Obama To Announce SCOTUS Nom, Rubio Suspends Campaign, And The Wage Gap In Presidential Campaigns

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Check out Wednesday’s newsletter!

March 16, 2016

Top Stories


Reports: Obama To Nominate Judge Merrick Garland To Succeed Scalia

The Gist: President Obama will reportedly announce that Merrick Garland is his nominee to succeed late Justice Antonin Scalia, according to multiple news reports Wednesday morning. An official announcement was scheduled for 11 a.m. ET at the White House.

Marco Rubio Suspends Campaign After Losing Florida Primary

The Gist: Addressing supporters Tuesday night in Miami, Marco Rubio said he was suspending his campaign after a major loss to Republican Donald Trump in his home state’s primary.

Trump: If I Lose At The Convention, ‘I Think You’d Have Riots” 

The Gist: Donald Trump on Wednesday morning predicted that there will be riots at the Republican national convention if he falls just short of the delegate count needed and another candidate then wins the nomination.  

From The Reporter’s Notebook


Even as some conservatives have voiced their opposition to Donald Trump, many Republicans still say they would prefer Trump to Hillary Clinton, TPM’s Caitlin MacNeal reported. When asked about those who won’t support Trump as the GOP nominee, Sen. Ron Johnson said that Republicans need to consider the alternative. “Would they rather have Hillary Clinton sitting in the Oval Office? I would choose not to do that,” he said.

Agree or Disagree?


Josh Marshall: “Every Republican, elected and not, will now have to pick sides. All the excuses to keep an open mind or see how things play out – to kick the can down the road – are now exhausted. I am really not sure how it plays out. But the more I watch this play out the more I think the current Republican party – by which I mean the Republican coalition that we’ve known for almost four decades – will not survive this crisis. The Republican party won’t go anywhere. The R-D two party system has survived for 150 years with a number different versions of each party operating under those labels. But I’m skeptical that we go back. And when there’s a break down in one party’s coalition that almost always destabilizes the other party too.” 

Say What?!


“We’d have to build a wall around California to defend ourselves from the rest of this country. By the way that is a joke.”

– California Governor Jerry Brown saw Trump’s Mexican border wall and raised him another one.

BUZZING: Today in the Hive


From a TPM Prime member: “I wonder how the protestors are going to take this, because it seems like he’s criticizing them for trying to shut down Trump’s speeches. I’m not sure I disagree with the president on this…the protests may possibly be twisted into “those people” attacking Trump supporters and become an excuse for violence against “those people”. We’re already seeing that kind of rhetoric from Trump and his supporters, and it’s getting worse with each protest…and the guy rushing the stage just fed into it. Don’t get me wrong, Trump is saying horrible things (and I’m just shocked at the open hatred from the audiences at those speeches), and it would be much better if that all went away. I’m just not sure protesting is the right way to go about it though…Trump speaking, and letting the racists speak for him, might be a better way to expose the racism and deal with it.”

Related: Obama said the “vulgar and divisive” rhetoric in this election has to stop.

Have something to add? Become a Prime member and join the discussion here.

What We’re Reading


Which presidential campaigns have the highest gender wage disparities? (Jezebel)

Your middle-aged brain is not on the decline. (NPR)


Latest Daybreaker
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: