(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff called for both celebrating Jewish American history, and tackling antisemitism head on, during an event marking Jewish American Heritage Month at the White House Tuesday afternoon.
“I want to thank all of you for joining us as we celebrate Jewish Americans whose values, culture, and contributions have shaped who we are as a nation, and that’s not hyperbole. Over generations, a story of resilience, hope, faith of the Jewish people… and the promise of a better tomorrow has inspired people everywhere, everywhere around the world,” Biden said.
Retelling his story about how he decided to run for president after the “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, where white supremacists chanted “Jews will not replace us,” Biden called for people to speak up about hatred and antisemitism.
Speaking about the reported rise in antisemitic incidents in America, Biden said, “It’s unconscionable. It’s almost unbelievable. It’s despicable. These attacks are a threat to other minority communities as well, but more importantly, it’s literally a stain on the soul of America. Let’s be clear… silence is complicity.”
The Anti-Defamation League released a report in March that found reported antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high in 2022.
“The Talmud says, quote, it’s not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it,” Biden said, quoting a line from the corpus of Jewish legal thought. “You know, the American story depends on not any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.”
The president pointed to initiatives he has taken and plans regarding antisemitism, including an upcoming plan to release a strategy on broadening awareness of Jewish American history and antisemitism, and reversing what he called the “normalization” of antisemitism. He also called for the release of Jewish journalist Evan Gershkovich, as well as detained former marine Paul Whelan, both detained in Russia.
Emhoff, a lawyer by trade and the first Jewish spouse of any U.S. president or vice president, spoke to the long arc of Jewish American history and his own Jewish heritage.
“And that history goes all the way back to our founding, when Jewish American patriots fought to help secure independence, and later help save our union during the Civil War, and have fought so valiantly in all subsequent wars. And throughout the eras there have been outstanding Jewish Americans who have achieved so much in their fields,” Emhoff said.
Emhoff said it was his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, who encouraged him to lead in combating antisemitism: “My wife, the Vice President, encouraged me… to lean into this fight… she said this issue found you, now lean into it.”
Antisemitism is part of an “epidemic of hate” worldwide, Emhoff said, “but I know that I’m doing everything I can to fight back,” he said to applause. “Fighting lies with truth. Educating others about the truth of the Holocaust and who we are as Jews. And building coalitions, ’cause we can’t do this alone.”
In December, Emhoff hosted a roundtable at the White House on antisemitism, which was attended by Jewish leaders and dignitaries.
The packed event in the White House’s East Room, attended by Jewish leaders, Congress members, and members of the administration, also featured a musical performance by Jewish actors Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond.
Platt and Diamond currently star in the Broadway revival of Parade, a musical telling the story of Leo Frank, a Jewish man in Georgia in the early 1910s who was accused of murder and later lynched. The show faced antisemitic protests during its first preview.
(WASHINGTON) — Lawmakers and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona agreed at a Tuesday hearing that students face a host of threats in the nation’s schools — but differed sharply on how to tackle a range of culture war issues.
“We believe that the secretary is not adhering to the intent of Congress under Title IX,” Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx told ABC News the day before the hearing. “Title IX was intended to make sure that women and girls were treated fairly when it comes to sport in particular.”
And as the hearing got underway, GOP members questioned Cardona about Title IX and transgender policies they suggested left girls vulnerable.
Reps. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, and Jim Banks, R-Ind., grilled Cardona about the department’s recent proposed change to Title IX, which would bar blanketed bans on trans student athletes.
“Would you say it’d be fair for me [at] anytime in this process, high school up until 30 years old, that I had a chance to box or wrestle with your daughter, competing with your daughter?” Owens, a former professional football player and father of five daughters, said.
Cardona responded, “It’s my responsibility and my privilege to make sure that all students have access.”
Banks pressed Cardona on whether he would take away school lunches to kids in need because the school won’t allow boys to participate on girls sports teams.
“Do you support taking away school lunches from kids who go to schools where boys aren’t allowed to play on girls sports teams?” Banks questioned. “The answer is yes, this administration would take away school lunches from kids who need that lunch — maybe the only warm meal they might ever get — because of the radical agenda of this administration.”
Cardona, a father and former principal, said the proposed changes did not touch on the contentious issue of whether schools should allow transgender students to use bathrooms consistent with their gender identities rather than biological sex at birth.
“There’s nothing in our proposed title and regulations that determine how bathrooms should be used,” he said.
When Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., asked whether transgender athletes undressing in women’s bathrooms constitutes sexual harassment, Cardona said it was a “concern” but stated his belief that “transgender girls should have access to all the experiences that public schools provide.”
“I believe the harassment and discriminations against transgender students is something that is rampant in this country, and as a department, we are proposing regulations to make sure all students are seen and valued for who they are and given the same opportunities to engage,” Cardona said.
Banks claimed the department’s early 2021 guidance included controversial material regarding race, but that the department deleted some of it.
“I was just hoping you would tell us you backtracked on it because ultimately, you came to the conclusion that it’s inappropriate to teach our kids critical race theory or some of the garbage that “1619 Project” and Ibram X Kendi teach. But apparently, you don’t want to tell us that today,” he said.
Cardona said he wanted to stay away from divisive topics.
The secretary also answered critiques about school closures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., pressed Cardona on pandemic-era vaccine mandates and prolonged school closures across the state of California.
“This was the most consequential policy failure in modern U.S. history,” Kiley said.
Some Republicans asked Cardona about FBI investigations into parents who attended school board meetings following an October 2021 memo from Attorney General Merrick Garland denouncing “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”
“Do you support [Garland’s memo] targeting parents who show up at school board meetings to express their concerns?” Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., asked.
Cardona responded, “I believe that they’re well within the right to do what they feel is necessary.”
Democrats highlighted different concerns, arguing students were unsafe in classrooms amid the threat of gun violence. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez made an impassioned plea for the end of school shootings carried out with assault weapons.
“I believe it is heartbreaking and irresponsible that the majority of Republicans refused to take action on an assault weapons ban,” Leger Fernández said.
“It is ridiculous that children have to be afraid of going to school, that their parents have to live in fear every time they drop their children off,” she said.
Cardona asked the lawmakers for $2.2 billion in funding as part of President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 Budget Request for the Department of Education.
(WASHINGTON) — It may be springtime in 2023, but it’s election night in America on Tuesday.
Kentucky Republicans Tuesday will choose their nominee to try to knock off Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in the state’s gubernatorial race in November, easily the marquee race of the year.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia will host a pair of consequential races, nominating a Democratic candidate for Philadelphia mayor — who will ultimately be the overwhelming favorite to win a general election in the sapphire blue city — and choosing who to fill a vacant state House seat, which could decide which party controls the chamber.
And in Jacksonville, Florida, a mayoral runoff is emerging as a test of just how strong Republicans — and GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis — are in Florida.
Here are the races to watch Tuesday night:
Kentucky Republican gubernatorial primary
The top billing of the night goes to Kentucky, where state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft and Agriculture Commissioner Daniel Quarles are vying for the chance to take on Beshear, who has remained popular despite his state’s red hue.
The three are largely aligned on policies, but slight distinctions have helped define the race.
Cameron started off the primary as the frontrunner, boasting broad name recognition and deep ties to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell’s powerful network. He also entered the race with former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Craft has highlighted her support for Trump and her service in his administrations as ambassador in New York while dumping millions of her own money to buoy her campaign. Observers in the state believe that Cameron remains the frontrunner but that Craft’s millions spent on television advertising hammering Cameron have helped make the primary a real race.
Craft also won DeSantis’ endorsement Monday, offering an eleventh hour shot in the arm and shaping up the race to be a minor proxy war between Trump and DeSantis, who are soon anticipated to clash in the Republican presidential primary.
Quarles, meanwhile, has focused much of his campaign less on personality and more on having fleshed out policy platforms, releasing policy positions each week. Should it turn out that Cameron and Craft undercut each other with increasingly vicious attacks, Quarles could benefit.
The primary is anticipated to be a low turnout affair, with the secretary of state predicting turnout to hover around 10%, inserting an added level of uncertainty into the race.
Whoever the nominee is will face a challenge in unseating Beshear, who has garnered praise for his handling of natural disasters that hit Kentucky during his first term as governor.
Philadelphia Democratic mayoral primary
The Democratic primary to replace term-limited Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney is shaping up to be a gauge of whether progressives can keep up their momentum after clutch wins in Wisconsin and Chicago.
Former City Council members Helen Gym, Cherelle Parker and Allan Domb, former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart and grocery store magnate Jeff Brown are the main contenders for the nomination.
Polling has shown a tight race among the five, with large percentages of undecided voters looming.
Gym, however, has become a favorite of progressives across the country, championing a “Green New Deal” for local schools and winning the endorsements of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Whoever wins the primary will be the overwhelming favorite given Democrats’ heavy registration advantage. The primary also has the chance to elevate who could be the first female mayor of the city — which has had 99 male mayors.
Pennsylvania House special election
Democrats narrowly won back the Pennsylvania state House in the 2022 midterms — but that one-seat majority is at risk in a special election Tuesday.
The Philadelphia-area race is featuring Democrat Heather Boyd and GOP candidate Katie Ford and normally would be a safe race after former state Rep. Mike Zabel won reelection with 65% of the vote last year before resigning over sexual harassment allegations.
However, potentially due to the stakes of the race or the aftermath of Zabel’s scandal, Democrats and Republicans are both investing big dollars over the seat.
Democrats have warned that a Ford win would let Republicans not only let the state legislature serve as a blockade to Gov. Josh Shapiro but also introduce a constitutional amendment scrapping abortion rights in the state, something state Republicans have denied.
Jacksonville mayoral runoff
A mayoral runoff in Jacksonville is set to serve as a check on Republicans’ strength in Florida after big wins in the 2022 midterms.
Donna Deegan, a Democrat, and GOP candidate Daniel Davis are fighting for the chance to succeed term-limited Mayor Lenny Curry, a Republican.
The northeast Florida city, home to almost 1 million people, is the largest city in the country to have a Republican mayor. The city voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, but DeSantis won it convincingly last year.
Polling has been close in the race, which has been focused largely on crime and policing. However, it could also serve as a test of DeSantis’ strength before he launches an expected presidential bid after he came out in support of Curry.
(WASHINGTON) — An unidentified man entered national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s Washington, D.C., home in late April, prompting a Secret Service investigation, according to an agency spokesperson.
Sullivan was home at the time and confronted the intruder, and the incident was over in a matter of minutes, according to sources familiar with what happened.
This occurred with a detail of special agents outside the home who apparently never saw the man enter or leave the home. The man apparently entered through an unlocked door, according to sources.
The Secret Service immediately deployed technology that alerts when an unlocked door is opened, sources said, and a spokesman said the agency is examining the actions of the agents.
“Secret Service is examining a security incident that took place at a protectee site,” Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service director of communications, said in a statement to ABC News.
“While the protectee was unharmed, we are taking this matter seriously and have opened a comprehensive mission assurance investigation to review all facets of what occurred,” Guglielmi said. “Any deviation from our protective protocols is unacceptable and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable. Modifications to the protective posture have also been made to ensure additional security layers are in place as we conduct this comprehensive review.”
A source familiar with the incident told ABC News that the man appeared to be intoxicated and didn’t know exactly where he was, and it appeared that he didn’t know he was in the home of the national security adviser.
Sullivan, like most high-profile executive branch members, has an around-the-clock Secret Service detail that monitors outside of his Washington, D.C. residence.
The incident was first reported by the Washington Post.
The White House referred requests for comment to the Secret Service.
(WASHINGTON) — An unidentified man entered National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s Washington, D.C., home in late April, prompting a Secret Service investigation, according to an agency spokesperson.
