Political Wire

Members should sign in for the full experience.

O’Rourke Proposes Assault Weapons Ban and Buyback

August 18, 2019 at 8:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke visited a gun show in Little Rock, Arkansas, one day after releasing a gun control plan that included mandatory buybacks for assault weapons, CBS News reports.

Said O’Rourke: “If I’m president, you wouldn’t be able to buy weapons of war for $395. You wouldn’t be able to buy them at all.”

The NRA responded with a tweet: “If I’m president… Beto: Have you taken a look at the polls?”

To which O’Rourke responded: “Yeah. I’ve seen them. 70% of Americans support an assault weapons ban, including most Republicans.”

Sanders Pledges War Against White Nationalism

August 18, 2019 at 7:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Bernie Sanders invoked the Holocaust while vowing to go to war against white nationalism and racism if he wins the 2020 presidential election, The Hill reports.

Sad Sanders: “I’m Jewish, my family came from Poland. My father’s whole family was wiped out by Hitler and his white nationalism. Too many people have fought over the years, too many people have died against racism to let it resurface and flourish in America.”

He added: “We will go to war with nationalism and racism in every aspect of our lives.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

August 17, 2019 at 11:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“There’s an awful lot of really good Republicans out there. I get in trouble for saying that with Democrats, but the truth of the matter is, every time we ever got in trouble with our administration, remember who got sent up to Capitol Hill to fix it? Me. Because they know I respect the other team.”

— Joe Biden, quoted by The Hill, at a Massachusetts fundraiser.

Reporter Says Intimidation Effort Made on Russia Story

August 17, 2019 at 6:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“CNN’s Clarissa Ward says her story this week about Russian involvement in the Central African Republic came with a price: she was trailed during her reporting and made the subject of a 15-minute propaganda video denigrating her work,” the AP reports.

“Ward said she was shaken by the experience but it confirmed for her that the story made powerful people uncomfortable.”

Said Ward: “This was very clearly an attempt to discredit and intimidate us.”

Quote of the Day

August 17, 2019 at 5:24 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“May God ruin him.”

— Muftia Tlaib, the grandmother of Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-MI), in a Now This interview, after President Trump suggested Israel ban the congresswoman from entering the country.

Cheney to Appear at Fundraiser for Trump

August 17, 2019 at 5:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former vice president Dick Cheney and his daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), are to appear at a lunch fundraiser Monday in support of President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee, the Washington Post reports.

Behind the Rise of Stephen Miller

August 17, 2019 at 3:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The story of Mr. Miller’s rise has been told with a focus on his pugnacity and paradoxes. Known more for his enemies than his friends, he is a conservative firebrand from liberal Santa Monica, Calif., and a descendant of refugees who is seeking to eliminate refugee programs. He is a Duke graduate in bespoke suits who rails against the perfidy of so-called elites. Among those who have questioned his moral fitness are his uncle, his childhood rabbi and 3,400 fellow Duke alumni.”

“Less attention has been paid to the forces that have abetted his rise and eroded Republican support for immigration — forces Mr. Miller has personified and advanced in a career unusually reflective of its times.”

Trump Has No Understanding of Governing

August 17, 2019 at 12:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Dan Balz: “After a week in which the threat of recession rocked global financial markets, his trade war with China showed no signs of progress and the government of Israel got into a nasty dispute with two members of Congress, President Trump went to bed Thursday night with other weighty issues on his mind.”

He tweeted: “Great news. Tonight we broke the all-time attendance record previously held by Elton John at #SNHUArena in Manchester!”

“This is the frivolous mindset of the president of the United States. His flurry of statements over the past few days have brought into focus once again something fundamental about the president: He has little understanding of what it means to govern. He would rather tweet from the bleachers.”

Biden and Harris Vie for Two Pockets of Black Support

August 17, 2019 at 10:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Daily Beast: “On one side, there’s the Congressional Black Caucus, the preeminent group of African-American power brokers representing their districts in Washington. On the other, rank-and-file black voters across the country. And in a field with nearly two dozen contenders, only two candidates are overwhelmingly leading in either camp.”

“Former Vice President Joe Biden is ahead by every conceivable national metric with black voters, a critical demographic essential to winning the Democratic nomination in 2020. But he has a direct competitor for support among Washington’s influential political class in Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), the only black woman competing for the White House who edged ahead of him this week with endorsements from the CBC.”

CNN: Black Democrats are split along generational lines.

How the Recession of 2020 Could Happen

August 17, 2019 at 10:26 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Neil Irwin: “So if there’s going to be a recession in 2020 — if the pessimistic signals in the financial markets prove correct — how would it happen? There are plenty of clues, in the details of recent economic reports, in signals from the markets, and in the recent history of recessions and near recessions.”

“President Trump’s on-again-off-again execution of the trade war with China and other countries has fed uncertainty into businesses’ decision-making. Corporate investment spending is softening, despite the big tax cut that Mr. Trump said would boost it. And the combination of central banks that are at the outer limits of their ability to stimulate growth, and an inward turn by many countries, could make governments less effective at responding to a downturn.”

The Hill: “Comedian Bill Maher on Friday continued his calls for another economic recession, claiming it would tank President Trump’s shot at reelection in 2020 and be ‘very worth’ ending his policies.”

How Aides Got Trump to Delay Tariffs

August 17, 2019 at 10:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“As President Trump’s trade advisers were searching last week for a strategy to forestall his threatened tariffs on China, they struck upon a novel approach: appeal to his Christmas cheer,” CNN reports.

“Under pressure from retailers to prevent a move that would likely have caused prices of popular consumer goods to spike, the President’s team came to him during a meeting last week with a warning. Applying new tariffs on all Chinese imports, they cautioned, could effectively ‘ruin Christmas,’ according to people familiar with the matter.”

“It was a tactic that worked: Trump announced the tariffs would be delayed until December 15.”

The Last Days of Jeffrey Epstein

August 17, 2019 at 10:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Jeffrey Epstein, inmate 76318-054, hated his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. It was cramped, dank and infested with vermin, so Mr. Epstein, long accustomed to using his wealth to play by his own rules, devised a way out. He paid numerous lawyers to visit the jail for as many as 12 hours a day, giving him the right to see them in a private meeting room. Mr. Epstein was there for so long that he often appeared bored, sitting in silence with his lawyers, according to people who saw the meetings. While they were there, he and his entourage regularly emptied the two vending machines of drinks and snacks.”

“Outside the meeting room, Mr. Epstein mounted a strategy to avoid being preyed upon by other inmates: He deposited money in their commissary accounts.”

“But in his final days, Mr. Epstein’s efforts to lessen the misery of incarceration seemed to be faltering. He was seldom bathing, his hair and beard were unkempt and he was sleeping on the floor of his cell instead of on his bunk bed, according to people at the jail.”

Trump’s Union Crowd Had to Show Up Or Not Get Paid

August 17, 2019 at 10:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “The choice for thousands of union workers at Royal Dutch Shell’s petrochemical plant in Beaver County was clear Tuesday: Either stand in a giant hall waiting for President Donald Trump to speak or take the day off with no pay.”

“That company and scores of other contractors on site and their labor employees all have their own contracts with Shell. Several said the contracts stipulate that to get paid, workers must be onsite. Those who decided not to come to the site for the event would have an excused but non-paid absence, the company said, and would not qualify for overtime pay on Friday.”

If You Think Trump Is Helping Israel, You’re a Fool

August 17, 2019 at 7:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tom Friedman: “I am going to say this as simply and clearly as I can: If you’re an American Jew and you’re planning on voting for Donald Trump because you think he is pro-Israel, you’re a damn fool.”

“Trump’s way of — and motivation for — expressing his affection for Israel is guided by his political desire to improve his re-election chances by depicting the entire Republican Party as pro-Israel and the entire Democratic Party as anti-Israel.”

“As a result, Trump — with the knowing help of Israel’s current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu — is doing something no American president and Israeli prime minister have done before: They’re making support for Israel a wedge issue in American politics.”

Kennedy Mulls Primary Challenge of Markey

August 17, 2019 at 7:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA) is considering a primary challenge next year against Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA), the New York Times reports.

“Such a race could substantially alter the state’s political landscape and has the potential to elevate a fourth member of a Democratic dynasty to the Senate.”

“A contest between the two Massachusetts lawmakers could become the nation’s most high-profile primary race and would represent another test of the Democratic Party’s old guard. And while Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Markey are both committed progressives, the race would amount to a generational showdown between a scion of the state’s most famous family and a more than four-decade-long fixture of Massachusetts politics.”

Scaramucci Says Trump Will Drop Out

August 17, 2019 at 6:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Anthony Scaramucci predicted that President Trump will drop his re-election bid early next year, the HuffPost reports.

Said Scaramucci: “He’s gonna drop out of the race because it’s gonna become very clear. Okay, it’ll be March of 2020. He’ll likely drop out by March of 2020. It’s gonna become very clear that it’s impossible for him to win.”

Warren Closes ‘Electability’ Gap With Biden

August 17, 2019 at 6:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Economist/YouGov poll found 65% of Democratic voters said Joe Biden would “probably beat Donald Trump” — unchanged from June. But the number saying the same thing about Elizabeth Warren jumped 14 points since then, to 57%, the highest of any other candidate.

In the overall race, Biden led Warren by just 1 point among Democrats in a match-up with Trump. That’s after being 16 points ahead of her in June, according to the poll.

State Lawmaker Impersonated a Police Officer

August 17, 2019 at 6:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Indiana state Rep. Dan Forestal (D) was charged with drunken driving and impersonating an officer after he tried to buy cocaine “party favors” at a local bar, CNN reports.