instead of paying thousands. all commission free online. schwab stock slices: an easy way to start investing or to give the gift of stock ownership. schwab. own your tomorrow. ♪ howie: this is media buzz. i'm howard kurtz. we have a packed lineup including trump campaign press secretary hogan gidley, frank luntz and congresswoman debbie dingell. if you needed one phrase to contrast the media coverage of the republican and democratic conventions it would be this, nightnight and day. that was true as president trump delivered his acceptance speech to mixed media reviews. >> biden is not a savior of america's soul. he is the destroyer of america's

jobs. and if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of american greatness. your vote will decide whether we protect law abiding americans or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists and agitators and criminals. >> what we saw tonight was a disservice to the american people. it was a cheapening and devaluing of the people's house. >> it was such a stark contradiction between the carefully scripted message of this campaign to reach out to remaining undecideds and independents and what donald trump delivered which is fear mongering. >> it was an incredible and electric speech by the president. some saying it was a little too long. but this was his moment and he connected with this audience here and across the country. >> all the big arguments were there, the main messages, the biggest of all i think was the basic positioning of the election choice, which is the

republicans are pro-america and the democrats are anti-america. >> it's joe biden's fault for the american carnage that has spread across the united states of america, despite the fact that mr. biden has not been in the white house for four years and he has. howie: the overall tone of the coverage was sharply negative beginning when the president gave his speech in north carolina the first day. >> what we have just heard from the president was a grievance-filled informal acceptance speech that was filled with so many made up problems about mail-in voting that if we were to air just the truthful parts we probably could only air maybe a sentence, if that much. >> it was a night of revisionist history here at the republican national convention, filled with an alternative reality. howie: joining us now to analyze the coverage is emily compagno, and here in d.c., susan ferrechio, chief congressional correspondent for

the washington examiner and philippe reines, a former state department official under hillary clinton. many pundits are casting president trump's attacks on biden as way over the top, by saying, well, he's been president for nearly four years and this is happening in donald trump's america. fair point? >> right, fair point, that's exactly what the coverage is doing. i note thereints on what to be optimistic about. in his attacks on joe biden they said he was the one that was part of the government when there was relative peace and prosperity, quote, and eight years of economic growth. when they say that now, president trump, quote, defiant and dark as ever, are levying joe biden as the source of the problem. howie: yeah. philippe, what's lost in the media outrage as the republicans and their rhetoric, there was a lot of abomb poc apock of apocat the democratic convention 4r569

week. with so much vitriol on each side, each guy saying the other would take the country into a hell-scape, is there any chance this cancels each other out? >> well, you you know, polling this morning released by abc does not bear that out. it does seem that joe biden did himself more good than donald trump did, his favorability rating basically improved a little bit. he being vice president biden. donald trump stayed even or to some extent lowered. so it really depends what they're trying to do. which take, note, what's interesting about the convention is how much it sidelined the media. while we're discussing the media's role in it, the clips you just ran, whether they were from fox or of cnn or msnbc, they all ran at 11:30, midnight or 6:00 in the morning. from i guess 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. until 11:30 p.m., both parties

had a stretch of time really almost without interruption where you can't buy that kind of time. that's like buying 1,000 30 second commercials in a row we call them info he info infomerc. >> you only get that once a year. howie: there was some exceptions -- susan, a major media criticism was the gathering at the white house, more than 1500 people, shoulder to shoulder, mostly not wearing masks and the use of the white house as a political backdrop. valid issues. but was there too much coverage of those issues? >> i think it's important to cover it. it would have been negligent if the media didn't talk about the move to use the white house. the coverage of whether or not it violates any laws and who might be subjected to the prosecution, i think that's all fair game for us to cover and it's also fair game to talk about people sitting in close quarters, out on the white house

