A former Republican Congressman said he doesn’t understand President Donald Trump’s bizarre reposting of message he first put on social media on the day of the Capitol Riots.

While the nation was marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack on Friday, Trump reposted on his Truth Social platform a video he first made in 2021 as a mob attacked the Capitol.

Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, who appeared on The Source with Kaitlan Collins along with longtime CNN political commentator Van Jones, told anchor Kaitlan Collins he couldn’t figure out what Trump was thinking:

KAITLAN COLLINS: A few hours after he left the Pentagon, you know, to commemorate that day and all the Americans and the lives were lost. There wasn’t really any explanation.
But he posted the video that he had shared on social media on January 6th.

VAN JONES: I saw that.

COLLINS: He reposted it. This is the video for people who don’t remember. It was where he’s telling the rioters to go home and he’s saying, we have to have peace. Go home. We love you. You’re very special to the people who ransacked the capitol.

JONES: Yeah, I, I was kind of, you know, thrown by that. I don’t understand what.

So these are people who are not patriotic, who are not heroes, who are traitors, who are treasonous, who attacked our capitol. And you’re reminding us of this on a day when we should be celebrating the actual patriots and heroes of 9/11. So again, I just think sometimes the president just, is just not in sync with where the American people are.

I think there’s a single person who woke up and said, you know what I want to talk about today, January 6th. That’s that’s what I’m like. Who does that?

COLLINS: I mean, Charlie, that’s a good question. What went through your mind when you saw the president had shared that today of any days or any day?

CHARLIE DENT: Well, again, 9/11 was about a terrorist attack designed to disrupt our way of life. January 6th was a mob trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

The two really aren’t related, as far as I’m concerned. And frankly, from a political standpoint, I don’t know why you would try to mix your messages.

Again, this is a day. It’s a solemn day of remembrance. It’s about the victims. It’s about the families. We should be thinking of them and not getting on to other, other issues.

And especially one like that. That also was it was also a horrible day too. By the way, January 6th was a horrible day, just as 9/11, but for completely different reasons. And so I, I just don’t understand why he would throw that into the mix here.

Watch above via CNN.

The post Puzzled Ex-GOP Rep Rips Trump Reposting Jan. 6 Video on 9/11: ‘Don’t Understand’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Independent journalist Brad Polumbo made his feelings about President Donald Trump’s proposed $5,000 dividend clear, incredulously asking a fellow CNN panelist, “Are you joking?!” as he laid out ways the payments could potentially be funded.

Trump unveiled the proposal at the Republican midterm convention in Texas this week, promising a $5,000 check to every American adult if Republicans retain control of Congress. The president has said the payments would be fueled by trillions of dollars in new investment and economic growth, while suggesting congressional approval may not be necessary.

The spat came on Friday’s edition of CNN NewsNight, after guest and Market Rebellion CEO Marc LoPresti noted to the network’s Abby Phillip, “Well, Abby, there’s a number of places that the president and this administration can get the money. Of course, there’s a long way to go from here to there. Congress has to approve this, and details remain sketchy.”

LoPresti then cited Trump’s investments on behalf of the U.S. government that have “return[ed] billions and billions of dollars.”

After Phillip pointed out that the number is still well below the $1.3 trillion needed to fulfill Trump’s promise, LoPresti said, “There are other pockets of money.”

“Wait, are you pretending this is a thing?” Polumbo interjected. “Are you pretending these checks are actually a thing?”

“I just said it has to be approved by Congress,” LoPresti emphasized.

“It will never be approved by Congress!” Polumbo stressed. “Are you joking?! They’re gonna double federal expenditures overnight?”

“Did I say that it was gonna be approved by Congress?” LoPresti reiterated. “I started my conversation by saying we have a long way to go from here to there.”

“There is nowhere to go,” Polumbo again interrupted. “It’s a fantasy! It’s a lie! It’s a hoax!”

After panelist Yemisi Egbewole noted that remarks from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett suggested that “no one seems to have a clear messaging point on this,” Polumbo replied, “It’s almost like they’re all making it up as they go along.”

“Because President Trump just blurted it out — farted it out into the public without even discussing it with anyone, and they’re trying to backfill!” he continued.

Watch above on CNN.

The post Journo Lashes Out on CNN Over Trump’s $5K Dividend Pitch: ‘Are You Joking?!’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshot via X

President Donald Trump is demanding the Smithsonian Institution immediately junk one of its longtime sculptures and replace it with a new statue — to mark George Washington’s 300th birthday.

Trump posted a plan on Truth Social Friday night for what the venerated institution should include in its exhibits six years from now, long past the expected end of his second term.

The bizarre post comes just days after the head of the Smithsonian, Lonnie Bunch, announced his retirement after a months-long battle with the Trump administration over exhibitions.

After a busy week for Trump that included two lengthy speeches at the GOP Convention in Dallas and the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack, he took to his social platform:

So, I’m asking for the Smithsonian to install the 11-foot Washington statue that was featured at the recent Freedom 250 Grand Prix Race in the Museum’s Flag Hall, and dedicate it this Constitution Day, September 17, 2026.

Immediately design and display a five-year exhibition worthy of the Life, Sacrifice, and Contributions of George Washington.

Then, as soon as it is ready, install a 30-foot Washington Colossus where “Infinity” stands today.

Replace a sculpture that says nothing about America with the man who, more than anyone else, says everything about America.

This is how we should begin to honor George Washington in the lead-up to his 300th birthday in 2032. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

The smaller, bronze George Washington sculpture was created by Atelier Missor, described by The New Republic as a “right-wing French sculptor.”

