Conservative Blogger
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Media jump gun on branding Trump claim on Clinton birther role 'false'
Donald Trump’s claim Friday that Hillary Clinton and her 2008 campaign “started” the Obama birther controversy touched off a series of instant fact-checking from media outlets who branded the claim “false” – but it seems they may have jumped the gun.
“Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it,” Trump said in Washington, D.C. Friday, referring to theories President Obama was not born in the United States. “President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.”
Media outlets immediately branded his claim about Hillary Clinton's involvement as an outright falsehood.
“Trump admits Obama born in U.S. but falsely blames Clinton for starting rumors,” declared The Washington Post.
“Trump drops claim but falsely accuses Clinton of starting it,” said The New York Times.
However, that assertion was itself cast into doubt when former McClatchy D.C. Bureau Chief James Asher tweeted that long-time Clinton confidante Sidney Blumenthal had encouraged him to investigate the rumor that Obama was not born in America.
His version of events raises questions about the Clinton campaign’s denials that it had anything to do with the controversy, but media outlets didn’t suggest any gray area.
Clinton 2008 campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle seemed to muddy the waters even further when, in denying that there was a connection, admitted that there was an Iowa volunteer who forwarded an email promoting the conspiracy.
“There was a volunteer coordinator, I believe in late 2007, I think in December, one of our volunteer coordinators in one of the counties in Iowa. I don't recall whether they were an actual paid staffer, but they did forward an e-mail that promoted the conspiracy,” she said on CNN, adding that Clinton herself made the decision to fire the person “immediately.”
Trump’s campaign immediately jumped on the Doyle interview, saying it vindicated Trump.
“With Clinton’s 2008 campaign manager admitting on national television and on Twitter that they promoted the rumors surrounding now-President Obama’s heritage, Mr. Trump has been fully vindicated,” spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement.
“Not only was a Clinton campaign worker blamed and fired over the activity, we have now been informed that Secretary Clinton was aware of what was going on, with Clinton’s campaign manager even apologizing to Obama’s campaign manager,” he said.
Clinton meanwhile, continued to blast Trump for his involvement in the controversy, tweeting: President Obama’s successor cannot and will not be the man who led the racist birther movement. Period.
In tightening race, Trump returns to touting tough immigration policy, ends wild week of accusations, innuendos
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| What's behind the Trump surge in swing states? |
Trump delivered his law-and-order message to a gathering in Houston of Remembrance Project families, dedicated to helping themselves and others after killings at the hands of illegal immigrants.
“Your stories are not featured in the news. You have no demonstrators taking to the streets on your behalf. You have no special interests taking up your cause, and politicians ignore your cries for help. But I never will,” Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, said amid more recent polls showing him essentially deadlocked with Clinton in the White House race.
A Fox News poll released Thursday shows Clinton ahead of Trump by just 1 percentage point among likely voters in a four-way ballot. Clinton receives 41 percent and Trump 40 percent, with Libertarian Gary Johnson at 8 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 3 percent.
In the head-to-head matchup with Clinton, Trump leads by 1 percentage point.
Clinton, whose single-digit lead has slipped since mid-August, spoke Saturday evening in Washington, D.C., at a Black Caucus Foundation’s awards dinner, her third day on the campaign trail after taking off a few days to recover from pneumonia.
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
After struggling in recent weeks to find an immigration policy that would appeal to voters in the general election, Trump has essentially returned to his hardline positions, while trying to portray Clinton, a former secretary of state, as soft on illegal immigration.
“The matter of this country refusing to take back their deported citizens came before Hillary Clinton’s (State Department) desk,” Trump said Saturday. “But she failed to take forceful action and ignored the federal law requiring her to suspend visas to countries that don’t take back their citizens.”
He also said she has declined Remembrance Project’s offers to meet and argued Clinton, if elected, would extend President Obama’s “open border” polices and attempts to delay deportation through executive action.
“She will only meet with the donors and the special interests and the open border advocates,” Trump said. “Her plan calls for total amnesty in the first 100 days. … Sanctuary Cities, ignoring visa overstays, closing detention centers and a virtual end to immigration enforcement in the United States.”
His comments follow a wild past few days in which the Clinton and Trump camps exchanged attacks -- with Trump again using innuendo to go after Clinton and attract free publicity.
On Wednesday, Trump declined to say definitively that President Obama was born in the United States -- roughly eight years after stoking controversy about his citizenship, then dropping the issue in 2011 when the president made public his birth certificate documents.
Trump on Friday declared the issue over, but not before suggesting that the Clinton campaign, in its hard-fought 2008 Democratic presidential primary against Obama, was pushing the rumor that he was born in Kenya.
Clinton said on Twitter that Trump pushing the birther issue was “deplorable.” And on Saturday, the campaign told Fox News that neither Clinton nor the 2008 campaign suggested Obama was born outside of the U.S.
Trump also made the statement at the end of a campaign event at his new luxury hotel in Washington, D.C. -- after suggesting beforehand to expect a “major announcement.”
And he mused aloud about what might happen if Clinton’s Secret Service detail no longer carried weapons, an apparent effort to further suggest Clinton, if elected, would further take away Americans’ rights to own guns.
"I think her bodyguards should drop all weapons. Disarm immediately," Trump said. "Take their guns away, let's see what happens to her."
Trump made a similar suggestion in May about her Secret Service detail.
'A bomb went off in New York': Trump, Clinton respond to Manhattan explosion
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"I must tell you that just before I got off the plane a bomb went off in New York and nobody knows what's going on," Trump said, minutes after stepping off his plane during a rally at an airport hangar in Colorado Springs, Colo.
He continued: "But boy we are living in a time -- we better get very tough, folks. We better get very, very tough. It's a terrible thing that's going on in our world, in our country and we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant."
The Republican presidential nominee made the comments around 9:10 p.m., shortly after the explosion in Manhattan's crowded Chelsea neighborhood and as emergency officials were responding to the blast.
Local authorities have said they believed the explosion, which injured 29, was an "intentional act," but declined to answer questions about the cause at a news conference that began about two hours after Trump spoke.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said then that it was "too early to determine specifically what the incident was caused by" and that the investigation was still underway.
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
Trump's rival Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, sought to present a more cautious response, underscoring the difference between the two candidates' styles.
Clinton was briefed on the incidents shortly after her speech to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner in Washington.
After landing in suburban New York City, Clinton told reporters she had been briefed "about the bombings in New York and New Jersey and the attacks in Minnesota." She said, "we need to do everything we can to support our first responders — also to pray for the victims. We have to let this investigation unfold."
Clinton was referring to a pipe bomb that exploded in a New Jersey shore town and reports of a shooting and a stabbing at a Minnesota mall.
Clinton, asked about Trump's saying that a "bomb" had gone off in New York, said it was "important to know the facts about any incident like this," adding, "I think it's always wiser to wait until you have information before making conclusions, because we are just in the beginning stages of trying to determine what happened."
Explosion In New York City Believed To Be 'intentional,' Mayor Says; 29 Injured
DEVELOPING: An explosion that injured at least 29 people in New York City late Saturday appeared to be "intentional, as sources told Fox News a second device -- a pressure cooker -- was found four blocks away.
"Tonight, New York City experienced a very bad incident," de Blasio said at a news conference near the scene in Chelsea. "We have no credible and specific threat at this moment."#Explosion outside our apartment at 23rd and 6th in #newyork. Terrified. Hoping everyone is okay. pic.twitter.com/i3q4cG7aWT— N∑H∆ (@nnehajainn) September 18, 2016
De Blasio tried to calm any fears among nervous New Yorkers, saying the explosion had no terrorist connection and wasn't related to a pipe bomb explosion at a charity run in New Jersey earlier SaturdayWe are responding to an explosion at West 23 / 6 Ave. - updates to follow— NYPDCounterterrorism (@NYPDCT) September 18, 2016
The blast, which happened at around 8:30 p.m. on West 23rd Street in the city's Chelsea neighborhood, appeared to originate from a construction toolbox in front of a building, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. A garbage can was found mangled nearby.
Less than three hours after the explosion, investigators located a pressure cooker at West 27th Street that was attached to wiring and a cellphone, a law enforcment source told Fox News. It was not clear what was inside the device. Police advised residents of the block where the pressure cooker was found to stay away from windows facing 27th Street.
Early Sunday, police said that the pressure cooker had been removed from the area and would be taken to the department's firing range in the Bronx for further analysis."Louder than any thunder I've ever heard in my life. Like the sky exploded. Shook the building" NYC explosion pic.twitter.com/WsY3Ax7PS7— Liz Mandel (@elisabetherapy) September 18, 2016
New York Police Department spokesman J. Peter Donald said several people were taken to hospitals with injuries. One of the injured suffered a puncture wound that was considered serious. Officials said the other injuries were minor, described as scrapes and bruises. All of the injured were expected to survive, the FDNY reported.
Witnesses said the explosion blew out the windows of businesses and scattered debris in the area. One witness told Fox News the explosion sent a "big cloud of black smoke" into the air as people ran from the scene. Another said a fireball shot into the air as a nearby building shook.
A National Guard member near the scene told Fox News the explosion was so loud that he put on his uniform and raced to the area.
