'MediaBuzz' on Biden's prime-time address, Paul Pelosi attack misinformation

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Biden’s primetime address was an ‘ill-timed’ partisan ‘attack’: Geraldo Rivera

Fox News’ Will Cain and Geraldo Rivera react to President Biden’s controversial primetime address and the anticipated impact it will have on the forthcoming midterm election. 

This is a rush transcript from "MediaBuzz," November 6, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS HOST: Biden used a new primetime speech not to talk about kitchen table issues, but a talk he's hit many times before. And while some pundits on the other cable networks praise the address near the capitol, others said the performance was way off key.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You know, American democracy Center attack because the defeated former president of the United States refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election.

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, HOST, MSNBC: President Biden's speech tonight saying that democracy is on the ballot struck a new note for him, a new note of realism.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: That's the closing argument now for the Democrats, mega-MAGA Republicans are evil. And every day is January 6th.

STEVE RATTNER, ECONOMIC ANALYST, MSNBC: It's hard to say to them, you know, you should be worrying about democracy instead of gas prices.

ANDREA MITCHELL, ANCHOR, NBC NEWS: With voters paying record high prices, some Democrats are questioning whether the president should have been focusing on the economy instead in his closing argument.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Biden proceeds to do what he now so commonly does, bark at the rest of us for our moral failures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Here's what most journalists know to be true. Biden has made a version of the recent remarks many times, and most Democrats wanted him to talk about the economy or inflation or crime. Now the address began as a high-minded appeal to preserve American democracy, but very quickly became a blatantly partisan speech, an attack on Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans for allegedly trying to suppress voting rights and condoning political violence, and threatening the fairness of this election.

Not much of a stretch to conclude the president was saying the only way to protect democracy is to vote Democratic. And as some Democrats privately confided to journalists, Joe Biden missed an opportunity to connect with swing voters who were mainly worried about paying their bills.

I'm Howard Kurtz and this is Media Buzz.

The media are belatedly, reluctantly, and in many cases sadly acknowledging that the Republicans are virtually certain to take over the House and have an increasingly good shot at ceasing control of the Senate.

A Washington Post story actually saying the Democrats are in a panic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, ANCHOR, CNN: Republicans are riding a wave of optimism in the final days of the fall campaign, even eyeing seats deep into Democratic territory.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Voters are most concerned about the economy, inflation, and crime in that order. January 6th not there. And they trust Republicans to handle these issues the best.

JEFF ZELENY, CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Republicans are on a position really to win a majority in the House only five seats make up the difference. The question is, how big of a majority will there be.

JOY REID, HOST, MSNBC: An insidious and seemingly intentional campaign by Republican backed polling firms to flood the zone and tip the balance of polling averages in favor of their candidates.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Look, the fate is sealed for the Democrats. A lot of us now thinking, and they're media lackeys, they're resorting to insane theories.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Joining us now to analyze the coverage in New York, Will Cain, co- host of Fox and Friends Weekend and in Cleveland, Geraldo Rivera, a member of the Five.

Will, it's been obvious for weeks this election was breaking in the Republicans direction. Why do you think the media, the mainstream media are finally acknowledging that?

WILL CAIN, FOX NEWS CO-HOST: I guess because it'd be, it's undeniable, Howard. I think, you know what would be fascinating would be how they explain it in retrospect once it's over. They can't really ask Joe Biden to focus on kitchen table issues when those are losing issues for Joe Biden. He doesn't have a positive message that he can put forward right now when it comes to inflation or to crime.

So, the Democratic Party has largely adopted these very, very, very unpopular ideas, whether or not that's on gender or the denial of a rising crime rate. And so, in lieu of talking about these very, very unpopular ideas, it's go back to the, well, it's go back to January 6th. And it's going to be a losing message for them in a matter of days.

KURTZ: Geraldo, Washington Post headline Democrats fear midterm drubbing as party leaders rush to defend blue seats. Now obviously everything depends on turnout. That's always the X factor in these off-year elections, but do you see these predictions now as a kind of a but covering exercise for the media?

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CO-HOST: Yes, I guess, you can, you can say that, Howie, but timing is everything in life and certainly, politics is part of life. A couple of weeks in mid-October, I think that it would've been a whole different vibe, a whole different story.

You had Oz trailing in Pennsylvania. You had Vance fighting for his life here. Herschel Walker, battered by one scandal after another in Georgia. So, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio all were in play a couple of weeks ago. Now, they're, I think Oz is ahead in Pennsylvania. Here Vance is ahead in Ohio. Herschel Walker has studied his campaign.

I would say looking at some of the posts that you already broadcast this morning, Howie, that Herschel Walker is ahead in Georgia. So, I think the Democrats missed an opportunity. Abortion has faded. Inflation is wearing on people. It really is. President Biden's speech that you and Will were speaking about earlier.

KURTZ: Yes.

RIVERA: Very disappointing. He's a nice guy. He's not supposed to be, you know, Mr. partisan, I don't think he's ever made a great speech, but that one was particularly irritating to many people.

KURTZ: I'll come back that.

RIVERA: So, I think the Democrats are really on their back foot, Howie.

KURTZ: Yes, well, timing is everything. And obviously there's been early voting, but election day is huge. Well, the media back during the primaries wrote off many of the Trump backed MAGA candidates as no way they could win a general election. They're too extreme. This is great for the Democrats.

And now, many of these people, Kari Lake, Blake Masters, Herschel Walker, are at least tied a lot. When we say they're ahead, sometimes it's one or two points. And so, was this a tremendous mistake on the part of the press?

CAIN: Yes, absolutely. And but it a predictable mistake, Howard. Look OK. For the better part of seven to eight years, the Democratic Party, and by extension the media's focus has been exclusively on Donald Trump. As a result, all these issues that are now so important to the American people existed uncovered underneath the surface. The economy, inflation crime and so forth.

But their focus had only and always been on Donald Trump. They thought by making all of these individuals, Kari Lake, Dr. Oz, surrogates for Donald Trump, they could stay on the same themes. And what they didn't realize was that those candidates, not only the policies, but those candidates themselves are very popular. And by the way, they're rating -- they're riding a wave of popularity attributable to Donald Trump.

KURTZ: Yes. Well, what's amazing is that it's for the last two years when Donald Trump hasn't been president, obviously he still kits a lot of coverage and part of that is the former president's doing.

Geraldo, was this case of journalists on the coast living in a bubble and the country maybe is a bit more conservative or more fed up than the pundits and with their media myopia were willing to believe.

RIVERA: Well, I don't know. Oz was a pretty flamboyant choice, as was Herschel Walker in Georgia. You know, they weren't run to the mill candidates. The president, the former president, President Trump endorsing them really, you know, in many ways, fathering their candidacy was out of the mainstream.

But you know, these are quality people. I was in the talk show business with Mehmet Oz. He's a great guy. I think that he might have been stunned by Oprah's endorsement of John Fetterman. But I also think that he has -- he has surgically, if I may use his profession, his former profession, worked his way back.

And I think that Herschel Walker similarly, and he was helped I think by Georgia crushing Tennessee yesterday and to be probably number one in the nation in NCAA football. So, I think there things are working. These are familiar people that, gradually gotten their stride. You know, Ryan was competitive here in Ohio. I thought that he was going to do it but he is, he had that great line that Ohio needs ass kickers, not ass kissers. But Vance has, you know, he's a quality guy, Hillbilly Elegy.

KURTZ: Right.

RIVERA: Yale Law School. He's finally found his footing also. So, I think that Vance wins, I think Oz wins, and I think Herschel Walker wins. And I lose a thousand dollars to Jesse Watters on The Five --

(CROSSTALK)

KURTZ: All right. Well, we've got it on videotape. But look, maybe they did seem extreme back during the primaries, but maybe the definition of what's acceptable, particularly on the Republican side has changed.

Now I want to circle back to what I talked about at the top of the show, Will, the Biden speech on democracy. There are quite a number of liberal pundits, and this was somewhat surprising say this was not what most Americans wanted to hear six days out even if they agreed with the substance. Even if they agreed with the substance.

CAIN: Yes. Well, paint me as skeptical that someone might agree with the substance. I'm sure there are some, Howard, out there that actually believe that democracy is on the line. But the way this has hyperbolically been raised, Jim Clyburn saying that we're on the verge of 1930s Nazi Germany. Sunny Hostin on The View saying that Republican women are cockroaches.

A historian on MSNBC saying that your children are soon to be arrested and possibly killed. That's a direct quote.

KURTZ: That was historian Michael Beschloss who said --

CAIN: Yes.

KURTZ: -- if essentially, if the Democrats don't at least control something that Congress on Tuesday.

CAIN: This is -- OK. Forgive, I don't think that's resonating with any significant portion of Americans. I think there -- it is easily dismissible.

KURTZ: Well, Geraldo, news outlets are reporting that Biden wanted to give this speech for weeks. Here he is attacking Trump and MAGA Republicans. What do you think is he saying when he got more partisan about it when he mentioned the former president that unless Democrats win, the whole country is going to go to hell.

RIVERA: I hate that stuff, Howie. I hate that. It really it. It paints the country in a way that we are in engaged in a civil war. I don't believe it. I think that, you know, there is an essential social conservatism in America. People settle down. We can have opposite points of view.

I certainly, disagree with most of my colleagues at The Five certainly, and Fox News generally. But we get along, we can talk about things. I really think that what happened is that Biden gave a speech, maybe Obama should have given it. He's much more, you know, smoothly or much more articulate, I think. He's more personable in many, many. He had, it would've seemed less partisan. I think if the former president that President Obama had given the speech rather than President Biden.

What President Biden did, it's like your best pal who never picked a fight with anybody all of a sudden, pretending that he's the tough guy going to take you in the backyard and beat the hell out of you. I just think that it was -- it was ill advised, and as I said earlier, I don't think he's ever given a great speech. And that was probably the most ill-timed, partisan attack ever.

KURTZ: Well, you know, --

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: I would say --

KURTZ: Very briefly.

CAIN: I would say if I could.

KURTZ: Yes.

CAIN: Really quickly. I mean, Joe Biden does have a way of saying it in a very angry manner, but Barack Obama said the same stuff. He said Democracy is on the line. So, this is the -- this is the line of the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, it isn't --

(CROSSTALK)

RIVERA: It is poetic.

CAIN: It isn't like the relationship between Geraldo and myself or Geraldo and everybody else.

KURTZ: Yes.

CAIN: Unfortunately, nationally, it's a relationship of you're a threat and you must be silent.

KURTZ: All right. Well, Obama did it in a kind of a mocking way, which he has a certain talent for.

By the way, I want to get this news in. Tiffany Cross has been fired by MSNBC abruptly, like she's off the air immediately. And while there's some attempt to blame this on conservative criticism, reports say she was warned repeatedly about, I was always stunned by some of her racially inflammatory attacks.

For example, calling Clarence Thomas Justice pubic hair on a Coke can. And the final straw seemed to be when she went on some interview and talked about a folic symbol for Florida and then said --

CAIN: Right.

KURTZ: -- let's castrate Florida. Hours later, MSNBC cutting ties.

Let me get a break here. When we come back, a confession in the brutal hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband. How much are the media trying to tie the tragedy to the midterm campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KURTZ: Many of those crazy conspiracy theories posted about Nancy Pelosi's husband and the man who nearly killed him have been deleted. We now know that David DePape confessed to police that he planned to kidnap the House Speaker, and if she didn't tell the truth, kneecap her. And that he had a list of other Democratic targets as well. As for the media their handling of the horrifying attack on Paul Pelosi has become entangled with the midterm campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HAYES, HOST, MSNBC: Do they want to hand power over to those people, to the people lying and pushing false flag lies about an 82-year-old man whose skull was fractured by a hammer?

WATTERS: San Francisco was responsible for the misinformation. They gave this sloppy press conference.

JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST, MSNBC: Are your parents really proud that you mock 82-year-olds getting their brain specialists, or some, you just can't say, this is a tragedy, this is bad for America.

HANNITY: Paul Pelosi was the victim of a deranged individual. It's sad, but it's happening in city after city and town after town, and it's becoming increasingly lawless in this country for everyone, in large part because of Democratic policies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Will Cain, does the David Pape -- Depape confession about planning to kidnap Nancy Pelosi, not to mention posting showing he was suicidal, that he believes in an imaginary fairy undermined efforts by some of the press to paint this mentally unstable guy as some kind of Trumpian right winger?

CAIN: Well, the efforts by the media to paint this into a larger narrative to smear their political opponents is the reason for the existence of conspiracy theories. Howard, first of all, I want you to point out you played Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough, both of whom worked for NBC and NBC along with Politico, for example are two of the organizations that helped create the misinformation in the beginning.

Those two organizations reported, and we should put blame on San Francisco law enforcement as well, but put information out there that there was a third person.

KURTZ: Yes.

CAIN: That opened the door.

KURTZ: Right.

CAIN: So, if you put out false information, how can you then indict people for understanding that false information? But let me say this. When you go from zero to 60, you go from scant details to indicting an entire sector of political opponents. When you draw big, large narratives, and it's not just on this story, Howard.

You know, whenever there's an officer involved shooting, how quickly do we go beyond the facts and start to go to the massive narrative about racial problems in America?

KURTZ: Right. Right.

CAIN: When you do that, you make everyone very skeptical because now your details, you don't care about them. Why should I care about them?

KURTZ: All right, let me --

CAIN: You go right beyond the facts and I think that's where the media makes a massive mistake.

KURTZ: Let me get her Geraldo in, and this is a shorter segment. Should the people who posted these -- this made up garbage about Paul Pelosi and DePape supposedly being a male prostitute, which includes Elon Musk, Larry Elder, and Donald Trump Jr. now apologize rather than just deleting the tweets?

RIVERA: Yes. Yes, they should. And, Will's analysis is baloney. what these people did was grotesque. What Don Junior did tweet -- tweeting that the Halloween customer of the year was Paul Pelosi had a pair of underpants and a hammer. It is disgusting. It's low down and dirty. And, you know, the -- it's partisan politics taken to an extreme that makes me want to spit. It was just awful.

CAIN: What part -- what part of what I said was baloney, Geraldo?

(CROSSTALK)

RIVERA: They should really apologize.

CAIN: What part of what I said is baloney?

RIVERA: That your -- that the atmosphere or the San Francisco police --

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: They got the facts roll.

RIVERA: You know, some of the early information. Well, what do you jump -- do you jump into a gay --

CAIN: No.

RIVERA: -- a tryst?

CAIN: No.

RIVERA: You know, a fight. I mean, do you jump right into the gutter?

CAIN: No. No, let me ask you this.

RIVERA: Because he's Nancy Pelosi's husband? It is --

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: No, absolutely not, Geraldo.

RIVERA: But, Will, some things we can't do. Some things we cannot do.

CAIN: You ask me a question.

RIVERA: And what we cannot do, what we cannot do is take an incident like this and twist it so it becomes part of a political narrative.

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: OK.

KURTZ: Let Will respond.

CAIN: Hold on. Geraldo, you ask me question.

RIVERA: It is really pathetic.

CAIN: You asked me a direct question. I'm going to answer it directly and ask the same of you. I do not think you take those scant false bad details as provided by law enforcement and media outlets and jump to absurd conclusions. I do not think that, Geraldo.

Now, let me ask this of you. Do you take those same scant false details and jump to a conclusion of indicting 50 percent of America for their political beliefs? Do you do what Joe Biden did and say, this is as a result of mega- MAGA Republicans?

(CROSSTALK)

RIVERA: You gaslighted. What does that have to do with what the -- with the slander of Paul Pelosi? We sat by our colleagues --

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: Because, Geraldo --

RIVERA: -- slander Paul Pelosi and made him --

CAIN: -- it's funny how I question your question directly but you won't answer mine.

RIVERA: -- into this caricature. Some things we can't do.

CAIN: I answer your question directly.

RIVERA: Some things we can't do. We have --

CAIN: Hey, Geraldo --

RIVERA: I am absolutely finished with the tolerant of these --

CAIN: The president --

RIVERA: -- where do you think wackos get these ideas?

CAIN: Hey, Geraldo.

RIVERA: They get these ideas because --

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: The president of the United States uses this.

RIVERA: -- we encourage and we entitle them.

CAIN: The president of the United States, not some random comment.

RIVERA: That old man got his head --

CAIN: -- use this to a guy --

RIVERA: -- this skull fractured.

CAIN: And the president of the United States used that horrific incident to indict people to disagree with him.

KURTZ: All right. All right. I've enjoyed -- I was waiting for things to heat up between you two. Finally, Geraldo, Donald Trump didn't say anything about the attack on Paul Pelosi for a couple of days. Then he said it was a terrible thing, and then, he called into a radio interview and said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's weird things going on in that household in the last couple of weeks. I'm not a fan of Nancy Pelosi, but what's going on there is very sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERA: Come on.

(CROSSTALK)

KURTZ: Is your longtime friend spreading doubts about the reality here.

RIVERA: Yes, yes, yes. I mean, shame on the former president. I mean, it's weird things going in a house. How about your house? How about my house? How about other -- I mean, this is really beyond the pale, Howard.

I mean, when -- at what -- do, what, what they say? Have you no shame they said during the McCarthy hearings.

KURTZ: Yes.

RIVERA: You know, have you -- have we no shame.

KURTZ: All right.

RIVERA: Shame on us for allowing the Alex Jones in -- Alex Jones-ism of the media. It's really pathetic.

KURTZ: All right. Well, you two, they're going to have take this outside.

(CROSSTALK)

RIVERA: It's very shame.

KURTZ: You two going to have to take this outside. We're out of time. Excuse me.

RIVERA: I like Will very much. He's very intelligent. Very --

KURTZ: We all do. Will Cain, Geraldo Rivera, thank you.

Ahead, Jason Chaffetz on the campaign coverage. But up next, Elon Musk orders sweeping layoffs as Twitter, and is he abandoning his free speech crusade?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KURTZ: Elon Musk now calling himself the Twitter complaint hotline operator based in hell has fired half its staff and is rolling out plans to charge users $8 a month to get that blue check verified status.

Joining us now from Las Vegas, Charlie Gasparino, senior correspondent at Fox Business Network. And Charlie, firing half the staff of 7,500, I know Musk is desperate to control costs because he's taken on huge debt. But couldn't this create huge problems down the road if experienced engineers and others aren't able to keep Twitter with online in a crisis?

CHARLIE GASPARINO, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And then it'll even prove even more that he's a lousy businessman, that he basically way overspent for this horrible business. If you know anything about Twitter, and I've been on your show in the past about this, it has a lousy cash flow, in exist -- inexistent cash flow when you take into account other metrics. It doesn't make any money. It's losing users. It relies heavily on advertising, but it's trying to figure out ways to make sure the advertising experience isn't too detrimental.

KURTZ: Right.

GASPARINO: It has a ton of bots, fake accounts, and now he has to figure out a way to make money on this thing.

KURTZ: Right.

GASPARINO: And so, it's --

(CROSSTALK)

KURTZ: Or to stop losing money.

GASPARINO: That's true too.

KURTZ: Musk's $8 a month offer for the blue checks, which is available to anyone, not just big shots like you.

GASPARINO: Right.

KURTZ: It would include such benefits as getting half the ads and higher priority for what you post and reply. So, would this allow affluent folks, they figure out 100 a year to buy greater exposure on Twitter?

GASPARINO: You know, I -- listen, how much is a Starbucks coffee cost? I mean, you know, people --

KURTZ: Elon Made that --

GASPARINO: Did he? I didn't even know that.

KURTZ: Yes, he did.

GASPARINO: That's interesting. Great minds think alike there, Howie. Listen, I don't think it's prohibitive. I really reject the argument of the whackos like AOC who says this is, goes against this whole free speech platform. There's nothing un-free speech about this to making a business work. You have free speech. It's protected by the Constitution not by the Twitter board of directors, and you could do a lot of things which are free speech, including blog.

KURTZ: Yes.

GASPARINO: But if you want to do it on Musk's platform, you might have to pay.

KURTZ: But on that point, and by the way, you don't have to pay, you just lose the status.

GASPARINO: Right.

KURTZ: But musk tweeted the following. Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue due to activist groups pressuring advertisers even though nothing has changed with content moderation. That is the true. Hasn't changed a thing so far. We tried to appease the activists. They're trying to destroy free speech in America.

GASPARINO: Right.

KURTZ: Whether he's scapegoating --

(CROSSTALK)

GASPARINO: Think about the --

KURTZ: Whether he's scapegoating these activists or not, are these money- making schemes like you can send direct messages to celebrities going to fly?

Listen, I -- who knows? It's a lousy business. He way overpaid for it. His own business, Tesla, is going to get hurt as the market continues to correct. I mean, he's got a financial problem, and there's no doubt that he's getting desperate. But the free speech implications here are absurd.

I mean, think about it. The worst free speech sort of violation that we have here is a bunch of lefty, progressive activist groups calling on advertisers to boycott Twitter. They do that with Fox News, they do that with everybody whose speech they hate. That is much worse than Trump -- than Musk charging $8 for a blue check mark. Trust me on this.

KURTZ: All right. Well, it does seem to me that he's had to, that Musk has had to confront the reality that he can't drive advertisers away, and you know, he does need that revenue.

GASPARINO: For sure.

KURTZ: But great analysis, as always. Charlie Gasparino, thanks for joining us from Vegas. Enjoy your gambling.

And next on Media Buzz, Donald trump is very likely to declare his candidacy, press reports say it could be next week. How that would transform his coverage.

And later, the writer whose constantly mistaken for a conservative, what she says in National Review.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KURTZ: The media frenzy over the final days of the midterms has featured rallies by the former president and despite his earlier reluctance, the current president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And now in order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again. OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Joe Biden was joined in Philadelphia yesterday by his former boss, a far better orator, Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Two years ago, he used that power to make Donald Trump not only a former president but you made him a defeated president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Joining us now in Utah, Jason Chaffetz, the former Republican congressman and a Fox News contributor, and here in Washington, Kristen Hawn, a Democratic strategist, formerly with the Blue Dog Coalition.

Jason, Donald Trump very, very, probably practically declared that he's running at that rally. Axios says he's planning to make a formal declaration a week from tomorrow, but it's not definite. It's kind of like a save the date. Do you buy that? And what would the media ramp up their negative coverage if Trump actually becomes a formal candidate?

JASON CHAFFETZ, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I can't imagine the media ramping up even more than they have. I mean, they've been negative for the last, I don't know, seven years or so.

KURTZ: But just be more of it.

CHAFFETZ: But yes, well, more of it. Look, it's their dream come true. It drives ratings on all the networks. But I think Donald Trump is just itching to get in the fight. He's been able to do that as a proxy and being able to go out and tout the 400 nearly 500 candidates that he had endorsed along the way.

And he loves the crowd. He just absolutely loves it.

KURTZ: That is true. Kristen, did the media debate about President Biden not doing any rallies? And then the White House said, well, you know, those don't work. It's a -- it's a failed policy. Did it kind of push the president as deciding, yes, I better do a few. Or is it that he understands that he's not exactly in demand by many or most Democratic candidates?

