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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - June 14, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- Donald Trump delivered a speech addressing national security concerns, Hillary Clinton’s response to terrorism, and the Orlando mass shooting in New Hampshire on Monday. Trump presented Immigration reform as a critical element of his anti-terrorism policy. (Politico)
- On Clinton’s commitment to the LGBT community: “Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community as long as she continues to support immigration policies that bring Islamic extremists to our country who suppress women, gays and anyone who doesn’t share their views. She can’t have it both ways. She can’t claim to be supportive of these communities while trying to increase the number of people coming in who want to oppress them.”
- On gun control in the wake of mass shootings: “Hillary Clinton says the solution is to ban guns. They tried that in France, which has among the toughest gun laws in the world, and 130 were brutally murdered by Islamic terrorists in cold blood. Her plan is to disarm law-abiding Americans, abolishing the 2nd amendment, and leaving only the bad guys and terrorists with guns. She wants to take away Americans’ guns, then admit the very people who want to slaughter us. I will be meeting with the NRA, which has given me their earliest endorsement in a Presidential race, to discuss how to ensure Americans have the means to protect themselves in this age of terror.”
- On the Orlando shooter’s heritage: “The killer, whose name I will not use, or ever say, was born to Afghan parents who immigrated to the United States. His father published support for the Afghan Taliban, a regime which murders those who don’t share its radical views. The father even said he was running for President of that country. The bottom line is that the only reason the killer was in America in the first place was because we allowed his family to come here.”
- On suspending immigration from countries with histories of terrorism: “I called for a ban after San Bernardino, and was met with great scorn and anger but now, many are saying I was right to do so – and although the pause is temporary, we must find out what is going on. The ban will be lifted when we as a nation are in a position to properly and perfectly screen those people coming into our country. The immigration laws of the United States give the President the power to suspend entry into the country of any class of persons that the President deems detrimental to the interests or security of the United States, as he deems appropriate. I will use this power to protect the American people. When I am elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world when there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we understand how to end these threats.”
Polls
- In a Gallup poll released on Monday, fewer than one-third of Americans have “a great deal" or "quite a lot" of overall confidence in the country’s major institutions, including the criminal justice system, the press, and Congress. (Gallup)
- In an NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll released on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump nationally, 49 percent to 42 percent. In a four-way race that includes Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, Clinton has a smaller lead over Trump, 42 percent to 38 percent. Johnson and Stein registered nine percent support and five percent, respectively. (Politico)
- Clinton and Trump are tied in Utah with 35 percent each, according to a poll released over the weekend by The Salt Lake Tribune. Gary Johnson registers double-digit support with 13 percent. "For a state where the majority of voters have supported Republican presidential candidates since 1964, the fact that Trump is in a dead heat with Hillary Clinton suggests Utah voters are still very reluctant about a Trump presidency," said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Democrats
- The final contest of the Democratic primary process will be held on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Twenty delegates are at stake. (Ballotpedia)
Hillary Clinton
- In an interview on Monday morning, Hillary Clinton declined to use the words “radical Islam” to describe the Orlando mass shooting and responded to Donald Trump’s criticism that she should leave the presidential race because she refused to do so. “I am not going to demonize and demagogue and declare war on an entire religion. That's just plain dangerous, and it plays into ISIS's hand," she said. Clinton continued, “From my perspective, it matters what we do, not what we say. It matters that we got bin Laden, not what name we called him, but if [Trump] is somehow suggesting I don't call this for what it is, he hasn't been listening." (The Hill)
- During a speech at the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center on Monday, Clinton said that there should be tighter regulations governing who can purchase guns. “I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets and we may have our disagreements about gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few essential things. If the FBI is watching you for a suspected terrorist link, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked,” she said. (ABC News, TIME)
- Clinton also called on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait to stop supporting “extremist organizations” and “radical schools and mosques.” Trump responded in a Facebook post that she should “return the $25 million plus she got from [Saudi Arabia] for the Clinton Foundation.” (TIME, Politico)
- Larry Pressler, a former Republican senator from South Dakota, endorsed Clinton on Sunday because of her stance on gun control. “Unfortunately the Republican candidate Trump has pledged publicly total cooperation with the NRA. We cannot use as an excuse that, since this is ISIS-inspired, that [sic] we should not have more gun control — at last, we must recognize that we need a president who will take on the NRA,” he said. (Salon)
Bernie Sanders
- Jean Lemire Dahlman, a superdelegate and member of the Montana Democratic National Committee, endorsed Bernie Sanders over the weekend. (Politico)
- Sanders participated in a vigil to honor the victims of the Orlando shooting on Monday afternoon in Burlington, Vermont. Speaking to the crowd, he said, “Our job is not to allow politicians, Mr. Trump or anyone else, to divide us up by where our family came from, the color of our skin, our religion or our sexual orientation.” (Burlington Free Press)
Republicans
- Cleveland.com compiled a list of where each state delegation to the Republican National Convention will be staying in July. (Cleveland.com)
Donald Trump
- On Monday evening, the Trump campaign announced that it was revoking press credentials provided to The Washington Post because of its “incredibly inaccurate coverage and reporting of the record setting Trump campaign.” Washington Post editor Martin Baron called the decision “nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press. When coverage doesn't correspond to what the candidate wants it to be, then a news organization is banished.” He added that the newspaper would continue to cover Trump’s campaign. (Associated Press)
- Earlier in the day, The Washington Post had published an article suggesting Trump had connected President Barack Obama to the Orlando mass shooting during an interview. "Look, we're led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he's got something else in mind. And the something else in mind — you know, people can't believe it. People cannot, they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can't even mention the words 'radical Islamic terrorism.' There's something going on. It's inconceivable. There's something going on,” Trump said. (The Washington Post)
- When Trump was asked to explain what he meant during a radio interview with Howie Carr, he said, “Well, you know, I’ll let people figure that out for themselves, Howie. Because to be honest with you there certainly doesn’t seem to be a lot anger or passion when he—when we want to demand retribution for what happened over the weekend.” (Talking Points Memo)
- USA Today reported on Monday that the Trump Organization “routinely erased emails and had no records from 1996 to 2001.” (USA Today)
Third Party Candidates
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- In an interview with New York Magazine published on Tuesday, Gary Johnson offered this pitch to a Trump supporter who lost his job to a dying industry: “Look, I’d tell you what I’ve done, what I did in New Mexico, where I don’t think I ever compromised my Libertarian views. I’d tell you how I will apply these same ideas to the country: the basic platform of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism.” When pressed to explain how he would convince a voter to support him, Johnson said, “Convinced? I don’t know about that. I’d tell him what I had to say, let him think it over. If he still thought he’d vote for Trump, he should vote for Trump. I’m not going to try to convince anyone how they should vote.” (New York Magazine)
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
