This is the Nov. 10 edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
Don’t mess with Texas? Gavin Newsom blew past that advice and won big because of it. Now he’s offering his own warnings to the Lone Star State.
“Don’t poke the bear!”
Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott did poke that bear with a gerrymandering scheme that backfired. Last week, California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, and now it’s Newsom drawing up redistricting plans likely to rival Abbott’s.
Newsom’s big win at the ballot box followed months of his trolling Trump. Now the buzz around a Gavin Newsom White House run is gaining steam.
The reaction from Democratic insiders looks a bit like that of Republican establishment figures when Trump himself first announced his presidential plans in 2015. The GOP base loved the reality TV host, but the political pros remained skeptical.
Now the same holds true for the president’s nemesis-in-chief.
Newsom is a “big-league talent,” a powerful Democratic operative and White House staffer told me yesterday.
“He may be the winner of the 2025 presidential positioning primary. But I’m not so sure about ’28.”
Another veteran of countless Democratic campaigns calls the California governor “incredibly charismatic” and notes that he has become increasingly disciplined with his messaging.
“Newsom is also tall and looks like a movie star,” the Democratic pro adds with a laugh. “He will tower over other candidates on the debate stage.”
Still, Newsom has his doubters, even back in the Golden State.
“He has a great political operation, is best in class on social media, has a newly empowered and unparalleled grassroots fundraising capacity and is a candidate who has learned to speak in the ‘fight Trump’ idiom that the base demands now above all else,” one analyst in regular contact with the governor tells The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe.
But this insider thinks Newsom may ultimately pass on a presidential run.
“Newsom backers and detractors in California share a common view: No one else in the race has as much personal and professional baggage to defend. And when the brickbats start flying from all sides, Newsom watchers doubt the governor will want to put his family through that fight.”
Still, with Democrats desperately seeking political salvation, no leader may be in a better position to lead the party out of the wilderness than Gavin C. Newsom.
As the Guv might say, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
“Eight Democrats voted with the Republicans. And to my mind, this was a very, very bad vote.”
ON THIS DAY
SESAME STREET PREMIERES
Sunny days started chasing the clouds away 56 years ago today.
The show started in 1969 as a bold social experiment to reach millions of children through public television.
Economists have called “Sesame Street” the “largest and least costly” early childhood intervention in U.S. history, and its educational impact, known as the “Sesame Effect,” has helped children around the world learn their ABCs, 123s and a little bit of kindness along the way.
More than half a century later, the air stays sweet on television’s most famous street, as a new, reimagined season launches today on Netflix — brought to you, as ever, by the letters L, O, V, E and the number 56.
GOVT. SHUTDOWN ENDS
Call it a Democratic Dunkirk, in which a strategic retreat ultimately leads to victory.
The government shutdown may soon be over. But independent voters will not forget how the White House fought with all its might to keep food assistance out of the hands of working Americans. Democrats will remind these voters time and again how Republicans forced the shutdown because they were offended by the notion that Americans deserved a little help paying for their families’ exploding health care costs.
Democrats made their point during the shutdown, and Republicans paid for it last week — getting wiped out in elections from Bucks County, Pa., to Sacramento, Ca.
MAGA maestro Steve Bannon told The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe that those elections erased political gains Donald Trump’s party made over the past decade.
Ideological purists itching for an intra-party fight should keep those massive electoral victories in mind and plan for the next battle.
Forget the fear and loathing. Democrats should understand that this fight is just beginning, and the opening round went their way.
- Democrats enjoyed historic wins last week across America.
- Trump’s disapproval ratings in some polls are higher since the shutdown began than ever before.
- Independents have turned against the GOP, and the shutdown may have only made it worse.
Democratic strategists I’ve spoken with today are looking ahead to the next shutdown fight, which will come in January. That debate will be fought after health care premiums explode as a result of Republican stonewalling. Those skyrocketing premiums and Democrats’ favorable polls give them a strategic advantage over Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
For those upset about the deal, I feel your pain. When my Republican Party capitulated to Bill Clinton over our shutdown fight, I considered the government’s reopening a loss. But I soon used that shutdown battle to fire up my base and win the bigger war.
We ended up balancing the budget four years in a row for the first time since the 1920s.
If Democrats use this shutdown to define their opponents instead of divide their party, expect Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to be the next speaker of the House.
ALSO ON THIS DAY
Bill Gates was just 28 when he unveiled a new operating system for PCs. The future billionaire predicted that Windows 1.0 would be running on 90% of all IBM-compatible computers by the end of 1984. He was off by 90%. It would take another two years for the system to hit the shelves — and by that time, another tech whiz by the name of Steve Jobs had introduced the world to the Macintosh.
A DEAL FIT FOR A KING: Our Prime Angus Interview
Angus King, the independent Maine senator who caucuses with the Democrats, explains to “Morning Joe” why he broke ranks and voted to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
JS: Why did you decide to vote to reopen the government?
KING: Our two goals were to stand up to Donald Trump and to get Republicans to help Americans by extending the ACA premium tax credit. But the shutdown wasn’t accomplishing either goal, and it became increasingly obvious that there was a zero chance Donald Trump was going to help middle-class Americans on health care. The shutdown ended up giving him more power to slash SNAP benefits across the country, stop pay for park rangers and air traffic controllers, while continuing to give ICE agents their paychecks.
The shutdown didn’t work. It actually gave him more power. JS: What about health care premiums? KING: I negotiated with my Republican colleagues for some time, and it became clear that the chance of negotiating a settlement during the shutdown was zero. At least now we have a guaranteed vote on ACA subsidies, something that is unprecedented in my experience in the Senate. I’ll take those odds any day. JS: Donald Trump admitted that the government shutdown is why Democrats won last week’s elections. Why stop now? KING: We were at a point of diminishing returns. Joe, there has been tremendous collateral damage from the refusal of Republicans to compromise. Forty-two million Americans are losing SNAP benefits. Americans aren’t being paid for the work they’re doing. I don’t want to land at an airport in the United States with a sleepy air traffic controller because they’re working double shifts without pay. Any good general knows if the strategy isn’t working, you change tactics, especially if your own troops are at risk. JS: Bernie Sanders believes this deal will hurt Democrats. What do you say to progressives like him? KING: I’m saying, “What was your strategy, man? What was your endgame?” At least now we are guaranteed a vote on the ACA. It may not succeed, but a 20% chance of victory is a lot better than a 0% chance. JS: Claire, what do you think? Is this a good or bad deal for the Democratic Party? CLAIRE MCCASKILL: At least the Democratic Party is fighting over how we best help everyday Americans. The Republicans are fighting about whether or not they should platform Nazis. Democrats may disagree how they best help Americans, but this deal moves the ball down the field for a few months during the holidays. And Angus, you’ve made sure families will be able to get together and have wonderful memories together over Thanksgiving. You’ve also ensured the skies will be safe and that people will get the food assistance they need during the holidays. But then you’re going to face another possible government shutdown. How many Republicans right now are willing to vote with Democrats to help bring down health care costs for millions of Americans? KING: I can’t give you an exact count, Claire, but I think it’s in double digits, because these health care increases are going to impact Republican constituents, as well as Democratic constituents. We need 13 Republican votes to get a bill through. Is that possible? I think we have a 50-50 chance. That’s a lot better than where we were last night, at zero. It’s the most wonderful time of the year: the sound of cash registers merrily ringing to signal that the magical, money-making Comcast Commerce Tree has taken root outside of 30 Rock! Good boys and girls from across the fruited plains can once again come to the City That Never Sleeps for a spending frenzy fit for a kiddie capitalist-in-training. Who needs Santa when Old Man Barnicle and Willie Geist are there to fill stockings with “Morning Joe” T-shirts, “Sunday Today” coffee mugs and a third-round draft pick to be named later? As the 75-foot Norway spruce was lifted into place this weekend, Judy Russ and her 7-year-old son, Liam, helped wedge the stability spike into the tree, which had been growing in their upstate New York backyard. Judy and her husband, Dan, who died in 2020, had always thought the tree would be perfect for Rockefeller Plaza. “As my husband has passed away, I know he would have loved to have been here for this moment,” she said. “It’s so special that my family’s tree gets to be America and the world’s Christmas tree.”e gets to be America’s, if not the world’s, Christmas tree.” FUN FACTS ABOUT THE U.S. MARINES: Gavin Newsom’s adoring fans from deep in the heart of Texas take delight in the California governor’s trolling of their own top pol, Greg Abbott. Washington insiders speculate that Newsom is moving ever closer to a presidential run in 2028. Trump pardons key allies who helped in effort to subvert 2020 election results The shutdown will end, but what Trump and GOP stand for will stick with voters for years Trump is helping the rich and saying the hell with a lot of the people who voted for him This week, Sen. John Fetterman joins us to discuss his new book “Unfettered.” Want to ask a question? Send it over, and we will pick our favorite to ask on the show!
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again." Recommended
THE COMCAST CHRISTMAS TREE ARRIVES 🎄
EXTRA HOT TEA
Also on this day: The U.S. Marines were created by the Continental Congress
ONE LAST SHOT
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE
SPILL IT!
