memeorandum: Will Protests Set Off a Second Viral Wave? (Roni Caryn Rabin/New York Times)

10:00 PM ET, May 31, 2020

Top Items:

As Protests and Violence Spill Over, Trump Shrinks Back — The president spent Sunday out of sight, berating opponents on Twitter, even as some of his campaign advisers were recommending that he deliver a televised address to an anxious nation. — WASHINGTON — Inside the White House, the mood was bristling with tension.

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Breitbart, The Guardian, Raw Story, Althouse and UPI, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Trump privately scolded, warned by allies — Over the past couple of days, numerous advisers both inside and outside the White House have urged the president to tone down his violent rhetoric, which many worry could escalate racial tensions and hurt him politically.

Discussion: Washington Post, IJR, Raw Story, The Root, Daily Kos, The Hill, Mediaite, The Week, The Dispatch, Contemptor, WTRF-TV and POLITICUSUSA, more at Techmeme »

Danica Kirka / Associated Press:

World alarmed by violence in US; thousands march in London — LONDON (AP) — Nations around the world have watched in horror at the civil unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck until he stopped breathing.

Discussion: Slate, The Week, WGN-TV and Daily News

Associated Press:

The Latest: Tanker drives into crowd; no apparent injuries — The Latest on the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck: — ___ — MINNEAPOLIS — Officials in Minnesota say no protesters appear …

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, The Hill and Talking Points Memo

Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:

Trump Is Terrified of Protest — Presidents live within a protective cocoon built and continually fortified for one purpose: keeping them alive. But inside the White House compound these days, Donald Trump seems rattled by what's transpiring outside the windows of his historic residence.

Discussion: Voice of America, wusa9.com, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, Vox, Washington Post, DCist, POLITICUSUSA and The Hill

CNN:

Trump briefly taken to underground bunker during Friday's White House protests — (CNN)As protesters gathered outside the White House Friday night in Washington, DC, President Donald Trump was briefly taken to the underground bunker for a period of time, according to a White House official and a law enforcement source.

Discussion: New York Times, KTVZ-TV and Raw Story

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

As cities burned, Trump stayed silent — other than tweeting fuel on the fire — In cities across America on Sunday, people awoke to see shattered glass, charred vehicles, bruised bodies and graffiti-tagged buildings. Demonstrators gathered again in peaceful daytime protest of racial injustice.

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Times and POLITICUSUSA

Dan Balz / Washington Post: America is at a low ebb, shaken by multiple blows, and Trump adds to the distress

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Trump envisioned ‘American carnage.’ Now, he's got it.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Guardian and MSNBC

Associated Press: Officials see extremist groups, disinformation in protests

Washington Post:
More cities impose curfews as police become increasingly aggressive

Discussion: The Daily Beast, CBS New York, UPI, DCist, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and WXYZ-TV

Amanda Watts / CNN:
George Floyd's brother says Trump 'didn't give me an opportunity to even speak' during phone call

Discussion: KTVZ-TV and The Root

ABC News:
George Floyd protest updates: Police arrest almost 1,700 people across 22 cities in 3 days

Discussion: Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, POLITICUSUSA, Mother Jones, The Hill, Mediaite, One America News Network, TheGrio, IJR, WTRF-TV, New York Post, RealClearPolitics, Talking Points Memo and CBS News

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Record Ratings and Record Chaos on Cable News — Cable networks are facing threats, and opportunities, in a national crisis. Now, Fox is fighting back and CNBC is looking to the right. CNN is defined by Jeff Zucker, and he may run for mayor. — Last week, Fox News's anchors competed …

more at Mediagazer »

New York Daily News:

Pair of Brooklyn lawyers including Ivy League corporate attorney charged in Molotov cocktail attack on NYPD cruiser — Two Brooklyn lawyers, including an Ivy League graduate corporate attorney, are facing federal charges for tossing a Molotov cocktail into an NYPD vehicle early Saturday morning during …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

U.S. Department of Justice:

Attorney General William P. Barr's Statement on Riots and Domestic Terrorism — Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement: — “With the rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful and legitimate protests have been hijacked by violent radical elements.

