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Rubio says he's "not concerned" about mail-in voting in Florida

Aug. 01, 2020 04:21PM EST
 Dan Ackermann

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a Trump campaign press call on Saturday that he's "not concerned" about the safety of mail-in voting in Florida.

Why it matters: President Trump has blasted mail-in voting as unsafe and subject to fraud ahead of the 2020 election. The coronavirus pandemic has increased the push for mail-in voting as Americans look to socially distance and avoid crowded polling places.

  • Survey research from one of Trump's campaign pollsters in May showed broad support for more absentee voting and openness to vote-by-mail expansions amid the pandemic.

Between the lines via Axios' Alayna Treene: Many Republican leaders privately admit that the president's messaging condemning mail-in voting is problematic. They recognize that absentee ballots are needed to secure necessary Republican votes, particularly from older, white voters.

  • However, they assert that Trump is making a distinction between absentee ballots (for which voters must request) and mail-in voting (when applications are sent out automatically), but acknowledge that most voters don't recognize the difference.

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Reproduced from Indeed; Chart: Axios Visuals

The pandemic has caught up with high-wage jobs.

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Why it matters: Public skepticism of an eventual vaccine keeps increasing as President Trump keeps making promises that are at odds with members of his own administration.

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The big picture: The 2020 election is the most expensive event risk on record, per Bloomberg — with insurance bets on implied volatility six times their normal level, according to JPMorgan analysts. And it could take days or even weeks to count the record number of mail-in ballots and declare a winner.

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How it works: The 2020 Political Atlas tracks President Trump's approval ratings, interest around the coronavirus, what's dominating social media and other measures, with polling updated daily — enhancing UVA's "Crystal Ball."

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Trump pushes to expand ban against anti-racism training to federal contractors

President Trump announced late Tuesday that the White House attempt to halt federal agencies' anti-racism training would be expanded to block federal contractors from "promoting radical ideologies that divide Americans by race or sex."

Why it matters: The executive order appears to give the government the ability to cancel contracts if anti-racist or diversity trainings focused on sexual identity or gender are organized. The memo applies to executive departments and agencies, the U.S. military, federal contractors and federal grant recipients.

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GoodRx prices IPO at $33 per share, valued at $12.7 billion

GoodRx, a price comparison app for prescription drugs at local pharmacies, on Tuesday raised $1.14 billion in its IPO, Axios has learned.

By the numbers: GoodRx priced its shares at $33 a piece, above its $24-$28 per share offering range, which will give it an initial market cap of around $12.7 billion.

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Scoop: Meadows puts agencies on notice about staff shake-up

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told administration officials Monday to expect senior aides to be replaced at many government agencies, according to an internal email obtained by Axios.

Behind the scenes: Meadows asked the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office John McEntee "to look at replacing the White House Liaisons (WHLs) at many of your agencies," according to the email. "John will be working with outgoing liaisons to explore other opportunities."

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White House ricin package suspect allegedly urged Trump to "give up for this election"

A Canadian woman allegedly mailed a letter addressed to President Trump containing the poison ricin and the threat "give up and remove your application for this election," court papers filed Tuesday show.

Driving the news: Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 53, was arrested trying to enter New York from Canada on Sunday. She appeared briefly in a Buffalo, N.Y., courtroom where a judge entered a not guilty plea on her behalf to the charge of threatening the president, per CBC.

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