The most pressing Day 1 question

Nov 01, 2024

By Ben Johansen, Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan

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Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration and Harris campaign.

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Vice President KAMALA HARRIS has framed her campaign around bringing Republicans into the fold. She’s pledged to nominate a Republican to her Cabinet. And in the week leading up to Election Day, she has juxtaposed DONALD TRUMP’s description of his political opponents as the “enemy within” with her pledge to “give them a seat at the table.”

But the real stroke of bipartisanship Harris could hit that would have the greatest impact? Unveiling the former president’s official portrait in an attempt to reset the presidential norms missing in the Trump era. Obviously.

In 2012, BARACK OBAMA unveiled the official White House portrait of his predecessor, GEORGE W. BUSH in a moment of bipartisanship unimaginable in today’s political climate. Naturally, in Trump’s antagonistic four years, he skipped out on the tradition, leaving it to President JOE BIDEN to honor his former boss two years ago.

Now, as Biden puts the finishing touches on his presidency, one central question remains: When will Donald Trump’s portrait debut?

It’s a sticky situation.

He’s a former president looking for a second stint in the White House four years after he attempted to subvert the peaceful transition of power, resulting in thousands of his supporters storming the Capitol. There isn’t much desire among Democrats to extend an olive branch.

If Harris wins the election, she will be left with a decision: Offer a defeated Trump, who’s still facing federal and state criminal charges, a White House visit or let him become the longest-lasting former president to not have his portrait placed in the White House.

Four days out from Nov. 5, it’s hard to envision Donald Trump receiving his portrait from Harris, who would have taken away his latest grasp at power, and participating in what is normally a staid but unifying tradition alongside a president of the opposing party.

But, that would be in the spirit of Harris’ bipartisan campaign messaging. This moment, if Trump were to accept, could give her that chance.

However, that move, some believe, could backfire for the VP. JULIAN ZELIZER, an American political historian and CNN political analyst, told West Wing Playbook that the hypothetical unveiling would upset not only a lot of Democrats, but moderate Republicans like former Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.), who “went out on a limb” in supporting the vice president.

“Her whole speech [on Tuesday] was about how he is a tyrant and a threat to democracy. How do you celebrate what he did in office by hanging his portrait?” Zelizer exclaimed. “It would be a contradiction of what the message of her campaign has been about.”

Just two years after BILL CLINTON made GEORGE H.W. BUSH a one-term president, the one-time rivals stood together at the White House in 1995 for the official unveiling of the oil painting of the 41st president. Nearly three decades later, that type of presidential fraternity has not included Trump. Any sort of interactions between Trump and the former presidents have been … uncomfortable to watch.

An additional wrinkle to this thought experiment is Harris’ likely desire to unveil soon-to-be 82-year-old President Biden’s portrait. At some point during her presidency, Harris will want the opportunity to honor Biden — a moment he would not take lightly. And it would certainly raise some eyebrows if she skipped over the former Republican president to do so.

In a calculated political move, Harris could extend the offer to Trump.

Presidential historian TIM NAFTALI said that it could serve as an opportunity for the country to move on from the Trump years. “I hope she would unveil it,” Naftali said. “And then move on.”

But the image of Trump being honored at the White House isn’t appealing to everyone. When asked if Harris should give Trump that opportunity, TIM MILLER, a former Republican staffer turned anti-Trump podcaster said in a text, “Lol, I hope not. But who cares.”

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POTUS PUZZLER

Which presidential candidate’s slogan was ‘In Your Heart, You Know He’s Right’?

(Answer at bottom.)

Photo of the Week

Collage of President Joe Biden at the Halloween trick-or-treat event on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.

Tierney Cross, AFP (top, bottom left); Kent Nishimura, Stringer (top, bottom right)

CAMPAIGN HQ

CUE THE CLEANUP: It's a common refrain of the last eight years: 'Donald Trump at a campaign event told supporters that [INSERT CRITIC/GROUP OF MARGINALIZED PEOPLE] should be [INSERT THREAT].'

But his remarks while sitting in an interview with TUCKER CARLSON Thursday night felt different. When asked about Liz Cheney campaigning for the vice president, Trump said the Wyoming Republican is a "war hawk" and should have guns "trained on her face.”

“His daughter is a very dumb individual, very dumb,” Trump said, speaking of DICK CHENEY. “She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face.”

In response, Cheney posted on X: “This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant,” adding the hashtag, #VoteKamala.

Harris, in a tarmac gaggle with reporters after arriving in Wisconsin, said anyone who wants to be president and uses that type of rhetoric “is clearly disqualified.”

LATE MOVEMENT? Harris’ campaign, which has insisted she’s the underdog from the beginning, stopped short of claiming she’s headed for victory in a senior staff call with reporters on Friday. But as our MEGAN MESSERLY reports , they also asserted that whatever undecided voters are still out there were breaking for Harris by more than 10 points in the final sprint. One official pointed to focus group data showing Trump’s hate-filled rally at Madison Square Garden last weekend moved not just Latinos but other swing voters. “It really kind of crystallized for them,” the official said.

Senior adviser DAVID PLOUFFE posted on X about the same data: “It’s helpful, from experience, to be closing a Presidential campaign with late deciding voters breaking by double digits to you and the remaining undecideds looking more friendly to you than your opponent,” he wrote. “Close race, turnout and 4 days of hard work will be key. But good mo.”

WAITING HERE IN ALLENTOWN: Vice President Harris will spend all of Monday in Pennsylvania, holding events in Allentown, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, her campaign announced. The Harris campaign also on Friday dropped its final Pennsylvania ad with the state’s governor, JOSH SHAPIRO, speaking directly to camera along with Harris, who is seated right beside him.

And on Monday night, Harris will reportedly hold an Election Eve concert and rally outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Not to speculate, but one Philadelphia-area native happens to be wrapping up her U.S. tour on Sunday … before leaving for her international tour on Nov. 14.

WHAT WILMINGTON WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by ProPublica’s LIZZIE PRESSER and KAVITHA SURANA, who writes that a pregnant teenager, 18-year-old NEVAEH CRAIN , died last year after trying to get care in three visits to Texas emergency rooms. At the second hospital she visited, Crain was diagnosed with sepsis, a life-threatening and fast-moving reaction to an infection, medical records show. But doctors said her six-month fetus had a heartbeat, and that Crain was fine to leave. On her third visit, Crain’s blood pressure had plummeted and her lips were “blue and dusky,” before her organs began failing. Hours later, she died. CANDACE FAILS , Crain’s mother, still cannot understand why her daughter’s emergency wasn’t treated as one.

Campaign spokesperson JAMES SINGER shared the piece on X.

The Oval

APOSTROPHE-GATE DEEPENS: The edit was a single apostrophe — but one freighted with political and electoral implications. As AP’s AAMER MADHANI and ZEKE MILLER scooped Thursday night, the press shop added that apostrophe to the official transcript of the president’s strong comments criticizing Trump “supporters” without approval from the White House stenographer’s office in an effort to contain the political fallout. They did that, Eli confirmed today, after conferring with the president about what he’d meant to say.

On Thursday, before the AP report broke, the director of the steno office raised concerns about the process to the comms team. In an email, she acknowledged the team’s attempts to reach her about their alteration to the transcript but reminded them that distributing it before she’d been able to reply was “a breach of protocol.”

“THAT’S ALL WE GOT? ONE GODDAMN HIT?” The iconic scene from “Major League” where BOB UECKER’s Harry Doyle can’t believe the abysmal stat sheet he’s reading on the air — that’s basically how we imagine folks in the West Wing reacting to Friday’s disappointing October jobs report. As VICTORIA GUIDA and SAM SUTTON report, the news that the U.S. economy gained only 12,000 jobs last month reflected a weakening labor market and the impact of multiple natural disasters and a strike at Boeing. While Trump’s campaign seized on the numbers, calling the report “a catastrophe,” Biden, in a statement, pointed to unemployment staying at 4.1 percent and predicted that job growth would rebound in November.

THE BUREAUCRATS

AND SO IT BEGINS … Rep. BARBARA LEE (D-Calif.) is signaling that she would be interested in serving as Housing and Urban Development secretary if Harris is elected, our ELEANOR MULLER reports for Pro subscribers. Lee, who ran in an unsuccessful Senate primary election earlier this year, has joined the presidential campaign trail — and has begun soliciting feedback on housing proposals and brainstorming ideas for how Harris’ HUD could differentiate itself from Biden’s.

TAKING THEIR TALENTS TO THE WHARF: Two veteran journalists who left the Washington Post over its non-endorsement decision are joining The Atlantic, CNN’s BRIAN STELTER reports. Both ROBERT KAGAN and DANIELLE ALLEN, who resigned after JEFF BEZOS’ decision to shelve the editorial board’s endorsement of Harris, are joining the magazine as contributing writers.

PERSONNEL MOVES: VARUN JAIN is now deputy general counsel at the Department of Transportation, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. He most recently was senior counselor to the OIRA administrator at the Office of Management and Budget.

— ISABELLE deCASTRO is now a staff assistant in the Office of Presidential Personnel at the White House. She most recently was a legal assistant at Grant & Grant Attorneys and is a recent graduate of Indiana University.

— BLAKE WALLER is now an assistant to the executive clerk at the White House. He is a recent graduate of University of North Carolina, Wilmington.

— ISABELLA ANDAYA is now a senior video producer in the Office of the Vice President. She is a recent graduate of Stanford University.

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Agenda Setting

13 MONTHS LATER: On Friday, Reps. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-Mich.) and CORI BUSH (D-Mo.) sent a letter to President Biden questioning U.S. armed forces assisting Israel in its conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. “American military involvement in these wars has not been authorized by the United States Congress, as required by the Constitution and U.S. law,” the lawmakers wrote. “The American people have made it clear that they want to see an immediate ceasefire, an end to these wars, and the return of hostages, not deepening American involvement in potentially endless regional war.

What We're Reading

The Breaking of an American Family (POLITICO’s Michael Kruse)

Democrats Have a Weapon to Use Against Elon Musk. Why Won’t They Use It? (POLITICO’s Michael Schaffer)

What Orwell Didn’t Anticipate (The Atlantic’s Megan Garber)

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

BARRY GOLDWATER’s unsuccessful presidential campaign against incumbent Democrat LYNDON B. JOHNSON used the phrase ‘In Your Heart, You Know He’s Right’ as its slogan, despite testing the worst out of five other slogans.

LBJ’s campaign responded with its own slogan about Goldwater: “In Your Guts, You Know He’s Nuts.” That November, Goldwater lost in a landslide.

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Jennifer Haberkorn, Steve Shepard and Rishika Dugyala.

A message from PhRMA:

Seniors are feeling the true cost of drug price “negotiations.”

Instead of saving money, some Medicare patients will pay more for medicines.

Others may not be able to get their medicines – 89% of insurers and PBMs say they plan to reduce access to medicines in Medicare Part D because of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Higher costs and less access. That’s not what seniors were promised.

Learn more.