August 6, 2025 — Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad and Lucid Motors’ Vice President of External Affairs Jessica Nigro hosted a Washington Women Technology Network breakfast conversation at The House at 1229 featuring Wall Street Journal political investigations reporter Josh Dawsey and New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager, co-authors of 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America.
The authors discussed the reporting behind the book, campaign dynamics in 2024, and the role of authenticity, gender, and media strategy in shaping public perception.
Josh Dawsey described Donald Trump’s media style and influence:
“He [Trump] gets shot… probably a quarter of inch from dying, and his first impulse is to lift his arm up in the air and say Fight. I think there were a lot of people who really dislike Trump or weren’t his biggest fans who thought that was kind of badass. I mean, I think that sort of changed the public perception of him in that moment,” said Dawsey.
Pager reflected on the role of former President Obama and internal challenges facing the Biden campaign:
“Barack Obama… didn’t think Joe Biden should run in 2016. He didn’t think Joe Biden should run in 2020, and he definitely didn’t think Joe Biden should run in 2024 and repeatedly,” said Pager. “One of the things that the campaign really struggled with was this sort of bifurcated structure where Joe Biden’s closest aides were in the White House, and the campaign was run by people that were not particularly close to the president and were not empowered to run the campaign.”
SPOTTED
Luxembourg Ambassador Nicole Bintner-Bakshian, YouTube’s Alexandra Veitch, the Consumer Technology Association’s Tiffany Moore, BBC anchor Sumi Somaskanda, NobleReach Foundation’s Tina Anthony, Omidyar Network’s Govind Shivkumar, Salesforce’s Charlotte Smith, Business Software Alliance CEO Victoria Espinel, Joanna Guy of Booz Allen Hamilton, Charlotte Rock of the General Catalyst Insitute, Invenergy’s Andrew Wills, Stacy Kerr of Penta, Michael Ahrens of FGS Global, Joiwind Ronen of Ned’s Club, producer Kathy O’Hearn, GM’s Ashley Lerner, and Sydney Snowden, chief of staff to David Urban.
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