memeorandum: Trump pledges to jail opponents, baselessly suggests election will be stolen from him (Washington Post)

7:30 PM ET, September 8, 2024

Top Items:

The mistakes of 2019 could cost Harris the election — Voters think she's too far to the left — but there's plenty of room to define Trump as radical. — For the second time this weekend, I'm upending previously laid plans to cover a more time-sensitive story: the New York Times/Siena College poll that came out this morning.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, RedState, Fox News, Breitbart, Twitchy and Tennessee Star

New York Times:

Trump and Harris Neck and Neck After Summer Upheaval, Times/Siena Poll Finds — The survey finds that Donald J. Trump is retaining his support and that, on the eve of the debate, voters are unsure they know enough about where Kamala Harris stands. — Former President Donald J. Trump …

Discussion: Fox News, Forbes, The Daily Beast, To the Contrary, The i Paper, The Post Millennial, The Hill, Townhall, Washington Examiner, Politico and Althouse

CBS News:

Harris v. Trump CBS News poll finds Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin race tight ahead of debate — In Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — all tight races — we see the larger contours of the entire presidential contest ahead of the first Harris-Trump debate. — What makes these states close?

Discussion: The Hill, Forbes, Washington Examiner and PoliticusUSA

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Harris falling behind among male voters in key states — New polls show Vice President Harris has a major challenge in winning over male voters and is losing men by a bigger margin than she's winning women in key states such as Pennsylvania, Nevada and North Carolina.

Discussion: Business Insider and Townhall

Emell Derra Adolphus / The Daily Beast:
Donald Trump's Camp Is Literally Praying He Won't Blow Prez Debate

Discussion: Raw Story and Politico

Washington Post:
Election 2024 latest news Trump, Harris neck and neck in latest polls

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, israelhayom.com, Twitchy, Fox News, Bloomberg, ABC News and Los Angeles Times

Marc Levy / Associated Press:
Pennsylvania is key as Harris and Trump prep for their Philly showdown

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Hartford Courant

R.V. / New York Times:
Toplines: September 2024 Times/Siena Poll of Registered Voters Nationwide

Discussion: New York Post and Mediaite

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Trump's real Project 2025 was written for him in Moscow by Vladimir Putin's men — Unless you work on the politics desk of the New York Times or Washington Post, it's getting harder and harder not to notice the increasingly incoherent yet also dangerously unhinged nature …

Discussion: Washington Post

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:

September 7, 2024 — By rights, tonight's post should be a picture, but Trump's behavior today merits a marker because it feels like a dramatic escalation of the themes we've seen for years. Please feel free to ignore—as I often say, I am trying to leave notes for a graduate student in 150 years …

Washington Post:
Trump dismisses new warnings of Russian interference in election

Discussion: Business Insider, Crooks and Liars and Politico

Richard Hine / Unprecedented: Putin and Rasputin — Old conventional wisdom: “When fascism comes to America …

Charles R. Davis / Salon:

Trump pledges authoritarian crackdown, saying enemies to be prosecuted at levels “never seen before” — The Republican candidate promised to imprison those whom he falsely claimed stole the 2020 election from him — Former President Donald Trump is promising to carry out what he described …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, UPI and Reuters

Washington Post:

Trump pledges to jail opponents, baselessly suggests election will be stolen from him — The former president's latest threats, made in a social media post, represent the most overt signal yet that he will not accept the result in November if he loses. — Republican presidential nominee …

Discussion: Forbes and Must Read Alaska

Charles R. Davis / Salon:

Trump, lying about migrants and crime, says mass deportations “will be a bloody story” — The former president has claimed he would use police and soldiers to deport at least 12 million undocumented people — Donald Trump is threatening that a proposed mass deportation of undocumented immigrants …

Discussion: The Atlantic and Digby's Hullabaloo

Jillian Frankel / NBC News:
Trump threatens lawyers, donors and election officials with prison for ‘unscrupulous behavior’

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, USA Today, Associated Press, Axios, New York Times, Washington Examiner and The Hill

Tara Suter / The Hill:

Cooper says he's ‘tired of seeing texts’ from students telling parents they're afraid of school shootings. ‘We cannot normalize this.’ — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said in an interview Sunday that he is “tired of seeing texts from children in a school telling their parents …

Discussion: CBS News

CNN:
Mother of shooting suspect called Apalachee High School and drove 200 miles after getting alarming text, grandfather says

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Washington Post:
Mother of Georgia suspect is said to have called school before shooting, warning of ‘emergency’

Discussion: Tennessee Star, New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters, The Post Millennial, RedState, KENS, New York Daily News, The Gateway Pundit, The Sun, IJR, The Daily Beast and CBS News

Doug P. / Twitchy:

Variety Asked Elton John About Donald Trump and the TDS Afflicted Will NOT Like His Answer — Those on the Left afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome might not be fully satisfied by Elton John's response to a question from a Variety reporter at the Toronto Film Festival …

Discussion: Variety, RedState and Townhall

Nick Arama / RedState:
Elton John's New Remarks About Trump Are Likely to Have Dems Losing Their Minds

Discussion: Breitbart, Townhall, Fox News and The Gateway Pundit

Mary L Trump / The Good in Us:

Translating the Crazy — UPDATES: I got COVID sixteen days ago and, though I am substantially better, I'm still exhausted. I know every case is different, but is this normal? Anyway, with my book coming out on Tuesday, there will be no rest for the weary any time soon. More book news after today's piece.

Discussion: Raw Story and CNN

ABC News:

‘This Week’ Transcript 9-8-24: Former Rep. Liz Cheney and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders — Former Wyoming Congressman Liz Cheney announces her father's support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on the second day of panels at the 14th annual Texas Tribune Festival in downtown Austin, Texas.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Washington Times, Raw Story and PoliticusUSA

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Harris, Walz to launch ‘New Way Forward’ tour following debate

Discussion: Associated Press and ABC11

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Presidential Debate Will be Big Test for ABC

Discussion: Raw Story, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Hill and The Gateway Pundit

Tal Axelrod / ABC News:

Cheney says Trump is an ‘unrecoverable catastrophe’ in call for GOP to vote for Harris — The former congresswoman says not voting for Trump is not enough. — Rep. Liz Cheney Vice Chairwoman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol …

Discussion: The Hill, The Guardian and Telegraph

Karoun Demirjian / New York Times:

G.O.P. Report to Denounce Biden Administration Over Afghanistan Withdrawal — In an election-season document, Republicans are set to offer few new revelations but instead heap blame on the “Biden-Harris administration” while absolving former President Donald J. Trump.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Politico, Reuters, Fox News, Breitbart, New York Post, Exposing the role …, CBS News, Bloomberg and Daily Caller News Foundation

Dan Pfeiffer / The Message Box:

Anti-Abortion Extremists Call the Shots in Trump's GOP — Trump's epic flip flop abortion is why Democratic fears about Project 2025 and a Federal abortion ban are well-founded. — The generally accepted — and oft-repeated — narrative about Trump is that he is a cult-leader who can bend the Republican base to his will.