Right now, the best ideas Democrats have for 2020 are Elizabeth Warren, an outgoing first lady not interested in the job and a dude named Zach. Peter Thiel might be tapped to replace Chris Christie as Donald Trump’s campaign chair an―-*is sued into bankruptcy*. And the Klan will hold a “victory” rally for Donald Trump, probably the only Trump event that will elicit less excitement in D.C. than the president-elect’s first correspondents dinner. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Thursday, November 10th, 2016:
We’ll be off tomorrow: We look forward to honoring our veterans by sleeping 18 hours, also the total amount of sleep we’ve gotten in the last week.
CHIEF OF STAFF STEVEN BANNON, OH BOY - The people on Twitter who tell us to burn in ovens will LOVE this. New York Times: “Steve Bannon, the conservative provocateur and Mr. Trump’s campaign chief, is now a leading candidate to become White House chief of staff, but he’d have to beat out another campaign veteran in the running, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. Mr. Bannon, the executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, who took a leave to help manage the final weeks of Mr. Trump’s campaign, is well liked among Mr. Trump’s circle of overlapping advisers, who see him as a favorable influence on the president-elect. But Mr. Priebus is said to be viewed favorably by two people especially close to Mr. Trump: his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Mr. Priebus is personally close to both Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, the vice president-elect, and he could serve as a helpful bridge to crucial elements of the Republican Party.” [NYT]
ELLISON RUNNING FOR DNC CHAIR - Zach Carter and Sam Stein: “Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a leading progressive voice in Congress and one of only two Muslim-Americans in the House of Representatives, has his eyes on becoming the next chair of the Democratic National Committee. The Minnesota Democrat has been planning a run for weeks, and has begun informally talking to other party lawmakers and insiders about his prospects for the post, several sources have told The Huffington Post. His name was floated as a possible DNC chair by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday morning, giving him the type of institutional progressive support that would make his candidacy formidable. MoveOn.org, a major progressive network, also said in a statement that Ellison would be ‘an excellent DNC chair.’ Ellison’s identity as a black man and the first Muslim member of Congress would serve as a symbolic rebuke to President-elect Donald Trump. And his ties to Sanders would give him credibility in the progressive community that feels the party has catered too much to elite interests.” [HuffPost]
@GovHowardDean: The dems need organization and focus on the young. Need a fifty State strategy and tech rehab. I am in for chairman again.
MEET ZACH: THE DNC’S OWN JOE THE PLUMBER - Jennifer Bendery: “On Thursday, Democratic Party officials held their first staff meeting since Hillary Clinton’s stunning loss to Donald Trump in the presidential race. It didn’t go well…. [A] staffer identified only as Zach stood up with a question. ’Why should we trust you as chair to lead us through this?” he asked, according to two people in the room. ‘You backed a flawed candidate, and your friend [former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz] plotted through this to support your own gain and yourself.’ Some DNC staffers started to boo and some told him to sit down. Brazile began to answer, but Zach had more to say. ‘You are part of the problem,’ he continued, blaming Brazile for clearing the path for Trump’s victory by siding with Clinton early on. ‘You and your friends will die of old age and I’m going to die from climate change. You and your friends let this happen, which is going to cut 40 years off my life expectancy.’” [HuffPost]
THIEL FLOATED AS TRANSITION CHAIR - This may well be the extent of Donald Trump’s LGBTQ agenda. Michael Calderone: “Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is being considered as a possible replacement to lead Donald Trump’s transition team, according to a source familiar with the discussions.A change would only come if New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who is currently steering Trump’s transition team, leaves the post he’s held since May. Two former top Christie aides were convicted last week for their roles in the 2013 closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge as punishment for a political opponent. Christie has continued to be dogged by the scandal.” [HuffPost]
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PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT-ELECT GET THEIR PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER ON - And a tremendously awkward photo-op. Mollie Reilly: President Barack Obama met with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to discuss transitioning power to the Republican, who spent years attempting to delegitimize Obama’s presidency. The two men met in the Oval Office, and reporters were ushered into the room afterward to hear brief statements from the duo. Obama said he was ‘encouraged’ by the meeting with Trump and the president-elect’s interest in working with his team. ‘I believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of party and regardless of political preferences, to now come together, work together to deal with the many challenges that we face,’ he said…. Trump also spoke briefly, praising Obama for meeting with him for nearly 90 minutes. ‘I look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel,’ Trump said.” [HuffPost]
