Congressional Republicans don't seem to have the pharmaceutical industry's back the way they used to — and the way the industry might expect them to, after donating millions of dollars to GOP campaigns, cycle after cycle.
The big picture: The Trump administration rolled out a drug-pricing proposal last week that pharma hates — and that, on paper, congressional Republicans should hate, too.
President Trump is adding an 11th rally to his final six-day blitz leading into the Nov. 6 midterm elections. Trump will be ending his campaign swing, on election eve, in the pivotal Senate state of Missouri, according to a source with direct knowledge of Trump's plans.
Why this matters: Trump is going to Trump country within Trump states. Only two competitive House seats lie within these locations.
President Donald Trump derided billionaire Tom Steyer as a "wacky" and "crazed & stumbling lunatic" in a tweet Sunday, just days after the Democratic activist was one of the prominent liberals and Trump critics to be sent a suspicious package.
Why it matters: Trump’s tweet came in response to Steyer’s interview on CNN, in which he said the president and the Republican Party are creating a climate of "political violence." On Friday, Steyer called for the president's impeachment citing "a systematic attack on our democracy that extends much further than just one isolated terrorist in Florida."
House Speaker Paul Ryan said in an interview on CBS "Face the Nation" Sunday that President Trump's campaign rallies "sometimes" cause division and that "sometimes he doesn't" practice unifying politics. "I worry about tribal identity politics becoming the new norm of how politics is waged," Ryan added.
Why it matters: The president’s brand of political rhetoric has been long criticized by Democrats and a handful of Republicans. In the wake of recent violence ahead of the midterm election, Trump called for unity and pledged to prevent "political violence to take root in America." But at subsequent campaign rallies, Trump abandoned his scripted call for national solidarity and lashed out against the media and critics he said are "enemies."
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Sunday pushed back against President Trump’s suggestion that arming houses of worship instead of enacting stronger gun control laws would stop mass shootings like the one at the Tree of Life Synagogue, where at least 11 congregants were killed.
The backdrop: Speaking to reporters after the shooting, President Trump said, "[i]f there was an armed guard inside the temple they would have been able to stop him, maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for him frankly." The gunman has been arrested and charged with 29 federal counts. He made statements about genocide and his desire to kill Jewish people during the shooting.
More and more people in the U.S. and worldwide believe brands should take a stand on societal issues, a report from Edelman says.
Why it matters: Public stances, from campaign ads to press releases — especially on activist issues — have effects on the public perception of a company, its future sales and even the stock market. People see brands as an important way of expressing themselves and consumers want companies to align with their core beliefs, Felix Richter, data analyst for Statista, writes.
President Trump has publicly criticized Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell six times for raising interest rates.
Flashback: Nearly one year ago, Trump struck a very different tone when nominating Powell:
"If we are to sustain all of this tremendous economic progress, our economy requires sound monetary policy ... That is why we need strong, sound, and steady leadership at the United States Federal Reserve. I have nominated Jay [Powell] to be our next Federal [Reserve] Chairman ... because he will provide exactly that type of leadership."
Saturday's shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that took the lives of 11 people has been classified as a hate crime, and is likely the deadliest attack in American history on Jewish people in the U.S., according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Why it matters: The ADL's most recent audit of anti-Semitic incidents found that the number of such incidents in the U.S. went up 57% last year — "the largest single-year increase on record and the second highest number reported since ADL started tracking." The most recent FBI data shows that in 2016, more Jewish people in the United States were victims of reported hate crimes than any other religious minority.
President Trump fed off the energy of hundreds of young black conservatives yesterday who piled into the White House in red MAGA hats to hear him speak, later telling Charlie Kirk, a prominent Trump supporter and founder of Turning Point USA, that unlike most speaking events at the White House, he "loved" this one, comparing it the feeling he gets during rallies, Kirk told Axios.
Why it matters: In recent weeks, Trump has boasted about his rising popularity among African Americans, touting the low unemployment rate and pointing to his work with Kanye West and football legend Jim Brown. But despite his recent rhetoric and claims of newfound support, Trump is still severely unpopular among black voters. According to the latest Gallup ranking, only 10% of black voters approve of the job he's doing.
President Trump condemned anti-semitism and called the Pittsburgh shooting "hard to believe" and "unimaginable" at the Future Farmers of America Conference in Indianapolis on Saturday.
What's new: He confirmed that a bris, a traditional Jewish baby naming ceremony, was being performed at the Tree of Life synagogue when the gunman opened fire. "Our nation and the world are shocked and stunned by the grief," he said. The president confirmed at the event that the Indianapolis rally this evening will go on as scheduled, despite considerations to postpone.
Before boarding Air Force One on his way to the Future Farmers of America convention, President Trump responded to the Pittsburgh shooting saying the U.S. should "stiffen up" death penalty laws and people who commit such crimes should "pay the ultimate price."
Trump also added that places of worship should consider adding armed guards at doors. "If there was an armed guard inside the temple they would have been able to stop him, maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for him frankly," he said. The president says he will release a statement when he attends the Future Farmers of America event Saturday.
Imagine the agony and contortions another politician might have gone through if a signature chant from his rallies ("CNN SUCKS") was found emblazoned on the van of a rabid supporter charged with mailing bombs to political opponents?
Not Trump. At a rally last night at Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., the president started with a line that could have come from any president: "These terrorist actions must be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law."
A single fingerprint taken from a mail bomb sent to Rep. Maxine Waters gave investigators their key break in arresting 56-year-old Cesar Altieri Sayoc, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The details: "Officials ran the fingerprint through a national database, which returned Mr. Sayoc as a possible match... With Mr. Sayoc’s name in hand, investigators were able to locate a possible phone number... [a] court order allowed them to triangulate Mr. Sayoc’s cellphone data to find his location."
President Trump told reporters today that he is unlikely to call the Clintons and Obamas after they they were sent suspicious packages containing potentially explosive devices.
The backdrop: The FBI has taken Cesar Sayoc in custody as a suspect of mailing a string of bombs to prominent Trump critics. The Clintons and the Obamas are two of the most prominent Democrats who were targeted, but others include Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Maxine Waters.
