POLITICO NIGHTLY: What we ask when we ask about Trump

 

BY ELANA SCHOR Former President Donald Trump throws a cap into the audience during his arrival at the ‘Save America’ rally in Conroe, Texas. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images LIGHTS, CAMERA, REACTION — A subgenre of congressional journalism flourished during President Donald Trump’s four years in office, one that I’ll call “the Republican react piece.” The formula was simple: Reporters would confront GOP lawmakers with the most ill-advised or objectionable statements from their party’s president, which forced them to align with the statement or disavow themselves from their party’s leader. A few greatest hits from this subgenre: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) agreeing that Trump’s 2019 tweets about House Democratic women of color were racist; Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) offering that “I can’t control that … I don’t think it’s helpful” after Trump blasted the special counsel investigating Russia’s ties to his 2016 campaign; and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) replying, “Oh no, ugh,” when asked about Trump’s tweets attacking a 75-year-old demonstrator who was shoved by police. Trump lost the White House and has been deprived of his favorite social media platform. But he remains the de facto head of the Republican Party and the favorite for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. And he hasn’t stopped airing sentiments that smack of distaste for the democratic process that denied him a second term, like his suggestion during a Texas campaign rally this weekend that he would offer pardons to those prosecuted for besieging the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. So it’s time to get back to regularly asking Republicans in Congress what they think of the president’s statements. It’s time to bring back the Republican react piece in all of its glory. (And speaking as our Congress editor, you can bet that POLITICO’s reporters will do so.) These stories aren’t mere diversions; they’re important. They’re not conceived to focus conservative ire on centrists like Collins and Murkowski who more readily criticize Trump, nor are they gotcha devices geared to yoke most Republicans to a former president whose approval ratings were nosediving by the time he left office. Asking what GOP officeholders think of Trump’s individual statements helps suss out, on an almost granular level, how deep his hold on the party remains. And it’s also likely to further illuminate a significant divide among Republicans in Congress: the House-Senate split. Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell’s conferences have shown signs of divergence from each other all year long, from the infrastructure bill to a debt-limit deal. The House minority leader has kept Trump close, while the Senate minority leader (and his members) has shrugged off the former president’s active campaign to dislodge him. The more Republican react pieces we see as Trump resumes his public rallies, and the more the members of the House and Senate GOP are asked to contextualize Trump’s enduring fury toward the Jan. 6 select committee and other politically resonant topics he takes up, the more we’re likely to see a split between the two chambers’ leading Republicans. As both McCarthy and McConnell push to take back control of their respective chambers this fall, their treatment of each other and of Trump becomes ever more important. Their differences matter for more than just legislation — efforts at accountability for the insurrection that led to Trump’s second impeachment also may hang in the balance. McCarthy has rejected the Jan. 6 panel’s request for an interview about his conversations with Trump, decrying its “abuse of power,” while McConnell has dryly observed that “it will be interesting to reveal all the participants who were involved” in the insurrection as the committee continues its work. We may already be headed toward a resurgence of the Republican react story. Sen. Susan Collins was pressed Sunday during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” about Trump’s dangling of pardons for the Capitol rioters. In response, the centrist Mainer said she was “very unlikely” to support Trump in 2024, though she also didn’t totally rule it out. The Collins interview occurred before Trump released a statement claiming that former Vice President Mike Pence “did have the right to change the outcome” of the 2020 election. It’s reasonable to expect that she and her colleagues will be asked about that assertion this week. Their responses will be deeply newsworthy as she and more than a dozen other senators hash out a deal to update the Electoral Count Act, the 135-year-old law that governs the congressional certification of Electoral College votes for president. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), asked tonight about Trump’s latest statements on overturning the election (see, it’s happening…), “chided reporters for focusing on ‘low priority’ news,” according to HuffPost’s Igor Bobic. Keep asking them anyway, reporters. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. The viral game Wordle has been acquired by The New York Times for “ an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures,” which is what we would be willing to pay some mornings for a hint when we’re on our sixth and final guess. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at eschor@politico.com, or on Twitter at @eschor. WHAT'D I MISS? — FDA gives full approval to Moderna’s Covid-19 shot: The Food and Drug Administration has approved Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, the company announced, making it the second to be fully licensed for use in the United States. The approval for people 18 and older will make it easier for schools and workplaces to require vaccination against the virus, now that there are two approved products to choose from, including Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid shot. It will also allow Moderna to market its vaccine directly to consumers. In other vaccine news, Novavax has asked the FDA to authorize its Covid-19 shot for emergency use, opening the door for it to become the fourth vaccine available for adults living in the U.S. An audience reacts to the speaker at a rally against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa, Canada. | Alex Kent/Getty Images — Trudeau on trucker protest: ‘We are not intimidated’: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is refusing to bend to demands of a raucous trucker protest that has swarmed Canada’s capital in an effort to force authorities to abandon Covid restrictions and vaccine mandates. The movement has drawn thousands of people — and dozens of honking big rigs — to Ottawa’s famously placid core around Parliament Hill. The demonstrations have been nonviolent, but smaller, more menacing elements in the crowds have threatened lawmakers and journalists and to destabilize Trudeau’s government. — Trudeau tests positive for Covid-19: Trudeau said in a tweet that he tested positive this morning. “I’m feeling fine — and I’ll continue to work remotely this week while following public health guidelines,” the Canadian leader wrote. “Everyone, please get vaccinated and get boosted.” The prime minister’s positive test comes the same day as the House of Commons is reconvening for the first time since before December. — Crypto advocates score win as Himes revises ransomware safeguard: Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) is proposing that the House narrow a financial crimes provision he drafted in Democrats’ China competitiveness bill, after cryptocurrency advocates warned the proposal threatened the industry and its users. The section at issue would expand the Treasury Department’s authority to monitor and freeze accounts at financial institutions — a policy intended to address the use of digital assets in ransomware attacks, money laundering and other illegal activity. It would give Treasury more latitude to identify any “transmittals of funds” as money laundering concerns. — Biden to designate Qatar a ‘major non-NATO ally’: Biden today said that he intended to designate Qatar as a “major non-NATO ally,” during a meeting with the country’s head of state, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, at the White House. Bahrain and Kuwait are the only other non-NATO allies in the Gulf. — Navy Secretary Del Toro tests positive for Covid: Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a statement released today. Del Toro returned from official travel on Friday afternoon, the statement said, and had received negative tests on Jan. 21 and the morning of Jan. 28. He was in Pascagoula, Miss., last week, where he toured Ingalls Shipbuilding. Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo and Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith also took part in the shipyard tour. AROUND THE WORLD Members of the United Nations Security Council meet to discuss the situation between Russia and Ukraine in New York. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images TUSSLE AT TURTLE BAY — In a public showdown today at the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. accused Russia of undermining international peace and security by massing troops on the Ukrainian border, David M. Herszenhorn writes. But Russia slapped back, arguing Washington was fear-mongering and forcing an unnecessary debate — allegations China later echoed. The heated, at times angry, rhetoric at U.N. headquarters in New York came as some 100,000 Russian troops are positioned along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia as well as its northern border with Belarus. The U.S. called the Security Council meeting to confront Russia over fears that an invasion is imminent. “Russia’s actions strike at the very heart of the U.N. Charter,” said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “This is as clear and consequential a threat to peace and security as anyone can imagine.” She added: “Russia’s aggression today not only threatens Ukraine. It also threatens Europe. It threatens the international order.” Russia objected to the open meeting from the outset, immediately demanding a procedural vote seeking to prevent it, which failed. NIGHTLY NUMBER 70 percent The proportion of Americans who agreed with the statement “It’s time we accept that Covid is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives” in the latest Monmouth University poll. PARTING WORDS The logo for Super Bowl LVI is seen outside the stadium before the NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. | Meg Oliphant/Getty Images A NON-OVERTIME-RULES NFL GAME SCANDAL — California Gov. Gavin Newsom defended himself amid outrage over a maskless photo he took Sunday with basketball legend Magic Johnson at an NFL playoff game in Los Angeles where all spectators were required to wear masks, Susannah Luthi writes. “I was trying to be gracious,” the governor told reporters at a news conference on state mental health initiatives. “I took the mask off for a brief second. But I encourage people to continue to wear them.” Celebrities and elite politicians gathered Sunday at SoFi stadium in Southern California to watch the Los Angeles Rams defeat the San Francisco 49ers in the final playoff game before the Super Bowl. Newsom wasn’t the only high-profile California politician facing backlash from the photo. Johnson posed with a maskless San Francisco Mayor London Breed and outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti — and tagged Breed, Newsom and Garcetti in his Instagram posts. But Newsom is seeing special outcry because he has presided over some of the nation’s strictest mask mandates. Last year’s failed recall effort against the governor gained steam after photos circulated showing him dining unmasked with lobbyists at an exclusive restaurant during a late 2020 surge, as he asked Californians to avoid gatherings.   Follow us on Twitter Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam Myah Ward @myahward   FOLLOW US

POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA