| | | | Donald Trump's overcompensation vacation | | When President Donald Trump was just candidate Trump, he made sure everyone knew he wouldn't be taking any long vacations of the sort he said Barack Obama favored.
"I would rarely leave the White House because there's so much work to be done," Trump said in July 2015. "I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off."
"I'm going to be working for you," Trump said in August 2016. "I'm not going to have time to go play golf."
Which brings me to the fact that Trump is currently in the midst of a 17-day vacation at his golf club in New Jersey.
Not that there's anything wrong with that! Presidents can -- and should! -- take vacations! It's a stressful job. And it's not like being in Bedminster, New Jersey, rather than at the White House means that Trump isn't still on the job. The White House travels with the president.
But, Trump is clearly VERY conscious of the criticism that he attacked Obama for doing exactly what he is currently doing.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted: "Working in Bedminster, N.J., as long planned construction is being done at the White House. This is not a vacation - meetings and calls!"
Then, today, Trump said it again. "Working hard from New Jersey while White House goes through long planned renovation," he tweeted. "Going to New York next week for more meetings."
The takeaway? Donald Trump really wants everyone to know that he isn't really on vacation -- even though he isn't in the White House.
What is he doing in terms of work? We don't know because the White House refuses to make any specifics of his daily schedule public.
One thing we know Trump is doing is tweeting. On Monday alone, he sent 13 tweets (and counting). The other thing we know he is doing is watching cable news and CNN. How? He tweeted about Sen. Richard Blumenthal shortly after the Connecticut Democrat appeared on CNN.
-- Chris | | HISTORY 101 WITH SEN. HATCH | | Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, offered a quick Civil War history lesson on Twitter on Monday to provide context for a colorful comment he made about how Republicans "shot their wad" on the Obamacare repeal.
CNN's Liz Stark has more:
Hatch told POLITICO on Wednesday: "We're not going back to health care. We're in tax now. As far as I'm concerned, they shot their wad on health care and that's the way it is. I'm sick of it."
As Hatch's comment began circulating on social media on Monday, the Republican shared a "valuable" lesson on Civil War jargon. The senator's office tweeted a link to the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of the expression, explaining that it refers to a "a plug of tow, cloth, etc., a disk of felt or cardboard, to retain the powder and shot in position in charging a gun or cartridge."
Later, he clarified the tweet with "helpful additional context" aka a tweet from Hatch's spokesman Matt Whitlock. Whitlock responded to a tweet from the Hill reporter Nathaniel Weixel, who called the quote in the POLITICO story "graphic. especially coming from Hatch."
"No it's not," Whitlock wrote on Twitter, sharing a link to a Washington Post letter to the editor from June 24, 2011, called "Respectable uses for 'shooting your wad'." "It was used quite often during the Civil War when Hatch was just a young senator."
Then Hatch admitted on social media that he had been "caught" after someone tweeted at him: "No one alive today was alive during the civil war. How are you in office?!"
This is not the first time that Hatch has invoked historical events to poke fun at himself on social media. In July, in a Twitter exchange with Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, Hatch wrote: "The vote-a-rama we had on the Treaty of Paris was quite the hootenanny." | | 2018 may not be such an amazing election for Democrats.
As Chris wrote in a story today: "All the signs suggest that 2018 is going to be a very good year for Democrats. ... But before Democrats get too delirious about the election to come, they should read this paragraph from David Wasserman's terrific analysis of the 2018 election on FiveThirtyEight:
Wasserman wrote: "Even if Democrats were to win every single 2018 House and Senate race for seats representing places that Hillary Clinton won or that Trump won by less than 3 percentage points — a pretty good midterm by historical standards — they could still fall short of the House majority and lose five Senate seats."
That's absolutely stunning. And reflective of the advantages Republicans have going into 2018 -- one, in the House, built on having largely controlled the 2010 redistricting process, and the other, in the Senate, based on how great the 2006 and 2012 elections were for Democrats."
Just some food for thought. | | "I don't give a s--t. You understand? I don't give a s--t. Don't care if I get elected, don't care if I get defeated, how about that."
-Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin to the Charleston Gazette-Mail when asked about criticism from an opponent. The lawmaker is one of three Democrats who did not sign on to a recent letter laying out Democratic priorities on the tax reform debate. | | | | Since it was raining in D.C. today, the "Garden State" soundtrack seemed like a good fit. | | | President Donald Trump isn't the only one on vacation. Russian state TV released images and footage of President Vladimir Putin spearfishing (yes, he was shirtless) on Saturday while on a mini trip to southern Siberia. A reminder: Putin is often photographed bare-chested. If you need a laugh, watch this "Saturday Night Live" sketch feat. Beck Bennett impersonating the Russian leader. | | The New York Times published a story over the weekend detailing the "shadow" campaign underway among ambitious Republicans to be prepared in the event President Donald Trump doesn't run for a second term in 2020. The story mentioned that Vice President Mike Pence's "schedule is so full of political events that Republicans joke that he is acting more like a second-term vice president hoping to clear the field than a No. 2 sworn in a little over six months ago."
As Chris wrote earlier:
"Pence -- and this is no exaggeration -- went bananas. ... Pence's (over)reaction raises a simple question: Why? And the answer starts with "Donald" and ends with "Trump." Pence's political fortunes are 100% tied to Trump. They have been since the day the then-Indiana governor said "yes" to Trump's offer to share the ticket. On that day, Pence became a stranger to the GOP political establishment that was still very leery of the idea of Trump as the party nominee." | | Pete Souza, chief official White House photographer for former President Barack Obama, built quite a social media following both during and after his time in the White House (he's become quite a Trump troll).
Now, photographer Shealah Craighead is opening up about what it's like to tackle the role under President Donald Trump.
In an interview with PBS, she said: "The president's personality is gregarious. What you see on TV is exactly what you get off camera. I appreciate that. He likes photos, that's no secret. I'm happy to engage in that. Both for him and the administration and the country, and his private archives later on down the road. You learn what they like or don't like, preferences in terms of space or lighting." | | Chris Pratt and Anna Faris on Sunday night destroyed us all by announcing they are splitting up (read CNN Entertainment's coverage here). The news of the breakup went viral and became a Twitter trend worldwide, proving all of us are starting to really believe love is dead.
Washington Post entertainment reporter Emily Yahr did a deep dive analyzing "Why some celebrity breakups leave fans genuinely distraught."
She wrote: "At the end of the day — perhaps obviously — it all comes down to the star couples who really do seem just like everyday people, so fans are already more connected. It's easier now than ever with social media, because when you see Faris and Pratt's Instagram photos of their movie nights and funny tweets about family vacations pop up in your feed, it's easy to feel like you actually know them. You automatically get more invested in their relationship."
Accurate. 💔 | | | Spend the remainder of your Monday telling everyone you know to subscribe to The Point. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | | | | |
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