THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2022

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Jake Tapper

CNN’s Jake Tapper grilled Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) following the congressman's attempts to defend former President Donald Trump over the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search.

Crenshaw joined Tapper on Sunday's State of the Union, where the CNN anchor asked the congressman if he was bothered by the fact that the FBI located top secret classified documents at Trump’s estate.

“I want to get to the truth,” Crenshaw answered, yet added, “It’s hard to justify what the Department of Justice did here, in my opinion.”

"I still haven’t seen any evidence that Trump was even asked to give these documents back. He’s been cooperating with them on these issues for a while now," Crenshaw continued. "Why take it to this extreme extent?”

While Tapper acknowledged the unknowns surrounding the search, he pointed out that the search warrant was executed under the watch of Trump-appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray.

As Crenshaw stood by his point that the search, while authorized, was still a “very unprecedented measure,” Tapper highlighted that the search also follows Trump’s dispute with the National Archives and Records Administration over his claim to the classified documents.

“Why not just ask him [for the documents],” Crenshaw said, parroting Trump.

“I thought they were negotiating and trying to get the information from him,” Tapper pushed back.

Tapper went on to point out that Trump did not turn over several boxes of materials, according to the Justice Department.

Crenshaw continued to insist that Trump has been cooperating, prompting Tapper to note, “But his lawyers said we didn’t have any more classified information, and the Justice Department said ‘yes you do,’ and they went and got it.”

Tapper cornered Crenshaw into acknowledging the argument, with the congressman admitting it was a “huge mistake” for Trump’s lawyers to say they didn’t have anything left.

MEDIA LOSER:
Joel Pollak

Breitbart senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak got duped by a poll that appears to be fake on all accounts.

The alleged poll Pollak is citing showed Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee Lt. Gov. John Fetterman with a 0.4 percentage point lead over GOP Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz

“Fetterman has led Oz in most polls, often by double digits. However, the race may be tightening,” Pollak wrote in a Sunday article.

“One poll, by former Republican internal pollster Carleton Polling, suggests that Fetterman is less than one point ahead.”

The poll also claimed 4.5 percent of the vote went toward "Others," while 3.3 percent were undecided.

Carleton Polling later crowed about being cited in Breitbart with a tweet dripping with sarcasm.

"Any doubts that we are not a legitimate pollster have now been quelled. We are a very serious organization and anyone saying otherwise is spreading misinformation," read the Twitter statement, sounding rather unconvincing.

Despite Pollak touting the poll as coming from a “former Republican internal pollster,” there is little trace of “Carleton Polling” online.

Pollak essentially promoted a poll that gave no indication of methodology. While there are some cross tabs provided for the Ohio Senate and Pennsylvania gubernatorial races, but they are incomplete and amateur looking.

The cross tabs provided were simple Google docs, which really should have been a red flag for Pollak

The poll was also tweeted alongside the claim, “Carleton was the most accurate Senate internal in 2020." But Carleton Polling only joined Twitter on Saturday, when it released the fake poll. It also has no website.

Pollak, who has yet to address the apparent mistake, completely failed to do the leg work here.

The A-Block

Midterm polls

After months of trailing in the polls, Democrats took the lead over Republicans in both influential generic congressional polling averages — FiveThirtyEight and Real Clear Politics — for the first time since last November.

President Joe Biden was riding high for the first few months of his presidency, and so were his party’s congressional prospects. But Biden’s approval crossed below 50 percent for the first time almost a year ago amid the Delta coronavirus surge, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and the beginnings of inflation.

His approval has yet to recover.

The GOP has also maintained a lead against Democrats in 538’s average of generic congressional ballot polls since November

On Tuesday, however, Democrats took the lead from Republicans in the RCP average -- 44.1 percent to 43.1 percent -- and have not given it up.

Democrats have also expanded their lead in the 538 average slightly, to a full half-point.

The new lead comes as an NBC News poll, published Sunday, found that Americans consider “threats to democracy” to be the most important issue ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Interestingly, guns and abortion — two much-talked issues over the past few months — both placed outside the top five in the NBC News poll.


In Other News...

Former Fox News Political Editor Chris Stirewalt Blasts Network for Inciting ‘Black-Helicopter-Level Paranoia and Hatred’ in New Book

‘Is John Malone Responsible for Axing Your Show?’ Brian Stelter Guest Addresses the Elephant in the Room During CNN’s Reliable Sources Swan Song

Ron Johnson Claims ‘Virtually No Involvement’ in Plot to Overthrow Election During Bizarre Interview: ‘Literally, My Involvement Lasted Seconds’

CNN Anchors Shocked By Ex-NYPD Detective Defending Brutal Arkansas Cop Video: They’re ‘Banging His Head on the Pavement’

Dr. Anthony Fauci to Step Down

HALL: Brian Stelter’s Ouster is the Clearest Sign of What a Chris Licht Led CNN Will Look Like

RATINGS: Bret Baier Lands in 4th Place Overall, Crushes Time Slot Competition

Must See Clip

'I thought I was going to die'

Fox Weather Robert Ray jumped into action on Monday morning after seeing a woman’s car submerged in water during the flood in Dallas, Texas.

Ray was covering the flooding when a woman drove her car into a flooded street, submerging most of her car in the water.

Ray can be seen first trying to push the vehicle to higher ground and eventually pulling the woman from the car's window.

“I thought I was dying,” the woman told Ray in a brief interview afterwards. “I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to drown.”

Watch the stunning rescue here.

Links We Like

- Ross Douthat, New York Times
Wray's attempts to stay out of the fray
- Perry Stein, Ellen Nakashima, Hannah Allam, and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post - Sharon Waxman, The Wrap - Aja Romano, Vox
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