

**Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**



On the roster: Biden benefits as Dems fear food fight - I’ll Tell You What: It’s Bonewald time - Buttigieg has blow out fundraising quarter - Trump purges pollsters after leak - Meow



BIDEN BENEFITS AS DEMS FEAR FOOD FIGHT

Fox News: “Former Vice President Joe Biden is still, by far, the leader in the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination race. His lead reflects the mood of the party, as Democratic primary voters want someone who will unite Americans, provide steady leadership, and who has high ethical standards. In addition, while Democrats best President Trump in hypothetical matchups and keep his support at 41 percent or lower, none of the challengers hits 50 percent. … Biden tops the list of Democratic contenders with 32 percent support among primary voters. Bernie Sanders trails at 13 percent, Elizabeth Warren at 9 percent, and Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris both at 8 percent. Next is Beto O’Rourke at 4 percent, Cory Booker at 3 percent, and Amy Klobuchar and Andrew Yang each garner 2 percent. Julian Castro, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Tim Ryan receive 1 percent a piece.”



Poll shows Biden trouncing Trump in Michigan - Detroit Free Press: “A new poll out Friday suggests more trouble for President Donald Trump's reelection hopes in Michigan, with the survey showing him 11 percentage points behind former Vice President Joe Biden in a head-to-head race. The poll by EPIC-MRA of Lansing also suggests, for the second time since March, that a majority of Michiganders support replacing Trump or would consider voting for someone else. Less than a third said they would definitely reelect him. In a head-to-head matchup, Biden, who is only one of some two dozen candidates but leads most polls among the Democratic field for the nomination, held a 52%-41% edge on Trump, who won Michigan by less than 1 percentage point in 2016. ‘He (Trump) is, I think, in trouble in terms of getting reelected when Biden has numbers this strong,’ said pollster Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA, which conducted the survey…”



THE RULEBOOK: POWER TO THE PEOPLE

“[The power of the proposed government in the hands of the representatives of the people] is the essential, and, after all, only efficacious security for the rights and privileges of the people, which is attainable in civil society.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28



TIME OUT: OHHHH YEAH!

The Takeout: “…[I]f you’re in the market for some quintessentially classic, high-grade, ‘Oh Yeah!’-era Kool-Aid, you’ll have to enter … the black market of vintage Kool-Aid packet collectors. While there’s no real quantifiable way to know just how big this particular community is, the best place to pulse-check their vitality is eBay. A quick search for ‘Kool-Aid packet’ seemed to signal the market is alive and well, returning over 250 active listings, some of which were going for triple-digit asking prices… A search for recently completed eBay auctions showed a display of 1960s Grape packets being sold for $250 and a single packet of Rock-A-Dile Red closing out at $125. … There are no real price guides or valuation resources for Kool-Aid packets to regulate commerce like there are in other collector communities for items like baseball cards or vinyl records. … As it is with the Kool-Aid flavors themselves, appraisal value is determined by personal taste.”



Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.



SCOREBOARD

Trump job performance

Average approval: 43.2 percent

Average disapproval: 52 percent

Net Score: -8.8 points

Change from one week ago: up 1.6 points

[Average includes: Fox News: 45% approve - 53% disapprove; NBC/WSJ: 44% approve - 53% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 42% approve - 53% disapprove; NPR/PBS/Marist: 43% approve - 49% disapprove; IBD: 42% approve - 52% disapprove.]



WANT MORE HALFTIME REPORT?

You can join Chris and Brianna every day on Fox Nation. Go behind-the-scenes of your favorite political note as they go through the must-read headlines of the day right from their office – with plenty of personality. Click here to sign up and watch!



I’LL TELL YOU WHAT: IT’S BONEWALD TIME

With Chris Stirewalt traveling last week, Dana Perino decided to have a catch-up session with the elusive producer of the I'll Tell You What podcast Jason Bonewald. Listen as Chris flips the script and provides Bonewald with trivia. LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE HERE



BUTTIGIEG HAS BLOW OUT FUNDRAISING QUARTER

Politico: “Pete Buttigieg’s campaign jolted its top donors with big news on a conference call last month: The upstart mayor had raised $7 million in the month of April alone, as much as Buttigieg had in his entire eye-catching first quarter in the presidential race. The huge April haul, which was previously unreported, highlights Buttigieg’s explosive rise in the Democratic presidential race — and Buttigieg hopes to do it again next month by announcing a top-tier second quarter haul that at least doubles his last campaign finance report, putting the 37-year-old among the biggest fundraisers seeking the presidency in 2020 and cementing his leap from long shot status at the beginning this year. Buttigieg has scheduled 21 fundraising events around the country before the end-of-June deadline, according to an event list obtained by POLITICO, with multiple stops in donor-rich locations…”



