Top Items:
Nancy Cook / Politico:
‘They started this too late’: Trump officials and allies anxious about July 4 fest — The White House and Republican National Committee have spent the past week scrambling to distribute VIP tickets to President Donald Trump's Fourth of July speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo and Washington Post
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New York Times:
Washington Prepares for a July 4 Spectacle, Starring and Produced by President Trump — WASHINGTON — Two Bradley armored vehicles rumbled into place on Wednesday in front of the Lincoln Memorial, to be joined later by two Abrams tanks parked nearby. Cranes were putting into place the scaffolding for Jumbotron screens.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Political Flare, Rolling Stone, Politico, POLITICUSUSA and fox8.com
Matt Cohen / Mother Jones:
Pentagon Guidance to Troops in Trump's July 4th Event: Say I Love My Tank
Pentagon Guidance to Troops in Trump's July 4th Event: Say I Love My Tank
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Post, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, ABC News, Mediaite and The National Interest
Jim Sciutto / CNN:
Military chiefs have concerns about politicization of Trump's July 4th event
Military chiefs have concerns about politicization of Trump's July 4th event
Discussion:
RedState, PJ Media Home, Althouse, Mediaite and Daily Kos
Aaron Rupar / Vox:
Trump's controversial “Salute to America” July Fourth event, explained
Trump's controversial “Salute to America” July Fourth event, explained
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Post and DCist
Jonathan Bernstein / Bloomberg:
How Is Trump's Parade Offensive? Let Me Count the Ways
How Is Trump's Parade Offensive? Let Me Count the Ways
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Shareblue Media and Washington Post
Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
Chaos, Fireworks, Political VIPs On Tap For Trump's Last-Minute July 4 Bash
Chaos, Fireworks, Political VIPs On Tap For Trump's Last-Minute July 4 Bash
Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
Trump Wants Tanks on the National Mall. What Could Go Wrong?
Trump Wants Tanks on the National Mall. What Could Go Wrong?
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Sunlight Foundation and Washington Times
New York Times:
Justice Dept. Reverses Course on Citizenship Question on Census, Citing Trump's Orders — WASHINGTON — A day after pledging that the 2020 census would not ask respondents about their citizenship, Justice Department officials reversed course on Wednesday and said they were hunting …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Vox, Axios, Townhall, Mother Jones, NPR, Politics K-12, The 74 and Mediaite
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Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:
The Trump Administration Said It Wouldn't Put A Citizenship Question On The Census, And Then Trump Blew It Up With A Tweet — One day after saying the 2020 Census would go ahead without a citizenship question, Trump tweeted Wednesday they were “absolutely moving forward” with it.
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Press and Big League Politics
The Hill:
Trump appears to contradict officials, says census citizenship question not abandoned
Trump appears to contradict officials, says census citizenship question not abandoned
Discussion:
USA Today, RedState, CNN, San Diego Union-Tribune, Politico, Washington Press, FOX40, The Intercept, Breitbart and Mediaite
CNN:
Trump administration reverses course on census citizenship question
Trump administration reverses course on census citizenship question
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway and Slate
Janet Adamy / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Tweet Sows Confusion on Census
Trump Tweet Sows Confusion on Census
Discussion:
Mediaite and Big League Politics
Rebecca Traister / The Cut:
Politics Is Changing; Why Aren't the Pundits Who Cover It? The Donny Deutsch problem in media. — In past weeks, the curtain has officially been raised on the vast and diverse field of candidates for the Democratic nomination, many of them politicians who would not have been seen …
Associated Press:
Harris says busing should be considered, not mandated — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Kamala Harris said Wednesday that busing students should be considered by school districts trying to desegregate their locations — not the federal mandate she appeared to support …
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Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
‘We have a predator living in the White House’: Harris sharpens attacks on Trump — Kamala Harris on Wednesday debuted a new line of attack against President Donald Trump, saying that her background as a prosecutor made her uniquely suited to take on “a predator” like the president.
Breck Dumas / TheBlaze:
ABC, CBS, and NBC announce they will snub President Trump's ‘Salute to America’ celebration — Major networks opting to run shows like ‘Jeopardy!’ in lieu of live coverage of the Fourth of July event — What are the details? — The Daily Mail reported that the networks will stick …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Reason and CNN
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Elizabeth Thomas / ABC News:
Trump defends cost of July 4th ‘Salute to America’ event despite extra millions expected
Trump defends cost of July 4th ‘Salute to America’ event despite extra millions expected
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post and Politico
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“Don Jr. and Jared Really Dislike Each Other”: In the Trump Campaign, It's Son Versus Son-in-Law — Suspicion has turned to paranoia as Kushner pushes for 2020 hegemony. “Don doesn't want to give Jared any excuses to delegitimize him,” says a person close to Don Jr.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Mediaite and New York Times
Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Border agency knew about secret Facebook group for years — Customs and Border Protection officials have been aware for up to three years that a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents was posting offensive messages — far longer than previously reported.
