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| Donald Trump leads Republican race as Wisconsin vote nears – campaign live | Donald Trump leads Republican race as Wisconsin vote nears – campaign live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 3.40pm BST | |
| 15:40 | |
| Trump refuses to condemn manager | |
| Donald Trump also had an interview with CBS’s John Dickerson for Face the Nation. | |
| The held it in Trump Tower, near an audible but unseen “very large indoor waterfall” (Dickerson’s words). | |
| You had a bad week, Dickerson tells Trump. Those comments that women should face punishment for abortion, for instance, and your subsequent contortions to get out of it. | |
| “The bottom line is it is the doctor’s fault,” Trump says, insisting that his week was not so bad. Then Dickerson brings up the fact that the man running Trump’s campaign has been charged with battery against a reporter. | |
| Trump blames the reporter, and says she lied. “Her statement was like this horrible thing happened,” he says. “By the way she grabbed me.” | |
| He says: “She vaulted in from nowhere, she went in between secret service.” | |
| “I didn’t really feel threatened,” he admits. “But I didn’t like somebody grabbing me, and I didn’t like | |
| Dickerson cuts in to point out that the campaign manager lied, and said he didn’t touch her when video clearly shows he grabbed her. Your manager lied, didn’t he? | |
| “I don’t know because I can’t tell you what context,” Trump says. “You don’t even see her grabbed.” He seems to argue that it’s OK for his campaign manager to lie because the reporter may have exaggerated what happened. | |
| Dickerson: “Is it OK for a man to put his hand on a woman?” | |
| Trump pauses. “No, I would say not.” | |
| 3.35pm BST | |
| 15:35 | |
| Kasich on abortion: 'I hope Roe v Wade will be repealed' | |
| Jon Swaine | |
| John Kasich appeared on ABC’s This Week this morning, and addressed the controversy over Donald Trump’s attitude to abortion, an issue on which the Ohio governor has a strongly conservative record. Jon Swaine was watching for us… | |
| “I hope they do repeal Roe v Wade,” Kasich said, referring to the 1973 supreme court ruling which guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion, “and then it’ll be up to the states how they want to proceed.” | |
| But what about Kasich’s own past talk of imposing constitutional restrictions on abortion? ”I don’t know what I said or why I said it ... I am opposed to abortion except in the case of rape, incest or the life of the mother. I hope Roe v Wade will be repealed.” | |
| How do you enforce that? | |
| “That’ll be up to the states to figure out what they wanna do … I think it’s going to take people in a reasonable way working through it.” | |
| Asked about the universally disapproving reaction to Trump’s remarks this week, about whether women who have abortions should be punished, Kasich said: “It’s the first time I’ve seen the pro-life and the pro-choice folks come together.” | |
| But why not punish the woman involved? | |
| “Because I think it’s difficult on her to begin with … I’ve said what I have to say about the subject.” | |
| Should doctors be punished? | |
| “We’re going to leave this up to the states to work this out the way they want to.” | |
| So you’re taking no position? | |
| “This way I’m not, today I’m not.” | |
| Related: John Kasich has been billed as moderate candidate, but his record is anything but | |
| Asked, meanwhile, about the likelihood of a contested Republican convention, Kasich said that should such a thing come to pass, kids would spend less time thinking about Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian and more about how we select our president. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.36pm BST | |
| 3.32pm BST | |
| 15:32 | |
| Republican party chairman Reince Priebus is back on TV, also sitting in with Wallace on Fox News Sunday. | |
| Wallace asks about the pledge to stay within the party that Trump has waffled on so vocally. It’s “posturing,” Priebus says. | |
| “If a candidate isn’t willing to commit to the principles and values of our party, they ought to just tell us,” he adds. “These candidates are running to be the nominee of our party.” | |
| He says he’s never heard of it ever working out when someone says: “Well, we don’t know if we want to be part of this group but we want to be the chairman or president of this group anyway.” | |
| “I really do believe though that this is posturing, and I know that posturing has an effect,” he adds. | |
| Are you prepared to sue Donald Trump? | |
| “No one’s broken the pledge. Talking about what might be hypothetical,” Priebus answers, it doesn’t provide standing to do anything, it’s just a bunch of talk at this point. We expect that when candidates make promises they keep them.” | |
| Then Wallace asks about the convention – if no one has 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination, will the party keep a rule in place that requires candidates to have won eight states/territories to be eligible? | |
| Priebus says that the convention will be “made up mostly of Trump and Cruz delegates, and they will likely have an incentive to probably not change that rule.” | |
| Would it be possible for someone new to jump in the race, though? | |
| “If in fact that rule stays in place,” Priebus says, “I think they can be, but that would be an extreme hypothetical, I think, extremely unlikely.” | |
| “It’s possible that a person could be nominated that’s not one of the three,” he concedes, but he thinks it’ll be one of the guys running. | |
| “I think it’s interesting how far out we can play this out, but it’s possible.” | |
| 3.25pm BST | |
| 15:25 | |
| Finally Wallace asks Trump about his pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee. Trump doesn’t really answer whether he’ll stay within the party. | |
| “I will be looking at who the nominee is and I think people will be very happy with my decision.” | |
| Should he win the primary, will Trump at least swing toward the center, rather than exploding tweets into lurid, weeks-long affairs? | |
| “You’re going to say this is the most boring human being you have ever interviewed,” Trump says. | |
| 3.22pm BST | |
| 15:22 | |
| Trump: nuclear arms race or pay the US | |
| The conversation again turns to national security and foreign affairs, namely Trump’s notion that Japan and South Korea might be better off by developing nuclear weapons. | |
| “At some point they have to pay us. They pay us peanuts,” Trump says. | |
| Wallace notes that they do pay the United States billions of dollars, and Trump interrupts: “That’s peanuts compared to what we’re talking about.” | |
| “In many ways, and I say this, in many ways the world is changing, right now you have Pakistan and North Korea and you have China and Russia. A lot of tother countries have nukes, it’s not like nobody else has them. Maybe they would be better off if they defended themselves from North Korea.” | |
| So Trump would let there be a nuclear arms race in the Pacific, and potentially nuclear war in US allies and where hundreds of millions of people live. | |
| “My number one choice is to leave it the way it is but they have to pay us,” Trump says. | |
| 3.18pm BST | |
| 15:18 | |
| Wallace asks about Trump’s assertion that Nato is “obsolete” – and points out that many Nato soldiers have died in Afghanistan fighting terrorism. | |
| “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” Trump says. “Excuse me, we are paying so much money. … It’s not fair to the United States, not fair to the citizens, and not fair to the taxpayers. I think Nato’s fine. I think Nato has to be readjusted. I think Nato should be on terrorism.” | |
| Then it’s a question about his decision to attack Ted Cruz and to bring his wife into a bizarre spat involving an anti-Trump Super Pac. Why accuse Cruz of being involved in this when the original source was the Super Pac, and not his campaign? | |
| “My evidence is total common sense,” Trump says, to account for the total lack of evidence that Cruz broke the law and coordinated with a Super Pac. “I have no doubt about it in a million years.” | |
| Do you regret turning a tweet into a tabloid saga? Trump creeps toward regret. | |
| “I would say probably not, if I had to do it again I probably wouldn’t have sent it. But this was a response, this wasn’t me starting something.” | |
| On to his defense of Corey Lewandowski, his campaign manager charged with battery against a female reporter. Why not just apologize to her in the first place, when security footage clearly shows he grabbed her? | |
| “I’m a loyal person, number one,” Trump says. The reporter “lied” by saying she felt like she could have been thrown to the ground, he insists. | |
| “At least it shows I’m loyal. Because the easiest thing for me to do would’ve been to destroy his life,” Trump continues. “The easiest thing would’ve been, ‘Corey, your’e fired.’ … The man has a wife and four beautiful children. He lives in New Hampshire. | |
| He’s a good person, Trump says. “I don’t want to destroy him.” | |
| 3.08pm BST | |
| 15:08 | |
| Trump: I'm not blowing my campaign | |
| Donald Trump has sat down with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, where he’s questioned about abortion, nuclear weapons and his personal attacks on the wife of Ted Cruz. | |
| The interview was taped Friday at Trump Tower in New York. | |
| Are you blowing your campaign, Wallace asks. | |
| “I don’t think so,” Trump answers. “Don’t forget, you’ve been asking me that question many a time.” | |
| “All I can do is do what I do. I’m self-funding my campaign, I’m not one of these politicians totally controlled” by money, he says. Trump is not being honest here, really: he solicits donations on his website and is not unfriendly toward Pacs. | |
| “Was this my best week, I guess not, I could’ve done without the retweet, etc, etc.” | |
| How big a loss is it if you Wisconsin goes to Cruz? | |
| “I’d like to win it. Is it a big setback? I’d like to win it. It would always be better to win.” | |
| Did you make a mistake in your statement that women should face “punishment” for seeking abortions? | |
| “That was a hypothetical question,” Trump says, before coming as close to an apology as possible. “As a hypothetical question I would have rather answered it in a different manner, yeah.” | |
| Trump changed positions several times within a few hours last week on the question of abortion. | |
| Related: Donald Trump's abortion remarks provoke biggest crisis of his campaign | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.26pm BST | |
| 2.50pm BST | 2.50pm BST |
| 14:50 | 14:50 |
| Hillary Clinton has said she’s “confident” her campaign will work out a debate with Bernie Sanders’, but her press secretary said yesterday that the senator’s campaign is “playing games” over the timing. | Hillary Clinton has said she’s “confident” her campaign will work out a debate with Bernie Sanders’, but her press secretary said yesterday that the senator’s campaign is “playing games” over the timing. |
| The acrimony, inevitably, finds expression on Twitter. | The acrimony, inevitably, finds expression on Twitter. |
| Clinton: Let's debate during the NCAA finals.Sanders: No.C: Middle of the night?S: No.C: 6am Sunday?S: No.Clinton: STOP PLAYING GAMES! | Clinton: Let's debate during the NCAA finals.Sanders: No.C: Middle of the night?S: No.C: 6am Sunday?S: No.Clinton: STOP PLAYING GAMES! |
| 2.29pm BST | 2.29pm BST |
| 14:29 | 14:29 |
| Priebus: Paul Ryan won't run | Priebus: Paul Ryan won't run |
| Priebus concedes that a lot of bile has risen up in the course of the Republican primary. | Priebus concedes that a lot of bile has risen up in the course of the Republican primary. |
| “Certainly people are afraid in this country, and they’re angry at a president who hasn’t delivered,” he says. “When people are afraid and when they’re angry, sometimes they say things that they regret.” | “Certainly people are afraid in this country, and they’re angry at a president who hasn’t delivered,” he says. “When people are afraid and when they’re angry, sometimes they say things that they regret.” |
| “I get that we’ve got some drama on our side of the aisle, I won’t shy away from that,” he says, and then he argues that things are somehow worse for Democrats at the moments. | “I get that we’ve got some drama on our side of the aisle, I won’t shy away from that,” he says, and then he argues that things are somehow worse for Democrats at the moments. |
| “I think they’re on the verge of a fiasco in terms of their convention, and I don’t know what [FBI Director James] Comey will do with the FBI [investigation into Clinton’s email server] either.” | “I think they’re on the verge of a fiasco in terms of their convention, and I don’t know what [FBI Director James] Comey will do with the FBI [investigation into Clinton’s email server] either.” |
| He says Clinton is losing to a socialist from Vermont, although Clinton is not losing and Bernie Sanders is not a socialist. | He says Clinton is losing to a socialist from Vermont, although Clinton is not losing and Bernie Sanders is not a socialist. |
| Then Tapper asks about the possibility of a “fresh face” Republican swooping in to be the consensus nominee at the party convention. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, for instance, was raised by the former speaker John Boehner. | Then Tapper asks about the possibility of a “fresh face” Republican swooping in to be the consensus nominee at the party convention. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, for instance, was raised by the former speaker John Boehner. |
| Priebus rejects the idea outright. “No, because number one he doesn’t want to do it. I know Paul very well, he doesn’t seek out these things.” | Priebus rejects the idea outright. “No, because number one he doesn’t want to do it. I know Paul very well, he doesn’t seek out these things.” |
| He says Ryan is a rarity in Washington DC: “His ego’s not even there and he’s not selfish and he doesn’t think like that. | He says Ryan is a rarity in Washington DC: “His ego’s not even there and he’s not selfish and he doesn’t think like that. |
| “So. Here’s the thing: if anything like that were to happen which I think is highly, highly unlikely … That candidate would actually have to have a floor operation and an actual campaign going on with the delegates to make something like that even possible. | “So. Here’s the thing: if anything like that were to happen which I think is highly, highly unlikely … That candidate would actually have to have a floor operation and an actual campaign going on with the delegates to make something like that even possible. |
| “Our candidate is someone who’s running.” | “Our candidate is someone who’s running.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.29pm BST | at 2.29pm BST |
| 2.24pm BST | 2.24pm BST |
| 14:24 | 14:24 |
| Republican party chairman Reince Priebus is next up on CNN, where host Jake Tapper asks him about the public’s incredibly unfavorable view of the frontrunner, Donald Trump. | Republican party chairman Reince Priebus is next up on CNN, where host Jake Tapper asks him about the public’s incredibly unfavorable view of the frontrunner, Donald Trump. |
| “Our party is the party of the open door,” Priebus says. “There’ll be plenty of time to speak to the genearl public but right now we’re having a conversation in a pretty confiend space.” | “Our party is the party of the open door,” Priebus says. “There’ll be plenty of time to speak to the genearl public but right now we’re having a conversation in a pretty confiend space.” |
| How does “the open door” make any sense with Trump’s promise to build a wall, Tapper asks. | How does “the open door” make any sense with Trump’s promise to build a wall, Tapper asks. |
| “Immigration and secure borders is something every American should care about,” Priebus says, not really answering the question. | “Immigration and secure borders is something every American should care about,” Priebus says, not really answering the question. |
| Tapper asks about Priebus’ past calls for a more civil and respectful tone. “Sure, candidates have to watch their mouth, they have to watch their tone, their tenor.” | Tapper asks about Priebus’ past calls for a more civil and respectful tone. “Sure, candidates have to watch their mouth, they have to watch their tone, their tenor.” |
| “My obligation to work with the candidates when we get to the general election,” he adds. “No one really knows, obviously, who’s going to be the nominee, but it’s our job to be fair.” | “My obligation to work with the candidates when we get to the general election,” he adds. “No one really knows, obviously, who’s going to be the nominee, but it’s our job to be fair.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.26pm BST | at 2.26pm BST |
| 2.16pm BST | 2.16pm BST |
| 14:16 | 14:16 |
| Tapper then asks Sanders whether he’s “trying to have it both ways” by not criticizing Clinton personally but allowing his surrogates, including actor Rosario Dawson, to do so. | Tapper then asks Sanders whether he’s “trying to have it both ways” by not criticizing Clinton personally but allowing his surrogates, including actor Rosario Dawson, to do so. |
| On Friday Dawson raised the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, and scolded Clinton for claiming that Sanders is insufficiently concerned for women’s rights. “Shame on you,” Dawson said. | On Friday Dawson raised the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, and scolded Clinton for claiming that Sanders is insufficiently concerned for women’s rights. “Shame on you,” Dawson said. |
| Tapper defends her and maintains he does not criticize Clinton, directly or indirectly, except for her positions on the issues. “We have dozens of surrogates, and Rosario is doing a great job for us,” he says. | Tapper defends her and maintains he does not criticize Clinton, directly or indirectly, except for her positions on the issues. “We have dozens of surrogates, and Rosario is doing a great job for us,” he says. |
