Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) feels “terrible” his brother James, the editorial page editor of the New York Times, recused himself from the paper’s opinion coverage of the 2020 election because of Bennet’s run for president, BuzzFeed News reports.
Bennet said he talked with his brother about it for months before announcing his candidacy: “He was unenthusiastic about the prospect of my running.”
“Under intense pressure to take action on gun safety in the wake of two weekend massacres, Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, expressed a new willingness Thursday to consider a measure expanding background checks for all gun purchasers, saying it will be ‘front and center’ in a coming Senate debate on how to respond to gun violence,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. McConnell, who has strongly opposed background checks in the past, made his remarks in an interview with a Kentucky radio host, Terry Meiners of WHAS in Louisville. While he did not support a bill requiring background checks, his remarks appeared to underscore the possibility of a shift in the politics of Washington’s divisive gun debate.”
Earlier for members: A Tipping Point for Gun Control
Texas General Land Office Commissioner George P. Bush (R) called on all Americans to stand against “white terrorism” after a gunman who espoused white supremacist views in a manifesto killed at least 18 in El Paso, The Hill reports.
Bush, son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), said Saturday evening that “white terrorism” was a “real and present threat that we must all denounce and defeat.”
He added: “I believe fighting terrorism remains a national priority. And that should include standing firm against white terrorism.”
“Democrats who favor impeachment proceedings against President Trump showed new signs of life Thursday even after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s uneven testimony this week failed to sway reluctant House leaders,” Politico reports.
“Five Democrats publicly endorsed an impeachment inquiry post-Mueller, joining more than 90 lawmakers who had already come out in favor.”
“Even though some had anticipated a more significant groundswell of new support after Mueller’s appearance, these lawmakers insist the impeachment effort isn’t dead.”
CNN: “House Democrats who are publicly and privately agitating to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump are growing worried that their time is running short — and that they are missing key opportunities to give them a clear opening to mount a formal probe.”
Colorado’s Department of Human Services is now acknowledging to CBS Denver that five reports of neglected children were missed — possibly for as long as five years — after they were sent to a state email address that was not being checked or monitored.
Politico: “Trump aides, who watched the news conference on TVs around the White House, were relieved by Acosta’s measured, lawyerly performance and were surprised that he spent nearly an hour answering questions.”
Sen. Kamala Harris labeled President Trump a “predator” that she could take on due to her background as a prosecutor — a new line of attack against the president as the California Democrat is surging following her debate performance last week, USA Today reports.
Said Harris: “I know predators. And we have a predator living in the White House.”
Harris added that Trump “has predatory nature and predatory instincts.”
John Harris: “There are people who argue that the Democratic Party’s steady leftward progression during the Trump years is largely an optical illusion—a distorted impression one gets from assigning too much significance to social media noise or flamboyant figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ten Democrats making their case to be president on a debate stage in Miami Wednesday night suggest a much different conclusion.”
“This is a party eager to go on the ideological offensive not just against Donald Trump (whose name did not dominate the evening even as he was invoked plenty) but against an economic and political power structure that candidates argued is deeply corrupt. Liberals must be empowered to bring bad actors to heel through robust intervention of government.”
Playbook: “This is not a good sign for Joe Biden, who has made running as a moderate Democrat who can work with Republicans a central plank of his candidacy.”
Playbook: “House Democrats have griped behind the scenes that their agenda is getting short shrift. The DCCC has presented Democrats with stark polling to back that up. Democratic leadership has suggested privately that impeachment could cost the party their majority and the White House.”
“But now, with Robert Mueller’s planned appearance in front of two House committees next month, House Democrats have set up a nearly monthlong period of intense political suspense and speculation that only heightens and highlights impeachment, and risks completely drowning out anything else the party will do.”
“Mueller and impeachment are now assured to be the dominant and likely singular conversation from now until the August recess. Is July 17 the beginning of impeachment? Or just another event the leadership will be able to blow by?”
For members: The Day Democrats Have Been Waiting For
Wall Street Journal: “Last time around, there was the Russian cyberattack of party emails that U.S. intelligence has said was designed to help Republican Donald Trump defeat nominee Hillary Clinton. The party also battled complaints that superdelegates—those free to back any candidate, regardless of election results in the primaries—amounted to a fixed outcome at the expense of Sen. Bernie Sanders.”
“Since then, the party has reduced the clout of superdelegates. Still, gripes about party management remain, this time from the handful of candidates left off the list of 20 candidates set for this week’s two primary debates in Miami, the first of the 2020 cycle.”
President Trump “claimed again not to know the latest women to publicly accuse him of sexual assault, E Jean Carroll, after his claim on Friday that he had never met her was disproved by a photograph of them together at a party,” The Guardian reports.
“The photo was included in the New York magazine article in which Carroll, a writer and celebrated advice columnist, made public her allegation that Trump assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.”
Said Trump: “I have no idea who this woman is.”
“President Trump was so bothered by his chief of staff’s coughing during an interview in the Oval Office with ABC News that he asked his top aide to leave the room,” The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “If you’re going to cough, please leave the room. You just can’t, you just can’t cough. Boy oh boy,”
Watch the video.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a sobering assessment of the prospects of the Trump administration’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan in a closed-door meeting with Jewish leaders, saying “one might argue” that the plan is “unexecutable” and it might not “gain traction,” the Washington Post reports.
He expressed his hope that the deal isn’t simply dismissed out of hand.
Said Pompeo: “It may be rejected. Could be in the end, folks will say, ‘It’s not particularly original, it doesn’t particularly work for me,’ that is, ‘It’s got two good things and nine bad things, I’m out,'”
Meanwhile, Politico reports Trump said Pompeo “may be right” in his raw assessment of the administration’s Middle East peace plan.
First Read: “Out of everything that took place over the Memorial Day weekend, this might have been the biggest political news.”
“President Trump once again sided with an authoritarian leader over allies – and also took aim at a domestic rival in the exact same breath. And even more significantly was the extent to which the political world, especially the conservative media, shrugged its shoulders.”
“And what continues to stand out from Trump’s remarks on North Korea/Biden is the lack of outrage, as well as the message it sends to other world leaders. That message: Trash my domestic political opponents, and I’ll say nice things about you.”
Attorney General William Barr joked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi about Democrats calling for his arrest, The Hill reports.
The exchange — which comes a week after the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Barr in contempt over subpoenas related to the Mueller report — took place as they were waiting for President Trump.
Said a bystander:
As those seated on the platform waited for the president’s arrival in an adjacent tent, Attorney General Barr approached Speaker Pelosi, shook her hand and said loudly, “Madam Speaker, did you bring your handcuffs?”
The Speaker, not missing a beat, smiled and indicated to the attorney general that the House sergeant-at-arms was present at the ceremony should an arrest be necessary. The attorney general chuckled and walked away.
“In a surprise twist that has put a China-U.S. trade accord in doubt, Beijing is considering pulling out of talks scheduled to begin this week after President Trump threatened to drastically ramp up U.S. tariffs,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Chinese officials have said Beijing wouldn’t bend to pressure tactics. By potentially scotching the trip, Beijing would be following up on its pledge to avoid negotiating under threat.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), “who has raised millions of dollars during his campaigns over the years, has indicated to associates in recent days that he will be opening his vast and powerful fundraising network exclusively to Joe Biden,” CNBC reports.
“Cuomo’s support could be a game-changer for Biden. While the former vice president has consistently led Democratic primary polls, he has been aggressively courting donors in a bid to catch up to an already crowded primary field that has a head start in the fundraising game. New York State Board of Elections data show Cuomo has raked in $100 million in campaign contributions since he first ran for governor in 2010. At least 80 percent of his backers have given him $10,000 or more.”
New York Times: “Mr. Buttigieg’s distinctive political passion appears to be storytelling, wrapping conventional liberalism in an earnest, youthful persona that Democrats might see as capable of winning over the middle of the country.”
“A Times review of Mr. Buttigieg’s writings, starting in college, found that rhetorical task to be a consistent preoccupation. As a student, Mr. Buttigieg, now 37 and the mayor of South Bend, Ind., habitually discussed Democrats’ challenges in terms of language and argument, rather than policy or ideology. Mr. Buttigieg urged liberals in his student columns to speak in terms of “effective political values,” and he recalled corresponding in college with the University of California, Berkeley, linguist George Lakoff, who in 2004 published a best seller about political communication.”
USA Today: 7 hurdles facing Buttigieg’s presidential campaigns.
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.
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