The Hill’s Campaign Report: Trump and Biden battle over law enforcement

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail.

LEADING THE DAY:

The civil unrest sweeping the country has quickly become one of the biggest political stories of 2020, exposing new fault lines between President Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

The military personnel who cleared out protesters on the streets around the White House on Monday evening with tear gas and smoke bombs so Trump could visit a historic church damaged during protests has become a flashpoint in that debate.

The president is threatening to deploy the military to cities under Democratic leadership where peaceful daytime protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have turned into violence at night, leading a slew of cities to impose curfews.

Trump is cutting a hard line on law and order, saying Democrats are allowing their cities to be overrun by groups like antifa.

Trump’s core message: Biden is too weak at a time when the nation needs a strong leader to deal with civil unrest.

Biden, meanwhile, made his first trip outside of Delaware since the coronavirus lockdown to give a speech denouncing Trump from City Hall in Philadelphia, one of the dozens of cities that has been wracked by unrest in recent days.

Biden called on Congress to enact police reforms to address racial inequality and accused Trump of using the military to crack down on demonstrators protesting Floyd’s death to appeal to his base of supporters.

Biden’s core message: Trump is stoking racial animus during a time of deep unrest and it’s time to move on from his divisive presidency.

– Jonathan Easley

 

READ MORE:

Biden calls for police reforms, accuses Trump of military crackdown on protesters, by Jonathan.

The Memo: Trump lags in polls as crises press, by Niall Stanage.

 

FROM THE TRAIL:

With the November elections just about five months away, President Trump is staring down dual crises. One is the coronavirus pandemic that has now killed more than 100,000 Americans. The other is widespread civil unrest over racial injustice and police brutality. Here’s more from The Hill’s Reid Wilson: “Donald Trump did not create the coronavirus. Donald Trump did not create the structural racism that has plagued the country since before its founding. But his administration’s response to both a global pandemic and the protests over the killing of an unarmed black man while in police custody have made both crises worse.”

 

FROM CONGRESS & THE STATES:

Eight states and Washington, D.C., will hold primary elections on Tuesday. The elections will mark the first time Biden will be able to formally clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. The primaries will also prove to be a critical test for mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. Max Greenwood reports on the five things to watch in tonight’s races.

Tuesday’s contests will also include a number of House and Senate primaries, which could play a determining factor in the future makeup of Capitol Hill. In the House, Rep. Steve King (R), who has lost the support of much of the Republican establishment, will go head-to-head against Randy Feenstra in the state’s 4th District. Meanwhile, Democrat Theresa Greenfield will look to win her party’s Senate nomination in Iowa, which will pave the way for a head-to-head between Greenfield and incumbent GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. Julia Manchester reports on the key races to watch tonight.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper sent a letter to Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel on Tuesday insisting that the Republican National Convention set to take place in Charlotte in August must be scaled back amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Hill’s Marty Johnson reports. Cooper, a Democrat, said that he still wants his state to host the convention, but current circumstances surrounding the outbreak make a full gathering unreasonable. “The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity,” Cooper wrote.

 

POLL WATCH:

CBS NEWS – NATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL

Biden: 47 percent (-2)

Trump: 43 percent (+/-0)

 

MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY – TRUMP APPROVAL

Approve: 42 percent (-1)

Disapprove: 54 percent (+3)

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

(Keep in mind these dates could change because of the outbreak.)

June 2:

District of Columbia primaries

Indiana primaries

Iowa primaries

Maryland primaries

Montana primaries

New Mexico primaries

Pennsylvania primaries

Rhode Island primaries

South Dakota primaries

 

June 9:

Georgia primaries

West Virginia primaries

 

June 23:

Kentucky primaries

 

July 7:

New Jersey primaries

Delaware primary

 

July 11:

Louisiana

 

July 14:

Alabama Republican Senate primary runoff

 

August 11:

Connecticut primary

 

August 17-20:

Democratic National Convention

 

August 24-27:

Republican National Convention

We’ll catch you tomorrow for the latest campaign news and updates.