Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - February 16, 2016
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- Donald Trump released a statement on Monday accusing Ted Cruz of being “the single biggest liar I’ve ever come across, in politics or otherwise” and threatening a lawsuit against him. Trump wrote, “One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him relative to the fact that he was born in Canada and therefore cannot be President. If he doesn't take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will do so immediately. Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they don’t they are in default of their pledge to me.” (The Washington Post)
- In an interview on Tuesday morning, Trump confirmed that he was “very seriously” considering suing Cruz. "I think he's a very unstable person. I have never had somebody take something you believe in and say the exact opposite,” he said. (ABC News)
- Former President George W. Bush attended a rally for his brother, Jeb Bush, in South Carolina on Monday. He addressed Donald Trump’s criticism of his presidency and argued that the younger Bush “has the experience and the character to be a great president.” He added, “All the sloganeering and all the talk doesn’t matter if we don’t win. These are tough times, and I understand that Americans are angry and frustrated, but we do not need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration.” (The New York Times)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- Hillary Clinton was endorsed by faith leaders from Flint, Michigan, on Monday. “Secretary Clinton has certainly aided us in bringing added political attention to our plight in the city of Flint, causing other politicians to move legislation on this subject, and vowing to do everything within her power to assist Flint in recovering from this sinful social experiment," the Rev. Hubert Miller said in a statement from the Clinton campaign. Her campaign also released a video highlighting the water crisis in Flint.
- During a rally for Hillary Clinton featuring former President Bill Clinton as a surrogate, a protester accused the Clintons of accepting money from Donald Trump. Bill Clinton responded, “I certainly did. I took his money for my foundation and used it better than he’s using it now.” He continued, “I remember when he called me to say how terrible the Republicans had been to Hillary and me and how unfair they were and what a brilliant job Hillary did as a senator. By the way, a lot of them called me about that, which is why they spent the last three years trying to tear her down because they know if they nominate her they are going to have to eat the words they said.” (ABC News)
- Discussing potential Supreme Court nominees on Monday while campaigning in Nevada, Clinton said, “I think the President's going to look for somebody who has a record that is gonna be hard for the Republicans to be against. Somebody who is a sensible person with a good record and maybe somebody who's already been confirmed by the Senate." She continued, "We've got some judges on the courts of appeals, they were confirmed 99 to nothing. So there [sic] people who have already gone through the process." (CNN)
Bernie Sanders
- The Republican Party of New Hampshire launched an online petition on Monday to encourage the state’s Democratic superdelegates to support Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention. Commenting on the apparent tie between Sanders and Hillary Clinton in delegate count despite Sanders winning the state’s primary with 60 percent, the petition reads, “How is this possible? Because Democrats have set up an undemocratic system that allows party elites called ‘super delegates’ to single-handedly cancel out the votes of thousands of grassroots activists.” Melissa Miller, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Party, responded that this “stunt reeks of desperation. They’re clearly trying to do whatever they can to distract from the constitutional crisis that our nation has been plunged into thanks to Mitch McConnell and Kelly Ayotte’s obstructionism on the Supreme Court nomination process.” (WMUR Manchester)
- Over the weekend, Sanders became the first presidential candidate to open a campaign office in Chicago, Illinois. (NBC Chicago)
Republicans
Jeb Bush
- The New York Times reported on Monday that Right to Rise, a super PAC backing Jeb Bush, has “canceled up to a third of its ad reservations in March 1 primary states.” Spokesman Paul Lindsay said, “Delaying these start dates will give us the opportunity to prioritize our resources following South Carolina as we look ahead to the important March 1 states.” The super PAC had previously purchased $10 million of airtime in Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma and Georgia. (The New York Times)
- Right to Rise also released a radio ad in South Carolina on Monday that features several clips of Trump using profanity. The ad’s narrator asks, “As South Carolina prepares to cast a crucial vote for president, you must ask yourself: is Trump the man we want as our president? Is this the type of man we want our children exposed to?” (Fortune)
Ben Carson
- Ben Carson wrote an op-ed for the Fox News website arguing that it was necessary for the U.S. to declare war on ISIS. He pointed to the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as an example of an organization using “social ‘lawfare’ tactics designed to silence criticism and advance the goal of imposing sharia” in the U.S. (Fox News)
- In an interview with Newsmax TV on Monday, Ben Carson’s wife, Candy Carson, said her husband intended to remain in the presidential race “for our children, our grandchildren and future generations.” Invoking the country’s $19 trillion debt, she added, “That's hard to comprehend and we're putting this on the backs of our children and grandchildren and their grandchildren. It's not fair to them, and Thomas Jefferson said it's morally wrong to steal from future generations." (Newsmax)
Ted Cruz
