Trump punches back against Pope just before crucial primary: Who does that?

Maybe Donald Trump was bored by boxing with Cruz, Rubio and Jeb and decided to punch up.
Maybe it was a heavenly gift that enabled Trump to hijack the news cycle once again.
Maybe it’s that the Pope landed the first blow.
Whatever the case, the Republican presidential front-runner is now engaged in a war of words with the leader of the Catholic Church.
I was stunned by this turn of events, which instantly blew other political stories off the media radar. Let’s put it this way: Suddenly, there’s not that much chatter about Nikki Haley endorsing Marco Rubio.
My initial reaction was to ask a question that’s been repeatedly raised since Trump got into the race. Has he finally, this time, gone too far?
Who picks a fight with the pontiff two days before a South Carolina primary in which you’ve got a big lead?
But it’s a little more complicated than that.
When Pope Francis visited America last fall, some conservatives objected to the way he injected himself into U.S. politics with what they view as left-of-center views on climate change, divorce and abortion. While the Pope also made comments that lean to the conservative side, he is identified with a message of tolerance as summed up in his response to a question about gays: “Who am I to judge?”
He is, apparently, willing to judge Donald Trump.
The stage was set when the Pope visited the Mexican side of the U.S. border and what he called a humanitarian crisis. When a Reuters reporter on the flight back to the Vatican asked about Trump, the pontiff declined to say whether Americans should vote for him, but added:
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the gospel.”
The Pope said he would give Trump the benefit of the doubt until he saw what the billionaire has said. “I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.”
Trump did not turn the other cheek.
In a statement that he read in South Carolina, Trump said:
“If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened.”
Blaming disparaging remarks by the Mexican government, Trump said: “The Pope only heard one side of the story - he didn’t see the crime, the drug trafficking and the negative economic impact the current policies have on the United States.”
And then there was this: “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian.”
Let’s just say Trump didn’t tone down his comments in taking on the world’s most famous religious leader. He stuck to his mantra of hitting back harder whenever he is hit.
On the other hand, Pope Francis did take a pretty hard shot in suggesting that Trump is “not Christian.” He could have taken issue with the candidate’s stance on immigration, or lack of charity toward the less fortunate, without challenging his religion—one of the strongest things a pope can say.
Since the other leading Republican candidates have similar policies on protecting the border, one could infer that Francis, who got along well with President Obama, has a particular dislike for Trump.
The worst interpretation for Trump: He alienated some Catholic voters (who are in a minority in South Carolina), and perhaps raised questions among evangelicals, among whom he is leading Ted Cruz in the state--although some may not be fans of the Vatican. Trump seems disrespectful in squaring off against a moral leader.
The best interpretation for Trump: He showed strength by not backing down, even against a pope. He reinforced his signature stance about building a wall at Mexico’s expense. And he stomped on any news that Rubio, Cruz or Bush might make in the closing days.
How will this play out in Saturday’s voting? Only heaven knows.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz. 

Fox News Poll: Trump still leads national race for GOP nomination

Donald Trump continues to dominate the race for the Republican nomination, according to a new Fox News national poll of registered voters.
Trump leads with 36 percent among self-identified GOP primary voters.  Ted Cruz captures 19 percent and Marco Rubio receives 15 percent.
CLICK TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
Jeb Bush and Ben Carson get nine percent a piece, and John Kasich gets eight percent.
The poll, released Thursday, was conducted Monday through Wednesday evenings -- after a heated Republican debate Saturday in South Carolina (and also after Valentine’s Day Sunday).
Trump’s success is due to his ability to make in-roads with core elements of the GOP base.

