memeorandum: One Hell of a Run — I do not believe this is the last we'll see of Tucker Carlson, (Tucker Carlson Had/American Greatness)

9:50 AM ET, April 26, 2023

Top Items:

Tucker Carlson's Vulgar, Offensive Messages About Colleagues Helped Seal His Fate at Fox News — Prime-time host called senior executive the c-word in redacted missive; network grew wary of further embarrassment from possible disclosure — Several weeks ago, as Fox News lawyers prepared …

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., Mother Jones, Washington Examiner, CNN, New York Times and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »

Rolling Stone:

Fox Has a Secret ‘Oppo File’ to Keep Tucker Carlson in Check, Sources Say — Eight sources tell Rolling Stone that the network's top brass has been stockpiling information on the departing primetime host … When Fox announced Carlson's departure on Monday, the network presented the separation as amiable.

Discussion: Forbes, RADAR, BizPac Review, Adweek, acecomments.mu.nu, Raw Story, Mediaite, Breitbart, Political Wire and Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

Tucker Carlson's Prayer Talk May Have Led to Fox News Ouster: “That Stuff Freaks Rupert Out” — Fox Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch is said to have balked at Carlson's remarks in a Friday night speech, driving another theory about the prime-time star's abrupt exit. “He doesn't like all the spiritual talk,” said a source.

American Prospect:

The Smuggest Man On Air — Tucker Carlson has left Fox News, just days after the network settled a historic defamation lawsuit with electronic voting machine maker Dominion over its promotion of lies about the 2020 election. The lawsuit surfaced contrasting private and public comments made by Carlson …

Discussion: National Review, The American Spectator, CNN, The Economist, The Gateway Pundit, Mercury News, Lawyers, Guns & Money and No More Mister Nice Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Christopher Tremoglie / Washington Examiner:
No, Tucker Carlson should not run for president

Discussion: Buttermilk Sky, Press Enterprise, New Republic and Columbia Journalism Review

Lara Seligman / Politico:
‘Good riddance’: Pentagon officials cheer Tucker Carlson's ouster

Discussion: Twitchy, Mediaite, Breitbart, Summit News, BizPac Review and TheBlaze

Tucker Carlson Had / American Greatness: One Hell of a Run — I do not believe this is the last we'll see of Tucker Carlson,

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
The Tucker Realignment — Across Donald Trump's presidency and immediately afterward there was a lot of talk about realignment.

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Post, Mediaite, The Daily Beast and The American Conservative

Alex Griffing / Mediaite:
Ex-Tucker Producer Suing Fox News Has NINETY Recordings From the Network

Discussion: BizPac Review, New York Daily News, The Daily Beast, The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart

Alex Thompson / Axios:

Scoop: Inside Biden's strategy to repair Harris' image — Top White House officials are rushing to the aid of Vice President Kamala Harris to try to shore up her underwhelming poll numbers heading into 2024. … Officials believe that could make her a drag on the ticket as Biden begins …

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times, El País, Financial Times, Just The News, New York Post, CNN, The American Independent, Breitbart, TMZ.com, Blue Virginia, Vox, Mediaite and The Guardian

David Frum / The Atlantic:

The Coming Biden Blowout — Republicans thought about running without Trump in 2024—but lost their nerve. They're heading for electoral disaster again. — The Republican plan for 2024 is already failing, and the party leadership can see it and knows it.

Discussion: Washington Post and The 19th

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The analyst who saw through 2022's red mirage has a prediction for Biden 2024 — Throughout the 2022 elections, Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg offered up a counterintuitive diagnosis: Confident GOP predictions of a “red wave” weren't just wrong, they were designed to deenergize Democratic voters with “negative sentiment.”

Discussion: Raw Story, Hopium Chronicles, Reuters, The Hill, ABC News, CNN, Twitchy, The Atlantic, Washington Times, The Lincoln Project, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone, New York Daily News, Washington Examiner and IJR

Eli Stokols / Politico:
Biden's campaign launch is immediately overshadowed by other events — and his team loves it

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Big money donors rally behind Biden as he launches his reelection bid

Discussion: Morning Consult and Alternet.org

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

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
April 25, 2023 — Exactly four years after he announced he would challenge then-president Donald Trump …

Discussion: PBS NewsHour, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Fox News, Insider, Page Array, Power Line, Just The News and Washington Post

Myah Ward / Politico:
Top Dem super PAC starts Biden ad blitz, pledges $75 million campaign effort

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, The Hill, NBC News, CBS News and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:
Biden v. Trump: A race for the White House with actuarial tables in the background

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Beast, Fox News, City & State New York, Twitchy and New York Times

Reuters:

Exclusive: Peter Thiel, Republican megadonor, won't fund candidates in 2024 - sources — Tech billionaire and Republican megadonor Peter Thiel, an early backer of former President Donald Trump who later broke with him, has told associates he is not planning to donate to any political candidates in 2024 …

Discussion: Mediaite

Ben Terris / Washington Post:

The Washington gambler — Sean McElwee, a young Democratic insider with friends in high places, bet on himself in the post-Trump era. But that wasn't all he was betting on. … It was poker night at Sean McElwee's Logan Circle bachelor pad. In the living room, a big‐ …

Discussion: Politico

Washington Post:

Audio of Cruz's talk with Fox host sheds light on plan to challenge 2020 results — Sen. Ted Cruz advocated the creation of a congressionally appointed electoral commission ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to make a credible assessment of unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost and The Daily Beast

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:

‘Damning’ new J6 recording: Ted Cruz discusses how to force a reassessment of Biden's win — MSNBC's Ari Melber on Tuesday said that he had acquired a “damning” new recording of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) discussing how to potentially overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Discussion: Miami Herald, New York Times, New York Post and RedState

Christopher Miller / Financial Times:

Xi Jinping holds long-awaited call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy — Ukrainian leader says conversation with China's president was ‘long and meaningful’ — Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he had held “a long and meaningful phone call with [Chinese] President Xi Jinping” …

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Politico, CNBC, Metro.co.uk, ABC13, TASS and NPR

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

Ian Millhiser / Vox:
The real reason for the Supreme Court's corruption crisis

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press:
Chief Justice Roberts declines Senate panel's request to testify on Supreme Court ethics

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Guardian, Forbes, New York Times, Ohio Capital Journal, UPI, NBC News, BizPac Review, Roll Call, National Review, CBS News, Washington Times, Washington Post and HuffPost

Alexander Smith / NBC News:

U.S. to send nuclear submarines in new pledge to protect South Korea from North's threats — President Joe Biden and his counterpart, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, will sign the new agreement in Washington on Wednesday, officials said. — The United States will deploy …

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post, Washington Times and Financial Times

Michael R. Gordon / Wall Street Journal:
U.S., South Korea Pledge Cooperation on Potential Use of Nuclear Arms

Discussion: The Korea Times, CNN, USA Today, Bloomberg, ABC News, Washington Post, American Enterprise Institute, NPR, Financial Times, New York Post, New York Times, TASS and NBC News

Juliegrace Brufke / Axios:

McCarthy runs into a wall of corn … - It only takes five GOP “no” votes to tank the bill. — The group includes all four Iowa House Republicans, plus at least four more members from the corn belt, Axios has learned. — McCarthy is meeting with this group on Tuesday evening …

Discussion: Reason, HuffPost, Washington Times, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Annie Karni / New York Times:
After a Hellish Start and a Honeymoon, McCarthy Faces His First Big Test

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Associated Press, The Hill, Politico, CNN, Alternet.org, Bloomberg, Daily Kos and HotAir

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Proud Boys leader, awaiting Jan. 6 sedition verdict, assails Justice Department — In a call from his jail cell, Enrique Tarrio embraced far-right critiques of DOJ's Jan. 6 prosecutions. — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio — awaiting a verdict on charges he conspired …

Discussion: CBS News, ABC News, American Greatness, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, New York Daily News, RedState, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, USA Today, NPR and Raw Story

Jordan Fischer / wusa9.com:
In closing arguments, Proud Boys say ‘lying’ witness — also a Proud Boy — can't be trusted

Discussion: NBC News, Associated Press and Politico

New York Times:

Montana House Cancels Session Amid Standoff With Transgender Lawmaker — Republicans have refused to let Representative Zooey Zephyr speak until she apologizes for comments made during a House debate. Several of her supporters were arrested during a protest.

Discussion: Billings Gazette, CBS News, Associated Press, UPI, New York Post, Washington Examiner, New York Daily News, Pluribus News, Insider, The Hill, Just The News, CNN, Washington Free Beacon, HotAir, BizPac Review, USA Today and TheBlaze

Kylie Cheung / Jezebel:

Woman with Cancerous Pregnancy Was Told to Wait in Parking Lot Until She Was ‘Crashing’ — “We can't touch you unless you're crashing in front of us or your blood pressure goes so high that you're fixing to have a heart attack,” she says she was told. — Jaci Statton, a 25-year-old mother …

Selena Simmons-Duffin / NPR:
In Oklahoma, a woman was told to wait until she's ‘crashing’ for abortion care

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and KFOR-TV

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:

Mastermind of Kabul airport massacre killed by Taliban, U.S. says — An ISIS suicide bomber killed dozens of Afghans and 13 U.S. troops during the Biden administration's evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021 — The suspected mastermind of a gruesome suicide bombing during the United States' pullout …

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Examiner, National Review and Political Wire

Associated Press:
Taliban kill mastermind of suicide bombing at Kabul airport

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CBS News, New York Times, Fox News, ABC News, Raw Story, CNN, NBC News, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Just The News, BizPac Review, Al-Monitor, UPI, NDTV, The Gateway Pundit, FOX8 WGHP, Al Jazeera, RedState, New York Post, Politico, The Hill and Forbes

Shirin Ghaffary / Vox:

Elon's blue check disaster is getting worse — Celebrities are refusing to pay, and the trolls keep trolling. — Elon Musk's decision to strip certain users of their legacy verification check marks — one of the biggest changes he's made as the new owner and CEO of Twitter — is off to a chaotic start.

Discussion: New York Times

David Gilbert / VICE:

A Far-Right Moms Group Is Terrorizing Schools in the Name of Protecting Kids — Moms for Liberty has targeted teachers, administrators, parents, and school board members, orchestrating harassment campaigns that have left people fearing for their safety—and in some cases, their lives. — David Gilbert

Discussion: Oregonian and Media Matters for America

GOV.UK:

Microsoft / Activision deal prevented to protect innovation and choice in cloud gaming — The CMA has prevented Microsoft's proposed purchase of Activision over concerns the deal would alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.

Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:

E. Jean Carroll v. Donald Trump: Trials are unpredictable, but here's the roadmap for this one — As a trial begins in writer E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit against former president Donald Trump, the United States contemplates the startling possibility that a federal jury may declare …

Discussion: Civil Discourse …, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, New York Daily News, Politico, NBC News, Insider, The Guardian, USA Today, National Review, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, UPI, Washington Examiner, New York Times and CNN

NPR:

Chief Justice Roberts declines to testify before Senate panel — Chief Justice John Roberts has declined an invitation from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to testify before the panel, calling such testimony by chief justices “exceedingly rare.”