Why Biden’s Debates With Trump Could Be His Meal Ticket

Michael Cohen’s Testimony • NBA-Rights Fight • The Apprentice at Cannes [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Why Biden’s Debates With Trump Could Be His Meal Ticket Good Saturday morning! Despite huge stakes this election—on issues ranging from abortion to climate to democracy—the public has seemed to be [tuning out]( the idea of a Joe Biden–Donald Trump rematch. But millions will undoubtedly flock to CNN next month when the two candidates face off in the first of [two scheduled debates](, the details of which came together quickly this week. Mark McKinnon [argued]( that Biden’s Wednesday debate challenge of Trump was “a strategic masterstroke” and could be his best way “to win a second term.” Elsewhere this week, Dan Adler [reported]( on Michael Cohen’s time on the stand Tuesday, “the combative climax of the Trump trial,” while Brian Stelter [caught up]( with CNN chief legal correspondent Paula Reid for her courtroom analysis on Inside the Hive. And Tom Kludt [dove]( into the multibillion-dollar brawl for NBA TV rights that’s ensnared the likes of Amazon, NBC, ESPN, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Finally, on the Cannes front, David Canfield [spoke]( with the team behind The Apprentice, including director Ali Abbasi, actor Jeremy Strong, and screenwriter and VF special correspondent Gabriel Sherman. The film chronicles Roy Cohn’s mentorship of a young Trump. Strong, who plays Cohn, said, “I think of it as a love story, really.” Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next week as the Trump hush money trial is set to wrap up. —Michael Calderone, editor [Image may contain: Crowd, Person, Audience, Adult, Debate, Speech, Accessories, Formal Wear, Tie, Chair, and Furniture]( [Why Biden’s Debates With Trump Could Be His Meal Ticket]( By [Mark McKinnon]( [The president has laid down the gauntlet. And it could be his best way—maybe his only way—to win a second term.]( [Read more button](   [“You Called Me a Crying Little Shit, Didn’t You?”: Michael Cohen and the Combative Climax of the Trump Trial]( By [Dan Adler]( [The onetime Trump fixer’s Tuesday testimony may have marked the antagonistic apogee of the former president’s hush money trial. It also returned Cohen to the combustible social dynamics that allowed for his Trump-era micro-celebrity.]( [Read more button](   [Meet CNN’s Legal Eagle With a Bird’s-Eye View of the Trump Trial]( By [Brian Stelter]( [Paula Reid previews a range of possible outcomes from the jury, opens up about the challenges of day-to-day TV coverage, and reflects on the biggest “whoa” moment in the proceedings.]( [Read more button](   [The Multibillion-Dollar Fight for the NBA]( By [Tom Kludt]( [The league’s broadcasting deal with Warner Bros. Discovery is set to expire at the end of next season, and competitors are smelling blood in the water. “The streamers are all in different stages of being involved in sports,” says one insider. “You don’t want to be left out of that experience.”]( [Read more button](   [Image may contain: Tie, Accessories, Accessory, Electrical Device, Microphone, Human, Person, Suit, Coat, and Clothing]( [In The Apprentice, Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong Peer Into the Dark Heart of Donald Trump]( By [David Canfield]( [Before Trump was Trump, he was a young striver taken under the wing of Roy Cohn. The Apprentice dramatizes their sinister bond: “I think of it as a love story, really,” Strong tells Vanity Fair.]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2024 Condé Nast