lawn, during a pan he demick, a lot of -- pandemic, a lot weren't wearing masks. all fair game. i think you have to have some context and perspective that i thought was missing here which is that there have been an awful lot of protests and marchs including one that took place this weekend in washington, d.c. where there are lots of crowds and people not wearing masks and again the media is not really talking about that. howie: that hardly gets mentioned. it's a very astute point. emily, we heard the president, vice president pence and others say that joe biden is a trojan horse, that was a favorite phrase, also that was talked about with other speeches, john junior. coverage again basically has been that biden is just going to be a tool or vehicle for bernie sanders, aoc and others in the left wing democratic party. despite the fact that he doesn't hold many of the same positions on, for example, medicare for all or defunding the police. your thoughts? >> well, i think that's exactly the point, that the biden that we used to know in the eight years that he was holding the

vice presidency, he held different positions than he had started to further now. the argument is that he has in fact become, yes, a catalyst, a mouthpiece for that far left portion of the party and that's why he's considered a trojan horse for the same now. were he to hold the office of the presidency, that he would in fact further the most radical position of the party which he used to occupy a more centrist role and it's clear by the policies he's put forth that he has changed. this isn't just him supporting. this is him putting forth policies that were far left prior to him taking that position as the vice president. howie: philippe, biden has moved somewhat to the left but he got hammered by a lot of the press during the primaries for not being liberal enough and resisting some of this. there is a tendency in the media to defend him almost instinctively against the gop attacks. >> i think the problem or the nature of the gop attacks, for these things to work there has

to be some kind of underlying foundation. even if it's only a kerr fell of re-- kernel of reality that they can blow up. if people don't see him as liberal, as a lefty, certainly not to the extent they might see bernie sanders or alexandria ocasio-cortez, then this is a waste of time. the larger point seems to be that the president and the campaign are throwing spaghetti at the wall. first it was china. now it continues to be his health, his mental acuity and it's the liberal you attack and it doesn't seem to be taking hold and that's because there's just no there there. the most recent thing people will think about joe biden is that he was not for defunding america. howie: defunding the police. >> i'm sorry, defunding the police. howie: susan, strikingly little talk according to the media to the convention about covid-19, melania trump talked about it,

larry kudlow talked about it in the past sense, the president said there woul would be a vaccy the end of the year. the media reaction is how could the pa pandemic not gotten more attention. >> i think he did. this is about what trump wants to do in his next four years. this is about the president getting reelected. it's odd that the media would expect the president to take -- use the convention with sort of a gloom and doom, we're in a pandemic, everybody's suffering. the president has always taken an optimistic view that we're going to survive this, it's going to eventually go away, the economy's going to bounce back. he gets so much criticism for that. that's the way he's governed. i think it makes perfect sense that that's the way the convention operated. keep it as something looking forward, something positive, here's how we can come up with a vaccine and treatments and they did that during the convention. howie: all right. lightning round because we're short on time. the last two nights msnbc was

putting on a counter convention, rachel maddow and company breaking in through the night, not just for fast checks, but to denigrate some of the speakers, bringing on ben rhodes. here's what happened after the speech by former ambassador rick grenell. >> he is spinning plates with really some of the whackiest conspiracy theories that have been pedaled. ben, this falls under the category of false, misleading and pretty dangerous. >> may, nicole. i'm not sure where to start. howie: how does the network justify that when it ran the dnc virtually without interruption? >> that goes back to philippe's point of the media elbowing in to make sure they grab some of that time, that it's not an uninterrupted inf infomercial fr the gop. the key is the amplification of

such, both in media and also on social media. i mean, remember 2013 with michelle backman, the fact checkers argued it's not our fault that this is great material. i think this is not a new aspect. howie: philippe, i'm all for aggressive fact checking when speakers stray from the truth. it seems the standards should be the same. cnn did a lot of fact checking. fox news came on at 10:00 p.m. eastern. my question is, is there any question that the democratic convention got far more sympathetic treatment overall from the media than the republicans did? >> it's a huge question. this is very simple. the approach to both parties by all three major networks and every media outlet should be fair and equal. meaning there should be the same criteria, that if you maul a fact that you correct a fact. that is their responsibility. if the republicans and particularly donald trump maul

and trample over many, many, many, many more facts and tells outright lies then joe biden and the democratic convention, you can't compare the volume as the litmus test for fairness. it's the approach that's important. and to go back to something susan said earlier, noting about the masks in the audience -- howie: i've got to -- very briefly. >> i was going to say that, you know, it's such a -- donald trump is such a visually oriented person, there were american flags everywhere and it's so well staged and he knows he has a problem with pandemic management, it's self defeating to not have masks in the audience. howie: i have to get a break. ratings were down from four years ago. ahead, hogan gidley will be here when we come back, the coverage of the gop convention and the riots in kenosha.

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howie: one person wearing a patriot prayer hat was shot and killed in portland last night as pro trump demonstrators ramly in the city and clash with counter protesters. this happened days after the police shooting of jacob blake in kenosha, wisconsin and that aand the subsequent riots that followed have become such a major issue you that vice president pence added it to his convention speech. >> last week joe biden didn't say one word about the vi violee and chaos engulfing cities across the country. so let me be clear. the violence must stop, whether in minneapolis portland or kenosha. howie: biden did address blake

being shot in the back and the 17-year-old charged with murdering two people during the riots. >> by the way, i condemn violence in any form whether it's looting or whatever it is. these guys are rooting for violence. that's what it is all about. to prove you should be scared with joe biden pointing out what's happening in president trump's america. >> i thought mike pence would having to say about the shooting of the young man in kenosha, instead his statement was on the notion of violence. >> the chief suspect, a 17-year-old, is a supporter of president trump. which is why i find it surprising that the continued language about mobs in the street has been used. >> i'm shocked that the democrats now seem to be waking up to the fact that violence is a problem. >> the democrats have dropped the ball on this. they didn't bring it up during the dnc. they thought it's president trump's america and the unrest

will be pinned on him. howie: it's fair for trump and pence to bring up the kenosha violence, fair to say joe biden and the democrats didn't discuss the riots in their convention. some are criticizing the republicans for not talking about the jacob blake shooting at their convention. >> those are fair points. i will say to take a step back from the media's coverage, i think what is so difficult for reasonable, normal people to swallow is that kind of cherry-picking and really utilization for political points the entire coverage. i spent the last week in portland and outside of it. and everyone there just the normal, reasonable people were sort of begging for just a reasonable coverage, where it's okay to discuss inequities in america and what needs to be done about it while also decrying violence of all forms and requesting peace on the streets, without having the, quote, phrase, law and order be construed as a racially tiged

you'v--tinged euphamism. howie: many journalists are saying joe biden left himself vulnerable by having a convention where there was no talk about the riots that has consumed the country's attention and media coverage, focusing only on racial injustice. >> the timeline, the democrats went a week earlier. to whatever extent this has taken on momentum and gotten larger or gotten more intense, that's something the democrats couldn't foresee. but i think what's important to note here is exactly what emily said. there's something here for everyone. and to the polls that i referenced this morning, after the george floyd killing you had 74% of americans which included a very high percentage of republicans who were not supportive of the president's handling of the incident. and in general, were noting that

how racial justice in america is handled is unequal. after the republican convention and after jacob blake, you have a situation where those numbers have gone way down. you have now i think 62% of republicans and whites, whites across all ideological bends, believing it. so unfortunately, to whatever extent there's a republican strategy, to stress law and order by pressing -- even though it's law and under a land that as earlier noted under president trump, to whatever extent that's their key or one of their keys, one of their buttons they're going to push, it is working marginally. and that's unfortunate because it's a different situation, you have to make difficult decisions. howie: new york times columnist nick chris s'toff noting that president trump has incited violence. this is about portland, this is

what trump promotes, vigilante violence, are those criticisms fair? >> i think the public can see what their own eyes what's going on. to philippe's point, about why the polls have changed, i think the polls have changed on this, they have dramatically, because of the evolution of this thing, from the time george floyd was killed until now. the spreading violence, the increasing violence, the persistent violence, the lack of leadership of local democratic governments in getting law and order, getting things under control, has driven home the message that the republicans and the president put forward which is that the democrats are not getting control of this and if you elect joe biden, there's going to be still no control over these rejots and violence -- riots and violence in the streets. a counter message by democrats is to say, no, this is president trump's fault, he's inciting all this. the problem is, people can turn the tv on and look at their phones and look at videos and see with their own of eyes what's happening in the streets

