| |
| |
 |
| By POLITICO MAGAZINE |
|
 |
|
|
|
Mike Davis, lawyer and founder of the Article III Project, takes a phone call in front of the Supreme Court of the United States on June 28, 2024, in Washington. | Samuel Corum for POLITICO |
|
Here is a list of things the Republican lawyer turned MAGA-media talking head Mike Davis has said:He wants to send journalists to the “gulag.” He wants to put migrant children in “cages.” He wants to “rain hell” on Washington. He wants the Supreme Court to “dismantle most of the federal government.”
How much of it does he actually mean? Well, it’s unclear, because he often says he’s “trolling.” Equally unclear is what power he might have to accomplish any of it. Steve Bannon and Donald Trump Jr. float him as an attorney general candidate, but he could conceivably end up as White House counsel, chief of staff at the Department of Justice or an outside adviser to Trump to select a candidate for any of those roles.
“In this way, Davis encapsulates a defining feature of conservatives in the Trump era: the dissolving barrier between reality and trolling, between serious political ideas and winking provocation,” writes National Political Correspondent Adam Wren in this week’s Friday Read, a truly eye-popping profile of the MAGA firebrand. “He seems to relish keeping people guessing about who he really is, what he really wants and what he will really help Trump accomplish.” What is the line between trolling and reality? “Whatever you can get passed,” Davis says. Read the story.
|
| |
|
 |
“The final thing that I will say is that this election is the best example of why y’all are so afraid of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Because then you can’t have a simpleminded, under-qualified white man somehow end up ascending. Instead, you’ve got to pay attention to the qualified Black woman that is on the other side.” Can you guess who said this about Donald Trump? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
|
| |
|
 |
|
Illustration by POLITICO (source images via Getty Images and iStock) |
Saudi Arabia’s Hole-in-One … Criticizing Saudi Arabia used to be all the rage, at least in the overlapping worlds of Washington and golf. The PGA Tour harshly criticized the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament, highlighting the country’s dubious record over issues like the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Some families of the victims of 9/11 counted the PGA as an ally. But now, the golf elites see a potential merger opportunity, and those families are being left out in the cold. “The tour and the Saudi startup decided to bury the hatchet via a deal,” writes Michael Schaffer in this week’s Capital City column. “The carnival had moved on. And with it, a deep-pocketed force for whipping up public criticism of Saudi Arabia was gone.”
|
| |
|
|
|
The Teamsters declined to endorse anyone in the presidential race, angering Democrats who tout a pro-union record. Haven't kept up with the news? Just pepper these points into your conversations this weekend and you'll sound like an expert. (From POLITICO's Nick Niedzwiadek)
- “Remind your angry Democratic friends that the last time the Teamsters punted like this was in ’96, and Bill Clinton still won.”
- Look like an insider by saying you learned the Teamsters overwhelmingly leaned Trump from the union magazine: “Yeah, they printed that (unscientific) survey on the back. Did you guys miss that issue or something?”
- Point out the weirdness of Trump’s reaction: “He said it’s a ‘great honor.’ But what was a great honor? They didn’t endorse him!”
- Show off your knowledge of policy and legislation: “Remember Biden’s pension bailout from his American Rescue Plan? Harris doesn’t seem to be getting any goodwill from that. $36B just doesn’t go as far as it used to.”
|
| |
|
|
|
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Aug. 21, 2024, in Asheboro, North Carolina. | Julia Nikhinson/AP |
The Three-State Strategy … This election was always going to be decided on the margins. But it’s also likely to be decided in three particular states, writes Senior Political Columnist Jonathan Martin: Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina. “It’s the most obvious route for the former president and a reminder of the advantage the Electoral College can confer on a Republican. Should Trump defeat Harris in Pennsylvania, a state President Joe Biden spent much of his childhood in and still only carried by about 80,000 votes, her hopes then hinge on a pair of slightly right-of-center states Democrats have carried once each in this century.”
|
| |
|
 |
|
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance speaks to reporters in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. In his own writing, Vance has clearly conveyed the power — and possible dangers — of scapegoating. | Matt Slocum/AP |
JD Vance Embraces Scapegoating … The Republican Party ticket is leaning into scapegoating Haitian immigrants, and a surprising figure has a warning for them: JD Vance. At least, JD Vance of the past, who once wrote about “efforts to shift blame and our own inadequacies onto a victim” as “a moral failing, projected violently upon someone else.” But now, Vance seems to view it as a powerful tool for winning an election. “Vance’s past writings about scapegoating also cast doubt on his claim that he’s merely trying to draw attention to a worsening humanitarian crisis in Springfield,” writes POLITICO’s Ian Ward. “Rather, Vance appears to be putting his past theorizing about scapegoating into practice, with potentially dangerous consequences for the people of Springfield.”
|
| |
|
 |
|
President Joe Biden (left) and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participate in the launching of the Ukraine Compact at the 2024 NATO Summit on July 11, 2024, in Washington. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images |
Biden’s Ukraine Legacy … Once again, Ukraine is watching Washington to help determine the fate of its resistance to the Russian invasion. President Biden must decide whether to let the Ukrainians use U.S.-provided long-range missiles to strike deeper into Russia — a potential pivot point in America’s approach to the conflict. “The strategic consequences feel bigger, too,” writes Editor-at-Large Matthew Kaminski. “With four months left in his term, like any lame duck, Biden must have his legacy front of mind.”
|
| |
|
|
|
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance speaks during the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition's dinner on Sept. 16, 2024 in Atlanta. | Mike Stewart/AP |
Vance Across the Pond … JD Vance has a buddy on the other side of the Atlantic: James Orr, a religion professor and founder of the U.K.’s National Conservative movement, who befriended Vance after meeting at conferences. POLITICO Europe Executive Editor Anne McElvoy and Senior Podcast Producer Peter Snowdon caught up with Orr — whom Vance calls his “British Sherpa” — to get a download on the would-be VP’s politics, religion and surprising interest in the U.K.
|
| |
|
|
|
Donald Trump speaks with Polish American community members at the Polish National Alliance in Chicago on Sept. 28, 2016. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images |
Getting Poles to the Polls … In such a close election, the candidates have to turn over every stone in the hunt for voters, and that includes trying to win over the Polish American vote. Kamala Harris explicitly mentioned Polish Americans in Pennsylvania at the presidential debate. “There’s just one problem: The Polish American voting bloc both campaigns are targeting is a mirage,” writes Senior Politics Editor Charlie Mahtesian. “It’s a phantom battleground constituency that doesn’t really exist anymore.”
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
From the drafting table of editorial cartoonist Matt Wuerker.
|
| |
**Who Dissed answer: It was Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, speaking in a House Oversight Committee hearing, in response to the FCC’s Brendan Carr. politicoweekend@email.politico.com |
| |
|
Follow us |
| |
