FRIDAY 11/10/23

Former UN Ambassador and North Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley “won” Wednesday night’s GOP presidential candidates’ debate in Miami and broadcast by NBC, according to a 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, with 34% of those polled saying she had the best performance. Haley edged out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who most impressed 23%, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Former President Trump, who again eschewed the debate, this time for his own political rally in nearby Hialeah, remains the frontrunner, though the share of Republicans most likely to vote for him slipped from 64.6%, to 63.1% in the latest poll. DeSantis’ score also fell, from 49.7% to 48.3%.

Haley gained on both Trump and DeSantis. Republicans likely to vote for her rose 2.5 points, to 38%. 

Businessman and MAGA vice presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy lost 1.2 points, to 19.8% and Sen. Rick Scott, of South Carolina, fell one full point, to 19.3%.

Anti-Trump candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, like Haley, gained Republican support, from 13.7% before the debate to 14.9% after.

•••

Evacuation in Gaza? – Tanks are encircling hospitals in Gaza a day after Israel announced it would pause fighting four hours a day to distribute food and medical supplies and allow evacuation, The Washington Post reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel doesn’t “seek to occupy” Gaza.

•••

Biden to Meet with Xi – President Biden meets with China President Xi Jingping next Wednesday to “discuss issues in the U.S.-PRC (People’s Republic of) bilateral relationship, the continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication, and a range of regional and global issues,” according to a release from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The meeting will be on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit, The Hill notes.

•••

REMINDER – The federal government shuts down next Friday, November 17, if Congress fails to pass a spending bill.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY 11/9/23

“Surprise” would be too strong a term, so let’s say there were a few unexpected turns in Wednesday night’s GOP presidential debate on NBC. Anti-Trump candidate Chris Christie had a handful of supporters cheer him, with no apparent “boos” from MAGA Floridians. The host state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, came off as calm and level-headed, but then he was standing next to MAGA vice presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. 

In the no surprise, no unexpected turn column, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott called for the United States to become a Christian nation again.

Former Trump administration UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said her former boss “was the right president at the right time,” before explaining why he’d be the wrong president in 2025.

Haley called on her inner Will Smith when in a heated exchange with Ramaswamy over who can impose a more imposing ban on Tik Tok, Ramaswamy accused Haley’s daughter of being a big fan of the Chinese-based social media outlet. Haley shot back; “Leave my daughter out of your voice!”

So will Haley, DeSantis, Christie or Scott gain ground on Donald J. Trump in the polls? Will Ramaswamy rise to the top of Trump’s list of potential running mates?

We’ll soon see.

Meanwhile, we hope you’ll weigh in with your thoughts on who won and who lost in the debate. Which of them would you most like to see become the Republican presidential nominee, and why? 

Please send your comments to editors@thehustings.news and note your political leanings, whether right or left, in the subject line. --TL

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WEDNESDAY 11/8/23

Election Results – Even as party angst bubbles up over a New York Times/Siena poll showing President Biden trailing Donald J. Trump for the 2024 election in five of six crucial swing states, the Democratic Party has scored some key wins in Tuesday’s elections. Here’s what we know so far…

Ohio Abortion Rights: Voters approved a constitutional amendment that ensures access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care according to the AP, marking the latest pro-choice victory since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. With 79% counted, the “yes” vote overwhelmed the “no” vote, 55.6% to 44.3% according to Ballotpedia.

Meanwhile: In another referendum, Ohio became the 24^th state to legalize marijuana, the AP reports.

Kentucky Gubernatorial: Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear has won a second term in this otherwise red state, having defeated Republican challenger Daniel Cameron. Beshear took 52% of the vote to Cameron’s 47%, according to MSNBC’s The 11^th Hour. Beshear, the son of former Gov. Steve Beshear (2007-15), first earned the keys to the governor’s mansion when he defeated Republican incumbent Matt Bevin in 2019.

Virginia Senate: Democrats will hold control of the state senate, winning 21 of the chamber’s 40 seats (AP). Democratic wins include Schulyer Van Valkenburg for a suburban Richmond district and Russet Perry in Northern Virginia to help prevent  Republicans from taking absolute control of the state government.

Meanwhile: Control of Virginia’s House of Delegates remained up in the air late Tuesday, though Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato told MSNBC’s The 11^th Hour that Democrats will win control of the lower chamber and put an end to talk of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin running for president as a Trump alternative.

Mississippi Gubernatorial: Incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves was leading Democratic challenger Brandon Pressley – uh huh, Elvis’ second cousin – 53.5% to 43.2%, with 78% of “expected” votes in according to NBC News. Independent candidate Gwendolyn Gray had 1.4% of the vote. 

Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Superior Court Judge Daniel McCaffery won a special election for the Supreme Court to replace the late chief justice, Max Baer, to restore the Democratic Party’s 5-2 majority, The Hill’s Decision Desk HQ reports. He defeated Republican Carolyn Carluccio, president judge for the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, who downplayed her anti-abortion stance in her campaign. 

New York City Council: Democratic candidate and member of the ‘Central Park Five,’ Yusef Salaam won a seat on the New York City Council. Salaam was arrested age 15 in 1989 and served more than seven years in prison until his exoneration, which came after Donald J. Trump called for the death penalty for the wrongly accused five.

--TL

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ELECTION DAY 11/7/23

Trump Takes the Stand – No matter how hard Donald J. Trump tried, New York Judge Arthur Engoron refused to let the former president make MAGA-style campaign speeches in his court Monday. Trump took to the stand for nearly four hours in New York Attorney Gen. Letitia James’ civil fraud case over the Trump Organization’s inflation of its real estate values for financial gain.

Trump droned on in the manner to which pro- and anti-MAGA alike are accustomed as Engoron demanded he just answer the questions. Trump, in turn, took shots at the judge – always a good defense, huh? – including making the statement Engoron “always rules against” him, while also calling James a “political hack.”

Engoron reminded Trump that his court is not a campaign rally (report per NPR’s All Things Considered). 

“I think this court is a disgrace,” Trump said. “I think the statements of financial condition are good, and in some cases, very conservative.”

In his post-testimony press conference, Trump told reporters, “I think it went very well. …” He added again that the case should not have been brought to court, and said prosecutors claimed his Mar-a-Lago estate was worth $18 million. “It’s 50 to 100 times that,” Trump claimed.

“We have already been victorious,” James said, referring to Engoron’s pre-trial ruling on the case. “Now we are looking forward to … the remaining counts in our action against Donald Trump and his repeated and consistent fraud against the citizens of the great state of New York.”

Ranting scared: More than even Trump’s criminal cases, the New York civil case and its promise of prohibiting the Trump Organization from doing business in the state ever again is the case he fears most. 

Next up: Ivanka Trump is set to testify Wednesday. Unlike fellow offspring Donald Jr. and Eric, his daughter is not charged in the case.

•••

‘Tactical Pause’ in Gaza? – President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are discussing the possibility of a “tactical pause” one month into the war as the Gaza Health Ministry reports that 10,000 Palestinians have been killed, The Guardian says. Netanyahu says Israel may have “security responsibility” for Gaza for an indefinite period. 

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) (above) called on announced and unannounced primary challengers to President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign to stand down if they want to protect the country from another Trump administration, according to the Sioux City Journal. The freshman senator made his remarks at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Liberty and Justice Celebration fundraiser in Altoona Saturday. 

“I’m here to tell you, you know, he is a strong, decent dude,” the freshman senator said of Biden. He called out both Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who announced his Democratic primary challenge days after Robert Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the party to run as an independent, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he said is running a “shadow campaign” to challenge the president for the ’24 Democratic nomination.

“If you are a Democrat that wants to criticize and go after Joe Biden, our president, just go ahead and write a check for Trump.”

It capped a big week for Fetterman, who on Thursday proposed internal sanctions for any senator indicted for such offenses as mishandling classified information, being charged as a foreign agent or compromising national security in his “move” against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who faces multiple bribery charges, Politico reports.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Iowa’s Republican governor Kim Reynolds (above) is set to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination at a Des Moines rally Monday, sources have confirmed to the Des Moines Register. In an October 25 call with reporters, DeSantis said an endorsement from Reynolds, who was a MAGA acolyte during the Trump administration, would be a “huge get” for his (flagging, financially struggling) presidential campaign.

Donald J. Trump’s reaction was entirely predictable. On his Truth Social outlet, Trump wrote Reynolds’ endorsement “will be the end of her political career,” according to the Register. “If and when Kim Reynolds of Iowa endorses Ron DeSanctimonious, who is absolutely dying in the polls in Iowa and Nationwide (sic), it will be the end of her political career in that MAGA would never support her again, just as MAGA will never support DeSanctimonious again.”

Not-Florida man: Meanwhile, at the Florida Republican Party’s Freedom Summit in Kissimmee, Saturday, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie responded to boos as he walked on the stage, saying “Now look, every one of those boos, every one of those catcalls, every one of those yells will not solve one problem we face in this country. Your anger against the truth is reprehensible.” (The Hill.)

