Today in Campaign 2016
- House Republicans investigating the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, have found no new evidence to conclude that Hillary Clinton, secretary of state at the time, was culpable in the deaths of four Americans, according to the committee’s final report released this morning.
- The 800-page document released by the Republicans on the House select committee on Benghazi brought to a close a fiercely partisan, two-year, $7m investigation that included interviews with more than 80 witnesses. The report reveals new details about the night of the attack and concludes that the Obama administration failed to recognize the possibility of it happening.
- The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said it is important to “learn the right lessons” from the 2012 Benghazi attack but that “it’s time to move on” after a final 800-page report contained no major new revelations.
- Barack Obama has warned against financial and global hysteria after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, saying that while full European integration may be on pause, cataclysmic changes are unlikely. “There’s been a little bit of hysteria post-Brexit vote, as if somehow Nato’s gone, the trans-Atlantic alliance is dissolving, and every country is rushing off to its own corner. That’s not what’s happening,” Obama told National Public Radio in an interview that aired today.
- Trump offered renewed support this evening for the use of torture while repeatedly comparing a proposed free trade agreement to rape. Trump, who has often praised the use of waterboarding as well as speaking positively about alleged war crimes committed by American troops, said at a campaign rally, “We have to fight fire with fire”, after referencing the penchant for beheadings by Isis.
- The presumptive Republican nominee claimed that while the terrorist group committed a range of atrocities including beheading and drowning prisoners, the United States was afraid to even use waterboarding. In Trump’s opinion, this left Isis believing that the US was weak and stupid and it needs to “fight so viciously and violently” to combat the threat. Trump also renewed his praise of waterboarding, which was banned by the Bush administration in 2006 as both potentially illegal and ineffective. “What do you think about waterboarding?” Trump asked the crowd. They cheered as he gave his answer, “I like it a lot. I don’t think it’s tough enough.”
Donald Trump offered renewed support tonight for the use of torture while repeatedly comparing a proposed free trade agreement to rape.
Trump, who has often praised the use of waterboarding as well as speaking positively about alleged war crimes committed by American troops, said at a campaign rally, “We have to fight fire with fire”, after referencing the penchant for beheadings by Isis.
The presumptive Republican nominee claimed that while the terrorist group committed a range of atrocities including beheading and drowning prisoners, the United States was afraid to even use waterboarding. In Trump’s opinion, this left Isis believing that the US was weak and stupid and it needs to “fight so viciously and violently” to combat the threat.
Trump also renewed his praise of waterboarding, which was banned by the Bush administration in 2006 as both potentially illegal and ineffective. “What do you think about waterboarding?” Trump asked the crowd. They cheered as he gave his answer, “I like it a lot. I don’t think it’s tough enough.”
Poll: Supporters of Donald Trump more likely to view blacks negatively
According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released this evening, supporters of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are more likely to describe blacks as “criminal,” “unintelligent,” “lazy” and “violent” than supporters of Hillary Clinton, or supporters of Trump’s Republican opponents in the party’s primary.
The poll, conducted over the course of four months, asked 16,000 Americans a set of 21 questions regarding their attitudes about race and racism. In addition to Trump supporters, the poll surveyed supporters of Clinton, her primary opponent Bernie Sanders, and supporters of Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
“Mr. Trump is an egalitarian who believes in supporting and protecting all people equally,” Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior policy adviser, told Reuters in response to the poll. “This is a stark contrast to Hillary Clinton, whose policies have been a disaster for African-American and Hispanic citizens.”
Nearly half of Trump supporters described blacks as both more “violent” and “criminal” than whites. According to the poll, 40% of Trump supporters described blacks as more “lazy” than whites.
The survey of Americans aged 18 and older, conducted between March and June, showed that 32% of Trump supporters said that whites are closer to the top level of “intelligence” than blacks, and roughly 40% of Trump supporters said that they would place whites higher on the “hardworking” scale than blacks. A full 44% of Trump supporters said that whites are more “well mannered” than blacks.
Nebraska senator Ben Sasse has responded to Donald Trump’s comments characterizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership as “rape”:
Oh for heaven's sake...
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 29, 2016
1. That horrific word has a meaning--It isn't this.
2. Trade is, on net, good for Americans. https://t.co/RoqN31SkZj
Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager won - and then lost - a $1.2 million book deal with megapublisher HarperCollins, according to a report from Politico, after months of negotiating a contract for a tell-all book about his stint as the head of the most surprising campaign in modern political history.
The book, tentatively titled “Let Trump Be Trump,” was chatted up with at least five publishers before HarperCollins made its sky-high offer. But, according to Politico, the deal fell apart after Lewandowski refused to share the non-disclosure agreement he signed for Trump with HarperCollins.
According to a report from Bloomberg, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is rounding up a roster of speakers and guests to the upcoming Republican National Convention in Cleveland that will rival ESPN’s primetime lineup in terms of legendary athletes - although the leaked list indicates that Trump is in no rush to make a play for female or minority voters.
Iconic Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, NASCAR chief Brian France, former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight and onetime world heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson are all planning on making appearances in Cleveland, according to Bloomberg, with the roster of celebrities, sports stars and other, um, luminaries expected to grow.
Earlier this month, Trump told a crowd in Richmond, Virginia, that he was planning on departing from the typical national convention speakers list of party icons, instead proposing a “winner’s evening” of athletes to regale the crowd.
“We’re going to do it a little different, if it’s okay,” Trump said at the time. “I’m thinking about getting some of the great sports people who like me a lot,” he continued, namechecking Knight, France and others like New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Trump has previously bragged about the endorsement of boxing legend Tyson, who told The Daily Beast that he was endorsing Trump in spite of his proposed ban on Muslim immigration to the US.
“Mike Tyson endorsed me, I love it,” Trump said in April. “You know, all the tough guys endorse me. I like that.”
Following his comment, Trump was criticized by the Indiana attorney who successfully prosecuted Tyson in 1992 for the rape of a beauty queen. Tyson was sentenced to six years for the crime, and was released after three years.
Donald Trump: Trans-Pacific Partnership 'just a continuing rape of our country'
Speaking in St. Clairsville, Ohio, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump characterized the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as “rape,” calling the international trade agreement “just a continuing rape of our country.”
Acknowledging that “it’s a harsh word but it’s true,” Trump compared the TPP to rape at least three times in the speech.
It’s not the first time that Trump has used the imagery of violent sexual assault to characterize matters of international affairs. When discussing the issue of trade with China in Indiana last month, Trump told the audience that “we can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what they’re doing.”
The audience applauded Trump’s comparison on both occasions.
Hillary Clinton’s statement on this evening’s terror attack Istanbul:
Terrorists have struck again in the heart of one of our NATO allies - and all Americans stand united with the people of Turkey against this campaign of hatred and violence. Already, stories of heroism on the part of Turkish police are emerging, as their quick actions to confront the suspects may have prevented an even worse tragedy.
Today’s attack in Istanbul only strengthens our resolve to defeat the forces of terrorism and radical jihadism around the world. And it reminds us that the United States cannot retreat. We must deepen our cooperation with our allies and partners in the Middle East and Europe to take on this threat. Such cooperation is essential to protecting the homeland and keeping our country safe. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the Turkish people.
Earlier, likely Republican opponent Donald Trump released a statement urging the US government to “take steps now to protect America from terrorists, and do everything in our power to improve our security to keep America safe.”
Updated
Trump fundraising email calls to 'indict' Clinton
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has called on his supporters to “indict” presumptive Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton - or, at least, to do so at the polls this November.
Trump, calling Clinton a “world-class liar” in regards to the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that claimed four American lives, writes that on Election Day, “the American people will finally have the chance to do what the authorities have been too afraid to do over these last 2 decades: indict Hillary Clinton and find her guilty of all charges.”
“Every Election Day, politicians stand trial before the people,” the email states. “The voters are the jury. Their ballots are the verdict.”
The email comes on the heels of the publication of House Republicans’ report investigating the 2012 attacks, which found no new evidence to conclude that Clinton, secretary of state at the time, was culpable.
The 800-page document released by the Republicans on the House select committee on Benghazi brought to a close a fiercely partisan, two-year, $7m investigation that included interviews with more than 80 witnesses. The report reveals new details about the night of the attack and concludes that the Obama administration failed to recognize the possibility of it happening.
Canada and Mexico have agreed to settle a pair of protracted bilateral disputes in the run-up to a US presidential election in November that could shake ties between the three North American nations.
Justin Trudeau said today that Canada would scrap rules obliging Mexican visitors to obtain visas, starting 1 December. The former Conservative government imposed the restrictions in 2009 to stop what it said were bogus asylum claims.
In return, Enrique Peña Nieto said Mexico would allow expanded imports of Canadian beef starting in October, ending 13 years of restrictions imposed after a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Canada.
The leaders stressed their desire to deepen ties between the two nations, which along with the US are members of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Both countries send the vast majority of their exports to their powerful neighbor.
But the future of Nafta could be uncertain after the US election, which looks set to pit Republican Donald Trump against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump says he wants to tear up or renegotiate the deal, while Clinton has taken a populist tack on free trade during her campaign.
Trudeau said the importance of ties between Canada and Mexico could not be overstated.
“It is my hope that through meetings like this one, we will be able to further strengthen that relationship in the years ahead,” Trudeau said after talks with Peña Nieto.
Donald Trump’s statement on this evening’s terror attack Istanbul:
Our prayers are with the families of those killed and injured in Istanbul. The whole world is stunned and horrified.
The terrorist threat has never been greater. Our enemies are brutal and ruthless and will do anything to murder those who do not bend to their will. We must take steps now to protect America from terrorists, and do everything in our power to improve our security to keep America safe.
Likely opponent Hillary Clinton has not yet commented on the attack.
Donald Trump raged against globalization and free-trade agreements this afternoon and urged the US “to declare economic independence again”.
At a scrap metal facility south of Pittsburgh, the presumptive Republican nominee veered yet again from conservative free-market orthodoxy as he called for the US to withdraw from free-trade deals, including Nafta, the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. Trump said of the US’s two neighbors: “They are so used to having their own way. Not with Trump they are not having their own way.”
He also promised to take actions many economists believe would start a trade war with China, including introducing retaliatory tariffs, bringing trade cases against the country in the World Trade Organization and labeling China a currency manipulator.
“We already have a trade war and we’re losing badly,” he said.
Trump argued that his policies would lead to a restoration of manufacturing in the US. The loss of industrial jobs was not “some natural disaster, it is politician-made disaster”, he said, adding: “It is the consequence of a leadership class that worships globalism over Americanism ... Our politicians took away from the people their means of making a living and supporting their families.”
Trump, whose campaign has long warned against “the false song of globalism”, criticized growing world economic interdependency that he argued hurt American workers. “Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization – moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas,” said Trump. “Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very wealthy. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache.”
Donald Trump’s reaction to a terrorist attack in Istanbul that has claimed at least 30 lives:
Yet another terrorist attack, this time in Turkey. Will
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2016
the world ever realize what is going on? So sad.
Updated
Bernie Sanders: Brexit a wake-up call for Democrats
In an op-ed penned for the New York Times, Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders writes that in the waker of the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom, the Democratic party needs to “wake up” to economic inequality before a similarly catastrophic event befalls the United States.
“Could this rejection of the current form of the global economy happen in the United States?” Sanders writes. “You bet it could.”
Citing the closure of American factories, the concentration of global wealth among a tiny cadre of elites and wage decreases among average workers in the US, Sanders declares that “the global economy is not working for the majority of people in our country and the world. This is an economic model developed by the economic elite to benefit the economic elite. We need real change.”
Instead of Donald Trump, whose “demagogy, bigotry and anti-immigrant sentiment” Sanders calls a close parallel to that of the Leave campaign, the Vermont senator writes that “we need a president who will vigorously support international cooperation that brings the people of the world closer together, reduces hypernationalism and decreases the possibility of war.”
“We also need a president who respects the democratic rights of the people, and who will fight for an economy that protects the interests of working people, not just Wall Street, the drug companies and other powerful special interests,” Sanders continues, although, nearly three weeks after the last Democratic presidential nominating contest, he refuses to name who that president might be.
“In this pivotal moment, the Democratic Party and a new Democratic president need to make clear that we stand with those who are struggling and who have been left behind,” Sanders concludes. “We must create national and global economies that work for all, and not a handful of billionaires.”
Moments after the editorial was published, Sanders emailed supporters to raise money to transport the delegates who still support him to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next month.
Hillary Clinton outspends Donald Trump in battleground ads $26m to $0
To say that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her allied Super-Pacs are outpacing Donald Trump in advertising spending is like saying that Usain Bolt would outpace a Galapagos tortoise in a footrace.
According to data compiled by SMG Delta for NBC News, Clinton and her supporters spent $26 million on ads in eight battleground states in the month of June. Trump’s total expenditure: $0.
In those eight battleground states - Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia - Clinton’s campaign has spent $9 million on advertising in June, with another $17 million purchased by pro-Clinton Super-Pacs like Priorities USA. When future ad reservations - that is, advertising purchased and reserved in the months leading up to Election Day in November - the total rises to a staggering $140 million.
Trump’s sole television advertising this month came in the form of $1.2 million from Rebuilding America Now, a Super-Pac that has aired national commercials, but not in battleground states.
The highest ranking Democrat in the Senate today called for Florida senator Marco Rubio to pay back his government salary due to his poor attendance record last year, when he missed more votes than any other member of the Senate.
“I feel that Marco Rubio should be sued to pay back all the money that the federal government paid him,” Reid told reporters at the Capitol. “He was never here, and the state of Florida was missing a senator during that time.”
“On the day he announces he’s running for the Senate he misses a very important Foreign Relations meeting,” Reid continued. “He owes the people, the state of Florida, some time.”
Rubio has been on the defense regarding his attendance record in the Senate for nearly a year, after missing 35%, or 120 of the 339 roll votes, during 2015, according to GovTrack.
For his part, Rubio has defended his attendance.
“I have missed votes this year,” Rubio said at a Republican debate in October. “You know why? Because while as a senator I can help shape the agenda. Only a president can set the agenda.”
“We’re not going to fix America with senators and congressmen,”
Video: The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said earlier today that it is important to “learn the right lessons” from the 2012 Benghazi attack but that “it’s time to move on” after a final 800-page report contained no major new revelations.
The report, which was two years in the making and cost more than $7m, found the US military largely to blame for a slow response to the attacks.
Trump has resumed tweeting after an alarming, nearly 30-hour-long hiatus. He’s easing back in with some retweets of people saying nice things about him:
"@kridan1: Canceled cable - sick of their bad coverage of you and the fawning over Clinton ... Listened to your great speech on YouTube"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2016
Jay Timmons says that Trump is wrong to call for restrictions on trade to save American manufacturing. What would Jay Timmons know about it? He’s the president and CEO of the national association of manufacturers:
.@realDonaldTrump you have it backward. Trade is GOOD for #mfg workers & #jobs. Let’s #MakeAmericaTradeAgain. https://t.co/XylgW023aX
— Jay Timmons (@JayTimmonsNAM) June 28, 2016
The head of the National Association of Manufacturers is rebutting the Republican nominee. This is different. https://t.co/pofg6jFRuQ
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) June 28, 2016
Among GOP senators backing both the NAFTA & China trade deals Trump blames for economic "catastrophe": Mitch McConnell and John McCain.
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) June 28, 2016
Updated
Also two candidates who oppose bathroom gender discrimination and want to expand social security and raise some taxes on the wealthy (Trump: “the wealthy are willing to pay more”). But only one candidate who voted for the Iraq war.
America now has two pro-choice protectionists labor parties.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) June 28, 2016
What did you think of the recycled aluminum backdrop? Hard to find a positive review on Twitter. Anybody think it made him look practical, pro-manufacturing, as opposed to junky, bin-worthy?
