On "Axios on HBO," longtime GOP pollster Frank Luntz tells Axios co-founder Mike Allen why it’s "impossible" to poll Trump voters. “These are people who do not talk to pollsters. Do not engage,” says Luntz. “And they are quietly supportive.”
Update: Due to newly added segments covering the news that Joe Biden won the presidency, our interview with Frank Luntz will no longer be airing in Monday's episode.
Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew won a second term in New Jersey’s 2nd congressional district, defeating Amy Kennedy, AP projects.
Why it matters: Van Drew, a former Democrat, received national attention last year when he switched parties after he voted against the impeachment of President Trump. After becoming a Republican last December, he pledged his "undying support" for the president.
President Trump’s attempts to take lawsuits challenging the way ballots were counted in some states to the Supreme Court will likely amount to nothing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said at a virtual Axios event on Friday.
Why it matters: Falsely claiming that Joe Biden is stealing the election, the president has filed a rash of lawsuits in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada. He has repeatedly stated he will bring them to the Supreme Court, likely hoping a conservative court will rule in his favor.
Trumpism is a “noxious weed” and America needs to root it out, Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt said Friday at a virtual Axios event.
Why it matters: Schmidt views Trumpism as an attempt to subvert American democracy, and he co-founded the Lincoln Project with other Republicans to prevent Trump from winning a second term.
Joe Biden, if elected president, would work to find common ground with longtime former colleague Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R), former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said on Friday at an Axios virtual event.
Why it matters: With little chance of Democrats controlling the Senate, fears of continued congressional gridlock have run high, but Scaramucci predicated Biden would deliver “actionable results” alongside Republicans.
As officials were counting ballots well into a second day, Donald Trump Jr. sent a full-throated call on Twitter for "2024 GOP hopefuls" to defend President Trump by amplifying unsubstantiated accusations of election irregularities. Within minutes, a number of Republicans rushed to social media to defend the president.
Why it matters: The quick response shows the huge hold the Trump family has on the Republican Party, even as the president is on the cusp of defeat.
If Joe Biden wins the presidency, he could end up with a 50-50 Senate split — an outcome giving Democrats formal control of the upper chamber but also empowering individual senators greatly and requiring a procedural feat to abolish the 60-vote filibuster rule.
Why it matters: A President Biden would need a Senate majority to make good on many of his campaign promises.
The Trump campaign says it will seek recounts in several key states, but that's highly unlikely to change the outcome.
Why it matters: Statewide recounts have historically only changed electoral margins by an average 430 votes, according to the nonpartisan election reform group FairVote. Joe Biden's lead in several states is thin, but it's not that thin.
Why it matters: In televised remarks on Thursday evening, the president provided no evidence for his claim that widespread voter fraud has caused his initial lead in the presidential race to slip away. He also pledged to continue fighting to have ballots thrown out in the courts.
This week's election count is already giving the large tech platforms a taste of their future content-moderation challenges.
The state of play: Each day is proving harder than the last for internet gatekeepers amid swirling conspiracy theories, misinformation from elected leaders and growing violent speech from pockets of the far right.
Joe Biden this week pledged again to immediately rejoin the Paris climate agreement if he wins the presidential election, but ultimately meeting his ambitions for the U.S on the world stage would be much tricker.
Why it matters: Biden would face big challenges and complex decisions after announcing the U.S. is back on the climate diplomacy circuit.
Of the 376 counties with the highest number of new coronavirus cases per capita, 93% voted for President Trump, AP reports.
Why it matters: Most of these were rural counties where people are less likely to wear masks or social distance, emphasizing to public health officials the need to find new ways to communicate about the virus.
President Trump is pinning his hopes — and presidency — on a wild, relentless war against reality and truth, falsely claiming several states are stealing the election by adhering to their laws, rules, and long precedents.
Why it matters: Trump fears the election will be called today, perhaps first by Fox News, and that his effort to get the Supreme Court to intervene will fail, officials tell Axios.
Senior White House and Trump campaign officials are complaining bitterly about poor internal communication, blaming colleagues, pondering what jobs they might try to get next year, and lashing out at their new enemy: Fox News.
The state of play: Aides told Axios they're dreading the prospect of Fox calling Pennsylvania for Joe Biden, which could make the conservative network the first to give Biden 270 electoral votes.
Brace yourself for Part II of the 2020 election — it starts today, in Georgia. Hundreds of millions of dollars are about to pour into the Peach State, now that control of the Senate — and the fate of the next president's agenda — hinges on runoffs for not one but both of the state's seats, set for Jan. 5.
Why it matters: If Joe Biden goes to the White House, the outcomes of these races will determine whether he can move aggressively to enact Democratic policy priorities and confirm his top cabinet and judicial nominees.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) supported a number of President Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud and election corruption on Fox News' "Hannity" on Wednesday night.
Why it matters: A number of Republicans, including top Trump adviser Chris Christie, have rebuked the president for failing to provide evidence for his claims that Democrats are "stealing" the election. Graham and Cruz, two of the most prominent Republicans in the Senate, are sticking by Trump.
One of President Trump's top alliespublicly rebuked him on Thursday night for failing to produce evidence to support his unfounded claims that Democrats were stealing the election from him.
Driving the news: "We heard nothing today about any evidence," former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on ABC. "This kind of thing, all it does is inflame without informing. And we cannot permit inflammation without information."
In remarks from the White House briefing room Thursday night, President Trump bragged of Republican victories in the House and Senate before baselessly claiming that widespread voter fraud has caused his lead in the presidential race to "miraculously" slip away.
Why it matters: As Trump spoke, mail-in ballots that overwhelmingly favor Joe Biden continued to thin his lead in the must-win state of Pennsylvania. If Biden wins Pennsylvania, he will not need to win any of the other outstanding swing states.
James Baker, the former secretary of state who led the political and legal team during the 2000 Florida recount battle that ensured George W. Bush's presidency, told the New York Times on Thursday that President Trump should not try to halt voting counting.
Why it matters: Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, has said he is looking for a "James Baker-like" figure to lead the president's legal efforts to dispute votes in several states, the Times reported Wednesday.
