Biden’s Bid, Tucker’s Ouster & A Lemon – Top 3 Takeaways – April 25th, 2023
- Leading and running from behind. Nelson Mandela once said, It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership. As President Biden officially announces his Presidential re-election bid today, he’s no doubt nailed the whole leading from behind thing. The problem is we haven’t been the ones celebrating. Instead, that’d be Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, the Taliban some Saudi princes and the Mullas in Iran who’ve profited off of his weaknesses who are. And with the increased danger that Biden’s backbench leadership has created around the world, let alone our wide-open southern border here at home, he’s most certainly not on the front lines of our defense. Nope, if there’s one thing we can consistency count on President Biden being it’s a backbencher. It’s on that note that today as President Biden begins his campaign for four more years of backbenching – he's not just leading from behind. He’s running from behind. Behind whom? Whomever the eventual Republican nominee will be. No, that’s not a statement made based on hypothetical head-to-head matchups. Those are mostly useless at this stage of the game (though both Trump and DeSantis consistently show leads). What it’s based on is what the 2024 Presidential election will mostly be about. Him. And along with him comes history. History he’ll have to overcome if he’s to be elected and that’s because...
- Joe Biden’s approval rating is lower than any president who’s ever won re-election. Gallup has maintained regular approval rating data analysis since the firm first started accredited polling in the 1930’s. The average approval rating for a president when announcing a reelection bid historically has been 53%. The average approval rating for an eventual winner has been 54%. The lowest approval rating by any president on this date who’s ever gone on to win reelection...41%. Joe Biden’s current approval rating according to Gallup is 40%. So yes, way lower than most presidents when they kick off their reelection bids, and lower than any president who’s ever won reelection. And as for the previous president who overcame the odds by defying a 41% approval rating at this same stage of their presidency... Ronald Reagan. You don’t need me to tell you that Joe Biden is no Ronald Reagan. And it’s safe to say he isn’t getting better with age. So, with history as a guide the odds are not at all on Joe Biden’s side. Making whomever the eventual Republican nominee is the frontrunner as of today. In other news...
- You don’t have $787.5 million settlements without consequences. You don’t. When News Corp. announced they’d settled the Dominion lawsuit for $787.5 million that was never going to be the end of the story. That was always going to be the beginning of consequences. First, there was the sudden parting of the ways last week with Dan Bongino. Yesterday it was the far more dramatic news of Tucker Carlson’s ouster. According to the especially brief but official Fox News statement: FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor. Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday April 21st. Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named. The only thing it was missing from being as sterile of an announcement as possible was “we wish him well in his future endeavors”. And perhaps the only reason that wasn’t in the announcement is because they don’t want to even fake the sentiment as most who put out sterile statements do. But here’s the deal and why we shouldn’t be surprised there’s been more to the story. Here’s another number for you...$259 million. What’s that? The net profit for the entire Fox Corporation last quarter. That’s not the profit for Fox News. That’s the total net profit for the entire Fox enterprise. That’s right, what was said on Fox News following the 2020 Election cycle about Dominion Systems has cost the company most of a year’s worth of profits at the entire digital and broadcast media enterprise. And there’s still a related outstanding lawsuit against Fox from Smartmatic. Yes, having the #1 cable news host suddenly out of a job is a bit shocking. But then again, this isn’t the first time this has happened at Fox as Bill O’Reilly was sent astray while #1 years ago. What’s also shocking is the reality from a business and shareholder perspective that you’re losing the better part of a year’s worth of proceeds in a lawsuit. With the potential for more lawsuits on the way – two of which Tucker is already named in. The Smartmatic case and the suit by former producer Abby Grossberg. You don’t have $787.5 million settlements without consequences and the only question now is if there’s more to come. Both in settlements and potentially talent changes. And yes, in other news, Don Lemon was fired by CNN. Apparently, CNN is somewhat serious about restoring credibility. It’s good timing for them as there’s a major media shakeup underway with furious Fox News viewers fleeing the network along with Tucker.