memeorandum: Paul Ryan Calls Donald Trump's Attack on Judge ‘Racist,’ but Backs Him Still (David M. Herszenhorn/New York Times)

12:25 PM ET, June 7, 2016

Top Items:

Trump self-destructive rambling baffles GOP strategists — How did the controversy begin over Donald Trump's attacks on the judge in the Trump University lawsuit? It began when Donald Trump couldn't stop talking about the Trump University lawsuit. — In the normal course of events …

Discussion: Hot Air

Bloomberg:

Trump Orders Surrogates to Intensify Criticism of Judge and Journalists — During a Monday conference call with supporters, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee overruled a directive sent out by his own campaign. — kevcirilli — michaelcbender

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

Paul Ryan Calls Donald Trump's Attack on Judge ‘Racist,’ but Backs Him Still — WASHINGTON — Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday called Donald J. Trump's criticism of a Hispanic-American judge “the textbook definition of a racist comment” and said he “regrets” the remark.

Discussion: Political Wire

Joseph Murray / Breitbart:

Donald Trump Is Correct To Hit ‘La Raza’ Judge For Latino Identity Politics — “This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made. I think it's inexcusable.” — Those words were spoken by Newt Gingrich - a man believed to be on Donald Trump's Vice Presidential shortlist - during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Discussion: Salon, New York Times and Washington Free Beacon

Bridget Bowman / Roll Call:

Grassley: Senate Can Be a Check on Trump's Judges — Senate Judiciary chairman says he's not concerned who would be nominated — Reid: McConnell ‘Poster Boy’ for GOP ‘Spinelessness’ Over Trump GOP Senators Criticize Trump's Comments on Judge Sanders' Long-Shot Delegate Hunt

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Des Moines Register and Daily Kos

Adrian Carrasquillo / BuzzFeed:
The RNC Approached Two Hispanic Operatives Who Weren't Interested Because Of Trump

Discussion: alan.com and The Week

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo: Trump Spox Suggests Trump's Sister Could Be ‘Biased’ As A Female Judge

Pat Buchanan / Townhall.com:
The Donald & The La Raza Judge

Discussion: Daily Wire

New York Times:
Democrats Jump on Allies of Donald Trump in Judge Dispute

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Politico, CNN, Courthouse News Service, Mediaite, New York Magazine, The Resurgent, WMUR, BizPac Review and Mother Jones

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Trump train derails on Capitol Hill

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week, Washington Monthly, The Root, Raw Story, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Associated Press, The Resurgent and Business Insider

Media Matters for America:
Fox Vs Fox: Kelly Blasts “Pundits” Demanding Trump U. Judge Step Down, Moments After O'Reilly Did Just That

Discussion: Politico, Betsy's Page, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and The Week

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:

Nancy Pelosi ‘Proud to Endorse’ Hillary Clinton for President

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politicus USA, Hot Air, Washington Times, The Week and Washington Free Beacon

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Bernie Sanders Has Some Strange Ideas About Why He Deserves the Nomination — He was told there would be no math. — The season-finale episode of Saturday Night Live imagines a bar-stool conversation between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in which the two candidates bond …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post, Salon, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Politico and BuzzFeed

New York Times:
Hillary Clinton Has Clinched Democratic Nomination, Survey Reports

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, Althouse and The Week

Cyra Master / The Hill:
Sanders camp: Clinton has not secured nomination yet

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Washington Times, Daily Kos, ABC News, Common Dreams and Guardian

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Hillary Clinton clinches Democratic presidential nomination

Discussion: whorunsGov, Jezebel, Politicus USA and Mediaite

John Judis / Talking Points Memo: Bernie Sanders should drop out and endorse Hillary Clinton. Period.

