memeorandum: There's No Clean Way to Replace Biden and Harris (Ed Kilgore/New York Magazine)

3:30 PM ET, July 1, 2024

Top Items:

Nina Totenberg / NPR:

Supreme Court says Trump has absolute immunity for core acts only — The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, ruled that a former president has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers — and is entitled to a presumption of immunity for his official acts, but lacks immunity for unofficial acts.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

4 takeaways from the Supreme Court's Trump immunity decision — The ruling is a win for Trump for a few reasons, and is likely to reverberate in the 2024 campaign and beyond. Here's what it means. — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that former president Donald Trump and other presidents enjoy …

Discussion: Vox, New York Times, Mother Jones, New Republic, Bloomberg, Advocate, Alternet.org, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Washington Examiner and Hartford Courant

Reuters:

US Supreme Court rules Trump has immunity for official, not private acts — The U.S. Supreme Court found on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for official actions taken as president, but can for private acts, in a landmark ruling recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution.

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, New Republic, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The Kyiv Independent, Washington Times, The American Conservative, DNyuz, The Gateway Pundit, Associated Press, Fox News, PoliticusUSA and Reuters

Andrew Solender / Axios:

Democrats vow to get “aggressive” with SCOTUS after Trump ruling … - “Everyone is making that argument with donors” after President Biden's poor debate performance last week, one House Democrat told Axios. — “The only thing more dangerous than Trump winning is Trump with control …

Discussion: The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali and New York Times

Melissa Quinn / CBS News:

Supreme Court says Trump has immunity for official acts in landmark ruling on presidential power — Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that former President Donald Trump is entitled to immunity from federal prosecution for official actions he took while in office …

Washington Post:
Live updates Supreme Court to rule on Trump immunity, social media laws

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
BREAKING: SCOTUS Rules Presidents Have ‘Absolute Immunity’ — For ‘Core’ Official Acts

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, acecomments.mu.nu, CNBC and Althouse

Jacob Knutson / Axios:
What's next for Trump's criminal cases after SCOTUS immunity ruling

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, freebeacon.com, Breitbart, NBC News, The Message Box, ABC News, RedState and Raw Story

Avery Lotz / Axios:
“The president is now a king”: Key lines from Trump immunity ruling

Business Insider:
Sotomayor says the president can now ‘assassinate a political rival’ without facing prosecution

Discussion: Newsbusters, Digby's Hullabaloo, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Associated Press:
What to know about the Supreme Court immunity ruling in Trump's 2020 election interference case

Discussion: NBC News, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Law & Crime, Washington Times, Associated Press, Semafor, Al Jazeera, NewsNation, Washington Post, Blaze Media, Robert Reich and Hackwhackers

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Thomas and Alito took part in the case, despite calls for their recusal.

Discussion: Washington Post and Why Evolution Is True

Sanjana Karanth / HuffPost:
Sonia Sotomayor Voices ‘Fear For Our Democracy’ In Fiery Trump Immunity Dissent

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, NewsNation and Just Security

Fox News:
Trump immunity case: Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have substantial protection from prosecution

Discussion: NOTUS, Politico, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, IJR and Mediaite

Jonathan Martin / Politico:

Whitmer Disavows ‘Draft Gretch’ Movement — and Delivers A Warning to Biden — Democrats' 2028 bench is eager to avoid appearing eager to push Biden aside. — When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer telephoned a senior official with President Biden's campaign on Friday night …

Discussion: HotAir, freebeacon.com, USA Today, Associated Press, The Detroit News, RedState, National Review, New Republic, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, CNN, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Free Press and Mediaite

Bill Maher / New York Times:

Why I Want an Open Convention — Over the past few years, many people have told me I should stop making Biden-is-old jokes because “it just helps Trump” — as if voters wouldn't have noticed his age otherwise. I can't ignore the obvious; none of us can. And I'm not going to mindlessly …

Discussion: IJR, Raw Story and Althouse

Mike Allen / Axios:

Behind the Curtain: Biden's salvation plan … - Dismiss “bedwetting.” … - Squeeze polls for juice. … - Warn of chaos. … - Limit dissent. … - Keep elected leaders close. … - Get the donor class to chill. … - Prove vitality. … - Ignore/engage the media.

emptywheel:

Don't Let a Biden Succession Crisis Create a Succession Crisis — It took no time for the pundits calling for Joe Biden to drop out of the race to reveal their fundamental childishness by asking for someone — Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, JB Pritzker, Josh Shapiro …

Discussion: El País, RedState, The Spectator World and New York Magazine

Ed Kilgore / New York Magazine:

There's No Clean Way to Replace Biden and Harris — Sometimes in politics, a perfectly justified maneuver falls to the wayside because there's no way to execute it. Justified or not, the scheme to replace Joe Biden and Kamala Harris with a wholly new Democratic ticket will fail because no one is in a position to make it happen.

Susan Page / USA Today:
Joe Biden's core Democratic support takes big hit after debate, exclusive poll shows

Discussion: The Hill and DNyuz

Jazz Shaw / HotAir:
Now We Know Who's Really in Charge at the White House

Discussion: New York Post, acecomments.mu.nu, Twitchy, Washington Post, Associated Press, Business Insider and Plain Dealer

New York Times:
The Road to a Crisis: How Democrats Let Biden Glide to Renomination

Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway, The Bulwark and Fox News

NBC News:
Biden's family urges him to ‘keep fighting’ as donors look for alternatives

Discussion: USA Today, New York Times, PJ Media, CNN, RedState, Twitchy, NPR, Washington Times, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and Bloomberg

Maya Yang / The Guardian:
Lindsey Graham warns ‘accountability coming to Biden’ if Trump wins

Discussion: Raw Story, New Republic, FOX8 WGHP, Crooks and Liars, Breitbart, Mediaite and New York Times

Politico:
Playbook: Fear and loathing on Capitol Hill

Discussion: Semafor and NRCC

Zachary Leeman / Mediaite:

AOC to File ‘Articles of Impeachment’ Following Supreme Court Immunity Ruling: ‘Corruption Crisis Beyond Its Control’ — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) announced on Monday she intends to file articles of impeachment following the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Alternet.org, DNyuz, Twitchy and The Political Insider

Oriana González / NOTUS:
Democrats Say the Supreme Court's Immunity Ruling Proves Its Pro-Trump Bias

Discussion: HuffPost, One America News Network, IJR, New York Daily News and PoliticusUSA

ABC News:

Steve Bannon reports to prison for contempt of Congress sentence — Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress. — Steve Bannon, former advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, aattends an event in Detroit, Michigan, June, 15, 2024.

Discussion: New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, IJR, New York Post and Fox News

CNN:
Steve Bannon set to begin 4-month prison sentence for defying congressional subpoena

Discussion: Associated Press, The Daily Beast, CNBC, NBC News, CBS News, The Guardian, New York Times, Axios, USA Today, Deadline, The Federalist, Mediaite, Raw Story, DNyuz, The Post Millennial, Al Jazeera, New York Daily News, Breitbart and Mother Jones

Aurelien Breeden / New York Times:

Five Takeaways From France's Snap Election — It was a big day for the far-right National Rally. Just how big will not be clear until after a second round of voting. — A new week of frenetic campaigning started in France on Monday, a day after the far-right National Rally party dominated …

Bonchie / RedState:

Biden's Handlers Release a New Video, and It's a Five-Alarm Fire Moment — It's only been four days since Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance, and the White House is scrambling to find its feet. Truly, I've never seen anything like this. I understand that there have been past presidents …

Vogue:

First Lady Jill Biden on What's at Stake in 2024 — Editor's Note: The debate on June 27 spurred a discussion about whether President Joe Biden should remain the Democratic nominee. Dr. Jill Biden, the first lady and Vogue's August cover subject, has fiercely defended her husband and stood by him.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HotAir, freebeacon.com, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, RedState, Mediaite, New Jersey Online and Fox News

Alec MacGillis / ProPublica:

Conservatives Go to War — Against Each Other — Over School Vouchers — School choice advocates are intent on expanding the availability of vouchers to fund private education at the expense of public schools, but rural residents of these targeted states are putting up some of the strongest resistance.