The family of John McCain sharply rebuked the National Republican Congressional Committee on Wednesday for releasing political advertisements that use footage of the late senator to attack Democratic candidates in Arizona and Michigan."The McCain family believes it's unfortunate that the senator's image is being weaponized this election season," a family spokesperson told NBC News in a statement. "They hope that there would be more respect, especially so soon after his passing."The first ad goes after Ann Kirkpatrick, the Democratic nominee for Arizona's 2nd congressional district. The spot features a clip of McCain slamming Kirkpatrick over her positions on economic issues during her unsuccessful bid for his U.S. Senate seat in 2016."Ann Kirkpatrick won't oppose higher taxes, she won't oppose more federal spending and she won't oppose increased debts that slow economic growth," McCain says in the clip, before a narrator adds: "In 2016, Senator McCain warned us..." 13 PHOTOS John … [Read more...] about McCain’s family rips Republican group for using footage of him in ads
Republicans
Republicans Say No to Release of Putin-Trump Summit Docs
Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday rejected an attempt by the committee's Democrats to force the release of documents related to President Donald Trump's private sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July, The Hill reports. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., introduced a resolution in late July that would have insisted on obtaining "copies of every document, record, communication, transcript, summary, note, memorandum, and read-ahead" surrounding the president's summit with Putin. Democrats pressed Republicans on the panel to advance the measure to the House for a full debate, but the committee effectively killed it on a party-line vote. "We'll never forget the bizarre press conference, but it is Trump and Putin's secretive one-on-one meeting in Helsinki behind closed doors that is especially concerning given Putin's role interfering in our elections, his ongoing threat to our allies, and President Trump's failure to confront these concerns with the … [Read more...] about Republicans Say No to Release of Putin-Trump Summit Docs
Trump’s Hurricane Maria Tweets Get Rare Republican Pushback In Florida
POLITICS 09/13/2018 06:22 pm ET The GOP candidates for the top elected positions in the state tell Trump his Puerto Rico death toll denial is wrong. By S.V. Date WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s false claim Thursday about Hurricane Maria’s death toll won rare public rebukes from Republicans, at least the ones running for the top elected offices in Florida, where some 100,000 Puerto Ricans fled after the devastating 2017 storm. Ron DeSantis ― who during the primary campaign dressed his infant son in a “Make America Great Again” onesie for a TV commercial to show his adoration of Trump ― released a statement disagreeing with Trump’s assertion that 3,000 people did not die because of the storm and that the number was the work of Democrats. “He [DeSantis] doesn’t believe any loss of life has been inflated,” said a statement from campaign spokesman Stephen Lawson. “Ron is focused on continuing to … [Read more...] about Trump’s Hurricane Maria Tweets Get Rare Republican Pushback In Florida
Florida Republicans Scott, Rubio, DeSantis dispute Trump on Puerto Rico deaths
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has made seven trips to Puerto Rico since Hurricane Irma and had Puerto Rico Lt. Gov. and Secretary of State Luis Rivera-Marin (left) at the kickoff of his Senate campaign in April. (George Bennett/The Palm Beach Post) As Hurricane Florence barreled toward the Carolinas this morning, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to claim that official estimates of nearly 3,000 deaths from last year’s Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico were a Democratic concoction “to make me look as bad as possible.” Trump’s claims drew widespread outrage and were disputed by Florida’s leading Republicans: Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. Marco Rubio and gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis. Trump touched off the controversy before 8 a.m. in consecutive tweets. “3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, … [Read more...] about Florida Republicans Scott, Rubio, DeSantis dispute Trump on Puerto Rico deaths
Republicans dodge, weave around Trump’s hurricane tweets
WASHINGTON — With all attention on Hurricane Florence, Republicans are dealing with a separate, familiar kind of storm in the halls of Congress — one of the president's own making. As happens often, congressional Republicans were blindsided Thursday morning by a tweet, as President Donald Trump challenged without evidence the official conclusion that nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico from last year's Hurricane Maria. He falsely claimed the number had been inflated by Democrats "in order to make me look as bad as possible." Democrats immediately had cutting words for the president, with various lawmakers calling his tweets "horrifying" and an attempt to "gaslight our nation." It wasn't as simple for Republicans, who did all sorts of familiar dances — ones they've been doing since the presidential election — when responding to questions in the hallways of the Capitol. The day quickly became a case study in the tactics that Republicans use to avoid crossing … [Read more...] about Republicans dodge, weave around Trump’s hurricane tweets