Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk. This evening newsletter brings you the latest reporting and analysis from campaigns, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News politics team.
In today’s edition, senior Congressional reporter Scott Wong speaks with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who is traveling across the country to support Republican candidates for Congress. Plus, Senior Political Editor Mark Murray analyzes the latest NBC News polls to show how President Joe Biden is holding back Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Johnson predicts new coalition will elect Republicans in 2024
Written by Scott Wong
HELLERTOWN, Pa. — In an exclusive interview with NBC News, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Republicans will expand their House majority by winning a larger share of Hispanics, blacks, and people of color. and detailed how he sees himself taking back the White House and the Senate. There were more Jewish voters and union members (traditionally Democratic constituencies) than in past elections.
“If you do the math behind this election, you’ll see that there has been a demographic shift,” Johnson said before a campaign event on behalf of Republican House candidates in Hellertown. spoke.
“I think we’re going to have record numbers of Hispanic and Latino voters. I think we’re going to have record numbers of black and African American voters, Jewish voters, union voters. “We’re talking to all these groups of people,” he continued. “And they’re not just reluctant participants. They’re excited.”
Johnson and former President Donald Trump spoke at rallies about high prices and failure to secure the border, two of the biggest issues for voters, even though inflation has cooled and Trump helped destroy a bipartisan Senate border deal. He blamed Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The base is really eroding,” Johnson said of the Democratic Party. “The reason is that I think people are really paying attention across party lines and personalities. They’re evaluating how their lives are now and how they were four years ago. So I think they’re paying attention to policy.”
The 52-year-old speaker has campaigned this cycle in more than 220 cities in 40 states, including a stop in Pennsylvania last week. He will visit 65 other cities in 24 states in the final three weeks before Election Day as Republicans try to attract new voters to protect or increase their slim three-seat majority in the House. .
Much of Mr. Johnson’s campaign time is spent in the battleground states of California and New York, blue states where his party is defending more than a dozen seats and trying to flip several others. Given the divided state of the House, it is possible that either of these two states could win or lose a majority. But Pennsylvania, which boasts some close races in the battlegrounds, could also be at a critical juncture.
Read more from Scott →
New poll reveals how Biden continues to lag Harris
Written by Mark Murray
Of all the findings in the latest NBC News poll, this one helps explain why Vice President Kamala Harris’ momentum is stalling now, with three weeks until Election Day: Joe. President Biden remains a political drag.
This can be seen in the proportion of voters who believe Biden’s policies have helped them (25%) and those who say they are hurting them (45%).
Compare that to the poll’s 44% who said President Trump’s policies helped, and 31% who said they hurt.
This can be seen in Biden’s approval rating in public opinion polls (43%), but the retrospective approval rating for Trump’s presidency is 5 points higher (48%).
And that also applies to this question of who voters are more concerned about: Harris continuing the same approach as Biden or Trump continuing the same approach from his first term as president. can be seen. Overall, 43% of voters said they were more concerned about Harris succeeding Biden, while 43% of voters said they were more concerned about Trump repeating the actions of his time in the White House. The answer was 41%.
“The fact that Harris is even slightly behind on this policy is a red flag because voters are worried that Biden’s policies are harming families,” said Jeff Horwitt, the Democratic half of the bipartisan team. “They are more likely to believe that Trump’s policies have helped their families, whereas they are more likely to believe that Trump’s policies have helped their families.” An NBC News poll is being conducted.
For Bill McInturff, the Republican half of the polling team, the “headwinds” facing Harris in the poll include running as the sitting vice president of an unpopular president who does not seek reelection.
“She is seeking another term from the incumbent party,” he said.
The good news for Harris is that she has distanced herself somewhat from Biden. Her popularity slightly exceeds Biden’s in polls, and she leads Trump by 5 points in terms of which candidate better represents change (although this is down from her 9 points for the month). (decreased from the difference) before). Her vote ranking in the NBC News poll is also stronger than it was in all of 2024, when Biden was still in the race.
But the challenge for her, as NBC News’ Monica Alba and Carol E. Lee report, is that she can’t answer, at least so far, what she would do differently than Biden. .
🗞️ Today’s Top News
🔊 Turn up the volume: President Trump has ramped up rhetoric that paints his rivals and critics as criminals, while also using politics he deems misleading or that challenges his claims to power. He has dropped long-standing hints that he supports outlawing public speech. In a Fox News interview that aired Sunday, the former president called Democrats who opposed and investigated him “the enemy from within.” Continue reading → 2️⃣ Take 2: President Trump says he will push Congress to pass legislation to increase the number of Border Patrol agents, months after blocking bipartisan measures that would have increased the number of Border Patrol agents. Continue reading → 🩺 Testing: Harris released a health report over the weekend, seeking to draw a contrast with Trump, who has not made public details of his health. Continue reading → 📣 Risk of backlash: Some Arab and Muslim leaders in Michigan have publicly supported Harris’ candidacy for the presidency, calling for a response to Israel’s wars in Gaza and southern Lebanon. He says he fears upsetting voters who are angry about U.S. aid. Continue reading → 🛣 Battleground state blitz: Harris is canvassing voters Monday in Pennsylvania’s Erie County, a bellwether that has reflected the results of this key battleground state in the past four elections. Read more → 🔀 Would you like to change your position? Republican presidential candidates have won a majority of white women voters in every election since 2000, but new battleground state polls suggest key voting blocs could be up for grabs this year. I am doing it. Continue reading → 🗳 Tense situation: Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers target floating voters in preparation for ‘very close’ Michigan Senate race is making its final appeal. Continue reading → 🗺️ Zoom in on the map: Democrats and Republicans are betting on a huge chance to flip additional seats in their ranks by pouring money into the edges of the map in battleground states of Florida, Texas, Nebraska and Maryland. Masu. Read more →📝 Beulah? Beulah? Republican Jim Justice is on track to become West Virginia’s next U.S. senator. However, Politico reports that there are concerns about his attendance issues as governor. Read more → Follow live updates from the campaign trail →
That’s all from the political desk. If you have any feedback, love it or hate it, email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com.
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