Florida man becomes boring: US media leap off the Trump train


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November 16, 2022

It's official: Donald Trump is boring.

That, at least, is the consensus at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which is leading a broader media shift away from the man they once couldn’t get enough of.

Mr Murdoch’s New York Post reacted to Mr Trump's declaration that he is again running for the White House in 2024 with a contemptuous shrug.

“Florida Man Makes Announcement” was Wednesday’s front-page headline, buried under a gruesome local story and with the article itself tucked away on page 26.

The November 16, 2022, front page of The New York Post played down Mr Trump's announcement he is running for the White House in 2024. Photo: Screengrab
The November 16, 2022, front page of The New York Post played down Mr Trump's announcement he is running for the White House in 2024. Photo: Screengrab

It followed a string of front pages trolling Mr Trump, including one ridiculing him as “Trumpty Dumpty” who couldn’t build a wall, and another calling Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “DeFUTURE”.

Mr Murdoch was never a huge fan of Mr Trump, though he has certainly benefited from the advertising money and huge viewership the brash politician brought to his media empire.

The Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, was not enough to shake support for Mr Trump, nor were his baseless claims the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.

But now it is clear that after a string of Republican setbacks, the ratings golden goose must be sacrificed before he becomes even more of an electoral albatross.

Mr Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal blamed Mr Trump for the Republicans’ lacklustre performance during last week’s midterms, pointing to his “perfect record of electoral defeat” since 2016, when he beat Hillary Clinton.

The man who boasted that Americans would “get bored with winning” soon went on to lose control of the House of Representatives in 2018 and the presidency in 2020.

The defeats are bad enough for Mr Trump, but to lose Mr Murdoch’s endorsement is a catastrophe.

Just ask former British prime minister Gordon Brown, who lost to David Cameron in 2010 after the media mogul that famously anointed Tony Blair in 1997 decided he’d had enough of a Labour government.

The New York Post described former president Donald Trump as 'Trumpty Dumpty' who could not build a wall. Photo: Screengrab
The New York Post described former president Donald Trump as 'Trumpty Dumpty' who could not build a wall. Photo: Screengrab

Even Fox News, which for more than four years acted as giddy cheerleader for Mr Trump and gave him many softball interviews, is trying to distance itself.

As the defeated president announced his new White House bid, Fox did something that may once have been unthinkable: they cut away from the primetime speech.

It’s not just News Corp that is turning its back on Mr Trump, even though he remains a wildly popular figure among many Republican voters.

During Mr Trump’s speech, CNN pulled the plug on its coverage soon after Mr Trump delivered the money quote: “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.”

MSNBC didn’t air the speech live at all.

It’s a sea change from 2015 and 2016, when news networks gave Mr Trump unfettered airtime, effectively silencing his Republican challengers and Ms Clinton, and arguably ensuring his rise to power even as they expressed outrage over his hectoring and bullying style.

A low point for American broadcast journalism came when several networks for hours displayed an empty lectern from which Mr Trump was scheduled to speak, instead of giving airtime to anyone else running for the world's top job.

The question now is whether the media's attempt to ignore Mr Trump can last. He has a strong chance of becoming the Republican nominee again and journalists love to put “Trump” in a headline — his name often garners more clicks on a story or video than that of President Joe Biden — but Tuesday's announcement seemed to mark a palpable shift in public perception.

Even he seemed uninspired by his own bleak speech, which was his standard mash-up of fearmongering, negativity and bullying.

Attendees were seen shuffling awkwardly for the exits as Mr Trump went on and on for more than an hour. At least one reporter said security guards stopped people from leaving the ballroom.

Perhaps Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as Mr Trump's spokesman and is now in finance, said it best: he likened his former boss to a gnarled, undead thing that no one can bear to look at anymore.

“You know how you have a zombie that you can’t kill, like in the Night of the Walking Dead? That’s Trump,” Mr Scaramucci said.

“He’s the orange zombie that the Republicans are desperate to make extinct … Trump is fighting [like it’s] 2016-17 in 2024, but the world’s moving to 2030.”

A look inside Donald Trump's feed on the Truth Social app, which is not available in most countries — in pictures

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

  • In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
  • Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
  • Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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Key findings
  • Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
  • Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase. 
  • People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”. 
  • Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better. 
  • But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK 

Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV

Saturday's results

West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley

Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm 

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

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THE BIO

Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain

Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude

Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE

Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally

Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

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AT4 Ultimate, as tested

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Transmission: Single-speed automatic

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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The specs: Fenyr SuperSport

Price, base: Dh5.1 million

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm

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Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

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Match info

Who: India v Afghanistan
What: One-off Test match, Bengaluru
When: June 14 to 18
TV: OSN Sports Cricket HD, 8am starts
Online: OSN Play (subscribers only)

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
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Updated: November 16, 2022, 11:59 PM