Chris Gonzalez, visiting from Dallas, was having dinner with friends at a restaurant in the area.
"We felt it, we heard it, the restaurant went real quiet, the 26-year-old Gonzalez told the Associated Press. "It wasn't like jolting or anything, everyone just went quiet."
Rudy Alcide, a bouncer at Vanity Nightclub at 21st Street and 6th Avenue, said he, at first, thought something large had fallen.
"It was an extremely loud noise, everything was shaking, the windows were shaking, it was crazy," he said. "It was extremely loud, almost like thunder, but louder."
Fox News was told there had been no prior intelligence suggesting Saturday's events may have been imminent. Sources also said it did not appear to be a gas explosion.
The FBI and NYPD would not rule out terrorism as a possible factor but said it was too early to determine the exact cause, law enforcement sources told Fox News. Police did not say whether they had any potential suspects.
Police counterterrorism officers, a bomb squad and firefighters rushed to the scene.
"All hands are on deck," de Blasio said at a news conference Saturday night.
The blast happened in front of a residence for the blind, near a major thoroughfare with many restaurants and a Trader Joe's supermarket.
"We are closely monitoring the situation and urge New Yorkers to, as always, remain calm and vigilant," Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded.
The FBI and Homeland Security officials, along with the ATF arson and explosive task force are also at the scene.
The White House said President Barack Obama has been apprised of the explosion in New York City and will be updated as additional information becomes available.
The explosion came hours after a pipe bomb exploded in Seaside Park, N. J., shortly before thousands of runners participated in a charity 5K race to benefit Marines and sailors. No injuries were reported.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Johnson, Stein excluded from 1st presidential debate
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| Jill Stein: I will feel terrible if Clinton, Trump elected |
The Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement Friday that Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein were polling too low to qualify for the Sept. 26 event. The commission since 2000 has invited only candidates polling at 15 percent or above in an average of five polls. Johnson was at 8.4 percent and Stein at 3.2 percent.
Johnson, a former New Mexico governor and ex-Republican who is running with former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, has been pushing aggressively to get into the debate. He and Stein could still qualify for the two remaining ones in October if their poll numbers hit 15 percent, but that will be challenging without the national exposure of the debate.
In a statement, Johnson slammed the commission as a tool of the Democratic and Republican parties and vowed to make the October contests. "The CPD may scoff at a ticket that enjoys 'only' 9 or 10% in their hand-selected polls, but even 9% represents 13 million voters, more than the total population of Ohio and most other states," Johnson said.
Reid in nasty battle with Trump over weight, injury
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid is fond of sparring with Republican presidential candidates, but the ex-boxer started an all-out street fight with Donald Trump this week -- and it only escalated Friday after the GOP nominee responded by mocking the injury that left Reid blind in one eye.
"Trump can make fun of the injury that took sight in my eye -- I've dealt with tougher opponents. With my good eye, I see Trump is a con-artist," Reid tweeted on Friday morning.
The political brawl started on Tuesday when Reid poked fun at Trump's weight.
While accusing the press of magnifying Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis and downplaying Trump's health issues, Reid said during a press conference, “He complains about her health? What does he do? He’s 70 years old. He’s not slim and trim.”
Trump's health details released this week show he is somewhat overweight, and the candidate says he wants to lose 15 pounds. But he hit back hard at Reid for going there, making a mocking reference to Reid's 2015 home-gym accident -- which happened when an exercise band snapped, sending the 76-year-old to the ground. He broke several ribs and facial bones.
“Harry Reid? I think he should go back and start working out again with his rubber work-out pieces,” Trump told the Washington Post on Wednesday.
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage →
This is not the first time Reid has engaged in a verbal battle with a Republican presidential nominee.
In July 2012, Reid took to the Senate floor to engage in speculation that Mitt Romney had not paid any taxes.
Speaking in the Senate on Thursday, Reid also unleashed a flurry of broadsides at Trump calling him a “human leech” and a “spoiled brat.”
Reid, who is retiring in January after 33 years in Congress, also suggested earlier this summer that intelligence officials “fake” the security briefings given to Trump.
“How would the CIA and the other intelligence agencies brief this guy? How could they do that? I would suggest to the intelligence agencies, if you’re forced to brief this guy, don’t tell him anything, just fake it, because this man is dangerous,” Reid said during an interview with The Huffington Post.
Reid’s attacks may or may not damage Trump, but one of Reid’s colleagues believes the real blow is to the Nevadan’s own legacy.
"Harry Reid, for some time now, has been going beyond the line, making statements on the floor where words should be taken down," Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told Roll Call.
"And to hear in the last few months of his career, sadly, it's gotten worse. And it mainly looks bad for Senator Reid and his legacy."
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