https://newsbusters.org/ en https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-spinnato/2026/05/20/ms-now-promotes-platner-and-mamdani-future-hits-spencer-pratt In the final minutes of Tuesday’s Katy Tur Reports, the MS NOW host discussed the Democrats’ 2024 election autopsy that had not been released as she and Democratic strategist Morris Katz minimized Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner’s controversies, including a Nazi tattoo, and then went after LA Mayoral Candidate Spencer Pratt’s style. After a discussion of what went wrong in 2024 for Democrats, Tur asked Katz about Platner, which she described as Democratic “hand-wringing”: Let me ask you about Graham Platner. There's a lot of hand-wringing within the Democratic Party about what to do with him, because on the one hand, he's a great speaker and he's charismatic. But on the other hand, he's got some issues in his past that have been ugly. How is he going to be able to deal with that in a general election against Susan Collins, who has proven to be a survivor?   In the final minutes of Katy Tur Reports, Tur and Democratic Strategist Morris Katz minimized Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner’s controversies, with no mention of the Nazi tattoo, before they hit on LA Mayoral Candidate Spencer Pratt's style, while admitting it works. pic.twitter.com/dVjv29AcE0 — Nick (@nspin310) May 19, 2026   Katz glanced over the actual controversies, like his Nazi tattoo, Reddit comments, and more, and instead went to call Platner “real.” He said, “real people (...) understand the realities that the average American is facing right now,” but they also “understand that when real people run for office, that embodies the good parts of it. It also embodies realities of people who've lived real lives, people who, you know, like, for Graham’s instance, served a decade overseas, struggled with PTSD.” Katz described Platner as a “story of redemption” and “if we don't believe in redemption, then what's the point in this political project?” Tur then turned to the Pratt campaign in LA as she slightly chuckled when introducing one of Pratt’s online ads that described his mayoral run through the The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song. After Tur repeated Meghan McCain's comments on Pratt’s strategy as “the way that this generation, my generation, elder millennials need to talk to people if you want to be a politician.”  Katz had some skepticism along with a few chuckles and an admission on its success: “I mean, I don't know if I want to see every politician engaging in the exact same practices. But I think it does speak to something. He's breaking through. You can't argue with the facts.” Tur then actually admitted some of the Democrats’ problem, as she admitted “the homeless problem is real” along with an understatement of “there seems to be a drug issue there.” She also said the Democratic Party sometimes seemed to be “full of a bunch of talk.” Katz turned this into praise for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and said instead of LA’s Mamdani, a conservative Pratt has taken the spot: I mean, that's when I see someone like Spencer Pratt succeeding. I think it's an indictment on us as a Democratic party. We need to. And this is why I think Mayor Mamdani has done a remarkable job and laid a platform where it's not just words.  Every day, you're seeing different actions that are improving the quality of life in New York, and that's the kind of party we need to be. And that hasn't been the result in LA a lot. And that's kind of left this pathway for someone to take that lane.” To close, Tur asked Katz how Democrats could turn the fate of the party around. TUR: Can this get turned around in the next two years? KATZ: With Democrats like Graham Platner, I think. Absolutely. With the controversies of Platner, notably his Nazi tattoo that was never mentioned in the segment, one would hope there were no more Platners. But it seemed likely as some in the media, as seen on Morning Joe, had taken a liking to Platner. The transcript is below. Click "expand": MS NOW’s Katy Tur Reports May 19, 2026 3:55:48 PM Eastern KATY TUR: Let me ask you about Graham Platner. There's a lot of hand-wringing within the Democratic party about what to do with him, because on the one hand, he's a great speaker and he's charismatic. But on the other hand, he's got some issues in his past that have been ugly. How is he going to be able to deal with that in a general election against Susan Collins, who has proven to be a survivor? MORRIS KATZ (DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST): I think that people are really hungry for candidates who aren't politicians, who are real people, working-class people who understand the realities that the average American is facing right now.  And they understand that when real people run for office, that embodies the good parts of it. It also embodies realities of people who've lived real lives, people who, you know, like, for Graham’s instance, served a decade overseas, struggled with PTSD, you know, had not done everything his entire life planning to run for president, like so many politicians who lost trust.  And he talks about this, and I think it's his is a story of redemption. And if we don't believe in redemption, then what's the point in this political project? TUR: I want to play another candidate who is going viral. It's not Graham Platner. It's maybe not some of the Democrats like, but his campaign message is striking a chord. And this is Spencer Pratt. Here's his latest video for the race for mayor of LA. [Cuts to video] SPENCER PRATT ADVERTISEMENT [To Fresh Prince of Bel Air Theme]: Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down. And I had to take a minute to run for mayor. I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air.  In West Los Angeles Palisades, in my backyard is where I spent most of my days. Meeting hummingbirds, relaxing, all cool, avoiding all the bones outside of the school when a couple (...). [Cuts back to live] TUR: Okay, Spencer Pratt. Meghan McCain said, this is the way that this generation, my generation, elder millennials need to talk to people if you want to be a politician. KATZ: I mean, I don't know if I want to see every politician engaging in the exact same practices. But I think it does speak to something. He's breaking through. You can't argue with the facts. TUR: He's addressing an issue in Los Angeles that people, you know, get into the consultant speech on. KATZ: Absolutely. And that is the thing to me, where he communicates in a way that no other politicians communicating and actually does relate to the grand thing in the sense of there's an authenticity there that I think really attracts people. TUR: And there are Democrats who support him and will say, I'm a Democrat, but I also look around the city of Los Angeles and I - the homeless problem is real. There seems to be a drug issue going on there, and it's not being addressed by the very people who say that they're going to address it humanely.  And they look at the Democratic party, and they say, you're full of a bunch of talk, and this is what Wes Moore was talking about. But all you do is give out, you know, proposals and nine-point plans, and you don't actually get anything done. KATZ: I mean, that's when I see someone like Spencer Pratt succeeding. I think it's an indictment on us as a Democratic party. We need to. And this is why I think Mayor Mamdani has done a remarkable job and laid a platform where it's not just words.  Every day, you're seeing different actions that are improving the quality of life in New York, and that's the kind of party we need to be. And that hasn't been the result in LA a lot. And that's kind of left this pathway for someone to take that lane. TUR: Also, more broadly, I'm going to put up on the screen Donald Trump's numbers on the on the poorly educated. And we bring this up because Donald Trump really embraced, really embraced, you know, “the poorly educated love me.” I remember I was in a rally in Vegas in early 2016. It was right after the South Carolina primaries. He got some results back and he was reading them out, and he said, “Oh, I love the poorly educated.”  And it was it was him saying, I connect with the working class. I connect with all types of people. I am not. I may be an elitist, but I understand you and people really responded to that. How does the democratic party win back these voters or win over these voters? KATZ: I mean, I think we need to look at some of the things that, frankly, Donald Trump was able to campaign on. And also some of the things Spencer Pratt is campaigning on. They're lying. And I think we can be clear about that. And we have a lot of points we can make to reveal that.  But in order to take those voters in, I think we need to take seriously what they have been expressing in their support of them, which is exactly what you said. A deep frustration with the democratic party is more interesting and lecturing than listening. And in kind of proving moral points than intangibly improving people's lives. TUR: Can this get turned around in the next two years? KATZ: With Democrats like Graham Platner, I think. Absolutely. (...) May 20th, 2026 10:47 PM Nicholas Spinnato 295215 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2026/05/20/pbs-cair-repackage-israeli-haters-now-experts-lowering-rhetorical Tuesday’s PBS News Hour invited the worst possible guest expert to comment on the deadly shooting at an Islamic center in San Diego: The deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR’s sordid Israel-hating history should render a spokesman from the group discreditable. CAIR, perpetually coddled on (previously public) media like PBS and NPR, has been labeled a terrorist group by the state of Texas as well as United Arab Emirates (UAE). Democratic Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has also linked CAIR to terrorism, noting that the group's co-founders had "intimate links to Hamas.” The FBI cut off "high-level cooperation with the group" way back in 2008. Most disgusting, CAIR's executive director, Nihad Awad, declared himself happy about the October 7 massacre while speaking to the group American Muslims for Palestine (notably, Awad is still CAIR's executive director). None of that sordid history bothered PBS. They set up CAIR to denounce America.  PBS @NewsHour anchor Geoff Bennett set up a CAIR leader to denounce America as a terribly "Islamophobic" place in the aftermath of the San Diego mosque shooting. Edward Ahmad Mitchell made the shooting deaths about rhetoric from Trump and the Republicans, just the way PBS likes… pic.twitter.com/EIzRmIqr8N — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 21, 2026 Anchor Geoff Bennett: Attacks on houses of worship remain relatively rare in the U.S., but incidents targeting religious communities have risen in recent years. Last year, six people were killed in shootings at churches in Michigan and Minneapolis. Temple Israel Synagogue in Detroit, which was targeted in an attack two months ago, said in a statement: "The images coming from San Diego are all too familiar to us." The synagogue also called for $1 per month to protect houses of worship…. We turn now to Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations….How has this shooting in the broader rise in anti-Muslim incidents across the country affected Muslim communities psychologically and emotionally?  Edward Ahmed Mitchell: Anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States is completely out of control. We have elected officials, members of Congress, governors who have in recent months said that American Muslims should be destroyed, that Islam has no place in America, that we should ban the practice of Islam, that mosques are military outposts….It's time for Islamophobia to no longer be the last publicly acceptable form of bigotry in our country. And that starts from the top down. Another fact skipped was the controversy over the San Diego mosque’s own Imam, Taha Hassane, who said in a video days after the October 7 massacre: “This did not start last week or on October 7. This is the result of brutal Zionist occupation and genocide…Resistance is justified when people are under occupation and don’t let them change that narrative.” But Bennett set up CAIR to be an anti-hate group:  Bennett: The Associated Press reports that the manifesto that was left behind had hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims, Islam, the LGBTQ community, Black people, women, the political left and right. At this point, what's the path forward here? What's it going to take to really lower the temperature? Geoff Bennett to guest from Israel-loathing Muslim pressure group CAIR: "...the manifesto that was left behind had hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims, Islam, the LGBTQ community, black people, women....What's it going to take to really lower the temperature?" pic.twitter.com/HOCUnuWyDj — Clay Waters (@claywaters44) May 20, 2026 Mitchell is precisely the wrong person to ask about lowering rhetorical temperature, given CAIR’s shameful history, including its executive director (who is still there) celebrating October 7. Compare this Islam-sympathetic angle to News Hour’s response to the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in Minneapolis by a transgender (biological male) in August 2025. Nothing about anti-Catholic/anti-Christian hatred. Instead, PBS invited Minneapolis Democratic mayor James Frey to emotionally push gun control. Bennett: Minnesota has a red flag law that allows firearms to be temporarily removed from people who are deemed to be a danger to themselves or to others. We don`t know enough about what transpired to know whether that would have prevented this tragedy. But how does it work? And what more needs to be done at the state and federal level to prevent another tragedy like this from happening again? Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: ….let`s just be very real here. We have too many guns in America. When you have more guns than you have people, you have got a problem. When people are able to get guns that are in some form of severe mental health crisis, you got a problem…. A transcript is available, click “Expand.” PBS News Hour 5/19/26 7:06:57 p.m. Anchor Geoff Bennett: This shooting at San Diego's Islamic Center has understandably sent shockwaves to the Muslim community here in the U.S. For more, we turn now to Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Thank you for being with us. Edward Ahmed Mitchell: Thank you for having me. Geoff Bennett: How has this shooting in the broader rise in anti-Muslim incidents across the country affected Muslim communities psychologically and emotional? Edward Ahmed Mitchell: Anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States is completely out of control. We have elected officials, members of Congress, governors who have in recent months said that American Muslims should be destroyed, that Islam has no place in America, that we should ban the practice of Islam, that mosques are military outposts. Just last week, at a congressional hearing, that language was used. And so, when you see that sort of anti-Muslim hate, it's no surprise that someone took it very seriously and engaged in a horrific act of violence. So American Muslims, sadly, are accustomed to this. This mosque had security there for a reason, because we know about the potential threat. Now we feel, after this incident, it's time for this to end. It's time for Islamophobia to no longer be the last publicly acceptable form of bigotry in our country. And that starts from the top down. Geoff Bennett: To your point about the level of security, we heard from the imam of the Islamic Center. He said the center had done everything possible to prevent that kind of attack. They applied for DHS grants. They employed armed security. They conducted drills. They had cameras inside and out. What challenges do mosques, houses of worship face when it comes to protecting themselves in this day and age? Edward Ahmed Mitchell: Yes. Well, look, a house of worship is not a military fortress. It's a place where people come to worship, whether you're going to synagogue, a church, or a mosque. And so it's very difficult to impose significant security restrictions without interfering with its ability to be welcoming to people of different faiths and, of course, the people there to worship. Having said that, it's absolutely a must, especially for mosques and other targeted houses of worship, to have security cameras, to have an armed guard, especially for major events, and especially if there's a school there. And we saw the benefit of this. Amin Abdullah, the security guard there, saved countless lives by combating these attackers, by engaging in a firefight with them, and scaring them away, and losing his life in the process. And so I can only imagine what would have happened if he hadn't been there at all. But it just goes to show you that even a security guard cannot stop the violence. That's why we have to stop the root of it, which is anti-Muslim hate, rampant anti-Muslim hate, tolerated by our government, spread by our government and certain media personalities. Addressing that is the best way to stop this ongoing threat to mosques. Geoff Bennett: You mentioned the security guard. When tragedies like this happen, we all too often focus on the gunmen, the motives. There's usually less attention on the victims. What more should we know about Amin Abdullah, this father of eight? Edward Ahmed Mitchell: Yes. Well, there were three members of the San Diego Muslim community murdered in this incident. Amin Abdullah, obviously, as the security guard, has been widely recognized for saving lives, but also the other two gentlemen there. One of them actually, we're told, ran into the building after Amin was killed and went into the building trying to help, and he himself was killed as well. Another brother there was just killed as a bystander. And so all three of these men were beloved, respected members of that community. The Islamic Center of San Diego is one of the most prominent mosques in California and across the country. And so this attack is horrific, and that's why the community is standing strongly with the families of the victims and doing everything they can to make sure that they are supported in this horrible time, and also to make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else again in the future, God willing. Geoff Bennett: In the roughly 30 seconds we have left, the Associated Press reports that the manifesto that was left behind had hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims, Islam, the LGBTQ community, Black people, women, the political left and right. At this point, what's the path forward here? What's it going to take to really lower the temperature Edward Ahmed Mitchell: Yes, look, this starts from the top down. As I said, if the president of the United States is engaging in open bigotry against various communities and members of Congress and governors in Texas and Florida, other states are doing that, it's no surprise you're going to see hateful rhetoric turning to hate crimes. So we have to start with our political leaders. They have got to stop fomenting hate against various Americans. This is all our country. Everyone has the right to be here and live in peace and worship in peace. And so we need our political leaders to stop spreading hate, because it is endangering lives. Geoff Bennett: Edward Ahmed Mitchell, thank you for your time this evening. We appreciate it. Edward Ahmed Mitchell: Thank you. May 20th, 2026 10:07 PM Clay Waters 295232 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/siena-do/2026/05/20/ms-now-welcomes-plot-sue-ice-agents-supposedly-stealing-midterms The Leftist conspiracy theory machine was alive and well as Miles Taylor, founder of the anti-Trump organization Defiance and former DHS Chief of Staff appeared on MS NOW’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle and peddled the same old election security conspiracies that the Democrats and anti-Trumpers have been screaming about for years now, much to Ruhle’s excitement. In response to Ruhle’s question about how concerned he was about election security this year, Taylor threw up his hands as he passionately declared that his concern was “Off the charts”: RUHLE: How concerned are you? I'm not going to say 'are you,' how concerned on a one to 10? TAYLOR: Off the charts! Off the charts concerned because Donald Trump has already shown us this year his willingness in Fulton County, where Ali was just pointing to it on the board, his willingness to go in and seize ballots. This was the great fear that folks had in 2020. Donald Trump himself said in January that he regrets not sending the National Guard in to seize ballots, when it looked like he was going to lose.  Taylor’s concern stemmed from his baseless belief that Trump had shown “his willingness to go in and seize ballots” in the 2026 midterms because of an investigation into Fulton County, Georgia, years after the 2020 election. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump said that some of his advisors in his first term asked him to launch an investigation on the potential hacking of digital voting machines. Glaring through both his glasses and the camera, Taylor also criticized “the whole election security architecture” as “woefully inadequate” to stop a domestic threat since it was set up to stop foreign actors. Of course, he mentioned the debunked ‘Russian collusion’ conspiracy theory before suggesting the President was “the person attacking our elections.”     Taylor then sought to appropriate “FAFO,” rebranding it as the “Fight Against Federal Overreach,” which he launched from his website defiance.org. Taylor’s so-called Fight Against Federal Overreach effort entailed local prosecutors threatening to sue ICE officers carrying out lawful deportations in the same vicinity as polling places: One of the things that we announced today at defiance.org is an effort that we launched called Fight Against Federal Overreach. FAFO. These are local prosecutors across America who announced this morning, if Donald Trump does things like send ICE agents to the polls to intimidate voters, those local prosecutors are going to sue them. They're going to charge them. They're going to put them in jail if they engage in illegal voter intimidation. We're talking about big city District Attorneys around this country who are saying, ‘no, no, no, no, no, we read the Constitution also. You can't do this.’ This claim was perhaps the most insane conspiracy theory of the many that Taylor pushed during his MS NOW appearance, and was specifically meant to intimidate ICE officers and stop them from doing their jobs. Of course, ICE does not take part in any kind of “illegal voter intimidation.” Their job is to arrest illegal alien criminals and remove them from our streets. Obviously, only American citizens are permitted to vote in our elections. American citizens need not worry about being detained by ICE, unless they are actively obstructing the ICE officers from doing their duty. As Taylor’s severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome reared its ugly head on The 11th Hour, Stephanie Ruhle touted, “Miles, you’re so fired up!” The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: MS NOW's The 11th Hour May 19, 2026 11:18:24 p.m. Eastern (…) STEPHANIE RUHLE: Miles, I would argue the most important part of elections is that they're free and fair. Today, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was pressed on why a DOJ Election Security Task Force was disbanded. Are you concerned about election security this year? MILES TAYLOR: Yeah, deeply concerned. I mean- RUHLE: Or, I should say, how concerned are you? I'm not going to say 'are you,' how concerned on a one to 10? TAYLOR: Off the charts! Off the charts concerned because Donald Trump has already shown us this year his willingness in Fulton County, where Ali was just pointing to it on the board, his willingness to go in and seize ballots. This was the great fear that folks had in 2020. Donald Trump himself said in January that he regrets not sending the National Guard in to seize ballots, when it looked like he was going to lose. A man who admits that is admitting he's willing to commit a crime. So I'm very worried about that.  But here's the thing, that Election Security Task Force that was set up when I was in the first Trump Administration, the whole election security architecture we set up was focused on protecting America against foreign adversaries meddling in our elections, like the Russians in 2016. And to our dismay, that structure we had set up was woefully inadequate, if the person attacking our elections was the president of the United States himself.  Now, I will say, Stephanie, though, that there's not a lack of opposition to what's happening with Donald Trump. In fact, one of the things that we announced today at defiance.org is an effort that we launched called Fight Against Federal Overreach. FAFO. These are local prosecutors across America who announced this morning, if Donald Trump does things like send ICE agents to the polls to intimidate voters, those local prosecutors are going to sue them. They're going to charge them. They're going to put them in jail if they engage in illegal voter intimidation. We're talking about big city District Attorneys around this country who are saying, ‘no, no, no, no, no, we read the Constitution also. You can't do this.’ So folks are stepping up against these things. They're preparing for what the Trump Administration might try to do. RUHLE: Hmm. I thought FAFO stood for something else. I guess I was wrong. Miles, you are so fired up, I’m going to have you - I’m going to ask you to stick around. May 20th, 2026 9:07 PM Siena Do 295233 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2026/05/20/abc-displays-tds-nbc-actually-educates-viewers-special-report ABC and NBC broke in Wednesday with network special reports on the Justice Department’s historic indictments against Raúl Castro and five others in the deadly 1996 shootdown of aircraft related to the pro-freedom Brothers to the Rescue group that resulted in the deaths of four men. While NBC delivered a proper history lesson and gave no quarter to the murderous communist regime, ABC channeled its long history of excusing the regime by framing this as largely a Trump political play. ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir opened by framing the announcement at Miami’s Freedom Tower on the 124th anniversary of Cuban independence through Trump-tinted lenses, telling viewers this was all about a “major escalation” and “rising tensions between the U.S. and Cuba.” Notice ABC's David Muir opened the network's Special Report on the DOJ/Castro indictments through the lens of Trump, Trump, Trump, such as here: “President Trump previously imposing a blockade of oil shipments to Cuba in an effort to continue to cripple Cuba’s economy.” pic.twitter.com/SPNeInKP3T — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2026 Muir huffed the murder charges of 94-year-old Castro came after Trump took foreign policy “action, of course, in Venezuela, then Iran” and, in Cuba, “impos[ed] a blockade of oil shipments to Cuba in an effort to continue to cripple Cuba’s economy.” “President Trump has said in recent months that the U.S. was in talks with Havana. He raised the possibility of a friendly takeover of Cuba, in his words. And the President has said Cuba is going to fall pretty soon in his words as well,” he added. Muir channeled his predecessors Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer by giving daylight to the commies. In 1989, Jennings gushed over Fidel Castro as having “delivered the most to those who had the least” and become “a model of development” on education, literacy, and “world-class” medical care. All of it, Jennings argued, served as “great success stories” to Castro’s (violent) revolution. In 1993, Sawyer swooned Raúl’s brother prevailed because of his “invincible certainty of their destiny” and, in 2008, said Fidel “knew life is a stage and played the part of the dashing revolutionary.” The only support before the press conference came from vague anecdotes from correspondent Matt Rivers, who said from Little Havana that “we’ve been seeing people drive past us here..., honking their horns, Cuban flags out the windows,” and some donning Make America Great Again hats. During the speeches, Muir dipped out and tag-teamed with chief legal analyst Dan Abrams to cast doubt on the indictment’s success: Disney's ABC News was, unsurprisingly, very skeptical of the Justice Department's indictment of Raul Castro and five others in the murders of four men from the Brothers to the Rescue in 1996 pic.twitter.com/TjEbvoOUeb — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2026 There was more vague talk from former longtime Univision correspondent Teresa Rodriguez, who followed on the themes of doubts about its success, but at least went further than Rivers in providing color on the jubilation in Miami: [F]or some of these people that I see in that audience today, some of them are relatives, one of which I spoke to yesterday. And you can see the smiles on their faces. They lost their loved ones, they lost their — their sons. So this is quite a day, a historic day for the Cuban exile community, not just here, but all over the world. After Saturday World News Tonight anchor and weekend Good Morning America co-host Whit Johnson relayed his recent regime-approved trip to Cuba and touted a defiant government as ordinary people suffer (which he did not assign blame), Muir offered the most laughable line of all about ABC having “been committed to covering the Cuban people for a very long time”: ABC’s David Muir, channeling predecessors Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer with their overt or back-door fawning over the Castro regime in communist Cuba... “ABC News has been committed to covering the Cuban people for a very long time. It was a decade ago. We took World News… pic.twitter.com/KBU9OhqQ5x — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2026 Once they aired Thomas’s questions to Blanche, Muir signed off with more skepticism, except to vaguely state “things are changing in Cuba.” It would be a vast understatement to say NBC was different. NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas — a Miami native and son of Cuban refugees — immediately declared it “a historic moment” with charges related to the death of four from “the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue” and also noted the historic symbolism of the location and day to unseal the indictment. Llamas even stated out loud some “viewers across the country...may be a little confused” about the pomp and circumstance surrounding the roll out, so he delivered a history lesson of sorts about the men lost (some had served in the Vietnam War) and what Brothers to the Rescue accomplished. Correspondent Jesse Kirsch also pointed to how Brothers to the Rescue were “credited with saving upwards of 10,000 lives” and thus were not a “trivial” group but one that had a “real impact at a time when there were so many people in the dangerous, treacherous waters between Cuba and Florida trying to get here.” Tom @LlamasNBC explaining to those unaware of the importance of today’s DOJ indictment of Raul Castro and the Cuban regime’s deadly 1996 shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue plane... “[F]or our viewers across the country who are watching this, they may be a little confused… pic.twitter.com/IYj0GgxK7a — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2026 Longtime NBC correspondent Kelly O’Donnell was the lone voice to frame the indictment solely as a Trump-connected project, but still said many believe an indictment “will...right this 30-year wrong” with Secretary of State Marco Rubio having long opposed the Cuban regime as the son of Cuban immigrants. Llamas dug deeper on the history angle with Saturday NBC Nightly News anchor, longtime Telemundo anchor, and fellow Floridian Jose Diaz-Balart. In a fascinating series of explanations, Llamas focused on how the Castros had a spy network inside the United States that aided in the attack while Diaz-Balart detailed how the shootdowns took place (click the X post to read the transcript): WATCH: Important history lesson on the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown from NBC’s Tom @LlamasNBC and @JDBalart.... Llamas: “The charge here may be murder, and it actually may go further than that. It may be premeditated murder. And the reason for that is that we now know that… pic.twitter.com/Xb9Iz0dA2e — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2026 Following the event, Diaz-Balart relayed the angry reaction from the current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel falsely claiming the Brothers to the Rescue was “a narco-terrorist” group.  Diaz-Balart also praised the indictment as “a speaking indictment” and thus “not just the declaration of the charges, but...a narrative that points very directly to Raúl Castro’s responsibility in any decision that was taken to knock down those planes” and the spy network Llamas referenced earlier. Once O’Donnell said her piece detailing how the indictment provided “a sense of the history of the case” but likely didn’t reveal all the cards and evidence the government has, senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez chimed in with his own views, particularly the stark change from then-President Barack Obama’s chummy 2016 visit to see Raúl Castro (click “expand”): But you remember, Tom, in the Maduro raid, a lot of Maduro security were Cubans. So, there are a lot of questions about how this moves forward. We have reporting over the last several months that President Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated by the Cuban government remaining in power, despite the fuel shortages that have erupted across the island. And if I could point out, Tom, this really points to over the last decade or so, the sharp difference in policy from the Trump administration to the Obama administration before it. I was there in 2014, 2015, with that thaw of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S. And you remember that last speaker — the Florida Attorney General — mentioned that he didn’t name him by name, but President Obama actually attended a baseball game with Raul Castro in Havana, and that was a reference to that. Certainly, Kelly was referring to the political dynamics of all this. But we see just how far the Trump administration has come from the Obama administration before it, making a calculation that it does not want any sort of talking with the Cuban regime. It’s losing patience with it. And the CIA director’s visit there last week, certainly the leaking of pictures from that from that visit amounted to an escalation of the pressure campaign. And you’re right, that is the major question. What happens next? Will the U.S. now somehow go into Cuba and bring Raul Castro back here to face these charges? He turns 95 years old next month. Llamas closed with a poignant five-minute interview of Miriam de la Pena, whose son Mario was one of the four men killed in the shoot down. POWERFUL: NBC’s Tom @LlamasNBC interviews Miriam de la Pena, the mother of Mario de la Pena, one of the Americans killed in the deadly 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown by the Cuban military, about her emotions hearing the U.S. has indicted Raul Castro and five others in her… pic.twitter.com/9V4OuIBOB9 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2026 Asked what this moment meant to her, she emphatically told Llamas this is “the first day of us being on the road to find justice” and the first time her son and the three others killed “are looked at as human beings who were murdered under a dictatorship, who extended their tentacles to international waters to kill American citizens. And that cannot be allowed.” “I think it’s the right thing to do...You kill American citizens, the United States needs to defend those citizens. You and I could have been killed. The United States needs to stand up for its citizens. What are we here for? Protect our citizens from murderers...I feel like we’re — we’re human beings. Before, we were ignored. We’re not ignored anymore...There were four innocent men trying to do good for society, and they did not deserve to die that way,” she later added. Llamas closed by asking what she’d say to Raúl Castro. Here was her answer: You are going to get what you deserve. You are being called by what you are today. You are a murderer. Now, you will have, in the United States — your rights will be will not be violated like you violate the rights of the Cuban people. You will have rights in the United States being respected and you will serve a just sentence if you’re found guilty, which I have no doubt that you will be found guilty. “Miriam de la Pena, your husband, I know, is right next to you. We thank you so much for talking to us. We are sorry for what you and your family have struggled through and gone through over these 30 years, and I know today is a monumental day for you. We shall see what shall happen in the days and weeks ahead,” Llamas said in response. To see the relevant transcripts from May 20, click here (for ABC) and here (for NBC). May 20th, 2026 6:52 PM Curtis Houck 295234 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2026/05/20/byron-allen-promises-no-politics-show-taking-over-colberts-cbs The liberal crew on CBS Mornings faced the awkward task Wednesday of promoting billionaire media mogul and comedian Byron Allen paying CBS to air archival and supposedly new material from his show Comics Unleashed — which marks 20 years in 2026 — starting Friday in place of the cancelled Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Notably, Allen emphasized the show will not feature politics but instead “appeal to all” and “bring people together using comedy.” “[T]he show is comedians discussing funny things that happen. And are you going to talk politics, or is it all about comedy,” wondered Saturday co-host Adriana Diaz. Allen had an emphatic reply: “No, no, no, no politics. That’s it. You come, you laugh. You know...we’re about to have our 20th anniversary this fall...of Comics Unleashed, 20 years of laughter. We’ve had on a thousand comedians, every — every state, shape, size, you name it.” When Diaz said that means “you want to bring people together,” Allen added: “And I want to bring people together using comedy. I’m going to appeal to all.” Moments earlier, Diaz brought up Allen’s position of taking Colbert’s slot and wondered “how” it “sit[s] with you” after CBS suits pulled the plug: “[Y]ou just mentioned that you’ve written jokes for David Letterman and you know the public criticism from Letterman, from Kimmel, from others about CBS canceling Colbert. How does that sit with you as the person who’s taking on this time slot?” Byron Allen on his deal to air ‘Comics Unleashed’ episodes on CBS after Colbert’s cancellation... “I think it was a very unfortunate event. I love Stephen Colbert. I’m a big fan. Once they made the decision, I said, okay, this isn’t show business. This is business show. You… pic.twitter.com/8QWqi4ukQX — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 20, 2026 Allen insisted he thought “it was a very unfortunate event” because “I love Stephen Colbert” and “I’m a big fan,” but also knew “this isn’t show business,” but “business show” given CBS has been “losing lots of money.” “I said, here’s a solution not to lose lots of money. And I think we can hold on to his audience and hopefully build on it because it is business show not show business. I absolutely love Colbert, and I would do anything — he doesn’t need me. I would do anything to support him,” he added. Diaz also delivered the two teases to this sit-down, describing Comics Unleashed as “taking over The Late Show slot.” The interview began with a clip of Allen from a 1979 appearance on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson as proof of his comedy chops being in addition to his ownership of a media conglomerate. “He made history as the youngest stand-up comedian to appear on the show, and now the media mogul and powerhouse producer is making late-night history again. This Friday, he takes over The Late Show time slot with his comedy talk show, Comics Unleashed. Byron Allen is the show’s host and executive producer,” Diaz began. After Diaz and co-host Nate Burleson joked about how he looked as a teen 47 years ago, Diaz remarked Allen has “said that you have wanted to have a late-night show since that performance that you had on Johnny Carson’s show.” Allen said that he had long watched Carson’s show as a boy in Los Angeles while waiting for his young mother (who had Allen when she was 17) to come home from giving tours at NBC, and in doing so, “I’ve said to myself, what a wonderful way to go through life, making people laugh.” Cued up by fill-in co-host Major Garrett, Allen explained that his official launch date in the Colbert slot is Friday, which will be 34 years to the day Carson left The Tonight Show. Before asking him to denounce the Colbert cancellation, Burleson had him explain how this deal with CBS had come about. Allen stated plainly to the former NFL player that broadcast networks are facing “some financial pressure” because “sports rights are very expensive” and “ad dollars are shifting from linear to digital,” which he’s come to learn as he “invested about a billion dollars buying ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox affiliates and other assets like The Weather Channel.” He then relayed his negotiations to pay CBS to let him air his two-decade-old show to save $150 million by cancelling both The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Taylor Tomlinson’s After Midnight (click “expand”): And what I said to the networks, I said, look, you’re spending about $150 million on Colbert and the show after Colbert. So, you’ve decided to cancel both of them. My recommendation is that you don’t spend money on that time period now that you have decided to cancel them because at the end of the day, you’re throwing me an audience at 1:30 in the morning to my CBS affiliates that I own around the country. And I’m running half-hour infomercial spray on hair. You know, abs in 24 hours. I said, save your money, I will put my show Comics Unleashed on. Now, I started Comics Unleashed — well, first of all, they said, this is great...[T]hey said, this is a great idea. You’re going to save us $150 to $170 million. To see the relevant CBS transcript from May 20, click here. May 20th, 2026 4:28 PM Curtis Houck 295231 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/20/new-york-times-fanboy-finds-mockery-hegseth-carlson-among-best Dave Itzkoff is a former culture reporter for The New York Times, but he's still dabbling as their Saturday Night Live correspondent. At the end of Season 51, "Ditzkoff" (his X handle) naturally loved the liberal-pleasing comedy bits in his "Best of SNL" list.  First, Ditz loves the horrendous Colin Jost impression of Pete Hegseth, which has all the comic panache of a guy who's watched Revenge of the Nerds a few too many times. Jost probably screams "Boooger!" into the mirror eight times in his dressing room before heading to the stage.  Recurring character of the season There are few comedians as good at impersonating President Trump as James Austin Johnson is, but does every cold open have to feature this character? It seemed like “S.N.L.” was going to test this theory, until it was handed a strange gift. After more than 20 years at the show, a dozen of them as an anchor at the "Weekend Update" desk, Colin Jost turned out to have just the right mixture of preppy looks and fratty rage to play Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, an increasingly visible figure during the invasion of Venezuela and the war in Iran. Like a shot of beer with a pint of whiskey dropped into it, Jost gave the cold opens a whole new flavor. Glad to see things are finally going his way. Let's agree that James Austin Johnson does a good impression of Trump and is actually funny doing it -- he speaks in perfect Trump-speak, and not every sentence sounds like a Bluesky bleat. In other words, he's the polar opposite of Alec "Shooter" Baldwin, who could only channel all his inner rage at Trump and call it an impression. That's the same spirit that Jost seems to be using.  Then there's Jeremy Culhane's Tucker Carlson -- it's a good impression, but it's performed from some sort of comedy time capsule, channeling the Fox News-hosting version of Carlson from about five years ago. Apparently, Team NBC doesn't want to mock the current Tucker, the Israel-hating conspiracist that Mark Levin calls "Qatarlson." Weekend Update desk character of the season In his rookie year on “S.N.L.”, Jeremy Culhane, a frequent face on the online comedy platform Dropout, has made entire meals out of seemingly single-serving Weekend Update characters: For example, Mr. On Blast, who punctuates his emphatic opinions with air-keyboard flourishes and entire dance routines. But Culhane’s pièce de résistance was his strangely hypnotic impression of Tucker Carlson, the conservative media personality, whom the actor successfully summed up with an adenoidal laugh and a few repeated conspiratorial turns of phrase. (“That’s the rule. That’s the goal now.”) And for good measure, we'll throw in Ditzkoff's love for a skit about a MAGA mom having second thoughts about Trump, but her liberal children are having trouble accepting her journey off the Trump trail.  Sketch of the season In the parlance of an earlier “S.N.L.” era, “Mom Confession” had everything: an inherently political conceit (conservative mother gingerly voices her regret about voting for Trump, and her liberal children freak out); clever camouflage to wrap this premise in the gentle guise of a family gathering; and — oh yes — the perfect, patient timing of Ashley Padilla to make said mom an instantly memorable (and meme-able) character.  The Times writer called this a "classic" as he began:  This year, in Season 51, with none of those [50-year anniversary] distractions to worry about, “S.N.L.” got back to the bits, characters and talent that make it what it is. It found clever ways to satirize the Trump administration without making President Trump the focal point of every segment, minting at least one classic sketch in the process. May 20th, 2026 4:13 PM Tim Graham 295228 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/05/20/sunny-hostin-loves-democratic-plan-cause-economic-damage After calling for an armed “rebellion” against President Trump earlier in the week, ABC News co-host Sunny Hostin boasted about Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) plan to have black college athletes boycott their scholarships to southern schools. The View co-host touted how it would cause “economic damage and economic harm” to the south. Meanwhile, faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin called it “a very good idea” and noted, “the economy would crumble.” All as revenge for redistricting. After playing a soundbite of Jeffries announcing his plan, moderator Whoopi Goldberg didn’t seem to be a big fan of it. She wondered if it was putting to much of a burden on students who were trying to better their lives: GOLDBERG: So this could have a huge impact on college sports programs in the south. But is it putting a little too much burden on the students, because if you are someone who has just, you know, you getting to go to college and this is the school that's said ‘yes’ to you -- BEHAR: On scholarship, right? GOLDBERG: Maybe on a scholarship. Hostin was fine with the Jeffries’ idea because “you know, athletes have been involved in protests and politics for a long time.” She acknowledged that there was a lot on the line for the students because they “stand to get a free education, they stand to make money because of the NIL now.” Yet still, she argued that it would be better for them to give that up because of the damage and harm it would cause to red states.   Sunny Hostin boasts about the "economic damage and economic harm" Hakeem Jeffries wants to do to the south with his plan to have black students boycott their university athletic scholarships. Alyssa Farah Griffin calls it "a very good idea" because "the economy would crumble":… pic.twitter.com/KsW7ifDpvU — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 20, 2026   “I think it's economic damage and economic harm has longtime been a very effective tool in the civil rights movement,” she proclaimed. Seemingly to encourage young athletes to take part in the boycott, Hostin suggested that the athletes were “the top of the top and so they're going to have a lot of other choices.” She also told them to think of themselves as Kylin Hill of Ole Miss: And I would suggest that if you think about Ole Miss, there was -- I think a running back, his name is, yeah, it was a running back. His name was Kylin Hill. He played at Ole Miss. You know, Ole Miss brings in a lot of money. He vowed not to play unless the state changed the confederate flag. The Confederate flag came down months later. Because college sports brings in so much money. Neither of Hostin’s two children were attending college on an athletics scholarship. “In theory, I think it's a very good idea! Let’s talk macro! If all black Americans boycotted any industry, it would -- the economy would crumble,” touted Farah Griffin in response, before agreeing with Goldberg: “but it's putting, in my mind, too much onus on the young people who did not create the problem that we’re in.” For her part, co-host Joy Behar ridiculously compared the situation to the Vietnam War. “Well, like teenagers, they're teenagers and they're going to have to give up a lot. The Vietnam War was basically halted by teenagers,” she suggested. Adding: “So, I'm not saying it's a great idea or it's not a great idea, I'm just pointing out it is young people who change the world.” So just like with Vietnam, Behar and Hostin would have other peoples’ teenagers make the sacrifice for their political cause. Maybe they should change the lyrics of Fortunate Son to “It ain't me, it ain't me. I ain't no View host's son, son.” The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View May 20, 2026 11:14:46 a.m. Eastern (…) WHOOPI GOLDBERG: So this could have a huge impact on college sports programs in the south. But is it putting a little too much burden on the students, because if you are someone who has just, you know, you getting to go to college and this is the school that's said ‘yes’ to you -- BEHAR: On scholarship, right? GOLDBERG: Maybe on a scholarship. SUNNY HOSTIN: Also there is money for athletes - for athletes now with the NIL BEHAR: What do you think? You think it’s too much or a burden on them? GOLDBERG: You know, I think it's really going to become a case-by-case basis because I don't know how many schools we're talking about. I don't know how many athletes we're talking about and I don't know this is the best way. It can be part of a bigger picture but I don't know if this is the only way to go. HOSTIN: Well, I agree with you on that I think there has to be strategy. I mean, you know, athletes have been involved in protests and politics for a long time. GOLDBERG: Yeah. HOSTIN: Remember the Olympics and you had [raises fist in the air] John Carlos and you had Muhammad Ali but these were athletes that were established already. These college athletes stand to get a free education, they stand to make money because of the NIL now, so I think it is asking a lot. But, I think it's economic damage and economic harm has longtime been a very effective tool in the civil rights movement. BEHAR: Resistance has a price. Let me give you some history. GOLDBERG: Yes, do. BEHAR: Well, like teenagers, they're teenagers and they're going to have to give up a lot. The Vietnam War was basically halted by teenagers. HOSTIN: Correct. BEHAR: Because it was 17 and 18-year-old kids who were going to go and fight this crazy war that they were doing. So, I'm not saying it's a great idea or it's not a great idea, I'm just pointing out it is young people who change the world. HOSTIN: If there's structure though don't you think this could possibly work? Because we're talking about just the state schools, Whoopi, we’re not talking about the SEC. The conference. FARAH GRIFFIN: Oh, that’s an important distinction. GOLDBERG: That's important to know. HOSTIN: So, we're talking about 13 schools. These kids are the top of the top and so they're going to have a lot of other choices. And I would suggest that if you think about Ole Miss, there was -- I think a running back, his name is, yeah, it was a running back. His name was Kylin Hill. He played at Ole Miss. You know, Ole Miss brings in a lot of money. He vowed not to play unless the state changed the confederate flag. The Confederate flag came down months later. Because college sports brings in so much money. FARAH GRIFFIN: In theory, I think it's a very good idea! Let’s talk macro! If all black Americans boycotted any industry, it would -- the economy would crumble. Arts, music, doctors, everything. Of course, that is a powerful way to protest but it's putting, in my mind, too much onus on the young people who did not create the problem that we’re in. (…) May 20th, 2026 3:33 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 295229 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/05/20/none-above-named-best-late-night-comedian-tv “None of the above” trounced all other choices when a national poll asked U.S adult citizens to name “the best” late-night comedian on TV - yet another sign of viewers’ growing disdain for the hateful political commentary that has replaced entertainment. In a national survey conducted May 15-18, 2026, The Economist/YouGov asked: “Who do you think is the best late-night comedian on TV?” Fully 38% chose “None of the above” – three times the number who selected any of the top-rated hosts on NBC (Jimmy Fallon), CBS (Stephen Colbert), ABC (Jimmy Kimmel) and Fox News Channel (Greg Gutfeld), all of whom ended up in a virtual tie, garnering 11%-13% of the vote. Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart (8%) and HBO’s John Oliver (5%) drew single-digit percentages of the vote for best late-night comedian.  Former late-night host James Corden was named by 1% of those polled. The popularity of “none” is emblematic of the long-term trend of viewers losing interest in late-night shows. Taken together, late-night talk shows have not been profitable since 2022, with losses steadily increasing each year, according to analysis by LateNighter: “In 2015, the typical 11:30pm talk show brought in well over $200 million in revenue and made a healthy profit. By 2023, the same show was underwater, and by 2025, losses are well into the tens of millions of dollars—even with cost controls that have been put into place by most of the major shows in recent years.” “As for how we got here, the story begins and ends with the decline in linear ratings,” LateNighter explained, citing Nielsen Live+7 data: “CBS’s The Late Show, NBC’s The Tonight Show, and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!—have seen declines of 70–80% in the key 18–49 demographic since 2015. That year marked the beginning of a new era: Colbert took over from David Letterman, Fallon had just succeeded Jay Leno, and Kimmel had moved up to 11:35pm.” Across all demographics, Forbes reports that NBC has been the biggest loser of broadcast network late-night audiences over the last decade since the 2015-2016 season, Jimmy Fallon’s average “Tonight Show” audience has fallen 64% from 3.6 million viewers to 1.3 million in 2025. In 2016, Republican President Donald Trump began his first term in office, prompting many liberal late-night hosts to abandon actual comedy for increasingly hate-filled political attacks masquerading as humor, potentially alienating about half of the nation’s late-night viewers. Kimmel, for example, was suspended last September for making false and malicious comments on his show regarding the assassination of conservative Charlie Kirk. Even before he was pulled, about three-fourths of adults weren’t watching “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” At the time, less than half (43%) of adults said they had a “favorable opinion” of Kimmel, including a minority (45%) of Independents and just 12% of Republicans. Among Democrats, however, 76% viewed Kimmel favorably. What’s more, Kimmel’s ratings had fallen in each of the past 12 years. Meanwhile, CBS has announced that Colbert’s show is canceled as of May 21 of this year, which the network says is “due to purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” “The timing, of course, is impossible to ignore. Colbert has been a known thorn in the side of Donald Trump,” LateNighter notes. Results reported this week by The Economist/YouGov reveal notable differences in late-night host preferences based on age, race and party identification. Younger adults were the most likely to say “None of the above,” with nearly half (46%) of those 18-29 making this choice, along with 42% of the advertiser-coveted 30-44 cohort.  In contrast, roughly a third of those 45-64 (34%) and 65+ (31%) didn’t name a host, opting instead for “none.” Greg Gutfeld, host of Fox News Channel’s late-night show on cable, was the most-popular late-night comedian among White adults (17%), while Kimmel was most-often selected as the best by both Blacks (27%) and Hispanics (17%). By party, just 20% of Democrats said “none,” compared to half (49%) of Republicans and 40% of Independents. Colbert (23%) and Kimmel (22%) were rated the best among Democrats, while Gutfeld topped all other hosts with Republicans (30%). May 20th, 2026 3:27 PM Craig Bannister 295230 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/business/john-stossel/2026/05/20/how-climate-scientist-was-attacked-white-house-congress-his Billionaire Tom Steyer used his money to attack a lone climate researcher. Roger Pielke Jr.’s research on climate and disaster policy wins awards and is cited by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “My views are entirely mainstream,” says Pielke. “My work is cited by all three working groups of the IPCC. There’s nothing contrarian.” Both Steyer and Pielke agree that “greenhouse gases warm the climate,” but Pielke’s sin was saying, “it’s not the apocalypse.” Because of that, “the Center for American Progress decided to make me a target,” he says. The center is a lefty group that pushes climate hysteria, running articles claiming, “Climate change is fueling more deadly and destructive floods,” “Extreme weather is only intensifying,” etc. Anyone who disagrees is labeled a “climate denier.” Steyer, now running for governor of California, gave the center enough money to run hit piece after hit piece that describes Pielke’s work as “fantastical falsehoods,” and calls him a “disinformer” who “ignores the data on climate science.” Pielke didn’t know who funded the smears until WikiLeaks revealed an email to Steyer from ThinkProgress’s editor: “Thanks for your support of this work ... it’s fair to say, without Climate Progress, Pielke would still be writing on climate change.” Think about that. “Progressive” activists are proud to stop a researcher from writing about what he knows. Pielke describes his persecution in my new video. It began after Al Gore’s Oscar-winning movie in which Gore claimed that temperature increases create stronger storms. Pielke had the nerve to disagree. “Doesn’t warmer water create bigger storms?” I ask him. “All else equal, yes, it does. But the atmosphere is a complicated place. You have things like windshear, which knocks over storms. ... We haven’t observed changes in the frequency or intensity beyond natural variability.” Pielke’s research acknowledged that there were “increasing impacts of extreme weather, mostly economic costs and loss of life,” but said the impacts were not caused by bigger storms but by “what we build, where we build, how much wealth we have in harm’s way.” “When the climate advocacy movement shifted to extreme weather, I was on the ‘wrong’ side,” he adds. “I had a choice to make. Was I going to call things like I see them, or was I going to succumb to pressure to say things that maybe I didn’t believe?” Pielke called it as he saw it, and paid a price. “There was an enormous effort to try to silence people who had a voice,” says Pielke. Testifying before Congress, Pielke said, “It is misleading ... to claim that disasters associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or drought have increased.” That information is also in the findings of the IPCC. But the Obama White House put out a 3,000-word memo attacking him: “Dr. Pielke’s statements ... are seriously misleading ... not representative of mainstream views.” “It was the sort of thing your crazy uncle might put on Facebook,” laughs Pielke. “I’m the only academic or researcher that any president, including Donald Trump, has ever singled out.” The University of Colorado, where Pielke worked for 24 years, caved in to the pressure. They closed Pielke’s research center, canceled his classes and moved his office into a closet. “What I went through was not what a university is supposed to be for,” says Pielke. The state-funded school, after dumping Pielke’s actual scientific research, now calls “climate change and sustainability ... the central focus of our campus-wide initiatives” and hosts silly things like “climate summits” with panels on “youth climate advocacy.” It’s so dumb. And so wrong. Fortunately, Pielke found another job. Now he researches climate at the American Enterprise Institute, one of many think tanks that does research universities once did. As I write, betting sites have Steyer in second place in California’s governor’s race. Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of “Government Gone Wild: Exposing the Truth Behind the Headlines.” May 20th, 2026 3:04 PM John Stossel 295226 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/gabriela-pariseau/2026/05/20/what-fraud-scandals-google-news-goes-bat-democrats It’s only May, and Google is already hard at work interfering in the 2026 midterm elections and doing clean-up for Democrats embroiled in fraud accusations.  Google News completely ignored multiple fraud scandals plaguing Democratic Party politics in its top 20 morning stories in April, hiding important information from voters as the midterm elections ramp up. From the infamous Southern Poverty Law Center indictment to the FBI raids on largely Somali-run day-care centers in Minnesota to a Democrat congresswoman found to have taken $5 million from taxpayers, mum was the word from Google.  There was no lack of stories on each of the scandals, but Google News shut them all down, including those published by some of Google’s favorite left-leaning outlets. Even still, these left-leaning sources dominated Google News while right-leaning outlets were once again denied visibility.  The pattern, according to MRC President David Bozell, was too consistent to be accidental. “It feels like Google convened its political operatives to figure out how to completely whitewash the entire set of stories that would reflect poorly on Democrats and radical progressives.”   Bozell further highlighted just how much power Google wields to make or break news outlets. “If Apple, Google, Microsoft or Yahoo put the kibosh on a story, it’s like the proverbial tree falling in the forest. Even when elitist media outlets like ABC News or NPR cover a story, it just does not get much traction without the News Apps promoting it.” MRC’s Key Findings in Google News’s Top 20 Morning Stories in April: Google News included zero stories about key fraud scandals relevant to voters, including:  The Justice Department’s bombshell indictment accusing the SPLC of wire fraud and other finance-related offenses. The House Ethics Committee determined Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) had committed 25 counts of ethics violations. FBI raids in Minnesota sought evidence that child care centers receiving millions in taxpayer funding actually provided the publicly funded services they claimed. Google News once again sidelined right-leaning sources, showing only 15 stories (just under 3%) from right-leaning outlets out of 519 total stories from AllSides-rated outlets. As a result, important stories were hidden from voters using the tech giant’s feeds. Meanwhile, Google News platformed 361 stories (69.5%) from left-leaning outlets.  Google News Buries SPLC Scandal Out of Public View Google News created the illusion of a media blackout when it offered no coverage of a federal grand jury indictment accusing the SPLC of wire fraud and other finance-related offenses. The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) alleged in a press release on April 21 that the activist organization and fixture of Democratic Party politics did not properly inform donors that some contributions were “used to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website.” SPLC pleaded not guilty to all the charges on May 7.  The original story was widely reported by outlets across the political spectrum, including: CBS, CNN, Fox News, New York Post, Politico, The Associated Press, The Daily Mail, The Hill, The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today. However, Google News did not present users with a single story from any one of these media outlets. Google Hides Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Fraud Accusations Also on April 21, now-former Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from Congress after the House Ethics Committee issued a report stating that 25 counts of ethics violations “were proven by clear and convincing evidence.” Google News was also among the Big Four News Apps that failed to cover the Cherfilus-McCormick indictment during the height of the breaking news cycle, as previously revealed by the MRC. Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, were charged with stealing $5 million in mistakenly overpaid FEMA funds granted to their family’s business, Trinity Health Care Services, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of returning the money, she used some of it to fund her 2021 congressional campaign, funneling the money through several accounts to obscure its source, according to a grand jury indictment. The congresswoman announced last week that she plans to run for public office again, making voter awareness of the charges and accusations against her even more important. It’s worth noting that Google News handled former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) resignation announcement very differently. Greene’s exit did not result from criminal charges or a House Ethics Committee probe, but the news aggregator included at least four stories about her resignation and another four stories on the special election for her replacement.  Again, Google News had no shortage of stories to choose from if the tech giant had wanted to provide coverage for the Cherfilus-McCormick scandal. AllSides-rated right-leaning outlets like Fox News and New York Post covered the story, but so did outlets labeled left-leaning like ABC News, Axios, CBS News, Politico, The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Independent. Google, however, ignored all of these stories in its top 20 morning editions in April.  The Minnesota FBI Raids on Child Care Centers Accused of Fraud Google’s treatment of the Minnesota FBI raids tells a similar story.  Just shy of a week after the SPLC scandal and the congresswoman’s resignation, the FBI executed 22 search warrants against Minneapolis child care and autism facilities suspected of fraud. But voters reliant on Google News’s morning coverage to stay informed might never have known.  An investigation by local Minnesota outlet 5 Eyewitness News uncovered that payments to nine centers in particular “more than doubled” in the last two years. “[T]he records show dramatic financial growth at the nine centers, while the number of kids they served stayed relatively flat,” the outlet noted.  Google not only suppressed coverage of the story from outlets AllSides rates as right-leaning, like Fox News, New York Post, The Washington Examiner and The Washington Times, but it also excluded center and left-leaning outlets like ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, The Hill and Axios.  Google Continues Suppression of Right-Leaning Media in April Google buried every major outlet when it came to stories that leave a stain on the Democratic Party, as voters decide which party will control Congress in November. But Google’s problem with omission goes deeper than that when it leaves right-leaning media out of the conversation nearly entirely.  Just 15 (3%) of the 519 stories Google News presented to users came from right-leaning sources. Meanwhile, 361 (69.5%) came from left-leaning sources and 143 (27.5%) came from sources AllSides rates as center.  Google News platformed multiple articles attempting to embarrass the Trump administration with headlines like “What international law says about Trump's threats to bomb Iran's bridges and power plants” from PBS, and “Trump accused of running ‘misogynistic administration’ after Bondi dismissal” from The Guardian.  The news aggregator similarly pushed stories that decried a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision preventing states from drawing congressional districts based on racial majorities and racist assumptions about how those majorities might vote. The tech giant, however, propped up stories from left-leaning outlets characterizing the decision itself as racist. For example, Google News highlighted an absurd NPR headline, “Supreme Court paves the way for largest-ever drop in Black representation in Congress,” and the CNN headline “John Roberts’ effort to gut the Voting Rights Act is complete.” Google News also promoted a glorified ad for The New York Times word game “Spelling Bee” twice.  Methodology: During the time period April 1 - 30, 2026, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories featured on Google News each day at approximately 8:30 AM ET. MRC researchers used the AllSides media bias ratings, which categorize an outlet as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right” to determine the overall bias presented by Google News and analyzed the results. MRC researchers also specifically looked at the period following the news broke of the SPLC’s grand jury indictment, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation announcement, the Minnesota FBI raids (April 22-30) and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation announcement (Nov. 22-Nov. 29). May 20th, 2026 2:55 PM Gabriela Pariseau 295225 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2026/05/20/scarborough-rages-over-trumps-marie-antoinette-ballroom No fewer than six times in the opening minutes of today’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough furiously attacked President Trump’s White House ballroom plans, branding it the “Marie Antoinette ballroom” while contrasting it with Americans struggling to afford groceries, gas, and rent. Scarborough raged: “You have the president talking again about this billion dollar Marie Antoinette ballroom… It’s happening because the president wanted to create a Marie Antoinette ballroom.” “...We got this billion-dollar Marie Antoinette ballroom now that they’re talking about funding.” “…you’re blindly going along with a Marie Antoinette ballroom that these taxpayers who can’t afford groceries are gonna have to fund with their own tax dollars.” Joe Scarborough's Meltdown: “Marie Antoinette Ballroom!” (x6) pic.twitter.com/xSjhiJLo9j — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) May 20, 2026 He continued to hammer the phrase repeatedly, tying it to broader attacks on Republican priorities and a “slush fund” that could be used to remunerate January 6 defendants. It all sounds like he's reading from a Democrat direct-mail fundraising appeal. "Send in your 25 smackers to fight off the Marie Antoinette Ballroom today!"  Note in the painting, the guy doing his best Kathy Griffin imitation — proudly holding up the severed head. Was Scarborough slyly doing his Queen of Hearts impression? The historical parallel Scarborough invited is unmistakable: Marie Antoinette’s reputation for extravagance amid public hardship was followed by the French Revolution’s bloody climax -- and her bloody end. Liberal media figures have spent years accusing Donald Trump of inciting violence with rhetoric. Yet here was Scarborough on national television hammering a luxury-versus-the-people narrative straight out of 1789 France. This is the same Morning Joe that routinely lectures about “dangerous” conservative speech. Perhaps someone should ask Scarborough exactly what kind of latter-day Jacobins he’s trying to stir up with his inflammatory analogy. Note: Scarborough claimed the ballroom isn't necessary because we have "security, facilities," to keep the president safe. Like at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, ya mean? Here's the transcript. MS NOW Morning Joe 5/20/26 6:01 am EDT JOE SCARBOROUGH: Mika, this is just, again, it's just so extraordinarily outrageous. You have the president talking again about this billion dollar Marie Antoinette ballroom that, we, we, it was perfectly fine.  We had, we had security, we had facilities to keep the president secure, and then he tore down the, the, the, the East Wing, said, 'Oh, it's not gonna cost anything,' now it's gonna cost over a billion dollars. They can say it's for security, but it's happening because the president wanted to create a Marie Antoinette ballroom. And now, on top of that, while people are struggling to pay their groceries, the people are struggling to put gas in their cars, people are struggling to pay their rent — we got this billion-dollar Marie Antoinette ballroom now that they're talking about funding. . . .  You've just got to say, with all time low, hey, Republicans, listen, you have all time low approval ratings! You are getting wiped out by Democrats in, in every poll that's coming out, and you're blindly going along with a Marie Antoinette ballroom that these taxpayers who can't afford groceries are gonna have to fund with their own tax dollars.  . . . Good morning, America. I hope you're doing well, because I will tell you Republicans in Congress aren't doing well. If they sit back and allow this slush fund to move forward like they're allowing the Marie Antoinette ballroom to move forward. . . .  This war that nobody really wanted, that the overwhelming majority of Americans are against just billions and billions and billions of dollars. And the president, Mika, as I said yesterday, he could go out and explain this instead of just like, you know, ranting in front of a microphone, he can sit down and have a speech and talk about the dangers of a nuclear Iran and the sacrifices it'll take. He won't, he just won't do it.  MIKA BRZEZINSKI: No, he's talking about the ballroom. He's got his plans -- SCARBOROUGH: He'll talk about the Marie Antoinette ballroom. May 20th, 2026 2:04 PM Mark Finkelstein 295221 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/20/wanda-sykes-claims-everything-what-worries-her-most-about-trump Comedian Wanda Sykes joined ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel on his Tuesday show to look back and blame President Trump for Kimmel’s September suspension, and claim the thing that worries her most about Trump is “everything.” Kimmel brought up his suspension when he recalled, “You were our scheduled guest on the night our show got pulled off the air in September, and then you weren't on the show because I wasn't on the show and the show wasn't on the show… At what time did you get the word? Do you recall?”   Wanda Sykes looks back the night Jimmy Kimmel was suspended when she was supposed to be on the show and blames Trump, "We were heading out to the car. And my—Danica—my publicist called and said, 'Don't get in the car, they're pre-empting the show, whatever, they’re doing… pic.twitter.com/33CdXRc35T — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 20, 2026   Sykes responded by claiming, “We were heading out to the car. And my—Danica—my publicist called and said, ‘Don't get in the car, they're preempting the show, whatever, they’re doing something.’ I'm like, ‘What?’ She's like, ‘It's something with Trump and everything, and Jimmy's not on air tonight.’ I was like, ‘What the hell?’” In the grand scheme of history, September was not that long ago. Yet, liberals keep trying to rewrite why Kimmel was suspended. Kimmel was widely condemned for his remarks about conservatives in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination when he said they spent the weekend trying to convince people the shooter “wasn’t one of them.” This was as liberals—not just internet weirdos, but prominent and respected ones—were claiming that the assassin was a right-winger despite all evidence to the contrary. ABC suspended Kimmel because he failed to see what he did wrong and was going to come out and give a hot response to his critics, but ABC didn’t want to inflame the situation, so it suspended him in order to give him time to cool down. Back on Tuesday, Kimmel agreed, “Right. That was my reaction.” Sykes then continued, “It was like, ‘Wait a minute, is this really happening? Is this really going down like this?’ And I was—you know, I was at my friend's, so we just, you know, went back inside, and she made martinis.” A few minutes later, Kimmel declared, “I love hearing you talk about him. I think you do a great job of talking about serious stuff in a funny way. And I remember a couple of specials ago, you did a whole thing that I just loved about how he's the only president that hasn't aged in office.” After Sykes retorted, “Right, but we are like light speed. We're aging, you know, but age is catching up with him now.”   Later, Kimmel asks Sykes what she fears most about Trump and she says "Well, everything. Everything. He makes you worry about everything. You know, like, the hantavirus. I heard about it here and there. It’s like “Oh, no big deal.” Until I heard him talk about it." pic.twitter.com/XWFfn7f1jf — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 20, 2026   An intrigued Kimmel followed up, “You think so?” and Sykes elaborated, “Yeah, you see that. He's falling asleep standing up and—” Kimmel then wondered, “What's the number one thing you worry about as far as Trump goes?” Sykes replied with a less-than-stellar Trump impression, “Well, everything. Everything. He makes you worry about everything. You know, like, the hantavirus. I heard about it here and there. I was like, ‘Oh, no big deal.’ Until I heard him talk about it. He's like, ‘Well, it's under control, well, you know, we got a good grip on it, and well, we think we have it, well, I don't know the people, I don't know anything about it, but’— I'm like, ‘Oh, my god, we're all going to die by the hantavirus.’” She also claimed, “I wasn't concerned about it until he started talking about it. I'm like, 'Oh, boy.’ Now Ebola is out here? What the hell, man?” The duo then turned that into a riff about Trump’s hands, with Kimmel proclaiming, “Yeah, Ebola's no good. I don't know what's going on with those hands, though, I mean—that’s—who knows what that is. That could be contagious also.” Sykes agreed, “Exactly. Is he carrying it? All the diseases? Maybe it's him. Maybe it's just all— just festering in there, you know. A little Ebola, a little hantavirus, you know, bird flu. I don't know. Could be anything in there.” Including some Trump Derangement Syndrome, where Sykes allows Trump to control what she thinks about everything. Here is a transcript for the May 19 show: ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! 5/19/2026 JIMMY KIMMEL: You were our scheduled guest on the night our show got pulled off the air— WANDA SYKES: Yup. KIMMEL: in September, and then you weren't on the show because I wasn't on the show and the show wasn't on the show. SYKES: Right. Yeah— KIMMEL: When did you— SYKES: —so there was a lot of not being here. KIMMEL: Yeah. SYKES: Yeah. KIMMEL: At what time did you get the word? Do you recall? SYKES: I was about to get in the car. Like, glam had just finished up, and so— KIMMEL: Oh. SYKES: —We were heading out to the car. And my—Danica—my publicist called and said, "Don't get in the car, they're preempting the show, whatever, they’re doing something.” I'm like, “What?” She's like, "It's something with Trump and everything, and Jimmy's got on air tonight." I was like, "what the hell?” Yeah? KIMMEL: Right. That was my reaction. SYKES: Yeah. It was like, “Wait a minute, is this really happening? Is this really going down like this?” And I was—you know, I was at my friend's, so we just, you know, went back inside, and she made martinis. … KIMMEL: I love hearing you talk about it. I love hearing you talk about him. I think you do a great job of talking about serious stuff in a funny way. And I remember a couple of specials ago, you did a whole thing that I just loved about how he's the only president that hasn't aged in office. SYKES: Right, but we are like light speed. We're aging, you know. KIMMEL: Yes, yes. SYKES: But age is catching up with him now. KIMMEL: You think so? SYKES: Yeah, you see that. He's falling asleep standing up and— KIMMEL: What's the number one thing you worry about as far as Trump goes? SYKES: Well, everything. Everything. He makes you worry about everything. KIMMEL: Yeah. SYKES: You know, like, the hantavirus. I heard about it here and there. I was like, “Oh, no big deal.” Until I heard him talk about it. He's like, “Well, it's under control, well, you know, we got a good grip on it, and well, we think we have it, well, I don't know the people, I don't know anything about it, but”— I'm like, “Oh, my god, we're all going to die by the hantavirus.” But I wasn't concerned about it until he started talking about it. I'm like, “oh, boy.” Now Ebola is out here? What the hell, man? KIMMEL: Yeah, Ebola's no good. I don't know what's going on with those hands, though, I mean—that’s—who knows what that is. SYKES: Yes. KIMMEL: That could be contagious also. SYKES: Exactly. Is he carrying it? All the diseases? Maybe it's him. Maybe it's just all— just festering in there, you know. A little Ebola, a little hantavirus, you know, bird flu. I don't know. Could be anything in there.  May 20th, 2026 2:02 PM Alex Christy 295224 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2026/05/20/retconning-bidenomics-new-republic-wonders-when-dumb If historical revisionism were an addiction, the pompous charlatans in left-wing media would all be institutionalized. The New Republic Editor Michael Tomasky came out with a bumptious screed lecturing Americans for not voting the correct way in his view: “When Will Americans Realize the Truth? Republicans Wreck the Economy.” Yes, he actually wrote that with a straight face and treated the 4 years of inflationary disaster under President Joe Biden as if they didn’t exist. Tomasky doubled down on making himself look completely foolish by selling blue pills as if they were red pills: “Will 2026 finally be the year when a critical mass of Americans wakes up and realizes that Republicans always screw up the economy? I doubt it.”  So are Americans just supposed to memory-hole the then 40-year high inflation crisis brought on by Biden and the Federal Reserve’s multitrillion-dollar spending policies? How about when gas prices hit over $5 a gallon on average in 2022? For context, this spike happened without the massive intercontinental conflict in which the U.S. and Israel sought to dismantle Iran’s Islamist regime — even as Russia waged its regional war in Ukraine while Biden banned Russian oil imports. What’s crazy is that this is public record, and yet Tomasky still maintained the temerity to whine about how the Iran war “has shot gas prices up near $5 a gallon in most places.” Short-term memory or willful ignorance? You decide. How about when the 30-year fixed mortgage rate went over seven percent at least twice under Biden and completely priced out younger Americans seeking to be first-time homebuyers? The America First Policy Institute noted in January 2025 that “the median age of first-time homebuyer[s] reach[ed] a record 40 years old.”  Tomasky didn’t address any of this, of course, including the damning statistic that more than half of Americans were struggling under Biden to pay their bills and save money, as Bloomberg News reported November 19, 2024. Instead, he had the audacity to spin how “Trump inherited an economy from Joe Biden that was perhaps not firing on all cylinders but was in pretty good shape all the same.” Maybe Tomasky would actually believe this if he had been living under a rock the past few years, and that may have well been the case, as his only apparent beef with Democrats was that they were not being effective enough in telling Americans the “truth” about Republicans: The idea that the party of big business must surely be more trustworthy on economic policy just seems intuitively right to most, and the Democrats, in their typical way, have done a horrible job explaining this truth to people. Still—the evidence is getting hard to ignore, so perhaps there’s some hope. The shamelessness here is unreal. In Tomasky’s view of the illusory positives of Bidenomics, “Real GDP grew at 2.8 percent in 2024. Wages were growing at a higher rate, 4.8 percent. Inflation closed out 2024 at 2.9 percent—high, but way down from the 7 percent of 2021.” But as always with narratives churned out from the left, the devil is in the details.  With regards to GDP, Tomasky didn’t mention how much of that so-called growth was caused by a supernova-like explosion in government debt. As economist Daniel Lacalle wrote November 17, 2024, an “unsustainable increase in government spending and federal debt bloated the official GDP, making gross domestic income significantly weaker than headline GDP.”  As far as inflation is concerned, consumer prices had shot up 21 percent higher on average than when Biden first took office. But you wouldn’t know that reading Tomasky’s drivel. With regards to wages, the former Newsweek scribe was just being flat-out deceptive. Data from Statista released Inauguration Day 2025 found that the “largest blemish” on Biden’s legacy was that — *checks notes* — “Wages Haven't Kept Up With Inflation.” Go figure! His concluding flex reinforced his headline treating Americans who remember the years of Bidenflation as too dumb to know what’s good for them: The Democrats need a 2028 standard-bearer who will say these things over and over until they get pounded into the heads of those famous low-information swing voters they end up relentlessly chasing after every fourth November. The lie has persisted long enough. If it takes $7 gas for people to realize it, I’ll happily pay it. Democrats—and reality—must bury this myth once and for all. The Left is always blaming "low-information swing voters" for swinging the wrong way. Voting for the Democrats, in their upside-down world, somehow proves you're a "high-information voter." May 20th, 2026 12:29 PM Joseph Vazquez 295210 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/20/stewart-colbert-look-forward-celebrating-end-putrid-administration Not everything CBS’s Stephen Colbert does for The Late Show makes it to air. Some material is only revealed 10 years later, and some gets puts on YouTube. The latter was the case on Tuesday, as Colbert welcomed The Daily Show’s Monday host Jon Stewart to antepenultimate episode of the show. As the duo were discussing how Stewart is the last one standing at Paramount in terms of late night shows, Stewart made the incredulous assertion that Colbert’s politics are only a “minute portion” of his show and urged the audience to look forward to the joy they will have when “this putrid administration” ends. Colbert began, “So you now, sir, as I leave, the CBS family, the Paramount Skydance family, you now are the only person in the corporation left in late night. Good luck. You are. There used to be more of us. Now it’s you—”   In a YouTube extended portion of his interview with Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart claims it is "a ridiculous framing" to view the late night shows as Trump opposition, yet he urges the audience to "Close your eyes and dream. The day that the electorate in this great nation we call… pic.twitter.com/TcWb1EzZ4Y — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 20, 2026   After Stewart interrupted to claim, “That’s chilling,” Colbert continued, “on Monday, this coming Monday, you're going to be the only one in late night for the CBS Paramount Skydance Corporation, and I am happy for you.” Stewart then launched into his ode to his former Comedy Central colleague, “Here's the only saving grace that I think that I have is that I don't think Trump has cable. I really think it's a network thing. I don't think it's basic cable, but let me tell you something, and I truly mean this. And what upsets me about this situation is that, first of all, you're just a tremendous human and one of my favorite people. So that's—but second of all, that—you're—I've seen your talents from Exit 57 to, you know, to Strangers with Candy, to writing—he can do whatever he wants to do. But the ubiquitous bloviating of the commander-in-chief has put us all as defined as who we are in opposition to him.” According to Stewart, the idea the comedy shows have come to be defined as Trump critics is “just a ridiculous framing. It's a minute portion of the joy machine that you call your show. And it's annoying. And let me say this.” However, Stewart then undermined his point by attacking the administration in nasty terms, “I mean this from the bottom of my heart, not just for this show, but for the country. The day. The day. Oh, people. Close your eyes and dream. The day that the electorate in this great nation we call home repudiates this putrid administration, the day that that happens. My brother, my brother, there will be—and I mean this. The day that that happens, there will be a joyful noise from the bowels of this great country that will make Hungary's repudiation of Orban look like an Amish Sabbath.” Colbert’s politics simply aren’t a “minute portion” of the show. They are the main attraction, and even liberals know this which is why people other than Stewart are acting like they are losing a leader of The Resistance or that Colbert is a free speech martyr. The fact that The Daily Show is also a Paramount property and was promoting communism as recently as last week is just ignored. Here is a transcript for the May 19 show: YouTube/CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 5/19/2026 STEPHEN COLBERT: So you now, sir, as I leave, the CBS family, the Paramount Skydance family, you now are the only person in the corporation left in late night. Good luck. You are. There used to be more of us. Now it’s you— JON STEWART: That’s chilling. COLBERT: — on Monday, this coming Monday, you're going to be the only one in late night for the CBS Paramount Skydance Corporation, and I am happy for you. STEWART: Here's the only saving grace that I think that I have is that I don't think Trump has cable. I really think— COLBERT: I noticed that.  I noticed that. STEWART: —It's a network thing. I don't think it's basic cable, but let me tell you something, and I truly mean this. And what upsets me about this situation is that, first of all, you're just a tremendous human and one of my favorite people. So that's—but second of all, that—you're—I've seen your talents from Exit 57 to, you know— COLBERT: You saw my talents in Exit 57! STEWART: —to Strangers with Candy, to writing—he can do whatever he wants to do. But the ubiquitous bloviating of the commander-in-chief has put us all as defined as who we are in opposition to him. COLBERT: That's right, yeah. STEWART: And it's just a ridiculous framing. It's a minute portion of the joy machine that you call your show. And it's annoying. And let me say this. And I mean this from the bottom of my heart, not just for this show, but for the country. The day. The day. Oh, people. Close your eyes and dream. The day that the electorate in this great nation we call home repudiates this putrid administration, the day that that happens. My brother, my brother, there will be—and I mean this. The day that that happens, there will be a joyful noise from the bowels of this great country that will make Hungary's repudiation of Orban look like an Amish Sabbath. May 20th, 2026 9:31 AM Alex Christy 295222 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/20/column-anderson-cooper-oozes-60-minutes-defines-independence-and Anderson Cooper decided to quit his moonlighting job at 60 Minutes, but not without a few words interpreted as “a dig” at CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. In an “Overtime” video reviewing his career, Cooper proclaimed “There’s very few things that have been around for as long as 60 Minutes has and maintain the quality that it has,” and “I think the independence of 60 Minutes has been critical.” Always beware the I-word. “Independence” is a code word for “crusading liberal bias.” We at 60 Minutes demonstrate our “independence” by beating Donald Trump over the head on a weekly basis. Cooper often didn’t sound “independent” to most of us when interviewing Democrats. Just start with the interview with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in 2022. Sending one famous gay liberal man to interview another famous gay liberal man didn’t sound like it would be hard-hitting, and it wasn’t. Cooper asked Buttigieg a series of bland softballs, such as: “When somebody's driving over a bridge, should they feel confident?” Cooper finished the segment by noting the engineers who gave America C-minus on infrastructure hoped Team Biden would take it up to a B. Cooper gushed to Buttigieg: “Have you ever gotten a B in your life? You strike me as the kind of guy who hasn't gotten a lot of Bs in your life.” In 2018, Cooper supportively interviewed porn star Stormy Daniels and her sleazy lawyer Michael Avenatti, part of their “Get Trump” formula. Cooper pointed out to Daniels: “Melania Trump had recently given birth to a son, just a few months before. Did he mention his wife or child at all in this?” No. Cooper asked Daniels if she was physically attracted to Trump (no) and did he use a condom (no). “I thought of it as a business deal,” she said.  This wasn't "independent" at all from all the other liberal channels giving Stormy and Avenatti endless minutes of conspiracy chatter, including Cooper's CNN. In 2019, Cooper platformed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who’d been in office for a few weeks. He noted that Ocasio-Cortez was proposing some radical goals, like no use of fossil fuels within 12 years. “What you are talking about, just big picture, is a radical agenda compared to the way politics is done right now.” AOC replied by comparing herself to Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation and FDR establishing Social Security. Cooper did not reply: “Your ego, madam, is off the charts.” Cooper could only ask “Do you call yourself a radical?” Ocasio-Cortez said “Yeah.” How "independent" does that sound?  That's not to say Cooper couldn't be tough on socialists. It all depends on it being carefully timed, like during Democrat primaries. In February of 2020, Cooper came at presidential candidate Bernie Sanders from the right, insisting he'd been wrong to praise Fidel Castro's communist regime. “A lot of dissidents [were] imprisoned in Cuba," he said. Cooper also found a hypocrite: "Though he's campaigning as an advocate for the poor, Bernie Sanders became a millionaire four years ago, thanks largely to royalties from his best-selling book, Our Revolution." Cooper hasn’t been shy about celebrating CBS, including on CNN. After CNN ran a live performance of George Clooney’s fact-mangling play about CBS heroes in the McCarthy era last summer, Cooper brought on his CBS colleague Scott Pelley for a promotional interview about his anti-Trump commencement speech at Wake Forest. The hour was titled “Truth and Power.”  "Truth" is a buzzword, like "independence." CBS beating up Trump, Newt Gingrich, or multiple George Bushes was "truth" in action, and promoting Obamas, Clintons, and Bidens was somehow "independence." May 20th, 2026 7:55 AM Tim Graham 295220 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/catherine-mortensen/2026/05/20/todays-highlights-what-mrcs-media-watchdogs-are-saying MRC Watchdogs churn out breaking news on a daily basis. Don't miss Today's Highlights, where you can keep up with the top MRC content, whether it's the latest study on media bias, a glaring omission from the elitist media, or how the Big Tech companies are serving up the same leftist spin as the media.  Top Stories:     What Fraud Scandals? Google News Goes to Bat for Democrats as Midterms Approach 'None of the Above' Rated Best Late-Night Comedian on TV Scarborough Rages Over Trump's 'Marie Antoinette' Ballroom: Remember Her Fate? Sunny Hostin Calls for Open, Andor-Style 'Rebellion' to Fight Trump, GOP     What Fraud Scandals? Google News Goes to Bat for Democrats as Midterms Approach Google News completely omitted coverage of multiple major fraud scandals involving Democrats from its top morning stories in April.  The excluded stories included a Department of Justice indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center and ethics violations by a Florida congresswoman.  Right-leaning media outlets were heavily sidelined, making up less than three percent of the total analyzed stories on the platform.  Left-leaning outlets dominated the feed at nearly seventy percent, which critics argue is a deliberate effort to shield Democrats before the midterm elections.   'None of the Above' Rated Best Late-Night Comedian on TV A national survey revealed that thirty-eight percent of respondents chose none of the above as the best late-night comedian on television.  The poll numbers for individual late-night hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert sat much lower in a virtual tie around eleven to thirteen percent.  Viewership and profitability for late-night talk shows have steadily declined over the last decade with major drops in key demographics.  The steep decline is attributed to hosts moving away from traditional comedy to focus on highly polarized political commentary.   Scarborough Rages Over Trump's 'Marie Antoinette' Ballroom: Remember Her Fate? Joe Scarborough repeatedly attacked plans for a new White House ballroom by labeling it a billion dollar Marie Antoinette ballroom during his show.  The host contrasted the cost of the project with the financial struggles of everyday Americans dealing with high grocery, gas, and rent prices.  Using the Marie Antoinette comparison invokes a historical parallel to the bloody climax of the French Revolution.  Scarborough uses inflammatory rhetoric while routinely lecturing conservatives about dangerous speech.   Sunny Hostin Calls for Open, Andor-Style 'Rebellion' to Fight Trump, GOP During an episode of the Behind the Table podcast, The View co-host Sunny Hostin called for the formation of a rebellion and a true resistance to fight Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Hostin expressed frustration with mainstream Democrats, stating that they are bringing knives to gunfights and failing to match the political energy of their opponents. The call for a rebellion was inspired by a discussion with executive producer Brian Teta about the Disney sci-fi series Andor, which depicts violent efforts to overthrow an empire. Hostin also claimed that voting rights are under attack in the American South, comparing recent Supreme Court decisions on partisan gerrymandering to a new Jim Crow era. May 20th, 2026 5:30 AM Catherine Mortensen 293155 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2026/05/20/omission-nets-ignore-potential-ilhan-omar-immigration-fraud Vice President JD Vance conducted a briefing from the White House Press Room, and it registered nary a blip with the Elitist Media evening news. And it wasn’t for lack of newsworthy items. One very newsworthy statement was the target of a media blackout. Watch as The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese asks Vance about a potential indictment of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over immigration fraud, with Vance saying that this is something “the Department of Justice is looking at right now:”  IN a surprise to no one, none of the none of evening news reported that Rep. Ilhan Omar may be under investigation for potential immigration fraud; REAGAN REESE: I want to ask you about the anti-fraud task force. You previously mentioned that Ilhan Omar seemed to have committed… pic.twitter.com/B70FXdog9n — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 20, 2026 REAGAN REESE: I want to ask you about the anti-fraud task force. You previously mentioned that Ilhan Omar seemed to have committed immigration fraud. Are- do you anticipate an indictment against her, an indictment related to that situation? JD VANCE: Yeah, so- so Reagan, I don't want to prejudge an investigation. I mean, you read the things about Ilhan Omar and about, you know, who she married and whether she didn't marry this person or that person. It certainly seems like something fishy is there. But everybody's entitled to equal justice under the laws. So we're going to investigate it. We're going to take a look at it. If we think that there's a crime, we’re gonna prosecute that crime. And that’s something the Department of Justice is looking at right now. Per The New York Post: The Minnesota Democrat has married three times, but her second husband, a UK citizen named Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, has been identified in several reports over the past decade as a possible sibling. Elmi and Omar, a Muslim, were wedded in February 2009 as part of a Christian ceremony in Eden Prairie, Minn., according to a Hennepin County marriage certificate previously obtained by The Post. The couple divorced in December 2017. The congresswoman has rarely spoken of the relationship, except to note that it was brief and claim the two were frequently separated except for a two-year stretch between 2009 and 2011. There’s no record of the couple having children. This potential fraud went as uncovered as the Minnesota fraud, and the Ohio fraud. It seems that the Elitist Media have a huge problem covering fraud if it affects one of their media darlings. What did the Elitist Media cover instead? The networks went all in on the tragic death of a New York woman who fell into an open manhole. ABC covered the imminent closure of Schlitz Beer. CBS covered a bear trying to crash a family dinner in the Smoky Mountains. And NBC devoted time to Vladimir Putin’s visit to China.    Given these circumstances, there was absolutely zero time to cover the Omar investigation. Rest assured, though: if Omar were a Republican, there would be ample time to discuss those charges. Reasonable people may conclude that the coverage is just (D)ifferent.   May 20th, 2026 12:53 AM Jorge Bonilla 295219 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/steve-malzberg/2026/05/19/greg-gutfeld-battles-harold-ford-voting-rights-race-card-doesnt Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court decision to end racial gerrymandering, the Left and their media allies have been crying racism, and that continued last Saturday, at a rally in Montgomery, Alabama. It all led to a sometimes heated discussion on race, Monday on Fox News's The Five. The segment began with short clips from Democrats who participated in the event, including Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson, who said, "We are here because a white supremacist dictator known as President Donald Trump thought he could silence us."  The first to weigh in was former Tennessee Democrat congressman Harold Ford Jr., who downplayed the racial issue, claiming, "My difficulty and difference with all of this is we're doing this redistricting during mid-decades." But Ford would go on to sneak race into the issue. FORD: The Court has said that race cannot be a predominant factor, the only factor in doing it. I do think we would be having a different conversation if the Supreme Court said that you couldn't draw districts with a big number of non-college-educated white men.... We'd probably be saying something differently about it. Ford is implying that these white men are Trump voters. Is the we his Fox News panel and other white people? He then returned to downplaying the race issue. FORD: I caution my Democrat friends to leave the race out of it. We have a lot of progress in this country on the racial front. We have a long way to go as well.  But when you have a black president in the last 20 years, you have black members of Congress who are Democrat and Republican representing predominately white districts, and you have black Senators representing predominately white states, to me that flies in the face of some of the things we heard in our opening. When it was Greg Gutfeld's turn, there was no doubt about where he stood on the issue of race. GUTFELD: Those leaders are living in the past, which is what the race card literally is. You're living in the past to imprint it on the future. The things that they say are happening aren't happening. It used to work. We used to be paralyzed by the fear of the scarlet letter R for racism. But the race card doesn't work anymore on half the population that sees through it. The other half are just doing it out of habit.  Gutfeld then addressed Ford. GUTFELD: Now all of a sudden race relations are worse (than when Obama was first elected) and people are at each other's throats... This is a filter, Harold. I'm talking about identity politics. It's a filter put in place to destroy a country because it's absolutely opposite what a melting pot is.   And Ford's seesawing continued, back to racism. FORD: We have a history in our country where we had slavery a long long time. GUTFELD: And we ended it, Harold. We fought a war to end it. Aren't we the only country to ever fight a war to end slavery? We didn't start slavery. Where did slavery start? It's an ugly fact. It's not from us. FORD: Greg, we had laws in our books that didn't allow black people to vote. GUTFELD: I understand that. This is 2026. Ford then retreated. FORD: Would you that agree with me that you shouldn't redraw congressional lines mid-decade? That's what the President is doing. GUTFELD: I don't care. I look at these districts and I see all of these Republicans and no representation. That's wrong. After Kennedy added her take, which included ripping Democrats for playing the race card on redistricting, Ford took one more shot. FORD: A radio host told a Republican woman who is in Congress that he's against Hakeem Jeffries coming down to Virginia, and trying to dictate what to do.... Then he said at the end, tell him to keep his cotton picking hands off Virginia.  That was race. He should not have said that. I don't disagree with a lot of things you guys said about identity politics, but when race is obvious, it needs to be called out. In this incidence Greg I would agree with you, race is not obvious in what they're talking about but we should not be redrawing districts mid-decade. It seems that Ford wanted to have it both ways. Say it's not about race, but keep bringing up race, all the while finishing with his safety valve of say no to mid-decade redistricting. May 19th, 2026 10:30 PM Steve Malzberg 295201 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-spinnato/2026/05/19/ms-now-focuses-government-use-bible-verses-after-mosque On Tuesday, after the shooting attack at an Islamic Center in San Diego, California, MS NOW’s Morning Joe focused on the rise of “anti-Muslim hatred” and a “rising tide of anti-Semitism” after October 7th, which the show blamed on the Trump Administration. Co-host Joe Scarborough also implied the use of posts that used Christian language on government websites and “quoting biblical verses on historic sites” were part of the rise of hatred. The segment started with a report on the shooting attack in San Diego, as Scarborough and fellow co-host Willie Geist praised the work of a security guard who died as a result of the shooting. But after the report and praise of the security guard, Scarborough went straight towards a blame game and connected the rise of anti-Muslim hatred to a rise in anti-Semitism:  You have historic levels of anti-muslim hatred across America. A rising tide of anti-semitism across America. The events of October 7th, and Gaza, and everything that's followed has led to a complete lack of dialogue and some of the places where it's needed the most badly on college campuses among our young people.  The hatred that is spreading online against muslims, against Jews, against Hispanics, against Asians, against, quote, “the others” is sad and unfortunate.   