John Heilemann
A bestselling author and former staff writer for New York, The New Yorker, and The Economist, a national affairs analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and the creator and host of the Emmy-nominated docuseries The Circus, John offers indispensable political reporting and analysis in the Sunday edition of Puck’s The Best & The Brightest.
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Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, Julia Ioffe, Marianna Sotomayor, John Heilemann, & Abby Livingston
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Sunday through Thursday
Puck’s daily political newsletter from Washington—featuring Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, John Heilemann, Julia Ioffe, Abby Livingston, and Marianna Sotomayor—on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Pentagon to Capitol Hill, K Street, and the campaign trail.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
John Heilemann
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January 22, 2025
Joe Versus the Volcano
When he’s not hosting four hours of daily television, Joe Scarborough is pondering how Donald Trump did it again, and what that says about American politics—and America itself. In the wake of Trump’s second inauguration, the former G.O.P. congressman talked about 45/47’s dark vision, the brewing battle between the MAGA base and the tech billionaires, and the blowback over his and Mika’s trek to Mar-a-Lago.
John Heilemann
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December 12, 2024
Hakeem’s State of the Union
A sprawling conversation with the Pelosi protégé and House Democratic leader on some of the most pressing issues facing Democrats in the near and long-term: reconstituting the party after November’s crushing defeat, countenancing Trump’s screwball cabinet nominations, and what bipartisanship will actually look like over the next four years.
John Heilemann
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December 5, 2024
The F.B.I.’s Kash Conundrum
With Trump bent on revenge and having appointed the ideal henchman to carry it out, F.B.I. honchos are dusting off their résumés while field officers cross their fingers. Two bureau veterans—Frank Figliuzzi and Andrew Weissmann—explain how worried we should really be.
John Heilemann
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November 20, 2024
Party Animals
Two up-and-coming Democratic congressmen—Seth Moulton and Ritchie Torres—candidly assess the great political realignment of ’24, offering some well-deserved scorn, and some timely constructive solutions, for their flailing party.
John Heilemann
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November 10, 2024
The Post-Harris Blamescape & Dem Reckoning Tea Leaves
News and notes and fresh reporting on the current targets of professional Democratic rage: Harris, Team K, Biden, Biden’s people, wokeism and more.
John Heilemann
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November 8, 2024
The Selzer Reality Check
The legendary J. Ann Selzer is far from the only pollster who has some explaining to do in the wake of Trump’s sweeping, comprehensive, and realignment-cementing victory. For the third straight presidential cycle, the polling industry complex has emerged with a jumbo omelette’s worth of egg all over its face.
John Heilemann
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October 24, 2024
Wes Moore’s Election Nightmare
A conversation with the Democratic governor of Maryland, decorated Army veteran, and likely future presidential candidate about why Donald Trump is no friend of the military—and America needs to take his most outlandish rhetoric seriously.
John Heilemann
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October 21, 2024
Kamala Before the Storm
As pre-election Democratic bedwetting reaches clinical levels, Harris senior advisor David Plouffe joins John Heilemann to provide a full-spectrum data corrective: how the campaign is microtargeting in battleground states, why McLaughlin is wrong about Harris’s ceiling, and when to ignore Nate Silver.
John Heilemann
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October 17, 2024
The End of the G.O.P. As We Know It?
Pre-gaming the nerve-wracking, existentially terrifying, down-to-the-wire Trump vs. Harris showdown on November 5 with The New York Times’s Peter Baker and The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser.
John Heilemann
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October 14, 2024
Keep Kamala & Carry On
A mid-October assessment of the latest outbreak of Democratic bedwetting: Which fears are reasonable, which are not, and is Harris really not doing enough? Or is her campaign simply focused on a category of voter largely invisible to elites—and the elite media, in particular?
