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Editors’ Note: Running until the final general election results come in, the Deadline ElectionLine podcast spotlights the 2024 campaign and the blurred lines between politics and entertainment in modern America. Hosted by Washington bureau chief Ted Johnson and senior editor Dominic Patten, the podcast features commentary and interviews with top lawmakers and entertainment figures. At the same time, you can follow all the news in Biden & Trump rematch and more on the ElectionLine hub on Deadline.
Scandal and satire have been a significant part of political life in America since before George Washington crossed the Delaware. In that grand tradition, we tackle both topics today on the Deadline ElectionLine podcast – as you can hear above.
Breaking away from breaking news for a second, CNN’s Jake Tapper joins us today to talk about his upcoming United States of Scandal series, which debuts with two episodes on February 18. Hosted by Tapper, the stylized US of Scandal dives into the sometimes-sordid stories of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey and former VP candidate John Edwards, to name an infamous and sometimes incarcerated few.
“They are not anomalies,” Tapper told us of United States of Scandal’s subjects and the long history of impropriety in American public life. “They are part of our body politic because our politicians are people, and they are often people with large egos and hubris dating all the way back to Alexander Hamilton and his affair.
“What I wanted to do with this series was to go back and see some of the more recent one where the players are still alive, still willing to tell their stories and learn things we didn’t learn at the time.”
Speaking of which, as well as discussing political scandals heading into this Trump Era, a bit of the Bard, Star Wars‘ JarJar Binks (seriously), and the very busy Tapper’s new series, we also learned about what the journalist is up to next in his writing career and Hollywood adaptations of his work (can you say “streamer”?). Also, with now ex-Rep George Santos as but one of many examples, could there be a Season 2 of United States of Scandal? Find out.
After nearly a decade in the wilderness and AppleTV+, Jon Stewart returned as host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show on February 12. Mocking himself almost as much as he poked the aged Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Stewart will be at the fake anchor’s desk on the fake news show every Monday up to and probably a bit beyond the election.
Stewart’s return snared 1.9 million viewers on Comedy Central and across parent company Paramount Global’s various outlets and streamers.
It was a good number, but what does Jon Stewart realty mean in 2024? Or to put it bluntly: Is Jon Stewart still Jon Stewart? Can the admirable advocate for 9/11 responders and veterans really cut through the noise in a multi-platform universe very different from what he left behind in 2015?
Also, President Joe Biden is coming back to Los Angeles on February 20 for another round of up-close and personal fundraisers.
The incumbent hovered up $15 million on his last donor rich visit to the Southland and looks certain to repeat that Hollywood ATM withdrawal this time. Biden will be among familiar faces with deep pocketed shindigs hosted by Haim and Cheryl Saban and Casey Wasserman.. However, since his last trip out to Tinseltown just weeks ago, the mood around the 81-year-old president has shifted, in more ways than one.,
Released on February 8, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s 388-page report exonerated the president over classified documents in his possession after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. At the same time, while Hur’s report declared there would be no charges against Biden, it also offered a damning assessment of the Commander-in-Chief. In words re-quoted over and over in the past week, the report said one reason the president wasn’t being charged is that “at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did in our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
Vice President Harris and all the President’s men rushed to insist Biden is fully engaged, but the man himself did himself not favors with a quickly called press conference late on February 8 where he confused Mexico and Egypt.
They’ll still be writing big checks, but you can be sure Hollywood donors will be looking to see how engaged Biden is when he is out in LA next week.
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