memeorandum: Let's talk about free speech after Pavel Durov's indictment (Megan McArdle/Washington Post)

3:25 PM ET, August 30, 2024

Top Items:

Playbook: What we learned from the Harris interview — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — TALK OF THIS TOWN — “Trump's Latest Move to Avoid Abortion Is His Strangest One Yet,” by Michael Schaffer: “Though Republican lawmakers spent years targeting abortion …

Discussion: NPR, CNN, Newsbusters, The Hill, OutsideTheBeltway and Fox News

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

In a test of character, Trump shows his true grift — In his disorientation, the GOP nominee and former president retreats to his instincts. — The New York Times ran a fine specimen of unintentional comedy this week: an essay by conservative writer Rich Lowry titled “Trump Can Win on Character.”

emptywheel:

Michael Shear and Reid Epstein Feign Stupidity about Trump's Decade-Long Pitch for Authoritarianism — Here's what the NYT digital front page looks like for me this morning. — It features Kamala Harris' rather unremarkable interview with CNN (part one, part two, part three) …

Discussion: CNN and The Root

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

7 Takeaways From Harris's First Major Interview — Kamala Harris showed her tendency toward winding answers in the CNN interview, but said nothing likely to cause her serious political trouble. — The main reason CNN's interview with Vice President Kamala Harris turned out to be remarkable …

Discussion: HotAir, CNN, Fox News, The Federalist, New York Post, The Guardian, Louder With Crowder, spiked, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Daily Beast, The Spectator World, DNyuz, CBS News, TMZ.com, Business Insider, IJR, The Japan Times and ComingSoon.net

Washington Post:
Harris says she will put a Republican in her Cabinet if elected

Discussion: The Hill, The Spectator World, Bangor Daily News, Rolling Stone, Axios, USA Today, Business Insider, DNyuz, IJR, New York Times, The Daily Beast, CNBC, Scripps News, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, The Japan Times, UPI, Forbes, NBC News and HuffPost

New York Times:
Donors Quietly Push Harris to Drop Tax on Ultrawealthy

Discussion: freebeacon.com, KUSA-TV, Forbes, Common Dreams, The Daily Caller, PJ Media, Bangor Daily News, Raw Story and DNyuz

CNN:
Takeaways from CNN's interview with Harris and Walz

CNN:
READ: Harris and Walz's exclusive joint interview with CNN

Michael Powell / The Atlantic:

Why Trump's Arlington Debacle Is So Serious — This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. — The section of Arlington National Cemetery that Donald Trump visited on Monday is both the liveliest and the most achingly sad part of the grand military graveyard …

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story, DNyuz and Alternet.org

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic:

Team Trump Makes Arlington Cemetery Fight Way Worse With Army Insult … Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita has decided to take the team on a death spiral against America's military, calling the office of the Army secretary a bunch of “hacks.” — “Reposting this hoping to trigger the hacks at @SecArmy …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, CBS News, The Wrap, Alternet.org, Raw Story, Voice of America, New Jersey Online, ABC News, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, IJR, The Daily Beast, PoliticusUSA, Military Times and Politico

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:

August 29, 2024 — And now the U.S. Army has weighed in on the scandal surrounding Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery for a campaign photo op, after which his team shared a campaign video it had filmed. The Army said that the cemetery hosts almost 3,000 public wreath-laying ceremonies …

Kevin Carroll / The Guardian:
The Trump campaign's conduct at Arlington is shocking but not surprising

Discussion: Washington Post, Lucian Truscott Newsletter, Diane Ravitch's blog and Raw Story

Andrew Solender / Axios:
Dems press Arlington cemetery for Trump incident report

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The Bulwark, Washington Examiner, New York Daily News, HuffPost and CBS News

Stephen Robinson / Public Notice:

What's wrong with the fact-checkers? — The DNC put the bankruptcy of the genre on full, painful display. — 🚨 This special, five-edition week of PN is made possible by paid subscribers 🚨 If you aren't one already, please sign up to support our independent journalism.

Myra Adams / The Hill:

If Trump loses, expect a Republican civil war — Vice President Kamala Harris has one extraordinary campaign advantage — she is neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump. — Before President Biden dropped his reelection bid on July 21, voters were unenthusiastic about a rematch between these two men, both born before the television age.

Adam Wren / Politico:
MAGA faithful blow off polls in Michigan, insist 'Trump's got it made.'

Discussion: Raw Story

ABC News:

Trump adds new campaign pledge to get IVF paid for by government or covered by insurance — Trump said he and his team have been exploring ways to help those wanting IVF. — Former President Donald Trump introduced a new campaign platform on Thursday aimed at helping Americans with the cost of IVF.

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Trump in damage-control mode over abortion backlash from the right

Discussion: USA Today and Florida Politics

Dan Pfeiffer / The Message Box:
Pushing Back on Trump's Latest Lies About IVF

Matt Margolis / PJ Media:

Kamala's First ‘Interview’ Was the Dumpster Fire You Expected It Would Be — Did you catch Kamala Harris's first “interview” as the Democratic Party nominee for president? It was pretty much everything you'd expect from an interview conducted by CNN. Lots of softball questions, lots of word salad responses.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Times, RedState, Jacobin, Mediaite, HotAir, acecomments.mu.nu and Townhall

David Moye / HuffPost:
Kamala Harris Has Snappy Answer To CNN's Trump-Inspired Question

David Ingram / NBC News:

Elon Musk says voting by mail is ‘insane’ — but he has done it himself, records show — The tech billionaire voted by mail twice in California, years before he began attacking the option for others. — Elon Musk has attacked voting by mail as an “insane” idea that encourages election fraud …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Barbed Wire and WFIN Local News

David Sharp / Associated Press:
Postmaster general is confident about ability to process mail-in ballots

Discussion: DNyuz and The Hill

Robert Reich / The Guardian:

Elon Musk is out of control. Here is how to rein him in — He may be the richest man in the world - but that doesn't mean we're powerless to stop him — Elon Musk is rapidly transforming his enormous wealth - he's the richest person in the world - into a huge source …

David Moye / HuffPost:

JD Vance Won't Apologize To Miss Teen USA Contestant He Insulted To Mock Kamala Harris — The Ohio Senator used a 2007 video of Caitlin Upton struggling to answer a question to mock the vice president, not knowing Upton considered suicide after it first went viral. — LOADING

Discussion: Vanity Fair, RedState, Deadline, Mediaite, DNyuz, Hollywood Life, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Wrap and Raw Story

Claire Heddles / NOTUS:

The Not-So-Secret Campaign for ‘Secret’ Democrats — Kamala Harris' rally in Savannah, Georgia, was the first time a general election presidential candidate had campaigned in the city since the 1990s. Democratic operatives say it was a signal: Winning Georgia isn't only about Atlanta this time.

Discussion: Robert Reich and NBC News

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:

‘The behavior is grotesque’: MSNBC host pummels Trump World over war with cemetery — On Friday morning, MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-host Willie Geist took aim at Donald Trump and his campaign officials for their continuing attacks on officials at Arlington National Cemetery following the fracas …

Discussion: Alternet.org

Alicia Wallace / CNN:

The Fed's preferred inflation gauge did better than expected last month — The Federal Reserve's go-to inflation gauge held at 2.5% in July, Commerce Department data showed Friday. That's better than anticipated and shows progress — but still underscores the bumpy process for inflation's descent.