WND Columnist Try To Defend Evangelical Minister -- While Refusing To Describe His Alleged Sexual Misconduct
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WND has been a big fan of evangelical lerader Mike Bickle -- in particular, columnist Larry Tomczak. In a 2021 column, for example, Tomczak listed him among the "men and women of God" who offered "insights to help us navigate these tumultuous times." In another 2021 column, Tomczak touted how "Mike Bickle shared in humility his own challenges and those of the International House of Prayer community in responding to the radical reset God is calling us to in preparing His Bride for His return." In a column from last February, Tomczak promoted the movie "The Jesus Revolution," noting that some leaders who came from that movement were Bickle and fellow WND columnist Michael Brown.

But in October, allegations surfaced that Bickle was involved with sexual misconduct involving several women over decades in his ministry in Kansas City, where he currently leads the International House of Prayer. The first WND columnist to address the controversy was not Tomczak but, rather, Brown, whose Nov. 1 column discussed the fallout but wouldn't mention exactly what Bickle was accused of doing, offering only a link to them instead:

It was absolutely shocking to learn this past weekend that serious allegations had been brought against Mike Bickle, senior leader of IHOPKC. (This stands for International House of Prayer, Kansas City.) Mike is a personal friend and, to my knowledge, a beautiful example of devotion to Jesus. He spent hours daily in prayer and the Word, lived very simply, donating large amounts of money to the Gospel, and always embraced a message of repentance and purity. How could the charges be true?

Right now, we must pray for everything to come to light through proper, due process, and no conclusions should be drawn until then.

If the charges are true, focus must first be put on the victims themselves, working for their full restoration and healing. They are often forgotten at times like this, which only adds sin to sin and hurt to hurt. As for Mike, if he were found guilty, the focus should be on his personal, spiritual restoration, not on discussion about ministry restoration.

As for everyone else affected, let me speak as a father and elder, knowing how much mercy the Lord has had on me and knowing that none of us can boast in our own righteousness. All of us stand by grace, and none of us is too big to fall.

Brown then tried to spin things away from Bickle by claiming that other people's faith shouldn't be affected:

No matter who falls short, God remains the same – perfect in His goodness, His righteousness, His justice, His mercy, and His love. Only God is God!

If Mike's writings helped you draw closer to Jesus, be thankful for that. The closeness you enjoy is real.

If Mike's example motivated you to live sacrificially and devote thousands of hours to prayer and worship, be glad. Your prayers were not in vain. (And they were directed to the Lord, not to people.) Your worship did reach the throne of heaven. (You weren't worshiping Mike; you were adoring the Creator and Redeemer.) Your sincerity has not changed.

[...]

As to whether you can trust your pastors or elders or spiritual leaders (after all, you think, if it turns out Mike Bickle was leading a double life, how do I know that others are not?), let me say three things.

First, the great majority of leaders are not involved in sexual or moral scandals. If they were, the church would have collapsed and died centuries ago. It makes good sense to believe the best unless there is evidence to the contrary.

Second, trust the leaders to the extent they have earned your trust. As far as they have modeled a godly life before you (or, before those who know them best), you can trust them accordingly. As Hebrews states, "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7; see also 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

Third, don't exalt people. Don't make servants of the Lord into superstars. Don't give them status that belongs only to the Lord.

It was nearly another month before Tomczak weighed in on the Bickle scandal, in his Nov, 28 column -- and like Brown, he would be euphemistic, saying only that Bickle is alleged to have "conducted himself in untoward ways, requiring investigation and possible disciplinary measures" and tried to suggest the allegations were false:

I've known Mike for over 40 years as a very close friend. I also state at the outset that any established wrongdoing should never be covered over but examined and dealt with according to Scripture. In 51 years of ministry, I've seen the "good, bad and ugly" in similar situations. "Smite the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter" (Matthew 26:31). The "accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10) knows this.

A classic episode of "The Twilight Zone" once depicted alien beings infiltrating a community to engage in a campaign of personal and community destruction by whispering subtle morsels of evil reports that eventually brought citizens to blows. The aliens watched gleefully from the hillside, basking in their success.

Dante's "Inferno" listed levels in hell, and the very bottom was reserved for those involved in treachery and betrayal. The reason is probably due to the horrible repercussions that result when people damage others' lives and reputations.

"There are six things the Lord hates … a false witness who speaks lies … and he who sows discord among brethren" (Proverbs 6:16-19). Discernment is critical.

"Do not listen to an accusation against an elder, unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses" (1 Timothy 5:19 ESV).

"The first to present his case, seems right until another comes and examines him" (Proverbs 18:17). This is called "due process" – innocent until proven guilty – and it's the basis for our legal system (which is opposite of England where a person is guilty until proven innocent).

Months ago, I was in a room where a person referred to a Christian leader as a "sexual predator." I cautioned the person and later got back to him with accurate facts after an in-depth conversation with the leader and an attorney. The tragedy is that damage had been done with false reports that circulated and a reputation ruined from slander.

After attacking the alleged victims, Tomczak stood by Bickle:

Here's the deal: In 4-plus decades of relationship with Mike Bickle, I stand with him as a man who puts character before charisma. He lives in a modest home with a most generous heart. He's affirming, winsome and authentic. When he was transitioning from pastor to establish the International House of Prayer, he invited me to lead the church and was ever so gracious when I finally declined. While planting our church in a rented facility, I remember Mike (our featured speaker) helping our takedown crew loading up the van. On another occasion, after ministering for a weekend in our church, he gave his entire honorarium to our 20-year-old son in the parking lot so he could get engaged! Facing opposition from a combative local leader, Mike humbly called me for advice. My wife (Mike's her favorite Bible teacher) was blown away when he sent me home from Kansas City with a beautiful portrait of heaven. Every Friday for years I put out in our kitchen a picture of me with Mike and Diane to inspire me for my weekly "Bridal Fast."

I say all the above praying for God's perfect will to be done. I reiterate that accountability is essential. If the careful investigation reveals wrongdoing, I'm confident it will be handled biblically and redemptively with discipline and God's plan for restoration of this man of God who is a gift to the Body of Christ worldwide. He needs our intercession at this critical time. May he emerge stronger than ever to finish well. We love and appreciate you, Mike!

After Bickle admitted at least some of the accusations were true, Tomacak played defense in his Dec. 13 column:

In his personal statement, Mike shared that he was "deeply grieved" about "my past sins" of "20+ years ago. …" "I asked for forgiveness" [from his wife, family, and now church community and the body of Christ].

He sincerely believed these things "were dealt with and under the blood of Jesus," but "since this has now become public," Mike explained, "I want to repent publicly."

With today's "open season" in social media, Mike mentioned that some accusations "are out of context, greatly exaggerated or blatantly false" … but exhorted, "Please do not criticize those who are voicing their disdain for me. Please only speak blessing to them and about them" (Matthew 5:44).

He said that he would not be engaging in "public preaching ministry" and sees this as "God's delayed loving discipline on my life" (Hebrews 12:6, 11), saying he will "look to other leaders to determine how long this season will last – it may be long and it may even be permanent. I will only reengage in my public preaching ministry if God confirms it through others."

