THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2020  

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Jonathan Hunt

During an on-location segment on The Story with Martha MacCallum, Fox reporter Jonathan Hunt walked through the so-called Capitol Hill Organized Protest Zone, telling MacCallum what he has seen first-hand of the occupation.

What he saw, he said, notably differed from what President Donald Trump has described from his White House view. 

“These are violent people that have taken over,” Trump told Fox News White House correspondent, John Roberts during press questions at the roundtable event. “These are not people that are nice people."

After the clip of Trump's comment played, Hunt disagreed

“Now the president may have been watching the same handful of videos over and over again that have been posted repeatedly on Twitter showing the handful of violent incidents,” he said.

"But the truth on the ground here," Hunt told MacCallum, "is that it remains and is at least for the moment, overwhelmingly peaceful.”

The footage and Hunt's excellent reporting from the scene would of course be important from any press outlet, but it is an invaluable service on Fox News, overwhelming the network of choice for Trump and his base. 

Facing stigma while reporting live from the scene, and potential White House wrath for doing so honestly, makes Fox's Jonathan Hunt an obvious Media winner.

MEDIA LOSER:
Chelsea Handler

Comedian Chelsea Handler is under fire this week after favorably sharing a clip from National of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on her Instagram account.

Handler was one of several celebrities who went in for anti-Semitism, but the reaction to her post in particular became a big and trending topic on social media.

“I learned a lot from watching this powerful video,” said Handler, of an almost ten-minute clip of Farrakhan.

Jennifer Aniston, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jennifer Garner were on board, tooJessica Chastain and Jameela Jamil shared it on their own accounts.

When confronted about it and challenged on whether she'ld share content from Adolf Hitler, too, Handler replied “no, because hitler was responsible for killing millions of lives. Farrakhan is just responsible for his own promotion of anti Semitic beliefs. They are very different.”

“Louis Farrakhan is an anti-semitic, homophobic monster who also happens to be a rape apologist,” journalist Yashar Ali wrote on Twitter. “You don’t have to hand it to him for anything…ever.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned Handler promoting "a life-long anti-Semite who called Hitler a great man who refers to Jews as insects who spews hatred of LGBTQ people" as a source of learning.

The praise remains live on her account. 

The A-Block

Bikers for Trump

One of President Donald Trump‘s most dedicated groups, Bikers for Trump, is not happy about recent headlines at some right wing political blogs and news sites that claimed they're headed to Seattle to break up the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.

“The fake news story saying that Bikers For Trump are riding with the Oathkeepers and other motorcycle groups into Seattle is Fake News and spreading out of control,” a spokesperson for Bikers for Trump told Mediaite.

Apparently, we were the first ones who thought to check with them.

No criminality

The New York Police Department has determined there was “no criminality” committed by Shake Shack after police unions accused employees of the burger chain of deliberately poisoning law enforcement with milkshakes.

The accusation that they were poisoned in retribution for policing protests spread like wildfire on social media overnight.

Shocking video

At a protest in Albuquerque, New Mexico, one person was shot and another taken into custody, when clashes quickly escalated to violence as one group attempted to pull down a statue and others objected.

The altercation that resulted in shots fired was caught on video from several angles. It is an alarming capture of how quickly things can escalate.

Welcome back Kaepernick?

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says he supports a return to the NFL for Colin Kaepernick. In fact, he encourages it.

"I’ve been around!"

Dan Bongino and Geraldo Rivera got into quote the heated shouting match on Monday night. The two were on with Sean Hannity to discuss the shooting of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.

Shouting ensued.

Outnumbered Overtime's Outstanding Numbers

Harris Faulkner’s news-making interview with President Donald Trump boosted Fox News’ Outnumbered Overtime to a big ratings win on Friday, while CNN’s recent, protest coverage-fueled audience surge continued to fade.

The interview helped the network win the time-slot with 318,000 viewers in the coveted 25 – 54 age demographic, as well as a total viewers win.



Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson is riding high while CNN is slipping into a slump.

Get all the details here, from Mediaite+.

Laurence Tribe apologizes

Professor Laurence Tribe apologized for comments in which he advocated for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s selection as Joe Biden’s running mate by referring to a potential black nominee as “cosmetics.”

Tribe's commentary sparked backlash online, and on Tuesday he offered an explanation and said he did not mean to express himself the way it sounded

Medical Deep State

Fox News host Laura Ingraham mockingly referred to Dr. Anthony Fauci as “the medical deep state” during her show Monday night, responding to his new concerns about how long it will be before Americans can see things going back to normal.

“The president and his campaign should simply not react to any of this alarmist Covid drivel," said Ingraham.

Bad News

Bars and restaurants in Washington, D.C. may be forced to close for good, they say, if landlords don’t give them a break on rent. Dozens of proprietors participated in the open letter, published by the Washington Post yesterday.

“None of us could have predicted that on Monday, March 16, we would be shut down by the mayor because of a global pandemic,” they added. “The boom is over, and it does not appear to be coming back soon. If hospitality was hard before, it’s nearly impossible now.”

Must See Clip

When Is it Enough?

An emotional Trevor Noah questioned why Rayshard Brooks was killed over “a law not worth dying for” during a fiery monologue on Monday night, pleading to know when the police shootings would stop.

“As a policeman, if a drunk person does an illogical thing, I feel like you should acknowledge the fact that they’re drunk,” The Daily Show host said. “It doesn’t mean they deserve to die. We know what drunk people do. I’ve been drunk, you’ve been drunk, everyone has been drunk — you don’t deserve to die for being drunk.”

“How long? How much? When is it enough?” Noah asks in this compelling and powerful clip.

Links We Like

There’s a double standard from pols and the media with protests and coronavirus
- via New York Post
Scientists say they can recreate living dinosaurs within the next few years
- via Entrepreneur
Major study finds common steroid reduces deaths in cases of severe Covid-19
- via STAT
Why Neil Gorsuch just handed down a historic victory for LGBTQ rights
- via Slate
Lawyers pick apart Alito and Kavanaugh dissents in landmark LGBTQ rights case
-  via Law & Crime
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