NewsNation Chief Washington Correspondent and The Hill on NewsNation moderator Blake Burman shares his political reporting and campaign viewpoints leading into the 2024 election. Subscribe here.
It never ceases to amaze me how fast the political dynamics can potentially shift. Think about what just happened this week: One of the most conservative senators, James Lankford, negotiated a border deal, and only four of his Republican colleagues supported it. Polling shows the crisis at the border is a major weakness for President Biden. However, just before the bill got torpedoed, he vowed to make it a campaign issue. “I’ll be taking this issue to the country… Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” the president said.
Policy questions I have are this: Now that the president is seemingly focused on fixing the border, what executive actions, if any, might he take? And when could those come?
Question to consider: Do you think the dynamics have changed so drastically that the President should try to campaign on this issue?
A reminder!: Have a question for us? Email us here. We’ll try to start getting some of these on “The Hill on NewsNation” and put them to the panel.
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Trump’s ballot eligibility
It’s a truly historic day today at the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawyers for Donald Trump presented their arguments in their appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling the 14th Amendment’s prohibition against those who engaged in insurrection from holding office applies to him. Trump has been kicked off the ballot in that state.
Interestingly, unlike his practice with regards to other court hearings involving his business or campaign issues, Trump decided not to attend’s today’s arguments. He’ll monitor them, instead, from Mar-a-Lago before flying later today to Nevada for tonight’s caucuses.
With regards to the case, there are several ways the high court could rule without dealing with the central question: Whether the former president is an insurrectionist.
Former Trump White House lawyer May Mailman, a frequent guest on the show, told me on Wednesday she believes that is exactly how the justices will proceed.
“The most important question, but the one that the Supreme Court is almost certainly going to dodge, is Trump an insurrectionist? Or are the actions on January 6, should they be considered an insurrection? And this you know, an insurrection definitely qualifies to things like the Civil War, in fact, just the civil wars, what the legislators had in mind. But does it count for less than that? And my concern is, if you say that January 6 counts as an insurrection, then you lower the standard for insurrection across the board,” Mailman said. Click on the image above to watch our full interview.
Question to consider: Why do you think Trump, who has frequently attended other legal cases in the recent weeks, chose to skip showing up before the Supreme Court?
Nikki in Nevada
Embarrassing? Brutal? Irrelevant? All of the above?
How would you describe this?
Those were the results from the Nevada primary. Yes, Nikki Haley lost to “none of these candidates” by 33 points. Without getting into the weeds, the primary awarded zero delegates, but today’s caucuses in the state will count, and Trump will be on the ballot (and Haley won’t). But the above raises the question: With that performance, plus polls showing her potentially getting blown out in her home state of South Carolina in two weeks, how much longer might Haley stay in the race?
Former Trump White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley joined the show Wednesday to discuss. “There’s a difference between being embarrassed and being humiliated. Go on to lose your home state by 30 points. You’re humiliated,” Gidley told us. You can watch the full video here.
Despite the defeat in Nevada, Haley remains determined to win her home state. In a statement released Wednesday, Haley’s campaign said, “We didn’t bother to play a game rigged by Donald Trump. We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and ahead.”
Question to consider: If the polling continues to show her losing by 30 points or so in her state, will she get out before the February 24 primary?
AI and Elections
AI’s rapid advancements are reshaping our world, including politics. In Alabama, lawmakers are creating a task force to study how the state can properly use and prepare itself for AI.
During the New Hampshire primary an AI-generated robocall impersonated President Biden, telling Democrats not to vote in the primary. Investigations traced the source to companies in Texas, raising concerns about AI’s influence on future elections. NewsNation Political Editor Chris Stirewalt breaks down how AI can be both a force for negative and positive changes when it comes to campaigns of all sizes.
The Federal Communication Commission announced today that it will outlaw robocalls made with AI under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act effective immediately.
Question to consider: Will AI actually help lesser know and funded candidates climb to levels they might not have if it wasn’t for the abilities of new technologies?
We’ll see you tonight at 6p ET for “The Hill on NewsNation”!
Jenae Addison, Kevin Bohn and Alex Arbaiza contributed to this newsletter.
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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.