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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Sen. Tim Scott’s Republican presidential campaign suffered another big setback this week when the super PAC backing the South Carolinian’s candidacy scrapped the TV ad reservations it had made for the fall. In a memo to donors, Trust in the Mission PAC co-chair Rob Collins wrote, “We aren’t going to waste our money when the electorate isn’t focused or ready for a Trump alternative.”
* In Iowa, Donald Trump has clashed with Gov. Kim Reynolds, but the same is not true of state Attorney General Brenna Bird: The Republican endorsed the former president’s 2024 candidacy this week.
* Speaking of Trump, he urged the Republican National Committee to cancel upcoming presidential primary debates. The RNC has apparently ignored him, announcing that the third debate will be held on Nov. 8 in Miami, and it will be hosted by NBC News.
* Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez is running out of friends. The New York Times reported, “At Puerto Rico’s most exclusive beachfront resort, where shoulder season rooms go for $1,500 a night, deep-pocketed donors have reliably lined up to pay tribute to Senator Robert Menendez in the form of a $5,000 check to his political action committee. But this year’s retreat imploded, as donors quickly distanced themselves from Mr. Menendez.”
* Senate GOP leaders spent months hoping election denier Kari Lake wouldn’t launch a Republican campaign in Arizona, but now that she has, Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso has endorsed her candidacy.
* President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has created an account on Trump’s social media platform. By way of an explanation, the Democratic operation said it had joined the platform “mostly because we thought it would be very funny.”