Candidates for President in 2024

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Behind the curtain: Trump's loyalty-first Cabinet

Clockwise from top left: Stephen Miller, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio; Steve Bannon, Mike Davis, Tucker Carlson and Kash Patel. Photos: Giorgio Viera/AFP, Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg, Brandon Bell, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Former President Trump, if elected, would build a Cabinet and White House staff based on two imperatives: pre-vetted loyalty to him and a commitment to stretch legal and governance boundaries, sources who talk often with the leading GOP presidential candidate tell Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei. Why it matters: Trump would fill the most powerful jobs in government with men like Stephen Miller, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Kash Patel — with the possible return of Steve Bannon. If Trump won in 2024, he'd turn to loyalists who share his zeal to punish critics, purge non-believers, and take controversial legal and military action, the sources tell us. Trump and his prospective top officials don't mince words about their plans: They want to target and jail critics, including government officials and journalists; deport undocumented immigrants or put them in detainment camps, and unleash the military to target drug cartels in Mexico, or possibly crack down on criminals or protesters at home. They want to scrap rules that limit their ability to purge government workers deemed disloyal. What's happening: Trump hasn't settled on specific roles for specific figures, and hates it when his staff and friends speculate otherwise. It's not in his DNA to do detailed personnel planning, and a lot depends on the last few people he's talked to. But in rolling conversations with friends and advisers, he's been clear about the type of men — and they're almost all older, white men — he'd want to serve at his pleasure if he were to win a second term. Between the lines: We wrote last month about the multimillion-dollar effort to vet loyalists for up to 50,000 lower-level government jobs in a Trump administration. This is about their potential bosses. It's unclear who would land where, but make no mistake: These are specific prototypes of Trump Republicans who would run his government. This is very different from the early days of his first term. This time, it'd be all loyalists, no restraints. Here's our latest intelligence on what's being discussed among Trump and a small group of confidants: Vice president: Those who'd be considered include J.D. Vance, the "Hillbilly Elegy" author and a MAGA favorite; Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders; Kari Lake, a leading election denier now running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. (Vance might prefer to remain in the Senate as "Trump's hammer," we're told.) Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), one of the few Black Republicans in Congress, has traveled with Trump on the campaign. But here's an interesting twist: Melania Trump is an advocate for picking Tucker Carlson, the booted Fox News star. She thinks Carlson would make a powerful onstage extension of her husband, a source close to Trump told us. Column continues below.

 

Part 2: Trump's government-in-waiting

Former President Trump speaks at Whiskey River bar in Ankeny, Iowa, last Saturday. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images Others likely to wield power in a second Trump term share a lot in common with Tucker Carlson. They're full, proud MAGA warriors, anti-GOP establishment zealots, and eager and willing to test the boundaries of executive power to get Trump's way, Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei write: Stephen Miller: He could be your next attorney general and, if not that, get a Cabinet-level role to greatly influence immigration policy. He was the architect of Trump's most controversial immigration plans in the first term, and is eager to test the boundaries of what courts and the military can do to make this happen fast. A source close to the Trump campaign told us A.G. is the office where Trump is "most likely to make a shocking pick," with the defiant view: "You want to weaponize DOJ, mother----er?'" Mike Davis: Donald Trump Jr. has floated Davis, the former chief counsel for nominations to then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), to be Trump's interim attorney general — saying it would be a "shot across the bow of the swamp." Steve Bannon: In the early days of Trump's first term, he was arguably the most powerful man on staff, plotting personnel and policy decisions from his Capitol Hill townhouse. Then, he was ousted and frozen out. Now, thanks to his popular podcast and pro-Trump fervency, he's back. He could be the next White House chief of staff. Kash Patel: A protege of former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) who led efforts to discredit the Russia investigation, Patel came to be viewed as a political mercenary in Trump's war against the intelligence community. The former Pentagon official would be considered for a top national security job in the next administration, possibly even running the CIA or NSC. Patel told Bannon on his "War Room" podcast this week: "One thing we learned in the Trump administration the first go-round is we've got to put in all of our compatriots from top to bottom. ... Yes, we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens." Johnny McEntee, Trump's loyalty vetter and enforcer, headed presidential personnel in the first term. McEntee might return to that role with even more power. The 33-year-old former UConn quarterback was empowered by the end of Trump's term in a way his predecessors never were — tasked with systematically purging officials deemed insufficiently loyal. Jeffrey Clark — a former assistant attorney general for Trump who could get a top Justice Department slot — is the rare person to be considered for a future administration while under indictment. Ric Grenell — former ambassador to Germany, and Trump's acting director of national intelligence — would be on the short list for secretary of state. Former Trump national security adviser Robert O'Brien would be a more confirmable pick for SecDef. Susie Wiles: Some in Trumpworld assume the most likely chief of staff is Wiles, the longtime Florida political operative who's running Trump's campaign. John Ratcliffe, the former Texas congressman who was Trump's final DNI, would be considered to head the CIA, for a return to DNI, for defense secretary or even for vice president. Jamie Dimon: Trump is open to a few more mainstream picks if they bring celebrity or pizzazz. For example, Trump would consider JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, a Democrat, to head Treasury. "He wants a big name," a source close to the campaign said. "And he loves billionaires." It's not clear Dimon would take the job — he's been talking privately with Nikki Haley about the global economy. Dimon told the N.Y. Times DealBook conference that Haley would be "a choice on the Republican side that might be better than Trump." Jared Kushner, a huge power center in Trump's West Wing, might well return to the White House if his father-in-law wins again. Read the full column ... Zachary Basu and Sophia Cai contributed reporting.

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🐘 Debate winner, loser

The debate was held in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at the University of Alabama's Moody Music Building. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Obnoxious blowhard. Fascist neocon. Angry, bitter man. The final GOP debate of 2023 featured some of the most explosive exchanges yet, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: The Iowa caucuses are in 39 days. Top takeaways: 1. Nikki Haley treated like front-runner. Viewers may be surprised to learn the former UN ambassador is actually polling in third behind Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, given the dogpile she faced from the very jump. But Haley has all the momentum, with a stream of billionaires and Wall Street mega-donors — plus the Koch political network — now lining up behind her as the most viable Trump alternative. 2. Chris Christie unleashed. Moderator Megyn Kelly's first question to the former New Jersey governor was the one on everyone's mind: Why are you still in the race with an approval rating of 25% among Republican voters? Christie responded by declaring himself "the only person on stage who is telling the truth" about Trump: "He's unfit to be president." Keep reading. Photo: Gary Cosby Jr./The Tuscaloosa News via Reuters 🥊 Quote of the night ... Nikki Haley: "I love all the attention, fellas. Thank you for that!" Smart Brevity: Vivek Ramaswamy went Alex Jones, unloading false conspiracies. (N.Y. Times, CNN) 📊 New this morning: Democratic views on President Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war rebounded in AP-NORC polling: 59% of Dems approve of Biden's approach to the conflict — up from 50% in November. Biden's latest standing is equivalent to Dems' 57% approval for him on the Mideast in an August poll. Keep reading.

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Two networks announce GOP presidential debates just days apart at same New Hampshire school

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two television networks on Thursday announced they would hold separate Republican presidential debates at the same location in New Hampshire just ahead of that state’s GOP primary next month, but officials at Saint Anselm College said they were only aware of one of the events.

https://apnews.com/article/republican-presidential-debates-iowa-new-hampshire-2024-95fd63dde44a28494802740bd615e858?

CNN to host two GOP primary debates in January

CNN is planning to host two Republican primary debates in Iowa and New Hampshire next month, the network announced Thursday.

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/07/republican-primary-debates-cnn-2024?

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🥊 Trump campaign to allies: Put a sock in it

A commit-to-caucus card being distributed by the Trump campaign at Iowa rallies. Photo: Galen Bacharier/The Des Moines Register via Reuters

Following our "Behind the Curtain" column about the potential cabinet in a second Trump administration, top Trump campaign officials Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita issued a statement reiterating that "no aspect of future presidential staffing or policy announcements should be deemed official" unless they come "directly from President Trump or an authorized member of his campaign team." "Let us be even more specific, and blunt," the statement continues. "People publicly discussing potential administration jobs for themselves or their friends are, in fact, hurting President Trump … and themselves. These are an unwelcomed distraction." "Second term policy priorities and staffing decisions will not — in no uncertain terms — be led by anonymous or thinly sourced speculation in mainstream media news stories." Read the statement. 💨 Catch up quick: 🇪🇺 Europeans have gone from denial of a Trump return to panic, the N.Y. Times' Jonathan Swan, Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman report: "European ambassadors and think tank officials have been making pilgrimages to associates of Mr. Trump to inquire about his intentions. At least one ambassador, Finland's Mikko Hautala, has reached out directly to Mr. Trump and sought to persuade him of his country's value to NATO as a new member." Gift link — No paywall. 📊 A Wall Street Journal poll finds Trump leads President Biden among registered voters, 47% to 43%, in a national head-to-head matchup (margin of error: ±2.5 points.) "Trump's lead expands to 6 points, 37% to 31%, when five potential third-party and independent candidates are added to the mix. They take a combined 17% support, with Democrat-turned-independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drawing the most, at 8%."

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Inside RFK Jr.'s ballot hurdles

Photo: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is showing potential for the most formidable independent presidential bid in a generation. Now the hard part begins, reports Axios' Erin Doherty. What's happening: Kennedy has yet to get his name on the ballot in any general election state. The super PAC backing Kennedy's bid announced this week that it plans to spend up to $15 million on the effort. Their target states for the eight-figure effort are Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York and Texas. "We have chosen to pursue these critical states, some of them battlegrounds, due to the complexity of the state election codes and the volume of signatures necessary to achieve ballot access," said Deirdre Golffard, the special counsel of ballot access for the American Values 2024 super PAC. Driving the news: Kennedy's first deadline is in Utah, where he has until March 5 to submit 1,000 verified signatures to qualify for the ballot. Kennedy's campaign successfully sued Utah in federal court this month, arguing the state's original Jan. 8 deadline was unconstitutional. "Utah is one of a number of states that have set extremely difficult barriers to any independent candidate getting on the ballot," Kennedy said in a statement after the decision. Zoom in: At least six states require candidates to file for the ballot by June 30. Dozens of others have deadlines over the summer, according to Ballot Access News. Kennedy said in a video soliciting donations for his ballot access mission that collecting the millions of signatures needed could cost as much as $15 million. Some states also require that candidates pick their running mate when they apply for the ballot. Between the lines: The Kennedy campaign has divided the state requirements into a tiered system based on whether they require a VP pick, the amount of signatures needed and their various deadlines, his press secretary told Axios. The super PAC effort could help support any legal challenges Kennedy may face over his ballot access, said super PAC co-founder Tony Lyons. The big picture: Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, announced in October that he was ditching the Democratic Party and running as an independent. A Quinnipiac University poll from November found that Kennedy received 21% in a hypothetical match-up with former President Trump (38%) and President Biden (37%). The last time an independent candidate earned more than 20% of support from a poll at least one year out from the election was Ross Perot in 1992, CNN notes. Perot ended up getting 19% of the popular vote. Kennedy has boasted strong fundraising numbers, including ending the third quarter with more cash on hand than some of the GOP rivals. He raised $5.1 million from small-dollar donations, and most of his large-dollar donations ($6.6 million) came from donors who had not given in recent elections, a Politico analysis found.

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⛰️ Haley's New Hampshire bank shot

