| | | | | White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders stands at the podium in the White House briefing room with her sons William and George as she answers questions from children during "Take Your Child To Work Day." Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images | | | Trump Talks: Trump reveals he "maybe" didn't get Melania so much for her bday on "Fox & Friends"
The Doctor is Out: Dr. Ronny Jackson has withdrawn from the nomination process for VA secretary
Conservative Media Love Kanye Now: A few things to keep in mind about partisan coverage of Ye's tweets | | | What the White House is Talking About:
With the exception of remarks this morning in support of wounded warriors, President Trump has nothing else on his schedule today.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Trump did not buy a birthday present for Melania, who today turns 48 years old.
Trump Talks:
On Fox & Friends this morning, Trump said a lot of stuff -- including a tidbit about not having time to buy his wife a present 🙄. "Well, I better not get into that 'cause I may get in trouble. Maybe I didn't get her so much."
He also distanced himself from his relationship with Michael Cohen, whose attorneys yesterday announced would plead the fifth under questioning. Trump said Cohen did "tiny, tiny, little fraction" of his legal work, such as working on the Stormy Daniels issue.
The Doctor is Out:
As anticipated, this morning Dr. Ronny Jackson withdrew himself from the nomination process to become the next head of the Veterans' Affairs Administration, this after several disturbing allegations arose including inappropriate behavior, doling out prescription meds, and drinking while on duty. Jackson has denied the reports. Trump today on Fox & Friends also went after Senator Jon Tester of Montana, a vocal opponent of Jackson. Said Trump, "I think this is going to cause him a lot of problems in his state," implying voters in Montana won't take kindly to Tester going after a Trump nominee.
Mike Pompeo is In:
The Senate just voted (57-42) to confirm Mike Pompeo as the new Secretary of State. | | Our Daily Melania:
As mentioned by her husband, today the first lady's birthday. She is "spending it with her family," her spox tells me. It's been a big year for Melania, and a big week. People are still talking about how well the State Dinner went, and how it did so without a hiccup. And, yeah, the hat is still a thing. Melania's personal stylist posted his thanks and gratefulness for the fashion moment. Hervé Pierre designed the hat himself, and even though Michael Kors didn't take credit for it, Pierre said in his Instagram post below that the design house did spare a few yards of the suit fabric (which was by Michael Kors) for Pierre could do the matching hat. | | Credit: @herve_pierre_creative_director/Instagram
Also Here for Your Olivia Pope Comparisons:
Because Olivia ACTUALLY WORE the same Kors suit on last week's final episode of "Scandal." | | Credit: @laurenemeier/Twitter
Wait, But, It Doesn't Look Like Her?:
Madame Tussaud's in Times Square revealed its new Melania Trump wax figure (made weirder by the real Sean Spicer doing the unveiling) and...it doesn't really look like her. What do you think? | | Credit: Cindy Ord/Madam Tussaud's for Getty Images, Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Emmanuel Macron Loves Le Cheeseburger:
This amaze detail of the French president's eating habits while in DC yesterday comes from CNN's Hadas Gold: "There's more to the Trump and Macron bromance than just a good parade. The two apparently share the same taste in food. On Wednesday before Macron spoke at The George Washington University, he dined at the Tonic restaurant on campus, along with Rep. John Lewis. According to a source present, Macron kept it entirely Americana with a cheddar cheeseburger cooked medium, tater tots, Caesar salad and a New York style cheesecake with whipped cream and berries. 'And lots of coffee,' the source added. Trump is a famous connoisseur of hamburgers and the exact sort of classic American dishes Macron indulged in. Macron was "so nice," the source added, saying he took the time to shake hands with patron all around the restaurant and took photos with some of the staff." | | What Washington is Talking About:
It's Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day on the Hill, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt appeared before the House Appropriations subcommittee for a budget hearing (but don't expect it to all be about the budget), and Diamond and Silk appeared before the House Judiciary Committee.
