TRENTON -- Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump treated Tuesday night like the unofficial beginning of what could be a bruising general election. But Bernie Sanders vowed to keep the Democratic primary going. A day after the Associated Press declared her the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee -- and the first female to clinch a major party's nomination…
After years of racist statements, Donald Trump is finally starting to turn off some Republicans, including Joe Scarborough. On Wednesday's "Morning Joe," the co-host demanded that presumptive GOP nominee prove that he's not a bigot.
"Donald, guess what, I'm not going to support you until you get your act together," Scarborough said, despite supporting Trump previously. "You're acting like bush-league loser, you’re acting like a racist, you’re acting like a bigot. This is called art of the deal. I'm taking my deal off the table. Until you come to the table and get on the other side of the table and prove to me you're not a bigot and you don't take my party down in the ditch, you don't have my endorsement."
Scarborough claimed that Trump "can't use Hillary Clinton as a gun against my head" just to get Trump support.
"I'm taking the gun away from my head," he said. "I'm putting it on the table and now it is in your hands on whether you are going to prove to the Republican Party and me personally that you're not a bigot. So, don't use Hillary Clinton as a threat against me. Don't use Hillary Clinton as an excuse, as your blank check to say racist things about people born in Indiana. No, Donald, you don't get to play it that way. I'm not scared of you and I'm not scared of the base because they are just as pissed off as me. Walk away. It's called the art of the deal. It's what Donald Trump has been preaching all his life. They are -- I can't say the word they are. ... They’re weak."
Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi wrote a scathing indictment of Scarborough in February for playing the role of "Trump's lapdog" on MSNBC.
“Nobody who’s covered the Trump run could fail to notice the increasingly hot-and-sweaty ménage a trois between the candidate and Mika and Joe,” Taibbi wrote. “Even their on-air performance at the town hall last Wednesday was such a craven display of bumlicking and softballing that media critics all over the country denounced them for it.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan denounced Trump's statement about the judge this week but fell short of pulling his endorsement. Brzezinski told panelist Willie Geist this makes it impossible for Ryan to use Clinton as a punching bag.
"Paul Ryan, you can't use Hillary Clinton, either, in your pathetic, weak kind of meandering around this problem, because Willie Geist, you know what we have here with these Republican leaders who are like, 'can't have Hillary Clinton.' Really? You hate her that much you'll take a racist," she said. "You hate her that much we're going to have eight more years of the Republicans we had who said from the get-go with Obama, we just want him to fail. You're going to have more of the same. You are more of the same."
"It's the worst of all worlds, Willie, because if they embrace the racist to beat Hillary, they lose to Hillary and destroy the party," Scarborough said. "Listen to me guys, you embrace a guy making racist comments."
Brzezinski interrupted asking why people like Scarborough must explain it to the GOP. "Because they're stupid," Scarborough said. "You lose the presidency, right? And then you lose the Senate and you lose the House and then we small-government conservatives, we're screwed because you've destroyed our party because you're running scared."
"Stop running scared. You've got to stand up to Donald Trump and say, prove to us that you deserve our support. When you do that, then maybe we'll consider giving you our endorsement back," Scarborough said. "But right now, Willie, they are running scared and Donald smells it so he can say whatever the hell he wants to say."
So, Scarborough's support of Trump seems to have been shelved, creating a kind of kabuki theater of morning show drama.
Check out the video below (at about the 3:30 mark)
TRENTON -- The road to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton being crowned the presumptive Republican and Democratic presidential nominees, respectively, was hardly a normal one. Here's a look back at 13 top moments from a crazy 2016 presidential primary season -- including a few that involve New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: 1. Donald Trump's first speech…
Republicans are finally beginning to question Donald Trump as their 2016 presidential nominee, saying Trump’s doubling down on attacking a federal judge with Mexican heritage was one of the more overtly racist statements from the GOP in years.
