The Republican Party is once again in disarray thanks to Donald Trump, Democratic Governors are ending Covid restrictions as Omicron recedes, and host of The Axe Files podcast and co-host of Hacks on Tap David Axelrod is here to talk about Democrats’ midterm strategy.

Show Notes 

Legitimate Discourse

• NYT: Censure Vote Has Republicans Battling Themselves Again
• WaPo: The GOP’s legitimate political discord
• Axios: Kinzinger: McCarthy a “feckless, weak” man
• TheHill: Trump tightens grip on RNC
• CNN: ​​Trump sets off yet another GOP civil war, risking party’s midterm strategy

Covid 

• NYT: Statewide mask mandates are lifting in many states as Omicron wanes
• WaPo: Dealt a bad hand, Democrats are poised to make it worse, by Phillip Bump
• NYT: The Biden administration remains cautious about easing masking and other Covid safety measures.
• NYT: The world surpasses 400 million known coronavirus cases and confronts how to live with Covid
• NYT: Americans Are Frustrated With the Pandemic. These Polls Show How Much.
• WaPo: Stacey Abrams apologizes for posing maskless with elementary students: ‘That was a mistake
• WaPo: ‘Blue’ suburban moms are mobilizing to counter conservatives in fights over masks, book bans and diversity education
• NYT: The Next Vaccine Debate: Immunize Young Children Now, or Wait?
• Axios: Fauci: U.S. heading out of “full-blown pandemic phase”

David Axelrod 

• Hacks on Tap: Legitimate Political Discourse 
• David Axelrod tweet 
• David Axelrod tweet
• David Axelrod tweet (2/4)
• West Wing Playbook: To crow, or not to crow, that is the question 
• NYT: For Biden and Adams, a Meeting of Like Minds on Gun Crime 
• David Axelrod tweet 
• CNN: Axelrod reveals two big lessons from Biden’s first year
• Yahoo: Former Obama adviser Axelrod: Biden’s Atlanta speech rhetoric ‘not very useful’ 
• CNN: Harry Reid took a risk on Barack Obama 
• NYT: It’s Not Over for Joe Biden (12/28/21) – op-ed by David Axelrod
• CNN: Biden’s peacock moment 

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.