It is a truth universally acknowledged that the Left can’t meme, but can only scold the Right for memeing well.
This dynamic was once confined to esoteric feuds among terminally online partisans. Now, it’s playing out in the open — between government agencies and what remains of the legacy media — and the stakes are increasingly tangible.
The Trump administration’s social media accounts have spent their summer appropriating classic images of Americana, notably J.M. Flagg’s famous<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Montgomery_Flagg#/media/File:I_Want_You_for_U.S._Army_by_James_Montgomery_Flagg.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> 1917 Uncle Sam poster</a>. But things really hit a fever pitch when the Department of Homeland Security shared three seemingly innocuous images: <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1948150126494482555" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Gast’s 1872 “American Progress,”</a> with the caption “A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending.” <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1940164863793549747" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thomas Kinkade’s “Morning Pledge”</a> with the caption “Protect the Homeland,” and<a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1944875154745778525" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Morgan Weistling’s “A Prayer for a New Life”</a> captioned “Remember your Homeland’s Heritage.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Protect the Homeland.
“Morning Pledge” by Thomas Kinkade <a href="https://t.co/JLs26R3VlO">pic.twitter.com/JLs26R3VlO</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1940164863793549747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/07/29/trump-dhs-immigrants-social-paintings/">Washington Post</a>, “the art world is not happy” with these posts because they are “part of an effort to rewrite the past with an exclusionary view of American history,” one in which there are clear standards of good and evil.
The Post doesn’t attempt to show why ordinary Americans should care about this. But while the Post’s freakout may be amusing to behold, it also gets at something important. Liberals are right to panic about these posts — and conservatives should pay attention.
The second Trump administration is staffed with right-wing Zoomers. These staffers are digital natives: born in the memeworld, molded by it, and in many cases more radically opposed to the leftwing hegemony that reached its apogee during their formative years than those of us who remember the days when cable news still dictated the terms of national conversation.
Those days are gone. Millennials like JD Vance and Stephen Miller hold high office. The aesthetic sensibilities of the Zoomers on their staff are shaping the administration’s narrative warfare, providing unprecedented air cover to the administration’s ground operations. Their social media habits are a visible sign of just how far the Left has fallen from its media and, thus, meaning-making monopoly.
The recent dustup about Homeland Security posting Americana paintings is just a minor skirmish in the larger war that is being waged for the sensibilities of the American people. Liberals have long realized that he who controls the production, distribution, and regulation of images controls the hearts, minds, and imaginations of the population.
Despite their confusion over other fundamental truths such as the difference between a man and a woman, liberals grasp this reality — and in it, something essential to the human condition.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending.
American Progress &#8211; John Gast <a href="https://t.co/agU6bl8TZ8">pic.twitter.com/agU6bl8TZ8</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1948150126494482555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
We are imaginative as well as rational creatures, embodied as well as capable of abstract thought. Our reasoning about right and wrong, true and false, never gets very far without referring to something particular we’ve experienced, either directly in our own lives or vicariously through the testimony of others — including stories and history. “Music,” in the classical and comprehensive sense of “the arts of the Muses,” matters.
In ancient Greece, the nine Muses were the daughters of “Memory” and presided over the arts. Mythology and biography, parable and narrative, have always been the primary means of moral and political education, and they remain so today. Americans in general still recognize the power of the “Muse-ical arts,” mainly in the potency of historical narratives such as the Civil War, World War II, and the Civil Rights Movement.
We would do well to recover the sense of power contained in other forms of “Music,” especially the storytelling power of films. Newer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/movies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ventures</a> on the <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/07/20/2025/founders-films-aims-to-remake-hollywood-with-patriotism-palantir-and-ayn-rand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Right</a> are beginning to do this.
But we still have a long way to go. Even the artists whose work the Trump administration is now using aren’t safe from the Left’s appropriation.
The Kinkade Family Foundation, scandalized by the Trump administration’s use of his work, <a href="https://www.kinkadefamilyfoundation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> it was “deeply troubled to see this image used to promote division and xenophobia associated with the ideals of DHS” and pledged solidarity with “our communities who have been threatened and targeted by DHS, especially our immigrant, BIPOC, undocumented, LGBTQ+, and disabled relatives and neighbors.” Weistling, the only artist of the three still alive, took to his <a href="https://www.morganweistling.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> to distance himself from the politics of the moment: “The recent DHS post on social media using a painting of mine that I painted a few years ago was used without my permission.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Remember your Homeland’s Heritage.
New Life in a New Land &#8211; Morgan Weistling <a href="https://t.co/nFL61Nljbw">pic.twitter.com/nFL61Nljbw</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1944875154745778525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Still, there is a virtually inexhaustible store of classic works of mythology, literature, and history, ancient as well as American, waiting to be adapted by artists who love rather than revile our inheritance.
There is a lesson here for older conservatives. Liberal donors have long appreciated the political utility of culture. As a class, they have lavished funds on all manner of artistic ventures, sowing seeds broadly in the expectation that just a few of their investments will blossom into captivating cultural products. As a result, they have dominated the culture for generations — not because young people are naturally more liberal (Zoomer men are currently disproving this myth) — but because their cold, hard cash has helped drag the next generation leftward.
Conservative donors are more comfortable running a business than patronizing the arts. They tend to focus their charitable giving on well-defined causes with short-term returns on investment. They have thereby won discrete battles — winning this election, pushing that policy through Congress — while losing the broader war for the soul of the nation.
That the unembarrassed Americanism of artists like Kinkade and Weistling has enjoyed commercial success while swimming against the tide of liberal cultural hegemony is a sign of just how high a demand remains in the American public for non-leftist cultural products. Liberal hegemony is cracking up, and as the Trump administration gets serious about winding down its taxpayer-funded power bases, from NPR and PBS to elite universities, the crack-up is bound to continue.
The emergence of an energetic and effective American Right has far more to do with digital disruption than with a strategic change in the conservative donor class. Conservatives who are serious about reclaiming American culture, and consigning the most anti-American elements of the Left to the dustbin of history, should put a shoulder to the wheel — not just in lobbying and campaign donations, but in directly patronizing the artists, educators, and other culture creators who celebrate rather than denigrate our civilizational heritage.
Pavlos Papadopoulos is Associate Professor of Humanities at Wyoming Catholic College.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

American Progress

Americana Posting And The War For Culture

Conservatives

Department of Homeland Security

Gen Z

Painting

Washington Post

Over the first six months of President Donald Trump&#8217;s second term, nearly everyone in media — from individual journalists and pundits to entire outlets — has scrambled to gain solid footing.
Some have fared better than others as they attempt to navigate what seems to be a constantly shifting landscape. The majority have opted for one or more of a few clear strategies: rewriting history, gaslighting the audience, or attempting to restructure, well, everything. Some have even chosen different strategies for specific issues, jumping back and forth between them whenever necessary.
Let&#8217;s take stock of where journalism is today.
<h3>Rewriting History.</h3>
The key offenders here are the pundits and journalists charging ahead with damning reports on former President Joe Biden&#8217;s obvious cognitive decline — and even publishing books about it — as though they played no role in hiding Biden&#8217;s condition while he was in the White House.
One such book, &#8220;Original Sin,&#8221; came from CNN anchor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jake-tapper-who-ignored-signs-of-bidens-decline-releasing-book-on-the-cover-up">Jake Tapper</a> and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. Both authors defended Biden from conservative attacks while it was clear to anyone capable of basic observation that the former president was a long way off his game.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jake-tapper-who-ignored-signs-of-bidens-decline-releasing-book-on-the-cover-up">reported</a>,with regard to Tapper:
<blockquote>During the 2020 campaign, Tapper came to Biden’s <a href="https://x.com/jaketapper/status/1318570778468777984" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defense</a> multiple times when Republicans criticized him for struggling during his campaign speeches. In January 2020, Tapper <a href="https://x.com/jaketapper/status/1218211112195362818" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reposted</a> a clip of Lara Trump saying she felt “kind of sad for Biden” for struggling to “get the words out.” Tapper commented on Trump’s remarks on social media, writing, “Whatever you think of @JoeBiden and his politics, worth reading this remarkable piece about his stutter,” and linking to an Atlantic article that argued that voters should “be more understanding” of Biden’s gaffes because “he’s still fighting a stutter.”</blockquote>
And on Thompson:
<blockquote>&#8220;Biden’s quirky aphorisms are sometimes weaponized by Republicans to insinuate the 80-year-old president is in mental decline,” Thompson wrote. “But Biden has been using unique phrases for years — but even some of his aides aren’t exactly sure what he means by them.” Thompson added, “There are legitimate questions about Biden’s age and stamina as he runs for a second term — but his off-beat proverbs are just Biden being Biden.</blockquote>
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/an-albatross-on-him-new-book-details-the-strain-hunter-biden-put-on-2024-campaign">next of these books</a> came from Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Dawsey. He addressed the outsized role that the president&#8217;s embattled son, Hunter Biden, had played on the campaign — and how he may have influenced President Biden&#8217;s 11th-hour pardons.
As The Daily Wire reported at the time:
<blockquote>“Right, so one of the scenes in the book is that the President has a big month ahead in June of 2024, he has European travel, he has the first debate with Donald Trump, as you saw, it didn’t go so well,” Dawsey began. “But the thing he’s telling his friends he’s plays concerned about is that his son is not convicted in his court case.”
“He even offers to testify for his son,” Dawsey continued. “And he’s talking to folks nonstop around him … about his son, right? And he’s just constantly worried about him, he said the prosecutors are trying to break him, and as you see ultimately he decides to pardon his son.”</blockquote>
Dawsey&#8217;s book also revealed the lengths to which Biden&#8217;s aides went to keep him from taking a cognitive test in 2024 and to insulate him from the press, the public, and even members of his own cabinet.
And while the Wall Street Journal was ahead of most other outlets in publishing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-struggling-to-function-during-closed-door-meetings-with-officials-report">damning report</a> on Biden&#8217;s condition before his only debate with Trump, even the concerns raised by that report were obvious to anyone who&#8217;d been paying attention to the first three years of his presidency.
<h3>Gaslighting The Audience.</h3>
Following the release of new information about the Russian collusion hoax from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and a declassified congressional report, a number of outlets and personalities have adopted this strategy.
George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley addressed this during a recent Fox News appearance.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Jonathan Turley on the Russia Hoax: &#8220;The problem with Democrats and the media is that they&#8217;re trying to run the same grift on the same marks&#8230;They&#8217;re trying to tell the public, &#8216;Don&#8217;t look at this stuff, there&#8217;s nothing to see here.&#8217; The public largely rejected that whole pitch… <a href="https://t.co/pkXNPK9phU">pic.twitter.com/pkXNPK9phU</a>
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jules31415/status/1950017567596134452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The problem with Democrats and the media is that they&#8217;re trying to run the same grift on the same marks &#8230; They&#8217;re trying to tell the public, &#8216;Don&#8217;t look at this stuff, there&#8217;s nothing to see here.&#8217; The public largely rejected that whole pitch when they reelected Donald Trump; it&#8217;s not going to really work,&#8221; Turley explained.
&#8220;This is really damning stuff. What was just released, in my view, undermines the testimony of people like John Brennan, but what Ratcliffe is talking about is exposing it all to show the public exactly what happened. This is the real Russian conspiracy. There wasn&#8217;t a Russian collusion conspiracy, but there was a Russian conspiracy: it&#8217;s when John Brennan went to Obama in 2016.&#8221;
Turley also suggested that of those involved in pushing the hoax on the American people, former CIA Director John Brennan was probably the most vulnerable to prosecution.
MSNBC has perhaps presented the most egregious example of this strategy. Instead of addressing the new information, the outlet has opted to repeatedly platform Brennan to refute it.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
John Brennan was platformed again this morning by his favorite &#8216;news&#8217; network to attack Tulsi Gabbard:
&#8220;I think she&#8217;s projecting. Obviously, she&#8217;s engaged in the politicization of intelligence.&#8221;
&#8220;She’s not interested in the truth.&#8221;
The hosts enthusiastically agree. <a href="https://t.co/tGGy4w2CRL">https://t.co/tGGy4w2CRL</a> <a href="https://t.co/vPsGqauw8g">pic.twitter.com/vPsGqauw8g</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1949131297718481113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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MSNBC has fully leaned in to gaslighting on other topics as well, platforming the poster child for politicization of the Justice Department — former Attorney General Eric Holder — to complain that the Trump administration is &#8230; politicizing the Justice Department.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Obama’s Wingman says he’s concerned about the politicization of Trump&#8217;s DOJ:
“This administration has used the power of the Justice Department to target political opponents.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/7ZyOoBIYxX">pic.twitter.com/7ZyOoBIYxX</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1949557074465259900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<h3>Restructuring Everything.</h3>
Among those outlets that appear to be restructuring to meet changing needs in the Trump era, the most obvious is The Washington Post. Things began falling apart at the Post before the presidential election, when Executive Editor <a href="https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2024/why-sally-buzbees-resign-what-next-washington-post/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sally Buzbee</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/absolute-exodus-washington-post-bleeds-talent-as-experienced-staffers-take-buyout">abruptly exited</a> the paper in June 2024. She left, according to several sources, because she was not on board with the new organizational structure CEO Will Lewis planned to introduce.
The outlet&#8217;s decision not to endorse former Vice President Kamala Harris — and to take a neutral stance in future elections — prompted a few resignations. More followed over several months as changes were made to the editorial and opinion sections to &#8220;champion timeless American values.&#8221;
Then, in late May, The Washington Post announced it was offering buyouts to staffers, primarily those who had been with the outlet for a decade or longer. The &#8220;absolute exodus&#8221; continued.
In early July, Lewis sent an email encouraging employees who did not feel that they were  &#8220;aligned&#8221; with the outlet&#8217;s new direction to seriously consider the buyouts — and a number of them have.
Several big names have announced their plans to depart The Washington Post — including political reporter Dan Balz, obituary section chief <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/24/washington-post-jeff-bezos-obituary-buyout-00473350" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adam Bernstein</a>, reporter Philip Bump, as well as columnists David von Drehle, <a href="https://x.com/crampell/status/1948096670253605297" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catherine Rampell</a>, and <a href="https://www.the-independent.com/travel/americas/washington-post-exodus-jonathan-capehart-buyout-bezos-b2793184.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan Capehart</a>. The Post’s original TikTok pioneer, Dave Jorgenson, legal reporter Ann Marimow, and sports writer Dan Steinberg also took the buyout.
Reporter Joe Davidson says he left after being told that one of his opinion columns was “too opinionated,” and fact-check editor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wapo-fact-checker-takes-buyout-internet-reminds-him-he-stopped-dealing-in-facts-long-ago">Glen Kessler</a> announced his departure on Monday.
It remains to be seen whether any of these strategies will work — and some outlets may not even get the chance to try.
As President Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly demonstrate a willingness to fight back against media outlets that run with stories they believe to be defamatory — and a knack for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-wins-millions-in-defamation-suit-against-abc-news-george-stephanopoulos">winning</a> the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/big-and-important-win-trump-crows-over-settlement-in-cbs-paramount-lawsuit">ensuing lawsuits</a> — some organizations may buckle under the strain. Just ask the left-wing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musks-lawsuits-and-a-federal-probe-threaten-to-bring-down-media-matters">Media Matters</a>, which appears poised to collapse under the weight of government investigation coupled with lawsuits from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Donald Trump

Media Scramble To Find Footing — And Stay Relevant — In The Trump Era

Media Outlets Scramble To Find Footing — And Stay Relevant — In Their Trump Era

ABC News

CBS News

Media

Media Bias

NBC News

Politics

The Atlantic

The New York Times

The Washington Post&#8217;s longtime fact-checker Glenn Kessler has taken the outlet&#8217;s buyout offer — and reports of his imminent exit prompted a number of his critics on X to say that he&#8217;d actually sold out a long time ago.
Kessler, who worked for The Washington Post for nearly three decades (27 years, to be exact), joined the growing list of experienced staffers fleeing the outlet, aided by a buyout offer that was extended in May with the express purpose of targeting staffers who had been with the outlet for more than ten years.
&#8220;After more than 27 years at The Washington Post, including almost 15 as The Fact Checker, I will be leaving on July 31, having taken a buyout. Much as I would have liked to keep scrutinizing politicians in Washington, especially in this era, the financial considerations were impossible to dismiss,&#8221; Kessler said, according to a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/washington-post-fact-checker-takes-buyout-says-paper-has-yet-find-replacement-before-exit">report</a> published Monday by Fox News Digital.
&#8220;When I started in 2011, there were only a handful of fact-checking organizations around the world, and I have been thrilled to watch the movement expand across the globe. So many of these brave and diligent fact checkers have become good friends,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;My fact checks were routinely the most-read articles on The Post’s website. I had my detractors, from both the left and right, but many readers appreciated my efforts to sort out the truth in political rhetoric.&#8221;
He went on to say that he had attempted to work with the outlet to find a replacement — and to stay on and train the new Fact-Check editor on a contract basis — but that it didn&#8217;t happen: &#8220;I didn’t want The Post to have a gap in fact-checking coverage during this fraught period in U.S. history. But we couldn’t work out an agreement.&#8221;
According to the buyout details reported by Fox News Digital, Kessler&#8217;s 27 years at the outlet would make him eligible for a buyout that included 18 months base pay plus &#8220;12 months of pay credit&#8221; added to his retirement account.
But critics took the opportunity to argue that while the idea of fact-checking might have merit on its face, Kessler was the living embodiment of what happened when someone who was not politically objective was determining what the facts were.
&#8220;Glenn Kessler actually was one of the guys that started fact checking, and it was a good idea. But, he failed his profession and his conscience by becoming a partisan watchdog instead of an honest arbiter of the facts. And for that, he deserves all the criticism he now gets,&#8221; Pradheep Shanker posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Glenn Kessler actually was one of the guys that started fact checking, and it was a good idea.
But, he failed his profession and his conscience by becoming a partisan watchdog instead of an honest arbiter of the facts.
And for that, he deserves all the criticism he now gets.
— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D. (@neoavatara) <a href="https://twitter.com/neoavatara/status/1949887355352932676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Glen Kessler used his position to protect left wing political opinions through &#8216;fact checking,&#8217; particularly during COVID, when he happily ignored evidence that his party was wrong about masks, lockdowns, the lab leak and COVID vaccines,&#8221; Ian Miller posted — and shared an example relating to COVID.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Here’s just one example. <a href="https://t.co/EkHGnCj3I1">https://t.co/EkHGnCj3I1</a>
— Ian Miller (@ianmSC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ianmSC/status/1949861255461675501?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Greg Price joined a number of others in sharing &#8220;just a few of Glenn Kessler’s all time bangers.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Just a few of Glenn Kessler’s all time bangers. <a href="https://t.co/hT0AII6voU">https://t.co/hT0AII6voU</a> <a href="https://t.co/eHXdHxiob4">pic.twitter.com/eHXdHxiob4</a>
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href="https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1949828260415602746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;&#8216;I fear @tedcruz missed the scientific animation&#8217; was an all-time Glenn Kessler classic,&#8221; Peter Hasson added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;I fear <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tedcruz</a> missed the scientific animation&#8221; was an all-time Glenn Kessler classic <a href="https://t.co/YEG45sfg3f">https://t.co/YEG45sfg3f</a> <a href="https://t.co/7IFvjbkFVP">pic.twitter.com/7IFvjbkFVP</a>
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterjhasson/status/1949830077341913480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;In 2011, I wrote a cover story for Weekly Standard called &#8216;Lies, Damned Lies, and ‘Fact Checking.’ So began a personal and professional crusade. FWIW, I dealt with Glenn a fair bit and he was always nice to me. But the end of ‘fact checking’ is a victory for healthy debate,&#8221; Mark Hemingway said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In 2011, I wrote a cover story for Weekly Standard called “Lies, Damned Lies, and ‘Fact Checking.’” So began a personal and professional crusade.
FWIW, I dealt with Glenn a fair bit and he was always nice to me. But the end of ‘fact checking’ is a victory for healthy debate. <a href="https://t.co/G04XPUJTLm">https://t.co/G04XPUJTLm</a>
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) <a href="https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1949829323977785645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Federalist&#8217;s Mollie Hemingway gave an example relating to the Russian collusion hoax — back in the news due to recent revelations from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
&#8220;This is a great example of how &#8216;fact&#8217; &#8216;checking&#8217; is almost without exception just the laundering of Democrat info ops with another layer of supposed credibility. Sometimes really evil info ops against the American people, as seen below,&#8221; she said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
And just last week &#8212; LAST WEEK &#8212; Kessler was continuing the propaganda press&#8217; role in the Russia collusion hoax, falsely alleging there was nothing new in the recent explosive revelations.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) <a href="https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1949845021248602546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;And just last week — LAST WEEK — Kessler was continuing the propaganda press&#8217; role in the Russia collusion hoax, falsely alleging there was nothing new in the recent explosive revelations,&#8221; Hemingway added.
But it was Kate Hyde who asked the question on everyone&#8217;s mind: &#8220;How many Pinocchios will be at the goodbye party?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
How many Pinocchios will be at the goodbye party? <a href="https://t.co/HrTpI7AyDQ">https://t.co/HrTpI7AyDQ</a>
— Kate Hyde (@KateHydeNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/KateHydeNY/status/1949865689449189433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Washington Post Logo

WaPo ‘Fact-Checker’ Takes Buyout, Internet Reminds Him He Stopped Dealing In ‘Facts’ Long Ago

Fact Check

Glenn Kessler

The Washington Post is &#8220;bleeding talent,&#8221; with a number of longtime employees — from veteran opinion columnists to the obituary section chief — accepting buyout offers that the Jeff Bezos-owned outlet extended to staff in late May.
Early in July, Washington Post CEO Will Lewis sent an email to staffers suggesting that they might especially want to consider the buyouts if they &#8220;do not feel aligned with the company&#8217;s plan&#8221; to reinvent itself.
Among the changes explicitly mentioned by Lewis was a shift in the opinion section to &#8220;champion timeless American values&#8221; and to &#8220;reconnect&#8221; with the audience in a way that rekindled trust.
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Will Lewis emails the Washington Post staff, encouraging those who &#8220;do not feel aligned&#8221; with the company&#8217;s future plans to consider the buyout offer. <a href="https://t.co/b3a7w6HbuB">pic.twitter.com/b3a7w6HbuB</a>
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenMullin/status/1943049108064993285?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In the days since Lewis sent that email, several big names have announced their plans to depart The Washington Post — including political reporter Dan Balz, obituary section chief <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/24/washington-post-jeff-bezos-obituary-buyout-00473350">Adam Bernstein</a>, reporter Philip Bump, as well as columnists David von Drehle, <a href="https://x.com/crampell/status/1948096670253605297">Catherine Rampell</a>, and <a href="https://www.the-independent.com/travel/americas/washington-post-exodus-jonathan-capehart-buyout-bezos-b2793184.html">Jonathan Capehart</a>. The Post&#8217;s original TikTok pioneer, Dave Jorgenson, legal reporter Ann Marimow, and sports writer Dan Steinberg also took the buyout.
Reporter Joe Davidson says he left after being told that one of his opinion columns was &#8220;too opinionated.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s just an absolute exodus,&#8221; one staffer told Politico of the buyouts, saying that no one was certain whether there was a plan in place to compensate for the vast amount of experience and expertise that was on its way out the door.
Watching the turmoil from the outside, Poynter News wondered: &#8220;How much longer can The Washington Post bleed talent?&#8221;
The turmoil at the Post — and, indeed, the high-profile exits — did not begin with the buyouts offered in May. Rather, the unrest within the organization dates back at least to the resignation of Executive Editor <a href="https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2024/why-sally-buzbees-resign-what-next-washington-post/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sally Buzbee</a> in June 2024. Buzbee left, according to several sources, because she was not on board with the new organizational structure Lewis planned to introduce.
A slew of resignations followed the outlet&#8217;s shock decision <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/all-hell-breaks-loose-after-washington-post-declines-to-endorse-kamala">not to endorse</a> former Vice President Kamala Harris. A statement from the Editorial Board read in part, &#8220;The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.&#8221;
In the months that followed, longtime columnist Jennifer Rubin left the outlet — followed by <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/jonathan-capehart-leaves-washington-post-buyout/">opinion editor</a> David Shipley and columnist Ruth Marcus.
And while a number of those who left The Washington Post have started or plan to start their own independent ventures — Rubin and Jorgenson, for example — some have been snapped up by other major outlets, including The Athletic, The Atlantic, Reuters, and The New York Times.
The full impact of the buyouts, which reportedly targeted employees who had been with the outlet for 10 years or longer, remains to be seen. The offer is available to employees until the end of July.

‘Absolute Exodus’: Washington Post ‘Bleeds Talent’ As Experienced Staffers Take Buyout

'Absolute Exodus': The Washington Post 'Bleeds Talent' As Experienced Staffers Soak Up Buyout Offer

Jeff Bezos

layoffs

Newspaper

An impostor is using an artificial intelligence voice changer to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and contact foreign and domestic officials, according to a July 3 State Department cable obtained by the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/07/08/marco-rubio-ai-imposter-signal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington Post</a>.
Authorities have not identified the individual behind the attempts, but claim that he was probably trying to gain access to information or accounts.
So far he has contacted at least five officials, “including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a U.S. member of Congress.” It is unknown if they responded to the AI generated messages.
The impersonator first used a fake email address to create a Signal account. Signal is a secure encrypted messaging app that is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/encryption-apps-government-transparency-sunshine-week-ad26ecdee91c8f99f15228bbe7989ede" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widely used</a> by government officials. Then, he used the phone numbers associated with the officials’ accounts to contact them.
“The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal,” according to the cable. He also impersonated other State Department personnel using email.
The FBI had <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250515" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> government officials in May about an “ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign” targeting them and their contacts with voice generated messages in an attempt to gain funds or information.
“If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior U.S. official, do not assume it is authentic,” they said.
That month, someone breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and impersonated her in numerous calls to high ranking officials.
The State Department says they will “carry out a thorough investigation and continue to implement safeguards to prevent this from happening in the future.”
Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in analyzing deepfakes, told the Washington Post that phishing schemes targeting government officials do not require sophisticated knowledge and are often successful because officials can be careless about data security.
The rise of AI has made classic phishing schemes much easier. Using an AI voice generator, all you need is 15-20 seconds of audio to “clone” someone’s voice and record them saying whatever text you specify.
New AI-assisted cybersecurity schemes are popping up all over. In June <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/scammers-now-impersonating-senior-government-officials-and-ceos-to-swindle-canadians/ar-AA1HrYCS" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian</a> agencies warned citizens of similar AI phishing schemes targeting government officials and CEOs. Ukraine also issued a warning that Russian intelligence agents were impersonating its Security Service to recruit civilians for sabotage missions.
Over 50% of phishing emails are now generated by AI, according to a recent <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/06/20/ai-is-behind-50-of-spam---and-now-its-hacking-your-accounts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> by Barracuda and researchers from Columbia University and the University of Chicago.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies on the 2026 Budget In House Hearing

Marco Rubio Impostor Uses AI To Deceive High-Ranking Officials

Artificial Intelligence

Crime

Marco Rubio

State Department

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard took aim at The Washington Post on Thursday, accusing one of the outlet&#8217;s reporters of &#8220;harassing&#8221; her staffers and even &#8220;demanding they share sensitive information.&#8221;
Gabbard called out reporter Ellen Nakashima by name, accusing her of using underhanded methods to get sensitive information from staffers at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and saying that the same reporter had used similar tactics on her and her family when she was in her home state of Hawaii.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It has come to my attention that Washington Post reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/nakashimae?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nakashimae</a> appears to be actively harassing ODNI staff. Instead of reaching out to my press office, she is calling high level Intelligence Officers from a burner phone, refusing to identify herself, lying about the fact…
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/DNIGabbard/status/1940796626735395098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It has come to my attention that Washington Post reporter @nakashimae appears to be actively harassing ODNI staff,&#8221; Gabbard announced in a post on X. &#8220;Instead of reaching out to my press office, she is calling high level Intelligence Officers from a burner phone, refusing to identify herself, lying about the fact that she works for the Washington Post, and then demanding they share sensitive information.&#8221;
&#8220;Apparently, publishing leaked classified material wasn&#8217;t enough for the Washington Post, so now they’ve decided to go after the Intelligence professionals charged to protect it,&#8221; the former Congresswoman (D-HI) added. &#8220;This is a clear political op by the same outlet and the same reporter who harassed and stalked my family in Hawaii. This kind of deranged behavior reflects a media establishment so desperate to sabotage @POTUS’s successful agenda that they’ve abandoned even a facade of journalistic integrity and ethics.&#8221;
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=freedom&amp;utm_content=freedomeditorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=freedom&amp;utm_content=freedomeditorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-2388">JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free</a>
&#8220;The Washington Post should be ashamed, and they should put an end to this immediately,&#8221; she declared.
The Post fired back with a statement from Executive Editor Matt Murray, defending Nakashima and saying, &#8220;For three decades, Ellen Nakashima has been one of the most careful, fair-minded, and highly regarded reporters covering national security. Reaching out to potential sources rather than relying solely on official government press statements regarding matters of public interest is neither nefarious nor is it harassment. It is basic journalism. DNI Gabbard’s unfounded personal attack reflects a fundamental misunderstanding about the role of journalists to report on government officials and hold power to account, without fear or favor and regardless of party. The Post remains committed to that vital and constitutionally protected work.&#8221;

