| | MEDIA WINNER: Karl Rove In a Wall Street Journal column titled “Where Do Trump’s Donations Go?” famed GOP strategist Karl Rove called out the former president for using very little of the $121 million he has raised to help Republicans in the midterm elections. Rove revealed that in just 24 hours, he received "25 fundraising pleas from Trump World beseeching me to help save America from the Democrats." The emails offered Rove gifts and flattery in exchange for donations, including an invitation to join the “American Defense Task Force.” "These requests have apparently produced a flood of contributions that donors think will help defeat Democrats," Rove wrote. "But it isn’t clear that much of Mr. Trump’s lucre is going to help in the midterms.” Rove explained that legally, Trump cannot use the money on a future presidential campaign at this time, and that if he declares his 2024 candidacy before the midterms, he must — by law — create a new committee for his presidential campaign. He then called out Trump for having spent only a few hundred thousand dollars to help out Republican candidates who are very much in need. “If Mr. Trump doesn’t start actually deploying these funds to help candidates he’s backed for Congress, governor and other statewide offices, donors might not keep giving to the former president’s causes,” Rove wrote. “Trump-endorsed candidates might start to wonder how strong an ally the former president really is, beyond lending his name in a primary.” Rove’s op-ed marks the latest salvo against the former president from a Rupert Murdoch-owned outlet. In addition to Rove's column, the Wall Street Journal editorial board condemned Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, and the New York Post declared Trump “unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again." Fox News, where Rove is a contributor, also recently posted a video featuring Trump voters switching their allegiance to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). |
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| MEDIA LOSER: The View The View was forced to apologize to Turning Point USA for lumping the organization with neo-Nazis. On Monday’s show, the hosts associated attendees of a Turning Point USA conference with a group of neo-Nazis protesting outside of the summit. “Neo-Nazis were out there in the front of the conference with antisemitic slurs and, you know, the Nazi swastika and a picture of a so-called Jewish person with exaggerated features, just like Goebbels did during the Third Reich,” said Joy Behar. “It’s the same thing, right out of that same playbook,” she added -- almost guaranteeing legal trouble. Later in the segment, Whoopi Goldberg erroneously said that neo-Nazis were allowed into the event – only to issue a correction later and clarify that her point was "metaphorical." Turning Point USA sent a cease-and-desist letter to ABC News following the comments on The View, claiming the segment was "unquestionably harmful" to the organization's reputation. Sarah Haines read a legal note on the show the next day, clarifying that a Turning Point USA spokesperson ensured that the organization “100 percent condemns" neo-Nazi ideologies. "Also, Turning Point USA wanted to clarify — wanted us to clarify -- that this was a Turning Point USA summit and not a Republican Party event," she added. "So we apologize for anything we said that may have been unclear on these points." Turning Point USA was unsatisfied, noting that Goldberg failed to retract comments made on Monday. Goldberg was then forced to issue a second apology on Thursday's edition of The View. “In Monday’s conversation about Turning Point USA, I put the young people at the conference in the same category as the protesters outside, and I don’t like it when people make assumptions about me and it’s not any better when I make assumptions about other people, which I did,” said Goldberg. “So my bad. I’m sorry.” |
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| Schumer-Manchin vs. McConnell Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced that they have come to an agreement on a major tax and climate deal. The Wednesday announcement was a surprising one, as it came just hours after the Senate passed the CHIPS Act, a $280 billion bill meant to bolster the United States semiconductor manufacturing to counter Chinese dominance in the industry. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had said his caucus would not block the bill so long as Democrats scuttled their efforts to pass a major tax and climate bill. Those efforts appeared all but dead anyway after Manchin reportedly told Democratic leaders this month he wouldn’t support a bill addressing taxes and climate change until after August recess, or possibly ever. That obviously turned out not to be the case and Schumer appears to have snookered his Republican counterpart into supporting the CHIPS bill. Most senators seemed totally blindsided by the agreement and more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers huddled with Schumer shortly after the announcement. The bill, titled the Inflation Reduction Act, calls for $433 billion in new spending, most of which would be geared toward climate change and clean energy. It also would raise $739 billion via changes in the federal tax code, including amending loopholes exploited by the wealthiest Americans and businesses. McConnell slammed the move in response, claiming, “Democrats have already crushed American families with historic inflation." "Now they want to pile on giant tax hikes that will hammer workers and kill many thousands of American jobs," he added. Despite his agreement with Schumer, Manchin has long been a thorn in his party’s side. Last year, he famously went on Fox News and killed President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, which contained many of the provisions that are now in the legislation that Manchin supports. CNN's Jake Tapper reacted to the news on Wednesday’s The Lead, calling it a potential win for Democrats. In Other News... Jared Kushner Alleges John Kelly ‘Shoved’ Ivanka Trump After a Meeting, Calls Him ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Bob Costas Eviscerates Trump for Hosting Saudi-Backed LIV Golf: ‘He Doesn’t Care About Any Principle, Including American Democracy’ Trump Threatens to Sue CNN For Defamation Over His 2020 Election Crusade, Vows More Lawsuits to Come Judge Dismisses 5 Lawsuits Filed by Former Covington Catholic Student Nick Sandmann Against Media Outlets Including NYT, ABC, and CBS WATCH: AOC Questions Gun Manufacturer on Use of ‘Iconography Associated With White Supremacists’ in Advertising Campaigns RATINGS: Lawrence O’Donnell Leads MSNBC |
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'Just absolutely ludicrous' New York Post White House correspondent Steven Nelson stunned NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby when he asked if President Joe Biden's recent bout with Covid resulted from deliberate action by Saudi Arabia. "Has the U.S. government ruled out the possibility that the Saudi government may have deliberately exposed the President to the coronavirus?" Nelson asked at Wednesday’s White House press briefing. Kriby responded by questioning why Nelson would ask something "just absolutely ludicrous." "There’s nothing to it. And it should be treated as the — as the ridiculous idea that — that it is," he added. Watch the exchange here. |
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