Australian basketball phenom and NBA player Andrew Bogut is keeping his green card close...
This Trump fella has a rally in downtown OKC tonight. I will keep green card and passport on me at all times, just in case........
— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) February 26, 2016
Today in Campaign 2016
Talk about a Friday news dump, amiright?
From New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s surprise endorsement of Republican billionaire frontrunner Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to former candidate Lindsey Graham joking about murdering Texas senator Ted Cruz in a bid to stop the “batshit” primary from tearing apart the GOP, it’s been a humdinger of a Friday.
Before you drown out the sound of four adult men bickering over one another for 45 seconds straight with your drink of choice - we suggest The Trump - let’s go over the highlights from the campaign trail:
- Marco Rubio turned up on the Today show to press his argument that Donald Trump is not a logical choice to carry the mantle of American conservatism, calling the billionaire a “con artist.” “We’re on the verge of someone taking over the conservative movement in the Republican party who’s a con artist,” Rubio said. “He has spent his career sticking it to working Americans.”
- The junior senator from Florida later backed up his “con artist” insult by stating that Trump feared that he would wet his pants on the debate stage.
- Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton declared that she “love[s] having men at my feet,” which would have lead today’s recap if the day hadn’t been so insane.
- New Jersey governor Chris Christie gave Rubio what we call a “Jersey handshake” by endorsing Trump’s presidential bid, jumping to the front of the queue for potential vice presidential picks should Trump win the party’s nomination. Shortly thereafter, living gaffe-machine Paul LePage, the governor of Maine, followed suit.
- Not one to hog endorsements, Trump disavowed the support of noted white supremacist and one-time future governor of Louisiana David Duke.
That’s it in news from the campaign trail today - check out the Guardian’s liveblog tomorrow, the next day and every day until Election Day, where our squad of political reporters will be filing from every corner of the country, reporting the minute-by-minute happenings of Campaign 2016.
Until then...
This week's best political ads
Unless you’re a citizen of an early-voting state, you’re unlikely to have seen these advertisements in between airings of American Idol, but through the miracle of streaming video, the most important political ads are only a mouse-click away.
Democrats: Hillary Clinton’s “Stand”
Featuring a voiceover from God Himself - that’s Morgan Freeman, to use His mortal name - the ad, called Stand, began running in South Carolina this past weekend. The 30-second spot focuses on Clinton’s criticism of police brutality, her stance on the Flint, Michigan, water crisis and her work as secretary of state under Barack Obama.
This is the second time the Oscar-winner has provided his voice for a Clinton campaign advertisement, having emphasized her willingness to “do all the good you can, for all the people you can, for as long as you can” in a spot called All the Good.
Republicans: John Kasich’s “The Adult In the Room”
Although lacking in a voiceover from a Hollywood celebrity, Kasich’s ad does make quick and effective use of the most embarrasing-by-proxy moment of last night’s Republican presidential debate. When the three top-tier candidates (plus moderator Wolf Blitzer) were caught in a high-speed verbal pileup, it highlighted some of the main concerns of moderates within the Republican party: That the aggressive primary was driving the main candidates in a race to the bottom.
This long-ish spot clocks in at a minute and twenty seconds, but effectively highlights Kasich’s term as governor and his ability to get things done - without calling his opponents names.
Hillary Clinton rally: Pom Poms and Protesters edition
After a performance by the South Carolina State University cheerleaders, an appearance by the schools’s mascot and a string of introductions from civil rights luminary congressman James Clyburn and singer-reality star K. Michelle, Hillary Clinton took the stage in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
But what was meant to be a rousing pep rally before South Carolina Democrats head to the polls on Saturday was distracted by two protesters. One man held a sign that read “We came here to heal, not to be brought to heel,” a reference to comments that she made in the 90s referring to young gang members as “super predators”. A supporter jumped in front of the man as he held his sign. The man was eventually escorted out of the gymnasium.
Clinton was previously interrupted at a fundraiser in Charleston by a Black Lives Matter protester who raised those questions.
Serial protester Rod Webber, known as the Flower Man because he likes to hand candidates “flowers for peace,” also interrupted Clinton while he recorded her with his videocamera. He told reporters, who immediately surrounded him, that Clinton is “not the candidate for black people”.
Despite the interruptions, most people in the room continued to pay attention to Clinton’s speech.
Tyler Prieston, a recent graduate of the university and aspiring trainer, said he came to the rally undecided between Clinton and her rival, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, but was convinced after listening to her speak.
“They’re fighting for the same things,” he said. “But I think she’ll win in the end.”
Prieston’s major concerns this election are college affordability and education. After four years of college, he said is more than $50,000 in debt and will have to begin paying it back in four months. And it doesn’t help that his parents were major supporters of Bill Clinton.
“I guess that kind of influences me,” he said. “But I think she’ll be her own president.”
Updated
The Townsend, a high-end cocktail bar in Austin, Texas, has a primary-themed drink menu this weekend in celebration of the Lone Star State’s Republican primary on Super Tuesday:
We’re partial to the Trump.
Donald Trump isn’t the only candidate earning endorsements today - Vermont senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign office was visited by Russian feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot this afternoon, where the group applauded the candidate and “what u stands for!”
just visited Bernie campaign office in Washington
— Pussy Riot (@pussyrrriot) February 26, 2016
thank u guys for an inspiration!
I love what u stands for! pic.twitter.com/h286rAn3e4
Donald Trump’s rhetoric about migrants and his promise to wall off the US’s southern border have prompted Joe Biden to apologize on behalf of a nation and driven former Mexican president Vicente Fox to swearing.
But even if the border wall is never built, many in Mexico fear that Trump’s comments about the country will result in a more draconian US border policy, threatening to derail two decades of closer ties and economic integration brought about by the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“There is no winning for Mexico in this situation,” says Federico Estévez, political science professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. “The only win is if Trump loses down the line. But you can be sure that his policy on immigration will be followed at the border.”
Maine governor Paul LePage endorses Donald Trump
Hours after New Jersey governor and former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie endorsed frontrunner Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House, Maine’s governor, Paul LePage, has thrown his support behind the real estate tycoon.
In an interview on the Howie Carr show, a Boston-area radio show, LePage endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign, telling Carr, “You know, we could do a lot worse. We could have another Obama in there, or Hillary Clinton. And we can’t afford that.”
“I think the governors have got to come out and pick your poison, because I’m telling you, we’ve got to stop the charade that went on last night,” LePage said, referring to the dogpile debate in Texas that featured nearly a minute of four-way crosstalk. He has a message to senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who he accused of “killing” Trump: “You’re also killing the brand.”
“The one thing I like about Donald Trump, I’m not gonna say I agree with everything he’s saying... he’s showing a vision for the future,” LePage said. “He wants to make America great again, and he’s the only person doing that right now.”
LePage, who described himself in the interview as “just a schmuck from the streets,” told Carr that he had not spoken with Trump about his endorsement beforehand, although he had been considering doing so after Chris Christie dropped out of the presidential race.
LePage, like Trump, is no stranger to controversy and is well known for his incendiary rhetoric. In January, the governor was forced to apologize for making racially charged comments about drug dealers at an event on Wednesday night.
“These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty – these types of guys – they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home,” LePage said. “Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road.”
Updated
These cheerleaders help put the pep in pep rally one day before South Carolina Democrats head to the polls.
And we go another day without Clinton taking questions from the press.
A CNN reporter tried to ask her about the news of the day – Donald Trump’s big endorsement – during a quick stop at a coffee shop in Atlanta, where she held a rally earlier today, but she didn’t bite.
“I really do like you... that’s a good one,” Clinton said, apparently in reference to his question.
The reporter, Dan Merica, has been tallying the number of days Clinton has gone without holding a press conference. By his count, she hasn’t held a press conference since December. Or put another way, since the new year began, since the Paris Climate Conference, since Trump’s Muslim ban, since voters started voting, since Kanye released the Life of Pablo.
You get the picture.
Updated
Donald Trump has pledged to change the libel laws in a way that could undermine the first amendment and the freedom of the press, reports the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs:
Speaking at a rally in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, shortly after accepting an endorsement from New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Trump pledged if elected president to “open up our libel laws so when [newspapers] write purposely negative stories … we can sue them and make lots of money”. This move, he said, would mean that “when the New York Times or the Washington Post writes a hit piece, we can sue them”.
Since the American revolution, freedom of the press has been a key principle in American public life, with truth long established as an absolute defense to any accusation of libel. The first amendment states that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”. It is a foundation stone of democracy in the United States.
Former secretary of state and Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s camp is running a new advertisement ahead of the Massachusetts primary on Tuesday, with former congresswoman and gun violence survivor Gabriel Giffords telling Bay State Democrats that she’s voting for Clinton in a straight-to-camera address.
“We have a gun violence problem,” Giffords says to the camera. “So I’m voting for Hillary Clinton.”
Interspliced with images of makeshift memorials following gun massacres across the United States, Giffords calls Clinton “tough.”
“She will stand up to the gun lobby,” Giffords says. “She will fight to make our families safer. It matters.”
The advertisement is a continuation of Giffords’ long-standing support of the former secretary of state’s candidacy. At a speech in Ames, Iowa, in January, the former congresswoman used the same words:“Hillary is tough.”
“In the White House, she will stand up to the gun lobby. That’s why I’m voting for Hillary.”
Clinton has increasingly sought to make gun control a wedge issue between her and Bernie Sanders. The Clinton campaign has aggressively pushed the narrative that Sanders’ record on gun safety has, on occasion, been more aligned with the agenda of the National Rifle Association. In return, Sanders has consistently pointed to his D- rating from the NRA.
After a brief moment with Marco Rubio in the spotlight, Donald Trump stole it back with the New Jersey governor’s support, writes the Guardian’s Christopher Barron:
Love him or hate him, you gotta hand it to Donald Trump: no one is better at manipulating the news cycle than he is. And there is an almost Shakespearean quality to today’s latest installment of the Trump Show.
Barely over 12 hours into his worst news cycle, after a debate where Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz delivered a bruising tag-team assault on the Donald and his record, Trump managed to instantly change the conversation.
Governor Chris Christie’s endorsement of Trump Friday afternoon not only ends a bad news cycle for Trump, but it also sucks all the oxygen out of Rubio’s moment in the spotlight. The icing on the cake for Trump is that he manages to accomplish both of these things by announcing the endorsement of his main rival’s nemesis – the man responsible for single-handedly stopping Rubio’s post-Iowa momentum at a prior debate.
President Barack Obama departed from scripted remarks at a manufacturer in Florida on Friday to address a shooting spree Thursday in Kansas and last weekend in Michigan, according to a pool report.
“These acts may not dominate the news today but these are two more communities in America torn apart by grief,” Obama said. “I thought it was important for me to say something today because otherwise these sorts of shootings become routine.”
“We cannot become numb to this.”
“This happens far too many times and affected far too many innocent Americans.”
“As long as I’m president I’m going to keep on bringing this up... Lord knows I wish I didn’t have to make these phone calls and comfort families.... The real tragedy is the degree to which this has become routine.”
Video: Christie endorses Trump for president
For further reading:
Updated
Obama moves on hot campaign topic: trade
Part of Donald Trump’s presidential platform (often lost amid his controversial promises to force Mexico to build a wall along the US border and temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States, let alone his suggestion that we impose a unilateral 45% tariff on Chinese goods entering the United States to reduce the trade deficit) is to increase the United States’ trade enforcement efforts against other nations, particularly China.
Despite the economic downturn and the Democrats’ general pro-enforcement preferences, trade enforcement did not markedly increase under the Obama Administration – a subject of some frustration among manufacturers and workers in industries forced to compete with Chinese goods.
Trade policy (and especially free trade agreements and trade enforcement) has always been a sore point between labor and any given administration, and the fact that Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) into law in the 90s continues to rankle liberals today. Bernie Sanders’ opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (wildly unpopular among liberals even before the text was released) on the campaign trail was an early point of difference between him and Hillary Clinton before she came out against it; she’s since pointed out that, while in the Senate, she voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (Cafta).
Still, Trump’s vociferous opposition to free trade at the expense of American workers and businesses was considered likely to peel off (or convince to return to the polls) the so-called “Reagan Democrats” – blue collar, union voters disillusioned by their candidate and manufacturing declines – from the eventual Democratic nominee.
So, perhaps it’s a coincidence that the administration is trumpeting its trade enforcement measures or that Clinton is pushing a strong trade enforcement agenda as president ... but perhaps not.
On Monday, the president promised at the meeting of the National Governor’s Association to get tougher on unfair Chinese trade practices – though not to eliminate China’s access to the US market for steel.
On Wednesday, the president signed into law the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which was intended to allow the administration to more fully investigate currency manipulation in countries like China (something Trump has repeatedly mentioned) and to impose retaliatory tariffs on countries like China that are found to be selling goods at below-market value in the United States in a manner compliant with America’s obligations to the WTO. (Trump’s promises to impose tariffs, by comparison, would likely not be WTO compliant and could lead to US products facing Chinese tariffs.)
Simultaneously, the president announced several executive actions to improve trade enforcement, including the hiring of more Customs and Border Protection officers to perform port inspections of steel imports and Commerce Department staff to ensure tariff enforcement.
But it might be too little, too late – and way, way too esoteric an action – for workers in the many industries that have been hurt by US trade policy over the last 25 years and like the sound of a retaliatory tariff, even if they wouldn’t like the inevitable result (higher prices at American stores).
Trump is wrapping up. “Our whole thing is make America great again,” he says.
Trump has a history of hating US libel laws, which in his opinion “suck.”
@julesmattsson Wrong, totally proved my case but didn't get damages because the libel laws in this Country suck!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2013
Updated
Trump promises to strengthen libel laws to sue newspapers
“I’ve never said this before,” says Trump. (What else isn’t he telling us?)
What follows sound as much like an assault on the first amendment as you could pretty much make up:
“One of the things I’m gonna do if I win... is I’m gonna open up our libel laws so when [newspapers] write purposely negative stories... we can sue them and make lots of money... So when the New York Times or the Washington Post writes a hit piece, we can sue them.
“With me they’re not protected because I’m not like other people...So we’re going to open up those libel laws, folks, and we’re gonna have people sue you like you’ve never been sued before.”
Donald Trump is now literally promising to repeal the First Amendment
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 26, 2016
Trump: "The Second Amendment is under siege. Guns guns guns."
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 26, 2016
To be fair, Supreme Court Justice Chris Christie would prolly be very amenable to judicial activism on libel law.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) February 26, 2016
Updated
There are protesters at the Trump rally. We can’t make out what they’re saying. There’s a yelling match between a protester and two guys in stars and stripes hates hats and football jerseys that say “Trump” on the back.
Trump: Romney walked 'like a penguin'
Trump is resuming his fight with Mitt Romney over releasing tax records. Trump says Romney walks like a penguin.
“When you walk on a stage, you can’t walk like a penguin. He walked like a penguin, It was a disaster,” Trump says.
“If he wanted to support me, I would not accept his support,” Trump says of Romney. “I supported John McCain, and we lost. I supported Mitt Romney, and we lost. This time I said I’m gonna do it myself.”
