The Note: Not All Aboard the Trump Train
— -- NOTABLES
--PAUL RYAN HEDGES ON PRIOR PLEDGE TO SUPPORT GOP NOMINEE: Now that Donald Trump has all but clinched the Republican presidential nomination, House Speaker Paul Ryan walked back his previous position that he would support the eventual Republican nominee. "I hope to support our nominee, I hope to support his candidacy going forward," Ryan said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper. "But right now...I’m just not there right now." Ryan had repeatedly pledged to support the Republican nominee, telling reporters on March 1 that "my plan is to support the nominee." According to ABC’s JOHN PARKINSON, Ryan said Trump needs to unite conservatives around shared values and principles before he can back the real estate mogul. http://abcn.ws/1WchB7b
--WHAT TRUMP SAID: The presumptive Republican nominee responded with his own dig at the most powerful elected Republican in the country. "I am not ready to support Speaker Ryan's agenda," Trump wrote in a statement. "Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people. They have been treated so badly for so long that it is about time for politicians to put them first!"
--ALL BUT ONE FORMER GOP NOMINEE TO SKIP GOP CONVENTION: The Republican National Convention in July is going to be missing some of the party’s most recognizable faces. All of the living former Republican nominees for president said they are skipping the Cleveland convention with the exception of Bob Dole, the 1996 GOP nominee. An aide to Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, confirmed to ABC News that he “has no plans to attend the convention.” On Wednesday, the last two Republican presidents, George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, also said they had no plans to back Donald Trump, the party's presumptive nominee. ABC’s SHUSHANNAH WALSHE and ALEXANDER MALLIN have more: http://abcn.ws/1NkZ4T2
--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: The effects of Paul Ryan’s decision to hedge on his support for Donald Trump may not be felt for months – or even years. As non-endorsements go, this was a complex and nuanced move, with both short- and long-term goals. Ryan didn’t rule out supporting Trump down the line, and Trump, notably, didn’t try to shred Ryan in his response. But in giving cover to his fellow House Republicans – and indeed any conservative who cares to use the label – the speaker’s move assures that the opposition to Trump will not just emanate from the loud and angry voices in the GOP. They will have intellectual cover -- cover that may or may not help this fall, but will be relevant for the next election cycle, and perhaps a few after that. The prospects of a real third-party challenge are diminishing by the day. But one impact of what Speaker Ryan, Sen. Ben Sasse, and some others are doing is that this year’s presidential contest doesn’t have to be a binary choice. That may not be good for the Republican nominee in 2016, but it may be what the Republican Party needs to survive beyond that.
THIS WEEK ON ‘THIS WEEK’: George Stephanopoulos sits down with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump for an in-depth interview from the campaign trail, Sunday on “This Week.” And, the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the seismic shift in American politics with Democratic strategist and ABC News contributor Donna Brazile, Purple Strategies chair and founder of NewRepublican.org Alex Castellanos, ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, National Review editor Rich Lowry, and Atlantic senior editor Alex Wagner.
POWERHOUSE POLITICS PODCAST -- CLINTON AIDE ON TRUMP PLAYBOOK: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO CHASE HIM INTO THE GUTTER’. With Trump now the presumptive Republican nominee, and Hillary Clinton also on pace to lock up the Democrat nomination, the Clinton campaign is readying its playbook to go head-to-head with Trump in a general election. Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon takes us inside the campaign's plans to play an aggressive game against Trump in this week’s installment of ABC News’ “Powerhouse Politics” podcast. ABC’s JORDYN PHELPS reports, Fallon says the Clinton campaign has digested the lessons learned by Republican contenders who tried to beat Trump at his own game in the Republican primary. http://abcn.ws/1Nl1lgX LISTEN: http://apple.co/21V9721
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ
CLINTON’S CINCO DE MAYO RALLY ANYTHING BUT FESTIVE DUE TO PROTESTERS. Hillary Clinton headed to East Los Angeles last night in honor of the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo -- but her rally in this predominantly Hispanic part of L.A. was anything but celebratory, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ reports. Hundreds of protesters descended upon East Los Angeles College to express their disdain for the Democratic presidential front-runner. Most of the protesters remained outside the college, although some made their way inside. The protesters -- some of whom carried pro-Bernie Sanders signs -- spanned the spectrum in terms of their key issues: Some were protesting Clinton's refusal so far to release her speaking engagement transcripts and her ties to Wall Street, while others took issue with Clinton's "super-predator" remarks in 1994, and the crime bill her then-president husband signed that year. Others also headed to Clinton's rally to protest her involvement in the 2009 Honduras coup, and to accuse her of pandering to the Hispanic community. http://abcn.ws/1T4oTZP
TRUMP’S IMPACT ON DOWN TICKET RACES IS ALREADY SHOWING. Donald Trump's likely presidential nomination could have a trickle-down effect for other political races this cycle. The impact of likely having Trump at the top of the ballot come November is already being used as a weapon in some races, and apparently has at least one senior Republican concerned about his re-election. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY has more. http://abcn.ws/1ruIwgV
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S NEW FINANCE CHIEF. Trump's new national finance chairman has at least one thing in common with the boss in that they both have a history of donating to politicians of different political stripes. While his GOP rivals slammed Trump for having donated in the past to his likely competitor, Hillary Clinton, as well as other Democrats, the same can be said of the newest member of Team Trump. Steven Mnuchin, whom the campaign yesterday introduced as Trump's national finance chairman, entered the political realm after working as the chairman and CEO of a private investment firm called Dune Capital Management, ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY reports. A review of Mnuchin's political donation history shows that he has made three times more donations to Democratic politicians than Republicans between 1997 and 2008. http://abcn.ws/26XwBce
SUMMER OF TRUMP -- CLEVELAND COULD STILL BE EXCITING WITHOUT CONTESTED CONVENTION. The excitement and trepidation over the possibility of a contested Republican convention has dissipated, but Donald Trump still promises to keep things lively, ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY notes. Trump, who is now the presumptive GOP presidential nominee after his remaining competitors dropped out this week, said he has grand plans to spice up the Grand Old Party's July convention. “The site has been chosen and the arena is fine, but I'd want to have -- you know, the last Republican convention was extraordinarily boring," Trump told The New York Times Wednesday. "We're going to come up with some things that will make it interesting and informative, but also smart and different.” http://abcn.ws/21AsUVU
GOP SENATOR CALLS FOR ‘ADULT’ THIRD-PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, a longtime vocal critic of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, is calling for voters to rally around a third-party candidate capable of winning the White House. In an open letter on Facebook, Sasse said that conversations with residents in his home state of Nebraska have convinced him that many voters would be open to an additional option besides Trump and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. “Why shouldn’t America draft an honest leader who will focus on 70 percent solutions for the next four years? You know ... an adult?” he asked. ABC’s ALI WEINBERG has more. http://abcn.ws/1ZhXemB
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
TRUMP EATS TACO BOWL TO CELEBRATE CINCO DE MAYO. In an apparent celebration of Cinco de Mayo, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, tweeted a picture of himself eating a taco bowl, a move widely criticized for pandering to Hispanic-Americans. ABC’s CANDACE SMITH reports, shortly after, Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, tweeted a video (with Spanish subtitles) highlighting Trump’s past comments on deporting illegal immigrants. http://abcn.ws/1rx0tvO
WHO’S TWEETING?
@ryanstruyk: .@reince says "it's highly highly doubtful" that rules change could give nomination to someone other than Trump but "nothing's impossible."
@DavidMDrucker: ... @ByronYork did some digging. He reports @SpeakerRyan is negotiating for @realDonaldTrump to soften his tone: http://washex.am/1TrNHVx 2/
@TheFix: Trump 283, Clinton 255 http://wpo.st/MuVY1
@gwenrocco: Lexington Herald-Leader: @HillaryClinton is the most-qualified person running for president http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article75919472.html …
@JamesPindell: The N.H. moment that helped make Trump the GOP nominee http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/05/06/the-moment-that-helped-make-trump-gop-nominee/qcxxGYM5Jv1z7ok994V3lO/story.html?event=event25 … #fitn #nhpolitics