7. Charles Barkley is now apologizing for an attempted joke

• Axios reporter Alexi McCammond previously tweeted that Charles Barkley said to her, “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you.” She added that when she said something in objection to his comment, Barkley said she “couldn’t take a joke.”
• For obvious reasons, Barkley has now apologized, saying, “My comment was inappropriate and unacceptable. It was an attempted joke that wasn’t funny at all. There’s no excuse for it and I apologize.” The context of McCammond’s original comment was how she pointed out to Barkley that he was flip-flopping between supporting former Governor Deval Patrick and Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

6. Congratulations, Grandpa Joe

• Hunter Biden continues to be a massive headache to his father while he runs for president; now, he has been confirmed as the father via a DNA test of a baby born to an Arkansas woman he initially denied being involved with while he was in a relationship with his brother’s widow. He then dumped her to marry an Instagram model after only knowing her for 10 days.
• Additionally, one of Hunter Biden’s former employers is now under further investigation as Ukraine has expanded its investigation into the founder of energy company Burisma to include suspicion of embezzling state funds.

5. Not shocking: Medicare for All won’t lower middle-class costs

• The Heritage Foundation recently conducted a study that tested the idea that the liberal “Medicare for All” plan would actually lower costs for middle-class citizens but ultimately found that claim to be false.
• The study determined that 65.5% of American households would be worse off under “Medicare- or All,” and a majority of working Americans would be giving about 36.5% of their income to the federal government. The plan would disproportionally benefit people who don’t work and are Medicare recipients by increasing their income by about $5,000. Also, 82% of working households would have “their taxes increase by more than they would save from no longer paying privately for health insurance and medical care.”

4. Democratic presidential debate

• The fifth Democratic presidential debate took place Wednesday in Atlanta with the top 10 candidates participating. With the impeachment of the current president being the first topic and a non-stop cloud over the event, talk of Medicare for All seemed to be a major dividing-line for the candidates on the stage. The candidates also all seemed to misunderstand Sen. Doug Jones’ (D-AL) 2017 election.
• National frontrunner and former Vice President Joe Biden continued to push two major points: His electability and the fact that the ideas the other candidates are pushing are doomed to fail and are non-starters.

3. Polling trending towards Trump on impeachment

• New data has been released from Marquette Law School that shows President Donald Trump matched up against former Vice President Joe Biden, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The poll had Trump beating all four candidates in Wisconsin.
• Not only does Trump beat these candidates, but impeachment is also moving in the wrong direction for Democrats, in spite of the media and their Democrats’ non-stop efforts, with 53% opposing impeaching and removing the president, compared to 40% who support it.

2. Alabama teachers are facing the consequences of their actions

• A group of teachers at Ashford High School in Houston County have been placed on administrative leave for a text message group where they discussed students’ sex lives, mocked their intelligence and used the “n-word.” Now, the teachers are forming a defense as they await their first hearing.
• Houston County Superintendent David Sewell hasn’t specified what actions will be taken against the teachers. A student was given access to one of the teachers’ phones and then posted the text messages on social media.

1. Media and their Democrats think they have Trump now 

• European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland excited the media and the Democrats with an opening statement declaring there was, in fact, a “quid pro quo,” but eventually, Sondland’s bombshell was made less of one when he acknowledged, “No one on this planet told me that President Trump was tying aid to investigations.” This makes it clear that Sondland made a lot of presumptions that he later backtracked on or have been officially denied.
• The media and their Democrats apparently checked out after the opening statement and ignored the Republicans picking Sondland apart and highlighting that a lot of his statements were based on his feelings about what has happened. Sondland admitted the president told him, “I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I just want Zelenskyy to do the right thing and do what he ran on.” or words to that effect.”