The Cauc-tastrophe in Iowa. Kurtz and Earhardt have takes. An uninformed Dem voter, an uniformed Trump rally, and the SOTU.

THE DAILY NEWSLETTER -TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Howard Kurtz

It's safe to say the Iowa Caucuses didn't go as planned on Monday night. It wouldn't be unfair, in fact, to say they were a debacle.

It was a debacle not limited to the Democratic party, or to Iowa, but also to the press. The constant and dramatized coverage, each time caveated to the point of rendering reporting moot, was borderline comedic or even self-parody.

And at least one member of the media was willing to say so: Fox News Channel's Howard Kurtz.

Sort of.

"The media was one of the biggest losers here, because they spent so much money covering this and there's still no results," said Kurtz. “Iowa is an unbelievable fiasco that hurts the Democrats, that robs the winners of their moment in the TV spotlight – you never get that back – and as the final nail in the coffin in these ridiculously complicated caucuses."

Kurtz is naming the media a loser for what they lost, for having no fruit from their labors. But he added as an almost an aside, that the momentum from Iowa is "so much less important than we in the media make it to be."

The combination of facts here is damning. The attempted spectacle, the monetary losses over the failed app, and the fact that the story isn't as important as the press made it out to be in the first place ... that's a bleak picture of a ... circus.

You have to hand it to Kurtz for making the case. Or at least, for not being one of the people doing this.

MEDIA LOSER:
Ainsley Earhardt

Sometimes, speaking up in contradiction of the prevailing wisdom or against the members of one's own profession is a good thing, even a Media Winner move. Other times, though, it's evidence of being blindly, flatly incorrect.

When Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt on Tuesday not only claimed that President Donald Trump “doesn't lose his temper" with the press, but she did so to argue as contrast with former Vice President Joe Biden. That is to say, her premise is that Trump is better to reporters than Joe.

!!

"Donald Trump says some things and he will go after a reporter. But I have also noticed he doesn’t have that same reaction where Joe Biden gets mad, gets angry and says ‘don’t vote for me then,’" said Earhardt on Fox and Friends. "I feel like our president, people can ask him tough questions, but he still answers it and he doesn’t lose his temper."

Needless to say there are dozens of examples to counter this proposition.

Biden has lost his temper a number of times, and to reporters in particular. And the 'don't vote for me' bit is frequent enough that the Daily Show did a parody ad. But the depth and breadth of Trump's endlessly absusive and confrontational mistreatment and targeting of the press is almost uncountable. (Though we have some counted for you.)

This is less a media fail than just a plain sense of reality fail.

The A-Block

The Iowa Cauctastrophe

A debacle. A disaster. A cluster[redacted]. This is how people were reacting to the failure to report results on Monday night as Iowa turned out for the first contest of the 2020 primary.

It didn't go well, everyone was pissed, and on Tuesday the blame game was on. Starting with Morning Joe going ballistic on the Democratic party.

"The world’s watching this. We’re not being melodramatic," said Joe Scarborough. The whole panel agreed it was "a disaster on every level," and more.

The campaigns pretty much agreed. And the internet? Well the blame game morphed right into the conspiracy game, as one does.

Oh also the conspiracy theorizing went a bit higher than that. And roped in some who should know better.

What's in a Name?

The company apparently behind the app that was apparently behind the debacle is apparently not too contrite. Shadow Inc. is the name, if you can *%^#$ing believe THAT, and though they offered some version of a mea culpa on Tuesday, it wasn't very well received. And we're sure you can believe THAT.

A Partial Result

Eventually some results were FINALLY released on Tuesday, though there is some question as to the wisdom of reporting with only a portion available. But nevertheless, they're here.

Paying the Piper

That partial result was not enough to save the Iowa party chair Troy Price from a brutal grilling this afternoon.

"The reporting of the results and circumstances surrounding the 2020 Iowa Democratic Party caucuses were unacceptable. As chair of the party, I apologize deeply for this," said Price. But buddy, that just ain't gonna do it.

State of the Union

President Donald Trump's State of the Union address will be on tonight. You can catch all our coverage here, including a live feed of the broadcast.

But don't expect to catch a glimpse of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She, along with some colleagues, will not be attending the address to Congress. They're boycotting.

More Bonkers Video from Iowa

Let's go back to Iowa for a second. Because a video surfaced on Tuesday showing a strange and unexpected moment from a caucus location.

A woman was apparently unaware that Mayor Pete Buttigieg is gay, and the discovery didn't go over well.

Speaking of Bonkers

Read this revelation on Trump's birther obsession from way back when. It's from a new book, and we aren't putting the quote into this email because it just might get the whole thing flagged by the system for language.

🎤

EXCLUSIVE: Fox's Chris Wallace spoke with Mediaite about the claim — made by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon — that the Fox News anchor edited out an “embarrassing” portion of an interview with Donald Trump. Wallace made it plain he rejects the “off base" assertion.

Mediaite's Colby Hall has the exclusive interview here...

Must-See Clip of the Day

Quid Pro Crow

Ahead of the Iowa Caucuses, The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper reprised his role as MAGA-on-the-Street interviewer, asking attendees at the President's rally whether they have, at last, read the transcript. And a lot of other questions, too.

Klepper goes more all-in on trolling than in his last outing, but the result, at least with regard to how much an average person will believe from a favored politician despite not seeing or reading something for themselves, was equally mind-blowing.

You have to kind of hate Klepper's delivery and attitude, as is often the case with such bits, but even so...

It's too illuminating to simply ignore.

Links We Like

An Afternoon With Uncut Gems Breakout Wayne Diamond, New York's Last Bon Vivant
- via GQ
Democrats Have Only Themselves To Blame For Ridiculous Iowa Caucus Disaster
- via New York Post
The Checks and Balances That Trump Has Swept Away
- via The Atlantic
Why The New Coronavirus Will Hit The World Economy Harder Than SARS
- via Los Angeles Times

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