Comment on Takeaways from the first Republican presidential primary debate

At one point during his speech to House Republicans, Donald Trump pointed at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) while saying: “Hello Marjorie, are you being nice to him?”

“Donald Trump told House Republicans that Milwaukee – the site of the Republican National Convention — ‘is a horrible city,'” Punchbowl News reports. “Trump said there should be exceptions in anti-abortion laws. And he mused about having a romantic relationship with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.” “Needless to say, Trump said little about reconciliation or the 2025 legislative strategy in his meeting with House Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club.

The New York Times has a map of where they went.

Charlie Cook: “This race has been the most stable, least volatile presidential race in the 52 years that I have watched these contests. As this column noted last week, it is a ‘mature’ race with extreme partisanship anchoring much of the vote. Both parties’ nominees-in-waiting have total name recognition and definition in the minds of voters, a long-held view that Trump was no Boy Scout and that Biden embarked on a more aggressive policy agenda than the mandate given to him by a narrow Electoral College win, a 50-50 Senate split, and a half-dozen-seat margin in the House.” “Both 2017 and 2021 proved the point that nowadays, no win is too small to declare a landslide.

CNBC: “Campaign finance experts say a unique combination of fundraising tactics and legal maneuvers have helped the Trump campaign climb out of a financial sinkhole that raised questions about his ability to compete in the race.” “Since he left the White House in 2020, Trump has taken advantage of a little-known loophole in campaign finance law to pay for his mounting legal costs, which Federal Election Commission filings show amount to around $90,000 per day over the past three years.” “Campaign disclosures show Trump has used a web of political action committees, or PACs, to funnel donor money to a leadership PAC he founded called Save America, which is primarily paying his legal bills.

TPM: “Through a series of prosecutions, federal law enforcement effectively decapitated the Proud Boys’ leadership. It’s left an organization that is vulnerable, unclear in its organization, more prone acting at the local level, far weaker than it was at the end of the Trump administration, but still resilient and capable of inflicting harm.”