Trump: Rubio's a baby, Ted is tougher, smarter
Trump:
A guy like Rubio’s a baby. Ted is actually tougher. And he’s actually smarter. I have to give that to him, Ted’s actually smarter.
The crowd shouts Trump! Trump! Trump!
Trump chugs some water from a bottle, hams it up and tosses the empty bottle.
“It’s Rubio!” he jokes.
Trump imitating Rubio just now at campaign event with a water bottle. pic.twitter.com/tzHGzFe6A4
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) February 26, 2016
Updated
Trump returns to a favorite topic of late, former Mexican president Vicente Fox saying yesterday “I’m not going to pay for that fucking wall”!
Trump:
He dropped the F-bomb, and I said to myself, can you imagine if I said that? I would not use it. I would not go there by the way.
Here’s an issue where there’s some daylight between Chris Christie and Donald Trump: anti-Muslim bigotry.
Chris Christie, who has spoken out passionately against anti-Muslim bigotry, endorses Donald Trump.
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 26, 2016
Trump takes the stage at the Fort Worth Convention Center. You can watch all this in the live stream in the previous block. Trump is talking about devising the rollout of his Christie endorsement. “I said let’s keep it as a secret for the people in Texas.”
“We have a lot of endorsements happening... but the one I really was happy with was this one right here.”
Live: Christie warms up crowd at Trump rally
Now Christie is warming up Trump’s rally audience.
“The simple fact is this. America needs strong leadership... we need a first class president and we’re gonna have it in Donald Trump,” Christie says.
Ohio governor John Kasich sees Trump’s Christie endorsement and raises him an endorsement by former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman:
And Kasich now trots out Christine Todd Whitman's endorsement as he goes NJ governor for NJ governor pic.twitter.com/Tz5GuuiYWK
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 26, 2016
Here’s more sour grapes from the former Jeb Bush communications shop – David Kochel goes “fat kid” on Christie:
New lesson kids: sometimes, the best option for the fat kid is to just hand his lunch money over to the bully! #TrumpChristie2016
— David Kochel (@ddkochel) February 26, 2016
In case this gets deleted, the tweet says,
New lesson kids: sometimes, the best option for the fat kid is to just hand his lunch money over to the bully! #TrumpChristie2016
Low whistle.
This Chris Christie endorsement of Trump is real signal to GOP establishment that they had better begin thinking about Trump as the future
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) February 26, 2016
Newt before Rudy, or Rudy before Newt? https://t.co/GWqpBiE3fT
— David Frum (@davidfrum) February 26, 2016
How much is Chris Christie’s endorsement of Donald Trump really worth? Trump might want to ask Mitt Romney, who thought he’d benefit from Christie’s endorsement and the governor’s convention speech in support of Romney in 2012.
But a flashback to 2012 reveals that the speech wasn’t positive for Christie or Romney. From Politico:
Political commentary about the 24-minute speech – while some of it has been favorable – has been dominated by discussion of whether Christie offered too many words about himself and too few about Romney or about the kind of original and provocative ideas that many were expecting on such a major occasion.
The fallout on Wednesday was the talk of Tampa and left Christie on the defensive to avoid lasting damage to his political fortunes. It also revealed tensions between the Christie and Mitt Romney camps.
Does that still hold true? Let’s look at the transcript, and note that Christie didn’t mention Romney by name until halfway through. Some more numbers:
- Number of times Christie mentioned Romney by name: 7
- Number of times Christie mentioned New Jersey by name: 5
- Number of times Christie said “me”: 9
- Number of times Christie said “I”: 37
But perhaps Christie can recycle some of his speech for 2016:
It’s a moment like this where some skeptics wonder if American greatness is over.
How those who have come before us had the spirit and tenacity to lead America to a new era of greatness in the face of challenge.
Not to look around and say “not me,” but to say, “Yes, Me.”
Trump is definitely a “Yes, Me” kind of guy.
Updated
Jeb Bush’s communications director apparently watched the Christie-Trump news conference, just wrapped:
They should have held this presser right here. That free buffet was 💯 before Trump and Christie tanked Atlantic City pic.twitter.com/E6yytYVpmj
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) February 26, 2016
Remember when Chris Christie's campaign slogan was "Telling It Like It is." What a farce. He's the biggest phony of them all.
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) February 26, 2016
Christie declines to speculate on post in Trump administration
Christie is asked whether he is interested in a cabinet position or the vice presidency. “I haven’t been offered any position and I don’t speculate on those kinds of things,” he says.
Christie says he’s governor through January 2018 then he’s going to enter the private sector and make money “like Trump” – more than his wife for once, is his goal. She’s an investment banker.
"I have every expectation that I will fulfill the rest of my term," says man who was trying to leave the governorship just a few weeks ago.
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) February 26, 2016
This endorsement really does put Christies takedown of Rubio in a new light.
— Jon Ward (@jonward11) February 26, 2016
Updated
Trump is defending his various brands that Rubio has named in the past two days in an attempt to depict Trump as the king of a crumbling business empire. Rubio named Trump University, Trump vodka and Trump ties made in China.
