Morning Memo: New Book Says Trump Claimed Hitler ‘Did A Lot Of Good Things’

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Morning Memo

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.

Not Satire

Trump reportedly told then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in 2018 that German dictator Adolf Hitler “did a lot of good things.” That’s according to the Guardian, which obtained a copy of Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender’s new book “Frankly, We Did Win This Election.”

  • The Guardian report says the book attributed the remark to unnamed sources, and describes the back and forth between Trump and Kelly.
  • Trump reportedly emphasized Germany’s economic recovery under Hitler’s leadership, according to the book.
  • Kelly reportedly had to tell the then-president that “you cannot ever say anything supportive of Adolf Hitler. You just can’t.”

Didn’t Last Long

Many corporate giants, including General Electric and AT&T, have essentially reneged on their vows to stop donating to the GOP lawmakers who voted against certifying Biden’s win by donating to PACs that benefit those lawmakers.

  • But maybe not all those promises were a cynical ploy: Hallmark has not donated to PACs since making their pledge, the Associated Press noted, and has in fact asked Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) to return the card company’s campaign donations.

New York, New York

Former police captain and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams appears to have won New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary on Tuesday night, and will be the presumptive winner of the general election in the deeply blue city.

Haitian President Is Assassinated

Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his home early Wednesday morning, according to Claude Joseph, Haiti’s interim prime minister.

  • Joseph’s statement: “A group of unidentified individuals, some of them speaking Spanish, attacked the private residence of the president of the republic and thus fatally wounded the head of state.”

Mask Barely Hanging On To The Strings

We’re at the point now where it’s actually getting hard to remember all the times Rep. Paul Gosar’s (R-AZ) cozied up with white nationalists and other far-right extremists, so here’s a detailed list by reporter Nick Martin.

  • One example on the list includes TPM reporter Matt Shuham’s story on Gosar following white nationalists on Twitter.

Behind Closed Doors

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) called climate change, which has been scientifically proven over and over, “bullshit” last month during a Republican luncheon.

GaetzGate

Indicted ex-tax collector and Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) wingman Joel Greenberg is seeking to delay his sentencing hearing so he can keep cooperating with the feds in their investigation, which reportedly is examining whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, among other things.

The Lamentations Of An Ex-GOP Lawmaker

There is no “fight for the soul of the party” within the GOP over Trumpism, former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) says. 

  • That ship has sailed, and now “[t]here is nothing left of this Republican Party other than a party that’s able to embrace and to elevate an undemocratic, anti-republic theme that somehow we can engage in a fraud on the American people as long as it supports our guy winning an election.”

Must-Reads

  • “Their neighbors called covid-19 a hoax. Can these ICU nurses forgive them?” – The Washington Post
  • “Hospitals Often Charge Uninsured People the Highest Prices, New Data Show” – The Wall Street Journal

In Which Lucy Admits Straight Up That The Football Is A Trap

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) fully declared during a conservative grassroots event with Patriot Voices last month that he and his GOP colleagues have no interest in actually doing their jobs as lawmakers and will be spending the next year making sure nothing gets done until the midterms, when they have a shot at taking back the House.

  • Seriously, that’s what he’s said: “I mean honestly right now, for the next 18 months, our job is to do everything we can to slow all of that down to get to December of 2022, and then get in there and lead.”

Are there things that are happening that you want to see in tomorrow’s Morning Memo? Send us the things.

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