Host Joe Kernen and guest, former SEC Chair Jay Clayton, declared on Wednesday that President Joe Biden should have full and complete ownership of the affordability crisis that is currently facing many Americans.
Kernen raised the issue early Wednesday morning on &#8220;Squawk Box,&#8221; arguing that the economy under President Donald Trump was still struggling under some of the baggage Biden&#8217;s economic policies had left behind.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Joe Kernen: &#8220;The affordability issue is from the 22% increase in prices under Biden—full stop.&#8221;
Former SEC Chair Jay Clayton: &#8220;[Trump was] thrown, what I would say, the worst economy for the average American in my adult lifetime.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/5vljwi1KPm">pic.twitter.com/5vljwi1KPm</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1998747159592566930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The affordability issue is from the 22% increase in prices and inflation under Biden, there&#8217;s just — full stop, right there. That&#8217;s the affordability issue — and you gotta be able to explain that,&#8221; Kernen said.
&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; Clayton agreed. &#8220;And look, I think that with the economic team — President Trump and the economic team led by Scott Bessent — you have people who very much understand this. And it was a — they were thrown, what I would say, the worst economy for the average American in my adult lifetime, in terms of like you said, the incredible increase in prices at the household.&#8221;
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The Trump administration has been talking a lot about the idea of affordability, particularly in the wake of New York City&#8217;s election of Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who ran on a platform focused on that. And while not all prices have come down as quickly as many would have liked, gas prices have been on a steady decline, and the rollback of Biden-era &#8220;green&#8221; energy standards could soon pay off for consumers in the market for new automobiles.
&#8220;Lower energy, lower regulation&#8230; [eliminated] CAFE standards&#8230; That&#8217;s going to reduce the price of cars by, we estimate, between $1,000-$2,000 for the typical car,&#8221; Kevin Hassett explained.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEC Director Kevin Hassett on <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>&#8216; moves to lower costs: &#8220;Lower energy, lower regulation&#8230; [eliminated] CAFE standards&#8230; That&#8217;s going to reduce the price of cars by, we estimate, between $1,000-$2,000 for the typical car.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/xFspIRrWNg">pic.twitter.com/xFspIRrWNg</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1998504308833399258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Joe Biden

CNBC Panel Says Biden Owns The Affordability Crisis: ‘Full Stop’

CNBC

Economy

Media

Politics

Senator Adam Schiff complained during a recent interview that former Attorney General Merrick Garland had not done enough to prosecute President Donald Trump, and claimed that the reason was Garland&#8217;s unwillingness to be seen as a partisan actor.
Schiff argued that Garland had intentionally slow-walked efforts made by then-President Joe Biden&#8217;s Justice Department to prosecute Trump — in cases that stretched across multiple jurisdictions — because he was taking precautions to ensure that those prosecutions were not partisan in nature.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Adam Schiff laments that Trump wasn’t prosecuted fast enough to be put in prison. He blames Garland for being just too darned non-partisan:
“He wanted to restore the reputation of the department for strict non-partisanship. And that made him very reluctant. Too reluctant.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/jpmVZMLnBj">pic.twitter.com/jpmVZMLnBj</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1998019533219791090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Schiff, during a lengthy conversation with The New Yorker&#8217;s David Remnick, effectively complained that Garland&#8217;s &#8220;reluctance&#8221; to prosecute Trump had kept him out of prison long enough for him to win reelection.
&#8220;I hear all the time how the Justice Department under Merrick Garland, under that horrible partisan Merrick Garland, was so weaponized against Donald Trump. And that&#8217;s a complete fiction of fabrication,&#8221; Schiff insisted.
&#8220;Do you feel that Merrick Garland moved too slowly, too cautiously?&#8221; Remnick asked.
&#8220;I absolutely do. Yeah. And this is the irony of it, of attacking Merrick Garland, which is they moved with alacrity against the foot soldiers who broke into the Capitol that day,&#8221; Schiff complained. &#8220;They moved not at all for entire year against the higher-ups.&#8221;
&#8220;Why did Merrick Garland move so slowly?&#8221; Remnick pressed. &#8220;What about his character or tactics or strategy led him to behave that way?&#8221;
&#8220;The Justice Department in the first Trump was abused and made partisan, and he wished to restore the Department&#8217;s reputation for independence. Now, what they did in the first Trump Justice Department is peanuts compared to today,&#8221; Schiff insisted. &#8220;But nevertheless, Merrick Garland wanted to restore the reputation of the Department for strict non-partisanship. And that made him very reluctant to pursue an investigation of the President, too reluctant.&#8221;
Schiff then pinned the blame on the Supreme Court, arguing that Garland&#8217;s lack of urgency had given the court time to throw out additional roadblocks. His overall assessment was that Garland may have had the right idea, but that his execution had created a buffer zone around Trump that actually helped him prevail.
&#8220;Ultimately that gave the Supreme Court the time it needed to drag things out further and make the case against Trump go away completely when it could have been brought to fruition,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And we might be in a very different place today, but I think it was that laudable aim that taken too far amounted to a kind of immunity for the President.&#8221;

Attorney General Garland And Justice Department Officials Recognize National Missing Children’s Day

Adam Schiff Complains That Merrick Garland Wasn’t Partisan Enough

Adam Schiff Complains Merrick Garland Wasn't Partisan Enough

Adam Schiff

Donald Trump

Merrick Garland

Ousted MSNBC host Joy Reid finally asked the same question Republicans have been asking for months: Why did Democrats have so little curiosity about the contents of the Epstein Files when President Joe Biden was still in the White House and could have done something about it?
Reid, speaking with popular &#8220;The Breakfast Club&#8221; host Charlamagne tha God, tore into former Attorney General Merrick Garland, who served throughout the Biden administration, for exactly that.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨NEW: Joy Reid *TORCHES* Merrick Garland for failing to catch J6 Pipe Bomber &amp; release Epstein Files🚨
&#8220;Merrick Garland was there for 4 years! What were you doing!? The Epstein files. Merrick, what were you doing!? For 4 years!? You had the same evidence, the same files! Why… <a href="https://t.co/00rcNrlFJA">pic.twitter.com/00rcNrlFJA</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/1998443634299994136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Reid began with a brief assessment of the January 6 pipe bomb case, noting that President Donald Trump’s Justice Department had wrapped that up rather neatly and pointedly asking what Garland had been up to that he couldn’t get the job done.
“I don’t understand why he escapes the smoke. Even the Epstein files thing. I’m like, wait a minute. You’re telling me nine months into this administration, the podcast guys are claiming they caught the — now, I don’t know if this young man is the person that put the pipe bombs … but I know they said we solved the case in nine months,” Reid said.
“Merrick Garland was there for four years. What were you doing?” she complained. “The Epstein files. Merrick, what were you doing? For four years? You had the same evidence, the same files. Why didn’t you release them? Merrick Garland did, to me, nothing for four years. He might as well not have been there.”
With regard to the Epstein Files, the Justice Department is currently working to comply with the recently passed legislation mandating the release of all relevant documents that do not contain classified materials.

2024 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ Presented By Coca-Cola® – Day 3 – Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

Ex-MSNBC Host Finally Asks Why Merrick Garland Didn’t Release Epstein Files

Ex-MSNBC Host Finally Asks Why Merrick Garland Didn't Release Epstein Files

Charlamagne Tha God

Jeffrey Epstein

Joy Reid

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) declared her candidacy for the United States Senate seat currently held by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) — but Mark Halperin is saying she doesn&#8217;t stand a snowball&#8217;s chance in the Lone Star State.
Halperin, speaking with &#8220;AfterParty&#8221; host Emily Jashinsky, explained that Crockett was fighting an uphill battle in the reliably red state and would likely struggle to win a statewide election even if the Republican candidate was not ideal.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨NEW: <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkHalperin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarkHalperin</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyjashinsky?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@emilyjashinsky</a> Jasmine Crockett&#8217;s Senate hopes *DEAD IN WATER*🤣
&#8220;Emily, a Democrat has not won a statewide office in Texas for over a quarter century. And if you&#8217;re asking me if Jasmine Crockett will be the Democrat who breaks that streak, the answer… <a href="https://t.co/D6g3NqFwPX">pic.twitter.com/D6g3NqFwPX</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/1998390337841066405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Emily, a Democrat has not won a statewide office in Texas for over a quarter century. And if you&#8217;re asking me if Jasmine Crockett will be the Democrat who breaks that streak, the answer is no,&#8221; he began.
He went on to say that it was certainly possible Crockett would make it through a Democratic primary, however unlikely an eventual win might be.
&#8220;Maybe she&#8217;ll be the nominee, and if she is, the Republicans will rejoice because any of the three Republicans in the Republican primary can beat her, almost certainly,&#8221; Halperin continued. &#8220;Because again, there&#8217;s a profile that&#8217;s been bandied about for years of the kind of Democrat who could break this 35 — or whatever it is, I guess 31-year losing streak to win a statewide office in Texas, and that profile matches not at all with Jasmine Crockett.&#8221;
Crockett&#8217;s campaign pitch thus far appears to be yet another lode from the same vein as much of her career so far in the U.S. House, largely built on direct and vocal opposition to anything President Donald Trump says or does.

Delivering On Government Efficiency Subcommittee Holds Hearing On Foreign Aid

Mark Halperin Says Jasmine Crockett Doesn’t Stand A Snowball’s Chance In Texas: ‘The Answer Is No’

Jasmine Crockett

Mark Halperin

Texas

U.S. Senate

Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) defended a recent video — during which she encouraged members of the military to question orders in real time — by tossing those same service members under the bus.
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, had joined five military veterans in making the video that circulated a few weeks earlier. In it, they called on service members to remember that they had the right and the responsibility to refuse to act on unlawful orders — all while heavily implying that such orders either would be or had already been given by President Donald Trump or War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
During a recent interview, Slotkin claimed that she&#8217;d only made the video because an overwhelming number of military members had reached out to ask about it.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Elissa Slotkin claims Democrats made the ‘illegal orders’ video because a slew of military personnel were coming to them with concerns for months:
“I don&#8217;t know if this is legal. I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;d be held accountable later after this administration. I can&#8217;t get a straight… <a href="https://t.co/Fe2AMPvMRg">pic.twitter.com/Fe2AMPvMRg</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1998136904961937700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I mean, we made that video three weeks ago or whatever it was, certainly not thinking that the president would go high and right as we say at the Pentagon on it like that,&#8221; Slotkin said, suggesting that Trump&#8217;s response — to a video telling service members to potentially ignore his orders — had been the one thing that was out of line.
&#8220;There was so many people coming to us who were on active duty, recent veterans, family members of service members, who were coming to us individually and saying two things,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;One, &#8216;I&#8217;m concerned I&#8217;m going to be sent in uniform to an American city — you know, like L.A., Chicago, Memphis — and I&#8217;m going to be asked to do things I either don&#8217;t think are legal, or I&#8217;m not trained for, and what do I do?'&#8221;
&#8220;And then this fall, it really turned, and it became a lot of people who were involved in the operations around the Caribbean asking those same things,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;&#8216;I don&#8217;t know if this is legal? I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;d be held accountable later after this administration. I can&#8217;t get a straight answer about whether this is legal or not. What do you think we should do?'&#8221;
“We were hearing that for months,&#8221; she added, &#8220;So that’s why we made the video.&#8221;
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who also participated in making the video, is facing additional scrutiny for his role since he is the only one who is a retired service member and therefore still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) Gives The Democratic Response To President Donald Trump’s Address To Congress

Slotkin Throws Military Under The Bus In Defense Of Video Calling Them To Question Orders

Slotkin Tosses Military Under The Bus In Defense Of Video Calling Them To Question Orders

Democrats

Military

narcoterrorists

Pete Hegseth

Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) ran defense on Sunday morning for the narcoterrorists targeted in a recent military strike, describing them to &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; host Kristen Welker as &#8220;shipwreck survivors.&#8221;
Schiff joined a wide array of elected Democrats and media talking heads who have continued to push the narrative that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration — War Secretary Pete Hegseth in particular — had taken illegal actions either in targeting narcoterrorists in the first place or in the recent &#8220;double tap&#8221; (second strike) on a boat that was disabled, but not destroyed by the first hit.
Schiff shared video of the exchange, along with his own caption: &#8220;The killing of shipwrecked survivors at sea is a textbook violation of the laws of war. If Hegseth is so proud of the killing of these survivors, the Pentagon should release the full video, just like they have with other boat strikes. The American people deserve full transparency and accountability.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The killing of shipwrecked survivors at sea is a textbook violation of the laws of war.
If Hegseth is so proud of the killing of these survivors, the Pentagon should release the full video, just like they have with other boat strikes.
The American people deserve full… <a href="https://t.co/ABerq9vNPc">pic.twitter.com/ABerq9vNPc</a>
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenAdamSchiff/status/1997769557461856471?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Welker began with a simple question about whether or not the boat strikes were legal in the first place — and Schiff said he believed they were not.
&#8220;They&#8217;re unlawful, they&#8217;re unconstitutional, and killing two people who are shipwrecked at sea is also morally repugnant,&#8221; Schiff said, adding that he believed the United States should explore legal avenues to stop the flow of drugs into the country — but he did not believe the current path was legal.
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He called on War Secretary Hegseth to release video of the strike in question, arguing that the people should be able to see what had transpired. &#8220;I can&#8217;t imagine people would be proud of that,&#8221; he added.
Throughout the less-than-two-minute clip, Schiff referred to narcoterrorists as &#8220;shipwrecked survivors&#8221; at least three times, making no move to explain how they had come to be &#8220;shipwrecked&#8221; in the first place — or what they had been doing on a boat that was being used to traffic illegal narcotics.

House Judiciary Committee Examines The Situation At The Southern Border

Adam Schiff Defends Narcoterrorists, Claims They Were ‘Shipwrecked Survivors’

narco-terrorism

Comedian and HBO host Bill Maher voiced his surprise when &#8220;The Young Turks&#8221; host Ana Kasparian declared her opposition to men in women&#8217;s spaces — particularly locker rooms.
Maher was speaking to Kasparian on his &#8220;Club Random&#8221; podcast when he raised the topic, prompting Kasparian to quickly agree, despite suggesting that she wasn&#8217;t &#8220;supposed&#8221; to have a problem with biological men in women&#8217;s spaces.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨NEW: Bill Maher *STUNNED* as Ana Kasparian opposes biological males in female spaces🚨
KASPARIAN: &#8220;Is it bad that I don&#8217;t want to see a d*ck in the women&#8217;s locker room? I just don&#8217;t!&#8221;
MAHER: &#8220;So good to hear you say that. Really good. I did not expect that.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DailyCaller</a> <a href="https://t.co/RfsPvp6X9N">pic.twitter.com/RfsPvp6X9N</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/1998040212170056054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Kasparian realized where Maher was going with the conversation, and began to protest that he was going to get her &#8220;in trouble.&#8221;
&#8220;Why? There&#8217;s no trouble for you. Your life is trouble,&#8221; Maher replied.
&#8220;I’m supposed to be totally okay with it. Is it bad that I don’t want to see a d*** in the women’s locker room? Is that bad?&#8221; Kasparian asked.
&#8220;No,&#8221; Maher replied, laughing.
&#8220;I just don’t. I don’t want to see a c*** in the women’s locker room,&#8221; Kasparian continued.
&#8220;And you shouldn&#8217;t,&#8221; Maher agreed. &#8220;No woman should. I mean, this is basic 101.&#8221;
Maher went on to excoriate the political Left for adopting positions that were &#8220;counterintuitive&#8221; and &#8220;not helping&#8221; in the name of progress.
&#8220;Yeah, you want to champion women, and you didn’t. You did the opposite. You made them uncomfortable, and unnecessarily, in many ways,&#8221; he continued.
&#8220;When you see everything as a hierarchy — everything is a hierarchy — well then, inevitably you&#8217;re going to find yourself in a situation where the rights of one group kind of falls by the wayside,&#8221; Kasparian explained.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a zero-sum game,&#8221; Maher interjected.
&#8220;And I don&#8217;t see it that way,&#8221; Kasparian declared, adding that she took particular issue with the idea of &#8220;self-ID&#8221; being the law of the land. &#8220;As you and I both know, there are all sorts of predators out there who are gonna take advantage of that situation, and that&#8217;s already happened.&#8221;
&#8220;This is not an indictment of transgender people. It’s an indictment of a policy that was not thought through. And as a result, there are women who are going to suffer,&#8221; Kasparian said after laying out just one example. &#8220;And as a result, there are transgender people who are going to suffer because people are going to make the mistake of thinking, ‘Oh, well, that guy was transgender, and this is how they behave.’ No. This is not how they behave. We need to be smarter about these policies. It’s that simple.&#8221;
&#8220;So, good to hear you say that. Really good. I did not expect that,&#8221; Maher replied.

Celebrities Visit SiriusXM – May 20, 2024

Bill Maher Shocked As Young Turks Host Says No To Men In Women’s Spaces

Ana Kasparian

Bill Maher

The Young Turks

Transgender

At a gala in Washington, D.C., the Association and Club of Foreign Press Correspondents USA managed a feat only today’s media establishment could pull off: honoring veteran NBC journalist Andrea Mitchell on the same night it elevated terrorists posing as “journalists.” The organization, joined by event co-sponsor Al Jazeera, even handed the Qatari state outlet its own “press freedom grant.”
The evening veered into moral fog when organizers held a moment of silence for 10 Al Jazeera “reporters” killed in Gaza. Their photos were displayed on a memorial table deliberately echoing the empty-seat tributes to Israelis kidnapped by Hamas — a grotesque appropriation of genuine suffering.
Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, accepting an award, used his speech to commend “fearless Palestinian journalists” and criticize Israel’s restrictions on Gaza reporting — without noting that Hamas routinely censors, intimidates, and murders reporters who deviate from its propaganda line. Instead, Yingst praised “fearless and tenacious Palestinian journalists” who supposedly “don’t have the luxury to leave.”
Those “journalists,” conveniently unnamed, include operatives whose résumés read like counterterrorism dossiers, as Honest Reporting <a href="https://honestreporting.com/exposed-foreign-press-correspondents-honor-terrorists-award-al-jazeera-cash-grant/">noted</a>:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" data-start="1384" data-end="1567">Anas Al-Sharif — not a reporter but the head of a Hamas rocket cell, photographed with senior leaders and praising October 7 murderers “roaming the country killing and capturing.”</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" data-start="1569" data-end="1670">Ismail Al-Ghoul — a member of Hamas’ Nukhba forces who trained operatives to film terror attacks.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" data-start="1672" data-end="1837">Hossam Shabat — a Hamas sniper involved in attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, who also fronted Al Jazeera’s false gang-rape allegation at Shifa Hospital.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" data-start="1839" data-end="1936">Hamza Al Dahdouh — a Palestinian Islamic Jihad officer operating a hostile drone when killed.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" data-start="1938" data-end="2043">Mustafa Thuria — a Hamas deputy squad commander killed alongside Al Dahdouh during military activity.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" data-start="2045" data-end="2145">Mohammed Salama — an October 7 infiltrator who filmed the massacre while chanting “Allahu Akbar.”</li>
</ul>
By memorializing operatives who used cameras as camouflage for jihad, the Foreign Press Correspondents Association turned a celebration of journalism into a moral collapse. This wasn’t solidarity with the press. It was the whitewashing and elevation of militants masquerading as reporters — an abdication of integrity dressed up as virtue.
Rather than elevating truth-tellers, the group effectively legitimized terrorists posing as reporters.

PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT

Foreign Press Gala Honors Hamas Terror Operatives Masquerading As ‘Journalists’

Hamas

journalists

Democrats and and their media surrogates have made it abundantly clear that they&#8217;re not going to let go of their chosen narrative surrounding War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Admiral Mitch Bradley, and how many strikes are necessary to neutralize the threat posed by Venezuelan narco-terrorists.
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.
A story that should have been on life-support by Sunday morning — published eight days earlier by The Washington Post — somehow still had legs. The initial story cited anonymous sources and described the scene that played out after SEAL Team 6 struck a boat that intelligence had identified as part of a drug-running operation.
According to the WaPo report, Hegseth issued a clear order: &#8220;Kill them all.&#8221; When the first strike left two survivors, the story alleged, a second order was given and another strike followed — this one taking out the remaining individuals on the scene.
What followed was a mad scramble for Democrats and media to take up the torch for those two survivors and give them the most sympathetic makeover possible. They were helpless, Democrats claimed, clinging to the wreckage of their boat and just hoping against hope that they might survive. Targeting unarmed survivors, they claimed, was nothing short of a war crime.
Over the following days, however, new reports added dimension to the story. ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz — who had helped sell the &#8220;helpless survivor&#8221; narrative just days earlier with &#8220;This Week&#8221; host Jonathan Karl — reported that the boat had apparently been disabled but not destroyed by the first strike. In addition, she cited sources who&#8217;d said the operators were in contact with the Judge Advocate General&#8217;s office in real time — and that because they&#8217;d believed the survivors were attempting to contact someone for help and salvage their illicit cargo, they were deemed lawful enemy combatants.
Still, the hosts of the Sunday morning shows brought in a whole new slate of guests, most of whom continued to hawk the war crimes narrative in any market where they believed it would fly.
On &#8220;This Week,&#8221; Rep. Adam Smith raised the question of land strikes in Venezuela, complaining that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration — the War Department in particular — had not kept him and others in Congress in the loop.
&#8220;They have not kept us informed on this, they did not inform us of these strikes,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Rep. Adam Smith tells George Stephanopoulos that he has not been briefed on the possibility of land strikes in Venezuela. Referring to the Department of Defense, he said: “They have not kept us informed on this, they did not inform us of these strikes.” <a href="https://t.co/K7SoJZoCdk">pic.twitter.com/K7SoJZoCdk</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1997701054511632452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Smith also called for the public release of video from the strike in question, claiming that President Donald Trump was trying to avoid doing so.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Rep. Adam Smith calls for the release of the videos shown to lawmakers of U.S. strikes against one suspected drug boat on Sept. 2. <a href="https://t.co/AtDV1HPtg3">pic.twitter.com/AtDV1HPtg3</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1997698092397645930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Following the release of the Inspector General&#8217;s report — regarding Hegseth&#8217;s use of the Signal messaging app to share information about a strike on Houthi terrorists — Smith also suggested that the War Secretary wasn&#8217;t taking the right approach: &#8220;It&#8217;s perfectly okay to look back at past actions and say, ‘Yeah, I didn&#8217;t do that right.'&#8221;
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Rep. Adam Smith criticizes Sec. Hegseth’s response to the inspector general&#8217;s report on the alleged release of sensitive information on the Signal messaging app.
“It&#8217;s perfectly okay to look back at past actions and say, ‘Yeah, I didn&#8217;t do that right.’” <a href="https://t.co/eIjxnABn3b">pic.twitter.com/eIjxnABn3b</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1997682715890700594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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On CBS News, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) constructed what was supposed to look like a thought experiment, behind which he hid an attack on Admiral Bradley&#8217;s character.
&#8220;Anyone who has ever worked with Admiral Bradley will tell you that he has a storied career and that he is a man of deep, deep integrity. And frankly, I have no reason to doubt that,” Himes said before pivoting to wonder aloud whether Bradley might compromise that integrity under pressure. “What happens when an apparently good man like Admiral Bradley is placed in a context where he knows that if he countermands an order that he is perhaps uncomfortable with, it is very likely that he will be fired? It’s interesting to think about how a good man in that context maybe does something that if he weren’t in that context he might not do.&#8221;
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On the alleged Venezuelan drug boat strikes, <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@margbrennan</a> asked Rep. <a href="https://twitter.com/jahimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jahimes</a> (D-CT) if he has confidence in Admiral Bradley.
“Anyone who has ever worked with Admiral Bradley will tell you that he has a storied career and that he is a man of deep, deep integrity. And frankly, I… <a href="https://t.co/Lv7AhPQYa1">pic.twitter.com/Lv7AhPQYa1</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1997761860200771693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Himes also claimed that the people on the boats were likely low-level drug runners, meaning that the cartel bosses were not necessarily feeling the sting.
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Rep. <a href="https://twitter.com/jahimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jahimes</a> (D-CT) tells <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@margbrennan</a> he does not believe all the identities of those on the alleged Venezuelan drug boats are known. He says the U.S. strikes are hitting low-level operatives, not high-ranking cartel leaders, leaving the top figures in comfortable villas while… <a href="https://t.co/fec6gEQjI5">pic.twitter.com/fec6gEQjI5</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1997763814524096587?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) used back on &#8220;This Week,&#8221; however.
Democrats &#8220;have such X-ray vision and clairvoyance that they know the intentions of narco-terrorists on boats, yet were so blind to see that they had a President for four years that was operating as a vegetable&#8230; Forgive me if I&#8217;m a little skeptical,&#8221; he declared.
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/SenEricSchmitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenEricSchmitt</a>: Democrats &#8220;have such X-ray vision and clairvoyance that they know the intentions of narco-terrorists on boats, yet were so blind to see that they had a President for four years that was operating as a vegetable&#8230; Forgive me if I&#8217;m a little skeptical.&#8221; 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/fgyMRbrnel">pic.twitter.com/fgyMRbrnel</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1997687852566737239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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President Trump And Pete Hegseth Address U.S. Senior Military Leaders At Quantico

Spin Cycle: Media, Democrats Still Mad At Pete Hegseth For Doing His Job

ABC News

CBS News

NBC News

Sports and politics analyst Stephen A. Smith ripped into Democrats on Wednesday, saying that it was impossible not to give President Donald Trump credit for political savvy after he pardoned Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX).
Smith gave his assessment on his Sirius XM show &#8220;Straight Shooter with Stephen A.,&#8221; saying that Trump was essentially &#8220;giving the Democratic Party lessons&#8221; in how to navigate the complicated political climate in the United States.
WATCH:
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🚨NEW: Stephen A. Smith says Trump &#8220;BRILLIANT&#8221; to pardon Dem Rep. Henry Cuellar🚨
&#8220;At some point in time, we just have to give the man credit. He&#8217;s shrewd as h*ll. He really is. I mean, he is giving the Democratic Party lessons! Lessons!&#8221;
&#8220;You can&#8217;t sit up there and talk about… <a href="https://t.co/Um30i8zTEG">pic.twitter.com/Um30i8zTEG</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/1996575942257291520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;[H]ow do the Democrats look when they now try to attack Trump because they say he pays no attention to the facts? How do they look now when they say he doesn’t provide leadership?&#8221; Smith asked. &#8220;How do they sound now when they accuse him of lawlessness?&#8221;
&#8220;I mean, at some point in time, we just have to give the man credit,&#8221; Smith continued. &#8220;He’s shrewd as hell. He really is. I mean, he is giving the Democratic Party lessons! Lessons! I mean, school is in session on how to manipulate minds and coax folks into thinking along the lines of his way of thinking.&#8221;
Smith pivoted to address the situation with Cuellar directly, and noted, as Trump did, that Cuellar had been at odds with former President Joe Biden over his handling of the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border. Trump, along with a number of others, alleged that Biden&#8217;s Justice Department had targeted Cuellar largely because of that.
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&#8220;You can’t sit up there and talk about how everything is partisan when the man sits up there and lets you off the hook and you&#8217;re on the opposite party. Now granted, that same Representative Cuellar was the same guy that spoke out against the Biden administration when it came to immigration issues and our borders. So again, that falls in line with Trump and we get that part. But he’s still a Democrat,&#8221; Smith said.
Smith concluded by noting that he&#8217;d long been advising Democrats that they needed to move to the center if they ever wanted to win — and argued that Trump, by extending his pardon power across party lines, had beaten them to the punch.
&#8220;What have I been saying about the Democrats? Get away from the far Left. Move towards the center. And Trump beat them to it. He beat them to it. That’s what he’s doing! That’s what he’s doing! It’s brilliant! Absolutely, positively brilliant politics! Nothing compares!&#8221;

Stephen A. Smith

‘School Is In Session!’: Stephen A. Smith Raves About Trump Decision To Pardon Democrat

'School Is In Session!': Stephen A. Smith Raves About Trump Decision To Pardon Democrat

Henry Cuellar

An unreleased video of a second strike on suspected narco-terrorists appears to support War Secretary Pete Hegseth and the War Department, according to ABC News. The report suggests that a second strike was not only justified, it was necessary to complete the intended mission.
ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz weighed in on the new information from an anonymous source on Wednesday evening, saying that it supported reports of two survivors remaining after a first strike on a suspected drug-running boat in the Caribbean. Where the new intelligence diverged, she reported, was that the suspected narco-terrorists were not simply clinging to the wreckage. The two appeared to be making attempts to salvage their illicit cargo and may have remained in contact with others in their network once their vessel had been disabled.
WATCH:
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ABC’s Martha Raddatz on Wednesday’s ‘World News Tonight’ about drug boat-gate: “And tonight, new information: According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike. They were believed to be potentially in… <a href="https://t.co/R5eHFzzDql">pic.twitter.com/R5eHFzzDql</a>
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1996369433569161520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;And tonight, new information: According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike,&#8221; Raddatz told host David Muir on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;World News Tonight.&#8221;
&#8220;They were believed to be potentially in communication with others, and salvaging some of the drugs,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Because of that, it was determined they were still in the fight and valid targets. A JAG officer was also giving legal advice. So, again, David, that video will be key, and Admiral Bradley will be on the Hill tomorrow behind closed doors.&#8221;
The Washington Post published an anonymously-sourced &#8220;exclusive&#8221; on Saturday claiming that things had gone very differently, however.
According to the initial story, a direct order to “kill them all” was attributed to Secretary Hegseth — and the scenario described suggested that two survivors had been clinging to wreckage when a second strike was ordered to ensure that they weren’t left alive.
Democrats and legacy media outlets were only too happy to run with that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spin-cycle-wapo-hit-piece-targets-pete-hegseth-and-legacy-outlets-fall-in-line">narrative</a>, and they spent much of the day Sunday declaring Hegseth — along with anyone who had been involved in carrying out his order — was likely guilty of war crimes.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whoopi-goldberg-says-pete-hegseth-set-soldiers-up-to-face-war-crimes-charges">narrative</a> continued into the week as the hosts of ABC’s “The View” not only proclaimed Hegseth guilty of “war crimes,” but insisted that if other military service members were eventually tried for war crimes, it would be because Hegseth’s orders had effectively “set them up.”

President Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting At The White House

New Intel Appears To Support Actions Taken In Second Strike Against Drug Boat

Drug Boat Survivors Were Trying To Salvage Cocaine When Second Strike Was Ordered

Washington Post

Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo does not believe that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — or any of the Democratic Party&#8217;s &#8220;horses,&#8221; for that matter — truly love more about the United States than they hate about it.
Cuomo made the comments during a recent podcast conversation with progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, using his father — former Governor Mario Cuomo (D-NY) — as a point of reference.
WATCH:
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🚨NEW: Chris Cuomo says he doesn&#8217;t think AOC loves America🇺🇸
&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe AOC — any of your horses — I have a hard time believing they love the country. I think they hate more about it than they love about it.&#8221;
&#8220;I can&#8217;t think of the last time I heard AOC say something good… <a href="https://t.co/WOiQgyg7hD">pic.twitter.com/WOiQgyg7hD</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/1995881240092647543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;What did my father have? Okay, I know I’m a white guy, okay? I know, I’m not saying anything but that,&#8221; Cuomo began, noting that his father had not been considered so. &#8220;My father was not considered a white guy. He was considered an ethnic, okay? He had that other thing going.&#8221;
&#8220;He was an other. And he hated it. And he hated the people who got to decide that, and who kept opportunities from him. So he was a real one, okay? But he loved the f***ing country,&#8221; Cuomo continued. &#8220;That’s the part that you guys, in my opinion, don’t get right. I don’t believe AOC — or any of your horses — I have a hard time believing they love the country. I think they hate more about it than they love about it. And that may be unfair. But if it is unfair, it’s because of how they’ve made their own case about themselves.&#8221;
Cohen pushed back, claiming that patriotism in the United States was largely performative and &#8220;jingoistic&#8221; in the way that kids are trained to repeat the Pledge of Allegiance. He explained that he&#8217;d taught in France, and said that the students there found the concept of such actions &#8220;foreign.&#8221;
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But Cuomo wasn&#8217;t finished. He went on to expand that because Democrats had pushed away from patriotism with such force, they&#8217;d effectively allowed the Right to take complete ownership of symbolic America.
&#8220;Here’s my point: Why are people surprised when they see an American flag on my truck, or in front of my house? Why were the Democrats okay with that becoming a party symbol for the GOP?&#8221; Cuomo asked, adding, &#8220;You are absolutely right, and every political philosopher has only agreed with you that dissent and criticism of your government is one of the strongest forms of patriotism. I don’t even think that’s really an open question.&#8221;
The problem, Cuomo argued, was that the Left had not found a way to balance dissent with patriotism — and the result was that they gave the appearance that they hated the country, whether that was true or not.
&#8220;What do you balance it with?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;When’s the last time you heard Democrats say something good about this country? That’s true, too. And I think it goes to your point about, hey man, you gotta play the game where it stands. I think that a real one who hates certain things that were done to them — systemic, cultural — and is fighting to change it because they believe so much in what this country can be, is, and is at her best. That’s the sweet spot. I can’t think of the last time I heard AOC say something good about the country.&#8221;

2017 Turner Upfront

Chris Cuomo Doesn’t Believe Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Loves America

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Chris Cuomo

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