memeorandum: The Denialists — It takes a lot of work to try to exonerate … (Charles Sykes/The Bulwark)

2:00 PM ET, August 9, 2019

Top Items:

Edward Helmore / The Guardian:

Anger as grinning Trump gives thumbs-up while Melania holds El Paso orphan — A backlash is building over a picture posted by Melania Trump on Twitter that showed her and Donald Trump smiling broadly while holding a baby who was orphaned in the mass shooting in El Paso.

Discussion: Slate, Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, Fox News and Breitbart

Colin Drury / The Independent:

Grinning Trump gives thumbs-up with baby whose parents were shot dead in El Paso terror attack — Infant was brought for photo op at hospital where patients refused to meet president — It is the sort of photo politicians have long been known to favour: adorable baby, thumbs up, big smiles.

Discussion: Jezebel, The Guardian, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:

The Denialists — It takes a lot of work to try to exonerate the president's fomenting of racist violence, but Trump fans are giving it their all. — “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” —The El Paso killer's manifesto — Byron York wants to make sure …

Discussion: MinnPost, Big League Politics and Instapundit

Reed Richardson / Mediaite:

Trump and First Lady Smiling With Baby Orphaned in El Paso Massacre Draws Criticism: ‘Act Like a Human Being’ — One day after President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited with victims of the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, Twitter erupted in disgust at an image Tweeted …

Lulu Garcia-Navarro / The Atlantic:
The Media Erased Latinos From the Story

Discussion: New York Times

KYTV-TV:

Former firefighter stops man armed with 100 rounds of ammunition at south Springfield Walmart — SPRINGFIELD, Mo. The Springfield Police Department says it responded to a call of an active shooter at the Walmart Neighborhood Market at Republic Rd., near Golden Ave., Thursday evening.

KOLR:

Springfield Police arrest armed person at Walmart on Republic — SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- The Springfield Police Department tweeted out Thursday that an armed man was arrested at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on W. Republic Road. … Later, Lt. Mike Lucas with Springfield Police confirmed …

Discussion: BizPac Review, Louder With Crowder, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall, Daily Wire, TheBlaze, New York Post and FOX2now.com

New York Times:

Trump's Opponents Want to Name His Big Donors. His Supporters Say It's Harassment. — WASHINGTON — For many businesses, a sudden deluge of phone calls might signal an influx of new customers. But most of the 25 calls Justin Herricks received before noon on Thursday were from people …

Discussion: Michael Berry, Fox News, BizPac Review, Daily Kos, Patterico's Pontifications, Advocate and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Stephen Ross expressed qualms about Trump bash after liberal backlash — Billionaire New York real estate developer Stephen Ross privately expressed qualms about going ahead with his Hamptons fundraiser for President Trump today. — The state of play: Liberal customers had threatened …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Week, Breitbart, CNBC and Associated Press

Don Gonyea / NPR:
SoulCycle Owner, Trump Donors Face Public Shaming

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg and Daily Wire

Katherine Rosman / New York Times:
They Paid $42 for a SoulCycle Ride, Not for Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Outside the Beltway, CBS Miami, Los Angeles Times and Slate

New York Times:
May the SoulCycle Boycott Make Democracy Better

Discussion: Pirate's Cove, twitchy.com, Daily Kos and Eater NY

Yahoo News:

Here's the data on white supremacist terrorism the Trump administration has been ‘unable or unwilling’ to give to Congress — WASHINGTON — Alleged white supremacists were responsible for all race-based domestic terrorism incidents in 2018, according to a government document distributed earlier …

Discussion: Politico and NBC News

Stephen Gruber-Miller / Des Moines Register:

Joe Biden says ‘poor kids’ are ‘just as talented as white kids’ — Speaking in Iowa on Thursday night, former Vice President Joe Biden said “poor kids” are “just as talented as white kids,” before correcting himself. — Biden was addressing the Iowa Asian and Latino Coalition …

Discussion: NBC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Splinter, UPI and Mediaite

Emma Kinery / Bloomberg:
Biden in Iowa Says ‘Poor Kids’ Are Just as Smart as ‘White Kids’

Discussion: The Week

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Biden tells minority voters in Iowa that ‘poor kids’ are just as bright as ‘white kids’

Discussion: The Root and Jezebel

Washington Post:

'If you're a good worker, papers don't matter': How a Trump construction crew has relied on immigrants without legal status — OSSINING, N.Y. — For nearly two decades, the Trump Organization has relied on a roving crew of Latin American employees to build fountains and waterfalls …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Caitlin Byrd / Post and Courier:

Sen. Tim Scott says his 2022 SC reelection bid will be his last political race — In three years time, Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott will be facing reelection in South Carolina, but he will also be facing something else: His last political run. — In a wide-ranging interview Thursday …

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Quillette Duped by Left-Wing Hoaxer Posing as Communist Construction Worker — “Archie Carter,” who pretended to be a blue-collar member of the Democratic Socialists of America, says he set out to humiliate the conservative site with his error-riddled story.

