RFK Jr. in the spotlight: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk, our evening newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News political team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

On today’s edition, Robert F. Kennedy begins talks with senators in Washington and Donald Trump holds his first post-election press conference. Plus, our senior political editor uncovers the key underlying factors that led to Kamala Harris’ defeat in November.

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RFK Jr. begins meeting with senators to lead HHS

Written by Kate Santaris, Sahil Kapoor, Brennan Leach

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., plans to meet with more than 20 Republican senators on Capitol Hill this week, according to a person familiar with his plans. did.

President Kennedy is poised to face questions about his long history of anti-vaccine rhetoric, his vision for restructuring the health care industry and his support for abortion rights.

The list of senators includes John Thune (R-Wyo.), who will be the Senate majority leader next year, and Mike, who will soon become the Senate Finance Committee chairman. Crapo, R-Idaho, whose committee will oversee and vote on Kennedy’s planned nomination.

His first meeting was with Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who called it a “great meeting” and said, “I fully support what he wants to accomplish and I’m very excited about his I wish you luck.”

Scott said he and Kennedy both want “transparency” regarding vaccines.

Other notable names on President Kennedy’s meeting list include moderate Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Sen. Thom Tillis, RN.C., up for re-election in 2026. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is the ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which will also consider his nomination.

One of the key senators to watch in the fight for Kennedy’s confirmation is Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). He will step down from Republican leadership after 18 years in the top job, but will remain in the Senate. McConnell, a polio survivor, fired a warning shot Friday in response to a New York Times report that Kennedy, an adviser to President Kennedy, once asked the FDA to rescind approval of the polio vaccine.

“The polio vaccine holds the promise of saving millions of lives and eradicating a terrible disease,” McConnell said in a statement. “Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven treatments are not only uninformed, they are dangerous.”

A spokesman for President Kennedy told the New York Times that he and the adviser in question had not discussed the adviser’s move to withdraw approval of the polio vaccine. Kennedy’s press secretary, Katie Miller, told NBC News on Friday that “the polio vaccine should be made available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied.”

On Monday, President Kennedy was asked by reporters if he supported a polio vaccine, and he answered, “Yes, I do.”

At a news conference Monday, Trump said he was a “huge believer” in the polio vaccine and said Kennedy was a “very reasonable person.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said he would “question” Kennedy about his views on abortion.

“Obviously, HHS under the first Trump administration was very clear about abortion conscience protections and all these other issues. But (Joe) Biden’s team has unraveled all that,” Lankford said. he said in a recent interview. “These are the questions I ask.”

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At his first post-election press conference, a cheerful Trump boasts of his popularity with CEOs.

Written by Rebecca Chabad and Rob Weil

President-elect Donald Trump was upbeat Monday at his first post-election news conference, saying there are big differences between when he took office in 2016 and now, with some of his former opponents now like him. He said he is being kind to people.

“Everyone wants to be my friend,” he said of how he is treated by the CEOs of major technology companies, whom he has traditionally portrayed as adversaries. “I don’t know, but maybe his personality has changed or something.”

During his first Mar-a-Lago event since November, President Trump said one of the biggest differences over the past four years was that “everybody was fighting me.”

“The biggest difference is that this time people want to get along with me,” he added.

President Trump mentioned recent meetings with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and former Alphabet CEO Sergey Brin. He also said he plans to meet with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos later this week. Several large tech companies, including Amazon, Meta, and OpenAI, have already donated $1 million each to President Trump’s inaugural fund.

President Trump and Masayoshi Son, president of Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, also announced a $100 billion investment drive aimed at boosting artificial intelligence and related infrastructure projects.

Here are some other notable moments from Monday’s press conference.

President Trump has signaled he is willing to pardon New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted in September on bribery and wire fraud charges as part of a nearly decade-long scheme. “The government knows what’s going on,” he said. Trump declined to say whether he had received intelligence reports on the matter. Trump criticized those who praise the man responsible for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

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The real reason the Democratic Party lost in 2024

Written by Mark Murray

In the six weeks since the 2024 presidential election, a variety of explanations have been offered for the Democratic Party’s loss.

Some argue that Kamala Harris and her party have been too progressive. Others believe they were not progressive enough. Others blame culture, “neoliberalism,” media consumption, podcasts, immigration, and, of course, inflation.

But polling data suggests there is a more fundamental reason why Harris lost to Donald Trump. That said, Joe Biden’s presidency has been historically unpopular. And as the sitting vice president, Harris was unable or unable to distance herself from Biden.

Let’s take a look at Gallup’s historic presidential approval ratings. Every modern president whose pre-election employment rate was less than 45% saw his party lose the election.

And the incumbent vice president’s job has become even more difficult. There is only one current current vice president, George H.W. Bush, who succeeds the president he or she served. Bush 41 did it before the 1988 election, when Ronald Reagan’s approval rating was 58%.

In 2000, when Bill Clinton’s approval rating was 57%, Al Gore came very close to winning the White House.

But Harris’ situation is more similar to Hubert Humphrey’s in 1968. At the time, President Lyndon Johnson’s approval rating was 42 percent, and Vice President Humphrey lost the popular vote to Richard Nixon by nearly a percentage point.

Take a guess. Heading into last November’s presidential election, Biden’s approval rating was 41%. And Ms. Harris, like Mr. Humphrey, lost the popular vote by nearly 1.5 percentage points.

The reasons for Biden’s low approval ratings are currently up for debate. How much of that was at the border? Or withdraw from Afghanistan? Or inflation? Or is it his age? Or is it a combination of all of the above?

But no matter how you slice it, he was unpopular for most of his presidential term. And presidential unpopularity is the main reason political parties lose control of the White House.

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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