memeorandum: Ron DeSantis, on the coronavirus: 'I think we've stabilized at where we're at' (Kirby Wilson/Tampa Bay Times)

10:30 AM ET, July 7, 2020

Top Items:

Ben Popken / NBC News:

Here are some of the billionaires who got PPP loans while small businesses went bankrupt — Billionaire property developer Joe Farrell, a prominent Republican fundraiser, received up to $1 million in taxpayer coronavirus relief funds, according to federal data released Monday.

Discussion: Unprecedented

Washington Post:

No rows found — The data shows the government issued $521 billion in loans, with an average loan size of $107,000. Treasury and SBA officials say the program helped support about 51 million jobs, according to self-reported data provided by borrowers. They said that accounts for 84 percent …

Discussion: IJR, CNN, Raw Story and Bloomberg, more at Mediagazer »

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:

Maybe This Isn't Such a Good Time to Prosecute a Culture War — Trump has gone to the well one time too many. — Donald Trump made his name in Republican Party politics as a “birther,” a true believer in — and an evangelist for — the racist conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was a foreign-born, illegitimate president.

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Guardian, Raw Story, Daily Kos, MelaniePhillips.com, Washington Post and NBC News

Quint Forgey / Politico:

Mulvaney: Trump faces ‘real headwinds’ if election turns into a ‘referendum’ on him — Former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday conceded that if November's general election becomes a “referendum” on President Donald Trump, the Republican incumbent will face …

Discussion: ABC News, Political Wire, Fox Business and Washington Post

Washington Post:
Trump plumbed new depths of depravity this Fourth of July

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NPR, Vanity Fair, ABC News, Al Jazeera, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Bloomberg, The American Independent and New York Post

The Daily Beast:

Former Melania Trump Confidante to Release an ‘Explosive’ Tell-All Before the Election — Another blockbuster Trump book is set to hit shelves next month and contain “explosive” revelations about first lady Melania Trump. — Following months of legal drama, threats, and public controversy …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Raw Story, The Guardian, CANNONFIRE and Political Wire

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: White House searches for intel leakers — DRIVING THE DAY — GOOD TUESDAY MORNING — a few interesting nuggets from the White House world: — SEARCHING FOR LEAKERS ... THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION has opened an internal investigation to try to uncover who leaked intelligence …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Daily Beast:

Trump's Small Biz Rescue Bailed Out Kushner's Family, Obama's Aides and Other Political Elite — The PPP program was designed to help small businesses. And it has. But some of the most connected figures in politics also cashed in. — When the Trump administration began implementing …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, MeidasTouch, The Intellectualist and Politico

ProPublica: Trump Friends and Family Cleared for Millions in Small Business Bailout

Gregg Re / Fox News:
Biden-founded law firm, as well as a company tied to Pelosi, received PPP funds, docs show

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Breitbart and The Western Journal, more at Techmeme »

Michael Schuman / The Atlantic:

Why China Wants Trump to Win — Four more years might present tantalizing opportunities for Beijing to expand its influence around East Asia and the world. — Like everyone else across the country and the world, China's leaders are likely watching the contentious presidential campaign unfolding …

Discussion: Raw Story

Fadel Allassan / Axios:
Pompeo: Trump administration is “looking at” TikTok ban

Discussion: NBC News, CNBC, KSLTV.com, One America News Network, The Wrap, The Verge and Breitbart, more at Techmeme »

CNN:
The United States is ‘looking at’ banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Pompeo says

Discussion: Twitchy and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Kyle Neubeck / PhillyVoice:

DeSean Jackson shares anti-semitic quotes attributed to Hitler on Instagram — DeSean Jackson shared anti-semitic quotes attributed to Adolf Hitler on his Instagram story over the July 4th holiday, and continued to use the quotes as a conversation piece during several posts on the social media network on Monday afternoon.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, ProFootballTalk, Twitchy and Fox News

ESPN:

Eagles' DeSean Jackson says he doesn't hate Jewish community after posting anti-Semitic messages — Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson said he has no hatred toward the Jewish community after posting anti-Semitic messages on social media Monday that he attributed to Adolf Hitler and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Allyson Chiu / Washington Post:

A high-risk Florida teen who died from covid-19 attended a huge church party, then was given hydroxychloroquine by her parents, report says — At just 17, Carsyn Leigh Davis had already experienced more challenges than most people face in their entire lives.

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Post

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Florida teen dies after conspiracy theorist mom takes her to church ‘COVID party’ …

Discussion: Florida COVID Victims and No More Mister Nice Blog

Adam Rawnsley / The Daily Beast:

Right-Wing Media Outlets Duped by a Middle East Propaganda Campaign — DOES NOT EXIST — Conservative sites like Newsmax and Washington Examiner have published Middle East hot takes from “experts” who are actually fake personas pushing propaganda. — If you want a hot take about the Middle East, Raphael Badani is your man.

Discussion: The Verge and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:

Hogan, Maryland Governor, Plans Book Tour as He Eyes 2024 White House Run — Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of a solidly Democratic state, who has drawn attention for his criticism of President Trump's coronavirus response, writes at length about the experience.

Tim Elfrink / Washington Post:

Tucker Carlson suggests Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost her legs in Iraq, hates America — Before launching a broadside against Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Fox News host Tucker Carlson acknowledged that it's not easy to go after a Purple Heart recipient who lost both her legs while serving her country in Iraq.