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Sanders plans to ‘assess’ presidential bid at home in Vermont after Tuesday contests

Discussion: Political Wire, Truth Revolt and AOL

Mark Green / Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed Don't panic, Democrats, Hillary Clinton will beat Donald Trump

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding, Reuters and Associated Press

Carrie Dann / NBC News:
Clinton Hits ‘Magic Number’ of Delegates to Clinch Nomination

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, USA Today, Common Dreams, Gothamist, Vox, CNN, The Week, Al Jazeera English, Politicus USA, CBS New York, ABC News, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, New York Magazine, Shakesville and CANNONFIRE

Scott Whitlock / NewsBusters:
NPR Reporter: Women Weep Over History-Making Hillary Clinton

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com

Associated Press:
AP count: Clinton has delegates to win Democratic nomination

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Sanders: Not sexist to stay in race against Clinton

Discussion: Breitbart and Washington Free Beacon

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Dick Morris Is in Talks to Join the Trump Campaign — The controversial former Clinton adviser could play a key roll in Trump's anti-Hillary strategy. — Before Donald Trump's campaign was derailed by his racist attacks on a federal judge, the GOP nominee was surprisingly disciplined in his attacks on Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, alan.com and The Daily Caller

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Trump: I'm The One Who ‘Really Broke The Glass Ceiling’ In My Industry

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Politico, Jezebel and Balloon Juice

Marina Fang / The Huffington Post:
Trump Campaign: Female Judges Could Be Biased, Too

Discussion: RedState, Religion News Service, Yahoo and Politico

CNN:
Pro-Trump group's first ad uses Clintons' words against them

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, Breitbart, Independent Journal … and Washington Free Beacon

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Mitch McConnell: This Election Is About Choosing The Lesser Of Two Evils — “This is a choice that many Americans are not happy with.” — w.soundcloud.com — Asked on Monday if the general election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was a “lesser of two evils election,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell answered yes.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Republicans need to think very hard about whether they can live with Donald Trump for five more months

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, MSNBC and Mediaite

Donovan Slack / USA Today:
Paul Ryan starts unveiling plan for ‘better GOP’

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

FBI asks to make new secret filing in Clinton email case — The FBI has asked a federal judge for permission to file a second secret declaration detailing its probe into Hillary Clinton — 's private email server. — In the request, which came as part of a Freedom of Information Act …

Discussion: Hot Air

Lisa Hagen / The Hill:

State Dept. would need 75 years to compile Clinton emails — The State Department said it would take 75 years for the release of emails from top aides to Hillary Clinton — while she was serving as secretary of State. — Lawyers said it would take that long to compile the 450,000 pages …

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com and CNN

CNN:

Last known surviving 9/11 search and rescue dog laid to rest — (CNN)When it was time to say goodbye, she was given a hero's farewell. — Firefighters and rescue workers lined the sidewalk as her body, draped in an American flag, was carried out. Tears streaked down some faces.

Discussion: NPR, The Week and Scared Monkeys

Associated Press:
Last Known Living 9/11 Search Dog Dies in Texas at Age 16

Discussion: Independent Journal …

Associated Press:

Florida AG asked Trump for donation before nixing fraud case — WASHINGTON (AP) — Florida's attorney general personally solicited a political contribution from Donald Trump around the same time her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University and its affiliates

Discussion: LawNewz, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon and Politico

Wlady Pleszczynski / The American Spectator:

Trump Is Right: The Shame of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell — The GOP Establishment is in full flight. — No Abraham Lincolns here. — In a shameful haste to embrace identity politics, the latter the political descendant of slavery and segregation, Speaker Paul Ryan …

Discussion: Raw Story, Wall Street Journal and Media Matters for America

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Republicans finally discover that Trump is an actual racist — Donald Trump needed validation. — At a rally Friday, Trump was discussing racial violence at his events and the perception that nonwhite people are against him, when he singled out a black man in the crowd.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Jason Reed / National Review:

Inside the #NeverTrump Candidacy that Almost Was — Anti-Trump conservatives failed to recruit David French into the presidential campaign. What will they do now? — The latest would-be presidential candidate spent just under a week in the spotlight — long enough to confound official Washington …