Full Buttigieg: ‘we Knew South Carolina Was Going To Be A Challenging State’
“Every day I’m getting up, looking at how we can do what’s best for the party. It’s why we got into this race in the first place, the belief that a different kind of message and a different kind of messenger could rally people together, could forge new alliances, could help us reach out in the very places where we have the best messaging, yet found ourselves defeated by President Trump in 2016 and we cannot let that happen again,” he said.
“And every day we’re in this campaign is a day that we’ve reached the conclusion that pushing forward is the best thing that we can do for the country and for the party.”
President Trump Plays On Sanders’ Supporters Dislike Of Joe Biden
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has been eager to play up the divisions within the Democratic presidential race, especially when it comes to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters.
“Its being rigged against its sad its being rigged against Crazy Bernie, Trump said at his rally in Charlotte, N.C. on Monday after former Vice President Joe Biden picked up endorsements from former presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar ahead of the Super Tuesday contests.
And he tweeted this after Bidens big victories on Super Tuesday: The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Even the fact that Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race was devastating to Bernie and allowed Sleepy Joe to unthinkably win Massachusetts. It was a perfect storm, with many good states remaining for Joe!
Here’s the logic and data behind why Trump argues that the Democratic race is rigged against Sanders, even though he’s simply getting out-voted.
Just 38 percent of Sanders voters say they are enthusiastic or comfortable with Biden, versus 60 percent who have reservations or who are very uncomfortable with the former vice president, according to merged data from the January and February 2020 NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls.
That same level of discontent doesn’t exist in Biden’s supporters. In contrast, Biden voters actually have a net-positive view of Sanders.
In Nod To Sanders Biden Looks To Adopt More Progressive Policies
WASHINGTON On his first day as the apparent Democratic nominee, Joe Biden is extending another olive branch to backers of his more progressive rivals, announcing his intent to expand access to Medicare and forgive loan debt for many students.
The former vice president said Thursday that he would seek to lower the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60, and forgive federal loan debt for those making less than $125,000 who graduated from any public undergraduate colleges and universities along with those who attend private Historically Black Colleges and Universities or Minority Serving Institutions.
While Biden cast these announcements as a nod in the direction of Senator Bernie Sanders on key priorities of his movement saying Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work laying the groundwork for these ideas” the campaign also notes that the policy moves are driven by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Recovery will require long term changes to build a more inclusive and more resilient middle class, and a greener and more resilient economy, Biden writes in a new Medium post. “We have to think big as big as the challenges we face. As we start to lay the groundwork for recovery, we have to build back better for the future.”
Sanders said Wednesday he intends to continue pressing for the Democratic Party to embrace Medicare for All in its platform. Sanders campaign did not comment on Bidens announcement Thursday.
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The Trump Campaign Tried To Use Fake Electors Says Rep Adam Schiff
As Rep. Adam Schiff reminded listeners, every four years Americans cast their votes not directly for presidential candidates but for electors pledged to those candidates to the Electoral College.
In December, electors in each state meet, cast their votes and send those votes to Congress, which meets in January to count those votes, and the winner becomes president.
Schiff spent several minutes detailing how, as he put it, former President Donald Trump and his campaign “were directly involved in advancing and coordinating the plot to replace Biden electors with fake electors not chosen by the voters.”
He said that entailed convincing fake electors to cast and submit votes through fake certificates that said they would only be used in the event that Trump won his legal challenges but continued the scheme even after courts rejected those lawsuits. Even Trump’s own lawyers doubted the legal basis of the plan and some walked away rather than participate, he added.
He then played a video showing Casey Lucier, investigative counsel for the committee, outlining the details of that plan. She said the committee heard testimony that people close to Trump hatched a plan to organize fake electors for Trump in states that he lost in the weeks after the election.
The committee also obtained documents showing that the Trump campaign took steps to ensure the physical copies of those votes from two states were delivered to Washington, D.C., for Jan. 6, the day the vote was to be certified.
Buttigieg Hits Sanders Medicare For All In Two South Carolina Ads
Priscilla Thompson and Vaughn Hillyard
LAS VEGAS, Nev. As the Democratic primary race heads South, Former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg is out with a new television ad taking direct aim at Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on health care.