Photo: Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images

The soft money flowing into New Hampshire on behalf of Nikki Haley has a a hard target: independent voters. Why it matters: Winning the support of the state's "undeclared" voters — which make up 40% of the electorate — has always been the key to winning the first-in-the-nation primary, Axios' Stef Kight, Erin Doherty and Hans Nichols report. With the DNC essentially boycotting the primary, that's even more true this year. All the action is on the GOP side. That means the number of independent voters (399,395) can exceed the number of registered Republicans (298,470) on election day. Driving the news: Haley's supporters — many of whom are donating "soft money" to super PACs, which don't have limits on campaign contributions — are planning to leverage her broad anti-Trump appeal and relatively moderate views to win over independents. A new PAC started by wealthy business executives launched an "Independents for Nikki" initiative shortly after Thanksgiving, pouring millions into efforts to boost her standing with undeclared voters. The plan is to take "a very targeted surgical approach" to juicing independent turnout, starting in New Hampshire, said Bonnie Anderson, one of the PAC's founders. The intrigue: As he did in 2016, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has made New Hampshire the linchpin of his campaign. "There is no Democratic primary to speak of, so if you want to have an impact, you have to vote in our primary," Christie told college students Friday. He's currently in third in New Hampshire, behind Haley and former President Trump. Flashback: In 2012, the last time there wasn't a competitive Democratic contest, independent voters made up roughly half the GOP primary, notes GOP pollster Patrick Ruffini. "Undeclared" voters were at 47%, just a tick below actual Republicans, who were at 49%. In 2020, with Trump the clear GOP nominee, the picture was flipped. Independents decided to participate in the primary in which they could make a difference, ultimately comprising 44% of the electorate in the Democratic primary. What we're hearing: In 2020, that 44% translated into 130,000 independent voters, according to Robert Schwartz, whose group, Primary Pivot, plans to spend $600,000 to target independents. Keep reading

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🐘 NEW: Trump STILL rising in Iowa

Chart: NBC News With 35 days until the Iowa caucuses, former President Trump has expanded his lead to 51% first-choice support among likely caucusgoers, according to an NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll out this morning. Why it matters: Trump's lead is the largest recorded so close to a competitive Republican caucus in Iowa Poll history, NBC's Mark Murray and Alex Tabet write. Between the lines: Trump's lead is fueled by majorities of evangelical and first-time likely caucusgoers. 🥊 Reality check: J. Ann Selzer, the Iowa pollster who has conducted the Iowa Poll for the past three decades, reminded NBC how unpredictable the Iowa caucuses can be — including former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's narrow upset win in 2012. Go deeper (Des Moines Register).

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🌽 Iowa debate in peril

The final GOP presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses may not happen, Axios' Alex Thompson reports:

• Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley hasn't committed to participating, while Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie aren't on pace to qualify.
• Only Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has agreed to participate in the CNN debate and is set to make the stage.

Why it matters: The Jan. 10 debate would be the last high-profile event for any of the candidates to make a splash before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15, as a new poll shows Trump holding a historic lead over the rest of the field.

Between the lines: Haley has been noncommittal on the prospect of facing one-on-one DeSantis ahead of Iowa, even as she has also been calling on Trump to break his debate boycott.

• "You can't have an election and not appear on a debate stage in front of the people who are going to be voting for you," she argued.
• The debate is particularly critical for DeSantis, who has predicted he will win the Iowa caucuses.

Keep reading

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Some 2024 GOP hopefuls call for ‘compassion’ in Texas abortion case but don’t say law should change

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of the Republicans seeking their party’s 2024 presidential nomination have said the case of a Texas woman whose health deteriorated as she unsuccessfully sought an abortion should be handled with “compassion,” but they did not criticize the state’s law.

https://apnews.com/article/abortion-texas-nikki-haley-ron-desantis-acfa9e03cf7ea3511d3e6a1e746bee4e?

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🗳️ Scoop: Christie's first ad

Screenshot: Christie campaign Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie today launches his first TV ad of the GOP primary — a six-figure ad buy in New Hampshire, Axios' Alex Thompson scoops. Why it matters: Christie — who's third in polls in New Hampshire, behind former President Trump and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley — is betting he can exceed expectations in the state's Jan. 23 primary with his anti-Trump message. "There's only one candidate trying to stop Trump," the narrator says. The ad bashes Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for attacking each other rather than Trump, who's leading both of them. Christie's campaign told Axios the ad will be shown across local and cable TV, and live sports broadcasts. The campaign also will target CNN and CNBC, along with MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Watch the 30-second ad, "Only One" ...

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Nikki Haley commits to participating in CNN's Iowa debate

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley on Friday committed to participating in the debate set to be hosted by CNN just days before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15.

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/15/nikki-haley-iowa-debate-cnn-desantis?

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🐘 Jeff Roe out

Jeff Roe — top strategist at Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — resigned late last night.

• Why it matters: The Iowa caucuses — where DeSantis needs a strong showing — are 29 days away. His campaign has been unusually dependent on the super PAC, which has been in constant turmoil.

Between the lines: Roe announced his departure on X, hours after the WashPost published a story focused on internal disputes and suspicions between Never Back Down, the campaign, and other DeSantis allies.

💭 "I can't believe it ended this way," Roe tweeted. "I'm so proud to have worked alongside these men and women at NBD 24/7 the past nine months to save the country. Good luck the next 28 days and a wake up. I'm so sorry I can't be there with you."

• Go deeper.

Graphic: CBS News

🚨 Breaking: Nikki Haley has moved up 18 points among likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters since September, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll out this morning.

• Donald Trump is at 44% and Haley at 29% (margin of error: ±5.5 points; 459 New Hampshire Republican respondents).
• In September, Trump was at 50% and Haley was at 11%.

In the poll, Haley gets the best marks on "likable" and "reasonable," and runs nearly even with Trump on being "prepared."

🥊 Reality check: 37 days before the primary, Trump leads Haley by 15 points.

• Go deeper.

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Democrats' new pariah

Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Gaelen Morse/Getty Images

As Rep. Dean Phillips ramps up his long-shot bid for president, his Democratic colleagues back in Washington are fuming at what they see as the Minnesotan's betrayal of his party, Axios' Andrew Solender reports. Why it matters: Phillips has undergone a stunningly swift fall from grace and elicits a rare level of hostility from colleagues who elected him to House Democratic leadership just a year earlier, underscoring the perils of challenging party orthodoxy. What they're saying: Phillips told Axios he was "greeted with much more affection and friendliness ... than I anticipated" when he was back on Capitol Hill last week — but he also said of his colleagues, "Frankly, the disappointment is mutual." Democrats "who see the same polls that I see," he said, have "a responsibility ... to raise their voices and work together to ensure that we maintain a democracy of competition and not coronation." "I wish more were willing to torpedo their careers in Congress so as to prevent the torpedoing of our entire country," he added. Zoom in: In interviews with Axios, a wide range of House Democrats shared thoughts about Phillips, ranging from qualified criticism to outright malice. "I don't think Dean Phillips is earning any new friends in the House Democratic Caucus these days," said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), the chair of the caucus. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) called Phillips' campaign a "total joke" and "very disrespectful of the president and the party," saying he's "torched his reputation." "Dean Phillips is not going to win any primary. I think he's not helpful to the country," said former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). "He seems to be taking a page out of the Trump playbook," said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.). "It makes me wonder ... if he's a real Democrat." Zoom out: Phillips was first elected to the House in 2018, flipping a Republican-held seat in the Minneapolis suburbs and emerging as a prominent figure in the Democratic caucus' moderate wing. Last November, Phillips was elected as one of three co-chairs of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, putting him partly in charge of crafting his caucus' messaging strategy. After spending the summer growing increasingly vocal in his apprehensions about renominating Biden and calling for more high-profile Democrats to challenge him, Phillips resigned from leadership in October and launched his presidential bid that month. Phillips announced last month that he will not seek a fourth term in Congress. State of play: The basis for Phillips' campaign is polling that suggests most voters — and even many Democrats — don't want to see Biden as the Democratic nominee. Phillips started out praising Biden and framing his bid in strategic and philosophical terms, but he's since grown willing to go negative — even saying Biden is a threat to democracy. Phillips told Axios his comments were not meant to label Biden himself as a "distinct threat to democracy," but were instead a reference to the suppression of competition and cancellation of several state primaries. What we're hearing: One senior House Democrat described the feeling toward Phillips within the Democratic caucus as "pure hatred," saying many members are "pissed" about his attacks on Biden. Keep reading

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Haley's anti-Trump ceiling

Nikki Haley's polling surge in New Hampshire has unleashed a new frenzy of hope from restless pundits and anti-Trump conservatives eager for signs of a competitive Republican primary.

