Today in Campaign 2016
- Hillary Clinton delivered a blistering assault on Donald Trump’s business record this morning, warning that his reckless economic policies would trigger a financial crisis worse than the one in 2008.
- “You might think that because he has spent his life as a businessman, he’d be better prepared to handle the economy. Well it turns out, he’s dangerous there, too,” Clinton said. “Just like he shouldn’t have his finger on the [nuclear] button, he shouldn’t have his hands on our economy.”
- Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign has renewed his support for the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, stating “America is here because of its own little Brexit”. Spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, a longtime Trump aide, did not specify whether she was referring to the American revolution or whether she saw a modern parallel between the US political situation and the European Union, where the issue of immigration has become a political lightning rod.
- In an interview with Sky News, Pierson noted that the presumptive Republican nominee is “very much in favor of countries doing what is best for them” and thought that in the current global situation, “countries do need to re-evaluate their own standings and what is best for them”.
- Voters don’t know “anything about Hillary in terms of religion”, Trump warned a meeting of evangelical leaders this afternoon. In a closed-door meeting at Trump Tower, the presumptive Republican nominee talked about his faith and tried to consolidate his support among social conservatives. Trump said of Christianity, “I owe so much to it in so many ways,” while warning darkly about the consequences of electing Hillary Clinton.
- “It’s going to be an extension of Obama but worse,” said Trump. “Because, with Obama, you have your guard up and with Hillary you don’t and it’s going to be worse.” Trump also said ominously: “All of your leaders are selling Christianity down the tubes, selling evangelicals down the tubes.”
Lastly...
Hope Hicks at 27: Donald Trump's press secretary
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) June 21, 2016
Hope Hicks at 16: 'Gossip Girl' Jenny Humphrey pic.twitter.com/k66D4WqtkF
Donald Trump’s new website - LyingCrookedHillary.com - is still blank.
In celebration of National Selfie Day - yes, it’s a thing - the first lady has officially joined Snapchat.
Oh hey! Look who just joined @Snapchat.
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) June 21, 2016
👻 Add: MichelleObama 💁🏽 pic.twitter.com/G8GgOOGPJ0
Fans of Michelle Obama can officially follow FLOTUS on the popular messaging app, which allows users to send ephemeral photos and videos that disappear after watching. Obama joined the app to promote her upcoming trip to West Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, where she will be pushing her “Let Girls Learn” initiative to increase access to education for young girls in Liberia, Morocco and Spain.
In a White House press release, the account - MichelleObama, for those wishing to follow - will give “young people everywhere a fun way to follow her trip.” The first lady will be joined by daughters Malia and Sasha Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, on the visit to Margibi County, Liberia; Marrakech, Morocco; and Madrid, Spain from June 27 to July 1.
It’s not the only major media opportunity being taken by FLOTUS - Obama announced on the account that she had taped an appearance of “Carpool Karaoke” with Late Late Show host James Corden:
Wait a minute... What's @JKCorden doing on Michelle Obama's Snapchat??
— The Late Late Show (@latelateshow) June 21, 2016
👀 https://t.co/HWdGAdTyRU pic.twitter.com/zMI9CfwyFu
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski predicted in a speech on Tuesday night that the campaign would at least double the size of its staff in the next month, and said the Republican candidate would try to be the first to win New York since Ronald Reagan, according to a person who was present in the room.
Lewandowski, who was fired by Trump on Monday, told attendees of a fundraiser for the New York State Republican party that the Trump campaign would probably hire between 100-150 staffers in the next month, and would campaign in New York “just like Ronald Reagan in 1984”.
The Trump campaign has long planned to scale up for a general election but the statement from Lewandowski hints at the most concrete plans yet by the Republican candidate to bulk up his undersized campaign team.
Trump allies have grown increasingly concerned about the presumptive Republican nominee’s rather skeletal organization, which is outnumbered ten to one by the Clinton campaign. As one source familiar with the Trump campaign told the Guardian recently: “You think we can really win a general election with 70 people?”
However, Trump’s campaign has drawn some skepticism over its stated intent to campaign in deep blue states like New York and Connecticut. Lewandowski’s remarks, while acknowledging the difficulty of the electoral map, made clear that the presumptive Republican nominee was serious about his intent to campaign in what his strategists called “steal states” to Republican National Committee members in April.
Donald Trump’s overture to the evangelical Christian community today failed to convert at least one supporter. Deborah Fikes, the executive advisor to the World Evangelical Alliance, dubbed Trump “un-Christian” and officially endorsed his general election rival, Hillary Clinton.
“Mr. Trump’s proposals are not just un-Christian,” said Fikes, the World Evangelical Alliance’s representative to the United Nations. “They’re un-American and at odds with the values our country holds dearest.”
Instead, Fikes endorsed “Sister Hillary,” who she called a “trustworthy” leader “embraced by many Evangelical sister churches.”
“Hillary Clinton is the leader who people of faith are looking for and we are praying that Sister Hillary and not Mr. Trump will be elected in November,” Fikes said.
Fikes specifically cited Trump’s “troubling” positions on potentially banning foreign-born Muslims from entering the United States as a key component in her endorsement.
“It troubles me deeply to see abuse of the vulnerable and intolerance toward religious minorities on the rise,” Fikes said. “As someone who has fought hard to counter China’s recent persecution of Christian minorities, I worry that allowing religious and ethnic intolerance here in American will undermine our ability to have a prayer of fighting it around the world.”
Bernie Sanders’ spokesperson appears to be #WithHer.
So anyone that comes to me with "idk if I'm voting in November b/c.." I'm screen-capturing these tweets. Too much is at stake this Nov.
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) June 21, 2016
Voters don’t know “anything about Hillary in terms of religion”, Donald Trump warned a meeting of evangelical leaders today.
In a closed-door meeting at Trump Tower, the presumptive Republican nominee talked about his faith and tried to consolidate his support among social conservatives. Trump said of Christianity, “I owe so much to it in so many ways,” while warning darkly about the consequences of electing Hillary Clinton.
“It’s going to be an extension of Obama but worse,” said Trump. “Because, with Obama, you have your guard up and with Hillary you don’t and it’s going to be worse.” Trump also said ominously: “All of your leaders are selling Christianity down the tubes, selling evangelicals down the tubes.”
The meeting came as Trump continues his courtship of what has been a key part of the Republican base for decades. Many social conservatives and evangelicals have viewed the thrice-divorced Trump skeptically as a casino mogul who previously supported abortion rights and prone to off-putting remarks such as his statement that he had never asked God for forgiveness. His courtship in recent weeks included a visit to the Faith and Freedom Summit earlier in June where he pledged to “protect and defend Christian Americans”.
However, while Trump rolled out an evangelical advisory board after the meeting featuring longtime supporters such as Jerry Falwell Jr as well as former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, many attendees remained skeptical. Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council who has yet to endorse Trump, told MSNBC after the meeting that it had simply been the beginning of “a conversation between Trump and evangelical community”. He added that he was waiting to see Trump take further steps such as selecting a running mate with a “conservative track record” before committing to support the presumptive Republican nominee.
Donald Trump: Money raised by Hillary Clinton is 'blood money'
In an interview with CBS This Morning co-host Norah O’Donnell, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that he is not concerned with rival Hillary Clinton’s massive financial lead, dismissing the money she has raised as “blood money.”
“When she raises this money, every time she raises this money, she is making deals,” Trump said. “Saying, ‘Can I be the ambassador to this, can I do that. Make sure my business is being taken care of.’ I mean, gimme a break - all of the money she is raising is blood money. That’s blood money is blood money [sic].”
“Look, she is getting tremendous amounts from Wall Street,” he continued. “She is going to take care of Wall Street. She is getting tremendous amounts from lots of people. She’s going to take care of those people.”
Trump is hosting a fundraising dinner in New York next week featuring “a who’s who of the financial world,” according to the New York Times. A spot at the dinner starts at $50,000 a plate.
Updated
Donald Trump’s campaign has renewed his support for the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, stating “America is here because of its own little Brexit”.
Spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, a longtime Trump aide, did not specify whether she was referring to the American revolution or whether she saw a modern parallel between the US political situation and the European Union, where the issue of immigration has become a political lightning rod.
In an interview with Sky News, Pierson noted that the presumptive Republican nominee is “very much in favor of countries doing what is best for them” and thought that in the current global situation, “countries do need to re-evaluate their own standings and what is best for them”.
Updated
Apparently “CrookedHillary.com” was taken.
In one of many press released issued by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign today, the real estate tycoon announced the launch of LyingCrookedHillary.com, “which will showcase some of Clinton’s most disastrous lies to the American people.”
Supporters are instructed to text TRUMP to 88022 to receive early access to the content, which leads to subscribing to a text-message alert system from the campaign.
A terrible price has been paid to access "https://t.co/gGioW5agsU." pic.twitter.com/HaG0sYgLS2
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) June 21, 2016
“As we proceed forward with the general election, it is more important than ever for America to realize how dishonest Crooked Hillary really is,” the release states. “At every stage of Clinton’s career, she has deceived the public to enrich herself and family at the expense of Americans. Crooked Hillary has continually placed Washington D.C. special interests’ priorities over the interests of everyday Americans. Four years of Crooked Hillary in the White House is not a risk Americans can take.”
Donald Trump expands staff as human-resources gap widens
In a release, Donald Trump’s troubled presidential campaign has detailed a “staff expansion,” likely in the hopes of reassuring supporters worried about the vast disparity between Trump’s financial and infrastructural setup and that of presumptive general election opponent Hillary Clinton.
“Today, Donald J. Trump announced that he has hired several staff members to expand his campaign operations and focus on the general election in November,” the release states, before detailing the hires: Jim Murphy as national political director, Lucia Castellano as director of human resources, Brad Parscale as digital director and former Bush administration staffer Kevin Kellems as director of surrogates.
“I continue to build a team of great people that will ensure we win in November,” Trump stated in the release. “I have received more votes than any Republican in the history of the party and I am confident that, along with my team, we will take our movement to the White House and Make America Great Again.”
Murphy, who runs consulting outfit JLM Consulting, was a senior adviser to then-senator Bob Dole’s presidential campaigns in 1988 and 1996. Castellano is a headhunter who ran human resources for Hispanic-oriented television network HITN. Parscale co-founded a San Antonio digital agency, and Kellems served as a communications aide to then-vice president Dick Cheney in 2003.
“The campaign has also added staff to the Communications Division to expand its research and rapid response capabilities,” the release states.
Video: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton picked apart Donald Trump’s economic plan and financial record this afternoon, saying that if elected president, he would bankrupt America “like one of his casinos.”
Clinton also poked at Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, suggesting the real estate mogul “isn’t as rich as he claims.”
