Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Data: Emerson College Polling; Chart: Axios VisualsU.S. voters between the ages of 18 and 29 were more likely than their elders to accept the recent killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, new polling found.The big picture: The reaction to Thompson's death and suspected shooter Luigi Mangione have captivated America. The event has laid bare public outrage towards the insurance industry, curiosity about Mangione's digital footprint and a blatant lack of empathy from people online.Most voters (68%) think the actions of the killer against Thompson were unacceptable, while 17% found them acceptable, an Emerson College poll out this week found.Young voters were far more split: 41% found the killer's actions acceptable, while 40% found them unacceptable, per the poll. About 24% found them "somewhat acceptable" and 17% "completely acceptable." Mangione, 26, was arrested in Pennsylvania last week after a days-long search for a suspect. He faces a murder charge and others in New York and other forgery, gun-related and misdemeanor charges in Pennsylvania.State of play: After Thompson's shocking death in Manhattan on Dec. 4, social media users raged against health insurers, with posters lashing out over coverage denials and other business practices, Axios' Maya Goldman reported. Even before Mangione was arrested, posters hailed him as a folk hero and posted jokes and memes celebrating the suspect and his purported cause, Axios' Ivana Saric reported.TikTok, a top social media app for young people, was awash with comedy over the killing. Online storefronts also began selling merchandise, including sweatshirts, wine tumblers and hats emblazoned with words "deny," "defend" and "depose — industry parlance found on shell casings at the crime scene.Zoom in: The Emerson poll also found a partisan split and small gender gap among respondents. 22% of Democrats found the killer's actions acceptable, while 59% found them unacceptable. Among Republicans, 12% found the actions acceptable while 16% of independents said the same.Men (19%) found the killer's actions slightly more acceptable than women (14%). Between the lines: Thompson's killing has unleashed a debate over the insurance industry's frequency of denying claims and how unaffordable health care has become for many Americans."It's really important that we take a step back, this is not to comment and this is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said in a recent appearance on CBS.The bottom line: Other recent data has revealed Americans are now more likely to accept violence.Last year, a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey found a quarter of Americans agreed that "patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country" — the most in the nearly three years the question was asked since Donald Trump's first White House term.Go deeper: Health care uproar sparks new legislation in CongressMethodology: The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted between Dec. 11-13 with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lost to Rep. Gerry Connolly Tuesday in a bid for ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. The 35-year-old lost 131-84 in the closed door caucus vote. Ocasio-Cortez had her work cut out for her from the very start, as the 74-year-old Connolly—a senior member of the committee—had former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi campaigning for votes on his behalf. Last week, Pelosi was “actively working to tank” Ocasio-Cortez’s bid for the position, per Punchbowl News. Connolly also secured an endorsement from the powerful Steering and Policy Committee, which typically steers the vote. Rep. Gerry ConnollyConnolly’s win comes just over a month after he announced he was battling esophageal cancer. Despite the odds stacked against the polarizing progressive, Ocasio-Cortez kept her head held high following her loss. “Tried my best. Sorry I couldn’t pull it through everyone - we live to fight another day. ♥️,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote via BlueSky.The progressive has a history of leaning much further left than senior Democrats, which has seemingly pitted her against some of her Democratic colleagues. AOC, however, has become one of the most high-profile members of the committee as she echoes the voices of many younger progressives. Her popularity—and knack for grabbing attention—also translated to support from other committee members leading up to the vote.“She’s a very effective messenger, and that’s kind of the conclusion people have drawn from this election—that we haven’t had effective messengers,” Rep. Judy Chu told Politico.While Democrats have been scrambling for an answer to reach younger voters in the same way as Donald Trump’s campaign, it appears Ocasio-Cortez—who broke from party ideals in calls for Medicare for All and Palestinian support—does not have their vote of confidence just yet. Your support fuels everything we do. It ensures that we can keep providing the bold, unapologetic coverage you rely on. Please contribute $5 or $10 today to keep independent journalism alive and help us reach our year-end goal.

Connolly will succeed Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who will become the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, replacing Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was defeated in her bid to be the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, losing to Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won't be the top Democrat on a prominent House committee next year

House Democrats on Tuesday delivered a searing blow to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by denying her bid to be the ranking member on the Oversight Committee, voting in Rep. Gerry Connolly instead.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, who is battling esophageal cancer, will be the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee

House Democrats on Tuesday elected Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, according to multiple lawmakers familiar with the matter.Why it matters: Connolly, 74, defeated 35-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), withstanding a generational revolt that saw several of Democrats' septuagenarian committee leaders pushed out of their roles.Ocasio-Cortez, one of House Democrats' most high-profile members, also lost a vote of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Monday.Driving the news: Connolly defeated Ocasio-Cortez 131-84, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. He had the backing of several veteran lawmakers, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia won election to serve as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, defeating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Earlier this week, Daniel Penny was acquitted of homicide in the killing of Jordan Neely, a Black unhoused man, on the New York City subway in 2023. And Vice President-elect JD Vance has invited Penny to commingle with him and felon-elect Donald Trump at the Army-Navy football game on Saturday“Daniel's a good guy, and New York's mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone," Vance posted on X. "I'm grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he's able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”Penny’s case was instantly polarizing. Outcries from minority communities and their allies called for legal retribution over Neely’s death. To them, Neely’s death was both avoidable and being treated differently, given he was an unhoused Black man. "Jordan Neely was murdered,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted on X shortly after the killing. And after New York City Mayor Eric Adams pushed back against her phrasing, Ocasio-Cortez elaborated in an interview with The Cut, saying, “I would like everyone to pretend [Neely] was their son. I would like anyone to look at that video [of his killing], see their son, and see if they would say the same thing.”However, conservative painted Penny as a hero, highlighting his past as a Marine and arguing his right to self-defense. And his actions became a talking point for right-leaning outlets and politicians."I'll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me, just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed," Penny said to Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro the day after his acquittal. And while many X users applauded Vance for inviting Penny to the football game, others called out the odd celebration of someone who, while acquitted, still had a role in the death of another man. “Yay let’s go hang out with a killer at a football game,” tweeted one account. Kyle Rittenhouse, left, with backwards cap, walks along Sheridan Road in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020, with another armed civilian.Penny’s case and the public’s reaction are reminiscent of Kyle Rittenhouse’s case. Rittenhouse was found not guilty in the 2020 fatal shooting of two unarmed men and the wounding of a pistol-wielding third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.At the time, tensions were extremely high following a police officer’s murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man. Protesters were taking to the streets to express their anger and heartbreak. Later, at his trial, Rittenhouse claimed he’d traveled to Kenosha with other armed friends to protect private property from being destroyed during the unrest. The case sparked outrage, which Trump happily stoked. "If he didn't pull that trigger, that guy that put the gun to his head, in one-quarter of a second he was going to pull the trigger," Trump said in a 2021 interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who once reportedly pointed a gun at a fellow political analyst following an on-air debate.Trump invited Rittenhouse to Mar-a-Lago, telling Hannity that Rittenhouse was a “really nice young man.” Making a jab at the dead and wounded, Trump added, “[Rittenhouse] was a fan, unlike the other guy.”Right now, Daily Kos is falling short of our 2024 goal. Your donations are how we make ends meet. Can you please donate $5 right now so we can close the books on 2024?