This is the most passive-aggressive work of campaign advance I have ever seen. pic.twitter.com/tqfJGCKxTm
— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) June 28, 2016
We’re not listening to TV to hear what Corey Lewandowski (the campaign manager Trump fired last week) thought of Trump’s speech, but his thought has found us on Twitter. He liked it:
"I think this is Mr. Trump's best speech of the presidential cycle, candidly." - CNN analyst Corey Lewandowski, giving anaylsis on Mr. Trump
— Scott Conroy (@ScottFConroy) June 28, 2016
My Dad is the best Dad, candidly https://t.co/qcID9tjsSw
— Mindy Finn (@mindyfinn) June 28, 2016
The US chamber of commerce, usually a friend of Republicans who usually are its friend, does not like Trump’s protectionism:
You heard from Trump on trade, here's what you really need to know: https://t.co/u7vPLC6L1H
— U.S. Chamber (@USChamber) June 28, 2016
Click through to a non-Trump-specific apology for free trade, including these lines:
On the whole, international trade represents one of the most powerful opportunities America’s small, mid-sized and large businesses have to find new customers. In fact, 95 percent of the world’s consumers live outside our borders, representing nearly limitless expansion opportunities for U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs.
The presumptive Republican nominee for president just called for the United States to withdraw from NAFTA
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 28, 2016
Worth noting that the decline of the steel industry in Pennsylvania was in full flower in the 1970s, before any trade deals Trump cites
— Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) June 28, 2016
Even under best case scenario, Trump's tariffs would strip us of at least 3.5 million jobs https://t.co/3xcCNgiS2k pic.twitter.com/3SSHHqotNv
— U.S. Chamber (@USChamber) June 28, 2016
Updated
Trump ends with the line, “you’re going to be proud, proud, proud of our country once again”.
There’s Corey Lewandowski on CNN to analyze the speech. What’s he saying? Can’t tell, the TV’s on mute.
It’s been more than 29 hours since Trump tweeted.
exclusive look at the crew putting together the wall for this speech pic.twitter.com/BWQW44CdPX
— Mark Berman (@markberman) June 28, 2016
The Trump campaign has released prepared remarks for his ongoing speech on trade – and there are 128 footnotes, including seven for the line, “The borders will remain open”.
Updated
Trump interpolates another spontaneous line in his prepared remarks. It’s an aside, an entertainer’s aside. Interpolation in brackets:
Seven: If China does not stop its illegal activities, including its theft of American trade secrets...
[– this is very easy. this is so easy. I love saying this–]
I will use every lawful presidential power to remedy trade disputes, including the application of tariffs consistent with Section 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
“It should be no surprise then that Hillary Clinton, according to Bloomberg, took a ‘leading part in drafting the Trans-Pacific Partnership’,” Trump says.
He adds a line: “Please remember that, especially in November.”
Trump continues:
She praised or pushed the TPP on 45 separate occasions, and even called it the “gold standard”.
Hillary Clinton was totally for the TPP just a short while ago, but when she saw my stance, which is totally against, she was shamed into saying she would be against it too – but have no doubt, she will immediately approve it if it is put before her, guaranteed.
Clinton economic adviser Michael Shapiro says that Trump “is taking right from Clinton’s playbook on trade”.
2/ @HillaryClinton 1) opposes TPP, 2) will appoint trade prosecutor 3) will use every tool to fight violations 4) will renegotiate NAFTA...
— Michael Shapiro (@mpshapiro) June 28, 2016
3/ 5) She will crack down on currency manipulation 6) Bring more trade cases; and 7) Throw the rule book at China.
— Michael Shapiro (@mpshapiro) June 28, 2016
Shapiro goes on. The upshot is that Clinton is now against the free trade policies she has promoted throughout her career, in alignment with the mainstream Republicans especially, who must not recognize their presidential candidate on this issue.
Trump has Drudge’s attention in a way that the Benghazi committee did not:
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) June 28, 2016
People that Trump is name-checking in this speech: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln and Bernie Sanders
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) June 28, 2016
"Who needs a big campaign staff, we're lean," he said, standing in front of his garbage wall...
— Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) June 28, 2016
Trump adds a quote from Lincoln, praising protectionism, to his prepared remarks:
And listen to this, the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, said, “The abandonment of the protective policy by the American government will produce want and ruin among our people.”
He understood it much better than our current politicians. That why he was Abraham Lincoln, I guess.
The economy and world, trade, have changed in the 150 years since Lincoln was president. Robert Gebelhoff is good on why this quote, which Trump has used before, may have applied then but does not now. “The protectionist policies of the early 19th century existed in a global economy totally different from the one we have today,” he writes:
But of course, international trade back then wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous as it is now. Meanwhile, economic growth throughout the 19th century was boosted by expansions of transportation, infrastructure, agriculture and resource mining as the United States marched westward across the continent. A steady influx of immigrants meant there was an abundance of cheap labor. For the average American, foreign trade simply wasn’t a pressing issue.
Today, trade is a totally different story. Regardless of the benefits or consequences of free trade, it’s undeniable that trade agreements now play a crucial role in international politics. How the United States and China interact with each other depends on how we trade with each other — and Lincoln certainly never had to face such pressure during his presidential tenure. [...]
My point is this: Historical context matters. You can’t just take sentences from 150 years ago and insert them however you want into contemporary politics.
Updated
Here again are Trump’s prepared remarks. He’s currently in the Brexit section, sticking closely to the script. He says:
Our friends in Britain recently voted to take back control of their economy, politics and borders.
