A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
‘I Think You Have To Rehabilitate Christian Nationalism’
The nonprofit Centre for Climate Reporting ran a journalistic sting operation on Project 2025 architect Russ Vought, who was the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget in the Trump administration and has been at the forefront of preparing for the takeover of the federal government in a Trump II presidency.
I’ve written before about my reservations about the difficulty of where to draw the ethical lines around these kinds of reporting tactics, so I’m not go to revisit that here, but the gist of the setup is that a CCR reporter and a paid actor pretended to be relatives of a fictitious big-dollar donor looking to support Project 2025 financially. They lured Vought to a Washington, D.C., hotel last month and surreptitiously recorded him.
CNN, among others, has an abbreviated write-up of CCR’s report.
It’s a very revealing window into how Vought talks about it all in private. When he says, ‘I think you have to rehabilitate Christian nationalism,’ that validates a lot of the reporting that TPM has been doing about the undercurrents informing Project 2025. Not so much undercurrent now is it?
For a lot of people reading this yesterday, it served as “proof” that the suspected nefariousness of Project 2025 is closely tied to Trump himself. I frankly think that was already firmly established and not in doubt, so I’m not sure how much more that really adds, especially when you consider the dynamic here. Vought thought he was talking to representatives of a potential donor so of course he’s going to tout his influence, power, and close ties to Trump while downplaying Trump’s recent efforts to distance himself from Project 2025. His incentives are lined up here in a way that makes these not admissions against his own interest.
Still, there’s a lot to chew on here:
TPM Interviews Bernie Sanders
In a (non-surreptitious) interview with TPM’s Hunter Walker, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gives his seal of approval to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
This Lands Extra Hard When Voiced By Someone Else
@whatchugotforme How to be a black woman
♬ original sound – NewsNation
On The Trail
- Harris in North Carolina: Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to unveil elements of her proposed first 100 days economic program today at a speech in Raleigh, including: $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time home buyers; a call for the construction of 3 million new housing units in her first four years in office; a federal ban on corporate price gouging on groceries; and $6,000 tax credit for newborns.
- Veep debate: Vance and Walz agree to debate on Oct. 1 with CBS News
- What WAS that? TPM’s Nicole Lafond on Trump’s very strange Bedminister press conference yesterday.
Fun With Maps
Doug Sosnik has a very intuitive Electoral College map graphic up at the NYT showing the different paths to 270 electoral votes for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
2024 Ephemera
- Welcome back, Corey? The Trump campaign has brought on five new senior advisers: Corey Lewandowski, Tim Murtaugh, Taylor Budowich, Alex Pfeiffer, and Alex Bruesewitz.
- On a first-name basis: Harris is leaning into ‘Kamala’
- So much cheese to go around: Trump made $300,000 off that cheesy endorsement of cheesy Lee Greenwood’s cheesy “God Bless the USA” Bible.
- Speaking of cheesy: These kinds of videos are really, really hard to pull off without triggering my cringe reflex, but I actually made it all the way through this without suffering second-hand embarrassment:
Trump Shooting Update
- In the aftermath of last month’s assassination attempt, the Secret Service has redeployed some members of President Biden’s protective team to the Trump campaign.
- Trump could resume outdoor campaign rallies at some point as the Secret Service arranges to surround his podium with bulletproof glass, multiple sources told ABC News.
Trump Tries To Postpone His Sentencing Again
Trump is making a new effort to once again delay his sentencing in the New York hush money case, which was already moved back once to Sept. 18.
Abortion Watch
The Montana Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state’s parental consent law for minors seeking abortions violates the privacy clause in the state constitution.
For Your Radar …
The full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has set aside a three-judge panel decision supportive of transgender care and agreed to rehear the case, Chris Geidner reports.
Meanwhile, In Florida …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New College of Florida tosses hundreds of library books, empties gender diversity library
Enjoy Your Weekend!
Sending you off with this week’s extended conversation between Nick Cave and Stephen Colbert, two smart, literate, spiritual, and emotionally attuned men who have dealt with grievous loss at different stages of their lives, which gifted them with great insight and perspective:
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Trump says presidential civilian award is ‘better’ than top military honor whose recipients are ‘dead’ or ‘hit’ by bullets (msn.com)
No Medal of Freedom for him, then.
and they could also place the podium under a cone of silence in order to spare non-attending sentient citizens from additional trauma.
Very serious congressperson representing the party of moral values