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Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Newsmax Beats Out CNN in Prime-Time Ratings

How embarrassing for CNN. Daily Mail: CNN suffered a humiliating ratings slump during Friday night’s prime time spot as it was beaten by fledgling rival Newsmax for the first time. The cable channel was trounced by the conservative station in every slot from 8pm to 11pm. Star anchor Anderson Cooper mustered just 447,000 viewers for his flagship 360 show – 20,000 less than Eric Bolling, formerly of Fox News. Cooper’s new Friday night show at 9pm, The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper, fell even wider of the mark with 293,000 tuning in. That compares to 325,000 who watched Chris Plante, an ex-Pentagon Correspondent for CNN, on Newsmax (Daily Mail). New York Post: The plunge in CNN’s ratings after the May 10 town hall — which drew 3.3 million viewers — illustrates the challenge facing network boss Chris Licht as he seeks to turn the news channel around since parent company Warner Bros. Discovery tasked him with the job more than a year ago. In March, CNN reported a drastic 61% dip in viewership — the steepest among the big three cable news giants (New York Post).

Bud Light Down for Fifth Straight Week Since Bringing on Trans Influencer

New York Post: Bud Light suffered its fifth straight week of worsening sales drops since the Dylan Mulvaney controversy began — stoking doubts about whether the mega-brand can recover as the crucial summer beer-drinking season begins. Nationwide retail sales of Bud Light sales dropped 23.6% versus a year ago during the week ended May 6. Sales of other Anheuser-Busch brands also continued to drop, albeit at a slower rate than the week before (New York Post). Tim Pool: 20 bucks for a case of beer that gives you 20 bucks back? Bud light is GIVING AWAY Their beer probably in a desperate bid to make sales look like they are returning (Twitter).

Townhall Senior Editor Julio Rosas Explains Violent Extremism of Antifa to House Subcommittee

Townhall: Townhall’s own Julio Rosas knows a thing or two about left-wing violence from his time covering Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots around the country. Julio literally wrote the book on left-wing violence in recent memory, so it was of little surprise that the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability — led by Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC) — invited Julio to testify in a hearing on the topic Tuesday afternoon. In his opening statements, Julio tore down Democrats’ excuse that seeks to dismiss violent “protests” as a small percentage of demonstrations (Townhall). Rep. Dan Bishop: WATCH: Julio Rosas of townhall explains how Antifa cells operate and how they evade consequences for their violent protests (Twitter). Townhall: Julio Rosas: “Today’s criminals have no fear, because why would they…? The anger, and breakdown of order is real. It is visceral…” (Twitter).

Karine Jean-Pierre Reluctant to Answer Questions About Durham Report

Spencer Brown: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was not eager to answer questions in her first briefing following John Durham’s bombshell report on the Russia “collusion” hoax — and just hours after a whistleblower notified Congress that the “entire investigative team” probing Hunter Biden’s taxes for the IRS had been removed after a request from the DOJ — instead turning the briefing over to the National Security Council’s John Kirby to kick off Tuesday’s back-and-forth with reporters. Through more than 15 minutes of questions for Kirby, not a single member of the White House press corps who was called on asked the White House about Biden’s reaction to the Durham report — despite the fact that Kirby works on the NSC alongside National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan who was named in the report for his role advancing the hoax that Donald Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election (Townhall). RNC Research: Karine Jean-Pierre literally walks away when pressed on Biden’s reaction to Special Counsel John Durham’s report on the Russian collusion hoax (Twitter).

Carmakers Look to Nix AM Radio

Townhall: It’s not common for lawmakers from the polarized halls of Congress to find common ground on much these days, but there’s one issue that — this week at least — brought together more than 100 House lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum to defend something many Americans don’t often think twice about: their ability to tune into AM radio broadcasts. According to Ford, discontinuing AM capability is about “modernizing radio” to instead offer FM radio, digital and satellite broadcasts, or apps to stream stations over the internet. But, in addition to being important for delivering conservative talk radio to Americans, the U.S. government also relies on AM radio to broadcast emergency alerts and communicate with Americans in the event of a natural disaster, attack, or other emergency. That’s why, whether their reason is listening to conservative talkers or needing to alert the public to an urgent situation, both sides of the aisle are coming together to urge automakers to keep AM receivers in their vehicles (Townhall). PJ Media: Ford isn’t even leading the way here. According to the report, they’re joining other carmakers in the “transition” from AM radio. It’s difficult to see this “transition” as a cost-saving measure since AM radio reception is a century old and has been included in even the least expensive cars for many decades (PJ Media).

IRS Benches All Hunter Biden Investigators, Whistleblower Claims Move is “clearly retaliatory”

CBS: An IRS whistleblower who claims the Justice Department interfered with the Hunter Biden criminal probe says “he and his entire investigative team are being removed” from the investigation, according to a letter sent Monday by his attorneys to Congress (CBS). Fox News: The IRS has removed the “entire investigative team” from its multi-year tax fraud investigation of Hunter Biden, and a whistleblower who raised concerns about the handling of the case is claiming the move was “clearly retaliatory” (Fox News).

Home Depot’s Profits in Q1 Lowest Since 2009

ABC: After years of explosive growth during the pandemic, Home Depot’s revenue during the first quarter fell short of expectations and the company cut its profit and sales outlook for the year, sending shares lower at the opening bell. Home Depot on Tuesday projected its first decline in annual revenue since 2009 in the aftermath of the bursting of the housing bubble and financial crisis. For the three months ended April 30, revenue dropped to $37.26 billion from last year’s $38.91 billion, and it was short of the $38.45 billion projected by analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research (ABC). Wall Street Journal: Demand for home-improvement goods, which was elevated throughout the pandemic, is softening as shoppers spend more on services. Customers are also holding off on making big-ticket purchases that can be easily deferred. Overall, Home Depot recorded 4.8% fewer transactions in the first quarter on a relatively flat average ticket size (Wall Street Journal).

Ukraine Repels Missile Barrage Sent by Russia

CBS: The capital city of Ukraine was hit by a barrage of Russian missiles overnight that officials described Tuesday as “exceptional in its density.” The Kyiv City Military Administration said the attack involved the “maximum number of attacking missiles in the shortest period of time,” and that Russian forces likely used ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones to bombard the capital from multiple directions. Ukraine’s air force later said 18 missiles were launched at around 3:30 a.m. local time. The authorities did not provide information on casualties. The air force said all 18 missiles were shot down (CBS). Financial Times: The strikes came hours after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy completed a three-day tour in Europe, where he met senior officials in the UK, Germany, France and Italy, who pledged additional western weaponry, including air defense systems ahead of a widely expected counter-offensive (Financial Times).

President Biden Has Spent 40 Percent of His Term on Vacation

Outkick: Despite having the most important and powerful job in the world, few people on earth take more vacations than Joe Biden. The Biden administration’s incompetence has once again been in the news recently, with the escalation of the inevitable border crisis. With the end of Title 42, many have expected further chaos across the Southern border. So what is Joe Biden, the leader of the free world, doing in response? Going on vacation. Of course. And what’s worse is that this latest trip means he’ll have spent 40% of his presidency on vacation (Outkick). RNC Research: KIRBY: “The president often has to make tough decisions about how and where he’s gonna spend his time.” Since taking office, Biden has spent 333 days — 40% of his presidency — on vacation (Twitter).

10.

Trump-Backed Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron Wins GOP Gubernatorial Primary

Hill: State Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), who’s backed by former President Trump, is projected to win Kentucky’s GOP gubernatorial primary. Cameron now faces Gov. Andy Beshear (D) in the November election for Kentucky’s gubernatorial election. But Beshear holds a 63 percent approval rating in the state, meaning unseating the Kentucky Democrat will be no easy feat for Republicans (Hill).