Tomczak concluded with more defense: "With everything that has surfaced with our brother Mike Bickle, and the inspiring International House of Prayer, may their cutting-edge prophetic ministry emerge even sharper than ever before through this experience."

A couple weeks later, IHOPKC cut ties with Bickle. Neither Brown nor Tomczak have mentioned that development.

MRC's Stelter Derangement Syndrome Continued During The Fall
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center is in a continual state of Stelter Derangement Syndrome -- never mind the fact that he lost his CNN show more than a year ago. Alex Christy was the sufferer in a Sept. 19 post:

Former chief media correspondent for CNN, Brian Stelter, joined MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Friday’s edition of The Beat to talk about his old employer, the media as a whole, and to proclaim that the industry’s job is to be “louder than the liars” who attack them.

Melber wondered, “So, has CNN, in your view, lost its way? And were they wrong in some of the programming decisions they made, including regarding yours?”

Stelter replied that he didn’t think so because, “there's a big difference between a management regime versus CNN as an institution. And that's true for lots of media companies. When you're reading the newspaper, you’re reading a website, you hate an article, you hate a column, judge that one column. Don't judge the entire institution and that's what I would say about CNN or any other big media brand.”

That would make more sense if you were talking about the op-ed pages or an opinion-based publication, but not for the allegedly straight-news outlets like CNN or MSNBC. When the news section repeatedly makes the same mistakes, blaming individuals covers up systemic problems.

Christy would never make that comment about Fox News, even though the problem he ascribes to CNN and MSNBC is much worse there. He continued to whine:

As for attacks on the media, “This torrent of lies directed at an institution that's trying to get to the truth and, Ari, that's why we need this kind of coverage all the time to try to figure out the best path to being louder than the liars. That's our job. We are supposed to be louder than the liars.”

That also contradicts Stelter’s earlier statement. On one hand, Stelter wants people to criticize individuals, not outlets, but here he is urging the entire industry to adopt certain standards. At the same time that standard of claiming something is true simply because the media said it is, is why the industry is facing a “torrent” of criticism.

Christy himself is a walking contradiction because he refuses to hold Fox News to those same standards.

Brad Wilmouth served up a torrent of whataboutism in a Sept. 26 post after Stelter called out Fox News' history of division on the occasion of Rupert Murdoch's retirement:

Is there anything stranger than crusading leftists on CNN and MSNBC blaming Fox News for dividing Americans? Soon after CNN anchor Abby Phillip attacked Fox News for "outrage porn," MSNBC's The Sunday Show offered ex-CNNer Brian Stelter blaming Rupert Murdoch for dividing America, pitting neighbor against neighbor. 

Name-dropping the title of his new anti-Fox book, Stelter excoriated the outlet as a "Network of Lies" and laughably claimed that Fox, unlike the pro-Biden media, is "not rooted in reality."

The segment was remarkable, coming on the same fulminating cable network that has a substantial history of trafficking in vitriol against conservative public figures, even in this segment. Host Jonathan Capehart recalled congressional Republicans who are resisting a budget deal as he segued to the issue of Fox's future:

But if you zoom out, you can see the real roots of Republican craziness. One of the key factors, media mogul and architect of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, who announced he is stepping down as chairman this week. As a column in The New York Times noted, Rupert Murdoch's empire used passion and grievance as fuel and turned it into money and power.

There's no "passion and grievance" in MSNBC and in Capehart's performance?

At no point did Wilmouth make any attempt to actually respond to what Stelter said.

It surely must have pained Nicholas Fondacaro to admit that Stelter actually echoed right-wing talking points in an Oct. 20 post:

“There is no defense here.” Even CNN’s former media janitor Brian Stelter couldn’t find it in him to throw rhetorical sawdust on the liberal media’s regurgitation of Hamas propaganda and misreporting of the blast at a hospital in Gaza. In a Wednesday appearance on NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live, Stelter ripped into the media for their “atrocious” coverage of the blast and said they lacked “common sense” when they parroted unbelieve death toll numbers Hamas gave them, just minutes after it occurred.

“Hamas is not a credible source for information period. And yet, so many in the media treat them as if their statements just as reliable as any other government statement,” host Dan Abrams emphasized as he was leading into his interview with Stelter.

Stelter noted that he’s usually the one defending the media, but this time “there is no defense here.” “This was an atrocious series of mistakes by many different major newsrooms all around the same time on Tuesday,” he decried. Worse yet, he warned: “I don't think there's been a follow-up or accountability to make sure doesn't happen again.”

[...]

He concluded by lecturing his media colleagues on how they should be like doctors and “do no harm” when reporting from disaster areas, both natural and manmade. “Don't make a terrible situation worse. War is already Hell. It should not be made worse by misreporting,” he said. “But I fear that on Tuesday the media made a bad situation worse. They actually did harm as opposed to trying to the opposite.”

It probably helped that Stelter said this on NewsNation, which the MRC loves to pretend isn't biased despite its clear right-leaning slant. But if Stelter had targeted his remarks at Fox News, Fondacaro would be in a rage, since criticism of Fox News is not allowed.

Indeed, when Stelter released a new book criticizing Fox News, the MRC once again went into full derangement mode. More on that soon.

WND Tries To Lionize Discredited Lawyer Obsessed With Seth Rich
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily just can't stop exploiting -- and lying about -- the death of Seth Rich in order to peddle its own far-right political narratives. Bob Unruh tried to keep right-wing conspiracy theorires about Rich alive in a Nov. 29 article:

The details about the murder of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee worker shot and killed as he walked to his Washington, D.C., home in 2016, remain clouded in mystery.

Police claimed it was a robbery gone bad but his wallet was untouched, and he was shot in the back.

WND columnist Jack Cashill has documented that it just may have been Rich who downloaded DNC details to give to muckracker Julian Assange to post at WikiLeaks on the internet at the time.

Investigator Ty Clevenger also had revealed that the FBI has Rich's personal and work computers, and officials at the investigation team have asked for permission to release those details – over 66 years.

But that apparently is about to change.

The Gateway Pundit reports a federal judge has ruled the FBI must turn over evidence regarding Rich's murder.

Yes, Unruh's two main sources are both conspiracy theorists -- Cashill and Gateway Pundit. And as we pointed out when Cashill touted Clevenger to bolster his conspiracy theory, Clevenger is a discredited lawyer who is a Seth Rich conspiracy dead-ender. Unruh went on to hype Clevenger and the conspiracy theory:

The report explained, "Attorney Ty Clevenger is the bulldog attorney who has been after the DOJ and FBI for years to get to the bottom of who supplied the DNC and [former DNC chair John] Podesta’s emails to WikiLeaks during the 2016 election."

It continued, "This was always the key to the Russia collusion nightmare. If Russia didn’t supply emails to WikiLeaks (the FBI has never asked WikiLeaks who supplied the emails by the way) then the Russia collusion story was built on a lie.

[...]

Social media explained, "Seth Rich is the guy that was murdered because he most likely had incriminating information on many Democrats."

"Social media," it turns it, was just some random Twitter troll.