House progressives are ready to go back on the offensive and to protect their fellow members after tough primary losses this year.Why it matters: For the first time since The Squad burst onto the congressional scene six years ago, their ranks will be thinner in the next Congress.That's mostly due to the primary losses of Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), bringing their number from nine to seven.🎯 One target: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the outgoing chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, blames super PAC money for Bush's and Bowman's losses."The dark money in primaries stops us from electing true working-class candidates who are going to challenge corporate power," she told Axios at an Axios News Shapers event on Thursday.Zoom in: The Squad's most prominent member — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — is locked in a heated race for power next week.AOC was endorsed Friday for ranking member on House Oversight by her Congressional Progressive Caucus allies. That was quickly followed by an endorsement from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.She's battling against allies of House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who's been making calls on her opponent's Rep. Gerry Connolly's (D-Va.) behalf.Connolly was endorsed Friday by the center-left New Democrat Coalition.Zoom out: The Israel-Hamas war put the pro-Palestinian lawmakers on defense, and in the case of Bowman and Bush, the Gaza war combined with additional scandals proved too much to withstand."Democrats will try to run to the right, will try to run to the center and be Republican light," Jayapal told Axios."Let's be real, most people don't like the light version of anything. They'd rather have the real version of the thing.""We need a very clear contrast between Republicans and Democrats."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-N.Y.) run to lead Democrats on the House Oversight Committee is morphing into a stand-in for the fight between the left and center wings of the Democratic Party.Why it matters: The ideological proxy battle adds to a generational fight already being waged among House Democrats, driven by urgency about taking on the incoming Trump administration.As with other committee battles, there is an age gulf between Ocasio-Cortez, 35, and her rival, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who is 74.But Ocasio-Cortez is also one of the nation's most prominent progressive faces, while Connolly is a member of the center-left New Democrat Coalition.Driving the news: Outgoing New Democrats chair Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) and incoming chair Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) fired the opening salvo Friday by endorsing Connolly."We are fully confident that Rep. Connolly will lead the committee with a no-nonsense approach and a steady hand," they said in a statementAt roughly 100 member, the New Democrats are House Democrats' largest ideological caucus.The other side: The Progressive Caucus, which has nearly 100 members, fired back by endorsing Ocasio-Cortez based on a vote of its members. "Throughout her tenure on Oversight, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has been a powerful voice for working people," said outgoing CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and incoming chair Greg Casar (D-Texas).The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also endorsed Ocasio-Cortez, a CHC member, on Friday.State of play: Ocasio-Cortez is seen as the favorite and has locked down the support of most of her fellow Oversight Committee members — who hew younger and more progressive, sources have told Axios.That will be influential when the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee votes Tuesday on its recommendations for committee ranking members.But the race is still in play, sources suggested, and the full Democratic caucus can theoretically shirk off steering's recommendations – though that rarely happens.

"Health care in this country has gotten to a such a depraved state that people are living with things they should never have to live with," the congresswoman said.

'I’m a big AOC fan,' Comer said. 'Obviously, I don’t agree with much of her policy, but I think she’s a good person. I think she’s very well-spoken.'

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is facing strong headwinds – including opposition from House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) – as she tries to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.Why it matters: Senior Democrats say that while Ocasio-Cortez is seen as the favorite over Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the race is still in play.The fight comes as several septuagenarian committee ranking members are facing desperate battles against – or yielding to – younger challengers."Many members are concerned about [the] precedent these races are setting," one senior House Democrat told Axios.What we're hearing: Pelosi has been approaching colleagues urging them to back Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez, according to two House Democrats with direct knowledge of her outreach.Connolly, 74, and Ocasio-Cortez, 35, are facing off to replace current Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).Punchbowl News was first to report Pelosi's advocacy for Connolly. A Pelosi spokesperson did not offer a comment to Axios.State of play: One House Democrats familiar with Ocasio-Cortez's whip count said she "has pretty much the entire [Oversight] Committee with her."That is something that House Democrats' Steering Committee – which meets Tuesday to make its recommendations – will take seriously, the lawmaker said.Another House Democrat said their "gut tells me she gets it" and that Connolly's cancer diagnosis last month is "working against him."Still, lawmakers stressed that it is not a firm lock, noting that the full Democratic caucus has to vote on whether to approve the Steering Committee's suggestions.Zoom out: Several younger Democrats have used the threat of the incoming Trump administration to topple some of the party's oldest ranking members.Raskin, 61, succeeded in getting Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), 74, to step down from his post.So did Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), 60, with Natural Resources Committee ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), 76, though he now faces a challenge from 45-year-old Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.).Agriculture Committee ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.), 79, is seen as likely to fall to one of his two challengers: Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), 72, or Angie Craig (D-Minn.), 52.Flashback: Pelosi told Axios last week that she was supporting "some" insurgent challenges against incumbent ranking members.She has been making calls on behalf of Costa, her fellow Californian, two House Democrats familiar with the matter told Axios.

"What else can we do? This is not a game of volleyball or badminton where we're going to quit the game or something," the Maryland lawmaker said.

