memeorandum: The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again (The Atlantic)

8:00 PM ET, August 19, 2023

Top Items:

Inside Trump's Decision to Skip the G.O.P. Debate — Fox News leaned on the former president privately and publicly to join the debate. But all the while he was proceeding with a plan for his own counterprogramming. — On a cool August night on the crowded patio of his private club in New Jersey …

Discussion: Boston Herald, BizPac Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, Raw Story, Slate, HuffPost, Reuters, The Spectator World and PoliticusUSA, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Trump to release taped interview with Tucker Carlson, skipping GOP debate — Former president Donald Trump intends to skip the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday and instead plans to post a prerecorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Dallas Express, HuffPost, CNN, The Japan Times, One America News Network, New York Daily News, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Sun-Sentinel, New York Post, Outside the Beltway, New Republic, NBC News, Mediaite, Insider and The Messenger

Axios:

Scoop: Big GOP donors push for Trump alternative — Several top GOP donors, panicked about their current choices, are holding back 2024 money with the long-shot dream of luring an alternative to former President Trump into the presidential race at the last minute.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Blue Virginia and PoliticusUSA

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Why Trump might regret passing on the first debate — In recent nominating contests, the nationally televised shoutfests have prompted significant shifts in polling afterward. — Donald Trump wants to deprive his competitors of any oxygen. That's why the former president is likely skipping next week's debate in Milwaukee.

Discussion: Newsbusters, Mock Paper Scissors and Raw Story

Washington Post:
Rupert Murdoch encouraged Virginia's Glenn Youngkin to seek presidency

Discussion: Insider, Digby's Hullabaloo, Outside the Beltway, Breitbart, Raw Story and Political Wire

The Atlantic:

The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again — The only question is whether American citizens today can uphold that commitment. — As students of the United States Constitution for many decades—one of us as a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, the other as a professor …

Discussion: Election Law Blog, Mother Jones, Law Dork with Chris Geidner, Raw Story, UPROXX, PoliticusUSA, New York Times, Unfogged and Washington Monthly

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Legal scholars increasingly raise constitutional argument that Trump should be barred from presidency — Prominent conservative legal scholars are increasingly raising a constitutional argument that 2024 Republican candidate Donald Trump should be barred from the presidency because of his actions …

Discussion: Election Law Blog, The Hill, Little Green Footballs and The Moderate Voice

Andrew Zhang / Politico:

MAGA world lashes out over DeSantis' ‘listless vessels’ remark — Trump campaign and supporters push comparisons to Hillary Clinton's ‘deplorables’ remark. — The Trump campaign and MAGA world on Saturday blasted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for remarks appearing to label some of the former president's supporters “listless vessels.”

Discussion: The Messenger, The Florida Standard, Washington Examiner, Florida Politics, Orlando Sentinel, Political Wire and The Liberal Patriot

Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:

DeSantis opens up about leaked debate strategy memo, vows to punch back in first GOP showdown — Fox News hosts the first Republican presidential nomination debate on Wednesday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — MANCHESTER, N.H. - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he's “ready to do what we need to” …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN, The Messenger, The Hill, Axios, The Florida Standard, The Daily Beast, Florida Politics, NewsNation, The Spectator World, Breaking911, New York Times, The Bulwark, National Review, Diane Ravitch's blog and Washington Post

Miranda Nazzaro / The Hill:

Biden campaign predicts GOP candidates will ‘out-MAGA each other’ at debate — President Biden's reelection campaign on Saturday predicted that the GOP presidential candidates will “out-MAGA each other,” in the first GOP debate next week, according to an email memo.

Discussion: Political Wire

Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Biden campaign expects GOP candidates to ‘out-MAGA each other’ during first debate

Discussion: Politico, RedState, Orlando Sentinel, Washington Examiner, Journal Sentinel, The Post Millennial, New York Times and CBS News

S.V. Date / HuffPost:

Christie: Trump Canceled Election Fraud Press Conference Because 'He's Scared' Of Jail — Trump first promised a news conference to reveal proof that the 2020 election in Georgia had been “stolen” from him, but then canceled. — ATLANTA — While Donald Trump claims he canceled …

Discussion: The Garden Island, Vanity Fair, The Hill, IJR, National Review, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Axios and KTLA

Washington Post:
FBI joins investigation of threats to grand jurors in Trump Georgia case

Discussion: New York Magazine, Raw Story, Political Wire, HuffPost, BizPac Review, CBS News, Breaking911 and CNN

New York Times:

Giuliani Repeatedly Sought Financial Lifeline From Trump — As Rudolph Giuliani has neared a financial breaking point with a pile of legal bills, the former president has largely demurred, despite making a vague promise to pay up. — Rudolph W. Giuliani is running out of money and looking …

Discussion: Insider, UPROXX, Progress Pond, HotAir and Raw Story

Liz Skalka / HuffPost:

The GOP Is Over Its War On ‘Woke’ — Turns out Republican primary voters aren't that into the anti-woke rallying cry, and presidential candidates are responding accordingly. — DES MOINES, Iowa — Jill Connell is sick of hearing the word “woke.” — The 66-year-old from Kansas …

Discussion: New York Post

Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:

What's next for the one-time red state turned southwestern battleground? — Arizona's become more competitive, but a top Democratic strategist warns 'folks who assume that Arizona's gotten more progressive do so at their own peril' — President Biden not only made history in 2020 …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Rolling Stone:
Arizona Investigators ‘Aggressively’ Looking at Top Trump Ally Kelli Ward

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Raw Story and Political Wire

Michael Martina / Reuters:

US urges China to cease military pressure against Taiwan — The U.S. urged China on Saturday to stop pressuring Taiwan, after Beijing launched military drills around the democratically governed island in response to Taiwan Vice President William Lai's U.S. visit.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, UPI, NBC News, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Associated Press, New York Times, The Japan Times and Financial Times

Miranda Nazzaro / The Hill:

Christie hits Trump on foreign policy: 'I don't want to be the apple of Vladimir Putin's eye' — Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie hit against former President Trump's comments about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin's after the former president claimed he was the “apple of his eye.”

Discussion: The Messenger, Mediaite, Raw Story and Politico