WASHINGTON — Russian forces take control of Ukraine’s large nuclear power station. … President Biden meets with the president of Finland at the White House. … Former AG Bill tells NBC’s Lester Holt Trump was furious when he was told that there was no evidence of fraud in the 2020 election results. … Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) returns to work. … Senator Rick Scott, R.-Fla. appears to fire back at Mitch McConnell. And the Republican Arizona Governor. Doug Ducey rejects Arizona’s Senate bid.
First: A Republican congressman resigned after admitting to having an affair with an “ISIS” bride.
Major League Baseball’s season is being interrupted by a labor dispute.
Neither story has been given much national attention.
Folks, it’s not the 1990s anymore. This was when sex scandals involving American political leaders — large and small — rocked politics. And when the president of the United States was saving baseball’s season in 1994.
It is partly because the stakes today are so high — pandemics, rising inflation and war in Europe — that sex scams and work stops in professional sports don’t grab the public’s attention. They don’t attract the same interest today as they did decades back.
Imagine President Biden holding a press conference in an attempt to save MLB’s season, despite all the chaos.
We think the other part is how blind we have become to these stories and how much we expect this type of behavior. Another politician involved in a sex crime? Ho-hum. (Although we have to admit that the details are a bit disturbing.
Are wealthy athletes and greedy owners unwilling to reach an agreement? We’ve been there before.
It is clear that times have changed.
This is the time span between New Mexico Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujan’s stroke, and yesterday when he returned the Senate to cheers from his colleagues.
Lujan stated that it was an honor to return to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “To all those who sent me messages, videos, and prayers, it worked, and it’s great to be back.
You need to be familiar with the following numbers:
$240,000 This is how much progressive lawyer Jessica Cisneros has raised since Wednesday’s clear indication that she would be heading for a primary against Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar.
8 This is the potential number Latino GOP congressional nominees for Texas, including six women.
3.8%: This is the latest unemployment rate according to new data from Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s down from 4 per cent last month.
79 369 949: This is the number of confirmed cases of Covid in the United States, according to the most recent data available from NBC News and officials at the health department.
929.004: This is the number of deaths caused by the virus in the United States so far.
Roundup of the midterm
On the airwaves, the battle for Congress is heating up. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) plans to spend $13million on general election TV ads NBC’s Henry Gomez reported. The Democratic super PAC American Bridge announced a $5million investment in radio, TV and digital ads in Pennsylvania and Arizona. According to a press release, the group plans to spend eight figures in the midterms.
The money is continuing to flood GOP primary radio waves. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s campaign stated that it will spend $4.2 Million on its initial TV ad purchase for his primary against former Senator David Perdue. To boost its preferred Senate candidates, the Club for Growth has reserved $1.5 million in North Carolina and $400,000 in Alabama airtime. Alabama’s Future, an anti-Brooks group, reserved $1.5 million airtime.
Gov. Doug Ducey (Republican from Arizona) announced yesterday that won’t run to Senate. This makes him the third Republican governor who has voted for a Senate campaign. After a campaign by top Republicans to defeat Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Ducey made his decision.
NBC News’ Decision Desk predicted that Morgan Luttrell , a retired Navy SEAL, would win the GOP primary for Texas’ deep red 8th district. Kevin McCarthy’s allies as House Minority Leader were backed by Luttrell. The House Freedom Caucus was backed by Christian Collins, a conservative activist.
Criticism from Democrats, and other Republicans, for his 11-point plan, NRSC Chairman Rick Scott (R-Fla.), wrote an op-edin The Wall Street Journal. He stated, “If there is no greater plan than to be a speed bump along the road to Socialism, then we don’t deserve the right to govern.”
Matt Salmon, former Arizona GOP Rep., , is running for governor and has called on Wendy Rogers, Arizona state senator, to resign. Rogers has been endorsed by Trump for her reelection and repeated Trump’s lies about 2020. She spoke at the same white nationalist conference at which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke last weekend.
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court approved the adoption of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ congressional redistricting and legislative maps were adopted by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. The GOP will likely keep its edge.
Ad watch: Fetterman’s TV ad
Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is out this week with his first TV advertisement in his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.
“He’s a very different type of character, I’ll tell ya,” one voter said in the video. Fetterman is called “a Democrat with a backbone”, and he emphasizes that he “does right no matter what.”
Although the Democratic race to U.S. Senate for Democratic Party is fierce and includes Rep. Conor Lamb, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and Rep. Conor Lamb, Fetterman has yet not gone after any of his opponents in his first ad.
This is a stark contrast to the GOP Senate primary where Mehmet Oz, a TV personality, and David McCormick, a hedge fund manager, have been fighting it out on the airwaves over months. The Pennsylvania primary will be held May 17.
ICYMI: What other happenings around the world
Florida Senate approved a 15-week ban on abortion, which was signed into law by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis will likely sign the law. The Idaho Senate also passed a six-week ban on abortion. It will now be sent to the state House.
Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling said that Kentucky’s Attorney general can defend the restrictive abortion law the governor does not want to defend. A request by a terrorist detainee to find out more about his torture was also rejected by the Court.
President Joe Biden signed legislation to stop forced arbitration in favor of victims of sexual misconduct at work.
