We always think of Trump as a New York guy, or the president in the White House. But at heart, he's a Florida Man with a Trumpian Florida life: big mansions and big money.
Why it matters: At Mar-a-Lago, we're seeing a whole new form of lobbying. People pay dues to the private club of the president of the United States, then try to influence him in person on government policy — all outside the normal watchdogs and strictures and surveillance of Washington. It's a stunning situation.
The 2020 Census could see the worst undercount of black and Latinx people in 30 years, according to a new study from the Urban Institute.
The big picture: The 2020 Census is already facing "unprecedented challenges and threats to its accuracy" as a result of demographic changes, underfunding, and complex and undertested process changes. That's not to mention the Trump administration's addition of a citizenship question, which will likely have a chilling effect on responses regardless of whether or not it's upheld by the Supreme Court this month.
Beto O'Rourke defended his 2% total in a new Iowa Democratic caucus poll on ABC's "This Week," arguing that if he relied on polls in any race he had run, he never would have served in Congress or taken on Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.
Pete Buttigieg's high college debt — $130,000, between him and his husband, Chasten — has helped make student loans a major 2020 issue, AP's Michelle Smith writes.
The big picture: Several candidates have made major proposals to address the crisis, including wiping away debt, lowering interest rates, expanding programs that tie repayment terms to income, and making college free or debt-free.
The niceties have ended: 2020 Democrats are breaking their own pledge not to go after one another. The attacks of the past week show what a long primary they're in for.
Why it matters: These jabs and skirmishes show a fracturing Democratic Party — exactly what some top Democrats wanted to avoid in order to maximize their chances of defeating President Trump.
Many of the 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls have descended on Des Moines’ Capital City Pride Fest in Iowa this weekend — demonstrating how important the first caucus state and LGBTQ issues are for the Democrats.
The big picture: Organizers say 17 presidential candidates will speak at the 2019 Hall of Fame Celebration in Cedar Rapids on Sunday. As this year's festival marks the 10th anniversary of Iowa's Supreme Court overturning a ban on same-sex marriage in the state, many candidates criticized President Trump for anti-LGBTQ policies, AP reports.
"President Trump undermined America’s preeminent leadership role in the world by recklessly threatening to impose tariffs" on Mexico, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Saturday that criticized the expansion of the administration's Remain-in-Mexico policy.
Threats and temper tantrums are no way to negotiate foreign policy."
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) addressed in South Carolina Saturday criticisms she's faced since entering the 2020 race about her record as a district attorney and state attorney general who was tough on crime, AP reports.
Details: Harris told the NAACP state conference her prosecutorial background makes her uniquely qualified to hold President Trump accountable, per AP. She also outlined her vision for a criminal justice system in which "safety is a civil right," according to the Los Angeles Times, which noted she said it's a "myth that black people don’t want public safety."
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during an address at Wellesley College Saturday the Mueller report shows Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in which she was the Democratic candidate and that "obstruction of justice occurred."
You cannot read the report, chapter and verse, fact after fact, without reaching those conclusions."
