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As Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign mounts a bruising state-by-state battle for ballot access, he has often credited enthusiastic volunteers and grass-roots backers with driving the effort. In fact, the operation has become increasingly reliant on consultants and paid petitioners whose signature-gathering work has yielded mixed results and raised questions of impropriety, even among Mr. Kennedy’s fans. In order to get Mr. Kennedy on the ballot in all 50 states, as is his goal, his campaign has deployed a multipart strategy: aggressive legal action, shrewd political alliances and surprise filing tactics meant to slow or prevent challenges. The effort has already cost his campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a supporting super PAC at least $2.4 million more, federal campaign finance records show. Their success is what will make or break Mr. Kennedy’s campaign.
Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Kennedy
For 22 years, Mr. Dern, a bankruptcy lawyer with a small practice outside Detroit, has almost single-handedly kept the Natural Law Party on Michigan’s ballot. Each cycle, the party runs a handful of candidates in obscure state races to meet Michigan’s minimum polling requirements for minor parties. “Keep that ballot access,” Mr. Dern, 62, said in an interview on Friday. “Because someday, a candidate is going to come along who’s going to be perfect for it. In gaining access to the ballot in Michigan, a critical swing state in the 2024 election, Mr. Kennedy has injected new uncertainty into what promises to be one of the most closely contested presidential races in history.
Persons: Doug Dern, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, , Dern, Mr, Kennedy Organizations: Natural Law Party of Michigan, Natural Law Party Locations: Detroit, Michigan
Former President Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign committee ended March with $45 million on hand, federal filings showed Saturday, as he tries to close the fund-raising gap with President Biden. But Mr. Trump’s campaign is spending much less than it was at the start of the year, which has helped it inch closer. In March, it spent just $3.7 million, the new filings show, compared with $11.4 million in January — and much less than the $29.2 million spent by Mr. Biden’s campaign in March. In other words, Mr. Trump’s campaign is guarding resources as it seeks to build a campaign war chest for the general election.
Persons: Donald J, Biden Locations:
Former President Donald J. Trump leaned heavily on major Republican donors in March as his campaign and the Republican Party sought to close the financial gap separating him from President Biden, new federal filings showed on Monday. For much of the race, Mr. Trump has relied on small donors — in particular, those giving less than $200 online — to sustain his campaign. But in recent weeks, as Mr. Trump finished trouncing his primary opponents and Mr. Biden and the Democrats gathered fund-raising steam, these donors have opened their checkbooks to the former president. In the last two weeks of March alone, one committee backing Mr. Trump raised nearly $18 million, nearly all from six-figure contributions. Mr. Trump and the Republican Party finished the month with $93 million on hand between all their committees, his campaign has said, having raised more than $65 million in March.
Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden Organizations: Republican Party
Allies of Donald J. Trump are discussing ways to elevate third-party candidates in battleground states to divert votes away from President Biden, along with other covert tactics to diminish Democratic votes. They plan to promote the independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a “champion for choice” to give voters for whom abortion is a top issue — and who also don’t like Mr. Biden — another option on the ballot, according to one person who is involved in the effort and who, like several others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. Trump allies also plan to amplify the progressive environmental records of Mr. Kennedy and the expected Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, in key states — contrasting their policies against the record-high oil production under Mr. Biden that has disappointed some climate activists. A third parallel effort in Michigan is meant to diminish Democratic turnout in November by amplifying Muslim voters’ concerns about Mr. Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Trump allies are discussing running ads in Dearborn, Mich., and other parts of the state with large Muslim populations that would thank Mr. Biden for standing with Israel, according to three people familiar with the effort, which is expected to be led by an outside group unaffiliated with the Trump campaign.
Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Mr, Kennedy, Jill Stein Organizations: Democratic, Green Party Locations: Michigan, Gaza, Dearborn, Mich, Israel
Kari Lake, the leading Republican candidate for Senate in Arizona, was quick to denounce the state Supreme Court’s ruling upholding an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions in the state. But in that 2022 appearance, Ms. Lake cited the 1864 law’s number in the Arizona state code. But the revival of the 1864 law in Arizona amounts to something of a nightmare scenario for Republicans in the state. Starting in the 2022 midterms and in governors’ races, special elections and ballot measures, the abortion issue has helped Democrats notch victories across the country. The Democrats also trained their focus on Ms. Lake, posting other remarks from 2022, during which she expressed strict anti-abortion stances.