I was on the right side of that issue - with the people - while Hillary, as always, stood with the elites, and both she and president Obama predicted that one wrong.
Now it’s time for the American people to take back their future.
Trump is standing in front of a wall of crushed things.
Staffer 1: So just whatever you do, don't put him in front of a giant pile of garbage.
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) June 28, 2016
Staffer 2: Got it. pic.twitter.com/1zjzNEnLoy
Here’s Trump:
Economics journalists are chewing on Trump’s imminent speech on trade. The Washington Post’s Jim Tankersley finds it very Sanders-like:
3. As many of us in the econosphere have been noting for a long time, his views on the subject are a marked departure from GOP doctrine.
— Jim Tankersley (@jimtankersley) June 28, 2016
6. Most of this speech could have been given by Bernie Sanders.
— Jim Tankersley (@jimtankersley) June 28, 2016
@BCAppelbaum To be clear, Trump's plan still basically boils down to a rejection of comparative advantage. pic.twitter.com/Nn4Pl0J4Kh
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) June 28, 2016
Wait, did Donald Trump leak his remarks today to a publication that he has banned from attending the actual speech? https://t.co/urUDeUuZfQ
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 28, 2016
Updated
Trump prepared remarks: 'believe in America'
The Donald Trump campaign has released his prepared remarks for a rally in Monessen, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh, to begin in about an hour.
Politico has posted the transcript. The speech is topical, tailored for a local audience, about somebody else besides the candidate – all in all quite coherent and forceful and not characteristic of this campaign thus far.
Trump will say in part:
The legacy of Pennsylvania steelworkers lives in the bridges, railways and skyscrapers that make up our great American landscape.
But our workers’ loyalty was repaid with betrayal.
Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization - moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas.
Trump plans to say the “system” is rigged against American workers and the people who rigged it want Hillary Clinton to be president so their profiteering can continue uninterrupted.
The speech also articulates a vision of hope, instead of Trump’s accustomed gospel of American decay. The new motto is “Believe in America”.
Hillary Clinton and her friends in global finance want to scare America into thinking small - and they want to scare the American people out of voting for a better future.
My campaign has the opposite message.
I want you to imagine how much better your life can be if we start believing in America again.
Trump plans to discuss the Brexit:
Our friends in Britain recently voted to take back control of their economy, politics and borders.
I was on the right side of that issue - with the people - while Hillary, as always, stood with the elites, and both she and president Obama predicted that one wrong.
Trump calls for the country to go back to the future:
Now it’s time for the American people to take back their future.
That’s the choice we face. We can either give in to Hillary Clinton’s campaign of fear, or we can choose to Believe In America.
In the speech, for insight on international trade, Trump plans to invoke the wisdom of... the founding fathers:
Our Founding Fathers Understood Trade
George Washington said that “the promotion of domestic manufactur[ing] will be among the first consequences to flow from an energetic government.”
Trump will hit Clinton for her flip-flop on the Trans-Pacific Partnership:
Hillary Clinton was totally for the TPP just a short while ago, but when she saw my stance, which is totally against, she was shamed into saying she would be against it too – but have no doubt, she will immediately approve it if it is put before her, guaranteed.
Believe in America.
Updated
Clinton: Benghazi probe 'took on partisan tinge'; 'it's time to move on'
Clinton takes a question from the media.
It’s about the Benghazi committee report.
“I have said from the very beginning, nothing is more important than the safety and the security of our diplomats and development officials... and I said this when I testified for 11 hours, that no one... has lost more sleep about the lives that we lost... we owe it to those brave Americans to make sure that we learn the right lessons from this tragedy.
“I understand that after more than two years and $7m spent by the congressional Benghazi committee, it had to today report it found nothing, nothing to contradict the conclusions of the independent accountability board.. or of the prior multiple investigations...
“While this unfortunately took on a partisan tinge, I want to stay focused on... the important work of diplomacy and development.
I’ll leave it to others to characterize this report but I think it’s pretty clear it’s time to move on.
Updated
Clinton is talking about student debt. She calls it an individual burden and an economic burden. Every student in America should have the chance to learn computer science before graduation from high school, she says.
“You know when I used to visit schools... I would have what I called the Chelsea test. In other words would I send Chelsea to this school? .. So now I’m a grandmother and I have the Charlotte and Aidan test. There is such a divide,” she says. “It’s heartbreaking.”
She calls for access to high-speed Internet for all homes.
.@HillaryClinton campaigns in purple Colorado at startup. Unveiling tech policy far from DC/GOP/Benghazi pic.twitter.com/IwHw0HDqgd
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 28, 2016
Where the magic will happen next month:
Via @GOPconvention facebook livestream, this is what the stage on which Trump will accept the nomination pic.twitter.com/TdLZrx8Vpa
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) June 28, 2016
Here’s video of the Republican news conference on the Benghazi report earlier:
The Clinton event has begun. She’s taking the lectern now. Scroll down for the live video stream, or click here.
“I am blown away and really happy to be here,” she begins. She’s at Galvanize, a tech startup incubator. Disrupter.
Trump speechless on Twitter
When was the last time Donald Trump went 27 hours without tweeting? @realdonaldtrump has fallen uncharacteristically silent. He did not tweet a reaction to yesterday’s Supreme Court decision on abortion. He did not tweet his campaign’s announcement this morning of new communications hires. He did not tweet reaction to polls this morning showing him trailing Hillary Clinton. He did not tweet the Benghazi committee report.
