Tag: Trump campaign

How Trump and the right are waging war on reality and empirical truth

AlterNet logoWords have actual definitions. Conspiracies do in fact exist.

A conspiracy consists of two or more people acting in private to advance their own interests against and contrary to those of other people.

Donald Trump and his agents’ bribery and extortion plot to withhold congressionally approved military aid to force the government of Ukraine to “investigate” Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, with the goal of helping Trump win the 2020 presidential election, is a textbook example of a very real conspiracy.

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Payday lenders discussed raising money for Trump’s campaign to fend off regulation, audio reveals

Washington Post logoTo ensure Democrats don’t block weaker industry rules, payday lenders said they needed access to Trump.

Billing himself as one of President Trump’s top fundraisers, Michael Hodges told fellow payday lenders recently that industry contributions to the president’s reelection campaign could be leveraged to gain access to the Trump administration.

“Every dollar amount, no matter how small or large it is” is important, Hodges, founder of Advance Financial, one of the country’s largest payday lenders, said during a 48-minute webcast, obtained by The Washington Post.

“For example, I’ve gone to Ronna McDaniel and said, ‘Ronna, I need help on something,’ ” Hodges said, referring to the chair of the Republican National Committee. “She’s been able to call over to the White House and say, ‘Hey, we have one of our large givers. They need an audience. … They need to be heard and you need to listen to them.’ So that’s why it’s important.”

View the complete October 29 article by Renae Merle on The Washington Post website here.

Meet Trump’s most trusted pollsters

The Hill logoJim and John McLaughlin occupy a fraught space in Trump World as pollsters for a president who runs on gut instinct and disparages the polling industry that failed to forecast his shocking 2016 election victory.

The McLaughlin brothers, both of whom are on the Trump campaign’s 2020 polling team led by Tony Fabrizio, have become trusted confidants for Trump, particularly on the hot-button cultural issues the president uses to highlight rifts between middle America and coastal “elites.”

The pollsters have also become visible spokesmen for the campaign through appearances on Fox News, where they’ve discussed the president’s polling strength or what they view as Democratic blind spots.

View the complete October 12 article Jonathan Easley on The Hill website here.

Minneapolis mayor to Trump: Pay your bills

Campaign, not taxpayers, should pay $530K, mayor says

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Tuesday he would push President Donald Trump’s campaign to pay $530,000 in city costs associated with an upcoming Trump rally, while campaign officials said they’ve reached an agreement with the rally venue operator and won’t pay anything extra.

“It’s not extortion to expect someone to pay their bills,” Frey said in a news conference Tuesday.

Trump plans to rally supporters Thursday evening in the city-owned Target Center. The Trump campaign said in a news release Monday that AEG, the private company that manages Target Center, threatened to cancel its contract for the event if the campaign did not agree to reimburse Minneapolis for security costs and other services.

View the complete October 9 article by Miguel Otárika on The Star Tribune website here.

The myths of the ‘genius’ behind Trump’s reelection campaign

AlterNet logoOn the evening of May 30, Brad Parscale, the campaign manager of Donald J. Trump for President Inc., gave a speech to a gathering of the faithful. Parscale is a striking figure: 6-foot-8, with a trademark Viking beard and a penchant for bombast. He was a phenom of the 2016 election, rising, in a matter of months, from an anonymous web designer in San Antonio to the Trump campaign’s reputed digital savior. Parscale has become a frequent warmup act at Trump rallies and a prized attraction in GOP fundraising circles.

On this occasion, he was speaking to the Miami Young Republicans. Parscale regaled the audience with his litany of Trump’s achievements, according to a recording of the speech (provided by Palm Beach Post reporter Christine Stapleton). He warned of the “crazy socialist Democrats” who want to “slaughter” babies in the third trimester; admit “all of South America” to the U.S. through open borders; and render jet-fueled planes illegal and “farming cows” extinct. “I don’t know about you guys,” Parscale told them. “I really like steak.”

Parscale then turned to his own rhetorical question: “How the heck did you get from East Topeka, Kansas, 43 years old, to become the right-hand man to the Trump family?” That’s a truly remarkable tale, although much, as it turns out, is not quite as Parscale describes it.

View the complete September 11 article by Peter Elkind and Doris Burke from Pro Publican on the AlterNet website here.

Trump Campaign Manager Sees President’s Family as Political ‘Dynasty’

New York Times logoPresident Trump may be the only member of his family to win major elected office, but his campaign manager for the 2020 re-election effort is already envisioning a family political dynasty that will outlast his time in the White House.

The comments by Brad Parscale, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, on Saturday were instantly scrutinized for clues as to whether the president’s children, some of whom have been seen by friends and supporters as potential candidates for office, were planning their own political futures.

Mr. Parscale made the remarks at a California Republican convention in Indian Wells, in a speech that touched on the party and the presidency. “The Trumps will be a dynasty that lasts for decades,” Mr. Parscale said.

View the complete September 8 article by Maggie Haberman on The New York Times website here.

House Impeachment Inquiry Issues Subpoena For Lewandowski

House Democrats targeted Corey Lewandowski with a new subpoena on Thursday, demanding that he testify publicly in their ongoing impeachment inquiry focusing on President Donald Trump’s efforts to obstruct justice.

Lewandowski played a key role in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which described Trump ordering his former campaign manager to push then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to thwart the Russia investigation. Given that Lewandowski wasn’t in the administration at all, this effort makes Trump look particularly guilty because it appears he was trying to use unofficial channels to quash the investigation.

When it has come to Trump officials Democrats have sought to interview, the White House has been relatively successful thus far in constraining their testimony. The administration has concocted an absurdly broad view of “executive privilege” to block testimony pertaining to their time in the administration

View the complete August 15 article by Cody Fenwick on the National Memo website here.

Russia wanted Trump to win in 2016, Mueller testifies — challenging Barr

AG has directed agents to investigate CIA’s conclusion that Putin wanted Trump to win

Russia perpetrated a sweeping influence campaign during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections and wanted President Donald Trump to prevail over Democrat Hillary Clinton, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III testified on Wednesday.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked Mueller at his hearing on Wednesday if the Russian government “perceived it would benefit from one of the candidates winning.”

Mueller confirmed that they did.

View the complete July 24 article by Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website here.

Census question may be dead, but Trump’s backup plan could still reshape political map

President Donald Trump surrendered his legal fight earlier this month to ask about citizenship on the upcoming census, but his administration is marching forward on a Republican strategy that could upend the way legislative districts are drawn nationwide to the benefit of the party.

Trump nodded to policy issues such as health care and education as reasons he issued a July 11 executive order for the government to compile citizenship information in a different way. And he accused “far-left Democrats” of being determined to “conceal the number of illegal aliens in our midst.”

But he also referred to how it could be used in the next round of redistricting after the 2020 census — a move critics suggest is the real reason the Trump administration wants to find out where noncitizens reside.

View the complete July 23 article by Todd Ruger on The Roll Call website here.

Trump renews Mueller attacks days before testimony

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Monday renewed his attacks on Robert Mueller, days before the former special counsel is set to testify about the Russia investigation during a highly anticipated congressional hearing.

In a pair of tweets, Trump repeated his claim that Mueller is “highly conflicted” and accused him of leading a “ridiculous Witch Hunt.” The president for more than two years has leveled both charges in an attempt to undermine Mueller’s credibility.

“Highly conflicted Robert Mueller should not be given another bite at the apple. In the end it will be bad for him and the phony Democrats in Congress who have done nothing but waste time on this ridiculous Witch Hunt,” Trump tweeted.

View the complete July 22 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.