Today in Campaign 2016
- As Donald Trump continued his attempts to reach out to African American voters, boxing promoter Don King used the N-word in introducing him at a church in Cleveland. Speaking at the Midwest Vision and Values Pastors Leadership Conference hosted by longtime Trump ally Dr Darrell Scott, King used the term seemingly by accident while attempting to use “negro” as a replacement. “I told Michael Jackson, I said, ‘If you are poor, you are a poor negro,’” he said. “I would use the N-word. But if you are rich, you are a rich negro. If you are intelligent, intellectual, you’re an intellectual negro. If you are a dancing and sliding and gliding nigger – I meant negro – you’re a dancing and sliding and gliding negro. So dare not alienate because you cannot assimilate.” The use of the racial epithet led to awkward laughter from Trump and other audience members.
- The Green party may try to “escort” candidate Jill Stein into the presidential debates in an attempt to get her onstage, a campaign adviser announced on Wednesday. Kevin Zeese told the Guardian that Stein, her vice-presidential candidate Ajamu Baraka and 100 of her supporters were willing to risk arrest at the debates, the first of which will be held at New York’s Hofstra University on Monday. “About 300 people have already signed up to protest, 100 are willing to risk arrest,” Zeese said.“We hope Jill and Ajamu will not get arrested as we want them to respond in live time to the debate but when you are on the frontlines, things are not always in our control.” The Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Friday that the third-party candidates Stein and Libertarian Gary Johnson had failed to qualify for the first debate.
- In a one-on-one interview with a local ABC affiliate before a campaign appearance in Toledo, Ohio, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a reporter that the reason behind his reversal on his long-held stance on President Barack Obama’s citizenship was that he “wanted to get on with the campaign.”
- “This announcement earlier this week with you saying that you believe President Obama was in fact born in the United States, after all the years where you’ve expressed some doubt, what changed?” asked ABC6 reporter Ben Garbarek.
- This coming weekend, cast members from Aaron Sorkin walk-and-talk political drama The West Wing will campaign for Hillary Clinton in Ohio, the biggest instance of liberal showbiz wish fulfillment since... well, since The West Wing was on the air in the first place.
NEW --> The gang is getting back together: the cast of The West Wing will campaign for @HillaryClinton in stops across Ohio this weekend. pic.twitter.com/ZwyoIyiIDX
— Ian Sams (@IanSams) September 21, 2016
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief Kerr Putney has just told Fox News that the person taken to hospital with “life-threatening injuries” earlier today has died, in a second night of protests over the death of 43-year-old black man.
Don King joins Donald Trump for town hall on Fox News
Boxing promoter and convicted manslaughterer Don Kin joined Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s town hall aimed at winning the hearts of African American voters today, a sentence we never thought we’d be typing.
“What I’m asking Donald Trump to do is what Donald Trump volunteered to do, it is to change the system,” King, who once kicked a man to death on a stretch of road now named after him, said. “It doesn’t matter about, whatever we seem right, wrong or indifferent. If the system doesn’t change, it’s going to be the same. So I say, why would Donald Trump be different from Obama or any other president? Because he will call them out.?
King cited the example of South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, who he initially called “Lindsey Tucker.”
Would-be Democratic presidential nominee Bernie Sanders may no longer have a shot at winning his (newly adopted) party’s nomination, but he has found a new role to take on: that of a young-adult nonfiction author.
Sanders’ upcoming book, Our Revolution, will reportedly be adapted for high school-age kids, according to CNN.
The book, according to publisher Henry Holt, will be “an inspiring teen guide to engaging with and shaping the world - a perfect gift and important read.”
Updated
Hillary Clinton’s campaign has responded to Donald Trump’s declaration that the only reason he abandoned his never-ending quest to prove that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States was that he wanted to “get on with the campaign.”
“After spending 5 years championing a conspiracy theory to undermine our first African American President, Donald Trump hasn’t actually changed his mind,” said campaign spokesperson Jesse Ferguson. “He only gave his 36 second press statement last week to try to change the subject - and it didn’t work.”
Donald Trump, on his foundation using charitable donations to settle his legal debts:
The foundation is really there. It gives money to that. It’s really been doing a good job. I think we put that to sleep just by putting out the last report.
Updated
Donald Trump’s endorsement of a nationwide “stop-and-frisk” policy at a town hall hosted by acolyte Sean Hannity this afternoon has been well reported, but here are a few other moments from the town hall that will likely spark intense conversations regarding the candidate’s policies:
On the shooting of an unarmed man in Tulsa, Oklahoma:
HANNITY: I saw it.
TRUMP: And a young policemen shot this man. I don’t get it. I don’t care where you’re coming from. There was something really bad going on.
HANNITY: I saw it. He had his hands up.
TRUMP: I don’t know if she choked. He was walking. His hands were high. He was walking to the car. He put the hands on the car. Now, maybe she choked. Something really bad happened.
On “the race card”:
You know, the one thing I see is that when you start to win, and I’ve watched this not just for me, I’ve watched it over the years, when you start to win and win and win, they have nothing to say and they can’t stop you, they always start using the racist word. It’s a very interesting phenomenon, but the word “racist” comes out and that means that you’re winning and that’s their last chance, and I don’t think it’s working.
Donald Trump on birtherism change of heart: 'I just wanted to get on with the campaign'
In a one-on-one interview with a local ABC affiliate before a campaign appearance in Toledo, Ohio, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a reporter that the reason behind his reversal on his long-held stance on President Barack Obama’s citizenship was that he “wanted to get on with the campaign.”
“This announcement earlier this week with you saying that you believe President Obama was in fact born in the United States, after all the years where you’ve expressed some doubt, what changed?” asked ABC6 reporter Ben Garbarek.
“Well, I just wanted to get on with, I wanted to get on with the campaign,” Trump said. “A lot of people were asking me questions. We want to talk about jobs. We want to talk about the military. We want to talk about Isis and get rid of Isis. We want to talk about bringing jobs back to this area because you’ve been decimated so we just wanted to get back on the subject of jobs, military, taking care of our vets, et cetera.”
Trump then left the interview for the event.
Trump attempted to resolve the issue last Friday by admitting that Obama was born in the US after years of promoting false claims that he was born in Kenya, but continued to falsely claim that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton was behind the conspiracy theory.
Updated
Gary Johnson calls 'bullshit' on running mate dropping out of race
Libertarian presidential nominee and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson dropped a colorful bit of language during a Facebook Live interview this afternoon, telling a journalist that rumors that his running mate, Bill Weld, is on the verge of dropping from the ticket are “bullshit.”
The rumor, started last week by reporter Carl Bernstein, implies that Weld, startled by the possibility that the Libertarian ticket could spoil Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the White House and functionally hand the election to Republican nominee Donald Trump, will soon drop out of the race and endorse Clinton.
“That is bullshit,” Johnson told USA Today opinion editor Bill Sternberg, who was slightly flummoxed by the language.
“We are on Facebook Live,” Sternberg said.
House Democrats and civil rights experts have warned that tens of thousands of African American voters face potential disenfranchisement in November’s presidential election, the first since the supreme court struck down key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told a meeting at the US Capitol on Wednesday that it is contesting “dozens” of litigations across the country.
“Right now we are fighting in Hancock County, Georgia, where election officials have undertaken an effort to ‘clean up’ the registration rolls and have purged legitimately registered African Americans from the rolls,” she said. “They engage the sheriff’s office in this scheme. The sheriff’s office will be deployed to people’s homes and tell you that you are being issued a summons to come down and establish your voting eligibility.”
Clarke added: “We filed just last week in Georgia where the secretary of state’s office has failed to process more than 42,000 registration forms from people who want to vote because of a restrictive practice that requires that every letter, every digit, every character on a registration form exactly match information contained in the state’s database. And we know those databases are riddled with errors and this is a practice that disadvantages African Americans and minority voters in particular.”
In 2013, the supreme court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act in a 5-4 ruling in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder. Section 4 concerned the formula for determining which states are covered under Section 5 of the law requiring “pre-clearance” for changes to voting laws. This rendered Section 5 inoperative unless Congress came up with a revised version of determining coverage. Congress has so far failed to do so; activists blamed Republican leaders for inaction.
Clarke noted that Wednesday’s panel discussion was taking part in the Lyndon Johnson room, named after the president who signed voting rights into law. She warned: “What I can tell you is this: the world has changed in the absence of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Officials at the state and the local level have exploited every opportunity they can to institute or maintain discriminatory voting practices in the absence of section 5.
“Each day that Congress fails to act, we not only subject African Americans and other minority voters to the recurring indignity of voter discrimination but taxpayers suffer too. North Carolina has spent nearly $5m defending its discriminatory voter suppression law; Texas has spent more than $3.5m defending its discriminatory voter ID law. And the price tag increases each day.
“Voter discrimination, if left unchecked, will stand as a stain on our democracy. It is bad for taxpayers, it is bad for Americans. It is time for Congress to stop turning a blind eye to the resurgence of voter discrimination in our country.”
Recent restrictions passed by 14 states include new photo ID requirements, a reduction in early voting days and the abolition of same-day registration. Voter fraud is often cited as a reason but experts said the problem is “minuscule”.
Civil rights stalwart John Lewis, a Democratic Representative from Georgia, was in the room when Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. But he said during this year’s primaries he came across a couple who had been married for 40 but were told to vote at separate polling stations.
“In the past few months and years I’ve traveled across the country and I know that there is a deliberate persistent systematic effort to make it harder and more difficult for the disabled, student, senior, minority, the poor and rural voters to participate in the democratic process. That’s not right, not fair, and it’s not just.”
He said it was a “disgrace” that Congress has not acted and call on Clarke’s organisation to “file suits all over the place to make it real, make it plain”.
Ted Cruz appears pleased with Donald Trump’s embrace of a discredited conspiracy theory that the United States is turning over “control” of the Internet to the United Nations.
Appreciate @realDonaldTrump’s support of our efforts to keep the internet free: https://t.co/gc4aRustpx
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 21, 2016
New national poll: Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 7 points in two-way race
According to the latest national poll released by NBC/the Wall Street Journal, former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton leads Republican nominee Donald Trump by 7 points nationally, 48% to 41%, a,d leads by 6 points in a four-way race, 43% to Trump’s 37%.
Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson has broken the double digits with 10% support, while Green nominee Jill Stein holds at 3%.
Clinton heads into the first presidential debate this coming Monday with only slightly weakened margins since the last time the poll was conducted, and with an increase in her (still dismal) favorability ratings. Clinton is now viewed positively by 37% of voters and negatively by 52%, while views of Trump are still deeply, historically negative at 28% positive, 61% negative, a decrease in favorability ratings since the beginning of the summer.
The poll, conducted by phone, includes 1,000 registered voters and was between 16-19 September. Among the 922 respondents deemed “likely voters,” the margin for error is 3.23 percentage points.
