THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Chuck Todd

Chuck Todd repeatedly confronted Sen. John Barrasso (R- WY) on Meet the Press Sunday for Republicans changing their positions on filling Supreme Court vacancies in an election year.

Todd read off what Barrasso said in 2016, including, “This is not about the person. It’s about the principle involved, and I want to give the American people a voice in this.”

“Senator, these are your words!” Todd said. “Not once did you say, ‘Oh, it depends on what party the Senate holds versus the party of the president.’ This just sounds like a power grab, pure and simple.” A tough and deliberate interview, and we weren't the only ones who noticed.

Todd also took on HHS Secretary Alex Azar over public health messaging being at odds with top officials like the head of the CDC Dr. Robert Redfield

“Who should the American public listen to when it comes to masks?” Todd pushed, with the most important question of the day. “You and Dr. Redfield, or the president?”

A question that deserves more answer than it got, but that the American people demand and deserve the answer to.

A strong day for Todd and Meet the Press.
 

MEDIA LOSER:
RedState

Through a bit of remarkable reporting by Lachlan MarkayThe Daily Beast has revealed the mysterious life of  William B. Crews.

Known professionally as an official for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the public health agency overseen by Dr. Anthony Fauci, he is also the anonymous managing editor of pro-Trump website Red State. Known there by the pen name “streiff,” he has written a series of harangues attacking Dr. Fauci and the “deep state” over the pandemic response.

For the blissfully uninitiated, Redstate holds sway in conservative circles, including with members of Congress and their staffers on the Hill. So a well-regarded website dedicating numerous posts designed to undermine the nation’s top immunologist, anonymously written by an anonymous individual who works for Dr. Fauci? That’s a big deal.

That’s right. This guy works professionally for the NIAID under Dr. Fauci, charged with promoting sound advice from medical and public health experts. But he also moonlights as an anonymous troll that actively publishes disinformation that, as Markay writes, “his superiors at the NIAID say is a major challenge to widespread efforts to control a pandemic that has claimed roughly 200,000 U.S. lives.”

Yikes.

Just In

Microsoft Acquires Bethesda Games, ‘Fallout’ & ‘Elder Scrolls’ Franchises in Blockbuster $7.5 Billion Deal

The A-Block

"Biggest Thing"

New audio from Bob Woodward offers a window into President Donald Trump’s thinking on the judiciary — with a vacancy on the Supreme Court following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Appearing on CNN Sunday night, Woodward shared several previously unreleased clips from his 18 interviews with the president. In one exchange, Trump noted how important judicial appointments are to Republicans.

"Fox is good, but Fox is not what it was"

Trump attacked Fox News while appearing on the network for an interview with Fox News host Mark Levin, who did not challenge the president’s criticism.

“Fox is good, but Fox is not what it was,” Trump told Levin on Sunday night’s edition of Life, Liberty and Levin. “I’ll be very honest with you. They’ve become politically correct, they think it’s wonderful. They have more Democrats practically than they have Republicans.”

Max Kennedy

Max Kennedy Jr., the grandson of prominent former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy — brother to the late President John F. Kennedy offered a disturbing account of what he saw while working for Jared Kushner’s branch of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

TikTok

China’s ByteDance said Monday that it would retain control of video-sharing application TikTok under a proposed deal for Oracle and Walmart to operate an American subsidiary. Their statement seemingly in contradiction with assertions made by Oracle and Walmart.

CNN’s Town Hall Draws Big, But Still Second

CNN’s town hall with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden drew a whopping three million viewers, but still managed to place second in ratings behind Tucker Carlson Tonight, one of Fox News Channel's top prime time shows.

An impressive number of viewers for CNN, it was nevertheless also behind compared with a certain other town hall.

The View Ignites

Whoopi Goldberg promptly threw to commercial Monday when her colleagues on The View were on the verge of a major fight over the fallout of Justice Ginsburg’s passing.

WIMPS

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called Democrats “wimps” and questioned if they “have the guts to do anything” about the vacant seat on the Supreme Court.

“Democrats are great about talking big, but we’ll see if he has the — if he and the other Democrats have the guts to do anything. If they retake control of the Senate, will they really add the two seats on the Supreme Court?” Toobin asked on CNN’s New Day Monday morning.

"Regained control of the virus"??

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters Monday that the United States has “regained control of the virus,” blaming the United Kingdom and Europe on any stock market concerns.

“I do think however there’s some worries that Britain might shut down. It’s coming out of London, I can’t verify it’s not my job, but I read the reports like everybody else and I think that’s a great concern,” Kudlow said. “The USA is in much better position, thankfully. We’ve regained control of the virus, both the cases and the fatalities. But I think people are worried about Britain and maybe the rest of Europe as well.”

He also claimed that the economy’s recovery is not contingent on another relief package, noting that the United States is in a “self-sustaining, strong v-shaped recovery,” adding that the “battle is not over yet.”

Must See Clip

"We wanted to apologize for any confusion"

Fox & Friends issued an apology on Monday morning for covering a false report claiming Nashville city officials had covered up good news about the coronavirus.

Watch the statement and read the whole story here.

Links We Like

RBG and the empty triumph of liberal pop culture
- Ann Hornaday, via Washington Post
Liberals on a dose of lunacy to protect Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat
- Miranda Devine, via New York Post

The price for Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat can’t be democracy itself.
- Ezra Klein, via Vox
Liberals on a dose of lunacy to protect Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat
- Miranda Devine, via New York Post

A reason not to worry that Amy Coney Barrett will recuse herself in abortion cases
- via Patterico

Can Trump and McConnell push through a successor to Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
- Jeffrey Toobin, via The New Yorker
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