A columnist for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/usa-today">USA Today</a> compared Republican investigations into alleged misconduct by Hunter Biden to stigmatizing and abusing an addict.
The column opens with an emotional description of a teary intervention held by the Biden family to help their son Hunter, who at the time was addicted to crack cocaine – Hunter reportedly spent thousands of dollars on the drug in a matter of weeks and was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-fact-check-hunter-biden-not-dishonora/fact-checkhunter-bidens-military-discharge-was-administrative-not-dishonorable-idUSKBN26M6QI">discharged</a> from the Navy after testing positive for cocaine in 2014.
“My son – like a lot of people, like a lot of people you know at home – had a drug problem,” then-candidate Biden said during the 2020 campaign. “He’s overtaken it, he’s fixed it, he’s worked on it. And I’m proud of him.”
“For most Americans addiction is a private family affair,” <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/12/hunter-biden-addiction-american-families-opioid/70222851007/">USA Today</a> columnist Michael Collins opined. “Hunter Biden’s struggles have played out in public and in the political sphere inhabited by his father. Further complicating matters: Republicans have repeatedly sought to use the federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s private affairs, and at times even his drug addiction, as part of their campaign to portray the Biden family as corrupt.”
The column was published in the wake of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alleged-biden-bribery-scheme-comer-says-fbi-has-more-informant-docs-plans-to-see-them">revelations</a> that a highly credible source had testified to the FBI that Hunter and Joe Biden were involved in an alleged international bribery scheme where they were each funneled millions of dollars through at least 20 shell companies. Of particular note was the allegation that $5 million was transferred to the Bidens from Ukrainian energy company Burisma, around the same time that then-Vice President Biden used his influence to get a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma fired.
“‘You’re not getting the billion dollars,’” Biden <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=797504800724150">said,</a> recounting a threat he made to withhold U.S. aid if the Ukrainian government did not comply with his demand. “‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor’s not fired, you’re not getting the money.’&#8230; Well, son of a b****, he got fired.”
In a speech on the Senate floor today, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said that the continued investigation into the Biden family had uncovered evidence, recorded on a 1023 form provided by a confidential human source, that foreign nationals had compromising material on both Joe and Hunter Biden related to their alleged overseas dealings.
“The 1023 produced to that House committee redacted reference that the foreign national who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden allegedly has audio recordings of his conversation with them. Seventeen such recordings,” Grassley <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senator-reveals-fbi-informant-file-references-17-biden-audio-recordings">said</a>.
The column characterized the investigations as political mudslinging, and, in the words of one recovering addict, “probably the most despicable thing I’ve seen in my life.”
“If some Republican’s child had these issues and a Democrat did the same thing, I’d say the same thing,” said Brandon Swinehart, a former addict who lived on the streets of San Francisco for two years. “This has nothing to do with competency or being president. This is someone’s family. It’s a family affair. Please stay out of it.”
The column focused on how Hunter Biden&#8217;s drug addiction has often been brought up by Republicans in conjunction with and as supporting evidence for allegations of corruption – and insinuated that such tactics were politically motivated smears. The column even included praise for Hunter Biden’s openness about his experience, noting that his public addiction and recovery could lessen the stigma surrounding a common social ill.
“There’s really no one who is immune to this,” said Alexis Pleus, whose son Jeff Dugon died of a heroin overdose. “It doesn’t matter – race, class, gender, what your income is, in the public eye, out of the public eye. Anyone can be affected. No one should be judged for this. Absolutely no one.”
Biden himself has reiterated such arguments.
&#8220;I&#8217;ll bet you there&#8217;s not a family you know that didn&#8217;t have somebody in the family who had a drug problem, or an alcohol problem,&#8221; the president said in an interview with CBS in early 2021.

President Biden Hosts The Annual White House Easter Egg Roll

USA Today Frames Biden Investigations As GOP Battering An Addict

Drugs

Hunter Biden

Joe Biden

Media

U.S.

USA Today

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/usa-today" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a> and Cleveland.com announced they will no longer run the &#8220;Dilbert&#8221; cartoons in newspapers over comments creator <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_dwx7p8eCc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scott Adams</a> recently made concerning race.
In a &#8220;Real Coffee with Scott Adams&#8221; video posted Wednesday, Adams discussed a Rasmussen poll that nearly half of black Americans were unable to agree with the phrase, &#8220;It&#8217;s okay to be white.&#8221; Adams&#8217; video, in which he suggested the poll results indicate that blacks are a &#8220;hate group,&#8221; went viral.
&#8220;The USA Today network will no longer publish the Dilbert comic due to recent discriminatory comments by its creator,&#8221; Gannett said in a statement Friday, adding, &#8220;At [Gannett], we lead with inclusion and strive to maintain a respectful and equitable environment for the diverse communities we serve nationwide.&#8221; 
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At <a href="https://twitter.com/Gannett?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Gannett</a>, we lead with inclusion and strive to maintain a respectful and equitable environment for the diverse communities we serve nationwide. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamGannett?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamGannett</a> <a href="https://t.co/GvHR1w9ae3">pic.twitter.com/GvHR1w9ae3</a>
&mdash; USA TODAY NETWORK PR (@USATODAY_PR) <a href="https://twitter.com/USATODAY_PR/status/1629250832322514945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer similarly said Friday that “Dilbert” will no longer be published in any of its papers over Adams’ “racist rant.”
“This is not a difficult decision,” Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com VP of content Chris Quinn <a href="https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/dilbert-canceled-newspapers-scott-adams-racist-1235535643/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We are not a home for those who espouse racism. We certainly do not want to provide them with financial support.&#8221;
&#8220;Until we decide what to replace ‘Dilbert’ with, you’ll likely see a gray box where it has been appearing,” he added.
Adams in the video joked that he&#8217;s been &#8220;identifying as black&#8221; for some time, but must have accidentally joined a &#8220;hate group,&#8221; based on a recent Rasmussen poll. The poll, which surveyed 1,000 people, showed that 53% of black people agreed with the statement &#8220;It&#8217;s okay to be white,&#8221; leaving 47% unable to say they agree.
“Based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people. Just get the f*** away,” Adams continued, after commenting further on race relations and crime. “Wherever you have to go, just get away. Because there’s no fixing this. This can’t be fixed. So I don’t think it makes any sense as a white citizen of America to try to help black citizens anymore. It doesn’t make sense. There’s no longer a rational impulse. So I’m going to back off on being helpful to black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off.”
Adams on Saturday morning reacted to the backlash online.
&#8220;A lot of people are angry at me today but I haven&#8217;t yet heard anyone disagree. I make two main points: 1. Treat everyone as an individual (no discrimination). 2. Avoid any group that doesn&#8217;t respect you. Does anyone think that is bad advice?&#8221; he wrote. 
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A lot of people are angry at me today but I haven&#39;t yet heard anyone disagree. I make two main points:
1. Treat everyone as an individual (no discrimination).
2. Avoid any group that doesn&#39;t respect you.
Does anyone think that is bad advice?
&mdash; Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1629476166561312769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Is it racist to avoid racists who are the same race as each other? Or is it only racist if the racists you are avoiding are white?&#8221; Adams wrote in another post.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Is it racist to avoid racists who are the same race as each other? Or is it only racist if the racists you are avoiding are white?
&mdash; Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1629479816780185601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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He also retweeted the following post: &#8220;Thanks to [Scott Adams] today I learned that it&#8217;s not racist for half of black people to dislike white people, but it is racist to point it out.&#8221;
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Thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottAdamsSays</a> today I learned that it&#39;s not racist for half of black people to dislike white people, but it is racist to point it out.
&mdash; Anthony Mountjoy (@asmotek) <a href="https://twitter.com/asmotek/status/1629463956652793856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Adams also seemed to endorse a reaction video from Hotep Jesus, who said the Rasmussen poll was likely a tiny sample, not reliable, and intended to &#8220;trigger&#8221; people and divide. The pair will address the controversy later on Saturday in a live video.
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All your questions will be answered. Don&#39;t miss it. <a href="https://t.co/c454dFRNWR">https://t.co/c454dFRNWR</a>
&mdash; Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1629496100137893888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Episode 2027 Scott Adams: AI Goes Woke, I Accidentally Joined A Hate Group, Trump, Policing Schools" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K6TnAn7qV1s?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Scott Adams, cartoonist and author and creator of “Dilbert”, poses for a portrait in his home office on Monday, January 6, 2014  in Pleasanton, Calif. Adams has published a new memoir “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story

