| | | | MEDIA WINNER:
Jake Sherman Politico's Jake Sherman is today's winner for both a solid scoop of a story and some common sense advice.
On Wednesday, Sherman broke the story about Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) testing positive for the coronavirus. Gohmert was scheduled to travel to Texas with President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One and was tested as a part of the White House's pre-screen procedures.
The story is especially noteworthy because Gohmert has been one of the most vocal opponents against mask-wearing in Congress, and has been spotted during the past few days having maskless, face-to-face conversations with many other members of Congress and White House officials, including Attorney General William Barr.
Sherman also reported that Gohmert had told his staff "in person" that he had been infected -- a meeting that would have been better as an email or phone call. It was an important and newsworthy story that Sherman covered as straightforwardly as possible.
Sherman followed up his objective reporting with some pointedly opinionated tweets, calling for Congress to immediately begin testing all of their members on a regular basis, to protect both the members and the media who cover them.
"Maybe I shouldnt be saying this —but you know what? I don’t care," tweeted Sherman. "It’s nuts that Congress is not testing members for COVID before they come into the Capitol they are traveling from all over. Some cannot be trusted to follow safety protocols. Why should the rest of us be at risk"
Sherman also noted that two members, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), are in the line of succession for the presidency.
He makes valid points, and it's a policy congressional leaders should consider. 6.5.0 |
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| | MEDIA LOSER:
Hogan Gidley It's not déjà vu -- we picked Trump campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley as the Loser of the Day last week.
He's getting the honor again for doing the exact same thing that won him the award last time: complaining that Fox News polls were "fake news," in an appearance on Fox News, without offering any evidence whatsoever to back up his accusations.
Recent polls, by Fox News and others, have consistently shown Trump to be trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, and several of them have also shown Americans to have more faith that Biden would do a better job handling the coronavirus pandemic.
Gidley didn't like that last week, calling the polls "fake news" with "flawed methodology," and he didn't like it this week either.
Fox Business anchor Dagen McDowell asked Gidley to respond to these recent polls, and he called them "junk."
“Well, first of all, a lot of those polls are junk,” Gidley replied. At that moment, McDowell interjected and told him “that’s a cop out.”
“You can argue they don’t indicate how the election turns out, that’s fine, but that’s just a cop out,” she added.
President Trump did not cause the coronavirus, and there would still be Americans losing their jobs, getting sick, and sadly even dying if someone else were president. But it's hard to argue that everything the Trump administration has done has been an unquestionably perfect decision when the U.S. has more cases and more deaths than every other country on earth, and still ends up high in the rankings when adjusting for population.
Gidley needs to come up with an answer to these very valid questions besides echoing his boss' tired "Fake News!" cry. 6.5.0 |
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| | Wow, So Brave On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) faulted Trump for “coarsened” political discourse, citing some of his comments on Twitter.
“I wish his tone and some of the things he said were different,” Cruz said in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, in response to a question about how Trump had changed the Republican Party.
“Many of the tweets I’m not a fan of, and I do think it has coarsened discussion. So that is a less than positive development.”
As a recap: Trump also has repeatedly called Cruz a liar, called his wife ugly, and accused his dad of conspiring with Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate John F. Kennedy. That's a heckuva "coarsened discussion."
But don't worry! It's all ok, because Trump drives the media "insane," and "has a backbone and he will fight."
Listen to the interview here.
Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me, Guess I'll Go Eat Worms
This week, Trump promoted a video that contained dubious claims about the drug hydroxychloroquine, and other tweets attacking the credibility of Dr. Anthony Fauci.
When asked about these tweets, Trump complained that Fauci has a higher approval rating than he does, as does Dr. Deborah Birx.
"And he’s got this high approval rating. So why don’t I have a high approval rating with respect to the virus?" said Trump, who then complained that his rating should be higher because of all the testing that the U.S. has done.
"So it sort of is curious," he added. "A man works for us, with us, very closely, Dr. Fauci, and Dr. Birx also, very highly thought of… but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality, that’s all.”
