memeorandum: Male escorts are making crazy money at the RNC (Alexandra Klausner/New York Post)

7:35 PM ET, July 21, 2016

Top Items:

Exclusive — Sarah Palin to Ted Cruz: Delete Your Career — In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News, former Alaska Governor and 2008 Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin weighed in on Senator Ted Cruz's refusal to honor his pledge and endorse the GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Discussion: PolitiFact, Mediaite, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Politicus USA, Fox News Insider and Hot Air

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

I Choose Ted — I find it nothing short of hilarious how so many seasoned political journalists (including many of my colleagues — and betters — at Fox) are visibly shocked and appalled by what Cruz did last night. Ever since I was a kid, the political press — left, right, and center …

Discussion: NPR, RedState and neo-neocon

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

Trump taunts GOP in private donor meeting — CLEVELAND — Just hours before accepting the Republican Party's presidential nomination, Donald Trump taunted his party on Thursday, ripping into his rivals and joking that, had he run as an independent, he could have defeated the GOP.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, RedState, Daily Wire and ABC News

Sean Davis / The Federalist:

‘Vote Your Conscience’ Was A Rorschach Test, And Donald Trump's Campaign Failed — It didn't have to be a complete disaster. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) didn't say a negative thing about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Cleveland on Wednesday night.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TIME, Washington Times, Bloomberg, Daily Wire, Hot Air and Washington Post

Christopher Massie / BuzzFeed:
Cruz Campaign Manager: Christie “Turned Over His Political Testicles Long Ago”

Discussion: NBC News, CNN, New York Times, Hot Air, Rush Limbaugh, Daily Wire, AOL, Real Clear Politics, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Washington Post

Leon H. Wolf / RedState:
The RNC is Officially More Dishonest than the Trump Campaign Itself

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

Nick Gass / Politico:
Leaked document: Trump will tell the nation, ‘I am your voice’

Discussion: RedState and twitchy.com

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Roger Stone, Alex Jones plot primary challenge to Cruz

Discussion: NBC News and The Right Scoop

Tara Golshan / Vox:
Why Mark Cuban went from saying Trump is the “best thing” for America to #NeverTrump

Discussion: Liberal Values and AOL

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Boehner on Cruz: ‘Lucifer is back’

Discussion: Mediaite

Associated Press:
The Latest: Pence: Trump Would Stand by US's NATO Allies

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, LGBTQ Nation and NOLA River

Mike Huckabee / Facebook:
The question of the night was whether Ted Cruz would honor …

Discussion: Business Insider, Advocate, Daily Wire, Talking Points Memo and Hot Air

James Hohmann / Washington Post: The Daily 202: Cruz's convention gambit backfiring badly—and now he's on the defensive

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Ted Cruz's massive political gamble, explained

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Booman Tribune

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Kasich doesn't regret skipping convention

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Indianapolis Star:
Sen. Dan Coats calls Ted Cruz a ‘self-centered, narcissistic, pathological liar’

Discussion: ABC News, The Federalist, CBS Chicago and Talking Points Memo

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Cruz: I won't be a ‘servile puppy dog’ for Trump

Discussion: Allen B. West and ABC News

New York Times:

Transcript: Donald Trump on NATO, Turkey's Coup Attempt and the World — Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, discussed his views on foreign policy in Cleveland on Wednesday with David E. Sanger and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times. Here is an edited transcript of their interview.

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Donald Trump's nomination is the first time American politics has left me truly afraid — Tonight, Donald J. Trump will accept the Republican Party's nomination for president of the United States. And I am, for the first time since I began covering American politics, genuinely afraid.

