THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Brian Kilmeade

Brian Kilmeade pressed former president Donald Trump on his past use of social media Thursday morning, asking if his currently high numbers are tied to his absence from Twitter and Facebook. Trump called into Fox & Friends to discuss his new picture book, which he insisted is a “happy book” with “pictures of a lot of great things.”

While they failed to ask Trump about reports of his positive Covid test days before he debated Joe Biden, there were some relatively pointed questions directed at the former President. Kilmeade asking if Trump's social media absence has helped or hurt him in the public's eye stood out among them.

“Now that you’re off social media — even despite January 6 and the investigation, everything that happened since, the impeachment that followed — your ratings, according to friendly polling for you, are higher than they’ve ever been,” Kilmeade said. “Did you overrate the impact of social media, and in retrospect, will you need it if you want to run again?”

“I think that people are seeing the great job that we did,” Trump replied, before going on a tangent about the economy and Hispanic support.

But Kilmeade went back to his question. “What about social media, Mr. President? But what about social media? Did it hurt you more than it helped you and now that you’re off it and you see that nothing’s really changed with your numbers except actually going up, do you think that you overemphasized social media?”

"Look, I think social media is important," said Trump after bragging about poll numbers again. He also said his own platform is being developed and will "be incredible."

That prompted Ainsley Earhardt to join in, asking if Trump might change his "approach" now, as in moderate his tone.

Trump called it "an interesting question." He said he thinks he's a nice person but that he "had to break a lot of eggs.”

It wasn't the total softball Trump may have been expecting when he called in. He was even interrupted a few times, as Kilmeade pressed for answers that Trump was dodging. And it even got personal.

Kudos to the Fox & Friends host for the on-point question about social media -- a question plenty of Republicans have had about Trump since he first ran for president, and a question he had to herd Trump to respond to. Not too shabby..

MEDIA LOSER:
Keith Olbermann

Former sportscaster and current left-wing political commentator Keith Olbermann was torched Wednesday night after he politicized Tuesday’s Oxford High School shooting in Michigan, linking it to Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports and Donald Trump.

Wednesday afternoon, Barstool posted a tragic story which memorialized an Oxford High student for sacrificing his own life during the shooting. Olbermann quote tweeted the story by blasting Barstool and its founder for promoting “Trumpist Fascism.”

“This kid died to stop a school shooter whose mother echoed the Trumpist Fascism of @stoolpresidente and @barstoolsports,” Olbermann wrote.

Olbermann replied to his own tweet with an excerpt from a Daily Beast story about the suspect’s mother and her political beliefs as justification for his outburst. Nevertheless backlash was swift. Olbermann, as he always does, doubled down, reiterating his initial attack with more words as if the problem was that nobody understood his eloquence.

"A quick recap: @barstoolsports and @stoolpresidente sell the same fake-macho Trump pro-death bullshit that the Michigan shooter’s parents revel in. For them to exploit the story of the kid who sacrificed himself to stop the shooter is hypocrisy beyond measure #ToHellWithBarstool"," he tweeted.

Portnoy responded to Olbermann in a tweet, but then deleted it, and sent a second tweet saying "Yes I deleted a tweet which I usually never do. Felt wrong letting Keith highjack a tragedy for his relevancy. Going to bed."

Olbermann got the illusion of relevance he craved with the crass exploitation anyway, as thousands of like-minded people "liked" the ugly comment. From the opposite side, there were many hundreds of negative responses, dozens of which referred to Olberman - somewhat predictably - as the "worst person in the world."

In the last few weeks there's been a notable selectiveness in which terrible crimes people seek political motive to discuss, and which they don't dare ask the question about.

But Olbmermann choosing an objectively heroic and tragic story of sacrifice to make a snotty comment about a sports website and its creep-in-chief is an exceptional low, even in that environment.

The A-Block

"You Wrote the Book!"

Morning Joe ridiculed Mark Meadows for agreeing with with former President Donald Trump that information from his own book is “fake news.”

On Thursday, Morning Joe covered revelations from The Chief’s Chief — a new book from Meadows, who served as Trump’s final chief of staff — that Trump tested positive for Covid earlier than previously known. Trump did receive a negative test after his first positive, but would go on to meet with Gold Star families at the White House the next day, and share a debate stage with Joe Biden days later. Soon after, Trump was hospitalized with a severe case of Covid.

On Morning JoeJonathan Lemire outlined Trump’s reckless conduct after receiving the positive test, and Joe Scarborough mocked Trump as “a runaway beer truck that was spraying Covid like insecticide.”

“Keep in mind,” Mika Brzezinski added, “people are being forced to take tests and have their temperatures checked and everything and all around them, while he’s breathing Covid all over these people.”

The show then noted that Trump is claiming the any suggestion he had Covid, on the basis of Meadows’ book, is “fake news.” Meadows did the same thing in an interview with Newsmax.

“We got this from you! You wrote the book,” Scarborough exclaimed. “Just because Trump goes ‘Hey this is fake news,’ you don’t have to be like Mike Pence when he puts water on the floor.”

Morning Joe then rolled footage of Meadows’ interview where he blundered his response after Rob Schmitt acknowledged the “interesting” timing from the book’s revelations.

“Absolutely love some ranch dressing with that word salad,” Scarborough deadpanned.


In Other News...

Brianna Keilar Confronts Ex-Trump Spox With Clip of Her Evading Question on Trump Covid Test: 'That Doesn't Fly'

Attorney for Rust Assistant Director Backs Up Alec Baldwin; Claims Actor Didn't Pull Trigger on the Gun From Fatal Shooting

MLB Scrubs its Website of Names, Images, and Likenesses Immediately After Locking Out the Players

RICHMAN: How the Media — Right, Left and Center — Dropped the Ball on Covering the Waukesha Tragedy

Must See Clip

'How Does It Not Make Sense?'

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki got into it with NPR’s Mara Liasson over a tax provision in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill.

Ms. Psaki briefed reporters on Wednesday and got contentious when Liasson tried to turn one of Biden’s signature promises against him.

The impatient exchange was informative, if not actually resolved with a satisfactory answer.

Links We Like

Conservatives Eye Kooky Gov’t Shutdown Gambit to Undo Vax Mandates
- Sam Brodey and Ursula Perano, Daily Beast
‘Trump Called Us to D.C.’: Capitol Rioter Who Tased Cop Blames Trump for Jan. 6
- Peter Wade, Rolling Stone
Amazon’s Employee Surveillance Fuels Unionization Efforts: ‘it’s Not Prison, It’s Work’
- Jay Greene, Washington Post
A Pathetic Political Argument on Dobbs from Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan
John McCormack, National Review
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