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Trump Veep Favorites Once Called Him 'Noxious' And 'A Whack Job'

Many of the candidates now vying to be presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's 2024 running mate are now having their loyalty scrutinized, and may have to answer for past statements criticizing the ex-president.

According to NBC News, allies of the former president are reckoning with how to assess how committed top Republicans are to the former president now in spite of past disparaging comments. Between the past decade and the past year, nearly all of the potential vice presidential candidates rumored to be on Trump's shortlist have called him everything from "noxious" and "reprehensible," as Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) once said of the former president, to a "whack job," as Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) previously said.

"No one’s clean on this," an unnamed Republican close to Trump told NBC. A separate "longtime Trump ally" anonymously told the outlet that despite past criticism, Trump is willing to "look at this more holistically than ever."

“Everybody’s a sinner in some form or another," the source said. "The only question is whether something’s a mortal sin or not.”

Earlier this week, Axios' Mike Allen reported that Stefanik and Vance are finalists to be Trump's 2024 running mate, along with Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tim Scott (R-SC). Others who received vetting paperwork include Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and North Dakota Republican Governor Doug Burgum.

Among those, NBC reported that the favorites are Burgum, Rubio, Scott and Vance. However, a source told the outlet that the VP finalist list is "fluid." Trump's loyalty test is reportedly including criteria like "whether a contender stood by the former president after the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, whether they endorse his false claims of malfeasance involving the 2020 election and how vigorously they’ve defended him amid the four separate criminal cases he faces, particularly in hostile TV interviews."

In addition, Trump is considering how effective of a fundraiser a potential VP pick would be, and is also looking closely at their stances on abortion and how they would do in a televised debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Even among those favorites, criticism of Trump may hurt their efforts to become his running mate. In 2016, Vance once described himself as a "Never Trump guy" who "never liked him" in an interview with journalist Charlie Rose. After the deadly 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in which a white supremacist killed counter-protester Heather Heyer with his car and injured nearly two dozen others, Trump famously said there were "very fine people on both sides" of the fracas. Scott criticized Trump's remarks, saying there was “no question” Trump's “moral authority is compromised."

During a Republican debate last year, Scott notably praised then-Vice President Mike Pence for his actions on January 6, 2021, in which he didn't attempt to overturn the 2020 election while presiding over Congress' certification of Electoral College. In the wake of the insurrection, Stefanik called on the DOJ to prosecute January 6 participants, though she has since deleted that statement from her website.

Burgum has also come under scrutiny for past negative statements he made about Trump as recently as a year ago. During a 2023 interview with NBC's Chuck Todd, the billionaire North Dakota governor said he wouldn't go into business with Trump, saying "it’s important that you’re judged by the company you keep."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Poll: Most Americans Support Teachers Unions Despite Right-Wing Attacks

New polling data shows most Americans have favorable views toward teachers’ unions.

According to a survey of 1,000 registered voters released by Navigator Research on August 30, U.S. voters back teachers’ unions by a 30 percent margin, with 55 percent indicating support for the unions and just 25 percent indicating negative attitudes toward them.

The only group the poll showed to view teachers’ unions negatively was Republicans who identify as being “very conservative,” with only 22 percent of that group supporting the unions, compared to 62 percent who said they view them unfavorably.

Meanwhile, the polling data showed 45 percent of both independent voters and Republicans who do not identify as being “very conservative” as having favorable views toward teachers’ unions, with 34 percent and 23 percent indicating unfavorable views, respectively. Some 74 percent of Democrats back teachers’ unions, with just nine percent viewing them negatively.

The survey, which covered voters’ priorities toward education, was conducted online between Augiust 17 and August 21.

Republican political candidates continue to staunchly oppose teachers’ unions.

On the Republican presidential primary debate stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott called for an end to unions’ influence.

“The only way we change education in this nation is to break the backs of the teachers’ unions,” Scott said. “They are standing in the doorhouse of our kids, locking them in failing schools, and locking them out of the greatest future they can have.”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also called teachers’ unions “the biggest threat to our country.”

Republican presidential candidates aren’t the only ones still taking shots at teachers’ unions.

Dave McCormick, who’s running to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat for Pennsylvania currently held by Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr., said in March that he would like to “break the back of our teachers’ unions.” In those remarks, McCormick also accused teachers of introducing “sexualization” in elementary schools.

The Navigator Research poll also shows voters are more concerned about gun violence in schools and getting kids the education they need to be successful than they are about accusations that teachers are instructing students on gender and sexuality.

More than half of voters surveyed, or 58 percent, said keeping kids “safe from gun violence and mass shootings in schools and other public places” is an issue to focus on, compared to 28 percent who expressed concern about students “being exposed to woke ideas about race and gender in school.”.

Another recent poll released by the National Education Association similarly showed that voters are much more worried about school shootings and teacher pay than they are about social justice issues being taught in schools.

Reprinted with permission from American Independent.

Is Bachelor Tim Scott Gay? Big Republican Donors Want To Know

In their desperate quest to find a 2024 alternative to former President Donald Trump, GOP donors have stumbled upon an elephant in the room: Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is single.

That fact, long known among casual political observers, has suddenly sparked “curiosity” and a round of pearl-clutching among the GOP's well-heeled donors, some of whom spoke to Axiosanonymously given the "sensitivity of the issue." As Axios notes, the country has not put a bachelor in the White House since Grover Cleveland in 1884.

