Talk of a possible Republican primary challenge to President Trump
is kicking up once again, as the president grapples with the fallout
from the partial government shutdown and other political turbulence.
Those
who might challenge Trump remain, as they ever were, decided underdogs
who would have to face off against not only a hard-charging president
but the entire Republican Party infrastructure. None would be as
well-known as Trump.
But
from the party’s ideological center, a handful of Republicans are
sending signals that they’re taking a possible primary run seriously.
Former
Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is headed to New Hampshire in two weeks to
headline “Politics and Eggs,” a must-stop for White House hopefuls.
A source close to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan told Fox News that Hogan, “more than others, is really taking it seriously.”
And
an email this week by former Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s political group
reminded supporters that “many have suggested Gov. Kasich should run,
and he is keeping all of his options on the table.”
With Trump coming under attack by some high-profile conservatives for ending the 35-day partial federal government shutdown
without getting funding for a wall along the Mexican border, the
perception in some corners of a weakened president is stoking the flames
of a small but emboldened band of Republicans hoping for a viable
primary challenge.
“I think the shutdown in general hurt Trump
pretty badly,” conservative columnist and notorious never-Trump leader
Bill Kristol said. “It makes the uphill climb [of a primary challenge]
less steep.”
Pointing to the GOP’s loss of the House in the 2018
midterm elections, the departure of Defense Secretary James Mattis, the
fluctuations in the stock market and the government shutdown, Kristol
said “it’s a three-month period which has featured all kinds of events
that have increased doubts and decreased confidence about a second-term
Trump.”
The party, though, remains firmly behind the president.
The Republican National Committee kicked off its annual meeting winter
last Friday by passing an unprecedented pledge giving the president
“undivided support” even before he’s the official 2020 nominee.
"The
members just wanted to underscore, underline, highlight that we are
here to re-elect President Trump and Republicans up and down the
ballot," Cassie Smedile, RNC national press secretary, said after the
vote.
The RNC didn’t consider a stronger resolution that would have endorsed Trump as the party’s 2020 nominee.
“It
was a smart move by the Trump White House to do it and it is true that a
very overwhelming majority of the 168 RNC members support President
Trump’s re-election,” one GOP source explained, but added “it has no
impact realistically on whether someone would challenge the president.”
The RNC’s action doesn’t seem to be stopping potential primary challengers from at least considering it.
Weld,
a vocal Trump critic who ran as the Libertarian Party’s 2016 vice
presidential nominee, appears to be mulling a potential longshot
challenge against the president.
“I’m just not saying anything. If
I have anything to say, I’ll say it on the 15th,” Weld told Fox News on
Wednesday, referring to the upcoming New Hampshire visit.
The state GOP, though, won’t be rolling out the welcome mat.
“He
ran as a Libertarian vice presidential candidate in 2016. As far as
we’re concerned he’s a Libertarian and he can’t flip-flop back and forth
for political expediency,” newly elected state party Chairman Steve
Stepanek told Fox News. “We don’t consider him a Republican. We don’t
want him back as a Republican.”
Stepanek, a businessman and former
state lawmaker who served a co-chair of Trump’s 2016 presidential
campaign in New Hampshire, explained that “if there is a legitimate
national Republican candidate, then under the bylaws I have to remain
neutral. I’m not going to be supporting them by any means, I’m just not
going to be going against them.”
Gov. Larry Hogan delivers his annual State of the State address to
a joint session of the legislature in Annapolis, Md., Wednesday, Jan.
30, 2019. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Hogan, who was re-elected last November to a second
term as governor of the blue state of Maryland, isn’t ruling out a
possible primary challenge either.
“I’m flattered that people are
talking about that as a possibility, but it’s not something that I’m
focused on,” he said Monday during a political panel moderated by PBS
NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff.
“Who knows what’s going to happen two years from now. You never know,” he answered when asked about 2020.
He
explained that he’s heading soon to Iowa – the state that votes first
in the presidential primary and caucus calendar – because he’s a vice
chair of the National Governors Association.
“They have a meeting in Iowa,” he said.
Joining Hogan on the panel was Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary.
“This
is the second time I’ve seen the New Hampshire governor in two days.
That doesn’t mean anything. I’m not sucking up to New Hampshire,” Hogan
joked.
But a source close to Hogan said that when it comes to a
primary challenge, “I think he thinks it’s the right thing to do. We’ll
see if he really does it.”
