Folks, this is definitely a violation of the Hatch Act -- mixing official duties with politics while on federal grounds.
Trump is exempt from the Hatch Act, but Wolf isn't
Headlines from new NBC/WSJ poll (conducted after the debate, 9/30-10/1)
1. Biden's national lead among registered voters expands from 8pts to 14pts
Biden 53%
Trump 39%
Was Biden 51%, Trump 43% in Sept poll before debate
In 2016, Trump won MI/PA/WI by 77K votes, got 306 EVs and received a concession speech from Clinton + WH meeting from Obama
In 2020, Biden won same states by 214K+ votes, is on track for same 306 EVs and most of GOP is refusing to recognize outcome
Gallup has 52% of Americans supporting Trump's impeachment/removal from office.
For Clinton, that never got higher than 35% before the GOP-led House voted to impeach him.
For Nixon, it got to 58% by Aug 1974
A U.S. “private citizen worked with foreign spies to damage one presidential candidate and help the other. That president accepted the help. When caught, the private citizen lied. When the private citizen was punished, the president commuted his sentence.”
Just in - Attorney General Bill Barr says he's set up an "intake process" for information about Ukraine, the Bidens, etc -- "including anything Giuliani could provide"
Trump directly intervened in AZ-SEN (fight with Flake, who decided not to seek re-election), SC-1 (Arrington over Sanford) and KS-GOV (Kobach over Coyler).
The GOP ended up losing all 3 seats/races.
Headlines from new national NBC News poll...
1. Clear majority of registered voters believe the investigations into alleged wrongdoing by Trump should continue:
Yes, investigations should continue: 57%
No, should stop: 40%
(Aug 12-16, +/- 3.1%)
Kamala Harris asked about Beto O'Rourke's entry into the 2020 race: "The more the merrier... We have an embarrassment of riches of Democrats who are running."
Forget Russia’s interference in '16. Or Trump’s impeachment for asking Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden.
Arguably the biggest political scandal we’ve ever seen in this country is unfolding right before our eyes -- even if it's failed to gain traction
Just throwing it out there...
Had Paul Ryan and Trump accepted the clean CR the Senate approved before Christmas, we'd be in the same place we are after this deal (gvt open thru Feb, separate discussion on immigration) -- WITHOUT the 35-day shutdown
Headlines from the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll:
49% support of Americans Trump's impeachment and removal from office
46% oppose it.
That's a reversal from last month, when it was 43% support, 49% oppose
Oct 27-30, +/- 3.3%
GOPers made 4 big promises on tax effort:
- won't increase the debt
- designed for middle class
- wealthy & Trump won't benefit
- will supercharge economy
In fact, Senate bill breaks these 4 promises
I’m old enough to remember when it was clear — especially after NY’s primary in April 2016 — that Hillary Clinton had a plurality of pledged delegates, but Sanders still continued his race and his supporters believed superdelegates could change their mind at the convention
Bernie w/ a bit of a warning shot, tells
@chrishayes
it would be "very divisive" if a candidate gets a clear plurality but not majority of the delegates and the party doesn't nominate that person at the convention.
Given Saccone's concession yesterday, Trump is now 0-3 in the last three races where he backed and campaigned for the candidate -- Strange in AL SEN runoff, Moore in AL SEN, Saccone in PA-18
The Republicans are 5-0 in recent Congressional races, a point which the Fake News Media continuously fails to mention. I backed and campaigned for all of the winners. They give me credit for one. Hopefully, Rick Saccone will be another big win on Tuesday.
Count me among those who believe the Dem alternative to Trump won't be a liberal celebrity -- but rather a relatively boring pol with lots of gvt experience who isn't a Clinton
The Big Lie at the root of all the recent chaos, violence, and threat of future armed protests -- that Trump somehow didn't lose an election he clearly lost.
Trump being the first US president NOT to concede his defeat has come at a considerable cost
On Fox News this morning, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) was asked if his state would host the GOP convention.
His answer: "[A] mass gathering inside is frankly the thing that would scare us the most simply about the spread of the virus."
