THE SHOW NOTES: Turning on Biden, Israeli Economic Problems, & What Is Happening In China?

Welcome! The widow of Alexey Navalny’s message to the Russian people, “You’re not allowed to give up.”

EXPLAINED: Why Capitol One just bought Discover for $35 billion.

DATA: The top-streamed shows are almost all old. Why? - The Hill

MUST READ: It's time for the White House to put up or shut up - Nate Silver

HEADLINE: Alito issues fiery 10-page dissent as Supreme Court declines to review elite high school admissions case - Fox News

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Turning on Biden

The White House is facing multiple crises this morning with none bigger than the liberal New York Times (paywall) columnist Ezra Klein calling for Joe Biden to step down.

🚨 Crisis #1: Here’s the Ezra Klein quote that matters:

We had to wait till this year — till now, really — to see Biden even begin to show what he’d be like on the campaign trail. And what I think we’re seeing is that he is not up for this. He is not the campaigner he was, even five years ago. That’s not insider reporting on my part. Go watch a speech he gave in Pennsylvania, kicking off his campaign in 2019. And then go watch the speech he gave last month, in Valley Forge, kicking off his election campaign. No comparison here. Both speeches are on YouTube, and you can see it. The way he moves, the energy in his voice. The Democrats denying decline are only fooling themselves.

🚨 Crisis #2: Nate Silver - a progressive data guru and founder of FiveThirtyEight - doubled down on Ezra Klein’s piece and issued a challenge to the White House: Have Biden do four lengthy interviews with mainstream media outlets to prove to the American people that Biden is up for his reelection campaign. Here’s Silver’s quote that matters:

This really isn't too much to ask. These are the sorts of interviews that every other recent president has done. I admit that I'm asking Biden to pack in several in a row, but he has to make up for lost time. And the timing is urgent because he and his inner circle have to make sure that he's really up for a second term and that this is the best option for Democrats. If Biden was willing to take five hours to speak with Hur, he ought to to take five hours for this. And if he can't, it's awfully audacious to ask Americans to make him president for another four years.

🚨 Crisis #3: Joe Biden’s brother served as a healthcare consultant to a hospital conglomerate that ultimately filed bankruptcy and has been credibly accused of Medicare fraud. The President’s brother had no previous healthcare experience and instead built his consulting business on the presumption of access to then-Vice President Joe Biden.

Emails obtained by Politico show Jim Biden telling a prospective customer in Tampa that “This would be a perfect platform to expose my Brothers team to [your] protocol”.

Here’s the paragraph that is worrying the White House:

POLITICO’s investigation did not find that Joe Biden involved himself in the firm or took actions on its behalf. However, Joe Biden did benefit indirectly from his brother’s work with the firm. On the same day Jim Biden received a $200,000 payment from Americore, he made out a check for his brother Joe. The White House has said the check was for repayment of a loan, but did not respond to questions about the circumstances of the loan, including whether Joe Biden was aware of his brother’s income from Americore.

🚨 Crisis #4: As Biden continues to slip in the polls, no state has the president’s attention more than Michigan. Biden’s 2022 CHIPS and Science Act aimed to help companies like Michigan’s Hemlock Semiconductor expand operations as domestic chip demand continues to surge. In a 2022 speech on the White House South Lawn, Biden said,

“Nearly one-third of all the chips in the world use polysilicon made in Hemlock. Imagine if we had more of these kinds of factories across the country. This law will make that a reality.”

However, Hemlock has been cut out of the bill’s $25 billion tax break thanks to new rules proposed by the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service. Michigan Democrats are furious at the White House with Senator Gary Peters, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and all nine Michigan Democrats in Congress pressuring the White House and Treasury Department to change course.

🚨 Crisis #5: 73% of Democrats rate Biden’s handling of the border as “somewhat bad” or “very bad” according to Pew Research. This is from Politico:

The numbers from the report released Thursday mark a grim trend for Biden. Last year, Pew recorded that 62 percent of Democrats disapproved of the government’s handling of the border, up from 56 percent of Democrats disapproving in 2021.

What Is Happening In China?

All is not well in China. Consider these headlines that John Ellis put in his morning email:

• Bloomberg: China Protests Over Labor, Property Issues Rise, Report Says

• Reuters: Top watchdogs tell China's finance sector to follow Communist Party values

• WSJ: FBI Director Says China Cyberattacks on U.S. Infrastructure Now at Unprecedented Scale

• Bloomberg: In Rare Move, China Stock Watchdog Vows to Heed Market Criticisms to Avert $5 Trillion Rout

• Financial Times: Chinese companies revive Mao Zedong-era militias

• Financial Times: Foreign direct investment in China falls to lowest level in decades

Israel’s economy shrank at 20% rate after outbreak of war

Israel’s economy shrank almost 20 per cent in annualised terms in the final quarter of 2023, official data showed, as it poured resources into its conflict against Hamas in Gaza.

The sharp drop in gross domestic product, which was far steeper than analysts had forecast, came as hundreds of thousands of Israeli reservists were mobilised to fight in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on October 7.

Full story at The Financial Times (paywall).

Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Says He Will Never Invest in New York after Trump Verdict

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary said Monday he will no longer invest in New York in response to a $355 million judgment issued against former president Donald Trump in a state court last week. 

New York judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay the massive sum for conspiring, the court ruled, to alter his net worth to receive tax and insurance benefits. The order also prevents Trump from doing business in New York for three years. The decision was the conclusion of a months-long civil fraud trial that New York attorney general Letitia James brought against the former president, the Trump organization, and his executives.

During an appearance on Fox Business, O’Leary said he was “shocked” by the ruling. “This award, I mean, just leaving the whole Trump thing out of it and seeing what occurred here. . . . And I’m no different than any other investor, I’m shocked at this. I can’t even understand or fathom the decision at all. There’s no rationale for it.”

Full story at National Review.

Trending news:

• People are returning Apple’s Vision Pro - The Verge

• The widow and aides of assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse are indicted in his killing - Yahoo

• CNN Primes Pump to Pressure Biden to Give Up Nomination at Convention - NewsBusters

• Trump allies prepare to infuse ‘Christian nationalism’ in second administration - Politico

• Kari Lake can't say who 'stole' her election, says criticism of McCain was meant as a joke - AZ Central

• Biden campaign touts $42M raised in January - Politico

• Russia detains California woman with dual US-Russian citizenship on suspicion of treason for transferring $51 to Ukrainian army - NY Post

• Wife, Protector and Now Political Heir: Yulia Navalnaya Rallies Russians - NYT (paywall)

Market snapshot: