MRC's Jean-Pierre-Bashing, Doocy-Fluffing Watch
Topic: Media Research Center

Nicholas Fondacaro took the Doocy-fluffing (and Karine-hating) duties at theMedia REsearch Center for a post on the Sept. 26 White House press briefing:

With crime soaring in American cities across the country as a result of extreme progressive district attorneys turning criminals loose without bail or without charges (including crimes involving firearms), safety is a major concern for Americans who call those places home. So, one would think the Biden White House would have a serious answer when asked if they think “America’s big cities are safe?” But, of course, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was as unserious as ever as Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked the simple question.

Putting off Doocy to near the end of the Q&A portion of the briefing, he asked the question as simply as possible: “Does President Biden think America’s big cities are safe?”

Jean-Pierre was rendered confused by the simple premise of the question, asking in return, “Can you say more?” “Well, we know that thefts and robberies are up about 20 percent in the first half of this year. So, I’m wondering if he thinks America’s big cities are safe?” he elaborated.

Still, Jean-Pierre felt like she was blowing in the wind in need of more solid information. Of course, Doocy obliged with more examples of runaway crime:

[...]

She proceeded to suggest Biden had “secured historic funding” for local police “in the face of opposition from Republicans.” She also blamed former President Trump, saying Biden “inherited a rising crime rate from the previous administration,” despite the fact the rising crime was in predominantly liberal jurisdictions.

“So, I guess, just the original question: Does President Biden think America’s big cities are safe?” Doocy plainly asked again in the face of her non-answer. “It is not – it is not a – um – It is not a yes or no question,” Jean-Pierre stammered.

Curtis Houck returned to his hateful duty for the Sept. 28 briefing:

In what might be her worst performance as White House press secretary (in what’s already been dominated by ineptitude), Karine Jean-Pierre faced searing heat Wednesday from across the ideological spectrum of the press corps after President Joe Biden called out to Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-IN) at a global hunger event despite the fact that Walorski died nearly two months ago.

ABC’s Cecilia Vega broke through as the second reporter called on, wondering “what happened at the hunger event” as Biden “seemed to indicate she might be in the room.” In response, Jean-Pierre claimed Biden was simply “acknowledging her incredible work” on food insecurity and, because her family will meet him on Friday, “she was on his mind” and “top of mind.”

Vega wasn’t moved: “He said, ‘Jackie, are you here? Where is Jackie? She must not be here.’”

Jean-Pierre doubled down that “she was on top of mind,” so it fell to CNN’s Phil Mattingly a few minutes later, who admitted he was “trying to get my head around” her excuse.

“Why was he looking for her? I’m not trying to be snarky here,” he added. Unfortunately, Jean-Pierre stuck to her explanation for what should otherwise be viewed as a sign of cognitive decline.

[...]

In the back rows, some reporters decided they had enough, including Newsmax’s James Rosen: “I have John Lennon top of mind just about every day but I'm not looking around for him anywhere.”

Jean-Pierre thought she had him caught with this dead fish of a zinger: “When you sign a bill for John Lennon — Lennon as president, then we can have this conversion.”

From there, chaos ensued. EWTN’s Owen Jensen first wondered “why don’t you just apologize” and continued as Jean-Pierre tried to escape by calling on a friendly reporter in USA Today ’s Michael Collins. 

[...]

A few minutes after things calmed down, Real Clear Politics’ Philip Wegmann had the last Walorski question and tried to see if Jean-Pierre would return to reality: “Does he believe he handled that reference appropriately or is this something that he would like to get back?”

Jean-Pierre played dumb and, after acknowledging it's “a question...many of you have had,” proclaimed “my answer is certainly not going to change.”

We don't recall Houck ever criticizing his beloved Kayleigh McEnany for making excuses for her boss, Donald Trump -- indeed, he cheered every time she refused to answer questions from reporters. Houck didn't explain why this is no different.

CNS Whines That 'Extremist' Applies To Both 9/11 Terrorists, 1/6 Insurrectionists
Topic: CNSNews.com

Susan Jones -- a "reporter" who loves to editorialize in her "news" articles -- complained in a Sept. 12 CNSNews.com article:

"Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation," host Margaret Brennan said as her Sunday talk show went on the air. Her next sentence: "Twenty-one years ago today, Americans united in their grief and in their opposition to extremist forces who attacked the country on September 11," she said.

The word "extremist" is frequently used these days to describe supporters of Donald Trump. President Biden most recently used the word "extreme" to describe those political opponents in a speech on September 9:

"Extreme MAGA Republicans just don’t threaten our personal and economic rights; they embrace political violence," Biden said. "They refuse to accept the will of the people. They threaten our very democracy. They — and that’s not hyperbole. To this day, they defend the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6th."

Funny thing, though: Jones made no effort to dispute the accuracy of that description as it applies to Trump supporters -- after all, they have heartily endorsed his lies about election fraud and the insurrection against the government that he led because he's mentally incapable of accepting the fact that he lost an election.She also did not provide an alternative description for such people that she would find more acceptable (though it may not be as accurate).

That's just bad and uninformative reporting. And CNS calls itself a "news" operation.

Ghouls: WND Exploits Executive's Death To Repeat A Lie
Topic: WorldNetDaily

We've repeatedly caught WorldNetDaily pushing the demonstrable falsehood that the financial woes of retail chain Bed Bath & Beyond are directly related to its decision to stop stocking MyPillow products in the wake of Mike Lindell's aggressive embrace of Donald Trump's Big Lie about election fraud. Joe Kovacs tried peddling that story again -- while ghoulishly exploiting a man's tragic death -- in a Sept. 4 article:

The chief financial officer of Bed Bath & Beyond, the company which ran into severe financial trouble after dropping Mike Lindell's MyPillow products, is now identified as the man who plunged to his death Friday from New York City's iconic new skyscraper called the "Jenga" building.

Gustavo Arnal, 52, also an executive vice president for the home-goods retailer, plunged from the 18th floor of the 60-story tower, known for its misaligned apartments that resemble the popular game "Jenga."

Just two days before his death, the company announced it was closing 150 stores of its roughly 900 stores, and laying off 20 percent of staff of about 32,000 employees overall.

[...]

Bed Bath & Beyond, once regarded as a "category killer" in home and bath goods according to Britain's Daily Mail, has in recent years seen its fortunes tarnished, especially in the wake of its cancellation of MyPillow products produced by Mike Lindell, the firebrand supporter of President Donald Trump who maintains the 2020 election was stolen through a wide range of vote fraud.

Again: There's no proof whatsoever that BB&B discontinuing MyPillow products has anything at all to do with the company's woes, and Kovacs offers none. Instead, Kovacs uncritically repeated the crass MyPillow propaganda that came out after Arnal's death:

Without mentioning the death of Arnal, MyPillow continued sending out commercial email messages Sunday, directly tying the financial troubles of Bed Bath & Beyond to its decision to no longer carry its products.

"In January 2021, Bed, Bath & Beyond sided with the liberal mob and dropped MyPillow products from their stores. Liberals celebrated," the email began, featuring this exemplary tweet:

In response, conservatives boycotted Bed, Bath & Beyond -- and bought their bedding from MyPillow.com using promo code USA1776 directly instead," MyPillow's message continued.

It then mentioned the news of the chain closing 150 of its stores, and proffered its own take on the matter:

"Canceling MyPillow was a big mistake! They forced conservatives to choose between a big box store and a man who fights for conservatives. With MyPillow winning, will other retailers stop fighting conservatives? Will we return America to the open economy it should be?"

Kovacs couldn't be bothered to fact-check MyPillow's claims -- that would interfere with the narrative he's pushing.

NEW ARTICLE: The MRC vs. Brian Stelter vs. Fox News
Topic: Media Research Center
Whenever CNN's Brian Stelter criticized Fox News, the Foxophiles at the Media Research Center were there to lash out at him for doing so. Read more >>

MRC Hates Dwyane Wade For Supporting His Transgender Child
Topic: Media Research Center

We've previously noted the Media Research Center's sick contempt for NBA star Dwyane Wade for supporting his transgender child. It has continued to spew at at Wade for expressing parental love for his child. Jay Maxson -- who, ironoically, remains so anonymous that we don't know what sex this sports blogger is -- ranted in a November 2021 post:

Want a “model” family that will make you a hero of the Left? Encourage one of your children to claim gender confusion and then tell the world how incredibly wonderful that is. This worked to perfection for former NBA all-star like Dwyane Wade, who said Tuesday night on Comedy Central's The Daily Show recently that his transgender son is developing into a beautiful young woman.

Papa Wade appeared with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show to promote his photo memoir, Dwyane, but the former basketball star’s support for the transgender movement is what was memorable. Noah asked him about his son Zaya (appearing at far left in photo), who assumed a female identity two years ago at the age of 12. Embracing the child’s gender confusion, Dwyane and his wife Gabrielle Union are considered among the best moms and dads ever by the Left.

[...]

On Monday, Delilah Gray of Yahoo Life fawned all over Zaya’s appearance in a Wade family photo. The photo was on a “whole other level” and Zaya “stole the show,” she wrote. “But seriously, Zaya looks so stunning in her suit and pointed boots — and we’re so happy to see her doing amazing.” Zaya’s life has been “a whirlwind so far after coming out nearly two years ago as a transgender woman. She’s been blossoming this past year with her new i-D photoshoot and advocating for people to be their most authentic selves.”

Gray added that Zaya’s parents are the “absolute best” (as they use the child like a pawn for the transgender movement).

Maxson whined in a May 6 post:

Dwyane Wade was an NBA champion and all-star who’s now in retirement and shilling for the LGBT agenda. His son, Zaya, announced at the age of 12 he was a “girl, but Wade is now saying he held his “daughter” in the hospital the day “she” was born. This startling contradiction of family history appeared in a Variety magazine interview Wednesday. 

Wade also says Zaya actually knew he was a girl at the age of three. Even though children that young do not understand biology or know what transgenderism is all about. Also, he says, he was looking at his “daughter” when Zaya was born – 12 years before he came out to his family. 

Papa Wade was slow to get with the LGBT program, but now he’s busy revising family and gender history. Of course, the left-stream media is not calling out Wade on his amazing and bizarre discombobulation of family history.

[...]

Zaya Wade has previously attended pride events, and Dwyane Wade publicly speaks out about the proper use of pronouns. Though he’s butchering biology, gender and grammar in the process. 

Maxson added: "Wade has been criticized for his parenting ability; he recently posted a photo of Zaya kissing a trans boyfriend, and some responders said he’s failing as a father." Yes, transphobes like Maxson would think Wade is "failing" his child by offering love and support; they would rather that Wade disown Zaya for not conforming to right-wing gender ideology.

Maxson's fellow sports blogger, John Simmons, issued his own attack on Wade and his child in a June 9 post:

Dwayne Wade is afraid for his son’s life, or as he would want you to say, his daughter.

At the TIME100 Summit on Tuesday, the three-time NBA Champion said that he fears that Zaya, his 15-year-old transgendered daughter, will live in a world where he will be hated.

“As blessed as it is for my daughter to have parents who can support her, I’m still afraid every moment she leaves the house,” he told CNN’s Poppy Harlow at the event. “And not just because of gun violence, but because of the way people perceive her in this world.”

Wade said in his emotionally-driven rant that he is afraid for Zaya because many states are banning transgendered women in sports or preventing doctors from giving gender-affirming care for youth (which are good things, by the way).

Interestingly, Simmons didn't dispute Wade's contention that transphobes like himself are putting Zaya's life in danger -- apparently, he's good with the idea that transgender people should be afraid to go outside for fear of their lives. Instead, he lectured Wade on being a parent -- despite offering no evidence that he is one himself:

First of all, a three year old is barely in any position to be taking care of their own basic needs, let alone decide one day that they are transgender. Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, should have immediately thought to themselves, “We should try to correct his thinking.”

Second, instead of Wade actually doing his job to persuade and correct his son, he let him go down this long and dark road of building his life on a lie.

Third, he makes the decision to go on stage at an event put on by the most iconic magazine in the world and not only support his son’s decision, but ridicule those who stand for truth. He also had the audacity to say that he might even run for office someday in the future.

What a convoluted mess that just further shows how desperately our country needs strong fathers.

Yeah, Simmons' demand that Wade hate his child for being the person he is will surely go over well.

In a similar vein, Maxson expressed anger in a Aug. 22 post that Wade defied the wishes and violent threats of Maxson's fellow transphobes to continue to support Zaya:

In the goofy gender-bending world of the Left, boys will be girls and girls will be boys. Zion Wade, the son of retired NBA guard Dwyane Wade, is attempting to legally become Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade, the “daughter” of Dwyane Wade. Wade the father fears that Wade the son/daughter will be the victim of violence.

Despite fearing violence against his transgender child, Papa Wade last week filed a legal petition to change the name and gender of his youngest son. Zion came out seven years ago on the Ellen DeGeneres show as a transgender and said he prefers to go by “Zaya.” The dad requested that a Los Angeles County superior court issue a legal decree recognizing that the minors’ gender is changed to “female.” 

Also, the petition specifically cites the reason for the change: “to conform with gender identity.” The court is expected to go along with this ruse, though gender is immutable. 

“We’re just trying to figure out as much information as we can to make sure that we give our child the best opportunity to be her best self,” the elder Wade said.

[...]

Zaya’s parents (seen in photo with their trans son) take their role as parents so seriously, in fact, that throughout their child’s life, they merely give in to whatever reality he attempts to create. Which is highly concerning, given that what’s happening now can substantially impact the remainder of Zion Zaya’s life. 

The Wade parents seem more concerned about their own popularity, their son appearing on a red carpet and how “she” answered media questions and being how “she” is recognized as one of the “young faces and voices for the LGBTQ+ community.” It’s more about pleasing the Left than dealing with the child’s confusion, and that’s sad.

Like Simmons, Maxson did not dispute that Wade's fear of violence against Zaya is justified. Indeed, Maxson and Simmons care more about pleasing  the hateful right-wing anti-LGBT ideologues they work for than try to comprehend the love a parent has for his child. That's even more sad than anything they can come up with.

Another Month, Another 'Existential Threat' At WND
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily is particularly fond of the phrase "existential threat," particularly when it applies to WND:

• One of Joseph Farah's first money begs in 2018 carried the headline "Existential threat: WND needs your help."
• A June 2021 column by Farah was headlined "The existential threat Google-Facebook represent to America." This echoed a column nder the same headline he wrote in 2019.
• A month later, WND managing editor David Kupelian declared that "WND is facing an existential threat. How you can help."
• An April 15 column by Farah was headlined "'Existential threat': WND seriously needs your help." Oddly, even though "existential threat" is in quote marks, that phrase does not actually appear in the column.

Which brings us to Farah's Sept. 23 column, which is headlined, yes, "Existential threat: WND needs your help." He went on to write:

For more than 25 years, WND, or WorldNetDaily, has championed the cause of "a free press for a free people," performing the vital job of fearlessly reporting the truth – something the "mainstream media" pretends to do, but, as is now painfully obvious to almost everyone, does not.

It's always been a challenge. Despite what many think, this is a very, very tough business.

While other top-tier alternative media organizations have been supported for years by billionaire backers, we at WND have pretty much always earned our own way – until recently.

The good side of that arrangement is, we've never been beholden to anyone other than the Good Lord. But these are exceedingly rough times in the news business. And right now, it pains me to tell you that not only have all WND's staffers had to accept pay cuts, but making payroll is often delayed as we attempt to overcome multiple crises that constitute an existential threat to the nation's oldest independent Christian online news-gathering company.

I'm asking you to help us in this time of need. It's not easy to make a plea like this to you, our faithful readers, and I do so in all humility.

I'll lay it out for you straight. We need to raise a minimum of $100,000 before the end of October.

We have questions. When WND did a money beg in early summer, he concluded it at the end of June by declaring that "we have been given a blessed reprieve from the urgent and imminent financial crisis we have been facing," citing a "particularly generous donor" who promised "another very significant contribution." But just a month later, Farah asserted that "We need to raise $65,000 by the end of August in order to pay our bills, including payroll." So one has to wonder about how WND is managing its money if it must continually beg for it so soon after claiming its needs had been filled. Honest answers from  Farah will certainly not be forthcoming, as he continued:

I can't go into all the details of the problems we are facing – some are global (like the major drop in ad revenues for news websites) and some are specific to WND – but I will mention one thing you may not know.

WND has been completely demonetized by Google and YouTube, which has dramatically impacted our ad revenue.

That's because they see us as "dangerous" for publishing the information you need – such as the truth about the 2020 election, and about the dangerous "vaccines" that were mandated by government, and about the unbelievable way our kids are being mutilated in hospitals nationwide as part of today's youth transgender craze.

Farah is lying, of course. WND spreads lies about the election and about vaccines, and no company wants to do business with a documented liar. He went on to present WND's dishonesty and bias as virtues he thinks people should send himmoney to perpetuate:

I'm asking for the help of those who recognize the unique role WND plays in reaching the God-fearing American audience that, like us, supports limited government, national sovereignty and the traditional Judeo-Christian values that made America truly great.

Donald Trump can't fight this monster alone. The MAGA movement can't either. They need strong voices like WND's to help them accomplish Trump's genuinely pro-American agenda and, at the same time, "drain the swamp." WND played a critical role in the 2016 election, and we are facing a critical election in 2022.

Please, help us to weather this storm by giving as much as you can to support us in this critical hour.

[...]

If this weren't an absolute emergency, I would never suggest it is. We really need your help – and we need it fast.

Yet it's not such an emergency that Farah is going to change his business model and stop doing the things that brought WND to this "esistential threat" -- that is, publishing lies and pushing bias. Why would anyone reward Farah for committing the same missteps and expecting the results to change?

MRC Complains That CNN Anchor Catches GOP Candidate Refusing To Answer Election Question
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center's Kevin Tober complained in a Sept. 4 post that a CNN anchor called out a Republican politican for her non-answer on the 2020 election:

The leftist media is never happy. If a Republican candidate or elected official claims the 2020 election was stolen, they throw a tantrum, if a Republican admits President Joe Biden was legitimately elected and he is the current President, they continue asking the question until the exact party approved phrase is uttered. This was the case on Sunday morning's State of the Union on CNN, where co-anchor Dana Bash asked Washington state Republican Senatorial nominee Tiffany Smiley three times whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Each time she said yes, but a simple yes apparently wasn't good enough for Bash.   

"Let's just drill down on this question," Bash prefaced before asking "simple yes or no, do you believe that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair and square?"

Smiley responded "Yes, he's our President. Yes," before going on to point out how "in 2016 Hillary Clinton had concerns, Stacey Abrams had concerns" about their elections. "This is an issue on both sides of the aisle. This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue," Smiley added.

Not happy with the way Smiley answered the question, Bash demanded she answer it again in a way that Bash's Democrat party approves of: "you said that President Biden is our President. Was he fairly elected, legitimately elected?"

"Yes, Joe Biden is our President," Smiley answered and went on to say she's focused on the voters in her state and not debating the 2020 election. 

Bash angrily snapped back that "you didn't say that he was legitimately elected. I just want to give you one more chance to say that or if you are comfortable with your answer, we'll move on."

Smiley once again repeated the same answer that she Bash gave twice: "Yes, I think I made it clear. He is our President and, again, I am focused on the voters of Washington state." 

Bash never said what the correct answer to her question was, but apparently saying yes, Biden is our President, isn't the Democrat Party [sic] approved answer despite what you might have believed.

Of coruse, simply conceding that Biden is president is not the same thing as saying he was legitimately elected. Bash was trying to get an answer to that question, and Smiley refused to provide one.

Tober didn't mention that his employer also believes that Biden was not legitimately elected, what with its version of the Big Lie conspiracy theory Donald Trump has promoted, in which it hired Trump's own pollster to further the lie.And Tober himself didn't reveal his own answer to the question: Does he accept that Biden is the president, or has he bought into the Big Lie too?

CNS Censors Herschel Walker Abortion Scandal
Topic: CNSNews.com

We've documented how CNSNews.com spent a lot of time hyping Herschel Walker as a potential Senate candidate -- then largely ignored him after he finally annouced his candidacy, presumably because Walker's history as a domestic abuser came out around the same time. Almost a year has passed since that happened -- during which Walker won a Republican primary, got caught telling numerous falsehoods and had to reveal that he has more illegitimate children that he had previously admitted to -- and in that time CNS has devoted only one article to Walker, a Jan. 3 article by Craig Bannister claiming that Walker "says Americans need to rethink what it means to “Build Back Better,“ in a video taking on the Democrats’ $1.75 trillion social spending and climate bill."

A couple weeks back, it was revealed that a woman who had a relationship with Walker said Walker paid for an abortion he wanted her to have (and had receipts and a greeting card to prove it)  and that his campaign knew the story was out there. Walker denied the story and threatened to sue over it, though he eventually did admit he knows the woman and that he also has a child with her. All of this caused the one son he acknowledged before the campaign started, Christian Walker, to switch from vociferiously defending his father to vociferously attacking him and his disnohesty.

Now, you would think a story like this would be very much in CNS' ballpark of coverage -- after all, editor Terry Jeffrey is an anti-abortion obsessive and regularly lectures against broken families because they can provide better for their children. But youi would be wrong: CNS has completely censored any mention of Walker's abortion scandal.It has referenced Walker in two articles since the scandal broke, howerver:

• An Oct. 10 article by intern Peyton Holliday on black Republicans noting Walker's campaign against incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock.
• Another article the same day by Susan Jones that was focused on attacked the abortion stance of Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who's running for governor in Georgia against Republican Brian Kemp; buried in a transcript is Abramsstating that "Brian Kemp has said that Herschel Walker is entitled to his personal choices, but no woman is, and that is unconscionable." There was no explanation of what those "personal choices" were.

CNS' abject refusal to report a newsworthy story solely because it makes a Republican candidate look bad actiually makes CNS look bad. This partisan censorship makes it all too clear that CNS cares nothing about journalism and everything about advancing partisan right-wing narratives.It's not a "news" organization -- it's a stenography service, and nobody who wants to truly call themselves a journalist has no business being associated with such hackery.

MRC Labors To Dismiss BYU Racism Incident As A 'Hoax'
Topic: Media Research Center

When Rachel Richardson, a player for the Duke volleyball team ,claimed she she heard racist taunts coming from the student section of her opponent, Brigham Young University, the Media Research Center worked hard to dismiss it and tried to frame it as a hoax -- armed only with denials from BYU.John Simmons spent an Aug. 31 post repeating a claim from the right-wing sports blog Outkick "suggests that this whole story might be a hoax" because... BYU police claimed they couldn't find anything:

Despite these accusations, BYU campus police and witnesses at the event are telling a different story.

After reviewing footage of the game and the people around where the incident took place, BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer told the Salt Lake Tribune “When we watched the video, we did not observe that behavior from him (the unnamed student).”

Another police officer who reviewed the footage of the scene in question said “There was nothing seen on the game film that led me to believe” that the man “was the person who was making comments to the player who complained about being called the N-word.”

Furthermore, multiple students interviewed by The Cougar Chronicle, a school paper that operates independently from BYU, reported that they do not remember that word being said or anyone acting in a derogatory way towards Richardson.

“There is zero evidence of a slur being said. Not a single witness, besides Ms. Richardson, has come forth. Not a single cell phone video,” an anonymous source said who attended the volleyball game.

So for now, it looks like Richardson’s case is pretty insignificant, and yet ESPN and other left-leaning outlets have yet to comment on this half of the story because they are too busy hyping up Richardson as their next victim of racism. More details may emerge that prove Richardson right, but for now it seems like she made an error on how she served her story.

Simmons failed to identify Outkick's right-wing bias.

Simmons' fellow MRC sports blogger, Jay Maxson, complained in a Sept. 2 post that BYU is reacting to allegations of racism in an appropriate manner:

Never mind the darn facts, Brigham Young University is way over-reacting to a racism hoax and punishing the innocent. One man falsely accused of racially taunting a black Duke University volleyball player in a game at Provo earlier this week has been banned from BYU’s campus for life. A fan section at BYU’s volleyball venue has also been moved further away from the court. 

John Nolte of Breitbart called it fascism displayed by sniveling cowards.

[...]

This whole sorry saga is just another example of how, even when fake hate crimes are exposed, the whole university machine goes into overdrive to manufacture fake concern over non-problems. Just so they can feel good about themselves. 

Macson didn't explain why universities should not respond to racist incidents, nor did he (or she) point outthe right-wing bias of Nolte and Breitbart.

Brad Wilmouth spent a Sept. 4 post complaining the incident was being covered and insisting it has been "discredited," citing only "university staff" who arguably have a bias to protect their employer:

Earlier this week, CNN, ABC, PBS and ESPN all promoted another racism story that appears to be a hoax, this time in response to claims that a black Duke University student was harassed with racial epithets as she played volleyball at Brigham Young University in Utah over the weekend.

Between last Sunday and Monday, five different shows on CNN devoted segments to the controversy, totaling almost 24 full minutes, but have so far not updated the story as more details have cast doubt on whether the incident actually happened.

[...]

It has since been reported not only that a police officer who was on scene observed no evidence that the harassment happened, but analysis of video footage by university staff found no evidence that the activity occurred. Furthermore, the student's godmother who helped spread the accusations is an aspiring politician in Fort Worth who has a history of using her Twitter page to make incendiary attacks on white people.

Wilmouth went on to gush that "Fox's The Ingraham Angle notably did a segment on the revelations that the case appears to be a hoax in spite of all the media coverage it received."

A Sept. 8 post by Maxson complained that USA Today called out right-wingers for desperately denying the incident:

Rachel Richardson’s false race accusations against Brigham Young volleyball fans have been debunked by police investigators, but USA Today race writer Mike Freeman says the Duke athlete is now the victim of a “right-wing conspiracy theory.” Just like QAnon or mass voter fraud. 

Freeman’s idea of “proof” that Richardson’s recent claims of racial taunts and threats from BYU fans comes in the form of a post-match phone call to her dad. His logic is that she didn’t seem her normal self, so the right-wing doubters and the police could not possibly be correct in their opposition. “After the game, she called, and this was a different call,” her father, Marvin, told CNN. Not exactly compelling enough to overturn a thorough police investigation of what turned out to be Richardson reporting a fake hate crime.

Maxson offered no proof of the police investigation being "thorough," nor did he (or she) mention that the police are employees of the university so they would likely have an interest in downplaying the incident.Nevertheless, Maxson went on to whine that "The race-baiting sports writing beat has indeed slowed down since the Black Lives Matter madness of 2020. Freeman is trying to resuscitate it with this hard-hitting and off-target race blast" -- though, again, he has no solid, independent proof that the story is fraudulent.

Clay Waters embraced the "hoax" narrative in a Sept. 11 post:

An August 26 women’s college volleyball match between Duke University and Brigham Young University in Utah was allegedly marred by a racist BYU fan yelling racist slurs at a black Duke player, according to her father.

The only problem: It evidently didn’t happen, though that didn’t stop BYU from banning a fan falsely accused of shouting the slurs. Now Brigham Young’s comprehensive investigation uncovered no evidence that the incident ever happened. (None of the 5,500 spectators in attendance heard anything either.)

Yet the Times, so sensitive to right-wing “misinformation” during the Trump era and beyond, wasted no time jumping on the original allegations, not bothering to confirm the story on its own before spouting it off as truth in a breathless piece bylined from Vimal Patel, assuming the truth of the nasty accusation with no evidence.

Waters didn't mention the accusation that itis a "hoax" lacks solid evidence as well.

Maxson found another "thorough investigation" to promote in a Sept. 12 post -- a Fox News "reporter":

A Fox News report concerning the left-stream media’s performance on the Rachel Richardson story reveals an ugly bias, not to mention pathetic examples of “journalism.” Richardson is the black Duke volleyball player who, on Aug. 26, claimed she was the victim of racial taunting and threats in a match at Brigham Young. Police investigators found no evidence to corroborate her story, and the establishment media has not reported this inconvenient truth. 

BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer reviewed surveillance video of the alleged racist fan from the game, and he concluded "we did not observe that behavior from him." Will Cain reported on Fox News television that black BYU students in the arena heard no racial slurs either. 

In a Fox News web story, reporter Joseph Wolfsohn released the results of his thorough investigation of media coverage. His findings are appalling.

Maxson didn't explain why the BYU police report should be trusted without question even thought, again, they are university employees and arguably biased.

Nobody at the MRC mentioned a statement by the West Coast Conference, of which BYU is a member, pointing out that "BYU's inability to locate perpetrator(s) does not mean the remarks were not said," nor have they mentioned that Duke officials are standing by Richardson. Still, the MRC has a narrative to push, and Curtis Houck did his part in another Sept. 12 post, insisting the claim has been "debunked" and a "hoax" while attacking a CNN update on the story:

CNN offered another clue Monday morning into how a properly-run CNN under Discovery and boss Chris Licht might look as New Day introduced a new segment called “Upon Further Review” to reexamine stories that, once facts emerged, showed something was different than the initial narrative. With the ever-pompous John Avlon at the helm, the first installment touched on the debunked claims of racist taunts from Brigham Young University fans to a Duke women’s volleyball player.

[...]

What Avlon wouldn’t admit was those defending Richardson indeed wanted the racist slurs to be true in order to further their preferred narratives about humanity or, more specifically, those that lean conservative (such as Mormons).

“Now, we need to note that the investigation does not call Rachel Richardson a liar or a fabricator. It leaves open the possibility that she sincerely believed that she heard repeated racial heckling and that some sort of misunderstanding occurred,” he added, as if to offer an olive branch.

Houck is being paid to push a narrative, not be fair and balanced, so he'll never admit that the sources he uses to proclaim this a "hoax" are biased.

Newsmax Joined Rest Of ConWeb In Hating Biden's Speech
Topic: Newsmax

Like the Media Research Center, its "news" division CNSNews.com and WorldNetDaily, Newsmax did what it could to attack President Biden's Sept. 1 speech calling out right-wing extremism embodied by Donald Trump and his supporters. A "news" article, apparently a Reuters piece that was "contributed" to by Newsmax, led off its coverage under the headline "Divider-in-Chief?":

President Joe Biden charged Republican allies of Donald Trump with undermining the country's democratic foundations and urged voters on Thursday to reject extremism ahead of midterm elections in November.

His attack, detailed in a draft speech released earlier in the day, was speedily and forcefully rebuked by GOP leaders who have accused "divider-in-chief" Biden and his supporters of dispensing their own brand of damaging, dangerous rhetoric.

Newsmax also devoted an article by Charles Kim complaining that "Progressives appear to be very happy with President Joe Biden's speech."

Jeffrey Rodack served as the servile pro-Trump stenographer of Trump's rage-posting in a Sept. 2 article:

Former President Donald Trump is blasting Joe Biden's prime-time speech, calling it "awkward and angry," and saying the president "must be insane or suffering from late stage dementia."

Trump made his remarks in posts on his Truth Social platform after Biden's Thursday night speech.

He wrote: "Someone should explain to Joe Biden, slowly but passionately, that MAGA means, as powerfully as mere words can get, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! If he doesn't want to Make America Great Again, which through words, action, and thought, he doesn't, then he certainly should not be representing the United States of America!"

He also posted: "If you look at the words and meaning of the awkward and angry Biden speech tonight, he threatened America, including with the possible use of military force. He must be insane, or suffering from late stage dementia!"

In another post, Trump showed side-by-side photos of Biden with both arms raised while making his prime-time speech and of himself kissing the American flag.

Sandy Fitzgerald transcribed a Newsmax TV appearance by right-wing activist Matt Schlapp, who claimed that Biden's speech "shows he is a president "who hates half of America" and wants to deprive them of their rights." Apparently, Schlapp believes that trying to overthrow the government on behalf of a mentally unstable man is a "right."

Fitzgerald followed that with another Republican's attack on the speech:

President Joe Biden's "hypocrisy" was on display Thursday with his anti-MAGA speech at Independence Hill in Philadelphia, especially considering he campaigned on a promise to heal and unite the nation, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald said on Newsmax Friday.

"I think what you're seeing is with 67 days left until the election that somebody at the White House has polling that says what they need to do is divide the Republicans and somehow cast out a specific percentage of them and alienate them and hopefully they won't show up and vote in the midterms," the Wisconsin Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report." "A partisan message is a political message and it's outrageous, the way it was presented yesterday."

Yet another Rpeublican appeared on Newsmax TV to attack Biden, which Fitzgerald also dutifully transcribed:

President Joe Biden and the Democrats have given up on attracting people who are undecided or in the middle of the political spectrum based on any achievements, so he had to be divisive in his speech Thursday night in Philadelphia to drum up support among the base to get them out to vote in November, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler said on Newsmax Friday. 

"[He was]talking about Jan. 6, for example, calling out MAGA Republicans, which, by the way, are basically Republicans," said the Pennsylvania Republican on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now. "The irony and the hypocrisy are rich when he starts talking about extremism.

"Instead, it's the Democrats who are extreme," Reschenthaler said. "It's extreme to suggest that we should pack the Supreme Court. It's extreme to weaponize the DOJ and the FBI. It's extreme to raid the home of a former president on incredibly flimsy evidence.

Nicole Wells took over the transcribing duties for another GOP TV hit:

Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., told Newsmax Friday that President Joe Biden's speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia last night was "political" and "creepy," despite White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying otherwise.

"It was purely political and the shameful part of it is that he's using the military to politicize his own radical left-wing agenda that continues to wreak havoc on this country," Hice said, during an appearance on Newsmax's "Spicer & Co." "The blood red background was just creepy, the whole thing was creepy, and the use of the military was just inappropriate for this politically driven speech."

Newsmax's own resident Trump toady, Dick Morris, chimed in as well:

President Joe Biden's dark and divisive Thursday speech was not about America, but more about former President Donald Trump to try to turn the attention of the midterm voters to the past president rather than the struggles of the sitting one, according to presidential adviser Dick Morris on Newsmax.

"The question is, why would Biden take these hits — take the risk of giving so incendiary and unpresidential and intemperate of a speech as president — and the answer is because he's essentially falling on his sword to bring the issue to Trump and making this issue all about Donald Trump," Morris told "Saturday Report."

Morris noted the persistent attacks on Trump are going to fail to keep him from running in 2024, as he wrote in his book. 

"Now the only issue will be Trump and the archives, and it's a trivial issue: literally overdue library books; here's no national security implications," Morris told host Rita Cosby.

As we've noted, the faulty library-book excuses comes straight from Trump's lawyers.

Newsmax columnists unsurprisingly hated the speech as well. Michael Dorstewitz issued a litany of complaints, only some of which had to do with the speech::

President Joe Biden pointed his finger in the wrong direction during last night’s prime-time speech when he purported to describe an "ongoing attack on democracy."

There’s no questions but that America’s rights and freedoms are under attack. But they’re under attack by the Democratic Party, not what he calls "MAGA Republicans."

[...]

And on the subject of identity politics, Rachel Levine was chosen as the first transgender assistant secretary of Health, Sam Brinton as the first nonbinary deputy assistant secretary of Energy, and Karine Jean-Pierre as the first Black and openly LGBTQ female White House press secretary.

[...]

Continuing the definition, under "severe economic and social regimentation," Biden implemented onerous COVID restrictions, making vaccination of an experimental drug a prerequisite to continued employment.

The administration also pushed to severely limit in-person learning.

Dorstewitz didn't explain why it was a bad thing to do what needed to be done to try and limit the spread of a deadly virus, and he failed to mention that the COVID vaccine was developed under Trump (and is not "experimental").

Newsmax was still attacking the speech days later. A Sept. 6 article transcribed a Newsmax TV appearance  by Republican Rep. markwayne Mullin, who declared that ''I think President Biden owes every patriot American out there that's from a red state that voted for President Trump an apology, and he should do it now,'' and another article gave space to GOP Rep. Ralph Norman to whine that "Joe Biden did what he always does, which is use his voice to basically lambaste anybody that voted for President Trump. His hatred is that big."

WND Falsely Fearmongers About 'Child Bride' Laws
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Bob Unruh wrote in a Sept. 8 WorldNetDaily article:

Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat who is known for endorsing the debunked "Russiagate" collusion conspiracy theory Democrats launched against President Trump as well as verbally threatening the justices on the Supreme Court, by name, is demanding that "child bride" laws be instituted nationwide.

That's part of an analysis from Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, which fights for religious and civil rights.

He was addressing Schumer's stated plan to push HR 8404 through Congress within weeks.

That plan, called the "Respect for Marriage Act," although it essentially destroys the historic and traditional concepts of marriage, is one of the congressional Democrats' top priorities.

"In addition to same-sex marriage, California will be able to force its pedophilia-enabling child bride laws on every other state ... and every other state will be forced to honor those insane laws!" Staver explained.

The Respect for Marriage Act has nothing to do with California "child brides" -- that's just a fearmongering attack from Liberty Coiunsel that Unruh doesn't botther to fact-check or challenge because's a stenographer, not a reporter. If Unruh had bothered to do any research before writing his article, he would have learned two things.

The first, as a reputable news outlet reported, is that several states -- not just California -- have no minimum age for marriage, which makes it nonsensical for Staver to put solely blame California. Mississippi is also among the 12 states that has no minimum marriage age, but Staver and Unruh can't manufacture any right-wing outrage invoking that state the way the can by invoking California and Schumer.

The second is that one key opponent of states raising minimum marriage age is Republicans and conservatives, who are actually invoking the "sanctity of family" in opposing that. Interestingly, these conservatives are working with civil liberties groups like the American Civil Liberties Union to fight higher minimum ages for marriage, which led to the defeat of a California effort in 2017 to set a minimum age of 18. A bill passed in the state thte next year "placed strict guidelines on judges who approve such marriages, requiring them to interview the parties, gain consent from parents, and report any suspicious circumstances, and also mandated counties collect data on child brides."

All of this is window-dressing to obscure their usual hate of same-sex marriage, which is actually what the Respect for Marriage Act is designed to enshrine into law. Indeed, Unruh approvingly quoted Staver ranting that "some children, if the plan is adopted, will be 'placed in danger of pedophilic 'grooming.'"

Again, Unruh did nothing except rewrite Staver's press release, so he's nothing but a lazy stenographer who can't be bothered to do even the most rudimentary fact-checking. And Joseph Farah wants his readers to keep funding this laziness.

NEW ARTICLE: The MRC's Anti-Abortion Extremists
Topic: Media Research Center
State surveillance of women lest they cross state lines for an abortion? Smearing companies who offer abortion benefits to workers as servants of Moloch? That's how the Media Research Center attacks anyone who doesn't hate abortion like it does. Read more >>

MRC Suffers A Flare-Up of Hillary Derangement Syndrome
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center has been suffering from Hillary Derangement Syndrome for a good 30 years now -- but it's been experiencing a flare-up of the condition over the past month or so. It kicked off in a Sept. 1 post by sports blogger Jay Maxson, who was upset that sports commentator Stephen A. Smith argued that Hillary would have been a good president, whining that Hillary was accused of "using a personal server for classified documents. Thanks to former FBI director/stooge James Comey, she escaped prosecution on that and a few other scandals, too."

Kevin Tober spent a Sept. 4 post huffing that Hillary -- and Chelsea! -- were allowed to appear on TV to promote a new project:

On CBS Sunday Morning, anchor Jane Pauley and Norah O’Donnell gushed over former First Lady, Secretary of State, and two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and touted her new documentary on Apple TV Plus called “Gutsy”. Clinton’s documentary was supposedly made to highlight women that Clinton believes are gutsy. Despite Hillary Clinton being one of the least gutsy people in public life, CBS still took this new publicity stunt by Clinton seriously. 

Tober went on to attack Hillary for not divorcing her husband, Bill Clinton, after he notoriously had an affair with Monica Lewinsky:

A real reporter would’ve pointed out that Hillary Clinton only stayed with Bill Clinton because she knew her political career would’ve been over if she left. There would’ve been no run for the Senate in New York, a presidential run in 2008 or 2016, and certainly no nomination as Secretary of State. 

That is the opposite of gutsy. Her decision was pure political calculation, which is why Norah O’Donnell ignored that fact and played along like the Democrat propagandist that she is. 

