Wed: The Drain on the Campaign is Happening to Mr. Insane

These Ads Are Meant to Drive You to Crazy

A lobbying group for the oil and gas industry has launched a new television advertising campaign targeting the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles in several battleground states.

One ad from American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers accuses Democratic President Joe Biden of “rushing to ban new gas-powered cars, no matter where you live or what you need.”

“They want to force you into an electric vehicle,” the ad continues.

Since he took office in 2021, Biden has been ambitious in setting targets for reducing emissions from vehicles with internal combustion engines. His administration's tougher emissions standards have been coupled new tax incentives for buying or leasing an electric vehicle. The ads make no mention of the 2024 presidential election or other candidates for the White House.

But the ad placement in key swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in an election year suggests that the oil and gas industry sees debate over the future of gas-powered cars as an issue that will engage voters.

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers say the ads are part of a “major seven-figure” campaign. The ads call on voters to call the Biden administration and ask the Democratic president to “Stop the EPA’s car ban.”

The Biden campaign responded Monday to the ads.

“While (former President Donald) Trump had the United States losing the EV race to China, President Biden is keeping Michigan at the forefront of car manufacturing by investing in the future to ensure good-paying union jobs end up in America, not halfway around the world," said Alyssa Bradley, communications director for Biden's Michigan campaign.

Who Says the QOP Doesn't Do Anything?

House Republicans voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ― not for any legitimate reason, but because they really want to help Donald Trump look tough on immigration issues ahead of the November presidential election.

Their impeachment articles aren’t going anywhere in the Senate, where even Republicans have mocked their House counterparts for spending time on this stunt.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) called it “the dumbest exercise and use of time.”

“What’s rich to me is the speaker says the [border] bill in the Senate is ... dead on arrival,” Cramer told Capitol Hill reporters earlier this month. “And then they proceed with impeaching a Cabinet secretary, which is obviously dead on arrival.”

These Honkies Say "Tonk"

U.S. Border Patrol agents across ranks and regions routinely referred to unauthorized migrants using the derogatory slur “tonk,” according to emails and text messages disclosed to HuffPost under the Freedom of Information Act.

Higher-ups in Washington and within the Border Patrol itself have told agents that discriminatory and racist language undermines the agency’s mission — at times singling out the term “tonk” specifically and threatening disciplinary action for its use.

But its use remains surprisingly routine, even in government communications that in some cases bore email signatures of supervising agents, the documents show. HuffPost submitted the FOIA request in 2020, asking for agency communications that included the word. The agency began a partial release of the documents last week.

The widespread use of the term hints at the hostility many within the agency’s rank-and-file hold for the people they police, who mostly are migrants fleeing humanitarian crises and economic disasters in Latin America.

I Guess the QOP Hasn't Lost Enough Elections

Trump's pick to lead the RNC is facing skepticism from some Republicans

In pushing Michael Whatley as the next leader of the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump zeroed in on the North Carolina GOP chairman's dedication to “election integrity," baselessly suggesting he would ensure the 2024 race “can't be stolen.”

Some of Trump's most ardent supporters in Whatley's home state would, no doubt, like a word.

Whatley has been accused by some Republicans of essentially manufacturing his win as state party chairman last year following a chaotic vote, which resulted in a legal challenge that offered evidence some ballots were improperly cast. While Whatley and his allies acknowledged that technical problems made voting with the party's mobile app difficult, they vehemently deny that the irregularities changed the outcome of the contest and note that the lawsuit was dismissed.

But for some conservatives, primed by years of Trump urging vigilance against voter fraud, the episode instilled a suspicion that the party contest was stolen by a Washington Beltway fixture whose work for the George W. Bush administration and as a lobbyist they viewed skeptically.

“I can only conclude two possibilities. One, he felt he needed to cheat to win. Two, he is completely incompetent. Both are disqualifying,” said Whatley’s challenger, John Kane Jr., who described himself as “unquestionably” the true “MAGA candidate” in the contest.

The controversy surrounding Whatley's election to the GOP's top political post in North Carolina is one of several emerging signals suggesting challenges ahead. Trump is aiming to wrest control of the RNC by muscling Whatley through in an orchestrated ouster of the organization's current chair, Ronna McDaniel. But in doing so, he's elevating someone with a relatively scant national profile and a gilded resume that includes links to establishment figures largely reviled by the hardline activists who are most vocal in supporting Trump.

The RNC Does Real Work to Help Republicans Get Elected. Putting Incompetents in Charge Really Hurts the Party.

The Drain on the Campaign is Happening to Mr. Insane

Donald Trump will likely drain his war chest for legal fees this summer, leaving the GOP frontrunner crunched for cash just as his presidential campaign ramps up spending for an expected rematch with President Joe Biden.

Trump spent $51.2 million in 2023 on legal expenses, and can tap another $26.6 million stashed in an allied super political action committee that he can use to pay his lawyers. But as his four criminal cases ramp up, those funds are expected to run out at a critical time — around July, when the Republican National Convention triggers the official start to the general election campaign.

That leaves Trump with only a few — unappealing — options to keep paying for his defense.

He could compel the Republican National Committee, which faces its own cash woes, to pay his bills, leaving the group with less money to support his campaign. He could siphon off more money from his army of small-dollar donors to his leadership PAC, Save America, which is financing his defense in multiple criminal and civil proceedings. Trump already diverts 10% of online contributions made to his reelection toward Save America for legal bills — a move which accounted for $9.9 million in 2023.

To pay his legal fees, Trump is relying on federal laws governing leadership PACs, which allow politicians to raise money that can support travel, fundraising and other political expenses.

Trump’s legal bills have been a drag on what has otherwise been a strong fundraising operation. His campaign and allied groups last year collectively spent $13.6 million more than they raised, thanks to a large nest egg of donations to Save America from 2021 and 2022, before he was actively campaigning. That fundraising buffer has nearly been depleted.
Save America has largely been able to pay for tens of millions of dollars in legal fees because of refunds of money it had previously transferred to Make America Great Again Inc., the super PAC supporting Trump’s bid.