Reporter, Producer @CNN White House | former 2024 political embed on the trail, email tips to kit.maher@cnn.com or signal kitmaher.99 | Michigan native
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Algae cleanup at the Reflecting Pool this morning. Interior Dept says it’s "residual algae from the supply lines which have been sitting dormant for 8 weeks. It’s part of the normal startup process. We are removing the algae, and the nanobubblers will maintain the pool and keep it algae free.”
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*Music not playing*
@carrieunderwood: “I can just sing it”
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Trump takes questions from reporters from a garbage truck
“250 million people are not garbage,” he said, hopping into the passenger side
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Speaker Johnson on removing Mike Turner as intel chair: “This is not a President Trump decision. This is a House decision, and this is no slight whatsoever to our outgoing chairman. He did a great job.”
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“Very good because I won,” Trump said of his golf tournament. “It’s good to win. You heard I won, right? Did you hear I won? Just to back it up, you were there, I won. I like to win.”
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DeSantis tells me FL's new Black history standards are "rooted in whatever is factual," when I asked him his thoughts on middle school instruction on "how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit" –
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Leaving his office, @JDVance says: What the President believes is that we should support a clean CR so long as it contains a debt limit increase. That's the position of the president and that's what we're going to try to push for.
No response on if Johnson should be reelected
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I tried talking to construction workers leaving the East Wing area earlier. Some told me they signed NDAs, others said everything has to go through the WH press office:
cnn.com/2025/10/23/politics/…
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CNN's @AlejandraJMillo video of Vance being boo'ed as he leaves Shake Shake at Union Station:
"This is the guy who thinks people don't deserve law and order in their own community," Vance says.
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.@RonDeSantis tells NewsMax: "This is no time for foot fetishes."
"If Donald Trump can summon the balls to show up to the debate, I’ll wear a boot on my head."
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.@RonDeSantis begins speech at FL Freedom Summit asking for the teleprompters to be lowered:
“You gotta speak from the heart. It’s not about reading off the teleprompter.”
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📍.@RonDeSantis tells reporters Trump’s “juvenile insults” help him and are a “reminder why there’s so many millions of voters who will never vote for him going forward.”
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Two children were killed at Annunciation Catholic Church, one 8 years old and another 10 years old.
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” Minneapolis @MayorFrey said. “These kids were literally praying.”
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Liz Cheney at Duke: “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”
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.@RonDeSantis in Iowa “@NikkiHaley sided with Disney over Florida and over our kids. I'm sorry, that is disqualifying. If you're going to bend the knee to every big corporation and not stand up and fight, then you're not going to get the job done.”
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.@RonDeSantis tells @wrmcduff he will attend the Family Leader Thanksgiving Forum in Iowa despite RNC warnings:
“I think it's an important part of this process. It's been a part of this process for a long time. There's no way that should cause the RNC to penalize any candidate.”
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“You should talk to them about it. I didn’t do it. I wasn’t involved in it."
"They're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into, into doing things later in life."
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.@RonDeSantis on the Tara Show criticizes @NikkiHaley for saying George Floyd’s death needs to be “personal and painful for everyone.”
“I’m thinking to myself, why does that need to be personal and painful for you or me? We had nothing to do with it.”
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Asked JD Vance about Trump saying the whole country would end up like Detroit if Harris elected:
“If we're going to solve the problems, we have to be honest about the problems, and President Trump was just talking honestly about the fact that Detroit has been left behind.”
Full response —
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Full ROY clip including response to debt ceiling:
“You can't lift the debt ceiling or suspend the debt ceiling without structural reform to save money. That's the bottom line. It's like increasing your credit card limit, while you don't do anything to constrain spending."
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Vance addresses Tucker Carlson interviewing guest who suggested the Holocaust happened by accident.
Argues the best way to ensure the Holocaust doesn't happen again is to “debate and push back against bad ideas. It's not to try to censor and suppress them.”
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.@RonDeSantis knocks @realDonaldTrump’s poll numbers, telling NBC: “He's the most famous elected, former elected official in the world, the former Republican president, and he's at 40%?
… if Ronald Reagan ran in like ‘88, Ronald Reagan would be getting like 85 or 90%”
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.@RonDeSantis says he noticed that Trump threw @VivekGRamaswamy “under the bus.”
“The minute he wasn't useful, you know, they dropped the hammer on it. So that's just kind of the way they are.”
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.@RonDeSantis traveled on his own campaign bus for the first time in Iowa today …
Senior official tells me DeSantis will travel on the new wheels through caucuses. Bigger than the super PAC Never Back Down’s bus, it can accommodate special guests & surrogates on the trail.
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DeSantis continued, "The reality is, all of that is rooted in whatever is factual. They listed everything out. And if you have any questions about it, just ask the Department of Education..these were scholars who put that together. It was not anything that was done politically."
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.@KimReynoldsIA tells me she gave candidates a fair shake in Iowa, but it was time to “get behind a leader” she believes will win.
“They had their chance … I had to make a decision who I felt was the best candidate, and that was @RonDeSantis.”
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.@RonDeSantis walks the Londonderry, NH parade on the first leg of the @NvrBackDown24 bus tour today.
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DeSantis post-Trump indictment: “Let's focus on what the American people want going forward. This election needs to be about January 20, 2025, not January 6, 2021. We got to look forward. We got to start healing divisions in this country…
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Per @gretchenwhitmer spox: “The governor was surprised that she was brought into the Oval Office during President Trump’s press conference without any notice of the subject matter. Her presence is not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made at that event.”
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Trump on tariffs: “Every country’s called us. That's the beauty of what we do … if we would have asked some of these countries, almost, most of these countries, to do us a favor they would have said no. Now, they'll do anything for us.”
Asked if open to deals, “It depends.”
“Tariffs give us great power to negotiate.”
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DeSantis at the Never Back Down reception room enjoys a Coors Light after taking photos with attendees, following speech at Iowa GOP dinner, says, “We’re gonna get it done.”
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.@RonDeSantis and his family take the stage following @KimReynoldsIA’s endorsement:
“I don’t care what they say about me. I will take the arrows. I will take all the criticism. I’ll take the smears … because, ultimately, it’s not about me, it’s about you.”
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📍 The DeSantis family takes the stage in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Casey, a College of Charleston alum, takes the mic first:
“He helped me during some very difficult times for me with my health struggles.”
“I was always a Republican, but he taught me how to be a conservative.”
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.@SpeakerJohnson dismisses threat of motion to vacate:
“I have to do my job. We did. I've done here what I believe to be the right thing to allow the House to work its will.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis is uninjured after being involved in a car accident Tuesday morning in Tennessee, campaign tells @scontorno.
"We appreciate the prayers and well wishes of the nation for his continued protection while on the campaign trail,” Bryan Griffin said in a statement.
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Vice President Kamala Harris walks towards the House floor moments ago. Remains silent when @haleytalbotcnn asked how she feels about presiding today.
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In NH, @RonDeSantis swings by MaryAnn’s Diner. Sitting down with a newly married couple, he shares the story of how he and his wife met on the driving range.
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.@RonDeSantis says candidates who don't make the 3rd debate should drop out.
"Here's the honest truth: There's two people with a pathway to victory ... there's a former president, and obviously he's the best known and has gotten a lot of legacy support, and then you got me...
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.@RonDeSantis criticizes @realDonaldTrump for telling supporters in NH y’day not to vote, arguing he “has a sense of entitlement."
“He is wedded to the teleprompter. He can't get off that teleprompter. Anytime he does, he says things like 'don't vote.'”
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Disney sues DeSantis alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation—orchestrated at every step by Gov. DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech—now threatens Disney’s business operations…
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NEW: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is returning to New Hampshire Friday for multiple events with the super PAC Never Back Down, two sources familiar with the plans confirm to CNN.
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.@RonDeSantis delivers sharpest critique yet of @NikkiHaley: “Compare my record and then think about her record ... has she dug in when it's tough and fought and won and delivered? No, it's just not the way it is. It's just a different flavor of leader.”
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.@RonDeSantis and Casey drop by a sports bar in Waukee to chat with voters, have a Guinness. I spoke to two undecided Republicans who appreciated them showing up, one who said they were “warmer” than what she’s seen on TV.
