Newsbusters

YouTube has demonstrated a strong socially leftist animus for years. FCC Chair Brendan Carr wants to get to the bottom of it.

The FCC Chair called out YouTube in a post Friday, exposing YouTube TV for allegedly discriminating against a faith-based media company. Carr wrote, “I have received complaints that Google’s @YouTubeTV is discriminating against faith-based programming. These concerning allegations come at a time when American public discourse has experienced an unprecedented—and unacceptable—surge in censorship. I’m asking Google for answers.”

[Story Continues on MRC Free Speech America] 

As Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil faces deportation for his part in pro-Hamas, anti-Semitic protests, PBS News Hour would have its viewers believe that he is just a victim of a presidential administration that doesn’t like having its opinions challenged. On Monday’s episode, William Brangham falsely claimed there’s no proof to support the allegations against him.

Brangham began, “This arrest is part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on anti-Semitism, particularly on college campuses, which were convulsed by protests last year during the height of the Hamas-Israel War. But officials have offered no evidence that Mr. Khalil broke any laws while at Columbia. And, today, crowds gathered in New York City to protest his arrest.”

 

 

Introducing his quest, Brangham continued, “For more on this, we are joined again by Abed Ayoub. He’s the national director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee… We should say that a judge has ordered that Mr. Khalil cannot be deported until further court proceedings play out. And a hearing about his arrest is scheduled for later this week. But when you first heard about this seizure by immigration officials, what was your reaction?”

Ayoub naturally replied, “Look, the initial reaction was one of concern, deep concern, and disappointment, and concern not just only for Mahmoud, but concern for this country, that we are now going down a path where speech and expression is being criminalized this way. And this should be alarming for all Americans, not only those that are standing up for Palestine and Palestinian rights. This is an alarming happening right now in this country.”

Brangham then reported on a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump where he “wrote that ICE apprehended Mr. Khalil because he is — quote — ‘a radical foreign pro-Hamas student’ and that he’s just one of many at Columbia and at other colleges,’ the president alleged, who have engaged in — quote — ‘pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.’”

He further alleged, “Now, as I said, the administration has not provided any details alleging that he has said or done any of those things. We simply at this point do not know. But what we do know is that he organized protests on Columbia. He negotiated with Columbia University officials about those protests.”

Continuing, Brangham recalled, “And some of those protests were quite intense. That said, does any of the actions alleged here give the government the authority to deport someone and change their immigration status?”

That’s an understatement. Back in the real world, Columbia sent Khalil a letter warning him he may be in violation of the university’s anti-harassment policy. Khalil was also very much involved in the recent takeover of school buildings where October 7 was praised and Hezbollah leaders lionized. He was also the leader of a group called Columbia University Apartheid Divestment, which is so radical that “radical” seems insufficient.

CUAD claims to fight colonialism and imperialism in all of its forms (except Russian or Chinese, of course), including in Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. It isn’t so brazen to explicitly say it wants to eliminate Israel, but it does so quite implicitly or “a free Palestine. We necessarily envision an entire world free from colonialism and imperialism, and from all the interrelated systems of oppression that uphold them.”

As for Ayoub, he was happy to play along, “Absolutely not. The statements coming from the government are very heavy on accusations, but very light on evidence. Nothing has been shown or proven to be true so far, and nothing will be shown or proven to be true. The only thing Mr. Mahmoud has done that they don’t like is the fact that he was part of these protests, organizing these protests and these rallies against the state of Israel and its actions.”

Here is a transcript for the March 10 show:

PBS News Hour

3/10/2025

7:30 PM ET

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Amna, this arrest is part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on anti-Semitism, particularly on college campuses, which were convulsed by protests last year during the height of the Hamas-Israel War.

But officials have offered no evidence that Mr. Khalil broke any laws while at Columbia. And, today, crowds gathered in New York City to protest his arrest. For more on this, we are joined again by Abed Ayoub. He’s the national director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Abed, so good to have you back on the program.

We should say that a judge has ordered that Mr. Khalil cannot be deported until further court proceedings play out. And a hearing about his arrest is scheduled for later this week. But when you first heard about this seizure by immigration officials, what was your reaction?

ABED AYOUB: Thank you for having me on. Look, the initial reaction was one of concern, deep concern, and disappointment, and concern not just only for Mahmoud, but concern for this country, that we are now going down a path where speech and expression is being criminalized this way.

And this should be alarming for all Americans, not only those that are standing up for Palestine and Palestinian rights. This is an alarming happening right now in this country.

BRANGHAM: And the president today on Truth Social wrote that ICE apprehended Mr. Khalil because he is — quote — “a radical foreign pro-Hamas student” and that he’s just one of many at Columbia and at other colleges,” the president alleged, who have engaged in — quote — “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”

Now, as I said, the administration has not provided any details alleging that he has said or done any of those things. We simply at this point do not know. But what we do know is that he organized protests on Columbia. He negotiated with Columbia University officials about those protests.

And some of those protests were quite intense. That said, does any of the actions alleged here give the government the authority to deport someone and change their immigration status?

AYOUB: Absolutely not. The statements coming from the government are very heavy on accusations, but very light on evidence. Nothing has been shown or proven to be true so far, and nothing will be shown or proven to be true.

The only thing Mr. Mahmoud has done that they don’t like is the fact that he was part of these protests, organizing these protests and these rallies against the state of Israel and its actions. And that seems to be a taboo topic that you can’t talk about. And, if you do, this is the situation you end up in.

