| | | | | | | Presented By BlackRock | | | | Axios AM | | By Mike Allen · Dec 01, 2022 | | 🛷 Happy Thursday, and welcome to December. - Smart Brevity™ count: 1,498 words ... 5½ minutes. Edited by Noah Bressner.
| | | | | | 1 big thing — GOP's new media mogul: Musk |  | | | Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Philip Pacheco/AFP via Getty Images | | | | Elon Musk's public musings over the past six months have cemented an unmistakable new reality: - The world's richest man, and owner of the de facto public square, has become more and more Republican, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.
Why it matters: It's a stunning transformation for the Obama-, Clinton- and Biden-voting CEO of the most successful electric-vehicle company on Earth. And it's one with major real-world implications, given the influence Musk now wields in shaping the rules of online public debate. Musk revealed last week that he would vote for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he runs for president in 2024. - The day before the midterms, Musk urged "independent-minded voters" to vote for Republicans, citing the need to "balance" a Democratic presidency.
- The billionaire insists he is "neither conventionally right nor left" — but he also says the threat to free speech allegedly posed by Democrats has triggered a "battle for the future of civilization."
- COVID restrictions, high taxes and regulations in California also spurred an ideological shift right, and a physical move to Texas, now the home of Tesla's headquarters.
🔎 Between the lines: Over the last several months, Musk has frequently trolled Democrats and engaged with right-wing commentators who view him as a like-minded culture warrior. - "The woke mind virus has thoroughly penetrated entertainment and is pushing civilization towards suicide," Musk tweeted last week. "There needs to be a counter-narrative."
The intrigue: High-profile Republicans gained tens of thousands of followers in the weeks after Musk acquired Twitter, while their Democratic counterparts lost followers, according to a Washington Post analysis. - It's unclear what's driving the fluctuations. But "the pattern suggests that tens of thousands of liberals may be leaving the site while conservatives are joining or becoming more active," the Post writes.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy demanded Tuesday that the Biden administration "stop picking on Elon Musk," after the White House suggested it was "keeping a close eye" on changes to Twitter's misinformation and hate-speech policies. |     | | | | | | 2. Scoop: PGA Tour taps top McCarthy confidant in LIV fight |  | | | Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios | | | | The PGA Tour is enlisting one of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's closest friends and confidants to help it beat back a new competitor that's in business with Donald Trump, Axios' Jonathan Swan and Lachlan Markay report. - Why it matters: This fight between professional sports leagues is about politics as much as business or athletics.
Saudi-backed LIV Golf has established Republican bona fides by virtue of its relationship with Trump, whose courses have hosted multiple LIV tournaments. - With Republicans set to assume the majority in January, the PGA Tour is bringing on its own GOP muscle — Jeff Miller, principal of lobbying firm Miller Strategies and a close McCarthy ally.
- Miller played a key role in House GOP fundraising efforts throughout the 2022 cycle, and also was a significant fundraiser for Trump's 2020 campaign.
Miller's charge will be to promote the PGA Tour and its interests in Washington, including "shining a light on the competition," a source familiar with Miller's hiring told Axios. - That could entail amplifying criticism among lawmakers, the press and the public over LIV's ties to the Saudi government.
Context: LIV has poached top golfers from the PGA Tour since it launched last year. But it also has drawn intense scrutiny — in the golfing and political worlds — over its backing from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. - Critics call it a "sportswashing" operation designed to boost the Kingdom's image amid human rights scandals, including the 2018 execution of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- LIV leadership got a cool reception during a meeting with the House GOP Conference earlier this year. One prominent Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, has called for a federal investigation into the league.
Between the lines: Miller's relationship with McCarthy was surely seen as a critical asset for the Tour, given the near-universal presumption before the midterm elections that McCarthy would be the next House speaker. - Miller has known McCarthy for three decades and is known to be his closest ally on K Street.
- After Republicans underperformed in the midterms, McCarthy is suddenly facing an intra-party insurgency that threatens his ascendance. But if McCarthy does make it, Miller could become, as Politico speculated before the midterms, the "most powerful unelected man in DC."
The other side: LIV portrays itself as a scrappy upstart taking on an entrenched, corrupt incumbent. - The new league has brought on notable names in the political world, including former Bush White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and Ben Quayle, a former Republican congressman from Arizona and son of a former U.S. vice president.
