Ron DeSantis gives us the first campaign shake up of 2024. Joe Biden gets good news on fundraising and the economy. RFK Jr. is caught on tape at his infamous fart dinner saying covid may have been targeted to spare the Jews. And later, Rahna Epting from MoveOn and Matt Bennett from Third Way stop by to talk about the diverse coalition that’s trying to stop No Labels from a third party bid that could elect Donald Trump.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Show Notes

MESS AMERICA

• Des Moines Register: GOP presidential candidates navigate cheers and jeers at Family Leadership Summit
• NYT: Tucker Carlson Turns a Christian Presidential Forum Into a Putin Showcase 
• NYT: In Florida, Trump Says DeSantis Has No Path to Victory
• The Hill: Trump gloats over big win in Turning Point USA straw poll
• DesMoines Register: Donald Trump to appear in Fox News town hall in Cedar Rapids, skipping evangelical summit
• NY Post: Trump refuses to say if he’ll participate in first Republican primary debate
• Newsweek: Republicans Issue Ominous Warning to Ukraine
• NYT: Pence Raises Just $1.2 Million, Aides Say, in Worrying Sign for 2024 Bid 
• The Guardian: Mike Pence’s 2024 strategy? Become the most anti-abortion candidate out there
• Politico: DeSantis campaign sheds staff amid cash crunch
• WaPo: Can DeSantis do what Bush, Huntsman, Harris and Lieberman couldn’t?
• NYT: DeSantis Burns Cash, and Pence Struggles: 5 Takeaways From 2024 Filings 
• ABC News: DeSantis weighs media strategy shift as donors fret about early campaign struggles: Sources
• CNN: Ron DeSantis to sit down with CNN’s Jake Tapper for an exclusive interview Tuesday
• NBC: DeSantis visits Dairy Queen in Iowa after Trump’s ‘Blizzard’ flub
• AP: DeSantis would consider Iowa’s Reynolds as running mate, calls Trump’s attack of her ‘out of hand’
• Politico: Groups sue Florida over latest immigration law 

BIDEN

• NYT: Biden and D.N.C. Announce $72 Million in Fund-Raising, a Substantial Haul  
• NYT: Biden, With Sluggish Small Donations, Waits for Liberal Energy to Rise
• Politico: Joe Biden is redefining presidential campaign frugality
• NYT: Biden Switches Up His Big-Money Operation Ahead of 2024 
• CNBC: Biden beefs up campaign leadership as he looks to build on fundraising momentum 
• WaPo: Biden’s good economic news — and what it could mean 
• NYT: Education Dept. Cancels $39 Billion in Student Debt for 800,000 Borrowers 
• NY Mag – Will the Republican Economic Message Die If Inflation Ends?
• The Atlantic – The Bad-Vibes Economy
• Axios: State of the economy: The vibes vs. the data 
• Politico: Biden’s economic dream is becoming reality — but how long can he sustain it?
• FiveThirtyEight: Biden Says The Economy’s Doing Great. Lots Of His Own Voters Don’t Believe Him.
• WaPo: The housing market recession is already ending
• Bloomberg – Yellen Says China Slowdown Risks Spillovers But No US Recession
• Reuters – Goldman Sachs cuts probability of US recession in next 12 months
• Axios: Bank CEOs on soft landing prospects-

RFK JR.

• NY Post: RFK Jr. says COVID may have been ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jews
• Media Matters: Neo-Nazis and antisemites celebrate “based” Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “100% correct” Jewish conspiracy theory
• Politico: RFK Jr.’s secret fundraising success: Republicans
• The New Republic: RFK Jr. Sure Has a Lot of Skeezy GOP Donors for Someone Running as a Democrat
• Popular Information: GOP donors fuel RFK Jr’s presidential campaign
• Wapo: RFK Jr. and the rank politics of Jim Jordan’s House subcommittee

BARBIE

• Politico: GOP declares war on … Barbie
• The New Republic: Republicans Want to Cancel Barbie for Being Communist
• Yahoo: Preacher Spirals Over ‘Barbie’ Including ‘Transgender & Homosexuality’
• The Daily Signal” This Barbie Is a ‘Transgender’ Woman: New Movie Gone Woke
• National Review: The Dylan Mulvaney–ization of Barbie
• Fox: ‘Barbie’ film ‘forgets core audience’ in favor of trans agenda and gender themes, Christian movie site warns
• Revolver: The Pink Menace
• Charlie Kirk Show: If a Barbie Movie Isn’t Safe, What Is? with Peachy Keenan and Kelly Shackelford
• Daily Mail: I’m so glad Barbie hasn’t been woke-washed: Why intelligent women are yearning to be ultra-girly like everyone’s favourite doll
• Fox News: Barbie star says film tests ‘heteronormative’ idea of gender, offers ‘scathing critiques’ of iconic doll