A Poll Just Revealed How America Really Feels About Trump – He’s Not Going to Like This

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Most political and media commentators have at this point installed Donald Trump as the GOP front-runner on the eve of the first actual voting set to begin on Monday in Iowa. But this narrative tends to obscure the fact that Trump is the most unpopular candidate of either party when the entire U.S. population is taken into account — and that he has a higher unfavorable rating than any nominated candidate from either of the two major parties going back to the 1992 election when we began to track favorability using the current format.

At this point (two-week average through Jan. 27), 33% of Americans view Trump favorably and 60% unfavorably. It’s that 60% unfavorable figure that I can focus on here.

Hillary Clinton currently has a 52% unfavorable rating among all Americans, while Jeb Bush is at 45%, Chris Christie 38%, Ted Cruz 37%, Marco Rubio 33%, Bernie Sanders 31% and Ben Carson 30%. Trump’s 60% is clearly well above all of these. Putting his favorable and unfavorable ratings together yields a net favorable of -27 for Trump, far above the -10 for Clinton and for Bush, the next lowest among the major candidates.

I wanted to see how Trump’s unfavorable played out in the context of previous elections, so I went back to look at the unfavorable ratings of the major-party candidates from 1992 through the current election. The bottom line is that Trump now has a higher unfavorable rating than any candidate at any time during all of these previous election cycles, and that conclusion takes into account the fact that unfavorable ratings tend to rise in the heat of a general election campaign as the barbs, negative ads and heightened partisanship are taken to their highest levels. Gallup routinely reports favorable ratings based on national adults, but some of the favorable ratings in the final months of an election year that I discuss below are based on registered voters. (Read more from “A Poll Just Revealed How America Really Feels About Trump – He’s Not Going to Like This” HERE)

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The GOP’s Condemnation of ‘Sanctuary Cities’ Is Surprisingly Awkward in Iowa

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By Robert Samuels. Illegal immigration makes Bill Hartzell seethe. The memories are fresh from the afternoon in October 2013 when he saw his wife’s 93-year-old grandmother bloodied and unconscious, after being beaten and raped in her house by a 19-year-old Mexican who crossed the border and never left.

His outrage is driving Hartzell to vote in Monday’s Iowa presidential caucuses for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who has vowed to battle the “sanctuary cities” that refuse to help the feds deport illegal immigrants. Cruz has said that he would block these localities from receiving federal funds for law enforcement — an idea that makes perfect sense to Hartzell.

Except for when it applies to the place where he lives.

Pottawattamie County’s sheriff adopted a sanctuary policy in 2014. Hartzell knows the sheriff. He trusts the sheriff. And he is uncomfortable with how his county, which includes Council Bluffs, would lose at least a million dollars should a President Cruz carry out his threat . . .

With illegal immigration roiling the GOP electorate, the party’s presidential candidates have spent months blasting sanctuary cities as bastions of liberal naiv­ete and bleeding-heartedness gone awry. No place symbolized this mind-set better, they have said, than San Francisco, where last year, 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was allegedly murdered by an illegal Mexican migrant. (Read more from “The GOP’s Condemnation of ‘Sanctuary Cities’ Is Surprisingly Awkward in Iowa” HERE)

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Iowa Town Embodies Immigrant Divide

By Thomas Fitzgerald. At the 3 p.m. shift change Friday, compact cars rimmed with road salt and dirt rolled up to the JBS Swift meatpacking plant, ranchera and salsa music trickling from a few rolled-down windows.

Hundreds of mostly brown-skinned men walked double-time into the plant, part of the wave of Latino immigrants who, over the last two decades, have transformed this city from a traditional farming community to what could be the most diverse municipality in overwhelmingly white Iowa . . .

In the week leading to Iowa’s presidential caucuses, seven candidates from both parties descended on Marshalltown, about an hour northeast of Des Moines. After services at New Hope Christian Church last Sunday, the pastor and his wife handed out tip sheets listing each event and urged congregants to go.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican, held a town hall in the church auditorium that day. Later in the afternoon, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, briefly the front-runner in the Iowa GOP race, spoke at the Best Western Regency Inn. In quick succession last week came Republicans: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former high-tech CEO Carly Fiorina. (Read more from “Iowa Town Embodies Immigrant Divide” HERE)

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Michigan City Shuts Down Police Force Amid Turmoil

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The city’s police department has temporarily folded as it searches for its fourth police chief in 18 months, according to city officials.