Persons: Kari Lake, , , Donald J, Trump, Caroline Wren, Lake, I’m, that’s, James T, Harris, Lake’s, Roe, Wade, Kamala Harris —, Ruben Gallego, Kyrsten Sinema, Gallego’s Organizations: Republican, Senate, Conservative, Republicans, Democratic Party, Minn, Mr, Democrat Locations: Arizona, Tucson, Ariz, St, Paul,
President Biden’s re-election campaign on Monday released a searing campaign ad blaming former President Donald J. Trump for the near-death of a Texas woman who suffered infections after she was denied an abortion following a miscarriage. The ad featuring Ms. Zurawski and her husband is part of a $30 million ad campaign and will appear on broadcast and cable stations in battleground states. Ms. Zurawski is suing the State of Texas after she was denied an abortion when her water broke at 18 weeks. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which argued the case for Roe before the Supreme Court, 21 more women have joined as plaintiffs in that lawsuit. The case is being reviewed by the Texas Supreme Court.
Persons: Biden’s, Donald J, Trump, Amanda Zurawski, Willow, Donald Trump, Roe, Wade, , ” Karine Jean, Pierre, , Zurawski, Biden, Josh, , we’ve, Zolan Kanno, Youngs Organizations: Democratic, Republicans, White House, of, Center for Reproductive Rights, Texas Supreme, Mr Locations: Texas, Florida, of Texas, president’s State, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Washington
Former President Donald J. Trump has refused to accept his loss in the 2020 election, painted as martyrs the supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, laid groundwork to deny the 2024 election results if he loses, and said he would be a dictator on his first day back in office if he wins. But according to the independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., it is President Biden who poses the greater threat to American democracy — a view that Mr. Kennedy shares with Mr. Trump himself, and that democracy experts called “absurd” and “preposterous.”Such a perspective is possible because Mr. Kennedy, who has founded his political career on promoting vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories about the government, sees the Biden administration’s efforts to curtail the spread of misinformation as a seminal issue of our time. Censorship, as he calls it, overpowers all other concerns about the political system. Mr. Kennedy’s stance drew fresh scrutiny this week after he said in an interview on CNN, “President Biden is a much worse threat to democracy, and the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history, the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech, to censor his opponent.” He repeated himself on Fox News on Tuesday, saying that a president like Mr. Biden was “a genuine threat to our democracy.”
Persons: Donald J, Trump, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Biden, Kennedy, , Mr Organizations: Capitol, CNN, , Fox News
Even in the past few weeks, it had evolved as Mr. Kennedy and his advisers spoke with more than half a dozen prospective candidates. A spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy’s campaign declined to comment. Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Shanahan did not respond to requests for comment on Monday evening. quarterback, and Jesse Ventura, the former Minnesota governor and onetime professional wrestler, were at the top of Mr. Kennedy’s list. But she gave to Mr. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in May 2023, when he was running as a Democrat.
Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy, Kennedy’s, Ms, Shanahan, Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura, Scott Brown, Tricia Lindsay, Tulsi Gabbard, Mike Rowe, Jobs, Rowe, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, Rodgers, Mediaite, Sergey Brin, Biden’s, Mr, Biden, ” Mr, Kennedy —, Donald J, Trump’s, Organizations: New York Times, Republican, Democratic Party, Google, Democratic, Times, Super, Fox News, Trump, The Times Locations: Oakland, Calif, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Hawaii
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to announce on Tuesday that Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley lawyer, investor and political neophyte, will be his running mate in his independent presidential bid, according to two people close to the campaign. The formal announcement, set to take place in Oakland, Calif., ends a wide-ranging and eclectic search for a vice-presidential nominee. Even in the past few weeks, it had evolved as Mr. Kennedy and his advisers spoke with more than half a dozen prospective candidates. A spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy’s campaign declined to comment. Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Shanahan did not respond to requests for comment on Monday evening.
Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy, Kennedy’s, Ms, Shanahan Locations: Oakland, Calif
Under normal circumstances, a visit by the Kennedy family to the White House on St. Patrick's Day — a storied political family with Irish roots, hosted by a president of Irish heritage — might not be particularly newsworthy. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running an independent bid to supplant President Biden, breaking with the Democratic Party and with many members of his family, who have condemned his campaign as “dangerous.”They have also pointedly backed Mr. Biden. On Sunday, Kerry Kennedy — one of Mr. Kennedy’s sisters — posted a picture of the family on X at the White House with Mr. Biden. “President Biden, you make the world better,” she wrote. Mr. Biden responded to the post: “From one proud Irish family to another — it was good to have you all back at the White House.”
