Despite all of the suggestions that President Trump is a wild man who&#8217;s going to destroy the American economy, on Wednesday, the second quarter GDP numbers came in at 3%, well beyond expectations.
That&#8217;s a very solid number.
Democrats are freaking out over all of this.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warns that the economy better stay strong because on the other side, you&#8217;ve got a bunch of rampant socialists ready to go, saying, “Why are we on the verge of Caracas-on-the-Hudson in New York? Why is this guy getting traction? Because young people are disillusioned with the system. So when you do this, you make everyone a shareholder. You make everyone a stakeholder. People who are part of the system do not want to bring down the system.”
This means it&#8217;s very important that the Trump economy stay on track. And here&#8217;s where you have a lot of crosswinds in the Trump economy; there are some very, very salutary signs for the Trump administration, and there are also some kind of strange things about this GDP report that could signal choppy waters in the future.
As The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/gdp-report-economy-consumers-donald-trump-tariffs-d9879d98?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAjoBZ-3soVj3PoiK6aZTxcWr-FB49jxMVLYmga1eVzqoEE8IiSRvnAbg7mu4Rk%3D&amp;gaa_ts=688bb106&amp;gaa_sig=cOBkFdPHgQNhwQQJhynsChDmYEuJk6LXrV3C3ncI070tCEl4mrbYY15Uv98Aq05eUHNcd-o0f1M9esecfFfJ5A%3D%3D">pointed out</a>:
<blockquote>Most striking are the second quarter report’s wild internal details. Net exports (exports minus imports) added a remarkable 4.99% to GDP as imports fell 30.3%. Imports subtract from growth in the national accounts because GDP measures domestic production. Imports are produced overseas. But imports are still crucial to U.S. economic well-being because consumers buy them and businesses use them as inputs for what they produce—and often export. The crazy swing in imports shows how much Mr. Trump’s up-and-down trade policies have disrupted business decisions and left companies scrambling to adapt. This seems to have had a negative effect on private domestic investment, which fell 15.6% in the second quarter after a surge in the first. 
Nonresidential business investment contributed only 0.27% to GDP, as businesses rapidly drew down their inventories. Chalk this up as another result of the uncertainty caused by on-again, off-again, on-again tariffs. The doughty U.S. consumer was less affected, contributing 0.98% to GDP—decent if hardly bullish. But it’s notable that final sales to private domestic purchasers, a key measure of demand, rose only 1.2%. That’s the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2022.</blockquote>
Prices continue to remain steady, which is why you&#8217;re not seeing inflation right now. So what does all of this mean?
The answer is nobody knows. The Wall Street Journal is saying this openly. The second quarter was all but over before the passage of the one “big, beautiful bill.” It&#8217;s going to have new incentives for business investment. It could save the Trump economy. Trade, on the other hand, is pushing back against that. So you have a bunch of these cross-cutting effects.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2250-the-ben-shapiro-show?elementPosition=3&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
The bottom line is that the economy must remain strong in order to prevent the insane Democrats from winning races. And they have lost their ever-loving minds. If you thought that they were going to turn around after being defeated by President Trump and the Republicans and perhaps turn toward sanity, there is zero evidence that this is the case.
They continue to swing out to the more and more insane Left in the hopes that President Trump will collapse and basically hand them the presidency and the Congress.
This is the prime reason the economy has to be the top priority.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS

Crosswinds In A Strong Economy: Analyzing Trump’s 3% GDP Surge

Ben Shapiro

Economy

Opinion

President Trump

Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal accepted investment from Qatar and ran a series of articles extolling the country, which hosted the leaders of Hamas during the October massacre of roughly 1200 Israelis and has been spending billions of dollars around the world to promote its image.
The ad, titled, “<a href="https://partners.wsj.com/invest-qatar/eye-on-qatar/?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAjhwPIajmZRdPSebZJ1wwjCbxg6giJRcQIFAV4IWJNJqNs30hT9pRmXT0x2mQU%3D&amp;gaa_ts=688b9b67&amp;gaa_sig=dBM6OY2TM54kSy07Cl6QLiw3GOi3iiP9k191RlV3S96sLNVv7viIMNKdDZ-DAdqkF9RPfesNeUUqPp5iY_KOUA%3D%3D">Eye on Qatar,”</a> features articles with titles such as “<a href="https://partners.wsj.com/qatar-investment-authority/building-an-investment-ready-ecosystem/creating-a-global-vc-hub-in-the-gcc/">Qatar’s billion-dollar vision: creating a global vc hub in the gcc</a>,” “<a href="https://partners.wsj.com/invest-qatar/eye-on-qatar/why-global-companies-are-setting-up-here/">The future of business in Qatar: why global companies are setting up here</a>,” “<a href="https://partners.wsj.com/media-city-qatar/eye-on-qatar/building-the-next-global-media-capital/">Media city Qatar’s chairman on building the next global media capital,”</a> and “<a href="https://partners.wsj.com/invest-qatar/eye-on-qatar/inside-qatars-startup-boom/">Innovation on the rise: inside qatar’s startup boom</a>.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: The Wall Street Journal has agreed to promote investment in Qatar in exchange for lots of money from the government of Qatar. <a href="https://t.co/ymil02CDOt">pic.twitter.com/ymil02CDOt</a>
— Daniel Rubenstein (@paulrubens) <a href="https://twitter.com/paulrubens/status/1950941899629502681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In 2008, the Al-Qaradawi Center for Islamic Studies at Qatar Foundation in Education City, Doha, Qatar, part of the state-led Qatar Foundation&#8217;s College of Islamic Studies, was opened. It was named after the violently antisemitic Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the cleric who in 2009 <a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/Sheik-Yusuf-al-Qaradawi-2013-5-3-v1.pdf">called</a> for God to kill all Jews, “down to the very last one.”
The mother of Qatar’s emir and chair of the Qatar Foundation, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, <a href="https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1945247695507218533">wrote on social media</a> that the Jews would disappear from Israel as she praised Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas terrorist who masterminded the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, “The name Yahya means the one who lives. They thought him dead, but he lives… He will live on. And they will be gone.”
The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) released a study in 2019 showing the existence of substantial Middle Eastern funding (primarily from Qatar) to American universities that had not been reported to the Department of Education, as required by law. “In fact, ISGAP’s research uncovered billions of dollars of unreported funds, which, in turn, led to the launch of a federal government investigation in 2019,” the organization noted. “Georgetown University has received approximately $1.073 billion from Qatar since establishing its Qatar campus in 2005, with credible evidence of underreporting to the U.S. Department of Education,” ISGAP <a href="https://isgap.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/FTM-GEORGETOWN-REPORT-2025-05-23-1.pdf">noted</a> this year.
Earlier this month, GOP Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina grilled Georgetown University President Robert Groves for awarding a university medal to Sheikha Moza bint Nasser; Groves refused to revoke the medal.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🔥 Georgetown’s Qatar Problem Just Got Worse<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMarkHarrisNC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMarkHarrisNC</a> grilled Georgetown President Robert Groves for awarding a university medal to Sheikha Moza bint Nasser—mother of Qatar’s emir and chair of the Qatar Foundation.
Moza openly praised Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the… <a href="https://t.co/C4C22Pi5aj">pic.twitter.com/C4C22Pi5aj</a>
— Stu (@thestustustudio) <a href="https://twitter.com/thestustustudio/status/1945247695507218533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In 2012, Qatar pledged $400 million to Hamas and the Gaza Strip, and an estimated $1.8 billion since 2012, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/07/13/reckoning-needed-between-terror-sponsoring-qatar-and-united-states/">reported</a>, adding:
<blockquote>
In 2019, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh reportedly told Qatar’s foreign minister that Doha was “<a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/10/world-news/qatar-and-hamas-tried-to-thwart-deal-of-the-century-trump-peace-deal-report/">Hamas’s main artery</a>” for fundraising. Haniyeh wrote to then-Hamas Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, in 2021 <a href="https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/seized-documents-qatar-funded-hamas-disrupted-gaza-peace-n76tlkv8">to tell him</a> that Qatar’s emir had “agreed in principle to supply the resistance discreetly,” and that $11 million had already “been raised from the emir for the leadership of the movement.”
</blockquote>