“Secret Service is examining a security incident that took place at a protectee site,” Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service’s director of communications, said in a statement to ABC News.
“While the protectee was unharmed, we are taking this matter seriously and have opened a comprehensive mission assurance investigation to review all facets of what occurred,” Guglielmi said. “Any deviation from our protective protocols is unacceptable and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable. Modifications to the protective posture have also been made to ensure additional security layers are in place as we conduct this comprehensive review.”
A source familiar with the incident told ABC News that the man was intoxicated and didn’t know exactly where he was, and it appears that he didn’t know he was in the home of the national security adviser.
Sullivan, like most high-profile executive branch members, has an around-the-clock Secret Service detail that monitors outside of his Washington, D.C. residence.
The incident was first reported by the Washington Post.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, struggling to keep up with his competitors in early polling for the Republican nomination for president, said Tuesday on “GMA3” that support for President Donald Trump is “inflated.”
Asked about a polling average from FiveThirtyEight showing support for Hutchinson at 1% and support for Trump at a staggering 52%, Hutchinson said he’s in the race for the long haul and that his support will grow.
“It’s a long campaign we’re starting here. I expect to move up. And I also believe that Trump’s numbers are inflated now,” he said. “And I think that people are looking for new leadership and a new direction. America needs somebody that brings out the best of our country and doesn’t appeal to our worst instincts.”
Responding to Hutchinson’s comment, a spokesperson for Trump intentionally called him “Ada,” as the former president has done. He also included a swipe at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not announced he is seeking the GOP nomination but is consistently polling as Trump’s closest competitor.
“Ada is polling at 1%, which means that Ron DeSantis is polling closer to the bottom of the field than he is to President Trump,” spokesperson Steven Cheung said in an email to ABC News.
Asked on “GMA3” if he would support Trump if he won the Republican nomination, Hutchinson hedged — and reminded how the Republican National Committee has said it will require candidates to take a loyalty pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee in order to participate in its debates.
“I don’t expect that he’ll be the nominee, and I do expect that I will be supporting the nominee,” he said. “I hope that it’s me. I want to be able to participate in the debate. And I expect one of those requirements is that you’ll have to support the nominee of the party. I always have done that.”
“I’m a strong Republican, but now’s not the right time for Donald Trump and his leadership in the future,” he added. “We need somebody that can actually win in November, that can bring in independents and suburban voters that can appeal to the best of our country and help bring us together.”
Hutchinson returns to Iowa this week from several voter-facing events as his campaign has indicated he’s going all in on the Hawkeye State.
Hutchinson finished his second term as governor of Arkansas earlier this year after decades of public service including three consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving in the George W. Bush administration as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as the nation’s first Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Border Protection. He announced his intention to run for the GOP nomination for president in an exclusive interview last month on ABC’s “This Week” ahead of an official campaign launch in his hometown.
While he has not shied away from taking on Trump so far, Hutchinson has been careful not to isolate voters who have previously supported Trump either.
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., introduced a resolution on the House floor Tuesday afternoon to expel GOP Rep. George Santos.
“I rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House. … Rep. George Santos be, and hereby is, expelled from the House of Representatives,” he said.
House Republicans can schedule this vote within two legislative days, but are likely to table it. It would need two-thirds majority to pass.
Santos told ABC News while leaving the House floor, “Whatever happens innocent until proven guilty.” He added that he hadn’t seen the resolution yet and hasn’t had conversations with leadership.
Santos, R-N.Y., was indicted May 10 on 13 criminal counts, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York said.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“I have my right to fight to prove my innocence,” Santos told a mass of reporters who gathered outside the courthouse on Long Island.
House Republican leadership has stopped short of calling for Santos to resign, but at least 12 House Republicans have said Santos should resign or be expelled from Congress, including many Republican lawmakers from New York.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said last week he would not support Santos’s bid for reelection and said that if the House Ethics committee recommended he resign then McCarthy would agree with that recommendation.
Garcia said his resolution to expel Santos is about putting Republicans on the record.
