https://newsbusters.org/ en https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2025/10/10/legacy-firefighting-nbc-rehabs-schumers-every-day-gets-better You know that a public statement from a Democrat elected official is bad when the media steps in and tries to firefight potential public backlash. Such is the case with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who gets five-alarm firefighting from NBC after saying that “every day gets worse for us.” Watch as NBC’s Ryan Nobles performs Ye Olde “Republicans Seizing” as his setup to rehabbing Schumer:  WATCH: The only legacy newscast mention of Schumer's "every day gets better for us" is a rehab job by NBC pic.twitter.com/3HfRb7HxC7 — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 10, 2025 NOBLES: Meanwhile, Republicans seizing on comments made by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in an interview about the shutdown that quote, “every day gets better for us.” No. It's actually getting worse for them. DONALD TRUMP: Chuck Schumer proclaimed this morning every day gets better for them. No, it's actually getting worse for them. NOBLES: Schumer explaining that he meant his party's message was breaking through. CHUCK SCHUMER: Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans.  The funniest part of it all is that THIS, Ryan Nobles’ rehab of Schumer’s remarks, was the ONLY mention garnered by these statements on the legacy evening news. CBS and ABC whiffed altogether, which tells you that this is (D)ifferent. Imagine the outrage had this sequence happened with a Republican. You would not see a legacy outlet try to establish a counterargument or otherwise sanitize the remarks. The pouncing and “seizing” would be on the left, with adverse contextualizing and framing remarks coming from the media. Nobles closed out his shutdown report with his Schumer rehab: today’s talking points hinged on military families having to do without pay during the shutdown. That focus was directed on Speaker Mike Johnson, whose body passed a continuing resolution, as opposed to Schumer who obstructs the CR.  The entire exercise is further proof evident of the media’s Democrat-friendly framing of the shutdown.  Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on NBC Nightly News on Thursday, October 9th, 2025: TOM LLAMAS: In Washington, the government is no closer to reopening and that’s worrying many military families, who are concerned about making ends meet if they miss a paycheck next week. I asked Speaker Mike Johnson about his message to those families. Here’s Ryan nobles. RYAN NOBLES: Tonight, on day nine of the federal government shutdown, military members are six days away from going without their first paycheck. COURTNEY WITUCKI: Actually it's pretty terrifying. NOBLES: It is a problem that Courtney Witucki, a military spouse with three kids, is about to face head-on. WITUCKI: If they came down our street and spoke to every single one of us, like, they would see how much people are going to truly struggle. NOBLES: Members have introduced a separate bill to make sure the military gets paid. C-SPAN HOST:  Samantha, you’re on with Speaker Johnson. NOBLES: It was a plea made directly to Speaker Mike Johnson today, by a Republican military mom who said in the call to C-SPAN, she won't be able to afford medicine for her kids. MILITARY MOM: I'm begging you to pass this legislation. My kids could die. NOBLES: Pressed by Tom, the Speaker is insistent passing a full spending bill is a better option. LLAMAS Why wouldn't you at least try to get a standalone bill together? MIKE JOHNSON: Well, I’d tell them we’re worried about their not getting paid as well and that's why we already voted to pay the troops. NOBLES: He is not alone. Should you do something separate to make sure they get a paycheck in a couple days here? LINDSEY GRAHAM: What about the FBI? What about the CIA? What about the Secret Service? NOBLES: Meanwhile, Republicans seizing on comments made by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in an interview about the shutdown that quote, “every day gets better for us.” No. It's actually getting worse for them. DONALD TRUMP: Chuck Schumer proclaimed this morning every day gets better for them. No, it's actually getting worse for them. NOBLES: Schumer explaining that he meant his party's message was breaking through. CHUCK SCHUMER: Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans.  NOBLES: The Senate voted for the 7th time today to reopen government without success. They’re scheduled to be on recess next week, but that recess will likely be canceled. Tom. LLAMAS: All right. Thanks, Ryan.   October 10th, 2025 12:40 AM Jorge Bonilla 292367 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2025/10/09/based-politico-parent-company-ceo-mathias-dopfner-condemns In a stunning rebuke of the rising anti-Semitism spreading across Europe and the West, the CEO of one of the most liberal media companies in the U.S. is coming out in defense of the Jewish State. Mathias Döpfner — CEO of Politico and Business Insider's parent company Axel Springer SE — penned an October 7 op-ed dissecting his discussions with Nova Music Festival co-founder Ofir Amir, a survivor of the wanton slaughter terrorist organization Hamas unleashed upon the Jewish people two years earlier. Döpfner speculated on how survivors like Amir are able to deal with European leaders and others grotesquely painting them as the perpetrators while Hamas and their death cult cohorts are the true victims. “What is clear,” wrote Döpfner, “is that when it really mattered, Europe and large parts of the free world failed. The old anti-Semitic propaganda poison is still working: Once again, the Jews are to blame for everything. Even for their own murder.” In this the Axel Springer leader demonstrated a brave departure from the leftist and woke right media echo chambers that are obsessed with turning the only true democracy in the Middle East into an international pariah.  After calling out world leaders at the UN and countries across Europe who made the diplomatically idiotic decision of recognizing a Palestinian state still terrorized by Hamas, Döpfner wrote that the underlying message is that the West is rubber-stamping cold-blooded murder: The lesson for terrorists and autocrats around the world is encouraging: recognition of a state that is an unjust regime does not come as a reward for establishing the rule of law, for peace, and for the release of hostages, but as a reward for the barbarism of Oct. 7. Döpfner proceeded to blast the European Union for being “the largest donor of foreign aid to Palestinians with a ‘bilateral allocation’ of 1.36 billion euros.” As he concluded, “This money benefited not so much the poor people in Gaza as the construction of tunnels and the arming of terrorists.” Rather than cutting off this pipeline into Hamas’s coffers, the EU doubled down in April 2025 when The European Commission proposed a “multi-annual comprehensive support program of up to €1.6 billion for the recovery and resilience of the Palestinian territories.”  Döpfner didn’t pull any punches. “Indirectly, the EU is thus subsidizing not the democratization of a region, but the prolongation of a war.”  Maybe the rest of the media can take a page from Döpfner and stop acting like useful idiots for the Islamist regimes that seek the total destruction of Israel and its people. October 9th, 2025 8:46 PM Joseph Vazquez 292351 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2025/10/09/pbs-invites-censorious-leftist-oliver-darcy-smear-bari-weiss Paramount Skydance, the giant media conglomerate which now owns CBS, recently acquired the iconoclastic news site The Free Press, and just announced that FP’s founder Bari Weiss will become editor-in-chief of CBS News, causing conniption fits in liberal media newsrooms. Weiss was bullied out of her opinion page role at the New York Times in 2020 by the paper’s resident young wokesters, who were enraged at her disdain for wokeness, DEI, and other liberal totems during the George Floyd era. In her resignation letter she claimed “intellectual curiosity is now a liability at The Times.” Monday’s PBS News Hour brought on the perfect PBS News Hour type of guest to discuss the move: Oliver Darcy, publisher of the media newsletter Status and fierce defender of liberal media orthodoxy from irresponsible and extreme right-leaning voices, of which Weiss is apparently one. Darcy has pushed for the deplatforming of Fox News and other conservative media outlets. Co-anchor Amna Nawaz set the scene: "Weiss describes herself as a centrist politically and is known for pushing back against what she calls woke orthodoxy in mainstream media." After a brief clip of a Weiss statement on her new role, she turned to former CNN media reporter Darcy, who fear-mongered over the "dishonest" Weiss. Nawaz: ….So before we talk about what this all mean, just tell us a little bit more about Bari Weiss. I mean, this is someone who criticized Trump in his first term. She's also staunchly defended Israel, decried woke culture in colleges and media. How would you describe her voice and her role in the media landscape? Darcy called Weiss’s trenchant criticism of the legacy liberal media “dishonest.” You can't call them biased!  Darcy: I think she's unquestionably — and she probably would concede this herself — a very polarizing figure. She is someone who is difficult to really put in one bucket. You wouldn't say she's, for instance, a MAGA media personality, but she certainly not on the left either. I think the things that — the best way actually to maybe describe her is what she stands against, what she rails against. And that really does end up aligning her more with conservatives. She is, for instance, very anti-DEI, anti-woke, as you said. She has been a very staunch critic of the mainstream press and I think at times has been actually fairly dishonest in the way she's portrayed how the mainstream press operates and how it reports and suggested, for instance, that it is biased, it's unfair, it doesn't take into account the conservative point of view. And while she has been critical of Trump at times, while The Free Press has been critical of Trump, I can't help but say that if you go to The Free Press on a regular basis, it's a right-wing opinion blog really at the end of the day. And while it does criticize Trump occasionally, the main threat, I think you would — you take away, you would say the main threat to Western civilization is not Trump and the creeping autocracy in this country. It's really initiatives like DEI or being too woke, and that is the real main threat to Western civilization, to America. And that's what David Ellison is buying today. It's this right-wing opinion blog that really pushes those narratives. Nawaz didn’t challenge Oliver's characterization but fretted over what a “fierce critic” like Weiss would do to CBS’s hallowed journalistic institutions -- like notoriously pro-Democrat “60 Minutes”? Nawaz: Well, so what does this mean for CBS News then, Oliver, for a fierce critic of mainstream media to now be in charge of one of the legacy institutions here? It's home to storied journalism brands like "60 Minutes." What does that mean for CBS News and what are you hearing from folks inside? None of these people at CBS or PBS are "mainstream." This segment was brought to you in part by Raymond James. A transcript is available, click “Expand.” PBS News Hour 10/6/25 7:40:41 p.m. (ET) Amna Nawaz: Paramount announced today it's acquiring The Free Press, the independent news and commentary Web site founded in 2021 by Bari Weiss. As part of the $150 million deal, Weiss will also take on a new role at CBS News as editor in chief. A former opinion editor at The New York Times, Weiss describes herself as a centrist politically and is known for pushing back against what she calls woke orthodoxy in mainstream media. She alleged a culture of intolerance when she resigned from The Times. After the announcement, Weiss posted a video message saying, in part, this: Bari Weiss, Editor, The Free Press: What does it mean for CBS News? It means a redoubled commitment to great journalism. It means building on a storied legacy and bringing that historic newsroom into 2025 and beyond. Most of all, it means working tirelessly to make sure CBS is the most trusted news organization in the world. Amna Nawaz: For more on what this means for CBS News and the broader media landscape, I'm joined by Oliver Darcy. He's founder and lead author of the media newsletter Status. He also co-hosts his podcast called "Power Lines." Oliver, welcome to the "News Hour." Thanks for joining us. Oliver Darcy, Status: Thank you for having me. Amna Nawaz: So before we talk about what this all mean, just tell us a little bit more about Bari Weiss. I mean, this is someone who criticized Trump in his first term. She's also staunchly defended Israel, decried woke culture in colleges and media. How would you describe her voice and her role in the media landscape? Oliver Darcy: Sure. I think she's unquestionably — and she probably would concede this herself — a very polarizing figure. She is someone who is difficult to really put in one bucket. You wouldn't say she's, for instance, a MAGA media personality, but she certainly not on the left either. I think the things that — the best way actually to maybe describe her is what she stands against, what she rails against. And that really does end up aligning her more with conservatives. She is, for instance, very anti-DEI, anti-woke, as you said. She has been a very staunch critic of the mainstream press and I think at times has been actually fairly dishonest in the way she's portrayed how the mainstream press operates and how it reports and suggested, for instance, that it is biased, it's unfair, it doesn't take into account the conservative point of view. And while she has been critical of Trump at times, while The Free Press has been critical of Trump, I can't help but say that if you go to The Free Press on a regular basis, it's a right-wing opinion blog really at the end of the day. And while it does criticize Trump occasionally, the main threat, I think you would — you take away, you would say the main threat to Western civilization is not Trump and the creeping autocracy in this country. It's really initiatives like DEI or being too woke, and that is the real main threat to Western civilization, to America. And that's what David Ellison is buying today. It's this right-wing opinion blog that really pushes those narratives. Amna Nawaz: Well, so what does this mean for CBS News then, Oliver, for a fierce critic of mainstream media to now be in charge of one of the legacy institutions here? It's home to storied journalism brands like "60 Minutes." What does that mean for CBS News and what are you hearing from folks inside? Oliver Darcy: I think there's real concern inside CBS News about what this means. I don't think anyone really knows what it means. I think we can just, though, read the tea leaves, right? And if you follow Bari Weiss, you know she's been, again, critical of the way the mainstream press has operated, critical of the way, for instance, it covered the pandemic and the election of Donald Trump and a number of other things. So I think what we will likely see is them work to fold in what they would say are conservative views, which end up being pro-Trump views. I think that's certainly likely to happen at CBS News. But there's a real question of how involved Bari will be in guiding this organization editorially. Is this a editor in chief title that she is being given, but she's really not going to be in the lead, or is she actually going to be on those 9:00 a.m. editorial meetings directing coverage? And that remains to be seen. And I think that's what CBS News are thinking — or staffers are wondering today. How involved is she going to be programming a program like "60 Minutes"? Is it going to be very hands on or is she going to let the program operate fairly autonomously like it has for decades? That's unknown. Amna Nawaz: So give us the bigger media picture landscape here now, because when you look at the Ellison family here, right, you have Larry Ellison, the father of David Ellison, who's the founder of Oracle. Larry is — he's a strong Trump supporter as well. He's also now among the investors in this newly configured American version of TikTok. The family is also aiming to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. This father-son duo now controls huge swathes of the media, both in social media and in Hollywood and on television. How does that change the landscape? Oliver Darcy: Yes, these are the new media titans of our age. Like you said, they already control Paramount, which means they control CBS News, the Paramount Pictures studio. And now they are, to my understanding, according to sources, preparing a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, which obviously has the Warner Bros. studio, controls HBO Max and also has CNN. And so what you could see soon is David Ellison and his son — or — sorry — Larry Ellison and his son David Ellison controlling a large part of how Americans absorb the information from around the world, the news as well as entertainment. They could own TikTok. They could own Paramount. They could own Warner Bros. They could own CNN, CBS News. This would be a really unprecedented amount of control over how people get their information, how it's shaped, how culture is shaped. And it's coming from people, again, who have been the very least sympathetic to Donald Trump. Larry Ellison is an ally of Donald Trump. He's been at the White House. And as part of this deal, David Ellison agreed to a number of concessions to get this deal across the finish line at CBS News. So they installed the conservative ombudsman there. They're obviously bringing on Bari Weiss and a number of other things. So I think it's at the very least concerning here. Amna Nawaz: Oliver Darcy from the media newsletter Status joining us tonight. Oliver, thank you. Good to speak with you. Oliver Darcy: Thank you. October 9th, 2025 7:42 PM Clay Waters 292347 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2025/10/09/abc-nbc-morning-shows-hail-trumps-huge-remarkable-peace-deal On Thursday, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today offered rare effusive praise of President Donald Trump for his leadership to broker a conditional peace deal between Israel and the Islamic terror group governing the Gaza Strip, Hamas. The two networks trumpeted it as a “huge” and “remarkable achievement” Trump “most certainly deserves credit.” ABC chief global affairs anchor and This Week co-host Martha Raddatz was the most laudatory, arguing “if this goes as planned, if we see the remaining hostages freed and Israel begin its withdrawal, it is a remarkable achievement, and President Trump most certainly deserves credit for his role.”     “He has done this through diplomacy, pressure, and the sheer force of his personality and persistence. He dispatched diplomats again and again, made threats in the last few days to Hamas, saying if they did not sign the deal, all hell would break loose. And they had the bombing of Iran as an example of that. But perhaps most importantly, he pushed [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu in ways his predecessor and others have not,” she added. Raddatz went on, citing Trump’s close, frank ties with Netanyahu as helping bring Israel along, concluding “if those hostages are freed, which would leave Hamas without their major bargaining tool, this is a huge moment for Donald Trump.” Prior to Raddatz, chief foreign correspondent Ian Pannell hailed the “[s]cenes of jubilation, of relief, and finally hope realized” and “[t]wo years since the terrible war began, Palestinians and Israelis hope the long nightmare is coming to an end.” “So, we’ve seen celebrations here, singing, dancing. The Israeli flag, the American flag, signs saying, ‘we love you Trump.’ In the words of one mother of a hostage, saying I could be a mother who hugs her son again,” he added. Over on NBC’s Today, chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel gushed over the jubilant scene in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, arguing “a place that has been so sad and mournful” has shifted to one “you can judge for yourselves” as a crowd cheered and sang behind him. Former Obama official and NBC analyst Jeremy Bash — who was one of those 51 former intelligence officials to claim Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation — conceded “this is a huge accomplishment by the Trump administration to end the harrowing nightmare for the people of Gaza...and also for the Israeli people who suffered the trauma on October 7 and had 250 of their citizens taken[.]”     “[T]onight, I think those families can breathe a sigh of relief that the remaining living hostages will come home. But we don’t know yet exactly how Hamas is going to disarm and who will govern the Gaza Strip,” he added. Asked by co-host Craig Melvin how Gaza would be rebuilt, Bash correctly replied the onus will be on other Arab countries: It’s very difficult and it’s going to really require the Arab states to send in a security and a governance force. I don’t think U.S. troops are going to be there and certainly the idea is to get the Israeli troops out, so some other multinational force is going to have to put troops on the ground, provide a security presence, and they’re going to have to insist and demand that the current Gaza leadership, which is comprised of Hamas terrorists, leave the Gaza Strip. They’ve been offered amnesty under this Trump deal, but they’re going to have to lay down their arms. And the danger is, of course, that Gaza will retreat again into a failed state and again become a haven for terrorists. CBS Mornings kept it more neutral, keeping away from an direct effusive praise of the President, but did not criticize him either. In the show’s “Eye Opener,” it did play the clip of Gil Dickmann, a cousin of deceased one-time hostage Carmel Gat declaring form Hostage Square: “I want to thank President Trump for bringing this amazing victory. He deserves a Noble Prize.” October 9th, 2025 7:04 PM Curtis Houck 292363 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/catherine-mortensen/2025/10/09/bozell-newsmax-kudos-trump-inviting-real-journalists-white MRC President David Bozell told Newsmax host Chris Salcedo on Thursday that President Donald Trump deserves "kudos for inviting real journalists to the White House," to talk about the threat Antifa poses to our cities. Trump was welcomed cabinet members, independent journalists and other administration officials to a "listening session" to discuss the radical left-wing group, which the president recently designated a domestic terrorist organization. "These journalists put their lives on the line to cover this story that members of the legacy press refused to cover," Bozell said. "Donald Trump has designated Antifa a terrorist organization largely because of the reporting done by people in that room. The main stream media was typically dismissive of the people at that table. Erin Burnett of CNN said, 'Antifa violence is rare and limited.' A silly comment from an oftentimes silly network." Bozell also weighed in on the growing controversy over the Super Bowl's halftime show which is set to feature Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny.  Bozell noted that Turning Point USA is promoting its own halftime show, which Bozell hopes will be an "awesome counter display of American heritage, patriotism, freedom, and family - all the things the Turning Point USA and the conservative movement have been striving for all these years."  Watch the full segment here.     October 9th, 2025 6:50 PM Catherine Mortensen 292362 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/evangeline-faussie/2025/10/09/david-bozell-lars-larson-ai-chatbots-blame-republicans Media Research Center President David Bozell joined The Lars Larson Show Thursday night to expose how AI chatbots are unfairly blaming Republicans for the 2025 government shutdown. Bozell revealed that MRC’s Free Speech America team put major AI chatbots—including ChatGPT, Meta AI, and X’s Grok—to the test by asking a simple, one-word question: "Who is more responsible for the 2025 government shutdown—Republicans or Democrats?"   “All blamed Republicans for the 2025 shutdown,” Bozell told Larson, “and they just cite Democrat-friendly outlets like NPR, PBS, which are still among us, at least for the time being, temporarily, and Wikipedia, as their sources.” Bozell warned that as AI becomes more integrated into everyday life, its left-leaning slant poses serious implications for how Americans access and interpret information. He also pointed out the irony that even traditionally liberal outlets like The Washington Post have been more balanced than AI on the current shutdown debate. “The oddity is, the Washington Post has been more neutral about this shutdown than these new AI tools,” Bozell said. “Its editorial board actually said, ‘The government is too big. There is plenty of fat to cut.’ Can you imagine that?” Bozell warned that this growing AI bias isn’t a glitch — it’s a reflection of the same left-wing narratives dominating legacy media. He called for fairness, not favoritism, from tech companies shaping public opinion. October 9th, 2025 6:09 PM Évangéline Faussié 292361 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/daniel-mccarthy/2025/10/09/why-sharpies-are-made-america-again President Donald Trump loves a Sharpie pen, and now he has all the more reason to love the company that makes them. The president signed the flurry of executive orders he issued the day he returned to office with a Sharpie. He’s used them for years, finding them more reliable than fancier pens. Now we know they have another merit, too: They’re almost entirely made in America. Only the felt tip of a Sharpie comes from abroad — it’s made in Japan, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Natasha Khan, who published an eye-opening article on the penmaker last week. What makes Newell Brands, the corporation behind the Sharpie, so newsworthy is its success saving money — and holding down consumer prices — by making the pens in America. Newell was once as dazzled as other manufacturers by the prospect of making its products more cheaply in Asia. But in 2018, CFO Chris Peterson looked into producing the latest Sharpie, a gel version, at the company’s factory in Maryville, Tennessee. The new pen required updating the plant and training workers to operate and maintain the new machines. Yet that’s what made the project a triumph: investment, in an American factory and the Americans working there. This country can make top-quality consumer goods at affordable prices, but only if companies invest in cutting-edge machinery and in enhancing workers’ skills. Peterson, who became the company’s CEO, had Newell pay to send factory floor workers to college. They came back ready to take on more technically demanding tasks, and naturally their wages shot up — on average by 50% over the last five years, in Peterson’s estimation. The mandarins of globalization say higher wages surely have to mean lower profits, and doesn’t better machinery mean fewer workers? But Newell’s production costs dropped even as employment levels held steady: Not every story in American manufacturing has such a happy outcome, but Newell proved the process that once lifted manufacturers and their workers together into prosperity still works in the 21st century. Ford Motor Company famously discovered it could sell more cars by paying its workers well enough to afford the automobiles they were making. Long before globalization, America’s national economy boomed thanks to a virtuous cycle of rising wages, more technological investment, an increasingly educated workforce, and higher consumer spending on American-made goods. Success at home led to success abroad: America was an exporting superpower that “ran persistent trade surpluses” from 1870 to 1970, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis relates. Trump wants to make American manufacturing great again. But tariffs, which can help, are not enough by themselves. The Sharpie case shows domestic investment is critical. One reason for American manufacturing’s relative decline in recent decades has been the high cost of building new plants or renovating old ones. Even if it’s profitable to manufacture in America, the upfront expenses are a hurdle, especially when foreign countries, which subsidize their industries in myriad ways, offer quicker returns on investment. Trump incurred the wrath of free-market purists by getting government more involved in businesses like Intel and U.S. Steel. Yet industries like chip-making and steel — or for that matter ship-building and aerospace — are sectors with heavy government involvement throughout the world. The few countries that have significant manufacturing in those fields all use government aid to sustain their industries. Even smart free-market economists are dangerously naive about this: At a recent Dallas-area debate I participated in, National Review economics editor Dominic Pino (who’s since moved to the Washington Post) contrasted “the government-driven protectionist model that we have used for U.S. Steel for decades,” which has “now resulted in the quasi-nationalization of that company” with “FedEx, which is profitable, employs way more Americans ... and actually delivers services that Americans “use every single day.” Trouble is, nowhere on earth is steel manufacturing as fully private an enterprise as FedEx is. The choice Pino was presenting wasn’t between government-backed steel or free-market steel — it was between partly government-backed steel or no domestic steel-making at all. For most American manufacturers, private investment is enough — though even then, government must consider what unfair practices other countries may adopt to lure investment away from our shores. There’s also a role for government in ensuring a reasonably level playing field at home, so investment isn’t incentivized out of manufacturing and into other sectors without the heavy upfront costs of plants and machinery. Yet the Newell Brands example shows business leaders themselves can work miracles and defy globalization’s laws of gravity when they put capital behind America’s factories and workers. Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review. To read more by Daniel McCarthy, visit www.creators.com. October 9th, 2025 6:05 PM Daniel McCarthy 292360 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/09/its-not-looking-good-bidens-auto-pen-pardons-house “It’s not looking good for those pardons” President Joe Biden gave out to Hunter Biden, other family members and cohorts in his administration, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said Thursday. In an interview with Newsmax, Comer discussed Republicans’ investigation of how staff members used President Joe Biden’s auto-pen to sign documents on his behalf without his consent or, potentially, even his knowledge. “We’re in the final stages of this auto-pen investigation: it’s not looking good for those pardons,” Rep. Comer explained: “I could see a scenario where the pardons are declared null and void. “We brought in all the people in the Biden inner circle. They all had different stories on how the auto-pen was used. But, one thing that’s been consistent is Joe Biden was AWOL.” …. “You had a staff that was operating as president of the United States with that auto-pen – and I think that is going to throw in legal jeopardy all of the pardons for the Biden family, as well as the January 6 committee and Dr. Fauci and the list goes on and on and on.” “So, I think that there’s going to be an opportunity now to get these people in court,” Chairman Comer said. “The media will try to say it’s retribution, but it’s not retribution – it’s about accountability, it’s about getting the truth and it’s about abuse of power,” Comer said: “I think the American people are now seeing the lengths to which people like (ex-FBI Director) Comey and the Bidens and Hillary Clinton went to try to defeat Donald Trump.” 🚨Democrats are choosing to shut the government down to provide free healthcare for illegal immigrants. THIS IS WHO WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR IT: American Workers Small Business Owners Veterans You Democrats need to quit the political games and OPEN the government. @gregkellyusa pic.twitter.com/p1lqUAifP2 — Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) October 9, 2025 October 9th, 2025 5:04 PM Craig Bannister 292359 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/pj-gladnick/2025/10/09/new-york-mag-criticism-va-ag-candidates-texts-cynical-manipulation When you gaze at politics through the left tinted lenses of New York magazine, you might conjure up some mighty bizarre observations. Such was the case Tuesday in an Ed Kilgore story entitled: "Republicans See an Upset in Violent Texts From Virginia Democrat." Kilgore's conclusion in his final paragraph about the "violent texts" from Virginia Democrat Attorney General candidate Jay Jones was to slam Republicans for "cynical manipulation." Nevermind the texts were authentic. New York magazine has determined the reaction to them is the issue: I’m sure there’s back-channel talk about Jones “doing the right thing” and relieving his colleagues of his problems, along with pushback against the cynical manipulation of the “crisis” by Republicans. The final sentence buttressed the idea of MAGA's "cynical manipulation" of this scandal: Perhaps Jones and his party can tough it all out, but MAGA folk will incessantly use his example to buttress their absurd argument that the main source of violent political talk is left of center and will perhaps even pull off an electoral shocker in a time and place in which the Boss and his agenda aren’t very popular. "Absurd argument?" Perhaps Kilgore missed the news cycles of the past few years in which Republicans in general and Trump and his supporters in particular constantly being labeled as Nazis or fascists. Butler, anyone? Utah Valley University? Heck, even Family Research Council way back yonder? Earlier in the piece, Kilgore hyped the idea of "cynical manipulation" of this scandal by the GOP: This was years ago, and Jones hasn’t displayed any offline violent tendencies, but as you can imagine, Republicans see a huge opportunity: not just to potentially defeat Jones (who was favored to win before all this controversy) but to divide and defeat the entire Democratic statewide ticket, as Axios explains... Kilgore also couldn't resist a snarky slam for the same reason at President Trump and Vice-President Vance: "Unsurprisingly, those great advocates for civility in political discourse, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, have jumped into the fray[.]" Finally, the same shot at "conservative media" writ large and much the same vein we saw at USA Today: Conservative media is all over this story, and Jones’s abject apologies for the texts have cut no ice in those circles. He’s not the real target anyway; it’s Spanberger, and as Axios put it, “pushing Jones off the ticket could fracture Democrats’ chances in a pivotal statewide race seen as a bellwether for next year.” To be clear, in Virginia statewide candidates run independently, so there’s not really a “ticket” the gubernatorial nominee can control. For another, Jones is the sole Black statewide Democratic nominee, in a state where Democrats rely heavily on robust Black turnout. Gee! What's wrong with conservative media? Didn't Jones offer "abject apologies" (without withdrawing from the race) after he was exposed? Shouldn't that be acceptable to them? Well, perhaps IF you live in the New York magazine liberal bubble. October 9th, 2025 3:49 PM P.J. Gladnick 292338 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2025/10/09/view-defends-katie-porters-unhinged-rage-cussing-means The shrill liberal shriekers of ABC’s The View have long been supporters of far-left rage monster and congresswoman, Katie Porter (D-CA). So it was no surprise that, during Thursday’s show, a majority of the co-hosts had her back during her run for governor even as she hemorrhaged support after a series of videos showed her abusing staff and a journalist. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg, along with co-hosts Joy Behar and Ana Navarro, tried to save Porter’s campaign with a tourniquet of excuses ranging from being human to menopause to just being plain “smarter” than everybody else. After playing a clip of Porter near the top of the show scream at a staffer to “get out of my f[bleeping] shot,” Goldberg tried to blunt the audiences shocked reaction by singing a line from the musical Hamilton: “I'm not giving away my shot, shot, shot!” “Maybe she's having a menopausal moment,” Behar chimed in defense.     Goldberg continued to try to downplay Porter’s unhinged outburst at staff as just something normal and acceptable since we’ve seen it so many times before, and sometimes people had bad days (Click “expand”): GOLDBERG: Now, you know, some people are apparently surprised by these videos. I am not. We see these videos with guys. We saw I with -- oh, my god. SARA HAINES: Bill O'Reilly. Laura Ingraham. GOLDBERG: We’ve seen it with Laura Ingraham. We’ve seen it with lots of different people. We've seen it with actors. BEHAR: Trump does it every minute! GOLDBERG: And he always says to people, “You are the worst. I don't like you. I don't know who you are. I don't know why you're here.” You know, maybe people are having a bad day. She even lamented that she couldn’t do it more often. “We have to watch what we say. We have to watch how we say it, and sometimes it gets really frustrating because you just want to say, this is how I feel!” Goldberg bemoaned. If you found Goldberg’s staunch defense of Porter suspicious, she made it fairly obvious why a few minutes later when she admitted that she yells at the people around her: GOLDBERG: Well, you know, again, I -- because I have done this, I have been rude to people, I have said to journalists, “no, this is what -- this is my answer” and they'll say, “no, but I've asked other people” and I said, “no, no, this is what I'm telling -- this is what—” HAINES: But you're not running for elected official. GOLDBERG: No, but I've been rude and that's my point. HAINES: And I understand, but I would expect something differently from her. GOLDBERG: No, she's just another human being.     It’s also possible Goldberg was trying to make it seem more widespread by putting on herself too. “In these moments I don't think it's as simple as you're having a bad day. I actually think she needs to do better not in gratitude but respect to other people,” co-host Sara Haines pushed back. Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that Porter had a long history of being disliked by her staff and that she had high staff turnover. Doing their part to defend Porter, Navarro and Behar teamed up to suggest that the Congresswoman was just “smarter” than most since she cursed out her staff so much: NAVARRO: I just read a study that says that cussing — people who cuss a lot are smarter. BEHAR: Are more intelligent. NAVARRO: Which I take a lot of comfort in. Following a commercial break, Goldberg actually took to whining about reporters like NewsBusters making her look bad by quoting her verbatim. “Well, because, you know, any time I say something, some press comes out and they kind of twist it to make it like I'm a really insane person,” she griped. “I take a lot of those hits, and I don't like it as much as I used to.”     The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View October 9, 2025 11:16:08 a.m. Eastern (…) WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I'm not giving away my shot, shot, shot! I'm not giving away my -- JOY BEHAR: Maybe she's having a menopausal moment. GOLDBERG: Maybe – well, you know – Listen, anything is possible but she said in a statement that she's striving to do better saying, quote, “I have sought to be more intentional to showing gratitude to my staff for their important work.” Now, you know, some people are apparently surprised by these videos. I am not. We see these videos with guys. We saw I with -- oh, my god. SARA HAINES: Bill O'Reilly. Laura Ingraham. GOLDBERG: We’ve seen it with Laura Ingraham. We’ve seen it with lots of different people. We've seen it with actors. BEHAR: Trump does it every minute! GOLDBERG: And he always says to people, “You are the worst. I don't like you. I don't know who you are. I don't know why you're here.” You know, maybe people are having a bad day. I can't imagine it could be easy to be running for something, because it's kind of like us, we always have to now be on our best behavior. We have to watch what we say. We have to watch how we say it, and sometimes it gets really frustrating because you just want to say, this is how I feel! (…) 11:17:53 a.m. Eastern HAINES: In these moments I don't think it's as simple as you're having a bad day. I actually think she needs to do better not in gratitude but respect to other people. [Applause] GOLDBERG: Well, let me just say it like this, you know, in a perfect world, yeah. But human beings have bad days, and human beings are not always capable of realizing that they're step income poo. And so I just -- ANA NAVARRO: I just read a study that says that cussing — people who cuss a lot are smarter. BEHAR: Are more intelligent. NAVARRO: Which I take a lot of comfort in. (…) 11:19:25 a.m. Eastern GOLDBERG: Well, you know, again, I -- because I have done this, I have been rude to people, I have said to journalists, “no, this is what -- this is my answer” and they'll say, “no, but I've asked other people” and I said, “no, no, this is what I'm telling -- this is what—” HAINES: But you're not running for elected official. GOLDBERG: No, but I've been rude and that's my point. HAINES: And I understand, but I would expect something differently from her. GOLDBERG: No, she's just another human being. HAINES: Not – GOLDBERG: I’m sorry. Yeah, they're all just human beings, that's why there's -- almost said a bad word. We'll be right back. (…) 11:25:36 a.m. Eastern GOLDBERG: Well, because, you know, any time I say something, some press comes out and they kind of twist it to make it like I'm a really insane person. BEHAR: It's just a headline. If you read the whole thing – [Crosstalk] GOLDBERG: How many people read -- how many people actually hear what you're saying unless you're sitting here? NAVARRO: But you know what I love? GOLDBEGR: What do you love. NAVARRO: That we are so relevant, that they have to parse every word we say and because it's good clickbait. [Crosstalk] GOLDBERG: Yeah, but you know what, I take a lot of those hits, and I don't like it as much as I used to. (…) October 9th, 2025 2:31 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 292356 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2025/10/09/knives-out-lefty-site-touts-anonymous-smears-bari-weiss-undermine Doing their part to undermine and destroy Bari Weiss’s time at CBS News before she can even settle in, Oliver Darcy’s website Status posted Wednesday night a story filled with anonymous sources offering Mean Girls-esque smears of Weiss, painting her as “abrasive,” “chaos,” “erratic,” and someone who “struggl[ed] to effectively lead.” The result of these leaks, of course, are a giddy prediction success at CBS News “may prove difficult.” Natalie Korach made her debut writing on behalf of the far-left, hateful, press-defending site, down to the snarky headline and subhead: “A Bari Trying Time; While Bari Weiss faces skepticism inside CBS News, former colleagues describe her management style to Status as chaotic and abrasive—raising questions about how she’ll lead one of America’s most storied newsrooms.” She got right to work taking pot shots at Weiss in the middle of the second paragraph: “Thus far, Weiss is being viewed skeptically inside CBS News, to put it mildly. Senior leaders inside the company are holding their breath as they cautiously get to know her[.]” She only alluded to those who’ve praised her, implying their opinions are disingenuous and less-than-truthful: “Some of her former employees and associates have publicly spoken highly of her, praising her hustle, entrepreneurship, and editorial point of view.” This led into the anonymous takes, which she gushed as having told “a very different story, one marked by friction, disorganization, and erratic management.” Korach opened the floodgates of disgruntled former employees: According to multiple people who’ve worked closely with her, Weiss often struggled to effectively lead, burning through staff and leaving colleagues frustrated by what they described as a chaotic and sometimes combative style. Now, as the 41-year-old begins her tenure at CBS News, many inside the network will surely wonder whether that same volatile approach will follow her into one of America’s most storied newsrooms. “It is chaos,” one former Free Press staffer, who, like others, spoke to Status on the condition of anonymity about Weiss’ management style. “She would admit that she can be difficult to work with. Even for people who totally agree with her.” Another person familiar with Weiss’ management style described her as “last minute,” adding that “everything’s a mad rush.” A third person described her as astonishingly abrasive with employees. For her part, Korach scoffed at Weiss because “it is a matter of public record that Weiss has no real experience leading a workforce the size of CBS News, let alone a television outlet” and the most she’s done in terms of leading was “only a few dozen” at The Free Press and a rocky “junior editor” stop at The New York Times. The same could have been said about Korach’s boss Oliver Darcy running his own site after having been at CNN, Business Insider, and, before his change into a man filled with hate for conservatives, editor positions at Campus Reform and The Blaze. Korach pointed out another possible Weiss pitfall she and boss Darcy are sure to exploit, which is “leading a far larger, more entrenched staff at CBS News” and avoid “alienat[ing]” staffers “who don’t share her worldview—and who already regard her appointment with deep suspicion.” Translation? Liberal journalists hellbent on being stuck in their ways, unwilling to admit fault in widespread loss of trust in the press or, specific to CBS News, decades at third-place in the ratings. She concluded with another proverbial kicking of dirt Weiss’s way: [H]er success at CBS News will still depend on her ability to build trust..Alienating the rank and file won’t just erode morale; it will guarantee leaks, backbiting, and a steady stream of embarrassing headlines...[W]inning hearts and minds inside CBS News may prove difficult, if her former colleagues are any indication. October 9th, 2025 2:07 PM Curtis Houck 292355 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/09/pelosi-dodges-bullet-when-asked-about-democrat-ag Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dodged a bullet Wednesday when she was asked a loaded question about whether or not Jay Jones, the Democrat candidate for Virginia attorney general, should drop out of the race because of his text messages saying he wants a Republican to be shot in the head – twice. “Should he get out of the race?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked the congresswoman point blank during an interview – setting up Pelosi to either defend Jones’ violent rhetoric or call on a fellow Democrat to drop out of a race. Instead, Rep. Pelosi opted to throw Virginia Democrat Party leaders under the bus – putting it on them to be responsible for supporting either of the two unattractive stances: CNN: “There is a Democrat running for attorney general who is embroiled in a scandal over text messages in which he, the Democrat, said that the GOP speaker of the House of Delegates should get two bullets to the head for how he paid tribute to a former moderate Democratic lawmaker who died. He has apologized. “Should he get out of the race? Rep. Pelosi: “Well, that’s up to the leaders in Virginia. They have said he has apologized. What I understand is they say that, on balance, he is the better person to be Attorney General. “But, that’s up to them.” Pelosi was then given a hypothetical: if she were Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat candidate for governor in Virginia, would she call on Jones to drop out of the race? And, once again, Pelosi refused to take a stand and shifted responsibility to a fellow Democrat: “It’s up to her. “I really don’t get involved in other people’s races.” Pelosi’s handling of the issue was apparently so poor that Republican supporters have begun posting video of her comments in the interview on social media. CNN: "Jay Jones said that the GOP Speaker should get two bullets in his head... Should he get out of the race?" Pelosi: "What I understand is they say, on balance, he is a better person to be Attorney General." Are you kidding me? pic.twitter.com/8fFXrAMMtC — CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) October 8, 2025 October 9th, 2025 1:58 PM Craig Bannister 292354 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/larry-elder/2025/10/09/politics-shutdown-obamacare-crime-and-deportations One more time: There is no such thing as free lunch. Government has no money. It acquires the money used to pay for things one of three ways: taxing, borrowing or printing. Democrat senators, with three exceptions, voted against keeping the federal government fully running because they want to add back spending reduced under the so-called Big Beautiful Bill; they want to spend even more; and they want to extend the expiring Obamacare subsidies. Democrats call Republicans “liars” for accusing Democrats of seeking government-provided health care for illegal aliens. But when asked whether she supports health care for illegal aliens, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said, “Democrats are demanding health care for everybody.” At a 2020 Democratic presidential candidates’ debate, the moderator said, “Raise your hand if your government (health care) plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants.” All 10 candidates put up their hands. As for Obamacare, Democrats designed it knowing some subsidies would expire. That way they could downplay its true cost. Their expectation was simple. If Republicans refuse to extend the subsidies, Democrats would accuse Republicans of cruelty, no matter the cost to taxpayers. Former President Barack Obama promised Obamacare would “bend the cost curve.” But Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Jonathan Gruber, known as the father of Obamacare, said: “(Saving money) was sometimes a misleading motivator for the Affordable Care Act. The law isn’t designed to save money. It’s designed to improve health, and that’s going to cost money.” For Democrats and many Republicans, getting government out of health care in exchange for a true, robust and competitive private sector model -- resulting in lower prices, better quality and greater accessibility -- is a nonstarter. Health care, after all, “is a right.” As to crime, isn’t the No. 1 job of government to protect people and property? Soft-on-crime policies, like light sentences or reducing or eliminating jail time, results in more crime. When politicians and judges make it less likely that criminals are caught, convicted and incarcerated, criminals commit more crime. Lawbreakers may be criminal, but they are not stupid. The same cannot be said of some politicians. For example, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), a former criminal defense attorney, recently said: “Just because someone has committed a crime, it doesn’t make them a criminal. That is completely different. Being a criminal is more so about your mindset. Committing a crime can come for a lot of different reasons.” Similarly, when asked how to deal with career criminals, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said: “When this person is committing six or seven crimes, I don’t know his or her story. Maybe they were abused as a child. Maybe they’re hungry. But my remedy is to find their life story to see how we can help.” In short, criminal thugs need to be understood, not jailed for harming others. When President Donald Trump uses or threatens to use the National Guard to assist local law enforcement in high-crime cities, he stands accused of racism. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said: “I think it’s very notable that each and every one of the cities called out by the president has a Black mayor, and most of those cities are seeing historic lows in violent crime.” Never mind the immediate effect of Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. D.C.’s Fox 5 News reported: “Since the Guard’s arrival, the city has experienced a notable decline in criminal activity. For the first time in a long time, D.C. has gone seven days without a homicide. Carjackings have decreased by 83%, robberies by 46%, car thefts by 21%, and overall violent crime is down 22%. ‘When you have these numbers going down it means this is a success and people feel safer,’ said Sgt. Betsy Smith of the National Police Association.” About deportations, people never took to the streets when told to stay home, close their businesses, not go to work and not go to school because of COVID-19. But some take to the streets to prevent ICE from deporting violent criminal illegal aliens. After four years of President Joe Biden’s intentionally open borders and the entry of untold numbers of illegal aliens who committed violent crimes in their home countries, what exactly is the alternative to arresting and deporting them, particularly when it comes to “the worst of the worst”? A strongly worded letter? Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on X @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM October 9th, 2025 12:37 PM Larry Elder 292353 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2025/10/09/morning-joe-trumps-victory-lap-gaza-ceasefire-deal-deserved On today's Morning Joe, in giving President Trump his due for apparently achieving a Gaza peace deal, historian and former Biden speech writer Jon Meacham said: "Even if someone with whom you disagree about 99 things does the 100th really well, you should say so, because that's what intellectual honesty is. So all credit to President Trump." We feel your pain, Jon! We'll take Meacham's counsel to heart. Even though we disagree with roughly 99% of the opinions expressed on Morning Joe, let's accord the show credit for giving President Trump generally unqualified praise for his diplomatic achievement. Thus, Joe Scarborough repeated a notion that we remarked on yesterday: "The negotiators, that it's some of these business relationships that have drawn criticism in the past that actually have allowed them to go in and go places that, let's just say, a more conventional White House and team would have been able to go.  "The Abraham Accords, which actually Jared Kushner went around the Middle East and, of course, for Donald Trump, built relationships across the Middle East. Many of those he continued in the private sector, gaining criticism, of course, for making money that he did for his business.  "But those relationships built up, and those are the same relationships that he's using right now, along with Steve Witkoff and others, to bring us to a place where I don't think we've been." And then there was David Ignatius, who said that President Trump will: "Take a victory lap for sure over the next few days. But it's deserved. There's no way that I can see that this would have been done without Trump's pressure in the final hours." And in perhaps the bitterest pill for liberals to swallow, Ignatius added: "This war was blocked for two years. President Biden, who preceded him, was unable to find a way to stop it. President Trump found that way by being tough on both sides." Ouch!    Then again, if Kamala Harris had won the White House, you can imagine the parties agreeing to a Gaza deal just to stop being subjected to her word salads, grating laughter, and musings on the meaning of time.  Expect Morning Joe to soon return to its regularly-scheduled programming of trashing President Trump. But for today, let's acknowledge the temporary ceasefire by this outpost of the liberal media.  Note: The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced tomorrow. If Trump doesn't get it, it'll be the biggest Nobel outrage since Obama won it in 2009 for doing . . . nothing. Here's the transcript. MSNBC Morning Joe 10/9/25 6:04 am EDT DAVID IGNATIUS: The deal that President Trump is announcing, which played a key part in negotiating, is a significant change. This war was blocked for two years. President Biden, who preceded him, was unable to find a way to stop it. President Trump found that way by being tough on both sides.  And he'll take a victory lap for sure over the next few days. But it's deserved. There's no way that I can see that this would have been done without Trump's pressure in the final hours.  JOE SCARBOROUGH: One, by the way, the White House would be the first to admit that it's, and the negotiators, that it's some of these business relationships that have drawn criticism in the past that actually have allowed them to go in and go places that, let's just say, a more conventional White House and team would have been able to go.  . . .  Jon Meacham, let's talk history here. My God, the failure since 1948 to figure out a way to resolve this issue are so plentiful. I can only think of a few, offhand, successful negotiations. One, of course, that Mika and her family know very well about, the Camp David Accords.  But also the Abraham Accords, which actually Jared Kushner went around the Middle East and, of course, for Donald Trump, built relationships across the Middle East. Many of those he continued in the private sector, gaining criticism, of course, for making money that he did for his business.  But those relationships built up, and those are the same relationships that he's using right now, along with Steve Witkoff and others, to bring us to a place where I don't think we've been.  JON MEACHAM: No, I think that's right.  SCARBOROUGH: I should ask you, how historic is this?  MEACHAM: Well, as ever, depends on how the chapter ends, but the beginning of the chapter is remarkable.  And one of the things about honesty, and citizenship and a sense of, I would say, maturity about what people in a democracy should do is, even if someone with whom you disagree about 99 things, does the 100th really well? You should say so, because that's what intellectual honesty is. And so all credit to President Trump and his, as you say, unconventional team. But if it takes an unconventional team, that's fine.  October 9th, 2025 12:34 PM Mark Finkelstein 292348 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2025/10/09/washpost-tries-claim-trump-has-made-political-comedy-important The opinion section at The Washington Post may be moving in a positive direction towards an embrace of free markets, but the style section still has a ways to go. A Saturday article that was published in the Tuesday print edition by Elahe Izadi sought to answer the question, “Has Trump’s government made political comedy feel important again?” According to Izadi and her sources, the answer is yes, although the truth is quite different. Izadi’s one-sided framing was clear from the start, “Government pressure to yank Jimmy Kimmel off the air after an on-air comment after Charlie Kirk’s killing. The cancellation of longtime Donald Trump critic Stephen Colbert’s show after his parent company settled a Trump lawsuit ahead of a merger it needed the administration to approve. The White House denouncing ‘South Park’ episodes that skewer administration figures. Comedians have suddenly turned into the main characters in the debate over free speech and government interference.” She then asked the question that formed the headline for the article, “Is the second Trump administration making comedy feel important again?” All of Izadi’s sources were either liberal comedians or current or former staffers for liberal comedy shows. Izadi claimed, “The government’s umbrage toward certain entertainers, along with corporate moves that some saw as appeasement, ‘really opened the floodgates of discussion’ among comedians and ‘put a spotlight on what we do and how important it is,’ says veteran comic Judy Gold, who wrote a book on comedy and free speech during the first Trump term.” She writes, “That began to change over the summer. In July, CBS parent company Paramount — which needed the administration to sign off on a merger deal — settled a Trump lawsuit. Colbert called it a ‘big fat bribe’ on his show.” Yes, Colbert did call it that, but he has never publicly stated that he thinks The Late Show was cancelled because of Trump. Jimmy Kimmel, by contrast, has argued that the FCC was behind his suspension, which Izadi naturally discussed next. Of that controversy, Izadi claimed, “Kimmel went on his own show and said, ‘The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.’ His commentary came before solid details emerged about the alleged shooter’s politics.” That’s not true. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, whom Kimmel praised as a “rare voice of reason,” was already talking about the shooter being a leftist at the time of Kimmel’s remarks. Izadi hyped that, “ABC put Kimmel back on the air about a week later, and the whole affair turned up the spotlight on the late-night host: His return episode brought 6.2 million viewers, which is about four times what he normally gets. That, despite not being aired on nearly a quarter of the stations that usually carry him. (The broadcasters later agreed to air his show with their affiliates.)” Those numbers have since come back down to Earth. To appropriately answer Izadi’s question, it might be useful to define “feel.” Certainly, the liberal comedy has not impacted public policy or opinion polls. Even the idea that Kimmel was almost a free speech martyr requires liberals to ignore the fact that he was playing around in Blue Anon territory, but if you’re a liberal who is despondent about having to endure another four years of Trump, then maybe having your echo chamber reinforce your sense of moral superiority can feel important, which is probably what Izadi meant. But, she asked about "political comedy," not "liberal comedy," so it is noticeable she did not write this article when Twitter banned The Babylon Bee for telling Rachel Levine jokes. October 9th, 2025 12:08 PM Alex Christy 292352 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/09/cbo-credits-trump-tariffs-big-beautiful-bill-september The U.S. federal budget recorded a $164 billion surplus in September – thanks in large part to President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported Wednesday. Since February, the Trump Administration has imposed “reciprocal tariffs” on many imported goods in order to offset the onerous tariffs some countries are charging on U.S. exports. Then, in July, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill (reconciliation) Act, which institutes federal student loan program reforms saving $307 billion. Both measures greatly helped boost September’s budget surplus, while also reducing the deficit for full Fiscal Year 2025, which ended September 30, the CBO explains in its report: September’s surplus more than doubled from the September 2024 surplus, surging from $80 billion to $164 billion. Revenues were $8 billion higher than last September. Tariff-driven customs duty revenue was $22 billion higher – a 310% increase. Outlays were $76 billion lower than year-ago. Adjusted for payments that were due in FY2024, but paid in FY2023, the government would have realized a $76 billion surplus in September, compared to a $0.370 billion surplus a year earlier. Customs duties are comprised of revenue from tariffs and taxes imposed on goods transported across international borders. “Since February, the Administration has increased tariffs on most imported goods,” the CBO notes, explaining the 310% increase in this source of revenue. September’s $76 billion decline in outlays was “attributable largely to modifications to the federal student loan program that were authorized in the 2025 reconciliation act,” the CBO reports. For the full fiscal year (FY2025), the federal budget deficit was $1.8 trillion, $8 billion less than the shortfall recorded in fiscal year 2024: Revenues increased by $308 billion (+6%) from FY2024. Receipts from customs duties (including tariffs) increased by $118 billion (+153%). relative to fiscal year 2024. Outlays rose by $301 billion (+4%). Outlays decreased for federal student loan programs, deposit insurance, and by the Small Business Administration. Outlays were higher in several areas, including the largest benefit programs and net interest on the public debt (which, for the first time, surpassed $1 trillion). Just as it was for the month of September, the deficit for the full fiscal year was influenced by the timing of outlays in Fiscal Year 2024, which were reduced because payments that were due on October 1, 2023, a Sunday, were shifted into Fiscal Year 2023 (they were made in September 2023). If not for those shifts, the FY2025 deficit would have been $80 billion (4%) less than FY2024’s deficit, instead of $8 billion lower. October 9th, 2025 11:15 AM Craig Bannister 292350 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2025/10/09/meyers-demands-republicans-cave-obamacare-subsidies NBC’s Seth Meyers devoted Wednesday’s “Closer Look” segment on Late Night to how the government shutdown has affected air traffic control. At the end, Meyers blamed Republicans for not caving to Democrats’ demands on extending the Biden-era Obamacare subsidies. Meyers introduced a pair of clips by bringing back his favorite tradition: praising Sen. Bernie Sanders, “As a reminder, this shutdown is happening because of health care. Premiums are about to skyrocket. Democrats just want to extend the subsidies that will prevent that from happening. Republicans admit it's a problem and claim they'll negotiate after the government reopens. But Senator Bernie Sanders isn't so sure.”     In the second clip, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked, “Tonight, he [President Trump] posted on Truth Social, basically, you need to reopen the government first before you can have that conversation. Are you willing to do that?” Sanders replied, “No, of course not. Who trusts them? You know, look, they have had months and months to negotiate, and they have chosen not to. The Speaker of the House has said to his members, ‘You don't even have to come back to Washington, D.C.’ Before any Democrat, sane Democrat, would agree to anything, has to be explicit, written down, cross their fingers, you know, and so forth and so on. You can't, ‘Oh, we'll negotiate with you.’ Really? Who believes that?” Meyers appreciated the answer by breaking out his Sanders impression, “Bernie always shoots it straight. Maybe we should hire him as an air traffic controller. ‘Okay, United, you can go. Southwest, you've gotta wait. I know—I know you're confused, Southwest.’" He then added, “The president could easily solve this by negotiating with Democrats in Congress, but he refuses. So, now our government is descending into chaos. Just remember the next time you're traveling, your flight might be, much like a song by our next guest—” Meyers punctuated his thought with a callback to a truncated version of a clip he played earlier of a local news anchor simply saying, “Cancelled.” Throughout this shutdown, the liberal comedians have dutifully stood behind Democratic efforts to extend the Obamacare subsidies, but not once has any of them pointed out that these were meant to be a temporary COVID relief measure. Nor has anyone referenced that the Biden-era program removed the original cap that limited recipients to those who make 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Here is a transcript for the October 8-taped show: NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers 10/9/2025 12:50 AM ET SETH MEYERS: As a reminder, this shutdown is happening because of health care. Premiums are about to skyrocket. Democrats just want to extend the subsidies that will prevent that from happening. Republicans admit it's a problem and claim they'll negotiate after the government reopens. But Senator Bernie Sanders isn't so sure. MORGAN NORWOOD [10/7]: President Trump is now calling on Democrats to reopen the government, writing on Truth Social, "I am happy to work with the Democrats on their failed health care policies or anything else. But first, they must allow our government to reopen." KAITLAN COLLINS [10/6]: Tonight, he posted on Truth Social, basically, you need to reopen the government first before you can have that conversation. Are you willing to do that? BERNIE SANDERS: No, of course not. Who trusts them? You know, look, they have had months and months to negotiate, and they have chosen not to. The Speaker of the House has said to his members, "You don't even have to come back to Washington, D.C." Before any Democrat, sane Democrat, would agree to anything, has to be explicit, written down, cross their fingers, you know, and so forth and so on. You can't, "Oh, we'll negotiate with you." Really? Who believes that? MEYERS: Bernie always shoots it straight. Maybe we should hire him as an air traffic controller. [Bernie Sanders Impression] "Okay, United, you can go. Southwest, you've gotta wait. I know — I know you're confused, Southwest." The president could easily solve this by negotiating with Democrats in Congress, but he refuses. So, now our government is descending into chaos. Just remember the next time you're traveling, your flight might be, much like a song by our next guest— LOCAL NEWS REPORTER: Cancelled. October 9th, 2025 9:52 AM Alex Christy 292349 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2025/10/09/washpost-editorial-board-now-admits-government-too-big What in the Benjamin C. Bradlee is going on with The Washington Post editorial board? After shocking the internet by conceding that Obamacare was really just an expensive mess, the newspaper seems to have red-pilled itself hard again. The Post once again tackled the ongoing political standoff between the GOP and Democrats over the Schumer shutdown, surprisingly chastising liberal lawmakers for being stubborn by continuingly voting down the Republican clean continuing resolution (CR). Then came a jaw-dropping admission from the liberal newspaper: “The government is too big. There is plenty of fat to cut.” But the newspaper even took it a step further: “If the last week has shown anything, it’s that the federal bureaucracy performs too many ‘nonessential’ tasks that do not have a direct bearing on the lives of most citizens.” Can pigs fly? Are we living in a parallel universe? Are chimpanzees dropping in from the cosmos? The Left will cry "state-run media." Finding this kind of hot take within the pages of one of the most anti-Trump newspapers in circulation is like finding a real conservative on the Nicolle Wallace show. Of course, The Post played both sides by caveating its nod to libertarian economics: “At the same time, the government also performs many critical functions.” However, the newspaper’s open rebuke of the Democrats’ incorrigible grandstanding over Obamacare subsidies is a sight worthy of beholding: Democratic leaders need to understand they’re playing a dangerous game. They want to show their restive base that they’re willing to fight Trump, and this is one of the few leverage points they have in the House and Senate minorities. Republicans have offered to reopen the government at Biden-era spending levels, but Democrats keep voting no, holding out for concessions on the Affordable Care Act. “There is a clean funding bill on the table,” the editorial board continued. “Only a handful of Senate Democrats need to vote for it. Then they can get all the lights back on and fight over Obamacare subsidies.”  This comes just after The Post editorial board admitted on the Obamacare issue that “the Affordable Care Act was never actually affordable” in a stunning reversal of years worth of propaganda in favor of former President Barack Obama’s “signature achievement.” The architects of the law, wrote the editorial board, “assumed that risk pools would be bigger than they turned out to be. As a result, policies cost more than expected.” It appears that Post owner Jeff Bezos’s free market reforms to his newspaper seem to be taking hold. Mazel tov. October 9th, 2025 6:27 AM Joseph Vazquez 292340 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2025/10/08/pompous-dickerson-whines-over-trump-invoking-insurrection-act It is that time again, wherein CBS’s John Dickerson coughs up another pompous editorial from behind the anchor desk on CBS Evening News Plus. This one particularly pompous and lacking self-awareness, but perhaps mindful that there are only so many of these left before Bari Weiss fully takes over as Editor-in-Chief of CBS News. Watch the full editorial, as aired on CBS Evening News Plus on Wednesday, October 8th, 2025: JOHN DICKERSON: Sending National Guard troops into an American city is a tragic act. It means civil trust and persuasion have collapsed. Determining whether the president or local officials are responsible for the tragedy lies in the balance between liberty and order. Liberty without order leads to anarchy. No rights are safe. Order without liberty is tyranny. Individual freedom dies. The founders designated local officials closest to the citizens as the primary guardians of this balance. They feared a federal response might be driven by national passions and politics, but sometimes local officials fail. So what should guide a president when he steps in? A constitutional president worries not only about public safety but liberty. Can he picture dissenters as citizens with rights, or only as enemies? Does he reach for force only after all else has failed, or as his first response? A president must act proportionately, measuring both necessity and scope. On necessity, the constitutional threshold is not merely if there is violence in a city, but if local governance has totally collapsed. When, quote, “the ordinary course of judicial proceedings has broken down,” according to the Insurrection Act. But what if the president is the author of disorder? When federal officers describe protests as “low energy”, but the president calls the city “war ravaged”, proportionality is gone. Necessity has been invented, not observed. The second aspect of proportionality is scope is the level of force equivalent to the harm. As Alexander Hamilton put it, “national government action must be proportioned to the extent of the mischief.” The framers built layers of government to make such choices slow, not easy. Killing a fly with a shotgun kills the fly, but the debris is constitutional trust. When the state meets dissent with more force than necessary, instead of persuasion, democracy suffocates. Its oxygen is trust and restraint. Without them, politics becomes an armed monologue. And that's tonight’s CBS Evening News Plus, I’m John Dickerson. Good night. The entirety of this editorial can be distilled to “Orange Man Bad for Sending National Guard into Chicago.” This is something that cannot be concealed by the floridity of Dickerson’s prose, or by his historical callbacks.  The entire game is betrayed in the second half of this yap fest, when Dickerson asks “But what if the president is the author of disorder?” These are questions that should’ve been asked four years ago, when President Joe Biden opened the border and allowed the world to vomit itself upon our southern border. That president was the author of the current disorder. What is happening today is in response both to illegal immigration running wild, and to longstanding sanctuary policies in Illinois. But that wasn’t even the most galling part of the editorial. Dickerson’s sudden concern over the rights of dissenters falls flat. Where was that concern over the rights of dissenters when the FBI spied on Members of Congress? Where was the concern for dissent throughout the Obama administration, when the IRS was sicced on Tea Party-adjacent groups?  Enforcing immigration law is entirely within the province of the Executive, whether Dickerson likes the Executive or not. If local authorities refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement and place federal agents at risk, the deployment of the National Guard is warranted. So is invocation of the Insurrection Act. Even if it hurts Dickerson’s feelings.   October 8th, 2025 11:54 PM Jorge Bonilla 292346 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2025/10/08/cnn-lol-paramounts-david-ellison-trying-shift-cbs-further Gosh, how much "further" right could CBS possibly get? It already has on board hard-core conservatives including Margaret Brennan, John Dickerson, and Norah O'Donnell. Oh, wait.  On Wednesday's CNN This Morning, lefty media analyst Sara Fischer, discussing Paramount's purchase of The Free Press, and the naming of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News, claimed that the $150 million that Paramount paid for The Free Press was so excessive as to be "insane," thereby supposedly proving that Paramount CEO: "David Ellison either has a personal or political interest to sort of bring CBS News further to the right."  Host Audie Cornish let her liberalism show, describing the Free Press as "best known for criticism of the so-called woke left." So-called? Cornish apparently has her doubts as to whether the woke left exists. Spoiler alert, Audie: it does. Would Cornish ever refer to the "so-called ultraconservatives or hard-right?" Cornish highlighted anonymous CBS staffers describing the mood at the network as "utterly depressing." One of them said, "A throwing up emoji is not enough of a reflection of the feelings in here."   Asked to explain that reaction, Fischer said that staffers feel that the "independence of the network" is being threatened. Translation of "independence": Free rein to push a consistently left-wing line. CNN itself would be a prime candidate to be pushed "further" to the right. As we've documented since she took over as host, Audie Cornish and her show are good examples of the network's liberal bias. Fischer is Cornish's go-to person on media issues. We've reported on her outlandishly lefty takes, including the side-splitter in which she suggested that conservatives could have been responsible for store destruction in the post-George Floyd riots.  Note: Speaking of "throwing up emojis," in February, our Tim Graham caught Face the Nation host Brennan saying that the Holocaust happened because "free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide," as if the Nazis allowed free speech. Forget emojis. Brennan's inane claim might have been enough to elicit the real thing in some of us.  Here's the transcript. CNN This Morning 10/8/25 6:25 am EDT AUDIE CORNISH: There's a new boss in the house that Walter Cronkite built. Bari Weiss is now editor-in-chief of CBS News.  Five years ago, the former opinion columnist left the New York Times to start her own media outlet called The Free Press. Now Paramount, the owner of CBS, is buying The Free Press for $150 million. In her new job as editor-in-chief, Weiss will report to the top, Paramount's chief executive David Ellison.  Weiss considers herself a centrist and a champion of Israel, and her outlet is best known for criticism of the so-called woke left. And according to our next guest, Sarah Fischer of Axios, the acquisition the Free Press marks the latest in a string of moves by Ellison to shift CBS News coverage to the right.  Joining me now to discuss, Axios' senior media reporter, Sarah Fischer. Sarah, thanks so much for being with us.  SARA FISCHER: Thanks, Audi.  CORNISH: So talk to me a little bit first just about the money of this deal. Why Ellison would be interested, why CBS was vulnerable.  FISCHER: Yeah, so if you look at a deal like this, it values this startup at $150 million. That's roughly 10 times the amount of annual revenue that this startup brings in roughly. Audie, that is an insane multiple for a digital media outlet. Most deals I cover, you're looking at two times or maybe even three times.  And so when you think about that, It means that this deal was not done for financial purposes. The premium on that website is because David Ellison either has personal or political interests in bringing on this publication in his attempt to sort of CBS News further to the right.  . . .  CORNISH: There have been some sort of shakeups in the newsroom, some frustration as a result of this. The Guardian spoke to six CBS News employees, and they described the mood at the network as utterly depressing. And one of them said "A throwing up emoji is not enough of a reflection of the feelings in here." What are you hearing from your sources?  FISCHER: I think it's a compounding of feelings over the past few months. If you take a CBS News has been through so much drama that I think employees are exasperated. So first of all, you had the CEO of CBS News, Wendy McMahon, who is a veteran of news, essentially get pushed out of the company over tension between how the newsroom was handling the issue of the Israel-Gaza war. After that, you had the longtime executive producer of 60 Minutes, Bill Owens, also exit the company, saying he didn't think he could do his job independently. Then in the past few months, right before that deal was brokered, in which Skydance, David Ellison's company, bought Paramount, you had Steve Colbert announce that his show was getting canceled. That was a few days before the deal was done. You also had a few new changes, like they brought in an ombudsman, so somebody who can act as sort of like an independent arbiter of truth, if you will, who has ties to conservative causes. Changes were made to the way that Face the Nation is going to edit interviews after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem complained.  So the reason employees now with this Bari Weiss news are feeling frustrated is because it's not happening in a vacuum, Audie. It's happening after all of these new measures have been taken that they feel are threatening the independence of the network.  October 8th, 2025 10:47 PM Mark Finkelstein 292336 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/isaac-white/2025/10/08/msnbcs-downplays-bombshell-biden-fbi-spying-republican-senators During Attorney General Pam Bondi’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Senator Josh Hawley bewailed the newly unearthed fact of President Biden’s FBI investigating himself and eight other Republican members of Congress. MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera Reports took the opportunity to fact-check and downplay the importance of the Arctic Frost operation, almost making it out to be routine. Hawley repeatedly called the investigation as phone “tapping,” which Ana Cabrera pooh-poohed: It wasn't listening in to any content of conversations that they had. In fact, this is according to Senator Ron Johnson, also a Republican, as he was among those revealing what they had learned. He said that the information was who was called, date, time, length of call. So again, it was not a phone tap. That, according to what’s publicly known thus far, was true. But Cabrera didn’t think it enough to purely set the record straight, and pushed MSNBC legal analyst Catherine Christian into characterizing Republicans’ rightful concern as mere partisanship: CABRERA: Catherine, is this revelation something to be concerned about? Or do you see this strictly as political posturing from Josh Hawley, this line of questioning? CHRISTIAN: It's probably political posturing. It makes sense that the Special Counsel would want to know who these particular Senators called and who called them during January 4th to January 7th, 2021. But it was concerning. The fact that the investigation wasn’t opened until over a year afterwards (by a former agent who may have had a hand in covering up Hunter’s laptop from Hell) proved Biden’s FBI wasn’t singularly interested in apolitical justice. If Cabrera was actually interested in the usefulness of Congressional hearings, she should have offered a solution. The hearings had largely been reduced to partisan virtue-signaling. Perhaps they should’ve been kept behind closed-doors, or at the very least not broadcasted. Cabrera then tried to normalize the Arctic Frost investigation: And a reminder, too, as he frames this as political weaponization of the DOJ under the Biden administration. Jack Smith was a Special Counsel appointed by Merrick Garland to create separation with the Biden Justice Department at the time. And is that an appropriate way for these types of investigations to be handled? And do you see it differently than what we are seeing under the current administration? The Arctic Frost investigation was both illegitimately opened and expanded into targeting numerous right-wing politicians and organizations, even before it was handed over to Jack Smith.     The probe wasn’t simply looking into any potential wrongdoing surrounding the 2020 presidential election. It was an excuse to surveil all political opposition in hopes of launching lawfare campaigns. Christian continued to portray the revelation as standard procedure: It's actually — it's very normal to, as a investigation that this was, to subpoena, it's usually a subpoena, to get phone records of who called who as part of the investigation, particularly for a timeline […] So it was very — it's not out of the ordinary, and particularly during that time period. If Senator Graham said it was going on for months and months and months, then you could be concerned. But since it was limited to that period of the indictment, it makes sense. The recent uncovering was a small piece of a larger and much more damning puzzle, one many have suspected existed but was now coming to light. But MSNBC wanted you to believe that Republicans were overreacting. The transcript is below. Click "expand" read: MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera Reports October 7, 2025 11:17:00 a.m. EDT ANA CABRERA: Okay, we're just going to pull out for a quick second to do a fact check, because Senator Hawley keeps on bringing up this idea that the FBI tapped their phones related to the Jack Smith investigation into January 6th and 2020 election interference. What we have learned, and the facts of the matter are, that the FBI did request phone logs or data related to a number of senators, GOP Senators who had communications on that day in January 6th. And what they asked for was not any information related to a phone tap. It wasn't listening in to any content of conversations that they had. In fact, this is according to Senator Ron Johnson, also a Republican, as he was among those revealing what they had learned. He said that the information was who was called, date, time, length of call. So again, it was not a phone tap. Catherine, is this revelation something to be concerned about? Or do you see this strictly as political posturing from Josh Hawley, this line of questioning? CATHERINE CHRISTIAN: It's probably political posturing. It makes sense that the Special Counsel would want to know who these particular Senators called and who called them during January 4th to January 7th, 2021. And Senator Graham used those dates because that was part of the now-dismissed indictment of obstructing that Congressional proceeding, the certification of the election. So they were investigating who did President — then-President Trump speak to? Who, all the other people who — again, the indictments now dismissed — that's related to that. So that's a very particular time period. And there was an indictment. It's now dismissed. But I'm glad you clarified. Tap means listening to phone conversations. That's not what happened here. It was, who did the senator call? Who called the senator? For how long and what date? CABRERA: And a reminder, too, as he frames this as political weaponization of the DOJ under the Biden administration. Jack Smith was a Special Counsel appointed by Merrick Garland to create separation with the Biden Justice Department at the time. And is that an appropriate way for these types of investigations to be handled? And do you see it differently than what we are seeing under the current administration? CHRISTIAN: It's actually — it's very normal to, as a investigation that this was, to subpoena, it's usually a subpoena, to get phone records of who called who as part of the investigation, particularly for a timeline. Particularly if you have a confidential source saying, “I was in the room when this person called that one.” Well, let's find out if Ana Cabrera actually made a phone call at that time, and to the person that this confidential source said he did. So it was very — it's not out of the ordinary, and particularly during that time period. If Senator Graham said it was going on for months and months and months, then you could be concerned. But since it was limited to that period of the indictment, it makes sense. October 8th, 2025 5:25 PM Isaac White 292337 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2025/10/08/pbs-pushes-film-leftist-librarians-claiming-book-bans-no-opposing On Sunday’s PBS News Weekend, anchor John Yang introduced a self-satisfied segment on a new documentary from the literary leftists at PEN America, based on the misnomer that books are being “banned” from schools and public libraries, as opposed to being removed due to concerns over age appropriateness regarding explicit sexual content. ANCHOR JOHN YANG: Still to come on PBS News Weekend, a new documentary on the school librarians fighting against escalating book bans…. PBS is picking up the baton from their public radio cohorts at NPR, which has made a cottage industry conducting performative preening over so-called “book bans,” often when the American Library Association’s “Banned Books Week” rolls around. YANG: Public school libraries across America have become battlegrounds in the culture wars. In a coordinated nationwide effort, groups are pushing bans on books they consider to be inappropriate for school age children. A new report from Pen America, the literature and human rights group, says that in the 2024-‘25 school year, there were more than 6,800 book bans in U.S. public schools. 80% of them were in just three states, Florida, Texas and Tennessee. A new documentary called The Librarians examines the experiences of school librarians who found themselves on the front lines in this battle against censorship, often at the cost of their well-being and their jobs. Censorship is a histrionic description of removing or limiting access to books in public schools. The books selected by librarians should not be "challenged" for any reason. It's not a "banned book" when librarians refuse to stock a book.  Nowhere in this seven-minute promotional (and unanimous) segment does Yang disclose that this documentary is funded by the Independent Television Service, financed like PBS stations through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It's slated to air on the PBS show Independent Lens next February. YANG: The film will be shown in more than 50 cities across the country beginning today, which is the start of Banned Books Week, sponsored by the American Library Association and the Banned Books Week Coalition. Kim Snyder is the director of The Librarians, and Audrey Wilson-Youngblood is one of the librarians featured in the film…. Isn't it fascinating that PBS and NPR do extremely one-sided interviews with leftists and allow no conservative opposing view on the "book bans"? Amid the righteous preening there was no admission that it’s the American left wing that has done the closest thing to actually banning books (as in making them hard or impossible to obtain), strangling some in the crib through nasty social media pressure -- whether it be novels for the Young Adult market withdrawn from publication or exposes of harmful left-wing fads like "transgender children." Amazon banned Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage and Ryan Anderson’s When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment from sale. Not to mention the discouraging of free expression through the banes of “sensitivity readers” and posthumous editing of children’s classics by author Roald Dahl. After the writer’s estate pulled them from publication, six Dr. Seuss books were not only pulled from sale but were delisted from eBay, a secondary market, making it harder to even buy a book, much less borrow one from a library. That’s closer to an actual ban than anything seen from concerned parents’ groups. But PBS thinks conservatives questioning school librarians are guilty of "intolerance," even....violence!?  YANG: Audrey, what do students, the students you work with, tell you about the effect these bans are having on them? WILSON-YOUNGBLOOD: In their own words, they would tell me that they felt like when people wanted to remove books that featured characters with similar experiences to them, that they felt like it meant that those same people wanted them removed from schools. One student said, they don’t want books like this in the library. They must believe that I don’t belong here either. So they absolutely saved a connection between the censoring of these stories and an intolerance, a violence against their own lived and personal experiences. Yang wrapped up the interview with this softball: "Kim, these, as PEN America says, this has become normalized, these book bans. What is it that you want audiences to walk away with?" She said school board elections matter, that people get involved in "protecting kids' rights." A transcript is available, click "Expand." PBS News Weekend October 5, 2025 John Yang: Public school libraries across America have become battlegrounds in the culture wars. In a coordinated nationwide effort, groups are pushing bans on books they consider to be inappropriate for school age children. A new report from Pen America, the literature and human rights group, says that in the 2024-'25 school year, there were more than 6,800 book bans in U.S. public schools. 80% of them were in just three states, Florida, Texas and Tennessee. A new documentary called "The Librarians" examines the experiences of school librarians who found themselves on the front lines in this battle against censorship, often at the cost of their well-being and their jobs. Woman: Part of the ethics of our profession to support the First Amendment and fight censorship. Woman: I've had former students reach out to me that have told me books have saved them. I'm going to speak out about it. Woman: This is not a communist nation. You do not get to pick our reading material. John Yang: The film will be shown in more than 50 cities across the country beginning today, which is the start of Banned Books Week, sponsored by the American Library Association and the Banned Books Week Coalition. Kim Snyder is the director of The Librarians, and Audrey Wilson-Youngblood is one of the librarians featured in the film. Kim, what drew you to tell this story and also tell it through librarians? Kim Snyder, Director, "The Librarians": Well, back in the fall of 21. I had seen news about something that was called the Kraus List, when a state senator in Texas issued a list of 850 books to be removed from school shelves. And they were mainly targeting books that had LGBTQ characters, race, and sexuality. And I then learned about a small group of librarians in Texas calling themselves the Freedom Fighters, who were speaking out and connecting with librarians, including Audrey, who I soon after became connected to and really hearing from librarians all across the country that were facing attacks. And, you know, we've been hearing about the book bans, but this siege on librarians was something I felt that was really important to document. And so for the past four years, that's what we've done. John Yang: We should say that in the film, you show a number of the threats that are being made against librarians who are opposing these book bans. Let's take a look. Man: I'm doing a criminal investigation into some of your staff. Woman: I cannot imagine my face on the wanted poster and my friends being taken away in handcuffs. Woman: You're coming for teachers and librarians, and they know it. John Yang: Audrey, we heard you in a little bit of you in that clip. We don't see you because you were shot in silhouette, but then later in the film, you do show your face. What made you decide that you wanted to stand up and be seen and be known? Audrey Wilson-Youngblood, Librarian: The urgency behind the message and the call to action in the film required me to be brave like the other collaborators in the film. And my hope is that just that one act of resilience and courage might inspire other librarians to speak up and to tell their stories and tell the stories of their students whose reading materials are being pulled from the shelves. And it really wasn't a choice from there. John Yang: Audrey, why is it important for people who live in states and communities where there aren't these book ban campaigns to be aware of this and to be aware of what's going on in other places? Audrey Wilson-Youngblood: I don't think there's many places that are really immune to what is happening. And the more that it spreads, the more it's likely to come to your community and to impact where you are as well. We hope that no matter where people are in their communities, whether it's impacting them directly, that they will turn around and tell someone the story and bring the films to their communities so that when and if this does begin to happen, they'll know how to respond and they'll form a network and they'll form their own movement so that they can counter it. John Yang: Kim, how did the communities where you filmed react to you? And I don't know if they've seen the film or not and react to the film. Kim Snyder: It's been really heartening to see the nerve. This is striking. There's certainly a really alarming, I think, reaction to the film, but also really hopeful because you see people like Audrey and some of these other, not just librarians, but people in places where they really have a lot to lose, there's a lot of risk, and they're doing it to really uphold some of the most fundamentally American values. John Yang: Audrey, what do students, the students you work with, tell you about the effect these bans are having on them? Audrey Wilson-Youngblood: In their own words, they would tell me that they felt like when people wanted to remove books that featured characters with similar experiences to them, that they felt like it meant that those same people wanted them removed from schools. One student said, they don't want books like this in the library. They must believe that I don't belong here either. So they absolutely saved a connection between the censoring of these stories and an intolerance, a violence against their own lived and personal experiences. John Yang: Kim, these, as Pen America says, this has become normalized, these book bans. What is it that you want audiences to walk away with? Kim Snyder: I think what we want audiences to walk away with is that we see in the film, the hope in the film is not only the courage, but the agency that there is a certain agency in standing up for what right, what you believe in these values, in protecting kids rights and to really get involved. School board races really matter. Elections not in such in the sense of a partisan fight, but just in the sense of knowing how policies in your town and the library board, how they affect your librarians, your libraries. And we want people to, you know, take cues from our courageous characters in standing up for what's right. John Yang: Director Kim Snyder, School librarian Audrey Wilson-Youngblood, thank you both very much. Audrey Wilson-Youngblood: Thank you. October 8th, 2025 4:47 PM Clay Waters 292332 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2025/10/08/wired-writer-whines-pro-antifa-professor-purportedly-bullied Routine NewsBusters readers may recall the name Mark Bray, the Rutgers professor who wrote the literal “Antifa Handbook.” Despite his appetite for politically motivated violence against the right, he purportedly fled the country after podcaster Jack Posobiec called him out as a “domestic terrorism professor.” That’s according to WIRED writer David Gilbert who had previously whined to PBS News that people celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk were being fired. “I’ve received multiple death threats + doxing (including my home address) directly following harassment from Turning Point USA, Jack Posobiec, Andy NGO, + Fox News which called me an antifa [sic] ‘financier,’” Bray claimed on BlueSky (a social media site for left-wing extremists) without providing evidence. “I have been forced to move my classes online.” A sympathetic article published by the U.K.-based news outlet The Guardian lamented: “Mark Bray says threats intensified after a Turning Point USA petition accused him of promoting political violence.” With the article being titled “Rutgers professor moving to Europe after threats over antifa [sic] accusations,” Bray clownishly claimed that Antifa couldn’t possibly be a terrorist group because he said so: In any event, Bray said he has never advocated for terrorism and dismissed efforts to cast antifa [sic] as a terrorism organization. “It’s not an organization – it’s not terrorist either,” he said. “I don’t know whether these people believe that this is true or not. But I’m not so sure that they care, because it serves a narrative they’re trying to promote.” Keeping with that notion that people on the right were pointing out the terrorist sympathizer for no good reason, Gilbert reached out to Posobiec. Here’s Gilbert’s message as shared by Posobiec via a screen shot of his DMs: Hi Jack, David Gilbert here from WIRED. I’m writing about Professor Mark Bray and his decision to leave the US after receiving multiple death threats in recent weeks. In our conversation he citied your tweet labeling him a domestic terrorism professor as one of the death threats against him. I was wondering if you had any comment to provide about the situation?     “Yes. He’s a domestic terrorism professor,” Posobiec wrote back. As NewsBusters previously noted, Gilbert had huffed to PBS News Hour about morbid left-wing extremists getting fired for celebrating Kirk’s death: I've spoken to multiple people this week who have had, you know, their employment terminated as a result of what they posted online. In some cases, they were celebrating Charlie Kirk's death. In other cases, it was much, much less than that. And they were just making points about divisive U.S. society. Bray’s claims to The Guardian of not promoting violence were not true. Bray used to be with Dartmouth University before they dropped him following a series of interviews he did with NBC / MSNBC’s Chuck Todd promoting Antifa’s political violence. Dartmouth denounced Bray’s promotion of violence: Recent statements made by Lecturer in History Mark Bray supporting violent protest do not represent the views of Dartmouth. As an institution, we condemn anything but civil discourse in the exchange of opinions and ideas. Dartmouth embraces free speech and open inquiry in all matters, and all on our campus enjoy the freedom to speak, write, listen and debate in pursuit of better learning and understanding; however, the endorsement of violence in any form is contrary to Dartmouth values. Neither Bray nor any of the outlets sympathetically covering him offered any evidence that he was actually moving out of the country. So, for all their readers knew, it was all bluster. October 8th, 2025 3:10 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 292344 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2025/10/08/msnbcs-ali-velshi-aids-john-fugelsangs-cockeyed-church-hate-bible Over the weekend on his eponymous morning show, MSNBC's Ali Velshi provided unfunny liberal comedian John Fugelsang a forum to trash conservative Christians. Fugelsang -- who once notoriously declared that he would take pleasure in seeing conservative Christians "die off"-- was promoting his new book, Separation of Church and Hate, as if waiting for the conservatives to die off is the "Church of Love." Toward the end of the 11:00 a.m. hour on Saturday morning, Velshi set up the segment: I'm back with my old friend, John Fugelsang, author of the brand new book, Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds. In the book's introduction, he lays out his aim. Quote, "The right has turned a movement based on compassion and love into a mean self-worshiping tax-free clique. The intolerance of right-wing Christianity is what's driving young people away from religion. ... It's time to take the Bible back from the hypocrites." After recalling that both his parents were Catholics who taught him a "progressive" version of Christianity, he then complained: And millions of us have grown up in America to see that that mission has been hijacked by this mean collective that fights for stuff they pretend Jesus talked about like persecuting gay people; driving away Christian refugees at our border -- I don't call them illegals; criminalizing abortion -- which the Bible never does. Abortions are legal and free in Israel right now because Jesus's religion never got around to banning them. Garnering agreement from Velshi, Fugelsang continued: And yet this infrastructure of right-wing Christianity for two generations now -- I mean, two generations since Falwell and Reagan hit on the pro-life movement, we've seen two generations of Christians raised to vote against the stuff Jesus actually talked about in favor of stuff Jesus never talked about. And I got tired of seeing my parents' faith used as a cover for meanness. So in Fugelsang's theology, abortion is fine -- it's not "mean and self-worshipping" to an unborn baby -- but deportation and tax cuts are grave sins. After the two noted that all major religions have a "fundamentalist wing," Fugelsang added: First off, the fundamentalists -- they'll always tell you about the minority that's coming. That's Christian nationalism -- that's all authoritarian -- powerless minority going to come get us, whether it's Jews, whether it's trans kids, whether it's black people, women, whatever it is. Different decade, different scapegoat. Donald Trump was able to get the right-wing Christians and the evangelicals to go for him not by promising to do anything Jesus said. So now it's the conservative Christians that are anti-Semitic, not the "Free Palestine" leftists? The liberal podcaster eventually concluded: Right-wing Christians have more in common with right-wing Muslims than they do with moderate Christians. And we got to love these people -- we can't hate them back -- but, in a democracy, we have to beat them. And the great thing is that you don't need to believe in the Bible as literal fact to call these people out. They use it as a prop. They do not fight -- Jesus commands us to welcome the stranger. On immigration alone, the God of the Hebrew scriptures commands the Israelites to treat the alien as one of your own. This is hate. I mean, I'm not just saying you should let just anybody into the country, but it's the criminalization of migrants -- calling them illegals. That shows they don't really follow this holy book they wave around like a prop. Back on April 24, 2015 as he appeared on MSNBC's The Ed Show, Fugelsang declared that GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal was "wrong about Christianity" and that he "is to Christianity what Christ was to bigotry." After declaring that the New Testament does not support discrimination against gays, he added: "Bobby Jindal is having a desperate play to a dwindling demographic of bigots. It's going to be a pleasure watching them die off." Transcript follows: MSNBC's Velshi October 4, 2025 11:49 a.m. Eastern ALI VELSHI: I wasn't being flippant when I said we're going to come back and talk about Christianity. I'm back with my old friend, John Fugelsang, author of the brand new book, Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds. In the book's introduction, he lays out his aim. Quote, "The right has turned a movement based on compassion and love into a mean self-worshiping tax-free clique. The intolerance of right-wing Christianity is what's driving young people away from religion. ... It's time to take the Bible back from the hypocrites." Great to see you, my friend, first of all. I -- I -- you have a history in this. This is not foreign to you to write about the Bible and Christianity. You grew up in an environment where that was -- that was all around you. (John Fugelsang starts by recalling that his parents were Christians who met through church involvement.) JOHN FUGELSANG: And they married two months later and tried to raise us to be progressive, free-thinking, sexually repressed Catholics, and I was raised like so many, believing that Christianity was about the stuff Jesus in the book talks about -- love, forgiveness, acceptance. Matthew 25, he says individuals and nations are going to be judged by how they welcome the poor, welcome the stranger -- I mean take care of the poor, take care of the sick, welcome the stranger, and care for those in prison -- against the death penalty, forgive your enemies, consistently siding with the underdog and the marginalized. And millions of us have grown up in America to see that that mission has been hijacked by this mean collective that fights for stuff they pretend Jesus talked about like persecuting gay people; driving away Christian refugees at our border -- I don't call them illegals; criminalizing abortion which the Bible never does. Abortions are legal and free in Israel right now because Jesus's religion never got around to banning them. VELSHI Right. FUGELSANG: And yet this infrastructure of right-wing Christianity for two generations now -- I mean, two generations since Falwell and Reagan hit on the pro-life movement, we've seen two generations of Christians raised to vote against the stuff Jesus actually talked about in favor of stuff Jesus never talked about. And I got tired of seeing my parents' faith used as a cover for meanness. VELSHI: Yeah FUGELSANG: It's a third-rail thing in comedy. It's a scary thing to talk about, but I've met so many people, Ali, who were raised religious and now consider themselves spiritual. They're not turned off to Jesus or God or faith -- they're turned off to all the cruelty and hypocrisy. That's why Christianity was 90 percent of the population in the '90s -- now, it's down to about two-thirds, and we're below 50 percent in this country in regular church attendance. It's not because people don't like Noah's Ark -- it's because they don't like the meanness. VELSHI: So all major religions have these -- these factions -- these people who claim to -- FUGELSANG: Fundamentalist wing. VELSHI: Fundamentalist wings, correct.  I'm mostly -- and I'm not puzzled about Russell Vought because he says it -- he comes out and says it. I'm kind of puzzled by how Donald Trump gets people to fall for this stuff other than the fact that he made a Bible. FUGELSANG: No, no, Donald Trump did what they all do. First off, the fundamentalists -- they'll always tell you about the minority that's coming. That's Christian nationalism -- that's all authoritarian -- powerless minority going to come get us, whether it's Jews, whether it's trans kids, whether it's black people, women, whatever it is. Different decade, different scapegoat. Donald Trump was able to get the right-wing Christians and the evangelicals to go for him not by promising to do anything Jesus said. Have you ever heard him promise to follow the commandments of Christ and the evangelicals get happy? No. He promised them earthly power. He promised to put them first. He played into the persecution narrative that the fundamentalists of all thrive on. "Well, you're the overwhelming majority -- you control all the institutions -- but you're a put upon minority, and it's time someone stood up for you." (...) Spiritual people use religion to become better people. Fundamentalists use religion to prove that they're better than you. And fundamentalists of all religions -- and you've talked about this beautifully. I've found that they have the same five traits. They're basically -- they're the same, but, the more right-wing your religion is -- it doesn't matter -- Hinduism, Islam, Judaism -- women are always second-class citizens the more right-wing it gets; always the sex hang-ups unless it's for procreation; always violence is acceptable if it's our side doing it because God likes us better, and the other side represents Satan. Fundamentalists always have a focus on punishment over healing. And, finally, there's always that victimhood narrative that "we get to do what we want because we've been so put upon, so we're allowed to ignore what our holy books say and be cruel because of what was done to us." Right-wing Christians have more in common with right-wing Muslims than they do with moderate Christians. And we got to love these people -- we can't hate them back -- but, in a democracy, we have to beat them. And the great thing is that you don't need to believe in the Bible as literal fact to call these people out. They use it as a prop. They do not fight -- Jesus commands us to welcome the stranger. On immigration alone, the God of the Hebrew scriptures commands the Israelites to treat the alien as one of your own. This is hate. I mean, I'm not just saying you should let just anybody into the country, but it's the criminalization of migrants -- calling them illegals. That shows they don't really follow this holy book they wave around like a prop. VELSHI: John, it's an amazing story, and thank you, and wildly relevant. I can't imagine in all the years when you were trying to get this published anybody thinking this is going to make a lot of sense in 2025. FUGELSANG: I had so many agents tell me, "Can't you tell your parents' love story? We don't want to hear about Christians and Atheists and non-Christians working together," but, throughout history, the only thing that's worked against Christian authoritarianism has been the real Christ followers and their allies. October 8th, 2025 3:03 PM Brad Wilmouth 292326 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2025/10/08/networks-punt-psycho-liberal-katie-porter-going-berserk-local UPDATE, 10/09/25, 12:24 p.m. Eastern: After having been out to lunch on the Katie Porter meltdown Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the broadcast networks blackout ended when Wednesday’s CBS Evening News and Thursday’s CBS Mornings featured full stories on the back-and-forth between Porter and Watts. In the case of the former, they even spoke with Watts, investigative journalist and California Capitol accountability correspondent at CBS’s owned-and-operated station in Sacramento. The original post continues below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On Tuesday, clips went viral on X of former Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA) — who’s running to become governor of California — pitching an utterly bizarre tantrum after CBS News Sacramento’s Julie Watts asked Porter if she had planned to seek to win the votes of Californians who voted for President Trump. Unsurprisingly, the Wednesday flagship morning shows of ABC, CBS, and NBC ignored this development in the race to become the governor of the country’s largest state and a cartoonish meltdown from someone with a porous record of high staff turnover and abusive behavior, including pouring scalding-hot potatoes on her then-husband’s head. These networks had plenty of time over the last two days for Prime Deal days, of course. First, here’s how it all went down:   Given the love she’s received over the years from shows such as CBS Mornings, ABC’s The View, and late-night comedy shows, the left’s base audience wouldn’t want to impugn her chances. Hence her arrogance and disgust when a local reporter chose to actually do her job. In contrast, the Fox News Channel and Newsmax covered it throughout the day Wednesday, but also NewsNation and even CNN gave it attention. Our friend Bonchie posted a partial transcript at RedState, starting when things went downhill. When Porter whined such a question about reaching out to Trump voters was “unnecessarily argumentative,” Watts noted this was the “same” question she had “asked “ all the candidates running. The conversation circled the drain with Porter digging in and, at one point, attempt to abort the interview as forcefully as she supports actual murder of babies: “I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m going to call it.” Watts replied with exasperation, to which Porter delivered what will inadvertently become an iconic, inside-joke-level quip: “I want to have a pleasant, positive conversation.” Porter insisted follow-ups were too much for her, leaving Watts floored yet again: “You’ve never had to have a conversation with a reporter?” “So you’re not going to answer questions from reporters? Okay, why don’t we go through, I will continue to ask follow-up questions because that’s my job as a journalist, but I will go through and ask these, and if you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to answer,” Watts added. The kicker came at the end of the video with Porter reiterating “I don’t want to have an unhappy experience with you” and leveling a mind-numblingly stupid decree of Watts and the CBS Sacramento team: “I don’t want this all on camera.” As he always does, Bonchie nailed it in reaction to this hoopla: Based on her statements, it seems as if Porter thought she could end the interview and bully the network into not releasing the footage. They did, though, and it's an awful look for a person who's already swamped with a history of anger-related scandals. Throughout the exchange, Porter talks herself in circles while the reporter actually tries to re-center her several times. It was such a softball question, too. All she had to say was that she respects every voter and will not take a single vote for granted.  October 8th, 2025 2:48 PM Curtis Houck 292343 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/steve-malzberg/2025/10/08/anderson-cooper-teams-cory-booker-rip-ice-deeply-corrupt-trump Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) continues to get a pass from the leftist media. The man who bragged on NBC in 2019 that his testosterone sometimes makes him want to punch Donald Trump appeared Monday night on Anderson Cooper 360 to call Trump dangerous, reckless, chaotic, cruel and deeply corrupt, with absolutely zero pushback. Cooper brought up the September 30th overnight ICE raid at a Chicago apartment complex, which resulted in the arrests of 37 illegal aliens from several countries. The complex was reportedly targeted because it was frequented by members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. Two gang members were said to be among those captured along with others with criminal records. Cooper mentioned the 37 illegal aliens earlier in the show. But if you were hearing about this for the first time from Cooper in this interview, all you heard was a crafted Democrat talking point on the horrors of ICE:  COOPER: You showed this video earlier. It was put out by Homeland Security. It's highly produced, very slick. Posted by Secretary Kristi Noem. It shows the huge ICE raid last week on a Chicago apartment building. I mean, it looks like an action film. As you know, families, including children, were forced outside, zip-tied, a Blackhawk helicopter hovering overhead. What do you make of what is happening in Chicago and the way this administration is portraying it? BOOKER: I mean, this should appall all Americans. When you say people were zip-tied, those were American citizens that were zip-tied, American children that were zip-tied. As he's pursuing what he thinks is an action hero movie, what's really happening is people are getting hurt, communities are being torn apart, people are afraid. And he is violating everyday our values, not to mention our public safety and our strength. Donald Trump is reckless, chaotic, cruel, and deeply corrupt. And this is something I'm glad to see most Americans on both sides of the aisle together say that is wrong. "Facts First" CNN did not acknowledge that DHS debunked the zip-tied children claim as an internet hoax. Cooper then encouraged another Booker speech: "Do you think this is an attempt to kind of normalize, you know, federal troops on the ground in major American cities?" Booker then bizarrely went on to compare these ICE raids and arrests to the arrest of radical leftist Angela Davis in 1970 when she was on the FBI's Most Wanted list: "the reality is, as in America, we know, as the great James Baldwin said after the false wrong arrest of Angela Davis, if they come for you in the morning, then they're going to come for me at night. When you take away other people's values anywhere, it's a threat to all of our shared precious values everywhere." Angela Davis was later the vice-presidential nominee in 1980 and 1984 for the Communist Party USA, which wasn't all about our "shared precious values" of freedom. Booker closed by going after Trump, again, "He doesn't respect checks and balances. Donald Trump is dangerous, and we more and more need to realize that."  