The Biden Campaigns Losing Battle

Published

11 months ago

June 18, 2024

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Watch a few minutes of the NBA Finals , and youll likely notice how the Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic argues with the officials every time a whistle blows in his direction. Working the refs is a long-standing tradition, but Doncic, one of basketballs marquee stars, takes complaining to a new level. In his eyes, the referees are incapable of correctly calling the game, no matter the circumstance. Whining has become muscle memory.

A similar dynamic has lately been playing out between members of President Joe Bidens campaign staff and journalists. Each week, Biden-team members and a cadre of notable Democrats spend hours locked in a public spat not just against former President Donald Trump, but against the media.

Recently, TJ Ducklo, a Biden-campaign senior adviser for communications, posted on X: The President just spoke to approx 1,000 mostly black voters in Philly about the massive stakes in this election. @MSNBC @CNN & others did not show it. Instead, more coverage about a trial that impacts one person: Trump. Then theyll ask, why isnt your message getting out? Responding to Ducklo, the election statistician turned Substack writer Nate Silver pointed out that Democrats often lament that the media dont cover Trumps misdeeds enough. Ducklo fired back: This perfectly incapsulates [sic] the disconnect between the ivory tower/beltway know-it-alls and voters. Donald Trumps trials dont impact real people. They impact Donald Trump. His horrific, draconian, dangerous policies impact voters. Cover those. Stop covering polls & process.

To suggest that a formerand potentially futurepresidents legal woes are items not worth discussing is, frankly, absurd. But Ducklos complaint was part of a much larger theme: Bidens allies believe that journalists are failing to meet the moment; that theyre falling back on horse-race coverage and ignoring the knock of fascism at Americas door.

Many Biden supporters and campaign staffers have fashioned this argument into a shield against any critical coverage of the president. Like a previous White House occupant raving about fake stories, they sometimes behave as if they are the arbiters of whats newsworthy at all. Sounding a bit like Donald Trump isnt the only problem with this strategy, though; its also highly unlikely to advance the campaigns larger goal of actually winning the election.

Bidens first bid for president , in 1988, was one of the subjects covered in Richard Ben Cramers What It Takes, a masterpiece of the campaign-journalism genre. When Cramer died from lung cancer in 2013, Biden, then serving as vice president, spoke wistfully at his memorial service. Although Biden has endured his share of embarrassments that have triggered unflattering news cycles across his decades in public serviceincluding a plagiarism scandal that ended his 88 bidhe has maintained an apparently earnest belief in the role of journalism in upholding democracy. Now some members of his 2024 team worry that the press has become Trumps unwitting accomplice.

David A. Graham: How Musk and Biden are changing the media

Rather than reserve their concerns for phone calls, as was custom for virtually every pre-Trump presidential campaign, they are following Trumps lead and making their attacks public. Online and on social media, youve certainly seen Bidens aides get into it more with reporters, David Folkenflik, NPRs media correspondent, told me. God knows these are conversations that would have taken place in private before.

Headlines, specifically those that appear in The New York Times, are daily points of consternation. Campaign gripes sometimes seem to share a wavelength with the X parody account New York Times Pitchbot, which has carved out a niche satirizing both sides journalism. Ammar Moussa, the Biden campaigns director of rapid response, posted on X recently that The Wall Street Journal had committed unbelievable journalistic malpractice for its story on what members of Congress allegedly say behind closed doors about the presidents mental acuity. The complaint among Bidens allies was that the story didnt include enough quotes from people who believe the president is up to the job.

Speaking broadly about this moment, Ducklo told me, Media cant cover this election like this is George W. Bush versus Al Gore. Donald Trump is a fundamentally, uniquely different candidate that has to be covered in a uniquely different way than ever before. What does this look like in practice? The Biden campaign seems to believe that journalists should stop reporting on polls, rallies, and other tentpoles of traditional presidential races, and instead devote their resources to telling Americans that Trump wants to be a dictator, over and over again. If that means ignoring Bidens missteps and weaknesses, well, the Biden campaign can accept that.

When I asked the Biden campaign about its relationship with the media, it emailed me a statement: This election isnt just about a few minor policy differenceswe are running against a guy that has all but promised to erode American democracy, rule as a dictator and strip Americans of their freedom Donald Trump has fundamentally changed the stakes of this election, and we firmly believe it is everyones job to not take their eye off the ball of just how dangerous Donald Trump has become to the basic fundamentals this country was founded on, the free press especially.

Most of the people willing to speak on the record about this issue have the word former in their job title. Former Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz, who served in Barack Obamas administration, has become one of the most fiery Democratic voices on the perceived 2024 problem. WSJ adopting the Arthur Sulzberger extortion approach: give us an interview or well parrot Republicans that Biden is too old, Schultz posted on X recently, attacking both that contentious Journal report and the New York Times publisher in the space of a few words.

Youre right, I pop off a lot on this online, Schultz told me. He also acknowledged that most readers of publications like the Times are probably supporting Biden, and that its the low-information voters whom Democrats need to do a better job of winning over. The instrument to reach swing voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, for example, is not the Times, Schultz said, but that doesnt mean the way The New York Times covers this race is insignificant.

Schultz, who playfully referred to himself as a Democratic hack, said that he believes the media have fallen into their worst habit of covering only a single story each campaign cycle. In 2016, he said, that story was Hillary Clintons private email server. Although the media did obsess over Clintons emails, former FBI Director James Comeys very public investigation into the subject is what made it impossible to avoid. At any rate, reporters devoted tons of resources to documenting the 2016 Trump campaigns many scandals, including the infamous Trump Tower meeting about potential dirt on Clinton, and the Access Hollywood tape. Journalists were extremely tough on Trump then, as they are now.

But Schultz sees the past differently and now believes that 2024s single media narrative is Bidens age. He argued that if you were to ask 100 D.C. reporters which candidate is more capable of thinking through and discussing any policy issue, 100 of them would say Joe Biden. Yet Biden, he said, is the only one who gets hammered on age. Schultz even went so far as to say that political journalists have become Trumps enablers: The confluence of the burn-it-all-down message and journalists having a long-standing bias towards negativity it amounts to putting the thumb on the scale for Donald Trump.

Mark Leibovich: Ruth Bader Biden

Kate Bedingfield, a member of Bidens 2020 campaign team who went on to become his first White House communications director before leaving last year, echoed Schultzs larger critique. I am not arguing that Biden should never be criticized, she told me. I dont believe that. Yet she also sid that Bidens flubs on the campaign trail were being covered with the same intensity as, for instance, a Trump statement about how hed subvert the Constitution. Those two things are not comparable, and I dont think its a partisan statement to say that, Bedingfield said.

Biden allies are quick to bring up variations on that theme: The candidates are not comparable, but theyre being covered as if they were. Kate Berner, the White House deputy communications director until last year, suggested that one obvious and major difference between Trump and Biden was precisely their relationship with the media: Reporters feel unsafe covering Trump events, not Biden events.

I have covered many Trump rallies and have never felt unsafe, even when asking his supporters difficult questions. Its true, though, that vilifying the media has been a building block of Trumps political identity. Once, in an interview with 60 Minutes Leslie Stahl, Trump explained his motivation: The more he went after the media, the less voters would trust any negative story published about him. This strategy, in tandem with one coined by his former adviser Steve Bannon, to flood the zone with shit, has succeeded. And if Trump returns to office next year, he has threatened to prosecute his adversariespotentially including journalists.

The Biden campaign doesnt menace journalists, but it doesnt trust them, either. Biden has held the fewest press conferences of any American president since Ronald Reagan. And Biden staffers clearly believe they have every right to set the agenda of journalistic decision making. As Berner put it, Theres plenty of work that the White House and the campaign and others do behind the scenes to shape a story, to push back, to have editorial conversations. But when coverage is particularly out of bounds, its fair for them to make those criticisms public, because working the refs publicly is an important way of taking that spotlight and turning it around back on them. That this statement sounded Trumpian seemed lost on her.

Few people better understand the competing motivations of the media and politicians than David Axelrod. Long before becoming an architect of Barack Obamas presidential election campaign and a White House adviser, Axelrod was a newspaper journalist. He told me about covering City Hall in Chicago and having mayors threaten to expel him from the building because they didnt like the stories he was writing. Axelrods opinion on this strategy is that its ineffective.

Generally, my view is if you are spending your time complaining about news coverage, its kind of a losers lament and a waste of time, Axelrod said. He went on: Trading snarky asides with members of the news media is not, to me, putting points on the board. Unless youre going to embrace the idea that Trump has, which is youre gonna make the news media a foil I dont really sense thats their plan, he said of the Biden campaign.

Sometimes youre going to get a bad story that you deserve, he add later. And sometimes youre going to get stories that you dont like, but that are within the parameters of what good reporting is. And those you should let go.

Trump can win this race without favorable media coverage: By spending the better part of a decade turning the press into his staunch adversary, hes become dependent on negative stories. Critical reporting fires Trump up, but it also gives him material that he can use, in turn, to fire up his base. Trump has sold millions of voters on a fantasy world in which crooked journalists peddle fake news even when theyre recording, reporting, and broadcasting his quotes verbatim. He and his voters believe that any election Trump loses is rigged. That the former presidents trials are all shams. That the Democrats are one enemy, the Department of Justice is another, and the media are a third.

From the January/February 2024 issue: Is journalism ready?

Biden is in a different, arguably opposite position. His campaign argues that Democrats, unlike Republicans, are actually tethered to reality. Bidens people are desperately trying to convince voters that the country is in much better shape than most Americans seem to believe. That elections are safe. That the economy, and unemployment, are not as bad as youve heard. Bidens team needs voters to trust reputable publications that reliably print and publish factssuch as the Times and the Journal.

Then some campaign staffers and high-profile Democratic supporters turn around and attack these publications, in the process casting doubt on their reliability. Its a losing proposition.

When Luka Doncic works the refs, hes not helping his cause. Last Wednesday, during a pivotal game in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, he was forced to sit on the bench with just minutes to go after fouling out (and complaining about it). When Biden-campaign allies work the media, theyre at best wasting time, suggesting that they have run out of better ideas for how to try to save their candidate.

Bidens belief in the Constitution means he supports a free and independent press. Authoritarians rise by lying and sowing mistrust. If journalists are truly going to combat that forceas Bidens campaign implores them to dothey will have to be honest and rigorous about not just Trump but also his opponent.

Entertainment

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court as high-profile trial begins with jury selection in New York

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2025

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The trial of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has begun, with the process to pick the jurors who will determine his fate now under way.

Combs, wearing a white shirt with a black crew-neck sweater, grey trousers and glasses, his hair and goatee now grey, hugged and shook hands with all his lawyers as he arrived at the federal courtroom in Manhattan, New York, for the start of the proceedings.

The 55-year-old has been held in detention in Brooklyn since he was arrested and charged in September 2024, accused of engaging in sex trafficking and presiding over a racketeering conspiracy over two decades.

He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, said all his sexual relationships and encounters were consensual, and strenuously denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

Due to the high-profile nature of the case, the jury selection process is expected to last all this week, with opening statements by the lawyers set to begin next week.

Unlike some other high-profile trials in the US, this one won’t be broadcast live because federal courtrooms, unlike some state courtrooms, don’t allow electronic recordings inside.

Judge Arun Subramanian started proceedings shortly after 9am on Monday (2pm UK time), first making several rulings on what issues experts will be allowed to testify on when they take to the witness stand.

He then gave an overview of the case and began the questioning of prospective jurors one by one – a process known as “voir dire” – with the aim of finding a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates who can be fair and impartial despite heavy media coverage of the case.

Jurors are being asked if they have any views on the prosecution or the defence, if they or someone close to them has been a victim of crime, and their beliefs on hiring sex workers, the use of illegal drugs, hip-hop artists and law enforcement.

They are also being questioned on whether they have heard of names included on a list of individuals, including celebrities, who may be mentioned during the trial. The list is long, the court heard, with the judge saying it reminded him of Lord Of The Rings.

What have potential jurors been asked?

One prospective juror said they had heard of actors Michael B Jordan and Mike Myers, but this would not prevent them being fair and impartial should they be selected. Another said they had heard of Kanye West.

The context in which Jordan, Myers, West and other people may be mentioned is not yet known.

Other names that came up included Aubrey O’Day and Dawn Richard – former members of girl group Danity Kane, who were signed to Bad Boy – and singer Michelle Williams.

Several prospective jurors indicated they had seen news reports about Combs, and one prospective juror described a still image she had seen as “damning evidence”. She was rejected from consideration.

Another potential juror was excluded because she said a family member had experienced something that made them feel uncomfortable about hearing the case.

At one point during proceedings, Combs asked for a bathroom break, telling the judge: “I’m sorry your honour, I’m a little nervous today.”

One potential juror said they had seen a joke on social media about baby oil authorities say they found in Combs’ residences during searches in March 2024. They said they could remain impartial.

Throughout the day, as potential jurors were questioned, Combs appeared to express his approval or disapproval, either with a nod or by shaking his head no, to his attorneys.

What is Combs accused of?

In the indictment listing the formal charges against the rapper, he is accused of a pattern of abusive behavior over two decades, allegedly with the help of people in his entourage.

Prosecutors say he manipulated women into participating in drug-fuelled sexual performances with male sex workers, which he called “Freak Offs”.

Combs and his associates resorted to violent acts, including beatings, kidnapping and arson, when he didn’t get his way, they allege.

Lawyers for Combs say any group sex was consensual, that there was no coercion involved, and nothing that happened amounted to a criminal racket.

If convicted, he faces the possibility of decades in prison.

The Cassie video

One issue likely to be featured in the trial is an incident in 2016, when a security camera recorded Combs allegedly kicking and hitting his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway.

Cassie filed a lawsuit in November 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape, but the case was settled the following day.

The hotel footage emerged in May 2024. Shortly afterwards, Combs released a video apology, saying his behaviour in the video was at a time when he had “hit rock bottom” but nonetheless was “inexcusable” and that he was “disgusted” with himself.

One of his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, has said Combs was “not a perfect person” and that there had been drug use and toxic relationships, but that all sexual activity between Combs, Cassie and other people was consensual.

Jury selection continues today and throughout this week, with the trial expected to last about eight weeks.

Sports

Trump plan cuts funding for brain injury research

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2025

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Trump plan cuts funding for brain injury research

Michael RothsteinMay 5, 2025, 02:10 PM ET
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The Trump administration’s 2026 fiscal budget request to Congress eliminates major federal funding for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and education, potentially undercutting efforts to address head injuries in sports, particularly at the high school and youth levels.

The White House’s proposed budget, released Friday, includes eliminating the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention umbrella agency responsible for TBI research, including the $8.25 million marked for brain injury research and public education about the dangers of concussions. The CDC is facing $3.59 billion in budget cuts.

Although the president proposes the federal budget, it is up to Congress to approve a final budget bill, so the TBI program could be restored or moved to a different agency. The White House did not respond to an ESPN request for comment.

The budget proposal comes after the CDC on April 1 placed all five staffers devoted to administering the government’s main traumatic brain injury program on paid administrative leave, CDC employees told ESPN. Paid administrative leave means the workers are still government employees.

The budget cuts would “roll back decades of progress,” said Dr. Owen Perlman, a brain injury specialist and board member of the Brain Injury Association of America.

Among the items targeted is Heads Up, a concussion-prevention program for youth and high school coaches, athletic trainers and other sports officials. The CDC staffers put on leave administered the program. Forty-five states participate in the program to varying degrees, a CDC official said, asking not to be identified.

Staffers interviewed by ESPN declined to speak on the record, citing fears of administration retribution.

“We’re really worried about the hundreds of thousands of coaches who have to take this training,” the CDC official said. “This is really built in, and we’ve lost the whole team” behind the program.

Some Heads Up training is part of coaches’ and other sports officials’ state compliance requirements. The CDC official said hundreds of email queries are arriving every week asking how to comply as the federal program shuts down. The Heads Up website says more than 10 million people have participated in its online training programs.

Congress first approved TBI research funding in 1996. Legislation to keep the program going expired at the end of 2024, and a House bill to renew it has yet to advance out of committee.

In a 2018 CDC survey, 12% of adult respondents reported experiencing a head injury in the previous 12 months, including but not limited to sports-related activities. A follow-up study was being prepared when the staffers were placed on leave. The research data was part of a program to measure TBI prevalence and boost prevention, care and recovery efforts.

The Heads Up website remained active Monday but offered no clues regarding the program’s endangered status.

“In the last month, I don’t think the public has felt an impact,” a laid-off CDC employee said. “But when those websites, trainings and materials get pulled down or when they can’t be updated, I think that’s when the public will feel it.”

In the proposed White House budget, the National Institutes of Health would retain an institute devoted to overall brain research, although the name would slightly change. The institute focuses on medical issues such as stroke and migraines, and it’s unclear whether TBI programs would be absorbed into it.

Hospitals and universities conducting TBI research funded by the CDC are bracing for potential funding cutbacks.

“We might not [get] the next year of renewal or the next wave of funding. And that’s sad and scary and impactful for all kinds of people, including myself in this project,” said Christine Baugh, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine who is studying how parents decide whether to let their children play contact sports and whether brain-injury awareness campaigns influence their decisions.

On April 23, the National Academy of Sciences received orders to cancel work on two TBI workshops, one of which analyzed the risks of repeated head impacts on children. Both workshops had already been held. One of the workshop organizers, Dr. Fred Rivara, a pediatrics professor at the University of Washington, told ESPN that the cancellation affected funding for publishing the information, and he called the potential cuts “tragic.”

“That’s a perfect example of how this change in, or devastation of, funding at the CDC is impacting people,” Rivara said. “They want to know, for sports: What about these repetitive impacts? Are they bad for kids? It’s a perfect example of the impact of this.”

Traumatic brain injuries have lifelong repercussions on a person’s physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral health, Perlman said.

Even though some states fund TBI-treatment programs independently of the federal government, concerns are growing about a domino effect if Congress fails to renew funding.

“For many people with concussions or certainly moderate or severe brain injuries, there’s no endpoint,” Perlman said. “It’s a lifetime problem, and there needs to be lifetime funding for it.”

Sports

Stanley Cup playoff picks: Who wins every second-round series?

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2025

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Stanley Cup playoff picks: Who wins every second-round series?

The first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs is complete. Eight of the teams that made the postseason bracket have moved on, and eight others have been eliminated.

Before the second-round series begin, ESPN’s experts have identified their picks for each matchup. Which four teams will move on to the conference finals?

More: Full schedule
Betting intel

Atlantic Division

John Buccigross: Panthers in seven
Ryan Callahan: Panthers in six
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Panthers in six
Sachin Chandan: Panthers in six
Meghan Chayka: Panthers in six
Ryan S. Clark: Panthers in seven
Linda Cohn: Panthers in six
Rachel Doerrie: Panthers in six
Ray Ferraro: Panthers in six
Emily Kaplan: Panthers in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Maple Leafs in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Panthers in six
Steve Levy: Panthers in six
Vince Masi: Panthers in six
Victoria Matiash: Panthers in six
Sean McDonough: Panthers in six
Mark Messier: Panthers in six
AJ Mleczko: Panthers in six
Arda Öcal: Maple Leafs in six
Kristen Shilton: Maple Leafs in seven
John Thoering: Panthers in six
Bob Wischusen: Panthers in six
Greg Wyshynski: Panthers in six

Consensus prediction: Panthers (20 of 23 picks)

Metropolitan Division

John Buccigross: Capitals in seven
Ryan Callahan: Capitals in seven
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Capitals in six
Sachin Chandan: Capitals in six
Meghan Chayka: Hurricanes in six
Ryan S. Clark: Capitals in seven
Linda Cohn: Capitals in six
Rachel Doerrie: Capitals in six
Ray Ferraro: Capitals in seven
Emily Kaplan: Capitals in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Capitals in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Hurricanes in seven
Steve Levy: Capitals in five
Vince Masi: Hurricanes in six
Victoria Matiash: Hurricanes in six
Sean McDonough: Capitals in seven
Mark Messier: Hurricanes in six
AJ Mleczko: Hurricanes in five
Mike Monaco: Hurricanes in six
Arda Öcal: Capitals in six
Kristen Shilton: Hurricanes in six
John Thoering: Capitals in seven
Bob Wischusen: Capitals in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Capitals in seven

Consensus prediction: Capitals (16 of 24 picks)

Central Division

John Buccigross: Stars in seven
Ryan Callahan: Stars in five
Sachin Chandan: Stars in six
Ryan S. Clark: Stars in seven
Linda Cohn: Jets in seven
Rachel Doerrie: Stars in six
Ray Ferraro: Stars in six
Emily Kaplan: Stars in six
Tim Kavanagh: Stars in seven
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Stars in six
Steve Levy: Stars in seven
Vince Masi: Jets in seven
Victoria Matiash: Jets in seven
Sean McDonough: Stars in six
Mark Messier: Stars in six
Mike Monaco: Stars in six
Arda Öcal: Stars in six
Kristen Shilton: Stars in six
John Thoering: Stars in seven
Bob Wischusen: Jets in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Stars in six

Consensus prediction: Stars (17 of 21 picks)

Pacific Division

John Buccigross: Oilers in seven
Ryan Callahan: Golden Knights in six
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Oilers in seven
Sachin Chandan: Oilers in seven
Meghan Chayka: Golden Knights in seven
Ryan S. Clark: Golden Knights in seven
Linda Cohn: Oilers in seven
Rachel Doerrie: Golden Knights in seven
Ray Ferraro: Golden Knights in seven
Emily Kaplan: Golden Knights in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Golden Knights in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Golden Knights in six
Steve Levy: Golden Knights in seven
Vince Masi: Oilers in six
Victoria Matiash: Golden Knights in six
Sean McDonough: Golden Knights in seven
Mark Messier: Oilers in seven
AJ Mleczko: Golden Knights in six
Mike Monaco: Oilers in six
Arda Öcal: Oilers in six
Kristen Shilton: Oilers in seven
John Thoering: Golden Knights in seven
Bob Wischusen: Golden Knights in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Oilers in seven