Speaking to NBC News, Tennessee senator and Donald Trump supporter Bob Corker said that the firing of Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, yesterday is “pretty exciting” in terms of the direction of the ailing campaign.
“What is kind of exciting is that it appears to me that they, y’know, are moving in a very different direction than they’ve been moving in, and I gotta say, that’s pretty exciting to think about,” Corker said.
When asked whether he was speaking specifically about Lewandowski’s departure from the campaign, Corker agreed.
“Yeah,” Corker said. “I mean, I don’t know him personally and I don’t know what the internal issues were regarding that, but it seems that they understand that taking a different direction with the campaign is a more beneficial place for them to be. And I gotta say, last night when I was reading that and this morning - pretty exciting. And if they can begin to focus solely on issues ... economic issues, fiscal issues, how our country is gonna relate to the rest of the world, that can be a very exciting development, relative to how they’re going about doing what they’re doing”
Corker, the chair of the senate foreign relations committee, has been rumored as a potential running mate choice for Trump, but told NBC News recently that he was“discouraged by the direction of the campaign and comments that are made,” after Trump reiterated his call for a Muslim ban after the terrorist attack on an LGBT nightclub in Orlando that killed 49 people.
Katrina Pierson, national spokesperson for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, defended the campaign’s comparatively massive expenditures on things like T-shirts, mugs, stickers ($694,000) and hats ($208,000), telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “everyone loves the hats.”
Trump spokeswoman on the campaign spending $208K on hats: “Everyone loves the hats” https://t.co/oVBEJDt13n https://t.co/6w2T21edzF
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 21, 2016
Notice the Playboy magazine cover in the background.
Honored to introduce @realDonaldTrump at religious leader summit in NYC today! He did incredible job! @beckifalwell pic.twitter.com/e2eBSbQwb0
— J L Falwell (@JerryJrFalwell) June 21, 2016
One of the members of Donald Trump’s new evangelical advisory committee was not a big fan of the candidate in November:
Here's a board member of Trump's new evangelical advisory committee (Note: they were not required to endorse him) pic.twitter.com/Bl7g7snu2r
— Gabby Morrongiello (@gabriellahope_) June 21, 2016
The post has since been deleted.
A disturbing scene from Donald Trump’s rally in Phoenix, Arizona, where clashes between pro- and anti-Trump protesters devolved to racist attacks by a Trump supporter sporting white-nationalist tattoos.
The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino has more on Hillary Clinton’s economic speech today:
Hillary Clinton delivered a blistering assault on Donald Trump’s business record on Tuesday, warning that his reckless economic policies would trigger a financial crisis worse than the one in 2008.
Returning to the important swing state of Ohio on Tuesday, Clinton, the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee, castigated Trump for his proposals on trade, taxes and immigration, claiming that his policies, if enacted, would throw the US back into a recession.
“You might think that because he has spent his life as a businessman, he’d be better prepared to handle the economy. Well it turns out, he’s dangerous there, too,” Clinton said.
“Just like he shouldn’t have his finger on the [nuclear] button, he shouldn’t have his hands on our economy.”
To support her claims, Clinton seized on a report released on Monday by Moody’s Analytics that suggested Trump’s economic policies, if enacted, would trigger a “lengthy recession” and lead to the loss of 3.5m jobs.
“We can’t let him bankrupt America like we’re one of his failed casinos,” Clinton said. “We can’t let him roll the dice with our children’s futures.”
Updated
Hope Hicks, the 27-year-old press secretary for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, recently got the star treatment in a must-read GQ profile, but it isn’t the first cover story for the Connecticut native and former model.
As revealed by Cosmopolitan, (bear with us), Hicks was also a cover model for the Gossip Girl spinoff book series The It Girl, gracing the series’ cover as prep-school prima donna Jenny Humphrey.
Hope Hicks at 27: Donald Trump's press secretary
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) June 21, 2016
Hope Hicks at 16: 'Gossip Girl' Jenny Humphrey pic.twitter.com/k66D4WqtkF
XOXO...
In an email addressed to “Friend,” Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has put out a personal(ish) ask for money on behalf of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton - a big indicator that Clinton sees the progressive darling as a powerful asset to her general election campaign.
“For 25 years, she’s been on the receiving end of attack after attack,” Warren wrote of Clinton. “She didn’t whimper. She didn’t whine. She’s always fought back with grace and determination – and no matter how many punches she took, each time she came out fighting stronger.”
Calling Clinton “a fighter” who will take on Wall Street, student-loan debt and fight for minority rights, Warren highlights Clinton’s “progressive agenda” in a likely bid to warm the left wing of the Democratic party to the candidate, after a bitter primary campaign against democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.
As Warren has done on numerous occasions, the email ends with a broadside against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who Warren states has “built his campaign on racism, sexism, and xenophobia.”
Decrying Trump as “a small, insecure, moneygrubbing bully who doesn’t care who gets hurt, so long as he makes a buck off it,” Warren juxtaposes Clinton, who is “smart as a whip, and she’s a tough cookie.”
Not unrelatedly, the Associated Press reports that Warren is one of the few potential running mates who has been moved into full vetting mode.
Film star Salma Hayek wondered what would happen if Donald Trump had Latino heritage. The results are... a little eerie:
Clinton Foundation breached by hackers – report
Bloomberg reports that the Russia-linked hackers behind an attack on the Democratic National Committee also targeted the Clinton Foundation, according to “three people familiar with the matter”:
The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation was among the organizations breached by suspected Russian hackers in a dragnet of the U.S. political apparatus ahead of the November election, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The attacks on the foundation’s network, as well as those of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, compound concerns about her digital security even as the FBI continues to investigate her use of a personal e-mail server while she was secretary of state.
