Today in Campaign 2016
It’s been a bad week for Donald Trump - and it’s only half over.
Whether the real estate tycoon-turned-presidential candidate was collapsing in the polls, facing stiff criticism from members of his own party or falling further and further behind in the race to build a sizable campaign warchest, Trump has had a rough week - and that’s before he got banned from Late Night.
- More than half of Americans (51%) disapprove of Donald Trump’s response to the 12 June attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, instead giving President Barack Obama net positive ratings for his response and splitting on Hillary Clinton’s response, according to a CBS News poll published this morning.
- This morning’s Washington Post / ABC News poll spells serious trouble for Trump’s electoral prospects in swing states Arizona, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Texas and elsewhere. In response to the question, “Overall, do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Donald Trump?” 89% of Latinos said that they hold an unfavorable impression – and 76% said “strongly unfavorable.”
- Plus, his unpopularity isn’t just limited to Latinos: 88% of non-white voters overall told the survey they have an unfavorable view of the presumptive Republican nominee.
- Trump called the most recent polling “phony” at a campaign event in Atlanta: “We’re doing very well. Watch what the end result is. And when you look at the phony poll numbers that I’m seeing – take a look at the poll numbers... I tell you, people are tired, they have to have strength. They have to have intelligence.”
- Plus, he’s (comparatively) broke:
Trump's fundraiser in Atlanta might have raised $1 million, but might have also raised $100k https://t.co/FoTMetLQuQ pic.twitter.com/eJPeEK25dG
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) June 16, 2016
- Meanwhile, in actual government, Democrats in the Senate have mounted an effort to hold the floor to “honor the victims of the Orlando attack & demand the Senate address gun violence,” in the words of Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who launched the filibuster. It’s going on eleven hours long.
- An announcement by Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign of a video broadcast with supporters Thursday to talk about the future of his campaign, combined with Sanders’ long meeting last night with Hillary Clinton, and the close of the primary season, and Clinton’s decisive victory, had stoked speculation that the senator was about to suspend his presidential campaign.But Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs says that “he’s not ending it.”
Tomorrow night, no, he’s not ending it. We’re working our way through that, how to go forward on that front. This message to supporters is going to be a lot broader than that.
Donald Trump may have revoked the Washington Post’s press credentials, but the presumptive Republican nominee himself is about to be persona non grata on the airwaves - at least, on NBC at 12:35 am EDT/11:35 central.
Seth Meyers has banned Trump from Late Night, declaring that Trump was no longer welcome on his set after he accused the Washington Post of falsely accusing him of implying President Barack Obama supports Isis.
“Sure, Trump didn’t explicitly say it,” Meyers said. “He implied it with all the subtlety of an eighth grader’s cologne.”
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren wants filibustering Democrats to #HoldTheFloor:
This is the cover of the @BostonGlobe tomorrow - & they are 100% correct. #filibuster #holdthefloor pic.twitter.com/wO1CicfoWk
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 16, 2016
The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs and Danny Yadron have more on Donald Trump’s response to the leak of a Democratic party document detailing its plan of attack during the general election.
A dossier containing critical information about Donald Trump that was hacked from files belonging to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was posted on the internet on Wednesday, prompting the presumptive Republican nominee to claim his political adversaries, not Russian hackers, were responsible.
The hack of the DNC server, which a specialist cybersecurity company attributed to hackers connected to Russian intelligence, gave outsiders access to internal emails, chat messages and a 200-page book of opposition research that the committee had compiled on Trump.
On Wednesday, Gawker and the Smoking Gun published copies of what appeared to be the Trump files taken from the DNC. The websites said they had been contacted by an anonymous source claiming to be linked to the hack.
“This is all information that has been out there for many years,” said the presumptive Republican nominee in a statement. “Much of it is false and/or entirely inaccurate. We believe it was the DNC that did the ‘hacking’ as a way to distract from the many issues facing their deeply flawed candidate and failed party leader. Too bad the DNC doesn’t hack Crooked Hillary’s 33,000 missing emails.”
Though it may be almost beyond imagining that it requires saying, PolitiFact has ruled that Donald Trump’s implication that President Barack Obama and his administration “actively support[s]” Isis and its precursors as “Pants On Fire.”
“The implication that the Obama administration was actively helping the United States’ enemies is ridiculous,” the fact-checking group stated. “It has always been U.S. policy to oppose [Al-Qaida in Iraq] and Isis, and the United States has aggressively fought the group for years. We rate Trump’s assertion ‘Pants on Fire.’”
In an interview on Fox News on Monday, Trump said told Fox & Friends that “we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind. And the something else in mind ... there’s something going on. It’s inconceivable.”
Trump declined to clarify what his remarks meant - and banned the Washington Post from gaining credentials to his campaign events for inferring that he was suggesting a connection between Obama and Isis - but that didn’t stop him from tweeting a Breitbart News article that accused the Obama administration of “actively supporting Al-Qaida in Iraq, the terrorist group that became the Islamic State.”