KRISTEN HAWN, FORMER BLUE DOG COALITION COMMS DIRECTOR: I think, you know, I've worked in on a number of races over the past 20 years and it's always kind of a catch me to, do you want the president there? Do you not want him there?

KURTZ: Right.

HAWN: It's traditionally more difficult for us and the midterm.

(CROSSTALK)

KURTZ: Did it help or hurt?

HAWN: Does it help or hurt. I think the president really made a calculation that democracy is on the ballot and that he wants to get out there.

KURTZ: That's what he says.

HAWN: And he wants -- and he wants to get out there and he wants to make the case for the midterms for the Democrats. Whether that's helpful in some races or harmful in other races, you know that's race by race.

KURTZ: But I do want to point out that most of the candidate events he goes to are pooled events, meaning there are few reporters there, but there's no video unlike the rallies.

Jason, New York Times headline, stoked by Republicans fears of crime loom Large for midterm voters. So, does that somehow minimize it if GOP candidates are in fact running on the crime issue and conservative media are playing it up?

CHAFFETZ: Well look, if you live in one of these crime-ridden cities and you can't go to your local pharmacy because you're scared to go in there and shoplifting is running rampant, then it's very obvious to you. And then there's one party and one candidate, the Republican that's out there actually talking about it. Almost every single metric is out there to support the idea and the notion that crime is rampant.

It's not just New York City, it's these major Democratic cities and states. You combine that with the woke policy, the idea that you should bail people out as quickly as possible, as Kamala Harris was doing, the cashless bail, the illegal immigration and the influx there, these horrific murders and other things that have happened along the way. Republicans are going to win in part because people are scared and they want to change.

KURTZ: Well, I just was so struck by that stoked by Republicans as if it's almost a non-issue, and only in the last maybe 10 days have many Democrats realized they have to talk about crime.

Kristen, the Times doesn't say the crime isn't real. It says there are mixed trends up in some places, but not up in other places. but, and paper also says people might react to, seeing homeless people or reading about vandalism.

HAWN: Right.

KURTZ: So, what if that's how they feel? Isn't that the way it works in politics?

HAWN: You know, it, whether it's the economy, inflation, crime people, you can't tell people they're not feeling what they feel. Right?

KURTZ: Yes.

HAWN: And yes, it's up --

(CROSSTALK)

KURTZ: I mean, you can, but it's down.

HAWN: -- in some states, it's down in some areas.

KURTZ: Yes.

HAWN: You know, I mean, I live in Washington, D.C. It's, I'm a Democrat and I am looking at who on the city council is talking about the issue of crime. So, you know, yes, it's politics. You got to go in, you got to acknowledge what people are feeling.

KURTZ: So, therefore, you will undoubtedly agree with me that it was a mistake for Democratic candidates to avoid the issue until again, and even Governor Kathy Hochul --

(CROSSTALK)

HAWN: I think you can't avoid the issue. You can't avoid that issue.

KURTZ: Yes.

HAWN: You can't avoid the economy. You've got to address everything head on.

KURTZ: It's like saying, you know, people shouldn't worry about the economy because unemployment is three and a half percent. If they're scared about losing their jobs, that's how they feel and that's what moves it.

Now a question for both of you. New York Times and others are reporting, going back to Donald Trump, that if he becomes a formal candidate, whether it's next week or soon, the Justice Department, Jason, is weighing the appointment of a special counsel to oversee the investigations including the documents at Mar-a-Lago. But Merrick Garland would still make the final decision on any indictment. How would that play?

CHAFFETZ: Look, it seems like it's gone on per -- on perpetuity anyway. I mean, you have the Mueller investigation, you've had all these other investigations. They keep making all of these allegations and nothing ever comes of it.

So, I think America is tired of it. I don't think it's the right policy. Look, if you got some on the guy, charge him. But you know what? You haven't yet. So, char -- don't charge him. Leave him alone. Let him lead his life. You actually have to have evidence to make these things happen. And all we've seen are lies and cajoling by the FBI and others, and I think America is fed up with it.

They want the equal application of justice. And if you're not going to charge maybe somebody like Hunter Biden where there's video, audio recordings --

KURTZ: Right.

CHAFFETZ: -- of financial documents and a whole lot of evidence, then most of America is going to look at this and say, yes, you're going after Trump, but you won't go after Biden.

KURTZ: Well, that's up to the U.S. attorney in Delaware. Just briefly, Kristen, special counsel sounds like someone else is taking over, but ultimately, Merrick Garland is the guy making -- going to make the decision and take the heat either way.

HAWN: Yes, and I think, you know, the -- I think it's really dangerous to undermine the authority and the legitimacy of, you know, our -- the FBI and the DOJ. I think that, you know, you have a president who took documents, top secret documents. We know that, and that should be looked into and that's what they're doing.

KURTZ: Yes. Well, it is being looked into, and I'm still not convinced there will be an indictment, but it's hard to say at this point.

After the break, our anchors trying to rehabilitate John Fetterman after that debate disaster. And Herschel Walker's second accuser goes on camera.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KURTZ: The second woman to accuse Herschel Walker of pressuring her into having an abortion still using the name Jane Doe, went on camera with ABC's Juju Chang on Good Morning America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: He said that because of his wife's family and powerful people around him that I would not be safe and that the child would not be safe.

JUJU CHANG, ANCHOR, ABC NEWS: That's very menacing.

UNKNOWN: It is very menacing. It is very menacing, yes, and I felt threatened and I thought I had no choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: The accuser said she told her parents and friends she'd had a miscarriage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: It just was very shameful and I felt like I had been manipulated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Jason, now that we can see this woman and she's got handwritten love notes from Herschel Walker and pictures of them in hotels, does his dismissal of all this as a lie seem less credible?

CHAFFETZ: I think it's highly suspicious when it comes day before -- days before an election. This could have come out years ago, it could have come out months ago, but these allegations when they come out so close to election, I think are highly suspicious.

And it's a, you know, he said, she said, people have to look at that and make their own decision, but I think most people are going to blow past this and vote for the person they feel most comfortable with representing him in the Senate. And Herschel Walker has a stellar reputation, and he's beloved by the people of Georgia.

KURTZ: Well, I think it's certainly fair to question the timing and how this has come out. On the other hand, as I say, she's provided a fair amount of evidence.

Kristen, I've always felt that if Herschel Walker had apologized and said he's grown, and he wouldn't make the same decision today, that the people of Georgia would've forgiven him.

But since he's tied in the polls anyway, does this mean Republicans just want to win the seat where he is going up against Rafael Warnock no matter what.

HAWN: Yes, I mean, I think it's pretty clear we would be having a very different conversation. I think Republicans would be having a very different conversation if he had an R, had a demo -- a D behind his name instead of an R, right?

Like there would not be this bending over backwards standing behind him as accuser after accuser, his own family, has come out and said. So, I think it's very clear that the Republicans, they want to win this seat. They want to take control of the Senate, and that's what they've decided. They're getting behind this candidate.

KURTZ: Well, there are a total of two accusers and the one we just saw, we don't know the name is represented by Gloria Allred.

So let me turn now to John Fetterman and the Pennsylvania race, Senate race against Dr. Oz. He is essentially tied with Oz. Some polls have it, one or two points either way after that disastrous debate as it recovers from his stroke. But there have been anchors who have been, essentially granting him do-overs.

Here's Don Lemon reinvented as a perky anchor on CNN's new morning show talking to Fetterman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, HOST, CNN: Have your health issues impacted your approach to policy and what you would do in Washington?

JOHN FETTERMAN (D), PENNSYLVANIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's made me very empathetic about more than I even thought I was before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: So, Jason, unlike in the Georgia race I don't see the media making the charge that Democrats just want to win this seat and therefore the communication problems are relevant, that it just Democrats will just do anything to hang onto that or take over that Pennsylvania seat.

CHAFFETZ: Yes, they're certainly trying to rehabilitate him because all you have to do is play back the tape of the debate and you're going to recognize that the rigors in the United States Senate, that Fetterman, I think is totally disqualified from holding that.

Look, we have highly qualified people. Think of Tammy Duckworth, the Democrat senator in Illinois. Think of Brian Mast, the congressman in Florida who are injured and severely injured serving our country. Of course, they can serve. But having a stroke and not being able to comprehend and do the analytics and having the cognitive capability challenges that Fetterman is having, I think disqualifies him and I think the people of Pennsylvania will figure that out.

KURTZ: Yes. Well, obviously it's up to the voters. Fetterman makes the case that by January, if he were to be elected, he will be much further along in his recovery parts. So, so Kristen, it's not just Don Lemon, Joy Reid and other liberals have done sympathetic closed caption interviews with Fetterman, and he's done much better than in a fast-paced debate. But are they trying to rehabilitate him?

HAWN: I don't think. I think I have more respect for people in your industry. You know, I mean, I was just watching a segment on Maria's show on here, you know, and it was with Herschel Walker. And asking him some questions that might have been seen as kind of like, a little bit easier to ask.

So, I think, I think Don Lemon is a talented host. He asks difficult questions and Fetterman has been asked difficult questions. If you look at the coverage, the media coverage the day after the debate, I wouldn't exactly say that everybody went easy on him.

KURTZ: OK. Well, I would just say that Don Lemon did ask him about why he won't release his medical records, but otherwise, the questions were very sympathetic. I guess that does it, Kristen Hawn, Jason Chaffetz, thanks so much.

Still to come, National Review asked liberal writer Kat Rosenfield to explain why she's frustrated with the left. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KURTZ: Freelance writer Kat Rosenfield says in a piece for National Review that she keeps getting mistaken for a conservative, even though she's kind of a liberal but an increasingly disillusioned one.

And she joins me now from New Orleans. Kat, you say you're often taken for a right winger, because quote, "progressives are often extremely publicly mad at me, and the left wants to make me their enemy." Why is that?

KAT ROSENFIELD, FREELANCE WRITER: I think that it has a lot to do with the fact that we're in this sort of, state of cultural oppositional defiant disorder where if somebody wants to understand what your politics are, what they'll look at is either who you seem to be against or who hates you, and then reverse engineer label for you from there.

And so, because I am often critical of the left, the left is my home. I have a lot of progressive views. But when I criticize the left, people get upset at me and I think, rather conservatives see that happening and they think, they're mad at her, so she must be one of us.

KURTZ: Do they want you to apologize or sort of repeat the company line people on the left?

ROSENFIELD: At this point, I don't think so.

KURTZ: OK. You're past that.

ROSENFIELD: I can't remember the last time I was expected to apologize.

KURTZ: All right.

ROSENFIELD: That's true. Yes.

KURTZ: Now you write in the National Review piece that defending free speech and creative expression, which I happen to like, are now deemed right wing values by your fellow liberals. How did that happen? Didn't the Libs used to defend free speech?

ROSENFIELD: Yes, I'm old enough to remember when that was the case. And I think that in part what happened is that because of the ascendancy of Donald Trump people began to associate this sort of say anything, just go off no matter who's offended ethos with the political right and began to kind of react to it from there.

KURTZ: Well, from your piece, the most important folks, most -- excuse me, the most intolerant folks are highly educated liberals who dominate the media sphere and now seem like high school mean girls. Wow. And this bums you out, you say, because you grew up with liberals who were not sensors or skulls. Explain a little bit more on that.

ROSENFIELD: Well, I should say that, you know, the most intolerant folks that I'm coming into contact with, yes, are the sort of, more intolerant folks on the left because again, the left is my home. Why is that? I think that the left has a sort of a cultural hegemony right now.

They want to kind of maintain that clutch on power, and so when somebody starts saying things that are true but maybe politically inexpedient there's a real quest to kind of shut that down.

KURTZ: With the mean girls approach, that must have stung.

ROSENFIELD: Yes.

KURTZ: That must have stung. That must have stung some of your friends.

ROSENFIELD: I don't know if it stung my friends. I think that my friends would mostly agree with me that the tone of the discourse leaves a lot to be desired.

KURTZ: So, you seem to be suggesting that for, again, these are the people you come in contact with. It's not the whole world, but if you dissent, if you challenge your own side on anything, that you sort of, this is why you get mistaken for conservative, because the left comes after you. Is that true?

ROSENFIELD: Yes, I think that's true and not just on the left. One of the things that I discovered in writing this piece was that this is a phenomenon on both sides of the aisle. I talked to many republicans, many conservatives who were basically ostracized and stuffed the same sort of social death that liberals do for criticizing the right. You know. So it's, it's really kind of a universal phenomenon and I don't think it's great.

KURTZ: So now that you've been published in National Review, are you viewed as some kind of double agent?

ROSENFIELD: That was kind of inevitable. Yes. But, you know, the sort of person who would make that criticism of this piece is the sort of person who never would've trusted me to begin with. So not really a big deal.

Just briefly, line in your piece that really struck me and it made me think is politics in 2020 are defined by, not by whom you vote for, but by whom you wish to harm.

ROSENFIELD: Yes, I think that's true. I think it goes back to that thing of people look at who hates you and then they decide what you're -- what side you're on from there.

KURTZ: So, it's all very tribal now, in your view.

ROSENFIELD: Yes, it seems like it. Although, because of the way things are, an increasing number of us are being left sort of tribeless, homeless politically, and I think that there's maybe hope in that.

KURTZ: All right, so you're feeling a little, politically homeless now, but it was a fascinating piece. Thanks for coming on to talk to us about it, Kat Rosenfield.

ROSENFIELD: Thanks for having me.

KURTZ: And that's it for this edition of Media Buzz. I'm Howard Kurtz. Houston Astros winning the World Series last night trouncing the Phillies. It looks like they might be getting hot at one point.

You can subscribe to my podcast Media Buzz Meter. Very popular. Apple iTunes is a good place to do it. I enjoy talking to you without having to hit a commercial break, but I got to hit one now. We're back here next Sunday at 11 Eastern with the only media analysis show on national television.

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