POLITICO Playbook: Tapper and Wallace take opposing tacks on GOP election deniers
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DRIVING THE DAY
Happy Friday, Playbookers. If you thought President JOE BIDEN’S offer to keep the corporate tax rate at 21% might yield a breakthrough on infrastructure … not so much. Biden told Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.) this week he’d be open to imposing a 15% minimum tax instead. But ahead of another Biden-Capito meeting today (this one not in person), plenty of reporting suggests the GOP is bearish on this alternative.
The Washington Times reports that “Senate Republican negotiators are poised to reject President Biden’s proposal … They view the compromise offered by Mr. Biden as merely substituting one tax hike for another, said a congressional aide with knowledge of the negotiations. … The rejection of Mr. Biden’s compromise proposal signaled the negotiations, which were already at an impasse, are in jeopardy of collapse ahead of the administration’s self-imposed Monday deadline for a deal.”
And on Biden’s left flank, progressives, who have generally been happier with the president than they expected, are losing patience. Or “losing their minds,” as our colleagues Laura Barrón-López, Chris Cadelago and Sam Stein put it in a story Thursday night.
— NBC quoted JIM MESSINA, DAN PFEIFFER and others warning that Biden risked a 2009 redux. And even moderate former Sen. BEN NELSON said not to trust Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL: “It’ll be a purely political calculation on his part. … I don’t expect McConnell to be there in the end.”
THE OTHER BIG STORY ON THE HILL TODAY: After more than two years (here’s Kyle Cheney’s story from May 2019!), former White House counsel DON MCGAHN will testify before congressional investigators. But several months into the Biden administration, it’s not really about new DONALD TRUMP revelations anymore — for Democrats, it’s the principle of the thing.
WaPo reports: “[T]he appearance is Democrats’ way of demonstrating that congressional subpoenas must be obeyed — an argument they offered throughout a lengthy legal battle that seemed destined to reach the Supreme Court before a deal with the Biden administration ended the fight in what may prove to be a political win, but at best is a constitutional draw. …
“Some Democrats are hopeful McGahn’s long-awaited turn through Capitol Hill will help revive interest in those reforms [to address presidential abuses of power], which recently have been the subject of discussions between Congress and the White House, according to people familiar with the ongoing effort.” L.A. Times’ Harry Litman sets the table: “Whatever Trump’s White House counsel finally testifies to, it won’t be enough”
TGIF, and thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
TO BOOK OR NOT TO BOOK? — JAKE TAPPER confirmed what’s been apparent since Jan. 6: Republicans who push election fraud conspiracies are not welcome on his show.
“It’s not a policy, but it’s a philosophy where I just don’t want to deal with it,” Tapper told KARA SWISHER on her NYT podcast, “Sway,” last week. “I mean, there’s about a third of the House Republican caucus that I am willing to book. I could name them to you if you want.”
This means no KEVIN MCCARTHY, no STEVE SCALISE and no ELISE STEFANIK on “State of the Union.” Tapper makes a fair point: If they’re willing to lie about the election, what else are they willing to lie about to his audience?
After hearing Tapper’s comments, we were curious whether hosts of the other big political shows have adopted the same practice. Among those that have are “Morning Joe” duo JOE SCARBOROUGH and MIKA BRZEZINSKI. Brezinski recently called out media outlets for “booking Republicans who support the big lie and tiptoed around it just because they’re so grateful to have a Republican on to talk about other things.” Those Republicans have not been invited on “Morning Joe” since Jan. 6.
But at least one host who’s been tough on Trump and election conspiracies disagrees. “Moral posturing” is how CHRIS WALLACE of “Fox News Sunday” described such blanket bans on Republicans who voted against certifying the election.
“I don’t think moral posturing goes well with news gathering,” Wallace told us in a statement, adding: “There are plenty of people I would like to have on Fox News Sunday that voted to challenge the election — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy for one. And I don’t have any rule about what the first question has to be. I have asked plenty of guests about voting to challenge the election and about Trump’s role in the January 6th insurrection. But I cover the news, wherever that takes me.”
