Inside the Beltway: ‘God bless Trump and his Twitter feed’

NEWS AND OPINION:

The news media continues to be irked and frustrated by President Trump’s strategic tweets, which effectively bypass the press and take his terse, compelling messages directly to millions of loyal, fiercely engaged Twitter followers — who in turn blast the tweets to the world. Talkwalker.com, a global data research firm, analyzed every Trump tweet since Election Night 2016 to find that each one averages 98,000 likes or retweets. So no wonder the press is irate and critical.

“I am the last person who will ever tell the president what he should or should not tweet. Why? Because it’s thanks to his Twitter feed and the 43 million followers he has today that he is the president. He is a master of social media. Whether it’s at 3 a.m. or whether it’s over Thanksgiving holiday, he knows what buttons to press. The bottom line is he’s broken the false monopoly that the left-wing media thought they had on their version of the truth,” former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka tells the Heritage Foundation Daily Signal editor-in-chief Rob Bluey.

“The most wonderful thing about the president is he just doesn’t care what The New York Times thinks about him. He doesn’t care what CNN thinks about him. And that’s how we can cut the heart of the matter. So God bless him and his Twitter feed,” Mr. Gorka concludes in the interview.

THINGS CHANGE

“Refugee admissions to the United States were down 83 percent in the first two months of fiscal 2018 (October and November) compared to the first two months of fiscal 2017. A total of only 3,108 refugees were admitted in October and November down from the 18,300 refugees who were admitted in October and November of last year,” reports Patrick Goodenough, international editor for CNSNews.com.

“Meanwhile, fourteen months after the Obama administration backed a push at the U.N. for global responsibility-sharing for refugees and migrants, the Trump administration has pulled out of the initiative. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said it ’is simply not compatible with U.S. sovereignty’,” writes Mr. Goodenough.

UH-OH: BIAS IN SEX SCANDALS

There’s a “partisan tilt in sex scandal coverage,” says a new study.

“Both Republicans and Democrats have faced serious allegations of sexual misconduct, but in the month of November, ABC, CBS and NBC spent twice as much time telling viewers about the Republicans’ problems,” writes Rich Noyes, research director for the Media Research Center, a conservative press watchdog that reviewed six hours and 40 minutes of coverage related to charges of sexual harassment or misconduct against various politicians on the morning and evening news shows of all three networks from Nov. 1-30.

Nearly two-thirds of the coverage (4 hours, 27 minutes) focused on Republican politicians, compared to 2 hours and 6 minutes on the Democrats, a greater than 2-to-1 disparity. Simply put, there were 267 minutes of coverage about the GOP politicians and 126 minutes devoted to Democrats.

“At 4 hours, 8 minutes, the allegations against Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore earned more coverage than those of all other politicians combined,” Mr. Noyes said, noting that study included coverage of Democrats like Sen. Al Franken, who warranted 1 hour and 14 minutes during the study period, and Rep. John Conyers Jr., who got 46 minutes.

THE MEDIA MISSION

Some say the media’s practice of producing near non-stop, hostile coverage of President Trump has turned into an obsessive lifestyle among many journalists.

“They live and breathe with this unquenchable desire to destroy Donald Trump. They wake up every day, each one of them, every drive-by media male and female that you watch or read — I’m telling you, every one of them wakes up every day hoping that today is going be the day that they or one of their colleagues find the silver bullet that’s going to nail Trump,” talk radio host Rush Limbaugh told his 10 million listeners Monday.

“They are convinced it’s there. They have become delusional,” he said.

THE INERT PARTY

“Do-nothing Democrats. From legislation to nominations, the Democrats’ only apparent goal is to get in the way,” the Republican National Committee notes in an analysis based on 55 reports from news organizations, the federal government and lawmakers.

“Democrats have refused to work with the Republican majority elected to office by the American voters, instead deciding to obstruct legislation that will benefit the American people. Democrats have resorted to spreading false talking points as a partisan effort to obstruct major legislation proposed by their Republican colleagues. Democrats repeatedly made false claims that understated the benefits tax relief would bestow on the middle class. Democrats made misleading and false statements about Republican efforts to reform America’s healthcare system,” the RNC stated.

“Since President Trump took office, Senate Democrats have obstructed and delayed the confirmation of Trump’s nominees to a historic degree. President Trump’s Cabinet picks have faced more cloture votes than the Cabinet nominees of all previous presidents combined. The average time it takes for the Senate to confirm a Trump nominee is 69 days, the longest it’s been in decades.”

FRANK UNDERWOOD GOES BYE-BYE

Here is the fate of “House of Cards,” the acclaimed Netflix series that was suspended following allegations of sexual misconduct against lead actor Kevin Spacey, who played fictional President Frank Underwood. The show will go on for eight final episodes — and then end.

Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, announced the decision Monday at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, an industry event in New York City. The final season begins production in January featuring Robin Wright — who played first lady Claire Underwood — in the role of president. Mr. Sarandos said the finale would provide “closure” for fans and a “creative conclusion” for the series, which premiered in 2013.

POLL DU JOUR

• 75 percent of Americans say they are “spending again.”

• 73 percent have spent $500 or more this year on a big-ticket item.

• 66 percent have asked for help from a salesperson when buying in a store.

• 63 percent are loyal to specific brands.

• 51 percent shop in a store “all the time”; 34 percent always use a retail shopping app, 28 percent prefer to shop online.

Source: A TD Partnership Retail Index survey of 1.021 U.S. adults conducted May 14-15 and released Monday.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin