| | | | Pence: Trump 'a CEO at work' on immigration | | Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence insisted to CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" today that Donald Trump has been "absolutely consistent" on how he'd treat undocumented immigrants as president. So how to explain Trump's public reconsideration of a "deportation force?" "You see a CEO at work. You see someone who is engaging the American people, listening to the American people, hearing from all sides," Pence said.
Trump's shifting rhetoric -- if not policy -- on immigration was a hot topic across the Sunday news shows. Here's my look at what Trump surrogates said.
One quote that says it all: When CBS' "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson pressed Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on whether undocumented immigrants would be expelled from the United States under Trump, she said: "That's really the question here, John." More on what we know now about Trump's immigration stance. | | "We have a psychopath running for president." -- David Plouffe, President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager, on Donald Trump, on NBC's "Meet the Press." | | | Trump, Clinton prep for debates | | Donald Trump is holding debate prep sessions -- including one at 3 p.m. today in New Jersey, per NBC's Kelly O'Donnell.
How are those sessions going? The Washington Post's Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Anne Gearan report: "He summons his informal band of counselors -- including former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, talk-radio host Laura Ingraham and ousted Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes -- to his New Jersey golf course for Sunday chats. Over bacon cheeseburgers, hot dogs and glasses of Coca-Cola, they test out zingers and chew over ways to refine the Republican nominee's pitch. Trump's aides have put together briefing books, not that the candidate is devoting much time to reading them. Trump is not holding any mock debates, proudly boasting that a performer with his talents does not need that sort of prepping."
Clinton's plan: Lower the bar. Per John King's "Inside Politics" forecast: Hillary Clinton's campaign has an eye on the 2000 presidential race as it tries to frame the expectations. Back then, Democrats think they made a mistake by ridiculing George W. Bush and suggesting he wasn't up to the task of debating Al Gore. When Bush did better than expected, it diminished Gore's standing. Julie Pace of The Associated Press reports the Clinton campaign is determined to set a higher bar for Trump heading into the first debate next month.
"The Clinton campaign feels like she is going to go into the debates with the heightened expectations that normally saddle an incumbent president while Trump will have a low bar to clear," Pace explains. "We'll start to see officials reminding reporters and voters that Trump was actually pretty good in his Republican debates and obviously has a lot of experience being on television." | | | Rapper Ice Cube was not pleased when a pro-Donald Trump Twitter account claimed he was endorsing the GOP nominee. He tweeted this, and then -- in language not suitable for a family audience -- he was more direct. | | Clinton camp on defense over foundation emails | | A top Clinton Foundation official defended its "lifesaving work" Sunday amid new criticism and pay-to-play accusations over Hillary Clinton's connections to its top donors. "None of the Clintons have ever taken a salary and don't profit from the foundation," Craig Minassian, the Clinton Foundation's chief communications officer, told MSNBC.
Giving this new life: A report from ABC News that then-top Clinton Foundation official Doug Band contacted Clinton State Department aide Huma Abedin about securing seats at a lunch with the Chinese President for three representatives of top foundation donors. | | Conway: Trump will directly address black voters | | | Donald Trump's campaign manager says he will soon be courting black voters more directly, scheduling events in front of predominantly African-American audiences. "Those events are actually being planned, and we're very excited about them," Kellyanne Conway told "Fox News Sunday," acknowledging that Trump so far hasn't held a rally in front of a largely black audience. Here's my story. | | | The doctor who wrote Donald Trump's only public health record says he jotted it down in five minutes. ... Trump aide Steve Bannon once told his ex-wife he didn't want his daughters attending a girls school under consideration because of the number of Jews who attended it, she said in a court statement. ... Hillary Clinton's past praise of long-time Sen. Robert Byrd -- once a member of the Ku Klux Klan -- gave Trump fodder to respond to Clinton's accusations of bigotry. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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