“There hasn’t been action and so now’s the appropriate time to make sure that Republicans are on record if they’re going to actually stand by someone that is a serial liar and a fraud. And they’re gonna have to record a vote, and the American people will be watching their votes,” said Garcia.
Garcia already introduced a resolution to expel Santos at the start of this congressional session, but after inaction on the legislation, he is now offering a privileged motion in hopes to speed up the timeline on a vote.
“My hope has always been that he would resign and so I think that the initial expulsion resolution was building to, ideally, the speaker taking this up in the Ethics Committee, which is what should have happened, but there’s been no action in ethics to take up the resolution,” Garcia said. “Speaker McCarthy obviously has empowered George Santos on a variety of votes.”
Garcia deferred questions about the timeline and likelihood of it passing to McCarthy and other members of Republican leadership.
“I think we’ll see what the House leadership is going to decide, what the votes will actually be,” he said. “I think it’s still up to them. There’s a couple of different options that they have but we want to see an expulsion vote and we want to see him expelled.”
McCarthy didn’t respond to ABC News when asked about the resolution as he was leaving the Capitol for his White House meeting on the debt ceiling.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told ABC News she wants to look at precedent before deciding how she’ll vote.
“I want to look at precedent and history and how it’s been done in the past and for what reasons,” she said. “I just want to have that information before I make that decision. I also want to make sure that an individual that’s getting expelled has due process.”
ABC News’ Will Steakin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Shortly before the 2022 midterms, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign released an ad touting him as a fighter chosen by God. The clip invoked God’s name 10 times in 96 seconds and cast DeSantis as the chosen “fighter” five times.
The Florida Republican’s efforts to cast himself as a fighter — against everything from “woke elites” to Disney (ABC News’ parent company) — appeared to work, defeating his Democratic opponent by almost 20 points in November.
Now, DeSantis’ brand faces a new challenge as he gears up for a presidential run against one of the most aggressive bare-knuckle brawlers in all of politics: former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis continues to lambast his Democratic foes and steamrolled the state legislature into churning out laws he can tout on the campaign trail. But when it comes to Trump, he’s declined to respond with little more than a glancing blow to an avalanche of attacks over everything from his policy on entitlements to his eating habits, leaning on outside groups to throw haymakers in response.
DeSantis threw his most direct punch to date Tuesday, saying at a press conference that Trump in a recent interview did not answer whether he’d sign a six-week abortion ban that Florida recently enacted.
Overall, though, the above-the-fray playbook has sparked plaudits that he won’t get down in the mud with Trump — but also fueled worries from allies that Trump is defining him in voters’ minds.
“He can’t get into this and ignore Trump. That’s just not going to work,” said Dan Eberhart, a prominent GOP donor backing DeSantis.
“Trump is throwing unanswered punches. And so, people are saying, ‘Hey, look, is DeSantis weak? Why isn’t he responding? When is he gonna respond?’ DeSantis can’t be in this to win and not punch back,” Eberhart told ABC News.
Trump, who formally launched his campaign in November, has sought to make DeSantis Public Enemy No. 1 for his hardcore base.
Trump has dubbed him “Ron DeSanctimonious” and “Ron DeSanctus” and was reportedly weighing calling him “Meatball Ron.”
Trump has also upbraided DeSantis for support for legislation when he was in Congress to alter Social Security and Medicare, a third-rail political issue on which Trump has transformed Republicans’ position (once for entitlement reforms, Republicans are now largely opposed to changes).
When DeSantis described the war in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute,” Trump seized on those comments voicing skepticism on aid to the country, accusing him of merely copying his policies.
And Trump has accused DeSantis of losing a growing fight with Disney that Disney alleges began over its criticism of a law prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida schools.
The barbs, which have been a feature of Trump’s speeches and ad campaign, have dovetailed with aggressive outreach by the former president that have won him endorsements from several members of Florida’s congressional delegation.
All the while, DeSantis is largely staying mum over the attacks, saying he has thick enough skin to withstand attacks and pointing to his overwhelming 19-point reelection margin in 2022.
