memeorandum: Anti-Union Consultants Have No Place in the Democratic Party (Max Moran/American Prospect)

6:35 PM ET, May 18, 2022

Top Items:

How the Biden administration let right-wing attacks derail its disinformation efforts — A ‘pause’ of the Department of Homeland Security's newly created board comes after its head, Nina Jankowicz, was the victim of coordinated online attacks as the administration struggled to respond

Robby Soave / Reason:

Nina Jankowicz's Faulty Record, Not Her Critics, Doomed the Disinformation Board — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has placed a “pause” on the newly-minted Disinformation Governance Board; its first executive director, Nina Jankowicz, has resigned.

Discussion: Fox News, Instapundit, American Greatness, National Review and RedState

Kyle Morris / Fox News:
White House says DHS disinformation board ‘never met,’ denies involvement in pause

Discussion: ABC News, New York Post, Washington Times and The Daily Caller

J. Miles Coleman / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

Notes on the State of Politics: May 18, 2022 — Dear Readers: This is the latest edition of Notes on the State of Politics, which features short updates on elections and politics. — The Editors — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — The race for the Pennsylvania Republican Senate …

Discussion: NBC News and The Dispatch

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Election Deniers Thrive Even as Trumpism Drifts: 5 Primary Takeaways — Pennsylvania's Republican Senate contest, the biggest and most expensive race of a five-state primary night, is a photo finish between David McCormick, a former hedge fund executive, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity surgeon.

Cook Political Report:

Post-Primary Update: Something For Everyone; PA GOV Moves To Lean Dem — There was something for everyone in the primary contests held in five states on Tuesday night. Trump-backed candidates had a mixed record of success, as did those from the GOP's more centrist or ‘establishment’ wings.

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Mock Paper Scissors and PennLive

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
What the Primaries Reveal About the Future of Trumpism

Discussion: USA Today, New York Times and Washington Post

Paul Kane / Washington Post: GOP voters choose nominees with first loyalty to Trump, not McConnell

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Opinion Say it clearly: Republicans just nominated a pro-Trump insurrectionist

Discussion: HuffPost, Associated Press, Substack, Reason, Vanity Fair, Right Wing Watch, Washington Examiner, One America News Network, The Status Kuo, Insider, VICE and York Dispatch

New York Times:
Primaries Show Limits, and Depths, of Trump's Power Over G.O.P. Base

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Commentary Magazine, NPR, Vanity Fair and New York Magazine

Philip Bump / Washington Post: Doug Mastriano does not plan to run from the middle

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:
Trump urges Oz to ‘declare victory’ before vote tally complete in Pa.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly, Associated Press, CNN, Washington Times, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Common Dreams, The Guardian, WHTM-TV, Forbes, Deseret News, WTOP News and Fox News

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Takeaways from the biggest primary night of the year

Discussion: New York Times, HotAir, Breitbart, Slate and Ace of Spades HQ

New York Times:

U.S. health officials say a third of people live in areas with so much virus they should consider masks indoors. — Federal health officials on Wednesday warned that one third of Americans live in areas where the threat of infection from the coronavirus is now so high that they should consider wearing …

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, The White House and Deseret News

Emma G. Fitzsimmons / New York Times:
Mayor Eric Adams resists mask mandates as N.Y.C. enters a high alert level for the virus.

Discussion: Bloomberg, abc7NY and NBC New York

Michaeleen Doucleff / NPR:

Rare monkeypox outbreak in U.K., Europe and U.S.: What is it and should we worry? — There's a monkeypox outbreak in England, Portugal and Spain. The outbreak is quite small - just 36 suspected cases spread across the three countries, including 8 in England and 20 in Portugal.

Discussion: STAT and Fortune

Mary Kekatos / ABC News:

1st monkeypox case in US this year reported in Massachusetts — It comes after nine cases of monkeypox were detected in the U.K. this month. — A Massachusetts resident has tested positive for monkeypox, health officials confirmed Wednesday, making it the first case of the rare virus detected in the United States this year.

Discussion: STAT and MindWar

Meryl Kornfield / Washington Post:
Rare monkeypox case confirmed in Massachusetts

Discussion: Axios, Mass.gov and The Hill

Axios:

Scoop: DHS preparing for violence following abortion ruling — The U.S. government is bracing for a potential surge in political violence once the Supreme Court hands down the ruling that's expected to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by Axios.

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Scoop: Chris Wallace to anchor new show on CNN — Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's new parent company, plans to announce during its upfront presentation to advertisers on Wednesday that Chris Wallace will host a Sunday evening show on CNN. … - CNN struck a multimillion-dollar contract with Wallace last year.

