Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - July 14, 2016
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Thursday's Leading Stories
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- Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort said on Wednesday that Donald Trump would announce his vice presidential selection at an event in New York on Friday. Several final interviews have been conducted this week with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) and both candidates have reportedly met with Trump’s adult children. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) also spoke to Trump on the phone this week about the vice presidency. (The Wall Street Journal)
- According to Politico, Trump is leaning towards Christie, but his son-in-law and “de facto campaign manager” Jared Kushner opposes that selection and would prefer to see Gingrich get the spot. Christie was the prosecutor in a 2004 case against Kushner’s father for, among other charges, illegal campaign contributions and evading taxes. (Politico, NJ.com)
- Manafort, however, would prefer to see Pence at Trump’s side. “According to multiple sources, Manafort has long been opposed to selecting Newt Gingrich to the ticket (and to a lesser extent Christie), believing that the loquacious former speaker would be undisciplined and difficult to manage,” Politico reported. Pence has a filing deadline on Friday for his gubernatorial reelection. (Politico)
- The New York Times reported on the names of speakers who will appear at the Republican National Convention next week. (The New York Times)
- The first night will focus on the terrorist attack in Benghazi and immigration with speeches from U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), wife Melania Trump, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and more.
- The second night will focus on the economy. UFC President Dana White, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), daughter Tiffany Trump, son Donald Trump Jr., and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) are scheduled to speak.
- The speakers for the third night include Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, astronaut Eileen Collins, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), son Eric Trump, professional golfer Natalie Gulbis, and Trump’s vice presidential pick.
- The final night will feature speeches from quarterback Tim Tebow, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R), Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel, real estate investor Thomas J. Barrack Jr., daughter Ivanka Trump, and the candidate himself.
Polls
- In a McClatchy/Marist poll released on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump narrowed to three points, 42 percent to 39 percent. “Clinton does somewhat better in a four-way race, topping Trump 40 to 35 percent. Libertarian Gary Johnson has 10 percent support, while the Green Party’s Jill Stein has 5 percent. Either way, Clinton’s support has slipped noticeably, particularly in the one-on-one matchup with Trump. It was the first time her support had dropped below 50 percent in polls going back a year,” the pollsters noted. (McClatchy)
- According to GenForward’s monthly survey for June, which focuses on young adults between the ages of 18 and 30, only 19 percent have young people have a favorable opinion of Trump. Clinton fares slightly better with 39 percent. Dissatisfied with both Clinton and Trump, approximately 40 percent of respondents said they would not vote at all and 22 percent said they would vote for a different candidate. (GenForward, Associated Press)
- In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist battleground state poll released on Wednesday, Clinton is ahead of or tied with Trump in Iowa, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Trump is notably polling at zero percent among black voters in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Iowa: Clinton (42 percent) vs. Trump (39 percent);
- Ohio: Clinton (39 percent) vs. Trump (39 percent);
- Pennsylvania: Clinton (45 percent) vs. Trump (36 percent).
- Quinnipiac University also polled in three battleground states in a survey released on Thursday and found Trump with the advantage. (Quinnipiac University)
- Florida: Trump (42 percent) vs. Clinton (39 percent);
- Ohio: Trump (41 percent) vs. Clinton (41 percent);
- Pennsylvania: Trump (43 percent) vs. Clinton (42 percent).
- Two polls out of Colorado show Clinton ahead of Trump in the state. Fox News found her ahead by 10 points with 44 percent to Trump’s 34 percent. Gravis Marketing saw a closer race with Clinton at 43 percent and Trump at 41. (Fox News, Gravis Marketing)
- Clinton and Trump tied with 40 percent each in a New York Times/CBS News poll released on Thursday. This was a drop from the poll’s last report in June, which saw her leading Trump by six points. (CBS News)
- Clinton has a slight lead over Trump, 40 percent to 37 percent, in the latest national poll from The Economist/YouGov. (YouGov)
Democrats
- On November 15, Thomas Dunne Books is set to release Bernie Sanders’ Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In, which will reflect on Sanders' presidential campaign experience. (The Associated Press)
Hillary Clinton
- Speaking in Springfield, Illinois, on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton discussed race relations and unity in the U.S., saying, "The challenges we face today do not approach those of Lincoln's time, not even close, and we should be very clear about that. But recent events have left people across America asking hard questions about whether we are still a house divided.” She continued, "Let's put ourselves in the shoes of police officers, kissing their kids and spouses goodbye every day and heading off to a dangerous job we need them to do. Let's put ourselves in the shoes of African-Americans and Latinos, and try as best we can to imagine what it would be like if we had to have 'the talk' with our kids about how carefully they need to act because the slightest wrong move could get them hurt or killed.” She also warned that the “party of Lincoln” transforming into the “party of Trump” was a threat to democracy. (NPR)
- House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post on Wednesday arguing that Clinton should be denied access to national security briefings because she “recklessly mishandled classified information” as secretary of state. “There is no legal requirement to provide candidates with intelligence briefings, so it seems reasonable for her to lose this privilege,” Ryan said. (The Washington Post)
- The State Department announced on Wednesday that it would be reviewing and releasing thousands of emails recovered by FBI investigators from Clinton’s private email server. (The Wall Street Journal)
- The Clinton campaign released a new ad, “Role Models,” set to air across North Carolina beginning on Thursday. It features children watching clips of Donald Trump making controversial statements about Mexicans, Megyn Kelly, and a disabled reporter. (The Charlotte Observer)
- U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said on Thursday that he planned to vote for Clinton over Trump. He said his decision came after boarding the National Airborne Operations Center and experiencing the brief amount of time a president has to make a decision in the event of a nuclear attack. “When I got off that plane, you know, my knees were a little weak with that realization, how much power is in this one person. And then I thought about Donald Trump. And it’s a question of judgment and temperament, and this guy has not demonstrated to me the kind of coolness that you need in that situation,” King said. (Politico)
Republicans
- In an interview with The Record published on Wednesday, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean (R) said he planned to skip the Republican National Convention for the first time in 52 years because of policy differences with Donald Trump on immigration and economics. He said that Trump needs “listen to people and stop tweeting at 11 o’clock at night.” Clinton, he said, has a “good heart,” but is “so contrived that it comes across as phony.” (The Record)
Donald Trump
- The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Trump was seeking $10 million in damages against former campaign aide Sam Nunberg for violating a nondisclosure agreement. The dispute was revealed when Nunberg filed to prevent a private arbitration of the dispute. “Mr. Trump's actions in starting a $10 million arbitration, seeking to silence Mr. Nunberg and have the proceedings sealed are a cautionary tale of what the American people face if Mr. Trump is elected president," said Andrew Miltenberg, an attorney for Nunberg. (Associated Press)
- Trump’s campaign infrastructure is not functioning in most states, according to a study by The Huffington Post published on Wednesday. “[We] attempted to call the contact phone numbers for the Trump campaign in all 50 states. A few of the state operations had no websites or no numbers listed. Many of the other numbers didn’t work. When we left voicemails, we didn’t get callbacks. On only six occasions did someone actually answer the phone. And in several of those instances, the person who picked up explained that a physical office would be opened up only after the convention,” they reported. (The Huffington Post)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- In a radio interview on Tuesday night, Jill Stein discussed pardoning Edward Snowden and alleviating the Puerto Rican debt crisis by reducing military spending. (WMNF)
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) wrote an op-ed for CNBC to endorse Gary Johnson. “I know Gary Johnson personally — we were governors at the same time. He was always an honest, straightforward kind of guy who put the needs of the people first. That's the kind of person I want for our next president. If you dare sit there and say a third party can't win the presidency, then I want to know how many times you've won the lottery. Seriously, if you already know the future, how come you aren't banned from purchasing lotto tickets? Well, I have news for you: There are countries that actually care about political corruption and there are countries that actually do something about it. I'd be a proud American if I could say our country was on that list, but unfortunately we're not,” he wrote. (CNBC)
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