and that's what's driving the message. that's why the polls are creeping in the direction of the president and turning against biden, that's why you're seeing him coming out with a stronger message against the violence. howie: i've got half a minute. what's complicated the coverage of the jacob blake shooting is these other of things like he had a knife in the car, he had been charged with sexual assault last month in a domestic abuse case, the police officer tries to tase him. that doesn't mean he deserved to be repeatedly shot in the back and paralyzed. >> no. i would say that what complicates the issue is when we have video footage of a horrific scene, no matter what all of those complicating factors occur in, and that it enables people to make a conclusion, draw a conclusion and have emotions immediately, what is careerly a tragic death. when everything else starts filling in the tracks and it's able to round out, that's why people say let's wait for an investigation to come to the legal or criminal conclusion, people have already drawn the

conclusion with their own eyes because of the video. howie: it's already been in the court of media opinion. emily, philippe, susan, thanks very much. good to see you. up next, what was the main republican message during the virtual convention? we'll ask long-time gop pollster frank luntz. that's next. hey, can i... hold on one second... sure. okay... okay! safe drivers save 40%!!! guys! guys! check it out. safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!! that's safe drivers save 40%. it is, that's safe drivers save 40%. - he's right there. - it's him! he's here. he's right here. - hi! - hi. hey! - that's totally him. - it's him! that's totally the guy. safe drivers do save 40%. click or call for a quote today.

howie: and joining us now is frank luntz, the veteran pollster and long-time republican message man. frank, you told politico's tim albert a couple days a ago when he asked what republicans believe, there's no consistent philosophy. you can't say it's about making america great again during a time of covid. he asked you a couple more times and you said i don't have the answer. why is the question so difficult to answer? frank: it's very easy to define what the republicans are against. you can say they're for freedom, for personal responsibility, for accountability. but that's not specific. in the democratic convention,

joe biden did not at all talk about policy. at the republican convention, they talked about policy but only about the last four years. they didn't talk about what's going forward. the republicans did an excellent job at prosecuting joe biden for being too left wing. they did not do an effective job in explaining what donald trump is going to do if he's awarded the election. the democrats did an excellent job in prosecuting donald trump as a person and so i think this election is going to be trump, the person, versus biden's policies and i don't know who is going to win. howie: you were among the invited white house guests. let's put up a picture, for the president's speech on thursday night. two part question. does that mean you're now a trump supporter? so you don't think the president's speech, 70 minute speech, answered the question of what he's for, at least for the next four years? >> it answered the question what -- first off, no, i -- the great thing about having a stroke,

howie, is there's nothing that anyone can do to me now that i've been through you hell, so they can't make my life any worse if they don't like what i say to you. no, i support no one. my job as a pollster is to be accurate, is to be precise, explain what's going on. i don't think they made the case for the next four years. i think they made the case for what had been happening in america up through the first of march. but just as they did not address covid, the democrats did not address the violence in the streets and quite frankly i think it's wise for donald trump to go to wisconsin, because if a president doesn't go to where there's a crisis happening, what kind of president are they? that joe biden has to get out onto the campaign trail that donald trump should be there and if they protest even more, that just shows you that the country is having a problem right now. howie: all right. let me jump in. is it that the republican party which didn't bother with a platform at this convention, now believes what president trump believes and are you you

reluctant to say that when you talk about policy? frank: no, as i said, i'm not reluctant to say anything. that there's been a prosecution and it's been effective that this is not your parents' democratic party. that the programs that they propose are government controlled and that they're going to raise your taxes a lot. and donald trump's not going to do that. but in terms of the specifics, other than education, other than parental choice in education which trump did talk about, that there's not enough focus on the future. howie: it's not unusual for an incumbent to try to disqualify the challenger in politics. i've got less than a minute. do you think as somebody who studied this for decades that we will know who won this election on election night? >> i'm glad you asked that. i will lean in on this. i want people to pay attention. the republicans are telling people to vote at the ballot box. i'm expecting donald trump to be leading on election night. the democrats are telling people to vote by mail.

and so we may not know on election night who the winner is. and in fact, you can have a situation where donald trump wins on election night but because of all the things that happened the days that follow, that joe biden is declared the winner. i am scared. deathly scared of what's going to happen to our of democracy if we have one president on tuesday evening and a different president thursday or friday. we already saw what we wept through in the year 2000 when it was too close to call. we are much angrier now, much more divided now. god help us if that's the situation. howie: all right. all the more reason for the media not to jump the gun on november 3rd or november 4t 4th. good to see you. thanks for coming by. coming up, the trump campaign's top spokesman on the media and the president, hogan gidley is up next. (neighbor) whatcha working on... (burke) just an app. it's called signal from farmers, and it could save you up to

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gidley, national press secretary of the trump re-election campaign. hogan, many pundits are saying that the president's speech about joe biden ending the american dream, enabling anarchists, no one will be safe, destroying the suburbs was so over-the-top that in part he undercut his own message. your response? >> all he really did, howie, was talk about exactly the same things that the democrats focused on in their four days. you had people calling for the end of capitalism, he had an avowed rabid anti-semite in linda sarsure speaksal wes spea. this is the democrat platform. all they did for four days was tell us that america is inherently evil and that we are the cause of the world's problems. that is not what our convention was about. because america at its core is great. we had real people telling their

stories of how this country gave them opportunities they could never get anywhere else and how this president, donald trump, and his policies made their lives better. they told the story of you how america is the land of opportunity, of greatness, of promise, of heroes. the democrats couldn't do any of that because they don't believe it is. howie: there was a couple instances in which under god was removed from the pledge. how are the media aiding and abetting violence? >> 90 days we've been talking about the death, destruction, the looting, the rioting. president trump offered to send in federal assets into many towns, many cities across this country. democrat controlled areas, those governors, those mayors refuse to let that happen. the media complicit in that, ignored it for 90 days. then all of a sudden, a few days ago joe biden says something about violence in our streets

and it's incredible, the media found jesus all of a sudden on the topic. they said oh, there is violence and blamed us for the violence. howie: , what do you mean ignored it? there's been all kinds of coverage of the violence. >> with descrip tores that they were -- descriptors that they were peaceful. joe biden said it was the police that were inciting the violence. we saw a horrific scene when rand paul left the white house the other night, people who were not trump supporters, all joe biden supporters, getting in their face, yelling, screaming, harassing them. what did you think was going to happen when maxine waters said find people in the cabinet, get in their face, harass them, don't let these people off the hook, tell them they're not welcome here anymore. this has been the democrats' mantra for years and they're accusing us of doing the very thing they themselves are guilty

of actually doing. yohowie: . on that point, it was said that donald trump has incited clashes and kate beningfield telling chris wallace this morning, in her view, in biden's campaign's view, the president is inciting violence. >> yeah, that's absolutely ridiculous. it's a flat-out lie. the president is talking about violence in our streets and how to make the families feel safe again. the democrats had four days of a convention. the democrats with all of the democrat controlled cities that are under siege and are burning didn't mention any of this violence at all. they chose to completely ignore it. only when the polls started showing that the american people turns out aren't too excited about being told you can't go to church but you can stand shoulder to shoulder and burn down a church. you can't go vote in line, in a

responsible way in person, but you can stand in line at starbucks and buy $5 latte. the democrats and the media have been selling this lie for now years and you see that side-by-side in this particular instance, the last couple days have been completely mind-blowing to me and very revealing as to the media's purely political agenda. the democrats have been playing politics with this for some time as well. side-by-side you see the difference of the two parties and the two visions of the great country. howie: . what do you think of the way the media covered your four day republican convention and how did that compare with the coverage of the democratic convention. >> it was horrific. i fully -- i predicted that joe biden would probably get an eight to 10 point bump after the convention because of the way the media fawns all over of joe biden and kamala harris. turns out, they didn't.

