Karoline Leavitt Spox
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PRIMARY 4 25 FOR EASE
SEE PJT 2025
seats to pods, influencers // djt often makes them ID their org [she does not know or flag for aud?]
see lie pwr any means // earth2 alt fact
see demonization
SEE EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLING
SEE PRESS SUPPRESSION WHISTLEBLOWER LEAKS // FASCISM
AP booted for gulf of am she calls pod 1st
doge disinfo
CLAIM NO EVIDENCE
SEE NY POST
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THIS F GUY
ITS NOT SOCIALISM IF IT HELPS WHITE PPL COVID $
UNPAID WH INTERN
RAN HOUSE WON PRIMARY CONSERV VOICES WILL NOT BE SILENCED 2022 ; 300K CAMP FIN PROBLEMS
Karoline Leavitt: Everything You Didn't Know About Her Sh*tty Past - YouTube
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Her family also owned an ice cream shop where Caroline worked during the summers. Levit's two older brothers were athletes. Caroline was an athlete as
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well, playing multiple sports, but really excelling at softball.
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[ __ ] knew it was going to be softball.
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You know what? What press secretary doesn't love softballs? She was good enough at the old underhanded heaveho that she earned an athletic scholarship to play D2 college softball at St.
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Anselms College, a Catholic school in Manchester, New Hampshire. She was okay at softball in college. Okay, but not
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great. She started in 36 games her freshman year and was even named conference freshman of the week once.
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But after that, her softball career kind of fizzled out. Her heart wasn't in it.
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Her heart was in a grieved whining about how mean people are to conservatives on college campuses. Like many college
conservatives, she found her perfect outlet for her complaints in her school paper where she proved to be a pretty shitty writer. But don't take my word for it. This is from an August 31st,
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2016 Levit by line. quote, "The liberal media, mdash, it is debatedly the most appalling factor of the entire election cycle, besides Hillary Clinton somehow dodging an indictment. Of course,
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liberals themselves will never admit it,
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but any rational and open-minded individual can see the everpresent bias that engulfs the media day in and day out. Major news stations such as CNN,
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ABC, and MSNBC might as well come out and endorse Hillary Clinton." End quote.
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Wow. A budding Susan Santag. She also wrote a column claiming that Donald Trump's Muslim ban wasn't actually a Muslim ban. So, she's been a whiny and
...
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she repeatedly bragged that her parents worked their way up from nothing and got no handouts ever. She told a local newspaper called the Eagle Tribune,
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quote, "My dad came from nothing and worked his way up, created a successful business that my brothers now work at. He didn't take any handouts from anyone.
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He reminds me of President Trump. He says what he believes." She also made that claim in a video on her campaign website. One of her favorite bugaboos
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was the so-called socialism of Biden's inflation reduction act. Except that wasn't the truth. You see, according to WUR, a local New Hampshire TV station,
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her parents gladly accepted a handout from the federal government during CO.
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Quote, data compiled from the US Small Business Administration show the company received $250,635
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in two paycheck protection program loans in February and April 2020, as well as two economic injury disaster loans
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totaling $160,000 also in April 2020. End quote. Hm. Well, you know what we say on this ...
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Rickio is a landlord. He owns a bunch of rental buildings in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, a vacation town widely known to be overcrowded and trashy, kind of like the Lake Havasu of New Hampshire.
...
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from there. She even appeared in a Project 2025 training video. Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation packet of policy ideas designed to streamline
...
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Levit's [ __ ] has not slowed down.
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She's bullshitting for two. Levit defended the actions of CPB officer Jonathan Ross after he shot and killed American citizen Renee Good on the
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streets of Minneapolis and called her a [ _ ] [ _ ] referring to Good as a lunatic woman. This administration will continue to stand wholeheartedly by the
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brave men and women of ICE, including that officer in Minneapolis who was absolutely justified in using self-defense against a a lunatic who was
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part of a group, an organized group to interject and to impede on law enforcement operations. Maybe her lowest moment.
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I mean, I definitely think that one's going on Satan's highlight reel for where he like when he's reviewing tape to be like, who gets into hell next?
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Like like here's a fast pass. Yeah, that definitely made the real.
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She brilliantly shared a poll showing 100% MAGA approval rating. MAGA supporters supporting MAGA. More news at
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- At the beginning of Lent, Caroline got into it with the Pope because he refused to participate in Trump's [ __ ] board of peace. She's declared
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the completely unresolved fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein case to be resolved,
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urging Americans to move on from the massive pedophile ring involving highlevel members of government,
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pred mkt 65 min ran off
ducks hang 6 traitors? ALL HAVE 24/7 PROTECTION
'They should be held accountable': Leavitt defends Trump's endorsement of hanging top Dems
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AN 10 26
MAGA piles on Karoline Leavitt as she ditches family for Fox News stint
Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s move to Fox News drew mockery Monday from critics who pointed to her continued presence inside President Donald Trump’s political and media orbit just two months after she left the administration to spend time with her family.
Fox News has confirmed that Leavitt, who is 29 years old, will be joining the network as an on-air contributor with her start date being Nov. 1, and she will appear on both its news and opinion programs. Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, stated that Leavitt's experience gained during her time in the White House and on the campaign trail gives her a “distinct understanding of today’s political landscape.”
Amy Siskind took notice of the announcement, writing on X that "Karoline Leavitt is going to work at Fox News" and stating that "the cycle of MAGA life and reinforcement loop continues".
Siskind, author of The List: A Week-by-Week Reckoning of Trump’s First Year, has long been a critic of Trump and a political activist.
It also brought back doubts regarding Leavitt's reason for leaving the White House in August. Back then, she had stated that, after the birth of her daughter, she did not think it was possible to give her two young children the things they needed while at the same time spending the time and energy required of a press secretary.
President Trump also announced that Leavitt was resigning so as to spend more time with her children and family, adding that she would still remain one of his top external advisers.
A self-styled "MAGA patriot" on X referred to those statements following the announcement on Monday and claimed that Leavitt had abandoned the reason she had given for her departure.
“Sorry folks, no more integrity left here, someone sold out,” the user wrote, adding, “pray for her children and her family.”
Progressive commentator Jamie Bonkiewicz also hammered Leavitt on the same point, writing on X, "I guess Karoline Leavitt had enough of being a stay-at-home mom and taking care of her grandpa husband."
Greg Gutfeld had already made a joke about exactly this situation the day after Leavitt announced that she was leaving the White House.
“There is a concern that she will join Fox, which would then leave us with three women,” Gutfeld said on The Five in August, when referring to the Fox personalities Dana Perino and Kayleigh McEnany, who had both been White House press secretaries. Co-host Emily Compagno later made the joke that Gutfeld was trying to get her off the show “to make room for Karoline.”
Leavitt has stayed closely linked with Trump ever since she left office. She went back to MAGA Inc., the superPAC that supported Trump and where she had previously worked, and has continued appearing often on Fox.
She said that she intends to bring to her new position at Fox the "unique perspective and candor" gained during her time in the Trump administration.
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AN 3 26
The White House has pushed back against architectural criticism of President Trump's planned ballroom expansion, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attacking the credibility of those raising design concerns rather than addressing the specific issues they identified.
Leavitt characterized critics as people with no construction experience, defending Trump's vision and the project's lead architect. The criticism stemmed from published analysis highlighting questionable design elements, including a prominent staircase that appears to serve primarily aesthetic purposes rather than functional ones.
According to reporting on the project, the proposed staircase features columns that block window views and does not lead to any entrance or functional space within the structure. The design choice has raised questions about the ballroom's architectural coherence.
The approval timeline for the ballroom has also drawn scrutiny. The project received expedited clearance through the Commission of Fine Arts, a process that contrasts sharply with historical precedent. Previous White House modifications underwent months of public review and consultation, a standard that did not apply to this significantly larger undertaking.
The White House has maintained that the ballroom addresses a longstanding need and that private funding will cover the expense, removing any burden on federal budgets. The figure cited for the project has grown substantially since initial announcements, reflecting expanded scope or revised cost estimates.
The ballroom project began with the demolition of existing White House facilities that served multiple purposes for the first lady's office and entertainment functions. This removal opened space for the new structure, which would exceed the dimensions of the current White House.
Legal challenges to the project remain pending from preservation organizations concerned about the impact on the historic complex. However, regulatory approval appears likely to proceed, with final votes expected to formalize authorization for construction.
During his first term, Trump pursued several government building initiatives that faced architectural and structural criticism. His plan to redesign the presidential seal and the Oval Office generated debate among design professionals about historical preservation versus modernization.
The proposed renovation of federal courthouse facades during his first administration drew concerns from architectural preservation organizations. Critics argue that Trump-era modifications prioritize aesthetic changes that do not align with historical architectural standards or the buildings' original design intent.
Trump's efforts to modify Lafayette Square, the park adjacent to the White House, sparked significant controversy. The administration's plans for the space included renovation proposals that critics argued would alter the character of the historic area. Preservation advocates warned against changes that would diminish public access or transform the square's traditional role in American civic life.
AN 3 26
CNN reporter brings receipts after press secretary accuses her of double standard
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an 3 26
The White House was forced to fire back after a prominent conservative influencer and podcaster criticized President Donald Trump‘s various and rapidly-shifting reasons for attacking Iran in a massive and ongoing military exercise that the president and defense chief have called “war.”
Matt Walsh, who hosts his right-wing podcast on The Daily Wire and has four million followers on X, on Monday expressed his confusion with the administration’s talking points.
“So far we’ve heard that although we killed the whole Iranian regime, this was not a regime change war,” he began. “And although we obliterated their nuclear program, we had to do this because of their nuclear program. And although Iran was not planning any attacks on the US, they also might have been, depending on who you ask. And although we are not fighting this war to free the Iranian people, they are now free, or might be, depending on who seizes power, and we have no idea who that will be.”
“The messaging on this thing is,” he said, “to put it mildly, confused.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Walsh just hours later, saying that Trump on Saturday had “released a statement laying out clear objectives to the American people for Operation Epic Fury.”
According to Leavitt, they include destroying Iran’s missiles and Navy, ensuring Iran’s proxies cannot destabilize the region or the world, stopping them from making and using IEDs, guaranteeing Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and preventing the Iranian regime from threatening America.
“Simply put,” she wrote, “the terrorist Iranian regime would not say yes to peace.”
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AN 2 26
Donald Trump has his own posse of "mean girls," and they have big plans for the midterms.
The Hill's Myra Adams on Fridaybroke down what she called Trump's group of MAGA "mean girls," four women in influential and highly visible positions within and adjacent to his administration. In addition to fueling his second-term ambitions, Adams warned that they are also plotting a "rampage" against the upcoming midterms.
Among this group are members of Trump's staff, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The only non-appointee in the group, according to Adams, is far-right influencer Laura Loomer, who holds substantial sway over Trump despite not collecting a taxpayer-funded salary. Adams wrote that she first "zeroed in" on these women early on in Trump's second term, and as the months have gone by, their impact has "just kept getting worse."
Being the oldest among this group with the most high-profile jobs, Adams observed that Noem and Bondi are " role models," whose "unorthodox conduct is especially consequential and despicable." During her time in office, Bondi has demolished the wall of independence between the president and the Justice Department, effectively acting as Trump's own personal attorney. This was typified, Adams wrote, by a message to Bondi Trump shared on Truth Social last year explicitly ordering her to ramp up prosecutions against his perceived enemies.
Noem, meanwhile, has seemingly been competing with Bondi for generating "the most controversial headlines and cringeworthy videos for their presidential audience of one." In addition to her leadership making Trump's deportation agenda increasingly unpopular with voters, she has also become the subject of mockery for her tendency towards over-the-top outfits, which many critics have likened to costumes.
"Noem may never live down her infamous video from El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, where she posed before prisoners in a skin-tight top, form-fitting jeans, dazzling hair and a $50,000 Rolex," Adams wrote.
