Nicole Lafond

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Nicole Lafond is TPM’s deputy editor, based in New York. She has also worked as the special projects editor and as a senior newswriter for TPM. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and previously covered education in central Illinois.

Where Things Stand: Didn’t Know Florida Could Be So Cold
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Two more Republican members of Florida’s congressional delegation have completely ignored Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plea to hold off on endorsing Donald Trump while he tricks absolutely no one into thinking he’s still mulling a presidential election.

Reps. Greg Steube and John Rutherford announced this week that they’re throwing their weight behind the other Florida resident’s 2024 bid, both issuing Trump endorsements dripping with MAGA flair.

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Where Things Stand: Another GOPer Sounds Five-Alarm Fire Siren On Party’s ‘Inability’ To Message On Abortion
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Last week we unpacked how Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) dodgy messaging on abortion in New Hampshire and Iowa during his soft launch of a possible 2024 campaign was emblematic of the omnipresent issue the Republican Party faces: that it has no idea how to message where it stands on the issue to a national audience.

Republican strategists both publicly and privately have been sounding the alarm for weeks, urging the party to figure out how to coalesce behind specific messaging. Some have suggested coalescing behind Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) proposed 15-week ban as a policy supposedly moderate enough to fly in the 2024 general election, particularly among independent voters who have voted with Democrats on the issue in recent elections.

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Where Things Stand: Scott’s Vague Response To Abortion Questions Is Illustrative Of The Party Struggle
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The Republican Party still has no idea how to position itself nationally on abortion after its Dobbs success. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that, electorally, it will continue to be a winning issue in driving independent voters toward Democrats.

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Where Things Stand: Elon Airs His Regrets
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The world’s second richest man has been having a really “painful” time running Twitter, the once-handy and dare I say functional social media platform that has become completely unusable since his takeover.

Elon Musk also admitted that he only went through with the $44 billion purchase because a judge was about to force him to buy it.

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC, the billionaire addressed a number of issues that have been plaguing his image and his social media platform in recent months as he’s instituted mass layoffs and claimed he’s wiping the website of bots and fake news, while deplatforming journalists and trusted media organizations.

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Where Things Stand: 66,000 People Couldn’t Get An Abortion In Their Home State In First Six Months Post-Roe
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In the wake of Idaho’s passage of a new, first-of-its-kind law that bans some interstate travel to receive abortion care, new data sheds light on just how crucial out-of-state travel has been and will continue to be in this post-Roe America.

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Where Things Stand: Remember, This All Began As A GOP Effort To Downplay Not Just School Shootings, But Jan 6
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As my colleague Emine Yücel just reported, Tennessee Republicans have voted to expel one of the three Democrats who participated in a protest that broke out in the state House last week, as children and parents showed up to demand expanded gun control in the wake of another school shooting.

Emine and I followed the livestream of floor proceeding closely all afternoon and the rhetoric was, honestly, shocking. As Republicans gave lengthy, cringe speeches about the importance of following House rules, demanding to know how Rep. Justin Jones (D) carried a concealed bullhorn into the House chamber, yelled about him wearing the wrong type of lapel pin and argued that the Democrat from Nashville was intentionally creating chaos on the House floor to get attention because he is young, Democrats pleaded with their colleagues to drop the embarrassing crusade.

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Where Things Stand: Another Abortion Victory In The Midwest
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A month after the Democratic-controlled state legislature sent the bill to her desk, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) officially repealed the state’s abortion ban, which has been law in the state since 1931, but remained dormant while Roe was intact.

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WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: President Donald Trump is seen on a screen as his supporters cheer during a rally on the National Mall on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Donald Trump Where Things Stand: More Bad Faith Jan 6 Insurrection Comparisons
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There’s a lot of commotion to come as we wait for the details of the indictment and watch Donald Trump’s arraignment, and the circus around it, unfold over the next 24 hours, but I wanted to bring your attention to a small yet concerning trend I’ve noticed taking shape in the past week as Republicans continue to downplay the Jan. 6 insurrection.

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Trump Faces Multi-Count Felony Indictment
Insecure, Indicted Man Checks In With His Friends
INSIDE: Pence ... Dominion ... Santos ... Biden's Teeth
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