27 JUNE

Civility war

A war of words over civility in politics has erupted in the United States following a restaurant's decision to refuse service to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The owner of the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia, Stephanie Wilkinson, said she believed that Sanders worked in the service of an "inhumane and unethical" administration, that she publicly defended President Trump's cruelest policies, and that that could not stand. Both Sanders and Trump criticised the restaurant on Twitter. Sanders' father, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, denounced his daughter's treatment as "bigotry". 

The incident came weeks after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a bakery owner who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, a verdict many conservatives praised. A few days prior to the Sanders' encounter, protesters assailed Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Washington, just as the administration was coming under fire for its policy of separating undocumented immigrant families at the US border with Mexico. Trump's policy adviser, Stephen Miller, was also accosted at a different Mexican restaurant, where a protestor called him "a fascist", according to the New York Post.

NEWS WRAP

SCOTUS hands Trump immigration victory 

• The US Supreme Court upheld Trump’s ban on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries on Tuesday, delivering a political victory to the president in the heat of a debate about the treatment of migrants at the Mexican border. In a 5-to-4 vote, the court’s conservatives said that the president’s power to secure the country’s borders, delegated by Congress over decades of immigration lawmaking, was not undermined by Trump’s history of incendiary statements about the dangers Muslims supposedly pose to the United States. READ MORE HERE.
   

• Harley-Davidson is shifting some production of motorcycles for European customers out of the United States to avoid EU retaliatory tariffs in response to President Trump's trade policy. It's some of the most direct evidence yet that the tit-for-tat trade fights between the United States and other countries have consequences for American companies. Harley-Davidson said it stood to lose as much as $100 million a year. READ MORE HERE.
   
• Australian Parliament looks increasingly likely to pass two bills designed to give intelligence agencies greater powers to prosecute foreign agents interfering in Australian decision-making processes, and force individuals and organisations to be transparent when acting at the behest of external entities. Senior fellow John Lee has written for the Weekly Standard overnight on why he believes the United States should be cheering on the passage of the two controversial bills in Australia. READ MORE HERE.
   
• As tough legislative battles continue in Washington, many of President Trump's opponents may think his presidency can be "waited out". But his court appointments have the potential to influence America for decades to come. Lecturer Elizabeth Ingleson spoke to Crikey about the real and lasting impact of the Trump presidency in US courts. READ MORE HERE.
   
• The White House is working to arrange a phone call between newly re-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Trump. Erdogan will extend his rule and assume sweeping new powers after winning presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that arrangements are being made to set up a call between Trump and Erdogan to "reaffirm our strong bond". READ MORE HERE.
   
• Republicans think 38 per cent of Democrats are gay, lesbian or bisexual, while the actual number is about 6 per cent. Democrats estimate that 44 per cent of Republicans make more than US$250,000 a year. The actual share is 2 per cent. This is according to YouGov polling analysed by FiveThirtyEight alongside other data as part of a column on the partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats and its effect on identity. READ MORE HERE.

If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.

Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters
(Los Angeles rally against separating migrant families)
24 June 2018

DIARY

The week ahead

• Wednesday, 27 June: President Trump will host the president of Portugal at the White House.
   

• Wednesday, 27 June: President Trump will travel to North Dakota for a ‘Make America Great Again’ campaign rally.
   

• Thursday, 28 June: Australian Parliament has its final sitting day until August 13.
   

• Sunday, 1 July: Mexico will hold a general election.

EVENT

America in Asia: An Australian Perspective

VIDEO

Singer Cher eats cow tongue rather than say something nice about President Trump

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

#Civility

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