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| Presented By General Mills |
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| Axios Sneak Peek |
| By Alayna Treene, Hans Nichols and Zachary Basu · Aug 17, 2022 |
| Welcome back to Sneak. Smart Brevity™ count: 986 words ... 3.5 minutes. |
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| 1 big thing — Scoop: Musk's message to GOP |
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| Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue |
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| Elon Musk told GOP congressional leaders and big-dollar donors yesterday that Republicans need to present a more compassionate front to voters and appeal to immigrants like himself, Axios' Hans Nichols has learned. Why it matters: While Musk has been publicly flirting with the Republican Party all year, his attendance at an exclusive GOP retreat in Wyoming marks a new level of involvement in helping the party define its agenda and prepare for its potential takeover of the House. Driving the news: Musk offered his unvarnished political advice at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's annual donor retreat in Jackson, where the billionaire founder of Tesla was a personal guest of McCarthy's. - With the Grand Tetons behind them, the potential next Speaker of the House led a Q&A session with the potential next owner of Twitter.
- Across the state, primary voters were rejecting Rep. Liz Cheney, who by the end of the night would be overwhelmingly defeated by her Trump-backed challenger.
What they're saying: Musk suggested that the country would prosper if Republicans "stayed out of people's bedrooms" and Democrats stayed "out of people's wallets," according to attendees. - Asked by a donor what the Republican Party needed to do better, the South-African born Musk replied that it should be more compassionate to potential newcomers, noting that he chose America because of its opportunities. Immigrants, he said, are vital to maintaining a dynamic economy.
- Before the dinner, Musk tweeted: "To be clear, I support the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party!"
Between the lines: Musk, who has hinted he likes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024 and voted Republican for the first time in June, didn't declare himself a Republican compatriot. - Some donors left the dinner at the home of John Nau — the CEO of Silver Eagle Beverages, a massive Anheuser-Busch distributor — convinced that Musk was a kindred spirit, but perhaps not yet a committed conservative.
- Republicans have vowed to crack down on Big Tech if they take the majority — especially social media platforms like Twitter, which Musk is currently battling in court after pulling the plug on his acquisition.
- They've also downplayed the need to take action on climate change, which Musk has dedicated his career to fighting.
The bottom line: Musk didn't leave the impression that he'd be writing checks to either the Congressional Leadership Fund, McCarthy's PAC, or Republican campaign committees. - He did, however, complain about his $11 billion tax bill for selling Tesla stock — drawing chuckles from the audience with his claim that the IRS didn't really know how to process it.
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| 2. 🌎 Conservatives' war on BlackRock |
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| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
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| A conservative group known for targeting "woke capitalism" has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign attacking BlackRock and its CEO Larry Fink, Axios' Alayna Treene reports. - Their allegation: The world's largest asset manager is "weaponizing" retirement funds with its push for more ESG investments, which promote environmental, social and governance responsibility.
Why it matters: The campaign by Consumers' Research aligns with the posture of a growing faction of the GOP. House Republicans plan to make an assault on ESG a central part of their legislative and investigative agenda if they take back the majority in November's midterms. Between the lines: The crusade against ESG is something many conservatives feel deeply about — they view these companies as cultural enemies who are misusing investment funds to promote pro-climate policies. - As a result, key GOP committees are already planning to haul in the CEOs of investment firms — like BlackRock — for public lashings if Republicans are in power come January, Hill sources tell Axios.
The anti-ESG sentiment is also spreading through Republican-run state and local governments. - 19 state attorneys general, led by Arizona's Mark Brnovich, recently wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission asking the agency to look into BlackRock's ties to China and whether it is prioritizing its fiduciary responsibility to investors.
Driving the news: Consumers' Research's latest campaign, out today, is a multi-pronged effort to raise awareness of BlackRock's ESG efforts and paint them in a negative light. - The group has circulated a "Consumer Warning" claiming BlackRock — the world's largest asset manager — is using investors' money to push a "radical agenda" that puts Americans' retirement dollars "at risk in the name of progressive politics."
The other side: BlackRock disputes it is pushing to implement or supplement public policy, instead arguing the energy transition from "brown to green" is a hugely profitable investment. Keep reading. |
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| 3. ⚖️ Trump's men in court |
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| Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images |
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| Two key developments today in the many investigations that have ensnared allies of former President Trump: - Rudy Giuliani, who was told this week he's a target in the Fulton County district attorney's criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, testified for six hours before a special grand jury in Atlanta.
- Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's longtime CFO, is expected to plead guilty to all 15 felonies he was charged with last summer and testify against the company — but not Trump himself — in October's trial, the New York Times reported.
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| A message from General Mills |
| Building a culture of belonging |
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| Employees should feel seen, heard and valued for what they bring to the table. That's why General Mills is always working toward greater equality, inclusion and representation. How it's done: Learn more about General Mills' people-first approach. |
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| 4. 🗳️ Mapped: The battle for statehouses |
 Data: National Conference of State Legislatures; Note: As of June 1, there were 78 statehouse seats across all 50 states that were vacant or held by members who do not identify as Republican or Democrat; Nebraska has a unicameral state legislature and is not included in this map; Map: Nicki Camberg/Axios No more than five seats separate the majority and minority parties in three statehouses hosting elections in November — Arizona, Minnesota and Michigan, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Why it matters: Republicans have dominated Democrats at the state level for over a decade, allowing them to exercise outsized power over policies governing abortion access, gun control, voting, public health and other hot-button issues, Axios' Stef Kight writes. Explore the interactive. |
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| 5. 🥚 Parting shot |
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| Photo: Scott Eisen/Getty Images |
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| Former Vice President Mike Pence signed a wooden egg labeled "Presidential Primary NH 2024" while headlining the New Hampshire Institute of Politics' "Politics & Eggs" event today. |
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| A message from General Mills |
| Urgent climate action |
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| General Mills is working to inspire change and combat the devastating impacts of climate change. The goal: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Learn more about General Mills' climate commitments. |
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| 📬 Thanks for reading. Send us feedback by hitting reply to this newsletter or emailing sneak@axios.com. |
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