Bunch is set to leave the Smithsonian at the end of the year, after nearly 50 years at the Smithsonian, according to reports.

The post comes days after Trump bragged about another statue he had installed earlier in the year: one of Christopher Columbus, which was placed in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House.

The post Trump Is Already Planning for 2032 as He Demands New ’30-Foot’ Statue at the Smithsonian first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshot via Michael Whatley on X

A registered sex offender twice imprisoned for convictions involving children led a prayer calling for “integrity and honesty” at a recent rally featuring North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, according to a Friday report from The Associated Press.

Pastor Daimon L. King delivered the opening prayer at an Aug. 28 gathering at the Craven County Republican Party headquarters in New Bern, the outlet reported.

King, 60, asked God to bring “integrity and honesty” to those in attendance and to right wrongs “hammered down on the conservative movement.”

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, also spoke at the rally. King was visible in a video posted by Whatley’s campaign after the speeches, the AP pointed out, standing behind the speakers and at one point giving two thumbs up.

Whatley’s campaign said the candidate did not know King and denied having a role in bringing him to the event.

Campaign spokesman DJ Griffin told the outlet that the gathering “was NOT planned nor organized by the Whatley campaign nor did the campaign invite any of the guests,” adding King was “invited by the hosts,” the Craven County Republican Party, which was not reachable for comment.

King, who leads New Beginnings Celebration church in New Bern and has previously served as a Craven County GOP precinct chairman, was convicted in 1998 after being charged with statutory rape and indecent liberties with a 15-year-old student while working as a high school marching band assistant. He served nearly five years in prison.

In 2010, King pleaded guilty to having sex with an underage female relative and spent nearly another three years behind bars. He is required to register as a sex offender for life.

The revelation comes as Whatley faces former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) in a closely watched Senate race. Democrats have already spent more than $2.3 million on advertisements highlighting Whatley’s association with Harvey L. West Jr., a former state GOP official who was convicted of five counts of indecent liberties with a child.

The post Convicted Sex Offender Led ‘Integrity and Honesty’ Prayer at GOP Senate Candidate’s Rally first appeared on Mediaite.

Josh Reynolds/AP photo

The single holdout juror who spurred the controversial Lindsay Clancy case to end in a mistrial had a history of domestic violence allegations against him and is facing eviction, according to a report.

NBC10 Boston revealed the details of the man without publicly identifying him, recounting an allegation he’d assaulted his wife and later, his young nephew.

The juror’s alleged background raised “questions,” according to the station, about the jury selection process:

Court documents and interviews with family members reveal a history of domestic violence allegations. We discovered a pending eviction case tied to months of not paying rent.

The NBC10 Boston Investigators also found an active restraining order against him, while he was listening to evidence in the case.

Those details raise questions about the jury selection process and how the Plymouth County resident was picked for the high-profile case that ended in a mistrial.

NBC10 Boston has repeatedly attempted to contact the juror at home, where his landlord is currently trying to evict him.

Other jurors on the case which captivated the nation for weeks have since spoken out about the holdout, who was recently revealed to be a black man.

Some critics ripped the station for the report and accused them of trying to reveal the juror’s personal information against his will.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) offered the man “asylum” after suggesting the station’s report was a low blow.

“A man objected to allowing a woman to kill her three young kids and get away with it, so NBC is trying to smear that juror, whose identity should be protected,” he wrote on X.

“Another low for legacy media. If the juror is being harassed, Florida will provide asylum — I’m sure he’d be welcomed and appreciated.”

CNN contributor Shermichael Singleton suggested the station only investigated the juror because he is black.

“Are you planning to investigate the history of the 11 White jurors, or is it just the Black guy?” he wrote on X.

“The very evident bias and lack of sensitivity is both despicable and very clearly steeped in racial prejudice. I suppose it’s safe to assume if he had agreed with the other jurors, such an investigatory report would have never surfaced,” he wrote.

One juror claimed the holdout ignored his fellow jurors and once appeared to act out how Clancy, a Massachusetts mother of three, killed her three young kids.

“There was times he wouldn’t engage. Like, he’d be scrolling on his phone while people were talking to him. You know, things like that,” said Nick Dargie, who was among the 11 jurors on the group of 12 who wanted to find Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity.

Clancy, 36, admitted in a civil proceeding that she killed her three young children with an exercise band in January 2023 but has pleaded not guilty in criminal proceedings, claiming she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict after more than six days of deliberation and Judge William Sullivan ultimately decared a mistrial in the case.

The post Lindsay Clancy Holdout Juror Reportedly Accused of Assaulting Wife and Nephew first appeared on Mediaite.

President Donald Trump suggested that major bipartisan criticism of data centers might be “a China PR thing,” warning that without them, Americans would be left “poor” with “no jobs.”

The president made the remarks during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, the first part of which aired on Thursday’s edition of The Ingraham Angle, followed by the second installment on Friday’s show.

On the politically contentious issue of data centers, Ingraham asked, “Why do people not want them in their backyard?”

“I mean, a lot of people say it’s China,” Trump responded. “A lot of people say that it’s a China PR thing.”

He went on, “I notice Google is building one now in Europe. I’m not happy about that. They’re building one in Finland, and I’m saying, ‘Why are they building one in Finland?’ We cannot be the stupid people that chase them out.”

“So your message to the Americans on this?” Ingraham inquired.

“My message is that, do what you want, but if you wanna be poor, have no jobs, and watch other countries do great, or other states do great,” Trump said, “they will go other places. If you wanna make a lot of money, if you wanna make a lot more money than you’ve ever made before, if you wanna see your house go up, your education get better, I would suggest you — now, you used the word ‘guardrails.’ Put ’em in the right areas, but you don’t wanna kill the golden goose, because that’s what you’d be doing. You would be killing the golden goose. This is the oil of the next 50 years, in many ways.”