“Call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner because that’s what we’ve been able to do in Florida,” he told Piers Morgan when asked about Trump’s attacks in a March interview.
It’s a familiar dilemma for DeSantis. Recordings obtained by ABC News of DeSantis’ debate prep during his first gubernatorial run in 2018 reveal strategy discussions then over how to explain positions he took while in Congress against the Trump administration “in a way that’s not going to piss off all his voters.”
The closest DeSantis recently got to knocking Trump is after the former president was indicted in a case centered around hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, when he accused the prosecutor of harboring political bias while also telling reporters “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair, I can’t speak to that.”
DeSantis threw another indirect jab at Trump during a visit to a barbecue joint in Des Moines, Iowa, last weekend — the city where Trump postponed a rally there due to weather concerns, followed up Monday by lamenting a recent GOP “culture of losing,” an apparent reference to Republicans’ electoral struggles since Trump won the White House in 2016.
But while DeSantis has frequently declined to go toe-to-toe with the former president, Trump’s polling lead has swelled since earlier this year, leading even allies wondering if the protracted waiting game over the Florida governor’s future ambitions are hurting his chances before he even formally gets off the ground.
“[A]t a certain point, your opponents and the media and the whole process start to get away from you. And the narrative begins to take shape and you need to be the one shaping it and making your dent in the universe of the campaign, not the other way around,” said John Thomas, the chief political strategist at the pro-DeSantis Ron To The Rescue super PAC.
Taking on Trump could be a high-wire act considering that DeSantis would need to win over at least a slice of his diehard base. A prominent Florida GOP strategist who previously advised DeSantis said they were not sure how hard the governor will ever go after Trump but that some people in Tallahassee are privately advocating for him to go more on the attack.
But, the person added, “there’s a part of him that needs to be positive for a while and avoid it,” saying DeSantis’ team has been wrestling with the question of “do you hurt your brand if you get down and wrestle with [Trump]?”
Allies have defended DeSantis, arguing it was appropriate to wait until the end of Florida’s legislative session for him to announce a 2024 campaign and that many of Trump’s coarser attacks don’t merit responses.
“It shows great discipline on the part of the governor,” said Ken Cuccinelli, the founder of Never Back Down, the main pro-DeSantis super PAC. “He doesn’t get into and hasn’t gotten into the pettiness that the president just seems incapable of restraining himself from.”
Cuccinelli added he expects DeSantis to throw elbows “a little bit more” should he formally enter the primary field, “but part of that is a function of being a candidate.”
In the meantime, Never Back Down has stepped into the void, pumping millions into ads casting DeSantis as a winner and Trump as unelectable.
“We have not avoided, to the degree the governor has, exchanging blows in the form of Trump’s own policies. So, we’re doing contrast, primarily, and we do it aggressively,” Cuccinelli said.
Still, other allies are feeling a sense of urgency, warning the governor’s team to take Trump’s threat more seriously.
“DeSantis has never faced a fighter like Trump before,” Eberhart said. “And I think that MAGA world is laying in the weeds waiting for the ambush. I’m a DeSantis guy. I’m worried his team is overconfident.”
DeSantis’ team rebuffed such criticism.
“Folks in the legacy media know full well that Ron DeSantis always does what is right and never backs down from a fight,” said Dave Abrams, a spokesman for DeSantis’ political team.
Trump’s allies, meanwhile, boast that DeSantis’ non-response strategy proves he doesn’t have as strong of a brand as a fighter as he’s sought to cultivate and that he’s stuck in a lose-lose conundrum as he gets ready to run against the former president.
“The reality is, while DeSantis has high name ID and high favorables, our voters do not have deeply held views about him like they do Trump. That’s why Trump can take a sledgehammer to him daily without any blowback from our voters,” one longtime Trump aide said.
“Meanwhile, DeSantis is in an awful position of either not responding and looking weak or attacking Trump and facing the blowback from voters, who have been trained for 6 years to think that any Republican attacking Trump must be an establishment RINO.”