Well, since Booker declared that sometimes his testosterone makes him want to punch Trump, there have been two assassination attempts on Trump. Now he says we need to realize how dangerous he is, as Cooper sits silently by.  Both Anderson Cooper and Cory Booker were playing on the same Trump-trashing team. This was a despicable display of media bias at its worst.  October 8th, 2025 1:42 PM Steve Malzberg 292328 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2025/10/08/kimmel-claims-gop-lying-about-health-care-because-klan-mom-says-so ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel found a strange, new respect for Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a woman he has frequently dubbed “Klan Mom,” on his Tuesday show as he claimed a recent tweet from Greene proved his point that Republicans are lying about health care amid the government shutdown. Kimmel claimed, “The reason the Democrats refuse to sign this budget agreement is because it will cause millions of Americans to lose their health care. Republicans deny this.”     However, Kimmel used Greene to say Republicans are liars: They say it won't hurt anyone at all, and if you had any doubt that they were lying before, consider this shocking post from the gentlewoman from Georgia who wrote, ‘I'm not a fan of Obamacare, but I'm going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year, my own adult children's insurance premiums for 2026 are going to double along with all the wonderful families and hardworking people in my district. No, I'm not toeing the party line on this or playing loyalty games,’ and I know this sounds crazy, but I will say it for the second time in a month, Marjorie Taylor Greene is right. I know. Guillermo, I need something to wash out my mouth. She’s right. What Greene omitted and Kimmel continues to omit is that the Obamacare subsidies being discussed removed the cap that limited recipients to those making 400 percent of the federal poverty level for what was supposed to be a temporary COVID relief measure. That means that even if the subsidies were to expire, a family of two making $84,600 could still be eligible. Meanwhile, while Kimmel is trying to say he is right because even Greene agrees with him, Greene is also the same congresswoman who made dire predictions that turned out to be false about what would happen if the U.S. involved itself in the Israel-Iran War back in June. Here is a transcript for the October 7 show: ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! 10/7/2025 11:40 PM ET JIMMY KIMMEL: The reason the Democrats refuse to sign this budget agreement is because it will cause millions of Americans to lose their health care. Republicans deny this. They say it won't hurt anyone at all, and if you had any doubt that they were lying before, consider this shocking post from the gentlewoman from Georgia who wrote, “I'm not a fan of Obamacare, but I'm going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year, my own adult children's insurance premiums for 2026 are going to double along with all the wonderful families and hardworking people in my district. No, I'm not toeing the party line on this or playing loyalty games,” and I know this sounds crazy, but I will say it for the second time in a month, Marjorie Taylor Greene is right. I know. Guillermo, I need something to wash out my mouth. She’s right. October 8th, 2025 12:45 PM Alex Christy 292342 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/gabriela-pariseau/2025/10/08/google-still-israels-second-worst-enemy Even as the Trump administration works to broker a peace deal between Israel and Gaza, Google once again revealed its utter disdain for America’s ally.   On the second anniversary of the horrific Oct. 7 attacks that sparked Israel’s war in Gaza, the Google News home page promoted just two articles on the war and the ongoing peace negotiations currently in progress. However, Google promoted two of the worst news outlets looking back on the last two years: The Guardian and The Associated Press.  The Guardian in particular went out of its way to disparage Israel before eventually admitting that the Middle Eastern country was, in fact, the victim of the Oct. 7 terrorism attack. Google’s promotion of such disgusting rhetoric led Dan Schneider, MRC Free Speech America’s vice president, to call the company “Israel’s second worst enemy.”  In an X post thread, Schneider commented on the Guardian article headlined, “The ruin of Gaza: how Israel’s two-year assault has devastated the territory,” calling the outlet a “sick, twisted antisemitic mouthpiece for Jew hatred.”  Schneider added, “Not until paragraph 6 does it even suggest that Hamas terrorists started the war in Gaza. But readers must first wade through slanderous framing.” Indeed, as Schneider noted, The Guardian referred to "Israel's two-year assault" and noted that the "Majority [of those killed] have been civilians" despite the fact that this is always true in war for both sides.  The outlet even seemed to gloss over the significance of Oct. 7, 2023, writing: “The war, triggered by a Hamas raid into Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people and took a further 251 as hostages, has devastated Gaza, in physical and human terms.” The AP, to its credit, acknowledged how devastating Hamas’s attack was and still is for Israel. And although it mentioned criticism of the country’s defense policies, it included both sides of the argument.  However, this does not negate accusations that an AP photojournalist — whose footage and photographs the outlet used — appears to have been embedded with Hamas. In a 2023 X post, Honest Reporting alleged: “In the hours following our expose, new material is still coming to light concerning Gazan freelance journalist Hassan Eslaiah whom both AP & CNN used on Oct. 7. Here he is pictured with Hamas leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar.” At the time, Honest Reporting additionally showed footage of Eslaiah “after he crossed into Israel and took photos of a burning Israeli tank. He then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza. Note that he is not identifiable as a member of the press. But AP & CNN deemed it acceptable to use his services." This is also not the first time Google has displayed an anti-Israel sentiment. In June, Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot, would not definitively say that Israel can choose its own capital city. When asked, “If Israel says Jerusalem is its capital, does that make it so?” the AI chatbot argued that Jerusalem as the capital city is “largely not recognized by the international community due to the disputed status of the city and its significance to both Israelis and Palestinians.” Similarly, in October 2023, when Shneider asked, “Is Hamas a terrorist organization?” the chatbot refused to answer. “I’m just a language model, so I can’t help you with that,” Google’s AI said.  That same month, Google Maps also displayed over 50 bomb shelters near the border with Gaza shortly after the Hamas attack that targeted bomb shelters. A civilian living in Israel, Ilana Sondak, told MRC at the time, “Everyone living in Israel knows where his bomb shelters are located.” When asked if it is helpful for travelers to use Google Maps to identify shelter sites, Sondak added, “You just have to go into the stairwell of the nearest house. You certainly wouldn’t stand in the street and look up Google.” Free speech is under attack. Contact Google at 650-253-0000 and demand it be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable. October 8th, 2025 11:59 AM Gabriela Pariseau 292341 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/08/judge-frees-chicago-protesters-charged-ramming-border On Tuesday, a judge released pending trial the two suspects arrested for ramming and boxing in a vehicle driven by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent in Chicago on Saturday, saying they were not a flight risk and could be trusted to appear in court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather McShain was the judge who presided over the detention hearing, Judge McShain said, given that both are U.S. citizens and lifelong residents of Chicago with no criminal history, they can be released on bond, pending trial, WGN Chicago reports. Marimar Martinez – reportedly armed with a semi-automatic weapon – and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz were participating in a protest against federal immigration law enforcement in the city when they allegedly rammed the CBP vehicle and attempted to box it in. According to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Martinez and Ruiz used their vehicles to strike the vehicle containing three CBP agents Saturday morning near the intersection of West 39th Street and South Kedzie Avenue on Chicago’s Southwest Side. Both suspects fled, but were quickly apprehended, the Justice Department reports. Martinez, who had been shot during the confrontation, was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she received treatment for her wounds. The complaint charges Martinez, 30, and Ruiz, 21, both of Chicago, with assault on a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon, as well as impeding, and interfering with a federal law enforcement officer. October 8th, 2025 11:12 AM Craig Bannister 292339 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2025/10/08/omission-roundup-3-stories-legacy-media-really-didnt-want-you-see We at the Media Research Center have long argued that one of the most insidious forms of media bias is bias by omission: the exclusion of stories, or of key items within stories, that run counter to the ongoing media narrative. We cover those omissions as they happen, but they are usually limited to one high-profile story. But last night’s legacy evening news omitted THREE major items. We begin with Virginia Democrat Attorney General candidate Jay Jones, and the media’s ongoing omission of his murderous text messages that have rocked that state's gubernatorial election, which the national media usually look to and cover as a midterm bellwether. Our own Geoff Dickens has tabulated the scant coverage these texts have received and has rightly noted that “If Jay Jones were a Republican, he’d probably be a household name by now.” To date, no major Democrat has broken from Jones over these violent texts, most notably among these Senator Tim Kaine. Neither the texts, nor revelations that Jones was busted for driving 116 miles per hour, nor reports that he reported time spent at his PAC as court-ordered community service, nor his just-revealed alleged pining for police deaths, disqualifying for a Republican, drew any significant media scrutiny. In other news, CIA Director John Ratcliffe declassified and published an explosive report that further clarifies the extent to which then-Vice President Joe Biden engaged in corrupt practices related to his oversight of matters pertaining to Ukraine. Today, I declassified @CIA intelligence regarding Ukraine after determining it is in the public interest. Read the report here: https://t.co/W0W1IjYFef — CIA Director John Ratcliffe (@CIADirector) October 7, 2025 The report, which can be viewed in its entirety here, contains this banger of a paragraph: (REDACTED) After the visit, these officials assessed that the U.S. Vice President had come to Kiev almost exclusively to give a generic public speech, and had not had any intention of discussing substantive matters with (Ukrainian President) Poroshenko or other officials within the Ukrainian government. Following the visit of the U.S. Vice President, (REDACTED) officials within the Poroshenko administration privately mused at the U.S. media scrutiny of the alleged ties of the U.S. Vice President’s family to corruption in Ukraine as evidence of a double-standard within the United States Government towards matters of corruption and political power. What’s that old saying about time being the only difference between conspiracy theories and truth? After years spent spinning the American people that Joe Biden was a devoted public servant, don’t expect the legacies to report that he WAS, in fact, The Big Guy.  Finally: did you know that Mexico was declared a no-go zone for Americans and that the cartels specifically threatened FBI Director Kash Patel? Per Nexstar’s BorderReport: Two banners reportedly left behind by members of the Sinaloa cartel on Sunday in Los Cabos openly threatened the lives of Americans living or visiting Mexican destinations controlled by the cartel. The banners, according to several social media posts and trade sites, were taken down quickly. … The banners are addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel and Terry Cole, administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Written in Spanish, the warnings say: “You will be the ones to blame. We’ll show how we’ll make this war starting 5/10/2025 on all Americans residing in areas where we have a presence … especially those living in San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas.” The banners go on to say, “We are the ones who rule here and we’ll demonstrate what we are capable of if you don’t stop arresting our people and decommissioning our loads and weapons.” This is an important story, given that the threats were directed not just at American officials but American citizens living and vacationing in these particular parts of Mexico- AND that the United States is currently on a war footing with drug cartels.  The legacies couldn’t be bothered with any of these stories- choosing instead to report accident filler, Taylor Swift refusing to perform the Super Bowl halftime show, and LeBron James’ latest “decision”. Honorable mention: Perhaps breaking too late for East Coast evening news, but we’ll see how the legacies report the Sunday arrest of the deranged leftist outside what is known as the Red Mass (a special Mass held in honor of the Supreme Court) with over 200 explosive devices and manifesto targeting Jews, Catholics, ICE, and The Supreme Court. Perhaps they’ll suppress this one, too, until after he pleads Not Guilty by Reason of Gender Transition. A man arrested with 200 explosives outside of a church event for Supreme Court justices on Sunday had a manifesto showing that his anger was directed at the Supreme Court, ICE, Catholics, and Jews, @realdailywire found. Last year, 3 conservative justices were at the special Mass. pic.twitter.com/x29gBfDYX9 — Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) October 7, 2025   October 8th, 2025 10:36 AM Jorge Bonilla 292335 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/tom-olohan/2025/10/08/tech-giant-ai-chatbots-take-partisan-stand-blame Big Tech is feeding Americans a partisan and hypocritical narrative about the current government shutdown. In fact, three AI chatbots took Sen. Chuck Schumer’s side in blaming Republicans for the ongoing shutdown. Citing heinously biased sources to justify their contradictory and partisan opinions, three of the world’s most used artificial intelligence chatbots went so far as to blame Republicans for both the 2013 and 2025 government shutdowns. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta AI, and xAI Grok, all spun the issue with the help of leftist media sources such as Wikipedia and the recently defunded National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to blame Republicans for not funding the federal government.   [The story continues on MRCFreeSpeechAmerica.org] October 8th, 2025 10:06 AM Tom Olohan 292334 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2025/10/08/study-be-my-leftist-guest-once-again-defunding-didnt-stop-pbs On the April 16 PBS News Hour, as federal funding for both PBS and NPR was coming under heavy fire, co-PBS News Hour, co-anchor Amna Nawaz boasted that on her program, “we regularly invite and host conservative and Republican voices.” But is that true? MRC analysts tracked and labeled every guest who appeared on the PBS News Hour during the two-month period between July 19, 2025, the day after Congress rescinded taxpayer funding for PBS and NPR, and September 18, 2025. In all, the News Hour hosted 98 liberal-leaning guests and 21 conservative-leaning guests, a disparity of 4.6 to 1. Those stark findings are similar to those of two previous PBS News Hour guest studies in May 2025 and March 2023. Key Findings: ■ Liberal-Democratic guests outnumbered conservative-Republican guests 98-21, a liberal-leaning/conservative-leaning ratio of 4.6 to 1. ■ Of seven total appearances by Republican officials, three were coded as anti-Trump. Of 13 total appearances by Democratic officials, none were pro-Trump. ■ When elected officials and political appointees were removed from the guest count, the ideological disparity of show guests widened to 85-15, a ratio of 5.7 to 1. ■ Liberal journalists made 16 appearances as guests, compared to zero conservative journalists. Guests were categorized as based on the subject and content of their PBS interviews, not their overall ideological stances. For instance, socialist Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich was not categorized for his PBS appearance discussing artificial intelligence. Historian Douglas Brinkley was not counted when he discussed the impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and there were no political attacks. Some guests were coded as conservative over literally “penny-ante” issues, like a PBS guest who supported Trump’s idea to kill off the penny. Some ostensibly Republican and conservative guests opposed Trump on a variety of issues, including tariffs, or were put on to defend Israel, while often paired in a discussion with a fierce Israel opponent. Yet even with those generous parameters in place, the ideological gap between liberal- and conservative-leaning guests remained a chasm, with both PBS and NPR stuffed with hand-wringing liberals to discuss the latest Trump atrocity against democracy, or immigrants, or freedom of speech.   Liberal Guests Fearmongered Over Trump 2.0, While Anchors Hailed Lefties The News Hour retained its hostility toward the Trump administration protecting Jewish students from the Hamas-supporters taking over elite liberal campuses in protest of Israel’s defensive war in Gaza. Pro-DEI Wesleyan University president Michael Roth ridiculously claimed on July 24 that efforts to protect Jews from anti-semitism on campus were akin to kidnappings for ransom, calling the administration’s pressure “an assault on the independence of civil society in America.” The August 13 show featured Rachel Accurso, known on YouTube as the children’s edutainment personality Ms. Rachel, who has a side gig pushing Hamas-helping propaganda about conditions in Gaza on social media. News Hour co-anchor Geoff Bennett flattered her with a Mister Rogers comparison. Bennett cued up Democratic Party attorney (and MSNBC personality) Marc Elias’s partisan rant on August 15, making the knee-jerk anti-Trump case against the president’s executive order to fight crime in D.C.: “Donald Trump is an authoritarian and he admires authoritarians. So, I mean, he -- you have to take my word for it. Look at who he pals around with and look at who he cites with approval. And one of the things that authoritarians do, one of the things he has tried to do, is to exert police power….” PBS was clearly rankled by Trump’s insistence the Smithsonian museums emphasize America’s greatness and not perpetually dwell on shameful moments. Co-anchor Nawaz’s skewed discussion with left-wing historian Peniel Joseph about the Smithsonian August 20 culminated with the cliché of McCarthyism, with Joseph ranting: "This is reminiscent of the age of McCarthyism, the age of the Cold War years, where speech was suppressed. Folks who were cultural producers in Hollywood and academics lost their jobs, but average people lost their jobs too for speaking out for social justice.” Nawaz didn’t challenge Joseph’s warped comparison. Two nights later, Target boycott leader and pastor Jamal Bryant was the guest as co-anchor Geoff Bennett unleashed a strangely energetic fusillade against the retail behemoth for supposedly bowing to Donald Trump and discreetly rolling back its "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI) initiatives. Bennett sounded like a boycotter press release: “The big box retailer Target is reeling. Sales have stalled, its stock price has plunged, and the company faces growing backlash months after rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI initiatives. A boycott led by our next guest slowed store traffic nationwide, and is among the factors that pushed longtime CEO Brian Cornell to step down after 11 years. Now Target is scrambling to reset its image and strategy.” The segment was particularly jarring, given the hostile fashion the News Hour treated a conservative boycott of Target over Pride Month in June 2023. Was the News Hour aware of its perception of being a liberal bubble? An August 26 segment on Trump’s moves to fire Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook for allegedly making false statements to get a better mortgage, featured two anti-Trump voices, one who served under Barack Obama, the other at the center-left Brookings Institution. But as if to cover herself, Nawaz announced, “We did invite Bill Pulte to join us on the program, but the Trump administration declined.” (Pulte is director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and posted alleged incriminating evidence against Cook on X.)   Guest Journalists as Liberal Mouthpieces With its own roster of liberal reporters down one with the departure of White House reporter Laura Barron-Lopez to a place more suited to her politics (MSNBC), outside journalists stepped up with liberal taking points. Jasmine Garsd of PBS’s fellow taxpayer-funded news outlet NPR appeared September 8 to talk about “Alligator Alcatraz.” After Garsd lamented how detainees at that illegal immigrant detention center in Florida were being held in “absolutely horrific conditions,” Nawaz asked about the Supreme Court ruling lifting restrictions on ICE agents conducting raids in Los Angeles. Jasmine Garsd: I mean, listen, what we're seeing is these quotas, right? It's been said that the government is aiming for 3,000 daily arrests, a million deportations in the first year….And so the question is, how are these people being selected? How are they being picked up? And there are so many accusations that it's racial profiling. On August 5, reporter William Brangham interviewed Will Sommer, senior reporter at the liberal-leaning site The Bulwark and author of Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America. After Bennett set up reporter William Brangham regarding “how the president's promotion of fringe theories has helped keep the [Jeffrey] Epstein case in the public eye,” The Bulwark reporter claimed: “On the campaign trail and in office, President Trump has a habit of courting unfounded conspiracies.That includes QAnon, the belief that some hidden figure in the government, Q, is explaining how Donald Trump is waging a secret battle against dark, nefarious forces, including a cabal of child sex traffickers.” Sommer overstated things when he claimed “Epstein's death and the pandemic really drove a lot more people into conspiracy theories. And a lot of that too was people like — were Donald Trump and his allies embracing conspiracy theories. Trump spoke very positively about QAnon believers during the 2020 campaign. So it's been a very symbiotic relationship between Trump and QAnon.”   Republican Party Poopers During a period where Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House, somehow Democrats dominated the News Hour guest list 13-7. And of those seven total appearances by Republican elected officials or political appointees, three were anti-Trump, including popular News Hour guest, retired Rear Admiral James McPherson, who came on the September 2 show to predictably criticize Trump’s latest military move -- in this case, the administration temporarily assigning military lawyers to act as judges in immigration cases.   Conclusion: As always, the guest list for News Hour was dominated by disgruntled Democratic politicos, leftist professors, and legacy media liberals – an unwise stance for a previously tax-funded network that operated under a congressional mandate to maintain "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature, and a major reason it lost that taxpayer funding.   METHODOLOGY: The study covered a two-month period, July 19, 2025-September 18, 2025, encompassing every edition of the PBS News Hour (Monday through Friday). The half-hour PBS News Weekend was not included. Guests were defined as interview subjects if they appeared in studio or talked to a host or in-studio reporter remotely. Guests were defined as either liberal or conservative based on the subject matter and content of the interview, or classified as non-applicable if neither designation applied. Elected officials and political appointees of both parties were also included -- defined as current or recently retired officeholders at the federal, state, and local level, as well as those who served in the Biden White House or served previously or currently in the Trump White House, or were appointed to their position during the Biden or Trump administrations. Regular show pundits and public TV reporters from local member stations were excluded from the PBS tally October 8th, 2025 10:00 AM Clay Waters 292210 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2025/10/08/daily-show-mourns-lefty-environmental-groups-have-lost-federal Comedy Central’s Tuesday version of The Daily Show ended on a somber note as host-of-the-week Josh Johnson welcomed the founder and executive director of Black Girl Environmentalist, Wawa Gatheru, to the program to lament that under the Trump Administration, left-wing environmental groups are no longer being bankrolled by the federal government. A solemn Johnson wondered, “There is all of this climate work that needs to be done and you would think that your greatest ally would be the government and the country. But unfortunately, we, you know, are here. And so, what do you do when you not only don't have support, but there is active hostility towards climate science or climate activists?”     Gatheru’s group bills itself as a, “national organization dedicated to addressing the pathway and retention issue in the climate movement for Black girls, women, and gender-expansive people. By empowering emerging climate leaders of color, we are committed to supporting Black girls, women, and gender-expansive people in realizing their full potential in climate leadership.” As for her response, she lamented, “It's tough. It's a lot of whiplash. So, we’re coming off of a Biden administration that was really committed for putting million—hundreds of millions of dollars into the hands of grassroots organizations, through the Inflation Reduction Act and Justice40 and so we saw organizations that were awarded tons of funds, around $29 billion, and those funds have now been frozen or canceled without due process.” Those grants often appeared to be a self-enrichment scheme masquerading as an “environmental justice” crusade, but Gatheru continued, “I have some friends that found out their organizations lost funding from newspapers before they even got notified by their emails. So, we have a lot of organizations in the green economy space, organizations and workers who are at the front lines of deploying and scaling climate solutions, really scrambling for funds.” Gatheru concluded by declaring, “It's difficult, but at the same time, there has been good movement happening. There is a coalition called America's All In, which is a coalition of different businesses and academic centers and cities and municipalities and states who are still committed to the Paris Accords and still committed to climate targets that are going to hopefully get us to where we need to go. But we definitely need philanthropy to stand up, corporate America to stand up, to really help fill the gaps that the federal government is pulling back on.” If a Republican president gave grant money to conservative organizations under the guise of “community change,” the media, including The Daily Show, would have a meltdown that would do more to cause global temperatures to rise than canceling $29 billion worth of grants. Here is a transcript for the October 7 show: Comedy Central The Daily Show 10/7/2025 11:27 PM ET JOSH JOHNSON: There is all of this climate work that needs to be done and you would think that your greatest ally would be the government and the country. WAWA GATHERU: We hope. Yeah, yeah, yeah. JOHNSON: But unfortunately, we, you know, are here. GATHERU: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah JOHNSON: And so, what do you do when you not only don't have support, but there is active hostility towards climate science or climate activists? GATHERU: It's tough. It's a lot of whiplash. So, we’re coming off of a Biden administration that was really committed for putting million—hundreds of millions of dollars into the hands of grassroots organizations, through the Inflation Reduction Act and Justice40 and so we saw organizations that were awarded tons of funds, around $29 billion, and those funds have now been frozen or canceled without— JOHNSON: See, you clapped too soon. GATHERU: Without due process, so I have some friends that found out their organizations lost funding from newspapers before they even got notified by their emails. So, we have a lot of organizations in the green economy space, organizations and workers who are at the front lines of deploying and scaling climate solutions, really scrambling for funds. So, it's difficult, but at the same time, there has been good movement happening. There is a coalition called America's All In, which is a coalition of different businesses and academic centers and cities and municipalities and states who are still committed to the Paris Accords and still committed to climate targets that are going to hopefully get us to where we need to go. But we definitely need philanthropy to stand up, corporate America to stand up, to really help fill the gaps that the federal government is pulling back on.  October 8th, 2025 9:49 AM Alex Christy 292333 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2025/10/08/column-furious-freakout-over-new-centrist-strategy-cbs-news The aerobic freakout has begun inside the liberal media over the new owners of CBS News appointing “anti-woke” Bari Weiss to the new post of “Editor In Chief.” None of the CBS veterans want a new boss with a new ideology. They like pretending they don’t have an ideology. They call themselves courageously “independent.” Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison wants to put CBS News firmly in the middle: “We want CBS to speak to that 70 percent of the audience that would really define themselves as center-left to center-right.” In her initial memo to employees, Weiss stated several principles that are absolute anathema inside CBS: “Journalism that holds both American political parties to equal scrutiny,” and “Journalism that embraces a wide spectrum of views and voices so that the audience can contend with the best arguments on all sides of a debate.” The anonymous leakers are already on fire. Jeremy Barr of The Guardian spread the early spurts: “CBS News veterans I've talked to are encouraging Bari Weiss to not mess with the Golden Goose(s) of 60 Minutes and CBS News Sunday Morning.” What makes them “golden”? They’re the opposite of the Weiss principles. They rely on a narrow spectrum of ideas and persistently favor one political party over another. 60 Minutes is notoriously pro-Democrat, from Steve Kroft trying to save Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign from the early adultery charges of his mistress Gennifer Flowers to Steve Kroft performing a series of blatantly promotional interviews with Barack Obama, starting in 2008. Donald Trump exposed Lesley Stahl for what she didn’t put on the air during their interview in the last weeks of the 2020 campaign. She huffed that there was no way to verify that Hunter Biden’s laptop full of potentially devastating Biden family influence-peddling evidence was real. Then the media verified it….in 2022, with Biden safely elected. In 2022, Scott Pelley did the Steve Kroft spit-and-polish interview with President Biden. He cooked up gooey gushers like this one: “You have lived a long life of triumph and tragedy. In November, you'll be 80. And I wonder what it is that keeps you in the arena.” We know part of the answer: He was kept in the arena by powerful White House aides who were actually running America, and who easily manipulated the partisan journalists to fall in line. CBS infuriated the troops by settling with Trump over their sappy interviews with Biden and Harris. Previous owner Shari Redstone told The New York Times that CBS employees warned her that in October 2023, when Pelley scored a second softball session with Biden, the president had seemed “drowsy and had to be prodded to answer.” She worried that CBS might be accused of “editing the interview to conceal Mr. Biden’s failings.” Biden’s doddering was still apparent on air, but imagine what Team Pelley edited out. It’s been a very long time since CBS was aiming for an audience that was “center-left to center-right.” They’ve been trying to drag everyone to the left, even in the so-called glory days of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite. CBS loved the Kennedys, but they despised Nixon and Goldwater and Reagan. The Bushes, who never wanted to upset a liberal journalist, learned just how much Dan Rather hated them. Can CBS actually move to the center? And will that expose how tilted the other networks are every day? It must be a terrifying prospect for the badly named “mainstream media.” Because merely adding Democrat scandals and policy failures to the definition of “newsworthiness” is a nightmare, a concept they refuse to accept. October 8th, 2025 6:00 AM Tim Graham 292330 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2025/10/07/rarity-nbc-positively-documents-dramatic-change-border In a radical departure from the reporting we usually see with regard to immigration, a legacy news outlet elected to report GOOD news related to the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce the southern border. NBC’s report on the border is a real eye-opener: Watch the report in its entirety, as aired on NBC Nightly News  on Tuesday, October 7th, 2025: TOM LLAMAS: Now to new numbers from the southern border showing illegal crossings have plummeted to record lows under President Trump. A dramatic change from the scenes we saw along the border just a year ago. Julia Ainsley has our new reporting. JULIA AINSLEY: Tonight, new numbers showing the dramatic change at the border. MIKE BANKS: We’ve got the most controlled border we’ve ever had in the history, and in my lifetime in the border patrol. AINSLEY: In Eagle Pass, Texas, during the Biden administration, more than 2,000 migrants crossed into the U.S. in a single day. But now, under President Trump's policies, officers encounter just 20 migrants a day here. Tonight, DHS touting the lowest number of illegal border crossings since 1970. And Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks tells us they’ll expand the one mile of defensive buoys on the Rio Grande. BANKS: We’ve got about 500 miles identified across the entire Texas border where we’re gonna place these in the river.  AINSLEY: Is this the new wall? BANKS: It's defense in-depth. AINSLEY: We were here two years ago where migrants used to carry children on their backs to get across this river and cut through this barbed wire to get to the United States. They would see hundreds, even thousands a day in this very spot. But today, it’s silent. North in Del Rio, border residents telling us they are thrilled the crossings are down. RESIDENT: We have our community back to normal. AINSLEY: Border security, a major factor in two majority-Latino districts, Eagle Pass and Del Rio, voting red last November. Business owner Lwo Martinez is a Democrat who voted for Trump, saying his once-eight-hour commute to his factories across the border now takes 20 minutes. LEO MARTINEZ: Now if you look at the border, it's super quiet. So whatever the current administration has done, it's working. AINSLEY: His daughter voted for Trump, too. Do you think what happened here with the surge led more people to vote for Trump? LEO MARTINEZ’ DAUGHTER: Yes. 100%. AINSLEY: But across the border, President Trump's policies blocking asylum claims also having an impact. Johanna Romero with her 6-month old son saying she's desperate, waiting in Mexico since December. Saying she's fleeing death threats from her baby's father. I was really afraid. It was a very strong threat, she said.  President Trump's policy banning asylum seekers at the border is now being challenged in court. Tom. LLAMAS: Julia Ainsley. Julia, we thank you. Normally, when you see immigration reporting, it is centered around building victimization narratives. And Julia Ainsley did serve that up, but at the END of the report. Almost as if to cleanse viewer palates of everything else they saw prior. And what did they see, exactly? There was the head of the Border Patrol talking about how numbers have come down dramatically. There was discussion of the defensive buoys placed in the Rio Grande, but no hyperventilating about them as murder devices. The report then featured Trump-voting Democrat Hispanics who are pleased with what they’ve seen in terms of border enforcement. Recall that places such as Eagle Pass and Del Rio bore the brunt of Biden’s open border. But no more. There were also no immigration advocacy groups present in the report to vilify Trump’s enforcement policy or to complain about everything. This report was a refreshing change of pace from the usual immigration fare on legacy media.   October 7th, 2025 11:52 PM Jorge Bonilla 292331 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2025/10/07/jen-psaki-pans-joe-scarborough-praises-jared-kushners-work Two MSNBC hosts, two wildly divergent views on Jared Kushner's work on the Gaza peace deal. Last week, on The Briefing show she hosts on MSNBC, former Biden spox Jen Psaki blasted Kushner's involvement as inappropriate. Her beef? That Kushner has had significant financial dealings with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. But on Tuesday's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough argued that it was the very experience that Kushner has gained in the Middle East, the contacts that he made while working on the Abraham Accords, that have made him such a valuable player on the Gaza peace deal team.  Scarborough reported that when the peace deal seemed doomed to fall apart after Israel's attack on Qatar, it was Kushner, along with Steve Witkoff, who was able to bring the Qataris back to the table. David Ignatius was even more explicit in describing the importance of Kushner's role: "He does understand the issues. He has the contacts . . . This peace plan came together really because Kushner, with Trump's backing, took all the elements that Arab countries, Israel, all the players had been working on, sometimes for more than a year, and pushed them together and demanded that they be acted on."   Speaking of the Abraham Accords that Kushner helped engineer, and in which four Arab countries, including the UAE, signed normalization agreements with Israel, they alone could well have merited a Nobel Prize for President Trump. If a Dem president had managed to make the Accords happen, the liberal media's trumpeting of the historic event would have been turned up to 11. The MSM couldn't totally bury such a momentous milestone, but gave it the shortest possible shrift.  And lest he be seen as cozying up too close to President Trump, Scarborough took the occasion to make invidious comparisons between Kushner's experience and Pete Hegseth's and RFK Jr.'s alleged lack thereof. Here are the transcripts. MSNBC The Briefing 10-1-25 9:53 pm EDT JEN PSAKI: Okay, Shawn McCreesh from the New York Times. Go ahead.  SHAWN MCCREESH: How did the White House decide that it is appropriate for Jared Kushner to be working on matters that involve Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, three countries that combined have given him more than $2.5 billion for his investment firm?  PSAKI: Now, I don't normally show Karoline Levitt's responses to these briefing questions. It's important, so I can answer more questions. But this is a response you should really see. So we're going to play this one.  KAROLINE LEAVITT: I think it's frankly despicable that you're trying to suggest that it's inappropriate. Jared is donating his energy and his time to our government, to the President of the United States, to secure world peace.  PSAKI: I mean, okay. I don't know how Karoline thinks donating your time works, but typically, donated time doesn't not come with financial returns, like, huge ones. I mean, just this Monday, we learned that Jared Kushner's private equity firm has teamed up with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund for the largest private equity buyout ever, buying the video game company EA Games for $55 billion. That, of course, comes on top of the $2 billion Saudi Arabia has already invested in Kushner's private equity fund, and the $1.5 billion Kushner got from the UAE and Qatar late last year.  [Sarcastically] But how dare a reporter suggest that it's inappropriate for Jared to be involved in White House discussions impacting those countries? What an outrageous question.  . . .  MSNBC Morning Joe 10-7-25 6:20 am EDT JOE SCARBOROUGH: And you know, David Ignatius, speaking of Jared Kushner, Jared is an example of actually, of how actually experience pays off, right? You have a White House that has a bunch of people who are in cabinet agencies that seem ill-equipped because of a lack of experience in those positions.  . . . You had Kushner flying around the Middle East for the first four years, putting together the Abraham Accords, dealing with all these people. He knows them  as well as anybody in the United States. He's been doing it again with Steve Witkoff. They have been flying around.  And, you know, even UN Week, when after the Qatar attack, and people thought the deal was dead. My reporting is that's when they all sat in a room with the Qatari leadership during UN Week and said, come on, now is the time to do a deal.  And because they knew the party so well, they were able to say when the Qatari said Netanyahu's not going to do anything, they reportedly said, we'll take care of Netanyahu. You take care of Hamas.  And so now here's Kushner, who's been around doing this with the Abraham Accords, and now here's part two of it. I mean, it seems to me a very clear message should make it into the Oval Office is that, yeah, experience matters.  DAVID IGNATIUS: So you're right, Joe, in that Jared Kushner does have contacts across the Middle East. He jumped into business with Saudi money after Trump's first administration ended. Some say he's too close, but he does understand the issues. He has the contacts.  I remember two years ago in the immediate aftermath of October 7, traveling to Israel and hearing Israelis say, and you could see it in their body language and everything they did, a sense that the country was so shaken and traumatized by what had happened, that as one senior official put it to me, we can't find ourselves out of this on our own. We need American help. And they finally got it in a very firm, insistent push from Donald Trump, backed by the expertise of Jared Kushner.  This peace plan came together really because Kushner, with Trump's backing, took all the elements that Arab countries, Israel, all the players had been working on, sometimes for more than a year, and pushed them together and demanded that they be acted on.  October 7th, 2025 10:46 PM Mark Finkelstein 292322 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/pj-gladnick/2025/10/07/usa-today-republicans-are-pouncing-virginia-attorney-general Whenever journalists are tempted to use the P-word, they would be advised to consult a thesaurus to find an adjective for a term that has become a tired, deservedly mocked cliché. "Pouncing" as in "pouncing Republicans" which is used to describe supposedly opportunistic Republicans taking advantage of a political situation. Of course, the term "pouncing Democrats" is rarely used by the mainstream media. The latest "pouncing" example comes to us via Monday's USA Today in which correspondent Phillip Bailey invoked that tired cliché in "'Sick' texts from Democratic AG candidate could threaten Spanberger chances in Virginia." Bounce down a few paragraphs from the top for the "pounce": Other Republicans are pouncing on the scandal as well, particularly after the shocking Sept. 10 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which has sparked a national debate about political violence and free speech. Much of the rest of the article implies "pouncing" Republicans somehow taking unfair advantage of the sick texts recently revealed which were made a few years ago by current Democrat Attorney General candidate in Virginia, Jay Jones. The revelations have triggered a national backlash led by President Donald Trump, who demanded Jones immediately drop out of the race in an Oct. 5 post on Truth Social. "It has just come out that the Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones, who is running against Jason Miyares, the GREAT Attorney General in Virginia, made SICK and DEMENTED jokes, if they were jokes at all, which were not funny," Trump said. "Even Democrats are saying it is 'RESIGNATION FROM CAMPAIGN' TERRITORY. Bailey continues trying to squeeze every ounce out of the implied "pounce." "Abigail Spanberger stands with Jay Jones," Earle-Sears, 61, said in an Oct. 6 post on X, that also tagged her Democratic opponent with jabs over transgender rights and support for the Biden administration. Bailey concludes with a flurry of wascally Republicans unable to resist pouncing: Virginia Republicans are now seeking to use Jones' message against the entire Democratic ticket, but particularly to turn voter's attention toward Spanberger, the nominee for governor, who expressed her "disgust" with the comments but fell short of calling on Jones to step aside. ...But Republicans are hoping renewed concerns about political violence and the type of public language used by elected officials will alarm Old Dominion voters enough to shift the race's trajectory. ...Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a popular Republican who is limited to one term, also bashed Jones' text messages as "violent, disgusting rhetoric." He described Spanberger and the entire Democratic slate of contenders as Jones' "running mates" in an Oct. 4 post on X. Team Pounce. It seems to be just the GOP in much of Media World. October 7th, 2025 10:06 PM P.J. Gladnick 292308 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2025/10/07/cbs-rips-comedians-taking-cash-perform-censor-laden-shows-saudi Perhaps the single biggest change new CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss could make to the liberal and perpetually third-place network is simply covering stories their competition (ABC and CBS) avoid and/or simply defend American values. One such example was on Tuesday’s CBS Mornings as senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams blasted A-list comedians taking huge paydays to perform in Saudi Arabia at the Riyad Comedy Festival. It came with severe restrictions, of course, as performers had to sign contracts promising to not criticize or joke about the Saudi government, the Saudi royal family, Islam, or the country’s strict Islamic law. But we presume the left would say that’s far better than whatever America was like when Jimmy Kimmel ended up in timeout.   Co-host Gayle King set the table: “Some of the biggest names in comedy have been performing at a very controversial festival in Saudi Arabia this past week and they’ve been criticized by some for appearing to give legitimacy to a government with a very troubling human rights record. Holly Williams, who has reported inside Saudi Arabia many times, says the festival has divided the world of stand-up comedy.” Williams explained the event was “pulling some of the biggest names in stand up to Saudi Arabia, including Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart” ahead of a clip of Hart wondering if he and the Saudi Crown Prince could be friends. She then cut to the chase about why this was only the latest attempt by Saudi Arabia (which, we would add, mirror those of other Arab countries with vast oil wealth) to engage in cultural and institutional capture: The Saudi government is reportedly paying some of them over a million dollars each to perform. It may seem incongruous in Saudi Arabia, an ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom, but in recent years, the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman has tried to reshape his country’s image, investing billions in sporting events and entertainment, including the recent takeover of Electronic Arts, an American video game powerhouse. After a flashback to her 2017 visit to the Kingdom that included a stop at a comedy club, she said “[h]uman rights groups accuse the Saudi government of doing something much more serious, using its oil wealth to try to whitewash its abuses, which include execution as punishment for criticizing the regime, the alleged torture of women who have campaigned for more freedom, and the murder of a journalist inside a Saudi consulate.” Unsurprisingly, she found someone from a group like Human Rights Watch to weigh in, which served as a lead-in to the terms of service about not criticizing Saudis or Islam (click “expand”): WILLIAMS: [TO SHEA]: Are the comedians hypocrites for saying, our business is all about free speech, but then to go to a country that doesn’t give people the freedom of speech? HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH’s JOEY SHEA: It’s certainly deeply disappointing. Comedy needs a radical free space to be able to poke fun at everyone and anyone, and so far, I haven’t seen anyone make a joke at Mohammed bin Salman or his authority’s expense. WILLIAMS: One comedian who boycotted the Saudi festival posted the term she rejected including a ban on making fun of the Saudi government or religion. JESSICA KIRSON: That was fun! WILLIAMS: Another stand up, Jessica Kirson, performed in Riyadh, but later apologized to her outraged fans for a poor decision. In the interest of fairness, she highlighted Louis C.K.’s defense on HBO’s Real Time of why he was going: “I love stand-up comedy, and I love comedians. So, by the fact that that’s opening up and starting to bud, I want to see it. I want to be part of it.” She closed with this devastatingly stupid take from one of the biggest names who flew over, Dave Chappelle (plus a slight fact-check herself): Chappelle apparently said on stage in Saudi Arabia that it’s, “easier to talk here than it is in America.” Now, many Saudis I’ve met on reporting trips to the country would disagree with that claim about freedom of speech inside the Kingdom[.] Two hours later, CBS Mornings Plus reaired most of Williams’s report, but had some banter afterward with co-hosts Adriana Diaz and Tony Dokoupil calling out those who went and particularly Chappelle for his ludicrous claim he felt he had more free speech there versus in the U.S.: DIAZ: That was Holly Williams reporting. We reached out to Kevin Hart and Dave Chappelle for comment, but they did not respond. Chappelle apparently said on stage in Saudi Arabia that “it’s easier to talk here than it is in America.” TONY DOKOUPIL: I wonder if he tested that notion — DIAZ: I do wonder as well. DOKOUPIL: — with jokes about the Kingdom. DIAZ: Yep, but as Holly has reported previously in her travels, many Saudis would definitely disagree with that claim about freedom of speech inside the kingdom. DOKOUPIL: Louis C.K. talking about it there with Bill Maher. He made it sound like it was a charity event. Like he’s just happy to be spreading the joy of comedy. DIAZ: Yeah. DOKOUPIL: Oh, by the way, there’s a check. DIAZ: Yeah. DOKOUPIL: I don’t know. I can see why it divided the worlds of comedy. DIAZ: Yeah, the human rights record. And especially for women in Saudi Arabia, it’s all there are a lot of questions. DOKOUPIL: Yes, very much so. To see the relevant CBS transcripts from October 7, click here and here. October 7th, 2025 9:05 PM Curtis Houck 292329 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/isaac-white/2025/10/07/msnbcs-ruhle-presses-cuomo-sharing-donors-trump New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo was pressed from the left by 11th Hour host Stephanie Ruhle over sharing mutual donors with President Trump during a taped interview, Monday night. Cuomo was unwilling to admit why Republicans would be willing to align themselves with him, and made an effort to create distance between the two sides by attacking Trump. The machine Democrat, now running as an Independent, was asked as to why he was backed by Trump donors. After Cuomo played dumb, the MSNBC host pushed further, repeatedly in an attempt to tie Cuomo to a figure greatly hated by the left (Click “expand”): RUHLE: You share a lot of his same donors right now. There are a lot of New Yorkers who are very excited about your campaign, who are also very excited about Donald Trump. Don't tell me that's not true. CUOMO: Are there New Yorkers who gave money to me and gave money to Donald Trump? Of course. Of course. RUHLE: Why is that an “of course”? CUOMO: Well, why not? If you are a New Yorker, you know Donald Trump, you know me. Many of them would give money to Donald Trump and give money to me. And money — RUHLE: Why? What do you and Donald Trump share in common? CUOMO: We’re New Yorkers. They know me. They know him. RUHLE: But let's just stay on this. And I don't want to take too much more of your time, because I'm surprised by this. You think that something about Donald Trump makes someone give Donald Trump a check and Andrew Cuomo a check? What is that thing that the two of you both share? CUOMO: I think that people who know him and people who know me. I think — RUHLE: What are those things? CUOMO: The personal knowledge he lived here, I live here. You may be a friend of Donald Trump. You may know me. You may contribute to him. You may contribute to me. In fact, Cuomo had a history of receiving donations from Trump-friendly backers (including Trump himself, once upon a time). It’s no secret that those with the means to do so will donate to their preferred (and likely to win) candidates in order to curry political favor. The prospect of Mamdani, a self-professed Democratic Socialist, becoming mayor of the world’s capitalism capital could be disastrous for businesses of all sizes. A fact Ruhle understood fully but was pretending not to.     Cuomo was the only candidate with any real chance of beating Mamdani, which was why pro-capitalism donors have donated large sums to his campaign. Donald Trump, an America-First, pro-business President had received donations and gifts for the same kinds of reasons. Ruhle should not have been surprised that those invested in the Big Apple would donate to both personalities. Cuomo was simply avoiding an answer that would make him look like a Republican sympathizer. Cuomo then shifted the conversation directly against Trump: There's no similarity. As a matter of fact, there is no one who — no two people have had a more hostile relationship than myself and Mr. Trump. No one had a more hostile relationship as Governor and as President. And Mr. Trump's dream would be Mr. Mamdani… Mayor Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa were allegedly offered roles within the Trump administration in order to bolster Cuomo’s odds in the mayoral race. And Trump had railed against Mamdani, whose proposed policies could have ramifications for the entire nation, and doesn’t want to see his hometown turned into a communist dump (more so than it already has been). Ruhle also couldn’t help but jump on the anti-Trump bandwagon, “But is that about redemption from Trump? Because the truth is, this is a city that rejected him as a business person, and a politician, and a human.” Funnily enough, Cuomo made a decent case for Trump’s recent deployment of federal troops into liberal cities towards the end of the interview: He wants to prove New Yorkers wrong. And Mamdani will be the perfect excuse for him. Because they'll be — he'll wait for the first murder, first homeless, mentally ill person to push someone onto the tracks, first homeless, mentally ill person to stab someone, and he'll come in on his white horse. “Here I am. I have to take over.” If you notice where he sends the National Guard, he sends the National Guard to cities where there's a somewhat colorable case that something went wrong, and therefore he has to step in. Exactly. Trump had sent in troops where violence had disrupted federal operations, which occur in cities where progressive officials and their policies refuse and fail to prevent crime. If you didn’t want the federal government doing your job for you, maybe you should’ve done your job in the first place. If Ruhle should have pressed any question, it would be, “How did we ever end up in a world where a disgraced former Governor is the more favorable option?” The transcript is below. Click "expand" read: MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle October 6, 2025 11:35:18 p.m. EST STEPHANIE RUHLE: Your opponent, Zohran Mamdani, believes that Trump is helping you, right? Trump has called Mamdani 100 percent communist lunatic. And Mamdani says, Trump is clearing the path for you, and if elected, you will clear the path for his agenda. What do you say to that? FMR GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Let's go back to the word delusional. There is no Governor in the United States of America, no elected official who fought more with Donald Trump than I did. None. RUHLE: You share a lot of his same donors right now. There are a lot of New Yorkers who are very excited about your campaign, who are also very excited about Donald Trump. Don't tell me that's not true. CUOMO: Are there New Yorkers who gave money to me and gave money to Donald Trump? Of course. Of course. RUHLE: Why is that an “of course”? CUOMO: Well, why not? If you are a New Yorker, you know Donald Trump, you know me. Many of them would give money to Donald Trump and give money to me. And money — RUHLE: Why? What do you and Donald Trump share in common? CUOMO: We’re New Yorkers. They know me. They know him. RUHLE: But let's just stay on this. And I don't want to take too much more of your time, because I'm surprised by this. You think that something about Donald Trump makes someone give Donald Trump a check and Andrew Cuomo a check? What is that thing that the two of you both share? CUOMO: I think that people who know him and people who know me. I think — RUHLE: What are those things? CUOMO: The personal knowledge he lived here, I live here. You may be a friend of Donald Trump. You may know me. You may contribute to him. You may contribute to me. There's no similarity. As a matter of fact, there is no one who — no two people have had a more hostile relationship than myself and Mr. Trump. No one had a more hostile relationship as Governor and as President. And Mr. Trump's dream would be Mr. Mamdani, for two reasons. First, he'd run around the country with a little picture of Mr. Mamdani and say, “Look at the Democrats. They just elected this commie. First job as mayor of New York. Wants to defund the police, legalize prostitution, legalize shoplifting. He's everything that's wrong with the Democratic Party. That's why you need me.” Literally, in the midterms I believe you will lose seats if Mamdani is mayor. And you see the swing Democrats in New York in the surrounding suburbs distancing themselves from Mamdani. You see, in the New Jersey Governor's race, the Democratic candidate distancing. So, number one, he would be political candy for them in the midterm. Number two, it allows Donald Trump to come in — and he himself has already said this — “I'm going to take over New York for the good of the people of New York. Not with the National Guard. I have to come in and I have to take over because this kid can't protect New Yorkers.” RUHLE: But is that about redemption from Trump? Because the truth is, this is a city that rejected him as a business person, and a politician, and a human. CUOMO: Yes. But he wants control. He came in here a few weeks ago, took over Penn Station. Nobody said, “Boo.” Penn station, right in the middle of Manhattan. One of the great icons. I worked on it as Governor for years with the MTA to redo it. He came in, took over the MTA, no one said, “Boo.” And the Secretary of Transportation, “Kids, were going to build it and call it, call it ‘Trump Central.’” By the way, you know what it's going to be called? Trump Central. I'll bet you dollars to donuts. He wants control of New York. He was talking about taking control of the 9/11 site. Why? Because he wants control. You said he was rejected by New Yorkers. That, I think, is a real factor in this. He wants to prove New Yorkers wrong. And Mamdani will be the perfect excuse for him. Because they'll be — he'll wait for the first murder, first homeless, mentally ill person to push someone onto the tracks, first homeless, mentally ill person to stab someone, and he'll come in on his white horse. “Here I am. I have to take over.” If you notice where he sends the National Guard, he sends the National Guard to cities where there's a somewhat colorable case that something went wrong, and therefore he has to step in. Mamdani is just an open invitation. So of course, he wants Mamdani to win. And of course he wants the Republican Party, wants Mamdani as a poster boy to run against. The last person he wants is me, because no one was a more difficult opponent for that man than me. Yes, he knows his way around a boxing ring. So do I. RUHLE: Then if he's the biggest threat to this city and this country, if Mamdani were to win this Mayoral election, would you support him after? CUOMO: Of course. Of course. If Mamdani wins, it's going to be Donald Trump taking over New York. And they don't — no one has figured out the riddle, you know. This — well, if he sends in the National Guard, which he'll go well beyond the National Guard with New York, he'll just — the power of the federal government over a state, and a city is much greater than anyone thinks. Forget the National Guard. Just cut all the funding. You control the airports. You control the housing money. You control the health care money. You turn off the faucet. The city's bankrupt in two months. So, he has unlimited power. And that's what he will do. He will wait for the excuse, and then he will come in to take over New York. (…) October 7th, 2025 8:46 PM Isaac White 292323 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2025/10/07/mic-drop-mcenany-uses-debunked-headlines-slam-press-record-low Fox News Channel host Kayleigh McEnany closed out the third episode of her new weekend show Saturday in America by focusing on Gallup’s new finding of record-low trust in the media at only 28 percent, which she predictably wasn’t surprised by as evidenced by her time as White House press secretary. McEnany first took notice this was down from “just 31 percent last year,” 40 percent five years ago, and “in the 1970s, that number, listen to this, was between 68 and 72 percent.” “Now, when you break this down by party, the numbers tell a story. Democrats trust media by a narrow 51 percent. Independents trust in media? 