Donald Trump: ‘Surprise’ question about Pence led him to hesitate
President Donald Trump says he hesitated to back a possible 2024 presidential run by Vice President Mike Pence because he was caught off-guard by the question. Given a chance at a do-over, however, Trump still did not endorse his loyal lieutenant. “You can’t put me in that position,” Trump said June 14 when a host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” asked him about endorsing Pence should the vice president seek to succeed Trump in 2024. Pence hasn’t explicitly said he’ll run in 2024, but is widely expected to. Offered a chance to explain, Trump told NBC News he hesitated “because it was a surprise question.” “I’m not even thinking of it. It’s so far out. I mean, It’s so far out,” Trump told “Meet the Press” in a wide-ranging interview taped Friday and broadcast Sunday. “Now what happens in 2024? I don’t know that Mike is going to run. I don’t know who’s running or anything else.” Also in the interview, Trump criticized Fed chairman Jerome Powell and said his biggest mistake was choosing Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.For his part, Pence glossed over the flap Trump’s comments caused, telling CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that Trump’s comment reflected “the fact that the only election he and I are focused on is 2020.” Trump formally announced his 2020 reelection bid last week with Pence at his side. In the NBC interview, Trump lashed out at Powell over past interest rate hikes and denied threatening to demote him to the Fed’s No. 2 job. The Federal Reserve voted last week to leave its key interest rate unchanged, but the independent agency also signaled that it is prepared to begin cutting rates to protect the U.S. economy from trade conflicts and other threats. Trump did not answer directly last week when he was questioned about news reports that the White House in February had explored whether Trump had the authority to demote Powell. Trump denied to NBC that such a threat has been issued. “I have the right to do that. But I haven’t said that,” the president said.Trump has previously explored firing Powell, who, by law, can only be fired for cause. The interview was airing locally Sunday as Trump arrived at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, by helicopter from the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where he spent part of the weekend. Trump also returned to the White House on the helicopter instead of by motorcade, his usual means of transportation to and from the club. White House officials did not respond to requests for comment on the change in the president’s mode of travel. By Darlene Superville Associated Press Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Record number of black women are candidates in Alabama
Alabama. It was once the epicenter of the civil rights movement, where black men and women made national headlines — with the Montgomery bus boycott, to protests led by Martin Luther King Jr, to the Selma-to-Montgomery march that only got as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge — in their fight for equal rights. Now, black women in the state are making headlines once again — as a record number of them are candidates in 2018. More than three dozen African-American women are running for office, an unprecedented number that the party has never seen before, according to NBC News. In a state with a history of racial division, these women are once again looking to a have a seat at the table, in a system where they have been underrepresented for far too long. “Alabama is not a state that is known for electing women to office, so, in some sense, this is surprising, historic and much needed,” Richard Fording, a professor of public policy at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, told NBC News. Fording is referring to the fact that while women make up 52 percent of Alabama’s population, they only hold 14 percent of seats in the state legislature. The numbers are even worse for black women — currently only nine of the 105 members of the State House (or 9 percent) and two of the 35 members of the State Senate (or 6 percent), are black women. As of 2016, there are no women of color in statewide executive elective office. 2018 could be a year all of that changes. With the December election of Sen. Doug Jones, the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama in a quarter of a century, and the birth of the #MeToo movement, black women in Alabama have felt more empowered to enter politics. “It’s so important that we step up, that we show the nation that we can lead,” Jameria Moore told NBC News. “That, here in Alabama, we’re ready to lead our state into the future.” Moore, 49, is an attorney running for judgeship on the Jefferson County Probate Court. “I have friends in other states who say, ‘I don’t know how you live in Alabama,’ and I tell them, ‘Why wouldn’t I live in Alabama?’” she said. “This is an opportunity, that’s how I look at it.”