Regardless, DeSantis may not have a choice if Trump keeps wailing on him, said one Florida lawmaker who’s in touch with DeSantis and his team.
“This is Trump. The gloves are gonna have to come way off,” the person said. “You can’t dip your toe in the water.”
(WASHINGTON) — As former Vice President Mike Pence enters the final weeks of considering whether to make a presidential run, a group of conservatives is launching a super PAC to support his potential candidacy, according to several sources familiar with its planning.
The group, Committed to America, will be co-chaired by veteran GOP consultant Scott Reed, former Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, and Bobby Saparow, former campaign manager to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Michael Ricci, who ran communications for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, will run the PAC’s communications.
The co-chairs hope to in part reintroduce Pence to voters, who they believe don’t have a full sense of who the former vice president is, and catch the attention of voters perhaps stuck on other candidates.
“People know Mike Pence, they just don’t know him well,” Reed told a small group of reporters Friday that included ABC News. “This campaign is going to reintroduce Mike Pence to the country as his own man, not as vice president, but as a true economic, social, and national security conservative — a Reagan conservative.”
If Pence decides to wade into the race, he enters a field already dominated by his prior running mate, former President Donald Trump. A majority of GOP voters who are opting not to support Trump currently favor Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 6% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents supporting a Pence bid.
Another source familiar with the PAC’s planning said Pence would own the “constitutional conservative” lane even if others try to occupy that space. One of those may be former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has called for Trump to drop out of the race.
“It’s not a soundbite with Mike Pence. There’s a history,” said another source. “There’s a record, going all the way back to the house days and being chairman of the Republican Study Committee. Again, it’s not a soundbite. It’s a record that has a very, very dramatic exclamation point on it.”
While it’s unclear whether the PAC will attack Trump directly, a source familiar said that the former president’s actions on Jan. 6 are “disqualifying,” echoing a similar sentiment from Hutchinson. Pence has shied away from laying into his former boss or his character, leaving those sorts of judgements up to voters — though Trump has not returned the favor.
“I guess he figured that being nice is not working,” Trump told reporters in response to questions about comments Pence made at the Gridiron Club dinner for Washington insiders, where he claimed that “history will hold Donald Trump accountable” for his actions during the Capitol insurrection.
Although he’d be navigating headwinds within his own party, Pence would be facing a public with growing disdain toward President Joe Biden — with the same ABC News/Washington Post poll revealing staggering new lows for Biden’s approval rating.
The group plans to make major investments in Iowa, whose voting contest remains first in line for Republicans. The Democratic National Committee voted to remove the Iowa caucuses from their lineup, causing some pushback from state Democrats who feel left behind by the party. Winning big in the early stages of the process can create inertia for any GOP candidate hoping to de-throne Trump.
“We’re going to organize Iowa, all 99 counties, like we’re running him for county sheriff,” added Reed, who previously managed Sen. Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign.
Saparow told reporters he plans on replicating his strategy for Kemp — who bested Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue in the Georgia gubernatorial primary by over 50 points and eventually beat out Democratic Stacey Abrams in a general election rematch — on a national stage.
“We will also be doing a very extensive paid voter contact program through Committed to America. We have all the confidence in the world that the results that we were able to garner for Gov. Kemp we can duplicate for the vice president,” said Saparow.
Once registered with the Federal Election Commission, the Committed to America super PAC can raise funds to support Pence, so long as it doesn’t directly coordinate with the former vice president prior to any sort of official campaign launch. The group declined to disclose specifics on initial financial commitments, with a source saying the group will “raise and spend as much money as it takes to be successful.”
“Our initial meetings and phone calls have been very successful in terms of commitments, and we’re going to continue to grow on that. We’re going to need to spend wisely in a very focused way. This will be the Pence-sanctioned super PAC and 100% of the money will go to helping Mike Pence, and no one else,” said the source.
A Pence adviser told ABC News a potential announcement could come “broadly” in June.
Any such announcement would have to be made early enough to meet the Republican National Committee’s debate polling and domination thresholds. Republican candidates will face off in the first primary debate in Milwaukee in August.
