memeorandum: Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis to Court Big-Money Donors at Dueling Palm Beach Events (Alex Leary/Wall Street Journal)

11:45 AM ET, February 20, 2023

Top Items:

On surprise trip to Kyiv, Biden vows enduring support for Ukraine — KYIV, Ukraine — President Biden made a dramatic, unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, in a display of robust American support for Ukraine just four days before the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. — Are you on Telegram?

New York Times:

Biden Visits Kyiv, Ukraine's Embattled Capital, as Air-Raid Siren Sounds — President Biden took a nearly 10-hour train ride from the border of Poland to show his administration's “unwavering support” a year into Russia's invasion of Ukraine. — KYIV, Ukraine — President Biden …

Associated Press:

Biden declares ‘Kyiv stands’ in surprise visit to Ukraine — 1 of 21 — President Joe Biden paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a defiant display of Western solidarity with a country still fighting what he called “a brutal and unjust war” …

Discussion: CNN, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Daily News, Bloomberg, The Hill, Breitbart, USA Today, WGN-TV, CBS News, Florida Politics, The Periscope and Talking Points Memo

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:

Biden's Trip to Kyiv is the Ultimate Humiliation for Putin—and Trump — Biden joined a great history of American presidents standing up to Russian aggression, and significantly broke from the shameful actions of his predecessor. — Kennedy and then Reagan in Berlin. Now Biden in Kyiv.

Discussion: The Kyiv Independent and Politico

The Guardian:

US informed Russia of Joe Biden's Kyiv visit hours before departure — Details emerge of how White House planned ‘unprecedented’ visit and meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy — Peter Beaumont in Kyiv and Julian Borger — The White House notified the Kremlin of President Joe Biden's intention …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Insider, Twitchy and Political Wire

Mark Antonio Wright / National Review:

Biden's Secret Trip to Kyiv Took Guts — President Biden's secret visit to wartime Kyiv is an example of America in its finest tradition. — The New York Times reports that after a “trans-Atlantic flight to Poland, Mr. Biden crossed the border by train, traveling for nearly 10 hours to Kyiv …

Discussion: The Post Millennial and Washington Examiner

Peter Nicholas / NBC News:

Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine nearly one year after Russia's invasion — AMSTERDAM — President Joe Biden made a surprise and historic visit to war-torn Ukraine on Monday, a show of support and solidarity with a democratic nation battling for its survival after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded nearly a year ago.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Fox News, Washington Post, Mediaite, BBC, The Guardian, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, TMZ.com, Raw Story, Just The News, Sputnik News, The Sun, UPI, Al Jazeera, Forbes, USA Today, New York Daily News and Associated Press

New York Times:
One Year Into War, Putin Is Crafting the Russia He Craves

Discussion: The Nation, Washington Post, Insider, Informed Comment, The Sun, NPR, CBS News, Daily Mail, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and The Guardian

The White House:
Statement from President Joe Biden on Travel to Kyiv, Ukraine

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, Patterico's Pontifications, BizPac Review, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, The Gateway Pundit, Insider, Associated Press, IJR, CNBC, Fox News, Politico and CBS News

Financial Times:
Western pleas over Ukraine fail to sway African and South American leaders

Discussion: Bloomberg and Insider

Financial Times:
Poland calls for Nato security guarantees to postwar Ukraine

Discussion: Fox News, UnHerd and The Hill

Alex Leary / Wall Street Journal:

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis to Court Big-Money Donors at Dueling Palm Beach Events — The former president and the Florida governor this week intensify fight for campaign cash — Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis have battled in polls for months over who has a better shot at the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Discussion: Raw Story, BizPac Review and Fox News

Erin Doherty / Axios:
Michigan GOP selects 2020 election denier as party leader

Discussion: Just The News, Associated Press, Michigan Advance, Reuters, Raw Story, RedState, Nikki Haley's Road …, New York Magazine, MLive.com, Detroit Free Press and Mercury News

Michael Tomasky / New Republic:
There's No Question: It's Still Donald Trump's Republican Party

Discussion: Raw Story, The New Civil Rights Movement, Axios, The Hill and Washington Post

Mike Allen / Axios:

Scoop: McCarthy gives Tucker Carlson access to trove of Jan. 6 riot tape — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given Fox News' Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 riot, McCarthy sources tell me. — Carlson TV producers …

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Mediaite and The Post Millennial, more at Mediagazer »

Rolling Stone:

Charges Against Trump Lawyer ‘Very Likely,’ Colleagues Warn Donald — As the feds continue to probe the ex-president's handling of confidential documents, his legal team is urging him to distance himself from one of his top attorneys … Some of the former president's lawyers …

Discussion: Raw Story

Garrett M. Graff / New York Times:

What Ford's Pardon of Nixon Means (and Doesn't Mean) for Trump — The release on Thursday of parts of a report from a grand jury in Georgia that investigated election interference by Donald Trump and his allies offers the most recent evidence of his growing legal exposure.

Discussion: Raw Story

Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:

Supreme Court hears a case that could transform the internet — Oral arguments begin in Gonzalez v. Google, a landmark case tackling whether tech companies should be liable for harmful content their algorithms surface — In November 2015, three rifle-wielding ISIS gunmen opened fire …

Discussion: Politico, New York Post, jihadwatch.org, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Sputnik News, SCOTUSblog, The Hill, Fox News, Associated Press and HuffPost, more at Mediagazer »

Natasha Korecki / NBC News:

From the Midwest, progressive J.B. Pritzker launches anti-Ron DeSantis flares — CHICAGO — He's a governor who talks tough about Covid, has pleaded with to the College Board about an AP African American studies course and is outspoken on the issue of abortion.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Hill, The Last Refuge and The Gateway Pundit

Jeffrey S. Solochek / Tampa Bay Times:
4 things to know about Ron DeSantis' idea to slash AP courses in Florida

Discussion: Washington Post and Los Angeles Times

Charles Kaiser / The Guardian:

How Dominion Voting Systems filing proves Fox News was ‘deliberately lying’ — Document makes clear senior Fox News figures knew after 2020 election voter fraud claims were false - and it's likely a landmark case — The Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe said Dominion Voting Systems …

Discussion: Insider, Raw Story, Digital Culture and Beyond, The Atlantic and Resolute Square, more at Mediagazer »

Joe DePaolo / Mediaite:
Fox's Media Host Totally Ignores THE Story the Press is Buzzing About

Discussion: The Nation

ABC News:

Ohio train derailment: Buttigieg pens sharply worded letter to Norfolk Southern Railway — Buttigieg accused the company of repeatedly prioritizing profit over safety. — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has called out the rail operator at the center of a — hazardous train derailment in Ohio

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Fox News and The Hill

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Trump will return to the scene of his crime when he visits Ohio toxic train wreck

Discussion: Associated Press, The Free Press, Breitbart and RedState

Gary Leff / View from the Wing:

United's New Family Seating Policy Helps Customers, Hurts Competitors, And Curries Political Favor — United Airlines airlines has announced a new family seating policy that makes it easier for families to have assigned seats together without extra cost. This puts them out ahead of competitors …

Scott Jaschik / Inside Higher Ed:

Professor's Job Endangered for Teaching About Race — Scholar at Palm Beach Atlantic University says he's been accused of indoctrinating students. — (Palm Beach Atlantic U) — An English professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University said his teaching contract has been put on hold …

Discussion: CNN

Amanda Chu / Financial Times:

Joe Biden's planned US building boom imperilled by labour shortage — Half a million more construction workers needed as public money floods into infrastructure and clean energy — A shortage of construction workers is putting at risk the Biden administration's ambitious plan to fuel …

Dana Defosse / HuffPost:

I Coined The Term ‘Cisgender’ 29 Years Ago. Here's What This Controversial Word Really Means. — “Before now, I have not spoken publicly, or even disclosed my role in the origin of the word cisgender to anyone beyond a few close friends and colleagues.” — I coined the term “cisgender” in 1994.

Eduardo Medina / New York Times:

Councilman Who Uses a Wheelchair Is Asked to Hoist Himself Onto a Debate Stage — A Denver city councilman who is paralyzed from the chest down said he felt like a “circus monkey” trying to climb onto a stage that was not accessible by wheelchair. — A debate for Denver's District 10 City Council seat …

Discussion: BizPac Review and Fox News

Laurence Norman / Wall Street Journal:

U.N. Inspectors Detect Near-Weapons-Grade Enriched Uranium in Iran — Diplomats say they have been informed that Tehran doesn't appear to be accumulating a stockpile of the 84%-purity material — Iran's Nuclear Program: What We Know About Tehran's Key Sites — Created with sketchtool.