Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… The Broadway play “Hamilton,” which captured the titanic historical clashes over America’s philosophical foundations, scored a record-setting 16 Tony nominations on Tuesday. Shortly after the news, we were reminded that the nation’s revolutionary spirit still lives on today, when a presidential candidate talked about a rival’s venereal diseases.
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‘16 from 30,000
It’s another Tuesday, or - for political journalists - another Cold Pizza and Circadian Rhythm Disruption Day! Will there be a Cruz surprise that salvages his campaign in Indiana, or will the frontrunner triumph and force even the ardent anti-Trump crowd into acceptance? Will Sanders build on his case to stay the course, or will Clinton add another victory to the W column?
Follow all the developments here.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
- Ted Cruz went on a blistering ramble against Donald Trump on Tuesday, delivering a list of stinging personal attacks that included calling the GOP frontrunner a "serial philanderer," "pathological liar" and a "narcissist."
- (Here’s the video.)
- Here’s a list of conspiracy theories Donald Trump has spread in addition to the Rafael Cruz JFK assassination story he spread today.
- Here is why Ted Cruz may be in trouble tonight in Indiana.
- Clinton told our own Andrea Mitchell she is “focused on moving into the general election.”
- One of John McCain's top aides says he’ll vote for Clinton over Trump.
- Indiana may not have much impact on who becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, but it could test some key questions, MSNBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald writes.
FOR THE RECORD…
“I guess I should go ahead and admit, yes, my dad killed JFK, he is secretly Elvis, and Jimmy Hoffa is buried in his backyard.”
Ted Cruz, mocking Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that Cruz’s father was linked to the Kennedy assassination
TOMORROW’S SKED
Hillary Clinton is in Washington to deliver remarks at an Asian Pacific American Heritage Month reception.
Bernie Sanders is in Lexington, Kentucky.
Cruz holds rallies in Nebraska and Washington.