A spokesman for the foundation told Bloomberg that he wasn’t aware of any breach. It’s unclear what the hackers may have accessed. Opposition research on Donald Trump was removed in the attack on the DNC.
These hacks are (as far as we know) separate from concerns about possible hacker attacks on the private email server Clinton used as secretary of state, an arrangement that is the subject of an FBI investigation. “The FBI has been careful to keep [the Clinton Foundation] investigation separate from the review of Clinton’s use of private e-mail, using separate investigators, according to the person briefed on the matter,” Bloomberg says.
After a poll last week showed Hillary Clinton neck-and-neck with Donald Trump in Utah – which John McCain won by about 30 points and favorite son Mitt Romney won by about 50 – a new poll, proudly disseminated on social media by the Trump campaign’s director of social media, shows Trump nudging into the lead:
.@realDonaldTrump +9% UTAH#Trump2016 #AmericaFirsthttps://t.co/aBdXl5WLdP pic.twitter.com/XeFStRsniY
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) June 21, 2016
Is this the first time any Republican campaign has ever bragged about getting 36% of the vote in Utah? https://t.co/aRAStYUwf2
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 21, 2016
A neighbor of Donald Trump’s golf course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, has hoisted a Mexican flag to protest the candidate’s views on immigration, the Scotland Herald reports:
David Milne, whose land is surrounded by Mr Trump’s golf course at Menie, said he raised the banner in support of those who had been “intimidated and insulted” by the Republican presidential candidate.
In light of the latest FEC filings, Commentary editor John Podhoretz takes Trump to task for failing to perform the humdrum hard campaign work of making calls to raise money and taking calls to raise money and speaking in living rooms to raise money and attending dinners and cocktail receptions to raise money. Key bit:
Trump’s decision to sit in his skivvies in Trump Tower and phone into the Fox News Channel when he’s not on the road at big rallies making jokes about how Elizabeth Warren is or is not Pocahontas is, to people who take the art of practical politics seriously, definitive proof that he is a dilettante who has managed to bluff his way into the highest-stakes political game in the world.
Podhoretz’s conclusion: “These numbers are so disastrous that they mean it would be nothing less than malpractice for Republican delegates not to consider seriously the possibility of ditching Trump at the convention.” Read the full piece here.
Trump questions Clinton's religion
In a talk before evangelical leaders in New York Tuesday, Donald Trump questioned Hillary Clinton’s faith, asserting that voters don’t know “anything about Hillary in terms of religion” despite a long public record of Clinton’s adherence to Methodism (see for example this report from June 2007).
“And she’s been in the public eye for years and years, and yet there’s no, there’s nothing out there,” Trump said, according to remarks taped and posted online by conservative faith leader EW Jackson. “There’s like nothing out there.”
Trump went on to say that politicians “ are selling Christianity down the tubes”.
Our leaders are "selling Christianity down the tubes" #ConversationWithTrump pic.twitter.com/55PBY26aAv
— E.W. Jackson (@ewjacksonsr) June 21, 2016
Trump sent an email Monday afternoon announcing a new group of advisers “on those issues important to Evangelicals and other people of faith in America.” Advisers include Michele Bachmann, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr. and Ralph Reed.
(h/t: @bencjacobs)
Update: Revealed: Clinton on faith:
Hillary Clinton talked faith w/ me in January: "My faith is a central part of who I am." https://t.co/Y5xZxhI8ng pic.twitter.com/kj90VlSGbA
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) June 21, 2016
Updated
The most popular candidate? Bernie Sanders, in poll
The topline findings from a poll released today by CNN/ORC aren’t all that surprising - Hillary Clinton has 47% of the vote while Donald Trump has 42%, figures that are broadly in line with polling averages right now, writes Guardian US data editor Mona Chalabi:
But because the survey put so many questions to the 1,001 respondents they spoke to between June 16 and 19, there are lots of interesting nuggets of information that might shed light on what the US electorate is thinking right now.
Of course, this is only one poll (albeit one from a pretty respected polling company) so these numbers should be treated with caution, especially because we’re still months away from election day. But here are seven things that stood out from the report:
- Former candidate Bernie Sanders is currently more popular than other candidates if favorability ratings are anything to go by. In this poll, 59% of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of the Vermont Senator - only 41% said the same of Clinton and 38% said the same of Trump. This is in line with other polls which have found that Sanders has a net positive favorable (meaning more respondents have a favorable view of the candidate than an unfavorable one) while Trump and Clinton have net negative ratings.
- A sizable chunk of Clinton and Trump supporters could change their minds between now and November. In this poll, 10% of respondents said they were voting for Clinton but “could change mind” and 9% said the same about supporting Trump.
- But Trump and Clinton supporters appear to be very different people. In this poll (and others), women were more likely to support Clinton and men were more likely to support Trump:
While 71% of non-white voters said they would support Clinton, 51% of white voters said they were planning to vote for Trump. And those who were under 45 were much more likely to say they’d choose Clinton (49%) over Trump (34%).
