Monthly Archives: June 2021

Why Google is focusing its consumer health efforts on Fitbit – MedCity News

Posted: June 28, 2021 at 9:40 pm

When it comes to consumer health, Apple has kept a step ahead of Google, between winning FDA clearance for an atrial fibrillation feature for Apple Watch, to adding a feature for people to manage their health records. But after its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, Google seems to be making the wearables company the focus of its consumer health efforts.

Recently, the company shuffled its health business, moving roughly 130 of its 700 workers to its Fitbit and Search divisions, according to a report by Business Insider. Fitbit will gain some of the teams that were working on health sensors and personal health records, according to the report. None of the remaining Google Health employees will be focused on consumer technology, leaving Fitbit to lead that charge.

Analysts interviewed by MedCity News said its no surprise that Google would focus its consumer health efforts on Fitbit, given the broad reach of its devices and its inroads with health plans.

The majority of Fitbits customers are consumers, which makes it important for both Google and Fitbit to focus on, Ramon Llamas, a research director at IDC covering mobile devices, wrote in an email.

But the company still faces a big challenge in elevating wearables beyond a nice-to-have device to something with clinical value.

If you look at what Apple is messaging or what Samsung is messaging with these deviceshealthcare or wellness is a must-have, said Julie Ask, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester.

Adding to analytics, wellnessIts difficult to know what all Google has planned for Fitbit. With Googles announcement of the acquisition, Googles senior vice president of devices and services said it would bring its software, hardware and AI expertise.

With Googles scale, Ask said its likely that the tech giant would be able to contribute some resources that Fitbit didnt have.

She and Llamas speculated that most new features would build on Fitbits health and wellness efforts, as well as the data collected by these devices.

While Fitbit started with more of a walled garden strategy, it may look to add more health services that can build on the wearable data users collect.

Its about services you can build around the insights, Ask said. Its not that unique that you can take my heart rate or detect an arrhythmia.

Fitbit also helps fill a big hole in Googles healthcare strategy. Whie it had struck some partnerships with smartwatch-makers, most of them didnt focus on wellness features. The companys own health and fitness app, Google Fit, also has not kept up, Llamas said.

Meanwhile, Fitbit has helped develop some of the best-in-class health and fitness applications out there. This seems like a clear fit for Google, he wrote.

Of course, one big challenge that Fitbit and its competitors face is taking these features beyond a wellness use case. Most wearable device users are affluent and active to begin with, according to a Forrester analysis, making them less likely to reach people with the most health needs.

And even with FDA-cleared indications, most doctors still dont use data from the devices in their practice.

These are still primarily wellness devices, Ask said. Doctors dont trust the data uniformly and they arent used day-to-day by MDs. Its not the primary thing thats informing their decisions about treatment.

Googles broader health strategyThis isnt the first time Alphabet has switched up its health efforts. It previously rolled DeepMinds health team into Google Health, and its other major healthcare effort, Verily, also shuffled its leadership last year.

The company has tested a variety of projects, from trying to build a consumer-facing health records tool, to attempts to build an AI tool to screen for diabetic retinopathy. Not all of them have been successful.

Its harder to know what Alphabets strategy is, Ask said. Theyre more likely than Apple to put out a lot of different bets.

For its part, Google shared few details about the restructuring. In an email, the company stated that it had brought together some teams to combine expertise and focus our efforts on health and wellness.

The remaining Google Health team will build products for clinicians, conduct research and ensure all-health related projects at the company meet high standards.

Photo credit: Fitbit

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Save $30 (and energy) with a Google Nest Thermostat for $100 – CNET

Posted: at 9:40 pm

Google

Google's latest Nest Thermostat already had a better price than its predecessors. Even at $130, weclocked this as a great buy, but right now you can score the sleek Nest Thermostat for $30 off,down to $100 on Amazon. Not only are you saving a cool $30, but the device may very well pay for itself over time,since it can be programmed to turn off your heat or AC when you leave the house -- even in a rush -- keeping your overall energy output lean and green. This is the lowest the model has dropped on Amazon to date.

In addition to the lower price tag, the most recent iteration of the smart thermostat has design improvements including a slimmer build and a reconfigured app. As with previous Nest models, this thermostat has built-in motion, temperature, humidity and ambient light sensors. It works withAlexaandGoogle Assistantand has remote access via the Google Home app.