Trump has long been public about his support for data centers, telling Americans they will “end up being backwards and poor” without them in August, despite a July Fox News survey that found 70% of voters opposed to building one in their area, including 76% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans.

Not to mention, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten called data centers “electoral poison” last month in reference to the survey, pointing out that opposition also spans geographical divides, with 75% of rural voters and 63% of urban voters saying they do not want one built near them. Even among MAGA-identified Republicans — the group most supportive of data centers in the Fox poll — just 46% favored their construction nearby.

Watch above on Fox News.

The post Trump Blames Data Center Backlash on Possible ‘China PR Thing’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Days after an artificial intelligence researcher warned the tech could “kill us all” within a decade, the nation’s top intelligence official said the United States must win the AI race.

Speaking Friday with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton compared artificial intelligence to nuclear power and said America must be first in the race to use AI in matters of national security:

I think this is a race that we need to win. And the reason I think that, Bret, is if you talk to people who have seen what these models can do and are projecting what they will be able to do in the future, the power is immense.

And let’s go back in time. Nuclear.

You know, would we have made a grave mistake if we did not develop nuclear technology?

Not just civilian nuclear technology but military nuclear technology? Of course we would have.

We had to develop it because people around the world were going to develop it as well.

I believe in the United States of America. I believe that if we are the strongest country in the world, the world will be a much better place. And I look at ai, frontier models in the very same framework.

Baier then asked Clayton, who was confirmed as the DNI by the Senate in July after a contentious hearing, what “level of confidence” he had that the still-evolving tech could be contained if it got out of hand.

The post Intelligence Official Tells Fox’ Bret Baier AI Is ‘A Risk We Have To Take On’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov mocked the Republican midterm convention for twice displaying a photo of left-wing streamer Hasan Piker posing in his underwear on the jumbotron, quipping that the gathering amounted to “a bunch of betas standing around looking at a half-naked socialist.”

The photo first appeared Wednesday during the opening night of President Donald Trump’s two-day Republican midterm convention in Dallas, showing Piker posing for a mirror selfie in nothing but a pair of underwear. The image, pulled from the streamer’s Instagram, was displayed on the arena’s massive jumbotron as part of a video targeting the political left.

It was then shown again during the convention’s second night on Thursday.

“There was some concern, Jessica, even among Republicans, that they weren’t gonna be able to pull the convention off,” Fox News’ Jesse Watters acknowledged on Friday’s edition of The Five. “But it does seem they did a pretty good job.”

“Yeah, well, they got all the best photos of Hasan Piker in a Speedo so — ” Tarlov noted, to laughter from her co-hosts.

“I missed that,” responded Watters.

“You missed the banana hammock situation?” Tarlov asked.

“I missed that,” Watters reiterated, also giggling.

“They used it both nights,” Tarlov pointed out.

“No, I didn’t catch it,” Watters confirmed.

“That’s how ripped he is, for a bunch of betas standing around looking at a half-naked socialist,” Tarlov wisecracked.

Piker even reacted to The Five’s Friday discussion on his stream, remarking on the convention’s choice to use the photo, “It doesn’t make any sense, ’cause like that doesn’t make us look bad, that doesn’t make the movement look bad. It kinda makes their criticisms look silly, because they’re like, ‘This is the guy.’ Like, ‘This is the f*cking Islamic terrorist, by the way. Look at how hot he looks naked.'”

Watch above on Fox News.

The post Jessica Tarlov Roasts GOP Convention Over Piker Pic: ‘Betas Standing Around Looking at a Half-Naked Socialist’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshot via C-SPAN

Despite U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche’s repeated assurances that President Donald Trump’s controversial anti-weaponization had been rescinded, the Justice Department on Friday appealed the judge’s decision that killed the planned $1.8 billion fund.

“Reserving all rights and waiving nothing, Defendants appear solely for the purpose of noticing their appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from this Court’s July 13, 2026,” the DOJ wrote in its brief filing in Miami Federal Court, which was first reported by Politico’s Josh Gerstein.

The massive fund sparked intense bipartisan backlash and nearly derailed Blanches’ confirmation after Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), said they would refuse to vote for Blanche unless the proposal for the fund was scrapped.

Blanche claimed on Aug. 2 that he had formally rescinded the fund.

“My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions,” he wrote on X at the time.

“We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement. The Department always welcomes and appreciates productive engagement with all members of Congress.”

The move prompted Cornyn and Tillis to vote for the confirmation of Trump’s former personal attorney as US Attorney General.

The anti-weaponization fund stems from a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the Internal Revenue Service.

As part of a settlement in the case, the fund was to be created “to provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare,” and “will have the power to issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed to claimants,” the DOJ said at the time.

But U.S. District ​Court Judge Leonie Brinkema hit the brakes on the plan in May when he ordered the Trump administration not to create the massive fund which has been slammed as a slush fund.

The post Justice Department Appeals Decision That Killed Trump’s Anti-Weaponization Fund first appeared on Mediaite.

Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon and the National Park Service on Facebook

President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly rejected more than 130 planned projects at national parks, putting at least $25 million in previously secured funding on hold.

The Interior Department last month declined to approve partnership agreements covering projects at parks including Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, and Joshua Tree, according to internal documents reported by The Washington Post on Friday.

The National Park Service uses such agreements to bring in outside organizations for specialized work without adding permanent federal employees, the paper noted. The rejected projects had already obtained funding, largely through congressional appropriations, existing federal programs, or internal processes.

Yet they were awaiting final Interior Department approval before the money could be released.

Department of the Interior spokesperson Aubrie Spady told The Post the department had “disapproved a number of partnership agreements with groups actively working against the best interests of the American people and the priorities of this administration.”

“This decisive action is ensuring that these taxpayer dollars are being used in alignment with the administration’s objectives to make life more affordable for Americans, unleash domestic energy production and expand access to our public lands,” she added.

Spady did not specify which administration policies the organizations or projects had potentially violated, according to the report.

Joshua Tree National Park was among the hardest hit, with at least 10 proposed agreements rejected. The planned work included wildfire recovery and prevention efforts and removing rodents carrying hantavirus from historic buildings.

“If this work is not completed, the park will be unable to fight wildfire. Fires will be larger and fire suppression will be more expensive,” an internal document warned about one Joshua Tree project.

Elsewhere, funding was rejected for work intended to protect prehistoric Native American mounds in Iowa from falling trees and a partnership aimed at preventing the endangered San Francisco garter snake from disappearing from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Another rejected agreement would have funded three workers caring for sled dogs at Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve, where rangers use the animals for winter travel and visitor assistance.

The Great Basin Institute, a conservation nonprofit, accounted for more than 70 of the rejected agreements, worth at least $12.7 million. Its chief executive told The Post that the Department of Interior had not directly contacted the organization about the decision.

This news comes as the administration is also reportedly pursuing a land exchange at Yosemite that could give a private developer control of a quarter-mile strip of the park, according to NOTUS. The Park Service said last month, though, that “no final decisions” have been made.

The post Trump Admin Reportedly Nixes $25 Million in National Park Projects first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshot via Scott MacFarlane on X

Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon claims she knows “for a fact” that President Donald Trump will try to “not leave in 2028,” arguing he is already laying the groundwork to remain in power past the end of his presidential term.

Nixon made the warning in a preview clip from an upcoming interview with MeidasTouch’s Scott MacFarlane, which the journalist posted Friday.

“This guy is laying out his plan,” Nixon stressed. “He’s laying the foundation and the groundwork to not leave in 2028. He’s weaponized an agency — ICE — and created a paramilitary force designed to terrorize people in their communities to see how far he can go. He’s pushing the limit, the envelope. They’re not being held accountable for murdering people, for slaughtering people on the streets while they’re on camera, and so he’s just pushing it, and then he’s building his ballroom that we know is getting fortified, all these things — ”

“Are you making the argument, Ms. Nixon, that you don’t think he’s gonna leave on Jan. 20, 2029?” MacFarlane interjected.

“He didn’t wanna leave in 2021!” Nixon exclaimed. “We saw what happened, and so I honestly am concerned about what he’s going to do, and I know that he made the case a few months ago that the election was stolen from him in 2020, like he’s putting things in place to make it so that he won’t leave. He won’t leave willingly. I know that for a fact, and so people need to be on high alert as it relates to that. He’s sending out the National Guard to different cities, and so, again, he’s testing how far he can go.”

She concluded, “I have had conversations with immigrants who have come from dictatorships and authoritarian governments, and they said that what is happening right now is what they have seen when these fascist and authoritarian regimes came in and took over their home countries.”

While Nixon joined the Democratic Socialists of America in June, she has made clear that she does not agree with its entire platform. While she shares some of the group’s positions — including abolishing ICE and creating pathways to citizenship — she has publicly broken with the DSA on several issues.

Nixon has said she does not support defunding the police or abolishing all prisons, has not advocated defunding the military, supports securing the border, and has not endorsed allowing noncitizens to vote.

“I don’t fully align with anybody’s full platform 100%, not even the Democratic Party,” Nixon told WLRN last month.

The organization has not endorsed her campaign.

Watch above on X.

The post ‘I Know That for a Fact’: Democratic Candidate Claims Trump Is ‘Laying Out His Plan’ to ‘Not Leave in 2028’ first appeared on Mediaite.

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Never Forget? On President Donald Trump’s social media feed, Sept. 11 was a day to Never Mention.

Millions upon millions of words have been written about Trump’s ego and mental state, with various commentators diagnosing him with a sampler’s platter of pages from the DSM-5, including dementia, malignant narcissism, and other personality disorders and mental illnesses.

He makes Cabinet appointments and doles out endorsements based on loyalty to Trump not qualifications or electability, demands wholly unearned recognitions like the Nobel Peace Prize or Purple Heart, is renovating the White House to resemble what might happen if Liberace threw up in Saddam Hussein’s gaudiest palace, and insists on plastering his name and face across numerous government buildings, currency, and programs.

Perhaps we should have predicted today, the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, would not be sacred to Trump after watching him commander America’s 25oth anniversary to be about himself, force the Republican Party to have a “Trumpalooza” midterm convention, and spend so much time and effort litigating his quest to force his name onto the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

“Memorial” being the operative word there; an act of Congress dedicated and named the center in the memory of President John F. Kennedy the year after his assassination.

And yet, when Trump ordered the letters of his name to be hammered into the center’s Carrara marble façade, he was only desecrating the memory of one slain American.

On Friday, he desecrated the memories of thousands.

This sort of public ceremonial performance is not supposed to be hard or complicated. All Trump had to do was show up, read a speech, post a few photos of the World Trade Center and heroes from the NYPD and FDNY with “Never Forget,” and shut the heck up. Save the politics and peacocking for tomorrow.

The New York Times reported that Trump was originally scheduled to be in New York City Friday, but backed out because he would not have been allowed to give a speech. The other four living U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden — were all in attendance, along with the former First Ladies.

