Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - April 12, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- Bernie Sanders called for a nationwide ban on fracking during a rally in Binghamton, New York, on Monday. “In my view, if we are serious about safe and clean drinking water, if we are serious about clean air. If we are serious about combating climate change, we need to put an end to fracking not only in New York and Vermont, but all over this country,” he said. (The New York Times, ABC News)
- Donald Trump continued to challenge the Republican Party’s primary process on Monday night, calling it “a rigged, disgusting, dirty system.” Over the weekend, Trump noted that he had received 2 million more votes than any other Republican candidate. “I say this to the RNC and I say it to the Republican Party. You're going to have a big problem folks because there are people that don't like what's going on,” he warned. Party chair Reince Priebus tweeted in response, “The rules were set last year. Nothing mysterious – nothing new. The rules have not changed. The rules are the same. Nothing different.” (CNN, The Hill)
Polls
- According to an NBC News/WSJ/Marist poll released on Monday, Donald Trump leads John Kasich in New York, 54 percent to 21 percent. Ted Cruz comes in third with 18 percent support. In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton has 55 percent to Bernie Sanders’ 41 percent. (NBC News)
- In general election matchups by NBC News/WSJ/Marist, the Democratic candidates defeated their Republican rivals in New York by double-digit margins:
- Clinton (61 percent) vs. Cruz (31 percent);
- Clinton (53 percent) vs. Kasich (38 percent);
- Clinton (61 percent) vs. Trump (32 percent);
- Sanders (65 percent) vs. Cruz (28 percent);
- Sanders (57 percent) vs. Kasich (35 percent);
- Sanders (64 percent) vs. Trump (31 percent). (MSN)
- Monmouth University gave Clinton a similar margin in New York in a new poll released on Monday. She has 51 percent, a 12-point lead over Sanders’ 39 percent. “The race is basically tied among non-Hispanic white primary voters (48% for Sanders and 46% for Clinton), while Clinton enjoys a large lead among black, Hispanic and other voters (62% to 22%). Clinton holds a significant advantage among voters age 50 and older (57% to 36%), while the race is much closer among voters under 50 (45% for Clinton to 43% for Sanders),” according to the Monmouth pollsters. (Monmouth University)
Democrats
- In an interview published by Mic on Monday, Vice President Joe Biden said that he would "like to see a woman elected." An aide attempted to end the interview after this statement but Biden continued, “The president and I are not going endorse because we both, when we ran said, 'Let the party decide.' But gosh almighty, they're [Clinton and Sanders] both qualified. Hillary's overwhelmingly qualified to be president." (Mic)
Hillary Clinton
- Politico conducted a survey of recent federal investigations into the mishandling of classified information and concluded that nearly all of those prosecuted included an “aggravating circumstance” not apparent in Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. “Between 2011 and 2015, federal prosecutors disposed of 30 referrals from investigators in cases where the main proposed charge was misdemeanor mishandling of classified information .... Prosecution was declined in 80 percent of those cases. Of the six where charges were filed, all the defendants apparently pled guilty, the data show. The cases indicate that a strong dose of prosecutorial discretion is involved, partly because the laws on mishandling classified information are written broadly,” Josh Gerstein of Politico noted. (Politico)
- While speaking at a panel on gun violence on Monday, Clinton challenged Bernie Sanders’ position on gun control and gun safety in rural Vermont. She said, “Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont.” She continued, “So this is not, 'Oh, you know, I live in a rural state, we don’t have these problems. … It’s easy to cross borders. Criminals, domestic abusers, traffickers, people who are dangerously mentally ill — they cross borders, too. And sometimes they do it to get the guns they use. This has to become a voting issue for those of us who want to save lives.” (Politico)
- Clinton referenced Sanders’ interview last week with The New York Daily News — where he struggled to provide the details of his banking policy — during a news conference on Monday to comment on his ability to respond to questions under pressure. “I have noticed that under the bright spotlight and scrutiny here in New York, Sen. Sanders has had trouble answering questions. He has had trouble answering questions about his core issue, namely, dealing with the banks. He has had trouble answering foreign policy questions,” she said. (CNN)
- On Monday, Clinton and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were criticized for making a racially charged joke during a campaign event over the weekend. As part of a skit, de Blasio said that he was late to endorse Clinton because he was “running on CP time.” This phrase reportedly refers to “colored people time,” which stereotypes black people as frequently arriving late. Clinton followed up that de Blasio meant “cautious politician time.” De Blasio defended the exchange on Monday in an interview on CNN, saying, “It was a scripted show. The whole idea was to do the counter-intuitive by saying cautious politician time. Every actor thought it was a joke on a different convention. That was the whole idea. I think people are missing the point here." (The Hill, Raw Story, ABC News)
Bernie Sanders
- Superdelegate and U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) announced over the weekend that he planned to support Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention. (CBS Minnesota)
- According to a new AP-GfK poll, Sanders has the highest net favorability rating of any presidential candidate still standing. With 48 percent to 39 percent expressing approval of Sanders, his numbers also improved since the last AP-GfK poll measuring his favorability. (The Boston Globe)
- Sanders condemned the $5 billion settlement announced on Monday between Goldman Sachs and the Justice Department, calling it an example of “the corruption of our criminal justice system” that there were no criminal charges. He also said, “Goldman Sachs is one of the major financial institutions in our country. What they have just acknowledged to the whole world is that their system…is based on fraud.” (The Hill, Bernie Sanders for President)
Republicans
Ted Cruz
- In a radio interview on Monday, Ted Cruz accused the popular conservative website The Drudge Report of being under the control of Roger Stone and becoming an attack vehicle for Donald Trump. He said, “Look, Drudge Report over the years has done a good job highlighting the excesses of the left and the excesses of liberalism, and about the past month the Drudge Report has basically become the attack site for the Donald Trump campaign. And so every day they have the latest Trump attack. They’re directed at me. It — by all appearances, Roger Stone now decides what’s on Drudge, and most days they have a six-month-old article that is some attack on me, and it’s — whatever the Trump campaign is pushing that day will be the banner headline on Drudge.” (Breitbart)
- Jeff Masin, a judge in New Jersey, is expected to rule on a challenge to Cruz’s eligibility to run for president on Tuesday hearing arguments from Cruz’s representatives and Catholic University of America law professor Victor Williams. (WPIX-TV)
- During a rally in California on Monday, Cruz directly addressed Trump’s accusations that the Republican primary system was “corrupt.” He said, "Donald, it ain't stealing when the voters vote against you. It is the voters reclaiming this country and reclaiming sanity.” (Fox News)
John Kasich
- Speaking at the Women’s National Republican Club in New York on Tuesday, John Kasich is expected to deliver a speech outlining the “two paths” that voters face: one based on paranoia and division and one on solutions. In a preview to reporters, he said, “Do we look at people’s fears and concerns and drive them into the ditch? Or do we acknowledge the fact that people do have concerns and problems, and can we give them a path to solving our problems like Americans always have?” (The New York Times, CBS News)
- During a televised town hall with his family on Monday night, Kasich questioned a recently adopted state law that would allow private businesses to discriminate against gay individuals. “I read about this thing they did in Mississippi, where apparently you can deny somebody service because they're gay? What the hell are we doing in this country? I mean, look, I may not appreciate a certain lifestyle or even approve of it, but I can -- it doesn't mean I've got to go write a law and try to figure out how to have another wedge issue,” he said. (Newsmax)
Donald Trump
- In an interview on Monday, Donald Trump called CIA Director John Brennan's refusal to waterboard “ridiculous.” He said, “We’re playing on different fields, and we have a huge problem with ISIS, which we can’t beat. And the reason we can’t beat them is because we can’t use strong tactics, whether it’s this or other thing. So I think his comments are ridiculous. Can you imagine these ISIS people sitting around, eating and talking about this country won’t allow waterboarding and they just chopped off 50 heads?” (Politico)
- According to a Washington Post analysis of Trump’s recent charitable givings, as provided by his campaign, Trump’s philanthropy “appears narrowly tied to his business and, now, his political interests.” His giving included free rounds of golf at his courses and the forfeiture of development rights for conservation, but none were cash gifts from Trump himself. (The Washington Post)
- Two of Trump’s children – Eric and Ivanka Trump – will be unable to vote for him in New York’s closed Republican primary because they are not are registered as affiliated with any party. “They feel very, very guilty. They feel very guilty. But it's fine. I understand that,” said Trump. (ABC News)
- While visiting the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum in Japan on Monday, John Kerry condemned Trump’s recommendation that Japan and South Korea develop nuclear arsenals to defend themselves. He said, “Any suggestion by any candidate for high public office that we should be building more weapons and giving them to a country like Korea or Japan are absurd on their face and run counter to everything that every president, Republican or Democrat alike, has tried to achieve ever since World War II." (CNN)
- In an interview conducted last week and published by USA Today on Monday, Trump said that he liked Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and Scott Walker as potential vice presidential picks. (USA Today)
See also
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
- Important dates in the 2016 presidential race
- Polls and Straw polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
