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Media top headlines July 20

In media news today, reporters hit President Biden for walking back sharp criticism of Facebook, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell made eyebrow-raising remarks about crime in Washington, D.C., and the Washington Post lightheartedly mocked Hunter Biden's art.

"The View" co-host Meghan McCain on Tuesday slammed the "factually inaccurate" narrative that Republicans are the main drivers behind low coronavirus vaccination rates across the country.

During a discussion with her co-hosts about vaccinations and recommendations for children to wear masks in schools, McCain ripped into the Biden administration for placing blame on Republicans as the reason it failed to meet its vaccination goal, while citing statistics showing high levels of vaccine hesitancy among traditionally non-Republican demographics.

FAUCI SUPPORTS MEDICAL GROUP'S CALL TO MASK 3-YEAR-OLDS AND OLDER IN SCHOOL: REASONABLE THING TO DO

"I think that were all playing whack-a-mole right now in trying to figure out where were at and whats going on. Theres different news coming out of different countries about mask mandates being put in place. I dont think its too far off to think that possibly in like a few months that we could even go back to lockdowns if something like this happens," McCain told co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who asked if she was worried about new recommendations concerning children wearing masks in schools.

"Look, Im really angry because I did every single thing that everyone asked me to do: wear a mask, get vaccinated," McCain added. "When were talking about statistics about people who aren't getting unvaccinated, I think there is this narrative coming out of the White House that its just Republicans, which is just factually inaccurate."

McCain cited official statistics from the state of New York that showed one-third of its hospital workers had still not been vaccinated, expressing astonishment at the number.

MEGHAN MCCAIN'S OFFER TO HELP BIDEN WITH REPUBLICAN VACCINE OUTREACH FALLS ON DEAF EARS: THEY DONT CARE'

"So if youre a hospital worker in New York, one of the most liberal states in the country, and youre not listening to science but you've gone into a field of science, what is not being processed here? What narrative is not going down to you because, Im sorry, hospital workers should not be able to work in hospitals around immunocompromised people if youre not vaccinated," McCain said.

She went on to cite other statistics from the CDC that showed Blacks and Hispanics taking coronavirus vaccines at lower rates compared to the percentage of cases and deaths each demographic made up. The numbers McCain cited specifically related to California and Washington, D.C., two heavily Democratic regions with large minority populations.

"So there are a lot of demographics that are still vaccine hesitant. I dont understand. Conservatives, Hispanic people, Black people, hospital workers What is going on? Why are so many people in so many different places still unvaccinated and still vaccine hesitant?" she asked.

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"Its not just Republicans that are causing this problem. And, yes, some Republicans are, but when you see people like Sean Hannity going on TV last night, doing what he can to say I believe in science and Im vaccinated, like there are those of us that are trying," McCain added. "Im sorry, Dr. Fauci, but if you cant get your hospital workers in New York in line, how are we supposed to do it in any other demographic in the country?"

Read more:
Meghan McCain slams 'factually inaccurate' narrative that Republicans are driving low vaccination numbers - Fox News

Virginia and New Jersey are the only two states that hold regularly scheduled gubernatorial and state legislative elections in 2021, and both states had primaries on June 8. Those elections were something of a test between competing parts of each party and potentially a preview of the kinds of candidates who will run in 2022.

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses the results as well as the broader debate playing out between the two parties over how much wealthy Americans and corporations should be paying in taxes. They also consider whether a new poll showing a rebound in Americas reputation abroad is a good or bad use of polling.

You can listen to the episode by clicking the play button in the audio player above or bydownloading it in iTunes, theESPN Appor your favorite podcast platform. If you are new to podcasts,learn how to listen.

The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast is recorded Mondays and Thursdays. Help new listeners discover the show byleaving us a rating and review on iTunes. Have a comment, question or suggestion for good polling vs. bad polling? Get in touch by email,on Twitteror in the comments.

Link:
Politics Podcast: The Republican Establishment Has Had Trouble Swaying Its Voters. The Democratic Establishment Keeps Winning. - FiveThirtyEight

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

State Rep. James White, R-Hillister, will not seek reelection, a decision he first announced to East Texas TV station KLTV.

Hes considering a statewide run, as long as the people want me to pursue that, he told the Texas Tribune on Sunday.

Though he did not disclose which state-level seat he would run for, he said we believe that were qualified, and were competitive. We will definitely consider joining the statewide field.

For now, he says his focus will be on the upcoming special election this summer which Gov. Greg Abbott has said he plans to order and when White expects to bring back a GOP priority bill that would tighten Texas election laws.

White is the chairman of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee, and is the only Black Republican in the Texas House. He represents solidly Republican House District 19 in East Texas.

The Texas House doesnt have term limits, but White suggested his longevity in the lower chamber impacted his decision. He was first elected in 2010. During his time as a state representative, he said he has lost three of the four counties in his original district, and gained four new counties because of redistricting.

White reminisced about his first race for state House representative, recalling being called crazy for running in East Texas.

But we took our message directly to the people, and the people lifted me up and sent me to Austin, he said. ... And that message was that we believe everyone in Texas, especially in our house district, is a child of God, and that means they deserve good representation, they deserve good service.

