| Clash of the (Fox) Titans That Fox News personalities occasionally clash should come as no surprise to anyone who watches the network or reads Green Room regularly. It's true at every network and newsroom.
Still, it's more interesting when it's between the Fox opinion hosts, and even moreso when the subject matter is so starkly related to the top two subject of interest at the network: President Trump, and non-Fox media. So the conflicting narratives Monday night should pique any viewer's interest.
But this clash of Fox headliners Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity was not a confrontation. It was merely two presentations. You had to watch both to catch the difference.
Luckily for Green Room readers, Mediaite did.
“People you trust, people you probably voted for, have spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem. ‘It’s just partisan politics,’ they say. ‘Calm down. In the end this was just like the flu and people die from that every year. Coronavirus will pass. And when it does, we will feel foolish for worrying about it.’ That’s their position," said Tucker in the 8pm hour. "But they’re wrong. The Chinese coronavirus is a major event. It will affect your life. And by the way, It’s definitely not just the flu.”
"I think we've got to be very real with the American people. I don’t like how we are scaring people unnecessarily," said Hannity in the subsequent 9pm hour. "They're scaring the living hell out of people, and I see it, again, as like, 'oh let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax.'"
Two different moods, two different takes. But hey at least they agreed that the press is corrupt, overall.
Also Trish Regan Fox Business host Trish Regan fell more on Hannity's "hoax" side than Carlson's concern, when she said that the media and Democrats are using the coronavirus outbreak for evil ends, as we have detailed in the Media Winner and Loser section above.
That Was Then
The View co-host Sunny Hostin confronted Senator Cory Booker on Tuesday over his past commentary about former Vice President and current 2020 Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden.
Booker endorsed Biden on Monday, and Hostin cited "some people" to call it "quite the about-face" considering his clashes with Biden and his worry (which some people took to be a jab at his age) Biden can't "carry the ball across the end line."
"So what changed for you?” asked Hostin.
“Nothing changed," said Sen. Booker.
Oh.
This is Now
Now is the time when the Democratic primary is down to final battle, and it's getting heated out there.
Biden had it out with a Detroit autoworker on the campaign trail, on the subject of guns. No spoilers, but suffice it to say the former VP said "You’re full of sh*t" to the worker at one point. He also got a fact wrong and started an internet scrum, naturally.
Meanwhile the other contender, Sen. Bernie Sanders, had a Fox News town hall on Monday night. During which he declined to question Biden's mental "fitness." But he did mention that he gives longer speeches than Joe. Hmm.
Sanders was booed at a Biden rally. And didn't fare all that well at his own, either, it turns out.
Dr. Jr.
But the primary will be over soon enough, and when it does we're in the general election. In other words, it's about to get ugly. Or uglier, anyway.
Enter Donald Trump Jr., who offered a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease over Biden's autoworker gun rights kerfuffle.
Lovely.
About that Primary Ending
Nobody can say for sure how the Democratic primary will turn out. But Nate Silver and FiveThirtyEight say they're 99% sure. "“In 80% of simulations, he wins between 70 and 86 delegates," they write.
Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi has here own prognostication about the election. “In my view, civilization as we know it is at stake," she said.
Coronavirus
- Tom Bossert, Trump’s former homeland security advisor, told NBC News on Tuesday that due to the coronavirus outbreak, “We are 10 days from the hospitals getting creamed.”
“If we fail to take action, we will watch our health-care system be overwhelmed,” Bossert warned this week. “Starting now, public health messaging should be framed in light of this clear objective.”
- The Coachella music festival has been rescheduled due to coronavirus concerns. The entire nation of Italy is locked down. Amtrak has limited the number of non-stop trains in the Acela corridor. And both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden late this afternoon cancelled campaign events over those concerns.
- New Jersey Democrat Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman asked a really good question at Tuesday's budget request hearing with the CDC. And CDC Director Robert Redfield's answer was illuminating.
- The Secret Service has issued a warning about "criminals" and "opportunists" with malicious intent using coronavirus fears to scam people.
- Speaking of scammers and criminals with malicious intent hoping to make money from the coronavirus, here's your latest Infowars & Alex Jones news.
- CNBC's Jim Cramer said that yesterday was "one of the worst days in the history of the stock market" thanks to worries about a "coronavirus-induced recession." 6.5.0 | 