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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - August 1, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Monday's Leading Stories
- Over the weekend, Donald Trump was criticized by Republicans and veterans for his response to the Democratic National Convention speech from military parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004. "If you look at his wife [Ghazala Khan], she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me,” Trump said. Responding to Khan’s assertion that he had not sacrificed anything, Trump said, “I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot.” Trump later released a statement saying, “While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things. If I become President, I will make America safe again.” (ABC News, The Hill)
- Khan responded to Trump’s statements in an interview on CNN on Sunday. He said that his wife was unable to see a photo of her son and maintain her composure due to grief. “For this candidate for presidency to not be aware of the respect of a Gold Star mother standing there, and he had to take that shot at her, this is height of ignorance. This is why I showed him [the] Constitution. Had he read that, he would know the status a Gold Star mother holds in this nation,” he said. (CNN)
- Ghazala Khan also wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post on Sunday to address Trump’s charge, writing, "Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?" (The Washington Post)
- “There's only one way to talk about Gold Star parents: with honor and respect. Capt. Khan is a hero. Together, we should pray for his family,” tweeted Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R). (Politico)
- "This is going to a place where we've never gone before, to push back against the families of the fallen. There used to be some things that were sacred in American politics — that you don't do — like criticizing the parents of a fallen soldier even if they criticize you,” said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in a statement. (NBC News)
- House Speaker Paul Ryan (R) said in a statement, “As I have said on numerous occasions, a religious test for entering our country is not reflective of these fundamental values. I reject it. Many Muslim Americans have served valiantly in our military, and made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Khan was one such brave example. His sacrifice — and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan — should always be honored. Period." (NBC News)
- During an interview that aired on ABC News on Sunday, Trump said that he was not concerned with Russian President Vladimir Putin entering Ukraine. “He’s not gonna go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.” When host George Stephanopoulos countered that Russia had already entered Ukraine, Trump said, “OK― well, he’s there in a certain way. But I’m not there. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama with all the strength that you’re talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this. In the meantime, he’s going away. He take ― takes Crimea.” He added that he heard that Crimeans “would rather be with Russia than where they were.” (The Huffington Post)
- Ballotpedia senior writer Jim Barnes discussed the state of the presidential election following the Republican and Democratic conventions on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” on Sunday. (C-SPAN)
Polls
- In a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday, Hillary Clinton led Donald Trump by five points in a head-to-head race, 50 percent to 45 percent. In a four-way race, Clinton and Trump tied with 37 percent each. Gary Johnson registered 5 percent support and Jill Stein 1. (RealClearPolitics)
- Clinton led her rivals in California by double digits in a four-way poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California with 46 percent to Trump’s 30, Johnson’s 7, and Stein’s 6. (PPIC)
- In a survey of Missouri voters released on Friday by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Clinton narrowly topped Trump, 41 percent to 40 percent. Johnson had 9 and Stein 1. (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
- A Public Policy Polling national poll released on Saturday found Clinton ahead by five points, 50 percent to 45 percent. Following both parties’ nominating conventions, the pollsters found, “Clinton's net favorability improved by 9 points over the last month. She's still not popular, with a -6 net favorability at 45/51, but it's a good deal better than the -15 spread she had at 39/54 a month ago. The gains are particularly attributable to Democrats increasing in their enthusiasm for her, going from giving her a 76/15 rating to an 83/12 one. Trump, on the other hand, is at a -22 net favorability with 36% of voters seeing him favorably to 58% with a negative one. That's barely changed at all from the 35/58 standing we found for him in late June.” (Public Policy Polling)
- Clinton regained her lead over Trump in a CBS News poll after they tied last week following the Republican National Convention. She registered 46 percent to Trump’s 39 percent. “Voters who back a candidate remain firm in their support. Nine in 10 Clinton and Trump voters say their minds are made up about their candidate,” the poll also found. (CBS News)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- The editorial board of The Houston Chronicle, which supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, endorsed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump on Friday. Explaining its decision, the editorial board wrote, “Any one of Trump's less-than-sterling qualities - his erratic temperament, his dodgy business practices, his racism, his Putin-like strongman inclinations and faux-populist demagoguery, his contempt for the rule of law, his ignorance - is enough to be disqualifying. His convention-speech comment, ‘I alone can fix it,’ should make every American shudder. He is, we believe, a danger to the Republic.” (The Houston Chronicle)
- A Clinton campaign spokesman announced on Saturday that proprietary campaign information maintained by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was accessed when the DNC was hacked. The FBI released this statement regarding the hack: “The FBI is aware of media reporting on cyber intrusions involving multiple political entities, and is working to determine the accuracy, nature and scope of these matters.” (ABC News)
- In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Clinton expressed concern with a potential link between Trump and the Russian government. “We know that Russian intelligence services hacked into the DNC and we know that they arranged for a lot of those emails to be released and we know that Donald Trump has shown a very troubling willingness to back up Putin, to support Putin," Clinton said. She added, “For Trump to both encourage that and to praise Putin despite what appears to be a deliberate effort to try to affect the election I think raises national security issues.” (Reuters)
- According to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics, hedge fund owners and employees have donated $48.5 million to Clinton’s campaign, as compared to $19,000 for Trump’s campaign. The Wall Street Journal noted, “Mr. Trump, of course, didn’t start actively soliciting campaign contributions until recently and even shunned outside political groups working on his behalf. Hedge-fund employees have contributed heavily to other Republican groups this cycle—$65.8 million so far—mainly in support of candidates who opposed Mr. Trump in the primaries. Some who had supported other Republican candidates are now beginning to give to pro-Trump groups. Still, Mrs. Clinton’s big haul from hedge funds also reflects the topsy-turvy politics of this election. In the 2008 campaign, hedge funds contributed just $14 million to Democratic candidates and groups.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an interview on Sunday that he intends to “vigorously” campaign for Clinton. "I would ask ... of my supporters to get away from the personality conflicts that media tries to bring forward and focus on the real issues impacting the American people. And when you do that, I think the choice is pretty clear and that is that Hillary Clinton is far and away the superior candidate,” he said. (CBS News)
- Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, expressed support for the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the funding of abortion services with federal taxpayer money, on Sunday. When asked to explain why Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said a week earlier that he would “stand with Secretary Clinton to defend a woman's right to choose, to repeal the Hyde Amendment," Kaine said, “That is not accurate and I don't think Robby has said that.” (CNN)
Republicans
Donald Trump
- Although the Democratic National Convention generally received higher ratings than the Republican National Convention last week, Donald Trump’s convention acceptance speech was watched by more viewers than Hillary Clinton’s, 32 million to 30 million. (U.S. News & World Report)
- Politico reported on Friday that billionaire Charles Koch rejected an appeal from Trump donors to meet on Friday. Responding to the story, Trump tweeted on Saturday, “I turned down a meeting with Charles and David Koch. Much better for them to meet with the puppets of politics, they will do much better!” (Politico, CNBC)
- In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday, Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said that the campaign was considering giving access to certain blocked media outlets again. “We’re going to have those conversations internally and I fully expect in the next 100 days we’re going to continue to be available to the media, whether they’re fair or unfair," he said. (Politico)
- During a rally in Colorado on Friday, Trump said that he was beginning to believe that Clinton should be in prison. “You know it's interesting. Every time I mention her, everyone screams 'Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!' And you know what I do? I've been nice but after watching that performance last night – such lies – I don't have to be so nice anymore. I'm taking the gloves off, right?" Trump said. (CBS News)
- Although Trump claimed last week that he received a letter from the NFL objecting to the presidential debate schedule as “ridiculous” because it overlapped with some football games, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy denied the organization had sent Trump such a letter. (CBS News)