This was followed by a Nov. 30 article by Alicia Powe, a former WND writer who's now with Gateway Pundit, that glorified Clevenger. The credit is a bit murky; the subheadline claims that the article is about what Clevenger "tells WND," but the byline states "WND News Services," which WND sticks on outside content like Gateway Pundit. Either way, Powe is all about trying to lionize Clevenger and perpetuating the conspiracy theory:

The corporate media still maintains the state-dictated narrative that Rich was killed during a botched robbery and, in tandem with Big Tech, continues to systemically warn that reports of Rich leaking a trove of emails to WikiLeaks founder and political hostage Julian Assange are "fake news” and "conspiracy theories."

But defense attorney Ty Clevenger is still on the case, leaving no stone unturned, in a legal battle against the Federal Bureau of Investigation that has spanned nearly six years.

[...]

The intelligence agencies and DNC claimed Trump "colluded with Russia” to hack their server and badgered Trump with baseless allegations in an investigation that spanned nearly the entire duration of his presidency, but suspected that Rich leaked the information.

Asked whether Rich leaked the DNC emails, Clevenger's answer was decisive. "Yes. I don't think the FBI would have fought me this hard – unless there was something really embarrassing they were trying to keep under wraps,” he said. "Unfortunately, the conclusive evidence that I have seen in a case pending in DC is sealed, so I can't talk about it.

"But I have tried to get [Rep.] Jim Jordan and John Durham to subpoena the evidence from the civil case because I think the public ought to know what's in there. So far, neither of them is interested.

"I don't know who killed Seth Rich. I'm not trying to get in the middle of the murder investigation. I've always focused on finding any evidence that he was involved in the leak. When I proved that he was the source of the leak, then I'd start making noise about the murder investigation.”

[Julian] Assange repeatedly denied that Russia or any "state party" was involved in the leaking of DNC emails, and the WikiLeaks founder even strongly alluded that Rich was the source of the emails.

In fact, the Mueller report found that the DNC emails were, in fact, stolen by Russia and that Assange had been in communication with Russian military officials before and after Rich's death. Powe didn't mention that inconvenient fact, of course, nor did she disclose that Clevenger was the lawyer for Ed Butowsky, a right-wing operative on whose behalf he sued various people and media outlets for purported defamation -- nearly all of which have been either withdrawn or thrown out of court, in no small part because Butowsky lied during his lawsuit against one media outlet. Powe also cryptically wrote:

Clevenger warned that Fox News is nearly "as involved in the cover-up as the FBI.”

"Fox News paid for everyone's silence,” he said. "I begged Fox to hold off settling the case and they paid money through the nose not just to make the case go away and silence everybody. Fox News is the controlled opposition,” he said, contending it's no surprise when "one Murdoch sat on one of the boards for the Clinton Foundation. The Murdochs are 'conservative' as long as it makes them money – they are professionally Republicans.”

Powe refused to explain things any further, but she is presumably referring to Fox News' settlement with Rich's family in January 2021 -- reportedly for seven figures -- over a false story it published on its website about Rich that featured statements made by Butowsky, who retracted all of them as part of the settlement. WND censored all mention of that settlement on its website because it blows up the conspiracy (and cynical exploitation) narrative.

MRC Still Pushing Bogus And Partisan Attacks On Google Search Results
Topic: Media Research Center

Google is continuing its partisan war against Google over the search results it manipulates to claim that the results are somehow biased. MRC executive Dan Schneider touted that shoddy and biased work at a forum, as documented in an Oct. 10 post by Luis Cornelio:

MRC Vice President Dan Schneider raised the alarm about Google’s ongoing election interference ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Speaking at an Oct. 5 forum on Big Tech’s bias at the Paley Center for Media, Schneider highlighted an MRC Free Speech America bombshell report that unveiled how Google is once again burying Republican presidential campaign websites. Schneider warned that Google poses a threat to democracy in America through censorship. “Google’s probably the most effective at controlling and manipulating information,” Schneider said before warning that this censorship scheme presents a “real danger.”

“Our whole system of government is that each of us is to participate in this American experiment of self-government,” Schneider stated at the James P. Jimirro Media Impact Series forum. “But that only can take place if we have access to information, and when we've got a handful of people deciding what information should be accessible and what information should be hidden — like the campaign websites of several candidates on both sides of the aisle — that becomes a real danger.”

Our report, as detailed by Schneider, showed Google is out to get the most popular Republican candidates, going as far as highlighting the long-shot candidacy of Democrat Marianne Williamson and then-Republican candidate Will Hurd. “There was no Donald Trump, no Ron DeSantis, no Nikki Haley, no Vivek Ramaswamy, no Tim Scott,” Schneider said of the Sept. 27 MRC exposé. “We've been doing this for quite some time, and the search results remain the same.”

In fact, that "bombshell" is based on search terms that no normal human would use, seemingly chosen because they returned politically exploitable results, not because they were chosen through any sort of rigorous scientifc analysis. They also inject their own bias into the proceedings, using the word "Democrat" instead of "Democratic," which further invalidates their results.

Just as it had done before the first two debates -- and with an apparent need to try and run up the score for partisan purposes -- the MRC performed this biased exercise again before the third one, as Gabriela Pariseau wrote in a Nov. 8 post:

Republicans are about to have their third presidential primary debate, but Google continues to bury their campaign websites in search results.  

Google's search engine once again favored Biden in searches conducted by MRC Free Speech America one week prior to the third Republican presidential primary debate. MRC researchers broadly searched for “presidential campaign websites” as well as four additional searches specifying the party affiliation of even the third-party candidates. Google continued to bury Republican candidates’ websites if their websites showed up on the first page of results at all. Meanwhile, Google’s AI chatbot previously — and with clear bias — ranked the presidential candidates when asked, but following the release of an MRC study on Bard, it is now staying mum.

In a search for “republican presidential campaign websites,” Google did not produce a single Republican candidate’s website. Shockingly not even Donald Trump’s website appeared even though he is polling above 50 percent according to all major polls. The search did come up with results for Marianne Williamson – who is running as a Democrat – and recent Republican dropout Will Hurd - who ended his presidential bid nearly a month ago after weeks of polling at zero. 

The campaign websites of Republican candidates Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Chris Christie were nowhere to be found on the first page of Google’s search results.

[...]

Google had no problem retrieving incumbent President Joe Biden’s or Williamson’s websites in a search for “democrat presidential campaign websites,” as they appeared as the first and third results respectively. In fact, Williamson’s website somehow managed to appear on the first page of results for nearly every search, including a search for “independent presidential campaign websites.” 

When MRC researchers searched for “independent presidential campaign websites” neither Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s website nor Cornel West’s website appeared on the first page of search results even though they are the only two running as independents. Similarly, Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver’s website did not appear in Google’s first page of search results when MRC researchers searched for “libertarian presidential campaign websites.”

As before, these are searches that no normal human would perform. Pariseau also injected her own partisan bias into the work with the phrasing "democrat presidential campaign websites"; right-wing activists like those at the MRC have spent years trying to forcibly rename the Democratic Party as the "Democrat Party" for the lulz. Pariseau also made sure to qhote her boss spouting the company narrative:

It seems Google is joining the charge in creating hurdles for Trump. “Much like New York Attorney General Letitia James, Google appears to be doing everything it can to make sure Trump isn’t a recognized candidate for the 2024 presidential election,” said MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider.

