If it’s MONDAY… Judge delays start of trial against Fox News until tomorrow… Pro-DeSantis Super PAC releases TV ad criticizing Trump for attacking DeSantis on Social Security, while pro-Trump Super PAC blasts Florida governor — again — on entitlements… Sens. Mitch McConnell and John Fetterman return to the Senate… And the NBC Political Unit breaks down the first-quarter fundraising.
But FIRST… In 2008, Hillary Clinton’s fireable offense (among enough Democratic voters) was her support for the Iraq war authorization, which gave Barack Obama his opening to win the Democratic nomination.
Also in 2007-2008, then-frontrunner Rudy Giuliani’s fireable offense (among GOP voters) was his moderate position on social issues.
And in 2016, Jeb Bush’s fireable offense was that party voters simply had decided they had had enough Bushes.
Yet so far in the still-early 2024 race, Donald Trump’s Republican rivals haven’t settled on a clear rationale why the former president should NOT be the party’s presidential nominee next year.
Others won’t even criticize him.
Never Back Down, the GOP Super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is up with a TV ad hitting Trump for — get this — being too mean to DeSantis.
“Trump is being attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York. So why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida?” the ad goes.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who’s now exploring a 2024 bid, didn’t utter a critical remark about the former Republican president when NBC’s Ali Vitali asked him last week why GOP voters wouldn’t want Trump as their nominee.
“One of the things I’m hearing a lot on the Faith in America Tour is that they’re concerned about the most important issues in their lives is what’s driving their decisions. And one of the most important issues in their lives is the economic reality that President Biden seems to have figured out a blueprint for how to ruin America,” he told Vitali.
And when Vitali covered former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley campaigning in Ft. Dodge, Iowa last week, she heard Haley say, “You’re not gonna see me come in and do a rally and leave” — a subtle dig at Trump.
In an interview with RealClearPolitics, Haley went a bit farther in her criticism of Trump: “We have to move forward. We can’t deal with the drama that’s following him. We can’t deal with the baggage.”
It’s not like there isn’t a LONG list of potentially fireable Trump offenses — even among Republican voters. He cost the GOP electorally in 2018, 2020 and 2022. He had a poor jobs record as president (looking at the jobs losses due to Covid). He didn’t get Obamacare repealed and never got his border wall built. He’s too cozy with Putin and Xi. His presidency was too chaotic. And he’s under so much legal jeopardy.
But his rivals still haven’t settled on one — or even on whether they want to directly criticize him.
Headline of the day
Data Download: The number of the day is ... $8.3 million
That’s about how much money former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley raised to her presidential campaign account and affiliated committees, new campaign filings show this weekend, a number short of the $11 million her campaign touted earlier this month.
Why the short change? It’s because Haley’s campaign got to $11 million by counting the topline totals reported by each of her three committees — her campaign account, a leadership PAC and a joint fundraising committee.
The problem? About $2.7 million of the total is money that was raised by one of those accounts and transferred to another during the first quarter. That means the money gets double-counted on both reports’ topline totals.
Haley’s campaign is far from the first to use this tactic, but the episode is a reminder of why it’s important to remember that until the raw filings are made public, any sneak preview of a candidate’s fundraising is taken with a grain of salt.
Click here to read other takeaways from the first fundraising quarter of the year, which included some key presidential and Senate campaign filings.
Other numbers you need to know today
$10.25 million: How much of his own money businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has loaned his presidential campaign, a new campaign filing shows.
Over 7: The number of years that a man was sentenced to prison for crushing a police officer with a shield on Jan. 6.
$4.3 billion: The amount spent on acquisitions of mobile homes in the U.S. in 2022, as investing in those properties spiked, raising prices for residents.
Between $50,000 and $100,000: The amount of annual income Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has claimed on his financial disclosure forms each year since 2006 from a defunct real-estate company, the Washington Post reports.
25: The number of years in prison a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin was sentenced to in Moscow on Monday.
At least 29: The number of bills targeting transgender rights that have become law in at least 14 states this year, the Washington Post reports.
97: The number of civilians who have died in Sudan during three days of sustained fighting in the country’s capital, Khartoum.
10: The number of years it’s been since the Boston Marathon bombing.
Eyes on 2024: Who’s in, who’s out and who’s on the air
The GOP presidential primary is continuing to take shape, with candidates jumping in (or out) and the ad wars heating up.
Former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that he is not running for president after all. And Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has “tapped the brakes” on a potential presidential run, per the New York Times.
But Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is sounding more like a candidate, hitting the campaign trail after launching an exploratory committee. NBC News’ Ali Vitali and Jillian Frankel caught up with Scott in Goose Creek, S.C., late last week, where he promised to sign “the most conservative pro-life legislation” that Congress can pass.
Meanwhile, the ad wars are continuing to heat up. The pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc launched one ad on Friday and another on Monday knocking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Social Security and Medicare. And a pro-DeSantis super PAC is fighting back.
Never Back Down has launched two TV ads, per AdImpact — one responding to the pro-Trump group’s attacks on entitlements, accusing Trump of “stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook.” The other ad is a minute-long positive spot touting DeSantis’ leadership in Florida.
In other campaign news…
Waiting game: President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that he will announce his 2024 plans “relatively soon.”
Money, money, money: Trump’s financial disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission shows he has not made much money from his social media platform, Truth Social.
Florida man: The Florida legislature is continuing to burnish DeSantis with conservative policies. Last week, DeSantis quietly signed a six-week abortion ban, but NBC News’ Natasha Korecki reports that the ban could pose a political problem for DeSantis in the primary and the general election. The legislature is also moving forward on another DeSantis priority: lowering the threshold for the death penalty, per the Tampa Bay Times.
GOP at the NRA: GOP politicians flocked to the National Rifle Association’s annual conference over the weekend. Trump told attendees recent mass shootings are “not a gun problem,” while former Vice President Mike Pence faced some boos as he took the stage, but drew cheers when he said, “We don’t need gun control. We need crime control,” NBC News’ Jonathan Allen reports.
Making an appeal: Trump is appealing a recent judgment in the hopes of blocking former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying in the investigation into Trump’s conduct surrounding the 2020 election.
Swing state edge?: New Republican polling obtained by McClatchy shows DeSantis leading Biden (but within the margin of error) in Pennsylvania and Arizona, two states where Trump trails Biden in the same polling.
Tennessee volunteers: Three Tennessee Republican members of Congress backed Trump’s presidential campaign in recent days — Sen. Bill Hagerty, Rep. Diana Harshbarger and Rep. John Rose — giving Trump about 46 congressional endorsements so far.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world?
The House Judiciary Committee is headed to Manhattan on Monday, where it will hold a field hearing aimed at blaming Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is leading the prosecution against Trump, for crime in the city.
Some lawmakers in Washington see a rare opening to regulate Big Tech this session, NBC News’ Scott Wong reports.
NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor, Peter Nicholas and Carol E. Lee take a renewed look at Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in the White House’s messaging and action in favor of abortion rights.
