Melissa McEwan

Donald Trump’s self-proclaimed business expertise was casually demolished in a sentence

In a Facebook post, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich handily demolishes the narrative that Donald Trump is a good businessman. His story begins with going to buy coffee and noticing a car sporting a Trump bumper sticker. He approaches the driver to ask if he might inquire why he’s supporting Trump. “I know he’s […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 21, 2016

Witness: Chris Christie laughed about Bridgegate scheme during 9/11 ceremony

Chris Christie was told about the bridge scheme during a 9/11 ceremony, and he laughed about it, a witness testified https://t.co/nPl4wa8XDR — The New York Times (@nytimes) September 27, 2016 In 2014, Chris Christie said he “unequivocally” had no knowledge of the lane closure plan, nor its intent as retaliation against the mayor of Fort […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 27, 2016

Trump had a disastrous debate night with women

Monday’s presidential debate opened with a question about jobs. Hillary Clinton was the first to answer. She spoke about jobs, and then she spoke about equal pay for women. And about paid family leave. And about affordable childcare. Because an economy that works for women includes all of these things, not just a job. Donald […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 27, 2016

In unearthed tweet, Trump insults little girls

“Mirrors,” the new ad from the Clinton campaign, features girls looking at themselves in the mirror as Trump’s demeaning comments about women’s looks echo in the background. “Is this the president we want for our daughters?” asks the ad. Trump does not respect women. (Nor does his running mate.) His vile comments about women’s appearance […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 23, 2016

Clinton laughs: “My pneumonia finally got Republicans interested in women’s health”

Clinton laughs off health scares at Black Women’s Agenda symposium https://t.co/0YugLyjFsn pic.twitter.com/aS8jfzYQLN — Ruptly (@Ruptly) September 16, 2016 “I’m thrilled to be with you. I’m thrilled to be associated with you. I’m also thrilled to be back on the campaign trail! As the world knows, I was a little under the weather recently. The good […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 16, 2016

In awkward interview, Megyn Kelly confronts Kellyanne Conway on Trump’s sexism

Following Donald Trump’s disastrous debate performance, during which Hillary Clinton confronted him with his body-shaming comments about Alicia Machado, Kellyanne Conway tried to defend her candidate and minimize his history of sexism. Megyn Kelly was having none of it. First, Conway complained that Trump hadn’t been given enough credit for being “gracious” by not bringing up Clinton’s marital history, […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 29, 2016

The New York Times gives Hillary Clinton the best endorsement of her career

“The best case,” the New York Times editors argue, for Hillary Clinton, is “about the challenges this country faces, and Mrs. Clinton’s capacity to rise to them.” And then they set forth presenting the evidence of her abundant capacity, demonstrated over four decades in public life. It doesn’t get any better than this: Over 40 […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 24, 2016

The human cost of GOP obstructionism

This is what Hillary Clinton means when she refers to an “implacable wall of hostility” to Obama’s agenda from the Republicans: During a press briefing on Capitol Hill, Vice President Joe Biden bluntly admonished Republicans to yield on their unprecedented inaction on Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination: "Give Merrick Garland a vote.Don't set this dangerous […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 08, 2016

President Obama says a third-party vote is a Trump vote

If there’s one message I want to deliver to everybody: If you don’t vote, that’s a vote for Trump. If you don’t vote, that’s a vote for Trump. If you vote for a third-party candidate who’s got no chance to win, that’s a vote for Trump. In addition to what the President is saying here, […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 28, 2016

Donald Trump Jr.’s glib “gas chamber” reference channels the alt-right

During an interview with Philadelphia station WPHT, Donald Trump Jr. “argued that the media unfairly under-covered various Clinton controversies,” then asserted: “The media has been her number one surrogate in this. Without the media, this wouldn’t even be a contest, but the media has built her up,” Trump said. He added: “They’ve let her slide […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 15, 2016

A full blown Trump corruption scandal is taking shape

In September 2013, Republican Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Florida would be “reviewing the allegations” in a class-action lawsuit filed in New York against Trump University, which has been accused of fraud by people who paid to attend seminars. Days after Bondi made the announcement, the Donald J. Trump Foundation made a $25,000 […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 09, 2016

President Obama calls out gender bias against Clinton

At a DNC fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, President Obama said: There’s a reason why we haven’t had a woman president; that we as a society still grapple with what it means to see powerful women. And it still troubles us in a lot of ways, unfairly, and that expresses itself in all sorts of ways. […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 19, 2016

A comprehensive guide to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign

Racism and White Nationalism In August, Hillary Clinton delivered a pivotal speech detailing Trump’s centering of white nationalism in his campaign and his mainstreaming of their ugly constellation of bigotries, which culminated with his hiring of Steven Bannon as his campaign’s chief executive. (He followed up by hiring sleaze-merchant and president of Citizens United David Bossie a few […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 08, 2016

New revelation threatens to break Trump Foundation scandal wide open

Trump's use of foundation as piggy bank might be biggest scandal of '16, and @Fahrenthold will be on Pulitzer list https://t.co/RtyuHnMCNT — Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) September 20, 2016 The latest reporting from @Fahrenthold appears to show Trump viewed his foundation as his personal slush fund: https://t.co/wnsEtpOZ4V — Emo Desperado (@JoyAnnReid) September 20, 2016 As my […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 20, 2016

DISGRACED: Prosecutors say Christie knew about Bridgegate in real time

The lane closure scandal known as “Bridgegate” has led to years-long investigations, with United States Attorney for New Jersey, Paul J. Fishman, having explained during the announcement of indictments that: [T]he conspirators “callously victimized” the citizens of Fort Lee, N.J., purposely scheduling the lane-closing plan to coincide with the first day of school. Then, he said, […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 19, 2016

GOP leadership and reporters break out laughing over concerns about Trump

Watch as a reporter begins to ask about Ryan’s criticisms of Trump, and Ryan interrupts with a joke, prompting a huge round of uproarious laughter: When everyone finally settles down, Pence finally gives a punt of an answer about how much he and his running mate respect Ryan and how there are always differences in […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 13, 2016

Tim Kaine delivers stirring keynote at Human Rights Campaign dinner

On Friday, Tim Kaine blasted Mike Pence for parroting Donald Trump’s offensive claim that Russian president Vladimir Putin has been a better leader than President Obama. https://youtu.be/q5uwcrbuEKs?t=6m30s Kaine: What about invading other countries is leadership? What about running your economy into the ground is leadership? What about persecuting LGBT Russians is leadership? What about setting […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 13, 2016

Why Trump’s “outreach” to black voters is a complete farce (VIDEO)

Four decades ago, “the Justice Department filed a civil rights case that accused the Trump firm, whose complexes contained 14,000 apartments, of violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968.” And that racialized hostility has continued, finding a home on Trump’s Twitter feed. Sadly, because president Obama has done such a poor job as president, you won't […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 08, 2016

The downward spiral of John McCain

John McCain has some Trump Trouble. Trump is not the sort of candidate a war hero like McCain wants to support, given Trump’s willingness to refer to the U.S. military as “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight” and attack a Gold Star family. Trump even attacked McCain himself, saying, in reference to McCain having been a […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 22, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s Humans of New York feature hits a nerve

Clinton’s story will be familiar to many women, maybe especially (although certainly not exclusively) women of a certain age. The precise details may be different—the setting; the nature of the harassment—but the feeling, that creeping urge of guardedness as a mechanism of self-protection, reverberates through our very cells. A familiar tune, played in a different […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 08, 2016

BROKEN: Trust in mass media plummets to new low

Peter Daou writes: A candidate who wallows in bigotry, who incites violence, who verbally abuses his critics, who is a self-avowed threat to the free press, who trashes U.S. generals while praising Vladimir Putin, who demeans Gold Star families, gets less negative coverage than his opponent, a lifelong public servant who is one of the most accomplished and admired […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 14, 2016

Caught on tape: Trump campaign manager said his supporters are “downright nasty”

One of the interesting aspects of Donald Trump getting the Republican nomination despite not being the favorite of the GOP establishment is that he’s had trouble finding people to work with and for him from that establishment. So he’s ended up with a running mate who endorsed Ted Cruz and a campaign manager whose past […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 12, 2016

Trump greets nearly every act of public violence with a triumphant tweet

Trump doesn’t appear to care about victims of public acts of violence, nor does he care about what reverberating effects his commentary might have on people who commit these acts. All he cares about is braying, even if incorrectly, about how he “called it.” After the recent attack in New York City, Trump’s primary concern […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 19, 2016

The veep contest: Kaine vs. Pence

When Hillary Clinton first selected Tim Kaine as her running mate, I noted that Kaine is actually a nice guy, while Mike Pence just pretends to be one: “I don’t personally know either of these men. All I have by which to assess them is their records. I hear that both of them are nice, […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 08, 2016

Trump praises “very, very good executives” at Flint water plant

Donald Trump showed up in Flint with short notice, which was decidedly unhelpful. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver told the Detroit News, “Unexpected visits like this are difficult for us.” But Trump was less interested in being helpful to Flint than using a photo op in Flint to help his campaign. Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber […]

By Melissa McEwan - September 14, 2016