Desantis as the man who could prevent their future National Nightmare of a return trump trip to the white house. Now the media consensus is that trump should be the nominee because he would be the easiest candidate for joe biden to be. That is up to question giving democratic doubts of the president s age and fitness the nap spill he took at the air force academy. Media favorite to media pinata. I am howard kurtz and this is media buzz. We will look at why Kevin Mccarthy dominated the Debt Ceiling Coverage over biden and how it is being spun. Ron desantis had indicated finally taking some swings at donald trump. Much of the media is peddling the florida governor. If you say cuomo did a better job with cuomo than kobe did, first of all, that is not what he used to say. His whole family moved to florida under my governorship. You dont think they will play dirty with ron desantis. They will burn this man to the ground. Somehow desantis would be part of it by lacking. Ron desantis coming off as a spoiled brat and running around iowa acting spoiled. Joining us now to analyze the coverage in new york is editorinchief of national review. Rich, you broke the now famous New York Times column with the headline he is not dead yet. You acknowledge it was not exactly [laughter] what is your take on this sharp shift towards negative reporting and negative first of all, it is bizarre. The media hates donald trump. Here is this guy at least based on current indications has the best chances stop donald trump and they hate him, too. A lot of the Mentality Reporting and commentary where polls have shifted over the last few months overwhelmingly because of this which gave him such a big boost. Name calling card, media cannot stand that stuff. As you alluded to, he makes it clear he wants to go around the media in the media does not like that either. He will get negative coverage here up here on out. I think you made some good points. Lets take a quick look at our reporters interrupting question. It rather annoyed the governor. What are you talking about . Are you blind . Of course the aggressive scrutinizing of a candidate. Does that also seemed like many journalists have written off desantis before a single vote is cast . Absolutely. I think they have written them off. Back in 2015 around this time, donald trump was not even an announced candidate yet. A lot of people that did not see that coming. I think of desantis as kind of flopping right now. He came out of the gate swinging. In all wanted to see, this screening is deserved. He is someone who naturally believes he can fight against and leave the cultural wars that will be able to have the same voters that voted for trump. Why would you take a watereddown version of trump . Facing a lot of difficulty because of the way he represents himself. Theres a lot going on here that just does not make sense. He could pronounce his name however he wants. Republicans should not elude themselves as an incumbent potus biden is perfectly capable of winning this race. Commenters convincing themselves that donald trump cannot win the general election. That is absurd. He obviously can win a general election. We saw evidence of this the past week. Joe bidens increasingly frail. Everyone realizes that. You see it in the polls. Anyone can trip if we dont see something, but he has a stiff shoveling. I hope it does not happen. He could have a terrible fall into really bad fall. October 24 i think democrats should be thinking long and hard with her biden is really the most electable. There clearly are a lot of doubts. Democrats who liked bidens record but too old. You wrote about the possibility. You said earlier Desantis Sort Of Flopping around through iowa, New Hampshire and north carolina. Is he flopping around or is he being portrayed as flopping around. If he came up in the polls either naturally or just in iowa, with the press go back to plan a routine for him . I think that the conversation in the press would be different. It is not helpful because as we know they are not the best indicators of how voters are actually going to feel when they go in the booth. Yes. But he has some work to do. The methods he has done in florida have been highly successful in florida. To be able to become palpable to a General Electric outside of the state of florida, outside of The Deep South he will have to position himself much differently. He recognizes this. It is part of the reason why he has allowed his wife to be as much of a mainstay in his campaign as she is. I think that it could help his campaign for their going. He will have to develop a strategy just beyond culture war attacks. They are in the stratosphere. In some cases marginally better than trump. This is an issue, the missed position. This focus on desantis, if he smiles awkwardly it will be a sign that he is not a natural guy. This reporter who said he has not interacting with voters enough. That is absurd. He did not does she did 10 pull aside interviews. He opened it up for questions. I think there are a lot of false narratives about him and they will discontinue. He is not the most natural warmest campaign. People growing campaigns and he has never run for National Office before. Policies, he is very good. Retail politicking, not so much. There will be a focus on it. He is not a natural back slapper. Not an off the charts charismatic guy. He is very hardworking. Every interaction with every single vote there will be under the microscope to see how long do shake their hands, how long do you look into their eyes, what did he say in the idols chit chat back and forth. It looks a lot like the trouble that jeb bush had. Did a lot of great work. However, putting that man on the campaign trail, it was going to take jesus and probably multiple more disciples to try to make that thing happen because it was not within his brand, not within his personality. He is not jeb bush. Jeb bush raised 100 million. Sometimes if you have not gotten it, whatever it turns out to be, it does not matter how much money you have raised. Chris christie, mike pence, even though the media considers them both to be pretty long shots. They are longshots. Interesting charismatic guy who loves the camera. He will be going also after desantis, mike pence will be largely written off. I think prematurely. I think he has a chance to get traction in jersey where those are important. Many people view what he did on january 6 as heroic. Many other people view it as a betrayal. Chris christie told me an interview a couple months ago that whatever else tiptoeing around trump or alluding to a but not by me name, key can land punches on the debate stage but will he ever make it there. And he is a onetime trump loyalist. Absolutely. Be mindful of how his campaign played out when he ran in 2016. In addition to that there is nothing Chris Christie can say about donald trump that he is not already said. We see him on sunday shows all the time. He has been railing donald trump for quite some time now. He is not in this race to win. He knows what the polls look like. He is here to basically try to offer up a contrast to donald trump and help some of the more moderate republican candidates, potentially those that may announce in the future. Nobody gets on the debate stage unless they have 40,000 donors. That is in august. Donald trump has suggested that he is still ahead by 40 points. He will not elevate them by showing up for the first couple of debates. There will be a drama about it until the very end. Into whether you see hey walks on the stage are not. Showing up, standing in the middle of the stage because he is ahead in the polls again he is the biggest story. If he does not show up, he is the biggest story. Regardless of what people think, he knows how to drive the news agenda. Let me get a break. When we come back, i how the media is covering the debt deall that finally adverted ayo catastrophicu default. Covered intensively and breathlessly as the governor came within days of a devastating default. Before President Biden held and signed yesterday. Joining 149 republicans passing the compromise. The pungent worship at the altar bipartisanship but many others were quick to declare their side the winner. Speaker mccarthy really shepherded this. Joe biden is absent from the negotiations. This tells you all you need to know. More democrats supported this bill than republicans because this was a win for democrats. That is what it was. The press generally likes the Biden Mccarthy compromise. In contrast the hardliners in both parties that were shouting and screaming about how awful this was. Yeah. Coverage both for mccarthy and biden has been favorable. I think the problem with the favorable biden coverages it tends to memory hold the fact that he said he was not going to negotiate and there would be no deal whatsoever and it had to be clean. He was really sincere about that. That became unsustainable once the house passed its measure. Mccarthy, the readjustment in the coverage i think is appropriate. Everyone is kind of laughing at him, held him in contempt. All the votes he had to go through to get speakership. This was a threat to his speakership and he came out of it just fine. Often underestimated by the press. Days away from a government default tomorrow. Has the media kind of cast the president and the speaker as the grownups in the room . Absolutely. I think that it was necessary. Joe biden has had a longstanding history of compromise. He has done it for decades now. We have so many people who, honestly thought that this was not possible. That we were on the brink. We have been on the brink president after president regardless of the political while they come from. He was able to negotiate. He was also able to do it without Chastising Media about what they were doing they wanted him to take this victory lap, chastised republicans and that just did not happen. This is a bigger win for Speaker Mccarthy who really had a lot to prove because many people did not think youd be able to get his caucus in line. Biden, when he gave his oval office speech, he began with the bipartisan grid. Now that it is signed, he kind of talked about preserving democrat priorities and criticizing republicans. Look, this was a manufactured crisis. It could have been settled that any time. What does it say about the medias reward system. So much air time devoted to the people that hated it. The hard left progressives in the hard right conservatives. Of course it would be resolved at the last minute because that is always what happens. I think it is appropriate to give both sides of their time. If you are progressive, you wanted a clean deal. You did not get it. If you are a fiscal conservative you want the country on a different trajectory. It is relatively modest. You are right. If you have been around the block several times, sometimes your experience can miscue you and you can be too conventional. There is going to be a deal. Satisfactory to both sides. That is exactly what happened. Always referred to as looming default. Technically, the treasury would pay our Debt Obligations first and then cut back or delay other spending. There would be economic turbulence. The stock market would go down. Of course, it would have led to delays in Social Security checks and so forth. May be the press should emphasize a bit more that this is a free shop for all the people on the left and right that did not like this bill. Now people saying, even in some of the post it is kind of just modest. The claim that it was really a big deal. Those people did not have to worry about it before. Those people could just have a completely free shot and they did not have any responsibility for worrying about the impact on our economy. Of course. If you dont like compromise you probably should not be in d. C. The frustration is at the end of the day that is how the founders set it up. Once the democrats lock the lost the house you can still push big ideas, you can still push for the more Progressive Left but silva and understanding all the things they want they will not get because elections are won at the ballot box. Many of those were not elected or at least their views were not elected so you do not have enough people to actually make that happen. The houses republican lit. The biggest change has been the compromise becoming a dirty word. You build your brand. I think cooler has prevailed and gotten enough votes for both parties. Rich lowry, thank you very much. Good to see you. What is up with all of these boycotts . Corporations or critics say are too woke up. The day you get your clearchoice dental implants makes every day. A lets dig in day. Mm. A chow down day. A take a big bite day. A perfectly delicious day. Mm. [ chuckles ]. A love my new teeth day. Because your clearchoice day is the day everything is back on the menu. A clearchoice day changes every day. Schedule a free consultation. Hi, im jill and ive lost 56 pounds on golo. Hi, im barry and ive lost 42 pounds. Jill and i are a team. If she tells me to do something, i usually jump on board. Golo was doable, its realistic, and its something we can do the rest of our lives. It seems like every morning i wake up and there is some new company under attack for being excessively woke. Anyone who wants to boycott because they dont like its actions or policies is perfectly free to do so. Lululemon fired two employees for calling the police when robbers took a bunch of clothing and they were arrested. That is insane. These folks bravely did the right thing. Most of this seems driven by Political Agenda. Bud light sales have dropped 17 since conservatives denounced a Marketing Campaign since transgender campaign. The Mid Western Module brand target has also been boycotted by some on the right for selling lgbtq merchandise. Most people go into target because it is convenient and they go there without any Political Agenda whatsoever. As so many brands have gone left wing decide they have to wait their politics in front of everyone out here. When journalists take a closer look at is a little more complicated. A female bathing suit described as talk friendly. That was a mistake to have a place to and the kids section. Target said they sold these swimsuits only to adults. There was no targeting children. The company has received threats its market cap has dropped 9 billion. And then we have the Los Angeles Dodgers who have angered many christians with a tone deaf move. Clayton kershaw threw a high hard one at his team and an Los Angeles Times interview for including in its upcoming Gay Pride Night Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence which describes itself as an order of queer and trans nuns. A reputation for insulting or poking fun at christians. Why is it that christians are now singled out as the prejudice that is now accepted. These corporations have bowed to some of the more extreme elements of the gay rights movement. The sisters say they use humor to highlight sexual tolerance. No wonder many christians were upset. They were disinvited after a backlash and then re invited with an apology. Read launch a Christian Faith that day at dodger stadium. The protest i find most difficult to understand is against chickfila whose founder was a southern baptist. The companys purpose is to glorify god, but biblical quotes and stay closed on sunday. There was backlash when they said they wanted to do their work with humility. It yields a buzzards words diversity equity and exclusion. It would just be routine corporate rhetoric. The power of corporate social media that instantly drives these boycotts. Each case for yourself. Now, just moments ago we got word that chuck todd will be leaving Meet The Press as moderator. Replaced by nbc kristin who got a lotta praise for her handling of the 2020 president ial debate. Whatever the criticism of chuck, he has always worked hard to be a news man and an increasingly polarized environment. He will become a political analyst auntie cecis family more. That sounds nice. Next ill media buzz, how did Kevin Mccarthy become the face of the debt ceiling talks just by talking to reporters far more than joe biden. The Media Phenomenon that is succession. torstein vo when you really philosophize about it, theres only one thing you dont have enough of. Time is the only truly scarce commodity. When you come to that realization, i think its very important that you spend your time wisely. And what better way of spending time than traveling, continuing to educate ourselves and broaden our minds . woman vo viking. Exploring the world in comfort. Whenever you think of the Debt Ceiling Deal there is no doubt that Kevin Mccarthy out placed joe biden. Talking to reporters every day while the president , while he spoke only occasionally. Im not sure what in the bill people are concerned about. [inaudible] went to bed last night without finalizing the language. Things are looking good. Very optimistic. The two sides finally cut a deal last saturday night. Biden put out a statement. Mccarthy talked to reporters at the capital. Passing the largest cut in history. Just a small step putting those on the right track. At sunday night after a full day of coverage of president. On camera. Got a bit testy with reporters. One of the things i remember you guys saying is what i did buy did not say what a good deal it was. You think thats going to help me . No. Joining us now is robbie. Kevin cork who covers the white house for fox news. Robbie, when it comes to dealing with the media as we just showed, Kevin Mccarthy out there every day, joe biden really spoke in each of these statements. Do you agree that the speaker became the face of the successful negotiations. Sure. I applaud the speaker for being more accessible than the press. President biden speaks to the press less often. Taking questions in the rose garden type of things. Does Kevin Mccarthy want to be the face of this . Conservatives are really angry about a lot of the aspects of this deal. We are not doing this to the degree that conservative voters want. I am glad the irs got that little cup. You know, with the Work Requirements for benefits by taking Social Security medicare and military off the table, what are they going to deal . I dont know if the voters who helped get Kevin Mccarthy the speakership are happy with it. He took a risk. Complaining to politico on the record that biden was too much and he was not using the bully pulpit. He has to get out there. Lowkey presidency. I think the challenges who is the best messenger on a circumstance like this. From my perspective i think Kevin Mccarthy took a page out of Donald Trumps book. Be out there. You are not just trying to massage a deal in the press you are the direct message to the American People. The question is joe biden the best messenger . You would think that the president would be. By leaving it to other surrogates, i think they made a taxable error. I was stunned this was his First Oval Office address in years. You can organ that biden used his experience to get what he wanted by staying in the background. Freezing out House Democrats until the deal was done. The new spin is this was deliberate. Making for, ultimately, a successful deal. I agree with you. It did not look that way. The bigger error was, yes, he fell back on his experience. Use it and use it wisely. I see the press giving Kevin Mccarthy an unusual amount of credit. He defied expectations. He even earned grudging respect from white house officials while enduring a lot of political pain he has a lot of hard people that were mad. Getting accolades, republican, conservative leader getting accolades, maybe you have to think about what personal Career Choices you are making. On the other hand, huge victory for joe biden and others say huge for mccarthy. Should we be happy that the Mainstream Media recognizes what mccarthy did . You are saying it is not exactly the Good Housekeeping seal of approval for the right. Key relationships with key members and congress who are clearly important. Backing him by being one of the more firebrand real rightwing figures on the house side. He is doing a skillful job of navigating the different Interest Groups within the Republican Coalition because they are some very to the right people that want much more serious cuts to the government. Do Republican Voters in those districts, their outrage, when does that spillover . More up against the deadline and there wouldve been a default. We are hearing that all the time. Already. Many of you have seen this. It is hard to watch. Heres President Biden taking a pretty nasty spill at the air force academy. Somebody put a sandbag there. I am glad he is okay. Kevin, are the media overplaying this fall by an 80yearold president . I dont think they are overplaying it in this sense. I think there are legitimate concerns that making sure that the leader of the free world is not only capable, but someone that can get out there and do the job. Unfortunately, every time he falls up the stairs of air force one, trips over a sandbag, he feeds this narrative. I was puzzled, frankly, by the way some in the media sort of seem to soft shoe it, actually. Compared to the breathless coverage when donald trump walked down a slick ramp. Which he himself kind of made fun of. Ten times more coverage. Robbie, this is something many of warned about that he would take a full that would maybe result in injury. Democrats are ambivalent from everything we see about the president s age. They do fall and trip every now and then. It is embarrassing. There can be an overplaying element to this. I will say joe biden is actually very old. I dont need to go into all the records he has broken in terms of his age. Talking a lot about senator Dianne Feinstein and her medical capacity. They are very Serious Health concerns. At every level of government, this is affecting us because people of great age are staying in government. Not wrong for the American People to worry about what effect that has. I think that that is fair. Age is an issue. After the break, Donald Trumps iowa town hall. A story that has most of the media flipping out. man its pretty simple. I kinda just want things the way i want them. woman i want a network that wont let me down. Even up here woman 2 with an unlimited plan thats truly right for me. woman 3 with verizons new myplan, i get exactly what i want. And only pay for what i need. man 2 now im in charge. Of my plan. vo introducing myplan from verizon, the first and only plan where you pick your perks. And save on every one. So you get exactly what you want and only pay for what you need. And it all starts at just 30. On the network you want. Because its your verizon. [Music Playing] subject 1 cancer is a long journey. Its overwhelming, but you just have to put your mind to it and fight. Subject 2 it doesnt feel good because you cant play outside with other children. Subject 3 as a parent, it is your job to protect your family. But here is something that i cannot do. I cannot fix this. I dont know if my daughter is going to be able to walk. I dont know if shes going to make it till tomorrow. [Music Playing] interviewer you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. Jude childrens research hospital. Families never receive a bill from st. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food so they can focus on helping their child live. Subject 4 childhood cancer, theres no escaping it. But st. Jude is doing the work, continually researching towards cures, giving more than just my child a chance at life. Interviewer please, call or go online right now and become a st. Jude partner in hope for only 19 a month. Subject 5 those donations really matter because were not going to give up. And when you see other people not giving up on your child, it makes all the difference in the world. Interviewer when you call or go online with your credit or debit card right now, well send you this st. Jude tshirt. You can wear to show your support to help st. Jude save the lives of these children. Subject 6 st. Jude is hope. Even today after losing a child, its still about the hope of tomorrow, because. Childhood cancer has to end. Interviewer please, call or go online right now. [Music Playing] when cnn disclosed that doj prosecutors saying he held onto a classified document on war plans against iran it exploded. It related to pushing to a massive number of troops to invade iran. He knew he was in possession of a classified document that he improperly illegally took from the white house. It is huge. You cannot really overstate the significance here. Try not to use hyperbole. There is no way that he will not be charged. Trump lawyer pounded away at the leak. Went doj and fbi are on the Leak Campaign where they are selectively taking half the truth and miss the truth, complete falsehood, putting them out there to dangle out here on tv, i will not respond to that. Media detractors say this shows he knows their limits and that this was taped by the way part of Book Research and it is being treated on cnn, msnbc as you heard, this means hes going to jail. Yeah, this coverage wasnt breathless and to me totally missing the real point here. What does this document say . The former joint Chief Of Staff trying to advocate for war with iran . Authorized war with iran. Trump came into office with a mandate to change the Foreign Policy to be less hawkish, less interventionalists. I think it was proper to criticize him for that. To me, the story is what are the secret plans for war with iran. That should not be classified. The media is obsessed with this idea of secret documents. We should see them, we should know what they are. It is total bs to me. One was andrew wiseman, former prosecutor on msnbc. They hate trump. They are trying it out. It seems incremental like so many trump stories, but it also suggests that special counsel jack smith is pursuing the document very aggressively. This was not covered at all by fox. They went crazy on cnn and msnbc. I think it is a nonstory. A separation of powers argument to be made here. You have heard trumps lawyers make this argument. Even where there was improper removal of documents, making that the standard now for all leaders. Joe biden, quite frankly. If you cannot play it down the middle and basically indict everyone, the argument would be for jack, why are you indicting this guy . Something improper may have happened, what im suggesting is if there is not equal justice, how really relevant is this story at all. We will find out how doj handles it. Also, the circumstances with the subpoenas, trump not turning over all the classified documents. Both investigations playing out. Sean hannity to lose credit raising this issue of donald trump. Here is a response. News broke yesterday that there may be a Tape Recording where you acknowledge that you understood that these were classified documents. All i know is this. Everything that i did was right. We have the president ial records act which i abided by 100 . Then trump went off about bidens boxes and poles and other things. The question got asked, we did not get a complete answer from the former president. Im willing to believe that donald trump was careless with classified documents. To your point we have other political figures that have a lot of these classified documents. Maybe they were more forthcoming in giving it back. Kneejerk government secrecy. Classifying a lot of things that i think the American People should have access to. There were plans to invade canada, war plans that you may not want public. Not really advocating that. At some point he was until january 6. Who was making our Foreign Policy . Our