memeorandum: Biden campaign launches official Animal Crossing: New Horizons yard signs (Makena Kelly/The Verge)

4:50 PM ET, September 1, 2020

Top Items:

Facebook takes down Russian operation that recruited U.S. journalists, amid rising concerns about election misinformation — The social media giant acted against a small network of pages and accounts that directed users to a fake left-leaning news site called Peace Data

Discussion: NPR, Political Wire and Raw Story

Sheera Frenkel / New York Times:

Russians Again Targeting Americans With Disinformation, Facebook Says — The company said it had been warned by the F.B.I. that a so-called troll farm in St. Petersburg set up a network of fake user accounts and a website. — The Russian group that interfered in the 2016 presidential election …

Discussion: CNN, more at Techmeme »

Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:
Facebook axes small Russian troll network ahead of election

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Variety, The Daily Beast and One America News Network

Ben Collins / NBC News:

Trump's ‘plane loaded with thugs’ rumor matches months-old conspiracy theory — The conspiracy theory that President Donald Trump pushed on Monday that a plane “almost completely loaded with thugs” was set to disrupt protests was almost identical to a rumor that went viral on Facebook three months ago.

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Raw Story, Deadline, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, The Stranger, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and The American Independent

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:

The Essence of Late Stage Trumpism — “People that you've never heard of. People that are in the dark shadows. People that...” - Donald J. Trump, the actual president of the United States. — World War II began 80 years ago. The day was commemorated by W.H. Auden in a poem named, appropriately enough, “September 1, 1939”.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, The Hill, Mediaite and Politico

Makena Kelly / The Verge:

Biden campaign launches official Animal Crossing: New Horizons yard signs — It's the campaign's latest foray into online organizing — Starting today, September 1st, Animal Crossing: New Horizons players will be able to deck out their island homes with official Joe Biden yard signs as part …

Discussion: IJR, Input, Mashable, Mediaite, Bloomberg, New York Post and Twitchy

Larry Flynt / The Daily Beast:

My Final Farewell to the Falwells — The Hustler publisher, who won a landmark First Amendment legal battle against Jerry Falwell Sr., writes about Jerry Falwell Jr.'s fall from grace—and the Trump of it all. — When I heard that Jerry Falwell Jr. had resigned the presidency of Liberty University …

Discussion: Raw Story

Ruth Graham / New York Times:
Liberty Will Investigate University's Operations Under Jerry Falwell Jr.

Discussion: Liberty News, Raw Story and The National Interest

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:

Arizona Stands Out From a Mostly Static Presidential Race in Battleground States — State-level polling trends reveal little recent change in 2020 contest, but Biden now leads by 10 in Arizona — Amid unrest in Kenosha, Wis., Biden leads Trump by 9 points, 52% to 43%.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, ABC News, Washington Times, Raw Story, MyNorthwest.com, Balloon Juice and Political Wire

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

Biden Expected to Surpass $300 Million Raised in August, Shattering Record — The fund-raising total would exceed previous monthly hauls and is more than double what the former vice president raised in July. — Joseph R. Biden Jr. is expected to report a record-breaking haul of donations for August …

Discussion: Reuters, Breitbart, The Hill, Redstate, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Margaret Talev / Axios:

Exclusive: Bloomberg group warns Trump will appear to win big on election night — A top Democratic data and analytics firm told “Axios on HBO” it's highly likely that President Trump will appear to have won — potentially in a landslide — on election night, even if he ultimately loses when all the votes are counted.

Discussion: The National Pulse, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Vanity Fair, Althouse, The Daily Caller, CounterPunch and Raw Story

Politico:

A newborn baby and cursing lawmakers: California's legislative session ends in chaos — OAKLAND — Technological mayhem, a virus-spreading gathering and a one-month old baby on the Assembly floor: The end of California's 2020 legislative session was peak Covid-era politics.

