Welcome to the online version of From the policy deskevening bulletin that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News Politics team.
In today’s edition, our White House team reports on how Joe Biden and his team are preparing for the upcoming verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money trial. Plus, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker examines how voters feel about the state of American democracy.
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The Biden campaign is preparing for Trump’s decision
By Monica Alba, Natasha Korecki and Mike Memoli
President Joe Biden has largely distanced himself from former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles. But with a sentence hush money trial By next week, Biden’s campaign is exploring a shift to a new, more aggressive stance, according to two people familiar with the strategy.
Regardless of the outcome, top Biden campaign officials plan to stress to voters that Trump will be on the ballot in the fall and that no potential lawsuit will change that fact.
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A person familiar with the discussions concluded: “Donald Trump’s legal problems will not keep him out of the White House. “Only one thing will do that: vote for Joe Biden this November.”
If Trump is found guilty at his trial in New York, the Biden campaign will also have to consider whether to label him as a “convicted felon.” “That’s an open question.”
The campaign sees the conclusion of the trial as one of the turning points for the 2024 election, when the courtroom’s minute-by-minute sideshow will end and voters will have time to focus on what’s at stake in November, one of the sources said. he said.
Biden’s team hopes to send a message that if Trump is acquitted or a jury is hung, voters should not expect the outcome of his other legal issues to be decisive.
For the most part, Biden has been careful to comment on the court directly, avoiding buying into Trump’s narrative that his legal troubles were election meddling by the Biden administration.
But the president made a breakthrough last week that in a video posted on a social network, he agreed to argue with Trump, thinking, “I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.” Biden cited Trump’s courtroom schedule, which allows him to rest every Wednesday. The line was widely shared on social media platforms and the campaign started selling t-shirts with it.
What voters say about the state of democracy
By Kristen Welker
Many issues are at stake in November—the economy, abortion, immigration, foreign relations, even the future of the Supreme Court.
But the 2024 elections are also the state of American democracy.
Just take a look at these data points:
Eighty-one percent of voters, including large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans, believe that democracy in America is under threat. Survey of the Georgetown Institute for Policy and Public Service.
About a third of voters feel so strongly about it that they say they will vote for or against a candidate on this issue alone. National NBC News survey showed.
National CNN survey Last month, a third of voters, including 68% of Republicans, said they did not believe President Joe Biden would win the 2020 election, confirming that electoral denial remains in the background of the 2024 contest.
Another third of voters say that they are not sure that the votes in the elections will be counted correctly Survey at Quinnipiac University.
According to the latest data, half of the state’s voters are worried about the elections and the political violence that will follow. Bloomberg/Morning Consult survey.
And then there’s this: about 40% of local election officials took a survey this year Brennan Justice Center said they were threatened, harassed or abused.
That includes four secretaries of state from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania who will join me this Sunday to talk about the dangers facing their families after the 2020 election.
For more on these issues and more, check out Meet the Press this Sunday for a two-way conversation about America’s democracy and how to protect it.
🗞️ The best stories of the day
- 😯 October surprise?: US officials are preparing for North Korea’s potentially most provocative military action in a decade in the run-up to its presidential election – possibly at the urging of Russian President Vladimir Putin. More →
- ⬇️ ‘Intentional low key’: The president and his advisers will closely monitor the progress of Hunter Biden’s criminal trial on felony gun charges in Delaware when it begins in early June, but they do not plan to launch a swift response. More →
- 🗳️ Voting battle: Ohio GOP Gov. Mike DeWine called for a special legislative session to put Biden on the state’s ballot, calling Republican lawmakers’ inaction on the issue “simply unacceptable.” More →
- 📱 Introduction: The New York Times notes that Elon Musk has steadily stepped up his criticism of Biden at X. More →
- 🔎 Scammers: Some Florida local election officials want to use data collected by far-right activists who believe the 2020 election was rigged to potentially remove people from the state’s voter rolls. More →
- 2️⃣ VP files: NBC News’ Brandy Zadrozny examines how Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s aide, Nicole Shanahan, shaped his world view. More →
- 🎉 Party crash: Former President Barack Obama made a surprise speech at a state dinner in honor of Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday evening, writes The Washington Post. More →
- 🎙 When politics and sport collide: In a new episode of his podcast, Chuck Todd spoke with Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA Wizards, NHL Capitals and WNBA Mystics in Washington, D.C., about his brief attempt to move his sports empire to Alexandria, Virginia. Read (and listen) here →
For now, that’s it from The Politics Desk. If you have feedback – like it or not – send us an email politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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