This last week, like many before it, was jam-packed with news. The coronavirus continued to spread; President Trump restricted New York residents from entering into trusted traveler programs; actor Kirk Douglas died; Jameela Jamil came out as queer. Also, Christina Koch returned to Earth after almost a year in space, and likely wants to go back into orbit. People are once again talking about Jessica Simpson, and we might be witnessing the start of the Billie Eilish backlash. These blips on the internet radar are just the beginning, however. Here’s everything else people were talking about online over the last seven days.
More Like Iowa Cacophony, Amirite?
What Happened: If the Iowa caucus for the Democratic presidential nominee is any indicator of what the rest of the election is going to be like, the road to November is going to be very, very long.
What Really Happened: The 2020 election process officially got underway Monday with the Iowa caucus, one of the earliest steps in the process to pick the person who will be the Democrats’ nominee for president. You might be forgiven for wondering, as it only happens every two years, what exactly is the Iowa caucus?
Well, OK, sure, but is there a more descriptive take, perhaps?
We’re sensing a theme here. As is traditionally the case, there was a lot of attention placed on the caucus ahead of time, even as politicos shared their disdain for the process. But if the disdain ahead of the caucus seemed intense, just wait until things got underway for real.
It’s safe to say that almost everything went wrong at the Democratic caucus this year, thanks to a revised system of reporting that, somewhat impressively, hadn’t been fully tested ahead of time. A day after the caucus, with multiple campaigns putting out their own internal figures and claiming victory, a campaign strategist for Senator Elizabeth Warren brought this big of level-headedness.
Days later, with a majority of precincts reporting, it looked as if Pete Buttigeig had, somehow, eked out a win, but there were still noticeable bugs in the system, to say the least.
Well, does anyone have any better ideas?
The Takeaway: Despite the chaos, there was definitely a clear result at the end of the night.
Nancy Pelosi Does Not Like the State of the Union
What Happened: President Trump gave his third State of the Union address, and reactions were … mixed. Yeah, let’s say mixed.
