The Trail 2016: Trump, the Times and the other 50 percent

by Lisa Hagen - 05/16/16 6:23 PM ET

Welcome to THE TRAIL 2016, your daily rundown from The Hill on all the latest news in the White House, Senate and House races.

A former girlfriend of Donald Trump is firing back at The New York Times story that detailed the presumptive GOP nominee’s treatment of women and his interactions with women both publicly and privately.

Rowanne Brewer Lane, the former model who’s the focus in the story, said in an interview early on Monday that the newspaper “spun” her comments and noted that he never mistreated her.

“He never offended me in any way,” Lane said on Fox News. “He was very gracious. I saw him around all types of people, all types of women. He was very kind, thoughtful, generous. I did not have a negative experience with Donald Trump.”

But Michael Barbaro and Megan Twohey, the reporters who penned the story, refuse to back down and stand by their piece.

“There’s no single dimension to Donald Trump and women,” Barbaro said on CNN. “I think our story makes that clear, and our story makes that clear through the voices of the people that we interviewed.”

The Hill’s Jonathan Easley will have the full story tonight on the media war Lane and conservatives are waging against one of the most prominent newspapers in the country.

As Hillary Clinton inches closer to winning the Democratic nomination, Ralph Nader in a Facebook Live interview with The Hill’s Jonathan Swan derided the Democratic primary process and knocked Clinton for benefiting from superdelegates and closed primaries.

“The Democrats years ago didn’t want an insurgency like Bernie Sanders, so they rigged it,” Nader said. “They’re called superdelegates. They’re members of Congress, they’re Democratic governors, they’re party hacks. … Hillary’s cronies, mostly.”

Nader said Sanders would have defeated Clinton in an open primary, but he noted that it’s likely too late for the Vermont senator to mount a third-party bid.

Stay with The Hill tonight and come back tomorrow for a story on the five things to watch in the Kentucky and Oregon primaries. Stay with us throughout the day and night to get election updates and results.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

HISTORIC ELECTORATE: The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are likely to battle for the White House this fall over the most diverse electorate in the history of the United States. Every indicator is pointing toward an election in which Hispanics, in particular, are more heavily represented than ever. Demographic trends also point to the white vote-share shrinking further.

ADDRESS THE DEBT: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Bernie Sanders called on Congress and the Obama administration to address the debt crisis in Puerto Rico “as soon as possible” during a town hall on the island.

NO THIRD PARTY BID PT. 1: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he does not plan to run as a third-party candidate. Kasich said he had a phone call with someone who wanted him to consider it, but declined to say who he spoke with.

NO THIRD PARTY BID PT. 2: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a surrogate for Bernie Sanders, said there’s no chance that he launches an independent bid.

ODDS AND ENDS:

A DIVERSE GOP TICKET: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Donald Trump would benefit from a diverse White House ticket. “Now, whether it be diversity of age or whether it be diversity of gender or ethnic background, somehow or another, diversity is important in some respect,” Priebus said.

NO CLINTON IN THE CABINET: The Hill’s Caitlin Yilek reports: Hillary Clinton said her husband, former PresidentBill Clinton, will not serve in her Cabinet if she wins the election in November. This comes after she said that she would put him “in charge of revitalizing the economy.”

STICK TO THE FACTS: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Hillary Clinton confronted a heckler during a campaign stop in Kentucky, who she said had been misled by “Republican propaganda.” She was interrupted when she accused Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin of trying to “undo” the progress of Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration. “You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts,” Clinton said.

MOCK IMPERSONATION: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Hillary Clinton offered up a mock impression of Donald Trump while imaging a hypothetical general election match-up.

NEW MOTIVATION: The Hill’s Jordan Fabian reports: President Obama said the rise of Donald Trump should give the Senate ample reason to confirm Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

POLL POSITION

UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: A majority of Americans support a federally funded healthcare system that provides insurance to all Americans, a new poll finds. Bernie Sanders supports a single-payer, federally administered plan, while Donald Trump wants to repeal ObamaCare and Hillary Clinton has said the law would remain in place but with improvements.

THE DAILY TRUMP

FACEBOOK FRENZY: The Hill’s David McCabe reports: Barry Bennett, a senior aide to Donald Trump’s campaign will attend a meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week, which is aimed at calming fears among conservatives.

MAYBE, MAYBE NOT: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Donald Trump ally Roger Stone seemingly admitted in an interview over the weekend that the businessman used to pose as his own spokesman while dismissing the story’s relevance.

“OVERREACH”:The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: MSNBC talk show host Joe Scarborough said that The New York Times has repeatedly missed the mark while covering Donald Trump.

ACROSS THE POND: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Donald Trump shot back at David Cameron after the British prime minister slammed Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., saying, ‘Number one, I’m not stupid, OK?’

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“He’s knocked everybody off balance except for her. These are seasoned politicians with teams of advisers and he broke them down, but not Meg.”

— Doug Brunt, husband of Fox News’s Megyn Kelly, about his wife’s clash with Donald Trump throughout the 2016 campaign.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

NO COMPARISON: The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is hitting back at accusations that he compared the election to the 9/11 attacks, arguing Democrats are trying to “politicize” his comments.

AD WAR: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: Rep. Tammy Duckworth’s (D-Ill.) campaign released a new ad blasting Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), saying he lied and attacked her with “desperate and false ads.” The ad highlights Duckworth’s military career and accuses Kirk for lying about his own military service. Kirk’s campaign launched its own TV ad the day before that highlights the lawsuit against Duckworth alleging workplace retaliation.

UNDER FIRE: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Carlos Beruff, a GOP Senate candidate in Florida, is under fire for describing President Obama as “an animal.” Beruff is one of five GOP candidates running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

FUNNY LOOK: The Hill’s Scott Wong reports: Vulnerable Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) accused the top editor of a local newspaper of looking at him “funny” during an interview on Monday with the publication’s editorial board. He’ll either face Monica Vernon or Pat Murphy this fall.

MONEY WATCH

FUNDRAISING PITCH: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent a fundraising pitch to help Rep. Patrick Murphy’s (D-Fla.) Senate bid amid a fiery confrontation last week with the congressman’s primary opponent. Reid’s email bluntly states “I want Alan Grayson to lose” and calls on supporters to donate to Murphy’s campaign.

AD BLITZ: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Priorities USA, the most prominent pro-Hillary Clinton super-PAC, will start airing its general election ads on Wednesday. The group will spend $6 million on ads against Donald Trump between May 18 and June 8, and will air in the swing states of Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Nevada.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW:

(All times Eastern)

Hillary Clinton holds a campaign event at 6:45 p.m. today in Lexington, Ky. President Clinton campaigns for his wife in Puerto Rico, first in Bayamón at 10:30 a.m., then in Cayey at: 2:15 p.m. and later in Ponce at 6 p.m.

Bernie Sanders holds an event in Puerto Rico at 7 p.m. today. He holds a Southern California election night rally on the campus of Cal-State Dominguez Hills in Carson, Calif., at 8 p.m.

Michael Barbaro and Megan Twohey, The New York Times reporters who wrote over the weekend about how Donald Trump treats women, will be guests on Lawrence O’Donnell’s MSNBC show that airs from 10-11 p.m. today, while Rowanne Brewer Lane, Trump’s ex-girlfriend who claims the New York Times piece misquoted and distorted her comments about Trump will be a guest on “Hannity” on Fox News at 10 p.m. Trump’s son Donald Jr. will be a guest on “The Kelly File” on Fox News, which airs from 9-10 p.m. Trump’s long-awaited interview with Megyn Kelly airs on Fox News Tuesday night at 8.

Democrats in Kentucky go to the polls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, with 55 pledged delegates at stake. Democrats and Republicans vote in the primaries by mail and can drop off their ballots on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Democrats are vying for 61 pledged delegates.

TWEET OF THE DAY

the support-but-not-endorse crowd is just going to have a really tough time for the next few months https://t.co/P9QOkfrBsJ

— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) May 16, 2016