Today in Politics, Bulletin 302. 2/6/26

… Trump posted a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes last night. There was immediate backlash and outrage overnight and throughout the day, while the press began contacting the WH for an explanation or response.

… Finally, Karoline Leavitt issued this statement: "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."

… But Trump didn’t post the full meme video that was created by one of the repulsive MAGA accounts he has posted in the past, he just clipped the part of it which depicted the Obamas as apes. No, Leavitt did not say it was being taken down, she did not deny that Trump posted it, and did not apologize. Then Republican senators started weighing in:

… Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC): “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.”

… Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME): “Tim is right. This was appalling.”

… Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS): “This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize.”

… Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE): “Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this. The WH should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.”

… It was that reaction and others from Republican senators that finally got Trump to take the video down. There’s a lesson in that - if they actually stand up to Trump once in a while he will back down, but they are all a bunch of cowards. The WH then issued another statement blaming it on “a staffer” who had access to Trump’s personal account. Again, still no apology.

… Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA): “I saw the racist meme from the President. The President is trying to summon our country’s darkest demons to further divide us. Our nation's spiritual rot is coming from the WH. I’m calling on all decent and honorable people to condemn this unabashed racism. Push back on hate, let love abide.”

… Politico’s Sophia Cai: Hearing from Black Trump allies who are NOT happy about the apes video. Here’s one close to WH: “The botched response from this WH - against the backdrop of Black History Month - following the release of this post has truly been a sight to see and certainly speaks to the lack of diversity in the WH communications shop and lack of inclusion of high-ranking black WH officials as it pertains to messaging.”

… Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS): “As someone who grew up in the civil rights era, I am completely disgusted. Trump has spent years openly spewing hate, bigotry, and division, and this racist stunt is just the latest reminder of who he is. I would say this is a new low, but those who know him know better. There is no bottom. Shame on him.”

… Gavin Newsom: “Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now."

… CSPAN was besieged by angry callers: “I voted for Trump, but I really want to apologize. I’m looking at this awful picture he just posted of the Obamas as monkeys. What an embarrassment to our country. He is not worthy of the presidency. He takes bribes blatantly, and now he's being a racist blatantly. He's pathetic as a president, and I just want to apologize to everybody in the country for supporting this rotten, rotten man.”

… JD and Usha Vance attended the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan today. When Vance was shown on the stadium’s big screen he was booed loudly the entire time. People have been posting the clips all over social media platforms but they keep getting taken down. You can find them if you search a little bit.

… Politico’s Jonathan Martin on Trump not going to the Super Bowl after his staff told him he was going to get booed: “Trump’s presence at such cultural events is dictated by how he thinks he will be received and whether he can effectively take the thing over and make it his. It’s totally different from the old cliché stuff about being the First Fan. No, it’s about total control and domination. Everything in the country has to come through him or be shaped by him.”

… Franklin Graham was destroyed on social media after posting this: “Like most Americans, I’ve enjoyed watching the Super Bowl. But the halftime shows began pushing moral boundaries and have become more and more sexualized. This year, they’re having Bad Bunny perform. The NFL leadership is pushing this sexualized agenda. Thank you, TPUSA and Erika Kirk for providing an alternative -’The All-American Halftime Show’ with the agenda of celebrating family, faith, and freedom!”

… The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta responded: “Yes, like so many Christians who feel besieged by a wicked culture, I’m grateful to TPUSA for platforming a God-fearing paragon like Kid Rock who brought us hits like ‘Balls in Your Mouth,’ ‘Wax the Booty’ and ‘Cadillac Pussy’.”

… Graham got over 3,300 replies to his post. Most people were posting examples of disgusting and sexualized lyrics from various Kid Rock songs, including: “Just page me, young ladies. Young ladies, I like ‘em underage. See, some say it’s statutory - I say it’s mandatory.”

… NBC: “The Trump admin asked Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for Dulles Airport and NY’s Penn Station to be named after Trump in exchange for releasing the federal funds required to build a long-delayed tunnel between NY and NJ. The admin halted funding for the $16 billion Gateway project at the start of the govt shutdown last fall. But even though the shutdown ended in Nov and the full appropriations packages passed this week, the admin has yet to release the money.”

… “The massive $16.1 billion project includes a new railway tunnel under the Hudson River that would connect NJ and NY. The project underwent years of delays and other problems, but it got a boost in 2024 when Biden’s admin agreed to provide an additional $6.9 billion. WH budget director Russell Vought said at the time that he was stopping funding for infrastructure projects to ensure it wasn’t used ‘on unconstitutional DEI principles.’”

… “The Gateway project warned that it will be forced to halt construction soon if the money doesn’t start flowing. If that happens, thousands of construction workers would be laid off. Money for the project will run out Friday.”

… Axios: “Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), whose district would also be affected by the project: “Trump is pathologically petty and cannot be trusted to keep his word. There is no point in yielding to his ever-changing ransom demands.”

… Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ), who represents the NJ side of the Gateway project: “So the President wants us to rename it TACO Station?”

… Menendez told Axios he is “a no on this ‘deal’” and expressed confidence that NY and NJ will “win in court” with their new lawsuit against the admin aimed at unblocking the funds.”

… Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), who partially represents Dulles: “Instead of lowering costs, President Trump is holding critical infrastructure funding hostage for more vanity projects.”

Not as much news today since the House and Senate had the day off, Trump had no events planned, and there were no press conferences. So this isn’t one of those typical sprawling Bulletins with news from all over the place. For that reason, I decided to make this entire one available to free subscribers.

Ask the Editor will also be out tonight where I answered 5 of your excellent questions. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… HuffPost: “Trump’s obsession with reshaping the nation’s capital in his grandiose and gaudy aesthetic isn’t sitting well with some Republican lawmakers, who wish he’d pay more attention to the needs of regular people outside the Beltway who are struggling with high prices. Trump, however, seems to be more interested in slapping his name on federal properties, adding gold fixtures to the WH, and even building a 250-foot ‘Arc de Trump’ near the Lincoln Memorial that’s modeled after the Napoleonic arch in Paris.”

… Sen. Roger Wicker: “We need to be sure we make the main thing, the main thing. And there may be too many distractions.”

… Sen. Thom Tillis: “It’s a matter of prioritization. Some of these optics just make no sense.”

… Sen. Lisa Murkowski: “We’re being told that, look, we don’t have enough money for health care or otherwise.”

… But Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said he was fine with it: “Trump’s a builder. I think when all’s said and done, people will appreciate what he’s done.”

… Axios: “For the first time, GOP strategists are telling Axios that losing the Senate - where Republicans have a 53-47 majority - is a distinct possibility, and that they’ll have to fight harder than expected to keep control. Operatives say they’ve reviewed polling that shows the GOP facing competitive Senate races not just in traditional battlegrounds such as MI, ME and NC, but also in conservative states like AK, IA and OH.”

… Top GOP strategists acknowledge that immigration and the economy - the two issues that drove Trump’s win in 2024 - are now liabilities. One operative: “A year ago, I would have told you we were almost guaranteed to win the Senate. Today, I would have to tell you it’s far less certain.”

… Fox Business host Stuart Varney to a Trump admin official today on his show: “Trump can’t keep on saying this is the greatest economy that the world has ever seen. People won’t believe you if you say that. Americans feel abandoned.”

… The Hill’s Emily Brooks: “GOP Rep. Mark Amodei announces retirement. This is the 30th Republican member not running for reelection. Amodei is the chair of the Appropriations subcommittee for Homeland Security.

… Autism Capital, a MAGA influencer account with over a million followers: “The year is 2026. Crypto has fallen 50% since Trump has taken office. He cancelled deportations because Democratic Governors nicely asked him to. Tim Walz isn’t arrested. Billie Eilish says F ICE at the Grammys. A dude in a dress is about to perform at the Super Bowl. Your job is about to be replaced by AI. Nobody in the Epstein files had any accountability. You have to pay $27 for a Chipotle slop bowl (Guac is extra.) You mentioned to your girlfriend once that you were slightly tired and now she has a generational ick. RAM costs $20,000 a stick. You can’t even game. We win the Fell For It Again Award.”

… NYT: “After years of inching closer to mainstream Democrats, AOC is more forcefully trying to steer her party toward her populist, working-class message at a moment when economic worries are a top issue. Democrats of all stripes broadly agree that they need a more ambitious vision focused on bringing down the cost of living to win back blue-collar voters who fled to Republicans during the Trump era.”

… “Plenty of Democratic politicians are now looking to AOC, and not their party leaders, for cues on how to get that message across, viewing her instincts as sharper than consultant-driven, focus-grouped direction out of DC. AOC routinely answers centrist Democrats’ requests for help on communications strategy and fund-raising, and has served as a mentor for young House colleagues.”

… Rep. Pat Ryan, a moderate Democrat in an upstate NY battleground district who campaigned with AOC before the 2024 election: “She’s a coalition builder. To her credit, she sought out engaging with me and, I know, other frontline members from very competitive districts to hear what’s going on for us, to get our take, to bounce ideas back and forth.”

… “In the meantime, AOC has been ubiquitous on social media, weighing in on the immigration operation in MN and other news. She frequently delivers messages through her own channels and friendly content creators like her regular interviews on the Capitol steps with the MeidasTouch Network.”

… AOC: “We are going to have to reckon, as a country, with this time. And I hope that that reckoning includes prosecution of people who are involved with the lawbreaking and human rights violations they are knowingly engaging in right now.”

… Oversight Chair James Comer was asked on Fox why he denied Bill and Hillary Clinton’s request to testify at a public hearing on Epstein rather than behind closed doors: “She wants a committee hearing. If you’ve ever watched a committee hearing you know that hearings are more for entertainment than substance.”

… They certainly have been since he has been Chairman.

… NBC: “Congress is struggling to make progress in negotiations to avoid a shutdown of DHS next week, leaving the two parties squabbling as the House and the Senate left town for a long weekend. If Congress misses the deadline, DHS will shut down. Operations that the Trump admin deems essential would continue, like the TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard, but employees would go without pay. ICE, meanwhile, was given $75 billion under Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which would be unaffected by a shutdown.”

… AOC: “I believe it has to be part of the DHS negotiations to prevent them from deploying ICE agents—who are killing US citizens—anywhere near a poll site this November.”

… Capitol Hill reporter Jamie Dupree: “Republicans have a new version of the SAVE Act which is coming up for a House vote. It has new requirements for voter ID, which require you to demonstrate your citizenship - at the polls. Usually, ‘Voter ID’ means you show your driver's license or government photo ID at the polls. But the new GOP SAVE America Act requires that ID to show that you are a US citizen.”

… “What photo ID also proves that you are a citizen? There are only two options: US Passport or ‘Enhanced’ driver's licenses, which are only offered by 5 states: MI, MN, NY, VT, and WA.”

… “If you only have a regular driver's license (same thing as Real ID) then the new GOP SAVE Act requires you to also bring your birth certificate or other documents proving US citizenship to the polls in order to vote. Proving your citizenship at the polls on Election Day would be a brand-new requirement to vote in federal elections in all 50 states.”

… CNN: “Pardoned J6er Jake Lang, who was chased out of Minneapolis a few weeks ago after trying to publicly burn a Quran, was arrested after he destroyed an anti-ICE sign in St. Paul yesterday.”