If it’s MONDAY… President Biden travels to California, where he speaks on combatting climate change and creating energy jobs before hitting two fundraisers… Secretary of State Blinken meets with China’s Xi… Mike Pence blastsDonald Trump on “Meet the Press”… Ron DeSantis puts his Covid response front and center during swing to Nevada… And it’s the federal Juneteenth holiday.
But FIRST... We’ve now seen half a dozen national polls conducted and released after Donald Trump’s federal indictment on June 8, and they all show pretty much the same thing.
The Republican race for president has barely budged since the indictment.
Trump still maintains a gigantic lead in the GOP horserace — 21 points over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 30 points in Quinnipiac, 31 points in the Economist/YouGov survey and 38 points per the CBS/YouGov poll.
Most Republicans think the federal indictment was politically motivated — 76% in CBS/YouGov and 81% in Reuters/Ipsos.
A supermajority of Republicans believe he’s electable — with 71% saying he’d probably defeat President Biden, according to the Economist/YouGov poll.
And, per NPR/PBS/Marist, 83% of Republicans still want Trump to run for president (versus 17% who don’t), and 64% of them said they’d likely support him if he continues to run (versus 32% who said they’d back another candidate).
What’s remarkable is that these numbers come as Trump’s former attorney general, his former national security adviser, his former Defense secretary and his former vice president all criticized him over his handling of those classified documents.
Yet there hasn’t been any dent in Trump’s standing with Republicans.
Not yet anyway.
But those same polls also show Trump has a problem with the general electorate.
In that NPR/PBS/Marist poll, 56% of all registered voters (along with 58% of independents) say he should drop out of the 2024 race presidential race after his indictment.
Sixty-one percent of Americans say the indictment is serious, according to ABC/Ipsos.
And per Quinnipiac, Trump has a 37%-59% fav/unfav rating (-22) among registered voters, versus 42%-54% (-12) for Biden.
Headline of the day
Data Download: The number of the day is … 6
That’s how many state Supreme Court justices in Iowa deadlocked on Friday over the state’s ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The 3-3 decision means a lower court decision that blocked the ban stays in place, returning the policy in Iowa to a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The news on Friday didn’t attract much of a response from the GOP presidential candidates who have been crisscrossing the Hawkeye State, per NBC News’ Adam Edelman. Former Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that the decision was “a sad reminder of how crucial it is to appoint judges on all of our nation’s courts that will uphold the Right to Life.”
Never Back Down, the super PAC Never Back backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed a six-week abortion ban in his state, shared Iowa GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds’ statement criticizing the ruling, adding that they are “proud to stand with her!”
Other numbers to know:
158: How many years it’s been since slaves in Galveston Bay, Texas were freed after being informed of the Emancipation Proclamation by Union soldiers. The Juneteenth holiday marks the occasion every June 19.
$32 trillion: The size of the national debt as of Friday, per the New York Times.
At least 4: How many people were killed in shootings in Illinois, Missouri and Washington state over the weekend, with more than two dozen injured.
60%: The proposed threshold for amending Ohio’s constitution per a ballot measure that will be put to voters in August, which could threaten an effort to enshrine abortion rights in the Ohio constitution. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Friday that the August election on the ballot measure can proceed.
$7 billion: How much money from South Korean banks could be freed up to help secure the release of Americans imprisoned in Iran as part of a potential deal between the U.S. and Iran, NBC News’ Dan De Luce and Abigail Williams report.
Nearly 5: How many years in prison one of the Jan. 6, 2021 rioters was sentenced to on Friday for his role in the Capitol attack, after pleading guilty late last year to “assaulting, resisting or impeding a law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon.”
63: How many criminal counts that Robert Bowers was convicted of on Friday for killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018. The next phase in his trial will determine whether Bowers could face the death penalty.
More than 1 million: The number of people dropped from Medicaid in states across the country during an eligibility review conducted as the coronavirus pandemic ends.
Eyes on 2024: Pence blasts Trump in “Meet the Press” interview
Former Vice President Mike Pence expanded on some of his most direct criticisms of his former running mate, former President Donald Trump, in Sunday’s interview with “Meet the Press.”
“In 2016, Donald Trump promised to govern as a conservative,” Pence said, “but he makes no such promise today,” specifically criticizing Trump for “walking away from a clear commitment to the right to life,” sending an “ambiguous message” about the war in Ukraine, and having a position on the national debt that’s “identical to Joe Biden’s.”
Amid the indictment of Trump over his handling of classified documents, Pence reiterated he would “clean house at the highest levels of the Department of Justice” on his first day as president. And he brushed aside a discussion about whether he agreed with some of his GOP presidential rivals who say they’d consider pardoning Trump by calling the question “premature” before Trump’s trial concludes.
You can watch the entire interview here.
In other campaign news…
Biden re-elect kicking into gear: After a bit of a slow start, Biden’s re-election is taking shape. He spoke to union members Saturday trumpeting what the Associated Press called “an unapologetically economic populist message,” and as NBC News’ Jonathan Allen reports, the re-election campaign has 20 fundraisers planned for the last half of this month, many featuring Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.
Looking the other way: Key Republicans are either excusing Trump’s handling of classified information amid his indictment, or arguing that Biden and his family should be prosecuted or jailed.
DeSantis out west: Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigned in Nevada over the weekend at an annual Basque Fry, touting his Covid policies in Florida as a success. Meanwhile, a super PAC backing him trained hundreds of canvassers in Iowa as part of a multi-million dollar ground game effort across the early GOP primary states, NBC News’ Dasha Burns and Allan Smith report.
Florida men: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez disagreed with DeSantis’ support for expanding prohibitions on discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms, calling it “excessive” in an interview with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson as they discussed Suarez’ presidential bid.
Deployed: Michael Haley, the husband of GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, deployed Saturday for Africa, where he’ll be for much of the 2024 presidential cycle.
Debate pledge drama: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie lampooned the Republican National Committee’s loyalty pledge as a “useless idea,” while former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he disagreed with the pledge and warned that Trump could pardon himself if elected.
Last steps for the First Step Act? Politico reports on how Republicans like DeSantis, Pence and Hutchinson are all criticizing the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill signed by Trump, on the campaign trail.
Let’s make a date: The South Carolina GOP has set its presidential primary for Feb. 24, while Democrats kicked the can again on their proposed calendar shakeup into September.
Will he, won’t he: New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said during a radio show Friday “I don’t think I’m going to run again” for governor.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world
A federal investigation by the Department of Justice found that Minneapolis’ police department has a “pattern or practice” of excessive force and racial discrimination, the agency said on Friday.
Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Tim Scott, R-S.C., introduced a bipartisan bill to hold the senior executives of failed banks accountable after they collapse, like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank did earlier this year.
The Biden administration is asking the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that threw out a federal law barring people from owning a gun if they are subject to domestic violence restraining orders.
