Hey, here's the latest on AG Sulzberger, Jeanine Pirro, CNN Weather, Jimmy Kimmel, the New York Post, TikTok's "AI Alive" and more... |
"Original Sin" has zoomed to #1 on Amazon's new releases list — a real rarity for a book about politics — as Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson share the first scoops from their reporting about former president Joe Biden's decline while in office.
The book is as much about deception as it is about deteriorating health. As the authors write, "the real issue wasn't his age, per se. It was the clear limitations of his abilities, which got worse throughout his Presidency. What the public saw of his functioning was concerning. What was going on in private was worse."
Tapper and Thompson won't officially be on tour until the book comes out next Tuesday, but they both talked about the reporting on CNN yesterday as the first excerpts turned heads. (The excerpt in The New Yorker is titled "How Joe Biden Handed the Presidency to Donald Trump.") There is much more to come, Thompson said, including about Biden's "mental decline."
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'Ignore the haters, read the book' |
There are worthwhile discussions to have about Biden's condition while in office, the cover-up, and the media's coverage then and now. But predictable partisan gripes make those conversations harder to have. So I appreciate how Tapper and Thompson are addressing the critiques head on.
For the liberals and other Trump opponents who keep asking, on social media, why reporters are looking back at Biden's past instead of focusing on Trump's present conduct, the answer is clear, and borrows from a George Clooney observation: "Democrats deceived the country about Biden's abilities and, Clooney said, 'that's how Trump won.'" (Biden appearing to not recognize Clooney at a fundraiser hosted by the actor was a huge revelation from the excerpt.) Plus, Tapper and Thompson report on Trump constantly, as do their news outlets.
For the conservatives who keep claiming that the press conspired to hide Biden's decline from the public, there are many rebuttals, including reporting as far as back as 2019 about the then-candidate's health. The X feed for "Original Sin" debunked a viral video mashup from a bad-faith actor that baselessly claimed Tapper was part of the "conspiracy," and added, "Ignore the haters, read the book." That's always sound advice!
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"You didn't need a medical degree to know Joe Biden’s health was declining," GOP Rep. James Comer wrote on X yesterday. The word "know" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. The more accurate word would be "think." Most people thought Biden was deteriorating while in office. Knowing is a different matter. Sen. Ted Cruz got closer to the mark in his own social media post reacting to the book: "It was so much worse than everyone thought. And we thought it was pretty bad."
The bottom line, Tapper said, "is the White House was lying not only to the press, not only to the public, but they were lying to members of their own cabinet. They were lying to White House staffers. They were lying to Democratic members of Congress, to donors, about how bad things had gotten."
Tapper said many of the sources for "Original Sin" "wouldn't be honest with us or wouldn't be candid with us until after the election." Thus "now we have anecdotes and facts about what was really going on behind the scenes with details that Democrats wouldn't share with us until after Election Day."
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"We are not going to respond to every bit of this book," spokesman Chris Meagher told the NYT. "We continue to await anything that shows where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or where national security was threatened or where he was unable to do his job. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president."
We'll see if Biden tries to counter the book with any further TV appearances. I commented on CNN yesterday that Biden being back on the public stage via "The View" had the effect of reminding people what went wrong — and didn't negate the book's reporting.
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– Jeanine Pirro will be sworn in as interim US attorney in DC at noon. The WaPo editorial board says her appointment "might not be legal."
– A federal judge will hear arguments in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's case against the Trump admin at 2pm.
– Following two days of select game announcements, the NFL will unveil its full schedule at 8pm.
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Sulzberger on Trump 'pressure' |
In the four months since Trump returned to office, "the pressure we've faced" has been "fairly predictable," New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger said in a speech at Notre Dame last night.
"The administration may have more serious action planned," he pointed out. "But so far, the signs that have troubled me most have come from other public- and private-sector leaders too worried about the administration to stand up for their own rights and principles."
Sulzberger identified several specifics: "Large companies, nonprofits and foundations long supportive of journalism now tell us they fear retaliation if they openly support news organizations. Leaders and academics who have long fiercely defended the rule of law now pull opinion pieces, lest their arguments attract the administration's attention. The reaction has been dispiriting enough that we felt compelled to call our outside law firms to make sure they remained committed to defending our constitutional rights."
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"Democracy, at its core, is based on the notion that power is best distributed," Sulzberger continued. "Each person's willingness to wield his or her modest share of that power matters. Each retreat matters, too. Fear is contagious. But courage is also contagious." He went on to cite numerous "reasons for confidence" in this "moment of pressure," and credited The AP for standing strong despite Trump's attempts at intimidation.
"Another critical step is supporting other news organizations when they face pressure," Sulzberger said.
