Trump to visit Maine today

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

Karine Jean-Pierre is a Democratic staffer with experience in campaign management and political strategy. She graduated from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs with a master’s degree in public administration.

Previous campaign work:

2016 Martin O’Malley presidential campaign, deputy campaign manager
2013 Letitia James New York City public advocate campaign, campaign manager
2013 Bill Thompson New York City mayoral campaign, senior advisor
2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign, deputy battleground states director
2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign, southeast regional political director
2008 John Edwards presidential campaign, southeast regional political director

Other experience:

2019-2020: NBC and MSNBC, political analyst
2016-2020: MoveOn.org, chief public affairs officer
2014-present: Columbia University, faculty
2014-2015: ACLU Reproductive Freedom Initiative, campaign manager
2009-2011: White House Office of Political Affairs, regional political director
2009: U.S. Department of Labor, White House liaison
2009 Presidential Inauguration Committee, political department
2006-2007: Wal-Mart Watch, state and local outreach coordinator
2004-2006: New York City Council, deputy chief of staff

What she says about Biden: “This really is the most important general election in generations. … I’ve known Joe Biden for 10 years now. I believe he’s a man of integrity, he’s a man who knows how to lead, he’s a man who knows how to use the levers of government to help people and he’s the man who could beat Donald Trump in November. For me, as a black woman, I just could not sit this out.”

Notable Quote of the Day

“Tuesday morning, President Trump tweeted two words that succinctly describe the winning coalition that will assure his November reelection: ‘SILENT MAJORITY.’ This prompted a considerable amount of fustian mirth from the Twitter mob, a number of ostensibly serious opinion pieces in the corporate media, and contemptuous dismissal by the Democrats. The consensus was that Trump was indulging a Nixonian fantasy whereby white suburbanites frightened by an increasingly diverse electorate would save his presidency. This interpretation betrays profound ignorance about the term ‘silent majority,’ which never had any racial connotation, and disregards what suburban voters really fear — Democratic incompetence in a time of economic uncertainty and social unrest. …

So, what about that silent majority? The Morning Consult poll noted above makes it clear that they want order restored. This, along with a fast economic recovery, is precisely what the president has pledged. Meanwhile, Trump’s likely general election opponent maunders about systemic racism while struggling to keep his figures straight concerning how many lives and jobs have been lost to the pandemic. As former Clinton pollster Doug Schoen writes, ‘The political risk to Democrats is becoming associated with the riots … which would result in the party losing the White House and risking their House majority.’ The Democrats already own the riots, and the silent majority is quietly counting the days to November 3.”

- David Catron, The American Spectator

Election Updates

Twenty-five donors contributed a combined $4 million during a virtual fundraiser for Joe Biden hosted by Climate Leaders for Biden. According to Recode, this is “believed to be his biggest fundraiser of the entire campaign.”
Biden and actor Don Cheadle participated in a town hall hosted by The Shade Room. Biden said, “Do we really think this is as good as we can be as a nation? … I don’t think the vast majority of people think that. There are probably anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the people out there that are just not very good people. But that’s not who we are. The vast majority of people are decent. We have to appeal to that.”
Donald Trump will visit Maine today. He plans to tour Puritan Medical Products, a medical swab manufacturing facility, and hold a roundtable discussion on commercial fishing.
Trump tweeted, “Sleepy Joe Biden’s 1994 Crime Bill was a total disaster. It was mass incarceration for Black people, many of them innocent. I did Criminal Justice Reform, something Obama & Biden didn’t even try to do - & couldn’t do even if they did try. Biden can never escape his Crime Bill!”
Trump met with campaign manager Brad Parscale, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, and other staff to discuss campaign strategy and messaging.
According to Axios, “The Republican National Committee is planning site visits over the next 10 days to more than a half-dozen cities — across the South and into Texas and Arizona — as it scrambles for a new convention host.”
Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands will hold Democratic caucuses on June 6. Puerto Rico will hold its Republican primary on June 7.

What We’re Reading

Sabato's Crystal Ball: The Veepstakes: Handicapping Biden’s Choices
FiveThirtyEight: If Republicans Are Ever Going To Turn On Trump, This Might Be The Moment
New York Times: Why Some Democrats Worry About the Whiteness of Biden’s Inner Circle

Flashback: June 5, 2016

Hillary Clinton said during a rally in Sacramento, California, “We’re going to have a very contentious campaign because I am going to point out at every single moment that I can why the Republican nominee should never get near the White House.” She stated, “I believe that Donald Trump is not qualified or temperamentally fit to be president.”