"The virus is still very very much here"
On Tuesday, Trump refused to apologize to the Central Park Five -- which registered a blip on the Trump Outrage Scale ™
The next day, 2020 Dems piled on Biden for saying he could work with Eastland/Talmadge,
That asymmetry is a big advantage for Trump
"The Republicans never did this to President Obama"?
Off the top of my head, GOP Congress investigated:
-- Fast & Furious ATF operation
-- IRS/Lois Lerner
-- Benghazi
-- Obamacare website snafu
-- Solyndra
....The Dems and their committees are going “nuts.” The Republicans never did this to President Obama, there would be no time left to run government. I hear other committee heads will do the same thing. Even stealing people who work at White House! A continuation of Witch Hunt!
Headlines from the new NBC/WSJ poll:
58% are more worried the U.S. will move too quickly loosening stay-at-home restrictions, resulting in further spread/more deaths from the coronavirus.
32% are more worried U.S. will take too long loosening them, hurting economy
The speed of this Ukraine story is stunning...
TUE: Formal impeachment inquiry announced
WED: Memo/notes of July 25th call released
THU: Whistleblower complaint released
FRI: Subpoenas sent/depositions set
New national NBC News poll: A double-digit rise in popularity and an early edge in better representing 'change' have vaulted Harris forward to a 5pt lead over Trump, 49% to 44%.
This is our first poll since mid-July, when Trump led Biden by 2pts, 45% to 43%
So it appears the early conclusion of the IG report -- via Bloomberg -- is that Comey/FBI took actions that negatively impacted Hillary Clinton in 2016
Also in his interview, Kavanaugh stressed he was drinking legally: "Yes, there were parties. And the drinking age was 18, and yes, the seniors were legal and had beer there"
When you’re leading a presidential race nationally by double digits, you’re set to exceed 300 electoral votes.
And that's where we have our inaugural 2020 battleground map right now: Biden 334, Trump 125, Toss Up 79
Trump: "I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there."
This was maybe the most fascinating finding from our recent NBC News/Telemundo poll:
Conservative Latinos went from D+9 in congressional preference in 2012 (per our merged polls), to R+56 now.
That's a net 65-pt swing
Some data from the recent national exit polls to chew on:
2018
Jewish voters broke for Dems over GOP, 79%-17%
2016
Jewish voters broke for Hillary over Trump, 71%-23%
2012
Jewish voters broke for Obama over Romney, 69%-30%
“Jewish people are leaving the Democratic Party. We saw a lot of anti Israel policies start under the Obama Administration, and it got worsts & worse. There is anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party. They don’t care about Israel or the Jewish people.” Elizabeth Pipko, Jexodus.
In less than a year, this "witch hunt" has resulted in charges against 19 individuals, including 5 who have pleaded guilty and 1 who was sentenced to jail.
Among the guilty pleas: Trump's fmr natl sec adviser, a top campaign/transition official & a foreign-policy adviser
My 2 cents: If a senior administration official truly believes the president is a threat and is behaving erratically, he/she should tell the public -- on the record.
Voters elected Trump -- not a staff trying to save the republic.
Trump on 1/30: "Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground"
Trump on 2/5: "You know, can we call that treason? Why not?"
Trump on 2/6: "I’d love to see a shutdown if we don’t get this [immigration] stuff taken care of"
Stunning. Trump refuses to answer
@jeffmason1
question what he discussed with Ukraine's president on Joe Biden.
Here's what Trump said on that front, per the transcription memo
What started the Russia investigation was one of your campaign advisers telling a diplomat that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton
What started the Mueller probe was when you fired the FBI director
So we now find out that it was indeed the unverified and Fake Dirty Dossier, that was paid for by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC, that was knowingly & falsely submitted to FISA and which was responsible for starting the totally conflicted and discredited Mueller Witch Hunt!
First Stacey Abrams said she wasn't running for GA-SEN.
Now Cindy Axne declines to challenge Joni Ernst in IA-SEN.
If Dems can't flip the Senate in 2020, all of those bold policy proposals on the prez campaign trail aren't going to matter as much
All the news that has happened in just the last hour:
-- train crash involving GOP lawmakers
-- Rep. Brady (D) retirement
-- Rep. Gowdy (R) retirement
-- DOJ drops charges vs Menendez
-- FBI stmt on Nunes memo: "We have grave concerns about material omissions"
Lost in the shutdown standoff: Trump has stopped negotiating to end it.