Discussion: Deadline, Mediaite, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire, The Hill and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Kansas City Star:

Kansas Supreme Court upholds congressional map that splits diverse Wyandotte County — The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld a Republican-drawn congressional map that divides racially diverse Wyandotte County for the first time in 40 years, finding the boundary lines don't violate the state constitution.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Common Dreams and Election Law Blog

Associated Press:
Kansas Supreme Court upholds Republican congressional map

Discussion: Conservative Brief, Washington Examiner, KCUR 89.3 and Kansas Reflector

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Fearing ‘Extinction-Level Event,’ N.Y. Democrats Turn Against Each Other

Discussion: The Hill, HuffPost, Fox News, TheBlaze, Washington Free Beacon, Townhall, Punchbowl News and Politico

Department of Defense Office of Inspector General:

Whistleblower Reprisal Investigation: Colonel Yevgeny S. Vindman, U.S. Army (DODIG-2022-097) — We conducted this investigation in response to a complaint filed with the DoD Hotline on August 18, 2020, alleging that various administration officials, including former President Donald J. Trump …

Discussion: CNN

Lora Kolodny / CNBC:

Why Tesla was kicked out of the S&P 500's ESG index — In a blog post Wednesday, the S&P explained why it kicked Tesla out of its ESG index earlier this month. — It said that Tesla's “lack of a low-carbon strategy” and “codes of business conduct,” along with racism …

Discussion: Indexology® Blog, New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire, Jezebel, Al Jazeera, New York Post and Electrek

Bilge Ebiri / Vulture:

Tom Cruise's Last Stand — Thirty-six years after the original, Top Gun: Maverick eulogizes the actor's entire career. — I'd never noticed the curiously melancholy overtones of Harold Faltermeyer's famous Top Gun theme until the opening moments of the brand-new Top Gun: Maverick.

Discussion: The A.V. Club, Variety and Deadline

NBC News:

Biden invokes Defense Production Act to address nationwide shortage of baby formula — WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act in a major step to boost the supply of baby formula. — The announcement means the federal government will prioritize key ingredients …

Discussion: CNN, WKBN-TV and STEPHANIE MILLER SHOW

CNBC:

Dow drops 1,100 points for its biggest decline since 2020 as the sell-off this year on Wall Street intensifies — The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its biggest loss since 2020 on Wednesday after another major retailer warned of rising cost pressures, confirming investors' worst fears …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fortune, UPI, Ace of Spades HQ, Forbes, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and Townhall

Washington Post:

Turkey blocks start of NATO talks on Finland's and Sweden's applications — BRUSSELS — Turkey blocked the start of Finland and Sweden's accession talks to NATO on Wednesday shortly after the Nordic nations submitted their formal applications, a signal of what could be a bumpy process to expand …

Discussion: Al-Monitor, NATO, Washington Examiner, New York Times, Politico, New York Post, Associated Press, Daily Kos, Al Jazeera, CNBC, The Daily Caller, HotAir, nationalinterest.org, CDR Salamander, Важ …, The Guardian and UPI

Victoria Balara / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: Georgia's GOP primary race for governor sees Kemp holding wide lead over Perdue — Former NFL star Herschel Walker dashes ahead by 58 points in Republican Senate primary contest — Fox News Flash top headlines for May 18 — Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp leads former …

Oregonian:

Clackamas County vote tally will likely stretch until at least next week, could leave key race for Congress hanging — Clackamas County elections officials were woefully unprepared to handle a known ballot counting challenge and likely won't finish counting votes until early next week at best …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Washington Examiner

U.S. Soccer Official Website:

U.S. Soccer Federation, Women's And Men's National Team Unions Agree To Historic Collective Bargaining Agreements … The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the United States Women's National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) and the United States National Soccer Team Players Association …

Discussion: The Hill, TODAY.com, NPR, The 19th, Mic, Washington Post, Insider, Breitbart, Sports Illustrated, The Daily Caller, UPI, al.com, Sportico, Front Office Sports, Rolling Stone, Washington Examiner, NBC News and IJR

ABC News:

Ashley Biden, the president's daughter, tests positive for COVID-19 — Ashley Biden was scheduled to travel to Latin America with the first lady. — President Joe Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a White House official.

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News, Politico, New York Times, UPI, Washington Post, The Hill, WISH-TV and Washington Times

Grace Panetta / Insider:

Sarah Palin earned more from making Cameo video messages than she would in Congress — Sarah Palin earned more from making videos on Cameo in 2021 than she would in Congress. — Palin made $211,000+ from Cameo alone. That's $37,529 more than the annual salary of a House member.

Quinnipiac University Poll:

Nearly 7 In 10 Favor A Limit On How Long SCOTUS Justices Can Serve, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; 85 Percent Of Americans Expect Economic Recession In Next Year — mail_outline — With all eyes on the Supreme Court following the leak of a draft opinion regarding abortion …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Times and Political Wire

David Freddoso / Washington Examiner:

At least someone at the New York Times found Idaho on a map — BOISE, Idaho — The New York Times sent Mike Baker from its Seattle bureau to Idaho recently. I'm glad he found his way to Coeur D'Alene instead of ending up in Des Moines — I mean, who hasn't made that mistake before, right?

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

Progressives hoped for big 2022 primary gains, but the results have been mixed — WASHINGTON — Progressives are blaming a flood of super PAC money for the disappointing showing of several of their candidates in Tuesday's primaries, though they remain confident about two races where NBC News has yet to declare a winner.

Discussion: The Lever, Washington Post, New Republic, Jacobin and Common Dreams

Azi Paybarah / New York Times:

Idaho Secretary of State Primary Election Results — Republican Primary — Phil McGrane wins the Republican primary. — Race called by The Associated Press. … Candidate Votes Pct. 114,347 — 43.1% — 109,898 — 41.4% — 41,201 — 15.5% — Total reported — 265,446