Melania Trump accuses journalist of provoking fans who made anti-Semitic threats
Melania Trump said a journalist who wrote a profile for GQ magazine that she disliked had provoked the anti-Semitic threats that followed.
The wife of Donald Trump criticized reporter Julia Ioffe for revealing the existence of her secret 50-year-old half brother in her native Slovenia, saying the article was nasty and mean.
“It doesn’t bother me if they write about me because I know who I am,” she told DuJour Magazine in an article dated Tuesday. “But what right does the reporter have to go and dig in court in Slovenia in 1960 about my parents? They’re private citizens.”
Ioffe filed a police report in Washington last month over anti-Semitic threats that she received from apparent Trump supporters after the GQ article was published last month. She told police she’d received email and phone calls from people threatening to kidnap and injure her.
“I don’t control my fans, but I don’t agree with what they’re doing,” she told DuJour. “I understand what you mean, but there are people out there who maybe went too far. She provoked them.”
On Facebook last month, Trump called the GQ article “yet another example of the dishonest media and their disingenuous reporting.” She said Ioffe was “looking to make a name for herself” and “had an agenda when going after my family.”
Donald Trump told CNN he’d heard Ioffe’s article was “very inaccurate,” but was unaware of the anti-Semitic threats against her.
Sanders pledges he’ll win California’s primary
Bernie Sanders said Tuesday that he would win California’s June 7 primary and continue to fight for the Democratic nomination through the party’s national convention.
“This is, in a sense, the beginning of the final push to win California,” he told about 10,000 people in a stadium in Carson. “… There are a lot of people out there, many pundits and politicians, they say Bernie Sanders should drop out, the people of California should not have the right to determine who the next president will be. Well, let me be as clear as I can be…. We are in till the last ballot is cast!”
Sanders celebrated his win in Oregon on Tuesday and his showing in Kentucky, which he narrowly lost to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Sanders did not mention the chaos some of his supporters caused this weekend at Nevada’s Democratic convention after about 60 of his potential delegates were not seated. Chairs were thrown and death threats were made against the state party chairwoman, acts that were denounced by top party leaders.
He did issue a sharp challenge to the party’s establishment.
“The Democratic Party is going to have to make a very, very profound and important decision. It can do the right thing and open its doors and welcome into the party people who are prepared to fight for real economic and social change,” he said. “That is the Democratic Party I want to see bringing in people who are willing to take on Wall Street, to take on corporate greed and to take on the fossil fuel industry.
“I say to the leadership of the Democratic Party, open the doors, let the people in,” Sanders said, adding that the alternative was a “very sad and tragic option” to maintain the status quo and remain reliant on major campaign donors.
Sanders cast Clinton as the prototype of the status quo, dependent on billionaires and super PACs, supporting trade agreements that decimated American workers, aligning with President George W. Bush on the Iraq war, and supporting fracking.
He pointed out that his message of economic, social and economic justice was resonating with young people, something no one expected when he launched his campaign about a year ago with little money, no organization and low name recognition.
“Well, a lot has changed in the last year,” Sanders said, noting he had won 19 primaries and caucuses, more than 9 million votes and more than 45% of the pledged delegates.
He said he believed that if he has major victories in the upcoming contests, he could go into the Democratic National Convention with the support of a majority of the pledged delegates, though he acknowledged such a scenario was a “steep climb.”
“We just won Oregon. And we’re going to win California,” Sanders said, adding that he previously won Washington state. “I am getting to like the West Coast.”
Bernie Sanders wins Oregon primary
Bernie Sanders won the Democratic Oregon primary on Tuesday night, according to news projections, beating Hillary Clinton in a state that he was favored to win.
If the margin of victory is wide enough, Sanders will be able to chip away at Clinton’s delegate lead in the battle for the Democratic nomination.
No surprise, Donald Trump wins Oregon
Bernie Sanders supporters upset by Democratic establishment
As several thousand Bernie Sanders supporters gathered for a rally in Carson on Tuesday, the chaos that occurred at the Nevada Democratic Party Convention this last weekend over seating Sanders’ delegates was a constant topic of conversation.
Regardless of whether they agreed with the tactics some of his supporters used -- notably death threats against the state party’s chairwoman -- many said they understood the frustration and that it was rooted in the corruption of the nation’s political system.
