| | | | | The Trump White House's 'joke' excuse | | In a Forbes magazine interview published Tuesday morning, Donald Trump was asked about reports that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had called him a "moron" over the summer.
"I think it's fake news, but if he did that, I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests," Trump responded. "And I can tell you who is going to win."
That comment, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, was a joke. "He wasn't questioning the secretary of state's intelligence," she said during the daily press briefing Tuesday afternoon. "He made a joke. Maybe you guys should get a sense of humor and try it sometime. He simply made a joke."
A few other times Trump was "joking" or being "sarcastic:" Here's the thing: You could be forgiven for not getting the Tillerson IQ joke. Why? Because Trump has repeatedly referenced his high IQ -- and others' allegedly low IQs -- for the last four years. He tweets about it. He talks about it on the campaign trail. He is uniquely obsessed with IQs.
All of which means that it's very, very likely that Trump wasn't joking about matching his IQ against Tillerson's. (Sidebar: State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, when asked about Tillerson's IQ, offered this: "It's high. Anyone who can put things together, you know, and is an engineer, it's high.")
What we know of Trump is that nothing bothers him more than when people who work for him either a) get better press than he does, or b) undermine him in some way, shape or form.
Trump has previously insisted there was absolutely nothing to the Tillerson reporting. Now he's saying it's probably not true but, in the event it is true, he wants everyone to know that he is much smarter than his secretary of state. After all, who's the President and who's just a Cabinet member. Amirite???
(A source close to the White House and familiar with the President's reaction, by the way, told CNN's Jim Acosta that Trump was most definitely not joking when he suggested he and Tillerson compare IQ tests. "They knew he was pissed that people found out Tillerson called him a moron and he spouted off about the IQ test because he was mad. The White House knows it was not a joke," the source said).
Now, hiding behind the "he was joking" line may be the best spin Sanders can put on the tensions between Trump and Tillerson.
But scolding the media for missing the joke ignores a whole lot of context when it comes to the President and just how seriously he takes his own intelligence quotient.
-- Chris | | We made one! Well, Chris did. Are you smarter than Donald Trump?
Saba's score: | | | Your turn, take the quiz here. | | | People magazine had a sneak peak at the opening number for the upcoming season 3 of Saba's fave show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." #wheresrebeccabunch | | THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S AGE PROBLEM | | CNN's Ryan Struyk writes:
Democratic leaders across both the legislative and executive branches are generally older than leadership on the other side of the aisle, leading to some restlessness among the lower ranks who have been patiently awaiting their turn at the top.
Part of the problem lies in historic losses over the last decade in statehouses across the country, decimating the up-and-coming levels of the party, plus difficulty winning new seats in the House since the tea party wave of 2010 and redistricting in the wake of that year's census.
Younger voters, however, tend to lean more Democratic than older voters. Hillary Clinton won voters under 30 years old by nearly 20 percentage points, while Donald Trump won voters over 65 years old by 7 points.
The top three Democratic leaders in the House are in their late 70s. Minority leader Nancy Pelosi is 77 years old, Democratic whip Steny Hoyer is 78 and assistant minority leader Jim Clyburn is 77 years old. Pelosi has held the top spot among House Democrats since 2003.
Read more in Ryan's story here. | | 🚨COLLINS ANNOUNCEMENT COMING UP🚨 | | Republican Sen. Susan Collins will announce on Friday whether she will run for governor of Maine in 2018, CNN confirmed. From the story: "Collins, among the most moderate GOP senators, has been a thorn in President Donald Trump's side -- particularly on health care, where she consistently voted against the GOP's efforts to roll back former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. But were she elected, her departure from the Senate would be a sharp blow to Republicans because without Collins, the seat would become much more difficult to keep out of Democratic hands in 2020."
Meanwhile, across the country, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said during an event Tuesday he hasn't decided on whether he will run for California governor. | | WEINSTEIN REACS: A ROUNDUP | | Ronan Farrow released his investigative piece for the New Yorker on Tuesday about Harvey Weinstein, adding more fuel to the anti-Weinstein fire (which began burning after a New York Times story published last week). Here's a roundup of reactions (or lack of) from people across politics and entertainment about allegations made toward the former entertainment exec. - Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama responded on Tuesday afternoon: "Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein. Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status. We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture – including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect – so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future."
- Hillary Clinton broke her silence on Tuesday afternoon, issuing a statement. "I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."
- Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic party's 2016 vice presidential nominee, in an interview with CNN's "New Day": "Any leader should condemn this. These allegations are low-life behavior."
- Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said after the NYT story that he will donate $5,600 in campaign contributions from Weinstein to charity. The money is going to the Women's Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation, Leahy's campaign manager, Carolyn Dwyer, told CNN.
- California Sen. Kamala Harris also said she will donate $5,000 in contributions from Weinstein to California-based Equal Rights Advocates, a nonprofit women's rights organization.
- New York Post reported New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal will also give contributions their campaigns received from Weinstein to charitable groups.
- Late-night hosts -- who have become increasingly political during the Trump administration -- addressed it in their monologues. Seth Meyers invited his female staff writers to react to Weinstein's statement.
- Anita Hill, who in 1991 accused US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her when she worked for him, penned an op-ed for Variety. She wrote: "When we put harassers in a political category, we're doing that based on a failure to look at the reality of harassment. One of the paradoxes is that very liberal industries like entertainment, like tech, are still producing or reproducing the same types of behavior that have been going on in more traditional settings all along."
Silence from... - The Guardian wrote in its article Monday that it "contacted representatives of actors who have starred in Weinstein films, including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Colin Firth, Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Russell Crowe, George Clooney and Ewan McGregor, along with the directors [Quentin] Tarantino, [David O.] Russell, Ryan Coogler, Tom Hooper, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michael Moore, Rob Marshall, Robert Pulcini, Garth Davis, Doug McGrath, John Madden, Simon Curtis, Kevin Williamson, Martin Scorsese, John Hillcoat and John Wells. None commented, despite the fact that many have been vocal about gender equality in the industry and other social justice causes. Many have directly criticized Donald Trump amid similar accusations of sexual misconduct." However, it should be noted that since the Guardian article was published, some of these actors have issued statements (including Affleck on Tuesday morning, Clooney in an interview with The Daily Beast and Damon in an interview with Deadline).
| | GLLESPIE'S IMMIGRATION RHETORIC SHIFT | | | As CNN's Andrew Kaczynski -- aka KFile -- uncovered on Tuesday, Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie has changed his tune about immigration since 2006. Andrew writes: "Gillespie wrote an editorial in 2006 calling anti-immigration rhetoric a 'political siren song' and warning the Republican Party against becoming an anti-immigration party.
Gillespie's argument, published in a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled 'Populists Beware!' in April 2006, appears to contradict his current campaign strategy, which seeks to paint Democrat Ralph Northam as weak on illegal immigration. Gillespie's campaign has run a series of ads attacking Northam for voting "in favor of sanctuary cities that let dangerous illegal immigrants back on the street" and linking his vote to the rise of the violent gang MS-13. Mailers from Gillespie's campaign have also attacked Northam for supporting in-state tuition, driver's licenses, and rights for undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes."
More in Andrew's story here. | | | "If you want to get involved in negotiating NAFTA, I like it," Trump told the Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle during the team's visit to the White House. If you want to get involved in The Point, we like it. Tell everyone you know to subscribe. | | 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. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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