Alabama real estate mogul Stan Pate spearheads international anti-Trump effort
Alabama real estate mogul and millionaire Stan Pate has long made waves for his no-holds-barred approach to political speech, both in the state and outside of it. Before this latest effort, his most famous antic was paying for a plane to fly a banner with the words “Impeach corrupt Alabama Governor Bob Riley” at the 2009 National Championship game in Pasadena, California, where the Alabama Crimson Tide took on the Texas Longhorns. But Pate’s latest undertaking, in hopes of stymying the presidential aspirations of fellow real estate developer Donald Trump, goes beyond the borders of Alabama. Heck, it extends beyond the United States. Last week a political action committee led by Pate ran full-page satirical ads in Korean and Mexican newspapers, attempting to drum up anti-Trump sentiment in some of the United States’ most frequent trading partners. Pate said swaying American voters wasn’t the goal in his ads, which depicted invoices for a wall and nuclear bombs in Mexico and Korea, respectively. Instead, he hopes they’ll talk to their family and friends who have immigrated to the United States and “sound the alarm” about the possibility of a Trump presidency. “Hopefully they begin to communicate and certainly begin a discussion about this wall,” Pate told NBC News. Pate said his nontraditional tactics are what it’s going to take to get the attention on the nation, and the world. “Getting the public’s attention is not easy,” explained Pate. “I want to make sure that I do everything that I can to bring the public’s attention that there are choices here.” While Pate’s efforts may win points for creativity, there is evidence all the anti-Trump efforts may be for naught. According to a recent report by The Associated Press, it now looks unlikely the #NeverTrump movement will succeed at the Republican National Convention later this month. Numbers are stacked against the insurgents. Trump triumphed in the vast majority of this year’s primaries and caucuses, giving him 1,542 delegates, according to The Associated Press. That’s well above the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination. Now, it’s true those delegates can vote however they wish during convention battles to change the rules, so delegates pledged to a candidate could back anyone they want. And you can count on such defections, because some delegates representing Trump actually prefer his defeated rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, or others. But Trump still has a big numerical advantage. According to an informal count by one party insider, Trump can rely on a solid 900 delegates, compared to a combined 650 for Trump opponents plus delegates backing Cruz or other candidates. That leaves over 900 remaining delegates. Trump would need only about a third of them to prevail. And don’t forget, many delegates are party regulars inclined to want a gathering that’s peaceful, not a GOP civil war on prime-time TV. The anti-Trump forces have said they have more than 400 delegate supporters. Whether the Dump Trump movement gains any traction in the few remaining weeks before the convention remains to be seen, but it can certainly be said that they’re pulling out all the stops to make it happen.
Jeb Bush tells NBC News he’s in race for “long haul”
Jeb Bush is in the race for “the long haul.” Or at least that’s what the former Florida governor told NBC News reporter Peter Alexander during an interview this week. Bush brushed off questions about whether South Carolina would be his campaign’s last stand, saying he is doing well in the Palmetto State. “The obituaries have been written probably once a week and, we’re in it for the long haul,” said Bush. “But we are going to do well here.” Bush said he thinks Donald Trump has hijacked the Republican Party. Bush said he thinks that support is temporary, and said Trump “is not going to win the presidency.” “This guy is not serious,” said Bush, according to a transcript of the interview. “In a serious dangerous time, we need a serious person with a steady hand to be president of the United States.” Bush has spent the past week in South Caroling trying to rally support. On Monday, former President George W. Bush campaigned for his brother in the Palmetto State; and Barbara Bush is expected to hit the trail with Jeb Bush this week. CNN reported that the former first lady is expected to arrive in South Carolina on Thursday and will stay through the primary. Bush is in fourth place in South Carolina, according to polling averages compiled by RealClearPolitics. Bush told NBC News that he planned to go on to Nevada if he places fourth in South Carolina. “This is a, this is a long haul process particularly you now the rules of the Republican Party set up this time,” he said. Watch Jeb Bush’s interview with NBC News’ Peter Alexander.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton maintain sizable leads in national NBC News tracking poll
Republicans nationwide think Donald Trump will be their party’s nominee, according to a new NBC News|SurveyMonkey poll. The survey found 56 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters believe Trump will be the eventual Republican nominee; while 22 percent said Ted Cruz would be the nominee. Ten percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters said Marco Rubio would be the nominee. The New York businessman continues to lead the Republican field with 38 percent support, followed by Cruz at 18 percent and Rubio at 14 percent. Ben Carson is at 8 percent, whileJohn Kasich is at 7 percent. Jeb Bush rounds out the field with 4 percent. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders, 50 percent to 40 percent. Sixty-six percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters said they believe Clinton will be their party’s eventual nominee. The NBC News|SurveyMonkey weekly tracking poll was conducted from Feb. 8 through Feb. 14. The online survey sampled 13,1
Donald Trump continues to lead GOP field, according to NBC News poll
Donald Trump continues to lead the pack in the race for the Republican nomination, according to a new NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning registered voters, the New York businessman has 35 percent support. That’s compared to 18 percent for Sen. Ted Cruz and 13 percent for Marco Rubio. The NBC News/SurveyMonkey weekly election tracking poll covered Dec. 28 through Jan. 3, and was conducted online among a national sample of 3,700 adults over the 18. Trump has the highest support among white evangelical voters — @nbcnews/SurveyMonkey poll https://t.co/eG8OuciT7D pic.twitter.com/ycsQnoxUcR — NBC News (@NBCNews) January 5, 2016 Ben Carson received 9 percent support among Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters; while Jeb Bush received 6 percent support in the one-week period. Five percent of respondents said they didn’t know who they would support. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters, Hillary Clinton has 53 percent support, compared to 36 percent for Bernie Sanders. Seventy-seven percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters said they believe Clinton will win the Democratic nomination. Clinton holds lead over Sanders heading into primaries — @nbcnews/SurveyMonkey poll #2016 https://t.co/k7AZM7mog7 pic.twitter.com/ZYt9v4PdXg — NBC News (@NBCNews) January 5, 2016
What does Jeb Bush get for $20 million in TV ad buys? Not much.
