Pence Tries To Clean Up After Trump, Clinton Defends Email Use, And Morning Newscasters’ Very Early Routines

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August 1st, 2016

Top Stories


Pence Attempts To Clean Up After Trump With Statement On Khan Family

The Gist: Though Pence’s statement appears to be an attempt to temper Trump’s comments, the governor did not refrain from making the statement political.

Ryan, McConnell Distance Themselves From Trump’s Attacks On Khan Family

The Gist: Ryan and McConnell issued statements that separated themselves from Trump’s relentless remarks about the Khan family.

Hillary Clinton Defends Her Email Use In Fox News Interview (VIDEO)

The Gist: Clinton defended her use of email as secretary of state, which has come under renewed scrutiny now that the FBI did not recommend charges.

From The Reporter’s Notebook


As Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate, it seems Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is tasked with cleaning up his running mate’s messes, TPM’s Caitlin MacNeal reported. After Trump repeatedly lashed out at the family of a deceased Muslim American soldier, Pence issued a statement Sunday night calling Captain Humayun Khan “an American hero.”

Agree or Disagree?


Josh Marshall: “For a narcissist like Trump, the rage and emotional disequilibrium of being dominated, humiliated is simply too much to bear. He must lash out. What he said in one of his tweets responding to the Khans is perhaps the most telling. ‘I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond?’ The use of the adverb ‘viciously’ is a good tell that Trump is a narcissist. But setting that aside, most people would know that the answer is ‘No, you’re not.’ Certainly you’re not allowed to respond in the sense of attacking back. Their son died serving the country. You don’t get to attack them. Someone with a moral consciousness who is capable of empathy would understand this through a moral prism.”

Say What?!


“I didn’t produce our show — I just showed up for the final speech.”

– Donald Trump shrugged off responsibility for the lackluster GOP convention after seeing the higher ratings and production values the Democrats’ convention had to offer this week.

BUZZING: Today in the Hive


From a TPM Prime member: “Even when Politifact breaks down their ratings for politicians, and Hillary and Obama are basically tied for most truthful, people still don’t believe it. The issue is that the kinds of things that leaders do are gendered as male, so we like Joe Biden or Barack Obama for doing them. But when Hillary does them, it’s seen as a violation of gender norms, and so we instinctively don’t like it. It also doesn’t help that their are separate rules the press has for covering Bill and Hillary than anyone else. She gets way more negative coverage, so of course the public will view her more negatively. I think her best bet is to emphasize competency, rather than likability. Trust can be emphasized by others, as it has been, but I don’t think that’s how you beat Donald Trump.”

Related: Conservatives took to Twitter to praise the DNC while bemoaning the state of affairs in their own party.

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

What We’re Reading


Bill Clinton really liked the balloon drop at the DNC. (BuzzFeed)

Morning newscasters’ very early morning routines. (Bon Appétit)


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