- There are more than two presidential candidates in this race, and they’re frequently forgotten by journalists (I’m including myself among the guilty). When this poll gave a longer list of candidates to respondents, 9% said they’d vote for Gary Johnson, the candidate for the Libertarian party and 7% said they’d vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party. But those numbers may overstate support - both of those candidates also ran in 2012 and between them managed to secure less than 1.5% of the vote.
- Most voters think Clinton will win the race according to this poll. CNN/ORC asked “Regardless of who you support and trying to be as objective as possible who do you think will win the presidential election this November?” and 55% checked the box marked Clinton.
- Party popularity appears to have fallen. Only 44% of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of the Democrat party (the lowest level of enthusiasm CNN/ORC has seen since 2014) and just 34% said they had a favorable opinion of the Republican party (the same percentage as in March of this year, which was the lowest level since 2013).
- Consistent with a theme we’ve underscored before, levels of enthusiasm for this election are low. Only 29% of respondents said they’d be “excited” if Clinton wins the election, and 27% if Trump wins.
Trump tweets attacks on Clinton
In what could be a preview of his speech tomorrow on the failings of Hillary Clinton, Trump is tweeting attacks on Clinton over her legacy as secretary of state, donations made to the Clinton Foundation and, inevitably, Benghazi.
The tweets lack Trump’s distinct diction, punctuation, tone. They’re flat, declarative and on-point. More effective this way?
Hillary took money and did favors for regimes that enslave women and murder gays.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2016
If you want to know about Hillary Clinton’s honesty & judgment, ask the family of Ambassador Stevens.
Hillary defrauded America as Secy of State. She used it as a personal hedge fund to get herself rich! Corrupt, dangerous, dishonest.
Trump camp tries new tactic: rapid response
Trump’s campaign seems to be already shifting gears in the day since campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was fired, writes Guardian politics reporter Ben Jacobs:
During Hillary Clinton’s economic speech Tuesday afternoon, the presumptive Republican nominee sent out over a half-dozen rapid response emails, blasting “the catastrophic economic record under Clinton-Obama policies” and labeling his opponent “unstable, erratic, violent.”
While rapid response emails are a traditional tool used by communications staffers on presidential campaigns to blast out their message to reporters, it is one that Trump’s campaign had never before used until Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton attacked Donald Trump on the economy, and Trump responded with seven rapid-response emails. pic.twitter.com/oXEEMehgvE
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) June 21, 2016
Punctuation pivot https://t.co/0OAoP7393L
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 21, 2016
Updated
As Clinton spoke, Trump tweeted away:
Hillary says this election is about judgment. She's right. Her judgement has killed thousands, unleashed ISIS and wrecked the economy.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2016
Hillary Clinton surged the trade deficit with China 40% as Secretary of State, costing Americans millions of jobs.
How can Hillary run the economy when she can’t even send emails without putting entire nation at risk?
Hillary Clinton’s open borders immigration policies will drive down wages for all Americans - and make everyone less safe.
Obama-Clinton inherited $10T in debt and turned it into nearly $20T. They have bankrupted… https://www.instagram.com/p/BG7IYzumhZw/
I am "the king of debt."That has been great for me as a businessman, but is bad for the country. I made a fortune off of debt, will fix U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2016
Clinton concludes with a thought experiment. Imagine Trump as president when “your jobs and savings are at stake”.
Clinton:
We can’t let him bankrupt America like we are one of his failed casinos. We can’t let him roll the dice with our children’s futures.
Just imagine if you can, Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office, the next time America faces a crisis. Imagine him being in charge when your jobs and savings are at stake... someone thin-skinned and quick to anger, who’d likely be on Twitter attacking reporters, or bringing the whole regulatory system down on critics?
Would he even know what to do?
Donald Trump believes in the worst of us. He thinks we’re fearful not confident. ... He thinks the only way forward is to go back to a past prosperity...
In fact the only way forward is forward.
Clinton’s done. Cue Rachel Platten.
Updated
Clinton: Trump has 'one move'
Clinton says he intentionally ran up debt, bankrupting his companies four times, and defaulting. “I play with bankruptcy,” Trump has said.
Clinton quotes him and replies:
Everything seems to be a game with him... in Atlantic city, he put his names on buildings, his favorite thing to do... when his casino and hotel went bankrupt because of how badly he mismanaged them, he still walked away with millions.
She quotes him again: “Atlantic City was a very good cash cow for me for a very long time.” Clinton replies, “remember that the next time you see him on TV.
He’s doing the exact same thing he’s been doing for years. This is his one move. He makes over-the-top promises... and then everything falls apart, and people get hurt. Those promises you’re hearing from him at his campaign rallies, those are the same promises he made to his customers at Trump university.
The same people he’s trying to get to vote for him are the people he’s been exploiting for years... It’s working people. He’s been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuiots in the last 30 years... a lot of them small businesses.. that never got paid.
Not because he couldn’t pay them, but because he could stiff them. Sometimes he offered them 30 cents on the dollar... hundreds of liens have been filed against him.
Clinton gives voice to the “painters, plumbers” working people stiffed by Trump: “I worked for him. I did my job. He wouldn’t pay me what he owed me.”
Clinton continues:
No this is not normal behavior. There are great business people here in Ohio, in America... they want to build something that lasts. They’re decent, they’re honest... and they would never dream of acting the way Donald Trump does.
In America, we don’t begrudge people being successful, but we know people shouldn’t do it by destroying other people’s dreams.
Clinton: Trump's books about business 'all seem to end at Chapter 11'
Clinton cuts loose a line: “He’s written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end at Chapter 11.”
