THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Jared Kushner

Jared Kushner’s White House memoir debuted on the New York Times best seller list, selling 46,400 copies in its first week, according to figures obtained by Mediaite.

Breaking History: A White House Memoir, Kushner’s book chronicling his time as senior adviser to President Donald Trump, landed first on the Hardcover Nonfiction list.

Kushner’s 46,400 copies made Breaking History the best-selling memoir from a former Trump administration official since the end of his presidency.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr’s book One Damn Thing After Another sold 23,010 copies in its first week while Kellyanne Conway’s memoir Here’s The Deal sold 25,020 copies.

The book was released on Aug. 23, and Kushner promoted it everywhere from Newsmax TV to Fox News to Megyn Kelly’s daily podcast.

The book also received a boost from Trump, who mobilized his political action committee in support of the memoir in a series of fundraising emails to supporters.

The support from Trump’s campaign was apparently enough to earn Breaking History a dagger symbol (†), which the paper uses to note a book was buoyed by large orders.

Despite the impressive sales, Kushner's memoir was roundly slammed by critics, with New York Times' Dwight Garner likening the book to "watching a cat lick a dog’s eye goo."

MEDIA LOSER:
Rod Dreher

Rod Dreher, a senior editor at The American Conservative, fell for a fake Jennifer Rubin tweet on Friday, later defending the gaffe in an attempt to apologize.

Dreher shared a screenshot of a tweet claiming to be from Rubin, which read, "Biden's Philadelphia speech met the moment. Mass arrests should come next."

"Saying the quiet part out loud (then quickly deleting it)," Dreher wrote alongside the image.

Rubin did not quickly delete her post, but actually never made the comment in the first place.

Dreher was informed the tweet never existed, prompting him to issue another statement on the matter in a follow up post.

"I just found out that that 'mass arrests' tweet purportedly by Jennifer Rubin was fake," he wrote. "I deleted it, and apologize to her."

Dreher could have just stopped there, taking accountability for the mistake and apologizing to Rubin for the inadvertent smear.

Instead, he defended his error, adding, "Still, the fact that so many [people] found it plausible says something."

Dreher was promptly mocked on Twitter.

"You can almost hear the 'you can’t make this stuff up amirite' in the first tweet about a thing that was, in fact, made up," cracked Gady Epstein.

The A-Block

Biden's prime time speech

President Joe Biden delivered a prime time speech on Thursday night, in which he repeatedly took shots at former President Donald Trump and “MAGA Republicans.”

The address, delivered from Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, highlighted potential consequences for the country if Trump-supporting Republicans retake control of the government.

"MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people," he said.

"They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now, as I speak in state after state, to give the power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election-deniers to undermine democracy itself."

Biden qualified his remarks by stating “not even the majority of Republicans are MAGA Republicans,” adding, “I know because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans.”

He went on to note, however, that the GOP is “dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans," calling them a "threat to this country."

Pundits were split on the speech, with conservatives faulting Biden for going after the GOP.

Don Lemon and Republican CNN contributor Scott Jennings clashed on air afterJennings declared the speech overtly “political.”

Steve Doocy similarly locked horns with his Fox & Friends co-hosts after noting, "Not all Republicans were MAGA just like not all Democrats, you know, love The Squad."


In Other News...

FBI Reveals Contents Seized from Trump Included 48 ‘Empty Folders With Classified Markings’

Ex-NYPD Cop Turned MAGA Fanatic Sentenced to 10 YEARS in Prison For Beating Police on Jan. 6

The Jan. 6 Committee Would Like a Word with Newt Gingrich: ‘You Have Knowledge and Information Directly Related to Our Investigation’

‘Palin Was Most Offensive To The Most Voters’: Defenders of Rank Choice Voting Speak Out After GOP Calls Alaska Election Loss a ‘Scam’

RATINGS: Lawrence O’Donnell Cracks 2 Million Viewers to Lead MSNBC

Must See Clip

Failed assassination attempt

Argentina Vice President Cristina de Kirchner miraculously survived an assassination attempt after a gun just inches from her face failed to fire.

Video shows Kirchner walking through cars as she’s greeted by a mob when a gun is pointed very close to her face. The trigger was pulled but the gun did not fire.

The suspect, identified as 35-year-old Brazilian Fernando Andre Sabag Montiel, was immediately arrested over the Thursday night incident in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires.

Watch here.

Links We Like

- Tara Conlan, The Guardian
How did Erdogan 'tame' Turkey’s newsrooms?
- Jonathan Spicer, Reuters  - John F. Harris, Politico - Emma Brown, Washington Post
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