NBC police procedural &#8220;Law &amp; Order: Special Victims Unit&#8221; joined Democrats in continuing to paint Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as villains who have nothing better to do than to pluck innocent immigrants off the streets for their own nefarious purposes.
In an episode that ran Thursday — just hours after a shooter targeted and opened fire upon an ICE facility in Texas — NYPD detectives squared off against ICE agents in an effort to keep them from deporting an illegal immigrant who was a key witness in a rape case.
Newsbusters <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/elise-ehrhard/2025/09/27/nbcs-law-order-svu-portrays-ice-agents-villains-allowing">detailed the episode</a> in question, titled &#8220;In the Wind.&#8221; It features an illegal immigrant named Jorge Ruiz, who is working as a building superintendent — and who has identified the suspect in a rape case. When detectives arrive to question him about the suspect, an ICE raid is already in progress. For the rest of the episode — which frames ICE as the bad guys preventing police officers from effectively investigating the rape case and then further complicating the prosecution against the alleged rapist — the NYPD and ICE agents are at odds.
The episode comes to a head when Captain Olivia Benson (played by Mariska Hargitay) is arrested when she orders her detectives to arrest Ruiz in an effort to hold him as a material witness and prevent ICE from taking him into custody.
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&#8220;Captain, ICE is on the way up,&#8221; one detective tells Benson.
&#8220;What?&#8221; she asks.
&#8220;How do they know?&#8221; Ruiz asks.
&#8220;Come. There&#8217;s a back stairway,&#8221; Benson tries to help Ruiz avoid the federal agents.
&#8220;No, wait. Don&#8217;t try that,&#8221; Assistant District Attorney Sonny Carisi warns her.
&#8220;Can they do this?&#8221; one detective asks.
&#8220;They don&#8217;t have a warrant,&#8221; another protests.
&#8220;Doesn&#8217;t matter. They&#8217;re Feds,&#8221; Carisi explains.
&#8220;So they take our witness, and we can&#8217;t do anything about it?&#8221; one asks.
&#8220;Hold on a second. I need you to trust me. Can you do that? Velasco, arrest him,&#8221; Benson says, indicating Ruiz.
She then tells the ICE agents that Ruiz is in the custody of the NYPD and cannot be removed until he testifies — at which point the agents arrest her for interfering in federal immigration matters. She is eventually released, however, and Ruiz is allowed to testify.
The writers could not resist taking just one more jab at federal immigration officials when the illegal immigrant is finally brought into the courtroom. ICE agents interrupt the proceedings, only to be reprimanded by the judge hearing the case.
&#8220;No, not in my courtroom. Jimmy, tell them they can wait outside, but they are not welcome here,&#8221; the judge declares.
ICE agents, in just the last eight months, have faced a nearly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/reprehensible-assaults-on-ice-agents-skyrocket-up-830-over-last-year">1000% increase</a> in attacks on themselves and their families. A number have blamed the media and Democrats for continuously pointing to ICE agents as villains, thugs, and worse.

The WMC 2023 Women’s Media Awards

‘Law & Order: SVU’ Joins ICE-Bashing Party, Paints Agents As Thugs Who Protect Rapists

'Law & Order: SVU' Joins ICE-Bashing Party, Paints Agents As Thugs Who Protect Rapists

Illegal Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Law Enforcement

Rape

Television

U.S.

Vice President JD Vance let media outlets have it for continuing to paint law enforcement as the bad guys — in some cases going so far as to suggest that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were no different from Hitler&#8217;s Gestapo — saying that anyone who continued to do so could &#8220;go straight to hell.&#8221;
Vance, speaking from North Carolina on Wednesday, was responding to a deadly shooting that had taken place just hours earlier at a Texas ICE facility — and he argued that the media was complicit in the continuing attacks on law enforcement officers.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JDVance</a> SLAMS Dems and the MSM for inciting left-wing political violence:
&#8220;[NBC] said that immigration enforcement had detained a 5-year-old autistic girl&#8230;when you go around and lie about our law enforcement&#8230;what do you think is gonna happen?&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/fomqQKoUyw">pic.twitter.com/fomqQKoUyw</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1970923345324675322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;[NBC] said that immigration enforcement – do you know what they said? — that immigration enforcement had detained a 5-year-old autistic girl in order to get to that girl&#8217;s father,&#8221; Vance began. &#8220;It turned out that story was a complete fabrication, it was a complete dishonest lie. &#8220;But when you go around and lie about our law enforcement and you tell them that they&#8217;re mistreating five-year-old girls, what do you think is gonna happen?&#8221;
NBC was forced to issue a correction on the piece in question.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Video shows ICE with 5-year-old girl while agents attempt to arrest her father.
Correction: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the activities of ICE agents in the video. The article has been updated.<a href="https://t.co/7tjdnE8tOU">https://t.co/7tjdnE8tOU</a>
— NBC News (@NBCNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1970618051734446505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨JD VANCE: &#8220;If your political rhetoric encourages violence against our law enforcement, you can go straight to hell.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/zB8380Vkzo">pic.twitter.com/zB8380Vkzo</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1970924876174328136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Here&#8217;s what happens when Democrats like Gavin Newsom did, say that these people are part of an authoritarian government,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;When the left-wing media lies about what they&#8217;re doing, when they lie about who they&#8217;re arresting, when they lie about the actual job of law enforcement, what they&#8217;re doing is encouraging crazy people to go and commit violence.&#8221;
&#8220;You don&#8217;t have to agree with my immigration policies. You don&#8217;t have to agree with Donald Trump&#8217;s immigration policies,&#8221; Vance continued. &#8220;But your political rhetoric encourages violence against our law enforcement, you can go straight to hell, and you have no place in the political conversation of the United States of America.&#8221;

