Facebook said that it plans to suspend Donald Trump from its platform until at least January 2023 following his comments in the wake of the Capitol insurrection on January 6th, and will only reinstate him “if the risk to public safety has receded,” the Washington Post reports.
As Facebook points out: “Of course, this penalty only applies to our services — Mr. Trump is and will remain free to express himself publicly via other means.”
Georgia Agriculture Secretary Gary Black (R) entered the race against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) on Friday, “becoming the most prominent Republican to join the field competing to retake a seat long in GOP hands,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
“Black enters with his own strengths. He has painstakingly built a base of support in rural Georgia over three terms in office – and 40 years in the farm business – that will come in handy during a contested Republican primary.”
New York Times: “The United States is roughly on track to meet President Biden’s goal of getting at least one Covid-19 shot into the arms of 70 percent of adults by July 4 — if the current vaccination pace holds. But demand for vaccines has decreased in much of the country in recent weeks, and the promising national numbers (about 63 percent of adults have received at least one shot) do not reflect the uneven rates among states.”
“Even if the country as a whole reaches the national target, at least 30 states probably will not.”
Wall Street Journal: “Trips by congressional delegations to shore up relations with foreign allies (and boost members’ own foreign-policy résumés) are back after a long Covid-19-induced hiatus.”
“Several members of Congress spent the Memorial Day recess abroad, meeting with U.S. allies and thrusting themselves into the middle of some of the world’s most sensitive conflicts, sometimes with risky timing.”
Willamette Week: “In all but one election in the past 25 years, Oregon voters had an obvious choice for governor: the person who had already served.”
“But next year will be different: Gov. Kate Brown (D) is blocked by term limits from seeking a third term. That leaves a wide open field of Democrats—who have won every gubernatorial election in that quarter-century.”
Geoffrey Skelley: “Voters like bipartisanship more in theory than in practice. But that doesn’t mean bipartisan support isn’t still important politically.”
“Voters may prefer more partisan policy results, but their stated desire for bipartisanship means that politicians can still benefit by at least trying to work together.”
“Notably, Morning Consult’s poll found that 75 percent of voters respected politicians more when they made efforts to get bipartisan support, with essentially no difference between how Democrats and Republicans answered.”
“Texas GOP Chairman Allen West announced his resignation Friday morning, raising speculation he could run for statewide office,” the Texas Tribune reports.
The New Mexico Republican Party explained their defeat in this week’s special election: “Low voter turnout was a big factor. Republicans were angry from 2020 — many questioned election integrity — and stayed home.”
Punchbowl News surveys Congressional staffers:
“President Trump plans to make Anthony Fauci a top target at upcoming rallies, using increased attention to the Wuhan lab-leak theory as a weapon against an official long viewed as more trustworthy,” Axios reports.
“Trump and conservative media have made Fauci an improbable face of the opposition, trying to give him the cartoon-villain status once accorded to former Sen. Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or — in Trump’s case — Hillary Clinton.”
The U.S. economy added 559,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The faster pace of hiring came as several factors are propelling a burst of economic activity. More Americans have become vaccinated against the coronavirus, and state and local governments have eased restrictions on businesses as Covid-19 cases have declined and as the federal government has relaxed its pandemic guidance. Those factors, along with federal pandemic aid, have prompted a pickup in spending, particularly at services businesses, which in turn is stoking labor demand.”
Timothy Noah: “Where the Republican disenfranchisement campaign goes awry is in its pursuit to limit mail balloting. By disparaging mail-in balloting, Trump dumped all over the voting method used in 2020 by nearly 54 percent of voters aged 65 and older.”
“Rich people tend to vote Republican. In 2020, Trump won voters who earn $100,000, 54-42 percent. But according to the Census data, as voters move up the income scale, they become more likely to vote by mail, not less. Among people making $150,000 and over, almost 48 percent voted by mail—more than any other income group.”
Seth Masket: “If Trump is trying to recruit allies for his reinstatement, at what point to we treat this not as a delusion but as a coup attempt? He kinda has priors.”
Lilly Goren: “Usually this turns into a civil war of some kind, at least if the deposed king is still wandering around. Machiavelli had a lot to say about what to do with bloodlines, though that was much more in keeping with principalities and monarchies and not elected democracies/republics.”
Jonathan Bernstein: “It’s quite possible that Trump doesn’t realize what he’s proposing is flat-out illegal.”
For members: An Alternate Theory for Trump’s Delusion
Washington Post: “Much of the Biden administration’s border response in recent months has centered on caring for the unaccompanied minors who have arrived in record numbers, along with parents traveling with children. Those groups do not typically attempt to evade capture, and they usually seek out U.S. agents after crossing the border to request humanitarian protection.”
“Adult migrants continue to be the largest share of border crossers, however, and smuggling guides often send them through rugged desert and mountain areas where deaths from exposure rise with extreme heat. U.S. agents took more than 111,000 single adult migrants into custody in April, the highest total in more than a decade, and the number increased again in May, according to preliminary enforcement data.”
“It’s not a policy, but it’s a philosophy where I just don’t want to deal with it. I mean, there’s about a third of the House Republican caucus that I am willing to book. I could name them to you if you want.”
— CNN anchor Jake Tapper, in an interview with Kara Swisher, on refusing to talk to Republicans who push election fraud conspiracies.
“A cadre of aides and advisers working to tame Donald Trump’s obsession with the 2020 election, including his fixation with debunked voter fraud theories and ballot audits, are realizing the task at hand is much tougher than they thought,” CNN reports.
“Over the past few weeks, Trump has faced pleas from inside his orbit to move the ball forward as Republicans approach the 2022 midterm elections… Several former advisers and allies still close to the 45th President said he is under mounting pressure to concentrate on promoting GOP policy priorities and defining his successor, rather than re-litigating his failed reelection campaign.”
“But the former President has brushed those voices aside, choosing instead to listen to a crowd of characters both on television and in his wider circle who have encouraged him to keep his focus on the 2020 election.”
New Hampshire Union Leader: “He praised the police who quelled the riot after a mob ransacked the Capitol, some calling for Pence’s death. But Pence stuck by the certification of the election results that declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner.”
Said Pence: “That day we reconvened the Congress and did our duty.”
“The room was nearly silent.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.