Trump has denied the Times‘ report, Vice President JD Vance went to New York, and the president attended the memorial events at the Pentagon, where he managed to deliver a relatively restrained speech Friday morning.

The president did make some comments about his unpopular Iran War and declared Iran “will never, ever have a nuclear weapon,” but otherwise avoided political chatter and his penchant for recycling debunked claims about 9/11, including that he “took a whole crew” to help at Ground Zero in the immediate aftermath of the Twin Towers falling. Just this past Tuesday, he added a wild new claim to his 9/11 mythologizing, claiming he had to be hastily evacuated from a falling building by two firefighters “literally lifted me up” and “started running with me.”

Still, Trump’s Pentagon speech was fine and generally viewed as uncontroversial.

Again, all he had to do at this point to honor the memories of the fallen was shut up and go home.

Many politicians and other public figures will schedule Sept. 11 posts to coincide with the key moments from the timeline on that day in 2001: 8:26 am (American Flight 11 strikes the North Tower), 9:03 am (United Flight 175 strikes the South Tower), 9:37 am (American Flight 88 strikes the Pentagon), 9:59 am (South Tower collapses), 10:03 am (United Flight 93 crashes in Shanksville, Pennsylvania), and 10:28 am (North Tower collapses).

Instead, Trump’s first post was not until 1:35 pm ET and his Truth Social feed all afternoon was a parade of campaign propaganda, narcissistic self-promotion, and even a truly bizarre callback to the violent Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

His first 1:35 pm ET post had no caption, just a video montage from the UFC fight he had on the White House grounds as part of the celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary.

That was followed at 1:39 pm ET by a video montage of Fox News clips declaring him the winner of the 2024 presidential election.

At 2:51 pm ET, Trump inexplicably shared the infamous video he had posted on Jan. 6, 2021 in which he told the rioters to “go home in peace” after repeating his baseless claims about the “fraudulent” and “stolen” election — not to mention the added bonus of him saying “we love you” and “you’re very special” to rioters who had just vandalized the Capitol and violently attacked law enforcement officers.

At 3:08 pm ET, Trump touted the $5,000 “Trump Dividend” checks he claimed would be sent to every adult U.S. citizen if the GOP keeps its majorities in the House and Senate, a proposal that would violate the Constitution and was met with vociferous criticism and skepticism, including from Republicans.

And so on and so on, ad nauseam.

At 3:09 pm ET he posted a nearly 25-minute clip of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas this week, at 4:13 pm ET he shared an article inaccurately claiming the convention boasted a “sold-out crowd,” and at 4:40 pm ET another flattering article saying a “capacity crowd” went “wild” for him and Vance.

Today was supposed to be about honoring the memories of the 2,977 people who were murdered 25 years ago, their loved ones who are still mourning, the bravery of the heroes who put themselves in harm’s way to keep that tragic number from being higher, and the thousands of people who have suffered from medical complications arising from exposure to Ground Zero.

But in the mind of the Narcissist-in-Chief, today — like every other day — is just about him.

The post Narcissist-in-Chief: Trump Goes on Truth Social Posting Spree — Zero Mentions of 9/11 first appeared on Mediaite.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Former President George W Bush unveiled a collection of paintings marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, including his own rendering of the moment he was told America was under attack.

Bush, who began painting after leaving office in 2009, released images of the artwork Friday, a quarter-century after the attacks that transformed his presidency, with one painting recreating perhaps the most recognizable image of him from that morning.

(Screengrab via Instagram)

It depicts then-White House chief of staff Andrew Card leaning toward Bush as the president sat with second-graders at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida.

“A second plane hit the second tower,” Card told him at the time. “America is under attack.”

Bush, who had previously been informed that a plane had struck the World Trade Center in what was initially believed to be an accident, remained seated as the children continued their reading exercise.

Footage of his expression and the minutes that followed became one of the defining images of the day in the years after the attacks. Bush has said he remained in the classroom because he did not want to alarm the children.

The painting is one of 16 works in “Remembering 9/11,” an exhibition being displayed this month at the George W. Bush Presidential Museum in Dallas.

Other pieces depict smoke rising over New York City after the towers were struck, the badge of a police officer killed in the attacks and a large American flag hanging from a building.

“Twenty-five years ago, the actions of an enemy revealed the spirit of the American people,” Bush wrote alongside images of the collection.

“May we always honor the precious lives stolen, and may God bless America,” he added.

Bush joined the other living former presidents at a memorial service at Ground Zero on Friday, while President Donald Trump marked the anniversary at a ceremony at the Pentagon.

The post George W Bush Paints the Moment He Was Told US Was Under Attack on 9/11 first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshot via X

Rudy Giuliani spent the days leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks spewing vitriol at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) — but when they were finally face to face, he took a surprising stance.

The man once known as America’s Mayor — who has since been tainted by his efforts to push President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election — had a simple message for Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor.

“I’ll pray for you. It’s a really tough job,” Giuliani, 82, told Mamdani as the mayor walked up to his predecessor and shook hands before the lengthy memorial service began.

It was an extraordinary moment in more ways than one.

On one hand, the scene portrayed the dichotomy of the man lauded by many for his tenure at City Hall, who was in office the day terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers, offering advice to someone who was just 9-years-old the day the attack wreaked havoc across the city.

Aides for both men confirmed the gist of the handshake message to The New York Times.

But what made the poignant exchange far more notable was what came before the somber day in Downtown Manhattan.

Giuliani spoke to Newsmax on Sunday, unleashing on Mamdani — who had prompted the ire of 9/11 families who campaigned for him to stay away from the event.

Mamdani also angered many last week during an event in which he signed an executive order and passed the ceremonial pen to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who then handed it to Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, who once represented al-Qaeda operative Ahmed al-Darbi.

“Frankly, whatever he’d like to say, he doesn’t agree that Sept. 11 was an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States of America,” Giuliani said. “Having lost friends there, and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming.”

The former Trump lawyer also took a swipe at Mamdani’s religion.

“They have every desire to take us over. This is not, they want to be just another religion, they want to dominate us. Mamdani is a clear supporter of that,” the former mayor wildly said of all Muslims.

Mamdani didn’t reveal what Giuliani told him Friday when they finally came face to face, but spoke to CBS News afterward.

“We both extended our hand and exchanged pleasantries and I think the focus for all of us is to focus on the families, focus on the first responders and to be here and hear the names of all those who were stolen from us 25 years ago and of how the families have persevered through that time. I’m truly in awe of all that these families have given us.

When asked if Giuliani addressed his prior comments, Mamdani demurred.

“We just shook hands, and I think we were both here to ensure the focus remained on the families.”

The two mayors — along with former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 84, who took over the job from Giuliani and oversaw much of the city’s immediate recovery – were the only senior officials to stay throughout the hours-long event, according to a report.

Journalist Steve Kastenbaum noted most of the other officials on hand left as the names of the more than 2,000 victims were being read.

The handshake caused controversy with MAGA radio host Sid Rosenberg, who insisted Giuliani “broke my heart” by finding a moment of peace with Mamdani.

The post Rudy Giuliani’s Message to Zohran Mamdani During 9/11 Memorial Handshake Revealed first appeared on Mediaite.

(Jacquelyn Martin/AP photo)

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) warned on Friday that President Donald Trump’s plan to give Americans a $5,000 check should the GOP win the midterms sounds a lot like “pay-to-play politics.”

Trump sparked a wave of controversy earlier in the week by telling the crowd at the GOP’s midterm convention, “If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump Dividend.”

Trump couched the dividend as something that could be paid for by his tariffs, despite the tariff income amounting to only a fraction of the over $1 trillion it would take to give every American adult a check that large.

“I have serious concerns with this $5,000-check proposal. We are already more than $40 trillion in debt, and I cannot support another massive spending package without a clear way to pay for it,” Norman wrote on X, adding:

Tying government checks to the outcome of an election starts to sound like pay-to-play politics. Republicans should earn the support of the American people through good policy, not by promising another round of checks from Washington.

Meanwhile, the Senate has hundreds of House-passed bills waiting for action. Congress should be focused on getting that work done and putting our country on stronger financial footing.

Show me how this is paid for without adding to the debt. Until then, I cannot support it.

Trump defended his plan on social media earlier in the day. On Truth Social Friday, Trump posted, “The $5,000 Trump Dividend, given to all Adults in the United States due to the fact that our Country is taking in Trillions of Dollars of Economic Development, Investment, and Pure SUCCESS, is being criticized by ‘Dumocrats’ who are hoping that it never happens — But it will!” He continued:

As an example, the Dumocrats said THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, one of the largest ever approved by Congress, or signed into Law by a President happened, despite the Dumocrats saying it would be impossible to get approved — Or the Gift of $1776 that I gave last year to our Military, was an almost guaranteed Non Starter, everyone said it could not be done, but it was, our Military Patriots got the money, and loved it. When I say something, I mean it! The $5,000 Dividend will happen because the People of our Country deserve it. VOTE REPUBLICAN — MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP

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The post House Republican Accuses Trump’s Election-Linked Check of Being ‘Pay-to-Play Politics’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Independent journalist Tara Palmeri said she was kicked out of President Donald Trump’s Republican midterm convention after interviewing a GOP congressional candidate about the Jeffrey Epstein files while accompanied by three Epstein survivors.

Palmeri explained the situation, which unfolded on Thursday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on her YouTube, Substack, and X accounts on Friday.

Emphasizing that she had a “media badge,” while the three Epstein survivors had “guest passes,” Palmeri explained, “We walked in together. It was only 35 minutes that we were in there before we were ejected by security. All that we did — no signs, no protest, no nothing — was walk towards the stage area. We made a quick right and spoke to a really lovely man who is running for Congress as a Republican in Massachusetts.”

Here, she is referring to Robert Burke, who is, as Palmeri mentioned, a Republican candidate for Massachusetts’ 8th congressional district.

Joined by the three survivors, one of whom has since identified herself on X as Marijke Chartouni, Palmeri questioned Burke on Epstein, leading the candidate to stress, “We really need to know what actually happened,” later adding, “I want the information out. I don’t care who it [indicts].”

One of the survivors, whose face was blurred in the footage, thanked Burke for his “willingness to see how important this is.”

“By the time the interview was over,” the reporter continued in her synopsis, “security showed up, and they removed us.”

Read a transcript of that conversation below:

PALMERI: We at no point had Epstein survivor signs.

SECURITY: I’m not gonna be interviewed here. This isn’t even where media sits.

PALMERI: We’re allowed to talk to guests! We’re allowed to talk to people. That’s why we’re here. We’re media.

SECURITY: Great. I’m asking a super simple question.

PALMERI: We don’t have signs! We have clear bags. No signs.

SECURITY: I think that we’re making this more difficult than it has to be.

PALMERI: Okay. Okay. Yeah, let’s go.

“They wanna check our credentials,” Palmeri then told her camera, after walking out of the main floor of the arena with security. “I don’t know why. They thought we had signs?… I feel like this is kind of unfair. We should be able to ask questions. [Burke] was totally fine with asking the questions, and security bumped in, and it was really aggressive, like look at these guys with all their tats.”