USA Today, Other Newspapers Drop ‘Dilbert’ Over Creator Scott Adams’ Racially Charged Comments

USA Today, other Newspapers Drop ‘Dilbert’ Over Creator Scott Adams' Racially Charged Comments

An opinion piece in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/usa-today" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a> lauded Democratic candidate John Fetterman for his performance against Republican rival <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/mehmet-oz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mehmet Oz</a>, who the author claimed &#8220;belittled and bullied&#8221; his opponent in the only debate ahead of the contentious Pennsylvania Senate <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/2022-midterms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">election</a>.
Fetterman, the commonwealth’s lieutenant governor who has struggled with cognition following a stroke in May, floundered during last week’s first and only <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/confident-oz-and-struggling-fetterman-clash-in-pennsylvania-senate-debate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debate</a> between the two nominees. Luke Visconti, an opinion contributor for USA Today and the founder of DiversityInc, a publication focused on diversity management, contended in a Sunday <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2022/10/30/john-fetterman-stroke-highlights-bullying-misinformation-disabilities/10618369002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> that Fetterman was “brave” for facing his opponent.
“As I watched Fetterman’s debate performance, I did so with great pride and admiration … Average people are often crushed by the circumstances he’s fighting to rise above,” Visconti, a fellow stroke victim, asserted. “I don&#8217;t think it was ‘painful’ to watch him in his debate, as some have suggested. It was a courageous example of a person rising above an obstacle in his path, willing to suffer indignities from people trying to take advantage of his disability as well as simply cruel and ignorant people.”
Commentators on both sides of the aisle have nevertheless <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-requires-competency-former-pennsylvania-senator-rick-santorum-on-whether-john-fetterman-can-do-the-job-with-serious-health-issues" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called attention</a> to Fetterman’s health struggles and the questions they raise about his service in Congress, which Visconti failed to address. The editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pittsburghs-top-newspaper-endorses-oz-sees-through-fettermans-blue-collar-branding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that Fetterman has wrongly characterized Oz’s “legitimate calls” for him to release health records as “mean-spirited and insensitive,” which indicates a worrying lack of transparency. Gisele Barreto Fetterman, the wife of John Fetterman, likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ableist-toward-the-disability-community-john-fettermans-wife-tells-nbc-to-apologize-for-asking-about-his-stroke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebuked</a> an NBC News journalist who reported on his cognitive challenges by calling for “some accountability” and labeling her an “ableist.”
Visconti, however, said that critics were equating an “auditory processing disorder” with a “lack of intelligence” in a bigoted manner, although Oz has never appeared to have questioned Fetterman’s intellect. “This type of bullying cannot be accepted,” he continued. “The fact that anyone would leverage a widely held misconception for political gain, especially a medical doctor, is disgusting.”
Visconti also cited a comment from an Oz campaign staffer who said that Fetterman could have avoided a stroke if he had “ever eaten a vegetable in his life,” as well as a mocking list of concessions Oz was prepared to make after Fetterman continually refused to debate him. Among the items on the list was a promise not to “intentionally hurt John’s feelings” and to allow “John to have all of his notes in front of him.” Fetterman struggled last week despite the Oz campaign agreeing to let him use a closed captioning system placed behind the moderators.
“John Fetterman has demonstrated himself to be a fighter — a man with courage, drive and a remarkable lack of self-pity. He also must have a great support system around him, especially a supportive and loving family,” Visconti remarked. “No matter how one feels about his political opinions, I think having leaders who have overcome substantial challenges with enough humility to expose themselves to public scrutiny encourage and embolden others who face challenges.”
Despite Visconti’s call for empathy and understanding while Fetterman recovers, some have questioned whether the nominee would truly make any more substantial improvements. Huma Sheikh, a neurologist specializing in migraines and strokes, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/neurologist-who-watched-fetterman-debate-casts-doubt-on-prospect-for-further-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo after the debate that Fetterman likely has Broca’s aphasia, where victims see the most improvement within the first three to six months.
The race for Pennsylvania’s open seat in the Senate could determine which party controls Congress. Over the past few weeks, Oz has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trafalgar-founder-on-poll-indicating-pa-senate-race-tightening-people-starting-to-pay-attention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gained in the polls</a> after months of Fetterman holding a substantial lead, rendering the contest a toss-up the week before Election Day.