House Democratic leadership on Thursday laid out their timeline for deciding their committee ranking members in the 119th Congress.Why it matters: Democrats will have to adjudicate several hotly contested battles as part of effort by some lawmakers to oust some of their party's oldest panel leaders.House Democrats' Steering and Policy Committee will first meet to make recommendations on panel leadership and filling vacant seats.Then the full House Democratic caucus will have to vote on whether to approve those recommendations.Driving the news: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his leadership team will decide on the membership of the steering committee this week, the three current co-chairs wrote in a letter first obtained by Axios.The panel will then hold meetings on Dec. 10 and 16 to make recommendations on committee ranking memberships, filling vacant committee slots and committee assignments for new members.Zoom out: Democrats have at least three potentially contested committee fights.Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) is running unopposed to lead the Natural Resources Committee after incumbent ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) withdrew his reelection bid, but Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) may jump into that race in Grijalva's stead.Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.) are both challenging Agriculture Committee ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.).Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) is running for Oversight Committee ranking member and is expected to face a challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Axios first reported.Zoom in: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the current Oversight ranking member, had been running to unseat Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), but Nadler withdrew on Wednesday and endorsed Raskin.Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Axios on Wednesday that she is supporting "some" of these challenges to incumbent ranking members.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., on Wednesday announced he would not seek another term as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee after Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., challenged him.

President Biden’s surprise pardon of his son Hunter has prompted calls for the outgoing commander-in-chief to grant clemency to other Americans before he hands over the White House to President-elect Trump next month. Some Democrats have used the Hunter Biden pardon to call on the president to give clemency to death row inmates and nonviolent [...]

“If there was ever a case that merited compassionate release, Leonard Peltier’s is it,” said the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

The lawmakers are concerned that climate programs may be politicized next year when Trump is president and Republicans control Congress.

A new report found that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive New York congresswoman, may run for president in the next election.

Their meltdowns over Donald Trump's promise to deport illegal immigrants come in reaction to policies that most Americans regard as simple common sense.

All-star conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene has been given her own subcommittee to chair. The representative from Georgia will work under the House Oversight Committee and alongside Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s toothless Department of Government Efficiency—yes, named after the DOGE meme and crypto scheme that Musk is so fond of.Fox News reports that Greene will chair yet another DOGE—the Delivering on Government Efficiency Committee, which will purportedly “focus on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.”A longtime Donald Trump loyalist, Greene tried and failed to oust Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this year. She subsequently threatened to try it again. The prospect of chairing her own subcommittee seems to have mollified the congresswoman, as reports indicate she is now expected to support Johnson’s upcoming bid to re-up as speaker.

"We cannot be mesmerized by the worst things that we see happening," the transportation secretary said.

Critics say the bill would allow the president to crack down on any nonprofit he disagrees with politically

Martin O'Malley and Ken Martin have both jumped in the race for DNC chair, while others are exploring runs.

A South Carolina Republican has moved to block the country's first openly transgender congressperson, Sarah McBride, from using the bathroom at the U.S. Capitol, where they all work, citing her mere presence as 'absolutely' the reason

Rep. Nancy Mace is leading a GOP effort to harass their newly elected Democratic colleague

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation which would require the House sergeant-at-arms to enforce segregation of bathrooms on the Capitol, preventing transgender members of the House from using the bathroom of the gender they identify with.Mace’s resolution was made in response to the recent election of Delaware’s Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress in U.S. history.The actual job of the sergeant-at-arms is to protect the Capitol and maintain order in House facilities. Traditionally this has been in response to attacks like the Jan. 6 insurgency, backed by conservatives that share Mace and Donald Trump’s ideology. But now Mace wants bigoted bullying added to the office’s portfolio, part of a wider Republican attack on equal rights and in support of open bullying and harassment of minority groups.“This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” McBride wrote in response to the resolution. “We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars.”

