memeorandum: How America Can Still Come Together (Nancy Gibbs/TIME)

3:45 PM ET, July 18, 2024

Top Items:

Obama tells allies Biden needs to seriously consider his viability — The former president, hugely influential in the party, has told associates that Biden's path to victory has significantly shrunk. — Former president Barack Obama has told allies in recent days that President Biden's path …

Axios:

Behind the Curtain: Top Dems now believe Biden will exit … - The president is being told that if he stays in, former President Trump could win in a landslide and wipe away Biden's legacy and Democrats' hopes in November. … - Democrats fully expect polls after the Republican National Convention …

NBC News:

'We're close to the end': Biden world braces for the possibility that the president steps aside — As Trump is about to give a major speech accepting the GOP nomination for president, Biden is off the campaign trail with COVID. — WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden's political world is collapsing.

Discussion: Reuters, The Atlantic, Mediaite, Daily Caller News Foundation, Politico, Washington Post and USA Today

CNN:

Pelosi privately told Biden polls show he cannot win and will take down the House; Biden responded with defensiveness — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told President Joe Biden in a recent conversation that polling shows that the president cannot defeat Donald Trump and that Biden …

Discussion: CNBC, NOTUS, Fox News, Salon, New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, The Bulwark, Truthout, The Daily Beast, New Republic, Raw Story, Reason, Washington Examiner, HotAir, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Mediaite, Twitchy, IJR, RedState, Business Insider, OutsideTheBeltway, Axios, HuffPost, The Guardian and The National Pulse

Matthew Yglesias / Slow Boring:

The VP is clearly the stronger candidate — The case for Kamala Harris, from a former hater — I did not support selecting Kamala Harris as Joe Biden's running mate in 2020. — My reasons for this were pretty boring. It's genuinely difficult to make it to the top of the political pyramid …

Discussion: Althouse

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:

The End of Biden's Candidacy Approaches — At the start of the day yesterday, it was conceivable that Joe Biden might manage to hold on to the Democratic nomination for president. But this morning, things seem to be slipping out of his grasp. — The blows to Biden were both procedural and political …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Politico, New York Post, Just Security, Breitbart, Fox Business, Semafor and Roll Call

Politico:

Biden allies retaliated against a Dem who called for him to step aside — The decision to remove battleground Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten from a coordinated campaign was reversed after POLITICO contacted the Biden campaign. — Democrats in Michigan cut off a vulnerable House Democrat …

Discussion: New York Post and Mediaite

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:

Democratic delegates erupt over Biden's nomination in private chats — Messages shared between Democratic delegates and activists in California, the biggest and one of the bluest states, lay bare the infighting over their nominee's fitness for a presidential run.

Discussion: freebeacon.com, Raw Story, Fox News and Washington Examiner

Emily Crane / New York Post:
Biden now being ‘receptive’ about possibility of giving up 2024 re-election campaign: new report

Discussion: HotAir, Fox News, Forbes, CNN, Al Jazeera, Florida Politics and The Japan Times

Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
July 2024 Swing State Polls

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HotAir, RedState, The Hill and Political Wire

Politico:
Playbook: The walls close in around Biden

Discussion: Slate, Washington Times, Power Line, Diane Ravitch's blog, Mediaite, The Times of Israel, The Spectator World, Semafor and NC Newsline

Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
Virginia 2024 Poll: Trump 45%, Biden 43%

Discussion: Sabato's Crystal Ball, Washington Times, Breitbart, The Dispatch, New York Post, Washington Examiner and WAVY.com

CNN:
Biden is trying to salvage his campaign. Democrats say things are only getting worse

Discussion: Magnolia Tribune, Florida Politics, HuffPost, HotAir, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post and CBS News

Jonathan Karl / ABC News:
Schumer privately urged Biden to step aside in 2024 election: Sources

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Scripps News, Punchbowl News, The Hill, Axios, New York Post, Big League Politics, Politico, NBC4 WCMH-TV, Raw Story, Business Insider, IJR, New Jersey Online, USA Today, CBS News and So What

Rachael Bade / Politico:
Pelosi told Biden: You're dragging down Democrats

Discussion: freebeacon.com, E&E News, News18, Magnolia Tribune, Raw Story, The Daily Beast and Bloomberg

Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
Schumer, Jeffries, Pelosi Reportedly Warn Biden Against Running

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

America will never be the same after Milwaukee's tent revival for the cult of Donald Trump — MILWAUKEE — I came to the American Heartland to cover a political convention, but all I found was a tent revival, Brother Trump's Traveling Salvation Show.The Republican National Convention took …

Discussion: WisPolitics

Robert McCoy / New Republic:
MAGA Enters Racist Meltdown Mode Over J.D. Vance's Wife

Discussion: News18, Let's Address …, Right Wing Watch and Newsweek

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
J.D. Vance's radical plan to build a government of Trump loyalists

Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway, Robert Reich, HuffPost, USA Today, New York Times and DNyuz

Stef W. Kight / Axios: The GOP's big, mysterious enemy: “They”

Wired:

J.D. Vance Left His Venmo Public. Here's What It Shows — The Republican VP nominee's Venmo network reveals connections ranging from the architects of Project 2025 to enemies of Donald Trump—and the populist's close ties to the very elites he rails against.

Discussion: New Republic

Emma Colton / Fox News:

Blackburn slams Secret Service chief for ‘celebrating herself’ at RNC after Trump assassination attempt — 'Cheatle can run, but she can't hide,' Sen Marsha Blackburn says — MILWAUKEE — Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn doubled down on her demand for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle …

Discussion: One America News Network, USA Today, The National Pulse, TMZ.com, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, Washington Times, The Daily Signal, Raw Story, Forbes, New York Times, HuffPost, New York Post, Washington Examiner and The Gateway Pundit

CBS News:
U.S. Secret Service director agrees to testify to House lawmakers after Trump assassination attempt

Discussion: New Republic, Politico, Fox News, The Federalist, Wall Street Journal, Townhall, Reuters, Washington Times, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, The Sun, DNyuz and Scripps News

Max Matza / BBC:
Trump gunman seen as threat before attack but was lost in crowd

Discussion: CBS News, One America News Network, New York Times, Metro.co.uk, San Diego Union-Tribune, IJR, Breitbart and News18

ABC News:
Secret Service spotted Trump rally shooter on roof 20 minutes before gunfire erupted

Jacob Knutson / Axios:

Biden administration cancels another $1.2B in student debt … - PSLF allows public employees, such as teachers, firefighters, members of law enforcement, and people who work for nonprofit organizations, to apply for forgiveness after making 10 years' worth of payments on their federal student loan balance.

Discussion: ED News, KGW-TV, Plain Dealer and IJR

The White House:
Statement from President Joe Biden on $1.2 Billion in Student Debt Cancellation for 35,000 Borrowers

Discussion: freebeacon.com, NPR and UPI

Akayla Gardner / Bloomberg:
Biden Forgives $1.2 Billion in Student Loans in Latest Relief

Discussion: News18, Business Insider, abc7NY, DNyuz, Forbes, Fox Business, CNBC and CBS News

Associated Press:

Housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children engaged in sexual abuse and harassment, DOJ says — The largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children has engaged in the “severe, pervasive, and unwelcome” sexual abuse and harassment of children in its care, the Justice Department alleged Thursday.

The White House:

Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre — Earlier today following his first event in Las Vegas, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms. He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate …

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Jamie Raskin, a Key Democrat, Urged Biden to Reconsider Campaign — Mr. Raskin, a congressman from Maryland, was a key member of the panel that investigated the Capitol riot. In a lengthy letter, he compared President Biden to a tiring baseball pitcher. — Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Damien Gayle / The Guardian:

Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25 — Campaigners receive longest ever sentences for non-violent protest after being convicted of conspiracy to cause public nuisance — Five supporters of the Just Stop Oil climate campaign who conspired …

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Sun and Metro.co.uk

Lisa Needham / Public Notice:

Project 2025 *is* the GOP platform — Don't let them fool you. … Project 2025 — the right-wing template for a second Trump term — is so exhaustively evil, so vast in scope, that it feels impossible to fully comprehend it. — However, as the GOP faithful gather in Milwaukee …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and The Confluence

Victor Goury-Laffont / Politico:

Macron wins shock vote to keep coalition hopes alive — Pro-Macron and center-right lawmakers successfully pulled their votes together to stop the left from grabbing control of the National Assembly. — PARIS — Emmanuel Macron's party formed a last-minute agreement with right-leaning lawmakers …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Reuters, Associated Press, New York Times and DNyuz

Megan Messerly / Politico:

Trump brags about ending Roe. No one's talking about it in Milwaukee. — Heading into the final day of the Republican Party's first national gathering since the Supreme Court's landmark decision, the issue has barely received a passing mention. — MILWAUKEE — Overturning Roe …

Discussion: Washington Examiner