Arizona State Rep. Leezah Sun (D) denies threatening to kill a lobbyist by throwing her off a balcony in a Tucson Marriott, but admitted Thursday morning before the Arizona House Ethics Committee that “I said I would bitch-slap her,” Courthouse News reports.
GOP Super PAC Says There Are Three Genders
The 19th: “How many genders are there, according to one GOP Super PAC? Three: ‘Male,’ ‘working woman’ and ‘homemaker.’”
“Those are the categories given in a survey sent out to Montanans on behalf of the super PAC More Jobs, Less Government, which is supporting Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy.”
A Donation Mystery
Playbook: “Is someone trolling Tim Sheehy, or is he trolling Montanans? The GOP establishment’s pick to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Tester backed Trump last spring — so it was surprising when somebody listing Sheehy’s name and address gave the maximum donation to Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) presidential campaign in June. (This was three days after Trump became the first former president in history to face federal criminal charges.) To make matters more head-scratching, the donation listed Sheehy’s occupation as ‘plane crasher’ — and it came five days before our now-colleague Ursula Perano reported for The Daily Beast on the existence of a lawsuit against Sheehy for a fatal plane crash that happened while he was piloting.”
“Campaign donations using fake famous names do happen, so it could have been a prank. But the Scott campaign later amended the report (a common practice) to list the occupation as owner of Little Belt Cattle Co., which is Sheehy’s real job.”
New York Times: GOP infighting and Democratic mischief animate Montana Senate race.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Well, let’s just be very clear: My wife, Nancy Jacobson, founded No Labels when I was busy with the Hillary campaign. And she runs it and makes the decisions. And I have no formal or informal role other than that I occasionally look at some polling and I support my wife, and she tries to make clear that she’s just getting ballot access — she’s just creating an opportunity if somebody were to come along and be the right person. I can assure you: She’s not someone who ever would even consider voting for Trump. Somehow, the Democrats don’t fully understand that fact. … She’s approached this thing in a very sensible way, and she has no intention whatsoever of being a spoiler.”
— Pollster Mark Penn, in an interview with Politico.
Emasculation and Humiliation
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Most of GOP Field in Colorado Race Has Been Arrested
The Republican candidates in Colorado’s 4th congressional district debated last night, the New York Times reports.
“At one point, candidates were asked to raise their hands if they had ever been arrested. Six of the nine candidates onstage raised their hands, to cheers and applause from the audience.”
Trump Calls on States to Deploy Troops to Texas
Donald Trump called on “all willing States to deploy their national guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border.”
He added: “Biden is, unbelievably, fighting to tie the hands of Governor Abbott and the State of Texas, so that the Invasion continues unchecked. Texas has rightly invoked the Invasion Clause of the Constitution, and must be given full support to repel the invasion.”
Trump’s Momentum Has World Leaders Bracing
“Donald Trump’s free-form stump speeches bounce around the globe, ticking off problems and grievances with foreign governments. Until recently, world leaders had tuned him out,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Now they are parsing Trump’s words and making plans for the possibility he will return to the White House…”
“Leaders in many of America’s closest allied nations fear an administration willing to ignore diplomatic norms and traditions. Some also worry that a second Trump administration would slash the U.S. security umbrella at the core of a postwar order that brought peace, democracy and rising prosperity to much of the world. Others see a potential upside in a president who has emphasized business-world pragmatism.”
Biden Tells Netanyahu to Scale Back War
“President Biden last week pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale down the Israeli military operation in Gaza, stressing he is not in it for a year of war,” Axios reports.
“Biden’s comments during the two leaders’ call last Friday reflect the growing U.S. concern about the continuation of the war and the president’s desire to see it end long before the November elections.”
“A source close to the White House said Biden can’t have the war and the growing death toll to continue dominating the news cycle as the elections get closer.”
Quote of the Day
“The challenge of being president is, you own the bad stuff whether you caused them or not. You gotta own the good stuff as well.”
— Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), quoted by Punchbowl News, on the recent good news on the economy.
GOP Lawmaker Wants to Reopen Paxton Impeachment
“Texas state Sen. Drew Springer (R) wrote a letter to his Senate colleagues Thursday night, calling to reopen the Senate’s impeachment trial into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton,” NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reports.
“Springer voted to acquit Paxton in his impeachment trial last September but now feels misled after a recent court filing by the Attorney General.”
Quote of the Day
“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling.”
— Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), to CNN.
Matt Gaetz Admitted Why He Went After McCarthy
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) privately admitted that he was going after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) because the House Ethics Committee was investigating Gaetz for sex trafficking, the Daily Beast reports.
Veterinarian Says He’s Qualified to Ban Abortion
While debating legislation that would introduce a 14-week abortion ban referendum if passed, Wisconsin state Rep. Joel Kitchens (R) said he knows that abortion is not health care because he was a veterinarian, the Heartland Signal reports.
Said Kitchens: “I did thousands of ultrasounds on animals, determining pregnancy and that sort of thing… I think I know mammalian fetal development better than probably anyone here. And in my mind, there’s absolutely no question that’s a life.”
Trump Declines Offer to Be Presumptive Nominee
Donald Trump declined the offer to make him the “presumptive nominee” of the Republican party and said he preferred to “do it the old fashioned way, and finish the process off at the ballot box.”
Judge Decries Efforts to Downplay January 6
“The longest-serving district judge on the federal bench in Washington, D.C., warned Thursday that false rhetoric about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — including the sorts of lies hurled by former President Donald Trump and some of his congressional allies — poses an ongoing danger to the nation,” Politico reports.
Said Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee: “In my thirty-seven years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream.”
He added: “I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted January 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages.’ That is all preposterous. But the Court fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country.”
Josh Shapiro Wants to ‘Get Shit Done’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) “has a new slogan for how he wants to run Pennsylvania — and it’s not fit for kids’ ears,” the AP reports.
Said Shapiro: “We’ve got a GSD attitude in the Shapiro administration that means we focus on getting, you know, stuff done. There’s children here, so we’ll just say ‘stuff.’”
Liz Cheney Urged Nikki Haley to Stay in Race
Former Rep. Liz Cheney urged Nikki Haley to stay in the Republican primary race through Super Tuesday, the New York Times reports.
Said Cheney: “We need to make sure that we’re challenging him and working to defeat him at every step of the way. And right now, Nikki Haley is in this fight, and I think she ought to stay in it.”
