THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
John Berman

CNN's New Day has relaunched with a bright new graphics package and a new co-anchor for John Berman, with Brianna Keilar moving from her afternoon show to take over for Alisyn Camerota.

The show also kicked off on Monday with an opening monologue from Berman, a scathing critique of the hypocrisy he saw in Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) shifting positions on inciteful political rhetoric as it relates to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and past comments from pro-Trump officials that led to the Jan. 6th insurrection.

To support his argument, Berman read tweets by Cruz and played video clips of the Texas senator, officials from the administration of former President Donald Trump, and other Republicans with their own inflammatory rhetoric. 

Berman consistently used a "pot, meet kettle" metaphor throughout his comments, and got in a dig at Cruz's Cancun trip during the Texas winter freeze at the end.

"Ted Cruz needs to look in the mirror, which can be tough, especially for him because you know what they say: when the going gets tough, the pot goes to Cancun.”

MEDIA LOSER:
Charles Herring

Charles Herring, is the president of Herring Broadcasting, the parent company to conservative cable news channel One America News Network (OAN), and has seen OAN grow from its launch to new rating heights during the Trump presidency.

At the time of OAN's launch, Herring said their goal was to provide both "reliable, credible, fact-based news with substance" and "a platform for a broader spectrum of voices on the right" than competitor Fox News. 

A recent New York Times report interviewed multiple current and former OAN employees who said that the channel has  “broadcast reports that they considered misleading, inaccurate or untrue.” 

OAN Producer Marty Golingan said that he worried that OAN's coverage may have helped incite the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Another producer, Allysia Britton, said she was “one of more than a dozen employees who had left OAN” after the riots. (Just in: Golingan has been fired.) 

Herring has defended OAN's coverage, claiming that a "review process with multiple checks in place" ensured their reporting met journalistic standards. Might want to add a few more checks to that review, Charlie.

The A-Block

Sticks and stones may break my bones...

...but words will never hurt me. So goes the elementary school rhyme that's supposed to help kids shake off taunts and insults from bullies. 

It's been over 150 years since South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks viciously beat Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner with his cane in 1856, and our elected officials have (thankfully!) largely confined their partisan battles to wars of words. A few examples from just the past few days:

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) continued her feud with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), calling him a "bully."

Republicans are accusing Waters of "incitement" for urging protesters to "get more confrontational."

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanaghan (D-MN) said that "Minnesota is a place where it is not safe to be Black," in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Daunte Wright, and indirectly criticized her own state's response to protesters.

Fox News' Chris Wallace confronted Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) about a tweet that he thought was questioning President Joe Biden's mental faculties.

Rep. James Comer (R-KY) had a heated debate about gun control with CNN's Pamela Brown.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is facing criticism for her "anti-police rhetoric" criticizing law enforcement methods.

And Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) got some heat for not what she said, but what she wore, in an Instagram post -- a brightly colored hat, glasses, and earrings, and a ring that said "F*** off." See the photo and judge for yourself here.



In Other News...

CNN Producer Reportedly Was Asked ‘Do You Speak English’ After Being Thrown to the Ground, Arrested While Covering MN Protests

Miami Nurse Videoed Herself Threatening to Kill Kamala Harris, Busted by Secret Service When She Sent the Evidence to Her Incarcerated Husband

Prosecutor Turns Defense Theory Against Derek Chauvin in Closing Arguments: 'Human, Not Superhuman'

• Israel Drops Outdoor Mask Mandate as Covid Cases and Hospitalizations Plummet

Must See Clip

Obama, Shaq, and Sir Charles

Former President Barack Obama, Shaquille O'Neal, and Charles Barkley teamed up to share an important message about the Covid-19 vaccines. 

The vaccine, said Obama, would not just save lives, but “allow people to get their lives back to normal, and the sooner we get more people vaccinated, the better off we’re gonna be.”

The trio addressed reasons people might be hesitant to get vaccinated and emphasized how the vaccines were a way Americans could help each other. They also had a bit of fun gently ribbing each other, about O'Neal's omnipresence on television ads, Barkley's golf game, and so on.

Watch the educational and entertaining video here.

Links We Like

How a Feud Between 2 Tea Party Leaders Helped Lay the Groundwork for the Capitol Insurrection
- via Mother Jones
Florida's 'Anti-Rioting' Bill Gives the Government New Powers That Have Nothing to Do With Riots
- via Reason
Are Outdoor Mask Mandates Still Necessary?
- via The Atlantic
Heeding the Lessons of Weimar
- via The Bulwark
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