The trouble began this morning, with a new report from Newsweek detailing how the Trump campaign’s affection for Kremlin is frightening long-time U.S. allies.
Just a few hours later, Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani admitted that he knew about James Comey’s letter to Congress before it went public—raising the specter of possible illegal, politicalized leaks coming out of the FBI. Giuliani has spent the past few hours furiously backtracking.
Just before noon, two of Chris Christie’s former aides were found guilty on all counts in the Bridgegate scandal. Christie is the leader of Trump’s transition effort and responsible for hiring for a potential Trump administration. The bombshell convictions have thrown that position into crisis. Christie has already canceled a visit to New Hampshire tomorrow—and it remains to be seen whether Christie will continue to lead the transition effort.
As the campaign suffers setback after setback, Trump’s rallies have turned even darker. Tonight in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a rally attendee once again harassed reporters—this time yelling “F*** Jorge Ramos!” Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was even forced to beg supporters to be “nice nice.” And for the second night in a row, Trump suggested that military officers will not follow orders from Hillary Clinton if she’s elected president.
The hateful rallies, the shady senior advisors, the constant scandals and overtures to the Kremlin all point to a campaign that is literally stumbling to the finish line.
Pro-Trump former FBI official says he’s channeling agents’ rage
NY Mag: Rudy Giuliani Cracks, Confesses After Merciless Interrogation by Steve Doocy
MSNBC: Allegations mount against FBI, possible campaign intervention
NY Times: As Trump Ally, Rudy Giuliani Boasts of Ties to F.B.I.
Newsweek: WHY VLADIMIR PUTIN’S RUSSIA IS BACKING DONALD TRUMP
Politifact: Trump wrongly claims tremendous support from women
Think Progress: The ugliest Donald Trump rally of the campaign
Mic: Donald Trump just can’t imagine how a woman could be the “boss” of the military
CNBC : Chris Christie is ‘toxic’ for Trump after the guilty Bridgegate verdict
WMUR: Christie cancels NH trip for Trump after former aides convicted in ‘Bridgegate’ scandal
]]>“If Donald Trump had a decent, ethical bone in his body he would fire Governor Christie as Chair of his Presidential transition team for knowing about the George Washington Bridge lane closures as they occurred and for repeatedly lying about his role in the Bridge-gate scandal ever since. The last person we need leading a possible transition of government power is someone who would so brazenly and irresponsibly violate the public trust.
“These lane closures harmed the economy, frustrated commuters and inconvenienced first responders. Governor Christie has repeatedly lied about Bridge-gate in order to cover up his knowledge of the use of taxpayer resources to enact political revenge on a New Jersey mayor. But today, we learned the truth–Christie knew about the plan to close lanes of traffic on the busiest bridge in America. Chris Christie is unfit to make decisions that affect our country’s future and Donald Trump should recognize that fact and fire him immediately.”
]]>ATTACKS:
Attack: #1: Christie: Hillary Clinton lied when “she said there was no marked classified information on her server.” “Lets face it: Hillary Clinton cared more about protecting her own secrets than she did about protecting America’s secrets. Then she lied about it over and over again. She said there was no marked classified information on her server.”
Attack: #2: Christie: Clinton lied when “She said that she did not email any classified information.”
THE TRUTH:
FBI Director Comey testified that three documents in question were not properly marked if they were meant to indicate classified information. “Second, Director Comey testified that the classification markings on these three documents were not proper and did not comply with federal guidelines or manuals. The emails did not have classified headers, and they did not identify the original classifier, agency, office of origin, reason for classification, or date for declassification. Instead, they had only a ‘c’ for ‘confidential’ next to a paragraph further down in the email. Third, Director Comey testified that, based on these facts, it would be a ‘reasonable inference’ fore Secretary Clinton to have ‘immediately’ concluded that these documents were not classified.” [Rep. Cummings letter to Rep. Chaffetz, 7/7/16]
FBI Director Comey testified that the improperly marked emails could be reasonably judged as not classified. “MATT CARTWRIGHT: If Secretary Clinton were an expert about what’s classified and not classified and we’re following the manual, the absence of a header would tell her immediately that those three documents were not classified. Am I correct in that? COMEY: That would be a reasonable inference.” [FBI Director James Comey Testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 7/7/16]
FBI Director Comey: There was not evidence to show “that she knew she was receiving classified information.” “I do not believe there’s evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that she knew she was receiving classified information in violation of the requirements… She did in fact — there is, in my view, not evidence beyond certainly probable cause. There’s not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that she knew she was receiving classified information or that she intended to retain it on her server.” [FBI Director James Comey Testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 7/7/16]
FBI Director Comey said there was not evidence to show that “she knew she was sending classified information” or that she was doing so with intent. “But on Thursday, his careful explanation that the FBI ‘did not find evidence sufficient to establish that she knew she was sending classified information beyond a reasonable doubt to meet the intent standard’ brought them a measure of relief.” [Politico, 7/7/16]
]]>This couldn’t be further from the truth. Under her leadership, the State Department designated Al-Qaeda affiliate Boko Haram’s leaders as terrorists.
Christie can lie all he wants, but that won’t get him closer to the White House.
CHRISTIE’S LIE: CHRISTIE: “What was the solution from the Obama/Clinton team? A hashtag campaign! Hillary Clinton, as an apologist for an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Nigeria resulting in the capture of innocent young women guilty or not guilty? She fights for the wrong people.”
THE TRUTH: Under Hillary Clinton, the State Department designated Al-Qaeda affiliate Boko Haram’s leaders as terrorists. “The United States on Thursday named three alleged leaders of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram as ‘foreign terrorists,’ the first time it has blacklisted members of the Islamist group blamed for attacks across Africa’s most populous nation. The State Department identified the three as Abubakar Shekau, calling him the ‘most visible’ leader of the group, and Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi, who it said were tied both to Boko Haram and to al Qaeda’s north African wing. ‘These designations demonstrate the United States’ resolve in diminishing the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks,’ it said, saying that Boko Haram or associated militants were responsible for more than 1,000 deaths in the past 18 months.” [Reuters,6/21/12]
]]>In fact, Christie has a career of falsehoods. In 1994, he said it was “no secret” that he was pro-choice after donating to Planned Parenthood, only to deny it when he was a presidential candidate. Some of his claims are bizarre, too. As Governor, he said he wouldn’t harm the pensions of New Jersey police and firefighters. Two years later, that was proven false when he signed a bill that made public employees pay more for their pensions.
Have your facts ready when Christie speaks tonight–you’ll certainly need them. Here are a few to get you started.
August 2015: Chris Christie on climate change: “By breathing we contribute to it.” “Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie thinks that human exhalation is a cause of climate change. Or he thinks that statement is ‘ridiculous.’ Either might be true. ‘The climate’s been changing forever, and it will always continue to change,’ said Christie at an Aug. 4 event in Manchester, New Hampshire, which was captured on video. ‘Does human activity contribute to it? Of course it does. We all contribute to it in one way or the other. By breathing we contribute to it.’” [Huffington Post, 9/2/15]
September 2015: Chris Christie: “I never said that humans contribute to climate change by breathing.” “‘I know you really care about this subject, but you know what, the first thing you need to do is not be wrong, and not quote me incorrectly. I never said that humans contribute to climate change by breathing,’ Christie said. ‘I never said it,’ he continued when she reminded him of the date and event. ‘Were you there?’ She confirmed that she was there and that she heard him say it. ‘Then you need to clean out your ears, young lady,’ the candidate replied. ‘I never said that humans contribute to climate by breathing. Ridiculous statement. I never said that.’” [Huffington Post, 9/2/15]
1994: Chris Christie: “I support Planned Parenthood privately with my personal contribution and that should be the goal of any such agency, to find private donations.” “While running to be a Morris County freeholder in 1994, Christie admitted that he donated money to Planned Parenthood. He made the comments while speaking out against restoring county funding for the organization. ‘I support Planned Parenthood privately with my personal contribution and that should be the goal of any such agency, to find private donations,’ Christie said, adding: ‘It’s also no secret that I am pro-choice.’” [Daily Caller, 5/21/12]
2016: Chris Christie: “I never donated to Planned Parenthood.” DICKERSON: “The competition has gotten a little tougher between you and some of your rivals. You said Marco Rubio is trying to slime his way to the White House, when he — when a super PAC running an ad said that you supported Common Core, you once supported an assault weapons ban, and that you donated to Planned Parenthood. Why — which one of those is wrong?” CHRISTIE: “Well, I never donated to Planned Parenthood. So, that’s wrong.” […] DICKERSON: “So, just on the Planned Parenthood, never donated, never supported?” CHRISTIE: “No. No.” [CBS’ Face the Nation, 1/10/16]
Chris Christie: “No new [gun laws] have been made since I’ve been governor.” “The governor acknowledged gun rights could be a thorny issue for him among conservative voters if he decides to seek national office. But he told people here that his Democratic predecessors are to blame for any perception of his lack of support for gun rights. ‘I know there’s a lot of perception about my view on gun rights because I’m from New Jersey and because the laws are the way they are, but these laws were being made long before I was governor and no new ones have been made since I’ve been governor.’” [New Jersey Star-Ledger, 6/2/15]
New York Times: “Actually, he signed three major pieces of gun-control legislation.” “Sometimes, Mr. Christie wants to make himself a strong, reliable right-winger. He told an anti-gun-control crowd in South Carolina in June, for example, that all of New Jersey’s gun laws preceded his tenure and ‘no new ones have been made since I’ve been governor.’ Actually, he signed three major pieces of gun-control legislation.” [New York Times, 6/30/15]
1994: Chris Christie: “The issue which has energized me to get into this race is the recent attempt by certain Republican legislators to repeal New Jersey’s ban on assault weapons.” “‘The issue which has energized me to get into this race is the recent attempt by certain Republican legislators to repeal New Jersey’s ban on assault weapons,’ Christie said in a statement released (on April 14, 1993). ‘In today’s society, no one needs a semi-automatic assault weapon.’” [New Jersey Star-Ledger, 4/15/93]
Chris Christie on whether gun control inspired him to get into politics: “No. That’s not true. No…It doesn’t sound like me.” “‘Is it true that the issue of gun control inspired you to get into politics?’ Bret Baier asked Christie. (The exchange starts just after 9 minutes in this video.) ‘No. That’s not true. No,’ Christie said. ‘Well, in 1993, you said you were motivated to run for office by supporting, preserving New Jersey’s assault weapons ban,’ Baier said, adding, ‘it’s in the Star-Ledger.’ ‘I don’t remember saying that,’ Christie said. ‘So, you know.’ Baier then read a statement from Christie – who ran for the state Senate in 1993 – that was quoted by the Star-Ledger: ‘‘The issue which has motivated me to get into this race is the recent attempt by certain Republican legislators to repeal New Jersey’s ban on assault weapons.’ That was 1993.’ ‘That’s 22 years ago,’ Christie said. ‘Bret, I don’t remember. I could have. It doesn’t sound like me.’” [Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/25/15]
2009: Chris Christie to New Jersey police and firefighters: “The claim that any harm would come to your pension when I’m elected Governor is absolutely untrue. It is a 100% lie.” “‘The claim that any harm would come to your pension when I’m elected Governor is absolutely untrue. It is a 100% lie,’ Chris Christie wrote to New Jersey law enforcement officers during his campaign against Jon Corzine. The 2009 letter, and a near-carbon copy sent to firefighters, has resurfaced amid Christie’s bid to overhaul public servants’ pension system. ‘Nothing will change for the pensions of current officers, future officers or retirees in a Christie Administration,’ says the ‘Open Letter to Members of Our Law Enforcement Community,’ simply signed ‘Chris.’ ‘I have repeated time and time again that the pension agreement we made with our member our law enforcement community must be respected,’ the 2009 letter adds. ‘It is a sacred trust.’” [Chris Christie letter via PBA Local 334, 2/28/11]
2011: Chris Christie signed into law legislation that forced New Jersey public employees to pay more for their pensions. “Gov. Chris Christie today signed into law controversial legislation that will force public employees to pay more for their pension and health insurance. Christie, who signed the bill flanked by a bipartisan cast of mayors, said passage of the bill is his biggest legislative victory since taking office. ‘It is important moment for the state of New Jersey, for its citizens, its taxpayers and New Jersey has once again become a model for America,’ Christie said at the bill signing. Starting on Friday, public employees across all levels of government will pay an additional percent of their pay into the pension system.” [New Jersey Star-Ledger, 6/28/11]
Christie once said that “Donald will take himself down over time, with some of the stuff that he says.” Looks like Christie is dragging Trump down with him.
Chris Christie on Donald Trump: “How thin-skinned is he that he can’t take any criticism, and how will that affect his ability to be the president?”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Wednesday that he is happy that Donald Trump won’t participate in the Thursday debate hosted by Fox News, but that the real estate mogul’s boycott is ultimately a ‘mistake.’ I think it just makes people call into question his judgment,’ Christie said on Boston Herald Radio’s ‘Morning Meeting.’ ‘I got knocked down from the main debate stage to the undercard debate by Fox Business News. I thought it was unfair, but I didn’t whine. I didn’t complain.’ ‘America wants a fighter who’s not going to walk away from a fight, but will walk into one,’ Christie added. […] The governor said that Trump’s move could make voters wonder, ‘How thin-skinned is he that he can’t take any criticism, and how will that affect his ability to be the president?’ ‘I think that Donald Trump is making a big mistake,’ Christie said. ‘I think any time you get a podium and a microphone and 15 to 20 million people watching in an election campaign, you should take it.’
The guy who’s leading in the polls here isn’t even gonna show up for your debate tomorrow night. […] What’s that tell you about what we can expect if things go sideways when you go into the Oval Office? What are you going to do? Just go upstairs to the residence and say I’m not playing? You know, Vladimir Putin isn’t being nice to me, I’m not going to return his phone call? The press isn’t being nice to me, I’m not going to hold any more press conferences? I mean basically this is like, this is like a 13-year old argument. I mean I can’t tell you how many times I would say to my mother growing up, ‘It’s not fair.’
Chris Christie on Donald Trump: “When he gets criticized, he can’t take it and I think that’s a shame and I don’t think as president you’re gonna be able to deal with it that way.”
SEAN HANNITY: “What do you think this shows, then? What are you saying it shows about him?” CHRIS CHRISTIE: “Well I think it shows that when he gets, when he gets criticized, he can’t take it and I think that’s a shame and I don’t think as president you’re gonna be able to deal with it that way. I mean there’s no other conclusion to come to, why elese would he do this? Why is he picking on Megyn Kelly? I mean, I don’t under–why’s he picking on Fox News? I don’t understand that. It makes no sense.”
Chris Christie on Donald Trump: “He sits in his jammies in Trump Tower and phones in” to news shows.
CHRIS CHRISTIE: “And he phones in to every darn show. None of the rest of us do that. He sits in his jammies in Trump Tower and phones in. You guys don’t let any of the rest of us do that. […]The fact is that I’m not picking on him. It’s the truth.”
Chris Christie on Donald Trump: “I don’t think his temperament is suited for [the presidency] and I don’t think his experience is.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Thursday that GOP presidential rival Donald Trump doesn’t have the right mindset to be president. ‘Donald’s a great guy and a good person. But I just don’t think that he’s suited to be president of the United States,’ he told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren as they walked along the Jersey Shore. He added: ‘I don’t think his temperament is suited for that and I don’t think his experience is.’
Chris Christie: “A crisis for Donald is when his favorite restaurant on the Upper East Side isn’t open.”
For Christie himself, the aggression in recent days has been directed at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and leading GOP candidate Donald Trump. ‘A crisis for Donald is when his favorite restaurant on the Upper East Side isn’t open,’ Christie said.
Chris Christie said a man who couldn’t imagine Donald Trump as president was “feeling [his] pain.”
’I can’t imagine that man as president of the United States,’ responded Swanson, referring to Trump, ‘with all the outrageous things that he has come up with. It’s just unbelievable.’ ‘Yeah, you’re feeling my pain right now,’ Christie said. The crowd broke into laughter.
Chris Christie: “Donald will take himself down over time, with some of the stuff that he says. And we all see that.”
CHRISTIE: “Donald will take himself down over time, with some of the stuff that he says. And we all see that. You know. If he really does think he can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and still keep voters, I think that’s a little bit too much for most voters in the United States.”
Showtime is over, everybody. We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. https://t.co/IRWObrTQvb
— Chris Christie (@ChrisChristie) January 5, 2016
We’re not picking a legislator in chief, and we’re not picking an entertainer in chief. https://t.co/0Nlu0NJuqs #Christie2016 #FITN
— Chris Christie (@ChrisChristie) December 19, 2015
Gov. Chris Christie came out swinging Monday against Donald Trump, describing him as a one of the ‘carnival barkers of today’ and declaring ‘showtime is over.’ Christie, speaking at New Hampshire’s St. Anselm College, never mentioned Trump by name, but it was clear he was referencing the billionaire GOP front-runner. The tough-talking New Jersey governor told his audience that while the nation lives in ‘dangerous, perilous times,’ he hit Trump by suggesting the current crises ‘demand a grown-up.’
Chris Christie on Donald Trump: “Showtime is over. We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief.”
Gov. Chris Christie came out swinging Monday against Donald Trump, describing him as a one of the ‘carnival barkers of today’ and declaring ‘showtime is over.’ Christie, speaking at New Hampshire’s St. Anselm College, never mentioned Trump by name, but it was clear he was referencing the billionaire GOP front-runner. The tough-talking New Jersey governor told his audience that while the nation lives in ‘dangerous, perilous times,’ he hit Trump by suggesting the current crises ‘demand a grown-up.’ ‘Showtime is over. We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. Showmanship is fun, but it is not the kind of leadership that will truly change America.’
And so, when Donald comes in and the way Donald speaks, and he says ‘Everyone in Washington’s a loser. I’m a winner, I’ll win in Washington, everyone else is a loser.’ People go, ‘Yeah, yeah, he’s got something there, everyone’s in Washington’s a loser. He’s rich, maybe that makes him a winner. OK!’ I don’t think everyone’s thought about it in great depth yet. […] That sentiment is a good sentiment, but anybody can burn a building down. Not everyone can rebuild it. And you have to have the experience to know how to do that. […] ‘I said ‘Donald, you don’t want this job. This does not play to your skillset.’ I said, ‘You know, if the Speaker of the House does not post one of your bills, you can’t fire him. It’s just not the way it works man. ‘I want this. No. You’re fired.’
Chris Christie on Donald Trump: “I don’t comment on his comments. It’s just not worth the time.”
Gallagher: ‘It’s great having you on the program, how are you sir?’ Chris Christie: ‘I’m doing great today, Mike. Thanks for taking the time to have me on the program.’ Gallagher: ‘Oh it’s my pleasure. My running joke with all of the candidates is “how much would you love it if we stop asking you about Donald Trump, huh?”‘ Christie: [Chuckles] ‘I don’t answer it anymore. That’s my position. I don’t comment on his comments. It’s just not worth the time.’
Chris Christie said Donald Trump’s Muslim ban was “ridiculous.”
Gov. Chris Christie on Monday said Donald Trump’s call for a ‘total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States’ in the wake of the San Bernardino terror attack is ‘ridiculous,’ deriding it as ‘the kind of thing that people say when they have no experience and don’t know what they’re talking about.’
Chris Christie on Donald Trump’s Muslim ban: “This is the kind of thing that people say when they have no experience and don’t know what they’re talking about.”
MICHAEL MEDVED: “Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has just made a controversial call, at least it’s being reported, to halt all Muslim immigration. Your reaction, Governor Christie?” CHRIS CHRISTIE: “Again, this is the kind of thing that people say when they have no experience and don’t know what they’re talking about. We do not need to endorse that type of activity, nor should we. What we need to do is to increase our intelligence capabilities and activity both around the world and in the homeland. We need to back up our law enforcement officers, who are out there fighting this everyday, give them the tools they need. We need to cooperate with peaceful Muslim-Americans, who want to give us intelligence against those who are radicalized. We did this after 9/11. And it was a very impressive approach. I can tell you in New Jersey that we frequently had sources inside mosques in New Jersey that were giving us information that helped us to bring cases and intervene on things that we otherwise wouldn’t have know about. This is just to me someone speaking from no experience.”
Chris Christie said Donald Trump’s Muslim ban would be overturned as unconstitutional.
MEDVED: “You’ve also had experience in the court system. Don’t you think it’s likely that would be overturned as a violation of the First Amendment – prohibitions on religious tests?” CHRIS CHRISTIE: “There’s no question in my mind, but there are folks in this race who don’t care about what the law says because they’re used to being able to just fire people indiscriminately on television. So, they don’t have to worry about laws say or not say. The fact is this, you can do this if you have a president who’s experienced, who’s prosecuted folks, operated under the law of the Constitution and has made the difficult decisions over the last thirteen years to keep New Jersey safe to help keep our country safe. And you do not need to be banning Muslims from the country. That’s, in my view, that’s a ridiculous position and one that won’t even be productive.”
Chris Christie said that Donald Trump’s claim that American Muslims were celebrating 9/11 in New Jersey “didn’t happen.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Monday gave a stronger rebuttal to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s claims that Muslims Americans were cheering the attacks on 9/11, saying ‘that didn’t happen.’ Asked about Trump’s repeated claims that Muslim citizens in New Jersey celebrated the terror attacks, Christie told an ABC News reporter that ‘it didn’t happen.’ The clarification comes a week after the governor said he didn’t ‘recall’ Muslims cheering, in part because he was concerned about family and friends who were close to the attacks. ‘I said I didn’t remember it, that was the way I put it that day,’ Christie told the ABC News reporter. ‘It wasn’t me trying to hedge anything, it was me telling the truth. I don’t remember it happening…And if it had happened, I’m pretty sure I’d remember it.’ ‘That did not happen in New Jersey that day and hasn’t happened since,’ he concluded.
Chris Christie said that Donald Trump’s border wall plan “doesn’t make any sense.”
