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 …

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 …

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 …

‘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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

When Trump's Next Coup Happens, the Republican Party Will Fully Support It  —  Throughout the Trump era, Republican Party officials and its professional class have gone through a constant and frequently vicious internecine struggle, pitting the small, but well-placed, bloc of anti-Trump elites …

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 …

‘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.”

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

The Axe Files with David Axelrod  —  David Axelrod, the founder and director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, brings you The Axe Files, a series of revealing interviews with key figures in the political world.  Go beyond the soundbites and get to know some of the most interesting players in politics.

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.

‘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 …

The Secret Papers of Lee Atwater, Who Invented the Scurrilous Tactics That Trump Normalized  —  An infamous Republican political operative's unpublished memoir shows how the Party came to embrace lies, racial fearmongering, and winning at any cost.  —  It's a Washington axiom …

Facebook Is Worried Starbucks May Delete Its Page Over Hateful Comments  —  Facebook is scrambling to prevent Starbucks from leaving its platform after the world's largest coffee company said it was dismayed by hateful comments left on its posts about racial and social justice issues.

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.

The COVID Reporters Are Not Okay.  Extremely Not Okay.  —  An underprepared industry is losing a generation of journalists to despair, trauma and moral injury as they cover the story of a lifetime.  —  When I told my editors at The Daily Beast that I needed to quit my job …