Tober provided no evidence whatsoever that this was the "real" reason Hillary stayed with Bill, and it's not something he cannmotknow otherwise. Besides, we thought conservatives were against divorce and all for keeping families intact.

Alex Christy served up his own Hillary-hating complaint in a Sept. 7 post:

The late night comedy shows returned for their new season on Tuesday and for NBC The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon that meant welcoming Hillary and Chelsea Clinton to promote their new Apple TV show. It also meant asking Hillary, of all people, about document security and the war in Ukraine.

In jest, Fallon asked, “How easy is it to walk out with boxes of classified documents?”

Both Clintons and the studio audience thought that was the funniest thing they’ve ever heard. As Hillary cracked herself up, Chelsea explained, “But also, wait, Jimmy, it's the--it's the-- plural that kills me, right? ...You’re like, not just one box…or one document—boxes and thousands of documents.”

Fallon, also finding the whole thing hilarious and not at all ironic given Hillary’s private server and Bill’s national security advisor stuffing documents down his pants, wondered, “Does he know what he's doing, does he-- what would you do with that? I mean, is it for -- is it for--is it for-- the presidential library?”

BleachBit’s most famous customer explained, “Well, usually when it comes to presidential libraries, everything is in the Archives. We have a National Archive and Record[s] Administration where everything goes and then it gets transferred to a presidential library. At least that's the way it used to happen.”

Christy did not offer any evidence to prove that anything Hillary had allegedly done with classified documents was exponentially worse than what Trump has done by literally stealing them from the White House.

Tim Graham devoted his Sept. 9 podcast to whining about Hillary -- and, of course, rehashing old right-wing attacks on Bill:

To publicize their new eight-part Apple TV series titled Gutsy, Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton did a tour of fawning, flattering interviews, because that's what the liberal media can be counted on to provide. The show's based on their 2019 book titled The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience. 

In the promos for the Gutsy book, they defined gutsy women as "leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done." Hillary Clinton is one of American history’s greatest doormats. She arrived at the summit of American politics by tolerating her husband nailing any woman who would have him…and several who would not!

Ironic coming from a guy who has spent the previous five years, along with his employer, tolerating anything and everything Trump did -- including the incitement of an insurrection because he's mentally incapable of dealing with the fact that he lost an election.

Bill D'Agostino served up his own whataboutism effort in a Sept. 13 post:

Since the August 8 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, outraged TV journalists on CNN and MSNBC have slammed former President Trump for storing once-classified documents at his private residence. Yet back in 2015, those same networks were maniacally defensive of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she was under investigation for storing highly sensitive material on a private server.

During the 2016 election cycle, the establishment media felt Clinton’s alleged mishandling of classified information was no big deal. Reporters frequently lamented that the issue was “distracting” from her presidential campaign, and wondered at length when it would all finally “go away.”

[...]

Fast-forward to 2022, and suddenly the media are deeply concerned about the proper protocols for storing classified information.

D'Agostino didn't explain why he has suddenly stopped being concerned about the handling of classified information now that his favorite president has been credibly accused of mishandling it.

Tierin-Rose Mandelburg found a decidedly different reason to engage in Hillary-bashing in another Sept. 13 post:

In all of my existence, I never thought I’d have to write a piece about a former first lady and her daughter discussing a song that talks about a “Wet Ass P***y." 

Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea sat down with none other than Megan Thee Stallion where the trio painted canvases and had a chit-chat for the Clinton’s new Apple TV+ series, “Gutsy.”

Naturally, mom and daughter had high praise for Megan Thee Stallion’s song, “Wet Ass P**y.”

“Chelsea follows rap music, ever since she was a little girl,” mamma Clinton told MTS. “But I kind of came to awareness of you with the Cardi B WAP.”

[...]

Chelsea added her two-sense to the WAP song as well. 

“It’s great to see women be so kind of fierce,” she said.

Fierce is now defined as women shaking their butts in thongs for cameras and screaming about their leaky lower bits.

I suppose Merriam-Webster should update his dictionary.

I am unsure what the Clinton’s were thinking, first by allowing MTS on their show and second by talking about a song with such disgusting lyrics.

Her prostestations to the contrary, Mandelburg didn't "have to write" this piece -- nobody's forcing her to do so (as far as we know). If she's so offended, she can simply quit the MRC and find something more her speed. But the fact that she cranked this piece out anyway tells us that her outrage is performative and she's getting paid too good for said performative outrage for her to ever willingly quit (unless, of course, Fox News is hiring).

Christy lashed out at another Hillary-Chelsea media appearance in a Sept. 16 post:

Hillary Clinton took her Apple TV Gutsy promotional tour to the Thursday-taped edition Late Night with Seth Meyerson NBC where Meyers wondered why Republicans are such hypocrites on classified materials. The routine repeated itself on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday morning with host Willie Geist wondering the same thing.

Meyers, who isn’t the first NBC late night host to recently ask Hillary about document storage, portrayed Hillary as the victim of the worst sort of hypocrisy, “I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about this. I don't know if you've noticed in the news, but there's been an issue about handling classified materials…we've had some fun here because we can't help but find a certain level of hypocrisy from certain people, including the fella who handled this classified material because back in the day…I don't know if you've ever heard this, he thought you should be arrested.”

For her part, Hillary naturally accused Republicans of being not only hypocritical, but also uninformed about her own scandal, “Yeah. And, you know, let me start by saying just for the history books, do you know how many classified documents I had: zero, zero and so, you know, you can't make this up. I mean, the lies they told, the -- you know, heated rhetoric, "Lock her up," all that nonsense. It was totally political, divorced from reality.”

Even PolitiFact has recently ruled that the zero classified documents talking point obscures the truth, but Meyers didn’t care.

Huh -- we thought that the MRC hated PolitiFact because they never fact-check liberals. Christy might want to have a chat with boss Tim Graham about that.

Yes, the MRC continues to be so triggered by Hillary that it will abandon its own cherished narratives just to take any kind of shot at her.

WND Rehashed Old, Irrelevant Story To Fearmonger About Vaccine, Censors Relevant Facts
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Apropos of nothing, Bob Unruh fearmongered in a Sept. 8 WorldNetDaily article:

One of the first patients to take the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot was Megi Brakadze, 27, a nurse in Georgia, just over the border from Russia.

A day later, she was in a coma, her heart stopped, and physicians were unable to revive her.

hey blamed anaphylactic shock.

She had made a video at the time of her shot, explaining, "Vaccines are needed. We are powerless against the virus, we must vaccinate ourselves to avoid diseases or not get seri0usly ill. Although people are afraid, there is nothing dangerous about getting vaccinated. I urge everyone to get vaccinated."

Unruh omitted a couple of facts here. First, the AstraZeneca vaccine has not been approved in the U.S., where much of WND's (dwindling) audience resides, meaning that the story is irrelevant to much of its audience. Second, this incident happened in March 2021 -- more than a year and a half earlier. Thus, it cannot be considered to be "news."