Trump has 9.37m followers on Twitter, all waiting to hear from him, but he is not obliging.
Trump is scheduled to appear at a rally outside Pittsburgh sometime after 2.30 pm. His campaign has said he will make a major speech about trade policy. We’ll carry the speech live here.
Updated
The cameras are live on the Clinton event in Denver. She’s chatting now backstage with local business people about commodities trading and for some reason we can hear it. Update: the feed cut out.
@NickRiccardi there's a group that smokes an afternoon bowl out back if you're jonesing
— Andrew Kenney (@AndyKnny) June 28, 2016
“I’m thrilled by this,” Clinton said. Here’s that video stream again:
Updated
So many options to choose from:
Fun historical item: this American Bridge guide to Republican 2016ers, published in early 2015. Guess who's missing? pic.twitter.com/I19WQ4iAKV
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) June 28, 2016
Probe belies Trump claims of charitable largesse
An investigation by the Washington Post has raised questions about the millions of dollars Donald Trump claims to have secretly given to charity.
The top question: is he lying?
Reporter David Fahrenthold tracks Trump’s claims and notes, “If he honored all those pledges, Trump’s gifts to charity would have topped $8.5 million.”
But:
But in that time, public records show, Trump donated about $2.8 million — less than a third of the pledged figure — through a foundation set up to give his money away. And there is no evidence that Trump has given to his foundation lately: The last record of any gift from him to his foundation was in 2008. [...]
That research showed that Trump has a long-standing habit of promising to give to charity. But Trump’s follow-through on those promises was middling — even at the beginning, in his early days as a national celebrity.
Read the full report here.
Bernie Sanders tells NBC News that he hasn’t yet endorsed Hillary Clinton because he’s still fighting “to transform America”. Sanders has said he will vote for Clinton, and polls have indicated that more than 80% of Sanders backers already plan to vote for Clinton.
"There is some language that is still lacking" -- Bernie Sanders on Democratic Party platform
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) June 28, 2016
Sanders on why he hasn't endorsed Clinton: "Our job is to transform America... That is what I am fighting to do."
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) June 28, 2016
“Politics is not a baseball with winners and losers,” Sanders added.
The Smoking Gun flags an email in which Clinton aides – via email?!? – track reporters at a Clinton event.
The email was obtained through a hacker attack on Clinton aides – by the same hackers, reportedly Moscow-backed, who reportedly took a copy of a Donald Trump opposition research file from the Democratic national committee.
The Smoking Gun reports:
[Research firm SecureWorks] contends that the hacking campaign has targeted“individuals managing Clinton’s communications, travel, campaign finances, and advising her on policy.” The assault, which reportedly began in mid-March, relied on a spoofed Gmail log-in page in an attempt to deceive victims.
That gambit tricked at least one Clinton volunteer, Sarah Hamilton, records show. Hamilton’s Gmail account appears to have been breached in late-March and hackers copied a large swath of campaign e-mails, memos, and documents. Hamilton, former spokesperson for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has aided the Clinton campaign’s press operation. Contacted today, Hamilton (pictured below) declined comment on the hack.
“Let’s keep an eye on her”: Team Clinton appears to keep a close eye on reporters at events https://t.co/KpRs1wb7re pic.twitter.com/6fD8WML4AZ
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 28, 2016
Email just seems to be a really inefficient way to do this.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) June 28, 2016
Updated
Hillary Clinton is scheduled to appear any moment at a rally in Denver, Colorado. Here’s a live video stream:
Obama: Trump 'embodies global elites'
Barack Obama has rejected Donald Trump’s argument that Americans should see the Brexit vote as an example and likewise move to “take their country back.”
“Mr Trump embodies global elites and has taken full advantage of it his entire life. So he’s hardly a legitimate spokesman for a populist surge from working-class people on either side of the Atlantic,” Obama told NPR in an interview published Tuesday.
Obama admitted, however, that there were similarities between American anxieties about immigration and “a loss of national identity” and British anxieties.
The subtext for Trump’s slogan, “Make America great again”, “is that somehow a bunch of foreigners and a lot of funny-looking people are coming here and changing the character of the nation,” which is a sentiment also to be found in the UK, France and elsewhere in Europe, Obama said:
I think there is a xenophobia, an anti-immigration sentiment that’s flashing up not just in Great Britain but throughout Europe that has some parallels with what Mr Trump has been trying to stir up here.”
Obama: 'there's been a little bit of hysteria post-Brexit vote'
Barack Obama cautions against “hysteria” over the Brexit vote, in an interview with NPR published Tuesday.
“Is there a danger that Europe will turn inward?” the president is asked.
“I think this will be a moment in which all of Europe says, ‘alright, let’s take a breath’,” he replies:
Well, I think that, the, best way to think about this is that a pause button has been pressed on the project of full European integration
I would not overstate it. THere’s been a little bit of hysteria post-Brexit vote, as if Nato’s gone, and the Trans-Atlantic alliance is dissolving, and every country’s rushing to its own corner. That’s not what’s happening. What’s happening is you had a European project that’s probably moving faster and without as much consensus as it should have. [...]
I think this will be a moment in which all of Europe says, ‘alright, let’s take a breath. How do we maintain some of our national identities, how do we preserve the benefits of integration, and how do we deal with some of the frustrations that our own voters are feeling?’
But the basic core values of Europe, the tenets of liberal, market-based democracies, those aren’t changing. The interests that we have in common with Europe remain the same. And our concerns internationally are the same. [...]
