Today’s edition of quick hits:
* I’m still trying to catch my breath: “President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that the counter-protesters demonstrating against white nationalism were also to blame for the violence at race-fueled riots in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.”
* He’s quite a social media wiz: “President Donald Trump took about 20 minutes to delete a pair of tweets on Tuesday morning — one in which a user called the president a ‘fascist’ and another showing a train with Trump’s name on it running over the CNN logo.”
* After this afternoon, I expect more rebukes along these lines: “Walmart’s chief executive has issued a strong rebuke of President Trump’s response to the protests that turned violent in Charlottesville, Va., saying the president ‘missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together.’”
* Quite a sight in Durham: “Chanting ‘No K.K.K., no fascist U.S.A.,’ the protesters slung a rope around the Confederate soldier’s neck and pulled. The crowd stepped back, out of the way, and the soldier came crashing to the ground in a heap of crumpled metal.”
* Trump-Russia: “Three days after Donald Trump named his campaign foreign policy team in March 2016, the youngest of the new advisers sent an email to seven campaign officials with the subject line: ‘Meeting with Russian Leadership – Including Putin.’ The adviser, George Papadopoulos, offered to set up ‘a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss US-Russia ties under President Trump,’ telling them his Russian contacts welcomed the opportunity, according to internal campaign emails read to The Washington Post.” * Boston: “For the second time this summer, the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston was vandalized when a 17-year-old allegedly threw a rock Monday evening through one of the glass panels, shattering it.” * Working its way through Texas’ legislature: “The bill would prohibit all insurance companies from covering abortion care in their standard plans, requiring women to pay extra premiums for coverage if they think they may need abortions at some point in the next year. The ban would apply not only to insurance plans on the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act, but also to any plans sponsored by employers or purchased on the private market.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