On Morning Joe, after the San Diego mosque attack, Joe Scarborough mentioned increased hatred post-October 7th before he turned to hint that the use of Christian language and bible verses among government officials and employees was a possible reason for inflamed hatred. pic.twitter.com/jPt8WNIbbC — Nick (@nspin310) May 19, 2026   Scarborough then mentioned he was raised as an evangelical, as he turned to mention the use of Christian language and bible verses by government officials and employees; hinting it was a possible reason for inflamed hate: I can tell you as someone evangelical, someone who was raised in the church, I do understand that there is a place for people of faith in government. But seeing - seeing this, this constant, this constant, un-American campaign by people posting on official U.S. Government websites that ‘We are a Christian nation’ and quoting Bible verses on historic sites, that - it goes completely against what the First Amendment says. Frequent guest David Ignatius, columnist for The Washington Post, also blamed the administration due to “more polarization, more inflammatory rhetoric.”    Scarborough continued, after David Ignaitus blamed the Supreme Court's "extreme view on the Second Amendment," and said "Christian Nationalists" were "trying to project their view of America from the perch of government bureaucracy?" pic.twitter.com/S33mP8uPRs — Nick (@nspin310) May 19, 2026   Ignatius praised the security guard before he turned to call the Supreme Court “oblivious” to shootings along with their “extreme view of the Second Amendment.” At the close of the segment, Scarborough went back to his earlier point of Christian language used by the government and started to mention “Christian Nationalists”: And I must say again, on faith, ask, what would Jesus do? These people that are, again, deciding that they're going to try to push on government bureaucracy - through government bureaucracies, their view of the bible? Christians don't even agree on their view of the Bible. Christian nationalists have totally twisted and distorted Jesus's words in the gospels. His exact words in the gospels being twisted and distorted. So, if Christians can't even sort through it, what are Christian nationalists doing trying to project their view of America from the perch of government bureaucracy? The morning program could have focused on the heroes that protected the center from the attack, like the security guard, but they decided to focus most of their segment on an apparent connection to the use of Bible verses “Christian Nationalists” in government, along with jabs for the Supreme Court. The transcript is below. Click "expand": MS NOW’s Morning Joe May 19, 2026 6:31:51 AM Eastern WILLIE GEIST: Joe, some reporting this morning too that that security guard who was killed outside the school stood between the shooters and the children inside and being called a hero this morning. Rightly so. JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. Incredible eyewitness seeing him actually take a shot and then run inside to protect those inside. An absolute hero.  And, David Ignatius, just an absolute tragedy right now. You have historic levels of anti-muslim hatred across America. A rising tide of anti-semitism across America. The events of October 7th, and Gaza, and everything that's followed has led to a complete lack of dialogue and some of the places where it's needed the most badly on college campuses among our young people.  The hatred that is spreading online against muslims, against Jews, against Hispanics, against Asians, against, quote, “the others” is sad and unfortunate. I can tell you as someone evangelical, someone who was raised in the church, I do understand that there is a place for people of faith in government. But seeing - seeing this, this constant, this constant, un-American campaign by people posting on official U.S. Government websites that ‘We are a Christian nation’ and quoting bible verses on historic sites, that - it goes completely against what the First Amendment says.  And you, also, at the same time, have a lot of those people also say terrible things about Muslims, saying terrible things about, quote, the others. And unfortunately, anti-semitic slurs, anti-muslim slurs continue to skyrocket, and people lose their lifes as well. DAVID IGNATIUS: Joe, we're just tearing each other up in this country. I think we all feel it. There's something oppressive about it. And we're a country that just desperately needs good leaders. We look to the administration, Donald Trump, and often what we see is more polarization, more inflammatory rhetoric.  When you hear a story about a person like this security guard, just a guy standing in front of the building who has the courage to try to save people, because that's his job, and because that's what keeps our country and the place he was assigned orderly. You know, you think, okay, that's the spirit that gets us out of this. That multiplied by a million, by 100 million, that produces the country that we love and want to live in.  And, you know, I never want to give up hope on that. But this is this is a time when we're really under strain and that the institutions that should be helping us, like the Supreme Court, seem oblivious to some of these pressures, you know, a shooting almost every day somewhere. And we sail along with this extreme view of the Second Amendment. Sometimes it's just a depressing picture. But when you hear those stories of the individual heroes, you think, yeah, bang, that's still it. SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. And again, you're so right. I mean, the growing tide of gun violence and nothing happening post Sandy Hook, we thought there would be a reckoning. Just basic things that 90 percent of Americans support, like universal background checks. Republicans keep blocking that. Red flag laws. Republicans keep blocking that. Basic safety measures. Republicans keep blocking.  And I must say again, on faith, ask, what would Jesus do? These people that are, again, deciding that they're going to try to push on government bureaucracy - through government bureaucracies, their view of the bible? Christians don't even agree on their view of the Bible. Christian nationalists have totally twisted and distorted Jesus's words in the gospels. His exact words in the gospels being twisted and distorted. So, if Christians can't even sort through it, what are Christian nationalists doing trying to project their view of America from the perch of government bureaucracy?  Individuals? Fine. I celebrate that. I celebrate that when politicians, individuals talk about their faith, be they Muslim, be they Jewish, be they Christians or Hindu. That's America. But man, this, this, this hatred toward, quote the others. It leads, unfortunately, to terrible violence. (...) May 19th, 2026 7:40 PM Nicholas Spinnato 295209 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2026/05/19/watch-vance-takes-liberal-white-house-press-dismantles-long-winded On Tuesday afternoon, Vice President JD Vance helmed the second White House press briefing since Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt went on maternity leave and, much like Secretary of State Marco Rubio did back on May 5, he deftly took on liberal journalists looking to trap him on the new Justice Department weaponization fund, the war in Iran, and even stocks. Vance’s strongest takedown came in the penultimate question, with the Independent’s Andrew Feinberg asking about President Trump’s most recent financial disclosures that include millions in stock trades. As Vance calmly schooled him, it’s one thing to ask a question about a tenuous subject, but it’s another to offer a long-winded speech masquerading as a query. Feinberg began with a rambling set-up: The President’s financial disclosures were released recently, and they showed a lot of stock trades in companies that he has talked up at events, official events at the White House on his Truth Social account, sometimes even putting the stock ticker symbols in his posts and encouraging people to buy their — their stock. Americans, according to recent polling, are increasingly describing the President as corrupt[.] Notice the lack of a question mark. .@Independent’s @AndrewFeinberg: “The President’s financial disclosures were released recently, and they showed a lot of stock trades in companies that he has talked up at events, official events at the White House on his Truth Social account, sometimes even putting the stock… pic.twitter.com/swexhmiec7 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 When he went to add “and trading stocks,” Vance interjected: “This is a helluva question.” Feinberg played along, taking it as a compliment and said, “thank you, sir” before continuing. Vance interrupted a second time to wonder if there was a question, which only then did Feinberg provide (click “expand”): FEINBERG: Trading — trading individual stocks is something that you said that public officials should not be able to do when you ran for Senate all those years ago. And yet the President, who arguably has access to more nonpublic information than your average senator, is not only buying and selling individual stocks, either through his — through his trust — VANCE: Okay, what’s the question? FEINBERG: — the question — is the question, sir, is how can you and your administration argue to Americans that you’re cleaning up corruption, you’re preventing fraud, you’re fighting the sorts of things that harm people and people’s financial situations when the President seems to be talking up stocks that he owns, selling them and enriching himself? Before addressing the topic at hand, Vance blasted this “doozy” of “speech” and approach liberal reporters engage in by hurling insinuations of malfeasance before expecting a substantive answer (click “expand”): Okay. So, let me — let me — let me answer your question here. That was a doozy. Before I answer your question, I want to just observe — there are different ways to ask a question, okay? You can just ask a question and try to get your answer. Or you could do like a speech where you say, you know, Mr. Vice President, every — you know — you’re a — you’re a terrible human being, and so is the President, and so is the entire cabinet. And then I’m like, what’s your question? And then your question is, how dare you? Come on, man. Have a little bit of objectivity in the way that you ask these questions, because there are a lot of things in that speech masquerading as a question that didn’t actually get asked, okay? Number one, the President doesn’t sit at the Oval Office on his computer, on his, like, Robin Hood account, buying and selling stocks. That’s absurd. He has independent wealth advisors who manage his money. He is a wealthy person. He has had success in business. He’s not making these stock trades himself. And your question imputes that. It sort of — it doesn’t say it exactly, but a reasonable person listening to that question would assume the President is sitting around and doing that. He’s not. Second of all, you’re right. I’m a big fan of banning members of Congress from trading stocks. So is the President of the United States. All of us believe that nobody should be taking proprietary information gained from public service and buying and selling stocks. We want to ban — we want to ban that — we want to ban that process. And I think the way to lead by example is banning that process, banning that approach, and making it illegal, which is exactly what the President has proposed doing. Elsewhere, longtime ABC correspondent and four-time anti-Trump author Jonathan Karl predictably focused on the $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded program for Americans to seek relief from the government if they feel as though it was unfairly weaponized against them. Karl first wanted to know if that would include those originally convicted based on their conduct from January 6, 2021 and had beaten police officers: ABC’s @JonKarl: “I want to ask you about that $1.8 billion fund set up — weaponization fund it’s being called. Why should taxpayers be paying to settle a $10 billion lawsuit that was brought by the President of the United States? And should people that attacked the Capitol… pic.twitter.com/2HAVqwSOro — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 Karl didn’t like Vance’s lengthy answer, so he asked again: ABC’s @JonKarl: “I understand that everybody is eligible to apply for this one. I mean, you’re eligible, but I assume you’re not going to apply and you don’t think you should get money out of this fund.”@VP @JDVance: “Of course.” Karl: “So, isn’t it just as easy to say that… pic.twitter.com/mUQWGbtDMU — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 Former conservative reporter-turned-CNN liberal Kaitlan Collins followed up a little over 20 minutes later: CNN’s @KaitlanCollins: “You previously told me that anyone who assaulted a police officer on January 6th should go to prison. So, why not rule out giving them taxpayer-funded money?”@VP @JDVance: “Well, Kaitlin, what I said is we’re going to look at everything case-by-case.”… pic.twitter.com/4JNqLv5PV9 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 CBS’s Caitlin Huey-Burns followed Collins and asked a fair question about the timing of announcing the fund, given that Americans are feeling an economic squeeze amid the war with Iran. Vance also gave a fair answer explaining how Americans shouldn’t view this fund as a check that could have been used elsewhere and, given other administration initiatives such as the Working Families Tax Cut, it’s not as though personal finance hasn’t been a concern: CBS’s @CHueyBurns: “Going back to the price tag for this DOJ fund, $1.8 billion, you have people that can’t afford groceries. Gas is high. People are making sacrifices in their personal lives to accommodate for this rise in prices. People are telling us that they feel financially… pic.twitter.com/Dv4wgnhMOA — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 Rewinding back to the beginning of the Q&A, Breitbart News’s Nick Gilbertson used his perch from the “new media seat” to ask about Tuesday’s Kentucky primaries featuring a Trump-backed challenger to GOP Congressman Thomas Massie: .@BreitbartNews’s Nick @Gilbertson_DC was today’s “new media seat” recipient at the White House press briefing, hosted by @VP @JDVance... Gilbertson: “Today, we saw the President endorse Ken Paxton over John Cornyn and the Texas Senate race. Do you think that sends a message… pic.twitter.com/egwSQU5RJJ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 Despite what the so-called media reporting crowd tries to have its followers and readers think, Fox News and conservative media came with tough questions. Aishah Hasnie didn’t have softballs as she tried to pin Vance down on whether the Iranians are negotiating “in good faith”: Fox’s @AishahHasnie: “Just following up on what you just said, you said that the White House is negotiating with Iran in good faith. I think Americans tend to believe that. But what is it about the Iranian side that you personally have seen, where you believe that they are… pic.twitter.com/TBSuAlXrcp — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 Fox’s @AishahHasnie: “Just for Americans at home, because this has been going on for several weeks now. I think what people just want to know is, do you personally believe that the Iranians will come to a deal? Because we keep seeing this over and over again when they go back and… pic.twitter.com/uEioY8gOUQ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 The New York Post’s Steven Nelson had two meaty, newsy topics about whether the Trump administration achieved anything last week with China on fentanyl plus if Russia could play a role in taking over an Iranian uranium: .@NYPost’s @StevenNelson10: “I’d like to ask a quick follow up on Iran. But first I’d like to ask you about fentanyl. Fentanyl is sourced largely from China, killed about 403,000 Americans over the past seven years, according to CDC data. That’s one in every one — one in every… pic.twitter.com/66xYh5T93f — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 Our friend Reagan Reese of the Daily Caller — who asked Trump a now-viral question last week — wondered if the work of the White House Fraud Task Force could yield an indictment of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and then whether working on the task force has altered Vance’s view on the country’s “immigration or refugee policies.” .@DailyCaller’s @ReaganReese_: “I want to ask you about the anti-fraud task force. You previously mentioned that Ilhan Omar seemed to have committed immigration fraud. Or — do you anticipate an indictment against her, an indictment related to that situation?”@VP @JDVance:… pic.twitter.com/9tqhJ1MVTq — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 .@DailyCaller’s @ReaganReese_: “Based on what you’ve seen during your work on this anti-fraud task force, do you believe anything should change about our immigration or refugee policies to stop fraud in the United States?”@VP @JDVance: “Well, yeah. I mean, look, one thing I’d… pic.twitter.com/UqScXp7W2x — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 The Daily Mail’s Jon Michael Raasch had this hardball on Iran: .@DailyMail’s @JMRaasch: “So, Trump initially said that the war would last six weeks. We are now it’s been going on for 11 weeks in three days. What’s your message to the American people as to why it’s gone on so long and it hasn’t ended yet?”@VP @JDVance: “Well, first of all,… pic.twitter.com/ttuv3nVnOX — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 And, filling in for the great Monica Luisi while on maternity leave, Turning Point USA’s Frontlines had Rowena Ortiz on hand to ask Vance to deliver a message to Americans of “across all faiths in America” amid “an uptick in religious violence.” .@FrontlinesTPUSA's @Rowena_Ortiz_: “There has been an uptick in religious violence across the country. What’s your message to protect people across all faiths in America?”@VP @JDVance: “Well, I appreciate that question. Obviously, Turning Points would — would know a lot about… pic.twitter.com/5lyzLzLxXl — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 Vance explained how religious violence is particularly insidious, given it violates the core tenet of most major religions that “we are all children of God” (click “expand”): [T]he principle of religious violence is particularly disgusting, especially in the United States of America. And as a devout Christian, I would say it’s — it’s one of the most anti-Christian things and anti-American things that you could do. And here’s — here’s why. One, because a fundamental principle of all the great faiths is we are all children of God. And because of that, we are endowed by certain rights that are unique to our status as human beings. You violate those rights, most importantly, when you commit violence against another person. You can violate them in other ways as well. But the most profound way to violate the fundamental right of human dignity is to commit violence. But here’s why the religious piece of it is particularly egregious. One of the fundamental American rights that I think came from our Christian heritage as a civilization is the idea that we respect people’s religious freedom, in part because we respect them as human beings, but also because we respect their right to find their own pathway to God. You can’t force anybody to a pathway to God. They have to, through their own free will, find God themselves. That’s one of the reasons why that right of religious freedom is the very first right enshrined in our Constitution. So, when you commit acts of violence, you’re committing an act against this fundamental idea that people are created in the image of God, and that they have the right, through their own free will to find God however they might want. And as a as a Christian, of course, you might have your preference for how they find their pathway to God. They have to find that choice. And anybody who would commit violence against another human being in the name of religion is, I think, doing something that is a violation, of course, of the laws of — of man. But I think more importantly, it is a fundamental violation of the laws of God. Vance addressed Monday’s deadly attack on a San Diego Islamic center earlier on in response to a question from Lindell TV concerning a repugnant so-called joke from Pete Davidson about the late Charlie Kirk: Vice President Vance on Pete Davidson’s Charlie Kirk “joke” on Netflix and yesterday’s deadly shooting at a San Diego Islamic center... “Charlie was a very, very dear friend. But more importantly than that, Charlie was a father of two beautiful kids, and he did not deserve to… pic.twitter.com/61bOnDIgiH — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 19, 2026 To see the relevant transcript from the May 19 briefing, click here. May 19th, 2026 6:43 PM Curtis Houck 295217 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/05/19/behar-hostin-claim-trumprx-giving-people-tainted-deadly Two of The View’s multimillionaires demanded that Americans who could not afford their prescription medications continue to struggle. ABC News co-hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin tried to scare them away from using TrumpRX to score heavily discounted medications. They claimed, without evidence, that people who took the medications were going to die and then insisted that President Trump was going to take a cut of the sale (or employ some other method to enrich himself). They even got into a screaming match with their co-hosts over it. After playing a soundbite of Trump and liberal billionaire Mark Cuban launching the program, Behar lashed out. “First of all, you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas,” Behar snapped at Cuban. “Correct! Correct!” Hostin shrieked in agreement. Without evidence, Behar started shouting about how they were supposedly Trump-branded drugs and that they were going to kill everyone: “And I like Mark Cuban. I've always like the him but this is a mistake and once Trump puts his name on prescriptions we're all going to die!” Hostin would later back up Behar’s suggestion that the drugs were unsafe, asserting, “There could be short cuts involved.” “Anything he touches is tainted! I don’t trust it!” she also screeched. “The drugs don't actually have his name. They're existing drugs. It’s a marketplace for them,” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin tried to shout back. “Whatever! If he's involved with it,” Behar wrote it off. Farah Griffin noted that TrumpRX had one of her IVF medications, Follistim at a tenth the price she had paid for it. “The average family, one third of American families cut back on essential food and utilities to be able to cover their prescription drug costs. You're not going to convince me that just because Trump’s involved we should be like ‘screw it, don’t bring down prescription drug costs,’” she argued.   ABC News co-host Joy Behar claims "we're all going to die" because Trump wants to lower drug prices with TrumpRX. She even lashes out at Mark Cuban for getting involved. She shouts at her co-hosts who support lowering drug costs. pic.twitter.com/Wi3SNqU41J — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 19, 2026   Behar and Hostin then teamed up to tell people they shouldn’t get cheaper medications from TrumpRX because Trump was supposedly getting rich from it: BEHAR: If he's going to take a profit out of it, don’t take it! HOSTIN: Correct! I completely agree with that! FARAH GRIFFIN: No! Americans are struggling! HOSTIN: I agree with you, Joy! He is a failed businessman. And if you heard what he said, he said, we both want to make people wealthy, he didn't say healthy. FARAH GRIFFIN: So I pay ten times more for my medication? HOSTIN: He said wealthy which means to me that there's something in it for him! This is not a well-intentioned person! Again, they provided no evidence, only vibes. “He is not a well-intentioned person. He is not doing this out of the goodness of his heart! He's doing this to make money!” Hostin screamed through her hoarse voice. “You guys are naïve!” Behar attacked Farah Griffin and co-host Sara Haines, who was all for the program. “The people literally suffering illnesses and cannot pay for their medicine, I can't think of a sicker business model! Bring down the prices and if you get results on this, call it Donald Trump medicine!” Haines shouted. Behar and Hostin, multimillionaires who didn’t have an issue paying for their medications, took turns bashing their co-hosts for wanting people to use the program just because Trump was president: BEHAR: You are so naïve, the two of you, wow! HOSTIN: The two of you are so naïve! BEHAR: So naïve! Behar literally cackled at her attack, going so far as to claim the program didn’t even exist at all. “Don't believe anything he says Alyssa!” she sneered. “It’s real! Go and literally look it up! It is right there,” Farah Griffin shouted back, pointing to the screen behind Behar showing the literal website. This was an instance where The View’s unhinged Trump-hate could get people hurt. There’s a strong possibility that people would put themselves though more financial hardship because they believed Behar and Hostin’s disinformation that the program was fake or distributing tainted medications. Moreover, they didn’t have to worry about it since they didn’t need the program and could afford their drugs just fine. ABC News didn’t respond to NewsBusters’ request for comment asking the evidence they had of their claims. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View May 19, 2026 11:17:04 a.m. WHOOPI GOLDBERG: And, hey, listen to this one, billionaire Mark Cuban was a harsh critic of MAGA who campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 but yesterday he was with you-know-who touting their partnership to expand generic drug coverage. Take a look. [Cuts to video] PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I want to thank the leaders of several major pharmacies and generic drugmakers who are partnering with us on this effort including the co-founder of Cost Plus Drugs, Mark Cuban. Mark, thank you very much. Mark. Looking good, Mark. Come here, Mark. Nice to be with you. MARK CUBAN: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. TRUMP: We have the same thing. One thing in common. We want to make people better and keep them wealthy, right? [Transition] CUBAN: I think other than you I've been the biggest proponent of Trumprx.com and the reason for that is because Republicans want cheaper drugs, independents want cheaper drugs, Democrats want cheaper drugs and together, I think we're going to do something special. [Cuts back to live] GOLDBERG: Okay. JOY BEHAR: First of all, you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas. SUNNY HOSTIN: Correct! Correct! [Applause] BEHAR: And I like Mark Cuban. I've always like the him but this is a mistake and once Trump puts his name on prescriptions we're all going to die! Okay? He put his name on the Trump shuttle, the Trump vodka, the Trump University HOSTIN: And Trump steaks too. BEHAR: - and my favorite, the casinos, they all went bankrupt. Do not go there Mark. ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: The drugs don't actually have his name. They're existing drugs. BEHAR: Whatever! FARAH GRIFFIN: It’s a marketplace for them. BEHAR: If he's involved with it. FARAH GRIFFIN: No. [Crosstalk] GOLDBERG: Wait a second. FARAH GRIFFIN: A medication I had to take for IVF is a tenth of the price on TrumpRX. I don’t - whatever, it's tacky that his name is on it. Mark Cuban has dedicated his life to bringing down prescription drug costs. BEHAR: Good. FARAH GRIFFIN: The average family, one third of American families cut back on essential food and utilities to be able to cover their prescription drug costs. You're not going to convince me that just because Trump’s involved we should be like “screw it, don’t bring down prescription drug costs.” BEHAR: If he's going to take a profit out of it, don’t take it! HOSTIN: Correct! I completely agree with that! FARAH GRIFFIN: No! Americans are struggling! HOSTIN: I agree with you, Joy! He is a failed businessman. And if you heard what he said, he said, we both want to make people wealthy, he didn't say healthy. FARAH GRIFFIN: So I pay ten times more for my medication? HOSTIN: He said wealthy which means to me that there's something in it for him! This is not a well-intentioned person! [Crosstalk] SARA HAINES: The presidency is something he cashes in, Sunny, but what this does is it helps American people. HOSTIN: No, Sara! He is not a well-intentioned person. He is not doing this out of the goodness of his heart! He's doing this to make money! BEHAR: You Guys are naïve! FARAH GRIFFIN: No one thinks he’s doing this out of the goodness of his heart. HAINES: Joy, we're the wealthiest country and we pay the most for drugs. HOSTIN: There could be short cuts involved. HAINES: The people literally suffering illnesses and cannot pay for their medicine, I can't think of a sicker business model! Bring down the prices and if you get results on this, call it Donald Trump medicine! BEHAR (interrupting): There are countries - HAINES: I don't care what you call it! BEHAR: Excuse me! There are countries all over this world - especially in Scandinavia - that have national health insurance. HOSTIN: Correct. BEHAR: They do not want to have that. That would bring down the cost of drugs and healthcare but they don't want that. They call that socialism. [Crosstalk] HAINES: They have concepts of a plan Joy, and right now this is a plan, I’m going to go with it. BEHAR: You are so naïve, the two of you, wow! HOSTIN: The two of you are so naïve! BEHAR: So naïve! [Crosstalk] [Behar literally cackles in the background] FARAH GRIFFIN: If I may speak! So, you're saying in the meantime, while he remains in office for the next two years people should not have access to cheaper drugs because Trump put his name on it? BEHAR: They should! HOSTIN: Anything he touches is tainted! I don’t trust it! FARAH GRIFFIN: Today, I can literally order a prescription drug I need for a tenth of the cost because of this and it's not -- BEHAR: Don't believe anything he says Alyssa! FARAH GRIFFIN: It’s real! Go and literally look it up! It is right there. I can get Follistim! (…) May 19th, 2026 4:57 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 295214 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2026/05/19/new-york-times-promotes-israel-haters-sources-san-diego-mosque The New York Times’ coverage of the fatal shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego got off to a bad start by using “New York activist” Linda Sarsour as the sole source to a story by Adeel Hassan that purported to inform readers “What to Know About San Diego’s Islamic Center.” When Linda Sarsour, a New York activist, saw on social media that the Islamic Center of San Diego had been attacked on Monday, she immediately texted Imam Taha Hassane. Ms. Sarsour, one of four national co-chairs of the Women’s March on Washington in 2017, has crisscrossed the country speaking at mosques and community centers. Shortly after the shooting, which killed three people, she said that the Islamic Center of San Diego was “a model for the rest of the country.” …. Ms. Sarsour said the mosque’s diversity is its most striking aspect. “People from African Americans to African immigrants to Arabs to white converts to Eastern Europeans to Latinos,” she said. “It’s literally the most diverse mosque that I’ve ever been to in my whole life.” Ms. Sarsour has been a prominent advocate for Islamic causes, championing the rights of Palestinians. She gained prominence as a voice for the rights of Muslims after 9/11, and more recently has become a target for supporters of President Trump — and for Russian trolls. Her activism has taken her across the country, including to San Diego. The Islamic Center there, she said, does a lot of community service and mobilizes parishioners to go to pro-immigrant rallies. It hosts open houses for the general public. Just as it has in previous other favorable profiles, the Times omitted Sarsour’s radical and hateful past, like her disgusting social media attacks on Ayaan Hirsi Ali (author of Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now) and Sarsour’s support for Sharia law, her inflammatory anti-Israel rhetoric, public appearances with convicted terrorists, conspiracy mongering about Islamist terrorist threats, and her support for the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The Times prefers to present her as a cool “Brooklyn homegirl in a hijab.”   More dubious sourcing appeared in “San Diego Mosque Shooting Comes Amid Rising Reports of Islamophobia in the U.S.” by Bernard Mokam, which found a pattern of so-called Islamophobia (from the same paper proudly spreading anti-Semitic tropes like “dog rape” of Palestinian prisoners). “San Diego Mosque Attack Comes Amid Rising Reports of Islamophobia -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations said complaints about bias against Muslims are at levels unseen in decades.” The killings Monday at San Diego’s largest mosque are being investigated as a hate crime, touching off concerns about rising Islamophobia in the United States. “Islamophobia endangers Muslim communities across this country,” Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, said in response to the shooting, which left three people dead, in addition to the two shooters. “We must confront it directly and stand together against the politics of fear and division.” Islamophobia has been an intractable problem in the United States for decades. Hate crimes against Muslims surged following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to F.B.I. data. More recently, the war in Gaza, which set off protests across American college campuses, has contributed to a steady increase in anti-Muslim sentiment and inspired violence against a range of religious institutions, including synagogues and churches. Antisemitic incidents also skyrocketed following the start of the conflict in 2023, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The Council on American-Islamic Relations received 8,683 civil rights complaints in 2025, the most the group has recorded since 1996, according to its most recent report. CAIR has no business as a reputable source either, given its sordid anti-semitic history. PS: 🚨 MEDIA HYPOCRISY Trans shooter Robin Westman opened fire on Catholic kids at Annunciation Church during Mass in Minneapolis. NYT Headline: Motive is a Mystery Meanwhile: Two Hispanic teens shoot up San Diego mosque NYT: Attack Comes Amid Rising Reports of Islamophobia pic.twitter.com/OdgLXbn6X7 — Alec Lace (@AlecLace) May 19, 2026 May 19th, 2026 4:18 PM Clay Waters 295208 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/05/19/democrat-voters-support-retaliatory-gerrymandering More than half of those who voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election say it’s justified to gerrymander in one state to retaliate against other states that gerrymander, results of a new national survey of U.S. adult citizens reveal. Fully 92% of citizens agree that it’s a problem when states draw legislative districts that intentionally favor one political party, including 73% who say it’s “a major problem” and 19% who deem it a minor problem, according to a national poll by The Economist/YouGov conducted May 9-11. Democrat citizens (89%) and Independents (74%) are more likely than Republicans (57%) to think gerrymandering constitutes a major problem. Similarly, 89% of those who voted for Harris label it a major problem, compared to 60% of Trump voters. Democrats also voiced much more support for retaliatory district-drawing when asked the following question: “If one state redraws its congressional districts to advantage a political party, are other states justified in retaliating and redrawing their districts to benefit the other party?” Here, 56% of Harris voters and 51% of self-identified Democrats feel that retaliatory gerrymandering is justified, compared to just 33% of Trump voters and 32% of Republican citizens. Among Independents, 31% support redrawing districts in one state in order to retaliate against other states that redraw their districts. Men are more likely than women (44%-30%) to approve of retaliatory district-drawing. By race, Blacks (81%) are more likely than either Whites (72%) or Hispanics (68%) to think gerrymandering is a major problem and nearly half (45%) say it’s justified to retaliate in kind, compared to 38% of Whites and 29% of Hispanics. Taken together, 37% of all U.S. adult citizens say it’s justified, 27% say it isn’t and 36% are “not sure.” May 19th, 2026 4:01 PM Craig Bannister 295212 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/19/ap-fact-checker-condemns-trump-celebrating-demise-climate-alarmism Associated Press science writer Seth Borenstein traveled over to the fact-checking section on Monday to condemn President Trump for taking a victory lap on behalf of all people who do not subscribe to theories of apocalyptic climate change after the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ruled a 2011 study’s “worst case scenario — called RCP8.5 — was implausible.” The problem for Borenstein was that in 2026, he said Trump was ignoring other, more likely scenarios, but in 2011, he willingly went along with the worst-case scenario. Trump posted on social media, “GOOD RIDDANCE! After 15 years of Dumocrats promising that ‘Climate change’ is going to destroy the Planet, the United Nations TOP Climate Committee just admitted that its own projections (RCP8.5) were WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!”” Borenstein began his reply, “Trump was referring to a set of projections from 2011 from a group of scientists associated with the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that were updated in a study published in a scientific journal this spring. The update found that the old worst case scenario — called RCP8.5 — was implausible.” He also wrote, “Even when it was created 15 years ago, that worst case scenario was unlikely — there were other scenarios that were considered more likely. But the most extreme scenario was still possible if the world went on a fossil fuel heavy binge, in particular continuing to use coal, the most dirty fossil fuel, in a big way. It projected an end of the century warming of about 8 degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Celsius) compared to the mid 1800s.” However, 15 years ago, Borenstein wrote, “The report does say scientists are ‘virtually certain’ — 99 percent — that the world will have more extreme spells of heat and fewer of cold. Heat waves could peak as much as 5 degrees hotter by mid-century and even 9 degrees hotter by the end of the century.” Sure, Borenstein said temperatures “could” rise nine degrees by 2100, but the words “implausible,” “unlikely,” and “worst-case scenario” do not appear anywhere in his 2011 article. Borenstein wants to condemn Trump for what he himself did. American Enterprise Institute climate policy researcher Roger Pielke Jr. summarized the problem: Tens of thousands of research papers have been — and continue to be — published using these scenarios, a similar number of media headlines have amplified their findings, and governments and international organization have built these implausible scenarios into policy and regulation. We now know that all of this is built on a foundation of sand. Pielke also disagrees with Borenstein’s characterization as a worst-case scenario. Instead, he argued it was “characterized as ‘business as usual.’” Pielke also notes that SSP3-7.0 has also been retired, which predicted a roughly six-degree Fahrenheit increase. The problem for Borenstein is that even if he is right and Pielke and Trump are wrong about RCP8.5’s demise, there is still the fact that, according to alarmists, New York City was supposed to be overwhelmed with floods in 2015, milk was supposed to be $12.99 per carton (it was $3.39), and gas was supposed to be over $9 a gallon (it was $2.75). Perhaps Borenstein should look back at those predictions instead. May 19th, 2026 2:12 PM Alex Christy 295211 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/19/saturday-night-live-claims-trump-wishes-vances-death Season 51 of NBC’s Saturday Night Live concluded with Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che hitting all the usual beats, including people loathing Vice President JD Vance so much that they want him or themselves dead, suggesting the country is racist, and Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier in the season, Jost raised the possibility of Second Lady Usha Vance killing herself to get away from JD, but this time Jost claimed that President Trump wants Vance himself dead, “According to a senior official, President Trump keeps a letter in the Resolute Desk addressed to Vice President JD Vance in the event he dies or is assassinated. The letter reads simply, ‘I wish it had been you.’”   SNL's season finale included the usual bits, including some JD Vance-death bits from Colin Jost, "According to a senior official, President Trump keeps a letter in the Resolute Desk addressed to Vice President JD Vance in the event he dies or is assassinated. The letter reads… pic.twitter.com/YbzfPHNKbA — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 19, 2026   Recently, Che suggested the Supreme Court had turned the clock back to the days of segregation and that Kamala Harris lost in 2024 because she is a black woman. Now, he lamented that Uncle Sam won’t give him reparations, “President Trump has rejected Iran's latest demands to end the war, including recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. war reparations. You want reparations from America? Get in line, honey.” Like the other late night comedy shows, SNL loves some Trump-Epstein jokes. The show has accused Trump of starting the war with Iran to distract from the Epstein files, and on Saturday’s show, David Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump character asked Epstein’s ghost (Will Ferrell) what heaven is like. When Weekend Update rolled around, Jost quipped, “Texas Senator John Cornyn has introduced legislation to rename a state highway ‘Trump Interstate’ because for some reason people associate Trump with traffic across state lines.”  Routines like that are how Jost and Che ended up telling 91 percent of their political jokes about conservatives throughout the whole season, but that does not necessarily convey how nasty Weekend Update can be. SNL may be seen as an American institution, but from an unhealthy obsession with deaths in the Second Family to unfounded allegations of racism, SNL is just another outpost of late night liberalism. Here is a transcript for the May 16 show: NBC Saturday Night Live 5/17/2026 12:18 AM ET COLIN JOST: According to a senior official, President Trump keeps a letter in the Resolute Desk addressed to Vice President JD Vance in the event he dies or is assassinated. The letter reads simply, "I wish it had been you." MICHAEL CHE: President Trump has rejected Iran's latest demands to end the war, including recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz and U.S. war reparations. You want reparations from America? Get in line, honey. JOST: Texas Senator John Cornyn has introduced legislation to rename a state highway “Trump Interstate” because for some reason people associate Trump with traffic across state lines.  May 19th, 2026 12:15 PM Alex Christy 295206 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/19/speaker-johnson-rolls-eyes-has-katy-tur-ever-read-declaration The secular leftists in the media elite were alarmed that Team Trump threw a prayer event on Sunday called “Rededicate 250,” recalling America’s Christian origins, a "rededication of our country as One Nation Under God." Those words are one reason liberals don't like the Pledge of Allegiance.  NPR previewed this "Christian-saturated, MAGA-heavy festival" under this scary headline: The Trump administration is planning a prayer event on the National Mall. All but one of the speakers is Christian Oh no! On MS NOW’s Katy Tur Reports on Monday, the host brought on three guests to address this frightening afternoon of prayers: McKay Coppins from The Atlantic, Democrat strategist Basil Smikle, and New York Times religion reporter Ruth Graham. Tur began: “Critics worry the event blurred constitutional lines, elevating one strain of Christianity above the country's broader religious diversity and further intruding on the separation of church and state.” The amazing nugget of ignorance came when Tur expressed concern over House Speaker Mike Johnson's remarks on The Mall: God talk is SO foreign to MS NOW. Katy Tur: What about this passage from Mike Johnson declaring that our rights do not derive from government? They come from you, our creator and heavenly father. Is this him putting God over the Declaration of Independence? McKay Coppins: I… pic.twitter.com/sfpykN5bYc — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 18, 2026 TUR: What about this passage from Mike Johnson declaring that our rights do not derive from government? They come from you, our creator and heavenly father. Is this him putting God over the Declaration of Independence? Has Katy Tur actually spent a minute with the Declaration? It’s right there at the beginning: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” McKay Coppins tried to negotiate carefully around the ignorance in her question: COPPINS: I actually think that that idea is not wholly uncommon. I mean, the idea that we have certain inalienable rights that come from god can be read in a fairly benign way, which is basically that we have innate human rights, that our Constitution and our government, our democratic government are meant to codify. Right. That idea is not totally abnormal. Coppins suggested the talk of a “spiritual battle” could be more alarming, that “partisan politics is injected directly into spiritual, Biblical rhetoric,” which “could lead to some pretty dangerous places if it’s not kept in check.” So liberal journalists think you should never define the Democrats as godless extremists who want to drive religion out of politics and undermine the Bible’s teachings on (for example) marriage and gender and the life of the unborn. This clip on X went viral, and Speaker Johnson himself was amazed: "Wow. Newsflash to MS Now: The 2nd paragraph of the Declaration literally proclaims the self-evident truth that our rights come from our Creator." May 19th, 2026 11:56 AM Tim Graham 295204 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/05/19/female-officer-suspended-after-objecting-male-her-locker When a biological male was allowed to use the women’s locker room and Norfolk Police Department Officer Meghan Grabow objected, the department didn’t protect her – it suspended her, the female officer says. What’s more, Martin Powers, a male officer who spoke up in support of Grabow, was suspended, then fired. “I’m completely stripped down to my underwear, and… [in comes] a man,” Grabow told Independent Women’s Features, recalling her first locker room encounter with the male recruit. “Here comes this man in a suit and tie… And [he] just stared at me.” Grabow said she was told by her superiors that she should just take her gun into the shower with her, if she felt unsafe – and that she must use female pronouns for the biological male recruit and refer to him as “female” and a “woman.”  The transgender-identified recruit had also been caught deliberately using a female recruit’s shower towel, Powers said, noting that the sole female recruit was forced to change multiple times per day in front of the biological male. Grabow and Powers tell Independent Women’s that the Norfolk Police Department severely retaliated against them for objecting to the department’s transgender policy: “Both Powers and Grabow say they paid a steep price for speaking up—faced retaliation in the forms of termination and suspension. Grabow is currently appealing her suspension with the police department, Powers is attempting to exhaust all legal options.” “The fear of reprisal is so serious” that females in the department are “terrified to even make a complaint about anything because they know what’s going to happen,” Officer Grabow said. PJ Media notes the irony of the incident: “The most ironic part is that the transgender-identified recruit ended up dropping out before officially becoming an officer. So Norfolk PD fired an officer of integrity (Powers), still has Grabow on suspension, and managed to drive away their only female recruit, all in order to affirm the mental illness of a man who left claiming he was emotionally traumatized.” May 19th, 2026 11:53 AM Craig Bannister 295205 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/05/19/sunny-hostin-calls-open-andor-style-rebellion-fight-trump The incendiary and stochastic terrorist rhetoric of ABC and Disney’s The View took on its darkest and most dangerous form yet. During their Behind the Table podcast on Monday, co-host Sunny Hostin called for an open “rebellion” to fight President Trump and Republicans. Her inspiration was Disney’s Andor, a live-action Star Wars show about the early days of the Rebel Alliance and their violent and clandestine efforts to overthrow the Galactic Empire. WARNING: There will be spoilers. They’re necessary to give an idea for the type of “rebellion” Hostin was calling for. Hostin’s open call for a rebellion was the climax of her reaction to recent election related news items. First, she echoed her previous false suggestion that only Republicans were gerrymandering and played dumb about why party gerrymandering was legal while racist gerrymandering wasn’t (party affiliation was not a protected class) (Click “expand”): HOSTIN: Look, I mean, we're seeing after the Supreme Court decision-- TETA: In Virginia. HOSTIN: In Louisiana. TETA: Oh, Louisiana. I'm sorry you're right. Yes. HOSTIN: The Louisiana decision that you can gerrymander based on political party and not race. TETA: Right. HOSTIN: Apparently, if you gerrymander on race, it's illegal, but an unconstitutional, but fine to do it for political party.   An open call for violence? On The View's Behind the Table podcast yesterday, Sunny Hostin called for an Andor-style "rebellion" to fight Trump and Republicans: SUNNY HOSTIN: And we are felling the result of not having a resistance. A valuable resistance. BRIAN TETA: You do… pic.twitter.com/bG8qvEg4uU — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 19, 2026   She proceeded to claim blacks were a monolith and only voted Democrat. She then regurgitated the liberal talking that America was experiencing “Jim Crow” again and that the Voting Rights Act was “decimated” (Click “expand”): HOSTIN: And we know that the majority of the Democratic Party of black voters are in the Democratic Party, something like over 95 percent of women, over 70 - 80 percent of black men. And so race and the Democratic Party are sort of synonymous. TETA: They're linked. HOSTIN: They're linked. And so what we're seeing after that is that Tennessee gerrymandered black representation, we're seeing-- it's going to happen in Florida. We're seeing it just all over the south, so it feels a lot like the new Jim Crow, right? Black voters are under-- our voting rights are under attack. The Voting Rights Act has been basically decimated, it's been gutted. “And so for me, it just seems to me like the Democrats need to understand that there are new rules afoot. And when there are new rules to a game, you play by those rules and you play to win (…) I'm friends with some high-profile Democrats, and I can't say that they get it yet,” she whined. Apparently, that solution she wanted Democrats to adopt was a “rebellion.” While she was struggling to finds the words to use to describe what she wanted, executive producer Brian Teta mentioned Andor and the Rebellion. It resonated with Hostin: HOSTIN: You can't, you know, you want to lead by example, and you want to be above the fray. That is not how this Republican, Trumplican party works, and we are feeling the result of not having a resistance. A valuable resistance. TETA: You do really have to watch Andor. Let me tell you. It's all about the resistance. HOSTIN: I know! You've been telling me about Andor! We're both such sci-fi and fantasy fans, TETA: It will change your life. It's all about forming a rebellion. HOSTIN: I'm going to start - We need to form a rebellion. A true resistance. In the Disney show, Casian Andor (played my Diego Luna) experienced the rise of the oppressive Galactic Empire and got recruited to take up arms. The plot had Andor and his comrades steal money from the Empire to fund the rebellion, turn protests in the streets into shootouts and slaughter, attempt to assassinate high-ranking government officials, partner with extremist elements even other rebels wouldn’t work with, and shoot up the building that housed the Galactic Senate to extract a sympathetic Senator. That’s what The View was inspired by and openly called for. ABC News did not respond to NewsBusters' request for comment. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s Behind the Podcast May 19, 2026 00:52 (…) BRIAN TETA (executive producer of The View): Today, we discuss Trump getting payback on Republican Senator Bill Cassidy and knocking him out of the race. You said today, the Republicans are trying to take away the black vote. SUNNY HOSTIN: Yeah! TETA: What's your message to Democrat leaders right now? And how do you-- and extrapolate a little bit about how that's happening. HOSTIN: Look, I mean, we're seeing after the Supreme Court decision-- TETA: In Virginia. HOSTIN: In Louisiana. TETA: Oh, Louisiana. I'm sorry you're right. Yes. HOSTIN: The Louisiana decision that you can gerrymander based on political party and not race. TETA: Right. HOSTIN: Apparently, if you gerrymander on race, it's illegal, but an unconstitutional, but fine to do it for political party. And we know that the majority of the Democratic Party of black voters are in the Democratic Party, something like over 95 percent of women, over 70 - 80 percent of black men. And so race and the Democratic Party are sort of synonymous. TETA: They're linked. HOSTIN: They're linked. And so what we're seeing after that is that Tennessee gerrymandered black representation, we're seeing-- it's going to happen in Florida. We're seeing it just all over the south, so it feels a lot like the new Jim Crow, right? Black voters are under-- our voting rights are under attack. The Voting Rights Act has been basically decimated, it's been gutted. And so for me, it just seems to me like the Democrats need to understand that there are new rules afoot. And when there are new rules to a game, you play by those rules and you play to win. And I think that's the opportunity, but also the disconnect between the Democratic Party and Democratic voters. It seems-- and, you know, I'm friends with some high-profile Democrats, and I can't say that they get it yet. You know, I always say when they go low, you go to the Earth's crust, you know? You meet the energy, and the Democrats are still trying to be sort of the party of -- I don't even know how to describe it, like the gentlemanly or gentlewoman from New York. You know, they're trying to do this sort of gentle, politicking, and they're bringing knives to gunfights, and it's not working. And I think Americans are sick of it, and they want their representatives to stand up. I do think there's going to be a backlash. I think with this sort of partisan gerrymandering, I think Democrats are going to come out in full force, especially the young voters. They are angry about this. TETA: And you think this is going to lead to more progressive wins for the Democrats? HOSTIN: I really do. I think Mamdani, people thought that that win was sort of an anomaly. I think he is the playbook. I do. TETA: All right. HOSTIN: Even in places like the South. TETA: That's different at the table too. I think we have to talk more about that, because I think there's- HOSTIN: There's disagreement there. But I'm right. TETA: It's interesting. HOSTIN: I’m not wrong. TETA: Well, I remember because there was a time where you weren't at the Earth's crusted, and you've been consistently there for a while. HOSTIN: I've been there for a long, long time, but I have. I don't believe in this - TETA: Michelle Obama. HOSTIN: I don't. I don't believe in- I think you meet energy with energy. TETA: I wonder if Michelle Obama still believes in it. I feel like she might not any more either. HOSTIN: I don’t think she does. You can't, you know, you want to lead by example, and you want to be above the fray. That is not how this Republican, Trumplican party works, and we are feeling the result of not having a resistance. A valuable resistance. TETA: You do really have to watch Andor. Let me tell you. It's all about the resistance. HOSTIN: I know! You've been telling me about Andor! We're both such sci-fi and fantasy fans, TETA: It will change your life. It's all about forming a rebellion. HOSTIN: I'm going to start - We need to form a rebellion. A true resistance. (…) May 19th, 2026 11:10 AM Nicholas Fondacaro 295203 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/19/stephen-colberts-worst-moments-his-11-cbs-years CBS is canceling The Late Show after the conclusion of Thursday’s episode. Since 2015, The Late Show has been hosted by Stephen Colbert, who by the time Thursday comes around will have hosted 1,801 episodes of the show that began under David Letterman in 1993.  Colbert’s tenure will be remembered for its partisan agenda of attacking Republicans and elevating Democrats. NewsBusters has compiled the following video montage and 39 quotes to show off some of the lowlights of the past 11 years.    Crusading Against Trump Colbert made going after Donald Trump one of the signature aspects of his time as host of The Late Show. Here are some examples of his most vicious attacks against Trump and his supporters.  “But right now, the election is too close to call and too terrifying to contemplate. The huge story is that Trump has outperformed expectations in early results. This one is a nail biter and a passport grabber. It feels like we are trying to avoid the apocalypse and half the country is voting for the asteroid.” – November 9, 2016 “You are the Presi-dunce, but are turning into a real prick-tator. Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla who got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s [bleep] holster.” – May 1, 2017 “It turns out he’s building out of the ground-up bones of poor people because this budget cuts things like the food stamp program, SNAP, and the children’s health insurance.” – May 23, 2017 “Sir, they’re not [bleep]-hole countries. For one, Donald Trump isn’t their president.” – January 11, 2018 “A snap in the air means we are heading into my favorite season, cause it’s Impeachment Eve. Tomorrow -- like little children! Tomorrow is the first day of televised impeachment hearings. I’m so excited, I won't be able to sleep.” – November 12, 2019 “At this moment, there are 546 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!" Okay, let me think about that. You're a monster.” – March 9, 2020. “Trump’s debate performance last week was a hurricane of bad faith. It boarded on a demonstration of the banality of evil.” – October 7, 2020 “You only survived this up until now because a lot of voters didn’t want to believe everything that was obvious to so many of us: That Donald Trump is a fascist. And when it comes to democracy versus fascism, I’m sorry, there are not fine people on both sides.” – November 5, 2020. “It may be hot outside, but in here it’s Christmas. Because yesterday, we all got the present we wanted: FBI agents raided Mar-a-Lago.” – August 9, 2022 “Here in New York it was 40 degrees, but I still ate ice cream out of a baseball helmet. Why? Oh, just a little something worth celebrating today because literally three minutes before I walked out on this stage here, the New York Times reported a New York grand jury voted to indict former President Donald J. Trump. Oh! Oh! Come on! Come on! Thank you! Ladies and gentlemen! It’s right, he was-- ladies and gentlemen, he was right, we're finally saying Merry Christmas again.” – March 30, 2023  “You can feel it in the air, folks. There are just five days until Christmas. But Santa came early last night when the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump is disqualified from holding office.” – December 20, 2023.  “Now, the problem is, July 11 is a whole 38 days away. That is so long! I guess I’ll just have to pass the time with my Countdown to Sentencing Advent Calendar. Here we go. Got all 38 days here. Judge Merchan, Judge Merchan like that. Okay, today is day one, I'll open that up. There you go. Don’t go too far. Daddy’s drink burns.” – June 3, 2024  “So, in 11 days we all get to find out finally whether we live in a fascist country.” – October 24, 2024. “All day yesterday, I was walking around proudly wearing my ‘I voted' sticker. Today, I wore my ‘I am questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of humanity' sticker...This is a democracy. That's democracy with a capital 'Duh.' And in this duh-mocracy, the majority has spoken, and they said that they don't care that much about democracy.” – November 6, 2024 “Over the weekend, his administration launched a nationwide immigration enforcement blitz. Really? Blitz, short for blitzkrieg? Just once, can we do fun German stuff?” – January 27, 2025 “Republicans can eat a [bleep]. How ’bout that? Will that work? Would that be okay? You know what? You know what? You know what? In fact, let's be generous, they can eat a bag of [bleep].” – May 14, 2025 “What’s going on in LA reminds us that as citizens, it is crucial to speak out against Trump’s fascist impulses, his rampant corruption, and his egregious violations of our norms and laws.” – June 17, 2025 “Yes, do not compare ICE or Border Patrol agents to the Nazis. That’s an unfair comparison. The Nazis were willing to show their faces.” – January 26, 2026 “Perhaps the most impressive of it all was this inflatable Trump pooping directly onto the Constitution. That is spectacular craftsmanship. Above all else. Whoever made that should be proud. ‘Cause one day, their grandchild will ask them how they resisted the rise of American fascism, and they can proudly say, ‘Well, Tyler. Your grandma and I worked round the clock with a team of fellow patriots to answer the essential question of democracy: Can we make an angry balloon that looks like it’s pooping fire? Yes, you can.’” – March 30, 2026   The Late Show’s Echo Chamber There are multiple ways to judge which late night show is the most liberal. If the criteria is who brought on the most liberal guests, Colbert would be the winner. Here are some of Colbert’s most effusive moments when interacting with his guests. “My next guest has helped turn a civil dispute with a porn star into an existential threat to the Trump presidency. Please welcome attorney Michael Avenatti!” – May 3, 2018 “What makes you happy? Where does your hope come from?” – January 11, 2019, to Kamala Harris. “Thanks so much for being with us, Governor, and thank you for everything you’re doing to keep our state safe and the public informed. How are you?” – May 7, 2020 to Andrew Cuomo “As someone who spent his life trying to push our nation forward, how does it feel for you to see so many voters returning to a person that I, for one, thought have been politically discredited even among his own party, Donald Trump.” – March 6, 2024 to Bernie Sanders. “So, cheers, there you go. Ooh. Tastes like the beautiful city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.” – October 8, 2024 while sharing a beer with Kamala Harris “So, let’s bring it in, coach, for one final pep talk to the voters out there maybe haven’t made up their mind and if you can give that pep talk using as many of these sports clichés as possible, that would be great.” – November 4, 2024 to Tim Walz. “He’s an all-star.” – February 4, 2025 reacting to W. Kamau Bell saying “Trump has one of the greatest resumes of racism in the history of racism.”  “First woman to play Jesus in a major production, long overdue, I’ve said for years I’d love to see a woman in that part and what does that mean to you?” – June 6, 2025 to actress Cynthia Erivo. “Fear is the point of a lot of this.” – June 17, 2025 to Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois). “The thing is, I remember seeing Soviet posters basically saying in the West, women are not allowed to do any of this. It was a forward-looking feminist agenda to the communist enterprise.” – January 5, 2026 to journalist Julia Ioffe.   Liberal Culture Warrior In 2025, Colbert told GQ that he is “more conservative than people think.” However, his time as host did not reflect such a claim. Even when the story had nothing to do with Trump, he continued attacking conservatives and promoting left-wing social causes. “Yes, telling people what to do is arrogant and paternalistic, By the way, ladies, no Planned Parenthood for you” – May 3, 2018 “I think that at this point it’s clear that America’s gun culture is melting down, but the Republicans in Congress would rather maintain their power than save lives.” – August 5, 2019 “America is drowning 100 feet below the surface, and Republicans are saying, "Okay. Here’s our compromise. Instead, we drown 60 feet below the surface.” – February 1, 2021 “As it says in the good book, ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, then you were arrested because white people in Georgia are terrified of Stacey Abrams.’” – April 5, 2021 “Now, surprisingly Alito was joined in the decision by no one who would surprise you: Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. So, congratulations, ladies, decisions about what you can do with your body are now being made by four old dudes and a woman who thinks The Handmaid’s Tale is a rom-com.” – May 3, 2022  “How big of an a-hole is Ron DeSantis? Gaping. Gaping.” – September 19, 2022 “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror, and stop trying to score political points with your base at the expense of real human beings, you dick.” – March 1, 2023 about Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee banning gender-altering hormones for minors and banning drag shows in public spaces. “Well, that’s true, the modern GOP would never vote for Jesus, I mean, He was soft on Samaritans and commanded everyone to sell their possessions to give money to the poor, the guy was clearly a socialist. He was worse than a socialist, he was a Christian.” – October 16, 2023 “But if someone calls you the C-word, putting up an insurrection flag is not the response. ‘Oh, you were rude to my wife? Well, we’re Nazis now.’” – May 20, 2024 on Sam and Martha-Ann Alito’s flags. May 19th, 2026 10:00 AM Alex Christy 295169 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/19/stephen-colbert-reveals-2016-hillary-celebration-wouldve-included Stephen Colbert kicked off his final week of hosting The Late Show on CBS by looking back at some of the things that, for one reason or another, never aired. This included what the plan was to celebrate a Hillary Clinton victory in 2016, which Colbert revealed included naked male models. While eating some steamed chicken, Colbert recalled, “So, why do we have all the stuff that never made it to air? A lot of reasons. For one, sometimes the world just doesn't cooperate, like during the 2016 presidential election. We were doing a live special on Showtime, and no commercial breaks, and as the results started to come in, it became clear that we had planned for a different outcome.”     Putting up a blurred image of the doomed bit, Colbert continued, “We were so sure that The New York Times prediction needle was right, we hired a bunch of naked male models with the words 'I'm with her' painted on their full plump butts. Sadly, all of those models had to be put down, but first we tried to save the bit. And as the outcome became clear, we repainted their butts to say ‘We’re [bleep].’” Ultimately, the bit died along with liberal hopes that night, “And between those two butt bits, this is totally true, our co-executive producer, Matt Lappin, was backstage screaming into his headset, ‘Scrub the butts!’ Right, Matt? Is that right?” Lappin joined in lamenting Election Night 2016, “That's right. It was more like ‘Scrub the butts! Scrub the butts!’ That night even the butts cried.” Instead, Colbert was compelled to solemnly lament that his fellow citizens voted for “the asteroid.” It was a theme he would repeat eight years later in 2024 when he lamented that he was switching out his “I voted” sticker for a “I am questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of humanity" one because voters, apparently, “don't care that much about democracy.” Ultimately, in 2016, Colbert ended up being the butt of the joke because he simply assumed his liberal bubble was reflective of the nation as a whole. It was a tendency that plagued The Late Show over the next 10 years as well. Here is transcript for the May 18 show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 5/18/2026 11:42 PM ET STEPHEN COLBERT: So, why do we have all the stuff that never made it to air? A lot of reasons. For one, sometimes the world just doesn't cooperate, like during the 2016 presidential election. We were doing a live special on Showtime, and no commercial breaks, and as the results started to come in, it became clear that we had planned for a different outcome. We were so sure that The New York Times prediction needle was right, we hired a bunch of naked male models with the words "I'm with her" painted on their full plump butts. Sadly, all of those models had to be put down, but first we tried to save the bit. And as the outcome became clear, we repainted their butts to say “We’re [bleep].” And between those two butt bits, this is totally true, our co-executive producer, Matt Lappin, was backstage screaming into his headset, "Scrub the butts!” Right, Matt? Is that right? MATT LAPPIN: That's right. It was more like “Scrub the butts! Scrub the butts!” That night even the butts cried. COLBERT: Oh, if you knew that took on Matt, you would know how important evidence for them to get in one more ass joke, and that's the cleanest it's ever been. May 19th, 2026 9:32 AM Alex Christy 295202 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2026/05/19/ms-now-i-dont-know-gop-voters-cnn-analyzes-gop-zero On Sunday evening's The Weekend: Primetime on MS NOW, Ayman Mohyeldin offered this moment of rare candor while discussing Sen. Bill Cassidy’s primary loss: “I think the problem that a lot of people had with Cassidy — and again, I can’t really speak for Republican voters, I don’t know them very well — but just from hearing the commentary about them…” On Monday's CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish turned that ignorance into a full segment on the state of the GOP in light of the defeat of incumbent Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in the Louisiana primary — with zero Republicans on the panel. Instead, she assembled three analysts — Sarah Fischer (CNN senior media analyst / Axios), Nia-Malika Henderson (CNN senior political analyst / Bloomberg), and Seung Min Kim (CNN political analyst / AP) — all with impeccable liberal-media credentials. Fischer’s contribution was pure gobbledygook: the coming midterms "foreshadowed" the current situation. So, something that hasn't happened yet is a harbinger of the present? She predicted: "The Trumpiest candidates are going to continue to prevail, and then in other cases, they're going to continue to completely fall flat." So, the Trumpy candidates will triumph -- unless they get trounced. Got it! MS NOW Admits “I Don’t Know Republican Voters” … Then CNN Analyzes the GOP With ZERO Republicans 😂 pic.twitter.com/4bHGhO3G4j — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) May 18, 2026 That was the kind of "analysis" that cried out for an actual Republican to explain what’s happening inside the party. So naturally, Cornish played a clip of renowned Republican strategist...Pete Buttigieg. He began by patronizingly describing Cassidy as "normal and honest." Gee, thanks, Mayor Pete!  He went on to claim that the situation within the GOP "does create a big opening for Democrats." Whatever. Cornish entirely excluded any real GOP voices -- like someone who would say Cassidy lost in part because he voted to impeach President Trump over January 6 in a symbolic move, since it occurred after Trump was already out of office.  The liberal media are the blind men and the elephant — the Republican elephant. Media that openly admits it doesn’t know Republican voters… then deliberately excludes them from the conversation. The pattern is clear: too much anthropology from afar, not nearly enough real Republicans in the room. It's not like this show doesn't know where to find conservative analysts.  Here are the transcripts. MS NOW The Weekend: Primetime 5/17/26 6:01 pm EDT AYMAN MOHYELDIN: So a lot to unpack in what has played out in Louisiana, but I thought an interesting place to start was that comment that we just heard from Senator Cassidy, because to some extent, that kind of commentary is what you would have wanted to see from Cassidy over the last couple of months, and certainly from the last couple of years. I think the problem that a lot of people had with Cassidy — and again, I can't really speak for Republican voters, I don't know them very well — but just from hearing the commentary about them, is that Cassidy had the courage to vote to impeach Donald Trump on January the sixth or related to January the sixth, but since then has spent most of his time trying to suck up to the president, trying to warm up to the president, and at one point— CNN This Morning 5/18/26 6:01 am EDT AUDIE CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and we begin in Louisiana, of course, with the downfall of Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. He is the first Republican senator to lose a primary in nearly a decade. Cassidy voted to convict Trump for impeachment, and Trump doesn't forget. Cassidy didn't mention the president in his concession speech, but he did give a veiled jab on the way out the door. BILL CASSIDY: Our country is not about one individual. It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution. If someone doesn't understand that and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they're about serving themselves. They're not about serving us. And that person isn't qualified to be a leader. CORNISH: Okay. The president already turning his eye to his next rival, Thomas Massie, posting early Sunday morning urging voters in Kentucky to quote, “Get this loser out of politics in Tuesday's election.” Massie is confident it won’t work there. THOMAS MASSIE: I'm the one they haven't been able to bully, so they're putting all the brunt, the force on me. But you can tell that I'm ahead in the polls, and they're desperate. CORNISH: Alright, so we're gonna bring in some folks who know in our group chat. Sarah Fischer, CNN senior media analyst, senior media reporter at Axios, Nia Malika Henderson, CNN senior political analyst, Bloomberg political and policy columnist, and Sungmin Kim, CNN political analyst, White House reporter with the Associated Press. . . .  CORNISH: I wanna say, the weird thing about this story is, I thought this purge had already happened. You know what I mean? The congressional reporter in me is like, “This is a ten-year-old story.” What’s different about this moment? SARA FISCHER: I think the midterms sort of foreshadowed some of what we're seeing here, which is how polarized this is. Either Donald Trump loses overwhelmingly, or the Republican Party loses overwhelmingly as Democrats continue to expand their tent. We saw that with Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, or it's the complete opposite, and the Trumpiest candidate wins. And what we're seeing now heading into the midterms is that polarity, I think, is still going to exist. The Trumpiest candidates are going to continue to prevail, and then in other cases, they're going to continue to completely fall flat. This is why I'm continually watching redistricting, 'cause I think that's going to have a major impact on how this polarity plays out. CORNISH: Nia, I wanna play for you Pete Buttigieg, former Transportation Secretary. He is looking at this moment as an opportunity for Democrats. Here's how he makes the case. PETE BUTTIGIEG: Senator Cassidy is a normal, honest, and very conservative Republican, and it turns out people like that have less and less of a home in Donald Trump's Republican Party. We are seeing more and more extreme candidates put forward in their House and Senate races, which does create a big opening for Democrats. May 19th, 2026 6:10 AM Mark Finkelstein 295194 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2026/05/19/smear-abc-pushes-bbc-doctored-trump-january-6th-clip The Elitist Media’s network evening news collectively whined over the Department of Justice’s announcement of a nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund intended to redress the grievances of those who claim to have been targeted by the Biden Department of Justice. ABC saw this as an opportunity to doctor President Donald Trump’s January 6th speech, as did the BBC. Watch as ABC splices Trump's speech and fabricates a quote out of whole cloth: HOLY JUMP CUT, ABC: @ABCWorldNews' report on DoJ anti-weaponization fund comes mighty close to BBC territory with its splicing of Trump J6 speech pic.twitter.com/xVQHaaP9F8 — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 18, 2026 RACHEL SCOTT: President Trump told his supporters to march to the Capitol. DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to walk down to the Capitol (VIDEO SWIPE) because you'll never take back our country with weakness. Anyone distracted with a phone or not watching the screen at that time can well have not seen the swipe effect, and believe that the spliced video is an actual quote (the video portions are several seconds apart). If this seems familiar, it is because the BBC infamously spliced portions of Trump’s J6 speech for a documentary: NEW: The Telegraph reports that an internal whistleblower memo claims the BBC “doctored” Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 speech, making it seem as though he encouraged the Capitol riot. pic.twitter.com/GORW82yeVS — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 3, 2025 ABC’s egregious video was published in service of a January 6th narrative against the establishment of the DoJ fund. And ABC weren’t the only ones to push this narrative line. CBS did so also, at the end of a report on Thomas Massie’s primary election:  CBS EVENING NEWS 5/18/26 6:42 PM TONY DOKOUPIL: Speaking of, the president today withdrew a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, this all tied to the leak of his tax returns and the settlement involves the creation of a $1.8 billion fund. What do you know about that? ED O’KEEFE: That’s right. The Justice Department calls it an anti-weaponization fund and says that the money will be used to compensate people who claimed they were targeted by the Biden Justice Department or by Democrats. The DoJ says the fund will have the power to issue monetary relief owed to claimants. Democrats are worried this is going to be used as some kind of slush fund and could also be used by those who have been charged or convicted of crimes associated with the January 6th insurrection. Tony. DOKOUPIL: Ed, thank you very much. NBC went the same route, hyperfocusing on January 6th. Here’s the report submitted by Kelly O’Donnell: Watch: NBC, like the rest of the media, make J6 the focus of the Trump DoJ anti-weaponization fund. No mention of the Biden FACE Act prosecutions, persecution of nuns, Latin Mass adherents, et al TOM LLAMAS: We want to head to Washington now, and a growing controversy over the… pic.twitter.com/rrf26jqWjr — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 19, 2026 NBC NIGHTLY NEWS 5/18/26 6:41 PM TOM LLAMAS: We want to head to Washington now, and a growing controversy over the Trump administration's move to create a $1.7 billion fund to compensate people they say were wrongly prosecuted by the Biden administration. Kelly O'Donnell joins us now, and this is all in exchange for President Trump dropping lawsuits? KELLY O’DONNELL: Tom, this is an extraordinary legal drama that involves the president dropping his multiple lawsuits against the federal government, including against the IRS for a leak of his tax returns. But in exchange, the Trump administration today created what it calls an anti-weaponization fund. Using more than $1.7 billion of taxpayer money that could pay out compensation to Trump allies who say they were unfairly prosecuted by the Biden administration. Possibly including January 6th rioters who were pardoned by President Trump. Democrats are calling this “corrupt” and “an abuse of power.” Tom. LLAMAS: All right, Kelly O’Donnell at The White House for us. Kelly, we thank you for that. Same formula, same January 6th arguments. All of this by design. By making the fund about January 6th, the Elitist Media paper over the many other weaponizations of government carried out by the Biden administration. You’ll note the zero mentions of FACE Act prosecutions. Mark Houck was dragged out of his home and in front of his family by federal agents, only to be found not guilty of violating the FACE Act at trial.  Likewise there are no mentions of the nuns targeted by the BIden DoJ, the persecution of Latin Mass adherents, or the concerned parents who didn’t want their kids transitioned at school behind their backs, or who protested the rape of their daughters in girls’ restrooms. As is often the case, we are reminded that if it weren’t for double standards, there would be none at all. Click “expand” to view the transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Monday, May 18th, 2026: ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT 5/18/26 6:41 PM DAVID MUIR: We turn now to your money tonight. The Justice Department has now set up a fund paid for in taxpayer money, $1.8 billion. What the president calls an anti-weaponization fund to compensate Trump allies, including the rioters on January 6th. Here's Rachel Scott. RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, the Justice Department announcing a new so-called anti weaponization fund, $1.8 billion in taxpayer money to be given away to allies of President Trump who claimed they were unfairly treated by the Biden DoJ. Among those who could see payouts, the 1600 people charged in connection with the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, President Trump told his supporters to march to the Capitol. DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to walk down to the Capitol (VIDEO SWIPE) because you'll never take back our country with weakness. SCOTT: Today, the president defending the new fund. TRUMP: This is reimbursing people that were horribly treated, horribly treated. It's anti-weaponization. They've been weaponized. They've been, in some cases, imprisoned wrongly. SCOTT: The fund is part of a legal settlement between President Trump and his own administration. The president agreeing to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of some of his tax returns several years ago. He's also dropping $230 million in claims against the Justice Department for investigations they launched against him. President Trump has acknowledged the unprecedented circumstances- a president suing his own administration, which he controls. Democrats tonight calling it a MAGA slush fund. CHUCK SCHUMER: Trump pardoned violent insurrectionists who assaulted your Capitol to overturn your votes, and now he wants to give them your hard-earned tax dollars as a reward. Can you believe that? SCOTT: And again, David, we're talking about nearly $1.8 billion of taxpayer money. This fund will expire a few weeks before the president leaves office. David. MUIR: Rachel Scott with us. Thank you. Rachel.   May 19th, 2026 12:14 AM Jorge Bonilla 295200 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/18/newsbusters-podcast-dems-pounce-trumps-nukes-vs-economy-answer Democrats want to exploit the war in Iran to claim they’re the Affordability Party. Trump bluntly answered a question from Daily Caller reporter Reagan Reese by saying Americans’ financial situation didn’t matter “not even a little bit” in his negotiating with Iran to end the war. “They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”   MRC Business associate editor Joseph Vazquez and NewsBusters contributor Steve Malzberg joined the show to discuss this topic and more. The Reese exchange went like this:  REAGAN REESE: When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are Americans financial situation motivating you to make a deal? DONALD TRUMP: Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans financial situation. CNN Democrat contributor Xochitl Hinojosa was eager to exploit this statement: "I don't know why we don't have ads up running in every swing congressional district with those comments, but they need to be up fast." Trump was clearly asked about his negotiating position with Iran, and he doesn't want go soft in the press. But his ratings on the economy right now are dismal.  Steve reported on CNN reporter Mathew Chance getting the opportunity to report inside Iran....with all the Iranian government-managed talking points. They proclaimed: "We'd like to note that CNN only operates there with the permission of the Iranian government, as is required under local regulations, but maintains full editorial control over what it reports." It sounded more like a rerun of Peter Arnett's robotic reports from inside Iraq. They lament the bombing of bridges...without discussing the security objectives of cutting off arms supplies.  Joey explained how Alex Soros has now pledged $30 million to fight antisemitism, which is a little odd since the Soros empire has sided with anti-semites. Joey wrote:“Alex Soros pledging a fortune to fight antisemites is about as believable as an arsonist dressing up as a firefighter.” MRC Business also exposed a horrific 2007 pro-Hamas op-ed written by George Soros himself calling on America and Israel to “open the door to Hamas.”  So they can bring a gun or a bomb? Finally, there's the tilt of Saturday Night Live. NBC's jumped the comedy shark in 2016 when Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton and their "cold open" to begin the show was their Hillary impersonator Kate McKinnon singing Leonard Cohen's sad song "Hallelujah" instead of trying to be funny. They were all too emotionally wrecked to be funny. Right after Trump was inaugurated, they wallowed in their feelings again by singing "To Sir With Love" as a tribute to President Obama. It's become quite clear that this "iconic" show has become weaponized against Trump, as it seems almost every show opens with an anti-Trump skit, and the "Weekend Update" fake-news segment is a cesspool of ugly anti-Republican mockery.  Season 51 recently came to an end, and it was considerably more liberal than Season 50. A new NewsBusters study by Alex Christy has found that 91 percent of the season’s Weekend Update jokes were directed at conservatives, while 81 percent of its “cold open” political characters were conservatives or Republicans. You can enjoy the podcast below, or the audio is here.  May 18th, 2026 10:40 PM Tim Graham 295199 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-spinnato/2026/05/18/morning-joe-uses-all-buzzwords-defense-dei-programs On Monday’s Morning Joe, the MS NOW program started its week with a defense of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. MS NOW opinion writer Ja’han Jones gave a defense of DEI with use of buzzwords that called the Trump Administration “illiberal,” “authoritarian,” fascist, and “the most brazenly white supremacist regime in modern history,” partly due to policies against DEI. Nine a.m. host Jonathan Lemire introduced Jones as an expert on the topic of DEI amid stories of a remaining prevalence in private companies, as Jones started with labels of the Trump administration as “authoritarian” among others: So, this really does boil down to what I believe to be the biggest story of Trump's second term, which is one of corporate acquiescence, prostration to Trump's illiberal, authoritarian, or absurd demands. The assault on diversity is a prime example of this.    In the segment on DEI, MS NOW opinion writer Ja’han Jones used all the buzzwords to describe the Trump Administration. At the end of the segment, he called the administration “the most brazenly white supremacist regime in modern history." pic.twitter.com/DH5UBNESKa — Nick (@nspin310) May 18, 2026   Jones continued to defend DEI and said, “So it rests on all sorts of lies, primarily the lie that DEI programs are harmful to white men. This has been demonstrably false. There are all sorts of programs that benefit several classes of white men, veterans, new students, parents, what have you. And so what Trump has really done is claim that diversity programs are illegal as well. This has been demonstrably false as well.”  Jones continued with claims of fascism: “Well, I think fascism feasts on crushed hopes and dreams. And so what Trump has really been trying to do is create this culture of fear wherein corporations fear - feel as though if they pursue these diversity programs, that they're going to face some sort of litigation, or they're going to be crushed by Trump's hand.” Al Sharpton, sat next to Jones, continued the talk as he used the moment to relive the Trump New York Trial and call it the “most undiversified trial in American history, because none of us worked there.”   On Monday's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough gave a defense of DEI programs as he made fun of those questioning DEI and said Democrats should not abandon talk of DEI and instead explain the program through the lens of the Declaration of Independence. pic.twitter.com/wEEtyGtB4g — Nick (@nspin310) May 18, 2026   Scarborough then made fun of those questioning DEI and said Democrats should explain the program through the lens of the Declaration of Independence: I always thought it was insanity that a democratic politician would be like, somebody said, “Oh, you support DEI programs.” They’d go, “I support DEI,” and everybody goes, “What's DEI?” This is such a strange foreign thing.  Like all they need to do is break it down. A diverse America. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. An America that's equal. The Declaration of Independence. All are created equal. Inclusiveness. Agreeing with Scarborough, Torre claimed shareholders like diversity programs because they make money, but then said, “Why even are so many white voters still supporting Donald Trump? The success of the messaging around this was clearly DEI as a slur.” To close the segment, Jones claimed the Trump Administration was “brazenly white supremacist” and proved why the world needed DEI: And there's no greater evidence of, like, the benefits of DEI than the Trump administration. As I've written previously, it's led by several men who have quite literally said the government needs to be led by white men in order to be run effectively.  If you look at the polling data, Americans, they're experiencing the most brazenly white supremacist regime in modern history, and they do not like it. (...) Time will tell if Scarborough's defense of DEI will be the future of the party messaging, but it seemed more likely that Jones’s claims of “white supremacy” would dominate. The transcript is below. Click "expand": MS NOW’s Morning Joe May 18, 2026 7:30:05 AM Eastern (...) JONATHAN LEMIRE: So, this is interesting, Ja’han, because certainly President Trump has made no secret. Loud headline, you know, loud proclamations, screaming headlines DEI has got to go.  And certainly in the federal government, we are seeing that. But the private sector far less so. Tell us more - I know you've been following this for a while - tell us more about what struck you. JA’HAN JONES: Sure, sure. So, this really does boil down what I believe to be the biggest story of Trump's second term, which is one of corporate acquiescence, prostration to Trump's illiberal, authoritarian, or absurd demands. The assault on diversity is a prime example of this.  So it rests on all sorts of lies, primarily the lie that DEI programs are harmful to white men. This has been demonstrably false. There are all sorts of programs that benefit several classes of white men, veterans, new students, parents, what have you. And so what Trump has really done is claim that diversity programs are illegal as well. This has been demonstrably false as well.  We've seen courtrooms time and again uphold corporations' rights to maintain their corporate diversity programs. What you've actually seen is Trump and his regime referring to these settlements that they've secured with corporations, in which the corporations haven't been forced to acknowledge any kind of wrongdoing. Trump has been pointing to these settlements in many cases that constitute this multimillion-dollar shakedown, where he gets millions of dollars from these corporations for who knows what, and pointing at those to say that diversity is dead, that diversity is over with.  But you're seeing, even Fox News has been forced to report, that in many cases, these corporations have just renamed their diversity programs, put them under another umbrella, under belonging, or what other kind of corporate speak you want to use to continue to uphold these programs. And so you see that Trump has been lying to the public in many cases, about the persistence of these programs and whether they still exist at these corporations. JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. You know, Ja’han, what I so I came across your article last week, and it was - it's fascinating because you hear, I mean, you see all of these tech overlords kowtowing to Donald Trump. You see all these CEOs kowtowing to Donald Trump. And so you're thinking, okay, well, all of these programs that actually push diversity, equality, inclusion, you're thinking, oh, well, obviously they're all getting wiped out.  But then you, you had an attachment that showed just 99, 100 percent of shareholders voting down shareholder initiatives that would strike down these diversity and inclusion and equity laws. And it wasn't like a 51-49 vote,  JONES: No. Not at all. SCARBOROUGH: Diversity, equality, inclusion is like getting an A plus plus with shareholders. Like it was this - And again, I wanted you to come on because I was shocked. I mean, I follow the news every day. I read your story on MS NOW’s website, and I was shocked by the overwhelming support among shareholders for diversity, for equality, for inclusion. Talk about that. JONES: Yes. Well, I think fascism feasts on crushed hopes and dreams. And so what Trump has really been trying to do is create this culture of fear wherein corporations fear - feel as though if they pursue these diversity programs, that they're going to face some sort of litigation, or they're going to be crushed by Trump's hand.  But really, like you just mentioned, I want to give credit to people like Nancy Levine-Stearns and her platform “Impactivize” that covers, you know, diversity and its persistence at these corporations.  She's been the one who's been talking about these shareholder votes that have been resoundingly in favor of diversity. And this is not because corporations of, you know, have this sense of duty to benefit they're marginalized, you know, employees. These have been demonstrably beneficial for these corporations. And that's why they have a benefit or see a benefit in maintaining these DEI programs, not because they're doing it out of a favor to their black and brown, you know, employees. AL SHARPTON: John, I was very impressed by what you wrote. The fact is, what you just said is that a lot of the CEOs I've met with, when Trump came out with this, as in my capacity with National Action Network, were saying, these people deliver.  And what people miss is that DEI, as a term, came out of the George Floyd movement, which all of us were involved in. We never called it DEI. We called it fairness. So, what you've uncovered here, which I think Joe emphasized, which is important, these companies have been doing this because they had a commitment to their consumer base.  Talk about how many of them said, we can call it whatever name you want to call it, we're going to be accountable to the people that buy our product or support us, and those that are bowing to Trump.  And by the way, Trump's diversity record in New York, if you go through the Trump Organization - well, let's put it this way. With all his trials, you never saw black witness because they didn't work in the Trump Organization. Nobody - You talk about the most undiversified trial in American history was the trials of Donald Trump, because none of us worked there. So, nobody was surprised at his position. But talk about how people were saying, we are not going to change this policy because it works for us. If people can deliver for us and those that change their policies, what happens if Congress changes and they start getting called before Congress committees and all, and have to explain, why did you flip on something? JONES: Right, right. Well, study after study has proven that diversity programs benefit the corporations that house them. It brings in more customers. As you said, we live in a diverse world. So, Trump has not been able to get corporations to abandon their prioritization of a diverse consumer base. These things that are going to allow these corporations to exist going on into the future.  So, it's very interesting that Trump, for all of his threats and all of his intimidation, has not been able to scare corporations off of the, you know, DEI initiative because that really does support their bottom line. If they abandon that, they're going to see their businesses crater. And I think a lot of these corporate executives know that even when they do things to cow, to Trump, they give him and his administration millions of dollars. They're still remaining committed to DEI. Like I said, even if these are under different umbrellas, different names, because they know that it is essential to their success going forward. SCARBOROUGH: Well, you know, Pablo, we were talking a second ago in the last segment about how badly Democrats are doing. When you look at, you know, their overall branding.  I always thought it was insanity that a Democratic politician would be like, somebody said, “Oh, you support DEI programs.” They’d go, “I support DEI,” and everybody goes, “What's DEI?” This is such a strange foreign thing.  Like all they need to do is break it down. A diverse America. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. An America that's equal. The Declaration of Independence. All are created equal. Inclusiveness. And I love what Ja’han is saying and what Rev’s saying. This isn't - CEOs aren't doing this to make people feel good. They're doing this to make money. Being inclusive -  PABLO TORRE: That’s it. SCARBOROUGH: - that keeps -  you don't want a board of the same people you want. You don't want to have cultural blinders on. You want to have a diversity of thought, a diversity of background that avoids groupthink.  It's really not hard for Democrats to explain on the campaign trail. Yes, we are for, like, the motto of the United States, out of many, you know, one. We are for the Declaration of Independence. Equality. All men and women are created equal. We are for being inclusive, so we don't have like 16th century groupthink in the 21st century. This isn't hard, is it? TORRE: There's a real open lane to the hoop here for us. A layup is available if we wish to take it.  And I think it's around the premise that you mentioned, which is that this is done for self-interest. If you are selfishly trying to profit, having a diverse. I mean, it almost feels insane to have to spell it out. You feel stupid, but there is an opportunity to spell it out.  And look, let's be real, when we talk about the resiliency on some level of: Why even are so many white voters still supporting Donald Trump? The success of the messaging around this was clearly DEI as a slur. DEI as this thing that was a euphemism to speak out against some fundamental resentment that felt like, wait a minute, these people are getting advantages at our cost.  And yet, if there's an ability to take what this data is suggesting and say, wait a minute, we could say some stuff that maybe was radical in the 60s, but now feel something like, wait a minute, I thought we litigated this already. It feels like there's a real opportunity there. (...) 7:40:30 AM Eastern JONES: And there's no greater evidence of, like, the benefits of DEI than the Trump administration. As I've written previously, it's led by several men who have quite literally said the government needs to be led by white men in order to be run effectively.  If you look at the polling data, Americans, they're experiencing the most brazenly white supremacist regime in modern history, and they do not like it. So, it's time for them to start, you know, putting two and two together. This is both a white supremacist regime and a completely inept regime. These things are not detached from one another. And I think Americans are increasingly being awakened to that reality. (...) May 18th, 2026 9:52 PM Nicholas Spinnato 295195 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2026/05/18/ms-nows-wild-spin-dem-leader-gop-seeks-decimation-black-political On Saturday's The Weekend, MS NOW displayed overt hypocrisy by having on House Minority Whip and Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) to complain about Southern Republicans cutting Democrat-leaning seats when her own home state has shut out Republicans from all its congressional districts since the 1990s. You currently can't find a Republican seat in any of the New England states.  Co-host Jonathan Capehart began the 9:00 a.m. hour by promoting the liberal narrative that Republicans are seeking to "dilute black voting power." MS NOW Lets MA Dem Hypocritically Call for Rigged Dem Districts pic.twitter.com/J3h2aKmpdH — Brad Wilmouth (@bradwilmouth) May 16, 2026 But we begin this hour with large crowds expected in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, and in other cities across the country as Americans mobilize against the erosion of voting rights. The Supreme Court's ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act has cleared the way for a new congressional map in Alabama that would eliminate one of the state's two majority black districts before this year's midterms. He then invoked the civil rights movement. After playing clips of civil rights icons John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr., the MS NOW host brought on board Congresswoman Clark. After Capehart asked her what Democrats would do to "preserve the right to vote," the Massachusetts Democrat spouted platitudes about fighting for what the American people want, and concluded: And what we are seeing is the decimation of black political power and brown political power in order to keep power for those who have no interest in helping the American people have opportunity in this economy. And that is why, despite all of this, we will win in November. As Daniels followed up, he hinted at the argument that district lines in red states should be rigged so that Democrats are handed a minimum number of seats: I don't know that the American people are united in that everybody in the country should have an equal right to vote. We see what Republicans are doing -- they aren't doing it because, you know, they -- they believe that they're doing the exact opposite of what some of those voters might want. So when they have been working on this for decades, right, for a very long time, and Democrats -- people who want voters who have access to voting for people that they want to represent them -- they want specifics. So when you say "every tool," what are those tools? In her response, Clark hypocritically complained that the state Supreme Court in Virginia blocked an effort by Democrats to lock in 90 percent of the congressional seats for themselves in a state where only about 53 percent of the population typically votes Democrat. In his second follow-up and final question of the segment, Daniels brought up the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision finding that one of the black majority districts in Louisiana had been illegally drawn as he pushed for Democrats to undermine the ruling: Is there a bill like -- it's been a like a week and a half, two weeks since Callais decision came down? Has there been a bill introduced? Is there a bill that's going to be introduced next week? Is there a lawsuit that you guys are working behind the scenes on? I guess that's -- those are the kinds of specifics I'm looking for, because it's been two weeks since Callais. It stands out like a sore thumb that Congresswoman Clark's own state has long provided no congressional representation for Republicans. If MS NOW believes an "equal right to vote" means more equity in redistricting, Massachusetts could draw a Republican district if they wanted to -- or the Democrats there could even draw a less ridiculous-looking map that was still all Democrats.  No one in the media has ever demanded that the state's Democrats gerrymander a district so that the 35 percent of the state's voters who typically vote Republican have someone they agree with representing them. Transcript follows: MS NOW's The Weekend May 16, 2026 9:01 a.m. Eastern JONATHAN CAPEHART: But we begin this hour with large crowds expected in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, and in other cities across the country as Americans mobilize against the erosion of voting rights. The Supreme Court's ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act has cleared the way for a new congressional map in Alabama that would eliminate one of the state's two majority black districts before this year's midterms. Alabama is just one of several Republican-led southern states that are seeking to redraw their maps in a way that would dilute black voting power. In just an hour, demonstrations will take place at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where activists and faith leaders will gather in prayer, solidarity and remembrance of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches and Bloody Sunday, which you are looking at on archival footage -- you're looking at on your screen right there -- when state troopers and local law enforcement violently attacked peaceful marchers, a defining moment that paved the way for the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Here's how civil rights leaders John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr. described their mission at the time. (...) Joining us now from Montgomery, Alabama, the House Minority Whip, Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Whip Clark, thank you very much for coming to The Weekend. There's a lot of concern, consternation, anger, which I'm sure you're going to see there in Montgomery, Alabama, over what the Supreme Court has done to the Voting Rights -- to the Voting Rights Act. And a lot of people are going to be wondering, "What are you" -- meaning Democrats -- "What are you going to do to preserve the right to vote and to push back against what the Supreme Court has done?" (...) CONGRESSWOMAN KATHERINE CLARK (D-HOUSE MINORITY WHIP): ... but Democrats are united with the American people, and here is what we're going to do. We are going to use every single tool we have, whether that is legislation, whether that is going to the courts. But our most powerful tool is the American people, and the American people are united in that they want a country that protects that core right to vote because they understand without that right, we cannot create a fair and just economy. So we are going to continue to fight alongside shoulder to shoulder with the working people of this country who know they are working so hard and not getting ahead. And what we are seeing is the decimation of black political power and brown political power in order to keep power for those who have no interest in helping the American people have opportunity in this economy. And that is why, despite all of this, we will win in November. EUGENE DANIELS: Congresswoman, I want to -- I was as you were talking, I was writing down some things you said. You said that John Lewis told you all to be bold, you said that you guys were ready to use every tool, and you said that the American people are united to -- in protecting the right to vote. I don't know that the American people are united in that everybody in the country should have an equal right to vote. We see what Republicans are doing -- they aren't doing it because, you know, they -- they believe that they're doing the exact opposite of what some of those voters might want. So when they have been working on this for decades, right, for a very long time, and Democrats -- people who want voters who have access to voting for people that they want to represent them -- they want specifics. So when you say "every tool," what are those tools? CLARK: So this -- this is how it is going to work. And this is the moment that we're in. When I say every tool, we are going to use every power that we have in Congress to bring legislation to advance it. We know we're in the minority, but we are going to continue to find those opportunities to move forward. We are going to litigate. We also are clear eyed about what we just saw from the supreme court, from the Supreme Court of Virginia, that they overturned the will of the people. So we are not being naive about the forces and the enemies of democracy, but this is how we win, and this is how we get to a place where we can put forward, into law, signed into law the protections and restore the Voting Rights Act. That is, by connecting people with where they are. And what people are telling us in this country is they are not making it. And when they see a government that is taking away their health care, that is taking away food programs and veterans benefits, you bet they're mad. And they know what this is. They know that taking away this vote, this suppression and disenfranchisement is directly linked to taking away their economic opportunity. DANIELS: And, congresswoman, congresswoman. Excuse me. Is there a bill like -- it's been a like a week and a half, two weeks since Callais decision came down? Has there been a bill introduced? Is there a bill that's going to be introduced next week? Is there a lawsuit that you guys are working behind the scenes on? I guess that's -- those are the kinds of specifics I'm looking for, because it's been two weeks since Callais. May 18th, 2026 3:34 PM Brad Wilmouth 295185 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/luis-cornelio/2026/05/18/special-report-yahoo-news-fake-news-or-fake-re-balance EXCLUSIVE: The Big Four News Apps follow a predictable script: elevate articles from left-leaning outlets, suppress their right-leaning counterparts, while giving prime real estate to some of the most radical news outlets on the left. Yahoo News typically pushes that script even further. In April, the news aggregator appeared to mask that pattern by flooding its platform with BBC content, but the underlying bias quickly resurfaced.  Yahoo News has a record of sidelining not only stories from the right but also center-leaning sources that may offer balance. Its strong preference for the most extreme outlets on the left — Salon, The New Republic and The Daily Beast — has resulted in it being scored by the Media Research Center’s Digital News Tracker as the second-most leftist of the Big Four News Apps over the November 2025 through April 2026 period. The aggregator dramatically ramped up its publication of BBC stories in April — which is still technically classified by AllSides as centrist — in an apparent bid to offset its extreme left-leaning bias rating. However, this tactic failed to deliver true balance as Yahoo News sacrificed right-leaning stories to elevate the scandal-plagued BBC, even though the British broadcaster has shifted leftward since AllSides' last evaluation in July 2024. MRC’s Findings on Yahoo News’s Top 20 Morning Editions Throughout April: After MRC exposed Yahoo News for its “bipolar” nature five months in a row, the news aggregator attempted to feign balance by boosting BBC stories 79 times in April, up from just one mention in March, even as the outlet faced accusations of systemic bias and a $10 billion defamation lawsuit.  The BBC accounted for roughly 77% of the 102 stories from center-leaning outlets featured this past month. To make room for the BBC, Yahoo News dropped articles from AllSides-rated right-leaning sources to just 5% in April, down from 15% in March. By contrast, stories from AllSides-rated left-leaning sources remained virtually untouched, inching up to 409 stories from 400 the month prior. The digital news aggregator continued to tout Salon and The New Republic, some of the most radical left-wing media outlets. MRC President David Bozell, reacting to Yahoo News’s failed attempt to conceal its bias, said: “Yahoo News is gaming the system. It hides behind a fake veneer of neutrality with BBC links while crushing conservative voices down to just 5% of coverage. At the same time, it pumps out left-wing narratives from outlets like Salon and The New Republic. Balanced reporting clearly isn’t the goal.”  Yahoo News’s Thin Attempt at Window Dressing Yahoo News’s sudden elevation of the BBC is far from organic — coming on the heels of several MRC studies that called out the aggregator’s “bipolar” nature. But the effort to manufacture balance quickly crumbled as the BBC itself drifted from the center and faced mounting scrutiny over leftist bias. The shift came after two MRC special reports that examined Yahoo News’s feeds and found the aggregator to be the most “bipolar” among competitors such as Apple News, Google News and Microsoft’s MSN. The “bipolar” label reflected Yahoo News’s routine to strip articles from center-leaning outlets from its daily top 20, leaving coverage heavily tilted to the left and only occasionally to the right. In April, however, the news aggregator sharply increased its use of the BBC, dramatically inflating the amount of “center” content appearing in its top 20 morning feeds. The BBC alone accounted for 79 of the 109 center-leaning stories featured between April 1 and April 30. That shift marked a major departure from previous months. Yahoo News featured just seven BBC stories in November, five in December, five in January, six in February and one in March. Yet during that same period, the news aggregator’s overall number of center-leaning stories remained relatively low: 36 in November, 33 in December, 21 in January, 22 in February and nine in March. The news aggregator’s April elevation of the BBC marked roughly a 1,546% increase over the average from the previous five months, with BBC coverage rising from an average of 4.8 stories to 16.5 times that level. Notably, 67 of the outlet’s 79 stories focused on British or other foreign news, many of them centered on local crime stories in the United Kingdom. The news aggregator’s reliance on the BBC could prove problematic given mounting questions surrounding the outlet’s ethics and systemic bias, concerns amplified by an internal memo that exposed its editorial failings.  After all, it is likely the outlet’s anti-Trump bias that landed the BBC in hot water, as President Donald Trump brought a $10 billion lawsuit by alleging defamation and deceptive practices against the media outlet. Separately, the news outlet is on track to lose over 1 billion pounds (over $1.1 billion) a year as British households refuse to pay its government-mandated “license fee.” MRC Free Speech America VP Dan Schneider blasted Yahoo News’s continued elevation of the BBC despite the outlet’s growing controversies: “Yahoo News has made clear that ideological alignment matters more than credibility. Despite the BBC facing lawsuits, internal scandal, allegations of systemic bias and a damaging parliamentary investigation into ethical failures, Yahoo continues to hand the outlet prime placement across its aggregator. That says far more about Yahoo News than it does about the BBC.” Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC stemmed from a doctored version of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech that the outlet aired in a 2024 documentary. The edited clip appeared to show Trump calling for violence by splicing together portions of remarks delivered more than 50 minutes apart. An internal BBC memo, written by former adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Standards Committee  Michael Prescott, cited the edit as one of many examples that suggest rampant bias at the outlet. When the memo leaked, a social media storm of criticism ensued, triggering the resignation of BBC Director General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness. BBC chairman Samir Shah apologized for the edit and described it as an “error of judgment.” Trump sued in response. The case is set to head to trial in 2027. Yahoo News Sacrifices Right-Leaning Outlets to Prop-Up Scandal-Embroiled BBC Yahoo News’s attempt to manufacture balance also collapsed from another angle: the news aggregator made room for BBC stories by squeezing out stories from right-leaning outlets. In effect, even as Yahoo boosted content from an outlet still rated as centrist, the shift came largely at the expense of the right. Yahoo News’s latest editorial shift brought it more in line with competitors that routinely purge right-leaning stories from their top 20 feeds. The news aggregator promoted just 26 stories from right-leaning outlets in April, a sharp decline from 70 in March. Right-leaning sources accounted for only 5% of all stories reviewed in Yahoo News’s daily top 20 throughout April. In March, by comparison, right-leaning stories made up 15% of total coverage. Meanwhile, left-leaning stories increased from 400 in March to 409 in April, continuing Yahoo News’s long-running pattern of rewarding left-leaning outlets with prime placement in its top 20 feed. The overall ideological breakdown of Yahoo News throughout the reviewed period was as follows: Yahoo News Doubles Down on Promoting Radical Outlets Salon and The New Republic Among the 409 stories from left-leaning outlets reviewed, Yahoo News continued to promote articles from Salon and The New Republic — two outlets that openly embrace progressive ideology and routinely publish anti-Trump commentary. Salon: “JD Vance’s demon talk is lame youth outreach,” promoted April 1 (headline has since been updated). “Not just ICE: Do we need DHS?” promoted April 2.  “Running from trans rights could cost Democrats,” promoted April 5.  The New Republic: “You Can Smell It Now: The Trump Presidency Is in Total Free Fall,” promoted April 6. “No One Is Intimidated by Trump Anymore,” promoted April 6. Methodology: During the time period April 1 - 31, 2026, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories featured on Yahoo News each day at approximately 8:30 AM ET. MRC researchers used the AllSides media bias ratings, which categorize an outlet as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right” to determine the overall bias presented by Yahoo News and analyzed the results. May 18th, 2026 3:07 PM Luis Cornelio 295197 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/05/18/report-georgia-election-results-be-totaled-secret UPDATE: On Tuesday, a judge granted Georgia State Senator Greg Dolezal's emergency lawsuit to allow poll watchers and State Election Board observers into “the bunker,” where Georgia’s statewide vote totals are received and published. “Denying members of the State Election Board access to the Election Night Reporting Room is outrageous,” Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said, reacting to news of how the election results of this week’s primary election will be aggregated. “BREAKING: Georgia’s 2026 election results will be aggregated on Election Night by the secretary of state from a ‘secret emergency bunker’ which is off-limits to candidates, the public and even to the State Election Board, which has requested access,” RealClearInvestigations Senior Reporter Paul Sperry reported Monday. State law specifically prohibits such secrecy, Sperry notes, citing O.C.G.A. § 21-2-406, which requires that “conducting of primaries and elections held under this chapter shall perform their duties in public.” “Republican and Democrat SEC (State Election Board) members alike must have full access to observe every step of the tabulation and reporting process on Election Day and throughout election night,” Chairman McKoon wrote in a statement demanding that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reverse the decision to ban oversight of the vote aggregation. “If there’s nothing to hide — you hide nothing,” a sitting member of the State Election Board and Georgia GOP First Vice Chair Salleigh Grubbs wrote in a X.com post urging Georgians to contact the secretary of state’s office and demand observer access. Adding to the controversy, Secretary Raffensperger is overseeing a primary election that he is a candidate in, since he is campaigning to be the state’s next governor. The room where the votes will be aggregated is known as “the bunker” because of its underground, undisclosed location, The Federalist explains: “The secretary of state’s secure, centralized Election Night Reporting Room — known in Georgia election circles as ‘the Bunker’ — is an underground facility on the east side of Atlanta where votes from Georgia’s 159 counties are aggregated in real time and statewide results are prepared for public release. On election nights, a small team of SOS (Secretary of State) staff monitors the process in a conference-room-style setting as final numbers roll in.” Additionally, video evidence belies claims by Raffensperger’s office that public oversight is not allowed in the bunker, The Federalist reports: “While the secretary of state’s office maintains that the facility is not a site for public oversight, video from the April 15, 2026, SEB meeting reveals that officials have granted selective access to it. The recording shows Chairman John Fervier stating, on the record, that he has previously been invited into the Bunker by the secretary of state’s office and that he accepted the invitation. The rest of the board was not invited.” May 18th, 2026 2:31 PM Craig Bannister 295198 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/geoffrey-dickens/2026/05/18/poll-results-worst-media-quote-week-winner It’s time to find out who had the Worst Media Quote of the Week. This interactive series is where you — our loyal NewsBusters visitors and MRC supporters — get to vote on which leftist journalist or celebrity had the worst media quote 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 Quote of the Week are in and the winner is… Pete Davidson! The former NBC Saturday Night Live cast member won with 49 percent of the vote. Davidson won for his sick joke - that referenced Charlie Kirk’s murder - at Netflix’s Roast of Kevin Hart. CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers came in second place with 30 percent. Finishing last was ABC’s The View co-host Sunny Hostin at 21 percent.  Check out the following clip (via the MRC Video team) to see the nominees in action:     Watch the Worst Quotes from @Bakari_Sellers, @TheView, and Pete Davidson 👇 pic.twitter.com/JhlOj43hG0 — Media Research Center (@theMRC) May 14, 2026   WINNER (49 percent of the vote)   Pete Davidson Makes a Sick Joke Referencing Charlie Kirk’s Murder  “Tony [Hinchliffe] reminds me of Charlie Kirk, in that he’s definitely been on camera letting a guy unload in his throat.”— Former NBC Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson mocking comedian Tony Hinchliffe at Netflix’s The Roast of Kevin Hart, May 9.   SECOND PLACE (30 percent of the vote)   Bakari Sellers: Not Much Difference for Black Americans In 1896 and 2026 “If someone fell asleep in 1896 and woke up today, they would say the only difference is now negroes have a TV show and we wear nice suits. They’ve swapped out Klan Hoods for Brooks Brothers suits.”— CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, May 11.   THIRD PLACE (21 percent of the vote)   Sunny Hostin: Trump Only Wants “American-Born White Children”  Co-host Sunny Hostin: “I think that the intent can be questioned behind these new Trump policies. There was no acknowledgement of the black maternal mortality crisis because black women die at a much higher rate than any other demographic….This administration is not concerned about that. I think it’s true he wants Trump babies, which implies he wants American-born white children.”Co-host Joy Behar: “He wants toddler white nationalists.” — ABC’s The View, May 12.   Thanks again to all who participated!    Sponsored by James P. Jimirro May 18th, 2026 2:28 PM Geoffrey Dickens 295193 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/05/18/view-demands-votes-democrats-if-americans-want-end The Cackling Coven of The View may have gotten ABC News into more hot legal water during their Monday episode. While the broadcaster was under increased scrutiny by the Federal Communication Commission for alleged election manipulation antics, co-host Sunny Hostin boasted about how much better Democrats were than Republicans and co-host Ana Navarro openly called on viewers to vote for Democrats “if Americans want this [President Trump’s presidency] to end.” Reacting to the recent Louisiana primaries that saw incumbent Republican Senator Bill Cassidy lose to Julia Letlow (who was endorsed by President Trump), Hostin touted that the current political climate was “a great opportunity for the Democrats” as she proceeded to boast about how great she thought the party was: And I see this as a great opportunity for the Democrats to show the American people that they are here for affordability, they are here for healthcare, they are here for education, they are here for making people's lives better. She then proceeded to falsely suggest Republicans were the only party gerrymandering and were trying to outlaw blacks being allowed to vote: “This is a huge opportunity, despite the fact that they are trying to gerrymander the heck out of this country and take away the black vote.”   ABC News comes out in support of Democrats for the midterms. Engaging in stochastic terrorism, Sunny Hostin suggests Republican are the only party gerrymandering and are trying to "take away the black vote." pic.twitter.com/unkgaRyuBg — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 18, 2026   While being one of the show’s purported Republicans, Navarro lashed out at Republican lawmakers for being “so far up Trump's ass”: NAVARRO: I disagree with you that [Senator] Lindsey [Graham (R-SC)] was being honest there. HOSTIN: That it's not the Trump party? NAVARRO: No, I think Lindsey knows he's lying, because when Lindsey says that Cassidy lost because he was trying to destroy Trump. No, Cassidy lost because he did the right thing and stood up against a man who was trying to destroy democracy. And the reason that Lindsey and practically every other Republican is so far up Trump's ass all you can see is the sole of their feet, is because they are afraid of them and they care a lot more than their jobs than they do about their constituents. It apparently wasn’t enough for Navarro to slime Republican lawmakers. She then proceeded to call for Americans to go out and vote for Democrats.   Fake Republican Ana Navarro demands everyone vote Democrat: "What I will say is this, though, this tells us why as long as Republicans are in power in the majority there will never be accountability, there will never be checks and balances, there will never be oversight. So if… pic.twitter.com/Y3ZphFYUMG — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 18, 2026   “What I will say is this, though, this tells us why as long as Republicans are in power in the majority there will never be accountability, there will never be checks and balances, there will never be oversight,” she proclaimed. “And so, if Americans want this to end, want the abuses of power checked, they have got to vote Democrats in in November, period.” The FCC was already reviewing The View over alleged violations of the equal time rule, so the naked endorsement of one party’s candidates over another could hurt them in the probe. The transcripts are below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View May 18, 2026 11:05:38 a.m. Eastern (…) SUNNY HOSTIN: And I see this as a great opportunity for the Democrats to show the American people that they are here for affordability, they are here for healthcare, they are here for education, they are here for making people's lives better. This is a huge opportunity, despite the fact that they are trying to gerrymander the heck out of this country and take away the black vote. ANA NAVARRO: I disagree with you that [Senator] Lindsey [Graham (R-SC)] was being honest there. HOSTIN: That it's not the Trump party? NAVARRO: No, I think Lindsey knows he's lying, because when Lindsey says that Cassidy lost because he was trying to destroy Trump. No, Cassidy lost because he did the right thing and stood up against a man who was trying to destroy democracy. And the reason that Lindsey and practically every other Republican is so far up Trump's ass all you can see is the sole of their feet, is because they are afraid of them and they care a lot more than their jobs than they do about their constituents. HOSTIN: I think we’re saying the same thing, this is the Trump party. NAVARRO: No, it’s not. What I will say is this, though, this tells us why as long as Republicans are in power in the majority there will never be accountability, there will never be checks and balances, there will never be oversight. HOSTIN: Correct. NAVARRO: And so, if Americans want this to end, want the abuses of power checked, they have got to vote Democrats in in November, period. (…) May 18th, 2026 2:20 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 295196 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2026/05/18/al-sharptons-bleak-voting-rights-vision-protect-your-lifestyle In Saturday’s episode of MS NOW’s The Weekend: Primetime, Rev. Al Sharpton offered a stark, depressing, expression of a certain strain of modern progressive thinking. Co-host Catherine Rampell nudged: "Rev, I'm wondering if you could lay out what the actual stakes are for black Americans, for other members of racial minorities, if their political views are no longer represented in Congress. What happens?" When asked what is at stake for black Americans and other racial minorities in the current redistricting wars, he warned: SHARPTON: What happens is everything that they fear that she talks about, it gets cemented and gets worse. And what I say to a lot of people, old and young, is that you are not taking for granted things that we naturally got as a result of these laws. Because we could vote, you've got things like Medicaid and Medicare and Obamacare. And this is your life. You got things like public education funding and, and public health funding. All of that goes away! Because if you don't have people in Congress and in the Senate that will vote to protect the lifestyle you have, including looking at what private industry's doing with mortgage rates and rent rate, all of that. Then he brought up racial reparations: “Some young people at a rally three days ago [told me], we want reparations. Who’s gonna give it to you? You gonna pay yourself? The people that are in office are gonna decide that. They need to understand everything you want will be decided by others if your right to vote is not protected and if you don’t exercise it.” Everything you want. Decided by others. Al Sharpton's sad vision for black Americans: reliance on government to provide your "lifestyle." pic.twitter.com/12a0H8wPAp — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) May 17, 2026 There was not a single word in Sharpton’s remarks about personal agency, individual responsibility, family stability, educational excellence, hard work, entrepreneurship, or building strong communities. The message was utterly bleak: your "lifestyle" is something the government has given you in the past, but can snatch away at any moment. Your role is not to create it, but to vote to protect the people who dole it out. This is a profoundly hopeless message. It tells people — especially the young — that they have zero agency. Their wants, their needs, their futures are entirely dependent on what politicians decide to provide. The citizen is reduced to a permanent client whose only power is to keep the right patrons in office. This stands in direct opposition to the American Founding. The Declaration of Independence affirms the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” — the freedom to build one’s own life, not the expectation that government will deliver a lifestyle. The irony is brutal. In 2012, Joe Biden warned a largely black audience that Republicans would “put y’all back in chains.” Yet here is a prominent Democratic voice openly preaching a philosophy of dependence that keeps people chained — not by force, but by convincing them their prosperity and desires must forever be granted by others. This vision is tragic. And it lies at the core of much of today’s liberal philosophy: progress is measured by how much the state extracts and redistributes, not by how free, capable, and self-reliant individuals and communities become. A message that tells any group of Americans they have no real power over their own lives — that everything they want will be decided by others — offers no path to genuine dignity. How ineffably sad. Here's the transcript. MS NOW The Weekend: Primetime 5/16/26 6:09 pm EDT CATHERINE RAMPELL: Rev, I'm wondering if you could lay out what the actual stakes are for black Americans, for other members of racial minorities, if their political views are no longer represented in Congress. What happens? AL SHARPTON: What happens is everything that they fear that she talks about, it gets cemented and gets worse. And what I say to a lot of people, old and young, is that you are not taking for granted things that we naturally got as a result of these laws. Because we could vote, you've got things like Medicaid and Medicare and Obamacare. And this is your life. You got things like public education funding and, and public health funding. All of that goes away! Because if you don't have people in Congress and in the Senate that will vote to protect the, the lifestyle you have, including looking at what private industry's doing with mortgage rates and rent rate, all of that. We want affordable life! Well, who do you think's gonna decide that? The people that are elected. They're voting. I was telling some young people at a rally three days ago, Rev: we want reparations. Who's gonna give it to you? You gonna pay yourself? The people that are in office are gonna decide that. They need to understand everything you want will be decided by others if your right to vote is not protected and if you don't exercise it. May 18th, 2026 1:27 PM Mark Finkelstein 295188 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/05/18/riley-gaines-calif-transgender-athlete-podium-sharing “I believe they're just seeking a public humiliation ritual for the girls,” 12-time NCAA All-American female athlete Riley Gaines said Monday after California high school girls were forced to share the podium and first-place with a biological male at a track and field competition Saturday. Biological male AB Hernandez finished ahead of all girl athletes in the high jump, long jump and triple jump – just as he did last weekend at another California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) track and field competition for high school girls. This time, however, a newly-revived rule placed both the top girl and top biological male (transgender) athletes side-by-side on the podium to receive first-place awards, as Fox News explains: “Then, during podium ceremonies, announcers declared that each event had two co-champions, including Hernandez. This was based on a rule enacted last year.” …. “The parent of a female athlete at Saturday's meet told Fox News Digital that a coach informed them that the same pilot program would be implemented for the remainder of the state postseason, starting with the section final on Saturday.” "At this point, I believe they're just seeking a public humiliation ritual for the girls,” Gaines, now an advocate for female sports, told Fox & Friends on Monday: “It's probably one of the most abusive things that you can do to a young woman. “These are, like, 14, 15, 16 year-old girls. You are minimizing their accomplishments. You are asking them to stand aside, to smile, to applaud the boy, to deny reality and pretend that it is all okay. “What is that? It is psychological abuse on full display.” “It’s heartbreaking that the adults have failed them in the way that they have,” Gaines said. “If you have to create a shared podium for the boy competing in the girls’ event, you’ve already admitted you know he isn’t a girl and that his participation is unfair,” Gaines explained in a X.com post following Saturday’s event. Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom’s policies allowing biological males to compete against girls, and even change in front of them in locker rooms, is just one reason “why Californians are moving out at record rates and coming to my state of Tennessee,” Gaines told Fox News. "At this point, I believe they're just seeking a public humiliation ritual for the girls... It's probably one of the most abusive things that you can do to a young woman."@Riley_Gaines_ slams the "psychological abuse" of a California track meet where a transgender athlete swept… pic.twitter.com/Dh6b0AgoHl — FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) May 18, 2026   May 18th, 2026 11:39 AM Craig Bannister 295192 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2026/05/18/npr-plays-word-games-us-slipping-competitive-authoritarianism Proving that no subject is apolitical to the left, National Public Radio used its regular “Word of the Day” segment to indulge in left-wing paranoia of President Trump as authoritarian, in “Is the U.S. slipping into 'Competitive Authoritarianism?'” which aired on All Things Considered May 13. As oxymoronic as this sounds -- like "Pork-Roast Vegetarianism" -- It’s a favorite phrase on leftist channel MSNOW as well as leftist NPR. SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST: What kind of political system do we have in the United States these days? Some experts say the U.S. is no longer a liberal democracy. Instead, it's operating under a system called competitive authoritarianism. NPR's Frank Langfitt has the story behind our latest words of the week. FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: Let's start with a definition. Competitive authoritarian countries have democratic rules and hold competitive elections, but the party in charge uses various tactics to tilt the electoral playing field in its favor to maintain power. Steven Levitsky is a professor of government at Harvard. He explained competitive authoritarianism last year on WAMU's show 1A. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) STEVEN LEVITSKY: Elected authoritarians, when they come to power, try to convert the state - which is supposed to be a neutral arbiter - into both a weapon and a shield. It's a weapon to be deployed against political rivals, and it is a shield to protect themselves and to protect their allies who engage in authoritarian or illegal behavior. LANGFITT: Levitsky says Trump's pardoning of the January 6 rioters is a classic tactic. Let's put side for the moment the notion that NPR long converted their funding from the state into propaganda for one party. Isn’t it ironic that the very first example NPR comes up with of “competitive authoritarianism” is letting offenders out of prison? Langfitt quoted unlabeled lefty professor Levitsky, seen here embarrassing himself by sucking up to New York Times' leftist columnist Jamelle Bouie at a Freedom From Religion Foundation conference. LANGFITT: Competitive authoritarianism is a new term. Levitsky and Lucan Way, now a professor at the University of Toronto, came up with it in 2002 to apply to systems in countries such as Serbia, Kenya and Peru. LUCAN WAY: We never - when we coined this term 25 years ago - never imagined that we would apply it to the United States. LANGFITT: But Levitsky says Trump is following a familiar playbook. LEVITSKY: When we began to see the Justice Department go after public critics of Trump, when we began to see lawsuits against media or attacks on universities that are viewed as critical of the government, all of these things are raising the cost of opposition. NPR doesn't see the Biden Justice Department going after Trump and thousands of people who support Trump as fitting their conspiracy theory. Those “attacks on universities” include UCLA, Harvard, and Columbia, so-called elite universities that shamefully failed to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian campus protests after the October 7 massacre, and in UCLA’s case, actively facilitating Jew-free zones on campus. Langfitt was thrilled that the term was spreading to other elitist media outlets. LANGFITT: The term is catching on. Since President Trump took office last year, searches on Google trends for competitive authoritarianism have spiked. It's also shown up in scores of publications from the Ventura County Star to The Scotsman in Edinburgh and The Indian Express in Mumbai…. Aren’t you glad you’re not paying for this anymore? May 18th, 2026 11:20 AM Clay Waters 295191 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/steve-malzberg/2026/05/18/cnns-mattingly-edits-then-mocks-vances-defense-trumps-remarks Last Tuesday, as he was about to depart for China, reporter Reagan Reese of the Daily Caller asked President Trump to what extent Americans' financial situations motivate him during negotiations with Iran, and he answered, "The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans financial situation." Since that exchange, the media has behaved in a way that harkens back to how they misrepresented Trump's both sides remark regarding Charlottesville, and on CNN's The Arena: Saturday they took it a step further. Host Phil Mattingly began the segment on Trump's remarks, with a clip of Vice President JD Vance from Wednesday, and his  partial answer to a question about what Trump had said. VANCE: I don't think the President said that. I think that's a misrepresentation of what the President said.  But look, I agree with the President that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. MATTINGLY: Vice President JD Vance this week trying to clean up and clarify a little bit, some comments made by his boss, the President, before he left for China,  Notice something missing from the clip? Mattingly did not present the question that Vance was responding to, nor did he provide the full answer to the missing question. He was doing to Vance, what he media has been doing to Trump since last Tuesday, selective editing and distortion by omission. Yet he was more than happy to mock Vance's response, after playing Trump's complete Q & A from Tuesday. QUESTION TO TRUMP: When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are Americans financial situation motivating you to make a deal? TRUMP CLIP: Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all. That's that's the only thing that motivates. MATTINGLY: You can totally see how "not even a little bit" was taken out of context, apparently, according to the Vice President. I've heard better clean-up. How on earth can the smug Mattingly make any judgement on Vance's response, when the question he was responding to wasn't presented? Here's Vance's Q & A (28:22 into the video) including what Mattingly played and held back. THE QUESTION: When approaching the war with Iran,. do you agree with the President's position that Americans' financial situation should not be a consideration in that decision making process? PREVIOUSLY PLAYED PART OF VANCE'S ANSWER: I don't think the President said that. I think that's a misrepresentation of what the President said. But look, I agree with the President that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. VANCE NOT PREVIOUSLY PLAYED: We're obviously engaged in a very aggressive and very engaged diplomatic  process to try to ensure that that doesn't happen. And the President has a lot of options, as he has said repeatedly. There are options diplomatically, there are options on the military side. But the fundamental goal here is  the President wants to make the world safe, but particularly the American people safe from Iran having a nuclear weapon. Nuclear proliferation is one of those challenges that people don't realize, it's the biggest threat to America's national security, and it's not obvious until it is.....But of course the President and I and the entire team, we care about the American people's financial situation....We also have a number of other challenges, the President has to confront all these challenges simultaneously. That's a good "clean-up." Maybe that's why it didn't air. Meanwhile CNN's liberal contributor Xochitl Hinojosa went on the attack against Trump, and promised that his comments from last Tuesday will be used against Republicans.  . HINOJOSA: It's almost as the administration didn't learn anything from the last administration, you had Joe Biden talking about it, really wonderful economy all of the time....On the Democratic side, I don't know why we don't have ads up running in every swing congressional district with those comments, but they need to be up fast.  Next, former Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) provided accurate analysis and an unfortunate prediction. McHENRY: The question here was the message to Iran.... and he's saying... I don't care. We're going to stare you down and you're going to cave.... So when he's saying this, the message is not for domestic politics, though we will see it for sure. You can bet that when we do see it, used by Democrats during campaigns, it will be in the same misleading way the left-wing media is using it now.  May 18th, 2026 9:22 AM Steve Malzberg 295186 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/18/study-snl-jokes-about-conservatives-jump-91-percent-season-51 Season 51 of NBC’s Saturday Night Live recently came to an end, and it was considerably more liberal than Season 50. A new NewsBusters study has found that 91 percent of the season’s Weekend Update jokes were directed at conservatives, while 83 percent of its cold open political characters were conservatives or Republicans. For this study, NewsBusters analysts examined all 20 shows of the season from October 4, 2025, through May 16, 2026.   Weekend Update MRC analysts found that Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che combined to tell 217 out of 238 jokes (91 percent) about conservatives during Season 51. They also told 18 about liberals and three non-partisan jokes. This included 32 separate conservative, 13 liberal, and three non-partisan targets.  Jost and Che’s top ten targets included only one liberal. The list featured Donald Trump (108), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (15), Kristi Noem (12), Tucker Carlson (11), George Santos (10), Melania Trump (7), JD Vance (7), Andrew Cuomo (5), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (5), and Kash Patel (5). By joking about Cuomo, SNL helped boost the even further-left Zohran Mamdani in New York City's mayoral election. Additionally, in the middle of every Weekend Update, another cast member joins Jost and Che to play an absurd character, with Jost or Che acting as the straight man in the scenario. Occasionally, these are political, such as Jeremy Culhane appearing as Tucker Carlson on two occasions that made it seem as if Carlson is still best known for being a conservative culture warrior, and not someone who is constantly smearing Israel, bashing Trump, and making excuses for America’s enemies. Here are some samples of Jost and Che’s most anti-conservative jokes from the past season. Tom Homan called on local leaders in Minneapolis to work with ICE agents to tone down the dangerous rhetoric, because all that rhetoric just distracts agents from their main aim: anyone filming. – Che Minnesota Governor Tim Walz compared the Trump administration's immigration crackdown to the Nazi occupation described The Diary of Anne Frank, but remember this administration has always ignored the stories told by young girls. – Jost  A federal judge on Friday ordered ICE agents in Minnesota not to retaliate against peaceful protesters. But if ICE agents listened to judges, then their ex-wives would be getting those checks for child support.  – Jost  Argentine President Javier Milei, seen asking if he makes you horny baby, met with President Trump at the White House this week, where Trump announced he's sending $40 billion to Argentina, because if history is any guide, Trump officials will end up fleeing to Argentina. – Jost Islamophobia, Che. How dare you. How dare you, Che. I'm not Islamophobic. Okay? I'm just scared of all Muslim people. – Sarah Sherman playing a paranoid and delusional Mamdani critic Kamala Harris has released a new book that explains how she lost the 2024 Election. It’s called I’m a Black Lady. – Che 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…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. – Bowen Yang playing Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter and mocking J.K. Rowling’s criticisms of Emma Watson What the hell are you talking about? Only thing that makes any sense in that entire analogy is that we can all understand JD Vance's wife having the urge to jump. – Jost Yesterday, Kamala Harris said she was thinking about running for president again, and I like her chances as long as she finally grows that penis. – Che There's growing confusion whether Israel being allowed to continue bombing Lebanon was part of the ceasefire with Iran. Ultimately that decision comes down to the man controlling our military: Benjamin Netanyahu. – Che Legal experts are saying that this week's Supreme Court ruling has taken a wrecking ball to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. If you ask black people, it felt more like a firehose. Too real. – Che According to a senior official, President Trump keeps a letter in the resolute desk addressed to Vice President JD Vance in the event he dies or is assassinated. The letter reads simply, “I wish it had been you.” – Jost President Trump has rejected Iran's latest demands to end the war, including recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. war reparations. You want reparations from America? Get in line, honey. – Che MRC President David Bozell said in a statement, “Michael Jordan famously said, ‘Republicans buy sneakers, too.’ Entertainment companies once understood that alienating half the country was probably not a great business model. Nobody is asking SNL to become conservative, but when every political punchline is nothing more than all Trump Derangement Syndrome all the time, SNL risks turning itself into a caricature of their own political obsessions.” NewsBusters started counting Jost and Che’s jokes at the end of Season 50. Their two year total now stands at 420 jokes about conservatives, 64 about liberals, and four non-partisan jokes. That is a two-year average of 86 percent for jokes directed against conservatives. Cold Opens MRC analysts also looked at the cold open skits at the beginning of every episode and found that conservative or Republican characters appeared 54 times, or 83 percent of the time. By contrast, liberal characters appeared only 10 times. Finally, CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper made an appearance as the only non-partisan character. In addition to Cooper, this included 23 unique conservative and 9 unique liberal characters. The last liberal character to show up was on season’s eighth episode on December 13. Only one liberal character appeared multiple times. Characters that did appear multiple times included James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump (13), Colin Jost’s Pete Hegseth (10), Ashley Padilla’s Kristi Noem (5), Padilla’s Karoline Leavitt (4), Jeremy Culhane’s JD Vance (3), Aziz Ansari’s Kash Patel (3), Chloe Fineman’s Kaitlan Collins (2), and Padilla/Amy Poehler’s Pam Bondi (2). The Kaitlan Collins character was not there to be a satirization of Collins or CNN but rather because the Republican characters needed a generic reporter to interact with. Additionally, three Democratic senators—Sheldon Whitehouse, Amy Klobuchar, and Dick Durbin—were portrayed in a way that made them look normal compared to former Attorney General Pam Bondi Here is a list of some of the most anti-conservative moments from Season 51’s cold opens. To answer your question, if I was just “playing Army,” would there be 80 dead fishermen— narco-terrorists in Venezuela right now? Next question. – Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) And we’re doing war. War! What is it good for? Distracting from the Epstein files. –Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) Can I join ICE? Well, let me ask you this. Is your neck wider than your head? Are you currently wearing a Punisher T-shirt? Have you ever punched a hole in the wall because your son took a dance class? If the answer is yes, then grab a gun, any gun, and saddle up, big boy. – Kristi Noem (Ashley Padilla) TRUMP (JOHNSON): Yes, we're doing pirate now, arggh.        …         REPORTER (JEREMY CULHANE): Was that Santa?         [Video of Santa Claus being shot down]         TRUMP (JOHNSON): Not anymore. Can you believe I ended abortion? Hey, your body, my choice. – Brett Kavanaugh (Matt Damon) The two-year cold open tally now sits at 70 percent of characters being conservative or Republican with a total of 94 conservatives, 39 liberals, and one non-partisan with 28 Trump appearances on 41 total episodes. *** At the end of every SNL season, there are rumors about which cast members will not be back in the fall. Last year, rumors were everywhere that Jost and Che would not return, but they ultimately did. Already, those rumors are starting again, but any possible change in anchors will probably not lead to a change in partisan agenda. May 18th, 2026 9:00 AM Alex Christy 295168 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2026/05/17/princeton-prof-glaudes-ms-now-meltdown-maga-wants-white On Saturday's edition of MS NOW’s The Weekend, Eddie Glaude went OFF! The normally measured Princeton professor — known for his calm, scholarly demeanor — unloaded in raw, fiery language rarely seen from him. Reacting to the Supreme Court’s recent Callais decision on the Voting Rights Act, Glaude, who is also an MS NOW analyst, openly questioned whether African Americans remain “full citizens” of the United States. He delivered a sweeping indictment of “MAGA forces,” claiming their opposition to DEI, race-based preferences in federal contracting, affirmative action in college admissions (including at Yale Medical School), and voting rights is part of a deliberate effort to "put us in our place” and preserve America as a “white republic.” Glaude’s enthusiastic support for racial discrimination in DEI, college admissions and government contracting represents the real threat to full citizenship: lowering standards for black Americans instead of expecting them to compete on equal terms. Glaude declared that MAGA forces believe “this country must be and must remain a white republic,” arguing that these moves represent an attempt to diminish black political power and “make this country white once again.” Princeton Prof Glaude's Meltdown: MAGA 'Trying to Make America White Again' pic.twitter.com/7fK9i1TuTP — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) May 16, 2026 Glaude ended the segment by declaring that critics of racial preferences have awakened a “sleeping giant.” He predicted black voters, in a multiracial coalition, will surge to the polls in November 2026 and 2028 to “push back and push back hard.” “They’re gonna mess around and find out,” he said, smiling as he noted his own redaction of the stronger phrase. “This isn’t 1965. This is 2026, and they’re gonna see who the ‘New Negro’ — black folk, however you wanna describe us — who we are in this moment.” Capehart responded to Glaude's tirade by . . . applauding! Here's the transcript. MS NOW The Weekend 5/16/26 7:11 am EDT JONATHAN CAPEHART: Eddie, as I was listening to Melanie and thinking about the Calais decision, the Supreme Court decision, and what it's done to the Voting Rights Act. To Melanie's point the Voting Rights Act was passed sixty-one years ago, which means that America has been a true democracy, as you well know and have said, true democracy for sixty-one years. And so given the Calais decision are we, you and I, Eugene, are Melanie, are African Americans still full citizens of the United States? EDDIE GLAUDE: Well, I mean, that's, that's a wonderful and, and I think incisive question, Jonathan. And first of all, it's just wonderful to see everybody and to, to hear Melanie's fi-- fired up in this moment, which is absolutely important. Yes, I mean, on one level, from the vantage point of certain folk, they're not, they don't view us as full citizens, right? There, there are, there are forces at work in, MAGA forces at work in this country, who have as their aim and end, right, to put us in our place. Their, their, their design, whether it's an assault on DEI, whether it's an assault on federal contractors, whether it's an assault on college admissions, even Yale Medical School, right? Across the board, and now voting rights, there's a sense in which there are folks who believe that this country must be and must remain a white republic, And that begins with the diminution of black political power.That begins with putting black folk culturally and politically and socially in our place, as it were. And so we need to read this for what it is. I understand the politics, but we need to understand, I think, widen the aperture for a bit, and to understand the motivation of these folk as they seek, once again, once again, to, to, to make this country white, as, as it were. CAPEHART: Dr. Glaude, in the less than a minute that we have left, Melanie talked about folks waking up a sleeping giant. Will that sleeping giant actually wake up? Will black voters, in particular, in this multiracial coalition, rise up this November and in the November of '28 to push back, and push back hard, against what's been happening? GLAUDE: Absolutely. We're already seeing organizing in Louisiana, we're seeing it across the South, we're gonna see it today. We need to understand, remember, marches are just simply one phase in nonviolent action. We often think that marches are the end, aim, and end of political protest, but they're actually dramatic forms of political education. I'm thinking about James Lawson here. They set the stage for the organizing that's coming. We're going to show these folk that we're not just simply motivated by symbol. Remember how much we turned out for Barack Obama? Now we're gonna turn out for ourselves. We're gonna turn out in order to demonstrate that this country is ours. So, just wait. Let, let them, let, let them -- --they're gonna mess around and find out. You see how I redacted it? They're gonna mess around and find out who we actually are in this moment.  This is not 1965. This is 2026, and they're gonna see who the New Negro, black folk, however you wanna describe us, who we are in this moment. [Capehart applauds.] May 17th, 2026 10:20 PM Mark Finkelstein 295180 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2026/05/17/abc-week-omits-medicaid-scams-whines-over-trumps-dc-builds The Elitist Media are feverishly trying to gin up a corruption scandal in The White House, while doing their level best to avoid reporting on actual corruption scandals that are happening as we speak. These omissions have migrated to their Sunday political shows. Watch as ABC’s Jon Karl whines about the several beautification projects underway in the nation’s capital: With multiple government services fraud scams ongoing, ABC News focuses on ginning Trump's DC renovations into a scandal. pic.twitter.com/XMRIeHv4GP — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 17, 2026 JON KARL: Elsewhere, the president says he’s making overdue renovations, fixing long, broken fountains at Lafayette Park. The cost of the project, currently at $17.4 million, awarded without competitive bidding to a company that had done work at Mar-a-Lago. And over here in front of the Lincoln Memorial you have the iconic reflecting pool. And here is a project Trump has been very excited about. They drained the water from the pool, and they appear to be painting the floor of it, what Trump calls American flag blue. At first, President Trump said the project would cost roughly $1.5 million and would be done in two weeks. The tab now stands at nearly ten times the original estimate, almost $15 million. Another no-bid contract to a company that had done work at a Trump golf club. And finally, President Trump says he has big plans for what he calls the Trump Kennedy Center. There is no doubt that this building and this area out back on the Potomac River looks a little bit worn and beaten down, could use a renovation. The sense is they might have much more in mind than a simple renovation. The National Trust has also joined a lawsuit with several other groups to stop any Trump construction at the Kennedy Center without congressional approval. The administration says that work there will affirmatively fulfill the board’s responsibilities to repair and improve the center. Are you concerned that the Kennedy Center could go the way of the East Wing? That they could actually tear down -- QUILLEN: One reason why the suit requests a preliminary injunction so that that doesn’t happen. KARL: So, you are concerned that they could literally knock good chunks of the Kennedy Center down? QUILLEN: We’d like that not to happen. KARL: Yes. (END VIDEOTAPE) STEPHANOPOULOS: Thanks to Jon Karl. The roundtable’s up next. ABC devoted close to seven minutes of Sunday show time to the White House ballroom, the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, the proposed Triumphal Arch, and other various projects. Karl devoted lavish time to each, and found time to interview the CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who is suing the administration over these projects. Additionally, Karl took the time to suggest that there may be some corruption afoot with the way the contracts were conducted.  There was certainly time on ABC to cover actual scandals in progress, like the Medicaid fraud schemes currently under investigation in places like Minnesota and Ohio. Ohio, in particular, has drawn no coverage from the Elitist Media despite Vice President JD Vance spearheading efforts to combat this egregious corruption. Likewise, there was no time spent on the Department of Justice into the Soros-funded Fairfax County DA whose handling of egregious illegal alien crime puts the community at risk. Trump-deranged slop routinely gets preferential treatment at ABC. Actual scandals? Well, that’s (D)ifferent. Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned segment as aired on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday, May 17th, 2026: DOUG BURGUM: Everybody wanted to have a clean, safe and beautiful Washington, D.C.. But if this president makes it a priority and personally says we're going to get it done for our 250th, then the word “vanity" gets inserted. (VIDEO SWIPE) FDR did the reconstruction back in pre-World War II. You know, Teddy Roosevelt tore some stuff down to build the West Wing. Were those vanity projects? No. They're still helping the nation today. (END VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defending Donald Trump's renovations across the nation's capital, including his East Wing ballroom. Chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl sat down with the woman suing the president to try and stop that project. It's her first interview since her organization filed the lawsuit. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JON KARL: It came as a shock back in October when, without warning, construction crews tore down the East Wing of the White House. DAVID MUIR: Demolition at the White House, sources now telling ABC News the entire East Wing expected to be demolished. KARL: A first step in making the massive ballroom next to the White House. DONALD TRUMP: They wanted to build a ballroom at the White House. I think it will be the finest ballroom of its kind anywhere in the world. KARL: The destruction of the East Wing particularly shocked Carol Quillen, the woman who is now trying to stop further construction of Trump's ballroom. CAROL QUILLEN: The White House is an iconic structure in this country. How could it just be torn down with no warning or notice or consultation? KARL: Quillen is the president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She argues it was against the law to knock down the East Wing and to build a ballroom without congressional approval first. Trump has said he doesn't need that approval. QUILLEN: I think we can all agree what should happen here is that if our historic resources, the most iconic structure in the country, is going to be altered in an irreversible way, more people should weigh in than one man, the current resident of that building. KARL: He's a renter, if you will. QUILLEN: He's a steward. KARL: He's a steward. QUILLEN: Right? He's a steward. He is responsible for what he's inherited. And passing that on to future generations. He's more than a tenant, I would say. He's a steward. KARL: President Trump himself has called Quillen over the phone multiple times, she says to personally urge her to drop the lawsuit, a request the administration officially made in late April. QUILLEN: He has expressed to us the desire of the military to have this project. KARL: And have you urged him to go through a process to get it done? QUILLEN: We have expressed our view that there's a legally required process. The judge has also expressed, look, there's a process. Go through the process. KARL: And his response to the lawsuit, the Justice Department's response. He says that what your organization is basing this on is Trump derangement syndrome. QUILLEN: I don’t know what Trump derangement syndrome is exactly. KARL: It would mean you are absolutely opposed to anything Donald Trump, I think is how it would probably be defined. QUILLEN: No, I don’t think that's true. I’m not opposed to everything he does. I don’t have a lot of strong emotion about him as a person. I just believe that any sitting president should follow the law and that we all have an -- we should all have an opportunity to weigh in. KARL (voice over): The ballroom is just one of many ways President Trump plans to remake the historic center of the nation’s capital. At the White House, he has installed a patio on the Rose Garden, a door into the Oval Office and the colonnade with gold. He plans to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building white. Plans first unveiled to a startled Fox News host, Laura Ingraham. LAURA INGRAHAM: But you’re not worried that’s like a big white blob. President Trump’s most ambitious construction project is about two miles away. It’s on this plot of grass, inside a traffic circle, just outside the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, that Trump plans to build his arch. The size of the plan is staggering, 250 feet tall. That is two and a half times the size of the Lincoln Memorial. It is larger -- significantly larger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. And it is almost as high as the Capitol Dome. The planned arch is so tall that this week the FAA announced it is conducting a review to see if it would interfere with air traffic in Washington. A group of Vietnam veterans is suing to stop construction because it blocks the view of Arlington Cemetery. The administration says it will enhance the visiting experience for Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen and all Americans like. This week it appears there was surveying activity at the site. “The Washington Post” reported that the Trump administration planned to start work there as an unrelated no bid contract already underway at the White House. The Trump administration announced Friday a new plan at nearby West Potomac Park as the site of his planned National Garden of American Heroes. A proposal that raised questions about whether congressional approval is required. Elsewhere, the president says he’s making overdue renovations, fixing long, broken fountains at Lafayette Park. The cost of the project, currently at $17.4 million, awarded without competitive bidding to a company that had done work at Mar-a-Lago. And over here in front of the Lincoln Memorial you have the iconic reflecting pool. And here is a project Trump has been very excited about. They drained the water from the pool, and they appear to be painting the floor of it, what Trump calls American flag blue. At first, President Trump said the project would cost roughly $1.5 million and would be done in two weeks. The tab now stands at nearly ten times the original estimate, almost $15 million. Another no-bid contract to a company that had done work at a Trump golf club. And finally, President Trump says he has big plans for what he calls the Trump Kennedy Center. There is no doubt that this building and this area out back on the Potomac River looks a little bit worn and beaten down, could use a renovation. The sense is they might have much more in mind than a simple renovation. The National Trust has also joined a lawsuit with several other groups to stop any Trump construction at the Kennedy Center without congressional approval. The administration says that work there will affirmatively fulfill the board’s responsibilities to repair and improve the center. Are you concerned that the Kennedy Center could go the way of the East Wing? That they could actually tear down -- QUILLEN: One reason why the suit requests a preliminary injunction so that that doesn’t happen. KARL: So, you are concerned that they could literally knock good chunks of the Kennedy Center down? QUILLEN: We’d like that not to happen. KARL: Yes. (END VIDEOTAPE) STEPHANOPOULOS: Thanks to Jon Karl. The roundtable’s up next.   May 17th, 2026 7:27 PM Jorge Bonilla 295190 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2026/05/17/nbc-miscasts-cbs-ownership-partisan-actor-colbert-eulogies-begin In an effort to cast Stephen Colbert as a martyr for free speech ahead of the imminent cancellation of The Late Show, NBC’s Sunday Today sought to cast the owner of CBS’s parent company as "a prominent Trump supporter.” Except that this isn’t true.  Watch as NBC entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas suggests that CBS is owned by MAGA, casts doubts on the financial rationale behind the cancellation of The Late Show, and then brings on a media critic to bolster her point of view: Fact Check: False. @ChloeMelas on #SundayToday @TodayShow: “CBS was recently acquired by Skydance Media, whose owner, David Ellison, is a prominent Trump supporter.” Reality: In 2024 Ellison donated $929,000 to the Biden Victory Fund. Per https://t.co/LLxw1n8uWm: “David Ellison’s… pic.twitter.com/gka7P0T0fZ — Brent Baker 🇺🇲🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) May 17, 2026 CHLOE MELAS: CBS was recently acquired by Skydance Media, whose owner David Ellison is a prominent Trump supporter. CBS called the cancellation a purely financial decision and not related in any way to the show's performance. But that statement doesn't ring true to everyone. Brian Lowry is a media veteran reporter. BRIAN LOWRY: There was a sense the studio was eager to curry favor with the Trump administration. The idea of Ellison as “prominent Trump supporter” makes for good narrative ahead of Colbert’s cancellation. But it simply isn’t true. As our own Brent Baker noted, in 2024 Ellison donated $929,000 to the Biden Victory Fund. AS CNBC noted, this was “the largest recorded contribution that the Skydance Media CEO ever made to a federal candidate.” Not very MAGA. Also, not very accurate. The Ellison MAGA rebrand is an important element in the ongoing canonization of late-night comics to Resistance™ sainthood. In Colbert’s particular case this narrative is useful inasmuch as it helps brush off the financial reality of the show as a key element of its cancellation.  The rest of the segment is as syrupy as expected- an in vivo eulogy of Colbert, the free speech martyr cast down by the evil Trump. There is, of course, no mention of the broader political degeneration of our broader culture- including comedy. Viewers now get all of the politics with very little comedy. Today is just the beginning. Expect more of the same, building to a vomitous crescendo ahead of Colbert’s CBS finale.  Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on NBC’s Sunday Today on May 17th, 2026: WILLIE GEIST: On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert will host his final Late Show on CBS. He got the job 11 years ago, after the legendary David Letterman retired from the world of late-night comedy he helped to create. CBS cited financial losses in announcing the end of Colbert’s run. But last summer’s decision came as the network's parent company Paramount was working to close a merger that required approval from the Trump administration, a nightly target of Colbert. That deal was approved one week after Colbert's show was canceled. NBC News entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas has more in our Sunday Focus. CHLOE MELAS: Last year, Steven Colbert delivered a monologue that certainly wasn't funny. The host of the top-rated show on late night TV announcing his Late Show was being canceled. STEPHEN COLBERT: It's not just the end of our show but it's the end of the Late Show on CBS. I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away. MELAS: Colbert has been a frequent critic through the years of President Trump. COLBERT: But who better to gamble with our economy than somebody who bankrupted his own casino? MELAS: CBS was recently acquired by Skydance Media, whose owner David Ellison is a prominent Trump supporter. CBS called the cancellation a purely financial decision and not related in any way to the show's performance. But that statement doesn't ring true to everyone. Brian Lowry is a media veteran reporter. BRIAN LOWRY: There was a sense the studio was eager to curry favor with the Trump administration. MELAS: Colbert isn't the only late-night TV host who has drawn the wrath of President Trump. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel was briefly taken off the air last year following his commentary on Charlie Kirk's killing. He apologized after his return. JIMMY KIMMEL: It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. MELAS: The President and First Lady called for Kimmel to be fired, after he made a joke about the couple's age difference, saying Melania looks like a, quote, “expectant widow”, a couple of days before a gunman tried to breach the White House Correspondents' Dinner. This week, Kimmel joining Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Jimmy Fallon, the biggest names in late night, to support their friend. COLBERT: Is there anything we have not touched on before we move on to this -- I’m curious… KIMMEL: Are you outraged that your show is being thrown off the air? MELAS: Original host David Letterman also stopping by melancholy with words of wisdom. DAVID LETTERMAN: You can take a man's show. You can't take a man's voice. So that's the good news you need. MELAS: The two also recreating an old Letterman bit: throwing things off the roof. LETTERMAN: How many hours have you (and you ass) spent in that chair? COLBERT: Oh, uh- 1,810 shows. LETTERMAN: Here we go. COLBERT: Here we go. LETTERMAN: All right. Let's give it a go. COLBERT: One, two, three. MELAS: Colbert sat down with Willie back in 2024. GEIST: So where does the comedy come in for you? COLBERT: I'm the youngest of 11. And, you know, comedy was -- it was, like, a homocracy. Whoever the funniest person in the room at the moment was was the king. MELAS: So what's next for Colbert? Earlier this month, President Obama had some thoughts. COLBERT: I'm looking for a new gig soon. A lot of people tell me I should run for president. BARACK OBAMA: Well, you have the look. COLBERT: Thank you very much. OBAMA: You have the hair. MELAS: And in a final show of solidarity, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon will go dark on Thursday, airing reruns on The Late Show’s final night on the air. COLBERT: You guys have been wonderful friends and great models for me, and I’m so glad to know and love all of you. Thank you so much for being here. GEIST: And Chloe joins me now live. Chloe, good morning. Great to see you. My sources tell me you are a former Colbert intern. Bringing a little extra insight to this one. So with only four nights left for Stephen, what comes next for Colbert and for his time slot? MELAS: Willie, well, your sources- they are correct. I indeed interned for Stephen back in 2008 during the Colbert Report days at Comedy Central. And a lot of that staff followed Stephen to The Late Show. As for what happens next, CBS announced that Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed will take over under a one-year agreement, and the financial structure is unique. CBS leasing the hour while Allen takes on the cost of producing the show in return for the ad revenue. Colbert’s final week will feature the worst of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday. Tuesday brings Jon Stewart and Steven Spielberg, plus a performance with David Byrne. Wednesday night, the one and only Bruce Springsteen takes the stage. But no word yet on what’s planned for Thursday's final show. Though if history is any guide, expect some surprises and a few emotional good-byes. Willie. GEIST: We will be watching this week. Chloe, thanks so much. We appreciate it.   May 17th, 2026 4:24 PM Jorge Bonilla 295189 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/steve-malzberg/2026/05/17/cnns-mathew-chance-goes-inside-iran-shows-bombed-bridge-repeats We've seen it since the beginning of the Iran War from the left-wing media. Trump and Israel are bad, Iran, while not necessarily good, is certainly not a threat to the U.S., and  the atrocities that they have committed against their own people, and their targeting of civilian infrastructure in several Middle Eastern countries, for the most part, goes unreported. Consistent with this pattern, early on Thursday morning, CNN's The Story Is With Elex Michaelson, aired a report from inside Iran that easily could have been mistaken for an anti U.S., pro-Iran propaganda piece. Michaelson led into the report with what would prove to be a damaging disclaimer. MICHAELSON: CNN's Matthew Chance is now in Iran with photojournalist Alex Platt, with an inside look at how the war is impacting Iranians. We'd like to note that CNN only operates there with the permission of the Iranian government, as is required under local regulations, but maintains full editorial control over what it reports. There was not a "Chance" they would make Iran look bad.  CHANCE: We're on a long drive towards the Iranian capital, but we've had to stop because we've come to a bridge that was struck by a U.S. or an Israeli airstrike during the recent bombing campaign. You can see a whole section of it has fallen into the into the river. And if you look around over here, all the cars and trucks have had to go around on this detour. When you when you consider all the other roads and bridges that have been hit, it's added hours to the journey time.. Wow, that is just awful. Why would the U.S. or Israel hit bridges that citizens use to get from place to place? Looks bad, no? Well what Chance doesn't tell his viewers is according to the IDF, via the Times of Israel, "The IDF announces that it bombed eight rail bridges and sections of roads 'used by the Iranian terror regime to transport weapons and military equipment.' Chance continued with a description of the deadlock between Iran and the U.S., and  presented it as a "both sides" issue, rather than rightfully blaming Iran for their unyielding stance on the nuclear issue.  CHANCE: Well, before we arrived in Iran, some Iranians told us, don't go in. It's too dangerous. The war could resume at any time, especially amid growing tensions over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the failure of the U.S. and Iran to reach a compromise over nuclear activities. Chance never mentioned a recent social media post by Iran's President which said, "We will never bow our heads before the enemy, and if talk of dialogue or negotiation arises, it does not mean surrender or retreat."  He then continued his sympathetic account of how the war has changed the lives of many Iranians. CHANCE: Meanwhile, here in Iran, we're glimpsing how the country is being shaped by the conflict and the pressure it's under from crowds of Iranians at the border. We've just been to hauling cooking oil across from Turkey, where it's much cheaper. An acute cost of living crisis, remember, sparked nationwide protests late last year that ended in horrific violence. Horrific violence? No details, of course, because those  protests happened before the war, and according to Amnesty International, "The authorities carried out massacres of protesters, primarily on 8 and 9 January, when the death toll rose into thousands. January 2026 marks the deadliest period of repression by the Iranian authorities in decades of Amnesty’s research." He also doesn't inform that Iran agreeing to get rid of their nuclear potential would solve the described crisis, and his silence on that spreads the blame around to all involved. Chance finished up with what it seemed he was hinting at all along.  CHANCE: To the words of one Iranian father who told me that what he called Trump's War, had silenced people and made the Iranian government stronger. In his words, at least for now. Remember the disclaimer given by Michaelson leading into Chance's piece including, CNN "maintains full editorial control over what it reports"? If accurate in this case, it's a very sad commentary. But, after all, this is CNN. May 17th, 2026 12:56 PM Steve Malzberg 295178 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/17/eric-trump-threatens-sue-psaki-shameless-son-china-scandal-talk MS NOW host Jen Psaki has never stopped being a shameless PR representative for the Bidens. On Wednesday night, she made conspiracy noises about President Trump’s son Eric riding to Beijing with Daddy on Air Force One, potentially to make personal business deals. Shameless – because that’s exactly what Hunter Biden did when Vice President Biden flew to China in 2013. On Thursday, Eric Trump tweeted on Friday that he plans on suing Psaki and MS NOW, accusing them of pushing “blatant lies.” PEAK SHAMELESSNESS: MS NOW host Jen Psaki rips Eric Trump for flying with Daddy to Beijing and cashing in with Chinese business. No, Jen, that's Hunter Biden flying with the VP in 2013. It's like she never worked for President Biden....or she still is! pic.twitter.com/fLJ9kA9Yx7 — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 17, 2026 JEN PSAKI: Guess where Trump’s adult son, Eric, is right now? Well, he’s with his father in China. Now, Eric Trump does not have a role in the U.S. government. In fact, he’s supposed to be sort of firewalled off from any US government activities because he took over the family businesses when his father reentered the White House, supposedly to prevent conflicts of interest. But there he is. You can see him…. A spokesperson for Eric himself said that Eric was just joining the president in his own personal capacity, saying that Eric will not participate in any discussions or meetings related to any business entity and that Eric Trump does not have business ventures in China or plans on doing business with China. Now, that is quite an interesting denial, given this piece in the Financial Times out just today. And here’s the headline. “Eric Trump joins Beijing trip as family linked group chases China deal.” You see Eric is on the board of a company called ALT5 Sigma. And you can see him and Don Jr. here ringing the opening bell at the NASDAQ with the name of that company and the name of the Trump family crypto company right behind them....  it certainly seems like Eric might be getting a little more than just quality time with his dad out of this China trip, doesn’t it? I mean, I could go on and on and on about all of the sketchy ways that Trump’s sons are making money while their dad is president....You would think that Trump and his sons would deserve more financial scrutiny, not less. Eric Trump shot back: Contrary to her monolog [sic] and blatant lies, I have NEVER been on the board of ALT5 — not now, not ever. Any person with basic access to Google and willing to open a company’s annual report or proxy statements would know this. I have had zero involvement in any merger discussions involving any public entity I do not run or control. I have zero business interests in China. No properties, no investments, nothing! On Friday night, Psaki clarified that Eric was a little bit correct on the board thing, but their association remains: Now to be as fair as possible. To Eric, I should say that his role at ALT5 is that, at the very least, been complicated. We do know that he's not currently a director on the board, but as you just heard, the company initially announced that he was becoming a director on ALT5's board of directors. Likewise, a company filing with the SEC said he was being appointed as a director on the board, and the company's website also listed him as a director on their leadership page. And then that situation changed because in subsequent filings with the sec, Eric was designated as an observer on the board, a role that typically means you cannot cast a vote at board meetings, but you are able to attend them. Lawrence O'Donnell, Stephanie Ruhle, and Ali Velshi also joined the Eric Trump Cashes In caucus, but they never worked in PR for the Biden family business.  New York Post columnist Miranda Devine, author of two books investigating the Biden finances -- Laptop from Hell and The Big Guy, offered her take:   I would rather not have seen another president's son fly into China on Air Force One when the memory of Joe and Hunter Biden's grift burns bright. But this is a pretty emphatic denial and what a hide from Jen Psaki, who lied and obfuscated for Hunter for years from the White… https://t.co/U7Ri6vulAP — Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) May 16, 2026 May 17th, 2026 7:55 AM Tim Graham 295187 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/stephanie-hamill/2026/05/17/margaret-cho-claims-she-turned-down-hbo-acting-gig-over-fear Comedian Margaret Cho claims President Donald Trump and ICE are somehow responsible for her missing out on an acting role she was supposedly offered in a popular HBO Max series — a bizarre accusation considering Cho is an American citizen, and ICE is not deporting U.S. citizens for criticizing politicians online.  If this story sounds completely detached from reality, that’s because it is. During a recent appearance on Matteo Lane and Nick Smith’s podcast I Never Liked You, Cho claimed she turned down what she says was a role in HBO Max’s hockey drama Heated Rivalry because it filmed in Canada — and she feared her criticism of ICE and the Trump administration could somehow lead to her being detained at the border.  “Last year, I got a pilot script for a show that I really loved, but it shot in Canada,” Cho said. “And I was so scared because I’m so vocal about hating ICE and hating this administration. I was like, ‘I will get detained at the border and I will be put in ICE detention if I go.’” There’s just one major problem with this dramatic tale of oppression: Cho is a U.S. citizen. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not roaming around airports detaining American citizens because they made anti-Trump comments on social media. That’s not how any of this works. But apparently in celebrity activist world, basic facts no longer matter as long as the victim narrative sounds emotional enough. And instead of pushing back or asking obvious follow-up questions, the hosts collectively appeared to indulge the fantasy — nodding along as though Cho was describing life under some authoritarian regime rather than modern-day America. At no point did anyone ask: Why would ICE care about Cho? What law did she supposedly break? What evidence exists that she would’ve been denied entry into her own country? The answer appears to be none. Cho then escalated the hysteria even further by claiming: “It really solidified the fact that, as queer people, we’re here. Even in this politicized time when our existence has become criminalized, we’re here, and people want to hear our stories.” Again — completely false. Gay people are not “criminalized” in the United States. No law under the Trump administration made homosexuality illegal. Nobody is banning LGBT Americans from existing publicly. But increasingly, celebrities and activists like Cho frame ordinary political disagreements as literal persecution in order to elevate themselves into victims of some imaginary dystopia. This is peak delusion. What makes the story even shakier is the complete lack of evidence surrounding Cho’s claims altogether. At this point, there’s no public confirmation from HBO Max or the show’s producers that Cho was ever formally offered the role she claims she rejected. Entertainment outlets largely repeated her account without verification — because apparently if a celebrity says something anti-Trump enough, journalists suddenly stop asking questions. Cho has also repeatedly claimed over the years that she was invited multiple times to appear on The Celebrity Apprentice because Donald Trump supposedly “loved” her. Once again: no public confirmation. And the timeline makes her claims even more dubious. During the Apprentice era, Hollywood loved Trump. Celebrities lined up to be around him. NBC built one of its biggest reality franchises around him. The same entertainment industry now pretending Trump was always some uniquely toxic figure spent years celebrating him, inviting him on television shows and cashing checks off his popularity. So the idea that Cho bravely resisted appearing on The Apprentice years in advance way before Trump ran for office because of deep political convictions doesn’t exactly pass the smell test. At the end of the day, this entire podcast interview felt less like a serious conversation and more like a masterclass in modern celebrity victimhood: blame Trump, blame ICE, blame politics, blame oppression — anything except personal choices or career decisions. May 17th, 2026 6:06 AM Stephanie Hamill 295183 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-spinnato/2026/05/17/morning-joes-heilemann-maga-base-wants-brown-people-sent-out On Friday’s Morning Joe, the MS NOW liberal morning program discussed a possible ramp-up of immigration enforcement and deportations in the coming months, as frequent panelist and Puck News partner John Heilemann told co-host Mika Brzezinski that the “MAGA base” wanted more deportations and “they want to see more brown people sent out of the country.” The segment focused on a The Washington Post report on DHS and ICE usage of new warehouse centers as ICE detention sites. The show’s 9 a.m. host, Jonathan Lemire, said the administration was “telegraphing” a new deportation plan. He agreed with earlier Heilemann comments that the plan would be a mistake. Lemire said, “But there is a sense in the Trump administration they are going to ramp this back up. They think this is a signature promise. And I agree with John's analysis. This would be a political mistake.”   On Friday's Morning Joe, amid a discussion on a possible deportation ramp-up, frequent panelist John Heilemann said the "MAGA base" wants "to see more brown people sent out of the country." pic.twitter.com/Ltvc98TZCA — Nick (@nspin310) May 15, 2026   He also insinuated Trump wanted another immigration fight: But there are some in Trump's orbit who reflexively, when things are bad politically, what do you do? You always fall back on immigration. And then second term, that means these deportations. And perhaps even they want that fight again, not necessarily violence on the streets, but I mean, the political tension to start talking about immigration ahead of the midterms, thinking maybe that will fire up Republicans who otherwise are pretty downtrodden about their chances. Brzezinski focused on a liberal talking point of ICE detention centers as part of for-profit private prisons, a point that had been a push against progressive billionaire California candidate Tom Steyer, whose opponents alleged he made part of his fortune off private prisons. Brzezinski then asked Heliemann if MAGA supported ICE actions and “human profit machines”: Is there MAGA support for these human profit machines that are based on cruelty, separating people in inhumane conditions? Like, are people rallying and saying, “yay” at his events or whatever? They want this? Are we seeing a desire for what we have seen so far with ICE among the MAGA base? Heilemann responded and said there was “enthusiasm” among the MAGA base for the “deportation agenda, broadly speaking,” as he told her, “most voters don't make the kind of - or kind of parsing this out in the way you are, Mika.” Heilemann continued with another insinuation of racism: “And they want to see more brown people sent out of the country.” He continued with more about the “base” and said they were “willing to overlook almost anything in the service of the cause, which was ‘get the illegals.’” To close, Heillemann put all the MS NOW and liberal attacks of Trump into one before the midterms: "(...) this is one of those issues, along with prices, Jeffrey Epstein, the profiteering, the ballroom, focus on himself, and then the cruelty on the streets of American cities." The one glowing thing ignored by Helliemann and the Morning Joe crew was the violent criminals ICE has deported, and, as more instances of illegal immigrant crime emerged, like the killing of Sheridan Gorman, the media had continued with their selective coverage. The transcript is below. Click "expand": MS NOW’s Morning Joe May 15, 2026 6:36:08 AM Eastern (...) JONATHAN LEMIRE: We were talking. They're telegraphing, it's coming again. And there have been some suggestion they're going to back off this warehouse plan, we've seen this week that's not the case. Stephen Miller has been - he's lost some of his less visible than he was. He still retains remarkable clout inside the White House. He's still the face of this. Markwayne Mullin, the new secretary, has taken some time to put his people in place. You know, obviously, Tom Homan presents a different, perhaps more competent face than Corey Lewandowski and Kristi Noem. But they're ramping up again, and they have not made any official go decision.  But there is a sense in the Trump administration they are going to ramp this back up. They think this is a signature promise. And I agree with John's analysis. This would be a political mistake.  But there are some in Trump's orbit who reflexively, when things are bad politically, what do you do? You always fall back on immigration. And then second term, that means these deportations. And perhaps even they want that fight again, not necessarily violence on the streets, but I mean, the political tension to start talking about immigration ahead of the midterms, thinking maybe that will fire up Republicans who otherwise are pretty downtrodden about their chances. (...) 6:37:16 AM Eastern MIKA BRZEZINSKI: That's what - Is there MAGA support for these human profit machines that are based on cruelty, separating people in inhumane conditions? Like, are people rallying and saying, “yay” at his events or whatever? They want this? Are we seeing a desire for what we have seen so far with ICE among the MAGA base? JOHN HEILEMANN: I think among the MAGA base, there is there's enthusiasm for the deportation agenda broadly speaking. People don't make- I think in general, most voters don't make the kind of - or kind of parsing this out in the way you are, Mika. I think what the MAGA base wants is more deportations. Their problem in Minneapolis, or not even their problem. I don't think they cared very much about what happened in Minneapolis, frankly. And they want to see more brown people sent out of the country. They don't - if that means the for-profit penitentiaries - BRZEZINSKI: I’m listening, yeah. HEILEMANN: - that's kind of in the weeds for a lot of people. What they're like is like, “we want deportations. We want them now.” That is not, by the way, obviously not a majority of the country. It's not even a majority, certainly not even majority. I don't think of the Republican Party.  But there is a - we think about the trump base. They are willing to overlook almost anything in the service of the cause, which is get the “illegals” out. And I think that Trump is right, that that general cause is popular with his base. But again, he's doesn’t have a problem with his base, really. He has a bigger problem with independent voters for whom what they saw on the streets in Minneapolis was an enormous problem. And if you look at Donald Trump's numbers with independents, which is what's killing them heading into the midterms, this is one of those issues, along with prices, Jeffrey Epstein, the profiteering, the ballroom, focus on himself, and then the cruelty on the streets of American cities.  That's why you're sitting at numbers for Donald Trump with independents that are in the 20s at this point. It's the constellation of those issues. This is not going to help in his political fortunes, or the Republican party's political fortunes with those voters. And those are the voters who are key. (...) May 17th, 2026 5:59 AM Nicholas Spinnato 295165 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2026/05/16/ms-now-flips-out-over-redistricting-louisiana-gop On Wednesday's Chris Jansing Reports on MS NOW, fill-in host Erielle Reshef presided over a segment to fret over moves by Louisiana Republicans to eliminate a racially gerrymandered Democrat-leaning congressional district even though doing so is in accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision.  The recent high court decision found that the district was improperly gerrymandered in 2024 after a lower court pressured the legislature to draw a second black-majority district. As reporter Will McDuffie recounted that the Louisiana legislature heard from citizens speaking out on the issue, he showed a couple of provocative clips of liberals lambasting Republicans: MS NOW Flips Out Over Redistricting by Louisiana GOP pic.twitter.com/Qm1J4lbucx — Brad Wilmouth (@bradwilmouth) May 14, 2026 WILL McDUFFIE: Let's take a listen to some of that passionate testimony from folks last night. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: This issue clearly affects black people more than anyone else, but I want everyone to understand that no one is safe when the end goal is a white Christian nationalist nation. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The MAGA party is the last breath of the Confederacy, and I'll be happy to see millennials and Gen Z buried up. There will be no more of your party. The midterms are going to come, y'all going to get wiped out, Trump going to get dragged out of the White House, and I'm going to love every second of it, because y'all love every second of the suffering that he causes everybody in this country. The MS NOW reporter ended up lamenting that the Republican legislature would "rubber stamp" the plan passed by the state Senate committee: RESHEF: So, Will, now, this map heads to the full state Senate for approval on Thursday. What should we expect there? McDUFFIE: Well, we should expect them to essentially rubber stamp this map. I don't see any way in which they wouldn't pass this through. Republicans hold a large majority in both chambers here in Baton Rouge. I expect probably some protests here as well over the coming days as they make that decision. Reshef went to liberal Republican ex-Congressman Charlie Dent and liberal ex-Hakeem Jeffries aide Michael Hardaway for response. Even though it is appropriate for the Louisiana legislature to react in a timely manner to the Supreme Court ruling, Dent -- who used to be a CNN contributor -- began his analysis by proclaiming that redistricting should only be allowed once every 10 years: "Well, first, let me just say Congress needs to pass a law to ban mid-decade redistricting once and for all. This is terrible for the country, whether Republicans are gerrymandering or the Democrats." After arguing that Republicans may not win some of the newly drawn districts they are aiming for, he lamented the changing districts in the "Deep South." When Hardaway had his turn to speak, he went straight for the Jim Crow stuff: "I think this is obviously some shameful Jim Crow era stuff that is un-American." Toward the end of the segment, after Reshef played a clip of a South Carolina Republican legislator speaking out against eliminating Congressman Jim Clyburn's seat in his state, she posed: "Michael, when you listen to a Republican leader give that kind of a speech, pushback, it seems, on the President's agenda, does that give you any hope that not all of these Republican-led states will cave to the pressure from the President on redistricting?" Hardaway soon declared that he has some "bipartisan agreement" with his fellow guest. Even though it is very common for liberal Republicans who appear on MS NOW to agree with Democrats, Reshef concluded by gushing: "And don't we love a rare glimmer of bipartisan agreement, former Congressman Charlie Dent and Michael Hardaway, thank you both for bringing that to us." It is noteworthy that the liberal media frequently push for Democrats to be handed a minimum number of seats in red states, even if it takes gerrymandering to do it, but all nine of the congressional districts in Massachusetts lean toward Democrats and have done so for decades. The last two Republicans were defeated in 1996 when the state had a total of 10 districts. Connecticut, which has five Democrat-leaning districts, has not been represented by any Republicans since 2009. Transcript follows: MS NOW's Ana Cabrera Reports May 13, 2026 11:28 a.m. Eastern ERIELLE RESHEF: We are following big developments in the redistricting  fight that could help decide control of the House in November. After a marathon debate into the wee hours of the night this morning -- I should say the night and this morning -- a Louisiana state senate committee voted to advance a new congressional map that could net Republicans another seat in the House. The move comes after a Supreme Court decision earlier this month that struck down Louisiana's previous map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Let's bring in MS NOW reporter Will McDuffie, live from Baton Rouge; former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent; and former communications director and spokesman for minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and publisher of Hardaway Wire, Michael Hardaway. Will, you attended a public hearing there in Louisiana before the vote was held early this morning. What did you hear from voters? WILL McDUFFIE: Well, Erielle, the reason it went so late into the night and the wee hours of the morning is because so many people came out to testify in front of that committee in opposition to their efforts to redraw congressional lines after that Supreme Court decision. Now, it obviously wasn't enough to prevent that key senate committee from voting to push through a new map that, like you said, would likely eliminate one of the two Democratic held congressional districts here in Louisiana and possibly help Republicans potentially retake the House, or at least get close to it. Let's take a listen to some of that passionate testimony from folks last night. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: This issue clearly affects black people more than anyone else, but I want everyone to understand that no one is safe when the end goal is a white Christian nationalist nation. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The MAGA party is the last breath of the confederacy, and I'll be happy to see millennials and gen Z buried up. There will be no more of your party. The midterms are going to come, y'all going to get wiped out, Trump going to get dragged out of the White House, and I'm going to love every second of it, because y'all love every second of the suffering that he causes everybody in this country. McDUFFIE: Now, Erielle, there was another map on the table that would have eliminated both Democratic held and majority black districts here. This senate committee did not take that map up -- they did advance the one that would remove one of those districts. But no consolation to the folks who were here testifying last night. RESHEF: So, Will, now, this map heads to the full state senate for approval on Thursday. What should we expect there? McDUFFIE: Well, we should expect them to essentially rubber stamp this map. I don't see any way in which they wouldn't pass this through. Republicans hold a large majority in both chambers here in Baton Rouge. I expect probably some protests here as well over the coming days as they make that decision. Erielle. RESHEF: Will McDuffie, thank you so much for being there in Baton Rouge. And, Congressman, what do you make of this move by Republicans? EX-CONGRESSMAN CHARLIE DENT (R-PA): Well, first, let me just say Congress needs to pass a law to ban mid-decade redistricting once and for all. This is terrible for the country, whether Republicans are gerrymandering or the Democrats. But I should also point out, I don't like what Louisiana is doing, but a lot of people -- analysts are making assumptions, unrealistic assumptions about these seats. Take Texas, for example. People are saying Republicans are going to pick up five seats there. Yeah, they drew a map for five seats. They'll be lucky to win three of them. But everybody's already counted five seats for the Republicans. Bad assumption. Florida is about to redistrict, too. They say they're going to pick up four seats again. Bad assumption. I don't think that's going to happen. The people in South Carolina, Republican members of the state senate, understand this. If they were to collapse or get rid of Jim Clyburn's district, there's no guarantee that they would win the seat because they're going to have to dilute Republican seats, and they may make some of those other seats more competitive. The Democrats could win. I agree this is bad for African American representation in the Deep South. But let's be clear about what's happening here that Republicans are not going to pick up the number of seats that many pundits are predicting right now. RESHEF: So the congressman alluding to the fact that this may be overly optimistic on the part of Republicans. But, Michael, this is another tough blow for Democrats hoping to regain control of the House in November. What's your reaction to what's going on in Louisiana? MICHAEL HARDAWAY, HARDAWAY WIRE: Look, I think this is obviously some shameful Jim Crow era stuff that is un-American. I'll also say there's an irony here. What's interesting is that Republicans in the legislature in Louisiana have made this decision. It's also the case that Louisiana relies the most of any state in America on federal government assistance. And so one third of its budget comes from Medicaid. Republicans voted last year in a tax bill to gut Medicaid. And so what's interesting about all of this is that Louisiana may lose upwards of a third of its budget directly because of Republicans, who they just voted to give these additional seats to. And so I think for the Congressional Black Caucus and for black voters and for Americans, this is problematic if we're saying that the will of the people doesn't matter. And we're saying that we shouldn't have representation that is proper. I think that is an American. I think that we all should be concerned, no matter what party or background we come from. (...) RESHEF: Michael, when you listen to a Republican leader give that kind of a speech, pushback, it seems, on the President's agenda, does that give you any hope that not all of these Republican-led states will cave to the pressure from the President on redistricting? HARDAWAY: It does. I mean, I think that many Republicans used to be that way. The John McCain's of the world had this idea that, yes, we disagree on certain things as it relates to policy, but everyone should have the ability to vote, everyone should be equal. And so I think that does give me optimism. I'd also say that the congressman and I have a moment of bipartisan agreement because we should ban this sort of mid level redistricting. And Democrats have introduced a bill both in the House and the Senate to do that. And so this should only happen once every 10 years after the census. And so I think that is something that perhaps in a bipartisan way, people can come together, hopefully in Washington and come to that agreement. RESHEF: And don't we love a rare glimmer of bipartisan agreement, former Congressman Charlie Dent and Michael Hardaway, thank you both for bringing that to us. We appreciate it. May 16th, 2026 7:07 PM Brad Wilmouth 295167 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2026/05/16/npr-huffs-voters-feel-system-rigged-against-them-when-dems-are The U.S. Constitution (the First Amendment especially) is treated as a sacred document by the elitist media -- until it gets in the way of black Democrat politicians getting a leg up on winning seats in Congress. A story posted to NPR Thursday by Ashley Lopez and Miles Parks, on the Supreme Court outlawing Louisiana’s race-based redistricting, “Thrown-out ballots and map confusion: Voters are losing the redistricting battle,” argued that upholding constitutional requirements risked making voters lose their faith in voting. After more than two decades working in elections, including four years as Virginia's top voting official, it takes a lot to surprise Chris Piper. But the frenzied redistricting battle of the past few months — including a congressional map in his home state thrown out by a court after people voted to approve it, and certain elections postponed in Louisiana and Alabama after mail ballots already went out — has done it. .... "The biggest impact on voters is confusion," Piper said. "'Where do I go vote? Who is even my elected representative? Or, which district am I even in?'... There's the potential for them to not know who they're voting for." Much of the focus of the ongoing redistricting war has been on which political party will come out on top in the race to control Congress. But it's voters who will pay a cost, say voting experts and voting rights advocates, in the form of discarded votes, diminished voting power and a democratic process that is increasingly complicated to navigate. NPR, like other liberal media outlets, often describe their own side's arguments in non-ideological terms -- people upset over the Republicans are "voting experts and voting rights advocates." NPR pitied some early voters. The Supreme Court decision struck down a Louisiana congressional map, and the state's Republican governor, Jeff Landry, postponed voting for U.S. House primaries so state lawmakers could enact new district lines. "Allowing elections to proceed under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters, Landry said in a statement. His announcement came days before in-person early voting was set to begin — and well after absentee ballots were mailed to voters. Tens of thousands of absentee ballots had already been cast.... NPR ignored that Virginia had a similar dilemma with early voting, which was partly why the state's Supreme Court struck down the state's Democratic-backed redistricting scheme narrowly approved by voters. "This is sort of entering this cautionary danger zone for us as I look at everything that's happened in the last two weeks," Sarah Whittington, advocacy director at the ACLU of Louisiana, told NPR.... Whittington said rules changing at the last minute, for explicitly political reasons, drives home a sense that many people already feel: that the system is rigged against them. Again NPR ignored that over a million early voters in Virginia were denied being able to weigh in on the redistricting issue when casting their votes in the 2025 House of Delegates elections. Chris Melody Fields Figueredo — the executive director of Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which helps progressive groups pass policy changes — criticized the Virginia court for overturning the will of the people. The ballot measure drew 51.7 percent of the vote after the Democrats spent more than $70 million pushing it out on TV. On Thursday’s All Things Considered, reporter Sam Gringlas conjured up visions of Jim Crow II over moves by Louisiana Republicans to eliminate one of the state’s two majority-black districts in response to the Supreme Court declaring them unconstitutional, using talking heads to make his point. SAM GRINGLAS: For 91-year-old James Verrett, the ruling was a gut punch. He protested for voting rights after returning from military service abroad as a paratrooper, only to find Louisiana still treated him second class. JAMES VERRETT: I've been beaten with billy sticks, dogs and tear gas. But now, the Supreme Court and the state courts are making it back up to where it was. Rep. Cleo Fields, back in Congress, provided a blast from the past in more ways than one. GRINGLAS: ....Louisiana is one of several Southern states now slashing districts no longer protected by the VRA. From his Baton Rouge office, with a view of the state Capitol, Fields sees echoes of the late 19th century, when the Jim Crow era reversed gains in Black representation. May 16th, 2026 5:45 PM Clay Waters 295166 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/16/nbc-suggests-israels-role-iran-war-make-it-russia The three-letter networks' weekend of bad foreign policy hot takes continued on Saturday’s edition of Today as NBC chief international correspondent Keir Simmons hyped attempts to get Israel banned from the annual Eurovision singing competition for, among other things, its battle with Hezbollah that came about from allying with the U.S. in the Iran War on the grounds this allegedly makes Israel analogous to Russia. Simmons declared that, “Each May millions tune in, cheer for their favorite singing act and complain about the voting. But this year it's not just divided, it's deeply divisive. During Tuesday's semifinal—”   Ahead of the Eurovision finals, NBC's Keir Simmons hypes people trying to get Israel banned amid the nonsensical claim it is like Russia for, among other things joining the U.S. in fighting Iran, which Hezbollah decided to get involved in, "In the years since the October 7th… pic.twitter.com/rnvA1pufNv — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 16, 2026   After a clip of portions of the crowd chanting, “Stop the genoicide!” Simmons rolled on, “Israel's act faced protesters attempting to disrupt the performance.” He then showed Israeli competitor Noam Bettan taking it all in good stride, “I heard, first of all in the beginning, a lot of booing, and it's fine. It's part of the thing, and a few seconds passed, and I got a huge wave of unforgettable love and support.” As for Simmons, he did not explicitly blame Israel fighting alongside the U.S. for the cancelation demands, but he implied it when he omitted key information about Lebanon, “In the years since the October 7th Hamas attacks, Israel's war in Gaza, its treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and the current conflict in Lebanon has prompted five countries to boycott the competition.” “The current conflict in Lebanon” was started by Hezbollah. Lebanon was not part of the original joint U.S.-Israeli agenda, just like it wasn’t on Israel’s agenda after October 7 until Hezbollah decided to insert itself into the war. Nevertheless, Simmons moved on to suggesting all of that could put Israel in the same situation as Russia, “Slovenia, Ireland, and Spain will not even broadcast tonight's event. Once known for its escapism, Eurovision has long been a flashpoint. Russia was banned after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and rumors have flown in previous years that the Israeli government influences the results, promoting a mass voting campaign. NBC News asked the Israeli government about those claims. We have not heard back. Tonight's final may see more protests.” Simmons then played a clip of Denise Finke, who was described by NBC’s chyron as a “Vienna protest participant,” being more explicit with the Russia analogy, “I do not like the double standard that Israel is being held to. We are all kind of on the same opinion against Russia, and I think international law should be applied in the same way.” Equivocating, Simmons declared, “Events here in the Middle East impacting politics across Europe and even an event once designed to unite.” Finke appears to believe that a violation of international law is just anything she doesn’t like. Russia was banned from Eurovision because it launched an unprovoked war of aggression. Finke wants Israel banned because it fought back against the one waged against it. In other Saturday Today news, Joe Fryer did a brief recap of the week’s biggest stories, which included Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen grilling FBI Director Kash Patel about allegations of excessive drinking. Patel countered by claiming that Van Hollen was the one who was drinking margaritas with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Both men have denied the claims the other made, but Fryer only highlighted Van Hollen’s.   NBC's Saturday 'Today' recounts Patel v. Van Hollen, but note how NBC wants to channel all of Van Hollen's denials of alcohol consumption -- but NOT Patel's denials. And sticking up for Kilmar. pic.twitter.com/kLxiy2sGSw — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 16, 2026   Here is a transcript for the May 16 show: NBC Today 5/16/2026 7:13 AM ET KEIR SIMMONS: Each May millions tune in, cheer for their favorite singing act and complain about the voting. But this year it's not just divided, it's deeply divisive. During Tuesday's semifinal— CROWD: Stop the genocide! SIMMONS: —Israel's act faced protesters attempting to disrupt the performance. NOAM BETTAN: I heard, first of all in the beginning, a lot of booing, and it's fine. It's part of the thing, and a few seconds passed, and I got a huge wave of unforgettable love and support. SIMMONS: In the years since the October 7th Hamas attacks, Israel's war in Gaza, its treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and the current conflict in Lebanon has prompted five countries to boycott the competition. Slovenia, Ireland, and Spain will not even broadcast tonight's event. Once known for its escapism, Eurovision has long been a flashpoint. Russia was banned after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and rumors have flown in previous years that the Israeli government influences the results, promoting a mass voting campaign. NBC News asked the Israeli government about those claims. We have not heard back. Tonight's final may see more protests. DENISE FINKE: I do not like the double standard that Israel is being held to. We are all kind of on the same opinion against Russia, and I think international law should be applied in the same way. SIMMONS: Events here in the Middle East impacting politics across Europe and even an event once designed to unite. May 16th, 2026 2:19 PM Alex Christy 295184 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jeffrey-lord/2026/05/16/trumps-summit-xi-recalls-nixons-role-us-china-relations Watching President Trump's visit to China, with all its policy implications, is a fascinating lesson in global geopolitics. But curiously the media seems to be silent on just how America got to its current relationship with China in the first place. For those around in the day, there is still a strong memory of the lack of any American relationship with China when President Richard Nixon took office in January of 1969. America was then deep in the midst of the Cold War -- a war with all things Communist that had begun almost the moment World War II had ended. As time moved on Communist control of Eastern Europe was center stage. Eventually this included a decidedly hot war in Korea, followed by another in Vietnam. And it is almost an understatement that American policy makers of the day saw any relationship with Communist China—which had been openly assisting the North Koreans with their war against the Western ally of South Korea— as pretty close to treachery.  All of which contributed to a stunned world's reaction when, on the night of July 15, 1971, Nixon — he who had made his reputation as a decidedly hardline anti-Communist — appeared on the nation's television screens to announce, seemingly out of the blue, that he had directed his National Security Advisor, Dr. Henry Kissinger, to secretly visit Beijing and begin peace talks with Communist China and its decidedly infamous leader, Chairman Mao Zedong. And also reveal that Nixon himself would be traveling to China in person. Thus it was that for almost a week in February of 1972 Nixon, accompanied by First Lady Pat Nixon and a small entourage, visited China. They met the legendary Chairman Mao, who was already starting down the road to ill health. But ill health or not, Mao insisted on greeting Nixon, joking that  "I believe our old friend Chiang Kai-shek would not approve of this." Chiang, of course, was Mao's rival for the leadership of China, a decided fighter against Communism and for freedom who had been forced to abandon the mainland in favor of veritable isolation on the island of Taiwan. Mao also amused Nixon by joshing that "I voted for you during your last election."  Mao added, "I like rightists... I am comparatively happy when these people on the right come into power." Nixon loved it. To say the least, Nixon made the most of his visit. Specifically including a visit to the legendary "Great Wall of China." At the conclusion the two leaders issued the "Shanghai Communique" that had the two countries pledging that they would work together to normalize relations.  Nixon made a point while there of saying this:  This was the week that changed the world, as what we have said in that Communique is not nearly as important as what we will do in the years ahead to build a bridge across 16,000 miles and 22 years of hostilities which have divided us in the past. And what we have said today is that we shall build that bridge. Note well the line from Nixon that  said what was important was "what we will do in the years ahead to build a bridge across 16,000 miles and 22 years of hostilities which have divided us in the past. And what we have said today is that we shall build that bridge." Indeed, Nixon did just that. And notably, when the 1972 election rolled around, the American people signaled their approval, as Nixon won in a 49-state landslide. Which makes it particularly relevant and important that over the last few days, some 54 years later, a literal builder of great buildings, now President Donald Trump has arrived in Beijing to continue on with the bridge-building Nixon had vowed to begin on his opening-the-door trip to China all those many years ago. Not for nothing are observers calling this Trump trip, in the words of The Hill's Niall Stanage, the "most important foreign trip of President Trump's second term to date." Indeed that is so. All of which serves as a reminder of a truism in the world of American presidents. Once elected to a second term, with the reality of a limited number of days facing a term-limited President, Presidents not unusually are determined to make their legacy in history at moments exactly like Trump is now shaping his legacy in history. In this case by reaching out to the massive Asian country with billions of people and doing his best to treat it as a friend if not an ally. Will President Trump's China statecraft work? Decades from now will China and the United States be allies? Friends? Rivals? We shall see.  But one thing is certain. What Americans are seeing President Trump lead in China, whether the media wants to admit it or not, is the direct result of the work decades ago of President Richard Nixon. Nixon was the original architect of modern U.S.-China relations. And President Trump, he the guy who made a considerable success by building on the works of earlier New Yorkers with gleaming new skyscrapers, has continued Nixon's work.  May 16th, 2026 1:30 PM Jeffrey Lord 295176 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/16/abc-cbs-blame-america-not-communism-plunging-cuba-darkness ABC’s recent history of blaming the United States, and especially the Trump administration, and not communism for Cuba’s ongoing economic disaster continued on Saturday’s Good Morning America as reporter Alex Presha and guest co-host Rachel Scott blamed American sanctions instead. Unfortunately, this time, they were also joined by CBS Saturday Morning and White House reporter Olivia Rinaldi, who claimed the U.S. was “plunging the country into darkness.” During his report on recent developments between the U.S. and Cuba, Presha declared, “[CIA Director John] Ratcliffe’s visit is happening in the midst of an economic crisis. The U.S. oil blockade and sanctions have caused a crippling energy shortage. Extensive blackouts across the country, sparking protests. Cubans banging pots and shouting, ‘Turn on the lights!’ The frustrations growing over the country's energy grid, now on the verge of collapse.”   ABC is, once again, blaming the United States and not communism for Cuba's problems. Reporter Alex Presha declared "The U.S. oil blockade and sanctions have caused a crippling energy shortage" while Rachel Scott later added "Yeah, those U.S. sanctions crippling that economy."… pic.twitter.com/jmMGKeayM7 — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 16, 2026   Presha continued, “Many Cubans are without power up to 22 hours a day, getting by in the dark with car headlights and flashlights. This week, Cuba’s energy minister declaring the country has no fuel and no diesel. President Trump has called Cuba a declining country in need of help. The U.S. State Department has made a public offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid, something Cuban officials are now mulling over. U.S. officials telling ABC News there are disagreements about how that money would be distributed.” Back live, Presha threw in another development, “Now, the U.S. has offered that humanitarian aid multiple times this month. Meanwhile, sources say the U.S. could announce an indictment of former Cuban president Raul Castro as soon as next week, Rachel.” As Presha left, Scott turned to fellow co-host Whit Johnson, “We just saw there in that piece, you were just in Cuba last week speaking to the foreign minister. I mean, what were your takeaways from being on the ground there? Johnson repeated Presha’s reporting of economic calamity before recalling, “He insisted that internal affairs are off the table in these discussions with the U.S. He said that there's no progress in those discussions, but it seems like the administration is determined to force change whether the Cuban government likes it or not.” Scott then echoed Presha, “Yeah, those U.S. sanctions crippling that economy,” while Johnson also chimed in with “yeah.” Meanwhile, Rinaldi at least mentioned why the DOJ is looking at indicting Raul Castro, “CIA Director John Ratcliffe's trip to Cuba came as sources tell CBS News the Trump administration is taking steps to indict Raul Castro, the 94- year-old former president of Cuba and brother of Fidel Castro, in connection with the downing of humanitarian aid planes 30 years ago.”   CBS reporter Olivia Rinaldi did something similar, "Cuba is in the midst of an energy crisis, fueled by the U.S. Blockade there, plunging the country in to darkness." pic.twitter.com/ETqDpxEo4H — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 16, 2026   However, she also avoided any mention of communism, “Cuba is in the midst of an energy crisis, fueled by the U.S. blockade there, plunging the country into darkness.” The truth is Cuba’s energy crisis predates Trump’s decision to seize Cuba-bound Venezuelan oil because communism fails as surely as the sun rises in the east. Here are transcripts for the May 16 shows: ABC Good Morning America 5/16/2026 8:15 AM ET ALEX PRESHA: Ratcliffe’s visit is happening in the midst of an economic crisis. The U.S. oil blockade and sanctions have caused a crippling energy shortage. Extensive blackouts across the country, sparking protests. Cubans banging pots and shouting, “Turn on the lights!” The frustrations growing over the country's energy grid, now on the verge of collapse. Many Cubans are without power up to 22 hours a day, getting by in the dark with car headlights and flashlights. This week, Cuba’s energy minister declaring the country has no fuel and no diesel. President Trump has called Cuba a declining country in need of help. The U.S. State Department has made a public offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid, something Cuban officials are now mulling over. U.S. officials telling ABC News there are disagreements about how that money would be distributed. Now, the U.S. has offered that humanitarian aid multiple times this month. Meanwhile, sources say the U.S. could announce an indictment of former Cuban president Raul Castro as soon as next week, Rachel. RACHEL SCOTT: Yeah, it could come. Alright, Alex, thank you. And Whit, we just saw there in that piece, you were just in Cuba last week speaking to the foreign minister. I mean, what were your takeaways from being on the ground there? WHIT JOHNSON: I mean, the big takeaway for me is the looming question: how much longer can this really last? I mean, when I was there last week, it was desperation. I mean, people we saw people actually sifting through the trash to try to find food. Twenty hour rolling blackouts. The gas stations were all closed. People were getting their gas on the black market. And now it's even worse a week later, and we're starting to see people pour out into the streets. They are demanding a change of some kind. When I spoke with the foreign minister, he insisted that internal affairs are off the table in these discussions with the U.S. He said that there's no progress in those discussions, but it seems like the administration is determined to force change. SCOTT: Yeah. JOHNSON: Whether the Cuban government likes it or not. SCOTT: Yeah, those U.S. sanctions crippling that economy. JOHNSON: Yeah. SCOTT: Okay, Whit, we appreciate your reporting on that. Great interview. *** CBS Saturday Morning 5/16/2026 8:14 AM ET OLIVIA RINALDI: There was a different island, this one 90 miles off the coast of Florida that U.S. officials visited this week. CIA Director John Ratcliffe's trip to Cuba came as sources tell CBS News the Trump administration is taking steps to indict Raul Castro, the 94- year-old former president of Cuba and brother of Fidel Castro, in connection with the downing of humanitarian aid planes 30 years ago. Cuba is in the midst of an energy crisis, fueled by the U.S. blockade there, plunging the country into darkness. May 16th, 2026 12:07 PM Alex Christy 295182 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/16/jonathan-capehart-hypes-xis-high-class-shade-trump-during-summit MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart joined PBS News Hour on Friday to recap President Trump’s recent trip to China and hype the idea that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping threw some “high-class shade” at Trump when he invoked the idea of the Thucydides Trap. Capehart was responding to The Altantic staff writer David Brooks suggesting the summit was relatively successful because there was no drama to come out of it when he declared, “I was asked earlier, you know, did the summit do more harm than good or no harm at all or less harm? And it didn't do more harm, but it didn't do any good.” He then moved on to hinting that Xi embarrassed Trump intellectually, but Capehart only ended up embarrassing himself, “I mean, I take all of your points, David. But, to me, as an American watching the American president go to Beijing, and then hearing the way the president has been talking about it, particularly this notion—I cannot pronounce the name of the Greek philosopher that the Chinese president mentioned, the what—”   Jonathan Capehart tells PBS that Xi Jinping mentioning the idea of Thucydides Trap to Trump was "that was some high-class shade of the Chinese president to—of the American president standing right there." Capehart also bumbled his own dunk by referring to Thucyidides as a… pic.twitter.com/okWyISbINQ — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 16, 2026   After Brooks and host Amna Nawaz then clarified Xi was talking about Thucydides and former Clinton Assistant Defense Secretary Graham Allison’s Thucydides Trap thesis, Capehart added, “Thucydides, yes. You know, that was a little—that was some high-class shade of the Chinese president to—of the American president standing right there.” First of all, Thucydides was a general and a historian, not a philosopher. Second of all, while Capehart promotes Xi's "shade," Allison’s thesis has two major problems. For one, Thucydides argued the Peloponnesian War came about because Sparta feared the rise of Athenian power. Allison uses this to analogize the U.S. as Sparta and China as Athens, but today, any Sino-American war will almost certainly come about because of China’s territorial aggression. Second, Allison’s thesis assumes that Chinese power is on an irreversibly upward trajectory, which is why Xi likes it so much. Capehart touched on this when he continued, “To your point about Xi Jinping feeling that China is ascendant, especially with an American president who has looked at the world in spheres.” There is a compelling case to be made that the reason why China is such a threat is not because it is an ever-increasing power, but because of its aging demographic nightmare; its power either already has or soon will have reached its apex, which will eventually put Beijing in a “now or never” dilemma. Moving on from Allison’s flawed thesis, Capehart rewrote more recent history, “Trump wants the Western Hemisphere. He seems to be perfectly fine with China exerting its influence in the Pacific, which is why, to my mind, his waffling on Taiwan is very troubling. I mean, I'm old enough to remember when there were some sacrosanct beliefs of the American president… that the United States would stand by Taiwan, rhetorically so far, never had to do it militarily. But it doesn't seem like that is the case. If the American president isn't willing to say, ‘Yeah, you know that—the $49 billion worth of arms, yes, we're down with that. We're still going to go for that.’” If Capehart wants to argue that the bipartisan decades-long policy of strategic ambiguity has outlived its usefulness, he is, of course, free to do so, but he can’t claim Trump’s adherence to it is something new. Also, Capehart’s $49 billion figure actually refers to the total of U.S. military sales to Taiwan since 2010. Trump 2.0 already signed off on $11 billion for Taiwan last year. The current controversy is over another $14 billion that Congress approved in January. Nawaz reined things in a little bit when she wrapped up the China portion of the segment, “I should say, despite what the president said, Senator Marco—or Secretary Marco Rubio said that the U.S. policy has not changed. So we will have to see how this all plays out in real terms.” Here is a transcript for the May 15 show: PBS News Hour 5/15/2026 7:37 PM ET AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, how do you look at it? JONATHAN CAPEHART: I was asked earlier, you know, did the summit do more harm than good or no harm at all or less harm? And it didn't do more harm, but it didn't do any good. I mean, I take all of your points, David. But, to me, as an American watching the American president go to Beijing, and then hearing the way the president has been talking about it, particularly this notion—I cannot pronounce the name of the Greek philosopher that the Chinese president mentioned, the what— DAVID BROOKS Thucydides Trap. NAWAZ: Thucydides. CAPEHART: Thucydides, yes. You know, that was a little—that was some high-class shade of the Chinese president to—of the American president standing right there, to your point about Xi Jinping feeling that China is ascendant, especially with an American president who has looked at the world in spheres. Trump wants the Western Hemisphere. He seems to be perfectly fine with China exerting its influence in the Pacific, which is why, to my mind, his waffling on Taiwan is very troubling. I mean, I'm old enough to remember when there were some sacrosanct beliefs of the American president. We were there for Europe's defense and a strong proponent of NATO. That is now not so certain, and also that the United States would stand by Taiwan, rhetorically so far, never had to do it militarily. But it doesn't seem like that is the case. If the American president isn't willing to say, “Yeah, you know that—the $49 billion worth of arms, yes, we're down with that. We're still going to go for that.” And he did not do that. If I were the Taiwanese leader, I would be very worried. NAWAZ: I should say, despite what the president said, Senator Marco—or Secretary Marco Rubio said that the U.S. policy has not changed. So we will have to see how this all plays out in real terms. May 16th, 2026 9:52 AM Alex Christy 295181 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/16/racial-backlash-erupts-nbc-worries-about-hate-crimes-after-chinese NBCNews.com somehow found it necessary to "augment" the recent news of Arcadia (Calif.) Mayor Eileen Wang pleading guilty to being a spy for communist China with the notion that this will spur a violent racist reaction against Asian Americans. The headline:  Racial backlash erupts online after California mayor admits to being an agent for China Alicia Lozano and Doha Madani began: "The resignation of a Southern California mayor who pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent for China has sparked backlash and reignited fears of anti-Asian discrimination." Conservative accounts on X recalled a Norm McDonald joke from 2016: "What terrifies me is if ISIS were to detonate a nuclear device and kill 50 million Americans. Imagine the backlash against peaceful Muslims?" The resignation of a Southern California mayor who pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent for China has sparked backlash and reignited fears of anti-Asian discrimination. https://t.co/Vp2B5bDRGD — NBC News (@NBCNews) May 15, 2026   NBC's story laid out the argument:  But racist comments began to appear on social media feeds soon after FBI Director Kash Patel announced on X the case against Wang. Many replies to Patel’s post announcing the charges suggested investigating other prominent Asian American women political figures. Others suggested violent punishment for her. Advocates said they are concerned that this rhetoric is part of a long history of fear and discrimination that has proliferated for generations in regard to Asian communities, especially Chinese immigrants. Experts who spoke to NBC News said Asian people in the U.S. are often treated as perpetual outsiders, which can motivate violence in some cases. The "advocates" highlighted the thought that maybe Chinese spies shouldn't be prosecuted? Wokeness abounds: Rhetoric that can lead to violence The comments made about Wang are part of this larger narrative, said Russell Mark Jeung, professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University. In early 2020, the revelation that Covid may have initially surfaced in China caused a wave of anti-Asian violence in the U.S. and around the world. It was not the first time suspicion of Asian people generated a violent backlash. Beginning with the so-called yellow peril stereotype popularized in the 19th century, which depicted Asians as an existential and cultural threat to the West, Chinese immigrants have long endured accusations of espionage, disloyalty and malice, Jeung said.... “It goes beyond the allegations against this one individual and, instead, paints an entire community broadly as suspicious, disloyal foreigners,” said Dahni K. Tsuboi, CEO of advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California. “That kind of collective blame is dangerous, not just for the Asian American community, but for all of us, all Americans.” The NBC reporters noted that Mayor Wang was honored by Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) in 2024 for her leadership and “tireless efforts to improve the lives of Arcadia residents.” Oopsy. But Chu was also hitting the Yellow Peril notes:  Chu also pushed back against anti-Asian sentiment that quickly began to circulate online and in some media outlets. “The Asian American community has already weathered stigma, prejudice, and violence, fueled by rhetoric from President Trump and his administration,” the statement read in part. “We saw this in the violent anti-Asian hate crimes during COVID-19, and the unfair targeting of scholars of Chinese descent in Trump’s ‘China Initiative’ program — both of which I have fought against in Congress.” May 16th, 2026 6:30 AM Tim Graham 295179 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/business/joseph-vazquez/2026/05/16/alex-soros-boasts-30m-fight-antisemitism-after-empire-gave Alex Soros pledging a fortune to fight antisemites is about as believable as an arsonist dressing up as a firefighter. The newly-minted chairman of the Open Society Foundations released a sanctimonious statement on X May 13, pontificating that “My father [George Soros] has been the target of antisemitism his whole life. It has only strengthened our resolve to stand against all forms of hate.” He continued, giving himself the proverbial pat on the back: “Proud that @OpenSociety is making a $30 million investment to build trust and solidarity across communities and keep people of all faiths safe.” Did he expect the internet to forget that it was his own organization that heavily financed a cornucopia of radical pro-Hamas groups that celebrated the slaughter of Jews in Israel during the October 7 genocide? One analysis by the New York Post put the Soros grant total of pro-Hamas group funding at $15 million between 2016 and 2023 alone.  Is legitimacy even a litmus test anymore for “philanthropy?” MRC Business was the first to point out this trend of Soros funneling huge wads of cash into groups celebrating the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust just three days after October 7. Then-MRC President Brent Bozell and MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider penned an organizational letter to OSF calling George, his son Alex, and leadership to ask for their grantees’ antisemitic screeching. MRC Business also exposed a horrific 2007 pro-Hamas op-ed written by George Soros himself calling on America and Israel to “open the door to Hamas.”   My father has been the target of antisemitism his whole life. It has only strengthened our resolve to stand against all forms of hate. Proud that @OpenSociety is making a $30 million investment to build trust and solidarity across communities and keep people of all faiths safe. pic.twitter.com/NFoYHmkUrR — Alex Soros (@AlexanderSoros) May 13, 2026 So are we supposed to take Alex seriously now when he preached in an attached video how “discrimination and hate are not abstract concepts to me or my family. They’re deeply personal, and have been persistent throughout our lives.” Meanwhile, as Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz concluded in May 2023, just months before the October 7 genocide, “[N]o single person has done more to damage Israel’s standing in the world, especially among so-called progressives, than George Soros.”  It didn’t take long for Alex’s X post to get ratioed into the stratosphere, with over 4,200 comments and just over 1,100 likes as of May 15. CUNY Professor of Law Jeffrey Lax excoriated the Soros regime in a rebuke to Alex’s grandstanding: Your father, a HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR for goodness sake, is one of the greatest antisemites and most evil people the world has ever seen. It is beyond shameful that you are carrying on the immense harm he has done to the world. – A fellow descendant of 4 Holocaust survivors. Get off the internet, Alex. America isn’t buying your snake oil window-dressing act any longer. May 16th, 2026 5:50 AM Joseph Vazquez 295173 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2026/05/15/jake-tapper-pushes-crackpot-conspiracy-theory-trump-got Alleged comedian Stephen Colbert once infamously claimed President Trump was Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s “cock holster.” CNN host Jake Tapper was acting in such a manner for Colbert during the Thursday edition of his show, The Lead. According to Tapper, who once claimed there was “no reason to doubt” information that came from Hamas, Trump used inferences and angry posts to get Colbert and his show canceled by CBS. While comparing Trump to a king who wanted his those who annoyed him assassinated, Tapper omitted just how much money Colbert was losing annually. Tapper launched into one of his verbal editorials trying to suggest that Trump had orchestrated CBS’s firing of Colbert through social media posts and wishful thinking that the executives would get his message. His evidence? The testimony from a convicted liar and a disgruntled former employee who later allegedly posted in Instagram that Trump should be killed, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen and disgraced former FBI Director James Comey (Click “expand”): TAPPER: In our pop culture lead. Years ago, when longtime Trump fixer, Michael Cohen, was testifying before Congress, he was asked about the ways that Donald Trump, now President Trump, makes his desires known. It is seldom with direct instructions, Cohen said. It's more with suggestions, obvious hints. (…) COHEN: He doesn't give you questions, he doesn't give you orders. He speaks in a code. And I understand the code because I've been around him for a decade. (…) SEN. JAMES RISCH (R-ID): This is the President speaking. “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Now, those are his exact words. Is that correct? JAMES COMEY: Correct. [Transition] RISCH: He did not order you to let it go. COMEY: Again, those words are not in order. [Transition] It rings in my ear as kind of, ‘will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?’ Tapper latched onto Comey’s quote, “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” Of course, it was to compare Colbert’s cancelation to a political assassination. “Comey referring there to the folklore about King Henry II. In the 12th century, King Henry voiced frustration with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, who had excommunicated bishops who defied church law,” Tapper explained. “And shortly thereafter, assassins came and killed the archbishop.” Now, the longwinded Tapper did admit there was “no evidence that [Trump] demanded that Colbert be fired or his show canceled,” but he doubled down on the conspiracy theory with his admittedly flimsy historical analogy. “Nor, as King Henry demonstrates, does there need to be direct order,” he chided.   'That meddlesome comedian has been rid. Who's next? And how long will corporate America's chieftains sully their reputations to please one leader?' @jaketapper reports on the timeline of Stephen Colbert's last show and President Trump's criticism of the host. pic.twitter.com/8A8nJdsKD5 — The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) May 14, 2026   Tapper might as well have been standing in front of a corkboard bulletin board while unwinding red twine as he went down of his timeline of events he suggested pointed to Trump getting Colbert fired and others suspended, some of the events being months apart (Click “expand”): TAPPER: But I also want you to consider this calendar. July 1st, 2025, it is announced that Paramount agreed to pay Donald Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit against CBS alleging unfair editing by CBS of a Kamala Harris interview on 60 Minutes. It's a lawsuit that few, if any respected legal experts thought had any merit. That's July 1st. July 14th, Colbert says this. [Cuts to video] COLBERT: Now, I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It's big fat bribe. [Cuts back to live] TAPPER: July 17th, three days later, CBS announces that Colbert was canceled. One week after that, July 24th, the Federal Communications Commission approves the $8 billion Paramount-Skydance merger. Now, we should note in the midst of all that, on July 18th, Trump posted, "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next." The Kimmel kerfuffle happened two months after that. “Now, you can make of the timing what you will, but it is inescapable that the decision by CBS Paramount to cancel Colbert pleased Trump,” Tapper argued. “And the folks who owned CBS Paramount at the time got what they wanted, and they were handsomely compensated for it.” But Tapper never provided any evidence that CBS Paramount got what they wanted because Trump was pleased. Then again, facts weren’t really Tapper’s thing. It’s why a report on Tapper’s show was the reason CNN was successfully sued and found liable for malicious defamation last year. With the apparent mindset that political history started with Trump announcing his first run for president, Tapper wondered: “The question, would a Democratic president in the future want to use this precedent? (…) What pressure could be put on Fox when it comes to Fox News Channel?” Jake, do you mean like when President Obama was cracking down on Fox News and James Rosen? Or like when Obama had his IRS crackdown on Tea Party and other conservative organizations? Buried within his ranting Tapper admitted “it is absolutely true that the economics of late night television have been challenging for quite some time due to a variety of factors including more streaming competition, declining advertising dollars, and on and on.” He even noted that, “Conan O'Brien's late night show is no more. Ditto, the CBS comedy show that used to run after Colbert.” But again, he omitted the facts. He ignored how Colbert’s show was hemorrhaging money. According to reports, it cost $100 million to produce the show annually and he was only bringing in $60 million. That’s a $40 million loss. No network would stand for that. If they were actually trying to please Trump, they would have fired him immediately and would not have given him a months-long off-ramp where he could have turned his show’s finances around. Tapper was likely upset that he was losing access to one of the shows he could hawk his books on. Tapper had appeared on Colbert’s show three times in as many years. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: CNN’s The Lead May 14, 2026 5:34:06 p.m. Eastern JAKE TAPPER: In our pop culture lead. Years ago, when longtime Trump fixer, Michael Cohen, was testifying before Congress, he was asked about the ways that Donald Trump, now President Trump, makes his desires known. It is seldom with direct instructions, Cohen said. It's more with suggestions, obvious hints. [Cuts to video] REP. JUSTIN AMASH (R-MI): You’ve suggested that the president sometimes communicates his wishes indirectly. For example, you said, "Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That's not how he operates." Can you explain how he does this? MICHAEL COHEN: He doesn't give you questions, he doesn't give you orders. He speaks in a code. And I understand the code because I've been around him for a decade. [Cuts back to live] TAPPER: So that was 2019. It wasn't an original observation because two years earlier, former FBI Director James Comey had testified about how President Trump had expressed to him the hope that the FBI would drop a probe into his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn. Again, not a direct instruction. [Cuts to video] SEN. JAMES RISCH (R-ID): This is the President speaking. “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Now, those are his exact words. Is that correct? JAMES COMEY: Correct. [Transition] RISCH: He did not order you to let it go. COMEY: Again, those words are not in order. [Transition] It rings in my ear as kind of, ‘will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?’ [Cuts back to live] TAPPER: “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” Comey referring there to the folklore about King Henry II. In the 12th century, King Henry voiced frustration with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, who had excommunicated bishops who defied church law, as depicted in the 1964 film, Beckett. [Cuts to video] ACTOR: Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest? [Cuts back to live] TAPPER: “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” And shortly thereafter, assassins came and killed the archbishop. The phrase has come to represent what happens when leaders want immoral actions carried on their behalf. But they also want plausible deniability. Now, there's no evidence that President Trump, who has long railed against Stephen Colbert and other late night comedians who mock him, no evidence that he demanded that Colbert be fired or his show canceled. The final episode of the Colbert show airs in one week, next Thursday, May 21st. Nor, as King Henry demonstrates, does there need to be direct order. The people who ran Paramount, CBS's mothership at the time that the cancellation was announced last July, Paramount at the time led by Shari Redstone, they were trying to get the Trump administration to approve a merger that would allow Shari Redstone and her team to sell the company to Skydance and they would all make a lot of money. I should note that since then, Skydance has taken over Paramount and the company right now is going through the regulatory process to take over CNN and its parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery. But in any case, it was in the midst of the CBS-Paramount merger last summer when Redstone and her company decided, quite surprisingly, to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. They attributed the decision to economic reasons. They denied that it was political. Now, it is absolutely true that the economics of late night television have been challenging for quite some time due to a variety of factors including more streaming competition, declining advertising dollars, and on and on. Conan O'Brien's late night show is no more. Ditto, the CBS comedy show that used to run after Colbert. But I also want you to consider this calendar. July 1st, 2025, it is announced that Paramount agreed to pay Donald Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit against CBS alleging unfair editing by CBS of a Kamala Harris interview on 60 Minutes. It's a lawsuit that few, if any respected legal experts thought had any merit. That's July 1st. July 14th, Colbert says this. [Cuts to video] STEPHEN COLBERT: Now, I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It's big fat bribe. [Cuts back to live] TAPPER: July 17th, three days later, CBS announces that Colbert was canceled. One week after that, July 24th, the Federal Communications Commission approves the $8 billion Paramount-Skydance merger. Now, we should note in the midst of all that, on July 18th, Trump posted, "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next." The Kimmel kerfuffle happened two months after that. Now, you can make of the timing what you will, but it is inescapable that the decision by CBS Paramount to cancel Colbert pleased Trump. And the folks who owned CBS Paramount at the time got what they wanted, and they were handsomely compensated for it. Now, Trump never posted on Truth Social: ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome comedian?’ But anyone trying to curry favor with Trump surely knew where key pressure points were. He had been attacking Colbert years before the show was canceled, and in subsequent posts, he took credit for it. Like the social media post I'm showing you right now. Now, you don't have to like Stephen Colbert or Jimmy Kimmel or anyone on that graphic to find this concerning. Because standards once eroded seldom return. We see that with the gerrymandering wars playing out. The question, would a Democratic president in the future want to use this precedent? What pressure could be put on Spotify, for instance, when it comes to Joe Rogan? What pressure could be put on Fox when it comes to Fox News Channel? What happens if a Democratic president one day wonders, will no one rid me of this meddlesome podcaster? T.S. Eliot wrote an acclaimed drama about King Henry II and Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury. It's called Murder in the Cathedral. The first professional American production of it in 1936, I think, was at the Manhattan Theater at 53rd and Broadway. That theater is now known as the Ed Sullivan Theater. It's where Stephen Colbert's show takes place until next Thursday. That meddlesome comedian has been rid. So who's next? And how long will corporate America's chieftains sully their reputations to please one man? May 15th, 2026 5:46 PM Nicholas Fondacaro 295174 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/05/15/virginia-governor-spanberger-concedes-shell-use-current Until her effort to gerrymander her state by violating Virginia’s constitution plays out in court, Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger plans to use the current map of districts when early voting begins this year. Spanberger’s voter-passed initiative was set to boost Democrats’ advantage in the U.S. Congress from 6-5 to 10-1, but the Virginia Supreme Court ruled her methods violated the state’s constitution. The governor has now asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up her appeal on an emergency basis – which is unlikely, given that the nation’s high court defers to state supreme courts in matters regarding state constitutions. Local Virginia station WTOP reported Spanberger’s concession, citing its interview with the governor: “Days after Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court as part of their ongoing redistricting battle, Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she’s focused on the fall midterm elections and ensuring voters are motivated to turn out.” …. “Spanberger called the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court ‘important, but when it comes to the execution of elections, no matter the outcome in that case, we will be running our elections beginning next month with early voting on the current maps that we have.’” "We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia," the Virginia Supreme Court explains in its 4-3 ruling striking down the gerrymandering referendum. "This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy." "This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void," the court said in its opinion. The court found that the legislature failed to comply with procedural rules for passing a constitutional amendment, including failing to publish the amendment three months before the election and taking a second vote while early voting was already occurring, rather than waiting for an intervening election. May 15th, 2026 5:00 PM Craig Bannister 295177 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/05/15/nra-governor-abigail-spanberger-isnt-going-ban-americas “Abigail Spanberger isn’t going to ban America’s rifles under our watch,” NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) Executive Director John Commerford promised after the Democrat Virginia governor signed a bill banning so-called “assault” weapons and high capacity magazines. “We’re not going to stand idly by and let this new governor ban America’s rifles in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Commerford said in a statement announcing that NRA-ILA immediately filed two lawsuits, one federal and one state, challenging Spanberger’s assault of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: “Our teams of world-class appellate attorneys are ready to win in federal and state court and protect your rights across the Commonwealth. “Abigail Spanberger isn’t going to ban America’s rifles under our watch.” The lawsuit, filed in union with other prominent pro-Second Amendment organizations, is just one of many to come, as Just The News reports: “Other lawsuits are coming. Gun Owners of America and the Virginia Citizens Defense League are planning to file lawsuits on Friday. The Trump administration has also warned it was planning to take legal action if the bill was signed into law.” Virginia’s bill allows people who already own the banned firearms them to keep them, enabling them to continue to enjoy their Second Amendment rights. But, anyone new is subject to a Class 1 misdemeanor conviction, Virginia’s CBS 6 News reports: “The law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to import, sell, manufacture, purchase, or transfer an assault firearm. Anyone convicted of that violation is prohibited from purchasing, possessing, or transporting any firearm for three years from the date of conviction.”   🚨BREAKING: Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed legislation banning America’s Rifle! The NRA is filing two major lawsuits in Virginia to challenge @GovernorVA's anti-Second Amendment agenda. "We're not going to stand idly by and let this new governor ban America's rifle… pic.twitter.com/iYH212Sqa5 — NRA (@NRA) May 15, 2026 May 15th, 2026 4:17 PM Craig Bannister 295175 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/cnsnews/craig-bannister/2026/05/15/penn-state-profs-use-mandatory-class-vilify-whites-police Rather than endure more mandatory anti-White, anti-police, anti-male indoctrination, first-year law school student David Blackman withdrew from Penn State University after just one semester – and audio from one of its required “Race” classes shows why a complaint has been filed with the U.S. Department of Education. In Penn State’s "Race and the Equal Protection of the Laws," a required course for all first-year law students, Blackman was subjected to a transgender faculty member’s activism explaining why the class “is not optional.” According audio from the class obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Penn State’s Emily Spottswood claimed victim status: “I am a trans-woman, right. And this year there is a lot happening against people from our community and having a focus from the outset on combating oppression and injustice is meaningful to me in a way I cannot describe.” In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, Blackman reported that the course vilified white people and law enforcement and that professors assigned texts by critical race theorists without presenting an alternative perspective: “Over the course of three 150-minute lectures, speakers described all white people as ‘privileged,’ called to ‘eradicate patriarchy,’ and asserted that the justice system is ‘about keeping black people in their place.’ “One assignment said students should ‘consider’ framing their essays around ‘the reality of systemic racism,’ implying that doing otherwise could affect a student's grade.” Audio from the session obtained by Free Beacon reveals the extent to which speakers sought to coercively conscript young law students into their divisive, far-left ideology. Associate Dean Jeffrey Dodge went so far as to declare that all the students in the class had become members of a “coalition”: “Today that you all officially become part of this broader coalition and effort towards building against a more anti-racist, equal-under-the-law approach to our law and legal systems. “This is the part of the coalition that I’m really excited about is we are taking action to disrupt and dismantle systems that racialize, subordinate and oppress.” “Racism, subordination and oppression exists and it has existed,” Dodge said, adding that “We start with that as the foundation for this course.” “I think that our criminal legal system is not about keeping families and communities safe. – it’s about keeping Black people in their place,” Georgetown Law Professor Paul Butler told the first-year law students: “What the problem is, according to the movement, is white supremacy. The problem is patriarchy.” “And, unless we abolish white supremacy, unless we eradicate patriarchy, we’re still going to have problems. I’m most persuaded by the theory articulated by the movement for Black Lives,” Butler preached. On April 1, the American First Policy Institute (AFPI) notified Penn State Dickinson Law Dean Danielle Conway that it had submitting a formal complaint referring the university to the U.S. Department of Education, requesting an investigation into the American Bar Association’s accreditation standards and their potential role in fostering a racially hostile educational environment in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Penn State’s “Course materials repeatedly emphasize race-based frameworks that categorize individuals according to identity and systemic positioning, including themes portraying individuals as ‘oppressors’ or ‘oppressed’ based on skin color, and presenting American legal institutions as fundamentally structured by racial hierarchy,” the letter notes. May 15th, 2026 2:58 PM Craig Bannister 295172 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2026/05/15/farcical-darcy-thinks-hes-cool-continuing-beat-cbss-dokoupil-weiss While Fox News has long been an almost singular focus of the so-called media reporting class, conservative stalker and Status founder Oliver Darcy seems to have decided in recent months to shift his weight to throwing daily Mean Girls hissy fits over CBS News and the existence of editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and Tony Dokoupil as CBS Evening News anchor. That was yet again on display Thursday night as he pilloried them over Dokoupil having to cover the U.S.-China summit in Beijing from Taipei, Taiwan, after failing to receive a visa. Darcy called Dokoupil’s week “an embarrassing series of events for the Bari Weiss-led network,” which feels like the umpteenth time he’s written something emblematic of what Stephen L. Miller told us Thursday on the NewsBusters Podcast about Darcy and his crowd embodying the grade school-esque “cool kids table” mentality. As usual, Darcy never offered anything in terms of substance — think rhetoric or story election — to criticize Dokoupil and boss Weiss. Rather, it’s entirely personality-based and vague claims they’re somehow hard right. Darcy relitigated the visa situation before gloating that this “logistical blunder has become an embarrassment for the Bari Weiss-led network, leaving CBS as the only major broadcast news network without an anchor on the ground in the Chinese capital.” Never mind that CBS still has a full-time correspondent in China with Hong Kong-based Anna Coren. He then shared his latest death-by-a-thousand-cuts leak about what CBS’s hotel thought of Wednesday’s show: [E]agle-eyed viewers may have noticed that when Dokoupil anchored Thursday’s broadcast, he was in a very different location than the night before. While he anchored his program from a Taipei hotel balcony on Wednesday, Dokoupil was stationed in Liberty Square on Thursday. The change in location was no small matter and the result of a behind-the-scenes drama. According to people familiar with the matter, the hotel from which Dokoupil had initially been broadcasting was far from pleased with the network using its grounds to anchor the newscast. In the words of one source, after seeing the aggressive way in which Dokoupil presented the geopolitical situation between China and Taiwan on his show, hotel management “was appalled,” not wanting to be member to regional politics. I’m told that displeasure was made clear to CBS News. First of all, who cares?! Second, doesn’t that say more about the hotel than it does about Dokoupil that, presuming it’s a global hotel chain of some sort, didn’t have the stones to allow freedom of speech about a country looking to level the ground they stand on?! “As a result, CBS News on Thursday was forced to scramble to secure a new location for Dokoupil to broadcast from, ultimately deciding on Liberty Square. Put another way, not only was Dokoupil unable to broadcast from Beijing during Trump’s trip, but he was also booted from his backup location—a logistical fiasco compounded by another mortifying logistical fiasco,” Darcy added, painting some grim scenario as though Dokoupil’s life was in danger even though Liberty Square was arguably a better backdrop for the point he was trying to make. Darcy even made a point Miller also called out on our show Thursday: It’s yet another reminder to Weiss, who took over the network with virtually no television experience, that producing television news is not as simple as it might seem. And while Weiss might blame her deputies for the mistakes, she is ultimately responsible for what happens at her network. Gee, considering the network’s liberal bent and third-place ratings for a lifetime, one would not normally look to tacitly endorse the multiple CBS regimes prior to Weiss and Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison. Darcy shoe-horned this into a more traditional ratings piece, declaring the “embarrassing episode” be seen through the lens of “a brutal first five months for Dokoupil, who has struggled immensely in the ‘CBS Evening News’ chair” and new Nielsen data that the newscast has been under four million total viewers for “five consecutive weeks...with the week beginning May 4 averaging just 3.7 million viewers.” He closed by repeating himself about Weiss supposedly Captain Queeg-levels of competence: But the “Evening News” disaster is an indictment of Weiss’ short tenure atop CBS News. Under her leadership, Dokoupil’s ratings continue to slide, likely because viewers have been alienated by management’s sudden rightward editorial lurch. And even on the logistics front, basic unforced errors continue to pile up, creating real embarrassment for both the show and the network. Yes, the “rightward editorial lurch” is more like two ticks to the center covering a wider variety of stories, such as hospice fraud in California or, like this past week, telling the truth about China’s current picture. For a dictatorial tattletale like Darcy, only viciously partisan and inflammatory hot takes about conservatives existing in polite society are the only way the news media should operate. May 15th, 2026 2:55 PM Curtis Houck 295171 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/15/shocking-anti-fauci-hearing-skipped-abc-cbs-nbc-npr-pbs-washpost-ny On Wednesday, Josh Christenson at the New York Post (as well as conservative cable networks) reported on a hearing organized by Sen. Rand Paul featuring a CIA whistleblower: A CIA whistleblower appeared publicly for the first time Wednesday to testify to a Senate panel that Dr. Anthony Fauci improperly “influenced” intelligence analyses about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic —  to downplay findings that it most likely resulted from a laboratory accident in China. Special operations officer James Erdman III delivered his testimony about the wide-ranging “cover-up” after being subpoenaed by the Senate Homeland Security Committee — and against his own agency’s wishes. Fox's Jesse Watters proclaimed "Anthony Fauci is in big trouble. The little man in a lab coat got a lot wrong and never fessed up to any of it!" But there has been no story on this Senate hearing on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, or NPR. Not only that, you can’t find it on the websites of The New York Times or The Washington Post. This underlines that they don’t want to revisit any angle of the Covid response that challenges the established St. Anthony Fauci narrative. PBS News Hour gushed over Fauci in a two-part interview in 2024, not to mention he starred in a fawning PBS American Masters documentary in 2023. There was a minute and a half on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, where the host threw a bone to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), as "Facts First" CNN labored to underline the lab-leak theory is still just one theory. MS NOW wouldn't be caught dead mentioning this news.  CNN's Jake Tapper indulged Sen. Ron Johnson for a minute Wednesday on Rand Paul's anti-Fauci whistleblower hearing, and "Facts First" CNN labored to underline the lab-leak theory is still just one theory. But at least it surfaced. (MS NOW wouldn't be caught dead mentioning this.) pic.twitter.com/XKTgHP9XLW — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 15, 2026 TAPPER: Let's turn to another subject I know you want to talk about. During a Senate hearing earlier today, you heard from a CIA whistleblower who accused intelligence officials and specifically Dr. Anthony Fauci of downplaying the possibility that the origins of COVID came from a Chinese lab. Dr. Fauci declined to comment when we reached out to him to respond to the hearing you held. But I think it's fair to say that the most objective assessment of the situation is that there continue to be highly respected evolutionary biologists reporting in respected peer reviewed journals who suggest, though nothing is proven, that they continue to think it was a natural spillover from an animal reservoir. Now, I might disagree. You might disagree, but it seems like there's still lots of opinions but no definitive proof one way or the other. A CIA spokesperson called this hearing nothing more than dishonest political theater, and that the CIA had already assessed COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab leak. Efforts to undermine the conclusion are disingenuous. So this is Trump's CIA saying this. What was your reaction to that? JOHNSON: Well, first of all, what we learned, we already knew or certainly suspected, but it just confirmed what we knew or suspected. You go back to the end of January, early February, when you see Fauci assembling this group of people who are probably still saying, well, this might have sprung from nature. They're all people he'd given millions and millions of dollars of grants to. And those are the same people he assembled in the center of the CIA. NewsNation’s Marni Hughes offered a story on Thursday morning, also featuring the negative tweets from the CIA spokeswoman on the "dishonest political theater" allegation. Both sides are represented. Why can't the liberal broadcast networks do this much? Or the newspapers?  NewsNation’s Marni Hughes offered a story on anti-Fauci whistleblower hearing on Thursday morning, also featuring the negative tweets from the CIA spokeswoman. Both sides represented. Why can't the liberal broadcast networks do this much? pic.twitter.com/cCid9XLnC7 — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 15, 2026 May 15th, 2026 2:50 PM Tim Graham 295170 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/steve-malzberg/2026/05/15/greg-gutfeld-insists-responding-whoopi-goldbergs-claim-america Whoopi Goldberg is no stranger to saying outrageous things on The View, in fact, in just the last 3 weeks she has claimed that white people are shooting and sicking dogs on black people at the polls, America has run out of gasoline and is running out of food, and that President Trump will be instituting a military draft. So while it may not have been too shocking to learn that on Wednesday Goldberg proclaimed that America has been "de-balled", it got attention on Thursday's edition of Fox's The Five, and caused a minor stir. Fill- in Panelist Gillian Turner played a clip of Goldberg's insanity,  GOLDBERG CLIP: I don't believe in anybody who is running this country right now. We have been, de-balled, as a nation, I feel.... I thought my description was clear.... But the idea that no one is in charge freaks me out. Turner then asked Emily Compagno, "Have we been de-balled? Am I allowed to say that? I don't know." COMPAGNO: I think it is so laughable that the same talking head that helped cover up for Biden's ineptitude, that's when the United States was de-balled, that was during the Biden administration. So I put together a little list for her knowledge and for everyone's review of what exactly it looked like to be de-balled.... So just as of today, President Trump has hosted 87 meetings with foreign leaders, and in President Biden's entire office he listed 36. Remember he took hundreds of days that he napped in Rehoboth Beach while 18,000 terrorists flooded across the southern border and we lost 360,000 minor children. Jill Biden ran meetings, you recall, they closed every day at like 1:00 P.M., calling lids. And then you you contrast that with President Trump, he has direct, and as he should, like responsibility for things like, credit for multiple tariffs, border security, NATO spending, hostage release, Middle East ceasefire deals, and he is the one that has been in direct involvement in talks with Mexico and Canada and China and NATO allies....It is so laughable to me and unfortunately emblematic of the mainstream media that no matter what they will continue to cover for the President that was absolutely missing, the one that was derelict in duty, that abdicated his duty, every day, that signed with an autopen, and we have a President who is out there with reporters, with the crowds, with the foreign heads of state.  Strangely, after Compagno finished, Turner, who, as previously mentioned, is not  a regular on the show, led the discussion away from Goldberg and to Trump's China trip. But when it was Greg Gutfeld's turn, he rebuked her question, and seemingly Turner as well. GUTFELD: I want to talk about Whoopi. TURNER:  That's taken already. GUTFELD: No, that's not how it works. Wow, definite tension, as evidenced by Gutfeld's response and the look on Turner's face. But Gutfeld won out, and he didn't disappoint. GUTFELD: Whoopi accuses Trump of castrating America. Sorry, Whoopi. Guys stopped getting erections around you years before Trump got into office. Do not blame him for your dateless weekends.... Who is she comparing Trump to? Emily went over all of his achievements. But you have to look at how world leaders react to him. You think no one is in charge of the United States? Trump is in charge of the U.S. And it looks like whenever he is around world leaders he's in charge of them, too, they treat him like a rock star. The only people being de-balled in this country are the children of liberals who trans them for virtue points at the wine club.... Four or five years ago, fentanyl overdoses racking up 70,000-100,000 deaths a year. These are people who aren't just junkies and you go well, they are seeking their own death. These are one-and-doners, people that get a valium or they get something but it's off the street and they die. Biden didn't lift a finger. So what outrageous, nonsensical, twisted observation will Whoopi Goldberg come up with next? It shouldn't take too long to find out, and no matter what she says, you can bet she'll have a seat on The View set, for as long as she wants one.  May 15th, 2026 1:19 PM Steve Malzberg 295158 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/15/daily-show-promotes-communists-movie-promotes-shoplifting Most of the time Comedy Central’s The Daily Show is a reliably liberal show, but on Thursday, host Jordan Klepper decided to shake things up a little bit and become a communist show when he did his best Hasan Piker impression and welcomed writer, director, and self-described communist Boots Riley to promote his new movie that promotes shoplifting. Klepper, who has also tried to normalize Piker, put the ball on the tee when he wondered, “For people who haven't seen this, what is I Love Boosters?” It takes a special kind of tone deafness to ignore all of communism’s crimes and epic failures and consider yourself a communist in 2026 while wearing a giant purple hat, but that is what Riley did, “Well, boosters are folks that shoplift and sell at a discount price. So it is something that, as a broke rapper for many decades, I have definitely had to have around me in order to stay fly because staying fly is part of the job requirement.”     Riley, who has claimed the American flag stands for “oppression, slavery, and murder,” also claimed, “I wanted to write about stuff from the perspective of these folks, that, kind of, hold the community together, right? We have, you know, fashion is—the big fashion houses are inspired by stuff from the street, by black communities, by people of color, things like that. But those communities cannot afford it, right? So this was a way to talk about fashion that I hadn't seen or talked about before.” People may roll their eyes at conservatives calling people communists, but not only is Riley proud to call himself a communist, Klepper also was happy to suggest Karl Marx would approve of the movie, “It talks about fashion. I mean, this movie talks about fashion, it talks about capitalism. It is super funny. This feels like, sort of, a Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure if it were directed by Karl Marx with a bunch of Molly in the background.” For all the talk about Paramount turning into Trump TV, The Daily Show keeps platforming actual communists. If Paramount’s bosses really wanted to make a big change, they should say to The Daily Show, "No more communists," because the point of any news show—whether it's comedy, straight news, or opinion—is to make the viewer smarter than they were before the show began, but communists don’t educate people; they make them dumber. Here is a transcript for the May 14 show: Comedy Central The Daily Show 5/14/2026 11:26 PM ET JORDAN KLEPPER: For people who haven't seen this, what is I Love Boosters? BOOTS RILEY: Well, boosters are folks that shoplift and sell at a discount price. So it is something that, as a broke rapper for many decades, I have definitely had to have around me in order to stay fly because staying fly is part of the job requirement. JORDAN KLEPPER: Yeah.  RILEY: And so I wanted to write about stuff from the perspective of these folks, that, kind of, hold the community together, right? We have, you know, fashion is—the big fashion houses are inspired by stuff from the street, by black communities, by people of color, things like that. But those communities cannot afford it, right? So this was a way to talk about fashion that I hadn't seen or talked about before. KLEPPER: It talks about fashion. I mean, this movie talks about fashion, it talks about capitalism. It is super funny. This feels like, sort of, a Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure if it were directed by Karl Marx with a bunch of Molly in the background. RILEY: With Looney Tunes. May 15th, 2026 12:30 PM Alex Christy 295163 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2026/05/15/pbs-ending-racial-gerrymandering-louisiana-unfair-or-even-racist Tuesday’s PBS News Hour predictably injected racism allegations into its coverage of the Supreme Court striking down race-based gerrymandering in Louisiana v. Callais, even covering the story under its portentous “Race Matters” series rubric. White House correspondent Liz Landers traveled to Baton Rouge to collect accusations of racism -- though to be fair, the first claim came from a surprising source. Liz Landers: The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's congressional map, the conservative justices narrowing the Voting Rights Act and a provision protecting minority voting power when states draw district lines, as Louisiana did when it carved out a second majority-minority district in 2024. That sent state lawmakers back to the drawing board, where they may eliminate one or both of the seats, both held by Black Democrats. A map like this would give U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose Louisiana seat they will protect, a better chance of holding on to his Republican majority and gavel next year. The detail about a new map favoring Republicans explains much of the “racial” hysteria from the press – it boils down to partisan concerns for Democratic prospects in Congress. It’s not as if the media encourages black Republicans, either as candidates or as voters. The first non-politician quoted, who leveled a "racist districts" accusation against Louisiana, was strongly identified as a GOP political activist. Landers: Just outside the crowd of protesters, Jonathan Davis, a small business owner involved in Republican politics, says the race cancellation is weird, but the court's decision was overdue. Jonathan Davis, Republican Voter: I would look at that as this was supposed to happen previously. We should have gotten rid of the racist districts a long time ago and made sure that people could have equal representation among the voters. Still, Democrats received a more sympathetic treatment, with a “civil rights activist” invited to harken back to the days when blacks were denied equal education, as if that had anything to do with the Supreme Court's decision. Leona Tate, Civil Rights Activist: So now we move backwards with the Supreme Court decision that will go down as one of the most racist rulings in our nation's history. Landers: For voter Leona Tate, the civil rights movement isn't just history; it's memory. She was 6 years old when she enrolled in what had been an all-white school in New Orleans. She and several other young Black students became the first to desegregate a New Orleans school. Tate: ….I just can't believe that it's still happening 66 years later. It's cheating, to me. That's how I feel. It's really cheating. And it's really illegal. It does bring back that feeling from a long time ago, and it's not a good feeling. Landers peppered her sources with leading questions. Landers: [Radio host] Jim Engster has spent his career covering Louisiana politics. What have you heard from callers and people that you speak to in Louisiana? Are people supportive of this decision or do they think that it is confusing or potentially unfair or even racist? Engster: All of the above. — Clay Waters (@claywaters44) May 14, 2026 Engster, who hosts a political talk show on NPR Baton Rouge affiliate WRKF, noted most whites vote Republican and most blacks vote Democrat, “So it is nearly impossible to separate race from partisanship.” Which didn’t stop PBS from trying: Landers: ….Leona Tate doesn't see the fight of her lifetime ending any time soon. You have been fighting this fight for a long time. Is that tiring? Tate: It can, but it has to be done. It has to be done. And I feel like I was chosen to do this, you know? So I can't give up. I can never give up. A transcript is available, click “Expand.” PBS News Hour 5/12/26 7:25:15 p.m. (ET) Geoff Bennett: There were several developments today in the ongoing redistricting battle. Missouri's Supreme Court cleared the way for a new map supported by President Trump that could net the GOP an additional seat in Congress. But, in South Carolina, efforts to redraw that state's map stalled after that state's Senate failed to reach the required two-thirds majority. Five Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the proposal. And, in Louisiana, lawmakers there are pressing ahead with a new redistricting plan just days before the state's now-delayed House primary elections. All of it comes as the U.S. Supreme Court has continued to narrow key protections in the Voting Rights Act. As Liz Landers reports for our Race Matters series, once the lines are finalized in Louisiana, the political consequences will be measured not only in red and blue, but also in black and white. Protesters: Whose house? Protesters: Our house! Protesters: Whose house? Protesters: Our house! Liz Landers: Protests outside the state capitol echo the heated debate inside, as lawmakers deliberate over how political dividing lines are drawn. Protesters: Shut it down! Liz Landers: This is the Louisiana Statehouse. The Senate and the Governmental Affairs Committee here has started the process of redrawing the congressional maps in this state. Hundreds of people have shown up for the public testimony. Just a couple weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's congressional map, the conservative justices narrowing the Voting Rights Act and a provision protecting minority voting power when states draw district lines, as Louisiana did when it carved out a second majority-minority district in 2024. That sent state lawmakers back to the drawing board, where they may eliminate one or both of the seats, both held by Black Democrats. A map like this would give U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose Louisiana seat they will protect, a better chance of holding on to his Republican majority and gavel next year. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA): And I think all states who have unconstitutional maps should look at that very carefully. And I think they should do it before the midterm. Liz Landers: The fallout from the Supreme Court's decision isn't limited to Louisiana. In the days that followed, Republicans in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee began the process of shifting districts in their political favor, joining an unparalleled mid-decade redistricting fight that has the potential to net 10 or more seats for the GOP in November. Back in the bayou, the state's primary elections were already under way when Republican Governor Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency, suspending the House races so new boundaries could be drawn. In the past, new maps would often take effect for the next election. But Landry told "60 Minutes" Louisiana couldn't wait. Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA): The highest court in the land says the map that you have is unconstitutional, so we don't have a map under which our voters can vote on. If anybody has a grievance, take it to the United States Supreme Court. Liz Landers: Just outside the crowd of protesters, Jonathan Davis, a small business owner involved in Republican politics, says the race cancellation is weird, but the court's decision was overdue. Jonathan Davis, Republican Voter: I would look at that as this was supposed to happen previously. We should have gotten rid of the racist districts a long time ago and made sure that people could have equal representation among the voters. Liz Landers: On the other side of the political aisle, Democratic Congressman Troy Carter is waiting to see if a new map will erase his base of support. Are you worried that you're going to lose your seat? Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA): No, I'm not worried about me at all. I'm worried about us. This is not a singular battle. This is about the people. African Americans have the right to choose the person of their choice to represent them. But that means you can't just come in and summarily crack us up, break us up. Leona Tate, Civil Rights Activist: So now we move backwards with the Supreme Court decision that will go down as one of the most racist rulings in our nation's history. Liz Landers: For voter Leona Tate, the civil rights movement isn't just history; it's memory. She was 6 years old when she enrolled in what had been an all-white school in New Orleans. She and several other young Black students became the first to desegregate a New Orleans school. Leona Tate: I had no idea what racism was at that time, but I knew by third grade that it was the color of my skin that made a difference. I just can't believe that it's still happening 66 years later. It's cheating, to me. That's how I feel. It's really cheating. And it's really illegal. It does bring back that feeling from a long time ago, and it's not a good feeling. Liz Landers: The state's congressional map has been challenged and changed several times recently. After the 2020 census, legal battles ultimately led to the creation of a new majority-minority district, District Six. Democratic Congressman Cleo Fields was elected to that seat in 2020. You have been hosting a number of town halls here in your district. What are you hearing from voters? Rep. Cleo Fields (D-LA): I mean, voters, first of all, they are confused. The election had already started, and ballots had already been cast. Over 100,000 early vote ballots had been cast. Over 40,000 had already turned their ballots in. That's the number one thing I try to deal with. Is the election on? Is it off? All these lawsuits, what does it mean? Liz Landers: Fields told us he's not interested in running against Carter if Statehouse mapmakers draw them into the same district. He places blame for the redistricting arms race squarely on President Trump and argues Republicans are twisting the Supreme Court's ruling for their political gain. Rep. Cleo Fields: It didn't say you had to suspend the elections. That's for sure. And it didn't say you -- Representative Carter's district had any problems. And the third thing it did not say, it didn't say you could not draw a second majority-Black district. Liz Landers: Fields has seen this show before. In the 1990s, he was a congressman for Louisiana's Fourth Congressional District. That was also redrawn and he lost his seat in 1997. Jim Engster: For him, it's Groundhog Day 32 years later. He's facing the same thing he did in the mid-'90s. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. This is Jim Engster and welcome to "Talk Louisiana." Liz Landers: Jim Engster has spent his career covering Louisiana politics. What have you heard from callers and people that you speak to in Louisiana? Are people supportive of this decision or do they think that it is confusing or potentially unfair or even racist? Jim Engster: All of the above. Liz Landers Engster walked us through Republican leaders' calculus as they draw new maps. He says the GOP can safely create a 5-1 map; 6-0 would be a bit riskier. The Supreme Court's ruling prevents dividing districts by race, but party is fair game, and, here, blue and red can functionally produce the same map as black and white.   Jim Engster: In Louisiana about 80 percent of the white people are voting Republican and about 90 percent of the Black people are voting Democratic. So it is nearly impossible to separate race from partisanship. Liz Landers: Governor Landry defends the Supreme Court's decision and distinction. Gov. Jeff Landry: You cannot say that we are all created equal and that states must treat everyone equal under the law and then allow a law to sort people based upon race. Liz Landers: He's hoping the Supreme Court's decision will mark the end of a decades' worth of near constant legal fights over political maps. Leona Tate doesn't see the fight of her lifetime ending any time soon. You have been fighting this fight for a long time. Is that tiring? Leona Tate: It can, but it has to be done. It has to be done. And I feel like I was chosen to do this, you know? So I can't give up. I can never give up. Liz Landers: The new map hasn't been drawn yet. The suspended elections don't have a new date. But if history is any guide, there are likely more political and legal fights to come. For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Liz Landers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. May 15th, 2026 11:27 AM Clay Waters 295155 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/ben-shapiro/2026/05/15/china-our-enemy-not-our-rival China is not merely America’s geopolitical opponent. It is America’s geopolitical enemy — and has been since the establishment of the Chinese communist regime in 1949. For decades, American leaders and elites indulged the fantasy that this reality could be softened or reversed. Richard Nixon opened relations with China in part to split Beijing from the Soviet Union. Later, economic globalists insisted that bringing China into global markets would moderate its politics. The theory was that free trade would lead to freer people. It didn’t. China never stopped being what it has always been: a communist surveillance state with an appetite for repression at home and influence abroad. It is a historically mass-murdering regime and a government whose ambition is nothing less than the destruction of America’s global dominance. And China plays the long game. Unlike democratic nations that operate on election cycles, the Chinese Communist Party operates on decades. It can wait. It can plan. It can exploit. It has taken advantage of America’s openness — our markets, our universities, even our political institutions — to undermine us from within. Whether it’s the theft of tens of billions of dollars in intellectual property, the infiltration of American universities, or influence campaigns aimed at shaping public discourse, China has treated the United States like an enemy — because it is. That reality became impossible to ignore in 2020. China unleashed the Wuhan virus on the world while lying about the outbreak and downplaying evidence of human-to-human transmission. It misled the World Health Organization, which by that point had become so deferential to Beijing that it functioned more like a diplomatic arm of Chinese interests than an independent watchdog. The pandemic was a wake-up call, but it should not have been the first. For years, Americans have warned that the United States built supply chains through hostile territory. We outsourced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and strategic industries to a nation openly committed to replacing us. Now the question is unavoidable: What should we do? First, America must use its economic leverage to isolate China. That means cutting strong trade deals with reliable allies and strategic partners — Canada, Mexico, Europe and developing countries that may be tempted to drift into China’s orbit. The goal should be simple: Force nations to choose. Countries should understand they can either have access to American markets and investment, or dependence on Chinese manufacturing and influence. They should not be allowed to have both. Second, America must cut off China’s sources of revenue and influence. Much of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy has been aimed at this. Pressure against Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela was about oil revenue that strengthens China. The same is true with Iran, a major supplier of oil to Beijing. Even the war in Ukraine has implications, as Russia increasingly functions as a resource pipeline for China. Third, America must strengthen itself. One of the most dangerous vulnerabilities we face is financial dependency. China owns trillions of dollars in American debt. The implicit threat is always present: Beijing could dump U.S. bonds onto the market to destabilize our economy. China could absorb the pain. It does not fear public backlash the way democratic governments do. This is what happens when a nation becomes bloated, complacent and addicted to spending. If the United States wishes to remain a world power, it cannot behave like a decadent welfare state. Debt is not just an economic problem — it is a national security threat. Finally, America must close the doors China uses to steal, spy and infiltrate. One obvious step is also the most controversial: no more Chinese foreign exchange students. Zero. Our universities have strong financial incentives to bring them in, but national security cannot be treated like a revenue stream. We should not be importing students from hostile regimes to access American research and institutions, only for them to return home and strengthen systems that seek our destruction. Pretending geopolitical enemies will not exploit American openness is naive. They already have. The United States is still the most powerful country on Earth, but power is not permanent. It must be defended and strategically deployed. China is not a competitor playing by the rules of commerce and diplomacy. It is an adversary playing for dominance. The steps needed to confront that reality are available — and necessary. Ben Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author. May 15th, 2026 10:24 AM Ben Shapiro 295162 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2026/05/15/letterman-rants-i-have-every-right-be-pissed-cbs Former host of CBS’s The Late Show, David Letterman, stopped by to visit with current and outgoing host Stephen Colbert on Thursday to rant at the network about how “pissed off” he is at the situation and how personally he takes it. Later, the duo vented some more by going to the roof of the Ed Sullivan building and throwing the show’s furniture off the roof at a CBS logo. Letterman’s self-righteous diatribe began when he quipped, “Well, you know what happened backstage. I'm standing backstage, a guy comes over, and he says he's from CBS, and then he fired me.”   David Letterman tells Stephen Colbert, "I will say, and I have every right to be pissed off so I will be pissed off a little bit—because this theater, you folks wouldn’t be in this theater if it weren't for me and Stephen wouldn't be here if it weren't for me and we rebuilt this… pic.twitter.com/n8v2G0QuI8 — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 15, 2026   He also huffed, “What is going on there? I will say, and I have every right to be pissed off, so I will be pissed off here a little bit—because this theater, you folks wouldn’t be in this theater if it weren't for me, and Stephen wouldn't be here if it weren't for me, and we rebuilt this theater, and then Stephen came, and I look at this—it's like the Bellagio, but listen, what is wrong here?” After Colbert insisted that “Nothing’s wrong, Dave!” Letterman continued with the premise that The Late Show was canceled in order to shut Colbert up, “As we all understand, you can take a man's show, but you can't take a man's voice, so that's the good news. Thank you, cheers.” Letterman further worried, “You know what I'm really worried about? What I'm worried about is what will become of the Jimmies? Are they going to be alright?” Colbert joked that "we have a plan to put them in a captive breeding program.” Later, the duo made their way to the roof, and Letterman gushed, “This brings true joy to my heart. We are up here for the wanton destruction of CBS property.”   Later, Colbert and Letterman go to the roof for some "the wanton destruction of CBS property." That starts with throwing the guests' chairs at a CBS logo. The first throw missed pic.twitter.com/NsWitQa8Md — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 15, 2026   Before any furniture hurling was to begin, Colbert claimed they needed “Something circular, like a bullseye.” Already thinking ahead, Letterman then revealed the target was a CBS logo. Colbert and Letterman’s furniture movers then tossed one of the guest chairs off the side of the building towards the target, but missed. Eventually a second guest chair hit the target that was covering a pile of children’s ball pit balls. That would be followed up with Colbert’s chair, some watermelons, and a Late Show-inspired wedding cake. Tying it all together, Letterman thanked Colbert for “everything you've done for our country.”   Finally, Colbert invited Letterman to say some goodbye to the audience and he replied, "Not necessarily to the audience but to the folks at CBS in the words of the great Ed Murrow, good night, good luck mother[bleep]." pic.twitter.com/u3Xfnjz46y — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 15, 2026   An appreciative Colbert followed up, “The feeling is mutual, Dave, thank you. Anything you would like to say to the audience before we go?” Letterman then got in one last shot at CBS, “Not necessarily to the audience but to the folks at CBS, in the words of the great Ed Murrow, good night and good luck, mother[bleep].” Here is a transcript for the May 14 show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 5/14/2026 11:55 PM ET DAVID LETTERMAN: Well, you know what happened backstage. I'm standing backstage, a guy comes over, and he says he's from CBS, and then he fired me. STEPHEM COLBERT: Oh, I'm sorry. you caught a stray. You caught a stray. LETTERMAN: What is going on there? I will say, and I have every right to be pissed off, so I will be pissed off here a little bit—because this theater, you folks wouldn’t be in this theater if it weren't for me, and Stephen wouldn't be here if it weren't for me, and we rebuilt this theater, and then Stephen came, and I look at this—it's like the Bellagio, but listen, what is wrong here? COLBERT: Nothing’s wrong, Dave! LETTERMAN: As we all understand, you can take a man's show, but you can't take a man's voice, so that's the good news. Thank you, cheers. COLBERT: Cheers. There you go. That was very kind of you, Dave. LETTERMAN: You know what I'm really worried about? COLBERT: What? LETTERMAN: What I'm worried about is what will become of the Jimmies?  COLBERT: I don't know. LETTERMAN: Are they going to be alright? COLBERT: We have a plan to put them in a captive breeding program. LETTER: Wow, I don't think I've ever heard that phrase. “Captive breeding.” I like that, pretty good. … 12:19 AM LETTERMAN: But this brings true joy to my heart. We are up here for the wanton destruction of CBS property. COLBERT: I know for many years I enjoyed this as a viewer. You would throw things off Ed Sullivan building— LETTERMAN: That’s right. COLBERT:  —this is a true story when I first got this gig, one the first things they told me before we moved into the offices is that I would not be allowed to throw anything off of the roof of the Ed Sullivan building because evidently there was a problem with a previous tenant. LETTERMAN: Yes, I'm so excited about this. COLBERT: So am I. Alright, so, I was never allowed to do this. LETTERMAN: You never did it in all the time—? COLBERT: I never did it, but we are at the end here, so all bets are off. LETTERMAN: Let’s get to it. COLBERT: Let’s go. Alright. LETTERMAN: Now, this is--these are the guys who do the heavy work for us, Chris and Gene. COLBERT: Chris and Gene, guys, thanks for your help. LETTERMAN: You guys will verify this is CBS property, right? CHRIS OR GENE: 100 percent, yes. From the show. LETTERMAN: Okay, any time you're ready, Stephen. Oh my god! COLBERT: Alright. Hold on a second. Guys, before we do this, Dave, I think we should have a target, don't you?  LETTERMAN: Right down there, my friend. COLBERT: Something circular, like a bullseye. LETTERMAN: Yeah, yeah. It's all fun until somebody puts out an eye. COLBERT: That’ll do. LETTERMAN: Here we go, get ready. COLBERT: Gentlemen. LETTERMAN: Oh my god, yes, oh. Oh! We missed a target, but still, that’s fun. COLBERT: Don't worry, Dave we brought a spare. LETTERMAN: This is chair number two. COLBERT: Okay, gentlemen, let’s think about what happened last time, how are you going to adjust the throw? This is all on you. CHRIS OR GENE: Maybe go a little lighter. LETTERMAN: Yeah, you don’t—just drop it. COLBERT: Yeah, I would just go straight down, less shove. LETTERMAN: That’ll be a shame if you don’t destroy the eye. COLBERT: Wait, this man knows what he’s doing. What's your advice? LETTERMAN: I say look out for the wind and keep it closer to the building. COLBERT: Watch the wind. LETTERMAN: Yeah. Here we go. Yes! It’s unbelievable isn’t it. … LETTERMAN: The pleasure is all mine. I enjoy destroying stuff it's great, great fun. Thank you for everything you've done for our country. COLBERT: The feeling is mutual, Dave, thank you. Anything you would like to say to the audience before we go? LETTERMAN: Not necessarily to the audience but to the folks at CBS, in the words of the great Ed Murrow, good night and good luck, mother[bleep]. May 15th, 2026 10:00 AM Alex Christy 295161 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-spinnato/2026/05/15/cbs-uses-tmz-hotel-story-attack-la-mayoral-candidate-spencer On Thursday, CBS Mornings echoed a TMZ report that accused Los Angeles Mayoral Candidate Spencer Pratt, which accused Pratt of lying about living in a trailer in his lot that burned due to the LA Wildfires, and instead lived in a hotel. The TMZ report said Pratt “traded in the trailer for one of the swankiest hotels in LA.” Here’s an excerpt from the story:  Spencer Pratt has gained traction in his campaign for L.A. Mayor by showing what he says Karen Bass did to his family -- forcing them to live in a trailer after his home burned down. But TMZ has learned ... he's traded in the trailer for one of the swankiest hotels in L.A. ... but Spencer says he was forced to ditch the trailer because of death threats. CBS followed the TMZ story and essentially just repeated the same information and added clips from a Pratt interview with TMZ’s Harvey Levin and a previous CBS interview with the mayoral candidate.   Thursday's 'CBS Mornings' is out with a story parroting the Pod Save bros and TMZ talking points about Spencer Pratt and whether he lives in a trailer vs. a hotel room. CBSNewsmax it is not. pic.twitter.com/LZoEJKaxzv — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 14, 2026   Guest co-host Matt Gutman introduced the story: Turning now to a story involving a former reality star, Spencer Pratt, who is running for mayor in Los Angeles. Pratt lost his home during the wildfires that destroyed much of the Pacific Palisades last year. In a campaign ad, he said he's been living in a trailer since then, but a new report alleges that is not true.  Reporter Adam Yamaguchi played a clip of an ad where Pratt said, “This is where I live, They let my home burn down,” from his burned-down Palisades property.  Yamaguchi continued, “TMZ is now reporting that Pratt has actually been staying at a luxury hotel in LA, not a trailer. In an interview, he said he did spend around six days in the last month at that hotel in part due to security concerns.” A clip from a Harvey Levin interview with Pratt played, where Pratt responded to allegations, as he pointed out his house does not exist anymore because it burned down in the fires, and said, “I don't live anywhere is what I'm saying. I don't have a house. They burned it down, Harvey. I don't have a house." Yamaguchi then played clips from his previous exclusive interview, which CBS had to post in its full form due to backlash from Pratt on edits: YAMAGUCHI: In an exclusive interview last week, we spent time with Pratt, including inside his trailer. PRATT: I just got the wire to connect the power last night on the debate night. So, been waiting weeks. My neighbors, it took six weeks for one wire to connect their power. So, this idea that things are moving fast and red tape cut, it just shows you how long it takes for people to build in the city of LA. (...) The news package ended, and Gutman noted how Pratt’s ads have gained traction: “You know, in the ads that have made him very famous over the past couple of weeks, he calls himself ‘Pratt-man’, but these have been viewed dozens of millions of times.” Fill-in co-host Adriana Diaz added, “Uh. There’s a lot of questions here,” as co-host Nate Burleson nodded along. The Pratt house burned down in the LA fires. He does not have a home because of the LA wildfires that went out of control, as Bass was out of the country on a trip to Africa. The focus on Pratt's minute-to-minute living due to the security concerns that come with being a big city mayoral candidate is unimportant, as he literally does not have a home after it burned down. Instead, the focus should be on others, like Pratt, who lost their homes in uncontrolled fires. The transcript is below. Click "expand": CBS Mornings May 14, 2026 8:05:59 AM Eastern (...) MATT GUTMAN:  Turning now to a story involving a former reality star, Spencer Pratt, who is running for mayor in Los Angeles. Pratt lost his home during the wildfires that destroyed much of the Pacific Palisades last year. In a campaign ad, he said he's been living in a trailer since then, but a new report alleges that is not true.  Adam Yamaguchi has more on what Pratt is now saying. [Cuts to video] SPENCER PRATT (From Campaign Ad): This is where I live. They let my home burn down. I know what the consequences of failed leadership are. ADAM YAMAGUCHI: This is how former reality TV star Spencer Pratt made his run for mayor. The 42-year-old who lost his home last year has become one of the front-runners in the race.  TMZ is now reporting that Pratt has actually been staying at a luxury hotel in LA, not a trailer.  In an interview, he said he did spend around six days in the last month at that hotel in part due to security concerns.  HARVEY LEVIN (TMZ): Are you saying you live in that trailer? PRATT: (To Levin) I don't live anywhere is what I'm saying. I don't have a house. They burned it down, Harvey. I don't have a house. [Jumpcut] I don't need to sleep there every night. I don't need to go number two on that toilet. That is where I live. I'm from the Palisades, Los Angeles, and I'm fighting for Los Angeles, so - YAMAGUCHI:  The candidate, a registered Republican who has no political experience, is shaking up the LA Mayoral race, polling second just behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a historically blue city. [To Pratt in previous interview] This is your home? PRATT: This is my forward-operating base. This is where I will be. As Mayor, I want to live here. YAMAGUCHI: In an exclusive Interview last week, we spent time with Pratt, including inside his trailer. PRATT: I just got the wire to connect the power last night on the debate night. So, been waiting weeks. My neighbors, it took six weeks for one wire to connect their power. So, this idea that things are moving fast and red tape cut, it just shows you how long it takes for people to build in the city of LA.  I truly believe I'm winning with 51 percent on June 2nd. That's how angry Angelenos are. They're not looking for the guy with - they don't want an experienced politician. They're living what experienced politicians have done to their lives, so it is time for a change. YAMAGUCHI: For CBS Mornings, I’m Adam Yamaguchi. [Cuts back to live] GUTMAN: Alright. We reached out to Pratt to get more clarification on this controversy, but he did not immediately respond.  You know, in the ads that have made him very famous over the past couple of weeks, he calls himself ‘Pratt-man’, but these have been viewed dozens of millions of times. ADRIANA DIAZ: Uh, There's a lot of questions here. NATE BURLESON: Yeah GUTMAN: A lot of questions DIAZ: But Adam’s all over it. (...) May 15th, 2026 9:56 AM Nicholas Spinnato 295153 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/15/column-kamalas-brainstorm-destroying-all-norms One of the many angry eruptions of the petulant press over Donald Trump is “he’s destroying all our political norms.” Trump is surely a disrupter of politics as usual – and more of a disrupter of the federal bureaucracy in his second term. But the Democrats have been at war with long-standing political norms for a while now. Consider Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s move in 2013 to lower the vote threshold for confirming executive branch and federal judicial nominees (except for the Supreme Court) from 60 to a simple majority. In the Trump era, the leftist lust to overturn all the norms to maximize their power has been growing every year. Trump’s re-election is always treated as the End of Democracy when it was obviously democracy’s continuation. Arrogant Democrats think democracy is only functioning when they win. Look no further than 2024 loser Kamala Harris calling for wrecking a stack of norms in an “Emergency Call” on May 13 with the group Win With Black Women. Kamala denounced the Supreme Court as “back-dooring racism” by ruling against using race in redistricting. Kamala Harris is now calling for Democrats to hold a “No Bad Idea Brainstorm” where they discuss: - Abolishing the Electoral College - Packing the Supreme Court - Making Puerto Rico and D.C. states “We’ve got to neutralize these red states from cheating!” pic.twitter.com/23MPJxn7fN — Pat Adams (@PatAdams96) May 14, 2026 She called for a “No Bad Idea Brainstorm,” but the ideas that followed were all in that Harry Reid spirit of grabbing all the power for the Left, that the only norm that matters is acquiring as much power as possible, and calling it “democracy.” So that would include: 1. Abolishing the Electoral College, since no one should care about small-population red states. 2. “Supreme Court reform,” or expanding the court from nine justices to 13, so they can install four leftists right away. . If this was accomplished, perhaps Hakeem Jeffries would stop calling the Supreme Court “illegitimate.” 3. Multi-member legislative districts, being pushed by leftist groups like the Brennan Center for Justice. 4. Rules to “penalize” potential Supreme Court justices for “lying” to the Senate Judiciary Committee about how they would vote. They would like to extract a promise to support abortion, for example. This ruins the notion that judges shouldn’t have to make campaign promises to get confirmed. 5. Statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, on the assumption that this adds more Democrats to the House and Senate. She said “we’ve got to neutralize these red states from cheating!” Cheating would be passing a policy the Left hates.  “We gotta fire with fire,” Kamala concluded, and “We gotta be ruthless, too.” Every time the Left loses in a legislative battle or a judicial ruling, the opposition is described as “ruthless.” This is how Democrats are going to campaign in 2026 and 2028. Everything is about "fighting fire with fire" by destroying all the norms, because inflamed "progressives" who speak or tweet their disappointment when Trump isn't assassinated want the Trump presidency upended immediately. The leftist media is not raising objections.  A meme on X sums up the theme in this socialist soup: “If we could just jail Trump, get rid of MAGA, end the Electoral College, stack the Supreme Court, ban voter ID, and censor free speech we could save democracy.” May 15th, 2026 6:01 AM Tim Graham 295157 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2026/05/15/cbss-tony-dokoupil-drops-another-banger-taiwan The media hall monitors have feasted on CBS’s hardships while covering the Trump-Xi summit from Taiwan. However, this hasn’t deterred Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil from delivering banger after banger on commentary to close out the newscasts. Last night, Dokoupil mentioned all the things that China is dealing with that the other networks (chiefly ABC) conveniently omitted in order to better be able to glaze the ChiComs. Dokoupil made a compelling argument for American exceptionalism- the freedom to create, innovate and speak out. “The freedoms we have, they simply do not.” Tonight, Dokoupil went a step further and called communism out. Watch as he closes out the Evening News: ANOTHER BANGER: CBS's Tony Dokoupil closed out the Evening News with Taiwanese rejection of communism, and some important perspective from Jimmy Lai. "Whose ideas should lead the future?" TONY DOKOUPIL: We’re back live from Liberty Square, where the message we heard on the… pic.twitter.com/euMGRWc0Rn — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 15, 2026 TONY DOKOUPIL: We’re back live from Liberty Square, where the message we heard on the streets today was not against the people of China but against their government and against communism.  Do you want an independent Taiwan or a reunified Taiwan? TAIWANESE CITIZEN: 50/50. We want to unify, but we don't want to follow the communist system. DOKOUPIL: You want to be part of China but not part of communism. TAIWANESE CITIZEN: Yes, that's right. DOKOUPIL: Which is why the rivalry on display this week between China and the U.S. may feel familiar. Not so long ago, communism had failed in the old Soviet Union. While democracy, it seemed, had proven itself once and for all. But now here comes China. And as then-U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns said in 2024, “it's a new battle for the future.” A battle being fought by Jimmy Lai, a wealthy businessman and democracy activist in Hong Kong, now serving 20 years in prison for what China calls sedition. Before his sentence, he told our Holly Williams why the fight is worth it. HOLLY WILLIAMS: I mean, you have a wonderful city, prosperity. JIMMY LAI: That's what Chinese think. They think we just have a body, we don't have a soul. You guys just make money, have a good life, don't think about politics, don't think about freedom, don't think about human right, don’t think about of law, just eat. Enjoy life. WILLIAMS: Why is that not enough? LAI: Because we are human being. We have soul. We are not a dog. DOKOUPIL: And when you step back, that is the bigger picture this week, not just which superpower walks away with a mightier military or a larger economy, but whose ideas should lead the future? That's another day in America and the world. I'm Tony Dokoupil in Taipei, Taiwan. Good night.  Before I go on, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that the end-of-newscast commentary is the most evident proof of improvement at CBS News. One can only imagine what kind of self-important screeching we might’ve heard from John Dickerson during this summit. This segment is different from last night in that it features different perspectives. But they echo the same ideas from the night before: the desire to be free and to live one’s life while not under the boot of a totalitarian regime. This yearning is most poignantly expressed by Jimmy Lai, who is currently in prison for wanting Hong Kong to be free. Dokoupil closes by reminding us of the long-term stakes of the summit: whose ideas should lead the future?  The media hall monitors can continue to cope and seethe.   May 15th, 2026 12:40 AM Jorge Bonilla 295160 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2026/05/15/omission-nets-skip-house-grilling-soros-funded-fairfax-da The Elitist Media is quite selective when it comes to their coverage of what happens in the Commonwealth of Virginia. There was no shortage of coverage for the recently-overturned redistricting, for example. But when a Soros-funded prosecutor gets called to The Hill to answer for soft-on-policies that endanger the community? Crickets. Per Fox News: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, tussled with high-profile Soros-backed Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephen Descano over soft-on-crime policies that critics said let illegal immigrant criminals back on the street.  Descano was seated two spots away from Cheryl Minter, mother of Stephanie Minter, who was allegedly murdered by Sierra Leone national Abdul Jalloh at a bus stop not far from George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Minter’s case, following several similar incidents and the failure by Descano or fellow witness Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid to honor ICE detainers, spurred lawmakers to haul them across the river to testify about the rapidly deteriorating safety of what the prosecutor called one of America’s safest counties. Here is video of some of that grilling, as reported by WJLA’s own Nick Minock: The Elitist Media evening news had no time for the House Judiciary grilling of Soros-funded Fairfax DA Steve Descano. Virginia coverage is selective. Plenty of time for the now-overturned redraw, though NICK MINOCK: Congressman Jim Jordan grilled (Fairfax County DA Steve)… pic.twitter.com/4pe6LPTBaK — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 15, 2026 NICK MINOCK: Congressman Jim Jordan grilled (Fairfax County DA Steve) Descano on his office policy that says prosecutors shall take immigration consequences into account in plea and charging decisions. Descano posted that position on his website for six years, but took it down just weeks before the committee hearing.  JIM JORDAN: Why’d you change your website?  STEVE DESCANO: Because that's not my policy. As I told you, sir. That is a campaign statement that I made before I was a Commonwealth’s Attorney. JORDAN: But, Mr. Descano, it has been up for six years. A week after we send you a letter saying we want you to come testify- Shazam! You change it. I’m just asking, is that coincidental?  DESCANO: Because I could not- Because I could not believe that somebody- that people were so obtuse that they could not realize what the difference between a campaign statement and an actual office policy.  JORDAN: Oh you- so, when you make campaign statements, that's not- those aren't true? You're not being honest with your voters?  DESCANO: That's not what I'm saying at all, Sir.  JORDAN: It sure sounded like it. It sure sounded like it. There was some early coverage of the brutal murder of Stephanie Minter. But the story disappeared from the national airwaves once it was known that the suspect, Abdul Jalloh, was an illegal alien with a lengthy criminal record. The broadcast networks completely omitted this hearing from their evening newscasts. Instead, viewers were treated to the indictment of the guy that threw a rock at a seal in Hawaii, the kids saving a heart attack patient on the side of the road, the halftime show roster for the FIFA World Cup Final, and The Rolling Stones releasing an AI-deaged video. Some might even call it a deepfake.   Illegal alien crime is an ongoing threat to our domestic security, and it is a shame that the Elitist Media do not take it seriously.   May 15th, 2026 12:00 AM Jorge Bonilla 295159 https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2026/05/14/newsbusters-podcast-putting-redsteeze-squeeze-media-misbehavior Stephen L. Miller -- "Redsteeze" on X -- won our Bulldog Award for Outstanding Social Media Personality for taking on all kinds of media misbehavior on Elon's free-speech playground. He has more than half-million followers on X and a "Versus Media" podcast on Substack. We discuss bizarre rape-dog stories, the "Corbynization" of the Left, and Oliver Darcy's farcy website waging war on Bari Weiss as she barely makes changes at CBS News. Managing editor Curtis Houck joined the show as we discussed how the war on "mainstream media" misinformation often starts on X. Miller has been very aggressive on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof ripping the Israelis as guilty of egregious prison rape of Palestinians.  Of all the claims that a newspaper should think about before they publish, the concept of “trained rape dogs” would be at the top of the list. But The Times pushed this bizarre concept on their readers. His source was the “Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor,” which has been trying tell this rape-dog story for years, and has also made bizarre claims against Israel in the past, including the accusation that Israel was harvesting organs from dead Palestinians. Oliver Darcy's website Status spends a lot of time picking on CBS News, most recently on Benjamin Netanyahu getting to choose Major Garrett as his interviewer. Anyone who thinks the Clintons or Barack Obama didn't get a concierge menu of interviewers and topics from 60 Minutes is extremely naive. Dylan Byers at Puck went after Darcy (both former CNN media reporters) for the pretense that this was some dangerous new frontier.  The "Corbynization" of the Democrats refers to former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who stated he considered Hamas and Hezbollah "friends," and was present a wreath-laying at the gravesite of participants in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The newfound popularity of Hasan Piker as he endorsed Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed and the travails of Nazi-tattoo-bearing Senate candidate Graham Platner have been deep-sixed by the network news.  Enjoy the podcast below.      May 14th, 2026 9:30 PM Tim Graham 295156