With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine

DRIVING THE DAY

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT HIM … — “When Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio and Tim Scott Still Hated Donald Trump,” by Michael Kruse for POLITICO Magazine: “For 72 hours in South Carolina in 2016, three young conservatives promised a very different version of the GOP’s future. Then they caved.”

TUCKERED OUT? — Michael Schaffer scoops in his new Capital City column that Little, Brown has canceled plans to publish Jason Zengerle's planned biography of TUCKER CARLSON. The decision "stems at least in part from the belief that Carlson, once the biggest name on cable, no longer has the kind of cultural footprint to warrant a pricey, complicated book by a top-shelf writer."

THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: JAMES CLYBURN — We sat down yesterday with Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the former No. 3 House leader and co-chair of President JOE BIDEN’s reelection campaign, for a wide-ranging interview. He had a lot to say about the election, DONALD TRUMP, Black voters, the post-Biden Democratic Party, the future of the South Carolina primary and why he hasn’t endorsed in New York’s competitive primary between JAMAAL BOWMAN and GEORGE LATIMER.

CALL ME, JAMAAL: Let’s start in New York. The three top House Democratic leaders — HAKEEM JEFFRIES, KATHERINE CLARK, PETE AGUILAR — have endorsed Bowman, the incumbent, over Latimer, who is Westchester County executive. The contest is the fiercest intraparty primary of the season, exposing racial and ideological divisions in the party. Latimer is white, moderate and resolutely pro-Israel. Bowman is Black, a member of the Squad and has accused Latimer of being an “anti-Black racist” and “anti-Muslim racist.”

Clyburn stepped down from his role as assistant Democratic leader earlier this year, but he served in leadership for decades, holds a prominent role in the Biden campaign and retains a reputation as a kingmaker after his perhaps decisive 2020 endorsement of Biden in the presidential primaries.

But Clyburn told us that he has not yet endorsed Bowman.

“Well, he is not asking me for any kind of endorsement,” Clyburn explained. “He asked me for a contribution, and I gave it to him. I tend to respond to candidates based upon what they want me to do. If a candidate called and says, ‘I'd like you to come to my district,’ then I may go. He's not asking anything else with me.”

Clyburn said he thought it would be unlikely that he would side with Latimer — who won HILLARY CLINTON’s endorsement this week — but he pointedly did not rule it out.

BIBI COUNTERPROGRAMMING: Clyburn skipped PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU’s speech to Congress in 2015, and he’s doing the same this time around when the Israeli leader speaks before a joint session in July. “I won’t be attending,” Clyburn said. But he said he’s taking things a step further and discussing some kind of alternative event with Democrats when Netanyahu speaks. (In fact, he had a meeting on the issue scheduled right after our interview yesterday.)

WHAT RAY BUCKLEY IS READING: Biden put the traditionally fourth-place South Carolina presidential primary at the front of the line this year, something that Clyburn insists he didn’t ask him to do. Clyburn has long said that he liked his state “batting cleanup” because it had more influence that way.

“I never asked for South Carolina to be first in the nation,” he told us. “I've always asked for South Carolina to be first in the South.”

But now that it’s been moved, we asked, would he fight to keep it first in 2028?

“No,” Clyburn said.

KAMALA WHO? Speaking of the 2028 presidential primaries, we wondered whom Clyburn saw as his party’s post-Biden leaders.

He rattled off a list of names: Sen. CORY BOOKER (D-N.J.), Maryland Gov. WES MOORE, California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM, Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO, and North Carolina Gov. ROY COOPER. (He’s especially fond of Cooper. “He is a guy that I would keep my eyes on if I were you guys in the media,” Clyburn said.)

We couldn’t help but notice that a big name was missing from his list: VP KAMALA HARRIS. When we pointed this out, Clyburn replied, “Well, she's automatically on the list as vice president.”

NOTHING TO SEE HERE: Clyburn is one of three Black co-chairs of the Biden campaign, and he has been busy recently traveling to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan speaking to Black audiences on behalf of the president. We asked him about recent polling showing Trump making major inroads with Black voters.

Trump won 8% of Black voters in 2020, according to the AP VoteCast survey. His margins have been dramatically higher in polling this year. There was the CBS/YouGov poll in February in which Trump was winning 23% from Black voters nationally. Then there was the Times/Siena poll in May that showed Trump at 23% with Black voters in the battleground states. There was also the WSJ swing state poll in April that showed Trump at 30% with Black men and 11% with Black women.

Clyburn is either in denial about these trends or knows something others don’t. He said there was nothing new he would recommend for the Biden campaign to do to reach Black voters.

