| | | | What makes no sense about Donald Trump's Rob Porter response | | On Monday afternoon, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders read a prepared statement about the White House's handling of allegations that former staff secretary Rob Porter had physically and mentally abused both his ex-wives.
"The President and the entire administration take domestic violence very seriously and believe all allegations need to be investigated thoroughly," Sanders said. "Above all, the President supports victims of domestic violence and believes everyone should be treated fairly and with due process."
Asked why those conciliatory words seemed to be at such odds with Trump's own statements -- on Friday and then in a tweet on Saturday -- about the Porter situation, Sanders responded that Trump "literally dictated that statement to me."
So...
Donald Trump is a president who has redefined how a president communicates. Not just on Twitter, where his penchant for tweeting off-message (and politically incorrect) sentiments has come to be a defining trait, but also in his drop-ins on the press corps and his extended question-and-answer sessions as he is boarding Marine One outside the White House.
The simple fact -- and Trump knows this -- is that statements (or tweets) coming directly from him mean more -- and, recent history suggests, are a more accurate depiction of what he really thinks.
There have been an untold number of times in the first year-plus of Trump's presidency when his White House has tried to push a certain storyline, only to be totally undermined by the President himself.
And so, if Trump really wanted to correct the record on his views on Rob Porter and the women who have accused him of domestic abuse, he could pick up his phone and rap out 280 characters on it. Or he could take a minute at the start of a public appearance -- like the one Trump did on infrastructure today -- to say exactly what he apparently told Sanders.
He didn't do that. Why? My guess is because, well, he doesn't believe it. Or he doesn't believe just that. As in: He may sympathize with the victims but he also likes Rob Porter (and Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly and Roy Moore) and tends to believe them over the accusations made against them by women.
The Point: At the root of all this is Trump's own denial of the accusations against him by more than a dozen women who came out during the 2016 campaign. Admit that the allegations against Porter are credible and need to be believed, and it becomes that much more difficult to deny the allegations against you.
-- Chris | | MORE POINT IN YOUR DAILY LIFE | | | Brenna flagged this article about YouTuber Sam Battle, who created the first ever "singing Furby organ" made out of yes, you guessed it, FURBIES. We can't look away. | | CNN's Ashley Killough reports: "The two top leaders of the Senate sought to paint a picture of civility in a rare dual appearance outside the Capitol, following a year of bitter fighting between the two parties in Congress over issues like tax cuts, health care and the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced his Democratic counterpart, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, before a speech Monday morning that Schumer gave at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville. It's not unusual to see the two men together.
"They speak on a near-daily basis on the Senate floor when they each deliver their opening remarks, and they are frequently involved in negotiations over legislative action that takes place on the floor. While the two men acknowledged their differences, they attempted to keep the message focused on the recent two-year budget deal they struck and the upcoming immigration debate this week on the Senate floor. The Senate will vote Monday night to open up debate on a bill that will serve as the main vehicle for immigration legislation."
Read more in Ashley's story here. | | Over the weekend, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti -- a potential 2020 presidential candidate -- and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went hiking in LA (which resulted in a lot of great photo ops including the photo above). Per the Los Angeles Times, "Garcetti thanked Trudeau for the time he spent connecting with key industries in California, emphasizing that the friendship with Canada is 'critically important to us.' Trudeau, alternating between French and English, answered a few questions from reporters. At one point he touched on immigration, calling it a 'source of strength.' Afterward, Trudeau joined Garcetti for the weekend hike the mayor usually takes with friends and family. As the pair made their way toward the Mount Hollywood hiking trail, starstruck hikers and residents snapped photos."
Garcetti has has previously hinted at a possible presidential bid. Last year, Garcetti traveled to Wisconsin in June, where he spoke at the state's Democratic Party convention; New Hampshire in August, where he helped campaign for Manchester mayoral candidate Joyce Craig; and Indiana in November, where he attended the inaugural meeting of a nonprofit for investing in innovation called Accelerator for America. Earlier this week, he met with Democratic chairs of Iowa and New Hampshire in Long Beach. He told Politico he plans to visit Iowa in March.
Saba wrote about Garcetti's presidential potential in December. | | Per CNN's Kevin Liptak: "President Donald Trump spoke Monday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to express condolences for a weekend plane crash outside Moscow, according to a US official. The phone call came amid ongoing Washington-Moscow tensions over policy in the Middle East and Russia's attempts to meddle in US elections."
Read more in Kevin's full story here. | | ICYMI: NUNES' 'NEWS' SITE | | | Photo courtesy: Screenshot/archive website of CARepublican.com | | CNN's Eli Watkins reported Sunday: "The campaign committee for House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes has been funding a website billed as a local news outlet. The site, CARepublican.com, features headlines ranging from national politics stories to state and local matters and college football. Many of the posts link out to conservative sites like National Review and The Federalist, and the Facebook page for the site labels it a media/news company that is focused on 'delivering the best of US, California, and Central Valley news, sports, and analysis.' Following Politico's initial report -- published over the weekend -- the website was throwing up error messages, although an archive of it was available."
Read more in Eli's story here. | | | A big Point team congratulations to CNN's Alysha Love on her engagement to Seth Anderson, and to CNN's Dan Merica on his engagement to NBC News' Monica Alba. Love is clearly in the air. 💕 | |  | | H/T Brenna | | | The Obama portraits were unveiled this a.m. Happy Monday! Please spend the rest of your night spreading the word about 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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