memeorandum: Meet RAGA—One of the Scariest GOP Groups You've Never Heard Of (Elie Mystal/The Nation)

10:20 PM ET, May 13, 2024

Top Items:

Trump Leads in 5 Key States, as Young and Nonwhite Voters Express Discontent With Biden — A new set of Times/Siena polls, including one with The Philadelphia Inquirer, reveal an erosion of support for the president among young and nonwhite voters upset about the economy and Gaza.

Financial Times:

FT-Michigan Ross poll: Biden's election hopes fall as prices rise again — Persistent inflation means American voters do not see evidence of an improving economy — The recent uptick in US inflation appears to have reversed any progress President Joe Biden has made in convincing voters …

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Examiner and Bloomberg

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
No, Your Pet Issue Is Not Making Biden Lose

Discussion: Mediaite, HuffPost and The Hill

Michael Tomasky / New Republic:
How on Earth Is Donald Trump Getting Credit for Joe Biden's Economy?

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

New York Times:

In His First Day of Testimony, Cohen Testifies Trump Authorized Hush-Money Payment — During nearly six hours on the stand Monday, Michael D. Cohen testified that Donald J. Trump urged him to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels late in the 2016 campaign and approved the plan to repay him.

Associated Press:

Star witness Michael Cohen says Trump was intimately involved in all aspects of hush money scheme — Jury hears secret Michael Cohen recording of conversation with Trump over hush money payments — Michael Cohen implicates Trump in hush money case — Donald Trump was intimately involved …

Discussion: USA Today, Business Insider, CNN, New York Daily News, The Guardian, NBC News, Associated Press, Iowa Capital Dispatch, National Review, Axios, CNBC, WAGA-TV, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Slate, NPR, New York Post, abc7NY and New Republic

Natalie Allison / Politico:
With eyes shut, Trump endures testimony from his nemesis

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and Fox News

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:

Attack a Democrat Charged With Corruption? Republicans Wouldn't Dare. — Earlier this month, federal prosecutors bestowed on Republicans what seemed like an election-year gift: charging a senior House Democrat in a competitive district with accepting $600,000 in bribes and acting as a foreign agent.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Elie Mystal / The Nation:
Meet RAGA—One of the Scariest GOP Groups You've Never Heard Of

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:
State Republican parties are going rogue

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Trump is gagged. So his surrogates say the forbidden stuff for him. — Three GOP senators have appeared with Trump in court and conveniently proceeded to say precisely what he can't. — Donald Trump's mouth and keyboard fingers have been relatively disciplined — by his own standards …

Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors

Heather Digby Parton / Salon:

Republicans ready for a Trump loss — This time, Trump has the GOP bought in earlier on his Big Lie — What happens if he loses? — The mainstream press has finally turned its focus to what a second Donald Trump administration will look like should he win the White House in 2024.

Discussion: Above the Law, Raw Story and HuffPost

Ari Natter / Bloomberg:

Biden Signs Ban on Imports of Russian Nuclear Reactor Fuel — Russian supplies of enriched uranium to be barred in 90 days — Move could boost costs for US nuclear plants, risk retaliation — President Joe Biden on Monday signed legislation banning the import of Russian enriched uranium …

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, Reuters and The Guardian

Raleigh News & Observer:

UNC-Chapel Hill trustees move to divert DEI funds to police and public safety — The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted to divert millions of dollars spent on diversity, equity and inclusion programs into public safety instead, ahead of an expected policy change statewide to restrict DEI.

Discussion: WUNC, USA Today, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Gateway Pundit, One America News Network, RedState, Twitchy and Ordinary Times

Sareen Habeshian / Axios:

Louisiana bill would place abortion pills on same list as opiates … - Abortion, both via medication and surgery, is already completely banned in the state with very limited exceptions, per the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Federalist, Fox News and Issues in Law & Medicine

Emily Wax-Thibodeaux / Washington Post:
Louisiana moves to make abortion pills ‘controlled dangerous substances’

Discussion: Bloomberg, Mock Paper Scissors, Pluribus News, Crooks and Liars and Raw Story

Brad Plumer / New York Times:

New Rules to Overhaul Electric Grids Could Boost Wind and Solar Power — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the biggest changes in more than a decade to the way U.S. power lines are planned and funded. — Federal regulators on Monday approved sweeping changes …

Discussion: Federal Energy Regulatory …, Canary Media, Heatmap News, Washington Examiner and Courthouse News Service

Ari Blaff / National Post:

United Nations halves estimate of women and children killed in Gaza — Without any announcement, the United Nations (UN) significantly lowers its previously stated casualty list in the Gaza Strip — The United Nations has significantly adjusted Palestinian casualty figures for the ongoing war …

Discussion: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Why Evolution Is True, HotAir, Twitchy, USA Today, RedState, Breitbart, Council on Foreign Relations and Power Line

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

Melania Came Up With Trump's ‘Locker Room Talk’ Excuse, Michael Cohen Says — BY HIS SIDE — The former Trump fixer dropped the surprising revelation as an aside while testifying Monday in his former boss' hush-money trial. — Among the weirdest revelations at Donald Trump's ongoing criminal trial …

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, Salon, Raw Story, New York Daily News, NBC News, MSNBC, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Fox News, HuffPost, The Guardian and Kennebec Journal …

Rolling Stone:

Progressives Prep $10 Million Campaign to Expose ‘MAGA Supreme Court’ — Many voters don't blame Donald Trump or Republicans for the Supreme Court's increasingly right-wing decisions. This coalition wants to change that — UNITED FOR DEMOCRACY, a coalition of progressive groups and labor unions …

Discussion: Raw Story

Julianne McShane / Mother Jones:

Trump Wants to Deport Pro-Palestine Protesters—and GOP Lawmakers Are Filing Bills to Make It Happen — Republicans continue their push to punish dissent. — At a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey on Saturday, former President Donald Trump made many questionable comments.

Gary Fineout / Politico:

DeSantis says his wife Casey has ‘zero’ interest in running for office — He acknowledged that some people had suggested that she consider running. — TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday knocked down speculation that his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, would run to succeed him in 2026.

Discussion: Florida Politics

NPR:

They're called perennials: You plant them once and they come back after each winter if they're given the right environment to survive. Think things like trees, shrubs and woody plants. — And for predicting winter plant survival, knowing an area's hardiness zone is a big help to gardeners …

CBS News:

Harris drops “F-bomb” while encouraging Asian Americans to break down barriers — Vice President Kamala Harris let a profanity slip Monday as she emphasized the importance of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders breaking through the barriers they face.

Discussion: Metro.co.uk, Breitbart, Washington Times, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, New York Post, The Guardian, Deadline, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and IJR

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

The biggest flaw in Justice Clarence Thomas' newest complaints — Justice Clarence Thomas wants the public to believe the serious accusations he's faced are “lies.” He's going to have to be far more specific. — As a matter of jurisprudence, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reason to be pleased.

Discussion: Washington Times and Raw Story

Chris Geidner / Law Dork: Justice Thomas has used this “hideous place” to amass the power he now exploits

New York Times:

Cross-Tabs: May 2024 Times/Siena Poll of the Presidential Battlegrounds — Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in five of six states polled by The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College from April 28 to May 9, 2024. — View toplines for the full set of polls and cross-tabs for: all registered voters |