Week in review: Saturday, June 3, 2023

Jun 3, 2023

What does the news landscape look like?

The DeSantis/Trump rivalry finished the week as the top story. The debt ceiling story dominated earlier in the week and is now fading.

This is how the top stories were covered on each side of the media yesterday:

• DeSantis vs Trump (7% more on the right)

• Classified documents (100% more on the left)

• Debt ceiling (35% more on the left)

Media bias ratings are from AllSides.

This is how articles from liberal and conservative outlets were distributed over the past five days among the top stories.

Liberal outlets used these words more than conservative outlets:

• workers (4.7x)

• ukrainian (2.4x)

• russian (2.3x)

Conservative outlets used these words more than liberal outlets:

• air (2.9x)

• fbi (2.8x)

• force (2.4x)

Now for a deep dive into our top three stories, starting with…

Key people: Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Kayleigh McEnany, Joe Biden, Jerome Adams

Latest developments:

DeSantis wrapped up his first tour of early voting states as a presidential candidate, showcasing his personal side in South Carolina.
DeSantis defended his stance that it would take eight years in the Oval Office to dismantle President Joe Biden’s policies.
DeSantis did not mention Trump by name but defended his position that it would take time to undo the “accumulation of power in a bureaucracy that is detached from the interests of the American people.”
DeSantis responded to Trump’s recent attack on Kayleigh McEnany, calling it “really, really bad.”

Key people: Mike Pence, Donald Trump, Merrick Garland, Mark Milley, Jack Smith

Background:

The Department of Justice has informed former Vice President Mike Pence’s legal team that it will not pursue criminal charges related to the discovery of classified documents at his Indiana home.
Former Vice President Mike Pence is expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign on June 7, setting up a direct challenge to his onetime boss, former President Trump.
The Justice Department has an audio recording of former President Trump discussing a classified Pentagon document he took from the White House.
A model prosecution memo released by a team of several leading former prosecutors and defense attorneys says the Department of Justice is likely justified to charge Donald Trump with crimes over his refusal to turn over classified documents he stands accused of illegally removing from the White House in 2021.

Latest developments:

Former President Donald Trump celebrated the news that former Vice President Mike Pence will not face charges for his handling of classified documents before adding he’s “at least as innocent” as Pence.
Attorneys for former President Trump have not found the classified document he was recorded discussing taking from the White House.

Key people: President Joe Biden, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Dan Bishop, Rep. Chip Roy, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

Latest developments:

President Joe Biden celebrated the passage of the bipartisan bill to raise the debt ceiling as a win over “extreme voices” and expects to sign the bill on Saturday.
Congress has sent legislation to raise the debt ceiling to President Biden, ending a months-long saga that brought the U.S. days away from a possible default.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged as the biggest winner of the fight, even if he has also had to take some criticism from his right flank.
The Senate, in a surprise bipartisan move, voted to overturn President Biden’s signature student loan forgiveness program, set to cost $400 billion.