memeorandum: Biden holds daunting lead over Trump as US election enters final stretch (Lauren Gambino/The Guardian)

9:45 AM ET, July 26, 2020

Top Items:

Coronavirus ravaged Florida, as Ron DeSantis sidelined scientists and followed Trump — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As Florida became a global epicenter of the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis held one meeting this month with his top public health official, Scott Rivkees, according to the governor's schedule.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Political Wire

Steve Contorno / Tampa Bay Times:
Ron DeSantis was supposed to star at Trump's Florida convention. Not anymore.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Reagan Foundation to Trump, RNC: Quit raising money off Ronald Reagan's legacy — The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, which runs the 40th president's library near Los Angeles, has demanded that President Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) …

Discussion: Mediaite, Daily Kos and Raw Story

Marina Pitofsky / The Hill:

Reagan Foundation asks Trump campaign, RNC to stop using former president's name to raise money — The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute called on the President Trump's reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) to stop using former President Reagan's name and image to fundraise last week.

Discussion: The Inquisitr

CNN:

CNN Polls: Biden leads in three key states Trump won in 2016 — (CNN)With 100 days remaining until Election Day, voters in three critical battleground states swing in former Vice President Joe Biden's way, according to new Arizona, Florida and Michigan CNN polls conducted by SSRS.

Discussion: The Hill

Associated Press:

100 Days: Trump faces headwinds as Election Day draws near — WASHINGTON (AP) — With the November election 100 days away, more Americans say the country is heading in the wrong direction than at any previous point in Donald Trump's presidency, putting the incumbent in a perilous position …

Discussion: Axios and Daily Kos

Lauren Gambino / The Guardian:

Biden holds daunting lead over Trump as US election enters final stretch — With 100 days to go, polls show the president languishing as the pandemic takes its toll. But analysts expect surprises — ne hundred days before the presidential election, Joe Biden has built a commanding …

Kelly Mena / CNN:

Rep. Ted Yoho resigns from board of Christian organization following AOC incident — Washington, DC (CNN)Florida GOP Rep. Ted Yoho has resigned from the board of a Christian organization that works to fight hunger following his tense exchange with Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill and Axios

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post: Rep. Ted Yoho removed from board of Christian charity over his comments about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Allison Quinn / The Daily Beast:

Fox News' Jesse Watters: QAnon Has ‘Uncovered a Lot of Great Stuff’ — BECAUSE OF COURSE — Fox News host Jesse Watters says a pro-Trump, right-wing conspiracy theory movement that was deemed a terror threat by the FBI has actually “uncovered a lot of great stuff.”

Lucian K. Truscott IV / Raw Story:

‘This whole house of cards is gonna collapse’: GOP shutters Senate with US on verge of economic catastrophe — As Senate Republicans headed home for the weekend without extending unemployment insurance benefits or approving other economic relief programs that could help millions of Americans weather …

Nicky Robertson / CNN:
McConnell hopes to send next coronavirus relief bill to House within three weeks

Discussion: WKYT-TV and Talking Points Memo

Politico:
Meadows, Mnuchin make rare weekend trip to the Hill amid coronavirus relief talks

Discussion: One America News Network and The Hill

Michael Wilson / New York Times:

Empty Towers, No Power Lunches: Ghostly Midtown Is Omen for N.Y.C. — 7,500 workers are missing from a famous building. A food cart sells 10 hot dogs a day. The virus's effect on one block could be a vision of the city's future. — Editors and account managers at the Time & Life Building …

Jess Bidgood Globe / The Boston Globe:

A bipartisan group secretly gathered to game out a contested Trump-Biden election. It wasn't pretty — WASHINGTON — On the second Friday in June, a group of political operatives, former government and military officials, and academics quietly convened online for what became a disturbing exercise …

Discussion: Raw Story

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

As pandemic limits scrutiny, GOP fears lesser-known Democratic candidates will steamroll to Senate majority — In Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst (R) has challenged her Democratic competitor to six debates, starting in August. In North Carolina, Sen. Thom Tillis (R) pressed his Democratic opponent …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

USA Today:

America's national greatness myths are shattering. Can they survive? Should they? — Live long enough and you can see the rise and fall of myths in real time. It does not take statues being pulled from their pedestals to reveal the fragility of the conjured history upon which so much of society depends.

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:

Trump golfs with Brett Favre — as coronavirus deaths approach 150,000: report — President Donald Trump reportedly golfed on Saturday while on vacation at his Bedminster resort in New Jersey. — Deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere reportedly told Reuters correspondent Steve Holland …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Richard Haass / Washington Post:

What Mike Pompeo doesn't understand about China, Richard Nixon and U.S. foreign policy — Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of “The World: A Brief Introduction.” — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a blistering speech about China on Thursday.

New York Times: Once a Source of U.S.-China Tension, Trade Emerges as an Area of Calm

David Bauder / Associated Press:

Sinclair pulls show where Fauci conspiracy theory is aired — NEW YORK (AP) — The Sinclair Broadcast Group said Saturday it is pulling from the air an edition of its “America This Week” program that discusses a conspiracy theory involving Dr. Anthony Fauci and the coronavirus.

Discussion: ArkansasTimes, Raw Story, Politico and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
Coronavirus updates: U.S. deaths top 1,000 for fourth consecutive day

Discussion: Deadline, The Guardian, The Hill and The Wrap

Christina Maxouris / CNN:

US tops 1,000 coronavirus deaths 4 days in a row as experts urge the country to shut down — California reports highest number of single-day Covid-19 deaths — (CNN)Coronavirus deaths in the US topped 1,000 four days in a row last week amid ongoing debates on the return of school and mask mandates.

Discussion: New Jersey Online

Fadel Allassan / Axios:

John Lewis to be carried across Edmund Pettus Bridge for final time — The body of the late Rep. John Lewis will be escorted Sunday across the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where the civil rights icon first helped lead a march for voting rights in 1965, CNN reports.

Discussion: CNN, Fox News and The Week

Courier-Journal:

Opposing armed militias converge in Louisville, escalating tensions but avoiding violence — LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two opposing, heavily armed militia groups came within a few dozen yards of each of other in downtown Louisville on Saturday in a tense standoff that ended without violence …

Discussion: Axios and New York Post

Nick Givas / Fox News:

Native scholar says Communist China has ‘met its match’ with Trump admin following consulate closure — ‘They knew China would retaliate but they are willing to take that risk that nobody else in the world is willing to take’ — Native Chinese scholar and author Helen Raleigh …

Discussion: One America News Network and Breitbart