WND's Latest 'Mark Of The Beast': Portable Digital Health Records Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily has accused a lot of things of being the "mark of the beast" over the years, from implantable microchips to COVID vaccines. Bob Unruh served up the latest candidate in a June 6 article:
The World Health Organization has announced it has taken a step toward a Global Digital Health Certification Network that has as its goal to monitor, digitally, everyone!
The announcement comes from the WHO and the European Commission, after WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said his organization copied a scheme that had been developed during the COVID-19 pandemic by the European Union.
The plans immediately were labeled "Mark of the Beast?" by those watching development of a worldwide agenda to use on citizens.
The Manila Times said Ghebreyesus described the new agenda as a "global public good" and the first step in a scheme for a worldwide health "certification."
Privacy experts long have been alarmed by the idea of a system that would set out to monitor literally everyone. Constitutionalists also are concerned about the related idea that the WHO would force all nations to submit to a global plan that would give it control over health decision-making entirely, meaning a bureaucrat from WHO could shut down a nation's economy, order residents to submit to experimental drugs, or more.
Further, worldwide standards and data monitoring imply some sort of enforcement mechanism that would be needed to require compliance.
You will not be surprised to learn that Unruh's fearmongering is not accurate. The goal of the Global Digital Health Certification Network is to allow easy patient access to vaccination and prescription information across borders in a way that is secure and can be validated, and WHO will not have access to underlying personal information.But Unruh must fearmonger anyway, ominously claiming, "But if people have access to those records, so would governments." Unruh also doesn't name any of these "privacy experts" who oppose this system, let alone directly quote any of them.
In short, Unruh's article offers nothing useful, and its only goal is to spread baseless fearmongering among WND's shrinking base of readers for whom "mark of the beast" is a trigger phrase.
Trump Sycophant Dick Morris Cranks Out Anti-Biden Attacks Topic: Newsmax
As part of his role as Newsmax's resident Donald Trumpsycophant, Dick Morris cranks out lots of anti-Biden talking points as well. Here's what he's done over the past few months with emphasis on two maintalking points, the candidacy of Robert Kennedy Jr. and Republican claims of scandal:
Morris also dutifully repeated Repubican talking points trying to link the Bidens to alleged bribery -- even if he can't actually prove it happened. He wrote in a June 6 column: "We don’t have proof that Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe, but the evidence suggests a full criminal investigation of the matter is warranted." He went on full Biden attack in a June 21 column:
However, as reality set in, his job approval fell rapidly.
But his personal favorability or popularity remained higher than his job approval.
People liked him even if they disapproved of his performance in office.
But now, the revelations of accusations of receiving money improperly, the Hunter Biden scandals, his increasing physical disability and his obvious mental inability to cope with today’s problems are taking their toll on his personal popularity.
In the June poll by McLaughlin and Associates, Biden had sunk to all time lows both in job approval and in personal favorability.
Any politician can recover from bad job ratings — they can always do a better job.
But once the job disapproval has crept into his personal favorability it's hard to recover.
It’s easier to convince people that your job performance has improved than it is to tell them that you have become a better man or woman.
So Biden’s political troubles are mounting to a point where he cannot redeem himself. He is becoming unelectable.
But, in an act that can only be compared to ritual suicide, the Democratic Party remains wed to him.
Morris didn't mention that McLaughlin is a right-wing pollster who's best known for working for Trump's 2020 campaign.And one can just as easily argue that sycophants like Morris are commitingritual suicide by tying themselves to an increasingly erratic and amoral man whose behavior continues to get him indicted. Indeed, Morris ended his columnn with more sycophancy:
Let's put the last few weeks in perspective.
Trump was arrested and then indicted in two separate scandals and his ratings improved. Biden is still immune from censure by his biased Justice Department, but his numbers have dropped.
There is a God.
Morris' smear about Biden's "obvious mental inability" earned him a top-of-column disclaimer from Newsmax stating that "The following column has been authored by a non-clinician."
WND Gets Blowback After Criticizing Christian Show For Not Hating Gays Enough Topic: WorldNetDaily
Like the rest of the right-wing media, WorldNetDaily unsurprisingly published "news" articles and columns attacking companies like Target and the maker of Bud LIght for committing the offense of not hating LGBT people. For instance:
But if a company considered an ally isf ailing to sufficiently hate LGBT people, however, they won't be held to the same standard -- and, as WND found out, there will be some blowback for doing so. On May 30, WND republished a Daily Caller article taking aim at a popular Christian show WND had previously praised:
The popular TV show “The Chosen” defended having a pride flag on set after facing criticism on social media, according to its Twitter posts on Tuesday.
Jon Root, a Christian conservative commentator and Turning Point USA contributor, tweeted out screenshots Monday of a behind-the-scenes YouTube video showing a pride flag on the set of the TV show, which portrays the life of Jesus and his ministry, and asked why the pride flag was there. The Chosen Twitter account replied to Root Tuesday, saying that “we will work with anyone on our show.”
[...]
Dallas Jenkins, the creator of "The Chosen," told the Daily Caller News Foundation that there is no “religious or political litmus test” for employees.
“I love our cast and crew, especially because even though they all come from different backgrounds and beliefs, they work their butts off for the show and the viewers,” Jenkins said. “The show’s official stance on anything is to be found in the content of the show.”
Root told the DCNF that he was “shocked” by the show’s position.
“This is not the response of a show that is truly dedicated to honoring the ‘authentic Jesus’ and everything He stood for,” Root said. “The response showed that 'The Chosen' unapologetically supports sexual depravity and has no problem promoting homosexuality & transgenderism. Promoting and accepting unrepentant sin is not the way Jesus lived or taught His followers to live.”
Root also asked Christians to boycott the show on Twitter, referencing similar moves after Target and Bud Light promoted trans and LGBTQ ideology, and encouraged prayer for Jenkins, the cast and crew.
Not only did that not happen, WND faced pushback for publishing the article. On June 1, WND published a "letter to the editor" from Angela Hunt, "a novelist, youth pastor's wife, and happy grandmother," angry about the article:
Are you kidding? A little investigation would have revealed that a cameraman had placed a small rainbow flag on his camera stand, which was visible in a behind-the-scenes video about the filming of "The Chosen" season four. This flag was not a statement from leaders of "The Chosen," and when asked about the flag, director Dallas Jenkins simply said that he "would work with anyone" on the show.
When you decide to build a house, do you require that all contractors, subcontractors, plumbers, electricians and carpenters be born-again Christians who agree with your doctrines? Does anyone? Dallas Jenkins is committed to providing a quality series, an excellent sacrifice to the Lord, and the series has already resulted in the salvation of many viewers AND people among the cast and crew.
The night of His betrayal, Jesus prayed (in regard to His followers): "I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one." We are not to cloister ourselves in holy communes, but to live in the world and shine the Light.
Over and over again, we tell ourselves to love sinners and hate sin – so why are we spewing vitriol against our brothers and sisters in Christ? Dallas said NOTHING to defend "sexual depravity" or homosexuality. Instead, he defended his right to hire excellent people to work on a story about the Light of the world.
I fear this article – about an incidental object brought in by a crew member – was intended to create mischief. At first glance, a casual reader would assume that a huge rainbow flag was flying above the set of "The Chosen," and nothing could be further from the truth.
I believe WND owes an apology to the leaders of "The Chosen."
A June 5 article by Joe Kovacs featured Jenkins' response to the manufactured controversy:
"To be clear, there is no flag flown. A three-inch flag doesn't fly anyway. And there's been no statement made by 'The Chosen' about Pride or Pride Month or anything like that. There's no promotion of anything happening, unlike some of the headlines and some of the hysterical rantings we've seen."