“I make vodka for all of my clubs,” Trump explains. They’re some of the best clubs in the world, he says. He’s a teetotaller.
"I make vodka for the clubs." -- the frontrunner for the nomination of Abraham Lincoln's party
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) February 26, 2016
“Marco Rubio is a lightweight,” Trump says. “He doesn’t have the talent, he doesn’t have the temperament, he will never make us great.”
Updated
Trump says Rubio lied onstage on Thursday night when he, Rubio, said Trump got a $200m gift from his father.
“If you knew Brooklyn in the early 1980s, and the 1970s, there wasn’t $200m, let me tell you. And I do have brothers and sisters,” Trump says.
“I got a very very small loan from my father many years ago. I built that into a massive empire and I paid my father back that money.
“For this guy, this lightweight... to get up and say $200m .... wow, how does he say that, that’s not true... It’s really a shame.”
Trump says his sister and brother called him after the debate and said “wow, how can he do that?”
Trump on Rubio: 'I thought he was going to die'
Trump is asked whether he might have considered Rubio as a vice presidential pick. No way, Trump says. “Now it’s obvious that he’s not going to be.” But he never thought Rubio was of sufficient caliber.
“It’s interesting about people who choke... I’ve watched people who choke over the years. Once a choker, always a choker. The guy that misses a kick, misses a kick,” Trump says.
Then he again brings up Rubio’s New Hampshire debate performance under assault from Christie:
He didn’t know where he was. I thought he was going to die.”
Updated
Trump: Rubio a 'nervous nelly'
Trump says he thinks he can beat Senator Ted Cruz in Texas on 1 March.
“I think we have a great shot,” Trump says. “People are liking me a lot. I have a lot of great friends in Texas, many many friends.”
Then Trump bashes Rubio as a “Nervous Nelly”:
“He is not presidential material, that I can tell you. He’s a Nervous Nelly. I watch him backstage... I’ve never seen a human being sweat like this man sweats. I don’t think he’s of presidential caliber. I don’t think he has the demeanor.”
The Trump camp is circulating statements touting the Christie endorsement.
“It is my great honor to receive the endorsement of the Governor,” Trump is quoted as saying. “We have had a wonderful relationship for many years. He is a solid person that I have tremendous respect for. I am really proud to receive the support of the Governor and his family.”
“Donald is a leader,” Christie is quoted as saying. “He is a successful person that, like me, isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. Our system is broken and it won’t be fixed from the inside. I am proud to offer my endorsement of his candidacy for President.”
Will this be counted as a second major act of treason of the Republican party by Chris Christie, after his embrace of Barack Obama in the Superstorm Sandy aftermath?
“This is the person who will go to DC, and will actually be able to turn the place around,” Christie says. “We don’t need any more Washington politicians.”
There was a period of time when I was running against him... that time has passed. As a good, loyal American, who is the best person for stopping Hillary Clinton?
Trump rejects David Duke's support
Trump is asked about David Duke, the former KKK grand wizard and Louisiana legislator who yesterday encouraged supporters to back Trump.
“Did he endorse me?” Trump said. “I disavow it, OK.”
Christie said he met Trump yesterday morning, they sat and talked and Christie made a final decision.
Was there an offer in it for Christie?
Christie, of course, was the candidate who delivered the one crushing blow against Rubio, on the debate stage before the New Hampshire primary, highlighting how Rubio used a template to answer questions and flustering Rubio to the extent that the Florida senator wound up repeating himself.
Rubio is perceived to be the Republicans’ best chance at stopping the Trump nomination. Now Trump has recruited the number-one anti-Rubio attack dog.
Trump: Christie 'the one endorsement that I wanted'
Christie and Trump are taking questions. Christie dismisses the notion that senator Marco Rubio flustered Trump at the Houston debate.
“The fact of the matter is, no one’s gonna get inside this guy’s head... there is no better fighter than Donald Trump,” says Christie. “He’s going to fight for the American people. And you didn’t hear Senator Rubio talking about that this morning.
Trump thanks Christie:
Generally speaking I’m not big on endorsements... This was an endorsement that really meant a lot. ...
This is the one endorsement that I felt very strongly about, that I wanted to get.
Trump is asked about Rubio saying he was shaken up backstage at the Houston debate and saying that Trump had a sweat moustache. Rubio really did say that.
“I’ll tell you about backstage,” Trump says, enthusiastically.
He’s with a pile of makeup putting it on his face, and I say Marco, easy with the makeup, you don’t need that much.... I saw him backstage, he was putting it on with a trowel.
Here’s video of Rubio’s attack on Trump this morning:
Updated
Christie says the most important thing is to nominate someone who can beat Hillary Clinton, and that’s Donald Trump:
I can guarantee you that the one person Hillary and Bill Clinton do not want to see on that stage in September is Donald Trump.
They know how to run the usual political playbook around junior senators, and run them around the block.
But Trump is “rewriting the playbook,” Christie says.
The best person to beat Hillary Clinton in November, on that stage last night, is undoubtedly Donald Trump.
I’m happy to be on the Trump team and I look forward to working with him.
Updated
Christie: 'I am proud to endorse' Trump
“I am proud to be here to endorse Donald Trump for president,” Christie says. He says Donald and his family are old friends.
“There is no one who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs” than Donald Trump.
Christie says he was on the debate stage and Trump is the only one up to the job.
“Donald Trump is someone who when he makes a promise, he keeps it. I’ve experienced that over my long friendship with him.”
Updated
Chris Christie endorses Donald Trump
Trump appears at his news conference. He introduces.. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. “He’s a real talent.”
Here comes Christie.
Trump touts a “big announcement”
Will be at Fort Worth (Texas) Convention Center at 11:30 A.M. Big crowd - get there early! Big announcement to be made!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2016
The Times agrees it’s big:
Trump announcement actually will be major
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 26, 2016
What is it? Did Ivanka deliver? Update: no that’s not it, we’re advised.
Updated
Now some Dennis Rodman-slams-Ted Cruz action in the full-cafeteria food fight that is the 2016 Republican race:
Yes @tedcruz; @realdonaldtrump did fire me on Celebrity Apprentice. But he's about to fire your ass too! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain
— Dennis Rodman (@dennisrodman) February 26, 2016
In one of his attacks on Trump last night, Cruz said that while he, Cruz, was fighting immigration reform in Congress, “Where was Donald? He was firing Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice.”
John Kasich half-threatened to assassinate Rodman’s friend Kim Jong-un last night – and the former NBA star decides to go after Cruz?
Updated
OMG. It is on.
— Ellen L. Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) February 26, 2016
Cruz and Rubio shook hands behind Trump’s back during a break from the debate at which they mercilessly hammered him from right and left. Maybe this is why Cruz optimistically said in a post-debate interview, “Marco and I are friends.” Looks like they’re enjoying themselves:
.@marcorubio and @tedcruz shook hands behind @realDonaldTrump's back during a commercial break #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/82yjhCPMEc
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) February 26, 2016
(h/t: @nickywoolf)
Updated
Rubio reads mean tweets by Trump
... and makes fun of Trump’s misspelling of “choker.”
This clip also has Rubio making fun of Trump’s applying makeup backstage and Rubio saying Trump wanted to make sure his pants weren’t wet.
Is the backstage conduct of candidates at debates fair game? Isn’t there like a safe area back there? Politics ain’t beanbag, if I see you applying makeup on your sweat mustache – don’t blame me if I tell the world about it in the morning.
.@marcorubio reads #MeanTweets from @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/xBkDSmJL3c
— Alysha Love (@News_with_Love) February 26, 2016
2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney is really not letting this Donald Trump taxes thing go. We’d accuse him – based on his own refusal to release his taxes for months and months in 2012, and the incompleteness of the release when it finally happened –of being a hypocrite. But let’s give him a second chance and cheer him on:
No legit reason @realDonaldTrump can't release returns while being audited, but if scared, release earlier returns no longer under audit.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) February 26, 2016
For background on the Trump-Romney fight over Trump’s taxes, see here. This Trump tweet kind of captures the tone:
Mitt Romney, who was one of the dumbest and worst candidates in the history of Republican politics, is now pushing me on tax returns. Dope!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2016
Clinton: 'I love having men at my feet'
The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino witnessed a winning scene covering Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Saffron café and bakery in Charleston, South Carolina, this morning.
A groom, Joe Schreck, of Atlanta, and his 10 groomsmen had just orders a round of bloody Marys when she arrived, Lauren writes:
They asked her for a photo. When Clinton realized the man was getting married today, she turned to her staff: “he’s getting married today! That’s pretty exciting.”
Campaign photographer Barb Kinney tells them to kneel down, just like at the wedding. A few of them kneel around her.
“I love having men at my feet,” Clinton says. They took several photos [photos TK].
“That looks like a really good Bloody Mary,” she said pointing to one of the men’s drinks.
Forget ur troubles c'mon #gethappy#JudyGarland
— Scott Lawrence (@scottapril15th) February 15, 2016
If men were at MY feet I'd get happy 2 #positivethinking #dreambig pic.twitter.com/qzXTlKJTPx
Lauren’s coverage continues:
Schreck invited Clinton to his wedding later that evening. She said she wished she could attend and declined politely.
“Madame President,” pastry chef Mary Knochel, interrupted.
She was welding a sample basked of coconut pound cake.
“I gotta try this,” Clinton said, plucking a piece of cake out of the sample basket and popping it into her mouth.
The two women spoke quietly to each other for a moment. Knochel said she is a big supporter of Clinton, as he two women are from the same region, she’s from Louisiana, and from the same generation.
“I’ve got to get all of these crumbs out of my mouth,” Clinton says chewing and smiling for more pictures.
While admiring, another rack of pastries, Clinton complimented the owner on his selection.
“You gotta indulge here,” Clinton said, facing the pool.
Schreck, the groom, is from Atlanta, but he’s getting married in Charleston today at 5. He’s still undecided about who he is going to vote for but said he’s a big fan of Clinton, especially now.
Asked what his fiancée will say, he said: “she’ll love it!”
Updated
From the comments / Who won the debate?
Good question, dave_damage (and thanks for reading)!