one of the reasons they didn't is because the doom and gloom and dark messaging about how horrible this country is doesn't play well. people understand that this country is in fact a beacon of hope and of greatness and of strength and of compassion and of love, all over the planet. and when you make excuses and blame america and when joe biden says basically it's america's fault and you compare and contrast that with president trump who says it's america first, the american people reject the democrats' notion and support this president. they're moving in our direction because they understand this country is in fact great and they appreciate all that it has been at its core, since its founding and, yes, we have had difficult times. all countries do. it's not unique to america. but we understand we're great and that's where we're going to take the country with another four years. howie: . at the convention it sounded like the president and your campaign want to run against

bernie sanders, aoc, the talk about joe biden being a trojan horse for the extreme left. >> they're one in the same. the takeover of the democrat party is now complete. let's not forget it was bernie sanders bragging about the fact that joe biden had moved his direction. we saw congresswoman ji apole saying she talked to joe biden moving her direction as well. he has been corrupted by the far left socialist wing of the democrat party and he's embracing it and inrunning on it and i don't think the american people will buy what the democrats and joe biden is selling. >> after the break, debbie dingell on the coverage of the convention and the trump, pence attacks on joe biden.

n]howie: joining us now from dearborn, michigan with an opposing point of view is democratic congresswoman, debbie dingell. welcome. and my first question, the media mostly panned president trump's speech with very, very sharp attacks on what was called joe biden's america. but as a political person i ask you, was it an effective speech? debbie: you know, it was a long speech. i think there's some things in it that people listened to. but as democrats, we've got to

take these next 65, 64 days very seriously, work hard in every single one of them and we can't take this race for granted one single day n]howie: it di day d take many days for joe biden to come out and say i condemn the violence. the question is how much of that got out. biden spoke to the blake family, said he was considering going to wisconsin. now president trump announced he will go to kenosha on tuesday. doesn't this reinforce the medias characterization of the biden campaign as being kind of slow and ultra cautious? >?debbie: i'm going to be very strong on this. i'm not going to let president trump define who we are as democrats. i identified this issue two months ago. joe biden has been very clear that he does not support defund the police. we need right now as far as i'm concerned a leader that's not

afraid to have uncomfortable conversations. and kenosha, wisconsin has reaffirmed again, a black man and white man were treated differently. we've got to identify it. we've got to have a leader who will have that conversation. i think president trump continues to put kerosene on the fire. i know many democrats, i do not know a democrat that supports anarchy, rioting, looting. we all need to condemn it, republicans and democrats and i see the black lives matter event yesterday again working with the police. my police chief, i've done 20 of these kind of events, community vigils, marches. my police chiefs met with the kids, the leaders of the group, they walked with them in many instances. it's not either/or, weed need a leader, which joe biden is, which will bring people together and not be afraid of the tough conversations and support those that keep us safe. >> joe biden he needs to get

out there and talk to more journalists, do more better views. you warned of over-confidence four years ago when hillary was ahead in the polls. could democrats be facing the same situation, over-confidence, over-confidence even in a state like yours, like michigan. >>.debbie: stop calling me debe downer, call me debbie realist. i didn't believe the polls, which showed me 16 points up, was total -- i won't use that word on television. we have to take this seriously. i think it will be a spet fief race until -- competitive race until election day. we have to turn out votes in massive numbers, as many people as we can, get them to vote early so no one can question the integrity of the election or of not have confidence in the election results. howie: i raised this with hogan gidley.

conservative media folks often push the line that the president made a big issue of, that joe biden will be a tool of the radical left of the party, bernie. >> arthel: aoc, the squad and o forth. he gets accused of supporting positions that he never supported in the primaries, doesn't support now. i ask you this because you have said you're concerned about your party moving too far left. >> i'm concerned about recognizing that we're a party of diversity. we have front liners, moderates and progressives. you find the common ground. i found the language to be offensive and not true. i know people of all different viewpoints that care about the people, that have the same values, they haven't different perspectives. joe biden is not being moved to the left. he's always had the same values. we all believe that every american has a right to healthcare. how are we going to get there? my father in law was the first

person that introduced universal healthcare. this administration has rolled back more than 100 environmental regulations. i don't call that socialist. i call that protecting the world we live in. having clean drinking water is something every person should have. i'm not going to let this administration or the republicans frame us with untruth. that is a lie and not true. howie: congresswoman, very good to see you. thank you very much for joining us. still to come, why melania trump's speech got such mixed reviews and pro athletes forcing the cancellation of as lot of games over the kenosha shooting. you see we're from here and there and here... your family's story is waiting to be shared. at ancestry.com

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howie: melania trump drew mixed media reviews at the convention

with a passionate speech that led off with the coronavirus. >> i want to acknowledge the fact that since march our lives have changed drastically. my sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one and my prayers are with those who are ill or suffering. i don't want to use this precious time attacking the other side. howie: joining us now, in new york, kat timpf of the greg gutfeld show and host of sincerely kat. melania did win over some liberal pundits with that compassionate speech, some slammed her message, even her accent and what she was wearing. what did you make of that? >> i thought it was interesting, pretty much everything i saw written about it agreed with she did have a compassionate tone and she did say the right thing. there was a piece in politico

that said she had a conciliatory tone that others lacked. one in the washington post said her tone was great but she doesn't get to do that because she entertained questions about obama's birth certificate, et cetera. there was one in the a atlantic said her being nice and saying nice things actually amounted to her lying because basically her husband doesn't do these things and call for unity in that writer's mind. it was mixed reviews based on the exact same thing. everyone said come passionate tone, compassionate tone and whether or not it was fair, essentially whether or not she could do anything right. howie: because they don't like who she is married to. you want to draw a contrast between the president's twitter taunts and her call for civility, fine. you had bette midler saying get that illegal alien off the stage. another didn't like her rose garden redesign, blasting her as a foreigner.

what explains this sort of vile? i was glad to see bette midler's tweet was pretty across the board condemned. however, it's obvious that if that had been a liberal woman from another country out there speaking with an accent and a republican said something about it -- they never would having about it. this is not the first time for melania being attacked for her accent and peopling make these comments. it's absurd. she apologized. i'm the type of person, you apologize, i forgive you. i would want to be shown that grace if i was in that situation. i don't think i would be but i would want to be shown that grace. if you don't agree with her politics, attack her on that. to attack her on the accent when -- how many languages do you speak, bette midler. it's not fair and it's such a low blow. it was really disgusting. howie: low blow indeed. less than a minute. professional sports leagues

shutting down to protest the kenosha violence. some baseball teams, soccer, other sports. i think a lot of conservatives out there might be saying they're not happy seeing the sports shut down because of the political views of these players. >> yeah, i certainly think that a lot of people aren't happy. with the nba in particular, though, the activeism isn't a new thing. that goes all the way back to the civil rights era. this isn't something that's becoming political. it's been the nba for a long time. there's been examples in the mlb but they've been quieter about social issues. when they started doing the protest thing, not playing games, walking out of games, that was a little newer and a little messier. a saw a piece in espn, that's what made it beautiful. it never happens from the top down. howie: that's it for this edition of media buzz.

i'm howard kurtz many i hope you like our facebook page, check us out on twitter. i would love for you to listen to my podcast, media buzz meter, subscribe on itunes, other places that convey pod casts. thanks for watching. we'll see you back here next sunday with the latest buzz. it's time for the biggest sale of the year on the sleep number 360 smart bed.

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>> we start with a fox news alert on the unsettling violence between protesters that appears to have led to another death. last night there was another night of protests in portland oregon as two opposing groups fought on the streets, raising fears that the violence we've seen in the past few weeks could escalate even further, but the number of protesters that have been shot dead during the demonstrations increases. hello, welcome to america's news headquarters. i'm eric shawn. hi, arthel. arthel: hello, everyone. i'm arthel neville. one person gunned down in

portland as fights repte