About this episode
“The Cold Calculus Behind the Shrinking GOP Presidential Field.” Would-be Republican White House aspirants face a harsh reality: It’s not just Donald Trump who’s freezing the 2024 field, reports Jonathan Martin. As GOP strategist Scott Jennings puts it: “They don’t have a Trump problem, they have a [Ron] DeSantis problem.” But consider this: “[T]he history most on the minds of the Republicans considering the race, who are not named Trump or DeSantis, is what happens when there’s a bloody battle between top contenders. Spoiler: It augurs well for a third candidate.” And this afternoon, a subset of the Congressional Black Caucus will sit down with President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris to officially restart the push for police reform legislation following the funeral of Tyre Nichols, whose death last week at the hands of Memphis police has galvanized advocates for reform. Black lawmakers have zeroed in on their first and biggest request of Biden: a commitment to talk about policing in next week’s State of the Union. One CBC member told us the group is even considering telling Biden exactly what they want him to say — and that they expect him to bang the drum until legislation hits the Oval Office. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing. Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.