Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi Endorses Donald Trump
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has (not surprisingly) endorsed GOP front-runner Donald Trump a day before the state’s presidential primary.
I’m certain it has absolutely nothing to do with Trump’s $25,000 donation to her re-election campaign.
From The Intercept:
Trump just won a key endorsement going into Tuesday’s Florida primary: the state’s attorney general, Pam Bondi.
But her bigger favor to Trump may have been her decision in 2013 not to pursue an investigation of Trump’s for-profit education chain after he made a big donation to her re-election campaign.
As Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel reported at the time, Bondi announced in September 2013 that her office was reviewing a series of complaints related to the Trump Institute of Boca Raton, a for-profit education company that is no longer in operation.
Three days after the report that Bondi was considering joining other states’ attorneys general in taking action against Trump’s for-profit education chain, the real estate mogul dumped $25,000 into a committee organized for Bondi’s re-election. Bondi ended up taking no action.
As my fellow blogger JoeMyGod points out, Trump is always quick to point out how he successfully “donates” to politicians because he’s such a good businessman. I guess when a loan is called in, you pay up.
Regular readers will recall that Bondi continually opposed same-sex marriage in her state all the way down to the very bitter end. Even when it was clear which way the courts were ruling, she was like a dog with a bone. Clearly, she assumed she was winning conservative points for fighting down the line.
Donald Trump Repeats His Promise to Change Libel Laws
Donald Trump, who has received more free uninterrupted airtime by the networks of his rallies, says the cable news outlets are unfair to him. According to the Trumpster, there is media “hatred” of him.
That’s why they give him all that free airtime, don’t you know?
And the newspapers who criticize him are grossly unfair.
And as president he would “change” libel laws so he could sue. And win. Apparently he finds it quite unfair that he has to actually prove something is untrue before he can win.
Donald Trump: I’m Looking Into Paying Legal Fees For Supporter Who Sucker-Punched Protester
Check the 1:40 mark. After Trump tells CBS’ “Face The Nation” that no one has been injured at his rallies, the host plays video of a Trump supporter sucker-punching a protester leaving a rally.
Trump says he’s now looking into paying for the supporter’s legal fees.
#MakeAmericaHateAgain
Donald Trump Says He Is Not Responsible For Violence At Rallies
Sen. Bernie Sanders & Hillary Clinton Respond To Violence At Cancelled Chicago Trump Rally
The two Democratic presidential contenders issued statements today in the aftermath of last night’s violence at a cancelled Donald Trump rally in Chicago.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement:
“As is the case virtually every day, Donald Trump is showing the American people that he is a pathological liar. Obviously, while I appreciate that we had supporters at Trump’s rally in Chicago, our campaign did not organize the protests.
“What caused the protests at Trump’s rally is a candidate that has promoted hatred and division against Latinos, Muslims, women, and people with disabilities, and his birther attacks against the legitimacy of President Obama.
“What caused the violence at Trump’s rally is a campaign whose words and actions have encouraged it on the part of his supporters. He recently said of a protester, ‘I want to punch him in the face.’ Another time Trump yearned for the old days when the protester would have been punched and “carried out on a stretcher.’ Then just a few days ago a female reporter apparently was assaulted by his campaign manager.
“When that is what the Trump campaign is doing, we should not be surprised that there is a response.
“What Donald Trump must do now is stop provoking violence and make it clear to his supporters that people who attend his rallies or protest should not be assaulted, should not be punched, should not be kicked. In America people have a right to attend a political rally without fear of physical harm.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this at an event in St. Louis today:
“The ugly, divisive rhetoric we are hearing from Donald Trump and the encouragement of violence and aggression is wrong, and it’s dangerous.
“If you play with matches, you’re going to start a fire you can’t control. That’s not leadership. That’s political arson.”
Tweet Of The Day: John Legend Clocks Trump Jr.
Dr. Ben Carson Endorses Donald Trump: “There Are Two Donald Trumps”
Former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson endorsed GOP front-runner Donald Trump in an awkward press event today.
In previewing his endorsement, Dr. Carson initially tried to tell a story of “two Donald Trumps,” before backtracking on what was coming across as an odd notion.
Finally, he got a little more thoughtful. Via Politico:
“Well, first of all, we buried the hatchet,” Carson said, referring to Trump’s accusation of Carson being a pathological liar who showed the same destructive tendencies as a child molester. “That was political stuff. And, you know, that happens in American politics, the politics of personal destruction. All that is not something that I particularly believe in or anything that I get involved in. But I do recognize that it is a part of the process. We move on because it’s not about me, it’s not about Mr. Trump. It’s about America.”
Donald Trump: “The Audience Hit Back. That’s What We Need A Little More Of”
When asked about the arrest of one of his supporters for sucker-punching a protester on his way out of a rally, Donald Trump said, “The audience hit back. That’s what we need a little more of.”
Yep – his answer to the situation is that the protester, who was leaving without inciting any violence, got what he had coming to him.
Another reporter asked, “When you say things like, I want to punch a protester in the face… is it just politics or are you playing a character there?”
“Let me just tell you, we have had some violent people as protesters,” Trump responded. “They are not just people saying, ‘oh!’ These are people that punch, these are people that are violent people.”
Trump has attempted to portray the protesters, not his supporters, as violent. But no reporter covering his campaign says they’ve seen evidence of that. Quite the opposite. We’ve seen protesters raise their voices but not their fists, even as they are shoved and spit on as they exit Trump rallies.
The latest incident happened at Wednesdays’rally in Fayetteville, which was caught on camera from several angles. A white man identified as 78-year-old John McGraw approached a group of protesters and punched one, identified as Rakeem Jones, in the face.
Hope Hicks, the Trump campaign spokeswoman, called the violence unfortunate in an interview with the New York Times and said Trump’s campaign had “no control” over its supporters’ behavior.
New York Daily News: “This Is Great?”
The cover of today’s New York Daily News.
Even though the attack by a Trump supporter was caught on video, and the Trumpster has encourage such attacks by saying he would pay the legal fees for anyone who “knocks the block off” any protesters, Trump’s campaign says they “are not involved” in the violent episode.
Read the Daily News story here.