| | | | The remarkable Republican underreaction on 'shithole' | | On Thursday afternoon, in a meeting on a potential deal on immigration, President Donald Trump disparaged immigrants from a numbers of countries including African nations and El Salvador.
No one -- not even Trump himself -- really disputes that.
The question appears to be whether Trump used the phrase "shithole nations" to describe these countries or whether he used some other coarse term. Trump tweeted Friday morning that "the language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used."
On the other hand, Sen Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who was in the meeting, said that Trump did, in fact, use the word "shithole" to describe the countries. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, seemed to confirm that report in a statement in which he said "following comments by the President, I said my piece directly to him yesterday."
(Two Trump allies -- Republicans Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia -- released a carefully-worded statement Friday; "We do not recall the President saying these comments specifically," it read.")
Here's the thing: Anyone who knows anything -- including Republican congressional leaders -- knows that Trump either said the word "shithole" or something very, very like it. And that his intent was clear: To question why immigrants from certain countries (African nations etc.) were being let into the US and not more immigrants from countries like Norway.
And yet, despite the fact that everyone in politics knows what Trump said (and meant), the response from Republican leaders was stunningly quiet.
Speaker Paul Ryan called Trump's comments "unfortunate [and] unhelpful" in an interview in Wisconsin. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had said nothing as this newsletter went to press. Mitt Romney, the party's 2012 presidential nominee and a likely Utah Senate candidate in 2018 was also silent.
RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel failed to address the issue at all.
"I think the media chooses to focus on these distracting issues and not on the policies that are helping the American people," she said during a radio interview, according to Politico.
Not all Republicans were so quiet. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and John McCain of Arizona put out statements condemning Trump's use of a slur to describe foreign countries.
But they were isolated voices within a party that, yet again, was trying its best to pretend its putative leader didn't exist at all. ("Donald Trump? Name doesn't ring a bell!")
Which is odd. This feels like a no-brainer. The President of the United States disparaged immigrants from countries dominated by black and brown folks while asking why there weren't more immigrants coming to the US from an almost-totally white country.
It's pretty cut and dry. Apparently not to Republican leaders, however.
-- Chris | | "I don't think Present Trump is a racist in the traditional sense as we know in this country, I think President Trump is racially ignorant and racially uninformed. But I don't think he is a racist in the traditional sense."
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I knew we shouldn't have trusted that AFLAC duck | | | "Flight of the Conchords" is returning to HBO with a new comedy special (!). Here's one of our favorites from the hilarious duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement: "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros." | | 🚨 ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER RETIREMENT🚨 | | Arizona Republican Congresswoman Martha McSally (AZ-02) announced her long expected bid for the U.S. Senate on Friday, becoming the third Clinton-district Republican this week -- after Californians Ed Royce and Darrell Issa -- to announce they will not be returning to the House. More background from CNN's Wade Payson-Denney: McSally is a retired Air Force colonel who is in her second term in Congress. She served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the first woman to fly and command an Air Force squadron in combat. Arizona's 2nd District—once represented by Gabby Giffords—is one of the 23 Republican-held districts that Clinton won in 2016. The Tucson-based district has a Cook PVI of R+1, and voted for Clinton 49-44.
She is the 10th member of the current House to announce a run for Senate. McSally—who never endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential election—joins a crowded Republican primary to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jeff Flake. She represents the more centrist faction of the Republican party, and will compete against hardline candidates Kelli Ward and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who announced his candidacy on Tuesday. In case you need a refresher, CNN keeps tabs on who's announced their plans to resign, retire or run for another office. | | Former Vice President Joe Biden weighed in on the president's "shithole countries" comment on Twitter Friday, saying: "It's not how a president should speak. It's not how a president should behave. Most of all, it's not what a president should believe. We're better than this."
But in an interview at a Los Angeles Times event on Wednesday, Biden "looked almost bashful when shouts of 'President Biden!' came from the audience, and he didn't talk much about his own presidential ambitions," the publication reported. When asked, he said "There will be a Biden president, and the name is likely to be Finnegan Biden," referring to one of his granddaughters.
Here's what he said about Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. "smart as hell. He is strategic, and Eric Garcetti understands what the future looks a little bit like," And about Oprah Winfrey: An "incredibly bright, decent, appealing person" who needs to gain some foreign policy experience and learn "strategic doctrine" if she wants to be president.
CNN's Eric Bradner listed Biden (and Garcetti) among the 30+ potential candidates to watch for in 2020 in this week's #2020Vision memo, which you can read here. | | OBAMA & LETTERMAN REUNITE | | David Letterman kicked off his new Netflix series "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction" with an interview with former President Barack Obama. During the interview, which lasted about an hour, Obama touched on everything from Russia to daughter Malia's college move-in day.
"What the Russians exploited, but it was already here, is we are operating in completely different information universes," Obama told Letterman. "If you watch Fox News you are living on a different planet than you are if you listen to NPR."
Guests scheduled for the rest of Letterman's shows include George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey and Howard Stern. | | | Physical ✔️. We hope you have a great weekend. Don't forget to tell people you know to subscribe to The Point. | | 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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