PRIORITIES USA FRIDAY HOT TAKES
CHAOS COMING TO GOP? — BUT WAIT, TED CRUZ IS WORSE — PRIORITIES HITS CRUZ, TRUMP IN NEW DIGITAL AD — THIS WEEK IN TRUMP — GOP NASTINESS NOT LETTING UP
Hello and welcome to another edition of Priorities USA’s Friday Hot Takes. Did anyone else think it was strange that a week went by without some sort of major Donald Trump controversy? Onto the news…
CHAOS COMING TO GOP? The Washington Post reported early in the week that a “Trump loss to Cruz could reshape the GOP race…with Tuesday’s primary emerging as a key moment that could reshape the Republican nominating contest both mathematically and psychologically.” And as Politico reported, “Ted Cruz scored a decisive victory in Wisconsin on Tuesday, defeating Donald Trump and seizing most of the state’s 42 delegates in a win that boosted the odds of a historic contested convention this summer.” It seems almost inevitable that the GOP is headed towards a chaotic convention that could leave the party deeply wounded regardless of who the nominee is, and especially if they take the nomination away from Donald Trump (who is once more threatening a third party bid.)
BUT WAIT, TED CRUZ IS WORSE. As the GOP elite begins to reluctantly warm up to Ted Cruz as their last best hope to stop Donald Trump, they seem to be forgetting that Ted Cruz would be a disastrous nominee as well. Ted Cruz wants to “prosecute Planned Parenthood,” called Social Security “the definition of a Ponzi scheme,” would eliminate the Department of Education, and has repeatedly said that shutting down the government over the Affordable Care Act was a good idea. For a closer look at just how dangerous Ted Cruz is, check out our Priorities USA web ad titled “Cruz Control.”
PRIORITIES IS READY FOR A CRUZ CANDIDACY. As first reported in the Huffington Post “On Wednesday, the morning after Cruz scored a big victory in the Wisconsin primary, two Clinton-backing groups — the super PAC Priorities USA and the pro-abortion rights organization Planned Parenthood Votes — debuted a new digital ad making the case that Cruz and Trump were reading from the same script when it came to abortion policy…The two groups had been running a digital ad campaign for the past week that has been targeting only Trump. They’re replacing that spot with this one as part of the five-figure campaign that has been running on Facebook and Instagram in Florida and Ohio. According to an official with Priorities USA, over the first week, the ad has received more than 550,000 total views. The updated Cruz-Trump version will be running for another week.” Watch the new spot below:
THIS WEEK IN TRUMP. Yes, Donald Trump made it through the week without a massively inappropriate and offensive gaffe or scandal, but he didn’t entirely disappoint. This week we learned about Trump’s numerous wrong predictions on the economy, that his plan to build a giant wall around the country could actually *increase* crime, and that one of his events managed to temporarily close down a domestic violence crisis center. Nice work.
GOP NASTINESS NOT LETTING UP. As you read earlier in Hot Takes, it seems as if the GOP’s headed to a chaotic convention, and as a result the nastiness of their primary hasn’t shown any sign of letting up. Here’s a sample of this week’s back and forth:
AP: Trump calls on Kasich to quit race: ‘He’s taking my votes’
CNN: First on CNN: Cruz launches anti-Kasich attack ad in Wisconsin
NBC: Trump, Cruz Work to Block Kasich From Ballot at Open Convention
Politico: Cruz seizes on Trump’s struggles with women
Washington Post: Pro-Trump group misleads viewers about Ted Cruz’s stance on refugees and immigration
Washington Post: Kasich labels Cruz a ‘smear artist’ over Wisconsin spot
MINI-TAKES:
Huffington Post: Charles Koch Is Privately Committed To Getting Paul Ryan Nominated In Cleveland: Source (Bought & paid for by the Koch’s 16!)
Washington Post: 9 things Bernie Sanders should’ve known about but didn’t in that Daily News interview (here’s a 10th, ed board prep)
Washington Post: Mr. Sanders’s shocking ignorance on his core issue (ouch)
TWEET OF THE WEEK: This week’s tweet of the week goes to MSNBC’s Benji Sarlin who said this:
HOT TAKES VIDEO: Check it out HERE!
Justin Barasky
@JustinBarasky |
Courtney Rice
