Weekend Media Wrap, Vol. 11: What You Missed If You Weren’t Glued To The Sunday Shows
Every Sunday morning, legacy media outlets are taken over by elected officials, aspiring elected officials, administration insiders, and the usual collection of talking heads — all of whom are there to discuss specific policies, push talking points, or simply promote their own campaigns.
For those who don’t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to unravel a full week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
ABC News, “This Week”:
POLITICO Playbook’s Rachel Bade joined ABC’s “This Week” to discuss the narrowly-averted government shutdown — and the battle-lines that were drawn because of it, namely between some members of the House Freedom Caucus and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over what some said amounted to unfulfilled promises on McCarthy’s part.
Both the House and the Senate did manage to pass a stopgap bill that would keep the government open temporarily — although to President Joe Biden’s dismay, it did not include the increased funding for Ukraine that had been on his list of demands. But as Bade noted, things could still get tricky if McCarthy’s opponents push for his removal as Speaker.
McCarthy’s position is especially precarious because the Republicans only have a slim margin in the House — and if he loses any support from his own party, he may be forced to reach across the aisle if he hopes to retain power.
If any Democrats were to try to help McCarthy, Bade said, they could potentially put their own seats at risk of a primary. “This is a guy who single-handedly resurrected Trump after Jan.6. He went back on his deal with the White House. He’s impeaching Joe Biden,” she said.
Despite the risk, some Democrats could be more open to supporting McCarthy in the hopes of keeping someone in power who would be willing to work with them. Letting the House Republicans oust him — or helping them do it — could mean taking a chance on another Speaker who might not do the same.
Any Democrat who votes to help Kevin McCarthy’s speakership could face a primary challenge, @rachaelmbade says.
“This is a guy who single-handedly resurrected Trump after Jan. 6. He went back on his deal with the White House. He’s impeaching Joe Biden.” https://t.co/JleCztk0Su pic.twitter.com/pPLzk0KwWE
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 1, 2023
Former DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile agreed that Democrats should let Republicans fight it out amongst themselves.
“The reason why I think it’s important that we wait and see what happens within the Republican caucus – can Kevin bring anybody to the table? We shouldn’t bail Kevin out,” she said.
“The reason why I think it’s important that we wait and see what happens within the Republican caucus—can Kevin bring anybody to the table? We shouldn’t bail Kevin out,” former DNC chair @DonnaBrazile says as Kevin McCarthy faces vote on speakership. https://t.co/JVs3UjUV82 pic.twitter.com/g5XSTzaffh
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 1, 2023
CBS News, “Face the Nation”:
Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) appeared to break with her own party — and her own previous statements — and call for tighter border security during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Hochul, who just a year ago referred to the influx of migrants as “good for the economy,” told CBS anchor Margaret Brennan that it was time for the government to place “a limit on who can come across the border.”
Noting that many migrants are “simply saying they need asylum,” Hochul went on to claim that “the majority of them seem to be ending up in the streets of New York.”
When asked how Congress should address the migrant crisis, New York @GovKathyHochul calls for “a limit on who can come across the border.” Hochul tells @margbrennan many are “simply saying they need asylum and the majority of them seem to be ending up in the streets of New York.” pic.twitter.com/uXAmGXmOQ7
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 1, 2023
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also joined “Face the Nation” to talk about former President Donald Trump and how he might handle Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine — and Graham said that while the policy decision was ultimately up to Trump if he were to win a second term in the White House, he would not advise stepping back from supporting Ukraine.
“I’ll leave it up to him what to do,” he said, referencing the Biden adminstration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. “If we pull the plug on Ukraine, that’s 10 times worse than Afghanistan.”
Asked if he’ll advise former President Trump to publicly support additional Ukraine aid, Sen. Lindsey Graham says, “I’ll leave it up to him what to do,” but adds, “If we pull the plug on Ukraine, that’s 10 times worse than Afghanistan.” pic.twitter.com/0oz82OqGm8
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 1, 2023
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CNN, “State of the Union”:
Rep. Matt Gaetz — who has been vocal about his opposition to McCarthy — confirmed that he was ready to move against the House Speaker during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
JUST IN: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tells @jaketapper that he will move to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/5gpuum4eGy
— CNN (@CNN) October 1, 2023
In addition to confirming that she would not do anything to help Speaker McCarthy retain his position, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) chastised Republicans for pushing to expel Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) for pulling a fire alarm when they had not done the same with Rep. George Santos (R-NY) over the charges against him.
“What I do think is important to raise is the fact that Republicans, representatives like Nicole Malliotakis and others, immediately moved to file motions to censure, motions to expel before there has even been conversations that are finished to even see if there was a misunderstanding here,” Ocasio-Cortez said of Bowman.
.@AOC tells @jaketapper that protecting Republican Rep. George Santos while introducing resolutions to expel Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman is “absolutely humiliating to the Republican Caucus.” #CNNSOTU https://t.co/ghJNlX6ci1
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 1, 2023
NBC News, “Meet the Press”:
New host Kristen Welker got the week off, as the network announced that “Meet the Press” would be preempted Sunday due to NBC coverage of the Ryder Cup.
“We’ll be back next week.”
Meet the Press is pre-empted this Sunday for NBC’s coverage of the Ryder Cup.
We’ll be back next week.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 1, 2023
FOX, “Fox News Sunday”:
Rep. Byron Donalds joined “Fox News Sunday” anchor Shannon Bream to discuss the division in the Republican Caucus — and while he did not say that he would vote to oust Speaker McCarthy, he did confirm that there were a number who were angry at him.
“Look, I’m gonna be honest. We did not get anything out of this continued resolution. The border is still unsecured in our country,” he said. “Why is that? That’s because Joe Biden and the Democrats got their way. The Democrat members are very happy with what they got. I think this is a terrible deal for the American people.”
WATCH: @ByronDonalds on the plans of some House Republicans to oust Speaker McCarthy from leadership. pic.twitter.com/K2j5OVkcbD
— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) October 1, 2023
MSNBC, “Inside With Jen Psaki”:
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki placed all the blame for the averted shutdown on Republicans — and laid the groundwork to blame them again if the stopgap resolution expired without any additional agreement.
“So all in all a real bang up week for the Republican brand. But the problem is their dysfunction impacts all of us,” she complained. “Members of Congress can breathe a sigh of relief for now, but in just a month and half we could be right back where this whole mess started.”
.@jrpsaki: “So all in all a real bang up week for the Republican brand. But the problem is their dysfunction impacts all of us… Members of Congress can breathe a sigh of relief for now, but in just a month and half we could be right back where this whole mess started.” pic.twitter.com/wAsO27ROAR
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) October 1, 2023
Read More: Weekend Media Wrap, Vol. 11: What You Missed If You Weren’t Glued To The Sunday Shows