Ugly GOP Primaries Begin, Trump Critics Jump To Praise Afghanistan Plan, And White Nationalists Shoved Into Fringes

August 22nd, 2017 Top Stories --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump’s Arizona Trip Kicks Off Ugly GOP Senate Primary Season]( The Gist: Senate Republicans’ primary woes are back with a Grand Canyon-sized vengeance. President Trump is heading to Arizona for a Tuesday campaign rally where he’s expected to take aim at primary-plagued Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ). The event marks the unofficial kickoff of a primary election cycle that risks going sideways on a party that had finally felt like it had figured out how to contain its congressional primary problems. [Republicans, Vocal Trump Critics Jump To Praise President’s Afghanistan Plan]( The Gist: After reversing course on his “original instinct” to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan and declaring on Tuesday an unannounced approach to military operations in the country, GOP lawmakers praised President Donald Trump for his new strategy. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, commended the President for his “big step in the right direction” and calling his decision “long overdue.” [Charity Pulls Event From Trump’s NJ Golf Club Due To ‘Recent Events’]( The Gist: After a wave of charities pulled fundraising events from President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago club in the wake of his response to the Charlottesville attack, a local New Jersey charity announced Monday that it would no longer hold an event at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. From The Reporter's Notebook --------------------------------------------------------------- [TPM’s Allegra Kirkland reported]( on the alternative platforms that white nationalist and so-called “alt-right” groups are turning to as mainstream tech companies give them the boot. While these are mostly small echo chambers for now, as Kirkland reported, some are gaining significant memberships, particularly in the wake of the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Gab, a Twitter alternative popular in these communities, surpassed $1 million in fundraising last week, receiving $400,000 in the course of just one two-day period. Agree Or Disagree? --------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Marshall: "Trump is more a political brand than a set of policy proposals. And legislative leaders always take more hits for unpopular legislation. But it’s not hard to see an ominous pattern here for Republicans: Trump’s legislative failures end up causing [negative responses on both sides of the political spectrum]( – both for what he was trying to accomplish and for having failed to accomplish it. Meanwhile, Trump’s reaction to these failures is often to attack the legislative leaders who carried the water for him in the first place. That is a rough combination." Say What?! --------------------------------------------------------------- "[Slavery] absolutely deserves a place because bad history is still good history for this country." - Former Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson on Monday [defending]( Confederate statues during "Fox and Friends," saying Americans love their "good and bad" history. BUZZING: Today in the Hive --------------------------------------------------------------- From a TPM Prime member: "'When the Sun sends its rays, it's not sending its best,' Trump said. 'They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending rays that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good rays.'" Related: [Trump Looks At The Sun During Solar Eclipse Despite Shouted Warning]( Have something to add? Become a [Prime]( member and join the discussion [here](. What We're Reading --------------------------------------------------------------- The Women Behind The 'Alt-Right' ([NPR]( A Most American Terrorist: The Making Of Dylann Roof ([GQ]( [unsubscribe from this list]( | [update subscription preferences]( | [view email in browser](