If it’s MONDAY… Protests over Netanyahu’s judicial reforms rock Israel… President Biden, at the White House, hosts a women’s business summit at 2:30 pm ET… VP Harris, in Ghana, holds a joint press conference with that nation’s president… Donald Trump rails against “deep state” in first ’24 rally…Rep. Ro Khanna declines to run in CA-SEN, endorses Barbara Lee… And race dominates Chicago’s mayoral runoff in its final days, NBC’s Natasha Korecki writes.
But FIRST... We learned a lot about Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over the past week.
After Trump allies criticized him for not weighing in on the possible indictment of the former president, DeSantis knocked Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg — but he also took a not-so-subtle swipe at Trump.
And after scrutiny over downplaying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, DeSantis reversed course, calling Vladimir Putin “a war criminal.”
Now there are two ways to look at these actions over the last seven days.
Either DeSantis smartly reacted and retreated on two looming problems — insufficient loyalty to Trump and a soft response to Putin.
Or he got bullied into taking new positions, looking like just another politician.
Antsy DeSantis donors and allies are worried it’s the latter, NBC’s Dasha Burns, Jonathan Allen, Allan Smith and Henry J. Gomez report.
“DeSantis is doing a book tour. He’s barnstorming the country, and his polls are going down,” said a GOP strategist in the article. “Meanwhile, Trump’s potentially under indictment, and Trump’s going up. It’s just not a good look for DeSantis.”
“We were always convinced that DeSantis was going to be very disciplined. Disciplined, disciplined, disciplined,” added an adviser to a potential presidential candidate. “And he kind of proved this week that he’s not.
In fairness to DeSantis, it’s super early; national polls in March aren’t predictive of what will happen in Iowa and New Hampshire; and he’s not even an official candidate yet with a campaign apparatus behind him.
(On the last point, however, DeSantis is the one doing campaign-like things — such as a book tour, interviews with Piers Morgan and weighing on Trump.)
After all, we remember PLENTY of handwringing in the summer and fall of 2007 about Barack Obama, who was trailing in national polls and who didn’t look strong in taking on the Clinton machine.
We saw how that turned out.
Still, it’s striking to us that some DeSantis allies are ALREADY hitting the panic button.
And it’s striking that the Florida governor looks mortal for the first time since winning re-election.
Headline of the Day
Data Download: The number of the day is ... $6.8 billion
That’s how much ad revenue TikTok is expected to take in in 2023, per the research firm eMarketer, as U.S politicians weigh whether the app should face restrictions (or an outright ban) because of its links to the Chinese Communist Party.
The politics of that ban debate aren’t fully clear yet: recent polling shows Republicans are more likely to support a ban, while Democrats are divided and unsure.
For a closer look at the numbers behind TikTok’s economic rise and political uncertainty, catch this Sunday’s “Meet the Press.”
Other numbers you need to know today
At least 26: That’s the current estimate for how many people died in the devastating tornado that struck Rolling Fork, Miss. on Friday.
213: How many lawmakers backed the House GOP’s new legislation about giving parents more say in their children’s education, legislation that passed Friday (a handful of lawmakers didn’t vote, lowering the threshold required for it to pass).
More than 8,000: How many gallons of hazardous material spilled into a creek outside of Philadelphia, raising questions about whether the city’s water supply could end up contaminated.
5: The number of states where NBC News’ Jane C. Timm reports that election officials have been “inundated with time-consuming records requests and inquiries, most of them coming from amateur fraud hunters looking for proof of debunked conspiracy theories.”
2: The number of Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee who hadn’t signaled how they’d vote on President Joe Biden’s pick to run the Federal Aviation Administration, who subsequently withdrew his nomination over the weekend.
Eyes on 2024: Trump rails against “deep state” in first ’24 rally
Former President Donald Trump held the first major rally of his campaign on Saturday in Waco, Texas, railing against the “deep state” on the 30th anniversary of the deadly standoff between federal agents and an anti-government cult leader in the same town.
“Either the deep state destroys America, or we destroy the deep state,” Trump told the crowd of supporters, per NBC News’ Jonathan Allen. (Trump allies also dismissed suggestions that the rally site was a reference to the standoff.)
Trump added that when he wins the election, “You will be vindicated and proud, and the thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced.”
His statements come as he awaits a possible indictment in a hush-money case, and as he faces other investigations. On Friday, a federal judge ruled that some of Trump’s former aides have to testify in the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Also on Friday, Trump’s lawyer testified in a case about how the former president handled classified documents.
But Trump insisted he is not distracted by the possibility that he could be arrested, telling reporters on his plane, “I did nothing wrong. I have a lot of confidence. I did nothing wrong. We’ve proven our case. 100%. They can’t. There’s nothing they could do,” per NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard.
In other campaign news…
Trump’s team: Trump also rolled out his “Texas leadership team” on Saturday. The list did not include Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, but it did include other statewide officials, such as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton. The list also included 11 House Republicans from Texas.
DeSantis’ team: Erin Perrine, who served as a top press aide for Trump’s 2020 campaign, has joined the pro-DeSantis super PAC, per CBS News.
Co-frontrunners: New polls from the GOP polling firm Public Opinion Strategies (the Republican half that co-conducts the NBC News poll) find DeSantis leading Trump in Iowa and tied with the former president in New Hampshire, per Axios.
Ro not running: Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., announced over the weekend that he will not run for Senate, instead endorsing Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee.
She’s running (for Senate): Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Monday morning that she is seeking a third term in the Senate, saying in her launch video, “There’s a lot more we’ve got to do.”
Crabby about the Senate: Republicans are still trying to recruit former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan to run for Senate, per Politico, but he doesn’t seem interested. Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin is up for re-election next year, but Politico also reports that “political insiders” expect Cardin to retire.
Primary watch: Republican State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced over the weekend that he is running for governor of North Carolina, per the Associated Press. GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is also widely expected to run in the open seat race (incumbent Dem Gov. Roy Cooper cannot seek another term due to term limits).
Beshear says no: Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who is running for re-election this year, vetoed on Friday a bill related to transgender youth, which sought to bar gender-affirming care and discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, among other things.
Eight days out: Chicago’s mayoral race continues to heat up about a week before the runoff election. NBC News’ Natasha Korecki reports that race, in a contest between a Black progressive and a white moderate, has loomed large in the final weeks before the runoff. And former school chief Paul Vallas won the backing from former Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin over the weekend.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has returned home after a rehabilitation stint as part of his recovery from a fall earlier this month.
The New York Times reports that part of Twitter’s source code has been leaked online.
