White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Morning Consult & POLITICO Poll: 2/3rds of Americans in Favor of Stricter Gun Laws

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David Hogg, activist and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student

Support for stricter gun laws is at its highest point in the last 25 years according to a new poll conducted by Morning Consult and Politico. While it is known that support for new gun control legislation sees a slight uptick after highly publicized shootings, the poll, found that the Parkland, Florida shooting that led to the deaths of 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has impacted the views of Americans in a profound way.

According to the report, “Roughly two-in-three Americans now say gun control laws should be made more strict in the wake of the murder of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to a number of polls, including a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll which shows support for stricter gun laws among registered voters at 68 percent, compared to just 25 percent who oppose stricter gun laws.”

The poll found that most of the new support for increased gun control laws comes from Republicans. According to Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult’s co-founder and chief research officer, “53 percent of Republicans indicated they supported stricter gun laws, compared to 37 percent [of Republicans] who said the same following the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016.”

Other polls show similar upticks in support for stricter gun laws. A CBS News poll out last week showed 65% of Americans support more restrictive gun laws, and a CNN poll out this week showed 69% support. As POLITICO points out, that is the highest amount of support for new legislation since 1993.

The poll comes as students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are organizing a March for Our Lives protest set to occur on March 24th in Washington, DC. The Michael Bloomberg-funded nonprofit Evertown USA is assisting the students in organizing similar protests across the United States.

You can read more about the latest Morning Consult/POLITICO poll here.

 

Bloomberg & Vanity Fair Do It Again!

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The most exclusive party of the White House Correspondents’ Weekend is the Bloomberg/Vanity Fair After Party.  Back at the French Ambassador’s residence again this year, guests walked by the front lawn covered in tiny multi-colored lights.  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was seen talking with Hollywood A-listers including George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon, Charlize Theron, Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Kyle MacLachlan and his wife producer Desiree Gruber, Goldie Hawn, and Kate Hudson.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre and his beautiful wife Sophie welcomed partygoers and bold faced names dominated the rooms. Media toppers included Barbara Walters and David Gregory, Obama notables were David and Susan Axelrod (talking to Ivanka Trump), White House staffers Jay Carney and Alyssa Mastromonaco and Obama Campaign Communications Director Stephanie Cutter. The republican were represented by Ben Ginsberg and Meghan McCain to name a few. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel seemed happy to be back in DC for an evening.

Judd Apatow and his wife actress Leslie Mann, looked shocked to meet Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of Google.

It was another big night for Uggie the dog from “The Artist” who missed the actual WH Correspondents’ Dinner, but was getting lots of love at the Bloomberg/Vanity Fair gala. Goldie Hawn snuggled up with the pup in one of the best moments of the late night gathering.

Guests relaxed, some even kicking off their shoes after a long night of formal speeches and dinner, as the party went on until the early hours of Sunday.  A crowd formed around Ronan Farrow, the son of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow and his friend Obama joke writer, now Hollywood writer, Jon Lovett.

Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan were chatting with Graydon Carter, Chris Matthews, Salman Rushdie, Kate Upton and Reggie Love.

In the wee hours of the morning Clooney was still talking to friends Kate Hudson, Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann while some politicos just looked on. One media executive was overheard saying at 3am, “I have a rule, I don’t leave if George Clooney is still there.”  That executive left at 3:45am and George Clooney was still there.

Alec Baldwin: NYC Mayor?

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With New York Rep. Anthony Weiner’s political future unknown, perhaps the most interesting development is the possibility of actor Alec Baldwin trading in “30 Rock” for the Gracie Mansion. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not running in 2013 and now that Weiner, the leading candidate, is in texting turmoil that leaves the field wide open. Read The Daily exclusive here to see what the actor’s friend said about Baldwin stepping in as a high profile Democratic candidate.