January 16th, 2017 - January 17th, 2017. 428-429 days since the Nov 8, 2016, election of some rich asshole, no.45, and 358-359 days since the Jan 20th inauguration.
Kelly insists Bannon did not exert executive privilege at Trump’s request amid reports ‘all shots were called by the White House’
Donald Trump and John Kelly. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Kelley)
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White House chief of staff John Kelly told Fox News personality Bret Baier that Steve Bannon was not instructed to assert executive privilege.
“Did the White House tell him to invoke executive privilege,” Baier asked.
“No. Steve has had very, very little contact with the White House since he left,” Kelly answered.
“I know Steve a little bit, not very well, he left the White House … has certainly never returned to the White House and with the exception of a few phone calls here and there, very, very little contact with the White House,” Kelly continued.
“And I have certainly have never spoke to him since he left,” Kelly claimed.
Kelly’s claim directly contradicts reporting on Bannon’s marching orders. From the podium today, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders seemed to suggest a need to consult with the White House.
Sarah Sanders earlier today suggested the opposite when asked about Bannon and exec priv: “Any time you have congressional inquiries touching upon the White House, the Congress should consult with the White House prior to obtaining confidential material.” twitter.com/kaitlancollins…
And our reporting has indicated as much: Bannon could not discuss any activities related to the transition or his tenure in the White House.
"All shots were called by the White House," says one source familiar with the proceedings. twitter.com/mkraju/status/…
Watch:
The Daily 202: Unexpected defeat in rural Wisconsin special election sets off alarm bells for Republicans
Perfect storm builds against Republicans in California
With Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve.
THE BIG IDEA: Ten months is an eternity in politics, but a stunning Democratic victory Tuesday in a special election deep in the heart of the rich asshole country suggests a blue tsunami could be forming.
President the rich asshole became the first Republican to carry Wisconsin in a presidential election since Ronald Reagan by running up his score in places like the rural 10th state Senate district, which includes a swath of five counties between Eau Claire and Superior along the Minnesota border.
the rich asshole won there by 17 points in 2016. A special election was triggered when Gov. Scott Walker tapped a popular state senator, who had held the seat since 2000, to become his agriculture secretary. Last night, Democratic candidate Patty Schachtner won by nine points.
-- Wisconsin conservative talk radio legend Charlie Sykes, a the rich asshole critic, called the results ominous and said his prominent friends inside the GOP are freaking out:
Genuinely stunning setback for GOP in Wisconsin. Hard to overstate the anxiety this will cause... jsonline.com/story/news/201…
How Bad is this? Trump won this district with 59% of the vote. Previous Republican incumbent won with 63%. jsonl.in/2mFcKNY via @journalsentinel
- Walker, who looks a lot more vulnerable in his quest for a third term than he did yesterday, called the results “a wake up call.” In a flurry of tweets that posted around midnight, the governor urged his supporters to take nothing for granted:
-- Unlike with Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race, the the rich asshole team cannot blame a flawed candidate. The GOP nominee, Adam Jarchow, is a solid assemblyman who ran a spirited campaign. Four years ago, in fact, he won his seat by defeating Schachtner’s son and has worked hard since then to cultivate a base of support.
-- Mostly under the radar, the special election had become a proxy war and Republicans significantly outspent the Democrats: Americans for Prosperity, backed by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, poured $50,000 into the race. Two other GOP-aligned groups funded by the business community contributed another $80,000.
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, backed by Barack Obama and Eric Holder, spent $10,000. Tammy Baldwin, one of 10 Democratic senators up for reelection this year in a state the rich asshole carried, recorded a get-out-the-vote message for Schachtner:
.@PattyforSenate is ready to stand up for Wisconsin’s hardworking families in the statehouse. If you live in #SD10, make sure you get out and #VotePattyJan16! Find your polling place here: bit.ly/2auBzdw
-- There is an important lesson here for national Democrats: Schachtner is the sort of candidate who can actually defeat GOP incumbents in red congressional districts this fall. She has deep roots in the community, and she is not a fire-breathing liberal.
Her campaign focused not on attacking the rich asshole but fighting the opioid crisis, improving access to health care and bringing good-paying jobs to the region. She didn’t need to talk about the president to benefit from an outpouring of progressive energy and conservative apathy.
She’s the chief medical examiner for St. Croix County, a former EMT and a member of the school board. She is also a trustee for the local food pantry and sits on the board for a community center that helps victims of sexual and domestic violence.
The first paragraph of the biographical page on Schachtner’s website notes that she is “a former member of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters’ Association,” and that “she and her family have enjoyed hunting in Wisconsin for generations.” She’s been married to her husband, Joe, for 39 years, and they have six grown children and nine grandchildren.