The race for Wall Street donors is on - NYT: “The behind-the-scenes competition for Wall Street money in the 2020 presidential race is reaching a fevered peak this week as no less than nine Democrats are holding New York fund-raisers in a span of nine days, racing ahead of a June 30 filing deadline when they must disclose their latest financial hauls. …[T]hree candidates are generating most of the buzz: former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Senator Kamala Harris of California and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. … Interviews with two dozen top contributors, fund-raisers and political advisers on Wall Street and beyond revealed that while many are still hedging their bets, those who care most about picking a winner are gravitating toward Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris, while donors are swooning over Mr. Buttigieg enough to open their wallets and bundling networks for him. These dynamics raise the prospect of growing financial advantages for some candidates and closed doors for others.”



Dems prepare $150 million ad campaign against Trump - Politico: “Democrats are preparing to kick off a campaign totaling hundreds of millions of dollars to blunt Donald Trump’s head start in the 2020 campaign as their party's candidates slug it out for the right to take him on. Democratic super PACs are set to soon launch a yearlong $150 million advertising onslaught countering the millions the president’s campaign has already spent targeting voters. On top of that, billionaire Tom Steyer is funding other groups testing a range of strategies to register and turn out people to vote. And the Democratic National Committee this week began training hundreds of college students to work as field staff in battleground states, an effort that will continue throughout the campaign. The efforts, described to POLITICO by operatives involved in the plans, come as some Democrats worry Trump is going largely untouched during the Democratic primary…”



Buttigieg cancels events, heads home after shooting - AP: “Authorities say a man has died after a shooting involving a police officer in South Bend, the Indiana city where Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is mayor. Buttigieg said he changed his campaign schedule to return to South Bend on Sunday and hold a late night news conference. He said that the circumstances of the death would be thoroughly investigated, and called on any witnesses of the shooting to come forward and speak to investigators. ‘We will be striving to reach out to community members,’ Buttigieg said. Buttigieg also canceled a trip Monday to New York for an LGBTQ event, according to the campaign.”



TRUMP PURGES POLLSTERS AFTER LEAK

NBC News: “President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is cutting ties with some of its own pollsters after leaked internal polling showed the president trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in critical 2020 battleground states, according to a person close to the campaign. The move comes after NBC News obtained new details from a March internal poll that found Trump trailing Biden in 11 key states. Portions of the campaign’s expansive March polling trickled out in recent days in other news reports. But a person familiar with the inner workings of the Trump campaign shared more details of the data with NBC News, showing the president trailing across swing states seen as essential to his path to re-election and in Democratic-leaning states where Republicans have looked to gain traction. … A separate person close to the Trump re-election team told NBC News Saturday that the campaign will be cutting ties with some of its pollsters in response to the information leaks, although the person did not elaborate as to which pollsters would be let go.”



Campaign’s data harvesting effort kicks into high gear - Politico: “When he takes the stage Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., to announce his bid for reelection, Trump will be joined by 20,000 guests whose personal information — names, zip codes, phone numbers — was meticulously recorded when they requested tickets to the rally. First-time attendees will receive relentless emails and texts in the coming weeks, reminding them they can help ‘Keep America Great’ by contributing $5, $10 or $15. Some maxed-out donors who gave generously to his 2016 campaign will trek to Florida to witness what they delivered — and decide whether to give big again. It’s a straightforward strategy to get the president four more years in the White House: be the political juggernaut Trump lacked in 2016. While 23 Democratic presidential candidates scramble for attention, Trump’s 2020 campaign is quietly flipping the script from its ham-fisted approach the first time he sought elected office.”



Team Trump wants to help revive Warren - Politico: “President Donald Trump’s reelection machine is setting its sights on a new target, one it had left for dead just a few months ago: Elizabeth Warren. With the Massachusetts senator rising in polls and driving a populist message that threatens to cut into the president’s blue-collar base, the Trump campaign is training its firepower on Warren with an eye toward blunting her momentum. Trump aides and their allies at the Republican National Committee, who initially believed their money and manpower were better focused elsewhere, are digging up opposition research, deploying camera-wielding trackers, and preparing to brand Warren as a liberal extremist. The reassessment of Warren, confirmed in conversations with more than a half-dozen Trump advisers, reflects the volatility of the massive Democratic primary and how the reelection campaign is reacting to it.”



