2020 Daily Trail Markers: Few Republicans denounce Trump's attacks
CBSN's Caitlin Huey-Burns reports: Some Republican lawmakers began criticizing President Trump Monday for his racist attacks on four Democratic congresswomen, calling the comments unacceptable and divisive. A few called on him to apologize, and others implored him to "stop." But Mr. Trump openly dismissed the pleas, and showed no signs of stopping or apologizing. Instead he spent the better part of Monday escalating the situation, telling the congresswomen they were free to leave the United States.
"As far as I'm concerned, if you hate our country, if you're not happy here you can leave," he said of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib. "These are people that in my opinion hate our country ... I am sure there will be many people that won't miss them, but they have to love our country."
Asked if he was concerned that his demand that the lawmakers, all American citizens, "go back to where they came from" was racist, the president told reporters, "It doesn't concern me because many people agree with me."
With that remark, Mr. Trump revealed that unlike the Republicans who may see his hits on the congresswomen as a damaging one-off, he believes that attacking them helps him.
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FROM THE CANDIDATES
SEN. CORY BOOKER: Booker's Iowa senior adviser Joe O'Hern has left the campaign, according to CBS News campaign reporters Musadiq Bidar and Adam Brewster. The departure was first confirmed by The Associated Press, which reported O'Hern left for "personal reasons." O'Hern has deep Iowa ties and organizing experience. He served as Martin O'Malley's caucus director in 2016. Booker's campaign is regarded as having one of the strongest presences on the ground, with nearly 50 full time paid staffers including many with Iowa connections. Booker's campaign declined to comment.
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG: The South Bend mayor officially posted the largest second quarter fundraising number after campaigns had to file their second quarter fundraising reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by Monday night. Buttigieg raised nearly $25 million in the second quarter and ended the quarter with over $22.6 million cash on hand. Buttigieg received contributions from several celebrities, including Kevin Bacon, Ellen DeGeneres, George Takei, Barbra Streisand, John Stamos and Jennifer Aniston, reports CBS News campaign reporter Jack Turman. Buttigieg's FEC report also reveals his campaign spent at least $289,497.56 on private chartered flights.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS: While on the campaign trail in Iowa Tuesday, Harris gave her most explicit response to the president's tweets directed at four freshmen congresswomen of color. At a Davenport, Iowa, Women of Color roundtable, Harris said: "As far as I'm concerned, he's a coward. He's a coward and he's a bully. And he is an embarrassment." Harris also said, "And he needs to go back to where he came from." CBS News campaign reporter Stephanie Ramirez says Harris introduced her plan to lower prescription drug prices on Tuesday.
The plan calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to set "fair" drug prices. Harris also says she will use executive action to lower drug prices herself if Congress does not pass the proposal into law within 100 days of Harris taking office. This is at least the fourth policy proposal that uses the powers of the presidency if Congress does not act. Portions of the senator's prescription drug plan are measures that have also been advocated by Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bernie Sanders.
Harris' campaign also touted several endorsements announced on Tuesday, including that of civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. Mr. Crump is known for his work representing the Trayvon Martin family, among other high profile cases. Crump introduced the California senator at an Omega Psi Phi Leadership event in Atlantic City, NJ over the weekend. Crump announced then that Harris tapped him to advise her campaign on criminal justice reform, "to better serve our community."
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Sanders previewed tomorrow's Medicare for All address with a Q&A on Twitch this afternoon. CBS News campaign reporter Cara Korte notes Sanders said something he is considering adding to the speech is a lack of media coverage of the cost of health care. He named CBS twice. Sanders argues the U.S. press should be regularly covering the price of healthcare and how it's significantly cheaper in Canada (and elsewhere). He said this is not something you will ever see on CBS, NBC or ABC.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The Trump reelection campaign rolled out its Women for Trump coalition. The rollout took place in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump spoke to the energized crowd who cheered when former press secretary Sarah Sanders and current press secretary Stephanie Grisham were mentioned. A campaign official told CBS News political unit AP Ellee Watson that there were approximately 1,000 people in attendance. Each speaker claimed that Mr. Trump does not have a problem with female voters, but exit poll data from the 2018 midterms suggest the party as a whole is struggling with female voters. In 2016, only 51% of white, college-educated women voted for Hillary Clinton, and in 2018, 60% of white, college-educated women voted for Democrats — an eight point increase for Democrats since Mr. Trump was elected.
