Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - August 15, 2016
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Monday's Leading Stories
- The Trump campaign contended with two critical pieces from The New York Times over the weekend. The first article, published on Saturday, reported that some top Trump staffers were frustrated with Trump’s conduct, unwillingness to adapt, and lack of knowledge about the campaigning process. “Advisers who once hoped a Pygmalion-like transformation would refashion a crudely effective political showman into a plausible American president now increasingly concede that Mr. Trump may be beyond coaching,” Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman wrote. (The New York Times)
- On Sunday, The New York Times also reported that Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort was named in a handwritten ledger in Ukraine that showed $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments allocated to him. The ledger is being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau as part of a “corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.“ (The New York Times)
- Manafort dismissed the story in a statement, saying, “Once again, the New York Times has chosen to purposefully ignore facts and professional journalism to fit their political agenda, choosing to attack my character and reputation rather than present an honest report.” He continued, “My work in Ukraine ceased following the country’s parliamentary elections in October 2014. In addition, as the article points out hesitantly, every government official interviewed states I have done nothing wrong.” (Politico)
- Clinton campaign chair Robby Mook also released a statement. “Donald Trump has a responsibility to disclose campaign chair Paul Manafort's and all other campaign employees' and advisers' ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities, including whether any of Trump's employees or advisers are currently representing and or being paid by them,” he said. (Politico)
- During a rally in Connecticut on Saturday, Trump said that he was considering pulling the press credentials for The New York Times. Trump charged, “The newspaper is going to hell. They've got a couple of reporters in that newspaper who are so bad. I mean, lack of talent. But it's going to hell. So I think maybe what we will do, maybe we will start thinking about taking their press credentials away from them." He tweeted on Sunday morning, “It is not ‘freedom of the press’ when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!” (Twitter, CBS News)
Polls
- Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump in four battleground states, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll released on Friday. The Wall Street Journal noted one factor bolstering her performance is party unity: “In Florida, she is backed by 92% of Democrats; Mr. Trump is supported by 79% of Republicans. In North Carolina, Mrs. Clinton is supported by 89% of Democrats; Mr. Trump, 84% of Republicans. In Colorado, 91% of Democrats are Clinton backers; 79% of Republicans are Trump backers. And in Virginia, 94% of Democrats back Mrs. Clinton; 80% of Republicans back Mr. Trump.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- Colorado: Clinton (46 percent) vs. Trump (32 percent);
- Florida: Clinton (44 percent) vs. Trump (39 percent);
- North Carolina: Clinton (48 percent) vs. Trump (39 percent);
- Virginia: Clinton (46 percent) vs. Trump (33 percent).
- On Sunday, CBS News released its tracking poll for three battleground states: Florida, Georgia, and New Hampshire. (CBS News)
- Florida: Clinton (45 percent) vs. Trump (40 percent);
- Georgia: Trump (45 percent) vs. Clinton (41 percent);
- New Hampshire: Clinton (45 percent) vs. Trump (36 percent).
- On Sunday, a four-way national poll by Breitbart/Gravis Marketing found Clinton ahead of the field with 42 percent. Trump had 37 percent, Gary Johnson 9, and Jill Stein 3. (Breitbart)
- Clinton tops Trump by 30 points in New York, 57 percent to 27 percent, according to a new poll from the Siena Research Institute released on Monday. (Siena Research Institute)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- Hillary Clinton released her 2015 tax return on Friday. She and former President Bill Clinton reported income of $10.7 million and an effective federal tax rate of 34.2 percent. Her running mate, Tim Kaine, also released his tax returns for the past decade. "Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine continue to set the standard for financial transparency. … In stark contrast, Donald Trump is hiding behind fake excuses and backtracking on his previous promises to release his tax returns. He has failed to provide the public with the most basic financial information disclosed by every major candidate in the last 40 years. What is he trying to hide?” Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement. (Reuters)
- The Clinton campaign launched a podcast on Friday that features Longform podcaster Max Linsky interviewing Clinton. “It’s not journalism. It’s a different thing, which doesn’t mean it’s not interesting, or true. But it’s a different mechanism and it’s newly important to make that distinction,” Linsky said in an interview. (Politico)
- Congress will receive the interview notes from Clinton’s testimony to the FBI regarding her private email server as early as Monday, CNN reported over the weekend. No transcript is available from the interview and Clinton was not under oath, FBI Director James Comey told Congress in a hearing last month. (CNN)
- Although Georgia has not backed the Democratic presidential nominee since 1992, the Clinton campaign is expanding its organization in the state through increases in staffing and funding. The Trump campaign “has scoffed at Clinton for investing in a state that Mitt Romney won by roughly 8 percentage points in 2012,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Trump state director Brandon Phillips said the new staff roles are “the only jobs Hillary will be creating in Georgia.” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- On Monday, Vice President Joe Biden will join Clinton in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for their first joint campaign appearance. President Barack Obama will also step away from his vacation to campaign for Clinton in Martha’s Vineyard. He will speak at a fundraiser on Monday for the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising effort between the Clinton campaign and national and state parties. (The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe)
Republicans
Donald Trump
- Donald Trump is expected to give a policy speech on national security on Monday in Ohio. He will introduce his “three pillars” to combat terrorism, which include a “call for a stricter immigration questionnaire for people from nations with ties to terrorism; for new alliances with nations willing to help fight terrorism; and for a move from ‘nation-building’ to foreign policy ‘realism,’” according to The New York Times. (The New York Times)
- Politico reported on Friday that Trump made a “personal request” to the Republican National Committee to open offices in all 50 states, including states that have long been carried by Democrats like Hawaii and Massachusetts. (Politico)
- On Friday, Trump said during a rally that he would only lose Pennsylvania if cheating occurred “in certain sections of the state.” He said that “we have to call up law enforcement and we have to have the sheriffs and the police chiefs and everybody watching.” On the same day, the Trump campaign launched an initiative to recruit “election observers.” (The Hill, Politico)
- Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Reince Priebus dismissed reports on Friday that the party was fracturing over Trump’s campaign. “Don’t believe the garbage you read. Let me tell you something: Donald Trump, the Republican Party, all of you — we’re gonna put him in the White House and save this country together,” he said. (RealClearPolitics)
- Politico reported on Sunday that RNC strategist Sean Spicer gave an off-the-record account of the party’s efforts to support Trump’s campaign to journalists last week, suggesting that the national party has “all these staffers out there working and knocking on doors, with a data system they believe rivals what Obama build in 2012—so it’s not their fault” if Trump loses in November. According to Politico, Priebus also calls Trump five or six times each day and has warned him that the party could divert resources away from Trump’s campaign. (Politico)
- Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence hinted on Saturday that he could release his tax returns. “When my forms are filed and when my tax returns are released it’s going to be a quick read,” he said in an interview. (The New York Times)
Third Party Candidates
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- After speaking at an Asian American Journalists Association meeting on Friday, Gary Johnson said on Friday that his “charitable contributions would be negligible—I mean just, really almost nonexistent.” He continued, "For me, giving to charity, I've always viewed that the things that I do in my life contribute to making lives better. That what I've done." Johnson said that he believed his effective tax rate was approximately 20 percent. (CNN)
See also
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
- Important dates in the 2016 presidential race
- Polls and Straw polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
