csmonitor--2020-06-17--Evangelicals or moderates? LGBTQ ruling may force GOP to choose.

Democrats flooded Twitter and email inboxes this week with praise for the watershed Supreme Court decision shielding gay , lesbian , and transgender people from job discrimination .
Republicans – not so much .
The court 's 6-3 ruling came just two days after an event that played out in the opposite direction .
Freshman GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman , who ’ d officiated at a same-sex wedding , lost his party ’ s nomination in a conservative Virginia district .
The two developments underscored an election-year challenge facing the GOP : how to reconcile broad national support for LGBTQ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with fervent opposition from some of the party 's die-hard conservative voters .
On Election Day , that question will be easily overshadowed by the moribund economy , the coronavirus pandemic , the interaction between race and violent police tactics , and by President Donald Trump himself .
Still , the week 's events point to a culture-war schism in the GOP that Democrats are happy to exploit , even as Republicans struggle to prevent moderate suburban voters from deserting them .
“ This is something suburban voters support , ” said GOP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a group that Republicans are having challenges with.
” In a December survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research , 62 % of Americans overall said they backed banning discrimination against gay , lesbian , bisexual , or transgender people in workplaces , housing , and schools .
That included around 3 in 4 Democrats and nearly half of Republicans .
That 's a turnaround from more negative feelings people had two decades ago .
“ Wake up , my Republican friends , the times , they are a-changing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , D-N.Y. , said Tuesday .
Yet just 33 % of white evangelical Protestants said they supported prohibiting broad LGBTQ discrimination .
In a September 2019 survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center , 61 % of Americans said making same-sex marriage legal was good for society while 72 % of white evangelical Protestants said it was bad .
Those voters are a crucial GOP bloc , especially in rural districts , and party leaders cross them at their own peril .
The Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the Constitution ensures a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ It ’ s decided law ” but some Republicans are using same-sex marriage as a “ divisive political tool , ” said Jerri Ann Henry , who resigned last year as executive director of Log Cabin Republicans , which represents LGBTQ members of the party .
Ms. Henry , a GOP strategist , said the battle over the issue is “ the exact thing that will further alienate suburban and independent voters.
” Within hours of Monday 's Supreme Court ruling , Democratic lawmakers unleashed a flood of statements hailing it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , mum .
Notably , praise came from two moderate GOP senators , Alaska 's Lisa Murkowski and Maine ’ s Susan Collins .
“ All Americans deserve a fair opportunity to pursue the American dream , ” tweeted Ms. Collins , a four-term senator in her toughest reelection race .
She called the decision “ a major advancement for LGBTQ rights.
” Ms. Collins ’ likely Democratic opponent , Sara Gideon , tweeted that the decision showed Ms. Collins “ will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s anti-LGBTQ+ nominees.
” Ms. Gideon 's focus was Ms. Collins ' pivotal 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh , which Democrats consider a major vulnerability for Ms. Collins .
Mr. Kavanaugh voted against this week ’ s court ruling .
Other Republicans were less receptive to the court 's decision .
Carrie Severino , president of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network , suggested the ruling would motivate conservative voters eager to ensure that Congress , not courts , control the law .
“ The Supreme Court is always a hugely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Severino said Tuesday .
If the court ’ s ruling wasn ’ t painful enough for Republicans , the opinion was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch , Mr. Trump ’ s first Supreme Court appointee .
Trump administration lawyers had argued on the side of employers who opposed lifting the discrimination ban .
Mr. Trump has voiced support for LGBTQ rights and appointed openly gay Richard Grenell to be acting director of national intelligence , though he ’ s since been replaced .
But Mr. Trump has also appointed numerous federal judges who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protections for transgender people .
And the GOP has embraced its 2016 party platform anew for this year ’ s campaign , a document that “ condemns the Supreme Court ’ s lawless ruling ” that legalized same-sex marriage .
“ Donald Trump has racked up some firsts , and that sets the tone in the Republican Party , ” said Charles Moran , managing director of Log Cabin Republicans .
But he added , “ There are definitely battles we still need to fight in some heartland areas ” of the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekend .
His short-circuited attempt to be renominated to Congress demonstrated that while religious conservatives have gotten more attention lately for opposing abortion , battling same-sex marriage resonates for many .
A member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus , Mr. Riggleman was endorsed by Mr. Trump and evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr .
But he was defeated Saturday at a GOP nominating convention in rural Virginia that , amid the pandemic , was conducted by delegates who voted by driving up to a church near his opponent 's home .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that sprawls from northern Virginia to the North Carolina border .
Mr. Riggleman officiated at a wedding last summer of two of his male friends and campaign aides .
He said that during Saturday 's voting , a constituent asked him to repent for conducting that wedding .
He said he responded he had nothing to repent for .
Mr. Riggleman said younger Republicans and those who 've served in the military like himself don ’ t see gay marriage as an issue .
He said if the GOP wants religious liberties protected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too .
“ If we can ’ t get over how other people live , I think the Republican Party is dead in Virginia , ” Mr. Riggleman said .
And he voiced no regrets for officiating at the wedding .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
AP writers Emily Swanson in Washington ; Alan Suderman in Richmond , Virginia ; and Elana Schor in New York contributed to this report .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ free .

Democrats flooded Twitter and email inboxes this week with praise for the watershed Supreme Court decision shielding gay, lesbian, and transgender people from job discrimination. Republicans – not so much.
The court's 6-3 ruling came just two days after an event that played out in the opposite direction. Freshman GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman, who’d officiated at a same-sex wedding, lost his party’s nomination in a conservative Virginia district.
The two developments underscored an election-year challenge facing the GOP: how to reconcile broad national support for LGBTQ protections, even among many Republicans, with fervent opposition from some of the party's die-hard conservative voters.
On Election Day, that question will be easily overshadowed by the moribund economy, the coronavirus pandemic, the interaction between race and violent police tactics, and by President Donald Trump himself. Still, the week's events point to a culture-war schism in the GOP that Democrats are happy to exploit, even as Republicans struggle to prevent moderate suburban voters from deserting them.
“This is something suburban voters support,” said GOP pollster Glen Bolger. “And that is a group that Republicans are having challenges with.”
Polling illustrates the GOP's dilemma.
In a December survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 62% of Americans overall said they backed banning discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people in workplaces, housing, and schools.
That included around 3 in 4 Democrats and nearly half of Republicans. That's a turnaround from more negative feelings people had two decades ago.
“Wake up, my Republican friends, the times, they are a-changing,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday.
Yet just 33% of white evangelical Protestants said they supported prohibiting broad LGBTQ discrimination. In a September 2019 survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans said making same-sex marriage legal was good for society while 72% of white evangelical Protestants said it was bad.
Those voters are a crucial GOP bloc, especially in rural districts, and party leaders cross them at their own peril. The Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the Constitution ensures a right for same-sex couples to marry.
“It’s decided law” but some Republicans are using same-sex marriage as a “divisive political tool,” said Jerri Ann Henry, who resigned last year as executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, which represents LGBTQ members of the party.
Ms. Henry, a GOP strategist, said the battle over the issue is “the exact thing that will further alienate suburban and independent voters.”
Within hours of Monday's Supreme Court ruling, Democratic lawmakers unleashed a flood of statements hailing it. GOP reaction was harder to find, with top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., mum.
Notably, praise came from two moderate GOP senators, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins.
“All Americans deserve a fair opportunity to pursue the American dream,” tweeted Ms. Collins, a four-term senator in her toughest reelection race. She called the decision “a major advancement for LGBTQ rights.”
Ms. Collins’ likely Democratic opponent, Sara Gideon, tweeted that the decision showed Ms. Collins “will continue to be a reliable vote for Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ nominees.” Ms. Gideon's focus was Ms. Collins' pivotal 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, which Democrats consider a major vulnerability for Ms. Collins. Mr. Kavanaugh voted against this week’s court ruling.
Other Republicans were less receptive to the court's decision.
Carrie Severino, president of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, suggested the ruling would motivate conservative voters eager to ensure that Congress, not courts, control the law.
“The Supreme Court is always a hugely important issue to conservatives,” Ms. Severino said Tuesday.
If the court’s ruling wasn’t painful enough for Republicans, the opinion was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, Mr. Trump’s first Supreme Court appointee. Trump administration lawyers had argued on the side of employers who opposed lifting the discrimination ban.
Mr. Trump has voiced support for LGBTQ rights and appointed openly gay Richard Grenell to be acting director of national intelligence, though he’s since been replaced.
But Mr. Trump has also appointed numerous federal judges who opposed LGBTQ rights and rolled back federal protections for transgender people. And the GOP has embraced its 2016 party platform anew for this year’s campaign, a document that “condemns the Supreme Court’s lawless ruling” that legalized same-sex marriage.
“Donald Trump has racked up some firsts, and that sets the tone in the Republican Party,” said Charles Moran, managing director of Log Cabin Republicans. But he added, “There are definitely battles we still need to fight in some heartland areas” of the country.
Mr. Riggleman learned that firsthand last weekend. His short-circuited attempt to be renominated to Congress demonstrated that while religious conservatives have gotten more attention lately for opposing abortion, battling same-sex marriage resonates for many.
A member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, Mr. Riggleman was endorsed by Mr. Trump and evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr.
But he was defeated Saturday at a GOP nominating convention in rural Virginia that, amid the pandemic, was conducted by delegates who voted by driving up to a church near his opponent's home. It was the only polling location in a district that sprawls from northern Virginia to the North Carolina border.
Mr. Riggleman officiated at a wedding last summer of two of his male friends and campaign aides. He said that during Saturday's voting, a constituent asked him to repent for conducting that wedding. He said he responded he had nothing to repent for.
Mr. Riggleman said younger Republicans and those who've served in the military like himself don’t see gay marriage as an issue. He said if the GOP wants religious liberties protected, it must embrace civil liberties, too.
“If we can’t get over how other people live, I think the Republican Party is dead in Virginia,” Mr. Riggleman said. And he voiced no regrets for officiating at the wedding.
“I wouldn’t change a damn thing," he said.
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This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writers Emily Swanson in Washington; Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia; and Elana Schor in New York contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-06-17--A flag with 51 stars? House to vote on Washington statehood.

Democrats controlling the House have slated a vote next week to make the District of Columbia the 51st state , an issue that they say has become far more important in the aftermath of protests for racial justice in Washington and across the nation .
Next Friday 's vote , if successful , would pass a Washington statehood bill for the first time in the House , but the legislation faces insurmountable opposition in the GOP-controlled Senate .
It comes even as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced delays in the consideration of most other legislation .
More than enough lawmakers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pass .
In 1993 , the Democratic-controlled Congress defeated a Washington statehood bill by an almost 2-1 margin .
But the much-criticized administration move to use federal forces to clear Lafayette Square near the White House of peaceful protesters to enable President Donald Trump to trumpet his law and order credentials in a photo op two weeks ago prompted Democratic leaders to schedule the vote .
`` We both agreed this was an appropriate time to bring a bill forward to show respect for the citizens of the District of Columbia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York .
`` There should n't be troops from other states in Washington , D.C. , '' said Mayor Muriel Bowser , who presented Mr. Hoyer on Tuesday with a United States flag bearing 51 stars .
`` There should n't be federal forces advancing against Americans , and there very definitely should n't be soldiers stationed around our city waiting for the go to attack Americans in a local policing matter . ''
A plurality of the District of Columbia is African American and the city is overwhelmingly Democratic .
Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will never be a state '' because it would likely mean two more Democratic senators .
`` No , thank you .
That 'll never happen , '' he told the New York Post .
But Mr. Hoyer said the rights of Washington residents should transcend political calculations .
`` This is not about politics .
If it is , then we demean our democracy , '' he said .
`` This is about who we are as a country . ''
Ms. Bowser pointed out that Washington taxpayers get no voting representatives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taxes on a per person basis than many states .
The nation 's capital , with just over 700,000 residents , has a larger population than Vermont and Wyoming .
Ms. Bowser said recent events have focused national attention on the plight of Washington , D.C .
Earlier this year , when Congress passed the CARES Act stimulus package , Washington was classified as a territory rather than a state – a distinction that cost the district more than $ 700 million in federal coronavirus relief funding .
All district laws are subject @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which can veto them or alter them by attaching riders to federal appropriations bills .
During GOP control of Congress , conservatives have sought , mostly unsuccessfully , to restrict some of the city 's liberal initiatives such as needle exchanges for drug users and abortions under its Medicaid program .
Most recently , a 2014 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use passed overwhelmingly .
But Congress stepped in and essentially vetoed the initiative by prohibiting the district government from spending any funds or resources on developing a regulatory or taxation system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Trump 's actions during the protests `` violated our principles of Americans being able to peacefully protest and it violated our principles of local autonomy . ''
As a result , Ms. Bowser said her office is now fielding unprecedented interest in the issue from around the country .
She was recently interviewed on `` The Late Late Show '' where host James Cordon said he had only just learned that the district has no senators and only one non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives .
`` A lot of Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bowser said .
`` When Americans know about the issue of D.C. statehood , they support D.C .
statehood . ''
Mr. Hoyer acknowledged that the bill faces stiff opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate and called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-KY. , to take the measure seriously .
`` I hope that Senator McConnell cares enough about our democracy to allow a vote on this bill in the United States Senate , '' Mr. Hoyer said .
`` Politics is not the issue .
It 's democracy that 's the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by The Associated Press .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

Democrats controlling the House have slated a vote next week to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, an issue that they say has become far more important in the aftermath of protests for racial justice in Washington and across the nation.
Next Friday's vote, if successful, would pass a Washington statehood bill for the first time in the House, but the legislation faces insurmountable opposition in the GOP-controlled Senate. It comes even as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced delays in the consideration of most other legislation. More than enough lawmakers are officially backing the bill for it to pass. In 1993, the Democratic-controlled Congress defeated a Washington statehood bill by an almost 2-1 margin.
But the much-criticized administration move to use federal forces to clear Lafayette Square near the White House of peaceful protesters to enable President Donald Trump to trumpet his law and order credentials in a photo op two weeks ago prompted Democratic leaders to schedule the vote. "We both agreed this was an appropriate time to bring a bill forward to show respect for the citizens of the District of Columbia," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of New York.
"There shouldn't be troops from other states in Washington, D.C.," said Mayor Muriel Bowser, who presented Mr. Hoyer on Tuesday with a United States flag bearing 51 stars. "There shouldn't be federal forces advancing against Americans, and there very definitely shouldn't be soldiers stationed around our city waiting for the go to attack Americans in a local policing matter."
A plurality of the District of Columbia is African American and the city is overwhelmingly Democratic. Mr. Trump said last month that "D.C. will never be a state" because it would likely mean two more Democratic senators. "No, thank you. That'll never happen," he told the New York Post.
But Mr. Hoyer said the rights of Washington residents should transcend political calculations.
"This is not about politics. If it is, then we demean our democracy," he said. "This is about who we are as a country."
Ms. Bowser pointed out that Washington taxpayers get no voting representatives in Congress despite contributing more in federal taxes on a per person basis than many states. The nation's capital, with just over 700,000 residents, has a larger population than Vermont and Wyoming.
Ms. Bowser said recent events have focused national attention on the plight of Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, when Congress passed the CARES Act stimulus package, Washington was classified as a territory rather than a state – a distinction that cost the district more than $700 million in federal coronavirus relief funding.
All district laws are subject to review by a congressional committee, which can veto them or alter them by attaching riders to federal appropriations bills. During GOP control of Congress, conservatives have sought, mostly unsuccessfully, to restrict some of the city's liberal initiatives such as needle exchanges for drug users and abortions under its Medicaid program.
Most recently, a 2014 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use passed overwhelmingly. But Congress stepped in and essentially vetoed the initiative by prohibiting the district government from spending any funds or resources on developing a regulatory or taxation system for marijuana sales.
Ms. Bowser said Mr. Trump's actions during the protests "violated our principles of Americans being able to peacefully protest and it violated our principles of local autonomy."
As a result, Ms. Bowser said her office is now fielding unprecedented interest in the issue from around the country. She was recently interviewed on "The Late Late Show" where host James Cordon said he had only just learned that the district has no senators and only one non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives.
"A lot of Americans are in that place," Ms. Bowser said. "When Americans know about the issue of D.C. statehood, they support D.C. statehood."
Mr. Hoyer acknowledged that the bill faces stiff opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate and called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY., to take the measure seriously.
"I hope that Senator McConnell cares enough about our democracy to allow a vote on this bill in the United States Senate," Mr. Hoyer said. "Politics is not the issue. It's democracy that's the issue."
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This story was reported by The Associated Press.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-06-18--Racial protests prompt waves of upheaval in America’s newsrooms

“ If there ’ s a North Star for commentary , it really should be presenting views that are diverse and intellectually credible , ” she says .
“ What purpose is served in telling people to not read something ?
” That ’ s raising questions within newsrooms about whether such curbs on speech are compatible with the search for truth and engendering public trust in the press .
The often contrarian opinion columnist Meghan Daum wonders whether she ’ d make it into the nation ’ s biggest publications if she were just starting out today .
Such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drive to shift the range of “ acceptable ” opinions within organizations .
“ We need to , as journalists , be clear about and embrace our values , which in my view should include anti-racism , ” says journalist Lewis Wallace , author of “ The View From Somewhere.
” In the wake of this month ’ s Black Lives Matter protests , newsrooms across the country are being challenged by mostly younger journalists to not only diversify their staffs but also to drop “ both sides ” journalism in favor of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They ’ re questioning restrictions against joining political protests and posting opinions on social media .
And they ’ ve agitated to oust veteran colleagues who ’ ve published controversial opinion pieces .
In 2017 , the syndicated radio show Marketplace fired a reporter for violating a tenet of the profession : neutrality .
Journalist Lewis Wallace had written a personal blog post about the role of the Fourth Estate during the Donald Trump era titled “ Objectivity is dead , and I ’ m okay with it.
” He also strongly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white supremacists .
“ The argument that I was making at that time was essentially that this idea of objective journalism is no longer shaping up , ” says the transgender millennial , who was dismissed for expressing a political opinion by a media outlet keen to avoid perceptions of bias .
“ We need to , as journalists , be clear about and embrace our values , which in my view should include anti-racism.
” Mr. Wallace now appears to have been just a few years ahead of his time .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black Lives Matter protests , newsrooms across the country are being challenged by mostly younger journalists to not only diversify their staffs but also to drop “ both sides ” journalism in favor of more activist stances which they believe provide moral clarity .
They ’ re questioning restrictions against joining political protests and posting opinions on social media .
And they ’ ve agitated to oust veteran colleagues who ’ ve published controversial opinion pieces .
The push for social justice advocacy isn ’ t just happening at media outlets such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and millennial employees are urging similar stances within tech companies , big corporations , book publishers , and arts organizations .
Such calls for a moral North Star have often been accompanied by a drive to shift the range of “ acceptable ” opinions within organizations .
That ’ s raising questions within newsrooms about whether such curbs on speech are compatible with the search for truth and engendering public trust in the press .
It ’ s a debate that is likely to shape the future of 21st-century journalism .
“ One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that newsrooms have kind of developed a culture of their own , ” says Jeffrey McCall , a professor of media studies at DePauw University in Greencastle , Indiana .
“ The culture is not necessarily that we are providing information for an electorate so that self-governing citizens can make their own decisions – but that , in fact , we are creating news organizations that are designed to influence public opinion.
” Others argue that the media ’ s long-standing tradition of presenting a balance of voices creates a problematic impression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ‘ objectivity ’ -obsessed , both-sides journalism is a failed experiment , ” tweeted former Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery , a winner of the Pulitzer Prize who was arrested while covering the 2014 protests in Ferguson , Missouri .
Some contend that the tumult across America this month underscores the importance of staking out racial justice principles .
They believe it ’ s not just opinion pages that need to be reformed , but news reporting , too .
Mr. Wallace , the former Marketplace employee , recently published a book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ objectivity ” has historically given newspapers cover to repress and sideline muckrakers such as Ida B .
Wells , the Black investigative reporter who documented America ’ s sordid history of lynchings during the late 19th and early 20th centuries .
“ There ’ s this long tradition in the Black press of journalism as resistance , journalism as activism , ” says Mr. Wallace , author of “ The View From Somewhere.
” “ It took activism and advocacy on the part of Black journalists , but also Black activists using the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ using live video footage , using Instagram , you know , documenting it – to get the mainstream media to report the truth about police violence in the United States.
” Since the protests began , employees at numerous news organizations have staked out activist positions .
The staff of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are currently engaged in a stand-off with executive editor Keith Burris ( who has written opinion pieces in support of President Donald Trump ) .
After Mr. Burris barred a Black reporter from covering the protests because of a tweet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge contingent of the newsroom rose up to support her .
They , too , were then barred from reporting on the protests .
The top editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer recently exited the paper following a furor over a piece by the staff architecture critic with the headline : “ Buildings Matter , too.
” At The Intercept , colleagues of writer Lee Fang exacted an apology from the journalist for posting a video interview with a Black man who asked , “ Why does a Black life matter only when a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff revolt that has garnered the most attention is at The New York Times .
Outrage erupted over a June 3 op-ed in which Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas proposed the use of military force to quell rioting .
Many Times staffers claimed that Senator Cotton ’ s proposal , if enacted , would put Black journalists in harm ’ s way .
Further objections asserted that the piece included factual inaccuracies .
Within days , opinion section editor James Bennet resigned .
Amid the fallout , New York Times columnist Bari @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into two camps .
“ The New York Times motto is ‘ all the news that ’ s fit to print , ’ ” tweeted Ms. Weiss .
“ One group emphasizes the word ‘ all.
’ The other , the word ‘ fit.
’ ” The columnist blamed a culture of “ safetyism ” among more recent college graduates .
Other staffers took issue with her analysis , with her tweets themselves generating harsh pushback .
“ It is an expansion of some of the mentalities on college campuses ... looking at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of violence or being harmful , ” says Donald Downs , author of “ Free Speech and Liberal Education.
” It also reflects a change in the politics of the left , says Mr. Downs , a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison .
The “ woke ” wing has moved away from the classic New Deal liberalism exemplified by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis , who famously declared that the remedy for falsehood and fallacies is more speech , not enforced silence .
In recent years , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in newsrooms .
After initially booking former Trump adviser Steve Bannon for a live interview at The New Yorker Festival , editor David Remnick quickly backtracked following an outcry from his staff .
Similarly , The Atlantic fired conservative writer Kevin Williamson just days after hiring him , because the magazine ’ s rank-and-file objected to one of his earlier controversial statements on abortion .
“ I think Thackeray had it about right in ‘ Vanity Fair ’ : ‘ One of the great conditions of anger and hatred is , that you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hated object , ’ ” Mr. Williamson says in an email .
“ Nobody seriously believes that James Bennet has it in for black people or that Tom Cotton is a fascist , but if you can lie to yourself successfully enough , then you believe that everybody who disagrees with you is the moral equivalent of Adolf Hitler , which makes practically everything permissible : lies , the suppression of speech , the weaponization of employment for enforcing conformity.
” The often contrarian opinion columnist Meghan Daum wonders whether she ’ d @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biggest publications if she were just starting out today .
Though the former New Yorker and Los Angeles Times columnist disagreed with Senator Cotton ’ s proposal to send in the troops , she frets that if a sitting senator becomes persona non grata on an opinion page , then readers who already have low trust in the media may simply leave and never come back .
“ If there ’ s a North Star for commentary , it really should be presenting views that are diverse and intellectually credible , that are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Daum , author of “ The Problem With Everything.
” “ With a lot of these columnists , it ’ s like there ’ s an unwillingness to surprise their own audience – almost a fear of doing so .
I mean , I ’ ve seen columnists go on Twitter and tell people , don ’ t bother reading such-and-such .
Don ’ t bother reading this article .
And I want to say , ‘ Why are you in the business ?
” she says .
“ What purpose is served @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
” Many newsrooms have been undergoing a kind of reckoning of late , as the racial protests have shined a bright light on their own workplaces as highly elite – and still mostly white – organizations .
For John Watson , who worked for 21 years at the Jersey Journal as its first Black reporter , diversity in the newsroom isn ’ t a matter of ticking boxes , it ’ s a matter of professional importance .
If the newsroom isn ’ t properly representative , a portion of humanity ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the news , he says .
Minority reporters will spot stories that others will miss .
Case in point : When Mr. Watson was city editor in the early 1980s , he received a regular FBI crime report , including for the newspaper ’ s county .
But when he looked at the homicide count , he grew suspicious .
“ I thought it was off by 10 or 12 , ” says Mr. Watson , now a professor at American University ’ s journalism school , where he specializes in media law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t count homicides by police , only civilians .
...
It really hit me .
Wow , the right people weren ’ t there to say , ‘ Look at these killings .
They aren ’ t being reported .
There ’ s a significant number of killings not in the uniformed crime report.
’ ” The Christian Science Monitor hosted an internal town hall meeting in which staff raised questions about the newspaper ’ s lack of Black staff reporters and its guidelines that forbid public expressions of opinion .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take the best of this new thinking to expand and strengthen our work , ” says Mark Sappenfield , editor of the Monitor .
“ This can be a moment to build and do better.
” Some argue that , as newspapers work to hire journalists from more diverse backgrounds in an effort to better understand those communities , it makes little sense to then effectively muzzle those writers ’ points of view .
At the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York , professors Jeff Jarvis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in social journalism .
The idea is to develop a relationship with self-identified communities and then figure out how best to serve them as journalists .
But Mr. Jarvis admits , the question of what the proper distance is between journalists and their subjects doesn ’ t have an easy answer – as he discovered while talking to his class right after the 2016 election .
“ We talked about empathy .
And African American students in particular in that class said , ‘ No .
If you ’ re asking me to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve never been empathetic to me and mine , no , ’ ” recalls Mr. Jarvis , a renowned media analyst and creator of Entertainment Weekly .
“ I said that as a human being , I understand and agree .
As a citizen , I understand and agree .
As a journalist , however , you have the need to attempt to understand even those people.
” Those who champion the elusive ideal of objectivity , or at least fairness , contend that citizens seldom agree on what constitutes morality .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broadly agree on the need to advance the interests of women , yet disagree on how best to do so .
DePauw ’ s Mr. McCall says mainstream media outlets should first strive to fulfill the democratic function of providing information in as detailed and fair a way as possible .
Then , second , offer clearly labeled analysis or interpretation of the news .
For all the disagreements , journalists on both sides of the debate can still find common agreement around certain principles : serving communities , watching out for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ account , and being fully transparent .
The journalistic value that Mr. Wallace prizes above all is curiosity .
“ There ’ s a funny way in which objectivity and impartiality actually foreclose curiosity , ” he says .
“ What that often ends up doing is restricting or limiting the debate to ‘ left ’ versus ‘ right.
’ Or the parties who are already assumed to have a stake .
I think curiosity can be quite radical and can blow up an idea of what reality and what voices might need @ @ @ @ @

“If there’s a North Star for commentary, it really should be presenting views that are diverse and intellectually credible,” she says. “What purpose is served in telling people to not read something?”
That’s raising questions within newsrooms about whether such curbs on speech are compatible with the search for truth and engendering public trust in the press. The often contrarian opinion columnist Meghan Daum wonders whether she’d make it into the nation’s biggest publications if she were just starting out today.
Such calls have often been accompanied by a drive to shift the range of “acceptable” opinions within organizations.
A highly charged debate over advocating for racial justice and what that means for the long-standing journalistic goal of neutrality is likely to shape the future of 21st-century media.
“We need to, as journalists, be clear about and embrace our values, which in my view should include anti-racism,” says journalist Lewis Wallace, author of “The View From Somewhere.”
In the wake of this month’s Black Lives Matter protests, newsrooms across the country are being challenged by mostly younger journalists to not only diversify their staffs but also to drop “both sides” journalism in favor of stances that they believe provide moral clarity. They’re questioning restrictions against joining political protests and posting opinions on social media. And they’ve agitated to oust veteran colleagues who’ve published controversial opinion pieces.
In 2017, the syndicated radio show Marketplace fired a reporter for violating a tenet of the profession: neutrality.
Journalist Lewis Wallace had written a personal blog post about the role of the Fourth Estate during the Donald Trump era titled “Objectivity is dead, and I’m okay with it.” He also strongly implied that the president is affiliated with white supremacists.
“The argument that I was making at that time was essentially that this idea of objective journalism is no longer shaping up,” says the transgender millennial, who was dismissed for expressing a political opinion by a media outlet keen to avoid perceptions of bias. “We need to, as journalists, be clear about and embrace our values, which in my view should include anti-racism.”
Why We Wrote This A highly charged debate over advocating for racial justice and what that means for the long-standing journalistic goal of neutrality is likely to shape the future of 21st-century media.
Mr. Wallace now appears to have been just a few years ahead of his time. In the wake of this month’s Black Lives Matter protests, newsrooms across the country are being challenged by mostly younger journalists to not only diversify their staffs but also to drop “both sides” journalism in favor of more activist stances which they believe provide moral clarity. They’re questioning restrictions against joining political protests and posting opinions on social media. And they’ve agitated to oust veteran colleagues who’ve published controversial opinion pieces.
The push for social justice advocacy isn’t just happening at media outlets such as The New York Times. Generation Z and millennial employees are urging similar stances within tech companies, big corporations, book publishers, and arts organizations. Such calls for a moral North Star have often been accompanied by a drive to shift the range of “acceptable” opinions within organizations. That’s raising questions within newsrooms about whether such curbs on speech are compatible with the search for truth and engendering public trust in the press. It’s a debate that is likely to shape the future of 21st-century journalism.
“One of the factors here, frankly, is that newsrooms have kind of developed a culture of their own,” says Jeffrey McCall, a professor of media studies at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. “The culture is not necessarily that we are providing information for an electorate so that self-governing citizens can make their own decisions – but that, in fact, we are creating news organizations that are designed to influence public opinion.”
Others argue that the media’s long-standing tradition of presenting a balance of voices creates a problematic impression of moral equivalence.
“American view-from-nowhere, ‘objectivity’-obsessed, both-sides journalism is a failed experiment,” tweeted former Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize who was arrested while covering the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
Some contend that the tumult across America this month underscores the importance of staking out racial justice principles. They believe it’s not just opinion pages that need to be reformed, but news reporting, too.
Mr. Wallace, the former Marketplace employee, recently published a book that argues the journalistic tradition of “objectivity” has historically given newspapers cover to repress and sideline muckrakers such as Ida B. Wells, the Black investigative reporter who documented America’s sordid history of lynchings during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
“There’s this long tradition in the Black press of journalism as resistance, journalism as activism,” says Mr. Wallace, author of “The View From Somewhere.” “It took activism and advocacy on the part of Black journalists, but also Black activists using the means of journalism – using Twitter, using live video footage, using Instagram, you know, documenting it – to get the mainstream media to report the truth about police violence in the United States.”
Newsroom revolts
Since the protests began, employees at numerous news organizations have staked out activist positions. The staff of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are currently engaged in a stand-off with executive editor Keith Burris (who has written opinion pieces in support of President Donald Trump). After Mr. Burris barred a Black reporter from covering the protests because of a tweet that he believed revealed bias, a huge contingent of the newsroom rose up to support her. They, too, were then barred from reporting on the protests.
The top editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer recently exited the paper following a furor over a piece by the staff architecture critic with the headline: “Buildings Matter, too.” At The Intercept, colleagues of writer Lee Fang exacted an apology from the journalist for posting a video interview with a Black man who asked, “Why does a Black life matter only when a white man takes it?”
Andrew Harnik/AP View caption Hide caption Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington May 5, 2020. Senator Cotton wrote a controversial New York Times op-ed arguing that local law enforcement may need active-duty military forces to help tamp down racial unrest in the U.S. Days after its publication, and following an internal uproar at the Times, the editor of the paper's opinion section, James Bennet, resigned.
The staff revolt that has garnered the most attention is at The New York Times. Outrage erupted over a June 3 op-ed in which Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas proposed the use of military force to quell rioting. Many Times staffers claimed that Senator Cotton’s proposal, if enacted, would put Black journalists in harm’s way. Further objections asserted that the piece included factual inaccuracies. Within days, opinion section editor James Bennet resigned.
Amid the fallout, New York Times columnist Bari Weiss tweeted that the newspaper was split into two camps. “The New York Times motto is ‘all the news that’s fit to print,’” tweeted Ms. Weiss. “One group emphasizes the word ‘all.’ The other, the word ‘fit.’”
The columnist blamed a culture of “safetyism” among more recent college graduates. Other staffers took issue with her analysis, with her tweets themselves generating harsh pushback.
“It is an expansion of some of the mentalities on college campuses ... looking at controversial or unwanted speech as a form of violence or being harmful,” says Donald Downs, author of “Free Speech and Liberal Education.” It also reflects a change in the politics of the left, says Mr. Downs, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The “woke” wing has moved away from the classic New Deal liberalism exemplified by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who famously declared that the remedy for falsehood and fallacies is more speech, not enforced silence.
In recent years, there have been foreshadowings of the current upheavals in newsrooms. After initially booking former Trump adviser Steve Bannon for a live interview at The New Yorker Festival, editor David Remnick quickly backtracked following an outcry from his staff. Similarly, The Atlantic fired conservative writer Kevin Williamson just days after hiring him, because the magazine’s rank-and-file objected to one of his earlier controversial statements on abortion.
“I think Thackeray had it about right in ‘Vanity Fair’: ‘One of the great conditions of anger and hatred is, that you must tell and believe lies against the hated object,’” Mr. Williamson says in an email. “Nobody seriously believes that James Bennet has it in for black people or that Tom Cotton is a fascist, but if you can lie to yourself successfully enough, then you believe that everybody who disagrees with you is the moral equivalent of Adolf Hitler, which makes practically everything permissible: lies, the suppression of speech, the weaponization of employment for enforcing conformity.”
The often contrarian opinion columnist Meghan Daum wonders whether she’d make it into the nation’s biggest publications if she were just starting out today. Though the former Los Angeles Times columnist disagreed with Senator Cotton’s proposal to send in the troops, she frets that if a sitting senator becomes persona non grata on an opinion page, then readers who already have low trust in the media may simply leave and never come back.
“If there’s a North Star for commentary, it really should be presenting views that are diverse and intellectually credible, that are offering something new,” says Ms. Daum, author of “The Problem With Everything.”
“With a lot of these columnists, it’s like there’s an unwillingness to surprise their own audience – almost a fear of doing so. I mean, I’ve seen columnists go on Twitter and tell people, don’t bother reading such-and-such. Don’t bother reading this article. And I want to say, ‘Why are you in the business?” she says. “What purpose is served in telling people to not read something?”
A reckoning
Many newsrooms have been undergoing a kind of reckoning of late, as the racial protests have shined a bright light on their own workplaces as highly elite – and still mostly white – organizations.
For John Watson, who worked for 21 years at the Jersey Journal as its first Black reporter, diversity in the newsroom isn’t a matter of ticking boxes, it’s a matter of professional importance. If the newsroom isn’t properly representative, a portion of humanity’s issues may not make it into the news, he says. Minority reporters will spot stories that others will miss. Case in point: When Mr. Watson was city editor in the early 1980s, he received a regular FBI crime report, including for the newspaper’s county. But when he looked at the homicide count, he grew suspicious.
“I thought it was off by 10 or 12,” says Mr. Watson, now a professor at American University’s journalism school, where he specializes in media law and journalism ethics. “They didn’t count homicides by police, only civilians. ... It really hit me. Wow, the right people weren’t there to say, ‘Look at these killings. They aren’t being reported. There’s a significant number of killings not in the uniform crime report.’”
The Christian Science Monitor hosted an internal town hall meeting in which staff raised questions about the newspaper’s lack of Black staff reporters and its guidelines that forbid public expressions of opinion.
“The question is, how we can take the best of this new thinking to expand and strengthen our work,” says Mark Sappenfield, editor of the Monitor. “This can be a moment to build and do better.”
Some argue that, as newspapers work to hire journalists from more diverse backgrounds in an effort to better understand those communities, it makes little sense to then effectively muzzle those writers’ points of view.
At the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, professors Jeff Jarvis and Carrie Brown recently launched a degree in social journalism. The idea is to develop a relationship with self-identified communities and then figure out how best to serve them as journalists. But Mr. Jarvis admits, the question of what the proper distance is between journalists and their subjects doesn’t have an easy answer – as he discovered while talking to his class right after the 2016 election.
“We talked about empathy. And African American students in particular in that class said, ‘No. If you’re asking me to be empathetic to these people who’ve never been empathetic to me and mine, no,’” recalls Mr. Jarvis, a renowned media analyst and creator of Entertainment Weekly. “I said that as a human being, I understand and agree. As a citizen, I understand and agree. As a journalist, however, you have the need to attempt to understand even those people.”
Those who champion the elusive ideal of objectivity, or at least fairness, contend that citizens seldom agree on what constitutes morality. For example, feminists of different stripes may broadly agree on the need to advance the interests of women, yet disagree on how best to do so.
DePauw’s Mr. McCall says mainstream media outlets should first strive to fulfill the democratic function of providing information in as detailed and fair a way as possible. Then, second, offer clearly labeled analysis or interpretation of the news.
For all the disagreements, journalists on both sides of the debate can still find common agreement around certain principles: serving communities, watching out for the little guy, holding the powerful to account, and being fully transparent.
The journalistic value that Mr. Wallace prizes above all is curiosity.
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“There’s a funny way in which objectivity and impartiality actually foreclose curiosity,” he says. “What that often ends up doing is restricting or limiting the debate to ‘left’ versus ‘right.’ Or the parties who are already assumed to have a stake. I think curiosity can be quite radical and can blow up an idea of what reality and what voices might need to be included.”
Note: This piece was updated to correct the title of the uniform crime report. We regret the error.


csmonitor--2020-06-18--Reelection help from China? Bolton writes: Trump requested it.

President Donald Trump “ pleaded ” with China ’ s President Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects , according to a scathing new book by former Trump adviser John Bolton that accuses the president of being driven by political calculations when making national security decisions .
The White House worked furiously to block the book , asking a federal court for an emergency temporary restraining order Wednesday against its release .
Mr. Bolton ’ s allegations that Mr. Trump solicited Chinese help for his reelection effort carried echoes of Mr. Trump ’ s attempt to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ led to his impeachment .
“ I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn ’ t driven by re-election calculations , ” Mr. Bolton wrote .
The 577-page book paints an unvarnished portrait of Mr. Trump and his administration , amounting to the most vivid , first-person account yet of how Mr. Trump conducts himself in office .
Several other former officials have written books , but most have been flattering about the president .
Other former officials have indicated they were saving their accounts of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he left office to speak more candidly .
The Associated Press obtained a copy of Mr. Bolton ’ s book in advance of its release next week .
Mr. Bolton , Mr. Trump ’ s national security adviser for a 17-month period , called Mr. Trump ’ s attempt to shift the June 2019 conversation with Mr. Xi to the U.S. election a stunning move and wrote that it was among innumerable conversations that he found concerning .
He added that Congress should have expanded the scope of its impeachment inquiry to these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president and much of his senior team , Mr. Bolton wrote that because staff had served him so poorly , Mr. Trump “ saw conspiracies behind rocks , and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House , let alone the huge federal government.
” He added that while he was at the White House , Mr. Trump typically had only two intelligence briefings a week “ and in most of those , he spoke at greater length than the briefers , often on matters completely unrelated to the subjects at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the book Wednesday on Fox News Channel ’ s “ Hannity , ” and the president accused Mr. Bolton of violating the law by releasing the book .
“ He broke the law .
Very simple .
I mean , as much as it ’ s going to be broken , ” Mr. Trump said .
“ It ’ s highly classified information , and he did not have approval.
” He tweeted early Thursday that the book “ is made up of lies & fake stories ” by a “ disgruntled boring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war.
” The book includes embarrassing claims that Mr. Trump thought Finland was part of Russia , didn ’ t know that the United Kingdom was a nuclear power , and called reporters “ scumbags ” who should be “ executed.
” As for the meeting with the Chinese president in Osaka , Japan , Mr. Bolton wrote that Mr. Trump told Mr. Xi that Democrats were hostile to China .
“ He then , stunningly , turned the conversation to the coming U.S. presidential election , alluding to China ’ s economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pleading with Xi to ensure he ’ d win , ” Mr. Bolton said .
“ He stressed the importance of farmers , and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.
” Mr. Bolton wrote that he would print Mr. Trump ’ s exact words , “ but the government ’ s pre-publication review process has decided otherwise.
” The book , titled “ The Room Where It Happened : A White House Memoir , ” is set to be released Tuesday by Simon & Schuster .
It has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between Mr. Bolton and the White House .
The Justice Department sued on Tuesday in an effort to delay publication of the book , claiming that it still contained highly classified information and that a required review by the National Security Council had not been concluded .
According to the filing , a career official determined no classified material remained in April , but national security adviser Robert O ’ Brien initiated a secondary review that deemed additional information to be classified .
Mr. Bolton wrote that he was asked to add phrases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” to make it clear he was expressing his opinion instead of relying on sensitive information .
In others , he was asked to describe things more generally .
He was asked to remove quotation marks nearly every time he recounts conversation between Mr. Trump and foreign leaders and himself and foreign leaders .
The White House ’ s contention that so much of the book was classified appeared to be a tacit admission that many of Mr. Bolton ’ s allegations were accurate – as inaccurate information could not be classified .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he attended a meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi at the Group of 20 nations in Osaka but never heard Trump pleading with Mr. Xi to buy more agriculture products to ensure he would win reelection .
“ Absolutely untrue .
Never happened .
I was there .
I have no recollection of that ever happening .
I don ’ t believe it ’ s true .
I don ’ t believe it ever happened , ” Mr. Lighthizer said at a Senate hearing on trade issues .
“ Would I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Of course I would recollect it.
” Mr. Bolton wrote that he raised some of his concerns about Mr. Trump ’ s conversations with foreign leaders with Attorney General William Barr and flagged similar worries with White House attorneys and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo .
“ The pattern looked like obstruction of justice as a way of life , which we couldn ’ t accept , ” he wrote .
Mr. Trump continually pandered to Mr. Xi , Mr. Bolton wrote .
At a White House Christmas dinner in 2018 , Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States was sanctioning China over its treatment of Uighurs .
China suspects Uighurs , who are predominantly Muslim and culturally and ethnically distinct from the majority Han Chinese population , of harboring separatist tendencies .
In recent years , China has dramatically escalated its campaign against them by detaining more than 1 million people in internment camps and prisons .
“ At the opening dinner of the Osaka G-20 meeting , with only interpreters present , Xi explained to Trump why he was basically building concentration camps in Xinjiang , ” Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interpreter , Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps , which he thought was exactly the right thing to do.
” In the book , Mr. Bolton describes every Trump decision as being guided by concerns for his own reelection , a claim that evokes the scandal that sparked Mr. Trump ’ s impeachment last year .
The book alleges that Mr. Trump directly tied providing military aid to Ukraine to the country ’ s willingness to conduct investigations into his Democratic challenger Joe Biden and Mr. Biden ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Mr. Trump said “ he wasn ’ t in favor of sending them anything until all the Russia-investigation materials related to Clinton and Biden had been turned over , ” Mr. Bolton writes .
Mr. Trump ’ s decision to withhold military assistance to Ukraine until it agreed to investigate Mr. Biden led the House to charge Mr. Trump with abusing his power .
The aid was ultimately released once the holdup became public .
The GOP-controlled Senate ultimately acquitted the president on that count and a count of obstructing Congress ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was called to testify before House lawmakers conducting the impeachment inquiry , but he declined , suggesting he wanted a federal court to decide whether he should heed a White House directive not to cooperate with the inquiry .
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff , D-Calif. , who managed the impeachment case against Mr. Trump , said Thursday “ we ’ ll never know ” if Mr. Bolton ’ s testimony might have made a difference in the case .
Mr. Schiff told “ CBS This Morning ” that Mr. Bolton ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ book was “ the price the country had to pay for John Bolton ’ s putting profit above country.
” This story was reported by The Associated Press .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

Zeke Miller, Deb Reichmann, and Jill Colvin

President Donald Trump “pleaded” with China’s President Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects, according to a scathing new book by former Trump adviser John Bolton that accuses the president of being driven by political calculations when making national security decisions.
The White House worked furiously to block the book, asking a federal court for an emergency temporary restraining order Wednesday against its release.
Mr. Bolton’s allegations that Mr. Trump solicited Chinese help for his reelection effort carried echoes of Mr. Trump’s attempt to get political help from Ukraine, which led to his impeachment.
“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by re-election calculations,” Mr. Bolton wrote.
The 577-page book paints an unvarnished portrait of Mr. Trump and his administration, amounting to the most vivid, first-person account yet of how Mr. Trump conducts himself in office. Several other former officials have written books, but most have been flattering about the president. Other former officials have indicated they were saving their accounts of their time working for Mr. Trump until after he left office to speak more candidly. The Associated Press obtained a copy of Mr. Bolton’s book in advance of its release next week.
Mr. Bolton, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser for a 17-month period, called Mr. Trump’s attempt to shift the June 2019 conversation with Mr. Xi to the U.S. election a stunning move and wrote that it was among innumerable conversations that he found concerning. He added that Congress should have expanded the scope of its impeachment inquiry to these other incidents.
Deeply critical of the president and much of his senior team, Mr. Bolton wrote that because staff had served him so poorly, Mr. Trump “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.” He added that while he was at the White House, Mr. Trump typically had only two intelligence briefings a week “and in most of those, he spoke at greater length than the briefers, often on matters completely unrelated to the subjects at hand.”
Mr. Trump was asked about the book Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” and the president accused Mr. Bolton of violating the law by releasing the book. “He broke the law. Very simple. I mean, as much as it’s going to be broken,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s highly classified information, and he did not have approval.”
He tweeted early Thursday that the book “is made up of lies & fake stories” by a “disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war.”
The book includes embarrassing claims that Mr. Trump thought Finland was part of Russia, didn’t know that the United Kingdom was a nuclear power, and called reporters “scumbags” who should be “executed.”
As for the meeting with the Chinese president in Osaka, Japan, Mr. Bolton wrote that Mr. Trump told Mr. Xi that Democrats were hostile to China.
“He then, stunningly, turned the conversation to the coming U.S. presidential election, alluding to China’s economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win,” Mr. Bolton said. “He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.”
Mr. Bolton wrote that he would print Mr. Trump’s exact words, “but the government’s pre-publication review process has decided otherwise.”
The book, titled “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” is set to be released Tuesday by Simon & Schuster. It has been the subject of a lengthy battle between Mr. Bolton and the White House.
The Justice Department sued on Tuesday in an effort to delay publication of the book, claiming that it still contained highly classified information and that a required review by the National Security Council had not been concluded. According to the filing, a career official determined no classified material remained in April, but national security adviser Robert O’Brien initiated a secondary review that deemed additional information to be classified.
Mr. Bolton wrote that he was asked to add phrases like, “in my view,” to make it clear he was expressing his opinion instead of relying on sensitive information. In others, he was asked to describe things more generally. He was asked to remove quotation marks nearly every time he recounts conversation between Mr. Trump and foreign leaders and himself and foreign leaders.
The White House’s contention that so much of the book was classified appeared to be a tacit admission that many of Mr. Bolton’s allegations were accurate – as inaccurate information could not be classified.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Wednesday that he attended a meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi at the Group of 20 nations in Osaka but never heard Trump pleading with Mr. Xi to buy more agriculture products to ensure he would win reelection.
“Absolutely untrue. Never happened. I was there. I have no recollection of that ever happening. I don’t believe it’s true. I don’t believe it ever happened,” Mr. Lighthizer said at a Senate hearing on trade issues. “Would I recollect something as crazy as that? Of course I would recollect it.”
Mr. Bolton wrote that he raised some of his concerns about Mr. Trump’s conversations with foreign leaders with Attorney General William Barr and flagged similar worries with White House attorneys and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“The pattern looked like obstruction of justice as a way of life, which we couldn’t accept,” he wrote.
Mr. Trump continually pandered to Mr. Xi, Mr. Bolton wrote. At a White House Christmas dinner in 2018, Mr. Bolton said Mr. Trump asked why the United States was sanctioning China over its treatment of Uighurs. China suspects Uighurs, who are predominantly Muslim and culturally and ethnically distinct from the majority Han Chinese population, of harboring separatist tendencies. In recent years, China has dramatically escalated its campaign against them by detaining more than 1 million people in internment camps and prisons.
“At the opening dinner of the Osaka G-20 meeting, with only interpreters present, Xi explained to Trump why he was basically building concentration camps in Xinjiang,” Mr. Bolton wrote. “According to our interpreter, Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which he thought was exactly the right thing to do.”
In the book, Mr. Bolton describes every Trump decision as being guided by concerns for his own reelection, a claim that evokes the scandal that sparked Mr. Trump’s impeachment last year.
The book alleges that Mr. Trump directly tied providing military aid to Ukraine to the country’s willingness to conduct investigations into his Democratic challenger Joe Biden and Mr. Biden’s son Hunter. In one conversation, Mr. Trump said “he wasn’t in favor of sending them anything until all the Russia-investigation materials related to Clinton and Biden had been turned over,” Mr. Bolton writes.
Mr. Trump’s decision to withhold military assistance to Ukraine until it agreed to investigate Mr. Biden led the House to charge Mr. Trump with abusing his power. The aid was ultimately released once the holdup became public. The GOP-controlled Senate ultimately acquitted the president on that count and a count of obstructing Congress’ investigation of the incident.
Mr. Bolton was called to testify before House lawmakers conducting the impeachment inquiry, but he declined, suggesting he wanted a federal court to decide whether he should heed a White House directive not to cooperate with the inquiry.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who managed the impeachment case against Mr. Trump, said Thursday “we’ll never know” if Mr. Bolton’s testimony might have made a difference in the case.
Mr. Schiff told “CBS This Morning” that Mr. Bolton’s decision to save his information for his book was “the price the country had to pay for John Bolton’s putting profit above country.”
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This story was reported by The Associated Press.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-06-19--State dept. official quits over Trump's response to protests

A State Department official resigned on Thursday over President Donald Trump 's response to racial tensions sweeping the country over the killings of Black people by police , The Washington Post reported .
Mary Elizabeth Taylor , the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs , said in her resignation letter that Trump 's actions `` cut sharply against my core values and convictions . ''
At 30 , Taylor was the youngest person to hold her position , and she was also the first Black woman in the job , according to the Post .
`` The President 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black Americans cut sharply against my core values and convictions , '' Ms. Taylor said in her resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo , which was obtained by the Post .
`` I must follow the dictates of my conscience and resign as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs . ''
[ Ms. ] Taylor ’ s decision to leave the administration amid the racial tensions flaring nationwide appears to be the first high-profile resignation made in protest of the president ’ s actions that has been made public .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , James N. Miller , submitted his resignation to Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper shortly after [ Mr. ] Trump ’ s controversial photo op in Lafayette Square , but he was a former Obama administration official who had served on the committee that advises the Pentagon on science issues since 2014 .
In contrast , [ Ms. ] Taylor was viewed as a loyal member of the administration and is a lifelong member of the Republican Party .
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
[ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ Ms. ] Taylor ’ s oath of office at her swearing-in ceremony in December 2018 at the State Department .
In her position as assistant secretary of state , [ Ms. ] Taylor served as [ Mr. ] Pompeo ’ s chief liaison to Capitol Hill .
Ms. Taylor 's resignation follows weeks of turmoil sweeping the United States following the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis .
Protesters demanding justice for Mr. Floyd and other slain Black people , along with reforms to address police brutality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the president has struggled to meet the moment .
He has referred to protesters as `` thugs , '' and his administration forcefully pushed aside peaceful protesters near the White House so he could go to a nearby church and pose holding a Bible .
The White House has come under heavy criticism after federal authorities forcefully swept away peaceful demonstrators protesting [ Mr. ] Floyd ’ s death at Lafayette Square across the street from the White House .
This cleared a path for [ Mr. ] Trump to walk several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Church , where he held up a Bible and posed for photographs .
The White House has denied the protesters were removed so the president could hold a photo op .
On June 3 , [ Ms. ] Taylor sent a message to her team of roughly 60 State Department employees , acknowledging that in the aftermath of [ Mr. ] Floyd ’ s death that her heart “ is broken , in a way from which I ’ ve had to heal it countless times.
” The State Department declined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from The Associated Press .
`` We do not comment on personnel matters , '' the State Department said in an emailed response to a request for information about Ms. Taylor 's resignation .
There was no immediate explanation for why the State Department officials , including Mr. Pompeo and other top aides , had chosen to comment extensively on the decision to fire the department 's Inspector General Steve Linick in May .
In her role in the Trump administration , Ms. Taylor helped guide more than 400 presidential appointments through the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Justice Neil Gorsuch and CIA director Gina Haspel , the Post reported .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
Material from The Washington Post was used in this report .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

A State Department official resigned on Thursday over President Donald Trump's response to racial tensions sweeping the country over the killings of Black people by police, The Washington Post reported.
Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, said in her resignation letter that Trump's actions "cut sharply against my core values and convictions." At 30, Taylor was the youngest person to hold her position, and she was also the first Black woman in the job, according to the Post.
"The President's comments and actions surrounding racial injustice and Black Americans cut sharply against my core values and convictions," Ms. Taylor said in her resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which was obtained by the Post. "I must follow the dictates of my conscience and resign as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs."
The Washington Post reported: [Ms.] Taylor’s decision to leave the administration amid the racial tensions flaring nationwide appears to be the first high-profile resignation made in protest of the president’s actions that has been made public. One member of the Defense Science Board, James N. Miller, submitted his resignation to Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper shortly after [Mr.] Trump’s controversial photo op in Lafayette Square, but he was a former Obama administration official who had served on the committee that advises the Pentagon on science issues since 2014. In contrast, [Ms.] Taylor was viewed as a loyal member of the administration and is a lifelong member of the Republican Party. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [Supreme Court Justice Neil] Gorsuch administered [Ms.] Taylor’s oath of office at her swearing-in ceremony in December 2018 at the State Department. In her position as assistant secretary of state, [Ms.] Taylor served as [Mr.] Pompeo’s chief liaison to Capitol Hill.
Ms. Taylor's resignation follows weeks of turmoil sweeping the United States following the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Protesters demanding justice for Mr. Floyd and other slain Black people, along with reforms to address police brutality, have taken to the streets, and the president has struggled to meet the moment. He has referred to protesters as "thugs," and his administration forcefully pushed aside peaceful protesters near the White House so he could go to a nearby church and pose holding a Bible.
The Washington Post reported:
The White House has come under heavy criticism after federal authorities forcefully swept away peaceful demonstrators protesting [Mr.] Floyd’s death at Lafayette Square across the street from the White House. This cleared a path for [Mr.] Trump to walk several hundred yards to the iconic St. John’s Church, where he held up a Bible and posed for photographs. The White House has denied the protesters were removed so the president could hold a photo op. On June 3, [Ms.] Taylor sent a message to her team of roughly 60 State Department employees, acknowledging that in the aftermath of [Mr.] Floyd’s death that her heart “is broken, in a way from which I’ve had to heal it countless times.”
The State Department declined to comment in response to a question from The Associated Press.
"We do not comment on personnel matters," the State Department said in an emailed response to a request for information about Ms. Taylor's resignation. There was no immediate explanation for why the State Department officials, including Mr. Pompeo and other top aides, had chosen to comment extensively on the decision to fire the department's Inspector General Steve Linick in May.
In her role in the Trump administration, Ms. Taylor helped guide more than 400 presidential appointments through the Senate, including those of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and CIA director Gina Haspel, the Post reported.
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This story was reported by The Associated Press. Material from The Washington Post was used in this report.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-06-21--With nation in turmoil, Trump stages first campaign rally in months

President Donald Trump launched his comeback rally Saturday by defining the upcoming election as a stark choice between national heritage and left-wing radicalism .
But his intended show of political force amid a pandemic featured thousands of empty seats and new coronavirus cases on his own campaign staff .
Trump ignored health warnings to hold his first rally in 110 days — one of the largest indoor gatherings in the world during a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 120,000 Americans and put 40 million out of work .
The rally was meant to restart his reelection effort less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters again .
“ The choice in 2020 is very simple , ” Trump said .
“ Do you want to bow before the left-wing mob , or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans ?
” Trump unleashed months of pent-up grievances about the coronavirus , which he dubbed the “ Kung flu , ” a racist term for COVID-19 , which originated in China .
He also tried to defend his handling of the pandemic , even as cases continue to surge in many states , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing was making his record look bad — and suggested the testing effort should slow down .
“ Here ’ s the bad part .
When you do testing to that extent , you ’ re going to find more cases , ” he said .
“ So I said to my people , ‘ Slow the testing down.
’ They test and they test.
” “ Speed up the testing , ” Trump 's Democratic opponent , Joe Biden , tweeted later .
In the hours before the rally , crowds were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials scrapped plans for Trump to address an overflow space outdoors .
When Trump thundered that “ the silent majority is stronger than ever before , '' about a third of the seats at his indoor rally were empty .
Trump tried to explain away the crowd size by blaming the media for scaring people and by insisting there were protesters outside who were “ doing bad things . ''
But the small crowds of pre-rally demonstrators were largely peaceful , and Tulsa police reported just one arrest Saturday afternoon .
Before the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six staff members who were helping set up for the event had tested positive for the coronavirus .
Campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said neither the affected staffers nor anyone who was in immediate contact with them would attend the event .
The president raged to aides that the staffers ' positive cases had been made public , according to two White House and campaign officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren ’ t authorized to speak publicly about private conversations .
Trump devoted more than 10 minutes of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along — trying to explain away a pair of odd images from his speech last weekend at West Point , blaming his slippery leather-soled shoes for video of him walking awkwardly down a ramp as he left the podium .
And then he declared that he used two hands to drink a cup of water that day because he did n't want to spill water on his tie — and proceeded to this time drink with just one hand .
But Trump also leaned in hard on cultural issues , including the push @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military bases honoring Confederate generals following nationwide protests about racial injustice .
“ The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history , desecrate our monuments , our beautiful monuments , '' Trump said .
“ They want to demolish our heritage so they can impose their new repressive regime in its place . ''
Trump also floated the idea of a one-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of burning an American flag , an act of protest protected by the First Amendment .
And he revived his attacks on Minnesota Rep. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a child , claiming she would want “ to make the government of our country just like the country from where she came , Somalia : no government , no safety , no police , no nothing — just anarchy . ''
“ And now she ’ s telling us how to run our country , '' Trump continued .
“ No , thank you . ''
After a three-month break from rallies , Trump spent the evening reviving his greatest hits , including boasts about the pre-pandemic economy and complaints about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made no mention of some of the flashpoints roiling the nation , including the abrupt firing of a U.S. attorney in Manhattan , the damaging new book from his former national security adviser or the killing of George Floyd.. Large gatherings in the United States were shut down in March because of the coronavirus .
The rally was scheduled over the protests of local health officials as COVID-19 cases spike in many states , while the choice of host city and date — it was originally set for Friday , Juneteenth , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killed as many as 300 people — prompted anger amid a national wave of protests against racial injustice .
But Trump and his advisers forged forward , believing that a return to the rally stage would reenergize the president , who is furious that he has fallen behind Biden in polls , and reassure increasingly anxious Republicans .
But Trump has struggled to land effective attacks against Biden , and his broadsides against the former vice president did not draw nearly the applause as did his digs at his 2016 opponent , Hillary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crowd of 100,000 people or more in downtown Tulsa .
Trump 's campaign , for its part , declared that it had received over a million ticket requests .
The crowd that gathered was far less than that , though the rally , being broadcast on cable , also targeted voters in battleground states such as Pennsylvania , North Carolina and Florida .
The president ’ s campaign tried to point fingers elsewhere over the smaller-than-expected crowds , accusing protesters of blocking access to metal detectors and preventing people from entering the rally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tulsa for several hours leading up to the president ’ s speaking did not see protesters block entry to the area where the rally was held .
The campaign handed out masks and hand sanitizer , but there was no requirement that participants use them and few did .
Participants also underwent a temperature check .
“ I don ’ t think it ’ s anything worse than the flu , ” said Brian Bernard , 54 , a retired IT worker from Baton Rouge , Louisiana , who sported a Trump 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caught a cold or a flu in probably 15 years , and if I haven ’ t caught a cold or flu yet , I don ’ t think I ’ m gon na catch COVID . ''
Mr. Lemire reported from New York .
Associated Press writers John Mone and Ellen Knickmeyer in Tulsa , Okla. , contributed to this report .

President Donald Trump launched his comeback rally Saturday by defining the upcoming election as a stark choice between national heritage and left-wing radicalism. But his intended show of political force amid a pandemic featured thousands of empty seats and new coronavirus cases on his own campaign staff.
Trump ignored health warnings to hold his first rally in 110 days — one of the largest indoor gatherings in the world during a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 120,000 Americans and put 40 million out of work. The rally was meant to restart his reelection effort less than five months before the president faces voters again.
“The choice in 2020 is very simple,” Trump said. “Do you want to bow before the left-wing mob, or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans?”
Trump unleashed months of pent-up grievances about the coronavirus, which he dubbed the “Kung flu,” a racist term for COVID-19, which originated in China. He also tried to defend his handling of the pandemic, even as cases continue to surge in many states, including Oklahoma.
He complained that robust coronavirus testing was making his record look bad — and suggested the testing effort should slow down.
“Here’s the bad part. When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more cases,” he said. “So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.”
“Speed up the testing,” Trump's Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, tweeted later.
In the hours before the rally, crowds were significantly lighter than expected, and campaign officials scrapped plans for Trump to address an overflow space outdoors. When Trump thundered that “the silent majority is stronger than ever before," about a third of the seats at his indoor rally were empty.
Trump tried to explain away the crowd size by blaming the media for scaring people and by insisting there were protesters outside who were “doing bad things." But the small crowds of pre-rally demonstrators were largely peaceful, and Tulsa police reported just one arrest Saturday afternoon.
Before the rally, Trump's campaign revealed that six staff members who were helping set up for the event had tested positive for the coronavirus. Campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said neither the affected staffers nor anyone who was in immediate contact with them would attend the event.
The president raged to aides that the staffers' positive cases had been made public, according to two White House and campaign officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.
Trump devoted more than 10 minutes of his 105-minute rally — with the crowd laughing along — trying to explain away a pair of odd images from his speech last weekend at West Point, blaming his slippery leather-soled shoes for video of him walking awkwardly down a ramp as he left the podium. And then he declared that he used two hands to drink a cup of water that day because he didn't want to spill water on his tie — and proceeded to this time drink with just one hand.
But Trump also leaned in hard on cultural issues, including the push to tear down statue s and rename military bases honoring Confederate generals following nationwide protests about racial injustice.
“The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments, our beautiful monuments," Trump said. “They want to demolish our heritage so they can impose their new repressive regime in its place."
Trump also floated the idea of a one-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of burning an American flag, an act of protest protected by the First Amendment. And he revived his attacks on Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who emigrated from Somalia as a child, claiming she would want “to make the government of our country just like the country from where she came, Somalia: no government, no safety, no police, no nothing — just anarchy."
“And now she’s telling us how to run our country," Trump continued. “No, thank you."
After a three-month break from rallies, Trump spent the evening reviving his greatest hits, including boasts about the pre-pandemic economy and complaints about the media. But his scattershot remarks made no mention of some of the flashpoints roiling the nation, including the abrupt firing of a U.S. attorney in Manhattan, the damaging new book from his former national security adviser or the killing of George Floyd..
Large gatherings in the United States were shut down in March because of the coronavirus. The rally was scheduled over the protests of local health officials as COVID-19 cases spike in many states, while the choice of host city and date — it was originally set for Friday, Juneteenth, in a city where a 1921 racist attack killed as many as 300 people — prompted anger amid a national wave of protests against racial injustice.
But Trump and his advisers forged forward, believing that a return to the rally stage would reenergize the president, who is furious that he has fallen behind Biden in polls, and reassure increasingly anxious Republicans.
But Trump has struggled to land effective attacks against Biden, and his broadsides against the former vice president did not draw nearly the applause as did his digs at his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton.
City officials had expected a crowd of 100,000 people or more in downtown Tulsa. Trump's campaign, for its part, declared that it had received over a million ticket requests. The crowd that gathered was far less than that, though the rally, being broadcast on cable, also targeted voters in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida.
The president’s campaign tried to point fingers elsewhere over the smaller-than-expected crowds, accusing protesters of blocking access to metal detectors and preventing people from entering the rally. Three Associated Press journalists reporting in Tulsa for several hours leading up to the president’s speaking did not see protesters block entry to the area where the rally was held.
The campaign handed out masks and hand sanitizer, but there was no requirement that participants use them and few did. Participants also underwent a temperature check.
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
“I don’t think it’s anything worse than the flu,” said Brian Bernard, 54, a retired IT worker from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who sported a Trump 2020 hat. “I haven’t caught a cold or a flu in probably 15 years, and if I haven’t caught a cold or flu yet, I don’t think I’m gonna catch COVID."
Mr. Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers John Mone and Ellen Knickmeyer in Tulsa, Okla., contributed to this report.