Crypto group’s campaign spending angers Republicans: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version ofFrom the Politics Deskan evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, political reporter Katherine Doyle explains why some Republicans are miffed by a crypto group’s campaign spending. Plus, chief political analyst Chuck Todd looks at the Republicans who are begging Donald Trump to stay on message.

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Crypto group’s campaign spending angers Republicans

By Katherine Doyle

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — A leading pro-cryptocurrency political group is dumping millions of dollars into high-profile Senate races in Arizona and Michigan to back Democrats against Donald Trump-endorsed candidates, angering top Republicans who viewed the industry as an ally, not an opponent.

Fairshake PAC and its affiliated super PAC announced plans to spend $3 million backing both Ruben Gallego in Arizona and Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, two contests that will play a major role in determining which party wins control of the closely divided Senate this fall.

The campaign comes as top Republicans have sought to broker closer ties to members of the crypto industry amid a hostile regulatory environment.

Fairshake pointed to Slotkin’s and Gallego’s current A-ratings from Stand With Crypto, a nonprofit advocating for the crypto industry. While both Democrats have expressed skepticism of the industry in the past, they crossed party lines this year to support a major crypto bill.

The group also plans to spend $12 million in an attempt to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, chair of the powerful Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, who is viewed by industry advocates as a crypto skeptic.

Still, the spending in favor of Democrats in other critical races has rubbed some in the GOP the wrong way. They warn that the group risks losing sway with Republicans after working to cultivate hard-won relationships and question the durability of Gallego’s and Slotkin’s crypto support.

The spending was a hot topic of conversation as Republicans descended on Jackson Hole this week, alongside investor Marc Andreessen and representatives from Coinbase and other crypto groups, to attend consecutive retreats hosted by the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Andreessen and his business partner, Ben Horowitz, have endorsed Trump in the presidential race and criticized the Biden administration’s regulatory agenda. Together, Andreessen and Horowitz are among Fairshake’s most significant donors.

“Republicans are WTF about what’s going on with Fairshake, and I think that’s a pretty bad omen for the industry, that people are walking around wondering why our main trade association is pointing its arsenal at our friends,” said one industry leader, who was granted anonymity to speak freely. “A lot of people are walking around the CLF conference astonished that this is the strategic chess move that the industry has made.”

Read more from Katherine →

Republicans are stuck with Trump’s obsessions

By Chuck Todd

Nearly a month into Vice President Kamala Harris’ serving as the Democrats’ new standard-bearer, the question of who has the weaker presidential nominee for down-ballot candidates is back up for debate. As of this writing, it’s now Republicans in battleground states and districts who are begging their nominee to change course.

And so far, Trump isn’t listening.

A good example of this gentle public nudging of Trump to change his approach comes from Vivek Ramaswamy, the former presidential candidate who has been making the media rounds calling for a more focused and even subdued Trump campaign. Here’s what he said recently on NPR:

“Who’s going to secure the border? Who’s going to grow the economy? Who’s going to stay out of World War III? And, more intangibly … who’s going to restore national pride in this country? I think Donald Trump has a strong case on all of those counts, and I think he and the Republican Party will be well-served to focus on the policy contrasts.”

And yet, in just about every public forum Trump has been involved in since Harris’ ascension, he has been incapable of pivoting to a message that’s anywhere close to the advice from Ramaswamy.

This wouldn’t be hard for a normal candidate. And yet for Trump, it has been quite hard. In talking with folks who know him well, it’s clear he can’t get over losing to Joe Biden in 2020. His only personal hope of moving past the Biden defeat in 2020 was to defeat him in 2024. Now, Biden has denied him that opportunity.

He also doesn’t seem to respect Harris as an opponent, and voters are picking up on that. Disdain from one candidate can turn swing voters against that campaign and toward the target. The best example of that? Hillary Clinton, who clearly never viewed Trump as a worthy opponent in 2016. The “deplorables” comment only reinforced that view.

Well, Trump is falling into the same trap. It’s possible the less respect he shows for Harris, the less scared the public will be to give her a chance.

Read more from Chuck →

That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at [email protected]

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