Aug 8, 2017

Jeff Flake: populism "is not a real governing philosophy"

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) criticized his own party and President Trump once again on CNN last night. Asked if he felt his party has left him, Sen. Flake responded with his commitment to the party, but added his concerns on their governing, the party's stance regarding free trade, globalism, and immigration.

He later fired at the party's immigration policy announced last week: "On immigration, the immigration package put forward last week I think is in the wrong direction. ... But cutting legal immigration in half is not the right direction we need to go as a country."

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Sara Fischer

47 mins ago - Technology

Snapchat will no longer promote Trump's account in Discover

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Snapchat will no longer promote President Trump's account on its "Discover" page of curated content, a spokesperson tells Axios, after Trump tweeted comments that some suggested glorified violence amid racial justice protests.

Why it matters: Snapchat is taking action on the president's account for comments he made elsewhere. That's going farther than other big tech firms and signals a commitment to aligning content served to users with core values, rather than making moderation decisions based narrowly on each post made on its own platform.

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Axios

Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Esper catches White House off guard with opposition to military use, photo op

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said at a press briefing Wednesday that he does not currently support invoking the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that permits the president to use active-duty troops on U.S. soil, in order to quell protests against racial injustice.

Why it matters: President Trump threatened this week to deploy military forces if state and local governments aren't able to squash violent protests. Axios reported on Wednesday that Trump is backing off the idea for now, but that he hasn't ruled it out.

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Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute

2 hours ago - World

Chinese coronavirus test maker agreed to build a Xinjiang gene bank

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

A leading Chinese gene sequencing and biomedical firm that said it would build a gene bank in Xinjiang is supplying coronavirus tests around the world.

Why it matters: U.S. officials are worried that widespread coronavirus testing may provide an opportunity for state-connected companies to compile massive DNA databases for research as well as genetics-based surveillance.

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