Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - June 21, 2016
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was fired on Monday, reportedly due to concerns with his management style highlighted by three of Trump’s children, Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Jr. (CNN, The New York Times, New York Magazine)
- After Lewandowski’s departure was reported, campaign adviser Michael Caputo tweeted an image from The Wizard of Oz with the caption, “Ding dong the witch is dead!” Shortly after, Caputo resigned from the campaign. He wrote in a letter, "I regret sending out a tweet today alluding to the firing of Corey Lewandowski. In hindsight, that was too exuberant a reaction to this personnel move. I know this is a distraction from the kind of campaign you want to run, so I'm resigning my position as director of communications for caucus operations at the 2016 Republican Convention." (CNN)
- When asked if it was correct to say that he and his siblings recommended that Lewandowski be removed, Donald Trump Jr. said, “I think it’s fair but in many respects [Trump Sr.] was coming to that on his own. We were there to help augment that and really think it through with him.” (ABC News)
- Lewandowski continued to express support for Trump’s campaign in an interview on Monday afternoon but admitted he did not know why he had been fired. "I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. But what I know is that what we've been able to achieve in this election cycle was historic. I had a nice conversation with Mr. Trump and I said to him, 'It's been an honor and a privilege to be a part of this,' and I mean that from the bottom of my heart,” he said. (CNN)
Polls
- Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by single digits in surveys of registered voters and likely voters nationally, according to a Monmouth University poll released on Monday. (Monmouth University)
- Registered voters: Clinton (47 percent) vs. Trump (40 percent);
- Likely voters: Clinton (49 percent) vs. Trump (41 percent);
- Likely voters in swing states: Clinton (47 percent) vs. Trump (39 percent);
- Registered voters with third party options: Clinton (42 percent) vs. Trump (36 percent) vs. Johnson (9 percent) vs. Stein (4 percent).
- Clinton has a five-point lead over Trump in a CNN/ORC poll released on Tuesday, 47 percent to 42 percent. The survey also found that only 22 percent of registered voters said they could change their preference before the election in November. (CNN)
- A Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday found that Clinton was tied with or ahead of Trump in three key swing states. (Quinnipiac University)
- Florida: Clinton (47 percent) vs. Trump (39 percent);
- Ohio: Clinton (40 percent) vs. Trump (40 percent);
- Pennsylvania: Clinton (42 percent) vs. Trump (41 percent).
Democrats
- In a letter to Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and the Senate and House Democratic leadership over the weekend, the Democratic Caucus of the Congressional Black Caucus indicated its members had unanimously voted to oppose the elimination of superdelegates. The caucus also rejected open primaries. The chair of the caucus, G.K. Butterfield, wrote, “Allowing independent or Republican voters to participate in the Democratic primary would dilute minority voting strength in many districts across the country.” (Politico)
- While giving a speech at the Center for New American Security’s annual conference, Vice President Joe Biden condemned Donald Trump’s national security proposals, including his call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. and targeting terrorist’s families. "Adopting the tactics of our enemies — using torture, threatening to kill innocent family members, indiscriminately bombing civilian populations — not only violates our values, it's deeply, deeply damaging to our security,” Biden said. (Associated Press)
Hillary Clinton
- The Clinton campaign started June with a record high $42.5 million cash on hand. It only spent $14 million in May, significantly down from $24 million in April and $31.6 million in February. (Politico)
- Priorities USA Action, a super PAC supporting Clinton, raised $12.1 million in May and began June with $50 million cash on hand. (The New York Times)
- Clinton told The Advocate on Monday that there should be greater “collection of data around gender identity, sexual orientation, and hate crimes in order to address this issue in a smart, effective way. And we all need to call out discrimination and hateful rhetoric whenever and wherever it occurs.” (The Advocate)
- Jacob Leibenluft, deputy director of the National Economic Council in the Obama administration, is set to join the Clinton campaign as a senior policy adviser. His work has been focused on policies relating to job training, apprenticeships, and the minimum wage. (CNBC)
- Clinton is scheduled to deliver a speech in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, focused on the proposition that “if you put Donald Trump behind the steering wheel of the American economy he would be very likely to drive us off a cliff, and working families would bear the brunt.” According to Clinton senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s speech will highlight Trump’s business record and a new Moody’s Analytics report finding that Trump’s policy proposals “would cause a recession and a loss of 3.5 million jobs during his first term.” (Politico)
- The Associated Press reported on Monday that Clinton’s vice presidential search has moved “into a more intense phase” with a shortlist that includes U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro. Bernie Sanders is not in contention, according to one source. (Associated Press)
- The nonpartisan Association of Former Agents of the United States Secret Service (AFAUSSS) is denouncing a book by former Secret Service officer Gary Byrne, Crisis in Character, which makes negative claims about the character and marriage of the Clintons. Given Byrne’s position as a low-level member of the Secret Service, the AFAUSSS said in a statement, “One must question the veracity and content of any book which implies that its author played such an integral part of so many [claimed] incidents. Any critique of management by one who has never managed personnel or programs resounds hollow. Additionally, why would an employee wait in excess of ten years after terminating his employment with the Service to make his allegations public?” The book’s publicist, Vanessa Oblinger, responded, “The Clintons always trash the messenger. This is the first of many Clinton-directed media attempts at character assassination.” (Politico)
Bernie Sanders
- The Washington Post noted on Monday that Bernie Sanders won more votes from voters under the age of 30 than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump combined. (The Washington Post)
- On Monday, Sanders appeared in the Senate for the first time since January 2 to cast votes on four gun measures. "In light of the terrible tragedies that have taken place in Orlando and other cities, it’s not very hard to understand that terrorists or potential terrorists, criminals and the dangerously mentally ill should not have access to guns. We have got to do everything we can to stop guns from falling into the hands of people who should not have them,” he said in a statement. (The Washington Post)
- Tim Canova, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) for her seat, said on Monday that he has “heard a rumor that some Democrats want to offer” Sanders the chair of the Democratic National Committee, replacing Wasserman Schultz in that role. (The Hill)
- In May, the Sanders campaign raised $16.4 million and spent $12.9 million. It began June with $9 million cash on hand. (Politico)
Republicans
- The Republican Jewish Coalition released a series of ads on Monday criticizing U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), academic Cornel West, and Palestinian rights activist James Zogby—three members of the Democratic Party’s Platform Drafting Committee selected by Bernie Sanders—for statements they have made about Israel. The online campaign is “seeking to drive a wedge into an issue that’s already emerging as a highly sensitive one in the Democratic platform,” Politico reported. (Politico)
- Free the Delegates, a campaign working to pass a “conscience clause” at the Republican National Convention that would allow delegates to vote their “conscience,” held a conference call on Sunday night with approximately 1,000 participants, including “hundreds” of delegates and alternates. Iowa state party chairman Jeff Kaufmann criticized the movement, saying, “The people have spoken in overwhelming number. If they pull off what they say they will, we will not have a party. Period.” (The Huffington Post)
Donald Trump
- On Monday, charges were filed against Michael Steven Sanford, a man arrested at a Trump rally in Las Vegas over the weekend because he allegedly attempted to take a police officer’s weapon. According to The Associated Press, Sanford told the police that he had been planning to assassinate Trump for about a year. (The Associated Press)
- On Tuesday, the Trump campaign is holding a daylong conference in New York City for 1,000 religious and conservative leaders. “For some, it is an effort to get Trump to better understand their policy positions. For others, it is a late-breaking effort to try to get the GOP’s most reliable voter base on board with its most polarizing candidate in decades,” TIME reported. (TIME)
- CNN interviewed more than 150 Trump supporters in cities across the United States to determine the core issues connecting them. It found that many of his supporters are frustrated with illegal immigration, say President Barack Obama has “inflamed racial divisions in the country,” believe that white Americans suffer discrimination, embrace Trump’s calls for a temporary ban on Muslims, and reject the idea that Islam is a peaceful religion. (CNN)
- GQ published a profile of Trump campaign press secretary Hope Hicks on Monday. It tracks Hicks’ rise from a public relations firm to Trump’s inner campaign circle. (GQ)
- The Trump campaign raised $3.2 million in May and began June with only $1.3 million cash on hand. For comparison, the Clinton campaign has $42 million. Hicks said in a statement, “There are no concerns. The money is pouring in for the party. In fact, we just returned from a tremendously successful swing through Texas, Nevada and Arizona. Mr. Trump will continue to do everything he can to defeat Hillary Clinton in November.” (NBC 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