CAMEROTA: “Let’s just put up a couple of bullet points here. He’s going to make Mexico pay for the border wall, as you’ve heard. He’s going to deport all criminal aliens, as he’s said. Defund sanctuary cities, end birthright citizenship. You’ve spoken about that too. Do you like that plan — that part of the plan?” CHRISTIE: “You know, listen, I think it’s got to be something that’s discussed, but I don’t think that’s the first thing we should be worried about. We talked about four different ways you have to secure the border. Walling and fencing in certain places, not the entire border. Doesn’t make any sense.” CAMEROTA: “And how are you going to pay for that?” CHRISTIE: “Well, the United States will pay for it. This makes no sense. I’ve met President Pena Nieto a number of times. I don’t think if we present him with a bill, he’s going to pay for it. And this is not negotiation of a real estate deal, OK. This is international diplomacy and it’s different. And it’s different.”
During the town hall in Derry, Christie suggested that one of his potential tacks against Trump is the businessman’s lack of political experience. He questioned whether Trump could get things done in government, especially his major proposals like a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. ‘I tell everybody who goes to a Donald Trump event, if you get to ask a question, just ask him ‘how?’ ‘ Christie said. ‘I don’t care which of the things he talks about just ask him, ‘How? How?’ ‘ The governor also said, ‘I can answer ‘how?’ because I’ve done it.’ He looped in other Republican opponents by saying ‘that’s the difference between a governor and Donald Trump. That’s the difference between a governor and (senator) Marco Rubio. That’s the difference between a governor and (senator) Ted Cruz.’
New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who often talks about his re-election margins with Latino voters, called Trump’s comments ‘wholly inappropriate’ during a news conference.
Chris Christie: “Anybody who agrees with allowing the Russians into the Middle East is just painfully naive.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “So how do you push them out?” CHRISTIE: “Oh, listen, you should be – first, they should never be. But now that he’s there, America’s got to re-establish its presence in that area. We should be the ones leading the fight on ISIS. And by the way, we know Putin’s not fighting ISIS. Putin’s there to prop up Assad. After he told him –” STEPHANOPOULOS: “Would you put in a no-fly zone?” CHRISTIE: “Absolutely. And I’ll tell you this, there’s now 300,000 nearly dead in Syria because of Assad and now Putin is going in and teaming with the Iranians to prop up Assad. Only Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could mess up this foreign policy that badly. And anybody who agrees with allowing the Russians into the Middle East is just painfully naive.”
Donald Trump: “Russia wants to get rid of ISIS. We want to get rid of ISIS. Maybe let Russia do it. Let them get rid of ISIS.”
SCOTT PELLEY (voiceover): “Or, he had another idea, leave it to an old adversary.” DONALD TRUMP : “If you look at Syria, Russia wants to get rid of ISIS. We want to get rid of ISIS. Maybe let Russia do it. Let them get rid of ISIS. What the hell do we care?”
Chris Christie said “it appears” that Donald Trump purposefully mocked a reporter’s physical disability and that “it’s just not worthy of someone running for president of the United States.”
GANGEL: “His latest controversy is that he is mocking a New York Times reporter with a physical disability. He now claims that he didn’t know that the reporter had a physical disability but if you watch the video. It’s pretty hard.” CHRISTIE: “I saw the video.” GANGEL: “Do you think he knew what he was doing?” CHRISTIE: “It appears that way but, you know, he’s got to answer for himself. Like — I mean, I think part of the folly of all this is that we’re answering for him. He said what he said. Now the people who vote will judge him. You shouldn’t be making fun of people’s disabilities, it’s just not worthy of someone running for president of the United States.”
Hillary Clinton co-sponsored that bill, and was lead sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act in 2005 and 2007. Republicans on Capitol Hill, however – including several seeking their party’s presidential nomination – consistently vote against wage equality. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio—we’re looking at you.
These guys aren’t the only ones to uphold the wage gap. As we celebrate this moment in history, let’s not forget that Republican candidates have a history of opposing women’s progress (and one—ahem, Jeb—had never heard of the Paycheck Fairness Act).
Donald Trump said equal pay legislation could lead to “an economy where it’s no longer free enterprise economy.” “CUOMO: You said I’m going to be great for women. I will do the most that can be done for women. Will you pass an equal pay? You know the statistics. You know, they don’t get paid what men do? TRUMP: I’m looking into that very strongly. I was asked that question yesterday. I’m looking into it very strongly. I will have a position on it in the not too distant future. One of the problems you have is you get to have an economy where it’s no longer free enterprise economy. You know, everybody gets the saying whether the — the concept of it is good. It’s a very complicated. The whole issue is a very complicated issue.” [CNN’s New Day, 8/11/15]
Ted Cruz voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times. According to the Congressional record, Ted Cruz cast two “nay” votes against the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would strengthen protections for victims of wage discrimination on the basis of sex. [S. 2199, 4/1/14; Senate roll call vote 260, 9/10/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]
Marco Rubio said he voted against fair pay legislation because “all it really did is just help lawyers sue.” “The most recent data shows that women who work full time throughout the year make just 79 percent of what men doing the same make, and the gap shows up in virtually every job, every single industry, and at every education level. It’s even wider for women of color. Yet when asked by members of the work/family organization Make It Work why he has voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times, a bill that would ban salary secrecy and strengthen protections against unequal pay, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) indicated that the gap shouldn’t even exist today. ‘It’s already illegal to pay women less than men,’ he responded. ‘If I pay a woman less than a man for the same job, it’s illegal now. You can be sued now.’ Though he offered up lawsuits as the remedy for unequal pay, Rubio is against the Paycheck Fairness Act because it would result in more lawsuits. ‘The Paycheck [Fairness] Act, all it did was allow trial lawyers to sue,’ he said. ‘The reason I voted against it is because…all it really did is just help lawyers sue.’” [Think Progress, 11/30/15]
Marco Rubio repeatedly voted against equal pay legislation, calling it “a welfare plan for trial lawyers.” “Republicans, seeking to mitigate the fallout after recent debates over women’s health have cast them in a harsh light among female voters, were careful not to be seen as rooting against the cause of equal pay. Instead, they decried the bill as a political stunt. ‘It’s pure election-year politics,’ said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). ‘This bill reads more to me like some sort of a welfare plan for trial lawyers.’” [Talking Points Memo, 6/5/12; Senate roll call vote 115, 6/5/12; Senate roll call vote 103, 4/9/14; Senate roll call vote 260, 9/10/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]
Marco Rubio claimed the push for fair pay legislation was “about scoring political points.” In an official press release, Rubio said, “Once again, Senate Democrats have wasted the American people’s time by holding yet another show vote that proves any sense of urgency they have is about scoring political points instead of solving the problems that threaten America’s future.” [Official Marco Rubio Press Release, 6/5/12]
Jeb Bush: “What’s the Paycheck Fairness Act?” “‘What’s the Paycheck Fairness Act?’ Bush asked, in an exchange captured by the liberal opposition research outfit American Bridge. Once the man he was speaking with defined it as a bill that would ensure that women get ‘equal pay for equal work,’ Bush took issue with his phrasing. ‘Equal pay for the same work, not for equal work — I think that’s the problem with it. I think there’s a definition issue,’ he said, before declining to say whether or not he thought Land should support the legislation.” [The Hill, 10/15/14]