Unruh made the mistake of getting his information for this alleged story from the highly discrtedited Gateway Pundit, which also hid the date the incident occurred. Unruh went on to uncritically quote from this discredited source:

The report said, "Doctors tried to restart her heart but were not able to revive her completely. For some reason, Megi's story did not make the headlines. It was not allowed."

The video explained the doctor's concluded her death was from anaphylactic shock.

It was confirmed by the Georgian Ministry of Health.

Netiher Unruh nor the Gateway Pundit offered any evidence to counter the report of the cause of Brakadze's death. But Unruh somehow did manage to avoid repeating the GP's false claim that "For some reason, Megi’s story did not make the headlines. It was not allowed." In fact, as a reputable news organization reported, "Megi Bakradze's death and the investigation that followed has been headline news in Georgia for months, widely discussed in public and on social media" -- to the point that her death hindered vaccine campaigns in the country.

But both Unruh and GP omit the fact that -- as that reputable news organization also reported -- there's still a dispute over what link there is, if any, between the vaccine and Brakadze's death. One review found no link between the vaccine and her death, and there is a dispute over whether the woman was properly and quickly treated with epinephrine as her allergic reaction became clear.

But Unruh doesn't care about facts that contradict the narrative he's being (sporadically) paid to push. His job -- as is that of every other WND employee -- is to spread fear about COVID vaccines.

After Mar-a-Lago Raid, Newsmax's Morris Gets Stuck In Trump Defense Mode
Topic: Newsmax

Notoriously wrong Newsmax pundit Dick Morris had to shift his pro-Trump groveling in his Newsmax TV appearances from selling his new pro-Trump book to defending Trump following the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago compound in search of purloined classified documents. More than two weeks after the raid, Morris was still in post-raid defense mode:

• Morris claimed in an Aug. 26 appearance that "claims of a search for archives was a "pretext' to find evidence that could be used to keep him off the 2024 ballot," adding that "they waited a year and a half to go after him. So how vital could these security issues be?"
• In another TV hit the same day, he complained that "the Mar-a-Lago raid affidavit was heavily redacted, with the Justice Department's real motives still "buried beneath black ink," insisting that the Justice Department "saw [a] fabulous political opportunity to embarrass Trump, and they raided Mar-a-Lago."
• In an Aug. 29 appearance, Morris asserted that <"I think the Democrats realized [they can't beat Trump at the polls] and they decided to abstain from the political process and just use the control of the FBI and the IRS, and the various government agencies, to hound Trump out of office, and hopefully indict him, and make it illegal for him to run."

Morris was still spinning the raid in a Sept.5 appearance:

''The strategy here by [President Joe Biden's] people is to get off the presidential record and attack Trump personally, and the key element was raiding Mar-a-Lago. That is just creating an issue for Trump that's terribly effective for him,'' Morris said on ''Spicer & Co.'' 

''The next step will be, I think, that they're going to indict Trump on a records violation about the [National] Archives. That's a little bit like indicting someone for having an overdue library book because the archivist is in, the last analysis, a librarian.

''Basically, their nose is out of joint that all the books haven't come in yet. The only thing that would make it serious is if there's a credible accusation that Trump leaked our secrets to the Russians or the Chinese, and he didn't for four years as president, and he hasn't for two years as a former president.''

Morris was parroting Trump lawyers in making the overdue-library-book claim.

Morris still couldn't stop talking about the raid a month later. He ranted in a Sept. 10 TV appearane:

The raid of former President Donald Trump's private residence at Mar-a-Lago might not be about securing an indictment as much as covering for the FBI's pursuit of Trump, according to presidential adviser Dick Morris on Newsmax.

"We need to go from defense to offense on this," Morris, who has advised former President Bill Clinton and former President Donald Trump, told "Saturday Report." "I think that one of the big reasons — if not the major reason — that the FBI seized those documents is that they incriminate not Trump, but the FBI in the Russia collusion scandal, in the scandal of spying on Trump's campaign, and in the scandal of fabricating evidence to the FISA court to lead to wiretaps on key Trump officials."

It got to the point that an article by Jay Clemons on a Sept. 12 appearance that seemed to mock Morris' relentless Trump-fluffing:

Political consultant Dick Morris, who's been busy touting "The Return," a New York Times best-selling book about former President Donald Trump, doesn't need much goading when it comes to making Trump-affiliated prognostications on Newsmax.

While appearing on "Rob Schmitt Tonight" Monday, Morris rattled off four sequential predictions involving Trump and his ongoing document dispute with the Justice Department (DOJ), regarding sensitive materials that allegedly contain "classified" or "top-secret" markings.

Morris' predictions include:

• U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's decision to grant the Trump team's special master request will be sustained, after the DOJ appeal.
• There won't be enough incriminating documents to formally indict Trump in a grand-jury setting.
• The Republicans will claim the majority in the House and Senate chambers for the upcoming midterm elections (Nov. 8). Right now, the Democrats control the House and Senate.
• Starting as early as January 2023, House GOP investigators will put the FBI and DOJ under further scrutiny, in terms of explaining or justifying the FBI's Aug. 8 raid< on Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, along with the House hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021 unrest at the Capitol.

"And these Mar-a-Lago documents [that Trump possesses] will be Exhibits A, B, and C in the case against the FBI," quips Morris.

Clemons didn't disclose to readers that his employer published Morris' book.

Morris totally bought into a pro-Trump conspiracy theory in another Sept. 12 appearance:

Speculating to Newsmax on the documents the FBI took in its raid on Mar-a-Lago, Dick Morris tells "American Agenda" that the documents are a "smoking gun," illustrating collusion between the FBI and the Department of Justice.

"I believe that the primary motivation of the FBI in breaking in and seizing those documents" is that the agency is "trying to defend itself against Trump's condemnation," Morris says.

"I think," Morris continues, "Trump took those documents because he believed that they contain evidence of a smoking gun of FBI and DOJ collusion in the Russia-hoax scandal, in the tapping of his phone as president, and getting FISA warrants — on perjury grounds — to surveil his staff."

"I think the reason the FBI raided was to get those documents back before Trump made them public."

Morris wrapped failed right-wing prosecutor John Durham into his conspiracy theories in a Sept. 16 appearance:

Former President Donald Trump took boxes of documents to his Mar-a-Lago estate to "allow him to go after the FBI," not to keep himself from being investigated, Dick Morris, the author of the book "The Return: Trump's 2024 Comeback," told Newsmaxon Friday.

"The issue here is not the documents Trump took, but what's in them," Morris told "National Report." "I believe that the evidence will eventually show that it includes a smoking gun proving the allegations made by John Durham, the special prosecutor, three days ago."

Morris is nothing if not a slavishly loyal pro-Trump shill.