THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNERS:
Meghan McCain

Meghan McCain took the lead on The View with a devastating condemnation of President Donald Trump and his supporters over Wednesday’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building.

Whoopi Goldberg opened the Thursday show by pronouncing the mob “domestic terrorists,” and she blasted TrumpRudy Giuliani, and their cohorts for inciting the mob that laid siege to Congress. When Goldberg handed the floor over to McCain, she called it “one of America’s darkest days” and said Trump is “clearly a president who has turned into a mad king.”

“At this point,” McCain said, “I’m calling on all Republicans and conservatives who still have clout. We have to invoke the 25th amendment. We cannot withstand this. Our country cannot go on like this, and we cannot possibly risk the idea that we could have more violence between now and President Biden getting inaugurated.”

McCain grew steadily more emotional, and more vehement in her welcome commentary.

MEDIA LOSER:
Sarah Palin

Former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin leapt right into the conspiracy theory slipstream on Fox News, claiming that she suspected the rioting, looting, and gunshots unleashed inside the Capitol by pro-Trump supporters was actually a false flag operation by Antifa.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Palin did not share any of her supposedly blockbuster evidence with host Martha MacCallum, who asked her about earlier comments condemning the rioters as “fake patriots”

“Anyone who would storm the Capitol and create this, at least the perception of condoned violence, is not a true patriot,” Palin insisted, before quickly pivoting to explicitly blame the media for being partly responsible for the unprecedented attack.

Palin wasn't the only one advancing the theory. Rep. Matt Gaetz did it on the floor, Rep. Mo Brooks on Twitter. And on certain types of blogs, too. 

But Palin got in early, and loudly. And embarrassingly.

The A-Block

Anarchy in the US

The attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters has sent shockwaves throughout the nation and the world, and newspaper front pages tell the story of how that news is being portrayed.

Oath of Allegiance

Fox News anchor and correspondent Leland Vittert described in some detail what it was like to be among the mob of Trump supporters in D.C. Wednesday. 

"They would come up to people in the street, all over the city, and ask if you were a patriot and then demand some type of oath of allegiance to the president. And it wasn’t just me."

Trey Gowdy Explodes

Former Republican Representative Trey Gowdy did not hold back during a Thursday appearance on America’s Newsroom, blasting Trump's inciteful language during Wednesday’s rally. He brought up Trump's' attacks on Vice President Mike Pence, his call to march and to fight, and more, in a bit of disagreement with Fox's Sandra Smith.

"Who said go fight? Who blamed Mike Pence and blame Republicans and said the election was stolen?”

25th Amendment

Sen. Chuck Schumer raised the prospect of invoking the 25th Amendment following the violent attack on the Capitol, calling for Trump to be removed from office “immediately.”

“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president,” he wrote in a statement he later tweeted. “This president should not hold office one day longer.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi likewise called for Trump's removal from office, by impeachment or even having Pence invoke the 25th.

Resignations

Elaine Chao, the United States Secretary of Transportation and wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly resigning following the violent riot at the Capitol.

Stephanie Grisham, former White House communications director and current chief of staff to First Lady Melania Trump, has also resigned in the wake of the pro-Trump riots on Capitol Hill.

Former White House chief of staff and Northern Ireland envoy Mick Mulvaney, too.

Trump campaign counsel Jerome Marcus announced in a Thursday legal filing that he was withdrawing from his role, claiming he had been “used” by his “repugnant” client.

Not a resignation, but...

Former Attorney General Bill Barr denounced Trump for inciting his supporters to mob the U.S. Capitol Building in an attempt to overturn his election loss, saying that "orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable."

He Can't Come Back From This

Fox Business host Stuart Varney said Trump's political doom has been sealed by the attempted hostile takeover of Congress by his supporters.

On Thursday, Varney said Trump’s legacy will be “forever linked” to the siege on the U.S. Capitol, and his presidency effectively ended in “chaos and disgrace.” He went on by lamenting the chaos while giving props to President-Elect Joe Biden for the speech he gave to condemn the riots.

Horrified Colbert 

An utterly shattered Stephen Colbert went “unexpectedly live” on Wednesday night to address the violent pro-Trump mob that attacked the United States Capitol — faulting President Donald Trump, the “cowards” in the GOP that support him, and Fox News for the chaos.

The host, who was similarly shaken following Trump’s election lies, told his viewers that he’s “rarely been as upset as I am tonight,” following the blatant attack on Democracy.

“Have you had enough? After five years of coddling this president’s fascist rhetoric, guess whose followers want to burn down the Reichstag?” Colbert snapped at Republican members of Congress who unwaveringly supported Trump throughout his presidency, even as he attempted to overturn an election.

“Today, the U.S. Capitol was overrun for the first time since 1814,” he said. “And a woman died. Who could have seen this coming? Everyone! Even dummies like me.”

Read the rest and watch here.

Must See Clip

Violence Doesn't Win

The scenes at the U.S. Capitol Building Wednesday shocked America, and the world. Throngs of protesters took a violent turn, physically assaulting Capitol Police officers, smashing past security barricades, and breaking through windows and doors to force their way inside.

The earlier unrest makes what happened in the wee hours of Thursday morning all the more important: the Vice President and Congress of the United States met in a joint session and finished the duties assigned to them by the Constitution.

The few minutes of video of Vice President Mike Pence carrying out the constitutional procedures to finalize the Electoral College vote count and certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory are not remarkable in itself, but for what it represents.

America endures. The institutions of our democratic republic endure. The transition of power will happen on January 20, 2021.

Yesterday, the mob lost. Democracy won.

WATCH HISTORY UNFOLD HERE.

Links We Like

We Must Impeach Trump Again. And His Seditious Congressional Allies Must Be Removed
- David French, Time
Impeach. Convict. Indict.
- Robert Tracinski, The Bulwark

The Mob Is Gone, but the Crisis of the Republican Party Has Only Begun
- Amy Sorkin, The New Yorker

Trump Ruined His Legacy And His Party
- Rainer Zitelmann, Washington Examiner
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