We shared that with Tapper, and he sent us this statement in response: “This isn’t a policy, it’s a discussion I think everyone in the news media should be having. Should those who shared the election lie that incited the deadly attack on the Capitol and that continues to erode confidence in our democracy be invited onto our airwaves to continue to spread the Big Lie? Can our viewers count on these politicians to tell the truth about other topics? This isn’t an easy conversation for some folks — especially for journalists who work for organizations where the Big Lie was platformed — but that’s all the more reason to have this conversation.”
Fox News is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for allegedly propagating election lies. The network is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.
Wallace has taken a different approach in dealing with election denialists — invite them on, and grill them. In an April interview, he left McCarthy stammering when he asked about the GOP leader’s phone call with Trump as the Capitol was being ransacked.
NBC’s CHUCK TODD has said in the past that he doesn’t ban categories of guests. But since Jan. 6, he hasn’t had a single Republican on “Meet the Press” who voted against the election results. In a guest column for Playbook in January, he called it “very frustrating” trying to get Republicans on his show.
“Meet the Press” has tried to book McCarthy, according to a network source.
When Republicans who opposed the election results are booked, the host of the show inevitably gets dragged on social media — for giving the politician airtime and/or, after the interview, for not questioning them aggressively enough. It happened with ABC’s JON KARL when he interviewed Scalise.
And WaPo media critic ERIK WEMPLE slammed ABC’s GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS for not making his interview with Sen. RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.) just about his vote. Wemple suggested that each host start the interview asking about their vote to overturn the election and then if they don’t recant it, simply end the interview.
We don’t envy the hosts: It’s a tough dilemma whether to invite on lawmakers who have enormous sway over the country’s direction — but potentially give them a platform to spread conspiracies. The quandary doesn’t end there: How do networks cover the modern Republican Party if 147 of its most senior officials are effectively off limits for interviews?
What happens if McCarthy becomes speaker of the House in 2022? Soon after that, GOP politicians who voted against the election results — like JOSH HAWLEY, TED CRUZ and Scott — may be running for president. Will they, too, not be allowed in the chair?
MCCONNELL, OKLAHOMA AND THE EDUCATION CULTURE WAR — A century ago, a violent white mob razed the heart of Tulsa’s thriving Black community. Now, Oklahoma — and Republicans on Capitol Hill — are swept up in a national culture war over how schools teach kids about racism and sexism. Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL has inserted himself into that battle. On today’s “Playbook Deep Dive,” POLITICO’s education editor DELECE SMITH-BARROW and RYAN delve into the tug-of-war, its implications for 2022 and how McConnell is turning what was once the subject of an occasional Fox News segment into a core piece of the Republican platform.Listen here
BIDEN’S FRIDAY:
— 9 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
— 10:15 a.m.: Biden will speak about the May jobs report.
— 10:55 a.m.: The Bidens will depart Rehoboth Beach, Del., getting back to the White House at 12:20 p.m.
Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 1 p.m.
CONGRESS is in recess this week.
PLAYBOOK READS
THE ORIGINS OF COVID
WILD STORY — “A scientist adventurer and China’s ‘Bat Woman’ are under scrutiny as coronavirus lab-leak theory gets another look,” by WaPo’s Eva Dou and Lily Kuo: “The silencing of scientists, the blanket denials, the careful guarding of raw data and biological samples — these elements have been emblematic of the approach by Chinese authorities at every stage of the coronavirus outbreak. And they continue to obstruct the world’s ability to get answers.”
— David Asher, who headed the State Department’s task force investigating the pandemic’s origins under the Trump administration, writes in the WSJ: “The World Needs Answers on Covid’s Origin: “China wants the issue to go away. The U.S. should use all of its tools to keep the pressure on Beijing.”
— Meanwhile in Congress, “Republicans finally found a commission they can get behind,” Melanie Zanonaand Andrew Desiderio write. “Feeling vindicated after Democrats, scientists and the media gave new oxygen to the theory that the coronavirus was borne out of a laboratory accident in China, Republicans are now ramping up efforts to prod President Joe Biden’s party into opening a thorough investigation into the origins of the virus — through an independent commission or at the congressional level.
“But ... it’s unclear whether Democrats are actually willing to launch a wide-ranging review. The House’s select panel on Covid-19 has not committed to exploring how the deadly outbreak started, with its chair, Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.), recently suggesting he’d rather look forward than backward.”
