| | | | GROUNDED: People don't love the Space Force | | Of all the proposals spit out by the Trump administration, none baffles me more than the Space Force.
It began, seemingly, as a joke back in March. But within days, President Donald Trump made clear he was serious.
"We may even have a Space Force, develop another one, Space Force," he said in a speech in Florida in May. "We have the Air Force. We'll have the Space Force. We have the Army, the Navy. I was saying it the other day because we're doing a tremendous amount of work in space. I said maybe we need a new force, we'll call it the Space Force. And I was not really serious. Then I said, 'What a great idea, maybe we'll have to do that.' "
And they did do just that! By June, Trump was directing Vice President Mike Pence to come up with an actual policy around his Space Force joke. "It is not enough to have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space," Trump said at the time. Earlier this month in a speech at the Pentagon, Pence proclaimed: "Just as we've done in ages past, the United States will meet the emerging threats on this new battlefield. ... The time has come to establish the United States Space Force."
Apparently, the American public doesn't agree. Just more than 1 in 3 people (37%) in a new CNN national poll said America should establish a Space Force as a separate military branch "designed to protect US assets in space." Fully 55% percent opposed the construction of a Space Force.
While Democrats are predictably opposed to this oddest of Trumpian ideas, even Republicans -- who tend to say they like whatever the President does -- are skeptical; 50% approve of the building of a Space Force, while 44% disapprove.
Will those poll numbers stop Trump, a most poll-obsessed President? Absolutely not. Remember that the idea for the Space Force is Trump's and Trump's alone. He joked about it, but then decided he liked the idea and used his sway as President to breathe it to life. The Space Force is his baby. He's not walking away from it because some poll said people don't like it.
The Point: Mars Awaits (still)!
-- Chris | | "She worked for me on numerous occasions. She was terrific."
-President Donald Trump on Aretha Franklin, following news of her death on Thursday. He went on to express his condolences to Franklin's family. | | | THE OMAROSA SHOW CONTINUES | | Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman continued her book publicity/tea-spilling tour on Thursday. Here's what you need to know: - Manigault Newman released another secret recording of Lara Trump, President Trump's daughter-in-law -- and 2020 senior campaign aide. In it, the two discussed Manigault Newman's potential salary if she were to join the re-election campaign.
- Lara Trump fired back at Manigault Newman's latest recording leak. In a statement, she said: "Woman to woman, I shared a connection with Omarosa as a friend and a campaign sister, and I am absolutely shocked and saddened by her betrayal and violation on a deeply personal level. I hope it's all worth it for you, Omarosa, because some things you just can't put a price on."
- The GOP's official Twitter account also threw shade at Manigault Newman. The account uploaded a video montage of the former WH aide praising Trump with the text: "Guess she forgot about these tapes..."
- Trump shared the GOP account's tweet, and wrote, "Thank you for the kind words Omarosa!"
| | | NPR put together an Aretha Franklin: In Memoriam Playlist. RIP to the Queen of Soul. | | | Today's topic: #2020 contenders (see more below). | | POINT SCOOP: STEYER GROUP LAUNCHING NEW DIGITAL ADS | | NextGen America, one of liberal billionaire megadonor Tom Steyer's advocacy groups, is gearing up for the midterms with a new round of digital ads. CNN's David Wright has the scoop for The Point:
NextGen America is launching a $250,000 digital ad campaign targeting seven US House districts across California, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The ads, which will run on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms starting next week, are aimed at a slew of vulnerable Republican incumbents -- Rep. Jeff Denham (CA-10), Rep. Steve Knight (CA-25), Rep. Mimi Walters (CA-45), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Rep. Dave Brat (VA-07) -- in addition to an open seat race in CA-39 created by Rep. Darrell Issa's retirement.
One ad hammers Republicans, who they say "voted to take away health care and stood by while (their) own party put immigrant kids in cages," while noting that "there are enough young voters in our district" to topple the incumbents. Another shows a montage of items -- labeled "affordable health care," "debt-free college" and "equal pay for women" -- followed by the tagline, "Stop Republicans from wrecking everything."
The six-figure campaign represents a significant step for Steyer's organization into the independent expenditure space -- it's the group's first major buy of 2018 targeting Republicans, though Steyer has spent around $1 million boosting the gubernatorial campaign of Andrew Gillum in Florida.
Read more about Steyer here. | | ICYMI: Chris and CNN's Harry Enten put together the second edition of their monthly power rankings of Democrats most likely to get their party's presidential nomination in 2020. Here's the main takeaway:
ADDED from last month: Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Minnesota's Sen. Amy Klobuchar
DROPPED from last month: Eric Holder, Sherrod Brown, Mitch Landrieu
Read more about why here. | | Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing is scheduled for September 4. But some Democrats aren't ready to listen to his testimony.
CNN's Lauren Fox, Manu Raju and Kristin Wilson reported Thursday: "Senate Democrats are threatening to sue for documents related to Kavanaugh's record, the latest escalation in a partisan battle over the court. On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats were prepared to sue if their Freedom of Information Act request for all documents related to Kavanaugh's time in the George W. Bush White House -- both as staff secretary and in the White House counsel's office -- was denied. ... Republicans have argued that documents related to Kavanaugh's three years as staff secretary are not relevant to his confirmation to the highest court."
Schumer said Thursday: "Today we are announcing we stand ready to sue the National Archives for Judge Kavanaugh's full record if necessary."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, added: "This FOIA request is a last resort. It is unprecedented because the concealing of documents is unprecedented. We need these documents to do our job." | | | From Brenna: "Forget everything else that happened today and look at this #TBT moment between Aretha Franklin and President Barack Obama in 2015. She sang at Obama Attorney General Eric Holder's goodbye celebration in 2015." Read about how Trump and other politicians mourned the loss of the soul legend. | | 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.
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