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☆ What to watch for in South Carolina as Nikki Haley fights on her home turf against Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Allan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Indeed, on Monday, the local GOP came out and endorsed Trump days ahead of the state's Republican primary. "The Republicans of Lexington County made it clear that they support President Trump in the First in the South Primary and wanted to make their voices heard," Lexington County GOP Chair Mark Weber said in a statement. In 2016, Trump won his primary bid in Lexington County by about 6 points over Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in a more crowded field. It's become a county to watch on primary nights — doubly so this time around, with its close ties to Haley. In addition to how Lexington County votes, here are some other things to watch on primary night:

Persons: —, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Dave Mauldin, Haley, Trump, Mark Weber, Donald J, Biden, Larry Koon, Sen, Ted Cruz, Rob Godfrey, Joe Biden, It's, Godfrey, Nathan Ballentine, Ballentine, I'm, Mauldin, you've Organizations: GOP, Trump, Republican Locations: LEXINGTON, S.C, Lexington, Lexington County, Texas

"We're going to win Iowa," DeSantis declared on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Dec. 2. NBC News reached out to both the DeSantis campaign and Never Back Down for comment for this piece. 'I knew they were stupid'DeSantis' presidential campaign was a mess from the moment it launched. "What harmed the campaign the most off the bat was that it didn't have a clear purpose and message," a former DeSantis campaign staffer said. "The blunt truth is that DeSantis' presidential campaign was sabotaged through early incompetence in Tallahassee," the person said.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Brendan Mcdermid, DeSantis, Scott Wagner, Wagner, Nikki Haley, Trump, Haley, Jordan Wiggins, Donald Trump, —, Donald Trump —, Elon Musk, Ron, Generra Peck, Ryan Tyson, Christina Pushaw —, Bill Mitchell, Mitchell, Peck, …, Ken, Ken Griffin, Griffin, I'm, Jeff Roe, Roe, Hugh Hewitt, dethrone Trump, it's, Jess Szymanski, we've Organizations: Florida Gov, Republican, Reuters, PAC, Iowa, NBC, New, Trump, NBC News, Gov, DeSantis, Fox News, United Nations, Republican Party, Trump GOP, Twitter, Federal, Commission, Florida GOP, of Justice, Roe, South, Tallahassee Locations: Florida, Iowa, West Des Moines , Iowa, Reuters Iowa, New Hampshire, DeSantis, New York, Tallahassee, South Florida, Iowa , New Hampshire, South Carolina

☆ Republican Dave McCormick jumps into the critical Pennsylvania Senate race
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Allan Smith | Bridget Bowman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"Obviously, he's a candidate who has completely united the grassroots," a national Republican strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the candidacy, said. In a background call with reporters, a McCormick campaign strategist said the candidate "will address" those concerns "head on and directly." And the McCormick campaign strategist said the candidate will enter the race with the support of each Republican member of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation. "Dave McCormick has done a remarkable job of unifying the grassroots in Pennsylvania," Montana Sen. Steve Daines, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement. "His ability to unite both the grassroots and the establishment is extremely impressive," the national Republican strategist said.

Persons: Dave McCormick, Sen, Bob Casey, McCormick, Republican Mehmet Oz, I've, Doug Mastriano, he's, Casey, McCormick —, George W, —, Oz, Donald Trump, Trump, Pat Toomey, John Fetterman, Fetterman, Mastriano, Montana Sen, Steve Daines, Dave, Bob Casey Sr, Joe Biden Organizations: Republican, GOP, Keystone State, United States Senate, Republican Party, Army's, Airborne Division, Wall Street Republican, Associated Press, AP, National Republican Senatorial, Republicans, Trump, Washington , D.C Locations: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S, New Jersey, Connecticut, Montana, West, Washington ,, Harrisburg

☆ Here are 11 top moments from Trump's 'Meet the Press' interview
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Allan Smith | Jonathan Allen | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Former President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with NBC News' Kristen Welker, Sept. 14, 2023. NBC News has also extended an invitation to President Joe Biden to sit down with Welker for an interview. "I said, 'Other than certain parts of the country, you can't — you're not going to win on this issue. "And both sides are going to come together and both sides — both sides, and this is a big statement — both sides will come together. But when Welker asked if he might grant himself a reprieve if he wins this election, Trump declined to rule it out.

Persons: Donald Trump, Kristen Welker, Donald Trump sparred, Joe Biden, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Welker, Trump, Roe, Wade, he's, —, it's, pardoning, I'm, Jan, Biden Trump, Biden, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Ukraine Trump, Putin, Vladimir Putin, I'd, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Franklin Roosevelt Organizations: NBC News, Press, NBC, GOP, Trump, U.S ., Republican, White House, Capitol, Florida Gov Locations: Bedminster , New Jersey, Ukraine, Alabama, Pennsylvania, U.S, Russia, Florida, Taiwan

The source said Carlson is "always in discussions" with all the candidates, and nothing is firmly set with Trump and Carlson. The New York Times first reported on Trump's plans to skip the debate for an interview with Carlson. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Thursday that she believed Trump will sign the pledge if he decides to debate. In a post to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday Trump touted his poll numbers as a reason not to participate in the GOP debate. Chris Christie, a GOP presidential candidate who has qualified for the debate, said, "not going?

Persons: Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Carlson, Trump, Ronna McDaniel, He's, McDaniel, NewsNation's Blake Burman, Mike Pence's, Jack Smith's, Pence, Chris Christie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Byron Donalds Organizations: Alabama GOP, GOP, Fox News, Trump, NBC, New York Times, eventual GOP, Republican, South, RNC, Thursday Trump, BEST, MAKE, Former New Jersey Gov, The New York Times, — Locations: Montgomery , Ala, Europe, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Florida, Milwaukee

President Biden is headed to Philadelphia Thursday to tout his “Bidenomics” agenda, hoping once again to make early headway with voters over economic issues. And for now, Biden has a chance to tout his economic agenda and successes while his potential Republican presidential challengers are bogged down, either in a battle for second place or by the potential of another looming indictment. Doug Burgum’s campaign announced Wednesday that he had received contributions from more than 40,000 individual donors, meeting one threshold to qualify for the first GOP presidential primary debate. That could be a blow to both Republicans as they take on (or consider running against) primary candidates who have support from GOP leaders. Raking it in: Nevada Republican Sam Brown raised $400,000 in the first week of his Senate campaign, Politico reports.

Persons: Biden, Roe, Wade, That’s, Jonathan Allen, Allan Smith, Mike Pence, Pence, Sarah Dean, Greene, Joe Biden’s, Marjorie Taylor Greene, ”, MAGA, Mike Memoli, Trump, E, Jean Carroll, Burgum, Doug Burgum’s, ’ Adam Edelman, Alex Mooney, Matt Rosendale, Nevada Republican Sam Brown Organizations: Republicans, NBC, Monmouth University, GOP, Georgia GOP, Republican Party, New, New York State, Dakota Gov, CNN, Nevada Republican, Politico Locations: Philadelphia, Columbus, Ind, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Montana, Nevada

Former US President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, New Jersey, on June 13, 2023. That sort of comment is further than where many of Trump's rivals for the GOP presidential nomination will go publicly. Still, even out in the open, there are indications that they believe this federal indictment is far more serious than the last one. But the Trump indictment took over, with participants expressing deep concern about backlash and the party's fracturing beyond repair. On one hand, if Trump's GOP rivals blast him, they risk further alienating his committed GOP supporters.

Persons: Donald Trump, aren't, Ron DeSantis, Trump, I'm, Trumper, George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Joe Biden, Hunter, Mick Mulvaney, Mulvaney, MAGA, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Sen, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Scott, Haley, Pence, what's, Chris Christie, Christie, Hal Lambert, Larry Steinhouse, — Hallie Jackson, Henry J, Gomez, Jonathan Allen Organizations: Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, GOP, Florida Gov, Justice Department, Trump, Republican, Republicans, NBC News, White, Department, Courier, Street, Former New Jersey Gov, CNN, DOJ, Reuters, CBS, NBC Locations: Bedminster , New Jersey, New York, Florida, Georgia, Lago, Palm Beach , Florida, Charleston , South Carolina, Trump, Pennsylvania

Trump has said he would stay in the race if he is indicted. Trump, meanwhile, is making a forward-looking pitch to voters, NBC News’ Allan Smith and Jonathan Allen report. And the Washington Post reports Friday that prosecutors investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot have obtained a report commissioned by Trump’s campaign that undercut his falsehoods about the election. Santos mulls re-election: New York GOP Rep. George Santos told the Associated Press he is a “maybe” on running for re-election. Sparks fly in the Windy city: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., endorsed Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson in Chicago’s mayoral race on Thursday.

Governors gathered in the nation’s capital in recent days for the National Governors Association winter meeting. And while they were focused on their jobs at hand, questions about the 2024 presidential race were unavoidable. Asked on Saturday if she would like to see Biden run again, Michigan Gov. At a Democratic Governors Association press conference on Thursday, a group of 11 governors echoed support for Biden’s potential re-election campaign. Spencer Cox also joined “Meet” and weighed in on the presidential race, saying he would like to see his party nominate a governor.

