Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: D-day and beyond, as seen from the White House

Abbreviated Pundit Roundup is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet.

David Rothkopf/Daily Best:

Biden’s D-Day Speech Nailed the Threat of Modern Fascism

Speaking on sacred ground in Normandy, the president correctly drew parallels between America’s enemies in World War II and the threats we face domestically and globally today.

But in his remarks, he also subtly but unmistakably evoked perhaps the darkest of the specters haunting Thursday’s ceremonies, the U.S. and our modern alliance. “We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago; they never fade. Aggression and greed, the desire to dominate and control… these are perennial. The struggle between dictatorship and freedom is unending.”

With these words, Biden addressed the bitter irony that haunted the commemoration ceremonies. While D-Day occurred eight decades ago, America is now just five months from an election that could bring to power a man and a movement who embody and celebrate the twisted authoritarian values of the enemies we sought to defeat so long ago.

Washington Post:

Judge rules Bannon must go to prison by July 1 while appealing contempt case

The former Trump adviser is challenging a four-month prison term for contempt of Congress after failing to appear before a House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

Federal prosecutors had asked the judge to lift a previous hold on Bannon’s sentence, arguing that no substantial legal questions remain over his two-count conviction for refusing to provide documents or testimony to a House committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Bannon’s appeal on all grounds last month, though his legal team has indicated that it plans to take their fight to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols agreed with prosecutors after a nearly hour-long hearing. “I don’t believe that the original basis for my stay of Mr. Bannon’s sentence exists any longer. I no longer consider that his appeal raises substantial questions of law of a kind likely to reverse his conviction,” Nichols said, citing the appellate panel’s ruling.

Nate Cohn and Ruth Igielnik/New York Times:

Small Shift Toward Biden After Trump Verdict

We reached nearly 2,000 people who participated in previous Times/Siena polls to see if any had changed their minds.

Overall, Mr. Trump retains 93 percent of voters who told us they backed him in a previous survey — a tally that’s yet another striking show of political resilience from a candidate who is facing three more sets of criminal indictments.

But in a close election, losing 7 percent of your supporters can be decisive. In recent polls, Mr. Biden either leads or is within two points of Mr. Trump in states and districts worth the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency. A potentially crucial sliver of Mr. Trump’s former supporters — 3 percent — now told us they’ll back Mr. Biden, while another 4 percent say they’re now undecided. (The overall shift is closer to two percentage points because it also accounts for the smaller slice of voters who moved away from Mr. Biden when contacted again.)

The shift was especially pronounced among the young, nonwhite and disengaged Democratic-leaning voters who have propelled Mr. Trump to a lead in the early polls. Of the people who previously told us they had voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 but would vote for Mr. Trump in 2024, around one-quarter now said they would instead stick with Mr. Biden.

Voters who dislike both candidates — who have been dubbed double haters — were especially likely to defect from Mr. Trump. Overall, Mr. Trump lost more than one-fifth of the double haters who once backed him. That group of defectors was about evenly split between moving to Mr. Biden and saying they were now undecided.

Sarah Longwell/The Atlantic:

The Two-Time Trump Voters Who Have Had Enough

“Now that he is a convicted felon, he’s completely unfit.”

These are the “double haters”: the chunk of voters who are dissatisfied with both candidates, and are trying to decide which one is less bad. Although many of them are “out” on Trump, they’re struggling to get there on Biden. If Biden is going to win in November, these are the voters he must persuade to hold their noses and vote for him.

And there’s reason to believe that Trump’s recent felony conviction just made it a little bit easier for them to do it.

Many of the voters in this group had familiar stories: They supported Trump in the past as “the lesser evil.” They couldn’t stomach Hillary Clinton in 2016. They were lifelong Republicans who couldn’t imagine voting for a Democrat. Some of them remember watching The Apprentice and admiring Trump for his perceived business savvy.

But the events of January 6 and general fatigue with Trump’s antics have made these voters “not very likely” or “not at all likely” to vote for him again in 2024.

“I made my mind up quite a while ago that I wouldn’t vote for him,” Alex from Illinois said. “I just said, I can’t bring myself to do it.”

Chuck from Ohio agreed: “There’s no change in my desire to vote for Mr. Trump.” He continued: “I’m not voting for the man, period, end of discussion.”

New York Times:

A Republican Election Clerk vs. Trump Die-Hards in a World of Lies

Cindy Elgan has overseen elections in rural Nevada without incident for 20 years, but now even her neighbors wonder if she’s part of “the deep state cabal.”

The deputy was standing alongside a woman that Elgan recognized as Mary Jane Zakas, 77, a longtime elementary schoolteacher and a leader in the local Republican Party. She often asked for a sheriff’s deputy to accompany her to the election’s office, in case her meetings became contentious.

“Hi, Mary Jane. What can I do for you today?” Elgan asked, as she slid a bowl of candy across the counter.

“I hope you’re having a blessed morning,” Zakas said. “Unfortunately, a lot of people are still very concerned about the security of their votes. They’ve lost all trust in the system.”

“I’d be happy to answer any questions and explain our process again,” Elgan said.

“We’re beyond that,” Zakas said. She reached into her purse and set a notarized form on the counter. Elgan recognized it as a recall petition, a collection of signatures from voters who wanted to remove an elected official from office. It had been more than 20 years since the county’s last successful recall, and Elgan leaned down to study the form.

“Name of public officer for whom recall is sought: Cindy Elgan.”

“Reasons why: Cindy Elgan has run interference in our elections.”

Natalie Jackson/National Journal:

Kennedy Jr. is no H. Ross Perot

Everything about Perot’s relative success as a third-party candidate in 1992 is not possible for Kennedy.

Perot’s 1992 candidacy had a strange trajectory that proved quite effective at first. He entered the race early in the year, ran an intense “draft Perot” media strategy to land on major news programs throughout the spring, and qualified for the ballot in every state. In June of 1992, Perot led both major-party candidates in the polls, with nearly 40 percent support. Once that lead began to slip in July, he dropped out of the race.

Yet Perot was not done. He reentered the race in early October, polling in the single digits, but just in time to participate in the three debates. That visibility helped him pull some of his support back by Election Day, en route to 19 percent of the vote nationwide.

In retrospect, everything about Perot’s candidacy was wild and not even remotely replicable by Kennedy. It starts with the media blitz Perot used to build momentum in the spring of 1992. This was the era before 24-hour cable news networks dominated, when most of us watched the evening news around dinnertime, or maybe Larry King Live on CNN a bit later. There were only a few news programs. Perot made appearances on many of them, able to leverage his substance as a businessman to gain credibility and access.

Kennedy has none of that available to him. 

Cliff Schecter highlights eric swalwell’s takedown of Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan in their own words: