What Fox News Hosts Say In Private
It's not what they say while on air.
Welcome to Politics Extra, an end-of-day news round up from Political Wire. If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with others. Thanks for reading!
What You May Have Missed
Fox News stars Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham privately trashed Donald Trump’s 2020 stolen election claims, and Carlson and Hannity tried to get a Fox reporter fired for fact-checking a Trump tweet about the claims. They also trashed Rudy Giuliani, saying he wasn’t credible.
Just after the 2020 election, Rupert Murdoch directed his Fox News CEO to abandon Trump and focus on using coverage to boost GOP candidates in Georgia’s two Senate runoff elections (which they lost).
Though Gov. Ron DeSantis skeptics say he could go the way of Scott Walker, Walker himself says DeSantis is better positioned for 2024 than he was for 2016. DeSantis is staffing up for an all-but-certain presidential campaign.
Two South Carolina presidential prospects, Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, are focusing on party unity and traditional pre-Trump GOP themes. But will it be enough to break through?
Longshot GOP presidential wannabes like Chris Christie, Sen. Rick Scott, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin could wait until late in 2023 to enter the race, hoping one or more of the frontrunners will fumble by then. In advance of a possible run, Scott has quietly carved out Medicare and Social Security from his proposal to sunset all federal legislation every five years.
Several key senators, including Democrats Bob Casey, Joe Manchin, and Jon Tester; Republican Mitt Romney; and newly independent Kyrsten Sinema have yet to decide if they will seek reelection in 2024.
National Republican leaders are fretting over high-profile 2022 election losers like Kari Lake and Blake Masters in Arizona, J.R. Majewski in Ohio, and Joe Kent in Washington who want another try in 2024.
Sen. John Fetterman is expected to remain hospitalized for a few weeks as doctors try to find the correct medications and dosage to treat his clinical depression. He does not plan to resign his seat.
When DeSantis leaves the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, Rep. Matt Gaetz might try to move in.
First came George Santos. Then came Anna Paulina Luna. Now, Andy Ogles of Tennessee is the third GOP House freshman busted for puffing up his résumé.
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Extra Links
Here are some interesting links that didn’t make it into Political Wire today:
Bruce Mehlman’s latest slide deck is out.
Both Pennsylvania senators are now out due to health problems.
Kamala Harris confirms that she’ll be Biden’s running mate in 2024.
No additional classified documents found in Mike Pence’s office.
White House defends response to Ohio train derailment.
From the political dictionary: “wilderness years”
Agree with Rick Wilson on the Senator’s situation. As for the back stabbing & lies circulating around Fox News. I am not surprised.