Trump was also on the Hill: “President-elect Donald Trump announced his presidential agenda to the world on Thursday, saying his top three priorities will be border security, the economy and health care reform following a series of meetings with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill…. Asked if he would work with Congress to ban Muslim immigrants, a key campaign priority, Trump walked away and thanked the press. Trump’s pronouncement came after he and Vice President-elect Mike Pence made the congressional rounds on Thursday, and Republicans began piecing together a plan to take the reins of power in Washington. Earlier in the day Trump repeatedly committed to ‘lower taxes’ as he spoke to reporters while meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)” [Politico]
TRUMP STILL WANTS TO BAN MUSLIMS - Oh man, if only the media mentioned this during the campaign. Jose A. DelReal: “President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign staff temporarily redirected the webpage detailing his controversial proposal to temporarily ban Muslim immigration into the United States, one of the most divisive and controversial policy ideas of his campaign, but swiftly sought to restore it after reporter inquiries Thursday. The proposal is detailed on a page titled, ‘Donald J. Trump statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration.’ Starting on Election Day, that page redirected to a new page where supporters could donate to the campaign. ‘Thank you America,’ said the banner on the new page. ‘We showed America the silent majority is no longer silent.’ ’The website was temporarily redirecting all specific press release pages to the homepage. It is currently being addressed and will be fixed shortly,” the campaign told The Post in a statement. The website detailing the controversial ban was restored Thursday afternoon.” [WashPost]
TRUMP’S NEIGHBORS HATE HIM - Despite Donald Trump’s stellar work in the community, it appears that the Big Apple was not too keen on the man: “According to DNA Info’s breakdown of the city’s election returns, Trump’s childhood home Jamaica Estates in Queens went overwhelmingly for Clinton, with 84.79 percent of the neighborhood’s voting precinct supporting the former secretary of state and a mere 13.36 percent supporting the president-elect. Trump’s current neighborhood was also fertile ground for Clinton; she received 64.27 percent of the Midtown precinct, where Trump Tower is located, more than twice Trump’s 30.74 percent. The other neighborhood most closely associated with Trump ― the 10-block condo development on Manhattan’s Upper West Side that bears Trump’s name on four buildings ― also rejected his candidacy. Clinton earned 75 percent in the precinct surrounding Trump Place, while Trump won 20.93 percent of the precinct’s votes.” [HuffPost]
TRUMP’S NEIGHBORS HATE HIM, PART 2 - Henry Goldman: “Already, city Sanitation Department trucks line the curb and clog traffic on Fifth Avenue near 57th Street as the Secret Service and police try to secure Trump Tower, where he lives and has his international headquarters. Thousands of people protesting Trump’s election victory filled the streets around the tower Wednesday, with hundreds of police flooding the area and sirens sounding through the night as more than 20 were arrested. Motorists and bus riders can expect tie-ups and pedestrians in the swarming neighborhood will be delayed by sidewalk lock-downs near the 58-story building… Yet an ongoing presence at the corner of one of Manhattan’s most congested spots would be unprecedented, Deputy Police Commissioner Stephen Davis said.” [Bloomberg]
TRUMP WILL HAVE TO FIND OTHER AVENUES FOR NEPOTISM - We’re sure he’ll find a way. Paul Blumenthal: “President-elect Donald Trump likely cannot appoint any of his children to head any Cabinet agency or department of government due to anti-nepotism laws. An anti-nepotism law enacted in 1967 prevents public officials, including the president, from appointing any relative to head an executive agency. Trump’s transition team has floated his son Donald Trump Jr. as a potential head of the Department of Interior, according to media reports…. Some scholars believe that the application of anti-nepotism laws to presidential Cabinet appointments is unconstitutional ― the argument being that Senate confirmation is the only appropriate check Congress may impose on presidential appointments.” [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here’s a puppy generator.FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO CAN’T MAKE IT TO WASHINGTON FOR THE INAUGURATION, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER PARTY - No word if future White House Chief of Staff Steve Bannon will be the grand marshal. Will Doran: “While one report of Ku Klux Klan activity in North Carolina following Donald Trump’s election as president was debunked, the real KKK has announced a rally in the state. Trump, a Republican, was officially endorsed by the KKK during his campaign against Hillary Clinton, a Democrat. Trump won North Carolina on his way to winning the presidency, defeating Clinton here by nearly 5 percentage points. Details on the rally celebrating Trump’s victory are scarce. It’s being held by The Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which is based in Pelham – a small, unincorporated community about 45 minutes north of Burlington, near the Virginia border. The group was behind a rally in South Carolina last year protesting the removal of the Confederate flag from the state Capitol building.” [News and Observer]
COMFORT FOOD
- Testing out Matt Damon’s agricultural techniques from “The Martian.”
- A list of actually good things that happened this year.
TWITTERAMA
@thinkpiecebot: SALON: Millennials Should Be Nice To Misogynists, They’re Economically Insecure
@kibblesmith: To everyone who keeps asking: Trump is good for comedy the way a bus crash is good for an emergency room.
@pattonoswalt: While Trump is being inaugurated, I wonder how many people will hear the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” theme in their head?
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