Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Tuesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we interview ATTN’s Matthew Segal about his company’s viral videos, and explore what a potential special election to succeed Rep. George Santos could look like. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Ritchie Torres, Joel Tauber and the Dee family.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) announced he will not seek reelection in 2024. Carper said he’d already spoken to Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), the state’s sole House member, and endorsed her should she choose to seek the Senate seat. Blunt Rochester got her start in Washington as an intern for Carper when he served in the House.
Carper’s departure sets up a domino effect that could see Delaware send the nation’s first transgender legislator to Washington, should Blunt Rochester mount a Senate bid. Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride is “quite likely” to enter the race to succeed Blunt Rochester, a McBride advisor said.
Carper was not the only East Coast senator to drive headlines yesterday. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) launched his 2024 presidential bid in South Carolina, stressing in his speech the need for the U.S. to use its military to curb the power of Iran, China and Russia, which Politico noted, was “[i]n contrast with [former President Donald] Trump.”
Scott’s launch came the same day as a Reuters report that revealed closer ties between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump who is under house arrest as he serves out his 20-month sentence for defrauding investors and various campaign finance violations. Parnas and DeSantis reportedly exchanged dozens of text messages during DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign, with the Florida legislator asking for introductions and fundraising assistance from Parnas.
The Reuters report came days after The New York Times did a deep dive into DeSantis’ recent travel at the expense of donors and political allies, including real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer, whose private jet DeSantis traveled on in February. Soffer, the Times noted, “has sought a change in state law that would allow him to expand gambling to his Miami Beach resort.”
And a leaked memo from Nikki Haley’s team, obtained this morning by Politico, refers to DeSantis as “Trump without the charm” and calls his campaign “far more disorganized” than Trump’s.
While DeSantis is not expected to launch his campaign until next week at the earliest, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is reconsidering a 2024 presidential bid, after ruling out such a move earlier this year.
Tonight in Washington, the Jewish Democratic Council of America will hold a gala featuring former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — who will receive the group’s “defender of democracy” award — and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev were among the top-billed speakers this morning at the Herzliya Conference. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi gave today’s keynote.
Speaking at the conference last night, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Iran of turning commercial ships into “floating terror bases.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have spoken twice in recent weeks — before and after last week’s Arab League summit — The Jerusalem Post reported last night. The calls come amid stepped-up U.S. diplomatic efforts to improve relations with Riyadh, and weeks after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with MBS in Jeddah. The Saudi crown prince reportedly rejected an ask from Netanyahu for the two leaders to meet.
“You can probably count the number of people who would even know about these calls on one hand. The question then is who has what to gain by leaking it in this way to English-language right-wing press,” an individual with knowledge of regional normalization efforts told us.
Netanyahu, however, was invited, alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog, to attend COP28, the U.N.’s annual climate change summit in November, which is being held this year in Dubai.
In related COP news, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday in Abu Dhabi that Bloomberg Philanthropies is partnering with the International Renewable Energy Agency and “Global South” countries — nations that are considered to be underdeveloped or developing — ”to reduce political, technical & financial barriers to the energy transition.”
paying attention
The media entrepreneur making antisemitism education go viral

After former President Donald Trump said in 2017 that there were “very fine people on both sides” of the violent neo-Nazi “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., former body builder, actor and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a short video: “Let’s terminate hate,” he said. His stated recipient was Trump, but instead the video — produced by a digital media startup called ATTN: (pronounced attention), which specializes in creating viral content with a social-justice twist — was viewed by millions. Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch talked to ATTN co-CEO Matthew Segal about the company’s decision to spotlight antisemitism in recent years.
Sweeteners: “Our whole theory of change is, Can you find clever and creative ways, sometimes putting chocolate or sugar on vegetables, as they say, to get people to care about things that matter?” Segal said. “It’s catered to people who have shorter attention spans, which is the world we live in.”
Money-maker: Investors have bought into that theory of change — or at the very least, they have identified it as a sound investment decision. ATTN was acquired last year for $150 million by Candle Media, a Blackstone-backed company that operates the brands behind the popular Israeli TV series “Fauda” and Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s production company.
What’s the problem: Since ATTN launched in 2014, antisemitism in America has skyrocketed, leading Segal to feel a deeper sense of urgency to address the problem. “It’s become more important to me as I’ve aged, because you get out in the world, and you see how Jewish people are often portrayed or misportrayed. You see Jewish people who are maligned,” he said. “You see illiberalism on college campuses and throughout society that I think is dangerous for the Jewish people. You see attacks on Israel that really are thinly veiled antisemitism.