PRIORITIES USA FRIDAY HOT TAKES
PRIORITIES USA FRIDAY HOT TAKES: TRUMP DOES THE UNTHINKABLE — PRIORITIES LAUNCHES NEW AD WITH GOLD STAR MOTHER — TRUMP CLAIMS OBAMA FOUNDED ISIS, SERIOUSLY — TRUMP’S ECONOMIC PLAN ONLY HELPS PEOPLE LIKE HIM
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Priorities USA Friday Hot Takes! Infighting abounded in Trump’s campaign this week as the wheels continued to come off, with numerous Republican officials announcing they couldn’t support Donald Trump, including GOP Senator Susan Collins and 50 GOP officials who warned Trump “would put at risk our country’s national security.” Trump’s antics are causing him to lose the support of women voters in the party and even put states like Utah in to play. Perhaps chyron’s like this aren’t helpful:
And then there was the whole mess where the Secret Service may or may not have been involved. Let’s go to the week that was…
TRUMP DOES THE UNTHINKABLE. Perhaps it was only a matter of time, but Donald Trump suggested Hillary Clinton be shot at one of his rallies.
THIS IS NOT OK.
The Washington Post editorialized “Mr. Trump’s flirtation with such rhetoric poses a greater threat. By seeming to encourage armed insurrection against a Hillary Clinton administration, Mr. Trump has recklessly magnified the danger of his previous claim that the election is being “rigged” against him. And encouraging armed resistance against the federal government is not the most worrisome of possible meanings. Other listeners assumed that Mr. Trump was encouraging supporters to train their weapons on Ms. Clinton herself.”
Donald Trump is a dangerous and divisive lunatic who is uniquely unsuited to be president. This may be the purest example yet in an ever growing list.
PRIORITIES LAUNCHES NEW AD WITH GOLD STAR MOTHER. Debuting over the weekend on CBS at the top of Face the Nation and also featured on ABC World News Tonight, Priorities launched its latest TV ad “Michelle” in partnership with VoteVets PAC. The ad features Michelle DeFord, a Gold Star mother whose son David served in the military and was killed in Iraq in 2004.
After Donald Trump’s recent repeated attacks on the Khan family, whose son also died in Iraq in 2004, Michelle was outraged: “When I saw Donald Trump attack another Gold Star mother I felt such a sense of outrage…I would like to tell Donald Trump what it feels like, the sense of emptiness that only losing a child can bring. Those people should be honored and treated with kindness for the rest of their life, and I don’t think that Donald Trump will ever understand that.”
The new spot is backed by a $5.4 million buy and will run statewide in FL, NC, OH, IA, NV, PA, NH, CO, & nationally on MSNBC, CNN & FOX. You can watch both TV clips as well as the new ad, below.
Washington Examiner: Democratic PACs deploy another Gold Star mom against Trump
Tampa Bay Times: Gold Star mom takes on Trump’s treatment of Khans in new pro-Clinton TV ad
Washington Times: Veterans group, pro-Clinton super PAC release ad featuring Gold Star mother
Politics PA: Democratic Super PAC Targets Trump in New TV Ad (VIDEO)
TRUMP CLAIMS OBAMA FOUNDED ISIS, SERIOUSLY. So this week Donald Trump claimed the President of the United States founded ISIS. Seriously. As the NYT reports, conservative Hugh Hewitt bent over backwards to give him an out:
“an interviewer pressed Mr. Trump on the propriety of claiming that Mr. Obama had founded the Islamic State, Mr. Trump said it was “absolutely” the case and added: “Is there something wrong with saying that? Are people complaining that I said he was the founder of ISIS?”
Later, in an interview with the radio host Hugh Hewitt, Mr. Trump was given an opportunity to clarify, but did not budge.
“You meant that he created the vacuum, he lost the peace,” Mr. Hewitt suggested, leaving Mr. Trump an opening.
“No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do,” Mr. Trump said. “He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton.”
Mr. Hewitt replied, “But he’s not sympathetic to them,” referring to President Obama. “He hates them. He’s trying to kill them.”
“I don’t care,” Mr. Trump said. “He was the founder. His, the way he got out of Iraq was that, that was the founding of ISIS, O.K.?’”
He didn’t take it.
TRUMP’S ECONOMIC PLAN ONLY HELPS PEOPLE LIKE HIM. On Monday, Trump attempted what seemed like his 1000th campaign reset by laying out a new economic policy to the Detroit Economic Club. Unfortunately, “economists said the few details he offered only made his proposals more confusing… reveal[ing] shaky details and a mix of proposals that could deliver even more tax breaks for top earners and a windfall for wealthy hedge fund managers and Wall Street executives.” The Washington Post Editorial Board lamented that Trump’s speech “managed to embrace the worst of traditional Republican doctrine while repudiating the best of it.” Rather than presenting viable policies, “there was, in short, little in the way of tangible benefit for the downscale Americans for whom Mr. Trump claims to speak.” Like much of Trump’s ‘policies,’ it is “held together by smoke, mirrors and scapegoating.”
MINI-TAKES:
Buzzfeed: American Nazi Chair: Trump Win Would Be “A Real Opportunity” For White Nationalists (So we can’t let up)
Justin Barasky on FOX: Power Play with Chris Stirewalt 8/8/16 (Priorities in the lion’s den)
Washington Post: Donald Trump’s ‘I Know You Are, But What Am I’ strategy (He’s very mature)
Buzzfeed: Hispanic Florida Republican Party Spokesperson Leaves Because Of Trump (Sad!)
Justin Barasky on Bill Press Show: Listen Here (We’re wearing the same shirt!)
Politico: RNC suffers spate of Trump-related departures (Feel bad for them…no we don’t)
TWEET OF THE WEEK: This week’s tweet of the week goes to Mic’s Emily Cahn who tweeted:
Have a great weekend!
Justin Barasky
@JustinBarasky |
Courtney Rice
