Said Trump: “The bottom line is that the only reason the killer was in America in the first place was because we allowed his family to come here. That is a fact and a fact we need to talk about.”
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Trump Says Romney Is a ‘Sad, Pathetic Loser’
Donald Trump called Mitt Romney “a sad, pathetic loser who should go into retirement,” BuzzFeed reports.
Said Trump: “Romney’s a loser. He lost the election badly. He should have won that election. That election was easier than this election. He should have won that election. He choked. He was a choker. And I was very tough on him at the beginning, because we don’t want to give a choker, I backed him, but we don’t want to give a choker a second chance. We can’t afford to. He wasn’t going to win anyway. He would have choked the same way. Whatever happened he was way off.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I’ve spent enough time with my family. I always kind of believe in quality, not quantity, so I’m fine.”
— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by the Associated Press on his retirement plans.
A Guide to Dumping Trump at the Convention
Jonathan Bernstein: “It all comes down to how many delegates oppose Trump so much that they’re willing to accept the consequences for ridding the party of him. In normal circumstances, no one would consider it. Will this year be different? Most likely not, but if it is considered, this is how it will happen.”
Trump Links Obama to Orlando Shooting
Donald Trump seemed to repeatedly accuse President Obama of identifying with radicalized Muslims who have carried out terrorist attacks in the United States and being complicit in the mass shooting in Orlando over the weekend, the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “Look, we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind. And the something else in mind — you know, people can’t believe it. People cannot, they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can’t even mention the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ There’s something going on. It’s inconceivable. There’s something going on.”
The Atlantic: “Trump’s suggestion came by implication, but the message unmistakable: The president may have somehow known about or been involved in the shooting.”
For members: What Academics Say About Terror Attacks and the Election
Trump Ally Suggests Clinton Aide Is a Possible Terrorist
Roger Stone, an informal adviser and friend of Donald Trump, suggested that Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin could be a “Saudi spy” or a “terrorist agent,” Politico reports.
Said Stone: “I also think that now that Islamic terrorism is going to be front and center, there’s going to be a new focus on whether this administration, the administration of Hillary Clinton at State was permeated at the highest levels by Saudi intelligence and others who are not loyal Americans. I speak specifically of Huma Abedin, the right-hand woman, now vice-chairman or co-chairman of vice—of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.”
Attacks Have Rubio Reconsidering Decision to Quit
What Academics Say About Terror Attacks and the Election
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Massacre Disrupts Scheduled Campaign Events
Washington Post: “Hillary Clinton canceled her joint appearance with President Obama that was scheduled for Wednesday in Wisconsin. Joe Biden canceled his trip to Miami for a fundraiser to help DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Donald Trump canceled a rally in Portsmouth that was scheduled for tonight. He was scheduled to give a speech questioning Clinton’s ethics, but he will now speak at 2:30 at Saint Anselm College about ‘this terrorist attack, immigration and national security,’ according to a statement from the campaign.”
How Trump’s Former Rivals Capitulated
Ryan Lizza: “Trump had put countless Republican lawmakers in excruciating political predicaments. Senator John McCain, who told me last summer that Trump had ‘fired up the crazies,’ now needs Trump’s voters to support his own reëlection in Arizona—a state that Trump won by twenty-two percentage points in the primaries—and has said that he will support him. Marco Rubio, whose last days as a Presidential candidate were spent mocking the size of Trump’s hands and the orange hue of his face, recently apologized for the personal attacks, and said that he would speak on Trump’s behalf at the Convention.”
“Governor Chris Christie, of New Jersey, another of Trump’s opponents early in the campaign, has transformed himself into a sort of manservant, who is constantly with Trump at events. (One Republican told me that a friend of his on the Trump campaign used Snapchat to send him a video of Christie fetching Trump’s McDonald’s order.)”
Flake Urges Republicans to Withhold Endorsements
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) encouraged his GOP colleagues to withhold their endorsements of Donald Trump as a means of maintaining leverage over the presumptive Republican nominee, the Huffington Post reports.
Said Flake: “It’s not a comfortable position to not support your nominee of the party. None of us want to be in this position. But there are certain things that you can’t do as a candidate. And some of the things he’s done, I think, are beyond the pale.”
The Election In a Simple Analogy
Louis C.K.: “It’s like if you were on a plane and you wanted to choose a pilot. You have one person, Hillary, who says, ‘Here’s my license. Here’s all the thousands of flights that I’ve flown. Here’s planes I’ve flown in really difficult situations. I’ve had some good flights and some bad flights, but I’ve been flying for a very long time, and I know exactly how this plane works.’”
“Then you’ve got Bernie, who says, ‘Everyone should get a ride right to their house with this plane.’ ‘Well, how are you going to do that?’ ‘I just think we should. It’s only fair that everyone gets to use the plane equally.'”
“And then Trump says, ‘I’m going to fly so well. You’re not going to believe how good I’m going to fly this plane, and by the way, Hillary never flew a plane in her life.’ ‘She did, and we have pictures.’ ‘No, she never did it.’ It’s insane.”
Quote of the Day
“We’re being led by a man who either is not tough, not smart or has something else in mind.”
— Donald Trump, in an interview on Fox News, after the Orlando massacre that killed 50 people.
Democrats Running a ‘Shock and Blah’ Campaign
Politico: “The shock comes courtesy of Donald Trump, whose rhetoric has Republicans debating whether their own nominee is racist and Democrats more confident than ever it will deliver them control of the Senate.”
“The blah comes from the Democratic candidates themselves, who are abiding by a cardinal rule of politics: When your opponent is self-destructing, get out of the way. They’re intentionally playing it safe and boring, figuring their elections will mostly be a referendum on Trump and that animosity toward the real estate magnate will put them over the top in key swing states.”
Remaining Stop Trump Groups Fail to Get Traction
Wall Street Journal: “The two functioning stop-Trump groups remain small and have no funding behind them. One is composed of a handful of Washington-based operatives, attorneys and media personalities. The other is a coalition of about 15 convention delegates from Colorado who are trying to gather support for a rule that would unbind delegates who are now mandated by various state-party rules to back Mr. Trump for the nomination.”
“Yet time, distance and disorganization are likely to render them ineffective, as the rest of the Republican Party, some with equal trepidation about Mr. Trump, steadily move toward the nomination of the New York businessman.”
Dead Heat In Utah
A new Salt Lake Tribune/Hinckley Institute poll in Utah finds Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump tied in the presidential race at 35% each, followed by Libertarian Gary Johnson at 13%.
Said pollster Jason Perry: “For a state where the majority of voters have supported Republican presidential candidates since 1964, the fact that Trump is in a dead heat with Hillary Clinton suggests Utah voters are still very reluctant about a Trump presidency.”
Trump Says He Was Right on Terrorism
Donald Trump “wasted little time seeking political advantage in the massacre at a Florida nightclub, taking credit for ‘being right on radical Islamic terrorism’ in the wake of the worst mass shooting in American history,” Politico reports.
Said Trump on Twitter: “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!”
ISIS Claims Responsibility for Florida Massacre
“Islamic State’s Amaq news agency said on Sunday that the Islamist militant group was responsible for the shooting that killed at least 50 people in a massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida,” Reuters reports.
Said the statement: “The armed attack that targeted a gay night club in the city of Orlando in the American state of Florida which left over 100 people dead or injured was carried out by an Islamic State fighter.”