What America is Talking About:
Bill Cosby has been found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
Poll of the Day:
A Pew poll released Tuesday found 56% of Americans believe in God as described in the Bible, 33% believe in a some sort of higher power and 10% do not believe in any higher power. | | Credit: Pew
H.W. is Out of Intensive Care:
Former President George H.W. Bush was moved out of the intensive care unit Wednesday and is "alert" and "focused on the Houston Rockets closing out their playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves," spokesman Jim McGrath said.
What Kraft Said About Trump in Private:
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had some strong words for his friend President Trump in a private, confidential meeting with about 30 NFL owners, players, and execs, according to a recording obtained by the New York Times. "The problem we have is, we have a president who will use that as fodder to do his mission that I don't feel is in the best interests of America," he said about anthem protests, per NYT. "It's divisive and it's horrible."
Yes We Kanye:
In the back of my mind, I knew it was coming, but it was still surreal to watch unfold the way it did. Kanye went off on politics Tuesday in 25 different tweets (I'm including in that counts tweets about the media, meeting with Peter Thiel, and "independent thought") that stretched across about eight-and-a-half hours and inspired tweets from Kim Kardashian, Chance the Rapper, and Donald Trump Jr. All told, West's 25 tweets received more than 466,879 retweets and more than 2,087,508 likes as of this morning, including two RTs with comments from the president of the United States himself. Amazing.
He's Serious About Running in 2024:
Wearing his MAGA hat, Ye played several songs from his upcoming five mini-albums for TMZ, which reported that he's "the opposite of erratic" as he "strategizes album release," and that he is serious about running for president. | | Credit: TMZ
Conservative Media Love Kanye Now:
After watching hours of Fox News last night, I'm starting to wonder if the stereotypical conservative "shut up and dribble"-type response when celebrities weigh in on politics is a little bit disingenuous and only used when the celebrities are liberal. Kanye's tweets were mentioned glowingly on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," "Hannity," "The Ingraham Angle," and "Fox & Friends." And Breitbart's Instagram had ZERO CHILL about it. | | Credit: @wearebreitbart/Instagram
A few things I wanted to point out about conservative coverage, though: - Kanye specifically said he wasn't a Republican and that he also loves Hillary Clinton, neither of which got much attention.
- There were frequent attempts to tie Kim Kardashian's tweets criticizing media speculation about Kanye's mental health specifically to his politics. Although she did mention reaction to his tweets in general, she specifically tweeted about media coverage related to him cutting people off from his business dealings.
- Chance the Rapper's "Black people don't have to be democrats" tweet was often shared without further context about his politics. Chance joked about Obama coming back on SNL last year, and he's worked with Obama's My Brother's Keeper Alliance. He was literally just stating a fact, and it served as a direct counter point to conservative media claims that ~Hollywood~ was going ballistic over Kanye's tweets.
- Lol, remember when Laura Ingraham had a segment on how rap was anti-women and Sean Hannity turned a segment about Walmart not selling Confederate flags into them selling explicit rap albums?
Street Art Sighting:
Today's sighting is actually a new memorial. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opens today in Montgomery, Alabama, and outside are statues of slaves in chains by artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo. | | Credit: Equal Justice Initiative
Inside the memorial itself are more than 800 rectangular blocks suspended from the ceiling, representing US counties were lynchings took place. | | Credit: Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Our Nia-Malika Henderson visited and you can read her experience here. Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson told her, "We want people to see the pain. We want them to see the suffering. We want them to see the anguish. But we also want them to see the humanity, and the strength, and the dignity and the capacity to endure."
If you spot political street art, tweet me @hunterschwarz, tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com with your sighting so I can feature it in COVER/LINE.
P.S.:
'NSync and Backstreet Boys members are to be featuring in an upcoming documentary on YouTube about Lou Pearlman, the boy-band-mogul-turned-convicted-felon. Lance Bass is an executive producer. | | | | | | |