An: Media fell all over themselves criticizing what DonaldTrump "may have insinuated about @POTUS." But he's right: https://t.co/bIIdYtvZYw
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2016
Report: Bernie Sanders not being vetted as potential VP - but Elizabeth Warren is
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is not taking the familiar move of vetting Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, her closest-running primary opponent, as a potential running mate, the Wall Street Journal reports this evening. The former secretary of state is, however, reportedly “actively looking” at Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren as a potential vice presidential nominee.
The vetting process has been passive so far, according to the report, with potential nominees being scrutinized using information gleaned from publicly available information. Warren and others on the potential running-mate list have not, for example, been asked to be interviewed by vetters or to submit financial statements to Clinton’s campaign.
Other potential candidates reportedly include California representative Xavier Becerra, New Jersey senator Cory Booker, Ohio senator Sherrod Brown, housing and urban development secretary Julián Castro, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, Virginia senator Tim Kaine, labor secretary Tom Perez and Ohio representative Tim Ryan.
Yesterday, in an on-air interview with Telemundo’s José Díaz-Balart, Clinton demurred when asked if she would consider Sanders as a potential running mate.
“I haven’t even begun to really sort all that out, José,” Clinton said hours before a scheduled meeting between herself and Sanders. “We’re gonna talk tonight and there are a lot of really qualified, dynamic candidates - I’m sure to be considered for vice president. So we’ll go from there.”
Statement from the Clinton campaign:
Hillary for America announced support from key Democratic National Committee members and party leaders continues to grow – with 20 new backers of the campaign. Clinton has now clinched the majority of votes, the majority of pledged delegates and the majority of delegates overall. Clinton has 2,219 pledged delegates, 15 million votes and she won 9 of the 10 top turnout states in the primary.
The full list:
- Phil Bartlett (Maine)
- Robert Bragar (Democrats Abroad)
- Michael Brown (District of Columbia)
- Ed Cote (Washington)
- John Eastwood (Democrats Abroad)
- Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker (California)
- Debra Haaland (New Mexico)
- Mark Hammons (Oklahoma)
- Victoria Jackson-Stanley (Maryland)
- Debra Kozikowski (Massachusetts)
- Mary Mancini (Tennessee)
- Marvin McMoore (New York)
- Lisa Padilla (Colorado)
- Greg Pettis (California)
- D. Poole (Maryland)
- Jason Rae (Wisconsin)
- Richard Ray (Georgia)
- Paul Strauss (District of Columbia)
- Sharon Stroschein (South Dakota)
- Senfronia Thompson (Texas)
The “reckless” proposals floated by Donald Trump would have done nothing to prevent the carnage of the Orlando massacre, Hillary Clinton said today, report the Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui and Lauren Gambino.
Speaking at a national security forum, Clinton continued to challenge her opponent’s preparedness to lead the nation in a time of crisis while declaring Trump “temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified” to assume the role of commander-in-chief.
“Not one of Donald Trump’s reckless ideas would have saved a single life in Orlando,” Clinton said. “A ban on Muslims would not have stopped this attack. Neither would a wall. I don’t know how one builds a wall to keep the internet out,” she told an event in Hampton, Virginia.
Federal authorities have suggested that Mateen, the man suspected of killing 49 people and wounding another 53 at the gay nightclub Pulse on Sunday, was radicalized online. The FBI is also investigating whether Mateen’s own sexuality was a factor in the attack, amid accounts that he visited gay chat rooms and frequented the club where he went on to carry out mass murder.
Trump has nonetheless reacted to the tragedy, labeled by Barack Obama as both an act of terror and a hate crime, with his signature bluster. The presumptive Republican nominee has reiterated his call for a ban on Muslim immigration to the US, accused Muslims in America of protecting radicals and even suggested the president was complicit with terrorists.
Clinton pointed out again yesterday, that gunman Omar Mateen was born in Queens, New York.
Donald Trump: DNC hacked itself
Donald Trump has responded to the leaked dossier detailing the Democratic National Committee’s plan of attack during a campaign against him, accusing the Democratic party of purposefully leaking the information and calling most of the 211-page document a fraud.
“This is all information that has been out there for many years,” Trump said in a statement (all sic). “Much of it is false and/or entirely inaccurate. We believe it was the DNC that did the ‘hacking’ as a way to distract from the many issues facing their deeply flawed candidate and failed party leader. Too bad the DNC doesn’t hack Crooked Hillary’s, 33,000 missing emails.”
The document, simply titled “Donald Trump Report,” features subheads describing “top narratives” to employ against Trump, including labeling the real estate tycoon as a “bad businessman” who is “loyal only to himself.”
A spokesperson for the Bernie Sanders campaign declared earlier today that the Vermont senator will not be announcing the suspension of his presidential campaign in a livestream event tomorrow evening, but an email to supporters this evening does not clarify exactly what Sanders will be telling his followers.
“We are at a critical moment for the future of the Democratic Party and our country,” Sanders wrote in the message. “Last night marked the last primary as part of the Democratic nomination process, and we know that our campaign will enter the convention in Philadelphia with more than 1800 delegates.”
