| Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. On this day in 1973, the Senate Watergate Committee learned of the existence of President Richard M. Nixon's secret White House taping system from former Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield. | | |  | The big idea | | A subtle, barely visible DeSantis attack on Trump |  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his family took part in the Fourth of July parade in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire on July 4. (John Tully/The Washington Post) | | | Every candidate vying for the 2024 Republican nomination but not named Donald Trump faces the challenge of how to win over voters who support the former president. Can you criticize him enough to get voters to break with him (if that's even possible) without alienating them? Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been experimenting. It's just not true that he hasn't been attacking Trump. Ideologically, he's tried running to Trump's right on major issues like immigration and to his far-right on rolling back LGBTQ protections. Tactically, the governor has at times reserved his vitriol for interviews, not campaign rallies. What's drawn less notice is that he seems to be leaning into an approach that the New York Times called a "striking, risky strategy" and that his campaign fundraising emails promote as his "no smoke and mirrors, no fake matches, and no lies" relationship to small donors. | A subtle contrast with Trump | | It's not new — there are at least a dozen "smoke and mirrors" messages from the campaign over the past week. But that was language from an email The Daily 202 got at 9:52 a.m. Wednesday. | | At 11:41 a.m., a follow-up DeSantis campaign message read: "This DeSantis campaign narrative of no gimmick, no lie, no smoke-and-mirrors fundraising has turned so many heads that even the New York Times wrote an article about it." (Even the New York Times!) Here are a few key paragraphs from Tuesday's Times piece by Nicholas Nehamas, Rebecca Davis O'Brien and Shane Goldmacher: | - "No phony deadlines, Mr. DeSantis has promised donors. No wildly implausible pledges that sizable contributions will be matched by committees affiliated with the campaign. And no tricking donors into recurring donations."
- "This strategy is one of the subtle ways Mr. DeSantis's team is trying to contrast him with Mr. Trump, who has often cajoled, guilt-tripped and occasionally misled small donors. Although his campaign has not directly called out Mr. Trump's methods, on the day Mr. DeSantis declared he would run for president, his website prominently vowed to eschew 'smoke and mirrors,' 'fake matches' and 'lies' in its fund-raising."
- "For the DeSantis campaign, the vow of no trickery is risky. Mr. Trump, the most successful online Republican fund-raiser ever, has shown that such tactics work. But Generra Peck, Mr. DeSantis's campaign manager, said that approach damaged the long-term financial health of the Republican Party because it risked alienating small donors."
| 'Subtle ways' rarely = effective ways | | So far, it doesn't look like the overall DeSantis approach is working. He's still trailing Trump by about 30 points. Donors are reportedly unsettled, including one GOP megadonor who once saw himself in a DeSantis Cabinet but now "continues to assess the field," per CNBC. This isn't to pick on DeSantis — he and his team correctly note it's still early in the primary process, there hasn't even been a debate yet, we're six months from the first actual voting etc. And, as my colleague Marianne LeVine noted Tuesday, the entire non-Trump GOP field has the same problem. | - Former vice president Mike Pence highlights Trump's chumminess with Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticizes Trump for pressuring him to overturn the 2020 elections and says he's insufficiently engaged in the fight to restrict access to abortion, Marianne noted.
- DeSantis, in addition to running to Trump's right, argues the former president can't win a general election.
- Chris Christie, whose campaign is defined by his attacks on Trump, perhaps more than any other candidate, refers to the former president as a "snake-oil salesman," Marianne reported.
