D.C. Memo: Emmer says Trump will ‘crush’ Biden in debates

WASHINGTON — The Trump “hush money” trial continued this week in Manhattan, with several members of Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, traveling to the court to lend their support to the former president.

Former Trump attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen was the star witness, testifying that Donald Trump arranged for the payment of money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels for political reasons and not — as Trump lawyers maintain — to cover up a story that would hurt his wife.

Trump was given the day off from the trial to attend the high school graduation of his son, Barron, on Friday and he’s using the opportunity to travel to Minnesota to attend the state GOP’s Lincoln Reagan dinner.

Coverage of that event will be limited, however. The Minnesota Republican Party has advised the media that coverage is by “invite only.”

“Please do NOT reach out to the Party or the Trump campaign to ask if you are invited. We will contact outlets with specifics if they have been selected,” said a release by the state GOP.

KSTP got a  jump on the event by interviewing Trump remotely Wednesday evening.

Trump told KSTP “we think we have a real good shot at Minnesota,” which was won by President Joe Biden in 2020 by 7 percentage points.

Having last year opposed Rep. Tom Emmer’s bid to become House Speaker, Trump said the relationship now is very close. “We have a great friendship,” he said of Emmer, who is heading the Trump campaign in Minnesota.

The former president also repeated his gripes about the ongoing trial in Manhattan, calling it a “witch hunt.”

Yet a Yahoo News/YouGov survey released this week showed new highs in the percentages of Americans who believe that Trump falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment to Daniels (52%), and that Trump committed a crime in doing so (47%).

Also this week, Biden and Trump agreed to participate in two debates, one in June and one in September.

Emmer once again displayed his loyalty to the former president.

“@realDonaldTrump will crush @Joe Biden in the upcoming debates,” Emmer posted on X. “President Trump has a strong policy record to tout while Biden has nothing but failure to defend.”

Minnesota primary one of the worst for Biden

With nearly 40 states having completed their presidential primaries, Minnesota stands out as one of two states that have given President Joe Biden the least support.

Biden won just 70.7% of the Democratic vote in Minnesota. Only in West Virginia, where residents are angered by the Biden administration’s tough stance against pollution from coal, did Biden receive less support — about 70.5%.

Biden was hampered in Minnesota by a well-coordinated protest vote over the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Nearly 19% of Minnesota’s Democratic voters marked their ballots for “uncommitted.”

Primary results also show Trump has problems. The Republican former president has been bedeviled by the continuing practice of GOP primary voters casting their ballots for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, even though she dropped out of the race in early March.

Last week, about 20% of Indiana Republican voters chose Haley over Trump. This week, 20% of Maryland Republicans did the same thing — as well as nearly 10% of West Virginians.

In fact, Trump has had less than 70% of the support of GOP primary voters in more than a half dozen states, including Minnesota, where he won 69.1% of the Republican vote.

As Haley continues to win votes in states that could not take her off the ballot, a similar dynamic is happening with Rep. Dean Phillips, D-3rd District, who ended his challenge to Biden at the same time Haley dropped out of the race.

On Tuesday night, for instance, Phillips received 7.5% of the vote of West Virginia Democrats; that’s nearly as much support as the Democratic congressman received in his home state of Minnesota, which was 7.8%

Omar censure on ice

An effort to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, for comments she made at an encampment of protesters at Columbia University seems to have run out of steam, at least for now.

The latest brouhaha over the progressive lawmaker was touched off after Omar was asked by Fox 5 New York during an April visit to the university about allegations of rising antisemitism at pro-Palestinian protests.

“We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide,” Omar responded.

The suggestions that some college students are “pro-genocide” prompted a firestorm of controversy, with Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., introducing a resolution to censure the Democratic lawmakers.

The resolution accuses Omar of “slanderous comments against Jewish students (that) could inflame violence against the Jewish community” and of having “a history of further fueling the flames of antisemitic hatred.”

Omar has said she wants peace in the region, a permanent cease-fire and increased humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza.

Introduced earlier this month with much fanfare, there was no action on the resolution this week. The legislation must be considered by the House Rules Committee before it gets a vote on the U.S. House floor.

The resolution has also attracted few co-sponsors — only four besides Bacon.

A spokeswoman for Bacon said nothing has been scheduled yet to move the censure resolution forward.

There’s speculation on Capitol Hill that Bacon introduced his resolution, at least in part, because he was primaried on the right by businessman David Frei, who was backed by the state GOP. Bacon won his primary on Tuesday decisively.

Because Omar is a lightning rod for conservative anger, many Republicans, including Rep. Brad Finstad, R-1st District, are raising campaign cash by fueling discontent with the congresswoman.

Finstad released an appeal for contributions this week that asked if the House should censure Omar with buttons that said “yes” and “no.” The headline of the appeal was “Censure Ilhan Omar, Oppose Terrorist Sympathizers, Support Brad Finstad.”

Omar, a prodigious fundraiser, is likely to benefit in at least one way from the GOP attacks, too, since outraged supporters pick up the pace of  donations to her re-election campaign.

Craig seeks more military equipment for cops

This week was “Police Week” on Capitol Hill, with law enforcement officers from across the nation congregating to lobby lawmakers on their priorities.

The U.S. House GOP was eager to take up policing issues, but it married its efforts to beef up the nation’s local police forces with its unrelenting focus on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Among other law enforcement-related legislation, House Republicans sponsored a bill entitled the “Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act” and another whose aim is to “Condemn the Biden border crisis and the tremendous burdens law enforcement officers face as a result.”

The bills were approved in the U.S. House, but are not likely to see the light of day in the U.S. Senate.

Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6th District, held a roundtable with law enforcement officers across Minnesota. Wright County Sheriff Sean Deringer accused undocumented immigrants of “retail crimes” like theft and fraud and an “uncooperative spirit” the sheriff indicated could be the result of coaching.

It wasn’t only House Republicans who were promoting cop-friendly legislation this week.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-2nd District, introduced a bill that would allow local police departments to use federal funds to purchase “tactical” vehicles, like the one used by law enforcement that responded to the shootings in Burnsville on Feb. 18 that resulted in the deaths of three first responders.

The federal government once donated excess war-fighting gear to police across the nation — including assault-style weapons, helicopters, night vision goggles and anti-riot gear.

But concerns about the “militarization” of police and the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer resulted in reforms. Critics of the transfer of surplus military equipment to police cited academic studies that showed the practice resulted in more, not less, violence.

President Biden used his executive authority to restrict transfers of military equipment to police. Craig said her legislation would nullify the Biden executive order and remove Justice Department restrictions on the types of vehicles that could be purchased with federal funds.

“Our community experienced an unimaginable loss on February 18 – and it’s hard to fathom what more could have happened if first responders did not have access to the equipment and tactical vehicle they needed that day,” Craig said.  

Your questions and comments

A reader this week commented on a story about Joe Fraser, a Republican military veteran who is challenging Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Fraser said he’s running for the U.S. Senate because a seat in the chamber would allow him to get his message heard.

“What it suggests (to me) is that there’s a sizable ego involved in his campaign, and that would be true regardless of which political party he happened to favor,” the reader said. “My observation (certainly not omniscient) is that an outsized ego doesn’t often translate to genuine public service.”

Another reader commented on the same story.

“Good to cover (Fraser) as no one else has,” the reader said. “As for Republican prospects, they are built on the foundation of relying on Trump. They would be far more competitive and secure with a different candidate.”

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at [email protected].

The post D.C. Memo: Emmer says Trump will ‘crush’ Biden in debates appeared first on MinnPost.