| | | | Translating Trump: The impossibility of being Sarah Sanders | | On Thursday night, surrounded by his top military brass at the White House, Donald Trump made news.
"You guys know what this represents," Trump asked the assembled reporters. "Maybe it's the calm before the storm."
Asked repeatedly what he meant, Trump responded cryptically, "You'll find out."
Which brings us to Friday afternoon and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders' daily press briefing where she was -- surprise! -- asked what Trump meant about the "calm before the storm."
"We're never going to say in advance what the President is going to do," explained Sanders. "And as he said last night ... you'll have to wait and see." When pressed, Sanders added: "You can take the President protecting the American people always extremely serious."
Here's the thing: Given what we know about Trump -- from his political life and his long life in business before 2015 -- it's very, very likely that he said "calm before the storm" because, well, it just occurred to him.
The chances that he was purposely telegraphing military action (or purposely blustering) are just not all that high. It's much more likely that Trump just wanted to say something provocative and tough since he was surrounded by military men and women. So he did.
Remember: There's a far better chance Trump is playing zero-dimensional chess than playing four-dimensional chess.
The challenge of working for Trump -- particularly when you are a public-facing presence like Sanders -- is that A) he does this sort of stuff all the time and B) you have to figure out a way to explain it/build a strategy around it.
See, what Trump was doing was making sure our enemies know he is always going to protect America. And I can't tell you what, specifically, he was referring to because, well, we don't broadcast our strategies! Done and done!
Or -- Trump was just saying stuff because that's what he does.
Friday wasn't new for Sarah Sanders. It's the rule. Not the exception.
-- Chris | | RETURN OF THE 'ACCESS HOLLYWOOD' RECORDING | | | Photo courtesy: Screengrab/Facebook/Ultraviolet | | Remember that "Access Hollywood" tape from 2005 that surfaced for the first time last October? The one in which then-candidate Donald Trump made sexually aggressive remarks about women?
Well, UltraViolet, a women's advocacy organization, wants to make sure people don't forget. Friday, the group played the recording on a nonstop loop on a giant 10-by-16-foot screen set up on the National Mall, just steps away from the White House.
"We really just to remind the American people who Donald Trump is, and who he explicitly told us who he was in this videos: A self-possessed, proud sexual predator," Emma Boorboor, a campaign director for UltraViolet, told Saba.
Read more in Saba's full story here. | | "Puerto Rico. We love Puerto Rico. And we also love Puerto Rico."
-President Donald Trump (we recommend watching the clip). | | | | New Billy Corgan -- who is apparently now going by William Patrick Corgan -- is now streaming on NPR. And it is super sad. Just like Chris likes his William Patrick Corgan. | | MAJOR BLOW TO BIRTH CONTROL | | Employers may now have more leeway to withhold birth control coverage on religious grounds, thanks to new rules issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services on Friday. From CNN's report:
"The new rules continue the undermining of the Obamacare mandate that requires birth control be covered with no co-pay as a preventive service. This could impact many of the millions of women who now receive contraceptives at no cost under this provision.
The rules would let a broad range of employers -- including non-profits, private firms and publicly traded companies -- stop offering contraceptives through their health insurance plans if they have a "sincerely held religious or moral objection," senior agency officials said on a call about the implementation and enforcement of the new rules ... The agency calculated that at most, 120,000 women would be affected: mainly those who work at the roughly 200 entities that have been involved in 50 or so lawsuits over birth control coverage." | | | Photo courtesy: VF summit livestream/screengrab | | As Vanity Fair reporter Rebecca Keegan pointed out in her newsletter, Disney's outgoing CEO Bob Iger "has politics on the brain," especially while speaking at the VF New Establishment Summit in Los Angeles earlier this week.
While Iger -- a longtime Democrat -- says he doesn't know whether he wants to enter the political arena, that hasn't stopped people from speculating. Iger previously told The Hollywood Reporter "a lot of people have urged me to seek political office."
During the panel, Iger urged stricter national gun laws after he announced that a Disney employee died in the Las Vegas shooting (read CNN reporter Sandra Gonzalez's coverage of this panel here).
"We have the worst record in the modern world when it comes to gun violence and gun deaths," Iger said. "And something's got to be done about it."
Read more about Iger and other #2020 potential candidates in CNN reporter Eric Bradner's full "#2020Vision" memo here. | | As CNN's Ryan Struyk reported Thursday, a new survey from the Pew Research Center shows a majority of both Republicans and Democrats say they have "just a few" or no friends in the opposing party. We asked you to share your thoughts on whether you have friends who have different political beliefs. Thank you for your responses! Here are some of the most interesting ones we received: - " Friends? I have several friends with different political views. We remain friends by not discussing politics. I find President Trump so abhorrent as a person and as our leader that even hearing his name pass someone's lips makes me apoplectic. As one who has lived his life and built a career on unflinching analysis of the available facts, I find Republicans (here meaning those who support or tolerate Trump) to be so delusional as to be dangerous, and so impervious to the demands of reality as to be clinically insane. In the words of Philip K. Dick: 'reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.'" -Raymond B. Firehock
- "We have some acquaintances whose beliefs are not known. We might go out to dinner, but that can be a superficial situation. With our close friends, we share a set of beliefs, which make us comfortable and relaxed. Having to hold one's tongue is not conducive to a great social experience. My husband and I have deep convictions which go to the core of who we are, so sharing a set of beliefs is key component in our close friendships. I imagine this is true of most people. Relatives? That's always the wild card." -Lucy Horton
- "I choose to have friends from different sections of the political spectrum as I am intrigued by how various individuals with contrasting political affiliations express their ideas and what their beliefs are. By mingling with people from different political parties, I gain a plethora of knowledge about their views on certain issues and am given the opportunity to debate with them on these issues." -Archit Kalra
- "Yes, I do have friends of a different political bent than me. Why? Usually because I was friends with them long before we ever even discussed our political leanings and I'm not about to reject them as friends now just because they don't agree with my politic philosophy. I will say though that I avoid talking politics with those friends as much as possible now. Why spoil the relationship?" -Kim Hemphill
| | | Rep. Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire announced Friday she will not seek another term next year. That leaves the Democrat's seat open in January 2019. WMUR reported that the news of the four-term Democrat leaving the House "shocked the New Hampshire political scene." She attributed her decision to the "tug of family." | |  | | So this happened today... | | | TGIF! Hope you tell some people over the weekend to subscribe to The Point. Wink. | | 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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