Top Items:
John F. Harris / Politico:
An Epic Moment of National Shame: The Debate Was an Embarrassment for the Ages — At frequent intervals on Tuesday night, the natural human reaction—lower the sound, wince and look away—took over, and the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election became nearly unwatchable.
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Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Exclusive poll: Biden won the debate convincingly — Photo by Jim Watson, Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images — A decisive win, powered mostly by character. — A new poll by Data for Progress provided exclusively to Vox shows that viewers thought Democratic nominee Joe Biden decisively won Tuesday's …
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CBS News, NPR, Washington Post, Louder With Crowder and Political Wire
NBC News:
Trump's last best tactic: Burn it all down — WASHINGTON — Trailing in the polls with five weeks to go, President Trump didn't use last night's debate to disqualify his opponent or outline his vision for the next four years. — Instead, he decided to burn down the debate …
Discussion:
The Hill, Reuters, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Politico, One America News Network, Los Angeles Times, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Week, CNN, New York Post, Washington Post, Breitbart and ABC7
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
“This Is So Unpresidential”: Notes from the Worst Debate in American History — Trump talked and talked on Tuesday night, but, politically speaking, it added up to nothing. — What does the worst debate in American history look like? It looks like the debate that took place …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Fox News, New Republic, BNO News and National Review
Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Trump's fear dominated his first debate with Biden — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump may be the only person in America who is afraid of Democrat Joe Biden. — Before their debate Tuesday night, he and his allies demanded that Biden submit to a drug test and let officials check the former vice president for an earpiece.
Discussion:
Slate, Associated Press, The Atlantic, New York Times, Just The News, Breitbart and Twitchy
David Weigel / Washington Post:
The Trailer: What happened in Cleveland — In this special post-debate edition: How months of expectation-setting fell apart in a Cleveland auditorium. — To fully enjoy the newsletter today, please interrupt your friends and family by reading sections out loud. This is The Trailer.
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Reuters, CNN, Fox News, IJR, The Hill, USA Today, Talking Points Memo and New York Post
Associated Press:
Analysis: Trump leans on tone that turns off voters he needs — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump needed to make the first general election debate about his rival, Democrat Joe Biden. Instead, as he so often does, Trump made it about himself. — The president set the tone …
Discussion:
Florida Politics, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Post, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, New Republic, The National Interest and The Nation
Laura Barrón-López / Politico:
Undecided voters call Trump ‘unhinged’ and ‘un-American’ — but are unswayed by debate — After watching the first presidential debate Tuesday night, undecided voters from battleground states across the country still had plenty they wanted to know about coronavirus, racial injustice …
David Bossie / Fox News:
Trump clearly defeats Biden in first presidential debate
Discussion:
Washington Post, IJR and OpsLens
Conrad Black / American Greatness:
Trump Wins Round One, Barely
Discussion:
Washington Post, Slate, New York Times, Spectator USA, OpsLens, The Guardian, BuzzFeed News and One America News Network
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Commission on Presidential Debates ‘carefully considering’ format changes after first Trump, Biden debate
Discussion:
abc7NY, The Hill, Raw Story, The American Independent and Washington Free Beacon
Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
The President's Debate Performance Was Pure Fascism
Discussion:
Jacobin, Reason, Washington Post, One America News Network and The Hill
Ebony Bowden / New York Post:
Ratings for chaotic Trump-Biden presidential debate nosedive from 2016
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Presidential Debate Opener Drops Sharply From 2016's Record High In Early Numbers; ABC Tops Nets In First Trump-Biden Showdown
Discussion:
Forbes, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and New York Post
Mika Brzezinski / Cosmopolitan:
Cancel the Debates — host on how last night's broadcast damaged our democracy. — “Stand back and stand by.”
