Plus, why Trump is ‘selling a feeling’ — and GOP voters are buying it

By Samuel Benson

Good morning, friends. Welcome to On the Trail 2024. Only 262 days until Election Day — but who’s counting?

3 things to know

Donald Trump was ordered to pay over $350 million Friday for business fraud, the biggest legal penalty yet. Trump was found liable of falsely inflating his net worth to obtain favorable rates from lenders, among other infractions. Read more here.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox thinks nominating Trump is “a huge mistake” for Republicans. Cox — the current chair of the National Governors Association — said he “would love to see” Nikki Haley as the nominee, though he went short of endorsing her. More here.

Democrats have assembled a 2024 war chest, while Republicans are running on fumes. That’s according to the year-end financial reports from the FEC, which show the DNC has more cash on hand heading into an election year than any year in history. Meanwhile, the RNC has its smallest fundraising haul in a decade. More here.

The Big Idea

For Republicans, a bad omen?

On Tuesday night, Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election to replace ousted Rep. George Santos in New York’s District 3. It was a big win for Democrats, who reduced the narrow Republican House majority ahead of the 2024 election. And it was a bad loss for Republicans, and the blame lies at the feet of ... everyone?

Republicans can’t decide who’s at fault for losing the Republican-friendly district. The leading candidates:

Donald Trump: the former president has led the GOP to a series of electoral losses since becoming the party’s standard bearer — the 2018 midterms, the 2020 election, the 2022 midterms. “Let’s just say the quiet part out loud. Donald Trump continues to be a huge weight against Republican candidates,” Nikki Haley’s campaign spokesperson, Olivia Perez-Cubas, said in a statement.

The Republican message: Abortion was the centerpiece of the 2022 midterms, and it killed Republicans. Suozzi made the special election race about other issues, like immigration, and won.

https://www.deseret.com/2024/2/16/24073026/santos-loss-republicans-trump-suozzi