Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* For several months, President Joe Biden’s re-election operation enjoyed a sizable financial advantage over Donald Trump’s operation. The Republican base’s response to his felony conviction has gone a long way toward evening the scales.
* In related news, Timothy Mellon, a secretive heir to a Gilded Age fortune, donated $50 million a few weeks ago to a super PAC supporting Trump’s candidacy. It’s one of the largest campaign contributions in the history of the United States.
* Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has donated nearly $20 million to support Biden’s re-election campaign. That’s a significant sum, of course, but to have a real impact, the billionaire will have to write several more — and larger — checks.
* In a surprise move, Trump told a group of Silicon Valley investors this week that he would, in a second term, give green cards to foreign-born students who graduate from American universities. The former president’s campaign team walked that position back soon after.
* In light of the Republicans’ recent fixation on “cheapfake” videos characterizing Biden as addled, the Biden campaign released a new montage yesterday of Trump "getting confused, lost, wandering off, and waving to nobody."
* In Maryland, former Gov. Larry Hogan said yesterday that he didn’t seek — and doesn’t want — Trump’s support for his Republican U.S. Senate candidacy. Hogan nevertheless received the former president’s backing.
* In New York, the latest Siena College survey found Biden leading Trump, 47% to 39%, which is a far closer margin than the Democrat’s advantage in the Empire State in the 2020 race.
* Responding to some scuttlebutt about his electoral future, Republican Sen. James Lankford denied interest in Oklahoma’s 2026 gubernatorial race, calling recent reporting “fake news.”