| “She will say what she wants to say, that is not what I want to be focusing on and I hope my surrogates [will not].” | “She will say what she wants to say, that is not what I want to be focusing on and I hope my surrogates [will not].” |
| “What we have chosen to do is run an issue-oriented campaign,” he says. | “What we have chosen to do is run an issue-oriented campaign,” he says. |
| Tapper then asks about a potential Democratic debate in New York, and a scheduling spat between the campaigns. “You know, who knows. if you look at some of those Democratic debates in the past,” he says, “they’re often scheduled on days when the viewer turnout would [not be high].” | Tapper then asks about a potential Democratic debate in New York, and a scheduling spat between the campaigns. “You know, who knows. if you look at some of those Democratic debates in the past,” he says, “they’re often scheduled on days when the viewer turnout would [not be high].” |
| “She has a rough schedule, I have a rough schedule,” he says. “I think we can work that out.” | “She has a rough schedule, I have a rough schedule,” he says. “I think we can work that out.” |
| Finally Tapper asks about whether Sanders will release a more comprehensive version of his tax returns. Sanders says his wife does them. | Finally Tapper asks about whether Sanders will release a more comprehensive version of his tax returns. Sanders says his wife does them. |
| “We will get out as much information as we can. There ain’t going to be very much exciting in that. I get a salary from the United States Senate.” | “We will get out as much information as we can. There ain’t going to be very much exciting in that. I get a salary from the United States Senate.” |
| 2.11pm BST | 2.11pm BST |
| 14:11 | 14:11 |
| Sanders defends fossil fuel claims | Sanders defends fossil fuel claims |
| Alan Yuhas | Alan Yuhas |
| First up this morning is Bernie Sanders, who’s on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper. The host asks Sanders about his claim that Hillary Clinton has received millions from the fossil fuel industry. | First up this morning is Bernie Sanders, who’s on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper. The host asks Sanders about his claim that Hillary Clinton has received millions from the fossil fuel industry. |
| “According to Greenpeace analysis,” Sanders says, Clinton has received a total of 4.5m from fossil fuel industry. He says that 43 lobbyists have made maximum contributions. | “According to Greenpeace analysis,” Sanders says, Clinton has received a total of 4.5m from fossil fuel industry. He says that 43 lobbyists have made maximum contributions. |
| Clinton said earlier this week that she’s “sick of the Sanders campaign’s lies” about the contributions. “No, we were not lying, we were telling the truth,” Sanders says. | Clinton said earlier this week that she’s “sick of the Sanders campaign’s lies” about the contributions. “No, we were not lying, we were telling the truth,” Sanders says. |
| “The point here is climate change is one of the great crises facing our country,” he says. | “The point here is climate change is one of the great crises facing our country,” he says. |
| Tapper points out that Clinton has received about $308,000 and Sanders has received about $54,000 from people who work for fossil fuel companies – both tiny fractions of their overall fundraising. Sanders says he’s talking about the broader total, including Super Pacs. The Greenpeace analysis lumps money from different sources together, including “bundlers”, people who fundraise from various sources. Lobbyists who are registered to work for fossil fuel companies are also often registered to work for other industries. | Tapper points out that Clinton has received about $308,000 and Sanders has received about $54,000 from people who work for fossil fuel companies – both tiny fractions of their overall fundraising. Sanders says he’s talking about the broader total, including Super Pacs. The Greenpeace analysis lumps money from different sources together, including “bundlers”, people who fundraise from various sources. Lobbyists who are registered to work for fossil fuel companies are also often registered to work for other industries. |
| “Let the voters decide whether paid lobbyists represent the fossil fuel industry,” Sanders says, “whether or not these same people are out in some cases bundling, trying to bring in more money.” | “Let the voters decide whether paid lobbyists represent the fossil fuel industry,” Sanders says, “whether or not these same people are out in some cases bundling, trying to bring in more money.” |