Let’s see what advice you have for Mr Damage – here’s a selection:
General consensus seems to be that Trump won, or at the very least got through ok. There is a desperation creeping in to talk up Rubio (and not all of it coming from Republicans!). It looks to be way too late, as a proportion of the votes from those who drop out will go to Trump anyway, putting him even further ahead.
Ironically, some think that Hillary (given her positions and backers) would make a better Republican president than Trump. That might not be too hard.....
Trump handled it well.
Imagine the freak melt-down that we would have seen from Rubio in the same situation.
If other candidates had of went after Trump the way Rubio did last night Trump would have probably been out the race by now! Instead they chose to be threatened & heckled by Trump at every stage? He can give it out but cannot take it as we learned last night under pressure he buckles like a paper suspension bridge! He`s warned & threatened them that if they dare take him on he`ll wipe the floor with them? typical bully boy tactics from a large bag of wind who`s only claim to fame was he inherited a fortune then bankrupted himself on four separate occasions? He calls women ugly but he combs 3 yards of hair from the back of his bald head to the front & thinks no one will notice he`s bald? If elected he`d be the worst president in history.
Trump has corrected his earlier tweets misspelling “honor” as “honer” and “choker” as “chocker.” Second time’s a charm:
Wow, every poll said I won the debate last night. Great honor!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2016
We’d say Trump deserves every credit for communicating with voters through a direct medium without a thousand layers of screening between. If the price is an occasional misspelling, so what? Or is that going too easy on him? Can you imagine Hillary Clinton misspelling... anything?
From the comments:
Even the numerous spelling errors in Donald Trump's hilarious tweets tells me something-- Trump is probably actually writing those Tweets. With all the others, I don't know if they write them, or if a team of people write them. I don't know if they go through teams of people filtering them for content and proofreading them either. It's refreshing to see something genuine.
Updated
Rubio says Trump feared wetting pants
This will elevate the debate.
Rubio is not letting up on Trump, opening his first speech of the day with a minutes-long prologue attacking Trump.
Rubio mocking Trump: "Just like Trump Tower, he must have hired a foreign worker to do his own tweets."
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 26, 2016
Rubio on Trump: "Friends do not let friends vote for con artists."
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 26, 2016
Rubio even has made a pants-wetting joke:
Rubio says Trump asked for a full-length mirror during a debate break. "Maybe he was making sure his pants weren't wet."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) February 26, 2016
Rubio: "Donald Trump has never punched anyone in the face. Donald Trump was the first guy who begged for Secret Service protection."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) February 26, 2016
Updated
Here’s the second poll in two days showing Donald Trump with a double-digit lead over Marco Rubio in Rubio’s home state of Florida. Yesterday Quinnipiac published a poll with Trump up 44-28. Now Public Policy Polling measures Trump up 20:
FLORIDA GOP poll — @ppppolls
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 26, 2016
Trump 45%
Rubio 25%
Cruz 10%
Kasich 8%
Carson 5%
ONE-ON-ONE
Trump 52%, Rubio 38%
Rubio in his Today show appearance this morning said his campaign’s own numbers show these polls to be way way off, and he said he knows Florida and he’s going to win there.
Is Trump’s supposed strength in Florida really plausible? We’re trying so hard not to make a dumb Florida man joke, and
Florid Man Charged With Assault With a Deadly Weapon After Throwing Alligator Through Wendy’s Drive-Thru Window https://t.co/tEPBfzF8gf
— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) February 8, 2016
For the millions spent on polling the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, writes Guardian US data editor Mona Chalabi, the state-by-state surveys get a lot sketchier as the primary season proceeds:
This past week has been all about state, rather than national, polling. But as Super Tuesday fast approaches, there are lots of states where very little is known about voting intentions.
Even in states like Tennessee, which awards 58 Republican and 75 Democratic delegates, there isn’t all that much polling data. Reliable polls are expensive to conduct at the best of times – all the more so when you’re trying to identify likely caucus-goers in places like Colorado or Kentucky.
As a result, the sample sizes of these polls shrink down to just a few hundred, in some cases meaning that the margin of error is much higher. Basically, be cautious of primary polls - you can expect lots of the unexpected on March 1.
The New York Times’ Upshot shop has produced a great interactive graphic depicting various paths for Trump or Rubio (or one of the others) to get to the Republican presidential nomination depending on how they perform on Super Tuesday on 1 March and then in the spate elections on 15 March (they include the big winner-take-all prizes of Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri).
You set dials according to what proportion of support you think the various candidates will be winning before and after 15 March and the widget represents probabilities for outcomes.
It’s cool check it out.
Hillary Clinton avoided on Friday morning admittedly wildly premature questions about whether she would consider senator Elizabeth Warren to be her vice presidential pick, the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino writes:
“I can’t get presumptuous,” Clinton said on MSNBC. “Right now I’ve got to win the nomination and then I’m going to take a deep breath and maybe get a good night’s sleep, and then start thinking about that important decision.”
Clinton also acknowledged some voters viewed her as untrustworthy.
“It’s hurtful to have people say, oh, I don’t trust her or don’t know why she’s doing it,” Clinton said. “And it suddenly struck me, well, maybe there is this underlying question like is she doing it for herself, or is she really in it for us? And I’ve always thought of myself as being service-oriented.”
Rubio: Trump a 'con artist'
Florida senator Marco Rubio turned up on the Today show to press his argument that Donald Trump is not a logical choice to carry the mantle of American conservatism.
“I’d prefer not to have a fight and an argument with other Republicans, but...we’re on the verge of someone taking over the conservative movement in the Republican party who’s a con artist... He has spent his career sticking it to working Americans,” Rubio says.
We are not going to turn over the conservative movement to a con artist. https://t.co/nLduvzS5sU
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 26, 2016
Rubio also hits Trump for hiding his tax returns (Rubio has promised to release his at the weekend):
The reason why Donald won’t release his taxes is he because he hasn’t made nearly as much money as he claims he does... He is not as rich as he claims to be, everybody in finance knows that, and his taxes would expose that.
Rubio calls Trump’s story that he can’t release his taxes because he’s being audited for being too strong of a Christian “absurd” and “unreal.”
Updated
“If you kill Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody could convict you,” Republican senator Lindsey Graham said in remarks skewering his party’s presidential field at the Washington press club foundation dinner on Thursday night.
The Texas senator, a contender for the Republican presidential nomination, is extremely unpopular among his congressional colleagues.
The dinner is convened by news organizations with a footprint in Washington and features stabs at comedy by elected officials. It is not to be confused with the White House correspondents’ association dinner, which in recent years has become celebrity-filled and at which the president typically speaks.
The Republican party has gone “batshit crazy”, Graham told the crowd, referring to the presidential race.
And he noted that he himself had dropped out of this year’s presidential race and promptly endorsed former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who subsequently dropped out. Graham put on a white “Make America Great Again” hat and said: “I endorse Donald Trump and hope the Graham magic still exists!”
In reference to Cruz’s birth in Canada and the false belief held by about 10% of self-identified conservatives that Barack Obama was born in Africa, he added: “I will say that our Canadian is better than your Kenyan.”
He continued: “I know exactly when Ted is going to drop out of the race. March 12 — that’s Canadian week in Myrtle Beach, when all of our Canadian friends get 10 percent off.”
Myrtle Beach is a popular resort and tourist destination in South Carolina, Graham’s home state, and the city is hosting a Canadian-American Days festival beginning March 12.
Graham had some zingers for Florida senator Marco Rubio, too, whom Graham called “the boy wonder”. Rubio is 44, about five months younger than Cruz.
“I’m not saying he would change his positions, but he would change his positions,” Graham said, in reference perhaps to Rubio’s calibration on immigration reform.
“The Secret Service’s main job if he’s president is to keep him hydrated,” Graham said, in reference for sure to the time Rubio had to sneak a drink of water during his response to a state of the union address.
Updated
Trump’s spellcheck appears to be broken this ayem. Will this be the outrage that sinks his candidacy?
Wow, every poll said I won the debate last night. Great honer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2016
Leightweight chocker Marco Rubio looks like a little boy on stage. Not presidential material!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2016
Lying Ted Cruz and leightweight chocker Marco Rubio teamed up last night in a last ditch effort to stop our great movement. They failed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2016
Updated
Hello, and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. Did you watch last night’s Republican debate? Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz ganged up on Donald Trump in an effort to take the frontrunner down a notch.
Trump often gave as good as he got, although Rubio tagged him pretty good by pointing out that Trump could not describe his healthcare policy in any depth beyond “it’ll be beautiful”.
Trump apparently sat bolt upright in bed this morning and began throwing punches again, jumping on Twitter to call Rubio a “chocker”:
Lightweight Marco Rubio was working hard last night. The problem is, he is a choker, and once a choker, always a chocker! Mr. Meltdown.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2016
“They’re desperate – I mean what are they going to do, they’re losing by massive amounts,” Trump said of his senatorial rivals last night. And this: “I think it’s going to be over fairly quickly, and I don’t think there’s going to be a [contested] convention.”
In Democrat-land, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton popped up this morning on MSNBC and said she had already undergone the process of careful scrutiny that could snag less experienced pols.
“I have withstood all this. I have been vetted,” she said. She also took a swipe at Trump, saying he “traffics in a lot of ‘prejudice and paranoia’”.
Clinton:
I am not a natural politician like Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, and so for me it really came through the route of service.
Last night Clinton was in Charleston, South Carolina, which votes on Saturday, and she took the stage with Charlie Wilson, the former Gap Band frontman, in a moment captured by the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino.
With moves like that, how can she not be 20 points up in SC?
Today our correspondents are in Nashville, Tennessee (a Super Tuesday state); Columbia, South Carolina; and across the west to take the measure of whether and how the race is twisting in advance of the cascade of voting on 1 March. Thanks for joining us, and let’s hear your take in the comments!
today's tabs: Trump. #media #politics pic.twitter.com/jrK1c9OrfM
— Azi (@Azi) February 26, 2016
Updated
I'm seeing conflicting opinions on this latest debate, and residing in Argentina seeing nothing of it other than the Grauniad, and BBC online reports,so did Trump really perform badly?