| | | | How the White House botched the family separation fight | | From the moment images of children being separated from their parents bubbled up in the national consciousness late last week, it became abundantly clear that something had to be done, and quickly. Regardless of how we got to this point -- a decision by the Trump administration to put in place a "zero tolerance" policy regarding people trying to enter the country illegally -- the images (and the audio) demanded action.
And yet, President Donald Trump and his administration spent the better part of a week insisting that his hands were tied (they weren't) when it came to ending the crisis at the border. He called on Congress to act.
He sent out the head of the Department of Homeland Security to insist that "Congress alone can fix it." Then on Wednesday afternoon -- even as the House was preparing to vote on an immigration bill on Thursday -- Trump suddenly announced he would be signing "something" that would end the separation of families at the border. Later Wednesday, he signed an executive order to keep parents and kids together. If your head is spinning at that turn of events, you aren't alone.
In fact, you probably have that feeling in common with every Republican in Congress. Trump's announcement that he will sign an order to deal with family separation runs directly counter to what his White House was saying just hours earlier.
That whipsawing came as the result of a fundamental miscalculation by Trump and his allies: that staking out a "tough" stand on the need to harden the border would counteract any agita caused by the "zero tolerance" policy at the border. What Trump missed, and he reportedly acknowledged this in his huddle with House Republicans on Tuesday night, was the power of the images that were coming from the border. Images of kids crying as their parents were arrested and taken away. Audio of kids crying for their parents. Human suffering in words and pictures. Tough talk didn't hold a candle to what people were seeing on their TVs. That miscalculation was bad. But it was compounded by another strategic decision by Trump: to cast the border crisis as something that not only wasn't his fault, but that he also was powerless to fix -- neither of which was true.
Caught in the middle of Trump's wild swerving? Republicans in Congress, who saw their already-complicated efforts to pass some sort of comprehensive immigration bill dealing with DACA and border wall funding made that much more difficult by Trump's demand that they solve the family separation issue for him. Trump added to that chaos repeatedly.
This was never going to be an easy issue for Trump, stuck as he was between his calls for toughened border policies and the pictures of children being taken from their parents. But the protracted process, the attempted obfuscation of facts, the blame game, the jerking around of Republicans in Congress -- all made it much, much worse for Republicans.
Read my full take here.
-- Chris | | "But we must not be fooled."
-- Sen. Patrick Leahy in a statement responding to President Trump's reversal of his family separation policy. | | | AMERICA DIVIDED ON DIVIDING FAMILIES | | | CNN's homepage on Wednesday boasted a large section of public figures -- ranging from musician John Legend to Pope Francis -- reacting to families being separated at the border. The subhead: "America is divided on dividing families." Here's a sampling of what some had to say (you can click on their names to read their full comments) prior to Trump signing his executive order. | | | The Congressional Women's Softball Game -- which pits congresswomen against female journalists -- is tonight! We'll be cheering for everyone, but especially loudly for The Point's fearless leader, Leigh Munsil, who is playing for the journalists. Proceeds from the game benefit the Young Survival Coalition. Each team has its own Spotify playlist, which you can listen to here. | | | Today's topic: Although President Trump may think he "fixed" the family separation issue for the moment by signing an order, it's still damaged the GOP. | | COMEY WEIGHS IN ON WATCHDOG REPORT | | CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi and Caroline Kelly reported Wednesday: "Former FBI Director James Comey reiterated on Tuesday his support of the Justice Department inspector general's report about his conduct in the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
"The inspector general report that came out last week ripped me. I totally support it because it's what the rule of law looks like," Comey said during an event Tuesday night co-hosted by the nonprofit American Academy in Berlin and the German newspaper Die Zeit, according to the publication's Facebook page.
"The Justice Department's internal watchdog found that Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation was 'extraordinary and insubordinate' and did not agree with any of his reasons for deviating from 'well-established Department policies.' " Read more here. | | TONIGHT: CONGRESSIONAL WOMEN'S SOFTBALL GAME ⚾️ | | As we mentioned in Musical Interlude, tonight members of Congress and the Washington press corps will face off in the 10th annual Congressional Women's Softball Game, which starts at 7 p.m. ET. CNN's Sophie Tatum covered last year's game for CNN, so we had her preview tonight's matchup for The Point. - The Congressional Women's Softball Game is an annual marker for the beginning of DC summer.
- In the 10 years since its inception, the event has raised more than $1.4 million for women under 40 who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, according to a news release.
- It was started by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and in 2010, the team invited women of the press to join, according to the game's website.
- If you're in the DMV you can purchase tickets for $10 here or at the gate.
- Can't make it? The event will be livestreamed and shared on the Congressional Women's Softball Game Facebook page.
| | 🚨 POLL ALERT🚨 : MANCHIN LEADS IN WEST VIRGINIA | | | CNN's Terence Burlij writes: "Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin leads his Republican challenger Patrick Morrisey in the West Virginia Senate race, according to a Monmouth University poll released Wednesday. Manchin represents a top GOP target this cycle, with West Virginia being one of five contests where Democratic senators are seeking re-election in a state President Donald Trump carried by double-digits in 2016. The survey shows Manchin with a 48% to 39% advantage over Morrisey, the state's attorney general." Read more here. | | | David Hogg and Lauren Hogg appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday, where they recounted the trauma of the Stoneman Douglas school shooting. Some survivors of the Parkland shooting kicked off a nationwide advocacy tour Friday in Chicago. Happy Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading The Point. Please tell people you know to subscribe to our newsletter. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba.
Sign up to get updates on your favorite CNN Original Series, special CNN news coverage and other newsletters. | | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment