memeorandum: Trump gifted Purple Heart, says he ‘always wanted’ one (Jeremy Diamond/CNN)

1:40 PM ET, August 2, 2016

Top Items:

GOP Rep. Richard Hanna: I'll vote for Clinton; first House member to cross party line — U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Barneveld, says he will vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton for president. Hanna said the GOP nominee, Donald Trump, is unfit to serve. The three-term congressman is shown speaking July 18 …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, The Nation, Independent Journal Review, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire, Politico, WND, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

Richard Hanna.JPG / Syracuse Post-Standard:

Rep. Richard Hanna letter: We should all be done with Donald Trump (commentary) — U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, a three-term Republican from Oneida County, represents the 22nd Congressional District. Hanna is shown speaking last month to firefighters in Binghamton. (Provided photo)

Discussion: ABC News, BuzzFeed, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Mediaite, Guardian, Real Clear Politics, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Business Insider and CNN

KUTV-TV:

Utah could vote Democrat for president for first time in 5 decades — (KUTV) The Republican and Democrat national conventions are over and as the dust starts to settle, it looks like Hillary Clinton has a chance to carry Utah in the U.S. presidential election.

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

That poll showing Clinton leading in Utah? It doesn't exist. — The only fitting way for the 2016 campaign to end, after all of the tumult and bizarreness that we've seen over the past 20 months, is for there to be some dramatic result on Election Day. An electoral college tie, maybe.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Week and Salt Lake Tribune

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

GOP Rep. Says He'll Vote For Clinton: Trump Is A ‘National Embarrassment’ — Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) on Tuesday became the first Republican member of the House to openly say that he plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November. — Hanna, who is not running for re-election this year …

Discussion: Guardian, Joe.My.God., The Week and Daily Kos

Nick Gass / Politico:
Republican Rep. Richard Hanna will vote for Clinton

Discussion: New York Magazine, Hot Air and AOL

CNN:
With Russia a campaign issue, Clinton gains on foreign affairs

Discussion: WSB-TV, Political Wire, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Washington Monthly

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Obama Says Republicans Should Withdraw Support for Trump — WASHINGTON — In his strongest denouncement of Donald J. Trump so far, President Obama on Tuesday said Mr. Trump was “unfit to serve as president” and urged the leaders of the Republican Party to withdraw their backing for his candidacy.

Discussion: Political Wire, The American Spectator and Joe.My.God.

Stuart Rothenberg / Washington Post:

Will GOP officials jump ship on Trump? — The last couple of weeks have been nothing short of disastrous for the Republican Party. — No, Donald Trump's position in the race hasn't worsened dramatically, nor did the Democratic convention wash away Hillary Clinton's many political warts.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

New York Times:

Mr. Trump and Spineless Republicans — Just when it seems that Donald Trump could not display more ignorance and bad judgment or less of a moral compass, he comes up with another ignominy or two. This weekend he denigrated the parents of a fallen American military hero and suggested …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, The Resurgent, The Week, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, Salon, CNN, Senator John McCain, Arizona, Hit & Run, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The San Diego Union …, ABC News and twitchy.com

Jonathan Swan / The Hill:

Paul Ryan: We're in fight to ‘retake the soul’ of the Republican Party — (R-Wis.) told a donor audience convened by the billionaire Koch brothers that conservatives are in a fight to “retake the soul” of the Republican Party. — “We have to do a better job of taking the moral high ground …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Washington Post

NBC News:

First Read: A Last Exit Ramp for the GOP? — First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — A last exit ramp for the GOP? — Donald Trump's confounding war with a Gold Star family …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, CNN, USA Today, Media Matters for America and National Review

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Obama Hammers GOPers Distancing Themselves From Trump's Khan Attacks

Discussion: Daily Kos

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:
To the Go-Along Republicans — Memo to Paul Ryan …

Discussion: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Paul Nehlen and Politico

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Is Donald Trump just plain crazy?

Discussion: The Week, Politico, Guardian, Al Jazeera English, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Fiscal Times, Slate, The Daily Caller, The Mahablog, The San Diego Union …, New York Magazine, NBC News and CNN

New York Times:

Donald Trump Avoided Draft With a Heel Problem, but the Details Are Murky — Back in 1968, at the age of 22, Donald J. Trump seemed the picture of health. — He stood 6 feet 2 inches with an athletic build; had played intramural football, tennis and squash; and was taking up golf.