| He says the lobbyists are “people who are working day and night in defense of that industry.” | He says the lobbyists are “people who are working day and night in defense of that industry.” |
| “I don’t think we have distorted reality,” he adds, conceding that the distinctions between workers, lobbyists and others is not clear. “And that has been a confusing point, workers yes, we get workers from every industry across the country.” | “I don’t think we have distorted reality,” he adds, conceding that the distinctions between workers, lobbyists and others is not clear. “And that has been a confusing point, workers yes, we get workers from every industry across the country.” |
| More than 97% of contributions from people linked to the oil and gas industry have gone to Republican candidates. You can read more untangling the sources and beneficiaries of fossil fuel money over at Politifact. | More than 97% of contributions from people linked to the oil and gas industry have gone to Republican candidates. You can read more untangling the sources and beneficiaries of fossil fuel money over at Politifact. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.00pm BST | at 3.00pm BST |
| 1.47pm BST | 1.47pm BST |
| 13:47 | 13:47 |
| Martin Pengelly | Martin Pengelly |
| Good morning, and welcome to our live-wire coverage of another day in the presidential race. Alan will be here shortly, so for now for me it’s a question of what have we this morning? We have talk shows. | Good morning, and welcome to our live-wire coverage of another day in the presidential race. Alan will be here shortly, so for now for me it’s a question of what have we this morning? We have talk shows. |
| For the next two hours, at least, Washington is talking on, and talking about, the five main talk shows – and so we shall watch and blog and fact-check as it does. And for your delight today, we have none other than Reince Priebus, chair of the Republican National Committee and thus the man charged with somehow saving the Grand Old Party from itself, doing “the full Ginsburg”. | For the next two hours, at least, Washington is talking on, and talking about, the five main talk shows – and so we shall watch and blog and fact-check as it does. And for your delight today, we have none other than Reince Priebus, chair of the Republican National Committee and thus the man charged with somehow saving the Grand Old Party from itself, doing “the full Ginsburg”. |
| What’s that, you ask? According to the resplendent and in no way overly snarky urbandictionary.com, it’s when: | What’s that, you ask? According to the resplendent and in no way overly snarky urbandictionary.com, it’s when: |
| …a PR hack or spokesperson making appearances on all five major Sunday morning talk shows in one day to push a pre-crafted talking-points message. It takes its name from William H Ginsburg, attorney for Monica Lewinsky, who was the first person to do so during the Clinton/Lewinsky sex scandal. | …a PR hack or spokesperson making appearances on all five major Sunday morning talk shows in one day to push a pre-crafted talking-points message. It takes its name from William H Ginsburg, attorney for Monica Lewinsky, who was the first person to do so during the Clinton/Lewinsky sex scandal. |
| It’s a little harsh to call Priebus a PR hack but he is a spokesperson for the Republican establishment, which it is fair to say has been having conniptions, gibbering or otherwise, about the state of the race. Why? | It’s a little harsh to call Priebus a PR hack but he is a spokesperson for the Republican establishment, which it is fair to say has been having conniptions, gibbering or otherwise, about the state of the race. Why? |
| And so there you have it. Lots to talk about, and watch, and discuss. | And so there you have it. Lots to talk about, and watch, and discuss. |
| And while we wait for it to begin, as some sort of primer for what we’re about to see, here’s Ben Jacobs’ fascinating take on what’s going on in Priebus’s party: | And while we wait for it to begin, as some sort of primer for what we’re about to see, here’s Ben Jacobs’ fascinating take on what’s going on in Priebus’s party: |
| Related: The rise of Donald Trump is a battle for the soul of the Republican party | Related: The rise of Donald Trump is a battle for the soul of the Republican party |