The mention of his campaign participating in the convention would seem to imply that Sanders will continue his Quixotic quest for the nomination, but the next paragraph may undercut that implication:
“Our delegates from this movement will be the people who vote on the platform of the Democratic Party, and who will have influence on not just who the nominee is this election, but how the next nominee will be elected, too,” Sanders continued. The candidate has been a vocal critic of the Democratic nominating process, and has emphasized late in the campaign the importance of changing the party’s platform to include the more progressive planks of his candidacy.
“The future of our political revolution depends on you,” the note concludes.
Sanders will address his followers - and the political world - via a livestream tomorrow at 8:30pm EDT.
Anyone who has been to a Donald Trump rally knows that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee loves to highlight his polling position, but the latest cache of polling information out this evening from Bloomberg might give the candidate pause. According to Bloomberg’s latest survey, a mere 32% of US citizens of voting age view the Republican party favorably, the lowest approval rating for the party since the poll was created seven years ago.
In comparison, the Democratic party is viewed favorably by 49% of Americans.
“This is obviously related to perceptions of Trump,” pollster J. Ann Selzer said in the release. “This bleeds out into perceptions of the party and to other GOP politicians.”
Senate majority whip won't comment on Donald Trump until after Election Day
At a rally in Atlanta this morning, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump declared that Republican leadership should just “be quiet” if they don’t support his policies or proposals.
“You know, the Republicans, honestly, folks, our leaders - our leaders have to get tougher,” Trump said. “This is too tough to do it alone. But you know what? I think I’m gonna be forced to. I think I’m going to be forced to.”
Senate majority whip John Cornyn appears to be willing to let Trump do exactly that.
Cornyn, a three-term senator from Texas, told Politico today that he will no longer discuss Trump in any way until after the general election, to be held November 8. The statement comes a day after senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told Politico that “I’m not going to be commenting on the presidential candidates today” after Trump implied that President Barack Obama is sympathetic to Isis terrorists.
Leaked: The DNC's 211-page Donald Trump playbook
Just one day after the Washington Post broke the news that the Russian government had hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and pillaged its opposition research on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Gawker has apparently obtained the DNC’s anti-Trump playbook.
The 211-page document, simply titled “Donald Trump Report,” was sent to the site by someone identifying themselves as “Guccifer 2.0l,” who described him- or herself “a fighter against all those illuminati that captured our world.” The document features subheads describing “top narratives” to employ against Trump, including labeling the real estate tycoon as a “bad businessman” who is “loyal only to himself.”
The document was submitted within the DNC in December of last year, before Trump had won a single primary, but prepared the key framing narrative around the candidate as that of a person who “has no core.”
“Trump’s only fidelity has been to himself and with that he has shown that he has no problem lying to the American people,” the document states. “Trump will say anything and do anything to get what he wants without regard for those he harms.”
The document also describes aspects of Trump’s “personal life” that might be employed to discredit him, including that “Trump’s Ex-Wife Accused Him Of Rape.” (The accusation, made in a deposition during Trump’s divorce proceedings more than two decades ago, has been categorically denied by his campaign.)
Updated
Marco Rubio rethinks Senate bid after key endorsement
Marco Rubio has less than 10 days to decide if he wants to run for re-election to the Senate. And now the Florida senator has received the blessing of the longtime friend who has spent a year seeking to replace him.
Carlos Lopez-Cantera, the lieutenant governor of Florida, has been close to Rubio for two decades. He had all but secured Rubio’s coveted endorsement while running for his Senate seat in a crowded Republican primary.
But in the wake of the Orlando terrorist attack, Lopez-Cantera told Rubio he should after all reconsider a bid for a second term. Politico reported earlier today that while Lopez-Cantera plans to remain in the race for now, but felt “compelled” to discuss the election with Rubio after the two visited the site of the deadly massacre at Pulse nightclub on Sunday.
After Lopez-Cantera’s endorsement, Rubio confirmed that he is reconsidering running for re-election.
“I’ll go home later this week and I’ll have time with my family. If there’s a change in status, I’ll be sure let everyone know,” Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Rubio has long vowed not to seek re-election - but after his failed presidential run, top Republicans also orchestrated a ‘Draft Rubio’ campaign of their own. The Florida senator, according to most polling, would be the strongest Republican candidate to face Patrick Murphy, the congressman who is Democrats’ most likely contender.
Rubio for weeks insisted his thinking had not changed, but also found himself pondering his future after Orlando.
The attack “really gives you pause to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country,” he told conservative radio show Hugh Hewitt.
The deadline to file for the Florida Senate race is24 June. Whatever Rubio decides, Democrats are signaling they are ready - warning through press reports that will spend as much as $20 million to defeat him and, as they see it, also derail any ambitions Rubio holds to seek the presidency once more.
Utah lieutenant governor Spencer Cox addressed a vigil held to honor of the 49 victims of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, this past weekend. The Republican official’s comments are quickly going viral:
Thank you for being here tonight on this very solemn and somber occasion. I begin with an admission and an apology. First, I recognize fully that I am a balding, youngish, middle-aged straight, white, male, Republican, politician… with all of the expectations and privileges that come with those labels. I am probably not who you expected to hear from today.
