Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* He retweeted this same message this morning for no apparent reason: “President Trump on Thursday tweeted a partial clip of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arguing eight years ago that a “strong Russia” is in the world’s best interest…. The clip is from a 2010 interview Clinton did with First Channel Television, which is partially owned by the Russian government.”
* Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.) said yesterday he won’t apologize for using misogynistic language during his time as a radio host because, as the Republican congressman put it, he was “paid to be provocative.”
* In New Jersey, Republican Senate hopeful Bob Hugin “fought efforts to open Princeton University’s famed all-male eating clubs to women, going so far as to call the ultimately successful attempt ‘politically correct fascism.’” Reminded of his previous position, Hugin yesterday said, “If I could go back in time, I would not use those words. It was a mistake and I take responsibility for that.”
* Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), an ambitious House Democrat, has become the latest lawmaker to argue that marijuana should be legal nationwide.
* With less a month remaining before Wisconsin’s statewide primaries, a new Marquette Law School poll shows Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir effectively tied in the Republicans’ Senate primary, though about a third of GOP voters are still undecided. * The same poll found Tony Evers, the superintendent of Wisconsin’s public schools, as the leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate in a multi-candidate field. Primary Day is Aug. 14. * California voters were poised to consider a ballot initiative that was intended to split the state into three separate states, but California Supreme Court removed the issue from the ballot in a unanimous ruling this week.
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
