Axios

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced the chamber will vote on a bill to protect a person's ability to access contraceptives this Wednesday.

Why it matters: The vote on the Right to Contraception Act comes just ahead of the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down federal abortion rights protections and as Democrats highlight the matter as a key 2024 election issue.

Some Democrats in key congressional races are focusing their campaigns on abortion rights, MAGA extremism, inflation, the border and local issues — anything except President Biden.

• Why it matters: Biden may get a bump in support because of Trump's felony conviction, but several Democratic lawmakers tell Axios the president's middling poll numbers to date have made distinguishing themselves from him a priority.
• There is "more distancing now as his numbers continue to tank," said one House Democrat seeking re-election in a competitive district, adding that they are "pretty much washing my hands of his campaign."

The tension between Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Trump's team has been rising, as Paul has questioned Trump's commitment to cut spending.

• Paul is among a dwindling number of Republicans who've refused to publicly back the former president as the GOP's 2024 nominee.
• And those in Trump's orbit are getting antsy about it.
• "There's a growing sentiment in Trumpworld that Rand can't be trusted, and it's a great disappointment," Trump ally and consultant Alex Bruesewitz told Axios.

🥊 Paul questioned Trump's spending plans during a heated exchange with top Trump ally Russell Vought during a closed-door meeting on May 22, Axios has learned.

Biden and Trump are making a point of courting Black voters, but since he was convicted Thursday, Trump's campaign has touted a particularly provocative pitch.

• He and surrogates have launched an aggressive appeal to Black men, trying to link Trump's claims that he's a victim of a corrupt justice system to similar feelings in Black communities.

It's the latest example of using bad legal news to feed his familiar theme that he's a victim of political persecution.

• In this case, Trump — long known for racially incendiary comments about African Americans and Latinos — is trying to show a common bond with Black voters, particularly men.

The hits keep comin' for Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas): Now House Republicans' campaign arm is adding him to the list of Democrats it plans to invest in defeating, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Republicans initially wrote off the Democrat-leaning South Texas seat, but his indictment on bribery charges last month has put it in play.

• The National Republican Congressional Committee also is targeting seats being vacated by retiring Reps. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) and Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), bringing its total number of targeted seats to 40, according to a list first shared with Axios.
• Cuellar and Kuster's districts voted for Biden in 2020 by 7 and 9 percentage points, respectively, while Manning's district was redrawn this cycle to lean more Republican.

Donald Trump's team has stepped up its pitch to Black voters in the days since his conviction on 34 felony counts, claiming the real estate mogul and Black communities share a frustration over an unfair justice system.

Why it matters: It's the latest example of Trump's campaign using bad legal news to feed the ex-president's familiar theme that he's a victim of political persecution.

• In this case, Trump — long known for racially incendiary comments about African Americans and Latinos — is trying to show a common bond with Black voters, particularly men.
• President Biden and other Democrats have ridiculed the strategy, with Biden saying last week that Trump is "pandering and peddling lies and stereotypes for your vote, so he can win for himself, not for you."

Driving the news: Trump's strategy is unfolding as polls suggest he's cutting into Biden's hefty support among Black voters, 92% of whom backed Biden in 2020.

• In a race that could be decided on the margins, even relatively small gains by either side among key voting blocs could be significant.

Some of Trump's most visible surrogates, including Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, are being deployed to court Black voters.

• "The reason we're seeing so many African Americans come into the Trump campaign — two big things: jobs and justice," Scott (R-S.C.) told CNN on Friday.
• "As an African American born and raised in the Deep South who had concerns about our justice system as it relates to race, I'm now seeing it play out from a partisan perspective," he added.
• Donald Trump Jr. and and other allies shared clips of listeners of the popular radio show "The Breakfast Club" calling in to express support for Trump after his conviction.

The former president's campaign and the New York Young Republican Club have been discussing potential campaign events in the city's outer boroughs, club president Gavin Wax told Axios.

• Scott Presler, a conservative activist working with the Republican National Committee to register voters, asked his followers and volunteers for his organization, Early Vote Action, to reach out to Black men.
• "Donald Trump's conviction has highlighted the affliction of the American criminal justice system. And as it relates to Blacks, he should ... continue to say what he's been saying, and that is, 'I feel your pain,'" said Vernon Jones, a former DeKalb County executive and former GOP state legislator in Georgia.

Reality check: There's little evidence that Trump's I-am-a-victim-just-like-you argument is swaying many Black voters.

• Civil rights advocates have questioned Trump's attempt to equate his conviction as a particularly privileged defendant with the experiences of those in historically underserved communities.
• Trump's critics also cite allegations that he discriminated against Black apartment seekers in the 1970s.
• And they note his calls for New York to reinstate the death penalty in the 1980s as the "Central Park Five" — Black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted of beating and raping a white woman — were set to stand trial.
• "Y'all out here acting like Trump is Mandela," former South Carolina state Rep. Bakari Sellers posted on X.
• "Cut it out ... Trump broke the law. 12 peers held him accountable."

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) questioned former President Trump's commitment to slashing government spending in a heated exchange with top Trump ally Russell Vought during a recent closed-door meeting, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Paul is among a dwindling number of Republicans who've refused to publicly back the former president as the party's 2024 nominee. And those in Trump's orbit are getting antsy.

To some Democrats running in key congressional races, the 2024 election is about abortion rights, MAGA extremism, inflation, the border, local issues — anything except President Biden.

Why it matters: Biden may get a bump in support because of Donald Trump's felony conviction, but several Democratic lawmakers tell Axios the president's middling poll numbers to date have made distinguishing themselves from him a priority.

House Republicans' campaign arm is adding Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) to the list of Democrats it plans to invest in unseating, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Republicans had initially written off the Democratic-leaning South Texas seat, but his indictment on bribery charges last month has put it back into play.

President Biden's re-election campaign appealed to Black voters in Michigan over the weekend, launching a new coalition to court the voting bloc.

The big picture: It's a part of a wider campaign strategy to regain ground among Black voters, who showed up for Biden in the 2020 election but could be less supportive of him this year.

Former President Trump's team is more focused so far on building a sprawling network of "election integrity" lawyers and poll watchers than on rounding up organizers and door knockers to reach voters.

Why it matters: It's a sign that five months before Election Day, the legal battle over the 2024 race is underway — and that Trump plans to cry "rigged" if he loses, just as it did after the 2020 election and his felony convictions.

Former President Trump launched an official TikTok account last night, embracing a platform that's besieged on Capitol Hill.

Why it matters: President Biden has tried to split the difference. His campaign is on it as @BidenHQ. But he isn't personally, Axios' Alex Thompson notes.

Former President Trump said he's okay with potentially being sentenced to house arrest or jail time following his conviction last week on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial.

The big picture: Trump's sentencing is scheduled for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention where he is expected to officially accept the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination.