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CNN To Host First Trump, Biden 2024 Debate

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CNN Headquarters via Wikimedia Commons

Big things are coming…

On Wednesday, CNN announced it will host the first 2024 debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in late June.

“I’ve received and accepted an invitation from @CNN for a debate on June 27th. Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place,” Biden posted on X.

Trump told Fox News Digital in a subsequent statement he had also accepted the invitation for the June 27 debate, telling the outlet he is “looking forward to being in beautiful Atlanta.”

The Biden campaign earlier Wednesday called for the first debate to take place in late June, after Biden returns from the Group of Seven summit in Europe and after Trump’s hush money trial in New York will likely have concluded.

Trump, in a post on Truth Social, derided Biden as “the WORST debater I have ever faced” and said the two should discuss border policy, electric vehicles and inflation, among other topics.

“I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September,” Trump posted. “I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. ‘Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!’”

In a separate statement to Fox News Digital, Trump said the proposed dates were “fully acceptable.”

“I will provide my own transportation,” he said.

The Biden campaign suggested a second debate in September ahead of the start of early voting in many states, as well as a vice presidential debate in late July, after the Republican National Convention.

Campaign Manager Bluntly Throws in the Towel in Florida

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Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

A pointless pursuit…

Despite Democrats’ attempts to make a dent in Florida, President Joe Biden’s campaign manager knows when it is time to call it quits.

In an interview that Puck’s John Heilemann described as a “rare and candid conversation,” Jen O’Malley Dillon was asked about the Biden team’s strategy for 2024, including what states the campaign viewed as true battlegrounds they could win.

Mediaite has more:

Heilemann: If you boil it down, what you’re saying is that 2020 was a national election; there were battleground states, but you ran the campaign like a national referendum on Trump. But in 2024, you’re running a half-dozen targeted state campaigns—which gets us to the topic of your paths to victory. I named six states [Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia]. You’d agree those are battlegrounds, yes?

O’Malley Dillon: Yes.

And you’re saying you see North Carolina also as a battleground state?

Yes.

Florida?

No.

Thank you. I was afraid you were going to lie.

“The job of the campaign is to keep as many battleground states in play for as long as possible so we can navigate any flexibility in the race,” O’Malley Dillon explained, pointing out how Biden had won Georgia and Arizona in 2020 despite those states not being “in play at all at this point” in the election cycle, “and certainly were not traditional battleground states.”

O’Malley Dillon’s comments come just days after Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison visited Tallahassee for a Florida Democratic Party (FDP) rally and told reporters there he viewed the state to be “in play.”

In 2020, Biden successfully won 270 Electoral College votes without Florida and it seems his campaign may be forced into a similar approach.

Georgia Governor To Meet With Senate Leaders Amid 2024 Talks

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Georgia National Guard from United States, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A prominent Republican governor is preparing to meet with top Senate leaders this week.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is meeting with two top Republican leaders in the Senate in Washington, D.C. over the next two days, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed to The Hill

Kemp will meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Wednesday. 

The pair of meetings come after the Peach State governor told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins that he is “certainly” not running for president in 2024.

“In politics, there’s always doors opening and closing. I got a great job right now. I personally feel like having more people in the race does not help us win and beat Joe Biden,” Kemp told Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” “So, you know, I’m certainly not running for president. But there’s always doors opening in politics depending on how things play out, and we’ll see what happens.”

The Georgia Governor reiterated that Trump should stop constantly referencing the 2020 election if he hopes to re-win the state.

“If he continues to do that, he’s going to lose Georgia in November,” Kemp said, later adding, “There is no path for us to win the White House if we can’t win Georgia.”

Nate Silver Labels November Election A ‘Toss-up’

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(Los Angeles - EUA, 09/06/2022) Presidente da República Jair Bolsonaro, durante Sessão Plenária de Abertura da IX Cúpula das Américas..Foto: Alan Santos/PR

This is big news…

Prominent polling guru and FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver is sounding the alarm for Republicans after he re-labeled the presidential election a “toss-up.”

In a post online, Silver recalled a past article where he argued that the race wasn’t a toss-up because of how poor Biden was performing in key swing states, even before his debate performance shocked Democrats into action.

“Now that the election is in kamala_mode, however, it’s far from clear whose position you’d rather be in, and I wouldn’t blame if you wanted to bet either on Harris or on Trump,” he wrote.

As of Thursday, Silver argued, Harris and former President Trump each have at least a 40 percent chance of winning the election. Harris earns 44.6 percent compared to Trump’s 54.9, he said.

“It’s not exactly 50/50, but close enough that a poker player would call it a ‘flip’: Democrats have ace-king suited, and Republicans have pocket jacks,” Silver said.

The FiveThirtyEight founder said Harris is performing well in swing states but it’s still up in the air. He said she has a 54 percent chance of winning Michigan, a 50 percent chance of winning Wisconsin and a 47 percent chance of winning Pennsylvania.

Silver echoed similar warnings that Democrats shouldn’t be too excited. His model has accounted for the excitement that’s generated for Harris after she became the likely nominee but it could be “a temporary surge of Democratic enthusiasm.”

“Still, we’re not exactly going out on a limb here. Betting markets agree with the assessment that the race is about 50/50,” he said.

“And although we can’t tell you who’s going to win, there’s one thing I think we can say with some confidence: Democrats are lucky that they’re getting a second chance in this election with Harris instead of Biden,” Silver concluded.

RFK Jr. Claims He Rejected Trump VP Offer

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Third-party White House contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he turned down Donald Trump’s offer to be his running mate.

“President Trump calls me an ultra-left radical. I’m soooo liberal that his emissaries asked me to be his VP. I respectfully declined the offer,” Kennedy wrote on the social platform X. “I am against President Trump, and President Biden can’t win. Judging by his new website, it looks like President Trump knows who actually can beat him.”

A top Trump aide on Monday disputed that Kennedy was approached for the role.

“Re-upping this from January … was true then and it’s true now,” Chris LaCivita wrote on X, calling Kennedy “a leftie loonie that would never be approached to be on the ticket..sorry!”

RFK Jr. made the far-out claim after a PAC supporting the Trump campaign unveiled a new website attacking Kennedy.

That website, owned and operated by Make America Great Again, Inc., which can be found at https://www.radicalf-ingkennedy.com, calls Kennedy a “radical f***ing Kennedy” and knocks him for supporting high taxes, the Green New Deal, a ban on assault weapons and more.

New Poll Reports Unexpected Candidate Could Topple Trump

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

This could be interesting…

Obama could be the only Democrat that could defeat Donald Trump this November- Michelle Obama that is.

A recent survey, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, found that Obama was the only Democrat to surpass Trump in a hypothetical matchup, garnering 50 percent support to his 39 percent. Only 4 percent of respondents said they would not vote at all.

The Hill has more:

Meanwhile, the poll found that in a head-to-head matchup, President Biden and Trump are neck-and-neck. They each received 40 percent of the vote, while 8 percent said they would vote for someone else, and another 8 percent said they would not vote.

Other Democrats floated as potential replacements to Biden in the poll included Vice President Harris, who received 42 percent in a head-to-head match-up with Trump, who received 43 percent. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) trailed Trump by 3 percentage points, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) trailed by 5 points in a hypothetical contest with the presumptive GOP nominee.

Obama was the top choice among Democrats to replace Biden on the 2024 ticket, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released in February. Despite her popularity, the former first lady has repeatedly said she will not be pursuing a bid for the White House.

FLOTUS at Fayetteville, N.C. -The Arts Center speech Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

“As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” Crystal Carson, the director of communications for Obama’s office, said in a statement in March.

Obama “supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign,” Carson said.

Report: Chris Christie Nears White House Announcement

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Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Is Donald Trump about to see one of his most aggressive critics join the Republican primary circle?

Reports indicate former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has taken a significant step towards announcing his 2024 White House campaign after his allies established a political action committee (PAC) to support his bid.

The PAC, called Tell It Like It Is, is the latest sign that Christie plans to throw his hat in the ring in the Republican presidential primary race, the New York Times initially reported.

Fox News reports:

The former governor has already made selections for a potential presidential campaign staff as well, according to the New York Times. Mike DuHaime and Maria Comella are poised to manage his campaign if he announces, the outlet reported. Duhaime previously worked as a political strategist during Christie’s 2016 campaign, and Comella previously worked as chief of staff to disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Meanwhile Brian Jones, a longtime staffer for GOP campaigns, will head up the PAC.

Earlier this month, Christie indicated he planned to jump into the race by hitting at both frontrunners Trump and President Biden.

“I’m very concerned that what we’re heading toward is a Trump-Biden rematch,” said in a radio interview. “A Trump-Biden rematch is bad for the Republican Party.”

“We lost the House in 2018. The Senate and the White House in 2020. We underperformed in 2022 and lost more governorships and another Senate seat. Donald Trump cannot win,” he continued.

Christie would enter a growing field of Republican 2024 candidates, including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley; Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is also expected to launch a bid for the White House in the coming weeks.

Report: Trump Signals Expanded Role For The Military Within The US

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President Donald J. Trump is presented with a 10th Combat Aviation Brigade challenge coin following an air assault and gun rain demonstration at Fort Drum, New York, on August 13. The demonstration was part of President Trump's visit to the 10th Mountain Division (LI) to sign the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which increases the Army's authorized active-duty end strength by 4,000 enabling us to field critical capabilities in support of the National Defense Strategy. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Scaggs) 180813-A-TZ475-010

Donald Trump signaled what changes he may consider if he wins the 2024 presidential election.

While campaigning in Iowa, Trump said he was advised against using the military to quell violence in largely Democrat-led cities.

ABC News Detriot has more:

Calling New York City and Chicago “crime dens,” the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, “The next time, I’m not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and we’re going to show how bad a job they do,” he said. “Well, we did that. We don’t have to wait any longer.”

Trump hasn’t revealed any exact plans for the military in his second term but has signaled mass deportations and travel bans for some countries.

The Insurrection Act allows presidents to call on reserve or active-duty military units to respond to unrest in the states, an authority that is not reviewable by the courts. One of its few guardrails merely requires the president to request that the participants disperse.

“The principal constraint on the president’s use of the Insurrection Act is basically political, that presidents don’t want to be the guy who sent tanks rolling down Main Street,” said Joseph Nunn, a national security expert with the Brennan Center for Justice. “There’s not much really in the law to stay the president’s hand.”

Trump has spoken openly about his plans should he win the presidency, including using the military at the border and in cities struggling with violent crime. His plans also have included using the military against foreign drug cartels.

Governor Kristi Noem Of South Dakota Set To Endorse Trump Friday

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Kristi Noem is set to make waves in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.

According to inside sources, the popular governor of South Dakota is expected to endorse former President Donald Trump at a rally in Rapid City on Friday.

The decision comes amid reports that Trump is considering Noem as his running mate.

As CNN reports:

Once a potential 2024 candidate herself, Noem initially inched away from Trump after last fall’s midterm elections and the launch of his latest campaign. She told The New York Times at the time that she didn’t believe the former president offered “the best chance” for the Republican Party in 2024.

However, the South Dakota governor has since changed her tune, opting out of a White House bid and offering support for Trump. But Noem is still angling to be in the 2024 discussion. She’s remained in contact and on good terms with the former president, according to sources familiar with their interactions. Ads touting her state’s low taxes and job openings aired during last month’s first Republican presidential debate and since then on Fox News. She also attended that debate, bringing donors as guests.

Noem has another connection: Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager and confidant, has advised her since 2020. Lewandowski’s on-again-off-again relationship with the former president has leveled, according to sources, and he now regularly speaks to Trump.

“The fact is, none of them can win as long as Trump’s in the race. And that’s just the facts. So why run if you can’t win,” Noem, who has been in touch with Trump and his team, said of the former president’s primary rivals in an interview on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.”

Noem has generally demurred when asked about her interest in the vice presidency. Still, she told Fox News’ Sean Hannity, “Of course [I] would consider it” if Trump offered.

This article first appeared in American Liberty News. Republished with permission.

North Dakota Governor Enters White House Race

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North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, greets U.S. President Donald J. Trump arrives at the North Dakota Air National Guard Base, Fargo, N.D., Sept. 7, 2018. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H Lipp)

A relatively unknown Republican Governor has decided to enter the 2024 primary field in what appears to be an ever-growing group of competitors.

On Wednesday, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum became the most recent Republican to enter the race.

Burgum announced his candidacy in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.

“We need a change in the White House. We need a new leader for a changing economy. That’s why I’m announcing my run for president today,” he wrote.

The economy must be our top priority. We need to get inflation under control, cut taxes, lower gas prices and reduce the cost of living.

We need to stop buying energy from our enemies and start selling it to our friends and allies. America produces the cleanest and safest energy in the world. Anyone who cares about the environment should want all energy produced here.

Finally, we must recognize the real threat to America and strengthen national security. Our enemies aren’t our neighbors down the street. Our enemies are countries that want to see our way of life destroyed. The first time I ever saw Great Plains’ software in China in 1989 it had been stolen and pirated to sell for a tiny fraction of our price. We must rebuild our military and re-establish our nation’s position of strength to win the cold war with China.

“There’s a value to being underestimated all the time,” Burgum told The Forum Editorial Board in an interview published last month. “That’s a competitive advantage.”

Burgum, who has served as the governor since 2016, announced his campaign during an event in Fargo.

Besides former President Trump, the Republican presidential nomination field includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor and former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former two-term Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, multimillionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson.

On Monday, former Vice President Mike Pence formally filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) ahead of his expected announcement on June 7.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ran for the 2016 presidential nomination, also filed his paperwork with the FEC on Tuesday.