• But while the former UN ambassador's momentum is unmistakable, so too are the immense challenges she faces from GOP voters who have stuck by former President Trump through the worst of times.

Why it matters: There's so far no indication the coalition Haley is banking on — anti-Trump voters and pro-Trump voters willing to consider her as a second option — exists at the scale she needs to win.

• Even if Haley were to pull off a massive upset in New Hampshire, where yesterday's CBS News poll has her trailing Trump by 15 points, the state's Jan. 23 primary is unique when it comes to the influence of independent voters.
• Replicating that success in Trumpier states — starting Jan. 15 with the Iowa caucuses, where the same CBS poll has her down 45 points to Trump and nine to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — will be far more difficult.

Zoom in: Much of the optimism surrounding Haley's chances is driven by an expectation that other candidates — namely former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — will drop out and endorse her.

• Christie's exit undoubtedly would boost Haley in New Hampshire, but many supporters of Trump-adjacent candidates DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy rank the former president as their second choice.
• DeSantis' campaign has hammered Haley over that dynamic, arguing in a memo last month that he's the only candidate who can bridge the "not for Trump" and "consider Trump and others" divide.

What they're saying: Haley acknowledged the difficult tightrope she's walking yesterday, telling ABC's "This Week": "Anti-Trumpers think I don't hate Trump enough. Pro-Trumpers don't think I love him enough."

• She described Trump as "the right president at the right time," but argued that "nobody wants that chaos again."
• "You guys are exhausting. You're exhausting, in your obsession with him," Haley later complained when pressed on Trump's campaign vow to exact retribution on his enemies.

Screenshot of pro-Haley ad

What to watch: Haley, who continues to rack up anti-Trump endorsements and big-dollar donations, is hoping her strong electability case against President Biden will appeal to GOP voters' more pragmatic sensibilities.

• "[In] the latest polls, Haley demolishes Biden. Trump barely squeaks by and DeSantis doesn't beat Biden at all," says the narrator of a new ad by SFA Fund Inc., a pro-Haley super PAC.
• SFA and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity have spent $18 million to boost Haley in Iowa since May, according to AdImpact — hoping for a knockout blow against DeSantis in the nation's first contest.

The bottom line: "Would a Haley win in [New Hampshire] really cause Republican voters to rethink the race when they've had every opportunity to rethink Trump since 2015 and have never done so?" Nate Silver asks in latest Substack post.

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📉 Polls bedevil Biden

Biden has grown increasingly upset in recent weeks over his "unacceptably low" polling, complaining to top aides that his economic messaging is still falling flat, the Washington Post's Tyler Pager reports.

Why it matters: Biden and his team frequently dismiss what they call Democratic "bed-wetting" about next year's election, accusing pundits of failing to learn their lesson after underestimating him in the 2020 primary.

• But with a wide range of polls consistently showing Biden trailing Trump both nationally and in key battleground states, that argument is becoming less sustainable.
• Voters' negative perception of Biden's age, in particular, is a liability that the campaign and White House have struggled to combat.

The intrigue: Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running for Senate in Michigan, has expressed concerns about winning her race if Biden is at the top of the ticket, according to the Post.

The latest: Biden's approval rating hit an all-time low in the latest Monmouth University poll out today, with 34% of voters approving and 61% disapproving.

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A pro-Trump super PAC airs an anti-Haley ad in New Hampshire. She says that’s a sign of her strength

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The super PAC supporting Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign has launched a television ad targeting Nikki Haley, a move her campaign called a signal that Trump’s allies are worried about her.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-nikki-haley-attack-ads-new-hampshire-4f7ca8e6a518cede922c6a0f7df56a0e?

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GOP's "poison" playbook

Republican reactions to Trump's claim that undocumented immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country" are shedding light on the GOP's defensive playbook for 2024, honed over years of cyclical outrage.

Why it matters: With Trump's team convinced he could lock up the GOP nomination by early March, Republicans could spend one of the longest general election campaigns in modern history being forced to answer for his extreme rhetoric at every turn.

