Latest news with #NBCNewsDecisionDesk
New York Post
13 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Amid storm of protests, slim majority favors Trump's approach to immigration: poll
Despite weekend protests that swept the country and recent rioting that dogged Los Angeles, a slim majority of voters still favor President Trump's handling of immigration, a new poll found. Although nearly tied, Trump notched a 51% approval to 49% disapproval rating for his performance on border security and immigration issues, an NBC News Decision Desk survey found. Earlier this month, riots broke out in Los Angeles after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted operations in the country's second-largest city. That prompted Trump to federalize and deploy California's National Guard. Advertisement Then, this weekend, progressive groups orchestrated national protests, fueled by the Army's 250th anniversary parade, though immigration dominated many of those demonstrations. Last week, Trump teased plans to recalibrate his immigration approach and concentrate on deporting criminals rather than service workers who are residing in the country illegally. 4 Immigration has long been one of President Trump's strongest issues. REUTERS Advertisement 4 White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller has widely been seen as a driving force for the administration's tough on immigration policies. Getty Images Immigration remains Trump's strongest issue, according to the poll. His overall approval rating clocked in at 45% approve to 55% disapprove, which mirrors the outlet's findings in April. The poll also pegged internal Republican divisions over the precise goal of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, mirroring some of the internal friction within the congressional GOP. In a near tie, 40% of respondents wanted the emphasis to be on 'ensuring that the national debt is reduced,' while 39% wanted to focus on tax reduction and 21% prioritized maintaining current spending levels on Medicaid, the poll found. Advertisement A majority of both Independents (53%) and Democrats (79%) wanted the emphasis to be on maintaining Medicaid levels. Overall, the House-passed version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would raise the national deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate. The measure slashes spending, primarily on Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), by a net $1.25 trillion as an offset to the tax cuts. 4 Many protests over the weekend railed against ICE specifically. Zuma / Advertisement Several fiscal hawks in the Senate, such as Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have pushed for more cuts. Concern about the legislative bundle's impact on the deficit led to a scorched-earth tirade from tech mogul Elon Musk against President Trump earlier this month. The House-passed version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act slaps work requirements onto Medicaid, which provides health insurance to over 70 million low-income Americans. Coupled with other modifications to Medicaid, Republicans are eyeing around $700 billion in savings from the program over a 10-year period. Upwards of 7.8 million Americans could lose their health insurance due to the reforms, the Congressional Budget Office has projected. 4 Congressional Republicans are working to get the One Big Beautiful Bill Act across the finish line. AP The Medicaid provisions have proven to be a sticking point for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and have drawn scrutiny from Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) as the Senate GOP mulls the mammoth bill. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is intended to be Trump's signature legislative achievement. GOP leadership is hoping to get the megabill to Trump's desk by the Fourth of July, though that timeframe looks increasingly tough to achieve. Advertisement This week, key Senate committees are set to unveil revised versions of the bill. After it clears the Senate, it will need to go back through the House before it can get to Trump's desk. The NBC News Decision Desk Poll sampled 19,410 adults between May 30 and June 10 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans win special elections for two deep-red House seats in Florida
The Republican candidates prevailed in a pair of special congressional elections in Florida on Tuesday, NBC News projects, giving Republicans some more breathing room as they navigate a narrow House majority. NBC News projects that Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis has won the race in the 1st District to replace GOP former Rep. Matt Gaetz, while Republican state Sen. Randy Fine won the 6th District race to replace GOP former Rep. Michael Waltz, who is now President Donald Trump's national security adviser. Fine was leading Democrat Josh Weil 54%-46% when the NBC News Decision Desk called the race with 73% of the expected vote in. In three counties where nearly all of the expected vote is in, Fine was faring around 10 points worse than Waltz in November. Patronis defeated Democrat Gay Valimont, a former activist with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, who lost to Gaetz in November. The 6th District race gave some Republicans heartburn, with Weil vastly outraising Fine and Fine slow to launch TV ads. Trump carried the district, which includes Daytona Beach, by 30 points in November, but outside Republican groups hit the airwaves in the final days as the race appeared to be competitive. Trump himself also engaged to help turn out his supporters, as Democrats looked to leverage lower turnout in a special election and energy among the party's grassroots to oppose him. Trump issued multiple Truth Social posts and held two tele-town halls last week for both candidates. Fine is a staunch Trump ally, having switched his endorsement in the 2024 presidential primary from home-state Gov. Ron DeSantis to Trump. Fine wrote in an op-ed that he, as a Jewish Republican, did not believe DeSantis had done enough to combat antisemitism. DeSantis represented the 6th District in Congress before he ran for governor. Fine's decision to endorse Trump earned him the president's support ahead of the special primary election in January, helping him easily win the GOP nomination. And he promoted his ties to Trump in the race. 