memeorandum: Questions Arise About Britt's State of the Union Response (Ken Bensinger/New York Times)

4:30 PM ET, March 9, 2024

Top Items:

How Trump Fumbled his Attack on Biden's Age — Donald Trump and the Republicans smelled blood. President Biden had recently been on the defensive about his age. A series of polls released over the weekend heightened Democratic concerns. The Republicans knew the press would treat …

Discussion: Mediaite

Mike Allen / Axios:

“Smokin' Joe Biden”: Campaign builds on SOTU buzz … - “Donald Trump believes the job of the president is to take care of Donald Trump,” Biden says. … - By the end of this month, the campaign expects to surge from 100 staff members in the seven battlegrounds to 350+, with 100+ field offices, per the AP.

Discussion: USA Today, Twitchy, HuffPost, HotAir, The Hill, Associated Press, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, Fox News and DNyuz, more at Mediagazer »

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Early polling of Biden's State of the Union doesn't quite match the hype — Democrats would like to believe that President Biden changed the 2024 game with his State of the Union address Thursday night, demonstrating verve and combativeness amid concerns about his age and mental acuity.

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, DOWNWITHTYRANNY!, Mock Paper Scissors and The Hill

Sophia Cai / Axios:

Inside Trump's TikTok flip-flop … I don't want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!" Trump posted on Truth Social Thursday. — Hours earlier, a key House committee voted unanimously to advance a bill — backed by Biden …

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Why It's Hard to Explain Joe Biden's Unpopularity — Joe Biden is one of the most unpopular presidents in modern American history. In Gallup polling, his approval ratings are lower than those of any president embarking on a re-election campaign, from Dwight Eisenhower to Donald Trump.

New York Times:

The Biden-Trump Rerun: A Nation Craving Change Gets More of the Same — Americans love a candidate who promises something new. But when a sitting president runs against a former one, can either claim the mantle of change? — The promise of change has been a powerful force in presidential campaigns …

Discussion: CNN and The Daily Caller

The Hill:
Gingrich: Biden's most inspirational State of the Union moment was ‘when he left’

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Fox News

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
Joe Biden Delivered a Knockout State of the Union Address

Discussion: The Register

NBC News:
Trump hosts hard-line Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán at Mar-a-Lago

Discussion: CNN, Politico, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Mahablog, RTÉ, RADAR, Vanity Fair, BizPac Review, The Hill, Agence France-Presse, HuffPost, Fox News, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Ned Hamson's Second Line View … and Raw Story

Nicholas Nehamas / New York Times:
New Biden Ad Pokes Fun at His Age: 'I'm Not a Young Guy. That's No Secret.'

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hill, New York Post, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, NBC News, CBS News, Blue Virginia, DNyuz, USA Today and Crooks and Liars

Dan Rather / Steady:
President Biden Upends the GOP Narrative

Discussion: RedState, nationalinterest.org, New York Magazine, BizPac Review, The Bulwark, New York Times, Jacobin, Deadline, CNN, Fox News, New Republic, NBC News, NPR, HuffPost and Washington Times

Filip Timotija / The Hill:
RFK Jr. slams Biden's State of the Union address as ‘hyper-partisan’

Discussion: Daily Kos, Erick Erickson's Show Notes and Fox News

Ron Filipkowski / MeidasTouch:
Trump Getting DESTROYED on Truth Social Over His Vaccine Post

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, New York Times, American Greatness and New York Magazine

Bloomberg:
Biden Shrugs Off ‘Illegal’ Remark That Drew Democrats' Ire

Reuters:
Biden says he would sign TikTok crackdown, Trump raises concerns

Discussion: Vanity Fair, HuffPost, Fortune, Daily Caller News Foundation, Washington Examiner, NBC News, Bloomberg, CBS News, Business Insider, Marketing Dive, American Greatness, JNS.org and TechCrunch

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Katie Britt's false linkage of a sex-trafficking case to Joe Biden — The Fact Checker … — Sen. Katie Boyd Britt (R-Ala.), in the Republican response to the State of the Union address, March 7 — If you were watching Britt's speech on Thursday night, you likely would have thought …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, al.com, DNyuz and Roll Call

Ken Bensinger / New York Times:

Questions Arise About Britt's State of the Union Response — The Alabama senator used a story about sex trafficking to criticize the Biden administration's border policies. But it wasn't fully accurate. — In her rebuttal to President Biden's State of the Union speech Thursday night …

Discussion: Mediaite, DNyuz, NPR, New York Magazine, PolitiFact and New York Post

Kevin Manahan / New Jersey Online:

Was Trump supporter Katie Britt caught in whopping lie about graphic sex trafficking story? — During her widely panned Republican response to the State of the Union Address on Thursday night, Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama told a graphic sex-trafficking story about a woman who was sexually abused …

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Rebecca Picciotto / CNBC:

Biden rebutter Sen. Britt blasted for recycling 20-year-old sex traffic story to attack border policy — In her rebuttal to Biden's State of the Union, Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama used what appears to be a sex trafficking victim's experience from the early 2000s to condemn President Joe Biden's current border policy.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Raw Story and The Guardian

Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
Biden said Republicans oppose women's rights — Katie Britt's “tradwife” response proved him right

Discussion: New York Magazine

Kyle Whitmire / al.com:
Is Katie Britt for real?

Discussion: DNyuz, Salon, Boston Herald, BizPac Review, The Atlantic, Slate, PoliticusUSA, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Human Events, Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone, The Hill, Crooks and Liars, Washington Post, HuffPost and RedState

Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:

Inside A Secret Society Of Prominent Right-Wing Christian Men Prepping For A ‘National Divorce’ — A trove of documents obtained by TPM reveal the society's inner workings. — A secret, men-only right-wing society with members in influential positions around the country is on a crusade …

Lori Rozsa / Washington Post:

DeSantis faces pushback in Florida as voters tire of war on woke — Conservative lawmakers rejected a host of new culture wars proposals in the legislature — The bill banning rainbow flags from public buildings in Florida sounded like a sure bet. — State Rep. David Borrero (R) …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Sun-Sentinel

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Robert De Niro Goes Off on ‘Total Monster’ Trump and His Fans In Epic Rant on Bill Maher — Calls Him Every Name In The Book — Acting legend Robert De Niro went on a blistering rant about former President Donald Trump and his supporters, sounding the alarm on a new Trump term and calling him a string of derogatory names.

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Twitchy, DNyuz, RADAR, Fox News and Deadline

Brad Brooks / Reuters:

US ‘prepper’ culture diversifies amid fear of disaster and political unrest — Brook Morgan surveyed booths at the “Survival & Prepper Show” in Colorado that were stocked with boxes of ammunition, mounds of trauma medical kits, and every type of knife imaginable.

Discussion: RedState

Fox News:

Mexican cartel members laugh after National Guard helicopter crashes, kills 3 — The cartel members can be heard laughing immediately after the fatal helicopter crash — Cartel members were seen laughing after a National Guard helicopter carrying three soldiers and a Border Patrol agent crashed near the southern border in Texas.