Gothamist reports: In an exchange this week on the online show Larry Reid Live, the bishop accused the host and his guest, Pastor Geneses Warren, of mocking footage of the robbery, calling Warren “fat” and lobbing a homophobic slur at Reid. “You want to sit here and validate homosexuality because you just admitted that you’re a [slur],” Whitehead said to …

The Kansas City Star reports: Missouri U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley is writing a book called Manhood: The Masculine Virtues Americans Need, building off a speech he gave at a conservative conference claiming the political left is waging a war on masculinity. “ The American Founders believed that a republic depends on certain masculine virtues,” the book’s description on Amazon says. …

The Texas Tribune reports: Ken Paxton and more than 20 other attorneys general are challenging the federal Food and Nutrition Service’s new policy that recipients of food assistance funds update their nondiscrimination policies to protect LGBTQ people. Paxton and his counterparts claim the guidance issued by the USDA is “unlawful” because states were not consulted and did not have an …

Media Matters reports: Tennessee GOP official and congressional candidate Charlotte Bergmann recently said on her online program that the deadly July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, was a “planned” and false flag event designed to take away people’s guns. Bergmann has made similar remarks about other mass shootings, including after the Uvalde, Texas, tragedy. Media Matters previously documented …

Talking Point Memo reports: Donald Trump said today that he plans to sue CNN for defamation, claiming the network and digital news outlet has been defaming him since the 2016 election. And he takes specific and particular issue with use of the term “Big Lie,” a phrase which nearly every mainstream news outlet in America has used. “I will also …

The Christian Post reports: The former megachurch pastor allegedly asked a young male church member to whom he was providing counseling to buy him methamphetamine and said he was planning to use it to celebrate his upcoming birthday. Rev. Kirk Sethman said when they got to Haggard’s house, Haggard gave him a briefcase to throw away. “He asked us to …

Changing America reports: As record-breaking heat waves continue to grip the country, a new Economist/YouGov poll finds 53 percent of U.S. adults report personally having felt the effects of climate change. Findings were based on responses from 1,500 individuals between July 23 and 26. Of those surveyed, 23 percent said they have not felt the effects of climate change, 18 …

Politico reports: The Biden administration is expected to declare monkeypox a public health emergency in the coming days, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The declaration, which is made by the Department of Health and Human Services, would follow a similar decision made last weekend by the World Health Organization. By designating the outbreak an emergency, HHS …

ABC News reports: The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is working to secure testimony from a growing number of officials in former President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News. Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who reportedly discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment as a vehicle …

Reuters reports: Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials announced on Wednesday a new national political third party to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America’s dysfunctional two-party system. The new party, called Forward, will initially be co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican …

The Washington Post reports: In a forthcoming memoir, Jared Kushner alleges that former president Donald Trump’s second chief of staff, John F. Kelly, was viewed within the White House as a bully with a “Jekyll-and-Hyde” demeanor who once shoved his wife, Ivanka Trump, out of his way after a volatile Oval Office meeting. Kelly denies the allegation. “One day he …

Bloomberg News reports: The US economy shrank for a second straight quarter, raising chances of a recession, as decades-high inflation undercut consumer spending and Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes stymied business investment and housing demand. Gross domestic product fell at a 0.9% annualized rate after a 1.6% decline in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department’s preliminary estimate …

The Associated Press reports: A 49-year-old Seattle man arrested earlier this month on suspicion of committing a hate crime against U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal and threatening to kill her has been charged with felony stalking. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said Brett Forsell was charged Wednesday after additional evidence was gathered by police investigators. As part of the felony …

Politico reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to make monkeypox a nationally notifiable condition, directing states across the country to share surveillance data, including case numbers, according to a senior administration official and two other people with knowledge of the situation. The move, which comes more than two months after monkeypox began spreading in the United …

“What Joe failed to mention is the current variant, which is BA.5, the dominant variant of the omicron is much, much weaker than the original strain that infected then-President Trump. “By the way, not that I recall, I never saw a Donald Trump trip, not once, not twice, but three times climbing up the stairs to Air Force One and …

CBS News reports: Former Trump White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is scheduled to testify Thursday before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Mulvaney had already left the Trump White House by Jan. 6, 2021. Mulvaney was ousted by Trump from his chief of staff role in March 2020, and Mulvaney resigned from his …

The Miami Herald reports: Continuing to target what he calls “woke” corporations, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to prohibit state investments that use “environmental, social and governance” ratings, which can include taking into account impacts of climate change. DeSantis plans to have the State Board of Administration, which oversees investments, direct pension-fund managers against “using political factors when investing the state’s …

Media Matters has the transcript: Political speech is not a crime in America. It has never been a crime in America. Even if extremists use your words to justify their violence, you cannot be arrested for their deeds because we have a First Amendment. Political speech is sacrosanct, period. The Supreme Court has ruled on this many times. It’s at …

The Daily Beast reports: Former President Donald Trump has asked the D.C. Circuit Court to rule he has “absolute immunity” from lawsuits pertaining to his Jan. 6 speech and the subsequent moves he made surrounding the 2020 election. In court documents obtained by Politico, attorneys for Trump claim “the actions of rioters do not strip President Trump of immunity,” and …

CNBC reports: JetBlue Airways reached a deal to buy Spirit Airlines, hours after the discount carrier scrapped plans to merge with Frontier Airlines. JetBlue said it will pay $33.50 a share in cash for Spirit in a $3.8 billion deal. A JetBlue acquisition of Spirit would create the country’s fifth-largest carrier, and if approved by regulators, would leave Frontier as …