USA Today
Trump has started hiring new heads of divisions in his campaign as he appears to be reshaping his apparatus for the general election. The new hires include Jim Murphy as national political director to focus on battleground states, Lucia Castellano as head of human resources, Brad Parscale to head the digital team and Kevin Kellems, who will act as director of surrogates.
The Washington Post
At the beginning of June, the Trump campaign had a measly $1.3 million in the bank, after raising over $5 million in May. Within an almost nonexistent ground game, where did all the money go? Trump spent almost $1 million for campaign swag, over $800,000 for air travel, in addition to paying over $1 million reimbursing his family and his own companies for expenses.
USA Today
In a show of staunch partisanship, the Senate rejected four gun bills yesterday. Two of the bills put forward by Democrats would have made it illegal for people on the terror watch list to buy guns and would expand background checks to private gun sales. The two GOP bills would have increased funding for the background check system, while creating a system of judicial oversights capable of individually preventing terror-watch lists suspects from buying guns. As expected, the Senate was unable to do anything about the gun violence problem in the United States.
Politico
According to sources within the DNC, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton will meet with House Democrats on Wednesday. The tone within the Democratic party, as opposed to the Republican, is of cooperation and consensus. Clinton received overwhelming support from House Democrats during the primary race. She is now solidly at the head of her party’s 2016 ticket.
The New York Times
Embattled campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is leaving the Trump campaign after months of reports about infighting between staffers. Apparently, donors, allies and even Trump’s children were unsettled by the lack of a pivot to the general election. The decision to let Lewandowski go may be a sign that Trump himself is beginning to understand the need to moderate his brash style, which had been well mirrored by his now former campaign manager.
USA Today
The Koch brothers don’t seem ready to spend on the presidential election. They have, however, started to spend to help keep the Senate in Republican hands. Charles Koch donated $3 million to the Freedom Partners Action Fund super PAC, an arm of the large Koch policy network.
The New York Times
With most of the recent heavy lifting done by pro-Clinton super-PACs, the Clinton campaign has come out with its first general election ad. The tone is noticeably warmer and more gentle than the super PAC advertisements attacking Donald Trump. The ad, titled “Always,” reintroduces voters to the work Clinton has done on behalf of families and children.
Bloomberg
In more evidence of the toxic presence of Donald Trump, former sponsors of the GOP convention have decided to skip this year’s events in Cleveland. The companies opting out include: Wells Fargo, UPS, Motorola, JPMorgan Chase, Ford and Walgreens. In 2012, all of these were involved in the GOP convention.
The Washington Post
On Saturday, Trump will hold a fundraiser at former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater’s estate in Paradise Valley, the location where Goldwater launched his campaign back in the 1960s. Echoing what relatives of other former leaders of the Republican party have said about Trump, Goldwater’s wife, Susan, has expressed a deep distaste for the presumptive GOP nominee. “Ugh or yuck is my response,” Mrs. Goldwater began. “I think Barry would be appalled that his home was being used for that purpose. Barry would be appalled by Mr. Trump’s behavior -- the unintelligent and unfiltered and crude communications style. And he’s …
Entertainment Tonight
Speaking with a reporter at the premier of the OWN show "Greenleaf," Oprah Winfrey threw her support behind Hillary Clinton. “Regardless of your politics, it’s a seminal moment for women,” she said. "What this says is, there is no ceiling, that ceiling just went boom! It says anything is possible when you can be the leader of the free world.”