All he did was exercise his First Amendment rights, his right to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and that was enough to trigger the actions and to trigger what we’re seeing now. And, again, this should be concerning to all Americans that, in this country, I have the right to protest my own president, my own government, but I don’t have the right to protest a foreign government or a foreign leadership.

That should raise many questions and red flags for all Americans.

Our item of yesterday pointed out the paucity of pro-Trump Republicans on CNN This Morning under its new host, Audie Cornish, a former host of NPR’s All Things Considered.

Shockingly, it looks like Audie didn’t read, or certainly did not take to heart, our item. Her panel today consisted of two confirmed liberals: Jackie Kucinich of the Boston Globe and Chuck Rocha, a former Bernie ’20 campaign advisor, whose shtick is sporting a big cowboy hat.

And for the Republican on today’s panel, Cornish chose Ashley Davis, a former aide to President George W. Bush.

Davis promptly proceeded to employ a metaphor about Trump that was in stunningly poor taste, claiming that the recent stock market drop is “around Trump’s neck.”

This, in respect of someone who has been the target of two recent assassination attempts. Imagine if a conservative had employed the same metaphor about Obama.

Davis also criticized the Trump administration’s suggestion that the economy continues to suffer a hangover from the Biden years. Cornish teed up Davis, asking: “Can you complain about Bidenomics without Biden?” Replied Davis: “I don’t think that blaming a prior administration is ever a good idea, because you’re automatically looking like you’re on the defense.” 

This kind of visibility is good for Davis, who runs a bipartisan lobby firm called West Front Strategies and wants paid speaking gigs.

Except for her ill-advised comment about Trump, Davis came across as something of a trimmer: someone who tries to ingratiate herself with all others. But her attempt to do so fell flat with Cornish. Thanking her host for having been invited on the show, Davis led off by gushing over Cornish: “your voice is so calming.”

For a network trying to stir some audience excitement given its ratings plunge, a host with a soporific voice is presumably not what CNN is looking for.

Then again, perhaps CNN can turn it into a positive, creating a promotion for the show:

“Trouble sleeping? At bedtime, play a recording of Audie Cornish, with her ‘so calming voice.'”

Here’s the transcript.

CNN This Morning
3/11/25
6:03 am ET

AUDIE CORNISH: Joining me now to talk about all this, Jackie Kucinich, CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief for the Boston Globe. Chuck Rocha, former senior advisor for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, and Ashley Davis, former White House official under George W. Bush. 

I want to bring it to the group chat now because — and maybe start with you, Ashley. Welcome to the table. 

ASHLEY DAVIS: Thank you. 

CORNISH: Can you have and complain about Bidenomics without Biden? 

DAVIS: I don’t think this ever works. 

First of all, good morning. 

CORNISH: Good morning. 

DAVIS: And thanks for having me on your show. And your voice is so calming. 

I, I don’t think that blaming a prior administration is ever a good idea, because you’re automatically looking like you’re on the defense. 

CORNISH: Yeah. Also, checks notes: it’s March. Like, it’s not a January conversation. 

DAVIS: Exactly. But it is 50 days in. However, this is, this is around Trump’s neck right now. And obviously what the market’s like, we are still in a bull market, which I think is very important. 

However, I think that what markets obviously love is certainty and stability. And that is not what these, what Trump’s doing in regards to tariffs is really what’s happening and showing them you know what the stability that they need. So I think we’re going to continue to see this for a while. 

The networks had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into coverage of the virulent antisemitic protests at major universities across the United States, beginning with those at Columbia University in New York. The protesters’ worst excesses were often left off of reporting, lest people get the idea that they were materially supportive both of Hamas and of the atrocities they committed on October 7th, 2023. But there is, at long last, an angle worthy of thorough media coverage.

Judging by the level of concern displayed by the media, Khalil emerges as their truest, purest victim of the still-ongoing student protests. The worst network coverage comes via CBS Evening News Plus, a streaming product that is intended to complement the beleaguered Evening News.

Watch as correspondent Lilia Luciano describes the arrest as having a chilling effect on free speech:

JOHN DICKERSON: And tell me what’s the reaction been on the campus, which has obviously been a hotbed of protests?

LILIA LUCIANO: Today was a cold day. And John, I have to say- it was a cold day because you could feel the chill in the air which really matched the chill in terms of freedom of expression. I heard from students, from faculty members, some were incensed and many refused to talk to us on camera because they are afraid of the repercussions that go beyond disciplinary action in the school- go into their own freedom.  

DICKERSON: Lilia Luciano reporting, thank you.

This report led off the Evening News Plus, and it was two-minutes plus of Luciano advocating for the protesters generally and Khalil specifically. She argued against detention and represented Khalil to viewers as a pacifying figure. Luciano also threw out the “criminality” misdirection, suggesting that Khalil has to be found guilty of a crime before being deported. 

That simply isn’t the case. Khalil is reported to have been lead negotiator for a group called Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which has openly and brazenly supported Hamas in its war against Israel. That alone is sufficient cause for deportation according to a basic reading of the plain text of the statute. But that part of Khalil’s biography (like his UNRWA internship until a month after the 10/7 terror attack) gets suppressed from coverage- just like the violent persecution of Jewish students by the pro-jihadi protestors.

ABC World News Tonight was only a wee bit more transparent with Khalil’s biography, but followed the same “free speech” angle:

AARON KATERSKY: As a Columbia University graduate student, Khalil helped lead pro-Palestinian protests and organized encampments that took over the campus for weeks last spring. Federal agents arrested Khalil Saturday at his Columbia student housing apartment. He is currently being held 1,000 miles away at a detention facility in Louisiana. The feds say Khalil was detained in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-semitism and because he led activities aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Khalil’s lawyers call it open repression of student activism and political speech.

NBC Nightly News steered clear of the fake free speech and criminality angles, delivering instead a quote from the man himself:

MAHMOUD KHALIL: We want a divestment from the Israeli occupation.

We’ve done this long enough that we are no longer surprised to see the media walk in lockstep with Democrats: in this instance, Senate Democrats who have publicly called for Khalil’s release. The terror apologia, though, is still jarring to watch.

Click “expand” to view transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective networks on March 10th, 2025:

ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT

3/10/25

6:43 PM

DAVID MUIR: In New York City late today, the protests after a former Columbia grad student who led pro-Palestinian demonstrations was detained by ICE Agents. The protests in Lower Manhattan, they say it is an attack on the student’s free speech. Here’s our Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katersky.

AARON KATERSKY: Tonight, hundreds of demonstrators in New York City demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil.

PROTESTERS: Release Mahmoud Khalil now.

KATERSKY: As a Columbia University graduate student, Khalil helped lead pro-Palestinian protests and organized encampments that took over the campus for weeks last spring. Federal agents arrested Khalil Saturday at his Columbia student housing apartment. He is currently being held 1,000 miles away at a detention facility in Louisiana. The feds say Khalil was detained in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-semitism and because he led activities aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Khalil’s lawyers call it open repression of student activism and political speech.

BAHER AZMY: His speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they’re engaged in.

KATERSKY: Khalil’s attorney telling ABC News authorities told Khalil his student Visa was being revoked. But he no longer has a student visa. He’s a green card holder, a permanent resident, and his American wife is eight months pregnant. The White House posting this image of Khalil. President Trump writing, “this is the first arrest of many to come.”

PROTESTER: We have to fight now.

KATERSKY: Protesters here today undeterred.

PROTESTER: We are not going to let these arrests intimidate us at all. In fact, we will be here for as long as we need to be, to make sure that, you know, we’re not silenced.

KATERSKY: Just moments ago, David, a federal judge ruled that Khalil cannot be deported while he decides whether his arrest was lawful. David.

MUIR: Aaron Katersky right here in New York tonight. Aaron, thank you.

CBS EVENING NEWS PLUS

3/10/25

7:02 PM

JOHN DICKERSON: We begin here in New York City with an arrest over the weekend. Columbia University grad Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and faces deportation. He’s a green card holder but the Trump administration says the arrest stems from his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at the school last year. The Department of Homeland Security says his arrest is a result of Mr. Trump’s executive order prohibiting anti-semitism, and President Trump says it is the first of many to come. I’m joined now by CBS’s Lilia Luciano. So Lilia, tell me about what Khalid(sic) did with respect to these protests and what’s he being charged with?

LILIA LUCIANO: That’s a great question, John. What the Department of Homeland Security has expressed is that they’re following an executive order that bans anti-semitism. What Secretary of State Rubio has said is that this is one example of other people who could lose their visas and their green cards. What I have seen online, even from those who had criticized his activities, are expressions against the war, pro-Palestinian protests. He’s somebody who students told me today- and faculty members, was kind of a negotiator between students, leading the protests, and the faculty. I have yet to see anything indicating criminal activity which would be the bar that needs to be set.

DICKERSON: That leads me to my next question, which is: if you have a green card, what’s the bar that gets; that allows the government to kick you out of the country, essentially?

LUCIANO: It is quite a high bar, John. I’ve consulted several immigration attorneys today. One told me, “I have never seen anything like this, including after 9/11, including under the Patriot Act.” Today, a judge blocked the deportation to provide his legal team an opportunity and to maintain the jurisdiction in New York to fight this case. Somebody who is a permanent resident, who is married to an American citizen, you have to prove that he has committed a crime. And we are yet to see that.

DICKERSON: And is there any schedule for when that hearing will happen, or that next step?

LUCIANO: It will happen next Wednesday at 11:30. Of course, we will be covering it there.

DICKERSON: And tell me what’s the reaction been on the campus, which has obviously been a hotbed of protests?

LUCIANO: Today was a cold day. And John, I have to say- it was a cold day because you could feel the chill in the air which really matched the chill in terms of freedom of expression. I heard from students, from faculty members, some were incensed and many refused to talk to us on camera because they are afraid of the repercussions that go beyond disciplinary action in the school- go into their own freedom.  

DICKERSON: Lilia Luciano reporting, thank you.

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS

3/5/25

6:44 PM

LESTER HOLT: Here in New York, The arrest of a pro-Palestinian activist by immigration agents is sparking protests. The former Columbia University student is a green card holder who was involved in demonstrations on campus. Here’s Emilie Ikeda.

EMILIE IKEDA: Tonight, anger spilling onto New York City sidewalks after federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, who his lawyer says is a legal permanent resident with a green card. Khalil recently finished a masters at Columbia and helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on campus. His lawyer adding, he was detained on Saturday in front of his wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant. The Department of Homeland Security says Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. But tonight, a federal judge stepping in, temporarily blocking any effort to remove Khalil from the U.S. Columbia became a flash point for protests against Israel last spring. We interviewed Khalil then.

MAHMOUD KHALIL: We want a divestment from the Israeli occupation.

IKEDA: In the wake of the nationwide protests, President Trump has vowed to crack down on anti-semitism on college campuses. Today, he called Khalil’s detainment the first arrest of many to come.

TOM HOMAN: Any resident alien who commits a crime is eligible for deportation.

IKEDA: DHS would not comment on what, if any, charges Khalil is facing. The agency’s website says he’s currently detained in Louisiana.

PROTESTER: People are being disappeared under our government’s watch with no recourse, no charges, and it’s a massive escalation that everybody should be concerned about.

IKEDA: According to the Associated Press, Khalil was under investigation by a new committee at Columbia that addresses cases of alleged discrimination. Khalil telling the AP the allegations against him are mostly “social media posts that I had nothing to do with.” Columbia University saying it’s committed to following the law and to freedom of speech. Khalil’s lawyer is challenging his detainment. Lester. 

HOLT: Emilie Ikeda, thank you.

 

It’s not often that we associate leakers within the government with criminals — often, they’re just frustrated liberals. But leaking the location of potential ICE raids or leaking American troop locations endangers the safety of Americans. Are reporters going to defend these kinds of leaks? 

One way Trump could seek retribution in a second term is by going after leakers who seek to undermine the White House agenda. Anonymous Trump-trashing sources were all the rage in the first term, and that’s what puts the emphasis on the phrase Deep State. Whenever anyone uses that term, think of government actors (or — government actors from the other party who are temporarily out of government) trying to run the government from behind a wall, cooperating with unelected media outlets. 

There’s Kash Patel news on this front. Just The News reported the FBI has launched an investigation into “dishonest leakers” inside the bureau who have recently pushed “false information” to the media – leaks that FBI officials say has undermined the mission of the nation’s premiere law enforcement institution.

Tom Jones at Poynter.org led with this today: “The Department of Homeland Security, led by Secretary Kristi Noem, has begun performing polygraph tests on employees to determine if they are leaking information about immigration operations to the media.”

During an interview with Face the Nation, Noem said she plans to use the “broad and extensive” authorities of her role, adding, “we’re making sure we’re following through on what President Trump has promised — that he’s going to make America safe again.”  AP’s Christine Fernando noted, “While these polygraph exams are typically not admissible in court proceedings, they are frequently used by federal law enforcement agencies and for national security clearances.” Jones posits this may be the first time polygraph tests were used to find leakers. I doubt that. Leak investigations have happened routinely going back to the Pentagon Papers. They often don’t accomplish much – let’s begin with leaking sexual harassment claims against Clarence Thomas, or leaking the drafts of the Dobbs decision, in the hopes of saving Roe vs. Wade.

Noem and border czar Tom Homan have blamed lower-than-expected Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest numbers on leaks to the media. In the current environment, the open-borders activists on the left have been heavily involved in wink-wink, helping illegal aliens evade capture by making sure they quote-unquote Know Their Rights. AOC told NPR she was just helping her “constituents” — the illegal aliens of  eastern part of The Bronx and  north-central Queens.

This is a little cute, because if we were advising the Election Deniers in “Knowing their Rights,” the Left wouldn’t focus on the the Rights part, they’d focus on how you’re exacerbating the problem of election denialism. Your concern for a constituency’s rights display your political favorites.

Anyway, Noem has tweeted: “We have identified criminal leakers within @DHSGov and are preparing to refer these perpetrators to the @DOJ for felony prosecutions. These individuals face up to 10 years in federal prison. We will find and root out all leakers. They will face prison time & we will get justice for the American people.” Reporters HATE threats like these against leakers. Its bad for the liberal business.

Leaking itself isn’t something we instantly associate with prison. It sounds harsh, like it’s anti-journalism. But it’s different if you’re leaking national-security secrets, or you’re leaking where ICE is going to show up. Weeks after 9/11, we reported NPR’s foreign editor Loren Jenkins vows to “smoke out” American troop locations in Afghanistan. Jenkins told the Chicago Tribune he had no desire to aid a lying Pentagon. He represented “history.” Reporters think they’re above the law.

Also: how NPR conducted a hostile interview for Weekend Edition Saturday with Fox host Greg Gutfeld, compared to how NPR has celebrated all the lefties — Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Kathy Griffin — even Jordan Klepper was celebrated once for his shortly lived Comedy Central show.

Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Having little in terms of January 6 stories to continue foisting upon viewers like an obsessed ex-girlfriend, CBS Justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane expressed concern during Monday’s CBS Mornings Plus for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees being subjected to lie detector tests and investigations into leaks about Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) raids to find and arrest dangerous illegal immigrants.

Oh, poor Scott. But who will leak to Scotty now if they’re going to end up caught by Secretary Kristi Noem?

 

 

Co-host Tony Dokoupil set the table for MacFarlane:

The Trump administration is using lie detector tests to look into and identify suspected leakers. That is who Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan say are to blame for lower-than-expected immigration arrest totals right now. On Face the Nation yesterday, Noem said that tip-offs about planned ICE raids have endangered the lives of law enforcement officers and she wants major consequences for any leakers involved.

After a clip of Noem reiterating to host Margaret Brennan she has the power to investigate leakers and criminally charge them, MacFarlane complained DHS would be “sounding some type of alarm about what she refers to as the leakers in the federal government” and that, as of this segment, two had been publicly accused.

“Formal charges have not been announced, nor do we find them in the court dockets, and Kristi Noem has not specified, Michelle, whether or not the polygraph tests, which the department started using a few weeks ago, played any role in this,” he declared, attempting to paint a image of…amateur hour.

CBS Saturday Morning co-host Michelle Miller asked a leading question to poke more holes: “We usually think of lie detector tests in criminal cases. Are these the same ones being used, and are they reliable when we think about it?”

MacFarlane predictably shared “they’re not always accurate” and “not always admissible in court cases.”

“As far as charges…it’s also unclear. There’ve been some recent prosecutions for leaking classified information, military information. This is a bit different. Obviously, the secretary is concerned about raid information getting out too quickly and that it may be impacting the number of people who’ve been caught up in these raids,” he added before concluding with Noem also having said DHS will soon need more funds from Congress to continue raids.

To see the relevant CBS transcript from March 10, click “expand.”

CBS Mornings Plus
March 10, 2025
9:10 a.m. Eastern

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: The First 100 Days; DHS Lie Detectors]

TONY DOKOUPIL: Alright, it’s not just eggs that are under investigation. The Trump administration is using lie detector tests to look into and identify suspected leakers. That is who Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan say are to blame for lower-than-expected immigration arrest totals right now. On Face the Nation yesterday, Noem said that tip-offs about planned ICE raids have endangered the lives of law enforcement officers and she wants major consequences for any leakers involved. Take a listen.

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: The First 100 Days; Polygraph Tests Used to Detect DHS “Leakers”?]

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM [on CBS’s Face the Nation, 03/09/25]: They will be prosecuted, and they could face up to 10 years in federal prison because they did that. Anyone who is leaking information outside of how something is planned for the safety of those law enforcement officers needs to be held accountable for that.

MARGARET BRENNAN[on CBS’s Face the Nation, 03/09/25]: And you’re going to continue these polygraphing employees?

NOEM [on CBS’s Face the Nation, 03/09/25]: The authorities that I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and extensive, and I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that we’re following the law.

DOKOUPIL: CBS News Justice Correspondent Scott MacFarlane has been following this story for us. He’s in Washington. Scott, good morning.

SCOTT MACFARLANE: Yeah, Tony, good morning. The Homeland Security Secretary there is sounding some type of alarm about what she refers to as the leakers in the federal government. Specifically, though, she says two people have been accused of sharing information specifically about Homeland Security operations that they’ve been identified and referred for prosecution. Formal charges have not been announced, nor do we find them in the court dockets, and Kristi Noem has not specified, Michelle, whether or not the polygraph tests, which the department started using a few weeks ago, played any role in this.

MICHELLE MILLER: We usually think of lie detector tests in criminal cases. Are these the same ones being used, and are they reliable when we think about it?

MACFARLANE: These are the same types of detector tests that use physiological change monitoring equipment to determine if somebody’s being truthful if they answer a question. We should note they’re not always accurate, they’re not always admissible in court cases. As far as charges are concerned, it’s also unclear. There’ve been some recent prosecutions for leaking classified information, military information. This is a bit different. Obviously, the secretary is concerned about raid information getting out too quickly and that it may be impacting the number of people who’ve been caught up in these raids. Also going to note this, Tony and Michelle, Kristi Noem says there’s concern about money, that the budget is coming short now. They’re running out of cash for these operations and will need Congress to replenish that money as soon as possible.

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr used a Barcelona conference to let the world know where America stands on free speech. 

Carr denounced biased artificial intelligence, attempts to harm American tech companies as well as the European Union’s draconian pro-censorship Digital Services Act (DSA) during his March 2 keynote address to the Mobile World Congress. 

[Story Continues on MRC Free Speech America] 

Democrat D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser sounded off Monday on NPR about her municipal government’s relationship with the Trump administration. Morning Edition anchor Michel Martin allowed her to pass along the buck for all and any of her own failures to the federal government, headed by the hated President Trump, and especially federal employment cuts, directed by the  even-more-hated Elon Musk, and challenged her on nothing.

Martin opened up with Trump’s recent demand that Bowser’s government clean up the capital’s homeless encampments, or he would direct it himself, asking Bowser “what is the disconnect here?” 

Bowser responded “I think the President doesn’t think there should be any homeless person in the nation’s capital… if I’m being… perfectly blunt.” 

Martin didn’t ask what exactly the problem was there, if Bowser actually considered homelessness something that the president should want to see all over the nation’s capital, but allowed the mayor to continue:

I think that there is an opportunity… to work with the federal government, because a lot… of encampments… appear on federal park space… [O]ne thing that I want your listeners to understand is we have shelter space for every person that you see outside. 

Bowser came right out and admitted that her government had the resources to get the homeless off the street, but had failed to do so, because “people have decided that they want to stay outside and not go into shelter.” She appeared to welcome the possibility of federal cooperation to that end, while simultaneously outright complaining about Trump somehow finding the homeless unsightly.

Rather than forcing any sort of clarification, Martin moved on to the subject of street crime, which she described as another “pain point” for the administration. There wasn’t a question. Martin just said, “let’s talk about the street crime issue, tell us the latest on that.”

After vaguely conceding that “cities deal with crime… It’s just part of urban life,” but taking no actual responsibility for this “part of urban life” in the city she happened to govern, Bowser went on:

[W]hat isn’t normal is having massive firings and layoffs… which will create a situation that is antithetical to… how to make Washington D.C. the most beautiful city in the world? You don’t make a city beautiful by gutting its workforce… The actions of the federal government are working against our ability to invest in our city.

Bowser managed, yet again, to dump what had gone on on her watch onto the federal government, and to do so completely unchallenged. 

On the administration’s directive to restore the original name of Liberty Plaza, which Bowser’s government had renamed Black Lives Plaza in 2020, Bowser vaguely conceded that it was “going to evolve,” but insisted that “Anyone who was paying attention at that time would recognize that our mural allowed us to get control of our city at a very dark time in American history.”

For one who actually remembered that not-all-that-distant “very dark time” in American history, it would have been laughable that official endorsement of a violent movement built on racial hatred, resentment, and paranoia would be considered the source of a healing moment. 

And this taxpayer-funded “news” source wonders why many Americans want to see their funds cut off.

To view full transcript, click “expand”

MICHEL MARTIN: In recent days, President Trump demanded that you clean up homeless encampments, or federal officials “will be forced to do it.” What is the disconnect here?

WASHINGTON D.C. MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER: I think the President doesn’t think there should be any homeless person in the nation’s capital- I mean, if I’m being- like- perfectly blunt. 

I think that there is an opportunity, and there has been in all the years I’ve been mayor, to work with the federal government, because a lot, unfortunately, of encampments- they appear on federal park space. 

I think one thing that I want your listeners to understand is we have shelter space for every person that you see outside. And dealing with an encampment population is among the most difficult human services work that you will do because people have decided that they want to stay outside and not go into shelter. 

But we have been successful. I think in the last two years, we’ve seen the number of tents, and the number of encampments cut almost in half.

MARTIN: His view of the crime environment in D.C. also seems to be a pain point, like, in recent days on his social media account, Trump also said, quote: ‘Washington D.C. must become clean and safe.’  So, let’s talk about the street crime issue, tell us the latest on that. 

BOWSER: Cities deal with crime, and cities deal with homelessness. It’s just. it’s — urban life. 

But what isn’t normal is having massive firings and layoffs that’s [sic.] tanking the economy of the nation’s capital, which will create a situation that is antithetical to what the president and I agree on, how to make Washington D.C. the most beautiful city in the world? 

You don’t make a city beautiful by gutting its workforce. You don’t make a city beautiful by leaving buildings vacant. The actions of the federal government are working against our ability to invest in our city.

MARTIN: Well let’s talk about that. What is the impact so far of these mass firings?

BOWSER: Well, we estimate that 40,000 D.C. residents will be put out of work through no fault of their own in this process. And we also recognize that there are a lot of questions about the legality of these actions. 

What it will mean for us immediately is a decrease in what we estimate in the revenue that we’re going to bring in. When people are out of work, guess what? They don’t pay taxes; they don’t shop at stores; they don’t go to restaurants; they don’t book hotels. 

MARTIN: There is this bill to force you to rename the two-block stretch of 16th Street Northwest from Black Lives Plaza to Liberty Plaza.

BOWSER: That came from Congress. Anyone who was paying attention at that time would recognize that our mural allowed us to get control of our city at a very dark time in American history.

MARTIN: But you are going to paint it over.

BOWSER: We’re going to- it’s going to evolve, absolutely.

MARTIN: Before I let you go, Mayor, I want everyone to understand that the district has a governance system that is unlike that of other areas. Given that, how do you move forward here in expressing the wishes of your constituents and trying to navigate this period when there are some stark ideological differences about what is best for the city, going forward?

BOWSER: We are unique in the American system. We are a city, a county, a state, all at once. We pay federal taxes, but we’re not represented. And so there is no jurisdiction that has the type of relationship that we have with the federal government, both in geographic proximity, but also in a legal relationship. 

So that’s why the D.C. mayor and the American President always work closely together. And so what I hope you recognize is that, unlike a lot of Democrats in my position, we do go directly to the President. We do work with the President, and we will defend our city.

MARTIN: That is the Mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser. Madam Mayor, thank you so much for talking to us once again.

BOWSER: Thank you.

It must have taken a hefty amount of acid dropping for the detached journos at The New York Times to psych themselves into believing the abject falsehood that President Joe Biden’s economy was just a booming spectacle of awesome.

“Trump’s Policies Have Shaken a Once-Solid Economic Outlook,” gaslighted economic reporters Ben Casselman and Colby Smith.

It didn’t take but one paragraph for the authors to go into a complete pro-Bidenomics slobbering session replete with rehashed talking points: “President Trump inherited an economy that was, by most conventional measures, firing on all cylinders.” The authors continued: “Wages, consumer spending and corporate profits were rising. Unemployment was low. The inflation rate, though higher than normal, was falling.”

Spot the deception yet? 

First, inflation was never “falling” and it’s egregious for reporters to continue acting like their readers are just dumb by fiddling with the semantics. The rate of increase has slowed, but it didn’t revert into negative territory. Secondly, missing from the consumer spending narrative was that the elevated levels of  consumer spending is more credibly attributed to record explosions in credit card debt. In November, 2023, CNBC analyzed that the increases in consumer expenditures constituted “doom spending” as a coping mechanism to deal with the increasingly insurmountable high cost of living, and that sentiment carried over well into late 2024. In fact, ABC News reported on February 13, 2025 that total household debt (credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, student loans, etc.) hit a new all-time high of $18.04 trillion.

On wages, new data from Statista released Inauguration Day 2025 found that the “largest blemish” on Biden’s legacy was that “Wages Haven’t Kept Up With Inflation.” In fact, The Washington Post conceded recently the number of Americans taking second jobs to make ends meet reached their highest level since 2019.

How about unemployment? It’s a wonder if the PR firm of Casselman & Smith read the viral Politico magazine article written by  Eugene Ludwig, who noted that the “the near-record low unemployment figures — the figure was a mere 4.2 percent in November — counted homeless people doing occasional work as ‘employed,’” blowing a hole in the rosy picture that The Times authors portrayed. The headline for the Politico piece read as follows, “Voters Were Right About the Economy. The Data Was Wrong.” In fact, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that workforce participation still remained below pre-pandemic levels, indicating that the U.S. is “missing 1.7 million Americans from the workforce compared to February of 2020.” 

Alexa, define “labor shortage.”

Want to guess how many times The Times bothered to mention any of this context? Zero. But Casselman and Smith tried to make it seem like whatever negativity there was to be found in the gloomy economic outlook was entirely due to Trump. No, we’re not kidding:

Still, the sudden deterioration in the outlook is striking, especially because it is almost entirely a result of Mr. Trump’s policies and the resulting uncertainty.

And there it is: The much-expected media blame shifting from Bidenomics to Trump, and just weeks into the latter’s term. 

The authors even conveniently resurrected recession and stagflation talk: “Some commentators have gone further, arguing that the economy could be headed for a recession, a sharp rebound in inflation or even the dreaded combination of the two, ‘stagflation.’”

But then again, what can we expect from Casselman, who has shown a willingness to twist bad economic reports to benefit Biden’s political image on the issue. After downplaying the two-quarter signal for a recession when GDP was initially shown to have contracted in two consecutive quarters in 2022, did the victory dance in 2024 when the BEA released its third estimate showing a minor upward revision for one of those quarters, and all of a sudden the two-quarter recession rule was relevant again because it now fit the left-wing narrative. 

Heritage Foundation economist EJ Antoni blasted Casselman and others for their hypocrisy in comments to MRC Business:

The same people who are taking a victory dance right now also said that the two quarters of negative growth didn’t signal a recession anyway. In other words, they refuse to admit that the economy got worse, regardless of what the data say. Whether GDP went up or went down, their narrative hasn’t changed. That’s the definition of being politically driven and not data dependent.

In Casselman’s latest co-written piece, the authors even audaciously blamed Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration as the reason for the economic outlook’s souring:

Many economists contend that deporting millions of immigrants — as Mr. Trump promised to do on the campaign trail last year — could be even more harmful than tariffs, given the U.S. economy’s need for workers, particularly in industries like construction and health care.

Ironically, Casselman and Smith ended up saying the quiet part out loud. Antoni noted in December 2024 that “Native-born employment has never returned to its pre-pandemic trend and is now 619k below its pre-pandemic level; conversely, foreign-born employment is at its pre-pandemic growth trend, accounting for all net job growth over the last 5 years.” In fact, the word “illegal” doesn’t appear once in Casselman and Smith’s piece, dubiously making it seem like Trump declared war on immigration writ large. Typical. 

Dylan Mulvaney, a man who thinks he’s woman and the social media influencer who got Bud Light boycotted, appeared on ABC’s The View during Monday’s episode to pitch his new book, Paper Dolls. While conversing with him, ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg defended men competing in women’s sports and suggested the opposition came from men who “don’t know anything about our bodies.”

“I wanted to ask you because there’s been all of this debate about whether transgender athletes should be able to compete,” Goldberg read from the teleprompter as she scoffed at a Democratic governor who recently came out against men in women’s sport for political convenience: “And last week California Governor Gavin Newsom said that he thinks that trans athlete competing in girls and women’s sports was deeply unfair.”

Goldberg went on to suggest that opposition came from men who were ignorant about how women’s bodies worked, as if transgender women had actual female parts. She even took on a mocking tone for it:

GOLDBERG: I think part of the problem that the trans community is facing, and it’s the same problem that women face, is if you don’t know anything about our bodies, you don’t know how it works. So, when you come in and you say, ‘oh, you know, these men — these are men, you know —

NAVARRO: Competing against women.

GOLDBERG: Competing against women, you’re assuming that the women are weak and just can’t do anything except be here [in a mocking tone of voice].

“Have you seen female athletes? They know what they’re doing! So, I’m not sure what’s going on or why this is an issue!” she decried.

It was another instance of Goldberg proudly flaunting her profound ignorance of a subject. Of course, The View refused to speak with the female activists, like athlete Riley Gaines, who was out spoken against men competing in women’s sports.

 

 

Despite being a show that purportedly supports all women, they’ve never discussed the part of President Trump’s 2025 address to Congress where he told the story of Payton McNabb.

According to McNabb’s ambassador page with Independent Woman’s Forum, she “was knocked unconscious and exhibited a fencing response following a forceful blow to the head from a volleyball spike by a biological male playing on the opponent’s team. The sheer impact of the ball has left McNabb with significant long-term physical and mental effects, including impaired vision, partial paralysis on her right side, and anxiety and depression.”

Elsewhere in the ABC News interview, pretend moderate Sara Haines boasted about Mulvaney’s claim that he “came out” as trans when he was four years old. “Cause so often, sadly it’s mis-assigned to schools, and someone is trying to change someone,” Haines lamented. “Oftentimes this happens before the children are even out of the house…I think that’s just such an important point.”

Mulvaney recalled a story his sister told him about how he “went into the girl’s bathroom in kindergarten and a teacher had to pull me out because that’s where I thought I was supposed to be.”

In another example of the fact only one view was allowed on the show, contrast the Mulvaney interview with the fact that The View’s refused to bring detransitioners on the program to tell their stories.

The View didn’t bring on author and journalist Mary Margaret Olohan when she published her book Detrans: True Stories of Escaping the Gender Ideology Cult last year. In the book, one of the detransitioners highlighted was Chloe Cole, who has been an outspoken activist against transgender ideology, The View hasn’t spoken with her either.

The book details accounts from Cole and others about how the transgender ideology preys on young girls, who were often depressed, suffering with identity issues, autism, and other factors through coercive methods such as emotionally blackmailing the parents and cultishly separating them from their families.

You can listen to NewsBusters’ conversation with Mary Margaret Olohan about her book here.

The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:

ABC’s The View
March 10, 2025
11:28:42 a.m. Eastern

(…)

SARA HAINES: I think people need to hear this. When you say you came out at 4, I don’t think people understand all the time that sometimes a little child will come to the parent – which is what you did – and said, ‘I feel like I’m in the wrong body, like, what I am on the inside.’ Cause so often, sadly it’s mis-assigned to schools, and someone is trying to change someone. Oftentimes this happens before the children are even out of the house.

DYLAN MULVANEY: Right.

HAINES: Right. I think that’s just such an important point.

MULVANEY: Thank you, and I think that — I think I just — I knew how I felt. I knew when I — even my sister tells me a story of, like, I went into the girl’s bathroom in kindergarten and a teacher had to pull me out because that’s where I thought I was supposed to be.

ANA NAVARRO: Glad Nancy Mace wasn’t your preschool teacher.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, Dylan. As you mentioned, you told your parents when you were 4 years old. How did they react then, and do they support you now?

MULVANEY: Yes. Well, I come from a very conservative, catholic family.

SUNNY HOSTIN: Oh, gosh!

MULVANEY: But I feel lucky because I now am in such a great place with them. There’s love there despite our different views.

HOSTIN: Oh good.

MULVANEY: And I think that’s what — thank you.

[Applause]

Hi, mom. I love you.

And I think that’s what’s so frustrating about what happened with sort of — I call it beergate in the book. But it’s that I know that there is a possibility for love and understanding when a connection is made, and that’s what I had with my family. And, you know, I think my mom said something along the lines of, God doesn’t make mistakes, but –

HOSTIN: Exactly.

MULVANEY: — I don’t think God sees me as a mistake. And I actually am still really trying to keep a relationship with the higher power because I think that, you know, trans and queer people are entitled to that if that’s what they’re looking for.

[Applause]

(…)

11:30:55 a.m. Eastern

HAINES: As you’ve gotten more popular on social media, you started doing some brand deals with different companies.

MULVANEY: I did, honey.

HAINES: Including as you would call, beergate – Bud Light, a branded post that you did for them went viral. There were angry protests, denouncing the brand. The company got bomb threats. You were the lead topic on conservative media for months.

MULVANEY: Fair.

HAINES: It became known as one of the biggest boycotts in American history. Now, what people didn’t see with all this backlash, it caused you to have suicidal ideations.

(…)

11:32: 54 a.m. Eastern

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I wanted to ask you because there’s been all of this debate about whether transgender athletes should be able to compete. And last week California Governor Gavin Newsom said that he thinks that trans athlete competing in girls and women’s sports was deeply unfair. Now, I want to hear what you think because I — I’ll tell you what I think too.

MULVANEY: Whoopi, the last time I played a sport, I was 6 years old, and it was on a soccer team, but I assigned myself as the nurse so I sat with the Band-Aids. And so, in the worlds of Wicked, I am not that girl. Aut a dear friend of mine, Skyler, he is a trans athlete. His handle is pinkmannerate. That’s somebody I really look to for guidance. And I think that’s what’s tricky. Now stepping into this identity. I’m still like a “baby trans.” You know, I’m only three years in. Tomorrow is my anniversary.

[Applause]

Thank you.

NAVARRO: Your friend went from female to male and is competing with other males?

MULVANEY: Correct.

GOLDBERG: Um, no.

NAVARRO: Yeah.

HOSTIN: Her friend.

NAVARRO: Her friend, who went from female to male and is competing with other males.

HOSTIN: So Gavin doesn’t have a problem with that?

GOLDBERG: I think part of the problem that the trans community is facing, and it’s the same problem that women face, is if you don’t know anything about our bodies, you don’t know how it works. So, when you come in and you say, ‘oh, you know, these men — these are men, you know —

NAVARRO: Competing against women.

GOLDBERG: Competing against women, you’re assuming that the women are weak and just can’t do anything except be here [in a mocking tone of voice]. Have you seen female athletes? They know what they’re doing! So, I’m not sure what’s going on or why this is an issue! The same for me as when people say, oh, you know, I don’t know how I feel about you. You do. God doesn’t make mistakes.

HOSTIN: No.

GOLDBERG: And the challenge is not to the trans people. It’s to the people who are not trans. That’s what God is looking to see how you treat people.

HOSTIN: Yes.

[Applause]

GOLDBERG: That’s what is happening. So, I was curious as to what — I liked your answer.

MULVANEY: Thank you.

(…)