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Biden faces CNN's softballs at town hall; no questions on Cuomo or TJ Ducklo scandals
CNN didn't exactly challenge President Biden during Tuesday night's town hall in Milwaukee, avoiding uncomfortable subjects for the administration or other Democrats.
While much of the program was focused on Biden's handling of the coronavirus pandemic going forward, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper grilled the president on whether he agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that Senate Republicans who voted to acquit former President Trump in his impeachment trial were "cowards" and whether he would allow his Department of Justice to investigate his predecessor.
Meanwhile, going unmentioned was the scandal surrounding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his administration's withholding of data on nursing home deaths during the early months of the pandemic.
Cuomo, who Biden repeatedly praised during the 2020 election cycle, is facing bipartisan backlash after one of his top aides revealed the Democrat governor's administration had hidden the data from state lawmakers out of fear the damning figures would be used against them in a possible federal probe.
Also ignored during the televised event was the dramatic resignation of White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo, who was forced to resign Sunday after it was revealed he berated a Politico reporter with sexist language and threatened to "destroy" her for pursuing a story about his blossoming relationship with an Axios reporter. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.
In other developments:
- Biden separates self from Dem call to erase $50G in student loan debt
- Hannity slams CNN's 'hard-hitting coverage' describing Biden as an 'early-to-bed type'
- Tucker Carlson: The mainstream media's disgusting, corrupting love affair with Joe Biden
- Gutfeld on the media's reporting about Joe Biden's Oval Office fires and early bedtimes
- Biden administration urges DHS officials to stop using ‘illegal alien’ in favor of ‘inclusive’ language
Trump trashes Mitch McConnell in searing new statement
Former President Trump released a scathing statement Tuesday afternoon targeting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump, who once supported the Kentucky Republican, rebuked McConnell using terms harsher than those of most Democrats.
Referring to McConnell as a "dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack," Trump said the GOP would "never again be respected or strong" with McConnell at its helm.
McConnell has said Trump bears responsibility for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and suggested he voted not to convict Trump on an impeachment count of inciting the riot only because he is no longer president.
Trump, in his statement, said that Democrats and Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. play "McConnell like a fiddle" and blamed McConnell for the GOP's Senate losses in Georgia for not offering big enough stimulus checks. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
In other developments:
- Graham weighs in on McConnell-Trump feud, says he's 'more worried’ about 2022 than ever
- McConnell says he was defending Constitution, not Trump, with impeachment acquittal vote
- Hannity: 'Sanctimonious' McConnell, other Republican lawmakers are way 'out of touch with the GOP' base
- McConnell threatens to oppose Trump-backed Senate candidates if they are not electable
Snubbed by Obama? Biden says White House ‘residence’ was unseen by him – until he moved in
President Joe Biden served in the U.S. Senate for more than 30 years, and then served eight years as Barack Obama’s vice president. But until he moved in last month, he said Tuesday night, he’d never been inside the presidential "residence" area of the White House.
Biden made the disclosure during a town hall event in Milwaukee, hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
"I had been in the Oval Office a hundred times as vice president -- more than that -- every morning for the initial meetings but I had never been up in the residence," Biden said.
The disclosure appeared to support previous reports that perhaps Biden and Obama weren't always the close friends that they often portrayed themselves to be while in public. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
In other developments:
- Biden, Cuomo didn’t discuss COVID nursing home scandal, Psaki says
- Fraction of Biden's $128B education relief plan would go toward schools in 2021, CBO estimates
- Psaki says Biden will speak with Netanyahu 'soon' after 3 weeks without a call: 'Israel is an important ally'
- White House to freeze out Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi prince who was close to Trump White House
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TODAY'S MUST-READS:
- Trump, ex-campaign manager Brad Parscale, meet at Mar-a-Lago: source
- Texas mayor quits after saying residents are ‘lazy’ amid outages
- NYC public school asks parents to ‘reflect’ on their ‘whiteness’
- Texas Gov. Abbott orders investigation into state's energy company amid blackouts, freezing temperatures
- LA County DA Gascón resigns from state DA group, complains its board is all White
- Larry King's widow Shawn King files lawsuit over TV icon's secret will, claims he had 'secret account'
THE LATEST FROM FOX BUSINESS:
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- Biden to extend mortgage relief, foreclosure moratoriums
- Gas prices could increase as much as 20 cents per gallon as weather shutters Texas oil refineries
SOME PARTING WORDS
Tucker Carlson called out the national mainstream media Tuesday night on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," saying they’ve taken lying to Olympic levels.
"How corrupt are the news media?," he asked. "Imagine a drunken border guard between Togo and Burkina Faso shaking you down at midnight. The New York Times is much more corrupt than that. The media is more crooked than Jimmy Hoffa ever was. They’re more dishonest than your average building inspector in Queens. They’re more treacherous than the Mafia. They make cops in Tijuana look trustworthy. You’ll get a more fair treatment from an inner city DMV than from CNN. Words can barely express the truth of it."
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