“Boxer, Lange + the media owe Bernie an apology for cheating, lying and stealing democracy,” read a hand-colored sign carried by Nona Macias, 35.
The sign referred to Sen. Barbara Boxer, who was interrupted by Sanders supporters, and Roberta Lange, the Nevada Democratic Party chairwoman.
Macias said she was angry “because it is so obvious there is corruption.” She was carrying her 3-year-old daughter, Valentina, to the toddler’s third Sanders rally. Democracy “was stolen this weekend,” she added.
Macias said Sanders was the only politician in the presidential race untainted by the donations of banks, corporations, millionaires and billionaires.
“So he owes no favors to them,” she said. “He’s actually a servant to the people, not a politician.”
Debbie Andrioff said those responsible for the worst acts in Nevada ought to be jailed, but that the concern over the decision not to seat about 60 potential delegates was indicative of a greater problem: “the whole system.”
Sanders, she said, is the only solution.
“He’s going to be the person that changes everything around for us,” said Andrioff, 55, who drove 90 minutes from San Diego to attend the rally.
Andrioff said she believes the nation is engaged in class warfare, and that she appreciated Sanders’ stands on getting dark money out of politics and a $15 minimum wage “as opposed to a slavery wage.”
“If Bernie doesn’t get the nomination, I won’t vote for” Hillary Clinton in November, she said. “I don’t trust her.”
Clinton appears to eke out narrow win in Kentucky
With virtually all precincts reporting, former secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds a lead of less than 1% in the Kentucky primary.
Although Clinton appears to have eked out a narrow victory, state election officials won’t certify final results for some time.
Which candidate actually won, however, will have no significant impact on the race for delegates to the Democratic convention this summer. With the results this close, the two candidates are almost certain to split Kentucky’s 50 pledged delegates, with each candidate receiving 25.
Hillary Clinton cashes in on royalty fees from her memoir and speeches
Hillary Clinton received more than $5 million in royalties from a 2014 memoir and raked in about $1.5 million from speeches she delivered a few months before she entered the presidential race.
These are some of the details from the personal financial disclosure form her campaign released late Tuesday night.
Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke before Watermark’s Silicon Valley Conference for Women in February 2015 and received $225,500, according to a copy of the report provided by the campaign. In another speech, she received $315,000 from EBay in March 2015.
Based on the report, much of Clinton’s income from January 2015 until now came from the nearly $5 million in royalties from her memoir “Hard Choices.”
Since Clinton announced her candidacy in April 2015, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has received about $2.4 million in paid speeches, according to the report.
Earlier Tuesday, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, released his own personal financial disclosure form. Trump said he had earned about $557 million and estimated his net worth at $10 billion.
Still, Clinton’s campaign castigated Trump over his decision to withhold his tax returns. The former secretary of State recently posted tax returns from the last eight years on her website.
“The true test for Donald Trump is whether he will adhere to the precedent followed by every presidential candidate in the modern era and make his tax returns available,” Christina Reynolds, a spokeswoman for Clinton, said Tuesday.
As Clinton jabs Trump for his lack of transparency, the former secretary of State faces her own scrutiny over paid speeches — some in the six-figure range — to Wall Street firms.
Her Democratic rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Trump have called on her to release transcripts of the speeches.
Clinton has said she will release transcripts only when the other candidates do so as well.
The presidential campaign hits Southern California, with a little local flair
When denial, anger and depression just won’t suffice in your voting dilemma ...
Donald Trump, under fire for a lack of transparency with taxes, showcases personal finances
Donald Trump insists that a year on the campaign trail has not hurt his ability to make money.
In a statement released by his campaign that summarized a financial disclosure form filed with the Federal Election Commission this week, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he had earned about $557 million and estimated his net worth at $10 billion.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the FEC had not made the disclosure form public, so a detailed look at his assets was not available for independent confirmation.
Last July, shortly after Trump entered the presidential race, he released a similar report placing his net worth at near $10 billion and saying that he earned $362 million in 2014. Outside analysts have provided widely varying estimates of Trump’s net worth.
In recent days, Trump has been assailed by Democrats and Republicans for not releasing his tax returns. Trump has said he will not release his tax returns until an audit of his taxes by the Internal Revenue Service is complete.
Every major presidential candidate since the 1970s has released tax returns.
