THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020 

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Fox & Friends

Thanks to a notably friendly phone interview with President Donald TrumpFox & Friends romped to a huge ratings win in the 8:00 hour on Friday morning, scoring more 2.47 million overall viewers and 414,000 in the coveted 25 – 54 age demographic, more than doubling MSNBC rival Morning Joe‘s 181,000 viewers in the demo.

That morning victory helped Fox News surge to a strong victory in daytime ratings, with 2.21 million in total and 347,000 in the demo. This outpaced CNN, which has frequently traded the places with Fox News at the top of the daytime demo podium of late.

CNN came in second in the demo with 311,000, while MSNBC trailed behind with 188,000. In overall daytime viewers, MSNBC squeaked out runner-up status with 1.36 million to CNN’s 1.31 million.

Primetime was all Fox News, as it handily won total and A25 – 54 viewers. Its 3.83 million overall and 601,000 viewers in the demo surpassed CNN’s 1.55 million and 401,000, respectively. MSNBC slipped into second in total viewers with 1.96 million overall and 225,000 in the demo.

Tucker Carlson, today's Media Loser, was back on top, with Sean Hannity and Neil Cavuto pulling wins as well. We have those numbers and more here, via Mediaite+



A Mediaite+ subscription includes: Breaking news, coverage of media’s top moments, ad-free experience, exclusive content including daily ratings analysis and more!

Join Mediaite+ today to become a true insider!

 

MEDIA LOSER:
Tucker Carlson

Fox News had quite a firing squad on Tuesday night, and the man up against the wall was NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the White House coronavirus task force put together by President Donald Trump.

Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham both played their part in the evening's hatefest, but it was Tucker Carlson who went home with the prize for his over-the-top raving about "bufoonish" Fauci.

Fauci gets praise in the mainstream press, and steals spotlight from Trump, both big transgressions on the right. And perhaps Carlson was making amends for his early thoughtcrime of having taken Covid-19 seriously, in contrast to his colleagues and ideological peers.

Whatever the reason, his rant was extensive. He mocked statements from Tuesday's hearing, saying "Every sentence to Dr. Fauci must be prefaced with ‘as much as I respect you.’ That’s required by federal law.”

He knocked the infectious disease expert for "wrong predictions" and suggested Fauci is drunk with power he didn't expect to wield "at the age of 79."

"Is Tony Fauci right about the science?" the political talk show host asked at one point. "Do we have any particular reason to think he is right?"

Despite whipping out "buffoon" twice to mock Fauci, Carlson said "We're not doing this to mock the guy," and then explained that he's merely opposed to one-man scientific dictatorships, especially from a "flawed" man who says things that are "profoundly silly."

Profoundly silly, indeed. CNN's John Berman has thoughts on Carlson's outburst, too.

The A-Block

Los Angeles Lockdown

Though Gov. Gavin Newsom is opening up the state in stages, Los Angeles County is lagging behind and will “with all certainty” keep stay-at-home orders for three more months, according to LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

Fox's Brian Kilmeade lit the county up over the declaration.

Equal Opportunity Meltdowns 

Fox News’ Jesse Watters defended President Donald Trump from people calling the president a racist over his exchange with Weijia Jiang by pointing at the president rage-tweeting that Joe Scarborough should be investigated for murder.

"That was pretty bad! And this is a white male anchor that he accused of murdering an intern!" Watters said.

Bad Poll Reading

CNN tweeted an attention grabbing statistic in a headline that was later corrected on their site regarding the results of a Gallup poll about the coronavirus pandemic and response. Even later, they deleted the tweet.

The problem? It was totally wrong.

'Veritable War'

Radio host Rush Limbaugh just accused the Democratic Party of plotting to keep the U.S. economy shut down to ensure President Donald Trump loses the 2020 presidential election.

“The American left and the Democrat Party is going to do its best to keep this economy shut down, to extend and expand that shutdown — and blow up their own country’s jobs — just to ensure that Trump loses," said Limbaugh.

Listen here to his prediction of a "veritable war" to ruin the economy on purpose.

Mob

Watch the surveillance video that has emerged documenting the armed all-white mob which authorities say terrorized a black family in North Carolina, leading to charges against the off-duty sheriff’s deputy who led the group, and one other man.

'Disgusting'

Megyn Kelly sat down with Glenn Beck Tuesday to discuss her exclusive interview last week with Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer accusing Joe Biden of sexual assault. 

Kelly went off on "people who are pretending they're women's advocates" but have changed their tune since the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. “The 180 they have done now that the allegations are against a Democrat trying to take down Trump is disgusting to me. Disgusting," she said.

Polling

Polls show former Vice President Joe Biden leading the 2020 race for president, with CNN over the weekend suggesting his lead was the “steadiest” in any race with an incumbent “since at least 1944.” At the same time, experts say, Democrats would be remiss to place too much faith in those early numbers.

'All Americans Should be Thanking Him'

At least one Republican didn't join in on the Carlson-led firing squad on Tuesday night. Congresswoman Liz Cheney defended Dr. Anthony Fauci on Twitter.

"His only interest is saving lives," she said.

Clip of the Day

What the F*** Is 'Obamagate'?

"We have no idea what Obamagate is supposed to be. And I don't think Trump actually knows, either," said Daily Show host Trevor Noah on Tuesday night.

The latest from the Daily Social Distancing Show covers the question of what exactly Obamagate is all about. And the answer is: who knows? 

“I think the only lesson Trump learned from Watergate is that things he doesn’t like should have the word ‘gate’ after it. Obamagate, Saladgate, Ericgate.”

Catch that, and a Kimmel clip, here.

Links We Like

Fact Check: Trump’s vicious claim that Joe Scarborough might have murdered an aide
via Washington Post
Get ready for ‘Obamagate’ to become ‘ObamaBidengate’
- via New York Post

Joe Biden and America’s first basement campaign
- via American Spectator
Tests are readily available at White House. Rest of America doesn’t have that luxury.
- via Huffington Post
CIA: China hoarded medical supplies while trying to stop WHO from raising pandemic alarm
- via Newsweek
Twitter
Facebook
Visit Mediaite
Copyright © 2018 Mediaite LLC All rights reserved.

Write to us:  tips@mediaite.com

Problems with these e-mails? Update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.