| | "But the attacks so far do not appear to have diminished Trump's front-runner status, according to interviews with GOP voters attending early campaign events, and with lawmakers and strategists, as well as a review of polling. With just over six months until the first nominating contest, here in Iowa, Trump holds a wide advantage in national surveys over a crowded field as his critics nervously confront the absence of a potent political argument against him — or a consensus on deploying one," Marianne wrote. | Can Trump even be dislodged? | | Is there something Trump's voters can learn about him that will make them rethink their support? Is there some line of attack that, repeated endlessly, by all of his rivals, could dent his poll numbers? Could an upset win by DeSantis in Iowa reshape the race? | | Maybe? Sure? Marianne spoke to Gunner Ramer, the political director of an anti-Trump group, the Republican Accountability PAC. The problem, Gunner told her, is that Republican "voters like the job Trump did as president." "Do I see a cohesive message [from the other contenders]? No. I think it's muddled," he told Marianne. "And I think that the best pitch that these candidates can make is electability, and, oftentimes, I think that these Republican candidates are afraid to alienate Trump's base." | | |  | Politics-but-not | | | Click through to submit ideas for potential inclusion in our weekly roundup of stories you might not find in other political newsletters. Read more » | | | | | |  | What's happening now | | FDA approves first over-the-counter birth control pill in U.S. |  The Food and Drug Administration's approval of Opill for over-the-counter sale comes six decades after birth control pills were introduced in the United States. (AFP/Getty Images) | | | "Federal regulators Thursday approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill available in the United States, a milestone in decades-long efforts to make oral contraceptives easier to obtain, especially by teenagers and women who don't regularly see a doctor," Laurie McGinley reports. | The FTC is investigating whether ChatGPT harms consumers | | "The Federal Trade Commission has opened an expansive investigation into OpenAI, probing whether the maker of the popular ChatGPT bot has run afoul of consumer protection laws by putting personal reputations and data at risk," Cat Zakrzewski reports. | Trump reveals new details about $1 billion in earnings in revised filing | | "Former president Donald Trump disclosed new details about roughly $1 billion in earnings in a revised financial filing covering 2021 through part of this year, including money from foreign ventures, speaking fees and a Florida golf course," Michael Kranish, Aaron Schaffer and Clara Ence Morse report. | IOC says it will not invite Russia or Belarus to the Paris Olympics | | "With war still raging in Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee on Thursday confirmed that Russia and Belarus will not receive formal invitations to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics when they are sent out July 26," Les Carpenter reports. | | |  | Lunchtime reads from The Post | | 'Racist,' 'grooming': Why parents are trying to ban so many picture books |  (Illustration by Lucy Naland/The Washington Post; Penguin Random House; HarperCollins Publishers) | | | "The discontent with children's picture books overwhelmingly centers on titles with LGBTQ characters and storylines, which were targeted in 75 percent of such challenges, The Post found. The top motive, cited in 64 percent of the picture-book complaints, was a wish to prevent children from reading about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary and queer lives. The next most-common reason was books' 'inappropriate' nature, cited in 44 percent of challenges, and the third most-common reason was that books were 'anti-police,' a charge included in 25 percent of challenges," Hannah Natanson reports. | Russia's war might have a new casualty: The Putin-Erdogan bond | | "In Russia, where President Vladimir Putin's good relationship with Erdogan is valuable geopolitical currency, the sense that Erdogan may be flipping to a closer, more cooperative relationship with Western leaders seemed to provoke almost as much anxiety as the idea of Sweden joining NATO, raising questions about whether Russia's war has undermined one of Moscow's most valued relationships," Robyn Dixon, Kareem Fahim and David L. Stern report. | Alcohol consumption surged during the pandemic — and deaths followed | | "U.S. consumption of alcohol, which had already been increasing for years, accelerated during the pandemic as Americans grappled with stress and isolation. At the same time, the number of deaths caused by alcohol skyrocketed nationwide, rising more than 45 percent," Caitlin Gilbert, David Ovalle and Hanna Zakharenko report. | How an upstart conservative group is taking Christian nationalist politics local |  Former general Michael Flynn speaks at a campaign event with Republican senate candidate Josh Mandel on April 21, 2022. (Gaelen Morse/Reuters) | | | "While [Citizens Defending Freedom] is hardly a household name, its activists have become regular voices before school boards and in other public meetings across Texas, Georgia and especially Florida since the group was founded roughly two years ago," Jack Jenkins reports for Religion News. | - "Rooted in religion and endorsed by figures such as former Trump adviser Michael Flynn, CDF members have been acting as foot soldiers in a broader culture war, fighting small, local battles to slow COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, back abortion bans and remove books they find objectionable from schools — including targeting books (or events) that promote LGBTQ equality or detail the experiences of LGBTQ people."