Updated
Donald Trump today described the threat posed by Syrian refugees as not “only a matter of terrorism, but also a matter of quality of life”.
The statement marked a new escalation of Trump’s rhetoric warning of the danger of admitting into the United States Syrian refugees, whom he has repeatedly compared to the Trojan horse.
Trump’s remarks came at a rally in Toledo, Ohio, where the Republican nominee once again addressed the issue of terrorism in the aftermath of the bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey in the past week.
He linked the attack to the admission of immigrants and refugees from overseas. “We’ve admitted tens of thousands with no effective screening plan,” Trump claimed, adding: “We have no idea who we are letting in. You’ve seen what happened.”
The United States has an extensive refugee screening program for those entering from Syria that takes up to two years. The accused New York bomber, Ahmad Khan Rahami, entered the US as a child and is a naturalized citizen.
The Republican nominee expanded his argument, bringing in concerns about “quality of life”.
Trump claimed: “Altogether, the Hillary Clinton plan would bring in 620,000 refugees in the first term. Her plan would cost $400bn in terms of lifetime welfare and entitlement costs – think of that.”
Both of these figures have been proven false by independent fact-checkers.
Donald Trump’s oldest son has defended comparing Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles today, telling the Utah-based Deseret News that the failures of refugee programs in Europe are evidence that he is right.
“We’ve seen what’s going on in Europe,” Donald Trump Jr. said. “We can’t be naive to that and pretend that’s not happening there. If there’s one death associated with it because we messed up and we didn’t do it right, that’s a problem for me.”
This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016
The tweet sparked outrage on social media, with some users posting harrowing images of Syrians caught up in the civil war juxtaposed with the word Skittles.
The younger Trump protested that photo he tweeted was not an exact ratio, because it “didn’t say numbers of Skittles.”
'The West Wing' cast to campaign for Hillary Clinton in Ohio
This coming weekend, cast members from Aaron Sorkin walk-and-talk political drama The West Wing will campaign for Hillary Clinton in Ohio, the biggest instance of liberal showbiz wish fulfillment since... well, since The West Wing was on the air in the first place.
Actors Richard Schiff, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, Dulé Hill, Joshua Malina and Mary McCormack join the Clinton campaign for “grassroots organizing events” across the Buckeye State this weekend, including stops in the Mahoning Valley, Cleveland, Sandusky and Toledo areas on Saturday and in the Dayton and Columbus areas on Sunday.
The actors will “discuss why they are supporting Clinton and urge Ohioans to register to vote ahead of the October 11 deadline,” according to a release from the Clinton campaign, which will be simultaneously preparing for a debate that the team probably hopes will play out like President Jed Barltlet’s showdown with Robert Richie:
Donald Trump will reportedly endorse nationwide stop-and-frisk policies at a town hall event with Sean Hannity tonight:
Trump will propose nationwide stop-and-frisk to address violence in black community 2nite on Hannity: pic.twitter.com/HDSPYtepqb
— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) September 21, 2016
Here’s Clinton’s conclusion:
We don’t thrive on tearing each other apart, or separating ourselves.
We know that we’re stronger together. We believe in equality and dignity for all. And when we fall short, we strive to do better, to be better… to come closer to becoming that more perfect union.
This election is a chance for us to move still closer to that goal. To make sure that everyone can contribute to a growing and prospering America. To say loudly and clearly that in thiscountry, no one’s worthless. No one’s “less than.” In this country, we all belong.
We all have value. Because in the United States of America – the greatest nation in the world – we believe that everyone’s created equal.
And you know what else we believe? We also believe that love trumps hate. Thank you all.
.@HillaryClinton says she carried this Boston Globe article around with her: https://t.co/h3rKeYVWLb
— Amy Chozick (@amychozick) September 21, 2016
Updated
Clinton describes disabilities equality agenda
Here’s the meat of it. Clinton lays out planks for equality for people with disabilities: making colleges and universities accessible; standing up the Autism Works employment program; and ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Clinton:
These ideas are just a start. We’re working with advocates to come up with more. And if you’ve got an idea, we want to hear it. Because this issue is very close to my heart.
Updated
Clinton quotes Christopher Reeve, whom she identifies for the younger folks, extemporizing that Reeve “was unbelievably good-looking” (that wasn’t in her prepared remarks):
I’ll never forget something the actor Christopher Reeve said. Some of you may be too young to know who he was – he was a huge star, played Superman, he was unbelievably good looking. He and his wife were friends of mine, and then he was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident.
And he once said that he had been thinking about a phrase that comes up a lot in our politics – “family values.” “Since my accident,” he said, “I’ve found a definition that seems to make sense. I think it means that we’re all family. And that we all have value.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Updated
Clinton talks about meeting children with disabilities at the Children’s Defense Fund in the 1970s and observing that some of them were excluded from school and life opportunities by a lack of basic awareness and infrastructure:
There were kids who were hard-of-hearing. Kids with intellectual disabilities. I remember one little girl in a wheelchair, who was smart, curious, and absolutely desperate to go to school. But that chair held her back. Not all schools had ramps or accessible bathrooms.
And most teachers and aides weren’t trained to help her. So she didn’t get to go. It felt like the world had said to her, “Sorry kid – your life just isn’t going to be worth very much.” And she and her family weren’t rich and powerful, so what could they do about it?