The youngest in the group, Leavitt's purpose within the administration has been to "intimidate anyone who dares contradict her version of the truth," with Adams suggesting that she would be more aptly known as the "White House director of propaganda."
"Laura Loomer’s job, so to speak, is to unearth disloyalty and report to Trump, her good friend," Adams wrote. "Those she targets are MAGA-marginalized or fired without recourse, regardless of rank or service to the nation. With her 'protect Trump at all costs' attitude, Loomer is a powerful force who regularly makes headlines. No one wants to be 'loomered.'"
Each of these women, Adams warned, is primed to play a major role in the White House's "rampage" against the midterm elections to prevent Democrats from taking power. Bondi is "intertwined" in Trump's efforts to delegitimize the results of the 2020 election, and could do much the same later this year.
"The midterms are coming, and Bondi knows that if Republicans lose control of either congressional chamber, there will be hell to pay," Adams wrote.
Noem has also recently been criticized for pledging efforts "to make sure that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders..."
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AN 2 26
President Donald Trump's administration has once again changed the reason Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbardwas on site for the FBI's raid at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Georgia last month. The story has now changed five times, and three times in the past 24 hours.
CBS News reported Thursday that Gabbard's spokesperson clarified the message after Trump told the National Prayer Breakfast that Attorney General Pam Bondi tasked Gabbard with going to Georgia. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also argued Trump put election security under the DNI's purview.
"As the president said, he asked for Director Gabbard to be there," Gabbard spokesperson Alexa Henning wrote on X. "Attorney General Bondi also asked for her to be there. Two things can be true at the same time."
As of publication, the president has not said he ordered it.
Trump told "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Llamas about his conspiracy theory that he had not losts the 2020 election. Llamas asked Trump point-blank, “Why is Tulsi Gabbard there?”
“I don’t know,” Trump answered. “But a lot of the cheating comes from, it’s international cheating.”
Gabbard was the one who claimed Trump ordered.
In a letter to Democratic lawmakers Monday, Gabbard said her presence "was requested by the president."
Less than 24 hours after Trump's interview, the story changed again.
While he was speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump gushed over Gabbard for attending the raid.
“She took a lot of heat two days ago because she went in at Pam’s insistence,” the president said, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“They say, ‘why is she doing it’… because Pam wanted her to do it. And you know why? Because she’s smart," Trump added.
The story has changed radically in the past week. The first to comment on Gabbard was Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who told reporters that Gabbard just happened to be in Atlanta when the raid unfolded.
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an 1 26
The White House says President Donald Trump has been “laser-focused on making America affordable” since taking office. Just one month ago, President Trump called affordability a “hoax” perpetrated by Democrats.
President Trump has recently attempted to preserve his sweeping tariffs amid Supreme Court review, has engaged in foreign policy messaging involving Venezuela, Iran, and Greenland — including promoting himself as the “acting President of Venezuela” — and has responded sharply to protests involving federal officers.
The president campaigned on lowering the cost of living on “day one,” but nearly 51 weeks into his second term, inflation remains high.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that the president would travel to Detroit on Tuesday to deliver a speech about “all of the positive economic news that we continue to see as a result of his agenda.”
“So tomorrow, he looks forward to traveling to the great state of Michigan, a state he won big, to not only tour a factory that produces Ford F-150s, and is going to be hiring more, and producing more trucks right here in the USA because of President Trump’s effective tariff policies,” Leavitt said.
Trump narrowly won Michigan, taking less than half of the vote and besting Vice President Kamala Harris by 1.4 percentage points.
Leavitt said that “mortgage rates that are falling under 6% for the first time in years,” “the national average of gasoline is the lowest that it’s been in five years,” and core inflation is “at its lowest level in five years.”
She suggested that “with a little bit of patience, the American people are going to continue to see that the best is yet to come,” and claimed that Trump “has a proven economic formula that works.”
Leavitt also said that Trump has a housing plan “in the works” and a healthcare plan “in the works,” and vowed that Americans will “continue to hear from the president, and he’ll continue to hit the road across the country to speak directly with the people he loves most, the American people.”
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an 12 25
President Donald Trump has hinted about the falling out he had with Jeffrey Epstein after their years-long friendship, but the Wall Street Journal revealed specifics about the story in an exclusive report late Tuesday evening.
According to the report, Mar-a-Lago wasn't merely a frequent hangout for Epstein; the country club would also send Epstein young women to handle his "massages, manicures and other spa services."
A former Mar-a-Lago employee told the Journal that the "services" went on for years. Trump's staff warned each other about the kind of person Epstein was, according to former Epstein employees.
The spa employees would frequently warn each other about Epstein's sexual suggestions, reporting that he would expose himself during appointments.
Epstein was never a dues-paying member of Mar-a-Lago, but Trump still gave his close friends the perks. He even went so far as to tell the spa staff to treat Epstein as if he was a dues-paying member. Epstein's longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, would frequently book the appointments on his behalf.
Everything stopped when an 18-year-old beautician returned from a "house call" to Epstein and said that he had pressured her for sex, the ex-employees told the Journal.
"A manager sent Trump a fax relaying the employee's allegations and urged him to ban Epstein, some of the former employees said. Trump told the manager it was a good letter and said to kick him out," the report said.
The woman gave details to human resources, but the incident was never reported to the police.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt alleged the report was false.
"No matter how many times this story is told and retold, the truth remains: President Trump did nothing wrong and he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for being a creep," Leavitt said after claiming the Journal was "writing up fallacies and innuendo."
Trump is currently in a lawsuit against the Journal for a report that Trump submitted a note for Epstein's birthday book that included the outline of a woman's body. Trump denied the report even as the birthday book entries were published.
CNBC's Carl Quintanilla highlighted an excerpt of the report that talked about Trump's ex-wife, Marla Maples, being so "uneasy" about Epstein's presence that she didn't want to spend time with him or Trump when they were together. Still, Epstein continued to party at Mar-a-Lago with Trump.
Mother Jones editor-in-chief Clara Jeffrey cited the ongoing lawsuit between Trump and the Journal. The paper, she said, "continues to break news about their relationship..."
Washington Monthly's politics editor Bill Schersaid he was speechless reading that Trump was willing to send young women to Epstein's mansion.
Linguist Luke Steuber remarked, "WSJ just blew this all up by carrying Trump's water. On a lot of people, I think it's going to work."
National security analyst Marcy Wheeler added, "What's interesting abt this story is 18-yo who returned to MAL saying Epstein had pressured her for sex is not clearly IDed as girl whose father was MAL member who really let Trump have it. She could still be, but if not, it would be THREE (known) MAL girls Epstein assaulted before he was reported."
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VF CU PIX LIP INJECTION
Karoline Leavitt showing stress as she deals with Trump’s rambling: analysis
AN 12 25
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AN 12 25
Karoline Leavitt's 'whopper' about a 'strong' job market shredded in blistering fact-check
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an 12 25
Lisandra Vazquez, an Atlanta-based comedian, has gone viral with her frequent parodies of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt — who sees the MAGA Republican as a caricature of herself and mocks her relentlessly with her videos on YouTube and TikTok. And Vazquez isn't the only one with that opinion of Leavitt.
In a biting opinion column published on December 12, MS NOW's Steve Benen emphasizes that Leavitt's obsequious praise of President Donald Trump is only growing more cartoonish and divorced from reality.
"Earlier this week," Benen observes, "White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that China had refused to purchase American soybeans during Joe Biden's presidency because Chinese leaders 'had no respect for our president, Biden, or for the country at the time.' Thankfully, she added, Donald Trump has turned things around. As White House lies go, this one was odd — and rather lazy. It didn't take a lot of Googling to learn that Chinese purchases of American soybeans during the Biden era were quite robust."
Benen adds, "Beijing stopped buying the products, however, earlier this year in response to Trump's trade tariffs. It was a timely reminder that, in service of the president's political agenda, Leavitt isn't just willing to spin and exaggerate, she's also willing to turn reality on its head."
Leavitt claims were also "demonstrably ridiculous," according to Benen, when she claimed that "every economic metric" shows the "economy is improving" under Trump — and that "inflation is down" thanks to him.
"When CNN’s Kaitlan Collins dared to remind the White House press secretary that grocery prices have climbed," Benen observes, "Leavitt accused her of deliberately pushing 'untrue narratives,' despite the fact that grocery prices really have climbed….
As Americans turn sharply against Trump's handing of the economy, the president and his team have other options, but they appear determined to keep playing make-believe, hoping the repetition of nonsense will bully reality into submission."
Benen adds, "Trump's approval rating suggests Leavitt and her colleagues might need a Plan B."
*Steve Benen's full MS NOW column is available at this link.
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AN 12 25
Karoline Leavitt pitches non-existent tax 'rebates' as Trump approval hits new low
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AN 12 25
After President Donald Trump's bitter diatribe against Somali-Americans — including progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) — he got a vigorous defense from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Trump described Somali-Americans living in Minnesota as "garbage," calling for them to be deported "back to where they came from." And Leavitt praised his comments as "amazing" and an "epic moment."
Greg Sargent, host of The New Republic's podcast "The Daily Blast," discussed Leavitt's defense of Trump with former U.S. State Department official Vedant Patel in episode posted on December 8.
Sargent, a former Washington Post columnist, argued that Leavitt "went full cult in giving White House sanction to Trump's ugly bigotry."
Sargent told Patel, "White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted to this with obsequious praise, calling it 'epic.' We thought this was a telling moment. The Trump cult has gotten so out of control that his propagandists now go out of their way to deliberately highlight his most racist and disgusting moments and pump those up into moments of heroism and triumph. Meanwhile, almost no Republicans had anything critical to say about any of this. In fact, JD Vance pounded the table in agreement with Trump on Somalis. How far is this madness going to get?"
Sargent got no argument from Patel, who served in the State Department under former President Joe Biden.
Patel told Sargent, "I want to say that I wish I were surprised, but truly, Greg, I mean, this is a playbook out of the president's first administration. I mean, I think you recall that there was a really poignant moment in which President Trump was saying that he didn't want immigrants from a certain fill-in-the-blanks, swear-word types of countries. This is the exact playbook that we've seen before of dividing this country, targeting sort of immigrant communities. It's despicable."
When Sargent told his guest that the "cultishness is off the charts" with Trump's second administration, Patel responded, "I certainly would say so."
Patel continued, "Let's put the policy aside just for a second. Let's put the Somali piece aside for just a moment. I worked in the press office under President Biden. That is not the way you are supposed to be doing media relations. Let's remember that these are spokespeople that should be working. Yes, they work for a president, but really, ultimately, their job is to try to inform the American public, be good arbiters of truth and good engagers with journalists, help answer questions, help inform coverage and stories and TV packages and things of that nature. It is not to be sycophants and just be partisan hacks with a taxpayer dime."
*Listen to the full podcast at this link or read the transcript here.
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AN 12 254
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday amplified an op-ed article calling for a Trump-backed regime change in Venezuela as administration continues to float the possibility of a ground war in the country.
The New York Post, a notably MAGA-friendly outlet often described as President Donald Trump's "favorite paper," published the piece Leavitt's official government X account shared on Wednesday. It was written María Corina Machado, an Venezuelan activist and leader of the country's opposition against President Nicolás Maduro. She was the recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize, and has frequently praised Trump for his opposition to Maduro and attempted to court his help in removing the Venezuelan president from office.
Leavitt's account shared a link to the piece alongside its headline, "President Trump is a champion in the fight for ‘Venezuelan freedom.'"
"White House press secretary amplifies column calling for US-led regime change in Venezuela," Olivier Knox, a senior political reporter for U.S. News & World Report, wrote in comment responding to Leavitt's.
