World leaders aren't the only politicians who've been startled by President Trump's pen-pal diplomacy. Members of Congress, including at least 1 Democratic senator, have received unusual Sharpie-scrawled notes and even autographs from Trump.
What we're hearing: Early in Trump's presidency, Marc Short's Office of Legislative Affairs would produce pocket-sized briefing cards on senators or congressmen that Trump was going to be meeting at the White House or on Air Force One.
Anthony Scaramucci, who famously served as President Trump's communications director for 11 days, says Republicans may need to pick a different candidate in 2020.
Driving the news: In a phone interview on Sunday afternoon, Scaramucci compared Trump to a melting nuclear reactor and said he may support a Republican challenger to Trump.
In an interview with the New York Times, 2020 candidate Beto O'Rourke said he's even more determined to win the Democratic nomination after the mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, dismissing calls to use his recalibrated time in the spotlight to make a high-profile run for Senate.
"I'm running for president. ... At a time that the president is attacking this community, this part of the world, the U.S.-Mexico border, cities of immigrants, that’s where I am. That’s where I live. That’s where we’re raising our family. I can meet him on this issue in very personal terms and from a place that no one else can.”
The big picture: O'Rourke's campaign has largely stalled in the months since he jumped in the race, with his massive early fundraising totals overshadowed by a pair of mild debate performances and lackluster polling. But in the face of tragedy, the former congressman has become an ambassador for those affected by gun violence, positioning himself as a foil to Trump through newly impassioned speeches and appearances on cable news.
Continuing a parade of slips and gaffes, Joe Biden yesterday told reporters in Iowa that he was vice president during the massacre in Parkland, Florida, which happened more than a year after he left office: "Those kids in Parkland came up to see me when I was vice president," Biden said.
Why it matters: Biden called himself a "gaffe machine" 8 months ago, and his slips have long been part of his persona. But he's 76 — 3 years older than President Trump.
House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that he supports making domestic terrorism a federal crime after mass shooters in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, killed 31 people last weekend.
2020 candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that President Trump's immigration raids are part of a "campaign of terror" to make whole populations of Hispanic Americans "afraid."
