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Stephen A. Smith
The commentary of ESPN First Take host Stephen A. Smith is, unquestionably, much listened to. A longtime ESPN stalwart, Smith boasts an incredibly large following — particularly in the Black community.
Which was why his decision to publicly share his decision to get a Covid-19 vaccine Tuesday will undoubtedly resonate.
In a powerful commentary on Tuesday, the ESPN host opened up about why it was a mistake for him not to publicly disclose his vaccination plans.
"[It's] an error in judgment on my part that needs to be corrected immediately," Smith said, adding that the pandemic has "clearly disproportionately affected the African-American community."
The topic came up on First Take on the heels of NBA legend LeBron James stating he will keep his decision about whether to take the vaccine private. In a poignant appeal, Smith urged James to reconsider.
"He has taken positions on many, many, many things of incredible importance to our community," Smith said, adding that there is "very little that [LeBron] has encountered that is more challenging or daunting than this, and if you could speak up about those things, you just might want to think about speaking up about this."
"Black people are dying," Smith said. |
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 | MEDIA LOSER:
Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan has staged a days-long tantrum over the Oprah interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in which the dejected royals slammed Buckingham Palace and the British tabloids as suffocating and racist.
And on Tuesday, he quit his own TV show, Good Morning Britain.
Morgan — who has worked at several of Britain's more distasteful tabloids — is no fan of Markle, nor does he tolerate criticism of the royal family.
So on Tuesday, when a co-host criticized Morgan on his own show for his coverage of the Oprah interview, he did not take it well.
"I understand that you don't like Meghan Markle, you've made it so clear a number of times on this program," said co-host Alex Beresford. "And I understand that you've got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle, or had one and she cut you off."
"Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don't think she has, but yet you continue to trash her," Beresford continued.
"Okay, I'm done with this, sorry, no, sorry," Morgan said, storming off the set. "See you later, sorry, can't do this."
Erstwhile MSNBC host David Gura put it best on Twitter: "There's no shortage of irony here. Piers Morgan, upset at the circumstances in which he finds himself, leaves." |
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| A Year of Covid-19
This week marks a year since Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic. The world has changed drastically since then, both in our understanding of the coronavirus and our mobilization to fight it.
News networks are announcing their plans for prime time specials reflecting on a year in which millions of Americans fell sick and more than 500,000 died. A new poll found that a quarter of Americans say someone close to them has died from the virus.
While that toll is heartbreaking, it is worth pointing out that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it's growing brighter.
On Monday, the U.S. fight against coronavirus passed a major milestone: the number of fully vaccinated Americans surpassed the number of those who have been infected by the virus.
Here are the numbers, courtesy of JHU:
The U.S. has now fully vaccinated 30.7 million people against Covid, while the number of people who have contracted coronavirus since last February stands at 29.2 million. Currently, the seven-day average of vaccination shots stands at 2.17 million per day (although nearly all of those are of the two-shot versions to be fully effective), while the current seven-day average of new daily cases of Covid has fallen to just over 40,000.
That is good news. As cases and hospitalizations continue to fall, the CDC is relaxing its guidance to recommend that vaccinated people can gather together without masks or distancing.
The fight is not over, and as Scott Gottlieb points out in the Wall Street Journal today, the road to normalcy is a winding one. But we are moving, quickly, in the right direction. 6.5.0 |
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Jason Miller, senior adviser to President Donald Trump, is the latest guest on The Interview podcast.
He discussed CPAC, the 2020 election, Trump's plan to exact revenge on Republican opponents, whether he still watches Fox News, and his plans to return to social media. |
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| "Canadian Reality TV Star" Kevin O'Leary, or Shark Tank's "Mr. Wonderful" went off after Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) called him a "Canadian reality TV star" on air Tuesday.
The pair were discussing the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package that passed the Senate over the weekend. O'Leary pointed out various aspects of the bill he deemed "wasteful," such as the extra funding to Amtrak.
He argued the U.S. should focused on those unemployed and that sending flat checks to every American risks inflation. While Suozzi conceded that there is indeed "some waste" in the bill and that he also wishes the stimulus checks were targeted to those in need, he noted he can't get everything he wants.
Suozzi then took a crack at the businessman's inflation claim saying, "And Janet Yellen — who, I'll take her opinion more than the Canadian reality TV star — says we're not going to have inflation because we have the controls in place that we can deal with inflation."
"Wait a second, this Canadian TV star, by the way, pays lots of taxes here, has his children that can vote, and is on his way to becoming an American citizen shortly, so I can vote and I can't wait to do that!" O'Leary retorted.
The clash got more heated from there... |
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