Texas A&M University
Associate Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University, where she teaches courses on presidential rhetoric, and co-author of The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency
PROFILE
Jennifer Mercieca
Guest
FROM Jennifer Mercieca
To the Point
The presidential campaign goes back to the future America's founding fathers accused each other of crimes, hypocrisy and sexual misbehavior, but times had changed — until last night in St. Louis. As expected, Donald Trump’s comments about groping women, recorded some ten years ago, came up early last night in St. Louis. It was billed as a Town Hall, but some of the toughest questions came from the moderators.
To the Point
Is Trump Winning the Nomination by Beating the System? New Jersey Governor Chris Christie endorsed former opponent Donald Trump last week. Christie's own national finance co-chair called that "an astonishing display of political opportunism." This weekend in Birmingham, Alabama, US Senator Jeff Sessions said Donald Trump is leading "a movement." Trump boasted, "I hate to say it. I'm becoming main stream. All these people are now endorsing me." But the Republican "mainstream" is divided. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley calls Trump's nomination, "something we don't want to see happen." There are reports of "frantic" efforts to stop Trump in his tracks — even down to a "brokered" GOP convention in Cleveland this summer. So far, he's beating the Party, the Big Money and the Establishment Media.
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To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
Left, Right & Center
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
To the Point
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?