Friday Top News Executive Summary

Politics & Administration

CHANT REPUDIATED: According to The Washington Times, “President Trump on Thursday disavowed the ‘send her back’ chant that some of his campaign supporters directed at Somalia-born Rep. Ilhan Omar, saying he tried to stop it. ‘I was not happy with it. I disagree with it,’ the president told reporters at the White House. ‘I didn’t like that they did it.’” As a side note, Omar in 2015 used the phrase “our nation back home” while speaking to the Revolution Somali Youth League.

LABOR NOMINEE: Trump to nominate Antonin Scalia’s son for labor secretary (Reuters)

SOLID FIRST STEP: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that the administration has reached a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on top-line spending numbers for a two-year budget deal. … Mnuchin’s comment means they’ve worked out a deal on what the overall spending levels will be for defense and nondefense programs, which are used by lawmakers to write government funding bills.” (The Hill)

On the Left

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO: “Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has pledged to American workers that he would institute a $15-per-hour minimum wage if he wins the White House in 2020. But unionized workers on Sanders’ own campaign say they wish he would start now — by paying a higher wage to them. According to a report, members of Sanders’ staff have been using the senator’s own campaign rhetoric against him as they try to wrestle more pay from the self-described democratic socialist.” (Fox News)

FUTILE EFFORT: “The Democrat-led House voted to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, more than double the current rate of $7.25, and the first proposed increase in a decade. The legislation, approved 231 to 199, now goes to the Republican-led Senate, which is not expected to take it up.” (Washington Examiner)

National Security

IRAN DRONE DOWNED: “President Trump announced Thursday that a U.S. warship has downed an Iranian drone flying in the Strait of Hormuz. ‘The Boxer took defensive action against an Iranian drone, which had closed into a near distance, approximately 1000 yards, ignoring multiple calls to stand down, threatening [the] safety of [the] ship and ship’s crew,’ Trump told reporters during a White House press conference. The drone was ‘immediately destroyed,’ according to the president.” (National Review)

RECRUITMENT ENIGMA: “The best way to fix the U.S. armed forces’ recruiting challenges may involve dipping further into the nation’s high schools. As the Army, Navy and other services contend with a thriving economy and a directive to expand their ranks, there is a growing debate over whether the military should consider lowering the minimum enlistment age from 17 to 16.” (The Washington Times)

On the Culture Front

BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU: “Netflix’s latest quarterly report shows the streaming service giant experienced a chill in growth with its first quarterly loss of paid domestic subscribers in eight years. The dip in subscriptions came in the same quarter as Netflix’s decision to take a stance against Georgia’s pro-life ‘heartbeat bill.’” (The Daily Signal)

BAIL DENIED: “A federal judge on Thursday denied bail to wealthy investor Jeffrey Epstein, citing the potential danger to ‘new victims’ from his apparently ‘uncontrollable’ sexual fixation on young girls, and the risk that Epstein would flee to avoid prosecution for child sex trafficking charges.” (CNBC)

Other Notables

TRAGIC: “FDNY firefighter Richard Driscoll died on Wednesday, becoming the 200th New York firefighter to pass away from a 9/11-related illness just as the Senate was attempting to agree on an extension of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.” (National Review)

NOTICE A PATTERN?: “The U.K., most notably London, has experienced a sharp increase in knife-related crime, despite ‘knife control’ efforts to curb the violence, newly released figures detail. Knife crime in both England and Wales is up 8% from April 2018 to May 2019. U.K. police reports from 43 departments recorded 47,136 incidents involving sharp objects, an Office of National Statistics crime report says.” (The Daily Caller News Foundation)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: To avoid a debt crisis, look to … Canada and Sweden? (Issues & Insights)

POLICY: Fifty years after Apollo 11 moon landing, America is once again asserting leadership in space (The Heritage Foundation)

HUMOR: NASA announces all-female remake of staged moon landings (The Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.