News: Playbook PM: The right previews its attacks on a President Biden

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Playbook PM: The right previews its attacks on a President Biden

Oct 28, 2020

By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

Presented by

TUCKER CARLSON'S millions of viewers on FOX NEWS got a first look Wednesday night at TONY BOBULINSKI, a Navy vet who is making accusations about his business dealings with JOE BIDEN'S son HUNTER BIDEN. BOBULINSKI is also implicating the former VP in these dealings with China.

THE RIGHT HAS AMPLIFIED the story, but the mainstream press has shot down BOBULINSKI'S claims at every turn. For example, the news pages of The Wall Street Journal reported they couldn't establish that BIDEN was involved or received money as part of the defunct arrangement. TEAM BIDEN says the whole thing is a heap of malarkey.

BUT WHAT IS BECOMING ABUNDANTLY CLEAR is this: We are getting a preview of what the right will be talking about for the foreseeable future should BIDEN win the presidency. The Fox opinion shows -- TUCKER'S show, most notably -- are the living room of the modern Republican Party. And as he continues to highlight this story -- as he will again tonight -- elected Republican officials will be asked more and more about it by constituents, and therefore will bring this story back to the Capitol.

THIS IS INTERESTING: BOBULINSKI has only existed on Fox News and the rest of the right-wing mediasphere, yet 50% of people polled in our new POLITICO/MORNING CONSULT poll have heard a lot or some about the allegation that "Hunter Biden consulted his father, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, about a planned Chinese business venture in 2017." 24% say they have not heard much, and 27% say they have heard nothing at all.

OF COURSE, if Republicans lose the Senate majority, one would think their ability to pound this drum would be hampered by their newly constrained investigative powers. But we live in a different media climate than we did even a few years ago, and DONALD TRUMP-linked figures have massive Twitter followings from which to push these attacks.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS … Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) to JONATHAN SWAN on HUNTER: "I don't think it moves a single voter."

MORE FROM TINA NGUYEN: "MAGA scrambles to repair the Hunter Biden narrative," by Tina Nguyen: "[W]ith less than a week to go, [Rudy] Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, is still moving down the conservative media food chain, looking for takers. … More explicitly pro-Trump media outlets — OAN, Breitbart, Newsmax — have mostly shied away from publishing fresher, more salacious allegations.

"And conservative talking heads — pundits, politicians and loud MAGA Twitter personalities alike — have been more focused on the meta narrative around the laptop, arguing that mainstream media, social media companies and the deep state are conspiring to prevent President Donald Trump's reelection by suppressing the story. … It's not the way Trumpworld would have wanted it." POLITICO

REMEMBER THIS? … GEORGE CONWAY (@gtconway3d): "I had an amazing conversation this morning with … Anonymous. Anonymous is a true patriot. We'll all be hearing a lot more from this person very, very soon."

AS THE PANDEMIC WORSENS -- "White House could have traced and contained its covid-19 outbreak. It chose not to," by WaPo's Desmond Butler, Tom Hamburger, Lena Sun and Sarah Kaplan

WHERE WE'RE HEADING? … "Supreme Court Conservatives Lay Out Path to Help Trump Win a Contested Race," by Bloomberg's Greg Stohr

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DISINFORMATION DIGEST -- "In campaign's closing days, disinformation arrives via text message and email," by WaPo's Isaac Stanley-Becker and Tony Romm: "A video sent to voters falsely claimed that Joe Biden wants to give 'sex changes to second-graders.' A menacing directive advised Democrats to vote for Trump 'or else.' And a years-old photograph newly circulated with erroneous instructions for how to blow past a purported poll watcher on Election Day.

"These deceptive, 11th-hour messages are not finding their way to Americans via the now well-trodden paths of Facebook and Twitter. Instead, they're arriving in waves of text messages and emails, making use of a more intimate and less heavily scrutinized vector of disinformation than the social networking services manipulated four years ago … Each of the suspicious campaigns revealed this month targeted battleground states." WaPo

EYES EMOJI: Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER to JULIE SAMUELS on Tech:NYC … SAMUELS: "What happens if President Trump loses the election but claims he isn't leaving? Is the Senate prepared for that crisis?" SCHUMER: "Yes, we have a little task force, in fact, led by five very capable senators: Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Martin Heinrich, Chris Murphy and Tammy Duckworth. And we are preparing for this. We're going to put something out just this weekend."

ABOUT LAST NIGHT -- "Hundreds of people waited hours in the cold for buses after Trump rally in Omaha," by the Omaha World-Herald's Aaron Sanderford: "Several people who were waiting required medical attention, based on reporting at the scene and local emergency scanner traffic. … Trump campaign officials said they had enough buses ready nearby to shuttle people back to their cars, but said a larger-than-expected crowd, estimated as high as 29,000, slowed the buses' return."

Good Wednesday afternoon.

ON THE TRAIL -- TRUMP is holding a rally in Tampa on Thursday -- where BIDEN will also be. … Sen. KAMALA HARRIS (D-Calif.) is swinging through Fort Worth, McAllen (!) and Houston on Friday.

AOC WATCH -- REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) is on the December cover of Vanity Fair: "The history-making congresswoman addresses her biggest critics, the challenges that loom no matter who wins, and what she's taking on next," by Michelle Ruiz

JEFF VAN DREW UPDATE … CNN'S REBECCA BUCK in Northfield, N.J.: "New Jersey congressman's pledge of 'undying support' for Trump hangs over close House race"

WOW -- THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP has put out a report on the risks of violence in the U.S. election: "As the 3 November U.S. presidential election approaches, the country faces an unfamiliar danger. While Americans have grown used to a certain level of rancour in these quadrennial campaigns, they have not in living memory faced the realistic prospect that the incumbent may reject the outcome or that armed violence may result. …

"With luck, and perhaps a little help from its friends, the U.S. could still avoid election trouble and emerge ready to begin repairing the social fractures that have helped bring it to this dangerous place."

-- MIAMI HERALD: "New tension at the polls as supporters get aggressive and officials call in police," by Mary Ellen Klas and Ana Ceballos in Tallahassee

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- "Trump to strip protections from Tongass National Forest, one of the biggest intact temperate rainforests," by WaPo's Juliet Eilperin: "As of Thursday, it will be legal for logging companies to build roads and cut and remove timber throughout more than 9.3 million acres of forest … The decision, which will be published in the Federal Register, reverses protections President Bill Clinton put in place in 2001 and is one of the most sweeping public lands rollbacks Trump has enacted." WaPo

HAPPENING THURSDAY - CONFRONTING INEQUALITY IN AMERICA: On Thursday, Oct. 29, POLITICO Live is convening physicians, advocates, and policymakers for its second town hall in the Confronting Inequality in America series. Join the group to discuss the policy and public health solutions needed to solve the inequalities in the U.S. health care system that have a disproportionate impact on Black and other patients of color. REGISTER HERE TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION.

WASHINGTON'S MOST EAGER MAN GETS RAPPED IN ABU DHABI … AXIOS' BARAK RAVID: "Behind the scenes: Awkward encounter for Mnuchin": "What happened: Mnuchin was addressing Israeli, Emirati and American businesspeople in Abu Dhabi. He gave a historical overview of previous peace talks but didn't mention [Yitzhak] Rabin, several people who were in the room say. …

"The omission may have been unintentional, but it stunned the late prime minister's daughter, Dalia Rabin, according to a person who discussed it with her. She approached Mnuchin immediately after the speech, asking why he failed to mention her father and whether he thinks her father's work for peace was unimportant. A surprised Mnuchin told her, 'This was my speech and I don't owe you any explanations.'"

AILING AMERICA -- "Boeing Cutting More Jobs in Response to Pandemic," by WSJ's Doug Cameron: "Boeing Co. said it is reviewing jet production levels and plans to shed another 7,000 jobs by the end of next year in response to the mounting toll on the global airline industry from a fresh global surge in coronavirus cases.

"The plans came as the U.S. aerospace giant on Wednesday reported a third-quarter loss of $466 million and said it is focused on preserving cash ahead of the expected return to service of the 737 MAX as soon as next month, ending a protracted world-wide grounding after two crashes took 346 lives." WSJ

BIG TECH ON THE HILL -- "Senate Republican tells tech CEOs it's time to end their 'free pass' to 'stifle' content," by Cristiano Lima: "The top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee issued an early warning to the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter at a congressional hearing Wednesday, saying that it's time to end the industry's "free pass" to "control, stifle and even censor content" from users however they see fit.

"Delivering opening remarks at a highly-anticipated hearing on the tech industry's prized legal liability protections, Senate Commerce Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) railed against the tech companies over allegations they are biased against conservatives. And he raised the specter of weakening those protections, afforded under a 1996 law known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. That law shields online companies from lawsuits for hosting and policing user posts." POLITICO

HOW WE VOTE -- "Six Republican Secretaries Of State Tried To Stop Facebook's Effort To Register Millions Of Voters," by BuzzFeed's Ryan Mac and Craig Silverman: "In September, Facebook received a strongly worded letter signed by the secretaries of state of Alabama, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia, asking the company to discontinue its Voting Information Center. It argued election officials alone are 'legally and morally responsible to our citizens' and said Facebook has 'no such accountability.'" BuzzFeed

BEHIND THE IMPEACHMENT SCENES -- "Trump's attacks on political adversaries are often followed by threats to their safety," by WaPo's Greg Miller and Isaac Stanley-Becker: "The CIA's most endangered employee for much of the past year was not an operative on a mission abroad, but an analyst who faced a torrent of threats after filing a whistleblower report that led to the impeachment of President Trump.

"The analyst spent months living in no-frills hotels under surveillance by CIA security, current and former U.S. officials said. He was driven to work by armed officers in an unmarked sedan. On the few occasions he was allowed to reenter his home to retrieve belongings, a security team had to sweep the apartment first to make sure it was safe.

"The measures were imposed by the CIA's Security Protective Service, which monitored thousands of threats across social media and Internet chat rooms. Over time, a pattern emerged: Violent messages surged each time the analyst was targeted in tweets or public remarks by the president. … Over the past year, public servants across the country have faced similar ordeals."

SUBSCRIBE TO TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: We're excited to launch a newsletter written for insiders that will track the appointments, the people, and the power centers of the next administration. Both Team Biden and Team Trump have been working behind the scenes for months vetting potential nominees and drafting policy agendas. Transition Playbook takes you inside those preparations, personnel decisions, and policy deliberations. Don't miss out, subscribe today.

AFTERNOON READ … BUZZFEED'S ROSIE GRAY and RUBY CRAMER: "Herman Cain's Life & Death Were More Complicated Than That: You've heard the jokes about the most prominent Republican to die from the coronavirus. His family has seen them too."

HOW TRUMP WINS -- "'We need you': GOP hunts for new voters in Trump territory," by AP's Josh Boak in Slippery Rock, Pa.: "President Donald Trump's campaign has a bold theory for how he will win reelection: It can tap a universe of millions of supporters who did not vote for him in 2016 but will do so this time. … Trump's plan requires blowout victories and historic turnout in conservative strongholds across the state, places where he outperformed traditional Republicans four years ago and he knows must do even better. …

"Republican turnout in Butler County was an impressive 80% in 2016. But local Republicans say the goal is to push that number as high as 90% this year. And they've spent several months registering new Republicans, adding 9,043 of them this year alone, for a 12.8% increase." AP

HOW THE COUNT WILL PLAY OUT -- "Some Pennsylvania counties will count mail-in ballots last," by CNN's Jeremy Herb, Kelly Mena, Kristen Holmes and Pamela Brown: "Pennsylvania's counties have starkly different plans for when they will begin processing their pre-Election Day ballots, with Democratic strongholds moving to get them counted as quickly as possible while other areas plan to tally in-person votes first. …

"Philadelphia and other areas plan to start work on their mail-in votes at 7 a.m. sharp, officials said, but swing counties like Erie and red ones like Cumberland are intending to wait until after the polls close or even until the next morning to begin." CNN

UH-OH … AP/REDMOND, Wash.: "Microsoft says Iranian hackers targeted conference attendees": "Microsoft says Iranian hackers have posed as conference organizers in Germany and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to break into the email accounts of "high-profile" people with spoofed invitations.

"The tech company said Wednesday it detected attempts by the hacking group it calls Phosphorus to trick former government officials, policy experts and academics. The targets included more than 100 prominent people invited by the hackers to the Munich Security Conference, which is attended by world leaders each February, and the upcoming Think 20 Summit, which begins later this week in Saudi Arabia but is online-only this year."

SWAMP READ … N.Y. MAG/WNYC'S 'TRUMP, INC.': "The Winners of Trump's Washington: Fifty-one insiders who profited off the presidency," by Andrea Bernstein, Matt Collette, Meg Cramer, Peter Elkind, Charlotte Klein, Ilya Marritz, Katherine Sullivan and James Walsh: "This is the Washington Trump has built these past four years, where people who patronize Trump businesses can expect preferential treatment, where a deputy secretary can oversee a bailout that benefits his family's company, where administration officials fly in private jets paid for by the public — and where top government officials don't bother to divest from industries whose policies they oversee."

CLICKER -- NYT QUIZ: "Can You Tell a 'Trump' Fridge From a 'Biden' Fridge?" by John Keefe

SPORTS BLINK … ESPN/FIVETHIRTYEIGHT: "Inside the political donation history of wealthy sports owners": "American professional sports owners have contributed nearly $47 million in federal elections since 2015, according to research by ESPN in partnership with FiveThirtyEight, including $10 million to Republican causes and $1.9 million to Democratic causes so far in the 2020 election cycle. …

"Thirteen owners have contributed directly to Trump's campaign or Trump super PACs in the 2020 election cycle, with contributions adding up to $1,746,423. … By contrast, 20 owners have contributed directly to Biden or Biden's super PACs, though at smaller totals, with overall contributions equaling $405,745." ESPN … The data

A message from the Partnership for America's Health Care Future:

The public option could raise your taxes by an average of $2,500/year in addition to the cost of your current health coverage and care. Get the facts.