Sanders and Democratic officials in escalating dispute over Nevada violence
Bernie Sanders and Democratic party leaders clashed Tuesday over violence that erupted over the weekend at the Nevada Democratic Party convention, which party officials blamed on a disgruntled group of Sanders supporters.
At issue in the escalating argument: Whether the fire that Sanders has lit among millions of supporters with his critiques of Wall Street greed and political corruption will burn the party this summer.
Over the weekend, some Sanders supporters at the convention threw chairs, tried to shout down Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), vandalized buildings and made death threats against the state party chairwoman after Hillary Clinton won more pledged delegates than the Vermont senator.
Bill Clinton brushes aside Donald Trump’s comments about former president’s infidelity
Donald Trump, whose caustic comments about women are now highlighted in a series of television advertisements by a super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton, used social media on Tuesday to deflect attention toward a usual target: Bill Clinton.
But the former president is not engaging the presumptive Republican nominee.
Trump castigated the former president as the “worst abuser” of women in “U.S. political history.”
While campaigning in Puerto Rico on Tuesday for Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, the former president was asked to comment on Trump labeling him an “abuser” of women.
“No, I won’t,” he said. “I think people are smart enough to figure this out without my help.”
It’s not the first time Trump has attacked Bill Clinton.
In December, days before the former president was set to make his first campaign appearance on behalf of his wife, Trump alluded to Bill Clinton’s past sexual transgressions as demonstrating the real “penchant for sexism.”
Most presidential hopefuls release tax returns, GOP leader says
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday it’s tradition for presidential candidates to let voters see their tax returns -- something Donald Trump has refused to do.
“Most candidates for presidents have,” said Kentucky Republican McConnell. “That has been the tradition.”
Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, will “have to make that decision himself, but that’s certainly been the pattern for quite some time,” McConnell said.
Trump has said he will not make his tax returns available until an IRS audit is complete, even if that’s not until after the election, although an audit has not stopped other candidates in the past.
Last week the real estate mogul responded, “It’s none of your business,” when asked on “Good Morning America” what tax rate he pays.
His stance has drawn sharp criticism from opponents, including the 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, who said failure to release tax returns is “disqualifying” for a presidential candidate.
“Tax returns provide the public with its sole confirmation of the veracity of a candidate’s representations regarding charities, priorities, wealth, tax conformance, and conflicts of interest,” Romney wrote on Facebook.
“Further, while not a likely circumstance, the potential for hidden inappropriate associations with foreign entities, criminal organizations, or other unsavory groups is simply too great a risk to ignore for someone who is seeking to become commander-in-chief,” he wrote.
Romney’s tax returns probably didn’t help his own run for the White House. They revealed the multi-millionaire paid a 15% effective tax rate and they confirmed his accounts in several off-shore investment vehicles.
Hillary Clinton keeps losing. So how come she’s winning?
Bernie Sanders is on a roll. He’s won the last two Democratic primaries and stands a good chance Tuesday of adding Oregon and perhaps Kentucky to his pile of victories.
Yet Hillary Clinton is likely to continue her seemingly unstoppable march to the party’s presidential nomination.
How can that be?
It’s not a conspiracy, as some angry Sanders backers suggest, a result of dark magic or a wrinkle in the space-time continuum. Rather, it’s the rules that Democrats play by -- rules that now work to Clinton’s advantage, even as they thwarted her candidacy eight years ago, when she lost a nomination fight to then-Sen. Barack Obama.
Move over Speaker Paul Ryan, it’s Donald Trump’s Republican Party now
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan doesn’t seem to mind that most Republican voters trust Donald Trump over him as the party leader.
“I hope it’s Donald Trump,” Ryan said when asked about the new polling Tuesday. “He’s getting the nomination.”
“The person who’s getting the nomination of our party is the person to lead our party,” Ryan said.
A new poll Tuesday found nearly six in 10 GOP voters trusted Trump to lead the party; nearly four in 10 trusted Ryan, according to the NBC Survey Monkey poll.
Ryan otherwise dismissed questions about whether he was ready to endorse the businessman after leaning into a new relationship with the presumed nominee after their meeting last week.
The two continue “having the kind of conversations that are necessary to make sure we are unified around commonly held princples,” he said.
Marco Rubio goes on a Twitter rant over a Washington Post article
Marco Rubio threw himself back into the Twittersphere late Monday with a fresh rant aimed at the Washington Post and its use of unnamed sources.
