Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) told CBS News that President Trump was the most fiscally reckless president in decades.
Said Bennet: “Donald Trump has shown himself to be the most fiscally irresponsible president we have had in generations. Here’s a guy who’s managed to rack up a $2 trillion deficit at a moment of full employment in the country, it’s almost impossible to do that.”
New York Times: “As the famously voluble Mr. Biden makes his first retail campaign stops in the Democratic primary, and grows accustomed to the front-runner status he never enjoyed in his two previous White House bids, his campaign is grappling with how to showcase Mr. Biden’s never-met-a-stranger persona without exposing him to an environment where he may commit a gaffe.”
“So far, they have struck a safe, if precarious, balance.”
“Just over two weeks into Mr. Biden’s candidacy, the most notable feature of his campaign may be what hasn’t happened: He has not blurted anything out that delights his rivals, horrifies his aides and reinforces his image as ‘Uncle Joe,’ America’s there-he-goes-again relative who makes you smile and wince in equal measure.”
“The Congressional Black Caucus may have found an answer to its Joe Biden dilemma: Vice President Kamala Harris,” the New York Times reports.
“Some black lawmakers are agonizing over whether to back Biden or two members of the close-knit caucus — Sens. Harris and Cory Booker — who are also vying for the White House, according to interviews with a dozen CBC members. But with the former vice president jumping out to a huge, if early, lead in the polls, several CBC members are warming to the idea of a Biden-Harris ticket to take on President Trump.”
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Politico: “A growing number of Democratic committee members are pushing Nadler to take more aggressive steps to force President Trump and top administration officials to comply with a host of congressional subpoenas. Some lawmakers even want Congress to dust off its little-used authority to fine or even jail witnesses, something that the House hasn’t done in more than 80 years and is ill prepared to execute.”
“But Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team worry that such moves, while pleasing to a party base that loathes the president, would backfire and boost Trump politically. Caught in the middle is Nadler, a 71-year-old Democrat who has long been a thorn in Trump’s side.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff to ABC News: “Look, we are going to have to consider other remedies like inherent contempt, where if the courts take too long we use our own judicial process within the Congress. And look, I think if you fine someone $25,000 a day to their person until they comply, it gets their attention.”
“You wake up in the morning and you wonder what’s happened… But I shouldn’t say more.”
— Former Justice John Paul Stevens, quoted by the Washington Post.
A new Charleston Post & Courier Poll in South Carolina finds Joe Biden is preferred by 46% of likely Democratic primary voters, up 14 points from a month ago.
Sen. Bernie Sanders sits second at 15%, followed by Sen. Kamala Harris at 10%, Pete Buttigieg at 8%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 8%, Cory Booker at 4% and Beto O’Rourke at 2%.
Key findings: “The latest poll shows Biden leads the field among men and women and in all regions of the state. He also is tops among black voters, who account for close to two-thirds of Democratic primary voters in South Carolina. His only weak spot is among younger voters ages 18-34.”
Associated Press: “The release of a redacted version of Mueller’s 448-page report last month offered a long-awaited moment of closure for many — and an utterly unsatisfying cliffhanger for plenty of others.”
“Three weeks of public parsing and analysis have left them wondering just what Mueller was trying to say and what he really thinks, particularly on the question of obstruction, where the document drew no conclusion. That uncertainty has given partisans on both sides an opening to frame Mueller’s findings to their liking and left many Americans, unlikely to read the full report, scratching their heads about what to believe and whom to trust.”
“Enough with the printed page, they say, enough with the punditry: Speak, Bob, speak!”
President Trump tweeted again about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference, saying that this “witch hunt” must “never be allowed to happen again.”
Said Trump: “From long before I ever took office, I was under a sick and unlawful investigation concerning what has become known as the Russian Hoax. This never happened before in American history, and it all turned out to be a total scam, a Witch Hunt, that yielded No Collusion, No Obstruction. This must never be allowed to happen again!”
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates told CBS News that age is a “problematic” issue in the 2020 presidential election.
Gates said candidates in their late seventies — like former Vice President Joe Biden, who is 76, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is 77 — don’t have the “kind of energy that I think is required to be president.” He also said he believes President Trump, at 72, may also be too old for the job.
Gates added: “I’m not sure you have the intellectual acuity that you might have had in your 60s. The thought of taking on those responsibilities at this point in my life would be pretty daunting.”
President Trump tweeted he was “never a big fan of” former White House Counsel Don McGahn.
Said Trump: “I was NOT going to fire Bob Mueller, and did not fire Bob Mueller. In fact, he was allowed to finish his Report with unprecedented help from the Trump Administration. Actually, lawyer Don McGahn had a much better chance of being fired than Mueller. Never a big fan!”
Saturday Night Live brought three GOP senators together on Meet the Press to demonstrate just how far the Republican Party will go to defend President Trump.
“Three nations that have long defined themselves as bitter adversaries of the United States — North Korea, Iran and Venezuela — decided this week they could take on President Trump,” the New York Times reports.
“Each one is betting that Mr. Trump is neither as savvy a negotiator nor as ready to use military force as he claims. Each also poses a drastically different challenge to a president who has little experience in handling international crises, has struggled to find the right balance of diplomacy and coercion and has not always been consistent in defining his foreign policy.”
“The rising tensions with all three serve as reminders that Mr. Trump’s constant talk about taking care of problems that he has accused his predecessors of aggravating, or failing to confront, is difficult to convert into real-world solutions — as events of recent days have shown.”
“President Trump and his allies are working to block more than 20 separate investigations by Democrats into his actions as president, his personal finances and his administration’s policies, according to a Washington Post analysis, amounting to what many experts call the most expansive White House obstruction effort in decades.”
“Trump’s noncooperation strategy has shifted from partial resistance to all-out war as he faces mounting inquiries from the Democratic-controlled House — a strategy that many legal and congressional experts fear could undermine the institutional power of Congress for years to come. All told, House Democrats say the Trump administration has failed to respond to or comply with at least 79 requests for documents or other information.”
Actress Alyssa Milano called for women to join her in a sex strike to protest strict abortion bans passed by Republican-controlled legislatures, NBC News reports.
The former star of “Charmed” and “Melrose Place” urged women in her tweet to stop having sex “until we get bodily autonomy back.”
“President Trump is looking to stop lower courts from being able to issue wide-ranging injunctions in a move that could dramatically limit the authority of judges,” The Hill reports.
“The plan comes as groups opposed to Trump have been able to get several of his policies, including those seeking to limit immigration, put on hold by nationwide orders issued by lower courts in battles that were eventually decided by the Supreme Court.”
“National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre billed the group’s ad agency $39,000 for one day of shopping at a Beverly Hills clothing boutique, $18,300 for a car and driver in Europe, and had the agency cover $13,800 in rent for a summer intern, according to newly revealed NRA internal documents,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The documents, posted anonymously on the internet, provide new details of the clothing, travel and other expenses totaling more than $542,000 that Ackerman McQueen Inc. alleges Mr. LaPierre billed to it.”
Vice President Mike Pence, who has been facing criticisms of his own religious views, warned Liberty University graduates that they have to stay strong against the challenges they’ll face from Hollywood, the media and the secular left, USA Today reports.
Said Pence: “Some of the loudest voices for tolerance today have little tolerance for traditional Christian beliefs. Be ready.”
He added: “Throughout most of American history, it has been pretty easy to call yourself Christian. It didn’t even occur to people that you might be shunned or ridiculed for defending the teachings of the Bible. But things are different now.”
Jeffrey Toobin: “Our constitutional system never contemplated a President like Donald Trump. The Framers anticipated friction among the three branches of government, which has been a constant throughout our history, but the Trump White House has now established a complete blockade against the legislative branch, thwarting any meaningful oversight. The system, it appears, may simply be incapable of responding to this kind of challenge.”
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.
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