memeorandum: 'Who's the Black guy?': Evangelicals want Trump to pick an anti-abortion running mate. They care less who it is. (Politico)

10:20 AM ET, June 13, 2024

Top Items:

Playbook: What Trump wants from Capitol Hill — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — THE $46 BILLION MAN — “Elon Musk Says Vote on His Pay Winning by ‘Wide Margins,’” by WSJ's Christina Rogers and David Benoit

Discussion: Rolling Stone and DNyuz

Nnamdi Egwuonwu / NBC News:

DNC to tail Trump with mobile billboard of Jan. 6 attack during visit to Capitol Hill — Democrats are highlighting the riot, which took place after a Trump speech to supporters near the White House, as he returns to meet with lawmakers. — When Donald Trump visits Washington on Thursday …

Discussion: Axios, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, Associated Press, IJR and Vanity Fair

New York Times:
Trump Returns to Washington With Renewed Grip on the G.O.P.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, ABC News, NBC News, USA Today, NewsNation, KTVZ-TV and Fox News

Burgess Everett / Politico:
'He's earned the nomination': McConnell stands by Trump endorsement as Hill visit looms

Discussion: New Republic

Aaron Rupar / Public Notice:

Public Notice's Sinclair report makes national headlines — From Morning Joe to the HuffPost, it's been a big week for the newsletter. — As part of a collaboration with Judd Legum of Popular Information, earlier this week I published a report on Sinclair's right-wing media empire …

Discussion: Popular Information, Mediaite, HuffPost and Digby's Hullabaloo

Brian Klaas / The Atlantic:

Trump Rants About Sharks, and Everyone Just Pretends It's Normal — Hours before meeting with his probation officer about his recent felony convictions, a leading candidate for U.S. president went on a bizarre rant about sharks. — Sharks, Donald Trump claimed, were attacking more frequently than usual …

Discussion: The Nation, Slate, New York Times and Raw Story

Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:

Let's Talk About Trump's Gibberish — Perhaps the greatest trick Donald Trump ever pulled was convincing millions of people—and the American media—to treat his lapses into fantasies and gibberish as a normal, meaningful form of oratory. But Trump is not a normal person, and his speeches are not normal political events.

Discussion: Raw Story

Matt Dixon / NBC News:

Republican National Committee prepares for a convention Trump may not attend — Republican officials are working to ensure that Trump will be able to address convention attendees from afar if he chooses to do so — or if he is forced to because of his legal troubles.

Washington Post:

Here's what the Christian right wants from a second Trump term — Religious conservatives see opportunities for fresh gains after a series of victories during Trump's first term. Rights advocates see a dangerous blurring of church and state. — Donald Trump's presidency delivered …

Discussion: New York Times

NBC News:
Charlie Kirk once pushed a ‘secular worldview.’ Now he's fighting to make America Christian again.

Discussion: NBC Bay Area

ProPublica:

Microsoft Chose Profit Over Security and Left U.S. Government Vulnerable to Russian Hack, Whistleblower Says — Microsoft hired Andrew Harris for his extraordinary skill in keeping hackers out of the nation's most sensitive computer networks. In 2016, Harris was hard at work on a mystifying incident …

more at Techmeme »

Charles R. Davis / Salon:

“It appears to be a payoff”: Expert says Kushner's Saudi cash an “egregious” national security worry — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden is investigating Saudi support for Jared Kushner's private equity firm — Based on his prior experience and demonstrated abilities …

Discussion: HuffPost, New Republic and Washington Times

Travis Gettys / Raw Story: Jared Kushner's financial ties to Saudi Arabia fall under fresh scrutiny

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Supreme Court rejects bid to restrict access to abortion pill — The court found that anti-abortion doctors who questioned the FDA's easing of access to the pill did not have legal standing to sue. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone …

Discussion: Axios, CBS News, KREM-TV, STAT, Rolling Stone and WHDH-TV

Megan Messerly / Politico:

Why the Southern Baptists' vote opposing IVF could change national politics — The move may signal the beginning of a broad turn on the right against IVF, an issue that many social conservatives see as the “pro-life” movement's next frontier. — INDIANAPOLIS — The Southern Baptist Convention …

Discussion: New York Times, New York Daily News, WKBN-TV, CBS News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, DNyuz, The New Civil Rights Movement, AllSides Balanced and The 19th

Brad Brooks / Reuters:
US Southern Baptists condemn IVF procedure

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Agence France-Presse, Fox News, Associated Press, New York Times, Senator Patty Murray, Blue Virginia, Iowa Capital Dispatch, The Texas Tribune, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone, CBS News and al.com

Rachel Selzer / Democracy Docket:

Wisconsin Supreme Court Lifts New Restrictions on Early Voting Sites Ahead of 2024 Elections — WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court's liberal majority yesterday froze part of a lower court's decision that stood to significantly limit the number of early voting locations municipalities …

Discussion: Associated Press, WisPolitics and Wisconsin Examiner

Phys.org:

Satellite ‘megaconstellations’ may jeopardize recovery of ozone hole — When old satellites fall into Earth's atmosphere and burn up, they leave behind tiny particles of aluminum oxide, which eat away at Earth's protective ozone layer. A new study finds that these oxides …

emptywheel:

Denial and Forgetting at the Hunter Biden Trial — Consider the levels of denial and forgetting that it takes to write this paragraph the week that Hunter Biden, charged by a Trump US Attorney turned Special Counsel using evidence significantly sourced from a laptop handed over by John Paul Mac Isaac, stood trial.

Adrian Horton / The Guardian:

‘The big story of the 21st century’: is this the most shocking documentary of the year? — Six years in the making, jaw-dropping new film The Grab shows a secret scramble by governments and private firms to buy up global resources — In 2013, the US food conglomerate Smithfield Foods …

Politico:

'Who's the Black guy?': Evangelicals want Trump to pick an anti-abortion running mate. They care less who it is. — Trump has evangelical voters locked in. — INDIANAPOLIS — Eight years ago, needing a running mate to vouch for him among skittish evangelicals, Donald Trump turned to Mike Pence …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Washington Examiner

Neal Rothschild / Axios:

Trump's bid to steal the youth … - The latest New York Times/Siena polling of likely voters has President Biden with just a 2-point lead over Trump. … - By contrast, CNN exit polling showed that Biden won the 18-29-year-old vote by 24 percentage points in 2020, and that Hillary Clinton won it by 19 points in 2016.

Discussion: nationalinterest.org, DNyuz, Vox, Forbes and Washington Times

Edith Olmsted / New Republic:

Mike Johnson Weaponizes Government in Fight Against Biden — House Speaker Mike Johnson has a tendency to think that when things go bad for his party, it's the product of gross legislative mismanagement, judicial weaponization, and a vast executive conspiracy.

Discussion: Raw Story, Plain Dealer, American Greatness and Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Farnoush Amiri / Associated Press:
House votes to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for withholding Biden audio

Gallup:

Record Share of U.S. Electorate Is Pro-Choice and Voting on It — Democrats continue to rally around abortion rights since Dobbs verdict — WASHINGTON, D.C. — A record-high 32% of U.S. voters say they would only vote for a candidate for major office who shares their views on abortion.

Discussion: Axios, The Hill and Boston Herald

Stepheny Price / Fox News:

Congressional Baseball Game descends into chaos after protesters storm field — Eight people were arrested after storming the field at Nationals Park during the annual Congressional Baseball Game — Several arrests were made at the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity Wednesday night …

Discussion: CBS News, ABC News, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, BizPac Review, Roll Call, UPI, Washington Examiner, Axios, NBC News, RedState, New York Post, DNyuz, WKBN-TV, Deadline, Tennessee Star and Washingtonian

Sean Murphy / Associated Press:

Oklahoma Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit of last Tulsa Race Massacre survivors seeking reparations — The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit by survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dampening the hope of advocates for racial justice that the city would make financial amends …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, 2 News Oklahoma KJRH Tulsa, CNN, HotAir, Breaking News …, New York Times, Fox News, New Republic, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Associated Press and Washington Post

House Committee on the Judiciary:

Hearing on the Manhattan District Attorney's Office — Location: — 2141 Rayburn House Office Building — Video — WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, June 13, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. ET to examine Alvin Bragg's political prosecution of President Trump.

Discussion: RedState, IJR, Fox News and DNyuz

Sami Edge / Oregonian:

Neil Goldschmidt, Oregon former governor who sexually abused young girl, dies at 83 — Neil Goldschmidt, the Oregon governor and Portland mayor credited with turning a frumpish city into a thriving metropolis only to see his record forever stained by revelations that he had sexually abused a young teen girl …

Discussion: Willamette Week, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, KTVZ-TV and KOIN-TV

WDEL 101.7FM:

Eugene Young withdraws from US House race — Nearly one year after beginning his campaign, Eugene Young is stepping out of the race for Delaware's seat in the U.S. House. — The former Delaware State Housing Authority Director has suspended his campaign for the Democratic nomination.

Discussion: Daily Kos