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Introducing @RonDeSantis in NH, @GovChrisSununu says he’s looking forward to watching him debate CA Gov. @GavinNewsom next week.
Says he gets along with most governors, but “there’s no bigger jackass than Gavin Newsom.”
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Denmark firefighters inside station where Trump visited in NYC:
“The first thing he said was who are these good looking guys.”
“Then we told him that we were firefighters from Denmark & he looked me in the eyes and said, oh, your country has other problems.”
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Earlier, @RonDeSantis told me he’s not concerned he’s trending in the wrong direction, after the latest CNN/UNH poll showing him dipping to 9%. Said NH is a “later-breaking” state & he will be back “a lot” over the next two months.
On Tuesday, he returns to Granite State.
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Special guests of @RonDeSantis at tonight's debate will include some people who were flown from Israel back to Florida, according to a senior campaign official.
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.@KimReynoldsIA hits trail with @RonDeSantis, introducing him as the “right leader for the right time.”
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📍 Cedar Rapids —
@RonDeSantis, alongside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says Trump is “just attacking her, because she's supporting me. That's the only reason. That’s not leadership.”
“Don’t be like Donald Trump and attack a good governor just for doing a good job.”
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CEDAR RAPIDS—
@RonDeSantis: “Donald Trump was president for four years. How many people that served in his administration are lining up to endorse him this time around or be willing to come here and knock on doors in subfreezing temperatures? Not very many.”
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Iowa evangelical leader @bobvanderplaats is expected to endorse @RonDeSantis tonight, sources tell me and @jessicadean.
DeSantis told me his campaign is hopeful they’ll be able to secure the endorsement.
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Sioux City — @RonDeSantis, asked again why he’s not “going after” @realDonaldTrump, criticizes him for not debating next week.
“Why not just go over and do the debate? … he’s basically making a mockery of this whole process by not showing up and answering people's questions.
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Vermont @GovPhilScott, introducing @NikkiHaley, encourages voters who want to “stop Donald Trump” to “take a Republican ballot and vote for Nikki Haley.”
“There is no one less equipped, no one more incapable of healing the huge divide we have in this country, than Donald Trump.”
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LIFE UPDATE: After two years on the campaign trail, pumped to announce I've joined CNN's White House team as a beat reporter. Email in bio for tips, scoops, coffee!
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.@RonDeSantis on the mixed reactions at the state fair from heckling to praise — and if he can bring some people who don’t like him to his side:
“We can bring a lot. Not those radical leftists who were screaming … but I think average Americans are open to a new direction.”
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JD VANCE blames Democrats after House fails to avert a shutdown:
“The Democrats just voted to shutdown the government, even though we had a clean CR, because they didn’t want to give the president negotiating leverage” during the first year of his new term.
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.@RepTroyNehls at State of the Union in a Trump mug shot tshirt. He told @FoxReports and I that Trump gave it to him.
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President Trump tells @DanaBashCNN “I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem.”
On a call with Musk: "No. I won't be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well."
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In gaggle earlier, @RonDeSantis cautioned Colorado decision “is only the beginning”
“There's going to be so many more things that are going to be fired by the left over this next year that our voters should just know what's in store and then make the appropriate decision.”
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RUBIO: “Obviously, someone made a mistake, someone made a big mistake and added a journalist.”
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Senior campaign official says @RonDeSantis "earned his ticket out of Iowa," indicating he will not drop out of the race.
"This is going to be a long battle, but that is what this campaign is built for. The stakes are too high for this nation and we will not back down."
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.@RonDeSantis says he’s not concerned about FL lawmakers flipping their endorsements to @realDonaldTrump:
“No, look – this happens in these things. I mean, we've had flips the other way in other states. It's a dynamic thing. I mean, politicians do what they're gonna do.”
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Per @scontorno: Gov. DeSantis is no longer planning to hold an event in his hometown of Dunedin as part of the formal launch of his campaign, a person with knowledge of the rollout plans told CNN.
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.@RonDeSantis in Tampa: “We need a president that's got energy, we need a president that's going to be full throttle for eight years ... we don't need any any more presidents that have lost the zip on their fastball.”
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CNN projects @NikkiHaley will win DC Republican primary.
Haley will also win all 19 of DC’s delegates, bringing her total delegate count to 43. Trump has 247 delegates.
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Vance says he will still appear with Carlson in PA later this month and that Republicans are the party of “anti-censorship.”
Question here from @ChrisCameronNYT—
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Paul Ingrassia announces he is "withdrawing" from Thursday's confirmation hearing
"I do not have enough Republican votes at this time"
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📍.@RonDeSantis grabs a cup of coffee and speaks with voters at The Windmill Restaurant in Concord, NH
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.@RonDeSantis assures voters in Grimes he’s in it for the long haul —
“Anybody saying somehow, like, we're only doing Iowa, that's just a flat out lie.”
Later adding, “Iowa’s going to be a great way for us to start the process, but we certainly have a lot of road after that.”
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📍Bettandorf, Iowa
@chiproytx introducing @RonDeSantis: "I love President Trump’s policies ... but it wasn't Governor DeSantis who was cutting a deal with Paul Ryan in 2018 for a crappy immigration bill that left us the current laws that we have right now."
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.@kaitlancollins: It sounds like you're saying Republican voters can't trust Donald Trump.
@RonDeSantis “…I think the fact that he's campaigning on something, that does not mean that he would actually follow through on it.”
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📍DERRY, NH
@RonDeSantis on his schedule ahead of the primary, when I asked if he would be there Mon/Tues:
“Friday for sure. Saturday, South Carolina. Sunday, we'll be back here, and I would imagine most likely, but we haven't necessarily scheduled…
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.@NikkiHaley booed at CNN town hall when @ErinBurnettb asked about her comment that NH would “correct” the result of the Iowa caucuses.
“I’m from an early state … we banter against each other.”
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Miller doesn't say whether the administration would consider putting US troops on ground in Venezuela in any capacity, but reiterates position on "fighting terrorists in the Western hemisphere:"
"These are terrorists and they're going to be killed."
Q: Would the administration consider putting troops on the ground in any capacity in Venezuela?
STEPHEN MILLER: These are terrorists and they're gonna be killed
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JD Vance now playing clip of VP Harris’ interview on “The View” where she said nothing comes to mind on what she would do differently than Biden.
While Vance criticized Harris in Detroit yesterday for the same comment, today the clip played on a loud speaker and screen and with an addition: “I’m Donald Trump and I approve this message.”
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.@RonDeSantis is en route to Iowa after delivering the State of the State in Tallahassee and holding an emergency response presser. Plane is in the air and he will make the Fox News town hall in Des Moines on time, per senior campaign official.
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🚨NEW BEAT ALERT 🚨
My next assignment is covering Trump’s running mate JD Vance. Send tips, thoughts and stay tuned for updates on the trail! Email in bio.
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I asked @GovChrisSununu if he believes this is a two-man race, as he campaigns with @RonDeSantis in New Hampshire today:
"I think the race is actually wide open."
“There’s 3 or 4 candidates that are clearly surging ahead.”
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.@GavinNewsom denies he's running a "shadow campaign."
"Biden will be our nominee in a matter of weeks."
"In a matter of weeks, Sean, (@RonDeSantis) will be endorsing Donald Trump as a nominee for the Republican Party."
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📍 @RonDeSantis and his family playing baseball at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville.
Asked by @aaronlarnavarro about the split screen between him and Trump tonight, DeSantis said: “Well I’m glad I’m in the Field of Dreams. I’m happy to be here.”
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.@RonDeSantis grills pork chops at Iowa State Fair with Gov. Reynolds and Sen. Ernst 📍
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I started at CNN four years ago today. Some snapshots of the last week covering the historic Speaker’s race with the unmatched CNN Hill team! 4 days. 15 votes. Time to catch up on some Z’s 📸 AP + Getty Images
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@RonDeSantis, 45, tells @jaketapper Biden and Trump are too old for the Oval Office.
“I just think that that’s something that has been shown with Joe Biden .. Father Time is undefeated. Donald Trump is not exempt from any of that.”
