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CNN's Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, and Don Lemon
If you didn't watch CNN on Wednesday night, we wouldn't blame you. The network, in primetime, broadcast four hours of town halls with the Democratic presidential candidates. And if you changed the channel thinking, "haven't we heard enough from these people?" we totally get it.
But had you stayed with CNN, you would've seen quite a few compelling, illuminating moments featuring former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). That's due in no small part to the evening's moderators — Cooper, Cuomo, and Lemon.
Cooper helmed the hours with Bloomberg and Klobuchar, and did a stellar job pressing both candidates on a variety of issues — particularly Bloomberg. Lemon's line of inquiry about whether Trump deserves credit for implementing a ban on flavored e-cigarettes yielded a surprising answer.
But the evening's highlight, undoubtedly, was the stirring exchange between Biden and Rev. Anthony Thompson — whose wife was killed in the 2015 Emanuel AME Church massacre in South Carolina. Through tears, Biden delivered poignant remarks on faith, loss, and the power of forgiveness.
The exchange lasted for roughly five minutes. And through that time, Cuomo didn't say a word — even when Biden directly engaged him. His silence made the moment resonate that much more.
Chris Cuomo isn't known for being a wallflower, but great broadcasters know that sometimes, the best thing to say is nothing at all. 6.5.0 |
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 | MEDIA LOSER:
TPUSA's
Charlie Kirk
We would be foolish, these days, to think of CPAC as a forum which showcases reasoned, measured, conservative thought. Particularly since President Donald Trump took office in 2017, the annual event in National Harbor, MD has more or less become a multi-day MAGA rally.
But even in that context, the Turning Point USA founder's address on Thursday morning was out of bounds. The target of Kirk's ire was Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). After Kirk namedropped the Utah senator, the CPAC attendees lustily booed.
“Correct,” Kirk said – encouraging the crowd's vitriol. “Every time his name is mentioned you should respond that way. Because he lied to every single person in this room!"
Kirk went on to berate Romney over his vote in favor of “that sham, unconstitutional impeachment," in a rant which was completely over-the-top.
"We thought that he was going to be a crusader against the Marxist president that preceded Donald Trump,” Kirk said, adding, "He embodies the very same political class that President Trump ran against.”
Mitt Romney has been a devoted member of the Republican party. He's served as a governor (in a blue state), a senator, and was the party's standard bearer in 2012. And in exchange for his decades of loyalty to the red team, he's subjected to the maniacal ravings of a 26-year-old Charlie come lately — and the derision of a ballroom full of people who, eight years ago, likely cast a ballot for him to lead the free world. Disgraceful. 6.5.0 |
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| Trump Preaches Corona Calm, Cable News Skeptical
Throughout the day Thursday, cable news personalities reacted to the president's rare White House briefing room news conference — one in which he attempted to calm the nation about coronavirus. Though some cable news mainstays were sold, others were unimpressed.
CNN, in particular, featured a number of notable segments blasting the president's response to the virus. Brooke Baldwin called the possibility that scientists are being silenced "incredibly frightening." White House correspondent John Harwood ripped the appointment of Vice President Mike Pence to lead the task force (given that he's faced much criticism for his handling of an HIV outbreak when he served as governor of Indiana). And John Avlon ripped the partisan nature of Trump's response.
On the flip side, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said he was "pleased and comforted" by Trump's news conference. And Fox's Jesse Watters called Trump the "perfect president" to handle the outbreak because "he's a germaphobe who's tough on China."
Palmetto State Showdown
South Carolinians are less than 48 hours away from heading to the polls to make their voices heard in the 2020 presidential race. And with the pivotal vote upcoming, the candidates took turns, Thursday, burying the Trump administration for its handling of the coronavirus.
Elizabeth Warren unveiled a bill calling for funds to be redistributed from Trump's "racist border wall" to the effort to fight the virus. And Tom Steyer, who pollsters believe can crack the top 3 in South Carolina, called the burgeoning crisis Trump's Katrina.
Meanwhile, frontrunner Bernie Sanders took some flak from Mike Bloomberg. The former New York mayor released new medical records Thursday, and called on Sanders to do the same. And Bloomberg's campaign manager ripped the Sanders campaign for declining Bloomberg's offer of funding help in the general election.
Bloomberg won't be on the ballot Saturday, but the other major candidates will. Stay tuned to Mediaite for full coverage.
No Fox Love for Trump NYT Suit
"The president is not going to win this.”
That was the assessment of Fox Business host Kennedy about the Trump campaign's libel lawsuit against The New York Times. And she was far from an outlier. The entire panel of Outnumbered agreed that Trump's suit has no chance in court.
The dissent from Fox's chief judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano might have been less surprising — given his well-established penchant for disagreeing with the president. But Napolitano's view was delivered with conviction.
"I think it will be dismissed," he said on Fox & Friends.
Dispatches from CPAC: Bongino Has a Normal Mediaite is on the ground covering CPAC this week, and one of our writers has already had a bonkers run-in with a Fox News contributor.
After our Zachary Petrizzo introduced himself late Wednesday, Fox contributor Dan Bongino took the opportunity to rail against our site.
“Sorry, you guys are total a**holes to me," Bongino said. "I mean this from the bottom of my heart. Like total d*****bags. Constant bullsh*t.”
Bongino's wife and another woman tried to interrupt, but the Fox contributor kept on raging.
Read the wild details here. 6.5.0 |
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| Warren and Colbert Throw Down Some Beers
We're at the point of the presidential race that the candidates — no matter the forum — just seem like they're rattling off their worn out stump speeches in 30 second increments. Any opportunity to see them as actual humans, and not campaign droids, is thoroughly refreshing.
Wednesday night's Late Show was one such chance. Elizabeth Warren and Stephen Colbert met at a bar in the comic's native South Carolina to chomp down on some ribs and knock back some brews.
The encounter, of course, featured a number of snarky observations from the CBS host.
"Are you prepared for South Carolina food?" Colbert asked Warren. "It’s very rich. You’re going to want to tax it."
But Warren kept pace, getting off a punchy one-liner about calorie-packed potato skins.
"You'll need universal health care after those," Warren joked.
In the end, Warren raised her Michelob Ultra for a toast — capping off a segment that showed she has two things: A great sense of humor, and terrible taste in beer.
Check it out here. 6.7.0 |
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