Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has had effectively nothing to say about Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial, which made it all the more notable when actor Robert De Niro and some police officers who served at the Capitol on Jan. 6 addressed reporters this morning at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse.
* In Texas’ 23rd congressional district, incumbent Republican Rep. Rep. Tony Gonzales is facing a primary runoff race today against social media influencer Brandon Herrera.
* Speaking of the Lone Star State, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is also facing a GOP primary runoff election today, and Trump has now repeatedly endorsed the incumbent’s intraparty rival, David Covey, a former county GOP chair.
* And as long as we’re talking about Texas, incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn announced the other day that he’s running for re-election in 2026. If the scuttlebutt is true, he’s likely to face a primary challenge from state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
* Though Trump has criticized cryptocurrencies for years, calling them a “disaster waiting to happen” and saying that bitcoin seemed “like a scam,” the presumptive GOP nominee declared over the holiday weekend that he’s now “VERY POSITIVE AND OPEN MINDED” on the issue.
* Remember Herschel Walker’s failed Senate campaign? The Georgia Republican is reportedly sitting on more than $4 million in leftover funds — and GOP officials apparently want him to put those resources to use.
* In an apparent first, the Biden campaign has hired Clarke Humphrey to serve as the campaign’s senior adviser for digital persuasion. His principal responsibility: Humphrey will be the team’s “meme manager.”
