Space race? Friday’s splashdown of the Artemis II crew was a moment of celebration for the entire planet. But it comes as the Trump administration is proposing troubling budget cuts that would all but dismantle much of NASA, argues Bill Nye the Science Guy. These cuts would be an insult to our astronauts and the entire NASA workforce, even as there is a growing consensus in Washington that we are in a new space race, this time with the China National Space Administration, which is planning to have taikonauts walk on the moon in 2030. Read more.
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BlueAnon: Trump’s first term was famous for inspiring a right-wing conspiracy community called QAnon, which held that the president was saving the world from a pedophile cabal. In his second term, a left-wing counterpart, sometimes derisively called BlueAnon, has posited that the president is actually a serial child abuser, writes Brandy Zadrozny. The online conspiracy theorists have recently seized on a sprawling and outlandish story from a 52-year-old Iraq War veteran named Sascha Riley, but there is no evidence that any of it happened. That, in turn, has given the president’s defenders more fuel to claim that any accusation against him is a hoax. Read more.
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Streisand Effect: Barbra Streisand infamously drew more attention to her home in Malibu when she attempted to sue a photographer who took a picture of it. The latest entry in the Streisand Effect Hall of Fame is first lady Melania Trump, whose surprise statement that she was not friends with “the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein” raised all of the questions that it seemed to be designed to put to rest, argues Paul Waldman. The short televised address only drew more attention to an email exchange between her and the convicted sex offender, raising the question of why she felt compelled to hold it. Read more.
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Don’t go West: Kanye West suffered a setback when the U.K.’s Home Office announced on Tuesday that it would block him from traveling to the country for a summer music festival. That’s not surprising, given that in the last few years he has said he loved Nazis, sold T-shirts with a swastika and released a song called “Heil Hitler,” argues author and culture writer Mychal Denzel Smith. And yet, his latest album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts and celebrity guests, such as CeeLo Green and Lauryn Hill, have appeared with him at sold-out shows in Los Angeles — a disappointing endorsement of his horrifying behavior. Read more.
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As head of the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer is charged with ensuring American workplaces are free from discrimination. But at least three people have lodged formal workplace discrimination complaints against the labor secretary, alleging she created a toxic workplace and sought to retaliate against women who reported her husband for sexual misconduct in her office, according to two sources familiar with the allegations, write Carol Leonnig and Mychael Schnell. The complaints portray Chavez-DeRemer as an agency leader who fostered a workplace where staffers feared punishment for speaking out or resisting inappropriate directives, such as performing personal chores for her. Read the article here.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith, newsletter editor
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This week on “The Best People,” revisit Nicolle Wallace’s conversation with Academy Award winning actor Robert De Niro to hear the optics of business leaders turning a blind eye to the Trump administration’s behaviors, the need for mass mobilization to project midterm election integrity, and the importance of kindness in an era of division. Listen now, and subscribe to MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content.
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