Via Mother Jones Facebook page:
Marco Rubio: “I Want To Be Helpful” To Donald Trump
After spending months attacking – sometimes to the point of belittling Donald Trump – Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has finally turned the corner, reworked the thoughts in his head, and is fully behind the Trumpster for president.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Rubio said, “I want to be helpful. I don’t want to be harmful, ’cause I don’t want Hillary Clinton to be president.”
Once considered the great, young hope of the GOP, I think he looks a bit defeated still.
In related news, although Rubio has announced he will not seek reelection for his U.S. Senate seat in Florida, folks in the Sunshine State are worried the seat could flip.
And so, Republicans – including one-time foe Donald Trump – are urging Rubio to reconsider.
Poll data shows that @marcorubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida. Important to keep the MAJORITY. Run Marco!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2016
Bernie Sanders Accepts Donald Trump’s Offer To Debate
During an appearance by Donald Trump on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, the subject of a final Democratic debate came up.
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign wants a one more debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before the June 7th California primary. Clinton has declined.
So, Sanders sent a message via Kimmel to invite the Trumpster to a one-on-one debate before the California primary.
The Donald’s answer? “Yes.”
“If he paid a sum toward charity I would love to do that,” Trump said. “If I debated him, we would have such high ratings and I think I should take that money and give it to some worthy charity.”
Sanders immediately tweeted that he accepted the invitation, and today his campaign peeps are looking into moving ahead with trying to make it happen.
Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary.— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 26, 2016
From The Hill:
Bernie Sanders’s campaign manager says “back-channel conversations” are underway with Donald Trump’s staff about setting up a bipartisan debate between the two presidential candidates.
“I think it would benefit voters from across the country and I have to believe it would be one of the most-watched debates in presidential politics,” Jeff Weaver said Thursday on MSNBC.
“Let’s see if he has the courage to go one-on-one with Bernie Sanders,” he added.
The Sanders campaign is seeking to ramp up pressure on Trump to follow through on his Wednesday night remarks to late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel.
“The senator wants to do it,” Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs told The Hill. “We’ll see if Trump meant what he said.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
A Trump official earlier Thursday characterized the mogul’s remarks as “tongue-in-cheek.”
It’s not clear to me if the DNC might have an issue with such a debate between candidates of the two parties when the Democratic candidate hasn’t been officially chosen yet.
Update: Donald Trump told reporters today he would be willing to debate Sanders for $10 million for charity.
New Poll Shows Trump Trails Clinton In Rust Belt States
A new poll by Bloomberg/Purple Slice shows Donald Trump is trailing Hillary Clinton 46%-39% in the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Political pundits have previously posited that these states would be crucial to a Trump triumph come November.
I’m getting all up in the alliteration here, aren’t I?
Watch the Morning Joe folks discuss the new data below.
New poll shows @realDonaldTrump is trailing in the Rust Belt states https://t.co/DDbd37cpHX— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) May 26, 2016
Seth Meyers Takes A Closer Look At The NRA Endorsement O Donald Trump
Seth Meyers, host of NBC’s “Late Night,” takes note of Donald Trump’s flip-flop on gun rights over the years in an attempt to pander to the NRA for the organization’s coveted endorsement.
From International Business Times:
Meyers noted how before entering the presidential race, Trump previously supported an assault rifle ban and expanded background checks — far from the standard Republican unwillingness to disagree with any part of the NRA platform. However, on the campaign trail Trump has been promising that as president he would be unapologetically anti-gun control.
“Trump’s ham-fisted attempts to pander to gun owners were apparently enough to sway the NRA, which announced its endorsement of him Friday,” said Meyers. “You might think, ‘How can an organization that is devoted to defending second amendment rights back a candidate who has been so inconsistent on that issue?’
New Trump Ad Attacks Hillary For Husband’s Alleged Sexual Assaults Decades Ago
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is doubling down on the thinking that bringing up decades-old allegations of sexual assault by Bill Clinton will somehow bring down Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the White House.
