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☆ Trump exalts himself over Kevin McCarthy's elevation to House speaker: 'I did our Country a big favor!'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump on Saturday took to Truth Social to pat himself on the back for McCarthy's speakership win. "I greatly helped Kevin McCarthy attain the position of Speaker of the House," he wrote. After 15 rounds of balloting, McCarthy was selected by the House as its speaker in a 216-212 vote. "The Fake News Media was, believe it or not, very gracious in their reporting that I greatly helped Kevin McCarthy attain the position of Speaker of the House," he wrote. McCarthy has long allied himself with Trump, and backtracked in his criticism of the former president after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

☆ Conservative leader Matt Schlapp is accused of fondling a male campaign staffer in Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Jonathan Allen | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

"He reached in between my legs and fondled me," the former Walker staffer told NBC News in a telephone interview Thursday night. Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, is married to former Trump White House aide Mercedes Schlapp. A senior official on the Walker campaign confirmed that the aide shared the allegation with his supervisors at the time. "The whole thing makes me physically ill," said the senior Walker campaign official. Both the staffer and the senior campaign official said the Walker campaign made legal counsel available to the staffer to discuss his legal options and indicated the campaign would support whatever decision he made.

☆ Herschel Walker staffer accuses CPAC head Matt Schlapp of 'groping' and 'fondling' him without consent
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A staffer for Herschel Walker's Senate campaign has accused CPAC head Matt Schlapp of groping him, per NBC and the Daily Beast. "Matt Schlapp of the CPAC grabbed my junk and pummeled it at length." The next morning, Schlapp texted the staffer, who was set to also drive him that following day. "I did want to say I was uncomfortable with what happened last night," the staffer texted Schlapp. "If he had made a polite pass at me and left it that," the staffer told NBC News.

☆ Trump says 'abortion issue' is why Republicans underperformed in the 2022 midterms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Kit Gillet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Donald Trump blamed poor handling of abortion issues for the GOP's lackluster 2022 midterms. Trump said that anti-abortion campaigners disappeared after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, gutting a nearly 50-year-old landmark ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. This followed criticism that Trump-backed candidates were instrumental in losing the GOP its shot at retaking the Senate during the 2022 midterms. Those losses included high-profile Trump-backed Senate candidates Herschel Walker in Georgia and celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.

☆ Home Depot's 93-year-old cofounder who said 'nobody works' anymore because of 'socialism' has donated $64 million to elect Trump and the Republican party over the years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bernie Marcus, the billionaire cofounder of Home Depot, said Thursday "nobody works" anymore. Marcus donated millions to Trump in 2016 and 2020, and more to other Republicans over the years. In an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday, 93-year-old Bernie Marcus said "nobody works, nobody gives a damn," blaming the change on "socialism." In 2020, he made two separate donations of $5 million each to the Preserve America PAC, a single-candidate PAC that supports Trump. Marcus has also donated extensively to House and Senate races, contributing to a long list of Republican lawmakers that includes Sens.

☆ Six battleground states will hold the key to the White House in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

AP Photo/Andrew HarnikGeorgia2012 margin: Romney +7.8%2016 margin: Trump +5.1%2020 margin: Biden +0.2%For decades, Republicans could easily depend on the Peach State's electoral votes falling into their column. Two years later, Biden won the state by roughly 12,000 votes over Trump, followed by the dual 2021 runoff victories of Sens. AP Photo/Matt RourkePennsylvania2012 margin: Obama +5.4%2016 margin: Trump +0.7%2020 margin: Biden +1.2%Biden's hometown of Scranton is dear to his heart so Pennsylvania was always going to be a key state for the party in 2024. AP Photo/Andy Manis, FileWisconsin2012 margin: Obama +6.9%2016 margin: Trump +0.8%2020 margin: Biden +0.6%Wisconsin is one of the most politically-divided states in the country. But Trump flipped Wisconsin to the GOP in 2016, the first time it had supported a Republican presidential nominee since 1984.

He promises not to let that happen again, insisting he will “actively look for quality candidates” to promote in the 2024 primaries. “In the other states, Trump’s support was so significant — we could have spent a lot of money, maybe trying to come up with a different candidate and maybe not succeeding,” he said. And yet, it's Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — not McConnell — who's radiating confidence about winning the majority in 2024. He also spent large parts of 2022 feuding over strategy with Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the GOP Senate campaign chief. Then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and then President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, on Oct. 24, 2017.

The U.S. House’s Jan. 6 committee has performed its task with a dignity that verges on parody. They are doing criminal referrals while Rome burns. I think the criminal referrals are completely appropriate and, if anything, fail to capture the true scope of his malfeasance. He said as much himself in response to the Jan. 6 committee referral. One of the strongest grounds for prosecuting Trump for Jan. 6 is that only accountability will prevent something like it from happening again.

☆ Fact Check-Shifting figures in Georgia runoff race caused by human error, not fraud
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A sudden change in the vote tallies during a live TV broadcast of the Georgia runoff race was not proof of fraud, as some social media users have suggested. #1776AlloverAgain,” a caption on one of the social media posts read. The incorrect figures (1,417,926 for Walker and 1,429,004 for Warnock) can then be seen at timestamp 1:42s. An apparent surge in votes for Walker and Warnock occurred due to human error when the Associated Press was compiling unofficial tallies on election night in Georgia. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Wednesday called for the state Legislature to end general election runoff contests. “Georgia is one of the only states in the country with a General Election Runoff,” he said in a statement. It was the state's third Senate general election runoff in the past two election cycles. Under Georgia law, a runoff occurs if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in an election. Georgia is one of only two states — the other is Louisiana — that continue to hold general election runoffs (though another nine use runoffs in primaries).

CNN —Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has called on state lawmakers to eliminate general election runoffs. “Georgia is one of the only states in country with a General Election Runoff,” Raffensperger, a Republican, said in a statement on Wednesday. I’m calling on the General Assembly to visit the topic of the General Election Runoff and consider reforms.”Georgia’s general election runoff system, rooted in its segregationist past, says that if no candidate in a general election gets more than 50% of the vote, the race must go to a runoff four weeks later between the two candidates who received the most votes. Raffensperger’s statement comes a little more than a week after Georgia’s third US Senate runoff election in two years, which saw Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeat Republican challenger Herschel Walker. The secretary of state pointed to the additional impact the four-week runoff period had on voters and county election officials this year.

☆ Trump hits 7-year low in new national poll as Biden approval climbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Just 31% of registered voters surveyed hold a favorable view of Trump, versus 59% who have an unfavorable opinion of him, the poll found. That's the lowest rating Trump has received since July 2015, shortly after he launched his first presidential bid, according to Quinnipiac. Trump's declining marks were even worse among independent voters, the poll showed. Majorities of registered-voter respondents told Quinnipiac they would not like to see Trump or Biden as a 2024 presidential nominee. Asked for comment, a source close to Trump noted that a recent Morning Consult poll showed Trump holding court as the frontrunner, backed by 49% of potential GOP primary voters compared with 31% who favored DeSantis.

☆ Georgia's top election official calls for end to runoffs in the state
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 14 (Reuters) - Georgia's top election official on Wednesday called on lawmakers to eliminate the state's unusual runoff election system, a week after Democrats again prevailed in a runoff for a closely fought U.S. Senate race. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said runoff elections put a significant strain on election officials. Under Georgia law, if no candidate secures at least half of the votes in November's regular election, a runoff between the two top vote-getters is triggered. Democrats in January 2021 swept two Senate runoff races, giving them control of the chamber and allowing President Joe Biden to advance his legislative agenda. Only Louisiana and Georgia employ a runoff system for general elections.

☆ Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger calls on state legislators to eliminate runoff elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called for an end to general election runoffs. "Georgia is one of the only states in the country with a General Election Runoff. I'm calling on the General Assembly to visit the topic of the General Election Runoff and consider reforms," Raffensperger said in a statement. In the November general election, Warnock edged out Walker 49.4%-48.5%, but since neither candidate met the 50 percent threshold, the race was extended for an additional four weeks. State courts sided with the plaintiffs and voting took place on November 26 in select jurisdictions across the state.

☆ Mitch McConnell says Trump's 2022 endorsements limited the GOP's 'ability to control a primary outcome' which led to 'candidate quality' issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Trump for the GOP's poor showing in this year's Senate races. He reiterated previous comments on Tuesday about "candidate quality" issues with Senate candidates. "Hopefully in the next cycle, we'll have quality candidates everywhere and a better outcome," he added. McConnell also reiterated previous comments he's made about the party's roster of Senate candidates, including that he "never said there was a red wave." "I do think we had an opportunity to relearn, one more time: you have to have quality candidates to win competitive Senate races," he added.

☆ Meet the megadonors backing the Trump super PAC as some top donors opt out of supporting 2024 candidacy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Yet, the latest disclosure, which shows fundraising for the super PAC from Oct. 20 through Nov. 28, also lists nine other individual contributions totaling over $900,000. Wealthy businessman Timothy Mellon contributed $1.5 million to the super PAC on Oct. 5, according to the records. This small group of megadonors arrived in support of the super PAC just prior to other influential financiers deciding they will not back Trump's 2024 candidacy for president. During Trump's first run for the White House in 2016, Pate financed the anti-Trump super PAC We The People Foundation. Anthony Lomangino, a recycling mogul, donated $100,000 to the super PAC on Nov. 4.

☆ Kellyanne Conway slams GOP senators who didn't stump for Herschel Walker ahead of the Senate runoff: 'Why weren't you in Georgia?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kellyanne Conway last week criticized GOP senators who didn't stump for Republican Herschel Walker. "Where were the other senators to say, 'I want Herschel Walker, not Raphael Warnock in the Senate with me?'" In last month's general election, Warnock edged out Walker 49.4%-48.5% statewide, which triggered a runoff as neither candidate hit the requisite 50% of the vote to declare victory. Warnock on Tuesday won the runoff over Walker 51.4%-48.6%. I don't like it because it's not Election Day, it's election season, election trimester.

☆ Florida Sen. Rick Scott says defeated Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker will 'continue to be a leader' in the GOP 'for years to come'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Rick Scott said Herschel Walker would "continue to be a leader" in the GOP "for years to come." Scott made the comments following Walker's runoff defeat to Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia. The Florida lawmaker was a visible presence at many Walker rallies throughout the campaign. But throughout the course of the campaign, Walker's campaign suffered from a series of scandals. After the runoff loss, Republicans are continuing to do a lot of soul-searching, as every statewide GOP candidate besides Walker was victorious at the ballot box in Georgia this year.

☆ Before Herschel Walker announced his Georgia Senate bid, a law firm hired by GOP consultants compiled a 500-page dossier on him with potentially damaging information: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP consultants hired a law firm to conduct research on Walker before his Senate run, per NBC News. The firm compiled a 500-page dossier on Walker, which contained potentially problematic issues. Walker and his wife believed that his goodwill among Georgians would blunt negative attacks on him. But Walker and his current wife, Julie Blanchard Walker, weren't discouraged by the report. The result made Walker the only statewide Republican candidate to lose their race in Georgia this year.

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.

☆ Strong midterm turnout in Georgia sparks new debate about a controversial election law
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The strong turnout in Georgia’s runoff election that cemented Democrats’ control of the US Senate is sparking fresh debate about the impact of the state’s controversial 2021 election law and could trigger a new round of election rule changes next year in the Republican-led state legislature. “There’s no truth to voter suppression,” Raffensperger said in an interview this week with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, a day after Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock secured reelection in the first federal election cycle since Georgia voting law took effect. State election officials had opposed casting ballots on that date, saying Georgia law prohibited voting on a Saturday if there is a state holiday on the Thursday or Friday before. In the CNN interview earlier this week, Raffensperger suggested that the Republican-controlled General Assembly might revisit some of the state’s election rules, including potentially lowering to 45% the threshold needed to win a general election outright. “There will be a push for this in the upcoming legislative session,” said Daniel Baggerman, president of Better Ballot Georgia, a group advocating for the instant runoff.

☆ Herschel Walker's wife had an 'obsessive focus' on her husband winning over more Black voters and felt he should have been receiving up to 50% of the Black vote: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Herschel Walker and his wife wanted to court Black voters in the Georgia Senate race, per Politico. Julie Blanchard Walker said Walker should've been getting robust Black support, per the report. An individual close to the campaign told Politico that her idea morphed into an "obsessive focus." The biggest complication in the efforts by the Walkers to engage with Black voters? And he campaigned extensively in those areas throughout the entire campaign, while Walker's overall campaign strategy targeted conservatives and the state's rural evangelical community.

☆ Marjorie Taylor Greene blames Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell for losing Georgia runoffs and says it's 'extremely insulting' she wasn't used more by Walker campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Taylor Ardrey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blamed GOP senators for Herschel Walker's runoff election loss. She also complained about how she wasn't invited to more of Walker's campaign events. During the interview, Greene complained to Bannon that she was only asked to speak at Walker's campaign events "a couple of times." "I was never asked by the Herschel Walker campaign to come to speak at any of his campaign events. They only asked me to come to maybe two or three in my own district," Greene said, adding, "which I find extremely insulting."

☆ Defeated Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker was 'absolutely shocked' he didn't win 100% of the vote in Johnson County, where he grew up: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walker was "shocked" he didn't 100% of the vote in his home county last month, per The Daily Beast. The Republican carried Johnson County 74%-26% over Warnock, but was still taken aback by the result. While Walker received 2,484 votes to Warnock's 869 votes in Johnson County in November, Kemp earned 2,504 votes compared to Abrams' 867 votes. On Tuesday, Warnock defeated Walker in the runoff 51.4%-48.6%, earning a full six-year term in the Senate and denying Republicans a much-desired win. And Warnock gained ground in Johnson County in the runoff compared to the November election, winning 967 votes (29%) to Walker's 2,419 votes (71%).

☆ Mail-In Voting Fight Pits Donald Trump Against Ron DeSantis, Other GOP Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Alex Leary | Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The issue of mail-in voting has divided Republicans in the wake of disappointing midterm elections, with most key GOP leaders urging the party to embrace the practice and former President Donald Trump continuing to warn against it. Republicans including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis say the party has been hurt by relying more heavily on Election Day turnout while Democrats encourage supporters to vote early and by mail. Intraparty criticism intensified following Herschel Walker’s loss Tuesday in Georgia’s Senate runoff.

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