I’m here because, yesterday morning, 49 Americans were brutally murdered. And it made me sad. And it made me angry. And it made me confused. I’m here because those 49 people were gay. I’m here because it shouldn’t matter. But I’m here because it does. I am not here to tell you that I know exactly what you are going through. I am not here to tell you that I feel your pain. I don’t pretend to know the depths of what you are feeling right now. But I do know what it feels like to be scared. And I do know what it feels like to be sad. And I do know what it feels like to be rejected. And, more importantly, I know what it feels like to be loved.
I grew up in a small town and went to a small rural high school. There were some kids in my class that were different. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I will forever regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect - the love - that they deserved. For that, I sincerely and humbly apologize.
Over the intervening years, my heart has changed. It has changed because of you. It has changed because I have gotten to know many of you. You have been patient with me. You helped me learn the right letters of the alphabet in the right order even though you keep adding new ones. You have been kind to me…. You have treated me with the kindness, dignity, and respect - the love - that I very often did not deserve. And it has made me love you.
Donald’s Trump’s “ask the gays” comment at a campaign rally in Atlanta has spurred some... dismissive online reaction from members of LGBT communities:
TRUMP: "Ask the gays!"
— Ryan McPhee (@rdmcphee) June 15, 2016
THE GAYS: pic.twitter.com/OZWoNIS8Gg
TRUMP: Ask the gays!
— Robert Balkovich (@robertbalkovich) June 15, 2016
THE GAYS: pic.twitter.com/tIJq81LW6O
Trump: "Ask the gays!"
— Alp Ozcelik (@alplicable) June 15, 2016
Gays: pic.twitter.com/VpeaNT3fF6
Trump: "Ask the gays."
— Almost Dr Dan (@almostdoctordan) June 15, 2016
The gays: pic.twitter.com/97pJCbN2XQ
TRUMP: “Ask the gays!”
— Robert Kessler (@robertkessler) June 15, 2016
THE GAYS: pic.twitter.com/Fys8g1FYTi
Republican governor says he's a 'no' on Trump
Maryland governor Larry Hogan says he does not plan to vote for Donald Trump for president, the Washington Post reports:
Hogan: "No, I don't plan to" when asked if he would vote for Donald Trump
— Ovetta Wiggins (@OvettaWashPost) June 15, 2016
Hogan has been reluctant to talk about Trump, whose candidacy he clearly has not been enthralled with. Charlie Baker, the Republican governor of Massachusetts, has also said he will not vote for Trump. Other Republican governors, such as Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada... and Rick Snyder of Michigan... and Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota... seem to be seriously wavering.
Check out our interactive tracking Trump support here:
Updated
CNN to host town hall with Libertarian ticket
CNN will host a town hall event with Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson and vice presidential candidate William Weld on Wednesday, 22 June, the cable network announced. It will be held at the Time Warner Center in New York City.
With historically high unfavorable ratings for both the major parties’ presumptive nominees, the Libertarian ticket may have an opportunity to attract significant support. A RealClearPolitics polling average of a three-way presidential race has Clinton at 40.7 points, Trump at 36.5 and Johnson at 8.5. There is a 15% threshold for inclusion in the presidential debates.
Updated
Eric Branstad, the son of six-term Iowa governor Terry Branstad, is in line to lead Donald Trump’s campaign in the state, the National Review reports:
Reached for comment, Eric Branstad says he attended the Trump campaign’s “leadership meeting” in New York last week and volunteered his services, but adds, “There’s nothing formal yet.”
Clinton says one problem young military veterans in search of an education face is predatory practices by for-profit colleges:
They end up in these for-profit colleges that rip them off. They make all these promises. I can’t help but name Trump University. They add insult to injury.
Clinton: 'disgraceful' to have military families on food stamps
Clinton is talking about bad sewer systems on ships and related infrastructure. Then she talks about the need to support low-income military families:
... It’s just disgraceful that we do have junior enlisted who are eligible for food stamps... we had military families having to seek help from food pantries. And that is something that I think most Americans just don’t understand. So it is important that we just don’t talk the talk.”
Trump’s done. Here’s a good summary:
Trump in ATL recap:
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) June 15, 2016
-will welcome N Korean dictator
-WH tent unsafe
-Putin's nukes better than US
-gays love Trump
-a gun for every clubgoer
Also:
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) June 15, 2016
- Belgium is a beautiful city
- the U.S. probably won't exist much longer https://t.co/tzLz4t7leD
Updated
Sanders 'not ending it'
An announcement by the Bernie Sanders campaign of a video broadcast with supporters Thursday to talk about the future of his campaign, combined with Sanders’ long meeting last night with Hillary Clinton, and the close of the primary season, and Clinton’s decisive victory, had stoked speculation that the senator was about to suspend his presidential campaign.
But Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs says that “he’s not ending it”, Reuters reports:
But spokesman Michael Briggs said on Wednesday the speech will focus on how Sanders’ supporters can keep the fight alive on priorities such as raising the minimum wage and reducing the influence of big money in politics.
“Tomorrow night, no, he’s not ending it,” Briggs said of the campaign. “We’re working our way through that, how to go forward on that front. This message to supporters is going to be a lot broader than that.”
“He knows how to count,” Briggs said.
