Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In case there were any doubts, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has decided he will seek another term in Congress next year, despite having been stripped of his committee assignments over racist comments. The far-right Republican added yesterday that he believes he has nothing to apologize for.
* After CNN hired a conservative Republican operative to serve as a political editor, the network reportedly assured the Democratic National Committee that Sarah Isgur will not be involved in CNN-sponsored debates for the party’s 2020 presidential candidates.
* On the presidential campaign trail yesterday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) seemed to endorse reparations for African Americans, telling Reuters, “We must confront the dark history of slavery and government-sanctioned discrimination in this country that has had many consequences including undermining the ability of Black families to build wealth in America for generations…. Black families have had a much steeper hill to climb — and we need systemic, structural changes to address that.”
* Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said yesterday that he won’t challenge Donald Trump in a 2020 primary unless the president’s support within the party weakens dramatically.
* On a related note, the Maryland governor did criticize the Republican National Committee, however, for creating a process that makes it nearly impossible for someone to launch an intra-party challenge to the president. * For reasons that weren’t altogether clear, Trump published a tweet yesterday endorsing Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) re-election bid. The Texan’s election is still 19 months away. * Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) faced a fair amount of pushback from his constituents a few years ago when he supported Hillary Clinton over fellow Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the last presidential primary. This year, Leahy has already thrown his support behind his fellow Vermonter. * And in New Jersey, Democratic state policymakers aren’t quite done with a proposal that would require presidential candidates to release their tax returns as a condition for appearing on the state’s ballot.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