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy Hosts Bilateral Talks With US Vice President JD Vance At Chevening House

‘Go Straight To Hell’: JD Vance Lights Up NBC For Retracted Anti-ICE Story One Day Before Attack

'Go Straight To Hell': Vance Lights Up Media For Fomenting Violence Against Law Enforcement

JD Vance

Media

Politics

The kids are not okay. 
We now have an enormous amount of poll data suggesting that Generation Z has some very serious problems, problems that they didn&#8217;t create for themselves.
These are problems created by generations of bad parenting in the United States of America.
A new NBC News poll shows young people are not fond of the idea of getting married or having babies — and they like socialism.
This is disastrous.
According to the NBC News poll, respondents aged 18 to 29 were asked about 13 different options for their top priorities. For women, the number one priority, the number one priority in life, was having a job or career they found fulfilling. Number two was having enough money to do the things that you want to do. Number three? Achieving financial independence. Number four? Having emotional stability.
And then, if you go all the way down the list, number ten was having children, and number 11 was being married.
This is a massive problem. If young women between the ages of 18 and 29 believe that it is a 10th priority to have kids and an 11th priority to get married, and their number one priority is having a job or a career, that is a gigantic mistake when it comes to the purpose of life.
How about for men?
Number one, having a job or career that you find fulfilling. Number two, having enough money to do the things you want to do. You have to go all the way down to number seven to get to “being married.” And number eight, “having children.”
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2276-the-ben-shapiro-show?elementPosition=4&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Any society that does not make its number one focus — not number two, not number three —  getting married and having kids, is a society doomed to failure because that is the priority of any society. You cannot pass your values on to the next generation if there is no next generation. And you can&#8217;t pass your values on to the next generation if you have no values.
The reality is that the central purpose in life comes from the book of Genesis: Leaving your father and mother, marrying a member of the opposite sex, and having kids. 
And that&#8217;s not just because it&#8217;s in the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis has lasted from time immemorial specifically because that happens to be true. Any society that believes yearning for individualistic pursuits — as shown here by the number two priority being having enough money to do the things you want to do — any society that is focused on hedonistic personal fulfillment is a society that is doomed to failure. 
People will stop having kids. People will stop getting married. People will not be happy. And when they are not happy, because it turns out that the fruits of economics are not enough to make you happy, they will turn on the economics themselves, because you cannot fill that family-shaped hole in the heart with cash. 
It is not possible to do it. You can&#8217;t. What gives fulfillment in life to human beings is getting married and having kids. 
I know in our radically individualistic society, we&#8217;re supposed to believe that all forms of familial formation, all forms of sexual behavior, are equally admirable and equally the target of aspiration for society. 
That is wrong and untrue. We should be teaching our kids that it is important to marry a member of the opposite sex, and have kids with those people. 
Will there be people for whom this doesn&#8217;t apply? Sure, because for every rule there are exceptions. But if that is not the societal aspiration, what you end up with is people who are inward-focused. 
That’s because what takes you out of your own emotional narcissism is getting married and having children. 
In my book “Lions and Scavengers,” I talk about this: The word in Hebrew for love is “ahava.” The root of the word “ahava” is “hov,” to give. Thus, giving is at the root of love. 
If you have no one to give yourself to, if you do not have, as it says in the Bible, an “ezer kenegdo,” which means a “helper against him,” it is not good. 
The point is that a woman completes a man and a man completes a woman. And yes, they do need each other, and that is a beautiful thing. And when they come together, they have children. And that is the most beautiful thing. 
Any society that vitiates that purpose and treats that purpose as not only secondary or tertiary, but 10th on the list of priorities, is a society that won’t have kids, and is doomed for unhappiness. 
And then when that unhappiness materializes, people blame the economic system. These two things are connected. There&#8217;s polling data showing that young people, in particular, are warming toward socialism. 
Why? 
The answer is that if you can&#8217;t get what you want in the form of economics, then you tend to blame the economic system. It used to be that so long as you were able to earn for your family, that was the purpose of earning: to be able to buy a house for your family. Not just for you. For your family, to provide a better life for your kids.
But if you separate family and kids from that purpose, no amount of money that you earn will ever be enough to do all the things you want to do, because there are always new things that you want to do. 
I don&#8217;t blame young people for this. I blame their parents. Parents did not hand down the values that they were taught by their parents to their kids.
We now have three generations in American life that have degraded the value of family and childbearing and child-rearing in favor of atomistic individualism that was supposed to provide a libertarian fulfillment.
It’s empty. People are unhappy.
The reality of the world is that it is women, traditionally speaking and biologically speaking, who long to have children. This pretend, nonsense, made-up world in which women are taught that they shouldn’t want to have children is unnatural.
There&#8217;s a reason why every study of rhesus monkeys shows that if you give female rhesus monkeys a truck, they will take the truck and start cradling the truck. The male rhesus monkeys will start hitting each other with it.
Men and women are different. When you tell women they don&#8217;t want the most natural thing for them to want, you get unhappy women. And when men can&#8217;t fulfill their highest purpose because many women don&#8217;t want to fulfill that purpose either, they get angry at women, and they become counterproductive and bad citizens of society.
When you alienate women from their magical superpower, having children, and you tell them that&#8217;s exactly what they shouldn&#8217;t want, that what they actually should want is to be more like men working 2200 billable hours at a law firm, what you&#8217;re going to end up with is an enormous amount of unhappiness.
And that unhappiness stems from women who have been alienated from the central purpose in life, and men who actively would like to form families with women and then fulfill their central purpose in life.

TOPSHOT-CUBA-MAY DAY-DEMO

Disaster: Gen Z Hates Babies, Likes Socialism 

Ben Shapiro

Children

Dinks

Gen Z

Marriage

Opinion

Social Issues

Voters

President Donald Trump raged against ABC and NBC on Sunday night, calling them &#8220;the most biased networks in history,&#8221; adding that he was &#8220;totally in favor&#8221; of revoking their broadcast licenses.
Trump ripped the national broadcasting companies in multiple posts on Truth Social, suggesting that the Federal Communications Commission should terminate transmission permits with ABC&#8217;s and NBC&#8217;s local affiliates.
&#8220;Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC &amp; NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115086929873163909">wrote</a>. &#8220;I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!!&#8221;
While ABC and NBC don&#8217;t have to be licensed by or pay fees to the FCC, each local ABC and NBC affiliate station must obtain licenses and pay regulatory fees, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-hits-abc-nbc-fake-news-says-hed-support-fcc-revoking-licenses">Fox News</a>. Trump questioned this arrangement in a follow-up post, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115087160158530143">writing</a>, &#8220;Why is it that ABC and NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the absolute worst and most biased networks anywhere in the World, aren’t paying Millions of Dollars a year in LICENSE FEES[?]&#8221;
&#8220;They should lose their Licenses for their unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives, but at a minimum, they should pay up BIG for having the privilege of using the most valuable airwaves anywhere at anytime!!!&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;Crooked &#8216;journalism&#8217; should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!&#8221;
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In April, the Media Research Center <a href="https://www.mrc.org/node/90399">found</a> that the evening newscasts from ABC, NBC, and CBS gave the president 92% negative coverage. The national network coverage of Trump was more negative in the first few months of his second term than during the beginning of his first term in 2017, according to the Media Research Center.
Trump also recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-scores-16m-payout-from-paramount-after-exposing-deceptively-edited-kamala-interview">settled</a> a lawsuit for $16 million with CBS over its editing of a Kamala Harris &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; interview just before the 2024 election. Trump argued that CBS engaged in election interference when it made one of Harris&#8217;s answers sound more coherent.
Brendan Carr, the head of the FCC, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/06/cnbc-transcript-exclusive-fcc-commissioner-president-elect-trumps-pick-for-fcc-chairman-brendan-carr-speaks-with-cnbcs-squawk-on-the-street-today.html">told</a> CNBC in December that the independent government agency could &#8220;take a fresh look&#8221; at TV networks to see if they are operating in the &#8220;public interest.&#8221;
&#8220;You look on the media side, I think there’s no question that trust in media is at an all-time low. &#8230; And so I think there’s a lot that needs to take place to restore trust and confidence in media. And there’s a role for the FCC, at least on the broadcast side, for instance. They have to operate in the public interest. And I think it’s probably appropriate for the FCC to take a fresh look at what that requirement looks like.&#8221;
Asked if that means he was open to revoking licenses for networks over their &#8220;perceived liberal bias,&#8221; Carr replied, &#8220;Well, look, the law is very clear. The Communications Act says you have to operate in the public interest. And if you don’t, yes, one of the consequences is potentially losing your license. And of course, that’s on the table.&#8221;
&#8220;You’ve got the national networks, for instance, ABC, NBC, CBS,&#8221; Carr said. &#8220;They provide a lot of the content that the actual licensed local broadcasts disseminate. And so we need to look at empowering those local broadcasters to serve their local communities, even if that’s in conflict with the interests of those national networks.&#8221;

Donald Trump

Trump Says He’s ‘Totally In Favor’ Of Revoking ABC, NBC Broadcast Licenses

Trump Says He’d Support Revoking ABC, NBC Broadcast Licenses

Legacy Media

&#8220;Morning Joe&#8221; host Joe Scarborough admitted that at least one of his &#8220;very liberal&#8221; friends had voiced support for President Donald Trump&#8217;s move to federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C., saying during Tuesday morning&#8217;s broadcast that his friend was deeply concerned about the rampant crime in the city.
Scarborough read a text sent to him by the friend — whose name he did not reveal — less than 24 hours after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-promises-to-clean-up-d-c-and-democrats-are-mad">Trump announced</a> that he was invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act and declaring a public emergency — a move that allowed him to bring the D.C. Police Department under the control of the Justice Department and DEA Administrator Terry Cole.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Joe Scarborough reads a text from a &#8220;very liberal&#8221; friend who lives in D.C.:
&#8220;I&#8217;m not totally opposed to Trump&#8217;s National Guard move in D.C&#8230; crime remains rampant. I&#8217;ve had too many friends carjacked, shot at. None of us will walk more than 3 blocks after 8 P.M.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/LSPLCJj671">pic.twitter.com/LSPLCJj671</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1955295517941883329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I want to read you a text from a — someone who — I won&#8217;t say their name, but they&#8217;re — we&#8217;ll just say that they&#8217;re very liberal,&#8221; Scarborough began. &#8220;And he says, &#8216;This may sound controversial, but I&#8217;m not totally opposed to Trump&#8217;s National Guard move in D.C. I know he&#8217;s doing it for politics, but crime remains rampant. I&#8217;ve had too many friends carjacked, shot at. None of us will walk more than 3 blocks after 8 p.m. Thirteen-year-olds are committing many of these crimes, quite a change from a decade ago when things were much calmer.'&#8221;
Scarborough, a former Republican Rep. from Florida, went on to contrast his own experience living in Washington, D.C., before the city cracked down on crime.
&#8220;Well, that actually sounds like the D.C. that I lived in when I lived a block behind the Supreme Court,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And, you know, every three days, somebody — one of my neighbors was getting held up at gunpoint. I mean, there has been a crime problem in D.C.&#8221;
Democrats writ large have voiced their opposition to Trump&#8217;s move, claiming that violent crime in the District is at a 30-year low — but as many have pointed out, the data may have been manipulated to downplay the crime rates.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In July 2025, DC police commander suspended for downgrading shootings, stabbings &amp; carjackings to lesser offenses to make crime stats look better.
They’re not fixing crime, they’re cooking the books. <a href="https://t.co/HRc3OQktnS">pic.twitter.com/HRc3OQktnS</a>
— Kylie Jane Kremer (@KylieJaneKremer) <a href="https://twitter.com/KylieJaneKremer/status/1954937308286943547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

MSNBC TV Hosts Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski Interviewed By Philanthropist And Financier David Rubenstein In DC

‘Morning Joe’ Host Says ‘Very Liberal’ Friend Secretly Supports Trump’s D.C. Crackdown

'Morning Joe' Host Says 'Very Liberal' Friend Secretly Supports Trump's D.C. Crackdown

Joe Scarborough

Morning Joe

Police

Washington D.C.

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>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-05-May-2025-10-02-AM-7242

All The President’s Gaslighters

All The President's Gaslighters

Biden Administration

Chuck Todd

Jake Tapper

Joe Biden

President Donald Trump reproached NBC&#8217;s Kristen Welker multiple times over the way she framed questions during an interview marking the first 100 days of his second term.
Welker faced blowback from Trump when the &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; moderator pressed him about the trade war with China.
&#8220;Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa,&#8221; Trump said as Welker contended that prices were already going up on goods ranging from tires to strollers.
&#8220;This is such a dishonest interview already,&#8221; Trump said before he asserted that prices are down for groceries and energy as well as mortgage rates.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Meet the Fake Press: &#8220;Prices are already going up&#8230;&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;This is such a dishonest interview already. Prices are down on groceries. Prices are down for oil. Prices are down for all energy. Prices are down at tremendous numbers for gasoline.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/gy5dxQb39Q">pic.twitter.com/gy5dxQb39Q</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1919045057820168238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Another exchange centered on small businesses.
&#8220;Small businesses say they are being hurt by the Chinese tariffs and some could be forced to shut down &#8230;&#8221; Welker said.
&#8220;And many businesses are being helped!&#8221; Trump interjected.
They both spoke over each other for a few moments before Trump called out Welker.
&#8220;Why do you always mention — you know — you pick [out] a couple of little businesses. What about the car business? They&#8217;re going to make a fortune because of the tariffs,&#8221; Trump said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> calls out Fake News NBC: &#8220;You pick [out] a couple of little businesses. What about the car business? They&#8217;re going to make a fortune because of the tariffs&#8230; the head of the union who was no fan of mine&#8230; now he&#8217;s saying&#8230; &#8216;We&#8217;ve been waiting 40 years for somebody to… <a href="https://t.co/iVSAr0w9UZ">pic.twitter.com/iVSAr0w9UZ</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1919023203856286203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump discussed how United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain was &#8220;no fan&#8221; of his, but has come around and voiced <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5352409/trump-auto-tariffs-uaw-shawn-fain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">support</a> for the auto tariffs.
&#8220;So why don&#8217;t you mention the big car industry instead of mentioning somebody that&#8217;s doing strollers?&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;Well, I&#8217;m just asking you about small businesses. Are there any discussions about giving any relief to small businesses?&#8221; Welker said.
&#8220;They&#8217;re not going to need it,&#8221; Trump replied. &#8220;They&#8217;re going to make so much money if you build your product here. Remember: there are no tariffs if you build your product here. It&#8217;s very easy. It&#8217;s very simple.&#8221;
Trump also confronted Welker when the journalist asked about authoritarianism.
&#8220;Let me ask you — big picture. People who have lived in countries like the Philippines, Hungary, Russia, they look at some of your actions — going after civil service, going after universities, law firms, the media — they say it&#8217;s out of an authoritarian playbook. What do you say to those who believe you are taking the country down an authoritarian path?&#8221; Welker asked.
&#8220;Well, there you go again,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you ask it a different way? Many people want to come into our country. Many people love Trump. I won the election. They didn&#8217;t win the election. I got a lot more votes than they did. I won the popular vote. I won all seven swing states by a lot. A lot of people were surprised. They said, &#8216;I think he could win four, maybe five.&#8217; No, I won all seven, and I won by a lot. And I won. Actually, I think there was a lot of hanky panky going on but it was too big to rig. That&#8217;s the good news. It&#8217;s too big to rig. But let me just say, so when you make these statements about, &#8216;People say this –,&#8217; well, they had their chance at the election and they lost big. So you should ask the question differently.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
NBC: What do you say to those who believe you are taking the country down an authoritarian path?<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;There you go again. Why don&#8217;t you ask in a different way? Many people want to come into our country. Many people love Trump&#8230; I won the popular vote&#8230; they had their… <a href="https://t.co/XFx4X21jfF">pic.twitter.com/XFx4X21jfF</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1919024153950134384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Before Welker could pose another question, Trump kept going.
&#8220;You should say, &#8216;What about the people that want to be in this country? What about the people that love this country?'&#8221; he said.
&#8220;Okay. But what do you say to — I&#8217;m asking it on behalf of those people to give you a chance to respond to them. What do you say to those people, sir?&#8221; Welker asked.
&#8220;Those people are going to be very happy,&#8221; Trump replied. &#8220;They&#8217;re going to have to see some results. And I think we had a great 100 days. There are a lot of people that say it was unprecedented. It was an absolutely unprecedented 100 days. And I hope that they&#8217;re going to be right.&#8221;

President Donald Trump

‘There You Go Again’: Trump Fires Back At Slanted Question From NBC Host

Economy

Kristen Welker

Tariffs

Trade War

President Donald Trump ripped into &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; anchor Kristen Welker — and her home network, NBC News — in a Sunday evening post on his Truth Social platform panning their coverage of his administration and saying that they were focusing on all the wrong things.
Trump, who spoke with Welker himself by phone on Sunday, said that she had &#8220;wasted my administration&#8217;s time&#8221; by focusing on stories that were less important and failing to address the serious issues facing the country.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/EfyMuL1VJx">pic.twitter.com/EfyMuL1VJx</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1906491191505399820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Kristen Welker’s entire first half hour of the Lowly Rated Meet the Fake Press this morning, was devoted to the boring Signal Witch Hunt,&#8221; Trump began. He went on to note that Welker, like the anchors and many of the guests on the other networks&#8217; Sunday talk shows, had spent a fair amount of time on the Signal chat group that had included a number of top Trump administration officials — and, accidentally, Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg — in a discussion about a recent attack on Houthi terrorists.
&#8220;She doesn’t want to talk in detail about anything that matters like how well we are doing against the Houthis, substantive Peace Talks with Russia and Ukraine or, Iran, Iran, Iran,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;She wastes my Administration’s time by talking to them about &#8216;NOTHING.'&#8221;
&#8220;Why can’t NBC, one of the Worst Broadcasters on Television, hire people that are honest and credible?&#8221; Trump asked, before pivoting to blame leadership at the network. &#8220;The reason they don’t is because their Chairman, Brian Roberts, is a pathetic Loser, who is petrified of the Left, and always will be. Comcast’s MSNBC and NBC have fought me for years, spending almost all of their waking hours making up Fake Stories — and look, I’m PRESIDENT, with really high Poll Numbers and Great Accomplishments. Good job Brian!&#8221;

White House Set To Announce Contractor For Next-Gen Fighter Jet

Trump Trashes Kristen Welker And NBC After Sunday Appearance: ‘She Wastes My Administration’s Time’

Trump Trashes Kristen Welker And NBC After Sunday Appearance: 'She Wastes My Administration's Time'

Meet the Press

NBC News

President Donald Trump turned a 47-year-old song into a dance craze. Even NFL stars couldn’t resist doing Trump’s “YMCA” dance in their end-zone celebrations.
What a difference one White House term makes.
Trump’s first four years in office found all of Hollywood turned against him, from late-night TV to shows and movies.
Now, pop culture is veering in MAGA’s direction, a moment the Right never expected. And it’s possible thanks to the democratization of the media, from YouTube to podcasting.
It helps that the public’s trust in legacy media outlets, Trump’s entrenched enemy, has never been lower. More people are willing to give the unusual politician a look through a pop culture filter.
Right-leaning artists like Tom MacDonald can crush the iTunes charts without a major label behind him. The rapper’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kGpohEpuTE">Facts</a>,” featuring Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro, crashed the music charts without the press’ help (number one on the Billboard Rap chart). The same happened when MacDonald gave canceled comic Roseanne Barr <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/roseanne-barr-drops-daddys-home-rap-video-with-tom-macdonald" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her rap closeup with “Daddy’s Home”</a> a tribute to President 45/47.
<div id="attachment_891745" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-891745" class="size-large wp-image-891745" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-1024x576.jpg" alt="Screenshot: YouTube/Tom MacDonald &quot;Facts&quot; feat. Ben Shapiro" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: YouTube/Tom MacDonald &#8220;Facts&#8221; feat. Ben Shapiro</div>
Those aren’t aberrations.
“Justice for All,” credited to Trump himself, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/03/21/donald-trump-lands-his-first-no-1-hit-on-a-billboard-chart/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debuted at no. 1</a> on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart in 2023.
Trump has been very good to Fox News’ “Gutfeld!” The late-night showcase routinely outdraws its broadcast competitors, although it airs an hour-plus earlier in the evening. The show’s ratings hit their zenith when Trump appeared on the show’s avuncular panel.
The president’s episode gave host Greg Gutfeld <a href="https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/donald-trump-gutfeld-ratings-5-million-viewers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his highest numbers to date</a> – 4.9 million viewers. Most nights, the show’s willingness to praise Trump’s policies while mocking the Democrats’ responses have kept the show’s ratings strong.
Trump’s own reality series “The Apprentice” made a sudden return to streaming this month. Prime Video is releasing the first seven episodes of the Mark Burnett-produced show, and season one instantly hit the platform’s Top 10 chart.
<div id="attachment_891725" style="width: 894px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-891725" class="size-large wp-image-891725" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-138441695-884x576.jpg" alt="SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 16 -- Air Date 04/03/2004 -- Pictured: (l-r) George Ross, Donald Trump, Carolyn Kepcher during &quot;The Apprentice&quot; skit on April 3, 2004 (Photo by Mary Ellen Matthews/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)" width="884" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-138441695-884x576.jpg 884w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-138441695-300x195.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-138441695-768x500.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-138441695.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 884px) 100vw, 884px" />Mary Ellen Matthews/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images</div>
The show played a critical part in Trump’s branding principles while introducing the country to his now-grown children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. Now, millions want to rewatch that evolution from the beginning. 
The legacy press told Americans that Tony Hinchcliffe’s raw routine at October’s Madison Square Garden Trump rally marked the end of his presidential hopes. We were told that Hinchcliffe’s “racist” joke about Puerto Rico’s garbage problem would ensure GOP Latino voters stayed home.
Journalists covered the story at great length, making it a key media narrative in the days before Nov. 5.
Except Latino voters, by and large, didn’t care.
And what happened to Hinchcliffe? He just snagged a major Netflix deal to bring his signature “Kill Tony” podcast <a href="https://x.com/NetflixIsAJoke/status/1899113010997661879" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to the streaming giant</a>.
<div id="attachment_891771" style="width: 820px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-891771" class="size-large wp-image-891771" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2180711933-810x576.jpg" alt="US comedian Tony Hinchcliffe speaks during a campaign rally for former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York on October 27, 2024. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)" width="810" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2180711933-810x576.jpg 810w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2180711933-300x213.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2180711933-768x546.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2180711933.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px" />ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images</div>
The pro-Trump label isn’t foolproof. Dinesh D’Souza’s “Vindicating Trump” earned $1.3 million at the US box office late last year, below most of his previous films. It’s still a solid amount for a documentary – most nonfiction films fail to crack the $1 million mark in theaters.
So what changed? How did pro-Trump content gain so much ground?
Independent media kept maturing after Trump’s first term, outpacing mainstream platforms in many regards. New media artists can create content and do it at a much smaller price point.
And, more importantly, a Right-leaning ecosystem of podcasts, YouTubers, and social media types can now spread the word more effectively. Credit Elon Musk’s X takeover for keeping more conservative voices on the platform.
Meanwhile, legacy outlets continue to shrink both in size and cultural clout. And the downsizing continues as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/amy-robach-cries-tj-holmes-podcast-abc-layoffs-2042630" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more media layoffs</a> rock the industry.
Anti-Trump art is having a similarly tough time.
While far-Left late-night shows have mostly maintained their audience shares, the same isn’t true at the local movie house.
Last year’s anti-Trump drama “The Apprentice,” released at the peak of election season, seemed primed to draw the anti-MAGA faithful in record numbers. The film’s cartoonish look at an ‘80s era Trump (Sebastian Stan), under the alleged tutelage of fixer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), was catnip to the president’s detractors.
If only they lined up to watch it.
<div id="attachment_891733" style="width: 838px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-891733" class="size-large wp-image-891733" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2177860859-828x576.jpg" alt="LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 15: Sebastian Stan attends the Headline Gala screening of &quot;The Apprentice&quot; during the 68th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Benett/WireImage)" width="828" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2177860859-828x576.jpg 828w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2177860859-300x209.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2177860859-768x534.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2177860859.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px" />Dave Benett/WireImage</div>
The critically hailed film flopped with a $4 million haul stateside. That’s despite endless, fawning media coverage. Few films generated more free press, however, than “The Apprentice.”
More recently, another anti-Trump film is struggling to cover its exorbitant budget. Director Bong Joon-ho says his sci-fi thriller “Mickey 17” <a href="https://ew.com/bong-joon-ho-donald-trump-inspired-mark-ruffalo-mickey-17-villain-11688849" target="_blank" rel="noopener">isn’t a direct attack on Trump</a>. Many disagree, noting co-star Mark Ruffalo’s politician character has Trumpian traits and his followers wear red hats.
Subtle.
The film made $19 million domestically during its opening frame. That’s a solid number for some projects, but not one carrying a $118 million budget. Some suggest the film could cost Warner Bros. <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/wb-mickey-17-cut-tested-151954129.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$100 million</a> by the end of its theatrical run.
The most surprising moment of Trump 2.0 from a pop culture perspective? The recent Oscars telecast didn’t feature his name, and host Conan O’Brien indirectly referenced the 47th president once, and via a late-in-the-show quip.
All of the above opens up new opportunities for Right-leaning artists. Their voices are harder to ignore, and the tools at their disposal have never been greater.
Two potential red flags to consider.
If President Trump fails to fulfill his pre-election promises the country may have less appetite for MAGA-aligned content. Hollywood progressives may rise up anew, smelling blood in the political waters.
And if creators think a pro-Trump veneer will make audiences swallow sub-par content, think again.
* * *
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.

US-POLITICS-CPAC-TRUMP

Riding On Trump’s Pop Culture Coattails

Riding On Trump's Pop Culture Coattails

Amazon Prime

Conservatives

Entertainment

Hollywood

Podcast

President Trump

Social Media

The Apprentice

Tom MacDonald

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon slammed Megyn Kelly who said she wouldn’t be crying any tears for MSNBC’s anchor Joy Reid losing her MSNBC show “The ReidOut” — and her subsequent exit from the network.
Speaking out on his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lscf4ARflpg">YouTube</a> show, Lemon went on a rant against Kelly, saying first that he “usually doesn’t like to talk about her,” and labeling her “a troll” and “a racist.”
“I usually don’t like to talk about her because she’s one of those people, she thrives on it,” Lemon said. “She has built the second part of her career on being a troll.” 
“Let me just say to Megyn Kelly, in my 30 some years as a journalist, and my 50 some years as a person of color, go f*** yourself,” he added, after playing a clip of Kelly saying something similar on her show about Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski and their visit to Mar-a-lago following President Donald Trump’s victory.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A message for Megyn Kelly <a href="https://t.co/y1VOY3AAzK">pic.twitter.com/y1VOY3AAzK</a>
— Don Lemon (@Donlemonbsky) <a href="https://twitter.com/Donlemonbsky/status/1894113478341779775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, also said that “the worst person from television was fired from NBC and the &#8216;Today&#8217; show a few years ago, and that’s Megyn Kelly.”
The former CNN host’s rant came after Kelly posted on <a href="https://x.com/megynkelly/status/1893692907665686539">X</a>, “good riddance,” in reference to Reid.
“Remember when Joy Reid laughingly mocked ‘White women tears’ as pathetic and offensive to her? Who’s crying now, Joy?” Kelly wrote. “Good riddance to the absolute worst person on television, and shame on NBC for letting it go on this long.”
“Joy Reid has viciously mocked the tears of every white person she’s helped cancel over the years for some imaginary racial slight,” she <a href="https://x.com/megynkelly/status/1894120519063998544">added</a>. “She’s had zero empathy for anyone. Now she wants us to feel sorry for her. WE DON’T.”
Later on “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast, the host played <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dqlgUvgLaP0">clips</a> of Reid’s “most racist moments” and said, “I’m thrilled she’s gone. She literally was the most racist person on television … But we won’t have her to kick around anymore, there’s a little sadness in that.”
“Single tear, White woman tears happening right here, Joy,” she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8smx_6kwZac">added</a>. “She was officially fired over the weekend because she’s a racist, horrible news anchor with no ratings.”
At one point, Kelly pointed out that Reid could try independent media, like Don Lemon, who got fired from CNN and later announced his plans to start his own YouTube show. “Don Lemon’s podcast, abject failure,&#8221; Kelly said.
On Tuesday, Kelly <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGguJtPRfXS/">addressed</a> Lemon’s rant against her and said “Don Lemon has no viewers. He has no listeners whatsoever. He has not been able to make it in the cable news world where he was repeatedly demoted. And then fired.”
“He was fired two minutes after getting hired by Elon [Musk], which should have been a lifeline to him, but he was too stupid to actually take advantage of it,” she added. “And now he’s too stupid to actually make it in the digital lane. So, he did the one thing he could think of to do which is get into the press by attacking me.”
“And now he’s gotten more ink than he’s gotten in the past four years,” Kelly continued. “But he’s a sad, pathetic little man who actually cannot make it in business on his own. And really at this point, thoughts and prayers, Don.”

