Inside Ron DeSantis’s Plan to Ride Anti-vaxxism to the White House

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Inside Ron DeSantis’s Plan to Ride Anti-vaxxism to the White House

Good morning from the Hive newsroom! Katherine Eban takes us deep inside Ron DeSantis’s probe into COVID-19 vaccine makers, which has experts worrying will push anti-vaxxism into the official platform of the GOP and have far-reaching public health ramifications. Already, it has impacted pediatric COVID vaccine uptake in Florida. “What appears to be happening is this fringe group has taken over DeSantis’s COVID policy,” a Miami-based doctor tells Eban.

Also in Florida, Abigail Tracy reports from Orlando, where House Republicans are holding their annual retreat to tout their conservative agenda. But the conference has been hijacked by Donald Trump, whose possible indictment—and social media posts about maybe getting arrested—have “eclipsed any other agenda item, from GOP talking points on inflation, China, Joe Biden’s policies, and the debt ceiling,” Tracy writes. Bess Levin finds Trump posting his way through the prospect of getting criminally charged in a “multihour meltdown,” having shared no less than a dozen posts about the looming indictment. Thanks for reading!

Inside Ron DeSantis’s Plan to Ride Anti-vaxxism to the White House

He was for the COVID-19 vaccines before he was against them, but now Florida’s governor is all-in on vaccine skepticism—and hoping to use the issue to outflank Trump on the right.

Republicans Planned a Retreat to Tout Policy. Donald Trump Sucked Up Oxygen—Again

House Republicans descended on Orlando for their annual conference about their agenda. Instead, they had to answer for Trump’s social media posts about the possibility of his arrest.

Trump Is Taking His Looming Criminal Indictment in Typical Stride—By Losing His Mind

The ex-president has spent the last 24 hours raging online, posting weird-ass videos, and telling his followers that prosecutors are “coming after you.”

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In a pair of new lawsuits alleging discrimination and harassment, Abby Grossberg, who worked with top Fox stars, alleges that the network’s attorneys “coached” her into giving misleading testimony.

James Comer Is Becoming a Headliner in the GOP’s Performance Politics

Now sitting on a powerful perch, the House Oversight chairman seems perfectly happy to go along with Donald Trump’s nonsensical capers—regardless of how much he believes in the act himself.