‘Cowards, every one.’ The Tribune’s Rex Huppke condemns every Republican backing President Trump: “There’s no difference between supporting a racist and being one.”
■ Trump’s tweets this morning put the lie to his efforts to distance himself from the “Send her back!” chant about Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
■ The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah noted that Trump “let that chant go on for so long Usain Bolt could have won a gold medal in that time.” And then Noah proved it. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ The Onion: “Trump Disavows Supporters Who Could Barely Keep Racist Chant Going For 10 Seconds.”
■ Omar got a hero’s welcome as she returned to Minnesota yesterday.
■ The New York Times’ Michelle Goldberg: The president’s defenders “have used Jews as human shields.”
■ A Republican New Hampshire state representative: “Owning slaves doesn’t make you racist.”
■ Axios: Trump’s Facebook ad spending reveals his reelection strategy.
■ Most-clicked link—by far—in yesterday’s Chicago Public Square: One word that signals the president’s telling a lie.
‘I am really fed up.’ An outraged U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky was among those pushing for release of three girls detained more than 12 hours yesterday at O’Hare by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, apparently in an attempt to ensnare their parents, who are undocumented immigrants—a move she called “kidnapping of children by our government.”
■ Customs officials dispute reports a 3-year-old girl was asked in El Paso to choose which of her parents would be sent back to Mexico.
Cops out. Four Chicago police officers have been fired by the Chicago Police Board, which found them guilty of “outright lying or shading the truth” to cover up Officer Jason Van Dyke’s murder of teenager Laquan McDonald.
■ Block Club Chicago: “Active Shooter Training In Loop Goes Epically Wrong After Police, Office Workers Not Notified In Advance.”
Oops. Mayor Lightfoot concedes she bungled the rollout of her first take on where to put a Chicago casino …
■ … and she says a downtown location is still a possibility, even though it wasn’t on her list.
■ Lightfoot and County Board President Toni Preckwinkle can’t seem to resolve their feud over how to address Chicago gun violence.
■ The FBI has raided the Downstate home of a Springfield lobbyist who’s been thisclose to House Speaker Michael Madigan.
‘We regret this error.’ The hospital that treated the infant child ripped from his mother’s womb—killing her and, ultimately, the baby—apologizes for billing the father more than $300,000.
■ The mother and daughter arrested for the crime are facing a separate murder charge for the baby’s death.
Hot, hot, hot. As Chicago flirts for the first time in seven years with a dangerous high of 100 today, meteorologists warn that global warming—which fueled Earth’s hottest June on record—could bring Chicago as many as 40 90-degree days a year by midcentury.
■ Which means you’ll need to be sharp at this weekend’s Pitchfork music festival.
■ The Reader’s guide to Pitchfork.
Carnival calamities. Two people were hurt yesterday when rides when awry at separate suburban carnies.
■ A year after 17 people died in a duck boat accident at Branson, Missouri, the amphibious rides are still in business across the country.
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