By ,
Published June 13, 2016
On the roster: For Trump, Clinton, Orlando sets up major leadership test - Hillary casts herself as the unifier - Bernie, Hillary to meet Tuesday as he continues to DNC - Power Play: Conspiracy for the win? - Cuddle time
FOR TRUMP, CLINTON, ORLANDO SETS UP MAJOR LEADERSHIP TEST
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both face their biggest test since securing their position as the parties’ presumptive nominees: a national security crisis of historic proportions.
The difference between the two candidates in the immediate aftermath of the tragic shootings at an Orlando nightclub early Sunday morning was stark. Clinton’s reaction was more muted and that of a trained politician tweeting out condolences adding “as we wait for more information.” She followed up with a formal statement later in the day.
Trump also reacted on Twitter reiterating his call for a ban on Muslims, which he originally purposed after the terror attack in San Bernardino, Calf. last year. While his initial tweets were more muted, as he continued posting he drew criticism for his remarks especially a moment of self-laudation when he wrote, “appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance.” He also followed up with a formal statement.
The contrast between the two candidates has been pretty stark throughout this entire election process, but amid the fallout from the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, involving hot-button issues of national security and Islamic terrorism, the way Trump and Clinton handle the Orlando massacre will be the most consequential test of their leadership abilities this cycle. And with both of them slated to speak on the matter within hours of each other today, voters will have the best side-by-side comparison on the two candidates ability to tackle issues of major importance.
Clinton’s speech today in the key swing state of Ohio is set to shift from making the case against Trump to highlighting her own readiness for the job as commander-in-chief. As the first female nominee of either major party, aides also say Clinton intends to show her maternal empathy for a nation in mourning and echo President Obama’s condemnation of such acts.
Trump’s address in friendly New Hampshire, meanwhile, was also supposed to be focused on knocking his rival, but has shifted in subject to “further address this terrorist attack, immigration, and national security,” according to his statement on Sunday.
So now the question is how the voters see them: Will they think Trump’s remarks insensitive and bombastic or as strong and action driven? Will Clinton be seen as the ‘comforter-in-chief’ with a plan or icy and obtuse?
The reaction in the coming weeks, or hours really, will set a critical narrative for both candidates as they forge ahead with less than two months until their respective conventions begin.
TIME OUT
There’s little luck in counting sheep for those desperate for sleep, according to an Oxford University study. The key for insomniacs lies not with sheer boredom. The New Yorker details: “Drew Ackerman, a.k.a. Dearest Scooter, the forty-two-year-old creator and host of the popular podcast ‘Sleep with Me,’ has an ingenious intuition for this narrative balancing act. In the three one- to two-hour-long episodes he releases each week, he keeps his voice gravelly, at the bottom of his vocal range, and so slow that his upstate-New York accent takes on a tinge of Southern drawl. His sentences are mazelike constructions that turn on countless ‘if’s, ‘or’s, and ‘so’s; he drifts off into pointless tangents, or doubles back to ask himself if he really means exactly what he just said…Where a traditionally good yarn pulls the listener effortlessly along, the fibres of Scooter’s stories gradually unravel into wayward puffs of wool.”
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SCOREBOARD
Average of national presidential polls: Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +2.4 points
Generic congressional vote: Democrats +2.2
HILLARY CASTS HERSELF AS THE UNIFIER
WSJ: “Democrat Hillary Clinton is launching her general election campaign in earnest this week with a speech Monday in the battleground state of Ohio and a new television ad that casts her as a leader who can bring the nation together, while Republican Donald Trump pits people against one another. The TV spot, which will begin airing on Thursday, opens with an image of the Statue of Liberty, as Mrs. Clinton says ‘we face a choice about who we are as a nation.’ It then cuts to footage of Mr. Trump from a February rally where he says of a protester, ‘I’d like to punch him in the face.’ It also shows Mr. Trump imitating a reporter with a disability in what many saw as mocking…Mr. Trump criticized the ad in a tweet on Sunday. ‘Clinton made a false ad about me where I was imitating a reporter GROVELING after he changed his story. I would NEVER mock disabled. Shame!”
BERNIE, HILLARY TO MEET TUESDAY AS HE CONTINUES TO DNC
Fox News: “Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that he’ll meet Tuesday with presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton to talk about how she’d run the country if elected in November but indicated he has no plans to quit the race before the party’s July convention. ‘What we will talk about exactly is what kind of platform we have and… what kind of administration she will have,’ the Vermont senator told ABC’s ‘This Week.’ Sanders is facing increasing pressure to end his campaign to create party unity in the general election race against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, especially since Clinton last week got enough delegates to clinch the nomination.”
POWER PLAY: CONSPIRACY FOR THE WIN?
University of Miami associate professor and author of American Conspiracy Theories, Dr. Joseph Uscinski, explains why he believes conspiracy theories are becoming necessary to getting elected in politics today. No really! WATCH HERE.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Obama, Clinton event postponed after Orlando shootings - The Hill
Trump in hot water over Tweets reacting to Orlando shootings - Politico
Sen. Patrick Murphy, D-Conn., calls Congress ‘complicit’ in Orlando shootings - Weston [Conn.] Forum
Hugh Hewitt breaks down the newly revealed Clinton money scandals - WashEx
Why Libya is a liability for Clinton, Trump - WashEx
AUDIBLE
“You just think about what you always can do better. Right now, what I’m doing is grieving with the families…There will be time that we’ll go through and think about how we can make our society better…but right now I really think it’s the time to grieve with our families.” – Gov. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on “Fox & Friends” today discussing what needs to be done in the immediate aftermath of the Orlando shootings.
CUDDLE TIME
Metro: “The [Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] has been handed 200 of the spiders and is looking to re-home them. Sadly, the venomous animals have been donated in unhappy circumstances. The arachnid-collecting couple that owned the tarantulas have broken up and can no longer care for their pets (we’re sad that a mutual love of spiders wasn’t enough for them). Among the collection is the adorably-named Burgundy Goliath Birdeater (aww!) which can have legs up to [about 10 inches] long. Other species include the Venezuelan Sun Tiger, a Vietnam Blue, Brazilian White Knee, Arizona Blonde, Thai Rusty Earth Tiger, a Trinidad Chevron and a Natal Brown Birdeater.”
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Sally Persons contributed to this report. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/for-trump-clinton-orlando-sets-up-major-leadership-test