At a private dinner with two dozen donors, President Trump surveyed the room and asked which candidate they would choose to follow him in leading the MAGA movement. The vote was almost unanimously in favor of Marco Rubio over J.D. Vance. As the two men vie to be next-in-line to the throne, Trump seems to be enjoying the spectacle.
If Rubio was indeed preferred in this (albeit skewed) environment, it is not much of a surprise to Cockburn. Vance has appealed strongly to an online contingency which is… overrepresented online. Remember when Rubio fell on his sword because he wanted to keep Trump out of office? Of course not; that was over two seasons ago.
Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, comes across as a late-stage auditionée who doesn’t have the respect of the crowd. His entire dramatic purpose is to make the other two look better in comparison. At the end of the day it’s not a competition between the Old Republican party and the New, but between the most savvy conservatives Ohio and Florida have to offer. Make of that what you will. Trump has proven himself to be more motivated by hometown pride than expected– he likes Zohran Mamdani because he is a New Yorker, so it may follow he prefers Rubio because Rubio is from the state where he plays golf and stops by Hispanic restaurants.
This is just how things look when a movement that once defined itself as being anti-establishment becomes the establishment. America may have needed a businessman president but one thing’s for sure: we will end up with a career politician yet again.
On our radar
NO-TACO TUESDAY War Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “Today will be once again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran,” at an 8 a.m. ET press conference.
GREENE PASTURES Some 17 candidates face off today in a Georgia special election to replace firebrand Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned from the US House in January.
HARVEY’S CRYING GAME Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein has given an extensive prison interview to the Hollywood Reporter in which he says, “Did I ever sexually assault a woman? No. I never did that.”
Talarico turbulence
James Talarico has undergone a seven-day baptism of fire since his victory over Representative Jasmine Crockett in last week’s Democratic primary for a US Senate seat in Texas. The RNC’s rapid-response account has been feasting on resurfaced clips of Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, saying that he loved the “trans children” who showed up to “advocate for their humanity” and attempting to argue parts of the Bible are pro-choice. That’s not to mention wider discussion of an Axios story from November about how Pastor Talarico followed a number of escorts and OnlyFans girls on Instagram (though he may point to Matthew 21 to justify such outreach). Many of the young women in question deleted their social-media accounts at the time and have yet to return.
Perhaps the Republicans are hoping to draw focus from their own candidate selection woes: incumbent Senator John Cornyn is headed for a runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton. President Trump has said he’ll endorse in the race and would like the other candidate to drop out; Paxton has said he’ll withdraw if Cornyn changes his mind and votes to advance the SAVE America Act on voter ID. No wonder they’d rather discuss some meddlesome priest…
RFK Jr.’s animal magnetism
Those Kennedys! Many of you will remember the revelations about the romantic relationship between RFK Jr. and the journalist Olivia Nuzzi during the former’s presidential campaign. Now, it has been revealed that Nuzzi was not the only woman on the campaign trail who took a shine to the political scion and veteran health campaigner.
Fittingly for RFK, there was apparently a quasi-supernatural element. Former female campaign aides describe how the candidate cast a “bizarre spiritual spell” on them. “He really pierces you deep in your soul spiritually,” recounted one.
Reading through the Daily Mail’s report, Cockburn can’t help but think that some of those interviewed were hamming things up for effect. Asked to detail some of RFK’s supposedly eccentric behavior, key political ally Tony Lyons describes some decidedly normal habits:
“He’s taken one-hour hikes each day for the 15 years that I’ve known him. And AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] for one additional hour. And the gym. And he takes daily showers, which may seem bizarre to you. He also sleeps 6-7 hours a night. He turns his phone off, which is also bizarre.”
Is it, though? What seems odder to Cockburn is the power that this dynasty still exerts after all these years.
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