memeorandum: Kelly Loeffler is running against Black Lives Matter. These corporations are supporting her campaign. (Popular Information)

2:15 PM ET, July 16, 2020

Top Items:

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

U.S. Party Preferences Have Swung Sharply Toward Democrats — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Since January, Americans' party preferences have shifted dramatically in the Democratic Party's direction. What had been a two-percentage-point Republican advantage in U.S. party identification and leaning …

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA and UPI

David Harsanyi / National Review:
Who Funds the Lincoln Project? Exactly Whom You Expect

Discussion: Crooked Media, Power Line, The Hill and Townhall

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Kemp bans cities, counties from mandating masks — By Jeremy Redmon - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution J. Scott Trubey - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Willoughby Mariano - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia governor extends coronavirus restrictions while encouraging use of face masks

Discussion: Fox News, Vanity Fair, WSB-TV, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, The American Independent, Slate, National Review and Defense One

Associated Press:
Georgia gov. explicitly voids mask orders in 15 localities

Discussion: NPR, Axios, Reason, The Hill and The Week

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Kemp's ban of mask mandates puts Georgia on collision course with its cities

Discussion: Daily Kos and The American Independent

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp forbids cities, counties from requiring masks as coronavirus surges in the state

Discussion: The Colorado Sun, WAGA-TV, IJR, Common Dreams, Gizmodo and The Hill

Rebecca Klar / The Hill:
Georgia governor overrides all local mask orders in the state

Discussion: Breitbart, The Root and The Daily Caller

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

Even if the Polls Are Really Off, Trump Is Still in Trouble — Joe Biden's lead is sufficient to cover a sizable error. And several of the biggest problems with polling in the last election have either been addressed or become less relevant. — With Joe Biden claiming almost a double-digit lead …

Discussion: HillReporter.com and Washington Post

NBC News:

Trump has a 50 percent problem in the new NBC News/WSJ poll — WASHINGTON — One figure continually stands out for President Trump in our new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll: 50 percent. — And not in a good way for him. — Fifty percent of all registered voters in our poll “strongly” disapprove of the president.

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, Political Wire, One America News Network and CBS San Francisco

Vicky Prodeline / Polls:
Biden Leads But Many Anticipate Secret Trump Vote

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, Pennsylvania Capital-Star, KTLA, courthousenews.com, Contemptor, WHTM-TV, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Times, Washington Post, Mediaite and CBS Pittsburgh

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

Team Trump Frantically Plots New Ways to Make Him Feel Good About Himself — From the campaign trail to combating coronavirus, the goal is to please the boss. — On Tuesday night, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro—whom Donald Trump affectionately calls “my Peter” …

Discussion: PRESS RUN, Washington Post, National Review, GovExec.com, IJR, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and Raw Story

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
As Trump refuses to lead, America tries to save itself

Discussion: The Week, IJR and POLITICUSUSA

Wall Street Journal: Trump's Virus Non-Message

Will Feuer / CNBC:

Coronavirus data has already disappeared after Trump administration shifted control from CDC — Since the pandemic began, the CDC has regularly published data on availability of hospital beds and intensive care units across the country. — But Ryan Panchadsaram, who helps run …

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Gothamist and The Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Trump team launches a sweeping loyalty test to shore up its defenses — In the middle of a devastating pandemic and a searing economic crisis, the White House has an urgent question for its colleagues across the administration: Are you loyal enough to President Donald Trump?

Discussion: Washington Post, Alternet.org, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and Political Wire

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Trump Replaces Brad Parscale as Campaign Manager, Elevating Bill Stepien — The replacement of Mr. Parscale with Mr. Stepien, who had served as deputy campaign manager, comes as the president has struggled in public and private polling. — President Trump on Wednesday shook up his re-election team …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Hill, The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair, Raw Story, Redstate, Twitchy, IJR, National Review, Outside the Beltway, Axios, The Week, Slate, CNN, Spectator USA, The Sun, HillReporter.com, The Daily Caller, Alternet.org, Contemptor, UPI and Mediaite

Alex Isenstadt / Politico: Trump's campaign team tries to steady operation after messy shakeup

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:

Mary Trump says the U.S. has devolved into a version of her ‘incredibly dysfunctional family’ — Mary L. Trump, President's Trump's niece, said that watching the country's leadership devolve into “a macro version of my incredibly dysfunctional family” was one of the factors that compelled …

Discussion: Associated Press, POLITICUSUSA, LGBTQ Nation, The Week, The Hill, Raw Story and Alternet.org

Kelly McBride / NPR:

NPR Let The US Attorney General Tell A Falsehood On The Air — NPR's four-member “election security team” is responsible for covering all things about American voting, from access, to fraud to innovations and investments in the process. It is one of the foundations of NPR's politics coverage.

more at Mediagazer »

Joseph Cox / VICE:

Twitter Is Removing Images of Internal Tool Sources Say Enables Account Takeover — After a wave of account takeovers, screenshots of an internal Twitter user administration tool are being shared in the hacking underground. — Joseph Cox — On Wednesday, a wave of high profile accounts including …

Courtney Tanner / Salt Lake Tribune:

In separate rallies, Utahns protest mask mandate and demand in-person classes — • As she walked up to the podium to speak, one of the moms grabbed a face mask and spit her gum out into it. “It's garbage,” she shrugged, wadding it up. “It doesn't work anyway. Not for me and not for my kids.”

Discussion: Washington Post, KSLTV.com and The Hill

Popular Information:

Kelly Loeffler is running against Black Lives Matter. These corporations are supporting her campaign. — This is the online version of the Popular Information newsletter. Sign up to get independent accountability journalism straight to you inbox: — Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) …

Discussion: NPR

Daniel Bergner / New York Times:

‘White Fragility’ Is Everywhere. But Does Antiracism Training Work? — Robin DiAngelo's best seller is giving white Americans a new way to talk about race. Do those conversations actually serve the cause of equality? — To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Discussion: Althouse and The Federalist

Wall Street Journal:

Republicans Alarmed by Democratic Senate Hopefuls' Fundraising Haul — 'We're scared to death by what we see,' one Senate GOP strategist says — Republicans are sounding alarms after Democratic Senate candidates outraised their GOP opponents in the first six months of the year …

Discussion: Alternet.org

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

Republican convention in Jacksonville will be scaled back next month — The Republican Party will hold a scaled-back convention in Jacksonville, Fla., next month that includes a mix of outdoor and indoor venues, according to a letter sent to delegates. — The Thursday letter …

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, Politico, Associated Press, Reuters, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, CNN, Just The News, IJR, The Hill, The Week and Political Wire

E. Alex Jung / Vulture:

Who's Afraid of Ziwe Fumudoh? For guests who dare to appear on the comedian's Instagram Live show, the question is not if you are racist, but how. — “I get wild DMs,” Ziwe Fumudoh tells me as she scrolls through her phone. There are suggestions for guests on her Instagram Live show …

Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic:

A Second Coronavirus Death Surge Is Coming — Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. — There is no mystery in the number of Americans dying from COVID-19. — Despite political leaders trivializing the pandemic …

Discussion: National Review, Washington Monthly and Commentary Magazine

Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:

Trump prepares new arguments as judge sets timeline of New York tax return case — A judge set dates for court filings after the Supreme Court sent the case down for further argument — President Trump will have less than two weeks to submit new arguments in his case against Manhattan …

Discussion: Reuters and The Hill

Graham Kates / CBS News:

The Trump campaign app is tapping a “gold mine” of data about Americans — President Trump's campaign app is targeted to his most fervent supporters, but it is able to collect data about a swath of the American public far larger than his base. — The app requests access to significantly …

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:

Inspector general: Medicare chief broke rules on her publicity contracts — A top Trump administration health official violated federal contracting rules by steering millions of taxpayer dollars in contracts that ultimately benefited GOP-aligned communications consultants, according to an inspector general report released Thursday.

Discussion: Washington Post, Office of Inspector General and Daily Kos

Michael Miller / Washington Post:

A teen led a Black Lives Matter protest in his small town. A cross was burned in his yard. — MARION, Va. — It had been three weeks since the cross burning. Three weeks since Travon Brown's sense of triumph from leading a Black Lives Matter march was consumed by the fire in his front yard.

Discussion: HillReporter.com

PRRI:

Trump Favorability Drops Among White College-Educated Americans — Trump Favorability — President Donald Trump's favorability continues to trend downward. Less than four in ten (38%) Americans hold favorable views of Trump and nearly six in ten (59%) view him unfavorably.

Washington Post:

Supreme Court deals blow to felons in Florida seeking to regain the right to vote — The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Thursday to weigh in on a federal appeals court's decision that blocked some Florida felons' eligibility to participate in elections — a major blow to efforts …

David Moye / HuffPost:

Donald Trump Poses With Goya Products One Day After Ivanka Tweets Support — Both pics may violate federal regulations that forbid government employees to use their positions, titles or authority to endorse products. — President Donald Trump may be setting himself for a new gig …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill and The Daily Caller

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

The Myth of Trump as a Centrist Dealmaker — From vaunted negotiator to feckless ideologue. — On a Sunday-morning talk show in December 2015, a rising politician had this to say about Senator Ted Cruz's campaign for president, “Look at the way he's dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there …

Discussion: Alternet.org

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Administration Discussing Travel Ban on China's Communist Party Members — Move would further heighten tensions between Washington and Beijing — WASHINGTON—Senior Trump administration officials are discussing banning travel to the U.S. by members of China's Communist Party and their families …

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:

Chuck Todd Claims No Bias At MSNBC: “No Editorial Point Of View On Any Of These Newscasts” — Host Chuck Todd informed viewers that there is no editorial point of view on MSNBC after a guest charged that the network is hypocritical for criticizing Trump rallies over masks but not sharing …

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

GOPers Are Trying to Recruit QAnon Voters And Using This YouTube Show to Do It — Patriots' Soapbox is unlike any other Q-related program. And it's begun attracting some actual political figures. — As she gathered support for what was then thought to be a long-shot primary bid against Rep. Scott Tipton …

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press:

UK, US, Canada accuse Russia of hacking virus vaccine trials — FILE - In this March 16, 2020, file photo, a subject receives a shot in the first-stage safety study clinical trial of a potential vaccine by Moderna for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus …

Rick Noack / Washington Post:

A fight over nude swimming marks return of pre-coronavirus banalities in Europe — LYCHEN, Germany — There is perhaps no better sign that people are eager to move on from the coronavirus than the fact that this German lake district town is embroiled in a heated debate about nude swimming, and it has drawn national attention.