Bernie Bites Bernie Sanders has been on the offense since taking a commanding lead in the Democratic primary. He may not have ripped off the heads of his rivals like Elizabeth Warren's best impression of a Francisco Goya painting at Wednesday's debate, but his barbs have landed with a bang. In an upcoming interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, a preview of which was released Friday, Sanders took a shot at rival Mike Bloomberg. "I think it’s quite likely that Trump will chew him up and spit him out," Sanders said of the billionaire former mayor of New York. After Bloomberg's disastrous performance at his first debate, could Bernie have a point? Bloomberg wasn't the only billionaire under Sanders's sights. He returned fire at former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein on Friday, after the famed executive trashed Sanders in an interview. “I think I might find it harder to vote for Bernie than for Trump,” Blankfein told the FT over a Pinot Noir. Sanders had a curt response on Twitter: "I welcome the hatred of the crooks who destroyed our economy." Trump Marches Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in December. He was acquitted in February, but with one particular Republican voting to convict, technically making his the first bipartisan conviction vote of a president. Think public support for Trump would have plummeted after months of a grueling impeachment probe? Think again. A new Gallup poll showed Trump above water in public approval for one of the rare few times of his presidency (49% to 48%). He appears buoyed by one staggering number in the poll: satisfaction with “the way things are going in the U.S.” is at its highest since 2005. Granted, that number is only at 45%. We're all a little cynical it seems. Regardless, those are daunting numbers for Democrats going into 2020. Choose Your Battle This Saturday, the highly anticipated Nevada caucuses are going down. Nevada is an important state, as it's far more diverse than Iowa and New Hampshire. Caucus sites open at 1 p.m. EST, and results will start coming in at 3 p.m. You can follow along with our obsessive coverage on Mediaite.com. Already exhausted by the 2020 primary election season? Want to see two people literally beat the crap out of each other on a world stage? We've got something for that too. The heavyweight championship boxing match between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury goes down Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mediaite's Joe DePaolo explains here why this is a fight you can't miss. A Cheat Sheet So who is going to actually win in Nevada? The consensus is that Bernie Sanders will take the state. Per the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders is favored to win the caucuses — buoyed by his support among young people, Latinos and very liberal voters, a coalition that he hopes will carry him to success across the country." “If Sanders wins here by a large margin, I think he has a chance to win South Carolina and be in a very strong position going into Super Tuesday,” Nevada Independent editor Jon Ralston told the Times. “But if he does not, if there’s an upset or if Joe Biden finishes a strong second and stories are written about how he’s the comeback kid, that could change everything.” 6.5.0 |