President Trump modified his earlier comments on Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying, “We have an attorney general. I’m disappointed in the attorney general for many reasons,” the New York Times reports.
When asked whether he planned to fire Sessions, the president added: “We are looking at lots of different things.”
California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom (D) publicly addressed the relationship between ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. for the first time since the couple’s relationship went public, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Said Newsom: “I think, in those terms, I’m still trying to come to grips with all of it. No, it’s fine. I wish her well, and them well. And we see the world, clearly, with a different set of eyes politically.”
To the reporter who asked the question, he added: “You had the courage to be the first one to ever ask me this. I admire just the courage of that.”
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that 36% of adults surveyed did not want Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, up 6 percentage points from a similar poll conducted a month earlier.
Just 31% of adults said they were in favor of Kavanaugh’s appointment.
“If support for his nomination remains this weak, Trump’s pick would rank among the lowest-supported Supreme Court nominees to later be confirmed, according to historical data from Gallup.”
“Of course the presidency will be something I consider. It would be irresponsible not to.”
— Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), in a profile in New York Magazine.
Associated Press: “Groups that typically back GOP candidates, such as the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, are sitting on the sidelines. Mike Braun’s (R) recent three-stop ‘solutions’ tour — spread out across three days — was ridiculed by Democrats, who pointed to Sen. Joe Donnelly’s (D-IN) seven-day, 40-stop trek in August.”
“And while Braun, a multimillionaire businessman, took out $6.4 million in loans to fund his primary campaign, he also publicly groused about the cost. Now, with less than two months until the election, he has yet to purchase air time for October, while Donnelly has outspent him by almost double on TV and radio since June, records show.”
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) claimed that what he described as “atheist litigation groups” in California were trying to get hidden video of Christian student activities at a local high school, the Shreveport Times reports.
“Johnson’s claims are the latest chapter in a saga involving a federal lawsuit alleging that teachers and other staff have consistently promoted Christianity in Bossier Parish Schools in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit also alleges that some teachers or staff have sought to shame or coerce non-Christian students.”
President Trump addressed the allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, casting doubt on the accusation and saying that the judge “has been treated very, very tough,” CNBC reports.
Said Trump: “I can only say this, he is such an outstanding man, very hard for me to imagine that anything happened.”
A new Suffolk University poll in Massachusetts finds Gov. Charlie Baker (R) with a 27-point lead over challenger Jay Gonzalez (D), 55% to 28%.
In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) holds an even larger gap over her challenger, Geoff Diehl (R), 54% to 24%.
Said pollster David Paleologos: “What is fascinating about this poll is that Baker’s and Warren’s path to dominating their races are so different. Warren is using the traditional path of being popular within her party and getting just enough independents, whereas Baker has even numbers across every category, even the opposing party. One is a partisan, and one is a moderate, and they end up at the same spot.”
“This is a tough hurricane, one of the wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water. Rarely have we had an experience like it and it certainly is not good.”
— President Trump, quoted by the HuffPost, on Hurricane Florence.
A new University of Mary Washington poll in Virginia shows Sen. Tim Kaine (D) leading challenger Corey Stewart (R) by a wide margin, 49% to 30%.
Key finding: “Although 73% of Republican respondents said they’d vote for Stewart, 15% of Republicans favored Kaine — a reflection of the deep divisions among Virginia Republicans over Stewart.”
A new Goucher Poll in Maryland finds that likely voters favor Gov. Larry Hogan (R) over challenger Ben Jealous (D) by a margin of 54% to 32%.
Key finding: “In addition to Hogan securing his Republican base by large margins, the poll found he had the support of 38 percent of Maryland Democrats, who outnumber GOP voters in the state by more than 2 to 1.”
President Trump said that he regrets not firing FBI Director James Comey sooner, “asserting that he should have done so while still a candidate for president — an option that was not actually available to him,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “If I did one mistake with Comey, I should have fired him before I got here. I should have fired him right after the convention, say I don’t want that guy. Or at least fired him the first day on the job. … I would have been better off firing him or putting out a statement that I don’t want him there when I get there.”
NBC News: “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he plans to shut down his country’s nuclear complex, halt missile testing and cease hostile acts toward South Korea as part of a new agreement unveiled Wednesday. The pact unveiled during a joint news conference held at the end of a two-day meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang also includes plans for the countries to host the Summer Olympics in 2032.”
But the New York Times cautions: “The offers Mr. Kim made on Wednesday … indicated that he was willing to curtail his country’s ability to produce more nuclear warheads and ICBMs. But they say little about what he will do with his existing arsenal. Mr. Kim’s ultimate goal, analysts say, is to make the Trump administration complacent enough about the recent détente to ease sanctions in return for a mere freeze — not the dismantlement — of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs.”
President Trump launched one of his most ferocious broadsides to date against Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an interview with The Hill.
Said Trump: “I don’t have an Attorney General. It’s very sad.”
He added: “I’m so sad over Jeff Sessions because he came to me. He was the first Senator that endorsed me. And he wanted to be Attorney General, and I didn’t see it. And then he went through the nominating process and he did very poorly. I mean, he was mixed up and confused.”
However, Trump wouldn’t say if he might fire Sessions: “We’ll see what happens. A lot of people have asked me to do that. And I guess I study history, and I say I just want to leave things alone, but it was very unfair what he did. And my worst enemies, I mean, people that, you know, are on the other side of me, in a lot of ways including politically, have said that was a very unfair thing he did.”
He concluded: “We’ll see how it goes with Jeff. I’m very disappointed in Jeff. Very disappointed.”
“Voters elected political newcomer Pete Flores (R) to the Texas Senate on Tuesday, flipping a Democratic district red for the first time in 139 years and bolstering Republicans’ supermajority in the chamber ahead of the November elections,” the San Antonio Express-News reports.
Texas Tribune: “Flores’ victory grows the Senate GOP majority to 21 members, an important figure as the caucus enters the November elections looking to protect its supermajority with as many as three of its seats in play. Currently Republicans need a three-fifths majority — 19 members — to bring legislation to the floor without Democratic support.”
“The Supreme Court is one of the main reasons I got elected President. I hope Republican Voters, and others, are watching, and studying, the Democrats Playbook.”
— President Trump, on Twitter.
Playbook: “All of a sudden, out of seemingly nowhere, it seems like Republicans are gently steering Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination back on track.”
“Republicans and Democrats are at a stalemate. Senate Republicans offered Christine Blasey Ford the chance to testify publicly or privately, but her lawyer said that first the FBI should investigate the three-decade-old sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.”
“Republicans will insist they were reasonable, and Kavanaugh’s fate will be in the hands of Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The more time that goes by without her testifying, the more likely it is that Kavanaugh will be confirmed.”
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.