THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2021 

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Fox & Friends

At a CNN town hall Thursday night, President Joe Biden once again expressed amusement over Fox News having a "vaccine mandate," but wasn't accurate in the way he described their corporate policy. 

Biden has made this mistake before, describing Fox's policy as a "vaccine mandate, but contrary to his statements, the network has not mandated the vaccine, but instead has established a vaccine pass system in which employees who are unvaccinated or do not disclose their vaccination status must submit to frequent testing.

A clip of Biden speaking about Covid-19 "misinformation" was aired Friday morning on Fox & Friends, and Brian Kilmeade responded by asking “what about the misinformation he said about Fox? He said I think it’s funny that Fox has a vaccine mandate. We have a testing option at Fox. So what he said is totally inaccurate.” It's a fair point and the president should be able to get his facts straight by now. 

Fox & Friends' Friday show also featured an interview with Paris Hilton, who has been using her celebrity status to draw attention to the issue of teenagers being abused at congregate care centers. Hilton has been sharing her own traumatic experiences at such centers to lobby for reform

MEDIA LOSER:
Stephen Crowder

Stephen Crowder has a long and sordid history of saying outrageous, stupid, and bigoted things to get attention, but the nasty insults he directed at San Francisco-area CBS affiliate KPIX reporter Betty Yu stand out for their aggressive racism and misogyny. 

Yu was covering the controversy over In-N-Out Burger being shut for indoor dining there because they were not checking patrons’ vaccination status. Crowder played a clip of the KPIX report and broke out into laughter as soon as Yu appeared on the screen. 

Oh! That is an aggressively Asian face!” he said -- and it didn't stop there. Crowder also referred to Yu as "full Asian" as opposed to the "kind of Americanized Asians" that reporters "usually" were. 

"I wish she would have kept her fan," commented one of Crowder's co-hosts. "Well, yeah, a little bit of geisha," Crowder replied. 

KPIX condemned Crowder's "horrible and racist attack." There's a debate to be had about how government and businesses should respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, but none of Crowder's slimy little comments had anything to do with Yu's reporting. He was mocking her appearance, attacking her race, and peddling in bigoted tropes that sexualize Asian women.

MSNBC Anchor Ayman Mohyeldin Discusses How US Media Covers the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: ‘Historically, This Has Not Gotten Balanced Coverage’

The A-Block

Biden In the sort-of-hot seat

Biden took questions from voters at a town hall Thursday night hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper, covering a wide range of topics. 

Mediaite's Jackson Richman assessed the town hall as allowing too many softball questions and not enough followups from Cooper. Fox News' Chris Wallace called out Biden's rhetoric as well, saying it "doesn't hold up to scrutiny." You can check out a selection of clips from the evening collected below.

The president was optimistic that Democrats' contentious wrangling over the multi-trillion spending package would soon result in an actual bill getting passed, telling Cooper they were close to a deal.

Biden said he was open to eliminating the filibuster to get a voting rights bill passed, and perhaps for other issues as well. 

He voiced support for vaccine mandates for first responders, plus his aforementioned comments about Fox News' not-actually-a-mandate vaccine policy. 

He was asked if he plans to visit our border with Mexico, giving an answer that drew sharp criticism from CNN's John King on Friday. 

He also weighed in the debate over potentially removing a statue of Thomas Jefferson in New York City.

Cooper pressed him for more details in response to a question about gas prices and supply chain problems

Biden also said he misspoke when he commented on the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 seeking to hold Steve Bannon in contempt for failing to comply with their subpoena, saying it was "inappropriate" for him to comment and pledging that he had not and would not seek to pressure the Department of Justice to act. 


In Other News...

‘I’m Invincible’: Alleged Jan. 6 Rioter Thought He Got Away With It…Until His Buddy Turned Him In

Alec Baldwin Releases Statement After Fatal Shooting on Set: 'My Heart is Broken'

CNBC Poll Finds Biden Approval in the Tank; Record Number Hold Negative Outlook on Economy

'You Know Something About It': George Stephanopoulos Presses Laundrie Family Attorney On Gabby Petito's Disappearance

Must See Clip

Truth or dare?

Trevor Noah absolutely roasted former President Donald Trump’s latest venture — a social media platform unironically called TRUTH.

Noah mocked Trump's banishment from major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, panned his new platform as "lame," and then wondered what kind of content Trump might be sharing. 

“And, also, you know what this means: If Trump is posting ‘truths,’ knowing him, eventually he’s going to start posting ‘dares,’” said Noah. “‘OK, I shared my truth, now I dare you to hang Mike Pence.’”

Watch here.

Links We Like

The Meaning of Life Is Surprisingly Simple
- Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic
Poaching is altering the genetics of wild animals
- Benji Jones, Vox
Why Do Democrats Want To Create More Eric Garners?
- J.D. Tuccille, Reason, 
‘Delinquent’ Matt Gaetz Currently Blocked from Practicing Law
- Jose Pagliery, The Daily Beast
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