Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - June 20, 2016
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Monday's Leading Stories
- Several Republicans delegates are launching an “Anybody But Trump” movement to select and vote for an alternative candidate at the Republican National Convention in July. The plan requires that the Rules Committee and delegates to the national convention approve a rules change to unbind delegates. (The Washington Post, The Hill)
- Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement on Friday, “Donald Trump bested 16 highly qualified candidates and received more primary votes than any candidate in Republican Party history. All of the discussion about the RNC Rules Committee acting to undermine the presumptive nominee is silly. There is no organized effort, strategy or leader of this so-called movement. It is nothing more than a media creation and a series of tweets.”
- Trump also responded in a statement on Friday, saying, “I won almost 14 million votes, which is by far more votes than any candidate in the history of the Republican primaries. I have tremendous support and get the biggest crowds by far and any such move would not only be totally illegal but also a rebuke of the millions of people who feel so strongly about what I am saying.”
- On Saturday, Trump accused Jeb Bush of being involved in the effort. "Jeb is one of the people that's working — and the other one should be obvious," he said. He also called the movement, however, “a hoax.”
Polls
- Hillary Clinton narrowly leads Donald Trump, 51 percent to 49 percent, in a Gravis Marketing national poll released on Saturday. When respondents were allowed to select a third-party candidate, Clinton’s lead expanded to five points, 50 percent to 45 percent. (Gravis Marketing)
- According to a Gallup poll released on Monday, 71 percent of Democrats believe there is “a candidate running who would make a good president.” Fifty-nine percent of Republicans feel the same way. (Gallup)
Democrats
- Sanders supporter Jane Keeb was elected state party chairwoman in Nebraska over the weekend, defeating Chuck Hassebrook, a Clinton supporter. "The opposition party is now here," she said of her victory. (The Lincoln Journal Star)
- The California Democratic Party passed a resolution on Sunday calling for the restriction of superdelegates to Democratic National Committee members, the elimination of caucuses, and the revision of the primary calendar so that Iowa and New Hampshire do not have “an outsized voice in the nominating process” given their size and demographic homogeneity. (The Los Angeles Times)
Hillary Clinton
- U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro denied on Friday that he was being vetted as a potential vice presidential pick. He added, “I'm not going to get into that. Number one, I've said for a long time, I don't believe that's going to happen. This is a decision that she's going to make and I'm going to be happy to support whatever the ticket is." (Fox News Latino)
- Attorney General Loretta Lynch briefly discussed the Justice Department investigation of Clinton’s private email server, saying, “The investigation into the State Department email matter is going to be handled like any other matter. We've got career agents and lawyers looking at that. They will follow the facts and follow the evidence wherever it leads and come to a conclusion.” Lynch added that she had not discussed the matter with President Barack Obama. “We've never discussed the Clinton case. I have never spoken about it with the President or really with anyone at the White House. That's not the kind of relationship that I have with people there, and it would be inappropriate to do so," she said. (CNN)
- When asked on Sunday if he was being vetted for vice president, U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said, "I can't tell you I know. I know that I'm in constant communication with the [Clinton] campaign on a number of items, but I can't tell you I know where they are on this vetting process.” (CNN)
- Politico reported on Monday that many Wall Street leaders oppose the potential selection of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as Clinton’s running mate. “In a dozen interviews, major Democratic donors in the financial services industry said they saw little chance that Clinton would pick the liberal firebrand as her vice presidential nominee. These donors despise Warren’s attacks on the financial industry. But they also think her selection would be damaging to the economy. And they warned that if Clinton surprises them and taps Warren, big donations from the industry could vanish,” Politico’s Ben White wrote. (Politico)
Bernie Sanders
- In response to his call for more progressive candidates for elected officials, 11,000 Bernie Sanders supporters expressed interest in learning more about how to run for office, his campaign announced on Friday. “I have no doubt that with the energy and enthusiasm our campaign has shown that we can win significant numbers of local and state elections if people are prepared to become involved, This will be part of transforming our country from the bottom on up,” Sanders said. (Bernie Sanders for President)
- With Hillary Clinton being named the presumptive Democratic nominee, some Democrats have questioned if Sanders should retain his Secret Service detail, which costs $38,000 per day on average. “Aides to Sanders did not dispute the figure but argued that the costs associated with his protection now are dramatically lower than they were at the height of the campaign, when Sanders would hold several rallies a day in different cities—all of which were staffed by teams of Secret Service agents. The aides also noted that politicians face real risks, citing the death last week of Jo Cox, a British member of Parliament who was stabbed and shot,” The Washington Post reported. (The Washington Post)
Republicans
- Politico reported on Saturday that Apple is declining to support the Republican National Convention with technology or funding this year due to comments Donald Trump has made about women, minorities, and immigrants. (Politico)
- House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said on Sunday that he had “responsibilities,” given his office, to support Donald Trump as the Republican Party’s nominee and create a “more unified party.” He continued, “And imagine the speaker of the House not supporting the duly elected nominee of our party, therefore creating a chasm in our party to split us in half, which basically helps deny us the White House and strong majorities in Congress.” (Politico)
- U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is expected to announce this week if he will run for reelection. CNN reported that, if he does, Democrats will work to guarantee a loss “to end his once-rising political career” and prevent a presidential run in 2020. (CNN)
Donald Trump
- Donald Trump said during a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday that Bernie Sanders was not conceding defeat in the Democratic primary because he was waiting for Hillary Clinton to be indicted for charges related to her private email server. "He's waiting for the FBI to do what everyone thinks they're going to do,” he said. Trump added that he would call Sanders “a loser” if he “gave up.” (Politico)
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that his comment that Trump was “brilliant” was a mistranslation. He again used a word which has been translated to mean “colorful,” “bright,” and “flamboyant,” depending on the source. (The Guardian, Politico)
- In an interview on Sunday, Trump said that racial profiling may have to be put in place for national security and that it was “not the worst thing to do.” He said, “Well I think profiling is something that we're going to have to start thinking about as a country. Other countries do it, you look at Israel and you look at others, they do it and they do it successfully. And I hate the concept of profiling but we have to start using common sense and we have to use our heads.” (CBS News)
- Trump said on Saturday that “it would be helpful if the Republicans could help us a little bit” and unify. He warned, however, "But if for any reason they get a little bit like they don't want to help out as much, then I'll fund my own campaign. I'd love to do that. I'd love to do that. You know, right now, I'm raising a lot of money for the Republican party.” (ABC News)
- The Trump campaign made its first “emergency” fundraising request on Saturday for $100,000 to help fund an ad buy. (CNN)
- Condoleezza Rice is not interested in serving as Trump’s vice president, according to a statement released by Stanford University on Friday. “Dr. Rice has repeatedly said in past cycles as well as this one, she’s not interested in being vice president. She’s happy at Stanford and plans to stay,” it read. (Fox News)
- The Washington Post created several graphics comparing Trump’s percent of support and general election margin of lead or deficit with that of the last three Republican presidential nominees. The article also notes that Trump reportedly only has 30 staff members across the country. (The Washington Post)
Third Party Candidates
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- Danny Jones, the mayor of Charleston, West Virginia, announced on Friday that he had revoked his Republican Party membership and planned to vote for Gary Johnson for president. “I will not stand silent if the party of Lincoln and the end of slavery buckles under the racial bias of a bigot,” he said. (The Huffington Post)
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