The Trumpster posted this video to his Instagram account with the caption, “Is Hillary really protecting women?”
Check the minor key music, the slow fade up of Bill Clinton with a cigar in his mouth, and then the sound of hysterical laughter apparently coming from Hillary.
First, Trump portrayed Hillary as “laughing” at the Benghazi attacks, and now he has her “laughing” at alleged sexual assaults?
This is really low class stuff, kids.
CBS/New York Times Polls Shows Hillary Clinton Leads Donald Trump
According to the latest CBS/New York Times poll, Hillary Clinton now holds a six point lead (47% – 41%) lead over Donald Trump, down from 10 points a month ago.
From CBS:
Contentious primary contests on both sides haven’t turned off many primary voters from voting for their party’s candidate in a likely November match-up between Trump and Clinton, even if these candidates are not their preferred primary choice.
Seventy-one percent of Republican voters who did not support Trump in the primaries would still vote for him against Clinton.
On the Democratic side, 72 percent of Sanders supporters would vote for Clinton against Donald Trump.
Real Clear Politics aggregates all current polls for the current presidential season here.
It’s worth noting that while Trump has seemingly clinched his nomination for the Repubs, Hillary continues to fight on two fronts – Trump for the general election, and a tenacious Bernie Sanders who continues to spar for the out of reach Dem nomination.
Donald Trump Accuses Bill Clinton Of Rape
In a preview of what we can expect in the upcoming general election between Republican Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Fox News host Sean Hannity brought up 20+ year old allegations against President Bill Clinton in an interview with Trump.
Hannity was discussing the recent New York Times piece that delved into Trump’s past treatment (or mistreatment) of women. Hannity pivoted to sexual accusation’s against Bill Clinton from the 1990s.
From USA Today:
“I looked at The New York Times. Are they going to interview Juanita Broaddrick? Are they going to interview Paula Jones? Are they going to interview Kathleen Willey?” Hannity asked. “In one case, it’s about exposure. In another case it’s about groping and fondling and touching against a woman’s will.”
“And rape,” Trump said.
Trump is referring to Broaddrick’s 1999 accusation that Clinton raped her in Little Rock, Ark. during his 1978 campaign for governor of the state. Clinton’s attorney called the allegations “absolutely false” in a statement in 1999, according to The Washington Post. In 1998, Broaddrick, a nursing home administrator, called the charges “untrue” in a sworn affidavit, which she later disavowed. No charges were ever brought in the case.
So, clearly Trump plans to make the alleged “sins of the husband” the sins of Hillary.
How very presidential of the Trumpster.
Donald Trump Names His Top Picks For SCOTUS
In an unusual move for a presumptive presidential nominee (let alone someone who hasn’t been elected president yet), Donald Trump released a list of 11 judges he says would be his top picks for possible Supreme Court replacements.
In prefacing the list, Trump said he assembled the names “based on constitutional principles, with input from highly respected conservatives and Republican Party leadership.”
From Politico:
The roster is made up of a combination of six George W. Bush appointees to federal appeals courts and five currently serving on their states’ highest courts — not exactly extreme choices from a candidate who has run such an unconventional race.
According to the campaign, the list includes: Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado, Raymond Gruender of Missouri, Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah, William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota, Diane Sykes of Wisconsin and Don Willett of Texas.
Willett in particular caught observers’ attention for his apparent kinship when it comes to Twitter. However, his feed includes some not-so-flattering assessments of the presumptive Republican nominee, including a reference to “Darth Trump” and a haiku dedicated to the prospect of Trump packing the highest court with his picks.
Think Progress has compiled “Your Ultimate Guide” to these folks and how their histories on the bench might indicate what kind of Supreme Court Justice they might be.
Super PAC Ads Use Donald Trump’s Past Comments On Women
Priorities USA, a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, has two new ads on the air in battleground states Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Nevada using his own words about women against him.
The super PAC promises this is only the beginning…