CNN's Don Lemon Cartoons

Democrats struggling for pocketbook message as roaring economy helps Trump

The economy is on fire right now, and that, more than anything, could be a major boost to President Trump's reelection chances.
And the Democrats are having a hard time figuring out how to run against this steamroller at a time of 4 percent unemployment and soaring stocks.
Of course, things could cool off before the election, as many economists predict a sharp slowdown in growth over the next two years.
But for now, the S&P and the Nasdaq just hit all-time highs, and the newly announced rebound in first-quarter growth, to 3.2 percent, trounced the market's all-important expectations.
I've always felt that a president presiding over strong growth is far more likely to win a second term, even if other hot-button issues are dominating the news. The flip side is that strong economic anxieties can derail a reelection campaign, even if the economy is recovering from a recession, as happened when George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992. And the Wall Street meltdown in the fall of 2008 helped put Barack Obama in the White House.
The nettlesome challenge for the Democratic candidates is to avoid appearing that they're talking down a good economy or getting traction when most people are satisfied with their personal situation. During the 1982 midterms, Democrats privately hoped the jobless rate under Ronald Reagan would top 10 percent, which it did, but couldn't say so publicly on their way to picking up 27 House seats.
Joe Biden is touted for his ability to connect with white, working-class voters in such industrial states as Michigan and Pennsylvania. But if those workers, except in certain fields, are generally doing well, that clearly undercuts the pitch.
But don't take my word for it — ask Celinda Lake.
She's a veteran Democratic pollster who told Politico that "we really don't have a robust national message right now" on the economy. "We will tend to talk about things like paid leave and equal pay," which are popular but "don't add up to an economic message that is robust enough to win the presidency."
Lake also said that people may not agree with Trump, but they know what his message is. "And Democrats, you don't know what it is. And that's a recipe for disaster in 2020."
Look, many things will be at play in this election: Immigration. Health care. The Mueller report. Terrorism. Race relations. And Trump is underwater with key groups and has a 54 percent disapproval rating in the latest ABC/Washington Post poll.
And even on the economic front, not everything is Rosy Scenario. By the administration's own projections, we're looking at federal deficits over $1 trillion for the next four years. That's what you get when you combine only modest spending restraint with tax cuts, which many Americans feel didn't help them.
As the Politico piece notes, some Democratic candidates are taking broad swipes at the Trump economy, particularly on the subject of inequality.
Kamala Harris: "We have an economy in this country that is not working for working people."
Elizabeth Warren: "Let's make the zillionaires pay a fair share."
Beto O'Rourke would undo the "worst excesses" of the GOP tax cuts.
One of the reasons that no economic message is breaking through is that there are 20 Democratic candidates, each vying for a share of the spotlight. That would matter less in hard times, but the Democrats don't have that luxury.
If "it's the economy, stupid" is as true today as when James Carville coined it a quarter-century ago, beating Trump will be harder than many Democrats think.

CNN's Don Lemon cuts off guest who accused him of 'contributing' to political divide

CNN anchor Don Lemon lashed out at former White House aide Cliff Sims over President Donald Trump’s Charlottesville remarks and ended the segment early after he was accused by his guest of "contributing" to the political divide in the country.
While covering the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the rally Trump held simultaneously in Green Bay, Wis. on Saturday night, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota began the conversation by criticizing President Trump’s pivot from his somber rally remarks about the deadly synagogue shooting in Poway, Calif. to his fiery attacks against the Russia investigation.
Sims responded by saying all Americans are “watching the same movie” and how they are “seeing dramatically different things” when it comes to the Trump presidency. He used Lemon’s response to Charlottesville as an example that his views of Trump’s remarks are “diametrically opposed” to many others, including himself, adding that Trump “did condemn” white supremacy.
“Then you’re delusional. Then you’re delusional, Cliff,” Lemon talked over Sims. “You’re saying because the president says words that are hollow- because the president said ‘we should come together.’”
“I couldn’t hear anything you just said, Don, because you insisted on talking over me,” Sims shot back. “So I really don’t know what you’re saying right now.”
“If you stop talking, then we won’t be talking over each other and I will let you respond,” Lemon said.
“Well, you want to interview me!” Sims exclaimed.  “You asked me to come on your program, so give me a chance to talk!”

CNN anchor Don Lemon (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Lemon accused the “Team of Vipers” author of saying that “the president’s words don’t matter,” which Sims denied. Sims then challenged Lemon to give an example of Trump “being a white supremacist.”
“I never called the president a white supremacist, so you’re watching the wrong program or you’re not hearing what I’m saying. What I have called the president is a racist,” the CNN anchor said. “When you call nations ‘s---hole countries,’ when you call African-American players ‘sons of b--hes, when you say there are ‘fine people on both sides,’ when you lie about it afterwards --“
Sims attempted to explain that Trump was saying there were “fine people on both sides” of the debate over Confederate statues, but Lemon insisted that’s not what the president said.
After another heated exchange, the former Trump aide accused Lemon of “contributing” to stoking division by re-litigating the Charlottesville remarks.
“I’m not the person who said that they were ‘fine people on both sides,’” Lemon fired back. “I’m not the person who called countries ‘sh--hole countries.’”
“You actually don’t even know if he said that because that’s another one of those based on anonymous and people in the room say blah, blah, blah, you actually don’t know if he said that,” Sims told Lemon.
“Yes, I do know that he said that,” Lemon claimed. “And it’s not ‘blah, blah, blah.”
The “CNN Tonight” host had enough of Sims and cut the segment short, shifting to someone he says “tried to bring this country together.”
“And that’s you, Don. You do a great job at that,” Sims sarcastically added before his mic was cut.
Lemon was actually referring to President Barack Obama.
Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @JosephWulfsohn.

Conway calls out Ocasio-Cortez for posts about Netflix documentary while 'away from tech'

Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway appeared on “Hannity” Monday where she explained why she attacked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for not tweeting about the Sri Lanka Easter massacre and referred to media who haven’t pressed the freshman congresswoman as “fangirls.”
“I usually leave Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and some of these other freshmen like Ilhan Omar, [Rashida] Tlaib alone because basically when they speak, it's a gift to conservatives and to the Republican Party,” Conway said. But she told Sean Hannity that while she is pressed consistently on everything President Trump says, Ocasio-Cortez is treated like a ‘hero' and goes unchallenged in the media.
“But I really had to call her out here because I am on television shows, and I'm asked constantly, ‘Why didn't Donald Trump say this, why did he use that word? Where is the semi-colon in this tweet where I believe it should be.’  And I said hey, does anybody ask Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who you give a hero's welcome to?  All you fangirls ever bother to ask her why she’s been completely silent on the massacre against Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday?” Conway said.
Conway on Sunday criticized the freshman congresswoman for not tweeting about the bombings targeting Christians in  Sri Lanka.
"I see officials who get a lot of airtime and ink like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, congresswoman, who tweets many times about the mosque and never once about the Christians being killed in Sri Lanka," Conway said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Ocasio-Cortez responded on Twitter accusing Conway Sunday of attempting to "stoke suspicion" regarding the freshman lawmaker's religion. The New York congresswoman also noted she was visiting her grandmother in Puerto Rico for Easter and “away from tech.”
Conway criticized Ocasio-Cortez Monday while on 'Hannity" for not tweeting about Sri Lanka the next day, and instead promoted a documentary about herself.
“The very next day, still picking through the rubble in Sri Lanka, looking for survivors or of the deceased. She had time to tweet about a Netflix documentary about her,” Conway said. The Daily Caller pointed out that her tweets did end on April 18, and there were no tweets on Easter Sunday, but "her account did include both a tweet and a retweet about the upcoming movie “Knock Down The House.”
Conway reiterated the issue was not about her faith.
“It’s not about her faith, it’s about her selectivity,” Conway told Hannity.

Trump orders asylum overhaul, including new fee for applicants and faster adjudications, amid 'severe' border crisis

President Trump called Monday night for a sweeping overhaul to an asylum system he has long said is rife with fraud -- including a new fee to process asylum applicants, and the capacity to rapidly adjudicate applicants' claims while also barring them from working in the U.S. in the meantime.
In a presidential memorandum, Trump specifically told Attorney General William Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan that the move was necessary to address a "crisis" at the border. In an article published earlier this month, The New York Times acknowledged that the humanitarian crisis of illegal immigration has hit a "breaking point."
Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months, with border agents making more than 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March, a 12-year high. Immigration courts that process asylum claims currently have a backlog of more than 800,000 cases, and asylum applicants are increasingly staying in the U.S. even after their claims for asylum have been denied.
“That emergency continues to grow increasingly severe,” Trump's memo read. “The extensive resources required to process and care for these individuals pulls U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel away from securing our Nation’s borders.”
According to a White House fact sheet released Monday, on average, "out of every 100 aliens subject to expedited removal who claim a fear of persecution, only about 12 will ultimately be granted asylum."
And "around half of all aliens who make a credible fear claim and are subsequently placed in removal proceedings do not actually apply for asylum."

Honduran asylum seekers are taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego this past Demceber. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)

Thought the vast majority of asylum applications are ultimately unsuccessful, they still take months and even years to fully process. Asylum law is intended to provide harbor only to refugees fleeing personal persecution based on a limited number of factors -- such as political belief or religion -- and does not protect individuals fleeing bad living conditions or poverty.
The Trump administration last year rolled back an Obama-era expansion of potential asylum justifications, which extended protections to those alleging domestic abuse or gang-related attacks back home. White House officials said at the time that those categories were prone to abuse and expanded asylum law beyond its original intent.
In his memorandum, Trump gave his deputies 90 days to propose regulations so that all asylum applications are adjudicated within 180 days, except for those representing exceptional circumstances.
The White House and DHS officials did not immediately respond to questions about how much applicants might be forced to pay in asylum fees, and it is unclear how many families fleeing poverty would be able to afford such a payment.
The memo says the price would not exceed the cost of processing applications, but officials did not immediately provide an estimate for what that might be.

A Central American migrant takes a nap in the shade under a freight train car, last week in Oaxaca State, Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Trump also wants to bar anyone who has entered or tried to enter the country illegally from receiving a provisional work permit and is calling on officials to immediately revoke work authorizations when individuals are denied asylum and ordered removed from the country.
Immigration officials say one reason asylum claims are booming is that migrants know they will be able to live and work in the U.S. while their cases play out -- and, in many cases, even after their claims have been rejected.
According to the White House, the number of "aliens who do not show up to court and are ordered removed in absentia has soared, with 17,200 removal orders issued in absentia in the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2019. ... If this pace continues, in absentia removal orders would more than triple the 2013 total."
For asylum cases originating in a credible fear claim, "in absentia removal orders are on pace to increase to 17,636 in FY 2019, around 20 times more than the total in FY 2010."
And since September 2018, "1 out of every 6 family unit cases filed on special expedited dockets at 10 immigration courts has ended with an in absentia removal order," the White House said.
Trump is also calling on DHS to reassign immigration officers and any other staff "to improve the integrity of adjudications of credible and reasonable fear claims, to strengthen the enforcement of the immigration laws, and to ensure compliance with the law by those aliens who have final orders of removal."
Fox News' Shannon Bream and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trashy NY Times Cartoons

4 left-leaning states up for grabs in 2020, Trump campaign manager says

Brad Parscale, the campaign manager for President Trump’s 2020 campaign, said on Sunday that he believes states that normally vote Democrat could be flipped, according to recent data.
Parscale told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado could be up for grabs. He said the campaign also understands the importance of maintaining support in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida.
“In every single metric we’re looking at being bigger, better and badder than we were in 2016. But this time we’re not out there trying to prove we can do something. The president’s proved he has done it, and now we just have to deliver what he’s done,” he said.
CBS News pointed out that Hillary Clinton won New Mexico by over 8 points and Colorado by 5. The other states were closer.
There is no clear Democrat who will win the nomination, which could be a drawn-out drubbing for the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and others.
Larry J. Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and Kyle Konik, who manages the center’s office in Washington co-authored an op-ed in The Washington Post last week titled, “It’s Easy to See How Trump Can Win Reelecton.” The piece points out that Trump is not a shoo-in, but has a solid base and benefits from a strong economy.
“Credit the powers of incumbency and a strong economy, the state of which may matter more to Trump’s odds than nearly anything else,” they wrote. “Incumbency and the economy, among other matters, ended up being more than enough for Nixon, Reagan and Bush. Despite Trump’s unprecedented outlandishness, that same combination might work for him, too.”

AOC accuses Kellyanne Conway of trying to 'stoke suspicion' about her faith

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.  accused Kellyanne Conway Sunday of attempting to "stoke suspicion" regarding the freshman lawmaker's religion after the White House adviser questioned why she didn't comment on the Sri Lankan terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday.
In a back-and-forth exchange on Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez asked why Conway would note that she didn't tweet about the bombings, which left more than 250 people dead.
"Are you trying to imply that I am less Christian? What was the point of you bringing this up on national TV?" the lawmaker asked, alongside a jab about how she was visiting her grandmother in Puerto Rico, "which continues to suffer from the White House's incompetent disaster response."
Ocasio-Cortez called the Sri Lanka attack "horrifying," and called out Conway for "using this as an excuse to stoke suspicion around my Christianity + faith life."
"No one should be targeted for their religion," she tweeted. "If you’re so moved, let’s do more to welcome immigrants fleeing religious persecution."
Conway initially questioned the widespread use of the term "Easter Worshippers" among politicians who expressed their condolences, including former President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Ocasio-Cortez said, "Saying ‘Easter worshippers’ matters bc Easter is the holiest day of the year for Christians, & to be targeted on Easter highlights how heinous the attack was - just as saying yesterday’s #SanDiego shooting was on Passover.
In her response, Conway said it was "good" that Ocasio-Cortez condemned the attacks, as she "found it odd a prolific tweeter was silent" on the topic. The Trump confidante said that both women agree on the idea that places of worship should remain unharmed.
At least 253 people, several of whom were American citizens, were killed and more than 500 others were injured after a series of explosions struck three churches and three luxury hotels just outside of Sri Lanka's capital on Easter. The attacks were among the worst since the South Asian country’s 26-year civil war ended in 2009, according to local officials.

Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx subpoenaed over Jussie Smollett case: report

Chicago’s top prosecutor, Kim Foxx, has been subpoenaed Friday over her handling of the Jussie Smollett case, according to The Chicago-Sun Times.
Foxx, Cook County’s state’s attorney, will have to appear in court after a retired appellate judge, Sheila O’Brien, filed a petition last week for a special prosecutor to probe the Smollett case, in which a 16-count indictment against the “Empire” actor was dropped last month.
Foxx’s top deputy, Joseph Magats, was also subpoenaed, and another document requested that Smollett appears at the hearing, the report said.
O’Brien requested Foxx, Magats, and Smollett produce original documents in the criminal case to assure the public “that they have not been altered or destroyed and will not be destroyed throughout this case,” the Sun-Times reports.
The petition for a special prosecutor claimed Foxx’s handling of the case was “plagued with irregularity.”
O’Brien argues that Foxx, who informally recused herself from the case due to contact she had with a relative of Smollett’s during the investigation, should have appointed a special prosecutor.
“Foxx’s conflict in this matter is beyond dispute,” O’Brien wrote, “instead, Foxx misled the public into believing that Smollett’s case was handled like any other prosecution and without influence.”
Smollett told police he was attacked on Jan. 29 around 2 a.m. as he was returning home from a sandwich shop in Chicago. He said two masked men shouted racial and anti-gay slurs, poured bleach on him, beat him and tied a rope around his neck. He claimed they shouted, “This is MAGA country” — a reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
After an intense investigation, police said Smollett staged the entire incident to drum up publicity for his career.
Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report.

New York Times apologizes again for 'offensive' Trump, Netanyahu cartoon that 'included anti-Semitic tropes'

The New York Times Opinion section issued a second apology Sunday over a cartoon of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which was called offensive because of "anti-Semitic tropes."
"We are deeply sorry for the publication of an anti-Semitic political cartoon last Thursday in the print edition of The New York Times that circulates outside of the United States, and we are committed to making sure nothing like this happens again," the opinion section tweeted Sunday.
"Such imagery is always dangerous, and at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, it's all the more unacceptable," continued the apology, which was widely shared on Twitter.
The new apology said that the decision to run the syndicated cartoon was made by a single editor working without adequate oversight.
The cartoon showed Trump wearing a pair of sunglasses and being led by a dog depicted as Netanyahu. The dog had a Star of David collar. The cartoon appeared in the paper’s opinion section next to a column penned by Thomas Friedman.
The political cartoon was criticized globally by numerous social media users, who said the Times' first statement was inadequate.
The original apology read, “A political cartoon in the international print edition of The New York Times on Thursday included anti-Semitic tropes, depicting the prime minister of Israel as a guide dog with a Star of David collar leading the president of the United States, shown wearing a skullcap. The image was offensive, and it was an error of judgment to publish it. It was provided by The New York Times News Service and Syndicate, which has since deleted it.”
In an op-ed published online Sunday evening, Times columnist Bret Stephens took his employer to task, writing that the cartoon "in another age, might have been published in the pages of Der Stürmer," a virulently anti-Semitic tabloid published during Germany's Nazi regime.
"The problem with the cartoon isn’t that its publication was a willful act of anti-Semitism. It wasn’t," Stephens wrote. "The problem is that its publication was an astonishing act of ignorance of anti-Semitism .... at a publication that is otherwise hyper-alert to nearly every conceivable expression of prejudice, from mansplaining to racial microaggressions to transphobia."
Stephens added that the Times owed Netanyahu an apology and should reflect on "how it came to publish that cartoon — and how its publication came, to many longtime readers, as a shock but not a surprise."