THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2020

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Jill Biden

America's former Second Lady was by her husband Joe Biden's side Tuesday evening as he officially accepted the Democratic Party's nomination to make her our next First Lady, a proud and happy moment for both Joe and Jill Biden.

The Bidens have been married since 1977, experiencing both joy and tragedy together. Joe's entire family was in a devastating car accident in 1972 that killed his first wife and baby daughter and injured his two young sons. Jill became Hunter and Beau Biden's stepmother when she married their father, and then added another daughter to the family in 1981. She's been right by his side through many campaigns, some victorious, some not, as well as when Beau passed away from brain cancer in 2015.

A professor of English with a string of higher education degrees and other impressive credentials, Dr. Jill Biden is the first second lady to hold a paying job while her husband served as vice president. Education was a foundational theme to her remarks to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday evening, as she addressed the audience from a classroom

Her speech won admiration across the political spectrum as a warm and empathetic view of the struggles facing many American families right now, dealing with the challenges posed by the pandemic, both the economic pressures and difficult decisions as schools are reopening. 

Joe joined her at the end of her remarks, introducing himself by saying, "I'm Jill Biden's husband." It was a sweet moment and a great way to wrap up her speech. 

Fox News' Brit Hume was among those praising Jill's speech, calling it "tremendously effective," and highlighting her "very likable" demeanor. 

She continued her positivity Wednesday morning, touting her husband's running mate Kamala Harris. “Kamala’s fierce and she’s strong and she’s tough," she said, calling her someone who would be a "good partner" for Joe, like the relationship he had had as Barack Obama's vice president. 

The next few months of the campaign will undoubtedly be stressful for Joe Biden, and an intelligent and confident woman like Jill Biden will be an invaluable asset to him. She's an effective surrogate for his message, speaking authoritatively and passionately in support of his candidacy. She's unquestionably a winner this week.

MEDIA LOSER:
Brian Kilmeade

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a passionate and vocal supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders during the Democratic presidential primary, and was given the task of formally seconding his nomination during Tuesday's proceedings at the Democratic National Convention. 

Sanders was not attempting a convention coup to wrest the nomination away from Biden, and AOC's nomination of him was a mere procedural formality to allow the votes for the primary candidates to officially be tallied and Biden declared the winner.

Nevertheless, a number of observers were confused by AOC's brief remarks that omitted any mention of Biden, including several who should have known better.

NBC News was the first to step firmly on this rake, tweeting that she had had "one of the shortest speeches of the night" and "did not endorse Joe Biden." Hours later, they finally deleted the tweet and issuing a clarification. 

AOC shredded NBC for the error, noting that the text and purpose of her "routine" remarks had been provided to the media "WELL in advance." The tweet, and the long time it took to correct it "sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol," she continued, blaming them for the "misinfo" spreading on other networks.

Fox News' Brian Kilmeade was one of those who apparently caught the misinformation but not the clarification, slamming the New York Congresswoman for her "hostage video" and accusing her of endorsing Sanders over Biden in order to spark a hostile takeover of the Democratic Party from the far left. 

Presumably, the DNC had provided the same information to Fox News that they had sent to NBC. And even if Fox had failed to review the information in detail, overlooking it as NBC had, at the time Kilmeade made his comments, AOC's tweet correcting NBC had been up for hours. 

No one reasonably expects even members of the political press corps to be deeply versed in the arcane intricacies of party convention procedures, but it takes a special kind of deliberate ignorance to promote a falsehood that was corrected hours earlier, to attack a Congresswoman over a mistaken impression that was clarified in her own easily found tweets. 

One minute on Google would have spared Kilmeade this mistake. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

Mediaite Has a Brand-New Podcast -- The Interview!
Don't Miss Our First Guest: Tucker Carlson

 

The A-Block

Trump fights with DNC for the spotlight, comes up short

President Donald Trump is not known for wanting to share the spotlight with anyone, especially not a political rival. Trump has bristled as the Democratic National Convention has soaked up headlines and television time, winning both the ratings he covets and praise for many of the speakers, getting press for insulting and attacking his administration.

He called for a boycott of Goodyear Tires after they banned employees from wearing MAGA hats, and was soundly mocked by CNN's Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper as the "biggest snowflake of them all" for it and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown slammed his comments as a "betrayal" of American workers.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment enshrining women's right to vote in the Constitution, and Trump marked the occasion by announcing that he would sign a "full and complete pardon" of Susan B. Anthony, the suffragist who was arrested and convicted by an all-male jury in 1872 for illegally voting.

Unfortunately for the White House, no one bothered to check with the museum honoring Anthony's legacy. The Susan B. Anthony Museum and House dropped a vicious Twitter thread rejecting Trump's pardon and slamming him. Read the smackdown here.

Trump also railed against John Kasich, the former Ohio governor who ran against him in the 2016 GOP primary, for speaking at the DNC. Tweeting that Kasich was a "loser" and "desperate for relevance" might have been momentarily satisfying but unlikely to have much impact in a crowded news week. 

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany gifted new material for Democrats accusing Trump of plotting some sort of election fraud or dictatorial grasp on power, telling a reporter that Trump "will see what happens" before agreeing to accept the result of November's election. 

Trump's troubles don't appear to be ending next week when the Republican National Convention kicks off. He's already sore at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for "allowing" Democrats to hold hearings with the postmaster general next week. "Always playing right into their hands!" Trump complained, in a tweet of course.

Now, back to the action with the Democrats...

More Republicans for Biden

Kasich wasn't the only Republican to appear at the DNC to support a Democratic candidate for president. Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, offered heartfelt remarks about her late husband's friendship with Biden in an emotional tribute video. She did not expressly endorse Biden in her comments, but showed genuine warmth as she described the two men's relationship.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell also addressed the DNC, offering a more direct endorsement than McCain did, saying that America "needs a commander-in-chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family.”

More Speeches

The virtual video appearances continued to roll out at the DNC, offering a variety of perspectives and experiences, but one unifying theme: America can't handle another Trump presidential term. 

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates was blunt, saying "the future of our democracy is at stake," and slamming Trump for "his relentless attacks on our Democratic institutions, and countless dedicated public servants like me."

Former Georgia state representative and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams dubbed Trump the "president of cowardice" in her remarks, comparing him to Biden, a "man of proven courage."

Clinton vs. Couch Potato

Former President Bill Clinton tore into Trump with relish during his remarks Tuesday evening, slamming him for "spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media" instead of working to fight the coronavirus pandemic. 

Watch his full remarks, trashing Trump and praising Biden, here.

Meh reviews

DNC Night Two got a bit of ribbing by late night hosts Tuesday, with Stephen Colbert calling it  "one of the most electrifying informercials of the year," and Jimmy Fallon quipping that Michelle Obama's speech went so well that everyone wrote in her name instead of Biden's.
 

No longer "presumptive nominee"

But in the end, it was Biden's night, as he officially accepted the Democratic nomination for president -- to a soundtrack of Kool and the Gang. Watch the festivities, and Biden's remarks, here.

DNC NIGHT THREE

Catch the live program for the third night, as well as all the clips and highlights, via our ongoing coverage.

Night three features speakers to include: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, and closing remarks from the candidate himself, Joe Biden.

FIND ALL OUR DNC COVERAGE HERE

They're not baseball cards

Here's a bizarre claim from a former Trump official: former senior White House administration official Miles Taylor said on Wednesday that the president wanted to trade "dirty" and "poor" Puerto Rico for Greenland.  

Taylor has endorsed Biden and been increasingly vocal in his criticism of his former boss, so we're taking the news with a grain of salt, but it doesn't sound implausible that Trump, who was harshly critical of the island territory's hurricane response, might make an offhand comment that he'd like to trade them away like a baseball card. 

Osama who? 

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows decided to rewrite history on Wednesday by claiming Trump is “the only president” who ever successfully eliminated a terrorist enemy of the United States.

He apparently forgot about that day back in early May 2011 when news broke that Seal Team Six raided Osama bin Laden's compound, killing the man who plotted the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. 

It's my primary, and I'll cry if I want to

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey is in a primary battle with his fellow Democrat and Kennedy scion, Rep. Joe Kennedy III, and the two faced off in their final debate Tuesday evening that featured a truly weird moment when the debate moderator, out of nowhere, asked both of them when was the last time that they cried.

See their answers here.

Must See Clips

Calamari Mania

The aquatic appetizer got a major promotion Tuesday evening when it was featured during Rhode Island's segment of the state roll call at the Democratic National Convention. Broadcasting remotely due to the pandemic, the videos from each state were a fun and informative showcase tour around our nation, but the Ocean State's offering was especially charming.

State representative Joseph McNamara praised Gov. Gina Raimondo for taking steps to protect the state's fishing industry and noted that "our state appetizer calamari is available in all 50 states."

The "calamari comeback state" cast 1 vote for Sanders and 34 votes for Biden, and Twitter celebrated, sending calamari trending. 

Get some marinara sauce and watch the Rhode Island video here, and the entire roll call across all 50 states and the U.S. territories here.

Links We Like

This might be your most important flu shot ever
- via Vox
The Pointlessness of Anti-Romney Republicanism
- via National Review
The Post Office Scandal is Either Stupid or Evil, Your Choice
- The Bulwark

Long-Haulers Are Redefining COVID-19
- via The Atlantic
Twitter
Facebook
Visit Mediaite
Copyright © 2018 Mediaite LLC All rights reserved.

Write to us:  tips@mediaite.com

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