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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - June 28, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- In their first campaign event together, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined forces to criticize Donald Trump in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Monday. In an attempt to portray Trump as “a selfish corporate titan whose business record has not benefited American workers,” Clinton said, “Trump suits were made in Mexico. Trump furniture is made in Turkey, instead of Cleveland. Trump barware is made in Slovenia, instead of Toledo.” Warren added, “Donald Trump says he’ll make America great again. I ask, for who exactly? For families that don’t fly to Scotland to play golf?” According to The New York Times, appearing with Clinton “was a moment for her [Warren] to elevate her profile as the liberal voice of the party and a favorite to be vice president. For Mrs. Clinton, it was a chance to woo the party’s liberal wing and convince economically hard-hit voters that she, too, is a populist champion running for president to improve their lives.” (The New York Times)
- In response to the criticism, Trump called Warren "racist" and "a total fraud." Trump said, "She made up her heritage, which I think is racist. I think she's a racist, actually because what she did was very racist. … She used the fact that she was Native American to advance her career. Elizabeth Warren is a total fraud. I know it. Other people who work with her know it. Elizabeth Warren is a total fraud.” (NBC News)
- On Tuesday, the House Select Committee on Benghazi released the final 800-page report on the investigation into the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the death of four Americans. The report concluded that the Obama administration failed to protect Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Tyrone Woods during the attack. The investigation highlights the failures of President Barack Obama, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, among others, for failing to provide proper military support and protection to the Americans serving in Benghazi. (House Select Committee on Benghazi, Politico)
- The report also criticizes “both Clinton’s use of a private email account and what it called the administration’s ‘shameful’ stonewalling of the investigation. The report said the administration’s refusal to turn over all records to the panel made it impossible for committee investigators to say with certainty that they have reviewed all the facts surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, attack,” according to Politico. The report states, “What may appear at first blush to be a lack of competence on behalf of the State Department now appears fully intentional and coordinated. Delaying the production of documents sought by letter, informal request or subpoena has decided political advantages for those opposing the investigation.”
- Brian Fallon, Clinton’s campaign spokesman, released the following statement criticizing the report: "The Republicans on the House Benghazi Committee are finishing their work in the same, partisan way that we've seen from them since the beginning. In refusing to issue its report on a bipartisan basis, the Committee is breaking from the precedent set by other Congressional inquiries into the Benghazi attacks. … After more than two years and more than $7 million in taxpayer funds, the Committee report has not found anything to contradict the conclusions of the multiple, earlier investigations.” (PBS)
- After initially "calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," Donald Trump’s “spokeswoman says he's no longer seeking the ban at all,” according to The Associated Press. When asked to clarify Trump’s policy, Trump’s spokeswoman Hope Hicks said, "Mr. Trump stated a position consistent with his speech two weeks ago.” On Monday, she added in an email that Trump “has been very clear” about his policy and that the press has "tried to cause confusion." In the speech Hick’s referenced, Trump said, "When I'm elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we fully understand how to end these threats." (The Associated Press)
Polls
- Donald Trump has an eight-point lead over Hillary Clinton in Texas, according to a Texas Tribune/YouGov poll released on Monday. Trump leads Clinton 41 percent to 33 percent in a head-to-head matchup. (Texas Tribune/YouGov)
- In Arkansas, Trump leads Clinton 47 percent to 36 percent, according to a Talk Business/Hendrix College poll released on Monday. (Talk Business/Hendrix College)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- During a campaign stop in Denver, Colorado, on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton will introduce her technology agenda, which proposes permitting “start-up founders and early employees to forgo payments on their federal student loans for up to three years,” “connecting every household in America to high-speed internet by 2020 and training 50,000 new computer science teachers over the next decade,” according to The Associated Press. (The Associated Press)
- On Monday, after the United States Supreme Court struck down two provisions in Texas House Bill 2 that regulated abortion, Clinton’s campaign released the following statement: “Today’s Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt ruling is a major victory in the fight for our right to access health care, to make our own decisions about our bodies, and to decide our own futures. But the fight is far from over. … But the current political battle being waged over filling the current vacant seat on the Supreme Court—and the fact that our next president could appoint as many as three or four justices in the next four years—are striking reminders that we can’t take rulings like today’s for granted. Just consider Donald Trump, the Republicans’ presumptive nominee. The man who could be president has said there should be some form of “punishment” for women seeking abortions. He pledged to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. And last year, he said he’d shut down the government rather than fund Planned Parenthood. If we send Trump to the White House and a Republican majority to Congress, he could achieve any—or all—of these things. And that’s why this election is so important. The outcome of November’s contests, from the presidency to state legislatures, is going to be a deciding factor in whether our elected officials and our courts defend or attack a woman’s right to health care for generations to come.” (HillaryClinton.com)
- Kori Schake, a former senior defense and National Security Council official under former president George W. Bush, will vote for Hillary Clinton in November. Deputy communications director for the Clinton campaign Kristina Schake, who is Kori Schake’s sister, tweeted: "For the first time ever @KoriSchake and I are casting our vote for the same candidate -- She is voting for @HillaryClinton." On Monday, Schake said, "I was going to write in my nephew, or write in [former Indiana Gov.] Mitch Daniels, [but] I am actually worried Trump could get elected. Watching the British debate on the referendum about the EU, I don't want to wake up the morning after the election, and think, 'Oh my God, all of us who could have prevented this didn't do enough.'" (The Hill)
Bernie Sanders
- On Monday, after the United States Supreme Court struck down two provisions in Texas House Bill 2 that regulated abortion, Bernie Sanders released the following statement: “Today the Supreme Court reaffirmed that access to a safe and legal abortion is a woman’s constitutional right, a right which cannot be blocked by extreme, Republican politicians. This is a decisive victory for women across the country. After all the progress we have made on women’s rights, we cannot go back to the days when women in America did not have the right to control their own bodies.” (Sanders.Senate.gov)
- Sanders’ “political muscle” will be tested in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in New York’s 24th congressional district, according to The Huffington Post. On Friday, Sanders campaigned for Eric Kingson, a candidate in the primary election, saying, “[W]e need strong members of the U.S. Congress, members who have the guts to stand up to powerful special interests, members who are prepared not just to spend their lives raising money from wealthy people, but to be working and representing the ordinary people of their communities. And Eric is going to be one of those members.” Kingston’s opponents, Colleen Deacon and Steve Williams, have the support of the Democratic “establishment,” and both endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. (The Huffington Post)
- Sanders “is urging Democrats to oppose holding a vote on” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and “wants the party's platform to make its opposition clear” on the deal, according to The Hill. Sanders said, “The Democratic Party must go on record in opposition to holding a vote on the trade deal during the lame-duck session of Congress and beyond. … During the next days and weeks we will reach out to a large grassroots movement of working people, environmentalists, human rights advocates and religious groups to support an amendment to the platform in strong opposition to the TPP. If we succeed, we will be in a very strong position to stop a vote and to fundamentally rewrite our trade agreements in order to end the race to the bottom and to lift up the living standards of people in this country and throughout the world.” (The Hill)
Republicans
Donald Trump
- On Tuesday, Donald Trump will deliver the prepared speech, "Declaring American Economic Independence," in Pennsylvania. The speech will address trade and globalization. (USA Today)
- On Monday, Trump hired Jason Miller as his senior adviser for communications. Miller was the senior communications adviser for Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) presidential campaign. Miller “is a partner and vice president for Jamestown Associates, a Washington, D.C.-area campaign consulting firm,” according to Bloomberg. He also worked on the campaigns of Rudy Giuliani (R-N.Y.), Governor Matt Bevin (R-Ky.), and Congressman Mark Sanford (R-S.C.). (Bloomberg)
- According to The Hill, Trump is starting to build a digital operation to support his bid for president, which includes “a website highlighting what he says are lies told by Clinton” and sending fundraising emails. Michael Duncan, “a partner at Cavalry, LLC, a political consultancy, who directed digital strategy for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) 2014 reelection bid,” said, “I think the early signs we’ve seen, from them activating a small dollar online plan coupled with the rollout of the microsite, tells me that the Donald Trump campaign is getting its footing. I’m hopeful that it’s the first of many steps towards building out a more sophisticated digital operation.” (The Hill)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- On Monday, after the United States Supreme Court struck down two provisions in Texas House Bill 2 that regulated abortion, Jill Stein posted the following tweet: “I applaud #SCOTUS decision to uphold a woman's right to access a safe abortion. A woman's right to choose is a non-negotiable human right.” (Twitter)
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- During an interview on MSNBC on Monday, Gary Johnson, who came in at 10 percent in a recent national poll, blamed pollsters for “excluding his name from the initial ballot test between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and instead inserting his name as part of a three-way contest or a four-way race with Green Party candidate Jill Stein,” according to Politico. Johnson said, "Hey, I was at 10 percent, but that was after they polled Trump and Clinton, those two names, then they add Gary Johnson. Yeah, I’m at 10 percent. Really, to get to 15 percent, I think, right now, the polling organizations need to start with three names because at 10 percent, which is really where we're showing up in all these polls, shouldn't that be three names right now? I think so." To appear on stage with Trump and Clinton during the presidential debates, Johnson needs to have at least 15 percent support in five mainstream national polls. (Politico)
- While speaking at Politicon on Saturday, Johnson “spoke in favor of policies that included legalizing marijuana, protecting women’s abortion rights and reducing government spending,” according to KPBS.org. Johnson said, "Government tries to do too much, it tries to accomplish too much. When it does that, it taxes too much and that's money out of my pocket that I could be spending on my life.” (KPBS.org)
- During an interview on Monday with WIBC’s Tony Katz, Johnson discussed a proposal backed by Democrats to prohibit individuals on the No-Fly List from purchasing firearms. Johnson said, “Well, they’re wrong because that list contains active members of Congress. That’s a list that contains you and I; it’s a list prone to error. If this is a conversation about improving the quality of that list, then ‘yes.’ Is it a conversation on how the appeals process might be (improved) – meaning you’re on the list, and you want to appeal that list because you have a need for self-protection? Self-protection doesn’t mean you’re going to buy the gun and use it, it means you’re going to buy the gun – and your ex-spouse who’s abusive knows that – and all of a sudden that’s a huge deterrent. Johnson also discussed the failures of Congress. He said, “First of all, Congress should be engaged. Congress wants to abdicate every responsibility that they’re supposed to have, and because of that, they never come under the scrutiny that should go along with their offices. They don’t do anything; they don’t submit any budgets. They just want to hold office.” (WIBC)
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
