Politics

EDITORIAL: This Week In Stupid Questions, Stupid Answers And Hot Takes

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 29: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki listens to a question at a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on September 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. Psaki provided updates on President Joe Biden’s continued meetings with members of Congress on passing legislation, including bills on infrastructure, the White House's Build Back Better Act and the debt limit. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Jon Stewart blames media for fostering division, Meghan McCain reveals the moment Joy Behar pushed her over the edge, Jen Psaki wants to redefine “the middle of the night” and Joe Manchin calls “bullsh!t.”

The 24-hour news cycle — coupled with thousands of media outlets and a gradual return from pandemic boredom to somewhat normal life — makes it all but impossible for anyone to truly stay abreast of all the news.

To save our readers time and aggravation, the Daily Caller has compiled some of the most ridiculous moments from the last week and brought them together in one convenient dispatch.

So here it is, the week that was:

  • “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace challenged Dr. Anthony Fauci on COVID boosters, noting that both the White House and vaccine manufacturers had pushed for boosters prior to the FDA giving its recommendation and asking whether the politics had gotten ahead of the science.

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  •  Former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart blamed media for fostering divisions among the American people. “I think the media does a terrible job at de-escalation. And de-escalation is the antidote to all of this nonsense. I don’t mean civility and nonpartisanship, I mean focusing on things that are more urgent and elemental in people’s lives, and really hammering away at those things,” he told CNN anchor Jake Tapper.

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  • Fauci made the cable news rounds yet again, telling Americans who are unvaccinated that they should not enjoy a normal holiday season until they get the jab. “For groups that are vaccinated, we can enjoy the Holiday season,” Fauci said. “For those who are not vaccinated, first, I would encourage them very strongly to get vaccinated … Not only will it be good for your own health and that of your family, it will make it much easier for you to enjoy the kinds of things in society at that you would like to enjoy anyway.”

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  • Former New York Times editor Bari Weiss accused CNN of spreading “disinformation by omission” – right to CNN anchor Brian Stelter’s face. “You and I both know, and it would be delusional to claim otherwise that touching your finger to an increasing number of subjects that have been deemed third rail by the mainstream institutions… will lead to reputational damage, perhaps you losing your job, your children sometimes being demonized as well and so what happens is a kind of an internal self-censorship,” she said.

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  • Former President Donald Trump criticized former Secretary of State Colin Powell just one day after he died from complications of COVID-19. “Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media,” Trump wrote in a statement. “Hope that happens to me someday. He was a classic RINO [Republican In Name Only], if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans … He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!”
  • Radio shock jock Howard Stern blasted NBA star Kyrie Irving over his refusal to comply with vaccine mandates. “I’m standing with all those that believe what is right,” Irving said. “Everybody is entitled to do what they feel is what’s best for themselves. Seeing the way this is dividing our world up, it’s sad to see. People are losing jobs to mandates.”

  • Meghan McCain revealed the comment that made her decide to leave ABC’s “The View,” describing a culture of hostility directed mainly toward her because she was a conservative. Two days after returning from maternity leave, McCain had tried to diffuse on-air tension with a joke about how cohost Joy Behar must have missed fighting with her. “I did not miss you,” Behar replied. “Zero.” McCain said that she felt as though she had “been slapped” and that she had a panic attack after the show. She asked for an apology, which she never got, and said that was the moment she decided she’d had enough.
  • Spokane, Washington news outlet KREM accidentally aired pornography during a local news broadcast. The footage aired for about 13 seconds over the shoulder of meteorologist Michelle Boss during a weather update, but she appeared to be unaware that it was happening. “Those of us here at KREM 2 want to apologize for something that happened in our 6 p.m. newscast tonight,” the station said after the fact. “An inappropriate video aired in the first part of the show. We are diligently working to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”
  • Actress Alyssa Milano was arrested during a voting rights protest in Washington, D.C., calling for passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the end of the filibuster.

  • Fox News hosts Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld criticized President Joe Biden’s administration over reports that illegal immigrants were being flown to cities all across the nation in the middle of the night. “Jesse, anything I’m doing at 4 in the morning can’t be good,” Gutfeld began, and Watters agreed: “That is my point, anybody that does something in secret, they are not proud of that. You’re not proud of that. No one is proud of what you are doing in secret in the middle of the night. Joe knows he’s wrong. He knows he’s wrong. He feels guilty about it, that is why he’s hiding this like a coward.”

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  • White House press secretary Jen Psaki, when confronted with reports of migrants being flown around the country “middle of the night,” opted to debate Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy over what exactly constituted “the middle of the night.”

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  • Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sparked fierce debate on ABC’s “The View” over Critical Race Theory. “I would like black kids to be completely empowered to know they are beautiful in their blackness but in order to do that I don’t have to make white kids feel bad for being white,” she said.

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  • And just to round out the week, Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin called “BULLSH!T” on a report that he planned to leave his party.

Check back next week for our comprehensive look at who said what and about whom.