“The police department currently is not open,” Deputy Clerk Jennifer Baranowski said Friday.

The decision was made at a Thursday evening city council meeting, Mayor Eric Schneider said. He requested the move after he and the council lost confidence in the department.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we’re not sure what’s going on over there,” Schneider said. “We didn’t have a second in command. We demoted our previous chief (last year) and we were kind of in turmoil, then our new chief died (in January) . . .

(Memphis) city’s six part-time officers are on paid administrative leave, Schneider said. They have been asked to turn in all department-issued equipment, including their weapons, radios, badges and identifications. The locks also have been changed at the department, he said. (Read more from “Michigan City Shuts Down Police Force Amid Turmoil” HERE)

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Something Terrifying Was Just Revealed About Hillary Clinton’s Guard on Her Tour of Libya

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By Laura Collins. A known Islamic terror suspect was placed in charge of Hillary Clinton’s local security detail during a trip by the US Secretary of State to Libya, Daily Mail Online can reveal.

The shocking security blunder occurred in October 2011 when Clinton made an unannounced visit to Libya following the toppling of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Ironically the Secretary of State’s trip was shrouded in secrecy due to security concerns.

The trip was intended as a triumphant tour to show Mrs Clinton’s support for the Libyan people and build diplomatic ties at a torrid time. During her visit fierce fighting erupted in Sirte – the last stronghold of the country’s former leader.

Unwittingly flanked by a man known to British security forces as a member of the banned Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and considered a threat to British and US national security Mrs Clinton held talks with top officials from the National Transitional Council (NTC) and spoke of her ‘pride’ at standing ‘on the soil of a free Tripoli.’ (Read more from “Something Terrifying Was Just Revealed About Hillary Clinton’s Guard on Her Tour of Libya” HERE)

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Official: Some Clinton Emails ‘Too Damaging’ to Release

By Catherine Herridge and Pamela K. Browne. The intelligence community has deemed some of Hillary Clinton’s emails “too damaging” to national security to release under any circumstances, according to a U.S. government official close to the ongoing review. A second source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, backed up the finding.

The determination was first reported by Fox News, hours before the State Department formally announced Friday that seven email chains, found in 22 documents, will be withheld “in full” because they, in fact, contain “Top Secret” information.

The State Department, when first contacted by Fox News about withholding such emails Friday morning, did not dispute the reporting – but did not comment in detail. After a version of this report was first published, the Obama administration confirmed to the Associated Press that the seven email chains would be withheld. The department has since confirmed those details publicly. (Read more from “Official: Some Clinton Emails ‘Too Damaging’ to Release” HERE)

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LaVoy Finicum’s Family Questions Shooting Despite FBI Video

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By Jason Sickles. The FBI’s aggressive move to release video evidence which they say shows anti-government protester LaVoy Finicum reaching for a gun before being shot and killed by police apparently did little to persuade the dead man’s family.

“LaVoy was not ‘charging’ anyone,’” his survivors said Friday afternoon in a statement released through their attorney. “He appears to have been shot in the back, with his hands in the air.”

Their comments, first reported by Reuters, come a day after the FBI took the unusual step of making a 26-minute surveillance video public two days after Finicum was killed. The aerial video, which the bureau published to its YouTube page, had more than 1.5 million views in less than 24 hours.

A state trooper shot Finicum, 54, Tuesday when a team of law enforcement officers set up a traffic stop to arrest several leaders of the month-long protest over federal control of ranch lands. (Read more from “LaVoy Finicum’s Family Questions Shooting Despite FBI Video” HERE)

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FBI Releases Video Footage of LaVoy Finicum Shooting

By Kelly House. As state troopers trained their guns on Robert “LaVoy” Finicum along a secluded eastern Oregon highway, he reached twice for a pocket that police say contained a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.

