BUTTIGIEG UP. WHITMER OUT? Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg topped a new poll of Democratic contenders for 2028 this week, while another potential candidate — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) — appeared to take herself out of consideration before quickly walking back the comment.
Whitmer said at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference that she is looking forward to taking a break from serving in office once her second term as governor comes to an end at the start of next year.
“There will be a robust group of people running for president. I will not be one of them in 2028, I can tell you that,” she told the Detroit-based Fox affiliate WJBK.
But Whitmer later said during a panel discussion at the event that she needs to “correct the record.”
“I never thought I would run for governor, so I guess I should know better,” she said, later adding “never say never.”
Whitmer, a popular two-term governor of a battleground state, has set herself apart from many of the other rumored candidates considering 2028 bids in her approach to Trump.
While other possible contenders such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) have been outspoken in slamming the president, Whitmer has taken a more subdued and, at times, cooperative approach — spurring criticism of her from the left.
Meanwhile, an Emerson College Polling survey showed Buttigieg leading a hypothetical field of possible Democratic candidates. Buttigieg was first with 18 percent, followed by Newsom at 16 percent and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) at 11 percent.
Buttigieg was one of the top performers in the 2020 Democratic primary.
Many of the other rumored possible candidates have brushed off questions about whether they are thinking about running in 2028, but speculation will ramp up throughout the year as the next presidential election cycle could start soon after the November midterms.
▪ The Hill: Southern Dems say South Carolina should hold first 2028 primary.
▪ The Hill: Xavier Becerra widens lead in California governor’s race.
BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will make her first appearance before lawmakers Friday since leaving her role when she answers questions on her oversight of the release of the Epstein files.
Bondi will sit for a transcribed interview before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and those associated with him.
The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports the appearance is unusual in a few aspects, as Bondi isn’t being formally deposed, an arrangement that Democrats argue violates the spirit of the subpoena. She’s also being accompanied by Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
“There would be a clear conflict of interest between Ms. Dhillon’s duties to DOJ and to Ms. Bondi individually. Such an engagement would also quite clearly violate DOJ policy,” the committee's ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) wrote in a letter to House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) earlier this month.
▪ NewsNation: Bondi’s appearance won’t be sworn, filmed deposition.
▪ The Hill: Trump refiles defamation suit over Epstein birthday card.
‘60 MINUTES’ SHAKE-UP: CBS News’s flagship Sunday evening news program is undergoing a major overhaul as the outlet replaced the show’s executive producer and reportedly fired a top correspondent.
Former New York Times opinion columnist Nick Bilton has been named as the new executive producer of “60 Minutes,” replacing Tanya Simon. Bilton doesn’t have experience working in broadcast news, having covered technology for the Times, contributed features and investigative coverage for Vanity Fair and worked as a filmmaker.
The Times reported Simon, who has worked at “60 Minutes” for more than three decades, had a year remaining on her contract.
Cecilia Vega, the program’s first Latina correspondent, has also been fired, according to the Times. Vega told the Times that she fears “what comes next for, and the future of, the legendary broadcast.”
The news comes a day after journalist Sharyn Alfonsi, who reported last year on a controversial Salvadoran prison where the administration had deported Venezuelan migrants, said her contract was not renewed. Alfonsi’s segment was reportedly pulled at the last minute by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, though it later aired.
▪ Semafor: The ‘completely new’ ‘60 Minutes.’
▪ New York magazine: How Bilton took the helm.
ACTUALLY, NO THANKS: Several artists said they would not be performing next month at a planned celebration on the National Mall for America’s 250th birthday — within a day after they were announced as part of the lineup for the “Great American State Fair.”
Freedom 250 rolled out an initial list of nine musicians and groups set to perform at the 16-day World Fair-esque event. But by the end of Thursday, at least five of them indicated they didn’t plan to perform, saying they either never agreed to do so or were misled about the political affiliation of the organization behind the festivities.
Martina McBride, Young MC, Morris Day and the Time, the Commodores and Bret Michaels each confirmed they wouldn't appear.
“I asked lots of questions and was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states. ... Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening,” McBride wrote on social media.
“The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event,” Young MC wrote in a Facebook post.
Michaels said in a social media post the event was “much more divisive than what I had agreed to be a part of.”
Freedom 250 maintains that it’s a nonpartisan organization. It is led by CEO Keith Krach, who served as an undersecretary of state during Trump’s first term.
Rappers Flo Rida and Vanilla Ice are still expected to perform, as of this morning.
▪ KVVU: Hoover Dam lights up for Memorial Day, America’s birthday.
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