• President Biden's campaign, which has compared Trump's dehumanizing comments to Adolf Hitler's rhetoric at least four times in the past six weeks, is committed to turning the screws on Trump's supporters.
• "Every time he says it, we are going to call it out," Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler told Politico. "He's going to echo the rhetoric of Hitler and Mussolini, and we're going to make sure that people understand just how serious that is every single time."

Zoom in: Republican responses to Trump's incendiary rhetoric generally fall into a range of three buckets, usually dictated by level of loyalty to the MAGA brand:

1. Feigned ignorance: By far the most common response during the Trump presidency, lawmakers routinely dodged reporters in the halls of Congress by claiming they "hadn't seen" the latest Oval Office diatribe.

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of Trump's chief rivals for the nomination, told Fox News: "I don't know what this means with the blood stuff. I know people are trying to draw historical allusions. I don't know if that's what he meant."
• House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a Trump ally whose viral takedown of university presidents over antisemitism has boosted her national profile, has been silent on the controversy.

2. Tepid disagreement: Republican senators from the Trump-skeptical wing of the party often take this route, saying they personally disagree with his language while stopping short of condemning the former president.

• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called the "poisoning" comments "unhelpful," for example, while Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told reporters that he "certainly wouldn't have" used Trump's words.
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a Trump critic who has nonetheless vowed to support the GOP nominee, drily remarked today: "Well, it strikes me that didn't bother him when he appointed [McConnell's wife] Elaine Chao secretary of transportation."

3. Open endorsement: MAGA diehards are most likely to fully align themselves with Trump's rhetoric, no matter the backlash.

• "I'm mad he wasn't tougher than that, because have you seen what's happening at the border?" Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told reporters.
• Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) called Trump's comments "objectively and obviously true to anybody who looks at the statistics about fentanyl" — and slammed comparisons to Hitler as "preposterous."

The bottom line: "Looks like I'm looking forward to another year of answering these questions," Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) sarcastically remarked to Politico.

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👀 New DeSantis attack

Screenshot via DeSantis campaign website The DeSantis campaign is launching an all-out effort to paint Nikki Haley's candidacy as an audition to be Trump's running mate, rolling out a new website dedicating to attacking the Florida governor's two chief rivals. Why it matters: DeSantis is seeking to counter millions of dollars in negative ads that both Trump and Haley have spent to damage his candidacy, but it's not clear his VP conspiracy will have much resonance. Haley has repeatedly denied interest in being anyone's running mate, stressing in an interview yesterday that she "doesn't play for second." "America First" favorite Tucker Carlson signaled that the MAGA base would revolt if Haley was selected for VP: "I would not only not vote for that ticket, I would advocate against it as strongly as I could." Between the lines: DeSantis' collusion message relies on the notion that Trump and Haley have refused to criticize each other as aggressively as they've gone after him. But Trump's super PAC went up with new TV ads in New Hampshire just today attacking Haley, two days after a CBS News poll showed the former UN ambassador surging in the Granite State. "Two days ago, Donald Trump denied Nikki Haley's surge. Now, Trump is running false, negative ads against Haley. It looks like Donald Trump is getting nervous," the Haley campaign said in a statement.

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🐘 Ugly attack line on Nikki Haley

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Some conservative activists have begun calling former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley — whose parents were Indian immigrants — "Nimarata," her first name, rather than Nikki, the middle name she has used most of her life. It's reminiscent of the way Trump made a point of using then-President Obama's middle name, "Hussein," Axios' Sophia Cai reports. At the Turning Point Action booth at Turning Point USA's "AmericaFest" for MAGA youths in Phoenix last weekend, a tally board for a V.P. straw poll showed the choices as: KARI [Lake] ... TUCKER ... [Kristi] NOEM ... DESANTIS ... or NIMARATA NIKKI RANDHAWA HALEY. (Photo) 🖼️ The big picture: Even as the GOP recruits more minority candidates — this year's initial field for the presidential race was historically diverse — more Republicans are latching onto Trump's racially divisive rhetoric. Vivek Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, has won fans among white nationalists for promoting the Great Replacement Theory. Ramaswamy has called Haley "lying Nimarata Randhawa," referencing her family name before marriage.

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Donald Trump’s GOP rivals once again compelled to rally to his defense after Colorado ruling

AMES, Iowa (AP) — With less than a month to go before voting begins, Donald Trump ‘s Republican rivals are once again rallying to his defense, this time after Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled to remove him from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-campaign-rivals-colorado-ballot-court-e12fb62d9b207a4986e65bef3fd8e363?

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🗳️ Scoop: Biden plots S.C. push

President Biden's re-election campaign plans a January push in South Carolina to drive turnout and boost the overall campaign ahead of the Democratic primary on Feb. 3, Axios' Alex Thompson reports.

• Why it matters: It's a shift for the Biden campaign, which has focused mostly on general election battlegrounds.

What's happening: Biden's team needs to show a unified, enthusiastic party in the state that turned around his 2020 candidacy.

• Surrogates could include Democrats with their own future presidential ambitions, who'll see a dual benefit in campaigning in the state.

🔎 Between the lines: This is the first time the Palmetto State has been Dems' first primary. South Carolina Democrats want to show muscle so they can maintain pole position in future cycles.

Vice President Harris will visit Myrtle Beach in the first week of January to speak at an annual women's retreat of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest historically Black denomination in the U.S.

• Harris will kick off the year by meeting Jan. 3 in Las Vegas with members of the casino workers' Culinary Union, which confers one of the most powerful endorsements in Nevada Democratic politics.

The Biden campaign recently hired a South Carolina leadership team.

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✈️ Stat du jour: High-flying DeSantis

The N.Y. Times, in a front-page premortem today of the GOP presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ("He Was the Antidote to Chaos. Then Came Internal Calamity"):

Federal records show that, by the time of the Iowa caucuses, the DeSantis campaign is on pace to spend significantly more on private jets — the governor's preferred mode of travel — than on airing television ads.

Asked about that stat, DeSantis communications director Andrew Romeo told me: "DeSantis has been underestimated in every race he's ever run and always proved the doubters wrong — we are confident he will defy the odds once again on January 15," the Iowa caucuses.

• Read the story (gift link — no paywall).

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Trump says he didn’t know his immigration rhetoric echoes Hitler. That’s part of a broader pattern Donald Trump’s claiming of ignorance, particularly when it comes to people who espouse racist or antisemitic rhetoric, is a tactic he has repeatedly used while trying to distance himself from uncomfortable storylines. Read more.

Why this matters: Trump has also pleaded ignorance in other cases. After he was endorsed by former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke during his 2016 campaign, Trump insisted he had no knowledge of the white supremacist who had run for office numerous times. When he ran for reelection in 2020, Trump said he didn’t know much about QAnon — even as he retweeted accounts promoting the conspiracy.   Knowing basic history is important for a president. “We don’t need a historian as president, but certainly you want a president with a feel for some of the basic parts of American history, of world history,” said Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer.

Related coverage ➤ Nikki Haley, asked what caused the Civil War, leaves out slavery. It’s not the first time Michigan Supreme Court will keep Trump on 2024 primary ballot Prosecutors seek to bar Trump from injecting politics into federal election interference trial

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DeSantis camp slams Nikki Haley’s slavery comments months after Florida’s own controversy

The DeSantis campaign is denouncing GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley for failing to cite slavery as a cause of the Civil War, but critics were quick to recall Gov. Ron DeSantis’ own controversy from the summer on the history of American slavery.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/12/28/desantis-camp-slams-nikki-haleys-slavery-comments-months-after-floridas-own-controversy/?

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"Poisoning the blood"

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Trump has repeatedly said undocumented immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country," language echoing the rhetoric of white supremacists and Adolf Hitler. Why it matters: The phrase has a deep racist and antisemitic history. The comments come as some Republicans have openly endorsed the once-fringe "white replacement theory," Axios' Russell Contreras reports. Trump has repeatedly referred to immigrants as "poisoning the blood" of the nation in recent months, including during an interview, at a rally, and in a Truth Social post. He also claimed, with no evidence, that the migrants were terrorists or from mental institutions. Reality check: The remarks are straight out of Hitler's "Mein Kampf." "All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning," Hitler wrote. Read on.