Buttigieg hit the airwaves in South Carolina on Friday with a new 30-second spot distinguishing his “Medicare for All Who Want It” plan from Sanders Medicare for All plan. Ad viewers won’t hear those differences from Buttigieg though, they’ll hear from a female narrator telling viewers that Medicare for All could force them off their plans.
Bernie Sanders Medicare for All would completely eliminate private insurance, forcing one hundred fifty million Americans off their current plans including twenty million seniors on Medicare Advantage, the narrator says as a photo of Sanders sits on screen for nearly 15 seconds.
Then, the ad flips to shots of Buttigieg speaking to and meeting with voters as the narrator describes his health care plan as, a better way to lower costs and cover everyone. The spot ends with a pointed pitch for progress instead of polarization.
Buttigieg has doubled down on this message in several weeks, including during the Democratic debate in Nevada where he called Sanders one of the most “polarizing” candidates. The former mayor has also questioned how exactly the Vermont senator would pay for his health care plan.
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Jim Clyburn Endorses Joe Biden
CHARLESTON, S.C. House Majority Whip, and influential South Carolina Democrat, Rep. Jim Clyburn made his endorsement of Joe Biden official on Wednesday morning, praising the former vice president’s record and years of service for the state.
Clyburn’s endorsement comes after NBC News learned he would endorse the former Vice President, but held off on the announcement until after Tuesday night’s Democratic debate. Clyburn first announced the endorsement in a tweet, before appearing with Biden in person, writing, “Joe Biden has stood for the hard-working people of South Carolina. We know Joe, but more importantly, he knows us.”
I know Joe Biden.
Jim Clyburn SC-06
However, Clyburn said he struggled to decide if he should make an endorsement in this race even though he had long decided who he would vote for. He said it was not until he met an elderly constituent at his accountants Richland County funeral last week that Clyburn realized he could not stay silent. The constituent said they were waiting to hear from Clyburn before deciding who they would vote for.
“I decided, then and there, that I would not stay silent,” Clyburn said.
Clyburn continued, “I want the public to know that I am voting for Joe Biden, South Carolina should be voting for Joe Biden.”
“Nobody with whom I’ve ever worked with public life, is anymore committed to that motto, that pledge that I have to my constituents than Joe Biden,” Clyburn said. “I know his heart, I know who he is, I know what he is.”
Senate Campaigns Raise Big Money Ahead Of Possible Coronavirus Crunch
Ben Kamisar and Melissa Holzberg
WASHINGTON Senate incumbents and challengers in key states raised big money in the first quarter of 2020 even as societal and financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic could dampen fundraising totals going forward.
A Senate Democratic challenger outraised a Republican incumbent in six of the 10 most competitive races rated by Cook Political Report .
Kentucky Democrat Amy McGrath and Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly leading the pack, having raised $12.9 million and $11 million respectively.
Some Democratic challengers at least doubled their incumbent counterparts efforts in the Senate battleground Kelly, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Maine Speaker Sara Gideon and North Carolinas Cal Cunningham.
And Kansas Barbara Bollier raised $2.4 million while the four top Republicans in the race combined to raise under $900,000.
Thats while Republican incumbents all put up at least six-figures in receipts from this past January through March with Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell raising the most with $7.5 million and Arizona Sen. Martha McSally close behind with $6.4 million.
Going into April, the average incumbent Republican has $9 million banked away, a nest egg thats larger than most Democratic competitors and one that could become increasingly important if fundraising efforts come to a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Vandalism Hits Bloomberg Campaign Offices Across The Us
Josh Lederman and Maura Barrett
WASHINGTON At least seven of Mike Bloombergs campaign offices have been vandalized over the last two weeks, campaign officials say, in a string of incidents that the Bloomberg campaign has blamed without evidence on Bernie Sanders supporters.
In the latest case, discovered early Monday morning, a Chicago office was graffitied with the words racist, sexist, and oligarch spray-painted in red on the windows of the building. Other vandalism at offices in Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee have referenced Bloombergs wealth and stop-and-frisk policing policy.
Kevin Sheekey, Bloombergs campaign manager, called the incident an act of hate” and referenced the Sanders campaign.
While we do not know who is directly responsible, we do know Senator Bernie Sanders and his campaign have repeatedly invoked this language, and the word ‘oligarch’ specifically when discussing Mike Bloomberg and his campaign, Sheekey said. Sen. Sanders refusal to denounce these illegal acts is a sign of his inability to lead, and his willingness to condone and promote Trump-like rhetoric has no place in our politics.
