memeorandum: Donald Trump supported by former KKK leader David Duke: ‘I hope he does everything we hope he will do’ (Adam Edelman/New York Daily News)

10:55 AM ET, February 27, 2016

Top Items:

Inside the Republican Party's Desperate Mission to Stop Donald Trump — The scenario Karl Rove outlined was bleak. — Addressing a luncheon of Republican governors and donors in Washington on Feb. 19, he warned that Donald J. Trump's increasingly likely nomination would be catastrophic, dooming the party in November.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Althouse, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and CNN

New York Times:

Donald Trump and Chris Christie Start a Bully Bromance — Those who have witnessed Gov. Chris Christie's performance both in New Jersey and in the national arena over the past couple of years almost could have seen Friday's sweaty embrace of Donald Trump coming. Almost.

Discussion: Politico, Boston Globe, Da Tech Guy Blog, Taylor Marsh, Associated Press, Hit & Run, The Moderate Voice, New York Magazine, Towleroad, his vorpal sword, Power Line, Althouse and Daily Kos

Lindsey Ellefson / Mediaite:

The ‘Stump for Trump’ Girls Just Said on CNN That Marco Rubio Had ‘A Gay Lifestyle’ — You know those “Stump for Trump Girls, Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson? Well, in case you don't follow them on Twitter and didn't get the memo, they were on CNN this morning.

Discussion: Marco Rubio, New York Times, TheStreet.com, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, addictinginfo.org, Guardian, Raw Story, Politico, Business Insider, WBUR, Fox News Insider, Vox, Telegraph and The Week

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:

Chris Christie Delivers Major Blow to Party Elites Resisting Trump — Trump gained a powerful surrogate responsible for the lowest moment in the campaign of one of his last Republican adversaries: Marco Rubio. — The united Republican establishment front against Donald Trump started …

Discussion: WMTW-TV

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:

Rubio and Trump now at war for the GOP's future — Marco Rubio and Donald Trump emerged Friday as the principal antagonists in an all-out brawl for the future of the Republican Party, as establishment opposition to the front-runner's candidacy started to crumble with a high-profile endorsement by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Discussion: Politico, Los Angeles Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, ThinkProgressPage Array, New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Balloon Juice

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Donald Trump Might Not Keep Paying for His Campaign Himself, Chris Christie Suggests

Discussion: CNN

Brian Beutler / New Republic: Marco Rubio's Trump Attacks Expose Uncomfortable Truths for the Right

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
8 times Chris Christie suggested Donald Trump shouldn't be president

Discussion: Salon, Washington Post, Althouse, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, ABC News, Hot Air, Downtrend, Hit & Run, BuzzFeed, The Federalist, Jezebel, MichelleMalkin.com, Fusion, TODAY.com, The Resurgent and The Week

John Koblin / New York Times:

Melissa Harris-Perry Walks Off Her MSNBC Show After Pre-emptions — In an unusually public flare-up, one of MSNBC's television personalities clashed with the network on Friday in a dispute about airtime and editorial freedom and said she was refusing to host the show that bears her name this weekend.

Discussion: Fusion, BizPac Review, Mediaite, Hot Air, addictinginfo.org, Jezebel, Talking Points Memo, TVNewser, Outside the Beltway, The Last Tradition and theGrio, more at Mediagazer »

Jamil Smith:

Melissa Harris-Perry's Email to Her #nerdland Staff — On Friday afternoon, media reports emerged about my friend Melissa Harris-Perry's refusal to host her eponymous weekend program on MSNBC on Saturday. I was one of the original producers on the show when it launched in 2012, leaving for another job in 2015.

Discussion: Downtrend, Daily Kos, Mashable, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Business Insider and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Olaf Ekberg / The American Mirror:

VIDEO: Bill Clinton snaps at veteran during speech: ‘Shut up and listen to my answer’ — The long hours and grueling pace of the presidential campaign may be finally catching up with a rapidly aging Bill Clinton. — During an appearance in Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Last Tradition

Ian Tuttle / National Review:

Yes, Trump University Was a Massive Scam — Many people believe that higher education is a de facto scam. Trump University, Donald Trump's real-estate institution, was a de jure one. — First thing first, Trump University was never a university. When the “school” was established in 2005 …

Discussion: Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Patterico's Pontifications, Yahoo Politics, LawNewz and RedState

Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Group to Air Ads Featuring Ex-Students Saying Trump University Deceived Them

Discussion: Newsmax, RedState, Hot Air and Instapundit

Jonathan Bernstein / BloombergView.com:
Trump's Debate Was a Disaster. If Voters Notice.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Shadowproof, The Federalist, Diane Ravitch's blog, New York Magazine and Mashable

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:

In South Carolina, will Clinton's expected victory shift momentum? — COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Democratic presidential contest has moved to South Carolina, where voters began casting their ballots Saturday in a primary that serves as two starkly different milestones for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Discussion: Politico, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire and Common Dreams

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:
What happens when Hillary Clinton crashes a bachelor party? She's in the photos.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, BizPac Review, Politico, PAPERMAG and Tennessean.com

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

A 16-Year-Old Solves Britain's Immigration Problem — The United Kingdom suffers from immigration issues similar to those that afflict the United States. As a member of the European Union, it is obliged to accept large numbers of unskilled immigrants who find not only Britain's wages …

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Governing Cancer of Our Time — We live in a big, diverse society. There are essentially two ways to maintain order and get things done in such a society — politics or some form of dictatorship. Either through compromise or brute force. Our founding fathers chose politics.

Discussion: Salon, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos and Common Dreams

Robert Reich / Facebook:

I endorse Bernie Sanders for President of the United States. He's leading a movement to reclaim America for the many, not the few. And such a political mobilization - a “political revolution,” as he puts it -\-\ is the only means by which we can get the nation back from the moneyed interests …

Discussion: Raw Story, Slantpoint and Vox Popoli

A Current Affair / 9news.com.au:

Queensland man has spent ‘$100,000’ contesting $250 speeding ticket — A Queensland man who has allegedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars contesting a $250 speeding fine has vowed to become the first person to contest a speeding ticket in the High Court of Australia.

Discussion: Sputnik International and FOX31 Denver

Avi Selk / The Scoop Blog:

Ahmed Mohamed's ex-school district sues state to keep civil rights investigation secret — Ahmed Mohamed, 14, appears with U.S. representatives in Washington last October. His ex school district is suing to keep secret the details of a federal investigation related to his arrest. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Discussion: Fox17

Rebecca Rosenberg / New York Post:

‘Hate-crime killer’ caught on camera: ‘I f-king shot him dead!’ — Warning: Video contains strong language — Manhattan jurors were shown a cellphone video Thursday of homophobic killer Elliot Morales confessing to his crime before trying to lick the sidewalk in front of cops. — “I f-king shot him dead!”

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Gothamist

Brady Dennis / Washington Post:

U.S. details 9 Zika pregnancies: 2 abortions, 2 miscarriages, 1 baby with ‘severe microcephaly’ — At least two pregnant women in the United States infected with the Zika virus have chosen to have abortions in recent months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday, while two others have suffered miscarriages.

Richard Rubin / Wall Street Journal:

IRS Commissioner Says Donald Trump's Audit Scenario ‘Rare’ — It's “rare” for an individual taxpayer to be audited every year, as Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says he has, said John Koskinen, the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

Discussion: Mediaite