of who else runs.

As for his own plans, he said: Sure, Im thinking about it.

Mr. Trumps populist and pugilist imprint on the party has been cemented, whether he runs or not. Thats why Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is being so closely watched by conservative voters, donors and activists.

Seizing on every chance to confront the left and the news media, and to draw coverage on right-wing media for both, Mr. DeSantis has risen to second place behind Mr. Trump in a series of way-too-early polls of Republican voters.

But hes steadfastly refused to visit Iowa and New Hampshire as a would-be White House candidate, leaving Florida mostly just to stockpile more money for his re-election. Thats not to say hes not keeping his eye on national politics he reached out to Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa to wish her well before her response to President Bidens State of the Union address this year.

Why are these midterms so important? This years races could tip the balance of power in Congress to Republicans, hobbling President Bidens agenda for the second half of his term. They will also test former President Donald J. Trumps role as a G.O.P. kingmaker. Heres what to know:

What are the midterm elections? Midterms take place two years after a presidential election, at the midpoint of a presidential term hence the name. This year, a lot of seats are up for grabs, including all 435 House seats, 35 of the 100 Senate seats and 36 of 50 governorships.

What do the midterms mean for Biden? With slim majorities in Congress, Democrats have struggled to pass Mr. Bidens agenda. Republican control of the House or Senate would make the presidents legislative goals a near-impossibility.

What are the races to watch? Only a handful of seats will determine if Democrats maintain control of the House over Republicans, and a single state could shift power in the 50-50 Senate. Here are 10 races to watch in the Houseand Senate, as well as several key governors contests.

When are the key races taking place? The primary gauntletis already underway. Closely watched racesin Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia will be held in May, with more taking place through the summer. Primaries run until September before the general election on Nov. 8.

Go deeper. What is redistrictingand how does it affect the midterm elections? How does polling work? How do you register to vote? Weve got more answers to your pressing midterm questions here.

Mr. DeSantis, though, is hardly beloved among his fellow Republican governors, a group thats unlikely to rally around him in the same fashion they did George W. Bush, then the Texas governor, in 2000.

I know theres a lot of talk on Fox News and stuff like that on the national level or in Florida but theres really not talk about him here in New Hampshire, Mr. Sununu said of Mr. DeSantis.

What there is there, said the longtime Republican strategist Jim Merrill, is a quiet but persistent appetite among many in the rank-and-file to turn the page on Mr. Trump, at least as the partys nominee.

There is a desire to move on here and its not just among the John Kasich and Bill Weld crowd, said Mr. Merrill, alluding to two former Republican governors who ran as anti-Trump moderates in the states primary.

Yet if Mr. Trump faces a divided Republican field as he did in the first wave of caucuses and primaries in 2016, he could again claim the nomination with a plurality rather than a majority in many states because of his seemingly unshakable hold on a third of his partys electorate.

At a county G.O.P. dinner in Ames a college community thats more upscale, and decidedly less Trump oriented, than much of Iowa it was not difficult to find Republicans eager to find a fresh nominee, even if they edged into saying as much with Midwest Nice euphemisms.

Hes calm and predictable so thats a good thing, Eric Weber said of Mr. Pence.

Mr. Trump was too divisive even though what he did is great, Mr. Weber said as his wife, Carol, suggested another Trump bid may divide people.

Yet they werent ready to sign up with Mr. Pence, as both noted their affection for Mr. Cotton and Mr. DeSantis.

Mr. Pences speech was received well if not overwhelmingly so. It had all the bearings of a Republican in Iowa leaning toward a presidential bid knowing references to local politicians, Midwest totems like John Deere and attacks on the Democrats in power in Washington.

Yet it also had the distinct air of a pre-Trump brand of Republicanism, with only the slightest criticism of the news media (and that was even gloved with all due respect), references to becoming a grandfather and G-rated jokes that could have just as easily been delivered by Mitt Romney (it involved Washington, D.C., and hot air).

Few at the gathering liked Mr. Pence as much as Kevin and Linda Lauver.

Their phones blaring with tornado warnings, the Lauvers took shelter in the Ames Country Club basement ahead of the April G.O.P. dinner. And they bumped into the evenings keynote speaker.

We want somebody from the Midwest, Ms. Lauver told Mr. Pence, nudging him to run for president in 2024. I like Mike, Mr. Lauver chimed in.

Mr. Pence earnestly patted his heart and offered his thanks.

As Mr. Lauver headed back upstairs after the tornado false alarm, he wanted to be clear that he liked Mr. Trump.

He did what he said what he was going to do, said Mr. Lauver, before adding in Iowa deadpan: When he said the least it was the best.

Now, he continued, We need him to say, OK, Ill step aside. Then Mr. Lauver paused.

I dont know if hell do that.

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Pence, Tiptoeing Away From Trump, Lays Groundwork for 24 Run - The New York Times

The battle for the Republican Party is entering a new phase, and Rep. Liz Cheney sounded the first shot of it on Sunday evening.

We face a threat we have never faced before: a former president attempting to unravel our constitutional republic. At this moment we must all summon the courage to stand against that, Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and Donald Trumps chief antagonist in the GOP, said in a speech Sunday night.

Cheney delivered the remarks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library after the institution presented her with a Profile in Courage award. She was one of five people given the award, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and three other American officials from both parties who came under intense attack by Trump and his supporters after the 2020 election.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston on Sunday. (Josh Reynolds/AP)

Cheneys direct shot at Trump referring to him as a current and ongoing threat to the republics survival kicks off a week full of drama within the GOP.

Trumps former vice president, Mike Pence, will rally with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday evening, the night before Republican voters go to the polls in the Peach State. Trump made Kemp his No. 1 target for removal after the 2020 election, because Kemp, a conservative Republican, refused to go along with Trumps efforts to overturn the results.

Kemp appears poised to defeat Trumps handpicked candidate for governor, former U.S. Sen. David Perdue. Polling has consistently shown Kemp above 50%, ahead of Perdue by enough to avoid a runoff election and win the GOP nomination outright on Tuesday.

Pences appearance with Kemp is the former vice presidents boldest move yet in his ongoing divorce from Trump. Pence has walked a careful line for months, at once seeking to rebut Trumps lies about the election while still celebrating their administrations policy accomplishments.

Gov. Brian Kemp and then-Vice President Mike Pence after a roundtable discussion with small business owners in May 2020. (Brynn Anderson/AP)

Close observers of Pence have noticed a pattern of steady and gradual escalation of his willingness to rebuke Trump. But the Georgia rally is the clearest sign so far that he is willing to do more than just poke at Trump ahead of the 2024 Republican primaries, which is increasingly likely to pit the two men against each other.

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Having reportedly concluded that Georgia is a lost cause, Trump is launching a new offensive out west against Cheney. On Saturday, he will travel to Wyoming to campaign against her and for her primary opponent, Harriet Hageman.

Trump has had a mixed record this year in contested primaries where he has tried to oust Republicans he deems insufficiently loyal to him. But defeating Cheney, the most outspoken Trump critic inside the GOP, in Wyomings Aug. 16 primary is now a top priority for him. Conversely, Republicans who hope to move the Republican Party past Trump have coalesced around Cheney, fundraising for her as she attempts to stave off the former presidents assault.

Then-President Donald Trump before speaking at a rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

All of this will set up a series of public hearings held by the congressional committee investigating the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The committee believes it can demonstrate to the public that Trump sought to overturn the election results through various means, in a way that has not yet been fully revealed, and that he intentionally did nothing during the insurrection, one source told Yahoo News.

Cheney is the vice chair of that committee and will play a leading role in those hearings, which will begin on June 9. Her speech at the Kennedy Library on Sunday served as a preview for how she will contextualize the events of Jan. 6.

Cheney is Republican royalty; she is the daughter of Dick Cheney, the former Wyoming congressman and secretary of defense who became George W. Bushs vice president. But on Sunday she talked about her great-great-grandfather, Samuel Fletcher Cheney, who fought for the Union in the Civil War. She portrayed the current crisis of democracy in the context of Americas bloodiest conflict.

I have found myself, especially since Jan. 6, thinking often of my great-great-grandfather and of the Union he fought to defend. And this was never more true than on the night of Jan. 6 itself, she said.

Cheney then spoke in vivid detail about walking through the Capitol after pro-Trump rioters, who had sought to stop the certification of the 2020 election, had been expelled and defeated by law enforcement.

Police clash with Trump supporters who breached security and entered the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Cheney described the House chamber still strewn with broken glass and furniture piled against the walls in an effort to barricade against rioters. She narrated her walk through Statuary Hall, where Abraham Lincoln once served in Congress, and talked about seeing police in tactical gear resting against statues, surrounded by empty water bottles scattered across the floor, exhausted from the brutal hand-to-hand combat in which they had been engaged for hours.

And she talked about walking to the Capitol Rotunda, the majestic vaulted room at the center of the nations symbol of representative democracy, where late former presidents have lain in state. Cheney referred to the rotunda as the most sacred space in our republic. There too, police had battled Trumps rioters.

Cheney spoke of looking at John Trumbulls painting of George Washington resigning his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1783.

John Trumbulls painting of George Washington that hangs in the Capital Rotunda. (aoc.gov)

With this noble act, George Washington set the indispensable example of the peaceful transfer of power in our country. This is what President Reagan called nothing short of a miracle. This is what President Kennedy called, in his inaugural address, a celebration of freedom, Cheney said. And this sacred obligation to defend the peaceful transfer of power has been honored by every American president, except one.

Cheney quoted Kennedy from his inaugural speech in 1961: In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.

Cheney concluded: Today that role is ours. The question for every one of us is, in this time of testing, will we do our duty? Will we defend our Constitution? Will we stand for truth? Will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics? Or will we look away from danger, ignore the threat, embrace the lies and enable the liar?

It was as robust and forceful a speech against Trump, and Trumpism, as any politician has given, and foreshadowed the case Cheney will make against the former president in the weeks to come.

Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Meg Kinnard/AP, AP, Josh Reynolds/AP

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