Switching to the Clinton event – her roundtable about military families and preparedness. Clinton says:
We have to do some after-action reviews... we’ve gotta be very honest about how challenging it is to do this. But I think you’re right, it’s time for us to take a strategic look at where we were and how we responded, in Iraq, in Afghanistan. ... we really do have to be both very committed and concerned on the ground... and we have to have the broader perspective, how do we make this work?
She asks a military families advocate to talk about challenges to helping military families.
The Guardian’s Matthew Teague is at the Trump rally:
People at rally informing on each other for not being ‘real Trump supporters.’ Security to unfaithful: ‘Let’s go.‘ pic.twitter.com/iSsmB5aEWp
— Matthew Teague (@MatthewTeague) June 15, 2016
Trump in Atl: interesting. The Fox holds less than half his last venue in GA, but many empty seats in second level. pic.twitter.com/7lQvQWjwh8
— Matthew Teague (@MatthewTeague) June 15, 2016
Trump mentions starting World War III:
If Japan gets attacked, we have to come to their aid, probably start World War III. If we get attacked, they don’t have to do anything. Watch it on Sony television.
Trump is now insisting he never said he wanted to get rid of NATO
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 15, 2016
Donald Trump: "There is nobody who understands the horror of nuclear more than me"
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 15, 2016
Donald Trump: "Ask the gays"
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 15, 2016
Donald Trump: "We are defending Japan. That's big stuff."
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 15, 2016
Hillary Clinton is speaking at a roundtable in Virginia about military families and military readiness. Here’s a live video stream:
Updated
Wisconsin does not appear to be coming into play – not quickly, at least – for Trump (Wisconsin last went for the Republican in a presidential election in 1984):
🚨 New @MULawPoll 🚨
— Ariel Edwards-Levy (@aedwardslevy) June 15, 2016
Clinton 46, Trump 37 in Wisconsin
Little change among LV since March, no noticeable impact from Orlando
Trump: 'we have to check respectfully the mosques'
Trump says law enforcement has to “check the mosques and other places”:
We have to go, and we have to check respectfully the mosques, and other places. Because this is going to be a problem, if we don’t solve it, it is going to eat our lives...
There’s nothing wrong with being strong. There’s nothing wrong with being smart.
Saved seats for reporters shut out of the ongoing Trump event:
The Trump press corps is saving symbolic seats for the banned @Washingtonpost reporters today in Atlanta pic.twitter.com/cVeqm10BPt
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 15, 2016
Trump: if clubgoers 'had guns strapped', Orlando attack would have been less 'horrible'
If some of those great people that were in that club that night, had guns strapped to their waist or strapped to their ankle... you would have had a situation folks that would have been always horrible, but nothing like the carnage that we witnessed this weekend....
It’s going to continue to get worse until they respect us, folks.
Trump proposes that the US establish safe zones “over there” – Syria, it seems – and “get the Gulf states to pay for it”. After Mexico pays for a border wall, perhaps. Zing.
Then he skips to refugees in the United States. “Whether they assimilate or not,” you make the judgment, “but assimilation has not been a positive factor”.
Trump says the LGBT community “is so much in favor of what I’ve been saying”. He recalls a phone call from a friend who praised Trump for opening a club in Florida that admitted anybody, and a gay patron wrote a praiseful letter.
“Over the past three days, people are realizing what’s going on”, Trump says.
Then Trump makes a pitch for inclusiveness, which succumbs immediately to a call for a ban on Muslim immigrants:
When I say make America great again, we have to say for everybody. We have to say for everybody. We have to.
Make America great again. Make America safe again. And have it include everybody. And we have to stop people from pouring into our country. We have to stop it. Until we find out what the hell is going on.
Trump dismisses latest polls as 'phony'
Trump says he will talk about wages and the economy but first he will talk about the Orlando attack. He’s faulted Muslims as a group for failing to report potential domestic attacks, and he takes up a version of that criticism here:
We had an event, a horrible horrible event, this weekend in Orlando. ... Unthinkable... and when you listen to the stories of what took place... you say to yourself, how could this possibly be happening in the United States of AMerica?...
We have to have people report other people when they see things happening. And they’re not doing that.
A protester interrupts and the crowd chants “Trump Trump Trump”.
When Trump returns, there’s no more talk of Orlando – he’s talking about how he won the Republican primary race with a smaller staff and budget than Clinton. He fondly recalls winning Georgia in a landslide. Then he tells the story again of his victory in the New Hampshire primary.
Trump gave a similar speech last night in North Carolina. He enjoys talking about his primary victories.
Trump calls the most recent polling, which is extremely bad for him, “phony”:
“We’re doing very well. Watch what the end result is. And when you look at the phony poll numbers that I’m seeing – take a look at the poll numbers... I tell you, people are tired, they have to have strength. They have to have intelligence.”
Trump has begun to speak in Atlanta. Here’s that live video stream again:
With a poll indicating that a majority of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump’s response to the Orlando attack, the Hillary Clinton camp has produced a video seeking to capitalize on the favorability gap. The video highlights Trump’s response and related proposals for a ban on Muslim immigrants.
“What Donald Trump is saying is shameful,” the video begins:
Your @GOP presidential nominee responding to a terrorist attack with lies and conspiracy theories.https://t.co/TZJmXefmx4
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 15, 2016
Majority of poll respondents consider Orlando attack both act of terrorism and hate crime
The poll released this morning from CBS news is the first survey to shed light on whether Americans feel that presidential candidates have responded to the the mass shooting in Orlando appropriately, writes Guardian US data editor Mona Chalabi:
Trump fares far worse than Clinton on this measure - 51% of those surveyed disapproved of his response compared to 34% who disapproved of Clinton’s response. President Obama delivered an impassioned speech on Tuesday about the shooting which appeared to be well received - 44% said they approved of it, the highest net approval of any of the names put to respondents.
There were other interesting findings from this survey of 1,001 US adults which was conducted on June 13 and 14. But in what follows, keep in mind this was not a survey of registered or even likely voters and so this is not necessarily an indication of candidates’ approval ratings ahead of November’s election.
- Most respondents (57%) described the shooting as both an act of terrorism and “a hate crime against gays and lesbians”. Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say it was “mostly terrorism”. For more on hate crimes against LGBT Americans, read here.
- Another 57% of those surveyed said they would favor a nationwide ban on assault weapons. That figure is higher than when the survey was asked in December 2015 (44% of respondents said they would favor a ban) but it’s a response that fluctuates considerably, presumably in response to news stories such as Sunday’s horrific attack. When CBS asked the question in 1994, 78% of people said they would favor banning assault weapons.
- Two thirds of respondents said that ISIS is a “major threat” to the US, 15% said the terrorist group was a “minor threat” and just 13% said it was “not a threat”. The FBI have confirmed that the killer Omar Mateen was radicalized on the internet but his specific links to ISIS remain unclear.
It appears the Democratic filibuster for gun safety may last awhile:
Senate Dems are lining up for a late night on floor. Some senators are signing up for slots as late as 10:30 p.m. and beyond
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) June 15, 2016
Democrats mount filibuster for gun safety
Democrats in the Senate have mounted an effort to hold the floor to “honor the victims of the Orlando attack & demand the Senate address gun violence,” in the words of Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who launched the filibuster.
I'm speaking on the Senate floor to honor the victims of the Orlando attack & demand the Senate address gun violence. #Enough
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 15, 2016
I am prepared to stand on the Senate floor and talk about the need to prevent gun violence for as long as I can. I've had #Enough
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 15, 2016
Murphy already has been joined by multiple colleagues in support of the effort, which rates, in the arcane rules that govern the Senate, as a true-blue, honest-to-goodness, bona fide, genuine filibuster, meaning that Senate business is on hold for as long as they can keep it up.
There is a small niche subculture of people who live to live-tweet a true filibuster. This is our time to shine.
— Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) June 15, 2016
Wait, is this actually a true filibuster? I haven't been able to tell yet https://t.co/lqJtd0Vmw8
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 15, 2016
Yes. Post-motion to proceed, on the bill and no time agreement. https://t.co/w11Da4pBnL
— Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) June 15, 2016
Filibuster pedants, here's the deal: Senate is on CJS approps bill. There is no cloture clock running. Murphy can speak indefinitely.
— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) June 15, 2016
Updated
Inside the Trump event, supporters are listening to the Rolling Stones. Outside, protesters are growing in number:
The crowd of anti-Trump protesters growing larger by the minute, across from Trump Rally, inside the FOX. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/VrY34P66Eu
— Audrey Washington (@AudreyWSBTV) June 15, 2016
Donald Trump appears to be having a chilling effect on enthusiasm for the Republican party, according to Democratic pollster Geoff Garin...
The @realDonaldTrump effect: at 30 points net negative, the ratings for the GOP haven't been this bad since Feb 2014 pic.twitter.com/KzEGPe6gp5
— Geoff Garin (@geoffgarin) June 15, 2016
...while favorable opinion of the Democratic party is on the rise (though still underwater, as it has been since early 2013):
While @realDonaldTrump is driving up the GOP's negatives, feelings toward the Democratic Party are improving. pic.twitter.com/957T6fDP2X
— Geoff Garin (@geoffgarin) June 15, 2016
Updated
NRA responds to Trump: 'happy to meet'
The National Rifle Association endorsed Trump in May. “We have to unite, and we have to unite right now,” NRA executive director Chris Cox said at the time. “So on behalf of the thousands of patriots in this room and the 5 million NRA members across this country and the tens of millions who support us, I’m officially announcing the NRA’s endorsement of Donald Trump for president.”
That was before Trump indicated, this morning, that he may not agree with NRA opposition to a an on gun purchases for people on terror watch lists and no-fly lists.
Happy to meet @realdonaldtrump. Our position is no guns for terrorists—period. Due process & right to self-defense for law-abiding Americans
— NRA (@NRA) June 15, 2016
Representative Justin Amash of Michigan has been an early and sustained critic of Trump, and he finds a new point of apparent disagreement with the presumptive Republican nominee here:
Denying rights on the basis of secret lists, without due process, is unconstitutional. https://t.co/Ifxzlxl47o
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) June 15, 2016
Updated
Trump to be deposed in restaurant lawsuit
Speaking of restaurants, Donald Trump will be deposed tomorrow at a law office in Washington, DC, in connection with a lawsuit brought by Trump against chef Geoffrey Zakarian after Zakarian last fall backed out of a plan to open a restaurant in a Trump hotel owing to his objections to Trump’s campaign-trail comments about immigrants.