Asked whether her win is a harbinger of Democratic gains this fall, she told the Associated Press: “It certainly could be.” “My message has always been be kind, be considerate and we need to help people when they're down,” she said. “We just need to be kind to people who are less fortunate and just help.”
-- Bigger picture: The upset is the 34th Democratic pickup in the 2018 cycle. “Republicans have [already] flipped four seats from blue to red — two in the Republican-trending Deep South, one in New Jersey and one in Massachusetts,” Dave Weigel notes. “But on average, even in races that went against them, Democrats have improved on their margins from the 2016 rout. In other Tuesday elections, Democrat Dennis Degenhardt won 43 percent of the vote in Wisconsin’s 58th Assembly District; in 2016, Hillary Clinton won just 28 percent of the vote there, and no Democrat contested the seat. In Iowa’s 6th House District, Democrat Rita DeJong won 44 percent of the vote; in 2016, the party’s nominee won just 35 percent. In South Carolina’s 99th House District, Democrat Cindy Boatwright lost with 43 percent of the vote; the party had not run a candidate for the seat in this decade.”
-- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says control of the Wisconsin Senate is now in play, which has significant implications for 2020 redistricting: “Once she is seated, Republicans will hold an 18-14 advantage, with one district vacant. That seat belonged to Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere), who joined Walker's administration last month, and won't be decided until November, when 17 of the state's 33 Senate districts are up for election.”
-- Liberals are pumped.
From a Democratic pollster at Global Strategy Group:
From the Democratic robo-poll firm:
From a writer for Daily Kos:
Huge: Wisconsin Democrats flipped a GOP state Senate seat in a special election, putting the GOP's majority in play in November. Dems could break Scott Walker's grip on Wisconsin in 2018! twitter.com/cFidd/status/9…
This is a crucial development for blocking another GOP gerrymander of Wisconsin after 2020. Scott Walker could be tough for Dems to beat in 2018, but if Dems capture a legislative chamber, the courts would likely have to draw nonpartisan maps twitter.com/PoliticsWolf/s…
Perfect storm builds against Republicans in California
BY REID WILSON - 01/17/18 06:00 AM EST
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — If Democrats are to reclaim the majority in the House of Representatives this year, they will almost certainly do so with the help of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s home state, where multiple favorable waves are building.
Almost a third of the House districts that elected a Republican but voted for Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 are in California. Almost all of those districts have seen explosive demographic growth that benefits Democrats.
The politics of the moment benefit Democrats, too. Polls show President the rich asshole’s approval rating in California is among the lowest in the country. The GOP’s primary legislative achievement last year, a major overhaul of the federal tax code, appears likely to raise taxes on voters in crucial California congressional districts. And even the state Senate Republican leader has been critical of the administration’s efforts to open California’s coast to new oil and gas exploration.
“If the Democrats are going to pick up the House, they have to pick up a bunch of seats in California,” said Bill Carrick, a longtime Democratic strategist based in Los Angeles.
Across the country, the rich asshole’s approval ratings are lower than any of his predecessors at this point in his first term. In California, his numbers threaten to become an anchor that weighs down his own party: Just 28 percent of adults approve of the rich asshole’s job performance, according to a December survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. Just 30 percent told pollsters at the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies they approve of the rich asshole.
Two-thirds of independents disapproved of the rich asshole’s performance, and 57 percent of all voters said they strongly disapproved.
“The president, especially in California, seems to be giving [Democrats] a lot of gifts,” said Assemblyman Phil Ting (D), the chairman of the state Assembly’s Budget Committee.
Republicans in California have not helped themselves, either. Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa have said they will not seek reelection in districts Clinton won by 8 points and 7 points, respectively, opening seats that will be costly to defend.
In developments that could be even worse for the GOP, Republicans have failed to coalesce around a single candidate in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Jerry Brown (D), while no serious Republican has decided to run against Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D). Because of the state’s top-two primary system, that creates the very real possibility that the two most prominent races on November’s ballot will be showdowns between two Democratic candidates, which could amount to a deadly blow to GOP efforts to turn out their voters.
“If the Republican Party fails to have nominees on the November ballot in California, it will be a total disaster for the party in an already challenging state in a year when history already favors the Democrats,” said Ron Nehring, a former California Republican Party chairman who ran for lieutenant governor in 2014. “The top of the ticket drives turnout.”
That could endanger other Republicans who hold seats where Clinton won in 2016. Democrats will target Reps. Jeff Denham and David Valadao, who hold seats in the Central Valley; Steve Knight, the only Republican who holds a district almost entirely within Los Angeles County; and Mimi Walters and Dana Rohrabacher, whose districts cover parts of Orange County. Clinton was the first Democrat since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 to win a majority of votes in Orange County.
Since new congressional district maps took effect in the 2012 elections, much of the population growth in those Republican districts has been among nonwhite voters, who overwhelmingly favor Democratic candidates.
Walters’s district has grown by 33,000 residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Of those new residents, 30,000 are nonwhite. The white population actually declined in Royce’s district while the overall population grew by 10,000 residents. In Denham’s district, 17,000 of the 21,000 new residents are nonwhite.
“The districts have gotten more Latino, they’ve gotten more Asian, they’ve gotten younger,” Carrick said. “These districts all change over the course of eight or 10 years. They all are different.”
Democrats plan to use the tax overhaul as a cudgel to beat Republican incumbents. Key provisions would limit state and local tax deductions and deductions on interest paid on mortgages over $750,000, both of which are likely to cost California taxpayers in the long run.
“Too many tough-guy Republicans from bulletproof districts popping off about how people in California and New York should just move to Texas. That’s not a serious response — but it does reflect the kind of arrogance that leads to mistakes,” Nehring said. “Twelve years ago we blew it and made Pelosi the Speaker. We need to rediscover those lessons before blowing it again.”
Of the party’s top targets, only two — Rohrabacher and the retiring Issa — voted against the measure.
“They overtly target Democratic states with this tax bill,” said Andy Thorburn, a businessman running to replace the retiring Royce, echoing a message Democrats are pushing throughout the state. “It’s the first time in my lifetime at least that the federal government has been used in a punitive manner.”
Republicans say they hope to make the midterm elections a choice between the rich asshole and Pelosi, whose poll numbers remain anemic even in California. The GOP has used Pelosi as a foil for years, including in special elections held in 2017.
“Nancy Pelosi is going to be on the ballot. A vote for a Democrat is a vote for putting her back in charge of the House of Representatives,” said Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
And Republicans also said the top-two primary could benefit them. In some races, like the race to replace Royce, four prominent Republicans are running, while a dozen or more Democrats have said they will run. That leaves open the possibility that two Republicans will advance to November’s general election.
But Democrats are banking on a combination of enthusiasm among their own voters, the rich asshole’s unpopularity among independents and even the fact that most voters will receive their ballots by mail — making it more likely that Democrats who sit out midterms will vote this time around — will all bolster their chances.
“The barrier to entry to voting in California is so low, and the fear and loathing among Democrats is so high,” said Dan Sena, who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). “Motivating voters and what pushes people to the polls is a huge contributing factor to what it takes to win in Orange County and San Diego.”
Underscoring the party’s optimism, the DCCC has moved its western operations to an office in Los Angeles. It has had field organizers on the ground in Royce’s and Issa’s districts for a year.
California contests are likely to be among the most expensive in the nation this year, given the stratospheric cost of advertising in the Los Angeles and San Diego markets. That may hurt some Democrats who cannot afford the television time — but it might also work in the party’s favor.
“You still have to spend it in some of the most expensive media markets in the country,” Carrick said. “There’s no way to immunize yourself from the national wave because it costs so much.”
Mueller looking into suspicious Russian transactions in US: report
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 01/17/18 11:23 AM EST
Special counsel Robert Mueller's team of investigators is looking into a number of transactions between the Russian government and entities in the U.S. flagged to the Treasury Department as suspicious.
BuzzFeed News reported Wednesday that the transactions have raised concerns about how the Russian government operated in the U.S. even before the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller's investigation is focusing on Russian meddling in the election, as well whether the Trump campaign conspired with Moscow to influence the outcome of the race. But he also has broad authority to look into issues that arise from that investigation.
The suspicious transactions flagged to the Treasury Department's financial crimes division by CitiBank, the bank that handles the Russian Embassy's accounts, include a $120,000 payment to then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in November 2016. The payment was marked as suspicious because it did not resemble prior payment patterns.
In January 2017, five days after Trump's inauguration, bankers flagged an attempt to withdraw $150,000 in cash from the Russian Embassy's account. The transaction was blocked, but it was marked as abnormal activity.
The Treasury Department handed the suspicious activity reports to the FBI after it requested documents that might be related to its investigation into the 2016 election, according to BuzzFeed News.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has also requested suspicious activity reports related to Kislyak, BuzzFeed reported, though it is not clear if the panel has received the documents.
A spokesman for the Russian Embassy, Nikolay Lakhonin, told BuzzFeed that the embassy's transactions in the U.S. are in compliance with the law, and said that the leaked suspicious activity reports were intended to "discredit Russian official missions."
“We are not going to comment on any concrete names and figures mentioned in BuzzFeed articles," said. “We see such leaks by US authorities as another attempt to discredit Russian official missions."
‘This deplorable appreciates the bread crumbs’: the rich asshole voter thanks president for Walmart bonus
Sue from Ohio talks to Pete Hegseth (Fox News)
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An Ohio the rich asshole supporter placed herself beyond the reach of satire during an interview with Fox News.
Fox News contributor Pete Hegseth visited a Momma’s West Main Café on Wednesday morning to ask diners whether they agreed with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s view of Republican tax cuts.
The California Democrat said the tax cuts signed by President some rich asshole mostly benefited the wealthy while tossing “bread crumbs” to lower-income taxpayers.
“For one thing, it’s a very, very big deal,” a the rich asshole voter named Sue told Fox News about the $1,000 bonus she got from her employer, Walmart. “When you work for a company and they want to give you $1,000 just because our president gave them a tax break, to me it’s a big deal.”
Sue said it reaffirmed her loyalty to the rich asshole.
“We’ve been called deplorables and everything else,” she said. “This deplorable appreciates the bread crumbs.”
Sue told Fox News that she was disgusted by the public opinion of the rich asshole as president.
“I prayed about this many, many times,” she said. “I wasn’t an Obama fan but I never treated him with disrespect. No matter who your president is, he deserves respect.”
the rich asshole says privately that a terror attack could save him and GOP from 2018 election bloodbath: report
some rich asshole stands for the national anthem (screen grab)
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Faced with the likelihood of a “blue tsunami” in the 2018 midterm elections, President some rich asshole is holding out hope that terrorists will attack the country, reported the Washington Post on Wednesday.
“In private conversations,” said the Post, “the rich asshole has told advisers that he doesn’t think the 2018 election has to be as bad as others are predicting. He has referenced the 2002 midterms, when George W. Bush and Republicans fared better after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, these people said.”
Matthew Yglesias at Vox.com wrote, “(T)his is a frightening line of thought for an incumbent president and his team to be entertaining.”
“(I)f the president and his top staff are not so concerned with democracy but purely political power, that’s a terrifying proposition,” said Yglesias.
If the rich asshole believes that a terror attack will be a boon to his political fortunes, asked Vox, “How hard is he really working to keep the country safe?”
Obstruction? Bannon lawyer relayed questions to the rich asshole White House during testimony — and they told him to not answer
Steve Bannon at Bloggers Briefing in October 19, 2010 (Don Irvine/Flickr)
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The attorney for former White House political strategist Steve Bannon relayed the questions his client was being asked during Tuesday’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee back to officials at the the rich asshole White House — and he was instructed to not answer them.
The Associated Press reports that Bannon’s attorney, Bill Burk, “relayed questions, in real time” to the the rich asshole White House, who in turn instructed Bannon to not talk answer any questions about things that happened both during the presidential transition in late 2016, or about his time within the White House.
“It’s unclear who Burck communicated with or whether it was top White House lawyer Don McGahn,” the APwrites. “Burck is also representing McGahn in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into contacts between the the rich asshole campaign and Russia.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) claimed Tuesday that Bannon’s attorney contacted the White House after the committee subpoenaed him.
“This was effectively a gag order by the White House,” Schiff said.
In a related story, sources tell CNBC that the White House believed that it had a deal with Congressional investigators to limit the scope of questioning to Bannon to only events that took place during the 2016 presidential campaign — not during the transition or the rich asshole presidency.
“We said ‘Hey, hey, pump the brakes,'” one White House official said. “We said to Bannon, ‘Don’t answer those questions because we haven’t agreed to that scope under the process.'”
Democrats say no Dreamer solution after John Kelly meeting
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly speaks during a daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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Two Democratic lawmakers said White House chief of staff John Kelly offered no legislative solutions to protect people brought to the United States illegally as children in a meeting on Wednesday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez told Reuters the White House is making unacceptable demands on immigration measures related to “Dreamer” protections. Luis Gutierrez, a Democratic congressman, said the caucus’ meeting with Kelly was positive but he offered no solution to the immigration standoff.
Stormy Daniels describes sex with the rich asshole in cringe-worthy detail: ‘Ugh here we go… please don’t pay me’
President some rich asshole and adult actress Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name was Stormy Daniels, in a 2006 Myspace photo.
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Porn star Stormy Daniels has now gone on the record in an interview with InTouch Weekly about her sexual encounters with President some rich asshole.
In an interview filled with cringe-worthy details, Daniels says that sex with the rich asshole was “textbook generic,” while expressing regret that she ever had an affair with the rich asshole back in 2006, shortly after his wife Melania gave birth to their son, Barron the rich asshole.
“[The sex] was textbook generic,” she said. “I actually don’t even know why I did it, but I do remember while we were having sex, I was like, ‘Please, don’t try to pay me.'”
She became involved with the rich asshole after he invited her to dinner in his hotel room after meeting her at the American Century celebrity golf tournament in July 2006. After Daniels went to the bathroom after dinner, she returned to see the rich asshole lying in bed beckoning her toward him.
“And I was like, ‘Ugh, here we go,'” she said. “And we started kissing.”
the rich asshole’s relationship with Daniels first became public after the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the rich asshole attorney Michael Cohen had paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about their affair. Cohen tells In Touch that he still denies any allegation that the president had an affair with Daniels.
THE RICH ASSHOLE BAD IN BED,UNATURAL PERVERTED BEHAVIOR,SAYS PORN STAR STORMY DANIELS: REPORT JANUARY 17, 2018
Tufayel Ahmed
Posted with permission from Newsweek
The plot thickens in the curious case of President some rich asshole and his alleged dalliance with porn star Stormy Daniels.
the rich asshole’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen denied Friday that the rich asshole had a sexual encounter with the adult the film star in response to a Wall Street Journal report which claimed the president arranged a $130,000 payout to Daniels to keep quiet about it. The Journal also said it received a two-paragraph statement attributed to Daniels, but sent to them by Cohen, which denied a sexual affair with the rich asshole and said reports of “hush money” were “completely false.”
On Tuesday, Slate editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg published a piece appearing to support the WSJ settlement claims.
Weisberg said he received a tip about the rich asshole and Daniels’s alleged tryst in the latter half of 2016, after the rich asshole officially received the Republican nomination for the presidential election. He began speaking to Daniels—real name Stephanie Clifford—about the rich asshole between August and October 2016. October 2016 marked a month before the election and it is also the month Cohen is reported to have finalized the deal for Daniels’s silence in exchange for a six-figure payout.
Daniels is claimed to have told Weisberg that she was negotiating a settlement with the rich asshole’s lawyer, Cohen, at the time to keep quiet about an affair with the rich asshole. She even texted him a photo of an unsigned document relating to the agreement. Their conversations tailed off in October—the month that WSJ says the agreement was signed.
According to Weisberg, Daniels disclosed to her that she slept with the rich asshole in his hotel room after meeting him at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006. According to the WSJpiece, the tournament was held in July that year at Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Weisberg claims this encounter was the start of a sexual relationship “which continued for nearly a year.” the rich asshole had married his wife Melania the rich asshole, née Knauss, in January 2015—18 months prior to pursuing the alleged affair.
Daniels reportedly told Weisberg that the rich asshole was bad in bed, though in not so many words. “She intimated that her view of his sexual skill was at odds with the remark attributed to Marla Maples,” he wrote, linking to a Reddit post featuring an old New York Post cover touting the rich asshole’s ex-wife apparently saying: “Best sex I’ve ever had.”
Weisberg said that in his conversations with Daniels between August 2016 and October 2016, which was around the time the rich asshole’s treatment of women began dominating the press—including the infamous Access Hollywood tape—”she didn’t allege any kind of abuse, insisting she was not a victim.”
“The worst the rich asshole had done, she said, was break promises she’d never believed he would fulfill,” Weisberg continued, noting that Daniels claimed the rich asshole wanted her to appear on The Celebrity Apprentice, which premiered in January 2008.
Daniels’s friend and fellow adult film star Alana Evans corroborated reports of a relationship between the rich asshole and Daniels in an interview with NBC’s Megyn Kelly TodayTuesday.
Evans said the rich asshole and Daniels also tried to convince her to “have fun” with them.
“Come hang out with us. Come have fun. Let’s party”- Alana Evans, friend of former adult-film star Stormy Daniels, says Stormy confided in her about a sexual encounter she had with President Trump in 2006. #MegynTODAY
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some rich asshole (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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President some rich asshole’s unpopularity is already negatively impacting the Republican Party’s chances in 2018, said Politico on Wednesday.
A number of high-profile Republicans — including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (WI) — have announced that they are retiring at the end of their term and GOP candidates are walking away from races all over the country ahead of what many predict will be a “blue tsunami” in 2018.
Politico‘s Gabriel Debenedetti said that the GOP has also failed to recruit quality candidates for upcoming races.
“No one wants to be a sacrificial lamb, but [Republicans] don’t even appear to be trying in some of these states,” said Shripal Shah of American Bridge — a Democratic super PAC. “It’s not a missed opportunity. It’s malpractice.”
In addition to Ryan, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) have announced they will not be seeking re-election. House member Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) is stepping down after getting caught paying taxpayer money to settle a sex harassment case.
In New York, both of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D)’s strongest Republican challengers have dropped out of the race. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have seen challengers run from the prospect of losing to them in 2018.
Republican strategist Jonathan Felts told Politico that Pres. the rich asshole’s historically low popularity ratings have hamstrung the effort to recruit new candidates.
“Having sat there and done that recruitment in a tough time: If the president has bad numbers, that’s a challenge,” Felts said.
In Virginia, Republicans have struggled to find a candidate to face former Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine. The two most likely contenders at this juncture are state delegate Corey Stewart — a former the rich asshole campaign official in the state — and far-right Christian zealot Rev. E. W. Jackson.
Jackson is a virulently anti-LGBT official with the Family Research Council (FRC), which was designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. He has accused the ACLU of being run by demonic forces and has denounced yoga as a gateway to witchcraft.
“That’s the state of the Republican Party,” said Susan Swecker of the Virginia Democratic Party. “No one wants to run on a ticket when you have some rich asshole as the head of your party.”
‘Who did you talk to?’ the rich asshole advisor destroyed on CNN after insisting black Americans are praising the rich asshole ‘on the street’
Former the rich asshole campaign economic advisor Stephen Moore and political commentator Angela Rye.
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CNN host Brooke Baldwin had to fact-check a rich asshole campaign advisor’s analysis of minorities supporting the White House in a contentious panel segment that ended with a public wager on election results.
“Just jump right in, given this whole controversy, the president, the president’s past and things he has said, is it not fair to ask that question?” Baldwin asked, referring to whether President the rich asshole is a racist.
“Well, look, I’ve been in meetings with some rich asshole many times in the last two years and I’ve never once heard him say anything disparaging,” former the rich asshole campaign economics advisor Stephen Moore argued. “I think the point that Sarah Huckabee was making was a good one, look at his record and what he has done in terms of his business accomplishments, the fact that he has hired thousands of blacks and Hispanics.”
“Stephen, I just have to jump in, you don’t have to be in a meeting with this man to hear some of the comments he has made, the Pocahontas reference, his comments after Charlottesville, the Central Park Five. What am I missing? Judge Curiel some months ago,” Baldwin noted. “Is that not a fair question to be asking, based on what the president has said very publicly?”
“Brooke, I think what you’re missing and a lot your colleagues at CNN are missing, you have to look at this guy’s record when it comes to civil rights not necessarily what he said or is alleged to have said,” Moore answered. “Brooke, if this man is a racist, why is it that his approval rating, among blacks, has increased while he has been president? It’s because of his record, not what he says.”
“Stephen, I have approval ratings, latest CNN poll from December showing approval of the rich asshole among black Americans at 3 percent,” Baldwin fact checked.
CNN commentator Angela Rye, the former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, loudly laughed as Baldwin noted the rich asshole’s standing with minorities.
“I’m so glad that Stephen wants to talk about some rich asshole’s record, so let’s,” Rye began, before listing multiple incidents that have lead people to conclude the rich asshole is racist.
“I don’t care if he was elected to this office or not, he is a racist,” Rye charged. “This country has to atone for the fact that it has put a racist in office.”
“Look, I think there are times when some rich asshole uses language that I strongly disapprove of, Brooke,” Moore replied. “My point is, look at this man’s record and what he has done for black Americans.”
“He has not done anything,” Rye replied. “He has not done a single thing for black America.”
“I talk to so many black Americans myself and they say what they like about some rich asshole, those who approve of his policies, because they think he is going to make America great again,” Moore suggested.
“Who did you talk to?” Rye asked.
“I talk to people all the time, when I’m on the street I talk to people, on the job I talk to people, when I talk to African-Americans and also Hispanics, a lot of times they don’t like his language, but sure like what he’s doing for the economy,” Moore claimed. “That’s the reason I bet you when he runs for re-election, he get a higher rate of black and Hispanic vote than he did in 2016, because he’ll be running on his record.”
“I’m going take you on that bet,” Rye answered. “The only thing I hear black and brown folks and women talking about, and Native American folks is one word, and that’s impeach. I hope he doesn’t make it to 2020.”
Watch:
the rich asshole is the most unpopular US president in history
January 16, 2018
Ryan Sit
Posted with permission from Newsweek
President Donald Trump failed his first year in office, voters say.
Asked to grade Trump's first year in office, more voters gave him an "F" than an "A" and "B" combined, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll published on Tuesday. Thirty-five percent of respondents said the president failed his first year in office while 34 percent gave him an "A" or "B." Meanwhile, 14 percent marked him a "C" and 11 percent graded his performance a "D."
The results were similar to a Quinnipiac survey published last Wednesday. When asked the same question, only 16 percent of Quinnipiac respondents in gave Trump an "A," while 39 percent gave him an "F" and 17 percent said he deserved a "D." Another 16 percent of voters gave him a "B" and the remaining 11 percent gave Trump a "C."
The new poll shows Trump remains more popular among men the women, with 38 percent of men giving him an "A" or "B" while just 31 percent of women did. Fifty percent of women said he earned a "D" or an "F" but only 42 percent of men agreed.
Trump remains a deeply politically polarizing figure. He continues to enjoy support from Republicans—72 percent gave him an "A" or "B." Just 10 percent of Republicans gave Trump a "D" or "F", while 79 percent of Democrats did. Only 8 percent of Democrats gave Trump high marks.
Trump didn't fare much better with Independent voters: about 27 percent said he deserved an "A" or "B" and 45 percent gave Trump a "D" or "F."
Though Trump's overall grade was low, his marks improved on a few specific topics. Forty-two percent of voters gave him an "A" or "B" on both jobs and the economy. Trump split the vote on fighting terrorism, with 39 percent saying he deserved an "A" or "B" and another 39 percent giving him a "D" or "F." The rest, 14 percent, graded him a "C."
Trump's fewest positive marks came on his campaign promise to "drain the swamp." Just 22 percent gave him an "A" or "B" there, while 42 percent gave him a "D" or "F."
His lowest grades were or climate change (49 percent "Ds" or "Fs").
Voters also remain decided on Trump's potential. With a quarter of his tenure nearly completed, 37 percent of respondents think his performance will improve while 37 percent say it will decline. Nineteen percent of voters said his work will remain the same.
The survey was conducted January 4-5. Pollsters interviewed 1,988 registered voters and the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
'Guardians of the Galaxy' director offers $100k for the rich asshole to be weighed on 'accurate scale'
BY BRANDON CARTER - 01/16/18 09:33 PM EST
"Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn is offering to donate $100,000 to President the rich asshole’s charity of choice if the president weighs himself on an “accurate scale" following the release of his first physical exam.
"I will give 100 thousand dollars to the rich asshole's favorite charity if he will step on an accurate scale with an impartial medical professional, okayed by both of us,” Gunn tweeted Tuesday. “For real."
I will give 100 thousand dollars to Trump's favorite charity if he will step on an accurate scale with an impartial medical professional, okayed by both of us. For real. #Girther #GirtherMovement
Gunn then tweeted a photo of MLB star Albert Pujols alongside the rich asshole, comparing their heights and weights as listed in the rich asshole’s physical exam results.
The White House released the results of the rich asshole’s first physical exam as president on Tuesday.
the rich asshole was listed at 75 inches tall and 239 pounds, according to the exam results.
Jackson said that the rich asshole’s “overall health is excellent,” adding that the president had mostly normal results on several tests of his cholesterol and heart health.
“His cardiac performance during his physical exam was very good, he continues to enjoy the significant, long-term cardiac and overall health benefits that come from a lifetime of abstinence from tobacco and alcohol,” Jackson said.
“All data indicates the president is healthy and will remain so for the duration of his presidency," he added.
The results of President the rich asshole’s first formal medical exam since taking office were announced Tuesday, and the big news was that the physician involved, Navy Rear Adm. Ronny L. Jackson, said the 71-year-old president received a perfect score on a cognitive test. However, other announced results were also of interest, particularly to those who couldn’t help but notice that the rich asshole was listed at 6-3 and 239 pounds.
Of course, sports fans are often very well-versed in athletes’ heights and weights, and they are aware that those listed numbers don’t always precisely correlate with reality. For example, Kevin Durant is famously taller than his listed height of 6-9, and toward the end of his playing days, Shaquille O’Neal was widely thought to be far heavier than his listed weight of 324 pounds.
Adding to some online observers’ skepticism that the rich asshole’s measurements were accurate was the fact that 239 pounds, at 6-3, conveniently put his body mass index at 29.9 — just below the 30.0 threshold for him to be officially described as obese, rather than merely overweight. In any event, plenty of Internet users were happy to juxtapose photos of the president with those of athletes with similar listed heights and weights.
Jay Cutler is 6'3" and 233. Donald Trump is 6'3" and 239. What a difference six pounds makes! pic.twitter.com/ECiWtPVtwn
In fairness, those athletes have much more weight in sculpted muscle than the rich asshole, whose body mass is distributed just a bit differently (also in fairness: this out-of-shape author is no one to talk). Jackson said that he has a goal for the president of losing 10-15 pounds through a regimen of diet and exercise, telling reporters, “He’s more enthusiastic about the diet part than the exercise part, but we’re going to do both.”
In general, though, Jackson was upbeat about the rich asshole’s physical condition, prompting questions about how a septuagenarian man with such seemingly poor habits, including little apparent exercise apart from golfing (while driving in carts) and an affinity for greasy fast food, could fare so well in a thorough examination. “It’s called genetics,” the physician replied with a shrug.
“The answer to your question is that he has incredibly good genes,” added Jackson, “and it’s just the way God made him.”
Nevertheless, some took issue not just with the president’s listed weight, but his height, as well. Photos were posted comparing the rich asshole, at a purported 6-3, to his predecessor, Barack Obama, who was listed at 6-1.
