Money Is Aiding Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Political Rise
As the 2024 race heats up, President Biden faces a persistent thorn in his side: Democratic dynasty scion Robert Kennedy Jr., who both offers a range of fringe principles and surprisingly Claims sustainable polling numbers.
The Times says Mr. Kennedy is receiving support from many political outsiders. But perhaps his most powerful base is a clutch of financial and tech giants, including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who have given him money and something arguably more important: exposure.
Kennedy talks about his many interests. This includes things like cryptocurrencies – he has spoken at industry conferences and accepts campaign donations in bitcoin. Mr. Kennedy has also embraced some of his favorite podcasts, talking with popular hosts like Joe Rogan and the venture capitalists behind the show “All-In.”
and in supporting mr kennedyMr. Dorsey (who is also a prominent bitcoin booster) cited the candidate’s criticism of government censorship.
But Mr. Kennedy’s most powerful allure may be his idolatry, Especially their desire to undermine institutional thinking on matters such as the benefits of vaccines. (that’s what happened because of YouTube is deleting an interview with Kennedy Because it promoted vaccine misinformation.)
Robert Nelson, an investor at Arch Venture Partners, said, “I think he’s a low-IQ, Democratic version of Donald Trump, so he’s going to appeal to libertarian-leaning, anti-‘woke’, socially liberal people as a protest vote.” draws in.” told KFF Health News,
Supporters supporters have given him money and air time. figures including Elon Musk and investor David Sachs prompted public debate between Mr. Kennedy and Peter Hotez, a vaccine researcher who criticized Mr. Rogan’s decision to let the candidate expound on unfounded conspiracy theories on his show.
Mr. Sachs and his fellow “all-in” co-hosts Jason Calacanis and Chamath Palihapitiya have also included Kennedy on their podcast, and are “willing to engage in lively debate” and “destroy all these institutions of power.” He is praised for. Mr. Sachs, who also interviewed Kennedy at a Twitter Space event with Mr. Musk, and Mr. Palihapitiya held a fundraiser According to CNBC, this month for him, raised $500,000,
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Mark Gorton helped create a Kennedy-focused PAC, whose leaders say it has raised at least $5.7 million. And CNBC reported that investor Omed Malik plans to host a $6,600-per-key fund-raiser for Kennedy in the Hamptons next month.
What’s going on over here
American cities are again at risk from smoke from Canadian wildfires. After white smog enveloped Midwestern cities like Chicago, New York City and other places in the Northeast are facing the return of dangerous air quality. Mayors warned residents to take precautions, raising the prospect of further disruption to outdoor activities and businesses.
The Kremlin moves to seize the Wagner Group’s empire. Russian officials told leaders in countries such as Syria and the Central African Republic, where the mercenary group operated, that Moscow was assuming its operation there, Meanwhile, a top Russian general with firsthand knowledge of the Wagner Group’s short-lived mutiny has reportedly been detained,
Nvidia warns against further US restrictions on AI chip exports. The semiconductor giant’s CFO said additional steps would be taken Limit sales to China Chips made for artificial intelligence systems could result in a “permanent loss of opportunity” for US companies in a key market. Nvidia shares fell yesterday following a Wall Street Journal report on White House deliberations about new export rules.
Reportedly aspartame will be declared “probably carcinogenic”. The World Health Organization will say next month that it is one of the world’s most popular artificial sweeteners can cause cancerAccording to Reuters. Aspartame is used in countless products including diet soda, chewing gum and candy.
The fate of Microsoft’s big deal may be decided soon
Yesterday was a big day in proceedings on the FTC’s attempt to block Microsoft’s $70 billion acquisition of video game titan Activision Blizzard, with three key players testifying: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; Bobby Kotick, leader of Activision; and Jim Ryan, the head of Sony’s PlayStation division (and evidenced by the video).
If the presiding judge agrees to delay the transaction, as the FTC is asking, Microsoft’s deal will likely be scrapped. But if it fails to do so, the agency may drop its opposition.
Mr. Nadella and Mr. Kotick said the acquisition would not harm consumers. The Microsoft chief reiterated that top titles such as Call of Duty will not be limited to its Xbox platform. Mr. Nadella said, “If it were up to me, I’d love to get rid of exclusives entirely on consoles,” and he blamed Sony for maintaining that business model.
Mr Kotick agreed: “If you take sport off a platform, you’re going to have a rebellion.” (That said, Mr. Ryan testified that he was concerned about PlayStation receiving a “degraded” version of Call of Duty if the deal went through.)