Share this story. | | | | | | | | 3. 📦 Bezos' secret |  | | | Cover: St. Martin's Press | | | | A new book — "The Bezos Blueprint," by communication coach Carmine Gallo — highlights Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' belief that brevity is the soul of success, according to a Wall Street Journal book review (subscription): Whether you're writing an article, document or email, says Mr. Gallo, you have 15 seconds — the time it takes to read 35 words — to grab a reader's attention. After that, 45% of readers will stop paying close attention. "While Mr. Gallo notes that the human attention span has remained the same since the 1800s," the review adds, "today there are more things competing for our attention." 📚 Go deeper: Our bestselling book — "Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less" — is a smart holiday gift to help your team, or any rising star in your life, communicate with more power. Order it here. - Learn about Axios HQ — software that uses AI to help your organization communicate what matters most.
| | | | | | | | A message from BlackRock | | How BlackRock is helping Americans access retirement investing | | |  | | | | According to AARP, over 57 million Americans don't have access to a workplace retirement savings plan. This access makes you 15 to 20 times more likely to save for retirement. Learn how BlackRock is expanding access to high-quality retirement options here. | | | | | | 4. 👑 1,000 words | | Photo: Brian Snyder/Pool via Reuters Prince William, arriving in Boston for a three-day royal visit, sat courtside last night at a Boston Celtics-Miami Heat game at TD Garden, joined by Massachusetts Gov.-elect Maura Healey and Princess Kate. - It's the first U.S. trip for the Prince and Princess of Wales since 2014.
Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images Boston City Hall was lit green last night as a prelude to the royal visit's centerpiece — the Earthshot Prize for environmental entrepreneurs. | | | | | | | | 5. Musk: Brain-chip trials to begin in 6 months | Elon Musk gives a Neuralink update last night. Screenshot: Neuralink via YouTubeUpdating progress on brain-implant technology, Neuralink co-founder Elon Musk last night showed a monkey named Sake with a brain implant, performing what Musk called "telepathic typing." - "To be clear, he's not actually using a keyboard," Musk said, during the livestream from Neuralink headquarters in Fremont, Calif.
- "He's moving the cursor with his mind to the highlighted key. Now technically, he can't actually spell. So I don't wanna oversell this thing, because that's the next version."
Musk said he expects a wireless brain chip developed by Neuralink to begin human clinical trials in six months, Reuters reports. - The company is developing brain chip interfaces to enable disabled patients to move and communicate. Musk said Neuralink also will target restoring vision.
🎞️ Watch Musk describe his vision for brain plug-ins, during our earlier interview for "Axios on HBO." | | | | | | | | 6. Elon reignites debate over Apple power |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Elon Musk yesterday tweeted that he had a "good conversation" with Apple CEO Tim Cook, and said that "we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so." - Axios hasn't independently confirmed the meeting, and Apple hasn't responded to requests for comment.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is visiting Capitol Hill this week, as some Republican lawmakers rally behind Musk's earlier attacks, Axios' Ashley Gold and Sara Fischer report. - Cook, who visits Washington regularly, is meeting with both Republicans and Democrats, per Bloomberg.
🥊 Reality check: The worst Apple faces from Congress is hearings. Congress has struggled and failed under Democratic control to pass any major restrictions on Big Tech firms or revisions to antitrust laws. - Split control of Congress in the new year makes action even less likely.
Share this story. | | | | | | | | 7. SBF to ARS: "Look, I screwed up" | | Andrew Ross Sorkin interviews Sam Bankman-Fried remotely at The New York Times' DealBook summit in New York yesterday. Photo: Thos Robinson/Getty Images FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried claimed he didn't commit fraud and didn't try to buy off politicians, but took some responsibility for his company's demise, Axios Crypto co-author Crystal Kim writes. - "Look, I screwed up," he told Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times DealBook Summit yesterday. "I was the CEO, and that means I was responsible."
Why it matters: The former CEO is under scrutiny over the total lack of oversight at the company. More than $30 billion of value was wiped out in a matter of weeks. SBF said he believed some customers could be made "fully whole" despite FTX's bankruptcy and poor bookkeeping. - He talked against the advice of lawyers, and dodged a question on criminal liability: "There's a time and a place for me to think about myself and my own future. I don't think this is it."
Go deeper ... Watch the interview. | | | | | | | | 8. 🇫🇷 Tonight's State Dinner menu | | Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters Here's the program for tonight's State Dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron — the first State Dinner of the Biden administration. - Butter-poached Maine lobster, beef with shallot marmalade and an American cheese trio are part of a red-white-and-blue-themed dinner.
Read a preview. | | | | | | | | A message from BlackRock | | Invested in the future of first responders | | |  | | | | We're proud to manage the pensions of those who serve others. All across the country, we're helping Americans invest for their future. Meet Joshua, one of the hundreds of thousands of first responders whose retirement plan assets are managed by BlackRock. Learn more. | | | | 📬 Thanks for starting December with us. Please invite your friends to sign up to get their daily essentials — Axios AM, PM and Finish Line. |  | | Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it. | | | |
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