Carly Fiorina attacked Donald Trump on Facebook:
“Donald, sorry, I’ve got to interrupt again. You would know something about pathological. How was that meeting with Putin? Or Wharton? Or your self funded campaign? Anyone can turn a multi-million dollar inheritance into more money, but all the money in the world won’t make you as smart as Ben Carson.”
In last night’s Republican debate, Donald Trump “repeated something that he and his campaign have been saying for several weeks: that he is self-funding his campaign,” BuzzFeed News reports.
However, Trump “is soliciting donations on his website and most of the money his campaign has spent recently comes from donations.”
“I would let him operate under a friend of mine, not necessarily me but a friend of mine.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by Politico, when asked if he would let Ben Carson run one of his companies.
“If I become president, we’re all going to be saying Merry Christmas again. That I can tell you.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by People magazine, on Starbucks removing references to Christmas on its holiday coffee cups.
First Read notes Donald Trump previewed a possible line of attack against Ben Carson: “Well, I feel badly for Ben. I’ve gotten to like Ben. And it’s a tough thing. I mean, he writes a book where he went after his mother, hit her on the head, or wanted to hit her on the head with a hammer. Hitting a friend in the face with a lock, with a padlock, hard in the face, stabbing somebody, only to be broken up by a belt buckle. And when he writes that he has pathological disease in a book, now he obviously wrote this book prior to thinking about running for office, I assume. But he said he has pathological disease.”
“Our prediction: Trump senses weakness, and he’s going for it.”
Donald Trump told ABC News that the controversy swirling around his rival Ben Carson “very strange.”
Said Trump: “It’s a strange situation when you talk about hitting your mother on the head with the hammer. It’s a weird deal going on and I hope it all works out because I don’t want to see Ben have problems over this stuff.”
He added: “I guess a book was written… before he was in politics, but he said he has ‘pathological disease’ in the book. That’s a very serious problem because that’s not something that’s cured. That’s a very serious thing you have to live with.”
Los Angeles Times: “There is something quaint and almost endearing about Trump’s faith in Nielsen; it may be one of the last great attempts to restore ratings to their former position of glory, and, indeed, empower them further.”
“But ratings have never been the same as votes — just ask the cast of Empire — or even political support, and for all his frequently self-referenced business experience, Trump seems to have missed a major shift in the television industry: Ratings ain’t what they used to be. Once an easy and instant predictor of success, the television numbers game has become if not outdated then deeply complicated.”
“Well, I think it’s really the beginning of the end.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by the Washington Post, on hearing that Ben Carson had fabricated parts of his personal story.
: “Something remarkable has been happening for the past six weeks: Donald Trump is no longer utterly dominating television coverage of the 2016 presidential race.”
Sen. Marco Rubio “hit back against Donald Trump’s criticism of his finances in the presidential race, calling it hypocrisy because of the real estate magnate’s bankruptcy record,” The Hill reports.
Said Rubio: “I find it ironic that the only person running for president that’s ever declared a bankruptcy, four times in the last 25 years, is attacking anyone on finances.”
Donald Trump “has mockingly accused Sheldon Adelson, a casino developer and one of the biggest Republican megadonors, of wanting a ‘puppet’ to back when it was reported that Mr. Adelson was considering throwing his support to Senator Marco Rubio,” the New York Times reports.
“But Mr. Trump, many weeks ago, called Mr. Adelson to talk about the state of the race, according to a person told of the discussion, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to characterize the conversation publicly.”
“Donald Trump feels guilty, the GOP presidential candidate said Tuesday evening, because his campaign has not spent anything in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. But that is soon to change,” Politico reports.
“The Manhattan businessman announced Tuesday night that his campaign will start airing ads in the early voting states, vowing to hit back at rival campaigns and groups that attack him.”
“We’re gonna have a good time and it’s going to be a great evening, it’s going to be one of the highest rated SNL’s ever, so, we’re gonna give ‘em a good time.”
— Donald Trump, in an interview with Extra, on hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend.
“I’m happy to have Donald Trump just be talking and demonstrate that because he’s right at the top, or at least No. 2, it shows you where the Republican Party is today. He should just keep talking.”
— Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), quoted by The Hill.
“Marco doesn’t show up to votes, he doesn’t do things that you’re supposed to do. He got elected senator, and you know the same thing happened to him in the Florida senate, if you look, and I know a lot about Florida, I’m there…. He was in the senate and he tried to get the top position…. Two minutes after he got the top position he was looking to run for senate. Then he runs for senate, now he wants to be president. I would say, maybe I’m the last person to say this: Relax. Take it easy.”
— Donald Trump, in an interview with Bloomberg, on Sen. Marco Rubio is “highly-overrated” and “isn’t going to make it.”
Donald Trump and his advisers “have decided to work directly with television executives and take a lead role in negotiating the format and content of primary debates, which have become highly watched and crucial events in the 2016 race,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump plans to reject a joint letter to television network hosts regarding upcoming primary debates drafted Sunday at a private gathering of operatives from at least 11 presidential campaigns… The move by Trump, coming just hours after more than a dozen Republican strategists huddled in the Washington suburbs to craft a list of possible demands, effectively throttles an effort by the campaigns and the letter’s drafter, longtime GOP attorney Ben Ginsberg, to find consensus and work collectively to negotiate terms.”
Donald Trump says that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a “crazy” and “highly neurotic woman,” Politico reports.
Said Trump: “This is a woman that is a terrible person. I watch her on television. She’s a terrible person. And in all fairness, she negotiated a great deal for Hillary because they gave Hillary all softballs.”
In a sign he wants to win, Donald Trump “seemed to be moderating and refining his message” as he campaigned in Nevada, the Washington Post reports.
“Where he previously has devoted his rallies to slinging insults at his opponents and boasting about his poll numbers, Trump focused instead on describing the professional and life experience he would bring to the White House. He also cited issues where he claimed to have led before it was a popular thing to do — including opposing the Iraq war and aggressively combating illegal immigration.”
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.