memeorandum: Exclusive: Missouri Reps. Wagner, Smith Add Campaign Muscle as They Consider Senate Bids (Eli Yokley/Morning Consult)

9:25 AM ET, May 7, 2021

Top Items:

POLITICO Playbook: Scarred DeSantis staffers form a support group — DRIVING THE DAY — There may be turbulence ahead for Rep. ELISE STEFANIK as she wrestles the GOP leadership post from Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) next week. DONALD TRUMP is sold on the New York Republican after her unbending show …

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Slate and Florida Politics

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Forced to Choose Between Trump's “Big Lie” and Liz Cheney, the House G.O.P. Chooses the Lie — “Liz is a living reproach to all these cowards,” a friend of Cheney's said, but the cowards have the votes. — On January 11, 2017, Donald Trump held his first Presidential press conference following …

Discussion: American Greatness, Raw Story, Associated Press, USA Today, Florida Politics, The Daily Caller, Informed Comment, The Week, Los Angeles Times, LifeZette, Zenger News, The Hill, Iowa Capital Dispatch and Daily Kos

David Siders / Politico:

How Trump is hunting down the GOP's leading families — In the civil war between Donald Trump and the GOP's waning establishment, no Republican has crossed the former president and come out ahead. — Yet as Rep. Liz Cheney's likely ouster from House leadership lays bare …

Discussion: Insider, Fox News, The Guardian, New York Times, Raw Story, Michael-In-Norfolk, RealClearPolitics and Washington Post

Tina Nguyen / Politico:

MAGAworld pans Stefanik — Donald Trump has called Elise Stefanik “a new Republican star,” a “smart communicator” and — perhaps his highest praise — “tough.” — But the MAGA faithful aren't so sure. — Within minutes of Trump's endorsement of the New York congresswoman for GOP conference chair …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN, Morning Shots, New York Times, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, HotAir, Slate and Forbes

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

BREAKING: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won't run for reelection — By J.D. Capelouto - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wilborn P. Nobles III - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — In a stunning announcement Thursday night …

Discussion: HotAir, New York Times, WSB-TV, Raw Story, USA Today, TheGrio, NPR, The Hill, Fox News and BizPac Review

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The Jolt: Why Keisha Bottoms isn't running for election - and who might jump in now — Politics is a fickle beast. In the span of two years, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has gone from one of President Joe Biden's most prominent surrogates — important enough to get vetted as a potential VP pick …

Discussion: New York Post, UPI and The Hill

Louis Keene / The Forward:

‘They Own The Media’: New Van Morrison song amplifies antisemitic trope — Legendary singer-songwriter Van Morrison released a new song on streaming platforms Thursday whose title espouses a classic antisemitic trope. — The lyrics of the song, “They Own The Media,” never indicate who the pronoun in its title refers to.

Axios:

Institutionalizing Trumpism — Republican officials are rendering an unequivocal verdict: They want to cement former President Trump's politics and policies into the foundation of the GOP for many years to come. — Why it matters: The debate over Trump's post-election hold on the GOP is over …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Salon, The Week and Real Clear Politics

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Liz Cheney Confronts a House of Cowards — House Republicans are about to demonstrate they can't handle the truth about 2020 and Jan. 6. — It all comes back to the Capitol insurrection. It's at the heart of the battle that is, four months later, tearing the House GOP apart.

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Raw Story and Real Clear Politics

The Daily Beast:

Melinda Gates Warned Bill About Jeffrey Epstein — After a secret meeting between the couple and the wealthy sex offender, Melinda was furious and told friends she wanted nothing to do with Epstein, The Daily Beast has learned. … Melinda Gates met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alongside …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Caller and The Atlantic

Becky Sullivan / NPR:

New Study Estimates More Than 900,000 People Have Died Of COVID-19 In U.S. — A new study estimates that the number of people who have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. is more than 900,000, a number 57% higher than official figures. — Worldwide, the study's authors say …

Discussion: Institute for Health Metrics …, The Week, TheBlaze and Washington Examiner

Helen Branswell / STAT:
New analysis finds global Covid death toll is double official estimates

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Common Dreams, Forbes and Mock Paper Scissors

Sarah Rumpf / Mediaite:

Tucker Carlson Doubles Down on Batsh** Vaccine Fearmongering, Blames Biden For His Inability to Understand Facts — Fox News' Tucker Carlson gets great ratings, frequently beating the competition in his timeslot. You'd think that he would have a vested interest in keeping his audience members alive …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Daily Beast

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Sean Hannity used to rule Fox. But in the post-Trump era, Tucker Carlson is king

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Molly Jong-Fast / The Daily Beast: Tucker Carlson May Be America's Biggest Public Health Problem

Adam Edelman / NBC News:

Twitter suspends account that was posting Trump statements — Twitter suspended an account on Thursday that appeared to be circumventing their ban on former President Donald Trump by posting messages he shared on his own website. — The move was more evidence that the social media behemoth …

Discussion: BBC, spiked, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, 77 WABC, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Reuters, Townhall, Washington Examiner, TheBlaze, IJR, Fox News, Insider, UPI, The Week, One America News Network, Breitbart and The Western Journal

National Review:
The Ridiculous Facebook Affair

Discussion: The Atlantic

Joe Concha / The Hill: Social media's ban on Trump: Our ‘silence of the lambs’ moment

Grace Segers / CBS News:

Historian Jon Meacham says GOP “has descended into fantasy, conspiracy and falsehoods” - on “The Takeout” — Historian Jon Meacham, author of several presidential biographies, thinks that former President Trump helped ignite some of the divisions in the Republican Party.

Discussion: Raw Story

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
When Trump's Next Coup Happens, the Republican Party Will Fully Support It

Discussion: The American Spectator, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Bulwark, The Week, USA Today, Washington Examiner, Townhall, Los Angeles Times and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Matt Viser / Washington Post:
Biden once asserted Republicans would have an ‘epiphany.’ Now he admits he doesn't understand them.

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, Digby's Hullabaloo, CNN, Mediaite, Associated Press, Breitbart and NBC News

Michael Wines / New York Times:

Arizona Review of 2020 Vote Is Riddled With Flaws, Says Secretary of State — Arizona's top election official said the effort ordered by Republican state senators leaves ballots unattended and lacks basic safeguards to protect the process from manipulation.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian, CBS News, Raw Story, IJR and Daily Kos

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:
Texas Democrats waging all-night fight against restrictive election bill

Discussion: CBS News, FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas Morning News and Fox News

New York Times:
Florida and Texas Join the March as Republicans Press Voting Limits

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Associated Press, HuffPost, Common Dreams and Washington Times

CNN:

‘Not who we are as a country’: Elise Stefanik once harshly blasted Trump's rhetoric and policies — (CNN)New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, one of former President Donald Trump's loudest defenders in Congress, once harshly attacked Trump over both his rhetoric and policies, claiming that she'd be an “independent voice.”

Discussion: The Dispatch, Washington Post and KIFI-TV

Politico:
She built her career boosting GOP women. Now Elise Stefanik is elevating herself

Discussion: The Hill, Mother Jones and Los Angeles Times

Giovanni Russonello / New York Times:

Polling's Prognosis: Wary Conservatives and Eager Liberals — A new report points to another problem with surveys: liberals with strong political views who are almost too willing to be polled. — Political pollsters know they're having trouble reaching entire swaths of the Trump-supporting electorate …

Memos: Memo: 2020 Polling Retrospective

Carla Marinucci / Politico:

Jenner has hangar pains after Hannity interview — OAKLAND — Move over French Laundry, there's a new social media obsession: Hangar Guy. — GOP recall candidate Caitlyn Jenner may have played right into Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's hands when she lamented on Fox News …

Discussion: NBC News, National Review, Twitchy, Occupy Democrats, Raw Story, CBS News and HuffPost

Eli Rosenberg / Washington Post:

Economy picked up 266,000 jobs in April, fewer than expected as economy tries to rebound — A growing fight between the White House and Republicans over workers and incentives has cast a new light on the labor market — The U.S. economy added just 266,000 jobs in April …

Discussion: CNN and Forbes

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

F.E.C. Drops Case Reviewing Trump Hush-Money Payments to Women — The case had examined whether Donald Trump violated election law with a $130,000 payment shortly before the 2016 election to a pornographic-film actress by his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Discussion: The Hill, The Week, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, KIFI-TV, Washington Times, Law & Crime and Washington Examiner

Hamed Aleaziz / BuzzFeed News:

Biden Is Going To Scrap A Trump-Era Plan To Force Immigrants To Submit Eye Scans, Voice Prints, And DNA — The Biden administration on Friday will scrap a Trump-era proposal that sought to dramatically expand the number of immigrants required to submit biometrics for their applications …

Discussion: The Hill

Taylor Dolven / Miami Herald:

DeSantis ban on vaccine proof may send one company's cruise ships out of Florida — If Florida won't allow Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for passengers and crew, the company's CEO says it will take its ships elsewhere.

Discussion: Forbes, WZVN-TV and CBS Miami

Hugo Gurdon / Washington Examiner:

Joe Biden's fiscal (and other) follies — Conservatives don't have a monopoly on gloom and doom. For confirmation of this, one need only look at the Malthusian Left's repeated, and repeatedly mistaken, predictions that global warming, now known as climate change, is about to extinguish life on Earth.

Cathy Merrill / Washington Post:

As a CEO, I worry about the erosion of office culture with more remote work … Cathy Merrill is chief executive of Washingtonian Media. — Like many of my fellow small-business owners, I am excited about the prospect of returning to in-person work but am struggling with when and how to safely reopen …

David Brooks / New York Times:

Our Pathetic Herd Immunity Failure — Could today's version of America have been able to win World War II? It hardly seems possible. — That victory required national cohesion, voluntary sacrifice for the common good and trust in institutions and each other.

Discussion: Washington Post

David Scheer / Bloomberg:

Dimon on Raising Taxes: 'Just Throwing Money, It Doesn't Work' — JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon urged lawmakers to spell out — very specifically — targets for building roads, funding college degrees and creating jobs if they embark on a massive spending spree to bolster the economy.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Investment Company Institute:
Jamie Dimon in Conversation with Eric J. Pan

Discussion: Insider and KIFI-TV

Insider:

Scientists have taught bees to smell the coronavirus. They can identify a case within seconds. — Dutch scientists have trained bees to smell COVID-19. — Every time the bees were exposed to an infected sample, they stuck out their tongues. — The animals could be a low-tech solution for identifying COVID-19 cases.

Max Fisher / New York Times:

‘Belonging Is Stronger Than Facts’: The Age of Misinformation — Social and psychological forces are combining to make the sharing and believing of misinformation an endemic problem with no easy solution. — There's a decent chance you've had at least one of these rumors, all false …

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:

Exclusive: Missouri Reps. Wagner, Smith Add Campaign Muscle as They Consider Senate Bids — GOP field to replace retiring Sen. Roy Blunt could get crowded, with Reps. Billy Long and Vicky Hartzler also making moves — Former NRSC Executive Director Ward Baker is now working for Rep. Ann Wagner's campaign.