Clinton grants Trump his nickname “king of debt”:
The king of debt has no real plan for making college debt payable back... he has no credible plan for rebuilding our infrastructure apart from the wall he wants to build. Personally I’d rather spend the money rebuilding our schools... he has no ideas on how to strengthen Medicare or expanding social security..he has no real strategy for creating jobs... But then maybe we shouldn’t expect better from someone whose most famous words are ‘you’re fired’.
He has not clean energy plan..he just says climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese. Well... it is a lot easier to say a problem doesn’t exist than it is to actually try to solve it.
She also says he has no plan to address generational poverty in rural and urban communities.
In the heat of a campaign... it is tempting to give simple answers to complex problems. Believe me I have been tempted. But I am not going to do that.
I think Donald Trump has said he’s qualified to be president because of his business record... Let’s take a look at what he did in his business. He’s written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end at Chapter 11. Go figure.
Updated
“Trump’s own products are made in a lot of countries that aren’t named America,” Clinton says. She lists Trump ties, Trump suits, Trump ties, Trump picture frames, Trump barware.
I’d love for him to explain how that fits with all his talk about America first. I honestly believe that the difference between us is not just about policy. We have fundamentally different views about whether America is strong or weak... Donald Trump never misses a chance to say that Americans-- he’s talking about us – are losers, and the rest of the world is laughing at us.
Just the other day, he told a crowd that America quote ‘is not going to survive’. I don’t know what he’s talking about.
In her travels as secretary of state, she says, she saw envy of America around the world.
Updated
Fifth, Trump on trade.
Clinton says “we should renegotiate trade deals that aren’t working” and reject new deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”
And here Clinton sounds like Trump:
When China dumps cheap steel.. or manipulates currency, we need to respond forcefully.
Updated
Clinton: the USA 'doesn’t do business Trump’s way'
Clinton runs through what she says are the main weaknesses of Trump’s economic plan.
First, there’s his plan for Wall Street.
He says he wants to wipe out the tough rules we put on banks... he also wants to repeal the consumer financial protection bureau [Senator Warren’s watchdog agency]. Trump would take us back to where we were before the crisis. He’d rig the economy for Wall Street again. Well that will not happen on my watch, I can guarantee you.
Clinton says she would veto any effort to roll back financial regulations and seek to strengthen them.
Second, his approach to the national debt.
He calls himself the king of debt and his tax plan lives up to the name.
Clinton cites a study showing Trump’s tax plan would drive up the debt by trillions. She quotes him saying, “I would borrow, knowing if the economy crashed, you could make a deal.”
The full faith and credit of the United States is not something we just gamble away. That could cause an economic catastrophe. And it would break 225 years of ironclad trust that the American economy has with AMericans and with the rest of the world. Alexander Hamilton would be rolling in his grave. You see we pay our debts.
She quotes Ronald Reagan about America’s reputation.
Maybe Donald feels differently because he made a fortune filing bankruptcies and stiffing creditors. But the United States of America doesn’t do business Trump’s way. And it matters when a candidate talks like this.... even suggesting that the United States would default would cause a global panic.
She says Trump’s plan to print money is like Germany in the 20s or Zimbabwe in the 90s. “It drove inflation through the roof and crippled the economy. The AMerican dollar is the safest currency on the planet. Why would he want to mess with that? We can’t let these loose careless remarks get any credence.”
Third, Trump’s tax plan.
Clinton starts playfullly:
You know when I was working on this speech... I’d have my researchers send me information, and then I’d say, really? He really said that? And they’d send me all the background... so here it goes.
Clinton says Trump would give millionaires a $3t tax cut. Corporations would get $2t more dollars. Before releasing his plan, Trump said hedge fund-ers would pay more. But his plan “makes the current loophole even worse,” Clinton says.
Trump would get a tax cut under his plan, Clinton says:
But we don’t know exactly how much because he won’t release his tax returns. Every major presidential candidate in the last four decades has shown the American people their taxes...
You have to ask yourself, what’s he afraid of? Maybe that he hasn’t paid taxes on his huge income? ... Or maybe he isn’t as rich as he claims? Or that he hasn’t given away as much to charity that he brags about.
Whatever the reasons, Americans deserve to know before you cast your votes this November.
Fourth, Trump on jobs.
Clinton says Trump’s deportation and wall-construction policy could cause a recession.
“This policy is not only wrong-headed and unachievable, it is really bad economics.” She says expelling 11m people would cost a lot and shrink the economy.
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Clinton: 'Trump would throw us back into recession'
Economists of all political stripes agree, Clinton says: “Trump would throw us back into recession.”
She says a former McCain economic adviser estimated Trump’s policies would increase unemployment and debt and tank the stock market.
Clinton:
Every day we see how reckless and careless Trump is. He’s proud of it. Well that’s his choice. Except when he’s asking to be our president. Then it’s our choice.
Donald Trump actually stood on a debate stage ....and said that wages are too high in this country... he said and I quote, having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country...
Back in 2006... Trump said... “I sort of hope that the housing market crashes” because he’d make money off of all the foreclosures.
...He has said all kinds of things about women in the workforce. [Calling women employees “an inconvenience”.]
He clearly doesn’t know much about how we have grown the economy over the last 40 years, which is largely thanks to women getting into the workforce and adding to family incomes.
Clinton says that abolishing Obamacare, as Trump wishes to do, would hurt families and the economy.
