memeorandum: The Stealthy Play to Make Swing State Republicans Love Tom Cotton (Lachlan Markay/The Daily Beast)

3:10 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 KXAN-TV

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, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Politico, IJR and Althouse

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

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Talking Points Memo and NBC News

Politico:
Senate stalemate means millions on the verge of losing $600 weekly federal benefit

Discussion: Associated Press and The Hill

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

Discussion: American Bridge PAC

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

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

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

Discussion: Slate, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic and POLITICUSUSA

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

Discussion: NBC News, Los Angeles Times, Reason and Raw Story

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

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
President Trump Suggests Delaying Election Until Americans Can Vote in Person

Discussion: Bloomberg, Mother Jones, BBC and No More Mister Nice Blog

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: The Nation, IJR, Sara A. Carter, The American Independent and Right Wing Watch

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

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

Discussion: Breitbart

CBS News:
Funeral services for Congressman John Lewis - watch live stream

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and Axios

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
In Lewis eulogy, Obama issues forceful call to action

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

Wesley Lowery / GQ:
John Lewis's Final Fights

Discussion: New York Times

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

Discussion: TheGrio, The Hill, IJR, Fox News, Politico, Political Wire and ABC7

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, Mediaite, The Hill, Raw Story, Twitchy, Deadline, TheGrio and TheBlaze

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: Reuters, WXYZ-TV, Al Jazeera and Scripting News

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

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, Associated Press and IJR

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Appeals Court Erases Order to End Michael Flynn Case, Sets New Arguments — The decision means that the legal saga over the criminal charge against President Trump's former national security adviser will continue. — WASHINGTON — The entire Federal Appeals Court in Washington said on Thursday …

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

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

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

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

Mitch McKinley / Law Enforcement Today:

Missouri AG intervenes in case against St. Louis couple who defended their home with guns — Editor note: A previous version of this story suggested all charges were dropped against the couple. That is not yet formally the case. The Missouri AG is still seeking to dismiss the case.

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.

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.

Ben White / Politico:

U.S. suffered worst quarterly contraction on record as virus ravages economy — The U.S. economy crashed in historic fashion this year — shrinking at a nearly 33 percent annualized pace in the second quarter — as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged businesses and sent joblessness soaring.

Discussion: U.S. Bureau …, Mother Jones, CBS Pittsburgh, NPR and Mediaite

Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:

US government drops effort to silence Trump's ex-lawyer — NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government dropped its effort to silence President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer on Thursday, saying it will no longer demand that Michael Cohen not speak with the media in the weeks before his book critical of his former boss is released.

Discussion: Reuters