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Military Leaders Deliver Scorching Rebuke Of Hegseth In Far-Right Newspaper

Military Leaders Deliver Scorching Rebuke Of Hegseth In Far-Right Newspaper

Military leaders are speaking out against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, panning his widely mocked speech delivered to a captive audience of military brass last month.

The conservative Washington Times, which has consistently backed President Donald Trump and supported the GOP and far-right causes, doesn’t usually publish anything that’s unflattering to the right—until Hegseth.

“It was a massive waste of time. … If he ever had us, he lost us,” a current Army general told the outlet.

Speaking about Hegseth’s leadership style, a senior officer explained, “Mainly what I see from him are not serious things. It’s, ’Why did this service member tweet this?’ Or internal politics and drama. That’s mostly what I see.”

Sources also told the Times that they believe Hegseth is “simultaneously doing deep damage to the military, both from a public relations standpoint and structurally behind the scenes, that may not be fully apparent until months or even years from now.”

Another officer criticized Hegseth, who served as a host on Fox News, for “the theater of it all” since assuming his position, saying his speech was “announced on stage in public in this grandstanding kind of way.”

During the September 30 speech, Hegseth demanded military leaders to ditch their traditional code of ethics, which he called “stupid rules of engagement.”

Instead of adhering to decades-old military codes to reduce violence and casualties, Hegseth said “warfighters” should focus on tactics that would “intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country.”

Taxpayers were forced to foot the bill for the speech—for which Hegseth ordered generals to travel to Washington—instead of using the Pentagon’s existing communications infrastructure.

The speech was also criticized by women veterans, including members of Congress, for his bigoted remarks about women in the armed services.

But the extraordinarily candid comments to the Times represent another controversy in Hegseth’s rocky tenure leading the military. He began under a cloud of allegations of financial impropriety, excessive drinking, and sexual assault, along with concerns about his qualifications—or lack thereof—merely spouting off during frequent Fox appearances.

In addition to executing Trump’s agenda of purging the military of references to racial and gender diversity, Hegseth has recently seen the departure of multiple military officials, most recently Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, head of U.S. Southern Command.

At the same time, the administration has been criticized for military strikes in South America, purportedly targeting drug traffickers but without any independent verification or congressional oversight.

Before that, several journalists—including for conservative outlets—walked out in protest of new rules that required their reporting to be pre-approved by Hegseth. Even reporters from Hegseth’s former employer, Fox News, voiced concerns about the restrictions.

Hegseth was also infamously involved in a leak of military plans to a reporter in a Signal group chat, and he has since focused on hunting down his own staff for comments critical of deceased bigot Charlie Kirk.

Hegseth and Trump have tried to rebrand the Defense Department as the “Department of War,” but a real name change requires congressional action. So while he still oversees the Department of Defense, those under his command appear to be fed up with his bullshit.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Cutting Security Funding For Blue States, Trump Opens Door To Terror Attacks

Cutting Security Funding For Blue States, Trump Opens Door To Terror Attacks

President Donald Trump is proposing a cut to anti-terrorism funds being used to protect regions of the country that are among the biggest targets of international terrorism, including Washington, D.C.

The Homeland Security Grants program was created after the September 11, 2001, attacks to help states in the fight against terrorism. It is these funds that Trump is targeting.

Reuters reported on Thursday that 12 states led by Democratic officials are suing to block the cuts. Notices sent out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency indicate that the biggest cuts are coming for D.C. (70 percent), Illinois (69 percent), California (31 percent), and New Jersey (49 percent).

The administration also initially attempted to cut 77 percent of New York’s funding under the program—which is to say, the state most directly affected by the 9/11 attacks—but Trump reversed his decision after the states filed suit.

By contrast, states that Trump won in the 2024 election—such as Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Ohio—are slated to receive additional funding. Trump has often used the spending power of the federal government to target states led by Democrats, and he has increased this practice after Republicans shut down the federal government.

Washington is among the most obvious targets for international terrorism in the world. It is the seat of the U.S. government and the home to many federal agencies.

The city was targeted by al-Qaida on 9/11, when the group attacked the Pentagon and killed 184 people. United Airlines Flight 93 was also suspected to have been hijacked with the intent of crashing it into the U.S. Capitol building. The plan was averted by the passengers onboard, who stormed the cockpit. Instead of hitting its target, the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

In addition to the proposed cuts, Trump has already made D.C. more vulnerable by ordering FBI agents tasked with anti-terrorism to instead focus on his pet issue, immigration. Harassing migrants, their families, and neighborhoods are a higher priority for the Trump administration than protecting the nation’s capital.

Similarly, other crime priorities, like investigating child predators and drug traffickers, have been put on the backburner in favor of devoting resources to anti-immigration operations.

The administration seems dead set on vindictively targeting blue states, even if it opens the nation up to more terrorist attacks.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Lawsuits And Bankruptcy Plague Dr. Phil As His 'Anti-Woke' Channel Goes Broke

Lawsuits And Bankruptcy Plague Dr. Phil As His 'Anti-Woke' Channel Goes Broke


After the end of his popular daytime talk show in 2023, Dr. Phil McGraw launched a right-wing media network, and a new report from Slate documents a network in chaos, with suspended programming and bankruptcy filings.

In the November 2023 press release announcing the launch of Merit Street Media, McGraw proclaimed that “American families and our core values are under attack.” The release also echoed many other gripes from now-President Donald Trump and other conservatives, such as the U.S. having “out-of-control immigration.”

Since the networks’ launch, Merit failed to attract viewers, averaging just 24,000 primetime viewers in 2024. In August of that year, the network laid off dozens of staffers. And that October, McGraw spoke at Trump’s racist rally at Madison Square Garden, promoting the network during his speech—to no avail.

The Professional Bull Riders league, which had an agreement to provide content to Merit, quit the network last November. And this July, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Merit is also involved in lawsuits with right-wing religious broadcaster Trinity Broadcasting Network, with both parties accusing the other of deceptive business practices.

McGraw and Merit tried to translate a pro-MAGA message into financial success. Most notably, McGraw conducted a fawning interview with Trump in August 2024, amid that year’s presidential campaign. The interview gave Trump an opportunity to reiterate numerous conspiracies, including the false claim that he “won the election against [Joe] Biden.”Earlier this year, McGraw rode along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during raids and recorded content for the network.

None of this kept his venture afloat, though. Once again, despite conservative claims that people want products that counter the “woke” ideas of equality and fairness, such things are often failures.

For instance, Target abandoned its diversity efforts after Trump’s return to the White House, and in response, the company lost millions in sales and required a management shakeup. And Elon Musk’s Tesla has seen truck sales drop after the electric vehicle company’s leader attached himself to the Trump administration.Earlier this year, McGraw rode along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during raids and recorded content for the network.

None of this kept his venture afloat, though. Once again, despite conservative claims that people want products that counter the “woke” ideas of equality and fairness, such things are often failures.

For instance, Target abandoned its diversity efforts after Trump’s return to the White House, and in response, the company lost millions in sales and required a management shakeup. And Elon Musk’s Tesla has seen truck sales drop after the electric vehicle company’s leader attached himself to the Trump administration.By contrast, ventures seen as favoring “woke” values have often been a hit.

Conservatives complained that this year’s Superman film was described by director James Gunn as pro-immigrant—but the film is the third-highest-grossing theatrical release of the year.

After megastar Taylor Swift endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris last year, Trump said he hated her and that the “Woke singer” was “NO LONGER HOT.” However, Swift’s newest album, The Life of a Showgirl, smashed records.

She is clearly no Dr. Phil.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

RFK JR

Impeach Bobby? House Democrat Vows Removal Of 'Dangerous' RFK Jr

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan announced Thursday that she plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., citing his unscientific medical practices as a threat to public health.

“RFK Jr. is making our country less safe and making healthcare less affordable and accessible for Michiganders. His contempt for science, the constant spreading of conspiracy theories, and his complete disregard for the thousands of research hours spent by America’s top doctors and experts is unprecedented, reckless, and dangerous,” she said in a statement.

Stevens added that she believes that Kennedy has violated his oath of office and that she intends to “lead the charge to remove him.”

Similar to that of the president, articles of impeachment must pass the House, followed by a Senate trial. If convicted in the Senate, an official can then be removed from office.

Stevens has accused Kennedy of dereliction of duty, citing cuts to vital research, promotion of medical falsehoods and conspiracies, lying about his views during his confirmation hearing, and failing to administer the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which are under his control.

The impeachment charge follows President Donald Trump’s widely derided presentation on Monday, where Kennedy appeared alongside Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz. Together, they falsely claimed that autism can be linked to vaccines and the use of acetaminophen.

In response, scientists and doctors from around the world have lashed out at the Trump administration, highlighting the dangers of their unscientific medical claims—particularly among vulnerable children.

But despite the public outcry, the autism quackery embraced by Trump, Kennedy, and Oz has received support from key GOP figures.

“God bless President Trump and RFK Jr. for asking the questions and starting to use their positions, their platform, to give parents informed consent,” Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said.

The autism debacle is just the latest in a string of failure and embarrassment from health agencies on Kennedy’s watch. His decision to censor CDC reports and muzzle experts contributed to an unprecedented measles outbreak in Texas earlier this year.

Kennedy has repeatedly pushed unscientific fears about COVID-19 vaccines and beefed up the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with compliant followers who have limited access to vaccines.

In his confirmation hearings, Kennedy said that he would uphold existing vaccine standards, but in office he has done the opposite. He’s also pushing to limit access to abortion pills while trying to pressure international scientists against publishing objective research on the effectiveness of vaccines.

Americans have died as a result of Kennedy’s malpractice, which has been enabled by Trump. If successful, Stevens’ impeachment plan could put a stop to it all.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

'New York Times' Has Done Too Much For Trump And GOP -- But Still Never Enough

'New York Times' Has Done Too Much For Trump And GOP -- But Still Never Enough

Following months of mainstream media capitulation toward President Donald Trump and his administration, Trump filed a $15 billion lawsuit on Monday night against The New York Times.

In his suit, which absurdly cites his Electoral College victory and his status as a bestselling “author,” Trump accuses the Times of “smears” by accurately reporting on his statements and actions.

“The Times is a full throated mouthpiece of the Democrat Party,” Trump falsely alleges. The statement ignores decades of the Times furthering right-wing propaganda and elevating attacks on the Democratic Party and the left.

In a statement the Times said Trump’s suit “has no merit” and “is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting.”

Trump’s suit against the Times shows that even when the paper bends over backward for him, he will still be resentful of accurate reporting. Since he was sworn in for a second term, there have been several instances of obsequious and downright false reporting from the Times in Trump’s favor.

The paper referred to the current era as “the age of Trump” in June, a month after taking his claim—which went against his entire history as a political figure—that he would pull back support for tax increases on the wealthy as an honest statement.

In perhaps the most dishonest moment for the “paper of record” in Trump’s second term, the Times in February portrayed a Black voter supporting Trump as merely an “artificial intelligence start-up worker,” without informing readers that the supporter also happens to be the communications director for the Houston Young Republicans.

To be sure, the Times has reported accurately on numerous Trump scandals, corruption, and bigotry, but the paper’s coverage—led by star reporter Maggie Haberman—has been friendly to Trump and often regurgitated his falsehoods without calling him out. In her reporting on Trump, Haberman has shied away from noting to readers when he has clearly lied, such as this 2018 report that instead said Trump “repeatedly refused to accept a number of seemingly agreed-upon facts.” In a 2020 story, instead of directly addressing Trump’s racism, Haberman’s reporting mentioned that he was merely “stoking white fear and resentment.”

Trump’s suit is just the latest in a barrage of legal action against media outlets. He sued the Des Moines Register for conducting polls, he sued Facebook parent Meta for banning his account after he incited violence, and he is suing Fox owner Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal for reporting on his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, among others.

Many of these outlets have settled with Trump, even after legal experts have made clear the suits lack merit and have been vehicles for extortion and bribery-style payments. CBS News’ parent Paramount is under investigation by congressional Democrats after the Trump administration approved a merger soon after Paramount decided to settle his suit. ABC News parent Disney also cut a big check to Trump over a specious claim.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Newly Released Texts Show Fox Hosts Knew Trump Lied About 2020 Election

Newly Released Texts Show Fox Hosts Knew Trump Lied About 2020 Election

Private text messages exchanged between Fox News stars have shed light on the network’s decision to air and promote election conspiracies they knew were false.

The messages were published on Wednesday as part of court filings in voting services provider Smartmatic’s ongoing suit against Fox News. Smartmatic sued Fox for airing false allegations that the company helped former President Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

The newly released documents show Fox News’ top talent discussing internal decisions about airing the election lies as well as infighting among network personalities about coverage.

In one exchange Jesse Watters, host of Jesse Watters Primetime and a panelist on The Five, sent a message to fellow Fox host Greg Gutfeld remarking, “Think about how incredible our ratings would be if Fox went ALL in on STOP THE STEAL.”

“Stop the steal” was the rallying cry used by election conspiracy theorists. On the day he instigated the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Trump spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington.

In one telling exchange, Special Report host Brett Baier sent a message to Jay Wallace, president of Fox News, admitting that tweets about pro-Biden “vote dumps” penned by fellow Fox host Maria Bartiromo were “crap.” Bartiromo was one of the more prominent election conspiracy theorists and continues to host multiple programs on Fox Business, where she frequently interviews Republican officeholders—including Trump.

Jeanine Pirro, who currently serves as Trump’s U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C. and has been a key instigator of his crackdown on the nation’s capital, was a Fox News host and prominent election conspiracy theorist back in 2020. In one text to then-RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Pirro proclaimed, “I work so hard for the President and the party.” At the time, Pirro and Fox News were presented to the public as independent conservative voices, not quasi-official party shills.

In a gossipy exchange, Pirro complained that while she was in a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office in October 2020, Sean Hannity “storms in like he owns the place” and walked into the private bathroom of the office. Pirro then alleged that he demanded she get out of the room so he could speak to Trump.

Hannity, Trump’s most prominent cheerleader at the network, has been described by Trump insiders as something of a “shadow” chief of staff with near-constant access to the president.

Fox News aired falsehood after falsehood about Smartmatic in the days after the election. The network’s talking heads overstated how much the company’s machines were used and attempted to implicate the provider in “vote flipping” allegations. Fox News hosts and reporters also pushed fake allegations that Smartmatic machines were sent to foreign countries for vote counting and that the company was responsible for election fraud.

The network made similar allegations about Dominion Voting Systems and eventually paid out nearly $800 million in a settlement for hurting the company’s brand. Newsmax, a fellow right-wing “news” network, has paid out settlements to Dominion and Smartmatic over similar election lies in service of Trump.

Fox News continues to spin for Trump and act on his behalf, even though doing so cost them millions and has exposed their embarrassing internal dirty laundry. The network is so dedicated to promoting and creating right-wing propaganda that they appear willing to continue paying a financial price for it.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Daddy Issues? GOP Tough Guys Cry For Help In Scary Cities

Daddy Issues? GOP Tough Guys Cry For Help In Scary Cities

Conservatives who have depicted Donald Trump as a strong “daddy” finally whipping the nation into shape have spent the past few days expressing over-the-top fears about cities. Despite their so-called tough guy image, leaders on the right have offered fearful remedies while pushing lies about urban crime.

During the 2024 campaign Republicans characterized Trump as a “daddy” who was coming to straighten out misbehaving Americans supposedly coddled by maternal politicians like former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

In recent weeks the right has doubled down on this cringeworthy imagery, adopting the song lyrics “daddy’s home” to herald Trump’s purported leadership on the world stage.

But now “daddy” is hearing a lot of crying from some tearful boys and girls.

The new scaredy-cat campaign is meant to provide cover for Trump’s decision to send federal law enforcement and the National Guard to a supposedly crime-ridden Washington, D.C. Republicans have ignored and denied data showing a drop in crime and instead decided to fearmonger.

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a staunch Trump ally, was perhaps most representative of this campaign, ironically exhibiting what the right has previously characterized as a “beta” mindset.

“I drive around in Washington, D.C. in my Jeep and, yes, I do drive myself. And I don’t buckle up. And the reason why I don’t buckle up, and people can say whatever they want to, they can raise their eyebrows at me, again, is because of carjacking,” Mullin told Fox News on Wednesday.

“I don’t wanna be stuck in my vehicle when I need to exit in a hurry because I got a seat belt around me. And I wear my seat belt all the time, but in Washington, D.C., I do not because it is so prevalent of carjacking. And I don’t want the same thing happen to me what’s happened to a lot of people that work on the Hill.”

Not wearing a seatbelt in D.C. is against the law and subject to fines. In fact, one of the violations that federal agents have spent their valuable time pursuing while policing the nation’s capital is the failure to wear a seatbelt.

Mullins’ purported behavior also doesn’t make sense in the context of a carjacking, because a carjacker would prefer drivers go without a seatbelt so they can more easily take control of the car they are trying to steal.

And statistics show that carjackings are down considerably in D.C. in the past two years. The city has gone from a high of 67.5 carjackings per 100,000 residents in 2023 to 23.8 in 2025.

Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told CNN on Wednesday that he is so afraid of crime in D.C. that he sleeps in his office.

“I come from a family of public education. That's one of the reasons I live in my office at night. But the other reason is it's too dadgum dangerous, brother. It is dangerous and everybody knows it, and the people are being victimized,” he explained.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott said Trump’s actions in Washington are necessary because the city needs to be safe for his grandchildren. In its current state Scott argued Tuesday, “You’ve got to be very careful, you can’t be out after dark.”

Reality check: thousands of people go out at night in Washington, a city with a vibrant nightlife and culture.

Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who chairs the House Oversight Committee and is most famous for obsessing over Hunter Biden’s laptop, escalated things on Thursday.

“We're gonna support doing this in other cities if it works out in Washington DC. We spend a lot on our military. Our military has been in many countries around the world for the past two decades walking the streets trying to reduce crime. We need to focus on the big cities in America now,” he told the conservative Newsmax network.

The 147-year old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the use of federal military personnel in enforcing domestic policy, and has often been invoked by conservatives when fearmongering about Democratic presidents like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

But Comer apparently believes that scary sandwich-throwing requires that the law be ignored.

Trump’s allies in right-wing media are also in the throes of crying for “daddy” to fix the problem, with figures like Charlie Kirk, Megyn Kelly, and Ainsley Earhardt cheering the over-the-top incursion into the nation’s capital.

But the data shows that these crybabies aren’t operating in reality. Crime is at a 30-year low in Washington and the show of force has squandered federal resources on mundane violations best left to local police.

“Daddy” Trump is more concerned with distracting the public from his connection to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking scandal and downplaying the continued economic disruption happening on his watch. His bawling children on the right are merely offering up another round of crocodile tears.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Alex Jones

Alex Jones Says He Is 'Gobsmacked' By Trump's Epstein Coverup

Alex Jones, a far-right conspiracy theorist and superfan of President Donald Trump, is in a state of crisis and confusion over his idol’s ongoing cover-up of information on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump promised that he would expose the inner workings of Epstein’s alleged operation in a second term. Instead, the Trump administration has refused to release much of the government’s information on Epstein, including a rumored client list, and Trump has berated his followers for having an interest in the story. The about-face has been annoying Trump’s backers in the MAGA movement for months.

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that concerns about the Epstein story were “total bullshit,” and lied that the controversy was the creation of the Democratic Party.

That news led Jones to lament in a social media post, writing, “Trump‘s disastrous handling of the Epstein firestorm last month was starting to die down and now he has let the corporate media bait him into re-launching a new Streisand effect.”

Jones’ state of crisis worsened in a video posted on Thursday, showing him visibly confused as he ranted at length and tried to rationalize Trump’s obfuscation.

“This is just crazy,” Jones said. He insisted that despite his mishandling of the issue, “Trump is not stupid,” but he also expressed concern that Trump is “caught off guard with a new issue.”

“I don’t know what to say at this point. I am actually in a conundrum. I’m god-smacked,” he added.

Despite Jones’ conspiracies about 9/11 and the Sandy Hook school shooting, he attained mainstream conservative acceptance around the time of Trump’s first presidential campaign, when Trump sat for an interview with him. Ever since then, Jones has been a Trump cheerleader.

However, the Epstein issue seems to be causing Jones to rethink his devotion.

In July, Jones accused Trump of acting cultish about the topic, after Trump complained about being asked about his former friend Epstein. Jones also claimed that month that MAGA influencers were being frozen out from White House access for expressing dissent over Epstein.

Trump’s actions around Epstein are putting his most vocal backers out on a limb. They have carried a lot of water for Trump over the years, excusing his bigotry and racism while amplifying his conspiratorial allegations—only to see him in full retreat over one of the movement’s central narratives.

A possible reason for Trump’s stonewalling is that the government’s documents on Epstein’s crimes might implicate Trump, if not in a crime, then at least in misconduct. However, it is currently unclear whether this is true—the information is being hidden from the public, after all—but The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump was told his name appears numerous times in the government’s Epstein files.

For Trump to be on the supposed client list that MAGA supporters see as a Rosetta Stone to so many of their conspiracies would be devastating. They surely cannot handle that possibility, so they, like Jones, are forced into abject confusion by Trump’s ongoing cover-up.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Happy Fourth! Pride In America Plunges Under Trump Presidency (Again)

Happy Fourth! Pride In America Plunges Under Trump Presidency (Again)

Americans’ pride in their country has tumbled to a new low, according to a poll released on Monday. Not only is pride at its lowest point since Gallup began asking the question in 2001, but the share has fallen nine points under President Donald Trump this year alone.

Fifty-eight percent of U.S. adults say they feel extremely or very proud to be an American. A year ago, when former President Joe Biden was in office, that number was 67 percent. The highest level of American pride Gallup has measured came in 2002 and 2004, when 91% of Americans were extremely or very proud following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

While Republicans’ pride in being American has increased by seven points since last year, the decline was precipitous among Democrats (down 26 points) and independent voters (down seven points).

There was also a generational divide, with 41 percent of people in Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) expressing pride in being American, compared with 58 percent of millennials, 71 percent of Generation X, 75 percent of baby boomers, and 83 percent of people in the Silent and Greatest generations (people born before 1946).

The decline comes as Americans, including millions who backed Trump, are now dealing with the fallout from his second presidential term.

He has started an expensive trade war with much of the world, increasing the costs of doing business for American companies and farmers while also making many household staples more expensive. Trump has responded to these concerns with advice like telling little children to purchase fewer dolls.

Another pressing concern is Trump’s wholehearted embrace of authoritarianism. He has instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to attack American cities, abducting vulnerable people—including students—off the street in broad daylight.

Trump has even chosen to arrest and charge Democratic officeholders for attempting to provide oversight of his actions, or roughing them up for dissenting from his administration.

Trump is rolling back civil rights gains by LGBTQ+ Americans and using his administration to erase boundary-breaking achievements by Black people and women.

Everyday Americans brace to see what new way Trump and his team will use their positions of power to enrich themselves, abuse others, or make America look clownish on the international stage.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Serial Liar Trump Is Angrily Overselling His 'Bomb Iran' Mission

Serial Liar Trump Is Angrily Overselling His 'Bomb Iran' Mission

President Donald Trump on Wednesday called reporters “scum” for not parroting his rosy assessment of the air strikes he ordered against Iran last week. Trump has frequently lied on a dizzying array of issues but now appears to believe that his claim that Iran’s nuclear capability has been decimated should be accepted without question.

Appearing at a NATO meeting at The Hague in the Netherlands, Trump was asked by NBC reporter Kelly O’Donnell to address a recently leaked assessment from the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency that indicates the strikes did not achieve Trump’s goal.

“Real scum, real scum come out and write reports that are as negative as they could possibly be. It should be the opposite, you should make [the pilots] heroes and heroines,” Trump said.

Trump also claimed he got a “call from Missouri” that said the pilots who flew the missions were “devastated” because reporters were “trying to minimize the attack.”

Trump constantly claims that he receives phone calls from unnamed figures that reinforce the falsehoods and narratives that he wants to promote. Those claims are part of his tradition about lying on issue after issue, big and small.

An assessment of the bombing leaked from the Pentagon to CNN indicates that the bombing did not destroy the core components of Iran’s nuclear program. The report did say that the attack set Iran’s nuclear timeline back a few months.

Trump has argued that the bombing runs “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s facilities, a sentiment echoed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Trump also called the media “scum” on Tuesday when reporting first called into question his proclamation about the success of the strikes.

There has yet to be a publicly available, independent assessment of what the bombings accomplished. But what is known is that Trump has a record of serial lying and is the current leader of the Republican Party, which was infamous for lying about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq under former President George W. Bush.

Trump has lied dozens of times about the results of the 2020 election, falsely arguing that he defeated former President Joe Biden, who handily won the election that year. Trump recently lied and claimed that “professional agitators” were behind protests against his attacks on immigrants in Los Angeles. Trump has lied about issues like egg prices, falsely describing price declines under his presidency despite economic data showing otherwise.

Perhaps most infamously, Trump lied for nearly a decade about former President Barack Obama, in the process becoming the most notable figure pushing the racist and thoroughly debunked birther conspiracy that Obama was born abroad and was ineligible for the presidency.

In fact, during his first four-year term in office from 2017 to 2021, the Washington Post catalogued 30,573 lies from Trump.

A person with a track record like that needs far more evidence than just his verbal assurances to sell the world on the result of something as serious as a military strike.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Desperate Republicans Trying To Bully 'Vulnerable' Democrats Over Trump Budget

Desperate Republicans Trying To Bully 'Vulnerable' Democrats Over Trump Budget

The GOP congressional campaign arm is set to launch an advertising campaign attacking Democrats who opposed President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” that dismantles much of the safety net—yet another reminder that the bill and its provisions are overwhelmingly disliked by the public.

If the bill passes, millions of Americans will lose health care that they currently receive via Medicaid, which was established in 1965 by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson under his “Great Society” plan.

On Monday, Fox News published the details of the upcoming campaign after being given a “first on Fox” preview by the National Republican Congressional Committee. Fox describes the campaign as “aggressive messaging” by the party.

“Out of touch House Democrats lit the fire of inflation and tried to slap Americans with the biggest tax hike in decades, all to fund their radical agenda. Voters won’t forget this betrayal—not now, not next November,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox.

But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic counterpart to the NRCC, sounded less than impressed.

"It's no wonder the so-called moderate House Republicans continue to lie about their Tax Scam: the Big, Ugly Bill is wildly unpopular with the American public and they know their vote for it will lose them their majority next year,” DCCC spokesperson Justin Chermol told the outlet.

And the data backs up Chermol’s assertion.

In a KFF Health poll released June 17, 64 percent of adults had an unfavorable view of the bill. Even more dire for the GOP, while a majority of Republicans—particularly those identifying themselves as MAGA voters—back the bill, support has fallen. For instance, when MAGA voters were told that the bill would cut funding for local hospitals, support dropped 20 percentage points.

Perhaps not surprisingly, even with the support of Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, the bill barely made it through the GOP-led House, passing 215-214 on May 22 in the wee hours of the morning. No Democrats voted for the bill, and two Republicans voted against it while another voted “present.”

Soon after, as the bill made its way toward the Senate, Republicans who voted for it began expressing regrets about some of the contents. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a prominent conspiracy-peddling MAGA voice, said she opposed a provision of the bill that banned regulation of artificial intelligence.

Republicans have mostly avoided direct contact with voters at town halls, hoping to avoid the backlash from the public on unpopular initiatives like cuts made by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, but two Republicans did host events after voting for the Trump bill. That was a mistake.

Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa was drowned out by boos in her mostly Republican district after she said she was “proud” to vote for the legislation, and one constituent even called her a “fraud.” Rep. Mike Flood of Nebraska had a similarly hostile crowd at an event after the bill passed.

The NRCC’s decision to run to Fox for a puff piece about their shiny new ad campaign makes more sense in this context. Before it’s even become law, the public is opposed to the bill and passage in the Senate is not guaranteed.

Fox is simply one of the few media outlets that wouldn’t roll over laughing at the NRCC’s proposition that Democrats would face voter ire for siding with the public and opposing Trump’s “big, beautiful” mess.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Polls Show Americans Oppose Trump's War On Iran

Polls Show Americans Oppose Trump's War On Iran

Within hours of President Donald Trump announcing his decision this weekend to bomb multiple military sites in Iran, public opinion polling showed a plurality of Americans opposing the action.

Trump reportedly chose to launch the attack after hours of watching Fox News’ positive coverage of Israel’s attacks on Iran, prompting Iran to respond on Monday with missile attacks on American bases in Qatar and Iraq.

In a YouGov poll taken on Saturday and Sunday, 46 percent of respondents said they strongly or somewhat disapproved of the bombing campaign that Trump instigated. The biggest bloc of people opposed were Democrats, with 70 percent disapproving of the Republican’s actions. Among independents, 51 percent opposed the bombing and even among Republicans, 13 percent said they didn’t back Trump.

A plurality of those who were polled (44 percent) also said they believed Trump’s attack would make Americans less safe. Only 25 percent bought into Trump’s argument that the bombings would secure the country, with 20 percent responding that they were not sure and 11 percent saying that it would neitjher improve nor degrade safety.

The new polling echoed public opinion before the bombing kicked off. In a June 18 Washington Post poll, airstrikes were opposed by 45 percent of the people answering the poll, with 25 percent supporting action.

One woman who was polled, a 74-year-old Republican from Washington who voted for Trump, explained to the outlet, “I think Pres. Trump and the U.S. needs to continue negotiations and alternatives before the U.S. bombs Iran and starts a World War III.”

Trump is following the drumbeat being played on Fox News, but even members of his own party are expressing some level of dissent.

On Monday, Trump complained in a Truth Social post that Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is a “simple minded grandstander” for voicing opposition to the bombing. “MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague!” Trump fumed.

Trump also made it clear in another social media post that he is unprepared for the economic fallout from his bombing run.

“EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!” he wrote.

Oil supplies could be tightened as world markets and governments assess the fallout from Trump’s escalation and that could lead to higher gas prices. Trump spent much of the last four years complaining about gas prices under former President Joe Biden and claimed he would lower them on his first day in office.

Like his promises of “peace,” that didn’t happen.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Gag Me: Gushing New York Times Column Proclaims 'Age Of Trump'

Gag Me: Gushing New York Times Column Proclaims 'Age Of Trump'

The New York Times’ chief White House correspondent Peter Baker penned a “news analysis” on Monday that goes on at length about “The Age of Trump.” The cringe-worthy column, meant to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of Donald Trump first entering the Republican presidential race by maligning Mexican people as rapists, comes as the nation continues to deal with the fallout from his time in office—including rampant crime, countless deaths, and rising authoritarianism.

Baker sounds more like a fan gushing over a celebrity than a journalist discussing a conspiracy theorist bigot with dictatorial aspirations.

“Ten years of jaw-dropping, woke-busting, scandal-defying, status quo-smashing politics that have transformed America for good or ill in profoundly fundamental ways” is how this “journalist” describes the decade of hell that Americans have been forced to live through.

Yes, that is prose from a column in The New York Times, not a melodramatic monologue from Trump superfan Sean Hannity on Fox News. While Baker concedes that Trump is unpopular, he describes pro-MAGA voters as “the most consequential political force of modern times, rewriting all of the rules along the way.”

Here’s some context on Baker’s purple prose: Trump’s most significant political victory came in 2024 where he won the popular vote by 1.5 percent over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump lost the 2020 election by almost five points against former President Joe Biden and lost the popular vote in 2016 against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Former President Barack Obama, the most recent two-term president before Trump, won by over seven points in 2008 and nearly four points in 2012.

Even worse, Baker’s column comes after yet another bloody weekend during a Trump presidency, not to be confused with the steady succession of bloody weekends that occurred during his first term as COVID-19 ravaged the nation and he pushed quack medicine and anti-Chinese racism.

On Sunday, Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot dead in an apparent political assassination. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot at their home, but are expected to recover. Early reporting indicates the alleged shooter was a Trump fan who espoused similar views to him opposing abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. The shooting follows years of Trump endorsing and encouraging political violence—including the January 6 attack on the Capitol that he incited.

On the same day the killings occurred, Trump was indulging in another fantasy of his, presiding over a military parade on the streets of Washington, D.C. While the president previously expressed envy at well-organized military parades in other nations, the D.C. event was a sparsely attended affair that didn’t even have the polish of a military parade held the same day at Disney World.

But millions of Americans turned out on the very same day to protest Trump and his lackeys like Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and billionaire benefactor Elon Musk at “No King” protests across the nation. Unsurprisingly, the Times could only muster a print headline noting “thousands” had marched.

This is an ongoing pattern at the Times. The writers there have veered from a cringe-inducing review of Trump’s presidential portrait (they claimed he was “smizing,” Tyra Banks-style) to uncritically regurgitating his spin on taxes to presenting an obvious political operative as a simple man-on-the-street Black Trump supporter.

The past 10 years have seen the mainstream media trying over and over to normalize Trump despite all his obvious abnormalities, and the Times has led the charge. Trump is unpopular, which shows that the public doesn’t buy the lies—but the Times is too busy cheering on and normalizing his administration to notice.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Former President Donald Trump

Global Approval Of US Plummets As Trump Imposes Tariffs, Attacks Allies

Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, approval of the United States has fallen by double-digit percentage points in multiple countries, according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Wednesday.

The drop in global support follows Trump’s decision to insult multiple nations by imposing tariffs on allies—and even threatening military action.

In total, support for the United States fell in 19 of the 24 countries that Pew surveyed.

“Majorities in most countries also express little or no confidence in Trump’s ability to handle specific issues, including immigration, the Russia-Ukraine war, U.S.-China relations, global economic problems, conflicts between Israel and its neighbors, and climate change,” the Pew report summarized.

Most respondents characterized Trump as arrogant and dangerous, and very few of the people surveyed regarded the only convicted felon to serve as president as honest.

Support for the United States significantly declines from Pew’s 2024 poll, when President Joe Biden was in office. Notable declines occurred among the closest U.S. allies, including a 32 percent decrease in Mexico, 20 percent in Canada, 10 percent in France, 15 percent in Japan, and 16 percent in Germany.

Only three nations view the United States more favorably than they did in 2024: Israel, Nigeria, and Turkey. Though support increased by just seven percent or less.

This loss of global support comes after Trump decided to unilaterally impose tariffs on a host of nations, increasing the costs for businesses worldwide.

On Tuesday, the World Bank announced that Trump’s tariffs disrupted global progress in the “soft landing” in recovery from COVID-19. The bank cited “turbulence” and lowered its projections of economic growth to the slowest in 17 years, outside of the 2008 and 2020 recessions.

When he isn’t disrupting global business, Trump has used his power to attack a steady succession of nations. He has repeatedly antagonized Canada, arguing that it should become the 51st state. He directly insulted the leaders of key allies like Ireland and Ukraine while reigniting his longstanding racist feud with Mexico, even renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”

Trump also floated the notion of using military force to take over Greenland, where he even deployed Vice President JD Vance, further inflaming tensions.

In more recent developments, Trump’s military invasion of Los Angeles is unlikely to improve global perceptions of the United States, not to mention the harassment and detention of international visitors and students.

U.S. tourism is also down under Trump, as he’s made the country more inhospitable to trading partners and allies. The ripple effect of his actions continues to hurt U.S. businesses that rely on spending by tourists, putting a black mark on the country’s global reputation.

Let’s just hope it’s not permanent.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Labor Movement Enraged By ICE Arrest Of California SEIU Chief

Labor Movement Enraged By ICE Arrest Of California SEIU Chief

Unions across the United States have been rallying against the detainment of California labor leader David Huerta, who was arrested at an immigration protest on June 6 and released Monday afternoon on a $50,000 bond.

UPDATE: David Huerta was just released from custody!

[image or embed]

— SEIU California (@seiuca.bsky.social) June 9, 2025 at 10:50 PM

Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California was injured during the arrest and charged on Monday for purportedly impeding Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The Trump administration triggered protests by rounding up immigrants in the Los Angeles area in an effort to increase its deportation numbers.

“What happened to me is not about me; This is about something much bigger. This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening,” Huerta wrote in a statement on June 6. “Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.”

The Trump administration’s decision to arrest and charge Huerta is serving as a rallying point for labor unions, immigrants, and minority communities that are being targeted.

“They have woke us up,” Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, told the Los Angeles Times.

With more than 750,000 members, SEIU California called for Huerta’s immediate release during a rally in downtown Los Angeles Monday. Similar rallies also occurred in Washington, D.C., Seattle, Boston, and Chicago.

Other unions lent their voices to the cause, too.

“The nearly 15 million working people of the AFL-CIO and our affiliated unions demand the immediate release of California Federation of Labor Unions Vice President and SEIU California and SEIU-USWW President David Huerta,” the AFL-CIO wrote in a release on June 7.

Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, accused ICE agents of violating Huerta’s First Amendment rights by arresting him in the first place.

“AFSCME stands in unwavering solidarity with our union brother David Huerta. We demand his immediate release, and we will not be silent until justice is done,” Saunders wrote in a statement on June 8.

The arrest was also condemned by lawmakers like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who, in a statement released Sunday, said that the arrest of Huerta was “unacceptable.”

“This is the United States of America and we will not be intimidated by a wannabe dictator in the executive branch,” Jeffries wrote in a statement on June 8.

President Donald Trump spent much of the weekend attempting to escalate the situation in Los Angeles, particularly by deploying National Guard troops to the area over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Trump and his border czar Tom Homan also promoted the idea of arresting Democratic leaders for opposing the Trump administration’s mass deportations.

In addition to vocal opposition from multiple unions and political leaders, other Democrats have criticized the escalating conflict created by the Trump team.

“Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous,” 22 Democratic governors wrote in a statement released on Monday.

“Further,” they continued, “threatening to send the U.S. Marines into American neighborhoods undermines the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.”

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Donald Trump met

Meeting With South African President, Trump Erupts In Racist Tantrum

President Donald Trump met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office on Wednesday and angrily confronted him with false allegations of a “white genocide” in his nation.

Trump has been obsessed with the issue in recent weeks, even making exceptions for white immigrants from South Africa to come to America as supposed refugees, all while restricting migration for other nationalities.

Trump told aides to turn down the lights in the Oval Office and forced Ramaphosa to watch an edited video purporting to show evidence of mass murders targeting white Afrikaner farmers. Later, Trump leafed through a stack of printouts that he claimed was evidence of the practice.

Ramaphosa strenuously objected, explaining to Trump that while some political groups in South Africa have used violent rhetoric about the issue—which stems from the apartheid-era practice of stealing land from Black residents under that nation’s racist laws—his party and the current government are opposed to it.

Trump decried the violent rhetoric and suggested that people using it should be arrested, which stands in contrast to his own repeated usage of violent language against Democrats and his decision to pardon the Trump supporters who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Undaunted, Trump even argued that white Afrikaner farmers currently face oppression equivalent to what Black South Africans faced under apartheid. Apartheid was enshrined in South African law for roughly 40 years, institutionalizing racial segregation and leading to mass killings tied to political violence.

But even more damning for Trump’s rhetoric is that multiple studies have shown that claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa are false. While the nation has a severe crime problem, the notion that white people there are being persecuted, let alone at the level of persecution Blacks faced during apartheid, is false.

One of the most high-profile promoters of the white-genocide myth is billionaire Elon Musk, who attended the Oval Office meeting with Ramaphosa. Musk is originally from South Africa and grew up during the waning days of apartheid.

Musk’s attendance comes just a few days after he said he would be less financially involved in politics. In the 2024 election cycle, he donated at least $288 million to elect Trump and other Republicans.

Trump has a well-documented history of racism, from his description of countries with large nonwhite populations as “shithole” nations to his promotion of the racist “birther” conspiracy about former President Barack Obama.

With his “white genocide” crusade, Trump is turning a debunked, racist conspiracy into a core American foreign policy.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.