Trump is being deposed tomorrow in Washington in a restaurant lawsuit:https://t.co/6rBf3KH1zo pic.twitter.com/ryKJfJHLBn
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) June 15, 2016
Donald Trump is being introduced by Herman Cain, the restaurant entrepreneur and former GOP presidential candidate, at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia.
Cain says Trump is not a racist.
Herman Cain: "I know what a racist looks like when I see one. And Donald Trump is not a racist."
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) June 15, 2016
Here’s a live video stream:
Updated
Here’s a powerful response by an Iraq war veteran to Donald Trump’s repeated suggestion, made most recently last night, that US soldiers stole money meant for Iraqi reconstruction and reparations payments:
I rarely discuss politics on this platform, but yesterday, the Republican nominee for President said something that compels me to speak out.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
When I deployed to Iraq in 2009 I was made Non Commissioned Officer in Charge of Foreign Claims for the entirety of Western Baghdad.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
My job for a whole year was to assess damage to Iraqi citizen’s property, and person and compensate them monetarily.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Or we killed someone in the line of fire, it was my job to make it right.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
The job was tough, almost impossible, but it was the just thing to do and helped build a bridge of trust between us and the citizenry.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
There was always more to do, and the stack of files and faces never dwindled. I got half a day off every two weeks.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Every mission out into the city carried with it tremendous risk, but we had a job to do, and forcibly put that out of our minds.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
As a result, we instantly became a high value target for insurgents who wanted to relieve us of said cash at one of our weekly gatherings.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
“How about bringing baskets of money — millions and millions of dollars — and handing it out?”
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
I am living well right now - some student loan debt aside - but not because I pocketed the hard-earned taxpayer money that I was entrusted.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
The idea that Trump would call out the integrity of those who answered the call of service and deployed to a war zone is repellant.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Don’t believe him when he says he’s for Veterans. It's lip service entirely.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Republican lawmakers duck questions about Trump
As Donald Trump persisted with his controversial and offensive comments on Tuesday, Republican elected officials on Capitol Hill continued to distance themselves from their party’s presumptive presidential nominee, writes Guardian politics reporter Ben Jacobs:
One day after Trump made national headlines in a speech in which he reiterated his call for a Muslim ban, implied Muslim Americans knew in advance about terrorist attacks, and called on Barack Obama to resign in the wake of the attack on an Orlando LGBT nightclub, Republicans had one consistent reaction. As Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters: “I am not going to comment on the presidential candidate today.”
Republican senators on Capitol Hill set a new record for “being late to meetings” or urgently holding their cellphones to their ears in order to avoid questions about Trump.
Some of them even played coy. Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who faces re-election this year, insisted that he hadn’t heard Trump’s speech on Monday. As Isakson told the Guardian: “I hate to comment on something I didn’t hear.” But the Republican did make clear his opposition to Trump’s Muslim ban, saying: “Banning immigrants coming into the country isn’t going to solve terrorism; banning guns is not going stop murder.”
Others, however, were more willing to face the music. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who is also facing re-election this year, first required reporters to be more specific about which controversial Trump comment they were asking about. When the Muslim ban was specified, Portman insisted: “I don’t support a Muslim ban; it’s not practical and not consistent with the American standard of not having a religious test.”
Read the full piece here:
Trump disapproval among Hispanics nears 90%
Here’s a result from this morning’s Washington Post / ABC News poll that could spell trouble for Donald Trump’s electoral prospects in Arizona, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Texas and elsewhere.
In response to the question, “Overall, do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Donald Trump?” 89% of Hispanic respondents said they had an unfavorable impression – and 76% said “strongly unfavorable”.
But Hispanic and Latino voters do not appear to uniquely dislike Trump among non-white voters. 88% of non-white voters overall told the survey they had an unfavorable view of the presumptive Republican nominee.
Updated
Majority of Americans disapprove of Trump response to Orlando attack – poll
More than half of Americans (51%) disapprove of Donald Trump’s response to the 12 June attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, while giving Barack Obama net positive ratings for his response and splitting on Hillary Clinton’s response, according to a CBS News poll published Wednesday morning:
NEW CBS Poll: Approve/Disapprove of Orlando response —
— Will Jordan (@williamjordann) June 15, 2016
Obama: 44/34 (+10)
Clinton: 36/34 (+2)
Trump: 25/51 (-26)https://t.co/KoMR68IhN6
If the CBS poll is indicative of the national mood, the trend would contradict a correlation Trump has drawn between tragedy and his poll numbers.
“Whenever there’s a tragedy, everything goes up, my numbers go way up because we have no strength in this country, we have weak, sad politicians,” he told CNN in December, a few weeks after coordinated terror attacks in Paris that killed 130.
