memeorandum: A Great American Con Led to the Mess on College Campuses. Everyone Fell for It

6:15 PM ET, May 4, 2024

Top Items:

Justin Peters / Slate:

A Great American Con Led to the Mess on College Campuses. Everyone Fell for It—Again. — A time-honored tactic by right-wing agitators brought on the “crisis” on American campuses. Everyone fell for it—again. — In 2001, a Vietnam-era student radical named David Horowitz decided to once again start causing trouble on campus.

Emily Wagster Pettus / Associated Press:

Republican Praises Protest Hecklers, Including 1 Who Made Monkey Noises At Black Woman — A clip from the University of Mississippi shows a white counter-protester making the noises and gestures amid students' pro-Palestinian protest on campus. — LOADING

Discussion: Twitchy, The Daily Mississippian, Raw Story, MeidasTouch and The Daily Beast

Cameron Manley / Business Insider:

Congressman appears to praise University of Mississippi students, including one making monkey gestures, who taunted a lone Black Gaza protester — Rep. Mike Collins appeared to praise University of Mississippi students for racist chants. — A video on X showed students engaging in racial taunts towards a Black war protester.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Times, TMZ.com, New Republic and Raw Story

Charles Homans / New York Times:

Politics Without Trump? His Youngest Fans Barely Remember It. — Democrats call Donald J. Trump dangerous. Republicans see him as revolutionary. For young Trump voters, he is just normal. — When Donald J. Trump held a rally in Rome, Ga., in March, his audience included …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo and Raw Story

Zachary Basu / Axios:

Winning the super-haters — President Biden and former President Trump are in hot pursuit of a big — and possibly determinative — group of voters who loathe both men. … - That makes 2024 more similar to 2016 — when exit polls showed 18% of voters disliked both Trump and Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

The Markup:

How Do I Prepare My Phone for a Protest? (Updated 2024) — Simple steps to take before hitting the streets — This article is an updated version of The Markup's original article on how to prepare your phone for a protest, published in 2020. — Gaza solidarity encampments have appeared …

Associated Press:

Senior UN official says northern Gaza is now in ‘full-blown famine’ — WASHINGTON — A top U.N. official said Friday that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine” after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Al Jazeera, NBC News, The Hill, Associated Press, Reuters, Al-Monitor and Twitchy

Emily Anderson Stern / Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah trolled with 4,000 hoax reports of trans bathroom ban violations within days of reporting form launch — HB257, which took full effect Wednesday, requires the Utah auditor's office to receive and investigate complaints when government entities don't comply with the law.

Discussion: 404 Media

Christina A. Cassidy / Associated Press:

A group of Republicans has united to defend the legitimacy of US elections and those who run them — It was Election Day last November, and one of Georgia's top election officials saw that reports of a voting machine problem in an eastern Pennsylvania county were gaining traction online.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA

Filip Timotija / The Hill:

Crenshaw becomes latest Republican to hit Greene over Johnson ouster plan — Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) became the latest Republican to hit Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over her plan to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). — “She needs her time in the spotlight, you know …

Discussion: Mediaite and Washington Examiner

Wall Street Journal:

Activist Groups Trained Students for Months Before Campus Protests — Left-wing groups and veteran demonstrators provided guidance and support before rise of pro-Palestinian encampments

Discussion: Breitbart, The Times of Israel and The Daily Caller

emptywheel:

The Cuellar Indictment: DOJ Moves to Make 219 FARA a Thing — DOJ indicted Henry Cuellar and his spouse Imelda last Monday on charges that they laundered almost $600K in bribes through sham consulting contracts to Imelda in return for policies favorable to a state-owned Azerbaijani oil company and a Mexican bank.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Rolling Stone and US Department of Justice

New York Times:

How Counterprotesters at U.C.L.A. Provoked Violence, Unchecked for Hours — The New York Times used videos filmed by journalists, witnesses and protesters to analyze hours of clashes — and a delayed police response — at a pro-Palestinian encampment on Tuesday.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Althouse, Agence France-Presse, Mediaite and Democracy Now

Madeleine Greenberg / Democracy Docket:

Trump Campaign Files First Election Lawsuit of the Cycle, Targets Nevada Mail-in Voting — WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump campaign is challenging Nevada's mail-in ballot receipt deadline in its first election lawsuit of the year with the help of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Nevada Republican Party.