memeorandum: A US Pastor Also Wanted To Get Rid Of The Ambassador To Ukraine — Because She Backed LGBTQ Rights (Christopher Miller/BuzzFeed News)

12:25 PM ET, February 5, 2020

Top Items:

Pelosi trashes Trump address: ‘He shredded the truth, so I shredded his speech’ — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday trashed President Trump's raucous State of the Union address while huddling with rank-and-file Democrats and explained why she dramatically ripped up his speech as he wrapped up his remarks.

Discussion: New York Post

Elizabeth Vaughn / Redstate:

Reaction to SOTU: ‘We Need to Put a Cape on His Back, an ‘S’ on His Chest, and Call Him Superman’ — Fox News' Pete Hegseth asked voters in Carthage, NC what they thought about President Trump's State of the Union address. One elderly woman told him, “We need to put a cape on his back, an “S” on his chest, and call him Superman.

Discussion: New York Times, Vanity Fair and Real Clear Politics

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

Pelosi's Petty Move — On the menu today: I don't know about you, but I'm really eager to dive into today's topics. For once, we've got four consequential stories brewing simultaneously: Trump's reelection argument in the State of the Union Address and House speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision …

Discussion: The American Spectator, Washington Post and CNN

Miami Herald:

Parkland father removed from State of the Union speech after shouting at Trump — The father of a high school freshman killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was removed from the audience at President Donald Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night …

Discussion: The Hill, The Guardian, Vox, Mother Jones and Axios

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Pelosi ripped up a speech. Trump is ripping up our democracy. — Nancy Pelosi ripped up a copy of President Trump's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, and the civility police are on a rampage: On “Morning Joe,” host Willie Geist lectured that the House Speaker's act is “not what the country needs.”

Discussion: New York Times, POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite

Politico:

Pelosi unloads on Trump in private meeting after SOTU standoff — Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped into President Donald Trump in a private meeting with Democrats Wednesday, just hours after the two jousted in a silent sparring match during his State of the Union address.

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
With chants, walkouts and a ripped-up speech, bitter partisanship dominates Trump's State of the Union

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times, Associated Press, Politico, Outside the Beltway and Axios

Michael Goodwin / New York Post: Nancy Pelosi shamed herself at Trump's State of the Union address

Rebecca Falconer / Axios:
In photos: All the drama from State of the Union address

Discussion: Redstate and Politico

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Trump and Pelosi Exchange Snubs at the State of the Union Address

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Washington Post and Breitbart

Jamie Lovegrove / Post and Courier:

Upstate GOP leaders plotting to meddle in SC Democratic primary by boosting Bernie Sanders — COLUMBIA — A group of prominent Upstate Republicans are preparing to launch a wide-scale effort this week to encourage GOP voters across South Carolina to vote for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders …

Discussion: National Review, New York Post, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and No More Mister Nice Blog

Associated Press:

Biden's poor showing in Iowa shakes establishment support — DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Joe Biden's third presidential bid enters a critical stretch after a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucuses sent the former vice president on to New Hampshire with a skittish donor base …

Discussion: UnionLeader.com, Vanity Fair, Politico, Washington Post and ABC News

Ken Thomas / Wall Street Journal:

How Iowa Slipped Away From Joe Biden — Former vice president now must convince donors and voters in other early states to stick with him in a fiercely competitive field — DES MOINES, Iowa—In the months leading up to the Iowa caucuses, Joe Biden suggested he could stake an early claim to the Democratic nomination with a victory.

Discussion: Breitbart

The Boston Globe:
Bernie Sanders widens lead in latest N.H. poll

Discussion: TheDenverChannel.com, Breitbart, New York Times, The Federalist and National Journal

Joan Walsh / The Nation:
Elizabeth Warren Has a Movement. You Just Don't See It Yet.

Discussion: The Hill

Issie Lapowsky / protocol:

He complained about Democrats' tech ‘morass’ — then built the Iowa app — Shadow CEO Gerard Niemira had high hopes for improving Democrats' tech tools. — The CEO of the tech startup at the center of the Iowa caucus debacle complained last year that critical parts of the Democrats' election technology …

Discussion: VICE, The Verge, WDTN-TV, Politico, Bloomberg and Clash Daily, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:
‘We Feel Really Terrible,’ Says CEO Whose App Roiled Iowa Caucus

Discussion: National Review, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Verge, protocol, Brutal South, The Hill, New York Post, Fox News, Common Dreams, NPR and Slate, more at Techmeme »

Osita Nwanevu / New Republic:
Trump Has Never Looked More Comfortable as a Demagogue

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:
Faulty Iowa App Was Part of Push to Restore Democrats' Digital Edge

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Smoke Eater, Axios, Commentary, New Republic, The Verge, Bleeding Heartland, The Mahablog, Common Dreams and Wall Street Journal

BuzzFeed News:

She Shunned Islam And Was Embraced By Trump World. They Took Her Money, Then Turned On Her. — Rabia Kazan, a Turkish national who used to be a Trump fanatic, made a big donation to the president's campaign. But she's not a US citizen. — A former rising star in MAGA world recently renounced …

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:

Beyond the Partisan Fight, a Wealth of Evidence About Trump and Ukraine — Regardless of the Senate's verdict, the impeachment inquiry, President Trump's own words and other revelations yield a narrative establishing his involvement in the pressure campaign.

Christopher Miller / BuzzFeed News:

A US Pastor Also Wanted To Get Rid Of The Ambassador To Ukraine — Because She Backed LGBTQ Rights — KYIV — In the summer of 2018, an American evangelical pastor and dozens of Ukrainian Christian groups prayed for Marie Yovanovitch to be fired from her job as the US ambassador to Kyiv.

Grace Segers / CBS News:

Susan Collins will vote to acquit Trump, saying he's “learned” from impeachment — Watch Norah O'Donnell's exclusive interview with Susan Collins on the “CBS Evening News” on Tuesday, February 4, at 6:30 p.m. ET. — Washington — Republican Senator Susan Collins announced Tuesday she will vote …

Marianne LeVine / Politico:
Red state Democrat Doug Jones will vote to convict Trump

Discussion: Althouse and ABC News

ABC News: Senate poised to acquit Trump in historic impeachment trial

jones.senate.gov:

Senator Doug Jones Statement on Impeachment Decision — “As this chapter of history draws to a close, one thing is clear: our country deserves better than this. We must find a way to come together, to set aside partisan differences, and to focus on what we have in common as Americans.”

Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Bloomberg

Timothy Bella / Washington Post:

Rush Limbaugh joins the likes of Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks as recipient of highest civilian honor — There was Mother Teresa, “a heroine of our times,” and Rosa Parks, “a living icon for freedom in America.” Elie Wiesel kept “watch against the forces of hatred,” while Jackie Robinson …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Guardian and The Daily Beast

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:
Trump says he will award Rush Limbaugh with Medal of Freedom

Discussion: The Federalist, Breitbart, The White House, IJR, Big League Politics, PJ Media Home, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV, The Hill, Raw Story, HuffPost, Mediaite, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit and Disrn, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
Rush Limbaugh awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom at State of the Union

Discussion: Slate, Talking Points Memo, Bangor Daily News, Politico, Variety, Mediaite, Raw Story, New York Times, New York Post, New York Times, Twitchy, Vox, The Hill and Axios

Washington Post:

Fact-checking President Trump's 2020 State of the Union address — President Trump's State of the Union speech once again was chock-full of stretched facts and dubious figures. Many of these claims have been fact-checked repeatedly, yet the president persists in using them.

Discussion: Vox, Associated Press and Daily Kos

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Record economic optimism under Trump, better than Reagan, Clinton, Obama — Economic optimism has reached a 44-year high and economic gloom a record low under President Trump in the latest survey that shows people in the United States are cheering their best personal economy in decades.

RJ Reinhart / Gallup:
Record-High Optimism on Personal Finances in U.S.

Discussion: Townhall, The Federalist and Twitchy

Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:

This Is No Way to Beat Trump — Watching the Iowa caucus this year was a new experience for me. Before the ascendancy of Donald Trump, I was an establishment conservative, one of those liberal New England Republicans whose tribe is now only of blessed memory.

Discussion: Raw Story

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
When it comes to Iowa, Trump throws stones from a glass house

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos and The American Independent

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

In SOTU, Trump plays make-believe, wildly exaggerates economic record — In his final State of the Union address before Election Day 2020, Donald Trump's pitch was easy to predict. The president would say that the state of the nation is strong; he'd take credit for low unemployment …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Raw Story and Slate

Steven Rattner / New York Times: The Economy Is Not as Good as It Looks — Democrats can easily show …

The Boston Globe:

Kill the tradition: NH and Iowa should not vote first — A hundred years ago, New Hampshire blazed a trail as the first among 20 states to hold a 1920 presidential primary election. It is a tradition that has endured for the century since, and will repeat on Feb. 11 — a fact owed not just to custom …

Discussion: Axios

Daniel Bice / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Board fires two leaders of the 2020 DNC Host Committee — The two leaders of Milwaukee's host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention are out. — Late Tuesday, the board for the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee terminated President Liz Gilbert and her chief of staff, Adam Alonso.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, The Hill, Althouse, The Daily Caller, PJ Media Home and National Review

Alex Griswold / Washington Free Beacon:

Bloomberg Used Box to Boost Height as NYC Mayor, Documents Show — The Bloomberg campaign was quick to shoot down President Donald Trump's claim that the Democratic presidential candidate plans to use a box to boost his height at Friday's Democratic debate.