memeorandum: Pompeo announces visa restrictions on some Huawei employees (Zachary Basu/Axios)

12:55 PM ET, July 15, 2020

Top Items:

Biden Leads But Many Anticipate Secret Trump Vote — Democrat strong in swing counties; close House ballot — West Long Branch, NJ - Joe Biden holds a 13 point lead over Donald Trump among all registered voters in Pennsylvania according to the Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll.

Discussion: Fox News, Politico and CBS Pittsburgh

Michael Tesler / FiveThirtyEight:

Why Trump — Not Biden — Might Have An Enthusiasm Problem — The Trump campaign has found its silver lining in an avalanche of awful polling numbers: Voters who support Donald Trump are enthusiastic about his candidacy. — Polls consistently show that Trump's supporters are more excited …

Discussion: Progress Pond, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, CANNONFIRE and HillReporter.com

Gabby Orr / Politico:

Threat of a Trump without rallies triggers fears across GOP — In the days after President Donald Trump's poorly attended rally in Tulsa, Okla., senior campaign aides repeatedly assured their optics-obsessed boss it was a one-off debacle. — They demoted a longtime staffer who had managed logistics for the failed campaign comeback.

Discussion: Vanity Fair and Raw Story

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:

Biden maintains lead over Trump in 2020 swing states, new CNBC/Change Research poll says — Joe Biden continues to lead President Donald Trump in a poll of swing states Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to a CNBC/Change Research poll.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

USA Today:

Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on: Peter Navarro — Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on. — In late January, when I was making the case on behalf …

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Trump offers denial and delusion as pandemic crisis overtakes his presidency

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

NBC News:
Inside the Trump campaign's struggle to land a punch on Biden

Discussion: MSNBC

Peter Baker / New York Times:

The White House Called a News Conference. Trump Turned It Into a Meandering Monologue. — The president spoke in the Rose Garden for 63 minutes. He spent only six of those minutes answering questions from reporters. — WASHINGTON — In theory, President Trump summoned television cameras …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Washington Post, Politico, CNN, CBS News, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Week, The Wrap, The Slot, Rolling Stone, Raw Story, The Hill, Fox News and NBC News

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:

Elder Abuse at the White House — Tuesday's Rose Garden press conference was . . . something else. — What did we just see? And who thought this would be a good idea? — Donald Trump is sinking in the polls, failing spectacularly at the worst crisis of his presidency …

Discussion: Rev and Althouse

Adam Shaw / Fox News:
State Department imposes sanctions on employees of Chinese tech companies, including Huawei

Discussion: One America News Network

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Florida GOP doctors Trump tweet to solve mail-in voting problem — MIAMI — President Donald Trump's harsh rhetoric against mail-in voting is causing a big problem for Florida Republicans, who once dominated the practice here. — So the state GOP came up with a solution …

Discussion: HillReporter.com, Alternet.org, New York Post and The American Independent

Em Steck / CNN:
Senior Trump campaign lawyer critical of mail-in ballots voted by mail three times

Discussion: The Hill

Katie Pavlich / Townhall:
EXCLUSIVE: President Trump Explains the ‘Most Dangerous’ Thing Facing the 2020 Election

Discussion: Fox News

Sean Murphy / Associated Press:

Oklahoma's governor says he has tested positive for COVID-19 — OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday that he's the first governor in the United States to test positive for the coronavirus and that he is isolating at home. — Stitt, 48, said he mostly feels fine …

Discussion: Raw Story

Tulsa World:

Kevin Stitt ‘pretty shocked’ to be first governor to test positive for COVID-19 … OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt has tested positive for COVID-19, he confirmed Wednesday. — The news comes after the state recently reopened but is seeing record spikes in cases.

Discussion: Fox News and Axios

The Frontier:
Oklahoma governor tests positive for the coronavirus

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Jodi Rudoren / The Forward:

I don't recognize the NYT that Bari Weiss quit — I do not recognize the New York Times that Bari Weiss describes in her resignation letter, and it terrifies me. — This is not to say I do not believe Bari's description of her experience, nor that I did not see some of what she laments …

Discussion: National Review, Townhall and The Daily Signal

Mona Charen / The Bulwark:
Bari Weiss Was Too Honest for the New York Times

Discussion: Spectator USA

Edmund Lee / New York Times:
Bari Weiss Resigns From New York Times Opinion Post

Discussion: The Guardian, City Journal, americandigest.org, Outkick, National Review, New York Post, The Week, Poynter and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

Emily Jashinsky / The Federalist:
Bari Weiss's Arc Represents The Media's Failed Pivot After 2016

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Observer and POLITICUSUSA, more at Mediagazer »

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Trump Administration Strips C.D.C. of Control of Coronavirus Data — Hospitals have been ordered to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all patient information to a central database in Washington, raising questions about transparency.

