President Trump'scampaign and key allies plan to make allegations of bias by social media platforms a core part of their 2020 strategy, officials tell Axios.
The big picture: Look for ads, speeches and sustained attacks on Facebook and Twitter in particular, the sources say. The irony: The social platforms are created and staffed largely by liberals — but often used most effectively in politics by conservatives, the data shows.
Democratic presidential candidates joined fellow 2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke in speaking of the need for gun control on Saturday following a second mass shooting in Texas in August.
"Don’t know what the motivation is, do not yet know the firearms that were used or how they acquired them, but we do know this is f**ked up. We do know that this has to stop in this country. There is no reason that we have to accept this as our fortune, as our future, as our fate, and yet functionally right now we have. ... To have a Congress that will not ... even pass universal background checks or close those loopholes that allow people to buy a firearm when they should not be able to."
— Former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke at an event in Fairfax Station, Virginia
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded to the drive-by mass shooting in West Texas by calling on the Senate to vote on gun control legislation.
Context: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has yet to bring a vote on 2 background check bills that passed the House over 5 months ago.
The Democratic National Committee scheduled the 4th Democratic debate nights for Oct. 15-16 in Ohio at a yet-to-be revealed location, per a Politico report.
The big picture: The October debate round has the same qualifying standards as September's: Candidates must poll at 2% in 4 DNC-approved polls and receive donations from 130,000 unique donors. The 10 candidates who made the cut for the September debate, therefore those same contenders immediately qualify October's.
President Trump said he considered the ouster of his personal assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, to be virtually "automatic" after he found out about comments she made during an off-the-record dinner with reporters.
Why it matters: Westerhout, whose title was director of Oval Office operations, sat right outside the Oval Office, and had unique visibility into the president's calls, visitors and correspondence. She was one of very few West Wing officials who had been there from Day 1.
