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Scoop: Dems' foreign policy group prepping for 2028

Axios · · 699 words · By Alex Thompson

The article reports on the rebooting of National Security Action (NSA), a foreign policy group aimed at preparing potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates and staffing future administrations. It highlights the group's leadership changes and the internal party divisions regarding foreign policy, particularly concerning Israel.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://axios.com/2026/05/03/democrats-foreign-policy-2028

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

11 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 6
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info Single Source 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
schedule Pending 1
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“National Security Action has picked Maher Bitar, who has worked for Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the White House, to lead the group going into the 2028 primary season.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While evidence confirms Maher Bitar's roles in the Biden administration and with Senator Adam Schiff, none of the provided search results confirm his appointment to lead 'National Security Action' for the 2028 primary season.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Major General Maher al-Assad (Arabic: مَاهِرُ ٱلْأَسَدِ, romanized: Māhir al-ʾAsad, born 8 December 1967) is a Syrian former military officer who served as commander of the Syrian Army's elite 4th Arm…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_al-Assad
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ba'athist Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), was the Syrian state between 1963 and 2024 under the one-party rule of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. From 1…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba'athist_Syria
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime in Syria collapsed during a major offensive by opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian National Army (SNA), and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Assad_regime
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Founded in 2018, National Security Action (NSA) influenced Democrats' messaging on foreign policy in the 2020 election and ultimately helped staff much of President Biden's national security team.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm National Security Action (NSA) was co-founded by Ben Rhodes and Jake Sullivan as a political action committee/organization during the Trump administration (founded around 2018) to influence foreign policy messaging.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — National Security Action Memorandum Number 263 (NSAM-263) was a national security directive approved on 11 October 1963 by United States President John F. Kennedy. The NSAM approved recommendations by…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Action_Memor…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — National Security Action Memorandum 273 (NSAM-273) was approved by new United States President Lyndon Johnson on November 26, 1963, one day after former President John F. Kennedy's funeral. NSAM-273 r…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Action_Memor…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — National security directives are presidential directives issued for the National Security Council (NSC). Starting with Harry Truman, every president since the founding of the National Security Council…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security_directive
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“That included then-National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who co-founded NSA.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia explicitly states that Ben Rhodes, 'With Jake Sullivan, he is the co-c[o-founder]' of National Security Action.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Benjamin J. Rhodes (born November 14, 1977) is an American writer, a political commentator, and a former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting under President…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Rhodes_(White_House_staffe…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jake 2.0 is an American science fiction television series created by Silvio Horta that premiered on UPN on September 10, 2003. The series was canceled on January 14, 2004, due to low ratings, leaving …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_2.0
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan (born November 28, 1976) is an American attorney who served as the U.S. national security advisor from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. Sullivan previously served as Dir…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Sullivan
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Bitar, the national security adviser and chief counsel to Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), told Axios the group will host retreats, conduct polling, and be a "hub" to think through the party's foreign policy”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Maher Bitar has served as chief counsel and national security adviser to Senator Adam Schiff.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — There are about 4,000 positions in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The core White House staff positions and most Executive Office positions are generally not required to be…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Executive_Office_appoi…
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web search NEUTRAL — In January 2024, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan moved Bitar into a new role at the NSC as Deputy Assistant to the President and coordinator for intelligence and defense policy. [11][12] Bitar…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Bitar
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web search NEUTRAL — Schiff praised Bitar's expertise in intelligence law, noting his suitability for high-stakes oversight roles.[3]After departing the House committee, Bitar returned to congressional service in January …
https://grokipedia.com/page/Maher_Bitar
+ 1 more evidence source
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“Bitar was coordinator for intelligence and defense policy on Biden's National Security Council.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and news reports, confirm Maher Bitar served as the coordinator for intelligence and defense policy on the National Security Council (NSC).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Iraq War (Arabic: حرب العراق, romanized: ḥarb al-ʿirāq), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — There are about 4,000 positions in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The core White House staff positions and most Executive Office positions are generally not required to be…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Executive_Office_appoi…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Maher Bitar is an American government official who worked in the administrations of U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Bitar
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Ben Rhodes, who founded the group with Sullivan and is on its board”
CORROBORATED
Sources confirm Ben Rhodes co-founded the National Security Action PAC with Jake Sullivan and served as a co-chair/board member.
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web search NEUTRAL — Benjamin J. Rhodes (born November 14, 1977) is an American writer, a political commentator, and a former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting under President…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Rhodes_(White_House_staffe…
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web search NEUTRAL — Since Hillary’s loss, Rhodes co-founded an anti-Trump political action committee with Jake Sullivan called the National Security Action PAC. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2018/05/30/watch-ben…
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web search NEUTRAL — Co-Chair of National Security Action.Rhodes and Sullivan co-chaired the organization during the Trump administration. Their intent from the outset was to make NSA a temporary phenomenon that would dis…
https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individuals/benjamin-rho…
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“80% of Democrats now view Israel unfavorably, up from 53% in 2022, before Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, per Pew.”
CORROBORATED
Pew Research Center data is cited by multiple sources (Vox and Pew itself) stating that negative views of Israel among Democrats were 53% in 2022 and have risen to 80% in recent polling.
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web search NEUTRAL — In 2022, 53% of Democrats and 27% of Republicans had negative views of Israel. Younger and older Democrats alike have turned more negative toward Israel over this three-year period, but negative views…
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/04/08/how-ameri…
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web search NEUTRAL — Now, a whopping 80 percent of Democrats or adults who lean toward Democrats view Israel unfavorably, per Pew Research polling conducted last month. As a result, politicians are responding — and not ju…
https://www.vox.com/politics/486053/israel-democratic-party-…
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web search NEUTRAL — 69% of Democrats view Israel unfavorably, compared to 53% in 2022. Additionally, it found that Americans across age groups and party lines feel less favorably toward Israel than they did before Oct.
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-849525
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“40 of 47 Senate Democrats voted to block arms sales to Israel last month.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (WSJ, Algemeiner, and social media reports) confirm that 40 out of 47 Senate Democrats voted to block arms sales (specifically bulldozers) to Israel.
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web search NEUTRAL — BREAKING: A record-high 40 senators just voted to block weapons to Israel, up from 27 last July. There is much more work to be done, but today was yet another statement that the movement for Palestini…
https://truthout.org/articles/40-out-of-47-democratic-senato…
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web search NEUTRAL — Forty of 47 in the Senate vote against weapons for America’s fighting ally.Republicans defeated the measures, but 40 of 47 Democrats voted to advance Mr. Sanders’s resolution blocking the sale of bull…
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/bernie-sanders-democrats-resolut…
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web search NEUTRAL — Of the 47 Senate Democrats, 40 voted in favor of blocking sales of bulldozers and 36 voted in favor of blocking transfers of so-called “dumb” bombs. The failed vote represents the largest show of oppo…
https://www.algemeiner.com/2026/04/16/us-senate-vote-block-a…
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“Among them: every Democratic senator viewed as seriously weighing a White House bid — Arizona's Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, New Jersey's Cory Booker, Michigan's Elissa Slotkin, Georgia's Jon Ossoff and Connecticut's Chris Murphy.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the specific voting records of the named senators (Kelly, Gallego, Booker, Slotkin, Ossoff, Murphy).
help
“Sullivan, who rejoined NSA's board after leaving the Biden administration.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm that Jake Sullivan rejoined the board of National Security Action after leaving the administration.
schedule
“Sullivan and Rhodes were colleagues during the Obama administration”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.