Jeb Bush suggested that existing wage laws were sufficient to ensure equal pay. “‘Wages should be equal, and there are laws to make it so, and they should be enforced,’ Bush said in response to a subsequent question from one female employee, implying he thought that existing statutes were effective at making it so. The employee cited the oft-used statistic that by some measures women are paid 79 percent of what men make for the same work. Bush interrupted her to ask whether that was the case at the startup.” [TIME, 7/16/15]
Chris Christie vetoed “two sensible reforms that would help prevent women from getting cheated in their paychecks.” “Gov. Chris Christie says he’s committed to pay equity for women. So why, for the second time, has he killed two sensible reforms that would help prevent women from getting cheated in their paychecks? […] One bill, called the Wage Transparency Act, Christie outright vetoed. It would have required state contractors to make their gender, race and wage information publicly available, as federal contractors will soon have to. Christie argues the state’s prevailing wage law already requires wage reporting. But it doesn’t cover all public contractors. And we have yet to see any evidence that doing so would be too ‘costly and burdensome’ for business, as Christie claims. Weinberg’s other bill, the Unfair Wage Recovery Act, Christie’s conditional veto has rendered toothless. Under this reform, a woman who suddenly discovers she is being paid less than male co-workers would have had the opportunity to seek all the back pay she is owed, without hitting an arbitrary statute of limitations.” [Star-Ledger, 8/14/14]
Rand Paul voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times and compared equal pay legislation to the Soviet Politburo. “Paul, a staunch libertarian, said passing a law that would have given judges more leeway to determine if a woman had been paid unfairly would be a step toward reviving the Soviet Union’s notorious central governing body here. The United States’ free market, he argued, works much better at setting wages at the appropriate level. ‘Three hundred million people get to vote everyday on what you should be paid or what the price of goods are,’ Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill. ‘In the Soviet Union, the Politburo decided the price of bread, and they either had no bread or too much bread. So setting prices or wages by the government is always a bad idea.’” [Huffington Post, 6/5/12; Senate roll call vote 115, 6/5/12; Senate roll call vote 103, 4/9/14; Senate roll call vote 260, 9/10/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]
Rand Paul: “I think some of the victimology and all of this other stuff is trumped up.” “Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday that Democrats are failing in their attempts to frame the GOP as a party that wages a war against women. ‘The whole thing of the ‘war on women,’ I sort of laughingly say, ‘Yeah, there might have been – but the women are winning it,’’ the Republican senator from Kentucky said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ He said women have made great strides and, as an example, now make up more than half the students at medical and law schools. […] ‘And I think some of the victimology and all of this other stuff is trumped up. We don’t get to any good policy by playing some sort of charade that somehow one party doesn’t care about women or one party is not in favor of women advancing, or other people advancing.’” [CNN, 1/26/14]
John Kasich said the gender wage gap was “based on experience” and “tied up in skills.” “In Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) grilled presidential candidate John Kasich about his views on immigration, gun control, the wars in the Middle East, and economic inequality — particularly between men and women. USHCC President Javier Palomarez challenged the Ohio governor on the fact that women in his state working full time are getting paid roughly 78 percent of what men make — according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. For Latina women across the U.S., the gap is even greater: just 54 percent of what men made in 2014. Palomarez pointed out that Kasich has daughters of his own, and asked how he explains this disparity to them. ‘Well, a lot of it is based on experience,’ Kasich replied. ‘A lot of different factors go into it. It’s all tied up in skills. Do you not have the skills to be able to compete?’” [Think Progress,10/7/15]
Women working in Gov. John Kasich’s office were paid an average of $9.81 per hour less than men. “A newspaper investigation has found the average pay gap between men and women in the offices of four of Ohio’s five elected statewide officials has grown to as much as almost $10 an hour, as it’s shrunk to under a dollar across the rest of state government. Women working in Republican Gov. John Kasich’s office earn $9.81-an-hour less, on average, than men, the Dayton Daily News analysis published Sunday showed. That’s the highest gender pay gap among statewide officeholders, according to the newspaper’s study of Ohio Department of Administrative Services data. The gender gap compares to $3.99-an-hour under former Gov. Ted Strickland.” [Associated Press, 4/21/14]
Carly Fiorina called equal pay legislation “tokens” and “gestures.” “Fiorina: I think in some cases we just have to take on the facts. There are plenty of laws in place today that a woman can look to if she’s truly discriminated against at work, where she’s actually earning less for the same job as her male counterpart. So the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — these are tokens. They’re gestures. They don’t truly help women advance. We can’t avoid the factual arguments, because they’re on our side. [CNN, 6/30/14]
Rick Santorum opposed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, calling it “a trial lawyer’s bill.” “As polls show the tightening of a gender gap and the chase by both Romney and Obama for an elusive ‘women’s vote’ that everyone agrees is far from monolithic, Santorum dismissed all the fuss over Romney’s ‘binders full of women’ and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, touted by the president Tuesday and since as the first piece of legislation he signed. ‘It’s very interesting that what Barack Obama pointed to was a trial lawyer’s bill,’ Santorum told me after his brief speech. ‘The Lilly Ledbetter bill basically gives women a longer period of time to file a lawsuit,’ he said. ‘This was advocated by the trial lawyers so they could make more money. This had nothing to do with changing the law with respect to pay for women or rights for women. It simply gave lawyers a longer time to sue. This is the kind of small ball this president is playing. He’s not talking about major issues that can improve the employment picture for women or for people in this country. He’s talking about taking care of his friends in the trial bar.’” [Washington Post, 10/18/12]
]]>Thursday, January 28, 2016
Washington, DC — In response to tonight’s Republican debate in Iowa, Correct The Record President Brad Woodhouse released the following statement.
“FOX News, the Republican Party and the Mini-Me collection of Republican candidates who participated in tonight’s GOP debate in Iowa learned the hard way what it’s like to live in the age of Trump,” said Correct the Record President Brad Woodhouse. “While Trump was across town being carried live by every other network, and while he, not the other GOP candidates, dominated social media, the rest of the Republican field desperately and hopelessly failed to catch up to him.
“It was Donald Trump who set the agenda for a debate that he didn’t even bother to show up for. From talk of zero ‘amnesty’ to snatching health care away from millions of Americans, to spewing their hatred of Hillary Clinton, the GOP debate sounded like a greatest hit parade from one of Trump’s own rallies.
“Long ago this crowd of GOP presidential wannabes made the decision that if you can’t beat him, join him – and in the Age of Trump that means, above all else, hate-filled rhetoric, bellicose fear-mongering and an aversion to any semblance of facts. But for all their efforts tonight, from Cruz to Rubio, Bush and the rest – once again, they got Trumped.”
Correct The Record is a strategic research and rapid response team designed to defend Hillary Clinton from baseless attacks.
Correct The Record ∙ http://correct2016.wpengine.com/∙ Facebook ∙ @CorrectRecord
###
]]>Bumped from the main stage are Paul and Fiorina. Left are the not-so-magnificent seven, from Trump to Rubio to Cruz to…we’ve lost track: in the end, each and every one of these Republicans plies in the same extreme policies and backwards proposals.
You’ll hear shouts and insults and the usual attacks on minorities, women, and immigrants. You’ll see navy-blue suits and faux-angry gestures. But you won’t get a hint of progress—just the same tired spectacle we’ve come to expect.
Bottom line: These Republican hopefuls are all identical – out of touch and too extreme.
WHICH REPUBLICAN HOPEFULS HAVE OPPOSED A PATHWAY TO CITZENSHIP?
| Jeb Bush:
“During an interview Wednesday with the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, Mr. Bush was asked whether he supported a pathway to full citizenship. He replied, ‘No.’ ‘What do we do with the 11 million people here? I think the answer is earned legal status,’ he said.” [Washington Times, 7/8/15]
|
Donald Trump:
“Donald Trump would reverse President Obama’s executive orders on immigration and deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. as president, he said in an exclusive interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd. ‘We’re going to keep the families together, but they have to go,’ he said in the interview, which aired in full on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday. Pressed on what he’d do if the immigrants in question had nowhere to return to, Trump reiterated: ‘They have to go.’ ‘We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country, or we don’t have a country,’ he said.” [NBC News, 8/16/15]
|
Ben Carson:
“CARSON: You also turn off the spigot that dispenses the goodies… DICKERSON: Right. CARSON: … so that people don’t have any incentive to come here. And then those who are here, you know, we have to recognize that we can’t just round them up, but we can give them an opportunity to register. I would give them a six-month period. And if they register and they have a pristine record, they haven’t been causing problems, I would give them an opportunity to become guest workers, not citizens, not voting people, not people who get goodies.” [CBS’s Face the Nation, 9/13/15] |
AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.
Ted Cruz said that “a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair.”
Carly Fiorina said, “My own view is, if you have come here illegally and stayed here illegally, that you don’t get a path to citizenship.” [MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 6/15/15]
Chris Christie stated that providing a pathway to citizenship was “an extreme way to go.”
John Kasich: Kasich remarked that he was “not for giving anybody a path to citizenship here.”
| Ben Carson:
“In response to a question by Sean Hannity about his views on gay marriage, Ben Carson said, ‘Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality. It doesn’t matter what they are. They don’t get to change the definition.’” [Slate, 3/28/13]
|
Marco Rubio:
“It doesn’t exist. There is no federal constitutional right to same sex marriage. There isn’t such a right. You have to have a ridiculous and absurd reading of the U.S. constitution to reach the conclusion that people have a right to marry someone of the same sex.” [The Brody File, 4/26/15]
|
Ted Cruz:
“Cruz warned of the dangers of gay marriage a month after the Supreme Court decision in a July 2013 interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network. ‘If you look at other nations that have gone down the road towards gay marriage, that’s the next step where it gets enforced,’ he said. ‘It gets enforced against Christian pastors who decline to perform gay marriages, who speak out and preach biblical truths on marriage.’” [Huffington Post, 2/3/14]
|
AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.
Donald Trump: On CNN’s State of the Union in this past summer, Trump stated he was for “traditional marriage.”
Jeb Bush: In a campaign press release, Bush wrote, “Guided by my faith, I believe in traditional marriage.”
Chris Christie: Christie criticized the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality.
John Kasich: Kasich opposed both same-sex marriage and civil unions.
| Donald Trump:
“CUOMO: You said I’m going to be great for women. I will do the most that can be done for women. Will you pass an equal pay? You know the statistics. You know, they don’t get paid what men do? TRUMP: I’m looking into that very strongly. I was asked that question yesterday. I’m looking into it very strongly. I will have a position on it in the not too distant future. One of the problems you have is you get to have an economy where it’s no longer free enterprise economy. You know, everybody gets the saying whether the — the concept of it is good. It’s a very complicated. The whole issue is a very complicated issue.” [CNN’s New Day, 8/11/15]
|
Jeb Bush:
“‘What’s the Paycheck Fairness Act?’ Bush asked, in an exchange captured by the liberal opposition research outfit American Bridge. Once the man he was speaking with defined it as a bill that would ensure that women get ‘equal pay for equal work,’ Bush took issue with his phrasing. ‘Equal pay for the same work, not for equal work — I think that’s the problem with it. I think there’s a definition issue,’ he said, before declining to say whether or not he thought Land should support the legislation.” [The Hill,10/15/14] |
John Kasich:
When challenged on the income gap in his home state: “’Well, a lot of it is based on experience,’ Kasich replied. ‘A lot of different factors go into it. It’s all tied up in skills. Do you not have the skills to be able to compete?’” [Think Progress, 10/7/15] |
AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.
Ted Cruz: Cruz voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times. [S. 2199, 4/1/14; Senate roll call vote 260, 9/10/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]
Marco Rubio: Rubio said he voted against fair pay legislation because “all it really did is just help lawyers sue.”
Chris Christie: Christie vetoed “two sensible reforms that would help prevent women from getting cheated in their paychecks.”
| Donald Trump:
“I do not support expanding background checks. The current background checks do not work. They make it more difficult for law abiding citizens to acquire firearms while consistently failing to stop criminals from getting guns. We should re-examine our policy to make sure that these prohibitions do not impede law abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights.” [Ammoland, 7/7/15]
|
Jeb Bush:
“For a minute, the former Florida governor almost sounded like he supported expanding background checks to more gun purchases, agreeing with Colbert that the National Rifle Association’s opposition to mental health checks can be defeated. But then he continued, proving how little he understands about preventing gunviolence in the United States. ‘Why would you want to impose national gun laws on top of every circumstance of this country?’ he asked. When Colbert pointed out that the Second Amendment is applied nationally, so gun control should also be a national issue, Bush disagreed, saying that Florida is different from New York or Vermont.” [Think Progress, 9/9/15]
|
Ben Carson
“In an appearance on Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ben Carson, author of the new book ‘One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future’ discussed his views on the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Carson stated that in high-crime areas, ‘We should be able to engage in conversations about [the Second Amendment],’ and the discussion should center around ‘what can we agree on that doesn’t violate the Second Amendment?’ Carson did say that ‘the Second Amendment is the essential part of our Constitution,’ and clarified afterwards that expanded background checks and an assault weapons ban would be off the table in any discussions on the Second Amendment.” [Breitbart, 5/28/14]
|
AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.
Ted Cruz opposed universal background checks for gun buyers.
Marco Rubio opposed bipartisan legislation to require background checks on gun purchases.
Rick Santorum opposed universal background checks for gun purchases.
John Kasich said of gun background checks: “I don’t think more laws are going to fix this.”
| Donald Trump:
“Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump wants to bar all Muslims from entering the United States. In a statement from his campaign, Trump called for a ‘total and complete shutdown’ of Muslims entering the United States until elected leaders can ‘figure out what is going on.’ When asked by The Hill whether that would include Muslim-American citizens currently abroad, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks replied over email: ‘Mr. Trump says, ‘everyone.’’” [The Hill, 12/7/15]
|
Ted Cruz:
“Sen. Ted Cruz Sunday continued to call for Muslim refugees from Syria to be barred from entering the United States but opening the borders to displaced Christians, arguing there is not a ‘meaningful risk’ that Christians will commit terrorist acts. ‘There is no meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror. If there were a group of radical Christians pledging to murder anyone who had a different religious view than they, we would have a different national security situation,’ Cruz (R-Tex.) told reporters in a middle school gym here.” [Washington Post, 11/15/15]
|
Ben Carson:
“Ben Carson says the United States should not elect a Muslim president. ‘I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,’ the retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate said Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’” [CNN,9/21/15]
|
AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.
Marco Rubio said that Muslims were like “Germans who may have been members of the Nazi party, but weren’t violent themselves.” [ABC’s This Week, 11/15/15]
Jeb Bush said he supported making Syrian refugees “prove” they’re Christian as part of the vetting process.
Mike Huckabee said that “it’s time to wake up and smell the falafel” and close our borders to Syrian refugees.
Rand Paul supported reinstating a failed racial profiling program that targeted Muslims entering the country.