Both men, who are part of the RNC team tasked with reviewing the midterms, confirmed the discussion to NBC News. “We had a little bit of a debate between me and Henry Barbour over candidate quality versus candidate support,” Bowyer, who is also chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, a conservative group, said. And what we control here at the RNC is money that comes in and money that goes out. Many in the party have cited candidate quality as the chief reason for a subpar performance. … When people say candidate quality, some perceive that as a code word for Trump endorsement.

DANA POINT, Calif. — Ronna McDaniel won re-election to a fourth term as Republican National Committee chairwoman on Friday, besting insurgent challenger Harmeet Dhillon in a secret ballot vote at the party’s annual winter meeting. Publicly, roughly 30 RNC members had committed to Dhillon ahead of the ballot. Harmeet Dhillon at her office in San Francisco in 2017. Anda Chu / MediaNews Group / Bay Area News via Getty Images fileEven with McDaniel in place as the next chair, many RNC members say they expect tensions to remain. All of us who are supporting Harmeet are not going away.”The RNC also approved a package of nine resolutions on Friday in a voice vote.

But members gathered here at the party’s winter meeting say that once all the votes are counted, the tensions are unlikely to quickly subside. McDaniel and Dhillon supporters who spoke with NBC News acknowledged Dhillon is facing tough odds to unseat McDaniel. For nearly two months, RNC members, particularly those backing McDaniel, have been inundated with emails from Dhillon supporters pleading with them to back the insurgent candidacy. “He’s very well thought of and carries a lot of weight here,” Bill Palatucci, an RNC committeeman from New Jersey who is backing Dhillon, told NBC News. Regardless, he expressed concern that most RNC members were choosing to ignore the grassroots backlash to another McDaniel term.

For Republicans, the months following the 2022 midterms have been consumed by a fair amount of introspection — and finger-pointing — about why the results were so underwhelming for the party. The secret ballot vote will take place during the open-press portion of the RNC's three-day winter meeting, which opens Wednesday. McDaniel, who was handpicked by then-President Donald Trump for the role, has faced heat from some Republicans and conservative media figures for the party's lackluster results in November. Meanwhile, an RNC official formally accused a McDaniel ally of engaging in "religious bigotry" aimed at Dhillon’s Sikh faith in discussing the race for party chair. I'm not surprised that folks coalesced behind her or around her as quickly as they did."

“To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week,” Santos tweeted on Dec. 22. After images surfaced showing Santos dressed in drag, Santos insisted it was “categorically false” that he had ever performed as a drag queen. A Siena College survey released Monday showed many New York voters seem to agree with Stern’s assessment. Just 16% of New York voters said they viewed Santos favorably — including a mere 15% of Republicans. Additionally, 59% of New York voters said Santos should resign while just 17% said he should not.

President Joe Biden lambasted House Republicans’ tax agenda on Monday, targeting the new majority’s push to revoke new Internal Revenue Service funding, abolish the federal tax agency and replace the income tax with a federal tax on consumption. Speaking at the National Action Network’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast in Washington, D.C., Biden referred to Republicans as "fiscally demented" and pledged to veto their tax legislation, which is all but certain to fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate. President Joe Biden speaks at the National Action Network's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day breakfast, in Washington, DC., on Monday. They didn’t say if elected their plan was to make inflation worse.”The other tax bill in Biden’s crosshairs was introduced last week by Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and would abolish the IRS, eliminate income taxes and institute a federal consumption tax.

The White House and U.S. Secret Service said Monday they do not maintain visitor logs for President Joe Biden’s personal home in Wilmington, Del., a day after a top House Republican called for their release. “Like every President across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement. The White House acknowledged on Saturday that more pages with classified markings were discovered at Biden's Delaware home than had been previously disclosed. On Saturday, the White House said additional pages marked classified from the Obama administration were found at Biden’s Wilmington residence, in addition to the two batches that were previously disclosed earlier in the week. In a Sunday interview with CNN”s “State of the Union,” Comer was pressed why his committee was focused on Biden’s documents but not Trump’s.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party, which long championed campaign finance reform, got so good at the game that it used more dark money than Republicans during the 2020 presidential campaign. He was also charged with campaign finance violations, allegedly using "straw donors" to circumvent contribution limits by giving money to allies who would then donate to politicians in their own names. There have been no campaign finance bills introduced in the new Congress, no new policies from regulators and barely even any discussion about reform. But I’m not so surprised," said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of OpenSecrets, which tracks political donations, of Bankman-Fried’s use of the campaign finance system. "This is yet another example of how lax campaign finance rules allow someone with money to throw their weight around and build influence and maybe it is not gaining traction because it’s just one of many stories like this."

