Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. 

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Ask any Democratic operative these days, including some who work in the Biden White House, about the Twitter account they find most noxious and you’re likely to get the same answer.

@RNCResearch — the handle for the Republican National Committee to sling mud, tar opponents, and try to shape news cycles — is perhaps the purest distillation of GOP politics in the DONALD TRUMP era. And that’s for good reason. The conservatives behind the feed deliberately took a page from the Trump war room when charting out how they wanted to attack President JOE BIDEN at the start of his term last year: Flood the zone and bully opponents.

The early goal, one RNC official recalled, was to be dog-on-a-bone aggressive in an effort to boot Biden out of his political honeymoon. The brass eagerly complied.

“You are speaking my language,” the official recounted telling a colleague when they talked about having a truly pugnacious account early last year. “That’s exactly what I want to do.”

The RNC says its account has played a role in knocking Biden down multiple pegs. But its hostile approach has not always been synonymous with accuracy. Over the course of the Biden presidency, the account, which has more than 242,000 followers and about 30 GOP dedicated researchers who contribute to it, has occasionally been hit by the arrows it’s tried to sling.

This week, @RNCResearch highlighted a clip of Biden struggling","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1556742881225969664","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754a0008","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754a0009","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">a clip of Biden struggling to put on his jacket in the wind — an otherwise innocuous moment that led to complaints of triviality. The account also featured a snippet of the president asking Kentucky Gov. ANDY BESHEAR for permission to speak. The idea was to frame Biden as a pushover","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1556708820579241986","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754a000a","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754a000b","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">frame Biden as a pushover. Many observers noticed a president acting polite.

In April, @RNCResearch claimed Biden was pooped on by a bird at an indoor event in Iowa. The Daily Mail ran with the story","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10712901/Feathered-fiend-poops-Bidens-shoulder-inside-Iowa-barn-unveils-plan-lower-gas-prices.html","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754a000c","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754a000d","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">The Daily Mail ran with the story. But a Des Moines Register photographer in Menlo, Iowa, noted the president’s jacket","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/13/president-joe-biden-bird-poop-menlo-iowa-visit-distillers-grain/7303450001/","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754a000e","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754a000f","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">noted the president’s jacket was actually stained by distillers grains. The same month, when Biden stood alongside his ATF director STEVE DETTELBACH and joked that he “was responsible for the weather,” @RNCResearch tweeted that Dettelbach is Jewish","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/rncresearch/status/1513603337253531657?lang=en","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">tweeted that Dettelbach is Jewish, implying the president was adopting antisemitic tropes.

In July, @RNCResearch asked","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1549830956277702656","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">@RNCResearch asked whether Biden, during a climate change speech, had just announced he has cancer. The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, GLENN KESSLER, called","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP/status/1549833485552058370?s=20&t=VBj7VI_SgXBzlx1bbeAlAw","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">called the tweet “dumb” because Biden’s medical report has long disclosed the removal of non-melanoma skin cancers before he was president.

All told, West Wing Playbook counted roughly a dozen fact-checks of the account — including by PolitiFact","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/28/republican-national-committee-republican/rnc-tweets-distortion-what-biden-said-teachers-abo/","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">PolitiFact, CNN","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/30/politics/rnc-tweet-surgeon-general-masks-parents-children-fact-check/index.html","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0008","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0009","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">CNN and WaPo","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/rnc-biden-cheap-fake-paints-misleading-picture-mental-fitness/","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b000a","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b000b","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">WaPo — that have found claims wrong or misleading. Rather than own up to the inaccuracies, the team behind @RNCResearch has sometimes sought to stop being called out for them. DANIEL DALE, CNN’s fact checker, said in January the account blocked him after he followed it.","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1486771325121277954?s=21&t=9-k7Jt2rsTQqIiqExSHdZw","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b000c","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b000d","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">account blocked him after he followed it.

They’ve also accused those who complain about them of having misplaced priorities.

“If only the Biden White House and Democrats were focused on real issues instead of spending their day whining about an RNC Twitter account,” said RNC spokesperson EMMA VAUGHN. “Do your jobs.”

To a degree the account, with its attention-grabbing and bellicose offerings, has become a reflection of the current age of personality politics and hyperpartisanship. Its critics find it bewildering, the stuff of trolls.

“It’s like they handed the keys over to some nihilist teenage shitposters who wanted to see how fast they could get reporters to discount everything they say,” a Biden campaign alum told West Wing Playbook. “They think crowing about intentionally lying makes them tough when it really just worsens the feedback loop.”

But for all the eyebrows they raise, the individuals behind @RNCResearch believe they’ve had the impact they set out for, and that Biden — through act and action — has helped them do it. The account takes credit for advancing an image of Biden as the modern day Mr. Magoo, the elderly bumbling cartoon character.

“The philosophy is, how we are getting a message out there that convinces people to vote Republican,” TOMMY PIGOTT, the RNC’s rapid response director, who helps manage the account, told West Wing Playbook.

And it’s not just Biden who they’re targeting. They also take credit for getting inside the head of White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE. 

Last month, the @RNCResearch account released a video of Jean-Pierre saying","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1551993162146758658","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b000e","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b000f","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">released a video of Jean-Pierre saying “I don’t have anything” 100 times when she didn’t have an answer for reporters. That was on a Tuesday. Two days later, Breitbart White House reporter CHARLIE SPIERING noticed she had stopped using that phrase","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://twitter.com/charliespiering/status/1552759597424951296","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0010","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0011","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">noticed she had stopped using that phrase.

“We’re not out there to get high video counts,” explained ZACH PARKINSON, the RNC’s deputy communications director and an alum of the Trump campaign and White House. “It’s to push sound messaging.”

Biden allies, understandably, were not impressed.

“Republicans desperately lying and manipulating videos are a tell,” said AMMAR MOUSSA, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson, suggesting the Biden barbs were an attempt to hide GOP shortfalls. “They can’t defend their extreme agenda to put Medicare on the chopping block and sell middle class families out to Big Pharma. They tried this for two years and all it got them was 81 million Americans voting for President Biden in the White House.”

MESSAGE US — Are you GREG FOSTER, a White House records management analyst? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous if you’d like. Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"mailto:westwingtips@politico.com","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0012","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff754b0013","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">[email protected].

This one’s from Allie. Which president was the first ever to throw a ceremonial pitch at a baseball game? Bonus points if you can guess the date!

(Answer at the bottom.)

POTUS IS O.O.O.: What’s Biden been up to since he and his family arrived Wednesday in Kiawah Island, S.C.? White House pooler REBECCA MORIN of USA Today noted this afternoon that “there’s been no update to the POTUS schedule, and the pool has not seen the president today.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: Everything in this picture that chief of staff RON KLAIN retweeted today from two separate #resistance-y accounts (the DNC also tweeted it yesterday).

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.inquirer.com/business/peco-pennsylvania-electricity-prices-increase-natural-gas-20220811.html","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75500000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75500001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">This piece by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s ANDREW MAYKUTH noting that while gas prices are dropping, electricity prices went up. PECO’s average energy bill was “set to increase by 11.4% on Sept. 1 for most residential customers, or about $6.53 a month for a typical household bill,” according to the article. The Inquirer also reported that Metropolitan Edison, which serves 560,000 customers in Southeastern Pennsylvania, will increase its charge by 18.4 percent.

I WANT TRUMP TO KNOW IT WAS ME: Attorney General MERRICK GARLAND defended the FBI’s search of DONALD TRUMP’s Mar-a-Lago estate","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/11/garland-defends-mar-a-lago-search-fbi-trump-00051193","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75530000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75530001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">defended the FBI’s search of DONALD TRUMP’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida saying he “personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in the latter,” our KYLE CHENEY reports. The Department of Justice Thursday also moved to unseal parts of that warrant.

CALLING OUT RWANDA: Speaking at a press briefing Thursday in Rwanda, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN condemned authorities in the country over human rights concerns. AP’s IGNATIUS SSUUNA has more details on Blinken’s visit.","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://apnews.com/article/africa-rwanda-antony-blinken-central-paul-kagame-c06c29fb3052d4bd44aaaef1332cf2ed","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75530002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75530003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">AP’s IGNATIUS SSUUNA has more details on Blinken’s visit.

SPEAKING OF BLINKEN: VEDANT PATEL, who recently arrived at State after a stint in the White House press shop, conducted the daily State Department briefing for the first time Thursday. The briefing was conducted via phone.

MONKEYPOX SCRAMBLE: Although the Biden administration is in talks with multiple companies about bottling millions of doses of the monkeypox vaccine to combat the spread, our ERIN BANCO and ADAM CANCRYN report that it could take three to six months to get those doses ready for distribution","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/10/monkeypox-vaccine-biden-2023-00050919","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75540000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75540001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">it could take three to six months to get those doses ready for distribution.

Looking at a lengthy timeline, the administration recommended providers administer the monkeypox vaccine with one-fifth of the normal amount to try and stretch supply without sacrificing efficacy.

ABOUT THOSE TARIFFS… China’s latest moves around Taiwan has made the Biden administration rethink how it will handle tariffs on the country","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/exclusive-us-rethinks-steps-china-tariffs-wake-taiwan-response-sources-2022-08-10/","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75540002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75540003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">rethink how it will handle tariffs on the country. This after the White House has already spent many months weighing its options with Trump-era tariffs that were imposed in 2018. Reuters’ JEFF MASON and DAVID LAWDER report that the administration had been debating on doing away with some tariffs or imposing new ones, but the pair reports no decision has been made.

GAS POLITICS: The national average price of a gallon of regular gas has fallen below $4, the lowest level since March but still much higher than when Biden took office, NYT’s ISABELLA SIMONETTI","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/business/gas-prices-4-a-gallon.html","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75540004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75540005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">NYT’s ISABELLA SIMONETTI reports.

CDC loosens coronavirus guidance, signaling strategic shift","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/08/11/cdc-coronavirus-recommendations/","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75560000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75560001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">CDC loosens coronavirus guidance, signaling strategic shift (WaPo’s Lena H. Sun and Joel Achenbach)

Doug Thornell will lead SKDK, an influential Democratic public-relations firm often allied with the White House.","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/11/us/primary-elections-midterms?smid=url-share#doug-thornell-will-lead-skdk-an-influential-democratic-public-relations-firm-often-allied-with-the-white-house","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75560002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75560003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">Doug Thornell will lead SKDK, an influential Democratic public-relations firm often allied with the White House. (NYT’s Shane Goldmacher)

The Afghanistan Deal that Never Happened","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/11/the-afghanistan-deal-00050916","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75560004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75560005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">The Afghanistan Deal that Never Happened (POLITICO’s Lara Seligman)

Russia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-world-news-st-petersburg-treatment-of-prisoners-f20273227cf4c4e65ba6f4866dc975ea","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75560006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75560007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">Russia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine (AP)

President WILLIAM TAFT was the first president to ever throw a ceremonial pitch at a Major League Baseball game. The April 14, 1910, toss was to Washington Senators' starting pitcher WALTER JOHNSON at National Park in the nation’s capital, according to History.com","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/historic-baseball-pitches-presidents","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75580000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75580001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">according to History.com.

The president would go on to autograph the ball for Johnson","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/president_taft_opening_day.shtml","_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75580002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000182-931d-d025-a7c7-ffff75580003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">would go on to autograph the ball for Johnson: “To Walter Johnson with hope that he may continue to be as formidable as in yesterday's game. William H. Taft.”

A CALL OUT — Do you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.