memeorandum: Republicans really hate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There's a lesson there for 2020. (Paul Waldman/Washington Post)

11:30 PM ET, March 15, 2019

Top Items:

Robert Evans / bellingcat:

Shitposting, Inspirational Terrorism, and the Christchurch Mosque Massacre — On Friday, March 15th, one or more gunmen opened fire in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. As I write this, three men and one woman have been taken into custody by local law enforcement.

New Zealand Herald:

Christchurch mosque massacre: 49 confirmed dead in shootings; four arrested - three men, one woman … Forty-nine people have been killed and 48 more hurt after mass shootings at two Christchurch mosques in the worst terror attack on New Zealand soil. — Nour Tavis said he was in the front row …

Gohmert:

Gohmert's Statement on the Horrific Shootings at New Zealand Mosques — f t # e — Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement this morning regarding the horrific shootings at two mosques in New Zealand: — ""The shootings at the New Zealand mosques are egregiously reprehensible.

Discussion: HuffPost, Washington Press, ThinkProgress, Shareblue Media, Roll Call, twitchy.com, Joe.My.God., Daily Kos and The Mahablog

David C. Atkinson / New Republic:

The Longer History of the Christchurch Attacks — On Friday, an Australian white supremacist committed a monstrous act of violence against Muslim worshippers in New Zealand. The attack, which he livestreamed, was steeped in the kind of global iconography and discourse that characterizes modern white supremacy.

Discussion: Raw Story

Wajahat Ali / New York Times:

The Roots of the Christchurch Massacre — All those who have helped to spread the worldwide myth that Muslims are a threat have blood on their hands. — For Muslims, Friday Prayer is like Sunday Mass for Christians. It's the day of community prayer. We travel to our local mosques, our religious sanctuary.

Discussion: Slate, Breitbart, Vox, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and The Atlantic

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Trump says white nationalism is not a rising threat after New Zealand attacks: 'It's a small group of people' — BREAKING NEWS: When asked if white nationalism was a rising threat in the wake of the attacks on mosques in New Zealand that left 49 people dead, President Trump on Friday said: “I don't really.

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart, Politico, Raw Story, RedState, Variety, The Week, Joe.My.God., Political Wire and Althouse

Alex Ward / Vox:

The New Zealand shooter called immigrants “invaders.” Hours later, so did Trump. — The alleged shooter rambled about immigrants in his manifesto. Trump mentioned it during a veto ceremony. — President Donald Trump just used similar language to describe immigrants coming …

Discussion: Recode

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:
The Daily Mail Let Readers Download The New Zealand Mosque Attacker's Manifesto Directly From Its Website

Discussion: The Guardian, NBC News, ABC News, CNN, UPROXX, Outside the Beltway, Macleans.ca, Talking Points Memo and The Atlantic, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:
Terror Attacks at New Zealand Mosques Leave 49 People Dead

Discussion: Press Association, Raw Story, Fox News, Associated Press, Daily Wire, IJR and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Al Jazeera:
New Zealand mosque attacks suspect praised Trump in manifesto

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Nation, Raw Story, Gothamist, Contemptor, Washington Press, Scripting News and Right Wing Watch

Andy Campbell / HuffPost:
A Suspect In New Zealand Mass Shootings Appears To Be A White Supremacist

Discussion: NBC News, ABC News, Breitbart, New York Times, ThinkProgress, SFist and Splinter

Brian Klaas / Washington Post:
A short history of President Trump's anti-Muslim bigotry

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Katie Galioto / Politico:
Trump issues first veto of his presidency

Discussion: NPR, Washington Post, CNN and The Root

Associated Press:
Trump issues first veto after rebuke of border order

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, LifeZette and Daily Wire

Joseph Menn / Reuters:

Beto O'Rourke's secret membership in America's oldest hacking group — Illustration REUTERS/Mike Segar/Troy Dunkley — As the Texas Democrat enters the race for president, members of a group famous for “hactivism” come forward for the first time to claim him as one of their own.

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Beto O'Rourke apologizes for jokes about wife, says he has benefited from ‘white privilege’

Discussion: Townhall and Chicks On The Right

Scott Bland / Politico:
O'Rourke ‘not ... proud’ of teenage murder fantasy writing

Discussion: Reuters, Axios, RedState, Daily Wire and Fox News

Natasha Korecki / Politico:
‘Not one woman got that kind of coverage’: Beto backlash begins

Discussion: Front Page Magazine and The Daily Caller

Alexi McCammond / Axios:
2020 Democrats tried fundraising on Beto O'Rourke's presidential bid

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:

Republicans really hate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There's a lesson there for 2020. — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is the breakout star of the House freshman class, a charismatic, media-savvy politician equally at home interrogating witnesses in committee hearings and communicating with the public on Instagram.

