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08/15/2017 07:48 AM EDT


By Elana Schor (eschor@politico.com or @eschor)

TRUMP CONDEMNS RACIST VIOLENCE POST-CHARLOTTESVILLE - After this weekend's deadly white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville, President Donald Trump stated in certain terms Monday that "racism is evil."

"Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America," Trump said in five-minute-plus remarks televised from the White House. He did not echo Attorney General Jeff Sessions in describing the vehicle-based death of Charlottesville, Va., resident Heather Heyer as domestic terrorism.

A tale of two Republican reactions - Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) posted a notably critical response on Twitter, which began: "Today the president's remarks were clear and specific. However, they would have been more impactful on Saturday."

But Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), facing a potential primary challenge from conservative Danny Tarkanian, was more circumspect about the timing of the president's statement. "I think he needed to do it," Heller said of Trump's criticism of white supremacist groups, filmed by the Reno Gazette-Journal. "And he did it. And I think America and myself in particular appreciate that he stepped up." Asked if Trump waited too long to speak out, Heller said: "I don't want to answer that question - I'm just glad he did it."

UNDERCUTTING HIMSELF BY TWEET - In the hours after Trump's statement, he made further political trouble for fellow Republicans on his favorite social media platform with a series of suggestions that his condemnation of the Charlottesville violence had not been entirely sincere. Trump blamed the media for questioning his delay in speaking out and re-tweeted a prominent conspiracy theorist who suggested Charlottesville was being overblown.

Trump didn't quit Tuesday morning, confirming that he is weighing a pardon of controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Read Eliana Johnson on the fallout from remarks that "earned bipartisan praise while leaving Saturday's marchers still feeling a part of the Trump movement": http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e6df58624e137a90accbfa2686e0ae857830063f95111399338f41dcb063328f917e3a1c3c023c93263f528c095d5296be81f7acf1c366fe

DEMS URGE HEARINGS ON WHITE SUPREMACY - Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee are responding to the Charlottesville violence with a push for hearings on domestic terrorism, specifically from white supremacist groups, Rachael Bade scoops. The latest request marks the third so far this year from Democrats on the panel, and a spokesman for Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) didn't respond to a request for comment.

SENATE PRIMARY DAY DAWNS IN ALABAMA - Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) has the blessing of Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (who was born in Alabama!), but that's no guarantee that he'll make it past Tuesday and into a Sept. 26 runoff. Former state Supreme Court judge Roy Moore is reliably polling in first place, while Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) is giving Strange a fight for the No. 2 spot. Seung Min and Daniel Strauss run down the five things you need to know on primary day: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e6df58624e137a90e1fd2f5b88ee986493158703b81129b45174d1252fbb33ee93d9b4ed3752040a753b43dc110a99b40cbe515f4fa3a4a0

Trump robo-calls for Strange - The president gave two more Twitter boosts to Strange on Monday and Tuesday, in addition to a robo-call backing the GOP establishment's preferred candidate. "He's helping me in the Senate," Trump says of Strange in the call, as Daniel Strauss reports. "He's going to get the tax cuts for us."

TIP OF THE CAP TO TUESDAY. Thank you for tuning in for POLITICO's Huddle, the in-depth guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Aug. 15. I'm your guest host, filling in for regular honcho Heather Caygle during one of Washington's least sweltering August recesses in recent memory.

MONDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Ali Watkins' deep dive into the warnings that the Obama administration received about potential Russian interference in elections took top honors.

CONSERVATIVE GROUP DROPS $500K ON TAX ADS - The American Action Network is launching a $500,000 digital ad campaign Tuesday focusing on 31 House Republicans who are preparing to turn to a tax overhaul this fall after the failure of Obamacare repeal. The ads are designed to engage voters on taxes as a core pocketbook issue and boost grassroots support for tax reform, aimed at a roster of Republicans from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to more centrist Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) to House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-S.C.).

INDIANA'S SENATE GOP PRIMARY GETS PERSONAL - There's no love lost between the two House Republicans battling for the right to take on Sen. Joe Donnelly (R-Ind.) next November. How little love, exactly? Rep. Luke Messer and Todd Rokita have traded bitter jabs from "unhinged" to "spreading lies" in a Senate primary that's only about a week old.

"More than a dozen professional colleagues and personal acquaintances painted the hostility between Rokita and Messer as the product of three decades of pent-up rivalry" since they matriculated at the same tiny, males-only college, Maggie Severns and Kevin Robillard report.

'I DIDN'T LIKE IT BUT I VOTED FOR IT' - Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) drew jeers from constituents Monday night at a town hall outside Atlanta as he explained his vote for the so-called "skinny repeal" bill that Senate Republican leaders dramatically failed to pass last month. "I didn't like it but I voted for it," Isakson said. "I couldn't get to where I wanted to go unless I followed the road that led me there."

Isakson also faced pointed questions on Trump's embattled adviser Steve Bannon, who has ties to white nationalists, and reminded the crowd that he won a new term only last year: "I don't have to do this. I'm not up for election. ... But I do it because it's your government, not mine." More from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e6df58624e137a90c4eb386673c05953d10393c904dfbdf814e7d48ebd183b03157d17340c1400237cd253e63d8213520b1b11db7afcf6f6

PENCE TALKS SANCTIONS - In an interview that aired Monday on NBC, Vice President Mike Pence condemned "the hate, and the violence, and the bigotry of organizations that showed up in Charlottesville" and also talked about the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that Trump signed into law last month after his administration initially resisted its constraints on the president's ability to ease penalties against Moscow. Pence didn't directly deny Trump's tweeted claim that U.S.-Russia relations are "at an all-time and very dangerous low" thanks to Congress, acknowledging that the sanctions bill "did not include the traditional flexibility" that presidents from both parties have sought.

"That being said," Pence added, "what Congress passed and what the president signed was completely consistent with the policies of this administration."

HELLER FINALLY SAYS HE VOTED FOR TRUMP - Speaking of Dean Heller, the most politically endangered Senate Republican ahead of next year's midterms finally revealed that he voted for Trump in November after months of avoiding the question, the Nevada Independent reports. Heller last year described his chances of voting for Trump at 1 percent, and addressed his vote on the same day that Tarkanian unleashed a new attack against him for being insufficiently supportive of the president.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House and Senate are out until September.

AROUND THE HILL - Recess, all we ever wanted.

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - ... was no one! So I'm giving loyal readers one more day to answer, with a slight tweak to make it easier.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Your revised challenge: Name two Cabinet departments that have only ever had leaders appointed by a president from the same party.

The first person to correctly answer gets a shout out in tomorrow's Huddle. Send me your guesses: eschor@politico.com

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