HALF OF VOTERS WANT TRUMP IMPEACHED

Fox News: “Most voters don’t think impeachment is in President Trump’s future. Yet a majority also says the Trump administration should be more cooperative with congressional investigations, and a record number think his campaign coordinated with the Russian government, according to the latest Fox News Poll. A record 50 percent think the campaign coordinated with Russia during the 2016 election, up from 44 percent who felt that way in March, immediately before Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivered his report. The change comes from a 14-point increase among independents, a 6-point increase among Democrats, and a 3-point bump among Republicans. Views are mixed on impeachment: 43 percent of voters want Trump impeached and removed from office, 7 percent say he should be impeached, but not removed from office, and 48 percent oppose impeaching Trump.”



Dems feeling froggy - NBC News: “More Democratic voters believe Congress should begin impeachment hearings on President Donald Trump’s conduct while in office, but the country at large remains divided on the matter, according to a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Overall, 27 percent of Americans say there’s enough evidence to begin impeachment hearings now — up 10 points from last month. Another 24 percent think Congress should continue investigating to see if there’s enough evidence to hold impeachment hearings in the future, which is down eight points. And 48 percent believe that Congress should not hold impeachment hearings and that Trump should finish out his term as president — unchanged from a month ago.”



Liberals sweating Pelosi - WaPo: “As pressure has mounted in recent weeks on House Democrats to move more aggressively against Trump, [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi has demonstrated the firm grip she wields over her caucus — quashing, at least for now, the push for impeachment. It is a command that colleagues say is drawn from a deep well of respect for the political wisdom of the most powerful woman in American politics — and fear that challenging her comes with the risk of grave cost to one’s career. … The reluctance to oppose the speaker, according to interviews with more than 20 lawmakers and aides, has undermined the push for impeachment despite the growing support for ousting Trump among the party’s liberal base and several 2020 presidential candidates.”



But swing district Dems get the last word - NYT: “In a House that can be dominated by loud voices on the left, these lawmakers — all freshman Democrats who flipped Republican seats in 2018 — form the backbone of a quiet power center, and centrist “majority makers” like Ms. [Mikie] Sherrill, Ms. [Elissa] Slotkin, Ms. [Lucy] McBath and Ms. [Abigail] Spanberger, all from districts won by Mr. Trump, will most likely have the final say on impeachment. The president is testing their resolve on a near-daily basis. His declaration on Wednesday that he would take campaign help from a foreign power drew bipartisan condemnation on Capitol Hill and tipped a few more Democrats into the impeachment camp, but the majority makers stood firm. His blanket assertion of executive privilege over documents on the decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census strengthened the hands of Democrats who say the president’s stonewall of the House’s oversight function is, itself, impeachable.”



PLAY-BY-PLAY

SupCo gives Virginia Dems a win in racial gerrymandering case - The Hill



Pergram: ‘Jon Stewart's 9/11 hearing helps paint picture Congress wants more money for not working’ - Fox News



Fox News Poll: Tariffs hurt economy, Trump has gone too far on immigration - Fox News



Front-runner Boris Johnson blows off first debate for conservative party leadership - WaPo



AUDIBLE: LOOKING AT YOU JAMES BUCHANAN

“I imagine we’ve probably had excellent presidents who were gay we just didn’t know which ones.” – Mayor Pete Buttigieg told “Axios on HBO.”



Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.



MEOW

BBC: “A Pakistani politician's live-streamed press conference descended into farce when a cat filter was switched on by mistake. Shaukat Yousafzai was briefing journalists last Friday when the setting was accidentally turned on. Facebook users watching the video live commented on the gaffe, but Mr. Yousafzai carried on unaware of his feline features. He later said it was a ‘mistake’ that should not be taken ‘so seriously.’ ‘I wasn't the only one - two officials sitting along me were also hit by the cat filter,’ Mr. Yousafzai told AFP news agency. The video, posted to the official Facebook page of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was deleted minutes after the press conference. The blunder was blamed on ‘human error’ by the party, which runs the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in north-west Pakistan.”



AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…

“Nothing has so impressed me in my brief experience with fatherhood as the apparent autonomy of a child’s soul, the inner logic by which it seems to develop. It has a fixedness that is, perhaps happily, beyond a parent’s control. At least thinking so is a relief.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on Feb. 23, 1990.



Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.