In the piece, Machado characterized the Maduro government as hijacking the country by way of a regime-backed drug cartel, Cartel de los Soles. The Trump administration recently designated the group as a terrorist organization, though critics have pointed out that the term "Cartel de los Soles" does not refer to a specific, distinct organization, but it rather used as a catch-all term for corrupt government officials involved in drug trafficking.
She further accuses the Maduro government of "crimes against humanity and other grave atrocities," and of running Venezuela "the way mobsters control territory: through fear, torture and the systematic destruction of the nation’s democratic pillars."
She also praises Trump's actions against Maduro as "decisive action" and dismisses criticisms that military intervention would destabilize Venezuela.
Critics have accused the Trump administration of seeking to gain access to Venezuelan oil fields by deposing Maduro, not pursuing regime change to support democracy. Machado has also been criticized overall for her enthusiastic support of Trump, raising concerns the country would become overly deferential to him with her in power.
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an 11 25
he is transparent honest aVIALABLE, YOU PRESS LUCKY
Leavitt argues Trump was being respectful when calling a female reporter 'piggy'
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SHE GOT BENCHED A WHILE? AFTER HOMAN DENIAL?
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BAD BEAT 3 STATES AND PA SCOTUS
AN 11 25
'Kamikaze pilots': Trump says Democrats will 'take down the country' after big wins
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AN 11 25
President Donald Trump is drafting an executive order aimed at rolling back voting rights, a measure that may include attacks on mailed ballots, a top administration official said Tuesday.
“The White House is working on an executive order to strengthen our elections in this country and to ensure that there cannot be blatant fraud, as we’ve seen in California with their universal mail-in voting system,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
“Like any executive order, of course, any executive order the president signs is within his full executive authority and within the confines of the law,” she added.
Asked by a reporter what is her evidence of electoral fraud in California, Leavitt replied without evidence that “it’s just a fact.”
Leavitt’s remarks came hours after Trump baselessly attacked California’s vote-by-mail system in a post on his Truth Social network.
“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED,” Trump alleged without evidence. “All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!”
Trump has previously vowed to ban mail-in ballots, a move legal experts say would be unconstitutional.
The White House’s announcement also came as Americans voted in several high-stakes elections, including California’s Proposition 50 retaliatory redistricting proposal; the New York City mayoral race between progressive Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa; gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia; and a crowded contest for Minneapolis mayor highlighted by democratic socialist state Sen. Omar Fateh’s (D-62) bid to unseat third-term Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey.
The announcement also followed a federal judge’s permanent blocking of part of Trump’s executive order requiring proof of US citizenship on federal voter registration forms.
Democracy defenders have repudiated Trump’s attacks on mailed ballots and claims of voter fraud—a longtime right-wing bugaboo unsupported by facts on the ground.
“Voting by mail as permitted by the laws of your state is legal,” ACLU Voting Rights Project director Sophia Lin Lakin says in a statementon the group’s website about Trump’s order from March.
“In his sweeping executive order, Trump tried to bully states into not counting ballots properly received after Election Day under state law by threatening to withhold federal funding,” she continues. “A federal court has temporarily blocked this part of the executive order.”
“Trump’s effort to target mail-in voting is a blatant overreach, intruding on states’ constitutional authority to set the rules for elections,” Lin Lakin adds. “It threatens to disenfranchise tens of millions of eligible voters and would no doubt disproportionately impact historically excluded communities, including voters of color, naturalized citizens, people with disabilities, and the elderly, by pushing unnecessary barriers to the fundamental right to vote.”
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AN 11 25
The White House appears to be walking back President Donald Trump’s defiant refusal to release the more than $5 billion in the SNAP contingency funds that two federal judges ordered him to distribute.
In a Truth Social post, President Trump vowed to hold up the SNAP funds, writing that food stamp benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
But according to the White House, the administration is fully complying with the judges’ orders and the President was only talking about “future” emergencies, not the current shutdown.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by a reporter on Tuesday to help “clear some confusion about SNAP benefits.”
RELATED: ‘Breaking the Law’: Trump Blasted After Threatening to Defy Judges’ Orders on SNAP Funds
“The president,” the reporter told Leavitt, “just posted that they will only be given out when the ‘radical left Democrats’ opened the government, and not before. But just yesterday, the administration said it would comply with the court order to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds by end of business day yesterday.”
“So, did the administration distribute that money or defy that court order?” the reporter asked.
“No,” Leavitt insisted, “the administration is fully complying with the court order.”
“I just spoke to the president about it,” she said, before appearing to chastise SNAP recipients and place blame on Democrats.
“The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand, it’s going to take some time to receive this money, because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position,” Leavitt claimed.
“We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war, and the president does not want to have to tap into this fund in the future, and that’s what he was referring to in his Truth Social post.”
READ MORE: Johnson Urges SNAP Recipients to Come ‘Home’ to Republican Party
“The best way to get the full amount of SNAP benefits to those beneficiaries is for Democrats to reopen the government,” she added, not explaining why it would take longer if the funds were to come from the contingency fund.
“So to anyone who is a SNAP beneficiary at home, who needs that assistance, and President was just saying, this is for people who are truly needy, who need food, who need this assistance from the United States government, Democrats are holding it up, and making it difficult for the administration to get those payments out the door,” Leavitt continued.
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an 10 25
A profile in The New York Times says that Shirish Dáte, a White House reporter for HuffPost who goes by the byline S.V. Dáte, "gets clobbered" when he reaches out to the Trump administrationfor comment.
"Top Trump officials, Mr. Dáte said, tend to reply with insults, often bundled with praise for their boss. Never were they more newsworthy than a recent back-and-forth that spread across the internet," the Times writes.
When Dáte asked the administration who recommended Budapest for the now-canceled meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt now infamously replied, "Your mom did," in a text message that has since gone viral.
Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, texted the same reply to him moments later.
“I was kind of like, this is a serious war that’s going on that has killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians in their homes,” Dáte, also the author of the 2020 book "The Useful Idiot: How Donald Trump Killed the Republican Party with Racism and the Rest of Us with Coronavirus", told the Times.
“And then your response is, ‘Your mom?'” he asked.
While the Times notes that Trump and his aides "regularly bad mouth the press," they say that in a White House press room filled with hand-picked acolytes, it's different when it comes to Dáte.
"They show less restraint in their pushback against Mr. Dáte, accentuating his somewhat lonely professional existence — reporting for a progressive publication in a building increasingly populated by right-wing outlets supportive of the current administration," the Times says.
Following the "your mom" texts, Leavitttold Dáte via text that he was a “far left hack who nobody takes seriously, including your colleagues in the media, they just don’t tell you that to your face.”
After reporting on a story about Trump deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Dáte received "an expletive-laden text from Mr. Cheung chiding his physical stature and his masculinity."
“In nine years, have I ever insulted you?” Dáte responded. Cheung then wrote that Mr. Dáte was “being a moron.”
Dáte, who has covered politics for years, including in Florida, says he's never experienced anything like this.
“Things got testy at times with Jeb Bush’s staff,” Dáte said. “But never like this.”
Dáte covered Trump's legal troubles and documented the "sprawling aftermath" of Jan. 6 during the Biden administration, the Times explains.
"That was my choice,” said Dáte, who wrote an opinion piece arguing that "the media scandal of the 2024 presidential campaign related not to coverage of Mr. Biden’s age, but to 'normalizing' coverage of Mr. Trump," the Times says.
Dáte is “alarmed” by Trump "not because he’s a Republican, but rather because his actions 'are breaks from precedent and oftentimes massive shifts in how this president is operating,'" Kevin Robillard, HuffPost’s political editor, told the Times.
HuffPost's editor-in-chief thinks he knows why they go after Dáte.
“Their response to [Dáte] was ridiculous, but it doesn’t bother us,” said Whitney Snyder, HuffPost’s editor in chief. “Maybe he’s gotten under their skin.”
He's also gotten more subscribers. According to a HuffPost spokesperson, following the Leavitt "your mom" incident, "the site received 66 percent more revenue for the program than it does on a typical day, according to a spokeswoman for the site."
Dáte believes that uptick is due to many things.
“I would guess that our core audience does not like Donald Trump for a variety of reasons,” Dáte said, “and I hope my stories have informed them as to why they might oppose him.”
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an rupar 10 25
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is under fire after alleging that Democrats are catering to “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”
“The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals,” Leavitt said on Fox News on Thursday afternoon.
“That is who the Democrat Party is catering to — not the Trump administration, and not the White House, and not the Republican Party, who is standing up for law abiding Americans, not just across the country, but around the world.”
Leavitt did not explain why the Democratic Party should be catering to the Republican Party or to the Trump administration.
READ MORE: Trump Focused on Bailout for Farmers Loyal to Him ‘For a Really Long Time’ Says Official
Critics blasted the Press Secretary.
Former Obama senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer wrote: “This s– is so f– dangerous and everyone on the Republican side just nods along.”
Human Rights Campaign National Press Secretary Brandon Wolf asked, “Remember when they pretended to want to ‘turn down the temperature’?”
Veteran journalist John Harwood called Leavitt’s remarks “disgusting b–.”
Dylan Williams, Vice President for Government Affairs for the Center for International Policy warned: “How is this anything other than deliberate incitement that risks leading to deadly violence?”
“This is INCREDIBLY dangerous framing,” declared author Carey Lohrenz, the first female F-14 Tomcat pilot, “and should make the hair on the back of your next stand, whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, or Independent. And it’s also patently false.”
READ MORE: ‘I Don’t Like Being Mad Mike’: Johnson ‘Upset’ Over Dems’ Health Care Demands
Attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick noted that Hillary Clinton’s “‘Deplorables’ was a scandal for years and she wasn’t even in the government yet. This is the White House Press Secretary, whose salary is paid by the American public.”
Journalist Ahmed Baba wrote: “In a sane reality, this insane comment would’ve ended the career of any other press secretary. In this reality, it’s a just another Thursday. But when the Trump fever breaks, and it will break, these people will have to reckon with the digital footprints of their own depravity.”
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an 10 25
Daily Beast reports that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt bristled at Fox News' description of President Donald Trump sending U.S. troops to Israel to enforce a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian leaders.
Trump announced Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had “signed off on the first phase” of his plan to end the war in Gaza, which involves an exchange of hostages between Israeli and Palestine.
Fox News’ X account announced the victory on Thursday evening, posting, “BREAKING: U.S. troops headed to Israel to support historic peace deal.”
Leavitt took the framing of the message badly.
“This is NOT true and taken out of context,” Leavitt responded on X within an hour of the post. “To be clear: up to 200 U.S. personnel, who are already stationed at CENTCOM, will be tasked with monitoring the peace agreement in Israel, and they will work with other international forces on the ground.”
CENTCOM, also known as the United States Central Command, directs military operations in over the "central" area of the globe located between the European, Africa and Indo-Pacific Commands.
Commenters on social media demanded to know how her statement diverged from that of Fox News.
“So let’s get this straight — D.C. says ‘not true’ but then admits 200 U.S. personnel are being deployed to monitor Israel’s peace deal,” posted one critic. “Call it what you want — ‘monitoring,’ ‘support,’ ‘liaison’ — but it’s still U.S. boots on the ground in a foreign conflict. If this is ‘out of context,’ then the context is Americans once again being sent overseas while our own borders, streets, and vets get ignored.”
“You just said the same thing with more words,” said another X user.
“In a race to the bottom, there is no winner,” posted another.
Other comments suggest Leavitt may be legitimately wary of upsetting “America First” MAGA elements that comprise a sizable portion of Trump’s base.
“I did not vote for the George Bush/Dick Cheney and neoconservative agenda!” said one critic.
The Daily Beast reports Fox News appeared to catch on to the motive, posting “BREAKING: The U.S. plans to utilize up to 200 troops already in the middle east to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team involving various nations, a senior official told Fox News.”
Read the Daily Beast report at this link.
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an 10 25
The federal government shutdown is curtailing even some of the Trump administration’s more theatrical communications, even as its confrontational style persists.
With the government shutdown underway, large portions of the White House press apparatus have been furloughed, forcing delays or suspensions in routine operations.
One outcome of this development is that media requests directed to the press office now trigger an automated response warning of slower turnaround times, The Daily Beast reportedThursday.
“Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays. We ask for your patience as our staff work to field your requests promptly,” it states.
“As you await a response, please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open. The press office also cannot accommodate waves, requests or escorts at this time," it adds.
Efforts at online provocation, ranging from memes and insulting retorts to AI‑driven caricatures, have long been central to the administration’s communications strategy.
The report noted that there have been multiple instances in which the White House responded to media queries with meme images or taunts like “Cry more, libs.” In one widely noted case, a meme of a man with a bicycle attached to his head, captioned “dOeS ThE MeMe mAkE sEnSe????????,” was reportedly sent in response to a request for comment.
The press team has also used profanity when responding to perceived slight: at one point calling a reporter “f——ing blind or stupid," the report noted.
The shutdown has not entirely silenced such messaging. On Wednesday, a looping AI‑generated video played in the James S. Brady briefing room, showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wearing a sombrero and mustache while a deepfake audio attributed to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed “nobody likes Democrats because of woke trans bulls——."
White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told the Washington Post: “The sombreros will continue until the Democrats reopen the government!”
Observers view these tactics as part of a broader shift in the White House’s role, from traditional press office to an aggressive rapid‑response operation that deploys memes, social media content, and confrontational messaging to shape public discourse.
While the staff-less communications unit may delay internal functions, the administration appears to be maintaining its provocative posture in the public square.
During a confrontation on the House floor Tuesday, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) pressed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about President Donald Trump’s sharing of an AI‑generated video, which some have termed racially offensive. Johnson responded, “It wasn’t my style.”
When Dean challenged him further — calling the video “disgraceful” and “racist” and urging him to denounce it — Johnson walked away, later telling her, “I’m working on it. And personally, it’s not my style.”
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Fox averts its eyes from former employee Homan reportedly receiving a bag of cash
Written by Matt Gertz
Research contributions from Harrison Ray
Updated 09/22/25
Fox News has yet to address on-air the recent reports that White House border czar Tom Homan, while working as a contributor for the network in September 2024, accepted a bag of cash from undercover FBI agents as part of a corruption investigation which was subsequently closed under the Trump administration.
MSNBC reported on Saturday:
In an undercover operation last year, the FBI recorded Tom Homan, now the White House border czar, accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts in a second Trump administration, according to multiple people familiar with the probe and internal documents reviewed by MSNBC.
The FBI and the Justice Department planned to wait to see whether Homan would deliver on his alleged promise once he became the nation’s top immigration official. But the case indefinitely stalled soon after Donald Trump became president again in January, according to six sources familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, Trump appointees officially closed the investigation, after FBI Director Kash Patel requested a status update on the case, two of the people said.
It’s unclear what reasons FBI and Justice Department officials gave for shutting down the investigation. But a Trump Justice Department appointee called the case a “deep state” probe in early 2025 and no further investigative steps were taken, the sources say.
The federal investigation was launched in western Texas in the summer of 2024 after a subject in a separate investigation claimed Homan was soliciting payments in exchange for awarding contracts should Trump win the presidential election, according to an internal Justice Department summary of the probe reviewed by MSNBC and people familiar with the case.
The handoff, according to MSNBC, came on September 20, 2024, while Homan was making frequent appearances on Fox as a paid network contributor in which he promoted Trump’s xenophobic positions. Homan had joined Fox after retiring as ICE’s acting director in 2018, a position in which he reportedly served as the “intellectual ‘father’” of the Trump administration’s depraved family separation policy.
The New York Times and ABC News subsequently confirmed MSNBC’s reporting, with the Times adding the detail that the cash payment had been “made inside a bag from the food chain Cava.”
Notably, in their statements to the outlets, FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson did not deny the reporting that Homan had been recorded taking a bag of cash from undercover agents. Instead, they claimed that the Justice Department had not uncovered evidence of illicit activity when it closed the investigation.
But MSNBC’s legal experts concluded that while Homan’s “actions didn’t clearly fit under a standard bribery charge” because neither he nor Trump were in office at the time, further investigation was warranted to determine whether he would continue accepting bags of cash once he was a public official. (A lesser charge would have been possible based on his promise to commit the crime, and MSNBC reported that “several FBI and Justice officials believed that they had a strong criminal case.”)
To state the obvious: Fox would be covering this story if it implicated a Democratic official and administration. But as of posting time (noon ET), the network has not mentioned it.
Homan is the lynchpin of the right’s anti-immigrant strategy. He makes regular appearances on Fox and throughout the MAGA media ecosystem, helping them churn out propaganda in support of Trump’s cruel, unlawful, and increasingly unpopular mass deportation policies.
Homan is a loyal member of the Trump team, and so its other members are uninterested in whether he was taking bags of cash in exchange for promises of future favors. Former Fox host Megyn Kelly made this explicit, responding to the MSNBC scoop over the weekend by posting, “We DO NOT CARE. Don’t bother [Homan] he’s a national treasure.”
Fox’s stable of propagandists apparently agree. The network regularly shields from its viewers information that reflects poorly on Trump, the policies he supports, and the administration he assembled. A recording of their former colleague accepting a bag of cash is apparently no different.
{Update (9/22/25, 3:10 p.m.):* White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the Homan probe during her briefing, which Fox carried live in its 1 p.m. hour. Leavitt responded that Homan “never took the $50,000 that you're referring to, so you should get your facts straight.” After the briefing concluded, Fox anchor Gillian Turner asked Fox political correspondent Byron York about the exchange. York called Leavitt’s denial “huge” and a “clear conflict” with what was reported elsewhere.}:
MMA //
08/08/22
- ### With “Border Czar” Tom Homan, Trump restarts the revolving door between Fox and his administration
11/12/24
08/07/25
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rww
09/17/2025
by
- Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Andrew Duehren, Kenneth P. Vogel and Katie Rogers @ The New York Times: Trump Invokes Kirk’s Killing in Justifying Measures to Silence Opponents
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing, President Trump and his allies have laid out a broad plan to target liberal groups, monitor speech, revoke visas and designate certain groups as domestic terrorists.
- Sarah Rumpf @ Mediaite: DOJ Deletes Its Own Study From Website Showing ‘Far More’ Domestic Terrorism Committed by ‘Far-Right Extremists’
Within the past few days, the Department of Justice deleted one of its own studies from its website showing that “far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists.”
- Mark Silk @ Religion News Service: Charlie Kirk is fast becoming an emblem of Trump's political religion
Past leaders have used shocking events to bring us together. Trump is making Kirk a martyr to drive Americans apart.
- Ron Dicker @ HuffPost: Jesse Watters Demands Charlie Kirk Protesters Get On Their Knees And Repent
The Fox News host repeatedly called for "them" to get one chance to beg for forgiveness — or else.
- Jill Filipovic: Welcome to Right-Wing Reeducation Camp
The Trump regime is squashing speech and using the full force of government to enforce its ideology.
- Catherine Bouris @ The Daily Beast: Karoline Leavitt Touts Bizarre Holy Sign After Charlie Kirk’s Death
President Donald Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a bizarre post on Tuesday that appeared to claim that an earthquake in Utah on the night of Charlie Kirk’s death was a sign of God’s anger.
- Hunter Walker @ Talking Points Memo: Texas Congressman Says Trans People Need To Be Taken ‘Off The Streets’ After Charlie Kirk Shooting
The killing of right wing activist and influencer Charlie Kirk has prompted disturbing and questionably legal calls for a crackdown on the left from President Trump and his allies. In an appearance on the cable network Newsmax on Tuesday evening, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) took things further — way further.
- Cynthia Miller-Idriss @ Just Security: How Misogyny Fuels Violent Extremism
Even as the problem garners more attention, misogynistic and male supremacist violence is still often relegated to a category of “other” threats, or dismissed as the personality problems of challenged individuals, rather than addressed as an ideological belief system of its own.
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an 8 25
The Daily Beast reports Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov is trolling White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for “gushing over Donald Trump’s peacemaking skills.”
On Tuesday, Leavitt called Trump “the peace president” and claimed that “American leadership is back on the world stage.”
“What we’ve witnessed President Trump accomplish over the last two days is nothing short of remarkable,” Leavitt told reporters in the Oval Office, while ribbing “… the weakness and incompetence of Joe Biden for foolishly allowing the killing to start in the first place.”
READ MORE: Trump just crossed a line no other president ever dared to
The Beast reports Leavitt claimed presidents “traveled halfway around the world to apologize for America,” but Trump “firmly restored America’s status as the undisputed leader of the free world.”
Amid Leavitt’s claim, Russia targeted Ukraine overnight with nearly 600 drones and 40 missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Most of the weapons were intercepted by Ukraine's air defenses, but at least one person was killed and 15 injured.
Tarlov, the most liberal co-host of Fox News’ “The Five” posted on her X account on Wednesday: “I’m sure next to standing up for America in the dictionary it reads, ‘Putin wants to make a deal for me.’”
Tarlov was likely referencing the Monday incident when Trump was caught on a hot mic telling French President Emmanuel Macron, “I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.”
READ MORE: 'They said it's a felony': Police yank Dem lawmaker out of bathroom for speaking to media
Her comment drew anger from MAGA elements on X, with commenters calling her “ugly” and “hateful,” among other insults.
The Beast also reports Leavitt was photographed sitting in a gold armchair usually reserved for heads of state. The Beast reports Trump is often seated there himself.
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AN 8 25
When President Donald Trump returned to the White House, it was obvious that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had a radically different approach from the two women who held that position under former President Joe Biden: first Jen Psaki (now an MSNBC host), then Karine Jean-Pierre. While Psaki and Jean-Pierre were happy to debate conservative reporters or disagree with them, they welcomed their presence — Leavitt, in contrast, regularly attacks and berates journalists.
Leavitt had a reputation for being a MAGA attack dog well before she joined Trump's second administration. And according to the Daily Beast, she "once played a starring role in a training video created by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank responsible for the president’s Project 2025 playbook."
"Long before Donald Trump was swooning about her being a White House star with 'lips that move like a machine gun," Daily Beast reporters David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, and Sarah Ewall-Wice explain in an August 21 report, "Karoline Leavitt was teaching aspiring politicos how to conduct themselves if they ever landed a job in the (Trump) Administration…. The 30-minute guide, titled 'The Art of Professionalism,' was produced before Trump returned to the Oval Office and features Leavitt providing tips on everything from competence ('you have to be resourceful,' she says); to 'knowledge' ('reading the news of the day'); and 'confidence' ('just be prepared')."
READ MORE:Aides sat 'helpless' as 'incoherent' Trump displayed 'stunning ignorance': biographer
The Beast reporters continue, "Leavitt had not yet graced the podium when she filmed the video with Chris Hayes, who was then the careers coordinator at the right-wing Leadership Institute, and not to be confused with the left-wing MSNBC host of the same name.
At the time, the reporters note, Leavitt had worked in the first Trump Administration as an assistant press secretary to then-White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany (who became a Fox News pundit).
Gardner, Tomazin, and Ewall-Wice quote Leavitt as saying, "Those were some of the most high-pressure moments of my life, knowing that the White House press corps was out there, going to berate my boss on something that we had not covered throughout the day. But rather than get stressed out, cry or have a negative emotional response, you have to pull yourself up from your bootstraps, you have to be prepared, and you have to execute in that moment."
READ MORE:'They said it's a felony': Police yank Dem lawmaker out of bathroom for speaking to media
*Read the full Daily Beast article at this link (subscription required).
