Abbreviated Pundit Roundup is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet.
Here’s the context for Donald Trump’s “bloodbath” comments, from the Associated Press:
Trump is making the Jan. 6 attack a cornerstone of his bid for the White House
Taken together, it’s what those who study authoritarian regimes warn is a classic case of what’s called consolidation — where the state apparatus is being transformed around a singular figure, in this case Trump.
Jason Stanley, a philosophy professor at Yale, said in history the question comes up over and over again: How could people not have taken an authoritarian leader at his word about what was going to happen?
“Listen to Trump,” he said.
Margaret Sullivan/”American Crisis” on Substack:
Trump's 'bloodbath' threat — and campaign coverage that doesn't work
Trump has a particular ability to say outrageous things that — because of his free-form (often unhinged) speaking style — can be taken in all kinds of ways. It’s pointless to debate precisely what he meant in a particular phrase or at a particular rally.
Report it? Certainly. As Hawaii senator Brian Schatz aptly put it, “Headline writers: Don’t outsmart yourselves. Just do ‘Trump Promises Bloodbath if He Doesn’t Win Election.’” That is simply true, and it’s inarguable. Separately, Schatz posted, “Promising a bloodbath is disqualifying. He needs to lose.”
CNN:
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is in discussions to help with reelection effort
Manafort, who was one of several individuals who ran Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, was pardoned by Trump after being found guilty of several financial crimes in 2018.
One source indicated that Manafort would be helping with fundraising around the July convention but noted that no final decisions had been made.
Trump has told allies he wanted to bring Manafort back into the fold, but it was unclear in what capacity.
The Washington Post first reported Manafort’s potential involvement with Trump’s 2024 election effort.
As to those “several financial crimes,” here’s Todd Zwillich on X via Threadreader about the Senate Intel report, separate from guilty pleas:
Thinking about Paul Manafort.
No repetition of “Russia, Russia, Russia!” obscures the bipartisan, *GOP-led* Senate Intel Committee report, pg 943: Manafort strategized with and gave campaign info to a Russian agent during ongoing interference operations in the 2016 campaign.
“These are stubborn facts that cannot be ignored.” Manafort was a key part of Trump’s willing acceptance of a foreign adversary’s assault on the United States, “in exchange for advancing their own self-interest.”
Timothy L O'Brien/Bloomberg:
Trump’s Empty Pockets Make Him an Overseas Mark
The financial squeeze on the former president, who says he can’t come up with the cash to appeal his $454 million civil fraud judgment, intensifies his threat to national security.
Trump’s predicament is also the latest reminder that his financial challenges make him a national security threat — something that has been a reality ever since he was elected president in 2016. He’s always been willing to sell his name to the highest bidder. There’s no reason to believe that Trump, whose businesses collected millions of dollars from foreign governments and officials while he was president, won’t have a for-sale sign out now that he’s struggling with the suffocating weight of court judgments.
A remarkable thing happened in New Jersey over the weekend. Start here, with New Jersey Policy Perspective highlighting the problem :
Does the County Line Matter? An Analysis of New Jersey’s 2020 Primary Election Results
Figure 1 shows a 2020 New Jersey Democratic primary ballot from Monmouth County. The seven county line candidates are in column one. The remaining six candidates are scattered across the other four, mostly empty, columns. There is no obvious logic as to why each of the non-endorsed candidates is in a particular column. Column two includes a candidate for the U.S. Senate and two candidates for County Freeholder. Column three includes a candidate for President and his delegates. Columns four and five each include a single candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.
This ballot design encourages voters to pick the candidates on the county line because they are easy to find and visually distinct. The county line is further advantaged by the placement of better-known candidates, such as those running for President, U.S. Senator, or Governor, at the top of the line and the inclusion of candidates for most or all of the offices on the ballot.
Then see David Wildstein/New Jersey Globe:
Attorney General says organization lines are unconstitutional
Day before hearing, Platkin tells federal judge his office won’t intervene in Kim’s lawsuit to abolish lines
Attorney General Matt Platkin has told a federal judge that New Jersey’s county organization line is unconstitutional, and he is not prepared to defend it in court, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
Platkin sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi saying his office will not intervene in a lawsuit filed by Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown).
“The attorney general will not otherwise provide a defense of the challenged statutes on the merits in that case,” the attorney general’s office told Quraishi.
[…]
His move does not necessarily mean that Quraishi will abolish the line system, but it could give the judge plenty of cover if he does.
So now to Andy Kim, via David Wildstein/New Jersey Globe, also over the weekend:
Andy Kim trounces Tammy Murphy at Atlantic County convention
Kim gets important South Jersey line despite Norcross’s support for Murphy
The result is something of a rebuke to South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, who endorsed Murphy months ago and has been pushing for her candidacy since. Norcross and his operation have significant sway across most of South Jersey, including in Atlantic County, but Atlantic Democrats are a fairly independent-minded group, and Kim was able to exploit that today.
That means Kim gets the first column in Atlantic County, even while suing to abolish it. Meanwhile, the issue is now going to be taken up by the NJ legislature, via InsiderNJ:
Legislators Prepare to Design New Ballots for NJ Voters
We are committed to beginning a public process on ballot design in New Jersey, including a thorough and thoughtful review of other states, as well as a process that involves input from the public.
Senate President Nicholas Scutari
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin
Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio
Cliff Schecter and Brian Karem on our broken media: