THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2022

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro

Following weeks of speculation, The View officially named Alyssa Farah Griffin as Meghan McCain’s permanent successor.

The ABC talk show also named Ana Navarro, a frequent sight at The View table recently,as a permanent co-host.

Co-host Whoopi Goldberg made the announcements on Thursday’s show, followed by respective montages showcasing both of the new hosts' highlights on the show so far.

Following the announcement, Griffin walked onto the set and took her spot in the permanent conservative seat.

“If anyone had ever told me I would be sitting at a table with Whoopi Goldberg, I would have said, you are crazy,” she said.

“It is such an honor to be with you ladies every day on this set, and it’s particularly exciting for me today.”

Navarro similarly joined the table after Goldberg announced her as a permanent co-host, joking that she and the show were "finally putting a ring on it and making it official."

She went on to call her new role “a huge, enormous, incomparable privilege” and noted her immigrant roots, coming to the United States from Nicaragua at the age of eight.

Navarro, an anti-Trump Republican, has made numerous appearances since McCain left the show. She will reportedly remain a CNN contributor and will only be on The View “a few days a week."

Griffin, who was the White House communications director in the Trump administration, made 29 appearances as a guest host prior to solidifying her spot.

A big congrats to both Griffin and Navarro for their new gig.

MEDIA LOSER:
Brian Kilmeade

It's August 2022 and Brian Kilmeade is still pushing anti-vaccine talking points on Fox News.

On Thursday, the host made the absurd claim that Covid vaccine boosters "don’t work” and that the “vaccine is ineffective.”

“The pandemic is over," said Kilmeade. "The CDC is changing regulations. Even if you have it, treat it like a cold."

“We all been treating it like that anyway, so we’re moving through it. The boosters don’t work, the vaccine is ineffective except to reduce symptoms.”

Not only did Kilmeade recklessly claim vaccines, proven to be the best defense available against the virus, are ineffective, but also managed to counter his own point in the same breath.

"The vaccine is ineffective except to reduce symptoms" is quite the sentence considering the purpose of a vaccine is to do exactly that -- reduce symptoms.

"COVID-19 vaccination helps protect adults and children ages 6 months and older from getting severely ill with COVID-19 and helps protect those around them," states the CDC site, which links to several recent studies.

The CDC has also tracked the rates of Covid-19 deaths in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals 12 years or older, showing that those unvaccinated had a twelve times higher chance of dying from the virus than those who received their jabs.

Regarding boosters, a study published last month in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report concluded they provide protection against the Omicron variants and reduce the chances of needing to be hospitalized.

So, Kilmeade was simply wrong across the board here. 

The A-Block

Time for Jones' curtain call

Alex Jones must pay $4.1 million in compensatory damages to the parents of a 6-year-old boy murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, a jury decided Thursday.

That’s not all for the infamous conspiracy theorist: the punitive damages phase of the defamation trial begins Friday.

The decision marks a victory for the families of Sandy Hook victims who have been tormented for years by the InfoWars host who repeatedly claimed the massacre was a government hoax and that those involved — including the 28 dead, 20 of them children — were “actors.”

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of slain 6-year-old Jesse Lewistestified that the lies Jones spread about their family led them to fear for their lives.

During his own testimony at the trial, Jones admitted he was “100% wrong” about the shooting being fake.

Throughout the trial, Jones tested the patience of Judge Maya Guerra Gamble. In one dramatic moment, she admonished the infamous conspiracy theorist for lying.

“You must tell the truth while you testify,” the judge told Jones when the jury had left the courtroom. “This is not your show.”

Jones also insulted the judge — and the jury — on his InfoWars show, in a stunning commentary the plaintiffs’ attorney showed at the trial.

The Sandy Hook families are not finished with Jones. In addition to the punitive damages phase of Heslin and Lewis' lawsuit, there remain two more defamation trials to determine damages owed, another in Austin and one in Connecticut.


In Other News...

Jon Stewart Responds to Tucker Carlson Mocking His Height: ‘I Remain Tall Enough to Not Know What Victor Orban’s Ass Tastes Like’ 

Trump-Backed Kari Lake Wins Arizona GOP Gubernatorial Primary

Social Media Users Circulate Video of Apparent Shooting at the Mall of America

Brittney Griner Gives Emotional Apology in Russian Court: ‘I Never Meant to Hurt Anybody…I Made an Honest Mistake’

Industry news...

New York Times Raking in Profits from New Digital Subscribers, Even With Losses From Acquiring The Athletic

RATINGS: Don Lemon Scores Impressive Demo Numbers, Nearly Doubling MSNBC

Must See Clip

'He is a coward'

Former Republican vice president and Wyoming congressman Dick Cheney tore into Donald Trump in a new ad for his daughter Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in an ad released Thursday.

"He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him."

Cheney goes on to call Trump a "coward," adding, "A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election and he lost big. I know it, he knows it and deep down I think most Republicans know it."

Watch the blistering ad here.

Links We Like

- Dylan Beyers, Puck
Politico on Viktor Orbán's warm CPAC reception
-Natalie Allison and Lamar Johnson, Politico
Cheney tells Kasie Hunt Justice Department will “follow the facts” in Jan. 6 probe
- Eric Bradner, CNN
What Brittney Griner's prison sentence says about Russian propaganda v. American values
- Tom Nichols, The Atlantic
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