Over 150,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, millions are out of work, and the President of the United States is promoting conspiracy theorists and complaining because he isn't going to be picked for homecoming queen.
We're facing some serious challenges right now and this was a profoundly unserious complaint from the President of the United States.
Fake News!
Trump revealed that the issue of Russian intel officers paying bounties to Taliban fighters for the deaths of U.S. military forces did not come up in a recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He then dismissed the allegations, saying “many people are calling it fake news."
It was a shocking revelation -- not to mention the unfounded accusation that it was a "fake news" story -- and was roundly criticized by many journalists.
Navarro Attacks Fauci Again
White House trade advisor Peter Navarro hopped in front of a TV camera to attack Fauci again, and to defend Trump's promotion of conspiracy theorists in a wild 19-minute slugfest with CNN's John Berman.
“She says alien DNA is used in medical treatment,” Berman said. “Gynecological issues caused by sex with witches and demons in dreams. Scientists creating vaccine to prevent people from being religious.”
“I know you’re having fun with this,” said Navarro, interjecting.
“Oh God, I’m not having fun with this,” Berman said. “I’m deadly serious. My question is … Why lean on Stella Immanuel to make a medical point?”
Watch the throwdown here.
Can't We All Just Get Along?
Bad news if you're out of work and hoping that Congress will pass a new relief bill soon.
According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Democrats and Republicans are "very far apart" from a deal on the new stimulus bill.
Mnuchin had been far more optimistic just a few days ago, predicting that a bill would be signed quickly and another $1,200 check sent out in August.
Oh well.
Vexing Vexillology
A "vexillologist" is someone who is an expert on the history, symbolism, and usage of flags, and a small town in Michigan could use their skills after a bed and breakfast that was flying a Norwegian flag was forced to take it down because people mistook it for the Confederate flag.
The owner of the inn originally put up the flag because he was proud of his Norwegian heritage but had grown weary of the complaints and harassment.
Fox News, CNN, MSNBC dominate cable ratings
Call it the Covid effect.
The July monthly ratings show the unprecedented dominance of news programming in the era of coronavirus continues apace, as Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC swept the top three spots on cable TV in the coveted 25 –54 age demographic respectively, beating all entertainment and sports channels. Similarly, the three cable news networks topped cable ratings in overall viewers, with Fox retaining first while MSNBC and CNN swapped places.
Read all about it at Mediaite+, our premium service that provides subscribers breaking news, exclusive content, and an ad-free experience on our site.
AM Joy Replacement Watch
Tiffany Cross had a big first day on the job since Joy Reid's ascension into primetime. Guest-hosting AM Joy, Cross beat CNN in her first hour Saturday, and tied Fox News in the demo during the 11 o'clock hour.
On social media, the show was a top trending topic, thanks in no small part to a marathon segment in which she grilled Trump Diversity Co-Chair Bruce LeVell for a solid 18 minutes, an exchange that went viral.
And on Sunday, prominent guests like Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Senate candidate Jaime Harrison, and even CBC powerhouse Rep. James Clyburn endorsed Cross for the permanent hosting gig live on the air.
MSNBC hasn't announced who will fill Reid's shoes, but with an auspicious launch and a ready-made show title — CrossTalk — Tiffany Cross is certainly shaping up to be a good fit for the network's weekend mainstay. 6.5.0 |
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| "It was like a kidnapping"
A viral video showed a group of NYPD officers dragging a protestor into an unmarked van during an anti-police brutality protest in Manhattan Tuesday night.
The scene, reminiscent of those seen in Portland, Oregon, was caught on video by several people, and drew swift rebukes from elected officials in New York and widespread condemnation on social media.
The NYPD claimed the protestor was arrested pursuant to a warrant for allegedly damaging several police cameras. Still, the method of the arrest drew criticism and calls for an investigation into the NYPD's policies and procedures.
Watch the video clips for yourself here. |
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