Trump Bump in Fundraising – Donald J. Trump, convicted Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying business records in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels just ahead of his 2016 election win, was to hold a press conference at Trump Tower Friday morning, NPR reports.
Biden react… “No one is above the law.”
But if Biden didn’t go there, his campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, did: “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.”
Note: Trump has lost one vote so far; his own, as a convicted felon.
•••
Et Tu, Mitch? – Last week, Nikki Haley said she will vote for Donald J. Trump in this November’s election. Thursday night, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who might have handled retirement much in the manner of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), wrote on X-Twitter (per The Hill); “These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.”
•••
Calendar – The first debate between Donald J. Trump and President Biden is June 27 on CNN. Sentencing for Trump in Judge Juan Merchan’s Manhattan courtroom is July 11. The Republican National Convention is July 15-18 at the Fiserv Forum (Fear the Deer!) in Milwaukee.
•••
There’s Got to Be a Morning After – And it starts with a huge overnight fundraising win for convicted felon and former President Donald J. Trump, conservative pundit Hugh Hewitt told Steve Inskeep on NPR’s Morning Edition. Hewitt names three Republican Senate candidates as likely winners from Trump’s fundraising haul; Bernie Moreno, challenger to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), David McCormick, challenger to Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Larry Hogan, running against Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D), for retiring Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) seat.
Inskeep notes that Hogan is a very moderate Republican (actually, a never-Trumper who briefly considered running for the 2024 GOP nomination), but Hewitt says the three will all fall in line for Trump and give his second term the Republican Senate majority he’ll need to carry out his MAGA agenda.
Here we’ll note that in the case of swing-state Pennsylvania, incumbent Democrat Casey had been leading McCormick by between two and five points through early May, according to 538, and he jumped ahead to a 49%-41% lead in the May 13 average of BSG/GS Strategy Group and The Cook Political Report polls.
Aside from Trump’s fundraising success, the National Republican Congressional Committee scored its best fundraising day of the cycle by Thursday night, Punchbowl News reports, having raised $300,000, which far surpasses the $175,000 the NRCC raised the day Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was elected House speaker.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa