The legacy media have stonewalled letting President Trump have the win he deserves for his strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities. What President Trump did in Iran is one of the most historic wins of my lifetime.
Just to recap, Israel launched an overwhelming aerial assault on the Iranian facilities, nuclear and missile-based. They were going after ballistic missile development factories in Iran — their ballistic missile stockpiles, their missile launchers — as well as their nuclear facilities.
For nearly two weeks, Israel hammered the Iranians. But there was one facility in particular, Fordo, which was some 250-300 meters underground. And Israel did not have the ordnance capable of penetrating that facility. So President Trump authorized a B-2 strike using 30,000 pound bombs on Fordow, and in his words, “obliterated” the site.
The media won&#8217;t let that be the case, that President Trump used force to end the Iranian nuclear program and then declared the war over — and it was over.
It was, in fact, a historic win, and a win that we haven&#8217;t seen in American foreign policy in my lifetime: One strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities, a complete reshuffling of the deck in the Middle East with Israel as a regional powerhouse and Iran a supplicant, and no continuous war between Israel and Iran, no hot war continuing.
With no American casualties, by the way.
An amazing accomplishment.
But the media just won&#8217;t let President Trump have it. They won&#8217;t. They keep claiming over and over and over that, actually, maybe Fordo wasn&#8217;t destroyed. In fact, Fordo is fine. Maybe the Israeli-American effort was completely for naught, they claim.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2227-member-exclusive?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
They have no basis upon which to say this, other than the word of Ayatollah Khamenei, who has been tweeting that everything is hunky dory from his bunker, presumably in Tehran, <a href="https://x.com/khamenei_ir/status/1938180907887698222">claiming</a> with astonishing chutzpah: 
<blockquote>With all that commotion and all those claims, the Zionist regime was practically knocked out and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic.</blockquote>
You have to be high on drugs to believe this. He was literally hiding in a bunker for the entirety of the war. His regime was so weak that the Israeli Air Force was flying continuous sorties unhindered over Iranian airspace, with zero casualties on the IAF side, zero, for two weeks.
And yet <a href="https://x.com/khamenei_ir/status/1938184845873844536">he says</a> that, in reality, the “Zionist regime,” Israel, was practically knocked out and crushed:
<blockquote>My congratulations on our dear Iran’s victory over the US regime. The US regime entered the war directly because it felt that if it didn’t, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing.</blockquote>
The Baghdad Bob aspect in the Middle East is always absurd to Westerners. Ayatollah Khomeini trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, at least in terms of public perception, does not mean that he was not, in fact, hammered or that the nuclear program is intact.
But Khamenei <a href="https://x.com/khamenei_ir/status/1938185956793761808">tweeted out:</a>
<blockquote>The Islamic Republic delivered a heavy slap to the US’s face. It attacked and inflicted damage on the Al-Udeid Air Base, which is one of the key US bases in the region.</blockquote>
Nope. Actually, he called and he whined and begged the Qataris and the Americans to allow him to send a few missiles at the base, none of which actually hit.
Why am I telling you what Khamenei is saying? Because you&#8217;re hearing it echoed by the media. The New York Times and CNN reported that there was a Defense Intelligence Agency estimate that Fordo had not been knocked out, not been obliterated, not even been severely damaged.
It turned out that that was a low-confidence assessment by one of 18 intelligence agencies under the DIA. It didn’t matter. The media ran with it anyway. This became the top story in the media.
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How do we know that it&#8217;s stupid? According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/world/middleeast/centrifuges-fordo-damage-iran.html">UN nuclear watchdog</a> head, the director general of the IAEA, there was “no escaping significant physical damage after the U.S. strike on the Iranian facility.” Barak Ravid of Axios, a front man for Left-wing and isolationist agitprop coming out from various leak-driven parts of various administrations, <a href="https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/1938229914244682140">tweeted</a>, “I told Jake Tapper that a senior Israeli intelligence official told me that other than the word ‘obliterated’ the reality regarding the results of the attack on Iran is much closer to where Trump says it is than to where the initial DIA report said it was.”
All of this came to a head yesterday when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did a press conference. He crushed the fake news that&#8217;s been targeting President Trump, declaring:
<blockquote>Because you cheer against Trump so hard — it&#8217;s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad — you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren&#8217;t effective. Maybe the way the Trump administration represented them isn&#8217;t true. So let&#8217;s take half-truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it. Spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots were successful.
This was an historically successful attack. We should celebrate it as Americans, and it gives us a chance to have peace, a chance to have a deal and an opportunity to prevent a nuclear Iran, which is something President Trump talked about for 20 years.</blockquote>
He was correct.
Hegseth wasn’t done. He called on Jennifer Griffin of Fox News, who&#8217;d been one of the people who reported this particular DIA assessment.
<blockquote>Griffin: Do you have certainty that all the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordo mountain, or some of it, because there were satellite photos that showed more than a dozen trucks there two days in advance. Are you certain none of that highly enriched uranium was moved?</blockquote>
<blockquote>Hegseth: Of course, we&#8217;re watching every single aspect. But, Jennifer, you&#8217;ve been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says.
Griffin: I was reporting about the ventilation shafts on Saturday night. And in fact, I was the first to describe the B-2 bombers, the refueling, the entire mission with great accuracy. So I take issue with that.
Hegseth: I appreciate you acknowledging that this was the most successful mission, based on operational security, that this department has done since you&#8217;ve been here. I appreciate that. So, we&#8217;re looking at all aspects of intelligence and making sure we have a sense of what was what.</blockquote>
Hegseth got feisty with the media, and a lot of it was deserved. Some of the questions he was asked were absolutely ridiculous. He was asked by a reporter about the fact that he had suggested that it was “brave boys” who flew the plane when one of the people in the plane was a woman, and here was his response:
<blockquote>So when I say something like our boys and bombers, see, this is the kind of thing the press does, right? Of course. The chairman mentioned a female bomber pilot. That&#8217;s fantastic. She&#8217;s fantastic. She&#8217;s a hero. I want more female bomber pilots. I hope the men and women of our country sign up to do such brave and audacious things.
But when you spin it as, because I say “our boys,” — and bombers is a common phrase — I&#8217;ll keep saying things like that, whether they&#8217;re men or women. Very proud of that female pilot. Just like I&#8217;m very proud of those male pilots. And I don&#8217;t care if it&#8217;s a male or a female in that cockpit, and the American people don&#8217;t care. But it&#8217;s the obsession with race and gender in this department that&#8217;s changed priorities. And we don&#8217;t do that anymore. We don&#8217;t play your little games.</blockquote>
You could see how deeply, deeply annoyed Hegseth was along with the entire administration, having to explain that when you drop 12 bunker-busters on an Iranian nuclear site and destroy their nuclear facilities — or at the very least render them completely inoperable — and then the media lie about it and seek any speck of information to discredit that — it is deeply annoying.
And it should be deeply annoying. The media refuse to give President Trump the win he deeply deserves.
Simply put, they are trash.

Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth Holds Pentagon Press Conference On Iran Strikes

Hegseth Wrecks Trump-Hating Media

Ben Shapiro

Department of Defense

Iran

Iran Airstrike

Legacy Media

Middle East

Opinion

Pentagon

Pete Hegseth

President Trump

After CNN, The New York Times, and other legacy media outlets tried to torpedo the success of President Donald Trump’s strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities, quoting a leak claiming the strike only set Iran&#8217;s nuclear program back by months, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed the leakers, calling them “professional stabbers” and revealing an investigation is already underway.
“The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by seven people briefed on it,” CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/politics/intel-assessment-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites">declared.</a> “Intel Report on Iran Upends Victory Lap Trump Was Hoping for at NATO,” the Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/us/politics/trump-nato-iran.html">trumpeted</a>.
Speaking while seated with Hegseth and President Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Rubio began by attacking the leakers, saying, “First of all, all of this stuff about the intelligence: This is what a leaker is telling you the intelligence said. That’s the game these people play; they read it and then they go out and characterize it the way they want to characterize, and they’re leakers. This is the game they play. So that’s number one.”
He segued to the results of the attack: “ Number two: the conversion facility — which you can’t do a nuclear weapon without a conversion facility — we can’t even find where it is, where it used to be on the map. You can’t even find where it used to be because the whole thing is just blackened out. It&#8217;s gone.”
“It&#8217;s wiped out,” Trump interjected.
“It&#8217;s wiped out,” Rubio repeated. “Then we dropped 12 of the strongest bombs on the planet right down the hole in two places. Everything underneath that mountain is in bad shape. And I refer you to the statement of the IAEA, Mr. Grossi. You know what he said? He said there was Iran the way it looked the day before the attack, and what their nuclear program looks like now. Two very different things. They are way behind where they were just seven days ago.”
“Now, anything in the world can be rebuilt, but now we know where it is, and if they try to rebuild it, we’ll have options there as well,” Rubio asserted. “But all of this leaker stuff; these leakers are professional stabbers. That’s what they are. They go out and they read this stuff and then tell you what it says — against the law — but they characterize it for you in a way that’s absolutely false. There’s no way Iran comes to the table if somehow nothing had happened: This was complete and total obliteration. They’re in bad shape. They are way behind today compared to where they were just seven days ago because of what the president did.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> sets the record straight for the Fake News: &quot;These leakers are professional stabbers&#8230; There&#39;s no way Iran comes to the table if somehow nothing had happened. This was a complete and total obliteration&#8230; They are way behind today compared to where they were just 7… <a href="https://t.co/V3wrIjic8F">pic.twitter.com/V3wrIjic8F</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1937800084621558011?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“When you talk to people who built the bombs, understand what those bombs can do, and deliver those bombs, they landed precisely where they were supposed to,” Hegseth said. “It was a flawless mission. Right down where we knew they needed to enter. Given the 30,000 pounds of explosives, the capabilities of those munitions, it was devastation underneath Fordo. And the amount of munitions, six per location,  any assessment that tells you something otherwise is speculating with other motives. And we know that because when you actually look at the report — by the way, it was a top-secret report — it was preliminary; it was low-confidence, you make assessments based on what you know — ”
“And it said it could be very devastating, very serious —” Trump pointed out.
“Moderate to severe, and we believe far more likely severe and obliterated,” Hegseth echoed.
“Is there a leak investigation?” a reporter asked.
“Of course,” Hegseth replied. “We’re doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now, because this information is for internal purposes, battle-damage assessments. And CNN and others are trying to spin it to make the president look bad when this is an overwhelming success.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨JUST IN: WATCH:?SecDef Pete Hegseth announces criminal investigation into the leaked bad intel to CNN and NYT that the strikes on Iran didn&#39;t destroy the nuclear program
&quot;We&#39;re doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/46Uzfd6qUZ">pic.twitter.com/46Uzfd6qUZ</a>
&mdash; Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) <a href="https://twitter.com/JewishWarrior13/status/1937851760116404715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

NATO Leaders Attend 2025 Summit In The Hague

Rubio, Hegseth Slam Media Over Iran Strike Leak: ‘Professional Stabbers’ Undermining U.S. Victory

Donald Trump

Iran Nuclear

leaks

Marco Rubio

Media

Politics

Pressed by a reporter to publicly reveal his plans regarding a possible American strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump cracked up people around him on Wednesday morning with a response lacerating the media’s self-absorbed attitude toward matters of national security.
“You haven’t answered questions about whether you are moving closer or you believe the U.S. is moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear facilities. Where is your mindset on that?” a reporter asked.
“I can’t say that, right? You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question,” Trump fired back. He turned to the men behind him who were at the White House to install new flagpoles, asking rhetorically, “Will you strike the Iranian nuclear component and what time exactly, sir? Sir, when you strike it, will you please inform us so we can be there and watch?” Trump&#8217;s sarcastic response evoked laughter.
He turned back to the reporter. “I mean, you don’t know that I’m even gonna do it,” he declared. “You don’t know; I may do it; I may not do it. Nobody knows what I&#8217;m going to do.” Then he adopted. more serious tone, saying, “I can tell you this: Iran&#8217;s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate. And I said, ‘Why didn’t you negotiate with me before?’ All this death and destruction. I said to people, ‘Why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You could have had a country.’”
“It&#8217;s very sad to watch this; I’ve never seen anything like it,” he remarked. “You know, everyone thought it was going to be the reverse. I didn’t think so. And I was telling them, you gotta do something; you gotta negotiate. And at the end, last minute, they said, ‘No, we’re not gonna do that.’ And then they got hit.”
“Remember 60 days?” he recalled of his ultimatum that Iran had 60 days to negotiate a deal with the U.S. “And then came — 61’s going to become a very famous number. That was one hell of a hit, that first hit. That was one hell of a hit.”
He spoke of the Iranian regime’s intransigence, saying, “Not sustainable, to be honest,” adding, “It ended on the first night.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Q: Is the US moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear facilities?
TRUMP: I may do it, I may not do it. Nobody knows what I&#39;m going to do. Iran&#39;s got a lot of trouble. <a href="https://t.co/33jiLd3eSf">pic.twitter.com/33jiLd3eSf</a>
&mdash; Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1935338452880441421?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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US-POLITICS-WHITE HOUSE

Trump Lacerates Reporter Asking Him To Publicly Reveal His Plans On Striking Iran

Executive

Stop the fight!
The Legacy Media and the Left (but we repeat ourselves) declared war on “Harry Potter” author <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jk-rowling">J.K. Rowling</a> in 2019 after she questioned elements of the trans agenda.
Rowling, a certified progressive on cultural and political matters, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/5-years-ago-j-k-rowling-took-a-stand-against-trans-activists-she-hasnt-backed-down">refused to rubber stamp every aspect of the movement</a>.
<blockquote>Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?</blockquote>
For that, she was canceled in every way possible, over and again.
<a href="https://thehill.com/video/jk-rowling-speaks-out-on-death-threats-from-pro-trans-activists-rape-murder-and-violence/10265832/">Some attempts proved literal.</a> She was the queen of the TERFS to the Left — Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists.
Now, nearly six years later, she’s emerged as a leading voice for sanity in the trans arena. She repeatedly speaks her mind on X, fights back against her legion of critics and is a key player behind one of the most anticipated streaming shows of our time.
HBO Max&#8217;s new <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/06/harry-potter-tv-series-max-release-date-cast-1235323284/">“Harry Potter” series,</a> due in either late 2026 or 2027, will retell the seven-book series captured in the epic eight-part film saga.
The battle rages on all the same, and she refuses to apologize. Still.
She’s blasted <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jk-rowling-calls-out-trans-activist-creep-over-womens-bathroom-selfies">a “creepy” trans activist</a> for bathroom selfies, slammed attempts to conflate the Pope’s name with an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jk-rowling-says-shes-found-the-most-bat-s-gender-identity-argument-yet">absurd trans argument</a> and stated the obvious when it comes to casting the new “Potter” series.
She responded to a journalist’s provocative narrative suggesting she wouldn’t hire an actor who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jk-rowling-said-she-wouldnt-fire-actor-from-harry-potter-series-for-being-pro-trans">disagreed with her trans issues</a>.
<blockquote>I don’t have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn’t exercise it if I did … I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine.</blockquote>
That likely would have been a staunchly liberal stance 20 years ago. Those comments sound positively conservative in 2025, even though Rowling has never identified herself as conservative.
Either way, it’s refreshing to see an author embrace free speech.
<div id="attachment_503922" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-503922" class="size-large wp-image-503922" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/GettyImages-1193618855-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 12: J.K. Rowling arrives at the 2019 RFK Ripple of Hope Awards at New York Hilton Midtown on December 12, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/GettyImages-1193618855-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/GettyImages-1193618855-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/GettyImages-1193618855-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/GettyImages-1193618855.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images</div>
Actors linked to the “Harry Potter” universe, either the existing films or the future TV show, are continually asked about Rowling’s views on trans issues. The media remains obsessed with Rowling’s willingness to speak her mind and share views considered mainstream by many.
Future “Harry Potter” star Nick Frost – he is tentatively set to play Hagrid in the TV series – blazed a <a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/harry-potter-nick-frost-jk-rowling-trans-views-dont-align-1236423365/">mature path on the matter</a>.
<blockquote>She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine, they just don’t align in any way, shape or form.</blockquote>
Translation: A gig’s a gig, most likely. Frost still suggested in the same interview we need to “educate ourselves” on trans issues. The sight of too many trans female athletes dominating biological females may be all the learning we need, Hagrid 2.0.
Tom Felton, who played the wicked Draco Malfoy in the original films, sidestepped a leading question on the red carpet while throwing his support behind Rowling. He’s co-starring in a Broadway adaption of Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
He didn’t share his stance on trans issues with the scribe. He simply praised an author who made his <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/06/09/tom-felton-jk-rowling-broadway-harry-potter/84111570007/">career shine impossibly brighter</a>.
<blockquote>The only thing I always remind myself is that I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world. Here I am in New York … and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter, and she’s responsible for that. So I’m incredibly grateful.</blockquote>
Compare that to the verbal brickbats thrown by the original Harry Potter and Hermione, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, at Rowling over her trans views.
<div id="attachment_934305" style="width: 897px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-934305" class="size-large wp-image-934305" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-118421523-887x576.jpg" alt="LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 07: Actor Daniel Radcliffe, writer J.K. Rowling, actress Emma Watson and actor Rupert Grint attend the &quot;Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2&quot; world premiere at Trafalgar Square on July 7, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Jon Furniss/WireImage)" width="887" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-118421523-887x576.jpg 887w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-118421523-300x195.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-118421523-768x499.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-118421523.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 887px) 100vw, 887px" />Jon Furniss/WireImage</div>
Here’s the former Harry Potter <a href="https://ew.com/daniel-radcliffe-j-k-rowlings-anti-trans-rhetoric-really-sad-8641559">taking her to task for her views</a>.
<blockquote>It makes me really sad, ultimately … I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.</blockquote>
HBO Max has had Rowling’s back for some time. The streamer also sees a shifting cultural landscape. The Warner Bros. Discovery platform might have chafed at joining forces with Rowling four or five years ago.
That was before Riley Gaines struck endless blows on behalf of biological women and Matt Walsh’s groundbreaking documentary “What Is a Woman?” had yet to be released.
Remember the tiny role Rowling played in the 2022 “Harry Potter” reunion special on HBO Max? Rowling said she <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/jk-rowling-harry-potter-anniversary-special-absence-explained-1235352807/">declined an invitation to appear</a>, but her archival footage proved brief and perfunctory.
Surely there’s countless footage of the author exploring the magical universe that transported countless children while teaching them to love reading?
Now, the streamer is desperate to stay in her good graces and wring every eyeball possible from the upcoming series. <a href="https://www.mensjournal.com/entertainment/hbo-makes-decision-on-relationship-with-j-k-rowling">HBO CEO Casey Bloys</a> made that obvious earlier this year.
<blockquote>It’s pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She’s entitled to them. ‘Harry Potter’ is not secretly being infused with anything. And if you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter.</blockquote>
Rowling never wavered through it all. One could argue she has enough money to ignore Cancel Culture and the media, but others with very deep pockets bowed to the progressive mob in short order.
Take Stephen King. The <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7936237/Stephen-King-apologizes-controversial-tweets-diversity-Oscars.html">horror maestro backpedaled</a> when progressives attacked him for suggesting merit matters more in the arts than diversity box checking. He even penned a mewling apology/essay in The Washington Post to keep the Cancel Culture mob at bay.
Scarlett Johansson, arguably the most popular actress in the country, similarly did the Hostage Apology routine after <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/scarlett-johansson-says-she-mishandled-transgender-casting-controversy-n1092131">she briefly accepted a gig playing a trans person</a>. That film, “Rub and Tug,” never got made sans the actress’ clout and star power.
Rowling has stayed true to her beliefs and has only grown bolder since the 2019 dustup. She trusted “Harry Potter” fans, or enough of them at least, would have her back.
She was right.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

J.K. Rowling At EE British Academy Film Awards

Expelliarmus! J.K. Rowling Disarms Her Critics Again And Again

Cancel Culture

Entertainment

Harry Potter

HBO Max

JK Rowling

Transgender

Twitter

Former Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump said on Tuesday that she was grateful for journalist Jake Tapper apologizing to her months after a heated debate over former President Joe Biden&#8217;s mental acuity, but added that the CNN host&#8217;s change of heart &#8220;feels a little bit too late.&#8221;
Following the release of his book, &#8220;Original Sin,&#8221; which documents the cover-up of Biden&#8217;s decline in the White House, Tapper said he apologized to Trump for berating her after she pointed out Biden&#8217;s mental struggles during an interview in October 2020. Trump, the president&#8217;s daughter-in-law, confirmed that Tapper called her &#8220;about two months ago&#8221; to promise that he would go on TV to apologize. Trump said she appreciated &#8220;that he did keep his word.&#8221;
&#8220;He said, &#8216;I have this book coming out, and I know everybody is saying that I should apologize to you. I plan, whenever the book comes out, to go on TV and I will say you were right and I was wrong.&#8217; And I guess to Jake&#8217;s credit, he did that,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/lara-trump-reveals-story-behind-cnn-anchor-jake-tappers-a-little-bit-too-late-apology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
&#8220;I think the overarching thing here is that the damage is done,&#8221; she added. &#8220;We were so close to something so dangerous happening to this country. &#8230; And Jake Tapper saying that this is like a Watergate-level type of situation, now that he played a role in it, it feels a little bit too late to me. I do appreciate that he did keep his word, though, and has come out and said that I was right.&#8221;
During the October 2020 interview, which took place just weeks before the presidential election between Biden and Trump, Tapper pushed back against Mrs. Trump for questioning Biden&#8217;s mental acuity, arguing that Trump was exploiting Biden&#8217;s stutter.
&#8220;I think what we see on stage, Jake, is very clearly a cognitive decline,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;Ok &#8230; I think that you were mocking his stutter. And I think that you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody&#8217;s cognitive decline,&#8221; Tapper replied.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;I&#8217;m not diagnosing him. What I&#8217;m saying, Jake, is that we can clearly see that Joe Biden is struggling at many times on stage, and it&#8217;s very concerning to a lot of people that this could be the leader of the free world,&#8221; Trump shot back.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Seems like a good time to remind everyone that in 2020 Jake Tapper, first, accused me of making fun of people with a stutter (an atrocious accusation) and then attempted to shut me down and ended our interview when I tried to warn people of Joe Biden’s very obvious cognitive… <a href="https://t.co/ZOxSGQP13J">pic.twitter.com/ZOxSGQP13J</a>
— Lara Trump (@LaraLeaTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/LaraLeaTrump/status/1806420367415914571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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While on a media tour to promote his book earlier this month, Tapper <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6wrn09T30I" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> British TV host Piers Morgan, &#8220;Knowing what we know now, and looking back on that interview, which I feel tremendous humility about, she [Lara Trump] was right, and I was wrong.&#8221;
&#8220;I did not see, in the moments he was having, I did not see that as cognitive decline,&#8221; he added.
Tapper has been blasted for publishing a book about Biden&#8217;s mental decline — an issue conservatives had been raising for years — after the former president left office.
&#8220;No matter how much he wants to come out now and say, &#8216;You know what, we&#8217;re going to start calling the shots like we see them actually now.&#8217; It&#8217;s too late,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t do this time and time again to people and continue to lie to people in the way they did and think that you&#8217;re going to get any different result. It&#8217;s the reason Donald Trump is in the White House right now.&#8221;

Jake Tapper/Lara Trump

‘Too Late’: Lara Trump Reveals More About Jake Tapper’s Apologetic Phone Call

2020 Election

Jake Tapper

Joe Biden

Lara Trump

The news media and the Democrats — but I repeat myself — are reeling after the release of Jake Tapper’s new book, “Oh My God, I Lied About Everything!” The book is the result of Tapper’s eight-month investigation into Jake Tapper during which Tapper discovered that almost every word out of Tapper’s mouth has been entirely untrue.
Tapper says the break in his investigation came after he managed to isolate Tapper in an interrogation room under a bright light where he continually slapped him, shouting “Confess, you two-faced bastard,” until Tapper broke under the brutal questioning and confessed to Tapper that he’d been deceiving the public for years.
In a searching interview on his CNN Show, “Jake Tapper Investigates,” Jake Tapper told Jake Tapper, “I was absolutely shocked at the depth of my duplicity. I lied about Trump’s collusion with the Russians, I lied about Trump saying there were good people among the white supremacists. You know that time I said that George Floyd’s death indicated widespread racism among police? Total BS! Oh, and how about my panic-mongering during the pandemic unleashed by China with funding from Fauci? So help me, a word of truth in my mouth would die of loneliness. Finally — get this — I actually had the gall to publish a book on the cover-up of Joe Biden’s dementia in which I pretended to take some responsibility for not covering the story. Not covering the story? I covered the hell out of it! The idea that those lies were any different than all the other lies I told — that was the biggest lie of all!”
As Tapper’s book rose on fiction bestseller lists, other journalists and Democrats — but I repeat repeating myself — also began to rake in profits by getting to the bottom of the lies they’d been telling for years.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a></h3>
At ABC, for instance, George Stephanopoulos, the host of &#8220;Good Morning America,&#8221; opened the show with a special report blowing the lid off the consistent dishonesty of George Stephanopoulos, the host of &#8220;Good Morning America.&#8221;
“It’s terrible to think that George Stephanopoulos would have actually gotten away with these lies if I hadn’t exposed him,” said George Stephanopoulos. “I mean, let’s go back to the very beginning of my career. All those women who said Bill Clinton was chasing after them with his wing-wang hanging out? The only one lying was me when I said they were lying. Then, when ABC hired me after all that lying, I figured they just wanted me to keep on lying, so I did. Like, remember how we spiked Amy Robach’s Jeffrey Epstein story during Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and I said I had nothing to do with the decision? Well, I did a deep dive into that incident, let me tell you, and it turned out it was me all along.”
At CBS, News President Wendy McMahon resigned after “60 Minutes” was caught editing an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris so that a learned disquisition on Middle East politics by an AI Kamala voice was dubbed over Harris’s original statement which consisted of a series of random words interrupted by loud cackling laughter. Miss McMahon said that after finding out how dishonest she was, she could no longer work with herself.
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Bob Woodward has published a new 4,000-page book called &#8220;Bull,&#8221; in which Bob Woodward’s lies are exposed by an anonymous source called Deep Bob. Meeting in a shadowy underground garage, Deep Bob tells Woodward the so-called Watergate scandal was just a lot of minor mischief blown out of proportion to punish Nixon for being right about all the communists in the government. In another interview last week, former President John F. Kennedy told Woodward, “Oh, sure, my behavior was much worse than Nixon’s and no one covered that at all. Why do you think I had to leave town in such a hurry? Frankly, I think the entire history of the 20th century needs to be rewritten.”
Reacting to these revelations, former President Joe Biden said, “The whole thing’s absurd. Now all these journalists are blaming me for Trump’s re-election. What did I do? No, seriously, I can’t remember: what did I do?”

Legacy Media Shocked To Discover That Jake Tapper Lied About Everything

Andrew Klavan

Democrats

George Stephanopoulos

Satire

An AI-generated list of recommended reading for the summer, published by the Chicago Sun-Times, included several books that don’t exist.
Per <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/nx-s1-5405022/fake-summer-reading-list-ai">NPR</a>, at least one edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer used the same flawed list, titled “Summer reading list for 2025.&#8221; Suggested titles included “Tidewater Dreams,” purportedly authored by Chilean American novelist Isabel Allende, which was described as her &#8220;first climate fiction novel.&#8221; Allende is a real person, but the suggested novel is not a book she or anyone else published.
Another suggestion was “The Rainmakers,” which is described as a story set in a &#8220;near-future American West where artificially induced rain has become a luxury commodity.” This faux novel was said to be written by 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner Percival Everett.
The outlet noted that only five of the 15 books suggested were real titles. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Chicago Sun-Times printed a &quot;summer reading list&quot; featuring real authors but mostly made up books, generated by a freelancer using AI.
This comes two months after the newspaper cut 20% of its staff. <a href="https://t.co/TLMbDxuey0">pic.twitter.com/TLMbDxuey0</a>
&mdash; Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) <a href="https://twitter.com/nick_kapur/status/1924999492824399991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We are looking into how this made it into print as we speak,&#8221; Victor Lim, marketing director for the Chicago Sun-Times&#8217; parent company, Chicago Public Media, said in a statement. He also noted that the content did not come directly from the newspaper’s staffers. 
&#8220;This is licensed content that was not created by, or approved by, the Sun-Times newsroom, but it is unacceptable for any content we provide to our readers to be inaccurate. We value our readers&#8217; trust in our reporting and take this very seriously. More info will be provided soon as we investigate.&#8221;
The article&#8217;s author, Marco Buscaglia, addressed the error, writing in an email to NPR, &#8220;Huge mistake on my part and has nothing to do with the Sun-Times. They trust that the content they purchase is accurate and I betrayed that trust. It&#8217;s on me 100 percent.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale – Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
The paper also <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/press-room/2025/05/20/chicago-sun-times-response-to-may-18-special-section">issued a response</a> to subscribers, noting that the person responsible for the error had been terminated and promising the mistake would not happen again. They said subscribers would not be charged for the premium edition and said more care would be put into checking for AI-generated content in the future.
“We are in a moment of great transformation in journalism and technology, and at the same time our industry continues to be besieged by business challenges. This should be a learning moment for all journalism organizations: Our work is valued — and valuable — because of the humanity behind it,” the statement said.
“At Chicago Public Media, we are proud of our credible, independent journalism, created for and by people. And part of the journalistic process is a commitment to acknowledging mistakes. It is unacceptable that this content was inaccurate, and it is equally unacceptable that we did not make it clear to readers that the section was produced outside the Sun-Times newsroom.”

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times Published A.I.-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don’t Exist

Chicago Sun-Times Published A.I.-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don't Exist

Artificial Intelligence

Books

Chicago

Journalism

Newspaper

U.S.

CBS News and Stations President Wendy McMahon announced on Monday that she is resigning over disagreements with the network as CBS&#8217; parent company, Paramount, looks to settle a massive lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump.
McMahon said her time with the network was &#8220;a privilege and joy,&#8221; but added that recent months have been &#8220;challenging,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/media/cbs-news-chief-steps-down-over-trump-tensions-rcna207700" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>. Her resignation comes as Paramount moves closer to settling a $20 billion lawsuit brought by Trump, which alleges that &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris to cover up her poor answer while she was running for president. Paramount&#8217;s controlling shareholder and chair, Shari Redstone, wants to settle the lawsuit as she also <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-28/behind-the-60-minutes-upheaval-a-big-merger-seeking-approval" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seeks</a> the Trump administration&#8217;s approval to sell her company to the entertainment company, Skydance.
&#8220;It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,&#8221; McMahon wrote in a memo to CBS News staff. &#8220;It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.&#8221;
McMahon, who took over as CBS News and Stations president in August 2023, put herself in the crosshairs of Paramount executives with her support of former longtime &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; executive producer Bill Owens, who resigned last month, citing a lack of control over the direction of the stalwart news program, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/business/media/cbs-60-minutes-trump-wendy-mcmahon.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The leadership at Paramount was reportedly growing anxious with how the show reported on the Trump administration.
Redstone also slammed CBS News leadership last October after it reprimanded “CBS Mornings” anchor Tony Dokoupil for asking Left-wing activist Ta-Nehisi Coates tough questions about the Israel-Gaza conflict. McMahon informed Dokoupil that he had violated &#8220;the preproduction process where questions are run through Race and Culture and Standards and Practice.&#8221; Redstone <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/09/business/media/ta-nehisi-coates-cbs-interview-shari-redstone.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said publicl</a>y that CBS News&#8217; decision to reprimand the anchor was &#8220;a mistake.&#8221;
“I think we all agree that this was not handled correctly,” Redstone said.
McMahon will continue to work as CBS News president for a transition period that will last &#8220;a few weeks,&#8221; according to George Cheeks, the chief executive of CBS. McMahon will be replaced by Tom Cibrowski, who recently joined CBS News after working for ABC News for 30 years in multiple roles, and Jennifer Mitchell, who currently &#8220;oversees 27 CBS-owned stations and manages stations operations in 17 markets.&#8221;

Wendy McMahon

CBS News President Quits Amid ’60 Minutes’ Legal Battle With Trump

60 Minutes

Business

CBS News

Mainstream Media

Recently, the news stories in the media have been coming so fast and furious they’re almost like a group of muscular bald men driving hot cars out of airplanes, landing them on top of other cars, and then driving away at high speed while firing a rocket launcher out the window&#8230; because they’re fast and… well, never mind.
Anyway, I began to wonder: how can the news media report all this news in a way that reflects the outlooks of Americans everywhere across this great land, from the pine forests of Vermont to the golden wheat fields of Kansas, across the vast expanses of Texas to the sun-baked beaches of the Pacific Coast? So I decided I would take a look at the headlines of news outlets from 40th Street in Manhattan all the way to 47th Street — because that’s about all of them.
So for instance, in the news, inflation slowed to its lowest rate in more than four years.
Here’s the headline from The Wall Street Journal: &#8220;Trump’s Tariffs to Cause Massive Inflation Very, Very Soon, Experts Who Predicted Massive Inflation Because of Trump’s Tariffs Very Soon Say.&#8221;
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a></h3>
Here’s One From The New York Times: &#8220;Hardworking Migrant Juan Ortega May Lose His Chicken Farm as Trump’s Policies Cause the Bottom to Fall Out of Egg Prices.&#8221;
And here’s the Report from NPR: &#8220;How Lower Inflation Spurred the Rise of Hitler,&#8221; a historical report read by a person with a very soft, sleepy voice that will make you want to hurt yourself just to make it stop.
Another news story: Trump negotiated a ceasefire between hostile nuclear powers India and Pakistan.
From The Wall Street Journal: &#8220;Nuclear Devastation Averted, Leaving Millions Alive to Suffer Massive Inflation Very Soon Because of Donald Trump’s Tariffs, Experts who Predicted Massive Inflation Very Soon Because of Donald Trump’s Tariffs Say.&#8221;
Or from The New York Times: &#8220;Environmentalists Worry that Trump’s Reckless Actions on the Indian Subcontinent Will Leave Earth’s Population at Levels Sure to Cause Devastating Climate Change.&#8221;
Or the story as reported by NBC News: &#8220;Biden’s Policy of Mindlessly Prolonging Foreign Wars to No Effect Finally Pays Big Dividends by Bringing Peace Deal Between India and Pakistan.&#8221;
In other news, Trump negotiated the release of Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage being held by vampiric Palestinian monsters.
The headline in The Wall Street Journal reads: &#8220;Released Hostage Finds Himself in a World Soon to be Wracked by Massive Inflation Caused by Trump’s Tariffs, According to Experts.&#8221;
The New York Times headline was: &#8220;Sad Little Palestinian Boy Jihad Muhammed Sharia Jihad Jihad Muhammed Sheds Sad Tears of Very Sad Sadness as Genocidal Israelis Steal the Wonderful Friend his Parents Kept Chained up for Him in the Basement.&#8221;
And of course, CNN featured an interview with a Columbia University professor who once read part of a book on Israel and says the Jews sound genocidal to him until Scott Jennings knocks him unconscious and jumps up and down on his face.
Then there was the news that Donald Trump had negotiated several trillion dollars in American investment from Saudi Arabia.
The Wall Street Journal reported the story with the headline: &#8220;Saudis Want to Invest in America but Whoa Nellie, Just Wait Till They See the Massive Inflation that’s Going to be Caused by Trump’s Tariffs Any Day Now, Experts Say.&#8221;
The Headline in The New York Times reads: &#8220;Sad Yale Historian Who Studies Fascism Says He Is Leaving America Because Trump’s Presidency Will Look Just Like Fascism as Soon as It Looks Like Fascism.&#8221;
And CBS reported: &#8220;Weak Trump Caves to Saudi Demands that he take their Money.&#8221;
In other news, Trump struck a deal with China to free us from their hammerlock on our supply lines, brought down drug prices, bombed the Houthis into submission, opened U.K. markets to American farmers, made progress on a nuclear deal with Iran, and the headlines say….. oh, screw it.
***
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>
Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fourth installment, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1613165536?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_3&amp;storeType=ebooks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Woman Underground.</a>” His most recent nonfiction release is “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cain-Finding-Literature-Darkness/dp/0310368340/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=nMYjR&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_p=bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_r=133-8344803-2786917&amp;pd_rd_wg=7a8J3&amp;pd_rd_r=5791ea0f-6d96-4732-9d6a-3a4e6b348bb5&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness.</a>” (May 2025, Zondervan/HarperCollins).

Donald Trump, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

Trump’s Global Triumphs Cause Inflation Apocalypse, Say Analysts Cheering For Inflation Apocalypse

Economy

Foreign Policy

Inflation

Tariffs

Jake Tapper, Joe Biden

Democrat Elites Are Playing A Giant Game Of ‘Cover Your A**’ And It’s Hilarious

Axios

George Clooney

Matt Walsh

To prove that Donald Trump is a very mean person while journalists are totally compassionate and loving, CNN has aired a sympathetic interview with a member of a Mexican drug cartel. 
Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Oh, Klavan, you marvelous merchant of magical mirth, only you could invent a scenario in which a Left-wing news outlet sinks so deeply into the bubbling tarpit of its own twisted political hatred that the lunatic idea of legitimizing a death-mongering gangster could wend its way through every level of internal decision-making without one voice of even semi-decency speaking up to say, “Wait, wait, we can’t allow our childish demonization of our political opponents to twist our souls into gnarled burnt offerings fit only for the altars of hell so that we actually call evil good and good evil right there on cable TV in front of our six or seven viewers.”
But no, my friends, I am not making this up.
CNN girl reporter Shapely Nudnick actually traveled to a Mexican hideout where she spoke sympathetically with a masked member of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel, whose former boss El Chapo was said to be personally responsible for the deaths of over 34,000 people.
Ms. Nudnick, winner of this year’s Pulitzer prize for most attractive backside, fetchingly leaned forward and asked the masked gangster – and as God is my witness, I am not making this up, “According to the Trump Administration, you are a terrorist … What do you make of that?”
The masked member of the murderous cartel responded, “I don’t like to get overly emotional because my job depends on inspiring terror in anyone who tries to stand in my way, but I must be honest and tell you this slur from your President Trump hurt my feelings very deeply. I am just a man trying to make a living in this crazy world, and when I heard I had been labeled a terrorist, my hands were literally shaking so hard I could barely shove a screwdriver into the face of one of my rivals. I respect President Trump, and respect is very important because people who don’t return my respect are often found inside plastic bags in several different locations. But a man must eat and, to be fair, our customers are mostly in the United States and as any good businessman will tell you, you have to go where the customers are and then slowly poison them to death. I hope the American people will push back against this insult, and if they don’t, I know where they live.”
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a> </h3>
CNN has proudly announced that this interview is only the first in a new series of self-degrading acts of pure evil that will appear over the course of the Trump Presidency, and they’ve been airing tantalizing previews of future episodes. In one clip, Shapely Nudnik bravely travels to an undisclosed elementary school to interview a pedophile teacher who says, “I think it’s very cruel for people to demonize someone they don’t even know with ugly words like pervert and evil scum-sucking hell-fiend. I just thank heavens I belong to a teachers’ union where they support the idea that minor attracted persons can work at an elementary school. After all, that’s where the children are, not to mention the porn.” 
In another clip, Miss Nudnick scores an interview with former Nazi torture doctor Joseph Mengele who says, “It’s true I used to perform grotesque and unspeakable medical experiments on children, but I’ve totally reformed, and now I’m supplying kids with gender affirming care, because I’ve had a lot of practice, and that’s what I’m good at.” 
In other Left-wing media news, the Pulitzer committee has awarded its prize for photography to a picture of a bullet flying at President Trump’s head. Committee Chairman Thaddeus Foul-heart said, “We know that other photo of a wounded Trump raising his fist with the American flag in the background is the single most iconic image of the first quarter of this century, but that photo inspired love and admiration for our president, whereas we were rooting for the bullet.”
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Follow him on X: @andrewklavan
Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fourth installment, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1613165536?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_3&amp;storeType=ebooks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Woman Underground.</a>” His most recent nonfiction release is “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cain-Finding-Literature-Darkness/dp/0310368340/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=nMYjR&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_p=bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_r=133-8344803-2786917&amp;pd_rd_wg=7a8J3&amp;pd_rd_r=5791ea0f-6d96-4732-9d6a-3a4e6b348bb5&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness.</a>” (May 2025, Zondervan/HarperCollins).

CNN Airs Heartfelt Sit-Down With Masked Cartel Hitman

Humor

interview

Mexico

Sinaloa Cartel

Terrorism

In a recent Netflix documentary about Vietnam, Dan Rather makes a rather ironic observation considering the source as well as the shameful state of the mainstream media of which he was a part. “A free and independent, truly independent, media is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy.”
The messenger, however, does not necessarily negate the message. But what happens when the watchdogs of the State act as their lapdogs because their political and social interests are so aligned as to be indistinguishable?
Anyone with functioning senses could tell that from the beginning of his 2020 campaign, Joe Biden was not fully in command of his mental faculties. And it only got worse. And yet, when he announced his plans to run for a second term, those in the legacy media were more than willing to do their parts to ensure this incapacitated man should be the commander-in-chief of our armed forces and keeper of the nuclear codes for another four years.
That was until it all finally blew up on the debate stage in June 2024.
<div id="attachment_756743" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-756743" class="size-large wp-image-756743" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Biden6-1024x576.jpg" alt="US President Joe Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN's studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024." width="1024" height="576" />ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images</div>
With Biden’s decay “settled science”, the media are now claiming in faux self-reflection that they “missed the story.” What was there to miss? It would be easier to “miss” a full solar eclipse. I even recall driving in my car with my daughter who heard one of Biden’s slurring, disjointed ramblings on an otherwise very Biden-friendly NPR broadcast. She observed matter-of-factly, “He sounds like Grandpa.” (Her grandfather was sadly suffering from severe cognitive decline as well as Parkinson’s by then.)
And yet, those who worked with Biden on a daily basis claimed that “behind the scenes” this bedazzled, vacuous man was, in reality, a whirlwind who was so energetic and on top of things it was an effort just to keep up with him. And the media willingly went along with the lies to hide that whoever was running the White House, it was not Joe Biden. And now they are paying the price in a collapse in confidence. According to Gallup, only 7% of respondents trust the media “a great deal” and just 24% a “fair amount.”
As pathetic as their attempts at gaslighting the public about their chosen president were at the time, what is even more pitiful now is their desperate attempt to cover up their own coverups, or gaslight us again…this time about themselves.
<div id="attachment_915929" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-915929" class="size-large wp-image-915929" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-1244586063-384x576.jpg" alt="MEET THE PRESS -- Pictured: Moderator Chuck Todd appears on Meet the Press at Studio 1A in New York, NY Sunday, November 6, 2022. -- (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC via Getty Images)" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-1244586063-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-1244586063-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-1244586063.jpg 683w" sizes="(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Peter Kramer/NBC via Getty Images</div>
Consider Chuck Todd, former host of NBC’s Meet The Press, actually trying to pass the buck.
“This is not a media failure,” he insists. “This is a failure of the Democratic Party. And…the virtue signaling that some people have done to try to say that the media missed this story, they didn’t miss this story.” His defensive rant concludes: “This is an attempt by some to virtue signal, and it’s this horrible sort of pitting different news organizations against each other, when ultimately, the people at fault are Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Jill Biden, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, every elected member of Congress!”
What is fascinating about Todd’s deflecting the blame is not just the shameless denial on display, but more importantly, what it reveals about the ethos of the mainstream media today. He claims this was a “failure of the Democratic Party.” In other words, what Todd is saying here is that the Democrats are to blame because the narrative they fed him, to then feed to us, was bogus. But it is not the job of the press to blindly accept and pass on what they are told by those in power. It is the media’s job to challenge the State narrative by investigating the truth outside the White House Press Secretary’s prepared remarks. Especially when the lies were so blatant regarding the mental decline of the President of the United States.
In his effort to defend the media, Todd has, in fact, indicted it for the crime of being nothing more than a reliable conduit for State propaganda. He is right in that the legacy media did not “miss” this story. They were fully aware of Biden’s crumbling brain. (Unless they are the worst reporters since Ron Burgundy). They just deliberately chose to ignore, downplay, bury and gaslight it. The media, which has at least ten times the number of Democrats as Republicans in their ranks, ran cover for their favored party and benefactors in DC. 

Todd’s unconvincing line of defense is not even as shameful as some media pundits who are today trying to cash in on the very scandal in which they were themselves active participants. CNN’s Jake Tapper, who now has the nerve to co-author a book about the Biden mental health cover-up, even though for years he carried tanker loads of water for this same man, berated Laura Trump in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8o87LhyysU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2020</a> for questioning Biden’s cognitive abilities:
<blockquote>Jake Tapper: How do you think it makes little kids with stutters feel when they see you make a comment like that?
Laura Trump: First and foremost, I had no idea that Joe Biden ever suffered from a stutter. I think what we see on stage with Joe Biden, Jake, is very clearly a cognitive decline. That’s what I’m referring to. It makes me uncomfortable—
Jake Tapper: (with a dismissive smirk speaking over Trump): You have no, absolutely, you have no idea. It’s so amazing to me that, that…A cognitive decline?
Laura Trump: When you’re trying to tell me what I was suggesting was a stutter—
Jake Tapper: I think you were mocking his stutter. And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody’s cognitive decline. I would think somebody in the Trump family would be more sensitive. People who do not have medical licenses diagnosing politicians from afar.</blockquote>
If you would like to see more evidence that being a Democrat means never having to say you’re sorry, feel free to read Jake’s new book, &#8220;Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.&#8221; I wonder if he touches upon his own role in the scandal as witnessed above in his tell-all? Any bets? I hear he is now working on a book about selective amnesia.
<div id="attachment_915931" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-915931" class="size-large wp-image-915931" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2173191180-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 19: Jake Tapper speaks on stage during &quot;The Long Road to Freedom for C.J. Rice&quot; panel for The Atlantic Festival 2024 on September 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for The Atlantic)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2173191180-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2173191180-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2173191180-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2173191180.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jemal Countess/Getty Images for The Atlantic</div>
Tapper’s 2020 line of questioning also reveals another tactic the media used to aggressively run cover for the Biden brain melt. That was to deploy the “you’re not a neurologist” argument from authority fallacy. Because, you see, those knowledgeable in the field were quite satisfied with Biden’s mental acuity and dismissive of his advanced years.
According to The Hill, for example, Biden was, in fact, a “superager.” As late as January 2024 they wrote, “He has a family history of dementia-free longevity and there was no evidence of cognitive decline in his personal medical records…his medical records <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Health-Summary-2.16.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> in his years since taking office so far indicate no significant change in physical or mental health status has occurred.”
In 2020, Forbes even saw Biden’s “stutter” as a beacon of hope for others with this affliction…and that’s all it was. “President or not, it is Joe Biden’s resilience that positions him as a hope for young Americans with disabilities.”
Okay. I’m not a doctor or a shrink. But like many Americans, including I have no doubt more than a few reading this, I have sadly seen what cognitive decline of an elderly loved one looks like up close and personal. Also, my father, who was exceptionally bright, had an actual stutter (for years I thought the state next to us was pronounced “I…I…Indiana”). So I know the difference between the two, thank you very much.
What the Democrat Party and mainstream/legacy media (but I repeat myself) tried to pull on the American people is nothing short of disgraceful. It took an old man’s very pathetic mental collapse in front of the world for the media to finally accept that the game was up. Up until the debate, for four years, day after day, week after week the press that Dan Rather calls democracy’s “red beating heart” never seriously challenged those DNC operatives who went before the cameras and declared him to be the “best Joe Biden ever” who was “sharp as a tack.” All to protect the interests of their own party, and thus their power
The media’s role in the Biden scandal reveals the true level of contempt with which the overly-educated, overly-credentialed, cloistered coastal elites who are now the prime drivers in the DNC-Media Complex hold the average American. That they thought they could literally go before us and tell us not to believe our own lyin’ eyes is both an expression of astounding intellectual hubris as well as a demonstration of how insular they have become.
And they paid for this hubris at the polls in November. Despite their best efforts at using deception to protect their political party’s hold on power, the red-capped, flannel-wearing, beer-swilling, fast-food eating, knuckle-dragging Joe Punchclock rubes saw through the psyop. As such, their people are now in charge of the White House, the Senate, the House, hold a 6-3 majority in the Supreme Court and control the majority of governors mansions and state legislatures, while the Democrat Party polls in the mid-twenty percent and trust in their legacy media bagmen is at an all-time low. And that is no lie.
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Daily Wire, The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id%3D55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3K_WhJtiUZw7LF1PwSIHtH">books</a>. Follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw02hy-lB4UuAlHo7FfD_FIQ">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/bschaeffer123&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0P6pRoAqcBhUQ1W0qwN5rH">X/Twitter</a>.
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All The President’s Gaslighters

All The President's Gaslighters

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