Sheekey called on Sanders to instruct his supporters and staff to elevate the discourse in this campaign and end their spread of hateful rhetoric. He suggested the incidents could lead to violence if not tamped down by Sanders, adding, This needs to end before someone gets hurt.
-Gary Grumbach contributed
Administrations Mixed Messaging On Defense Production Act Causes Confusion
Monica Alba
WASHINGTON President Trump signed the Defense Production Act a week ago today but there has been consistent confusion as to whether it is being utilized to produce medical equipment needed for the coronavirus pandemic.
The bottom line: the DPA has not yet been used in this manner, despite to fully activate the DPA. Medical professionals have been among the most outspoken on the desperate need for certain equipment and supplies.
The Korean War-era DPA would allow the federal government to control the supply chain and compel companies to produce much-needed items. So far, according to the president, several private sector corporations like 3M, Ford, General Motors and Tesla are already doing this themselves without needing the DPA.
Here’s a timeline of how the president and his administration have discussed the DPA in recent days:
President Trump at briefing: We’ll be invoking the Defense Production Act, just in case we need it. In other words, I think you all know what it is, and it can do a lot of good things if we need it. And we will — we will have it all completed, signing it in just a little while. Right after I’m finished with this conference, I’ll be signing it. It’s prepared to go. So we will be invoking the Defense Production Act.
Trump tweeted that same day:
President Trump at briefing: I did it yesterday…We have a lot of people working very hard to do ventilators and various other things. We are using it.
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Biden’s First Virtual Event Encounters Technological Glitches
WASHINGTON The virtual campaign is proving a bit complicated, after a Friday event for former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign encountered some technological glitches.
Biden is the first Democratic candidate to hold a virtual town hall due to concerns surrounding COVID-19 and public events. The attempt to broadcast the first of two scheduled virtual events in the next several days involved a garbled-voiced Biden and ended roughly four minutes after the Facebook Live video began streaming in Illinois.
The former vice president acknowledged the issues while ending the livestream.
Well, Im sorry this has been such a disjointed effort here because of the connections, but there is a lot more to say and Ive probably already said too much, Biden said.
But the appetite for these events appears to be there the short event garnered more than 5,000 viewers.
On Saturday morning, the campaign released a link to a full, updated video without the technical glitches.
Much of the event focused on Biden explaining how he’d work to respond and recover the country from pandemics. He also tried to downplay the need for panic and outlined ways in which everyone can take precautions to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus, while still connecting to people.
Campaign events are no exception thats why were connecting virtually today. Were going to have to get better at the technical side of this, Biden said.
Trump Impeached Then Acquitted
Trump was impeached on December 18, 2019, on two articlesabuse of power and obstruction of justice. The impeachment charges stemmed mainly from a July 25, 2019 phone call with the newly-elected president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. During the call, Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden, vice president under Barack Obama and a Democratic hopeful for the 2020 presidential race. Trumps attorney, Rudy Giuliani, had publicly accused Biden of having former chief Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin removed from office because he was investigating Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, was on the board of the company.
An anonymous whistleblower came forward to report the call: “In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”
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Dnc Reserves $22 Million In Youtube Ads For General Election
Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON The Democratic National Committee announced on Monday that it will reserve $22 million in YouTube ads ahead of the general election as the party looks to fight President Trump’s fundraising and online campaign behemoth.
The ads will start in September in Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and then in October in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.
While the party hasn’t announced the content of the ads yet, it said in a release announcing the effort that the strategy is aimed at boosting turnout for the party’s presidential nominee as well as the entire Democratic ticket.
Campaigns and political groups typically get better rates for ads when they make earlier investments.
Now more than ever, its critical that we reach voters where they are online and this digital program will help us mobilize the voters we need to make Donald Trump a one-term president, DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement.
By making these kinds of historic, early investments in our battlegrounds and campaign infrastructure, the DNC is putting our eventual nominee and Democrats running at every level of the ballot in the strongest possible position to secure victory in November.
“The pandemic has only reinforced the importance of communicating with voters across a wide range of online channels and utilizing a variety of innovative, data-driven digital tactics,” Stevenson said.