The camera then cut as the “guys with all their tats” seemed ready to decide whether the group would be allowed to stay.

The next clip, though, was outside the stadium altogether, and featured Palmeri and the survivors hearing from a security guard, “If you re-enter, I’m gonna go to the police, and I’m gonna ask them to trespass you, okay?”

“I’ve been a reporter for 18 years. I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” the journalist said, concluding her summary of the ordeal. “We obviously hit the third rail — Epstein at an event for President Trump.”

Watch above on YouTube.

The post Reporter Says She Was Booted From GOP Convention Alongside Epstein Survivors first appeared on Mediaite.

Former President George W. Bush and his ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke about their experience on September 11th, 2001, during an event hosted at Bush’s library this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks.

During the discussion, they recalled the chaos of that day, including both believing for about ten minutes that the U.S. military had shot down Flight 93 over Pennsylvania.

Rice eventually turned the conversation to foreign policy. “You really started out, of course, making the case about Afghanistan and the plight of women,” Rice said as Bush agreed, “Absolutely.”

Rice added, “Or did you make that case, or did somebody else?”

Bush replied, “Well, I was trying to give a radio address, and Laura elbowed me out of the way, and she gave a radio address that spoke to the Afghan women. And it had a huge impact, by the way.”

“Do you think that we are falling away from that understanding, that part of the challenge that we faced on September 11th still is with us, and that there are free and unfree? Are we falling away from that?” followed up Rice.

“Yeah, absolutely, it seems to me. You know, our nation occasionally goes through isolationist periods where the attitude is, we’ve got too many problems at home, therefore who cares what happens overseas. Which really means, to me, they just don’t pay attention to the lesson of 9/11, because what happens overseas matters to our national security at home,” Bush replied, adding:

And yes, I’m afraid so. And, uh, to the extent that people are struggling against tyranny, it makes sense — we don’t have to send troops, but we ought to at least stand with them and stand beside them, because this is what we went through 250 years ago. And again, it’s a belief that everybody wants to be free. And we saw that in Afghanistan.

People say, well, they don’t want to be free, they don’t know the difference. Of course they know the difference. Young girls going to school for the first time in their lives knew the difference. Women becoming doctors and professors know the difference between a free society and a tyrannical society. And sadly, those women who began to realize their full potential no longer have a chance to realize their full potential.

Bush has previously shaded President Donald Trump’s reshaping of the GOP and warned against embracing populist nativism. When asked in April of 2021 for his take on the current state of the party, Bush replied, “I would describe it as isolationist, protectionist, and to a certain extent nativist.” Bush, however, has largely avoided politics since leaving office and explicitly argued he does not believe it’s the place of former presidents to publicly criticize the current one.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

The post Bush Warns Rising ‘Who Cares What Happens Overseas’ Attitude Betrays the Lessons of 9/11 first appeared on Mediaite.

Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s the GOP nominee to become Ohio’s next governor, shaded a constituent asking a question at a town hall event in Marietta, OH, on Friday.

Ramaswamy looked irritated as he called on the young man sitting in the front row.

“How can Ohioans trust a jet-setting billionaire who promoted a failed Alzheimer’s drug to govern in their best interest?” the man asked.

“Thank you. I appreciate it. You look like a plant, so I wanted to make sure I gave you a question,” a visually irked Ramaswamy said. “One thing I want to say is that we, unlike my opponent, whose allies, I think, had you come here, we welcome transparency,” Ramaswamy began, before challenging his opponent, Dr. Amy Acton (D), “to show up on a debate stage.”

Ramaswamy said his advisors told him not to accept interviews with CNN or NBC News.

“I said, we’re going to do it because we want to do it the right way for the public,” Ramaswamy said. “And so we’ll take any question, including ones that are based on really, I would say, defamatory, libelous lies. That’s okay,
you go into politics, that’s what you take.

“So let me tell you about my career. First of all, my opponent, all she’ll talk about is the fact that I’m a billionaire. Well, the truth is yes, I am,” Ramaswamy said before his wife, Apoorva Ramaswamy, tried to step in.

“Vivek, mind if I take this one?” she asked, in what appeared to be a bid to get him back on message.

“Yeah, why don’t you take this,” Ramaswamy said before he continued talking.

“The only thing I’ll say before I hand it over to Apoorva is, I was not born a billionaire. I was not born a millionaire. I was not born an ‘anything-air.’ I was born an heir to nothing and achieved what I have because I was able to build successful businesses, including ones that developed life-saving therapies for patients who needed them.”

Amy Acton was targeted by an armed man who lunged at her during the Canfield Fair on Sunday, leaving multiple people injured. Police immediately arrested and charged 38-year-old Patrick Havas with two counts of assault, one count of inducing panic and one of disorderly conduct

In a statement to local media, Ramaswamy said, “Candidates should be able to meet with voters without having to worry about threats or violence. What happened today is completely unacceptable and has no place in politics, and we hope hope that no one was hurt.”

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

The post ‘You Look Like a Plant’: OH Gov Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Shades Constituent During Town Hall first appeared on Mediaite.

(Screengrab via X)

CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan delivered a near-perfect demonstration Thursday of what happens when a troll arrives hungry for a viral hit only to discover his intended victim seems to be bemused by the shtick, leaving him performing the confrontation largely by himself.

MAGA provocateur Alex Stein approached O’Sullivan as the CNN reporter was setting up a camera at President Donald Trump’s GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, already filming and apparently ready for confrontation.

“Listen, why do we have a CNN midget like this here? We’ve got the corrupt news network here…” Stein began.

O’Sullivan laughed along. Then, rather than objecting to the insult, he noticed something funnier, Stein was holding his phone conspicuously above him to exaggerate their height difference.