Discussion:
Mad Dog PAC, Washington Free Beacon, Splinter, New York Times, The Atlantic, Fox News, The Guardian, Michigan Advance, Progress Pond, Slate, Baltimore Sun and Vox
Tal Kopan / San Francisco Chronicle:
Trump administration ending in-person interpreters at immigrants' first hearings — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to replace in-court interpreters at initial immigration court hearings with videos informing asylum seekers and other immigrants facing deportation of their rights, The Chronicle has learned.
Discussion:
Splinter
Jeremy Raff / The Atlantic:
What a Pediatrician Saw Inside a Border Patrol Warehouse — MCALLEN, Texas—Inside the Border Patrol warehouse on Ursula Avenue, Dolly Lucio Sevier saw a baby who'd been fed from the same unwashed bottle for days; children showing signs of malnutrition and dehydration; and several kids who …
Discussion:
New York Times and NBC News
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
NRA meltdown has Trump campaign sweating — The National Rifle Association aired an avalanche of TV ads and pushed its 5 million-plus members to the polls for Donald Trump in 2016, propelling him in the Rust Belt states that delivered him the presidency. — Now, the gun rights group …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Kos, Shareblue Media, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo and New York Times
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Andy Borowitz / New Yorker:
Trump's Fourth of July Parade to Include Flyover by Russian Air Force — WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Calling it “incredibly exciting news,” President Donald Trump revealed on Wednesday that his long-planned Fourth of July parade in Washington will include a flyover by Russian Su-24 fighter planes.
Discussion:
Military.com, The Moderate Voice and Associated Press
David Rutz / Washington Free Beacon:
MSNBC Guest Compares Betsy Ross Flag to Swastika, Burning Cross — ‘Those symbols are symbols of hate’ — MSNBC guest Michael Eric Dyson compared the Betsy Ross American flag to the Nazi swastika and a burning Ku Klux Klan cross during an appearance Wednesday.
Discussion:
twitchy.com and Instapundit
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EJ Dickson / Rolling Stone:
Why Is Everyone So Upset About the Betsy Ross Flag?
Why Is Everyone So Upset About the Betsy Ross Flag?
Discussion:
CBS News, Daily Wire, VICE, Washington Post, Glamour, The Ring of Fire Network and The Daily Caller
Meredith Lerner / CREW:
Nauert Reported Earning Fox Salary While at State Department — Heather Nauert, a former State Department spokesperson and President Trump's original pick to replace Nikki Haley as the United States Representative to the United Nations, reported in her termination financial disclosure report …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
Mike Wright / Telegraph:
Anyone with more than 30,000 social media followers considered a celebrity, advertising watchdog rules — Anyone with more than 30,000 social media followers is now considered a celebrity and subject to advertising rules, a watchdog has ruled in a landmark case.
Discussion:
Gizmodo
Kate Briquelet / The Daily Beast:
Court Orders Release of Sealed Docs About Jeffrey Epstein's Alleged Sex Ring — In a blow to the billionaire pedophile and his alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, a federal court ordered the release of sealed court records in a case brought by an alleged victim.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Heather Long / Washington Post:
Trump Fed nominee Judy Shelton once advocated for ‘open borders’ with Mexico — President Trump's Federal Reserve nominee Judy Shelton has long been a proponent of free trade and once advocated for an open border with Mexico, a clear contrast with the president who has focused on barriers at the southern border.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, New York Times and Observer
Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
Meghan McCain, Feeling Like an ‘Exhausted, Defeated... Caged Animal,’ May Exit ‘The View’ — Sources close to McCain tell The Daily Beast she feels like ‘a caged animal’ on the ABC talk show. 'It's getting to the point where it's not worth the emotional toll every week.'
Discussion:
CNN, TVLine, Variety, Conservative News Today, Deadline, Vanity Fair, RedState, The Daily Caller, NB Blog, EW.com, Splinter, Page Six and Mediaite
Farah Stockman / New York Times:
Manslaughter Charge Dropped Against Alabama Woman Who Was Shot While Pregnant — Prosecutors in Alabama said on Wednesday that they were dropping a manslaughter charge against Marshae Jones over the death of the fetus she was carrying when she was shot in the belly.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, TheBlaze, VICE, Vox, Refinery29 and Mother Jones
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Democratic Presidential Candidates Need to Stop Taking Unpopular Stances — The Democratic presidential primary has worked to the party's disadvantage by maneuvering its candidates into unpopular positions. This is not quite a crisis, but it is a serious danger that, if not redressed, could blow up in the party's face.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, National Journal and The Gateway Pundit
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Appeals court declines to green-light Trump border wall projects — A divided federal appeals court panel has declined to remove a major roadblock to President Donald Trump's plan to spend more than $8 billion for border wall construction despite Congress agreeing to give him only a fraction of that sum.