An unreleased video of a second strike on suspected narco-terrorists appears to support War Secretary Pete Hegseth and the War Department, according to ABC News. The report suggests that a second strike was not only justified, it was necessary to complete the intended mission.
ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz weighed in on the new information from an anonymous source on Wednesday evening, saying that it supported reports of two survivors remaining after a first strike on a suspected drug-running boat in the Caribbean. Where the new intelligence diverged, she reported, was that the suspected narco-terrorists were not simply clinging to the wreckage. The two appeared to be making attempts to salvage their illicit cargo and may have remained in contact with others in their network once their vessel had been disabled.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ABC’s Martha Raddatz on Wednesday’s ‘World News Tonight’ about drug boat-gate: “And tonight, new information: According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike. They were believed to be potentially in… <a href="https://t.co/R5eHFzzDql">pic.twitter.com/R5eHFzzDql</a>
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1996369433569161520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;And tonight, new information: According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike,&#8221; Raddatz told host David Muir on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;World News Tonight.&#8221;
&#8220;They were believed to be potentially in communication with others, and salvaging some of the drugs,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Because of that, it was determined they were still in the fight and valid targets. A JAG officer was also giving legal advice. So, again, David, that video will be key, and Admiral Bradley will be on the Hill tomorrow behind closed doors.&#8221;
The Washington Post published an anonymously-sourced &#8220;exclusive&#8221; on Saturday claiming that things had gone very differently, however.
According to the initial story, a direct order to “kill them all” was attributed to Secretary Hegseth — and the scenario described suggested that two survivors had been clinging to wreckage when a second strike was ordered to ensure that they weren’t left alive.
Democrats and legacy media outlets were only too happy to run with that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spin-cycle-wapo-hit-piece-targets-pete-hegseth-and-legacy-outlets-fall-in-line">narrative</a>, and they spent much of the day Sunday declaring Hegseth — along with anyone who had been involved in carrying out his order — was likely guilty of war crimes.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whoopi-goldberg-says-pete-hegseth-set-soldiers-up-to-face-war-crimes-charges">narrative</a> continued into the week as the hosts of ABC’s “The View” not only proclaimed Hegseth guilty of “war crimes,” but insisted that if other military service members were eventually tried for war crimes, it would be because Hegseth’s orders had effectively “set them up.”

President Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting At The White House

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

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

ABC News

Media

Military

narco-terrorism

Pete Hegseth

Politics

Washington Post

Even The New York Times isn&#8217;t buying The Washington Post&#8217;s hit piece attacking War Secretary Pete Hegseth and claiming that he gave an order to &#8220;kill them all,&#8221; authorizing a second missile strike on a Venezuelan drug boat when survivors were in the water.
The Post&#8217;s &#8220;exclusive&#8221; — which ran on Saturday — painted a picture of two survivors, helplessly clinging to the remnants of their destroyed vessel as a second strike was ordered to ensure they were killed. Citing anonymous sources, the outlet walked right up to the line, but stopped just short of directly accusing Hegseth of executing the two survivors in the water.
What followed immediately was absolutely predictable: anchors and guests across the legacy media Sunday shows <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spin-cycle-wapo-hit-piece-targets-pete-hegseth-and-legacy-outlets-fall-in-line">stepped across the line</a> even WaPo wouldn&#8217;t, accusing Hegseth of committing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whoopi-goldberg-says-pete-hegseth-set-soldiers-up-to-face-war-crimes-charges">war crimes</a> and claiming those who carried out his orders might also be held to account for doing so.
But <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/us/hegseth-drug-boat-strike-order-venezuela.html">The New York Times</a> was not quite ready to go all in on the accusation, and instead cited five officials who said that while Hegseth&#8217;s initial order was to deliver a lethal strike — which would destroy the vessel and the drugs and kill those onboard — there was no specific order given regarding how to proceed if the first strike did not fully accomplish that.
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In addition, the officials told the NYT that there was no second command from Hegseth ordering another strike when drone footage showed survivors in the water. Instead, they said that the Special Operations commander overseeing the attack, Admiral Frank M. Bradley, had ordered several follow-up strikes to sink the boat that was disabled by the first hit — and that the survivors were killed as those strikes were carried out.
The Federalist&#8217;s <a href="https://x.com/MZHemingway/status/1995747364196548720">Mollie Hemingway</a> noted that while it certainly tracked that WaPo had run with the story in the first place, it seemed slightly off routine for the NYT to hold back.
&#8220;It is not surprising that the WashPost, which originated the Russia collusion hoax, the Kavanaugh hoax, and the first Trump impeachment hoax, would run another false info op. It IS a bit surprising that the NYT isn’t going along with it in their normal manner,&#8221; she said.
The White House&#8217;s account of what happened squares with the NYT report, however, as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Monday&#8217;s briefing that there had been multiple strikes on the drug boat in question, but that the orders had come from Admiral Frank M. Bradley, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/karoline-leavitt-says-hegseth-didnt-order-second-strike-on-narco-terrorists-boat">not Hegseth</a>.
Hegseth followed that revelation with an <a href="https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1995643490152128919">X post</a> declaring his support for Bradley, saying, &#8220;Let’s make one thing crystal clear: Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since. America is fortunate to have such men protecting us. When this @DeptofWar says we have the back of our warriors — we mean it.&#8221;

US-MILITARY-DEFENSE-MEETING

Even The New York Times Isn’t Sold On Washington Post Hegseth Hit

The New York Times

As Democrats forced a government shutdown, The Washington Post Editorial Board issued a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/01/government-shutdown-democrats-progressives-freedom-caucus/">warning</a> — which apparently fell on deaf ears — predicting that their strategy was likely to backfire and ultimately favor President Donald Trump.
According to the Post, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had attempted to split the baby in the final hours, asking whether others in his party might be amenable to a short-term agreement that would buy them more time to negotiate — and he was met with an adamant refusal from Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX): “Hell no.”
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chuck-schumer-forcefully-made-the-case-that-biden-should-bow-out-report">progressive wing</a> of the Democratic Party — along with a number of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/msnbc-host-rage-quits-democratic-party-on-air-blames-chuck-schumer-for-caving">far-left media personalities</a> — blamed Schumer for “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-think-you-caved-schumer-gets-an-absolute-grilling-on-the-view">caving</a>” to Republicans during the last shutdown battle, after he argued it was better to keep the government open than risk a shutdown over demands the GOP-controlled Congress would never accept. But with the looming threat of a primary from his left — which could potentially involve self-described Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — Schumer has thus far allowed the progressives to drive the current shutdown fight.
But that refusal to negotiate may come back to bite progressive Democrats in the very near future, the Post argued, comparing the Progressive Caucus to the Freedom Caucus on the Republican side of the aisle.
“Progressives embraced the same disastrous mentality that led the House Freedom Caucus to believe it could come out ahead in previous government funding standoffs: They wrongly assumed their political leverage would withstand the ensuing fallout,” the Post explained. “Left-wing Democrats, like the Freedom Caucus before them, enter this shutdown in a position of weakness. President Donald Trump and his budget director, Russell Vought, now have extraordinary authority to choose which agencies to close, what spending to prioritize and even which government workers to lay off.”
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President Trump also warned Democrats ahead of the shutdown to be careful what they wished for, adding, “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible.”
Indeed, the Post’s Editorial Board is predicting that Trump will absolutely make good on that promise — and he’s likely to do so in a way that “maximizes pain” for the Democrats who continue to embrace the role of “roadblock” to his administration’s agenda.
“The Freedom Caucus’s tactics have failed to achieve Republicans’ goals every time. There is no reason to think this shutdown will end any differently for its left-wing counterpart. The most likely outcome is that Democrats will come to regret having just walked into a trap,” the Board concluded.

Chuck Schumer

‘It’s A Trap!’: Even WaPo’s Editorial Board Warns Democrats A Shutdown Favors Trump

'It's A Trap!': Even WaPo's Editorial Board Warns Democrats A Shutdown Favors Trump

Democrats

Donald Trump

Government Shutdown

Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah — who was with the outlet for just over a decade — was terminated over a Bluesky post in which she misquoted the recently-assassinated conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Attiah claimed in a Substack article that the outlet had fired her for doing her job as a journalist, saying that she&#8217;d only been &#8220;speaking out against political violence, racial double standards, and America’s apathy toward guns.&#8221;
In a series of Bluesky posts, Attiah claimed that Americans would never take action on gun control because they were fine with sacrificing the lives of children in order to keep access to firearms — and &#8220;especially white America is not going to do what it needs to do to get rid of the guns in their country.&#8221;
The only post that mentioned Kirk by name was a quote she attributed to him:
<blockquote>&#8220;Black women do not have the brain-processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a white person&#8217;s slot.&#8221;</blockquote>
&#8220;The Post accused my measured Bluesky posts of being &#8216;unacceptable,&#8217; &#8216;gross misconduct&#8217; and of endangering the physical safety of colleagues — charges without evidence, which I reject completely as false,&#8221; Attiah added.
But as journalist Jerry Dunleavy noted, Attiah&#8217;s quote was inaccurate. She suggested, as a number of others had, that Kirk was referring to all black women when he said that they lacked &#8220;the brain-processing power to be taken seriously.&#8221; In reality, Kirk had directed that comment at a few specific black women: Michelle Obama, the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, former MSNBC host Joy Reid, and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Karen Attiah says she has been fired by WaPo. In her Substack, she shares her post which had mentioned Charlie Kirk &amp; doubles down — &amp; it’s a fake quote! Charlie did not say this about “Black women” writ-large, he said it about Joy Reid, Michelle Obama, Sheila Jackson Lee, &amp; KBJ. <a href="https://t.co/mN326WXKcS">pic.twitter.com/mN326WXKcS</a>
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1967565540333117900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Charlie Kirk&#8217;s thoughts on Michelle Obama, Joy Reid, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. <a href="https://t.co/A3hwo1NYOq">pic.twitter.com/A3hwo1NYOq</a>
— VIBE Magazine (@VibeMagazine) <a href="https://twitter.com/VibeMagazine/status/1966544520046354857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Julia Reinhart/Getty Images

Liberal Washington Post Columnist Fired Over Charlie Kirk Comments

assassination

Charlie Kirk

The Washington Post got slammed after it published a report attacking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for the security personnel protecting his family.
“<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/20/hegseth-security-detail/">Hegseth’s expansive security requirements tax Army protective unit</a>,” the Post headline claimed, followed by a report about Hegseth&#8217;s “unusually large personal security requirements.”
The article referred to Hegseth’s family residences in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., while using the typical leftist media tactic of quoting numerous anonymous sources.
The Post painted a conspiratorial picture to target Hegseth, quoting an unidentified “CID official, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity citing a fear of reprisal.” That nameless official claimed, “I’ve never seen this many security teams for one guy. Nobody has.”
The story went on to say that the Post “withheld several sensitive details gathered in the course of reporting this article, including the size of Hegseth’s protective details and the precise locations where they are assigned.”
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It quoted another anonymous person claiming, “We have complete inability to achieve our most basic missions,” adding that “people familiar with the matter” alleged that when Hegseth became Defense Secretary, &#8220;a call went out for many more” agents to protect his family.
“One person characterized the figure as ‘400 and going up.’ Another said it’s ‘over 500,’” The Post reported.
Finally, in paragraph 14, the Post acknowledged, “Shortly after Hegseth was nominated to become defense secretary, a bomb threat was made against his home in Tennessee.” But that was immediately followed by this: “Hegseth, 45, a former National Guard officer and Fox News personality, was among Trump’s most polarizing Cabinet selections, and his tenure thus far has been mired in tumult.”
“CID protection has on occasion extended to Pete Hegseth’s and Jennifer Hegseth’s former spouses to protect the children, two of the officials said. Two other officials called this arrangement unusual. Another said it was something they had never seen before in their many years at the agency,” the Post reported.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell harshly criticized the Post, writing on X:
<blockquote>
In the wake of two assassinations attempts against President Trump, ICE agents facing a 1000% increase in assaults, and repeated threats of retaliation from Iran for striking their nuclear capabilities, it&#8217;s astonishing that the Washington Post is criticizing a high-ranking cabinet official for receiving appropriate security protection, especially after doxxing the DHS Secretary last week. Any action pertaining to the security of Secretary Hegseth and his family has been in response to the threat environment and at the full recommendation the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID). When left-wing blogs like the Washington Post continue to dox cabinet secretaries’ security protocols and movements, it puts lives at risk.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In the wake of two assassinations attempts against President Trump, ICE agents facing a 1000% increase in assaults, and repeated threats of retaliation from Iran for striking their nuclear capabilities, it&#8217;s astonishing that the Washington Post is criticizing a high-ranking… <a href="https://t.co/39SfiZOyPo">https://t.co/39SfiZOyPo</a>
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanParnellUSA/status/1958133206726705448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Defense Department Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson echoed, “By publishing details about Secretary Hegseth’s security protocols, the Washington Post is actively putting him and his family in danger for clicks. These ‘reporters’ are disgusting.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
By publishing details about Secretary Hegseth’s security protocols, the Washington Post is actively putting him and his family in danger for clicks.
These “reporters” are disgusting. <a href="https://t.co/1rVpxlRdk8">https://t.co/1rVpxlRdk8</a>
— Kingsley Wilson (@PressSecDOD) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSecDOD/status/1958140412063092948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“This is a shameful story,” John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary, posted. “I can&#8217;t believe it was published. If there are threats to a cabinet secretary&#8217;s life and family, protection is not only acceptable but necessary to safeguard the workings of our government, no matter what your ludicrous sources claim. Just to follow up a little: Ask anyone with security details if it&#8217;s some kind of exciting reward to have a security detail. It&#8217;s not. It&#8217;s intrusive, agents are omnipresent, and it makes living life harder, not easier.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Just to follow up a little: Ask anyone with security details if it&#8217;s some kind of exciting reward to have a security detail. It&#8217;s not. It&#8217;s intrusive, agents are omnipresent, and it makes living life harder, not easier.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jpodhoretz/status/1958120745244229921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch declared, “Leftists running @WashingtonPost and Deep Staters at Pentagon complain and disclose details about security for @SecDef @PeteHegseth  (including his children and family). Another dangerous targeting story from the Left WPOST on Trump Cabinet. (They just ran a targeting piece on  @Sec_Noem.) Does the WPOST want to get Trump Cabinet officials killed, @JeffBezos ?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Leftists running <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WashingtonPost</a> and Deep Staters at Pentagon complain and disclose details about security for <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeteHegseth</a> (including his children and family). Another dangerous targeting story from the Left WPOST on Trump Cabinet. (They just ran a targeting piece on…
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomFitton/status/1958137640445771830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Confirmation Hearing Held For Secretary Of Defense Nominee Pete Hegseth

‘I Can’t Believe It Was Published’: WaPo Attacks Hegseth For Protecting His Family

Defense

Media Bias

Security Detail

Democrats often tout a study that predicts the global economy will crash this century thanks to climate change. It turns out the study is bogus, according to a new analysis.
The <a href="https://archive.ph/UfbWa">paper</a>, published in the journal Nature last year, claimed that global gross domestic product will plummet by 62% by 2100 compared to where it would be without climate change. About 19% of the global economy will be lost in the next 25 years, the study claimed.
The dire predictions were three times higher than previous estimates, causing alarm over the possibility that climate change could destroy the global economy within people&#8217;s lifetimes.
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Democrats pounced on the study&#8217;s terrifying warnings.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) <a href="https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-170/issue-80/senate-section/article/S3575-2">read</a> the study into the Congressional Record.
&#8220;Climate change is not just about polar bears or green jobs. It is about economic storm warnings to which we had better start paying attention,&#8221; Whitehouse said from the Senate floor in May last year, just weeks after the study came out.
Whitehouse <a href="https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov">says</a> he has &#8220;been at the center of efforts to address climate change.&#8221;
The flawed study was the second most cited climate paper in 2024 by news outlets and on social media, <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-the-climate-papers-most-featured-in-the-media-in-2024/">according</a> to one analysis.
However, a new <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09320-4.epdf?sharing_token=3rbBF4IXLwsMKEER39Y9xtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0P8TEvZgfgWlZ-BR6o_g0srhfsE2PjjhNpvdF9g5tn3tk1V8soSo09634cfw2IcMpTvo0EiunI6aYH327RiT5shGydCkhJRZZ9KPqSB8xRMpbmVOKRbMP3qKhAvviNlo60%3D">analysis</a> published in Nature this month found that &#8220;data anomalies&#8221; from one country, Uzbekistan, wildly skewed the &#8220;predicted impacts of climate change.&#8221;
Uzbekistan&#8217;s bad data showed the country&#8217;s GDP falling off a cliff back in 2000 and then nearly doubling in some regions in 2010, among other eyebrow-raising anomalies. The data was so skewed that it upended the study&#8217;s results dramatically.
The country has not experienced these wild swings in its GDP, <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=UZ">according</a> to other <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/uzb/uzbekistan/gdp-gross-domestic-product">sources</a>.
Without Uzbekistan&#8217;s data, the predictions about how climate change would affect the global economy were much less dire — global GDP <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">would</a> drop 23% by 2100, down from 62%, and it would drop just 6% by 2050, not 19%, according to the new analysis.
When the paper&#8217;s mistake came to light, even The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">admitted</a> the study&#8217;s authors made a &#8220;big error.&#8221;
During the peer review process, one anonymous reviewer expressed skepticism as well.
“I find all of this well explained and fairly convincing, yet, purely subjectively, I have a hard time in believing the results, which seem unintuitively large given damages aren’t perfectly persistent,” the reviewer <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">said</a> in a peer review <a href="https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41586-024-07219-0/MediaObjects/41586_2024_7219_MOESM2_ESM.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a> on the study.
That reviewer went on to approve the study, however, after speaking with the authors.
The study&#8217;s authors pushed back, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">noting</a> that if they corrected for the Uzbekistan data — but also altered their study&#8217;s methodology — they got similar results showing a plummeting world economy.
Critics are skeptical.
“Science doesn’t work by changing the setup of an experiment to get the answer you want,” said Solomon Hsiang, director of the global policy laboratory at Stanford University and one of the authors of the new analysis on the study&#8217;s flaws.
“This approach is antithetical to the scientific method,” Hsiang <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/06/nature-study-flawed-climate-damages/">told</a> The Washington Post.

TOPSHOT-DOUNIAMAG-US-environment-THUNBERG

Democrats Love Citing This One Climate Change Study. Turns Out It’s All Bogus.

Climate Study Pushed By Democrats Turns Out To Be Bogus

Climate Change

Sheldon Whitehouse

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>
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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>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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

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>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<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.

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

CBS News

NBC News

The Atlantic

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.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#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;
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&#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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