Discussion: Quillette and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Aaron Freedman / Jacobin: Exclusive: We Found Archie Carter

The Daily Beast:

Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex Ring — In newly unsealed documents, Virginia Giuffre claims that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to politicians, princes, and a high-flying financier, among others. — A young woman who says financier Jeffrey Epstein …

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

Trump heads for golf club holiday - but summer storms loom — NEW YORK (AP) — Now is the summer (vacation) of the president's discontent. — As Donald Trump prepares to leave Friday for his annual August holiday at his lush New Jersey golf club, he's confronting a storm of crises …

Discussion: The Week and Mediaite

Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:

8Chan Refugees Blow Their Anonymity — An unofficial new version of the hate-filled forum isn't as anonymous as its users might hope. — Refugees from the anonymous 8chan forum are flooding into a new censorship-resistant home on the dark web, and inadvertently giving up their anonymity along the way.

The Daily Beast:

Trump to NRA Bigwigs: Get Better Lawyers — This spring, the president told the gun group's top lobbyist and exec their legal team was “lousy.” Now the NRA is in an unusually weak position—and trying to keep Trump in line. — At the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Indianapolis …

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell: Gun background checks will be ‘front and center’ in Senate debate

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, The Resurgent and twitchy.com

Shane Harris / Washington Post:

Trump announces shakeup at top of U.S. intelligence — President Trump said in a tweet Thursday that he will name Joseph Maguire, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, as the acting director of national intelligence. — Maguire will assume the role Aug. 15, when Sue Gordon …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, New York Times and Bloomberg

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: 4 reasons why the gun debate is all noise

Discussion: New York Times and The Week

Timothy Bella / Washington Post:

A black man was about to buy a cop's house. Then, he found a KKK application in a bedroom. — The Confederate flag place mat on the dining room table was Rob Mathis's first hint that something was off inside the home he was thinking of buying. — “I thought to myself …

Discussion: VICE and New York Post

Washington Post:

U.S. defends secretive Mississippi ICE raids as local, state officials decry effect on children — U.S. authorities strongly defended Wednesday's mass immigration raids at Mississippi workplaces, saying the secretive operation to arrest undocumented immigrants was successful even as it led …

Discussion: Townhall, RealClearPolitics, Salon and New York Times

Associated Press: Immigration raids to have long-term effects on poultry towns

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

Egypt jails American traveler, saying she criticized the government on Facebook — CAIRO — When Reem Mohamed Desouky arrived from Washington last month with her 13-year-old son, Egyptian authorities detained them at the airport, he said. They confiscated their phones and interrogated Desouky, holding the two for hours.

Discussion: National Review

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

'They're afraid': Suburban voters in red states threaten GOP's grip on power — BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — Republicans face a reckoning in the red-state suburbs that have long been a bedrock for the party, propelled by the stormy confluence of President Trump's searing racial attacks …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Bruce Ohr Documents Undercut FBI Claims In Carter Page FISAs — Justice Department official Bruce Ohr told the FBI in November 2016 about meetings between dossier author Christopher Steele and a reporter who published a story about the former British spy's allegations against Carter Page.

Discussion: New York Post

Wall Street Journal:

Lost in Life, El Paso Suspect Found a Dark World Online — Gunman who allegedly killed 22 people with an intent to attack Hispanics told investigators he came to his views on the internet — ALLEN, Texas—The family of Patrick Crusius, the alleged gunman in El Paso's mass shooting …

Bill Mahoney / Politico:

Legislators want the state to study state studies — ALBANY — Does the state Legislature pass too many bills forcing state agencies to conduct studies, wasting time and taxpayer resources? — Two state legislators are hoping to pass a bill that would force a state agency to conduct a study on that question.

Jason Lemon / Newsweek:

Kellyanne Conway Defends Tucker Carlson, Says White Supremacy Gets ‘Outsized Coverage’ Compared to Antifa — White House counselor Kellyanne Conway defended Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday, arguing that his assertion that white supremacy is a “hoax” was getting “outsized coverage” compared to other threats.

Discussion: ERLC Recently Added Resources and CNN

Bethany Mandel / New York Post:

Twitter giving conservatives the silent tweetment — When Ben Goldey, a House communications director from Kentucky, saw a Facebook Live video of protesters outside of Sen. Mitch McConnell's house, he immediately took a screen grab of the video and posted it to Twitter.

Discussion: CNSNews and TheBlaze

Bloomberg:

First U.K. Contraction Since Wake of Crisis Raises Brexit Stakes — Firms run down stocks after hoarding before March exit date — Underlying growth has lost momentum amid no-deal Brexit fears — Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story.

Politico:

Trump suggests September trade talks with China may not take place — President Donald Trump said Friday he was not ready to strike a trade deal with China and indicated the next round of talks might not take place as scheduled in early September — raising new doubts about the future …

Discussion: One America News Network and CNBC