Washington Post:
Election live updates: Debate commission says it will change structure to ensure more ‘orderly discussion’
Discussion:
The Triad, Mother Jones, ABC News, Real Clear Politics, Balloon Juice, The Mahablog, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Florida Politics, The Post Millennial and abc7NY
Associated Press:
AP FACT CHECK: False claims flood Trump-Biden debate
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Week, CNN, Florida Politics, Bloomberg, Bangor Daily News, Associated Press and ABC7
N'dea Yancey-Bragg / USA Today:
Portland-area sheriff says he ‘will never’ support Donald Trump after president claims endorsement during debate
Discussion:
NBC Boston
Josh Kraushaar / National Journal:
Trump's mistake by the lake: Taking his own voters for granted
Discussion:
The Federalist, Mediaite, Real Clear Politics, HillReporter.com and Sputnik News
Axios:
Trump says he doesn't know who Proud Boys are after telling them to “stand by” — President Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he doesn't know who the “Proud Boys” are, after saying at the presidential debate last night that the far-right group should “stand back and stand by” …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Root, Political Wire, CNN and Mediaite
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New York Times:
Proud Boys celebrate Trump's mention of them at the debate. — Members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that has endorsed violence, celebrated on Tuesday night after President Trump mentioned them during the first presidential debate. — Asked whether he condemned white supremacists …
Discussion:
New Republic, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Dot, CNN, IJR, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, Politico, Vox, Common Dreams, Vanity Fair, The American Independent, Mother Jones, Axios, KXAN-TV, The American Spectator, The 19th, Outside the Beltway, Washington Times and The Root
Ben Sales / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
Are the Proud Boys anti-Semitic? Your primer on the far-right group Trump told to ‘stand back and stand by’
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Post, IJR, Raw Story, The Guardian, NPR, Axios, New York Post and NBC Chicago
Jason Whitlock / OutKick:
Chris Wallace, American Media Fiddle During Debate As BLM, Antifa Burn Our Country
CNN:
Trump's allies offer public praise but privately worry after debate
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Raw Story, CNBC, Washington Times and The Week
NBC News:
Proud Boys celebrate after Trump's debate call-out
Discussion:
The American Independent, National Review, CNN, Washington Post, Spectator USA, The Bulwark, Sputnik News, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, People.com, The Root, Wired, The Week, Slate, israpundit.org, Raw Story, Mediaite, New York Times, The Sun, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Law & Crime, The Guardian, Washington Monthly, The Hill, NPR, Variety, Daily Kos, Politico and The Colorado Sun
Seaborn Larson / Helena Independent Record:
Former Gov. Marc Racicot to vote for Biden — Former Montana governor and Republican National Committee Chair Marc Racicot on Tuesday said he would not vote for President Donald Trump, citing Trump's character as fault enough to vote for Democrat challenger Joe Biden on Nov. 3.
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Hill, Political Wire, Bangor Daily News, The Slot and Wired
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Tara Golshan / HuffPost:
Joe Biden Releases His 2019 Tax Returns — Biden's campaign posted his latest tax returns just days after The New York Times revealed that Donald Trump has paid very little in income taxes over the years. — Just hours before the first presidential debate of 2020, the campaign …
Discussion:
Axios, Cronkite News and Fox Business
Amee Vanderpool / SHERO:
Trump's Taxes Shed New Light on IRS Whistleblower Complaint
Discussion:
New Republic, Bloomberg, Slate, ABC7, LewRockwell and Megaphone
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Chris Wallace Calls Debate ‘a Terrible Missed Opportunity’ — The veteran anchor conceded he was initially “reluctant” to step in during the Trump-Biden matchup. “I've never been through anything like this,” he said. — “I'm just sad with the way last night turned out.”
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Tuesday's Debate Made Clear the Gravest Threat to the Election: The President Himself — President Trump's unwillingness to say he would abide by the result, and his disinformation campaign about election fraud went beyond anything President Vladimir V. Putin could have imagined.
Discussion:
Political Wire
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Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
How Trump's ‘Voter Fraud’ Lie Is Disenfranchising Americans
Discussion:
Washington Post and Law & Crime
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
The media keeps making these cringeworthy mistakes — In the aftermath of President Trump's unhinged, embarrassing and frightful performance Tuesday night, we are told “the debate” was a dumpster fire, “the debate” was a low point in American politics, “the debate” was incoherent.
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Vandana Rambaran / Fox News:
Biden refuses to bash Trump Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett in debate
Discussion:
Associated Press, CNN, The Nation, Washington Times, Althouse and The Gateway Pundit
Sheila Kaplan / New York Times:
White House Blocked C.D.C. Order to Keep Cruise Ships Docked — The C.D.C. director wanted a “no sail” order extended until February, a policy that would have upset the tourism industry in the crucial swing state of Florida. — The White House has blocked a new order from the Centers …
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Poll finds Trump, Biden in statistical dead heat in South Carolina — A new poll finds President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden statistically tied in South Carolina, which has not gone for the Democratic nominee in more than 40 years. — The Quinnipiac poll found Trump at 48 percent …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, Political Wire and Axios
Alex Ward / Vox:
Pope Francis refused to meet with Mike Pompeo so as not to boost Trump — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends the launch of a US-Vatican symposium on Faith-Based Organizations, on October 2, 2019, at the Old Synod Hall in the Vatican. Andreas Solaro/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Discussion:
HillReporter.com, Wall Street Journal, OpsLens and LifeSiteNews
Sarah Mimms / BuzzFeed News:
A Member Of Congress Is Facing Death Threats After QAnon Went After Him — The House Republican campaign committee falsely accused Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski of protecting sexual predators. “They knew exactly what they were doing,” he said. — Reporting From — Washington, DC — Copy
Discussion:
Political Wire and The Gateway Pundit
Justin Levitt / electionlawblog.org:
Wisconsin GOP tries to stop Racing Sausages from promoting civic participation — The Wisconsin GOP sent a letter yesterday claiming that it would be improper “electioneering” and/or vote buying for MLB and the Brewers' Racing Sausages to encourage early voting. — The legal citations in the letter seem ... off.
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