Booker calls for new White House Office on Hate Crimes and White Supremacist Violence


 

Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing

August 16, 2019: Cory Booker released his plan to address domestic terrorism. Rapper Cardi B interviews Bernie Sanders about police brutality, student debt, and other policy issues.
        

Each Friday, we’ll highlight a presidential candidate’s key campaign staffer.

Stephen Brokaw worked on Barack Obama’s (D) 2008 and 2012 campaigns. He graduated from Harvard University in 2006 and obtained his law degree from the University of Illinois in 2012.

Previous campaign work:

  • 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign, digital project manager
  • 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign, delegate tracker and senior political generalist

Other experience:

  • 2016-2019: Google, Metro expansion lead and Grow with Google marketing manager
  • 2014-2015: 270 Strategies, senior vice president, general counsel, and principal
  • 2013-2014: Schiff Hardin LLP, associate

Notable Quote of the Day

“There are a whole set of unspoken assumptions at play when we call a particular candidate ‘electable.’ … What nobody suggests is that electability might be a function of getting your own party’s voters excited and engaged. That’s despite the fact that we’ve seen one election after another in recent decades in which a candidate who excited his party defeated a candidate whose own voters were lukewarm about their nominee. Barack Obama was not electable by any of the standards we’re applying to the 2020 candidates, but he won twice, and by substantial margins. Donald Trump was not remotely electable, but he won, too.

– Paul Waldman, The Washington Post

Democrats

  • In an interview on WBUR’s On PointMichael Bennet discussed his legislative vision and new book on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Bennet also said in an interview with BuzzFeed that he supported expanding the Equality Amendment to include marginalized communities.
  • Bill de Blasio discussed allegations against him of donor conflicts of interest, allegations against Trump of sexual assault, policy, and his personal life in the “20 Questions for 2020” series hosted by NowThisNews.
  • In his plan to address hate crimes, Cory Booker called for the creation of a White House Office on Hate Crimes and White Supremacist Violence. He would also have the Department of Justice and the FBI prioritize domestic terrorism as they do international terrorism.
  • Steve Bullock will campaign in New Hampshire Friday and Saturday.
  • Pete Buttigieg will campaign in South Carolina Saturday and Sunday.
  • Julián Castro unveiled a series of tax and economic proposals Friday. He said he would replace the estate tax with an inherited wealth tax and change how investments are valued for inheritances to prevent lowered tax rates. He also called for raising the capital gains tax rate from 20 percent to 40 percent for people who earn $400,000 or more. For lower-income households, no family would pay more than 7 percent of its income for childcare.
  • John Delaney will spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday campaigning in New Hampshire. He said that he plans to remain in the race until at least the Iowa caucuses, whether or not he qualifies for any more debates.
  • Kamala Harris is launching a Spanish-language version of Camp Kamala, her volunteer training program that covers caucuses, watch parties, and voter outreach.
  • Amy Klobuchar campaigned in Arkansas Thursday, holding a press conference on gun violence and attending a Democratic Party fundraiser.
  • Seth Moulton will campaign in New Hampshire Sunday.
  • Beto O’Rourke said he was focused only on his presidential campaign in an interview on MSNBC. “I will not in any scenario run for the United States Senate,” O’Rourke said Thursday.
  • Tim Ryan criticized the Democratic debate qualifications, saying in an interview on MSNBC, “Bill Clinton did not get into the race until October. And here it is August, and the field’s already being, in some ways, artificially winnowed by the Democratic National Committee.”
  • Rapper Cardi B interviewed Bernie Sanders about police brutality, student debt, minimum wage, and tax policy.
  • Joe Sestak spoke at the Urbandale Fearless Fighter Women’s Awards Dinner in Iowa Thursday.
  • Tom Steyer will campaign in Aspen, Colorado, giving a speech at the AREDAY Summit on climate action Friday.
  • Elizabeth Warren will campaign in South Carolina Saturday.
  • Andrew Yang will campaign Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in New Hampshire.

Republicans

  • Donald Trump discussed the economy, tariffs, the Democratic field, and mental health policy during a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. He said the stock market will crash if he is not reelected in 2020.

What We’re Reading

Flashback: August 16, 2015

The Trump campaign released its first policy paper on immigration, which called for the construction of a border wall, tripling the number of ICE officers, ending birthright citizenship, and criminalizing visa overstays.