Fox News National Poll of Republican Voters | InsideGov

For example, white evangelical Christians voting in the GOP primary favor Trump (28 percent) and Cruz (26 percent) over Rubio (15 percent) and Carson (15 percent).
Cruz has a slim one-point edge over Trump among those who identify as “very” conservative (29-28 percent).  Another 16 percent back Rubio.
Men (40 percent) are more likely than women (32 percent) to make Trump their first choice.  Still, he’s the favorite for each.
Nearly six in 10 Republicans want the next president to be someone from outside the political establishment -- and those voters go heavily for Trump (55 percent vs. 15 percent for Cruz and 11 percent Carson).
Meanwhile, Trump is the candidate Republican voters trust to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Thirty-nine percent would put Trump in the room with Putin -- that’s more than double the 18 percent who say Cruz. Fourteen percent say Rubio and 10 percent Bush.
For those pundits who thought the Republican faithful would fall back in line when faced with the possibility of Trump making Supreme Court appointments, consider this: Trump ties Cruz as the candidate GOP primary voters think would do the best job handling nominations to the high court (26 percent each).
Taking into consideration that this is an election year, 62 percent of all voters say it is the responsibility of current leaders, President Obama and the Senate, to act to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Scalia’s recent death.  Compare that to 34 percent who think the president shouldn’t get to nominate someone for a life-time appointment this late in his term.
Despite Trump’s strengths in the primary race, he’s the weakest of the GOP candidates in hypothetical matchups against Clinton.  Rubio (+4) and Kasich (+3) perform best against Clinton.  Cruz and Bush each top Clinton by just one point.
Trump trails the Democrat by five points: Clinton 47 percent vs. Trump 42 percent. Sanders trounces Trump by 53-38 percent.
By a slim 49-48 percent, Republicans think Trump “has the temperament” to serve effectively as president, while voters overall say he doesn’t by 67-30.
Republicans say by 62-31 percent that Rubio “has the toughness” to serve effectively.  By comparison, most voters aren’t so sure:  43 percent say he does, while 46 percent disagree.
Is Cruz likeable enough to do the job?  By two-to-one most Republicans say he has the “personality” to serve effectively as president (65-30).  Overall, voters are more likely to say no (44 percent yes vs. 49 percent no).
Who could kids look up to in the White House?  GOP primary voters think Carson (26 percent) is the best role model for children today, while nearly half say Trump is the worst (49 percent).

Pollpourri
The president is on television -- a lot.  Voters say they would “most dread” watching Trump (40 percent) and Clinton (31 percent) on television for the next four years.  Democrats are more likely to say Trump (56 percent) than Republicans are to say Clinton (50 percent).
Independents? They would dread watching Trump the most (40 percent), followed by Clinton (27 percent).
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,031 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from February 15-17, 2016.  The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters, and 4.5 points for the Republican primary voter sample (404).

Trump endorsed Iraq invasion in 2002 radio interview

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tepidly endorsed invading Iraq in September 2002, contradicting his earlier insistence that he opposed the war before the March 2003 invasion.
Trump was asked about a possible war with Iraq during a five-minute phone interview with radio host Howard Stern on Sept. 11, 2002. In between Trump's recollections of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Center and his thoughts on rebuilding the Twin Towers, Stern asked the billionaire real estate developer, "Are you for invading Iraq?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Trump responded. "You know, I wish the first time it was done correctly," an apparent reference to the Gulf War. A month after the interview, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.
The audio was first reported late Thursday by Buzzfeed News.
For months, Trump has cited his opposition to the Iraq War as evidence of his foreign policy judgement. When asked about the statement during a CNN town hall in South Carolina Thursday, Trump initially said he did not remember making the statement, but added, "I could have said that. Nobody asked me- I wasn't a politician. It was probably the first time anybody asked me that question.
"By the time the war started, I was against it," Trump added. "And shortly thereafter, I was really against it."
In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday, Trump restated his opposition to the war, saying "We attacked Iraq, but Iraq didn’t knock down the World Trade Center." Trump also said that he would declassify the entire 9/11 Commission Report, telling Hannity "When that’s open, I think you’ll find out that Saudi Arabia had a lot to do with the ripping down of the World Trade Center."

The Iraq War issue first flared up in Saturday's Republican debate, when Trump clashed with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush over Middle East policy.
Trump repeatedly slammed former President George W. Bush, Jeb's brother, saying his administration "lied" about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction. At Thursday's town hall, Trump refused to say whether he stood by that charge.

Trump also invoked the 9/11 attacks in response to Jeb Bush's claim that his brother kept the U.S. safe, saying "The World Trade Center came down … That’s not keeping us safe."
During the town hall, Trump also eased off comments he had made earlier in the day about Pope Francis. Returning to Rome from a five-day trip to Mexico, Francis had said that Trump's pledge to build a wall along the entire length of the border and expel millions of illegal immigrants was "not Christian".
Trump, a Presbyterian, initially responded by saying, "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian, and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened."
However, on Thursday night, Trump said "I don't like fighting with the Pope, actually. I don't think this is a fight. I think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media. I think that he heard one side of the story, which is probably by the Mexican government."

Mourners to pay respects to late Justice Scalia at Supreme Court

Why is the WH not explaining Obama skipping Scalia funeral?

Thousands of mourners, from President Barack Obama to ordinary tourists, will pay their final respects to late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Friday as his casket lies in repose in the high court's Great Hall.
Court officials said Scalia's casket would be carried into the hall at approximately 9:30 a.m. local time for a private ceremony including family, friends and justices. The public will be admitted between 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.
The justice's former law clerks will take turns standing vigil by their former boss throughout the day and night in a tradition most recently observed after the 2005 death of former Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
The casket will rest on the Lincoln Catafalque, the platform on which President Abraham Lincoln's coffin rested in the Capitol rotunda in 1865. A 2007 portrait of Scalia by artist Nelson Shanks will be displayed nearby.

Obama and his wife Michelle planned to pay their respects at the court on Friday, while Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden were to attend Scalia's funeral Mass on Saturday.
The funeral Mass open to family and friends will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Burial plans have not been released.

In a departure from tradition, the court's current and former justices won't be lining the marble steps outside the court as the casket is carried through the main entrance. They will instead be waiting inside. Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg did not explain the reason for the change.

Scalia's sudden death complicated an already tumultuous election year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says a replacement should not be named until the next president takes office. Obama pledged to pick a replacement "in due time" and challenged Republicans to hold a vote on his nominee.

Scalia was found dead on Saturday in his room at a remote Texas hunting resort. The 79-year-old jurist was appointed to the court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan.

He is survived by his wife, Maureen, nine children and 36 grandchildren.

Muslim Man Cartoon

Muslim man files lawsuit against Oklahoma gun range for refusing him service

A Muslim man, who is also a U.S. Army reservist, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the owners of an Oklahoma gun range after they allegedly told him to leave when he identified himself as a Muslim.
Raja’ee Fatihah’s lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Muskogee against the owners of Save Yourself Survival and Tactical Gun Range in the town of Oktaha.
A sign posted on the business declared the range a "Muslim-free" establishment, and is similar to signs that have been placed at businesses in Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky and New York, said Brady Henderson, legal director for the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit.
"Whether the sign in question says 'no Muslims' or whether it says 'no coloreds' or whether it says 'no women' or 'no Christians' or 'no Buddhists' ... it is just as un-American and fundamentally it is just as wrong," Henderson said.
Fatihah is a board member with the Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Oklahoma chapter. He said he went to the gun range after learning about the signage. He said the owners of the gun range were warm and welcoming until he told them he was a Muslim.
"At that point, they started treating me with suspicion," Fatihah said.
The lawsuit also alleges that the owners asked Fatihah if he was there to murder them, The Oklahoman reported.
Robert Muise, with the American Freedom Law Center, is representing Chad and Nicole Neal – the owners of the gun range – in the case. Muise said Fatihah was denied service because he was being belligerent, not because of his religion. Muise also said the sign declaring the shop a “Muslim-free” business is protected free speech. Fatihah denies he acted belligerently.
"The only thing the law prohibits is if somebody denies services strictly on the basis of religion, and that didn't happen here," Muise said.
Muise previously represented a Florida gun shop owner in a similar case.
Claims of discrimination by business owners against Muslims have been reported in numerous states, and formal complaints have been filed with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding incidents in Arkansas, Florida and New Hampshire, said CAIR's national director, Ibrahim Hooper.
"It's one of those issues that's tied to the overall rise of anti-Muslim bigotry in our society," Hooper said.
A similar lawsuit was filed by CAIR last year against a gun shop in Florida, but that case was dismissed by a federal judge who determined CAIR could not prove its members were harmed by the store's Muslim-free policy, Henderson said.

Gun-rights battle heats up in GOP primary

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. –  The gun-rights debate has returned to the forefront of the Republican presidential battle as the candidates charge into Saturday’s South Carolina primary, going to great lengths to prove their steadfast support of the Second Amendment.
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are locked in a nasty fight over the issue, as Cruz effectively argues the billionaire businessman would, if elected, abolish gun rights.
“If Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution, because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative,” Cruz told ABC News on Sunday, the morning after a GOP debate in Greenville.
Trump claims Cruz is blatantly misrepresenting his positions and has demanded Cruz retract his statements.
“Cruz does lie,” Trump said Wednesday at a South Carolina rally, after earlier declaring, “I’m the strongest person on the stage for the Second Amendment.” He also said Wednesday that he and his sons are “proud” National Rifle Association members.
Jeb Bush, meanwhile, drew considerable attention this week for tweeting a picture of a personalized gun with his name etched into it. Next to the photo was a single word: “America.”
While he faced Twitter ridicule for it, Bush defended the tweet on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” explaining that the gun was given to him by a manufacturer during a visit.
“It was to say that I’m for the Second Amendment,” Bush said, touting his NRA rating. “It meant nothing more than that. It was an appreciation for receiving a gun at a manufacturer that makes the gun, and a lot of jobs are created because of that.”
It’s no accident that gun rights are surging back as a debate topic in the GOP race.
Roughly 44 percent of South Carolina residents own guns, according to a study published in June 2015 in the journal Injury Prevention. The state allows residents and non-residents to carry a concealed firearm, with some exceptions.
The state’s eastern seaboard is populated largely by military and retired military, while gun rights are also a big part of the culture in the state’s rural communities – and beyond. Even in the tourist hub of Charleston, the indoor shooting range Quickshot is a popular entertainment spot where customers can select a gun and shoot at paper targets, like renting a ball and shoes at a bowling alley. The range offers specials for couples on a date and attracted a steady crowd this past Valentine’s Day weekend.
While the GOP 2016 candidates are sparring over gun rights, the debate is likely to heat up more when the eventual Republican nominee engages with either Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in the general election.
Those in the GOP field who have served in public office -- Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- all have a high rating from the NRA. Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are first-time candidates, and have no NRA rating.
Cruz’s campaign, in challenging Trump’s record, has tried to tie Trump to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the most vocal gun control advocates in the country.
But the Trump campaign has pushed back.
Still, the GOP candidates are mindful of striking the right tone on guns, at least in South Carolina.
They must stay in good standing with the powerful gun lobby while being sensitive to the fact that, last year, a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black man in North Charleston and a gunman killed nine black parishioners inside a downtown Charleston church.
South Carolina residents and political leaders from across the political spectrum appear to have found some common ground on the related issues of police body cameras, better mental-health care and improving FBI background checks. The alleged shooter in the church massacre, Dylann Roof, was allowed to purchase the handgun despite having previously admitted to a felony drug-possession charge.
Joe Desilet, a partner at the D.C.-based political consulting firm 21st & Main, doesn’t see the GOP candidates easing on their defense of the Second Amendment as a result of the Charleston shootings.
“However, as Sen. Marco Rubio and others have already done, you may see the candidates advocate for mental-health reform and other common-sense reforms alongside their defense of the amendment,” he said.
James Overby, a district director with NRA-affiliate Gun Owners of South Carolina, downplayed the notion that Trump would, if elected, try to weaken Second Amendment rights, despite him giving money to the political campaigns of gun-control advocates and Democrats Clinton and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“I don’t believe it,” said Overby, adding the NRA would have already alerted members in South Carolina and elsewhere if that were the case.
Clinton and Sanders, by contrast, support tighter gun laws and mandatory body cameras for police officers.
State Democratic Sen. Marlon Kimpson, who backs Clinton, said Clinton’s “immediate” call for tougher gun laws in the aftermath of both killings was a deciding factor in him choosing Clinton over Sanders.

