memeorandum: Biden's Black voter troubles are setting off alarm bells (Politico)

5:50 PM ET, May 30, 2024

Top Items:

Bill Pruitt / Slate:

For 20 Years, I Couldn't Say What Donald Trump Did on the Set of The Apprentice. Now I Can. — For 20 years, I couldn't say what I watched the former president do on the set of the show that changed everything. Now I can. — On Jan. 8, 2004, just more than 20 years ago, the first episode of The Apprentice aired.

Amanda Yen / The Daily Beast:

Trump Called ‘Apprentice’ Contestant Kwame Jackson N-Word, Producer Says — HIT RECORD — Bill Pruitt also claims there are tapes to prove it. — At the end of the first season of his reality TV show The Apprentice, Donald Trump's choice of a winner was a matter of black and white.

Discussion: HuffPost, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Daily News and Raw Story

New York Times:

Live Updates: Trump Guilty on All Counts in Hush-Money Case — Donald J. Trump, the former president and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee, was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a case stemming from a payment that silenced a porn star.

Renato Mariotti / New York Times:

How Trump's Team Blew It — The criminal trial of Donald Trump didn't have to end this way. — The prosecution's case had flaws that couldn't be wallpapered over even with weeks of testimony, over 200 exhibits and a polished and persuasive presentation by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, and his team.

Discussion: Reuters, Rolling Stone, CBS News, CNBC and NPR

Erin Doherty / Axios:
TRUMP FOUND GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES

Discussion: USA Today, New Jersey Online, WTTG-TV, Reuters, WHDH-TV, Washington Post, NBC News, Boston Herald, KTSM-TV and WFLA-TV

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:

False right-wing reports about Trump trial jury instructions fuel threats against judge — False reporting and social media commentary about the jury instructions in Trump's hush money trial has spurred calls for the assassination of the judge overseeing the case.

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Media Matters for America, PJ Media, Townhall, Raw Story, Breitbart, CNN, Althouse, Must Read Alaska, Forbes and USA Today

Aysha Bagchi / USA Today:

Why Donald Trump supporters are complaining about jury instructions in his criminal trial — Former President Donald Trump and some of his supporters are complaining that the judge in his hush money criminal trial isn't requiring a unanimous verdict from the jury - but that's not quite right.

Discussion: Townhall, New Republic, Forbes, Raw Story, Breitbart, HotAir, PolitiFact, Law & Crime, KTSM-TV, New York Post, Associated Press, The Daily Caller and The Status Kuo

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:

Biden's problems with younger voters are glaring, poll finds — Younger voters have been a crucial voting bloc for Democrats for decades. — Voters 18-29 years old made up roughly 1 in 6 voters in 2020, and President Biden won them by more than 20 points, according to exit polls.

Discussion: USA Today, Breitbart, Denver Post and Forbes

Marist Poll:

November's Presidential Election May 2024 — NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll — Biden and Trump Locked in Tight Race Nationally...West & Stein, Not RFK, Make Difference in Multi-Candidate Field — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are closely matched …

Discussion: NPR, Fox News, Rolling Stone, The Federalist, KTSM-TV, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, CNN and Digby's Hullabaloo

Bloomberg:
The 2024 Election Won't Be Up To the Same Voters Who Chose Biden

Discussion: Georgia Recorder, New York Magazine and AllSides Balanced

Politico:

Biden secretly gave Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with US weapons — It's a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city. — The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv …

Discussion: Reuters, ABC News, New York Times, Bloomberg, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Metro.co.uk, The i Paper, The Daily Caller, The Kyiv Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Semafor, American Greatness and CNN

Chris Geidner / Law Dork:

Sam Alito believes you — and, perhaps, his colleagues — are stupid — Alito defiantly refused to recuse himself from January 6 or Trump-related cases in a letter sent to members of Congress on Wednesday. — Justice Sam Alito, who is a problem, went even further on Wednesday than I thought …

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Experts Question Alito's Failure to Recuse Himself in Flag Controversy

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Daily News, CLAYTOONZ, Baltimore Sun, Politico, Raw Story, Associated Press and Washington Examiner

Julian Borger / The Guardian:

Two more US officials resign over Biden administration's position on Gaza war — The officials accuse the administration of not telling the truth about Israel's obstruction of aid to Palestinians in Gaza — Two more US officials have resigned over the Gaza war, saying that the Biden administration …

Discussion: Reuters, New Republic, Middle East Monitor and HuffPost

Lindsay Whitehurst / Associated Press:

NRA can sue ex-NY official it says tried to blacklist it after Parkland shooting, Supreme Court says — A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a National Rifle Association lawsuit against a former New York state official over claims she pressured companies to blacklist …

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court rules for NRA in New York government coercion battle

Discussion: Reuters and CBS News

Politico:

Biden's Black voter troubles are setting off alarm bells — The message out of battleground states and focus groups is that the president's problems are real — and he is running out of time to fix them. — Prominent Black officials are warning the Biden campaign that the president's efforts …

Adam Wren / Politico:

Why Trump's team thinks he can survive any verdict — The former president's advisers and allies plan to situate any outcome within the same grievance narrative he's been cultivating for years. — Donald Trump's pollsters have been tracking the impact of his indictments throughout his first trial and …

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
Trump verdict would likely move only a small number of votes, poll finds

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, PoliticusUSA, Emerson Polling, New York Post, Mediaite, The Nation, IJR, The Guardian and PBS NewsHour

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Bystander Shouts ‘You F*cking Suck!’ at Fox News Host Outside Trump Trial — DRIVE BY — Also calling Gowdy a “c*cksucker,” the unidentified New Yorker sped by on a bicycle during a live TV segment about the Trump trial. — A New York bicyclist verbally assailed Fox News host Trey Gowdy …

Discussion: HuffPost, IJR, New Jersey Online, Raw Story, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

GOP mega-donor Miriam Adelson to fund colossal super PAC for Trump — The casino billionaire is planning to back the newly reconstituted Preserve America effort to help the former president. — Republican mega-donor and casino billionaire Miriam Adelson plans to help bankroll a massive super PAC …

Discussion: Fox News, Reuters, Bloomberg.com, The Forward and Axios

John Fritze / CNN:

Chief Justice John Roberts declines to meet with Democratic lawmakers about ethics flap and Alito's flags — Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday rejected a meeting request from Democratic lawmakers who wanted to discuss two provocative flags hoisted at Justice Samuel Alito's properties.

Discussion: Raw Story, Axios, Washington Examiner, NPR, USA Today, CBS News, NBC News, UPI, RedState, Slate, Roll Call, New Republic, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Twitchy, Rolling Stone, Associated Press, Forbes, Breitbart and AllSides Balanced

Michael Dorgan / Fox News:

Vermont Christian parents say they were punished by foster system over transgender stance — Vermont couple say state made them take part in LGBTQ training as part of their license application, which discussed medical procedures for transgender kids — A Christian couple in Vermont …

Discussion: RedState

Ken Silverstein / New Republic:

Off Leash: Inside the Secret, Global, Far-Right Group Chat — In his book In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, Erik Larson cites a cable sent to the State Department in June 1933 by a U.S. diplomat posted in Germany that provided a far …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

Zachary Basu / Axios:

Musk's political power surge — Elon Musk has three essential ingredients to unrivaled political power among CEOs: control of a massive social media platform, astonishing personal wealth — and now former President Trump's open and willing ear. … He has the power to sway or repel voters …

Discussion: USA Today, Forbes, Mock Paper Scissors, The i Paper, New York Times, IJR, HuffPost, Reuters, Gizmodo and The Guardian

Axios:

Free IRS online tax filing program coming soon to all states … - Treasury announced earlier this month that more than 140,000 people participated in the Direct File pilot program in a dozen states claiming more than $90 million in refunds. — The pilot exceeded its 100,000-person target during this past tax season.

Discussion: Internal Revenue Service, Washington Examiner, GovExec.com, Washington Post, HuffPost, Business Insider, Wisconsin Examiner, WXIA-TV, Orlando Sentinel and AllSides Balanced

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:

Man who made 12,000 harassing phone calls to Congress admits threatening staffer — “I will kill you, I am going to run you over, I will kill you with a bomb or grenade,” Ade Salim Lilly admitted telling one congressional staffer. — WASHINGTON — A 35-year-old Queens man pleaded guilty …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Washington Post

CNN:

Trump has touted potential VP picks for months. He may end up picking someone off the public's radar — In recent weeks, an increasingly familiar list of Republicans has dominated the not-very-subtle competition to become Donald Trump's running mate. Trump himself has added to the air …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

NBC News:

Sen. Bob Menendez has enough signatures to run as an independent despite his bribery trial — The longtime New Jersey Democrat, who has been weighing an independent re-election bid, hopes to gather a large number of signatures as a “statement” of continued support.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Roll Call, New York Post, The Guardian, Associated Press and New Jersey Globe

Amanda Milkovits / The Boston Globe:

R.I. neo-Nazi member accused of possessing child pornography — Stephen Farrea, of Portsmouth, is part of the Nationalist Social Club-131, which targets drag queen story hours — PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — A local member of a New England-based neo-Nazi group known for disrupting children's …

Discussion: Raw Story