Justin McCarthy / Gallup:
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Better Known, but Image Skews Negative

Discussion: Breitbart, The Week, IJR, Axios, Washington Examiner, National Review, Front Page Magazine, Politico, Hot Air, twitchy.com and Mediaite

Mike Fleming Jr / Deadline:

Disney Reinstates Director James Gunn For ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy 3’ — EXCLUSIVE: Redemption and second chances have long been superhero movie staples, and today it looks like life has imitated art. I've learned that Disney has reinstated James Gunn as the writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 …

Owen Daugherty / The Hill:

Bernie Sanders gets 7 stitches after cutting head on shower door — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) got seven stitches Friday after he cut his head on a shower door. — Politico reports Sanders was given a “clean bill of health” and the minor injury did not interrupt his campaigning.

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart, Power Line and The Gateway Pundit

Brent D. Griffiths / Politico:
Bernie Sanders' staffers unionize in first for presidential campaign

Discussion: Breitbart

NBC News:

New Zealand shooting leaves online extremism researchers ‘hopeless and furious’ — Researchers told NBC News that they had raised concerns about online extremism but said their warnings and ideas have been largely ignored. — Researchers have warned tech companies for years that online extremism …

Kevin Roose / New York Times:
A Mass Murder of, and for, the Internet

Discussion: New York Post, TechCrunch, Breitbart, The Wrap, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, Motherboard, ABC News, Fortune and Hullabaloo, more at Techmeme »

Carlos Sanchez / Texas Monthly:

Joaquin Castro “All But Certain” to Challenge John Cornyn for U.S. Senate, Source Says — A Joaquin Castro candidacy instantly makes next year's Senate race competitive, observers say. — Joaquin Castro, the Democratic congressman from San Antonio, “is all but certain” …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Flynn done cooperating with Mueller probe, but info he provided is still part of ongoing investigations, government says — (CNN)Michael Flynn has finished cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but the information he provided is still part of other ongoing criminal investigations …

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Flynn business partner facing prosecution complains he was singled out

Discussion: Raw Story

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

One year in, Facebook's big algorithm change has spurred an angry, Fox News-dominated — and very engaged! — News Feed — It's been a little over a year since Facebook announced major algorithm changes that would decrease the amount of news in News Feed, instead prioritizing non-publisher content …

Discussion: Mashable and Fox News

Stacey Ritzen / UPROXX:

Lori Loughlin's Husband Is Apparently A Vocal Trump Supporter Who Frequently Complains About People Not ‘Carrying Their Own Weight’ — The fallout of Operation Varsity Blues, as it's now being called, has been full of schadenfreude, to say the least. Actress Lori Loughlin …

Discussion: Page Six

Media Matters for America:

Rush Limbaugh suggests New Zealand shootings might be a false flag attack committed by a leftist to smear conservatives — Limbaugh: “There's an ongoing theory that the shooter himself may in fact be a leftist who writes the manifesto and then goes out and performs the deed purposely to smear his political enemies”

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo and Joe.My.God.

Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite: Rush Limbaugh Baselessly Suggests NZ Mosque Attacks Could Be False Flag Carried Out by a ‘Leftist’

New York Times:

Russian Oligarch Sues the U.S. Over Sanctions — WASHINGTON — Oleg V. Deripaska, a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin, sued the United States government on Friday, demanding it lift sanctions that he claimed have cost him billions of dollars, made him “radioactive” …

Discussion: News Agency UNIAN

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:

How Trump's Brand of Grievance Politics Roiled a Pennsylvania Campaign — OLD FORGE, Pa. — The news came at 9:41 p.m. Tuesday: Frank Scavo III had lost. Again. — Mr. Scavo, a perennial candidate running for the Pennsylvania Legislature on a platform of ending property taxes …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Nation, Washington Monthly and Raw Story

Gabriel Debenedetti / New York Magazine:

Howard Schultz and His Team Think the Backlash Means They're ‘Onto Something’ — Anyone who thought, or hoped, that the flood of horror in response to Howard Schultz's independent presidential exploration would deter him might want to sit down for this. Because the former Starbucks chairman …

Discussion: Vanity Fair and Washington Post

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

‘The Conveyor Belt’: U.S. officials say massive smuggling effort is speeding immigrants to — and across — the southern border — Criminal organizations in Mexico have mounted a lucrative new smuggling operation that uses express buses to deliver Guatemalan migrant families to the U.S. border …

Discussion: twitchy.com, Breitbart, Axios, ACLU of Tennessee, rbc.ru and ThinkProgress

Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:

Academic Behind Cambridge Analytica Data Mining Sues Facebook for Defamation — WASHINGTON — The academic who helped Cambridge Analytica vacuum up private information from tens of millions of Facebook profiles sued the social media giant on Friday, arguing that the company defamed …

Discussion: Boing Boing and fox8.com

Dan Merica / CNN:

Amy Klobuchar defends her staff treatment, says toughness needed when dealing with Putin — Klobuchar reacts to Beto O'Rourke's entry in 2020 race — (CNN)Sen. Amy Klobuchar's nascent presidential campaign has been dogged by allegations that the Minnesota Democrat mistreated her Senate staff.

Discussion: Townhall, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo, Splinter, TheBlaze, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller

CNN:

White House and House Democrats battle over John Kelly, ex-officials in Trump probes — (CNN)House Democrats, eager to investigate all aspects of the Trump White House, have identified former administration officials they need to carry out their probes. But the White House isn't making it an easy task.

Discussion: Raw Story