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, AOL, The Colorado Independent, Daily Kos, The Week, Politicus USA, New York Magazine, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:

Trump gifted Purple Heart, says he ‘always wanted’ one — Ashburn, Virginia (CNN)A military veteran supporting Donald Trump gifted the Republican nominee his Purple Heart Tuesday, prompting Trump to say he “always wanted to get the Purple Heart” and this was “much easier” than serving in combat.

Discussion: alan.com, The Huffington Post, The Daily Caller and The Atlantic

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump: ‘I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier’

Discussion: ABC News

NBC News:

Poll: Clinton Support Spikes Following Democratic Convention — Following the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton now leads Donald Trump by 8 points — 50 percent to 42 percent — up from a single-point difference last week, according to the latest NBC News| SurveyMonkey poll.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, RedState, CNBC, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, TVNewser, Joe.My.God., AOL and CNN

Wall Street Journal:

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton to Announce Resignation — Bratton, 68, will be replaced by Chief of Department James O'Neill. — New York City police Commissioner William Bratton will announce on Tuesday that he is resigning and will be replaced by Chief of Department James O'Neill …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Fox News and The Daily Caller

Amber Jamieson / Guardian:
New York City protesters demand police commissioner Bill Bratton be fired

Discussion: NPR, New York Post, The Root and Mediaite

New York Daily News:

The risk of bloody-shirt politics: Khizr Khan, Ghazala Khan, Patricia Smith, Cindy Sheehan and our politics — On the first night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, I cringed when Patricia Smith, the grief-stricken mother of Sean Smith, an information officer killed during …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and bradford-delong.com

Howard Kurtz / Fox News:
Khan and Smith: How the media are treating two grieving parents

Discussion: BizPac Review, Campaign for America's Future, American Thinker, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Trump: My Position On Keeping Terrorists Out Is What Bothered Khizr Khan

Discussion: Hot Air, Tennessean.com, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Daily Kos and Little Green Footballs

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Clinton campaign reports nearly $90 million raised in July — Hillary Clinton raised nearly $90 million between her campaign and joint fundraising committees with the national and state parties in July, setting her up to enter August — and the campaign's home stretch — with more than $58 million on hand.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Post

Ali Vitali / NBC News:
Trump Calls Clinton ‘The Devil,’ Boasts About Meager $35 Million July Fundraising Haul

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Politico

Timothy Cama / The Hill:

Trump: Wind power ‘kills all your birds’ — bashed renewable energy sources Monday night, saying solar power doesn't work well and wind turbines kill birds. — The GOP presidential nominee has stated his preference for coal and natural gas, and has previously said that solar power …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Raw Story

Nick Gass / Politico:

Eric Trump: Ivanka wouldn't allow herself to be subjected to sexual harassment — Ivanka Trump would not put herself in a position to be sexually harassed in the way that former Fox News chief Roger Ailes is accused of doing, Eric Trump said of his older sister on Tuesday …

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, Independent Journal Review, Joe.My.God., Mediaite and Guardian

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:
Trump and feminists should quit blaming Roger Ailes' victims: Kirsten Powers

The Daily Beast:

Why Did Russia Send ‘The Terminator’ on a Humanitarian Mission in Syria? — Russia's Defense Ministry says the aircraft was returning from a ‘humanitarian cargo’ mission. If so, it was a strange model to use. — While we don't yet know which rebel group shot down a Russian military helicopter …

Discussion: Instapundit, RT and The Week

Lisa Barrington / Reuters:
Rescuers say toxic gas dropped on Syrian town where Russian helicopter shot down

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

Media Matters for America:

Trump vs. Khan: How Smearing Everyday Americans Became A Right-Wing Media Tradition — Who picks a campaign fight with Gold Star parents who have paid the ultimate sacrifice? — That's the dominant campaign question being asked from so many different quarters as Donald Trump continues …

Discussion: Reuters, Politico, Balloon Juice and Washington Post

Jonathan Ferziger / Bloomberg:

The Israeli Company That Fenced in Gaza Eyes Trump's Mexico Wall — CEO seeks contract for barrier on Kenya-Somalia frontier — Threats stoke demand for walls to stop terrorism, refugees — The border security business is thriving and that's good news for Magal Security Systems Ltd. boss Saar Koursh.

Arlette Saenz / ABC News:

President Obama: Donald Trump Is ‘Unfit to Serve as President’ — President Obama said Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is “unfit to serve as president.” — In a press conference with Singapore's prime minister, Obama added that Trump has shown he is “woefully unprepared to do this job” …

Discussion: Politico