- During a rally in South Carolina on Monday, Ted Cruz declared, “I intend to make 2016 a referendum on the Supreme Court. … I will have no more solemn responsibility than to name a replacement for Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.” Cruz added that he believed Donald Trump would appoint liberal judges. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Cruz also turned his sights on Marco Rubio’s record on immigration on Monday in an interview on Fox News. He said, “I guess Marco's team has told him, ‘Well, if anyone brings up your actual record, the fact that over and over and over again you've supported amnesty, just yell liar. Just scream, you're lying, you're lying, you're lying.’ I guess his team has decided instead you just should insult people and claim it's a lie and they're hoping to confuse the voters." (CNN)
- On Sunday, Cruz’s campaign released a new ad criticizing Trump and Hillary Clinton for supporting Planned Parenthood. (The New York Times)
- Keep the Promise I, a super PAC backing Cruz, has made a $573,000 ad buy in Nevada. According to The New York Times, “The group also plans to distribute 100,000 mail pieces in the state this week highlighting Marco Rubio’s ‘less than conservative record on immigration, cap-and-trade, military spending and Libya.’” (The New York Times)
John Kasich
- While campaigning in Michigan on Monday, John Kasich suggested a victory in the state would be essential to his campaign continuing forward. He said, “We have to do really, really well in this state, I mean – or I have to roll up the carpets and go back.” (CBS News)
- Although he said on Sunday that President Obama should not nominate anyone to the Supreme Court, Kasich conceded he would if he were president. “Of course I would send somebody. But it would probably be a different situation,” Kasich said, before noting that the “polarized” nature of Washington, D.C., will make the confirmation process contentious. (ABC News)
- Kasich said he would not seek to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during an interview on Sunday. “I would only go to Syria to destroy ISIS. I would not use U.S. troops to depose Assad. But I would support the rebels there. It's okay to support those people who share your view. But for the United States to be embroiled in a civil war in Syria against Assad I think is a big mistake,” Kasich said. (RealClearPolitics)
Marco Rubio
- Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) endorsed Marco Rubio on Monday. "Marco Rubio is a true conservative who can unite the party and defeat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in the fall," he said in a statement. (CBS News)
- Rubio said on Monday that the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had “refocused” the presidential race. He continued, “It's like, hold on a second, this is not just about having somebody interesting there, about making a point or sending a message. This election is about electing someone who's going to replace Scalia with someone, and I think it kind of brought a little bit of seriousness and gravity to the decision before us." (NBC News)
Donald Trump
- During a press conference on Monday, Donald Trump continued to criticize former President George W. Bush for his actions prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. He said, “I've heard for years he kept the country safe after 9/11. What does that mean, after? What about during 9/11? I was there. I lost a lot of friends that were killed in that building. The worst attack ever in this country, it was during his presidency. ... By the way, after that, we did ok. That's meaning the team scored 19 runs in the first inning, but after that we played well. I don't think so." (Business Insider)
- On Sunday, Trump said that he was joking when he stated last year that he would appoint his sister, federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry, to the Supreme Court if given the opportunity. He said, “My sister’s a brilliant person, known as a brilliant person, but it’s obviously a conflict. … My sister, also she — she also happens to have a little bit different views than me, but I said in that in a very joking matter, and it was all lots of fun and everything else.” (The New York Times)
- When asked on Monday how he would handle DREAMers, the 100,000 undocumented immigrants who have been granted deferred action, Trump pivoted his answer to discuss unemployment in African-American communities. He said, “I want dreamers to come from the United States. I want the people in the United States that have children, I want them to have dreams also. We're always talking about 'DREAMers' for other people. I want the children that are growing up in the United States to be dreamers also. They're not dreaming right now. … You look at African-Americans and they're 30 years old and 40 years old and we have an African-American president, and he has not done anything for the African-Americans in this country, okay? And he got a free pass. And he shouldn't have.” (RealClearPolitics)
- Trump criticized Marco Rubio on Monday for perspiring too much during his exchange with Chris Christie at the Republican presidential debate on February 6. “When we get in there with Putin, we need people that don't sweat, let me tell you. No, it's true. Got to have people that don't sweat. Can you imagine Putin sitting there and waiting for the meeting and this guy walks in and he's like a wreck. No, you got to have Trump walk into that meeting folks, we'll do very nicely. We're going to do very nicely,” Trump continued. (Business Insider)
- The Wall Street Journal profiled the Trump campaign’s ground strategy in South Carolina following his second-place finish in Iowa. “We made 70,000 calls yesterday across the state. We chuckle when people say we don’t have a ground game. Underestimate us at your peril,” said James Epley, the Trump’s campaign director for upstate South Carolina. (The Wall Street Journal)
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
