Doing Your Own Research, Pence Speaks and It's Bad
The David Pakman Show - April 13, 2022
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Mike Pence's Speech Almost Makes Trump Speeches Seem Normal
Mike Pence delivered a speech yesterday at the University of Virginia and it was notable for how terrible and uninspiring it was. During the speech, Pence said that he “met Vladimir Putin,” “went toe to toe with him,” and “told him things he didn’t want to hear.” In right-wing circles, it’s imperative for politicians to make themselves appear alpha and that’s seemingly what Pence was trying to accomplish with this statement. At another point during the speech, Pence addressed the attack that occurred in a subway train in Brooklyn yesterday and then senselessly transitioned into making a joke about how he’s allowed to drive now that he’s no longer vice president. It’s unclear whether Pence has presidential ambitions and if he’d be able to gain any traction in a Republican primary, but his oratory inability certainly wouldn’t help him in such an effort.
GOP Strategist: Trump's Dwindling Rally Crowds Show His Base is Disappearing
A Republican strategist went on MSNBC this week and made the point that Donald Trump’s influence on the GOP appears to be waning based on the tiny crowds he’s drawing at his rallies. Susan Del Percio told MSNBC’s Cori Coffin, “those crowds are getting smaller and people aren’t buying into it, mostly because Republicans want to move on. They don’t want to talk about the big lie.” Trump’s crowd sizes certainly do appear to be shrinking. At an even in Selma, North Carolina over the weekend, only 1,000 to 2,000 people showed up, and in Commerce, Georgia a few weeks ago the attendance was also in the low thousands. Certainly, Trump believes crowd size to be a strong indicator of support from the people and the party but it’s never actually been so clear. Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden both beat Trump in the popular vote despite consistently drawing smaller crowds. While it’s entirely possible that the former president’s grasp on the GOP is dwindling, using crowd size to support that theory is not the strongest evidence.
From yesterday’s show:
LOL: Hannity Claims He Warned His Audience About Ivermectin
It has become conclusively known due to the results of randomized control trials that ivermectin is ineffective as a treatment for COVID-19, and Sean Hannity is finally speaking up about it. Hannity for months was one of the leading right wing voices saying that ivermectin, a drug primarily used for deworming, could help battle the coronavirus. Many argued the government didn’t want people to know about just how effective it was because that would stifle the mass vaccination effort. Now that the ivermectin-pushers have nothing to base their beliefs on, they’re starting to backtrack and in Hannity’s case, claim it never happened. The Fox News propagandist said on his radio show this week, “I had been telling people ivermectin . . . is that not the one thing that I kept saying there’s not a single study that I’ve seen that shows that it works?” Of course, there are plenty of instances of him pushing ivermectin as a COVID treatment, so this is a blatant attempt to rewrite history from Sean Hannity.
From yesterday’s show:
It's Baaaaack: COVID Spikes, Masks Back On?
There could be another wave of the COVID pandemic coming, as cases are trickling back up in some areas of the country due to the BA.2 omicron subvariant. It’s possible that due to the strain’s relative low lethality and pandemic fatigue, that many places won’t do anything to address the increasing case numbers. However, Philadelphia has announced they will be reinstating its indoor mask mandate due to a 50% jump in cases over the past ten days. Several universities have also announced that masks are coming back including Columbia, Georgetown, American, Rice, and Johns Hopkins. There’s also a component to this that COVID cases could be surging well beyond what’s reported because at-home tests and people who choose to forgo testing altogether don’t show up in the data. While many of us suspect the pandemic is wrapping up, this wouldn’t be the first time the virus came back with a vengeance.
More on the show:
--How to actually research a story you read or hear in the news
--Russian television is now regularly playing clips from Fox News for their propaganda value
--CNN+, CNN's new streaming service, has an absolutely disastrous launch and is already downsizing
--Donald Trump appears filled with glee at a recent event when talking about Nancy Pelosi contracting COVID
--Fox News host Maria Bartiromo suggests impeaching Joe Biden, and it's too crazy even for Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
--Oklahoma Republicans pass a law forcing women to have the baby's of their rapists as Roe v Wade is now in serious jeopardy as we await the forthcoming Supreme Court decision
--Voicemail caller suggests David is racist for mentioning Oprah Winfrey's responsibility for making Mehmet Oz a household name
--On the Bonus Show: Gunman fires 33 times in Brooklyn subway attack, Shanghai residents scream from windows during lockdown, Elon Musk saves $143 million by late reporting of Twitter stake, much more...
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