Pariseau lazily repeated her work before the fourth debate for a Dec. 5 post:

Google continues to prop up Biden and bury his opponents’ campaign websites in search results, according to the results of MRC Free Speech America’s newest study.

For the fourth time in a row, Google's search engine has once again favored Biden in searches conducted by MRC Free Speech America one week prior to the Republican presidential primary debate. MRC researchers broadly searched for “presidential campaign websites” as well as five additional searches specifying the party affiliation of even the third-party candidates. Google continued to bury Republican candidates’ websites if their websites showed up on the first page of results at all.

In a search for “republican presidential campaign websites,” Google did not produce a single Republican candidate’s website. Shockingly not even former President Donald Trump ’s website appeared even though he is polling above 50 percent according to all major polls. The search did, however, come up with results for Marianne Williamson – who is running as a Democrat – and recent Republican dropout Will Hurd - who dropped out of the race in October after weeks of polling at zero. 

The campaign websites of Republican candidates Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and Chris Christie were also nowhere to be found on the first page of Google’s search results.

Again, Pariseau used the inaccurate and biased term "democrat presidential campaign websites," and again, she did not explain what normal human would conduct searches like these or why the results purportedly constitute "election interference," as she claimed in her headline.

NEW ARTICLE -- Fake News At WND: Coronavirus Edition, Part 9
Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily freaked out over possible abatement measures as COVID cases increased over the summer, and it continued to spread misinformation and outright lies about COVID vaccines. Read more >>

MRC Whines That John Oliver Called Out Elon Musk
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center no longer wants to talk about Elon Musk's anti-Semitic leanings, or his vulgar attack on advertisers who don't like their ads on Twitter (well, X) showing up next to neo-Nazi content, or his many other controversies. It will, however, complain at length about John Oliver saying mean things about Musk. Tom Olohan was stuck with that duty in a Dec. 19 post:

Oliver engaged in fear-mongering about Musk’s management of X (formerly Twitter) after referring to Musk as a “less f*ckable reimagining of Billy Zane’s character from the Titanic” during the Dec. 17 edition of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The leftist comedian went out of his way to minimize the actions of the censorship regime that preceded Musk’s purchase of X, insisting that they were merely “struggling with the impossible job of content moderation” rather than conspiring to censor conservatives. 

In the same monologue, Oliver whined about the dissolution of Twitter’s infamous “Trust and Safety” council, while ignoring the suspension of accounts such as The Babylon Bee for acknowledging biological reality and scathing scandals like the suppression of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop scandal. Instead, Oliver suggested that the authors of these authoritarian decisions had been too lenient and panned The Twitter Files that exposed them.

Yes, Olohan is trying toreframe right-wing transphobia as "acknowledging biological reality." And as we've noted, the New York Post offered no independent proof of its Hunter Biden laptop story when it was released, so there was good reason to take caution in promoting it given the Post's status as a pro-Trump shill. Olohan further cheered that Musk is letting anti-transgender hate spread on Twitter:

Oliver did not mention most prominent accounts censored before Musk bought the platform but resigned himself to attacking Musk for restoring podcast host Alex Jones and “white supremacists” to the platform.

Since Oliver insisted that there was no conspiracy to silence conservatives, he completely ignored the censorship of biological reality before Elon Musk changed the platform’s rules to allow “deadnaming” and “misgendering.” Nevertheless, Oliver ranted that a “transphobic documentary” &mdash What Is a Woman? — was promoted by Musk on the platform.

Olohan whined further about Oliver's tweak of Musk:

Earlier in Oliver’s obsessive monologue, he mocked Musk for the outfits he wears to events, calling Musk a “less f***able reimagining of Billy Zane’s character from the Titanic.” 

NewsBusters Executive Editor Tim Graham delivered a broadside against Oliver for this attack: “John Oliver is just gross. "F---able" is vulgar and dehumanizing, and if he thinks he fits that word, he's delusional.”

And, really, that's it -- those are the only two things that really bothered Olohan out of a 27-minute-long segment. He made no mention of other things Oliver brought up, such as how anti-Semitism has grown on Twitter since Musk's takeover, Musk's firing of most Twitter employees with an emphasis on getting rid of anyone who has criticized him, and his concluding comment that Musk is "a guy who was so desperate to be perceived as cool and funny on the internet, that he paid $44 billion to make it happen, only to discover that he still somehow couldn’t afford it."

Then again, Musk is still reportedly seething over Oliver's takedown of him, so look for the MRC to do even more whining about Oliver on Musk's behalf.

WND's Massie Thinks Republicans Don't Love Trump Enough
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Mychal Massie began his Dec. 4 WorldNetDaily column by ranting about how correct he supposedly is and how much he claims to hate Republicans as much as Democrats:

Politics is a legal racket, in which participation is strictly limited. The participants owe their membership to the dark overlords from their respective political parties and owe their financial sponsorship oftentimes to faceless entities from varying special/social interest groups and wraith-like individuals.

Leadership, i.e., ownership of the Democratic Party is openly demonic even if it's for the most part concealed. Leadership or ownership of the Republican Party is no less Erebusic than that of the Democrats; until President Trump, they just did a better job of concealing it.

I don't care if people agree with me or not. The proof of my unapologetic indictments are irrefutable, based upon their own merit. The voters are the suckers in this global con game.

I've said it before; the Democratic Party is the spawn of Satan; but the Republican Party that I've spent my life supporting is worst, because we expect nothing from the Democrats and they never fail to deliver. But, based upon historical fact, we've always expected more from Republicans, even before they were a party as such.

My conservative bona fides speak for themselves, but I'm sick of this shell game. I submit that the Republican Party has actively engaged in distracting people from the truth – a feat that has netted the military-industrial complex unfathomable riches for the hidden faces that own the Republican Party.

Massie claiming he's right about everything because it's self-evident isn't really proof of anything. This ultimately led up to him whining that Republicans won't wholeheartedly embrace credibly accused criminal Donald Trump as much as he does:

The savaging of President Trump would end in a blink if the Republican Party ownership wanted him as they did George Bush. But, they don't want him back in office because he threatens their greed-induced gravy train.

There were no wars under President Trump. President Trump clamped down on the graft, the backdoor hidden foreign political donations and money-laundering, to mention but a few. He was and is a threat to the massive amounts of cash and mineral resources these hidden controllers will amass through various climate initiatives.

As the saying goes, this isn't my first rodeo. I well remember the election being stolen from Richard Nixon. I remember how out of touch George H.W. Bush was. I remember how Karl Rove led the betrayal of We the People until the deck was arranged so that Jeb Bush could run. Thank goodness he was never elected.

I receive communications daily from RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, as if I'm supposed to forget or ignore her treachery and threats to disqualify candidates if they attended a Christian event in Iowa. I'm not willing to buy the kiss and make up line because she backed down from her threat.

