President Trump — who used to mock predecessor Barack Obama for using the devices during speeches — said on Friday that technical problems with the teleprompter during his “Salute to America” led to his head-scratching remarks about the Continental Army securing not-yet existent “airports” during the Revolutionary War, NBC News reports.
McSweeney’s: The battle for John F. Kennedy International Airport, 1776.
“I don’t think I’m a bully.”
— President Trump, quoted by CBS News, responding to criticism by Joe Biden.
“I’m still way ahead.”
— Joe Biden, quoted by the New York Times, insisting he was satisfied with his performance in the first Democratic presidential debate.
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
Politico: “He got battered in his first presidential debate. His poll numbers have sunk to low single digits. Glowing press coverage has given way to questions about how long he can hang on. Beto O’Rourke’s candidacy today is almost an inversion of what it was at the start of his campaign less than four months ago.”
New on Chris Riback’s Conversations: Angela Stent talks about how Vladimir Putin came to power, refused to consider Russian weakness and instead redefined Russian power and pride.
New York Times: “While much of the country’s attention is focused on presidential politics, the gerrymandering ruling last week instantly raised the stakes for the nation’s state legislative races, which are often overlooked by voters, but can shape the course of policy from abortion rights to education.”
“Yet this cycle of legislative elections carries added significance: In most states, the political party that wins control of the legislature gains the power to draw once-a-decade maps setting district boundaries for state and congressional elections after a new census count. Acutely aware of that prize, which offers a chance to tilt political power further in one party’s favor, Republicans and Democrats are starting campaigns early, knocking on doors and rallying donors with the pitch that a tiny statehouse election in suburban Dallas or coastal Virginia could have national reverberations.”
Vox: Inside the battle to flip America’s state legislatures blue in 2020.
The U.S. added 224,000 jobs last month, topping expectations of 165,000 and rebounding sharply after a May slowdown, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate inched up to 3.7% in June, climbing slightly from its lowest level in five decades and coming in slightly higher than the 3.6% projection.
The Cut: “On Monday, Vogue published a story about the significant number of Democratic women who have tossed their name in the hat to become the next U.S. president. Titled ‘Madam President? Five Candidates on What It Will Take to Shatter the Most Stubborn Glass Ceiling,’ the story was overall commendatory and largely met with praise.”
“There was, however, at least person who seemed deeply unsatisfied with the report: spiritual adviser to Oprah, former roommate of Laura Dern, and the sixth female presidential candidate, Marianne Williamson.”
The Daily Beast notes that President Trump has tweeted out 28 polls during his time in office. The average approval rating of those show him at about 49% approval.
A Los Angeles Times editorial calls for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) to resign from Congress “so he can spend more time with his lawyers. He’s really going to need it.”
“If it seems disloyal to snitch on your spouse in court, consider how she might feel about the allegations that Hunter tapped his campaign funds to help finance a string of extramarital affairs involving five women — two congressional staffers and three lobbyists.”
President Trump is considering an executive order to try to move forward with a citizenship question on the 2020 census, Axios reports.
But there is considerable skepticism within the administration that an executive order would succeed.
CNN: “In one of the least polarizing speeches of his presidency, Trump paid tribute to America’s armed forces at a July Fourth appearance before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington that unfolded amid stormy skies and criticism that he was politicizing the nation’s Independence Day celebrations.”
“As warplanes roared overhead and the jumbo jet used as Air Force One performed a rare flyover over the National Mall, Trump spoke as critics accused him of exploiting the nation’s birthday party for his own political ends in an event he had dubbed ‘A Salute to America.’ Trump’s speech lacked the partisan rhetoric of his rallies. But the event nevertheless bolstered the President’s narrative that he is a strong commander in chief and a decisive leader.”
Associated Press: “He largely stuck to his script, avoiding diversions into his agenda or re-election campaign.”
Daily Beast: Trump’s not-crazy speech just highlighted the norms he’s crushed.
“The Supreme Court is already poised to drop some big political bombshells right into the heat of the 2020 campaign. And there are even more waiting in the wings,” Axios reports.
The justices are likely to take up an abortion case out of Louisiana. And yet another challenge to the Affordable Care Act is also working its way through the system.
“Joe Biden compared President Trump to the kind of bully that he would ‘smack’ in the mouth as a child during an interview broadcast Friday in which the former vice president sought to dispel concerns about his shaky first Democratic debate performance,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Biden: “You walk behind me in the debate. Come here, man. The idea that I’d be intimidated by Donald Trump. He’s the bully that I knew my whole life. He’s the bully that I’ve always stood up to. He’s the bully that used to make fun when I was a kid that I stutter, and I’d smack them in the mouth.”
Washington Post: “The 2020 Democratic presidential race is still wide open, but candidates who have yet to break through have to decide how long they want to ride it out. In some cases, their ambitions for political Plan B will force them to make that call sooner rather than later.”
Joe Biden told CNN that he wasn’t prepared for Sen. Kamala Harris to confront him on issues of race the way she did at the first Democratic primary debate.
Said Biden: “I was prepared for them to come after me, but I wasn’t prepared for the person coming at me the way she came at me.”
Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs on Thursday described the U.S. generals who did not support President Trump’s “Salute to America” Fourth of July celebrations as “snowflakes,” and criticized them for not winning any recent wars, The Hill reports.
“President Trump read most of his Independence Day speech from a prepared text, but stumbled on his history at one point: He talked about airports during the American Revolution,” USA Today reports.
Said Trump: “Our Army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over airports.”
Of course, there was no air travel in 18th Century America.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.