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AN 7 25 EPSTEIN
'Who said that?' Leavitt erupts at reporter who asks if Gabbard is deflecting from Epstein
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an 7 25
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly suggested that supernatural forces might have been responsible for the technical issues during President Donald Trump's recent call with faith leaders.
She commented, “There is spiritual warfare as we all know. It tried to break up our call today, as the president even alluded to.”
According to liberal group Meidas Touch, Leavitt made these comments during the same call.
READ MORE:What MAGA really means to Americans
Prior to that, White House Faith Director Jenny Korn had expressed frustration with the situation, saying they were “waiting for AT&T to get its act together,” pointing to the service provider as the cause.
On Monday, Trump appeared to seek technical support in a social media post, stating that a conference call with American faith leaders had experienced difficulties, which he attributed to the telecommunications company AT&T.
He called on the company’s "boss, whoever that may be" to step in and address the issue. Trump also mentioned that his team might switch to a different carrier for future calls.
"I’m doing a major Conference Call with Faith Leaders from all over the Country, and AT&T is totally unable to make their equipment work properly. This is the second time it’s happened. If the Boss of AT&T, whoever that may be, could get involved — It would be good. There are tens of thousands of people on the line!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Monday afternoon.
READ MORE:'Betrayed': GOP rep torched after hospital closes in his district shuts down due to Medicaid cuts
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AN 6 25
In an article published by the Washington Post on Tuesday afternoon, June 10, journalists John Hudson and Alex Horton reported that the Trump Administration — as part of its mass deportations programs — "is preparing to begin the transfer of potentially thousands of foreigners who are in the United States illegally to the U.S. military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba."
According to Hudson and Horton, "It is far from clear whether the facilities there can accommodate 9000 new detainees, an influx that would amount to a massive increase from the several hundred migrants moved to and from the base earlier this year. But Trump Administration officials say the plan is necessary due to a need to free up capacity at domestic detention facilities, which have become overcrowded amid President Donald Trump’s pledge to implement the biggest deportation of undocumented migrants in American history."
Hudson and Horton noted a Trump Administration memo that reads, "GTMO is not at capacity."
READ MORE: Navy veteran warns Americans that we're getting to the dangerous point of no return
But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is claiming that the Post's reporting is inaccurate and that the Trump Administration has no plans to use Guantánamo for deportees.
In a June 11 post on X, formerly Twitter, Leavitt wrote, "This story is Fake News. Not happening."
Leavitt's tweet is getting a lot of responses.
Radio host Thomas P. Logan tweeted, "More like, y'all got busted and now you have to back down."
READ MORE:'Blood, detentions and incarcerations': Analyst says Trump isn't satisfying MAGA's demands
Sara Norton posted"Be a human being for a change. They are NOT sending hardened criminals to these prisons like felon Trump promised. Read what is going on. You make me sick by the way."
X user Richard Angwin posted, "Karoline Leavitt’s reckless dismissal of a credible Washington Post report reeks of desperation to shield Trump’s authoritarian overreach, further eroding any shred of trust in this administration’s propaganda machine.
In late January, Trump himself said he would sign an executive order authorizing the construction of a huge detention camp at Guantánamo Bay that would host as many as 30,000 migrants.
READ MORE:'Unacceptable and egregious': Veterans blast Trump for goading troops to boo his opponents
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bulwark w/ tim HHH dem, twt on up border sec
terry moran abc fired for saying miller 3 hateful, driving LA ICE home depot raids
PRESS SUPPRESSION
AN 6 25
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, recently gave a press briefing about Palestinians killed close to an aid distribution centre in Gaza on June 1. A key question, she suggested, was whether the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) were really to blame, as had been reported.
“Unlike some in the media, we don’t take the word of Hamas as total truth,” she said. “We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC.”
Given the explosive war of words that has broken out between US president Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, Leavitt’s accusation may now appear to be small potatoes. But it matters: this is the latest twist of Trump’s undermining of a free press that has been evolving since he first repeated the words back in 2016 that would shake the public’s belief in journalism: “Fake news!”
On inauguration day in January, my international journalism class and I were examining the seating chart for the White House press briefing room. We discussed the prime position of the Associated Press’s (AP) seat (front and centre) and the seats further back, where in the seventh row the BBC shared a position with Newsweek. We wondered if Trump might shuffle the pack, but decided that decisions were safely in the hands of the White House Correspondents’ Association.
Since then, the whole game has changed. Even an organisation as large and venerable as AP can be turfed out of the White House press pool on its ear. Meanwhile selected, right-wing newcomers like Brian Glenn of Real America’s Voice can throw a curve ball putting such an extraordinary question to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky during a White House press conference that it temporarily disturbs the course of a war.
The White House later decided to take away access given to other wire services such as Reuters and Bloomberg rather than allow AP to return to its previous access.
Media appearances and briefings for Trump are now purely performative. Friendly media companies get special invitations to Trump’s often explosive meetings with world leaders (such as that with Zelensky above), and “legacy media” have to keep raising their hands for access.
Leavitt, Trump’s young spokesperson, came out swinging at her briefing, brandishing a handy A4 printout of BBC online news stories on the shootings in Gaza on June 1.
As she waved her piece of paper – as curiously old-fashioned as Trump’s tariff whiteboard – she appeared
. While referring to the page, compiled by a student activist on X,she announced that the BBC had edited “multiple headlines” about the death count, and changed claims about the deaths from being the result of tank fire to gunfire.
Without a hint of irony, she observed: “So we’re going to look into reports before we confirm them from this podium. I suggest that journalists who actually care about truth do the same to reduce the misinformation that’s going around the globe.”
Back in London, the BBC released a timely statement arguing that it updated its breaking stories throughout the events on June 1, saying this was “normal practice” and that all its figures were “clearly attributed”.
Meanwhile, the corporation’s analysis editor, Ros Atkins, put out a brief but carefully worded video, via BBC Verify, that concluded Leavitt’s accusations were “repeatedly false”. It affirmed that BBC reporters had quoted figures “with clear attribution” from the “the Hamas-run health ministry”. It also used sources such as the independent Red Cross and quoted the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in stories that day.
The White House attacks the BBC for its coverage of Gaza.
Atkins refuted Leavitt’s claims that the BBC had taken down any of its articles and confirmed that they remained online. He said that BBC Verify had examined a separate online video posted on social media (not a BBC video) and deemed it unrelated to the aid centre deaths. He said that once again the student activist had “misrepresented what BBC Verify had done. The White House then repeated this misrepresentation.”
Interestingly, following the BBC Verify examination of the other video, the Israeli army has admitted responsibility for “a previously unacknowledged strike on the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza”, which reportedly killed at least one Palestinian and injured 30 others.
Two days after her initial briefing, Leavitt doubled down with similar accusations against the “fake news BBC”. However, it is Atkins’ final comment on his video that knocks out arguments that the White House is an arbiter of truth that is most chilling: “But in this case either the White House didn’t look into its claims about the BBC before bringing them to the podium or had no concern that they weren’t true.”
Part of Trump’s playbook involves sowing uncertainty among the public about the truth. He and his associates repeatedly hurl accusations, and then sit back and see what sticks. Going after one of the world’s most trusted media organisationsneatly serves this purpose, even though the BBC is a UK-based corporation and there are no straightforward domestic political gains in so doing.
This attack does however do a job of tarnishing the BBC’s reputation with some members of the public which can only please the Israeli government, whose own reputation within the international community could not be lower, according to the Pew Research Center. At the UN security council, this week, the US was the only country out of 15 to veto the draft resolution calling for an “unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza.
While British and international media correspondents are still calling for permission to enter Gaza to report on the situation, it is clearly not in the Israeli government’s interests to allow this. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has now confirmed he has authorised the supplying of weapons to another, purportedly anti-Hamas militia in Gaza, further muddying the waters of exactly who fired on whom.
Welcome to the latest twist in the Trump government’s media strategy that is designed to promote uncertainty while distracting from troubling events: “Oh look, a squirrel!”
Colleen Murrell, Chair of the Editorial Board, and Full Professor in Journalism, *Dublin City University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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AN 6 25
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is now being raked over the coals in response to her call for ABC to censor a journalist who criticized President Donald Trump and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
In a Sunday tweet, Keavitt posted a screenshot of a now-deleted post by ABC News' Terry Moran — who
— and called on his employer to punish him over his "unhinged and unacceptable" critique of the administration. Moran opined in the post that Miller was not "the brains behind Trumpism" but a "world-class hater" whose "bile" is his "spiritual nourishment." He then said that Trump was also a "world-class hater" whose own "spiritual nourishment" was "his own glorification."
"We have reached out to @ABC to inquire about how they plan to hold Terry accountable," Leavitt tweeted, while mentioning the network's official handle on X.
READ MORE:'Destroyed their credibility': MAGA turns on Trump officials unable to prove conspiracies
Leavitt's tweet was quickly met with widespread condemnation, prompting Daily Beast columnist Julia Davis to ask: "What happened to the First Amendment?" Cybersecurity expert Robert Graham opined that Leavitt's call for ABC to "censor" Moran reflected that Trump's second term was "not the 'free speech presidency,' but quite the opposite." And Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) First Amendment litigator J.T. Morris observed that criticizing people in power is "as American as apple pie – and vital for freedom."
"That's why the First Amendment protects it from thin-skinned officials who would shut it down," he added. "Hopefully, ABC responds with 'get bent.'"
"[Moran] shouldn't have taken the post down," tweeted Never Trump conservative attorney George Conway. "He's a reporter. And he was reporting facts."
Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann also weighed in, saying that Trump and Miller were "everything Moran described." Calling Leavitt "anti-democracy" and "anti-American," Olbermann added that Leavitt "needs to stick to her lane," which he characterized as "covering up the emergence of a dictatorship."
READ MORE:'Not going to buckle': Republican warns Senate he'll tank Trump's bill over this provision
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an 5 25
MSNBC anchor Jen Psaki derided White House Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s defense of a “Make America Healthy Again” Commission report filled with errors and broken links.
NOTUS reported the paper, released under the administration of President Donald Trump and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., cited at least seven sources that do not appear to exist. The news publication contacted epidemiologist Katherine Keyes, who the MAHA report lists as the first author of a study it cited on adolescent anxiety, and discovered Keyes didn’t write the paper.
“The paper cited is not a real paper that I or my colleagues were involved with,” Keyes told NOTUS. “We’ve certainly done research on this topic, but did not publish a paper in JAMA Pediatrics on this topic with that co-author group, or with that title.”
READ MORE: Today marks the beginning of the end of Donald Trump's bonkers 2nd regime
NOTUS also reported two other studies pertaining to direct-to-consumer drug advertisements for ADHD medications and antidepressants for kids appear nowhere “to be found.” Reporters also could not validate another section claiming 25% to 40% of mild cases of asthma are overprescribed. Additionally, the author of a corticosteroids study’s the MAHA report cited to support its arguments denied writing the study.
NOTUS reporter Jasmine Wright was in the White House briefing room Thursday and asked Leavitt: “does the White House have confidence that the information coming from HHS can be trusted?”
“Yes, we have complete confidence in Secretary Kennedy and his team at HHS,” Leavitt responded. “I understand there were some formatting issues with the MAHA report that are being addressed.”
Psaki, a former White House press secretary herself, did not contain her scorn.
READ MORE:No administration has ever been this corrupt – and you just can't look away anymore
“Formatting issues? Seriously? That’s the best you could come up with?” Psaki said on her show. “… They put out a report that was full of errors and broken links, and seven of the sources cited don’t exist at all. … I think we can all agree her answer wasn’t great here.”
Psaki added that the Trump administration “also just canceled a $6 million contract to develop an MRNA vaccine for bird flu while at the same time trying to import ostriches exposed to bird flu.”
“I am not making that up,” she quipped.
Watch the video below, or by clicking here.
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an 5 25 states SN
The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data that has not been previously reported.
*By Mica Rosenberg, ProPublica, Perla Trevizo, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, Melissa Sanchez and Gabriel Sandoval, ProPublica, Ronna Rísquez, Alianza Rebelde Investiga, and Adrián González, Cazadores de Fake News
President Donald Trump and his aides have branded the Venezuelans as “rapists,” “savages,” “monsters” and “the worst of the worst.” When multiple news organizations disputed those assertions with many of the deportees did not have criminal records, the administration doubled down. It said that its assessment of the deportees was based on a thorough vetting process that included looking at crimes committed both inside and outside the United States. But the government’s own data, which was obtained by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and a team of journalists from Venezuela, showed that officials knew that only 32 of the deportees had been convicted of U.S. crimes and that most were nonviolent offenses, such as retail theft or traffic violations.
The data indicates that the government knew that only six of the immigrants were convicted of violent crimes: four for assault, one for kidnapping and one for a weapons offense. And it shows that officials were aware that more than half, or 130, of the deportees were not labeled as having any criminal convictions or pending charges; they were labeled as only having violated immigration laws.
As for foreign offenses, our own review of court and police records from around the United States and in Latin American countries where the deportees had lived found evidence of arrests or convictions for 20 of the 238 men. Of those, 11 involved violent crimes such as armed robbery, assault or murder, including one man who the Chilean government had asked the U.S. to extradite to face kidnapping and drug charges there. Another four had been accused of illegal gun possession.
We conducted a case-by-case review of all the Venezuelan deportees. It’s possible there are crimes and other information in the deportees’ backgrounds that did not show up in our reporting or the internal government data, which includes only minimal details for nine of the men. There’s no single publicly available database for all crimes committed in the U.S., much less abroad. But everything we did find in public records contradicted the Trump administration’s assertions as well.
ProPublica and the Tribune, along with Venezuelan media outlets Cazadores de Fake News (Fake News Hunters) and Alianza Rebelde Investiga (Rebel Alliance Investigates), also obtained lists of alleged gang members that are kept by Venezuelan law enforcement officials and the international law enforcement agency Interpol. Those lists include some 1,400 names. None of the names of the 238 Venezuelan deportees matched those on the lists.
The hasty removal of the Venezuelans and their incarceration in a third country has made this one of the most consequential deportations in recent history. The court battles over whether Trump has the authority to expel immigrants without judicial review have the potential to upend how this country handles all immigrants living in the U.S., whether legally or illegally. Officials have suggested publicly that, to achieve the president’s goals of deporting millions of immigrants, the administration was considering suspending habeas corpus, the longstanding constitutional right allowing people to challenge their detention.
Hours before the immigrants were loaded onto airplanes in Texas for deportation, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, declaring that the Tren de Aragua prison gang had invaded the United States, aided by the Venezuelan government. It branded the gang a foreign terrorist organization and said that declaration gave the president the authority to expel its members and send them indefinitely to a foreign prison, where they have remained for more than two months with no ability to communicate with their families or lawyers.
Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney in the American Civil Liberties Union’s legal fight against the deportations, said the removals amounted to a “blatant violation of the most fundamental due process principles.” He said that under the law, an immigrant who has committed a crime can be prosecuted and removed, but “it does not mean they can be subjected to a potentially lifetime sentence in a foreign gulag.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in response to our findings that “ProPublica should be embarrassed that they are doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens who are a threat,” adding that “the American people strongly support” the president’s immigration agenda.
When asked about the differences between the administration’s public statements about the deportees and the way they are labeled in government data, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin largely repeated previous public statements. She insisted, without providing evidence, that the deportees were dangerous, saying, “These individuals categorized as ‘non-criminals’ are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gang members and more — they just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.”
As for the administration’s allegations that Tren de Aragua has attempted an invasion, an analysis by U.S. intelligence officials concluded that the gang was not acting at the direction of the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro and that reports suggesting otherwise were “not credible.” Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, fired the report’s authors after it became public. Her office, according to news reports, said Gabbard was trying to “end the weaponization and politicization” of the intelligence community.
Our investigation focused on the 238 Venezuelan men who were deported on March 15 to CECOT, the prison in El Salvador, and whose names were on a list first published by CBS News. The government has also sent several dozen other immigrants there, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who the government admitted was sent there in error. Courts have ruled that the administration should facilitate his return to the U.S.
We interviewed about 100 of the deportees’ relatives and their attorneys. Many of them had heard from their loved ones on the morning of March 15, when the men believed they were being sent back to Venezuela. They were happy because they would be back home with their families, who were eager to prepare their favorite meals and plan parties. Some of the relatives shared video messages with us and on social media that were recorded inside U.S. detention facilities. In those videos, the detainees said they were afraid that they might be sent to Guantanamo, a U.S. facility on Cuban soil where Washington has held and tortured detainees, including a number that it suspected of plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Trump administration had sent planes carrying Venezuelan immigrants there earlier this year.
They had no idea they were being sent to El Salvador.
Among them was 31-year-old Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, who left Venezuela and his job as a youth soccer coach last July. His sister, Leidys Trejo Solórzano, said he had a hard time supporting himself and his mother and that Venezuela’s crumbling economy made it hard for him to find a better paying job. Colmenares was detained at an appointment to approach the U.S.-Mexico border in October because of his many tattoos, his sister said. Those tattoos include the names of relatives, a clock, an owl and a crown she said was inspired by the Real Madrid soccer club’s logo.
Colmenares was not flagged as having a criminal history in the DHS data we obtained. Nor did we find any U.S. or foreign convictions or charges in our review. Trejo said her brother stayed out of trouble and has no criminal record in Venezuela either. She described his expulsion as a U.S.-government-sponsored kidnapping.
“It’s been so difficult. Even talking about what happened is hard for me,” said Trejo, who has scoured the internet for videos and photos of her brother in the Salvadoran prison. “Many nights I can’t sleep because I’m so anxious.”
The internal government data shows that officials had labeled all but a handful of the men as members of Tren de Aragua but offered little information about how they came to that conclusion. Court filings and documents we obtained show the government has relied in part on social media posts, affiliations with known gang members and tattoos, including crowns, clocks, guns, grenades and Michael Jordan’s “Jumpman” logo. We found that at least 158 of the Venezuelans imprisoned in El Salvador have tattoos. But law enforcement sources in the U.S., Colombia, Chile and Venezuela with expertise in the Tren de Aragua told us that tattoos are not an indicator of gang membership.
McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, said the agency is confident in its assessments of gang affiliation but would not provide additional information to support them.
John Sandweg, a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said, “for political reasons, I think the administration wants to characterize this as a grand effort that’s promoting public safety of the United States.” But “even some of the government’s own data demonstrates there is a gap between the rhetoric and the reality,” he said, referring to the internal data we obtained.
The government data shows 67 men who were deported had been flagged as having pending charges, though it provides no details about their alleged crimes. We found police, court and other records for about 38 of those deportees. We found several people whose criminal history differed from what was tagged in the government data. In some cases that the government listed as pending criminal charges, the men had been convicted and in one case the charge had been dropped before the man was deported.
Our reporting found that, like the criminal convictions, the majority of the pending charges involved nonviolent crimes, including retail theft, drug possession and traffic offenses.
Six of the men had pending charges for attempted murder, assault, armed robbery, gun possession or domestic battery. Immigrant advocates have said removing people to a prison in El Salvador before the cases against them were resolved means that Trump, asserting his executive authority, short-circuited the criminal justice system.
Take the case of Wilker Miguel Gutiérrez Sierra, 23, who was arrested in February 2024 in Chicago on charges of attempted murder, robbery and aggravated battery after he and three other Venezuelan men allegedly assaulted a stranger on a train and stole his phone and $400. He pleaded not guilty. Gutiérrez was on electronic monitoring as he awaited trial when he was arrested by ICE agents who’d pulled up to him on the street in five black trucks, court records show. Three days later he was shipped to El Salvador.
But the majority of men labeled as having pending cases were facing less serious charges, according to the records we found. Maikol Gabriel López Lizano, 23, was arrested in Chicago in August 2023 on misdemeanor charges for riding his bike on the sidewalk while drinking a can of Budweiser. His partner, Cherry Flores, described his deportation as a gross injustice. “They shouldn’t have sent him there,” she said. “Why did they have to take him over a beer?”
*Jeff Ernsthausen of ProPublica contributed data analysis. Adriana Núñez and Carlos Centeno contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/30/trump-el-salvador-deportees-criminal-convictions-cecot-venezuela/.
:{The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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an 5 25
During a White House press briefing on Monday, a journalist from the far-right website ZeroHudge, seated in the newly designated "new media" section, posed an unusual question to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt regarding the Department of Justice's handling of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Cosgrove referenced the conspiracy theory known as the "Clinton body count," which suggests that numerous individuals connected to the Clintons have died under suspicious circumstances. He specifically mentioned the death of Mark Middleton, a former Bill Clinton aide, who was found dead on a Clinton Foundation property. Cosgrove then inquired when the Justice Department would release additional files pertaining to Epstein's case, particularly those that might reveal connections to intelligence agencies or blackmail activities.
Leavitt responded by directing him to the Department of Justice for a timeline.
READ MORE:A dangerous new lie is being peddled by Trump's toadies
Social media users — including journalists and political commentators — expressed surprise at the question, noting that individuals with a history of promoting conspiracy theories now have access to the White House press room.
Political analyst Mehdi Hasan wrote on the social platform X while reacting to Cosgrove's question: "Difficult to summarize just how abnormal and weird and insane this is. There is no ‘Imagine if Biden…’ or ‘Imagine if Obama…’ equivalent scenario you can even come up with."
HuffPost's White House correspondent S.V. Date wrote: "White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt invites conspiracy theorist Zerohedge to the 'new media' seat and their 'reporter' asks about the Clinton "body count" and Jeffrey Epstein's ties to intel agencies, including Israel's. Congrats, America. Good job."
User Kathy Young wrote: "So this 'journalist's' actual purpose there was not to ask questions of the press secretary, it was to peddle an insane conspiracy theory and zing the Washington Post."
READ MORE:'Betrayed': Alarm sounded as GOP 'plotted behind closed doors to hurt even more families'
Political podcaster Tim Miller said: "This is too insane to capture in a tweet. The guy doesn't stop rambling. It's like they pulled an addled random with a bullhorn from Lafayette Square and brought them into the briefing room with a sheaf of printed out WorldNetDaily articles."
Journalist Brian Frydenborg wrote: "The White House Press room under Trump 2.0: a farce."
Political commentator Rachel Bitecofer wrote: "Back to the beginning of when Republicans started to go crazy with 'the Clintons are mass murderers' stuff from the 90s."
"We are witnessing the North Koreaization of the American media in real time," wrote a user.
"I feel bad for the real journalists in the room," wrote another.
"The 'new media' correspondent in the White House today is conspiracy theorist and @zerohedge correspondent Liam @cosgrove_iv. Leavitt's job is pure entertainment, not news," remarked an X account.
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AN 525 VID]
When President Donald Trump a day after he crossed the 100-day mark of his time in office last month, members of the cabinet took turns to praise the president.
Although everyone offered glowing reviews, Attorney General Pam Bondi stood out by telling Trump that he was genuinely the best president of all time.
"President, your first 100 days has far exceeded that of any other presidency in this country. Ever. Ever. Never seen anything like it. Thank you," she said during the Cabinet meeting.
READ MORE: 'Embarrassment:' Trump admin asks judge to hide it's tactics for mass layoffs
In a podcast for The New Republic discussing Trump's need for constant approval, journalists Greg Sargent and Amanda Marcotte described the "over-the-top" praise he receives from his aides as feeding into his "narcissism.""Every emotion is exaggerated to the maximum. They pretend to be angry at the loudest volume. They pretend to be sad with the biggest droopy faces and wailing tears. Everything’s loud and garish and schmaltzy," Marcotte said.