But the testimony showed that Microsoft is not averse to specifications. The company’s gaming chief Phil Spencer has acknowledged that the company has had discussions about excluding other Activision games from the PlayStation.
FTC seeks to uncover contradictions in Microsoft’s case, That includes a recent claim by Mr Nadella about sales figures for the latest Xbox console, while Mr Spencer said the platform was “not a strong business.” And the agency’s lawyers noted that Mr. Nadella had told investors that the new cloud gaming business was “one of the big bets that is proving profitable,” despite downplaying the importance of that market in court.
A A decision is expected by Monday. On Points, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley seemed suspicious FTC questions. Historically, if the FTC loses an injunction request, it drops its opposition to a deal.
If that happens, the last hurdle for Microsoft will be an appeal of the British regulator’s decision to block the transaction — potentially an even more uphill battle.
Central bankers have issued a warning on inflation
Two big themes emerged from this week’s central bankers’ meeting in Portugal: Policymakers are a long way from raising interest rates as inflation remains persistently high, and it is not yet clear how high they will go.
An important data dump on inflation will come tomorrow. The Commerce Department will publish its report on personal consumption expenditure (PCE) at 8:30 a.m. ET, hours after the release of the eurozone’s preliminary report on consumer prices.
Both the reports are expected to show that headline inflation is coming down, But prices are still well above policymakers’ 2 percent target. Fed Chairman Jay Powell said yesterday that “core” inflation – which excludes energy and food prices – probably won’t reach that level until 2025.
It’s forcing the Fed to hand down interest rates, Mr Powell said the Fed could raise rates at successive meetings – and keep them at “restrictive” levels for some time. on the subject of deduction, They said “We’re a long way from that,” he added, “it’s not something we’re thinking about right now.”
The futures market appears to be getting the message this morning, with bets on more rate hikes this year and extending forecasts of a cut until 2024.
Good News: Powell and his counterparts, including Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, said a strong labor market is keeping their countries out of recession for the time being.
What to watch tomorrow: Economists expect “headline” PCE to come in at 3.8 percent in May, its lowest reading in two years. But “core” PCE is expected to tell a different story, reaching 4.7 percent. One potential bright spot: Some economists expect used car prices and rents to start coming down this summer.
Inflation is at its peak in Europe. Its CPI data is expected to show that prices rose 5.7 percent from a year ago. ECB President Christine Lagarde has warned that inflation is starting to pervade all layers of the economy. His answer to this: There is a possibility of further increase in the interest rate.
$1 trillion
– The drop in deal value Those announced in the first half of 2023 are higher than the same period last year, according to Bloomberg. The decline in mergers, acquisitions and IPOs makes this one of the worst periods for getting deals done in a decade, as high inflation, funding pressures and geopolitical tensions have slowed activity.
How strong are the country’s banks really?
Months after the collapse of a Silicon Valley bank sparked panic among America’s smaller lenders, the Fed yesterday gave the nation’s biggest banks a clean bill of health. But regulators cautioned that their recently concluded stress test was just one way to evaluate stability — and that other risks could still pose a threat.
What was found in the test: The nation’s 23 largest banks could face a 40 percent drop in commercial real estate prices — now a major concern for lenders — and could lose $541 billion without a failure. They can also handle high unemployment and a sharp drop in house prices.
Although the tests began long before SVB’s troubles in March, regulators were ascertaining whether the eight banks heavily involved in trading could withstand the sudden panic in the markets for stocks, bonds and other financial instruments. Are.
Bank investors were keenly watching the tests, Because strong results mean lenders’ capital requirements are likely to come down, allowing them to buy back more stock or pay out increased dividends.
The banks are expected to unveil their new capital requirements tomorrow, along with any changes to investor payments.
But regulators cautioned that stress tests are not the final verdict on the health of banks. “This stress test is only one way of measuring that strength,” said Michael Barr, the Fed’s top banking supervisor.
Regulators are still tweaking the rules. In addition to increasing supervision, authorities are expected to tighten capital requirements, including for smaller lenders. That said, even though SVB was subject to tests this year, notes The Financial Times. may still have passed,
-
In other banking news: Bank of America is sitting on more than $100 billion paper deficit Has been associated with far more bad bond trades than its competitors.
read speed
deal
artificial intelligence
-
Top news publishers including The New York Times Company are reportedly discussing it alliance building To address the impacts of artificial intelligence on your industry. (WSJ)
-
“How Easy Is It to Fool AI-Detection Tools?” (NYT)
best among the rest
We need your feedback! Please email ideas and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com.