Read more:Nest Thermostat review: A better Nest for less

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Save $30 (and energy) with a Google Nest Thermostat for $100 - CNET

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Google likely to soon face antitrust claims over Play store from U.S. states – sources – Reuters

Posted: at 9:40 pm

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - A group of state attorneys general may file a lawsuit against Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google as early as next week, accusing the search and advertising giant of violating antitrust law in running its mobile app store, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The anticipated lawsuit follows complaints from app developers about Google's management of its Play Store for Android devices, according to one source. The lawsuit has been in the works since last year and has already been delayed, but seems close again, the sources said.

The investigation by the state attorneys general is being led by Utah, Tennessee, North Carolina and New York. It is unclear how many states will participate.

Two sources said the case is likely to be filed in federal court in Northern California, where related cases are being heard. These include a lawsuit that video game maker Epic Games Inc filed against Google last year, accusing it of having anticompetitive app store rules. It is expected to go to trial in 2022.

There also are two proposed class-action lawsuits over the Play store before the same judge. If the states want to participate in depositions and other pre-trial activities, they would have to file fairly soon, one source said.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Epic are awaiting the verdict in a similar California lawsuit after a trial that ended last month.

A Google spokesperson defended their app store as open.

"Android is the only major operating system that allows people to download apps from multiple app stores. In fact, most Android devices ship with two or more app stores preinstalled. They can also install additional app stores or apps directly from their browser if they choose," the spokesperson said.

Google was originally seen as more open in how it ran its app store than Apple but has tightened rules recently and increased enforcement of those rules.

The lawsuit is expected to focus on Google's requirement that some apps use the company's payment tools to sell subscriptions and content and pay Google as much as 30% of sales, according to two sources.

App makers like music streaming service Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N) and dating services giant Match Group (MTCH.O), which owns the Tinder app, have long accused both Google, as well as Apple, of being anti-competitive in demanding mandatory revenue sharing.

This latest lawsuit is being planned at a time of unusually vigorous debate over whether federal antitrust enforcement is too lax. Many people, including Senator Amy Klobuchar who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, have pressed for tougher enforcement.

Google already faces a federal lawsuit brought by the Justice Department last year and related antitrust cases brought by two separate groups of attorneys general. One is led by Texas and focused on advertising while the other targets Google's alleged efforts to extend its dominance in search to newer markets, like voice assistants.

Reporting by Diane Bartz, Paresh Dave and Karen Freifeld. Editing by Jonathan Weber and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Google likely to soon face antitrust claims over Play store from U.S. states - sources - Reuters

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There Is A Good Chance Google Travels Ambitions Are About To Be Reined In, Legislatively – Skift

Posted: at 9:40 pm

Googles travel industry rivals may eventually get competitive relief under a series of bills approved by a U.S. House of Representative committee.

Under the American Choice and Innovation Online Act, which passed a House committee 24-20 Wednesday in the face of intense oppositional lobbying, Google, as well as Facebook and Amazon, would be barred from giving preference to their own products, services, or lines of business over those of competitors.

Under the threat of penalties that could amount to 15-30 percent of their U.S. revenue, the big platforms would likewise be prohibited from using non-public data generated on their platforms to support the platforms products or services.

Six months after the bills potential adoption, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission would create a bureau of digital markets to enforce the measure, under the bills provisions.

Although not specifically mentioned in the House measure, which would still have to go before the full House and Senate for consideration, Google would presumably have to change its practice of giving preferential treatment to Google Flights, Google Hotels, and Google Things To Do over advertisers such as United Airlines, Expedia, Tripadvisor, Marriott, and GetYourGuide, for example.

If you searched on Google for New York hotels today, the first organic element youd see below the advertisements is a Google four-pack with a colorful map, hotel photos, star ratings and numbers of reviews. Google says this unit is organically generated, but selecting any of the four hotels in the box takes users into Google Hotels. Thats Googles mostly paid universe of hotel advertisements.

So instead of a search result taking travelers to Expedia or HomesToGo, the travelers stays on Google to be enticed by advertisements, which are Googles bread and butter.

Meanwhile, in the relative netherworld below the artful Google hotel box in search results are the first traditionally free listings from Booking.com, Hotels.com, and Tripadvisor.

Google would argue that Google Hotels is not a mostly paid universe of hotel advertisements since there are free links to hotel websites there, and the company recently added free links beneath the paid advertisements.

The legislation would seemingly ensure that Google doesnt give its own advertising businesses that huge advantage over non-paying competitors in its search engine.

Googles critics, who as a rule are also partners, have been calling for the U.S. government to level the competitive playing field regarding Google for years. Google has taken a huge chunk of business from Tripadvisor and Expedia, for example, and they are two of Googles most vocal critics.

In a statement, MarkIsakowitz, Googles vice president of government affairs and public policy, said Google is not opposed to updated regulations.

But American consumers and small businesses would be shocked at how these bills would break many of their favorite services, Isakowitz said. As many groups and companies have observed, the bills would require us to degrade our services and prevent us from offering important features used by hundreds of millions of Americans. This would all dramatically undermine US technology leadership, damage the way small businesses connect with consumers, and raise serious privacy and security concerns.

He suggested that Congress should give more thoughtful consideration to the bills before taking further action.

Representative from Tripadvisor and Expedia didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

The action in the U.S. Congress comes as the European Union is readying a formal investigation into Googles advertising technology practices.

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Dave Taylor: How can I search without being tracked? – Longmont Times-Call

Posted: at 9:40 pm

Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer

Q: I appreciate that you talk about ways we can regain some privacy and anonymity online, Dave. Can you tell me how I can do Web searches without being tracked by Google or Microsoft?

A: Lets start out by stating something obvious: Google owns the search marketplace by fielding a staggering 92% of all online searches, according to statista.com. Where that gets really startling is when you realize that Google saves every search you ever do.

To be fair, its not publicly accessible, so I cant find out what my neighbors been typing into the search box at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night (thank goodness!). But still, the privacy implications are pretty astonishing when most people still figure everything they do on the Internet is ephemeral.

Google also uses this historical data to contextualize your search, so it knows that when I search for mustang its probably about the car, while your identical search is more likely about wild horses.

But if youd prefer not to have a history of your searches, there are a couple of options you can choose to better hold on to your privacy. You may be surprised to learn this but incognito mode will not stop your searches being saved in your Google profile. Turns out thats just a way to avoid your activities leaving stray files and similar on your computer itself.

You can actually go into your Google account settings to delete your entire search history and turn off having your future searches saved, too. Youll want to go to myactivity.google.com and youll see your most recent searches front and center. Click on the trashcan icon to delete them, and from there you can also change your settings. Handy.

Easily one of the stranger names for a useful Web service, DuckDuckGo offers a familiar search interface and rich advanced search language coupled with zippy performance. Except it doesnt track you, doesnt save your searches, and generally lets you retain your anonymity while exploring the nooks and crannies of the World Wide Web. Its at DuckDuckGo.com.

In case youre wondering, yes, the companys name is indeed a reference to the childrens game duck, duck, goose!

A new entry in the privacy-centric search space is from the makers of one of the best privacy-focused Web browsers: Brave. I already use the browser and like its ability to block quite a lot of the secret activities of Web sites I visit. It even reports when it blocks nefarious activities, tracking cookies, and similar.

As a logical extension of its brand, Brave is now in beta release with its own non-tracking search engine and from my tests, its terrific. You can check out the browser at brave.com and the search engine is at search.brave.com.

Whatever path you take, being aware of privacy risks online makes you a savvy Internet user. Well done.

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. He runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter.

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Dave Taylor: How can I search without being tracked? - Longmont Times-Call

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Donald Trump returns to campaign trail with rally …

Posted: at 9:40 pm

Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail with a rally in Ohio on Saturday night, campaigning against a Republican who voted for his impeachment and trailing his own candidacy for president in 2024.

Trump repeated his baseless election 2020 grievances and painted a dystopian picture of the country under Democratic control, while in another echo the past, the crowd chanted Lock her up at the mention of Hillary Clinton, the Democrat he defeated in 2016.

The rally outside Cleveland on Saturday was to support Max Miller, a former White House aide challenging Anthony Gonzalez, a former college football and NFL star censured by his state party for voting for Trumps impeachment.

While he praised Miller as an incredible patriot and a great guy who loves the people of Ohio, Trump spent much of the rally fixating on the 2020 election, which he insists he won. This is despite top state and local election officials, his own attorney general and numerous judges, including some he appointed, saying there is no evidence of the mass voter fraud he alleges took place.

The 2020 presidential election was rigged, he told the crowd, which at one point broke into a Trump won! chant. We won that election in a landslide.

When Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican from Georgia known for her incendiary rhetoric, asked the crowd who their president is, they boomed loudly, Trump!