Persons: Kennedy, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Biden, Kerry Kennedy —, Kennedy’s, , , Organizations: White, Democratic Party Locations: St
quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura about serving as his running mate on an independent presidential ticket, and both have welcomed the overtures, two people familiar with the discussions said. Mr. Kennedy confirmed on Tuesday that the two men were at the top of his list. Mr. Kennedy said that he had been speaking with Mr. Rodgers “pretty continuously” for the past month, and that he had been in touch with Mr. Ventura since the former governor introduced him at a campaign event last month in Arizona. A representative for Mr. Rodgers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Ventura could not immediately be reached for comment.
Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura, Kennedy, Rodgers, Ventura Locations: Minnesota, Arizona
Call it Super Tuesday (Taylor’s Version). After months of anticipation, Taylor Swift made her first foray into the 2024 election on Tuesday morning, encouraging her 282 million followers on Instagram to make a plan to vote in the presidential primaries. The message was brief and nonpartisan, and did not include any endorsements. “I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power,” she wrote. Swift is part of an elaborate plot to spread Democratic propaganda — or rig the Super Bowl, or force people to be vaccinated against Covid-19, or do something else that is not entirely clear.
Persons: Taylor Swift, Instagram, , , Swift Organizations: Fox News, Covid Locations: Tennessee
Andrea Russell is a fixture on Earp Street, the quiet strip of rowhouses in South Philadelphia where she has lived for 45 years. Ms. Russell, a 77-year-old retired legal secretary, thinks President Biden would fit right in. “He’d come on by Earp Street,” she said. “I could picture going up to him and saying, ‘Hi, Joe.’ I can see him here.” She identifies with him, she said, and admires his integrity and his record. Her friend, Kathy Staller, also 77, said she was as eager to vote for Mr. Biden as she was for Barack Obama in 2008.
Persons: Andrea Russell, George, Russell, Biden, “ He’d, , , Joe, , Kathy Staller, Mr, Barack Obama, Ms, Staller, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Democratic Locations: South Philadelphia
Mr. Trump, even as he seeks to bring the Republican Party fully on board with his renomination, faces significant questions about the political and financial impact of his many legal troubles. For one thing, both Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are raising money through joint fund-raising committees, which do not have to file reports until April. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, is still fending off a primary challenger, Nikki Haley. And, perhaps more critically, committees backing Mr. Trump are spending millions each month on legal expenses. Mr. Trump faces four criminal indictments along with civil cases, which are proving costly.
Persons: Pete Marovich, Sean Rayford, Biden’s, Donald J, Trump, Biden, Trump’s, Nikki Haley, Haley, Trump’s divisiveness, Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Harris, Donald Trump, Donald Trump’s, Steven Cheung, MAGA, Timothy Mellon, Mellon, Robert F, Kennedy Jr Organizations: The New York Times, The New York Times Credit, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Federal, Democratic National Committee, Mr, Republican National Committee, Biden, Trump, Trump Save America, PAC Save America, Fox News, Save America, MAGA Inc, PAC, New York Times Locations: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, California
President Biden’s re-election campaign ended January with nearly $56 million on hand, extending his cash advantage over former President Donald J. Trump, whose campaign had about $30 million available at the end of the month. That is a jump for Mr. Biden, who ended 2023 with $46 million in his campaign coffers, and a tick downward for Mr. Trump’s campaign, which had $33 million on hand at the end of the year. Mr. Biden appears to have gained an edge in part because the Democratic Party apparatus, and its fund-raising might, have quickly unified behind him in what is expected to be the most expensive presidential race ever. Mr. Trump, even as he seeks to bring the Republican Party fully on board with his renomination, faces significant questions about the political and financial impact of his many legal troubles. The apparent disparity in campaign cash, laid out in filings with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday, does not tell the whole story of how the president and the man he beat in 2020 are raising and spending money as they barrel toward a likely rematch in November.
Persons: Biden’s, Donald J, Trump, Biden, Trump’s Organizations: Democratic Party, Republican Party, Federal
When Presidents Talk to Ghosts
  + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Rebecca Davis O Brien | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +1 min
But in the high-profile federal inquiries into President Biden and former President Donald Trump over their handling of classified documents, the writers who were supposed to evade the spotlight found themselves in the public glare. In 2017, Biden read to his own ghostwriter from notebooks he had in his home, which contained classified materials. Trump was ultimately charged with federal crimes, while Biden was not. The documents Trump shared were intended to rebut an account about his last days in office — and they were shared not with his own ghostwriter, but someone else’s. More broadly, they are about the impulse of powerful figures to burnish their legacies, and to tell their stories on their own terms.
Persons: Ghostwriters, Biden, Donald Trump, , — Trump, Mark, Trump, Locations: Iran, Mark Meadows,
“The RNC MUST be a good partner in the presidential election,” Mr. Trump wrote in his statement. “Lara is an extremely talented communicator and is dedicated to all that MAGA stands for,” Mr. Trump said of his daughter-in-law, who is married to his middle son, Eric. The Times had previously reported that Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Whatley — a supporter of his false claims about widespread voter fraud — as the next R.N.C. An election must be called to replace Ms. McDaniel when she ultimately decides to step down. But Ms. Haley is trailing Mr. Trump in South Carolina, her home state, as well as in Super Tuesday states.
Persons: Donald J, Trump, Ronna McDaniel, Lara Trump, ” Mr, ” Michael Whatley, “ Lara, MAGA, Eric, , Ms, Whatley —, McDaniel, Whatley, Chris LaCivita, Mr, ” Ms, Trump’s, Nikki Haley, Haley Organizations: Republican National Committee, national Party, North Carolina Republican Party, , New York Times, The Times, U.S . Senate, Trump, South Carolina, Republican National Convention, United Nations, Mr Locations: North Carolina, South Carolina, Super, New Hampshire
Super Bowl ads cost a fortune. So when a group backing the presidential bid of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran a 30-second ad for him during Sunday night’s game, the political world took notice. How had the super PAC of a long-shot independent candidate paid for such a costly spot, and whose idea was it to adapt a vintage John F. Kennedy ad for his nephew’s campaign? In an interview on Monday, Ms. Shanahan said she had given $4 million to the super PAC, American Values 2024, about a week before the game, for the express purpose of helping pay for a Super Bowl ad. She also helped coordinate the ad’s production, she said, including navigating concerns from CBS Sports and Paramount, which broadcast the Super Bowl.
Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, John F, Kennedy, Nicole Shanahan, Sergey Brin, Ms, Shanahan Organizations: Sunday, Google, CBS Sports, Paramount
Donald J. Trump has praised Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, for his leadership of Turkey, and confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi. President Biden has named dead former European leaders when describing his contemporary peers, and referred to Egypt as Mexico. The episodes might have raised parallel concerns about age and mental acuity. Instead, while Mr. Biden, 81, has been increasingly dogged by doubts and concerns about his advancing years from voters, Mr. Trump, who is 77, has not felt the same political blowback. Fewer than half of voters have expressed similar misgivings about Mr. Trump.
Persons: Donald J, Trump, Viktor Orban, Nikki Haley, Nancy Pelosi, Biden Organizations: New York Times, Siena College Locations: Turkey, Egypt, Mexico
A network of some of the country’s wealthiest Republican donors gathered this week at a Florida winter meeting held by the American Opportunity Alliance and heard from top aides to both Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley. The gathering on Monday and Tuesday was one of the first significant steps in the reluctant drag back to the reality of Mr. Trump for some of these donors, after aides to Mr. Trump received no such invitation to the group’s fall retreat. Ms. Haley has a series of fund-raisers in the coming days, and held one in New York City on Tuesday night. At the American Opportunity Alliance retreat, Ms. Haley had far more backers than Mr. Trump did. Kenneth Griffin, a billionaire hedge-fund executive and major Republican donor who attended the retreat, gave $5 million to her super PAC this month, according to a person close to him.
Persons: Nikki Haley, Republican Party —, Donald J, Trump, Haley, Haley —, Biden, Kenneth Griffin Organizations: Republican Party, American Opportunity Alliance, Mr Locations: Iowa, New Hampshire, Trump, Florida, New York City
But the donors in the American Opportunity Alliance do not move in unison, and people supporting Ms. Haley — and who had supported Gov. Some members of the group have been open about wanting a candidate other than Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump also has repeatedly attacked major donors as being part of the “swamp” that he derides. The network supported Ms. Haley, but as The New York Times recently reported, some of its donors regretted that endorsement. They also suggested that they would be focusing intensely on Senate and House races, especially if Mr. Trump became the nominee.
Persons: Republican megadonors, Donald J, Trump, Nikki Haley, Haley’s, Betsy Ankney, Trump’s, Susie Wiles, Puck, Ricketts, Paul Singer, Kenneth Griffin, Haley —, Ron DeSantis, Haley, Mr, DeSantis, , Linda McMahon, President Trump, Nikki Haley’s, Mark Kauzlarich, Jean Carroll, Koch, Emily Seidel, Michael Palmer, Ms Organizations: Republican, American Opportunity Alliance, Chicago Cubs, Sunday, New, Small Business Administration, President, The New York Times, Trump Republican Party, Mr, Prosperity, New York Times Locations: Palm Beach, Fla, Florida, Dallas, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Indian Wells, Calif
In rousing remarks, Ms. Haley painted a picture of a country and a world in disarray, casting herself as the choice for voters dissatisfied with both President Biden and Mr. Trump. She set up an epic showdown with Mr. Trump in South Carolina, where she is lagging far behind Mr. Trump in polls despite a home-state advantage. Painting herself as an outsider, despite her insider résumé, she pledged to take on Mr. Trump and the political class behind him. Her campaign has bought over $1 million in television advertising from Tuesday through Feb. 6 in South Carolina, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking firm. “I won South Carolina twice as governor,” she told reporters Friday at a retro diner in Amherst.
Persons: Nikki Haley, Donald J, Trump, Haley, Biden, “ We’re, Mr, , , Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, , Joe, Doug Mills, Chris Sununu, I’m, ” Mr, Ms, Trump’s, Betsy Ankney, Nikki, Ankney, Mark Harris, Harris, Haley’s, Ruth Fremson, Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, Allie Cable, ” Richard, Wendy Clymer, Clymer, Maggie Haberman, Kellen Browning Organizations: Republican, Trump, Mr, , United Nations, U.S, Capitol, New York Times, Granite, Gov, Committee, PAC, South Carolina Locations: New Hampshire, South Carolina, “ New Hampshire, Iowa, Hampton, N.H, Virgin, Charleston, S.C, Nevada, America, Florida, Amherst, Marco Rubio of Florida, Greenville, Concord, New York
A combative Nikki Haley brought her presidential campaign back to South Carolina on Wednesday after a disappointing defeat the night before in New Hampshire, and told a boisterous crowd in a cavernous ballroom in North Charleston that she would fight Donald J. Trump for the Republican nomination. “The political elites in this state and around the country say we just need to let Donald Trump have this,” she told her supporters, who were jeering at the idea. We’ve got 48 more.”Nowhere is more immediately important than South Carolina, where she served two terms as governor before being tapped to serve as Mr. Trump’s first ambassador to the United Nations. But just because it’s her home state does not mean it is friendly territory. As she made her case for pressing on, the former president significantly consolidated his support.
Persons: Nikki Haley, Donald J, Trump, Donald Trump, , We’ve, Trump’s, it’s, Haley Organizations: Republican, United Nations, Republican National Committee Locations: South Carolina, New Hampshire, North Charleston
It was also a rare moment for Ms. Haley on the trail. Ms. Haley, 51, the former governor of South Carolina and a United Nations ambassador under Mr. Trump, has run a tightly controlled campaign. Several wondered whether the decision came after the wave of negative press Ms. Haley received in December when a voter asked her to explain the causes of the Civil War and she failed to mention slavery. “Then she was there forever taking pictures with people,” she said of Ms. Haley. But asked whether Mr. Trump would still be qualified to be president if he were convicted, she dodged.
Persons: ” Nikki Haley, N.H, Nikki Haley, Donald J, Trump, Ron DeSantis, , Trump’s, Haley, Who, Donald Trump, “ gaggles, DeSantis, Andrew Romeo, Hugh Hewitt, , won’t, Haley won’t, Nelia, Ms, Ajit Singh Randhawa, Haley’s, Chris Sununu, selfies, ” “, Organizations: Republican Party, CNN, New, United Nations, Mr, , Center, , Republicans, Trump Locations: Hollis, N.H, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa , New Hampshire, , Iowa, Center Conway, Bretton Woods, Rochester
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