Jeb Bush and his supporters have spent more than twice that of any other candidate or outside group on TV ads in the 2016 presidential race. And what does the former Florida governor get for nearly $20 million, asks Mark Murray of NBC News. Apparently, not much. Bush’s poll numbers are currently languishing in the single digits both nationally and in the early primary states. Right to Rise, the pro-Bush super PAC, has made $19.5 million in ad spending for Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Murray notes that the campaign also spent another $438,000. In comparison, the 501c4 organization supporting fellow Floridian Marco Rubio – Conservative Solutions Project – paid half that amount, $8.4 million to date. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, on the other hand, has spent $8.1 million, while her supporting Super PAC spent about $199,000. To put those numbers further in context, campaigns receive substantial discounts on TV ad time, whereas Super PACs and other outside groups may have to pony up to four times as much for similar ad space. Murray, along with NBC News partners SMG Delta, have calculated who spent what in the 2016 presidential ad wars – a not-quite-perfect way to measure winners of the secret advertising primary. Through Nov. 21, the leaders are Bush with $19.9 million ($19.5 million from Right to Rise Super PAC, $438K from campaign), followed by Rubio with $8.4 million (all from outside group Conservative Solutions Project), Clinton with $8.3 million ($8.1 million from campaign, $199K from Priorities USA Super PAC) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with $7.3 million (all from two outside groups). After Kasich, comes New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with $5.7 million ($5.3 million from America Leads Super PAC, $407K from campaign), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal – who just dropped out of the race – with $3.3 million (all from outside groups), Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with $3 million (all from his campaign), South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham at $1.7 million ($1.6 million from Super PAC, $100K from campaign) and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with $1.5 million (all from his campaign). For the week of Nov. 15-21, the biggest spenders were Bush with $2 million, all from his Super PAC; Sanders with $940,000, all from his campaign; Clinton with $741,000, all from the campaign; Rubio with $619,000, all from Conservative Solutions; Kasich with $352,000, all from his supporting Super PAC New Day for America, Christie with $313,000, all from America Leads Super PAC; and Carson with $214,000, all of which came from his campaign.
GOP suspends partnership with NBC News for February debate
The Republican National Committee says it’s suspending its partnership with NBC News and its properties and won’t allow the network to co-host a presidential primary debate scheduled for February. The letter from RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to NBC News chief Andrew Lack comes after this week’s heavily criticized debate on CNBC. Priebus says the CNBC debate did not focus on economic issues as promised, and that candidates were asked questions that “were inaccurate or downright offensive.” NBC News, in a statement, called it a “disappointing development. However, along with our debate broadcast partners at Telemundo, we will work in good faith to resolve this matter with the Republican Party.” The RNC tells NBC it will still hold a debate as scheduled on Feb. 26 with its other planned media partner, National Review. Even before the decision to break with NBC, several of the GOP campaigns had planned to meet to discuss complaints about how the party’s debates are being run. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Donald Trump dominates nightly news on election, study shows
Since the beginning of June, Donald Trump has received more coverage on the broadcast network evening newscasts than all of the other candidates for president combined, with his estranged former partners at NBC giving him the most attention. The statistics offered by Andrew Tyndall, a consultant who studies the content of evening newscasts, is one snapshot of how Trump has seized the media’s attention to the detriment of his rivals. The ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts spent 114 minutes on campaign coverage from the beginning of June through the end of last week, and Trump was the focus of 60 of them. The closest competitor was Jeb Bush with 15 minutes. Tyndall counted five minutes for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, although that didn’t include stories about her government email while secretary of state. NBC has devoted 35 minutes to Trump coverage, including his interview with Katy Tur. CBS had 16 minutes, Tyndall said. ABC’s “World News Tonight” had eight minutes of Trump coverage, six of them last week. Trump had a longtime relationship with NBC as host of “The Apprentice” though the network has cut ties with him on the show after he announced his candidacy. The network also angered him during the past month by cancelling its broadcast of the Miss Universe pageant, owned by Trump, because of the candidate’s comments on Mexican immigration. That corporate quarrel hasn’t seemed to affect NBC News’ coverage of Trump’s campaign, Tyndall said. In general, “Nightly News” has paid more on-air attention to the presidential campaign this summer than either “World News Tonight” or the “CBS Evening News,” he said. “They haven’t gone out of their way to attack him,” Tyndall said. “They just cover him more.” NBC declined to talk publicly about their campaign coverage. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
