Donald Trump threatens to jail Mark Zuckerberg, Dominion Voting Systems accuses ex-OAN host Christina Bobb of dodging her deposition, Meta announces it will remove some posts attacking "Zionists" as a form of hate speech, Netflix teams up with Joe Rogan for a live comedy special, the jurors are selected in Alec Baldwin's "Rust" trial, and so much more. But first, the A1.

Trouble in George-Town

CNN Photo Illustration/ABC News

George Stephanopoulos, sporting a T-shirt, shorts, and over-the-ear headphones, was traversing the New York City streets by foot on Tuesday when he was approached by a stranger who asked for his thoughts on President Joe Biden's fitness for office.

"I don't think he can serve four more years," candidly replied the ABC News anchor, who had just sat down with Biden a few days earlier for his first on-camera television interview following the CNN presidential debate. 

The blunt remark from Stephanopoulos — video of which made its way to TMZ — served as the latest example of the news media turning on Biden, expressing strong concerns about whether he has the fortitude to defeat Donald Trump in November and then serve an additional term in office. 

On Tuesday night, Stephanopoulos expressed regret for his frank remark, saying through a spokesperson, "Earlier today I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn’t have." (Notably, Stephanopoulos did not withdraw the viewpoint he articulated, but simply said he shouldn't have expressed it.) ABC News separately said that Stephanopoulos "expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News." Regardless, any damage inflicted by the comment was already done. 

It goes without saying that Stephanopoulos is far from alone amongst his peers in the news media in sharing that opinion. Whether fair or unfair (and I do believe you can argue some of the coverage over the past two weeks has been over the top and irresponsible), the reality is that Biden has, at this juncture, lost much of the press corps. Many journalists simply do not buy the narrative that Biden, his campaign, and the White House are selling.

"To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race,"
The New York Times editorial board titled a scathing piece last week as several other prominent figures called for him to step aside.

That loss of trust poses a significant challenge for Biden as he tries to convince the American public that he is up for the difficult task before him. Every move Biden makes, every sentence he utters, has now fallen under a microscope, never a good sign for a political candidate. Worse for Biden, he is no longer being given the benefit of the doubt. In fact, just the opposite.

The president said this week that he does not care about what "the elites" think about his candidacy. But, given his decades in politics, he surely knows that alienating and going to war with the news media is not a winning strategy. Whether he likes it or not, how the news media covers his campaign influences how millions of Americans view his fitness for office. And given how close the 2024 race already was before the CNN debate, the recent coverage battering Biden's campaign poses a grave threat to its livelihood. 

How Biden might manage to pull himself out of this media storm threatening to consume his candidacy remains to be seen. Can he? Thus far, the steps Biden has taken to win back trust have failed to deliver the desired outcome. The Stephanopoulos interview is the perfect example of that. Instead of helping him move forward, granting the interview has effectively backfired, with Biden failing to even convince Stephanopoulos with his message.

The fact that the president could not convince the interviewer his campaign hand-picked for his first post-debate sit-down of his ability to lead the nation for the next four years does not bode well for his campaign. 

CNN Photo Illustration/Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Trump's Transparent Threats: Donald Trump is spelling it out in black and white, overtly pledging to jail his political opponents. The disgraced former president on Tuesday vowed that if he is elected again, he will "pursue" so-called "election fraudsters" (translation: his perceived critics) at levels "never seen before." Trump openly said that he will send these people "to prison for long periods of time." He then warned that he already knows who these supposed "election fraudsters" are, explicitly threatening Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and telling him to "be careful." Gizmodo's Matt Novak has more here.

🔎 Zooming in: While Trump's threats are happening out in the open — plain as day for everyone to see — they continue to receive relatively little attention from the press. Most outlets on Tuesday did not even bother to cover Trump threatening to jail Zuckerberg. It's a sign of how normalized his authoritarian-like behavior has become.

CNN Photo Illustration/Joe Rondone/The Republic/ USA Today Network

Bobb'ing Her Deposition: It appears former One America News personality Christina Bobb does not want to sit down with lawyers representing Dominion Voting Systems in the company's lawsuit against the conspiratorial right-wing channel. Bobb, who now serves as a Republican National Committee "election integrity" official, was accused by the voting technology company on Monday of having dodged her deposition. "Bobb has not produced a single document in this litigation, and simply ignored Dominion’s attempts to schedule a date for her deposition," Dominion's lawyers wrote in court documents. Bobb's lawyers countered the deposition would undermine her rights against self-incrimination as the Arizona election subversion case unfolds. CNN's Marshall Cohen has the details. 

CNN Photo Illustration/David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Meta's 'Zionist' Move: Meta has come a long way since the days in which Mark Zuckerberg refused to take action against Holocaust deniers posting on his platforms. The social media company said Tuesday that it will extend some of its hate speech policies to the word "Zionist," given that it can be used in an antisemitic manner. "We have determined that the existing policy guidance does not sufficiently address the ways people are using the term ‘Zionist’ online and offline," Meta said. "Going forward, we will remove content attacking ‘Zionists’ when it is not explicitly about the political movement, but instead uses antisemitic stereotypes, or threatens other types of harm through intimidation, or violence directed against Jews or Israelis under the guise of attacking Zionists." It's just the latest example of online platforms moving to address hate speech spurred by the Israel-Hamas war. CNN's Brian Fung has more. 

CNN Photo Illustration/James Gilbert/Getty Images

The Return of Rogan: Netflix is once again teaming up with Joe Rogan for its next live event. The streamer said Tuesday that the controversial Spotify podcaster, who has a lengthy history of misinforming his sizable audience on health and political issues, will carry his "Burn The Boats" comedy show live on August 3. The show will mark Rogan's first stand-up performance in six years. But it is the third time Netflix has partnered with Rogan for a comedy special. Variety's Ethan Shanfeld has more here.