memeorandum: Graham: 'We're going to get the votes next week' (Kevin Robillard/Politico)

12:45 PM ET, September 24, 2017

Top Items:

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

Mnuchin: NFL players ‘can do free speech on their own time’ … Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Sunday defended President Trump's attacks on NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, saying members of the league “can do free speech on their own time.”

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, Politico, IJR, Balloon Juice, AOL, ABC News, FOX6Now.com, Mediaite and Common Dreams

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:

Trump demands NFL teams ‘fire or suspend’ players or risk fan boycott — SOMERSET, N.J. — President Trump on Sunday morning renewed his demand that NFL owners fire or suspend players who kneel during the national anthem in protest, again urging that fans should boycott the sport to force change.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Hit & Run, Political Wire, The Hill, Deadspin, IJR, CBS New York, NBC News, BBC, The Atlantic, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite and CNN

Mike Allen / Axios:

What Trump, the NFL are thinking — White House director of social media Dan Scavino last evening cc'd Brian McCarthy, the NFL's vice president of communications (@NFLprguy), on a Trump tweet criticizing Commissioner Roger Goodell. — The taunt reflects the fact that far from being sheepish …

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, Instapundit and The Hill

Justin Coleman / ABC News:

NFL players can have the ‘First Amendment off the field’: Treasury chief Mnuchin says — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended President Donald Trump's comments calling for NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to be fired, saying, players “have the right to have the First Amendment off the field.”

Discussion: Fox News Insider

David Remnick / New Yorker:

The Racial Demagoguery of Trump's Assaults on Colin Kaepernick and Steph Curry — Every day, and in countless and unexpected ways, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, finds new ways to divide and demoralize his country and undermine the national interest.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Washington Post

Marissa Payne / Washington Post:
'To single out NFL players for doing this isn't something we should be doing': A's player takes up anthem protest

Discussion: JustOneMinute, San Francisco Chronicle, Daily Wire, USA Today, Associated Press, Mediaite, FOX6Now.com, TheBlaze and The Last Tradition

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
The dark racial sentiment in Trump's NBA and NFL criticism

Sally Jenkins / Washington Post: What President Trump doesn't get about the NFL

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Trump Calls for Boycott if N.F.L. Doesn't Crack Down on Anthem Protests

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, ThinkProgress, Althouse, Shareblue, The Ringer - All, Mashable, IJR, The Last Tradition, The Daily Caller, ProFootballTalk, Raw Story and Mediaite

New York Times:
Trump Attacks Warriors' Curry. LeBron James's Retort: ‘U Bum.’

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Graham: 'We're going to get the votes next week' — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said the GOP would manage to round up the 50 votes necessary to pass Obamacare repeal through the Senate by the end of the next week. but their path to 50 is unclear. — “I think we're going to get the …

Discussion: Political Wire

Lauren Fox / CNN:

Collins: ‘Very difficult for me to envision a scenario’ where she backs GOP health care bill — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Watch Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, speak with CNN's Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” at 9 a.m. ET and noon ET. — (CNN)Sen. Susan Collins said Sunday morning …

Discussion: New York Magazine and NBC News

Politico:

Cruz opposes latest Obamacare repeal — AUSTIN, Texas — Sen. Ted Cruz said Sunday that he doesn't support the latest Obamacare repeal plan drafted by Sens. Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham and suggested that the proposal also lacks the vote of Sen. Mike Lee.

Nicki Zink / ABC News:
GOP health care act sponsor to a Republican opponent: The bill will ‘save a lot of money’

Discussion: Axios and Politico

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:

White House blows off constitution, declares new limits on free speech for private enterprise — Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin defended Donald Trump's recent attacks on free speech with his own galling sentiment. — In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Mnuchin declared that NFL players only …

Discussion: USA Today

Andrew Carter / The Charlotte Observer:

UNC national championship team not visiting White House — CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina's 2017 national championship men's basketball team will not visit the White House, a team spokesman said on Saturday, though the Tar Heels were invited to visit, as is the custom for teams …

Discussion: Mediaite

ESPN:
Warriors get shunned by president before there could be a dialogue

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Raw Story, CBS Miami, NBC News, Axios, Associated Press, The Ringer - All, USA Today, AOL, ABC News, IJR, Daily Wire, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Steph Curry: It's ‘beneath’ Trump's position to target me

Discussion: Power Line, USA Today, Associated Press, Raw Story and Mediaite

Gary Langer / ABC News:

Trump seen by most Americans as doing more to divide than unite country (POLL) — President Donald Trump faces deep challenges on international and domestic issues alike, with a job approval rating mired in historic lows, a broad sense he's done more to divide than unite the country …

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Politico and Opinion Today

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Trump on NK nuclear threats: 'They won't be around much longer'

Discussion: USA Today, RedState, Axios, CNBC, The Daily Caller, Reuters and Business Insider

Scott Clement / Washington Post:
Poll: Far more trust generals than Trump on N. Korea, while two-thirds oppose preemptive strike

Discussion: Axios and Politico

Clark Mindock / The Independent:
‘Inevitable’ that North Korean missiles will hit US mainland after Donald Trump's insults …

Discussion: IJR and Political Wire

CNN:

CNN Poll: Opinion of the Republican Party falls to all-time low — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — WASHINGTON (CNN)There are fresh signs the Republican Party's brand is in trouble. — Fewer than three in 10 Americans — 29% — hold a favorable view of the Republican Party according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Exclusive: NFL airing unity ad in prime time on Sunday — With President Trump taking aim at the NFL and its players who protest during the national anthem, the league is broadcasting a message of unity. — The NFL is dusting off a one-minute ad that it produced for the Super Bowl earlier this year.

Discussion: Raw Story

Dan Diamond / Politico:

Tom Price to halt taxpayer-funded travel on private jets — Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told Fox News on Saturday that he'll stop his taxpayer-funded travel on private jets, pending a formal review by his department's inspector general. — “We've heard the criticism.

Discussion: New York Times and Axios