memeorandum: TV Ratings: Early Numbers Show Significant Drop From First Presidential Debate (Cynthia Littleton/Variety)

1:00 PM ET, October 10, 2016

Top Items:

Trump's debate plan to seat Bill Clinton's accusers in family box was thwarted — ST. LOUIS — Donald Trump's campaign sought to intimidate Hillary Clinton and embarrass her husband by seating women who have accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual abuse in the Trump family's box …

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:

Juanita Broaddrick's other debate-night claim could be trouble for Breitbart News — Seated next to Donald Trump at a pre-debate campaign event Sunday night, Juanita Broaddrick repeated her charge that Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 — an accusation she has contradicted under oath and which the former president denies.

Discussion: Mediaite, Political Insider blog and NPR

MJ Lee / CNN:

Donald Trump's mission: Make Clinton's life hell for the next month — WARNING: This story contains graphic language. — St. Louis (CNN)Donald Trump issued an unmistakable threat to Hillary Clinton Sunday night: I am willing to cross any line to make the next 30 days of your life hell.

Discussion: Washington Post, Occupy Democrats and RedState

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Sources: Ryan discussed revoking Trump endorsement — ST. LOUIS — House Speaker Paul Ryan has discussed withdrawing his endorsement of Donald Trump, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions within his inner circle. — Ryan (R-Wis.) has publicly and privately grown dismayed …

Discussion: ABC News, Political Insider blog, The Moderate Voice and Vox

Associated Press:

Trump Ally Paid Sexual Assault Victim Critical of Clinton — A sexual-assault victim who is critical of Hillary Clinton and who appeared alongside Donald Trump before Sunday night's debate was paid $2,500 by a political action committee founded by Trump ally Roger Stone.

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story, Politico, Vox and Media Matters for America

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
Trump Goes Full Breitbart

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, NBC News and Mediaite

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:
UGLIEST DEBATE EVER

Discussion: ABC News, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and WCTX-TV

Hadas Gold / Politico:
Who paid for Bill Clinton's accusers to travel to the debate?

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, AOL, New York Times and New York Magazine

Jordyn Phelps / ABC News:
Flashback: Donald Trump Called Bill Clinton's Accusers ‘Terrible’ and ‘Unattractive’ and Former President ‘Terrific’

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, The Cook Political Report, Mediaite, Law News, CNN, New York Magazine, Washington Post and The Week

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
Trump looms behind Clinton at the debate

Discussion: Associated Press and Daily Kos

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Notes on the garbage fire that is American politics

Claude Brodesser-Akner / New Jersey Online:

Mike Pence cancels N.J. Trump fundraiser scheduled for Monday in Ocean County — TRENTON — Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, has canceled his planned visit to New Jersey scheduled for Monday, several GOP sources tell NJ Advance Media. — Pence, the governor of Indiana …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, NBC News, The Week and Mediaite

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:

Paul Ryan tells House GOP he won't defend Trump in wake of video scandal — House Speaker Paul Ryan told fellow Republican lawmakers Monday he will not defend Donald Trump and focus only on holding congressional majorities. — “The speaker is going to spend the next month focused entirely …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Resurgent

New York Times:

Paul Ryan Says He Will No Longer Defend Donald Trump — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan dealt a hammer blow to Donald J. Trump's presidential candidacy Monday, telling Republican lawmakers that he would no longer defend Mr. Trump and would focus instead on defending the party's majority in Congress.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Week and The Federalist

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Ryan to House lawmakers: I 'won't defend Trump' — Speaker Paul Ryan told House Republicans on a conference call Monday morning he is done defending Donald Trump and will focus on keeping an increasingly imperiled House majority, according to sources on the call.

Discussion: Guardian and Balloon Juice

Jonathan V. Last / Weekly Standard:

The Debate's Biggest Loser Was the GOP — Trump does just well enough to doom Republicans on November 8. — There is one important sense in which Donald Trump “won” the debate on Sunday night: He did not implode. He wasn't “good,” or attractive, or knowledgeable. He was coarse and whiny and unpleasant.