Clinton suggests racial 'bigotry' behind Republicans' stance in Supreme Court fight

Hillary Clinton ratcheted up Democrats’ criticism of Senate Republicans in the debate over filling the Supreme Court’s sudden vacancy, suggesting Tuesday that those calling on President Obama not to nominate someone are motivated by race. 
Republicans fired back on Wednesday, calling Clinton's comments a "new low" in the debate.
The Democratic presidential candidate had accused Republicans of talking in “coded racial language” during remarks in Harlem, tying that to the ongoing battle over who should replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia – and who should nominate that replacement.
Many Republicans want Obama to defer to the next president to name a successor; Obama has rejected those calls and plans to nominate a replacement, he says, “in due time.”
Clinton, speaking about race issues in Harlem on Tuesday, lit into Republicans over their position.
“Now the Republicans say they’ll reject anyone President Obama nominates, no matter how qualified. Some are even saying he doesn’t have the right to nominate anyone. As if somehow he’s not the real president,” she said.
“You know, that’s in keeping with what we’ve heard all along, isn’t it? Many Republicans talk in coded racial language about takers and losers. They demonize President Obama and encourage the ugliest impulses of the paranoid fringe. This kind of hatred and bigotry has no place in our politics or our country.”
The conservative Newsbusters accused Clinton of playing the “race card.”
The Republican National Committee challenged Clinton’s comments on Wednesday, saying the debate is about the American people “having a say” and not about the president or the nominee.
“Hillary Clinton and President Obama set the standard for obstructing Supreme Court justices, by voting against Roberts and filibustering Alito. Invoking race to sweep her own hypocrisy on this matter under the rug is a new low,” RNC Director of Black Media Orlando Watson said in a statement.
Clinton’s comments come as she and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders battle for support from minority voters, ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary.
In that same speech, Clinton took some implicit shots at Sanders, suggesting he only recently started paying attention to race issues. She said candidates “can't just start building relationships a few weeks before the vote."
Sanders, though, has been meeting with black leaders and discussing race issues frequently on the campaign trail and on the debate stage.

White House: Obama 'regrets' decision to filibuster Supreme Court Justice Alito

Supreme Court Justice Alito

The top White House spokesman said Wednesday that President Obama “regrets” his 2006 decision to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court – after being accused of hypocrisy for blasting “obstructionist” Republicans now vowing to block his next high court nominee.  
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was pressed on Obama’s 2006 vote, as a U.S. senator, at the daily briefing.
“Looking back on it, the president believes that he should have just followed his own advice and made a strong public case on the merits about his opposition to the nomination that President Bush had put forward,” he told reporters.
Earnest said that Republicans are going further than Obama did, with a pledge to not consider anyone the president nominates.
“There is a pretty stark difference here. What Republicans are advocating is wrong and is inconsistent with the requirements of the Constitution, primarily because the wording of the Constitution is unambiguous and does not provide an exception for election years,” he said.
Earnest also argued that the 2006 filibuster of Alito was different, because it was not likely to succeed since the votes already existed for him to be confirmed and was based on “substance.”
“What the president regrets is that Senate Democrats didn't focus more on making an effective public case about those substantive objections,” he said. “Instead, some Democrats engaged in a process of throwing sand in the gears of the confirmation process.  And that's an approach that the president regrets.”
Obama, in his most extensive remarks on the vacancy since the 79-year-old Scalia was found dead at a Texas ranch on Saturday, rejected widespread calls by Republican lawmakers and 2016 candidates to defer to the next president to fill Scalia’s seat.
“There is no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off-years. That’s not in the constitutional text,” Obama said at a press conference Tuesday, blasting what he called an “obstructionist” Senate.
In 2006, then-Senator Obama tried to filibuster the nomination of Alito, who ultimately was confirmed.
When asked about that seeming discrepancy, Obama did not answer directly, noting that senators are sometimes worried about primary elections and a backlash from supporters, and take “strategic decisions.”
He also brushed off his own opposition to Alito, saying he’s on the bench now, “regardless of which votes particular senators have taken.”

Kim Jong Un Cartoon