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You are here: Home / Open Threads / What Non Fox Viewers Are Seeing

What Non Fox Viewers Are Seeing

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My parents get their news from the TeeVee, specifically MSNBC but also ABC’s nightly news, anchored by the execrable David Muir, whose piss pants performance interviewing Trump should serve as a caution to any network thinking about sending their anchor to the White House.

Anyway, no matter what the White House correspondents say about “Trump’s tone” and so forth, the 30 minute newscast is not buying any of that shit. First, anything Trump says is contextualized with the massive amount of death and suffering going on. Second, they rebut most of his bullshit in real time. Third, he just doesn’t get that much attention — there’s too much going on to spend time on his press conference, which just doesn’t break any real news.

This shouldn’t be too surprising — the whole goal of that newscast is to sell medication to old people, and the death and destruction it catalogs is designed to get people’s attention. COVID-19 is tailor made for the needs of the newscast, and they are rising to the occasion.

Trump’s “pivot” to pretending to be serious isn’t working where he needs it to work the most — with older non-Fox viewers who might have voted for him in the past and might consider him for 2020. Those people get most of their news from the nightly 30 minute show, and the newscasts I’ve seen just aren’t getting him anywhere.

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  1. 1.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I would think “the elders should all just f off and die” message from Trump would also weigh in that demographics vote too.

  2. 2.

    feebog

    There is no doubt he is losing seniors.  The Fox mob, no matter what the demo is a lost cause.  But there are a lot of people out there who are now aware Trump is a complete fraud..

  3. 3.

    Patricia Kayden

    Crime is declining and not risingViolent crime is declining and not risingBoth by as much as 30%Homicides are up compared to last year…but the causes are anything but clear STOP FALLING FOR SCARE TACTICS https://t.co/ysQaHVzrR2— Joshua B. Hoe (@JoshuaBHoe) July 22, 2020

  4. 4.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I’d like to see every sane news outlet replace their White House correspondents with 40-60 year old experienced divorce/criminal trial lawyers. People who know how to question and how to read a tell, and are unafraid to say “for the third time, answer my question”.

  5. 5.

    HumboldtBlue

    Trump’s “pivot” to pretending to be serious isn’t working where he needs it to work the most — with older non-Fox viewers who might have voted for him in the past and might consider him for 2020. Those people get most of their news from the nightly 30 minute show, and the newscasts I’ve seen just aren’t getting him anywhere.

    Huh, is that because they’re dying?

  7. 7.

    ThresherK

    ABC is the news on before Jeopardy! so I have to turn the volume down the last couple minutes before 7pm. Not even Mute works well enough, because of closed-captioning.

    They seem to like their perseverence pr0n. more than my brain can deal with.

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    The fact that he’s pushing for a  payroll tax cut in the next coronavirus relief package, if they can get it together, is a tell that he’s after Social Security, and the olds don’t like that.

  11. 11.

    Brachiator

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    I’d like to see every sane news outlet replace their White House correspondents with 40-60 year old experienced divorce/criminal trial lawyers. People who know how to question and how to read a tell, and are unafraid to say “for the third time, answer my question”.

    Certainly couldn’t hurt, given much of the deadwood there now. In the end, only the right wing butt kissers would be called on, but watching the fireworks fly until then would be worth it.

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    We don’t have a TV anymore, I haven’t watched “the news” in over a decade. For me, this post reads like a travelogue or a piece by a cultural anthropologist. It’s a little reminder that I live in my own bubble, and a peek beyond it.

  13. 13.

    Brachiator

    @Doug R:

    He is starting to lose the +65s and they don’t come back.

    Not enough time left.

    @Mary G:

    The fact that he’s pushing for a  payroll tax cut in the next coronavirus relief package, if they can get it together, is a tell that he’s after Social Security, and the olds don’t like that.

    Good point. And Trump isn’t even trying to cover his tracks with grifter misdirection.

  17. 17.

    laura

    @Mary G: Come for my earned benefit I worked for over four decades to secure. I will cut a motherfcker! I’m prepared to cut a mofo if/when they come for your earned benefit too!

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ken: I was going to add, ‘that’s not part of a standard physical’, but I only know for sure that’s not part of my standard physicals, yet.

    They gave them to my dad after his mini-strokes, he was 86 when he had the first on

    ETA: @Mary G: Joni Ernst and Lindsey Graham have both made the mistake of saying in front of microphones, at least, that Social Security and Medicare should be “discussed.” I’m sure those will be used.

  19. 19.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Lindsey Graham, on the Laura Ingram show– dumbass went on camera to say it:

    Graham: “Fix entitlements… We’re in debt because we made promises we can’t keep to Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. That’s why we’re in debt.”

    and Joni Ernst was kind enough to talk about going behind closed doors, to avoid scrutiny

    But I do think, as various parties and members of Congress, we need to sit down behind closed doors so we’re not being scrutinized by this group or the other, and just have an open and honest conversation about what are some of the ideas that we have for maintaining Social Security in the future.”

  21. 21.

    dmsilev

    @Mary G: From what I’ve read, it sounds like there are enough Senate Republicans with a sense of self-preservation that a payroll tax cut is unlikely.  Yes, Trump is threatening a veto, but I don’t think too many people are taking that seriously.

  24. 24.

    oldster

    I am glad to hear that non-fox news is showing the usurper as he really is.

    That’s good news!

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    @feebog:

    I will continue to say this:

     

    Seniors know WHY they are stuck inside.

     

    They know WHY they can’t see their children.

     

    They know WHY they can’t see their grandchildren.

     

    They know WHY they haven’t been able to do their Summer activities with the family.

    They know WHY their American Passport doesn’t mean shyt right now.

    No amount of Fox programming is going to defeat THE REALITY THAT THEY ARE LIVING.

     

    Period.

    I believe the Biden 65+ poll numbers.

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    An object in denial tends to remain in denial unless acted upon by an unbalanced force president.

    ;)

  28. 28.

    MC

    My mom just doomscrolled twitter for five hours and is now red-eyed and telling me there will be no election. I fucking hate twitter.

  31. 31.

    Mike in NC

    What is up with Muir and his black suit, white shirt, and skinny black necktie uniform? Is he nostalgic for 1960 or is he auditioning to be an undertaker?

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Major Major Major Major: Rachel Maddow’s personal best viewer number for her Mary Trump interview, the ratings that smashed her Fox and CNN competition for that hour: about 5.25 million people.

  35. 35.

    cckids

    @Doug R:

    He is starting to lose the +65s and they don’t come back.

    No, but they will split their vote, and give us another R-led Senate. They need to be convinced that aaalllll those Republicans are in this covid disaster together, covering up for Trump. They can look to Biden for reassurance.

    More and more, though I’m not positive that Biden is the perfect person to be our next President, he by god is the absolute perfect CANDIDATE to beat the everloving shit out of Trump. We need that easy sense of decency and humanity to contrast with the beast.

  36. 36.

    joel hanes

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    The White House press folk don’t allow follow up questions.

    Which is reason 7,297 that these events are not legitimate press conferences.   They are propaganda productions: part of the Trump election campaign.

    Legitimate news outlets should stop sending reporters.

  38. 38.

    Bill Arnold

    Today’s Team Trump fundraising email.[1] Many non-Fox-viewers will be seeing spams like these from the Trump campaign.
    Thanks guys! These emails provide [karmic cover] for some ethically [complicated] pro-Freedom/anti-Trump/anti-RNC activities. Whitespace removed. Links with trackers removed to protect my gmail account. (They (rnchq) also asked recipients to not share the tracker links, but lied about why! :-)

    Subject: Limited edition hat for Patriots ONLY
    HIGH SELL-OUT RISK
    Bill,
    This email is for PATRIOTS ONLY and is not intended to be shared.
    We just got a small shipment in of our limited-edition Freedom 2020 Hats and President Trump specifically asked us to reach out to YOU to make sure that you were given FIRST PRIORITY to get yours before anyone else.
    He requested that we only reach out to his most loyal supporters with this offer, so DO NOT share this email with anyone else.
    Please contribute $35 IMMEDIATELY and we’ll ship you one of our limited-edition Freedom 2020 Hats. >>
    …
    We have less than 800 of these iconic hats left, and once we run out we cannot guarantee they’ll be restocked.
    Contribute at least $35 TODAY to get your limited-edition Freedom 2020 Hat.
    Thank you,
    Team Trump 2020

    [1] Obligatory: The Long Con – Mail-order conservatism (November 2012, Rick Perlstein)

  40. 40.

    Ruckus

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I’ve taken plenty. Mostly verbal, some pen and ink. Not a big deal. Until they are. I believe that mostly they tell neuro if there is something that can be fixed or cognitive decline that can’t. Or that you are OK. They decided I’m normal geezer. I can live with that.

  42. 42.

    Ruckus

    @dmsilev:

    Well it’s gotten to the point that they can’t fuck over everyone in plain sight any longer so to keep fucking us they have to do it in secret. It’s just that they are too dumb to understand a better way might be to not fuck everyone. I’d bet that goes against every last thing they believe and know.

  43. 43.

    sanjeevs

    The GOP legislation will also include the $16 billion agreed to Wednesday for states to conduct coronavirus testing and tracing, and billions more for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. The Trump administration had initially sought to block this spending, but partially backed down under pressure from Blunt and other key senators.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/07/22/congress-stimulus-coronavirus-trump/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_bailouthill-12pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

    Really wish someone would ask why the Trump administration opposes this. There’s really only one plausible  answer, which is they work for Putin.

  44. 44.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @sanjeevs: There’s really only one plausible answer, which is they work for Putin.

    Another possibility is that they are just assholes.

  45. 45.

    scav

    @Bill Arnold: They’d probably be able to flog even more of their low-rent team hats if it actually read their usual goal of Limited-edition Freedom.

  46. 46.

    Calouste

    @rikyrah: Seniors also have siblings, cousins, old classmates, former colleagues, army buddies etc etc who are also seniors. And it’s highly likely they know someone who got Covid-19 and died of it, because seniors die of it more than younger people.

  47. 47.

    Mary G

    One of many news articles yesterday, thia one from the Hill:
    White House doubles down on payroll-tax cut opposed by GOP senators:

    Trump told Fox News’s Chris Wallace in a recent interview that he would consider vetoing the coronavirus relief legislation if it doesn’t include a payroll tax holiday.

    “I would consider not signing it if we don’t have a payroll-tax cut,” the president said.

    Senate Republicans, however, remain opposed to the idea, though they’re not ruling it out completely.

    “I’m not a fan of that, I’ve been very clear about that,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Tuesday.

    “We’ll see what it looks like, but if it’s a choice between doing [stimulus] checks and a payroll-tax cut, I think it’s pretty clear that the checks have a more direct benefit to the economy,” he added. “I think consumers are more likely to spend a check they get in the mail than some slight plus-up that they get — that probably automatically gets deposited in their bank account in the fourth quarter of this year.”

    Other Republican lawmakers have also weighed in against the proposal.

    Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters Monday that a payroll-tax cut “creates a public relations problem” because “people think we’re raiding the Social Security fund.”

    The CARES Act included a payroll tax holiday for employers that allows them to defer 50 percent of their tax obligation to 2021 and the other half to 2022.

    When people like Thune and Grassley are willing to go on the record opposing a tax cut, you know their internal polls must be abysmal. Today, though, they say GOP may face choice on tax cut or stimulus checks because they aren’t willing to go over a trillion dollars and can’t fit them both in. The Democratic candidates’ ads will write themselves.

  48. 48.

    Chief Oshkosh

    David Muir – the evil of banality. Can’t stand him. Defines “empty suit.”

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