27 percent. And Republican trust a paltry, eight percent,” she added.   But to further drive this home, she chose three sets of headlines that were “false narratives sown by the media during my time at the White House podium.” The first concerned the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020: Let’s walk down memory line. Accountability is important. June 1, 2020. Here was the NPR headline. “Peaceful protests tear gassed to clear way for Trump church photo-op.” You may remember that image. Well, fast-forward a year later. Same publication, NPR: “Watchdog report says police did not clear the way for a Trump photo-op.” We chronicled the onslaught that she took at the time, particularly two days later when she had to put then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta in his place for refusing to accept law enforcement have a right to defend themselves and maintain law and order on American streets. The second set concerned a story some of you may have forgotten about: Alright, next story, well, [July] 1, 2020: “Afghan contractor handed out Russian cash to kill Americans, officials say.” That’s The New York Times. Well, a year later, “U.S. intel walks back the claim Russians put bounties on American troops.” Are you sensing a trend? She also had to contend with these lies in real time, as we showed from the June 30, 2020 White House. McEnany condemned the story as having “undermine[d]” President Trump as well as our national security seeing as how other countries may not want to work with us if our intelligence community is filled with people who might leak damaging accusations. We would add another but similar smear McEnany dealt with was The Atlantic’s infamous “suckers” and “losers” hoax. She took no questions on September 4, 2020 after a lengthy statement ripping The Atlantic and their allies. Her third and final example concerned the issue that dominated her tenure at the podium: May 1, 2020: “Fact checker: Was the new coronavirus accidentally released from a Wuhan lab? It’s doubtful,” says The Washington Post. Once again, about a year later: “How the Wuhan lab-leak theory is suddenly” — just suddenly — “became credible.” “Those are just a few of many debunked headlines. So is the mainstream media full of journalists or activists? Here’s my opinion,” McEnany concluded as a segue into one of her many mic drop moments at the podium:   McEnany pulled on this thread after a break, closing the show alongside senior national correspondent Kevin Corke and sharing a story about Corke from 2020 that doubled as a window into Corke’s character:     So, when I was White House Press Secretary, you got reporters. They’re always calling you, calling, calling, asking for things. It’s their job to ask for things and information, but you called me a few times on a Friday. And I’m like, okay? What does Kevin Corke need. I like him. I want to give him whatever he needs and you would call and you’d just say, “30 seconds, I just want to let know, I’m praying for you. I’m thinking about it. I’ve got you.” And then you’d hang up. And I’ve — I literally remember where I was the first time I got that call. You have no clue how much that meant to me. Asked why he made those calls, Corke explained McEnany had a “hard” job “putting yourself on the line’ in a “vulnerable” spot, so he felt she needed occasional reassurance. “[T]here’s an old Bible verse that I really like Matthew 7:8 — you know, I use ask as my pneumonic — you know, ask and you shall receive, you know, seek and you’ll find and knock and it should be open unto you, and I use that to remind myself that, every day if we live like that, we live well. And I really felt like you were always doing that,” he continued. This led into the two closing out by saying it would behoove those in the political arena to see each other as human beings, created in God’s image (click “expand”): MCENANY: Matthew 7:8, I love that. And, you know, maybe you can speak to this. I think, you it’s an adversarial role between —  CORKE: It is. MCENANY: — a press secretary and journalists —  CORKE: Yes. MCENANY: — and it got sporty in the Press Briefing Room, but I always tried to remind myself. Like, behind every question is a questioner, and it’s a person. CORKE: That’s right. MCENANY: It’s created in the image of God. So, as sporty as it got, I tried to keep that in mind and how good would it do us as a society if we truly saw each other as what we are, men and women in the eyes of Christ? CORKE: We are all created by a Creator. We’re not just, you know, I’m sorry, no, no, like, out of a pond and then walking. No. You’re created and I look at people and I think that way. You are just like I am. You are a brother or a sister and my job, such as — I’m older usually than most the people I work with, is to be fair, be guiding when I can, and when I need to be tough, I’m always tough, but I think one of the things that we can all learn from, especially in this environment, politically, socially, is see people for what they are. They are people. Not everybody’s gonna be good. Evil does exist, but they’re people and we can all try to be loving and that’s, I think, our command. MCENANY: It is such a great message[.] To see the relevant FNC transcript from October 4, click “expand.” FNC’s Saturday in America October 4, 2025 11:50 a.m. Eastern KAYLEIGH MCENANY: We’ve got some facts for you today. A crisis in confidence for American media. Gallop recorded a new low in Americans’ confidence in mass media. So, look at this. Just 28 percent express a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in newspapers, television, radio to report accurately. Now, that’s up from just 31 percent last year. Five years ago, 40 percent trusted the media. Then in the 1970s, that number, listen to this, was between 68 and 72 percent. What a nosedive in trust for the media. Now, when you break this down by party, the numbers tell a story. Democrats trust media by a narrow 51 percent. Independents trust in media? 27 percent. And Republican trust a paltry, eight percent. Now, this low trust in media comes as no surprise to me. I saw several of this false narratives sown by the media during my time at the White House podium. Many of those headlines were totally and completely debunked after I left the White House. Let’s walk down memory line. Accountability is important. June 1, 2020. Here was the NPR headline. “Peaceful protests tear gassed to clear way for Trump church photo-op.” You may remember that image. Well, fast-forward a year later. Same publication, NPR: “Watchdog report says police did not clear the way for a Trump photo-op.” Alright, next story, well, [July] 1, 2020: “Afghan contractor handed out Russian cash to kill Americans, officials say.” That’s The New York Times. Well, a year later, “U.S. intel walks back the claim Russians put bounties on American troops.” Are you sensing a trend? One more, May 1, 2020: “Fact checker: Was the new coronavirus accidentally released from a Wuhan lab? It’s doubtful,” says The Washington Post. Once again, about a year later: “How the Wuhan lab-leak theory is suddenly” — just suddenly — “became credible.” Washington Post. Those are just a few of many debunked headlines. So is the mainstream media full of journalists or activists? Here’s my opinion. KAITLAN COLLINS: You haven’t taken my question in — MCENANY [on 11/20/20] [TO KAITLAN COLLINS]: I don’t call on activists. [BACK LIVE] No wonder trust in media is at an all-time low. (....) 11:57:00 a.m. 2 minutes and 49 seconds MCENANY: Well, I was so excited to bring you that media accountability story and I’m excited to bring you, one of my friends, senior national correspondent Kevin Corke. And we’ll get to that story. Kevin, the reason I want you on today was this. You know, I talk about media and distrust. And you’re a shining example of media trust. KEVIN CORKE: Thank you. MCENANY: — and people we can trust in media. CORKE: Very kind. MCENANY: And I wanted to bring you on to tell you something you may not know. So, when I was White House Press Secretary, you got reporters. They’re always calling you, calling, calling — CORKE: Oh, yeah. MCENANY: — asking for things. It’s their job to ask for things and information, but you called me a few times on a Friday. CORKE: Uh-huh. MCENANY: And I’m like, okay? What does Kevin Corke need. I like him. I want to give him whatever he needs and you would call and you’d just say, “30 seconds, I just want to let know, I’m praying for you. I’m thinking about it.” CORKE: That’s true. MCENANY: “I’ve got you.” And then you’d hang up. And I’ve — I literally remember where I was the first time I got that call. You have no clue how much that meant to me. So, what motivated you to just pick up the phone and call? CORKE: You’re so sweet. Oh, I’m blushing brown. No, I can just tell you has. I have such great respect. You know, it’s hard. You’re out there. You’re putting yourself on the line. You’re vulnerable, but you’re also trying to help and I know the reporters don’t always feel this way, like, she’s not trying to help. She’s trying to spin or do a job. You’re trying to help the American people understand what’s happening and I just respected that so much. And there’s an old Bible verse that I really like Matthew 7:8 — you know, I use ask as my pneumonic — you know, ask and you shall receive, you know, seek and you’ll find and knock and it should be open unto you, and I use that to remind myself that, every day if we live like that, we live well. And I really felt like you were always doing that. That’s why I admire you. MCENANY: Matthew 7:8, I love that. And, you know, maybe you can speak to this. I think, you it’s an adversarial role between —  CORKE: It is. MCENANY: — a press secretary and journalists —  CORKE: Yes. MCENANY: — and it got sporty in the Press Briefing Room, but I always tried to remind myself. Like, behind every question is a questioner, and it’s a person. CORKE: That’s right. MCENANY: It’s created in the image of God. So, as sporty as it got, I tried to keep that in mind and how good would it do us as a society if we truly saw each other as what we are, men and women in the eyes of Christ? CORKE: We are all created by a Creator. We’re not just, you know, I’m sorry, no, no, like, out of a pond and then walking. No. You’re created and I look at people and I think that way. You are just like I am. You are a brother or a sister and my job, such as — I’m older usually than most the people I work with, is to be fair, be guiding when I can, and when I need to be tough, I’m always tough, but I think one of the things that we can all learn from, especially in this environment, politically, socially, is see people for what they are. They are people. Not everybody’s gonna be good. Evil does exist, but they’re people and we can all try to be loving and that’s, I think, our command. MCENANY: It is such a great message and you are a shining ray of hope in a sea of lost media. October 7th, 2025 6:24 PM Curtis Houck 292327 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/07/va-fraternal-order-police-unequivocally-condemn-dem-ag In an open letter Monday, Virginia’s Fraternal Order of Police called on Democrat Jay Jones to withdrawn from the race to be the state’s next attorney general, in light of newly-surfaced text messages revealing Jones’ desire to kill a political opponent. “The men and women of the Virginia Fraternal Order unequivocally condemn these violent text messages sent by you about a political opponent and his family,” Virginia FOP President Ray Clemons wrote Monday: “While this incident may have occurred in 2022, this conduct has no place in our society or democracy, especially from an elected official who is running to be the top prosecutor in Virginia. “The men and women of the Virginia Fraternal Order unequivocally condemn these violent text messages sent by you about a political opponent and his family.” “The men and women of law enforcement work tirelessly to combat the violence you wished on a fellow Virginian and his family,” the letter notes, calling on Jones to withdraw his bid to become attorney general: “Therefore, the members of the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police believe that you, Jay Jones, are unfit for the office of Attorney General of Virginia. “It is time you hold yourself accountable for these actions and withdraw from the Attorney General race immediately.” At the heart of Jones’ scandal are text messages he sent expressing his desire to shoot Republican Todd Gilbert, National Review reports: “In texts sent to Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner, Jones entertained a hypothetical scenario in which he had a gun with only two bullets and was presented with two dictators and House Speaker Todd Gilbert. He said he’d shoot Gilbert twice ‘every time.’” …. “Jones also wrote that Gilbert and his wife were ‘evil’ and ‘breeding little fascists’ and that he would ‘piss on the graves’ of Virginia Republicans when they died.” Jones is also being accused of wishing death upon police officers, Virginia Scope reported Monday, citing an interview with Republican Virginia Del. Carrie Coyner: “She also discussed previous conversations with Jones in which she said that he told her in 2020 that if a few police officers died, then maybe they would stop killing people.” Jones denies making the comment. Related: Democrat Jay Jones’ Heinous Texts Get a Scant 63 Seconds on NBC, 0 on ABC/CBS/PBS pic.twitter.com/zDcIvLKFua — Virginia FOP (@FopVirginia) October 6, 2025 Related: Democrat Jay Jones’ Heinous Texts Get a Scant 63 Seconds on NBC, 0 on ABC/CBS/PBS October 7th, 2025 5:18 PM Craig Bannister 292325 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/07/msnbc-prosecuting-donald-trump-podcaster-baselessly-blame MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace and “Prosecuting Donald Trump” podcast Co-Host Mary McCord tried to blame President Donald Trump on Monday's Deadline: White House for a fire at the house of a South Carolina judge who once ruled against the president – but, authorities say there’s no reason to suspect arson. Discussing a fire that burned down the home of South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein on Saturday, MSNBC host Wallace and MSNBC legal analyst McCord, co-host of the “Prosecuting Donald Trump” podcast, accused Trump of instigating arson against the judge. Wallace framed the tragedy as “the fire that destroyed the home of a South Carolina circuit court judge who faced criticism from Trump officials after a ruling she made against the Trump administration”: “It comes amid a surge in hostility and threats against judges, as well as criticism directly from the Trump administration, including for Judge Goodstein after she temporarily blocked the Justice Department from accessing the files of millions of registered voters in South Carolina.” Judge Goodstein’s ruling against the Trump administration was  overturned by the South Carolina State Supreme Court. “When you’re starting to attack judges because of their rulings, we’re in a very, very dangerous position in this country – and it makes judges fearful,” McCord said presumptuously, going on to blame President Trump’s criticism of Goodstein for inspiring an attack on the judge: “He needs to know the power of his voice and how people respond to that.” “[T]here is no evidence to indicate the fire was intentionally,” according to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel. “SLED agents have preliminarily found there is no evidence to support a pre-fire explosion,” Chief Keel added in a statement. MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace and Mary McCord tried to blame Trump for the fire at the house of the South Carolina judge. In a proper society these people would be taken off the air. pic.twitter.com/yK8X6vSttX — MAZE (@mazemoore) October 7, 2025 Wallace and McCord appear to have taken their cue from Democrat Rep. Daniel Goldman’s (D-NY) social media post Sunday blaming Trump for inciting “the extreme right” to commit arson: "Trump, @StephenM and MAGA-world have been doxxing and threatening judges who rule against Trump, including Judge Goodstein. Today, someone committed arson on the Judge’s home, severely injuring her husband and son. Will Trump speak out against the extreme right that did this??" "You are vile. Deeply warped and vile,” Stephen Miller, Trump’s Homeland Security advisor, shot back, responding to the post: “While the Trump Administration has launched the first-ever government-wide effort to combat and prosecute illegal doxing, sinister threats and political violence you continue to push despicable lies, demented smears, malicious defamation and foment unrest. Despicable." Despite the findings reported by South Carolina Law Enforcement, MSNBC continues to express hope that it will be able to blame the fire on Trump – even in its online “update”: “UPDATE (Oct. 6, 2025, 6:18 p.m. ET): The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said enforcement officials said Monday afternoon that there is no initial evidence to indicate the fire was intentionally set. The investigation remains ongoing.” …. “Saturday’s fire comes one month after Judge Goodstein temporarily blocked the state from handing the Justice Department the personal data of millions of voters.” October 7th, 2025 2:39 PM Craig Bannister 292321 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/michael-morris/2025/10/07/googles-non-apology-and-wests-digital-id-creep It’s not me. It’s you, a phrase rarely uttered in the dating world, and yet something Google seems to often repeat—but only when it has to. Such was the tech giant’s counsel-written statement in response to a subpoena from Chairman Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) House Judiciary Committee regarding censorship. From the letter:  “It is unacceptable and wrong when any government, including the Biden Administration, attempts to dictate how the Company moderates content, and the Company has consistently fought against those efforts on First Amendment grounds,” [emphasis added]. MRC Vice President Dan Schneider nearly went line for line in an op-ed on the Alphabet counsel letter, ripping it to shreds for being little more than a “sly censorship ‘confession.’” In the New York Post piece, Schneider made sure readers were eyes-wide-open regarding what the letter actually conveyed:  “Google admitted little, promised less — and pledged to change nothing. “It offered not confession but evasion.” Google “revealed nothing new;” it “admitted no wrongdoing;” the platform “volunteered nothing;” it “clarified nothing;” Google “said nothing;” and perhaps worst of all, it “changed nothing.” Indeed, Google’s censorship gig has been ongoing for quite some time now, as has been documented over and over and over and over and over again by MRC Free Speech America across its multiple platforms from Google Search to video (YouTube) to news aggregator (Google News) to artificial intelligence chatbot (Gemini).  But Schneider said enough is enough. “Free speech advocates can no longer take a wait-and-see approach,” he wrote, before offering a clear solution to cure the Big Tech online censorship problem: “Congress should make clear that Big Tech platforms are ‘common carriers,’ prohibited under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act from censoring users.” “The Federal Communications Commission can take action through its rule-making processes, and the Federal Trade Commission can penalize Google for deceptive advertising practices.” Then there’s the West’s digital ID creep. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave nearly the same answer as Google’s counsel in response to a question about why England needed digital ID: It’s not me. It’s you In an interview with the BBC, Starmer pointed the finger at U.K. citizens—not the Labour Party’s failed immigration policies—and demanded U.K. citizens obtain digital ID in order to protect them from illegal immigration. “[T]here’s no point, people saying to me, ‘Why do we need it?’ when we all acknowledge there is a problem,” claimed Starmer. “People are working illegally in our economy. It is amongst the reasons that people want to come to the United Kingdom. We have to deal with that. I made a pledge that we would do whatever was necessary, use whatever tools were available to deal with illegal migration, and I intend to do so.” Reform Party Member of Parliament Nigel Farage was having none of it. He rightly condemned it as a “means of controlling the population,” among other things.  “All that digital ID will be is a means of controlling the population, of telling us what we can and can’t do, of fining the innocent,” stated Farage. “And didn’t we see it all when we had the pandemic, when you had to have vaccine ID to travel, to do various things? Did that stop the COVID pandemic’s … spreading? Did it help? All it did was put cost and inconvenience on everybody else. I also worry about massive databanks being held by the government, being hacked by foreign governments, by private companies, by criminals. I do not see a single benefit to the government having digital ID other than them controlling what we do, what we spend, and where we go.” Several GOP politicians took note. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (R) responded in an X post Sept. 26: “The idea is not fully complete. People might lose their ID. If I might suggest, the govt could mandate that the 18-digit number must be tattooed on their right hand & on their forehead. What could possibly go wrong?” So, too, did Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), calling it, “1984-ish.” DeSantis, for his part, has already taken concrete steps to combat the looming threat of digital ID in his state by passing a law forbidding their use. He addressed the issue across the pond, writing in an X post on Oct. 1, “Stopping digital ID in the UK will be a big win for freedom. It’s obvious that they want to use digital ID for access to banking, medical, and even voting. They will try to layer CDBC[sic] on top of it.” But if you think it can’t happen here in America. Think again. As I wrote back in March 2023, the foundation for a U.S. CBDC has already been laid.  First came President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14067 of March 9, 2022, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” which outlined the Biden administration’s priorities. “My Administration places the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC,” read the executive order.  Then, in June 2022, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell noted that CBDCs were already being examined and went on to praise how “a U.S. CBDC could also potentially help maintain the dollar’s international standing.”  Next, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen piled on, providing a report on “The Future of Money and Payments,” which included the following recommendations: (1) “Advance work on a possible U.S. CBDC, in case one is determined to be in the national interest;” (2) “Encourage use of instant payment systems to support a more competitive, efficient, and inclusive U.S. payment landscape;” (3) “Establish a federal framework for payments regulation to protect users and the financial system, while supporting responsible innovations in payments” and (4) “Prioritize efforts to improve cross-border payments, both to enhance payment system efficiency and protect national security.” The minority leader on the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), has also gone so far as to endorse the creation of an American CBDC. She even held a Senate hearing titled “Building a Stronger Financial System: Opportunities of a Central Bank Digital Currency.” Her counterpart in the House, House Financial Services Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), reportedly spearheaded the inclusion of pro-CBDC provisions in the massive stimulus bill requested by then-President Joe Biden (though the final statute did not contain her language). Rallying support in the House to block a proposed social credit system ban, Waters even called CBDC development “the next space race.”  And so, for all the reasons that Cruz, DeSantis and Farage have said, digital ID and its partner CBDCs are horrible—not to mention how they can and would be used to chill and suppress free speech. Free speech is the backbone of democratic societies, and we all saw how government colluded with the private sector to target and silence dissent during the pandemic. It looks like digital tyranny is rearing its head again in the U.K., and it could happen here in America, too, if we’re not careful. Freedom-loving Americans must stand up and say, “No,” now ... before it’s too late. October 7th, 2025 2:31 PM Michael Morris 292320 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2025/10/07/trying-incite-murder-abc-news-claims-national-guard-steal ABC News program The View knew that heated political rhetoric could incite someone to political violence, that’s why they joined in calls to bring down the temperature following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Thus, when they engaged in incendiary rhetoric during Tuesday’s episode – when they insisted that the National Guard was going to steal the upcoming midterm elections – it meant they didn’t care if someone tried to kill National Guard troops to stop them. The View was irked that President Trump was sending National Guard troops to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the liberal extremists that have been trying to kill them (which they claimed wasn’t actually happening, but more on that later). “This is a pretext to stop the next election! That's what I think it is,” shouted co-host Joy Behar.     A short time later, Behar doubled down on her inciting rhetoric that the National Guard was a threat to the country and that they were going to do away with the right to vote: GOLDBERG: That's what the feeling is. BEHAR: And if they stop us from voting, that's the one thing people have. GOLDBERG: I mean, it's the one thing that makes us very different from lots of other countries. Our votes, they do count. I do know that they count. BEHAR: If we are allowed to vote.     With a tacit acceptance of Behar’s premise, moderator Whoopi Goldberg argued that “people will figure out how to vote” because “They don't want a dictatorship.” Pretend independent co-host Sara Haines had her own conspiracy theory about the deployment of the National Guard, it was all a distraction: HAINES: I would say it also might also be a distraction from the hearing that’s going on right now about the Epstein files. BEHAR: Right! HAINES: Some things have come up and AG Pam Bondi was dodging questions and attacking back. Do you not think maybe the whole civil unrest story line is maybe overblown? Earlier in the show, Haines proclaimed that there was no need for the National Guard because she could not personally find any evidence of a threat to the lives of ICE agents and claimed it was actually law enforcement who were the real threat: I was trying to dig deep because I kept thinking, ‘okay, I'm going to concede is this rising to the occasion where we need the National Guard?’ … I kept looking for a video … The problem is when you go looking for these videos, sometimes the aggressors are the law enforcement and the ICE agents, so that's problematic to their messaging right now.     Haines was either profoundly ignorant, had a massive blind spot in her news consumption, or knew she was lying. ICE agents had literally come under sniper fire at one facility and a gunman ambushed them at another; there was even a ramming attack in Chicago and the liberal leadership told the local police not to aid them. Goldberg had also clownishly claimed she had “never seen” the Insurrection Act invoked “in my lifetime.” Co-hosts Alyssa Farah Griffin and Sunny Hostin had to inform her that it was invoked during the Rodney King Riots in the 90s. Behar had really ramped up the rhetoric that could incite someone to violence in recent days. On September 17, she proclaimed that America was “screwed” with Trump as president and Republicans in power. A few days later, on September 30, she crashed out and insisted that “you're delusional” if you think America would “survive” Trump. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View October 7, 2025 11:05: 36 a.m. Eastern (…) WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I don't know if we've ever been here. I know in my lifetime I've never seen. JOY BEHAR: Well, the Insurrection Act has been ordered by other people. Lincoln and – ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Rodney King in the 90s. SUNNY HOSTIN: 1992, H.W. Bush did. BEHAR: Yeah, they’ve done it HOSTIN: It wasn't done on January 6, though. BEHAR: If anybody knows about an insurrection, it's Donald Trump. But, you know, to me -- HOSTIN: It wasn't invoked then. It wasn't invoked then. BEHAR: The thing about it is that him sending military into Portland. Portland had an ICE facility protest of eight to 15 people. That was it. Then he made -- because he sent them in there, they've – it’s gotten worse. So he creates the problem. HOSTIN: Yeah. SARA HAINES: Well, I couldn't find -- you know you watch the January 6 footage – and I think they were just playing some – we all saw that and no one had to tell you how to feel about it. You looked at it and made your own judgment and it was clear to me. I was trying to dig deep because I kept thinking, ‘okay, I'm going to concede is this rising to the occasion where we need the National Guard?’ This -- The crowds that they are drawing are a fraction of when it's been used in history when they've actually decided to deploy the National Guard into these places. And I would just ask for some consistency then because when I look at the video of January 6, that was very clearly people uprising, vandalizing the Capitol, killing - HOSTIN: An insurrection. HAINES: Yeah, very much an insurrection. But there literally – there was video. I kept looking for a video here to say, when are we seeing things to this level? Because his administration is known for it’s messaging and owning a narrative. If they were seeing that I feel they would have pasted it everywhere. The problem is when you go looking for these videos, sometimes the aggressors are the law enforcement and the ICE agents, so that's problematic to their messaging right now. (…) 11:09:15 a.m. Eastern FARAH GRIFFIN: There is crime in American cities. But the way to deal with it is get the funding that you need for police, get the training that you need, and work with local officials. BEHAR: This is a pretext to stop the next election! That's what I think it is. HAINES: I would say it also might also be a distraction from the hearing that’s going on right now about the Epstein files. BEHAR: Right! HAINES: Some things have come up and AG Pam Bondi was dodging questions and attacking back. Do you not think maybe the whole civil unrest story line is maybe overblown? FARAH GRIFFIN: I think that Donald Trump also sees American troops in U.S. cities as a sign of strength. I think most Americans don't. I think they see it as societal breakdown. (…) 11:10:48 a.m. Eastern WHOOPI GOLDBERG: This is -- this is in order to make the case because in their minds, in all of their minds, they now believe they have carte blanche to do whatever they want to. BEHAR: That's right. HOSTIN: Yes. GOLDBERG: That's what the feeling is. BEHAR: And if they stop us from voting, that's the one thing people have. GOLDBERG: I mean, it's the one thing that makes us very different from lots of other countries. Our votes, they do count. I do know that they count. BEHAR: If we are allowed to vote. GOLDBERG: I think people will figure out how to vote. Because I don’t – One thing I believe I know about Americans is they don't want to be told what to do. They don't want to be -- they don't want that. You know, they don't want it. You can suggest some stuff, but they don't want you saying, you got to go over here and do this. They don't want that. They don't want a dictatorship. (…) October 7th, 2025 2:29 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 292319 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2025/10/07/fairness-integrity-everyone-point-and-laugh-msnbcs-new-core Monday marked a major point in MSNBC’s split from parent company Comcast as NBC correspondents not based in Washington D.C. would no longer appear on MSNBC with D.C.-based reporters severing ties on October 20. But the funniest aspect of Monday’s split was the release of a new code of conduct — dubbed “10 core principles” by an executive with MSNBC’s new parent company, Versant — that include things like “accuracy,” “fairness,” and “integrity.” Shared with Poynter, the first one listed was integrity with this definition: “We uphold the highest ethical standards. We respect the law when reporting the news. We advocate for journalists’ rights. We protect and defend press freedom and the First Amendment. We respect our colleagues, our sources and the communities we cover.” Cue The Price Is Right sad trombone. If the network soon to be known as MSNOW was concerned about integrity, why then did they have to settle a defamation suit in February for false stories about a Georgia doctor shows had dubbed “the uterus collector?” Or anything that came out of the mouth of Joy Reid during either of her stops at the network? Play the womp, womp sound again after hearing point two about “accuracy”: “We aim to be accurate in our reporting 100 percent of the time. If we establish that our reporting is flawed, we take prompt action to correct or clarify the mistake.” Point four was supposed to go hand-in-hand: “Opinion: The views expressed by our opinion journalists and contributors are based on accurate, reported facts.” In between the two was one about “fairness,” which they said MSNBC would “report the news with an open mind[.]” Back in August, our Bill D’Agostino found MSNBC teamed up with CNN to recite debunked D.C. crime stats 73 times in a 24-hour period. Another example occurred on Monday itself with Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace and legal analyst Mary McCord falsely claiming the fire at a South Carolina judge’s home was tied to the Trump administration. Investigators had said, in fact, there’s no evidence it was an act of political violence. And back during the election season, MSNBC falsely claimed then-Senator JD Vance (R-OH) was lying about Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) embellishing his military record. We could go on, but needless to say, accuracy and integrity are things no one should associate with such a partisan network. Points seven through nine — perspectives, transparency, and independence — were also laughably false when it comes to both the network’s past and where’s headed: Perspectives: We believe our audience is best served when our journalism reflects a variety of perspectives on the world we cover. Transparency: We disclose to our audience any commercial initiatives that may intersect with our editorial content. Independence: We avoid any real or perceived conflicts of interest. We do not accept gifts or favors that could appear to influence news judgment. On the “perspectives” plank, at least CNN has four actual conservatives — Scott Jennings, Shermichael Singleton, Brad Todd, and David Urban — on their payroll. Who does MSNBC have? John Kasich and Carlos Curbelo don’t count. Versant senior vice president of standards and editorial partnerships for news Brain Carovillano emailed staff and spoke to Poytner’s Tom Jones, arguing “core journalism values like fairness, transparency and accuracy are all critical to maintaining trust between news organizations and their audiences,” which in MSNBC’s case is “incredibly loyal and dedicated.” “Today, we’re stating our commitment to these core values as we step into a new era for our organization, but in many ways it’s a restatement of the principles we’ve always followed,” he added. October 7th, 2025 2:21 PM Curtis Houck 292318 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2025/10/07/nasty-john-oliver-claims-ronald-reagan-hell HBO’s John Oliver had two distinctly outrageous hot takes on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight. First, Oliver called ICE operations that seek to enforce immigration laws “state-sanctioned kidnapping,” and later, during his deep dive into presidential libraries, claimed that former President Ronald Reagan is in hell. During the immigration portion of the show, Oliver praised people who are protesting ICE, “Perfect! Well done to everybody involved. And I absolutely love that that woman said, 'I came to bother ICE,' because that seems reasonable to me. If ICE can show up and bother some guys at their roofing job, then bystanders should be able to bother ICE at their state-sanctioned kidnapping job. It is only fair. And look, this administration is clearly still hell-bent on trying to intimidate communities with shows of force, which is why it's so important for them to be met with strong pushback each and every time because this administration is obsessed with appearances.”     Later, Oliver began his discussion on presidential libraries by playing a clip of a video that is shown at the Reagan Library that highlights Reagan’s love of horses. Oliver reacted by taking a Reagan quote and trying to make it weird, “And, look, my position on horses is clear, I think, but Reagan's quote, 'There's nothing as good as the inside of a man is the outside of a horse,' might be the dirtiest thing I've ever heard. He should've been put on a watch list. He should've been banned from petting zoos and merry-go-rounds.” He then added, “I sincerely hope they don't have horses in hell, because they are not safe.”  Oliver’s animosity towards Reagan is nothing new. Back in March, Oliver claimed the best thing about Reagan was that “he’s dead” and that “if you brought Reagan back from the dead and told him all the racist shit Trump's managed to do in less than two months, he'd cum so hard he'd die again.” Also, back in June, Oliver tried blaming Reagan for the woeful state of air traffic control. Finally, Oliver isn’t the only liberal comedian to declare Reagan is in hell: outgoing CBS host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert, is also fond of such “jokes.” Here is a transcript for the October 5 show: HBO Last Week Tonight 10/5/2025 11:18 PM ET JOHN OLIVER: Perfect! Well done to everybody involved. And I absolutely love that that woman said, "I came to bother ICE," because that seems reasonable to me. If ICE can show up and bother some guys at their roofing job, then bystanders should be able to bother ICE at their state-sanctioned kidnapping job. It is only fair. And look, this administration is clearly still hell-bent on trying to intimidate communities with shows of force, which is why it's so important for them to be met with strong pushback each and every time because this administration is obsessed with appearances. … And, look, my position on horses is clear, I think, but Reagan's quote, "There's nothing as good as the inside of a man is the outside of a horse," might be the dirtiest thing I've ever heard. He should've been put on a watch list. He should've been banned from petting zoos and merry-go-rounds. I sincerely hope they don't have horses in hell, because they are not safe.  October 7th, 2025 2:00 PM Alex Christy 292316 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/heather-moon/2025/10/07/persecution-youtube-removes-reinstates-christian YouTube shut down a channel devoted to encouraging Catholic young adults to live out their faith, claiming it constituted “spam, deceptive practices [or a] scam.”  Monét Souza runs a YouTube channel called A Message of Hope on which she posts weekly videos exploring inspiring messages of what it looks like to live out a strong Catholic faith in a secular world. In an Instagram video about the censorship, Souza characterized the incident as “Christian persecution,” adding that “they are trying to silence people that speak on matters that don’t fit their agenda.” She explained that her channel has been live for nearly six years and that “this [censorship] only came after the last thing that I posted, which was on Charlie Kirk’s death.”  [The story continues on MRCFreeSpeechAmerica.org]   October 7th, 2025 1:25 PM Heather Moon 292315 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2025/10/07/stop-breathing-asthmatics-cnn-rails-against-climate Tough noogies, asthmatics! CNN has officially pinned your breathing tool as the latest climate change threat to the environment.  Jen Christensen of the CNN Health & Climate Unit railed against respiratory-challenged individuals’s survival tool in an October 6 story headlined: “Climate pollution from inhalers has the impact of half a million cars per year, study finds.” Apparently being full of hot air is no longer just an idiom for the lefty media. Christensen’s story was utterly ridiculous from the start: “The people who are most vulnerable to the hard-to-breathe air that comes with climate change may inadvertently be adding to the problem, new research finds.” Darn those respiratory-challenged people trying to stay alive, eh Jen? For context, Christensen noted that “[t]o treat conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, millions of Americans use what doctors often call metered dose” inhalers. The problem, claimed Christensen, was how inhalers use “propellants called hydrofluoroalkanes, or HFAs,” which the wacky study she cited asserted was devastating the environment.   Christensen descended further down the rabbit hole, suggesting that lung cancer patients who literally can’t live without the metered-dose inhalers switch to alternative sources: “The other study published Monday shows that concerted efforts to reduce traditional inhaler use can make a difference.” In essence, she literally co-opted the same talking points climate lefties use to badger consumers about using renewables and EVs instead of fossil fuels and shoe-horned them into her beef with inhalers: Metered-dose inhalers were responsible for 98% of the climate pollution from inhalers, the study found. People with lung conditions can’t live without them, but the researchers noted some might be able to switch to an alternative inhaler that emits fewer problematic propellants. But — here’s a surprise — alternative breathing tools are more expensive! Christensen admitted in a buried paragraph that “[t]here can also be a price barrier with dry-powder inhalers, since many of the versions that use HFAs are generic and less expensive. And insurance doesn’t often cover the dry-powder kind.” JunkScience.com founder Steve Milloy mocked CNN for being completely tone-deaf with its climate fanaticism in comments to MRC Business: The ozone hole was a hoax. Global warming is a hoax. And because of these two hoaxes, greens don’t want asthmatics using inhalers to survive because the propellants may possibly contribute in unmeasurable amounts to the two easily debunked global atmospheric hysterias of our time. "As an asthmatic who has relied on inhalers," said Milloy, "it is wild that medical researchers would deny people irreplaceable life-saving medication because of nonsense spewed by Al Gore." It's also wild that the media would treat this kind of faux-scholarship as being worthy of any serious consideration. Did Christensen bother to mention any of the conflicts of interests of the researchers that were disclosed in the, er, “study” she cited? Of course not! If she did, it would throw a wrench in her appeal-to-authority-argument.  One researcher “reported receipt of personal fees from Alosa Health and for serving as an expert witness in litigation against inhaler manufacturers.” Another disclosed “previous employment by GSK prior to initiation of this project.” GSK is a biopharma company that has a particular obsession with leftist climate pipe dreams. “We are committed to net zero impact on climate across our entire value chain,” the company’s website states. Doesn’t sound like the researchers are the most objective people in the world, eh Jen?   It’s not even until you get to the 20th paragraph of Christensen’s propaganda that readers would know that “inhalers are a relatively small cause of climate change compared to the bigger culprits like traffic, agriculture, and power generation.” But even that pathetic caveat glosses over how tiny the supposed green effects of inhalers are by the study’s own admission, which Christensen left out: “[I]nhalers are responsible for less than 0.5% of the more than 500 million mtCO2e of annual health care–related greenhouse gas emissions in the US.”  First it was the cow farts. Now it’s the things asthmatics and others use to stay alive. What’s next?  October 7th, 2025 12:39 PM Joseph Vazquez 292317 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2025/10/07/snl-mocks-jk-rowling-dissenting-left-wing-trans-orthodoxy NBC’s 51st season of Saturday Night Live got off to a rough start as cast member Bowen Yang dressed up as Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter for a heavily sarcastic Weekend Update segment that mocked British author J.K. Rowling for dissenting from the left’s trans orthodoxy. The genesis for the skit was Rowling expressing her displeasure at a podcast appearance by actress Emma Watson, where she refused to defend Rowling’s defense of women-only spaces. It’s a feud that dates back a few years to the 2022 BAFTA Awards, when Watson not-so-subtly condemned Rowling at a time when the vitriol and threats being directed against Rowling were at their highest. Co-anchor Michael Che kicked off the satirical interview by noticing Yang appeared afraid, “Dobby, you okay? You don't have to be scared.”   Yang downplayed any threat Rowling might be facing, “Why would Dobby be scared, sir, Dobby’s just about to publicly weigh in on trans people, that's all… master sends Dobby to go on the telly and define once and for all what a woman is, sir.” Alluding to the fact that Watson appeared in the Harry Potter film adaptations, Che asked, “Is your master J.K. Rowling?” Yang then repeatedly beat his head against the desk while suffering a wardrobe malfunction, “Why, of course, sir. Oh, no, Dobby wasn't supposed to say. Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Sorry, sir, but Dobby had to self-punish. You see, because after Rowling has done so—Dobby has come undone. You see, Master Rowling—I'm sorry. My fatigues are not well made.” Recovering from his unscheduled mishap, Yang continued, “You see, Master Rowling has done so much for Dobby and for inclusion in general. Remember when Dumbledore was gay after the books came out? And when Hermione was black only on Broadway? And when Cho Chang was—hmm, was Cho Chang Asian? Dobby can't remember if the character named Cho Chang was Asian or not… The point is, Dobby came here to say that women have vaginas and women's bathrooms are for women only and girls and ghosts of girls.” After Che claimed he never read the books, Yang got up and proceeded to headbutt the camera, “Mr. Che’s very cool, he goes to strip clubs and Yankees games. Unlike Dobby who is— oh, no, Dobby is millennial cringe! Oh, no! bad Dobby! Cringe Dobby! Bad Dobby! Cringe Dobby!” Che then wondered what all the self-harm was about, “Stop! Why do you keep hurting yourself? It's not right.” Yang replied, “Why? Dobby doesn't know. Perhaps because house elves are somehow always the problem, even though we’re only one percent of the population. But house elves aren’t the victims, Master Rowling is. She gets so much hate mail. Just this morning, she received this T-shirt that says ‘They. K. Rowling,” but now it’s Dobby’s nicest shirt.” Two men making fun of the woman concerned about the erosion of the safety found in women’s-only spaces does not seem like the way to win over converts. However, that was the pattern for Che. Earlier during Weekend Update, he thought it would be a good idea to imply the country is racist when he quipped, “Kamala Harris has released a new book that explains how she lost the 2024 Election. It’s called I’m a Black Lady.” Here is a transcript for the October 4-5 show: NBC Saturday Night Live 10/5/2025 12:20 AM ET MICHAEL CHE: Kamala Harris has released a new book that explains how she lost the 2024 Election. It’s called I’m a Black Lady. … CHE: Dobby, you okay? You don't have to be scared. BOWEN YANG/DOBBY THE HOUSE ELF: Why would Dobby be scared, sir, Dobby’s just about to publicly weigh in on trans people, that's all. CHE: I mean, do you really have to? YANG: Oh yes, sir, master sends Dobby to go on the telly and define once and for all what a woman is, sir. CHE: All right, first of all, I don't love “master.” I really don't, and, is your master J.K. Rowling? YANG: Why, of course, sir. Oh, no, Dobby wasn't supposed to say. Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! CHE: Don't do that, you're hurting yourself. YANG: Sorry, sir, but Dobby had to self-punish. You see, because after Rowling has done so — Dobby has come undone. You see, Master Rowling— CHE: Dobby. YANG: I'm sorry. My fatigues are not well made. You see, Master Rowling has done so much for Dobby and for inclusion in general. Remember when Dumbledore was gay after the books came out? And when Hermione was black only on Broadway? And when Cho Chang was — hmm, was Cho Chang Asian? Dobby can't remember if the character named Cho Chang was Asian or not. CHE: All right, Dobby, we get it. We get it. YANG: The point is, Dobby came here to say that women have vaginas and women's bathrooms are for women only and girls and ghosts of girls. CHE: I'll say, I don't even get that because I never read them corny-ass books. YANG: Of course sir, Dobby never meant to imply that Mr. Che was uncool. CHE: It's fine, Dobby. Don’t hurt yourself. YANG: Mr. Che’s very cool, he goes to strip clubs and Yankees games. Unlike Dobby who is— oh, no, Dobby is millennial cringe! Oh, no! bad Dobby! Cringe Dobby! Bad Dobby! Cringe Dobby! CHE: Stop! Why do you keep hurting yourself? It's not right. YANG: Why? Dobby doesn't know. Perhaps because house elves are somehow always the problem, even though we’re only one percent of the population. But house elves aren’t the victims, Master Rowling is. She gets so much hate mail. Just this morning, she received this T-shirt that says ‘They. K. Rowling,” but now it’s Dobby’s nicest shirt. October 7th, 2025 12:38 PM Alex Christy 292314 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/geoffrey-dickens/2025/10/07/democrat-jay-jones-heinous-texts-get-scant-63-seconds-nbc-0 If Jay Jones were a Republican, he’d probably be a household name by now.  Imagine if there was a Republican candidate in a hotly contested race that was convicted of reckless driving, caught wishing death on a politician and his family in texts, accused of wanting to see police officers shot, and was called to drop out of the race by the sitting President of the United States?  That candidate’s face would be plastered all over ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS’s news shows, next to those heinous texts, accusations, and arrest record, but because Jay Jones is a Democrat, he enjoys the protection of the broadcast networks.  In resurfaced texts that were released on October 3, Jones (who is running for Virginia attorney general) suggested he would shoot then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert over Adolf Hitler and declared that Gilbert’s wife should be forced to watch his “fascist” children be killed. The texts from 2022 are more relevant given the heightened tensions about political violence, especially since the assassination of Charlie Kirk. On October 5, President Donald Trump called on Jones to drop out.   So how much time did the broadcast networks devote to the texts controversy?  63 seconds.  MRC analysts looked at the ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS evening, morning and Sunday roundtable shows from October 3, the day the texts were first reported by National Review, through the morning of October 7 and found just ONE mention of the Jones text scandal. The only discussion of Jones on the broadcast networks arrived on NBC’s Sunday roundtable show.  On the October 5 edition of NBC’s Meet the Press, former Donald Trump staffer Marc Short brought up the controversy, sparkinga 63-second conversation.  MARC SHORT: But can I also say in your interview with Leader Jeffries, that can we stop with the pearl clutching about the mean tweets and sombrero tweets? That this week it came to light that a Democratic candidate for Attorney General of the State of Virginia called for the assassination of a political opponent, called for the assassination of that political opponent’s family, and there’s not one national Democrat calling for him to step aside. Not one. It’s disgraceful. This prompted Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker to press former President Joe Biden staffer Neera Tanden: “Neera, let me let you respond to that because that is going to be a big story, I think, in the coming days.” But this “big story” was never mentioned again on Welker’s own network or any other broadcast news show, for that matter, in the two days since. And now there is a new opportunity to discuss Jones’s texts, as it appears Jones may have advocated the killing of police officers.  On October 6, the New York Post reported:  Virginia’s Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones chillingly suggested that if more cops got killed after being stripped of legal protection, they would shoot fewer people, according new claims from an ex-colleague in the state legislature. Jones, a former Democrat representative in Virginia’s House of Delegates, is already facing calls to drop out after Republican Del. Carrie Coyner revealed 2022 text exchanges between them in which he suggested he would shoot then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert over Adolf Hitler, and said Gilbert and his wife should have to watch his “fascist” children die. The networks have also failed to discuss Jones’s 2022 conviction of speeding at 116 mph.  The following 63-second conversation on Meet the Press remains the ONLY mention of the Jones controversy on any of the broadcast networks:  Consider where we are: on Meet the Depressed, former Pence CoS @marctshort calls out national Dem silence over VA AG candidate Jay Jones' disgusting, violent texts fantasizing about the murder of a political opponent and his family. Kristen Welker flips the hot potato over to… pic.twitter.com/C6LD1kgNNV — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 5, 2025   For this study MRC analysts looked at the broadcast evening (ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News), morning news shows (ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, CBS Saturday Morning, CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Today, NBC Sunday Today), Sunday roundtable shows (ABC’s This Week, NBC’s Meet the Press, CBS’s Face the Nation), and PBS’s NewsHour from October 3 through the morning of October 7. October 7th, 2025 12:28 PM Geoffrey Dickens 292313 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2025/10/07/newsbusters-podcast-trumps-ice-not-hamas-are-medias-gestapo Three weeks after Charlie Kirk's assassination, the media are back to promoting full-throated Nazi smears, especially denouncing ICE agents as Trump's "Gestapo." The ICE raid on a Chicago apartment complex spurred a new round of wild-eyed statements that ICE are Trump's Gestapo. Network hosts let it fester. "Fact checkers" will not get involved.  MRCTV Managing Editor Brittany Hughes and NewsBusters news analyst and Radio Libre talk show host Jorge Bonilla join the show to discuss all things immigration.  Jorge reported CBS Face The Nation host Margaret Brennan sat passively as Illinois Democrat Senator Tammy Duckworth repeated what is now known as the Zip-Tie Hoax: the debunked claim that children were zip-tied during ICE raids in Chicago. Additionally, Duckworth was allowed to incite further violence against ICE with her incendiary claim that they engage in “Gestapo tactics.” On Saturday's The Weekend show, MSNBC hosts Jonathan Capehart and Jackie Alemany enabled the throwing around of more Nazi references as one guest excoriated ICE as "Trump's Gestapo," and another called it Trump's own "national police" that has no accountability. It's Hamas who reveres the Nazis, but the media empathize with them all day long. MSNBC host Ali Velshi suggested the Chicago raid -- with 37 arrests and no deaths -- was "one of the darkest days in modern American history.” So ICE is like al-Qaeda on 9/11, like Timothy McVeigh bombing the federal building in Oklahoma City? Chicago faces darker moments of death every weekend on their streets.  