Discussion: Fox News

Mackenzie Mays / Politico:
California lawmaker brings newborn to Assembly floor after being denied proxy vote

Discussion: ABC30 and The Hill

David Lauter / Los Angeles Times:

Trump has slipped among key groups that backed him in 2016 — President Trump's support has eroded among key groups of voters who backed him in 2016 — a major reason why he continues to trail former Vice President Joe Biden and a prime motivator for the president's reelection strategy …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, The Hill and Mediaite

Roger Sollenberger / Salon:

Trump campaign aide was paid $20,000 a month by Bannon nonprofit linked to alleged fraud — Trump campaign's shell game: No reported payments to campaign manager Bill Stepien or drama-prone aide Jason Miller — Senior Trump campaign official Jason Miller appears to have been paid about $20,000 …

Discussion: Political Wire

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:

Trump Needs His Own Sister Souljah Moment — The president must condemn those responsible for violence and disavow those who act in his name. Easy, right? — I want to make a prediction about the election in November. — Here it is: If Joe Biden wins, it will be, in part …

Discussion: New Republic, Real Clear Politics, Slate, NBC News, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Federalist, IJR, Balloon Juice, Redstate, CounterPunch, The Hill, Washington Examiner and Townhall

Jack Mirkinson / Discourse Blog:
What ‘Law and Order’ Really Means

Discussion: The Atlantic, Vanity Fair and Fortune

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Totally Real Source Reveals How Trump Discovered the Planeload of Looters — Last night, in an interview with Laura Ingraham, President Trump made an astonishing charge. “We had people get on a plane from a certain city this weekend,” he said. “And in the plane, it was almost completely loaded …

Discussion: Washington Post

Quint Forgey / Politico:

Trump: I did not have ‘mini-strokes’ — President Donald Trump denied Tuesday that he had a “series of mini-strokes” several months ago that resulted in him seeking treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. — “It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favorite President …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Axios and Raw Story

Paul LeBlanc / CNN:
Pence was on standby to ‘take over’ during Trump's unannounced Walter Reed visit, new book reports

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Fox News, The Hill, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Forbes, Deadline, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, IJR, Townhall, POLITICUSUSA and Political Wire

The Daily Beast:

Trump White House Warns Colleges: Don't Send Your COVID-Infected Students Home! — In a call on Monday, top officials on the coronavirus task force made it clear that they realize sending students back to school has created a risk of cascading outbreaks. — Top White House officials rang …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Raw Story and Slate

ABC News:

Senate GOP poised to offer slimmed down COVID-19 relief bill as Mnuchin takes the hot seat in the House — The bill is expected to be dismissed by Democrats as inadequate. — Capitol Hill — With the collapse of bipartisan coronavirus relief talks, Senate Republicans are looking to introduce …

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, Fox News, Washington Post, Daily Kos, IJR, One America News Network, Bloomberg, NBC Los Angeles, Just The News, The Hill, The Cain Gang, Lawfare and Washington Times

Susan Cornwell / Reuters:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says he will call Speaker Pelosi about coronavirus aid talks Tuesday

Discussion: One America News Network and New York Post

Sam Baker / Axios:

Axios-Ipsos poll: A harsh verdict for government's coronavirus response — Most Americans think the federal government is making the coronavirus pandemic worse, according to the latest installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index. — Why it matters: This is a pretty searing indictment …

Discussion: The Hill, POLITICUSUSA and Political Wire

Margaret Talev / Axios:
Axios-Ipsos poll: Most expect quick election results

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Hill and Political Wire

Washington Post:

U.S. says it won't join WHO-linked effort to develop, distribute coronavirus vaccine — The Trump administration said it will not join a global effort to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a coronavirus vaccine, in part because the World Health Organization is involved …

Discussion: Political Wire, The Hill and Daily Kos

Meduza.io:

Russian Darkweb shares personal data of nearly every voter in Michigan, plus a million more voters in four other states — Russian Internet users have shared the personal data of nearly every voter in Michigan (7.6 million of the state's 7.8 million voters), as well as the information …

Discussion: kommersant.ru, Techdirt and Detroit Metro Times

Taegan Goddard / Political Wire: Russian Journalists Find U.S. Voter Data on Hacker Site

Julie Zauzmer / Washington Post:

D.C. committee recommends stripping the names of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Francis Scott Key and others from city government buildings — A committee reporting to D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser recommends renaming dozens of public schools, parks and government buildings in the nation's capital …

