memeorandum: As Critics Rage, Pack Aims to Pierce China's Info Firewall (Susan Crabtree/Real Clear Politics)

11:15 AM ET, June 26, 2020

Top Items:

The Week It Went South for Trump — He hasn't been equal to the crises. He never makes anything better. And everyone kind of knows. — Something shifted this month. Donald Trump's hold on history loosened, and may be breaking. In some new way his limitations are being seen and acknowledged …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Raw Story

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Trump Is in a Deep Hole. Can He Dig Himself Out Before November? — Every single poll that has come out in these last two weeks has painted a dire picture for President Donald Trump's chances at re-election. His overall job approval rating sits somewhere around 41 percent.

Wall Street Journal:

The Trump Referendum — He still has no second term message beyond his own grievances. — By The Editorial Board — President Trump may soon need a new nickname for “Sleepy Joe” Biden. How does President-elect sound? On present trend that's exactly what Mr. Biden will be on Nov. 4 …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

David A. Hopkins / Honest Graft:
Will 2020 Dim the Myth of the Campaign Guru? Let's Hope So

Discussion: Bloomberg, Fox News, Outside the Beltway and Los Angeles Times

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Biden leads in Florida as Trump lags among seniors

Discussion: Mediaite, One America News Network, The Hill, TheBlaze, New York Post and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Noah Higgins-Dunn / CNBC:

Texas rolls back its reopening a day after pausing plans, as coronavirus cases rise — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday that he will roll back some of the state's reopening as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to rise. — “As I said from the start …

Brianna Abbott / Wall Street Journal:

Daily Coronavirus Infections in U.S. Hit Record — India reports another record daily increase, with more than 17,000 new cases — The U.S. saw a daily record of nearly 40,000 new coronavirus cases as a surge of infections continues to spread, surpassing an earlier peak in April following the initial outbreak.

Discussion: Defense One and Associated Press

Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texas bars to close again and restaurants to reduce to 50% occupancy as coronavirus spreads

Joanna Walters / The Guardian: US coronavirus cases hit new one-day high as states backtrack on reopening

New York Times:

Inside Barr's Effort to Undermine Prosecutors in N.Y. — The firing of the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan was foreshadowed by a disagreement over a case linked to President Trump. — Shortly after he became attorney general last year, William P. Barr set out to challenge …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico, NPR, Raw Story, JONATHAN TURLEY, POLITICUSUSA, Alternet.org and The Daily Beast

NPR:

Transcript: NPR's Full Interview With Attorney General William Barr — Steve Inskeep: Thank you again for taking the time. I'm appreciative to have this opportunity. — Attorney General William Barr: Thank you. — I want to note that in the last few days, there have been three acts …

Discussion: Washington Times and The Hill

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Barr claims voting by mail will lead to fraud, ‘counterfeiting.’ Admits he has zero evidence.

Discussion: Breitbart

Joshua Geltzer / Washington Post:
Four ways William Barr is already subverting the 2020 elections

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

How Arizona ‘lost control of the epidemic’ — PHOENIX — A drive-up testing site equipped for several hundred people in West Phoenix was swarmed on Saturday by about 1,000 people, leaving some baking in their cars for hours. — A nearby testing station has already reached capacity for this weekend …

Discussion: policylab.chop.edu, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money and WGN-TV

New York Times:

Biden Is Getting a Lot of Advice on His V.P. Here's What Voters Think. — A large majority of voters say race should not be a factor in his decision, and none of the best-known candidates has emerged as a favorite. — Joseph R. Biden Jr. appears to face limited political pressure from voters …

Edward-Isaac Dovere / The Atlantic:

Kamala Harris's Very Open Secret — A few weeks ago, an adviser to Kamala Harris called me to talk through some polling data. “We understand that Joe Biden's the nominee, but the party is so much different than a septuagenarian white male,” the adviser said.

Discussion: Breitbart

Joe Cunningham / Redstate:

Joe Biden Will Soon Choose His Running Mate, and He Has Three Good Options — ActBlue somehow got my phone number and texted me a poll of potential running mates for Joe Biden, asking me to let my voice be heard. I was curious about what their list of candidates might look like, so I opened the poll to see.

Discussion: Washington Post and CNN

Brittany Renee Mayes / Washington Post:
Who do you think Joe Biden should choose for VP?

Discussion: The Hill

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Strike Down Affordable Care Act — If successful, the move would permanently end the health insurance program popularly known as Obamacare and wipe out coverage for as many as 23 million Americans. — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration asked …

Discussion: National Review, Marketplace, Slate, NPR, SCOTUSblog, Daily Kos and Arizona Democratic Party

Washington Post:

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court late on Thursday to overturn the Affordable Care Act, telling the court that “the entire ACA must fall.” The administration's argument comes as thousands of Americans …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

CNN:
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to invalidate Obamacare

Discussion: Raw Story and Alternet.org

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare amid pandemic, recession

Discussion: Associated Press, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast and The Hill

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:

Mary Trump once stood up to her uncle Donald. Now her book describes a ‘nightmare’ of family dysfunction. — Mary L. Trump was embroiled in a feud over her inheritance two decades ago when her uncle Donald Trump and his siblings punched back in classic style.

Discussion: The Sun, Politico, Fox News, Political Wire, The Guardian, Sputnik News and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Trump Retreats to His Hannity Bunker — Beaten by the pandemic and down in the polls, a President and his propagandist create an alternate reality. — June began poorly for President Trump, and it's ending worse. Despite his optimistic pronouncements about the coronavirus …

Joe Berkowitz / Fast Company:
Exposure to Sean Hannity may be lethal, studies on COVID-19 suggest

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and Twitchy, more at Mediagazer »

Louis Casiano / Fox News:
Green Bay mayor warns Trump before visit that hospitality ‘has its limits’

Discussion: Associated Press

New York Times:

Florida Smirked at New York's Virus Crisis. Now It Has Its Own. — With infections surging in Florida while they retreat in New York, the two states and their governors reflect the shifting course of the pandemic. — In late April, as new coronavirus cases in Florida were steadily decreasing …

Benjy Sarlin / NBC News:

The future of the coronavirus recovery runs through the classroom — WASHINGTON — Will your children be back at school this fall? — If you're having trouble answering that question, you're not alone — across the country, state and local officials are still struggling to develop plans …

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

America Didn't Give Up on Covid-19. Republicans Did. — Partisanship has crippled our response. — Earlier this year much of America went through hell as the nation struggled to deal with Covid-19. More than 120,000 Americans have now died; more than 20 million have lost their jobs.

Stuart Stevens / The Bulwark:

My Confederate Past — Everyone who grew up in Mississippi was steeped in the Confederacy. Even if they didn't realize it. — On Friday, the Mississippi legislature is scheduled to vote on changing the Mississippi state flag. As I write this, I have no idea what the outcome will be.

Washington Post:

Protesters denounce Abraham Lincoln statue in D.C., urge removal of Emancipation Memorial — Police in the nation's capital were bracing Thursday night for protesters who planned to denounce and urge the removal of a statue of Abraham Lincoln, paid for by people who had been enslaved …

Discussion: Althouse

David W. Blight / Washington Post:
Yes, the Freedmen's Memorial uses racist imagery. But don't tear it down.

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Free Beacon, American Greatness, Fox News and Wall Street Journal

Jerry Dunleavy / Washington Examiner:

Black Lives Matter fundraising handled by group with convicted terrorist on its board — The co-founder of Black Lives Matter names a convicted cop killer as one of her heroes, and the BLM national organization is fiscally sponsored through a leftist group whose board of directors includes a convicted terrorist.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Aaron Morrison / Associated Press:
Black Lives Matter network debunks Trump Twitter post

Discussion: Breitbart

The Bulwark:

The Gross Hellscape That Awaits Ted Cruz on Parler — Note: This article includes offensive screenshots from Parler users. — As incendiary Twitter accounts have increasingly been held accountable by the enforcement of Twitter's terms of service, some right-wing users have taken to crying censorship.

Discussion: Twitchy, Protocol and Right Wing Watch

Susan Crabtree / Real Clear Politics:

As Critics Rage, Pack Aims to Pierce China's Info Firewall — Even by Trump-era standards, the long saga to install conservative documentary filmmaker Michael Pack as head of the U.S. government's tax-funded global media agency has been a particularly tortured gauntlet-running test of wills.

Discussion: GovExec.com

Washington Post:

Almost one-third of black Americans know someone who died of covid-19, survey shows — Nearly 1 in 3 black Americans know someone personally who has died of covid-19, far exceeding their white counterparts, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll that underscores the coronavirus pandemic's profoundly disparate impact.

Discussion: Raw Story

Tony Romm / Washington Post:

Governments eye new taxes on cigarettes, homes and tech giants to pay for big budget shortfalls related to the coronavirus — Without more federal aid, local leaders across the country say they may have no choice but to try to raise revenue on their own in the middle of an economic crisis

Ryan Goodman / Just Security:

10 Top Antitrust Experts Alarmed by Whistleblower Complaint Against A.G. Barr—and Office of Professional Responsibility's Opinion — On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee heard from a whistleblower inside the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division alleging serious abuses committed by Attorney General William Barr.

Discussion: CNN

Caroline Randall Williams / New York Times:

You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument — The black people I come from were owned and raped by the white people I come from. Who dares to tell me to celebrate them? — Ms. Williams is a poet. — NASHVILLE — I have rape-colored skin.

Paige Winfield Cunningham / Washington Post:

The Health 202: The Trump administration is eyeing a new testing strategy for coronavirus, Anthony Fauci says — Want more stories about the Trump administration's response to the novel coronavirus? Sign up for this newsletter here. — The Trump administration is weighing a new testing strategy …

Discussion: New York Post and STAT

McSweeney's:

Lest We Forget the Horrors: A Catalog of Trump's Worst Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes — THE COMPLETE LISTING (SO FAR): ATROCITIES 1-759 … Early in President Trump's term, McSweeney's editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration.

Aris Folley / The Hill:

Michigan candidate's daughter urges people not to vote for him in viral tweet — The daughter of a candidate running for a seat in the Michigan state House has drawn viral attention online after taking to Twitter earlier this week to plead with voters not to elect her father to office.

Discussion: The Daily Dot, Fox News, WGN-TV, New York Post, Washington Times and Robert Regan for State …