1. Trump goes there on voting

After a long history of calling elections that he might not win "rigged," declaring without evidence that voting by mail is "fraudulent," and suggesting he may not accept the results of this year's election, President Trump took the next step today. This morning he tweeted, "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???" It should be noted that general elections in the U.S. have never been delayed, even in the face of wars, natural disasters, and, yes, pandemics. In any case, it is not within Trump's power to delay it. —Associated Press

• — A bridge too far. Top Republicans in Congress quickly rebuffed Trump's suggestion. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the election date is set in stone, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the election "should go forward" as planned. In the states, Republican leaders concurred, ensuring they are doing all they can to secure the vote. —U.S. News
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• — Thanks, Obama. Former President Barack Obama, delivering the eulogy at the funeral of Rep. John Lewis today, addressed the issue as well. He said the electoral system is under attack by efforts to close polling stations and undermine the Postal Service in the lead-up to an election in which vote-by-mail will be critical. —The New York Times
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• — Could this be why? Trump may be trying to distract from a Commerce Dept. report issued this morning that shows the U.S. has experienced the sharpest economic contraction in modern American history. Gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 32.9% in the second quarter—more than three times as sharp as the previous record, set in 1958, and nearly four times the worst quarter during the Great Recession. —NPR

2. Boot: Why didn't Trump question Russian bounties?

"We still don't know why Trump so consistently puts [Russian President Vladimir] Putin first, but there is no question that he does. The Axios interview is simply the latest evidence that the American president is in thrall to an anti-American dictator. If President Barack Obama had acted this way, is there any doubt that the Republicans would accuse him of treason?" —The Washington Post

Ed. Note: Max Boot is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

MORE: Pompeo says threats to US in Afghanistan raised with Russia —The Washington Post

3. American deaths hit somber new milestone

The number of Americans killed by COVID-19 topped 150,000 yesterday, as death tolls surged in some of the hardest-hit and most populous states. California and Florida, two of the places most affected by the pandemic’s current surge, reported daily fatalities that broke previous records. There is one ray of hope—the wave of new infections that began in June shows some signs of leveling off. New cases reported each day are holding even or falling in half of U.S. states, according to Johns Hopkins University. —Bloomberg

• — Mask up. As Republican staffers report that they are being forced to come to the Hill without masks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday mandated the wearing of face masks in the House of Representatives, just hours after Rep. Louie Gohmert announced he tested positive for COVID-19. —CBS News

• — You press the button... Eastman Kodak does the rest. But not with cameras anymore. The company's shares soared yesterday after President Trump announced a $765 million loan to start producing generic drug ingredients under the Defense Production Act in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Hmm... —CNBC
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• — RIP. Herman Cain, a one-time Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, has died from COVID-19. As a co-chair of Black Voices for Trump, Cain was one of the surrogates at Trump's June 20 rally in Tulsa, Okla., which saw at least eight Trump team staffers test positive for the coronavirus. —CNN

MORE: Misinformation on coronavirus is proving highly contagious —Associated Press

4. WSJ Ed Board: The spite-Germany plan

"[President Trump] appears to be undermining America's military position out of pique—moving U.S. forces to punish Germany, though many will go to countries that also aren't pulling their weight. Oh, and in the middle of an election campaign he's undermining the case...that he is tougher than Democrats on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. Trump's erratic foreign-policy impulses remain the greatest risk of a second term." —The Wall Street Journal

MORE: US officials reveal plans to move troops out of Europe as Trump hammers Germany over defense spending —Business Insider

5. The 1st Amendment in the news

U.S. District Court officials are reviewing bans placed on protesters arrested amid demonstrations in Portland, Ore., that would prohibit them from future protesting. At least 12 protesters arrested in recent weeks have been barred from attending demonstrations as a condition for release from jail as they await trial on federal misdemeanor charges. Critics say it is unconstitutional to require relinquishing such rights as a condition of getting out of jail. —The Hill

• — The media as the enemy. A new mandatory Pentagon training course aimed at preventing leaks refers to protesters and journalists as "adversaries" in a fictional scenario designed to teach Defense Dept. personnel how to better protect sensitive information. —Politico

• — A free speech crisis? Polling data suggest that a majority of Americans feel they are being muzzled by contemporary politics. A new survey from the Cato Institute finds that 62% of Americans say they cannot express all of their views in today's political climate, up from 58% in 2017. —The Economist

6. Ridge: GOP must fully denounce racism

"True leadership requires the courage to change and a willingness to reform. I oppose calls to defund the police and condemn violence disguised as protest. But there is no question that we need to emphasize de-escalation tactics and improve day-to-day communication between law enforcement and law-abiding citizens. 'To serve and protect' means exactly that. Just as important, we must be unyielding when it comes to racism. That means full-throated opposition to white supremacy. No equivocations, no denials, no 'winks' of support." —USA Today

Ed. Note: Tom Ridge was the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania and the first Secretary of Homeland Security.

MORE: Dalmia: We should name military bases after lynched Black veterans who fought for freedoms they were denied —Reason

7. Turkey's social media crackdown

Turkey's parliament has passed a controversial bill that gives the government greater control of social media. Under the new law, social media companies must maintain local representatives in Turkey and comply with court orders over the removal of certain content. Companies could face fines, the blocking of advertisements, or the slashing of bandwidth by up to 90% for violations of the new regulations.

• — Human rights groups and the opposition are worried over what they call the erosion of freedom of expression in Turkey, where criminal proceedings for "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on social media are common.

• — They argue that increased control of social media will also limit access to independent or critical information in a country where the news media is in the hands of government-friendly businessmen or controlled by the state. —Al Jazeera

8. Big tech makes its case

The powerful CEOs of Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee yesterday to address the question of whether their businesses are anti-competitive monopolies. The hearing was part of a long-running antitrust investigation that has gathered hundreds of hours of interviews and over a million documents from the companies in question.

• — "Because these companies are so central to our modern life, their business practices and decisions have an outsized effect on our economy and our democracy. Any single action by any one of these companies can affect hundreds of millions of us in profound and lasting ways," said Rep. David Cicilline, opening the hearing.

• — Ranking member Rep. James Sensenbrenner followed with a more conciliatory statement. "Being big is not inherently bad, quite the opposite. In America you should be rewarded for success," he said.
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• — The testimony covered a wide range of topics over several hours. The committee will publish a report with its conclusions and next steps in the investigation. —The Verge

9. Lewis: Redeem our nation together

"Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life, I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring." —The New York Times

Ed. Note: Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights leader who passed away on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published upon the day of his funeral.

MORE: House approves measure to rename voting rights bill after John Lewis —Forbes

10. An American Story: Tear down that fence

Community members in Mineola, Texas, are celebrating the tearing down of a 60-year-old chain-link fence that once segregated a cemetery; Black people were buried on one side while Whites were buried on another.

• — Over the past 20 years, the issue of the fence had come up off and on, including in 2006, when Demethruis Boyd moved to Mineola and became pastor at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church. After attending a funeral, he realized the cemetery was segregated and couldn't believe that something like that still existed.
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• — After asking questions 14 years ago, Boyd said some changes were made, including the separation of burials based on skin color and a name change from Mineola City Cemetery to Cedars Memorial Gardens, but the fence remained.

• — Finally, on July 15, 2020, the fence was removed. "With all the national things that are transpiring, I think it was opening the hearts and minds of more people to get involved and to recognize the symbolism that [the fence] represents to a greater degree," Boyd said. "Its removal was a historical event." —CNN

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