Discussion: Axios, Twitchy, Breitbart, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Edward Luce / Financial Times:

Donald Trump and the spectre of a race-based US election — America faces a long summer of unrest, with the president stoking the polarisation — The novelist William Faulkner said: “The past is not dead. It is not even past.” The past 72 hours of burning US cities triggered parallels with 1968 …

Discussion: Reuters and Washington Post

Anna Wintour / Vogue:
Joe Biden Should Choose a Woman of Color to Be His Vice President—and He Should Do It Now

Discussion: The Hill

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
From Minneapolis to broken streets of Philly, the ‘human capital stock’ has finally had enough

Discussion: Delaware Business Now, TheGrio and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Stephen L. Miller / Spectator USA:
End the lockdown. Stop the riots

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Instapundit and NBC News

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Trump Plays Macho Man as America Burns — There was a moment on Saturday afternoon when President Trump stood on a rooftop in Florida for what could have been a sorely needed moment of national unity. A made-in-the-U.S.A. spacecraft was about to blast off from Cape Canaveral …

Chalkbeat:

‘Moments like now are why we teach’: Educators tackle tough conversations about race and violence — this time virtually — Reading about Brown v. Board of Education over Google Meet. Holding one-on-one Zooms with students struggling with their emotions. Planning lessons on criminal justice reform …

Mehdi Hasan / The Intercept:
Bill de Blasio Needs to Resign. By Defending Police Violence, He Has Betrayed New Yorkers.

Discussion: HuffPost and NBC News

Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:

Florida's Seen a ‘Statistically Significant’ Uptick in Pneumonia Deaths. The CDC Says It's Likely COVID. — There's a conspiracy theory brewing on the left that Gov. DeSantis is cooking the books. Instead, it's very likely due to lack of testing. — Since the beginning of this year …

Discussion: Raw Story

Olivia Messer / The Daily Beast:
Will the Protests Spark a Second COVID-19 Outbreak?

Discussion: Associated Press, Daily News, New York Magazine and KTLA

Harry Enten / CNN:

Warren as Biden's running mate makes no electoral sense — (CNN)Poll of the week: A new national Ipsos/Reuters poll finds former Vice President Joe Biden with a 45% to 39% lead over President Donald Trump. — Biden's lead is confirmed by an ABC News/Washington Post poll out Sunday morning putting Biden …

Harry Enten / CNN:
Biden's in one of the best positions for any challenger since scientific polling began

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:

Trump, Lacking Clear Authority, Says U.S. Will Declare Antifa a Terrorist Group — The president and his administration have blamed the far-left movement for the violence this weekend. But it was uncertain whether the declaration would carry any real meaning.

Discussion: Redstate, NBC News, Raw Story, IJR, Al Jazeera and Rolling Stone

Betsy Woodruff Swan / Politico:
Trump says he's naming antifa a ‘Terrorist Organization.’ Can he do that?

Discussion: Axios, CNN, Vox, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Roni Caryn Rabin / New York Times:

Will Protests Set Off a Second Viral Wave? — Across the country, mayors, public health experts and other officials worry that even though many protesters are wearing masks, the risk of new coronavirus cases will increase as thousands gather. — Mass protests against police brutality …

Matthew Dessem / Slate:

Police Erupt in Violence Nationwide — Share widely: National guard and MPD sweeping our residential street. Shooting paint canisters at us on our own front porch. Yelling “light em up” #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeForGeorge #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/bW48imyt55 — Tanya Kerssen (@tkerssen) May 31, 2020

Discussion: Wired, New York Times, Politico, The Nation, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone and Daily Kos

New York Times:

Tara Reade's Tumultuous Journey to the 2020 Campaign — To better understand Ms. Reade, who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, The Times interviewed nearly 100 friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors, and reviewed court records and her writings. — Last spring, after years of strife …

USA Today:

Police act like laws don't apply to them because of ‘qualified immunity.’ They're right. — On May 25, Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. While two officers pinned the handcuffed Floyd on a city street, another fended off would-be intervenors as a fourth knelt on Floyd's neck until — and well after — he lost consciousness.

Discussion: The Atlantic

Clark Neily / The Bulwark:
To Make Police Accountable, End Qualified Immunity

Discussion: Unlawful Shield

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Trump Tweets QAnon Conspiracy Theory Message Amid Unrest — ‘STRENGTH’ — President Trump reposted a message amid national unrest on Sunday expressing support for the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory, a movement the FBI considers a potential domestic terror threat.

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

Is This the Worst Year in Modern American History? — The most traumatic year in modern American history was 1968. But what is now the second-most traumatic year, 2020, still has seven months to run. The comparison provides little comfort, and several reasons for concern.

Discussion: The Mahablog