memeorandum: Trump denies racist tweets were racist (CNN)

3:05 PM ET, July 15, 2019

Top Items:

Trump Fans the Flames of a Racial Fire — WASHINGTON — President Trump woke up on Sunday morning, gazed out at the nation he leads, saw the dry kindling of race relations and decided to throw a match on it. It was not the first time, nor is it likely to be the last.

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Pelosi announces resolution condemning Trump for racist tweets — House Democrats are drafting a resolution to condemn President Donald Trump's racist tweets against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other high-profile freshman congresswomen, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Monday.

Discussion: RedState, Axios, Breitbart, twitchy.com and Politico

Mike Allen / Axios:

A tough time to be a Trump supporter — Conservatives who reluctantly support President Trump often try to pretend the daily outrage didn't happen, but yesterday's “go back” tweets were like his “both sides” comment on Charlottesville — a transgression that won't instantly fade, and can't be laughed off.

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Reason, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, Townhall, Power Line, Mashable, Mississippi Politics and News and Lawyers, Guns & Money

CNN:

Trump denies racist tweets were racist — (CNN)President Donald Trump denied Monday that the inflammatory tweets he issued Sunday were racist. — Asked on the South Lawn during an event on American-made products if his tweets were racist, he said: “Not at all.”

Discussion: RedState, Political Wire, The Nation, ImmigrationProf Blog and WPIX 11 New York

Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed News:

Trump Said His Racist Tweets Are Fine Because “Many People” Agree With Him — President Trump on Monday claimed his racist tweets attacking progressive congresswomen weren't racist, and he added that he's not concerned about backlash because “many people” hold his same views.

Discussion: The Week

David French / National Review:

Donald Trump's Tweets Were Malicious, and Republican Silence is Deafening — In 2016 Speaker Paul Ryan called Donald Trump's attacks on Judge Alonzo Curiel — Trump had called the American-born judge “Mexican” and claimed he was therefore too biased to preside over the Trump University litigation …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Vox, Townhall and Roll Call

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:

Republicans are quiet as Trump urges minority congresswomen to leave the country — A day has passed without prominent Republicans stepping forward to disagree with President Trump's notion that four minority congresswomen who have been critical of his approach to immigration enforcement should …

Discussion: Politico, Vanity Fair, Breitbart, New York Times, The Guardian, Daily Kos, The Bulwark, The Daily Beast, Fortune, Slate, VICE and Shareblue Media

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump just denied his attacks are racist. He only confirmed the worst. — Ever since President Trump launched his candidacy by declaring Mexicans to be “rapists,” Trump's public racism has often included two additional important elements: An adamant refusal to apologize for it in the face of outrage …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, RedState and USA Today

Los Angeles Times:

Trump is truly America's Bigot-in-Chief — President Trump's Twitter feed is a repugnant place, and no one would want the thankless task of having to weed through all his bitter, bigoted ramblings to determine which are the most offensive. But a three-tweet thread early Sunday morning …

Discussion: CNSNews

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Tiptoeing around Trump's racism is a betrayal of journalistic truth-telling

more at Mediagazer »

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:
Meghan McCain knocks Lindsey Graham for defending Trump's tweets: ‘This is not the person I used to know’

Discussion: Political Wire, ABC News and Breitbart

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
After years of decrying McCarthyism, Lindsey Graham accuses members of Congress of being Communists

Discussion: New York Post, Daily Wire and Talking Points Memo

Devan Cole / CNN:
Graham declines to condemn racist Trump tweets and calls Democratic congresswomen ‘a bunch of communists’

Discussion: Vox, RedState, VICE, Slate, Shakesville and Political Wire

Elizabeth Thomas / ABC News:
Trump says his ‘go back’ remarks to lawmakers ‘not at all racist’ as outrage grows

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show, CBS News and Talking Points Memo

Owen Daugherty / The Hill:
Ted Lieu: Trump a ‘racist ass’

Discussion: CNN, Axios, Coffee House and Breitbart

Goldie Taylor / The Daily Beast:
Trump Is a Racist. If You Still Support Him, So Are You.

Cristina Cabrera / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Rep. Insists Trump Was Probably Just Talking About Congresswomen's Districts

Discussion: Politico and WBAL NewsRadio 1090/FM 101.5

Brian Stelter / CNN:
How news outlets are dealing with the ‘moral dimension’ of covering Trump and his racist tweets

Discussion: Daily Wire, Media Matters for America, The Daily Beast and Rolling Stone

Christina Zhao / Newsweek:
RacistInChief Trends After Trump Tells Lawmakers to ‘Go Back’ …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Hill and RedState

Bloomberg: U.K. Leader Says Trump's Tweets on Democrats Are ‘Completely Unacceptable’

Colleen Long / Associated Press:

Trump moves to end asylum protections for Central Americans — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday moved to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants in a major escalation of the president's battle to tamp down the number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, NBC News, Reuters, Politico, Common Dreams, Shareblue Media, Splinter, FOX6Now.com, The Week, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Kos

Washington Post: Trump administration moves to restrict asylum access, aiming to curb Central American migration

Bill Chappell / NPR:
Trump Administration Implementing ‘3rd Country’ Rule On Migrants Seeking Asylum

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Common Dreams, ACLU and CNSNews

Department of Homeland Security:
DHS and DOJ Issue Third-Country Asylum Rule

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Signal, UPI and Daily Wire

Chris Mills Rodrigo / The Hill:
Trump to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants at US-Mexico border

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Sara A. Carter and Patterico's Pontifications

Dan Diamond / Politico:

Biden unveils health care plan: Affordable Care Act 2.0 — Democratic front-runner Joe Biden on Monday unveiled a health plan that's intended to preserve the most popular parts of Obamacare — from Medicaid expansion to protections for patients with preexisting conditions …

Discussion: YouTube, Fox News, Washington Post, Daily Kos, UPI, Shakesville, Washington Free Beacon, twitchy.com and New York Times

Joe Biden / Joe Biden for President:
Health Care — “When we passed the Affordable Care Act …

Discussion: CNN, People's Policy Project, Axios, STAT, Washington Post, Common Dreams, Splinter, The Daily Caller and The Week

Stephen Braun / Associated Press:
Biden cancer nonprofit suspends operations indefinitely

Discussion: New York Post and The Daily Caller

Garrett M. Graff / Politico:

The Border Patrol Hits a Breaking Point — Vice President Mike Pence's Friday visit to a Border Patrol detention facility in Texas didn't go according to plan. Meant to pressure Democrats to address the migrant crisis at the southern border, the visit instead appeared to horrify …

Discussion: New York Times

Robert Moore / NPR: 3-Year-Old Asked To Pick Parent In Attempted Family Separation, Her Parents Say

NBC News:

Trump weighs ousting Commerce chief Wilbur Ross after census defeat — Some White House officials expect the Cabinet secretary, who has known the president for years, to depart as soon as this summer. — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has told aides and allies that he is considering …

Discussion: Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Politico, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, The Week, New York Post and Wall Street Journal

BBC:

Italy seizes ‘combat-ready’ missile in raids on far right — Anti-terrorism police in northern Italy have seized an air-to-air missile and other sophisticated weapons during raids on far-right extremist groups. — Three people were arrested - two of them near Forli airport.

Iga Lis / Politico:
Italian police seize missile in raids on far right

Discussion: ThinkProgress and One America News Network

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed News:

Elizabeth Warren's Campaign Turned To A Big Donor To Pay For The DNC Voter Database, Despite Her Fundraising Pledge — Elizabeth Warren relied on a multimillion-dollar Democratic donor to cover the cost of an expensive voter database — a move that risks putting her campaign at odds with the spirit …

Discussion: Political Wire and twitchy.com

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

Huge Turnout Is Expected in 2020. So Which Party Would Benefit? — Democrats typically gain from a broader electorate in presidential races, but that pattern is not assured in the Trump era. — The 2020 presidential election is poised to have the highest turnout in a century …

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

Obama officials say Trump administration hasn't delayed new $20 bill, despite Harriet Tubman firestorm — Congressional Democrats have been hammering the Trump administration for delaying the introduction of 19th-century abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.

Discussion: Axios, Townhall, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com

Tim Alberta / Vanity Fair:

“You Crossed the Rubicon...There's No Going Back”: Karl Rove, Kellyanne Conway, and the Odd Couple Marriage Between Mike Pence and Donald Trump — He didn't like Rove (Trump: “I'll win New York”; Rove: “No, you won't"). Conway had worked for “Lyin' Ted Cruz.” And Pence was a choirboy, albeit a hyper-ambitious one.

Lizzie Presser / ProPublica:

The Reels Brothers Spent Eight Years in Jail for Refusing to Leave It. — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica's Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.

Discussion: Boing Boing