memeorandum: A Test of the News — Objectivity, democracy, and the American mosaic — We find ourselves in a perilous moment. (Wesley Lowery/Columbia Journalism Review)

5:00 PM ET, April 25, 2023

Top Items:

Biden announces 2024 reelection bid, saying he wants to ‘finish the job’ — President formalizes his intent to seek another term, setting the stage for a tumultuous election — President Biden officially announced his bid for reelection Tuesday morning, saying in a solemn launch video that he wants to …

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Biden Announces Re-election Bid, Defying Trump and History — While the president once pitched himself as “a bridge” to a new generation of Democratic leaders, he has decided that he is not ready to turn the torch over yet. — WASHINGTON — President Biden formally announced on Tuesday …

NBC News:

Biden announces he is running for re-election, framing 2024 as a choice between ‘more rights or fewer’ — Biden, who at 80 is already the oldest commander-in-chief, said “MAGA extremists are lining up” to take away the social safety net and personal freedoms.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, The Hill, Jacobin, Washington Examiner, RADAR, Alternet.org, CBS News, al.com, Raw Story, NPR, UPI and Bloomberg

Hans Nichols / Axios:

Biden's never-Trump campaign for '24 … But Biden sees Trump as a lethal threat to America — the reason to run and the issue to build his campaign around. … - “When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America - and we still are,” Biden says in the video announcing his reelection.

Alex Thompson / Axios:

First look: RNC slams Biden in AI-generated ad … - The video features AI-created images appearing to show Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris celebrating at an Election Day party, followed by a series of imagined reports about international and domestic crises that the ad suggests would follow a Biden victory in 2024.

Discussion: Forbes, Mother Jones, CNN, Patterico's Pontifications, Gizmodo, New York Post, The Verge, Joe.My.God., The Hill, RedState, Semafor, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon, Alternet.org and Wide World of News, more at Mediagazer »

CBS News:

CBS News poll finds Democrats meet Biden reelection bid with acceptance, more than excitement — Ahead of his reelection announcement Tuesday, Democrats liked and approved of President Biden. They said they would greet that announcement, though, with more acceptance than excitement.

Discussion: Insider, The Daily Caller, RedState, The Guardian, New York Times, ABC11, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, FiveThirtyEight and CNBC

Katie Glueck / New York Times:

Biden names Julie Chávez Rodríguez as his campaign manager. — Ms. Chávez Rodríguez, a veteran of Vice President Kamala Harris's political orbit, also worked on the president's 2020 campaign before becoming director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill and Washington Examiner

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he's endorsing Biden for reelection

Discussion: Washington Post, OpenSecrets.org, The Hill, Fox News and Washington Times

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Biden threatens to veto House GOP bill to raise debt ceiling, slash spending

Discussion: Fox News, Insider, Brookings, Just The News, CBS News, NPR, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Roll Call and Bloomberg

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Biden vs. Trump 2024 would be the rematch nobody wants

Discussion: Reuters, USA Today, Politico, The Hill, El País, The National, Variety, Power Line, Fox News, Page Array and CNN

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
Yes, Biden negotiated over the debt limit before. He's learned his lesson.

Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller

Edward Luce / Financial Times:
No cakewalk for Biden against Trump

Discussion: Fox News, Vox, New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, One America News Network, Deadline, NDTV, HotAir, The Western Journal, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, The Hill and Politico

Jay Michaelson / Rolling Stone: Boring is Good: The Moral Case for Joe Biden

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The analyst who saw through 2022's red mirage has a prediction for Biden 2024

Discussion: Twitchy and The Lincoln Project

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Republicans counter Biden announcement with dystopian, AI-aided video

Discussion: The Hill, Ars Technica, Forbes, Washington Examiner, RedState, Insider, New York Daily News and Page Array

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Tucker Carlson's Long Con — Was his long, strange trip a put-up job? — Washington, DC, Bureau Chief — Tucker Carlson wasn't always Tucker Carlson. Or maybe he was. — When I met the recently defenestrated Fox host in the late 1990s, he was stylizing himself as a facts-driven reporter …

Charlie Sykes / Morning Shots:

Tucker's Demise — It was as abrupt as it was shocking. No goodbyes, no real attempts to make it look amicable, negotiated, or especially well planned. — Tucker Carlson was fired. And he didn't see it coming. On Friday he signed off as usual: “We'll be back on Monday.”

Discussion: Vox, New Republic, Bernard Goldberg's Commentary, Puck, The American Spectator, New York Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Atlantic, Popular Information and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

Fox News' sudden firing of Tucker Carlson may have come down to one simple calculation — Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here. — New York CNN — Why?

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, Forbes, New York Times, RADAR and The Western Journal

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
Tucker Carlson's Prayer Talk May Have Led to Fox News Ouster: “That Stuff Freaks Rupert Out”

Discussion: Semafor, National Review, Mother Jones, RADAR, IJR, Louder With Crowder and Page Array, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Gabbatt / The Guardian:
Tucker Carlson leaves a toxic legacy at Fox News. What's next?

