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Exclusive: Trump says he does not believe polls that show Biden ahead in presidential race — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump told Reuters on Wednesday he does not believe opinion polls that show his likely Democratic presidential opponent, Joe Biden, leading in the 2020 race for the White House.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, The Intellectualist, The Hill and Raw Story
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Exclusive: Trump says China wants him to lose his bid for re-election — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he believes China's handling of the coronavirus is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid in November.

Trump erupts at campaign manager as reelection stress overflows — (CNN)As he huddled with advisers on Friday evening, President Donald Trump was still fuming over his sliding poll numbers and the onslaught of criticism he was facing for suggesting a day earlier that ingesting disinfectant might prove effective against coronavirus.
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Washington Post, VICE, Breitbart, Raw Story, Palmer Report, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, Vanity Fair, The Wrap, Axios, Redstate, POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite

Polls Had Trump Stewing, and Lashing Out at His Own Campaign
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post and The Hill

Alyssa Milano On Why She Still Supports Joe Biden & How She Would Advise Him About Tara Reade Allegations - Guest Column — Editors' Note: Actress and activist Alyssa Milano has been a leader of the #MeToo movement, as her 2017 tweet calling on women to share their stories of sexual harassment …
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Axios, Reason, Washington Post, NB Blog, Althouse, The Wrap, Breitbart, NPR, Fox News, New York Times, The Week, The Guardian, Twitchy and The Daily Caller
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Why Won't TV News Book Tara Reade? — The stakes are high for the media in the case of sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden. — There were good reasons to be skeptical of her 20-year-old allegations: She'd changed her story and said some weird stuff, and even denied the whole thing under oath.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Politics, Policy …, American Thinker, Redstate and TheBlaze

Why I'm skeptical about Reade's sexual assault claim against Biden: Ex-prosecutor — If we must blindly accept every allegation of sexual assault, the #MeToo movement is just a hit squad. And it's too important to be no more than that. — During 28 years as a state and federal prosecutor …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, Washington Post, The Federalist, Twitchy, Sara A. Carter, Just The News, Forbes, MercatorNet, Slate, HuffPost and Power Line

Biden camp refuses to open up Senate papers that could shed light on accuser's claims …
Discussion:
Fox News, The Daily Caller, Redstate and Discourse Blog
Tucker Carlson / Fox News:
Feminist movement is fake, only cares about power. That's why Gillibrand is friends with Biden
Feminist movement is fake, only cares about power. That's why Gillibrand is friends with Biden
Marc Caputo / Politico:
Tara Reade allegations rattle Biden's VP search
Tara Reade allegations rattle Biden's VP search
Discussion:
Townhall, National Review, The Week, Twitchy, Big League Politics, The Gateway Pundit and Redstate

South Carolina Senate Moves to Likely Republican — It's hard to think of a politician who has undergone a bigger evolution over the past four years than South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. But could that very political makeover hurt him at the ballot box in 2020, even in a reliably red state?
Discussion:
The Hill
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The Senate: Looking Beyond the “Core Four” — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — The focus on the evenly-matched battle for the Senate has in some ways narrowed to four GOP-held seats: Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and North Carolina. — Practically speaking, Democrats probably have to win all four …
Ed Mazza / HuffPost:
Top Lindsey Graham Donor Switches Sides, Now Backs Democratic Rival
Top Lindsey Graham Donor Switches Sides, Now Backs Democratic Rival
Discussion:
The Hill and The Intellectualist

Trump Officials Are Said to Press Spies to Link Virus and Wuhan Labs — Some analysts are worried that the pressure from senior officials could distort assessments about the coronavirus and be used as a weapon in an escalating battle with China. — WASHINGTON — Senior Trump administration officials …
Discussion:
Axios, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Raw Story, The Week, Just The News and ABC News
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US intel: Coronavirus not manmade, still studying lab theory
Discussion:
One America News Network

U.S. officials crafting retaliatory actions against China over coronavirus as President Trump fumes — The president has in recent days told aides and others that China has to pay for the outbreak and publicly floated demanding billions in compensation — Senior U.S. officials are beginning …

The golden age of Jared Kushner — President's son-in-law embodies everything that is wrong with America's coronavirus response — George W Bush declared mission accomplished in Iraq just before the war fell off a cliff. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, has just gambled the same on coronavirus.
Discussion:
The Bulwark and Vox
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Susan Rice Slams Jared Kushner's ‘Ridiculous’ Boast About U.S. Coronavirus Response
Discussion:
NPR, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump and Kushner Engage in Revisionist History in Boasting of Success Over Virus
Trump and Kushner Engage in Revisionist History in Boasting of Success Over Virus
Discussion:
CNN, NBC News, Daily Kos, Florida Politics and Axios

After One Tweet To President Trump, This Man Got $69 Million From New York For Ventilators — We may all be at home, but that hasn't stopped our reporters from breaking exclusive stories like this one. To help keep this news free, become a member and sign up for our newsletter, Outbreak Today.

Biden nominates Chris Dodd of ‘waitress sandwich’ fame to help shop for female vice presidential candidates — The Biden campaign, which is under mounting pressure after a woman claimed Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s, announced Thursday that former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd …
Discussion:
Redstate, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze
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Cameron Joseph / VICE:
Biden Just Picked a Guy With #MeToo Issues of His Own For a Key Campaign Slot
Biden Just Picked a Guy With #MeToo Issues of His Own For a Key Campaign Slot
Discussion:
The Federalist, Mediaite and Jacobin

Mitch McConnell's coronavirus gamble — Coronavirus cases are still rising in the District of Columbia, where more than 200 people have died of the disease. The House decided it was too dangerous to return to the Capitol. — But Mitch McConnell's Senate is coming back anyway.
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What Do Famous People's Bookshelves Reveal? — In quarantine, people are inadvertently exposing their reading habits — embarrassing, surprising and impressive. — Bibliophiles do not approach bookshelves lightly. A stranger's collection is to us a window to their soul.

Germany bans Hezbollah, raids mosques — Odd ANDERSEN with Michelle FITZPATRICK in Frankfurt — A police officer walks out of Al-Irschad Mosque during a raid in Berlin, as dozens of police and special forces stormed mosques and associations linked to Hezbollah in Bremen, Berlin, Dortmund and Muenster early Thursday
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Bill de Blasio's new low: blaming the Jews — Well, Bill de Blasio, you certainly showed us Jews, didn't you, on Tuesday night? Yep, you called us out, all 1.2 million of us New York City Jews, and I really hope you enjoyed it. Because I know it's not fun being mayor right now.
Discussion:
Jewish Insider, Althouse, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Townhall and TheBlaze
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Special Report: Trump told Saudis: Cut oil supply or lose U.S. military support - sources — WASHINGTON/LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - As the United States pressed Saudi Arabia to end its oil price war with Russia, President Donald Trump gave Saudi leaders an ultimatum.
Discussion:
Foreign Policy

AskTheAG: Barr is taking Twitter questions on coronavirus issues, and it's getting ugly — The Justice Department offered the public a rare opportunity on Wednesday morning to submit questions to Attorney General William P. Barr for a “nationwide #AskTheAG Q&A session on May 1.”

Admit It: You Are Willing to Let People Die to End the Shutdown — CNN's Jake Tapper was brutally direct in his question to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who recently lifted his state's stay-at-home order, in favor of a gradual reopening of business. Are you worried, Tapper asked …
Discussion:
National Review

Mike Pence, the Mayo Clinic, and the Mask — This is America. The rules are supposed to apply to everyone. — News reports of Vice President Mike Pence's refusal to wear a mask during his visit to the Mayo Clinic this week reminded me of something that occurred when I worked in the Reagan administration.
Discussion:
The Bulwark Podcast and HuffPost

Pro-Trump Student Group Turning Point USA Applied for, Then Rejected, Coronavirus Aid — ‘BIG GOVERNMENT’ — Pro-Trump student group Turning Point USA applied for federal coronavirus relief funds then presented its public rejection of the assistance as a principled stand against “big government.”
Discussion:
Fox News and The Daily Caller

Flynn Lawyers Seize on Newly Released F.B.I. Documents — The documents show details of a debate among F.B.I. officials before interviewing Michael T. Flynn in 2017, days after he lied to the vice president about his talks with a top Russian diplomat. — WASHINGTON — President Trump's allies cheered …
Discussion:
The Hill, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair and emptywheel
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Gregg Re / Fox News:
FBI discussed interviewing Michael Flynn ‘to get him to lie’ and ‘get him fired,’ handwritten notes show
FBI discussed interviewing Michael Flynn ‘to get him to lie’ and ‘get him fired,’ handwritten notes show
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Townhall, National Review, Breitbart, The Federalist, New York Post, Sean Hannity, American Thinker, Redstate, JustOneMinute and TheBlaze

US weekly jobless claims hit 3.84 million, topping 30 million over the last 6 weeks — Weekly jobless claims hit 3.84 million last week, higher than economist expectations of 3.5 million. — The total brings the rolling six-week figure to 30.3 million.
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Biden reaches deal to let Sanders keep hundreds of delegates — WASHINGTON (AP) — Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has agreed to let former primary rival Bernie Sanders keep hundreds of delegates he would otherwise forfeit by dropping out of the presidential race in a deal designed …