Check out these photos of Trump. The tweet is correct: Obama is 6’ 1”, Kushner is 6’3” and Trump’s doc claims he’s 6’3”. Trump is like 6’1”, maybe. twitter.com/my_humble_imho…
Here are more photos of allegedly 6 foot 3 Trump with 6 foot 1 Obama. They’re at best the same height. pic.twitter.com/xNrvaKgrub
Jackson, who has been the lead White House doctor since 2013 and oversaw two of Obama’s physicals, told media members Tuesday that 12 other doctors consulted on the rich asshole’s examination, which lasted more than three hours. Before he spoke, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders read a letter from former longtime White House physician Richard J. Tubb, who trained Jackson and vouched for his integrity.
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While Melania the rich asshole was home with infant Barron the rich asshole in 2006, some rich asshole was reportedly running around acting like a fool, seeking adult film stars to stroke his fragile ego. Stephanie Clifford, also known by her stage name “Stormy Daniels,” reportedly got a $130,000 payment from some rich asshole's lawyer Michael Cohen only weeks before the 2016 election. Clifford was planning to detail her relationship, including her 2006 sexual encounters with a married some rich asshole. She wasn’t the only adult film star with a story to tell about the rich asshole’s behavior at a 2006 golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. Jessica Drake described her encounter, saying the rich asshole offered her $10,000 for sex. From the Daily Beast:
“[the rich asshole] flirted with me and invited me to walk along the golf course with him, which I did. During that time, he asked me for my phone number, which I gave to him. Later that evening, he invited me to his room. I said I didn't feel right going alone, so two other women came with me,” said Drake in prepared remarks.“When we entered the room, he grabbed each of us tightly in a hug and kissed each one of us without asking permission,” Drake continued. “He was wearing pajamas. A bodyguard was also present. He asked me about details on my job as an adult film star—about shooting porn, and he also asked us about our personal relationships and whether we were married or single. We answered his questions. It felt like an interview. About 30 or 45 minutes later, we left his room.”She alleged that the rich asshole later called her and asked, “'What do you want? How much?” and then offered her $10,000 for sex. “This is not acceptable behavior for anyone, much less a presidential candidate,” Drake said at the presser.
Jessica Drake is suddenly unable to discuss the encounter with some rich asshole because her publicist says she has now signed a nondisclosure agreement, meaning she too probably agreed to a hush-money settlement with some rich asshole. And really? He invited these women to his room and then opened the door wearing his pajamas?
Drake and Daniels are not the only ones who the rich asshole reportedly sought to “party” with in his hotel room. A third adult film star actress is now telling her story, saying Stormy Daniels and some rich asshole himself repeatedly called her to try and convince her to come to his room for a private party. To be clear, some rich asshole does not drink alcohol. Listen to Alana Evans on the Today show as she describes Daniels and the rich asshole pressuring her to come to his hotel room:
“Come hang out with us. Come have fun. Let’s party”- Alana Evans, friend of former adult-film star Stormy Daniels, says Stormy confided in her about a sexual encounter she had with President Trump in 2006. #MegynTODAY
Evans also described her follow-up call to Stormy Daniels the next day. You can see this portion of the interview here, but the partial transcript is below. Evans says she called Daniels the next day to apologize for blowing them off and to see how the night went for Daniels. Sorry to do this to you, but here are the details:
I called because I disappeared on her the night before and I felt bad, of course. So I called and apologized for disappearing because it wasn’t like I called and told them I wasn’t coming, I literally just turned off my phone. And asked how it went and…..(giggles)….I’m sorry but the visual that I get has stuck with me this entire time. I’m glad that you guys are going to have to deal with it too. But, having her tell me the next day that when I asked, “How did it go?” and she says, “Well, picture this some rich asshole chasing me around the bedroom in his tighty whities isn’t something that you ever forget.”
Regarding the tighty whities, I regret to inform that this can be confirmed:
Megyn Kelly also spoke with Jacob Weisberg, editor in chief of the Slate Group, and he confirmed that Stormy Daniels had multiple conversations with him about her sexual encounters with the recently married some rich asshole in 2006 and that Daniels suddenly pulled the plug on the story just before it was published, having gotten paid by the rich asshole’s attorney to keep quiet.
“We have had a conversation with @JacobWe and he tells us he had multiple conversations with Stormy Daniels & that Stormy told him, on the record, that she did have an affair with Donald Trump.” #MegynTODAY
Bottom line: nondisclosure agreements and hush money be damned, it seems pretty clear that some rich asshole was running around cheating on his new wife while she was home with their new baby. It’s further evidence of his decayed or nonexistent morality, along with the evangelicals and so-called “family values” Republicans that continue to stand by this cad.
The question now is, how did some rich asshole pay these women? Where did the funds come from? He’s notoriously cheap and these payouts happened in the closing weeks of the 2016 campaign. If campaign funds or the rich asshole Foundation money were used to pay these women, could that be a legal problem for the rich asshole? After all, former Sen. John Edwards was indicted and faced six felony counts for using secret campaign funds to cover up his extramarital affair.
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