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Clinton: Trump 'shouldn’t have his hands on our economy'
Clinton:
Today I want to talk about what Donald Trump is promising to do to the economy. After more than a year it’s important that he be held accountable for what he says he’ll do as president.
A few weeks ago I said his foreign policy proposals and reckless statements represent a danger to the national security... it turns out, he’s dangerous [in business and the economy] too.
Just like he shouldn’t have his finger on the button, he shouldn’t have his hands on our economy.
Clinton takes a swipe at Trump. She says her web site summarizes her economic plan, and:
I do admit, it is a little wonky, but I have this old-fashioned idea that if you’re running for president, you should say what you want to do, how you’re going to pay for it and how you’ll get it done.
I actually sweat the specifics because they matter.
Clinton says that people are working harder to stay ahead of “everyday costs” while college is getting more expensive, wages are too low and inequality is too great.
She says that America can overcome the problems together. “We are stronger and better positioned than anyone in the world to build the future that you and your children deserve.”
Clinton notes it’s her first speech as a grandmother of two. “It was an exciting weekend,” she deadpans. “Chelsea and Mark had a little boy and we are just truly over the moon.”
Aidan Clinton Mezvinsky was born on Saturday.
Here’s Clinton in Ohio, now at the lectern:
Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and media mogul, whose skepticism about Trump’s fortune we cited in the previous post, has served up a new round of Trump-doubt.
Cuban, a bona fide billionaire, does not think Trump is as rich as Trump claims he is. (Trump claims he is worth $10bn; Forbes last fall said $4.5bn; but there are at least 10 reasons to doubt that Trump is indeed a billionaire.)
If @realDonaldTrump were fractionally as rich as he says he is,he would write a$200mm check to propel his campaign. He doesn't have the cash
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 21, 2016
Update: former top Obama adviser David Axelrod is a rich-man-Trump heretic too:
After all that braggadocio, it's pretty clear @realDonaldTrump doesn't have the $$ to fund his campaign, and is having trouble raising it.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) June 21, 2016
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Trump says fundraising so far 'incredible'
The Donald Trump campaign has released a statement explaining FEC filings that showed the campaign raised only $3m in May and has just $1.3m on hand, compared with Clinton’s $42.5m cash on hand.
Trump recapitulates an explanation he used Friday to explain his slumping poll numbers. Basically, he says, he hasn’t started yet:
The month of June represents the first full month of fundraising activity for the campaign and this will be reflected in the June FEC report,” the statement says. “The campaign held its first campaign fundraising event on May 25th, 2016. To date, the campaign’s fundraising has been incredible and we continue to see a tremendous outpouring of support for Mr. Trump and money to the Republican Party.
In an addendum to the statement, Trump promises that he “would put up my own money” for the general election, implicitly claiming a personal liquidity and willingness to spend big that critics have questioned, for example:
1) I expect @realDonaldTrump to try to calm down. He doesn't have the cash to fund his campaign, he needs to appease donors quickly
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 8, 2016
Trump said:
If need be, there could be unlimited “cash on hand” as I would put up my own money, as I have already done through the primaries, spending over $50 million dollars. Our campaign is leaner and more efficient, like our government should be.
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Clinton to attack Trump on economy
Hillary Clinton is scheduled to begin her remarks on Donald Trump and the economy in Columbus, Ohio, shortly. Here’s a live video stream:
The Pennsylvania question
The Quinnipiac University poll of the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania we mentioned in the intro bears further examination, if only because it’s a great excuse to have a look at the electoral map.
The best news in the poll for Hillary Clinton is in Florida, where she leads Donald Trump by eight points, 47-39, compared with a one-point lead, 43-42, in the same poll on 10 May.
Florida is very important. If Clinton wins the 18 states (plus Washington, DC) that Democrats have won in every presidential election going back to 1992, and then wins Florida, she wins the presidency with 271 electoral votes.
Here’s a map of the stronghold states (WHICH, one should note, can and will change, but here’s how it’s been going):
Can Clinton count on those 18 states to hold in 2016? Trump has vowed to flip his home state, New York, and other states such as California and New Jersey to the Republicans. The idea bespeaks wild optimism crossing over into the “delusional”, to borrow a word from keen elections observer Stuart Rothenberg.
Clinton could well build on those 18 states, starting with New Mexico, with its large Latino population, and Colorado, ditto, and Virginia, which Obama won twice and which is currently governed by Clinton best friend Terry McAuliffe who this spring returned the right to vote to as many as 200,000 former felons in the state.
But say Clinton must keep those 18 plus DC. Which brings us to Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral votes. The Quinnipiac poll finds the race virtually unchanged from a month ago, at 42-41 Clinton-Trump.
Can Clinton hold Pennsylvania? Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report and others have identified the state as a possible surprise pickup for Republicans, based on the growth of Republican-leaning, former mining and steel territory in the west, versus Philadelphia and its suburbs, which are bedrock Democratic territory. Wasserman wrote last month:
As it turns out, Colorado and Virginia are among the top 10 fastest Democratic-trending states in the nation — they are, respectively, getting about 0.9 percentage points and 1.2 points more Democratic-leaning compared with the country every four years. By contrast, Pennsylvania has gradually migrated in the opposite direction. It’s gotten about 0.4 percentage points more Republican every four years.
Projecting this trend forward another four years from 2012’s results would reorder the existing battleground states on the 2016 electoral map.
If Clinton did lose Pennsylvania, it would have serious electoral implications (not least owing to what such a loss would imply about the strength of her campaign in general). She would have much more need for Florida, in addition to a couple other swing states.