President Trump is my president, too, she said.

The event had many of the trappings of the rallies Trump held as a candidate and as president. There was the eclectic playlist, the same stage design, and many familiar volunteers.

In the lead-up to the event, Trump told the conservative Newsmax channel: Were giving tremendous endorsements.

Fake Republicans, anybody that voted for the impeachment doesnt get it. But there werent too many of them. And I think most of them are being primaried right now, so thats good. Ill be helping their opponent.

Trumps first impeachment, for abusing his power in approaches to Ukraine, attracted one Republican vote, that of the Utah senator Mitt Romney. In his second, for inciting the deadly US Capitol attack, 10 House Republicans and seven in the Senate voted for Trumps guilt.

Trump was acquitted twice but banned from major social media platforms over his role in the Capitol attack. Regardless, he dominates the Republican party.

All bar one of the House Republicans who voted against him have attracted challengers. The 10th, John Katko of New York, co-authored a proposal for an independent, 9/11-style commission to investigate the 6 January attack on Congress, in which a mob roamed the Capitol, looking for lawmakers to capture or kill in an attempt to overturn the election. Senate Republicans blocked it.

By Saturday afternoon, traffic was backed up from the fairgrounds into town, where pro-Trump signs dotted residents lawns. On street corners, vendors sold Trump 2024 flags and other merchandise as supporters arrived.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right congresswoman from Georgia who was stripped of her committee assignments over a number of extreme comments, mingled with attendees and took pictures.

Trump has said he didnt win the election but has not formally conceded defeat by Joe Biden and continues to voice his lie that the loss was the result of electoral fraud.

On Friday he told Newsmax he would be making an announcement in the not too distant future about whether he will run again, and said supporters were going to be thrilled by election results in 2024.

We want a little time to go by, maybe watch what happens in [2022], he said.

In those midterm elections, Republicans hope to retake the House and Senate.

Trumps legal problems mounted on Friday, as his own lawyer confirmed that charges are likely in the investigation of the Trump Organization by the Manhattan district attorney. The companys chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, and the company itself are in prosecutors sights.

Many observers point out that Trumps many legal problems did not stop him winning the presidency in 2016 and are unlikely to put off many Republican voters should he run for the White House again.

In his Newsmax interview, the former president referred to his problems and to those affecting Rudy Giuliani, Trumps lawyer and loyal ally. The former New York mayor this week saw his law license suspended, over his advancement of Trumps election fraud lie.

Right now, Trump said, Im helping a lot of people get into office, and were fighting the deep state, and were fighting [the] radical left. Theyre after me, Theyre after Rudy, theyre after you, probably. Theyre after anybody.

The deep state conspiracy theory holds that a permanent government of bureaucrats and operatives exists to thwart Trump. Steve Bannon, Trumps campaign chairman in 2016 then a White House strategist and chief propagator of the theory, has said it is for nut cases.

Theyre vicious, Trump went on, and they dont do a good job and theyre very bad for the country But Ive been fighting them for five and a half years.

Since I came down the escalator [at Trump Tower in New York in June 2015, to announce his run for president], Ive been fighting them. These are vicious people I honestly believe they dont love this country.

Trump has spent much of his post-presidency at his Florida resort and his golf course in New Jersey. He also told Newsmax he was working very hard not only for 2024, but were working very hard to show the corruption of what took place in 2020, and then we see what happens.

Trumps rallies have been an instrumental part of his brand since he launched his 2016 campaign. The former reality star often test-drives new material and talking points to see how they resonate with crowds. His political operation uses the events to collect critical voter contact information and as fundraising tools.

The rallies have spawned hardcore fans who traveled the country, often camping out overnight to snag prime spots. Some such supporters began lining up outside the Ohio venue days early this week.

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Still reeling from election loss, Trump says Mitch McConnell ‘blew it’ for America – Courier Journal

Posted: at 9:40 pm

McConnell decries Beshear's plan surrounding unemployment benefits

McConnell met with local officials about the best ways to incentivize workers to return to the workforce.

Michael Clevenger, Louisville Courier Journal

Former President Donald Trump slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for not contesting the 2020 presidential electionin a statement Monday, saying the Kentucky Republican "blew it for the Country."

"Had Mitch McConnell fought for the Presidency like he should have, there would right now be Presidential Vetoes on all of the phased Legislation that he has proven to be incapable of stopping," Trump said.

Trump has continued to claim the 2020 election which saw President Joe Biden win the popular vote and Electoral College was fraudulent and encouraged his followers by sharing disproven information before and after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January.

Since acknowledging Biden's win when he secured the Electoral College, McConnell has notpublicly suggested the presidential election was illegitimate, though he did not vote to convict Trump when he was impeached for his role in the riots.

More McConnell: McConnell pans Beshear's 'back-to-work' incentive, urges end to $300 unemployment benefit

McConnell did say afterthe insurrection that"The mob was fed lies.They were provoked by the president and other powerful people."

In his latest statement, Trump also blames McConnell for Republicans' losses in two special elections in Georgia that swung control of the U.S. Senate to Democrats.

"He never fought for the White House and blew it for the Country," the statement reads. "Too bad I backed him in Kentucky, he would have been primariedand lost!"

McConnell's last serious primary challenge was mounted in 2014 by former Gov. Matt Bevin, who declined to run for Senate again in 2020 in the wake of a pardon scandal at the end of his gubernatorial term. The longtime senator had seven primary opponents in 2020 but won easily. He then crushed Democrat Amy McGrath in the November general election.

Trumpgoes on to allege "based on press reports" that McConnell worked with then-U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr "to get the corrupt (based on massive amounts of evidence that the Fake News refuses to mention!) election done, over with, and sealed for Biden, ASAP!"

Emails: Trump White House pressured Justice Department to back claims of voter fraud

That portion of the statement appears to reference conversations between Barr and McConnell in which the then-Senate Majority Leader urged Barr to refute Trump's false claims of voter fraud that was reported in the Atlantic on Sunday in an excerpt from an ABC News' journalist's new book.

ABC's Jonathan Karl confirmed the conversations with McConnell and Barr, he says in the Atlantic.

Trump, who is banned from most major social media outlets, has releasednumerous brief statements like Monday's since he left office, targeting various issues and political figures.

He's targeted McConnell before previouslycalling him an "unsmiling political hack" and "gutless and clueless."

The former president is also back to holding rallies, appearing in Ohio on Saturday.

USAToday and Courier Journal reporter Morgan Watkins contributed to the reporting of this story.

Reach reporterMary Ramsey atmramsey@gannett.com, and follow her on Twitter@mcolleen1996. Support strong local journalism in our community bysubscribing to The Courier Journaltoday.

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Still reeling from election loss, Trump says Mitch McConnell 'blew it' for America - Courier Journal

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QAnon Followers Think They See Donald Trump in White House Window Reflection – Newsweek

Posted: at 9:40 pm

A number of supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory are claiming that Donald Trump can be seen in the reflection of a window in a photo posted on the POTUS Instagram page showing President Joe Biden inside the Oval Office.

Influential advocates of the radical movement with large followings on messaging service Telegram shared the Instagram picture showing Biden on the phone to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer while urging people to look at the figure whose back can be seen in the window reflection.

"Did you see who's in the reflection?," QAnon Telegram account We The Pepe, which has more than 75,000 followers, wrote. "Go see for yourself."

MelQ, another major QAnon figure on Telegram with 140,000 followers, told people to look at the reflection after sharing a similar post from another account with more than 88,000 subscribers on the app.

The posts were met with hundreds of replies agreeing that the person seen is somehow Trump, a savior-like figure for QAnon supporters who they believe will be reinstated as president. Others said the photo is probably an edited image from Trump's time in the White House.

"Proof that patriots are running the show. Doctored up an old photo of Trump, inserted Biden, left the reflection of Trump in the window to tie to Q post," Telegram user MySearchfor Truth wrote.

Another user said: "Did they just photoshop mumbles Biden into a picture that was taken while DJT was in office. Asking for my fren [friend] that questions everything."

Telegram user Barbara Limandri added: "That ain't Biden's head/shoulders. That's DJT...rightful POTUS!!"

As is usually the case with many of their claims, the popular QAnon advocates pointed to old posts from their mysterious leader known as "Q" to justify their latest conspiracy.

The QAnon conspiracy emerged as people began decoding cryptic messages that emerged on controversial messageboard site 4chan in October 2017. The posts claimed to be from a government official with access to top security clearance. The first post suggested that Hillary Clinton would soon be arrested, a prediction that never came to fruition.

