Obama previews his role in the presidential campaign as an attacker of Trump
President Obama burst into the general election debate on Wednesday with a withering critique of Donald Trump and a defense of his own economic record, telling voters they shouldn’t be fooled by arguments that are untrue.
The president has been largely on the sidelines in the campaign so far, owing in part to his pledge of neutrality in the ongoing Democratic primary. But speaking from a Republican-leaning county in Indiana that he had visited twice early in his presidency, Obama offered up a feisty, policy-driven template for the eventual Democratic nominee, almost certainly Hillary Clinton, to use against Trump, the likely GOP nominee, in the fall.
Obama called Trump’s proposals on illegal immigration “a fantasy,” for instance, and said that although Trump would seek to capitalize on middle class voters’ economic anxieties, his prescriptions would do little to answer them.
“When I hear working families thinking about voting for those plans,” Obama said, “then I want to have an intervention. I want you to take a look at what they’re talking about here.”
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a statistical tie ahead of California contest
As Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders prepare to make a final campaign push across California ahead of next week’s primary, a poll released Wednesday shows the Democratic contest tightening.
Clinton leads Sanders 49% to 47% among likely Democratic primary voters, according to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist survey. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.2%.
An average of several polls of California Democrats released in recent weeks shows Clinton with a lead of about 7 percentage points over Sanders.
Throughout the primary season, Clinton has captured the support of older voters and Sanders has netted the support of those much younger – a similar trend that has emerged here in California, according to recent surveys.
In the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, Clinton leads Sanders 63% to 33% among likely voters ages 45 and older, while Sanders outpaces Clinton 66% to 30% among those 45 and younger.
Sanders, who has struggled to gain the support of minorities, leads Clinton 49% to 46% among Latinos, according to the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll.
Clinton and Sanders are scheduled to crisscross the state over the next several days as the June 7 primary nears. On Thursday, Clinton is set to deliver a national security speech in San Diego as Sanders campaigns in Northern California.
Donald Trump’s reading list: books on Hillary Clinton and Richard Nixon
It’s a standard question for presidential candidates: What books have you been reading lately?
Most politicians have the answer in their back pocket, but it may have caught presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump off guard. He knew who the books were about, but he couldn’t think of two of their titles.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Trump was asked the literary question by journalist Michael Wolff (who adds in a surprise aside that the real estate magnate didn’t cite the Bible, a standard politician’s response).
“I’m reading the Ed Klein book on Hillary Clinton,” Trump answered, without specifying which one — Klein has written two, “The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She’ll Go to Become President” and “Unlikeable: The Problem with Hillary.”
Snapshot from the trail: Hillary Clinton and Jon Bon Jovi in New Jersey
‘You can’t make this stuff up,’ Clinton says about the latest Trump headlines
Hillary Clinton insisted she would not be getting into tit-for-tats with Donald Trump as the presidential race moves forward, but on Wednesday, she could not resist baiting him. The recent headlines about Trump appeared to make it too hard to resist.
“You can’t make this up,” Clinton said. She kicked off her afternoon rally in Newark, N.J., by going over some of the details, reminding the crowd that she was not talking about some loose-cannon surrogate but Trump himself.
“Just yesterday, we heard the truth about Donald Trump’s big talk about helping veterans,” she said. “It wasn’t until the press shamed him that he actually made the donations. For months, it was just a publicity stunt.”
But wait, she implored the crowd. There’s more.
“Today we are learning about another scam, the so-called Trump University,” she said.
Well, maybe that controversy is not exactly new. But Clinton did relish in the new details that were released in the ongoing litigation. “His own employees testified that Trump University — you can’t make this up — that Trump University was a fraudulent scheme where Donald Trump enriched himself at the expense of hardworking people.
“This is just more evidence that Donald Trump himself is a fraud,” Clinton added. “He is trying to scam America the way he scammed all those people at Trump University.”
Donald Trump spent the least on TV ads en route to becoming GOP nominee
Donald Trump has spent the least of any presidential on television advertising in this election — a formula that has benefited the Republican presidential nominee.
As he bested 16 challengers en route to the nomination, hurling a barrage of insults that helped earn him free airtime, Trump spent about $19 million, according to a report by NBC News and SMG Delta. That sum was the lowest of any candidate, Republican or Democrat.
By contrast, Hillary Clinton and super PACs backing her candidacy have spent about $49 million on television advertising. Her challenger for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has spent about $58 million.
Both Sanders and Clinton are advertising in California ahead of Tuesday’s primary, which polls have shown is a close contest.
Those who have spent the most this election cycle exited the race months ago.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and a super PAC backing his candidacy spent about $82 million, followed by backers of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio who spent $67 million. Bush exited the race in February and Rubio in March.
Overall this cycle, the report found, Republican and Democratic candidates have spent nearly $491 million in total on television advertising.
You can’t buy love — or political support, either
Yes, money matters. But as this chart shows -- and repeated campaigns have illustrated -- money alone doesn’t win elections.
Just ask President John Connally. Or California Gov. Meg Whitman.
The Clinton photo Gavin Newsom remembers most
HIllary Clinton is a proponent of gay marriage, but activists were frustrated at how long it took for her to embrace it. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom presents a different narrative. He credits Clinton with standing with him at a time other Democrats would not: when he ordered the San Francisco city clerk to issue same sex marriage licenses in 2004.
Donald Trump to visit Britain one day after EU referendum
Donald Trump will visit Scotland later this month, the day after British voters will have decided whether to stay in the European Union, his campaign said Wednesday.
Trump is scheduled to arrive at the Turnberry golf resort he owns June 24 for a ceremonial reopening after a multimillion-dollar renovation, the Associated Press reported.
The trip comes months after the British Parliament took the extraordinary step of debating whether to even allow Trump into the country, in response to a petition calling for him to be banned. It was signed by nearly a quarter-million people.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has also taken issue with Trump’s past remarks on Muslims, calling them, “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong.”
Following the San Bernardino terrorist attack, Trump in December called for a ban on Muslim immigration to the U.S. He has also floated the idea of creating a national database to register Muslims living in the country.
Cameron’s office has not indicated that he is scheduled to meet with Trump, while Trump’s campaign said a schedule will be released closer to his departure, according to the AP.
So how much money does Hillary Clinton give to veterans’ causes?
While taking heat for his handling of donations to veterans groups on Tuesday, Donald Trump tried to turn the tables on Hillary Clinton.
When I raise money for the veterans ... it’s a massive amount of money. Find out how much Hillary Clinton’s given to the veterans — nothing.
— Donald Trump
The Clinton campaign says that’s not true (though its “rapid response” did not come until after 10 p.m. EDT Tuesday, about half a day after Trump made the accusation).
“While Trump needed to be shamed into honoring his commitments, Hillary Clinton has quietly made personal donations in addition to spending her career fighting for veterans through legislation, fundraising and the work of the Clinton Foundation,” spokesman Josh Shwerin wrote in an email.
The email listed eight donations totalling $105,000 to veterans organizations since 2006.
Though that’s far less than the amount claimed by Trump, who now says he helped raise $5.6 million for veterans, including $1 million of his own money, the Clinton Foundation said it also supports several programs that help service members and their families, including one to help spouses train for jobs.
The foundation has also been a source of controversy for the Clinton family, though.
Shwerin also listed several charitable efforts Clinton aided as a senator, including joining a group to raise money for a rehabilitation facility in San Antonio and work she did aimed at expanding veterans’ healthcare.
Congresswoman who was on the fence endorses Hillary Clinton
Rep. Norma Torres endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid over the weekend, leaving just three California House Democrats who haven’t publicly backed a candidate.
In mid-May, the Pomona Democrat said she wanted to hear more from Clinton about immigration and Native American issues before making a decision.
Unsealed Trump University ‘playbooks’ show how controversial school was run
Nearly 400 pages of previously sealed court documents in a lawsuit filed against Donald Trump and the now-defunct Trump University were made public Tuesday, detailing operations of the real-estate-to-riches program that cost students as much as $35,000.
The documents are part of one of two lawsuits filed in San Diego federal court against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and the real estate seminars offered through Trump University.
The “playbooks” describe how the seminars were to be run, often in minute detail, with selling techniques and tips for employees tasked with signing up customers. The materials urge them to aggressively get participants to buy more expensive programs.
Bernie Sanders calls Warriors’ comeback win a ‘very good omen’ for his campaign
Bernie Sanders has very little chance of winning the Democratic nomination for president.
If the Vermont senator has any hope of coming from behind against front-runner Hillary Clinton, he will have to perform exceptionally well in California’s June 7 primary.
So Sanders has been campaigning nonstop in the state — and that includes a stop at Oracle Arena in Oakland for Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference finals.
Witnessing the Golden State Warriors clinch a spot in the NBA Finals with a 96-88 victory, after trailing Oklahoma City in the series, 3-1, Sanders claimed that his campaign can pull off a similar comeback victory.
“They turned it around,” he told reporters after the game. “I think that is what our campaign is going to do as well; a very good omen for our campaign.”