"This turned into a bit of a culture war, a kind of an intra-Christian culture war and we're getting compared to companies that actively promote whatever woke agenda that people are concerned about."
Jenkins indicated having the flag there on the set was "nothing new."
"For a long time, our cast and crew have wildly different beliefs. They run the spectrum, and they sometimes wear T-shirts or hats that go across the entire spectrum from a Pride flag or a MAGA hat or a Jesus Saves shirt. And no one's been triggered. No one minds," he explained.
Kovacs concluded with both positive and negative anonymous reaction from a source he didn't identify.
And it wouldn't be an LGBT-related controversy if anti-LGBT activist Michael Brown didn't weigh in, and he did just that in his June 7 column. He stated, "My goal here is not to fuel the fires of Christian gossip, nor is it to deepen the controversy. To the contrary, I want to respond in the most constructive and helpful way possible." Brown's idea of "constructive," of course, was to criticize Jenkins for pointing out that, while "The Chosen" is not a religion or a ministry, there were homophobes among his critics:
But it is at this point that I take issue with Jenkins and encourage him to offer a public apology.
That’s because some of the show’s prominent actors had some ugly words for those who took issue with the pride flag. As reported on the Not the Bee website, "Multiple ‘Chosen’ actors who portray Jesus' disciples decry ‘homophobia and ignorance’ of fans after show defends LGBT flag on set."
So, some of the very people who were part of the crowdfunding of "The Chosen" and some of the people who represent the core viewers of the program were trashed by some of the show's prominent actors. Surely, this is not the kind of thing where you say, "Hey, everyone is allowed their viewpoint, and I do not police what they post."Rather, at this point, it's important to show some solidarity with your viewers and not just with your employees.
The fact is, without the viewers, there would be no employees. Shouldn't this be a real concern, not out of a desire for fame or fortune but out of Christian love and ethics?
To give further context to the online interaction in question, Giavani Cairo, who plays the apostle Thaddeus, tweeted, "Another one of the actors on 'The Chosen' here. Anyone who is going to go at one of our family members for something like this, is no fan of ours. They can close the door on the way out. 'Love one another as I have loved you' We stand with our brother 🌈❤️.”
Talk about being tone deaf. Cairo plays the role of an apostle – yes, he's an actor, but everyone knows him now as Thaddeus. He quotes the words of Jesus in his tweet, calling us to love another as Jesus loved us, then he trashes a concerned viewer. Really?
To paraphrase, "Jesus calls us to love another, so get out of here, you jerk! And be sure not to come back. We stand with LGBT pride, not with you, the concerned Christian viewers."
Of course Brown wants anti-LGBT hate to be treated as a virtue. He continued:
Do these actors and crew members have the right to express themselves freely? Absolutely.
Is it good that they showed solidarity with one of their own? To a certain extent, yes.
But they should have been far more considerate of the people who watch their work and help fund it. And they should ask themselves some deeper questions about Jesus, the Bible, Christian love and LGBTQ pride.
In my view, the right thing to do from here in order to honor the Lord and honor the viewers, is this: First, Jenkins should apologize for these hateful and harsh comments, saying that they absolutely do not speak for him or the team behind "The Chosen" and that he regrets the pain they have caused.
Second, the actors should make clear that while they love and stand with their crew and personally reject hateful attitudes, they owe the viewers an apology for their harsh, judgmental and un-Christlike comments.
I believe most viewers would forgive and move on. Isn’t this the path of wisdom, love, integrity and truth?
Yes, Brown is complaining that it causes "pain" to have one's homophobia called out.
But WND eventually got over it; it published an outside article on July 18 touting that production of "the Chosen" won't be interrupted by strikes by writers and actors.
UPDATE: To show just how sensitive it is to accuse its own side of the same things it gets clicks for doing when acceptable targets are attacked, the head of the Daily Wire apologized for publishing a similar attack on "The Chosen" over the rainbow flag, declaring it's "hardly the fault of the show" -- even though the Daily Wire employs rabid homophobes like Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles who have aggressively promoted boycotts against Bud Light and Target over their insufficient hate of LGBT people.
MRC Helps RFK Jr. Play Victim To Boost His Presidential Hopes Topic: Media Research Center
Robert Kennedy Jr. is one of the Media Research Center's favorite so-called victims of "big tech" because his anti-vaccine conspiracy theories keep getting called out for the misinformation the are (which the MRC dishonestly portrays as "censorship") -- for instance, we've noted how the MRC portrayed Kennedy as a victim of its totally imaginary "secondhand censorship" metric. But Kennedy has presidential ambitions, and the MRC would like to help -- not because they want him to win, of course, but because they think he might hurt President Biden's re-election chances, like Kennedy's otherConWebboosters. Here's how it did so early in his campaign:
An April 22 post by Alex Christy complained that a reporter dismissed Kennedy as "token primary opposition" to Biden.
Curtis Houck made an April 28 appearance on Fox News, where he noted that Kennedy did an interview witih ABC News but that "they edited out what they considered to be misinformation on the negative health effects of vaccines," insisting that Kennedy's "speech shouldn't be silenced." He was joined by another MRC staffer, Stephanie Hamill, who insisted that it was "an egregious violation of journalistic ethics" and that, according to the anonymously written writeup of the appearance, "Kennedy is running for president and should have a right to share his views."
When Instagram restored Kennedy's account after suspending it oer his misinformation, Luis Cornelio cheered in a June 5 post:
Big Tech is back at it with election interference, this time anti-free speech platform Instagram admitting that it suspended a presidential candidate’s account over an “error.”
In exclusive comments to MRC Free Speech America, a spokesperson for Instagram parent company Meta admitted that Instagram had censored Democratic Party presidential primary candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The spokesperson claimed, “[W]ith respect to the below: this was an error, which we corrected.” The spokesperson also shared with MRC Free Speech America staff a link to an article at The Washington Post with the following misleading headline: “Instagram reinstates Robert Kennedy Jr. after launch of presidential bid.”
Kennedy Jr., who is challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination for president in 2024, blasted Instagram over what he labeled “undemocratic” censorship in a series of Twitter posts. “To silence a major political candidate is profoundly undemocratic,” the Democrat politician wrote in a tweet. “Social media is the modern equivalent of the town square. How can democracy function if only some candidates have access to it?”
The Post’s article featured a comment from Andy Stone, a spokesman for Meta saying, “As he is now an active candidate for president of the United States, we have restored access to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s, Instagram account.” Kennedy Jr.’s account was initially suspended over alleged COVID-19 vaccine misinformation violations on February 11, 2021.
Note that Cornelio is incapable of admitting that Kennedy spreads misinformation -- as if there is no objective definition of it -- even though he linked to an Associated Press article that specifically identified the misinformation he spread.
P.J. Gladnick spent a June 6 post complaining that the media will report the truth about RFK Jr.'s wack (but dangerous) conspiracy theorires:
Wouldn't it be nice to run for political office confident in the knowledge that the lapdog press will act on your behalf by attacking your primary opponent? Republicans can't imagine it. But Democrats rely on the press to serve as unofficial agents of their campaign and attack their opponents, allowing them to pretend to remain above the fray.
That's the plan for Joe Biden. According to Tuesday's "Politico Playbook," he and his team will rely on the aid of the self-styled "objective" press to attack Robert F. Kennedy Jr on his behalf while comfortably ignoring him as revealed in"What do you do with a problem like RFK Jr.?"
Biden world’s plan is to ignore him. The overwhelming sense inside the campaign and White House orbits is that any other posture would elevate him from a gadfly with a good name to a genuine contender.
They are counting on reporters and other Democrats to do the work of informing voters about Kennedy’s well-established views. Once that happens, as one Democratic strategist put it to us, they will “realize he’s running in the wrong party.” (This person, like others who spoke about Kennedy, did so on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about strategy.)
Yes. Joe Biden can relax at his Delaware beach house during the 2024 presidential primary elections because, according to Politico, the press has his back and will attack RFK, Jr. while Joe stares at the sea from his patio. No debates are necessary, just an occasional attack piece.
And how will Biden's loyal press attack RFK,Jr.? By portraying him as like a Steve Bannon prank candidate, despite his generally liberal Democrat views:
Gladnick made sure not to mention Kennedy's anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories -- probably becaus ehe knows that it's not part of his allegedly "generally liberal Democrat views."
Catherine Salgado played the victim card for Kennedy in a June 7 post:
The Big Tech censors are piling on with their anti-free speech election interference, as YouTube again targets Democratic Party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
YouTube deleted yet another interview of Robert F. Kennedy Jr as the platform continues to join with other Big Tech companies censoring the Democrat presidential candidate. The video, still accessible through The Wayback Machine, has been removed by YouTube, which now has a notice saying the interview violated “Community Guidelines.” The platform has not yet given further explanation.
Trending Politics News co-owner Colin Rugg tweeted June 5, “During a podcast with Mike Tyson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talked about how the CIA killed his father. YouTube has now deleted the video. The elites don’t want you to watch this.” The tweet included a video clip of the censored interview, from Matt Orfalea.
This is hardly the first time Big Tech has censored Kennedy. Kennedy recently slammed Big Tech censorship, tweeting, “To silence a major political candidate is profoundly undemocratic. Social media is the modern equivalent of the town square. How can democracy function if only some candidates have access to it?”
The MRC sure cares a lot about a candidate they have no intention of actually supporting in a non-ironic way.
Newsmax Columnist Demands Evidence Of Things That Didn't Happen In Capitol Riot Topic: Newsmax
Michael B. Abramson wrote in a May 30 Newsmax column:
The Republican presidential nominee, especially if it is President Trump, and Republicans in other races will have to defeat the Democrats' arguments that President Trump and Republicans caused the riot and are a threat to democracy.
Republicans, and House Republicans in particular, must defeat these arguments.
Unfortunately for Abramson, those arguments don't bode well for Trump and Republicans, despite what he thinks. He went on to write:
Republicans must point out that the Jan. 6 Committee did not produce any evidence indicating that Trump ordered the Riot.
As I wrote on Jan. 12, 2021, it was obvious that President Trump did not cause or commit the Capitol Riot.
Democrats will refer to the Jan. 6 Committee's point that President Trump worked to have representatives object to states' awarding of electoral votes.
Republicans must point out that this strategy is not the same as calling for a riot.
In fact, several rioters have cited in their trials a Trump tweet calling for a protest on Jan. 6, adding, Be there. Will be wild!" as motivation for them to come to Washington to protest. And it has been revealed that Trump knew his election challenges were false before he made them, which means that there was little reason to believe that there was no reason to push them beyond inciting his supporters. Abramson continued:
They must investigate aspects of the Capitol Riot which run counter to the Democrats' narrative and then report their findings to the American people.
Most importantly, Republicans must validate President Trump's claims that he authorized 10,000 National Guard troops to be deployed in Washington, D.C., and that this offer was denied.
These troops would have prevented the Capitol Riot.
In all likelihood, the offer of National Guard troops was both conveyed and responded to in writing. Republicans merely need to obtain these writings and put them on a public website.
If writings do not exist, Republicans could prove the existence of the offer by calling individuals to testify such as those were in the Oval Office when President Trump requested the National Guard.
Republicans must also have those responsible for the security of the Capitol and Washington, D.C., testify under oath. Concurrently, Republicans must subpoena their emails, notes, and memoranda regarding any security issues and planning for Jan. 6.
They should be asked about why the Capitol was not better fortified, any intelligence about possible attacks, and their responses to President Trump's request to authorize National Guard troops.
Abramson referenced a Newsmax article repeating a 2022 claim by Trump official Keith Kellogg that he heard Trump request to the Department of Defense that the National Guard be available, but there's no evidence Trump ever issued such an order. But a week before, however, the House committee looking into the riot aired footage of Kellogg stating that he never heard Trump ask for the National Guard or a law enforcement respons on the day of the riot.
Abramson went on to spout a right-wing conspiracy theory:
Third, Republicans must determine the FBI's role in the Riot. FBI officials have implied that FBI agents were in the crowd but have declined to explain why they were there due to the protection of "sources and methods."
Republicans must determine these agents' actions during the Riot.
The Durham Report notes that the FBI meddled in a previous election (2016) and affected political outcome(s). Republicans must determine if the FBI did so on Jan. 6 as well.
This appears to be a version of the Ray Epps conspiracy theory -- which even Epps says has testified false.
There isn't evidence of the things Abramson is demanding not because nobody has searched for it -- it's because those things didn't happen.
To add insult to (nonexistent) injury, Newsmax stuck a disclaimer at the top of Abramson's column stating that "The following column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party, or candidate, on the part of Newsmax." Never mind that Abramson didn't explicitly endorse anyone.
MRC Still Mad That Hunter Biden Is Fighting Back Topic: Media Research Center
We've noted how the Media Research Center has gotten mad that Hunter Biden is starting to fight back against the politics of personal destruction Republicans are using against him. Let's go back in time to look at another example of this anger that we initially overloooked. Curtis Houck ranted in a March 17 post:
Hunter Biden and his family’s team of high-powered attorneys amended their lawsuit Friday, against the former Delaware computer repair shop owner at the center of Hunter’s laptop scandal that exacerbated and illustrated for the world the First Son’s life of ruin.
Not surprisingly, the liberal media — ranging from ABCNews.com to Delaware’s top newspaper to The Washington Post — were so favorable in covering this filing against John Mac Isaac that they rhetorically camped themselves inside Hunter’s colon.
And seeing as how we’ve repeatedly shown that the major broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC have displayed barely any interest in the story on their flagship AM and PM shows, this provides a glimpse into how they’d report on it if they were forced to.
Houck complained yet again that non-right-wing media failed to obsess over the laptop the way right-wing activists demanded:
One of the more comical lines came when [ABC reporter Lucien] Bruggeman insisted Mac Issac “emerged as a central figure in the drama surrounding Hunter Biden's laptop in the waning days of the 2020 presidential campaign, when images, emails, and text messages allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden emerged in public and galvanized the national conversation as voters took to the polls."
Later in the piece, she further boasted: “This new legal offensive comes as congressional scrutiny of President Biden's family ramps up and federal prosecutors press forward in their yearslong probe of Hunter Biden's tax affairs and overseas business endeavors.”
Rating: Pants on Fire. Talk about an alternate reality where the corporate media were diligent (they weren’t), have remained to update on the latest findings (they haven’t been), took it seriously (they didn’t), and made it top of mind for voters (it wasn’t).
"Corporate media"? Isn't Fox News also a corporation?
Houck then attacked a Washington Post reporter as a "wannabe Biden adviser" (as if Houck is not a wannabe DeSantis adviser) and whined that the reporter "went to work poking holes in the basic paperwork Hunter signed when he dropped off his laptop, insisting the laptop was “the subject of intense scrutiny dating” back to the New York Post’s original, October 14, 2020 story, and offering a dubious conspiracy that the information may have been planted." Houck also went after another reporter:
USA Today? More of the same. Bart Jansen leaned into Hunter’s spin with “‘Egregious violation’: Hunter Biden sues computer repairman who gave laptop data to Trump allies.”
Jansen explained in his lede, “Hunter Biden filed a claim Friday in federal court over a laptop filled with his personal information that was widely distributed, alleging that a computer repairman violated his privacy, took part in a conspiracy and helped others invade his privacy.”
Ignoring this bizarre line of thinking that the data was his but not necessarily the laptop, Jansen said “[t]he files included pictures of Hunter Biden using drugs, without clothes and in intimate relations with other adults.”
And where did they come from, Bart?
Houck even took the time to attack local media in Delaware:
Finally in local media, Delaware Online (the website for the Wilmington News Journal) said Hunter was “suing the Trolley Square computer repair shop owner who claimed Biden dropped off his computer and never retrieved it,” with Mac Isaac “rocket[ing] into the national spotlight in October 2020” and has since “portray[ed] himself as a victim in the scandal.”
If the First Family were hot on your trail and imploring the president’s Justice Department and the AG of the state the family unofficially rules over to join in, wouldn’t you think of yourself that way?
As if Mac Issac wasn't politially motivated here, given that his first instinct when given the laptop to repair was apparently to rummage through it for incriminating data and then hand it over to partisan pro-Trump operatives to use as political bait. Strangely, though, Houck offered no defense of Mac Issac at all in his post, telling us that his real source of anger here is that Hunter is fighting back.
Of course, right-wing activists like Houck don't think Hunter deserves a defense at all -- they think he should be an eternal punching bag simply for the sin of having Joe Biden for a father and for leading a less-than-perfect life, and they would not feel bad if they drove Hunter to suicide. He's not a human being to them -- he's an abstract object of hate, a narrative, a tool to exploit. And if President Biden loses or Hunter dies, all the better.
NEW ARTICLE -- Fake News At WND: Coronavirus Edition, Part 7 Topic: WorldNetDaily
The COVID pandemic may have been winding down, but WorldNetDaily's false claims and misinformation about COVID and its vaccines never did. Read more >>
MRC's Whining Campaign Succeeds In Forcing Musk To Allow More Anti-Trans Hate On Twitter Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center has been complaining for a while now that even though Elon Musk has given right-wing hate more exposure on Twitter, the platform has continued to flag anti-transgender hate -- it even issued a report complaining that anti-transgender hate was being blocked. Kevin Tober seemed to express hope that things might change in a May 23 post under the headline "HUGE":
Conservative media & entertainment company The Daily Wire announced Tuesday that starting May 30, they will be streaming all nine of their podcasts on Twitter for free. The move comes after Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing revealed a massive censorship campaign by YouTube which demonetized many Daily Wire videos and podcasts in the platform, including The Matt Walsh Show.
“At this moment, Twitter is the largest free speech platform in the world,” Boreing announced. “The overwhelming amount of positive feedback from our advertisers and audience after putting ‘The Matt Walsh Show’ on Twitter signals to us there is tremendous opportunity, which is why we’ve decided to distribute the rest of our shows on Twitter."
Walsh, of course, is a raging homophobe and transphobe whose lies the MRC has helpedto spread.But when Walsh's anti-trans film ran into Twitter policies, a June 1 post by Luis Cornelio helped the Daily Wire to complain about it and play the victim:
Twitter can’t make its mind up on the radicalized gender ideology of the left and initially “canceled” a deal with The Daily Wire to promote a documentary.
The Daily Wire Co-CEO Jeremy Boreing slammed Twitter, accusing the company of thwarting a partnership to premiere What is a Woman? free of charge on the platform. Boreing said Twitter alleged that the documentary violated the platform’s policy on “misgendering” and it threatened to censor the film if shared on its platform.
Twitter apparently backed out of the deal after it had already signed a deal with the news outlet, which included a package that permitted the movie to be hosted on a dedicated Twitter page.
Boreing declared in a tweet: “After reviewing the film, though, Twitter let us know that not only could we no longer purchase the package they offered, they would no longer provide us any support and would actually limit the reach of the film and label it as ‘hateful conduct’ because of ‘misgendering.’”
Musk responded to the reported bombshell claiming that “[t]his was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitively allowed.” The Twitter owner also added that not using preferred pronouns is “at most rude” but warned that misgendering individuals “certainly breaks no laws.” Musk condemned threats of violence as a result of deadnaming, saying in his tweet: “However, for the same reason, I object to rude behavior, ostracism or threats of violence if the wrong pronoun or name is used.”
MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider reacted to Musk's response, stating, "It's more clear than ever before that Elon Musk is fighting a civil war within his own organization. Many of his employees refuse to follow his leadership to make Twitter a platform for free speech. We applaud Musk for standing up for the First Amendment and American values."
Cornelio then tried to frame Musk as pro-transgender despite his behavior clearly indicating he's not:
Twitter’s blatant threats of censorship mark a stark reversal of Elon Musk’s dubious promise to make Twitter 2.0 a free speech platform. However, these developments should surprise no one. Twitter previously removed parts of its policy that barred “deadnaming” and “misgendering” transgender individuals. The move was championed as a victory for free speech, but the platform still considered “gender identity” a “protected category” against its so-called hateful conduct policy, as MRC Free Speech America reported in April.
The new policy echoed Musk’s publicly announced support for the transgender community. “I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic [sic] nightmare,” the Twitter owner said in a tweet on Dec. 16, 2020. Musk also tweeted, “What is a woman?” on May 29, 2023, responding to a question from Spotify Founder and CEO Daniel Ek, who asked in a tweet, “If aliens were to visit us right now, what’s one thing we’ve chosen to do as a society (that feels relatively simple or obvious) that would be super hard to explain?”
Cornelio didn't mention that Musk is such a bad father to his transgender child that the child has moved to sever all ties with one of the richest men in the world -- more evidence that he really doesn't "support the transgender community."
(This wasn't the only simping the MRC did for the right-wing Daily Wire. A June 12 post by Cornelio asserted that YouTube "censored" videos from Daily Wire personnel like Candance Owens, Michael Knowles and Jordan Peterson because they "push[ed] back against the left’s radicalized gender ideology," followed two days later by a post from Autumn Johnson noting YouTube's explanation that the hosts violated the platform's "hate speech" policies and Knowles denying that his transphobia is hate speech.)
Well, all that right-wing whining paid off for the haters. A June 15 post by Gabriela Pariseau touted a new MRC study showing how more anti-transgender hate and disrespect is spreaing on Twitter:
Many have suspected an internal rebellion at Twitter against owner Elon Musk’s vision of a free speech platform. And now we have evidence to show that Musk’s moves to make Twitter more of a free speech platform have been successful despite attempts by his disgruntled anti-free speech employees to thwart him.
In recent weeks, Twitter has begun to slow its censorship of those criticizing the “transgender” movement. The shift came after the platform changed its “deadnaming” and “misgendering” policy on April 18, and following several staff resignations, including the head of Trust and Safety chief Ella Irwin’s departure on June 1.
Twitter saw a 261 percent drop in censored users and posts critiquing the left’s radical “transgender” ideology in the month after the policy change (April 18 through May 17, 2023) compared with the month prior (March 18 through April 17, 2023), according to data found in MRC Free Speech America’s CensorTrack.org database.
The month prior showed an unprecedented spike in censorship of content related to the “transgender” issue. Although it is too soon to tell whether this recent free speech win will last, the drop from 142 cases of censorship the month before the policy changed to just 37 cases after shows considerable promise.
Pariseau touted how Musk himself touted Walsh's transphobic film in the wake of the controversy. She then gave the game away by effectively admitting that getting others to hate transgender people is the point, and that Twitter was an obstacle to that agenda:
Musk’s efforts to promote free speech on the “transgender” issue have come just in time. A new Gallup poll found that “A majority, 55%, consider ‘changing one’s gender’ to be more ‘morally wrong.’” In October a similar poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates found that 75 percent of voters “believe that the transgender movement has gone too far by encouraging underage minors to use drugs and surgery to transition to the opposite sex.” Now the majority of Americans can enjoy true free speech and speak their minds on Twitter.
Musk standing his ground is a good start to making Twitter a free speech platform, but it is impossible to ignore the massive amount of censorship that has occurred under his watch to date.
Censorship of those who speak out against the left’s radical “transgender” ideology tripled over the last year, largely because of unchecked censorship on Twitter. Using the MRC CensorTrack.org database, MRC Free Speech America found that Big Tech collectively silenced 689 accounts or posts from users who dared critique the left’s “transgender” narrative between June 10, 2022 and June 9, 2023. That’s a 359% increase from the year before when platforms censored users 192 times between June 10, 2021 and June 9, 2022. The overwhelming majority of this year’s cases (635 of 689, or 92%) were a result of Twitter censorship.
The platform silenced mothers concerned about children being indoctrinated by the left’s woke, “transgender” narrative and detransitioned women sounding the alarm about the horrific reality of medical transition. The platform also halted users from exposing which children’s hospitals offered transition treatments to minors.
[...]
Obviously, Twitter, although the primary culprit, is not the only platform with a censorship problem. Video platforms particularly targeted those attempting to share their personal experiences with gender “transition.”
Pariseau didn't mention that those transphobic attacks on chidren's hospital resulted in violent threats against them, nor did she explain how being transgender is an "ideology." She also didn't disclose that McLaughlin & Associates is a right-wing pollster best known for doing polls for Donald Trump's 2020 campaign with whom ther MRC worked to manufacture a narrative that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump.
How Has WND's Brown Been Hating LGBT People Lately? Topic: WorldNetDaily
Our catch-up on Michael Brown's anti-LGBT activism continues with an April 19 WorldNetDaily column in which he lists the existence of LGBT people as further evidence that the country is on an "inevitable and disastrous cultural trajectory":
Many things can seem innocent and innocuous in their early stages, just like a rocket that is the slightest bit off target. Nothing to worry about! In the end, though, it will miss its target by many miles. The wrong trajectory, however so slight, ends up with a major deviation from the original target and goal.
That's one reason why I often use a full gamut of letters when speaking about gay and trans activism, namely, LGBTQ++. It's a constant reminder of the trajectory, which originally started with just the G before quickly adding the L, then the B. Then it was T, then Q (which was part of the early foundation of, "We're here, we're queer, get used to it"), then beyond.
That's why websites answer questions such as, "What Does the Full LGBTQIA+ Acronym Stand For?" This same website has a section titled, "Understanding LGBTQ2S+ and other expanded acronyms."
But of course. Once you deviate from foundational, societal norms, the possibilities are endless.
Another site offers, "68 Terms That Describe Gender Identity and Expression." And a nonbinary reference page lists a number of multi-genders, including abigender, ambigender, bigender, demiflux, genderfluid, pangender, polygender and trigender, all defined with the utmost seriousness. Again, this is what happens when you deviate from "male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27).
That's why the list of preferred gender pronouns has become absolutely (and sadly) laughable, yielding questions like this: "Is bun/bunself a valid pronoun? My friend was calling me a transphobe since I said it's not valid."
One responder answered, "I don't understand neopronouns (for example, Someone said they prefer 'bug/bugself' as pronouns). Is this even respectful to the LGBTQ community?" Seriously!
More broadly, the larger trajectory of gay activism has inevitably led to this current moment in history, which includes: 1) The continued assault on our families and children, as Washington state has "passed a bill allowing children to legally be taken away from their parents for not consenting to gender transition procedures on their child."
Brown complained in his April 24 column that teaching kids not to hate LGBT people is a bad thing and somehow a form of "grooming":
Yes, the thinking of the children must be changed, and at the earliest ages possible. Or in the words of a gay drag queen who participated in Drag Queen Story Hour’s for children, the goal was to “groom” the little ones (not meaning here in a pedophilic, sexual way, although that may have been the goal for some, but in terms of changing their thinking about gays and sexuality).
In his April 26 column, Brown complained that "progressive" Christians don't hate LGBT people enough and that the Bible demands that they do:
When it comes to homosexual practice, progressive Christians argue that the biblical authors were not familiar with loving, same-sex relationships, otherwise they would have blessed them. Instead, it is claimed, they were familiar with abusive same-sex relationships, such as pederasty or prostitution or promiscuity.
But this argument breaks down on numerous levels.
First, are these progressive Christians claiming that loving, committed same-sex relationships did not exist throughout history? If so, what does that say about the fleshly and sinful nature of same-sex relationships? Was there no true, gay love in the ancient world? Is it only a recent phenomenon? That alone would be a bizarre and self-defeating argument.
Second, there is plenty of evidence that at least some of the biblical authors would have been familiar with committed gay couples. Some scholars have even argued that the situations Paul dealt with in Corinth would be very similar to the situations we deal with today.
Third, Paul taught that homosexual practice was fundamentally wrong, a violation of nature (meaning, the way that God created men and women). This was a matter of natural law, of biology, of divinely intended function, not a matter of societal practices or preferences.
Fourth, Jesus certainly understood human nature, and He only reinforced biblical teaching about sexuality and marriage. Or are you telling me that He was unable to gaze into the hearts of LGBTQ people and see their struggles? (A professing gay Christian once used that very argument: Jesus really didn't know what was in people's hearts. So, this "gay Christian" chose to downgrade who Jesus was rather than recognize the error of his ways.) Since Scripture tells us plainly that Jesus did, in fact, know what was in every human heart (see John 2:24-25), we must accept His judgment on the matter. God established marriage as the union of one man and one woman for life (see Matthew 19:4-6), and all sexual acts committed outside of that union are sinful and defiling (see Matthew 15:19-20).
Fifth, the idea that the biblical authors simply didn't understand same-sex attractions is to say that they were not inspired by God and that they did not have divine insight into human nature and the nature of sin. Again, this is a completely self-defeating argument, since, if you can succeed in proving that the biblical authors didn't get these things right, then you have just undercut the authority of the Scriptures.
Brown ranted about "cultural capitulation" in his May 10 column: "A current example would be the cultural mandate that requires us to give our preferred gender pronouns or to deny biological realities when talking with a trans-identified person. We rightly say no to that mandate for many reasons."
Brown spent his May 15 column praising how his teenage granddaughter hates LGBT people as much as he does (which, of course, he framed as "common-sense wisdom"):
"They no longer teach about the birds and the bees but about the birds and the birds and the bees and the bees and the bees that used to be birds and the birds that used to be bees."
Those were the spontaneous comments of our 16-year-old granddaughter as she explained to my wife and me what was being taught in her high school.
We were all together near Lynchburg, Virginia, celebrating the college graduation of our oldest grandchild, Ellie, from Liberty University when our youngest grandchild, Riley, learned that she had been penalized for failing to complete a class assignment.
Until then, her grade had been an A, but it now dropped down to a C. What happened?
It was a gender and sexual orientation assignment in a health class where Riley had to supply definitions for the standard LGBTQ+ terms, including words like genderqueer. But of course! I can actually point you to books for toddlers with similar vocabulary lessons. Certainly, all teens must be able to tell the difference between a cisgender person and a self-identified genderqueer individual, right?
In the past, with her parents' full approval and encouragement, Riley had opted out of other assignments, some of them with sexually explicit material. And her teacher had always accommodated these requests. But this time, while away with family and doing the assignment remotely, she simply failed to turn it in, hence the penalty in her grade.
We encouraged her to write to her teacher, explaining that the class violated her personal religious and moral beliefs, which she did immediately.
Thankfully, the teacher responded quickly, saying that she would never ask a student to complete an assignment that made them uneasy. Wonderful!
But this is hardly the norm in many of our school systems today, from children's schools through our universities. There is often a high price to pay for failing to conform.
Brown concluded by expressing his desire for other teens to follow his hate:
The bad news is that a whole generation of young people has been heavily indoctrinated, from the schools to social media, and from many authority figures to movies and TV, resulting in deep confusion and uncertainty. (I'll write more about this shortly; for the moment, see this recent report documenting how the number of high school students identifying as somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum has doubled since 2015, now at 25%.)
We had better pay careful attention to what our children are taking in, doing our best to provide positive, clear and compassionate environments for their own growth and development. And by all means, let us keep pushing back in the schools. Young lives are at stake.
Should we be similarly concerned that people like Brown are trying to indoctrinate young people into hating anyone who's not heterosexual? He's silent about that.
Tim Graham's Hunter Biden Derangement Includes Lashing Out At Fact-Checker Topic: Media Research Center
Tim Graham served up his own twist on his employer's Hunter Biden Derangement Syndrome in a May 13 post complaining that a fact-checker brought up an old MRC poll while fact-checking Donald Trump's CNN town hall:
Washington Post "Fact Checker" Glenn Kessler somehow thinks it's a terrible idea to do a poll asking about how the 2020 election could have turned out differently. That's odd, since The Post did polls for several years asking if the Russians made the 2016 election turn out differently. Robert Mueller didn't find that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians, but that didn't stop the incessant journalism promoting that idea.
After the CNN "town hall" with Trump, Kessler took on something Trump said about the Hunter Biden laptop story suppression, and veered into attacking our Media Research Center poll, which Trump didn't mention. On all the social-media censorship and media bias by omission, Kessler asserted "there’s no evidence it made a difference in the election result."
Twitter briefly blocked users from sharing the New York Post story on Hunter Biden’s laptop — a decision officials later said was a mistake. We’ve previously examined a poll often cited by Trump allies that suggests telling the tale would have swayed the election. The poll was done by the Polling Company, a conservative pollster founded by Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, on behalf of the Media Research Center. Our analysis found that the poll conveniently supported a line that Republicans are pushing — that a lack of media coverage related to the Hunter Biden laptop made a difference in the presidential election.
But when you dig into the results, which are swayed by aggressively misleading questions, it shows that for all but a tiny percentage of Biden voters, the story would not have made a difference — even if framed as a still-unproved scandal. The questions in the poll are similar to messages the Trump campaign used in the final weeks before the election — and it still fell short.
As Rich Noyes explained at the time, we asked about some negative Biden themes and positive Trump themes that the media didn't want to discuss.
Graham strangely didn't even link to the Kessler fact-check of Trump he's criticizing here. But he's really complaining about how, back in February, Kessler called out the poll the MRC bought after the 2020 election in an effort to prove that the election was "stolen" from Trump because the Hunter Biden laptop story wasn't sufficiently covered whan that poll was referenced by Republicans during an GOP-led anti-Biden hearing. Note that Graham stayed silent when Kessler pointed out the wildly biased poll questions (except to huff that they were purportedly questions that "the media didn't want to discuss," though that in itself is a biased assessment) and the bias of the pollster. He also didn't mention that the MRC bought this biased poll even as it was screeching about pre-election media polls purpotedly being "deliberately wildly wrong" because they showed Biden winning bigger than he ultimately did. (By contrast, the MRC never lashed out at pollsters in 2022 when their midterm polling showed a "red wave" that never happened.)
Instead, Graham went on to play victim, baselessly suggesting that Kessler was targeting the MRC because it "regularly criticizes The Fact Checker." He also responded to Kessler pointing out the biased nauture of the poll by noting that "some polls are structured to produce the desired result," by playing whataboutism: "Oh, that never happens at The Washington Post polling shop?" And he got really mad when Kessler argued that Biden's own campaign messaging trumped the right-wing laptop narrative:
Kessler doesn't seem to fathom that the liberal media obviously felt that the Hunter Biden laptop story could be a defining story in the election. Doesn't all the suppression suggest their fear of its impact? But you can only laugh when Kessler claims that blaming media bias is a "stretch."
But all of the lines that were tested were staples of the Trump campaign’s messaging. MRC suggests that media bias prevented those messages from getting through to voters and changing their minds to vote for Trump or even not vote at all. As we noted, that’s a stretch, because it assumes the Biden campaign was not offering its own messages to woo voters that, in the end, were more compelling.
Funny, I thought "Democracy dies in darkness" when the Washington Post isn't putting its big thumbs on the scale.
We don't recall Graham complaining that the New York Post was putting a thumb on the scale when it put out the original laptop story. Nor has he complained that the New York Post botched things by failing to provide independent verification of the laptop that would have overcome objections to the October-surprise nature of a story promoted by a pro-Trump publication and sourced to pro-Trump partisans.
More than two years after the fact, Graham is unable to admit the likelihood that the laptop story simply wasn't strong enough to overcome voters' concerns about an increasingly unstable Trump, and he absolutely will not admit that the MRC's own polling to manufacture its version of a "stolen election" conspiracy theory is simply too biased to be treated as a reliable indicator of anything, as he demands. He's putting narrative before facts -- which is what he's being paid to do.
WND's Herland Falsely Portrays Orthodox Church Issues In Ukraine Topic: WorldNetDaily
Hanne Nabintu Herland complained in her April 26 WorldNetDaily column:
The forced politicization of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine may easily backfire. As the Ukrainian government is now engaged in a militant, atheistic, Soviet Union-type of manhunt and persecution against traditional Orthodox Christians, despite their pledged loyalty to Ukraine, this may be a mistake that will impact the Russia-Ukraine war in unexpected ways. What happens domestically when you begin attacking your own history? "The Ukrainian authorities are sadly ignorant of the spiritual laws that govern the universe. Instead, they spit upon the Church and the saints," says Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye. Almost half of the Ukrainian population adhere to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
[...]
The world-famous Monastery of the Caves, the Holy Dormition Kiev Caves Lavra, dates back to the 11th century. It is the holiest site in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and now at the center of attention, as the current government has decided to expel the church from this site, pledging to take its hundreds of years old holy relics and turning these over to museums. The thousand-year-old monastery is to be a place for arts, crafts and military rehab.
Herland is being quite vague about what is happening here. At no point did she note that, as we've documented, the Ukranian Orthodox Church continues to have ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, which is headed by a stauch ally, Patriarch Kirill. A breakaway sect, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, has formed independent of Moscow -- the existence of which Herland doesn't mention at all (also, Russia refuses to recognize the church). The Ukranian government took over the monastery because the UOC continues to remain affiliated with Moscow despite pledges to the contrary.
Still, Herland insisted on whining: "When the Western-affiliated government follows atheistic Soviet tactics of harassment and persecution of the Ukrainian Church, they ignore the very greatness of their own history that made Ukraine such a center for spirituality in the East." Again, she falsely portrayed the UOC as be persecuted for their religion when, in fact, they are facing consequences for continued links to Russia at a time when Russia is waging war on Ukraine.
That's just rank dishonesty -- but then, we're used to that from Herland.
MRC Lashed Out At E. Jean Carroll (Again) Over Trump Rape Trial Topic: Media Research Center
We've documented how the Media Research Center mocked and denigrated E. Jean Carroll for claiming that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room more than 20 years ago (while lionizing Tara Reade for making unsupported claims that Joe Biden engaged in sexual misconduct). As a civil trial on Carroll's allegations approached, the attacks continued.
Tim Graham's April 26 podcast complained that a PBS newscast did "eight minutes of negative coverage about the civil rape trial of Donald Trump as alleged by journalist E. Jean Carroll," adding:
Their Trump-trashing story was titled "Trump faces civil trial in rape and defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll." They not only touted Carroll's unproven story of rape in the Bergdorf Goodman department store (she can't remember which year it was), they added other witnesses. "Jessica Leeds alleged Trump groped her on the flight in 1979. And People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff has accused him of groping her in 2005 at Mar-a-Lago while she was there to interview him."
An April 30 post by Mark Finkelstein bristled at the idea that sexual assault victims should be trusted:
This is what passes for an MSNBC legal "analyst." On Jonathan Capehart's Saturday morning show, MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner said that cross-examining people who claim to be sexual assault victims, such as Trump accuser E. Jean Caroll, is a "disservice."
Kirschner grudgingly acknowledged that the Sixth Amendment—that inconvenient thing!—gives defendants the right to confront and cross-examine their accusers. But Kirschner said that as a former prosecutor, it was "heartbreaking" for him to see sexual assault victims "falsely accused of making stories up."
But how is a jury supposed to decide who is being "falsely accused"—the accuser or the person being accused—unless the accuser is subjected to cross-examination? And who made Kirschner the arbiter of who is telling the truth and who is "making stories up?"
The real "disservice" would be to justice—if Kirschner's notion were ever adopted, and sexual assault accusers were simply taken at their word.
For that matter, what if Tara Reade, who has accused Joe Biden of having sexually assaulted her, decided to bring suit? Think Kirschner would go on television to bemoan the right of Biden's lawyers to cross-examine her? Rhetorical question.
Then again, the MRC has been silent about questions that have been raised about Reade, and its own reference to Reade defecting to Russia is in a June 1 post by Curtis Houck that is otherwise mostly about his usual attacks on White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Graham served up more whining in his May 3 column:
Liberal outlets rushed to make time for the latest courtroom testimony from Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll. It doesn’t matter that she’s like Brett Kavanaugh’s sketchy primary accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, in failing to know the date of this alleged assault. But her Monday testimony drew six minutes on the PBS NewsHour and drew stories in both The Post and The Times. But there was nothing for little Navy Joan or her mother.
Tara Reade whataboutism came up again in a May 8 post about a new Newsmax show featuring MRC buddy and right-wing radio host Chris Plante:
On the inaugural episode of Newsmax’s Chris Plante: The Right Squad, conservative talk radio star Chris Plante and his assembled panel tore into the leftist media for ignoring the credible allegations of sexual assault of Tara Reade by then-Senator Joe Biden, in favor of non-stop coverage of the flimsy allegations by E. Jean Carroll against former President Donald Trump.
Plante wasted no time getting into the well-deserved media bashing. Plante opened the show by pointing out the media’s hypocrisy: “While the media is focused in a laser-like way on the E. Jean Carroll and her civil trial against former President Donald Trump. Everyone has apparently forgotten all about Tara Reade.”
“She's accused President Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her and she has pretty good standing here,” Plante noted.
When Trump was found to be liable for sexually abusing Carroll, the MRC unsurprisingly complained about that too. Houck whined in a May 10 post:
Between Monday night and Tuesday morning, the “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC spent 43 minutes and 47 seconds on former President Trump being found liable for sexual abuse in a New York civil suit brought by lefty advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. At one point in those roughly 44 minutes, Carroll let slip that CBS Mornings co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King admitted off-camera she said “hooray” Tuesday when she heard the verdict.
Tsk, tsk to E. Jean as she let slip an answer to a question many wonder: Do liberal journalists openly cheer or high-five when something goes their way?
We can assume there was lots of booing in the MRC offices over the fact that Carroll won her lawsuit against Trump. Indeed, as the trial was getting started, Houck wrote in an April 25 tweet: "How warped is E. Jean Carroll? Remember how she even creeped out Anderson Cooper when she said in 2019 that "most people think of rape as sexy"? Utterly deranged and spoke volumes about her pscyhe." In fact, Carroll has explained her comment by noting that "we are saturated with entertainment shows which continually show rapes to gather an audience."
Graham returend to complain in his May 12 podcast that the CNN town hall with Trump "obsessed over scandals" initially, including the Carroll trial. A May 23 post by Finkelstein complained that an MSNBC host was "touting vigilant Trump litigant E. Jean Carroll attempting to add new cash demands every time Donald Trump calls her a 'wack job' on television -- in this case, on the CNN town hall."
Graham wasn't done yet, however, spending a June 4 post complaining that Carroll is planning to work on a book with a dissident Trump family member whom the MRC also happens to hate:
You might think the liberal snobs who dominate the audience of National “Public” Radio would look down on the romance novel. But NPR can’t resist hyping a romance novel…when it’s written by heroes of the #Resistance.
On Friday night’s All Things Considered, NPR reported Donald Trump’s bitter niece Mary Trump is writing a romance novel and posting it in chapters on Substack. This story dominated the ATC web page on Friday:
[...]
Openly gay Mary Trump claimed she's never read a romance novel, and now she's writing one. The plot of The Italian Lesson sounds very typical; "An American woman goes to a hill town in Tuscany, opens a café, meets this hunk."
She’s getting by with a little help from her friends….who are also renowned for being “hypercritical” of Trump.
Graham didn't explain why his website was effectively censoring the fact that its favorite sexual-assault accuser had defected to a hostile foreign country.
With Help From Trump, Newsmax Trashes DeSantis' Botched Twitter Launch Topic: Newsmax
Despite being total Donald Trump sycophants, Newsmax surprisingly promoted Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign announcement on Twitter. A May 23 article by Eric Mack favorably touted it, an article the next day by Solange Reyner featured Texas politician Rick Perry calling it "pretty cool" in a Newsmax TV appearance, and even perpetually wrong Newsmax pundit Dick Morris stated that it was a good move. But Mack also wrote a pre-launch article featuring Trump's political action committee attacking the launch as "one of the most out-of-touch campaign launches in modern history."
After the glitch-filled launch, however, Newsmax changed its tune. Mack touted the issues in a May 24 article:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Twitter Spaces 2024 GOP presidential campaign launch failed, but he tweeted his announcement before the technical issues and embarrassment for the candidate and Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
"I'm running for president to lead our Great American Comeback," DeSantis tweeted Wednesday before his Twitter Spaces campaign presentation, which started with technical difficulties and was crippled for more than 20 minutes after the scheduled launch.
[...]
The original Twitter Spaces link ended after 21 minutes and 17 seconds. Musk tweeted another event, but it was not immediately available.
The event kicked back up at an undisclosed location on Twitter, with DeSantis reading his opening remarks off what sounded like a prepared script. More disparaging articles followed:
There was also a May 25 article by Mack repeating DeSantis spinning away the glitches during a Newsmax TV appearance. But again, this is Trump Central, so Newsmax made sure Trump got his licks in. First up was a May 24 article by Michael Katz:
Former President Donald Trump joined the chorus of critics who roasted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday for multiple technical glitches that hampered the unique launch of his candidacy on Twitter for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
"'Rob,' My Red Button is bigger, better, stronger, and is working (TRUTH!), yours does not! (per my conversation with Kim Jung Un, of North Korea, soon to become my friend!)," Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
Trump added another post on Truth Social showing a video of him at a rally interspersed with a shot of Elon Musk's account in Twitter Spaces with the caption "Preparing to Launch." A voice can be heard saying things such as, "We are kind of melting the servers." And he posted another video titled "Ron! 2024."
Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump's MAGA Inc. PAC, tweeted: "Ron DeSantis's campaign announcement is a historic train wreck. #Trump2024"
That was followed by a May 25 article by Sandy Fitzgerald featuring more trashing from Trump:
Former President Donald Trump, after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's campaign announcement Wednesday, tore into him with a series of posts to his Truth Social account, mostly ridiculing the GOP governor's glitch-filled Twitter Spaces launch with billionaire owner Elon Musk that added a 20-minute delay to the proceedings.
"I know Ron," Trump said in one post. "The way he handled his announcement, he will handle the country!"
In another post, the former president quipped: "Is the DeSantis launch FATAL? Yes!"
[...]
The final post of the night came with a mocked-up "Twitter Spaces" page featuring generated voices of DeSantis, Musk, Adolph Hitler, George Soros, World Economic Forum Chair Klaus Schwab, Dick Cheney, Satan, and an FBI agent offering commentary through a "campaign launch."
At the end of it, a voice representing Trump pops in, saying "The devil, I'm gonna kick your a** very soon. Hitler, you're already dead. Dick Cheney, sounds like you'll be joining Hitler very soon. Ron DeSanctimonious can kiss my big, beautiful 2024 presidential a**."
Nicole Wells followed with a May 25 article noting that DeSantis planned to visit several states "following a glitch-plagued Twitter Spaces campaign launch," and he also appeared on Eric Bolling's Newsmax TV show later that day.
WND Pushes Conspiracy Theory White House U-Haul Incident Was 'False Flag' Topic: WorldNetDaily
An anonymously bylined May 23 WorldNetDaily article stated:
An arrest was made shortly after a driver barreled a U-Haul truck into some barricades at the White House Monday night, but that did almost nothing to squelch concerns that the stunt was a set-up.
A report from Revolver News explained, "We deserve better false flags. It’s as if the FBI isn’t even trying anymore. That’s the consensus from most conservatives, who are calling 'BS' on the latest 'Nazi' stunt that unfolded in D.C., and are calling it just another poorly-orchestrated FBI psyop."
What is being reported is that the Secret Service officers detained the driver of a U-Haul box truck after the vehicle hit a White House barrier.
No injuries were claimed. And the investigation continues.
A spokesman said it appears the driver intentionally hit the security barriers, and charges are pending.
"And right on cue, a Nazi flag was pulled from the cab of the truck and perfectly laid out on the ground for everyone to see," the Revolver report said.
The driver was identified later as Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, from St. Louis and a native of India.
Revolver's report include a comment, "Let me get this straight… so you are telling me a guy with a Nazi flag in an empty U-Haul truck randomly plowed into a White House barricade at low speeds, then gave up immediately and got arrested, and the FBI laid out the flag in front of the truck for the perfect photo op?"
The report itself said, "There are countless legit reasons why conservatives don’t buy this incident, starting with the disgraced FBI’s involvement in orchestrating the Russia Hoax, suspicions surrounding FBI’s involvement in January 6th, and the FBI’s proven involvement in the sketchy 'Whitmer kidnapping' plot, just to name a few.
"In addition Joe Biden, who was best buddies with a KKK Grand Dragon named Robert Byrd, just delivered yet another divisive speech, where he declared 'white supremacy' was the most dangerous threat facing the United States."
WND hasn't touched this story since -- presumably because there's more evidence that Kandula was, in fact, influenced by Nazi ideology. (Also, Byrd spent the last few decades of his life apologizing for his KKK involvement, to the point that even the NAACP mourned his death.) Investigators found in a journal a speech Kandula planned to give if his attempt to overthrow the government had worked that would have announced the end of democracy:
The memo quotes a passage of the journal, which the defendant described as a "green book," that describes a post-democratic U.S. He addresses "my fellow citizens of America" in prescribing historic change.
“As I am familiar with the [unknown] of this country being a democratic nation, and this will no longer be the case," the passage reads, according to the memo. "There shall be consequence if civil unrest happens. To make it clear Any opposition will be met with death penalty to make it clear: (kill president) As you have seen, we will declare martial until the situation has been [unknown]. We will rebuild this world."
The defendant, who allegedly grabbed a Nazi flag from the cargo area of the rented U-Haul just before he was apprehended, ended the passage with the words "Sieg hail," echoing but misspelling the Nazi motto that means "hail victory."
Kandula then exited the vehicle and unfurled a red and white flag featuring a Nazi swastika, according to charging documents. Prosecutors also revealed Friday that Kandula asked officers on scene whether the media would cover what happened.
“He intended to overthrow the government and replace it with an authoritarian regime fueled by Nazi ideology,” said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Schneider.
[...]
Kandula told investigators his plan was to “get to the White House, seize power and be put in charge of the nation.” He told them he would “kill the president if that’s what I have to do and would hurt anyone that would stand in my way.”
Kandula told investigators he purchased the Nazi flag online because the “Nazi’s have a great history.” Kandula told them he looked up to Adolf Hitler and called him a “strong leader” and said he admired the Nazis’ authoritarian nature and support of eugenics.
But because facts are less important than unproven conspiracy theories, WND will never tell you about this. WND would also have to admit that its original report, lazily copied from other far-right sources, is wrong, and it usually takes a lawsuit or the threat of one for WND to correct anything on its website.
NEW ARTICLE: The MRC's Drag Queen Targets Topic: Media Research Center
One doesn't even have to be a drag queen to be a target of hate from the Media Research Center -- one can also be someone with a flamboyant wardrobe or even just a guy in a dress. Read more >>
WorldNetDaily has accused a lot of things of being the "mark of the beast" over the years, from implantable microchips to COVID vaccines. Bob Unruh served up the latest candidate in a June 6 article:
As part of his role as Newsmax's resident 
Like the rest of the right-wing media, WorldNetDaily unsurprisingly published "news" articles and columns attacking companies like Target and the maker of Bud LIght for committing the offense of not hating LGBT people. For instance:
Robert Kennedy Jr. is one of the Media Research Center's favorite so-called victims of "big tech" because his anti-vaccine conspiracy theories keep getting called out for the misinformation the are (which the MRC dishonestly portrays as "censorship") -- for instance, 
Michael B. Abramson wrote in a May 30 Newsmax 
We've noted
The Media Research Center has been 
Our 
Tim Graham served up his own twist on his employer's 
Hanne Nabintu Herland complained in her April 26 WorldNetDaily 
We've documented
Despite being total Donald Trump sycophants, Newsmax surprisingly promoted Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign announcement on Twitter. A May 23 
An anonymously bylined May 23 WorldNetDaily 
