If TPM readers considered Kim Davis’ appearance at the State of the Union a shock at the start of the year, they were certainly knocked off their chairs by every other stunner story that surrogates, electors, lawmakers and the President-elect himself dished out this year.
Through 2016, and the bombastic election that consumed it, here are the top 10 most-read TPM stories of the year:
10. PHOTOS: KIM DAVIS ARRIVES FOR THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
By Sara Jerde
“Kim Davis, the defiant Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, arrived Tuesday night for President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address decked out in red, white and blue.” Read More…
9. COURT STRIKES DOWN SCOTT WALKER’S RIGHT-TO-WORK LAW AS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
“Wisconsin’s right-to-work law, championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker as he was mounting his run for president, was struck down Friday as violating the state constitution.” Read More…
8. CNN PANEL LAUGHS WHEN TRUMP BACKER SAYS NO EVIDENCE TO CALL HIM RACIST (VIDEO)
By Allegra Kirkland
“A CNN panel failed to maintain composure on Friday when Donald Trump supporter Gina Loudon insisted there was no evidence to back up claims that the Republican nominee has engaged in racist and misogynistic behavior.” Read More…
7. GIULIANI CLAIMS THERE WERE NO TERROR ATTACKS ON US SOIL BEFORE OBAMA (VIDEO)
By Katherine Krueger
“Speaking in Youngstown, Ohio ahead of Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, who was the mayor of New York City on 9/11, declared that Islamic extremists hadn’t carried out any terror attacks on American soil before Barack Obama’s presidency.” Read More…
6. NEW MEDIA GURU CLAY SHIRKY DROPS ‘STOP TRUMP’ TWEETSTORM ON WHITE LIBERALS
By Esme Cribb
“New media writer Clay Shirky took to Twitter Friday afternoon to dismiss white liberals’ response to Donald Trump as ineffective and self-indulgent – and to rally them to defeat Trump.” Read More…
5. KEY GOP SENATORS EMERGE FROM MEETING: NO HEARING FOR OBAMA SCOTUS NOM
By Lauren Fox and Tierney Sneed
“Key Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee emerged from a closed door meeting in Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office Tuesday united in their determination not to consider any nominee to replace Antonin Scalia until the next president takes office.” Read More…
4. OBAMA MOCKS TRUMP FOR GETTING HIS TWITTER CONFISCATED BY CAMPAIGN
By Esme Cribb
“Seizing on a report published by the New York Times earlier Sunday, President Barack Obama joked that Donald Trump’s campaign ‘had so little confidence in his self-control’ that they took away his access to Twitter.” Read More…
3. TEXAS ELECTOR RESIGNS: TRUMP IS NOT QUALIFIED AND I CANNOT VOTE FOR HIM
By Caitlyn MacNeal
“A member of the Electoral College representing Texas, Art Sisneros, wrote on Saturday that he will resign as an elector because he refuses to cast a vote for Donald Trump.” Read More…
2. PAUL RYAN ON STOPPING A PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MUSLIM BAN: WE’LL SUE HIM!
By Tierney Sneed
“House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has made clear he doesn’t agree with a proposal put forward by Donald Trump — whom Ryan has endorsed — to ban Muslim immigration into the United States, but in an interview with the Huffington Post Thursday, Ryan floated taking a President Trump to court if he tried to implement such a ban or some of his other controversial proposals unilaterally.” Read More…
1. THE REVIEWS ARE IN: CONSERVATIVES SAY THE DNC WAS ‘DISASTER’ FOR THE GOP
By Katherine Krueger
“Something strange happened on the last night of the Democratic National Convention.
After the GOP nominee lambasted the Democrats on Twitter for displaying what he viewed as too few American flags, there was a sea of waving flags as far as the eye could see when Hillary Clinton became the first woman to accept a major party’s nomination on Thursday.” Read More…