| Saudi Arabian money is bleeding into the sports world | | "Sports have always been considered about more than just commerce in this country – there were ideals involved. These are the games we use to teach our children values, where we go to name our heroes, where we invest not only money in a ticket, but our time and loyalty. That's more than commerce. Or at least it was," Jane McManus writes for Deadspin. | - "Because when leagues that govern golf or chess make deals to play in these places, or agree to let that money purchase teams or become a majority owner, then the rules that Saudi imposes on players and fans will force some difficult choices."
| | |  | The Biden agenda | | Biden hails newest NATO member, drawing contrast with Trump Helsinki trip |  President Biden and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto during a bilateral meeting Thursday at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. (Kimmo Brandt/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) | | | "President Biden is wrapping up his five-day, three country trip to Europe with a stop in Finland, where he has hailed the newest member of the NATO alliance and will confer with Nordic leaders. The trip drew a sharp contrast with the visit by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who had a private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin here in 2018," Toluse Olorunnipa and Meryl Kornfield report. | Biden's economic dream is becoming reality — but how long can he sustain it? | | "Even as fears of a disastrous recession fade, Biden and his allies are already turning their attention toward a range of smaller obstacles that threaten to dampen the White House's political narrative. There remains a wariness within the ranks that taking a full victory lap on the economy could invite political troubles down the road — and that the administration lacks the tools to deal with a serious setback should one occur between now and the election in 16 months," Politico's Adam Cancryn reports. | | |  | A breakdown of GOP midterm wins, visualized | | | "Republican victories in last year's U.S. House elections were chiefly driven by a partisan turnout advantage rather than Democratic defections, according to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center," Scott Clement reports. | - "The survey of more than 10,000 Americans found 71 percent of voters who supported Donald Trump in 2020 cast ballots in last year's midterms, compared with 67 percent of those who voted for President Biden. Voters who supported Democrats in the 2018 midterms were 10 percentage points less likely than those who supported Republicans to cast ballots in 2022, 74 percent vs. 84 percent."
| | |  | Hot on the left | | Hakeem Jeffries projects calm as tests await in post-Pelosi era |  Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (R-N.Y.), flanked by House Democrats, speaks during a news conference on forcing action on gun violence legislation at the U.S. Capitol on June 13. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) | | | "Six months into his tenure, interviews with more than a dozen House Democrats depict Jeffries not as a leader bending the caucus to his will, but as one seeking threads of consensus. In conversations across the party's ideological, geographical and demographic spectrum, the word 'listener' came up nearly every time," Bloomberg's Jonathan Tamari reports. | - "As McCarthy wrestles with his slim, unruly majority, Democratic support may again be needed to approve must-pass appropriations, agriculture, and defense bills later this year. Even more starkly, next year's elections could make Jeffries a history-making House speaker: Already the first Black person to head a Congressional caucus, he'd become the first to lead either chamber. But if he falls short, it could raise questions about why he was unable to overtake the GOP's tiny majority."
| | |  | Hot on the right | | GOP's far right seeks to use defense bill to defund Ukraine war effort |  Ukrainian soldiers of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade at undisclosed location in the woods in Ukraine in May. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post) | | | "The group's proposals on military aid stand no chance of passing the House — where strong bipartisan support for backing Ukraine's war effort continues — or going anywhere in the Senate. But the far right's insistence on casting votes on the matter anyway has further imperiled the defense legislation and transformed what is ordinarily a broadly supported measure that provides the annual pay raise to U.S. military personnel and sets Pentagon policy into a partisan battleground that has placed Republican divisions on display," the NYT's Karoun Demirjian reports. | | |  | Today in Washington (all times eastern) | | | At 12:40 p.m., Biden will depart Helsinki for Washington, D.C. He's expected back at the White House at 9:35 p.m. | | |  | In closing | | We regret to inform you 😞 | The surprising reason you shouldn't eat lots of ice cream when it's hot out |  Eating cool items such as ice cream may give you temporary relief, but foods with high water content are better, experts say. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post) | | | "Consuming a lot of cold foods or drinks in a single day could lower your core temperature, [Leigh A. Frame, director of integrative medicine at George Washington University,] said. Your body might respond by trying to heat itself back up, which could drain your energy and make you feel warmer in the long run, she said. Additionally, most ice cream contains dairy, which can be difficult for many people to digest," Allyson Chiu reports. | | Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow. | | |
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