Kasich, who finished second to Trump in
New Hampshire’s 2016 GOP presidential primary, returned to the Granite
State right after November’s midterm elections, sparking further
speculation about his 2020 intentions.
He told Fox News at the time, “I really don’t know what I’m going to do.”
But he added that when it came to a possible primary challenge, “all the options are on the table.”
Two
weeks ago, after finishing his second and final term as Ohio governor,
Kasich signed with CNN as a senior political commentator.
Former
New Hampshire Attorney General and longtime GOP consultant Tom Rath said
the move gives Kasich “a bully pulpit” he could use in advance of any
primary challenge.
“It’s
a way to remain a part of the discussion, be part of the dialogue and
he has a voice he wants to use to try to drive Americans to a better
place,” added Rath, a senior adviser on Kasich’s 2016 campaign who
remains close with the now-former governor.
Another launching pad
for a possible primary challenge could be the Senate. There’s long been
speculation that Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska is mulling a 2020 White
House run. And don’t rule out newly elected Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah –
the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and a vocal Trump critic.
One
person who can be ruled out is former Sen. Jeff Flake. The Arizona
Republican who’s frequently lambasted the president the past two years
announced earlier this week that he would not be launching a 2020
presidential campaign and instead joined CBS News as a contributor.
If
there is a credible challenge against Trump, New Hampshire – which
allows independents to vote in either the GOP or Democratic contests –
could be ground zero.
Rath said “Trump remains the prohibitive favorite up here in New Hampshire.”
But he added that the government shutdown did “open the door” a bit to a challenge.
“There are phone calls being made. There are people being talked to,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., saw his
communications director depart last year over "inappropriate encounters"
with staffers, a Schumer spokesman told Fox News. (Associated Press)
The communications director for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was forced out of his role after the November midterm elections over “inappropriate encounters” with staffers, Fox News has learned.
“Upon
learning that he had inappropriate encounters within the office and
that it was making some staff uncomfortable, he was asked to leave,” a
Schumer spokesman told Fox News regarding Matt House, who served as
the senator's communications director for nearly six years.
No specific allegations of improper behavior involving House were disclosed. KAMALA HARRIS AIDE RESIGNS OVER $400G HARASSMENT SETTLEMENT
In a statement to the New York Post,
House said: “I absolutely loved my time working in the Senate and it
was the honor of my life. I deeply regret the mistakes I made on the
number of occasions when I had too much to drink, and I apologize to
anyone who was affected by my behavior.”
“I have always respected
all of my colleagues and I was horrified to learn that I made anyone
feel uncomfortable. In the past three months, I’ve stopped drinking and
I’ve committed to making myself a better colleague and person," he
continued.
According to his LinkedIn page, House previously served
from 2011 to 2012 as Schumer's press secretary. Prior to joining
Schumer’s office, House worked for then-Sen. Joe Biden’s 2008
presidential campaign.
In
the past, Schumer has been quick to comment when powerful figures have
crossed lines with underlings. Along with other Democrats, he pushed for
former U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to resign following sexual misconduct accusations and a Senate Ethics Committee investigation.
The Schumer aide's departure was another sign of turmoil among the staffs of top Democrats.
In December a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., resigned over inquiries about a $400,000 harassment lawsuit against him while working at the California Department of Justice.
In August, reports surfaced that a longtime driver for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was suspected of spying on behalf of the Chinese.
The media have been laser-focused on President Trump's battles with Senate Republicans and his intelligence agency chiefs because when it comes to politics, there's nothing they love more than civil war.
But the greater threat to the president comes from the other party.
When
Democrats won the House, there was plenty of prognostication about how
they were going to use their newfound power to investigate the hell out
of the administration. That faded for a while because by the time Nancy
Pelosi got the gavel, the government was shut down.
But now that Washington is open for business — for the time being — the investigative machinery is starting to clank.
Congress,
of course, has an obligation to oversee what the executive branch is
doing. But there's a pretty clear line between that mission and burying
the White House in a blizzard of subpoenas, hearings and demands for
information. DEMS WON'T STRIKE 'SO HELP YOU GOD' FROM HOUSE COMMITTEE OATH AFTER OUTCRY
The
right is poised to accuse Pelosi's party of doing just that. It's the
mirror image of the left accusing the GOP of obsessively investigating
Benghazi, Fast and Furious and other problems in the Obama
administration.
As someone who's covered dozens of such hearings, I
can attest that oversight, with some exceptions, tends to be far more
aggressive when the other party holds the White House.
The fencing has already begun, with The Washington Post reporting
that "several Cabinet secretaries have already declined to testify
before committees on contentious topics such as the impact of the
shutdown and the administration's abandoned policy of separating migrant
families."
Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen, for
instance, blew off a committee request to testify about border security.
The panel's chairman, Bennie Thompson, sent her a blistering letter and
told the paper, "If she says she's not coming, we'll subpoena her to
the committee. We need to hear from her." Nielsen offered alternative
dates — during a week when Congress is out on recess.
Treasury
chief Steve Mnuchin and HHS Secretary Alex Azar also ducked House
invitations, offering to send other officials instead. FEDERAL WORKERS LINKED TO SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DESERVE SAME PAY RAISE AS OTHERS, HOUSE DEMS AGREE, REJECTING GOP PROPOSAL
Here's
the most interesting thing in the piece: Trump has told Pelosi,
according to sources, that "if House Democrats begin investigating his
administration, he will not negotiate with her on other issues."
At
the same time, the Post says, Trump told the House speaker in a phone
call that she is "great" and "terrific" and promised to work on
infrastructure and prescription drug pricing. No wonder her nickname is
just "Nancy."
Some clashes are inevitable in divided government. I
covered fights between the Reagan administration and a Democratic House
that escalated to contempt-of-Congress charges, though in the end they
were settled.
But
given the anti-Trump zeal among the Democrats, many of whose voters are
ready to support impeachment, it's understandable why the president is
girding for battle.
House investigations can be a powerful tool
for a party that, until January, controlled nothing in Washington. But
there's a danger for the Democrats if they're seen as resorting to
harassment and intimidation.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, tweeted another comment about Israel on
Thursday night, after previously landing in hot water for posts that
critics have called anti-Semitic.
This
time, the freshman lawmaker agreed with a liberal activist, who wrote
online that current-day Israel is much like the U.S. South was during
segregation.
The latest episode began Thursday night after the
liberal activist, Max Berger, blasted the American Jewish Committee for
its criticism of Omar, the Somali-born congresswoman, who recently said that she “chuckles” whenever people describe Israel as a democracy. MINNESOTA'S REP. ILHAN OMAR GETS $250G BOOK DEAL AMID UPROAR OVER HER COMMENTS
“The
American Jewish establishment claims Israel is a democracy for all its
citizens. But the nation state law classifies 1.6 million Palestinian
Israelis as second class. And 4.7 million people live under Israeli
military occupation or control without political or human rights,”
Berger claimed.
Later in the thread, Berger agreed with Omar that
Israel is “not a real democracy.” He also compared Israel to the
segregated South.
“Israel is like the south before 1963: millions
of people under Israeli control are denied the right to vote, speak
freely or assemble because of their ethnicity. It's a democracy for Jews
only. That's not a real democracy,” Berger tweeted. REP. ILHAN OMAR FACING NEW SCRUTINY OVER PAST EFFORT TO WIN LENIENCY FOR 9 MEN ACCUSED OF TRYING TO JOIN ISIS
Omar endorsed the tweet, sharing his anti-Israel rhetoric to her more than 471,000 followers.
“Many
of them truly know this, but don’t want to accept it. In the same way
many Americans knew separate yet equal was immoral but remained silent
until brave few were silent no more,” Omar wrote. REP. ILHAN OMAR DELETES TWEET ATTACKING COVINGTON STUDENTS, AFTER BACKLASH
“They can attack, spin my words and vilify me, but they will not succeed in silencing me,” she added.
Shortly
after being sworn in to Congress, the Minnesota Democrat was on the
defensive for her tweet claiming Israel had “hypnotized the world.”
Earlier this month, several Republicans condemned a decision by Democratic leaders
to appoint Omar to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, charging that
she has a history of making overtly anti-Semitic comments.
The
strong GOP criticism came as Omar separately fielded wide-ranging
criticism for posting on Twitter that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,
was "compromised" -- and then, in a head-turning interview on
CNN, admitting she had no evidence for the assertion other than that
Graham sometimes supported President Trump. Omar has since rejected
suggestions that her comments were intended as a homophobic dog whistle.
