The Racist in Chief:The silence of Republican leaders after President Trump’s slurs against four non-white members of Congress reveals the Republican party for what it is, the party of Donald Trump, the angry racist in the White House.

  Carl Hulse writes for The NY Timesthat, “With Mr. Trump far more popular with Republican voters than incumbent Republican members of Congress, most are loath to cross the president and risk reprisals.” 

 Republicans appear to be preparing to focus on the four vocal congressional Democrats nicknamed “the squad” as enemies of Democracy. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the four “a bunch of communists.” 

  Instead of being embarrassed or silenced for his racism, Trump continued his attacks on Twitter this morning. “The Democratic congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get a free pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party,” he wrote. “Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist & public shouting of the F…word, among many other terrible things, and the petrified Dems run for the hills.”

  George Conway, who amazingly is still married to Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, has been a loud voice taking on Trump. He writes in The Washington Postthat Republican leaders are not silent because they agree with Trump. 

“Surely they know better, he says. “They’re silent because, knowing that he’s incorrigible, they have inured themselves to his wild statements; because, knowing that he’s a fool, they don’t really take his words seriously and pretend that others shouldn’t, either; because, knowing how damaging Trump’s words are, the Republicans don’t want to give succor to their political enemies; because, knowing how vindictive, stubborn and obtusely self-destructive Trump is, they fear his wrath.”

 Conway concludes that, “What’s at stake now is more important than judges or tax cuts or regulations or any policy issue of the day. What’s at stake are the nation’s ideals, its very soul.”

Calling it Like it Is: President Trump’s declarations in recent days have sparked a debate within journalism about whether reporters should describe his words as “racist.”

 Trump said the four members of “the squad” should go back to the countries they came from, even though three were born in America and the fourth is a naturalized citizen

 Mainstream journalism likes to remain neutral, leaving it to involved observers to make qualitative observations. It’s “He said, she said.” 

 Trump previously pushed journalism over a line with his propensity for lying. At first reporters avoided describing his statements as lies, but he lied so much that they had no choice.

  Margaret Sullivan writes in The Washington Post that, “Now the question is the word ‘racist.’” She says that the job of reporters is to tell the truth. “A crucial part of being careful is being accurate, clear and direct,” she says. “When confronted with racism and lying, we can’t run and hide in the name of neutrality and impartiality. To do that is a dereliction of duty.”

  CNN’sBrian Stelter noted that there was a quick change yesterday. “Outlets like The APand CBSstopped attributing the word ‘racist’ to ‘critics’ and stated it as a fact, in an institutional voice. This evolution was evident throughout the day: The morning show on CBS leaned on ‘critics,’ but the network’s evening newscast said ‘racist tweets.’”

  Trump has disrupted everything normal in Washington, including journalism.

The Epstein Beat:Two women who have accused financier Jeffrey Epstein of molesting them as teenagers argued in court yesterday that he should be denied bail.

  “He’s a scary person to have walking the streets,” said Courtney Wild, who said Mr. Epstein began sexually abusing her when she was 14.

  Prosecutors say Epstein is still a danger and is rich enough to easily get out of the country. Prosecutors said that investigators discovered a safe in Epstein’s Manhattan mansion that held “piles of cash,” diamonds, and an expired passport from a foreign country which had a fake name and said he lived in Saudi Arabia.

The Money Poll: Campaign donations are the early indicator of who has the popularity to survive in the quest for the presidency. At the moment, five Democrats lead the pack in fundraising over the past three months.

– Pete Buttigieg, $24.9 million 

– Joe Biden, $22 million

– Elizabeth Warren, $19.2 million

– Bernie Sanders, $18 million

– Kamala Harris, $11.8 million

The News Roundup: Norah O’Donnell made her debut last night as anchor of the The CBS Evening News. The #3 network has been struggling for years to find its feet and she is the new hope. — James Alex Fields Jr., 22, the avowed white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville, Va. killing a young woman, was sentenced yesterday to life in prison plus 419 years. Fields used to keep a photo of Adolf Hitler on his bedside table.

Naming Rights: The National Park Service has settled a lawsuit over the names of historic hotels and locations that were claimed as trademark property by the park’s former concessionaire.

  When its contract was not renewed, Delaware North sued, claiming the names of the historicAhwahnee Hotel and Curry Village belonged to the company. The hotel was re-named The Majestic Yosemite Hotel  and Camp Curry was Half Dome Village.

  The two are back to their original names and the name of Delaware North is mud.

-30-