| | | | How the 2016 race turned into Putin vs. Obama | | Donald Trump's assertion in last night's "Commander-in-Chief Forum" that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "a leader, far more than our President has been a leader" -- and his praise for Putin's bogus 82% approval rating -- gave Hillary Clinton an opening to attack and put Republicans on defense, The New York Times' Amy Chozik and Jonathan Martin report.
Here's Clinton today in North Carolina: "What would Ronald Reagan say about a Republican nominee who attacks American generals and heaps praise on Russia's President?"
Standing by his man: Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence defended Trump in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash today, saying: "I think it's inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country. And that's going to change the day that Donald Trump becomes President."
Was Trump's remark out of bounds? "I think one has to be a little careful to let flattery affect one's judgment," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker told CNN's Jake Tapper today. House Speaker Paul Ryan, at a news conference this morning, called Putin "an aggressor who does not share our interests."
Stuart Stevens, the top strategist to Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign, slammed Trump in a tweet that's gotten lots of buzz: | | About last night: Matt Lauer's 'disaster' | | From CNN's Brian Stelter: NBC News knows the "Commander-in-Chief Forum" with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was not Matt Lauer's finest hour. One executive, speaking anonymously, was blunt about it: "Disaster."
What did Lauer do wrong? He failed to fact-check or follow up when Trump falsely claimed he was opposed to the Iraq War when it started. Some viewers thought Lauer held Clinton to a higher standard than Trump -- asking Trump repeatedly whether he's prepared for the presidency, rather than grilling him with specifics.
How many people watched? 15 million.
Clinton was fundraising today on how bad Lauer was, CNN's Dylan Byers writes. In an email to supporters (subject line: "Matt Lauer"), Clinton aide Christina Reynolds wrote: "Not only did the moderator, Matt Lauer, fail to fact-check Trump -- he then kept the conversation moving."
More of the reviews: New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait called Lauer's interview of Trump "hapless" and wrote: "Lauer's performance was not merely a failure, it was horrifying and shocking." The Washington Post's Erik Wemple writes that "Lauer missed an entire fact-checking oeuvre."
The harshest line comes from The New York Times' James Poniewozik, who writes: "It's a travesty to be steamrolled by a candidate because you're worried that doing your job will look bad."
Here's more: | | | For the record: Trump is lying about opposing the Iraq War. He told Howard Stern in 2002 that he supported George W. Bush's decision to launch the war, a comment unearthed by BuzzFeed. Still, Trump stuck by that false claim today, CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports. | | The Trump August fundraising breakdown | | We told you yesterday that Donald Trump raised $90 million in August -- a strong total, but less than Hillary Clinton's $143 million. Today, we got the breakdown: $70 million came through Trump's official campaign and his small-dollar joint fundraising group, Steven Mnuchin, Trump's finance chair, told CNN. And an additional $18 million was raised through Trump Victory -- a high-dollar group that largely funnels checks to the RNC, not his campaign. Trump contributed an additional $2 million to his campaign last month, Mnuchin said, boosting his overall total to shy of $60 million.
The pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA released its August numbers today, too. The group raised $21.6 million, bringing its total to $130.7 million for the cycle, with commitments for $29 million more. It has $41.5 million in the bank.
That's more in one month than all pro-Trump super PACs have ever raised, per CNN's Theodore Schleifer. | | No new trial for ex-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell | | From CNN's Ariane de Vogue: Federal prosecutors announced today they won't retry former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell or his wife, Maureen, on public corruption charges. McDonnell was convicted on federal corruption charges in 2014 and sentenced to two years in prison. He remained free pending appeal, and this spring, the Supreme Court unanimously threw out his conviction, although the justices left open the possibility of a retrial.
He could'a been a contender: Before the corruption charges, McDonnell was a rising star -- a potential GOP presidential candidate himself, and as a swing-state governor, certainly a hot vice presidential prospect. | | The great "Humans of New York" photographer Brandon Stanton shot Hillary Clinton -- who told a story of being shouted at by men at her law school admissions test. Here's part of what Clinton told him: "I had to learn as a young woman to control my emotions. And that's a hard path to walk. Because you need to protect yourself, you need to keep steady, but at the same time you don't want to seem 'walled off.' And sometimes I think I come across more in the 'walled off' arena. And if I create that perception, then I take responsibility." Read the rest here.
Later, in a second post, Clinton discussed how Bill Clinton and Barack Obama "carry themselves with a naturalness" that she doesn't have. She said: "I'll go to these events and there will be men speaking before me, and they'll be pounding the message, and screaming about how we need to win the election. And people will love it. And I want to do the same thing. Because I care about this stuff. But I've learned that I can't be quite so passionate in my presentation. I love to wave my arms, but apparently that's a little bit scary to people. And I can't yell too much. It comes across as 'too loud' or 'too shrill' or 'too this' or 'too that.' Which is funny, because I'm always convinced that the people in the front row are loving it." | | | The Associated Press deleted an inaccurate tweet about Hillary Clinton, two weeks later. ... Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a Donald Trump backer, repeatedly interrupted Trump's recent intelligence briefing. ... Trump's DC policy shop has collapsed, with staffers departing after never being paid. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
Post a Comment