GOP Gloomy Over Tight Race In Trump Country, DeVos' Disastrous Interview, And Trump Privately Blasts GOP Candidate

March 12th, 2018 Top Stories --------------------------------------------------------------- [GOP Gloom Sets In As Dems Aim For House Pickup Deep In Trump Country]( The Gist: Democrats and Republicans involved in the Pennsylvania race agree on a few things: State Rep. Rick Saccone (R) has run a lackluster campaign while Democrat Conor Lamb has proven to be a stellar candidate. Liberals’ fury at President Trump is so strong that even in a blue-collar district he won by 20 points his support for Saccone is a two-edged sword. And the race couldn’t be tighter, a warning sign for the GOP no matter who wins given the deeply populist-conservative nature of Pittsburgh’s suburbs and exurbs. [Report: Trump Criticizes ‘Weak’ Penn. House Candidate Behind Closed Doors]( The Gist: Although President Donald Trump held a rally for Rick Saccone, the Republican candidate running for an open House seat in a Trump-friendly Pennsylvania district, the President has trashed Saccone behind closed doors, according to Axios. [Betsy DeVos Struggles To Answer Simple Questions In '60 Minutes' Interview (VIDEO)]( The Gist: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sat down with CBS’ Lesley Stahl for a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday evening, and DeVos repeatedly stumbled as she faced simple yet pointed questions from Stahl. From The Reporter's Notebook --------------------------------------------------------------- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended President Donald Trump’s attacks on Democrats and the media Sunday morning, telling NBC’s Chuck Todd that they were “campaign rally issues,” [TPM’s Matt Shuham reported](. On Saturday, from a rally in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, Trump called Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) “a very low IQ individual” and said Todd was “a sleeping son of a bitch.” “Obviously there were a lot of funny moments in that rally,” Mnuchin told Todd Sunday. “Yeah, they were hilarious,” the “Meet the Press” host responded dryly. Agree Or Disagree? --------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Marshall: "I had feared and assumed that President Trump had agreed to the meeting with Kim Jong-un without consulting any of his top foreign policy advisors. [It turns out to have been even stupider than I had imagined](. He didn’t just not ask. There doesn’t even seem to have been an actual invitation – or at least that was not what the South Koreans believed they were coming to discuss. The President ordered the South Korean representative, Mr. Chung, to the Oval Office and proceeded to quiz him about his meeting with Kim. Chung mentioned Kim’s eagerness to meet with Trump and Trump said he would do it. This seems to have come as quite a surprise to Mr. Chung and said he had to get the approval of the South Korean President. In such a situation, it would be hard for the South Koreans to refuse the stated desire of the President of the United States and they may not necessarily have wanted to. The key point is that this was the product of the President riffing with no guidance. Say What?! --------------------------------------------------------------- "I said, ‘Huh, big country, 1.4 billion people.’ Not much of a drug problem. I said, ‘What do you attribute that to?’ ‘Well, the death penalty.’" - President Donald Trump on Saturday [proposing]( the death penalty for convicted drug dealers again as he recalls a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping. BUZZING: Today in the Hive --------------------------------------------------------------- From a TPM Prime member: "Hey honey have you seen this article? Man oh man, the quotes coming out about this investigation are brutal. For instance 'There are a lot of weird connections' between Putin and Trump, or 'Trump probably did something during the election.' Wow those are harsh. Who said those, some lefty on MSNBC? A Democratic member of the House oversight committee? Er no, one of Trump's political advisers during the campaign." Related: [After Appearing Before Mueller Grand Jury, Nunberg Urges Trump’s Cooperation]( Have something to add? Become a [Prime]( member and join the discussion [here](. What We're Reading --------------------------------------------------------------- How Chicago Ticket Debt Sends Black Motorists Into Bankruptcy ([ProPublica]( Suicides, Drug Addiction And High School Football ([New York Times]( [unsubscribe from this list]( | [update subscription preferences]( | [view email in browser](