memeorandum: Twitter Account “Room Rater” Judges TV Journalists' Home Decor. We Asked a Few About Their Scores. (Rosa Cartagena/Washingtonian)

2:15 PM ET, May 1, 2020

Top Items:

Statement by Vice President Joe Biden — April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every year, at this time, we talk about awareness, prevention, and the importance of women feeling they can step forward, say something, and be heard. That belief — that women should be heard …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Mother Jones, The Slot, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, Slate, Forbes, Vanity Fair, CNN, NPR, Deadline, The Daily Dot, The Intellectualist, Balloon Juice and Los Angeles Times, more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Sullivan / New York Magazine:

By Biden's Own Standards, He Is Guilty As Charged — Like most people, I cannot know for sure what actually happened between Joe Biden and Tara Reade many, many moons ago, or, for that matter, what may have once transpired between Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford.

Discussion: Althouse

Washington Post:

Joe Biden denies he sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, calls on National Archives to release complaint if it exists — Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday denied that he sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, addressing the allegation publicly …

Discussion: Business Insider, Breitbart, Politico, NBC News, Althouse, IJR, BuzzFeed News, The Wrap, Talking Points Memo and The Federalist

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Why won't Biden open up his records to scrutiny?

Discussion: The Atlantic and ABC News

Robby Soave / Reason:
Joe Biden Denies Sexual Assault Accusation, Fails To Explain Why ‘Believe Victims’ Doesn't Apply to Tara Reade

Discussion: Mediaite, Patterico's Pontifications and Townhall

YouTube:
Full Interview: Biden Denies Sexual Assault Allegation From Tara Reade | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Discussion: The Federalist, Breitbart, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, CNN, New York Post and Forbes

Conrad Black / American Greatness: Joe Biden Is Cooked

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
Biden left no room for the possibility of an official complaint by Tara Reade surfacing

Discussion: SHERO and Balloon Juice

Adam Shaw / Fox News:
Women's groups start to break silence on Biden allegations, as candidate makes first statement

Discussion: Sean Hannity and New York Post

Katie Glueck / New York Times:
Biden Denies Tara Reade's Assault Allegation

Discussion: Townhall, CNN, Real Clear Politics, The Week and The Daily Caller

NBC News:
Biden denies sexual assault allegation, calls for release of any records

Discussion: Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

BuzzFeed News:
Tara Reade Knows She Has A Difficult Allegation. And She's Had A Difficult Time Getting A Hearing.

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, The Intellectualist, The Slot, TheBlaze, Columbia Journalism Review, The Daily Caller, HuffPost, Fox News, The Daily Beast, The Bread Line, VICE, Sara A. Carter, Mediaite, Breitbart, The Hill and Daily Kos

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Internal GOP poll points to troubling signs for Georgia Republicans — An internal poll conducted for the Georgia House GOP Caucus points to troubling signs for Republican leaders: President Donald Trump is deadlocked with Joe Biden and voters aren't giving the White House …

Discussion: National Review, Washington Monthly, Politico, Forbes, Erick Erickson's Confessions … and Deseret News

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook PM: Biden's next campaign — ANOTHER CAMPAIGN began for JOE BIDEN this morning. — NOT HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, which he launched a year ago this week, or the primary campaign he successfully slogged through over the last three months.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and New York Times

Chelsea Prince / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

BREAKING: Georgia verifies 1K new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours — State health officials have confirmed an additional 1,000 cases of the new coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing Georgia's total infections above 27,000. — As of noon Thursday, the Georgia Department of Public Health was reporting just over 26,000 confirmed cases.

Discussion: Breitbart and Axios

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Pence staff threatens action against reporter who tweeted about visit to clinic without surgical mask — Vice President Pence's office has threatened to retaliate against a reporter who revealed that Pence's office had told journalists they would need masks for Pence's visit to the Mayo Clinic …

Discussion: HuffPost, Vanity Fair, The Wrap, The Slot, Mediaite, The American Independent, PRESS RUN, The Week, CounterPunch, New York Post, New York Times, Raw Story, Palmer Report, CNBC, Daily Kos, Axios and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Wearing a mask is for smug liberals. Refusing to is for reckless Republicans. — In the '60s, protesters burned bras. In 2020, they might soon be burning masks. — Views on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic have become increasingly polarized, yet another political issue …

Discussion: The Points Guy, The American Independent and CNN

Associated Press:
New White House press secretary McEnany to hold 1st briefing

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

CNN:

Top HHS spokesman repeatedly directed sexually crude and sexist tweets at women — WARNING: This story contains graphic language. — (CNN)The top spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services repeatedly directed crude and sexist comments toward women in now-deleted tweets, a CNN KFile review finds.