Democratic Senate Candidate John Fetterman Holds Campaign Rally In Erie, PA

USA Today Opinion Piece: I Watched With ‘Pride And Admiration’ As Fetterman Debated Oz, Who ‘Belittled And Bullied’ Him

USA Today Opinion Piece Lauds Fetterman For Debate Performance While Ignoring His Lack Of Transparency

2022 Midterms

Dr. Oz

John Fetterman

Mehmet Oz

Pennsylvania

Politics

U.S. Senate

USA Today was forced to delete nearly two dozen news articles this week after an internal investigation found that breaking news reporter Gabriela Miranda had allegedly fabricated sources and then gave investigators false evidence to try to cover up her actions.
“After receiving an external correction request, USA Today audited the reporting work of Gabriela Miranda,” the newspaper said in a statement. “The audit revealed that some individuals quoted were not affiliated with the organizations claimed and appeared to be fabricated. The existence of other individuals quoted could not be independently verified. In addition, some stories included quotes that should have been credited to others.”
Miranda, who <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20220616233856/https://www.gabrielamirandaa.com/">says</a> on her own website that she has sources in the &#8220;Latinx&#8221; community, resigned from the newspaper and appeared to delete her Twitter account.
&#8220;During the investigation, USA Today concluded that Ms. Miranda took steps to deceive investigators by producing false evidence of her news gathering, including recordings of interviews, according to the person briefed on the inquiry,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/16/business/media/usa-today-fabricated-sources.html">reported</a>. &#8220;USA Today had a separate story-fabrication scandal in 2004, when the newspaper accused a Pulitzer Prize finalist and correspondent, Jack Kelley, of making up stories and plagiarizing work from other outlets.&#8221;
The 23 articles that the newspaper deleted included:
<ul>
<li>Washington, DC couples call wedding dance ban excessive</li>
<li>TikTok bans &#8216;milk crate challenge&#8217; from its app, citing concerns over dangerous acts</li>
<li>Texas abortion ban could lead to stockpiling contraceptives and pregnancy tests</li>
<li>Capybara population &#8216;wreaking havoc&#8217; in wealthy community in Argentina</li>
<li>What do the different stages of breast cancer mean? Which is the most dangerous?</li>
<li>Real life Squid Games? Hit show a chance to spotlight Korean culture</li>
<li>More than decorated skulls: What is the Day of the Dead and how is the holiday celebrated</li>
<li>&#8216;Friends are also family&#8217;: How the unofficial holiday Friendsgiving has grown</li>
<li>The top 10 most popular liquors during Christmas and why you should grab yours now</li>
<li>McDonald&#8217;s employee leaps out of drive-thru window to save woman choking on a chicken nugget</li>
<li>Anti-vaxxer pushes urine therapy as &#8216;COVID antidote&#8217; without scientific evidence</li>
<li>Russian troops halt attack of nuclear power plant but remain in control. How dangerous could this be?</li>
<li>Georgia redistricting pits Democratic incumbents against each other in May primary</li>
<li>Campus ministry at Virginia Tech had its Pride flag stolen, replaced with Confederate flag</li>
<li>&#8216;That&#8217;s on TikTok, not our menu&#8217;: Starbucks baristas can make viral drink orders but need time and patience</li>
<li>Disneyland&#8217;s Snow White ride faces backlash over Prince Charming&#8217;s kiss</li>
<li>Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday. So why does the United States celebrate it more?</li>
<li>If not skinny jeans, then what? Gen Z tells Millennials their jeans are out of style</li>
<li>Sunscreen for dark skin or acne-prone skin: How to find a good sunscreen match</li>
<li>From Allyson Felix to Simone Biles, how female stars of Tokyo Olympics are inspiring women around the world</li>
<li>&#8216;Five hours of silence was torture&#8217;: Facebook and WhatsApp are lifelines for some families</li>
<li>&#8216;This is my land, I stay&#8217;: These Ukrainian women are among thousands choosing to fight, not flee</li>
<li>This isn&#8217;t about music, it&#8217;s about &#8216;freedom&#8217;: Why songs chanted at Cuba protests matter</li>
</ul>
The content in each of the articles was deleted and replaced with the following note from the newspaper: &#8220;This story has been removed from our platforms because it does not meet our standards.&#8221;

US-MEDIA-NEWSPAPERS

USA Today Deletes 23 Articles After Reporter Fabricated Sources, Gave False Evidence To Investigators: Report

Legacy Media

Media Bias

News

USA TODAY <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/opinion/2022/03/13/rachel-levine-honoree-usa-today-women-of-the-year/6600134001/">announced</a> its “Women of the Year,” and one of their choices was the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, Rachel Levine, a biological man.
USA TODAY <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/opinion/2022/03/13/melinda-french-gates-simone-biles-women-of-year/6922631001/">boasted</a>:
<blockquote>Every day across our country, USA TODAY’s Women of the Year lead and inspire, promote and fight for equity, give others a place to seek help and find hope. 
They are strong and resilient women who have been champions of change and courage, often quietly, but with powerful results. And often despite their own challenges. 
Some of the women may be familiar names. Others may be new to you. Each has an inspiring and powerful story.</blockquote>
Of Levine, USA TODAY noted, &#8220;Levine, 64, a trained pediatrician, became the nation&#8217;s highest-ranking openly transgender official last March when the Senate confirmed her as assistant secretary of health.&#8221;
Levine told USA TODAY, “I really feel that everything I’ve ever done, whether it was in academic medicine, in education, in clinical research, seeing my patients in my role in public health, in Pennsylvania and now my role nationally&#8230;has all led to this moment in terms of helping the nation through this greatest public health crisis that we have faced in over a hundred years.”
“Beyond the pandemic, Levine said she is concerned about the challenges women and girls face related to body image,” USA TODAY wrote.
Levine told the outlet, “We need to be welcoming and celebratory for women of all aspects, of all sizes and shapes. And we have to work towards that compassion for all women and not put such an emphasis on thinness and appearance. I think that we need to work as a culture in the United States, but also globally, to be more compassionate and more accepting of girls and women, no matter what their size and shape,” adding, “Women are absolutely critical in terms of promoting healthy behaviors for themselves and their families and our communities&#8230;I think women are often the creators of change. In terms of the changes that we see in our society and our culture, I think that women are those change-makers.”
In October 2021, Twitter locked the account of Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) after he called Rachel Levine a “man.”
The Daily Wire <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/gop-lawmaker-locked-out-of-twitter-after-calling-transgender-biden-official-rachel-levine-a-man/">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Banks’ Twitter account was locked sometime after he referred to Levine as a “man” in an October 18 tweet. “Twitter has censored @RepJimBanks for calling HHS&#8217; Rachel Levine a man. He will be locked out of his account until he deletes the tweet, ‘The title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man,’” Daily Signal reporter Mary Margaret Olohan tweeted on Saturday.</blockquote>
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NEW: Twitter has censored <a href="https://twitter.com/RepJimBanks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepJimBanks</a> for calling HHS&#39; Rachel Levine a man. He will be locked out of his account until he deletes the tweet, &quot;The title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/6wdDqJ36kH">pic.twitter.com/6wdDqJ36kH</a>
&mdash; Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1451885448868007936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
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“The tweet in question appeared to have been removed from Banks’ account by Sunday afternoon,” The Daily Wire noted.
At Levine&#8217;s confirmation hearing in February 2021, Levine dodged questions from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)  regarding Levine&#8217;s support for giving children puberty blockers and sex-change surgeries.
“Genital mutilation has been nearly universally condemned,” Paul stated. “According to the WHO, genital mutilation is recognized internationally as a violation of human rights. Genital mutilation is considered particularly egregious because, as the WHO notes, it is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children.”
“Dr. Levine, you have supported both allowing minors to be given hormone blockers to prevent them from going through puberty, as well as surgical destruction of a minor&#8217;s genitalia,” Paul continued.
“Well, senator, thank you for your interest in this question,” Levine said. “Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care that have been developed. And if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as the assistant secretary of health, I will look forward to working with you and your office and coming to your office and discussing the particulars of the standards of care for transgender medicine.”
Paul replied, “Let&#8217;s be a little more specific since you evaded the question. Do you support the government intervening to override the parents&#8217; consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and/or amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia?”
Levine again refused to answer Paul&#8217;s question.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RandPaul?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RandPaul</a>: &quot;Do you support the government intervening to override the parents&#39; consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and/or amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia&#8230;?<a href="https://twitter.com/SecretaryLevine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecretaryLevine</a>: &quot;Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ylKokhTMwo">pic.twitter.com/ylKokhTMwo</a>
&mdash; Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) <a href="https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1364976284149800967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/RandPaul?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RandPaul</a>: &quot;You&#39;re willing to let a minor take things to prevent their puberty, and you think they get back?! &#8230;
None of these drugs have been approved for this. They&#39;re all being used off-label&#8230; There&#39;s no long-term studies. We don&#39;t know what happens to them!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/jI9zQlmNN4">pic.twitter.com/jI9zQlmNN4</a>
&mdash; Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) <a href="https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1364977620627070979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Rachel Levine

USA Today Names Women Of The Year. Here’s One Of Them.

Transgender

One of the nation’s most widely circulated newspapers ran an article on Monday that presented pedophilia as “among the most misunderstood” conditions in American society, diminishing pedophilia as “inappropriate,” while it promoted “destigmatizing the attraction.”
“Pedophilia is viewed as among the most horrifying social ills. But scientists who study the sexual disorder say it is also among the most misunderstood,” opens <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/public-keeps-getting-wrong-pedophilia-110208526.html">the article</a>, by Alia E. Dastagir. “Researchers who study pedophilia say the term describes an attraction, not an action, and using it interchangeably with ‘abuse’ fuels misperceptions” about pedophiles.
One of the experts compares pedophilia to any unguarded sexual impulse upon which society would frown. Anna Salter, a psychologist, says she begins her sessions by asking, “How many of you have ever had an inappropriate sexual thought?”
The article then favorably quotes Allyn Walker, formerly of Old Dominion University, who promoted “destigmatizing pedophilia” and calling pedophiles “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minor-attracted-person-inside-the-growing-effort-to-destigmatize-pedophilia">minor-attracted persons</a>.” Walker — a transgender individual who uses the pronouns they/them — said the “stigma” against sexual attraction to minors “can actually lead to harm against children.”
The newspaper opened a <a href="https://twitter.com/usatodaylife/status/1480917525907095554">lengthy thread</a> on Twitter by stating, “We think we know what a pedophile is. There&#8217;s a lot we&#8217;re misunderstanding.”
“When most of the public thinks of pedophilia, they assume it&#8217;s synonymous with child sexual abuse. A pedophile is an adult who is sexually attracted to children, but not all pedophiles abuse kids, and some people who sexually abuse kids are not pedophiles,” the paper <a href="https://twitter.com/usatodaylife/status/1480917533150564366">told</a> its readers via social media.
Roughly 20% of all girls and 5% of all boys experience childhood sexual abuse, <a href="https://victimsofcrime.org/child-sexual-abuse-statistics/">according</a> to the National Center for the Victims of Crime.
The newspaper subsequently deleted the Twitter thread. “The initial thread lacked the context that was within the story and we made the decision the pull down the entire thread,” the paper wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The initial thread lacked the context that was within the story and we made the decision the pull down the entire thread.
&mdash; USA TODAY Life (@usatodaylife) <a href="https://twitter.com/usatodaylife/status/1480989658146213888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
USA Today has deleted its entire pedophile apologia thread but don’t let them memory hole this <a href="https://t.co/vVYzdgsAsP">pic.twitter.com/vVYzdgsAsP</a>
&mdash; Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) <a href="https://twitter.com/AuronMacintyre/status/1480973943087456263?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“The Internet is forever a******s good try on the delete tho!” wrote Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter. “To me (and probably anyone who has been watching) this is nothing more than the first step of trying to normalize this kind of behavior.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Internet is forever assholes good try on the delete tho!
USA TODAY TRIES TO “UNDERSTAND” PEDOPHILES!!!
To me (and probably anyone who has been watching) this is nothing more than the first step of trying to normalize this kind of behavior. 🤬🤬🤬 <a href="https://t.co/vbJQUkfspZ">https://t.co/vbJQUkfspZ</a>… <a href="https://t.co/FKGMAvmcui">pic.twitter.com/FKGMAvmcui</a>
&mdash; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1480976148725223424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The article, which appeared in USA Today’s “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2022/01/10/pedophiles-pedophilia-sexual-disorder/8768423002/?gnt-cfr=1">Health and Wellness</a>” section, triggered a withering response from bewildered readers. “F***ing what,” <a href="https://twitter.com/DisLikedObject/status/1480948182041436165">asked</a> one. “Did your editor approve of you writing this or did you just kind of slip this article in?” <a href="https://twitter.com/gobills_norcal/status/1480954003198332929">inquired</a> another.
Social scientists say the effort to erode the social taboo around pedophilia has been underway for years. “I do not misunderstand pedophilia at all,” <a href="https://ruthinstitute.org/about/dr-morse/">Jennifer Roback Morse</a> — a former Yale economics professor who founded the pro-family <a href="https://ruthinstitute.org/">Ruth Institute</a> — told me. “The architects of the Sexual Revolution declared, without proof, that all sexual restraints were outmoded taboos that we were well rid of. But the sexual taboos protect the interests of children.”
In order to eliminate traditional sexual morés, “the sexual revolutionaries had to redefine childhood. Instead of children being dependent on their parents, parents became the oppressors of children’s sexual liberation. Instead of being innocent, children became sexual beings,” added Morse. “In this way, pedophilia has been baked into the sexual revolution from the beginning.”
The world’s most notorious pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, took a similar tactic of presenting sexual attraction to minors with same-sex attraction. Epstein “said that criminalizing sex with teenage girls was a cultural aberration and that at times in history it was perfectly acceptable. He pointed out that homosexuality had long been considered a crime and was still punishable by death in some parts of the world,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/epstein-compared-homosexuality-pedophilia-amanda-prestigiacomo">according</a> to New York Times reporter James B. Stewart.
As long ago as <a href="https://www1.cbn.com/biblestudy/pedophilia-chic">1996</a>, Mary Eberstadt <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/pedophilia-chic-2623">wrote</a> in an article titled “Pedophilia Chic” that the “social consensus against the sexual exploitation of children . . . is apparently eroding.&#8221;
Throughout the 1990s, feminists prodded colleges nationwide to host performances of Eve Ensler’s play “The Vagina Monologues.” The original script gives a positive portrayal of a 24-year-old lesbian seducing and statutorily <a href="https://therightswriter.com/2011/02/obama%E2%80%99s-economic-advisers-international-socialists-union-thugs-nbc-execs-soros-scholars-subprime-lenders-amnesty-shills-and-campaign-cronies/">raping a 13-year-old girl</a>. Subsequent edits raised the girl’s age to 16.
The issue of pedophilia interjected itself into last year’s Virginia governor’s race, as concerned parents noted that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joy-reid-asks-for-proof-porn-is-in-high-school-libraries-here-it-is">books in public school libraries</a> depicted acts of homosexual pedophilia and/or portrayed man-boy sexual interaction in a positive light.
The newspaper that published Dastagir’s article, USA Today, has increasingly blurred the line between reporting and editorializing. Late last year, USA Today ran a news story allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/narrow-minded-and-feeble-gun-rights-groups-shoot-back-at-usa-today-tying-second-amendment-activism-to-nazism">linking</a> support for the right to keep and bear arms with neo-Nazi extremism. Earlier in December, the newspaper asked, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/usa-today-asks-is-math-racist-gets-ripped-online-sign-of-cultural-sickness">Is math racist?</a>”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minor-attracted-person-inside-the-growing-effort-to-destigmatize-pedophilia">‘Minor-Attracted Person’: Inside The Growing Effort To Destigmatize Pedophilia</a>
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Patrick McMullan Archives

USA Today: Pedophilia Is Merely ‘Inappropriate,’ ‘Among The Most Misunderstood’ Conditions In America

pedophila

Pedophilia

Gun rights organizations are taking aim at anti-gun propaganda after USA Today ran a story alleging that “Second Amendment activism can be a gateway to extremist ideologies” like the neo-Nazi movement.
The paper, one of the most widely circulated in the nation, closed out 2021 with a story by Will Carless, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/12/29/gun-rights-activism-extremism/6376362001/">titled</a> “Down the barrel of a gun: How Second Amendment activism can be a gateway to extremist ideologies.” Carless claims that supporting the unalienable right to keep and bear arms creates a slippery slope to violent or fascistic beliefs.
His proof is underwhelming or deceptive. For instance, Carless recounts attending a gun show at the Atlanta Expo Center in September where “a man proudly displayed Nazi memorabilia.” An accompanying photo shows a single display case with a sign that says, “Wanted to buy: U.S./Jap/German military items.” The fact that the man seemingly collects all forms of World War II memorabilia was omitted from the story to paint him as a Nazi sympathizer.
Carless further tries to prove his point by quoting Daryle Lamont Jenkins of the <a href="https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/one-peoples-project/">far-left</a> One People’s Project, who said he went to a gun show in 1995, and “there was a guy that had a table of all kinds of weird stuff.” The article quotes multiple left-wing “experts” while asking not a single gun rights organization for balance.
Advocates of the constitutional right to self-defense strongly rebuffed the story’s central thesis. “This article is a piece of anti-gun propaganda,” the <a href="https://home.nra.org/">National Rifle Association</a>’s director of media relations, Amy Hunter, told me exclusively. “The Second Amendment is part of the foundation and fabric of our country. Tens of millions of gun owners practice the safe and responsible exercise of their rights daily.”
“The Second Amendment is a gateway to personal safety, individual liberty, and a proper understanding of the Constitution,” Erich Pratt, senior vice president of <a href="https://www.gunowners.org/">Gun Owners of America</a>, said in an exclusive statement to this author. “It’s not radical, but rather perfectly normal, to want to be armed for protection from the common thug as well as a tyrannical government.”
The only concrete example of violence the story cites is that of 69-year-old <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/capitol-hill-autonomous-zone-now-has-armed-community-patrol-mayors-office-responds">Willem van Spronsen</a>, a radical left-wing activist who “was shot and killed while trying to attack a privately run immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington.”
The story closes by reporting on two gun show attendees — “one white, one [b]lack” — who “said they pay no attention to politics and have been interested in guns since they were kids.”
“They wouldn&#8217;t give their names,” the article complains.
While the media attempted to link gun ownership to radicalism, Pratt points out that the media give a pass to multiple acts of violence fueled by radical leftist political ideology.
“If Will Carless wants to investigate the factors which could serve as a gateway drug to violence, perhaps he should examine the hateful rhetoric of MSNBC,” Pratt said. “James Hodgkinson, who was a huge fan of the network’s Rachel Maddow and a Bernie Sanders volunteer, tried to murder several Republican congressmen on a baseball field in 2017.  Likewise, the convicted domestic terrorist Floyd Lee Corkins II, who was heavily influenced by the radical Southern Poverty Law Center,&#8221; attempted to murder &#8220;several people at the Family Research Council in 2012. Corkins carried bags of Chick-fil-A sandwiches which he wanted to smear in the faces of his dead victims.” Thankfully, security guard Leo Johnson stopped the onslaught, while being wounded in the fracas.
“Finally,” Pratt added, “let’s not forget that it was the anti-gun Left which downplayed the falsely labeled <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/msnbc-people-only-think-blm-riots-were-violent-because-of-fox-news-newsmax-oan-bubble">‘mostly peaceful’ protests</a> of 2020, which resulted in cities being burned and thousands of police injured. Those riots weren’t being fueled and funded by Second Amendment supporters; rather they were spearheaded, in large part, by leftist Antifa fanatics.”
The legacy media’s single-minded focus on demonizing conservatives shows its myopic focus, the groups said.
“The article’s pathetic attempt to link this core American value with hate groups is narrow-minded and feeble,” said Hunter.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Handgun

