memeorandum: Trump's decision to move troops from Germany slammed as ‘a gift to Putin’ (CNN)

2:35 PM ET, July 30, 2020

Top Items:

2020 Election Live Updates: Republicans Reject Trump's Suggestion to Delay Election, Something He Cannot Do — Trailing badly in the polls, the president baselessly suggested that the November election would be fraudulent. No major Republicans have stepped forward to defend him.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Foreign Policy, The Daily Caller, IJR, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire and POLITICUSUSA

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Trump raises idea of delaying election — President Trump on Thursday suggested delaying the 2020 elections, something he does not have the power to do unilaterally, as he levied fresh attacks against mail-in voting. — Trump, who is badly trailing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden …

Discussion: Associated Press, New Republic, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Reuters, Politico, IJR and Althouse

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Republicans flat-out reject Trump's suggestion to delay election

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, NBC News and National Review

JONATHAN TURLEY: “Delay the Election”: Trump Fuels New Questions Over The Holding Of The Presidential Election

Jim Swift / The Bulwark:
Where Does Joe Biden Go to Get His Apology?

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

CNN:
Trump floats delaying election despite lack of authority to do so

Discussion: WISH-TV, KTLA, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA and ArkansasTimes

David Edwards / Raw Story:
‘We will not delay the election’: GOP senator rebukes Trump for trying to derail November vote

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Nation, Los Angeles Times and POLITICUSUSA

Dan McLaughlin / National Review:
Donald Trump's Weak, Self-Defeating Call for Delaying the Election

Discussion: NBC News, Mother Jones, Reason and Raw Story

Steve Holland / Reuters:
Trump raises possibility of delaying the election - but that power rests in Congress

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story and The Hill

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:
Trump can't delay the election, experts say

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The American Independent, Mother Jones, The Hill, NPR, Daily Kos and Axios

Kevin Robillard / HuffPost: Donald Trump's Campaign Is Pretending There's No Pandemic

David Wasserman / NBC News: Democrats are strongly pushing mail voting. But its pitfalls could boost Trump.

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Trump suggests delaying 2020 election

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, BBC and Right Wing Watch

Dan Calabrese / Herman Cain:

We're heartbroken, and the world is poorer: Herman Cain has gone to be with the Lord — You're never ready for the kind of news we are grappling with this morning. But we have no choice but to seek and find God's strength and comfort to deal with it. — Herman Cain - our boss, our friend …

Bill Hoffmann / Newsmax:

Herman Cain Dies From Coronavirus at 74 — Herman Cain — the maverick American business czar and Republican presidential candidate who campaigned for a sweeping tax reform plan called 9-9-9 — died Thursday morning after a monthlong battle with the coronavirus. He was 74.

Discussion: CNN, Little Green Footballs, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, The Hill, Raw Story, Mediaite, Twitchy, Deadline and TheGrio

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain dies after battle with coronavirus — Herman Cain, a former presidential hopeful who was once considered by President Donald Trump for the Federal Reserve, has died after being hospitalized with the coronavirus. He was 74.

Discussion: TalkLeft

Ursula Perano / Axios:
Herman Cain dies from coronavirus

Discussion: WXYZ-TV, Al Jazeera, Mediaite and Scripting News

Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:
Herman Cain dead after battle with coronavirus

Discussion: Reuters, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Beast

John Lewis / New York Times:

Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation — Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. — Mr. Lewis, the civil rights leader who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published upon the day of his funeral.

Discussion: CBS News, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Axios, Fox News, The Hill, Washington Post, TheGrio, KTLA, Mediaite, The Moderate Voice, IJR, Al Jazeera, NPR, KNSD-TV, The Guardian, 6abc, ABC7, The Daily Caller, POLITICUSUSA, Politico, Raw Story, Rolling Stone, CNN, KETK.com, The Root, Daily Kos and New York Post

NBC News:
For Biden's running mate, the safest pick might be the safe bet

Discussion: Breitbart

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Pelosi fights back tears during tribute to Lewis

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wesley Lowery / GQ:
John Lewis's Final Fights

