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BREAKING: AP Declares Hillary Clinton The Democratic Presidential Nominee

BREAKING: @AP finds Clinton reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination for president.

From the AP:

An Associated Press count of pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses and a survey of party insiders known as superdelegates shows Clinton with the overall support of the required 2,383 delegates. Now the presumptive nominee, she will formally accept her party’s nomination in July at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Further, U.S. Political Editor David Scott for the Associated Press , explains why Hillary Clinton is now being identified by AP as the “presumptive nominee” of the Democratic Party:

It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination of the Democratic Party, and our count finds that Hillary Clinton has reached that number. Most are pledged delegates won in a primary or caucus. Some are superdelegates, who have unequivocally told AP they will vote for her next month at the party’s convention.

Clinton is now the “presumptive nominee,” because according to our count, she now has enough delegates backing her candidacy to win the nomination.

AP will not call her the “nominee” until she reaches that milestone in Philadelphia next month, when the party’s delegates formally cast their vote at the convention.

See AP’s delegate tracker: https://interactives.ap.org/2016/delegate-tracker/

Clinton took to Twitter to say “thanks” but also urged Dems to vote in the final Super Tuesday contests:

The Sanders’ campaign issued this statement:

“It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgement, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer,” spokesman Michael Briggs said Monday night.

“Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination. She will be dependent on superdelegates who do not vote until July 25 and who can change their minds between now and then. They include more than 400 superdelegates who endorsed Secretary Clinton 10 months before the first caucuses and primaries and long before any other candidate was in the race.

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2016 Drama Desk Award Winners Announced

The 2016 Drama Desk Award winners were announced last night in New York City.

In a year where Hamilton has dominated so much attention, I think it’s important to note Hamilton won Drama Desk Awards last year during it’s off-Broadway run, which is why the show is absent among these results.

Outstanding Play

The Humans, Roundabout Theatre Company

Outstanding Musical

Shuffle Along

Outstanding Revival of a Play

A View from the Bridge

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

She Loves Me, Roundabout Theatre Company

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Frank Langella, The Father, Manhattan Theatre Club

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Jessica Lange, Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Danny Burstein, Fiddler on the Roof

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Michael Shannon, Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Saycon Sengbloh, Eclipsed, Public Theater

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Jane Krakowski, She Loves Me

Outstanding Director of a Play

Ivo van Hove, A View from the Bridge

Outstanding Director of a Musical (tie)

John Doyle, The Color Purple

Bartlett Sher, Fiddler on the Roof

Outstanding Choreography

Savion Glover, Shuffle Along

Outstanding Music

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Bright Star

Outstanding Lyrics

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hansen

Outstanding Book of a Musical

John Caird, Daddy Long Legs

Outstanding Orchestrations

Larry Hochman, She Loves Me, Roundabout Theatre Company

Outstanding Music in a Play

Philip Glass, The Crucible

Outstanding Set Design for a Play

Christopher Oram, Hughie

Outstanding Set Design for a Musical

David Rockwell, She Loves Me

Outstanding Costume Design for a Play

Anita Yavich, The Legend of Georgia McBride

Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical

Ann Roth, Shuffle Along

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play

Justin Townsend, The Humans

Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical

Justin Townsend, American Psycho

Outstanding Projection Design

Finn Ross, American Psycho

Outstanding Sound Design for a Play

Fitz Patton, The Humans

Outstanding Sound Design for a Musical

Dan Moses Schreier, American Psycho

Outstanding Wig and Hair Design

Mia M. Neal, Shuffle Along

Outstanding Solo Performance

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Fully Committed

Unique Theatrical Experience

That Physics Show

Special Awards:

The Humans – Special Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble

The Royale – Special Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble

Sheldon Harnick – Special Drama Desk Award

Camp Broadway – Special Drama Desk Award

Danai Gurira – Sam Norkin Award

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ABBA Reunites For First Time In 30 Years

A dream came true for ABBA fans as the four members of the pop music supergroup made a rare joint appearance this past weekend to commemorate the 50 year mark of the birth of the band.

Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad appeared onstage together for the first time in 30 years at Stockholm’s Berns Salonger Sunday for a private gala.

According to Billboard, Ulvaeus and Andersson met for the first time on June 5, 1966.

A friendship grew, ABBA was formed and the rest is, well, history.

Beloved for their fashion-forward looks, perfect harmonies and timeless pop hooks, ABBA sold more than 380 million albums worldwide in a career that exploded in 1974 with its Eurovision Song Contest-winning performance of “Waterloo”.

The act split in 1982 and hasn’t performed together since 1986. ABBA’s music has enjoyed a huge boost thanks to the lucrative Mamma Mia! stage show, which opened in 1999 in London and later became a Broadway hit. The jukebox musical has grossed more than $2 billion from more than 40 international stage adaptations and been seen by more than 55 million people.

Legend would have it the members of ABBA once turned down a $1 billion fee to reunite for a tour.

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Texas Congressman To Trump: “Take Your Border Wall And Shove It Up Your Ass”

From Talking Points Memo:

A Democratic congressman from Texas derided presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump as “a racist” and slammed the businessman for his attacks on “Mexican” U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in a scathing open letter on Monday.

“Mr. Trump, you’re a racist and you can take your border wall and shove it up your ass,” U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX) wrote, as quoted by the Texas Tribune.

“Before you dismiss me as just another ‘Mexican,’ let me point out that my great-great-grandfather came to this country in 1857, well before your own grandfather,” he continued. “His grandchildren (my grandfather and his brothers) all served our country in World War I and World War II. His great-grandson, my father, served in the U.S. Army and, coincidentally, was one of the first ‘Mexican’ federal judges ever appointed to the federal bench.”

Vela noted that he supports some of Trump’s politics, including prioritizing care for veterans and deporting felons who are in the country illegally. But he wrote that “any modern-thinking person” would think building a wall at the U.S. border with Mexico is “frankly astounding and asinine.”

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‘The Maytag Man’ Celebrates Pride Month

America’s most reliable repairman, the Maytag Man, joins in the Pride celebrations this month with this Facebook pic showing their man “dependable, powerful and stocked full of Pride.”

Last year, the Maytag Man appeared with a rainbow-colored layer cake proclaiming “Proud to be in any home.”

Not to be outdone, Maytag’s parent company Whirlpool joined in the rainbow fun with it’s own pic on Facebook.

It’s important to note that Whirlpool is the only appliance manufacturer to receive a 100 score from the Human Rights Campaign on its annual Corporate Equality Index. Not only a perfect score, but the company has done so since 2003.

(h/t Towleroad)

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President Obama Could Endorse Hillary Clinton This Week

The New York Times reports that President Obama is “fired up and ready” to go out and campaign for Hillary Clinton.

President Obama, after months of sitting on the sidelines of the rancorous contest to succeed him, is now ready to aggressively campaign for Hillary Clinton, starting with a formal endorsement of her candidacy as early as this week. The White House is in active conversations with Mrs. Clinton’s campaign about how and where the president would be useful to her, according to senior aides to Mr. Obama.

Advisers say that the president, who sees a Democratic successor as critical to his legacy, is impatient to begin campaigning. They say he is taking nothing for granted. It has been decades since a second-term president enjoyed the popularity to make him a potent force on the campaign trail and also an invitation from the candidate running to succeed him to be a major presence there.

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Buzzfeed Cancels Million Dollar Donald Trump Ad Deal

Buzzfeed’s CEO Jonah Peretti cancelled an ad deal with the Republican National Committee worth $1.3 million to run Donald Trump campaign ads on it’s websites.

“Earlier today, BuzzFeed informed the RNC that we would not accept Trump for President ads and that we would be terminating our agreement with them,” Peretti said. “The Trump campaign is directly opposed to the freedoms of our employees in the United States and around the world and in some cases, such as his proposed ban on international travel for Muslims, would make it impossible for our employees to do their jobs.”

You can read the email from Peretti to his employees in it’s entirety below.

Hello BuzzFeeders,

I wanted to share with you a business decision we have made regarding the Trump for President campaign and why we made it.

In April, the Republican National Committee signed an agreement with BuzzFeed to spend a significant amount on political advertisements slated to run during the Fall election cycle. As you know, we accept advertisements from both republican and democratic candidates and we were pleased to accept this advertising order from the RNC.

Since signing this advertising deal, Donald Trump, as you know, has become the presumptive nominee of his party. The tone and substance of his campaign are unique in the history of modern US politics. Trump advocates banning Muslims from traveling to the United States, he’s threatened to limit the free press, and made offensive statements toward women, immigrants, descendants of immigrants, and foreign nationals.

Earlier today Buzzfeed informed the RNC that we would not accept Trump for President ads and that we would be terminating our agreement with them. The Trump campaign is directly opposed to the freedoms of our employees in the United States and around the world and in some cases, such as his proposed ban on international travel for Muslims, would make it impossible for our employees to do their jobs.

We don’t need to and do not expect to agree with the positions or values of all our advertisers. And as you know, there is a wall between our business and editorial operations. This decision to cancel this ad buy will have no influence on our continuing coverage of the campaign.

We certainly don’t like to turn away revenue that funds all the important work we do across the company. However, in some cases we must make business exceptions: we don’t run cigarette ads because they are hazardous to our health, and we won’t accept Trump ads for the exact same reason.

Thanks,

Jonah

(source)

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New Ad Features Republicans Denouncing Donald Trump’s Racist “Mexican Judge” Comments

This new ad from Hillary Clinton is a collection of responses by Republican politicians and pundits regarding GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s assertion that the judge presiding over his Trump University lawsuit can’t be fair because “he’s Mexican.”

(p.s. the judge was born in Indiana…)