THE WHITE HOUSE
CYBERCRIME SUMMER — “‘They are hair on fire’: Biden administration mulls cyberattacks against Russian hackers,” by NBC’s Ken Dilanian: “The Biden administration is moving to treat ransomware attacks as a national security threat, using intelligence agencies to spy on foreign criminals and contemplating offensive cyber operations against hackers inside Russia, U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the matter said.
“Although using the military to take action against criminals wouldn’t be without precedent, it’s controversial in legal circles, and any American cyber action against targets in Russia would risk retaliation. But officials say criminal ransomware attacks from abroad, once a nuisance, have become a major source of economic damage, as the disruption of gasoline and meat supplies in recent weeks has illustrated. ‘Right now, they are hair on fire,’ a former government official said of the Biden administration.”
INFRASTRUCTURE YEAR
PAY-FOR WORRIES — “Dems start to get tax-hike anxiety,” by Bernie Becker and Aaron Lorenzo: “There’s a small but growing list of Democratic lawmakers who’ve expressed reservations. And it’s not just moderates desperately trying to cling to their seats next year who are going public — it’s also committee chairs and senior lawmakers in no real electoral danger. …
“Perhaps the biggest issue for Democrats is that once they are more fully engaged on tax increases, they’ll find they have almost zero margin in Congress with which to pass this latest vision of big government. All this has left progressives increasingly impatient with any Democrats worried about the political implications of big tax hikes.”
POLICY CORNER
A(NOTHER) IMMIGRATION CRISIS? — “Huge border influx brings fears of grim summer for migrant deaths,” by WaPo’s Nick Miroff: “Much of the Biden administration’s border response in recent months has centered on caring for the unaccompanied minors who have arrived in record numbers, along with parents traveling with children. Those groups do not typically attempt to evade capture, and they usually seek out U.S. agents after crossing the border to request humanitarian protection.
“Adult migrants continue to be the largest share of border crossers, however, and smuggling guides often send them through rugged desert and mountain areas where deaths from exposure rise with extreme heat. U.S. agents took more than 111,000 single adult migrants into custody in April, the highest total in more than a decade, and the number increased again in May, according to preliminary enforcement data.”
AMERICA AND THE WORLD
THE FUTURE OF U.S.-ISRAEL RELATIONS — “No ‘provoking’: Israeli official vows quieter tone with US,” by AP’s Ellen Knickmeyer: “[Israel’s visiting defense minister] BENNY GANTZ told reporters before a meeting with Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN that Iran’s nuclear program and other actions were an ‘existential threat’ to Israel. ‘Stopping Iran is certainly a shared strategic need of the United States,’ Israel and other countries, Gantz said.
“But on a visit that came as an opposition coalition back home tries to end [PM BENJAMIN] NETANYAHU’S 12 years in power, Gantz — unlike Netanyahu — stopped short of openly opposing the Biden administration’s efforts to get the United States back into a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program, in exchange for relief from sanctions.”
VALLEY TALK
AMAZON’S WASHINGTON OFFENSIVE — “‘That’s where we get the leg up’: How former government officials boost Amazon’s cloud computing unit,” by Daniel Lippman and Emily Birnbaum: “Amazon’s massive cloud-computing unit is aggressively recruiting U.S. government officials as it pushes to make itself essential to branches such as the military and the intelligence community, a POLITICO analysis has found. Since 2018, Amazon Web Services has hired at least 66 former government officials with acquisition, procurement or technology adoption experience, most hired directly away from government posts and more than half of them from the Defense Department. That’s a small portion of AWS’ tens of thousands of employees, but a particularly key group to its federal business. …
“The hiring spree highlights how tech companies are becoming more entrenched in the operations of the government itself — and indispensable to Cabinet agencies and national security operations — even as politicians shout about the danger of letting them get too powerful. And as Silicon Valley becomes more essential to making the government run, it is trickier than ever for lawmakers to figure out how to check the industry’s power.”
BIG CHANGE FROM MENLO PARK — “Facebook to end special treatment for politicians after Trump ban,” by The Verge’s Alex Heath
TRUMP CARDS
PENCE SPEAKS — “Pence says he ‘may never see eye to eye’ with Trump on Jan. 6 insurrection,” by Myah Ward
— HOW IT PLAYED, via the New Hampshire Union Leader’s Josie Albertson-Grove: “He praised the police who quelled the riot after a mob ransacked the Capitol, some calling for Pence’s death. But Pence stuck by the certification of the election results that declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner.
“‘That day we reconvened the Congress and did our duty,’ Pence said.
“The room was nearly silent.”
COMING ATTRACTIONS — “Trump to speak at Dallas CPAC event in July,” by Fox News’ Tyler Olson and Paul Steinhauser
TV TONIGHT — PBS’ “Washington Week”: Leigh Ann Caldwell, Astead Herndon, Anita Kumar and Annie Linskey.
SUNDAY SO FAR …
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CBS
“Face the Nation”: Condoleezza Rice … Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) … Brian Moynihan … Scott Gottlieb.
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FOX
“Fox News Sunday”: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Panel: Doug Heye, Susan Page and Marie Harf.
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Gray TV
“Full Court Press”: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
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MSNBC
“The Sunday Show”: Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) … Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) … Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) … Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) … Liz Abzug … Michael Waldman … Tyler Titus … Stuart Stevens … Max Boot … Rosa Brooks … Annette Gordon-Reed.
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ABC
“This Week”: Panel: Rahm Emanuel, Donna Brazile, Jason Riley and Justin Amash.
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CNN
“Inside Politics”: Panel: Amy Walter, Kaitlan Collins, Errol Louis and Julie Hirschfeld Davis.
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NBC
“Meet the Press”: Panel: Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Lanhee Chen, Anne Gearan and Chris Matthews.
PLAYBOOKERS
BOOKMARK THIS PAGE — “Where to Eat Like the Bidens in D.C.,” Eater: “It’s too early to say whether the Biden administration’s restaurant attendance will create as much fervor as the Obamas, but even in these first few months in office, the President and First Lady are dipping their toes into the D.C. restaurant community. This map will chronicle their official stops.”
PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — The Monocle will fully reopen for normal business Tuesday — including indoor and outdoor dining, bar service and private events — with no masks required for the fully vaccinated. The restaurant right by the Capitol was closed for months after the Jan. 6 insurrection, and more recently has been open in a limited capacity.
HOLLYWOOD AT THE WATERGATE — A Playbooker writes in that they spotted “digging and light trucks, craft service tables, [film equipment], bright lights, and lots of people who could be extras” near the building.
SPOTTED: Second gentleman Doug Emhoff at the D.C. gay sports bar Pitchers for Pride Month, via CNN’s Courtney Doll.
STAFFING UP — Lindsay Spadoni will be a senior counsel at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. She most recently was an attorney-adviser at Treasury’s CDFI Fund.
— The White House announced a suite of new administration nominations: Paloma Adams-Allen and Isobel Coleman as deputy USAID administrators, Grant Harris as an assistant Commerce secretary, Neil MacBride as general counsel at Treasury, Caral Spangler as an assistant secretary of the Army, Julieta Valls Noyes as an assistant secretary of State and David Weil as wage and hour administrator at the Labor Department.
TRANSITIONS — Damon Hewitt will move up to be president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, succeeding Kristen Clarke. He currently is EVP. … Agnes Rigg is now a research assistant for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs GOP. She previously was a legislative correspondent for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) (5-0) … Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Jim Baird (R-Ind.) … Pangiam’s Andrew Meehan … Emily Gold of “Meet the Press” … John Arundel of Perdicus Communications … Camden Stuebe of Free the Facts … Joey Coon of the Niskanen Center (4-0) … WaPo’s Colby Itkowitz … E&E News’ Carlos Anchondo … Amy Surber … Charbel Antoun … Koch Industries’ Steve Lombardo … David Bolger of Executive Briefing … Scott Tranter … Facebook’s Ryan Daniels ... CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco … Jason Attermann … Abigail Strayer ... Vinnie Wishrad ... Amelia Showalter ... Tracey Lewis … Mike Murphy … ProPublica’s Justin Elliott … John Horstman (3-0) … Hannah Castillo … POLITICO’s Traci Schweikert … Bryan Sanders … Cape Verdean PM Ulisses Correia e Silva … Mort Zuckerman … May Davis
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