memeorandum: FBI Statement on Offensive and Racist Text Messages (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

6:15 PM ET, November 8, 2024

Top Items:

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Trump Put Musk on Phone With Zelensky During Call — Elon Musk was with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago when the president-elect spoke with Ukraine's leader. It is not clear if they discussed any change in U.S. policy toward Ukraine. — President-elect Donald J. Trump spoke on Wednesday …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Japan Times, NPR, Reuters, Politico, News18 and Global News, more at Techmeme »

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Scoop: Elon Musk joined Trump's call with Zelensky … - The Biden administration is now looking for ways to get as much military assistance as possible to Ukraine ahead of Jan. 20, when Trump could turn off the spigot. — But the private conversations Trump and his team have had with Zelensky …

Washington Post:
Elon Musk joins Trump's call with Ukraine's Zelensky

Discussion: Al Jazeera, CBS News and Page Six

Annie Karni / New York Times:

A Red-District Conqueror Wants Fellow Democrats to Look in the Mirror — Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who is on track to win re-election in a rural Washington district, says her party needs to stop demonizing others and change the candidates it supports. — It's not always fun to say I told you so.

Discussion: HuffPost, Fox News, The Hill, Columbian, New York Post, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and Oregonian

Axios:

Behind the Curtain: Deep Democratic depression … Come January, they'll have scant power in the federal government, and shriveling clout in the courts and states. — The traditional media structure sympathetic to their views, and hostile to Trump's, was shattered.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Hill, Twitchy, CounterPunch, Washington Examiner, American Greatness and New York Times

Chuck Todd / NBC News:

This Democratic defeat — and the rise of Trump 2.0 — was a decade in the making — Analysis: Biden's age and inability to sell his record or convince that he was fighting inflation were problems. Longer-term Democratic weaknesses also came due. — There's something about an election …

Discussion: The Hill

Sen. Elizabeth Warren / Time:
Here's the Plan to Fight Back

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill and NBC News

Hans Nichols / Axios:
Jeffries takes charge of the Democratic resistance

Discussion: The Independent, The Hill, The Guardian and Washington Times

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
Why Trump won — 9 takeaways from the 2024 election

Discussion: New York Times, Mock Paper Scissors and Talking Points Memo

Amanda Marcotte / Salon:

America's political discordance: The Trump voters who want progressivism — Trump voters backed abortion, minimum wage and family leave — but don't get that Project 2025 would take it away — Perhaps out of fear of insulting their audiences, the pundits, journalists …

Discussion: Blue Virginia, Fortune and Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Michael Tomasky / New Republic:

Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won? … I've had a lot of conversations since Tuesday revolving around the question of why Donald Trump won. The economy and inflation. Kamala Harris didn't do this or that. Sexism and racism. The border. That trans-inmate ad that ran a jillion times.

Discussion: Semafor

Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:

I blame the media — I am horrified and I am terrified and I am angry. — And I blame the media. — Yes, I am aware that some large number of people who voted for Trump did so fully aware that he will rule as a racist, a chaos agent, and a strongman. That's what they want. Noted.

Discussion: Bloomberg

US Department of Justice:

Justice Department Announces Murder-For-Hire and Related Charges Against IRGC Asset and Two Local Operatives — For Immediate Release — Iranian Asset Farhad Shakeri Employed Multiple Associates in the New York City Area to Surveil and Murder a U.S. Citizen of Iranian Origin Who Has Publicly Opposed the Iranian Government

Washington Post:
Three charged in alleged Iranian plot that included plans to kill Trump

Discussion: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and Althouse

Associated Press:
Justice Department brings criminal charges in Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting Donald Trump

Discussion: Associated Press, The Sun, Scripps News, ABC7, The Hill, Daily Mail, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, Staten Island Advance, The Times of Israel, Metro.co.uk, New York Times, Semafor, Raw Story, One America News Network and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:
Justice Department files charges in murder-for-hire scheme targeting Trump

Discussion: New York Post, Daily Mail, Associated Press, The US Sun and The Sun

CNN:

Biden administration to allow American military contractors to deploy to Ukraine for first time since Russia's invasion — The Biden administration has lifted a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine to help the country's military maintain and repair US-provided weapons systems …

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, One America News Network and Reuters

Politico:

Pentagon officials anxious Trump may fire the military's top general — The president-elect has railed against “woke” generals and others who have pushed for diversity initiatives in the ranks. — Defense officials are getting anxious about the possibility of the incoming Trump administration firing …

Discussion: Task & Purpose, The Independent and Washington Post

CNN:
Pentagon officials discussing how to respond if Trump issues controversial orders

Discussion: Raw Story, The Keystone Newsroom and Foreign Policy

New York Times:

Wave of Racist Texts After Election Prompts F.B.I.'s Scrutiny — Offensive messages were reported across the South and from New York to California. — A wave of racist text messages summoning Black people to report for slavery showed up on phones across the United States …

CNN:
Racist texts about slaves and ‘picking cotton’ sent to Black people as state AGs, colleges and police probe their origins

Discussion: New Republic, NAACP, Salon, NBC News, Boston Herald, Metro.co.uk, The Daily Caller, WTTG-TV, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, New York Daily News, Forbes, KUSA-TV, NBC4 Washington, Mediaite, WVEC and MPR News

Federal Bureau of Investigation:
FBI Statement on Offensive and Racist Text Messages

Discussion: WRIC ABC 8News, SC Daily Gazette, LevittownNow.com, KXAN Austin, Missouri Independent, The Root, NPR, KENS, The Crimson White, CU Alerts, CBS News, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, WSVN-TV and Atlanta Black Star

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Pelosi Laments Biden's Late Exit and the Lack of an ‘Open Primary’ — “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” the former House speaker said in an interview with The New York Times, suggesting she had anticipated an “open primary.”