I don’t anticipate that there’s gonna be major, cataclysmic changes as a result of this. Keep in mind that Norway is not a member of the European Union. But they are one of our closest allies. [...]
Updated
Republican unity watch update:
"No. I've got to mow my lawn." -Sen Flake on whether he's attending GOP convention.
— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) June 27, 2016
Clinton faults Remain for failure to respond to 'Leave' false claims
Much has been made of the the implications for the American election of the British decision to leave the European Union, although persuasive analysis warns that such links may be exaggerated.
The Brexit has influenced the American election in at least this way: Hillary Clinton was watching closely, and she faults the Remain campaign for not having a rapid response – or any response – to take on the misleading assertions and false promises of the Leave campaign.
Clinton told LinkedIn that she did not see Brexit “as having a direct impact” on the US presidential election. However:
I do agree, though, with the analysts who are saying, “Look, the leave campaign just told all kinds of false tales” and advertised on buses and in posters a lot of what they said would happen. And then, as soon as the vote came in, it was like, “Just kidding, you know, we don’t really think we’ll get £350 million to put in the National Health Service. And you know, we still are going to have immigrants coming from non-E.U. countries” and on and on. So I really fault the [Remain] campaign for not taking on all of those wrong, misleading claims.
Now we’re not sitting around letting Donald Trump say whatever he wants to say, we are responding to what he does say, we are pointing out his intemperate and unqualified presence for being our commander-in-chief. And so, I think we are doing what needs to be done in a campaign, where you’re running against someone or some people who will say anything without regard to the truth.
Clinton also thought the emotional appeal of Remain was stronger than Leave:
I worried that the campaign to stay in the E.U. was not as emotionally effective in making their case, as the campaign to leave. But I’m no expert on British elections, so I was disappointed, but not surprised. Because it’s clearly their decision, but there’s been a lot of second guessing and a lot of regret being expressed now that I think shows that the campaign never really fully answered a lot of the issues that the country would have to face if they voted to leave.
Read the full interview here.
The news conference on the Republicans’ Benghazi report has finished. Committee chairman Trey Gowdy assiduously avoided making any flat statements of blame, directed at Hillary Clinton or anyone else, for the Benghazi disaster. He said there was a “contrast” between what was happening in Washington and what was happening on the ground in Libya. He invited people to read the report and connect the dots for themselves. The report is here:
#BREAKING: Select Committee on #Benghazi Releases Proposed Report
— Benghazi Committee (@HouseBenghazi) June 28, 2016
FULL TEXT of the #BenghaziReport: https://t.co/t67X458wYF
Gowdy & @HouseBenghazi Republicans wrap up 45-minute presser, Gowdy growing emotional at end when he talked about families of dead Americans
— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) June 28, 2016
Rep. @Jim_Jordan on #Benghazi: "It happened because of political concerns this administration had."https://t.co/d32pzymkN1
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 28, 2016
Updated
Gowdy is asked again about who is most at fault in the Benghazi affair. Again he resists naming Clinton:
I’m not in the business of apportioning culpability. It looks like there’s enough to go around.
Gowdy is asked whether the American people should conclude from the report that Hillary Clinton is unfit for the presidency.
“I think the American people ought to look at it... what conclusions they draw after reading it is up to them,” he says.
Matt Drudge, the curator of the conservative id, has the Benghazi report below the fold, with no sirens:
Drudge not really feeling this new Benghazi report pic.twitter.com/1TWTPkielW
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) June 28, 2016
Gowdy: 'I’m actually proud of what we found and it’s new'
Gowdy takes questions. First question: “Was this the best use of taxpayer dollars and your time”?
Gowdy says “who says that stuff was new? Nobody has ever reported that nothing was headed to Benghazi... god knows nobody’s ever reported who actually evacuated our reports... you didn’t know about any of the emails from ambassador Stevens... from Sidney Blumenthal... that the world’s most powerful military did not meet a single self-imposed timeline. All of that is new.”
“I’m actually proud of what we found and it’s new.”
Gowdy was asked if the four Americans killed in the Benghazi attack could have been saved if Washington had acted differently.
“Clearly you couldn’t have saved two of them,” Gowdy says. But as for two security personnel – “there were three [military] assets that made it there [to the scene of the attack”, Gowdy says. A group from Tripoli and two unarmed drones.
“I’m not going to make a reckless allegation that Ty Woods’ and Glen Doherty’s lives could have been saved,” Gowdy says.
“The Democrats’ mantra all along was that there was no new information. Well there’s indisputably new information.”
“This investigation has uncovered a ton of new information,” says Representative Martha Roby.
At the end of the day, no military assets were ever moving toward Benghazi. The bottom line is that Washington failed to have our guys’ backs when we needed it... this represents incompetence, indifference or both.
Next up is Representative Susan Brooks of Indiana. “This has been an incredible task to undertake,” she says. “What we didn’t know until this investigation was that the state department made a conscious decision to keep the Benghazi compound off the radar.”
Clinton camp: report politizes Benghazi deaths
The Clinton campaign has issued a statement criticizing the Benghazi committee’s failure to issue a bipartisan report and saying “this Committee’s chief goal is to politicize the deaths of four brave Americans”. Here’s the statement:
The Republicans on the House Benghazi Committee are finishing their work in the same, partisan way that we’ve seen from them since the beginning. In refusing to issue its report on a bipartisan basis, the Committee is breaking from the precedent set by other Congressional inquiries into the Benghazi attacks. And in leaking out select portions from their report in the middle of the night, without even allowing some of the committee’s own members to see it, the Republican members are clearly seeking to avoid any fact-checking of their discredited, conspiracy theories.
