Mississippi to Drop Confederate Image on Flag and Trump Retweets "Trump 2020 White Power"

By Mike Allen Axios

The "Stennis flag" is a proposed alternative to Mississippi's current state flag. Photo: Brandon Dill for The Washington Post via Getty Images Both chambers of Mississippi's legislature passed the biggest hurdle toward removing the Confederate Stars and Bars from the state flag, The (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger reports. The legislation, expected to pass soon in final form, "would immediately take down the flag and set up a nine-member commission to design a new one." "That design would include the words 'In God We Trust' and no Confederate symbols," and would go to voters in November. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R), who had long refused to wade into the flag debate, tweeted yesterday:    Mike Allen Axios Trump’s superpower turns to kryptonite  Screenshot from CNN No president in our lifetime has enjoyed a more mesmerizing, seemingly unbendable hold on his political base than Donald Trump. He shifts their views on big topics like the FBI or Vladimir Putin and retains their support regardless of what he says or does.  Why it matters: This connection is turning fast into a liability for Trump and the entire GOP because the president and his mostly white, mostly male base are on the opposite side of most Americans on the epic topics of our day — wearing masks, combating coronavirus, and condemning racial inequality and police brutality.  They are now basically egging each other on.  Breaking ... President Trump this morning retweeted (then deleted) a video of a man in a golf cart with a "TRUMP 2020" sign who yelled "White power!" at Trump critics.  Trump added the note: "Thank you to the great people of The Villages," a retirement community in Florida. "The Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats will Fall in the Fall." White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told reporters: "President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters." When the tweet was still up, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the only Black Republican senator, told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union":  "[Y]ou can't play it because it was so profanity laced. The entire thing was offensive. ... I think it's indefensible." The context: Advisers both inside and outside the White House have urged the president to tone down his violent rhetoric, which many worry could escalate racial tensions and hurt him politically, Jonathan Swan reported. The big picture: Top Republicans have told us for five years that Trump’s base will ultimately cost the party power.  The nation is growing too diverse and too progressive. These Republicans warned that tough-guy, non-inclusive action and talk would backfire — first with minorities, then with educated whites. The polls suggest strongly this is unfolding in real time. In addition to the N.Y. Times polls above, which showed Joe Biden with strong leads in the six top battlegrounds (subscription), the Fox News Poll this week showed Biden up 9 points in Florida, and tossups in Georgia and Texas — Republican strongholds — and North Carolina. Between the lines ... N.Y. Times columnist Ross Douthat writes (subscription): "[W]hat was likely to be a slow-motion leftward shift, as the less-married, less-religious, more ethnically diverse younger generation gained more power, is being accelerated nationally by the catastrophes of the Trump administration, which is putting states in play for Democrats five or 10 years early."