‘Narrow-Minded And Feeble’: Gun Rights Groups Shoot Back At USA Today Tying Second Amendment Activism To Nazism

Gun Rights

Second Amendment

USA Today touched off a torrential backlash by posting an article asking, “Is Math Racist?”
The original headline for the article, which is <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fin-depth%2Fnews%2Feducation%2F2021%2F12%2F07%2Fmath-racist-schools-teaching-methods-inclusive%2F6136092001%2F">behind a paywall</a>, asked, “Is math racist? As many students of color struggle with the subject, schools are altering instruction – sometimes amid intense debate.” The newspaper later changed the headline to: “Is math education racist? Debate rages over changes to how US teaches the subject.”
The article purports to show how black students struggle with math and highlights “bolder recommendations to make math more inclusive.”
“The pandemic has exacerbated inequities in math, with students in predominantly [b]lack schools losing about two more months of math learning in 2020-21 compared with students attending white-majority schools,” USA Today tweeted. “But traditionalists who shun the new approach say it effectively dumbs down math education. They say pure math inquiry should be neutral of politics. And students gifted in math should be allowed to advance faster than their peers.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
But traditionalists who shun the new approach say it effectively dumbs down math education. They say pure math inquiry should be neutral of politics. And students gifted in math should be allowed to advance faster than their peers. <a href="https://t.co/KblviXsyuR">https://t.co/KblviXsyuR</a>
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) <a href="https://twitter.com/USATODAY/status/1468302760999366662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;No, math is not racist. Major venues like @USATODAY even asking this question is a sign of cultural sickness,” replied Portland State University professor <a href="https://newdiscourses.com/2020/09/peter-boghossian-how-social-justice-silences/">Peter Boghossian</a>. “Racial disparities can be addressed (in part) by using the best evidence-based pedagogical practices that enable student learning. Please stop suggesting math is racist.&#8221;
Many others shared his outrage at the headline.
“This seems more like political advocacy than news reportage,” observed one poster. Schools could effect higher math scores if they “spend more time teaching fractions &amp; STOP teaching revisionist history,” <a href="https://twitter.com/conservativetht/status/1468892857507274752">wrote</a> one individual. “Meanwhile China is building hypersonic missiles,” <a href="https://twitter.com/debeehr/status/1468651688475123723">replied</a> another. Yet another <a href="https://twitter.com/BoroffCraig/status/1468708161787994112">predicted</a>, “Pretty soon they will just say school itself is racist and everyone gets an A.” Free-market economist and professor Daniel LaCalle simply asked, “Is this a joke?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Is this a joke? <a href="https://t.co/02DH4I4MrV">pic.twitter.com/02DH4I4MrV</a>
— Daniel Lacalle (@dlacalle_IA) <a href="https://twitter.com/dlacalle_IA/status/1468704201735917581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yet USA Today was not alone in asking if the universally applicable laws of mathematics secretly convey racial bias. On Wednesday, The Washington Post printed an article <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/12/08/racism-our-curriculums-isnt-limited-history-its-math-too/">titled</a> “Racism in our curriculums isn’t limited to history. It’s in math, too.”
Math “is perceived, incorrectly, as a neutral space outside the reach of structural racism and national histories,” wrote Theodore Kim, an associate professor of computer science at Yale University. He added, without evidence, that a theorem known as the “Chinese Remainder Theorem” may have been affected by anti-Asian sentiments from decades before the theorem was popularized.
Educators have also tried to portray math as biased against minorities. As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/asking-students-to-show-their-work-in-math-class-is-a-form-of-white-supremacy">reported</a>, last February:
<blockquote>In an <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/ORED/bulletins/2bfbb9b?fbclid=IwAR3U8iS7fCD-g0NArQh74qlRa5IVFiTXoithZA89kMvmD0DETmzcV9DuQdg">email</a> sent out by the Oregon Department of Education, teachers were encouraged to enroll in a course called “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction.” The course came with an 82-page instructional guide that lists the ways in which white supremacy is perpetuated in math class. 
“White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in everyday teacher actions,” the guide reads. “Coupled with the beliefs that underlie these actions, they perpetuate educational harm on Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, denying them full access to the world of mathematics.”   </blockquote>
Part of the course’s “toolkit” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oregon-promotes-program-focused-on-dismantling-racism-in-mathematics-says-finding-the-right-answer-a-sign-of-white-supremacy">claimed</a> that math instruction may be racist, because its “focus is on getting the ‘right’ answer.” Asking students to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/asking-students-to-show-their-work-in-math-class-is-a-form-of-white-supremacy">show their work</a> was also said to be a form of white supremacy.
The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California, also taught a workshop in June on “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-math-research-institute-to-host-math-and-racial-justice-workshop">Mathematics and Racial Justice</a>,” which promised to “explore the role that mathematics plays in today’s movement for racial justice.”
Despite allegations that math has built white supremacy into its algorithm, Asians score the highest on the SAT&#8217;s mathematics test. Asian students&#8217; average math score is 632 out of 800, compared to 547 for white students, 478 for Hispanics, and 454 for black students, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/12/01/sat-math-scores-mirror-and-maintain-racial-inequity/">according</a> to the Brookings Institution.
USA Today has <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/biggest-us-newspapers-by-circulation/">lost 62% of its print circulation</a> since the beginning of 2020, according to the Alliance for Audited Media.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Math

USA Today Asks, ‘Is Math Racist’; Gets Ripped Online: ‘Sign Of Cultural Sickness’

