GOP Sen. Compares Women To Sea Turtles In Rant Against Abortion Bill

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.

Yes Women Are Talking Sea Turtles Thank You

With the Senate on track to vote today on the Women’s Health Protection Act, a likely doomed bill to codify abortion access into law, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) took to the floor to rail against the legislation with the argument that if eggs belonging to certain animals are protected by law, why can’t women be banned from ending unwanted pregnancies, hmm??

• “When you destroy an egg, you’re killing a pre-born baby sea turtle or a pre-born baby eagle,” Daines ranted. “Yet when it comes to a pre-born human baby—rather than a sea turtle—that baby would be stripped of all protections in all 50 states under the Democrats’ bill that we’ll be voting on tomorrow.”

• Anyway, the bill is likely to fail thanks to the filibuster and Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) lack of support, but there was still a fairly important development yesterday: Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), one of the very few anti-choice Democrats left in Congress, came out in support of the bill on Tuesday, saying that “the circumstances around the entire debate on abortion have changed.”

Trump-Endorsed Alleged Groper Loses Nebraska Primary

Nebraska GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, who’s been accused of groping eight women, lost to Jim Pillen, a rival endorsed by incumbent Gov. Pete Ricketts (R), in the state’s primary race on Tuesday, per the Associated Press.

• Herbster is the first Trump endorsee to lose in the 2022 primaries so far. The rest of the Trump-backed candidates in Nebraska and West Virginia, which also held its primaries on Tuesday, won their races, as did all the ones in Ohio and Indiana last week.

Trump Endorsee Wins First Incumbent v. Incumbent Primary Race

Trump-backed Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) beat Manchin-backed Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) in a state that lost a congressional set in reapportionment.

• Trump was upset with McKinley over a variety of sins: Voting to certify Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, supporting a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection and voting for the bipartisan infrastructure bill last year.
• The race was the first of five incumbent-against-incumbent primaries this year.

New York Preps To Expand Abortion Access

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced on Tuesday that she had directed state government agencies to launch a $25 million fund for abortion providers and separately use $10 million to help beef up security at abortion clinics with the Supreme Court on the cusp of striking down Roe v. Wade.

Fake Trump Electors Are Speaking To Georgia Prosecutors

Several of the sham Trump electors from Georgia are cooperating in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into Trump’s election steal scheme, according to CNN.

• Those electors have reportedly been told that they’re considered witnesses, not subjects, of the investigation.
• One of those electors, Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer, has reportedly spoken to the House Jan. 6 Committee too. He reportedly testified that the Trump campaign had directed the Georgia GOP to put together a slate of fake electors.

House Approves Nearly $40 Billion In Ukraine Aid

The House voted to approve an additional $39.8 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine on Tuesday as the country fights to fend off Russia’s invasion.

• The Senate will likely take up the proposal as soon as this week, where it’s also expected to pass.
• The total amount of the U.S. government’s Ukraine aid since the invasion will be more than $53 billion if this latest measure passes.

With Friends Like These…

Both the Daily Beast and Washington Post put out stories on the GOP’s mission to vanquish Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), and both stories include details of the North Carolina lawmaker’s former allies who are positively delighted to participate in his downfall.

• A leader of the anti-Cawthorn “Fire Madison” PAC, which has been publishing embarrassing content about the lawmaker on the regular, told the Daily Beast that he gets the dirt from “folks who used to work with him,” not D.C. people.
• Politico reported that it got the photos of the GOP lawmaker in lingerie from “a person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign,” then a second person “formerly close” to the Republican confirmed “the origin of the photos.”

South Carolina Celebrates Confederate Memorial Day

Amid red states’ war on teaching kids about “divisive” concepts like systemic racism, South Carolina’s state offices were closed yesterday to observe Confederate Memorial Day (which is also an official state holiday in Alabama and Mississippi).

‘Succession’ Actor Glues Himself To Starbucks Counter

James Cromwell, who stars in the TV series “Succession” and a bunch of other things, pasted himself onto a Starbucks counter on Tuesday in protest over the coffee chain’s upcharge on vegan milk.

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