Wall Street Journal U.S. Edition Goes On Sale In London For The First Time

Wall Street Journal Publishes Pro-Qatar Content Paid For By Doha

Media

Politics

Qatar

A Wall Street Journal poll released over the weekend revealed the popularity of the Democratic Party has <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/democratic-party-poll-voter-confidence-july-2025-9db38021?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAiHgZpqzGtTgH8aAJUb0z2ZAeLkfl8uKnQaQFgV6RkTNm7wEZmRlhTMB0H3YkU%3D&amp;gaa_ts=6887a65b&amp;gaa_sig=LWJ5OzLS6j1dmPqi17NnXkMvf3i6YJXDOQ82hMozQep-S2AEPoFareak7CyKP7fEOGml9NHKRMWVTVY0eR89Ww%3D%3D">plunged to its lowest level</a> in at least 35 years.
The poll surveyed 1,500 registered voters between July 16 and 20.
A whopping 63% held an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, with only 33% having a favorable view. Only a paltry 8% of voters viewed Democrats “very favorably.”
“Disapproval of Trump’s handling of inflation outweighs approval by 11 points, and yet the GOP is trusted more than Democrats to handle inflation by 10 points,” the Journal noted. “By 17 points, voters disapprove rather than approve of Trump’s handling of tariffs, and yet Republicans are trusted more than Democrats on the issue by 7 points.”
Voters trusted congressional Republicans 17 points more than Democrats on immigration in general and 24 points more on illegal immigration.
“The Democratic brand is so bad that they don’t have the credibility to be a critic of Trump or the Republican Party,” Democratic pollster John Anzalone, who joined Republican Tony Fabrizio to conduct the survey, told the Journal. “Until they reconnect with real voters and working people on who they’re for and what their economic message is, they’re going to have problems.”
The Journal noted that in 2017, Democratic voters outnumbered Republicans by six percentage points, but more voters currently identify as Republicans. With the 2026 Congressional elections pivotal as the Republicans hold a perilously narrow majority in the House of Representatives, one salient fact stands out: “Campaign-finance reports out this week show that the Republican National Committee ended the first half of the year with more than $80 million on hand, compared with $15 million held by the Democrats’ national campaign arm,” the Journal reported. “The Democratic committee <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/democratic-donors-progressive-aoc-zohran-mamdani-825242e9?mod=article_inline" data-type="link">raised roughly 20% less than it did</a> in the first six months of 2021, a comparable period in the last midterm cycle, and has in the bank a quarter of what it did four years ago.”

A chef holding a smelly fish

Voters Abandon Democrats, Support Hits Lowest Level in More Than Three Decades: Poll

Democrats

General

Poll

Republican Party

The White House blocked The Wall Street Journal from joining the press pool for President Donald Trump’s weekend trip to Scotland.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Wall Street Journal reporter Tarini Parti has been removed from the pool over her outlet’s “fake and defamatory” story regarding the extent of the president’s past relationship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
“As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,” Leavitt told <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/21/journal-removed-white-house-pool-epstein-00465548">Politico</a> in a statement. “Due to the Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board. Every news organization in the entire world wishes to cover President Trump, and the White House has taken significant steps to include as many voices as possible.”
Trump filed a libel suit against The Wall Street Journal last week after the outlet published a story on a risque birthday message Trump allegedly sent to Epstein in 2003. The president has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-files-massive-libel-lawsuit-against-wall-street-journal-over-fake-epstein-letter">dismissed</a> the birthday letter at the center of the story as “FAKE.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association said the White House’s action against The Wall Street Journal “defies the First Amendment.”
“Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media,” CBS News correspondent and association president Weijia Jiang said in a <a href="https://x.com/peterbakernyt/status/1947419716370542711">statement</a>. “We strongly urge the White House to restore the Wall Street Journal to its previous position in the pool and aboard Air Force One for the President’s upcoming trip to Scotland. The WHCA stands ready to work with the administration to find a quick resolution.”
The association previously oversaw entry into the press pool and granted access to the pool for special events, such as the president’s trip to Scotland. The White House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-white-house-strips-whca-of-press-pool-control-opens-access-to-new-voices">stripped</a> the association of the authority earlier this year, ending the power of a cabal of “D.C.-based journalists” to dictate “which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces,” Leavitt said at the time.
Earlier this year, the president banned all Associated Press reporters and photographers from all pools over the outlet’s refusal to recognize the renamed “Gulf of America.” The legality of the outlet’s removal is currently being litigated in court.

Donald Trump

White House Boots WSJ From Press Pool Over Report On ‘FAKE’ Epstein Letter

White House

White House Correspondents Association

President Trump has filed a federal libel lawsuit against Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, and two Wall Street Journal reporters, court documents revealed on Friday.
According to the docket <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/18/politics/trump-wall-street-journal-jeffrey-epstein?Date=20250718&amp;Profile=CNN&amp;utm_content=1752873493&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">filed</a> in Miami federal court, Trump is suing for libel, assault, and slander following a Thursday Wall Street Journal article claiming a 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that included a sketch of a naked woman was authored by President Trump.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-jeffrey-epstein-birthday-letter-we-have-certain-things-in-common-f918d796?mod=hp_lead_pos7">claimed</a> that it had obtained a “letter bearing Trump’s name” that was included in a birthday book created for Epstein.
The Journal notably did not include an image of the alleged letter, and President Trump said on Thursday that he “will be suing the Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch, shortly” over the “fake” story.
“The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued,” the president said in a Truth Social post.
Trump said that Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp, “stated that he would take care of it.”
“But, obviously, did not have the power to do so,” Trump added.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-threatens-to-sue-wsj-over-fake-epstein-letter-orders-bondi-to-unseal-testimony?author=Daily+Wire+News&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=15&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Threatens+To+Sue+WSJ+Over+%E2%80%98FAKE%E2%80%99+Epstein+Letter%2C+Orders+Bondi+To+Unseal+Testimony">reported</a>, although Trump and Epstein were friendly for several years when they both lived in New York City, there is no evidence that Trump was involved in any of Epstein’s criminal wrongdoing. Epstein was not accused of sexual relations with young girls until 2005, about a year after Trump kicked him out of his Mar-a-Lago club and the two had a falling out.

President Trump Departs White House For Florida On Tuesday Morning

Trump Files Massive Libel Lawsuit Against Wall Street Journal Over ‘Fake’ Epstein Letter

Courts

Jeffrey Epstein

Rupert Murdoch

U.S.

Elon Musk on Wednesday accused The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal of lying “through their teeth” with reports of drug use.
Musk posted a photo of drug test results from June 18 showing he tested negative for a slew of chemicals after the Times published a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/us/elon-musk-drugs-children-trump.html">report</a> headlined: “On the Campaign Trail, Elon Musk Juggled Drugs and Family Drama.” The report stated that Musk turned to drugs during the 2024 campaign “well beyond occasional use.”
“The WSJ &amp; New York Times fake ‘journalists’ lied through their teeth about me. Now let’s see their drug test results. They will fail,” Musk posted on X alongside a photo of his drug test results.
The drug test would have caught any drugs that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had taken recently, though it would not have necessarily caught drugs taken months ago.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1">reported</a> on Musk’s alleged drug use last year titled: “Elon Musk Has Used Illegal Drugs, Worrying Leaders at Tesla and SpaceX.” The report said that Musk would consume drugs such as “LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms” on occasion and mostly at private parties where attendees must sign non-disclosure agreements to attend.
Musk spoke about drug use with his biographer, telling Walter Issacson “I really don’t like doing illegal drugs.” Musk has previously said he took prescribed amounts of ketamine – about once every two weeks – for depression, according to the Times report.
Musk has long been critical of legacy outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. At a press conference in the Oval Office last month, Musk tore into the Times for its reporting over the Russia collusion conspiracy that enveloped the 2016 Trump campaign and President Donald Trump’s first term.
“The New York Times, is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on the Russia-Gate? Is that the same organization?” Musk <a href="https://x.com/RedWave_Press/status/1935459741804667108">said</a> when asked about a Times report. “I think it is. … That New York Times? Let’s move on.”

Elon Musk

Elon Musk Posts Drug Test Results After New York Times Accuses Him Of Being An Addict

The New York Times

Vice President JD Vance – and his communications director — fired back on Friday after a Wall Street Journal headline misrepresented Vance&#8217;s comments with regard to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The WSJ&#8217;s piece framed Vance&#8217;s remarks as a direct threat to Russia, suggesting that he was leveraging American military intervention against Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to strong-arm an end to the war.
&#8220;Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal,&#8221; the headline read – and an X post touting the article followed the same tone: &#8220;Exclusive: Vance pledged to hit Russia with sanctions and potentially military action if Putin won’t agree to a peace deal that guarantees Ukraine&#8217;s independence.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Exclusive: Vance pledged to hit Russia with sanctions and potentially military action if Putin won’t agree to a peace deal that guarantees Ukraine&#39;s independence <a href="https://t.co/ro5RonHzvb">https://t.co/ro5RonHzvb</a>
&mdash; The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1890254575174566246?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But William Martin, Vance&#8217;s communications director, pushed back in a post of his own — complete with the transcript of the vice president&#8217;s actual words: &#8220;This is pure fake news. Compare the transcript of @JDVance&#8217;s conversation with WSJ to the headline being run here. The Vice President didn&#8217;t make any threats. He simply stated the fact that no one is going to take options away from President Trump as these negotiations begin.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is pure fake news. Compare the transcript of <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JDVance</a>&#39;s conversation with WSJ to the headline being run here.
The Vice President didn’t make any threats. He simply stated the fact that no one is going to take options away from President Trump as these negotiations begin. <a href="https://t.co/OSOo7ECBqr">https://t.co/OSOo7ECBqr</a> <a href="https://t.co/MiAynLJZsi">pic.twitter.com/MiAynLJZsi</a>
&mdash; William Martin (@wsmartin218) <a href="https://twitter.com/wsmartin218/status/1890384085027103120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When asked what tools the White House had at its disposal with regard to putting pressure on Putin to end the war, Vance was clear that Trump was willing to consider a wide range of possibilities, but was not going to commit to anything before negotiations.
&#8220;I think certainly, look, there are instruments of pressure, absolutely and again, if you look at President Trump’s approach to this, the range of options is extremely broad, and there are economic tools of leverage. There [are], of course, military tools of leverage. There’s a whole host of things that we can do. But fundamentally, I think the president wants to have a productive negotiation, both with Putin and with Zelensky,&#8221; Vance said.
&#8220;So just want to make sure I understand you correctly. You’re saying that even though the possibility of a Ukraine NATO accession at the end of this process, or even the presence of U.S. troops in Ukraine is not officially off the table?&#8221; the interviewer pressed further.
<a class="c-link" href="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" data-sk="tooltip_parent">PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40</a>
Vance replied, &#8220;I think the President has been very clear that he doesn’t like the idea of moving Ukraine in[to] NATO. He’s been very clear about that. I also think the president is very clear that whenever he walks [into] a negotiation, everything is on the table.&#8221;
The vice president also addressed the issue himself in a post on X, saying, &#8220;President Trump is the ultimate deal maker and will bring peace to the region by ending the war in Ukraine. As we&#8217;ve always said, American troops should never be put into harm&#8217;s way where it doesn’t advance American interests and security. This war is between Russia and Ukraine.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The fact that the WSJ twisted my words in the way they did for this story is absurd, but not surprising considering they have spent years pushing for more American sons and daughters in uniform to be unnecessarily deployed overseas.
&mdash; JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1890425324946538965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The fact that the WSJ twisted my words in the way they did for this story is absurd, but not surprising considering they have spent years pushing for more American sons and daughters in uniform to be unnecessarily deployed overseas,&#8221; he concluded.

Sean Duffy Sworn In Transportation Secretary

Vance And His Team Fire Back After WSJ Misrepresents Russia Comments: ‘Absurd, But Not Surprising’

'Pure Fake News': Vance Team Fires Back After WSJ Misrepresents Russia Comments

JD Vance

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings took a blowtorch to Democrat claims that entrepreneur Elon Musk — who will spearhead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Vivek Ramaswamy — is actually the one in charge when it comes to forming policy ahead of President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s second term in the White House.
Jennings pointed directly to the Wall Street Journal — and the recent article that showed they were finally catching up with the obvious reality of President Joe Biden&#8217;s infirmity — and pointed out the fact that no one believed Biden had actually been running anything for much of the past four years.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottJenningsKY</a> just nuked Democrat narrative about Elon having too much influence over US politics:
&quot;I hear Democrats criticizing the idea that we have unelected people with too much influence over the government. I invite them to pick up the Wall Street Journal from this… <a href="https://t.co/zkWt5CXiC9">pic.twitter.com/zkWt5CXiC9</a>
&mdash; Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1870850545717498004?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I hear Democrats criticizing the idea that we have unelected people with too much influence over the government,&#8221; Jennings said, in reference to the myriad claims that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whoopi-airs-fever-dream-on-live-tv-says-musk-and-vance-could-be-plotting-hostile-takeover" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Musk</a> was controlling the outcome of the recent government shutdown-averting continuing resolution.
&#8220;I invite them to pick up the Wall Street Journal from this week and find out that unelected people have been running the government for the last four years,&#8221; he said. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-details-emerge-about-white-houses-cover-up-of-bidens-cognitive-decline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> he mentioned laid out concerns — voiced by officials from within Biden&#8217;s White House — that Biden was not capable of even hosting long meetings, mush less large unscripted events, without fears of a major slip. Others had weighed in on his decision to seek a second term in office, saying that they were unsure how he would have the capacity to finish out his current term, much less embark upon another.
Jennings went on to point to the Democrats&#8217; secondary complaint about Musk — namely that his status as a billionaire gave him leverage in government — and argued that too was irrelevant when stacked against the Democrats&#8217; use of the same strategy.
&#8220;I hear Democrats criticizing the influence of billionaires on our politics, when you&#8217;ve got this Soros punk running around collecting Democrat politicians like my kids collect Pokemon cards,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think all of the criticism of Musk coming from the left is totally hypocritical, totally over the top, and he is doing something interesting: bringing some transparency to the federal government, it&#8217;s not a terrible thing.&#8221;

Donald Trump Watches SpaceX Launch Its Sixth Test Flight Of Starship Spacecraft

Scott Jennings Nukes Democrats Claiming Musk Is In Charge: ‘I Invite Them To Pick Up The WSJ’

Scott Jennings Nukes Democrats Claiming Musk Is In Charge: 'I Invite Them To Pick Up The WSJ'

Joe Biden

Scott Jennings

WSJ. Magazine at WSJ Tech Live

‘They’ve Learned Nothing’: The Legacy Media’s Blind Spots And Trump’s Triumph

'They've Learned Nothing': The Legacy Media's Blind Spots And Trump's Triumph

interview

Leftists

Legacy Media

Morning Wire

Washington Post

Media outlets across the United States spent nearly all of the 2024 election cycle trying to ensure President-elect Donald Trump would lose. But this laser focus only resulted in further damage to their reputations, a Wall Street Journal editor says.
Gerard Baker, the Journal&#8217;s editor-at-large, spoke with Morning Wire about how the media&#8217;s failure to learn from Trump&#8217;s victory in 2016 caused them disaster in 2024.
“Well, if you recall, after the shock of the 2016 election, when Donald Trump won despite the media telling us that there was virtually no chance of that happening,” Baker told Morning Wire host and Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley.
“We had those famous probability indicators saying that Hillary Clinton had a 90 percent chance of winning. The shock that so many American media companies discovered that there were so many people in this country who wanted to vote for Donald Trump, even though they didn&#8217;t know it, the media companies didn&#8217;t know it.”
Baker noted that after Clinton’s loss in 2016, some media outlets vowed to learn more about the people of America – to essentially leave their echo chamber that was so vastly out of touch with American voters.
“The editor of the New York Times at the time said that was one of his priorities after 2016, [was] to know more about the country,” Baker explained. “They kind of went forth in the manner of 19th century anthropologists venturing into darkest Africa to discover who these people were who voted for Trump. And they presumably found them and then we didn&#8217;t really hear very much more from them except when we got to the election campaign of 2024 and we sort of were just told by so many of these media organizations that Trump supporters were a lot of fascists.”
Baker said this disconnect leads to the question of what these media companies had been doing for the previous eight years, if not learning about the American voter. Of course, he said, it is clear what they have been doing: they’ve learned nothing, changed nothing, and continued their “vilification of Donald Trump.”
Baker noted that not only did most journalists not vote for Trump, but they didn’t even know anyone who voted for Trump, because they live in such a tight political bubble. So, what was very interesting about the 2024 election is just how much of a shift toward Trump there was in Blue areas.
“[W]hat we saw in this election was actually really significant gains for Trump and for the Republicans in some of these places where these journalists are concentrated,” Baker said. “We have seen this remarkable phenomenon, big gains for Trump compared with 2020 in places like New York City and Chicago and San Francisco and L.A.”
As to whether this latest election loss will finally force a reckoning among mainstream media outlets, Baker isn&#8217;t so sure.
“I think they&#8217;ll go through a little bit of the soul searching they went through in 2016,” Baker said. “But I think that the die is cast…the staff of these news organizations is just so monolithically left of center, and not just left of center, but committed, as I say, in a kind of an activist way, that I don&#8217;t really see that unwinding.”
At the same time, though, Baker said competing news organizations – like The Daily Wire – could force these other networks to be less partisan.
“So, I think that the market will, actually, A, develop new platforms and new products, and B, in the process, might actually force these, the owners of these media properties that we&#8217;ve seen, again, like the L.A. Times and the Washington Post, to say, ‘you know, not only do I think it&#8217;s right that we should be more balanced and that we should appeal to more readers, but actually I think it&#8217;s in our business interest that we should [be] too.’”
You can listen to the full interview on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire">Morning Wire</a>.

Gerard Baker

The Media Learned Nothing After Trump’s First Victory, WSJ Editor Says

Media Bias

The Wall Street Journal took Democrats to task on Sunday, accusing them of &#8220;election denial&#8221; for refusing to concede the Pennsylvania Senate race.
Dave McCormick, the Republican challenger, is currently <a href="https://decisiondeskhq.com/results/2024/General/US-Senate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leading</a> in Pennsylvania by less than 40,000 votes with more than 95% of votes counted. The Associated Press projected McCormick as the winner on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Democratic Senator Bob Casey, who is seeking a fourth term, has refused to concede.
Only 87,000 provisional ballots are left to count. Provisional ballots are those with some legal hangup, such as mail ballot issues or voter registration questions.
As the race stands now, Casey seems unlikely to pull ahead.
The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh counties have about 30,000 provisional ballots left to count, and the rest come from other parts of the state where McCormick was more successful. So far, Casey has won the around 7,700 provisional ballots counted so far by about 54% to 46%. Even if he maintains this margin, he will not come out ahead of McCormick, the Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/democrats-for-election-denial-pennsylvania-mccormick-casey-elias-1a1c5bdc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed</a> out.
However, Democrats may be gunning for an automatic recount.
Right now, McCormick&#8217;s margin of victory stands around .06%, but if it falls below 0.5%, it would trigger an automatic recount under state law.
If a recount happens, Marc Elias, an elections lawyer for the Democratic Party, may try to challenge certain ballots cast for McCormick or even search for more ballots cast for Casey, the Journal predicted.
Elias has managed to do this before.
In the 2008 Minnesota Senate race, Elias convinced a judge to count previously rejected ballots for Al Franken and overturn the lead of the Republican challenger.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer showed his hand when he <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/10/schumer-casey-mccormick-senate-orientation-00188644" target="_blank" rel="noopener">barred</a> McCormick from attending Senate orientation this week, indicating he does not yet consider McCormick the winner.
The move triggered outrage from Republican senators.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
&#8220;What happened to all the demands that our leaders accept the outcome of the elections?&#8221; Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) posted Sunday on social media.
&#8220;The idea that Schumer would not allow him to participate in Senate orientation is beyond unacceptable,” Senator John Thune (R-SD), the Senate minority whip, posted Sunday.
“The voters of Pennsylvania have spoken. Looking forward to having Dave’s strong voice in the Senate Republican Conference,” Thune said.
Thune is in the running for Senate Majority Leader, along with Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). Republicans plan to vote Wednesday on who will take over that role in January.
The Journal said it would &#8220;await the outraged editorials denouncing this threat to democracy.&#8221;
&#8220;Did someone say &#8216;election denial?'&#8221; the paper said.
“Mathematically, there’s no path for Senator Casey to win,” McCormick said Sunday on Fox News, adding, “Ultimately, Senator Casey’s going to have to decide when he’s willing to acknowledge that.”

Barack Obama Attends Campaign Rally For Pennsylvania Democrats In Philadelphia

WSJ Editorial Board Accuses Dems Of ‘Election Denial’

WSJ Editorial Board Accuses Dems Of 'Election Denial' 

2024 Election

Bob Casey

Dave McCormick

Pennsylvania

Senate

U.S. Senate

Since when did the free press of the United States become a useful idiot? Why are mainstream media outlets, across the spectrum, parroting propaganda from the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)? The Wall Street Journal spoke of the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/irans-election-features-a-reformer-a-hardliner-and-a-crisis-3360fad2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent Iranian elections</a>, without declaring its sham nature. The Atlantic published an <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/07/iran-election-pezeshkian-khamenei/678948/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unironic piece</a> detailing Ayatollah Khamenei&#8217;s fear of the reformist party, failing to note that Iran is a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57260831">totalitarian state</a>. Nothing happens without his approval, so what exactly does he have to fear? The New York Times is no better. Their <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/world/middleeast/iran-new-president-pezeshkian.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent portrayal</a> of the new Iranian president paints a sympathetic portrait.
Apparently, the following points need to be made for the American public.
One, the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) is an Islamic theocracy with Ayatollah Khamenei as its Supreme Leader. Khamenei’s regime controls everything in the country. I repeat: everything. This is a foreign concept to Americans basking in the land of the free. So let me provide an example. When I was living in Iran, the regime chose what college I attended. The regime chose my major. The regime forced me to cut my long hair. Like the other 80 million Iranians, I had no agency over my own life.
Moreover, external narratives originating from the regime cannot be trusted. This includes any Iranian news outlet, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14542234" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as all media is state-run</a>. To maintain a modicum of grace within the Western world powers, the regime creates a facade of liberalism. This is their propaganda. It is a mirage, a lie sold to the West in order to continue <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/25701/how-iran-and-her-proxies-use-western-resources-to" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leeching Western resources</a>, like funding and research, to further entrench their ideology. Instead, listen to what they say behind our backs. MEMRI, an independent U.S.-based nonprofit, translates scores of <a href="https://www.memri.org/countries/iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">internal IRI media</a>. Perusing these translations informs us of IRI’s true intentions.
Two, in general, the Iranian people are not our enemy. They suffer most under the oppressive regime and are essentially a collective political prisoner. The lucky few who escaped deserve our compassion and attention, not the ones who are <a href="https://medium.com/@mitra.jashni7/islamic-republic-apologists-in-the-west-are-cheering-for-nuclear-weapons-935f8064f297" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regime apologists</a> and come to the West to whitewash IRI’s crimes. They, who have endured trauma beyond comprehension, do not deserve  treatment similar from which they ran away. When I fled to America nearly eight years ago, I faced resistance when telling my story. It continues to alarm me that other Iranian dissidents, some who continue to face <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iranian-dissidents-abductions-assassination-attemts-60-minutes-transcript/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death threats</a> from the regime, are being silenced. Some even have <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1227634325/iran-murder-for-hire-plot-maryland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">terror plots against them</a>. Americans need to listen to these people. We have seen the other side (spoiler alert: it’s terrifying), we notice the warning signs, and we are committed to preserving freedom.
Three, the IRI seeks the destruction of the West, particularly America. This is not hyperbole. Don’t laugh this off. I know it sounds absurd. The end may not come with fire and brimstone, but perhaps rather a social unraveling. I fear that if <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/312644/national-pride-falls-record-low.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diminishing pride</a> in our country continues to grow, our institutions and infrastructure of freedom will whither. It can be metaphorical suicide to take our freedom for granted. There is a reason Ayatollah Khamenei <a href="https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1795963798831964411" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted support</a> for American college student protesters and their encampments — which also highlights the regime’s double standard, as the Iranian people do not have access to Twitter. In fact, I echo the request of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-22/iran-protests-target-ayatollah-khamenei-social-media-accounts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iranian dissidents</a> who call upon Elon Musk and other tech giants to ban Khamenei. The Supreme Leader gets high off of American turmoil. Our chaos is his schadenfreude. To be clear, anything that pleases Ayatollah Khamenei should revolt us. He <a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-crime-government-and-politics-da53071412f8c3da9cd51945b7870780" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hangs political prisoners from cranes</a> for all to see.  He <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/opinions/nobel-peace-gender-apartheid-un-narges-mohammadi/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upholds gender apartheid</a>, forcing women into a second-class caste. If Ayatollah Khamenei says you’re on the “right side of history,” you’re on the wrong side.
We need to be vigilant about our language. Language directly shapes how we understand our world. The stakes are too high to misunderstand the Iranian regime and the threat they pose. The challenge, of course, is that certain terms carry a different meaning in the IRI context. Words hold very different definitions within IRI. Words like “government” — for Americans this connotes something that is by the people for the people, which the Iranian regime is neither; “private” — the regime controls everything; “private” institutions in IRI are still public; “reformist” — this sounds palatable to Western ears, but the <a href="https://democrawonk.com/2024/06/28/iranian-elections-the-never-ending-saga-of-hardliners-vs-reformists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reformists and hardliners in IRI are one and the same;</a> “crime” — did you know it is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-62205744">illegal to own a dog in Iran?</a> 
If you struggle to understand the Islamic Republic, discard all that you know about the world and start anew. Just because a word is familiar, do not assume you know what it means in the IRI context.
Our journalists bear the burden of truth telling and clear communication. I urge them to reject IRI propaganda.
* * *
William Mehrvarz was born and raised in the Islamic Republic of Iran. After rejecting Islam (the crime of apostasy), he fled under the threat of execution to seek asylum in the United States. He now writes and speaks about the dangers of Islamism and the importance of religious freedom. William can be reached on <a href="https://x.com/WilliamMehrvarz" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/WilliamMehrvarz&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723843824564000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2O7Yz6sD6Yq1snu_mkvACW">X</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Iran-Celebrating Iran’s IRGC Missile And UAV Attack Against Israel

I Am From Iran. Here’s Why American Journalists Need To Reject Iranian Propaganda.

I Am From Iran. Here's Why American Journalists Need To Reject Iranian Propaganda.

Menu