Education

Public Schools

Washington Post

Left-leaning news site USA Today was forced to issue a correction on a fact-check concerning President Joe Biden checking his watch during the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base of 13 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan.
Originally, a USA Today &#8220;fact-check&#8221; seemed to run cover for Biden by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/usa-today-correction-fact-check-biden-watch">stating</a> that POTUS did check his watch, but only after the ceremony:
<blockquote>[Biden] did appear to check his watch during his visit to Dover Air Force Base. But he did so after the dignified transfer ceremony was over. Footage leading up to the moment shows Biden with his hand over his heart for about 30 seconds as vans carry the service members&#8217; remains off the tarmac. After the vans had left, Biden closes his eyes briefly before dropping his arms and glancing down at his watch.</blockquote>
After much backlash, however, the story had to be updated to admit Biden checked his watch &#8220;multiple times&#8221; during the dignified transfer.
&#8220;Corrections &amp; Clarifications: This story was updated Sept. 2 to note that Biden checked his watch multiple times at the dignified transfer event, including during the ceremony itself,&#8221; the correction read. &#8220;The rating on this claim has been changed from partly false to missing context.&#8221;
USA Today fact-checker Daniel Funke noted the correction Friday, <a href="https://twitter.com/dpfunke/status/1433806578675822593">posting</a> to Twitter: &#8220;Journalists and fact-checkers are human (yes, even me!) We make mistakes. When we do, we correct them and try to make it right.&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/usa-today-correction-fact-check-biden-watch">highlighted</a> by Fox News, the USA Today &#8220;fact-check&#8221; headline changed from &#8220;Fact check: Biden honored service members killed in Kabul, checked his watch only after ceremony&#8221; to &#8220;Fact check: Biden honored service members killed in Kabul, checked his watch during ceremony.&#8221;
Notably, on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Biden checking his watch during the transfer and refused to give a direct answer.
“Some of the Gold Star families have criticized the president’s conduct at the dignified transfer,” Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/psaki-biden-looked-watch-ceremony-13-service-members-killed-kabul">told</a> the press secretary. “There was a father of one Marine who said the president shouldn’t be checking his watch every time a flag draped transport case came by the plane. And a sister of another Marine said that it felt like a fake and scripted apology.”
Emphasizing her question, Heinrich asked, “Was the president looking at his watch and does he have a message for those people who felt that they were offended?”
Psaki side-stepped the criticism and refused to address the question relating to Biden looking at his watch.
“Well, I would say his message to all of the family members, who were there, those who were not even in attendance, is that he is grateful to their sons and daughters, the sacrifice that they made to the country,” Psaki responded. “That he knows firsthand what it’s like to lose a child and the fact no one can tell you anything, or say anything, that there’s no words that are going to fill that hole that is left by that.”
“He’s not and I’m not going to speak to the private conversations, of course, they have the right to convey whatever they would like,” Psaki added. “But I will tell you, from spending a lot of time with him over the last couple of days, that he was deeply impacted by these family members who he met, just two days ago. That he talks about them frequently in meetings and the incredible service of their sons and daughters. That is not going to change their suffering, but I wanted to convey that still.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/creepy-gold-star-family-had-horrible-experience-with-biden-at-dover-in-2016">‘Creepy’: Gold Star Family Had ‘Horrible Experience’ With Biden At Dover In 2016</a>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nancy-pelosi-blocked-gop-from-reading-names-of-slain-u-s-troops-reps-say">Nancy Pelosi Blocked GOP From Reading Names Of Slain U.S. Troops, Reps Say</a>

US-AFGHANISTAN-POLITICS

‘Fact-Check’ Corrected: Yes, Biden Checked Watch Multiple Times During Dignified Transfer Of U.S. Troops 

Afghanistan

Jen Psaki

Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, is reportedly resisting a legal effort by the FBI to find out who read a specific article.
The <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/02/sunrise-florida-shooting-fbi-agents-injured/4352344001/">article</a> in question is titled, “FBI identifies 2 agents killed in Florida while serving warrant in crimes against children case,” and was published on February 2, 2021. The piece discussed a Fort Lauderdale shooting which left two FBI agents dead and three wounded.
“Two FBI agents were killed and three were wounded in a shooting early Tuesday while agents were serving a warrant in a child exploitation case in Florida, according to the FBI. The suspect died of an apparent self-inflicted gun shot wound, a person familiar with the matter said,” reported USA Today at the time. “Authorities are investigating whether the suspect had cameras rigged at the apartment to provide an outside view of people who might be approaching at the time of the incident, said the source, who is not authorized to comment publicly.”
According to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/03/usa-today-subpeona-florida-shooting-491847">Politico</a>, the FBI served a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.231951/gov.uscourts.dcd.231951.1.1.pdf">subpoena</a> to USA Today’s publisher in April, which “seeks information about who accessed the news article online during a 35-minute window starting just after 8 p.m. on the day of the shootings.”
The demand for information is “signed by a senior FBI agent in Maryland” and asks for internet addresses and mobile phone information that could then be used to identify specific readers. The FBI is claiming that this information “relates to a federal criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI.”
In a filing in U.S. District Court, lawyers for USA Today’s publisher, Gannett, accused the FBI of violating the First Amendment in its demand. Politico reported that Gannett’s legal team “also complained that the FBI appears to have ignored the Justice Department’s policy for seeking information from the media.”
“A government demand for records that would identify specific individuals who read specific expressive materials, like the Subpoena at issue here, invades the First Amendment rights of both publisher and reader, and must be quashed accordingly,” Gannett attorneys Charles Tobin and Maxwell Mishkin wrote on behalf of USA Today.
Gannett’s motion was filed on May 28, just one day before the FBI’s response deadline. “The motion was made public by U.S. District Court in Washington on Thursday,” added Politico. “The case has been assigned to Judge James Boasberg, an appointee of President Barack Obama.”
This news comes as the Obama, Trump, and now Biden administrations face <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-biden-rips-trump-for-doing-the-same-thing-the-obama-administration-did">scrutiny</a> for engaging in and defending the seizure of journalistic records, such as phone records.
“We were surprised to receive this subpoena particularly in light of President Biden’s recent statements in support of press freedom,&#8221; USA Today publisher Maribel Perez Wadsworth said in a statement, as reported by <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/5/22519653/usa-today-fbi-ip-address-identifying-info-request-florida-shooter">The Verge</a>. &#8220;The subpoena is also contrary to the Justice Department’s own guidelines concerning the narrow circumstances in which subpoenas can be issued to the news media.&#8221;

FBI Blasted For Attack On First Amendment By Seeking Readers Of Story, USA Today Fight Back