“If anybody was looking for an off-ramp, this is probably it,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, told the New York Times. “There’ll come a time when the love of country will trump hatred of Hillary.”
“There are a lot of people who want to be loyal to the Republican Party, including me,” Graham told NBC on Tuesday. “There’ll come a point in time where we’re gonna have to understand that it’s not just about the 2016 race, it’s about the future of the party, and I would like to support our nominee: I just can’t.”
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Trump’s statements that Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a lawsuit brought by Trump University students who say they were ripped off, should recuse himself because of his ethnic heritage are “textbook racism.”
“Claiming a person can’t do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment,” Ryan said Tuesday, at a Washington press conference to feature his latest anti-poverty plan. “It’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Whether the Republican Party will coalesce around the need to pick another nominee is a big and open question. Some Republican National Committee members have said the party’s rules allow its national convention delegates to break with results from primaries and caucuses. However, that would have to be the first order of business when the convention convenes in late July.
In the meantime, the question of how far Trump can go before being rejected by the GOP is escalating. Trump knows that disclosures surrounding his predatory business practices as part of the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in California are exceptionally damaging. It is his pattern to ramp up the rhetoric to distract from coverage he dislikes. However, in this case, Trump's racist attacks appear to be crossing a line even among Republicans, who for years have pursued many policies alienating communities of color.
On Tuesday afternoon, apparently bowing to pressure, his campaign issued a statement in which Trump did not apologize and again said the judge should be removed, but added he would not be commenting further.
Below is a list of comments from more than a dozen Republicans who have slammed Trump’s attacks but not rejected his candidacy. The comments were compiled by the Clinton campaign, which issued a release saying, "While it's striking that so many Republicans have called out their nominee for his attacks on Judge Curiel, many Republicans are continuing to stand by their endorsement of Trump, seemingly unconcerned about the power a President Trump would have to actually nominate judges and justices."
• Sen. Ben Sasse [R-NE]: "Saying someone can't do a specific job because of his or her race is the literal definition of racism."
• Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME]: "Donald Trump's comments on the ethnic heritage and religion of judges are absolutely unacceptable. His statement that Judge Curiel could not rule fairly because of his Mexican heritage does not represent our American values. Mr. Trump's comments demonstrate both a lack of respect for the judicial system and the principle of separation of powers."
• Rep. Jason Chaffetz [R-UT]: "I think people are disturbed that you would want to try to dismiss a judge based on his ethnicity. You can have qualms with how he's ruling in the case, you can have qualms about his political affiliation, I think that's fair game. But why doesn't he say, look it's up to the attorneys, it's in the court, and leave it at that?"
• Sen. Marco Rubio [R-FL]: "That man [Curiel] is an American, born in the U.S., a judge who has earned that position. I don’t think it reflects well in the Republican Party. I don’t think it reflects wells on us as a nation."
• Ohio Governor John Kasich: “Attacking judges based on their race and/or religion is another tactic that divides our country. More importantly, it is flat-out wrong.”
• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: "I don’t know what Trump’s reasoning was, and I don’t care. His description of the judge in terms of his parentage is completely unacceptable."
• Brian Walsh, former communications director for Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn: “I don't care if [Trump’s] the nominee— Republicans should loudly condemn this racist, nonsensical rhetoric by Trump.”
• Sen. Rob Portman [R-OH]: "The fact that the judge has a Mexican American heritage has nothing to do with how you should describe his judicial ability. The guy was born in Indiana. He’s as American as I am."
• Rep. Jackie Walorski [R-IN]: “Questioning a judge’s impartiality based on his ethnicity is not only inappropriate, it has no place in American society."
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell [R-KY]: "I couldn't disagree more." [with Trump's remarks]
• Sen. Bob Corker [R-TN]: "I don’t condone the comments."
• Sen. Jeff Flake [R-AZ]: “His statements this week on the judge—that’s a new level... Because it’s not just… ill-informed or ignorant statements, but they suggest that when he’s president, you know, after November, that… perhaps he ought to go after that judge. That’s a whole new level. So that’s—it’s very disturbing.”
• Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorney General under President George W. Bush: "I'm not supporting Donald Trump's comments. ... The call for a recusal of a judge based solely on ethnicity in my judgment is wrong and to do it publicly in my judgment demeans the judge and really does hurt the reputation of the judiciary, and I just think it was inappropriate the way that Donald Trump did it in this case.”
• Sen. Mark Kirk [R-IL]: "I find Donald Trump's belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American ... After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world."
• Sen. Tim Scott [R-SC]: "Scott, the only African-American Republican in the Senate, told CNN Trump's criticisms are "racially toxic.""
• Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: "He wasn't my first choice. He wasn't my choice in Wisconsin. There are issues, not the least of which lately with his statements about the judge he commented on, which I just fundamentally disagree with him on."
• Sen. John Thune [R-SD]: ""It's not a good place to be" for Republicans to have to repeatedly explain their presumptive nominee's statements. ... He's going to have to adapt. This is not working for him. They were inappropriate comments.""
• Carlos Gutierrez, former Secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush: "Fmr. Bush official on Trump doubling down on judge attack: "It's not a time to be silent."
• Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Judge Curiel is an American hero who stood up to the Mexican cartels. I was proud to appoint him when I was Gov.”
The Associated Press reported Hillary Clinton clinched the nomination Monday night, a day before primary elections were held in California, New Jersey, Montana and the Dakotas. It left many fans of Bernie Sanders complaining about disenfranchisement and the Clinton campaign furious that the media jumped the gun. That made it perfect for Stephen Colbert's truth bomb on the "Late Show" election night.
Colbert began highlighting the fact that Clinton is the first female nominee of a major political party. "It sends a powerful message to women that if you just work hard, someday you too can be vilified as an unlikable, machiavellian crone," Colbert said.
He also said that it's fitting Clinton is the first female nominee in the race against Donald Trump, because "he'll be his party's last nominee."
The way that the AP decided to call the election for Clinton was by calling superdelegates and getting hard commitments for who they say they're supporting. Once they got to the magic number, the AP announced Clinton would be the winner. "So, all you Bernie supporters who may be feeling disenfranchised, just calm down and remember the media and the superdelegates have been talking secretly and they decided it's over. They know best. Okay? But good job, you guys! Great job! That should calm them down."
The Clinton campaign anticipated announcing her victory after the election, "so when she does announce it, please, everyone, act like you didn't see this coming, okay?"
On the eve of the election, an audio recording was released by Wellesley of Clinton's commencement address she was voted to give by her fellow students in 1969. Despite being overwhelmingly supported in the vote to give the speech, "Bernie Sanders insists, 'This isn't over! I still have a path to giving that speech! I am building a time machine and I promise there will be a contested commencement!'" Colbert said in his best Sanders impression.
Colbert quoted Clinton's 1969 speech where she talked about the need for her fellow graduates to fight in politics to make the impossible possible. "And she has done it. She has made the impossible possible. She is a woman who has clinched the presidential nomination," Colbert began. "That is something you could only see in a sci-fi novel or any other country in the world."
Check out Colbert's full commentary below, complete with the 1970's photo of Burt Renolds naked in Cosmo:
Hillary Clinton celebrated her triumph as the first woman to lead a major party in a race for the White House, scoring big wins in California and New Jersey to cement her grip on the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination.
The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state spoke to supporters at a raucous event in Brooklyn, New York, and placed her achievement in the context of the long history of the women's rights movement.
"Thanks to you, we have reached a milestone," Clinton said in a speech. "We all owe so much to who came before."
Clinton, 68, appealed to supporters of party rival Bernie Sanders, 74, to join her campaign. She said Democrats had been bolstered by his campaign for eradicating income inequality, which has commanded huge crowds and galvanized younger voters. Not yet ready to concede, Sanders vowed to fight on.