]]>
Donald Trump: “I’m a smart person.” “Trump disagreed with his critics. ‘I’m the worst thing that ever happened to ISIS,’ he declared Tuesday night during an interview with Barbara Walters. ‘I’m a smart person,’ said Trump. ‘I know how to run things. I know how to make America great again.’” [New York Daily News, 12/9/15]
Donald Trump on pundits: “I’m much smarter than them. I think I have a much higher IQ.” “Donald Trump claims he has a higher IQ than conservative pundits George Will and Karl Rove, both of whom he slammed Monday during a campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio. ‘I watch these pundits on television and, you know, they call them intellectuals. They’re not intellectuals,’ Trump told thousands of supporters in the swing state. ‘I’m much smarter than them. I think I have a much higher IQ. I think I went to a better college — better everything,’ proclaimed the University of Pennsylvania graduate, adding that it’s ‘amazing’ the way pundits treat their viewers.” [Washington Examiner, 11/23/15]
Donald Trump on Ted Cruz: “We both have the highest of IQs.” “Trump says he doesn’t question Cruz’s motivations. ‘We could say the same thing on the opposite, you know, maybe that’s why I’m reaching out to him. But it’s not. I just respect him, we have a mutual respect, we get along well. We both have the highest of IQs,’ he said.” [Politico, 9/4/15]
Donald Trump: “If I were a liberal Democrat people would say I’m a super genius of all time — the super genius of all time.” TRUMP: “Look if I were a liberal Democrat people would say I’m a super genius of all time — the super genius of all time. If you`re a conservative Republican, you have to fight for your life. It`s really an amazing thing.” [NBC’s Meet the Press, 8/16/15]
Donald Trump: “I went to the hardest school to get into, the best school in the world, I guess you could say, the Wharton School of Finance, it’s like super genius stuff.” “Hey, look, I went to the hardest school to get into, the best school in the world, I guess you could say, the Wharton School of Finance, it’s like super genius stuff. I came, out I built a tremendous company, I had tremendous success. ‘The Art of the Deal,’ The Apprentice, everything.” [CNN, 8/11/15]
Donald Trump: “I’m, like, a really smart person.” “The hour-long speech was vintage Trump. An unscripted, rambling mix of jokes, boasts, provocations, policy prescriptions to ‘make America great again’ and tirades against illegal immigrants, Mexico’s government, Democrats, the media, terrorists and especially fellow Republicans. […] ‘I went to the Wharton School of Business,’ he noted several times. ‘I’m, like, a really smart person.’” [Guardian, 7/12/15]
Donald Trump on the difference between him and George W. Bush: “Bush didn’t have the IQ.” TRUMP: “Based on – no, no, no. Based on — a feel. Okay? You know, deals are people. I make a lot of – ” O’REILLY: “You sound like George W. Bush. He, he looked into his soul and said he was a good guy. Come on.” TRUMP: “Bush, Bush didn’t have the IQ.” [Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, 6/16/15]
Donald Trump: “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest – and you all know it!” “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest -and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault” [@realDonaldTrump, 5/8/13, 9:37 p.m. ET]
Ted Cruz: “I like Donald Trump.” “Senator Ted Cruz said Tuesday he disagrees with Donald Trump on temporarily banning Muslims from entering the U.S., but he refused to repudiate his Republican presidential rival. ‘I disagree with that proposal,’ Cruz said. ‘I like Donald Trump.’ […] Cruz said he’d still support Trump or any other nominee. ‘I will absolutely support the Republican nominee and I hope and intend for that nominee to be me,’ he said.” [Bloomberg,12/8/15]
Ted Cruz: “I like Donald. He’s a friend of mine.” “While Trump stole some of the spotlight from Cruz, the Texas senator admitted the businessman’s star power was part of the appeal. ‘The reason’s not complicated,’ Cruz told reporters Thursday outside a tea party rally. ‘No. 1: I like Donald. He’s a friend of mine. But when Donald arrives at an event, he brings an army of TV reporters. And Donald’s being there … means the mainstream media will cover the event.’” [CNN, 9/9/15]
Ted Cruz: “When it comes to Donald Trump, I like Donald Trump.” “‘I’m not interested in Republican on Republican violence,’ he told host Chuck Todd, adding that ‘bold … brash’ Trump ‘has a colorful way of speaking.’ The Texas senator’s comments were similar to his defense of Trump during ‘Fox & Friends’ on Tuesday. ‘When it comes to Donald Trump, I like Donald Trump,’ Cruz said on the show. ‘I think he’s terrific.’” [Politico, 7/3/15]
Ted Cruz: “I’m a big fan of Donald Trump’s.” “Ted Cruz on Friday disavowed Donald Trump’s support for requiring American Muslims register as such, a rare public break with the current GOP frontrunner. ‘I’m a big fan of Donald Trump’s but I’m not a fan of government registries of American citizens,’ he told reporters of a plan Trump said he backed a day earlier. ‘The First Amendment protects religious liberty, I’ve spent the past several decades defending religious liberty.’” [Politico, 11/20/15]
Ted Cruz said that Donald Trump is “terrific” and that “he speaks the truth.” “Trump said he does, however, respect one contender for his stance on immigration. ‘I respect Ted Cruz for the view he’s got. He was really out there and strong on it. I shouldn’t say this because, I assume, he’s an opponent, but the fact is he was very brave in coming out,’ Trump said. Earlier in the week, the Texas Republican senator had defended Trump in his feud with NBC over the immigration remarks, calling him ‘terrific’ and saying ‘he speaks the truth.’” [CNN, 7/8/15]
Marco Rubio had an absentee rate that was “four times the Senate average” over his first four years in office. “Of the lawmakers currently serving in the U.S. Senate, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is the least likely to show up for work. He’s been in office for four years, and of 1,198 opportunities to vote, he has declined to do so 99 times. That’s an absentee rate of 8.2 percent—four times the Senate average of 2.01 percent.” [Vocativ, 2/17/15]
Marco Rubio missed fully half of the committee hearings and meetings of the Senate Foreign Relations committee in 2014. “He began missing committee work, even on the subject he most identified with. In 2014, Rubio missed 34 of 68 committee hearings and meetings in the Foreign Relations committee, according to his office’s tally.” [Washington Post, 10/25/15]
Marco Rubio skipped a closed-door Senate Foreign Relations committee briefing on the ISIS attacks in Paris so that he could attend a fundraiser. “At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee went behind closed doors for a briefing titled, ‘The Aftermath of Paris: America’s Role.’ But Sen. Marco Rubio was not there. The Florida Republican is on his way to California for fundraising. The absence illustrates how Rubio is not just missing floor votes but also key hearings on national security and foreign policy — issues he has presented as chief credentials of his presidential campaign. He’s also skipping a Paris briefing this afternoon for all senators.” [Tampa Bay Times, 11/18/15]
Marco Rubio skipped a $310 million dollar vote in the Florida House of Representatives to attend a World Series game. “Hoping for a statewide economic revolution and a spate of high-wage jobs, the Florida Legislature lateThursday approved the offer of a whopping $310 million in incentives to bring a branch of a world-renowned biotech institute to Palm Beach County. […] Several South Florida legislators were absent for the vote, having flown out of Tallahassee on Thursday afternoon to catch Game 5 of the World Series matchup between the Florida Marlins and New York Yankees. Among them: House Majority Leader Marco Rubio, a Miami Republican, who was invited to join the Marlins at their batting practice.” [Sun-Sentinel, 10/24/03]
Marco Rubio left his city commission job “less than halfway through his term.” “Rubio, now a 44-year-old U.S. senator, declined through a spokeswoman to be interviewed about his city commission experience. In his 307-page memoir, he devotes only one paragraph to his West Miami work and calls it ‘mostly uncontroversial.’ He left the job less than halfway through his term.” [Washington Post, 7/30/15]
Ben Carson’s “narrative of spiritual redemption” after committing “acts of violence as an angry young man” were “unrecognizable” to “friends, classmates and neighbors who grew up with Carson.” “At the core of his narrative of spiritual redemption are his acts of violence as an angry young man — stabbing, rock throwing, brick hurling and baseball bat beating — that preceded Carson’s sudden transformation into the composed figure who stands before voters today. […] But nine friends, classmates and neighbors who grew up with Carson told CNN they have no memory of the anger or violence the candidate has described. That person is unrecognizable to those whom CNN interviewed, who knew him during those formative years. All of the people interviewed expressed surprise about the incidents Carson has described. No one challenged the stories directly. Some of those interviewed expressed skepticism, but noted that they could not know what had happened behind closed doors.” [CNN, 11/7/15]
Ben Carson “attempted to recast his previous claims of a full scholarship” to the military academy at West Point “despite numerous public and written statements to the contrary over the last few decades.” “Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on Friday conceded that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point and attempted to recast his previous claims of a full scholarship to the military academy — despite numerous public and written statements to the contrary over the last few decades.” [Politico, 11/6/15]
Ben Carson’s claim that he was held up by a gunman in a Popeye’s restaurant was not corroborated by police reports. “Last month, Mr. Carson said in a radio interview that, as a young doctor, he had a gun stuck in his ribs at a Popeye’s restaurant in Baltimore near Johns Hopkins University. ‘A guy comes in and puts a gun in my ribs. And I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter,’’ Mr. Carson said. ‘He said, “Oh, okay.”‘ The Baltimore Police Department later said it couldn’t find a report matching the incident Mr. Carson described.” [Wall Street Journal, 11/6/15]
Ben Carson’s claim that he protected a few white students during rioting over the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. was not corroborated by his former classmates. “The day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in 1968, Ben Carson’s black classmates unleashed their anger and grief on white students who were a minority at Detroit’s Southwestern High. Mr. Carson, then a junior with a key to a biology lab where he worked part time, told The Wall Street Journal last month that he protected a few white students from the attacks by hiding them there. It is a dramatic account of courage and kindness, and it couldn’t be confirmed in interviews with a half-dozen of Mr. Carson’s classmates and his high school physics teacher. The students all remembered the riot. None recalled hearing about white students hiding in the biology lab, and Mr. Carson couldn’t remember any names of those he sheltered.” [Wall Street Journal, 11/6/15]
Jeb Bush: “People need to work longer hours.” “Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Wednesday that in order to grow the economy ‘people should work longer hours’ — a comment that the Bush campaign argues was a reference to underemployed part-time workers but which Democrats are already using to attack him. During an interview that was live-streamed on the app Periscope, Bush told New Hampshire’s The Union Leader that to grow the economy, ‘people should work longer hours.’ He was answering a question about his plans for tax reform and responded: ‘My aspiration for the country and I believe we can achieve it, is 4 percent growth as far as the eye can see. Which means we have to be a lot more productive, workforce participation has to rise from its all-time modern lows. It means that people need to work longer hours’ and, through their productivity, gain more income for their families. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of this rut that we’re in.’” [ABC News, 7/8/15]
Jeb Bush on Medicare: “We need to figure out a way to phase out this program.” “Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Wednesday that we ought to phase out Medicare, the federal program that provides health insurance to Americans once they’re 65. ‘We need to make sure we fulfill the commitment to people that have already received the benefits, that are receiving the benefits,’ Bush said. ‘But we need to figure out a way to phase out this program for others and move to a new system that allows them to have something, because they’re not going to have anything.’” [Huffington Post, 7/23/15]
Jeb Bush: “I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues.” “Bush said the argument against that effort would be that it’s a ‘war on women.’ ‘You could take dollar for dollar–although I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues–but if you took dollar for dollar, there are many extraordinarily fine community health organizations that exist to provide quality care for women on a wide variety of health issues,’ he said.” [The Hill, 8/4/15]
Jeb Bush on the Iraq invasion: “Taking out Saddam Hussein turned out to be a pretty good deal.” “Jeb Bush on Thursday said ‘taking out Saddam Hussein turned out to be a pretty good deal’ but then said he didn’t want to get into hypotheticals about what would’ve happened had the U.S. (under his brother) not invaded in 2003. ‘Then that’s back to the future and you could make a movie,’ Bush said at a national security forum hosted by Politico. The Republican presidential candidate said the 2007 ‘surge’ left Iraq in a ‘fragile but secure’ state, but that President Obama’s withdrawal of U.S. forces paved the way for the rise of ISIS.” [Daily Beast, 8/13/15]
Jeb Bush: “Pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement… so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies’.” “Jeb Bush doesn’t want birthright citizenship to go away, but he is calling for stronger enforcement for people who abuse it. ‘If there’s abuse, if people are bringing — pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement,’ Bush said on Bill Bennett’s conservative radio show, ‘Morning in America’ Wednesday. ‘That’s [the] legitimate side of this. Better enforcement so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies’, as they’re described, coming into the country.’ ‘Anchor babies’ is a derogatory term used to describe children who are born in the United States to undocumented parents.” [Politico, 8/19/15]
Jeb Bush, after the gun massacre at an Oregon community college: “Stuff happens.” “A day after a massacre on a U.S. college campus, Jeb Bush said ‘stuff happens’ but that it should not lead to tighter gun restrictions.” [Politico,10/2/15]
Carly Fiorina said she was “a chief executive who’s had to make tough calls to save jobs and to grow jobs.” “FIORINA: Can I just — could I just say, as a chief executive who’s had to make tough calls to save jobs and to grow jobs, I think what’s interesting about Dodd-Frank is it’s a great example of how socialism starts.” [Fox Business Republican presidential debate, 11/10/15]
Carly Fiorina said that under her tenure at HP, “we doubled the size of the company, we quadrupled its topline growth rate, we quadrupled its cash flow, we tripled its rate of innovation.” FIORINA: “I led Hewlett Packard through a very difficult time, the worst technology recession in 25 years. The NASDAQ stock index fell 80 percent. It took 15 years for the stock index to recover. We had very strong competitors who literally went out of business and lost all of their jobs in the process. Despite those difficult times, we doubled the size of the company, we quadrupled its topline growth rate, we quadrupled its cash flow, we tripled its rate of innovation.” [CNN Republican presidential debate, 9/16/15]
Huffington Post blog HEADLINE: “Rand Paul Now Just An Itinerant Prop Comic, Apparently” [Huffington Post, 9/16/15]
Rand Paul attempted to fundraise off of a failed “filibuster” that only lasted about 18 minutes. “Sen. Rand Paul staged what he said was a filibuster in an attempt to delay the bipartisan budget deal -– but he only spoke on the Senate floor for about 18 minutes Thursday. […] But Paul’s camp, as it has with his past marathon speeches, urged supporters to donate money to encourage him as he ‘filibustered.’” [ABC News, 10/29/15]
Rand Paul on whether he’s running for president: “I wouldn’t be doing this dumbass live streaming if I weren’t.” “The Kentucky senator live-streamed an entire day on the campaign trail on Tuesday, but things went a little awry when Paul answered questions that people had Googled about him. Paul did not seem too amused when he answered those who used a Google search to ask whether he was still running for president. ‘I don’t know. I wouldn’t be doing this dumbass live streaming if I weren’t. So yes, I still am running for president, get over it.’ ‘This is live, we can’t edit this right?’ Paul continued.” [Huffington Post, 10/14/15]
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