memeorandum: Is the Biden Campaign Running on False Hope? (Isaac Chotiner/New Yorker)

3:55 PM ET, May 24, 2024

Top Items:

A Polling Risk for Trump — His advantage may not be as stable as it looks. — The polls have shown Donald Trump with an edge for eight straight months, but there's a sign his advantage might not be quite as stable as it looks: His lead is built on gains among voters who aren't paying close attention …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Hopium Chronicles and Split Ticket

Nicholas Nehamas / New York Times:

Robert De Niro Narrates an Anti-Trump Ad for Biden — The ad uses the actor's distinctive voice to try to remind voters of the chaos of Donald Trump's presidency and warn them about a second Trump term. — President Biden's campaign released a new ad on Friday narrated by the actor Robert De Niro …

Discussion: HuffPost, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, Washington Times, Mediaite, WisPolitics, Deadline, Rolling Stone, WFLA-TV, Politico, Florida Politics and New York Post

Nate Cohn / New York Times:
The Shaky Foundation of Trump's Lead: Disengaged Voters

Discussion: Raw Story

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
Is the Biden Campaign Running on False Hope?

Discussion: HotAir, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, The Liberal Patriot, Raw Story, The Bulwark and Mediaite

NBC News:
Biden campaign plans to get more aggressive once Trump trial ends

Discussion: Mediaite, The National Pulse, Raw Story, PolitiFact and New York Times

Rolling Stone:

Trump Pressures Republicans to Pass a Law to Keep Him Out of Jail Forever — The former president is convinced state prosecutors will target him again after a second term, and wants the GOP to solve that problem for him — Donald Trump likes to tell anyone who will listen …

Discussion: New Republic

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice: Trump isn't joking about serving 3 or more terms

Michael C. Bender / New York Times:
Trump's V.P. Pageant Has an Unexpectedly Strong Contender: Tom Cotton

Discussion: Salon, New Republic, Vanity Fair, Forbes and Mock Paper Scissors

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Even Donald Trump has trouble getting New York's attention — The former president came to the Bronx on Thursday night for an unusual campaign rally. The Bronx didn't take much notice. — NEW YORK — You could hear Donald Trump sporadically through the trees.

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

What If Trump Is Right About America? — 1. Donny from the Bronx — One of the Trump campaign's beliefs about 2024 is that the the former president's criminal indictments will help him with black voters. The theory is, since Trump is an (alleged) criminal, many black people who are also criminals(?), will begin to support him.

Discussion: CBS News, Bald Faced Truth and New York Times

Reuters:

Exclusive: Putin wants Ukraine ceasefire on current frontlines — Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines, four Russian sources told Reuters, saying he is prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond.

Discussion: New York Post, The Kyiv Independent, Forbes, The Sun, The Gateway Pundit, Human Events, HotAir and The Daily Beast

Politico:

Playbook: Rick Scott plots the ultimate McConnell revenge — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — ABOUT LAST NIGHT — DONALD TRUMP's rally in the Bronx last night featured many of his greatest hits — touting his record, slamming JOE BIDEN …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Washington Times, Business Insider, The Capitolist, The Gateway Pundit, Florida's Voice, BizPac Review, Roll Call and Rolling Stone

Emanuel Fabian / The Times of Israel:

IDF recovers bodies of three hostages from north Gaza, who were killed on October 7 — Military says it recently got intel confirming Orión Hernández Radoux, Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum were kidnapped near Mefalsim, murdered there or en route to Gaza in Hamas onslaught

Discussion: Washington Examiner, RedState, Forbes, Breitbart and israelhayom.com

Chantal Da Silva / NBC News:
Israel ordered to immediately halt Rafah offensive by top U.N. court

Washington Post:
Middle East conflict live updates

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Fox News, Associated Press, National Review, The Times of Israel, Just Security, CBS News, CNBC, USA Today, Reuters, Middle East Monitor and israelhayom.com

Rachel Olding / The Daily Beast:

Republican Rep's Daughter and Son-in-Law Killed in Haiti Gang Attack — ‘MY HEART IS BROKEN’ — “I've never felt this kind of pain,” Ben Baker wrote on Facebook on Friday. — Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker said Friday that his “heart is broken in a thousand pieces” …

Discussion: CBS News, UPI, Washington Post, The Sun, Fox News, Faithwire, FOX 10 Phoenix, The Gateway Pundit, BizPac Review, New York Daily News, New York Post, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, The Post Millennial, New York Times, The Daily Caller and WFLA-TV

Alex Leary / Wall Street Journal:

Jailed Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Says He Doesn't Want a Pardon: ‘I Have No Regrets’ — From a federal prison, former aide plots new MAGA agenda — Peter Navarro, a former top White House adviser to Donald Trump, isn't interested in a pardon should “the boss” return to power.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The National Pulse, Mediaite, Raw Story and Law & Crime

The Hill: Trump says he would ‘absolutely’ have Navarro back if reelected

Jason Wilson / The Guardian:

At least 66 members of far-right group in rural Oregon standing for office — Revealed: anti-government People's Rights Network, founded by Ammon Bundy, appearing to follow ‘entryism’ strategy — At least 66 members of an anti-government group founded by far-right militia figure Ammon Bundy …

Discussion: Raw Story

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:

‘Just a scandal’: Jamie Raskin envisions radical overhaul of Supreme Court — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) called for a radical overhaul of the scandal-plagued U.S. Supreme Court. — The court has been rocked by ethics scandals - particularly those involving justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito …

Discussion: CNN and Mother Jones

NBC News:

Are Russia and North Korea planning an ‘October surprise’ that aids Trump? — U.S. officials are bracing for Pyongyang to take military actions close to the U.S. presidential election, possibly at the urging of Vladimir Putin. — WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is increasingly concerned …

Discussion: israelhayom.com and New York Post

Jay Kuo / The Status Kuo:

Red Flag Warning — Lordy, there's a second flag. And it's worse than the first. — To kick things off, a quick refresher. Last time on Justices Gone Rogue, Alito was confronted with reports of a U.S. flag flying upside down at his home, just 11 days after the January 6th attack.

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times and Boing Boing

Rolling Stone:
Supreme Court Architect Flew Same ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag as Alito

Discussion: USA Today, Slate, The Daily Beast, CNN, Plain Dealer, The Federalist, PoliticusUSA, The Mahablog, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Signal, Newsbusters, Religion News Service, Breitbart, Right Wing Watch, CBS News, Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo and The Post Millennial

Margaret Sullivan / American Crisis:

The odds, the stakes and the scariest media news I saw all week — On the great divide in how Americans get their news and how it affects their political views — First off, thanks so much to quite a few new subscribers, who made it clear that they care — a lot — about how the news media is dealing with threats to democracy.

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Media Matters Lays Off a Dozen Staffers Amid Elon Musk Lawsuit — ‘LEGAL ASSAULT’ — The liberal media watchdog let go of a number of veteran researchers and writers on Thursday as it faces a number of legal threats from Musk and Republicans. — Months after edgelord billionaire Elon Musk launched a …

Discussion: BizPac Review, Breitbart, American Greatness, Twitchy, Raw Story, New York Post, Geller Report, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Deadline, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and The Post Millennial, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Trump Has Already Sown Doubts About the 2024 Election Results — Former President Donald J. Trump has baselessly and publicly cast doubt about the fairness of the 2024 election about once a day, on average, since he announced his candidacy for president, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Discussion: The Hill, Election Law Blog, Resolute Square, Washington Post and New York Post