Tulsi Gabbard’s Senate confirmation hearing for national intelligence director in Washington

Tulsi Gabbard Unloads On Washington Post, Says Reporter Is ‘Actively Harassing’ Staffers

Director of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard

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<p class="wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="7BU43BIRSBANNPPEFSXUVKFJDQ" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="0" data-scroll-measured="true">A Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post editor has been charged by the federal government with possession of child pornography.
<p class="wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="7BU43BIRSBANNPPEFSXUVKFJDQ" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="0" data-scroll-measured="true">Thomas P. LeGro, 48, was arrested on Thursday after authorities allegedly found 11 video files of child pornography on LeGro&#8217;s work laptop, which was located at his home in Washington, D.C.
The journalist faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/06/27/legro-post-child-pornography-possession/">said</a> in a statement that it “understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” but refused to comment further.
LeGro&#8217;s Washington Post profile says he was &#8220;part of a team of Post reporters who were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Senate candidacy of Roy Moore and a subsequent effort to discredit The Post&#8217;s reporting&#8221; in 2018. &#8220;As Deputy Director of Video, Tom oversees an award-winning team of video journalists who work across the newsroom, including in National, Climate, Metro, Style and Technology,&#8221; the profile adds.
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<div id="attachment_940773" style="width: 453px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-940773" class="wp-image-940773 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM-443x576.png" alt="" width="443" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM-443x576.png 443w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM-231x300.png 231w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM-768x999.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM.png 1032w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px" />Facebook: Tom LeGro</div>
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A press release from the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office in the District of Columbia <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/award-winning-journalist-arrested-and-charged-possession-child-pornography">said</a> LeGro made his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday.
&#8220;LeGro, a journalist at the Washington Post and resident of the District of Columbia, was arrested [Thursday] and taken into custody following a search of his home,&#8221; the office said.
The charges were announced by Jeanine Pirro, interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
&#8220;On June 26, 2025, FBI agents executed a search warrant at LeGro’s residence and seized several electronic devices,&#8221; the press release said. &#8220;A review of LeGro’s work laptop revealed a folder that contained 11 videos depicting child sexual abuse material.&#8221;
&#8220;During the execution of the search warrant agents observed what appeared to be fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro’s work laptop was found,&#8221; it continued.
&#8220;This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.&#8221;

Washington Post Journalist Charged With Possession Of Child Pornography

Feds Charge Award-Winning Journalist With Child Porn Possession

Child pornography

Jeanine Pirro

Pulitzer Prize

A news reporter at Los Angeles&#8217; ABC News affiliate, speaking over video footage of riots where leftists were burning cars to protest Trump administration immigration policies, described the situation to viewers as “just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn.”
The ABC 7 reporter made the comments while declaring, “It could turn very volatile if you move law enforcement in there and turn what is just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation and altercation between officers and demonstrators.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="LIVE: Immigration protest underway in LA" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HH7DPreBh1g?start=9822&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Meanwhile, on Monday, after a weekend of rioting, the usual suspects in the media either offered their support for illegal immigrants or attacked the Trump administration for getting involved in the incendiary situation. The Los Angeles Times published an article titled, “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/rights-explainer-immigration-crackdown">Feds vow to continue immigration enforcement ‘every day in L.A.’ Here are your rights</a>.”
“Businesses should ensure that employees know their rights and that they should refrain from engaging with ICE officials, according to the National Employment Law Project,” the Times wrote.
“Trump Jumps at the Chance for a Confrontation in California Over Immigration,” The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/politics/trump-california-immigration.html">blared</a> in response to the riots, adding, “The situation has all the elements that the president seeks: a showdown with a top political rival in a deep blue state over an issue core to his agenda.”
&#8220;In bypassing the authority of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat, to call in the National Guard to quell protests in the Los Angeles area over his administration’s efforts to deport more migrants, Mr. Trump is now pushing the boundaries of presidential authority and stoking criticism that he is inflaming the situation for political gain,” the Times continued.
“The easiest way to understand this is not that Los Angeles has suddenly turned into a metropolis riddled with criminal immigrants who are holding it hostage,” the Washington Post echoed. “The easiest way to understand this is that the president and his administration have been looking to California as they have been looking to crush any center of power that he views as adversarial. &#8230; the administration by all appearances seeks to make an example of California and of any leaders who oppose its efforts.”

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION

‘Just A Bunch Of People Having Fun Watching Cars Burn’: ABC News On L.A. Anti-ICE Riots

Illegal Immigration

Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times

New York Times

Riots

U.S.

The Washington Post admitted to significant errors in its reporting on Israel and Gaza on Tuesday, deleting a social media post and correcting an article that unfairly maligned Israel’s military.
The newspaper admitted to its fault in another social media post explaining that an article from Sunday fell short of the Post’s “fairness standards.” The reporting covered a disputed incident outside a Gaza aid center in which the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry accused Israel of gunning down civilians. The Israel Defense Forces have denied the claim.
“The article failed to make clear if attributing the deaths to Israel was the position of the Gaza health ministry or a fact verified by The Post,” the correction says. “The article and headline were updated on Sunday evening making it clear that there was no consensus about who was responsible for the shootings and that there was a dispute over that question.”
“While statements from Israel that it was unaware of injuries and that an initial inquiry indicated its soldiers didn’t fire at civilians near the site were included in all versions, The Post didn’t give proper weight to Israel’s denial and gave improper certitude about what was known about any Israeli role in the shootings,” it continued. “The early versions fell short of Post standards of fairness and should not have been published in that form.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Correction: We’ve deleted the post below because it and early versions of the article didn’t meet Post fairness standards.
The background: Early versions of the article on Sunday stated that Israeli troops had killed more than 30 people near a U.S. aid site in Gaza, with the… <a href="https://t.co/KseRXgJn6A">pic.twitter.com/KseRXgJn6A</a>
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1929961283593367559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
The disputed incident took place early Sunday morning. Gaza Health Ministry officials and some Palestinian bystanders <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israeli-military-gaza-aid-group-debunk-hamas-claims-of-palestinians-killed-in-strike-at-aid-center">accused</a> Israeli soldiers of firing into an early morning crowd that was traveling to a Gaza aid center. The health ministry said that at least 31 people were killed and another 170 were wounded.
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The Israeli military and the aid organization that operates the center, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, have denied the claims. The Israeli military said that Israeli soldiers at one point fired warning shots into the air “to prevent several suspects from approaching” them overnight. The military said that there was “no connection between this incident and the false claims made against the IDF.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has denied that any such incident took place outside the aid center. The foundation has released video that reportedly showed an uneventful Sunday morning except for one incident of tracer fire in the distance.
“There was no gunfire in the center and also not in the surrounding area,” the foundation said in a statement. “All aid was distributed today without incident. We have heard that these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas. They are untrue and fabricated.”

The Washington Post

WaPo Retracts Unverified Hamas Smear Of Israel

Gaza

Global Politics

Hamas

Israel

World

The Kennedy Center has issued a response to the “fake news” article which was published in The Washington Post on Tuesday asserting that subscriptions dropped dramatically compared to the previous year.
“Your comparison isn’t accurate because of several factors,” the statement from Kim Cooper, Senior Vice President of Marketing, began. “We strategically launched later this year vs. last year. Our renewal campaign is just kicking off and our hard-copy season brochures have not yet hit homes.”
The statement goes on to explain how patrons often wait for the hard copy brochures to arrive before renewing.
“Also, earlier this year, and for the first time ever in Kennedy Center history, we launched a brand new option that lets subscribers mix and match genres within a single subscription,” Cooper continued. “It is a highly requested feature we’re proud to deliver as part of our commitment to giving people more choice and flexibility. It also expands our ability to reach new audiences.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here’s our response to the fake news: <a href="https://t.co/3DSfTByY9C">pic.twitter.com/3DSfTByY9C</a>
&mdash; The Kennedy Center (@kencen) <a href="https://twitter.com/kencen/status/1929951415058751786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The statement teased upcoming announcements and new genres that will have a “strong appeal” to audiences of all ages.
This response came after the Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater/2025/06/03/kennedy-center-subscription-sales-decline/">article</a> claimed subscriptions were down $1.6 million, or 36%, compared to the year before. The anonymous staffer blamed the drop on “mismanagement by the new leadership.”
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President Trump made waves earlier this year when he promised to reform the Kennedy Center, which began when he replaced its board and was elected chairman. Trump also tapped Special Envoy Richard Grenell to serve as the Center’s president.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote in February. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.”
Ever since, the Center has been pivoting to family friendly content, which has been successful thus far. Most recently, they sold out two showings of the bible-based film “The King of Kings.” It fits in with the Center’s new leadership being focused on offering high-quality entertainment that’s free from radical progressive messaging.
And so far it’s been successful. The Center broke their all-time attendance record in March of this year when 11,000 visitors showed up to see the EARTH to SPACE: Arts Breaking the Sky fireworks show, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kennedy-center-breaks-all-time-attendance-record-after-lib-meltdown-over-trump?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Kennedy+Center+Breaks+All-Time+Attendance+Record+After+Lib+Meltdown+Over+Trump">reported</a>. A majority of those attending were visiting the venue for the first time ever.

The Kennedy Center

Kennedy Center Issues Response To ‘Fake News’ WaPo Report About Subscription Sales Falling

Kennedy Center Issues Response To 'Fake News' WaPo Report About Subscription Sales Falling

Kennedy Center

Social Issues

Washington D.C.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lit up The Washington Post during Tuesday&#8217;s briefing, shining a spotlight on what she called &#8220;one of the most ridiculous headlines ever&#8221; on the topic of drug seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The article she highlighted was headlined, &#8220;The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border,&#8221; and it purported to outline the &#8220;complex&#8221; reasons behind the fact that fentanyl seizures had plummeted in recent weeks. Leavitt argued that the reasons were neither complex nor mysterious, saying, as President Donald Trump has, that it could all be chalked up as the obvious result of the American people electing a different president.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> slams the Fake News Washington Post: &#8220;There is no mystery about why there is a decrease of fentanyl coming into the United States. This Administration&#8217;s strong border policies are the reason!&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/RJlWO7EyWp">pic.twitter.com/RJlWO7EyWp</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1929951219130221006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The Washington Post just ran one of the most ridiculous headlines ever — even by their standards,&#8221; Leavitt began. &#8220;And on my very first briefing, several months ago, I said I would hold anyone accountable in this room. The Washington Post actually had this headline: &#8216;The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border.'&#8221;
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&#8220;How is this mysterious?&#8221; Leavitt asked. &#8220;There is no mystery about why there is a decrease in fentanyl coming into the United States. This administration&#8217;s strong border policies are the reason there has been a decrease in fentanyl trafficking. [Trump&#8217;s] strengthened relationship with Mexican President Sheinbaum and all of the measures he has been taking to deter illegal human and drug trafficking at our United States southern border is the reason for plummeting fentanyl seizures at the U.S. border. There is nothing mysterious about that, and we&#8217;d like to see The Washington Post update their headline accordingly.&#8221;
Leavitt went on to say that the White House had provided WaPo with a lengthy list of the Trump administration policies that had brought about the drop in fentanyl seizures at the border, but that the outlet had refused to include them.
&#8220;This [is] clearly trying to intentionally manipulate the minds of the – Americans — and I think the American people understand why there&#8217;s been a fentanyl drop,&#8221; Leavitt said. &#8220;That&#8217;s despicable.&#8221;

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

‘There Is No Mystery’: Karoline Leavitt Lights Up WaPo Over ‘Ridiculous’ Fentanyl Headline

'There Is No Mystery': Karoline Leavitt Lights Up WaPo Over 'Ridiculous' Fentanyl Headline

border security

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Washington Post immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti earned herself a wave of backlash when she attempted to use Saturday&#8217;s Kentucky Derby winner — Sovereignty, ridden by Venezuelan immigrant Junior Alvarado — as a cudgel with which to dishonestly attack President Donald Trump and his administration&#8217;s policies on illegal immigration and mass deportation.
Sacchetti, like so many others in broadcast and print media, conflated Alvarado — a legal immigrant from Venezuela — with the millions of illegal immigrants in the United States, suggesting that it Trump was allowed to continue deporting criminal illegals, Alvarado and others like him would be among them.
&#8220;Trump officials, who have sought to expel hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, are celebrating the victory of Sovereignty at the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty’s jockey, Junior Alvarado, is an immigrant from Venezuela,&#8221; Sacchetti posted via X.
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Trump officials, who have sought to expel hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, are celebrating the victory of Sovereignty at the Kentucky Derby.
Sovereignty’s jockey, Junior Alvarado, is an immigrant from Venezuela. <a href="https://t.co/vbGAGh7GS3">pic.twitter.com/vbGAGh7GS3</a>
— Maria Sacchetti (@mariasacchetti) <a href="https://twitter.com/mariasacchetti/status/1918846076922007915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Critics quickly pointed out the fact that Alvarado was in the United States legally — and Trump&#8217;s deportation policies were aimed primarily at those who were not only in the country illegally but had also committed additional crimes since their arrival.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted, &#8220;In America, legal immigrants are awesome and many serve in the Trump administration. I am one. Junior Alvarado is leading in sports. Many like Elon change the world. Stop conflating law-abiding citizens with criminal gangbangers, drug dealers, and human traffickers. We see you.&#8221;
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In America, legal immigrants are awesome and many serve in the Trump administration. I am one. Junior Alvarado is leading in sports. Many like Elon change the world. Stop conflating law-abiding citizens with criminal gangbangers, drug dealers, and human traffickers. We see you. <a href="https://t.co/LX32GXPQwO">https://t.co/LX32GXPQwO</a>
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) <a href="https://twitter.com/HarmeetKDhillon/status/1919047378327257130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Great story, Maria. So the entire (dishonest) implication of your premise is that he entered the country illegally and Alvarado is now at risk of being deported. Except he came here legally,&#8221; Joe Concha added. &#8220;The &#8216;hundreds of thousands&#8217; of Venezuelans Trump is seeking to expel entered illegally.&#8221;
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Great story, Maria. So the entire (dishonest) implication of your premise is that he entered the country illegally and Alvarado is now at risk of being deported.
Except he came here legally. The “hundreds of thousands” of Venezuelans Trump is seeking to expel entered illegally. <a href="https://t.co/0lJPgGMOPn">https://t.co/0lJPgGMOPn</a>
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1919063938328572353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This article, shared by a Washington Post reporter, conflates illegal immigrants, foreigners with legal guest visas, and Latinos as a whole to pretend that cracking down on illegal immigration would exclude jockeys. An immigration attorney quoted in the article confirms there’s been no problem obtaining visas for foreign jockeys. I think these people actually believe their own propaganda,&#8221; Laura Powell said.
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This article, shared by a Washington Post reporter, conflates illegal immigrants, foreigners with legal guest visas, and Latinos as a whole to pretend that cracking down on illegal immigration would exclude jockeys.
An immigration attorney quoted in the article confirms there’s… <a href="https://t.co/JGL9otuuUA">https://t.co/JGL9otuuUA</a> <a href="https://t.co/r8z2tC2BTu">pic.twitter.com/r8z2tC2BTu</a>
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) <a href="https://twitter.com/LauraPowellEsq/status/1919089927884882373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This woman is allegedly an immigration &#8216;reporter&#8217; for the Washington Post and does not understand the difference between LEGAL immigrants and ILLEGAL immigrants,&#8221; Abigail Jackson posted.
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This woman is allegedly an immigration “reporter” for the Washington Post and does not understand the difference between LEGAL immigrants and ILLEGAL immigrants. <a href="https://t.co/RfT6AWoMbN">https://t.co/RfT6AWoMbN</a>
— Abigail Jackson 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) <a href="https://twitter.com/abigailmarone/status/1919058565370704032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I wonder if she understands that her assertion demonstrates that Trump supporters don’t hate people because of their ethnicity but instead want illegal aliens gone regardless,&#8221; Kurt Schlicter added.
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I wonder if she understands that her assertion demonstrates that Trump supporters don’t hate people because of their ethnicity but instead want illegal aliens gone regardless <a href="https://t.co/dcpNlC7BAM">https://t.co/dcpNlC7BAM</a>
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) <a href="https://twitter.com/KurtSchlichter/status/1919030326883430472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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