Playbook editor Mike DeBonis and deputy editor Zack Stanton break down
the weekend in politics, including the Republican Jewish Coalition
conference in Las Vegas, NV. 

“2024 Republican rivals put Trump on notice,” by Alex Isenstadt in Las
Vegas: “If former President Donald Trump thought his early 2024
announcement would cow prospective Republican primary rivals into
submission, he clearly miscalculated.

“At this weekend’s Republican Jewish Coalition conference, a parade of
ambitious Republicans hit all the notes that politicians eyeing future
campaigns for the White House typically do. Their tones and messages
varied — few called out Trump by name — but collectively they made clear
they are not going to back down to the former president after a third
consecutive poor election with him at the helm.

What the contenders sound like: “Mike Pompeo, Trump’s hand-picked
secretary of State and CIA director, warned that for Republicans to win
elections, they can’t simply ‘go on Fox News or send tweets.’ Former New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ran Trump’s transition, said Republicans
were losing because ‘Donald Trump has put himself before everybody
else.’

“Nikki Haley, Trump’s U.N. ambassador who said last year she wouldn’t
run if her former boss did, has apparently changed her mind. She used
her Saturday evening speech here to say she was looking at running in a
‘serious way,’ and to call for ‘a younger generation to lead across the
board.’ …

“‘He’s not going to have the financial support he had anymore, he’s not
going to have the internal support that he had before,’ said New
Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, whose state hosts the first-in-the-nation
GOP primary. ‘And so therefore, there’s opportunity there. That
political weakness is blood in the water for some folks.’”

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