Discussion: New York Times, The Hill and KTLA

ABC News:
Rep. John Lewis funeral updates: Obama delivers eulogy

Discussion: The Hill, IJR, Fox News, Politico, Axios and Political Wire

Ann Marimow / Washington Post:

Michael Flynn case to be reheard by full federal appeals court in D.C. — A federal appeals court in Washington will take a second look a judge's effort to scrutinize the Justice Department's decision to drop its case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Discussion: Redstate

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Full Appeals Court Agrees to Hear Request to End Michael Flynn Case — The decision means that the legal saga over the criminal charge against the former national security adviser will continue. — WASHINGTON — The entire Federal Appeals Court in Washington said on Thursday …

Reuters:

U.S. appeals court to rehear arguments over ex-Trump aide Flynn — (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday agreed to rehear arguments over whether the judge assigned to the criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, must grant a request to dismiss it.

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Fadel Allassan / Axios: Full D.C. appeals court to rehear Michael Flynn case

New York Times:

Obama Unleashes on Trump Privately as He Raises $24 Million for Biden — Barack Obama has spoken candidly about President Trump to party donors, bringing up the sexual assault allegations against Mr. Trump and warning of his efforts to push “nativist, racist, sexist” fears.

Discussion: Washington Times, The Hill, Raw Story and Political Wire

Washington Post:

U.S. economy contracted at fastest quarterly rate on record from April to June as coronavirus walloped workers, businesses — Data released by the Commerce Department on Thursday is another reminder of the pain felt this year as the nation went into an economic shutdown.

Discussion: Board of Governors …

U.S. Department of Justice:

Operation Legend Expanded to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee — Today, the expansion of Operation Legend was announced in Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee. Operation Legend is a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work …

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Crooked Media, Politico, IJR, New York Post, BuzzFeed News, Bloomberg, The Hill and Talking Points Memo

Politico:

Senate stalemate means millions on the verge of losing $600 weekly federal benefit — With federal unemployment benefits expiring on Friday — a serious blow to millions of Americans who lost jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic — the Senate became bogged down in partisan fighting and prepared …

Discussion: Associated Press and The Hill

John F. Harris / Politico:

Why Trump Might Quit — The purpose of the nationally televised Oval Office address was to announce new peace initiatives in Vietnam, but Lyndon B. Johnson saved the most startling news until the end of his speech on March 31, 1968. With his country badly divided over a grinding war …

Discussion: Raw Story and CNN

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:

Texas Idiocracy — Are you surprised? — With the news that Representative Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) has tested positive for the coronavirus, there is a temptation to be less than gracious. — I intend to give in to that temptation. — This is not to say that we do not wish him a speedy recovery and …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

Burn It All Down, Redux — What if Trumpism *is* the “reformed” version of the Republican party? — We have two more entries in the big anti-Trump schism concerning the wisdom/morality/what have you of seeing Trump-supporting senators who acted dishonorably sent packing.

David Mattingly / WAVE-TV:

Kentucky town hires social workers instead of more officers - and the results are surprising — ALEXANDRIA, Ky. (WAVE) - Faced with a tight budget and rising demands on its 17 officer police department, the City of Alexandria in Campbell County tried something different.

Ryan Heath / Politico:

Trump plans to address United Nations General Assembly in person — President Donald Trump is likely to be the only world leader speaking live from New York at this year's United Nations General Assembly debate, scheduled to take place Sept. 22 to 25. — Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. …

Discussion: One America News Network

Jaclyn Peiser / Washington Post:

He held a BLM sign in what he called 'America's most racist town.' The result? A viral video of abuse. — As a gray Buick SUV approached the man holding a Black Lives Matter sign on a street in Harrison, Ark., the driver slowed down. — “What about White lives?” the woman in the passenger's seat yelled out.

Joe Biden:

My Statement on Q2 Economic GDP and UI Filings — Today, we learned that the last three months were the worst period for economic growth our nation has experienced in the 70 years since we started measuring it — a drop of nearly 33 percent. And the already unthinkably high numbers …

Discussion: Breitbart