“Elon Musk and Don Lemon are escalating towards what could be a bitter contract dispute after X’s owner abruptly terminated its agreement to broadcast a show hosted by Lemon — but Lemon does not have a signed contract,” Semafor reports.

“Because I’m a dick, probably.”

— Tucker Carlson, explaining to Chris Cuomo why he used to attack him as “the single dumbest person ever to perform on cable news.”

New York Times columnist Ezra Klein walked back his previous demands for President Biden not to run for reelection, calling his State of the Union speech a “comeback” for his electoral hopes.

Wrote Klein, referring to himself: “If the Joe Biden who showed up to deliver the State of the Union address last week is the Joe Biden who shows up for the rest of the campaign, you’re not going to have any more of those weak-kneed pundits suggesting he’s not up to running for re-election.”

Approximately 32 million people watched the State of the Union address live across 14 TV networks — 18% higher than last year’s 27 million, Nielsen reports.

Just 5% of viewers were ages 18-34 … 19% were 35-54 … 74% were 55+.

The New York Times is cracking down on internal leaks after The Intercept reported how an episode of The Daily focused on Hamas’ sexual violence on Oct. 7 was nixed, Vanity Fair reports.

Sean Hannity slammed President Biden on Fox News for visiting the southern border as “a cynical sick political stunt and beyond disgraceful.”

Without missing a beat, he then noted his upcoming show with Donald Trump will be aired from the border.

Tucker Carlson claimed his attorneys advised him that he could be arrested if he chose to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Said Carlson: “Their sincere conclusion was, do not do this… a lot will depend on the questions you ask of Putin. If you’re seen as too nice to him you could be arrested when you come back.”

Jon Stewart had some comments on Tucker Carlson’s recent visit to Moscow to interview Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“Every year, local television news stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting conduct short surveys among viewers to help guide the year’s coverage,” the Washington Post reports.

“A key question in each poll, according to David Smith, the company’s executive chairman: ‘What are you most afraid of?’
Cut through the 2024 election noise.“

“The answers are evident in Sinclair’s programming. Crime, homelessness, illegal drug use, failing schools and other societal ills have long been core elements of local TV news coverage. But on Sinclair’s growing nationwide roster of stations, the editorial focus reflects Smith’s conservative views and plays on its audience’s fears that America’s cities are falling apart.”

Brian Beutler: “If you’ve followed elections closely in recent years you’ll recognize this as part of a pattern: Polls say Democrats are doing pretty well, elites question the polls, reporters echo elites—but then voters cast ballots and reality converges with data rather than headlines. Many liberals I know find this frustrating, even inexplicable. Will the strategists and commentators who set expectations based on whatever vibe they’re picking up at the moment never learn? Never face professional consequences?”

“I confess to finding this frustrating as well. But the phenomenon doesn’t spawn from bad journalism so much as from the clash between insecure liberalism and kayfabe conservatism. These sorts of headlines are inevitable, and aren’t even really falsifiable, because they reflect Democratic neurosis and artificial Republican aggression back out into the world, and the affects persist despite the more reliable barometer of public polling.”

“Two things would make this sort of thing less prevalent: First, a liberalism that was more confident in its appeal to a majority of the country; second, a press corps that was better at detecting false Republican bravado, and more willing to identify it as such.”

Jon Stewart‘s return to “The Daily Show” on Monday brought in 1.9 million viewers, marking the show’s biggest audience in more than five years, Variety reports.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is blasting a politically charged episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” saying it “lied” and painted conservatives in her state and supporters of Donald Trump as “racists and red necks,” The Hill reports.

“Jon Stewart returned on Monday night as host of ‘The Daily Show,’ the Comedy Central news satire he turned into a cultural force before leaving in August 2015,” the New York Times reports.

“It was the beginning of a plan, announced in January, that will bring Stewart back to the show on Mondays through the presidential election. He will also serve as an executive producer.”

Said Stewart: “Why am I back? I have committed a lot of crimes. From what I understand, talk show hosts are granted immunity — it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but take it up with the founders.”

His opening segment shows he hasn’t missed a beat.