memeorandum: ‘Wow!’ Morning Joe Crew Stunned By Montage of Trump Repeated Gaffes from Weekend Rallies (Colby Hall/Mediaite)

2:35 PM ET, February 12, 2024

Top Items:

The Republican Plot Against Donald Trump — The Republican Plot Against Donald Trump — The inside story of how Congress is pursuing endless war in Ukraine—and trying to stop a Trump election. — This weekend, Senate Democrats (joined by a few Republicans, including most Republican leadership) …

Discussion: The Federalist, nationalinterest.org, National Review, The Post Millennial, Raw Story, American Greatness, Twitchy and CNBC

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

‘Wow!’ Morning Joe Crew Stunned By Montage of Trump Repeated Gaffes from Weekend Rallies — Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were equally stunned by a montage of confusing gaffes by former President Donald Trump over a weekend of political rallies, each exclaiming “wow!” coming out of the montage aired on Monday's Morning Joe.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New Republic, HuffPost and Raw Story

New York Times:

Trump Faces Supreme Court Deadline on Claim of Absolute Immunity — A federal appeals court gave the former president until Monday to ask the justices to pause its ruling while he pursues an appeal. — Former President Donald J. Trump is expected to file a last-ditch effort on Monday …

Discussion: The Weekly Sift

Avery Lotz / CNN:

Rubio dismisses concerns about Trump's NATO remarks as backlash mounts — GOP Sen. Marco Rubio defended former President Donald Trump's controversial comment that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to a NATO member country that didn't meet defense spending guidelines.

New York Times:
Trump Faces Fraud Trial Ruling and Criminal Trial Hearing in NY Next Week

Discussion: The Guardian and Reason

Rachael Bade / Politico:
‘We have to get this done’: A top House Republican pushes for Ukraine aid, stat

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Mock Paper Scissors and Al Jazeera

NBC News:
Feeling betrayed, Trump wants a second administration stocked with loyalists

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story and Political Wire

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:
‘Anti-CPAC’ summit planned with prominent GOP Trump critics

Discussion: Washington Examiner and RedState

Sam Meredith / CNBC:
Trump's NATO comments stir up a political storm as Russia keeps quiet

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Media creates Biden “fitness” crisis — Robert Hur, the Republican special prosecutor assigned to investigate President Biden, is a lawyer, not a doctor. On Thursday, Hur issued a lengthy report that came to the legal conclusion that charges against Biden for mishandling classified materials were not warranted.

Discussion: New York Times and CBS News

Michael Tomasky / New Republic:
The Only Mental Acuity I'm Questioning These Days Is the Mainstream Media's

Discussion: National Review, Digby's Hullabaloo and Washington Post

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
‘But His Memory’ and the slow train wreck of American democracy

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Why the Hur report triggers bad 2016 flashbacks

Discussion: The Hill, The Cross Section, MSNBC, Washington Post, Raw Story and Las Vegas Review-Journal

Bloomberg:
In Trump-Biden Rematch, the Only Sure Loser Is China

Discussion: Semafor, National Review and Political Wire

Kelby Vera / HuffPost:
Donald Trump: Taylor Swift Is ‘Disloyal’ If She Endorses President Biden

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

Jack Smith's Subtle Shot at Trump Mar-a-Lago Judge Aileen Cannon — Federal prosecutors working on the Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago documents case are trying to convince Judge Aileen Cannon by pointing to cases she worked on at the DOJ. — Faced with a federal judge in the Donald Trump Mar …

Discussion: Raw Story and Business Insider

Washington Post:

Unprecedented assignment: Defending Donald Trump in criminal court — With four criminal indictments and multiple civil cases, the former president has built the equivalent of a boutique law firm — In the past six weeks alone, Donald Trump's lawyers argued in the Supreme Court over whether …

Discussion: Raw Story and Atlanta Black Star

Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Trump attends Florida hearing in special counsel classified documents case

Discussion: Politico, USA Today, Associated Press, Raw Story, UPI, Fox News, KPNX, Florida Politics and Press Herald

ABC News:
Trump arrives for hearing in classified docs case being held in special secure facility

Discussion: HuffPost, Washington Examiner, CBS News, WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm, RTÉ, CNN, Associated Press, Forbes, New York Post and Law & Crime

Heather Digby Parton / Salon:

Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson gave Putin exactly want he wants — It is no coincidence that Trump made his biggest threat against NATO right after Tucker Carlson sat with Putin — As we all know, the biggest story in the world is the breaking news that President Joe Biden is old.

Discussion: The Hill, Business Insider, Mediaite, CNN, Reuters, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Times, The Guardian, PoliticusUSA, Robert Reich, Wall Street Journal and Raw Story

emptywheel:

Call and Response: Putin Demanded Greater Russia and Trump Agreed — Over the weekend, Putin and Donald Trump seem to have come to public agreement that, if elected in November, Trump would help Putin pursue Greater Russia. — In his session with Tucker Carlson, after all …

Discussion: Washington Post

Adam Durbin / BBC:
Nato chief says Donald Trump comments ‘undermine all of our security’

Lynn Neary / NPR:

‘The voice we woke up to’: Bob Edwards, longtime ‘Morning Edition’ host, dies at 76 — Bob Edwards, the veteran broadcaster and longtime host of Morning Edition who left an indelible mark on NPR's sound, has died. He was 76 years old. — NPR's Susan Stamberg says Edwards' voice became part …

Discussion: Mercury News and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

Former RNC Chair Comes Up With Damning New Way To Describe Trump Supporters — Michael Steele asked why some voters don't just get what the former president is about. — LOADING — Michael Steele, a former chair of the Republican National Committee, on Sunday, ripped Donald Trump supporters as …

Ivana Saric / Axios:

“lol hey guys”: Biden campaign joins TikTok to reach young voters — President Biden's re-election campaign officially launched its TikTok account on Sunday with a Super Bowl-themed video. … - By Monday morning, the video had 3.9 million views. — “In a media ecosystem that is more fragmented …

Axios:

Exclusive: How Biden botched the border — Aboard Air Force One en route to tour the southern border in January 2023, President Biden sat at the head of his conference table and exploded with fury. — The president lit into his team, which included then-Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O'Malley Dillon …

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Caller, Fox News and Mediaite

U.S. Department of Defense:

Statement From Walter Reed Military Medical Center Officials on Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Health Status — Dr. John Maddox, Trauma Medical Director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, Center for Prostate Disease Research of the Murtha Cancer Center Director, at Walter Reed National …

Discussion: USA Today, Defense One, The Hill, UPI, American Military News, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, CBS News, New York Post, Associated Press, Mediaite, Deadline and Politico

Lara Seligman / Politico:
Austin cancels trip to Brussels for Ukraine meeting due to hospitalization

Discussion: CNBC, Associated Press, 6abc and The Gateway Pundit

Tara Copp / Associated Press:
Defense Secretary Austin is hospitalized with bladder issue, transfers powers to his deputy

Gil Duran / New Republic:

The Tech Plutocrats Dreaming of a Right-Wing San Francisco — On a Friday night in late January, the leader of a famed San Francisco venture capital firm got drunk and launched into a profanity-laced tirade on social media. Garry Tan, the Y Combinator CEO currently spearheading …