“But you got the camera angle here,” O’Sullivan cracked, pointing up at the phone.

“I know, but you’re trying to show – I know, but look how short you are,” Stein plowed on, before asking whether O’Sullivan had come to “slander Charlie Kirk.”

O’Sullivan, still smiling and refusing to participate in the argument Stein had apparently planned for both of them, instead began to interview him.

“Tell us what are you doing here?” he asked.

That opened the floodgates as Stein unloaded a barrage of hits, repeating his “midget” line a bunch, branding the journalist a “propagandist,” accusing CNN of spewing “lies” and predicting the network would dishonestly edit their encounter.

O’Sullivan appeared unbothered, grinning politely throughout and waiting before lobbing back another question: “So when it comes to civil discourse, tell us a bit about that.”

“I love it,” Stein replied briefly, praising Kirk for having engaged in heated conversations before immediately returning to attacking CNN and telling O’Sullivan: “Like you know your ratings, Donnie, suck.”

Still no bite. In fact, the longer Stein went, the more O’Sullivan appeared to enjoy watching where the performance might go next. So as the journalist attempted another question Stein widened the aperture, moving from his target’s height to his nationality and immigration status.

“Well, just calling you out because it’s funny because you’re a midget, you work for CNN. So when I see a little midget, I call it out. And we’re going to go viral because you’re a liar and you’re Irish. You live here in America. I wish we would deport you. I can’t wait till we deport you, we need to get Donald Trump – deport this illegal immigrant. Do you have a green card?” Stein ranted, before repeating the question, this time with the strangely sincere curiosity of a man who had briefly forgotten he was doing a bit: “Do you have a green card?”

“I’m an American citizen,” O’Sullivan replied calmly.

Stein was undeterred, launching into a riff about “these Irish immigrants” coming to America to “steal your jobs,” before cycling through “Corrupt News Network,” “Clinton News Network,” “CNN sucks” and “Donie sucks.”

By this point, the emotional roles in the confrontation had become oddly inverted. The man being insulted was smiling while the man delivering the insults appeared increasingly exercised by his inability to provoke him.

He continued: “And I’m happy that you’re here, Cause I mean, listen. You guys need the ratings and ‘Primetime 99 Alex Stein’ delivers the ratings that CNN needs. That’s why they’re here covering your boy. So I’m excited for you to be here. I think it’s gonna be a great event.

O’Sullivan, having spent several minutes almost fascinated as Stein exhausted his repertoire into his own phone, wrapped up the encounter with three words: “Alright, civil discourse.”

“Let’s do it. Let’s go. Nice to meet you, Donie,” Stein quipped.

And with that, the confrontation ended, leaving Stein with plenty of footage but perhaps not quite the viral takedown he had arrived to film.

That impression did not exactly disappear afterward. When Stein later promoted the clip on X with the boast he’d been out there “confronting CNN Goblin Donie O’Sullivan,” the journalist replied: “it’s all about the friends you make along the way.”

And when another user weighed in, O’Sullivan offered an even shorter postmortem on the encounter: “Short kings ftw.”

The post CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan Laughs Off Troll Insulting His Height In Masterclass of Keeping Calm first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshots

MAGA radio host Sid Rosenberg claims former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani devastated him Friday by shaking hands with current Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the 9/11 memorial service.

Rosenberg, who has decried Mamdani as a “terrorist” and a “jihadist,” took to X to voice his displeasure with Giuliani — who recently slammed Mamdani ahead of the heartbreaking event in downtown Manhattan

Despite his strong words about Mamdani, Giuliani was seen shaking the younger man’s hand at the World Trade Center event.

That moment of basic decorum was too much for Rosenberg.

I’m standing on the New York Stock Exchange not very far from the Freedom Tower, the old World Trade Center.

I haven’t done a video in a long time but I gotta tell you today I’m upset. I feel like sometimes I fight these wars alone.

And what I’m talking about is radical Islam. I was so happy to see Ted Cruz last night say something, Bobby Kennedy, I had President [Donald] Trump on my program today and I asked him straight out: are Republicans going to make that a very, very serious topic come November.

They should. We are being taken over. We’ve got a mayor in this city that is at the very top of the list.

And what I saw this morning really upset me. Because I love Rudy Giuliani and I always loved him and I still love him. I don’t get involved in all the nonsense, rigged election nonsense, where people take shots at Rudy I don’t do that.. Greatest mayor ever Mr. New York I love him.

But with all his tough talk to see Rudy shake hands with Mamdani this morning. You don’t have to do that You’re not obligated slap the hand away turn around do something else.

Of all people Rudy Giuliani to shake the hand of Mamdani down at that ceremony this morning. I have to say broke my heart.

It comes down to this what good is all the talk if in person we’re gonna cave. I’m not doing that. I gotta run for office I really do. Very disappointed. Love Rudy I really do but what I saw today? I gotta say it Broke my heart.

Giuliani lashed out at Mamdani on Sunday amid an outcry from 9/11 families who insisted the current mayor should stay away from the solemn 25th anniversary of the terror attack.

“Frankly, whatever he’d like to say, he doesn’t agree that Sept. 11 was an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States of America,” Giuliani told to Newsmax Sunday. “Having lost friends there, and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming.”

Giuliani also made wild claims about all Muslims and Mamdani, telling the network: “They have every desire to take us over. This is not, they want to be just another religion, they want to dominate us. Mamdani is a clear supporter of that.”

The post MAGA Radio Host Says Rudy Giuliani ‘Broke My Heart’ By Shaking Mamdani’s Hand at 9/11 Memorial first appeared on Mediaite.