- Yesterday, he met with conservatives, not Dems
- Today, he has no public events, just like he did on Tuesday
- He hasn't lobbied Senate Dems to back the Trump/McConnell bill
Trump's approval in the early AL exit poll is striking: 48% approve, 48% disapprove.
But what's *especially* striking is intensity -- in Alabama:
Strongly approve 32%
Strongly disapprove: 41%
Our NBC/WSJ polls of 2020 have interviewed a combined 215 Johnson/Stein voters. And they're breaking for Biden over Trump by a 2-to-1 margin.
Given how close 2016 was, that movement -- if it holds -- is a big deal.
.
@PeteWilliamsNBC
is reporting on
@MSNBC
that Rosenstein is heading to the WH. But that he *won't resign,* according to Williams' reporting.
Rosenstein will demand that if the WH wants him gone, they'll have to fire him.
Two days later, this still needs to be underscored:
Tom Steyer spent some $160M on TV and radio ads -- including $16M in IA, $19M in NH, $15M in NV and $21M in SC.
He didn't win a single delegate.
I know it's not even on the Top 10 list of the jaw-dropping things that Mulvaney just said, but can we admit how insane it is that the U.S. government is using resources/time/foreign aid to pursue a *conspiracy theory* about the DNC's server in 2016?
3. 73% of voters say the debate make no difference in their vote
More likely to support Trump after debate 6%
More likely to support Biden 19%
Made no difference 73%
What's stunning about Trump's admission that he'd accept dirt from a foreign gvt is NOT that he said it.
(He's said it before.)
What's stunning IS that everyone should now realize that the sitting POTUS cannot ensure a fair election in 2020
By political standards, one year isn't long, either.
House Benghazi probe lasted from May 2014-Dec 2016 -- 2 1/2 yrs
Whitewater probe (independent counsel) lasted from 1994-2000 -- 6 yrs
POTUS & supporters say that a yearlong investigation is long enough. By white collar crime standards the Mueller probe isn’t long. Complicated investigations like these usually take years — usually w/o members Congress trying to run interference.
"This Russia fever" has -- so far -- produced 2 guilty pleas (for lying to the FBI) and 2 indictments of individuals spanning from:
- the former natl security adviser
- a former campaign chair
- a campaign aide
- and a campaign adviser
Important from our poll: Just 9% of Dem primary voters say their minds are definitely made up -- so it's possible/likely there's going to be a lot of change.
Crowd-size debates are pretty silly.
But guess who cares about them? Donald J. Trump.
And he allowed Beto's crowd to really get under his skin last night in El Paso
New NBC/WSJ poll on whom voters prefer to control Congress: Dems 50%, GOP 39%
1st time since Sept '08 when Dems have hit 50% and been in double digits on this question in the poll
Trump's closing argument in the '16 election was that Hillary Clinton would be mired in endless scandals and controversy.
But since taking office, Team Trump has been stuck in a year of permanent scandal
What's getting lost in the Rudy-Stormy news is the TIMING of the $130,000 payment to Daniels -- Oct. 27, 2016.
Here's what happened in those final days of the '16 campaign
Liz Cheney's imminent ouster, the bizarre count in Arizona, all the GOP-backed bills placing restrictions on voting -- they all go back to one root cause, one original sin.
Trump refused to concede an election he clearly lost, and it wasn't *that* close
4. Biden holds 32pt lead on temperament; Trump's lead on economy down to 7pts
Having right temperament to be president
Biden better 58%
Trump better 26%
Dealing w economy
Biden better 41% (was 38%)
Trump better 48% (was 48%)
Fact-checking Trump's Rose Garden comments from today.
CLAIM: “I think most of you would agree, I'm the most transparent president probably in the history of this country.”
FACTS: No tax returns, no Mueller sit-down, objecting to McGahn's House testimony
Less than a week ago, Trump said this at his State of the Union --> "Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve"
A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!
Money line from Yovanovitch: “The harm will come when bad actors in countries beyond Ukraine see how easy it is to use fiction and innuendo to manipulate our system. In such circumstances, the only interests that will be served are those of our strategic adversaries, like Russia”