Media top headlines January 18
In media news today, CNN’s Paul Begala says Democrats don’t have ‘bad leaders,’ they have ‘bad followers,’ CDC Director Rochelle Walensky admits to poor messaging on COVID guidance, and Spotify remains silent after Joe Rogan critics call for change to prevent COVID ‘misinformation.’
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is keeping her cards close when it comes to her hopes on the electoral futures of Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., two moderate Democrats known for bucking the party line on contentious issues.
During a Tuesday appearance on "CBS Mornings," the progressive senator evaded a question from host Nate Burleson on whether the two moderate Democrats should face primary challenges, seemingly from their stance against scrapping the Senate filibuster.
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"In 2024, should Manchin and Sinema be primaried?" Burleson asked Warren during a discussion on the filibuster and President Biden's Build Back Better agenda.
The hosts, as well as Warren, had expressed concern that the passage of any part of the Biden agenda would be impossible without ending the filibuster and thus allowing bills brought to the floor of the Senate to be passed with a simple majority.
"We’ll address that when we get past this week," Warren responded, hinting that her answer would ultimately depend on the results of Democrats' efforts to pass key parts of the Biden agenda this week.
Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have said they don't want to undo the filibuster. (Getty Images/Reuters)
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Both Manchin and Sinema have already announced they would not support ending the filibuster, despite repeated attempts by the media, activists, and fellow Democrats to pressure them on the issue.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. is forcing votes this week that would bring Democrats' election reform proposals, as well as the filibuster, front and center, potentially upping the pressure on the two moderates by further dividing them from the rest of their party.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock meet with the media following a Senate Democratic lunch on Capitol Hill on Jan. 13, 2022. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
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"Members of this chamber were elected to debate and to vote, particularly on an issue as vital to the beating heart of our democracy as this one. And we will proceed," he said Friday.
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