memeorandum: Hillary's Self-Inflicted Headwinds (Amy Walter/The Cook Political Report)

5:25 PM ET, September 15, 2016

Top Items:

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Aide Shuts Down Local TV Interview With Trump Jr. When Charity Issue Is Raised — An interview with Donald Trump Jr. conducted by a local Pennsylvania television station was abruptly cut off by an aide when the topic turned to a Washington Post story about Donald Trump spending his foundation's money …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CBS News, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Raw Story

Tom Fontaine / Greensburg Tribune-Review:

Trump Jr. to Trib: Dad will ‘separate’ from business interests if elected — Donald Trump Jr. talks about his father's campaign with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review at the Trib's office on the North Shore, Wednesday, September 14, 2016. — BY TOM FONTAINE — Donald Trump Jr. dismissed …

Discussion: Mother Jones, AOL, The Atlantic, NBC News, Common Dreams, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Vox, Politicus USA, Guardian, VICE News, Mediaite, Politico, Joe.My.God., twitchy.com and Shareblue

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

Donald Trump Jr. just told everyone the real reason his dad isn't releasing his tax returns — Donald Trump has been adamant that the sole reason he is the only major presidential nominee in modern history refusing to release his tax returns is because he is under audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

Discussion: Independent Journal Review

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Trump Jr.: Media Would Be “Warming Up The Gas Chamber” If GOP Did What Hillary Did — Donald Trump Jr. said on Thursday that the media has built up Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and that if Republicans acted the way Clinton has, the media would be “warming up the gas chamber” for them.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs and Balloon Juice

Wall Street Journal:
Paul Ryan Says Donald Trump Should Release Tax Returns

Discussion: RedState

Eugene Scott / CNN:
Trump son: America can't handle seeing Trump's 12,000-page tax return

Discussion: Greensburg Tribune-Review, Business Insider and ThinkProgress

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump: I wouldn't talk about health if tests were bad

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine and Daily Kos

Bloomberg:
Trump Says Economic Plan Would Create 25 Million Jobs

Discussion: Politico and The Week

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Trump Jr: My Dad's ‘12,000-Page’ Tax Return Would Prompt Too Many Queries

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Center for Public Integrity, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
When a Crackpot Runs for President

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

The race is tightening for a painfully simple reason — Hillary Clinton's ongoing campaign to paint Donald Trump as unacceptable in the eyes of most Americans is working. It's just not good enough. That's the message of the spate of recent polls showing a dramatically tightened race that Trump may even be narrowly winning.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Townhall.com, Washington Free Beacon, Liberty Unyielding, CNBC and The Week

CBS News:

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton locked in tight race nationally - CBS/NYT poll — With the first debate less than two weeks away, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are in a tight race for the presidency nationally. Clinton has just a 2-point edge in a two-way match-up among likely voters.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, USA Today, Politico, ABC News, Washington Post, NBC News, ssrs.com, Scared Monkeys, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Business Insider, Hot Air and CNN

Bill Bartel / Associated Press:

Trump-Clinton is now too close to call in Virginia, according to new poll — With the presidential election less than eight weeks away, the race is too close to call in Virginia, according to a poll released Thursday. — Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton held a 3-percentage-point lead …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

QU Poll:

Release Detail — While the presidential horse race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump remains close, American likely voters say 62 - 38 percent that Clinton is qualified to be president and 61 - 38 percent that Trump is not qualified, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

Discussion: The American Spectator

Giovanni Russonello / New York Times:

Poll Shows Tight Race for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton — With less than eight weeks before Election Day, Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton are locked in a tight contest, with both candidates still struggling to win the confidence of their respective bases, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll finds.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Hit & Run, Guardian, Politico, Business Insider, Common Dreams, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Althouse, Lawyers, Guns & Money, East Bay Times and CNN

Monmouth University:
Monmouth University Polling Institute

Discussion: Vox, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air and Washington Times

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
MSNBC Host Complains Hillary Clinton ‘Faces a Double Standard Every Day’

Discussion: Independent Journal Review

The Huffington Post:

Donald Trump Wants Peter Thiel On The Supreme Court, Sources Say — The eccentric billionaire endorsed Trump in a speech at the Republican National Convention this summer. — Washington bureau chief for The Huffington Post — Donald Trump has made it clear he will nominate Peter Thiel …

Bloomberg:

Clinton Says She May Not Choose Garland for Supreme Court — Democrat would ‘look broadly’ for diverse nominees, she says — She won't preclude lame-duck confirmation, deferring to Obama — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she wouldn't be bound …

Discussion: Politico, Above the Law, Independent Journal Review, New York Magazine and Political Wire

Tonya Pendleton / Black America Web:
Hillary Clinton Says She's Doing Better; Talks Plans For African-Americans, HBCU's & What She's Still Outraged About

Discussion: AOL, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Clinton returns to the campaign trail with rally in N.C.

Discussion: Politico, New York Magazine, The Week and heave-ho.org

J.D. Durkin / Mediaite:
Donald Trump Calls Out Colin Powell's ‘Weak Understanding’ After Leaked Email Fiasco

Discussion: AOL, Guardian, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, New York Post and alan.com

Scott Detrow / NPR:

Trump Criticizes Flint Pastor — But Misstates Key Facts About Their Encounter — Donald Trump is lashing out against an African-American pastor who interrupted him Wednesday to chide him for campaigning in her Flint, Mich., church. — “Something was up,” Trump told Fox and Friends on Thurday morning.

Discussion: NPR.org, Washington Post, heave-ho.org, Daily Kos, The Frisky, The Week, Politico and Detroit News

Nick Gass / Politico:

Trump on Flint pastor: ‘She was like a nervous mess’ — The pastor in Flint, Michigan, who interrupted Donald Trump as he ripped into Hillary Clinton on Wednesday “was like a nervous mess” as she introduced him, the Republican nominee said Thursday, adding that he “figured something was up.”

Discussion: CNN, NPR.org, CBS Philly, New York Times, Vox, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, RedState, ABC News, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and The Week

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Hillary's Self-Inflicted Headwinds — When it comes to the current political environment, Hillary Clinton couldn't ask for much better. The president sits at a 50 percent approval rating. Gas is just a little over $2. A new income and poverty report released on Tuesday by the Census Bureau showed …

David Wasserman / FiveThirtyEight:
How Trump Could Win The White House While Losing The Popular Vote

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, neo-neocon, The American Conservative and heave-ho.org

Donald J Trump for President:

FACT SHEET: DONALD J. TRUMP'S PRO-GROWTH ECONOMIC POLICY WILL CREATE 25 MILLION JOBS — Donald J. Trump's Economic Policy Package Will Lead To Millions Of Jobs Created And Unbridled Economic Growth — The Trump Economy: 25 Million New Jobs Created In The Next Decade

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Bloomberg, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine and Washington Post

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:
Trump would roll back food safety regulations

Discussion: The Week

abc13.com:

SANDRA BLAND'S FAMILY SAYS CIVIL SUIT SETTLED FOR $1.9M — Attorneys for the Sandra Bland family say a settlement has been reached in their civil suit — ENTERTAINMENT — Famous Marilyn Monroe “Flying Skirt” pic

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Guardian, AOL, Shakesville and RT

CNN:
Sandra Bland's family settles for $1.9M in wrongful death suit

Discussion: NPR, The Frisky, The Daily Caller, Refinery29, Mashable, Hot Air and Associated Press

The Intercept:

Elizabeth Warren Asks Newly-Chatty FBI Director to Explain Why DOJ Didn't Prosecute Banksters — Like a lot of other Americans, Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to know why the Department of Justice hasn't criminally prosecuted any of the major players responsible for the 2008 financial crisis.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Common Dreams

Joshua Green / Bloomberg:
Warren: Next Administration Should Investigate—and Possibly Jail—Wall Street Bankers

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite and The Big Picture

The Hill:

Hillary Clinton faces dilemma following ‘deplorables’ remark — faces a major dilemma in the wake of her controversial “basket of deplorables” comment: keep hammering Donald Trump — on race or pivot to other issues. — Democrats are divided on the best course of action following …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
How Clinton's allies are embracing her mistake

Discussion: Hot Air and Daily Kos

Daily Mail:

Germany torn apart: Mob of 100 neo-Nazis in vicious brawl with 20 asylum seekers who goaded them into violence in latest example of how Merkel's open-door policy is dividing the country — Refugees and neo-Nazis battled it out on the streets of an east German town on Wednesday night …

Richard Zoglin / TIME:

The New Politics of Late Night — In a wild election with a ripe orange target, comics are ditching balance and taking sides — No late-night-TV comedian attacks the job with more righteous intensity than Samantha Bee. Once a week on her TBS show Full Frontal, she stands before a wall of video monitors …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon