memeorandum: With Supreme Court pick, Trump is once again on the wrong side of public opinion (NBC News)

1:05 PM ET, September 28, 2020

Top Items:

LONG-CONCEALED RECORDS SHOW TRUMP'S CHRONIC LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE — The Times obtained Donald Trump's tax information extending over more than two decades, revealing struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Politico, Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, CNBC, Raw Story, National Review, The Bulwark, The Guardian, Townhall, Mediaite, NBC News, Political Wire, Los Angeles Times, Breitbart, The Nation, The Hill, Slate, Forbes, HuffPost, The 19th, The Daily Poster, The Week, The Daily Caller, IJR, WTOP, POLITICUSUSA, America's Voice, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, The Gateway Pundit, Law & Crime, New York Post, The Root, OpsLens, Daily Kos, Twitchy, Reason, Gizmodo, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, CBS Boston, Bulwark+, The Message Box, Foreign Policy, No More Mister Nice Blog, American Prospect, Washington Monthly, Redstate, Althouse, Vox, Wall Street Journal, Axios, Vanity Fair, Washington Times, Mother Jones, NPR, Deadline, Variety, Blue Virginia, TMZ.com, TheStreet, One America News Network, NBC4 Washington, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Reuters, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, myfox8.com, Bloomberg, Patterico's Pontifications, The Mahablog, Breaking911, CANNONFIRE and Eschaton

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

Trump's Taxes Show He's a National Security Threat — What trade-offs would a president with this level of indebtedness be willing to make to save face? — In a tour de force of hard won reporting, the New York Times has put numerical clothing on what we've known about President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, New York Times, Associated Press, Raw Story, The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA, Outside the Beltway, OpsLens, Mediaite and Townhall

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

18 Revelations From a Trove of Trump Tax Records — Times reporters have obtained decades of tax information the president has hidden from public view. Here are some of the key findings. — The New York Times has obtained tax-return data for President Trump and his companies that covers more than two decades.

Dan Alexander / Forbes:
Yes, Donald Trump Is Still A Billionaire. That Makes His $750 Tax Payment Even More Scandalous.

Discussion: Raw Story, The American Independent, Washington Post and America's Voice

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Why Donald Trump's Tax Returns Matter

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story and IJR

Jason Easley / POLITICUSUSA:
Ivanka Trump Could Be Going Down Thanks To Her Dad's Tax Fraud

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, New York Times, The Week, CNN, The Guardian and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

Zach Montellaro / Politico:
Nearly 1 million Americans have already voted

Discussion: OpsLens, WTOP and The Hill

New York Times:
Charting an Empire: A Timeline of Trump's Finances

Discussion: The Week, Washington Post, Law & Crime, The Hill, Raw Story, The Guardian, Breitbart, Axios, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Trump's tax revelation could tarnish image that fueled rise

Discussion: Breitbart, Reuters, Newsbusters, One America News Network, Forbes, POLITICUSUSA, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos and The Week

NBC News:
With Supreme Court pick, Trump is once again on the wrong side of public opinion

Discussion: ABC News, The Triad, Breitbart, Washington Post and Raw Story

Brett Clarkson / Sun-Sentinel:

Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale hospitalized after he was armed and threatening to harm himself, Fort Lauderdale police say — FORT LAUDERDALE — A tense situation unfolded at a home owned by Brad Parscale, the former campaign manager for President Donald Trump's reelection campaign …

Mario Ariza / Sun-Sentinel:

Ex-Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale was drunk and agitated in standoff, police say. Then his cop friend showed up. — FORT LAUDERDALE — Bradley Parscale, former campaign manager to president Donald Trump, was in the middle of an armed standoff with police at his Fort Lauderdale home …

Discussion: Raw Story and NBC 6 South Florida

Michelle Solomon / WPLG-TV:
Former Trump campaign manager, Brad Parscale, armed, barricades self in Fort Lauderdale home, police called

Discussion: New York Times, Big League Politics, Townhall, Washington Post, OpsLens, POLITICUSUSA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Joe Biden for president — In order to expel the worst president of modern times, many voters might be willing to vote for almost anybody. — Fortunately, to oust President Trump in 2020, voters do not have to lower their standards. The Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden …

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, Political Wire, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, IJR, UnHerd and The Hill

Andrew Restuccia / Wall Street Journal:

Cindy McCain Joins Biden Transition Team Advisory Board — Wife of late GOP Sen. John McCain endorsed Biden's presidential bid last week — WASHINGTON—Cindy McCain, the wife of the late GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona, is joining the board of Joe Biden's presidential transition team …

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Monica Alba / NBC News:

Redfield voices alarm over influence of Trump's new coronavirus task force adviser — WASHINGTON — The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has grown increasingly concerned that President Donald Trump, pushed by a new member of his coronavirus task force …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, NBC New York, The Hill, CNBC, The Guardian, Raw Story and The Week

Washington Post: CDC's credibility is eroded by internal blunders and external attacks as coronavirus vaccine campaigns loom

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:

Pandemic overwhelms Trump's message in critical N. Carolina — WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump is fighting to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, howling with unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and warning that violent mobs are infiltrating the suburbs.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Dispatch, Washington Post, ABC News, OpsLens, The Daily Caller, Blue Virginia and IJR

Meredith College:

Meredith Poll Provides Snapshot of N.C. Voter Opinions as Election 2020 Approaches — The newest Meredith Poll, conducted September 18-22, 2020, finds that North Carolina looks to be a serious battleground state in the upcoming election. — In the new poll, registered voters in North Carolina …

Discussion: The Hill

Michael Kruse / Politico: ‘The Women Around Him Are Accessories to His Brand’

Washington Post:

Trump suggested naming his daughter Ivanka as his running mate in 2016, according to new book by Rick Gates — As Donald Trump's top campaign aides began a discussion in June 2016 about who the presumptive Republican presidential nominee should select as his running mate, the candidate piped up with an idea.

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, IJR, The Hill, The Week and Raw Story

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Trump Considered Daughter Ivanka as 2016 Running Mate, Book Says

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Guardian

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

If Race Comes Down to Omaha, Poll Shows Biden Has an Edge — Nebraska's Second Congressional District could play a decisive role in a very close election. — In a close race, the presidential election could be decided by an unlikely spot: Nebraska's Second Congressional District, including Omaha and most of its suburbs.

Discussion: Political Wire

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Trump's Supreme Court power grab — One of the first questions at Tuesday night's presidential debate is sure to be about the far-right's frantic rush to get a Trump nominee added to the Supreme Court with the election little more than a month away. — But there is a bigger question.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and The Week

Richard Blumenthal / National Review:
Amy Coney Barrett Is an Exceptional Nominee for the Supreme Court

Discussion: American Prospect, Hartford Courant, Florida Politics, The Nation, CNN, The Week and The Daily Beast

Joy Pullmann / The Federalist:
The Left Hates Amy Coney Barrett Because She Disproves All Their Lies About Women

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Beast and Washington Post

Alec MacGillis / New Yorker:

The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning — The desire to protect children may put their long-term well-being at stake. — This article is a collaboration between The New Yorker and ProPublica. — Shemar, a twelve-year-old from East Baltimore, is good at math, and Karen Ngosso …

Hilary Sargent / The Informant:

Christopher Cantwell guilty of extortion and threats — After a four-day trial, the neo-Nazi podcaster was found guilty on two charges. He now faces a maximum sentence of 22 years. — CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Christopher Cantwell, the neo-Nazi podcaster charged by federal prosecutors …

USA Today:

Trump wants to run on his record. We hope he does. It's been a disaster for America. — Trump's historically, mind-bogglingly bad record is on the ballot. He has destroyed lives and livelihoods, weakened America and risked our democracy. — At some point during the debates …

Miranda Devine / New York Post:

Project Veritas uncovers ‘ballot harvesting fraud’ in Minnesota — A ballot-harvesting racket in Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's Minneapolis district — where paid workers illegally gather absentee ballots from elderly Somali immigrants — has been busted by undercover news organization Project Veritas.

Project Veritas:
Ilhan Omar Connected Cash-For-Ballots Voter Fraud Scheme Corrupts Elections: 'There Here Are All Absentee Ballots...Look...My Car Is Full..." ‘Money Is The King Of Everything’

Discussion: American Greatness, The Gateway Pundit, The National Pulse, israpundit.org, Louder With Crowder, Breitbart, Townhall and Power Line

Sharyn Alfonsi / CBS News:

Why a private section of the border wall is allegedly failing — 60 Minutes reports on the construction firm that earned billions of dollars in government contracts after working with a conservative fundraising campaign accused of fraud to build sections of the border wall on private land that engineers say will likely fail.

Discussion: Law & Crime

Nicholas Florko / STAT:

New document reveals scope and structure of Operation Warp Speed and underscores vast military involvement — WASHINGTON — When President Trump unveiled Operation Warp Speed in May, he declared that it was “unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project.”

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:

Democratic super PAC jumps into South Carolina race against Lindsey Graham — The main super PAC supporting the election of Democrats to the Senate is preparing to invest millions in South Carolina — a fresh signal that Democrats see the race against Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) as winnable.

Discussion: The Hill and Political Wire