Trump Urges Russia to Hack Clinton’s Emails and Other Election Talking Points from This Week
MORE: Why 5 Millennial Women Are Voting for Donald Trump
Bill Clinton Embraces Role of Potential First Husband
As the most famous political couple in the world, Bill and Hillary’s partnership, political and personal, has been dissected on every level. Some have said Hillary would be better off without her husband; that his blowhard ways are more harmful than helpful on the campaign trail. But at the DNC, Bill gave a speech that embodied a new attitude, one that credits much of his own success to Hillary and gave a nostalgic glimpse into their courtship (he proposed three times before she said yes). He’s also been markedly more restrained on the campaign trail, deferring the spotlight to his wife. This change, along with Tuesday’s speech, is a welcome hint that Bill is readying himself (and the nation) for him to be “First Husband,” or whatever his title will be if Hillary becomes president.
Sanders Leaves Democratic Party, His Backers Hesitate to Join Clinton Camp
When Bernie Sanders stood to give his speech at the DNC, his supporters could barely stop applauding and chanting their enthusiasm for the Vermont senator in order for him to speak. (Seriously, he had to wave his hands to silence them several times before they finally shut up.) When he did start talking, he kept it general at first, discussing liberal values and priorities and nodding to his own loss in the primaries before reiterating his endorsement of Hillary—which was met by loud booing from his die-hard supporters, many of whom held up signs that read “I’m not with her” and “Bernie, never Hillary.” The world has been watching to see if Sanders’s fiercely loyal base of voters would be moved to join Clinton’s cause, but so far, it looks like many won’t. The next day, Sanders said, “It is easy to boo, but it is harder to look your kids in the face if we are living under a Trump presidency…. Our job is to do two things: to defeat Donald Trump and to elect Hillary Clinton.”
Just a day later, however, Sanders didn’t just leave the DNC—he left the whole Democratic party. The move isn’t a shocking one, since Sanders has traditionally been more left-leaning than a typical Democrat and considers himself an independent in Congress. It just feels a little sudden after his speech, making us wonder how genuine he really is about backing Hillary, or if it’s just something he feels he has to do after losing, to help unite voters and lessen the chances of Trump winning.
Voters Didn’t Like Trump’s Convention Speech, Either
In the whirlwind of news around the Democratic National Convention, it’s almost easy to forget that the RNC was just last week, and the media is still dissecting it. A Gallup poll was just released showing that Trump’s highly criticized nomination acceptance speech had the lowest ratings by American viewers since Gallup started polling on the subject with Bob Dole and Bill Clinton in 1996. (The top-rated speech? Barack Obama’s in 2008, which 58 percent of people called “excellent” or “good.”)
Trump Urges Russia to Hack Clinton’s Emails
In the latest sensationalized event in the ongoing Hillary Clinton email controversy, Trump held a news conference on Wednesday morning, during which he talked about general U.S.-Russia relations and encouraged Russian hackers (who broke into Democratic Party computers) to hack into Clinton’s emails. “They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted, because you’d see some beauties there,” he said. “I hope they do.” (In response to people’s outrage at this statement, Trump later backtracked and said, “Of course, I’m being sarcastic.” Classy.)
As for the famously corrupt Russian president Putin and the U.S.’s rocky relationship with Russia: “There’s nothing I can think of that I’d rather do than have Russia friendly…. Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with Russia?” he said. “I’m all for it, and let’s go get ISIS [together].”
Obama Sets the Record Straight on His 7-Almond Snack Habit
On a lighter note in the midst of weightier news, this week President Obama corrected a misunderstanding about his nighttime snack. Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that part of Obama’s evening routine is eating almonds: Specifically, seven chocolate-covered ones, according to his personal chef and friend Sam Kass. After Obama’s epic DNC speech on Wednesday, people took to Twitter to joke that Obama deserved more than just seven almonds that night. On Thursday, Obama cleared up the misunderstanding in an interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, explaining that Kass was joking, and that he’s really not that anal—sometimes he’ll eat 10 or 11 almonds.
