Feb 2, 2017

Trump threatens UC Berkeley after violent protests

The president, on Twitter: "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?"

The context: U.C. Berkeley canceled a speaking event and removed Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos from campus just hours before he was scheduled to speak, citing "violence and destruction of property and out of concern for public safety."

What Trump's watching: Fox & Friends ran a segment on the protests just before Trump's tweet, including Milo's comments last night to Tucker Carlson. Compare Milo's language to Trump's tweet:

MILO: What's scary is this riot happened on an American campus where you should be able to have differing opinions (via #Tucker) pic.twitter.com/cT8Jgzkegz — FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) February 2, 2017

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Fadel Allassan
22 mins ago - World

China bans Cruz and Rubio over Xinjiang criticism

Photos: Graeme Jennings/Pool/Getty Images; Al Drago/Pool/Getty Images

China said Monday that it will ban entry to Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over their criticisms of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the AP reports.

The big picture: The move seems to be retaliatory after the U.S. announced sanctions on four Chinese officials for human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in the region last week.

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Mike Allen
51 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Roger Stone says he plans to campaign for Trump

Roger Stone appears yesterday outside his home in Fort Lauderdale. Photo: Johnny Louis/Getty Images

Roger Stone told Axios in a phone interview that he plans to write and speak for President Trump's re-election now that Stone "won't die in a squalid hellhole of corona-19 virus."

"I'm asthmatic," said Stone, 67. "Sending me to a prison where I could not be socially distanced ... would, I think, be a death sentence."

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Scott Rosenberg, Kyle Daly
1 hour ago - Technology

Facebook's plan: Make nice, but don't give in

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Facebook last week took steadily intensifying heat from fleeing advertisers and boycott leaders and received a big thumbs-down from its own civil-rights auditors. Its response, essentially: We hear you, but we'll carry on.

The big picture: Early on in Facebook's rise, CEO Mark Zuckerberg learned to handle external challenges by offering limited concessions and soothing words, then charging forward without making fundamental changes.

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