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STILL FEELING THE BERN … "Hillary Clinton Continues to Blame Everyone But Herself for 2016 Loss," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: Discussing prospective nominees, Hillary called out her 2016 primary opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), saying his refusal to endorse her sooner "hurt me" and adding that she hopes "he doesn't do it again" in the event that he does not win the 2020 Democratic nomination. When pressed by [radio host Howard] Stern, Hillary declined to say she was angry at Sanders, but she said she was "disappointed" in the senator for contributing to her defeat in the general election.
Earlier in the interview, Hillary told Stern that she had "never even been tempted" to have a lesbian affair because "contrary to what you may hear, I like men." The thirsty effort to boost her heterosexual bona fides comes amid increasing speculation that Hillary is preparing to launch a third bid for the White House in 2020.
GRIM REEFER … "Bloomberg’s Views on Marijuana Out of Step With Democratic Field," via WSJ: In a speech in January this year at the Naval Academy, [Michael] Bloomberg called legalizing marijuana "perhaps the stupidest thing anybody has ever done." …
In 2013, Mr. Bloomberg called medical marijuana "one of the greatest hoaxes of all time." "Medical, my foot," he said on a radio show at the time.
WHITENESS MANIFEST … "What Happened When Pete Buttigieg Toured the South to Meet Black Voters," via NYT: The trip provided little evidence Mr. Buttigieg was cleaving black support away from Mr. Biden in South Carolina, who has long relationships in the state that predate his time serving under President Barack Obama …
Evelena Moultrie, a 64-year-old school bus driver from Hollywood, S.C., who came to see him at a union-focused stop in North Charleston, said she wasn’t happy to hear Mr. Buttigieg’s remark about black role models, which he subsequently apologized for.
"Right now he has a little stigma following him around," she said.
DADDY, WHAT’S BURISMA? … "Judge in Arkansas paternity case says Hunter Biden must provide financial files," via ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE: Circuit Judge Don McSpadden gave Biden and Lunden Alexis Roberts each 10 days to file "completed" financial records with the court. McSpadden has previously said the financial records will remain under seal …
Roberts is asking the court to declare that Biden is her child's biological father and to order him to pay child support and provide health insurance for the toddler.
THE ONLY DEMOCRAT WHO UNDERSTANDS MATH … "Yang on Impeachment: ‘This Is Going to Be a Loser’," by WFB's Elizabeth Matamoros: "It seems like all we can do is throw ineffective rocks at Donald Trump, and then it ends up leading unfortunately toward his reelection," [Andrew] Yang said during an interview on Rolling Stone‘s podcast "Useful Idiots." …
"I’m pro-impeachment, but this is going to be a loser," Yang said.
SQUAD GOALS … "Rashida Tlaib Headlined Anti-Semitic Hate Fest," by WFB's Adam Kredo: Tlaib headlined the American Muslims for Palestine's (AMP) 2020 election conference late last month in Chicago. The freshman lawmaker, known for her routine criticism of Israel and its supporters, shared the stage with a who's who of leading anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists, including Bernie Sanders surrogate Linda Sarsour …
The three-day AMP conference featured multiple panel discussions advocating for Israel's destruction and classifying Zionism and support for the Jewish state as a "disease."
DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR … "AOC Falsely Claims She Fast-Tracked HIV Drugs to Market," by WFB’s Yuichiro Kakutani: Responding to President Trump's criticism of House Democrats, progressive congresswoman [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] fabricated a personal achievement by claiming that she "took on Big Pharma" with "colleagues in hearings that brought PrEP generic a year early" in a tweet last week.
In fact, Gilead, the pharmaceutical company behind PrEP—a medication that can reduce the transmission risk of HIV by 99 percent—had reached an agreement back in 2014 to allow a generic version of the drug to come to market a year early.
TILLIS CHALLENGER IN TROUBLESOME TROUBLE … "Schumer-Backed NC Candidate Dodges on Impeachment," by WFB’s Collin Anderson: [Democratic Senate contender Cal] Cunningham refused to take a position when asked if he had "heard enough" to support impeachment during a Wednesday interview. The former state senator instead referred to President Donald Trump's "deeply, deeply troubling" actions that "we ought to be very deeply troubled about."
"The facts are pretty deeply troublesome," he said when pressed about whether he would commit to impeaching the president.
SEND THE BOMBERS! … "Trump Administration Considers 14,000 More Troops for Mideast," via WSJ: The deployment could double the number of U.S. military personnel who have been sent to the region since the start of a troop buildup in May. President Trump is expected to make a decision on the new deployments as soon as this month, those officials said.
Mr. Trump, facing an election next year, has long sought to exit foreign entanglements and avoid new conflicts. But on Iran—and partly at the behest of Israel—he is convinced of the need to counter the threat his aides say Tehran poses, the officials said.
GOOD NIGHT, SWEET PRINCESS … "Media Mourns Death of Kamala Harris Campaign," by WFB’s David Rutz: While Harris's campaign woes are well documented, CNN's Gloria Borger and MSNBC's Al Sharpton and Heidi Przybyla feted Harris as a "great" candidate, with Przybyla calling her "sparkling." Borger said she was a better candidate by the end of her campaign than when she started.
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, who previously called the senator "brilliant," "beautiful," and "a badass," said Harris appeared to check "all the boxes" and was possibly the victim of the media's double standard for female candidates.
TOUGH CROWD … "Pete Buttigieg Criticized by LGBT Magazine for Volunteer Work With ‘Homophobic’ Salvation Army," via NEWSWEEK: Out magazine wrote that the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, "should have supported an organization... created to cater to the needs of queer people" instead of the Salvation Army in a story resurfacing articles on the presidential primary contender volunteering for the charity.
It also reported that Buttigieg, who is himself a member of the gay community, received a "roasting" on social media Tuesday for his volunteering with the church group.
WHERE’S THANOS WHEN YOU NEED HIM … "Chris Pratt apologizes for posing with single use plastic bottle," via THE HILL: Actor Chris Pratt on Wednesday apologized for posting a photo on Instagram of him posing at a gym with a single-use plastic water bottle in his hand after "Aquaman" star Jason Momoa called out his fellow Hollywood star.
Pratt posted the Instagram photo on Tuesday as part of a collaboration with Amazon.
NATO OR MEAN GIRLS? … "CAUGHT ON TAPE: World Leaders Marvel at Trump’s Stamina," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: The footage appears to show U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte discussing Trump's stamina during a swanky function at Buckingham Palace.
"He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top," Trudeau says to the group, an apparent reference to the American president, who is renowned for his ability to answer tough questions from his enemies in the media.
DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,089. Come back, Joe!
"They have him in the candidate-protection program." —Fmr. Obama Chief Strategist David Axelrod
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