| | MEDIA WINNER: Sarah Cooper Let's be blunt: times are stressful. Millions of Americans are out of work, millions more worried they will soon join them, and we're all sick of waiting for this pandemic to end. Enter Sarah Cooper. The New York City-based comedian has made a name for herself with her viciously funny videos, attacking President Donald Trump with nothing more than lip-syncing his own words and making incredulous facial expressions. It's biting satire at its best, holding an elected official accountable to the statements he makes, in a way that highlights the utter absurdity of our current political climate. Unlike other impersonations of the president, Cooper eschews orange makeup and wigs to portray Trump with nothing more than a simple navy blazer, darting eyes, and a sneering lip. Her videos have gone viral, racking up millions of views, and have landed Cooper appearances on the late night shows and glowing features in a long list of media outlets. The dichotomy between a young Jamaican-American woman and the septuagenarian white man she is mimicking further adds an additional latent commentary; as Cooper herself has remarked, as a Black woman, she could "never get away with talking like that." Trump's "person, woman, man, camera, TV" comment about his cognitive test was a natural target for Cooper, and she delivers, putting a spotlight on what a very bizarre moment it was. Watch Cooper's video here, and don't miss her comments about Fox News' editing. 6.5.0 |
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| MEDIA LOSER: Hogan Gidley Trump has been trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden in the polls for the majority of the time since Biden clinched the Democratic nomination, and has lashed out at these polls as "fake news," comments that have been echoed by many of his surrogates. Trump campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley enthusiastically took up this line of attack in an appearance on Fox & Friends, saying that "most of" the polls were "fake." Fox News' Brian Kilmeade defended his colleagues in the polling department, saying “I know the people that do the polls. They don’t do it fake — they do a really good job." Gidley doubled down, attacking the "methodology" as "flawed." Despite the common perception that the 2016 polls were wildly off, Nate Silver has pointed out that they "were about as accurate as polls of presidential elections have been on average since 1972.” It's fair to question a poll. Readers should always be suspicious of any news report that touts a poll without including vital information like the sample size, margin of error, and demographic breakdown of the respondents. But to dismiss across the board the polling work of a news network as "fake" merely because you don't like the results is another matter. Gidley offered no evidence to back up his attack. Trying to paint all news critical of the president as "fake" has been Trump's one-note song since he launched his campaign in 2015, and it's getting dreadfully tiresome. Watch Gidley's exchange with Kilmeade here. 6.5.0 |
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| Baquet Takes On Tucker New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet took Fox News' Tucker Carlson to task for “misleading” viewers and falsely claiming to be a “victim” when Carlson accused the paper of trying to “hurt” him and his family with an unpublished story. The Times had provided proof that Carlson had been informed that the paper was not actually planning to publish his address or other identifying details about his residence, but that didn't stop Carlson from claiming they were in a monologue on his show. Instead, two Times journalists that Carlson called out in the monologue were harassed and threatened themselves, and one of them had someone try to break into his home. “If he has any honor and if Fox has any honor, they will admit they were wrong,” said Baquet. Masked Mayhem Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Coronavirus Task Force member who's been essentially exiled from the White House due to his, shall we say, differences of opinion with Trump, got to throw out the first pitch at the MLB opening game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees. Fauci, a longtime Nats fan, got to sit in the stands along with his wife and a close friend to watch the game -- a rare privilege at the moment while the stands remain virtually empty due to the pandemic. He was photographed with his face mask down around his chin, and Twitter critics pounced, attacking the doc as a hypocrite who has been touting mask wearing. Fauci responded to the critics, calling the attacks "mischievous" and noting that he had taken down the mask to get a drink of water, and that he had tested negative for Covid-19 just the day before. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow A Fox News panel discussion between Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and progressive radio host Chris Hahn quickly devolved into a bitter hair follicle-measuring contest. Kirk, a twenty-something with an unruly mop of hair, and Hahn, sporting a shiny chrome dome, traded barbs for a few minutes until host Laura Ingraham wrestled everyone back on track. It's a bit silly and neither party comes across looking like they won the argument, but watch for yourself. Divided We Fall At some point, Trump will no longer be president, whether that comes in January 2021 or later remains to be seen, but America is going to have to figure out how to move forward. That might be easier said than done, as a new poll reveals. Thirty-one percent of Americans are in favor of firing business executives who donate to Trump, and 21 percent favor firing those who donate to Biden. The survey, conducted by the Cato Institute, also suggested Americans are becoming more fearful of experiencing consequences for expressing their political views — and that young people are driving efforts to punish each other over political disagreements. Depressing stuff indeed. Not-So-Well Wishes Anti-Trump PAC Lincoln Project is taking another whack at Trump in a new ad Friday morning, hitting him for his well wishes to accused child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of helping convicted creep Jeffrey Epstein recruit, groom, and sexually assault scores of underage girls. Trump's comments that he wished her well drew swift rebukes and only served to stir up more questions about whether Maxwell might have dirt on the president or any of his friends. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany's attempt to spin Trump's words flopped. Watch the new ad here. 6.5.0 |
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"It's Very Serious And It's Very Real" Amid all the political infighting and Twitter snark about who's wearing a mask, we do still have a "very serious" pandemic happening. That's the sobering message delivered by Dr. Deborah Birx in an appearance on NBC's Today Show on Friday. “And I just want to make it clear to the American public, what we have right now are essentially three New Yorks," said Birx, talking about the recent surges in several states. "And so we’re really having to respond as an American people, and that’s why you hear us calling for masks and increased social distancing to really stop the spread of this epidemic." "It's very serious and it's very real." Watch her comments here. |
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