Happening this Wednesday: Colorado Supreme Court rules to prevent Donald Trump from being on 2024 primary ballot… Trump campaign signals it will appeal ruling to U.S. Supreme Court… President Biden travels to Milwaukee, where he discusses the economy at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce at 1:45 pm ET… VP Harris stresses focus on abortion rights in interview… And Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas: This is our final First Read of 2023, but we’ll be back in January.
But FIRST... How dominant is Donald Trump’s command over the Republican Party, even amid a contested presidential primary race?
The answer: So dominant that immediately after Colorado’s state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 disqualified him from being on the state’s primary ballot, the former president’s GOP rivals jumped to his defense.
“The Left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal grounds. SCOTUS should reverse,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reacted, per NBC’s Alec Hernández.
“I will tell you that I don’t think Donald Trump needs to be president. I think I need to be president,” added former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, per NBC’s Sarah Dean. “I think that’s good for the country. But I will beat him fair and square. We don’t need to have judges making these decisions.”
And here was Trump critic Chris Christie in New Hampshire, per NBC’s Emma Barnett: “I don’t believe a court should exclude somebody from running for president without there being, you know, a trial and evidence that’s accepted by a jury that they did participate in an insurrection.”
When we look back on the political stories of 2023, one of the biggest has been Trump expanding his lead in the GOP presidential race, despite all of his legal challenges.
In fact, every time Trump was indicted, arraigned, or brought into court over the past year, his poll numbers in the GOP presidential contest only grew.
“I think that had [Manhattan D.A.] Alvin Bragg not politicized this back in April, I think probably the primary would be looking different. I mean, I think that that gave the former president more support. I think people felt that he was being treated unfairly, which he was, in that circumstance,” DeSantis said on “Meet the Press” back in October.
The GOP gravitational force around Trump has been that strong.
And it once again demonstrated its strength on Tuesday night.
Headline of the day
The number of the day is … $210 million
That’s how much money has been spent on ads in the Republican presidential primary so far this year, according to AdImpact, an ad tracking firm.
The Top 3 spenders in the race have been the three super PACs backing the Top 3 Republican candidates.
Never Back Down, which supports Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has spent over $40 million this year. SFA Fund Inc., the group backing former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, has spent over $33 million this year. And MAGA Inc., which supports former President Donald Trump, has spent over $32 million.
In recent weeks, Never Back Down’s spending has dropped as the group has been through internal turmoil. Since the start of last week — Dec. 11 — the group has spent nothing on ads, but another group, Fight Right, has emerged to back DeSantis. That super PAC has spent almost $5.3 million since it started spending on ads last month.
Among the actual candidates, the top ad spender this year was South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, whose campaign spent over $13 million on the airwaves before he dropped out of the race in November. Trump is the top-spending candidate still in the race, dropping $5.7 million on ads so far this year.
Eyes on 2024: Harris stresses focus on abortion rights in MSNBC interview
Vice President Kamala Harris joined MSNBC’s “Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” on Tuesday, fresh off of her announcement that she would be kicking off a national tour next month focused on abortion rights. The tour begins in Wisconsin on Jan. 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
“I will be meeting with folks around the country of all types of background, by the way, and political party affiliation to talk about the fact that one — most of us agree that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held belief to believe that the government should not be telling her what to do with her body,” she said.
Harris described the abortion issue as one of the few “binary” choices for voters, noting there will be a “split screen” next year.
“On the one hand, you’re going to have the folks who are standing, such as President Joe Biden and me, saying we trust women to be able to make a decision about what is in their best interests, and women can trust us to protect their fundamental freedoms,” Harris said.
“And, on the other hand, you’re going to have folks who want a national ban and have the gall to tell women who are even survivors of rape or incest that they don’t have the right to make decisions about what happens to their body next,” she added.
For more on Harris’ response to Trump’s anti-immigrant comments and the push for aid for Ukraine and Israel, check out the interview on MSNBC.com.
In other campaign news …
Trump doubles down: While Trump didn’t comment on the Colorado ruling during a Tuesday night campaign event, he did double down on his anti-immigrant rhetoric, saying again that undocumented immigrants are “destroying the blood of our country,” per NBC’s Zoë Richards. His previous comments about immigrants did draw some criticism from GOP lawmakers, NBC’s Megan Lebowitz reports.
Full Court press: NBC’s Lawrence Hurley writes that the U.S. Supreme Court will play “a decisive role in deciding the many novel issues raised by former President Donald Trump’s legal travails.”
Trump’s plan: A senior Trump campaign official told reporters Monday that Trump plans to secure the GOP nomination by mid-March, given the expected delegate math, NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard, Dasha Burns and Jonathan Allen report.
Christie complications: Politico details how former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s sole focus on New Hampshire could ultimately throw a wrench into former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s plan for a strong showing against Trump in the Granite State, and ultimately help Trump win the nomination.
Poll position: CNBC’s All-America Economic Survey finds that Trump has overcome Biden’s lead among Latino voters.
To the left: Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips has moved to the left in his presidential bid, telling Politico he is planning to sign onto “Medicare for All” legislation.
Trump’s pick: Trump announced Tuesday that he is endorsing businessman Bernie Moreno in Ohio’s GOP Senate primary, per NBC’s Jake Traylor.
These 10 ideas won’t happen: NBC News’ Chuck Todd offers 10 propositions for 2024 – and explains why it’s not likely that any of them will come true.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world:
A judge ordered Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., to turn over 1,659 documents to government investigatorslooking into the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Meanwhile, a former high-ranking Proud Boys official was sentenced to 40 months in prison on Tuesday for his role on Jan. 6.
The Senate on Tuesday approved the promotions of the remaining service members that Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., had previously blocked due to his objections to the military’s policy on paying for travel for abortions.
