TGIF! Presidential candidates reach out to Black voters before November, how VP picks may help; It’s National Donut Day; And Americans show signs of tip fatigue.

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Good morning,

It’s National Donut Day! While you can score some donut deals today, the unofficial holiday surprisingly has some history.

• 🍩 Back in 1938, the Salvation Army honored the group’s Donut Lassies on the first Friday in June. American women traveled to France in 1917 to serve donuts to soldiers during World War I. The donut celebration has caught on since!

  

• In the US, West and East Coasters are divided on where they get their donuts. The further west you go, the more small, independent shops there will be compared to the east’s Dunkin’ mania.

  • New England has some crazy doughnut density. The region has nearly three times as many doughnut shops per person as the rest of the US (thanks to Dunkin’).

• Ok, but the deals: For you Dunkin'-loving East Coasters, a free classic donut can be included with the purchase of a drink; Krispy Kreme says no purchase is necessary for a free doughnut in person; 7-Eleven loyalty members can get a glazed doughnut for $1; while you have to buy a beverage and be a member of Tim Hortons’ loyalty program to get a free donut.

Enjoy 😋 and have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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📌 TRUMP & BIDEN COURT BLACK VOTERS AHEAD OF NOVEMBER

President Biden and former President Trump are both courting Black voters, despite the voter bloc’s historic alignment with the Democratic party. Rapper 50 Cent, on Capitol Hill this week, said that Black men are 'identifying with Trump' more than Biden.

Yesterday, Trump VP-shortlister Tim Scott pledged $14 million for Black voter outreach. Just a week earlier, Biden made an aggressive push in Philadelphia — with Vice President Kamala Harris by his side — calling Trump a racist who has lied to Black Americans about what his term in office delivered to them.

• The campaign’s “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” said that four more years of Trump in the White House would put at risk “all progress, all freedom, all opportunities.”

TRUMP’S PUSH
Trump’s message is simple: Democrats have long taken for granted Black votes, now he will help grow their bank accounts and make voters’ lives better. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) — the Senate’s only Black Republican — says Black voters, especially men, could be the key to securing Trump another term in the White House.

• The Great Opportunity PAC, which is aligned with Scott, is launching the $14 million campaign to reach Black voters through outreach, digital marketing, as well as conducting research to support their effort.

• "There's no doubt that African American men are wide open for a political shift of partisan shift," Scott said.

• The week before, Trump went to the Bronx — a Democratic stronghold — advocating to Black and Hispanic voters that his immigration policy will be better than Biden’s. He said “the biggest negative impact” of the influx of migrants in New York is “against our Black population and our Hispanic population who are losing their jobs, losing their housing, losing everything they can lose.”

AND THE NUMBERS
Recent polling has found Trump in the high teens or the low 20s among Black voters — still well behind Biden, but also well ahead of where he polled in 2020.

• Some key states back in 2020 have a large percentage of Black voters. In Georgia, 2.4 million Black Americans in the state make up 32% of the state’s eligible voters. The 2020 election was decided by just over 12,000 votes there.

  • In the previous election, a third of Black voters lived in nine of the nation’s most competitive states – Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

  • Michigan and Pennsylvania are also key swing-states with a strong percentage of Black voters. Biden won the support of 92% of Black voters in both states in 2020, exit polls showed. AND they are both considered by many to be a must-win in his reelection bid.

    • Biden won Michigan by about 150,000 votes and Pennsylvania by 80,000 in that election.

• Another factor to weigh: Age. Only 41% of Black Americans ages 18 to 39 are certain to vote this year, down from 61% in June of 2020. Biden won Black voters under 45 by more than 80% in 2020, but now just 33% of young Black people said they would support Biden if the election were held today.

  

💰 AMERICANS PULL BACK ON TIPPING

New numbers are out on the state of tipping in the US, and people are feeling fatigued. Over a third of American adults think “tipping culture has gotten out of control,” while nearly 3 in 5 have at least one negative view of tipping.

THE NUMBERS
Generations and genders vary in their tipping behavior, according to Bankrate’s survey of 2,445 adults between April 29 and May 1.

• Always tip servers at sit-down meals: 35% of Gen Z (ages 18-27), 56% of millennials (ages 28-43), 78% of Gen X (ages 44-59) and 86% of baby boomers (ages 60-78).

  • By gender, 71% of women do, compared to 63% of men.

    • Who tips at least 20%: Only 17% of Gen Z and 28% of millennials say they tip at least 20% at sit-down restaurants, compared to 41% of Gen Xers and 52% of baby boomers.

• How it’s impacting service industries: Compared to 2021, servers, hair stylists, and food delivery workers are getting about 8% less in 2024 from trips. Tipping drivers is down about 7% in the same timeframe.

BEHIND THE TREND
At issue: Americans’ growing frustration with ubiquitous tipping prompts, from coffeeshops to airport self-checkout kiosks, especially as sticker prices have risen. Consumers are over prompts to tip for even the simple purchase of a bottle of water.

• The Bankrate survey found that Americans are feeling inundated with “tip creep-” or the increasing number of businesses now asking for tips. Customers wonder why they’re being asked to choose between a 15%, 20% or 25% tip, and whether there will be any repercussions for opting not to pay a tip to the person handing them a pre-made sandwich at a gas station.

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Trump ally Steve Bannon ordered to report to prison July 1 in contempt of Congress case (CBS NEWS)

📌 Hunter Biden's sister-in-law testifies she threw gun into trash out of fear of his spiralling addiction (CBC)

📌 Port of Baltimore shipping channel could fully reopen this weekend after the last piece of collapsed bridge is removed (CNN)

📌 Rex Heuermann, accused Gilgo Beach serial killer, charged with murdering 2 more women (NBC NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Putin warns he could provide weapons to attack the West and issues new nuclear threat (NBC NEWS)

📌 IDF Northern Command chief: Military ready for potential war against Hezbollah (THE TIMES OF ISRAEL)

📌At least 100 killed after RSF paramilitary group attacks village in Sudan (THE GUARDIAN)

📌 At least 35 dead in Israeli strike on U.N. school, UNRWA head says (CBC)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Common low-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds (CNN)

📌 SpaceX’s starship rocket completes test flight for the first time, successfully splashes down (CNBC NEWS)

📌 FDA reverses order taking Juul vaping products off the market in US, opens door to possible authorization (ABC NEWS)

📌 Starbucks partners with food delivery platform Grubhub (REUTERS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 A new ‘Hunger Games’ book and movie is coming (AP NEWS)

📌 Kansas City Chiefs postpone practice after defensive lineman BJ Thompson suffers cardiac arrest (PEOPLE)

📌 Rapper 50 Cent says Black men are 'identifying with Trump' over Biden (FOX NEWS)

📌 Pat Sajak departs 'Wheel of Fortune' as TV's last old-school game show host (NPR)

🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN WEEKEND

• WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Mosheh: ‘Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial’ ~ Netflix; Jill: Amy Winehouse Biopic: Back to Black

• WHAT WE’RE READING: Mosheh: ‘Tired of Winning’ ~ Jon Karl

  Jill: Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems

• WHAT WE’RE EATING: Mosheh: LMNT electrolyte powder; Jill: Flora's Pizza Cafe