Daily Archives

July 24, 2017

31 posts · Monday

Scaramucci Has Some Advice for Huckabee Sanders

July 24, 2017 at 9:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New White House communications director Anthony Scarmucci had some advice for new press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jezebel reports.

Said Scaramucci: “For Sarah Huckabee, I want to do everything I can to make her better at that podium. I think she’s phenomenal there now. But like every athlete that is training for the Olympics, every day we have to make ourselves incrementally better. The only thing I ask Sarah—Sarah, if you’re watching, I loved the hair and makeup person we had on Friday, so I’d like to continue to use the hair and makeup person.”

Trump Mulls Replacing Sessions with Giuliani

July 24, 2017 at 9:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump is so unhappy with Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he has raised the possibility of bringing back Rudolph Giuliani to replace him, Mike Allen reports.

“Giuliani would have a tough time getting 50 Republicans senators to vote to confirm him. He was such an early and ardent Trump backer that he wouldn’t be seen as an independent guardian of the department in these tumultuous times.”

“In fact, the nomination could be seen as Trump throwing gasoline on a fire. And Giuliani’s stop-and-frisk police policy as New York mayor, and clients since then, also would be controversial with many senators.”

Doesn’t a New Message Need New Leaders?

July 24, 2017 at 9:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Later today, Democratic congressional leaders roll out an economic agenda that they believe can help reverse their electoral fortunes in next year’s midterm elections.

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Trump Has Majority Approval In 17 States

July 24, 2017 at 8:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Gallup: “President Trump, who has averaged 40% job approval since his inauguration, received approval ratings of 50% or higher in 17 states in the first half of 2017. Residents in an equal number of states gave him approval ratings below 40%. In 16 states, his ratings ranged between 40% and 49%.”

Trump Won’t Be Invited to Their Wedding

July 24, 2017 at 8:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York magazine has a good profile of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski:

Sources close to Trump told me he’s angered by what he perceives to be the phoniness of Scarborough and Brzezinski, the very sort of Washington bullshit he campaigned against in the first place: To his face, and to other members of his administration, they’re friendly; to the cameras, it’s a different story. And those sources in the White House believe the shift in tone on Morning Joe reflects a combination of frustration at being shut out of Trump’s orbit and simple jealousy — Scarborough has always been thought to have presidential aspirations. “He wanted to be president, and he’s not. And, of all people, Donald Trump is. This is crazy,” a second senior White House official said. “They lost access in month two, month one, of a White House where part of their stock-in-trade was ‘Donald this’ and ‘Donald that’ and ‘The president told me this’ and ‘People close to the president told me that.’ It became very obvious around here who they talked to every day, and it wasn’t the president.”

Scarborough and Brzezinski said the White House is misrepresenting their motivations, though they didn’t rule out that Scarborough might be interested in running for president in the future.

Ex-GOP Senator Advises Voting Against Health Care Bill

July 24, 2017 at 8:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Sen. David Durenberger (R-MN) “A vote in these circumstances will rightly provoke anger and distrust unlikely to abate. Take it from me: A no vote on the Motion to Proceed this week is the only one that will be defensible in the years to come.”

“I have had my arm twisted by the best of them — presidents and Senate leaders and party whips alike. I know how uncomfortable it can be. Usually, they were able to attempt a convincing argument about what is good about the bill for the country or my state. But I never would have voted for something so far reaching without knowing the answer to all the questions above.”

“Never in all my years did I experience the level of bullying we see today. It doesn’t look good in Minnesota, and I suspect it doesn’t look any better in your state.”

Quote of the Day

July 24, 2017 at 7:49 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“We will always remember how tenacious and loyal Mark and Debbie Meadows were, especially after Oct. 7. They’re definitely members of what we call the ‘Oct. 8th coalition.’”

— Kellyanne Conway, quoted by the Washington Examiner, praising Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and his wife for standing with Donald Trump after the Access Hollywood tape last October.

Americans Divided Over Removing Trump

July 24, 2017 at 7:21 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new USA Today/iMediaEthics Poll finds Americans already are split down the middle, 42% to 42%, over whether President Trump should be removed from office.

Kushner Insists He ‘Did Not Collude’

July 24, 2017 at 7:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said on Monday that he had been unaware that a June 2016 meeting he attended at Trump Tower was set up in the hope that a Russian lawyer would provide the Trump campaign with damaging information about Hillary Clinton,” the New York Times reports.

“In prepared remarks to congressional investigators released by Mr. Kushner’s representatives, Mr. Kushner said he arrived at the meeting late and had been so uninterested in the discussion that he emailed his assistant to ask for her help escaping.”

In the remarks, Mr. Kushner flatly denied any collusion: “I had no improper contacts. I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government.”

Trump Jr. Adds Veteran Lawyer to His Team

July 24, 2017 at 7:04 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Donald Trump Jr., who appeared short of experienced advisers with his email release and multiple statements about the Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer, is getting help from Washington stalwart Fred Fielding ahead of this week’s Capitol Hill appearance,” Mike Allen reports.

“The addition of Fred Fielding shows that Trump Jr., who apparently didn’t recognize the seriousness of what he faced, now does.”

Priebus Sidelined In Favor of Outsiders

July 24, 2017 at 7:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Reince Priebus took the punishing job of President Donald Trump’s chief of staff with the idea that he would stick it out for at least one year. Six months in, with one of his top allies in the West Wing — press secretary Sean Spicer — on his way out, Priebus is in defensive mode, his role diminished and an internal rival hogging the limelight,” Politico reports.

“Trump’s decision to bring Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci into the role of communications director shows the rising power of political outsiders and the diminished influence of establishment figures — which Priebus, the former chairman of the RNC, epitomizes.”

“One White House official and two outside advisers said that while Scaramucci was brought into the White House for the communications job, he’s considered an internal candidate to eventually succeed Priebus as chief of staff.”

GOP Despairs at Inability to Deliver

July 24, 2017 at 7:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “The Republican Party is more powerful than it’s been in more than a decade — and yet it has never seemed so weak. Continuing chaos in the White House has been punctuated by the failure to deliver on the GOP’s seven-year pledge to overhaul Obamacare, and has many asking whether the party can capitalize on the sweeping victories it has achieved at the federal, state, and local levels.”

“Ahead of this week’s crucial Senate vote on health care, White House aides are already considering how to distance President Donald Trump from Congress and how to go after the Republicans who vote no — an idea the president seems fond of… Several people said he plans to keep up the fight, no matter how this week’s vote goes.”

Pruitt Traveled Home Frequently at Taxpayer Expense

July 24, 2017 at 6:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, traveled to his home state, Oklahoma, 10 times over three months this year, largely at taxpayer expense,” the New York Times reports.

“The findings from the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit group founded by former E.P.A. officials, are drawn from Mr. Pruitt’s calendar and the travel expenses he has submitted for reimbursement. Obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the documents show Mr. Pruitt spent 43 out of 92 days from March through May in Oklahoma or traveling to or from the state.”