Rep. Nancy Mace (R) introduced the resolution, saying it was "common sense" while using demeaning language about her future colleague.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) set off a firestorm on Capitol Hill with a bill to keep Sarah McBride, soon to be the first transgender member of Congress, from accessing the women's bathrooms at the Capitol.Why it matters: The measure is not being immediately dismissed by Republican leadership, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) telling Axios, "We're going to talk about that. We're working on the issue."House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), asked about the bill, told Axios: "Haven't seen it."But other Democrats expressed fury at the effort: "The cruelty is the point," fumed Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), a co-chair of the Equality Caucus.Driving the news: Mace's two-page resolution, first reported by Fox News, prohibits House members and staffers from "using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex."The measure covers bathrooms in the Capitol and House offices, charging the House sergeant-at-arms with enforcing the prohibition. Mace told reporters on Monday night: "Sarah McBride doesn't get a say in this. If you're a biological man, you shouldn't be in women's restrooms."The other side: "This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing," McBride (D-Del.) said in a statement."We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars," she added.Said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.): "This is not just bigotry, this is just plain bullying.""Is that what we want the sergeant-at-arms to be doing when we had an attack on the freaking Capitol?" exclaimed Balint.Zoom in: Despite Jeffries' demurral, his top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), pushed back hard."I think we have a lot of problems in America, I don't think spending time worrying about the restrooms is an order of priority here. I think Nancy Mace should focus on other things," Morelle said.He added of McBride: "She's a woman. She should use the ladies room."Yes, but: Even some of Mace's moderate Republican colleagues expressed openness to her resolution."I'll need more info," said one.Another told Axios: "I mean — a presidential election may have been decided on this issue."

TOTOWA, N.J. (AP) — Patrons at Murph’s Tavern are toasting not just Donald Trump’s return to the presidency but the fact that he carried their northern New Jersey county, a longtime Democratic stronghold in the shadow of New York City.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered some election post-mortem analysis on Thursday after much of America swung for Donald Trump last week."There is universal frustration in this country—much of it I actually think [is] justified—that is raging at a political establishment that centers corporate interests, billionaires, and puts their needs ahead of the needs of working Americans,” she explained on MSNBC Thursday.Ocasio-Cortez recently used her social media to ask her followers who backed both her and Trump why they did so. And in her post-mortem, she referred to the trends she’d seen in those responses, though she noted that all the election data is not yet available. "There is something to be said about—it doesn't matter that [Trump’s] lying. He's saying that ‘I'm fighting for you,’” she added after being asked about the seeming incongruence of being angry at billionaires and still voting for Trump, a billionaire.xxYouTube Video

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is no longer displaying her preferred "she/her" pronouns from the biography on her X account, spurring speculation that the New York Democrat may have decided to moderate her woke stance on gender ideology in the wake of the Nov. 5 election blowout.

Vice President Kamala Harris led a coalition that stretched from lefty U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to former Rep. Liz Cheney and her arch-conservative father, Dick Cheney.

Democrats have to overcome at least three major obstacles as they attempt to realign and readjust following President-elect Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

President-elect Trump has announced Tom Homan as his new administration’s border czar, putting a 30-plus-year immigration enforcement veteran at the head of his mass deportation pledge. Homan, the second Trump appointee announced after White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, ran Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an acting capacity in 2017 and 2018 before [...]

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appealed to her more than 8 million followers on Instagram Sunday. Speaking live as she walked around New York City, the New York congresswoman said she had taken some time to relax and reflect.“I’m not here with any big hot takes because the task that we have before us is massive,” Ocasio-Cortez told her followers before asking them to chime in with questions and statements about what they wanted from her as a lawmaker and Democratic Party representative. She answered and added to her Instagram story throughout the day.

President-elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of former Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan on Sunday. Homan has been a lightning rod for controversy over the years.

"I'm listening," the New York Democrat said.

Vice President Kamala Harris led a coalition that stretched from lefty Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to former Rep. Liz Cheney and her arch-conservative father, Dick Cheney. She campaigned on a vision of a lawful, morally decent, multiracial society where hard work could still secure the American Dream, where clean energy would drive a dynamic economy, and [...]

Kamala Harris did her best to move her politics to the center, but she was weighed down by those left-wing purity tests she felt obligated to pass four years earlier. Suggesting that illegally crossing the border might not be a...

It shouldn't have been hard for Kamala Harris, not against the absurdly toxic politics of Donald Trump. An older Democratic Party, less beholden to the big megaphones on the fringes, would have had an easier time of it.

A series of self-inflicted wounds made by top Republicans is giving Democrats ample fodder in the final days of the 2024 election.

The road to the House majority for Republicans and Democrats is running through New York, well outside the presidential battleground map.

The New York lawmaker also criticized Elon Musk, saying he's "dangling a million bucks to those of us and many of us who are struggling to make ends meet if they dance for him."

Days after Donald Trump staged a photo op by pretending to work a shift at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania, the right continues to tout the event as a major campaign moment.The Trump campaign shut down the restaurant for regular customers and arranged for Trump to hand out food to supporters who had been pre-screened by the Secret Service. Almost immediately the Republican Party began selling merchandise labeled “MAGADonald’s.”As he visited North Carolina on Monday, ostensibly to tour the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene (and not a weather weapon as many of his supporters have claimed), the McDonald’s celebration continued. Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina—with the debris of destroyed homes in the background—handed Trump a “French fry certification pin.”

Once a bastion for buttoned-up center-right executives, corporate America has drifted left, a new study finds.Why it matters: While radical leftists have hardly conquered the business world, the research is a sign that the strong connection between the Republican party and corporate America is loosening.The big picture: The shift reflects a broader change in classic political alliances.White college-educated adults are increasingly identifying as Democratic; while those without degrees are moving right.The realignment is reflected in Republicans' effort to woo the labor vote — and the movement of some rank-and-file union members to the GOP.Zoom in: The nation's business leaders were once a key source of support for the Republican Party, but are now more "ideologically fractured," writes Reilly Steel, a lecturer at Columbia Law School, in a working paper published earlier this month.How it works: Steel looked at data on campaign contributions from executives at the top 4,000 U.S. firms, by revenue, annually from 2001-2022. He scored donations to campaigns and causes as more or less left or right. It was a universe of more than 97,000 leaders — from CEOs, to board directors, C-suite executives and senior managers like vice-presidents. On average, they're spending about $535 million per electoral cycle across federal, state and local elections, he says.Contributions were analyzed by party preference and by distinctions within parties. For example, money given to Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez scored more left than contributions to Sen. Joe Manchin — an Independent who was a very moderate Democrat at the time of the analysis.Money given to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) scored farther right than to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).What they found: "There's been a meaningful shift left in Corporate America, but it's still ideologically fractured," Steel said in an interview with Axios. "By no means has the left taken over big business."There's been an increase in the number of executives up and down the corporate ladder who donate largely to left-leaning politicians and political action committees. CEOs still lean a little bit right of center on average.Below them, senior managers now skew strongly liberal. They're more likely to give to more left-wing Dems. Twenty years ago this group was more evenly split between liberals and conservatives.Part of what's going on is that senior leadership has grown more diverse — and women and Black and Hispanic executives tend to skew more liberal. (Senior managers are a more diverse cohort than CEOs.) Many of these companies are hiring talent from more liberal parts of the country.Flashback: The schism between a CEO's politics and those in the ranks below arguably led to trouble for Disney a few years ago. The entertainment giant — reportedly at the urging of employees — spoke out against Florida's so-called Don't Say Gay legislation, and wound up embroiled in a political feud and a public relations muddle.Zoom out: The "decoupling" of business from the GOP "represents one of the most significant changes in American politics in decades," a separate paper published last year by a political science professor at Tufts.Reality check: The research doesn't look at the political affiliations of executives who don't make political donations — so it might be covering a more polarized group.The data also doesn't cover 2023 and 2024, a time of rapidly intensifying backlash against corporate stand-taking.And it's worth noting that one of the biggest partisan swings in the business world has been Elon Musk's rightward leap.The bottom line: Since at least 2020, when so many companies spoke up in the wake of George Floyd's killing, companies have been labeled as overtly liberal by right-wing commentators.Those claims may not be as empty as critics claim, Steel writes.

Dozens of House Democrats are pressing the Biden administration to get tougher on Israel when it comes to press freedoms in Gaza, warning that a lack of media access in the war-torn territory has stifled any push for accountability surrounding military operations that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. In a letter to President Biden [...]