Year: 2016

$5k Will Get You Breakfast with Donald

Buck Banks

$5,000

Amount the Wall Street Journal reports Trump’s transition team “is offering supporters a rare opportunity: breakfast in New York with the next president for $5,000 — pocket change for many of the team’s wealthy fundraisers. Wall Street investors and lobbyists top the list of fundraisers for next week’s event, which is expected to raise $4 million.”

Hannity Suggests Shutting Down White House Press Office

Buck Banks

People don’t need them any more. They’re done. I suggested the other day that if any of these organizations were involved in collusion with the Clinton campaign, why do they get a seat in the White House press office? Why does Donald Trump need a White House press office? He doesn’t. You know, you can have a pool person that’s standing by if, God forbid, there’s any bad news about the president that the country needs to know, but his own staff could tweet it out, for crying out loud.

— TV talking head Sean Hannity, telling Breitbart News Daily that President-elect Donald Trump should shut down the White House press office.

Support for Autocratic Alternatives Is Rising

Buck Banks

1 in 6

The share of Americans who say that army rule would be a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ thing had risen to 1 in 6 in 2014, compared with 1 in 16 in 1995, according to data from the European and World Values Surveys, reports New York Times. “That trend is particularly strong among young people. For instance, in a previously published paper, the researchers calculated that 43 percent of older Americans believed it was illegitimate for the military to take over if the government were incompetent or failing to do its job, but only 19 percent of millennials agreed. The same generational divide showed up in Europe, where 53 percent of older people thought a military takeover would be illegitimate, while only 36 percent of millennials agreed.”

Most Americans — Even Republicans — Don’t Think Trump’s Children Should Have a Part in Government

Buck Banks

17%

Of Americans are happy with the idea of Donald Trump’s children serving as advisors and running his business, according to a YouGov poll. 30% say they should pick between the two roles, while 36% say they should have nothing to do with government at all. Democrats are, unsurprisingly, most hostile to the Trump children’s involvement, but even Republicans have concerns. 31% of Republicans are OK with the planned arrangement, where his children have two roles, but 39% think his children should pick between business and politics. Only 18% of Republicans feel his children should not be involved in government at all.

Donald Trump: Bad-Information President

Buck Banks

As a candidate, Trump’s often unsubstantiated attacks on political opponents, foreign governments, election officials, law enforcement, a federal judge, news outlets and Muslims shattered political norms and sowed division. As president, his decisions will carry the full weight of White House policy, raising concerns about where he gets his information and whether he might act on false or flawed reports. Part of the problem in assessing Trump is that it’s not always clear what his motive is when he directs his followers to phony stories or unsubstantiated conspiracies.

— Benjy Sarlin

Only Nine Presidential Elections Had Smaller Electoral College Wins than Donald’s

Buck Banks

44th of 54

Nate Silver: “In a historical context, Trump’s Electoral College performance is decidedly below-average… There have been 54 presidential elections since the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804. (Before that, presidential electors cast two votes each, making it hard to compare them to present-day elections.) Of those 54 cases, Trump’s share of the electoral vote — assuming there are no faithless electors or results overturned by recounts — ranks 44th.”

Obama Approval Hits Second-Term High

Buck Banks

50% to 43%

President Obama’s job approval rating, his highest score since right after he won reelection four years ago, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Most interesting: “Obama’s policies have helped the nation’s economy, 44% of voters say, as 38% say his policies have hurt the economy and 16% say his policies haven’t made a difference. But only 21% of voters say Obama’s policies have helped their personal financial situation, as 33% say these policies have hurt them personally and 44% say they’ve made no difference.”