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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - May 26, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Thursday's Leading Stories
- The Trump campaign confirmed on Wednesday that national political director Rick Wiley was no longer on staff. According to Politico, Wiley “was not responsive to [campaign manager Corey] Lewandowski or other officials from the old regime” and “had clashed in recent weeks with Karen Giorno, a Lewandowski ally who ran Trump’s campaign during the Florida GOP primary.” The official statement from the Trump campaign said that Wiley had only been “hired on a short-term basis as a consultant until the campaign was running full steam.” (Politico)
- United Automobile Workers (UAW), which has more than one million active and retired members, endorsed Hillary Clinton on Thursday. Dennis Williams, the president of the UAW, said, “It's about time for unity. We're endorsing Hillary Clinton. She's gotten 3 million more votes than Bernie, a million more votes than Donald Trump. She's our nominee.” Although he acknowledged that Donald Trump received 28 percent support in an internal survey of UAW members, Williams said that Trump “does not support the economic security of UAW families.” (The Detroit Free Press, UAW)
Polls
- In a general election poll of North Carolina voters, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, 43 percent to 41 percent, according to Public Policy Polling (PPP). Gary Johnson and Jill Stein received 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Dean Debnam, the president of PPP, noted, “Expectations of some sort of historical landslide from earlier in the year make it seems like [Clinton’s] doing poorly now in comparison but the reality is that she’s in a similar position to where Barack Obama ended up in 2012. And he won the Electoral College by a wide margin.” (Public Policy Polling)
- Clinton has a narrow lead over Sanders in California with 46 percent to Sanders’ 44 percent, according to a poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California. Both Democratic presidential candidates beat Trump in general election matchups by double-digit margins. The pollsters found, “Among Democratic primary likely voters, 85 percent of those who support Clinton in the primary would vote for Sanders against Trump in the fall, while 75 percent of Sanders supporters would choose Clinton over Trump.” (PPIC)
Democrats
- U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would require presidential nominees to release their three most recent tax returns within 15 days of becoming their party’s nominee. (The Wall Street Journal)
Hillary Clinton
- On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton pledged to send a $275 million infrastructure plan to Congress within her first 100 days in office if elected president. She added that immigration reform featuring a pathway to citizenship would also be addressed within 100 days. (The Los Angeles Times)
- Attorneys for Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s former chief of staff, filed a motion on Wednesday requesting that audio and video of Mills’ deposition taken by Judicial Watch in a FOIA-related lawsuit not be released to the public. “We are concerned that snippets or soundbites of the deposition may be publicized in a way that exploits Ms. Mills’ image and voice in an unfair and misleading manner,” the motion read. (Politico)
- All three presidential campaigns reacted to the State Department's inspector general report on Clinton’s private email server use on Wednesday.
- Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement, “While political opponents of Hillary Clinton are sure to misrepresent this report for their own partisan purposes, in reality, the Inspector General documents just how consistent her email practices were with those of other Secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email." (CNN)
- During a rally in Anaheim, California, Donald Trump suggested Clinton might have to leave the presidential race because of the fallout. “I want to run against Hillary; I don’t know if you are going to be able to. It could be that we run against Crazy Bernie [Sanders]. He’s a crazy man, but that’s OK. We love crazy people,” he said. (The Hill)
- Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said, “Well, I think the report speaks for itself. This is obviously an area where the senator has chosen not to go. He's tried to keep this campaign on the issues.” (Politico)
- Delaware state party chair John Daniello, vice-chair Lisa Goodman and national committeewoman Karen Valentine, all of whom are superdelegates, endorsed Clinton on Wednesday. (Delaware Public Media)
Bernie Sanders
- The Huffington Post reported on Wednesday that Bernie Sanders objected to capital punishment for the accused South Carolina church shooter Dylann Roof. Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs wrote in an email, “Sen. Sanders opposes the death penalty. He believes those who are convicted of the most horrible crimes should be imprisoned for the rest of their lives without the possibility of parole.” (The Huffington Post)
- When asked to rate how much pressure Sanders was receiving to drop out of the race, campaign manager Jeff Weaver said on Wednesday, “One being the low? So, it would be a one. There really is not a lot," Weaver said. "I mean there are a few people out in the media, but in terms of any kind of real effort, it's probably zero, really, is more like it.” (Politico)
Republicans
Donald Trump
- Rumors that New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) was a potential vice presidential pick for Donald Trump were curbed on Tuesday night when Trump criticized her performance as governor. “She's not doing the job. We’ve got to get her moving. Come on. Let's go, Governor,” he said before pointing to the unemployment rate in New Mexico and Martinez’s handling of Syrian refugees being resettled in the state. Martinez press secretary Mike Lonergan responded that Martinez would “not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans." (The Los Angeles Times)
- Although Trump staffers have said that an endorsement from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was imminent, Ryan denied this on Wednesday. "I don't know where all this is coming from. I haven't made a decision ... and nothing's changed my perspective. We're still having productive conversations,” he told reporters. Ryan was scheduled to speak with Trump by phone on Wednesday night. “The purpose of the call tonight is for the two of them to continue their conversation about unifying the party. We never gave any indication that the call was about an endorsement,” said Ryan spokesman Zack Roday. (CNN, Bloomberg)
- According to an analysis of the Trump campaign’s financial disclosures, nearly 75 percent of his staff are men. The Huffington Post reported, “Trump’s campaign also appears to have a pay disparity between men and women in senior roles. Nearly all of Trump’s highest-paid senior staffers are men: Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, deputy campaign manager Michael Glassner, chief policy adviser Sam Clovis, and director of social media Dan Scavino were each paid between $12,500 and $20,000 for April and May. The two female senior staffers — communications director Hope Hicks and national spokeswoman Katrina Pierson — were paid $7,700 and $10,486, respectively.” (The Huffington Post)
- In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Trump said that he was fundraising at the behest of the Republican Party. “The [Republican National Committee] really wanted to do it, and I want to show good spirit,” Trump said. He added that his fundraising efforts did not contradict his previous condemnation over the influence of donors on other presidential candidates “because I'm raising money for the party.” (Associated Press)
- On Wednesday, Trump raised $6 million at a fundraiser in southern California for the Trump Victory Fund, some of which will be distributed to the Republican National Committee and state parties in Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. (CNN)
- An email from the Trump campaign requesting that a researcher from the RNC “work up information on HRC/Whitewater as soon as possible” was accidentally sent to a reporter at Politico on Wednesday. In the email thread, campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks suggested that a researcher would be joining the Trump campaign soon. (Politico)
- During an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Wednesday night, Trump said that he would be willing to debate Bernie Sanders for charity. Sanders tweeted in response, “Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary.” (CBS 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
