Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - August 11, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Thursday's Leading Stories
- A newly released batch of emails revealed close ties between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, told The New York Times the emails show that “the State Department and the Clinton Foundation worked hand in hand in terms of policy and donor effort.” Donald Trump addressed the emails in a speech in Virginia on Wednesday, saying, “A couple of very bad ones came out. And it's called pay for play. And some of these were really, really bad and illegal.” (The New York Times, The Washington Post)
- On Wednesday, Clinton’s campaign launched Together for America, a group focused on leading the “campaign’s recruitment and outreach to the growing number of Republicans and Independents who are stepping forward to endorse Hillary Clinton for president.” Clinton’s campaign announced endorsements from two former officials from George W. Bush’s administration on Wednesday: John Negroponte, a former Director of National Intelligence, Carlos Gutierrez, a former Secretary of Commerce. The Together for America website features a list of almost 50 prominent Republicans who have endorsed Clinton. (ABC News, Politico)
Polls
- In a Rasmussen Reports poll of likely voters, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 43 to 40. Gary Johnson came in third with eight percent, followed by Jill Stein with two percent. (Rasmussen Reports)
- A YouGov/Economist poll conducted August 6-9 has Clinton leading Trump by six points in a four-way race. Clinton had 42 percentage points to Trump’s 36. Gary Johnson and Jill Stein took nine and two points, respectively. (YouGov)
- A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that nearly one in five, or 19 percent, of registered Republican voters think Donald Trump should drop out of the race. The poll also found that 44 percent of all registered voters want Trump to end his White House bid. (Reuters)
- In Wisconsin, Clinton leads Trump 52 to 37 percent according to a Marquette University Law School poll of more than 600 likely voters. The poll also found that Democrat Russ Feingold leads GOP incumbent Ron Johnson among likely voters, 53 to 42 percent. A Marquette poll in early July found Feingold leading by five points. (Wisconsin State Journal)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- The Clinton campaign announced that Hillary Clinton will release her tax returns from 2015 and Tim Kaine will release returns from the past 10 years. (CNBC)
- After Seddique Mateen, the father of the shooter who killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando in June, expressed support for Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally on Monday, her campaign disavowed his support. A spokesperson said that Clinton, “disagrees with his views and disavows his support. … The rally was a 3,000-person, open-door event for the public. This individual wasn’t invited as a guest and the campaign was unaware of his attendance until after the event.” (The Hill)
- Clinton published an op-ed in the Utah newspaper Deseret News in which she sought to appeal to Mormon voters in the state by highlighting her record on religious freedom. “I’ve been fighting to defend religious freedom for years. As secretary of state, I made it a cornerstone of our foreign policy to protect the rights of religious minorities around the world — from Coptic Christians in Egypt to Buddhists in Tibet. And along with Jon Huntsman, our then-ambassador in Beijing, I stood in solidarity with Chinese Christians facing persecution from their government,” wrote Clinton. (Deseret News)
Republicans
Donald Trump
- CNN reported that an official with the Secret Service confirmed that the agency had spoken with Donald Trump’s campaign about comments Trump made on Tuesday, which some have interpreted as suggesting violence against Hillary Clinton. At a rally in North Carolina, Trump said, “Hillary wants to abolish -- essentially abolish the Second Amendment. And if she gets to pick … if she gets to pick her judges: Nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know. But I tell you what, that will be a horrible day.” An official with the Secret Service reportedly told CNN, “There has been more than one conversation.” Trump, however, tweeted later in the day that “No such meeting or conversation ever happened - a made up story by ‘low ratings.’” (CNN)
- Speaking to a crowd in Virginia on Wednesday, Trump took aim at NAFTA, calling it a “disaster.” Trump said, “Virginia has lost one in three manufacturing jobs since NAFTA. NAFTA was signed by Bill Clinton; NAFTA is a disaster. It's been a disaster not only in Virginia, but for virtually every state. … Upstate New York, it looks like a war zone. That's why I won so much and I got the upstate vote in numbers that no one has seen before.” (WHEC)
- At a rally in Florida, Trump called President Obama the “founder of ISIS” and Hillary Clinton the “co-founder.” Trump said, “ISIS is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He founded ISIS. And, I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton. … He was the founder of ISIS, absolutely. The way he removed our troops -- you shouldn't have gone in. I was against the war in Iraq. Totally against it.” (The Guardian, CNN)
Third Party Candidates
- Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin said that he plans to get on the ballot in all 50 states, despite ballot access deadlines that have already passed or soon will. He said, “We expect to be on a broad number of states' [ballots], and in some especially critical states across the country. And we expect to be competitive. And we do see, even at this late hour, a difficult but very possible route to winning, and that is the goal, and that is what we're going to fight for until the end. … It's a multi-pronged strategy that involves getting on ballots through signatures where we can do that. We're also talking to other parties who are interested in what we're doing. We are preparing some legal challenges.” (The Weekly Standard)
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- Gary Johnson’s campaign announced that GOP operative Juan Hernández will lead the Libertarian Party’s Hispanic outreach efforts in 2016. Hernandez served as an advisor to John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008 and has also worked with Mexican Presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón. He cited Donald Trump as his chief reason for backing a third party candidate, calling Trump “the worst of the worst.” (Fox News)
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