Discussion: Townhall

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:

Cop Who Charged Black Senator With ‘Injuring’ Confederate Statues Nurtured A Long Grudge — Portsmouth Police Department Sgt. Kevin McGee was under investigation for authoring a heated letter blasting Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas (D) and others. — A Portsmouth, Virginia, police sergeant ― …

Discussion: Raw Story

Isaac Arnsdorf / ProPublica:

Now in Government Food Aid Boxes: A Letter From Donald Trump — Democrats say the letter violates the law against using government resources to campaign. It's just the latest example of President Trump using his office to boost his reelection hopes.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Political Wire

David Siders / Politico:

An unlikely state tightens up — Minnesota, which once looked like a vanity project for Donald Trump, is suddenly emerging as a critical test of his effort to turn his campaign around. — Interviews with more than a dozen officials and strategists from both parties in recent days depict …

Discussion: The Federalist, The Hill and FiveThirtyEight

Ben Jacobs / VICE:

Kanye West's Campaign Is Filled to the Brim With GOP Operatives — A lawyer linked to the campaign worked to make women have vaginal ultrasounds before getting an abortion. Another shared “White Lives Matter” content. — BJ — Kanye West's presidential campaign still hasn't filed …

Ronald Brownstein / CNN:

Biden's GOP endorsements show the cracks in Trump's coalition — (CNN)Joe Biden is attracting more crossover endorsements from prominent members of the opposing party than any other presidential candidate from either side in decades. That doesn't guarantee the former vice president victory in November …

Discussion: Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Newsbusters, American Prospect, Bloomberg, Fox News, CounterPunch, New York Post, Political Wire and Daily Kos

Jesmyn Ward / Vanity Fair:

Jesmyn Ward on Her Husband's Death and Grief During COVID-19 — The acclaimed novelist lost her beloved husband—the father of her children—as COVID-19 swept across the country. She writes through their story, and her grief. — My Beloved died in January.

Dave Levinthal / Business Insider:

Legal insiders brace for a world where Trump loses in November and the ex-president faces down a slew of reinvigorated court fights — More than a dozen legal experts and practitioners tell Insider that President Donald Trump's many legal fights are primed to cause him headaches should he lose the 2020 presidential election.

David Rutz / Washington Free Beacon:

Media Accepts Biden Claim He Won't Ban Fracking — Media members were quick to accept Joe Biden's claim on Monday that he is “not banning fracking,” ignoring past statements from both Biden and running mate Kamala Harris in support of a complete ban. — CNN's Jim Acosta, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell …

Discussion: Spectator USA

David Reddish / Queerty:

Gay Trumper Richard Grenell lands new job...working for an anti-LGBTQ legal group — Not long after declaring Donald Trump the most pro-gay president in American history (yeah, right), former US Ambassador Richard Grenell has announced his latest employment gig.

Bloomberg:

Pharma Lobby Disputes Trump's Claim That Drug Companies Are Negotiating — President says executives coming this week to talk price cut — Industry lobby group says it's not aware of any meeting — The pharmaceutical industry's leading lobby group said Tuesday it did not know of a meeting …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

It Has Come to This: Ignore the C.D.C. — The agency's new guidelines are wrong, so states have to step up on their own to suppress the coronavirus. — Harold Varmus is a former director of the National Institutes of Health. Rajiv Shah is the president of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Discussion: National Review

Zachary A. Siegel / The Appeal:

Oregon Could Become the First State to Decriminalize Drugs in November — A ballot initiative could decriminalize low-level drug possession and fund addiction treatment. — Getting caught with drugs like cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine normally leads to arrest, jail time, and a criminal record.

Marc Lacey / Nieman Reports:

Journalists Need to Remember that Not All News Readers are White — Dear Journalism: Audiences of national media have too long been presumed to be white. A New York Times editor argues it's time to change that — ARTICLE BY — Every journalist needs to imagine a reader, someone to tell the story to.

Discussion: Vanity Fair

USA Today:

Trump blames ‘anti-American riots’ for Kenosha damage, directs millions to local police and businesses — WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump arrived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday to survey damage from a week of violent protests over the police shooting of an unarmed Black man …