Clinton pivots to talk of her mother’s experience:
That little girl reminded me of another little girl – my mother. She didn’t face the exact same challenges growing up – but she, too, was blocked from a full and happy childhood. She was abandoned by her parents, raised by grandparents who didn’t want her, and ended up on her own when she was just 14, supporting herself as a housemaid. But finally, something went her way. The woman she worked for encouraged her to finish high school.
And that family showed my mother what a happy family looked like. After many lonely years, it was the start of a better life.
Clinton gets into the thick of her speech about building opportunities for Americans with disabilities:
I’m talking about people with disabilities. Men and women, boys and girls who have talents, skills, ideas, and dreams for themselves and their families, just like anybody else. Whether they can participate in our economy and lead rich, full lives that are as healthy and productive as possible is a reflection on us as a country. And right now, in many ways, we are falling short. We’ve got to face that, and do better – for everyone’s sake. Because this really does go to the heart of who we are as Americans.
I intend this to be a vital aspect of my presidency – bringing us together, as a nation, to recognize the humanity and support the potential of all our people.
And I want you to hear this, because this is not well known. Nearly one in five Americans lives with a disability. Some of those disabilities are highly visible, some harder to notice. If you don’t think you know someone with a disability, I promise you, you do. But their disability is just one part of who they are.
Clinton: campaign about opportunity for all
While Trump in Toledo hammers on about “extreme vetting,” Clinton is saying this:
And that’s why we’re all here today – because in just 48 days – can you believe it? – in just 48 days, Americans will go to the polls and choose our next president.
I want to just stress that our campaign is about the fundamental belief that, in America, every person, no matter what you look like or who you are, should have the chance to go as far as your dreams will take you. That’s the basic bargain that made our country great. And it’s our job to make sure it’s there for future generations.
Building an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, is the central challenge of our time.
Clinton on African Americans killed by police: 'it's unbearable'
Before her speech on creating economic opportunities for disabled Americans, Clinton talks about the killings by police of Terence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott:
I’m here to talk about how to make our economy work for everyone – but first, I need to say something about two very upsetting incidents that took place over the past few days. First, an unarmed man named Terence Crutcher was shot and killed by a police officer in Tulsa. Then, a man named Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by a police officer in Charlotte. I’m sending condolences and prayers to the families, and I know a lot of you are as well.
There is still much we don’t know yet about what happened in both incidents. But we do knowthat we have two more names to add to a long list of African Americans killed by police officers. It’s unbearable. And it needs to become intolerable.
We also saw the targeting of police officers in Philadelphia last week. And last night in Charlotte, 12 officers were injured in demonstrations following Keith Lamont Scott’s death.
Every day, police officers across the country are serving with extraordinary courage and honor and skill. We saw that again this weekend in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota. Our police handled those terrorist attacks exactly right. They likely saved a lot of lives.
“She is a true friend and mentor, a true advocate and a true leader,” Somoza concludes.
Clinton takes the stage, hugs Somoza and thanks the crowd and the mayor and other dignitaries.
Then she swings into her prepared remarks:
I want to thank Anastasia for that introduction. Didn’t she do an amazing job? I first met Anastasia when she was 9 years old. She raised her hand at a town hall and said,
“my twin sister can’t speak. Because of that, they put her in a separate class, apart from the rest of the kids. But she can communicate with a computer.
And she’s very smart and would do just as well as anyone else, if the principal and teachers would just give her the chance.”
I was just blown away by this 9-year-old girl, her confidence and how much she loved her sister. So Anastasia and I stayed in touch over the years. When she grew up, she became an intern in the Senate. I was so proud of her speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. And I’m very excited that she’s here with us today.
I also want to thank you Orlando. It’s great to be back in this wonderful city with all of you. You’ve been through a lot this year. And what has been so notable is you’ve responded with grace. You’ve shown the world what Orlando is made of – strength, love and kindness.
That’s something we could all use more of right now.
Somoza is delivering a moving tribute to Clinton’s work on behalf of Americans with disabilities:
Hillary Clinton has always saved a place for us at the table. Whether it’s education, employment opportunities or community integration, she has been our advocate each and every day, for each and every one of us. ...
Hillary had our back for 30 years. Now it’s time for us to have hers.
Disability rights activist Anastasia Somoza takes the stage in her wheelchair to introduce Clinton. She first met Clinton at 9 years old. She talks about how Clinton has supported her and why she supports Clinton: “she is also by our side as we fight our own personal battles.”
Here’s that live stream again:
Updated
Here’s video of Trump’s take earlier on the shooting of unarmed Tulsa man Terence Crutcher by officer Betty Shelby:
Trump has moved on to Toledo, where he’s being introduced, again, by Don King:
Hours after using the N-word in front of Trump, convicted killer Don King is introducing Trump again
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) September 21, 2016
Don King is praising the "intestinal fortitude" of "a young man that is the spirit of America, Donald J. Trump"
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) September 21, 2016
Updated
Here’s a live stream of the Hillary Clinton event in Orlando, Florida. The stage is empty as yet. A stagehand is wiping down the Teleprompter and doing a mic check:
Here are a couple boutique Trump-related web sites you might enjoy, if you haven’t already. The first, trumptwitterarchive.com, indexes Trump’s tweet by obsession / insult:
This is an amazing public service https://t.co/t6pJKxkPRa
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 21, 2016
Here’s another site, putintrump.org, set up by the Progress for America Political Action Committee, funded by online entrepreneur and Democratic donor Rob Glaser.
The site details Putin’s ties to Russia and warns “our democracy is on the line.”:
As the U.S. presidential election enters the home stretch, we see overwhelming evidence that a Donald Trump presidency would put U.S. national security interests at risk. Trump’s cozy relationship and lavish praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump’s criticism of the historic U.S. alliance with NATO partners, his invitation to Russian hackers to meddle in the presidential election, and his campaign staff’s financial ties to pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine all pose a danger to America’s vital national interests.
Through Election Day, www.putintrump.org will analyze and raise awareness on this critical set of issues. Our goal is to be the Web’s most rigorous and thorough source for news and information on the dangerous Putin-Trump connection.
Clinton camp thinks 'moderator should play a role' in debate
Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri has told reporters traveling with the candidate that “debate preparations are happening” in the Clinton camp, and while Clinton “is not practicing every day, she has material that she reviews everyday.”
“She feels the moderator should play a role of someone who makes sure the audience know the truth,” Palmieri said.
NBC newsman Matt Lauer was criticized following a forum with the candidates earlier this month for allowing Trump to say that he had opposed the invasion of Iraq when in fact he supported it beforehand.
Updated
OK, let’s argue over whether Trump can steal Wisconsin. NB: NGH stands for Not Gonna Happen.
To #TrumpTrain responding to above with "what about Wisconsin?" Trump has never led in a poll there. Mitt lost by 7 pts/200k+ votes. NGH.
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) September 21, 2016
there's a lot of difference between a "3-point lead" that's 41-38 and a "3-point lead" that's, say, 51-48.
— Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) September 21, 2016
If the Clinton campaign starts advertising in Wisconsin, we'll know there's something major going on.
— Nick Riccardi (@NickRiccardi) September 21, 2016
Whoa. Wisconsin looking tight as a tick. Add it to PA/NH as possible winning state for Trump https://t.co/w3K9UQXRyG
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) September 21, 2016
Alternatively: After Clinton’s worst weeks, Trump still running behind Romney across the midwest. https://t.co/GBnxsRwDoc
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) September 21, 2016
Note: the Marquette poll hasn’t moved since Clinton’s bad “deplorables” / van-stumble weekend (how’s that for horrible campaign shorthand for you):
@freddoso exactly the same numbers as their prior poll (41-38).
— Taniel (@Taniel) September 21, 2016
Clinton up 3 points in Wisconsin – Marquette poll
This seems... snug... in a four-way race in Wisconsin:
In 4-candidate race, among likely voters, it’s Clinton 41%, Trump 38%, Libertarian Gary Johnson 11%, Green Party’s Jill Stein 2%. #mulawpoll
— MULawPoll (@MULawPoll) September 21, 2016
Clinton leads Trump by two points, 44-42, in a head-to-head matchup in the poll, which is the local gold standard.
Wisconsin’s politics is in part a battle between Democratic, mixed-race Milwaukee and its Republican, majority-white suburbs. Republican governor Scott Walker has won three elections, including a recall vote, in off-years – non-presidential-election years – thanks in part to an extremely well-oiled Republican machine that reliably turns most everyone out to vote, even for midterms.
But the state has gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1984, Reagan’s reelection.
Starting to look like Wisconsin and even Maine may be riper targets for Trump than NH
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) September 21, 2016
Poll was conducted September 15-18. Margin of error is +/-4.4 percentage points for the full sample. 677 out of 802 people said they were certain to vote, which we label likely voters. Margin of error for them is +/-4.8 points.
The state’s contested US senate seat still looks like a pickup for the Democrats:
Among registered voters, Feingold backed by 46%, Johnson backed by 40%. #mulawpoll
— MULawPoll (@MULawPoll) September 21, 2016
Updated
Smoking gun documented Trump's 'deep aversion to funding his own foundation'
This is a good flag... the Smoking Gun reads Trump Foundation tax returns every year (as a nonprofit, the organization must make them public) and has long reported that the foundation doesn’t give away much and Trump had not contributed since 2008:
Gotta give due credit to the Smoking Gun; they were out in front on the Trump Foundation story in January. https://t.co/15lnxfEGEU
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 21, 2016
For the sixth straight year, Donald Trump made no contributions to his own charitable foundation, instead relying on a hefty contribution from a New York City ticket scalper to underwrite the group’s activities, according to a new Internal Revenue Service filing. [...]
IRS records show that the last time Trump personally deposited funds into his eponymous foundation was 2008, when he cut the organization a check for $30,000.
Since that time, the GOP presidential candidate has used other people’s money to fund his foundation’s minimal efforts.
Don’t miss the kicker:
Until Trump releases his personal tax returns, the true level of his charitable giving will remain unknown.
A “shit ton of famous people” have banded together to get US voters to the polls on 8 November. Gathered together by director Joss Whedon, the celebrities made their pitch to the public in a three-minute video titled Important, writes the Guardian’s Nicole Puglise:
The video is the first in a series coming from Whedon’s new Super Pac, Save the Day, which is “dedicated to the idea that voting is a necessary and heroic act” and “committed to fighting the apathy, cynicism, and honest confusion that keeps citizens from using their vote”.
Twenty-seven celebrities in total appear in the video, including Robert Downey Jr,Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders and Don Cheadle from Whedon’s Avengers films, as well as Neil Patrick Harris, Jesse Williams, Julianne Moore, Keegan-Michael Key and a mustachioed James Franco. Stanley Tucci and Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr both implore you to register.
Read the full piece here.
