memeorandum: As the coronavirus crisis spins out of control, Trump issues directives — but still no clear plan (Washington Post)

2:10 PM ET, July 15, 2020

Top Items:

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 …

Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:

Fauci: ‘Bizarre’ White House Behavior Only Hurts the President — Anthony Fauci isn't about to quit, despite the White House's clumsy attempts to stain his public image. More so now than at any other point in their uneasy partnership, it seems that if President Donald Trump wants to be rid of Fauci, he'll need to fire him.

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, New York Post, Associated Press, IJR, The Wrap and Mediaite

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 …

Discussion: The Hill

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire and The Hill

Monmouth University Polling Institute:

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, POLITICUSUSA, 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: Washington Monthly, Progress Pond, POLITICUSUSA, CANNONFIRE, Raw Story 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

Discussion: The Daily Caller

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

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

The Frontier:
Oklahoma governor tests positive for the coronavirus

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo and New York Post

Fadel Allassan / Axios: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt tests positive for coronavirus

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

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: Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Politico, CNN, The Daily Caller, The Week, Mediaite, 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

Discussion: Rev and Althouse

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 »

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’

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: The Federalist, The Daily Signal and National Review

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

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

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

Discussion: Spectator USA

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, NPR, CNBC, KSLTV.com, Raw Story, Alternet.org, NBC News, HillReporter.com, WHTM-TV, Axios, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Gizmodo, The Daily Beast and The Verge

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

Discussion: Mediaite

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 …

Discussion: Reason

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

GOP congressman faces felony charges over alleged voter fraud — The first sign of trouble came in December 2019, when the Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kan.) listed a UPS Store on his election documents and voter-registration form as his residential address.

Discussion: Washington Post, The American Independent, NBC News and Balloon Juice

Tiffany Littler / KSNT-TV:
3 felony criminal charges filed against Steve Watkins

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

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 …

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., Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo and The Week

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: Business Insider and Defense One

montgomeryadvertiser:

Alabama Gov. Ivey issues statewide mask mandate in public spaces, beginning Thursday — After days of an “alarming” upward climb in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Wednesday she will enforce a statewide mask order. — The move was an about-face …

Discussion: National Review and WBRC-TV

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

MSNBC Host Joy Reid Faces Revived Libel Claim Upon Big Appellate Decision — MSNBC's Joy Reid, who just a week ago earned a promotion to nightly news anchor, is on the losing end of a big appellate decision that will shape the rules of many cases involving free speech.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

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 and Washington Times

Washington Post:

As the coronavirus crisis spins out of control, Trump issues directives — but still no clear plan — President Trump has vowed that the nation's schools must reopen for the fall semester, but neither he nor his administration has detailed a plan for how to do so safely.

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, Axios and The Daily Caller, more at Techmeme »

George Will / Washington Post:

The nation is in a downward spiral. Worse is still to come. — Because of his incontinent use of it, the rhetorical mustard that the president slathers on every subject has lost its tang. The entertainer has become a bore, and foretelling his defeat no longer involves peering into a distant future …

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Two crimes benefited Trump's campaign in 2016. Ever since, the president has worked to block scrutiny of those schemes. — A porn star was paid to keep silent about her alleged dalliance years earlier with a presidential candidate, which a judge has agreed was an illegal violation of campaign finance laws.

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

Yeganeh Torbati / ProPublica:

Trump Is Donating Ventilators to Countries That Don't Need or Can't Use Them — Nearly 8,000 ventilators are destined for foreign countries as part of Trump's plan to make the U.S. “king of ventilators.” But public health experts worry the machines are crowding out more urgently needed aid.

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: New York Post, The Hill, The Sun, The Gateway Pundit, Politico and The Root

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.

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.