It's only been six months since @realDonaldTrump took office, but in that short period of time, he's already accomplished more than any other president in history—and the American people love him for it (at least according to Trump's telling).
And yet, despite all of this winning, the #FakeNews media continues to portray Trump as some sort of incompetent loser who's totally obsessed with the special council's [sic] Russia investigation—simply by printing his interview transcripts verbatim.
It's so unfair.
I mean, why would Trump care who or what Robert Muller investigates?
It's not like anyone connected to his campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the election; and even if they did, it's not like collusion is illegal; and even if it were, it's not like Trump couldn't just pardon himself, his family, and anyone else he deems fit.
And besides, what about all of Hillary Clinton's scandals?!
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Pre-empted for British Open Golf Tournament.
Face The Nation: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME); Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY); Roundtable: Amy Walter, Megan McArdle (Bloomberg View), Jamelle Bouie (Slate) & Dan Balz (Washington Post).
This Week: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders; Trump Lawyer Jay Sekulow; Roundtable: Eric Bolling (Fox News), Republican Strategist Sara Fagan, Joshua Green (Bloomberg Businessweek), Maggie Haberman (New York Times) & Roland Martin (News One Now).
Fox News Sunday: Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD); Sen. John Thune (R-SD); White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci; Roundtable: Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Julie Pace (Associated Press), Former National Security Council Member Gillian Turner & Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Sen. Al Franken (D-MN); Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY); White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci; Roundtable: Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Democratic Strategist Karine Jean-Pierre & Mary Katharine Ham (The Federalist).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: an interview with former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (preview); and, an interview with Julian & Ethel Rosenberg's sons (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actor Paul Bettany; Actress Laura Benanti; Rapper Tyler the Creator.
Tuesday: TV Host Charlie Rose; Actress Jessica Williams; Author Max Brooks
Wednesday: Filmmaker Michael Moore; Actress Sutton Foster; Singer 6LACK.
Thursday: TV Host Samantha Bee; Actress Gillian Jacobs; Rock Band Spoon.
Friday: TBA.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Hip-Hop Artist French Montana; Tuesday: British-Syrian Doctor Rola Hallam; Wednesday: Actress Charlize Theron; Thursday: Russian-American Journalist Masha Gessen.
Elsewhere...
Fox News host Sean Hannity had an award for "media excellence" rescinded.
Fox News Channel star anchor Sean Hannity will no longer receive the conservative Media Research Center's William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence at its September 21 gala, sources familiar with the situation tell CNN.
Buckley, the founder of the National Review, who died in 2008, was hailed in his day as "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States." Giving an award in his name to Hannity -- a pugnacious talk radio host who has shared conspiracy theories on his popular cable news show -- had caused hand wringing among some conservatives.
It also caused distress among Buckley's family -- in particular his only child, best-selling author Christopher Buckley.
A source familiar with the situation tells CNN that Christopher Buckley "expressed great dismay" at the announcement that the award would go to Hannity, who has spent a great deal of time insulting conservative intellectuals on Twitter, particularly since he became a strong supporter of Donald Trump.
Buckley, sources say, called the Media Research Center and expressed his disapproval. Sources tell CNN that the MRC acquiesced and will no longer give the award to him. Hannity has since been removed from the gala website.
Meanwhile...
Arbiter of "convention wisdom" Chris Cillizza received a pretty brutal reception when he did a Reddit AMA.
It stands to reason that someone, somewhere, thinks Chris Cillizza is good at political commentary. The Washington Post kept him on for 12 years, after all, before CNN hired him away this March, apparently on purpose.
That someone, however, was not in evidence on Tuesday afternoon, when Cillizza decided it was a good idea to invite random strangers to ask him questions on Reddit. He got the ball rolling by introducing his newly launched project, the Point With Chris Cillizza, as "a multiplatform brand that helps you cut through the crap," not bothering to cut through the crap of his own description. It was all downhill from there.
To his credit, Cillizza seemed unfazed as one Redditor after another rightly eviscerated him for his glib approach to political analysis, in which there is no such thing as right and wrong, only winners and losers.
Cillizza largely ignored the barbs, opting to answer softballs such as "How did you get your first job in journalism?" and "Chris, how much do you really make?" (His reassuring answer: definitely less than $10 million per year.)
He did, however, give precisely one illuminating answer, which helped to simultaneously explain what makes him such a bad pundit and why the criticism of his punditry seems to roll off his back. It came when he graciously responded to a question from Fusion's Libby Watson, which the r/politics moderators had apparently deleted in a misguided and ultimately fruitless effort to stem the flood of brutally critical questions. Cillizza paraphrased Watson's question as, "Why do so many journalists think you suck?" His answer was essentially a shrug emoji in prose form.
And, speaking of brutal receptions...
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was showered with boos with he caught a foul ball at a Mets game.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was in the crowd at the Mets game against the Cardinals at Citi Field on Tuesday night, and sat watching the game with little fanfare for the first few innings. That is until he caught a foul ball hit by Paul DeJong, and then everybody in attendance noticed him all at once.
Christie, who has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons, wasn’t even in his own state and managed to get booed by an entire ballpark of fans. That’s pretty impressive, if you think about it.
But the fans weren’t the only ones who negatively responded to Christie attending the game and catching a ball. Even the booth got in on the fun, with a brief putdown about Christie’s recent extracurricular activities.
"Nice to see him get from the beach here to the ballpark."
I was saying "Boo-urns."
– Trix