She crossed Trump. Will she pay?
Kim Reynolds angered the former president by endorsing someone else in the Iowa caucus. Her popularity might make her immune to his wrath.
Iowa governors don’t often endorse primary candidates before the caucuses. Republicans don’t often cross Donald Trump. Kim Reynolds did both.
The conservative Republican and first female governor of Iowa earned the former president’s ire when she backed her fellow state executive, Florida’s Ron DeSantis, in his once-viable, now-floundering bid for the White House. It didn’t work out: Despite Reynolds’ popularity in the state, DeSantis came in a distant second to a man who’s been trashing her in campaign stops and predicting the end of her political career.
“But on the caucus night itself, it wasn’t necessarily clear that she’d lost anything other than her bet on DeSantis, or even that she would,” writes Kathy Gilsinan in this week’s Friday Read. Reynolds won’t be getting a spot in a second Trump administration, that’s for sure — but that’s no skin off her back, according to a senior advisor. And if blowback from Trump supporters is about to cost her, it wasn’t clear on caucus night: As one communications contractor wearing a Trump sticker told Gilsinan, “We agree to disagree on things like this.”
Has Reynolds really figured out a way to criticize Trump without paying a price?
“This news comes as a shock to those of us who could’ve sworn he had already dropped out.”
Can you guess who said this about former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson after he suspended his presidential campaign? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
A Free Speech Issue You Won’t Believe … A couple months back, Reuters published an eye-opening cybersecurity investigation bylined by journalists based in Washington. But thanks to a judge in India, you’re not allowed to read it. After allegations of false reporting — which Reuters strongly denies — made their way to a court in New Delhi, Additional District Judge Rakesh Kumar Singh ruled that the story should be suppressed pending trial. “It’s a disturbing turn of events that couldn’t have happened in the pre-internet era, when publishing — and censorship — were largely local affairs,” writes Michael Schaffer, who reports on the shocking case in this week’s Capital City column.
Haven’t kept up with the defamation trial against Trump involving writer E. Jean Carroll? We’ve got your back. Here’s how to sound smart when your lawyer friends bring it up this weekend. (From POLITICO’s Erica Orden)
— Weigh in on whether Trump will testify: “He might not go through with it now that he’s seen how Judge Kaplan controls his courtroom. But on the other hand, maybe Trump wants to try to show him who’s boss?”
— Give your guess as to how much Trump will owe: “Carroll is asking for $10 million in compensatory damages. But the question for punitive damages is, how much will it take to make Trump stop defaming her? And that number is probably pretty big.”
— Speculate on why he showed up: “Trump doesn’t even have to be there, but every time he comes to court he gets to complain about how he’s being treated by the court system. Plus, he gets to boss around his lawyers.”
— Dish on who is posting his social media messages: “The first rule of Judge Kaplan’s courtroom is: No phones allowed. So how is Trump posting Truth Social messages during court? Is he grabbing his phone during bathroom breaks? Is Dan Scavino running his account?”
This Case Could Upend Jack Smith’s Prosecution … Donald Trump’s claims to presidential immunity aren’t the only thing the Supreme Court is about to decide that could make or break his 2024 candidacy. Joseph W. Fischer v. United States, which the court agreed to hear in December, doesn’t explicitly mention Trump, but it couldn’t be more relevant to him. “At issue is whether prosecutors and the Department of Justice have been improperly using a 2002 law originally aimed at curbing financial crimes to prosecute a Jan. 6 defendant named Joseph Fischer,” writes law professor Kim Wehle. “Should the court side with Fischer, it would also call into question the use of the law against other Jan. 6 defendants — including Trump.”
The Forging of Ron DeSantis’ Social Media Sword … Anyone who knows anything about Ron DeSantis’ operation knows that Christina Pushaw didn’t come to play, but to win. Ever since she became his press secretary in 2021, she’s been his enforcer on social media, and she brought her aggressive, take-no-prisoners approach to politics to his presidential run. But what you may not know is that Pushaw honed those skills not in the gauntlet of Republican politicking, but in the Republic of Georgia, where she became a staunch defender of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was sentenced to prison in 2018. Earlier this week, Eve Fairbanks reported on the political origin story of a woman who has risen to the top ranks of U.S. politics — thanks to a playbook she formed in an ex-Soviet country.
**Who Dissed answer: It was a DNC statement on Hutchinson’s departure released by press secretary Sarafina Chitika. Following criticism from members of both parties, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients called Hutchinson Wednesday morning to apologize.
