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CHIEF WARREN TELL MANY LIES, by WFB’s Collin Anderson and Cameron Cawthorne: Confronted by a school-choice activist, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) denied sending one of her children to a private school, though her presidential campaign later told the Free Beacon that her son, Alex Warren, did in fact attend private school.
Sarah Carpenter, a pro-school choice activist who organized a protest of Warren's Thursday speech in Atlanta, told Warren that she had read news reports indicating the candidate had sent her kids to private school … Warren denied the claim, telling Carpenter, "My children went to public schools."
CHASER: NYT BEDWETTING BEGINS … "Elizabeth Warren Has Done The Hard Part. Now Comes The Harder Part," via NYT: After nearly a year of slowly, and then not so slowly, rising to the top of the pack, Ms. Warren is facing her first period of apparent plateau—her momentum stalled, according to polls and dozens of voter interviews, amid nagging doubts like Ms. Bingham’s and the predictable price of success: even more scrutiny …
"I want to believe," said Carrie Mirfield, a 47-year-old massage therapist, before an event in Davenport. "I’m not sure if I do yet."
THE BILLIONAIRES STRIKE BACK … "Michael Bloomberg Joins 2020 Democratic Field for President," via NYT: Mr. Bloomberg, a former Republican who has expressed reservations about his adopted party’s leftward drift, said in a statement that he would offer a pragmatic option to voters in a campaign to unseat a president who "represents an existential threat to our country and our values."
OL’ JOE EYEING WHAT’S-HER-FACE FOR VP … "Joe Biden hints at female VP — but can’t remember any prospects’ names," via NY POST: "The former assistant attorney general who got fired who was just in Delaware," he began, an apparent reference to Sally Yates, who President Trump fired in 2017 when she refused to enforce his travel ban.
"The leader of the, uh, the woman who should’ve been the governor of Georgia, the African American woman," he continued—meaning Stacey Abrams, who lost a governor’s race in 2018.
MITCH IN THE DRIVER SEAT, via THE HILL: The dynamic has Democrats in a bind: Keeping several contenders largely stuck in Washington could be a boost to candidates who are not lawmakers, like former vice president Joe Biden or South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg …
"There’s not a lot they can do about it," said Jim Manley, a longtime aide for former Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.). "For those in the Senate it is what it is, they’re going to have to figure out how to deal with it."
NANCY’S NIGHTMARE … "Independents souring on impeachment underscores risk for Democrats," via THE HILL: New public opinion polls are moving against Democrats on impeachment as independents sour on the House inquiry and increasingly express opposition to the hearings that have consumed Washington in recent weeks.
The new data comes as a surprise to Democrats, many of whom believe witnesses have offered damning testimony about President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
MAXIMUM PRESSURE … "‘Combustible’: Trump’s pivotal moment with Iran," via POLITICO: [Iraqi] Protesters are calling for a complete overhaul of the government in response to Iran’s influence, lack of jobs, rampant corruption, and failed public services.
The protests "are not necessarily pro-American, but they’re very distinctly anti-Iranian," said a senior administration official. "And we think that’s one of the most positive developments we’ve seen in Iraq in a long, long time."
YANG PLAYS HARDBALL … "Andrew Yang won't return to MSNBC until they apologize 'on-air' to his campaign," via FOX NEWS: "Was asked to appear on @msnbc this weekend - and told them that I’d be happy to after they apologize on-air, discuss and include our campaign consistent with our polling, and allow surrogates from our campaign as they do other candidates’," he said. "They think we need them. We don’t."
Yang and his followers previously attacked MSNBC, noting the relatively low amount of speaking time he had in comparison to other candidates at Wednesday's Democratic debate.
AN INCONVENIENT BIRTH … "Outlets That Ripped Apart Bristol Palin’s 2008 Teen Pregnancy Gloss Over Hunter Biden’s Alleged New Kid," via DAILY CALLER: Multiple outlets have almost entirely or completely avoided reporting on Wednesday’s news that Hunter Biden allegedly fathered a 1-year-old in Arkansas.
These same outlets heavily reported on Bristol Palin, former Alaska Republican governor Sarah Palin’s daughter, in 2008 when the then-teenager was pregnant.
NEW BLOOMBERG TO GIVE ALL DEMS A PASS, CHANGES TO BE IMPERCEPTIBLE TO READERS … "Bloomberg News will avoid investigating Mike Bloomberg during his presidential campaign," via WAPO: [Bloomberg News Editor in Chief John] Micklethwait’s memo Sunday laid out what he called "basic principles" in covering Bloomberg’s political aspirations.
Most notably, he said his newsroom would continue "our tradition" of not investigating Bloomberg, his family and his wealth, "and we will extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries." A Bloomberg News spokeswoman, Kerri Chyka, also said the company won’t initiate stories about Bloomberg L.P., following a long-standing policy.
THAT WHOLE YALE THING … "Harvard-Yale game ends in near-darkness after climate change protest," via ESPN: Spectators rushed the field to stage a climate change protest at halftime of Saturday's Harvard-Yale game, delaying the start of the second half by nearly an hour and causing the game to finish in near-darkness …
The public-address announcer implored the group to leave, repeating, "As a courtesy to both teams, the game must resume." Protesters responded by chanting, "OK, boomer."
NO SAFE SPACES … "Documentary Takes Aim At Higher Ed’s Free Speech Violations," by WFB’s Graham Piro: Dennis Prager and Adam Carolla spend many of the early moments of their new documentary highlighting what makes them different, not what brings them together …
Prager said he aims to bring the message of free and open speech to the places where it is most threatened: the college campus.
THE BRIT HAS IT … "Stuart Varney’s Fresh Approach to Business Television," by WFB’s Collin Anderson: Varney & Co. has trounced CNBC—the once-dominant channel Varney called his "principal competitor" in 2016—for three consecutive years in the ratings. For the British-born Fox Business host, the show's success is attributable to much more than strong market coverage.
"We try to entertain, that's what we try to do," Varney told the Free Beacon. "I think people have an enormous amount of choice, and I want to stand out. And I think you can stand out by being different, in the sense that you cover money, and politics, in a different, fast-paced kind of way."
DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,079. Come back, Joe!
"They have him in the candidate-protection program." —Fmr. Obama Chief Strategist David Axelrod
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