Discussion: Bloomberg, KSLTV.com, NBC News, Common Dreams, HillReporter.com, Axios, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, WHTM-TV, Gizmodo, The Daily Beast, The Verge and Alternet.org

CNN:
Coronavirus hospital data will now be sent to Trump administration instead of CDC

Discussion: Mediaite

John McWhorter / The Atlantic:

The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility — I must admit that I had not gotten around to actually reading Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility until recently. But it was time to jump in. DiAngelo is an education professor and—most prominently today—a diversity consultant who argues …

Discussion: Althouse

Mark Hemingway / The Federalist: What To Read Instead Of ‘White Fragility’

Raphael Satter / Reuters:

Deepfake used to attack activist couple shows new disinformation frontier — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oliver Taylor, a student at England's University of Birmingham, is a twenty-something with brown eyes, light stubble, and a slightly stiff smile. — Online profiles describe him as a coffee lover …

more at Mediagazer »

Tiffany Littler / KSNT-TV:

3 felony criminal charges filed against Steve Watkins — TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced Tuesday he's filed criminal charges against Kansas Rep. Steve Watkins. This follows an investigation by the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office.

Discussion: WIBW-TV, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Alternet.org, The Daily Caller, Axios, The Hill and Raw Story

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
GOP congressman faces felony charges over alleged voter fraud

Discussion: Washington Post, The American Independent and NBC News

Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNN:

Walmart will start requiring all customers to wear masks — New York (CNN Business)Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is the latest national chain to require all customers to wear masks. — The change will start next week. Starbucks (SBUX)said last week that it will require customers …

Discussion: Walmart Inc., Gizmodo, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller and The Week

Allison McCann / New York Times:

64 Videos Show the N.Y.P.D. Meeting Protesters With Fists, Clubs and Body Slams — The videos below contain scenes of graphic violence. Scroll to watch or skip ahead. — Punches, tackles, beatings and shoves. — At the height of the recent Black Lives Matter marches in New York City …

Washington Post:

Trump wants the CIA to cooperate with Russia. We tried that. It was a disaster. — Putin doesn't want a constructive relationship with the United States. He just wants to beat us. — There has been justifiable outrage after news reports surfaced about Russian intelligence services paying the Taliban …

Discussion: Defense One

Business Insider: Russia used Trump's intelligence sharing to try to assassinate Chechen dissidents in Europe, sources say

Mike Levine / ABC News:

President Trump's ‘dysfunctional’ upbringing created ‘dangerous situation’ for America, niece claims — Mary Trump says Donald and siblings were taught to view people as “expendable.” — President Donald Trump grew up in a “dysfunctional” family that believed “money stood in” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Sun, Political Wire and Washington Times

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:

Missouri governor says Trump is ‘getting involved’ in case of St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Tuesday that President Trump would be “getting involved” in the case of the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at a group of protesters passing outside …

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, The Sun, Politico, The Root and Breitbart

New York Times:

Trump Raises New Objections to Subpoena Seeking His Tax Returns — The effort came less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the Manhattan district attorney to demand the records. — Days after the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a defeat to President Trump …

Jenna Grande / CREW:

CREW Files Hatch Act Complaint Against Mark Meadows — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Washington—President Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows appears to have violated the Hatch Act twice during separate interviews with Fox News, according to a complaint sent today to the Office of Special Counsel …

Jordan Uhl / The Nation:

The US Military Is Using Online Gaming to Recruit Teens — Gamers with the Army, Navy, and Air Force are spending hours on Twitch with children as young as 13. — “Have a nice time getting banned, my dude,” Army recruiter and gamer Joshua “Strotnium” David told me right before he booted me from the US Army's Twitch channel.

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:

The rise and humiliating fall of Jeff Sessions, a cautionary tale for other Republicans — If there was one establishment figure in Washington who understood Trumpism, it was Jeff Sessions. But Sessions is also the Washington figure who most clearly paid a political price for not seeming loyal enough to President Trump.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Reuters and al.com

David Brody / CBN News:

‘God Has a Mission for Me’: Roger Stone Tells CBN News He's Not Out for Revenge, But On a New Path — WASHINGTON - Now that Roger Stone is no longer going to jail, the former political consultant has quite a few people to thank. Donald Trump is right at the top of the list …

Yahoo News:

Exclusive: Secret Trump order gives CIA more powers to launch cyberattacks — The Central Intelligence Agency has conducted a series of covert cyber operations against Iran and other targets since winning a secret victory in 2018 when President Trump signed what amounts to a sweeping authorization …

Discussion: National Review, Political Wire, The Daily Caller and Axios, more at Techmeme »

Jordan Moreau / Variety:

Nick Cannon Dropped by ViacomCBS After Making Anti-Semitic Comments … In the June 30 episode of “Cannon's Class,” the actor and TV host interviewed Professor Griff, a rapper who was a part of Public Enemy before leaving the group after making anti-Semitic remarks.

Discussion: The Federalist, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, The Hill, Page Six, The Root, The Sun, The Week and Instapundit, more at Mediagazer »

Jerry Zremski / Buffalo News:

As pandemic rages in U.S., border stays closed - and Canadians approve — WASHINGTON - The closure of the U.S.-Canadian border, which is about to be extended for another month, is a tale of two countries: one that has failed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, and one that fears that visitors …

Jared Holt / Right Wing Watch:

QAnon Devotees Plan Rally At Republican National Convention — Believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory are staging an event in Jacksonville, Florida, next month coinciding with the second day of the 2020 Republican National Convention. — Pro-Q personalities and followers will gather …

Discussion: New York Daily News

Eleanor Watson / CBS News:

Trump heads to Georgia, one of the new 2020 battleground states — President Trump will be visiting Georgia on Wednesday to talk about infrastructure, but like his recent trips to Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, this happens to be to a battleground state his reelection campaign is eager to keep in the “win” column in November.