Obviously, this is not a story about Washington, D.C., where Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s unsuccessful — and still ongoing — attempt to become speaker will go down in history. Gregory said he was joking around with state Rep. Tim O’Neal, a member of the Republican leadership, about tapping Rozzi to be speaker. State Democrats, however, list Rozzi as a Democratic speaker on their official website. House Republicans told NBC News they are not looking to work with Democrats to elect a more center-right speaker to govern their new majority. Gregory said the Pennsylvania election was "not really apples to apples" with the ongoing battle for control of the U.S. House.

Pennsylvania's incoming Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, announced Thursday that he is tapping a Republican who stood up to Donald Trump after the 2020 election to be the state's top elections official. As the vice chair of Philadelphia's Board of Elections, Al Schmidt was at the center of defending the 2020 vote in Pennsylvania, a key presidential battleground that narrowly went to President Joe Biden. Trump prematurely declared victory in the state and tried to stop Philadelphia officials from counting all the ballots there. In Pennsylvania, the top elections official, the secretary of the commonwealth, is nominated by the governor rather than elected. Schmidt said he is "honored to have the chance to continue working to protect the integrity of our elections and strengthen our democracy."

The Republican National Committee plans to closely examine what role former President Donald Trump played in the party's underwhelming 2022 midterm results as part of its audit of the GOP's performance. And how do we learn from that to win elections going forward?" Henry Barbour, an RNC committeeman from Mississippi who was tasked in November with co-authoring the RNC’s post-election review, said in an interview Tuesday. Barbour said his examination seeks to "get into the weeds" on everything from Trump to turnout to ticket-splitting. Dhillon has since announced a challenge to McDaniel for party chair, but Barbour said she is still on the team overseeing the post-election audit.

The new House GOP majority returns to elect a speaker after failing on three votes Tuesday. ... Nancy Pelosi reacts to GOP dysfunction: “As one who loves this institution, I think it’s a sad day.” ... And President Biden appears with Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell to tout the bipartisan infrastructure law. Andy Beshear) all appear at an event in Kentucky promoting a bridge improvement from the bipartisan infrastructure law. 16: How many years Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has served as Senate GOP leader, making him the longest-serving Senate leader ever, per NBC News’ Frank Thorp. Eyes on 2024: DeSantis takes office amid GOP chaosAs the GOP descended into chaos on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Florida GOP Gov.

Ron DeSantis was inaugurated for a second term as Florida governor on Tuesday, amid his rise as the leading potential alternative to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. DeSantis spoke for roughly 15 minutes after being sworn in, making no mention of a potential presidential bid but positioning his administration as the bulwark against Democratic leadership at the state and federal level. Early surveys of the potential 2024 Republican presidential field — which, so far, officially includes only Trump — shows DeSantis as his leading rival, with some surveys even showing the Florida governor with an edge. Trump has bristled at the governor’s rise, deriding DeSantis publicly and promoting polls that show the former president in the lead. DeSantis has not publicly countered Trump, nor has he made any public acknowledgment of interest in a presidential bid.

WASHINGTON — The 2022 midterm elections were full of surprises. Republicans began the year favored to notch big victories, yet they fell short and barely captured control of the House. Lake was widely seen as the election-denying candidate with the best chance to win a statewide race in a key battleground in the 2022 elections. Secretary of state contenders who echoed Trump’s fabricated claims of a stolen election lost, including Mark Finchem in Arizona, Kristina Karamo in Michigan and Jim Marchant in Nevada. Their wins led Democrats to win every competitive House race and gain control of the state House for the first time in more than a decade — although recent vacancies have called that majority into question.

On Tuesday, for example, Fox News host Sean Hannity said Republicans “have been unwilling for whatever reason” to vote early and by mail. Ahead of the general election, registered Democrats held an 8-point edge over registered Republicans in Georgia in early voting. Now about to enter his seventh term, Schweikert said that Republicans in his state used to enjoy a robust early voting edge. Kirk, who had raised concerns about mail-in voting, changed his tune after the November midterms, tweeting that Republicans must recognize the “power of early voting.” But Johnson has called for a ban on mail-in voting. At the forefront of GOP concerns over early voting is Pennsylvania, where Democrats enjoyed an edge so substantial that Republicans did not come close to overcoming it.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., kept his supporters energized ahead of Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff, and it showed on the electoral map. Turnout was high for Tuesday’s election, an NBC News analysis of election data shows, with runoff turnout at almost 90% of the general election’s level. That strong turnout was the key to Warnock’s victory, as the Democrat improved his results in almost two-thirds of Georgia’s 159 counties. By comparison, seven of the 10 counties where turnout fell the most were counties Walker won in November, and Walker improved his vote share in just one county that Warnock carried in November. Warnock entered Election Day with an early vote advantage, which was even more heavily Democratic than it was in the general election.

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