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Axios, The Guardian, New York Post, RedState, Mediaite, Raw Story, New Jersey Online, SFist, Ken Klippenstein, New Republic, PolitiFact, The Western Journal and Daily Mail

Lauren Peller / ABC News:
Pelosi blames Harris' loss on Biden's late exit and no open Democratic primary

Discussion: PolitiFact, New York Post, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Rolling Stone:

Dem Insiders Begged Team Harris Not to Campaign With Liz Cheney — “People don't want to be in a coalition with the devil,” says a Democratic source who was appalled by Harris' embrace of Dick Cheney … It opened with the politics of joy, and a hearty dose of mockery aimed at Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance.

Alex Thompson / Axios:
Harris, Biden camps blame each other for loss

Discussion: RedState, New York Post, New Republic, Raw Story, HotAir, Townhall, Daily Mail, IJR, Twitchy, The Western Journal, The Dispatch, freebeacon.com, One America News Network and The National Pulse

Gabe Kaminsky / Washington Examiner:
How Kamala Harris plowed through $1 billion

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Megyn Kelly, Instapundit, American Thinker and Wall Street Journal

Politico:

Playbook: Dems agonize over Sotomayor — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — THE LATEST RACE CALLS — Republican DAVE McCORMICK defeats Democratic Sen. BOB CASEY in Pennsylvania. ... Reps. DON DAVIS (D-N.C.), YOUNG KIM (R-Calif.), JULIA BROWNLEY …

Discussion: American Greatness, New York Post, Daily Caller News Foundation, RedState, Raw Story, Staten Island Advance and Mediaite

Katherine Koretski / NBC News:
Trump wins Nevada, capturing a state he lost in both 2016 and 2020

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Times-Tribune, USA Today and HotAir

New York Times:
Trump Names Susie Wiles as His White House Chief of Staff

James Liddell / The Independent:

Ted Cruz's daughter caught wincing and telling her mom 'don't clap' as senator praises Trump on stage — Caroline Cruz, 16, was left scowling at her mother on stage as the Texas senator prayed for a Trump win — Your support helps us to tell the story — From reproductive rights …

Discussion: KASW-TV, Raw Story, Mediaite and Teen Vogue

Timothy Noah / New Republic:

Dump Twitter — The oligarchs won. When the markets closed November 6—the day Donald Trump was declared winner of the presidential election—the combined wealth of the world's 10 richest people, nine of whom live in the United States, had surged by a combined $63.5 billion.

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Post, CNBC and Slate

Mike Corder / Associated Press:

Israeli soccer fans were attacked in Amsterdam. The violence was condemned as antisemitic — Israeli fans were assaulted after a soccer game in Amsterdam by hordes of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people, Dutch authorities said Friday.

Sebastian Murdock / HuffPost:

Tim Walz Says To 'Get Back In This Fight When You're Ready' — Walz spoke to supporters in Minnesota following Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election. — LOADING — In an emotional speech at Eagan High School in his home state of Minnesota on Friday, Gov. Tim Walz (D) …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CBS News, Daily Mail, The Hill, The Western Journal, Shore News Network, TMZ.com, Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Power Line, Twitchy and One America News Network

David Sirota / The Lever:

Handbook For The Politically Deceased — Your guide to what the hell just happened in the election and what's ahead. … But one word it should not evoke is this: surprising. In a downwardly mobile country, Democrats' rejection of working-class politics — and the party's open hostility …

Ellie Silverman / Washington Post:

Thousands expected for People's March on Washington ahead of Trump's inauguration — Organizers estimate 50,000 will attend as part of an expected surge of protests — and celebrations — from across the political spectrum as the nation's seat of power transitions to Trump

Discussion: HotAir

Molly White / Citation Needed:

Wind the clock — A message to those asking “what do I do now?” — 1× — I had allowed myself to hope that American voters would choose the better of the presidential options available to us, and I was wrong. I am disappointed. I am sad. I am afraid.

Discussion: LGBTQ Nation

Gabriel Araujo / Reuters:

Biden's Amazon visit comes as US climate policy to shift under Trump — Joe Biden will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Brazilian Amazon when he travels to Manaus later this month, a symbolic trip given the United States is likely to see a dramatic change in climate policy under President-elect Donald Trump.

Discussion: Semafor and Associated Press

Meghan Blonder / freebeacon.com:

We Did It! Dems Blame Kamala's Loss on ‘Right-Wing Media Ecosystem’ — MSNBC and CNN panelists blamed Vice President Kamala Harris's decisive loss on podcasters like Joe Rogan, claiming that a right-wing “media ecosystem” radicalized Americans into voting for President-elect Donald Trump.

Discussion: The Wrap, Breitbart, Twitchy and Newsbusters