A little bird passes along nuggets from "Media Madness," by Fox News host Howard Kurtz, out Jan. 29:
During the campaign, Jared Kushner called CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker after the network's fact-checkers had declared part of a Trump speech false:
- “Jeff, this is just unfair,” Kushner said. “You’re looking for things to pick apart.”
- “Look, you can’t win without CNN,” Zucker said, citing an audience study by David Axelrod, the Obama aide he now employed as a commentator.
- Jared begged to differ: “You have 1 million viewers, and 70 percent of them aren’t in swing states.”
Kurtz writes that during the transition, Trump wanted to arrange a summit meeting with the New York Times:
- Sean Spicer was opposed: "Mr. President, I think that’s a very bad idea. They’re never going to treat you fairly. They’ll twist what you say."
- Trump exploded: “I know how to fucking take care of myself."
- When the meeting approached, Trump asked, “Why are we doing this?”
P.S. "Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced ... it will publish Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling on April 24 ... from award-winning New York Times journalist Amy Chozick."