memeorandum: Rising GOP star Love skipping party convention (Tom LoBianco/CNN)

3:55 PM ET, June 26, 2016

Top Items:

In new poll, support for Trump has plunged, giving Clinton a double-digit lead — Support for Donald Trump has plunged as he has alienated fellow Republicans and large majorities of voters overall in the course of a month of self-inflicted controversies, propelling Democrat Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, American Power, Politicus USA, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

CBS News:

Poll: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton in tight races in battleground states — Battleground states are called battlegrounds for a reason: They're often close, and 2016 looks like no exception. — Hillary Clinton holds narrow leads over Donald Trump across a number of key states of Florida …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Donald Trump's bad month just got worse, because Sanders backers just rallied to Clinton — Donald Trump would like for Bernie Sanders supporters to ditch the Democratic Party and support him. There is very little evidence that they will do that, mind you, but it's certainly possible …

ABC News:

Clinton Opens 12-Point Lead on Trump as Two-Thirds See Him as Biased (POLL) — Hillary Clinton surged to a broad advantage against Donald Trump in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, capitalizing on Trump's recent campaign missteps. Two-thirds of Americans see him as biased against groups …

Discussion: Washington Post

Elena Schneider / Politico:

McConnell hedges on whether Trump is qualified — Sen. Mitch McConnell hedged on whether he considers Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, as qualified for the job, saying he would “leave that to the American people to decide.” — “You know, he won the Republican [nomination] fair and square.

Washington Post:

Clinton leads as Dems unite, Trump weathers criticism — Poll Questions — Q: I'd like you to rate the chances that you will vote in the presidential election in November: Are you absolutely certain to vote, will you probably vote, are the chances 50-50, or less than that? — Hide Results

Discussion: Business Insider and Politico

Mark Murray / NBC News:

NBC/WSJ Poll: Clinton Leads Trump By 5 Points — Democrat Hillary Clinton holds a five-point advantage over Republican Donald Trump after becoming her party's presumptive presidential nominee, according to the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog and AOL

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress: Mitch McConnell Won't Say That Trump Is Qualified To Be President

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:
Donald Trump Weathers Stormy Month, Loses Only 2 Points Versus Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Guardian, Hot Air and LawNewz

Josh Feldman / Mediaite: Sanders: Hillary Can Win Over More of My Supporters ‘If She Does the Right Thing’

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:
Clinton Surrogate Tom Perez Calls Donald Trump a ‘Chaos Candidate’

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Patrick Howley / Breitbart:
George Will Leaves GOP, Tells Republicans to Make Sure Donald Trump Loses

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit and Hot Air

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
Conservative columnist George Will says he's leaving GOP over Trump

Discussion: BizPac Review, Wall Street Journal, The Root, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Politico, NBC News, AOL, The Huffington Post, Raw Story, New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice, CBS Dallas and Hit & Run

Holly Bailey / Yahoo:

Aberdeen journal: Mr. Trump, who won't be taking questions, spends the afternoon talking to reporters anyway — ABERDEEN, Scotland — Before Donald Trump arrived at his golf course here on the shore of the North Sea, a staffer at the facility told the several dozen reporters waiting …

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Bill Maher Warns Audience: Brexit is ‘Harbinger’ of President Trump (Video)

Discussion: The Daily Beast

David Goldstein / McClatchy Washington Bureau: Could a Brexit sentiment sweep Trump into office?

NBC News:

Meet the Press - June 26, 2016 — CHUCK TODD: — This Sunday, Brexit, Trump, and Clinton. The Brits are getting out and immigration was the main cause. What might it mean for the U.S. Presidential election this November? — DONALD TRUMP: — There was great similarities between what happened here and my campaign.

Discussion: Politicus USA and Political Wire

New York Daily News:

Texas mother killed by police after fatally shooting her two daughters during ‘family argument’ — The woman who was killed by police after she fatally shot her two daughters at their Texas home has been identified as an outspoken gun advocate. — Christy Sheats, 42, shot and killed …

Discussion: LawNewz

NBC New York:

4-Year-Old Boy Accidentally Shot and Killed by Older Brother: Authorities — A 6-year-old boy playing with a gun accidentally shot and killed his 4-year-old brother in their New Jersey home Saturday morning, authorities said. — The child's mother, Itiyanah Spruill, 22 …

Discussion: CBS New York and AOL

Peter Holley / Washington Post:

'She's an amazing employee': Wife of Maine governor takes waitressing job to make ends meet — That Ann LePage — the the wife of Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage — snagged her latest job using her family “connections,” is hardly surprising. — What is surprising is that those connections …

Discussion: Hot Air

Tom LoBianco / CNN:

Rising GOP star Love skipping party convention — Washington (CNN)Utah Rep. Mia Love joined the ranks of Republican leaders and lawmakers who will be skipping their party's convention next month, saying that she would instead visit Israel with a congressional delegation.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, Politico and Salt Lake Tribune

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Trump Says He Knows Nothing About Hank Paulson, Whom He Praised By Name In 2008 — Donald Trump reacted to the news that former Bush administration Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has endorsed Hillary Clinton with a familiar retort. — “Don't know anything about him,” Trump told reporters in Scotland …

Luke Heighton / Telegraph:

Second referendum petition: At least 77,000 ‘fake’ signatures removed hours after inquiry launched — Parliamentary authorities have moved swiftly to remove around 77,000 allegedly fake signatures from an online petition which calls for a re-run of the Brexit referendum.