Clinton up 9 points in New Hampshire - poll
A new (high-quality) poll of likely voters in New Hampshire has Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by 9 points in a four-way race – but Republican incumbent senator Kelly Ayotte is ahead of Democratic governor Maggie Hassan by two points in the poll.
On the presidential side it’s:
Clinton 47
Trump 38
Johnson 10
Stein 1
Monmouth:
Clinton has the advantage among voters under 50 years old (45% to 35%) as well as those age 50 and older (49% to 41%). Clinton leads among women (56% to 30%) and voters with a college degree (54% to 31%). Trump leads among men (47% to 37%) and voters without a college education (47% to 40%).
The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from September 17 to 20, 2016 with 400 New Hampshire residents likely to vote in the November election. This sample has a margin of error of + 4.9 percent. The poll was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, NJ.
Last time Trump led in a live interview poll that called cells in New Hampshire? Never.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) September 21, 2016
So Trump gets smashed but Ayotte and Sununu doing just fine? #nhpolitics https://t.co/W9zwoto64g
— James Pindell (@JamesPindell) September 21, 2016
Update: ooh snap
@KellyannePolls I don't think you tweeted this one yet. https://t.co/bbwkxhO7ta
— Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) September 21, 2016
Updated
After his pastors’ event at the Cleveland Heights church, Donald Trump is taping a town hall with superfan Sean Hannity that is billed as an airing and addressing of African Americans’ concerns.
...
Trump's "African-American" town hall on Hannity pic.twitter.com/MINAQ9rbXY
— Brandon English (@brandonenglish) September 21, 2016
Clinton held cash advantage at end of August
Newly released fundraising figures for August show Clinton with a significant cash advantage, although both campaigns are now raking in the dough, CNN reports:
Clinton’s campaign raised $59.5 million and had about $68 million on hand at the end of August; Trump’s raised $41.7 million and had $50.2 million on hand.
If polls get your pace racing – you’re in for a big afternoon. FiveThirtyEight’s Harry Enten sets the scene:
Is this map still holding for Clinton? We have high quality polls coming out from NH and WI soon. pic.twitter.com/lhVaqvs2us
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) September 21, 2016
Close election. Too close, senator Elizabeth Warren thinks:
Warren: "I am nervous. Any chance, even a 1 percent chance that Donald Trump could be president is way too much chance for me."
— David Catanese (@davecatanese) September 21, 2016
Updated
Clinton in op-ed: 'we have to do better' on child poverty
In an op-ed published Wednesday in the New York Times, Hillary Clinton writes that “we have to do better” to prevent children in the United States from growing up in poverty. “Advocating for children and families has been the cause of my life, starting with my first job as a young attorney at the Children’s Defense Fund,” she writes.
The message is amplified by a new ad from the Clinton campaign weaving together clips of Clinton speaking over the last 40 years about poverty and income inequality. The ad is called She Always:
Here’s part of the op-ed:
The true measure of any society is how we take care of our children. With all of our country’s resources, no child should ever have to grow up in poverty. Yet every single night, all across America, kids go to sleep hungry or without a place to call home.
We have to do better. Advocating for children and families has been the cause of my life, starting with my first job as a young attorney at the Children’s Defense Fund, and if I have the honor of serving as president, it will be the driving mission of my administration.
The good news is that we’re making progress, thanks to the hard work of the American people and President Obama. The global poverty rate has been cut in half in recent decades. In the United States, a new report from the Census Bureau found that there were 3.5 million fewer people living in poverty in 2015 than just a year before. [...]
But make no mistake: We still have work to do. Families across the country were devastated by the Great Recession.
Nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 60 will experience a year in poverty at some point. The best way to help families lift themselves out of poverty is to make it easier to find good-paying jobs. As president, one of my top priorities will be increasing economic growth that’s strong, fair and lasting. I will work with Democrats and Republicans to make a historic investment in good-paying jobs — jobs in infrastructure and manufacturing, technology and innovation, small businesses and clean energy. And we need to make sure that hard work is rewarded by raising the minimum wage and finally guaranteeing equal pay for women.
Read the whole piece here.
Reads like the typical Clinton speech I’ve been to — of course, the news is always what she said re Trump. https://t.co/uMCvDL6BiI
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) September 21, 2016
In a speech this afternoon in Orlando, Florida, Clinton will talk about job opportunities for people with disabilities, her campaign said.
Cuba party paper publishes US election info for first time
Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper Granma published on Wednesday a US embassy notice advising Americans living on the island on how to register for the US presidential election, another sign of thawing relations between the former Cold War foes, Reuters reports:
Granma habitually publishes electoral information for other countries, but this is the first time it has done so for the United States, a US embassy official confirmed.
Cuba and the United States re-established diplomatic relations in July last year after decades of hostility following the 1959 revolution in which Fidel Castro’s rebels overthrew a U.S.-backed government.
“Information for the U.S. citizens resident in Cuba,” the headline of the electoral notice read, framed in a red box. It went on to explain how Americans should register to vote, either online or at the embassy. [...]
Clinton has signaled she would continue President Barack Obama’s policy of re-engagement with Cuba, urging Congress to end its trade embargo against the island.
Trump’s would-be policy towards Cuba is not as clear. The businessman has also questioned the embargo, but last week said he would reverse the U.S. opening towards Cuba unless it allowed religious freedoms and freed political prisoners.
Strong support among military for Libertarian Johnson
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson rivals Donald Trump for support among active and retired military personnel, according to a new Military Times / Syracuse University poll.