Discussion: The American Independent, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Althouse, Twitchy, Mediaite and The Wrap

Ronald Brownstein / CNN:

Trump could sink the House GOP in suburbia — (CNN)President Donald Trump's continuing erosion among well-educated voters looms as perhaps the most imposing headwind to Republican hopes of recapturing the House of Representatives in November — or even avoiding further losses in the chamber.

Discussion: Political Wire

Politico:

Republicans in danger of losing huge portion of their women senators — Senate Republicans could lose nearly half of the women currently in their caucus come November after recently making painstaking gains — the latest potential blow to the party in the Trump era.

Discussion: Scripting News

Elliot Ackerman / Harper's:

A Letter on Justice and Open Debate — We welcome responses at letters@harpers.org — Our cultural institutions are facing a moment of trial. Powerful protests for racial and social justice are leading to overdue demands for police reform, along with wider calls for greater equality …

ICE:

SEVP modifies temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online courses during fall 2020 semester — WASHINGTON - The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced modifications Monday to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester.

fas.harvard.edu:
Decision for 2020-21 Academic Year

Discussion: CNN, Princeton University News, National Review, The Boston Globe, The Verge, UPROXX, Townhall, New York Post, Disrn, CNBC, Harvard University Gazette, Mediaite, Breitbart, Harvard College, The Hill, Outkick, ProFootballTalk and Gothamist

WTXL-TV:

FL Education Commissioner requires all Florida school districts to reopen campuses in August — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has issued an executive order requiring all of Florida's public K-12 schools to reopen in August.

Tallahassee Democrat:
Florida Education Commissioner mandates all schools to reopen in August

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and New York Post

Max Boot / Washington Post:

What if Trump loses but insists he won? — On his present trajectory, President Trump is heading for a whopping defeat in November. The Economist says there's nearly a 99 percent chance that Joe Biden will win more popular votes and around a 90 percent chance that he will win more electoral college votes.

Discussion: Raw Story

Jesse Wegman / New York Times:
Can We Please Pick the President by Popular Vote Now?

Discussion: The Daily Signal, Politico and TheBlaze

New York Times:

Months Into Virus Crisis, U.S. Cities Still Lack Testing Capacity — With cases surging, some cities are seeing long testing lines and slow results. — Lines for coronavirus tests have stretched around city blocks and tests ran out altogether in at least one site on Monday …

Matthew Goldstein / New York Times:

Deutsche Bank Settles Over Ignored Red Flags on Jeffrey Epstein — The German lender repeatedly overlooked suspicious transactions, including payments to people a New York regulator described as his co-conspirators. — Payments to his alleged co-conspirators. Money wired to Russian models.

Chris Whipple / Washington Post:

Donald Trump, the unbriefable president — Chris Whipple is the author of the forthcoming book “The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future.” — In the wake of reports that Russia offered the Taliban cash bounties to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, the question arises …

Kirby Wilson / Tampa Bay Times:

Ron DeSantis, on the coronavirus: 'I think we've stabilized at where we're at' — The state reported 6,336 cases Monday, with about 14 percent of those tested coming back positive. — TALLAHASSEE ― Gov. Ron DeSantis said the growing coronavirus case numbers in Florida are not necessarily …

Reuters:

UN slams Donald Trump for killing Iranian General Soleimani because there was ‘insufficient evidence he was behind an ongoing or imminent attack’ — A U.N. human rights investigator issued the report on Monday noting that the January 3 attack which killed Iranian General Soleimani violated the U.N. charter

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart

Associated Press:

Protective gear for medical workers begins to run low again — The personal protective gear that was in dangerously short supply during the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. is running low again as the virus resumes its rapid spread and the number of hospitalized patients climbs.

David Roth / New Yorker:

How “Starship Troopers” Aligns with Our Moment of American Defeat — It has become clear, in these last decades of decadence, decline, towering institutional violence, and rampant bad taste, that American life is stuck somewhere inside the Paul Verhoeven cinematic universe.

David Dayen / American Prospect:

A Leader Without Leading — Nancy Pelosi is an expert at obtaining power.  But what does she want to use it for? — Pelosi — Nancy Pelosi was upset. Her blitz of cable news appearances as a high-profile counterpart to Donald Trump had taken her to CNN in late April.

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Here are the governors who hurt so many, so needlessly — The Post reports: “Local officials in states with surging coronavirus cases issued dire warnings Sunday about the spread of infections, blaming outbreaks in their communities on early reopenings and saying the virus was rapidly outpacing containment efforts.”

Discussion: Twitchy and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Everyday words and phrases that have racist connotations — (CNN)The words and phrases permeate nearly every aspect of our society. — “Master bedrooms” in our homes. “Blacklists” and “whitelists” in computing. The idiom “sold down the river” in our everyday speech.

Discussion: Breitbart, more at Mediagazer »

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Trump is responsible for our unfolding coronavirus disaster — The United States is entering dangerous, uncharted territory. With a little more than 4 percent of the world's population, our country has about 25 percent of coronavirus infections. Over the course of five months …

Discussion: NPR

Ryan Saavedra / The Daily Wire:

Michael Cohen Allegedly Caught Dining Out While Serving Home Sentence. DOJ, Bureau Of Prisons Silent. — Disbarred attorney and convicted felon Michael Cohen was allegedly spotted in a restaurant in New York City last Thursday night while serving his prison sentence at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.