After more than two years and more than $7 million in taxpayer funds, the Committee report has not found anything to contradict the conclusions of the multiple, earlier investigations. This report just confirms what Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and even one of Trey Gowdy’s own former staffers admitted months ago: this Committee’s chief goal is to politicize the deaths of four brave Americans in order to try to attack the Obama administration and hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
- Spokesman Brian Fallon
Representative Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia speaks.
“We produced new evidence that will allow the citizens of this country to take all the different pieces that came out through all the investigations and tie those things together,” he says.
If you will read the report you will see that what was going on in Washington at 10.08 [pmET] when the secretary made her first statement, we had men on the roof of the annex trying to protect their lives and the lives in Benghazi.
We have new facts... if our fellow citizens read this, they’re going to come up with a new opinion about what happened.”
Gowdy defends Benghazi report: 'there is new information'
Gowdy asserts “There is new information on what happened in Benghazi. And that information should fundamentally change the way you view what happened in Benghazi” – but it’s not clear what that information is.
Gowdy says “Washington” “had access to real-time information but that real-time information did not inform and instruct the decisions made in Washington.”
He says there was a “contrast between what was happening in Benghazi and what was happening in Washington”, a contrast crystallized in a two-hour meeting at the White House.
No help could have arrived in time to prevent the death of the four American personnel at Benghazi because “not a single wheel of a single US military asset had even turned toward Libya” as the attack unfolded, or for hours afterward, Gowdy says.
Updated
House releases Benghazi report
Benghazi committee chair Trey Gowdy is speaking now about the Benghazi report. Click through to read it:
#BREAKING: Select Committee on #Benghazi Releases Proposed Report
— Benghazi Committee (@HouseBenghazi) June 28, 2016
FULL TEXT of the #BenghaziReport: https://t.co/t67X458wYF
Here’s a live video stream. “Read the report,” Gowdy urges people. He says to compare what happened in Benghazi with “decisions made and not made in Washington”:
Updated
Hello, and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. Hillary Clinton appears to be widening her national lead over Donald Trump, according to an NBC News/SurveyMonkey tracking poll, which now has Clinton up eight points, 49-41, against Trump. Last week she was up six points in the poll, which is in line with current averages.
Clinton had a six-point lead on Trump, 42-36, when Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green candidate Jill Stein were included in the NBC poll, which was conducted online from 20-26 June.
The head of election polling for SurveyMonkey points out that the biggest Clinton gain in the poll was among the youth:
Biggest Clinton gain in this week’s NBC/@SurveyMonkey tracker: 18-24 year olds (n=407) https://t.co/fQua7ShDAj pic.twitter.com/gHQxuEcsXR
— Mark Blumenthal (@MysteryPollster) June 28, 2016
Potentially alarming for Trump, a 52% majority of Republicans told the pollster they would have preferred someone else as nominee. Clinton also scored quite poorly in this regard – 45% of Democrats told the pollster they would have preferred someone else.
There’s more fresh polling news out there: an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that Clinton leads Trump 50-39 in terms of trust to handle terrorism, and respondents thought Clinton did a better job of responding to the Orlando mass shooting of 12 June:
ABC/WaPo poll: 46% think Clinton did better job than Trump of responding to Orlando shooting https://t.co/NAF6Wjgm8o pic.twitter.com/OLG33t2kqO
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 28, 2016
Trump silent
On the trail today, Trump has a rally scheduled outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a state where he hopes to score a key upset in a redrawn electoral map. Trump has been uncharacteristically silent on social media in the past 24 hours; he has not commented on the latest polling, for example. Neither has he commented on a major supreme court ruling Monday striking down a restrictive anti-abortion law in Texas.
Communications help is on the way, however. On Tuesday morning, Trump announced major new hires, including former Ted Cruz communications pro Jason Miller, who will serve as Trump’s senior communications adviser and “work with the existing team to build out a full Communications Department to deliver victory this November”, the Trump campaign said. Before starting the gig, Miller deleted mean things he said about Trump on Twitter, but other past statements were circulating:
Jason Miller, Trump's new senior communications adviser, just 2.5 months ago on when Trump "freaks out": pic.twitter.com/Yh55FqjQMj
— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) June 28, 2016
Trump also wants to hire state directors this week, Bloomberg reports (why rush it?):
Big priority for Trump camp this week: Name state directors in more than a dozen key battleground states.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 28, 2016
Benghazi committee to issue report
There is a possible cloud on the horizon this morning for Clinton: the US House select committee on the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, is scheduled to issue its authoritative report Tuesday morning. Democrats on the committee, which like Congress at large is currently controlled by Republicans, issued a separate dissenting report on Monday. Leaked excerpts indicate the official committee report will find that US facilities at Benghazi were not safe, that intelligence reports made that fact clear and that Clinton, as secretary of state, failed to act.
Trump denies reversal on Muslim ban
The Trump campaign pushed back hard on Monday on reports that the presumptive Republican nominee was modifying his proposed ban on Muslims entering the US.
“This is not accurate,” said Hope Hicks, a spokesperson for the campaign. “There has been no change from the exchanges over the weekend.”
Thanks for reading, and please join us in the comments.
Updated
