The Edge: Is Ted Cruz Getting His Second Wind?
Today in One Paragraph
Voting is underway in West Virginia and Nebraska. Ted Cruz, who bowed out of the presidential race last week, floated the idea of re-entering the race, while Marco Rubio said he’d support the GOP nominee. On the Democratic front, Vice President Joe Biden said he’s “confident” Hillary Clinton will be president. The White House announced that President Obama will be the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, Japan. The Senate Commerce Committee demanded answers from Facebook about the company’s alleged political bias. And Budweiser is renaming its beer.
Top News
Primary Tuesday. Voters are casting their ballots in West Virginia’s primary and the Republican primary in Nebraska, the first nominating contests since Ted Cruz and John Kasich exited the race. Bernie Sanders is expected to do well in the West Virginia primary, while Republicans decide between rallying behind Donald Trump or choosing one of the nine former candidates still on the ballot. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET in West Virginia and at 9 p.m. ET in Nebraska. We’re following it live here. (The Atlantic)
Recommended: What's Hiding in the Republican Nominee's Tax Returns?
From the Sidelines. Ted Cruz opened the door to restarting his presidential campaign if he sees a viable path to victory after tonight’s GOP primary in Nebraska. “The reason we suspended our campaign was that with the Indiana loss, I felt there was no path to victory,” Cruz said on Glenn Beck’s radio show. “If that changes, we will certainly respond accordingly.” Meanwhile, Marco Rubio said he stands by his concerns about Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee but that he will not “take shots” at him. (The Hill; NBC News)
Biden Bets on Hillary. The vice president said he was optimistic about the Democratic front-runner clinching the election: “I feel confident that Hillary will be the nominee, and I feel confident that she’ll be the next president,” Biden said. It’s the most direct support Clinton has received from the White House so far. (Arlette, Saenz, ABC News)
Obama to Hiroshima. The White House announced that the president will visit the site of the U.S. atomic bomb attack in Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of his stint in Asia in late May. Officials said it will serve as a reminder of the destruction caused by nuclear weapons. But Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, wrote that the president “will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II.” (Kevin Liptak, CNN)
Senate Unfriends Facebook. The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, demanding a response to Monday’s allegations that the company had manipulated the site’s Trending Topics section to exclude conservative news. “Any attempt by a neutral and inclusive social media platform to censor or manipulate political discussion is an abuse of trust and inconsistent with the values of an open Internet,” wrote Chairman John Thune. (Nick Statt, The Verge)
Recommended: The Democratic Presidential Primary Race Isn't Over Yet
Pour a Cold One. Anheuser-Busch announced it would change the name of the beer through the election in order to “inspire drinkers to celebrate America and Budweiser’s shared values of freedom and authenticity.” The re-branded beer will be available on May 23. (Mary Bowerman, USA Today)
Tomorrow in One Paragraph. Hillary Clinton will be in New Jersey, and Bernie Sanders will campaign in Montana.
Follow stories throughout the day with our new Politics & Policy page. And keep on top of the campaign with our 2016 Distilled election dashboard.
Top Read
“In conversations, many women who support Mr. Trump expressed similar defenses of their preferred candidate. He’s not sexist, he’s just not politically correct. He’s not a career politician, so he doesn’t stick his finger in the wind before he says something. He believes in treating women as tough as he treats men. The news media has distorted his message with cherry-picked sound bites. If he were sexist, would he have promoted so many female executives, including his daughter, within his own company?” The New York Times’ Emma Roller on the women backing Donald Trump.
Top Lines
Why Sanders Should Quit. The Vermont senator’s refusal to get out of the race is costing the Clinton campaign unnecessary resources, argues The New Republic’s Dana Houle, and prolonging the nomination fight means Democrats will have less time to focus on beating Donald Trump.
Recommended: On Homecomings
Playboy Trump vs. Candidate Trump. In the past, the presumptive GOP nominee has openly criticized women’s bodies and bragged about his sexual forays, but now that he’s running for the highest office in the country, his rhetoric might have to change. (Mary Jordan, The Washington Post)
Was the Tea Party Responsible for Trump? The right-wing faction was disrupting the Republican establishment long before the real-estate mogul took a stab at a presidential run, but now, the grassroots anger is fueling a new civil war within the party. (Molly Ball, The Atlantic)
Top View
The Search for Another Earth. NASA has discovered 1,284 new planets using the Kepler telescope. Check out the agency’s representation of where the planets are in relation to Earth. (Mary Ann Georgantopoulos, BuzzFeed)
We want to hear from you! We’re reimagining what The Edge can be, and would love to receive your complaints, compliments, and suggestions. Tell us what you’d like to find in your inbox by sending a message to newsletters@theatlantic.com.
-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)
Read more from The Atlantic:
This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