First Amendment

Critics ripped USA Today this week after the outlet edited an op-ed by former high school athlete Chelsea Mitchell attacking Connecticut codes allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports.
Mitchell <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/high-school-track-star-running-against-trans-athletes-is-devastating-tells-me-that-im-not-good-enough">wrote</a> Saturday in USA Today about her ongoing legal battle against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) to reverse recent rules allowing transgender females (biological males) to participate in girls’ sports. The outlet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/usa-today-removes-references-to-transgender-athletes-as-male-in-high-school-track-stars-op-ed-calls-it-hurtful-language">edited</a> Mitchell’s piece Wednesday, removing and replacing instances where Mitchell referred to transgender competitors as “male” or alluded to their male physiques.
USA Today explained in an editor’s note that the language was “hurtful.” The post-publication edits and justification earned the outlet condemnations online.
“Outrageous. @usatoday changed Mitchell&#8217;s words, post-publication, on the grounds that the word ‘male’ is hurtful,” <a href="https://twitter.com/AbigailShrier/status/1397740272436400128">said</a> Abigail Shrier, author of “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters.” “The activists know well that Mitchell can&#8217;t make her argument without that word. Shame on the useful idiots of USAToday. If only they had half Mitchell’s courage.”
RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway <a href="https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1397732557077237762">said</a>: “Absolutely incredible. You literally can&#8217;t make an argument in corporate media with conceding to the terms set by the left.”
Attorney and podcaster Jeff Blehar <a href="https://twitter.com/EsotericCD/status/1397878315155918848">wrote</a>: “I find it absolutely insane that any news organization that values its journalistic reputation would go back and change an *op-Ed* after publication for any reason outside of explicit legal liability, which 1.) you have in-house lawyers for pre-publication; 2.) this sure ain’t.”
Casey Mattox, vice president for legal and judicial strategy at Americans for Prosperity, <a href="https://twitter.com/CaseyMattox_/status/1397737310800723968">stated</a> simply: “Embarrassingly poor form by @USAToday.”
Mitchell is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal nonprofit, in her case against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference to bar transgender females from girls’ sports. ADF attorney Christiana Holcomb also blasted USA Today for changing Mitchell’s op-ed days later.
“@USATODAY published our client Chelsea Mitchell’s opinion about the unfairness she experienced being forced to compete against male athletes. But after backlash from the woke mob, editors unilaterally changed Chelsea’s words &amp; called them ‘hurtful language,’” Holcomb <a href="https://twitter.com/ChristianaADF/status/1397610845761425410">wrote</a> on Twitter.
“What was the ‘hurtful language’ that editors deleted from Chelsea’s opinion piece three days after publication? The word ‘male,’” she continued. “USA Today violated its principles to appease the mob. This blatant censorship violates the trust we place in media to be honest brokers of public debate.”
USA Today changed Mitchell’s language throughout the article, removing any reference to transgender females as “male.” Mitchell’s opening paragraphs reflect multiple changes in wording. Mitchell’s <a href="https://adflegal.org/blog/i-was-fastest-girl-connecticut-transgender-athletes-made-it-unfair-fight">original article</a> said:
<blockquote>It’s February 2020. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.
Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage: a male body.
I won that race, and I’m grateful. But time after time, I have lost. I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to male runners. I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two male runners. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again.</blockquote>
It has since been changed to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/05/22/transgender-athletes-girls-women-sports-track-connecticut-column/5149532001/">read</a>:
<blockquote>It’s February 2020. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.
Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a transgender runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage.
I won that race, and I’m grateful. But time after time, I have lost. I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to transgender runners. I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two transgender runners. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again.</blockquote>

Transgender Flag Waving Against Trees

USA Today Blasted For Caving To ‘Woke Mob,’ Editing ‘Hurtful’ Language Out Of Op-Ed On Trans Athletes

Wokeness

USA Today edited an op-ed it published earlier this week to remove all mention of transgender student athletes as biologically male.
Former high school athlete Chelsea Mitchell <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/high-school-track-star-running-against-trans-athletes-is-devastating-tells-me-that-im-not-good-enough">wrote</a> Saturday in USA Today about her ongoing legal battle against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) to ban biologically male athletes from girls’ sports. The outlet edited Mitchell’s work Wednesday, taking out every instance that Mitchell referred to transgender competitors as male. USA Today tacked on an editor’s note to the top of Mitchell’s piece saying it had been edited to remove “hurtful language.”
“Editor&#8217;s note: This column has been updated to reflect USA TODAY’s standards and style guidelines. We regret that hurtful language was used,” the note says.
The outlet replaced references to male athletes that Mitchell competed against, and lost to numerous times. Instead, the piece now refers to them as “transgender” athletes. For example, the opening paragraphs of Mitchell’s piece contain multiple changes. The <a href="https://adflegal.org/blog/i-was-fastest-girl-connecticut-transgender-athletes-made-it-unfair-fight">original version</a> republished by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing Mitchell in her court battle, says:
<blockquote>It’s February 2020. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.
Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage: a male body.
I won that race, and I&#8217;m grateful. But time after time, I have lost. I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to male runners. I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two male runners. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again.</blockquote>
The edited <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/05/22/transgender-athletes-girls-women-sports-track-connecticut-column/5149532001/">version</a> of the same op-ed now reads:
<blockquote>It’s February 2020. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.
Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a transgender runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage.
I won that race, and I&#8217;m grateful. But time after time, I have lost. I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to transgender runners. I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two transgender runners. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again.</blockquote>
ADF attorney Christiana Holcomb slammed USA Today for the edits, which she said undermines Mitchell’s argument and is a violation of journalistic principles in favor of appeasing the “woke mob.”
“@USATODAY published our client Chelsea Mitchell’s opinion about the unfairness she experienced being forced to compete against male athletes. But after backlash from the woke mob, editors unilaterally changed Chelsea’s words &amp; called them ‘hurtful language,’” Holcomb <a href="https://twitter.com/ChristianaADF/status/1397610845761425410">wrote</a> on Twitter Wednesday.
“What was the ‘hurtful language’ that editors deleted from Chelsea&#8217;s opinion piece three days after publication? The word ‘male,’” she continued. “USA Today violated its principles to appease the mob. This blatant censorship violates the trust we place in media to be honest brokers of public debate.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/high-school-track-star-running-against-trans-athletes-is-devastating-tells-me-that-im-not-good-enough">High School Track Star: Running Against Trans Athletes Is ‘Devastating,’ ‘Tells Me That I’m Not Good Enough’</a>

Chelsea Mitchell

USA Today Removes References To Transgender Athletes As ‘Male’ In High School Track Star’s Op-Ed, Calls It ‘Hurtful Language’

LGBTQ

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