memeorandum: Trump Leans Into an Outlaw Image as His Criminal Trial Concludes (New York Times)

1:50 PM ET, May 28, 2024

Top Items:

Dems in full-blown ‘freakout’ over Biden — One adviser to major Democratic donors keeps a running list of reasons Biden could lose. — A pervasive sense of fear has settled in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party over President Joe Biden's reelection prospects …

Discussion: HotAir, The Hill, Washington Free Beacon, CNBC, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, PJ Media, RedState, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, acecomments.mu.nu, New York Post, KSNG-TV, Mediaite, New Jersey Online, IJR and Fox News

Politico:

Trump trial ends, Biden alarm accelerates — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — FULL-BLOWN ‘FREAKOUT’ — Chris Cadelago, Sally Goldenberg and Elena Schneider take the pulse of top Democratic strategists and elected officials and report that …

Discussion: New York Times, Sun-Sentinel and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:

Eyeing Trump, but on the Fence: How Tuned-Out Voters Could Decide 2024 — Politically disengaged Americans are increasingly Trump-curious, but President Biden has a shot at winning some of them back. Reaching them in a changed media environment will be his challenge.

Discussion: Business Insider

Brian Beutler / Off Message:
Biden Beat Trumpflation And The Trump Crime Wave

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
The first Biden-Trump debate of 2024 features new fights between old rivals

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Frank LaRose / Wall Street Journal:

Don't Blame Me for Biden's Ballot Problem — It's my duty as Ohio's chief elections officer to uphold the law. — In Ohio we say that if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes. The same can be said lately of our politics. — The Democratic Party's antics after its failure …

Discussion: Ohio Capital Journal, The Hill, Daily Kos, Washington Examiner and IJR

Patrick Svitek / Washington Post:
DNC prepares to nominate Biden via ‘virtual roll call’ before convention

Discussion: USA Today and Plain Dealer

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

EXCLUSIVE: Florida educators trained to teach students Christian nationalism — Training materials produced by the Florida Department of Education direct middle and high school teachers to indoctrinate students in the tenets of Christian nationalism, a right-wing effort to merge Christian and American identities.

Discussion: 24sight News, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

New York Times:

Live Updates: Defense Urges Jurors Not to Believe ‘Lies’ in Trump's Criminal Trial — Closing arguments have begun in the trial of Donald J. Trump, who faces 34 felony counts in connection with a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election. The jury could have the case by Wednesday.

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Bulwark, Forbes, Axios, CBS News, NBC News, The Mahablog and Political Wire

Hannah Rabinowitz / CNN:

Judge Cannon rejects request for gag order against Donald Trump in classified docs case — Federal Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday rejected special counsel Jack Smith's request for a gag order against Donald Trump in the classified documents case, saying that prosecutors' efforts to confer …

Discussion: New York Times, CBS News, Politico, USA Today, Axios, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Forbes, PoliticusUSA, emptywheel and Raw Story

Harry Davies / The Guardian:

Revealed: Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry — Mossad director Yossi Cohen personally involved in secret plot to pressure Fatou Bensouda to drop Palestine investigation, sources say — The former head of the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency …

Discussion: The Times of Israel, Mediaite, Al Jazeera, The New Arab and Middle East Monitor

Robert Downen / The Texas Tribune:

At Texas GOP convention, Republicans call for spiritual warfare — At the three-day convention, delegates moved the needle further to the right, preaching Christian nationalism and approving rules that would give them unprecedented control of elections. — SAN ANTONIO — From his booth …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and NewsNation

Karen Townsend / HotAir:

Theatre Apologizes for Actor Richard Dreyfuss Exercising His First Amendment Rights — A theatre in Massachusetts apologized for doing an event with actor Richard Dreyfuss on Saturday night. The nattering nabobs on social media are trying to cancel Dreyfuss so The Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts issued an apology.

Discussion: The Guardian, Fox News, CBS News, Page Six, World of Reel, New York Post, The Boston Globe, Mediaite, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Daily News, RedState, Breitbart, Deadline, Variety, The Daily Beast and TMZ.com

New York Times:

Trump Leans Into an Outlaw Image as His Criminal Trial Concludes — Preparing for a potential verdict in Manhattan, the former president has increasingly aligned himself with fellow defendants and people convicted of crimes. — Over the past week, Donald J. Trump rallied alongside …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Slate and Punchbowl News

Brittany Gibson / Politico:

Republicans irked that Herschel Walker is sitting on millions in unspent campaign funds — They say his money could go a long way to help the GOP. — Few are clamoring for Herschel Walker's return to politics since he flamed out in his Georgia Senate bid nearly two years ago.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and IJR

Nidal Al-Mughrabi / Reuters:

Israeli tanks advance into Rafah's centre despite global outcry — Israeli tanks advanced to the centre of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday, witnesses said, three weeks into a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city that has stirred global condemnation for its continued civilian toll.

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Beast, The National, The Guardian, The Times of Israel, New York Post, Middle East Monitor, Semafor, Al-Monitor, Associated Press and New York Times

Dan Nowicki / USA Today:

Biden campaign dispatching two ex-Capitol police officers to Arizona to warn about Trump — Two former police officers who came under attack from a pro-Trump mob in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot are coming to Arizona to warn about the possible political violence that might follow former …