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DNC chair says remaining candidates for GOP nomination are “ultra MAGA”
On the day of the first Republican nominating contest, a Democratic National Committee memo is painting the remaining Republican field as a group of politicians driven so far to the right by former President Donald Trump that none of them can win a general election.
“The competition for the MAGA base has resulted in the most extreme, far right GOP field in history,” DNC chair Jamie Harrison said in a memo shared first with CBS News.
The memo offers a glimpse into the thinking of President Biden’s allies as the GOP enters a critical stage of the 2024 election — and following a CBS News poll released Sunday that showed a higher percentage of likely voters nationwide in a general election choosing any of the three of the likely GOP nominees for president over Mr. Biden. In the poll, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley led by eight points, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by three and Trump by two over Biden.
Harrison argued, however, that while Trump has “reached new lows this cycle,” Haley and DeSantis have been “jockeying to outdo Trump with his own base.” He pointed specifically to anti-abortion laws that both candidates signed as governors of their respective states and both candidates’ record of opposing the Affordable Care Act.
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Incumbent candidates, such as Mr. Biden, typically have a built-in advantage. Among the reasons for that is the fact that over the course of a primary race, the winning candidate of the opposing party is often pulled further into the extremes of their respective party. Then, once that candidate has won the nomination, they need to convince members of the opposing party to vote for them in a general election.
“With each debate, town hall, and media appearance, the Republican contenders have doubled down on an agenda that is deeply out of touch with the American people,” he wrote.
For his part, Trump has worked to ensure he maintains the loyalty of his base in spite of the promises made by his opponents.
“[DeSantis] and Nikki Haley will never secure a border and they’ll never come close to it. It’s only words,” Trump said at a rally Sunday in Indianola, Iowa.
The impact of a more conservative GOP nominee will also affect down-ballot races, according to Harrison’s calculation.
“Republicans’ race for the MAGA base has left them saddled with unpopular policy positions that will weigh them down in a general election, and be a liability for down-ballot Republican candidates,” he wrote.
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A rare square 37-carat emerald owned by the Aga Khan fetched nearly $9 million at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the world’s most expensive green stone.
Sold by Christie’s, the Cartier diamond and emerald brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, dethrones a piece of jewelry made by the fashion house Bulgari, which Richard Burton gave as a wedding gift to fellow actor Elizabeth Taylor, as the most precious emerald.
In 1960, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned Cartier to set the emerald in a brooch with 20 marquise-cut diamonds for British socialite Nina Dyer, to whom he was briefly married.
Dyer then auctioned off the emerald to raise money for animals in 1969.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
By chance that was Christie’s very first such sale in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the emerald finding its way back to the 110th edition this year.
It was bought by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels before passing a few years later into the hands of Harry Winston, nicknamed the “King of Diamonds.”
“Emeralds are hot right now, and this one ticks all the boxes,” said Christie’s EMEA Head of Jewellery Max Fawcett. “…We might see an emerald of this quality come up for sale once every five or six years.”
Also set with diamonds, the previous record-holder fetched $6.5 million at an auction of part of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor’s renowned jewelry collection in New York.
Kraft Heinz is pulling Lunchables — prepackaged boxes of deli meat, cheese and crackers — from the program that provides free and discounted meals to about 30 million low-income school children, the food conglomerate said on Tuesday.
Consumer Reports applauded the move, months after the advocacy group sounded alarms about the product popular with kids, saying its tests found troubling levels of lead and sodium in them.
“Lunchables and other lunch kits with concerning levels of sodium and harmful chemicals have no place on the school lunch menu,” Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, stated on Tuesday. “We’re pleased that Heinz Kraft has pulled Lunchables from the school lunch program after lower than expected demand from school districts across the country.”
In an Oct. 30 earnings call, Kraft Heinz CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera called Lunchables a “very important” part of the company’s business, while noting what he described as “misleading” negative publicity regarding the product.
Kraft Heinz changed two of its Lunchables — Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza Lunchables — to qualify for the USDA-run program. Sales of those two products were less than 1% of overall Lunchables sales, so the business impact is negligible, according to the company.
In a statement emailed to CBS MoneyWatch, Kraft Heinz said demand for Lunchables from school districts across the country did not meet its targets. “Lunchables products are not available in schools this year, and we hope to revisit at a future date,” the company said.