One lawmaker calls Trump Orlando response "tacky." Another says it's "unamerican." And these are Republicans. https://t.co/dJ7RmbN5kr
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 15, 2016
Updated
Trump recapitulates claim of Obama-terrorist ties
Donald Trump has tweeted a link to a report by the anti-Obama media outfit Breitbart, claiming – insofar as Trump’s Twitter represents his thinking (we’re seeking comment from the Trump campaign) – that the report is evidence that Trump was “right” when he suggested that Barack Obama harbors some nefarious secret agenda when it comes to attacks such as Sunday’s attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
For background on what Trump suggested, read our coverage.
Here’s Trump’s new tweet:
An: Media fell all over themselves criticizing what DonaldTrump "may have insinuated about @POTUS." But he's right: https://t.co/bIIdYtvZYw
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2016
The tweet is confounding on multiple levels. First, Trump had indignantly claimed that he had not made a sinister suggestion about the president and the Orlando shooting, to the extent that Trump attacked the Washington Post and revoked the paper’s media credentials for reporting that he had suggested that, which he now tweets he was right for saying.
The Trump camp on Monday night said that “I was referring to the fact that at times President Obama seems more in support of Muslims than Israel”.
Second, the Breitbart report does not support the claim that Trump earlier said he didn’t make but now appears to have taken ownership of. The Breitbart report is a faulty reading of an internal intelligence document from 2012 about the security situation in Syria. The document notes that “the West” is supporting the Syrian opposition. It also notes that al-Qaeda is part of the insurgency. Incorrectly conflating the opposition and the insurgency, the Breitbart report concludes that the Obama administration supports al-Qaeda in Syria.
Insofar as that may have been true or remain true, given the shifting lines of allegiance and fighter identities in the Syrian conflict and the fluctuation of the US role, the intellectual trail Trump followed from the faulty reading of the 2012 intelligence report on Syria to a conclusion about Obama and the Orlando massacre is obscure.
*Trump suggests Obama played role in Orlando*
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) June 15, 2016
*WaPo writes it up*
*Trump revokes WaPo credentials*
*tweets this* https://t.co/wrNCETD0DH
Updated
Trump claims he will take on NRA over access to guns for people on watchlists
Donald Trump has tweeted that he will meet with the National Rifle Association about a practice the gun lobby has strongly opposed: banning people on terrorism watchlists or no-fly lists from buying guns. Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton supports such a ban. “If you’re too dangerous to get on a plane, you’re too dangerous to buy a gun in America,” she said Monday.
The NRA opposes such a ban, however, arguing that owing to the faultiness of the lists, a ban could deprive innocent Americans who end up on a list incorrectly of what the group describes as a constitutional right to freely purchase guns. The NRA opposed a senate initiative in the wake of the 13 November 2015 Paris terror attacks that would have tied terror watch lists and no-fly lists to gun purchases.
Is a Trump-NRA clash brewing?
I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2016
“According to a March analysis by the Government Accountability Office, people on the FBI’s consolidated Terrorist Watchlist successfully passed the background check required to purchase firearms more than 90 percent of the time, with more than 2,043 approvals between 2004 and 2014,” the AP reported. “The office is an investigative branch of Congress.”
Jennifer Baker, director of public affairs for the group, said in November: “The NRA does not want terrorists or dangerous people to have firearms, any suggestion otherwise is offensive and wrong,”
Updated
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. “Negative views of Donald Trump have surged to their highest level of the 2016 campaign,” according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll, for which “large majorities of the interviews” were conducted before the Orlando mass shooting, found that 70% of respondents had an unfavorable view of Trump.
The latest survey was released a day after a Bloomberg poll found Trump trailing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton 37-49. The new poll, significantly, found that Trump had lost support among his supposed base voters – white voters without a college degree. Trump’s approval with that set “flipped from a plus-14 in May to slightly negative minus-7 in the latest survey”. He performed poorly with independents, too:
Among independents, Trump’s net rating has shifted from from -19 last month to -38 in the latest survey, returning him to roughly the same standing as in April (-37).
Trump found some controversy Tuesday night when he suggested, at a rally in North Carolina, that US soldiers had stolen money meant for the reconstruction of Iraq. He has suggested the same previously, but late on Tuesday, Trump’s campaign tried to walk back his comments, saying the candidate was talking about Iraqi soldiers, which seems false.
Donald Trump, as depicted in today’s polls. pic.twitter.com/IVTYIDGKUk
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) June 15, 2016
Bernie Sanders met for more than an hour with Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night after the Washington DC primary, which Clinton won 79-21. The two camps issued nearly identical statements after the meeting, saying they “had a positive discussion about how best to bring more people into the political process and about the dangerous threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation”.
Sanders’ statement continued:
The two discussed a variety of issues where they are seeking common ground: substantially raising the minimum wage; real campaign finance reform; making healthcare universal and accessible; making college affordable and reducing student debt.
Sanders and Clinton agreed to continue working to develop a progressive agenda that addresses the needs of working families and the middle class and adopting a progressive platform for the Democratic National Convention.
Sanders plans to address supporters in a live video broadcast on Thursday night in which he has said he will address the future of his campaign.
