THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2020 

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Mika Brzezinski 

Mika Brzezinski absolutely unleashed on President Donald Trump over his continued allusions to conspiracy theories about her husband and Morning Joe partner Joe Scarborough.

In a scorching end of show monologue Wednesday, Brzezinski blasted the president — accusing him of “trying to deflect” attention from his coronavirus response by making references to the case of Lori Klausutis, who interned in Scarborough’s office when he was in Congress and was found dead at her desk in July 2001.

“He’s tweeting again all sorts of crazy things,” Brzezinski said. “Once again tweeting conspiracy theories about Joe, falsely accusing him of murder, talking about a death of a young staffer in his congressional office years ago, and calling him dangerous to walk the streets.”

From there, Brzezinski went off.

"That’s sick,” she said. “Donald, you’re a sick person! You’re a sick person! To put this family through this, to put her husband through this, to do this just ’cause you’re mad at Joe, because Joe got you again today."

Brzezinski continued. On social media, Trump took equivalent fire, including from CNN's Jake Tapper.

Not only are they correct, not only is Brzezinski's wrath righteous, it's important. As the truth always is. 

MEDIA LOSER:
Kellyanne Conway

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway fired on all cylinders as she used a Fox News interview to attack former Vice President Joe Biden for saying he’ll pick a woman to be his running mate in the 2020 election.

Speaking to Sandra Smith and Ed Henry on Wednesday, Conway led the interview by slamming the Obama administration over Susan Rice’s declassified email and its implications for the ongoing controversy surrounding Michael Flynn.

Since Amb. Rice is thought to be on Biden’s shortlist of possible vice presidents, Conway was asked for what she thought about that, and what she thought about the fact that the former national security advisor is still under scrutiny by U.S. Attorney John Durham.

Conway could have just answered the question straight up, but instead, she decided to go ahead with full snark that was topped off with an apparent allusion to Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” phrase.

"He sounds like a co-ed at the end of a frat party. I need a woman! So now he has binders of women he’s looking through," she said.

It was a childish deflection, and therefore not entirely out of character. But it was in no way a smooth rejoinder. A clumsy media fail.

The A-Block

Not a thing

President Donald Trump is threatening to withhold federal funding to the state of Michigan, claiming without evidence that the state illegally distributed millions of absentee ballots.

'Mental Problems'

The president attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mental capacity in retaliation for her having called him "morbidly obese" over his hydroxychloroquine revelation.  "She’s got a lot of problems, a lot of mental problems,” said Donald J. Trump.

He also called a study on the risks of the drug a “Trump enemy statement.”

Late night beef

The View’s Meghan McCain criticized Seth Meyers for his friendly interview with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), and warned fellow conservative women against being “naive” enough to go on his show, referring to her own interview with the late night host.

“Caveat emptor for any conservative or right leaning woman naive enough to go on his show," said McCain.

Matt Lauer

In an op-ed for Mediaite, former Today show anchor Matt Lauer responded to the allegation of rape leveled against him in Ronan Farrow's book Catch and Kill, accusing the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter of failing to corroborate details of his reporting.

Treatment options

Joy Behar scolded Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) for taking hydroxychloroquine in his battle with coronavirus, saying, “I can’t believe anyone with a brain would take that stuff.”


"Why would you take that drug? There are terrible consequences," said Dr. The View co-host Behar

Monster ratings

The joint cable news Graduate Together simulcast, featuring a commencement address from former President Barack Obama, pulled down huge ratings on Saturday night, helping CNN to a weekend sweep of primetime in the coveted 25 – 54 age demographic.


Tough guy

Howard Stern brutally mocked Donald Trump Jr. on his Sirius XM radio show yesterday. Stern ridiculed the “macho” Trump Jr. over photos of his hunting trips in Africa where he and his brother Eric Trump killed exotic animals.

'I'm also a client'

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said Tuesday night he initially thought President Trump wasn’t telling the truth about taking hydroxychloroquine, but now he’s starting to think he might actually be doing it.

“The depressing reality here appears to be this — that this isn’t some 12th dimensional chess. It’s not even some corrupt angle he’s working," said Hayes. "The president literally thinks there is some secret magic solution."

Deathbed confession

Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade who eventually came out against abortion, made a shocking “deathbed confession” and claimed that right-wing Christian groups paid her to abandon the pro-choice movement.

Late Night Round Up: 'Hydroxymoron'

Late night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Trevor Noah, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and Stephen Colbert all ripped Trump for revealing that he has been taking the unproven treatment hydroxychloroquine, while many mocked Nancy Pelosi's failure to “diplomatically” react to the news.

Kimmel's was particularly funny.

'MUZZLED'

CNN senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin reported this week that there’s “frustration” and “worry” at the CDC that the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic “is being guided by politics and not the science and the data that’s needed to overcome it.”

One of CNN’s sources said that “we are working under a black cloud of an administration that doesn’t have our backs,” while another said. "We've been muzzled."

 

Must-See Clip

Costco Manager Kicks Out Irate Customer Who Refuses to Wear Coronavirus Mask, Curseout Ensues

A viral video shows another culture warrior being felled by pandemic mitigation policies, with a Costco manager taking his cart full of groceries and ejecting him from the store for refusing to wear a mask.

Defiance of social distancing policies has become a popular way to get attention during the coronavirus outbreak, but the tactic appeared to backfire on one Reddit user who posted a video of his experience at Costco, only to delete it after a slew of negative comments.

It's bonkers. So is the follow-up. (Yep. Doubled down.)

Links We Like

The great evangelist, Ravi Zacharias, has gone to his eternal home.
via Erick Erickson
The Provocations of Elon Musk
- via Elizabeth Spiers, GQ

How COVID-19 Deaths Are Counted
- via Scientific American

Why contact tracing may be a mess in America
- via MIT Technology Review
70% of Consumers Would Rather Watch New Movies at Home
- via Variety
Twitter
Facebook
Visit Mediaite
Copyright © 2018 Mediaite LLC All rights reserved.

Write to us:  [email protected]

Problems with these e-mails? Update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.