| | | | | |  | | By Tara Palmeri | Presented by |  | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | 'THEY ALL F------ HATE ME' — Check out the excerpt in POLITICO Mag today of WSJ reporter MIKE BENDER'S forthcoming book , "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost." It's about how the former president handled the immediate aftermath of GEORGE FLOYD'S murder and, in his own estimation, "made Juneteenth very famous." Here's a taste: "For Father's Day in 2020, what DONALD TRUMP mostly wanted was to avoid his son-in-law. It was JARED KUSHNER who had talked the president into hiring BRAD PARSCALE to run a campaign that was now, just months before the election, in freefall. And when most Americans rejected Trump's unreasonably truculent response to the civil unrest that was sweeping the country, the president also blamed Kushner. … Trump privately told advisers that he wished he'd been quicker to support police and more aggressive in his pushback against protesters. "Trump had staked nearly his entire campaign in 2016 around a law-and-order image, and now groaned that the criminal justice reform that Kushner had persuaded him to support made him look weak and — even worse — hadn't earned him any goodwill among Black voters. "'I've done all this stuff for the Blacks — it's always Jared telling me to do this,' Trump said to one confidante on Father's Day. 'And they all f------ hate me, and none of them are going to vote for me.'" EMULATING MCCAIN — KYRSTEN SINEMA'S advisers heard it constantly from her during her 2018 campaign for Senate: "I want to be the next JOHN MCCAIN." After she won, Sinema called the late senator a "legend" and "my personal hero." This year, when she voted against a minimum wage hike, she rankled the left by mimicking McCain's iconic thumbs-down that tanked the GOP's effort to kill Obamacare. Now Sinema's commanding the spotlight not only as a rare swing vote in a hyperpartisan Congress but as a lead negotiator on an infrastructure deal that could determine the success of President JOE BIDEN'S first term. If she pulls it off, she will establish herself, like McCain, as a legislative force inside the Senate. McCain is obviously a singular figure who spent decades building his stature in the chamber. But Sinema's current and former colleagues say the two do share some traits: She doesn't like to be told what to do. She's also unafraid to buck her party, and at times seems to relish it. — WHAT MEGHAN SAYS: We asked McCain's daughter what she thought of the comparison. "I do believe when she makes decisions she thinks about what [John McCain] would do, which is both surprising and nice and interesting — and not what I expected from her at all," MEGHAN MCCAIN said. She added that her father was also "obsessed" with his predecessor BARRY GOLDWATER'S legacy. "I think she's pretty fearless," McCain said. Sinema, she added, has the mindset, "'What's the worst that can happen to me?' She's not scared of being uncool with the woke left. Politically she's pretty well tuned to the state in a lot of ways." | | A message from Amazon: "This is the first time in my life that I have dental insurance, visual insurance, [and] life insurance." Comprehensive benefits give employees like Leonardo a sense of security. Amazon is committed to creating good jobs with a starting wage of at least $15 an hour and benefits for employees. | | | — HER GOP CHARM OFFENSIVE: Sinema doesn't really fit in with Democrats. She's been known to skip party lunches and votes and even missed VP KAMALA HARRIS' dinner with female senators this week. (Her staff said it was because Sinema broke her foot.) All the while she's been on a charm offensive with Republicans, many of whom adore her. They say they can trust her, that she keeps her word. "I think Sen. Sinema is comfortable with who she is," Sen. DEB FISCHER (R-Neb.) told Playbook. The two senators have become close friends and regularly have dinner together, most recently two weeks ago at Charlie Palmer with Sens. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.) and CYNTHIA LUMMIS (R-Wyo.). "She is certainly willing to step in in a needed way to bring people together, and she does go her own way. I would say she's probably similar to McCain in that way. They're willing to take the slings and arrows from their own side when they're trying to accomplish something." — DEMS SAY SHE'S GOT IT WRONG: On the flip side, some Democrats worry that she's feeling the love from Republicans only because they need her while they are in the minority. "She's still new, that's the bottom line," said a senior Democratic Hill official. "Do you think if the Republicans were in the majority they would care about Sinema? She has to be wary of the relevancy trap. You can easily be beguiled by the moment. It's a mistake of early legislators who want to make inroads with the other side at the expense of their own caucus, of their advancement and at the expense of their state." Sinema was the first Democrat to win an Arizona Senate seat since 1995, and she won by a small margin. A former Sinema aide warned that she's not reading the Democratic Party in Arizona if she thinks McCain is the person to emulate. "She's trying to brand herself as a brand of Arizonan that won't exist anymore," the aide said, referring to the leftward shift of the state, which narrowly backed Biden in November. "It's misguided to look backward than forward. You can't be a carbon copy because it won't work." Happy Friday! Indeed, happy days are apparently here again: Our colleague Olivia Beavers tweeted a photo Thursday night of … what seems to be quite a good time somewhere in the Rayburn House Office Building. Thanks for reading Playbook and feel free to drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. SMOKING HOT IN THE MAYORAL RACE — As KATHRYN GARCIA surges in the polls in the final days of the NYC mayoral primary, a widely known secret about the sanitation commissioner has been revealed: She smokes up to a pack of Marlboro Golds per day, according to the N.Y. Post's Julia Marsh. Yes, cowboy smokes. This feels like a 360 from the days of MIKE BLOOMBERG, the nanny mayor who banned indoor smoking and waged war on sugar and salt. The last mayor to openly smoke in office was ROBERT WAGNER, who left office in 1965. Garcia told the Post she vows to quit — if she wins she'll try the patch, exercise, whatever. Godspeed. Meanwhile, Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) dropped an ad Thursday night for MAYA WILEY, who polled third in the race in a survey this week. After her late-in-the-game endorsement, AOC seems to be doubling down with an ad in which she's featured hugging Wiley. "We have an option of a candidate that has a lifetime of dedication to this," the lawmaker says. "Racial justice, economic justice and climate justice." WHILE WE'RE ON THE TOPIC — The race for NYC mayor is the marquee election of this year, and it's full of drama — for starters, around whether frontrunner ERIC ADAMS actually lives in the city he's hoping to run. With primary day Tuesday, POLITICO New York's SALLY GOLDENBERG and TARA — both N.Y. Post alums — unpack the race while producer OLIVIA REINGOLD pounds the pavement to find out what New Yorkers really think. Listen to the latest episode of Playbook Deep Dive here | 
| | | A message from Amazon: $15 an hour and benefits give Leonardo and Amazon employees like him the freedom to do more — save up for a family vacation, go back to school, or upgrade their homes. | | | BELOW BOARD — Daniel Lippman reports that the third-ranking House Republican, ELISE STEFANIK (N.Y.), "who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election and voted against certification of Joe Biden's win, currently serves as a board member for a revered U.S. organization dedicated to the promotion of democracy." "The congresswoman's position on the National Endowment for Democracy's board has rankled fellow Republicans, foreign policy scholars and some former NED board members, who say her statements, along with her support for GOP-authored election laws, are at odds with the organization's mission." ALSO still on a board: LES WEXNER. The scandal-scarred former client and friend of JEFFREY EPSTEIN still sits on the board of the prestigious Aspen Institute, according to its website. He's listed as a "lifetime trustee." The position involves being "responsible for providing advice concerning strategic issues facing the organization," and lists him among the likes of LEONARD LAUDER, MADELEINE ALBRIGHT and SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR. His position is outdated: It states that he is the president and chair of the board of The Limited Inc., a role he was stripped of after his close connections to the pedophile were revealed . Aspen Institute didn't get back to us as to whether that trustee position is truly for a lifetime. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Former President BARACK OBAMA and former A.G. ERIC HOLDER are participating in a virtual town hall Monday. The pair will talk to grassroots supporters of the anti-gerrymandering "All on The Line Campaign" about "getting involved in the redistricting process to strengthen our democracy and support Senate action on voting rights legislation." NOTEWORTHY — "These 14 House Republicans Voted Against a Juneteenth Federal Holiday," by NYT: "Some objected to the phrase "Independence Day" in the formal name of the holiday celebrating the end of slavery. Others said federal workers did not need another paid day off." BIDEN'S FRIDAY: — 10:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. — 2:15 p.m.: Biden will speak about the pandemic and the vaccination push. — 2:55 p.m.: Biden will depart the White House for Wilmington, Del., arriving at 3:50 p.m. HARRIS' FRIDAY: — 9:30 a.m.: The VP will travel to Atlanta. — 11:55 a.m.: Harris will visit a pop-up vaccination site at Ebenezer Baptist Church. — 1:40 p.m.: Harris will speak at a vaccination mobilization event at Clark Atlanta University. — 4:40 p.m.: Harris will take part in a voting rights discussion with community leaders at Clark Atlanta University. — 6:15 p.m.: Harris will head back to D.C. THE HOUSE and THE SENATE are out. | | | | DON'T MISS THE MILKEN INSTITUTE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT: POLITICO will feature a special edition of our Future Pulse newsletter at the 2021 Milken Institute Future of Health Summit. The newsletter takes readers inside one of the most influential gatherings of global health industry leaders and innovators who are turning lessons learned from the past year into a healthier, more resilient and more equitable future. Covid-19 threatened our health and well-being, while simultaneously leading to extraordinary coordination to improve pandemic preparedness, disease prevention, diversity in clinical trials, mental health resources, food access and more. SUBSCRIBE TODAY to receive exclusive coverage from June 22-24. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: 94-year-old activist and retired educator Opal Lee, known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, speaks with President Joe Biden after he signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act at the White House on Thursday, June 17. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — More than 20 civil society groups are sending Congress and A.G. MERRICK GARLAND a letter today imploring the House and Senate to investigate the Justice Department's surveillance of members of Congress (and their staffs and families) during the Trump administration. They're specifically calling for public hearings and new legislation that goes beyond just internal DOJ reforms. The organizations, led by the Project on Government Oversight, include the ACLU, the Brennan Center, CREW and PEN America. The letter CAPITOL HILL THE FUTURE OF 'FOR THE PEOPLE' — "McConnell vows to block voting legislation, spurning Manchin's compromise offer," by WaPo's Mike DeBonis and Vanessa Williams: "The pledge from Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL (R-Ky.) all but guarantees that Republicans will filibuster a sweeping voting bill that Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.) is sending to the floor Tuesday. … The only remaining question is whether all 50 Democratic senators will unite in support of debating the bill, known as the For the People Act, and how they will react once Republicans block the legislation." READ CARL HULSE ON THIS — "Joe Manchin and the Magic 50th Vote for Democrats' Voting Rights Bill" THE VIEW FROM 1600 PENN — "Biden confronts the limits of an already limited arsenal on voting rights," by Laura Barrón-López and Eugene Daniels SCOTUS WATCH DISORDER IN THE COURT — "'Alito was just pissed': Trump's Supreme Court breaks down along surprising lines," by Josh Gerstein: "Those rifts burst wide open on Thursday with two of the highest-profile decisions of the court's current term. In both the big cases — involving Obamacare and a Catholic group refusing to vet same-sex couples as foster parents in Philadelphia — conservative justices unleashed sharp attacks that seemed aimed at their fellow GOP appointees for failing to grapple with the core issues the cases presented. "Some liberal legal commentators noted that the most carefully dissected rhetorical sparring is now taking place among members of the new six-justice conservative majority, with the three remaining liberal justices often left as mere spectators." | | | | A message from Amazon:   $15 an hour helps Leonardo save for college classes. | | | THIS AND THAT REMEMBER THESE TWO? — "St. Louis gun-waving couple plead guilty to misdemeanor charges," St. Louis Post-Dispatch: " MARK MCCLOSKEY, 64, will pay a $750 fine after pleading guilty to fourth-degree assault, a Class C misdemeanor. PATRICIA MCCLOSKEY, 62, must pay a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to second-degree harassment, a Class A misdemeanor. Mark McCloskey could have faced up to 15 days in jail; Patricia McCloskey could have spent up to a year behind bars. Neither will face jail time. "The McCloskeys also agreed to forfeit the weapons they used when they confronted a throng of protesters marching past their Portland Place mansion on June 28, 2020. The McCloskeys emerged from their home and waved guns at the demonstrators. They claimed the protesters were trespassing by entering their gated, private street." WHOOPSIE — In a letter led by Rep. RONNY JACKSON (R-Texas), and signed by 13 other Republicans, lawmakers asked Biden to take a cognitive test. The Daily Kos' David Nir pointed out, though, that the lawmakers had their own mental lapse in drafting the letter, repeating a line almost verbatim … about the president's alleged forgetfulness. "Unfortunately, your forgetfulness and cognitive difficulties have been prominently on display over the past year," followed by, "Unfortunately, your mental decline and forgetfulness have become more apparent over the past eighteen months." Yikes. Niu's tweet TV TONIGHT — PBS' "Washington Week": Kaitlan Collins, Anne Gearan, Garrett Haake and Pete Williams. SUNDAY SO FAR … | CBS | "Face the Nation": Fiona Hill … Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) … Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III … Scott Gottlieb. | FOX | "Fox News Sunday": Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Panel: Karl Rove, Susan Page and Juan Williams. Power Player: Greg Olsen. | Gray TV | "Full Court Press": Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). | ABC | "This Week": Panel: Rachel Scott, Rahm Emanuel, Chris Christie and Laura Barrón-López. | NBC | "Meet the Press": Panel: Cornell Belcher, Amna Nawaz, Ashley Parker and Brad Todd. | CNN | "Inside Politics": Panel: Julie Pace, Paul Kane, Kaitlan Collins, Joan Biskupic and Eva McKend. | | | | | | TUNE IN TO DISPATCH+ ON APPLE PODCASTS : POLITICO Dispatch, our daily podcast that cuts through the news clutter and keeps you up to speed on the most important developments of the moment, is expanding. In collaboration with the new Apple Podcasts Subscription platform, Dispatch+ launches this week! This new podcast gives premium Dispatch+ subscribers exclusive bonus weekly reporting and analysis from POLITICO's newsroom. Don't miss out, subscribe and listen to Dispatch+ on Apple Podcasts. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | IN MEMORIAM — "Janet Malcolm, Provocative Journalist With a Piercing Eye, Dies at 86," NYT: "Janet Malcolm, a longtime writer for The New Yorker who was known for her piercing judgments, her novel-like nonfiction and a provocative moral certainty that cast a cold eye on journalism and its practitioners, died on Wednesday in a hospital in Manhattan. She was 86. The cause was lung cancer, said her daughter, Anne Malcolm. "Over a 55-year career, Ms. Malcolm produced an avalanche of deeply reported, exquisitely crafted articles, essays and books, most devoted to her special interests in literature, biography, photography, psychoanalysis and true crime. Her writing was precise and analytical; her unflinching gaze missed nothing." — "New York City renames parks for Gwen Ifill and other prominent Black Americans," PBS NewsHour ZOOM FAIL: We thought the worst of virtual pandemic life was behind us and then … Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.). Make the Zoom fails stop. SPOTTED: Usher at the bill-signing ceremony to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Pic via NPR's Asma Khalid … Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) at the Waterfront Safeway. Pic MEDIAWATCH — Bloomberg's D.C. bureau is adding Megan Scully as a Congress editor and Ed Harrison as a senior editor on the markets team. Scully most recently was senior editor at CQ Roll Call. Harrison was managing editor at Real Vision. … Malcom Thomas is now an associate producer at MSNBC. He previously was an editorial producer at CNN. Talking Biz News FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Kevin Grout is joining RunSwitch PR as an account director in Louisville, Ky. He previously spent five years as a speechwriter for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Eli Fenichel is now assistant director for natural resource economics and accounting in the Office of Science & Technology Policy. He's on leave from his position as the Knobloch family professor of natural resource economics at Yale. TRANSITIONS — Sarah Horning is now digital content director for the RNC. She previously was senior director of digital for Stand Together. … Tiffany Waddell has been named director of government relations at the National Governors Association. She most recently was senior adviser and director of federal relations for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. … … Niambé Tomlinson is now senior director of comms for external affairs and advocacy for the National Urban League's Washington bureau. She most recently was comms manager for the House Office of Diversity & Inclusion, and is a Kirsten Gillibrand alum. … Eliana Goldsher will be a senior policy associate on Cargill's government relations team. She previously was an associate manager at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's China Center. ENGAGED — Max Berger, editorial director at More Perfect Union, proposed to Kimberly Dodson, a performer, director and co-founder of Everybody Black, in Sherwood Gardens, a Baltimore park where her aunt Donna used to take her as a kid. He proposed in the center of a spiral created by her childhood best friend and artist Lauren Gilson, inspired by their old Waldorf School rituals. The couple started dating in New York City in 2015, and then reconnected after a break at a talk by Michelle Alexander. Pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Jason Farkas, VP and general manager at CNN Business, and Laura Paterson, senior director of experiences at Vogue, welcomed Amelia Farkas. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) (7-0) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) … Robert O'Brien … Axios' Nick Johnston … White House's John McCarthy … Niall Stanage of The Hill … David Drucker … Jim Stinson … MPA's Rachel Alben … the House's Kate Knudson … CNN's DJ Judd and Devan Cole … Clare Bresnahan English … Will Kinzel of Molson Coors … BuzzFeed's Mary Ann Georgantopoulos … Bert Gómez … Tom Readmond … Meryl Governski … Narric Rome … Dina Powell McCormick … Ron Rosenblith … former Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) … Daniel Epstein … Bulgarian President Rumen Radev … POLITICO's Shannon Rafferty … National Investor Relations Institute's Gary LaBranche (58) … Fred Barbash Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. 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