That’s when they fatally shot Finicum, a video released Thursday by the FBI appears to show.

(Editor’s note: As you watch the video, keep in mind that LaVoy Finicum wore his pistol on his right hip, as depicted here)

The federal agency played the video in an attempt to dispel rumors about the circumstances of Finicum’s death two days earlier as he and other leaders of the armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge were driving to a meeting.

Conflicting accounts of his shooting fueled outrage among supporters of the refuge occupiers and prompted the leader of a Northwest militia group to issue a call for members to report to Burns.

Greg Bretzing, a special agent with the FBI, said the footage provides an “honest and unfiltered view” of what happened. (Read more from “FBI Releases Video Footage of LaVoy Finicum Shooting” HERE)

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According to Trump, This Is the Only Way He’ll Debate Cruz

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Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski announced that Trump would be happy to debate Senator Ted Cruz — once Cruz is determined to be eligible for the presidency by a federal judge.

“Once you’ve gotten that ruling from the federal judge and you’re the last man standing in this presidential contest next to Donald Trump, we’ll be happy to have a debate with you one-on-one, anywhere you want, because that’s the way the system works,” Lewandowski said. “But, as it stands right now, we don’t even know if Ted Cruz is legally eligible to run for president of the United States” . . .

Cruz had challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate after Trump refused to participate in the Fox News debate on Thursday night. Trump wanted the network to remove host Megyn Kelly as a moderator for the event. (Read more from “According to Trump, This Is the Only Way He’ll Debate Cruz” HERE)

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Sessions: Choose Carefully America, 2016 Is ‘the LAST CHANCE’

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By Paul Bedard. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a leading voice on trade, immigration and executive powers, is urging Americans to choose their next president carefully because 2016 “is the last chance for the American people to take back control of their government.”

In a sober interview with Secrets, the Republican warned that liberal special interests, Wall Street moguls, and international media conglomerates are fast turning the United States into just another member of the European Union and that the effort is being led by a Democratic president eager to go his own way with executive orders.

“This election is different because we have pall-mall erosion of law, the constitutional order, where President Obama has pushed an agenda that eviscerates the immigration legal system, and pushed this trade agreement that will commence decades of transferring American economic power to an ever-expanding international commission. It’s just not going to stop” unless voters take action, he warned . . .

Highlighting immigration and trade, Sessions urged voters to choose a candidate who will commit to killing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with nearly a dozen Asian nations which is slated to cost 448,000 U.S. jobs, and finally make good on 30 years of promises to put an end to illegal immigration, which is costing the nation billions in welfare and undermining U.S. wages. (Read more from “Sessions: Choose Carefully America, 2016 Is ‘the LAST CHANCE'” HERE)

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America 2016: We’re Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore

By Lesley Clark, Anita Kumar and Maria Recio. Craig Ziemke has voted for Democrats all his life, including twice for President Barack Obama. Not this year.

“The whole country is going to hell,” the 66-year-old retired factory worker said, standing against the bleachers at a high school gymnasium while waiting for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to arrive. Ziemke’s fury is deep: Roads and bridges in the U.S. are falling apart, jobs are scarce and the U.S. border is wide open, he says.

“We’re letting all these people into the country. No one even knows who the hell they are,” he said. “We don’t need any more Arabs. The United States, anymore, is just a dumping ground for everyone.”

Ziemke plans to caucus for a Republican on Monday – and likely for Trump, “the only one with brains,” he said.

If Obama’s 2008 campaign in Iowa and beyond defined the election as one of “hope and change,” this year may well be described as the politics of rage. (Read more from “America 2016: We’re Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore” HERE)

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Who Won the Ratings Race: Fox News or Donald Trump?

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By Brian Stelter. Donald Trump’s counter-programming stunt succeeded in stealing viewers from Fox News’ Republican presidential debate.

Thursday night marked the second lowest rated GOP debate of the season. And Trump was the most-talked-about candidate without even being there.

Trump, who had refused to attend the debate, showed off his ratings magnetism by depriving Fox of it . . .

But Trump’s rivals, like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, still reached a big audience by debating, which suggests that there are some limits to Trump’s power.

Practically speaking, there is no way Trump’s event could have out-rated the debate. But ratings experts said Trump did appear to take a chunk out of Fox’s audience. (Read more from “Who Won the Ratings Race: Fox News or Donald Trump?” HERE)

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Debate Without Trump Gets Better Ratings Than Last Debate With Trump

By John McCormack. Donald Trump’s campaign manager predicted that Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate on Fox News would only get “about 2 million” viewers because Trump refused to show up. In fact, “Fox News likely had 11 million to 13 million viewers for the debate,” CNN’s Brian Stelter reports.

Thursday’s debate ended up getting higher ratings than the the last debate in which Trump participated. “Fox’s Trump-less debate had an 8.4 household rating, according to early Nielsen data from so-called metered markets,” reports CNN’s Stelter. (Read more from “Debate Without Trump Gets Better Ratings Than Last Debate With Trump” HERE)

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Donald Trump Just Announced Something Amazing About His Event for Veterans

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By Maeve Reston. If Donald Trump had any second thoughts about skipping the GOP debate, he certainly didn’t show it as he took the stage before a raucous crowd at Drake University on Thursday night to say that he had raised nearly $6 million for veterans in one day.

For several days now, the pundits have pontificated about the damage that Trump’s decision could inflict on his campaign. But, comparing his crowd and the number of cameras to the Academy Awards, Trump waved off the notion that Iowans would see him as a sore loser.

“We love our vets,” Trump said.

“When you’re treated badly you have to stick up for your rights,” Trump added, alluding to his relationship with Fox. “And that’s what our country has to do.”

“We have to stick up for our country when we’re being mistreated.” (Read more from “Donald Trump Just Announced Something Amazing About His Event for Veterans” HERE)

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Donald Trump: Fox News ‘Apologized’ Over Debate Statement

By Jeremy Diamond and Brian Stelter. Donald Trump said Thursday in an interview with CNN that Fox News “apologized” to him for a mocking statement the television network issued two days before the GOP debate.

Trump said that while the network “could not have been nicer” as it tried to woo him back into attending the debate, he would stick to his plan of holding an event aimed at raising funds for veterans’ organizations.

“I was treated very unfairly by Fox. Since then they’ve been excellent, they’ve been very nice, but it’s too late,” Trump told CNN’s Brianna Keilar in an interview Thursday night aboard Trump’s private plane. (Read more from “Donald Trump: Fox News ‘Apologized’ Over Debate Statement” HERE)

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After Trump’s Huge Announcement, Something Sinister Was Uncovered About Fox News That Explains a Lot

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Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he would not be participating in Thursday night’s Fox News debate, citing differences with the network. But one news outlet claims the source of the antagonism has to do with the candidate’s stance on immigration.

As reported by Western Journalism, Trump was critical earlier this week of Megyn Kelly’s inclusion as a debate moderator, “I think she is not a professional,” Trump said of the Fox News personality. “I don’t think she’s a very talented person. I don’t think she is a good reporter. I think they could do a lot better than that.”

A feud erupted between Trump and Kelly last August after the network’s first presidential debate, when Kelly asked a sharply-worded question regarding some of the businessman’s past comments about certain women.

The Trump campaign released a statement Tuesday night, which read in part, “Unlike the very stupid, highly incompetent people running our country into the ground, Mr. Trump knows when to walk away. Roger Ailes and FOX News think they can toy with him, but Mr. Trump doesn’t play games.”

According to Breitbart, Kelly’s treatment of Trump is not the only source of the antagonism between the candidate and the network. Breitbart’s Julia Hahn writes:

Trump has shined a spotlight on one of Washington’s best kept secrets: namely, Fox’s role via its founder Rupert Murdoch in pushing an open borders agenda. The Trump campaign is a direct threat to Murdoch’s efforts to open America’s borders. Well-concealed from virtually all reporting on Fox’s treatment of Trump is the fact that Murdoch is the co-chair of what is arguably one of the most powerful immigration lobbying firms in country, the Partnership for a New American Economy (PNAE).

(Read more from “After Trump’s Huge Announcement, Something Sinister Was Uncovered About Fox News That Explains a Lot” HERE)

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