Will McDuffie

Politics @MSNOWNews | Formerly @ABC | @davidsoncollege alum | Send tips to Signal: will_mcduffie.16

[Fallon Gallagher @falgallagher]

BREAKING: SCOTUS grants Alabama's emergency bid to use its never-before-used Congressional map, which cuts one of the state's two majority-Black districts.
This 6-3 ruling comes after the district court recently ruled this map intentionally discriminated against Black voters. @MSNOWNews

[Hannah Demissie @hannahdemissie]

📍Columbia, SC — Andy Beshear in South Carolina ahead of Rep. Jim Clyburn’s annual fish fry.

“It is great to be in the southern state that told Donald Trump no thanks” on redistricting Beshear said this morning.

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

NEW: How South Carolina Republicans sank a White House-led effort to rush a new congressional map through the statehouse:

w/ @AlexanderTabet for @MSNOW_Reports
https://t.co/hHKsr8wSFs

[Steve Contorno @scontorno]

A ruthless & loyal operative, James Blair has left a trail of bruised politicians—including Republicans—in his wake.

Has he ever gone too far?

“In another decade, maybe,” WH Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said.

A deep dive on Trump’s midterm mastermind:

https://t.co/w5V7a7icOw

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

More on MAHA’s efforts to swing a Louisiana Senate primary today, with @BrandyZadrozny
https://t.co/Fbg6xrUJ2x

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

NEW: The biggest donors behind RFK Jr’s presidential run have not been giving to MAHA PAC, the group determined to influence the midterms with major $.

“It was one thing when Bobby was running for president; that was a moonshot mission. But this does not generate the same kind of urgency in the donors,” one of them told @MSNOWNews.

“It’s been uniquely difficult to raise money for the MAHA PAC.”

[Akayla Gardner @gardnerakayla]

SCOOP: @POTUS met privately with the Nelk Boys (@nelkboys) today, the popular YouTube influencers who supported him in 2024, according to a WH official.

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

Steve Padgett, a multi-time Trump voter, yesterday in Lorain, Ohio:

"This Big Beautiful Bill doesn't help me. It didn’t help me in the least. If anything, it’s one of the reasons I’m having to go back to work."

More below from our conversations with voters in downtown Lorain

@MSNOW_Reports

[MS NOW Reports @MSNOW_Reports]

Today is primary day for voters in Ohio and Indiana, with key races in both states that could impact who will win control of Congress in November.

@wrmcduff is in Cleveland. @jeffmason1 and @nkellyIN join @AnaCabrera with their political analysis.
https://t.co/5vZDC30fzn

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

NEW: Four sources familiar with his thinking tell @MSNOWNews Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry intends to postpone the six congressional primaries scheduled for May 16 so the state legislature can implement a new congressional map following Wednesday's SCOTUS ruling.

WaPo first.

[Christina Jewett @By_CJewett]

NEW: Calley Means, a top advisor to Kennedy/Trump, held $25-$50M in stock & was president of his wellness company last year while he advised on health policy.

His company benefits from more HSAs. He said he had no role in HSA expansion.

w/@benjmueller

https://t.co/l2iDurpMKb

[Ali Vitali @alivitali]

EXCLUSIVE: former VP Mike Pence tells me he “found the language and images” President has used recently to depict himself as a Jesus-like figure “offensive,” and called on him to ease his feud with the pope. “If I was advising him �� as I did every day for four and a half years — I’d say: Let the pope be the pope, and you be the president.” @MSNOWNews

https://t.co/OTEWancC99

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

RFK Jr. said toward the end of the Senate HELP hearing, "All [Democrats] want to do is talk about measles."

Bill Cassidy afterward to reporters, when prompted about that:

"Speaking as a physician, I think that any time children are dying from vaccine preventable diseases and we have an increased incidence of reports, whatever the disease is, that there should be focus."

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

At a Senate committee hearing, RFK Jr. makes a pitch for Dr. Casey Means, the MAHA-aligned surgeon general pick whose nomination has stalled.

Calls her a "brilliant physician" who is "not partisan."

Adds: "She has nothing to do with vaccines. Never going to talk about them."

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

With Sean Slovenski being appointed CDC's chief operating officer, Lynda Chapman, a political appointee who has held the position, will leave CDC and become a senior advisor at the Health Resources and Services Administration, per a senior HHS official and a former CDC official.

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

NEW: Public health leaders are cautiously optimistic about Erica Schwartz, Trump’s pro-vaccine pick to lead CDC.

"She looks good on paper and should get approved by the Senate," said one former CDC official.

RFK Jr's vaccine allies, meanwhile, are critical.

Aaron Siri, a close friend and a lawyer for people suing over vax injuries, believes that "left to his own devices, Secretary Kennedy would not have chosen her."

More: https://t.co/VssJbqRoXv

[Oren Oppenheim @OrenOppenheim]

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Barack Obama, in a video shared exclusively with ABC News, called on Virginians to vote in favor of a redistricting measure that could give Democrats a boost in the 2026 midterms if it passes.

Read more: https://t.co/5nqSziBcnb

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

NEW: Katherine Wells, Lubbock's top health official, helped curb the measles outbreak in West Texas after urging vaccination and quarantine.

Now, she says public health leaders should consider letting the virus "run through" vaccine-hesitant communities.

A former top CDC official calls the approach "giving up."

More via @MSNOWNews: https://t.co/KKYLC2eqE3

[Stephanie Ruhle @SRuhle]

Just wrapped a 15 minute call with President Trump - we covered A LOT.
- Iran / Israel
- Cuba
- Cornyn/Talorico
- Ballroom
- Dyslexia
- Ukraine/Russia
- NATO

I’ll be joining @MSNOWNews shortly with all the details

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

NEW: Dr. Casey Means, the surgeon general nominee, now says people should get vaccinated for measles, telling senators in writing, "I stand with Dr. Oz's message to Americans to take the measles vaccine."

Oz said on CNN last month, "Take the vaccine, please."

Means declined at her February public hearing to say whether she would encourage parents to get their children vaccinated against measles, though she maintained she was "absolutely supportive" of the MMR vaccine.

More:
https://t.co/UjTgAXDVUA

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

Shapiro said he told Mamdani the PA State Police would continue working with the NYPD and the FBI "to get to the bottom of this."

Mamdani "appreciated the governor reaching out," a spokesman said.

[Will McDuffie @wrmcduff]

NEW: PA Gov. Josh Shapiro says he called NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to "check in on him and his wife to make sure they're doing okay" after Saturday's alleged ISIS-inspired attack near their home, which led to the arrests of two men from Pennsylvania.

"As someone who's had to deal with political violence, I know it can take a toll," Shapiro told me after an event in Berks County. @MSNOWNews