I remember how G.W. Bush lied and covered up his wife's pro-abortion and pro-homosexual marriage postions. I remember Mitch McConnell threatening to blacklist the No. 1 fundraising group for the Republican Party if they raised money for Tea Party candidates. I remember the Republican Party supporting the Democrat candidate rather than support the Tea Party candidate in New Jersey. I remember Rove's on-air meltdown and threats to withhold campaign money when Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell defeated liberal Republican Mike Castle in Delaware. I remember the treachery against my late friend Herman Cain. Pat Toomey was a horrible choice for conservatives, but the late Arlen Specter was worst on steroids compared to Toomey. But, in 2004, George Bush, himself campaigned for Specter over Toomey.

Mark my words: I'm convinced without question that if President Trump isn't reelected, Republicans will find a way to side with Obama/Biden's betrayal of Israel.

No mention of Trump's criminality, of course, or that the reason that his friend Herman Cain is dead is because he caught COVID at a Trump rally.

MRC Tries To Portray Intersex Athlete As Transgender
Topic: Media Research Center

You don't have to be a transgender person to incur the wrath of the Media Research Center -- merely being a female with high testosterone is reason enough. In 2022, for example, the MRC's John Simmons falsely claimed that soccer player Barbra Banda is transgender when, in fact, she is a biological female with a high testosterone level. Clay Waters had a similar meltdown over a not-transgender athlete in a Nov. 7 post:

Tax-funded PBS continues to push transgender issues: Amanpour & Co. on PBS Saturday morning featured Olympic runner Caster Semenya talking about her new book.

Semenya, who identifies and competes as female, is admittedly a special case. “She” is not a transgender and has had no kind of chemical surgery. Semenya was born with male XY chromosomes (females are XX) and the testosterone levels of a male. By her own admission “she” has no uterus or fallopian tubes and does not menstruate. Her condition is popularly described as “intersex.” She runs and wins medals as a female athlete.

Golodryga and Amanpour’s producers bypassed the inconvenient biological truths, cynically using Semenya’s case to leverage acceptance of biological males competing in female sports. The host wholly skipped the chromosome factor, an unchangeable trait that marks out Semenya as a biological male. Then again, science is not the strong suit of the transgender lobby.

(Semenya’s new book has been hailed in the usual left-wing quarters.)

Of course, Semenya is not transgender, though Waters wants you to think she is (even though he insisted on putting "she" in scare quotes). He continued to rant:

Semenya basically admitted she wasn’t a biological woman.

Semenya: ….For me, those who don't know, you know, the differences in my body, I'm born a woman, but I'm a woman with, no uterus, no fallopian tube. I don't go through menstruation and stuff like that….I have high elevated testosterone, but it does not really play a role in my training or role in my performances….

High testosterone has undoubtedly played a role in Semenya’s achievements.

The host fawned.

He continued to rant that Semenya should be lumped with "biological males competing in women’s sports" even though she's not a biological male.

Waters tried to accuse PBS and host Bianna Golodryga (whose first name he didn't even bother to say) of being "trans-obsessed," but it's clear that Waters is the trans-obsessed one by misleadingly trying to hang that label on Semenya and his usage of "transgender" as a noun.

Farah Whines Yet Again That Google Stopped Doing Business With WND
Topic: WorldNetDaily

As Joseph Farah's WorldNewtDaily columns become more sporadic due to his health issues, there's still one thing he can't stop harping on: how Google and WND had a falling out, which of course he blames on a conspiracy against WND. He went there yet again in his Nov. 14 column:

WND.com is now in its third year operating in defiance of Google's harsh, new, draconian rules imposed upon one of the oldest surviving independent journalism websites in history – older that Google itself.

One day, the tech company just announced that we would have to endure something no other news site had been forced to endure – living without the use of Google's near-monopoly advertising system, virtually ending WND's ad revenue. In other words, they tried to force us out of business. But we didn't go that easily. Largely, we had trained ourselves over years to prepare for such things by relying on America's generosity to sustain us.

[...]

But, as I've told you, beginning in January 2016, with the candidacy of Donald Trump, Big Tech declared total war on us and the rest of the independent media it would blame for Trump's victory. I warned that they would never let it happen again. And they haven't forgiven us – or America, with which they are at war.

Actually, it's not "draconian" at all -- as we've documented, Google has simply chosen to stop doing business with a website known for fake news and conspiracy theories by no longer allowing its ads to appear there. In other words, Google and WND had a business agreement, and WND repeatedly violated the terms of that agreement, and Google made a business decision to terminate it -- which, as a private company, it had every right to do.

But rather than admit to the facts, Farah whined once again, using content copy-and-pasted from previous rants, that Google cut off WND because it "dares to report honestly and forthrightly on the fantastically deranged transgender agenda" and "document[ed]  the obvious and provable fact that the 2020 election was one of the most corrupt, manipulated and RIGGED elections in American history" (spoiler: it wasn't).

Needless to say, this is all leading up to a money beg:

Google dropped a huge nuclear bomb on WND by permanently demonetizing us. When they did, the world's second-wealthiest company finally revealed what they considered the three "big lies" that this news site had been promoting, for which reason they throttled our traffic, advertising revenue and search accessibility.

There's no end in sight to this relentless attack on free speech and free press that is so damaging to WND. There are only two forces on Earth powerful enough to take on this hateful, un-American, left-wing, anti-God monopoly – this new Tower of Babel. Those two forces are God, and you, the American people.

I pray every day for relief. God has provided us with daily bread as He has promised.

If WND means something special to you, we continue to need your prayers and your financial blessings. While some of our friends in the independent media have billionaire patrons, you should know that we do not, and never have. We've always operated the old-fashioned way, earning our own way. We spend only what we take in through revenues and donations.

We do it because we love it. We always have. But we also love you for remembering us. Truly.

So rather than do the journalistic responsible and business-saving thing and stop spreading lies, discredited conspiracy theories and vicious hatred of anyone who's not heterosexual, WND has chosen to do, well, not that... bccause they "love it." Do Farah and crew truly love their dishonesty so much that they will destroy WND as a business because of it? Apparently so.

MRC Can't Stop Complaining That Kinzinger Called Out GOP Extremism
Topic: Media Research Center

We've shown how the Media Research Center tried to Heather former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger for failing to adhere to the right-wing pro-Trump, pro-insiurrection narrative, but it wasn't done yet. Tim Graham complained further about Kinzinger in a Nov. 5 post:

In promoting his Republican-trashing memoir, ex-Rep. Adam Kinzinger not only was awarded two PBS interviews, but two NPR interviews. First on NPR, he trashed Republicans as the "terrorist caucus." In an hourlong Halloween tongue-bath on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Kinzinger compared the GOP to ISIS, and he suggested Sean Hannity and Mark Levin fans have "brain rot." Your tax dollars at work.

Here's how it was summarized on NPR.org:

The former Illinois congressman reflects on confronting the "fanaticism of the hardcore" of his own party. Kinzinger served on the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol.

Terry Gross wanted to underline the tale of how Kinzinger's own family disowned him because they listen to too much conservative talk radio:

When Kinzinger noted that he was accused of having "lost the trust of great men like Mark Levin and Sean Hannity. And it goes to show, to me, the brain rot - right? - the rot going on, the absolute abuse of people that put their trust in some of these - you know, these radio folks or these TV folks," Graham only sneered, "NPR fans believe that, deeply."

instead of actually trying to address anything Kinzinger said in a substantive way, Graham played whataboutism, huffing that "What's amazing is the NPR interviewer seemed to have brain rot, asking Adam 'Republicans Are Terrorists' Kinzinger um, shouldn't his enemies tone down their rhetoric?" He concluded by whining that Kinzinger was "a showboat who has been bathing in laudatory liberal interviews all over TV and radio and cashing in on a book deal."

It was Alex Christy's turn to whine about Kinzinger in a Nov. 18 post:

Former GOP Rep. and current CNN political analyst Adam Kinzinger continued to prove that his turn against the GOP isn’t just related to the aftermath of the 2020 election and January 6 when he traveled to HBO and Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday to once again compare Speaker Mike Johnson to the Taliban.

The liberal atheist Maher had some crazy analogies of his own, “So, here's something really scary, Mike Johnson, he’s the Republican Party new head chief over there in the House. This came out, he was talking to a prayer group. He said ‘depraved America deserves God's wrath’ -- came out there, exactly sounds like Bin Laden. Now, the Republican guy sounds like bin Laden and Trump sounds like Hitler, and the kids sound like—”

Christy rushed to Johnson's defense pretending that what he said wasn't really what he said:

It should be noted that “’Depraved’ America deserves God’s wrath” is a Rolling Stone headline summation of what Johnson said, but “deserves God’s wrath” is not in quotes. What Rolling Stone actually quotes Johnson as saying is, “The only question is: Is God going to allow our nation to enter a time of judgment for our collective sins? … Or is he going to give us one more chance to restore the foundations and return to Him?... We have to ask ourselves: How long can His mercy and His grace be held back?”

It’s honestly a question every country should ask itself because sin has consequences, but by reaching for the bin Laden card, Maher seemed to suggest that Johnson would justify terrorism or acts of war against America which is not at all what he was saying.

Actually, it pretty much is, but Christy is being paid not to acknowledge that fact. Instead, he rehashed an earlier complaint that Kinzinger portrayed Christian nationalism of the kind Johnson advocates as little different from the Taliban:

Deep down even Kinzinger probably knows just how absurd that is because he would immediately proceed to tie himself into a pretzel, “Now, maybe the end is different maybe the means are different but there's no difference in saying this is a government run on religion.”

So, Kinzinger logic says that things are the same except for all the ways that they are different. This is the man the media demands Republicans listen to and take seriously.

Again, Christy made no effort to explain why Chrstian nationalism -- which, at its heart, is about forcing a specific religion on Americans through government imposition -- is not Taliban-ish, and he offered no evidence that such a thing would not happen.

Newsmax's Hirsen Hypes Mike Johnson's Virtues, Supposed Dedication To 'Principled Governance'
Topic: Newsmax

James Hirsen started his Nov. 10 Newsmax column by repeating the ConWeb lament that the right-wing extremism of newly selected House speaker Mike Johnson was being reported:

Mike Johnson is under attack for the religious and cultural beliefs that he holds.

In an appearance on a recent weekend news program, the newly-elected Speaker of the House made the following comments regarding the barrage of negativity that he is having to endure:

“There are entire industries built on taking down, tearing down people like me. I understand that comes with the territory and we’re not fazed by it,” he said.

From the moment he took possession of the Speaker's gavel, enemies within the media have joined forces with partisan operatives in an attempt to pigeonhole him as an extremist.

Appearing to take things in stride, he stated, “I’ve been labeled all kinds of stuff, but these people don’t know me.”

One does not need to know another person to report accurately on them, and neither Johnson nor Hirsen have denited the specifics of what has been reported. Hirsen followed that by lazily reciting his resume and anonymous boilerplate praise:

Arriving at his new post with almost 20 years of constitutional law experience under his belt, in his practice he routinely safeguarded the fundamental rights of individuals and businesses.

He characterized his legal career as one that placed him in the position of “defending religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and biblical values...”

Highly respected by his colleagues, a deeply divided Republican caucus actually came together and succeeded in electing him as new House Speaker.

Even prior to his Speaker post he was held in high esteem by his colleagues. He was one of the most well-liked members of the GOP leadership.

Back in 2022, he had been unanimously elected vice chair of the House Republican Conference for a second time.

The favorable reputation was due in large part to the way in which he comported himself, humble in his demeanor yet true to his principles.

Hirsen then lamented that the creepiness ofJohnson including his teenage son in his porn "accountability" software was being noted (while ignoring the creepiness aspect):

During a 2022 technology panel, which took place at his church in Louisiana, Johnson spoke about a subscription-based computer program that he and his teenage son were using at the time to monitor questionable content.

Media outlets, including Rolling Stone and The New Republic, apparently unearthed the remarks. Attacks were then leveled at the Speaker for his commitment against pornography.

While talking to reporters at the Capitol, he described the negative media blitz as “just the latest attack in a campaign by D.C. insiders on my faith.”

Of course, Hirsen chose to misleadingly frame the discussion about Johnson having a "commitment against pornography" and not, you know, that he brought his teenage son into it. He went on to insist that Johnson was just like the Founding Fathers and all about "principled governance":

Those who are going after Johnson are perhaps unintentionally, or perhaps intentionally, forgetting that the beliefs he espouses are the same Judeo-Christian principles that served as foundational pillars during the initial formation of our country.

The Founders were heavily influenced by biblical teachings contained in the Old and New Testaments.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence the profound “self-evident” truth that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

These words spring from the Judeo-Christian credo that all people are created in the image of God.

The Founders recognized Scripture as a prime source of moral and ethical wisdom and incorporated many of its precepts into the U.S. Constitution. The three branches of government, checks and balances on power, the freedom to worship, and equal treatment under the law are but a few.

It is through the application of these inherent values that Johnson desires to implement what he terms “principled governance.”

Never mind that Johnson's Republican Party is also the party of George Santos. Principled governance, anyone? And if Hirsen really had any principles, he would apologize for all the election fraud lies and conspiracy theories he spread after the 2020 election.

Hirsen concluded by declaring: "Praying for Speaker Johnson’s success. And a miracle for America." It would be a miracle if Hirsen ever repented for the lies he spread.

WND's Cashill Falsely Claims Twitter Troll Was Imprisoned Over A 'Joke'
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Jack Cashill complained in his Nov. 15 WorldNetDaily column:

Ever since professional snitch John Dean ratted out Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz in 1976 for an overheard racial joke, we've known that certain forms of humor can get one canned.

With the recent conviction of internet jokester Doug Mackey for passing along an anti-Hillary meme, we now know that a joke can get one imprisoned.

The slope from getting fired for joking about a state official to getting jailed has been slippery and steep.

[...]

In the months before the 2016 election he passed along a meme he found online titled, "Save Time, Avoid the Line." The meme featured a smiling image of Hillary Clinton and directed readers to text their vote to a made-up number.

Four years later, within a week after the 2021 inauguration, Mackey was rudely snapped from his sleep by a crew of 10 law enforcement officers, including four FBI agents, banging on his door at 7 a.m.