Discussion: RedState

CNN:
Paul Ryan said he won't defend Donald Trump

Discussion: The Hill, Mother Jones, Hot Air, Occupy Democrats, Mashable, Washington Post, PinkNews and New York Times

Tom LoBianco / CNN:
Pence: I never considered leaving Trump ticket

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, The Stranger …, NPR, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Politicus USA, WTVR-TV, Washington Monthly, Joe.My.God., ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Indianapolis Star and The Right Scoop

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Pence calls rumors of him weighing dropping off the ticket ‘absolutely false’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABC News and The Daily Caller

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Kellyanne Conway throws down the gauntlet to Paul Ryan

Discussion: Daily Kos

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Donald Trump confirmed our worst fears about the kind of president he would be

Discussion: Washington Post

Ari Melber / NBC News:

Trump's Pledge to ‘Jail’ Clinton Unprecedented — Trump: ‘I am Going to Instruct My Attorney General to Get a Special Prosecutor’ 0:58 — Donald Trump's pledge Sunday night that he would order his attorney general to investigate Hillary Clinton, and his quip that she should “be in jail …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NBC News, Raw Story, CNN, Occupy Democrats, Media Matters for America, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, Politico, Scripting News and Mashable

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
Donald Trump's threat to imprison Hillary Clinton is a threat to democracy

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, RedState and Vogue

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:
Melania Trump Trolls Clintons with ‘Pussy Bow’ Blouse at Debate

Discussion: Full Feed, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Associated Press:
Trump's 'You'd Be in Jail' Debate Jab at Clinton Condemned

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Will Jordan / YouGov US Opinion Center News:
Post-debate poll: Clinton 47%, Trump 42%

Discussion: Vox, Hot Air, AOL, Scared Monkeys, CNBC, FiveThirtyEight, The Week, Politicus USA, Rasmussen Reports, Business Insider, Daily Kos and CBS News

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
Trump Campaign Manager: Statement About Putting Hillary in Jail Was a ‘Quip’

Discussion: Political Insider blog and Daily Kos

CNN:
Clinton wins debate, but Trump exceeds expectations

Discussion: Politicus USA, Raw Story, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Associated Press

Madeline Conway / Politico: CNN poll: 57 percent of viewers say Clinton won the debate

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

At Second Debate, Donald Trump Was the Perfect Republican — On Saturday, in the wake of a tape of Donald Trump boasting about his repeated sexual assaults, the Republican Party appeared to be in the early stages of a full jailbreak repudiation of its nominee.

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, CBS New York, CNN, Vox and Independent Journal Review, more at Mediagazer »

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
The answer is no: We haven't seen anything quite like this

Discussion: The Resurgent, Political Wire and WNCT-TV

New York Times:
Donald Trump Vows Retaliation as Republicans Abandon Him

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Hullabaloo and The Week

NBC News:

Poll: More Voters Say Trump Doesn't Respect Women After Lewd Tape Surfaces — After a 2005 recording of Donald Trump making lewd comments about women emerged on Friday, 63 percent of likely voters said they do not think the Republican nominee respects women, according to the latest NBC News|

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Politico and NBC News

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

TV Ratings: Early Numbers Show Significant Drop From First Presidential Debate … Viewership of Sunday's second presidential debate fell significantly in major markets from the turnout for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's first meeting on Sept. 26. — In Nielsen's overnight metered markets …

Discussion: Reuters, Forbes, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and Hot Air

Chrissie.Thompsonfink / Cincinnati.com:

Which vote can they defend? Ohio GOP chair, wife watch debate — In a bitter debate filled with tension and insult, Hillary Clinton declared that Donald Trump's vulgar comments about women prove his unsuitability to be president. He promised she would “be in jail” if he were president.

Discussion: Washington Post, TheStreet.com, Atlanta Black Star, Raw Story, www.wnyc.org, Mashable, WNCT-TV, AOL and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »

USA Today:

Trump, companies accused of mistreating women in at least 20 lawsuits — One woman sued Donald Trump's Miami resort saying she lost her job because she got pregnant. — Two others claimed they were fired after complaining that co-workers sexually harassed them.

Discussion: Law News, Patterico's Pontifications and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times