President Trump called the talks of a border wall “a waste of time”
in a new interview, while further putting blame for gridlocks in
Washington on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“I’ve actually always gotten along with her, but now I don’t think I will any more,” Trump told The New York Times in
the interview to be published Friday. “I think she’s doing a tremendous
disservice to the country. If she doesn’t approve the wall, the rest of
it’s just a waste of money and time and energy because it’s desperately
needed.”
“I think Nancy Pelosi is hurting our country very badly
by doing what’s she doing and, ultimately, I think I’ve set the table
very nicely,” the president added in the interview in the Oval Office,
amid signs that he could be losing leverage in Congress as lawmakers
race to avert another shutdown in the government. BORDER PATROL WIVES INVITE PELOSI TO VISIT TEXAS BORDER TOWN
While
asked by The Times about his plans to declare a national emergency to
build the wall, Trump told the liberal paper: “I’ve set the table. I’ve
set the stage for doing what I’m going to do.”
Lawmakers have
cautioned that if Trump declares an emergency, future Democratic
presidents might do the same for issues they favor that Congress
derails. Some are reluctant to cede Congress' constitutional power to
control spending to any president, and many say there is no real border
emergency. PELOSI’S DAUGTHER SAYS HER MOM WILL ‘CUT YOUR HEAD OFF AND YOU WON’T EVEN KNOW YOU’RE BLEEDING’
Democrats
offered further details of their border security plan Thursday,
unveiling a measure that would provide no wall funds. It would
significantly boost spending for scanners at ports of entry,
humanitarian aid for apprehended migrants, and new aircraft and ships to
police the U.S.-Mexico border. It also would freeze the number of
border patrol agents and block any wall construction in wildlife refuges
along the border.
During the interview, Trump said the presidency is a “loser” financially.
“I
lost massive amounts of money doing this job,” he told The Times. “This
is not the money. This one of the great losers of all time. You know,
fortunately, I don’t need money. This is one of the great losers of all
time. But they’ll say that somebody from some country stayed at a hotel.
And I’ll say, ‘Yeah.’ But I lose, I mean, the numbers are incredible.”
He indicated to the Times he’s looking forward to run for reelection next year.
“I love this job,” he said.
Donald Trump Jr. late Thursday laid into House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., after reports appeared to vindicate the younger Trump of Democratic suspicions that he made phone calls to President Trump around the time of the Trump Tower meeting with Russians in June 2016.
Senate
investigators obtained phone records which appeared to show that Trump
Jr. had actually spoken to two longtime Trump family friends – Brian
France, the chief executive of Nascar, and the investor Howard Lorber,
the New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the matter.
Trump Jr. responded to the reports on Twitter, knocking Schiff.
“Has
anyone heard from Adam Schiff?” Trump Jr. tweeted. “I imagine he’s busy
leaking other confidential info from the House Intelligence Committee
to change the subject?!?”
Democrats have long suspected the calls
were between Trump Jr. and his then-candidate father regarding a meeting
with Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton during the 2016
campaign.
Schiff appeared on MSNBC
Thursday night and said that Democrats were unable to confirm the
reporting "because the Republicans wouldn't let us get the phone
records."
Trump
Jr. said in a statement to the Times that, “After a year of hearing
about this one ad nauseam, yet another left-wing narrative officially
bites the dust.”
Sources told the paper that the report was seen
by the White House as a victory. The findings marked an important
development for Trump allies who've seen a challenging week that
culminated with the arrest of longtime ally Roger Stone.
President Trump responded to the reports late Thursday, appearing to call out Democrats and the media.
“Just
out: The big deal, very mysterious Don Jr telephone calls, after the
innocent Trump Tower meeting, that the media & Dems said were made
to his father (me), were just conclusively found NOT to be made to me,” Trump wrote. “They were made to friends & business associates of Don. Really sad!”
He followed up later Thursday with a second tweet, saying “This witch hunt must end!”
Trump
Jr. has maintained that Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer he
met with at Trump Tower, did not have any information to share and
instead wanted to discuss the Magnitsky Act and other sanctions.
The
Trump Tower meeting has been under intense scrutiny from investigators
seeking whether Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential
election. Investigators are also looking at the financial ties between some Trump associates and the Kremlin.
A special counsel, led by Robert Mueller, was appointed to investigate potential wrongdoing
more than one year ago, and the team has already brought multiple
charges against people associated with the presidential campaign.
Gov. Larry Hogan delivers his annual State of the State address to
a joint session of the legislature in Annapolis, Md., Wednesday, Jan.
30, 2019. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