Megyn Kelly_Don Lemon

Don Lemon Slams Megyn Kelly After She Celebrates Joy Reid’s Termination

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Don Lemon

Joy Reid

Megyn Kelly

MSNBC

NBC News chief political analyst and former moderator of “Meet The Press” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chuck-todd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chuck Todd</a> has announced that he’s leaving the network after nearly two decades.
&#8220;Today is my last day… at NBC,&#8221; Todd told his audience on Friday on his “Chuck Toddcast” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/chuck-todd-out-nbc-news?intcmp=tw_fnc">podcast</a>. “I am leaving a bit earlier than we had all originally planned, but there is a reason for it.”
“I’m pretty excited by a few new projects that are on the cusp,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/chuck-todd-out-nbc-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added,</a> but gave no details. &#8220;The podcast is coming with me, and it’s not going away.&#8221;
The former NBC News host said there would be a “little hiatus” for his podcast, until he finds a new home for it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Chuck Todd tells colleagues he’s leaving NBC News — taking his ‘Chuck Toddcast’ with him <a href="https://t.co/2gjUNd6aoM">https://t.co/2gjUNd6aoM</a> <a href="https://t.co/4LLKSGoW9c">pic.twitter.com/4LLKSGoW9c</a>
— New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1885359818761785346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
Todd sent a letter to his colleagues before his announcement on the podcast that his last day at NBC News was Friday, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nbc-todd-exit-trump-welker-746b58bbd6b7eb03f6be0cbeabf84004">Associated Press</a> reported.
&#8220;The reason why I am ready to move, I think the media has a lot of work to do to win back the trust and I think, frankly, national media isn’t the place that’s going to be able to do it,&#8221; Todd said.
“People trust local media more than they trust national media. And I’m convinced the best place to start is from the bottom up,” he added. “National media can’t win trust back without having a robust partner locally, and trying to game algorithms is no way to inform and report.”
“People are craving community and that’s something national media or the major social media companies can’t do as well as local media,” Todd continued, noting that reporting is how you win back support. “If you do this job seeking popularity, or to simply be an activist, you are doing this job incorrectly.”
In a statement to <a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/chuck-todd-exit-nbc-news-1236273148/">Variety</a> about Todd’s departure, NBC News said “We’re grateful for Chuck’s many contributions to our political coverage during his nearly two-decade career at NBC News and for his deep commitment to ‘Meet the Press’ and its enduring legacy. We wish him all the best in his next endeavors.”
Todd joined the network in 2007 as a political director and took over as moderator of “Meet the Press” from 2014-2023 from David Gregory, who was picked to run the popular show following the sudden death in June 2008 of the hugely successful “MTP” moderator Tim Russert. The current &#8220;MTP&#8221; moderator is Kristen Welker.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chuck-todd-rips-the-bidens-they-put-the-entire-democratic-party-in-the-position-its-in-now" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chuck Todd Rips The Bidens: They ‘Put The Entire Democratic Party…In The Position It’s In Now’</a>

Meet the Press – Season 75

Chuck Todd Leaving NBC News After Nearly Two Decades

Many viewers were not laughing at the Weekend Update bit on the most recent episode of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/saturday-night-live">Saturday Night Live</a>” as it made jokes about the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/crime">murder</a> of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Saturday night&#8217;s episode of the sketch comedy show included hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che making a few jokes about the circumstances surrounding Thompson&#8217;s death on December 4, including the NYPD&#8217;s search for the shooter and reactions to the exec’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/assassination">assassination</a>.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Weekend Update: Manhunt for CEO Assassin, President Biden Pardons Son Hunter - SNL" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dyZxIUsnuJk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;This week, New York City officials sent a tough message on crime,&#8221; Jost said, mocking law enforcement for not having a suspect in custody yet. &#8220;&#8216;If you shoot somebody in the middle of the street, you better get on your bike, hop on a bus, and get the heck out of here, mister.'&#8221;
&#8220;The manhunt continues for the assassin who gunned down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare on Wednesday,&#8221; Jost went on. &#8220;And it really says something about America that a guy was murdered in cold blood and the two main reactions were, &#8216;Yeah, well, healthcare stinks!&#8217; And also, &#8216;Girl, that shooter hot.'&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
Jost also mentioned the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, which happened the same day Thompson was murdered. &#8220;It&#8217;s also so crazy that the shooting happened three blocks from here in broad daylight, and the guy just bicycled away. Probably because they have every cop in the city guarding our Christmas tree,” he said.
&#8220;The NYPD now believes the suspect left the city on a bus from Port Authority. Thanks, but a Port Authority passenger who looks like a murderer actually widens the search,&#8221; Jost went on.
&#8220;New York City police say that they were able to get the smiling picture of the suspect after the man apparently was caught on camera at a local hostel, flirting with a female employee, whose name has been reported as ‘Lucky S. Bechalive,'&#8221; Che said.
Reactions to the bit have been mixed, with many saying the bit was in poor taste as Thompson was a husband and father to two young sons.
&#8220;Long time viewer of SNL. I don&#8217;t consider myself particularly [sensitive] to any topic, but in today&#8217;s Weekend Update edition they made jokes about the United Health CEO gunned down in NYC. That was really distasteful and disrespectful. SNL, you need to do better,&#8221; one X user <a href="https://x.com/JCarrilloH/status/1865631926880494014">wrote</a>.
“Disgusting. I couldn’t watch this segment. The victim’s family and friends are very much grieving right now,” one commenter wrote in response to a YouTube clip of the segment. 
“Agreed,” said another. “I don’t usually watch SNL, and I can see by the segment and comments supporting it, that I will no longer be watching it. Joking about someone’s murder like that is absolutely disgusting… a family is grieving right now.”
Thompson was gunned down last Wednesday morning by a masked assassin. Some people on social media openly celebrated the CEO’s death as they insisted it was retribution for corruption and greed in the healthcare industry.
On Monday, police <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/12/09/nyregion/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-news">arrested</a> Luigi Mangione at a Pennsylvania McDonald&#8217;s on firearms charges. Law enforcement described him as &#8220;a strong person of interest&#8221; in connection with the murder.
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