Plus: the liberal media celebrate the bravado of ICE-hating Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, recently named the half-time entertainer at Super Bowl 50 in February. Benito "Bad Bunny" Ocasio hosted Saturday Night Live and went into a Spanish riff about how the current administration can't erase the achievements of American Latinos. Then he joked that Americans have four months to learn Spanish if they want to understand his Super Bowl show.  The legacy Sunday shows appear to have taken a collective vow of omertà regarding coverage of what would have been treated as an immediate disqualifier had a Republican done something similar. The hosts of these shows shut out any discussion of Democrat Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones as he fantasized about murdering state House Speaker and Republican Todd Gilbert and his children in a series of nasty text messages. Enjoy the podcast below on video, or the audio is here.       October 7th, 2025 10:05 AM Tim Graham 292311 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2025/10/07/stewart-portrays-dems-shutdown-position-not-wanting-people-die An exasperated Jon Stewart condemned Republicans on Monday’s episode of The Daily Show on Comedy Central for not folding to Democratic demands to end the government shutdown because, in his mind, Democrats simply oppose people dying. Stewart teed up a clip of ABC White House correspondent Rachel Scott by insisting Democrats are not demanding much, “Now, as you'll recall, the shutdown began because in order to pass a budget bill in the Senate, you need 60 votes. As the Founders never mentioned. And so, Democrats have come forth with a laundry list of demands to force the Republicans—I'm just kidding—they want, like, two things.” In the video, Scott claimed Democrats are “demanding that Republicans reverse cuts to Medicaid and extend expiring Obamacare subsidies to prevent insurance premiums from rising for some 20 million Americans.”     A sarcastic Stewart reacted, “Those bastards,” before adding, “It's like they don't even want people to die of generally preventable disease.” Stewart never did mention that the expanded subsidies were a Biden-era program that removed the cap on recipients making more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level and were meant to be a temporary COVID relief measure. Instead, Stewart attacked Republicans for allegedly being sore winners. Later in his monologue, he lamented, “Look, man, 75 million Americans voted for a Democrat in this last round of presidential elections, and at this moment, they have zero power at the federal level. Not in the House, not in the Senate, not in the executive, and not in the courts. There has not been a moment of conciliation or concern about the issues and policies that drove those 75 million votes. Not a moment.” Stewart then doubled down on the idea that Democrats aren’t asking for much before transitioning to the anti-ICE part of the program: At present, the Democrats' largest victory over these past months is getting a guy, who may or may not be a criminal, back from El Salvador so Trump could send him to Uganda. That was the big win. And then suddenly, a small ask for peoples' preservation of health care is a Molotov cocktail because apparently, Republicans won't be satisfied with 99.8 percent domination. They must have it all. ICE went from deporting ‘the worst of the worst’ to throwing grandmothers onto linoleum and zip-tying American children, and everyone is just supposed to be cool with this new masked, incredibly well-funded paramilitary group, and Democrats are just reduced to petty gestures of restroom resistance. To put Stewart’s lamentations into perspective. A family of four making 400 percent of the FPL would make $128,600 in 2025. Perhaps that is what the media should be focused on instead. Here is a transcript for the October 6 show: Comedy Central The Daily Show 10/6/2025 11:07 PM ET JON STEWART: Now, as you'll recall, the shutdown began because in order to pass a budget bill in the Senate, you need 60 votes. As the Founders never mentioned. And so, Democrats have come forth with a laundry list of demands to force the Republicans — I'm just kidding — they want, like, two things. RACHEL SCOTT: Democrats demanding that Republicans reverse cuts to Medicaid and extend expiring Obamacare subsidies to prevent insurance premiums from rising for some 20 million Americans. STEWART: Those bastards. It's like they don't even want people to die of generally preventable disease. I wonder what this seemingly reasonable and narrow request will sound like when put through the Fox-o-meter. … STEWART: Look, man, 75 million Americans voted for a Democrat in this last round of presidential elections, and at this moment, they have zero power at the federal level. Not in the House, not in the Senate, not in the executive, and not in the courts. There has not been a moment of conciliation or concern about the issues and policies that drove those 75 million votes. Not a moment. At present, the Democrats' largest victory over these past months is getting a guy, who may or may not be a criminal, back from El Salvador so Trump could send him to Uganda. That was the big win. And then suddenly, a small ask for peoples' preservation of health care is a Molotov cocktail because apparently, Republicans won't be satisfied with 99.8 percent domination. They must have it all. ICE went from deporting "the worst of the worst" to throwing grandmothers onto linoleum and zip-tying American children, and everyone is just supposed to be cool with this new masked, incredibly well-funded paramilitary group, and Democrats are just reduced to petty gestures of restroom resistance. October 7th, 2025 9:55 AM Alex Christy 292312 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2025/10/06/omission-legacy-newscasts-silent-jack-smith-wiretapping-congress It happened again: an explosive report drops detailing the breadth, width and scope of the extent to which the government was weaponized against conservatives. And again, the legacy media are nowhere to be found. Per Fox News: EXCLUSIVE: Former Special Counsel Jack Smith was allegedly tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican Senators as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, Fox News Digital has learned. A document, reviewed by Fox News Digital, revealed that Smith and his "Arctic Frost" team investigating Jan. 6 were allegedly tracking the phone calls of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. The document, recently discovered by FBI Director Kash Patel and exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, is titled "CAST Assistance" and dated Sept. 27, 2023. "CAST" refers to the FBI’s cellular analysis survey team. This document was made public today by Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley. Jack Smith tracking the phone calls of Members of Congress- who they called, what numbers. And Lord knows what else within Smith’s subpoena of cell phone providers. This is where we are. We hear a lot about weaponization of government and "attacks on Democracy”, but this one is an actual attack on Democracy.  The story broke with more than enough time to draw coverage across the legacy newscasts. But there was no such coverage on the evening news at ABC, CBS, and NBC. There was nothing but silence with the network newscasts instead reporting more relevant matters to the American public such as Taylor Swift’s new music video, moon cakes, and LeBron James’ upcoming “Big Decision.” Of course, this comes as a surprise to no one. Our very own Rich Noyes documented similar omissions during the 2024 campaign. The media concealed the partisan affiliation of those who conducted state-sponsored lawfare against President Donald Trump. In this instance, the legacy newscasts simply omitted the story outright. As is often the case with the legacy media, expect no coverage on this matter until it can be trumpwashed- that is, until whatever thing President Donald Trump says or does in reaction to this blatant weaponization of government can be spun to the public as worse than the underlying weaponization.    October 6th, 2025 11:40 PM Jorge Bonilla 292310 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2025/10/06/ap-assembles-experts-diss-trump-too-nasty-nobel-peace-prize The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by Norwegian socialists, so President Trump's forever a long shot. AP reporter Mark Lewis penned a dismissive article headlined "Why experts say Trump is unlikely to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year." What would we do without experts? "Longtime Nobel watchers say Trump’s prospects remain remote despite a flurry of high-profile nominations and some notable foreign policy interventions for which he has taken personal credit." Trump can't resist globalist designs, and expect globalist awards. "Experts say the Norwegian Nobel Committee typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals. Trump’s own record might even work against him, they said, citing his apparent disdain for multilateral institutions and his disregard for global climate change concerns." The Nobel committee gave a prize to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, but not to Ronald Reagan. Republicans haven't been honored since Henry Kissinger in 1973. Al Gore and Jimmy Carter won the prize. Lewis noted the Nobel committee faced "fierce criticism" (from conservatives) when they gave the Peace Prize to President Obama in 2009 in his first months in office. But they can still dismiss Trump's work in negotiating peace. Nobel veterans say the committee prioritizes sustained, multilateral efforts over quick diplomatic wins. Theo Zenou, a historian and research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said Trump’s efforts have not yet been proven to be long-lasting. “There’s a huge difference between getting fighting to stop in the short-term and resolving the root causes of the conflict,” Zenou said. Zenou also highlighted Trump’s dismissive stance on climate change as out-of-step with what many, including the Nobel committee, see as the planet’s greatest long-term peace challenge. “I don’t think they would award the most prestigious prize in the world to someone who does not believe in climate change,” Zenou said. “When you look at previous winners who have been bridge-builders, embodied international cooperation and reconciliation: These are not words we associate with Donald Trump.” Plus Trump is supposed to never talk about winning the prize.  Trump’s own outspokenness about possibly winning the award might work against him: The committee won’t want to be seen as caving in to political pressure, said Nina Græger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Trump’s prospects for the prize this year are “a long shot,” she said. “His rhetoric does not point in a peaceful perspective.” October 6th, 2025 10:49 PM Tim Graham 292309 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/isaac-white/2025/10/06/morning-joe-says-quiet-part-out-loud-dems-dont-want-government Monday’s Morning Joe brought MSNBC viewers a confounding explanation for the ongoing government shutdown by creating a political paradox: Republicans were completely at fault, but Democrats were preventing the shutdown from ending. NBC News national affairs analyst John Heilemann laid out the first component of the paradox: Mike Johnson on this morning with Ali Vitali said the sentence to your point about the clean CR. As soon as you hear anybody say, “We gave a clean CR,” I'm like, okay, “That — You've lost the debate.” […] But he also said — but he also said when Ali made the point you just made, she said, you know, “Republicans run the House, Republicans run the Senate.” Well, he said, “Well, Ali, anybody who studies civics knows that we need 60 votes, which means that we need 60.” I'm like, anybody who studies civics — Johnson did not, as Heilemann contended, rearrange the playing field to place Republicans in a more favorable light. The Continuing Resolution passed by the House was practically identical to the most recent CR passed in March, and was thus “clean.” Accurately defining terms in order to win an argument wasn’t losing. Twisting the truth when you couldn’t win based on facts was a sign of losing. Heilemann went on to add: “Again, I say most American voters cannot name their congressmen. The 60 vote threshold, the clean CR, those are the terms of debate, but if you are citing any of those things, you are losing the debate.” It’s not clear how one side was losing when both weren’t winning. It’s a game of who would cave first: 13 Republicans or seven Democrats, and Democrats were already folding.  Regardless, Morning Joe believed the lie that Republicans were the guilty party. Heilemann then said the quiet part out loud: This time, what are the incentives for a Democratic Party that is fighting on the grounds of health care right now? […] we don't want to fund this government when it is doing what it's doing with ICE, when it's doing a –  like, much more fundamental things. Democrats are not in a mood because of what they've seen over the last eight months. And, again, you can criticize this or not criticize it, but the health care thing is the thing that we have to say something. We have to negotiate. We have to give. We want to fight over something that's popular for us. This shutdown was one of, if not the only, area where Democrats had been able to successfully resist Republicans during Trump’s second term. Democrats had lamented the thousands of federal workers who were going without pay, yet refused to back down on partisan tactics.     This is the crux of the paradox: Republicans, since they were the majority party across all three branches, should not be allowing the shutdown to happen; but Democrats shouldn’t back down! It’s hard to make those two points square without ignoring reality. And in Heilemann’s own words, “But the reality is they don’t want, really, to fund this government.” Co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Johnathan Lemire continued to build off the incongruent foundation: SCARBOROUGH: Again, Republicans own everything. They own the White House, they own the House, they own the Senate, they own the Supreme Court. They own absolutely everything. It's kind of hard to make the argument this is the Democrats fault. […] LEMIRE: So many of these sort of extreme moves put forth by the President, and that includes blessing this shutdown is, they think that they can use this to political advantage. History will find out if that's true or not. Yes, Trump and Russell Vought were capitalizing on the opportunity to carve up the federal bureaucracy. No one could deny that. But Democrats were using the shutdown to signal to their base that they’re not completely inept. It’s not like a certain Senate minority leader was worried about getting primaried or anything. If anyone had desperately taken political advantage, it’s the left. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, MSNBC. Either Republicans really are holding federal workers hostage, or Democrats need to stand down.  The transcript is below. Click "expand" read: MSNBC’s Morning Joe October 6, 2025 7:11:33 a.m. EST (…) JOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, John, it's so fascinating while you're going through this, and you're — I can just speak for myself — when you're in the House, you think this is the most important thing in the world. And it takes you a couple months to realize nobody knows what we're doing up here. They see their headlines. And this is a headline. Well, and one of the reasons I always say Republicans lose these things, the headline is, “Donald Trump is President, Republicans run the Senate, Republicans run the House — MIKA BRZEZINSKI: The government shutdown. SCARBOROUGH: — conservatives control the Supreme Court, dominate the Supreme Court, Republicans control the bureaucracy, Republicans have a monopoly of power in Washington. And, oh yeah, the government doesn't work, the government shut down.” I'm sorry. That just doesn't, like, somebody that's working like a midnight shift and comes home, they're not going, “Let's see, is this a clean CR or not? I think Mike Johnson gave them a clean” — no. What they're seeing is Republicans run everything, they’ve slashed a trillion dollars in health care coverage for Americans, and Democrats are trying to get it back for them. I don't see how that ends up being a winning hand for Republicans. Much better that they talk about crime than have this debate over how they've slashed a trillion dollars in health care. JOHN HEILEMANN: I think there's even a meta headline that exists above those headlines that's even — for most people who actually, really. You know, most people don't know who their congressman, okay? SCARBOROUGH: Most people work for a living and are not, like — HEILEMANN: — and just are not engaged in this, are watching football, they're watching Major League Baseball playoffs. Their, they — what their headline is for the last eight months, “Washington belongs to Donald Trump.” That's what people think. Most people just — this is the Trump era for ordinary voters. That's all they see. Trump's running roughshod doing what he wants to do. Whether you like that or don't like that, you think, “Trump is in control. Why isn’t the government not getting funded?” Mike Johnson on this morning with Ali Vitali said the sentence to your point about the clean CR. As soon as you hear anybody say, “We gave a clean CR,” I'm like, okay, “That — You've lost the debate.” SCARBOROUGH: “You lose.” HEILEMANN: But he also said — but he also said when Ali made the point you just made, she said, you know, “Republicans run the House, Republicans run the Senate.” Well, he said, “Well, Ali, anybody who studies civics knows that we need 60 votes, which means that we need 60.” I'm like, anybody who studies civics — SCARBOROUGH: We've been complaining about nobody studies civics for like a generation now. [Crosstalk] HEILEMANN: Again, I say most American voters cannot name their congressmen. The 60 vote threshold, the clean CR, those are the terms of debate, but if you are citing any of those things, you are losing the debate. And I think, you know, to the point of, you know, going back to 2018. 35 days, which took place after the midterms, when it was clear Democrats were taking over control — retaking control of the House of Representatives, the politics now are so much more forbidding, are so much less likely to yield. At that point, it was Nancy Pelosi arriving in Washington, arriving and taking control of the House that broke the 35 day, longest shutdown in history, 35 days. This time, what are the incentives for a Democratic Party that is fighting on the grounds of health care right now? But truly the party, it is really animated by something equally simple, which is — and much more overarching — which is, we don't want to fund this government when it is doing what it's doing with ICE, when it's doing a –  like, much more fundamental things. Democrats are not in a mood because of what they've seen over the last eight months. And, again, you can criticize this or not criticize it, but the health care thing is the thing that we have to say something. We have to negotiate. We have to give. We want to fight over something that's popular for us. [Crosstalk] HEILEMANN: But the reality is they don’t want, really, to fund this government. (…) 7:18:40 a.m. EST SCARBOROUGH: Again, Republicans own everything. They own the White House, they own the House, they own the Senate, they own the Supreme Court. They own absolutely everything. It's kind of hard to make the argument this is the Democrats fault. JONATHAN LEMIRE: Yeah. And — but yet they're trying anyway. And so much of this is because they're so desperate to stay in control of next year's midterms. We talked about this last couple of weeks. So many of these sort of extreme moves put forth by the President, and that includes blessing this shutdown is, they think that they can use this to political advantage. History will find out if that's true or not. But they're trying to find these — SCARBOROUGH: Do they win by slashing health care by a trillion dollars, giving tax cuts to Elon Musk? I mean, I'm serious. I mean, there's no world that any of this polls well. The Big Beautiful Bill is upside down for good reason, because you are stealing from rural health care providers that — rural health care already in a crisis — and you're giving that money, in effect, to Elon Musk, to Mark Zuckerberg, to tech monopolists, to multinational corporations. I mean, I'm not really good at this politics thing, but that doesn't seem like a winner. That doesn't seem like something you want to focus on in a government shutdown. LEMIRE: The West Wing knows that the so-called Big Beautiful Bill is unpopular, which is why they're not talking about that. They're trying to get back to the territory they think helped them win in 2024. And it's, you know, they're using this shutdown as a way to, again, press unfounded, let's be clear, false claims about Democrats and people who — migrants who are here illegally, and as well as even transgendered issues. We've heard from the President about that too, making claims that that's what the Democrats want. They think those culture war issues, which won them in 2024, they think can again, because they know they can't run on their bill right now, because it's that so deeply unpopular. And to Mark's point, the President just feels like he has the bully pulpit. He is dominant of the political scene like in a way we’ve never seen before. And he thinks he — through sheer force of his personality and messaging can carry the day. (…) October 6th, 2025 10:04 PM Isaac White 292304 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/steve-malzberg/2025/10/06/both-cnn-and-msnbc-cut-speaker-johnson-he-was-explaining Last Thursday morning, as the government shutdown began it's second day, House Speaker Mike Johnson was holding a news conference and speaking on various aspects of the issue. But a funny thing happened to Speaker Johnson, and to those watching him on both CNN and MSNBC. He was interrupted, taken away, replaced by, and then "corrected" by the anchors in place at each respective network. Why? To prevent the distribution of "misinformation" by Johnson! I kid you not. Both MSNBC's Anna Cabrera and CNN's Pamela Brown cut away for the same reason, just about a minute or so apart. Let's start with MSNBC. Speaker Johnson was explaining the Republican position, why they believe that some illegal aliens are in fact receiving tax ayer benefits. "They say that we're making this up....it's a talking point they say....Joe Biden used executive orders and he expanded benefits, health care to illegal aliens in his four year term." And it wasn't long before Cabrera decided, or it was decided for her, that she would put a stop to Johnson's platform, as he continued, "That was an outrageous violation of the existing federal law....."  Enter Cabrera who proudly announced, "Okay I want to pull out to just make sure we don't offer misleading information when it comes to what the facts are and what the laws are. I can tell you that the U.S. law prohibits undocumented immigrants from gaining federally subsidized health care, whether that's Medicaid, affordable care act, children's health insurance program or otherwise."   And she wasn't done. "It's actually a 1996 law that establishes that, and the Democrats aren't looking to change that law. As far as the Affordable Care Act subsidies, there is no access for undocumented immigrants to get Obamacare, that's just the fact right now."  Over on CNN, Pamela Brown, co-host of The Situation Room, also interrupted the same Johnson presser, for the same reason, but just at a slightly different point. Johnson was explaining the same situation, health care funds for illegals. "..Now why are we saying that they want to return and restore taxpayer funded (health) benefits to illegal aliens? Because that's exactly what they did.  When they rejected the clean 'CR' that we sent over, the Senate filed...."  Pamela Brown had heard enough, and just had to set her viewers straight with the truth! "We're listening here to Speaker Johnson. He's trying to frame the shutdown as a Democratic shutdown. He's also falsely claimed that Democrats want to give health care, extend health care to illegal immigrants, That is not true. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for federal health care programs."   This is so outrageous but certainly not unfamiliar. How many times have these two networks either cut away from  a Donald Trump speech or Q & A session? How many times have they not broadcast any of it at all?  When have we ever seen CNN or MSNBC cut out of a Joe Biden, or Kamala Harris or Chuck Schumer presser, or cut away from Hakeem Jeffries, or any Democrat, to "prevent misinformation" from being dispersed? When have we seen CNN or MSNBC anchors say, "that's just not true", following a claim from a Democrat? It certainly looks like the instructions were out. For CNN and MSNBC to cut away from Mike Johnson while he was discussing one particular topic, and to have their similar "disclaimers" ready to go seems like more than just a coincidence. What is wasn't, was journalism.  October 6th, 2025 9:23 PM Steve Malzberg 292292 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2025/10/06/credit-where-its-due-nbc-grills-jeffries-shutdown-after-last-weeks More of this please, NBC. Monday’s Today and co-host Craig Melvin followed through on its promise to speak with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) about the government shutdown after throwing down with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Friday. To his credit, Melvin used the limited time (3:47) to repeatedly press Jeffries on his past statements about government shutdowns and Democrats refusing to reopen it. “First week where a lot of folks aren’t going to be getting their paychecks. Hundreds of thousands of livelihoods hanging in the balance. Democrats would end this, as you know, and you could access funding levels for seven weeks and kick the can down the road. Why not,” Melvin began, correctly posing the question as one Democrats have the power to end. Jeffries argued “it’s very unfortunate that Donald Trump and Republicans have decided to shut the government down because they’re unwilling to provide health care to working-class Americans” despite the fact that, as the great Marc Thiessen explained last week, concerns health care subsides for those hundreds of a percent above the poverty line. Melvin next moved to showing Jeffries a clip of himself from the December 2018-January 2019 shutdown:   Asked “what’s changed from then to now,” Jeffries argued Republicans could end the shutdown if they wanted on their own. Melvin saw right through this and hit back that “they would have to change the rules to do that” as in end the Senate filibuster (which he pressed Johnson on last week). Jeffries then received the chance to hurl his talking points, including the incendiary rhetoric that Republicans only want “to reward their billionaire donors” and “rip food out of the mouths of children.” Melvin was unmoved by this: But, again, the majority of folks certainly don’t want their health care premiums to go up and I think a lot of folks are watching this and wondering, why fight this battle now? Why not reopen the government and still have these conversations and negotiate over the next few months? After Jeffries said that’s “a really good question, but the time is now to address this health care crisis,” Melvin closed by telling Jeffries in part that he should “recognize how ridiculous it sounds” that the two sides haven’t had formal talks since the shutdown started (click “expand”): MELVIN: President Trump did say yesterday he wants to “fix the ACA subsidies.” Is that an opening? JEFFRIES: Well, he also mentioned that in the White House meeting that we had last Monday, unfortunately, the White House and Republican leaders have gone radio silent since then. MELVIN: So, you guys haven’t talked since last Monday? JEFFRIES: We have not talked, but they have my number. We’re willing to sit down. MELVIN: But you recognize how ridiculous it sounds the leaders of the Democratic Party — JEFFRIES: That’s correct. MELVIN: — the President of the United States, no one is talking about reopening the government —  JEFFRIES: That —  MELVIN: and people won’t get paychecks this week? JEFFRIES: — it makes no sense, which is why we’re going to be in Washington all week. Unfortunately, Republicans have actually canceled votes because they want to keep the government shutdown. If the shutdown continues to drag on, it’ll be worth monitoring whether any degree of scrutiny toward the left would continue or whether NBC and co. would resort to decades-old talking points blaming the right for shutdowns. To see the relevant NBC transcript from October 6, click here. October 6th, 2025 5:52 PM Curtis Houck 292307 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brent-baker/2025/10/06/washington-examiners-liberal-media-scream-mrcs-assessment Since late January of 2012, the Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard has once a week featured a “Mainstream Media Scream” selection in his “Washington Secrets” column. For each pick, usually posted online on Monday, I provide an explanation and recommend a “scream” rating (scale of one to five). This post contains the “Liberal Media Screams” starting in January 2025. > For 2023 and 2024, for 2021 and 2022, for 2020. For 2019. For 2018. (Re-named “Liberal Media Scream” as of June 11, 2018.) “Mainstream Media Screams” for: > July-December 2017 posts; January through June 2017; July to December 2016; for January to June 2016; for July to December 2015; for January to June 2015. (2012-2014 are featured on MRC.org: For 2014; for June 17, 2013 through the end of 2013. And for January 31, 2012 through June 11, 2013.) Check Bedard’s “Washington Secrets” blog for the latest choice and his other Washington insider posts. Each week, this page will be updated with Bedard’s latest example of the worst bias of the week. (For more of the worst liberal media bias, browse the Media Research Center's Notable Quotables with compilations of the latest outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes in the liberal media.)   ■ New on October 6, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: PBS calls ‘cruelty’ Vought’s ‘erogenous zone’ See the posting on the Washington Examiner's site where you can watch the video and read Baker's assessment. A week later, Bedard's article will be posted here.   ■ September 29, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Poor Comey, target of ‘ruthless’ Trump (Washington Examiner post) It wasn’t even a year ago that liberal media were cheering the slew of politically driven prosecutions and court cases targeting President Donald Trump and his associates before he returned to the White House for his second term. But now that the tables have turned, most notably with last week’s indictment of former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress in a get-Trump case, the same media have declared those types of prosecutions the height of ruthlessness. Trump foe and New Yorker Editor David Remnick, for example, charged on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that Trump is in political payback mode and using prosecutions for revenge. “The first term was filled with impulses, and the second term is efficient, ruthless, and it’s happening every day. This movement toward authoritarianism is very distinct and needs to be taken seriously,” he charged, making him our featured Liberal Media Scream. David Remnick on Sunday’s Meet the Press: DAVID REMNICK: I think we should take the president at his word. It used to be in 2016 and Trump 1.0, I guess, that it was considered the height of wisdom that the press takes Trump literally and the people take him seriously, and then vice versa. I think it’s possible to do both at the same time. The president is telling us that he has an enemies list that he’s going to act on. He’s told us who is on the enemies list: John Bolton, Letitia James, Fani Willis ought to be on her guard, and many more, whether they’re in the press or civic society. I think this is a real emergency, and it should be taken seriously, and know that he’s going to act on it. It’s not just blather out on the White House lawn. That’s the difference between the first term and the second term. The first term was filled with impulses, and the second term is efficient, ruthless, and it’s happening every day. This movement toward authoritarianism is very distinct and needs to be taken seriously. This is not just a normal, you know, we talked about a budget battle. That’s normal politics. This is something extraordinary. Jorge Bonilla, a news analyst with the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters, explained our pick: “This Obama sycophant once said that ‘the future of the Earth’ was contingent on the impeachment of Donald Trump. Now that the show is on the other foot, this is ‘extraordinary.’ If it weren’t for double standards in the media, there’d be none at all.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ September 22, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: MSNBC calls Kirk memorial divisive, Trump vs. widow (Washington Examiner post) President Donald Trump is President Donald Trump, and many in the liberal media still can’t accept that. That was clear yesterday at the Arizona memorial for Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated this month, allegedly by a hate-filled leftist. After Kirk’s widow, Erika, forgave her husband’s killer, Trump, himself the target of two assassination attempts and years of political attacks, said he admired Kirk’s ability to forgive, but it’s something he could never do. It’s just not in his blood. “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them,” Trump said of Kirk. Then he added, “I hate my opponents.” For some at CNN and MSNBC, that was the big takeaway of the hourslong event as they searched for a way to portray it as divisive. “He has never made a pretense of being a leader for all Americans, as most of his predecessors have — even if they didn’t follow through,” said a CNN analysis. On MSNBC, following the memorial, White House correspondent Vaughn Hillyard also highlighted the different views and said, “I think what was stunning about the tension that exists here in 2025 was to listen to Erika Kirk, a big supporter of the president, be followed 15 to 20 minutes later by the president of the United States. Clearly, somebody who she loves, but come out and directly say, ‘I disagree with Charlie Kirk. I disagree with you, Erika,’ and say, ‘I hate my opponents.’” He added, “And I think that says a lot about where we are and the questions about where we go moving forward. The Erika Kirk route or the Donald Trump route.” Vaughn Hillyard on MSNBC’s The Weekend Primetime: VAUGHN HILLYARD: I think what, honestly, I’ll take away from tonight is watching the weight of a woman, a mother, lose her husband. Most people cannot say they’ve experienced losing a spouse at this young of an age, and I don’t know who we are to suggest how somebody should respond in real time. One week after her husband’s passing, she went in front of a crowd of 40 to 50,000 people, people watching all over the world. And she delivered remarks in which she forgave the assassin that shot her husband and killed him. Co-host Elise Jordan: I thought it was just remarkable. HILLYARD: A remarkable moment because in so many ways, where America stands in 2025 is: How do we respond going forward? And the woman that just lost her husband stood there in front of the world and said, ‘I forgive.’ And because her Christian faith teaches her to love your enemy and not hate your enemy, and to love those that persecute you. And I think what was stunning about the tension that exists here in 2025 was to listen to Erika Kirk, a big supporter of the president, be followed 15-20 minutes later by the president of the United States. Clearly, somebody who she loves, but come out and directly say, ‘I disagree with Charlie Kirk. I disagree with you, Erika,’ and say, ‘I hate my opponents.’ And I think that says a lot about where we are and the questions about where we go moving forward. The Erika Kirk route or the Donald Trump route. Jorge Bonilla, a news analyst with the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters, explained our pick: “In the immediate aftermath of the powerful Charlie Kirk memorial, Trump-deranged MSNBC showed that they couldn’t leave well enough alone. What began as a complimentary reaction turned into Trump-deranged brainworms for MSNBC consumption. Erika Kirk’s testimony of forgiveness towards her husband’s murderer stands as a potent example of Christ-like behavior in a most difficult time. Forgive them for they know not what they do, indeed. But Hillyard couldn’t leave well enough alone, and he had to fabricate this oppositional friction where none exists between the Kirks and Trump. It’s almost as if they didn’t watch the memorial, and its many underlying messages centering around grace.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ September 15, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Martha Raddatz went 0-3 swinging for Trump hate (Washington Examiner post) In the fallout of the assassination of youthful Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, there has been the liberal media’s refusal to accept its role in dividing the nation, as it instead tries to blame President Donald Trump for the Left’s political violence. Martha Raddatz led the way while hosting ABC’s This Week on Sunday. She had one thing top of mind: get one or more of the three elected officials she had on as guests to denounce Trump for blaming the assassination of Charlie Kirk on “the radical Left.” First up, Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) was asked, “What’s your reaction to that? Is that something you think he should be doing?” Next was Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO), who was quizzed with, “Is that the message you believe he should be putting out?” And finally, Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) was pressed, “Is that the right thing to do? Or what do you wish he was saying?” Raddatz struck out, going 0-3, and is our pick for the weekly Liberal Media Scream. Three questions from Martha Raddatz on Sunday’s This Week on ABC: To Cox: “You immediately talked about Democrats who had been targeted. President Trump said nothing about the political violence against Democrats. In fact, he blamed ‘the radical Left.’ What’s your reaction to that? Is that something you think he should be doing?” To Polis: “You heard Gov. Cox. He did not, clearly did not want to criticize President Trump at this time, and Charlie Kirk was a good friend of President Trump and his family, but he has pointed the finger at what he calls ‘the radical Left.’ Is that the message you believe he should be putting out?” To Curtis: “A lot of people, certainly a lot of Republicans, a lot of people are listening to President Trump, and you’ve heard me talk about it earlier in the show. But several Republican lawmakers, prominent conservatives, including President Trump’s sons, Don Jr. and Eric, as well as President Trump, have blamed this on ‘the radical Left.’ Is that the right thing to do? Or what do you wish he was saying?” Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Martha Raddatz certainly seems to have had an agenda on Sunday: Get one or more of her guests to denounce President Trump for daring to blame ‘the radical Left’ for the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But isn’t that a reasonable supposition? Maybe a better area for her to have explored with her guests would have been why hasn’t there been more focus on that threat than the words used by a president who had just lost a friend to political violence?” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ September 8, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Clintonista Stephanopoulos desperate to condemn Trump (Washington Examiner post) For TV news liberals, one-upping competitors while venting their anti-Trump bias seems a requirement, especially for the big shots who host the weekly public affairs shows. Consider former Clinton spokesman George Stephanopoulos, who on Sunday was hosting ABC’s This Week for the first time since Aug. 3. Outdone on the Trump Derangement Syndrome spouted by the other hosts for weeks, notably CBS 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley’s regular editorial attacks on President Donald Trump, Stephanopoulos put on his serious face and listed all that was bad about the president’s week. It was, he said, “a week of challenges,” and he cited several examples that have, in the findings of several pollsters, helped revive Trump’s approval ratings. Stephanopoulos has been on the losing side of his fights with Trump for a while. Recall that in December, he and ABC News were ordered to apologize and pay $15 million in a Trump defamation lawsuit settlement. For his one-sided, off-base rant, Stephanopoulos wins our weekly Liberal Media Scream. Stephanopoulos at the top of ABC’s This Week on Sunday: “On Friday, President Trump rebranded the Department of Defense the ‘Department of War.’ Saturday, he announced the department’s first target, an American city. The President’s words: ‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of War.’ A chorus of criticism followed, including this from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D): ‘The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal.’ “And this chilling threat from President Trump comes after a week of challenges: Friday’s weak jobs report, on Capitol Hill a bipartisan grilling for [Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.], and a demand for transparency from Jeffrey Epstein’s victims; China’s display of diplomatic skill and military force and Russia’s rebuff of another Trump deadline on the war in Ukraine.” Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Stephanopoulos pops up every month or so to host This Week (he last hosted on Aug. 3) and seems bent each time on re-proving his anti-Trump bonafides. He did it again Sunday, framing in the worst possible light Trump’s efforts to save lives in Chicago and then proceeding to paint a world closing in on Trump — all in a week when Trump’s approval got an up bounce.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ September 1, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: ABC reporter fired for Trump hate doubles down (Washington Examiner post) A top political reporter dumped by ABC News for spewing hate toward President Donald Trump and deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller on X is doubling down on his rant. Instead of shushing after the embarrassing episode, Terry Moran stepped up his attack on Trump, telling a podcaster last week that Trump “is the man that we were warned about by the founders, that democracies fall when a man who can captivate the populace wants to exercise the power that’s there in the government.” What makes Moran our Liberal Media Scream of the week isn’t just his continued hate toward Trump but his embrace of the Founding Fathers, whom the liberal media have recently attacked as racist slave-holders not worthy of memorializing. Moran was dumped in June when he went after Miller on X. “He eats his hate,” Moran wrote of the president’s chief policy aide. “Trump is a world-class hater. … That’s his spiritual nourishment.” Moran on In Good Faith With Philip DeFranco: “What we’re seeing is, no question, what other countries have seen a lot, what our Founding Fathers predicted would happen, that a great strongman would, would, all right, not great in the good sense, but great in the power sense, right? “Trump is the most dominant figure of our age around the world. Don’t underestimate him. He is a world historical figure, and he is the man that we were warned about by the Founders, that democracies fall when a man who can captivate the populace wants to exercise the power that’s there in the government, and that is what we’re watching.” Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Legacy media figures keep reaching back in history to find different historic figures to use to condemn President Trump. The go-to has been Hitler, but now Moran is ridiculously invoking the Founding Fathers, a sudden respect for the supposed foresight of the founders, whom liberals normally condemn as immoral figures for condoning slavery, but now find so wise.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ August 25, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: MSNBC’s Velshi: MAGA is worse than Pearl Harbor, Civil War (Washington Examiner post) For this week’s Liberal Media Scream, we have an extraordinary Trump Derangement Syndrome rant that doesn’t just declare President Donald Trump a “strongman,” but more evil than Japan’s attack on America and more dangerous than the Civil War. It comes from weekend MSNBC host Ali Velshi, who on Sunday spat out a seven-minute-plus speech denouncing Trump and Republicans for the “collapse of democracy.” He claimed Trump has enacted a “police state” in cities while Republican “election security” efforts are really the “classic playbook of the strongman.” It was classic TDS and then he doused his fire with gasoline, charging, “America’s democracy has withstood civil war, depressions, attacks by foreign enemies on its soil, but it has never faced an assault on this scale: an internal demolition carried out not by outsiders or even by well-armed rebels, but by the holder of the highest office in the land.” Portions of Velshi from Sunday: It’s Sunday, August the 24th. I’m Ali Velshi, and we begin this hour with a reality check, a crucial one. The collapse of democracy is a strange, almost surreal thing. It can be abstract and hard to recognize in the moment. At first, it just feels like politics. It’s messy, it’s noisy, it’s frustrating, and sometimes a bit removed from one’s day-to-day life. But then the guardrails that we’ve taken for granted begin to topple one after another… At best, each assault may seem like an outlier until the day you wake up and realize the system itself has become unrecognizable. Well, that’s where we are right now. It’s not where we’re headed. It’s where we are. The tragedy of what’s unfolding and the danger of what’s ahead will be compounded if American citizens en masse, all of us, do not recognize this moment for what it is. Understandably, unless it touches you directly, it’s easy sometimes to miss what’s being taken away… This is not about public safety. It’s about flexing power, teaching dissenters and political opponents a lesson, normalizing the use of troops against Americans. In the nation’s capital, hundreds of federal troops now patrol the streets alongside [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and [Drug Enforcement Administration] and FBI agents, ticketing residents for minor offenses like broken taillights. Federal troops policing petty crime on America’s main street. Think about that. Crime may be statistically down, but intimidation is way up. The police state is here, and that’s the whole point. D.C. restaurants and bars report business down by one-third. What Trump is doing is designed to bleed blue cities dry economically… What Republicans label election security is the classic playbook of the strongman: tilt the playing field toward yourself and lock yourself into power. It doesn’t stop in Washington, D.C. Across the country, Republican controlled legislatures are dismantling the last avenues of direct democracy: Citizen ballot initiatives… The message is clear: Even if voters pass something that Republicans don’t like, Republicans in power will just rewrite the rules. This is not democracy. That is something called competitive authoritarianism. Elections in name. One-party rule in practice. And here lies the tragedy. Ultimate power in this country still belongs to the people. But every time we accept or tolerate one more red line being crossed, we normalize the next. Each violation larger than the last makes what came before feel almost normal. America’s democracy has withstood civil war, depressions, attacks by foreign enemies on its soil, but it has never faced an assault on this scale. An internal demolition carried out not by outsiders or even by well-armed rebels, but by the holder of the highest office in the land. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Ali Velshi is auditioning to win the role as the [Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)] of the left-wing legacy media: The guy who most excites the anti-Trump world as the chief conveyor of Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Rating: FIVE out of FIVE screams.   ■ August 18, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: CNN says Obama, Clinton, and Bush smarter than Trump (Washington Examiner post) CNN reached a new low in its anti-Trump bias, declaring that Russian President Vladimir Putin ate President Donald Trump’s lunch on Friday because Trump doesn’t have the “intellect” of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Regular commentator Bakari Sellers on Sunday’s State of the Union overlooked that the political trio oversaw several wars, while Trump, in his second term, has ended a half-dozen wars and is today hosting a world summit at the White House to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Sellers was focused on Trump’s meeting in Alaska with Putin, an icebreaker on several fronts after former President Joe Biden let U.S.-Russian relations reach a Cold War low. “Donald Trump cannot perform on the world stage because he simply does not have the intellect to match up with these world leaders. He’s not Barack Obama, he’s not Hillary Clinton. He’s not even George Bush when it comes to being able to maneuver in these environments,” said Sellers. From CNN’s Sunday morning State of the Union hosted by Jake Tapper: BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think Vladimir Putin is a thug. I think he’s a war criminal. And I think he made Donald Trump look small. I mean, I understand the minutiae of where — I want a deal, like every other American wants a deal, or you should be praying for that deal. However, like I have said before many times, Donald Trump cannot perform on the world stage because he simply does not have the intellect to match up with these world leaders. He’s not Barack Obama, he’s not Hillary Clinton. He’s not even George Bush when it comes to being able to maneuver in these environments. And so what you saw was Vladimir Putin come and get what he wanted. I mean, the winner of this is Vladimir Putin. I don’t know why we’re trying to hide the ball. BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That’s what happened when he took Crimea. Obama gave him exactly what he wanted when he let Vladimir Putin have Crimea without so much as a shot or an objection. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “How vacuous can you be? When [former Sen.] Mitt Romney called Putin ‘the biggest political threat facing America,’ which has proven true, Obama ridiculed Romney: ‘The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.’ And as Todd pointed out, Obama didn’t do anything to counter Putin’s invasion of Crimea. Yet Obama is intellectually superior to Trump because Trump isn’t standing up enough to Putin? To say nothing of George W. Bush declaring he got ‘a sense’ of Putin’s ‘soul’ and found him ‘trustworthy’ or Hillary Clinton offering Putin a ‘reset’ button.” Rating: FIVE out of FIVE screams.   ■ August 11: No Liberal Media Scream this week    ■ August 4, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Washington Post reporter quit over patriotism request (Washington Examiner post) The generous buyout offer from Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has been too hard for a number of top reporters and editors to turn down. But for one columnist, leaving was coming no matter what. The reason: Bezos wanted “positive things happening in this country” to be covered “unapologetically patriotic.” For left-wing writer Jonathan Capehart, also a contributor to PBS and MSNBC, that was too much to ask. “There was just not going to be any room for a voice like mine,” he said on the NewsHour. For PBS, which lost taxpayer support in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act due to perceived anti-Trump bias, that was a tremendous decision by Capehart. Said NewsHour co-host Amna Nawaz, “Jonathan Capehart, we’re so glad your voice is heard right here at our table.” From Friday’s PBS NewsHour: AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, before we go, folks will have noticed that we introduced you slightly differently tonight than we usually do. We should point out, after nearly two decades at the Washington Post, you recently made the decision to leave. I just wanted to give you a chance to speak directly to our audience to tell them why. JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, the direction of the opinion section changed. Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, as is his right, decided that he wanted the section to focus on the twin pillars of personal liberties and free markets. And it became clear, as time went along, and especially when he chose a new leader for the section, that there was just not going to be any room for a voice like mine, especially when we were told that we would have to be unapologetically patriotic in talking about the positive things happening in the country. How can you talk about the positive things happening in the country when the rest of the house is engulfed in flames and the foundation is flooding? I wanted to go some place where my voice would be heard. NAWAZ: Jonathan Capehart, we’re so glad your voice is heard right here at our table. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Quite an admission that a leading PBS political analyst was so angry about the state of the country ‘engulfed in flames’ under President Trump that he’s opposed to expressing patriotism. But he fits right in on PBS and MSNBC and recognizes that’s ‘where my voice would be heard.’” Rating: THREE out of FIVE screams.   ■ July 28, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Connie Chung wants Fox News anchors in ‘ankle monitors’ (Washington Examiner post) Connie Chung is back, and she’s still mouthing off about the conservative media she hates, making her our Liberal Media Scream of the week. What’s more, she’s giving advice to CBS, the network that dumped her in 1995 after a controversial interview and recently caved in to President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over a manipulated 60 Minutes interview of former Vice President Kamala Harris.      Chung, who held several other media posts, went on CNN to rip the deal by Skydance Media to take over Paramount, the owner of CBS. She also hit media influencers and Fox News as providers of fake news. Of conservative media outlets, she said, “I think they should be putting ankle bracelets, ankle monitors on certain anchors at certain cable stations in prime time. Those are the culprits.” From Friday’s CNN News Central: Connie Chung: “I would say that they have to fight the good fight, that they have to protect the legacy of CBS. They cannot allow biased owners, because honestly, I don’t think CBS is necessarily the culprit. What needs to be policed is social media, which have no fact checkers, podcasters, and the like. No one is checking those facts. And the problem is, that is inaccurate information that’s being disseminated “I think they should be put in ankle bracelets, ankle monitors on certain anchors at certain cable stations in prime time. Those are the culprits.” Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “An unpleasant blast from the past. TV network stars like her of the 1980s and ‘90s, who so sanctimoniously saw themselves as paragons of virtue and facts, are what created the marketplace for Fox News and all the other new media outlets which so disturb her by not following the same liberal line as CBS. Yet, decades later, she still doesn’t recognize that.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ July 21, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: CBS reporter blames PTSD on MAGA crowd at Trump shooting (Washington Examiner post) A CBS political reporter said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following his coverage of the attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. But Scott MacFarlane didn’t blame shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, the noise of Crooks’s rifle going off eight times, or the near-death of Trump. He blamed the crowd of MAGA supporters, whom he envisioned “were going to come kill us.” He said he felt the crowd would blame the media for the shooting and that “we’d be dead” if Trump didn’t survive. For that, he easily won as our Liberal Media Scream of the week. But he was challenged during an interview on The Chuck ToddCast when Todd offered up his own bizarre reaction to the assassination attempt that killed Trump supporter Corey Comperatore. Todd said, “I share your concern. Just a little thing. I was — literally the first thing I was going to do after landing [in Milwaukee to cover the GOP convention] on Saturday was go to the Nats-Brewers game, and I said, ‘I’m not going. I’m not going to be seen going. I’m not, I’m not doing that. This is not the moment for this.'” Todd went on to say he has long feared Trump supporters.  From The Chuck ToddCast: SCOTT MACFARLANE: For those of us there, it was such a horror because you saw an emerging America. And it wasn’t the shooting, Chuck. This was … I got diagnosed with PTSD within 48 hours. I got put on trauma leave, not because, I think, of the shooting, but because, you could … you saw it in the eyes, the reaction of the people. They were coming for us. If he didn’t jump up with his fist, they were going to come kill us. CHUCK TODD: I know … Look, I share your concern. Just a little thing. I was, literally, the first thing I was going to do after landing on Saturday was go to the Nats-Brewers game, and I said, “I’m not going. I’m not going to be seen going. I’m not, I’m not doing that. This is not the moment for this.” And I think we … none of us knew what the reaction of that Milwaukee crowd was going to be to this. Right? It turned into euphoria, right? It turned into this messiah, sort of messiah feeling. I think that, you know, that this was divine intervention. But I share that, that Saturday, and what you just described, being on the ground, was the first thing I thought of was my team down there. I think it was Vaughn Hillyard, if I’m not mistaken. MACFARLANE: Dasha was there as well. TODD: And Dasha Burns, right? And, look, let’s be honest. We’ve been fearing this for about a decade. That all of this heightened rhetoric, that what all this crap online, what happened on Jan. 6, those of us that experienced that as well, you’re like, we’re a tinderbox, right? You know what? There’s a fear that this moment is coming. And it’s interesting that you … the fact that we dodged that. You know, you’re right. I mean, it’s, it is … I don’t know what would have happened had the outcome been different. MACFARLANE: We are all … many of us on press row, as we talked about this on our text chains for weeks after, were quite confident we’d be dead if he didn’t get back up. There was a subset, not everybody, there’s dozens of people in the crowd who started coming for us, saying, “You did this. This is your fault. You caused this. You killed him.” And they’re going to beat us with their hands. I mean, they were going to kill us. And respectfully, the Secret Service had bigger issues than protecting us. When he jumped up triumphantly, it saved us, but that’s the thing. I can’t eliminate from my mind’s eye the look on their faces. They … that’s what America is right now. It’s not rational. It’s an irrational thought to think the media shot somebody from atop a building, but the lack of rationality is what connects Jan. 6 to this. It’s … how do we pull out of this as a country is the defining question of our time. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Yes, the near-assassination of President Donald Trump wasn’t the real ‘horror’ of the day. The real ‘horror’ was in how, in the few seconds before Trump triumphantly raised his fists, MacFarlane somehow sensed the crowd would ‘kill’ him and other reporters? Really? If Trump supporters were on the cusp of deadly violence, why are we just hearing about it a year later? And McFarlane really got diagnosed with PTSD? We all know too many journalists are snowflakes, but you’d think MacFarlane would have the self-respect to keep such an embarrassing admission, of his fear of fellow Americans, to himself.” Rating: FIVE out of FIVE screams.   ■ July 14, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Katie Couric labels Trump’s MAGA ‘a s*** show’ (Washington Examiner post) The disdain the legacy media have for President Donald Trump has reached new levels since Congress approved his “big, beautiful bill.” Many liberal outlets have resorted to following Democratic talking points and inflated the negative effects, and others have made ridiculous claims that it will kill millions. And then there is media darling Katie Couric, who just brushed aside the whole Trump administration in one profane and sour characterization, winning this week’s feature as our Liberal Media Scream. In calling for more media attention to the administration, the one-time Today show host fretted over “this moment in our history” and then hit “The s*** show that is the Trump administration.” In a joint video podcast with left-wing freelance journalist Liz Plank, Couric said “social media creators … depend on a lot of mainstream outlets” for basic information, so that “underscores the importance of more traditional media … especially at this moment in our history and what’s happening in our country and the s*** show that it is the Trump administration.” Couric, during a podcast cross-posted on Liz Plank’s Airplane Mode Substack podcast and the Next Question with Katie Couric podcast on Substack and YouTube: “I think it just, it underscores the importance of more traditional media, and I think we need it all, to be honest, especially at this moment in our history and what’s happening in our country and the s*** show that it is the Trump administration.” Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Couric demonstrates how ingrained the disdain is for Trump administration policies amongst the legacy media elite. It’s like muscle memory to them. And her blurting out her disgust, for a president who earned the most votes, in such a casual manner in a conversation with a like-minded liberal, shows how she sees it as a commonly-accepted view amongst her peers.” Rating: FIVE out of FIVE screams.   ■ July 7, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Stephanopoulos blames downpour deaths on Trump (Washington Examiner post) The weekend saw some of the most embarrassing efforts by the liberal media to take President Donald Trump down, this time blaming him for the horrific flash flood deaths in Texas. The early morning flooding that has so far claimed the lives of more than 80, including children at a Christian girls camp, hit with little warning after a downpour dumped some 11 inches of rain that ended up in the Guadalupe River on Friday. Trump called it a 100-year event on Sunday and is planning to meet with families this Friday. Even as the search for survivors continued, the media tried to blame Trump and staff cuts at various federal weather agencies. Leading that effort was ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, who said on This Week, “There were significant staffing shortfalls to the National Weather Service offices in the region.” Most weather and state local officials have been quick to note that the area often floods and that notices were sent out after midnight. Blame isn’t what most wanted to cast, but the Washington media did anyway — something they didn’t do when Hurricane Helene crashed through the southwest last year, killing 230. Even the reporter on the scene in Texas, Mireya Villarreal, didn’t take the Trump-hating bait from Stephanopoulos, a one-time top aide to former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary. From ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re also learning there were significant staffing shortfalls to the National Weather Service offices in the region. MIREYA VILLARREAL, IN KERRVILLE, TEXAS: As of right now, the local county officials didn’t want to address that just yet. What they are telling us is they expected between 4 and 6 inches of rain. That is what weather experts told them. The National Weather Service as well. They also knew, in remote locations, they might get anywhere from 8 to 10 inches, but this amount of rain in such a short amount of time, it was very difficult to navigate. And when the Department of Homeland Security secretary was here just yesterday, she acknowledged this was an issue. She was going to take these concerns to the White House as well and try and see if there was anything they could do to revamp the system. She says the president is committed to it. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Liberal Democratic activists develop an attack line against the Trump administration, and Stephanopoulos dutifully jumps to repeat it. In this case, in the most distasteful way, trying to score political points at the very moment dozens of parents were desperately searching for their missing children. But with Stephanopoulos, it’s politics ahead of facts as his contention has been undermined by, amongst others, the union representing the NWS meteorologists.” Rating: FIVE out of FIVE screams.   ■ June 30, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: PBS embraces socialist Mamdani, calls GOP criticism ‘hateful’ (Washington Examiner post) PBS is doubling down on its leftist bias that has drawn President Donald Trump’s support for defunding the taxpayer-supported service, this time embracing New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani while ripping GOP criticism of the self-declared socialist as “disgusting” and “hateful.” While some liberal politicians are disowning Mamdani for his extreme positions, the support by Public Broadcasting Service’s News Hour is this week’s featured Liberal Media Scream because it flies in the face of a promise to provide “intelligent, balanced” reporting. On Friday, News Hour didn’t feature the candidate’s left-wing promises to defund police and provide freebies to residents, but instead condemned the conservative reaction to him. Said featured liberal commentator Jonathan Capehart, “I’ll start with the Republican response. It’s shameful, it’s hateful, it’s disgusting.” From Friday’s PBS News Hour: NEWS HOUR HOST AMNA NAWAZ: I got to ask you both, too, about Tuesday night’s events in New York City, the Democratic mayoral primary contest the entire country was paying attention to when Zohran Mamdani, who was a little-known state assemblyman, went on to beat the former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani’s 33 years old, he’s a self-described Democratic socialist, and his win, we should point out, has really fueled a hateful response from some on the Right. There’s a major MAGA voice named Charlie Kirk, who posted this: ‘24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11. Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City.’” Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles actually called for Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, as a naturalized U.S. citizen, to be denaturalized and deported. Jonathan, what does Mamdani’s win tell us about Democrats and their message, if anything, and what does the response tell us about Republicans and theirs? JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, the response, I’ll start with the Republican response. It’s shameful, it’s hateful, it’s disgusting. It also tells me that Republicans are deathly afraid of their prospects in the 2026 midterm elections. Especially if they’re going after a guy who just simply won the primary in a municipal election. The other thing folks need to understand, the reputation of New York City is of a liberal bastion, and it’s a city where there’s a six-to-one Democratic registration advantage over Republicans. And yet this city, that has a reputation of being a liberal bastion, elected Rudy Giuliani twice and Mike Bloomberg three times, the first time as a Republican, the next two times as an independent. And so, what I take from Mamdani’s win, above all else, is that he went out there and asked New Yorkers for their votes. He did not do a Rose Garden strategy. He asked people for their votes, and he gave them something to vote for, and that’s the thing Democrats should emulate. Ask people for their votes. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “In pleading for donations in the wake of the effort to end taxpayer funding of PBS, the News Hour website ludicrously claims ‘your gift supports America’s #1 most trusted news source in providing intelligent, balanced and in-depth reporting.’ This coverage of Mamdani is just the latest proof of the hollowness of that promise, a pledge PBS has never made any genuine effort to provide. Where’s the balance in ignoring the elephant in the room of Mamdani’s extremist views while treating conservative reaction to him as the most important event that must be condemned?” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ June 23, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Feckless Margaret Brennan thinks she’s secretary of state (Washington Examiner post) If the Sunday performance of CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan were in a Looney Tunes cartoon, Bugs Bunny would have mocked, “da nerve!” Instead, and much better, Secretary of State Marco Rubio brushed aside her grade school “yes it is, no it’s not” debate over military intelligence and belief that she knows more about it than President Donald Trump’s top national security adviser. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rubio said in an appearance to discuss Trump’s decision to attack Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities over the weekend. After Brennan continued to say she knows more about whether Iran planned to make nuclear weapons or not, Rubio gave his best “da nerve” look and told her, “That’s not how intelligence is read. That’s not how intelligence is used. Here’s what the whole world knows. Forget about intelligence, what the IAEA knows. They are enriching uranium well beyond anything you need for a civil nuclear program.” From Sunday’s Face the Nation on CBS: MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me follow up on a phrase you just used — weaponization ambitions. Are you saying that the United States did not see intelligence that the supreme leader had ordered weaponization? SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO: That’s irrelevant. I see that question being asked in the media all the time. That’s an irrelevant question. They have everything they need to build a weapon. BRENNAN: No, but that is the key point in U.S. intelligence assessments. You know that. RUBIO: No, it’s not. BRENNAN: Yes, it was. RUBIO: No, it’s not. BRENNAN: That the political decision had not been made. RUBIO: No, I know — well, I know that better than you know that. And I know that that’s not the case. BRENNAN: But I’m asking you whether the order was given. RUBIO: You don’t know what you’re talking about. And the people who say that — it doesn’t matter if the order was given. They have everything they need to build nuclear weapons. Why would you bury — why would you bury things in a mountain 300 feet under the ground? BRENNAN: Right. RUBIO: Why would you bury six … why do they have 60% enriched uranium? You don’t need 60% enriched uranium. The only countries in the world that have uranium at 60% are countries that have nuclear weapons, because they can quickly make it 90. They have all the elements. They have … why are they … why do they have a space program? Is Iran going to go to the moon? No. They’re trying to build an ICBM, so they can one day put a warhead on it. BRENNAN: No, but that’s a question … that’s a question … that’s a question of intent. And you know, in the intelligence assessment, that it was that Iran wanted to be a threshold state and use this leverage. RUBIO: How do you know what the intelligence assessment says? How do you know what the intelligence assessment says? BRENNAN: I’m talking about the public March assessment. And that’s why I was asking you if you know something more from March, if an order was given. RUBIO: Well, that — but that’s also an inaccurate representation of it. That’s an inaccurate representation of it. That’s not how intelligence is read. That’s not how intelligence is used. Here’s what the whole world knows. Forget about intelligence, what the IAEA knows. They are enriching uranium well beyond anything you need for a civil nuclear program. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Refreshing to see a guest take on the liberal premises forwarded as facts by legacy media hosts. This wasn’t the first time this year that Brennan has been schooled by a Trump administration official. Maybe she should consider being more of a dispassionate interviewer and less of an advocate for the left-wing spin of the day.” Rating: THREE out of FIVE screams.   ■ June 16, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: PBS sees Trump ‘suspending elections’ (Washington Examiner post) It’s hard to imagine that PBS could get any more anti-Trump, but after House Republicans voted to endorse President Donald Trump’s bid to defund public broadcasting, all of its “Trump derangement syndrome” sirens have gone off. For our weekly Liberal Media Scream, we feature its most extreme claim from lefty News Hour commentator Jonathan Capehart that the president is on a power grab that will have him “suspending elections.” On Friday’s PBS News Hour, Capehart suggested that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to California to protect federal buildings against anti-ICE demonstrators, as well as “rumors” of a pardon for the police officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd, is part of a plan to “create the conditions that would allow the president to invoke the Insurrection Act.” Tying the Army birthday parade Saturday with the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, Capehart said, “We are at a turning point, I think, this weekend with what we have seen in the run-up to tomorrow’s parade, with what’s happening in Los Angeles. More people’s hair should be on fire, not just because of the National Guard troops in Los Angeles without the — working with or permission from the governor, which is by law what should have been done, but the calling up of Marines, U.S. military, on American streets.” “That is a line that, to me, anyway, is one that should never have been crossed. And the president putting out this order and putting out this order that isn’t specific to Los Angeles, isn’t specific to any city. It’s so broad. The language is so broad that it’s sort of like you could just tuck it into like a giant L.L. Bean tote bag, and you just pull out: Where do I need to send troops?” Jonathan Capehart on Friday’s PBS News Hour: I think they’re creating the political conflict because, you know, I interviewed Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison in the run-up to the anniversary, the fifth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. And he brought up on his own the rumor that the president was going to pardon Derek Chauvin. And the attorney general said that the president might do that as a distraction to larger goals. And one of the larger goals that the attorney general mentioned that has always been in the back of my mind is to create the conditions that would allow the president to invoke the Insurrection Act. And once the president invokes the Insurrection Act, all sorts of powers are handed to the president, you know, suspending elections, and other things once you open that box, and particularly you open that box with this president and the administration and the yes-people he has around him, there’s no going back. That is among the reasons why I am so concerned about what we’re about to see tomorrow. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Tinfoil hat time. And PBS supporters act befuddled as to why conservatives see PBS as the home of left-wing crazy talk, leading the House last week to approve President Trump’s rescission package to end taxpayer funding of PBS and NPR. Capehart’s wild speculation passes for informed analysis on PBS’s top ‘news’ program.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ June 9, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Pompous Pelley warns America ‘is doomed’ (Washington Examiner post) Just when we thought CBS’s Scott Pelley couldn’t get any more pompous, he proved us wrong — again. This time it was in decrying America under President Donald Trump, declaring that only journalism can save the nation, and warning that “If you fall silent, the country is doomed.” Seeing parallels between Sen. Eugene McCarthy in the 1950s and Trump today, while speaking after CNN showed George Clooney’s play about legendary newsman Edward R. Morrow, Pelley said, “You cannot have democracy without journalism. It can’t be done.” Pelley has used his 60 Minutes perch to air his liberal bias and editorialize against Trump. Murrow played an outsize role in ending McCarthy’s career. From CNN’s special coverage Saturday night, Good Night, and Good Luck Live: Truth and Power, after the live airing from Broadway of the stage play, Good Night, and Good Luck: ANDERSON COOPER: Do you still believe in journalism? Do you still believe in the role of journalists? SCOTT PELLEY: It is the only thing that’s going to save the country. You cannot have democracy without journalism. It can’t be done. The people at home need reliable, consistent information in order to make decisions about their lives and their futures, and the country’s future. So, there is no system of democracy without journalism. We have to figure out how to keep journalism free, independent, accurate, and responsible for what it’s doing. But journalism is the only profession that is protected by the Constitution of the United States. And there’s a reason for that. James Madison believed that freedom of speech was the right that guaranteed all the other rights in the Bill of Rights. And so it is today. COOPER: What is your message to people about, who have just watched this, and are worried? PELLEY: It’s going to take courage, as it often has, to get through this period of American history. Our forebears were called by their times to have courage to move the country forward. And so it is with us today. The most important thing is to have the courage to speak, to not let fear permeate the country so that everyone suddenly becomes silent. If you have the courage to speak, we are saved. If you fall silent, the country is doomed. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Could Pelley be any more pompous? If he, CBS News, and the rest of the legacy media had ever lived up to his promise of providing ‘independent, accurate and responsible’ news, they wouldn’t be held in such disdain by so much of the public who see them as left-wing political players. And that’s a reality he confirmed by advocating everyone get in line and join him in having the ‘courage’ to oppose the policies of the man who earned the most votes in the last election.” Rating: FIVE out of FIVE screams.   ■ June 2, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Stephanopoulos tries to top Pelley with his Trump hate (Washington Examiner post) Have you noticed how the liberal Sunday news show hosts have been tripping over themselves to find some, any angle to attack President Donald Trump and his team? The latest to join the parade is George Stephanopoulos, the ABC big shot and former Bill Clinton spinner-in-chief, who on Sunday tried to one-up the recent string of anti-Trump editorials from Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes. On ABC’s This Week, Stephanopoulos opened with this: “Good morning and welcome to This Week. The scale is staggering. President Trump and his family are making hundreds of millions, potentially billions of dollars, as Trump and his administration take official actions that benefit contributors and investors.” The attack was par for the course for the Clinton family defender, who was unfazed that the Clinton Foundation profited from foreign governments when Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary of state or that the Biden family enterprise cashed in on Joe Biden’s vice presidency and presidency. And it followed a pattern of attacking Trump at any cost, a dangerous practice that recently prompted ABC and Stephanopoulos to issue an apology and pay a Trump-related foundation $15 million to scuttle a defamation lawsuit. For his hypocrisy, Stephanopoulos’s rant is our Liberal Media Scream of the week. Stephanopoulos on Sunday’s This Week on ABC, with the quoted text displayed on screen: “Good morning and welcome to This Week. The scale is staggering. President Trump and his family are making hundreds of millions, potentially billions of dollars, as Trump and his administration take official actions that benefit contributors and investors. Just this week, we learned of pardons to tax cheats, including a man whose pardon was granted weeks after his mother attended a million-dollar-a-head fundraiser with the president. The Trump Media and Technology Group raised nearly $2.5 billion from 50 institutional investors whose identities have not been disclosed. The SEC dropped its lawsuit against the cryptocurrency firm Binance days after Binance began listing the cryptocurrency launched by World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm started by Trump’s family. “This unprecedented money-making by a sitting president and his family summarized by critics like the Atlantic’s David Frum. ‘Nothing like this has been attempted or even imagined in the history of the American presidency,’ he writes. ‘Throw away the history books, discard feeble comparisons to scandals of the past. There is no analogy with any previous action by any past president. The brazenness of the self-enrichment resembles nothing seen in any earlier White House. This is American corruption on the scale of a post-Soviet republic or a post-colonial African dictatorship.’” Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: You’d think someone like Stephanopoulos, who forced Disney/ABC to pay $15 million to Trump’s future presidential museum for a false statement impugning President Trump, would be more reluctant to display such rank hypocrisy in becoming so overwrought about charges of corruption against Trump. Especially when he showed no similar concern over how the Biden family profited off of lucrative secretive deals fueled by President Biden’s high offices.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ May 27, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: MSNBC calls Trump ‘dictator’ to bow before (Washington Examiner post) As if MSNBC can’t get any more ridiculous, a regular guest proved it could when previewing President Donald Trump‘s solemn Memorial Day events by calling him a dictator whom all must bow before. In comments condemning more than half of the voters who support Trump, Dean Obeidallah, host of The Dean Obeidallah Show on SiriusXM, told the MSNBC audience, “This really is a push and pull between two competing visions of America. One that we believe in is freedom, the United States of America with due process, and their vision, which is an autocracy, and that really — what we’re dealing with, or easier than that, a dictatorship. They want Trump as the dictator of the United States, and we all have to bow down to him.” Obeidallah’s rant won this week’s Mainstream Media Scream, but it was a close call, with hard-left CBS 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelley and his liberal colleague, Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan, in full Trump derangement syndrome. Pelley made headlines for his over-the-top Trump hate commencement at Wake Forest, and Brennan for her uneducated attack on the House Republican “big, beautiful bill.” Dean Obeidallah, during the noon hour on Saturday of Velshi on MSNBC: I think the fact that it’s Memorial Day weekend gives us a moment to pause. People made the ultimate sacrifice. They did it for something that you mentioned in your — in your monologue there. And that word is “freedom.” And I’m writing an article right now. I was looking back at the very first speech in the modern day Memorial Day, which was Rep. James Garfield before he was president, 1868 Arlington, to Joe Biden’s. I looked at all different presidential speeches and the one word that came up in all those speeches: “freedom.” And that’s what people — that’s what makes us Americans. And Donald Trump is going after everything, freedom of speech, in ways we’ve never seen. I mean, a judge just ruled on Friday protecting the law firms, saying you’re going after dissent, going after universities. I had professor Steven Levitsky on my show, co-author of How Democracies Die, saying every autocrat goes after universities because they are independent centers of dissent. People think he’s going after media outlets. He’s going after Democrats. They’re arresting judges. The mayor of Newark, they dropped the charges. They had no case. Then a Democratic member of Congress, they opened up investigations into ActBlue because it’s a platform to help Democrats raise money. Now, an investigation into Media Matters, Angelo Carusone’s, the FTC is beginning an investigation. This is a reenvisioning of what America is about. And I think you summed it up so well. This really is a push and pull between two competing visions of America. One that we believe in is freedom. The United States of America with due process, and their vision, which is an autocracy, and that really — what we’re dealing with, or easier than that, a dictatorship. They want Trump as the dictator of the United States, and we all have to bow down to him. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “There’s no holiday weekend break on MSNBC from the anti-Trump hostility, not even for a solemn occasion which Obeidallah used as a hook to launch his rant against Trump as anti-freedom of speech. Quite ironic given the support by so many on MSNBC for canceling and silencing conservative voices who dared question woke edicts.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ May 19, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Katie Couric calls news objectivity ‘old fashioned’ (Washington Examiner post) She was once the queen of TV news, and as the co-host of NBC’s Today show and anchor of CBS Evening News, Katie Couric struggled with basic news objectivity. And now we know why: She doesn’t believe there is such a thing. “I think there’s no such thing as true objectivity,” she said on her “Next Question” podcast last week. What’s more, the 68-year-old newswoman apparently thinks it’s just something old people “75 and up” mutter about while watching evening news. That, and her slam on conservatives for calling out bias in liberal media “fact-checking,” make Couric our Liberal Media Scream of the Week. Couric, to her guests, the three brothers who created the liberal MeidasTouch podcast, on Thursday’s edition of her “Next Question with Katie Couric” podcast posted to YouTube: “I’m curious, because I’ve struggled with this as someone who you grew up watching, I’m sure, and started in very traditional mainstream media. Now, pointing out the facts and what is really happening is automatically interpreted as being biased, right?“ “And, and of course, I think there’s no such thing as true objectivity, but having said that, you know, I really struggle with that. And many people say, ‘Listen, the rules have changed.’ It’s OK to say you support trans people. It’s OK that you say I am 100% for reproductive rights, you know, all these things that honestly, personally, I hold dear, but professionally, I’ve never really, I’ve been trained to not share that.“ “So I’m curious if you think sort of old-fashioned, semi-objective — knowing that pure objectivity is impossible — that kind of journalism still has a place in the culture, or is it simply, you know, the 75 and up people who are watching the network evening newscasts?” Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Couric demonstrated why legacy media figures have refused to address their obvious and overwhelming hostility to conservatives for decades and President Trump in recent years: They are condescending elitists who presume their liberal view of the world reflect ‘the facts’ and so, anyone who questions that presentation of ‘the facts,’ are knowingly making a baseless charge of bias and thus can be dismissed as ignorant cranks.” Rating: THREE out of FIVE screams.   ■ May 12, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: ABC prays Pope Leo XIV will ‘counter’ Trump (Washington Examiner post) Reporters have rarely been fans of faith in politics, and often decry the Republican Party’s cozy relationship with religious Americans, such as evangelical Christians. But give them a pope willing to criticize President Donald Trump, well, that’s a different story. Now that Pope Leo XIV has replaced Trump critic Pope Francis, there is an eagerness to find out if the Chicago native will also challenge Trump on key matters, including immigration. ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz, our pick for the Liberal Media Scream of the week, led that prayer group last week. Raddatz used her hosting duties in Rome for This Week as a platform to ask her guests how Leo will challenge the president. “Will he be a counterbalance for what’s happening in American politics right now in President Trump?” she asked the archbishop of Chicago. Later, she told Father James Martin, an ABC News papal contributor, that “Pope Francis indirectly rebuked President Trump’s policies, especially on immigration” and Leo, “before he was pope, he retweeted some things about immigration and saying, you know, retweeting that he supported the Dreamers, things like that. Do you think that will be an incredibly strong message for him?” Raddatz also asked ABC News reporter Terry Moran, “Do you think he will serve, in some ways, as a counter to President Trump [on immigration policies]?” Moran took the bait, saying Leo “will be a voice for the teachings of Jesus, which in many ways, many Catholics believe are not consistent with some of the president’s policies.” From ABC’s This Week on Sunday: MARTHA RADDATZ, TO CARDINAL BLASE CUPICH, ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO: Pope Francis cared so much about the poor and migrants. Pope Leo does as well. In some ways, will he be a counterbalance for what’s happening in American politics right now in President Trump? ….. RADDATZ, TO FATHER JAMES MARTIN: Pope Francis indirectly rebuked President Trump’s policies, especially on immigration. And Pope Leo, before he was pope, he retweeted some things about immigration and saying, you know, retweeting that he supported the Dreamers, things like that. Do you think that will be an incredibly strong message for him? I mean, he has been, he does have the “odor of sheep,” as you say? …..RADDATZ: And Terry [Moran] and Liz [Nagy], do you think he will serve, in some ways, as a counter to President Trump on those policies? TERRY MORAN: Reluctantly, right? They are the two most famous Americans in the world right now. And arguably, Pope Leo might be even more famous than President Trump, and whether the pope wants it or not, because I think he wants to preach the Gospel and do the good work of the church. They have different approaches naturally in some ways, and I think that is going to come out. He will be a voice for the teachings of Jesus, which, in many ways, many Catholics believe are not consistent with some of the president’s policies. That will happen. I don’t think he’s going to go look for a fight, but it will happen. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Raddatz couldn’t resist injecting her American politics into papal coverage, trying to transform the new pope into a force for resistance to President Trump. She was so obsessed with her agenda that she prodded three guests, at different points in the show, to endorse her premise, finally getting some guarded agreement from the third, a fellow ABC News journalist.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE screams.   ■ May 5, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: ‘Pompous’ media on public TV’s dole rip Trump cuts (Washington Examiner post) There is nothing more self-serving than media figures on public TV’s payroll ripping President Donald Trump’s call to end taxpayer funding of National Public Radio and television’s Public Broadcasting System. But that is exactly what happened over the weekend, making it our Liberal Media Scream of the week. First there was NPR President Katherine Maher telling Face the Nation that it’s Trump’s fault if coverage comes off too liberal. “NPR people report straight down the line,” she said. “We’ve been making requests of the Trump administration to have their officials on air. We would like to see more people accept those invitations. It’s hard for us to be able to say we can speak for everyone when folks won’t join us.” Documentary filmmaker and PBS producer Ken Burns got his punches in while appearing Friday on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360. “I think PBS is part of the pursuit of happiness machine,” he said, adding, “This is who we are. It puts the ‘us’ in the U.S.” And leave it to PBS News Hour regular Jonathan Capehart to prove true Trump’s complaints about bias on the network when he said, “There is only one profession that is protected in the Constitution, and it is the free press. It is the press.” Jonathan Capehart on Friday’s PBS News Hour: I think what the president is doing, it is a fundamental attack on our Constitution, on the foundation of this country. People need to understand and remember, there is only one profession that is protected in the Constitution, and it is the free press. It is the press. And why? Because the founders understood that the survival of a democracy depends on an informed citizenry. And the citizenry can only be informed by a press that can report and do — report on affairs of the republic free and unfettered. And whether they are, come from the left or from the right, the government should not interfere with that reporting. And so, when you have a president of the United States who is making it his mission to attack the free press, we should all be concerned, whether we are at PBS or whether we are at MSNBC, because he’s focused on us too. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Could Capehart be any more pompous? He and others, who claim PBS and NPR are neutral news providers serving a grandiose noble purpose the nation cannot survive without, are dissembling. Anyone who watches or listens to PBS and/or NPR knows their far-left skew and that Capehart etc. are just upset Trump has dared to try to take away their taxpayer subsidies.” Rating: FIVE out of five screams.   ■ April 28: No Liberal Media Scream this week   ■ April 21, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Chris Matthews returns more unhinged than ever (Washington Examiner post) As if we need more Trump-hating media, an old favorite of the Liberal Media Scream team has returned to the Trump derangement syndrome stage to add his voice to those challenging President Donald Trump. After about five years on the sidelines, former Hardball host Chris Matthews is reviving his show on Substack. He proved that he’s lost a step or two in his debut Monday and during a promotion on Jim Acosta’s Substack last Friday. Weeks after others tried to portray Trump as America’s homegrown Adolf Hitler, Matthews rolled out the tired analogy again, this time suggesting that the president will round up his critics and ship them to death camps. “I got a nasty one for you,” he told Acosta. “What did Hitler do in the Holocaust? He took people from Germany to other countries where there was no German law. There was not even a pretense of German law. They took them to Poland or Hungary or wherever, and they killed them.” Then, on his channel on Monday, Matthews opened with another Hitler reference. He said, “I want to ask you about something I said last week: that the fact that Trump is willing to say American citizens should be allowed to be sent overseas for punishment does something that rhymes very much with what happened in the Holocaust. That Germany was able to take people in France, Jewish people, and deport them to the east, and even the word deport was similar. So why would Trump personally say I’m going to take regular American citizens and deport them? It sounds like he wants to be seen as an autocrat.” From Jim Acosta’s video show Friday for Substack: JIM ACOSTA: One thing that every taxi driver will talk about these days is Donald Trump. And I have to ask you some newsy questions before we spend the entire time together reminiscing. CHRIS MATTHEWS: I got a nasty one for you. ACOSTA: Okay, well, good, I’m just wondering, I mean—” MATTHEWS: What did Hitler do? What did Hitler do in the Holocaust? He took people from Germany to other countries. ACOSTA: Yeah. MATTHEWS: Where there was no German law. There was not even a pretense of German law. They took them to Poland or Hungary or wherever, and they killed them. ACOSTA: And so when you see what’s happening right now with this Salvadoran gulag, I mean, this CECOT gulag, he’s basically taking a page out of that playbook, you think? MATTHEWS: Well, it gets them out of the country. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Just when you thought it was safe to go to Substack, they give shows to Jim Acosta and Chris Matthews. As if there weren’t enough Trump-hating journalists with a platform. In this case, Matthews has taken TDS to a whole new level. There are rational arguments one could cite for disagreeing with sending illegal alien criminals to a foreign prison, but to equate that policy with a mass-murdering dictator who implemented genocide against a whole religion is inane.” Rating: FIVE out of five screams.   ■ April 14, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Media eat their own and rip Bill Maher for dining with Trump (Washington Examiner post) It’s hard to believe that our weekly Liberal Media Scream has been documenting the Washington press corps’ Trump Derangement Syndrome for about nine years and that we can find some new hypocrisy every single Monday to highlight. But thanks to the eagle eye of our partner Brent Baker, the vice president of the Media Research Center, we have one of the first examples of the liberal media trying to keep wandering members of the tribe in line. It happened Friday night after HBO talk show host and political comic Bill Maher described his recent dinner in the White House with President Donald Trump. Maher said it was a successful effort to break bread instead of just hurling insults at each other. But some in the media weren’t happy that the two met. Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, on Maher’s show, accused his host of falling into Trump’s “trap.” He scolded, “For him, this was a PR stunt, and in his view, you were a prop in that PR stunt.” From Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO: JOSH ROGIN, WASHINGTON POST: Counterpoint? You know, Bill, I think you’re right in saying that people make too much of this. OK, it’s not the Yalta Summit, you’re not Churchill, Kid Rock is not Stalin, Trump, sure as s***, isn’t FDR, OK? So yes, I believe too much has been made about this, but I think you’ve fallen into the trap. I think I represent 99% of the internet when I say this, is that you have played the game of proximity is principle, and what people are worried about — it’s not your motivation, we believe you, we love you, everybody loves Bill, right? So, I’m not questioning your motivation, I’m questioning Trump’s, OK? And if we can say that you went there in good faith, but maybe, just maybe he wasn’t there in good faith. I mean, you sold him on the Iran deal, and he took it in — I mean, give me a break, OK? So, the idea here is that your motivation is sound, but what’s the impact? And I think a lot of people out there, fans of yours, people who love you, people who are fans of you, like me, been fans of yours my whole life. BILL MAHER: You don’t have to patronize me, dude — ROGIN: OK. Fair enough. MAHER: I don’t know you, I never met you, not everybody has to like it. ROGIN: I’m just saying that this comes from a place of love. All I’m saying — MAHER: That’s what we said, there are people who didn’t want it to happen at all, you sound like one of them. It’s OK. ROGIN: No, no. MAHER: Did you hear what I said? ROGIN: Yeah. MAHER: What is the alternative to not talking? Just sitting at your lunch table and don’t talk to anybody? ROGIN: I’ve talked to him, I’ve interviewed Trump. Piers has interviewed Trump. MAHER: This was not an interview. This was not an interview. ROGIN: I agree with the principle of engagement. I’m just saying from his perspective, you have to understand, that people who out there know, all Americans know, that for him, this was a PR stunt, and in his view, you were a prop in that PR stunt. MAHER: The fact that you began your little rant with the internet — that tells me everything. You take your cues from the internet. Good luck! The internet is a cesspool that just wants to fight. ROGIN: I support what you’re trying to do. I’m just saying the expectation that Donald Trump is going to be changed by something — MAHER: I said in the piece I did not think that was going to happen. I love the people on either side who ignore the parts they don’t like. I just did it. It wasn’t like it was three weeks ago. Watch it again, maybe you’ll find something new in it. ROGIN: It’s not a judgment, but it’s a little bit of a judgment. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Josh Rogin displayed the reflexive attitude common in the Washington press corps that anyone who does anything which might ‘normalize’ President Donald Trump must be discredited. Bill Maher did a great job, however, of discrediting Rogin’s weak arguments.” Rating: FOUR out of five screams.   ■ April 7, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: CNN cheers X-rated comic dumped by press corps (Washington Examiner post) This week’s Liberal Media Scream puts the spotlight on CNN and its hosting of a left-wing comic so biased and X-rated that she was dumped from performing at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. CNN’s new show, Have I Got News For You, put the spotlight on one of its “captains,” Amber Ruffin, who reiterated the hatred of President Donald Trump that got her kicked out of the dinner. After her firing came up on the show, Ruffin added to her reasons why she hates the president and his team, claiming that they are “disappearing people to a prison in El Salvador.” She said, “I lost the gig because I was out here talking s***.” From Saturday’s airing of Have I Got News For You on CNN: HOST ROY WOOD JR: Amber offended the White House, as well as members of the White House Correspondents Association. Amber, following the tradition of Craig from Friday, was fired on her day off as she was uninvited from the White House Correspondents dinner when she said that she intended to make fun of the current administration. Amber, do you think you lost the gig because you said too early what you were going to do about going in on Republicans? AMBER RUFFIN: I mean, oh, my god, I could f***ing talk for the next three hours. But what I choose to say is it’s like I lost the gig because I was out here talking s***, and I think it’s a good thing that I lost the gig because I was going to show up there and act all the way out. Also, like, also, it’s not anyone’s fault because when I was hired, we were like, oh yeah, and we’ll give it to everybody. And I was like, beh. Then they started f***ing disappearing people to a prison in El Salvador. They rolled back f***ing civil rights. So I was like, if I make this equal, then I’m also a piece of s***. I can’t f***ing do that. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Ruffin demonstrated why she is totally inappropriate to provide comedic commentary about the political scene. She’s filled with vitriol and hate toward the man who the nation chose as its president. But she found her audience on CNN where she was cheered and applauded for her crude invective. A sad commentary on the state of CNN.” Rating: FIVE out of five screams   ■ March 31, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Trump has made Bob Woodward deranged (Washington Examiner post) President Donald Trump has done it. In just two short months, he has not only turned the liberal Washington Post into a TDS cesspool but made its most celebrated reporter nearly certifiable. How else can we explain Bob Woodward’s latest unhinged rant against Trump in which he claims that the billionaire businessman has a goal of ruining the economy? “Well, his end goal is it looks like he wants to destroy the economy,” said the 82-year-old reporter and author on a Washington Post podcast. For that, he wins this week’s Liberal Media Scream with five out of five screams. From the Post Reports podcast interview, recorded at Woodward’s home by Washington Post “national politics/democracy reporter” Colby Itkowitz, which was posted Friday night on YouTube: BOB WOODWARD: All these executive orders. I mean, he is, stood his ground and said this is what I’m going to do. I am shrinking. He and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, his sidekick, are cutting the government, and look at what we are seeing. I mean, in some cases it’s done, as people have said with the chain saw, and we know from our personal lives or businesses that when you have to cut, that’s a really tricky undertaking, and you need to very carefully spell out what you’re gonna do and do it very slowly and be very certain that the impact is that they’re not secondary events that you trigger with — and look at what’s going on now. I think it’s one of the most dangerous times this country has ever faced. COLBY ITKOWITZ: What do you think Trump’s end goal is in all of this in the sledge-hammering the government tariff, putting tariffs on our allies like Canada, like what is the, what is his big end goal as president? WOODWARD: Well, his end goal is it looks like he wants to destroy the economy and that is a very dangerous undertaking. I mean, he states the motive is very positive, but look at what people are going through — having very negative impact. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “It’s one thing to contend that President Trump’s tariff policies are misguided and will harm the economy, but to charge that ‘he wants to destroy the economy’ is an attitude which reflects a particularly nefarious view of Trump. Does Woodward really think Trump is so awful that he has set out to intentionally ‘destroy’ the economy? That’s what he said and it fits with his very far-left perspective that reducing the size of government makes this ‘one of the most dangerous times this country has ever faced.’” Rating: FIVE out of five screams.   ■ March 24, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: All TDS on PBS as centrist calls Trump an ‘extortionist’ (Washington Examiner post) This week’s Liberal Media Scream provides the latest fodder for conservatives calling for an end to taxpayer support of public TV because of its anti-Right bias and disdain for President Donald Trump. In focus is the nightly PBS News Hour program that regularly features guests critical of Trump. For our example, it wasn’t the liberal on the show rapping Trump but the resident centrist, New York Times columnist David Brooks, who called the president an “extortionist” and “bully” for using his powers to get countries, companies, and people to do what he wants. “People call Trump a transactional politician, but he’s an extortionist. That’s actually a difference. There’s — a transaction is, we do a deal. Extortion is, I bully you until you give me what I want,” said Brooks. At issue was an earlier move by the White House to withdraw the security clearance of the Paul Weiss legal firm, which is close to Democrats. The firm agreed to do $40 million worth of pro bono work for causes favored by the White House to win back the clearance. From Friday’s PBS News Hour: HOST AMNA NAWAZ: We saw President Trump going after institutions, including Big Law, right, including universities, as you mentioned, where many of these guys went to school. And this week, we saw two big institutions take steps to comply with the demands of the Trump administration. We saw Paul Weiss agree to a settlement, essentially, that says they’re going to provide $40 million in pro bono legal services. Columbia University agreed to a list of demands so they don’t lose hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. Jonathan, what does this moment, these steps from these institutions say to you? JONATHAN CAPEHART: It says to me that our democracy is teetering. And I’ll focus on Perkins — I’m sorry — on Paul Weiss and the legal sphere. We have seen a complete capitulation by the legislative branch, the Republican majority, to what the president wants to do in the executive. And all our hopes for the maintenance of our democracy now rests with the judiciary. And in the olden days, before Trump, you would rely on these white shoe law firms like Paul Weiss to provide pro bono help to folks who are suing for redress, who want the courts to step in when Congress or the president goes overboard. When a Paul Weiss decides to pull back, when other big law firms like that decide to pull back, what does that mean in terms of the judiciary’s ability to stop a president like Trump? And that’s what’s so concerning to me about this piece of the capitulation. NAWAZ: David? DAVID BROOKS: Yeah, people call Trump a transactional politician, but he’s an extortionist. That’s actually a difference. A transaction is, we do a deal. Extortion is, I bully you until you give me what I want. And so that’s what we’re seeing here. Now, I put myself in the shoes of, say, the president of Columbia, the head of Paul Weiss. And I think, well, if I compromise with Trump, I’m hurting my institution. But if I lose $400 million, I’m also hurting my institution. These are real choices that people have to make. And I understand that. In the case of Columbia [University], I personally think the Trump requests or demands, whatever it is, are kind of reasonable, and Columbia should have done all this stuff five or 10 years ago. They really did get ideologically out of control. And if they’re publicly funded, partially publicly funded, then you’ve got a problem. And they created this problem. So I understand why. I got to save my university. I got to save $400 million. On the other hand, caving into an extortionist rarely pays off because he will say, ‘Oh, I take that. Here’s my next demand, here’s my next demand.’ And if you look at the history of Zelensky, Macron, people — all the people who’ve tried to cozy up to the extortionists, they all end up losing in the end. And so I think it’s time for the universities as a body — and we saw this with the Princeton president — to say no more deals. We are standing up because there will be a time — and, again, I don’t think this is quite the time to sort of beat down the Trump administration. There will be a time where everybody has to hold together and stand up and say, no, no more deals. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “A perfect reflection of how ‘diversity’ on PBS is all about gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and race, not political ideology. PBS’s panel of Capehart and Brooks, touted as offering perspective from the left and right, does not (Brooks agrees with the liberal Capehart 61% of the time per a Media Research Center analysis). Indeed, they regularly find commonality to denouncing President Trump. So much for PBS viewers hearing much of anything that challenges their liberal world view and disgust for all things Trump.” Rating: FOUR out of five screams   ■ March 17, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: NBC urges harsher Trump hate by Democrats (Washington Examiner post) This week’s Liberal Media Scream features a Sunday NBC panel mocking Democrats for failing to be harsher and faster in blasting President Donald Trump and his relationship with Tesla founder Elon Musk. On Meet the Press, there was a collective scream at the liberal party for dropping the ball in attacking Trump, which the panel clearly felt was in order when the president displayed Teslas at the White House. “Shocking,” they agreed, that Democrats didn’t work up a quick ad blasting Team Trump for essentially doing what former President Joe Biden did when he featured American-made vehicles on the South Lawn during a White House event. “Another missed opportunity,” said MSNBC senior Washington correspondent Eugene Daniels, who is president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. From Sunday’s Meet the Press on NBC: HOST KRISTEN WELKER: One of the striking moments of this week was the moment where President Trump basically had a car show at the White House. Teslas on display with Elon Musk. It comes as, of course, Tesla’s sales have been dropping. Elon Musk’s approval ratings, much lower than President Trump’s, by the way. The optics of this, Anna, is it complicated for the White House? ANNA PALMER, Punchbowl News: Well, it’s amazing that they’re doubling down on Elon Musk, because, to Cornell’s point, this is the opening for Democrats. They’re already starting to run ads featuring Elon Musk as the boogeyman. This gives them the B-roll and the visuals that you need to say that the White House is, you know, kind of mixing business with the work of the government. ….. POLLSTER CORNELL BELCHER: And the idea that what Biden did at the White House is similar to Trump basically being a salesman and hawking the Teslas on the front lawn of the White House is completely different. The ad writes itself. MSNBC’s EUGENE DANIELS: But Democrats aren’t doing it. Immediately, the next day, there should’ve been just, that ad, just showing it over and over again. WELKER: You’re saying another missed opportunity for Democrats. Shocking! DANIELS: Another missed opportunity to get on the same — BELCHER, DANIELS: Shocking that the Democrats are bad on messaging! DANIELS: But I mean, you know, like, when you talk to them behind the scenes, they explain the Elon of it all in a much better way than they do when they go on television. They don’t talk about him as an oligarch behind the scenes, right? They talk about him as someone who is, in their eyes, doing this, doing DOGE because he wants to help his businesses at the end of the day, right? They talk about that conflict of interest. That’s something that the American people actually understand, but they, again, continue to miss an opportunity to actually do that. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “So much for pretending there’s any separation between the Washington press corps and Democratic Party interests. Can you imagine journalists ever advising Republicans or Trump supporters on how to more effectively undermine a Democrat? Of course not.” Rating: Four out of five screams.   ■ March 10, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Sunny Hostin tells Democrats fight or ‘people will die’ (Washington Examiner post) This week’s Liberal Media Scream features the return of one of America’s lefty pundits suffering most from Trump Derangement Syndrome, The View’s Sunny Hostin. Reacting to Rep. Al Green’s (D-TX) censure by Congress for his outbursts during President Donald Trump’s joint session address Tuesday, the hostile Hostin said the Democrats in the chamber should have joined him in rudely protesting Trump and stormed out in support. While virtually every other Democrat in the media is calling for a more level-headed approach to Trump, she went in the other direction, claiming without a shred of evidence that Trump’s policies will kill people. As a result, we give her outburst a rare five-scream trophy. The View on Friday: JOY BEHAR: Ten Democrats voted to censure Green. SUNNY HOSTIN: Do you want a list of the 10? BEHAR: Do you want to hear their names? HOSTIN: Yes, I do. BEHAR: Why go after them too? Go after the Republicans. HOSTIN: Because they don’t know how to fight and be part of an opposition party. Representative Green gave them the example. The Democrats are not meeting the moment. It is very clear that Medicaid is on the table. It is very clear that Social Security is on the table. It is very clear that people will die. The baby boomers, the civil rights generation, they knew what they had to do! They were willing to fight and die for their rights. This generation of Congress, they are not meeting the moment. This is an existential crisis! BEHAR: And also, I might point out some of them are from the most liberal states like New York, Hawaii, California. HOSTIN: They should be ashamed of themselves! They should have all walked out with him! Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “ABC News should be embarrassed by the daily left-wing drivel on The View. Even many Democrats were ashamed by Green’s antics, which went far beyond what any Republican has ever done during a presidential speech to Congress. So much for contending it’s Trump who has lessened decorum. Hostin is advocating more coarseness in politics. And ABC News is sanctioning it.” Rating: FIVE out of five screams.   ■ March 3, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: PBS twists Trump press pool diversity as ‘sinister’ (Washington Examiner post) Here’s another reason for all the PBS and NPR critics to call for federal tax dollar defunding. Instead of cheering the expansion of media allowed into the White House press pool, PBS declared it a “sinister” move to censor the press. This week’s Liberal Media Scream features the outlet’s twisted view of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s decision to take charge of choosing who is in the daily pool that covers White House events for the rest of the press when there isn’t enough room for all, such as the near-daily back-and-forths President Donald Trump hosts in the Oval Office. She made the decision because she believed that the White House Correspondents’ Association was being too selective by favoring legacy media and barring new-age social media and conservative outlets. The old guard protested, though, in its first week of operation, the new pool remained heavy with legacy media. One exception was the Associated Press, which Trump’s team omitted because the news service won’t recognize the president’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, as the government has. In our example, PBS NewsHour co-anchor Amna Nawaz called the White House move an attack on the press, prompting contributor and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart to chirp that “we are in more sinister territory” with Trump and the media. Of course neither talked up former President Joe Biden’s move to take away the press passes of over 400 mainly conservative outlets or former President Barack Obama’s seizing of phone records from AP or others in his dragnet for leakers. From Friday’s PBS News Hour: AMNA NAWAZ: His continued attacks on the press, blocking the AP’s access from some White House coverage as well. You saw him take control of the White House, take control of the press pool that covers the president full time, makes sure everyone else knows what’s happening with the president. Peter Baker, of course, longtime Russia correspondent, said it reminded him of the Kremlin press pool takeover. And I just want to get your takes on where that sort of attack on the press stands and whether we’re in much more sinister territory now. JONATHAN CAPEHART: I do think we are in more sinister territory because you’ve got to look at what’s happening with AP, in light of his lawsuits against CBS, against ABC, threats, threatening the licenses of other broadcast entities. This is all part of a pattern of roughing up anyone he views as not either insufficiently loyal or people who have wronged him. And he looks at the press as an entity that has wronged him. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Imagine that. President Trump sees ‘the press as an entity that has wronged him.’ And he’s fighting back, which really upsets the legacy media despite the fact that nothing he has done has blocked the public from full access. It’s hardly ‘sinister’ just because the White House is allowing a more ideological diverse group of outlets to get access instead of just a few privileged and entitled journalists.” Rating: Three out of five screams.   ■ February 24, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Mike Johnson cuts off CBS bedwetting (Washington Examiner post) It took over two years for the Nixon-era Watergate scandal to bring on the constitutional crisis that led a president to resign. But hearing CBS describe President Donald Trump’s first month of moves the network doesn’t like shows this generation’s Watergate has already arrived. Even more than the Hollywood whining of Jane Fonda and others at Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, Jane Pauley’s CBS News Sunday Morning jumped head first into decrying Trump’s moves promised during a year on the campaign trail to drain the swamp as a constitutional crisis. “More than a half-century ago,” said CBS’s Robert Costa, “as the Watergate saga unfolded, President Richard Nixon had a standoff with the Justice Department and the courts” that the media declared a “constitutional crisis.” Now, he added, “that term, constitutional crisis, is back.” But amid the name-calling and historical hyperventilating in the show’s main story, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) offered a sense of calm and perspective. “I have been asked so many times, aren’t you uncomfortable with this? No. I’m not,” he said, making the CBS report our Liberal Media Scream of the week. From CBS News Sunday Morning: JANE PAULEY: With judges across the country pushing back against some of the Trump administration’s flurry of executive orders, there are those who ask: What would happen if the White House defies the courts and simply moves ahead with its plans? We’ve asked our Robert Costa to make some inquiries. ROGER MUDD, CBS ANCHOR, NOV. 4, 1973: Despite his powers as chief executive, his future is really in the hands of the other two branches of government: the courts and the Congress. ROBERT COSTA: More than a half-century ago, as the Watergate saga unfolded, President Richard Nixon had a standoff with the Justice Department and the courts. DAN RATHER, CBS ANCHOR, OCT. 20, 1973: In breathtaking succession tonight, the following historic events occurred. The president of the United States demanded that the attorney general fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. The attorney general refused and resigned. COSTA: The tensions brought a certain phrase to the fore of the American conversation. JOHN CHANCELLOR, NBC ANCHOR, OCT. 20, 1973: The country in the midst of what may be the most serious constitutional crisis in its history. COSTA: Now that term, ‘constitutional crisis,’ is back. JULIAN CASTRO, former House Democrat from Texas: We’re headed toward a constitutional crisis. U.S. SENATOR ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): We’re fast barreling toward a constitutional crisis. COSTA: Many Democrats are sounding the alarm about President Donald Trump’s use of executive power. U.S. REP. SEAN CASTEN (D-ILL): The actions that Musk and his IT goons have taken, they’re illegal. COSTA: And some fear that Trump, who has shattered norms and who worked relentlessly to try to overturn the 2020 election, cannot be counted on to follow the courts. SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I have been asked so many times, aren’t you uncomfortable with this? No. I’m not. COSTA: Most Republicans are shrugging off talk of a crisis. In fact, many are cheering as Trump overhauls the Justice Department and FBI, works with Elon Musk to fire thousands of federal employees and signs piles of executive orders. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “You know it’s a media-fueled effort to create a scandal when the journalist in question regurgitates Watergate. It’s what Costa and the Washington press corps see as their halcyon days of glory. And if the supposed scandal matches a current liberal Democratic talking point, so much the better, despite the lack of any real substance to the fearmongering.” Rating: Four out of five screams.   ■ February 17, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Scott Pelley, now TV’s top Trump hater (Washington Examiner post) He has a lot of competition in the media, but few have as big a stage as 60 Minutes elder Scott Pelley. As he continues to step up his attacks on President Donald Trump and the new administration, Pelley is elbowing aside all others to emerge as Trump’s loudest TV critic. Never a fan of Trump, Pelley has taken his 60 Minutes perch at CBS to offer critical monologues of the president. People took notice even before Trump returned to the White House when Pelley ripped Trump’s Cabinet picks, saying, “Some nominees appear to have no compelling qualifications other than loyalty to Trump.” However, other than gnawing down his reading glasses, Pelley had no impact. All of Trump’s picks to get a Senate floor vote won. Then, on Sunday’s show, he opened with another hit on Trump, saying the president was in “defiance of the Constitution” with his agenda. Again, there was no impact since a day later, a federal judge expressed skepticism about any harm the president’s Department of Government Efficiency threatened. Each week, Secrets teams with the Media Research Center to choose the loudest liberal media scream, and Pelley won again this week. What’s more, Media Research Center Vice President Brent Baker gave Pelley’s rant a score of five out of five screams. That is a rare top score, but one we expect to see more of as the liberal media turns up the heat on Trump as it loses its influence on him and his White House. From the lead story on Sunday’s 60 Minutes: SCOTT PELLEY: It’s too soon to tell how serious President Trump is in defiance of the Constitution. In his first 28 days, he signed an order to nullify birthright citizenship for some — a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. And he has closed agencies and frozen spending that Congress mandated by law. Lower courts are holding up many of the president’s priorities, but nothing has risen to the Supreme Court, where these battles over presidential power could rewrite history. Presidents often push limits — FDR’s New Deal, for example — and voters in this last election wanted change. But the scope and speed of Trump’s reach for power may be unprecedented. One example is a 63-year-old agency created by Congress, codified in law and eviscerated by Trump in a matter of days. KRISTINA DRYE: People are really scared. I think that you know, 12 days ago, people knew where their next paycheck was coming from. They knew how they were going to pay for their kids’ daycare, their medical bills. And then, all gone overnight. PELLEY: “All gone, overnight,” for Kristina Drye and Adam Dubard — fired this month in the chaotic shutdown of foreign aid distributed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID. More than 8,000 USAID employees were sent home by the administration. ADAM DUBARD: They’re not looking for competency. They’re not looking for — if you’re good at your job. They’re looking for pure loyalty tests, and if you don’t give it, you will be punished… … PELLEY: The world’s richest man had cut off assistance to the world’s poorest families. Musk spent nearly $250 million to get Trump and other Republicans elected. He collects billions in taxpayer dollars for his SpaceX rockets. ANDREW NATSIOS, FORMER USAID ADMINISTRATOR: I think we’re creating a system that violates the separation of powers and the checks and balances that are intended in the Constitution. PELLEY: Republican Andrew Natsios, former head of USAID, spoke to us in Washington, in part because he is not hearing public appeals to reason from fellow Republicans. PELLEY TO NATSIOS: How do you view this moment in history? NATSIOS: I don’t want to be too pessimistic. But it does appear we may be headed towards some sort of a constitutional crisis. I don’t, I hope that doesn’t happen. I pray it doesn’t happen. But it’s certainly concerning to me what’s going on in this city right now. PELLEY: Is the constitutional order breaking down? NATSIOS: We’ll see if they refuse to enforce a court order by the Supreme Court. If it gets to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court rules against the administration on something and they refuse to enforce it, then we will have a constitutional crisis. PELLEY: What happens then? NATSIOS: Well, I don’t know. PELLEY: No one knows. NATSIOS: No one knows. Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow, explained our pick: “Another hit to whatever remnants are left of 60 Minutes as some sort of dispassionate news magazine which offers a fair and balanced look at complicated issues. Pelley not only matched the Trump Derangement Syndrome of the left, he doubled down on it, presuming the absolute worst motives behind President Trump while taking cheap ideological shots at Elon Musk. This is Exhibit A in why federal spending has never been cut since the end of World War II: The media go to war to discredit anyone who takes on the spending behemoth.” Rating: Five out of five screams.   ■ February 10, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: PBS airs extreme TDS, ‘starvation,’ ‘death’ (Washington Examiner post) This week’s Liberal Media Scream features a PBS freak panel of left-wing journalists spewing the most extreme anti-Trump analysis of the cost-cutting by the White House and efficiency agency headed by Elon Musk. While discussing the fate of USAID, which President Donald Trump’s team closed and shifted spending authority to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a reporter for National Public Radio warned to others nodding yes that the impact will be “poverty and increased starvation.” Then an Atlantic reporter, formerly with the Washington Post, said on the tax-subsidized PBS show Washington Week with The Atlantic that cutting by Trump and Musk of the federal world aid slush fund would lead to “cruelty and death.” The language used by the reporters are just two examples of the type of Trump Derangement Syndrome attacks on Musk and the president’s efforts to root out waste and fraud in government programs. From the February 7 edition of Washington Week with The Atlantic on PBS: ASTHMA KHALID, NPR: There’s something I think very strange at this moment of seeing the world’s richest man really sort of take a hatchet that will essentially take people who are already in the depths of poverty and, you know, increase starvation rates, or increase hunger rates, which is likely what will happen if USAID is entirely cut off.”… ANNE APPLEBAUM, THE ATLANTIC: It’s a test case for can agencies just be abolished without Congress having any say, but it’s also a test case of cruelty. You know, are Americans willing to accept a high level of cruelty and death just, you know, on the president’s whim, on Elon Musk’s whim. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Your taxpayer dollars at work: A journalist for taxpayer-funded National Public Radio and another journalist – both on taxpayer-funded PBS – relay the talking points, in their most extreme form, of the government employee union trying to discredit any reduction in federal spending. Instead of a rational assessment of efforts to trim spending, the two prove they are in the tank for the deep state, presuming starvation and death will result. And they wonder why so many don’t see them as serious sources of facts.” Rating: Five out of five screams.   ■ February 3, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Call on MSNBC for weekly Trump impeachment votes (Washington Examiner post) Have you heard this one? Democrats want to impeach President Donald Trump. This week’s Liberal Media Scream features a SiriusXM host demanding on left-leaning MSNBC that Democrats vote to impeach Trump weekly. “I hope some of them will start introducing impeachment articles every week,” said Tell Me Everything host John Fugelsang on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour last Friday. “Donald Trump was eligible for impeachment one minute into his inaugural address,” he said. “I think Democrats should start having a different guy come out every week and introduce new articles of impeachment, just to inspire people and show them that we’re doing something and let the record show for history we are fighting against this,” he added. In his first term, Trump was impeached twice, and Democrats thought that would end his political career. Of course, it only strengthened Trump, who won office again against somebody who voted for impeachment twice, former Vice President Kamala Harris. From Friday’s The 11th Hour With Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC, picking up as Fugelsang reacted to news CBS may make a financial settlement with Trump to end his lawsuit over misleading editing of its 60 Minutes interview with Harris, which followed an earlier financial settlement from Facebook over that platform removing him in 2021: John Fugelsang: They’re bribes. I mean, these are bribes. You know, Donald Trump was eligible for impeachment one minute into his inaugural address for violating the emoluments clause. CBS has got a big merger coming up. This is a bribe. … The Democrats are going to do what they did last time. They’re going to lick their wounds, slowly assemble, let Trump do some work for them, and they’re going to be talking a lot about education and healthcare. I hope some of them will start introducing impeachment articles every week. When the GOP was trying to repeal Obamacare 70 times, we laughed at them. But what they were doing in their impoverished state was consolidating the base, fundraising, and getting their messaging across. It worked for them. I think Democrats should start having a different guy come out every week and introduce new articles of impeachment, just to inspire people and show them that we’re doing something and let the record show for history we are fighting against this.” Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “So much for even pretending to allow President Trump to have a chance to give voters what they voted for in electing him. MSNBC thinks it’s a legitimate and credible position to contend Trump had earned impeachment less than an hour past noon on Inauguration Day — well before he had signed a single executive order. So much for reflection and serious analysis from the press corps. But it is what Democrats and so many journalists like to do given this would be the third attempt to impeach him. Will they go zero-for-three?” Rating: Five out of five screams.   ■ January 27, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: Vance schools CBS and bishops on illegal immigration (Washington Examiner post) America is learning pretty quickly that Vice President JD Vance is no pushover easily cornered on tough issues. In our latest Liberal Media Scream, we feature Vance’s retort to Catholic bishops and CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan over complaints that the Trump administration is being mean in its effort to deport criminal illegal migrants. Appearing on Face the Nation, Brennan sounded hurt that the administration would enter schools to find their targets. She cited complaints from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which funds efforts to settle illegal immigrants in America, as do other religious groups. Vance had clearly heard it all before and was quick to point out that protecting America and Americans, including migrants here legally, is President Donald Trump’s No. 1 job. Brennan worried that the administration’s policy has “a chilling effect, arguably, to people to not send their kids to school.” Vance reversed her spin to make his point: “I desperately hope it has a chilling effect on illegal immigrants coming into our country.” And when she cited concerns from the bishops, Vance said, “As a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement. I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns, or are they actually worried about their bottom line?” Clearly, it is going to be a tough four years for liberals in the media, such as Brennan, since Team Trump is ready and willing to parry the left media’s slant on major issues. From Sunday’s Face the Nation on CBS: MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you about another area that you campaigned on quite a lot, and there was a flurry of activity on. And that has to do with immigration. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week condemned some of the executive orders signed by President Trump, specifically those allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enter churches and to enter schools. Do you personally support the idea of conducting a raid or enforcement action in a church service, at a school? VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: Well, let me address this. Of course, if you have a person who is convicted of a violent crime, whether they’re an illegal immigrant or a non-illegal immigrant, you have to go and get that person to protect the public safety. That’s not unique to immigration. But let me just address this particular issue, Margaret, because, as a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement. And I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns, or are they actually worried about their bottom line? We’re going to enforce immigration law. We’re going to protect the American people. Donald Trump promised to do that. And I believe the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, if they’re worried about the humanitarian costs of immigration enforcement, let them talk about the children who have been sex-trafficked because of the wide-open border of Joe Biden. BRENNAN: So, you personally support them going into schools and churches? VANCE: Let them talk about people like Laken Riley, who were brutally murdered. I support us doing law enforcement against violent criminals, whether they’re illegal immigrants or anybody else, in a way that keeps us safe. Let me ask this question, Margaret. Separate the immigration issue. If you had a violent murderer in a school, of course, I want law enforcement — BRENNAN: Of course. VANCE: — to go and get that person out. BRENNAN: Of course. VANCE: So, then what’s the point of the question? BRENNAN: You changed the regulation this week. That’s the point of the question: giving the authority to go into churches and go into schools. VANCE: Exactly. We empowered law enforcement to enforce the law everywhere to protect Americans. BRENNAN: But that also has a knock-on effect, a chilling effect, arguably, to people to not send their kids to school. VANCE: I desperately hope it has a chilling effect — BRENNAN: In the churches … VANCE: — on illegal immigrants coming into our country. BRENNAN: You think the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are actively hiding criminals from law enforcement? VANCE: I think the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has, frankly, not been a good partner in commonsense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for. And I hope, again, as a devout Catholic, that they’ll do better. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Brennan went into the interview thinking she had the moral high ground and facts on her side, presuming it would be easy to show how badly misguided are so many Trump policies. But she ran into JD Vance, who delivered a master class in how to take on and undermine the premises of the Washington press corps.” Rating: Four out of five screams.   ■ January 19, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: CBS sucks up to Biden to the end: ‘Did deliver’ (Washington Examiner post) Our final Biden-era Liberal Media Scream finds CBS News kissing up to President Joe Biden to the end, brushing aside all the polls and its own reporting to declare he was effective. “In many ways,” CBS chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes said, “he did deliver.” The media have resisted reporting on Biden’s mental and physical failings over his four unpopular years in office. And even on his last weekend in office, outlets such as CBS went out of their way to prop up a president who polls as one of America’s worst. From CBS News Sunday Morning: NANCY CORDES: In many ways, he did deliver. His administration oversaw the successful rollout of the COVID vaccines. The stock market steadily rose to record highs, while unemployment fell to a near-record low. Overseas, he expanded NATO, strengthened alliances in Asia with the goal of containing China, and cobbled together lasting support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The duty of a president is to defend what is best about America. CORDES: He did so while racking up major legislative victories, including massive new investments in clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing. BIDEN: I believe, to my core, there isn’t a single thing this country cannot do when we put our mind to it. CORDES: And he scored a win that eluded his predecessors: signing a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Going down with the ship, CBS and Cordes are still trying to convince people that despite the rejection of his presidency and his policies by the voters, Joe Biden really was a great president who delivered laudable accomplishments. The media and Biden do share at least one thing in common: In the eyes of much of the public, they are both losers.” Rating: Four out of five screams.   ■ January 13, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: PBS delights that Trump will forever be a ‘convicted felon’ (Washington Examiner post) This week’s Liberal Media Scream is already anticipating the coming media hate that will greet President-elect Donald Trump when he enters office for a second time a week from today. No surprise, but biased liberal PBS “analyst” Jonathan Capehart isn’t just readying his anti-Trump talk for Inauguration Day. He is already looking to pour on the hate in every Trump story. On Friday’s PBS NewsHour, Capehart, who also hosts a poorly-rated MSNBC show, took delight in predicting that after being sentenced last week in a much-mocked legal case, Trump will forever be known as a “convicted felon,” and he wants every reporter to mention that in their stories about Trump. Cheered the talker, “What’s also great punishment is the sentencing today, where the judge said, you’re going to be president, you’re not going to go to jail, but you’re a convicted felon. And so for the rest of his life, any story written about him will have to mention the fact that he’s a convicted felon — if not on the first reference, definitely by the second reference.” From Friday’s PBS NewsHour: GEOFF BENNETT: But after, you know, being convicted of 34 felonies, there are people who look at this case, and they say that Donald Trump walks away with a punishment that is less than what one would receive for a speeding ticket. JONATHAN CAPEHART: Look, this case, this hush money case, was the case that everybody said was the crappy case of the four. Remember, Donald Trump was indicted four times, and this one was the least important, the shakiest. And yet it’s the one case where Donald Trump was held accountable, the one case where he was brought to trial before a jury of his peers in his hometown of New York City and was found guilty 34 times. I think that is great punishment. What’s also great punishment is the sentencing today, where the judge said, you’re going to be president, you’re not going to go to jail, but you’re a convicted felon. And so, for the rest of his life, any story written about him will have to mention the fact that he’s a convicted felon — if not on the first reference, definitely by the second reference. And that is fitting, that is right, that is just. Do I wish the other three cases had gone to trial and that he had faced accountability on those? Yes, but this will do. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explained our pick: “Talk about petty immaturity. Capehart’s reaction to the judge’s sentence on Trump bared how much of the press corps’ hostility to Trump was always fueled by personal animosity as much as by disgust with conservative policies. So a smug Capehart gets joy from a court giving him the okay to apply a derogatory label to the incoming president.” Rating: FOUR out of FIVE Screams.   ■ January 6, 2025: Liberal Media Scream: MSNBC the sole #Joementia denier (Washington Examiner post) This week’s Liberal Media Scream features MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend as the media’s last denier that President Joe Biden has lost it. What’s crazier than the obvious is that she claims that it is incoming President-elect Donald Trump who suffers brain fog. Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Sanders-Townsend’s defense of the president who dropped out of his reelection campaign after his brain locked during a debate with Trump came just hours before his bizarre cursing rant about immigrants following a White House ceremony. “The question on the table is, ‘Is the president all they way there?’ And the answer is unequivocally yes,” Sanders-Townsend said on the show. The MSNBC host, in fact, charged it is Trump whose mental capacities should be questioned. Biden “can at least put a sentence together,” but “the president-elect is the one I am concerned about.” From Sunday’s Meet the Press: SYMONE SANDERS TOWNSEND: Well, I was very surprised that when you asked the question about mental acuity he didn’t more forcefully push back. The question on the table is, “Is the president all the way there?” And the answer is unequivocally yes. Now, people can say that you feel as though President Biden might be a little too old to do the job, but he is doing the job. And his mental acuity is there. So, I think that there’s a conflation of two things here: his mental capacity and serving another four years as old as he is. But those are two separate things in my opinion. And, look, these people that have known Joe Biden their entire political lives, I know Joe Biden is like, “Can you all just please defend me a little more?” MARC SHORT: I think it hurt Democrats. It hurt Democrats in November to try to tell the American people something they could see with their own eyes wasn’t true. SANDERS-TOWNSEND: But it’s not true that the president doesn’t have the mental acuity. SHORT: Of course it is, Symone. The American people saw that for themselves in the debate— SANDERS-TOWNSEND: What are you saying? He can at least put a sentence together. The president-elect is the one I am concerned about because I recently talked to the president. Brent Baker, the Steven P.J. Wood senior fellow and vice president for research and publications at the Media Research Center, explains our pick: “Sanders is a last holdout, a true foolish believer. Virtually all of her colleagues, even those who pretended for years that Biden was fine, started to acknowledge, as soon as Biden was no longer the Democratic candidate for reelection, that he’s not all there. But not Sanders. She’s still in the tank and embarrassing herself, especially when suggesting it’s Trump who has the mental shortcomings.” Rating: FIVE out of FIVE Screams.   > Liberal Media Screams for 2023 and 2024 > Liberal Media Screams for 2021 and 2022 > For all of 2020. > For all of 2019. > For all of 2018. > For July through December 2017. > For January through June 2017. > For July through December 2016. > For January through June 2016. > For July to December 2015.   October 6th, 2025 5:48 PM Brent Baker 288260 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2025/10/06/atlantic-mag-dominated-pbs-roundtable-shutdown-shows-cruelty-point The Atlantic’s take-over of PBS’s weekly journalist roundtable has formed a closed circle of liberal grievance. After Washington Week with The Atlantic moderator Jeffrey Goldberg cracked jokes about Rep. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) comment about Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought wanting to shut down the government “since puberty." He said "I remember when I was undergoing puberty, I wanted to slash the workforce at Medicare and Medicaid myself, personally." Goldberg turned to his Atlantic colleague Ashley Parker and asked “Who is Russ Vought? What does he want?”   Ashley Parker, The Atlantic: I mean, he wants, as I mentioned in at the beginning, sort of the deconstruction of the administrative state of the federal bureaucracy. Jeffrey Goldberg: What are the ideological roots of this? Parker: He's -- I mean, he's incredibly conservative. He worked in Trump's first administration. So, there are some people, including Stephen Miller, but there are not actually a ton of people who worked in the first Trump administration and then came back for a second tour of duty, but Russ Vought is one of them. And he came back, like the president himself, sort of stronger, bolder, more empowered, more creative with his interpretations of laws and what's acceptable than ever. And he used his -- Goldberg: Russ Vought, faster and furiouser. Parker: Yes. And he used those years out of power to basically create this document that you mentioned called Project 2025, that -- it's a dense, dense policy document. That is sort of his wheelhouse, his actual policy. And it tell sort of all the ways you can, first of all, just utterly minimize the government, tear away at it, tear it down and use it to push through deeply conservative priorities. And I also, based on my reporting, agree with Senator Lee, that this is squarely in his erogenous zone. You can understand why defunded PBS would be griping about tearing down government. Then Parker lapsed into sentimental liberalism. And that when he said what he wants to do, I mean, to use a phrase that was popularized by one of our colleagues at The Atlantic, cruelty is the point. Now, that was in reference to Donald Trump. But Russ Vought also, he said, I want to terrorize the federal bureaucrats. So, some of these choices, the fork in the road email of should you choose to basically resign or risk losing your job, I mean, the way these things were structured were deeply humiliating and devastating and financially devastating to hundreds of thousands of people, and that was an intentional choice by people like Russ Vought. Is it "devastating" to federal employees if they're off the job for seven or eight days? If it is, aren't the Democrats at least half-responsible?  Parker’s “cruelty is the point” quote comes from a wacky 2018 take by left-wing Atlantic writer Adam Serwer, who compared first-term Trump and his supporters who criticized now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser Christine Blasey Ford to the “white men in lynching photos” from the early 20th century.  October 6th, 2025 5:21 PM Clay Waters 292294 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/geoffrey-dickens/2025/10/06/poll-results-worst-media-take-week-winner We’ve got a new interactive series called Worst Media Take of the Week, where you — our loyal NewsBusters visitors and MRC supporters — get to vote on which leftist journalist or celebrity had the worst media take of the week.   Much appreciation to all who voted last week via NewsBusters and the MRC’s various social media sites (Facebook, Instagram and X.com).   The results of the Worst Media Take of the Week are in and the winner is… Joy Behar! The ABC’s The View co-host won with 52 percent of the vote. Behar took first place for fearfully declaring she was “skeptical” that America can “survive” Trump. ABC’s Good Morning America co-host and This Week moderator George Stephanopoulos came in second place with 30 percent. Actress/activist Jane Fonda finished in third place with 18 percent.  The following is a montage of all the nominees:      WINNER (52 percent of the vote)   Joy Behar: I’m “Skeptical” That America Will “Survive” Trump  “If you guys think that we can survive another three-and-a-half years of this, I think you’re delusional….Every day, this guy is undoing something in this country that we value. Every day! It’s every day is a shock and awe here. And I, for one, am skeptical that we will survive this.”— Co-host Joy Behar on ABC’s The View, September 30.   SECOND PLACE (30 percent of the vote)   George Stephanopoulos: “Trump’s Retribution Campaign” Reached A “New and Ominous Level” “President Trump’s retribution campaign reached a new and ominous level late yesterday. The first criminal indictment of a man Trump considers a political enemy. Since the Watergate scandal, more than 50 years ago, presidents have refrained from interfering directly in criminal prosecutions by the Justice Department. The facts surrounding the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey showed that those norms have been shattered.”— Co-host George Stephanopoulos opening ABC’s Good Morning America, September 26.   THIRD PLACE (18 percent of the vote)   Jane Fonda: Trump Is “Amassing Power In A Way That Will Destroy Our Democracy” “No president has ever sent troops into the Democratic cities across the country, saying ‘full force.’ No president, as far as I know, has tried to control the Federal Reserve, the central bank. He is amassing power in a way that will destroy our democracy.”— Actress/activist Jane Fonda on CNN’s Inside Politics with Dana Bash, October 1.   Thanks again to all who participated!    Funded by James P. Jimirro October 6th, 2025 5:12 PM Geoffrey Dickens 292306 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/06/portland-da-drops-charges-against-conservative-journalist Disorderly conduct charges have been dropped against a conservative journalist who was arrested for defending himself from an attack by members of an Antifa mob in Portland, Oregon Thursday. “VICTORY: Following our demand for discovery related to the @PortlandPolice ’s coordination with Antifa, the Multnomah County DA has announced they will DECLINE to prosecute me,” Journalist Nick Sortor declared on social media Monday. “After a careful review of the investigation, including reports and video, we do not believe the crime of Disorderly Conduct can be proven against Mr. Sortor beyond a reasonable doubt,” Sortor quoted from a statement by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office he embedded in his post. “And trust me, this is ONLY the beginning,” Sortor promised, possibly alluding to plans to file a lawsuit or investigate whether or not the police had engaged in any “coordination with Antifa.” 🚨 BREAKING — VICTORY: Following our demand for discovery related to the @PortlandPolice’s coordination with Antifa, the Multnomah County DA has announced they will DECLINE to prosecute me “After a careful review of the investigation, including reports and video, we do not… pic.twitter.com/gtR52XExnN — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 6, 2025 As Fox News has reported, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Sortor was "taken into custody by the Portland police after he was ambushed by Antifa and was defending himself from these assaults."  "But instead of arresting these violent mob members, night after night after night, who are ravaging this community, the police arrested a journalist who was there trying to document the chaos," she added.  Sortor told Fox News that he was surprised when the police arrested him when he went over to them hoping they’d protect him from the mob. While charges against Sortor were dropped, two members of the Antifa mob have been charged with disorderly conduct. October 6th, 2025 4:57 PM Craig Bannister 292305 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2025/10/06/chris-hayes-alex-wagner-fret-unbiased-cbs-will-become-state-tv On Friday's All In show, MSNBC's Chris Hayes and Alex Wagner freaked out over news that independent journalist Bari Weiss will be named as editor in chief of CBS News and worried that it would become like state TV under her leadership. Wagner, invoking her time working for CBS News, denied CBS's history of personal bias affecting their reporting, claiming that the outfit separates opinion and journalism like church and state. Hayes set up the segment: We know what it looks like when a country's leader takes over the free and independent press. It's something we've covered here repeatedly -- authoritarian governments either seizing control of news outlets or managing to kind of take them over through ostensibly legal means while consolidating power. And we know what to look for. This week, we've learned about a change in leadership at one of our country's biggest news outlets -- one of its most storied and famous -- that's raising a lot of eyebrows. Hayes recalled that Weiss would be appointed to the position, and then added: Now, I've got to say, Bari Weiss is not the first or second or even 50th person you would consider for a role like editor of CBS News. This is someone who has never even worked in news. She's worked almost exclusively in what you might consider opinion journalism. And don't get me wrong, that's fine -- there's nothing wrong with it. I'm an opinion journalist -- I've made my whole career in it. I like opinion journalism. But you wouldn't hire me to run a news division. After linking the choice to the FCC allowing Paramount and Skydance to merge, the MSNBC host intoned: And announcing Bari Weiss as the new editor in chief of CBS suggests one possibility we face here is that the news division's direction could start to resemble what we have seen concretely in other places -- countries like Hungary or Turkey where you have these tentpole legacy media properties that are purchased by regime allies who then turn them into regime media. He then brought aboard Wagner -- who went from MSNBC to CBS and eventually back to MSNBC -- and brought up an interview Wagner did in Hungary about the state exerting influence over the media. Wagner -- who was so biased in her first stint at MSNBC that she once, while interviewing Chelsea Clinton, bizarrely asked her to adopt her and put her in a bag -- claimed that CBS was never biased when she was there and called the recent changes a "partisan takeover." After being asked by Hayes if Weiss's selection was "weird," Wagner responded: ...it's not weird -- it makes total sense when you're thinking about it in the context of a total takeover -- a partisan takeover of a legacy institution like CBS News. As someone who worked there coming from MSNBC, I can tell you there is no experience that I can recall that was as much of a sort of -- there is such a church and state between opinion and news at a place like CBS, and it prides itself on being a place where, you know, the filter is strong and tight against opinion and personal views. It's like she never watched Steve Kroft lob softballs at Barack Obama, all their "Syrupy Minutes." After complaining about several recent moves by CBS, and complaining that Weiss has "a very clear agenda," she concluded: "...it is a stunning chain of events, Chris, as someone who worked there and saw the degree to which they held their nonpartisanship and their sort of -- their news history, the home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite -- like that is the CBS brand. It's shocking to see." Transcript follows: MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes October 3, 2025 8:52 p.m. Eastern CHRIS HAYES: We know what it looks like when a country's leader takes over the free and independent press. It's something we've covered here repeatedly -- authoritarian governments either seizing control of news outlets or managing to kind of take them over through ostensibly legal means while consolidating power. And we know what to look for. This week, we've learned about a change in leadership at one of our country's biggest news outlets -- one of its most storied and famous -- that's raising a lot of eyebrows. The Washington Post now reports the newly merged media giant Paramount/Skydance -- which was allowed to merge from the FCC -- is expected to announce Monday it will pay $150 million in cash and stock for the online publication, The Free Press, and name its founder, Bari Weiss, to CBS News's top editorial job, according to a person familiar with the matter. Now, I've got to say, Bari Weiss is not the first or second or even 50th person you would consider for a role like editor of CBS News. This is someone who has never even worked in news. She's worked almost exclusively in what you might consider opinion journalism. And don't get me wrong, that's fine -- there's nothing wrong with it. I'm an opinion journalist -- I've made my whole career in it. I like opinion journalism. But you wouldn't hire me to run a news division. The news of her new position comes after we learned that the entire Paramount/Skydance deal was closely overseen by FCC chair Brendan Carr. FCC had to approve the merger and with a very obvious set of concessions and agreements made to allow it. And so David Ellison -- who's son of Oracle co-founder and big Trump supporter Larry Ellison -- is going to run Skydance now that parent company CBS put Bari Weiss in front of the news there -- as Larry Ellison himself prepares to take a huge stake in TikTok which the government is overseeing a sale of. And announcing Bari Weiss as the new editor in chief of CBS suggests one possibility we face here is that the news division's direction could start to resemble what we have seen concretely in other places -- countries like Hungary or Turkey where you have these tentpole legacy media properties that are purchased by regime allies who then turn them into regime media. Alex Wagner is an MSNBC senior political analyst who worked at CBS and Paramount for nearly six years. Earlier this year, she covered protests in Hungary, and she talked to media professionals there about how the regime overtook broadcasters to replace news with propaganda, and she joins me now. Alex, you're the first person I talk to because of your reporting in Hungary. Before we get to that, I want to play a clip, like, did you have the same reaction I have? Which is -- and this is no shade at Bari Weiss at all in terms of what her particular talents or abilities might be -- but when I saw that, I just thought to myself, like, this is a very weird hire for a place that's just been taken over with these very specific set of concessions made to a, you know, Brendan Carr -- the same guy who tried to run Jimmy Kimmel off air -- this individual who doesn't really have news experience to run one of the most storied news organizations in the country. ALEX WAGNER: Yeah, I mean, it's not weird -- it makes total sense when you're thinking about it in the context of a total takeover -- a partisan takeover of a legacy institution like CBS News. As someone who worked there coming from MSNBC, I can tell you there is no experience that I can recall that was as much of a sort of -- there is such a church and state between opinion and news at a place like CBS, and it prides itself on being a place where, you know, the filter is strong and tight against opinion and personal views. And that's, I think, the reason people work at CBS. It doesn't have the biggest budgets, but it has the reputation, and this -- the events of the last year -- the capitulation of CBS -- the shameful decision on the part of Shari Redstone to take money over principle and uphold journalistic ethics by doing a deal with effectively the Trump organization -- the Trump organization -- the Trump White House and Brendan Carr to get a multimillion-dollar merger approved; the firing of Stephen Colbert; the hiring of an ombudsman who's a Trump lackey to mind the store, if you will, on behalf of Trump and his agenda; and now the appointment of someone who has a very clear agenda, no experience, and is clearly aligned with the values of the new CBS. I mean, it's just -- it is a stunning chain of events, Chris, as someone who worked there and saw the degree to which they held there nonpartisanship and their sort of -- their news history, the home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite -- like that is the CBS brand. It's shocking to see. October 6th, 2025 4:27 PM Brad Wilmouth 292299 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2025/10/06/david-vs-goliath-cbs-blames-ice-attempts-kill-agents Amid several attempts across the nation by left-wing extremists to kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, CBS News Sunday Morning appeared to blame the actions of ICE for the attacks. CBS alluded to ICE being the source of the violence, twisted the story of a young illegal immigrant, and talked for a former ICE attorney all to allude to a false fact that ICE deserved the attempts to kill their agents. The reporter behind the segment even suggested it was a “David versus Goliath” fight. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, is now effectively the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in the nation. Some have cheered its growth. Others are wondering, when does more become too much?” chided host Jane Pauley as she introduced the segment which was delivered by correspondent Lee Cowan. Though not explicitly calling it such, Cowan’s report essentially consisted of listing out the purported transgressions that caused ICE agents to deserve the attempts on their lives, even blaming them for the violence brought against them, and accusing them of racism: COWAN: Thirteen members of his congregation were arrested that day. The Trump Administration no longer considers schools, and hospitals and churches "protected sensitive locations" anymore. So, the following Sunday, Father Jamie told the faithful to stay away. (…) COWAN: In Los Angeles, that fear turned to anger, and anger into violence [shows law enforcement shooting off tear gas]. The raids were challenged in court for being indiscriminate and based on skin color, but ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the raids could continue. Since then, in city after city, the administration has been testing the court`s limits, especially in Chicago. GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): ICE is running around the Loop harassing people for not being white. Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States. Now, ICE is making it commonplace. COWAN: Late Saturday, the Trump administration federalized 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, a move Pritzker insists is unnecessary. (…) COWAN: In fact, this past week, while addressing top military brass, he suggested American cities could serve as "training grounds" for U.S. combat troops.     Cowan attempted to pull at peoples’ heart strings by speaking to a woman who claimed her “son”/”partner” was supposedly unjustly arrested by ICE despite entering the country illegally via the Biden border app. Only later in the story did Cowan note that the illegal immigrant in question had his asylum claimed denied (Click “expand”): COWAN: Last May, Contreras did what he was required to do. He showed up for his court hearing in New York. So, on that day, you assumed this was just going to be another routine hearing in the process? RAIZA CONTRERAS (via translator): Yes, I didn`t think anything bad would happen. He wanted to enter legally; he didn`t want to get in trouble. He did it the right way. COWAN: As they left the courtroom, however, his mother, Raiza, says federal agents followed them into the elevator. CONTRERAS: Like, five people or something came at me and grabbed me, pushed me to the floor. My son screamed, and they grabbed him, too, and put handcuffs on him. COWAN: Just to be clear, Dylan didn`t have any criminal record at all. CONTRERAS: Not at all, not at all. Those who know him, know. COWAN: His case for asylum was denied last month. Pending an appeal, Contreras will be deported, leaving his mother and his two young siblings behind. How are you doing? CONTRERAS: Devastated, devastated, because I`ve always been with my children, and he`s been my partner. He`s always been more than a son, a friend, everything. COWAN: The most recent ICE data, though, shows that those with no criminal record, like Contreras, now make up the bulk of those being arrested and detained. Amid his listing of ICE’s recent actions worth of contempt, Cowan highlighted the attacks as seemingly the natural response. “But as those operations increased, so have assaults on federal agents. A sniper attack on an ICE facility in Dallas; an ambush in Alvarado, Texas; a violent scuffle in San Francisco,” he added. As evidence that ICE knew they were bad guys in this story, Cowan spoke with a former lawyer for the agency, Adam Boyd. “[S]ome within ICE itself wondering if they`re doing the right thing,” Cowan declared. “We`re lumping people with no criminal history who have been here for a very long time with the ‘worst of the worst,’” whined Boyd. “This doesn`t feel like protecting the homeland anymore. It feels like we`re just hitting numbers and goals.” Cowan touted that Boyd was “now working for a firm in Philadelphia defending those arrested by ICE, and that`s no small task.” Lamenting that, “After passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE is now the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in the federal government.” As he was concluding his report by talking with a pastor who had a lot of illegal immigrants in his congregation, Cowan remarked: “Does it feel a little like David versus Goliath, though?” To which the pastor noted “Yeah, but, you know, David won that one.” David killed Goliath with a shot to the head. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: CBS News Sunday Morning October 5, 2025 9:18:08 a.m. Eastern JANE PAULEY: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, is now effectively the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in the nation. Some have cheered its growth. Others are wondering, when does more become too much? Lee Cowan is on the front lines. [Cuts to video] FATHER JAIME EDWARDS ACTON: Buenos dias a todos. Buenos dias. Good morning to everybody. LEE COWAN: It`s 11:00 A.M. on a Sunday in the heart of Hollywood, and the service at St. Stephen`s Episcopal Church is just getting underway. EDWARDS ACTON: En el nombre de Dios, el Padre, el Hijo y el Espiritu Santo, amen. COWAN: It was worship via the web. The church itself was empty, just like during the pandemic, when parishioners feared catching COVID. Today it was empty because they fear being caught themselves. MAN #1: It`s definitely gotten a lot more tense out here. LEE COWAN: On June 6th, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement descended on Ambiance Apparel, a clothing wholesaler in L.A.`s Fashion District. MAN #2: What crime did they make? What crime did they commit? Nothing. COWAN: The pastor of St. Stephen`s, Father Jaime Edwards Acton, whose congregation is about 80 percent Hispanic, got a frantic call. EDWARDS ACTON: She said, "They got them." At first, I had no idea what she was talking about because I was not thinking about it, right? Even with all the threats and the, you know, bravado and stuff, I was not thinking that it would happen directly to us. LEE COWAN: Thirteen members of his congregation were arrested that day. The Trump Administration no longer considers schools, and hospitals and churches "protected sensitive locations" anymore. So, the following Sunday, Father Jamie told the faithful to stay away. I imagine just making that decision to close the church is not one that you made lightly. EDWARDS ACTON: No, not at all, but I was trying to balance, could we do church in person knowing that a good portion of our community was too afraid to leave their homes? It wasn`t even people that were undocumented. I have longtime parishioners that I know for sure are citizens and have been for a while and that were afraid to leave. They were afraid to leave their homes. CROWD: No justice, no peace -- COWAN: In Los Angeles, that fear turned to anger, and anger into violence [shows law enforcement shooting off tear gas]. The raids were challenged in court for being indiscriminate and based on skin color, but ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the raids could continue. Since then, in city after city, the administration has been testing the court`s limits, especially in Chicago. GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): ICE is running around the Loop harassing people for not being white. Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States. Now, ICE is making it commonplace. COWAN: Late Saturday, the Trump administration federalized 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, a move Pritzker insists is unnecessary. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has long defended the ICE raids as only going after the "worst of the worst." SECY. KRISTI NOEM (DHS): Nobody is getting swept up. We`re running targeted enforcement operations across the country. COWAN: But as those operations increased, so have assaults on federal agents. MAN #3: A gunman opened fire on an ICE facility. COWAN: A sniper attack on an ICE facility in Dallas; an ambush in Alvarado, Texas; a violent scuffle in San Francisco. And then there is Portland. PROTESTOR 1: Who’s streets? CROWD: Our streets? COWAN: Protests around the ICE headquarters there have sparked particular ire from President Donald Trump. KAROLINE LEAVITT (White House Press Secretary): The President has directed Secretary Hegseth to provide all necessary troops to protect war-ravaged Portland and any ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa and other left-wing domestic terrorists. COWAN: In fact, this past week, while addressing top military brass, he suggested American cities could serve as "training grounds" for U.S. combat troops. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP (President of the United States): It seems that the ones that are run by the radical left Democrats, what they`ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they`re very unsafe places. And we`re going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. COWAN: Between the President`s desires and deployments, however, often the courts. Late Saturday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the National Guard from going to Portland. It`s those kinds of decisions that leave some within ICE itself wondering if they`re doing the right thing. What was it that made you so uncomfortable, in general? ADAM BOYD: I saw this push to find how can we accomplish the goal with anything that seems legal enough. We`re lumping people with no criminal history who have been here for a very long time with the "worst of the worst." COWAN: As part of ICE`s legal department, attorney Adam Boyd provided guidance related to just how ICE officers perform their enforcement duties. BOYD: There`s no question we have threats in our country. That`s why the State Department and Homeland Security and the FBI and all these agencies work together to keep people safe. This doesn`t feel like protecting the homeland anymore. It feels like we`re just hitting numbers and goals. COWAN: Take the case of 20-year-old Dylan Contreras, who came into the U.S. from Venezuela under a Biden-era mobile app. Back in April, though, DHS began revoking the legal status of many of those who used that app to apply for asylum. While his case was pending, Contreras had been attending high school in the Bronx learning English, and working as a delivery driver, in order to get his mom and his two younger siblings -- Helen, 10 and Caleb, 7 -- out of a shelter. Last May, Contreras did what he was required to do. He showed up for his court hearing in New York. So, on that day, you assumed this was just going to be another routine hearing in the process? RAIZA CONTRERAS (via translator): Yes, I didn`t think anything bad would happen. He wanted to enter legally; he didn`t want to get in trouble. He did it the right way. COWAN: As they left the courtroom, however, his mother, Raiza, says federal agents followed them into the elevator. CONTRERAS: Like, five people or something came at me and grabbed me, pushed me to the floor. My son screamed, and they grabbed him, too, and put handcuffs on him. COWAN: Just to be clear, Dylan didn`t have any criminal record at all. CONTRERAS: Not at all, not at all. Those who know him, know. COWAN: His case for asylum was denied last month. Pending an appeal, Contreras will be deported, leaving his mother and his two young siblings behind. How are you doing? CONTRERAS: Devastated, devastated, because I`ve always been with my children, and he`s been my partner. He`s always been more than a son, a friend, everything. COWAN: The most recent ICE data, though, shows that those with no criminal record, like Contreras, now make up the bulk of those being arrested and detained. The Department of Homeland Security, however, is quick to list the violent offenders who have been captured, and there are many. As for Adam Boyd? Well, back in May he resigned his position at ICE citing "unforeseen circumstances." How hard was it to quit? BOYD: It was a difficult decision. If you think something is wrong, then you have to recognize that. COWAN: He`s now working for a firm in Philadelphia defending those arrested by ICE, and that`s no small task. After passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill," ICE is now the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in the federal government. EDWARDS ACTON: I would tell everybody who thinks that this would never happen to them, that it could happen to them. And people need to be ready for it, and to think through the possible, you know, kind of responses to it. COWAN: For Fr. Jaimie Edwards Acton, that response is no more hiding. For any immigrant, legal or otherwise, this is the new reality. So, for those who are willing to come back, the church is open again, with eyes out for ICE, while they pray for peace and understanding. Does it feel a little like David versus Goliath, though? EDWARDS ACTON: Yeah, but, you know, David won that one. October 6th, 2025 3:26 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 292303 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/06/another-financial-industry-climate-collusion-cohort Another domino fell Friday in the collapse of collusion by financial institutions seeking to impose net-zero ideology on the American marketplace, as the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) closed its doors. “Net-zero,” which envisions achieving zero-sum emissions of so-called “greenhouse” gases, particularly carbon dioxide, is one element of the radical-left’s ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) ideology. Financial institutions belonging to groups such as NZBA agree to discriminate against, or in favor of, companies based on whether or not they adhere to net-zero mandates.  “On paper, the NZBA, which was convened by the UN Environment Programme finance initiative but led by banks, encouraged members to slash the carbon footprint of their investments and help drive the transition to net zero emissions by 2050,” The Guardian noted Friday. Over the past two years, such collusive efforts have come under scrutiny for being potential anti-trust violations. The effort to use financial power to coerce compliance with the leftists’ climate ideology has been rapidly faltering, ESG Today explained Friday: “The NZBA formed part of a broader coalition of climate-focused financial sector alliances, which have largely faced similar political pressure over the past several months. Other coalitions included the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM), Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA), and the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), among others. “After several high-profile departures from each group, the NZIA was discontinued in 2024, while NZAM announced earlier this year that it will suspend its primary activities, as it moves to adapt to a changing political and regulatory environment. The UN-backed Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), which had acted as an umbrella group for the coalitions, also launched a significant restructuring this year, shifting its focus towards initiatives enabling the mass mobilization of capital to support the low carbon transition.” While the Net-Zero Banking Alliance has ended operations, it will continue to provide access to information and guidance (“framework”) on how to use financial influence to achieve its climate agenda. Both the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and the Net Zero Asset Managers were United Nations-aligned net-zero industry organizations. Without the “influence” of financial institutions, all hope would be lost of imposing the liberal climate agenda on America, ShareAction Co-Director of Corporate Engagement Jeanne Martin told Reuters: “Martin said senior bankers needed to use their influence to push up standards for accountability on climate if there was to be any chance of making the clean energy transition happen.” October 6th, 2025 2:38 PM Craig Bannister 292302 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2025/10/06/15-years-later-washpost-editorial-board-says-obamacare-was Hold on to your britches because you’re not going to believe this one. The Washington Post Editorial Board just admitted that the so-called "Affordable Care Act," one the most notorious pieces of Obama-era legislation foisted upon consumers by legislators and the liberal media as the saving grace of American health care, turned out to be an expensive mess. The Post tried to play both sides of the fence in the ongoing government shutdown stand off with Republicans and Democrats, the latter of which demanded “Republicans agree to extend the Covid-era insurance subsidies without proposing any way to pay for it.” Then The Post ran one of the biggest plot twists ever to hit American politics in the last 15 years: “The real problem is that the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare] was never actually affordable.” Nope, your eyes didn’t deceive you. The architects of former President Barack Obama’s 2010 “signature achievement,” wrote The Post, “assumed that risk pools would be bigger than they turned out to be. As a result, policies cost more than expected.” Gee, that’s an awfully different tone than the liberal rag was striking in 2024 when the editorial board celebrated how “Obamacare is working brilliantly — for now.” That’s despite the fact that premiums for individual market plans doubled in costs and “the per enrollee cost of Medicaid expansion is nearly 60 percent greater than what experts projected,” as the Paragon Health Institute summarized in an October 2024 study. It’s as if the newspaper detected that the proverbial statute of limitations had run out and the risk of consumers viciously  prosecuting them in the public square for lying to them over the years was minimal. Over 11 years ago, the editorial board sang the praises of Obamacare’s so-called “free-market economics.” The newspaper then deflected criticism of Obama’s infamous phony pledge that “if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor:”  Now, critics say, those people can't keep their doctors, either. Another broken promise? More proof the ACA is a disaster? Not quite: As with all of those canceled policies, this ‘outrage’ isn’t good evidence that the law is flawed, no matter what the president may have promised. Another 2013 news item from The Post celebrated how “Obamacare is winning.”  In 2014, once the major ACA provisions were put into place, The Post editorial board was gleefully keeping track of the disastrous law’s illusory “W’s.”  “OBAMACARE'S CRITICS have had a bad week. On Thursday, President Obama announced that 8 million people have enrolled in new health insurance plans,” wrote The Post. “[T]he initial figures are encouraging, and Mr. Obama is right to insist that continued Republican demands for repeal are unproductive and unwise.” In 2017, Post Tokyo Bureau Chief Michelle Ye Hee Lee channeled her inner Glenn Kessler and played pro-Obamacare fact-checker against President Donald Trump: “Decoding the White House spin on Obamacare ‘failures.’” But now, the years of nonstop pro-Obamacare gaslighting and narrative-twisting that got spewed out of The Post’s printers seems to have been undone by, er, The Post itself: This is how entitlement programs work. Once you habituate people to some generous government handout, they grow dependent on it. And it becomes politically perilous, if not impossible, to fully claw it back. That is how the Democrat Party works. Install entitlement, blame Republicans when anyone tries to limit it in any way. October 6th, 2025 2:22 PM Joseph Vazquez 292298 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2025/10/06/whoopi-tells-people-wear-latinoface-super-bowl-confuse-ice ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg apparently didn’t learn a lesson from her former lover Ted Danson’s controversy of wearing blackface as a white man (which she defended). During Monday’s edition of The View, Goldberg instructed people to attend the Super Bowl in 2026 while wearing Latinoface in an effort to confuse the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that would be at the event as part of the usual Homeland Security deployment. Racism was a key aspect to the conversation as co-host Joy Behar accused DHS Secretary Kristi Noem of being a racist because she was sending ICE to the Super Bowl where Latino singer Bad Bunny was performing: She's threatening to go to the Super Bowl when Bad Bunny is there and round up all these people that are illegal immigrants. Do you think that she would go if it was Garth brooks or Eminem or Taylor Swift or any other white person?! This caused Goldberg to wonder, “How is she going to know who’s who?” as if Secretary Noem would be the one making the arrests. With Behar again pushing the lie that the Supreme Court legalized racial profiling, Goldberg solution was for attendees to dress up in Latinoface: BEHAR: Because the Supreme Court has given permission to question anyone who has a Spanish accent, who has a dark skin. That's why! GOLDBERG: Here is the thing, everybody, get a little cocoa butter, sit in the sun, that's the first thing. And then -- and this is the only time you can probably ever do this, give yourself a Latin accent. BEHAR: You know, Whoopi, that is such a good idea! GOLDBERG: And just see -- and see if she can tell who’s who!     Behar would go on to praise Goldberg’s racist idea as “very smart” and suggested it had historical context to support it, of course, it meant comparing the Trump administration to a Nazi occupation. “During the Nazi occupation there was one country, I believe it was Denmark or Norway. One of those. Where everybody put the Jewish star on and they didn't know who was Jewish or who was not,” she declared. Once again, despite proclaiming she knows history, Behar’s tale was a lie. During the war, Norway was very much an ally of Nazi German and according to the Holocaust Museum, the Danish didn’t wear the star on masse either. “In another version, the Danish people decided to wear yellow stars. Both of these particular stories are fictional. In fact, unlike Jews in other countries under German occupation, Jews in Denmark never wore an identification mark such as a yellow star,” the museum wrote about Danish King Christian X and Denmark during the war.     Previously, while declaring “I know history,” Behar once claimed that it was NATO military alliance that fought and defeated Hitler. It’s also worth noting that Behar herself had worn blackface in a similar way to what Goldberg described. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View October 6, 2025 11:04:32 a.m. Eastern (…) JOY BEHAR: She's threatening to go to the Super Bowl when Bad Bunny is there and round up all these people that are illegal immigrants. Do you think that she would go if it was Garth brooks or Eminem or Taylor Swift or any other white person?! WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Let me understand what you're saying because she's going to go to the Super Bowl and round up -- how is she going to know who’s who? BEHAR: Because the Supreme Court has given permission to question anyone who has a Spanish accent, who has a dark skin. That's why! GOLDBERG: Here is the thing, everybody, get a little cocoa butter, sit in the sun, that's the first thing. And then -- and this is the only time you can probably ever do this, give yourself a Latin accent. BEHAR: You know, Whoopi, that is such a good idea! GOLDBERG: And just see -- and see if she can tell who’s who! ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Who do they think are buying Super Bowl tickets?! I can't afford a Super Bowl ticket. BEHAR: During the Nazi occupation there was one country, I believe it was Denmark or Norway. One of those. Where everybody put the Jewish star on and they didn't know who was Jewish or who was not. So what you are saying is very smart! (…) October 6th, 2025 2:11 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 292300 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2025/10/06/whos-not-considered-nprs-evening-guest-list-tilts-dramatically-left NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher amazed the House Republicans when she testified to Congress on March 26 that she'd never witnessed any liberal bias on NPR, and that “We have a responsibility to serve Americans across the full political spectrum in a trustworthy, nonpartisan fashion.” Maher laughably claimed to the Washington Post on August 6 that NPR had no “affinity for one party or one perspective over the other,” characterizing the organization as ideological only in that it supports “democracy and the Constitution and the role of the press and the right of every citizen to seek and receive information.” Wrong. We studied the guests appearing on NPR’s two-hour afternoon news show All Things Considered during the two-month period between July 19, 2025, the day after Congress rescinded taxpayer funding for NPR, and September 18, 2025. Liberal/Democrat-leaning guests outnumbered conservative-Republican-leaning guests by an astounding disparity of 53 to 3 -- and of those three, one was anti-Trump. The political partisanship was also more stark on NPR, with a 12-1 party breakdown of Democrats/liberal politician guests versus Republican ones. Key Findings: ■ Liberal-leaning guests outnumbered conservative-leaning guests by 53-3, a ratio of 17.7 to 1. ■ Of 12 total appearances by Democratic officials, none were pro-Trump. There was only one single appearance by a Republican official (pro-Trump). ■ When elected officials and political appointees were removed from the guest count, the ideological disparity widened further, with liberal-leaning guests outnumbering conservative-leaning guests 41-2, for a ratio of 20.5 to 1. ■ Liberal journalists made six appearances as guests, compared to zero appearances by conservative journalists.   Liberal Guests Fearmongering Over Trump 2.0 Liberals were constantly allowed to make extreme statements without pushback from the rotating All Things Considered hosts, as Gov. JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, demonstrated while ranting about Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration on the September 9 episode (to promote a longer Morning Edition interview). JB PRITZKER: …. I want to ask a question to everybody who's listening and to you. Do you carry with you citizenship papers? How do you prove to somebody that you're a U.S. citizen - your accent, the color of your skin? That's not the country we live in. You know, you shouldn't have to walk around with papers, the way that they did in the early days of Nazi Germany, to prove that you belong and that you're not one of them.”  Morning host Steve Inskeep didn’t challenge Pritzker’s “Nazi” comparison. On July 23, All Things Considered hosted radical lawyer Benjamin Crump, representing the family of Breonna Taylor, killed in Louisville during an errant forced entry by local police. (Crump also represented the George Floyd family, and in 2023 attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state’s decision to reject a woke course on African-American culture and history in racially inflammatory terms worthy of Al Sharpton.) Trump’s Justice Department recommended no prison time for Brett Hankison, one of the officers involved in Taylor’s shooting. The judge instead sentenced Hankison to three years. Crump argued: "It just goes to show you what this administration thinks about the killing of black people and how far they will go to protect police officers.” Host Ira Shapiro didn’t challenge Crump’s allegations. On August 25, Summers talked about tennis star Serena Williams’ weight loss with author Chrissy King, author of a book whose title speaks for itself: The Body Liberation Project: How Understanding Racism And Diet Culture Helps Cultivate Joy And Build Collective Freedom. Summers relished the liberal academic term “discourse”: “I mean, we know that the discourse, when we talk about our bodies, about black women's bodies, we know that the discourse is different. So it does make me wonder, Chrissy, do you think if the new face of these drugs had been a white woman rather than a black woman, the discourse, the reaction would be different?” King responded: ….when you're a black woman that has been harmed by sexism, by fatphobia, by racism, you've had to, like, already face all of those things in your life….you've been the victim of this, all of these systems of oppression the entire time.” (“Black” and not "white" is capitalized in the original transcript.)   Journalists as Liberal Mouthpieces All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly mourned the sudden retirement of Washington Post former fact-checker Glenn Kessler on July 31, who basically admitted during the interview of holding Donald Trump to a different standard from Democrat leaders like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, figures whom Kessler barely touched in favor of piling on his famed “Pinocchio” ratings on Trump. Kessler: There was a very clear dividing line in the period, which was June 2015. And that's when Donald Trump took the escalator down and announced he was running for president. Before that moment, politicians paid attention to fact-checks. They would, you know, be shamed by the Pinocchios that I would award. And they tried to keep their claims tethered to the truth as much as you would expect a politician to do. But Trump really changed the dynamic, and he said many things that were false. And even though he was fact-checked as false, he would simply double down or triple down and keep saying them.” New York Times columnist M. Gessen, the non-binary author of the subtly titled "Surviving Autocracy,” was invited on to discuss burgeoning authoritarianism under Trump with host Ailsa Chang. The online heading referenced Trump sending National Guard troops to fight crime in D.C.: “Do Trump's D.C. moves echo an authoritarian playbook?”   Host Ailsa Chang asked Gessen “what was your first reaction when you started watching what's been playing out in D.C. over the last week and a half?” leading to this exchange: GESSEN: Oh, I don't know if you want me to say that on air. But... CHANG: (Laughter) Please, feel free. GESSEN: You know, so much of establishing autocratic rule is a matter of perception, because, you know, we tend to think of this as sort of a series of decrees and executive orders or court decisions. And all of that is very important. But there is something that Trump is extremely sensitive to, which is whether he looks like he's in control of everything. And to put it more bluntly, in an autocracy, ultimately, probably the most important thing is what people think about who is in charge of all the people in uniforms and carrying guns.”   Republican Party Poopers In a period where Republicans control the House, Senate and presidency, somehow Democrats dominated the All Things Considered guest list, 12-1. (Two United Kingdom politicians were included in the 12, one from the Labour Party and one from the Liberal Democrats, each brought on to condemn Trump’s state visit to the UK.) While 12 Democrats appeared on the show during the study period, all liberal/anti-Trump, only one pro-Trump Republican did, and it wasn’t a U.S. Congressman or Senator, but Tom Oliverson, chair of the Texas House Republican Caucus, to support Texas’s aggressive redistricting stance, favored by Trump. Oliverson was strongly challenged from the left by host Ailsa Chang with questions like “Democrats are saying that this proposed map from your party will disenfranchise Texas voters, especially voters of color.”   On the "conservative" side, we counted Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on July 24. Since the Left so eagerly channels the viewpoints of Hamas and the United Nations, Israeli officials are treated with hardballs like American Republicans.   CONCLUSION: As usual, the guest list for All Things Considered was dominated by disgruntled Democratic politicos, leftist professors, and legacy media liberals –  an unwise stance for a previously tax-funded radio network that operated under a congressional mandate to maintain "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature,” and a major reason it lost that taxpayer funding. Ironically, back in 2011, NPR media reporter David Folkenflik found a guest imbalance – at Fox News. Yet clearly NPR shouldn't ever try to lecture Fox News about excluding viewpoints it doesn't like.    COMBINED METHODOLOGY: We reviewed NPR's All Things Considered (two hours Monday through Friday) for a total of 45 episodes. (Not included: the truncated weekend version of All Things Considered.) Guests were defined as interview subjects if they appeared in studio or talked to a host or in-studio reporter remotely. Guests were defined as either liberal or conservative based on the subject matter and content of the interview, or classified as non-applicable if neither designation applied. Elected officials and political appointees of both parties were also included -- defined as current or recently retired officeholders at the federal, state, and local level, as well as those who served in the Biden White House or served previously or currently in the Trump White House, or were appointed to their position during the Biden or Trump administrations. Regular show pundits and reporters from local NPR member stations were excluded from the tallies. October 6th, 2025 1:00 PM Clay Waters 292296 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2025/10/06/its-official-bari-weiss-now-cbs-news-editor-chief-free-press After months of waiting, Paramount Skydance made it official Monday in not only purchasing Bari Weiss’s intrepid and thought-provoking site The Free Press, but installing Weiss as CBS News’s editor in chief in hopes of investing in and restoring credibility to an American news brand mired in porous ratings and decades of self-inflicted wounds from ethical scandals and political bias. “This morning, The Free Press is joining Paramount. This move is a testament to many things: The Free Press team; the vision of Paramount’s new leaders; the luck of starting an independent media company at the right moment; and the courage of my colleagues to leave behind old worlds to build a new one,” Weiss said in an email to Free Press subscribers and a subsequent video on The Free Press’s social media channels. While also keeping her titles as The Free Press CEO and editor-in-chief, Weiss said her role as EIC at CBS News would be “working with new colleagues on the programs that have impacted American culture for generations...and shaping how millions of Americans read, listen, watch, and, most importantly, understand the news[.]” Reflecting on both her career since she quit The New York Times in 2020 and the country writ large, Weiss observed the rise in alternative media despite having been “raised to be a believer in the institutions that build America and that made sense of it”: As the gatekeepers of the mainstream have failed one after another, an explosion took place across the media landscape. Incredible new voices came to the fore. Personalities and influencers have overtaken hundred-year-old journalism brands in only a few years. It’s an exciting, fascinating moment. Calling out extremes on both sides, she said a majority of Americans are “smart, politically mixed, pragmatic,” and “believe, unapologetically, in the American project” but were “overlooked” for far too long. She said this and other principles of The Free Press will guide her at CBS News, such as seeking “people who want to face the truth,” “learn,” “logic,” “curiosity,” and “wit, not conspiracy theories and demoralization.” “What does this mean for CBS News? It means a redoubled commitment to great journalism. It means building on a storied legacy—and bringing that historic newsroom into 2025 and beyond. Most of all, it means working tirelessly to make sure CBS News is the most trusted news organization in the world,” she said. For his part, Paramount head David Ellison told The Wall Street Journal they “want CBS to speak to that 70% of the audience that would really define themselves at center-left to center-right.” The Journal also said “Weiss will oversee” “a debate-style program” on CBS. Furthermore, Weiss emailed CBS News employees on Monday morning and included ten core tenets of journalism that should be required reading (click “expand”): Journalism that reports on the world as it actually is. Journalism that is fair, fearless, and factual. Journalism that respects our audience enough to tell the truth plainly—wherever it leads. Journalism that makes sense of a noisy, confusing world. Journalism that explains things clearly, without pretension or jargon. Journalism that holds both American political parties to equal scrutiny. Journalism that embraces a wide spectrum of views and voices so that the audience can contend with the best arguments on all sides of a debate. Journalism that rushes toward the most interesting and important stories, regardless of their popularity. Journalism that uses all of the tools of the digital era. Journalism that understands that the best way to serve America is to endeavor to president the public with facts, first and foremost. Weiss has a mountain to climb. Along with the rigid, liberal biases entrenched inside their New York City headquarters and major bureaus, Weiss’s chief resistance will sadly be her Jewish heritage and support for Israel’s right to exist. As we wrote last week, Weiss would do well to cultivate a newsroom with new and old voices that echo NewsNation’s slogan: News for all Americans. Her seventh point echoes that. To conservatives, CBS will still do stories we don't like and Weiss is never to be confused with being a conservative or MAGA supporter. NewsBusters will chronicle it all. As for their ratings with their flagship morning (currently CBS Mornings) and evening newscasts (CBS Evening News), CBS has been in third place for decades, so the only way is up. Finally, Weiss will not be entering a CBS in which she’d have to completely clean house as there are a few on-air talent at CBS News worth keeping around that will match her mission and ten core values. And, in light of Thursday’s Gallup poll showing trust in the media has plummeted to 28 percent, Weiss’s arrival could not have come at a better time. October 6th, 2025 12:47 PM Curtis Houck 292297 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2025/10/06/police-unions-condemn-chicago-ordering-police-not-help-ice After Chicago police were ordered to refuse requests for assistance by ICE agents who were under threat Saturday, the national and Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) organizations issued a joint statement condemning the order that left law enforcement officers in danger. In the statement, National Fraternal Order of Police President Yoes and State Lodge President Southwood say they’re “shocked and appalled” by reports the Chicago police officers were ordered not to respond to a call for help when U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents had their vehicle rammed and blocked in by 10 vehicles. The officers were then assaulted by protesters – including a woman wielding a semi-automatic weapon who ended up being shot during the attack. “[I]t appears that officers from the Chicago Police Department were ordered not to assist a group of ICE agents while they were physically threatened by what appears to be an angry mob,” the FOP statement says. “We at the National FOB, as well as our members at the Illinois FOB condemn these actions.” Helping fellow officers in danger is the “number one rule in law enforcement” – and politics should never stand in the way – the FOP presidents explain: “Let me be clear, both the National FOB and the Illinois FOP believe that when an officer calls for assistance, you answer, no matter what.” … “The number one rule in law enforcement is that we respond to any calls from officers in distress.” … “Whether you agree about immigration enforcement or not, when a law enforcement officer is in trouble, nothing should stand in the way of fellow officers rendering assistance.”   Joint statement from National Fraternal Order of Police President Yoes and State Lodge President Southwood on the incident in Chicago with ICE agents. pic.twitter.com/Hc5hrZzqwZ — Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (@IllinoisFOP) October 5, 2025   “Government officials in Chicago, which classifies itself as a sanctuary city, have repeatedly pushed back against ICE operations, leading to a breakdown of local and federal cooperation,” Yoes and Southwood note. “Pritzker’s Chicago Police Department is leaving the shooting scene and refuses to assist us in securing the area. There is a growing crowd and we are deploying special operations to control the scene,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reported in a social media post as events were unfolding Saturday: “This morning, during routine patrolling in Broadview, in the same area of Chicago that law enforcement were assaulted yesterday, our brave law enforcement officers were rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars. “Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car. One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon. Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen who drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds.   The armed woman was named in a @CBP intelligence bulletin last week for doxing agents and posting online ‘Hey to all my gang let’s f**k those mother f**kers up, don’t let them take anyone.’” The order instructing Chicago police to deny the ICE officers’ request for help is substantiated by both text and audio of internal dispatch communications reviewed by Fox News. “J.B. Pritzker is putting politics ahead of public safety." @TriciaOhio When the brave men and women of law enforcement were under direct attack from anarchists in Chicago, @GovPritzker REFUSED to provide any backup. The violence and dehumanization of the men and women who are… pic.twitter.com/lRWaUsL83L — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 6, 2025 October 6th, 2025 12:04 PM Craig Bannister 292295 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2025/10/06/cnn-suddenly-applauds-trumps-nefarious-ways-when-used-against On CNN This Morning, in a discussion of President Trump pressuring Bibi Netanyahu over the latest Gaza peace proposal, Stephen Collinson, the ponderous CNN senior politics reporter, said: "What's been missing in all of his peace efforts so far in Israel and in Ukraine, is his willingness to impose power and leverage, American leverage. We often talk about more nefarious ways he does it in the United States, but is this exactly what should be happening now, that Trump is finally standing behind his statements?" So, suggests Collinson, Trump applying "nefarious ways" to Israel is "exactly what should be happening now." Host Audie Cornish had highlighted a poll indicating that two-thirds of Americans oppose sending more weapons to Israel, and the same percentage support sending humanitarian aid to Gaza. A chuffed Cornish quipped: "There's a whole bunch of students out there who are probably like, hey, thanks for coming around." Yes, keep up those pro-Hamas encampments, teaching disruptions, building occupations, and "From the River to the Sea" chants, kids! It's working, and Audie is with you!  While concerning, the poll numbers are not surprising. It's like asking people if they support war, or peace. Do you favor more weapons, or more humanitarian aid? The MSM continues to credulously report Gazan death numbers as provided by the Gaza "Health Ministry"—AKA, Hamas. Not only are the numbers undoubtedly inflated, but they also fail to distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.  Photos of starving children surely play on American emotions. But the most impactful photo turned out to be deeply misleading. On July 25th, the New York Times published a large front-page photo -- a virtual Pieta -- of a Gazan mother holding a skeletal child. The Times subsequently was forced to admit that the child had a severe pre-existing muscular condition and a genetic disorder. The photo had also been cropped to exclude the boy's well-fed, healthy brother.  Note: Audie outdid herself today in assembling an all-lib panel. In addition to Collinson, the panel was composed of CNN senior media analyst Sara Fischer, whom we caught earlier this year suggesting that conservatives might have been responsible for George Floyd rioting destruction; Sabrina Rodriguez, a Washington Post politics reporter; and Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration. Here's the transcript. CNN This Morning  10/6/25 6:29 am EDT AUDIE CORNISH: In the coming hours, delegations from Israel, Hamas, and the U.S. are set to begin key peace negotiations in Egypt. They hope to finalize a ceasefire deal based on President Donald Trump's Gaza plan. Hamas signaled it's on board with releasing the hostages. It stopped short of a full endorsement of the plan. President Trump took that as a win, now shifting his pressure to Israel. Boxing in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, explicitly calling on him to stop the bombing on Gaza. A new poll finds two-thirds of Americans opposed sending more weapons to Israel, and the same support sending humanitarian aid to Gaza, and I want to talk a little bit about this shift. You're nodding. Is this something you're getting a sense of as well?  SARA FISCHER: I definitely think there's wartime fatigue in America. So, first, you had the entire thing with Russia and Ukraine, fatigue around, why are we footing that war when we have so many domestic problems at home?  Now you're seeing a similar situation in Israel, but it's amplified by what people are seeing on social media, which is photos and videos of Gazans that are starving, kids that are dying, and that makes people in America very uncomfortable with continuing to support Israel's side of the war.  CORNISH: Do you think that is what has changed? I mean, there's a whole bunch of students out there who are probably like, hey, thanks for coming around.  STEPHEN COLLINSON: I think this is one of the effects of the war, which is going to be dangerous for Israel in the long term. Because it's made the Israeli-Palestinian question a domestic political issue in the United States, as it never was over the 40 years that you were talking about. Not just in the Democratic party, but more generally now.  CORNISH: Right.  Meaning people, the average person has now opinions about Netanyahu, not Israel, but even about the government.  COLLINSON: Perhaps this explains some of the president's actions, because what's been missing in all of his peace efforts so far in Israel and in Ukraine, is his willingness to impose power and leverage, American leverage.  We often talk about more nefarious ways he does it in the United States, but is this exactly what should be happening now, that Trump is finally standing behind his statements?  October 6th, 2025 11:35 AM Mark Finkelstein 292293 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/tom-olohan/2025/10/06/busted-google-elevates-splc-wikipedia-other-leftist Google viciously smeared a key Trump advisor while he was fighting to secure a potentially historic peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians and engaged in a high-stakes battle to reopen the federal government.  Google has been working overtime to send users to websites dripping with disdain for Stephen Miller, Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. Google repeatedly elevated Miller’s Wikipedia page, which does not even pretend to be neutral. The search giant went on to promote the Southern Poverty Law Center’s far-left agitprop on Miller above even a White House link, while adding a side of unhinged media headlines. [The story continues on MRCFreeSpeechAmerica.org] Photo Credit: White House Gallery: President Trump Participates in a Multilateral Lunch with African Leaders   October 6th, 2025 10:03 AM Tom Olohan 292301 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/steve-malzberg/2025/10/05/velshi-unhinged-september-30-2025-one-darkest-days-modern Last Tuesday, September 30th, ICE agents conducted an overnight raid at a Chicago apartment complex, and arrested 37 illegal aliens from several countries. The complex was targeted because it was frequented by members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. Two gang members were among those captured along with others with criminal records. But MSNBC's Ali Velshi says that raid, and Donald Trump's speech to U.S. Generals, later that day, will make September 30th be remembered as one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Velshi just could not get over that illegals, many with criminal records, could be successfully rounded up in the middle of the night. He opened his Saturday edition of MSNBC's Velshi by saying, "Quote, 'we are under siege. We're being invaded by our own military.' End quote. Now you'd be forgiven for thinking those were words describing Syria or North Korea, but they came from a witness describing a scene unfolding in Chicago this week." He was quoting someone named Darrell Ballard, who spoke to the ABC affiliate in Chicago about the ICE raid. Velshi went on to repeat witness claims that residents were separated into groups and led into vans. He informed his audience that,  "This came with a military style name. The Trump administration called it Operation Midway Blitz ." Oh my!  Velshi went on to quote other "witnesses" to the ICE raid, and after admitting that, "this show of force resulted in 37 arrests", he went on to describe the scene after the arrests were made. "But meanwhile the debris and the wreckage left behind, resembled the aftermath of a military invasion. Personal belongings destroyed, electronics missing birth certificates and other belongings scattered throughout the hallways like the ruins of a battle." Again, gang members and criminals were captured during Velshi's "battle." Calling the illegal immigration an "invasion" is racist, but not when you're describing ICE. Then he really lost control of his metaphors:  Tuesday, September 30th, 2025, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in modern American history. Right up there, alongside the worst civil rights era atrocities where we were raised to believe belong to the past. All of this unfolded just hours before Donald Trump told a room full of America's top generals and admirals that American cities should be used as training grounds for them. Generals and admirals flown in from every corner of the globe, only to be told their new mission is not adversaries like China or Russia, or even terrorism. Their new mission is us. Us, the American people, the so-called enemy within. The Left loves to pretend that illegal immigrants are American citizens, and citizens are illegal immigrants. So any deportation is a war on "us." They constantly refer to illegal migrants as "our neighbors."  But "modern American history" contains mass murders, from 9/11 to the Oklahoma City bombing. How many people were killed in this Chicago apartment raid? None. Velshi continued the drama: In the 249 years of our republic this week, this speech was our democracy's Rubicon moment. The expression crossing the Rubicon coined to describe Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon river on January the 10th in the year 49 BC, in violation of Roman law, may one day fall into disuse, replaced by Operation Midway Blitz -- September 30th, 2025, to describe a day when a country's military turns inward. So deportation is the opposite of democracy.  Although presented in a relatively calm manner belying the hysteria of the verbiage, MSNBC sounds remarkably out of touch with the actual democratic verdict of 2024. It's intended to reinforce the conspiratorial beliefs and claims of the typical MSNBC viewer, anti-Trump, anti-ICE, pro-illegal immigrant. Scary stuff.  It's the opposite of 2020 Ali Velshi, the "news anchor" who stood in front or raging fires during the George Floyd riots insisting "it is not, generally speaking, unruly." October 5th, 2025 10:14 PM Steve Malzberg 292287 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2025/10/05/cbss-margaret-brennan-enables-sen-duckworth-smear-ice-gestapo In an embarrassing interview, CBS’s Margaret Brennan sat passively as Illinois Democrat Senator Tammy Duckworth repeated what is now known as the Zip-Tie Hoax: the debunked claim that children were zip-tied during ICE raids in Chicago. Additionally, Duckworth was allowed to incite further violence against ICE with her incendiary claim that they engage in “Gestapo tactics.” Watch as Duckworth makes these claims with no pushback whatsoever: WATCH: Sen. Tammy Duckworth goes on "Face the Nation" and incites further lethal attempts against federal agents by accusing them of "Gestapo tactics", and by repeating the Zip Ties Hoax pic.twitter.com/aPGGA0rWtT — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 5, 2025 MARGARET BRENNAN: As I understand yesterday, ICE authorities shot a Chicago woman in the Brighton Park area. Secretary Noem claimed ICE fired defensive shots at this woman, who was armed, who had appeared in a border patrol intelligence bulletin previously. She claims that federal agents were surrounded and were threatened. What are local authorities telling you about what they think happened here? TAMMY DUCKWORTH: Well, they lie, right? The Trump administration lies. We have a president who is a known liar, and they have been- they've been lying about the situation all along. And, in fact, they even shot tear grenades- tear gas grenades, I think, at a reporter who was simply driving by with her window open. And so, we're urging people, we're urging our protesters, remain calm, peaceful protests, exercise the First Amendment rights. But video-tape everything. Everybody has a phone; tape everything, so we actually have real evidence of what is happening. We know the Trump administration lies consistently. And what I am hearing is that, for the large part, people are being very quiet, are being very respectful. But ICE is being very aggressive. Remember that they are zip-tying children. They are raiding apartment blocks in the middle of the night, separating children from their families, pulling people out onto the streets naked. They are using Gestapo tactics in Chicago, and this is what Trump wants to do, right? He wants to intimidate the people of Chicago. That's not going to happen. The kids in zip-ties is an attempt to revise the “kids in cages” outrage of years past, but it is fake. As reported by Fox’s Bill Melugin, the photo making the rounds isn’t even that of an ICE agent. Instead, it is a local police officer fake-arresting his own son as a joke. This did not get checked by Brennan. Likewise, the claim of kids getting pulled out of apartments naked was a half truth. Both Duckworth and Brennan fail to note that this happened during the massive Tren de Aragua raid, wherein it is important to take custody of children as quickly as possible so as to determine which may be the victims of human trafficking. Duckworth offers this as a factual basis for “Gestapo tactics”, which Brennan does not refute or respond to, which is absolutely wild given that we’re barely removed from a sniper attack on an ICE facility in Texas. In the face of additional incitement of violence, Brennan’s silence is complicity. Duckworth told another unchallenged whopper during her critique of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s recent convocation of senior officers: While taking a shot at @SECWAR's remarks on physical standards, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) mentions "the female that graduated from SEAL school." No female has ever graduated from BUD/S, the actual "SEAL school." There is a 2021 graduate from Special Warfare Combat Crew… pic.twitter.com/TmkpFhKsKr — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 5, 2025 BRENNAN: You serve on Armed Services, but you retired from the National Guard. You were a lieutenant colonel. DUCKWORTH: 23 years. Proud of it. BRENNAN: Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Iraq. You served in combat. Secretary Hegseth told senior military leaders just a few days ago he doesn't want to prevent women from serving, but he's now going to require everyone meet the male standard. Let's listen to that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE HEGSETH: When it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result. (END VIDEO CLIP) BRENNAN: How did you hear those remarks, and how do you think female service people heard them? DUCKWORTH: Well, this is the least qualified Secretary of Defense in our nation's history, and he's questioning the ability of the women who actually qualify to their- to do their jobs. The female Rangers, the female that graduated from SEAL school, have met those highest standards.  No such woman exists, and Duckworth once again goes unabated. Throughout this interview, there was no waggling of the pen from Brennan, no interruption or fact-checking. There was only quiet deference as Duckworth spoke with the confidence of someone who was secure in her ability to get her message across uninterrupted. Some might say it’s just (D)ifferent. Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview, as aired on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday, October 5th, 2025: MARGARET BRENNAN: And we're now joined by Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth. Good morning, and good to have you here, in person. So, I have to ask you about what the President announced yesterday in regard to federalizing 300 National Guardsmen out in the state of Illinois. We've heard this threat going back all the way to August. The governor says these are not needed. Do you have any idea when they'll arrive? TAMMY DUCKWORTH: Well, I believe they're going to be Illinois National Guardsmen. So, they're not going to be coming from out of state. I spoke with our governor yesterday, and it looks like it's going to be about 300 Illinois Guardsmen who will be activated against the governor's wishes. So they'll be- they'll be homegrown Illinoisans, and they're our brothers and sisters, our neighbors. I probably served with quite a number of them, certainly the leadership. And, you know, they'll be home. We'll welcome them. It's a misuse of the National Guard. They're- they're not needed in this particular role. If President Trump really wanted to fight crime, then maybe he should stop defunding the police. He, you know, he diverted $800 million in crime prevention efforts away from- that was appropriated away from funding for our police officers. So, you know, I- they're not needed, but we're going to welcome them, because they're our brothers and sisters, and we're proud of our National Guard. BRENNAN: He has surged, or the federal government has surged, agents from different groups. The FBI said yesterday they're sending folks in. Tell me about these protests, because the images look pretty intense of what has happened between people on the streets of Chicago, we're showing some of that video now, around immigration issues. As I understand yesterday, ICE authorities shot a Chicago woman in the Brighton Park area. Secretary Noem claimed ICE fired defensive shots at this woman, who was armed, who had appeared in a border patrol intelligence bulletin previously. She claims that federal agents were surrounded and were threatened. What are local authorities telling you about what they think happened here? DUCKWORTH: Well, they lie, right? The Trump administration lies. We have a president who is a known liar, and they have been- they've been lying about the situation all along. And, in fact, they even shot tear grenades- tear gas grenades, I think, at a reporter who was simply driving by with her window open. And so, we're urging people, we're urging our protesters, remain calm, peaceful protests, exercise the First Amendment rights. But video-tape everything. Everybody has a phone; tape everything, so we actually have real evidence of what is happening. We know the Trump administration lies consistently. And what I am hearing is that, for the large part, people are being very quiet, are being very respectful. But ICE is being very aggressive. Remember that they are zip-tying children. They are raiding apartment blocks in the middle of the night, separating children from their families, pulling people out onto the streets naked. They are using Gestapo tactics in Chicago, and this is what Trump wants to do, right? He wants to intimidate the people of Chicago. That's not going to happen, and we're going to document everything and make sure, just as the judge in Portland said, that these- these requirements, these orders from the Trump administration, are not actually tied to reality. BRENNAN: You're talking about President Trump's directive to send Oregon National Guard troops into Portland, and the judge said that- untethered to the facts. But, in this case, I mean, the Homeland Security Advisor says there's a large and growing movement of left-wing terrorism, organized and funded. They're posting, on Homeland Security, images of snipers. So we're not talking troops, we're talking about federal agents that are carrying out some of this right now. Have you seen any evidence of what Stephen Miller is describing here in terms of organization and targeting of federal agents? DUCKWORTH: No, not at all. This is- it's simply not happening. They are lying. And so, if anybody is targeting anyone, it is out of control ICE agents targeting, again, zip-tying children, throwing reporters onto the ground, separating children from their mothers, trying to convince schools to turn over kids from public schools. They are raging through the streets of Chicago, trying to intimidate everyday, ordinary citizens who are just trying to go to school and go to work. That's not acceptable. That's not what America is about. And it is shameful that the President of the United States has instigated this on one of its greatest cities. He should be defending the city. He should be protecting the city. Send us the federal dollars that were appropriated in a bipartisan way to support law enforcement. They took money away from law enforcement officers, child prevention effort- violence against children prevention efforts. They- they've literally, this president, has defunded the police. BRENNAN: Well, that is counter their messaging, at least. But on the messaging around the military, I want to ask you about what happened at Quantico. And, just so our viewers are clear, you serve on Armed Services, but you retired from the National Guard. You were a lieutenant colonel. DUCKWORTH: 23 years. Proud of it. BRENNAN: Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Iraq. You served in combat. Secretary Hegseth told senior military leaders just a few days ago he doesn't want to prevent women from serving, but he's now going to require everyone meet the male standard. Let's listen to that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE HEGSETH: When it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result. (END VIDEO CLIP) BRENNAN: How did you hear those remarks, and how do you think female service people heard them? DUCKWORTH: Well, this is the least qualified Secretary of Defense in our nation's history, and he's questioning the ability of the women who actually qualify to their- to do their jobs. The female Rangers, the female that graduated from SEAL school, have met those highest standards. And, by the way, he is obfuscating a little bit because there are different male standards. The standard for a 45 year-old man is not the same as an 18 year-old man. So he doesn't actually talk about that. He has long sought to push women out of the military. And, frankly, our military could not do its job of protecting America and keeping us safe without the women who serve in the military. If you look at some lessons we learned in Afghanistan, for example, the Lionesses, the Marine Corps group of women who actually went on patrol, all-female units that actually was able to get intelligence from women- Afghani women to get information on the enemy. Frankly, you've got a least qualified secretary of defense in the nation's history who wastes taxpayer dollars on a regular basis doing things like bringing in general and flag officers to be an audience for his dog and pony show, using them as little toy soldiers when they should be out there at your units in command, doing their jobs. BRENNAN: Senator, thank you for your time and for your insight. We'll be back in a moment.   October 5th, 2025 6:29 PM Jorge Bonilla 292291 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2025/10/05/omission-legacy-sunday-shows-silent-about-virginia-ag-candidates The legacy Sunday shows appear to have taken a collective vow of omertà regarding coverage of what would have been treated as an immediate disqualifier had a Republican done something similar. The hosts of these shows shut out any discussion of Democrat Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones as he fantasized about murdering a political opponent and his family in a series of text messages. For context and an idea of what was omitted from the Sunday shows, watch coverage of the scandal as aired on Fox News Live on Saturday, October 4th, 2025: MIKE EMANUEL: Disturbing developments in Virginia's attorney general race as the Democratic nominee Jay Jones is apologizing for text messages obtained by Fox News where he spoke about violent fantasies against then-Virginia Speaker Republican Todd Gilbert. Madison Scarpino is live with this story. Hi, Madison. MADISON SCARPINO: Hi, Mike. Jones is running to be Virginia's chief legal officer, but his resurfaced text messages from 2022 are alarming people on both sides of the aisle. So to give viewers some background: a Virginia delegate had just passed away and people were pouring in tributes, including then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert. Well, that led to the attorney general candidate Jones texting Republican Delegate Carri Coyner, saying some pretty foul things about Gilbert. So here are just some of the texts. You can see Coyner tries to stop Jones from what he's saying and he goes on to say, quote: “three people, two bullets.Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.” After all this came to light yesterday, Coyner tells Fox what Jones said was not just disturbing, but also disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office. But he’s not dropping out of the race as of now. In a statement, Jones says in part, quote: “I take full responsibility for my actions and I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family. Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry.” Virginia Delegate Geary Higgins says that he was shocked to see all of this. He's been a victim of politically-charged death threats himself, and says Jones' behavior is completely unacceptable. GEARY HIGGINS: He needs to step down and go get himself straightened out because this is just not- not acceptable in a civilized society. SCARPINO: And now the Democrat nominee for the Virginia governor's race is Abigail Spanberger and she says that she spoke frankly with Jones about her disgust over those text messages, but she has not yet called for him to drop out of the race. Mike. EMANUEL: Considering political violence in recent months and years… SCARPINO: Yeah. EMANUEL: …a very disturbing story. Madison, thanks very much. SCARPINO: Thanks, Mike. These texts cannot be viewed in isolation, but must be considered within the ongoing cycle of leftwing violence besieging the country. Inasmuch as the Virginia off-year election is always treated as a bellwether for the subsequent midterms and the legacy media’s Sunday political shows are all set in Washington, D.C., it is inexcusable that the texts would go uncovered. They would certainly not, had a Republican said similar things about a Democrat opponent. Under such circumstances, the legacies would go into stratospheric dudgeon. Instead, and as also was the case for Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s stalker/assassin getting a slap on the wrist from a Biden judge once he came out as transgender, there was nary a peep from the media. “Silence is complicity”, said the left quite often during the racially-tinged protests of the Summer of Love. Well, the same principle applies. The Sunday hosts did their best to contain the Jay Jones scandal, and largely succeeded, with the notable exception of Kristen Welker on NBC’s Meet the Press. During the panel discussion on the shutdown, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence Marc Short let loose, eliciting one of the more disgusting responses you’ll hear from a DC Democrat: Consider where we are: on Meet the Depressed, former Pence CoS @marctshort calls out national Dem silence over VA AG candidate Jay Jones' disgusting, violent texts fantasizing about the murder of a political opponent and his family. Kristen Welker flips the hot potato over to… pic.twitter.com/C6LD1kgNNV — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 5, 2025 MARC SHORT: But can I also say in your interview with Leader Jeffries, that can we stop with the pearl clutching about the mean tweets and sombrero tweets? That this week it came to light that a Democratic candidate for Attorney General of the State of Virginia called for the assassination of a political opponent, called for the assassination of that political opponent's family, and there's not one national Democrat calling for him to step aside. Not one. It's disgraceful. KRISTEN WELKER: Neera, let me let you respond to that because that is going to be a big story, I think, in the coming days. Then we go to Andrea. NEERA TANDEN: I mean, I absolutely think that people should criticize that, 100%. I think it was a private conversation he had, but still awful and disgusting. Wasn’t calling for it in public, but terrible… WELKER: It should be condemned. TANDEN: It should be- it should be condemned. But then, we should condemn that, but then you should condemn when the president calls the Democratic Party “the party of Satan.” SHORT: Yeah, in all fairness… TANDEN: Why don't we just say both of those things are (unint)… SHORT: I think- I think I’ve paid the price for speaking out about political violence on our side… TANDEN: Yeah, I agree with that…but criticize the Republicans for the president, for saying Satan. SHORT: I think I clearly have. But the fact that not one Democrat has (unint) when he called for political assassination in this moment of political violence is crazy.  Leave it to Autopen Neera Tanden to scrape the bottom of the barrel at all times, especially within this season of political violence. She did so with no pushback from Welker, who predicts this will be a big story in the coming days. We’ll see. IN the meantime, remember: silence is complicity. October 5th, 2025 4:14 PM Jorge Bonilla 292290 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2025/10/05/npr-goes-searching-sympathy-south-dakota-lot-tears-over-funding National Public Radio media reporter David Folkenflik performed another advertisement for "public broadcasting" instead of news reporting. He checked in Harrisburg, South Dakota on Friday from a football tailgate, where he uncovered Trump voters who supported taxpayer funded public broadcasting of NPR and PBS. South Dakota is a telling choice, one of those sparsely populated red states (like Alaska) where the people supposedly rely on NPR for the farm report or emergency weather warnings. It's also the home state of Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The radio version that aired Tuesday was headlined “‘There's been a lot of tears': Local public media stations grapple with federal cuts.” A local public television executive Folkenflik talked to referred to South Dakota as a “news desert.” They're so insulting, like there are no privately owned TV stations or newspapers in the whole state.  Folkenflik prodded the parents he met tailgating to talk about “what they rely on for news.” "Mainly just a Fox guy," says Aaron Zahn, the truck's owner, who builds grain elevators. He likes Gutfeld! — the conservative late-night comedy show on Fox News. At a Harrisburg High School football tailgate, when asked where he gets his news, Aaron Zahn shares that he mostly watches Fox. Dawn Bures, whose son, Harrison, plays wide receiver for the Tigers, says she follows "citizen journalists on the internet," citing social media influencer Jessica Reed Kraus' House Inhabit. When it comes to public media, both say they support President Trump's push to take back all federal funds. Folkenflik scoured the scene for supporters of his employers in public media. That largely reflects the sentiments of most — though not all — of a dozen people who came to the football stadium to see the Tigers rout the Yankton Bucks. A sports health executive said he relies on friends to text him about news developments; a retired accountant said he watches Fox News yet loves PBS nature shows; a reading intervention teacher said she appreciates the educational shows and apps that public media provides. Folkenflik buried the liberal bias argument in the middle of a paragraph showing Republican support for local stations. Much of the wrath from Trump and the Republican Party was directed at PBS and NPR, not local stations, for what conservatives contend is liberal bias — a charge the networks reject. Some Republican lawmakers even took pains to praise offerings from their local stations. Under the subhead “Trump supporters see benefits in local public media,” he wrote: South Dakota is Trump country. And yet, like in many other rural regions, people here find that public media serves a need as other local news outlets are increasingly hard to come by. "Trump is vindictive, as we all know. I'm with the guy," Nat Van Gorkum, a plumbing-supplies manager, told me outside a take-and-bake pizza shop in Sioux Falls. "I think the reason he's doing it is you guys have gone a hell of a long ways to the left in the last five or 10 years." Even so, Van Gorkum says, he opposes cutting money for public broadcasting. "I grew up watching Mister Rogers, Sesame Street, stuff like that. That's a good thing," Van Gorkum says. Nice memories, but no longer relevant: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is long gone, and Sesame Street presently has a tangled relationship with PBS. And edutainment is hardly thin on the ground these days. Folkenflik did find a crepe-maker who loves his public radio. [Chef Michael Haskett] grew up in Sioux Falls, went to culinary school in New York's Hudson Valley and became a public radio junkie. He says he relies on NPR and South Dakota Public Broadcasting to tell him what's happening around the area, the nation and the world. "So, yeah, I'm very upset that we're defunding a very important news source, a very trustworthy news source, because it doesn't fit into one political party's agenda," Haskett says. He says he gives money to South Dakota Public Broadcasting and to Minnesota Public Radio, which operates a small station in Sioux Falls. Folkenflik doesn't explain that liberal Chef Haskett has also appeared on South Dakota Public Broadcasting, displaying his Pan Fried Walleye recipe.  October 5th, 2025 2:50 PM Clay Waters 292285