This week, we looked at GOP hopefuls circling former President Trump, ballot drop boxes in Georgia and a playbook change for families of wrongfully detained Americans.
The Big Picture: Trump erosion
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Trump has been the dominant force in Republican politics for seven years. Scores of candidates are channeling him and seeking his endorsement, especially in GOP primaries.
But there are growing signs that the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection has started to fray Trump’s cloak of invincibility. Some numbers that help make the case:
Increase in blaming Trump for Jan. 6: 57% of independents in the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll said Trump is to blame for Jan. 6, up from 49% in December. A Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that 40% of Republicans said Trump is at least partially responsible, up from 33% before the hearings.
More Republicans say they don’t want Trump to be the nominee: 55% of Republicans in a recent CNN poll said they don’t want Trump to be their standard-bearer in 2024, up from 49% in a poll conducted early this year, before this summer’s blockbuster Jan. 6 committee hearings. A University of New Hampshire poll showed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis besting Trump in a potential primary for the first time and faring better than Trump against President Joe Biden.
Republicans say Trump’s focused too much on the past: 52% of Republicans said in an Echelon Insights survey that Trump is too focused on what happened in the 2020 election, the top reason given for what would be a good reason to oppose a Trump 2024 run.
Even editorial boards once friendly to Trump, like the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post and Wall Street Journal, have called him “unworthy” to be president again, citing his “character” and conduct on Jan. 6.
Potential 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls are taking notice. Seeing a hairline crack of an opening, many are taking steps to position themselves for a potential run. Trump announcing soon could close the door on many of them, which is why he appears to be at least contemplating an announcement before the midterms.
Dem spending deal: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin announced a deal on a bill that includes new spending on climate and health care, as well as tax provisions. The agreement is a breakthrough for Senate Democrats whose efforts to pass much of President Biden’s domestic agenda have been stymied by holdouts in their caucus, including Manchin. For his part, Biden hailed the deal as “historic” and urged the House and Senate to pass the bill quickly.
CHIPS bill passes: Congress this week passed bipartisan legislation aimed at supporting domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips. The legislation would provide $54 billion in grants for semiconductor manufacturing and research, tens of billions to support regional technology hubs and a tax credit for some investments in semiconductor manufacturing.
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Georgia lawmakers changed voting laws after 2020, including eliminating drop boxes in certain counties. That will make it harder for many voters in cities and suburbs to access them.
An analysis by NPR, WABE and GPB that compiled drop box usage data in Georgia found:
More than half of the roughly 550,000 voters who cast their ballot using a drop box in the state's 2020 general election lived in four metro Atlanta counties where about 50% of the voters are people of color.
Under the new law, the number of drop boxes in four metro Atlanta counties — Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett -- plummeted from 107 to 25 between the 2020 election and the state's primaries earlier this year.
Nearly 1.9 million people, a quarter of the state's voters, have seen their travel time to a drop box increase from the 2020 election.
The Shot: Families of wrongfully detained Americans speak out
Shuran Huang for NPR
Families of Americans who are wrongfully detained are done being quiet.
They're frustrated by the pace of diplomatic efforts, terrified for the mental and physical well-being of their captured loved ones and desperate to reunite. And they've shifted strategy, writes NPR's Jason Breslow.
The playbook for such families had been to stay quiet and avoid the media spotlight, But now, they're hoping a new approach is their best and possibly last card to play: speaking out in an effort to bring greater attention to their plight and to intensify political pressure on the White House. Read more about the families who very much done staying quiet.
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