In March 2023, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Mackey of "Conspiracy Against Rights stemming from his scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote." He was sentenced to seven months in prison.

Cashill is dishonestly simplifying the case and omitting inconvenient details to make Mackey look like an innocent victim. As we documented when fellow WND columnist Rachel Alexander tried to make the same argument, Mackey is an alt-right Twitter troll who posted under the name Ricky Vaughn; he also said that women shouldn't be allowed to vote and that black people are easily deceived. That last point is important to illustrate what he did, as reported by a more reliable media outlet:

Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that Mackey urged supporters of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media, knowing that those endorsements were not legally valid votes.

At about the same time, prosecutors said, he was sending tweets suggesting that it was important to limit “black turnout” at voting booths. One tweet he sent showed a photo of a Black woman with a Clinton campaign sign, encouraging people to “avoid the line” and “vote from home,” court papers said.

Using social media pitches, one image encouraging phony votes utilized a font similar to one used by the Clinton campaign in authentic ads, prosecutors said. Others tried to mimic Clinton’s ads in other ways, they added.

By Election Day in 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “Hillary” or something similar to a text number that was spread by multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and co-conspirators, prosecutors said.

Compare that to how Cashill briefly and misleadingly described what Mackey did. Cashill offered no evidence that Mackey's actions were an obvious "joke"; indeed, Mackey's own defense didn't even make that claim, instead trying to frame what he did as "shitposting," which the Southern Poverty Law Center defines as "an internet term of art for publishing inflammatory content that is protected by the First Amendment."

Cashill went on to attempt whataboutism:

On Election Day, Nov. 8, 2016, Kristina Wong tweeted out a video of herself saying, "Hey Trump Supporters! Skip poll lines at #Election2016 and TEXT in your vote! Text votes are legit. Or vote tomorrow on Super Wednesday!"

In the video, wearing a MAGA hat, Wong makes a direct appeal to black and Asian voters to text in their votes. She was obviously joking.

As we also noted when Alexander did the same thing, Wong is an actual comedian while Mackey is not.

Cashill also went off on a different tangent, lamenting that people no longer find racism funny:

In 2018, comedienne Roseanne Barr, the star of the reboot of the popular TV show "Roseanne," famously tweeted that the mixed-race, Iranian-born Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett looked like "the muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby."

ABC promptly canceled the show. Comedians had been saying the most vile things imaginable about Donald Trump without consequence, but Obama's people were, as Barr learned, off limits.

Shocked by the show's cancellation and undoubtedly guided by her press agents, Roseanne tweeted, "Don't feel sorry for me, guys!! I just want to apologize to the hundreds of people and wonderful writers (all liberal) and talented actors who lost their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet."

In a police state, the accused cannot expect her friends and colleagues to rally to her defense. The "Roseanne" cast lived down to expectations.

"Roseanne's recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show," tweeted Sara Gilbert, one of the several cast members who dumped on Roseanne publicly.

Having permanently severed Roseanne from her own show, ABC restarted the show as "The Conners." Without a word of support for the woman who gave them their careers, the original cast blithely picked up where they left off.

After a ritual apology got her nowhere – groveling never works – Roseanne offered a defense more keeping in character, "I thought the bitch was white."

Again, Cashill doesn't demonstrate that any of Barr's racist meltdowns were a "joke," let alone explain why anyone is supposed to find them funny. Then again, Cashill has been showing an increasing animus toward black people of late, defending white people charged with killing them and demonizing the victims.

NEW ARTICLE -- Loving The Fringe To Own The Libs: The Case Of Russell Brand
Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center hated actor Russell Brand -- until he started spouting conservatively correct narratives. Even Brand facing credible allegations of sexual assault, abuse and grooming hasn't stopped the MRC's admiration of him. Read more >>

MRC's DeSantis Defense Brigade Watch, Softball Interview Edition
Topic: Media Research Center

The Media Research Center's DeSantis Defense Brigade hasn't exactly helped Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign, as it's still mired in the lower end of polling. So the MRC tried one last-ditch effort to boost DeSantis: a softball interview. Curtis Houck detailed the agenda-promoting softness in the nearly 16-minute interview in a Nov. 3 post:

This week, Media Research Center Founder and President L. Brent Bozell spoke with 2024 Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis about a whole host of issues and, naturally, it included exchanges about the repeated, years-long barrages of attacks from the liberal media.

Bozell began by noting the MRC has “monitored how they’ve treated you and how they’ve treated all the Republican candidates” and, while “all the focus is always on — on how awful they are to Donald Trump,” “[t]hey’re just about just as awful with you.”

Bozell cited an August NewsBusters study by our Rich Noyes on 2024 coverage from the network evening newscasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC that “78 percent of the coverage of you has been negative” before asking how that’s “not election interference when the networks are deliberately trying to derail Republicans.”

DeSantis didn’t hesitate in emphasizing that “there’s no question that they have...a partisan agenda...trying to advance a victory for the Democratic Party” that “you guys have pointed this out...for a number of years.”

He added why the liberal media have “been so negative on me is because they do see all the success that we’ve had in Florida” and fear the possibility that, if elected president, his “model from Florida” could be “implemented nationally” and deal a huge blow “to their friends on the political left.”

[...]

Bozell reacted with effusive praise:“Of all the candidates out there and perhaps even all public figures out there today when it comes to dealing with vicious attacks from the media and doing it on the spot, I really don’t think there’s anyone who’s better than you are...It’s extraordinary.”

A few hours later, a post by Luis Cornelio detailed more softballs for DeSantis:

FIRST ON MRC: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) joined MRC Founder and President Brent Bozell to speak about how Google is interfering in elections by manipulating its search results to highlight Democratic candidates ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

DeSantis, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, did not mince words in response to the MRC Free Speech America study revealing that Google buried the websites of GOP candidates. “So, of course, it’s something that is being done to change elections,” DeSantis said, before pledging to take “principled” measures, if elected president, against the potentially illegal censorship to ensure “everybody is treated equally.”

DeSantis appeared to agree with Bozell’s reasoning that Google’s censorship likely constituted illegal campaign contributions. “Is this something that a President DeSantis would be looking at?” Bozell asked DeSantis, to which the governor answered, “Yes, we could. I mean, I think that, you know, you have FEC. You have all this stuff, and those have been ineffective bureaucracies.” He added, “But I think that these guys have gotten a pass. I do think they're using corporate resources to be able to influence elections, and that is just not something that you can do without reporting under our system.”

Over at the right-wing blog that used to be the MRC's "news" division CNSNews.com, Craig Bannister was given his own interview segment to tout in a Nov. 6 post:

In an exclusive on-camera interview, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) discussed with Media Research Center (MRC) President Brent Bozell the dangers of media bias, especially when it comes to U.S. elections and Israel’s war on Hamas terrorism.

Gov. DeSantis, who is seeking the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination, was asked about how bias liberal media are interfering with U.S. elections. DeSantis said there’s no doubt the media have a partisan agenda and are “trying to advance a victory for the Democrat Party,” as MRC has documented “for a number of years.”

That was joined the same day by one more bit of softball stennography from Bannister:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should ignore the anti-Israel media attacks and demands for a cease-fire to Israel’s effort to wipe out Hamas terrorists, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Media Research Center (MRC) President Brent Bozell this week.

In an exclusive interview, the GOP presidential hopeful said that, as soon as he heard Hamas had attacked a music festival in Israel on October 7 – killing 1,400 people – he knew the media would start attacking Israel.

If Bozell asked a question of DeSantis that was even remotely challenging, it doesn't appear in any of these articles.

Because all this looked very much like an in-kind campaign contribution -- not unlike its DeSantis Defense Brigade crusade over the past several months -- the MRC felt compelled to add an editor's note to each piece: "All major 2024 candidates polling above one percent nationally across the spectrum — Republicans, independents, and Democrats — have been invited to participate in similar sit-downs. Our offers remain on the table." To date, no other candidate has -- even with the implied promise of a cushy, fawning interview by Bozell, which suggests the less-than-lofty status the MRC apparently has in the right-wing media bubble. That, and the fact that no other candidate has felt the need as of yet to take the MRC up on its softball-interview offer, leaves the unmistakable impression that this was created to be an in-kind contribution to DeSantis.

The interview landed with such a thud, in fact, that the MRC didn't publish another post centered on DeSantis for the rest of November.

Newsmax Parrots MRC's Attacks On NewsGuard
Topic: Newsmax

Newsmax is parroting the Media Research Center's loud and lame war on website-rating service NewsGuard, repeating the dubious narrative that NewsGuard exists solely to suppress right-wing views. Theodore Bunker huffed in a March 10 article:

NewsGuard, a left-wing media monitoring organization which claims to rate the credibility of news websites, was awarded nearly $750,000 from the Department of Defense in 2021 according to publicly available records.

The revelation comes in the latest "Twitter Files" post by Matt Taibbi.

Bunker offered no proof that NewsGuard is "left-wing"; instead, he copy-and-pasted the MRC's attacks:

The Media Research Center has examined NewsGuard's "ratings" system and found the service continually favors left-wing and liberal news outlets as "trusted" and negatively rates conservative ones as not reliable.

Newsguard negatively rates leading conservative outlets like Washington Times, Newsmax, Breitbart, Federalist, Epoch Times, Red State, Prager U, Daily Wire, and others.

We've documented how the MRC's purported examination of NewsGuard's rating system is actually all about how the shoddiness of right-wing media is being exposed by NewsGuard and how it's demanding that NewsGuard mandate false ratings parity.

Newsmax parroted other right-wing attacks on NewsGuard around that time as well:

• Fla. CFO Warns NewsGuard About Targeting Conservative Media
• Ric Grenell to Newsmax: NewsGuard Demonetizing Govt 'Dissent'
• Dennis Prager to Newsmax: Leftists Have Never Allowed Dissent
• Rep. Neal Dunn: NewsGuard Targeted Conservative Media
• Rep. Dunn to Newsmax: Pentagon Funding NewsGuard 'Appalling'

As the right-wing war on NewsGuard heated up in the fall, Newsmax was happy to take part, such as in an Oct. 20 article by Mark Swanson:

Elon Musk railed against the left-wing media fact-checker NewsGuard on Thursday, calling the ratings company a "scam" and saying it should be "disbanded immediately."

Musk's reaction came in the aftermath of a series of posts on his social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

One came from Foundation for Freedom Online executive director Mike Benz, who claimed NewsGuard, led by adviser and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, worked with the European Union on a disinformation code that would prompt governments to bankrupt alternative news sites.

Benz highlighted NewsGuard's business model, which he said combines "disinformation compliance services with censorship laws it promotes."

[...]

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy months ago called out NewsGuard — and the Global Disinformation Index — for exerting their influence to silence conservative voices. Ruddy said they present themselves as independent fact-checkers.

Swanson didn't mention that Benz had been exposed a couple weeks earlier as a creator of videos promoting racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories while posting under the name Frame Game, just the the MRC similarly failed to do while hyping Benz's claim.

This turned into a circular promotion with Musk, which Newsmax was  only too happy to tout in an Oct. 22 article by Sandy Fitzgerald:

Elon Musk Sunday responded to a Newsmax article concerning his objections to left-wing media fact-checker NewsGuard, agreeing that it is "not cool" for it to push a "political agenda" with its ratings. 

"Yeah, it’s not cool. Pushing a political agenda in the name of “guarding” the public," Musk posted on his social media site X, formerly Twitter, in a response to Newsmax's article, published Thursday after he called NewsGuard a "scam" and said it should be "disbanded immediately."

In neither article was any proof offered to back up the claim that NewsGuard is "left-wing."

An Oct. 23 article by Swanson touted another attack on NewsGuard:

The publishers of the foreign policy news website Consortium News filed a lawsuit against the left-wing media fact-checker NewsGuard Technologies, Inc. and the U.S. government on Monday in New York federal court, claiming First Amendment violations and defamation.

The publisher, Consortium for Independent Journalism, accused NewsGuard of defaming Consortium News and the government for colluding with the self-proclaimed media "watchdog" to violate the First Amendment.

The publisher also is accusing an alliance between NewsGuard and the government — specifically the Pentagon's Cyber Command — of coercing news organizations to "alter viewpoints" that differ or dissent from policies of the United States and its allies," via a program called the "misinformation fingerprints" project.

And just as the MRC did, Swanson failed to tell readers that Consortium News is a liberal-leaning site, since doing so undermines the right0wing narrative that NewsGuard is uniquely biased against right-wing website. And, again, Swanson offered no proof to back up his claim that NewsGuard is "left-wing."

The anti-NewsGuard hits continued:

• Federalist: House Targets Pentagon's NewsGuard Censorship of Conservatives
• Left-Wing NewsGuard Has Ties to Big Pharma Fund

Then, presumably in the hope of setting off another round of circular promotion, a Nov. 23 article by Luca Cacciator and Michael Katz hyped another Musk attack on NewsGuard:

Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, issued a new warning Wednesday about the left-wing ratings company NewsGuard.

In a post on the site, X said it was the latest organization to be targeted by NewsGuard, which has systematically targeted conservative media.

"NewsGuard is about to publish a 'report' on misinformation on X. As a for-profit company, they will only share the data that underpins their purported research if you pay," X explained.

X then highlighted NewsGuard's strategy in going after the platform — the same strategy it has employed on dozens of other companies.

NewsGuard "uses these reports to pressure companies to buy their 'fact-checking' services. It's a profit over any principle model," X said.

"X has not seen any of the data in their report. Before publishing, we encourage all media outlets to request the data underpinning their claims."

After the X posting, Elon Musk himself weighed in on the matter, posting to his account, "In other words, 'NewsGuard' is a propaganda shop that will produce any lies you want if you pay them enough money."

Cacciatore and Katz failed to note that Twitter/X is also ostensibly a for-profit company that will only share the data that underpins its purported research in defense of the company. That was demonstrated with the "Twitter files," in which Musk released selective data and documents to hand-picked writers whose job it was to push Musk's preferred narrative about "censorship" at Twitter by pre-Musk management. Of course, they also failed to offer any evidence that NewsGuard is "left-wing."