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Speaking of solidarity... |
ABC's Jimmy Kimmel ended his annual industry-roasting monologue at the Disney upfront by encouraging advertisers to support "60 Minutes" over on CBS. "They deserve it," he said. "You have the power, because you have the money. Support journalism. It's important, and it doesn't work without you." I've never seen anything quite like that at an upfront presentation...
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Trumpworld notes and quotes |
>> As Trump targets NPR, CEO Katherine Maher is out with a new blog post about "editorial enhancements and our commitment to serving the American public." (NPR)
>> Right-wing media keeps pushing back against the Qatari jet gift: The New York Post editorial board asks, "What is President Trump thinking?" (NYPost)
>> One of The Washington Post's most-read stories this morning: "In rare move, Congress pushes back on Trump over Library of Congress." (WaPo)
>> A bit of progress for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: The government has finally coughed up the April funding it was owed. RFE/RL's court battle continues, however. (RFE/RL)
>> "Trump's egg price fiction has suddenly become reality," David Goldman reports. (CNN)
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Fuzzy (or fake) Saudi math |
The Trump White House hyped a "$600 billion" investment commitment from Saudi Arabia yesterday, but the numbers don't add up. This morning Axios did a great job of dissecting the "squishy" Saudi promises. "An itemized list provided by the White House doesn't come close to $600 billion. It works out to $282.8 billion," Dan Primack noted.
There are claims about "many other deals," but past such promises "didn't all materialize." Isn't this more interesting than the original announcement?
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Liam Reilly writes: Just as Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who once promised he would defend news media rivals against Trump, has embraced the president, Soon-Shiong has also reversed course on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Yesterday the Los Angeles Times owner and biotech entrepreneur schmoozed with Trump and Saudi royals in Riyadh and touted a medical initiative that aims to cure cancer. Some former L.A. Times employees recoiled at the sight. Politico's Will McCarthy has more here...
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Fox gets a win against Smartmatic |
Marshall Cohen reports: Fox News will soon be poring through new documents that could help their defense against Smartmatic's 2020 election defamation lawsuit. A NY appeals court cleared the way for Fox to obtain the disputed materials about an unrelated federal indictment against top Smartmatic execs. Fox claims if Smartmatic's reputation was damaged, it was because of these bribery charges – and not its 2020 coverage.
Smartmatic denies wrongdoing in the criminal case. In response to Fox’s latest procedural win, Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly says, "Fox’s campaign of lies was the number one cause of Smartmatic’s injuries."
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CNN will preview some of its digital expansion plans, including a forthcoming streaming video service and a CNN Weather app, at Warner Bros. Discovery's upfront show later this morning.
The NYT's Ben Mullin has some context about the streaming vision here, and Axios's Sara Fischer has a sneak peek at the weather app, "part of a broader plan by the network to invest more in lifestyle and subscription news products as part of its digital transformation under its CEO Mark Thompson."
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Today is WBD, Netflix and YouTube's turn to woo media buyers in NYC. Yesterday sports "ran up the score at Disney's pitch to advertisers," the WSJ's CMO Daily newsletter says. More headlines:
>> ESPN's all-access streaming platform will be named ESPN and will cost $29.99 a month. (CNN)
>> The fact that Disney "has taken a decade to launch this tells you a lot about the state of the TV industry," Peter Kafka writes. (Business Insider)
>> "TelevisaUnivision plans to lean into new formats and areas of cultural conversation, as the Spanish-language media giant seeks to stand out in a crowded upfront marketplace." (THR)
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>> Although C-SPAN is beloved by viewers across the aisle, "the cable network’s financial path is 'not sustainable,' per CEO Sam Feist, as platforms like YouTube TV and Hulu aren't carrying it," Paul Farhi reports. (Vanity Fair)
>> After much speculation about shopping it elsewhere, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway have renewed their hit podcast "Pivot" with Vox Media. (Breaker)
>> NBA star Paul George put his successful podcast on hold before the 2024-25 season to focus on winning a ring for his Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers didn't come anywhere close to the playoffs, and now "Podcast P" is back. (X)
>> Amazon's Audible is working with publishers "to convert print and e-books into artificial intelligence-voiced audiobooks, helping to expand its catalog particularly in non-English speaking markets," Ashley Carman reports. (Bloomberg)
>> The impact of Google AI Overviews on one SEO-oriented publisher: Mail Online "is seeing a massive reduction in clickthrough rates from online search results..." (Press Gazette)
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>> "Pope Leo XIV "will maintain 'an active social media presence' on the official papal accounts." (The Hill)
>> Kanye West’s pro-Nazi song "has been chased off of most mainstream platforms, but it’s all over Instagram." (404 Media)
>> Meta pulled a "totally AI fake" ad of Jamie Lee Curtis "after the actor wrote an open letter about it to Mark Zuckerberg." (Business Insider)
>> TikTok is launching "AI Alive," which "allows users to turn static photos into videos within TikTok Stories." I'm sure this will end well. 😉 (TechCrunch)
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