GOP seeks a blend of MAGA and mainstream: The Note
Is the "big tent" able to make room for the "big lie"?
The TAKE with Rick Klein
Is the "big tent" able to make room for the "big lie"?
That question is being tested by Republican leaders and candidates in the final stretch of midterm campaigning -- among those with eyes both on 2022 and 2024.
As October approaches, the never-Trump wing of the GOP has largely faded into the background or been defeated in primaries. That leaves a crop of MAGA candidates and a perhaps greater quantity of Republicans who embrace Trumpism only to a point.
In the coming weeks, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is set to campaign for Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake -- a staunch election denier. That's fresh off a campaign stop on behalf of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp -- who famously stood up against former President Donald Trump's false election claims.
"They're all Republicans," Youngkin said when asked to reconcile those appearances. "All Republicans don't all believe the same thing."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy struck a similar chord Thursday when asked about whether he's concerned that election deniers would hold the GOP back: "No, I'm worried about America," McCarthy told ABC News' Lalee Ibssa.
And in Pennsylvania, Senate candidate Mehmet Oz deflected questions from ABC's Linsey Davis this week about the Mar-a-Lago raid with a ready line about politics being about "addition and multiplication, not division": "I have lots of people endorsing me. Some of those people don't like President Trump. Many do."
With Trump holding another rally Saturday night in Michigan, the former president's direct voice will come back into play yet again. It reinforces a widely held GOP sentiment -- that Republicans might lose further ground with Trump, but they haven't yet figured out a way to win without him.
The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper
Dr. Oz is taking aim at his Democratic opponent in Pennsylvania's Senate race, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, for Fetterman's limited availability on the campaign trail after suffering a stroke earlier this year.
"I have tremendous empathy for what John's been going through. It's an area that I specialize in medicine: recovering from a stroke, heart failure. All of these issues are challenges, especially if you're in the political arena, which is physically demanding," Oz said in an exclusive interview with ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis. "Focused on the voters though -- they have a right to hear my opponent articulate and defend his policies."
Fetterman has countered the assertion that the pace of his campaign is anything but ordinary. While he's shared that he's been working with a speech therapist following his stroke, Fetterman has said he has no issues with his memory or language comprehension.
"I'm running a perfectly normal campaign," he told The New York Times earlier this month.
Last weekend, Fetterman did hold two back-to-back rallies in the commonwealth for the first time since May.
"Most of my criticism of John Fetterman is designed to educate voters. He should come out and defend himself," Oz told ABC News' Linsey Davis.
The rivals will take part in a single debate just two weeks before votes are tallied on Election Day.
The TIP with Alisa Wiersema
The stage is set in Texas for the state's first major gubernatorial debate of 2022, as incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke face off in south Texas on Friday.
The debate will be hosted by the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, in Edinburg, which is located just about 20 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border. The location serves as a symbolic backdrop to one of the state's most controversial political topics -- immigration.
In addition to pledging to continue the Trumpian policy of constructing a physical border wall, Abbott has made the border a focal point in his administration with the implementation of Operation Lone Star -- an initiative that aims "to prevent the criminal activity along the border" but which has been the subject of scrutiny over its alleged success rate. In July, the initiative also became the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice probe over potential civil rights violations.
More recently, Abbott sent buses of migrants to some of the nation's largest Democratic-led cities including Chicago, New York City and Washington. The move appeared to be emulated by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who claimed responsibility for flying a group of migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard earlier this month.
Although Abbott has not publicly weighed in on DeSantis' tactic, he could face pushback on the debate stage about whether he supports his fellow GOP governor's actions on Abbott's home turf.
Across the aisle, O'Rourke is likely to tackle the state's debate over firearms. Following the Uvalde school shooting in May, the former congressman made changes to gun laws an even more visible cornerstone of his campaign. On the heels of the massacre, O'Rourke interrupted a press conference by state officials -- including Abbott -- by shouting that Republican officials had been "doing nothing." But in a state where gun ownership is popular, O'Rourke will also likely face questions over the 2020 debate comment during which he infamously pledged, "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15."
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. "Start Here" begins Friday morning with ABC's Victor Oquendo from Florida on the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Then ABC's Ian Pannell breaks down why Russian President Vladimir Putin is annexing Ukrainian territory. And ABC's Anne Flaherty details the Biden administration's scale back of its student loan forgiveness plan as states sue. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEKEND
- At 10 a.m. ET, President Biden attends the investiture ceremony for Associate Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at the Supreme Court, along with first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
- The president will then deliver remarks on the federal response efforts for Hurricane Ian at 11:30 a.m. ET, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House.
- At noon ET, the president and Dr. Jill Biden will celebrate the Jewish New Year with Vice President Harris and the second gentleman, who will deliver remarks. At 4 p.m. ET, the president and first lady will celebrate Hispanic Heritage month in the East Room.
- Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs at 2:45 p.m. ET.
- ABC’s “This Week” Roundtable: Former DNC Chair and ABC News Contributor Donna Brazile, National Review Editor Ramesh Ponnuru, The New Yorker Staff Writer and co-author of “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021” Susan Glasser, and New York Times Chief White House Correspondent and co-author of “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021” Peter Baker.
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The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in politics. Please check back next week for the latest.
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