The Florida senator and former Republican presidential candidate launched an assault on the newspaper for including him in its Monday story “5 People who are never going to be Donald Trump’s vice president.” Rubio has said he will return to private life after he finishes his Senate term in January, but berated the Post for using sources that he said just want to sound like they’re “in the know.”
“Funny to read about unnamed ‘people close’ to me who claim to know my thinking on future plans,” he posted to Twitter. “They just make it up.”
Rubio also brought up an October 2015 article — “Rubio gives up on Senate: ‘He hates it’ ” — as another example in which he said the newspaper relied on suspect sourcing.
“Flashback to another article quoting a ‘longtime friend’ saying I ‘hate’ Senate,” he tweeted. “Words I have NEVER said to anyone.”
Clinton super PAC launches anti-Trump ads targeting his statements on women
New anti-Donald Trump TV ads from a top Hillary Clinton super PAC use Trump’s own statements about women — including his daughter Ivanka Trump — against him.
Priorities USA first previewed the ads on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Monday, and will release them in the battleground states on Wednesday.
“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, uh, blood coming out of her -- wherever,” one woman mouths over a clip of Trump speaking about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly.
Each of the women standing in the video wears an oversized shirt with Trump’s face on it, and pretends to say the words of the GOP’s presumptive nominee. The overall ad questioned voters on whether or not he represents them and what they believe in.
“Does Donald Trump really speak for you?” the narrator says at the end.
Trump responded to the ads Tuesday morning on Twitter, calling them false advertising. He said the quotes used came out of context.
Very different GOP candidate, but 2016 election looks a lot like 2012, polls find
The 2016 election is shaping up to look remarkably like 2012, even though the Republicans are on the verge of nominating a very different candidate, new polls indicate.
The polling testifies to the powerful tug that partisan identity has on voters, even in an election year when many other traditional political expectations have gone out the window.
With only a few weeks left in the primary season, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have solidified support within their parties. As a result, national polls of the potential November election between the two have tightened.
Trump last week reached at least a truce with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, the most prominent Republican holdout against him. Many, although certainly not all, major Republican figures and prominent donors have also said they would back the New York businessman.
Republican voters, who started embracing Trump before their party leaders did, have moved even faster. By 58%-39%, Republicans said they trusted Trump over Ryan to lead their party, the latest NBC SurveyMonkey poll found.
The survey found that 87% of self-identified Republicans said they would back Trump against Clinton in a fall matchup.
The same share of Democrats, 87%, say they would back Clinton against Trump, the poll found.
Trump, the survey found, would win heavily among white voters – carrying about the same share of the white vote as Mitt Romney did four years ago. Clinton would win overwhelmingly among blacks and Latinos.
As Romney did, Trump would win self-described independents – a group that leans to the Republican side overall. But, also like Romney, he would lose self-described moderates to the Democrat.
With the same lineup as 2012, not suprisingly, the poll comes up with almost the same result. President Obama won reelection by a four-point margin in the popular vote; the new poll has Clinton leading Trump by three points.
Another online survey, from Morning Consult, a media and polling firm, found a slightly tighter race – Clinton ahead by two points. That survey had a sample that was more than 80% white, a higher share of white voters than seems probable for the actual 2016 turnout, which would shift the results in Trump’s direction.
Whether the contest will stay this close for the next six months remains to be seen. Many Republican elected officials and strategists fear that Trump will do notably worse than Romney did in key states, something that national surveys would not necessarily disclose, and worry that he will drag down their candidates for other offices, particularly the Senate.
The super PAC allied with Clinton plans to begin an advertising barrage against Trump in four battleground states tomorrow.
Meantime, as the primaries wind down with Clinton the prohibitive favorite to win, the NBC/SurveyMonkey poll also found she has regained a double-digit lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders as the candidate Democrats want to see as their nominee.
In April, Clinton had only a six- or seven-point lead over Sanders in NBC’s national surveys. For the past three weeks, her lead has been twice that large – 54%-40% in the latest survey.
The NBC/SurveyMonkey and the Morning Consult polls were both conducted online. The SurveyMonkey poll was conducted May 9-15 among a national sample of 14,100 adults aged 18 and over, including 12,507 registered voters. It has an error estimate of +/- 1.2 percentage points for the full sample.
The Morning Consult poll survey was conducted May 11-15 among a national sample of 3971 registered voters. It has an error estimate of +/- 2 points.