CNN Anchor John Berman found himself playing defense while his guest, Rep. Dave Min (D-CA), flirted with defaming President Donald Trump in connection to the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Berman invited Min to join Tuesday&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;CNN Central,&#8221; where they began with a discussion on the most recent revelations coming from the trove of Epstein-related documents released by the House Oversight Committee. As they were talking, however, Min repeatedly pushed the idea that Trump was likely guilty of wrongdoing connected to Epstein&#8217;s criminal history.
WATCH:
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JOHN BERMAN: There&#8217;s no reason to think that Donald Trump is involved in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein
REP. DAVE MIN: I would say we have lots of reasons to think he was involved in wrongdoing
BERMAN: Involved with what? What proof do you have?
MIN: We have a 14 year… <a href="https://t.co/w9J0n7slH5">pic.twitter.com/w9J0n7slH5</a>
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1965412088114807093?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We’ve seen that this is just kind of the casual misogyny, disrespect for women that we’ve seen come out of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein,&#8221; Min said of a crude line drawing of a naked woman that accompanied a letter in Epstein&#8217;s &#8220;Birthday Book&#8221; — which the White House has repeatedly denied came from Trump.
&#8220;Again, I do want to say we have no reason to think that he was in any way involved with that check itself. Also, no reason to think he’s connected to any wrongdoing involving Jeffrey Epstein,&#8221; Berman cautioned. &#8220;You noted, you’re a prosecutor, you are a lawyer here. There’s this defamation —&#8221;
&#8220;I would say we have lots of reasons to think he was involved in wrongdoing,&#8221; Min ignored the warning and charged ahead. &#8220;I mean, at this point, there’s a lot of smoke. There may be some fire, but I would just push back and say I think there’s a lot reason to think Donald Trump was involved.&#8221;
&#8220;Involved with what? I’m sorry what exactly, what proof do you have that he was involved with wrongdoing in regards to Jeffrey Epstein?&#8221; Berman asked. &#8220;And if that’s the case where – why have there been no prosecutions over 20 years here? Because there haven’t really been any allegations that he was involved with the wrongdoing.&#8221;
Min was insistent: &#8220;There are a lot of connections where Donald Trump was named, right? We had a 14-year-old claiming that she was raped by him, then withdrew that claim after she was apparently threatened. His name appears a lot. And again, we, at this point, our job is to find justice for these survivors, and that means that we need to continue digging, knowing that there is a cover-up taking place right now.&#8221;
Dialing back slightly, Min continued, &#8220;And I didn’t say that we have proof. At this point, we have, like, a lot a smoke. But Donald Trump’s name is clearly mentioned multiple times. We’ve seen him lie over and over about things that we now know to be true. So again, I think that we, as the Oversight Committee, deserve, we owe an obligation to the girls, the American people out there, to keep digging and find out the truth, whoever’s involved.&#8221;
Berman tried once more to get Min to tap the brakes: &#8220;Again, Donald Trump has not been named in any connection or charged with any wrongdoing there. Ghislaine Maxwell, take this for what it is, but Ghislaine Maxwell said she never saw Donald Trump, or anyone for that matter, engage in any wrongdoing connected to Jeffrey Epstein.&#8221;
&#8220;I will just point out that Ghislaine Maxwell was indicted for perjury after she made that statement that you mentioned, transferred to minimum security prison in Texas, so again &#8230;&#8221; Min protested.

Berman

‘What Proof Do You Have?’: CNN Anchor Tries To Help Dem Avoid Defaming Trump On Epstein

California

Donald Trump

Jeffrey Epstein

John Berman

Media

Politics

Yesterday, I covered at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-savage-crime-the-media-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about">great length</a> the horrific killing of Iryna Zarutska, the 23 year-old Ukrainian refugee who was savagely stabbed to death on a train in Charlotte by DeCarlos Brown, an evil, psychotic criminal barbarian with a lengthy rap sheet. To review: Iryna was on her way home from a shift at the pizza place where she worked. She boarded the light rail car and sat down in front of Brown without a single word exchanged between them. A few minutes into the ride, Brown pulled out a knife, stood up, and began butchering Iryna to death without warning. He then proceeded to walk around the train, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Nobody attempted to intervene at any point.
We now know Brown had been arrested 14 times before this awful crime was committed. The criminal justice system — which has no interest in dispensing justice to criminals — had 14 chances to get this creature off the street. They could have permanently removed him from society after the third arrest, or the fourth, or the seventh, or the tenth, but instead they gave him 14 chances. Even after he committed armed robbery, and assault, and more than a dozen other crimes. The system simply churned him back out, waited for him to get arrested again, and then churned him out again, like some kind of demonic merry go round.
This is a huge national story. A young woman lost her life in one of the most heinous ways imaginable. It is everything that George Floyd was purported to be, but never actually was. Floyd’s death didn’t matter that much. He was a violent career criminal who contributed nothing of value to society and then overdosed. Iryna, on the other hand, is an actual innocent victim of brutal interracial violence. Her death is a major scandal. It is the direct result of deep and widespread systemic failures and corruption. She should have the murals and the streets named after her. The judges and city officials who let her killer loose on the street should all get the Derek Chauvin treatment.
Instead, up until yesterday, Iryna’s case, far from being treated like a national scandal, was completely ignored by the national media. None of the major national outlets had said a word about it. CNN and MSNBC hadn’t spent even 30 seconds of airtime reporting on it. The New York Times and the Washington Post hadn&#8217;t dedicated 5 sentences of coverage to it. It was a total media blackout, made all the more infuriating by how utterly, disgustingly predictable it was.
But these days the media don’t lead the conversation, as much as they wish they could. The conversation happens without them, until they are forced to chime in for fear of being reduced to permanent irrelevance. So, over the 24 hours since our episode aired, finally some of the major corporate outlets decided to acknowledge this case, as we had left them no choice. And their spin is exactly what you would expect. To the media, the story isn&#8217;t the murder itself, but the fact that conservatives are talking about the murder. It isn’t that a black criminal butchered an innocent white woman, but that we have noticed it.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1654-the-matt-walsh-show?elementPosition=0&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
There are now headlines like this one from Politico: “Ukrainian refugee killed in North Carolina gets dragged into political messaging war. President Donald Trump and MAGA allies are using the killing of Iryna Zarutska to attack Democrats.” Yes, you see, Democrats are really the victims here. A young woman bled to death in public but the real concern is that Democrats are being attacked by conservative pundits on social media.
Axios had a similar spin. Headline: “Stabbing video fuels MAGA&#8217;s crime message.” They’re right, of course. The stabbing video does fuel our crime message. That’s because our crime message is that crime is bad. And people who commit crimes should go to prison, and not be permitted to stab women to death on the train. In the same way you could say that a video of a house fire fuels our firefighting message, which is that it’s bad for houses to burn down, and we should put out the fires rather than allowing them to engulf entire neighborhoods. Our messages tend to be pretty simple in that way.
But there is one part of this absurd <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/11/12/trump-media-maga-influencers-election">Axios piece</a> that warrants special mention:
<blockquote>“MAGA influencers are drawing repeated attention to violent attacks to elevate the issue of urban crime — and accuse mainstream media of under-covering shocking cases. <a href="https://www.wbtv.com/2025/09/05/light-rail-stabbing-graphic-video-shows-moments-before-after-woman-killed-charlotte/">Shocking video</a> of the fatal Aug. 22 <a href="https://www.charlottenc.gov/cmpd/News-Information/Newsroom/Homicide-Investigation-in-the-Central-Division-08.22.25">knife attack</a> on 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a light-rail car in Charlotte, North Carolina, dominated weekend conversation on Trump-friendly social media… The rising number of surveillance cameras in public spaces, including on Charlotte&#8217;s light rail, has become a big accelerant in these cases. The video is easily shared or leaked, and can instantly pollinate across social media — a visual counterpoint to statistics showing crime decreases.”</blockquote>
That’s correct. As I&#8217;ve covered extensively in the past, crime stats can be manipulated in many ways. You can show “decreases&#8221; in violent crime simply by now reporting the crime, or not charging the criminals. If a city decides to pretend that vast categories of crime are not longer crimes, then “crime,” statistically, will go down. It is not hard to make a city safer on the stat sheet.
Making it safer on the light rail car, however, is a different matter. A city can be safe on a sheet of paper, but not safe on the street, or the sidewalk, or at the gas station, or on public transportation, and so on.
The videos break through the false narratives and the juked crime stats by showing us what’s actually happening. It is one thing to hear that a city has X number of murders. It&#8217;s another thing to see what that means, to see how these murders are happening, and where they&#8217;re happening, and who they&#8217;re happening to, and who they’re being committed by. That’s why all of the security cameras and police body cameras are becoming a major problem for the Left. Don’t be surprised when there’s a major push to get rid of the cameras in the name of “privacy.” As we’ve talked about many times, we&#8217;ve already seen the beginnings of this process with police body cams. The left-wing race hustlers demanded the body cams, and then the body cams proceeded to annihilate all of their narratives about police brutality, and now they’re not so hot on bod cams anymore. A similar thing will happen — and is already beginning to happen — with security cameras.
Here’s a story out of Canada:
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Hamilton is forcing a home owner to remove his security cameras which are on his house &amp; property. 
Only the Government is allowed to watch you citizen. <a href="https://t.co/3mErbvJXc8">pic.twitter.com/3mErbvJXc8</a>
— Ryan Gerritsen🇨🇦🇳🇱 (@ryangerritsen) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryangerritsen/status/1964322252205224411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Credit: @ryangerritsen/X
So, he has ten cameras because of a rash of attempted break-ins. The cameras have been used not only to protect himself against burglary and other crimes, but to help solve and prevent other crimes in the neighborhood. Now his local city school marm bureaucratic tyrants are telling him to take the cameras down because of &#8220;privacy&#8221; concerns. But we all know the real concern. It’s that the cameras are not only documenting crime, but documenting who is actually committing most of the crime. And that is the thing we aren&#8217;t supposed to notice. The noticing is the problem.
That’s certainly what CNN is worried about:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
CNNs reaction segment tonight about the horrific murder of Iryna Zarutska tonight was to express sympathy for the suspect and harshly criticized social media pundits.
Van Jones decided to weigh in, criticizing <a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@charliekirk11</a> due to alleged racial hate mongering.
He claimed that… <a href="https://t.co/6i2LPK6sTF">pic.twitter.com/6i2LPK6sTF</a>
— Media Lies (@MediasLies) <a href="https://twitter.com/MediasLies/status/1965241746008207612?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Credit: @MediasLies/X
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A black man murdered a Ukrainian refugee &amp; proclaimed he “got that white girl.”
CNN: “The open racism on sites like X today, it&#8217;s eye-popping.”<a href="https://t.co/l1y57QwlN4">pic.twitter.com/l1y57QwlN4</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1965158814849835080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Credit: Breaking911/X
So the narrative we hear from the media is as predictable as it is revolting. They are infinitely more outraged at the alleged “racially charged language” of conservative pundits than they are at the actual butchery of an innocent woman by a 14 time career felon on public transportation. They are not angry that this woman was killed. They couldn’t care less. They wouldn&#8217;t even be talking about it, if they had their way. Instead they’re outraged by the “racism” of conservatives who have noticed that the murder happens.
Then we hear from Van Jones that we can’t say for sure whether that black criminal killed Iryna because she was white. So just to review: the media can say for sure that it’s racist to say mean things about a black guy who killed a white woman, but they can&#8217;t say for sure that it’s racist for a black guy to actually kill a white woman. The murder isn’t racist. The commentary is. That&#8217;s what these despicable snakes are actually claiming.
Keep in mind, this is coming from the same people who declared from the first moment that the George Floyd footage went viral that it was a racist hate crime. There was nothing in the video — not a single thing — that indicated any kind of racial motivation whatsoever. And yet when a black suspect ODs while being detained by a white cop, it&#8217;s a racist killing. When a black criminal slaughters a white woman on the train, it’s a mental health episode. This is what these soulless goblins expect us to believe.
Hey, Van, here&#8217;s what we know. Statistically, a white person is 30 times more likely to be killed by a black person than the other way around. In 2019, there were about 560 thousand violent interracial incidents between blacks and whites. 470 thousand of them were black on white. That&#8217;s 85%. 240 black people were killed by whites. 560 white people were killed by blacks. And this is all in spite of the fact that white people make up 60% of the population. Blacks are 13%. Just by raw numbers — not even per capita, but raw numbers — there are more black interracial killers than white. There are 171 million more white people in the country, and yet there are more black interracial killers. That kind of disparity should be impossible. And yet it&#8217;s real, and it&#8217;s happening.
Per capita, the situation is even more dire. Black people — young black males in particular — are an order of magnitude more violent and more likely to commit crimes than any other group in the country. Black men are 5 or 6% of the population but they commit the majority of murders in this country. That makes black males in America more dangerous than perhaps any other demographic in the entire world, let alone the country. And we know all of this despite the efforts by the FBI and every other institution to hide and bury racial crime statistics. Imagine how much worse it really is. Imagine how grisly it would look if they let us see the whole picture, instead of just pieces of it.
But we can see enough to know, without any doubt whatsoever, that the violent crime epidemic is driven by one demographic to an overwhelmingly disproportionate degree. And all of this has happened while you, Van, and your propagandist cohorts, have spent years claiming that the reality is exactly the opposite of this. You paint a picture of a country where black people walk around in fear of white violence. Where black people are constantly tired and exhausted by the brutality inflicted upon them by the villainous whites.
But those of us who you condemn as “racists” — we are the ones who are tired. We are tired of not being able to walk down the street in our own cities. We are tired of losing good, productive citizens at the hands of violent degenerates who contribute nothing to society. We are tired of the total lack of accountability and responsibility. We are tired of a system that prioritizes the “restoration” and “rehabilitation&#8221; of violent psychopaths over the protection of innocent, law abiding people. And we are tired of pretending that all of this isn’t happening. We aren&#8217;t going to pretend anymore.

MixCollage-09-Sep-2025-02-15-PM-155

The Media Is Outraged That You’re Outraged By The Murder Of An Innocent White Woman

The Media Is Outraged That You're Outraged By The Murder Of An Innocent White Woman

Blacks

Charlotte

Crime

Legacy Media

Matt Walsh

Murder

Opinion

Van Jones

Violent Crime

Whites

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus and bestselling author Ben Shapiro ripped into leftist talking points during viral exchanges on multiple shows over the past week. 
Shapiro was interviewed on shows that are known for criticizing the conservative viewpoint, such as CNN’s “News Night With Abby Phillip,” “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” and “The Breakfast Club,” hosted by Charlamagne tha God. While Shapiro spent some time talking about his new book, “<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/pages/lions-scavengers-by-ben-shapiro-available-september-2-2025?srsltid=AfmBOopBsREVpdysJqEC0X-XIA7sZncCOwG9LjkcX4PpVqrJXnVl1TVH">Lions &amp; Scavengers</a>,” most of his discussions on the shows focused on pushing back against leftism. 
<h3>Pro-Life Masterclass</h3>
Shapiro joined the “Breakfast Club” to talk about a range of issues, but one topic gained a lot of attention: abortion. The Daily Wire editor emeritus defended an unborn baby’s right to life against pro-abortion arguments from co-hosts, Jess Hilarious and DJ Envy. 
“I don’t think that the subjective definition of life is how we define life,” Shapiro said. “We all agree, for example, that a one-month-old baby should not be drowned. Right, we all agree on that. And that’s not up to the personal … and the question is, well, why? Because we now understand that the one-month-old baby, everyone agrees with this, right, that — except for Peter Singer at Princeton — that a one-month-old baby has an independent interest in life.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;You&#8217;re talking about what a woman should be allowed to do. I&#8217;m talking about the definition of personhood of the separate person inside the woman.<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a>&#8216;s argument against abortion on <a href="https://twitter.com/breakfastclubam?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@breakfastclubam</a> is a must watch ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/3imJE2K9hI">pic.twitter.com/3imJE2K9hI</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1965046952141435332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“The argument I don’t like is that it’s up to every single person to define when life begins,” he added.
Charlamagne then weighed in then, saying he would argue that life began when there was a heartbeat.
“If life begins at the heartbeat … you’re talking about abortion restrictions very early on,” Shapiro said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a>: The argument I don&#8217;t like is that it&#8217;s up to every single person to define when life begins.<a href="https://twitter.com/cthagod?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cthagod</a>: I think it begins when there&#8217;s a heartbeat.<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a>: If life begins at the heartbeat &#8230; you&#8217;re talking about abortion restrictions very early on. <a href="https://t.co/nM4IYeQGeO">pic.twitter.com/nM4IYeQGeO</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1965050577844625723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Shapiro also shot down the argument that rape and incest are a reason to keep abortion legal. 
“People choose that argument because it&#8217;s the hardest one to make emotionally from the pro-life side … but the vast majority of abortions have nothing to do with rape or incest,” he said. 
<h3>Major Mamdani Burn</h3>
Shapiro ripped NYC socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s record and his rapping ability during his appearance on “The Breakfast Club.” 
“The guy has not held a job and he&#8217;s going to be the mayor of New York&#8230; after being a failed rapper&#8230; I&#8217;m a more successful rapper for God&#8217;s sake than Zohran Mamdani,” Shapiro said, referring to his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiros-facts-tops-billboard-charts-as-best-selling-rap-single">chart-topping single</a> with Tom MacDonald. 
“You had one record, dude,” Charlamagne said. 
“And let me tell you, it was a banger,” Shapiro replied. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a>: &#8220;The guy has not held a job and he&#8217;s going to be the mayor of New York&#8230; after being a failed rapper&#8230; I&#8217;m a more successful rapper for God&#8217;s sake than Zohran Mamdani.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/cthagod?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cthagod</a>: &#8220;You had one record, dude.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a>: &#8220;And let me tell you, it was a banger.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/gTgEoSsEQQ">pic.twitter.com/gTgEoSsEQQ</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1965054387761668497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<h3>Social Security Smackdown</h3>
During a debate on Social Security on CNN, Shapiro explained to the panelists how the entitlement program works and how it’s on a path to bankruptcy. 
First, Shapiro shot down the idea pushed by Phillip that Social Security is just a system in which Americans “pay into” to receive that money back at retirement.
“Well no,” Shapiro shot back, adding, “I promise you the amount that people are taking out is not the amount that is going in, which is why we are going bankrupt.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a> teaching <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a> panelists how Social Security works is the video you didn&#8217;t know you needed😂 <a href="https://t.co/W54BsyPYKp">pic.twitter.com/W54BsyPYKp</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1963081890799264170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Later in the panel discussion, Ana Kasparian, host of the leftist show, “The Young Turks,” argued that spending on defense and foreign aid was a bigger problem pushing the country toward bankruptcy than Social Security. 
“You don’t think the trillions of dollars we’ve spent on wars in the Middle East might have something to do with that?” she asked. 
“That is not even remotely a percentage of what we spend on Social Security,” Shapiro replied. And, of course, he was correct. In 2024, Social Security accounted for 21% of the federal budget, totaling $1.5 trillion. Defense spending, meanwhile, made up 13% of the budget, or $872 billion.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/AnaKasparian?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AnaKasparian</a> suggests military spending drives debt more than Social Security:<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a>: That&#8217;s not even REMOTELY a percentage of what we spend on Social Security.<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottJenningsKY</a>: You think Israel is a bigger portion of our budget than Social Security? <a href="https://t.co/FbD18tnGnP">pic.twitter.com/FbD18tnGnP</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1963087926188740635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<h3>Western Civilization History Lesson</h3>
During his interview with sports and radio host Stephen A. Smith, Shapiro said that Western Civilization must be “upheld,” pushing back against the scavenger mindset that wants to tear down the traditions and values that came before us. 
Shapiro argued that Western Civilization is built upon biblical values combined with reason, which have given the world the renaissance, the enlightenment, balanced powers in government, free speech, private property, and free markets. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/stephenasmith?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@stephenasmith</a>: Does Western Civilization need to be torn down? Define Western Civilization. <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a>: &#8220;Western Civilization needs to be upheld&#8230;Biblical living combined with the application of reason&#8230;leads to the great prosperity and freedom we have today.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/qwVvQa9Px3">pic.twitter.com/qwVvQa9Px3</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1963775080158409045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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***
Shapiro’s defense of conservative values make for great viral clips, but it’s even better to read from his new book, “<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/pages/lions-scavengers-by-ben-shapiro-available-september-2-2025?srsltid=AfmBOopBsREVpdysJqEC0X-XIA7sZncCOwG9LjkcX4PpVqrJXnVl1TVH">Lions &amp; Scavengers</a>.” The book is a gripping exploration of the ongoing war between those who cherish our nation and those who seek to undermine it.

Lions & Scavengers

WATCH: Ben Shapiro Destroys Leftist Narratives During ‘Lions & Scavengers’ Media Blitz

Abortion

Ben Shapiro

Charlamagne Tha God

Lions and Scavengers

Social Security

Stephen A. Smith

The knives are out, and they&#8217;re all aimed at Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a series of shake-ups have upended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a top vaccine recommendation committee.
For those who don&#8217;t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week&#8217;s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
On ABC News&#8217; &#8220;This Week,&#8221; Kennedy was the focus of a roundtable discussion involving former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ), former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile, former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page.
Christie unloaded on Secretary Kennedy, calling him a &#8220;foolish man&#8221; and claimed that President Donald Trump had only selected him to prove that he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it.
&#8220;Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a foolish man, full of foolish and vapid ideas. And that was on display again this week in front of Congress,&#8221; Christie complained, referring to a Senate Finance Committee hearing that took place late in the week. &#8220;This wholly unqualified man [is] in charge of 25% of all government spending &#8230; the president&#8217;s smart enough to know, RFK Jr. doesn&#8217;t belong in that job. But after he won, he wanted to show everybody, &#8216;I can do whatever I want to do because this Senate will be compliant no matter what I do. And I&#8217;ll put the greatest vaccine and public health denier of the last 20 years in charge of public health in America.&#8217; It&#8217;s a human middle finger to everybody who opposed him.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 JUST IN: Chris Christie goes BERSERK on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and warns RFK is a grave danger to American health.
&#8220;Robert F Kennedy Jr. is a foolish man, full of foolish and vapid ideas. And that was on display again this week in front of Congress.&#8221;
&#8220;This wholly unqualified… <a href="https://t.co/eDi5xxHuAE">pic.twitter.com/eDi5xxHuAE</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1964703297618731224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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On CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation,&#8221; host Margaret Brennan brought in physician and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) to discuss Kennedy, the recent committee hearing, and the fact that several prominent Republicans had been equally hard on the secretary.
Marshall defended Kennedy, however, explaining that he had brought in for a very specific purpose: to bring about change.
&#8220;Look, President Trump picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be a disrupter to the CDC, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s focused on making the CDC more transparent, to make it more trustworthy right now. Right now, Americans don’t trust the CDC. So, he is literally turning that place upside down,&#8221; Marshall said.
&#8220;I respect what my colleagues are saying. But this whole issue … in that meeting was about vaccines. In my humble opinion not every person needs every vaccine. And I don’t think there are many children out there who need 76 jabs by the time they’re old enough to vote,&#8221; Marshall continued, arguing that vaccines were wonderful things that had saved millions of lives but that they should be a choice rather than something that was forced on every child and every parent.
&#8220;But before you label me a non-vaxxer person, look, I’ve raised money for polio vaccinations. The MMR is a great vaccine, it’s saved thousands of lives. Vaccines, overall, have saved hundreds of millions of lives but not every person needs every vaccine and we just want to empower parents and the doctors to make great decisions,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“President Trump chose Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To be a disruptor to the CDC and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) says after Kennedy faced heated questions during testimony to Congress over CDC turmoil and his leadership of HHS.
“Right now, Americans… <a href="https://t.co/oxPPK2RMHA">pic.twitter.com/oxPPK2RMHA</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1964726146450313724?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A newly-engaged Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) took things a step further when he joined host Kristen Welker on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press.&#8221; Kennedy, he said, should immediately resign his post for failing to &#8220;protect Americans&#8217; health.&#8221; But that was not enough for the New Jersey Democrat, who then claimed that Trump&#8217;s entire cabinet should follow suit.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says he believes HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as President Trump’s entire Cabinet, should step down for not “protecting Americans’ health.” <a href="https://t.co/qCLXC7iKxP">https://t.co/qCLXC7iKxP</a> <a href="https://t.co/UYlYulx0h5">pic.twitter.com/UYlYulx0h5</a>
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1964690162597675314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Kennedy himself gave some context in the aftermath of the contentious hearing, saying on Fox News&#8217; &#8220;Big Weekend Show&#8221; that it was, in fact, his job to shake things up because that was the only way to restore trust in institutions like the CDC.
&#8220;My job is to FIRE the people who were responsible for masking our children with no science, for social distancing orders with no science,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
RFK Jr: “My job is to FIRE the people who were responsible for masking our children with no science, for social distancing orders with no science.” <a href="https://t.co/K3KAefMrSG">pic.twitter.com/K3KAefMrSG</a>
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) <a href="https://twitter.com/Holden_Culotta/status/1964693266944995534?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends: Weekend,&#8221; Kennedy explained why he&#8217;d had no choice but to fire the former CDC vaccine chief.
&#8220;We tried to get the vaccine safety data language — the data that supposedly the CDC tries to use to make good decisions on whether vaccines are hurting people and whether there are side effects. For seven months, he stonewalled us so that we could not get that data!&#8221; Kennedy said. &#8220;He&#8217;s also the individual that runs the VAERS system, which is the surveillance system for injuries that captures, according to CDC&#8217;s own study, fewer than 1% of vaccine injuries. This is malpractice.&#8221;
&#8220;These people are the people who ordered our children to walk around in masks. They&#8217;re the people who closed our schools. They&#8217;re the people who imposed social distancing with no science, shut down our businesses, and they need to go,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We need new blood, and we need new people who are committed to public health and integrity and gold standard science.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 BREAKING: Secretary RFK Jr. reveals that he fired the CDC vaccine chief because for 7 MONTHS Kennedy was BLOCKED from getting vaccine safety data.
This person also STONEWALLED money going to Texas to help with measles&#8230;he was a full-on TRAITOR, holy crap!
&#8220;I gave the order,… <a href="https://t.co/dCWdKE2TZ7">pic.twitter.com/dCWdKE2TZ7</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1964688908857250278?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr Testifies At Senate Finance Hearing

Spin Cycle: The Knives Are Out For RFK Jr.

ABC News

CBS News

NBC News

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro debated retirement and Social Security on CNN on Tuesday night, explaining to his fellow panelists how Social Security is on a path to bankruptcy.
During a roundtable discussion on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWUNpmUU7a8&amp;list=PL6XRrncXkMaWWFyjMtzWWSeOocFr-N_3s&amp;index=1">News Night with Abby Phillip</a>,&#8221; Shapiro defended his stance that the government should not hand out Social Security checks for people to retire at 65 years old. The Daily Wire host warned that if the government does not raise the retirement age, &#8220;We will go bankrupt.&#8221;
&#8220;Women are living to 85 if they make it to 65, men are living to 83 if they make it to 65 — that&#8217;s 20 years on the public dime,&#8221; Shapiro added.
Phillip argued that Social Security is a system in which Americans &#8220;pay into&#8221; to receive that money back at retirement.
&#8220;Well no,&#8221; Shapiro replied, adding, &#8220;I promise you the amount that people are taking out is not the amount that is going in, which is why we are going bankrupt.&#8221;
&#8220;Okay, but it&#8217;s not the government just handing out a blank check,&#8221; Phillip said. &#8220;People pay into the Social Security system.&#8221;
&#8220;No, it&#8217;s the government borrowing money &#8230; you pay in X dollars and then you get multiple times X dollars when you retire,&#8221; Shapiro replied. &#8220;That is how the system works. It is not a <a href="https://www.cato.org/commentary/al-gores-social-security-confusion">lockbox</a>. This is what Al Gore was arguing about in 2000.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a> teaching <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a> panelists how Social Security works is the video you didn&#8217;t know you needed😂 <a href="https://t.co/W54BsyPYKp">pic.twitter.com/W54BsyPYKp</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1963081890799264170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Ana Kasparian, host of the leftist show, &#8220;The Young Turks,&#8221; shot back at Shapiro, saying, &#8220;I completely reject what you just said about how we&#8217;re going bankrupt through Social Security. Really? You don&#8217;t think the trillions of dollars we&#8217;ve spent on wars in the Middle East might have something to do with that?&#8221;
&#8220;That is not even remotely a percentage of what we spend on Social Security,&#8221; Shapiro replied.
&#8220;We&#8217;re spending hundreds of billions of dollars on Israel, on Ukraine. I mean, honestly, these foreign conflicts have a lot more to do with our national debt as opposed to us paying into [Social Security],&#8221; Kasparian added.
&#8220;That is just untrue,&#8221; Shapiro fired back.
In 2024, Social Security <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go#:~:text=Social%20Security:%20In%202024%2C%2021,workers%20and%20their%20eligible%20dependents." target="_blank" rel="noopener">accounted for 21%</a> of the federal budget, totaling $1.5 trillion. Defense spending, meanwhile, made up 13% of the budget, or $872 billion. Less than 1% of the budget was allocated to international programs, including humanitarian aid. By far, the most significant portion of the federal budget in 2024 was allocated to health insurance (24%) and Social Security.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/AnaKasparian?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AnaKasparian</a> suggests military spending drives debt more than Social Security:<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a>: That&#8217;s not even REMOTELY a percentage of what we spend on Social Security.<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottJenningsKY</a>: You think Israel is a bigger portion of our budget than Social Security? <a href="https://t.co/FbD18tnGnP">pic.twitter.com/FbD18tnGnP</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1963087926188740635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Ben Shapiro/Abby Phillip

Ben Shapiro Educates CNN Panelists On Social Security: ‘We Will Go Bankrupt’

Budget

Retirement

The Daily Wire

White House Deputy Assistant Sebastian Gorka got into a heated spat with CNN anchor Brianna Keilar on Sunday&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; telling her that he did not trust her network to provide accurate information.
The two were discussing the tragic school shooting that took place at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis several days prior, and Keilar accused him of &#8220;missing the bigger picture&#8221; when he focused on the fact that the shooter was a trans-identifying man.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“We can&#8217;t stick with your facts because they&#8217;re not accurate.”<a href="https://twitter.com/brikeilarcnn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@brikeilarcnn</a> spars with <a href="https://twitter.com/SebGorka?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SebGorka</a> over the Trump administration’s false claims about the prevalence of mass shootings committed by transgender people. <a href="https://t.co/di0OjEA9hL">pic.twitter.com/di0OjEA9hL</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1962144962528624898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;You know, 96% of attackers — when you’re looking at the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, looking at 172 mass attacks in the US between 2016 and 2020 — 96% were non-trans men. So I know you’re focusing on this shooter being trans,&#8221; Keilar said. &#8220;The shooter was trans — and that is certainly of note. But are you missing the bigger picture here when you zero in on that instead of more broadly these school shooters as an epidemic and you perhaps miss the through line that connects them all?&#8221;
Gorka pushed back, arguing that the data set Keilar was pulling from included gang violence and other shootings that did not appear to be ideologically motivated at all.
&#8220;Well, no, because your facts obfuscate two things. You are using data based upon the predominant gun violence – which is gang-on-gang violence with zero ideological content. If you remove all of that, the gang violence on the streets of Chicago, LA, Detroit, then you come down to a much smaller data set,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So it’s like those who say, you know, gun violence in America causes so many deaths, and then fail to note that the majority of the stats they are using refer to also suicides by gun — which, of course, is not what we are talking about here today. So let’s concentrate on mass shootings at schools — specifically Christian or Catholic schools. Then the data set is wholly different.&#8221;
&#8220;So don’t conflate different data sets just to make a political point. There was an ideological content to this attack. That’s what terrorism is. It’s not because somebody didn’t get the drug deal they wanted. It is an ideological message,&#8221; he continued.
Keilar narrowed her data down to just school shootings and said that by her count, only three of the last 32 school shooters had identified as trans — but Gorka was not convinced.
&#8220;Yeah, forgive me if I don’t go with CNN stats, OK? CNN has proven itself to be wholly inaccurate in all kinds of things for the last 10 years — perpetrators of the Russia hoax, and that we didn’t have an open border. So please forgive me if I didn’t take your stats for granted,&#8221; he shot back.
Keilar pushed again: &#8220;It’s simple math.&#8221;
&#8220;No, it’s not, it’s distortions! You are distorting the facts!&#8221; he protested. &#8220;Let me be clear. In just a couple of years, we have seen seven mass shootings involving people of transgender nature, or who are confused in their gender, seven in just the last couple of years! …I’m going to stick with the facts and not CNN’s pseudo facts.&#8221;
Keilar contested that as well, claiming that of the seven Gorka mentioned, at least one had &#8220;used anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.&#8221;
Gorka went on to say that he was most concerned with how often school shooters are &#8220;known&#8221; to law enforcement and whether or not potential red flags and warning signs are being ignored.

Hassett Says Trade Deals Could Happen This Week, Praises India

Seb Gorka Squares Off With CNN Anchor Over School Shooter’s Trans Identity

Seb Gorka Squares Off With CNN Anchor Over School Shooter's Trans Identity

Brianna Keilar

School Shooting

Transgender

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe laid out a long list of similarities between the shooter who targeted a Catholic school in Minneapolis on Wednesday and the shooter who targeted a small Christian school in Nashville just over two years earlier — but he left out one key point.
McCabe briefly served as acting FBI director after President Donald Trump fired his predecessor, former FBI Director James Comey, before he himself was fired — but he has been serving as a CNN correspondent in the years since, and he joined the network early Thursday morning to discuss the shooting that rocked Minneapolis just one day earlier.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Andy McCabe notes &#8220;remarkable similarities&#8221; between Minneapolis &amp; Nashville mass murderers — but can you guess which one he neglected? <a href="https://t.co/36GNsUwESf">pic.twitter.com/36GNsUwESf</a>
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1961049900805730503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The CNN anchor suggested that it could be a case of a &#8220;copycat&#8221; who saw something in a prior shooting and wanted to emulate it.
&#8220;Are you seeing a rise in copycats given what we&#8217;re learning about this obsession that existed?&#8221; she asked.
&#8220;Yeah, absolutely they are,&#8221; McCabe began. &#8220;This is something that we&#8217;ve seen in other mass shootings. We&#8217;ve seen mass shooters who actually refer in their manifestos to previous shooters, but this one is really remarkable to me in that respect.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;I was looking at — I haven&#8217;t seen the manifesto, so I can&#8217;t say whether there are specific references to the 2023 Covenant School shooter in Nashville,&#8221; McCabe continued. &#8220;But if you look at that situation and this one, there are remarkable similarities.&#8221;
McCabe went on to lay out all the similarities that he saw between the two, omitting the painfully obvious fact that both shooters identified as transgender. &#8220;So, both were in their 20s, both targeted religious schools that they formerly attended. Both brought three weapons to the crime. Both purchased those weapons legally. Both drove to the attack site and left a vehicle there. Both posted manifestos in which they raged, and expressed grievance towards numerous ethnic groups and religions. You know, a real broad stroke of, of kind of anger there. Both sought to kill children, young children specifically. And I think the most important [thing] here is both were students of other mass shooters.&#8221;

Andrew McCabe Signs Copies Of His New Book “The Threat: How The FBI Protects America In The Age Of Terror And Trump”

Disgraced Former FBI Chief Compares Nashville, Minneapolis Shooters — Leaves Out One Key Point

Andrew McCabe

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made good on a promise to detain and then deport Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, CNN still couldn&#8217;t let go of the &#8220;Maryland man&#8221; narrative with which legacy media outlets have flooded the airwaves since his story first made the evening news.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the Trump administration is asking that Abrego Garcia be deported to Uganda — but his attorneys have already filed a new lawsuit asking that he be kept in the United States while they contest that order.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/25/politics/kilmar-abrego-garcia-baltimore-rally?Date=20250825&amp;Profile=cnnbrk&amp;utm_content=1756124905&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">reported</a> on the latest turn of events, but could not let go of the &#8220;Maryland man&#8221; narrative:
<blockquote>Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador earlier this year, was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after turning himself in to a facility in Baltimore.</blockquote>
A number of others dropped the nearly-ubiquitous term, but most of them did so in mocking tones:
&#8220;Goodbye, &#8216;Maryland Man,'&#8221; Townhall posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Goodbye, “Maryland Man”. <a href="https://t.co/DR2nwaPsCS">pic.twitter.com/DR2nwaPsCS</a>
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1959970611893014720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Several shared video footage of a press conference where Abrego Garcia pleaded with the public for support as he fights the deportation order — and most pointed out the fact that he gave his remarks in Spanish, arguing that a person who was truly from Maryland might have done so in English.
&#8220;How many &#8216;Maryland Men&#8217; can&#8217;t speak English?&#8221; one asked.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
How many &#8220;Maryland Men&#8221; can&#8217;t speak English? <a href="https://t.co/hxEO1Szt5y">pic.twitter.com/hxEO1Szt5y</a>
— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) <a href="https://twitter.com/nataliegwinters/status/1959992805478318129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The Maryland man brand lives on!&#8221; Fox News National Correspondent Bill Melugin added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Maryland man brand lives on! <a href="https://t.co/mF0NapW0qs">https://t.co/mF0NapW0qs</a>
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillMelugin_/status/1960023143084355988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-rallied-around-a-dangerous-criminal-alien-now-theyre-paying-the-price">Abrego Garcia</a>, a suspected MS-13 gang member and human trafficker, was initially deported to a Salvadoran prison, but was brought back to the United States — thanks in large part to the elected Democrats who went to the mat on his behalf and the media outlets that helped to paint him as an unwitting victim in what they suggested was President Donald Trump&#8217;s plan to deport as many people as possible.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NY Times: “Maryland man”
Fox: “Kilmar Abrego Garcia”
WaPo: “Maryland man”
Axios: “Maryland man”
USA Today: “Maryland father”
Only one of those stories is factual. The other four are pushing a narrative <a href="https://t.co/hcSYXRFsFC">pic.twitter.com/hcSYXRFsFC</a>
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) <a href="https://twitter.com/SonofHas/status/1931138677146616177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Checks In At Baltimore ICE Office After Release From Jail

CNN Can’t Let ‘Maryland Man’ Narrative Go

CNN Can't Let 'Maryland Man' Narrative Go

illegal alien

Illegal Immigration

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday — in the hopes of bringing about an eventual peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine after three years of war — and the media talking heads, apparently, are having none of it.
For those who don&#8217;t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week&#8217;s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
Of course, just 48 hours after the much-touted meeting between Trump and Putin, the conversations across the Sunday political talk shows were focused on Russia — but rather than allow Trump an ounce of grace for bringing Putin to the table, they poked and prodded at the whole scenario, looking for fault wherever they could find it.
On ABC&#8217;s &#8220;This Week,&#8221; host Martha Raddatz attempted to put Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the defensive, asking him to respond to critics who claim he&#8217;d put Putin on the &#8220;world stage&#8221; by meeting him on the &#8220;red carpet&#8221; in Alaska.
Rubio pointed out the obvious — that Trump&#8217;s critics were always going to find something to complain about — and then argued that Putin, after waging war against Ukraine for three years, was already on the world stage.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
When asked about Pres. Trump facing criticism for his warm welcome of Russian Pres. Putin, Sec. Rubio said, &#8220;Critics of President Trump are always going to find something to criticize &#8230; I will tell you this, Putin is already on the world stage.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/lDUBzfFcsj">https://t.co/lDUBzfFcsj</a> <a href="https://t.co/y2C2vrxoSG">pic.twitter.com/y2C2vrxoSG</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1957085205744800238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Raddatz then asked Rubio what concessions Trump was able to get from Putin during their face-to-face meeting, prompting the Secretary of State to tell her abruptly that he would not be revealing any such concessions on her show.
&#8220;As much as everyone would love it to be a live, pay-per-view event, these discussions only work best when they are conducted privately in serious negotiations,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
When asked by <a href="https://twitter.com/MarthaRaddatz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarthaRaddatz</a> what concessions were asked of Russia’s Putin, Sec. Rubio said, “As much as everyone would love it to be a live, pay-per-view event, these discussions only work best when they are conducted privately in serious negotiations.” <a href="https://t.co/wTfrXhFP2T">https://t.co/wTfrXhFP2T</a> <a href="https://t.co/S9yNsJYnad">pic.twitter.com/S9yNsJYnad</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1957079828735074327?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Jake Sullivan, who served as National Security Adviser under former President Joe Biden, claimed that Russia was using the negotiations in order to get land concessions that they could not obtain on the battlefield, and suggested that Trump was blind to Putin&#8217;s efforts to use him.
Putin, he told Raddatz, &#8220;is just trying to take us all for a ride, to keep this war going, keep attacking Ukraine without facing additional pressure.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that he hopes Pres. Trump will see in hindsight that Russian Pres. Putin “is just trying to take us all for a ride, to keep this war going, keep attacking Ukraine without facing additional pressure.” <a href="https://t.co/BS3Y0qa5Ab">https://t.co/BS3Y0qa5Ab</a> <a href="https://t.co/wOok5WMc38">pic.twitter.com/wOok5WMc38</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1957098239208853809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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NPR&#8217;s Mary Louise Kelly claimed that Trump&#8217;s refusal to take questions could be taken as proof that the meeting was a failure, saying, &#8220;Donald Trump loves to take questions &#8230; When we saw Trump&#8217;s choosing to take no questions whatsoever, not even trying to claim a win, I think what was left unsaid was much more striking than what was said.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“Donald Trump loves to take questions&#8230;When we saw Trump&#8217;s choosing to take no questions whatsoever, not even trying to claim a win, I think what was left unsaid was much more striking than what was said,” NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly said of the Putin summit. <a href="https://t.co/c4WucVqaCH">https://t.co/c4WucVqaCH</a> <a href="https://t.co/QIxfdBQt9x">pic.twitter.com/QIxfdBQt9x</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1957109079022662003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) also spoke with Raddatz about the summit, and also claimed that Trump&#8217;s gamble had failed: &#8220;There’s no sugar coating this — Donald Trump, once again, got played by Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin got the red carpet treatment on American soil. But we got no ceasefire, no imminent meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“There’s no sugar coating this — Donald Trump, once again, got played by Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin got the red carpet treatment on American soil. But we got no ceasefire, no imminent meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen said. <a href="https://t.co/UzUy5XK2Gr">https://t.co/UzUy5XK2Gr</a> <a href="https://t.co/yxdz9tZQ8w">pic.twitter.com/yxdz9tZQ8w</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1957120656333570505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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On CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation,&#8221; the tone was very much the same. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) sat down with host Margaret Brennan, and he referred to the meeting as a &#8220;historic embarrassment.&#8221;
&#8220;Vladimir Putin does not care about the amount of time that we’re allocating, does not care about a B-2 bomber flyover, does not care about a lineup of F-22 fighters rolled out, he doesn&#8217;t care about any of that,&#8221; Crow claimed, arguing that Putin would only respond to more sanctions and military defeat.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska was a “historic embarrassment” for the U.S., Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) says.
“Vladimir Putin does not care about the amount of time that we’re allocating, does not care about a B-2 bomber flyover,… <a href="https://t.co/aIatCNbWQi">pic.twitter.com/aIatCNbWQi</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1957109149877096946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Brennan also spoke with Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who notably testified against Trump in his first impeachment, who claimed that Trump had brought out the B2 stealth bombers not as a show of force but a show of deference to Putin.
The flyover, she said, &#8220;looked much more like a show of appreciation for Vladimir Putin&#8221; than a show meant to intimidate him.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The B-2 bomber flyover and lineup of fighter jets during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrival to Alaska “looked much more like a show of appreciation for Vladimir Putin” than a show of force by the U.S., Russian expert Fiona Hill says.
The optics of Friday’s summit were… <a href="https://t.co/yvBBKIRAOo">pic.twitter.com/yvBBKIRAOo</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1957112182665097516?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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On NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; host Kristen Welker brought in Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who took much the same position as Crow and called the summit a &#8220;disaster&#8221; and an &#8220;embarrassment for the United States.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tells Meet the Press that President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Putin in Alaska was a “disaster” and an “embarrassment for the United States.” <a href="https://t.co/QC9TKvZ5hW">https://t.co/QC9TKvZ5hW</a> <a href="https://t.co/1qBng7t48y">pic.twitter.com/1qBng7t48y</a>
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1957080110206460077?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump spent the day on Sunday alternately touting the success of the summit and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-slams-media-as-sunday-show-hosts-pan-putin-summit-these-people-are-sick">lashing out at media</a> for attempting to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-thrashes-media-over-russia-summit-critiques-its-incredible">cast doubt</a> on his efforts.
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U.S. President Trump And Russian  President Putin Meet On War In Ukraine At U.S. Air Base In Alaska

Spin Cycle: Trump Met With Putin, So That Can’t Be Good. No, Seriously, We Can’t Let That Be Good

Spin Cycle: Trump Met With Putin, So That Can't Be Good. No, Seriously, We Can't Let That Be Good

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

In the grand tradition of &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hakeem-jeffries-debuts-new-trump-nickname-proves-he-learned-nothing-from-cocaine-mitch">Cocaine Mitch</a>&#8221; McConnell (R-KY), &#8220;CNN NewsNight&#8221; host Abby Phillip accidentally gave President Donald Trump a new nickname that, if anything, will only make him sound cooler.
Phillip began a roundtable discussion with a reference to Trump&#8217;s decision to invoke Section 740 of the Home Rule Act and deploy federal resources in Washington, D.C., in an effort to tackle the rampant violent crime that has been plaguing the city and putting residents and visitors at risk.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
CNN&#8217;s Abby Phillip:
&#8220;Donald Trump makes himself Batman and the nation’s capital is Gotham City.&#8221;
That makes President Trump sound SUPER COOL!
Don&#8217;t think that was Abby&#8217;s intention at all. <a href="https://t.co/DeNP1nUVwh">pic.twitter.com/DeNP1nUVwh</a>
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1955088342661382540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Let&#8217;s get right to what America is talking about,&#8221; she began. &#8220;Donald Trump makes himself Batman and the nation’s capital is Gotham City. The President of the United States has declared himself Crime Fighter in Chief, and he&#8217;s taking over Washington&#8217;s police force. It is a move that the D.C. Mayor is calling &#8216;unsettling and unprecedented.'&#8221;
The immediate response from Trump voters was to embrace the nickname, flooding X with memes and comments referring to Trump as Batman.
&#8220;I voted for this,&#8221; one posted with an AI-generated image of Trump as Batman with Vice President JD Vance as Robin.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I voted for this. <a href="https://t.co/WRMux4ElcV">https://t.co/WRMux4ElcV</a> <a href="https://t.co/nkA1jUNTE1">pic.twitter.com/nkA1jUNTE1</a>
— Burt Macklin (@BurtMaclin_FBI) <a href="https://twitter.com/BurtMaclin_FBI/status/1955263215044067791?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I&#8217;m whatever Gotham needs me to be,&#8221; another added, including an image of Trump in the iconic cape and cowl.
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I&#8217;m whatever Gotham needs me to be. <a href="https://t.co/dLq87STYp8">https://t.co/dLq87STYp8</a> <a href="https://t.co/PyWsExDKhC">pic.twitter.com/PyWsExDKhC</a>
— Christian Martinez (@C_RMartinez) <a href="https://twitter.com/C_RMartinez/status/1955091308575355337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We call this stumbling upon truth,&#8221; one quipped in response to Phillip&#8217;s comment.
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We call this stumbling upon truth <a href="https://t.co/DVDeXONGdD">https://t.co/DVDeXONGdD</a>
— Derek. (@SuitablePolitic) <a href="https://twitter.com/SuitablePolitic/status/1955250668693815454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Ya&#8217;ll really trying to make @realDonaldTrump look even more badass aren&#8217;t you?&#8221; another asked.
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Yall really trying to make <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> look even more badass aren&#8217;t you <a href="https://twitter.com/abbydphillip?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@abbydphillip</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/zUFO9jYZaA">https://t.co/zUFO9jYZaA</a> <a href="https://t.co/0vHPK70QZo">pic.twitter.com/0vHPK70QZo</a>
— Rollo (@SportsRollo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsRollo/status/1955251801424335072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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And of course, a number pointed out the fact that years ago — when asked by a young boy if he was Batman — Trump said that he was: &#8220;I am Batman!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
CNN&#8217;s Abby Phillip: &#8220;Donald Trump makes himself Batman and the nation’s capital is Gotham City.&#8221;
President Trump: &#8220;I am Batman&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/GiwUHsSO8X">https://t.co/GiwUHsSO8X</a> <a href="https://t.co/HfTcPkfGHp">pic.twitter.com/HfTcPkfGHp</a>
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1955222840690569497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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TOPSHOT-LEBANON-ENTERTAINMENT-CINEMA-BATMAN

CNN Slaps Trump With New Nickname, Accidentally Makes Him Sound Cooler

Batman

Superheroes

CNN&#8217;s chief data analyst said on Monday that the numbers don&#8217;t lie: the Democrat and media driven pressure campaign to use the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s case as a weapon against President Donald Trump is falling flat.
Harry Enten broke down the polling during a segment with anchor Kate Bolduan, telling her that persistent efforts to tie Trump to his administration&#8217;s handling of case had failed to do any real damage. &#8220;This is, from at least a political point of view, quickly turning into a dud of a story,&#8221; he said.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Epstein saga is becoming a political dud &amp; nothingburger.
-Google searches for Epstein are down 89% from just 3 weeks ago. 
-Trump&#8217;s approval rating is holding steady &amp; much higher than term 1 at this point in his presidency 
-Less than 1% say it&#8217;s the nation&#8217;s top issue <a href="https://t.co/rnp2M8qzdf">pic.twitter.com/rnp2M8qzdf</a>
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) <a href="https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1954908048184459444?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Take a look here, Google searches for Epstein down 89% versus just three weeks ago, falling through the floor! It is no longer the top term searched alongside Donald Trump’s name,&#8221; Enten explained. &#8220;That’s been trading off between tariffs and Vladimir Putin with obviously the meeting coming up later this week. But at this particular point, the American people’s interest in this story, it’s quickly becoming something of a nothingburger.&#8221;
Bolduan pressed him on overall polling, asking whether there was any indication that support for Trump was waning in reaction to his administration&#8217;s handling of the case and the related files that have not yet been released.
&#8220;No, not really,&#8221; Enten replied. &#8220;I mean, take a look here. Let’s take a look at the overall numbers. Trump’s approval rating in July of 2025, it was 45%. It’s still well within that margin of error here at 44%. And you compare that to where he was in his first term at this point, he was at 37%. So he’s seven points higher, very much in a different political universe now, significantly higher in terms of his overall approval rating than he was at this point in his first term.&#8221;
&#8220;And more than that, among Republicans, his approval rating is near a record high, hovering right at about that 90% mark,&#8221; Enten added. &#8220;So no, he hasn’t lost any of that base. And when it comes to that center of the electorate, he’s basically holding on there. And his overall approval rating, 44%, is pretty gosh darn good for him, considering where he was at this point in term number one.&#8221;

President Trump Hosts Phillipines President Marcos At The White House

‘A Nothingburger!’: CNN Data Whiz Tells Dems Their Epstein Gamble Was A ‘Total Dud’

'A Nothingburger!': CNN Data Whiz Tells Dems Their Epstein Gamble Was A 'Total Dud'

Democrats

Harry Enten

Polls

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) turned out a scathing critique of former Vice President Kamala Harris and her 2024 presidential bid, saying that she&#8217;d relied too much on the counsel of billionaires who had steered her away from speaking on behalf of American workers.
Sanders spoke with CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; and she asked him to address a comment he&#8217;d made about Harris at a recent rally in West Virginia.
WATCH:
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“How do you run for president and not develop a strong agenda which speaks to the economic crisis facing working families?”<a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenSanders</a> says that one reason Kamala Harris lost in 2024 was because “she had too many billionaires telling her not to speak up for the working class.” <a href="https://t.co/QRnwxO8znQ">pic.twitter.com/QRnwxO8znQ</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1954533959892631883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Bash began with a clip of from the rally, in which Sanders told the audience, &#8220;One of the reasons, in my view, that Kamala Harris lost this election is she had too many billionaires telling her not to speak up for the working-class of this country.&#8221;
&#8220;Ouch,&#8221; Bash reacted before she asked Sanders to clarify.
&#8220;Well, no, I think, I mean, I don’t think that that’s — I like her, she’s a friend of mine, but her core consultants, you know, were heavily influenced by very wealthy people,&#8221; Sanders said. &#8220;How do you run for president and not develop a strong agenda which speaks to the economic crises facing working families? You know, more income and wealth inequality today than we’ve ever had. You have 60% of our people living paycheck to paycheck. You’ve got a health care system which is broken and dysfunctional, and despite spending so much, we’re the only major country not to guarantee health care to all people. How do you not talk about these issues?&#8221;
&#8220;She talked about affordability —&#8221; Bash prompted.
Sanders objected: &#8220;Well, but in a vague — I don’t want to rehash that campaign, but I think the clue to Democratic victories is to understand that you’ve got to stand unequivocally with the working class of this country. You need an agenda that speaks to the needs of working people.&#8221;
Just two months before the election, Sanders sang a different tune. He claimed then that Harris was being &#8220;pragmatic&#8221; in hiding her own Marxist tendencies so that she could win the election.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨QUIET PART OUT LOUD🚨
Welker: &#8220;Do you think Kamala is abandoning her progressive ideals?&#8221;
Bernie: &#8220;I think she is trying to be pragmatic and do what she thinks is right in order to win the election.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/qtwmgui7vd">pic.twitter.com/qtwmgui7vd</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1832777676811034816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
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