“The country’s at real crossroads and the Republican Party needs a strong conservative candidate who can win. Pence has the experience, the unparalleled character, communication skills and the conservative credentials to win both the nomination and a general election,” said Reed.
(WASHINGTON) — The State Department’s latest survey of religious freedom around the world shows that conditions in some of the most oppressive nations around the world are growing even more dire as well as new, troubling trends, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.
“Governments in many parts of the world continue to target religious minorities using a host of methods, including torture, beatings, unlawful surveillance, and so-called re-education camps,” he said.
Blinken underscored abuses against the predominately Muslim Uyghur minority group in the Xinjiang province of China, a country one senior State Department official described as “one of the worst abusers of human rights and religious freedom in the world.”
The U.S. has previously determined that Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghurs amounts to genocide and crimes against humanity, and the report, which covers the year 2022, said that persecution has continued steadily.
Although data is limited, the survey also noted that the Chinese Communist Party has significantly and broadly cracked down on religious freedom over the course of the year, and that the number of people imprisoned for their spiritual beliefs was estimated to range between the low thousands to perhaps over 10,000.
Chinese government officials have denied all allegations of human rights abuses and attempted to justify actions against Uyghurs as counterterrorism measures.
Blinken also addresses Iran’s Islamic theocracy, which imposes draconian restrictions on its population and brutal punishments for offenses, as well as the ongoing wave of demonstrations inspired by the death of a teenager last September.
“People across Iran, led by young women, continue peaceful protests demanding their human rights, including freedom of religion, galvanized by the killing of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the so-called morality police because her hijab did not fully cover her hair,” he said.
The report emphasizes that the movement has come with steep costs. Referencing statistics from human rights groups working in Iran, it says that in the months of 2022 after Amini’s death, government security forces killed 512 protestors, including 69 children, arrested 19,204 individuals and executed at least one person linked to the demonstrations on the charge of “enmity against God.”
The survey, which is required by law to be compiled and submitted to Congress annually, also expressed a number of concerns about conditions in India—a country not currently designated by the State Department as a “Country of Particular Concern” for severe violations of religious freedom. Among the issues listed are legal prohibitions against conversions in multiple states, accusations of systemic discrimination against Muslims, and attacks on religious minorities–including “cow vigilantism” against non-Hindus based on allegations of cow slaughter or trade in beef.
“We’re continuing to encourage the government to condemn violence and hold accountable and protect all groups who engage in rhetoric that’s dehumanizing towards religious minorities and all groups who engage in violence against religious communities and other communities in India,” a senior State Department official advised reporters.
Additionally, the report outlined widespread violations against religious freedom perpetrated by Moscow, both in Russia and in occupied areas of Ukraine.
“Authorities continued to investigate, detain, imprison, torture, physically abuse persons, and seize their property because of their religious belief or affiliation or membership in groups designated “extremist,” “terrorist,” or “undesirable,” including Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Tablighi Jamaat, followers of Turkish Muslim theologian Said Nursi, the Church of Scientology, Falun Gong, and multiple evangelical Protestant groups,” the report says, adding that individuals have been reportedly subjected to long terms in labor camps, torture, home searches, and other mistreatment.
The report also said that even members of the Russian Orthodox Church were not completely protected, noting some were “fined or banned from continuing in their religious duties” after criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In Crimea and other areas of Ukraine under Russian rule, the report said there was abundant evidence that authorities “have committed widespread, ongoing, and egregious violations of the right to freedom of religion and conscience as well as physical and psychological abuse of
But Blinken also said across the globe, the report captured examples of progress, citing Belgium formally recognizing its Buddhist minority, lawmakers in Brazil codifying religious freedom guarantees for Afro-Brazilian indigenous communities, and various countries launching offices to combat islamophobia and antisemitism.
“More broadly, civil society and other concerned governments around the world have successfully secured the release of many who have been detained, even in prison for exercising their freedom of religion or belief,” he said.