White said in his time as a representative, he is most proud of serving in the House Corrections Committee, which deals with state criminal justice measures.

The Texas House doesnt have term limits, but White said his longevity in the lower chamber is the reason for his decision to not seek reelection. He suggested that the state legislature adopt term limits, and for the House to uphold a limit between 10 and 14 years for representatives.

We did 12 years, White said, counting the couple of years prior to being elected he spent running for office. We think thats good enough.

Read more from the original source:
Texas Rep. James White, a Hillister Republican, won't run for reelection - The Texas Tribune

The Texas Republican congressman Louie Gohmert has asked a senior US government official if changing the moons orbit around the Earth, or the Earths orbit around the sun, might be a solution for climate change.

Bizarrely, the question was not posed to anyone from Nasa or even the Pentagon. Instead it was asked of a senior forestry service official during a House natural resources committee hearing on Tuesday.

Speaking with Jennifer Eberlien, associate deputy chief of the US Forest Service, Gohmert asked if it was possible to alter the orbits of the moon, or the Earth, as a way of combating climate change.

I understand from whats been testified to the Forest Service and the BLM [Bureau of Land Management], you want very much to work on the issue of climate change, Gohmert said, adding that a past director of Nasa had once told him that orbits of the moon and the Earth were indeed changing.

We know theres been significant solar flare activity, and so is there anything that the National Forest Service or BLM can do to change the course of the moons orbit, or the Earths orbit around the sun? Gohmert asked. Obviously that would have profound effects on our climate.

Eberlien said she would have to follow up with you on that one, Mr Gohmert.

Well, if you figure out a way that you in the Forest Service can make that change, Id like to know, Gohmert added.

Though he seemed to be entirely earnest, some observers have posited that Gohmert was seeking to express a belief that climate change was a phenomenon of natural changes in the orbits of celestial bodies, and so any other efforts to address it would be futile.

Gohmerts question comes three years after a congressional science, space and technology committee hearing, focused on how technology could be deployed for climate change adaptation, heard from the Alabama Republican Mo Brooks on the subject of sea-level rise.

Brooks posited a theory that erosion from land plays a significant role in sea-level rise, including silt from the worlds major rivers, and rocks along the California coastline and the White Cliffs of Dover falling into the sea.

Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up, Brooks said.

Read more:
Texas Republican asks: can we fix the moons orbit to fight climate change? - The Guardian

During a press conference at the conclusion on the NATO summit in Brussels on Monday, President Biden commented on party politics calling the Republican Party vastly diminished in numbers, its leadership fractured and that the Trump wing of the party is the bulk of the party but it makes up a significant minority of the American people.

- Here at this meeting and earlier at the G7, you've said several times that America is back at allies side, but a lot of those allies are themselves pretty rattled by what happened on January 6 and attempted overturning of your election. And they may still be alarmed by the continued hold that Donald Trump has over the Republican party and the rise of nationalist figures like him around the world. What do you say to those allies? What have you been saying to them at these meetings about how the next president of the United States can keep any promises you make?

JOE BIDEN: What I'm saying is to them is watch me. I mean, I'm not saying anything, quite frankly. I'm just going out.

People, as I've said before, I don't doubt that I mean what I say. And they believe that I keep my commitments when I say it. I'm not making any promises to anyone that I don't believe are overwhelmingly likely to be kept.

I think that we're at a moment where-- I mean, let me put it this way. You may have had a different view, but I think an awful lot of people thought that my showing up at the G7 would not produce any kind of enthusiasm about American leadership and about where America was.

I would suggest that it didn't turn out that way. I would suggest that there is the a-- the leaders I'm dealing with in NATO and the G7 are leaders who know our recent history, know generically the character of the American people, and know where the vast center of the public stands, not Democrat Republican, but who we are. We're a decent, honorable nation. And I think that they have seen things happen as we have that shocked them and surprised them that could have happened, but I think they, like I do, believe the American people are not going to sustain that kind of behavior.

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And so I-- you know, I don't want to get into these statistics, because, you know, that old phrase [INAUDIBLE] there's three kinds of lies, lies, damn lies, and statistics. But I think it's appropriate to say that the Republican party is vastly diminished in numbers. The leadership of the Republican Party is fractured.

And the Trump wing of the party is the bulk of the party, but it makes up a significant minority of the American people. I think it is a shock and surprise that what's happened in terms of the consequence of President Trump's phony populism has, has happened. And it is disappointing that so many of my Republican colleagues in the Senate, who I know know better, have been reluctant to take on, for example, an investigation, because they're worried about being primaried.

But at the end of the day, we've been through periods like this in American history before, where there has been this reluctance to take a chance on your re-election because of the nature of your party's politics at the moment. I think this is passing. I don't mean easily passing.

That's why it's so important that I succeed in my agenda, the agenda whether it's dealing with the vaccine, the economy, infrastructure. It's important that we demonstrate we can make progress and continue to make progress. And I think we're going to be able to do that. So as I said, the proof will be in where it is, you know, six months from now, where we are, but I think you're going to see that there's-- that God willing, we're going to be making progress. And there's going to be a coalescing of a lot of Republicans, particularly younger Republicans, who are coming up in the party.

Read more:
Biden calls the Republican Party vastly diminished in numbers and its leadership fractured - Yahoo News