One of Trump’s Oldest Tactics in Business and Politics: I’m Rubber. You’re Glue.

In a political analysis for The New York Times, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman describe howformer president Donald Trump regularly turns his opponents’ accusations against them and how he is using this tactic to distract voters from his efforts to remain in office after the 2020 election. Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon affirmed Trump’s decision to consistently frame President Biden as the real threat to democracy, stating: “Just look at how he pounds it. Wash, rinse, repeat.” PRRI’s 2023 American Values Survey finds that 57% of Americans said Trump’s re-election would pose a threat to democracy and 53% said the same of Biden.

Copernicus Report: 2023 Is Officially the Hottest Year on Record

Stephanie Ebbs, Daniel Manzo, and Daniel Peck at ABC News report that the Europe Union’s climate change service, Copernicus, confirmed that 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record. Last year’s global average temperature of 14.98 degrees Celsius (58.96 F) surpassed 2016, the previous hottest year, by a large margin. Globally, concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane hit record highs in 2023 with Canada’s 2023 wildfire season contributing to an estimated 30% increase in global wildfire carbon dioxide concentrations. PRRI findsthat Republicans (20%) are more than twice as likely as independents (8%) and five times as likely as Democrats (4%) to say that there is no solid evidence of climate change.

Presidential Race Between Biden and Trump Remains Deadlocked

Ahead of the Iowa caucuses, a new Spotlight Analysis using PRRI data from November 2023 finds a deadlocked hypothetical two-way presidential race between Biden and Trump. While Trump’s favorability remains relatively low nationally (37%), his favorability among Republicans increased from 68% last June to 74% in November. In November, Biden’s favorability among all Americans dropped to its lowest level since the start of his presidency, at 35%. Looking at other Republican candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ overall favorability has remained stable at 28% and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s favorability increased slightly from 21% to 25%.

States Are Limiting Gender-Affirming Care for Adults, Too

Maya Goldman at Axios reports that in addition to the wave of legislation across the country restricting gender-affirming care for minors, some red states have also begun limiting access to treatment for adults. Last week in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine put forward new draft regulations that would require both minors and adults to receive approval from a litany of doctors before receiving gender-affirming care, after vetoinglegislation that would ban transition care for minors. Last year, lawmakers in at least four states introduced bills that would prohibit people as old as 26 from receiving hormone therapies or gender-affirming surgeries. PRRI data show that the majority of Americans oppose laws that prevent parents from allowing their children to receive gender-affirming care (56%).