Over the next few years, thousands of the cryptic messages were posted on 4chan, before moving to similar messageboard sites 8chan and 8kun, which were deciphered by QAnon supporters to form the basis of movement's beliefs, including that there exists a secret cabal of satanic pedophiles that leading Democrat figures are part of.

However, the frequency of these messages drastically slowed down after Trump lost the election in November, with there being no new post from "Q" since December 8. The final message on 8kun is merely a YouTube link to a pro-Trump video containing Twisted Sister's song "We're Not Gonna Take It."

It is also alleged that the mysterious figure who has been writing the posts on 8kun was not a high-ranking government official, but Ron Watkins, the site's former administrator, which he has frequently denied.

The lack of new posts hasn't deterred QAnon, whose followers now merely decipher the catalogue of thousands of existing messages as a form of confirmation bias to justify their beliefs and suggest any world event was actually long predicted by Q.

In this case, Trump appearing in a reflection of an Oval Office was foretold by Q posts from March 2019 which state: "Find the Reflection inside the castle" and "reflections are important."

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QAnon Followers Think They See Donald Trump in White House Window Reflection - Newsweek

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Donald Trump Denies That He Asked Justice Department To Go After Saturday Night Live – Deadline

Posted: at 9:40 pm

Donald Trump issued a statement denying a report in The Daily Beast that he was so upset over his portrayal on Saturday Night Live that he inquired with advisers whether the Justice Department or the FCC could take action.

In a statement, the former president said, The story that I asked the Department of Justice to go after ratings challenged (without Trump) Saturday Night Live, and other late night losers, is total Fake News. It was fabricated, there were no sources, and yet the Lamestream Media goes with it.

The Daily Beast didnt go as far as reporting that Trump asked the DOJ to go after SNLbut that the then-president asked about it. The Beast cited two unnamed sources in reporting that in 2019, Trump asked advisers and lawyers whether the government entities could do to probe or mitigateSNL, Jimmy Kimmel, and other late-night comedy mischief-makers.

Trumps upset with the show and other late-night comics was no secret. Around the time, he tweeted, Its truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live, not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over &, over, without so much of a mention of the other side. Like an advertisement without consequences. Same with Late Night Shows. Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this?

As he had done before, Trump appeared to be referring to the FCCs Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to present balanced points of view. But the Fairness Doctrine was abandoned in the 1980s. Ironically, the FCCs existing Equal Time Rule, which requires stations to give candidates equal airtime on non-news programming, forced some NBC outlets to give other GOP hopefuls airtime when Trump hosted SNL in 2015.

In his statement, Trump also blasted Alec Baldwin, who portrayed him on SNL, as no talent, certainly when it comes to imitating me. The one who had what it took was Darrell Hammond.

Trump also said that the late-night shows were one-sided and should be considered an illegal campaign contribution from the Democrat Party. Capitalizing on the attention that the SNL story is getting, Trump also reiterated his unfounded claims of election fraud and added the phrase, 2024 or before! The latter is a reference to claims swirling through right-wing media that Trump somehow will be reinstated to the White House.

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Reports of a "diminished" Trump are greatly exaggerated he can ride the Big Lie to a 2024 win – Salon

Posted: at 9:40 pm

The new wordof the dayto describe Donald Trump in the mainstream media is "diminished."The former president, after weeks of threats, finally had a rally Saturday in Ohio anditwas a merely a shadow of what he was able to pull off when he was president.As Heather "Digby" Parton writes, "nobody really cared" beyond the "MAGA faithful." The rally was"reflective ofhow diminished Mr. Trump has becomein his post-presidency, and how reliant he is on a smaller group of allies and supporters who have adopted his alternate reality as their own," writes Jeremy Peters of the New York Times.Trump's speech was "low-key, digressive and nearly 90 minutes long," Petersadds, noting that"[s]cores of people left early"due to the tedium.

On Saturday,Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post also reported that "some around him and in senior positions" in the GOP want Trump to be sparing in his endorsements and attempts to get attention by leeching onto state and local campaigns. They are "fearful that losses and a diminished brand could backfire by allowing Democrats to maintain control of the House and Senateand weaken his standingbefore the next presidential contest," the Post reporters write.

This round of "Trump-is-diminished" reporting follows a similar round just three weeks ago, in which similar stories in the New York Times and Washington Postcovered the seeming paradox of Republican politicians cowering in fear of Trump, even though, as Philip Bump of the Post wrote, "his actual voice has been enormously diminished."

No doubt, in the eyes of people who are not fascism-curious,the rally in Ohio Saturday was a pathetic-seeming affair. Trump's speech was a rambling, whiny mess, in which he predictably harped on the Big Lie, and rambled on about the same obsessions he trots out in every speech, right down to the "lock her up" chants aimed at Hillary Clinton in 2016. The crowd was mostly cranks, the kind of people you'll cross a streetto avoid being trapped in a conversation with. And the opening act, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was even more unsubtle than usual about being a racist weirdo.

Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only.

But in this, nothing is new.

Trump has always been a tedious, long-winded narcissist, and his fans always get visibly bored listening to his ever-longer bellyaching sessions he calls "speeches." Yet they show up anyway, again and again. They showed up at the polls in 2020 in eye-popping numbers, only beaten because Democratic voters were even more determined to throw Trump out. And while it is undoubtedly boring to listen to Trump go on and on with his lame conspiracy theories accusing Biden of stealing the election, the Big Lie has real power to propel Trump to victory in both the 2024 Republican primary and in the race for the White House.

That's because Trump supporters, whatever he might like to believe, are not attracted to his non-existent wit or charm. Trump's appeal has always been about what he represents. His followers see the country morphing into a more egalitarian and diverse nation, and feel deeply threatened, believing that white conservatives should have an unquestioned right to rule over the rest of us. Trump is popular mainly because his followers believe that, due to his shamelessness and unending aggression, he's their best vehicle for establishing the authoritarian rule that is their only real hope of retaining control over a changing nation.

A new poll from Monmouth University shows that 32% of Americans essentially the Trump base claim to believe Trump's Big Liethat Biden stole the election. This number remains unchanged since January, despitea total lack of evidence, a multitude of debunkings, and repeated accounts by GOP officials in the states confirming that the election was fair.

Evidence doesn't matter to Trumpers, however, because the Big Lie isn't really about the literal truth about what happened in the 2020 election.

Like most myths, both religious and secular, Trump's Big Lie speaks more to a deeper belief held by the right, which is that they and they alone deserve to rule. Anyone who votes against them, therefore, is inherently illegitimate. As Adam Serwer recently wrote in the New York Times, Republicans view the Democratic coalition of people of color and white liberals as "usurpers" and "Americans they consider unworthy of the name." Their belief that the election was stolen feels true, even if it is not literally true, because they ultimately don't think the people who voted for Biden should have had that right in the first place.

Biden himself trotted out the D-word recently, insisting that "the Republican Party is vastly diminished in numbers" after Trump. The comments were widely criticized becauseTrump's showing of 74 million voters, while fewer than Biden's 81 million, was still more people who voted for a Republican than ever before in the history of this country. At the same time, Biden was correct in saying that Trumpers are a "significant minority of the American people," as that 32% number attests. Of coursethat 32% believe, through Trump, that they can install themselves, perhaps permanently, as the ruling faction, much in the way that authoritarians across the globe are seizing control of democratic governments.

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They're not wrong to believe this. The pathway to forever-Trumpism is not mysterious. Trumpers already control the GOP, with the majority of Republican voters citing a belief in the Big Lie to the Monmouth pollsters. Barring some major intervention, such as being arrested, Trump's path to the nomination is clear. Once he gets it, he'll be able to rally massive support. It's not just because he turns out crackpots who otherwise don't vote. Traditional Republicans, even the ones who told pollsters they don't believe the Big Lie, would clearly rather vote for a fascist than a Democrat, as the 2020 election showed. Plus, Trump's pathway to stealing the electionis being cleared by Republicans in state legislatures who are passing oodles of laws meant to keep Democrats from voting or invalidating their votes if they do turn out anyway.

Trump's massive ego leads him to believehe presents a terrifying threat, but his real superpower is getting his opponents to underestimate him. It's just hard to listen to that bloviating gasbag whineand believe that anyone could bother to give him the time of day, much less the power of the presidency.

But it's not about Trump. It never was. It's about a very real movement of people who have a visible and soundstrategy for undermining democracy and installing themselves into a position of permanent minority rule. Most of them may not show up at rallies to listen to Trump complain about nonsense for an hour and a half, but they definitely vote. With the aid of GOP voter suppression, they can overcome the majority that is Democratic. The Trumpers may be falling out of sight, but they are still there and ready to strike. That threatshould never be out of mind.

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Reports of a "diminished" Trump are greatly exaggerated he can ride the Big Lie to a 2024 win - Salon

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