The Military Times reports:
Conducted in September, it is the first scientific breakdown of voting preferences among service members, and includes more than 2,200 responses from active-duty troops. And it shows a very different race than the one playing out on the broader national stage.
Out today: New @MilitaryTimes/@IVMFSyracuseU poll shows Trump and Gary Johnson in a dead heat among military voters. https://t.co/ZkN3qV4yDK pic.twitter.com/asRiCbdnsX
— Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) September 21, 2016
Separately, the Wall Street Journal reports that Johnson’s fundraising accelerated in August. His campaign “raised nearly $5 million in August, more than three times what he raised the previous month and an unusually high figure for a third-party candidate.” Read further.
Johnson has not been invited to the presidential debates because his poll numbers are not strong enough according to standards set by the commission on presidential debates.
Here’s random fun:
From the Political Dictionary: "roorback" https://t.co/ezQZB4cyDP
— Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) September 21, 2016
Trump: officer who shot Terence Crutcher 'choked'
Trump is asked about police shooting unarmed black man. He says he “watched the shooting in particular in Tulsa” of Terence Crutcher.
Trump:
As you know I’m a tremendous believer in police and law enforcement because we need that for ourselves. They’re great people. Great people. With great people – you always have problems...
I watched the shooting in particular in Tulsa. And that man was hands up. That man went to the car hands up. Put his hands on the car. To me it looked like he did everything he’s supposed to do. And he looked like a really good man. And maybe I’m a little bit clouded because I saw his family speak after...
This young officer, I don’t know what she was thinking but I’m very very troubled by that.
Did she get scared? Was she choking? What happened? But maybe people like that, people that choke, they can’t be doing what they’re doing.
We all respect our police greatly, and they will have to get better and better and better.
.@realDonaldTrump "very troubled" by Tulsa police shooting: Did cop "get scared? Was she choking? What happened?" https://t.co/a7DMQjdUm8
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 21, 2016
Updated
A study in contrasts in the campaigns. Clinton is scheduled to appear in Orlando this afternoon.
today Hillary is giving a speech about increasing opportunity for disabled Americans & Trump is campaigning with convicted murderer Don King
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) September 21, 2016
To be fair: Don King attended a fundraiser with Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid in 2014... https://t.co/4ZTXmkaN9W https://t.co/F1fhND4Ejb
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) September 21, 2016
Trump’s less quotable than King. He’s talking “friends, we have so many friends, we have over 200 generals and admirals supporting us. I didn’t know we had that many.”
Clinton has more support from top military figures including secretive Republican support from the likes of Colin Powell – we’ve lost track of the latest tally for Clinton – we’ll put a request in with data, please hold.
Trump is up now:
There’s only one Don King. He’s very rich, he’s very smart, he took advantage of a lot of situations, and I have a lot of respect for that.
King: 'black people need Trump'
More King:
The system is the problem, and he’s the only gladiator who will take on the system...
Under the leadership of the dynamic human man who will fight for your rights under Donald Trump...
We need Donald Trump, especially black people.. they told me you’ve got to emulate the white man...
I told Michael Jackson, I said if you’re poor, you’re a poor negro – I would use the N-word – if you’re rich, you’re a rich negro... If you’re dancing and sliding and gliding nigg- I mean negro. So dare not emulate because you cannot assimilate. So you going to be a negro till you die.
King wins robust applause.
Updated
King: 'every white woman should vote for Donald Trump'
King:
Donald J Trump – I know his father Fred is smiling now – the spirit is loud and clear that we will create a whole new system. We will take this system apart and we will make America great again.
John F Kennedy says sometimes party loyalty asks to much. This is the coming of a man who has taken on a system... a law that makes right wrong, and wrong right. He undertook that challenge, and from his lips to god’s ears, he says we will create a whole new system...
The whole country was laughing... ‘He’s a buffoon, he’s got a reality show... a promoter of himself.’ Everybody was saying all these different things when he entered the ring to defend America.
King makes an extraordinary electoral argument:
What I will say I put it in this category so you understand.. the white woman and the slave.. when the system was created they did not give her, the white woman did not have her rights and she still does not have her rights... Donald... when I see them try to ridiculize him, or when they try to ostracize... I want you to understand that every white woman should vote for Donald Trump... to knock out the system.
It’s just what they’re trying to do now with zika and cancer...
Updated
Pence introduces King
The Republican vice-presidential nominee:
“Would you join me in welcoming Don King to this important and historic gathering.”
Here’s King now. Live video in the previous block.
King:
Forty-four years ago I brought a young man to town here to save a hospital.. the only hospital in town that would service black people and poor whites. His name was Muhammad Ali. Today I come to you 44 years later to bring a great American. An American to save the nation.
Here’s a live video stream of the Cleveland Heights event:
'He once stomped a man to death and was convicted of manslaughter'
Donald Trump has arrived at a “pastors leadership conference” at an African American Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland.
On the scene is Cleveland native Don King, the former boxing promoter and convicted killer, whom the RNC had convinced Trump not to invite to the national convention:
Don King here pic.twitter.com/Qta1vHvDZF
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) September 21, 2016
Ben Carson is in the house, too. Here’s the scene, according to a pool report:
There are a few hundred people in the chairs arranged in front of the stage, and likely a few hundred more in the balcony level above. The audience is a mix of white and African-American attendees, but predominantly white. The neighborhood itself is predominantly African-American.
Trump just entered the sanctuary from a door on the front left, at 940 am. He is wearing a dark suit and bright red tie, accompanied by Pence.
FLASHBACK: Just under two months ago https://t.co/LULFAN8lFh pic.twitter.com/fv6NOF38Du
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) September 21, 2016
There's a giant uterus across the street from Trump's event pic.twitter.com/mKrAP3zsXg
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) September 21, 2016
Updated
Model fight!
Microsoft Research / PredictWise says FiveThirtyEight’s model is too swingy and suggests Trump is not as strong as he looks in the model:
Something wrong with @FiveThirtyEight forecast. If you enjoy roller-coasters, please jump on, otherwise, follow https://t.co/iVgKTSRLoR pic.twitter.com/BICaocsUCV
— David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) September 21, 2016
FiveThirtyEight, whose latest polls-only forecast has Trump’s chances of winning at 42.9% (the poll-plus forecast taking in economic and historical data has him at 44%), suggests no, the smart folks at Microsoft are in “denial” about Trump’s chances:
Never seen otherwise-smart people in so much denial about something as they are about Trump's chances. Same mistake as primaries, Brexit. https://t.co/qBPRKoZV4R
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 21, 2016
What does your home model say? Who’s right here?
Update: Here’s a basic comparison of various models in play although no Predictwise here:
.@NateSilver538 posted this to Twitter before about the differences between the different models. pic.twitter.com/FFrr1iTH1Z
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) September 21, 2016
Updated
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. Donald Trump’s charitable foundation, whose coffers appear filled with other people’s money that Trump reportedly taps to pay his own legal settlements, is due to lay out “factual errors” in such recent alarming reports, Trump’s running mate Mike Pence said late Tuesday.
The announcement came after the latest in a series of stories by Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold describing strange dealings at the foundation.
‘Number of factual errors’
“I think what we’ve found is that there’s – number of factual errors in that story, as there were in previous stories about the Trump Foundation,” Pence told NBC News. “I think the foundation will be able to lay those out.”
The words echoed a statement late Tuesday by Trump spokesman Jason Miller, which also accused the Post of mistakes, without naming any mistakes.
“In typical Washington Post fashion, they’ve gotten their facts wrong,” the statement read in part. “The Post’s reporting is peppered with inaccuracies and omissions from a biased reporter who is clearly intent on distracting attention away from the corrupt Clinton Foundation, a vehicle for the Clintons to peddle influence at the expense of the American people.”
A claim that a reporter has made factual errors without identifying the errors is frivolous.
— Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) September 21, 2016
The questions I sent @realDonaldTrump's folks for Trump Fdn story. Nothing yet. Note my Q mis-stated Mar-a-Lago fines: right # was $120K. pic.twitter.com/xHb2DGhnab
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) September 20, 2016
Trump has a rally scheduled today in Toledo, Ohio, and a town hall this evening in Ohio with non-journalist Sean Hannity. Hillary Clinton has a rally in Orlando, Florida, this afternoon.
Trump camp: ‘ironic’ for George HW Bush to back Clinton
The revelation Tuesday that former president George HW Bush – he’s a Republican – has told people he will vote for Clinton instead of Trump has made waves in Trumpland.
Trump spokeswoman campaign manager Kellyanne Conway called it “ironic” that Bush would vote for a Clinton, of all people (Bill Clinton defeated Bush in 1992).
Conway also went out of her way to note how old Bush is.
“Well, I respect the 92-year-old former president very much and his decision. And I think that Americans are very grateful to the Bush family for their public service,” Conway said. “That is his right” ...
It is ironic that he would vote for the wife of the man who knocked him out of the race, Bill Clinton defeated George Herbert Walker Bush, Bush 41, Erin, in 1992, for his reelection.
Maybe by “ironic” she means “a kind of amazing expression of just how much the senior Bush must really despise Donald Trump”?
Pence echoed Conway. “My respect and frankly affection for our 41st president is boundless,” he said on NBC. “But I respectfully disagree with his decision in this election.”
Trump’s grasp of basic history questioned
Fending off several controversies on Tuesday, Donald Trump started another when he proclaimed at a North Carolina rally that “our African American communities are in the worst shape they’ve ever been ... Ever. Ever. Ever”.
The plainly inaccurate statement, which was immediately lambasted on social media for failing to consider the long history of slavery and racial discrimination against African Americans, marked the latest misstep by the Trump campaign as the Republican nominee has struggled to harness the terrorist attacks in New York and New Jersey for his political advantage.
Read further from Guardian political reporter Ben Jacobs:
CNN employee Corey Lewandowski still a paid Trump employee
Why not?
Former campaign manager/current @CNN pundit .@CLewandowski_ got another $20K in August through his LLC from Trump for "strategy consulting"
— Matea Gold (@mateagold) September 21, 2016
Trump trailing Clinton among rich people
Clinton leads Trump 46-42 among likely voters with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more in a two-way race, a new Bloomberg Politics poll conducted by Purple Strategies found. Mitt Romney won the group by 10 percentage points in 2012, according to exit polls.
Bloomberg notes that usually rich people vote Republican:
Since 1996, the Republican presidential nominee has won or tied among voters with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more, according to a compilation of exit polls by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University. Republicans also won the top-earning groups publicly identified by the Roper Center in the 1976-1992 elections.
Ivanka Trump is ‘Marvel’ – report
The secret service assigns its protectees nicknames that then are announced to the world. Trump’s daughter Ivanka has just received protection, and with it the nickname “Marvel”, the Daily Caller reports. Trump himself is called after a bump in a ski run: “Mogul.”
Thanks for reading and please join us in the comments.
