Month: July 2018

Stuff Politicians Say

Buck Banks

KING: “Richard, that was a great press conference. You and Mark did a terrific job. It’s important for the American people to be together on this. Like they say in Hamilton, ‘History has it’s eyes on you.’”

BURR: “Angus, I don’t know if you want to quote Hamilton to me, since my great, great grandfather shot him.”

— Sen. Angus King (I-ME), praising Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) for his work on the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to Knox VillageSoup.

Daniels Sings Avenatti’s Praises

Buck Banks

“I’ll put it this way. People forced to play defense tend to get sloppy, they tend to make mistakes. And look, if I didn’t think Michael was doing a good job, I would fire his ass…. Every time I watch him work, I think, This is what it must have been like to see the Sistine Chapel being painted. But instead of paint, Michael uses the tears of his enemies.”

— Stormy Daniels, quoted by the New York Times, about her attorney, Michael Avenatti.

Three-Quarters of Trump’s Statements at Rally Were Lies

Buck Banks

76%

Washington Post: “We’re doing something new today: Analyzing every factual claim from President Trump’s campaign rally in Montana on July 5. … According to our analysis, the truth took a beating in Montana. From a grand total of 98 factual statements we identified, 76 percent were false, misleading or unsupported by evidence. … Here’s a breakdown: 45 false or mostly false statements, 25 misleading statements and four unsupported claims. We also counted 24 accurate or mostly accurate statements. False or mostly false statements alone accounted for 46 percent of all claims.”

Johnson Says Response to Russian Election Interference Was ‘Out of Proportion’

Buck Banks

“I’ve been pretty upfront that the election interference — as serious as that was, and unacceptable — is not the greatest threat to our democracy. We’ve blown it way out of proportion.”

— Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), back from a trip to Moscow, saying that Congress “went too far in punishing Russia for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election,” Roll Call reports.

Republican National Committee Has Already Contacted 20 Million Voters

Buck Banks

20 million

“The RNC told NBC News it has already made 20 million traditional voter contacts by phone or door knocking this election cycle, a large number for a non-presidential election year. … That’s just part of the total 487 million contacts it says it has already made this cycle, including emails opened (250 million), calls made for data gathering purposes (183 million), digital petitions or surveys completed (19 million), direct mail sent (9.6 million), and get-out-the-vote calls made (5.6 million).”