“I think Joe Biden is doing exactly what he needs to do to win reelection,” Clyburn told us. “I think the polling … something is amiss with the polling. … I don't know what's happening here, but I do know this: that anybody who believes that Donald Trump will get 30% of the Black male vote or 12% of the Black female vote, I got a bridge down there on Johns Island I'll sell you.”

You can listen to the full interview with Clyburn on this week’s episode of Playbook Deep Dive on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Happy Friday, and happy Flag Day. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

SCOOP: SHEEHY UNDER THE GUN — Montana GOP Senate candidate TIM SHEEHY received the endorsement of NRA earlier this month, with the gun-rights organization bestowing an “A” rating on the former Navy SEAL and businessman.

But in audio from August 2023 obtained by Playbook, Sheehy directed some stinging comments toward the NRA at a meet-and-greet event in Glasgow, Montana.

“It’s the Second Amendment in our Bill of Rights for a reason,” Sheehy began after an attendee asked his thoughts about the issue of gun control. “I will say, I’m not the biggest fan of the NRA, because I don’t think the NRA is really, truly worried about Second Amendment rights. I think they’ve really become a mouthpiece for the gun industry. That’s just my personal opinion.”

An earlier version of the newsletter mistakenly said the Sheehy campaign did not respond to requests for comment. A Sheehy spokesperson did reply to a text message at 5:38 a.m., but to our regret, we did not see the response before publication of the newsletter at 6:18 a.m.

The Sheehy campaign responded with the following statement: “Tim’s a political outsider who calls it like he sees it. Under previous leadership at the NRA, they were blowing millions on a lavish lifestyle and vacations for senior leadership and not on protecting our God-given Second Amendment right. They took action, cleaned house and, with new leadership, they are back on track focused on protecting our liberties. Tim is proud to have been endorsed by the NRA with an A rating while [Democratic Sen. JON] TESTER has an F rating because Jon Tester stands in strong support of the Biden-Obama gun control agenda.”

ELSEWHERE IN MONTANA — “A reportedly fake group recruited a real candidate for Congress,” by Rebecca Kern: “DENNIS HAYES, a retired builder in Townsend, Montana, had strong libertarian leanings and a bone to pick with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Then he got an unexpected tap on the shoulder. The call came from a man in Arizona identifying himself as a volunteer for the Patriots Run Project, a group recruiting right-leaning conservatives to run for office. Would he run for Congress?

“A donor provided the $1,340 he needed to register. Since that call in February, Hayes has been running against incumbent Rep. RYAN ZINKE, a Trump-friendly Republican who he is challenging from the right. Just one problem: The Patriots Run Project, according to a new research report, is a fake grassroots group that was running numerous accounts on Facebook without any identifiable people behind the operation.”

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The Biden campaign is going up with a new ad to commemorate Flag Day, titled “Our Flag,” as part of its push to underscore Biden’s commitment to upholding democracy.

“I don’t pledge allegiance to red states of America or blue states of America. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America,” the president says in the spot, which will air in battleground states starting today and run on TV and digital through the weekend. Watch the 60-second ad

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY

On the Hill

The Senate is out. The Armed Services Committee will mark up the National Defense Authorization Act at 9:30 a.m.

The House will meet at 9 a.m.

3 things to watch …

1. The House is set to wrap up work on its version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act later today, and the final vote could — unusually for the NDAA — be a squeaker. That’s largely because of the adoption yesterday of Rep. BETH VAN DUYNE’s (R-Texas) amendment reversing the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy on a 214-207 vote. As Connor O’Brien notes: “Injecting abortion politics … turns the measure into a nearly Republican-only effort. And it could imperil passage of the bill if Johnson can’t lock down nearly every member of his conference — including hard-liners who oppose larger defense budgets.”
   
2. Senate Judiciary Chair DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) has been under mounting pressure from the left to get more aggressive with his panel’s Supreme Court oversight in recent weeks as questions have piled up about the partisanship inside Justice SAMUEL ALITO’s household. Yesterday, there were signs of life from Durbin world: The committee provided findings to ProPublica that real estate magnate HARLAN CROW had provided more trips than previously known to Justice CLARENCE THOMAS, spotlighting again the potential conflict of interest that launched the recent public scrutiny of the high court.
   
3. Trump delivered a pair of quizzical endorsements yesterday to divergent effects. First there was his almost offhand backing of LARRY HOGAN in the Maryland Senate race — a nod that the centrist former governor was by no means seeking and immediately disclaimed, given its potential to draw a backlash in a deep-blue state. And then there was his Truth Social endorsement of Rep. LAUREL LEE (R-Fla.), which materialized after no MAGA Republican took him up on his March call for a challenge to the former Florida secretary of state, who backed RON DeSANTIS deep into his presidential run. Lee warmly accepted.

At the White House

Biden is in Fasano, Italy, for the G7 summit. This morning, he held a bilateral meeting with Italian PM GIORGIA MELONI. This afternoon, Biden will meet with POPE FRANCIS and participate in the closing session of the summit. In the evening, the president will depart Italy to return to D.C.

VP KAMALA HARRIS will travel to Atlanta as part of the administration’s Economic Opportunity Tour for a moderated conversation at the 100 Black Men of America Inc. 38th Annual Conference. In the evening, Harris will depart for Zurich, Switzerland.

PLAYBOOK READS

AMERICA AND THE WORLD 

POTUS ABROAD — Three big topics to watch at the G7:

1. China: One area of definite agreement between Biden and the various G7 leaders is in the belief that China poses a grave threat to their respective economies. “But behind the group’s collective bravado on ‘getting tough’ with China, the countries still have varying appetites for how far to actually go in challenging a world superpower — differences that some officials worry could dent the coalition’s ability to fend off Beijing’s advances,” Adam Cancryn and Doug Palmer report.

At the summit today, leaders will “try to paper over those lingering divides, coalescing behind a series of initiatives aimed at ratcheting up attention on China’s trade and investment in developing countries around the globe.”

2. Gaza: Biden yesterday conveyed a certain pessimistic message on the progress toward a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Asked by reporters whether he thought a break in the war might be imminent, Biden said “no,” though he added: “I haven’t lost hope.”

Later, at his news conference with Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Biden said the “biggest hang-up” is on Hamas’ side. “Whether or not it comes to fruition remains to be seen,” Biden said. “We’re going to continue to push. I don’t have a final answer for you.” More from Adam

Related reads: “Why a Gaza Cease-Fire Is So Elusive,” by NYT’s Isabel Kershner … “Emboldened Gazans Express Anger at Hamas, Israel Over Cease-Fire Talks Impasse,” by WSJ’s Fatima AbdulKarim, Dov Lieber and Abeer Ayyoub

3. Ukraine: Biden yesterday “extended security guarantees to Ukraine for the next 10 years, a clear effort to signal long-term support for Kyiv’s defense against Russia ahead of a U.S. election that could throw future American aid to Ukraine into doubt,” Adam writes.

“But there’s a major catch: The deal is only between the current administrations of the U.S. and Ukraine and won’t be ratified by Congress.” Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are “urging the administration to permit Ukraine to strike even deeper inside Russian territory using U.S.-supplied weapons,” Joe Gould and Miles Herszenhorn report.

Related reads: “Ukraine, allies clash over F-16 training,” by Lara Seligman in Brussels … “Russia financial system shaken after U.S. imposes new sanctions,” by WaPo’s Catherine Belton and Jeff Stein

2024 WATCH

WHAT’S CURDLING THE CREAM CITY — Trump sparked a firestorm yesterday after he reportedly called Milwaukee — where Republicans are preparing to host their convention next month, which also happens to be the largest population center in one of 2024’s most pivotal swing states — “a horrible city,” per Punchbowl.

The Trump campaign quickly blasted out a missive deriding “Fake News Jake Sherman,” claiming that the former president was “explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud.”

In an interview with Fox News, Trump again called the report false. “I love Milwaukee, I have great friends in Milwaukee, but it’s as you know, the crime numbers are terrible. We have to be very careful,” he said.

Democrats, meanwhile, swiftly decried the reported comment, our colleague Shia Kapos writes. “Donald Trump was talking about things that are horrible,” Democratic Milwaukee Mayor CAVALIER JOHNSON said when he addressed Trump’s remarks in an unrelated press conference. “All of us lived through his presidency. So right back at you, buddy.”

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The DNC putting up 10 billboards in Wisconsin today highlighting the alleged “horrible city” comment, Shia tells us.

Veepstakes: Trump also told Fox News he had “sort of a pretty good idea” of who he will select as his running mate and that the news would “probably get announced during the convention,” Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Aishah Hasnie write.

More top reads:

• In a separate meeting yesterday, Trump told a group of roughly 80 CEOs at the Business Roundtable’s quarterly meeting that tax cuts are in order if he wins in November, CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports. Among other things, “Trump explained that he wants to bring the federal corporate tax rate down from 21% to 20% if he were to become president.” It’s a nice round number, he said.

MORE POLITICS

SIGNATURE ISSUE — In deep-red Arkansas, a group of organizers trying to secure enough signatures for a ballot measure protecting abortion rights are experiencing “harassment and intimidation” tactics “after a conservative group posted online the names of nearly 80 paid signature gatherers that it obtained through a public records request,” The 19th’s Barbara Rodriguez and Grace Panetta report.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES — “The anti-abortion wins buried in the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling against them,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein

CONGRESS

IVF VOTE UPDATE — “GOP blocks IVF bill as Senate Dems plan to keep hammering reproductive rights,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein and Anthony Adragna: “Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and half a dozen Senate Democrats said it won’t be the end of the story, vowing additional votes in the reproductive rights space ahead of a November election where Democrats see the issue as a key wedge against Trump and other Republicans.”

STUDY HALL — Rep. BEN CLINE (R-Va.) told Breitbart in an interview that he is launching a bid to succeed Rep. KEVIN HERN (R-Okla.) as chair of the Republican Study Committee.

THE WHITE HOUSE

DOCU-DRAMA — “New Transcript Details Biden's Handling of Classified Records,” by Bloomberg’s Jason Leopold: “Early last year Biden’s ghostwriter, MARK ZWONITZER, told FBI agents and prosecutors working for Special Counsel ROBERT HUR that he destroyed some of the recordings of interviews he conducted with Biden. According to newly released records from the DOJ, Zwonitzer said he ‘was concerned about the possibility of being hacked’ and worried the audio would ‘spread all over the place.’”

TV TONIGHT — PBS’ “Washington Week,” with guest moderator Lisa Desjardins: Leigh Ann Caldwell, Francesca Chambers, Evan McMorris-Santoro and Sabrina Siddiqui.

SUNDAY SO FAR …

ABC “This Week”: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Panel: Rachael Bade, Rick Klein, Sarah Isgur and Karen Finney.

CBS “Face the Nation”: Bill Gates … Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) … Neel Kashkari.

FOX “Fox News Sunday”: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Panel: Jeff Mason, Susan Page, Kevin Roberts and Juan Williams. Sunday Special: Scott Morrison.

NBC “Meet the Press”: Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, Jonathan Martin, Stephanie Murphy and Marc Short.

CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Panel: Scott Jennings, Ashley Allison, Shermichael Singleton and Ashley Etienne.

MSNBC “The Weekend”: Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) … Angela Alsobrooks.

PLAYBOOKERS

John Fetterman said the quiet part out loud (literally).

Donald Trump and Glenn Youngkin seem to have made up.

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez did some repair work on Virginia Foxx’s car.

Robert Garcia affirmed his “White Lotus” superfan status.

Barack and Michelle Obama extended their creative partnership with Netflix.

Paul Nakasone is joining OpenAI’s board of directors.

Steve Ballmer is not donating to any campaigns.

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Equimundo’s Dad Ambassador Awards in conjunction with the Congressional Dads Caucus last night: Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Chasten Buttigieg, Reps. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Chris DeLuzio (D-Pa.) and Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Laura Modi and Timm Chiusano.

— SPOTTED at J.L. Partners’ Pollsters Panel event at the National Press Club yesterday, where attendees heard from speakers Katherine Doyle, Stan Greenberg, Jim McLaughlin, Patrick Ruffini, James Johnson and Landon Wall: Liam Donovan, Alex deGrasse, Rob Crilly, Logan Dobson, Tom Rogan, Christina Sevilla, Edward Roman, Nicholas Alton, Aaron Harrison, Mark Bergman, Joe Pitts and Scarlett Maguire.

NEW NOMINEES — The White House announced that Biden is nominating Christy Goldsmith Romero as chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Kristin Johnson as assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions and Caroline Crenshaw for another term on the Securities and Exchange Commission.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Jen Farber is joining Vision360 Partners as a partner. She previously was SVP at Precision Strategies. And in a series of promotions, Allison Haley is now a partner, Natalie Pavlatos and Caitlin Gullickson are SVPs, Tim Hogan is SVP for digital services and Roderick Patton, Rhina Portillo and Ian Eli Lee are managing directors.

TRANSITION — Jenny Wang is joining Susan Davis International as SVP. She previously was SVP at CLYDE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Former President Donald Trump (78) … Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) … Brian Fallon of the Biden reelect … State Department’s Allison Lombardo … former Reps. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) (7-0) … Tollbit’s Campbell Brown … Mack McLarty of McLarty Associates … Northwestern Mutual’s Christopher Gahan ... Regan Page … Julia Cohen ... Pavel Khodorkovsky … David Keller of Rep. Jim Banks’ (R-Ind.) office … YouTube’s Alexandra Veitch … Chamber of Commerce’s Sara Armstrong … Crystal Bowyer … CNN’s Pete Muntean … Wilson Center’s Ryan McKenna … Shomik Sarkar … BP’s Josh Hicks … Aaron Williams … Chris Liddell-Westefeld … Scot Ross … WaPo’s Robert Klemko … Ben Kaufman … Tom Gjelten

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this newsletter incorrectly referred to Rep. Jim Clyburn's role with the Biden campaign. He is one of three Black co-chairs.