THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020  

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Andrea Mitchell

A half-naked protester jumped off a Segway and charged at MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell as she was interviewing Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton in anarchist-occupied Washington D.C. and the video was, in a word: bonkers.

The protester — in just a pair of pink panties, bra and thigh-high socks — ran at Mitchell and Norton and briefly touched the congresswoman, before a man chasing behind was able to subdue the charging individual.

And while that person was being grabbed, Mitchell had her arm out too, protectively around the Representative.

The diminutive anchor and host did what she does. She didn't flinch and she thought of the safety of others first. It's no surprise from a journalist who has been in more than one hot zone and gone toe to toe with every world leader for 40 years. 

But it's still an amazing and strange TV moment

MEDIA LOSER:
Curt Schilling

Former World Series MVP and Breitbart News host Curt Schilling trended on Twitter Tuesday afternoon after he deleted his account following a back-and-forth with All-Star pitcher Trevor Bauer about NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace.

Schilling, an outspoken Trump supporter, has posted occasional racist and controversial comments on social media before. He’s accused outfielder Adam Jones of lying about being called the N-word, appeared on Hannity to call former ESPN host Jemele Hill racist, and said conservatives were “afraid” to work at ESPN, among other headline-grabbing comments.

On Monday night, Bauer and World Series champion Aubrey Huff began to beef on Twitter over MLB's restart plan and several racist tweets involving Wallace from Huff. Schilling joined the argument and it went downhill from there, ending with him deactivating his account.

But that didn't stop Twitter from talking about him.

The A-Block

Bludgeoning Bolton

The View hosts bludgeoned Former White House national security adviser John Bolton for three segments on Tuesday, 

“Mr. Ambassador, you were working for Trump for 17 months, and you write about all this horrible stuff you saw go on, and yet you never said a word until someone gave you $2 million to write a book about it,” 
Joy Behar said in one of those segments.

For her part, Meghan McCain was really, really on about the book title and the musical Hamilton.

State Senator attacked and beaten

Protests in Madison turned destructive and violent on Tuesday night when two statues were destroyed near the Wisconsin State Capitol, and a state senator was attacked by demonstrators.

Democratic state Senator Tim Carpenter of Milwaukee observed the protests and took out his phone to take pictures. As he was taking a video, he drew the attention of the protesters, who subsequently surrounded and beat him.

Carpenter one of only four openly LGBTQ members in his state’s legislature, and June is Pride month.

Bubba Wallace

Monday's Media Winner Bubba Wallace appeared on CNN's Don Lemon last night to talk about the sudden turn of events after the FBI investigation concluded there was no hate crime committed against the NASCAR driver in the noose incident.

Although video shows that the rope which was identified as a noose has been in that garage stall since last year, Wallace stood his ground and stated emphatically that the images he was shown by NASCAR when they flagged the incident and told him about it, were of a noose.

MSNBC's Al Sharpton says it's not resolved yet.

Love you, too

Former Vice President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama got the band back together for a blockbuster fundraiser that raked in $11 million, and pleased supporters with a wrap-up that showed the affection the two have for each other.

The Monuments Men

Fox News hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade had an animated debate on Wednesday about the latter’s objection to protests against controversial public statues around the country.

"They’re coming for the Statue of Liberty, mark my words! The dress is too long!" said Kilmeade at one point.

AG BARR WILL TESTIFY

Attorney General William Barr has accepted an invitation to testify to the House Judiciary Committee on July 28 in a general oversight meeting, according to DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec.

Hannity Surges to Ratings Win

On Monday, Fox News’ Hannity surged to massive ratings, pulling in nearly 4.5 million viewers overall and more than 900,000 in the coveted 25 – 54 age demographic. 

That performance pushed the network to dominant victory across primetime in both total and viewers in the demo. Meanwhile, CNN continued its streak to carve out a win in the weekday daytime demo, thanks to strong afternoon ratings by CNN Newsroom and The Lead with Jake Tapper.

Sorry

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway bizarrely defended Trump’s use of the racist term “kung flu,” then attacked CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang for failing to identify the White House official who used the same term several months ago.

Conway gaggled with reporters on the White House driveway Wednesday morning, and was immediately asked about Trump’s use of the term at recent events — a term which Conway denounced in March when Jiang reported that an unnamed West Wing staffer had used that term to her face.

After a lengthy and terse, tense exchange, Conway turned up the flames, saying "“You should have come forward a hundred days ago when you had the chance."

Name Change

The state of Rhode Island is considering changing its name to Rhode Island. No, that’s not a typo.

Must See Clip

Protest Chants for White People. The Wall. The Church.

 "Yep, Trump visited the wall today, because in time of crisis, it’s important to be with your loved ones.”

Jimmy Fallon wasn't the only late night host joking about Trump's wall visit on Monday night, but that joke was definitely one of the best. 

Also find out about drinking communion wine with just one hand!

It was a funny night. Trust me, I'm a talking toaster.

Links We Like

How Hollywood Guilds Are Confronting Their Ties to a Police Union
- via The Hollywood Reporter
Trump is struggling to run against a white guy
- via The Atlantic
Unfriendly fascism from the Democrats
- via The American Spectator 
Twitter opposes notion that government has a right to prevent literal anarchy
- via National Review
Like it or not, it's comedy's turn to contend with its role in perpetuating systemic racism
- via Salon
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