Archive for the ‘Donald Trump’ Category

Donald Trump’s Campaign Pollster Tweeted Out a Poll That Is Not Great for the President – TIME

Tony Fabrizio, a GOP strategist who worked for President Trump's 2016 campaign, tweeted out a poll Wednesday arguing Donald Trump's invincibility in the 2020 election but the data he was showcasing told a different story.

The poll, conducted by Fabrizio's firm, Fabrizio, Lee and Associates, showed that if a Republican presidential primary were held today, just 50% of the GOP would be most likely to vote for Donald Trump. The poll found that 26% would choose among four other candidates.

Even though these results technically show that 50% of the Republican Party wants someone other than Trump to run in a presidential primary, Fabrizio treated the results as welcome news of the President's popularity, tweeting that he was "crushing" the primary field:

Among Trump's hypothetical challengers, support was split. The poll found that 14% would most likely to vote for Texas Senator Ted Cruz, 10% would vote for Ohio Governor John Kasich both of whom ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential primaries and 1% would vote for either Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse or Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton. Not everyone could make up their minds: 24% were undecided.

Historically, sitting Presidents rarely face serious primary challenges when they are running for reelection, although such instances have occurred, most notably Senator Ted Kennedy's insurgent run against Jimmy Carter in 1980. There is no indication Trump will not run; to the contrary, he has already filed paperwork laying the groundwork for the 2020 campaign. Trump has historically low approval ratings for this point in his tenure, according to multiple polls, leading some pundits to speculate he will face an intra-party challenge. Politico reported Tuesday, for example, that the Democratic National Committee is preparing opposition research on Kasich, Sasse, Vice President Mike Pence, and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Kasich recently denied that he plans to run in 2020, telling CNN's Jake Tapper "I don't have any plans to do anything like that."

Polls this far out from a primary are notoriously unreliable. The survey was conducted among 1,500 voters who either described themselves as GOP or leaning GOP. The margin of error is 2.5 percentage points.

Fabrizio joined Trump's campaign as pollster after working for Rand Paul in the 2016 presidential primaries, TIME reported in June 2016. After sparking a firestorm on political Twitter, Fabrizio posted a Gallup poll from September 2010 showing that Hillary Clinton with the support of 37% of Democrats in the 2012 primary, while Barack Obama had 52%.

Though a poll from a month later showed Obama with 64% support.

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Donald Trump's Campaign Pollster Tweeted Out a Poll That Is Not Great for the President - TIME

7 things Donald Trump shouldn’t talk about in Arizona tonight (but probably will) – CNN

It's a major test for Trump -- particularly given that there appears to be such a marked difference between Teleprompter Trump who was on display Monday night in his Afghanistan speech and Campaign Trump. Previous attempts at restarting a new -- and more politic -- version of the Trump Administration have been dashed along the rocks of the President's desire to be applauded and loved by his base.

It's a reality that has caused the Republican party -- and, really, the entire political world -- to suffer from a permanent case of whiplash.

2. The Cleveland Browns

At a campaign rally in Kentucky (sound familiar?) in March, Trump attributed the fact that Kaepernick had not yet been signed by an NFL team to a fear of his wrath.

Given Trump's both-sides-do-it response to the violence caused by white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, a riff on the Browns -- or Kaepernick -- would be, um, inadvisable.

3. Louise Linton

Trump -- ever loyal to those who are loyal to him -- might be tempted to defend Linton. "She's a great lady -- and elegant too!," or something like that.

Bad idea. No one likes the guy defending the rich and entitled from the average Joe (or Jane).

4. John McCain and Jeff Flake

There's no question that a few ad hominem attacks against Flake and/or McCain would be well received by the assembled masses there to hear Trump speak tonight. But, he needs to understand that simply giving people what they want for a cheap applause high can badly undermine his efforts to unify his party behind things like tax reform, the budget and the debt ceiling. Attacking Flake and McCain in their home state would be Trump cutting off his nose to spite his face. Which, if past is prologue, he's uniquely capable of doing.

5. The eclipse photos

By not mentioning Eclipse-gate, Trump can keep it that way. But, it may be hard for him to resist using the episode as yet more evidence of the media's terrible and horrible biases against him.

"They said I looked into the sun without the glasses on!," you can imagine Trump saying. "And I didn't."

Spoiler alert: He did.

6. Steve Bannon

Trump cares deeply about his media coverage and watches Breitbart along with the Daily Caller and the Drudge Report very, very closely. And he won't be happy -- at all -- about his former aide taking pot shots at him.

But, there's zero to be gained by going after Bannon. Conservative media -- led by Breitbart -- have been an incredible ally for Trump, and will be again. Why alienate them over one day of bad headlines?

Plus, talking about staffing and process is the surest way to lose a crowd. "Did you see what a guy who used to work for me said?," is not exactly the world's greatest applause line.

7. The electoral map

As you may have heard, Trump won the electoral college when no one said he could. They said it was impossible to do. But he did it. And, yes, he won Arizona -- by 3.5 points -- in 2016.

As you may have also heard, the 2016 election was 287 days ago. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States 214 days ago.

Spending any time at all about how he won a historic victory makes it look like Trump is still living off past glories. Which believe me -- a guy who once scored 30 points in a 6th grade basketball game -- is not a good look.

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7 things Donald Trump shouldn't talk about in Arizona tonight (but probably will) - CNN

Robert De Niro Unloads On Donald Trump In Biting New Interview – HuffPost

Screen legend Robert De Niro is taking on PresidentDonald Trump once again, this time insulting the presidents intelligence and accusing him of bigotry.

If he was smart, hed be even more dangerous, the two-time Oscar winner told Deadline.Hes dangerous as it is.

He also suggested that Trumps days may be numbered.

Hes terrible, and a flat-out blatant racist and doubling down on that, and its good that he does because hes going to sink himself, De Niro said.

De Niro, who is nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of fraudster Bernie Madoff in HBOs King of Lies, wants next months awards show to take on the president.

It should be a kind of theme in some way however, you know, balanced it could be so were not making it all about that, he said. But at this point, were at a crisis in this country with this fool, who never should have gotten into the position that hes in.

Since the upcoming Emmy Awards will be hosted by Stephen Colbert, who has risen to the top of the ratings with his nightly Trump jokes on the Late Show, theres a chance De Niros wish will come true.

De Niro has been one of Hollywoods harshest Trump critics, last year saying hed like to punch him in the face.

He has since said Trump has sullied the presidency, slammed proposed cuts to programs for the arts as bullshit and called America under Trump a tragic dumbass comedy.

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Robert De Niro Unloads On Donald Trump In Biting New Interview - HuffPost

Donald Trump’s Afghanistan About-Face Eclipses Cable News’ Solar Blackout Crowd Of 5.1 Million TV Viewers – Deadline

Mondays cable news cycle included two huge ratings events: a rare cross-country total eclipse of the sun, and an equally historic Donald Trump total walk-back on his position about American involvement in Afghanistan.

Given President Donald Trumps obsession with TV ratings and winning, were happy to report Trump obliterated the sun. No competition.

On the cable news networks, the sun scored its biggest crowd on Fox News Channel, whose wildly enthusiastic Shep Smith snagged a much deserved 2.1 million viewers from 1-3 PM. CNN followed with 1.7 million viewers, and MSNBC logged another 1.2 million. In total, the sun tallied 5.1 million U.S. viewers by TV. Happily for Trump, the millions more people who went out of doors to see the eclipse for themselves, hopefully all wearing protective glasses, do not count toward the suns tally.

On those same cable news networks later that day, 10.3 million viewers saw Trumps stunning 180 spin on Afghanistan.

Our troops will fight to win, Trump vowed. From now on, victory will have a clear definition: attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al-Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over the country and stopping mass terror attacks against Americans before they emerge.

This seismic shift rocked longtime Trump supporters. Since Donald Trumps early years as a reality TV star, he steadfastly opposed American involvement in Afghanistan when the Celebrity Apprentice star got asked about the matter, for reasons we cannot explain. Trump clung to that popular position as a candidate for the White House. In his speech Monday night, Trump explained that position had been his instinct and he likes to go with his instinct, but on this he ignored his instinct because he had been told the view looks different from the Oval Office.

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Donald Trump's Afghanistan About-Face Eclipses Cable News' Solar Blackout Crowd Of 5.1 Million TV Viewers - Deadline

Trump: I’m building the wall even ‘if we have to close down our government’ – CNBC

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would be willing to shut down the government in order to get the funding needed for his proposed border wall.

"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said at a rally in Arizona.

If Congress does not reach a funding deal that the president signs into law by a Sept. 30 deadline, the government will shut down. Congressional Democrats have explicitly said they will not support a deal that includes money for the wall.

Trump could, in theory, veto or choose not to sign a spending measure that Congress passes without funding for the barrier, causing a shutdown.

As a candidate, the president pledged to build a physical barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexico border as part of his push to crack down on illegal immigration. He pledged that Mexico would fund the project, but America's southern neighbor quickly quashed that idea.

The White House has sought federal funding for the wall, which is spending Democrats have pledged not to back in a bill. The majority Republicans will need the minority party's votes to keep the government open.

Lawmakers whose districts sit along the border, including Republicans, have questioned the effectiveness of a physical wall.

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Trump: I'm building the wall even 'if we have to close down our government' - CNBC