Press Advance with Johanna Maska

Ahead of the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Johanna Maska talks to Kathie Obradovich, a longtime Iowa political columnist and Editor-in-chief for the Iowa Capital Dispatch. Obradovich shares highlights from this year's Iowa State Fair, from Ron DeSantis getting heckled by the crowd and trolled in the skies—to Vivek Ramaswamy's spontaneous Eminem rap performance. Mask...

Johanna Maska talks to fellow NewsNation contributor Sean Spicer who served as the White House press secretary in the early months of the Trump administration—not an easy job–where his boss, Donald Trump himself, often served as chief spokesperson. Spicer known for his contentious relationship with the press during live televised briefings–a portrayal immortalized in our minds by actress Melissa M...

Johanna Maska takes a look at the California Republican Executive Committee’s vote to rewrite the rules of the state's delegate distribution—a move that gives an edge to the current frontrunner, former President Donald Trump. The party adopted new rules that give all of the state’s delegates to any candidate if they receive more than 50% of the primary vote. But if the candidate doesn’t pass that...

Johanna Maska talks to Asa Hutchinson, the two term Republican governor of Arkansas who is running a shoestring campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. Hutchinson stands out as a figure who has served with vast experience in Republican politics — he was first appointed to office by Ronald Reagan — and for his outspoken condemnation of Trump. Hutchinson and Maska talk about why he is running,...

Johanna Maska talks to Francis Suarez, the two-term mayor of Miami who formally announced a bid for the 2024 presidential nomination becoming the only Hispanic candidate and only Mayoral candidate running in the crowded Republican field. As one of the younger candidates, Suarez at 45 years old says he offers a fresh face for the party, a libertarian approach to government regulation and an advocat...

Johanna Maska takes a look at No Labels, the group working to establish a path for a third-party presidential candidate to be on the ballot throughout the United States. The organization launched its “Common Sense” agenda this week at a town hall in New Hampshire where they took questions from an audience on how a Republican and Democrat might work together on a “Unity Ticket.” To find out more ab...

Johanna Maska takes a look at former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie—once one of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters—but now one of his fiercest critics. Christie has announced a second run for the White House saying the former president isn’t fit to serve and he's the only one out of a crowded field of candidates who can take him on. To get to know him better, Maska talked to two people who know...

For a special 4th of July episode, Johanna Maska talks to Kellyanna Brooking, a 15-year-old Republican. Brooking, who is from Washington state, became politically active after watching deadly protests in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. Brooking talks about what it means to be an American and the challenges of navigating political conversations with her peers on social media. Maska discusse...

J​ohanna Maska takes a look at Republican outsider Vivek Ramaswamy’s bid for the 2024 presidential nomination. ​The 37-year old​ wealthy biotech entrepreneur’s views on controversial issues have gained attention with the media—from his crusade against woke-ism and the nation’s identity crisis to proposing concessions to Putin to end the Ukraine war. The campaign is documenting Ramaswamy on the tra...

Johanna Maska checks in for stories from the Republican campaign trail with NewsNation Washington Correspondent Kellie Meyer. As a slew of GOP candidates kicked off their campaigns over the past several weeks, Meyer has been on the road with them. Meyer shares behind-the-scenes stories from the crucial early states of Iowa and South Carolina — from indictment responses to announcement events to wh...

Johanna Maska talks to NewsNation political editor Chris Stirewalt about polarization and how the media covers our elections. On election night in 2020, as the political director for Fox News, Stirewalt was part of the decision desk team that called Arizona for then Vice President Joe Biden. Fox anchors questioned the accuracy of the call while President Trump took to the podium to falsely claim v...

Johanna Maska talks to former White House Chief of Staff and Head of Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney about last week’s debt ceiling deal and why he thinks Washington can’t quit spending. Last week Congress agreed on a bipartisan debt deal to suspend the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit until January 2025. To put that in perspective—$31.4 trillion is about 215 times the net worth of Elo...

If President Barack Obama gave one of President Donald Trump’s speeches, would you be able to tell the difference? As a thought experiment in bias, Johanna Maska talks with comedian Matt Friend, who has been all over social media with spot-on political impressions. Friend reads Trump speeches as though they were delivered by Obama, Obama speeches as though they were delivered by Trump and Maska tr...

Johanna Maska looks at the second South Carolinian in the GOP race and the latest entrant, Sen. Tim Scott. He has an uphill battle on name recognition, but lots of friends — and campaign cash — to make an impact. To get to know him better Maska talked to some friends across the aisle who know him best. Denise Gitsham is a Republican who worked in George W. Bush’s White House and is a personal frie...

Johanna Maska checks in on the presidential campaign of the only woman seeking the GOP nomination so far: Nikki Haley. She was South Carolina’s first female Governor, a daughter of immigrants from India, and someone who has been hailed as a potential leader of the next generation of the Republican party. She served as Donald Trump’s US Ambassador to the United Nations but is taking on her former b...

Johanna Maska speaks to popular two-term Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan who breaks down the GOP primary process, the path to victory for a candidate and what he wants to see from the eventual nominee. Gov. Hogan recently decided against making a run for President in 2024 and talks about his version of the politics of hope. Johanna continues the deep dive on electoral math - and the GOP p...

In this episode we start with the best known GOP candidate, former President Donald Trump. Johanna Maska speaks with Morgan Ortagus, who served in the Trump administration as State Department Spokesperson, to learn more about who still surrounds the former President, and who might provide the most competition among his rivals. Plus, Julia Manchester, national political reporter for The Hill, discu...

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis emerged in the first wave of the tea party movement, and was in Congress before Donald Trump was a GOP standard bearer. But now the former President claims credit for DeSantis’ rise and has seen the governor’s emerging candidacy as perhaps his greatest threat to the nomination. Johanna Maska speaks with Kristin Davison, the COO for the pro-DeSantis super PAC “Never...

With an election cycle unlike any other, former Vice President Mike Pence is likely to enter the race against his former boss, President Donald Trump and a crowded field of contenders. The job of Vice President is often unenviable in politics because it’s generally viewed to be without power. After many criticized Pence for siding with his boss, he broke with the President January 6, 2021, and ref...

Ahead of the 2024 election, NewsNation contributor Johanna Maska takes a fresh look at how we make political progress. As Director of Press Advance for President Obama’s White House and one of his early campaign staffers, Maska knows what it takes to move the needle on the national stage and in the presidential primaries. She takes us past the talking points to look at what it will take to make pr...