Victor Ordonez / ABC News:

Michael Cohen's early prison release over coronavirus concerns was rescinded: Sources — He had been notified in mid-April that he would be released to home confinement. — President Donald Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen will not be leaving prison to serve out the rest …

Discussion: The Guardian

Washington Post:

Justice Dept. scrutinizes White House-connected doctor linked to disputed coronavirus treatment — Federal prosecutors are examining the communications of a New York family doctor who appears frequently on Fox News and has been in touch with the White House to tout an anti-malarial as a treatment …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, Politico, Law & Crime, The Intellectualist, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Leyland Cecco / The Guardian:

Trudeau announces Canada is banning assault-style weapons — Move comes after murder of 22 people in worst mass shooting in Canada's history — Canada has banned assault-style weapons following the murder of 22 people in the worst mass shooting in the country's history, Justin Trudeau announced on Friday.

Discussion: The Intellectualist

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Makes Push for Seniors as Coronavirus Crisis Erodes Support — President trails Joe Biden in polls among older voters, who are paying close attention to his handling of the pandemic—and watching his press briefings — WASHINGTON—President Trump has opened a new charm offensive aimed …

Discussion: The Intellectualist, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Rosa Cartagena / Washingtonian:

Twitter Account “Room Rater” Judges TV Journalists' Home Decor. We Asked a Few About Their Scores. — Started by a DC-area provocateur, @RateMySkypeRoom has earned tons of attention—and some hurt feelings. — The coronavirus shutdown has forced news commentators to broadcast from their homes …

Maggie Fox / CNN:

Expert report predicts up to two more years of pandemic misery — (CNN)The new coronavirus is likely to keep spreading for at least another 18 months to two years—until 60% to 70% of the population has been infected, a team of longstanding pandemic experts predicted in a report released Thursday.

Discussion: Bloomberg, IJR, New York Post and No More Mister Nice Blog

Senator Mitt Romney:

Romney “Patriot Pay” Plan Would Support America's Frontline Workers — WASHINGTON—In order to help compensate essential workers who are necessarily subject to greater risk of COVID-19, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today proposed that they receive Patriot Pay, a temporary bonus of up to $12 per hour in May, June, and July.

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post: Romney calls for hazard pay for workers on the front line of the pandemic

PRRI:

President Trump's Favorability Ratings Recede from March's Peak — New data from PRRI shows that President Donald Trump's favorability rating has dropped seven points over the last four weeks. Today, just over four in ten (43%) Americans hold mostly or very favorable views of Trump …

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

Nearly seven weeks into the shutdown, here's why so many are still getting sick — The District, Maryland and Virginia have been shut down for weeks, their economies in tatters. Large swaths of the population venture out only rarely, wrapped in masks and gloves.

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

History According to Trump: The President and the 1917 Pandemic That Wasn't — The U.S. leader, famously illiterate about history, eagerly promotes his place in it. — As the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted his Presidency, Donald Trump has often complained about the terrible hand that history has dealt him.

Discussion: Vox

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:

Trump says he has seen evidence linking coronavirus to Wuhan lab — President Trump said Thursday that he has seen evidence linking the novel coronavirus to a lab in Wuhan, China, without providing further details. — “Yes, I have,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked directly whether …

Discussion: ODNI Newsroom, TheBlaze, Fox News and HuffPost

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Congressional Democrats are governing from the minority — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wears a cloth mask to cover her mouth and nose to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus during her weekly news conference at the US Capitol on April 30. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

Andrew Cuomo may be the single most popular politician in America right now — Washington (CNN)Thrust into the national spotlight by his state's status as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has rapidly become one of …

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael Stratford / Politico:

DeVos sued for seizing student loan borrowers' wages during pandemic — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is continuing to garnish the wages of federal student loan borrowers who fall behind on payments even though Congress suspended the practice in the economic rescue package, according to a new lawsuit.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Intellectualist, Raw Story and The Hill

Rachel Lerman / Washington Post:

Trump touted Google as a solution to coronavirus testing. A month later, Verily has barely made a dent. — Verily, part of the same parent company as Google, has conducted tests in just a handful of cities. — President Trump's announcement in March that Google was developing a tool …

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Amid a Rising Death Toll, Trump Leaves the Grieving to Others — President Trump has led no national mourning for the more than 63,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus, emphasizing confidence about the future rather than dwelling on the present.

YouTube:

Leadership During Crisis: A Conversation with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan … Maryland Governor Larry Hogan joins Washington Post Live to discuss his state's fight against covid-19, how he is approaching Maryland's lockdown exit strategy, and his pivotal role as the chair of the National Governors Association.

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Post, IJR, Balloon Juice, ABC News, Raw Story, Washington Times, The Hill and Axios

Igor Derysh / Salon:

Florida stops releasing medical examiners' coronavirus death counts after they report higher total — Florida also excludes travelers and seasonal residents who died in the state, though medical examiners include them — Florida health officials have stopped publishing real …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

Cristiano Lima / Politico:

House panel demands that Bezos testify on whether Amazon misled Congress — The House Judiciary Committee demanded Thursday that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos testify on whether the company misled Congress about the data tactics it deploys against rivals, setting up a major potential fight with the company.