'I stand behind you 100%, and you'll have no greater warrior for your agenda than me,' Fine said of Trump in last week's tele-town hall. Fine's support for Trump appealed to Linda Morgan, a Republican voter who cast her ballot Tuesday morning for Fine. 'If he admits he's going to help President Trump do the job that we elected him for, then I'm all in,' Morgan told NBC News outside a polling place in Daytona Beach. Fine celebrated his victory by crediting Trump with the win, writing on X, "Because of you, Mr. President. I won't let you down." Patronis also pitched himself as a Trump ally, though he stayed neutral in the presidential primary, saying in an interview in January that he wanted to maintain a good working relationship with DeSantis. Valimont significantly outraised Patronis, which he acknowledged created "a lot of anxiety" in his race. But the fundraising gap was even wider in the slightly-less-Republican 6th District, which drove Republican concerns about Fine's prospects. Weil, a public school teacher who had raised more than $10 million as of Monday, according to recent fundraising reports, had leveraged his strong fundraising to launch attacks against Fine over potential GOP-led cuts to entitlement programs, including Social Security and Medicaid, in a district where nearly 30% of the population is over age 65. Trump tried to counter those attacks in last week's tele-town hall, telling supporters, 'Randy will vote to defend Social Security, protect Medicare, cut your taxes, end inflation, fully fund our border security agenda.' Fine had raised $2 million as of Monday, including $600,000 from himself, fueling some GOP concerns that the race could be closer than expected. Fine also lives more than 100 miles south of the seat he was running in and never made real inroads in the region, and he did not start running TV ads until late in the campaign. That worried Republicans, but Weil's huge financial support is what bred panic among Republicans and the White House. 'The White House was late in learning what almost every Floridian involved in politics knew,' said a longtime Florida operative involved with the race who is familiar with the Trump orbit's thinking. Once it realized Fine's vulnerabilities, the source said, it "engaged at an enormous level and expended the necessary resources to win it.' 'It was all hands on deck,' the person added. The effort included a huge push from Florida Republicans to travel to the district to help get out the vote for Fine, as well as a late influx of cash to get Fine on TV and help blunt his money disadvantage against Weil. 'Panic and money can solve a lot of problems,' said a Republican consultant working on Fine's campaign. Democrats, meanwhile, took solace in Weil's appearing to perform better than Vice President Kamala Harris. "In 2025, Democrats have overperformed the top of the ticket in nearly every election as voters turn out in blue, purple, and red districts to voice their anger at Donald Trump and Elon Musk," Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement. "Tonight was no different." The pair of GOP victories gives Republican House leaders a little more breathing room in passing their major priorities. Republicans will now have a 220-213 majority, with two Democratic vacancies, meaning they can afford to lose three Republicans and still pass legislation along party lines, assuming every sitting member votes. Patronis and Fine will head to Congress as Republicans are trying to piece together a sweeping budget proposal to tackle Trump's top priorities, including extending his 2017 tax cuts. Fine has signaled that he will support Trump's agenda, telling him at last week's tele-town hall that his race could determine 'whether you have the votes in Congress you need to get the job done.' Patronis said in an interview last week that his top priorities in Congress would be the economy and supporting veterans. (The 1st District has the second-highest share of veterans of any district in the country, according to the Veterans Administration.) Asked whether there were any elements of a possible budget proposal that he would not support, such as cuts to Medicaid, Patronis demurred, saying he had not given much thought to 'those type of hypotheticals.' 'My principles are making sure that we're either restoring dollars back to the citizens of CD-1, we spend their dollars more efficient,' he said. 'I don't think it's good to create a path where you're taking away something from a benefit or entitlement that somebody is counting on. I do like giving people options.' This article was originally published on
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP 'anxiety' persists ahead of Florida special elections in Trump territory
Republicans are looking to add two more seats to their House majority after special elections in Florida next week, giving GOP leaders a little more breathing room in a tightly divided legislative chamber. But they might be holding their breath until the polls close on Tuesday. Voters will cast their ballots next week in Florida's 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, two deep-red seats that President Donald Trump won easily in November. While Republicans are still expecting to win both races, they are more competitive thanks to a wave of Democratic money and early votes. Republicans are wary that closer-than-expected contests could fuel a narrative that voters are reacting negatively to the Trump presidency and that Democrats have the momentum heading into next year's midterm elections. Trump himself has made it clear that the stakes are high. "Your vote in this crucial election will help determine whether the radical left will grind Congress to a halt, which is what they want to do — just stop everything, all the progress that we've made, which is record setting," Trump said at a tele-town hall Thursday night for Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who is running to replace former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz in the 1st District on the Florida panhandle. Trump also held a town hall for tele-town hall with State Sen. Randy Fine, who is running in the 6th District on the state's eastern coast to replace former GOP Rep. Mike Waltz, who is now Trump's national security adviser. Fine declined to comment on his race, but Patronis said in a Wednesday interview that Trump is 'laser-focused' on winning these special elections, noting that he spoke with Trump on Monday and gave the president an update on his campaign. 'The guy is a winner and he likes to win big. He likes to win confidently,' Patronis said, later adding, 'The last thing I'm gonna do is let him down, so I'm gonna work as hard as I possibly can.' Trump's tele-rallies came amid Republican frustration that the party has to focus attention and resources on special elections in deep-red territory. Trump won the 1st District by 37 points and the 6th District by 30 points in November, according to election results from the NBC News Decision Desk. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-to-1 in the districts as of last fall, according to state voter data. But the Democratic contenders have raised eye-popping sums and spent heavily on advertising, fueling GOP concerns. 'It definitely creates a lot of anxiety that there's that much money coming in from all over the country,' Patronis said. 'And they're driving it into a part of Northwest Florida that's never seen this much money ever spent on a campaign in the state's history.' Patronis' Democratic opponent, gun control activist Gay Valimont, raised $6.4 million from Jan. 9 to March 12, while Patronis raised $1.1 million over that same period of time, according to fundraising reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission. Republican leaders have raised more concerns about the 6th District race, which had an even wider fundraising gap. Fine raised $561,000 in the most recent fundraising period, while his Democratic opponent Josh Weill raised a whopping $9.7 million. Fine has recently spent $600,000 of his own money on his campaign. Early vote returns are also driving some GOP concerns about the 6th District race, with Democrats pulling even with Republicans despite their registration disadvantage. Meanwhile in the 1st District, Republicans make up a majority of the early returns. Democrats have typically turned out in heavier numbers in early voting in recent years, while a greater share of Republican voters tend to show up on Election Day. Fine acknowledged the early vote gap in a Wednesday appearance on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's 'War Room' podcast. 'The Democrats are mad and the Republicans aren't. And we have to make them mad. We have to make them understand just what's at stake,' Fine said, later adding, 'I know we have good election days, but we need to run up that score right now.' Fine and Patronis have gotten a boost from GOP outside groups that have hit the airwaves in recent days. Conservative Fight PAC and Defend American Jobs, which is tied to cryptocurrency executives, have launched ads touting Trump's support for both candidates and targeting their Democratic opponents. A super PAC tied to billionaire Elon Musk also began spending several thousand dollars in both races on 'texting services.' The Democratic candidates haven't had help from outside groups. The Democratic National Committee did send some funds to the Florida Democratic Party to help with poll watchers and field organizers. DNC vice chairs David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta also traveled to the 6th District, and DNC Chairman Ken Martin will also campaign there this weekend. Valimont said it was a mistake for the national party to ignore her race. 'People are looking at the percent of people that are registered Republicans here and they're saying, 'There's no way,'' Valimont said. 'I think there is a way.' Republicans are still bullish they will ultimately win both races. 'We're confident we're gonna win the seat,' National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told reporters this week about the 6th District race, later adding that Republicans are feeling 'comfortable' about the 1st District. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also acknowledged that the races could be difficult for Democrats to win. 'These districts are so Republican, there would ordinarily be no reason to believe that the races will be close,' Jeffries said this week. 'But what I can say, almost guaranteed, is that the Democratic candidate in both of these Florida special elections will significantly overperform.' Valimont and Weil believe they have a path to victory by leveraging lower turnout, energizing Democrats, and winning over no-party voters and even some Republicans. Both said Trump and the Republican Congress' early actions could push some GOP voters to their corners. Valimont lost to Gaetz in November, but said the conversation in the district has changed since then, amid cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs as part of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency's effort to slash the size of the federal government. The 1st District has the most veterans of any House seat in Florida, and the second-most in the country, according to the VA, and Valimont has pledged to fight to bring a VA hospital to the district. 'It is bringing in more people that we weren't counting on .. The Trump Republicans that were firmly in Trump's corner that have lost their jobs. And they understand that he doesn't care about them,' Valimont said. Patronis backed DOGE and the federal cuts, and said supporting veterans would be a top priority if he is elected. 'Elon has done nothing but brought transparency to some of the ridiculousness of some of the expenditures out of the federal government,' he said. Weil said he was spurred to run because, as a teacher, he was concerned about threats to the Education Department, which Trump is seeking to dismantle. Weil also noted that the 6th District has a sizable population of seniors who could be affected by cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Nearly 30%of the district's population are over the age of 65, according to census data. 'They voted in the last election for economic relief and now they're looking at threats to their fixed income. They're looking at cuts to Medicaid and Medicare,' Weil said. Weil also launched an attack ad against Fine, accusing Fine of supporting efforts to cut Medicaid funds and tying him to Musk's comments that Social Security is a 'Ponzi scheme,' though the ad stops short of mentioning Musk by name. Running in seats Trump won handily, neither Valimont nor Weil have directly targeted Trump or Musk in their races, even as Democrats in next week's state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin make Musk an effective foil. 'I'm not running against them, I'm running against Randy Fine,' Weil said, suggesting that Fine has centered his campaign on serving Trump. Polls close in the 1st District, which is in the central time zone, at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, while polls close in the 6th District at 7 p.m. ET. This article was originally published on
NBC News
28-03-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
GOP 'anxiety' persists ahead of Florida special elections in Trump territory
Republicans are looking to add two more seats to their House majority after special elections in Florida next week, giving GOP leaders a little more breathing room in a tightly divided legislative chamber. But they might be holding their breath until the polls close on Tuesday. Voters will cast their ballots next week in Florida's 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, two deep-red seats that President Donald Trump won easily in November. While Republicans are still expecting to win both races, they are more competitive thanks to a wave of Democratic money and early votes. Republicans are wary that closer-than-expected contests could fuel a narrative that voters are reacting negatively to the Trump presidency and that Democrats have the momentum heading into next year's midterm elections. Trump himself has made it clear that the stakes are high. "Your vote in this crucial election will help determine whether the radical left will grind Congress to a halt, which is what they want to do — just stop everything, all the progress that we've made, which is record setting," Trump said at a tele-town hall Thursday night for Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who is running to replace former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz in the 1st District on the Florida panhandle. Trump also held a town hall for tele-town hall with State Sen. Randy Fine, who is running in the 6th District on the state's eastern coast to replace former GOP Rep. Mike Waltz, who is now Trump's national security adviser. Fine declined to comment on his race, but Patronis said in a Wednesday interview that Trump is 'laser-focused' on winning these special elections, noting that he spoke with Trump on Monday and gave the president an update on his campaign. 'The guy is a winner and he likes to win big. He likes to win confidently,' Patronis said, later adding, 'The last thing I'm gonna do is let him down, so I'm gonna work as hard as I possibly can.' GOP 'anxiety' Trump's tele-rallies came amid Republican frustration that the party has to focus attention and resources on special elections in deep-red territory. Trump won the 1st District by 37 points and the 6th District by 30 points in November, according to election results from the NBC News Decision Desk. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-to-1 in the districts as of last fall, according to state voter data. But the Democratic contenders have raised eye-popping sums and spent heavily on advertising, fueling GOP concerns. 'It definitely creates a lot of anxiety that there's that much money coming in from all over the country,' Patronis said. 'And they're driving it into a part of Northwest Florida that's never seen this much money ever spent on a campaign in the state's history.' Patronis' Democratic opponent, gun control activist Gay Valimont, raised $6.4 million from Jan. 9 to March 12, while Patronis raised $1.1 million over that same period of time, according to fundraising reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission. Republican leaders have raised more concerns about the 6th District race, which had an even wider fundraising gap. Fine raised $561,000 in the most recent fundraising period, while his Democratic opponent Josh Weill raised a whopping $9.7 million. Fine has recently spent $600,000 of his own money on his campaign. Early vote returns are also driving some GOP concerns about the 6th District race, with Democrats pulling even with Republicans despite their registration disadvantage. Meanwhile in the 1st District, Republicans make up a majority of the early returns. Democrats have typically turned out in heavier numbers in early voting in recent years, while a greater share of Republican voters tend to show up on Election Day. Fine acknowledged the early vote gap in a Wednesday appearance on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's 'War Room' podcast. 'The Democrats are mad and the Republicans aren't. And we have to make them mad. We have to make them understand just what's at stake,' Fine said, later adding, 'I know we have good election days, but we need to run up that score right now.' Fine and Patronis have gotten a boost from GOP outside groups that have hit the airwaves in recent days. Conservative Fight PAC and Defend American Jobs, which is tied to cryptocurrency executives, have launched ads touting Trump's support for both candidates and targeting their Democratic opponents. A super PAC tied to billionaire Elon Musk also began spending several thousand dollars in both races on 'texting services.' The Democratic candidates haven't had help from outside groups. The Democratic National Committee did send some funds to the Florida Democratic Party to help with poll watchers and field organizers. DNC vice chairs David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta also traveled to the 6th District, and DNC Chairman Ken Martin will also campaign there this weekend. Valimont said it was a mistake for the national party to ignore her race. 'People are looking at the percent of people that are registered Republicans here and they're saying, 'There's no way,'' Valimont said. 'I think there is a way.' Democratic longshots Republicans are still bullish they will ultimately win both races. 'We're confident we're gonna win the seat,' National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told reporters this week about the 6th District race, later adding that Republicans are feeling 'comfortable' about the 1st District. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also acknowledged that the races could be difficult for Democrats to win. 'These districts are so Republican, there would ordinarily be no reason to believe that the races will be close,' Jeffries said this week. 'But what I can say, almost guaranteed, is that the Democratic candidate in both of these Florida special elections will significantly overperform.' Valimont and Weil believe they have a path to victory by leveraging lower turnout, energizing Democrats, and winning over no-party voters and even some Republicans. Both said Trump and the Republican Congress' early actions could push some GOP voters to their corners. Valimont lost to Gaetz in November, but said the conversation in the district has changed since then, amid cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs as part of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency's effort to slash the size of the federal government. The 1st District has the most veterans of any House seat in Florida, and the second-most in the country, according to the VA, and Valimont has pledged to fight to bring a VA hospital to the district. 'It is bringing in more people that we weren't counting on .. The Trump Republicans that were firmly in Trump's corner that have lost their jobs. And they understand that he doesn't care about them,' Valimont said. Patronis backed DOGE and the federal cuts, and said supporting veterans would be a top priority if he is elected. 'Elon has done nothing but brought transparency to some of the ridiculousness of some of the expenditures out of the federal government,' he said. Weil said he was spurred to run because, as a teacher, he was concerned about threats to the Education Department, which Trump is seeking to dismantle. Weil also noted that the 6th District has a sizable population of seniors who could be affected by cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Nearly 30%of the district's population are over the age of 65, according to census data. 'They voted in the last election for economic relief and now they're looking at threats to their fixed income. They're looking at cuts to Medicaid and Medicare,' Weil said. Weil also launched an attack ad against Fine, accusing Fine of supporting efforts to cut Medicaid funds and tying him to Musk's comments that Social Security is a 'Ponzi scheme,' though the ad stops short of mentioning Musk by name. Running in seats Trump won handily, neither Valimont nor Weil have directly targeted Trump or Musk in their races, even as Democrats in next week's state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin make Musk an effective foil. 'I'm not running against them, I'm running against Randy Fine,' Weil said, suggesting that Fine has centered his campaign on serving Trump. Polls close in the 1st District, which is in the central time zone, at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, while polls close in the 6th District at 7 p.m. ET.