Scott, a Bible-thumper with a sunny disposition and an inspirational personal story, has some upsides in Iowa, where the evangelical vote can ignite a GOP candidacy. But any legitimate Trump alternative also has to persuade donors they can go the distance against a man who will say basically anything to tear down a legitimate threat to his frontrunner status. Scott hasn't reached that point yet, but it's not hard to imagine Trump taking a swipe at Solo Scott.

Never been married, folks, at 57, Trump might say. I don't know, I don't know. Something weird going on there.

The not-so-subtle implication would be that Scott is gay—gasp!—which is exactly what Republican donors are freaking out about. Axios writes:

Top GOP donors and their allies privately are pushing Sen. Tim Scott's team for more detail about his bachelor status before deciding how much to support him in the presidential campaign, according to two people familiar with the conversations.

It's perfectly on brand for a party weirdly obsessed with what people do in their bedrooms and bathrooms.

Scott doesn't often bring up the topic of his own accord, but he did address it withAxios reporter Sophia Cai in a May interview. After Cai dared to broach the subject, Scott said he did have a girlfriend but didn't disclose her name and then remarked that someone's marital status has no bearing on their ability to be president.

"The fact that half of America's adult population is single for the first time, to suggest that somehow being married or not married is going to be the determining factor of whether you're a good president or not—it sounds like we're living in 1963 and not 2023," Scott said. Amen, brother. Just don't tell the Republicans you're unhitched.

In fact, Scott suggested, not being married was a real plus for a position so demanding. "I probably have more time, more energy, and more latitude to do the job," Scott said. "My girlfriend wants to see me when I come home, but at the end of the day, the truth is that I am so thankful to be who I am, where I am." Sounds like an unbreakable bond.

One source told Axios some donors aren't super concerned about it, observing, "I'm surprised it doesn't come up more."

Oh, it will. If Scott gets serious traction, it will.

But as of right now, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Scott's fellow South Carolinian and 2024 rival, upstaged him at last week's debate. At the same time, Scott has the advantage of being boosted by billionaire backer Larry Ellison, who has showered a pro-Scott super PAC with tens of millions of dollars.

Regardless, this should get interesting. Scott reportedly plans to start addressing the issue of his bachelordom more in the weeks ahead. What could go wrong?

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

As DeSantis Feuds With Black Republicans, His Campaign 'Reboot' Sputters

Finding its candidate dropping in the polls and burning through money at a fast clip, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign announced this week that it was going to undergo a reboot in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden,” Generra Peck, DeSantis’ campaign manager, said in a statement to the Associated Press on July 25. “DeSantis is going to lead the Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign.”

Yet just a few days later, DeSantis’ attempted reboot is floundering as DeSantis and his team continue to earn negative press.

On Tuesday, the campaign announced that it laid off more than three dozen staffers in an effort to stop hemorrhaging the cash it needs to make it through the long slog of the GOP primary.

Among the staffers that were let go was Nate Hochman, a DeSantis speechwriter who made a pro-DeSantis video that included a symbol often used by Nazis and white supremacists.

That same day, four vehicles in DeSantis’ motorcade were involved in a car accident while traveling to a fundraiser in Tennessee. DeSantis was not injured and made it to the planned event, the Associated Press reported.

DeSantis’ troubles this week didn’t end there.

On Wednesday, a group of DeSantis staffers got into a feud with Rep. Byron Donalds, the lone Black Republican in the Florida congressional delegation.

Donalds tepidly criticized the new Black history curriculum in the state, which will instruct students about “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

“The new African-American standards in FL are good, robust, & accurate,” Donalds tweeted on July 26. “That being said, the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted. That obviously wasn’t the goal & I have faith that FLDOE will correct this.”

Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ rapid response director, responded to Donalds by tweeting, “Did Kamala Harris write this tweet?”

DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern accused Donalds of “laundering a lie for the White House.”

Donalds wasn’t the only Black Republican to criticize Florida’s Black history curriculum.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who is also running for the Republican presidential nomination, said at a campaign event in Iowa “there is no silver lining” in slavery.

“What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating,” Scott said, according to NBC News. “So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that. People have bad days. Sometimes they regret what they say. And we should ask them again to clarify their positions.”

Vice President Kamala Harris had made a similar criticism to Donalds, saying at the annual national convention of the historically Black sorority Delta Sigma Theta, “In the state of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it.”

DeSantis, for his part, has struggled in the polls since officially launching his campaign in May.

When his candidacy was only rumored in the beginning of 2023, polls showed him neck and neck with former President Donald Trump. DeSantis had reached 40.3 percent in the FiveThirtyEightpolling average in early January, just two points behind Trump.

Yet now, even after Trump has been indicted multiple times, DeSantis has plummeted to just 15.5 percent in FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average, while Trump stands at 52.4 percent as of July 27.

“DeSantis’ path was always ‘Trump, but more electable and with the ability to get things done,’” Sean Trende, an elections analyst with RealClearPolitics, tweeted. “But for some reason DeSantis has opted for ‘Trump, but somehow crazier.’”

Reprinted with permission from American Independent.

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Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

Start your day with The National Memo Newsletter

Trump Veep Favorites Once Called Him 'Noxious' And 'A Whack Job'

Poll: Most Americans Support Teachers Unions Despite Right-Wing Attacks

Is Bachelor Tim Scott Gay? Big Republican Donors Want To Know

As DeSantis Feuds With Black Republicans, His Campaign 'Reboot' Sputters

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