Media top headlines October 4
In media news today, Fauci gets slammed for claiming it's 'too soon' to consider Christmas gatherings, Axios report Jonathan Swan says traffickers are using Biden's immigration policies to encourage migrants into the U.S., and 'Fox News Channel: 25 Years' kicks off special coverage of the network's 25th anniversary
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd chided Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., for her opposition to President Biden's $3.5 trillion spending plan, asking in a new opinion piece why the moderate Democrat would obstruct Biden's plans when he "really needs a win."
"The Arizona senator’s name is pronounced ‘cinema,’ and it is apt because she sweeps — and sometimes, when the triathlete has a sports injury, limps — through the Senate like a silent film star," Dowd wrote of Sinema.
"'The Greta Garbo of Congress,' as one top Democrat called her," she continued.
In the piece, Dowd lamened how Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., have created "havoc" she fears will pave the way for Donald Trump to run for president again in 2024. She added how dismayed she is that congressional reporters have given them "Bennifer-style nicknames."
But most of all, Dowd seemed upset that the two senators will be allowed to define Biden's presidency and prevent him from his grand aspirations. Unable to put her finger on what was guiding Sinema, Dowd wondered if the senator was simply being "opportunistic."
SINEMA BEING STALKED IN BATHROOM FOLLOWS MONTHS OF LIBERAL MEDIA PRESSURE AGAINST ARIZONA DEMOCRAT
"Is she unmoored in her politics, simply being opportunistic? What is the principle that is leading her to obstruct the party of her own president, who really needs a win right now?" Dowd asked.
Her question fits into the trend of left-leaning media targeting Sinema for standing against Biden's bill over spending concerns. After months of media onslaught, leftist activists stalked Sinema with a video camera and followed her into a bathroom at Arizona State University in Phoenix.
Social media users told Dowd they knew exactly which principles were leading Sinema, many arguing she has put the country over her party when deciding on her vote.
Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary Christina Pushaw shared the same thoughts.
"I remember when people who put ‘country over party’ were praised as heroes by the New York Times. McCain, Cheney, Kinzinger?" Pushaw asked. "Oh wait, that only applies to Republicans! It’s not hypocrisy. It’s hierarchy."
KYRSTEN SINEMA TARGET OF MORE PROGRESSIVE MEDIA IRE FOR OPPOSITION TO BUILD BACK BETTER
Others offered their observations of the media's behavior toward the two moderate senators opposed to the spending package.
Manchin and Sinema have had some defenders, however, including liberal comedian Bill Maher, who hit Democrats for both the in-party bickering and their ostracization of the pair of moderates.
"Here's my question: Does spending more money make you a better person?" Maher asked. "Or a bigger moderate? And maybe these two, Sinema and Manchin … might have their thumb more on the pulse on the average Democrat in the country."
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But progressive Democrats are digging in their heels over the $3.5 trillion bill, even to the point of derailing the smaller, $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. When Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was forced to delay a vote on the measure after Congress failed to vote on it last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Democratic leaders of "letting the radical left run Capitol Hill."
Sinema also sounded off on the legislation's failure in a lengthy statement over the weekend.
"Good-faith negotiations, however, require trust," she said. "Over the course of this year, Democratic leaders have made conflicting promises that could not all be kept – and have, at times, pretended that differences of opinion within our party did not exist, even when those disagreements were repeatedly made clear directly and publicly."
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