memeorandum: Target gets caught in cultural crossfire over Pride Month items (Washington Post)

5:10 PM ET, June 4, 2023

Top Items:

Chuck Todd to leave NBC's ‘Meet the Press’; Welker will become host — The transition will happen in September, a major change at one of broadcast television oldest institutions — Chuck Todd, who has served as moderator of NBC's Sunday-morning talk show “Meet the Press” since 2014 …

Discussion: RedState, NBC News, Joe.My.God., Crooks and Liars and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

David Bauder / Associated Press:

Chuck Todd leaving NBC political panel show ‘Meet the Press’ and being replaced by Kristen Welker — Chuck Todd said on Sunday that he'll be leaving “Meet the Press” after a tumultuous near-decade of moderating the NBC political panel show, to be replaced in the coming months by Kristen Welker.

Discussion: Axios, New York Times, Variety, Politico, Newsbusters, PoliticusUSA, The Gateway Pundit, National Review, The Daily Beast, Deadline, The Hill, Bloomberg, TheBlaze, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Fox News, Just The News and The Daily Caller

Daniel Arkin / NBC News:

Chuck Todd will depart NBC's ‘Meet the Press’; Kristen Welker to become host — Chuck Todd, a mainstay in Washington as moderator of “Meet the Press,” will step down from the show in the coming months. NBC News' co-chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker will take his place.

Discussion: Politico, Twitchy, Washington Press, The Messenger, UPI, Breitbart, Raw Story, The US Sun, Trending Politics Conservative, New York Daily News, Mediaite and NPR

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Biden has a theory of MAGA that just might be working — Now that Congress has passed the debt limit deal, explanations for President Biden's success in negotiating the outcome are abounding. Among them: Biden drew on his long experience in Washington to achieve bipartisan compromise …

Discussion: Raw Story, Voice of America and CBS News

New York Times:

Inside the Complicated Reality of Being America's Oldest President — President Biden is asking voters to keep him in the White House until age 86, renewing attention to an issue that polls show troubles most Americans. — There was the time last winter when President Biden was awakened …

Discussion: RedState, Fox News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, National Review and Los Angeles Times

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:
Kamala Harris is a Biden fall away from being in the Oval Office

Discussion: Oregonian, Digby's Hullabaloo and Bloomberg

Washington Post:
'You don't have another option': Inside the Biden, McCarthy debt ceiling deal

Discussion: RedState, The Hill, NBC News, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, National Review and CNN

Nijzel Dotson / KSBW:

Gov. Gavin Newsom investigating after migrants from Texas left in front of California church without warning — Hide Transcript Show Transcript — California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statement on Saturday regarding a group of migrants from Texas who were dropped off in front of a church in Sacramento without warning.

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo, The Messenger, The Guardian, Fox News and Sacramento Bee

CNN:

California is investigating after a private jet carrying migrants arrived in Sacramento, officials say — An investigation is underway after over a dozen migrants arrived in Sacramento, California, by private jet “with no prior arrangement or care in place,” Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said Saturday.

Discussion: One America News Network, Washington Press, Joe.My.God., Washington Examiner and lawprofessors.typepad.com

Isabel Keane / New York Post:
Mystery private jet of migrants arrives in Sacramento, prompting investigation

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit, KTLA and Raw Story

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Could Jeff Zucker Fix CNN? He Seems to Think So. — It's been more than a year since he was forced from the top job at the network. Since then, he has made no secret of his frustrations with his exit — or his low regard for the man who replaced him, Chris Licht.

Discussion: Axios, Mother Jones and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Craig Simpson / Telegraph:

Anglo-Saxons aren't real, Cambridge tells students in effort to fight ‘nationalism’ — University aims to ‘dismantle the myths’ around British and English identities as it seeks to make its teaching more ‘anti-racist’ — Cambridge is teaching students that Anglo-Saxons did not exist …

Discussion: Breitbart

Miles Parks / NPR:

How the far right tore apart one of the best tools to fight voter fraud — On a night in January 2022, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin stepped on stage in a former airbase in Houma, La. — With American flags draped from the stage, the topic of the night was democracy.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

David Jackson / USA Today:

Donald Trump's GOP rivals pounce after he congratulated Kim Jong Un: ‘Not something to play with’ — WASHINGTON − Republican presidential candidates and other GOP leaders shed their reluctance to criticize Donald Trump this weekend after the ex-president served up an unusual political issue: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Discussion: NBC News, HotAir, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, NewsNation, Raw Story, The Hill, Politico and New York Post

Julia Mueller / The Hill:

Comey: Trump ‘could be wearing an ankle bracelet’ while accepting GOP nomination — Former FBI Director James Comey predicted on Sunday that former President Trump “could be wearing an ankle bracelet” when accepting the GOP nomination if he wins it in 2024, as the former president faces a number of legal challenges.

Discussion: Fox News, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Pence readies for Trump showdown as 2024 launch approaches

Discussion: NewsNation, Financial Times and USA Today

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

Want a model on how to govern, Democrats? Look to Minnesota's miracle. — You could be forgiven for imagining that state legislatures around the country are lurching rightward, thanks to the media spotlight given to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's culture warring in his state. Other deep-red states are not far behind.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

David Mchugh / Associated Press:

With oil prices slumping, OPEC+ producers weigh more production cuts — Saudi Arabia will reduce how much oil it sends to the global economy, taking a unilateral step to prop up the sagging price of crude after two previous cuts to supply by major producing countries in the OPEC+ alliance failed to push oil higher.

Discussion: Reuters, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, The Messenger, The Daily Caller, Sputnik News, Financial Times, One America News Network, TASS and Bloomberg

Reuters:

Exclusive: World's spy chiefs meet in secret conclave in Singapore — Senior officials from about two dozen of the world's major intelligence agencies held a secret meeting on the fringes of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore this weekend, five people told Reuters.

Washington Post:

Target gets caught in cultural crossfire over Pride Month items — Some shoppers have become more emboldened to engage in confrontational, even threatening, behavior over polarizing social issues. — Brandishing her own scissors in front of guest services in a Target store in south Florida …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and No More Mister Nice Blog

Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:

Vivek Ramaswamy Takes Putin's Side in Heated Exchange With ABC's Martha Raddatz — The 2024 GOP candidate called on Ukraine to make “major concessions” to end the war. — Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy thinks “major concessions” need to be made to Russia in order to end …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Hill, ABC News, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

NBC News:

Grand jury in Trump classified documents case expected to meet this coming week after hiatus — A grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the case against former President Donald Trump is expected to meet this coming week in Washington after a lull. — The federal grand jury …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Raw Story, Trending Politics Conservative, Washington Press, emptywheel, Joe.My.God., The Messenger and Breitbart

Mirna Alsharif / NBC News:

Sonic boom from Department of Defense aircraft jars residents in DMV area; DoD confirms no threat to public — Rattled residents took to Twitter to report hearing some sort of explosion in the area at around 3 p.m. on Sunday. — A thunderous explosion heard across the Washington Metropolitan area …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Fox News, Just The News and WFLA-TV

Benjamin Dodman / France 24:

Le Pen's far right served as mouthpiece for the Kremlin, says French parliamentary report — Dogged by accusations of proximity to the Kremlin, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party had hoped to clear its name by setting up a parliamentary inquiry to investigate foreign interference in French politics.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Bloomberg:

Mystery Trader's Debt-Ceiling Windfall Sparks Insider Concerns — The US government's move to greenlight a 300-mile natural gas pipeline as part of legislation to stave off a Treasury default shocked just about everyone, except for a mystery trader who somehow appears to have seen it coming.

Discussion: Insider

Maya Yang / The Guardian:

Florida taxpayers pick up bill for Ron DeSantis's culture war lawsuits — Governor's Disney battle and extremist policies are met with costly lawsuits covered by ‘blank check’ from Republican legislature — Since Florida's governor Ron DeSantis took office in 2019 and embarked on his culture wars …