Clinton also harshly attacked Donald Trump, 69, her presumptive Republican rival in the Nov. 8 presidential election, for using divisive rhetoric that belittled women, Muslims and immigrants. She took specific aim at his condemnation of an Indiana-born judge of Mexican heritage.
"The stakes in this election are high and the choice is clear. Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander-in-chief," Clinton said.
"When Donald Trump says a distinguished judge born in Indiana can’t do his job because of his Mexican heritage, or he mocks a reporter with disabilities, or calls women pigs, it goes against everything we stand for," she said.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed Clinton leading Trump by 10 percentage points nationally as they launch their general election battle, little changed from a week earlier.
Obama, Sanders to meet
Clinton edged Sanders out in a rough-and-tumble battle that stretched over four months and 50 states. She won support, especially among older voters, with a more pragmatic campaign focused on building on the policies of her fellow Democrat, President Barack Obama.
Obama called both Clinton and Sanders on Tuesday. The White House said he congratulated her on securing the delegates necessary to clinch the nomination and would meet Sanders on Thursday at Sanders' request.
CNN and NBC projected Clinton would win in California. With about two-thirds of the votes counted, Clinton led Sanders 56 percent to 43 percent, avoiding what would have been an embarrassing loss in America's most populous state. The California win came on the heels of a decisive win in New Jersey and narrower victories in New Mexico and South Dakota in Tuesday's nominating contests. Sanders won Montana and North Dakota.
A defeat in California would have reinforced doubts about Clinton’s candidacy. Now, she can turn her attention to healing her fractured party and drawing in Sanders’ passionate supporters.
Clinton’s credentials for office have not been a serious issue, but a scandal stemming from her use of a private email account while at the State Department hangs over her head as she enters the general election campaign.
She will also be running against the current of this election season, one that has favored outsiders like Trump and Sanders. In Trump, she has an unpredictable opponent who shreds the standard campaign rule book on an almost daily basis.
Few options
For his part, Sanders seems to have few options left.
Democratic Party elites are lined up squarely behind Clinton, including most likely Obama, who may endorse his former secretary of state as early as this week. Pressure will mount on Sanders to exit graciously and throw his support to Clinton.
Eight years ago in June 2008, Clinton did exactly that when she ended her bitter primary fight with Obama. At the time, it appeared unclear whether Obama would be able to garner the support of Clinton’s most ardent backers, but that election drew the highest voter turnout in generations.
At a rally in Santa Monica on Tuesday, Sanders showed no interest in ending his upstart candidacy, telling cheering supporters he would go on campaigning through next Tuesday's primary in the District of Columbia and carry his political mission - although not necessarily his campaign - to the party convention in Philadelphia next month.
"We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, D.C.," he said. "And then we take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."
Prominent Democrats say that unifying the party now is the highest priority, and that if Sanders maintains his challenge to Clinton through the party’s July 25-28 convention, Trump will benefit.
"We have our work cut out for us," said Representative Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat from Long Beach, California, who was one of the few Democrats in the House of Representatives to remain neutral in the race. "My overriding fear is that we get divided, and Donald Trump could win the election."
Even if Sanders does concede to Clinton, his supporters may not go quietly. Several told Reuters in recent days that they would have trouble supporting Clinton in a matchup against Trump, saying they either would not vote or would support a third-party candidate.
“People right now are talking if Bernie doesn’t get the nomination, they are deregistering as Democrats,” said Susan Hartley, 71, a lawyer from Northern California, who was part of the noisy throng of thousands at a Sanders rally in an aircraft hangar in Santa Monica. “People are really upset.”
(Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Richard Valdmanis, Howard Goller and Frances Kerry)
President Barack Obama called former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday to congratulate her on securing the delegates needed to become the Democratic presidential nominee, the White House said.
"Her historic campaign inspired millions and is an extension of her lifelong fight for middle-class families and children," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.
Obama also spoke to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, and will meet with him on Thursday at Sanders' request, Earnest said.
"The president thanked Senator Sanders for energizing millions of Americans with his commitment to issues like fighting economic inequality and special interests' influence on our politics," Earnest said.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Michael Perry)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is scheduled to speak at a rally in Santa Monica, California at 10 p.m. local time.
Sanders' bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination took a large hit during the evening; he won the party caucuses in North Dakota, but lost to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the New Jersey and South Dakota primaries.
He was also behind in the crucial California primary based on early returns. The senator has said he will continue his campaign into the Democratic National Convention in July, when the party's delegates are expected to vote. However, Clinton has already reportedly amassed enough delegate to clinch the nomination.
Sanders' speech can be seen in its entirety below.
Hillary Clinton's apparent path to the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nomination continued on Tuesday with a win in the party's South Dakota primary, the Associated Press reported.
CNN once again invited Donald Trump defender Jeffrey Lord to come on and attempt to defend the candidate's racist rhetoric -- and once again it went badly for Lord.
Lord's dismissal of Trump's racism was so dismal that even normally unflappable CNN host Anderson Cooper took offense, with conservative commentator S.E. Cupp blistering Lord with, "If the Republican party is supposed to be colorblind, then why is Trump the first to bring up the fact that this judge is Mexican?”
But things took a heated turn when political adviser Van Jones ripped into Lord, telling him he was "out of defenses."
"You have been brilliant sir, figuring out before anybody else, what he was going to be able to do." Jones exclaimed. "And you have found ways to defend him. You are now out of defenses. You can't say this is racism! I now think you are beyond the reality of a rational mind to follow you."
"If I thought he was a racist, I would never have been here," Lord retorted.
"Fair," Jones replied. "Just one question, I don't think he's racist either. I think he's a racial opportunist -- which is different..." before it devolved into cross-talk, with Lord asking, "You think he's Al Sharpton."
Asked once more if he believed Trump said anything about Judge Gonzalo Curiel that was racist, Lord simply answered "no," causing Cupp to laugh, and Jones to slam his hand on the desk, roll his eyes and give up trying.
Watch the video below via CNN:
Hillary Clinton was projected to win the Democratic Party primary in New Mexico on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
Clinton's win came after after both her victory in the New Jersey primary and her speech in Brooklyn, New York positioning her as the first woman to secure the presidential nomination in either the Democratic or Republican parties.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will lay off 50 percent of his campaign staff, the New York Times reported on Tuesday night, citing campaign sources.
The report came shortly after Sanders lost the New Jersey Democratic primary to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton has reportedly amassed enough delegates to be the party's presumptive nominee, though the senator has stated that he will continue campaigning until the Democratic National Convention in July.
According to the Times, most of the staff members being released are advance workers and field staffers. However, some members of the campaign could gain jobs in Sanders' Senate office.
Sanders, who has spent most of the past two weeks campaigning in California, will reportedly travel back to Vermont on Wednesday, but will then head to the District of Columbia, where the final primary contest will be held on June 14.
Appearing on TBS with Conan O'Brien, former Saturday Night Live cast member Dana Carvey showed off what he called his "evolving" Donald Trump impression, nailing the businessman's salesman patter and physical mannerisms down cold.
"I figure if he starts World War III, we'll be in our bunkers and he'll still be selling to us on closed-circuit TV," Carvey explained before launching into Trump-speak.
"You know, we had a fabulous nuclear war, it was fabulous. Tremendous nuclear war. Your bunkers are terrific, your bunkers are fabulous. The Chinese bunkers are a disaster -- a disaster!"
Carvey went on to explain that his famous George H.W. Bush impression changed over the years, becoming more extreme as the ex-president almost became a parody of himself.
The comedian also showed off his take on Bernie Sanders.
Watch the video below via Conan O'Brien:
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