Inside the Beltway: Trump: ‘They know I am right’

NEWS AND OPINION:

“Jeb Bush will never secure our border or negotiate great trade deals for American workers. Jeb doesn’t see and can’t solve the problems.”

“I appreciate the GOP candidates who remain strong on border security. They know I am right. A nation without borders cannot survive.”

“Rick Perry failed at the border. Now he is critical of me. He needs a new pair of glasses to see the crimes committed by illegal immigrants.”

— Three tweets from GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, filed within minutes of one another Sunday afternoon.

IRAN A LIKELY ITEM FOR OBAMA LEGACY

Legacy protection season appears to be officially open. Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican and chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, deems the intricate nuclear deal brokered by Secretary of State John F. Kerry between Iran and the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China of much value to the Obama administration.

“Obviously, [the administration is] very anxious. I think they look at this as a legacy issue. I have had several conversations with Secretary Kerry and meetings to say, ’Look, you create just as much of a legacy walking away from a bad deal as you do headlong rushing into a bad deal.’ I would just hope that they would take their time and finish this in the best way that they can, even though we have already gone down a bad track,” Mr. Corker told “Face the Nation” on CBS Sunday.

Yes, what is the big hurry here? The Tennessee Republican points out the backstory. It’s not Congress that’s pushing to have all of the documents ready in a matter of days, it’s the other nations involved.

“It’s amazing to me that, as we come to the end of this deal, the biggest issue of concern to these countries right now is that Congress would only have 30 days, not 60 days, to review the deal. I did talk to Secretary Kerry yesterday. I urged him to please take their time [and] try to make sure these last remaining red lines do not get crossed.”

The rush, the lawmaker added, “should send a signal to Americans.”

HILLARY TO IOWA, MINUS ROPE?

Her campaign calls them “organizing events.” Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton heads back to Iowa on Tuesday following her appearance in a small-town Independence Day parade on Saturday in New Hampshire that should not have made international news. But it did.

Mrs. Clinton’s aides cordoned off her walking space with a moving rope line as the candidate strolled down the street, with journalists straining at the barrier like hounds at bay. But hey, that was Saturday, and her fans in Iowa City and Ottumwa are waiting.

“Clinton’s trip will focus on speaking with Iowans about her campaign to fight for an America where everyone can get ahead and continuing to build a robust grass-roots organization in Iowa,” the campaign advises.

The press, however, is still chafing over the rope. A few headlines of note in the aftermath: “Hillary’s flunkies rope off reporters at parade” (New York Post); “Clinton corrals media” (CNN); and “Clinton campaign frustrates journalists yet again” (Huffington Post). Some traditional Clinton allies are even surprised.

“I love Hillary Clinton, but this is the worst visual metaphor. You can show this image over and over again, and it’s awful,” Van Jones, a former Obama administration adviser, told CNN on Sunday.

“The optics look terrible. I’m sympathetic to the campaign’s complaint that she has a large media group following her around. It makes it hard, because of the media, for her to interact with voters. I think there’s a fine line there. We should be there to cover the candidate campaigning with voters, but I think how the Clinton campaign went about doing this seemed to, I think, backfire,” said NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd.

Clinton foes were not surprised.

“Hillary Clinton continues to demonstrate her obvious contempt and disdain for the Granite State’s style of grass-roots campaigning. The use of a rope line at a New Hampshire parade is a sad joke and insults the traditions of our first-in-the-nation primary,” noted Jennifer Horn, chairman of the state’s Republican Party.

HOLA, AMERICA

Some techie news from Telemundo, the Spanish-language network owned by NBC: All video footage used in the network’s main prime-time newscast on Monday will be shot by journalists using smartphones, “changing the way news is made,” according to Luis Carlos Velez, executive vice president for news.

The newscast is anchored by Jose Diaz-Balart and Maria Celeste Arraras; much interface with social media is expected. The newscast, which draws about a million viewers each night, already features “The Selfie Interview,” which features correspondents interviewing themselves as a smartphone video camera records it for posterity.

“Hispanics are early technology adopters, and their mobile devices are an integral part of our lives,” says Mr. Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American journalist who also appears on MSNBC.

THE BUSY MR. JINDAL

Regardless of where he stands in the Republican presidential polls, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is campaigning at a brisk pace. On Monday he begins a 48-hour blitz in New Hampshire that includes six events in four cities, ranging from an afternoon stroll through Manchester with Mayor Ted Gatsas to “Pints and Politics” in Concord — the newest local political forum, which joins “Politics and Pies” and “Politics and Eggs” as must-do events for presidential hopefuls in the Granite State.

Mr. Jindal will also do a live interview with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto from Manchester, airing on the network at 3 p.m. EDT.

THE BLISSFUL MR. CARSON

Well, why not celebrate a 40th wedding anniversary with fans? That’s what Ben Carson and Candy, his wife of four decades, are planning in New Hampshire. The pair will stage a two-hour party Monday in Nashua, followed by a cheerful breakfast in Portsmouth the following morning, complete with walking tour of the picturesque seaside town.

Then it’s on to Bedford for a “Politics and Eggs Luncheon” hosted by The New England Council and an appearance on the steps of the local town hall in Exeter, where Mr. Carson will sign a taxpayer protection pledge. The couple rounds out its day in Barrington for a town hall meeting — and that is life on the campaign trail for candidate Carson on his wedding anniversary.

POLL DU JOUR

• 91 percent of Americans give the U.S. Congress a negative job performance rating; 93 percent of Republicans, 90 percent of independents and 90 percent of Democrats agree.

• 70 percent overall say the nation is “on the wrong track”; 86 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of independents and 50 percent of Democrats agree.

• 25 percent expect the economy to improve in the next year; 13 percent of Republicans, 21 percent of independents and 38 percent of Democrats agree.

• 64 percent overall give President Obama a negative job review on dealing with the economy; 93 percent of Republicans, 67 percent of independents and 36 percent of Democrats agree.

• 62 percent overall give Mr. Obama a negative job review overall; 92 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of independents and 32 percent of Democrats agree.

• 63 percent overall give their local member of Congress a negative rating; 63 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of independents and 59 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A Harris Poll of 2,220 U.S. adults conducted June 17-22 and released Thursday.

• Churlish remarks, helpful facts to jharper@washingtontimes.com.