elected leaders are appointed deep state officials. Let me get to another exchange at the iowa town hall. It ended up being the day after the biden fall. Maybe the day after. How do you deal with this question of bidens age, physical and mental acuity. Lets take a look. Does everyone believe that this guy is not cognitively there . I doubt he knows what day of the week it is. I actually called sean and i asked sean not to joke about it. I dont think it looks good for you or anybody to joke about it because it is serious. What do you think you make of donald trump saying show some restraint. I am struggling with this one. He seemed compassionate. Compassionate about this man who could obviously hurt himself. Things get dicier. I also wondered if the press which was really eager to say, see, even trump says layoff joe. I wonder if they missed something. Maybe they were just blindly unaware of this pic at the idea that the American People know theres something wrong with this guy. Dont kick him while he is down. We all know the deal with joe. Sean hannity asked trump he said people ask me, why dont you tone it down. That is how he got elected in 2016. That was a good question, i thought. Robbie, we are out of time. Kevin we can continue this outside. [laughter] deceitful and dysfunctional finale before the finale of succession. It has been an absolute Media Phenomenon. Articles, interviews, podcasts. Ending its four season run this week. No spoilers for recent shows. The saga logan roy who built a Global Media Empire that his Kids Including Kendall the fiercely ambitious front runner and chef ski aimlessly battling to take over against their dad and each other. I love you, but you are not serious people. Yeah. My father was a brute. He was. He was tough. But, also, he built and t acted. You are only with me to get the power. Youve got it now, tom. Im with you because i love you. Publisher of the fourth watch newsletter. Steve, welcome. K. Great to be here. So much Media Coverage of the final season. Every big player being interviewed or profiled. Why have journalists made this the biggest thing since Game Of Thrones are even going back to the sopranos. It is true. The difference between the amount of Media Coverage to may be the amount of ratings is probably the biggest difference here. My two favorite shows not widely watch but largely covered by the media and yellowstone. Opposite. Widely watch by the public and barely gets coverage. At the heart of it they are both about america and family. About a family. A very dysfunctional family. A lot of fighting. Damage. The differences it is also about extremely rich billionaires in the media world. A story about the media as well. You know, it took me a while to get into it because theres nobody to root for. Even when you just felt a little sympathy for one character they lie, cheat, backstab, are deceitful. They are all desperately unhappy. It is a fast ending aspect of the show. Normally you have these altar heroes. There is something to love about them. If you do not like them, you love something. All of them avoid kids. Three or four kids in this family. They do damage to horrible people. They are all really bad people. Thanks because of the family aspect. Brother sister dynamic. Son and daughter to their father. There are real chains that you can connect with them that way. 8 million views. The Big Broadcast numbers at the height of that. A throwback to the days when there is a craving for everybody sat around a Black And White tv and watch the same thing. Absolutely. As the sermon was coming to conclusion last weekend i was thinking to myself im not sure there will be Something Like this that captures the media in this way and is really this mustsee tv viewing in the moment. Sunday night you sit down and you turn on the television. Culture, entertainment, movies and media, news media, everything is so disconnected. So many competing interests. I am not sure there will be Something Like that again. I do love the aspect of it. Sitting on your couch and going on twitter. Good to see you. Thank you so much. You too. Thank you so much. That is it for this edition of media buzz i am howard kurtz. You can subscribe. We are back here next sunday at 11 eastern with only Media Analysis show on television. The only thing i regret about my life was hiring local talent. If i knew about upwork. I would have hired actually talented people from all over the world. Instead of talentless people from all over my house. Yeah,we love our house, but the cost of Home Ownership has been a struggle. With Utility Prices rising and. [ Sad Violin Playing ] sweetie, can you practice that somewhere else . Anyway, like i was saying, its getting harder [ somber Music Playing ] and harder to make ends meet and. Hon, do you mind . Well, on the bright side, new customers [ Angelic Choir Singing ] who bundle and save with Progressive Save over 20 percent on average. Sorry, we let them practice here on thursdays sounding good, friends i like to move it, move it you like to. Move it were reinventing our network. Fast. Reliable. Perfectly orchestrated. The United States postal service. Eric more republicans want to be president for its arctic crowded gop field for 2024. That is set to get larger this week bitten by former Vice President mike pence for new jersey governor Chris Christie are expected to formally announce their beds for the oval office. Most every declared Republican White House hopeful attended the iowa roast and ride fundraiser yesterday. The annual event