So let the argument over Pennsylvania commence. Rothenberg notes that “Republican strategists begin almost every presidential election talking about snatching Pennsylvania and Wisconsin from the Democratic column, and each time they have failed.” Maybe this year’s different?
Former Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe throws a little cold water on Clinton’s Florida lead in the Quinnipiac poll – but outright dismisses the notion of a close Pennsylvania race:
The Q(uestionable) Polls out today causing lots of commotion. Clinton won't win FL by 8 and has zero chance of losing PA. Zero.
— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) June 21, 2016
Really? Have you been to PA this year and talked to folks? https://t.co/KkoEKZ7pqB
— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) June 21, 2016
Finally, a reminder: it’s one poll and the election is more than four months away.
Here's a thought: maybe state polls 4+ months before the election are a little noisy and we should mostly ignore them.
— Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog) June 21, 2016
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Trump to attack Clinton in speech
The Trump campaign has announced a speech tomorrow in Manhattan in which the candidate will describe the failings of his all-but-certain-general-election opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Trump originally planned to deliver the speech last week but shelved it after the Orlando shooting, his campaign said.
I will be making a big speech tomorrow to discuss the failed policies and bad judgment of Crooked Hillary Clinton.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2016
Trump makes fundraising push
In an effort to goose fundraising, Donald Trump has vowed to match donations in the next 48 hours up to $2m, “personally”.
The email is goofy bordering on self-parodic in the Trump way. The email boasts that it is the first fundraising email the Trump campaign has ever sent and predicts that it will be “the most successful introductory fundraising email in modern political history”:
Trump fundraising email "personally matching every dollar that comes in WITHIN THE NEXT 48 HOURS, up to $2 million!" pic.twitter.com/4oHUggS4cy
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 21, 2016
Update: heh.
Dear Beloved Friend,
— jimgeraghty (@jimgeraghty) June 21, 2016
I know this message comes as a surprise but I am the nominee for the GOP and have lost my wallet. Can you please send
Updated
Hello, and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. Hillary Clinton plans to attack Donald Trump’s business record and policy plans in a speech in Columbus, Ohio, today. “If you put Donald Trump in the steering wheel of the American economy, he is very likely to drive us off a cliff,” Clintons plans to say, according to senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan (quoted in Bloomberg).
Clinton may also choose to dwell on the startling revelation from FEC filings on Monday evening that the Trump campaign is basically a pauper campaign, with only $1.3m cash on hand, which stacks up miserably next to Clinton, who reported $42.5m cash on hand, and to past campaigns (in May 2012, Mitt Romney raised $23.4m and had more than $17m in the bank).
Trouble for Trump? Hillary Clinton’s campaign has more cash than ever https://t.co/MwY5xBb7Ag
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 21, 2016
If there's one thing GOP grandees know it's money and Trump is looking seriously small time here, like tiny tiny hands time
— Hari Kunzru (@harikunzru) June 21, 2016
More disturbing for Trump supporters, perhaps, was the amount of money flowing directly from the campaign to Trump companies and family members. Trump’s single biggest campaign expense in May was a payment of $423,371.70 to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort. More than $1m went to his companies or to his family, out of less than $7m spending total. Viz:
Recipients of payments from Trump campaign with “Trump” in name, through May 31. Doesn’t include Mar-a-Lago/planes. pic.twitter.com/JF6skaWYGF
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) June 21, 2016
Not only is he not "self-funding," he's grifting from his own campaign. https://t.co/ygp25KURXC
— James Gleick (@JamesGleick) June 21, 2016
Trump defended his balance sheet on Tuesday morning, reported NBC’s Mark Murray:
Trump on @TODAYshow on his May FEC report: "I understand money far better than anybody"
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) June 21, 2016
Trump says he *might* dip into his wallet for the general-elex: I have a lot of cash and I may do it again in the general election
Meanwhile, Trump said on the @TODAYshow that replacing Corey Lewandowski as campaign manager was a matter of moving from the primaries to the general election. “We are going in a different direction.”
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has about 8x as much money in the bank as Trump https://t.co/Yuccf4ZGzj
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) June 21, 2016
Clinton up in new polls
A new CNN/ORC national poll, conducted 16-19 June, had Clinton ahead of Trump 47-42. A new NBC/Survey Monkey poll on the same dates had Clinton ahead by six points, steady from the week before, but among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, Trump’s support “grew two points this week from last week, from 84% to 86%”.
Clinton had opened up a lead on Trump in the key swing state of Florida, meanwhile, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, and the candidates were in tight races in Ohio and Pennsylvania:
New Q polls (via @mmurraypolitics)
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 21, 2016
FL
Clinton 47
Trump 39
OH
Clinton 40
Trump 40
PA
Clinton 42
Trump 41 pic.twitter.com/cWKfNfoeSI
Gun safety measures fall in Senate
Republicans voted down four gun safety measures in the Senate on Monday evening. In reply, Clinton issued a one-word statement: “enough”.
Hillary Clinton's statement on the Senate gun vote is just one word ("Enough"), and many names. pic.twitter.com/lYrwBWKP5h
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) June 20, 2016
Benghazi panel misses deadline
Benghazi panel misses self-imposed deadline to issue report, by @MatthewDalyWDC:https://t.co/qTMHe3kPA6
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) June 21, 2016
Video: British man arrested at Trump rally ‘after trying to seize police gun’
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