Subject: FW: ICYMI: Kelly Ayotte's "Support - But Not Endorse" Position on Trump Openly Mocked in New Hampshire and Nationally
From: "Wei, Shu-Yen" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 May 2016 11:47:10 -0700

From: Melissa Miller [mailto:press=[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Melissa Miller
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2016 2:44 PM
To: Wei, Shu-Yen
Subject: ICYMI: Kelly Ayotte's "Support - But Not Endorse" Position on Trump Openly Mocked in New Hampshire and Nationally

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2016
Contact: [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

ICYMI: Kelly Ayotte's "Support - But Not Endorse" Position on Trump Openly Mocked in New Hampshire and Nationally
Kelly Ayotte's nonsensical statement that she will "support - but not endorse - Trump<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=cebd7dc997&e=aac58c81e5>" really didn't work. At all. See below for just some of the coverage of Ayotte's "exquisitely incomprehensible" and completely "untenable position."
Here's a recap of what they're saying in New Hampshire:
John DiStaso, WMUR<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=10676f5e61&e=aac58c81e5>:
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of “support” is: “To agree with or approve of (someone or something).” Among its synonyms are “advocate,” “back” and “champion.”
Merriam-Webster defines “endorse” as “to publicly or officially say that you support or approve of (someone or something.)” Synonyms include “approve” and “sanction.”
So when someone publicly states support, is that an endorsement? You decide.
John Gregg, Valley News<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=c70d301871&e=aac58c81e5>:
Silly Semantics?
With Donald Trump now the presumptive Republican nominee, many Granite State eyes shifted to see to what degree U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., would embrace her party’s standard bearer.
Her answer tried to create wiggle room, but was sure to please few voters, especially independents. “As she’s said from the beginning, Kelly plans to support the nominee,” campaign spokeswoman Liz Johnson said. “As a candidate herself, she hasn’t and isn’t planning to endorse anyone this cycle.”
Paul Steinhauser, NH1<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=bbd957e709&e=aac58c81e5>:
Ayotte was not available for comment on Wednesday, as she had no public schedule...Wednesday morning, Ayotte’s campaign communications director Liz Johnson told NH1 News “as she's said from the beginning, Sen. Ayotte plans to support the nominee."
Josh McElveen, WMUR<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=0e5925e627&e=aac58c81e5>:
JOSH MCELVEEN: The Trump effect is tough to navigate, evidenced on Wednesday when  Senator Kelly Ayotte, in a statement, said she would support her party's nominee but won't actually endorse her.
MAGGIE HASSAN: I don't know what that means, I don't think anybody does. It sounds an awful lot like Washington speak to me.
And here's what they're saying across the country:
Simon Malloy, Salon<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=4d23ced179&e=aac58c81e5>:
You can already see this tension playing out in Senate races – incumbent New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte put out a statement announcing that she would “support” Trump as the nominee, but her campaign also insisted that her “support” did not constitute an “endorsement.” That doesn’t make any sense, and it’s an untenable position for a Republican officeholder to have.
Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=e71e6b2e29&e=aac58c81e5>:
New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte says she will support Trump but will not “endorse” him — a Talmudic distinction so exquisitely incomprehensible it’s impossible to imagine her sustaining it.
Ted Barrett, CNN<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=3d2bae2ff4&e=aac58c81e5>:
Liz Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Ayotte, told the New Hampshire Union Leader that the senator would support Trump but not officially endorse him, the distinction between the two not being clear.
...  Johnson did not respond to a request for clarification from CNN.
Patrick Healy, Jonathan Martin & Maggie Haberman, New York Times<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=aaa9bea568&e=aac58c81e5>:
Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who is in a tough re-election race, signaled that she would “support” Mr. Trump but not “endorse” him, as a spokeswoman put it, a rhetorical contortion that other Republicans repeated privately.
John Heilemann, Bloomberg:<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=e08ed27b14&e=aac58c81e5>
MARK HALPERIN: ...John, a lot of people still left to react but what does this first round of reactions say about Trump's chances of uniting the Republican Party now, as the nominee presumptive?
HEILEMANN: Just the one quick note, which is that I think those two, Susan Collins and Kelly Ayotte, are clowns, in terms of how they are handling this, with this utter wishy-washy talk. You know if you vote for somebody you are endorsing them, I don't care what anybody says, that's an endorsement, in the actual meaning of the word endorsement - if I vote for you, I have endorsed you...
Jonathan Cohn, The Huffington Post<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=b30528e97a&e=aac58c81e5>:
...Republicans like Ayotte are making a statement when they rally behind Trump. In fact, it’s a series of statements, and it looks something like this:
They are saying they are OK with a candidate who called for a “complete shutdown” of immigration by Muslims, simply because — in Trump’s eyes — their faith makes them threats to national security.
They are saying they are OK with a candidate who said repeatedly that the population of undocumented immigrants includes a high proportion of rapists and murderers, because Mexico sent them over the border deliberately.
They are saying they are OK with a candidate who showed sympathy for violent supporters at his rallies, talking over and over again about the “passion” they showed and offering in some cases to pay their legal fees.
They are saying they are OK with a candidate who speculated that a female reporter asked hostile questions because she was supposedly having her period.
They are saying they are OK with a candidate who made fun of another journalist because of his physical disability.
And they are saying they are OK with a candidate who has publicly used “bimbo,” “fat dog” and “pig” to describe women — and at one point said “women — you have to treat them like shit.”
Steve Kornacki & Kasie Hunt, MSNBC:<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=563377618f&e=aac58c81e5>
KORNACKI: ...MSNBC's Kasie Hunt now with more on the reaction from Republicans to their presumptive nominee, to Donald Trump. Kasie, we're seeing in a statement there that Kelly Ayotte, she said she's going to support him, not endorse him, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly that means but that kind of speaks to the very mixed signals we're hearing from Republicans.
HUNT: Frankly, there are contortions at this point, Steve, and I think it gives you a little bit of a window into what the next couple of months are going to look like, especially for Republicans who are in tough races coming up in the fall...Every single time Donald Trump, if he continues to make some of the inflammatory remarks that he's made throughout the primary campaign, they're all going to be asked about it. And they all feel at this point like he's likely to be a drag on their chances. Now of course, you are seeing them be careful to make sure to say that they support the party's nominee. These candidates, of course, all very much need the Republican Party...
Thomas Roberts, MSNBC<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=67dfa22c13&e=aac58c81e5>:
ROBERTS: ...But today, establishment leaders like New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte saying that she will put party before personality...
Steve Benen, MSNBC:<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=89aa34d89e&e=aac58c81e5>
Hmm. Ayotte supports Trump; she presumably intends to vote for Trump; and she’s willing to let the public know about her backing for Trump. She just doesn’t want that to be perceived as an “endorsement.”
And what, pray tell, is the difference? I haven’t the foggiest idea, and as best as I can tell, neither Ayotte not anyone on her staff has elaborated on the subtle nuances.
...Or put another way, to apply this to Kelly Ayotte, she supports Trump; she presumably intends to vote for Trump; she’s willing to let the public know about her backing for Trump; and she wants participate in an unprecedented partisan blockade against any Supreme Court nominee in order to allow Trump to fill a high court vacancy.
But don’t worry, she’s not “endorsing” him. Perish the thought.
Mark Halperin, Bloomberg:<http://nhdp.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=99da013f2bd49930e82805c66&id=52e03c539b&e=aac58c81e5>
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