Biden turns 81 on Monday.
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MORE: “They would rather shut down the government and fight for global censorship bullshit. They’ve asked for a shutdown, and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to get.”
No response when I mentioned 38 Republicans voted against
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.@NikkiHaley tells @jaketapper, “I fought for mental competency tests. I wasn’t doing it to be disrespectful ... I was doing it because I think it’s not just Joe Biden. There is an issue we have in DC, where people will go into office and they won’t let go.”
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.@RonDeSantis earlier on FEC complaint alleging illegal coordination between his campaign & Never Back Down:
“Give me a break,” DeSantis said following NBD event in Cedar Rapids. “Trust me, I have no–there's a lot of things that happened that I wish I had control over.”
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DeSantis campaign statement on @GovChrisSununu expecting to endorse @NikkiHaley. He last appeared with the NH gov at a townhall on Nov. 21
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu poised to endorse Nikki Haley, per @jeffzeleny cnn.com/2023/12/12/politics/…
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📍DERRY, NH
@RonDeSantis tells @wrmcduff realistic goal for the NH primary is picking up delegates.
Asked @RonDeSantis for a realistic goal in next week's New Hampshire primary:
“Delegates. I want to pick up delegates. Everyone that goes out and votes for me is going to help me get delegates, and that’s what we want to do. That’s the nature of it."
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.@KimReynoldsIA endorses @RonDeSantis for president: “As a mom, and as a grandma, and as an American, I could not and cannot sit on the sidelines any longer.”
“We need someone who will fight for you, who puts this country first — not himself.”
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Trump tells @kaitlancollins in the Oval, “No,” Putin does not have to agree to meet with Zelensky as a condition for a Trump-Putin summit.
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.@RonDeSantis tells KFAB radio: “I think it was incredibly disrespectful to Iowa to say somehow, their votes need to be quote corrected. I think she's trying to provide an excuse for her not doing well.”
Nikki Haley’s comment in NH below:
“I trust every single one of you. You know how to do this. You know Iowa starts it, you know that you correct it,” she joked to the room full of New Hampshire voters.
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VANCE on Capitol Hill doesn’t take stance on the CR when I asked him if he advises Republicans to vote for it:
“We’ll see what folks do. There’s still a long conversation going on.”
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JD Vance on potential Dem VP pick Gov. Josh Shapiro:
“It's like if I did try to do a really bad impression of Barack Obama, that's what it would sound like is this guy Josh Shapiro,” Vance said on the Full Send Podcast.”
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DeSantis on Jeff Roe resignation at Never Back Down
“I’m not involved in any of that..it's a separate entity..this just happens and it's not in my purview”
“It’s not a distraction for me .. I know media may want to do it, but at the end of the day, I’m focused on the mission.”
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Dean Phillips ends campaign & backs Biden: “…it is clear that alternative is not me. And it is clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate and OUR opportunity to demonstrate what type of country America is and intends to be.”
In 2011, I hosted then VP Biden at my home. Most notable was his empathy and kindness to my daughters and the catering staff, with whom he sat and had ice cream (surprise-surprise). His decency and wisdom were rarities in politics then, and even more so today.
Over a decade later, the only thing that has changed is time - which slows all of us down a bit, including presidents.
I ran for Congress in 2018 to resist Donald Trump, I was trapped in the Capitol in 2021 because of Donald Trump, and I ran for President in 2024 to resist Donald Trump again - because Americans were demanding an alternative, and democracy demands options.
But it is clear that alternative is not me. And it is clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate and OUR opportunity to demonstrate what type of country America is and intends to be.
To all who supported my effort, thank you. We will continue the important work to ensure a more responsive, democratic, and generationally diverse political system. But today, in light of the stark reality we face, I ask you join me in mobilizing, energizing, and doing everything you can to help keep a man of decency and integrity in the White House. That's Joe Biden.
Let's use invitation, not confrontation, to welcome Haley supporters, Trump supporters, and Uncommitted supporters to get this done. It's our calling, it's our legacy, and and it's our time. Onward with joy and patriotism!❤️🇺🇸
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