| | | | Deportation force TBD, Trump campaign chief says | | Donald Trump's new chief Kellyanne Conway took her first turn as campaign manager on the Sunday shows, as Trump looks to right the ship after a tough few weeks for his campaign.
On "State of the Union," she denied that Trump said anything different from his public statements on immigration in a closed-door meeting on Saturday with his Hispanic advisory council, despite some participants saying they got the impression he would consider legalizing undocumented immigrants.
But when asked repeatedly by CNN's Dana Bash about whether he sticks by his previous statements saying that his administration would organize a deportation force to remove the estimated 11 million people in this country illegally, her answer was: "To be determined." More on the exchange here.
Other headlines from Conway's rounds -- she also appeared on ABC's "This Week" -- included that she also does not support the release of Trump's tax returns, that Trump's statement of "regret" was not directed at any one person but to anyone he's caused "personal pain," and that the campaign will continue to lean heavily on the RNC for organization.
In fact, top RNC strategist and communicator Sean Spicer will be working more closely with the Trump campaign, spending more time working directly out of campaign headquarters, the campaign confirmed. Here's the story on that move.
Plus, CNN's John King reports, there may be more campaign staffers heading for the exits: "Political director Jim Murphy and pollster Tony Fabrizio are among a handful of Trump staffers known to have expressed frustration to close friends in recent days -- suggesting the new team has pushed them out of the loop to the point that they have learned of some new campaign plans either from the media or by watching the candidate on television." King breaks it down. | | Meanwhile, Clinton world still playing defense | | Hillary Clinton's campaign manager did his own turn at the rounds on Sunday, largely playing defense over a string of stories questioning the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department under Clinton.
The Clinton Foundation announced last week it would stop accepting donations from foreign and corporate sources if Clinton were elected president, and Bill Clinton would stop giving paid speeches.
So why not sooner? Campaign manager Robby Mook said it will take time. "It will take some time to adjust," Mook said on "State of the Union" on Sunday. "The foundation is doing an enormous amount of work, and it takes time when you're in a number of countries around the world to retool, refocus the mission, and adapt."
He defended the Clintons' work on a number of fronts, saying Hillary Clinton is being attacked because of her "transparency" and that there was "no quid pro quo" in regards to questionable emails that surfaced between her aides at the State Department and the foundation. More here on Mook's defense. | | | It was former President Bill Clinton's big 70th birthday on Friday, which gave the Internet a chance to remember how much he loves balloons. | | What we learned from campaign finance reports | | The filing deadline was over the weekend, so we're learning more about the general election situation for both campaigns.
First some top-line numbers from CNN research director Robert Yoon. As of July 31, Hillary Clinton had $58.4 million cash on hand and over $500,000 in debt. Donald Trump had $38.4 million cash on hand and no debt, and Libertarian Gary Johnson had $1.2 million cash on hand and no debt. Clinton raised nearly $51.3 million in July and spent nearly $38.2 million; Trump raised $36.2 million and spent $18.4 million, and Johnson raised $1.6 million and spent more than $856,000. Trump gave his own campaign another $2 million and Clinton gave her campaign more than $121,000.
But regarding that $18 million Trump spent -- Politico's Isaac Arnsdorf reports that most of that money went toward expanding the online fundraising capabilities of the campaign. "A full 45%, or $8.4 million, went to Giles-Parscale, the San Antonio-based digital marketing firm that has done Trump's online advertising," Arnsdorf reported. "(The company had never worked for a campaign before 2016.) The campaign also paid $100,000 to the Prosper Group for fundraising consulting."
And, Politico pointed out, Trump still lags far behind Clinton in terms of putting resources behind staff and field operations. "Spending on the 84-person staff and field organizing barely increased from the previous month, to just $392,000 and $432,000, respectively. The campaign dropped much more -- $1.8 million -- on hats and other merchandise. By comparison, the Clinton campaign in July spent $2.9 million on its 703-person payroll and $25.8 million on media." Read the report.
And more nuggets, from The Washington Post's Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy: "Other large sums spent by the Trump campaign in July went to travel ($3.2 million) and merchandise ($1.8 million). The campaign doled out $773,000 to reimburse various Trump-owned companies for expenses. In all, nearly $7.7 million has been paid out to Trump companies or Trump family members to cover campaign expenditures, filings show." Their analysis is here. | | Just what is Roger Ailes up to with Donald Trump? | | Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Sunday that former Fox News chief Roger Ailes "obviously has no formal or informal role with the campaign, but Mr. Trump speaks to many different people." That was her response when asked by CNN's Dana Bash if Ailes is "actively advising Donald Trump at this point."
CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter reads between the lines for us: "By saying Ailes has no role with the campaign, Conway was threading a needle. Ailes is giving advice to Trump directly, according to reports from multiple outlets, including CNN, but not giving advice to the campaign. The distinction is significant because Ailes is a subject of controversy. The former Fox News chief is a legend of television producing and Republican political campaigning. But he was forced out of his role last month amid a sexual harassment scandal. One former Fox News anchor, Gretchen Carlson, is suing him, and other women have come forward to accuse him of harassing behavior. He has denied the allegations." Read more on it. | | Another DNC staffer departing after hack | | | Politico's Edward-Isaac Dovere broke that another DNC staffer is leaving in the fallout from hacked emails that were dumped on the Internet, this time finance director Jordan Kaplan. A long-time member of President Barack Obama's orbit, Kaplan's emails were among those released by what is suspected to be Russian hackers. Kaplan isn't totally disconnecting, though: He'll still run DNC events involving Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, a DNC official told Dovere. That story is here. | | | Who says bipartisanship is dead? The Olympics may be ending Sunday, but before they did, they brought members of Congress together in fandom of Team USA -- with the requisite shout-outs to hometown stars. | | | This will be the first year Bill Clinton wasn't invited to participate in "Dancing With the Stars," the casting director said. ... "Racialists" cheer Trump's campaign strategy. ... Sen. Mark Kirk calls President Barack Obama a "drug dealer in chief" regarding the controversial Iran payment. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
Post a Comment