TRADE WAR. Trump orders American companies to look for alternatives to China, asks if Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is bigger enemy to the U.S. than Chinese Presidenti Xi Jinping.
DROPPING. Seth Moulton out of 2020 race: ‘The three-term congressman plans to say in a speech later on Friday that he feels confident that he “raised issues that are vitally important to the American people and our future,” and he will pledge to campaign vigorously for the eventual Democratic nominee.
KARAMO BROWN. Queer Eye star deletes Twitter after backlash over comments about Sean Spicer.
MENTAL HEALTH, ADDICTION. Pete Buttigieg rolls out plan: “Buttigieg’s 18-page plan sets out three distinct goals. It aims to prevent 1 million deaths by drugs, alcohol or suicide by 2028. It also says it would guarantee that 75% of people who need mental health services receive them by the end of Buttigieg’s hypothetical first term as president. Finally, the plan wants to reduce people incarcerated due to mental illness by 75% — a move that fits into a previous proposal by Buttigieg to cut total incarceration at the federal and state levels by 50%.”
AUTOSTRADDLE. Why did we love Grease so much as gay children?
BILLY PORTER. On Pose helping his career: “I wasn’t really working in film and television. And it was just frustrating, you know? It was just frustrating to sort of feel ignored and feel dismissed, and dismissed for even the flamboyant things. So to have this come around and to have it come around in this way is really profound and really special, and I do not take it lightly.”
WISCONSIN. Superior passes ban on gay conversion therapy.
ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines…
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT. Matt Bomer was there for Judith Light at the premiere of her new movie.
VAPING. CDC reports 153 cases of vaping-related illnesses: “People reported breathing difficulty, shortness of breath and/or chest pain before hospitalization, the CDC said. Some reported gastrointestinal illness including vomiting and diarrhea, as well as fatigue.”
KENTUCKY. Gay rights activist arrested during a protest at the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s Country Ham Breakfast and Auction: “State troopers dragged Fairness Campaign director Chris Hartman out in handcuffs on Thursday. It wasn’t immediately clear what he was being charged with. … The Fairness Campaign said members were there to protest the Farm Bureau’s stance on gay rights and other issues.”
RICKY MARTIN. Pay attention to the fire in the Amazon.
TV TRAILER OF THE DAY. Jawline. “Liza Mandelup’s feature debut, Jawline follows 16-year-old Austyn Tester, a rising star in the live-broadcast ecosystem who built his following on wide-eyed optimism and teen girl lust, as he tries to escape a dead-end life in rural Tennessee.”
NEW TUNE OF THE DAY. Ben Platt “Rain”.
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Taylor Swift “Lover”.
FRIDAY FLASH. Prash.