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Times, Washington Post and The Atlantic

New York Times:

Donald Trump Sets Conditions for Defending NATO Allies Against Attack — CLEVELAND — Donald J. Trump, on the eve of accepting the Republican nomination for president, said Wednesday that if he were elected, he would not pressure Turkey or other authoritarian allies about conducting purges …

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic:
It's Official: Hillary Clinton Is Running Against Vladimir Putin

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BuzzFeed, Washington Post, New York Times, Vox, Sputnik International, Talking Points Memo, RedState, The Diplomat and bradford-delong.com, more at Mediagazer »

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Republicans rip Trump over NATO plan

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, Talking Points Memo, The Nation, The Atlantic, Politicus USA and Raw Story

21st Century Fox:

Roger Ailes Resigns as Chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, and Chairman Fox Television Stations — Rupert Murdoch to Assume Role of Chairman and Acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network — 21st Century Fox today announced that Roger Ailes …

Drudge Report:
AILES STEPS ASIDE AT FOXNEWS; WILL REMAIN AT PARENT COMPANY AS ADVISER

Discussion: Politico, TVNewser and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Roger Ailes leaves Fox News

Discussion: Business Insider, New Urban Legends, New York Times, NOLA River and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

Molly Redden / Guardian:
Roger Ailes accused of harassment by at least 20 women, attorneys say

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Raw Story, Media Matters for America, AOL, Campaign for America's Future and LawNewz, more at Mediagazer »

Media Matters for America:
Roger Ailes Built The Conservative Infrastructure That Donald Trump Is Exploiting

Discussion: BNR and The National Interest

Daniel Pipes / Philly.com:

Why I just quit the Republican Party — The Republican Party nominated Donald Trump as its candidate for president of the United States - and I responded by ending my 44-year GOP membership. — Here's why I bailed, quit, and jumped ship: — First, Trump's boorish, selfish, puerile …

Discussion: Mediaite

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
McConnell: Trump ‘wrong’ on NATO

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Hullabaloo and bradford-delong.com

Rick Pearson / Chicago Tribune:
Illinois Republicans remove Trump delegate with ‘whitepride’ social media handle

Discussion: Vocativ

Johari Canty / WSVN-TV:

North Miami officer on paid leave after shooting unarmed black man — A therapist who works at a group home for the disabled is still in shock after a North Miami Police officer shot him, but according to the Police Union president, that officer may have been aiming for someone else.

Discussion: CNN, WPLG-TV, Washington Post, myfox8.com, NBC News, KTLA, New York Times, Red Alert Politics, Shakesville, New York Magazine, Mashable, POLICE Magazine, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and Guardian

Charles Rabin / miamiherald:

Cop shoots caretaker of autistic man playing in the street with toy truck — Cellphone video shows the man on ground with hands in the air — As the worker lays there, the autistic man continues to play with his toy — There's no indication a weapon of any type was found at the scene

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Guardian, Liberty Unyielding, Common Dreams, CBS Baltimore, The Crime Report and USA Today

Adrian Wojnarowski / Yahoo Sports:

NBA pulls 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, focuses on New Orleans — Without any movement by state legislators in North Carolina to change newly enacted laws targeted at the LGBT community, the NBA is pulling the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, league sources told The Vertical.

Discussion: The Atlantic, ThinkProgress, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, New York Magazine, NOLA River, LGBTQ Nation, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, The Week, NBCSports.com, College Spun, myfox8.com and CBS San Francisco

Scott Cacciola / New York Times:
N.B.A. to Move All-Star Game From North Carolina

Discussion: The Stranger …

Politico:

Full text: Donald Trump 2016 RNC draft speech transcript — Remarks as prepared for delivery according to a draft obtained by POLITICO Thursday afternoon. — Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Independent Journal Review, Business Insider and The Resurgent

Alexandra Klausner / New York Post:

Male escorts are making crazy money at the RNC — More On: — It's been a great week for gay escorts in Cleveland. — Male prostitutes contacted by The Post said business is booming and Republican National Convention attendees — most of them married — are clamoring for their services.

Discussion: Sputnik International and Joe.My.God.

Joe Klein / TIME:

An Unhinged Republican Convention and the Nation's Greatest Test — The Republican Convention opened with a distraught mother, tears in her eyes, saying something palpably outrageous: “I blame Hillary Clinton. I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son-personally.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

‘Private’ video of Virgin Islands Democratic delegate posted online — A “private” videotape of the Virgin Islands' delegate to Congress, Democratic Rep. Stacey Plaskett, which showed her husband naked and wearing makeup, was posted online Wednesday night but later removed, the freshman lawmaker said in a statement Thursday.

Discussion: Jezebel