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

FRIDAY 11/3/23

The Labor Department counts 150,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy in October, well below the average of 250,000 per month for the previous 12 months. The unemployment rate rose by 0.5 points to 3.9%, marking the 21^st month below 4%, which is traditionally considered ‘full employment.’ Newly added jobs were tempered by labor strikes last month, primarily the UAW action against the Detroit Three automakers, with whom the union has reached tentative agreements. Productivity was up 4.7%, however, which lowered unit labor cost by 0.8%. Job gains were noted particularly for health care, government, and social services.

Deadly Deadlock – Continued war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is, at this point, impossible to resolve. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel Friday for his second visit since October 7 to push the nation's leaders to take “humanitarian pauses” to help the flow of aid to Palestinians in Gaza and to facilitate the release of hostages. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu Friday said there will be no ceasefire until the hostages are released.

Also on Friday, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah “stopped short” of saying his powerful militia has joined the Israel-Hamas war but added that the fighting with Israel on the Lebananon-Israeli border would “not be limited,” The Guardian reports. 

•••

SBF Guilty – After five hours of deliberations, a jury found ex-cryptocurrency king Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of each of the seven criminal charges, including fraud, that he faced in connection with FTX and Alameda Research, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Prosecution presented a solid case with SBF’s former friends and colleagues testifying against him in the four-week trial, including former girlfriend and Alameda Research chief Caroline Ellison and co-founder of FTX and Alameda, Gary Wang. 

Wang had pleaded guilty on separate charges and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors in the SBF case. 

Bankman-Fried, 31, is scheduled to be sentenced next March and will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, NPR says, though he is also likely to appeal the conviction.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

(Johnson)

Analysis by Todd Lassa

The House MAGA club, which amounts to a large minority of that chamber, has managed to get all the chamber’s Republicans make Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) the 56^th speaker. The first-round vote was 220-209. Indications are the MAGA club makes up somewhere between 147 and a bit less than 200 of the House GOP caucus.

One popular early take is that Johnson snuck in as an unknown who has put forth no significant legislation since he was first elected to the House in 2016. Except, he was a member of Donald J. Trump’s congressional defense team in the first of his impeachment trials – the one about the “perfect phone call” with then-newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – alongside 56^th House speaker candidate No. 3, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). 

Johnson also authored an amicus brief “at Trump’s behest in a controversial 2020 case” filed by the Texas attorney general, that sought to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin (per Forbes). Johnson recruited 125 fellow Republicans to co-sign, so these reps presumably know something about him. 

In his first press conference Wednesday, ABC News congressional correspondent Rachel Scott tried to ask; “You led the effort to overturn the 2020 election results, do you …” and was booed by other Republicans and told to go away, Newsweek reports. Scott also tried to ask Johnson if he would support more aid to Ukraine and Israel.

Could moderate Republicans who previously torpedoed Jordan’s campaign for the job use a motion to vacate to get rid of Johnson over aid to Ukraine and Israel? After Jordan’s defeat, ex-President Trump “killed” moderate Republican speaker candidate Tom Emmer’s bid by getting on the phone with House members after posting on Truth Social that the representative from Minnesota is “totally out-of-touch with Republican voters” and a “globalist RINO” (per Politico).

So it went back-and-forth until Johnson emerged as some sort of empty-suited compromise. House Republicans were just too weary to ask questions about who he is, NPR’s All Things Considered reported, and went along with the MAGA club of barely 200 members to vote him in. What happens to him after a budget deal or extension is, at this point, anyone’s guess.

A news feature on Johnson in a 2016 issue of The Louisiana Baptism Message offers these insights: “I am a Christian, a husband, a father, a life-long conservative, constitutional law attorney and a small business owner in that order.”

A take from the other side is that he is “the most important architect of Electoral College objections,” according to Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), per the BBC.

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Speaker Race is On Again

TUESDAY 10/24/23

UPDATE -- House Republicans begin their private-vote process to nominate a new speaker from eight candidates vying for the position. That's down from nine, as Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania has dropped out (The Washington Post). Scroll down for the full list. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) (above) is considered the frontrunner among Republicans.

With eight Republican candidates remaining, we could be in for another long round before the House of Representatives can get back to work, address a proposal for U.S. aid for Israel and Ukraine, and avoid a government shutdown by the middle of November. After the GOP brings its nominee to the House floor, the full chamber will vote. Democrats will nominate their minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York once again. A nominee needs 217 House votes to become speaker.

NOTE: In the face of all this drama behind the speaker's race, The Hustings will be off for the rest of the week. Do not let that stop you from submitting your comments on this issue or any other recent issues, with an email to editors@thehustings.news.

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MONDAY 10/23/23

After Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) ended his bid to become speaker of the House last Friday following his third loss (with a vote total that continued to sink) House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, of New York gave intended candidates until noon Eastern Sunday to declare. Of the nine who declared, all are members of the right-wing Republican Study Committee, but only two voted to certify the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden, according to The Washington Post. 

They are …

•Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the House Majority Whip. He has the support of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, he is “head and shoulders above all those who want to run.” (Does that mean he has no chance?)

•Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA).

The others are …

•Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

•Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), previous chair of the House Rules Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

•Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), the only Black Republican speaker candidate, a staunch Trump ally who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and the Republican Study Committee.

•Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general who chairs the House Armed Services subcommittee on intelligence and special operations.

•Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), an attorney and former radio host and close Trump ally who served on the former president’s legal defense team during his two impeachment trials.

•Rep. Dan Menser (R-PA), one of more than 120 House Republicans who in December 2020 signed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit that would have invalidated the presidential election results in four states, including his own. He is on the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus as well as the not-so-moderate Main Street Republicans and Republican Study Committee.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Former Wyoming Republican congresswoman and vice chairwoman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol, Liz Cheney, did not rule out a 2024 presidential bid, in an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday. 

If Donald J. Trump is elected to a second term, “all of the things he attempted to do, but was stopped by doing by the responsible people around him at the Department of Justice and the White House counsel’s office, he will do. There will be guardrails. And everyone has been warned,” Cheney told SoTU’s Jake Tapper. 

Asked whether Cheney would vote for President Biden over Trump, Cheney demurred, but said she would spend “the next year between now and the election to elect serious, sane people” of both parties. “We don’t want a situation where the election is thrown into the House of Representatives.”

•••

Do you like any of the nine Republican candidates for House speaker? Voice your opinion in the Comment section below, or email us at editors@thehustings.news and please, indicate your political leanings -- right/conservative or left/liberal -- in the subject line.

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(“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy – completely annihilate it.” – President Biden. Scroll down for details.)

FRIDAY 10/20/23

Another Plea Deal in Election Interference Case -- Attorney Kenneth Chesebro became the second defendant this week to take a plea deal in the Fulton County, Georgia, election interference case for a trial in which jury selection was to begin today, suggesting further trouble for ex-President Trump's defense (per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). In a deal similar to fellow attorney Sidney Powell, Chesebro will serve five years' probation, surrender $5,000 restitution to the state, serve 100 hours community service and write an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia. Chesebro also must "testify truthfully" as the case proceeds.

Let's note here that in his pre-speaker vote press conference Friday morning, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was asked whether he still believes the 2020 presidential election was stolen. "Yeah, I think there were all kinds of problems with the 2020 election," he replied, without answering directly (per The Wall Street Journal). "I've been clear about that." See results of Friday's vote for House speaker directly below.

•••

UPDATE: Jordan Loses Three More -- Twenty-five Republicans blocked Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) third attempt to become speaker of the House Friday morning, with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Tom Kean (R-NJ) and Marc Molinaro (R-NY) flipping from Wednesday's second try, when the Freedom Caucus founder lost 22 (per The Hill). Twenty Republicans voted against Jordan in the first vote early this week. He needs 217 votes and received 194 votes Friday, to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' (D-NY) 210. Interim Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC) got six votes, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) got eight and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) got two. Nine House Republicans voted for others. At this point Jordan will be down to about 167 Republicans by the time he catches McCarthy's 15-round clinching of the speaker's gavel.

•••

White House Requests $105b for Israel, Ukraine -- Republicans are more unified in their support for Israel’s defense against Hamas, while Democrats are more unified in their support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia. President Biden’s strategy is to bundle his request for $105 billion in aid to both. The greatest obstacle now is a powerless, speaker-less House of Representatives, as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was set for his third attempt to claim the gavel Friday. 

“Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people,” Biden said Thursday in only his second Oval Office address since he took office. “Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, and innocent Palestinian families are suffering greatly because of them.

“Meanwhile, Putin denies Ukraine has or ever had real statehood. He claims the Soviet Union created Ukraine. And just two weeks ago, he told the world that if the United States and our allies withdraw – and if the United States withdraw, our allies as well – military support for Ukraine, it would have, quote, “a week left to live.” But we’re not withdrawing.”

Why does this matter to America? Biden asserted that “when terrorists don’t pay for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the costs and threats to America and to the world keep rising.”

Putin, the president said, “has already threatened to ‘remind’ – quote, ‘remind’ Poland that their western land was a gift from Russia.” A top Putin advisor, Biden said, calls Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – all NATO allies -- Russia’s “Baltic provinces.”

Biden also spoke of the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old just outside Chicago, last week. 

“His name was Wadea – Wadea – a proud American, a proud Palestinian American family.

“We can’t stand by and stand silent when this happens. We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia.”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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