- Trump will campaign in New York and Maine this week, in addition to traditional battleground states like Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. CNN noted, “Maine makes sense because it's a funky state that splits its electoral votes, though that's never happened. Trump has also said he wants to play aggressively in his native New York, where some Republicans on the ground think he may do well in rural areas upstate. But other Republicans say it's not a good idea for him to spend any time at all in New York, which Hillary Clinton represented in the Senate for eight years.” (CNN)
- The New York Times published a profile of Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his time working as a political adviser in Ukraine. (The New York Times)
Third Party Candidates
- Former staffers from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)’s presidential campaign wrote an open letter to him on Friday encouraging him to launch a third-party run with Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. “With your steadfastness and consistency in talking about the issues, you educated us and inspired a whole generation to get involved in politics. We look forward to continuing the political revolution and working with your successor organizations, however right now the country still needs you to run for president,” they wrote. (CounterPunch)
- Former Ohio state senator and Sanders surrogate Nina Turner said on Sunday that she has been offered a slot on the Green Party presidential ticket. "She killed herself for the last year in the Sanders campaign. She was the second to Bernie, I would imagine, in terms of speaking for the campaign on national television. She's African American, she's smart, she's a draw,” said National Nurses United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro. (The Washington Post)
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- In an interview with The Washington Post published on Friday, Jill Stein said that while vaccines were “an invaluable medication,” she was concerned with vaccine safety and government oversight of mandatory vaccinations. "Like any medication, they also should be — what shall we say? — approved by a regulatory board that people can trust. And I think right now, that is the problem. That people do not trust a Food and Drug Administration, or even the CDC for that matter, where corporate influence and the pharmaceutical industry has a lot of influence." (The Washington Post)
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- Gary Johnson discussed his appeal to Hillary Clinton supporters, immigration policy, and foreign affairs in an interview with The Los Angeles Times published on Monday. (The Los Angeles Times)
- On why he might “take more votes” from Clinton than Trump: “Well I think that's the social side of this. Choice. A woman's right to choose. Marriage equality. Let's stop dropping bombs. This is also appealing to Bernie voters -- crony capitalism, it is alive and well. Having been governor of New Mexico, [I know that] legislation gets passed that benefits those who have money and influence and they buy more money and influence.”
- On immigration: “Immigration is really a good thing. … So embracing immigration, making it as easy as possible for somebody who wants to come into this country to work and to get a work visa. A work visa should entail a background check and a Social Security card. Don't build a wall across the border, they are not — and I am speaking as a border state governor — they are not taking jobs that U.S. citizens want. They’re just hard-working people that can’t get across the border legally to take the jobs that do exist. And you're also aware that actually this is like the lowest number of illegal crossings in decades right now because jobs don't exist in the United States either. So this is a political bogeyman that really doesn't exist.”
- On withdrawing from Afghanistan: “Let's get out of Afghanistan now. I supported going into Afghanistan at the beginning. That was going after Al Qaeda, I think that we accomplished those goals after about seven months. We could have … after seven months, we didn't find Osama Bin Laden. But we could have said we're getting out, we've knocked out Al Qaeda, and we're going to come back in if we see that Osama Bin Laden raises his head. The consequences of getting out of Afghanistan tomorrow you could say are gonna be horrible. Well, we could mitigate the horrible circumstances [of] getting out by saying if your life's in danger because you've aligned yourself with the U.S. -- I imagine that might affect a lot of individuals -- we could offer them sanctuary in the U.S. and I don't think that's unprecedented.”
- On NATO and Russia: “Well, we need to honor our obligations. We need to honor our treaty obligations. But that said, should they be reexamined, and do we really want to go to war with Russia over the Baltic states? And Russia did become democratic, tearing itself away from the USSR. And the states that we are talking about used to be part of the USSR. So honor those obligations but, going forward, Russia doesn’t have to be our ally but they don’t necessarily need to be a military threat to the U.S. either.”
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
