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It was another week of pain and reckoning for the US. Protests that first broke out in Minneapolis after a black man, George Floyd, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest, took hold across the nation. On Saturday, thousands took to the streets in Philadelphia in a historic protest.
Read on for more on how the White House, Silicon Valley, and stock markets are reacting:
What Trump insiders are saying
At the start of the week, Trump insiders were viewing the nationwide protests against police brutality as a political opportunity that could change the 2020 election map. Things soon changed after the president's controversial walk from the White House to St. John's Church on Monday night.
On Wednesday, Tom LoBianco and Darren Samuelsohn had an inside look at a tumultous few days for the White House and President Trump. From their story:
It's been a whirlwind 72 hours, even by Trump standards. The president has ping-ponged between a focus on his piousness, attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden's lengthy record with African Americans, and a promise that he is the "law and order president," which is akin to Richard Nixon's rhetoric during his successful 1968 bid for the White House.
As the president hemorrhages support — his current and former Defense secretaries joined the list on Wednesday — people close to the 2020 campaign say they are frustrated at the lack of a clear strategy.
You can read that story here:
The Trump campaign is hemorrhaging support. Here's what insiders are saying about the past 72 hours.
On Thursday, Tom followed up with a look at Vice President Pence's presence, or lack thereof, through the week. As Tom reported, Trump's No. 2 avoided the walk from the White House to St. John's Church and was generally considered to be keeping his head down through the first half of the week. You can read that story here:
Vice President Pence has dropped off the national radar amid police-brutality protests. Trump insiders say there's a reason for that.
Just this morning, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed that 80% of respondents feel that the country "is spiraling out of control." Check back at Insider.com for regular updates from our politics teams in Washington, DC, and New York. And sign up here to get Insider Today, written by Henry Blodget and David Plotz, direct to your inbox.
Silicon Valley's split
A split has emerged between Facebook and Twitter, Snap, and now LinkedIn in how those platforms handle President Trump's rhetoric. Here's the tech story of the week in 10 headlines:
* May 29: Mark Zuckerberg says he had a 'visceral negative reaction' to Trump's post about shooting protesters but says the post will stay on Facebook
* May 29: Trump claims his 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts' remarks weren't a call to violence but instead a 'fact'
* June 1: Facebook employees are holding a virtual walkout against the company's handling of Trump's posts
* June 2: A Facebook software engineer publicly resigned in protest over the social network's 'propagation of weaponized hatred'
* June 2: Mark Zuckerberg defends Facebook's decision to allow Trump's post in internal meeting even as employees protest and resign
* June 2: Prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist Om Malik is urging people to boycott Facebook: 'You might be one person with just one account, but you are not powerless'
* June 3: The White House's unproven claims on Facebook and Twitter that antifa activists are placing bricks to incite riots have been taken down
* June 4: Zuckerberg is increasingly isolated in his decision to not act against Trump after Snapchat barred the president from its high-profile Discover section
* June 5: In leaked audio, LinkedIn said it would 'restrict' Trump if he used the platform to incite violence or spread misinformation
* June 5: Mark Zuckerberg publicly promises to re-examine Facebook's rules on posts related to state violence
It's not just big tech that's facing a reckoning right now either. Here are some recent headlines from our VC team:
* The president of the Center for American Entrepreneurship apologized for telling Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton that her advice to white coworkers was 'unfair and unhelpful'
* Monique Woodard, one of tech's few black female venture capitalists, says some diversity efforts risk creating a 'separate but equal' mentality :'Black entrepreneurs don't need a separate water fountain'
* The Information reporter apologizes for 'judgmental' tweet that called out Andreessen Horowitz's silence after pressure from firm founder Ben Horowitz's wife, Felicia
* 'THIS IS NOT A CHARITY': Andreessen Horowitz defends itself against the criticism surrounding the size and structure of its new nonprofit fund
How to invest right now
The stock market finished the week soaring more than 800 points after the jobs report surprised many by showing falling unemployment in May. But:
* Black Americans weren't part of the surprise May hiring bump that benefited white and Latino workers
* Economists said that the unemployment rate would have been 3 percentage points higher had it not been for classification issues and that some workers could be returning to their old positions.
If you're struggling to make sense of why the stock market's soaring even as protests dominate the streets, join us on Thursday, June 11 at 12 p.m. ET and hear from three investment strategists who will share their advice on how to navigate the unpredictable market landscape.
Akin Oyedele will speak with Lori Calvasina, head of US Equity Strategy for RBC Capital Markets; Thomas Lee, managing partner and head of research for Fundstrat Global Advisors, LLC; and Jeff Kleintop, chief global investment strategist for Charles Schwab.
You can sign up here:
SIGN UP NOW: How to invest during turbulent times — a conversation with 3 top market strategists
In related news:
* The head of BlackRock's $2 trillion ETF-investing business told us the 3 biggest growth opportunities on his radar — and explained how to start taking advantage of them now
Below are headlines on some of the stories you might have missed from the past week. Stay safe, everyone.
-- Matt
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