Discussion: Financial Times

Heidi Przybyla / Politico:

Law firm head bought Gorsuch-owned property — The Supreme Court justice did not report the identity of the purchaser, whose firm has had numerous cases before the court. — For nearly two years beginning in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sought a buyer for a 40-acre tract of property he co-owned in rural Granby, Colo.

Prem Thakker / New Republic:
Democratic Senator Calls for Clarence Thomas To Resign: “He Cannot Judge Right From Wrong”

Discussion: The Boston Globe and Raw Story

Grant Stern / Washington Press:
EXCLUSIVE: Democrat becomes first senator calling for Justice Thomas' resignation

Discussion: Forbes

Ryan Bort / Rolling Stone:
Neil Gorsuch Has Joined the Supreme Court Ethics Scandal Party

Discussion: Twitchy and PoliticusUSA

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Nate Silver Out at ABC News as Disney Layoffs Once Again Hit News Division — ABC News is expected to retain the FiveThirtyEight brand, with plans to streamline the data-driven site. — The second round of Disney layoffs once again hit ABC News on Tuesday, with Nate Silver's data-driven politics …

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Front Office Sports, The Desk, New York Post, Adweek, Just The News, The Wrap, The Gateway Pundit, Semafor, PoliticusUSA, Deadline, Variety and Mock Paper Scissors, more at Mediagazer »

Daniel W. Drezner / Drezner's World:

The Ron DeSantis Bubble Deflates — You know it's hard out there for a Florida governor... Remember six months ago? The Republican Party had just massively underperformed in the midterm elections, and a lot of GOP power brokers were grousing that the blame lay with one Donald J. Trump.

Discussion: Morning Consult, The Hill, Breitbart, Orlando Sentinel, Forbes, American Greatness, The Daily Caller and Washington Examiner

Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:
Politics stops at the water's edge? Not for DeSantis on trip abroad.

Discussion: National Review and New York Post

The Intercept:

Clarence Thomas Billionaire Benefactor Harlan Crow Bought Citizenship in Island Tax Haven … In partnership with — Harlan Crow, the billionaire GOP donor who paid for luxury travel on his private jet and yacht for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was a dual citizen of the U.S …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Ben Goggin / NBC News:

A 13-year-old boy was groomed publicly on Twitter and kidnapped, despite numerous chances to stop it — The abduction came after a series of missed opportunities where Twitter and law enforcement failed to effectively intervene. — The 13-year-old Utah boy hung out in the typical online spaces …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and HotAir

Wesley Lowery / Columbia Journalism Review:

A Test of the News — Objectivity, democracy, and the American mosaic — We find ourselves in a perilous moment. Democracy is under withering assault. Technological advances have empowered propagandists to profit through discontent and disinformation.

David Wallace-Wells / New York Times:

Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’ … It was, perhaps, an impossible job. Make one man the face of public health amid an unprecedented pandemic, in a country as fractious as the United States, and there were bound to be disappointments and frustrations, and they were bound to get personal.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, Reason, National Review, BizPac Review and Twitchy

Chicago Tribune:

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx says she will not run for reelection — After more than six years marked by historic criminal justice reforms, controversy over her prosecutorial policies and the Jussie Smollett scandal, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx said she won't run for reelection next year.

Discussion: Fox News and NBC Chicago

Kelly Bauer / Block Club Chicago:
Kim Foxx Won't Run For Reelection — And Fires Back At Those Blaming Her For Crime Spike

Discussion: Associated Press, Chicago Sun Times, NBC Chicago and Fox News

Washington Post:

Retired NSA director won lucrative consulting deals with Saudis, Japan — Retired Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who led the National Security Agency under Presidents Obama and George W. Bush, secured $2 million in consulting deals with foreign governments after leaving office …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Harry Belafonte, 96, Dies; Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist — In the 1950s, when segregation was still widespread, his ascent to the upper echelon of show business was historic. But his primary focus was civil rights. — By Peter Keepnews — Harry Belafonte …

Discussion: ABC News, NBC News, The Guardian, CNN, Task & Purpose, The Root, The Hill, NAACP, The Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post, NDTV, CBS News, Variety, TheBlaze, ABC13, The Gateway Pundit, UPI, Collider, Vanity Fair, Raw Story, NPR, Joe.My.God., The Wrap, New York Daily News, Rolling Stone, FOX8 WGHP, The Daily Beast, TMZ.com, Al Jazeera, Insider, New York Post, TVLine, Just The News, Fox News and WFLA-TV

Jim Brunner / The Seattle Times:

WA bans sale of AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles, effective immediately — Washington has become the 10th state to prohibit sales of AR-15s and dozens of other semiautomatic rifles, as Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed the ban into law, effective immediately.

Discussion: CNN, Pluribus News, The Hill, HuffPost, Associated Press, Fox News, New Republic and National Review

David Samuels / Tablet Magazine:

The RFK Jr. Tapes — The Democratic presidential candidate and America's most prominent ‘conspiracy theorist’ talks about his family, the military-pharmaceutical complex, and our new system of social control — I first met Bobby Kennedy Jr. when he showed up one summer afternoon in 1976 …

Washington Post:

Mallory McMorrow has a ‘bench’ warning for Democrats — Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. On this day in 1983, the U.S.S.R. made public a reply from Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov to 10-year-old Samantha Smith of Maine, inviting her to visit his country.