STATELY COVERAGE
UP NORTH: Booker earned his ninth Granite State endorsement today. Ten-term New Hampshire State Rep. Peter Leishman of Peterborough announced his backing of the New Jersey lawmaker, releasing a personal statement. "My son, Jordan, suffered from addiction for 12 years, he got caught up in the system, and then we lost him. What we're doing now is not working," Leishman said. "I'm proud to support Cory for president because he thinks of people like my son when he gets up every morning to find solutions to the toughest challenges facing our country. Cory led to passage major, bipartisan legislation that is fixing our criminal justice system, even with Donald Trump in the White House."
In an on-the-road exclusive interview, Booker told CBS News campaign reporter Nicole Sganga he won't "reflexively get rid of private insurance." CBS News trailed the New Jersey lawmaker on his RV tour of the Granite State this past weekend.
"When you have unions that have negotiated and bargained for their insurance, I'll tell you quite explicitly, I don't want to give that up. We need to do things in a way that brings people together and advances towards justice," Booker said.
Following her Granite State tour Sunday, Sen. Kamala Harris earned four New Hampshire backings today: co-chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party Senior Caucus Pam Jorgensen, former state Rep. Lisa DiMartino, and former Dover Mayors William Boc and Jack Buckley.
DOWN SOUTH: In the aftermath of Mr. Trump's racist tweets aimed at four Democratic congresswomen of color, CBS News campaign reporter LaCrai Mitchell spoke to nearly two dozen Trump supporters in South Carolina and only three knew of or had read about the controversy. Gibbs Knotts, a political science professor at the College of Charleston, says that this could result from a few different factors but one is that your average voter may not be as tuned in to the president's every move.
"The folks that follow this stuff more closely on Twitter, cable news shows, local and national media are trying to understand what's going on but I think South Carolinians are working on their normal lives — jobs, soccer practice, things that are happening a daily basis," said Knotts. "They're not following every element of breaking news coming out of Washington or this president's twitter feed."
OUT WEST: CBS News campaign reporter Alex Tin says Californians played a big part in Buttigieg's surge of campaign cash last quarter, giving over $3.75 million to the South Bend mayor. Yet among Californians employed by Silicon Valley behemoths — like Apple, Google or Facebook — Harris leads the pack, nearly doubling runner-up Buttigieg in donations reported from the campaigns. Though the two are neck-and-neck across the border in Nevada, their sums are dwarfed by the more than $400,000 Biden raised in the Silver State last quarter. A slew of southern Nevada donors helped propel the former vice president's haul, including several gaming executives and the publisher of The Las Vegas Sun maxing out for Biden's primary campaign.
IN OTHER NEWS
ON THE (APPALACHIAN) TRAIL? Earlier today, CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe confirmed that Republican Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor and congressman, is considering a GOP presidential bid against President Trump. The news of Sanford's possible run sparked a response from the South Carolina state parties, says Mitchell, both of which took the opportunity to take jabs at Sanford's infamous extramarital affair during his tenure as governor.
"The last time Mark Sanford had an idea this dumb, it killed his governorship," said South Carolina GOP chairman Drew McKissick. "This makes about as much sense as that trip up the Appalachian trail."
The South Carolina Democratic Party weighed in as well, tweeting: "We look forward to seeing Mark on the trail! Always nice to see a candidate with fewer extra marital affairs than the president."
A spokeswoman for Sanford confirmed to CBS News that he is "actively considering" a bid but hasn't set a timetable for making a final announcement. The Post & Courier reported that Sanford says he feels "convicted" and that he would run in an effort to push the national debate concerning government spending and the deficit. "Sometimes in life you've got to say what you've got to say, whether there's an audience or not for that message."