"Most of us would be embarrassed to have somebody praise us like that because we know it’s not true... But he just needs it to just be constantly coming into his ears. And it’s getting worse as he ages, for various reasons. Any psychologist will also tell you that when narcissists are feeling insulted or they’re feeling their insecurity rise up, often because their approval ratings are coming down or they’re otherwise failing, their need to be told they’re the greatest just continues to go up."
Sargent and Marcotte also analyzed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's description of the president, calling it "cultlike."
"She routinely fluffs Trump with astonishingly cultlike descriptions of him to reporters—ones that portray him as powerful, calm, and completely in command of events. But then, left to his own devices on Truth Social, Trump presents the opposite picture, erupting regularly in wild meltdowns and uncontrollable hissy fits over the tiniest of slights," Sargent said.
READ MORE:Trump's new greed deal the ultimate act of destruction the prophets have predicted
According to Marcotte,"the over-the-top nature of it does affect certain people by convincing them—I don’t think Trump’s voters, even his biggest fans, think he’s the greatest president ever; the person with the most integrity via all time; no person has ever been anything more thing than Donald Trump ever has."
She added that repeated claims such as, "He’s the greatest businessman of all time," unintentionally reinforce the notion that he was at least a successful businessman, which is actually false. "He was a failure. He bankrupted his company over and over and over again," Marcotte said during the podcast.
The speakers also discussed "AI-generated and real photographic imagery of over-the-top abuse" of migrants detained by the administration "and functionally kidnapped and renditioned to a foreign prison."
"And they shaved their heads. They made sure to like make their tattoos as garish as possible. They had videos of them bent over in these torture positions. And you see the effect that it has on the audiences at Trump’s 100-day rally. The crowd went absolutely nuts," she said.
READ MORE:An 'Angry Black Woman' explains how it's up to white Americans to defeat Trumpism
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an 525
Earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt held an exclusive Q&A session in whicj MAGA influencers could “gush” about the joy of Uber drivers that “finally speak English” thanks to mass deportations under President Donald Trump.
But Intelligencer writer Ross Barkan argues propagandists dressed up as reporters are not watchdogs. And he further opined that an administration that has become a "playground for MAGA influencers" makes a mockery of an independent free press to make a “naked end run around accountability journalism."
But Barkan says Trump did not break down the door to this behavior.
READ MORE: 'Under cover of night,' Republicans unveil plan to kick over 8 million off healthcare
“The influencer era in the White House took off under [Former President Joe] Biden,” says Barkan. “… Last year, the Biden White House hosted a group of more than 100 influencers, from chefs and makeup artists to fitness gurus and medical students. Biden himself stopped by to tell the assemblage in the Indian Treaty Room in the White House complex that ‘the fact is, you are the future.’” He then sat for a “mostly pointless” interview with an influencer “who asks drivers of nice cars what they do for a living.”
The Biden administration even allegedly mulled the idea of dedicating a White House briefing room to influencers. And at the Democratic National Convention last summer, organizers handed our fewer seats and workspaces handed to traditional reporters.
“Instead [organizers] allowed left-leaning digital influencers 'to run roughshod over the convention, lobbing softball questions at Democrats still delirious over the nomination of Kamala Harris.'”
Barkan suggested that both Democrats and Republicans alike prefer “to dodge well-informed journalists asking challenging questions,” and many influencers will “uncritically reproduce whatever message the politician disseminates” to preserve their status “in the inner sanctum.”
READ MORE: 'Bizarro': Josh Hawley sets off shockwaves after launching Medicaid grenade at House GOP
“It’s not as if the Biden administration was eager to invite the many young TikTokers who were despairing over the war in Gaza and blaming Biden for not reigning in the Israeli government,” Barkan writes.
But journalists should recognize “the limits of access” that influencers enjoy, he adds.
“If Leavitt has made the White House briefing into a farce — and the Biden administration laid the groundwork for where we are now — it’s important to remember most news isn’t going to be made with questions aimed at an administration mouthpiece,” he writes, adding that many things Leavitt and administration officials say are liable to change “given … the president’s own erratic behavior.”
“The best reporting happens beyond the briefing room, and there’s no reason important reporting needs to happen with spin from the White House,” Barkan said. “The strongest investigative reporters know this already. Even in an influencer’s world, they’re still desperately needed.”
READ MORE: 'Not gonna vote for Medicaid cuts': GOP infighting embroils budget process
Read the full Intellegencer report here.
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AN 5 25
When Jen Psaki (now and MSNBC host) and her successor Karine Jean-Pierre were serving as White House press secretary for the Biden Administration, they would debate conservative Fox News reporters but nonetheless welcomed their presence at press briefings.
Psaki often debated Fox News' Peter Doocy, but she never discouraged his participation.
Trump White Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in contrast, frequently has a hostile tone with mainstream media reporters — while increasing the presence of far-right MAGA media outlets at briefings.
READ MORE:'Sounds crazy': Morning Joe crew identifies the 'only Democrat' Steve Bannon is afraid of
In an article published on May 5, The Guardian's Richard Luscombe notes some of the far-right MAGA "influencers" who now have a strong presence at White House press events.
"A disgraced ultra-conservative banjo player ousted from his Grammy-winning band; a far-right conspiracy theorist with alleged ties to Russia; a TikTok creator known as 'MAGA Malfoy' for his resemblance to the Harry Potter character; and an extremist social media 'influencer' once banned from Twitter for posting a video depicting sexual abuse of a child — these are just some of the 'new media' personalities courted by the White House to take part in a series of alternative briefings championed by Donald Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt," Luscombe reports. "An extraordinary gallery of Trump-promoting characters has paraded through the West Wing in recent days, answering Leavitt’s call for 'independent journalists' and 'influencers' to attend her press gatherings."
These MAGA figures, according to Luscombe, typically ask "fawning softball" questions and push "propaganda," MAGA "conspiracy" theories and "extremist talking points."
Luscombe specially mentions Rogan O’Handley (a.k.a. DC Draino) and Winston Marshall (formerly of the group Mumford & Sons) as well as vodaster Tim Pool (known for posting videos favorable to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin) and election denier Dominick McGee (Dom Lucre).
READ MORE:Florida Republicans aren't putting up with Ron DeSantis' temper tantrums anymore
*Read The Guardian's full article at this link.
REFGUK
A disgraced ultra-conservative banjo player ousted from his Grammy-winning band; a far-right conspiracy theorist with alleged ties to Russia; a TikTok creator known as “Maga Malfoy” for his resemblance to the Harry Potter character; and an extremist social media “influencer” once banned from Twitter for posting a video depicting sexual abuse of a child.
These are just some of the “new media” personalities courted by the White House to take part in a series of alternative briefings championed by Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
An extraordinary gallery of Trump-promoting characters has paraded through the West Wing in recent days, answering Leavitt’s call for “independent journalists” and “influencers” to attend her press gatherings.
Some of their fawning, softball or otherwise baffling questions have provoked derision and concern, while the topics, predictably, have covered a wide range of propaganda, conspiracy and other extremist talking points. Here are some of the highlights:
Winston Marshall
Since quitting Mumford & Sons, the double Grammy winning folk rock band he co-founded, four years ago following his controversial endorsement of a conservative journalist’s book, guitarist and banjoist Marshall has found his place in the rightwing ecosystem.
The 37-year-old British son of GB News co-owner and hedge fund tycoon Sir Paul Marshall now hosts his own podcast, The Winston Marshall Show, in which he discusses politics with like-minded guests for his 14,000 subscribers.
VID]
He
on Tuesday in a sharp black suit to first congratulate “Madame Leavitt” for inviting him, then try to gauge her position on the “quarter of a million” Britons he insisted had been penalized in the UK for social media posts or perceived speech infractions.
“Would the Trump administration consider political asylum for British citizens in such a situation?*” he asked.
Leavitt, amid guffaws in the room, said the question was “a very good one” and she would “see if it’s something the administration would entertain”.
- *
Tim Pool
The host of several conservative podcasts was linked last year to a US content creation company the justice department said was paid almost $10m by Russian state media operatives to publish videos promoting Moscow’s interests and agenda.
He appeared in the new media seat at a briefing last week, dressed in a black woolly hat and hoodie, to castigate “legacy media” for promoting what he said were a succession of anti-Trump “hoaxes”, including the story of Kilmar Ábrego García, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador.}:
His question, such as it was, was another attack on the mainstream media: “I’m wondering if you can comment on their unprofessional behavior as well as elaborate if there’s any plans to expand access to new companies?*”
“We want to welcome all viewpoints into this room,” Leavitt replied, declining Pool’s invitation.
- *
Link Lauren
Bleached blond, and with a striking resemblance to the Harry Potter character Draco Malfoy, Lauren is a previously unknown musician and content creator who served as a social media adviser to Robert F Kennedy Jr during the new health secretary’s failed presidential campaign last year.
His recent wild claims include informing his 875,000 TikTok followers that the Biden administration was a “cesspool of topless trans people on the White House lawn”, and was responsible for countless suicides.
One of the leading sycophants at Leavitt’s alternative briefing, he asked the press secretary:
“You’re a very high-profile young mother who seems to juggle and balance it all beautifully. What advice do you have to young parents out there who are starting their careers having kids, building familiesand trying to find that balance so desperately?*”
Leavitt had no advice to offer, but was keen to point out that “there are so many new moms and dads on our senior staff, but also across the entire administration”.
- *
Dominick McGee
Under the pseudonym Dom Lucre, election denier McGee was booted briefly from X (then Twitter) in 2023 for posting a video depicting child sexual abuse, but allowed back on at the insistence of the platform’s owner, Elon Musk.
Since then, the self-styled Black Maga influencer has disseminated numerous conspiracy theories on social media, including amplifying Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election he lost was fraudulent, and promoting the QAnon fiction that the so-called deep state was conspiring to usurp the president.
His question during his brief appearance at the new media briefing was thus:}:
“Is there any possibility for names such as Barack Hussein Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to ever possibly get investigated for … any of the wrongdoings they might have done?*”
Leavitt said it was “refreshing” to hear McGee’s question. “The legacy media would never ask [it],” she said.
Arynne Wexler
Billing herself as “just a crazy nonlib girl in a crazylib world”, Maga newcomer Wexler claims to have grown up “as one of few conservatives on the outskirts of the very blue New York City”.
“The left doesn’t know what to do with me,” she opines in a self-aggrandizing biography that expresses her fixation on “smashing the status quo and redefining what conservative commentary can be”.
DailyWire+ Her first attempt at “stirring things up in the realm of political commentary”, having been granted the honor of the opening question at Leavitt’s alternative briefing, was a racially dubious statement praising the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.}:
“I can attest to the deportations in Florida, my Uber drivers finally speak English again, so thank you for that*,” she enthused.
Her subsequent question demanded to know what action would be taken against “trans men … masquerading as women in girls’ sport”. Leavitt replied: “Obey the law or you will be prosecuted”.
Rogan O’Handley
Better known by his alter ego DC Draino, O’Handley is a former entertainment attorney with a long history as a commentator on the political right. He was among 15 rightwing influencers given early access in February to what the White House said was key new evidence in the case of the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but which many observers said “fell way short” of the explosive revelations they promised.
With more than 7m followers across several social media platforms, O’Handley was warmly welcomed by Leavitt to the new media seat during a briefing that included Trump’s border enforcer, Tom Homan.}:
He used his opportunity to deliver a lengthy monologue endorsing Trump’s policy of deporting scores of migrants without due process, and excoriated judges who had issued orders trying to stop it.
“In Trump’s first 99 days, we’ve seen a coordinated assault on the rule of law by radical judges,” he said. “These judges are providing more due process to violent MS-13 and Tren de Aragua illegal aliens than they did for American citizens who peacefully protested on January 6*.”
Would Trump consider suspending the writ of habeas corpus for such migrants? O’Handley wondered.
“The administration is open to all legal and constitutional remedies,” Leavitt said, adding that she “agreed with the premise” of his question.
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AN 4 25
'Dangerous dictator': How Trump 'bullied' Bezos to drop plan to display Amazon tariff cost
'Hostile and political act': Analyst says Leavitt just revealed 'Trump’s weakness'SPOX:
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an 4 25
The Trump White House is under fire after Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a video showing lawn signs lining the White House driveway, bearing the photos of allegedly undocumented immigrants, the charges against them, and the word “ARRESTED” in bold, capital letters.
The posters do not indicate the immigrants were convicted, only arrested, for various major crimes.
ABC News described them as “100 posters of alleged criminal migrants.” Axios, which first reported on the posters, called it “a provocative, sure-to-be-controversial move.”
“This morning,” the White House said in a statement, “images of the worst of the worst criminal illegal immigrants arrested since President Donald J. Trump took office were placed on the lawn of the White House for the world to see — highlighting the Trump Administration’s unprecedented effort to secure our homeland and send these vicious criminals back where they belong.”
READ MORE: ‘Authoritarian Takeover’: Legal Scholars Warn of Trump’s ‘100 Days of Lawlessness’
Leavitt posted the video gleefully declaring, “Good Morning from The White House!”
Critics blasted her and the administration.
“These are fake charges with out due process you are lying karoline! 99% of immigrants are law abiding, loving, family oriented members of society! Stop spreading hate!” wrote actor and activist John Leguizamo.
Immigration attorney Allen Orr, Jr. added, “Arrests are not convictions. In addition, how much does this cost, and for what purpose does it serve?”
Alexander Aviña, an associate professor of Latin American history at Arizona State University commented, “historically not a good sign when governments start doing this.”
Former U.S. Ambassador Luis Moreno observed, “The Romans, and others throughout history, used to mount their enemies heads on pikes. This is the 2025 version.”
READ MORE: Trump Calls to ‘Immediately’ Eject ‘Disruptors’ as GOP Congressman Faces Boos, Backlash
“The Trump Administration’s response to deporting a 4 year old American with cancer? Put up yard signs!” commented Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov.
“Well this is vaguely fascist,” remarked MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen.
“And here comes the 100 lawsuits based on the liberty clause. This is disgusting behavior by our chief executive,” wrote Washburn University School of Law Professor Joseph Mastrosimone.
“Reminder that 90% of those supposed criminal deportees to El Salvador had no criminal record at all and the rest were mostly for immigration violations,” noted Virginia Commonwealth University Associate Professor of Political Science Michael Paarlberg.
Legal reporter Amy Miller wrote, “fear mongering works, and they know it.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
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1st q to dc draino
an 4 25
With the Trump administration making space in the press briefing room for right-wing podcasters and other conservative "new media" content creators, viewers of briefings since President Donald Trump took office have seen his press secretary field questions about the Ukrainian president's clothing during an Oval Office meeting, compliments about Trump's "fitness plan," and attacks on reporters who have long reported from the White House.
On Monday, the first question of the briefing was derided by one Democratic politician as "absolute insanity," as right-wing commentator and influencer Rogan O'Handley—also known by the handle "DC Draino"—was given the floor to ask whether Trump will suspend the writ of habeas corpus in order to circumvent several judges' rulings and "start shipping out" undocumented immigrants without due process.
"Can you please let us know if and when the Trump administration is planning to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to circumvent these radical judges?" asked O'Handley after accusing federal judges of "thwarting [Trump's] agenda with an unprecedented number of national injunctions."
O'Handley shared some familiar right-wing talking points—saying federal judges have provided "more due process to violent MS-13 and Tren de Aragua illegal aliens than they did for U.S. citizens who peacefully protested on January 6"—as he suggested the administration should abandon the legal principle under which people who are detained are permitted to challenge their imprisonment in court.
"You have got to be kidding me," wrote Sara McGee, a Democrat running for the Texas House of Representatives.
His question came amid escalating attacks by Republicans and the administration on judges who have ruled against the White House. A Republican congressman said last month that Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. should be impeached for issuing an order against Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to expel hundreds of undocumented immigrants to El Salvador. Last week, the FBI arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping a migrant evade arrest by escorting him out of her courtroom.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, noted that O'Handley and press secretary Karoline Leavitt also repeatedly cited at least one statistic that was "completely made up"—that the Biden administration allowed 15 million undocumented immigrants into the United States—as they suggested Trump should take legal steps to force all of them out of the country without the input of the judicial system.
The undocumented population in the U.S. in 2023 was 11.7 million, according to the Center for Migration Studies, down from the peak of 12 million, which was reached in 2008.
"They've been pushing this on the right for about a week now," said Reichlin-Melnick of the push to suspend habeas corpus for undocumented immigrants. "Anyone advocating for suspending the writ of habeas corpus because they don't like due process is spitting on the legacy of those who fought and died for this country and our Constitution."
Leavitt responded to O'Handley's question by saying while she has "not heard such discussions take place... the president and the entire administration are certainly open to all legal and constitutional remedies" to continue expelling people from the United States.
Several cases of undocumented immigrants who have been sent to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center have made national headlines in recent weeks, including that of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia; Merwil Gutiérrez, a 19-year-old who federal agents acknowledged was not who they were looking for during a raid; and Andry Hernandez Romero, a makeup artist who was accused of being a gang member solely because he had tattoos.
O'Handley's suggestion that the bedrock legal principle be suspended for undocumented immigrants—hundreds of whom have already been forced out of the country without due process—came ahead of Trump's scheduled signing of two new immigration-related executive orders.
One would direct the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to publish a list of sanctuary cities and states—those where local law enforcement are directed not to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement as it seeks to arrest undocumented immigrants.
The other, Leavitt said, would "unleash America's law enforcement to pursue criminals." The New York Postreported that the order would be related to providing local police agencies with military equipment and legal support for officers accused of wrongdoing.
Watch the segment below or at this link:
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mma no grx
By the numbers: As Trump snubs legacy media, data shows his press briefings elevate right-wing outlets
4 out of 5 reporters called on most in White House press briefings are from right-wing outlets
Written by Pete Tsipis & Reed McMaster
Research contributions from Harrison Ray, Rob Savillo, Chloe Simon & Casey Wexler
:{Published 04/25/25
A Media Matters review of White House press briefings held so far in President Donald Trump’s second administration found that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called on right-wing media outlets 41% of the time, and 4 of the 5 reporters called on most were from right-wing outlets.
The press briefings now include a “new media” seat which the White House has used to amplify more right-wing voices. While the White House attacks traditional press freedoms, the press briefings are now littered with biased questions from the administration's most staunch supporters.
Data: Trump's White House elevated conservative media, while snubbing legacy outlets like The New York Times, AP, and public media
Media Matters found that during the 16 press briefings held from January 20 to April 22, the White House called on right-wing outlets 41% of the time (110 out of 267). Leavitt gave the remaining opportunities to ask questions to non-ideological (52%, or 139 times) and foreign (7%, or 18 times) outlets.
Reporters at right-wing outlets also made up 4 out of 5 of the reporters called on most. While CBS News' Jennifer Jacobs was called on the most, with 10 occasions, all the other reporters in the top 5 were from conservative outlets. The Daily Caller's Reagan Reese was called on 9 times, while Fox News’ Peter Doocy, The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan, and the New York Post’s Diana Glebova were each given 8 chances to ask questions.
top 5 reporters called on most
Top 5 reporters called on at White House press briefings
The conservative media outlets White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called on most were Fox News (15), the New York Post (12), The Daily Caller (10), The Daily Wire (8), and Newsmax (7). Among nonideological media, Leavitt called on CBS News (19), CNN (14) , ABC News (13) , NBC News (11), and Bloomberg (9) most.
Top 15 called upon right-wing outlets
Top 15 right-wing outlets called on at White House press briefings
The White House elevated smaller, far-right media over many established outlets, calling on One America News (5 times) and The Gateway Pundit (5) more than The Washington Post (4) and The Associated Press (3).
As the Trump administration works to cut federal funding from public broadcasters PBS and NPR, Leavitt has boxed them out, having called on a journalist from each network only 1 time.
Right-wing outlets’ questions frequently included praise for Trump or his administration or right-wing bias
LindellTV’s Cara Castronuova (called on 4 times) claimed Trump looked “healthier than ever before” and asked if he “is eating less McDonald’s.” She asked: “Will you guys also consider releasing the president’s fitness plan? He actually looks healthier than ever before, healthier than he did eight years ago, and I’m sure everyone in this room could agree. Is he working out with Bobby Kennedy and is he eating less McDonald's?” [Fox News, America Reports, 4/11/25]
Castronuova thanked the administration for its “election integrity executive order” and asked why Democrats are so opposed to election integrity. She stated, “Thank you for taking my question. I wanted to first and foremost thank the administration for the election integrity executive order because so many journalists for four years were banned from talking about this very subject. So thank you to the administration for that. My question is, yesterday, President Trump when signing the order said that there is more to come when it comes to election integrity. Would that include same-day voting and hand-counted paper ballots? And why are Democrats so against election integrity measures like, obviously, proof of citizenship when it comes to voting in a United States election?” [YouTube, 3/26/25]
Real America’s Voice correspondent Brian Glenn (who has been called on 3 times) complimented Leavitt’s appearance and performance before asking if Trump’s recent “incident” with the president of Colombia showed “powerful respect” for him. He said: “You look great. You're doing a great job. You talked about transparency and some of us in this room know how just transparent President Trump has been the last five or six years. I think you’ll do the same.” Glenn then asked: “My question is, do you think this latest incident with the president of Colombia is indicative of the global, powerful respect they have for President Trump moving forward, not only to engage in economic diplomacy with these countries but also world peace?” [YouTube, 1/28/25]
The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese (who has been called on 9 times) asked Leavitt, “Does the president intend to permanently cut off funding to NGOs that are bringing illegal foreign nationals to the country, such as Catholic Charities?” Catholic Charities and other nongovernmental organizations that have long assisted the federal government in welcoming refugees to the United States have recently been the target of right-wing media attacks. [Media Matters, 2/29/24; Fox News, America Reports, 1/28/25]
The Gateway Pundit’s Jordan Conradson (who has been called on 5 times) asked Leavitt if the administration would comment on “leftist state and local officials defying ICE and Trump's deportation efforts.” Conradson stated: “Thank you so much for having me here answering a question. So, I want to talk more about the success that ICE is having in finding these violent criminal aliens, some of them being sexual predators. But, my friend Ben Bergquam reports that the Chicago mayor and the Illinois governor are preventing ICE agents from going into jails and prisons to enforce detainers against illegal aliens. In Maryland, the attorney general has also put out a memo hindering local police cooperation with ICE. Does the administration have any comment on leftist state and local officials defying ICE and Trump's deportation efforts?” [Fox News, 1/31/25]
One America News’ Daniel Baldwin (who has been called on 5 times) claimed Trump “turned the water back on in California” and asked about “the importance of Trump’s actions to help people in California.” Trump ordered the release of billions of gallons of water from two California dams, suggesting that water could have prevented the deadly wildfires in the state. Experts say not only does the move not help the suppression of wildfires, but that it also could hurt local farmers during the summer months. [Fox News, America Reports, 2/5/25; Media Matters, 2/7/25]
The Trump administration has elevated right-wing voices while cutting traditional press freedoms
The administration has moved to limit the press access of outlets Trump disagrees with while amplifying right-wing outlets. It barred entry to The Associated Press when the news wire refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” relenting only after a court order — and only partially. It established a “new media” seat in the press briefing room, whose occupant gets to ask the first question at briefings; it has been populated by both new media ventures and established right-wing media, including Breitbart and The Daily Wire.
The White House has also wrested control of the press pool — the reporters assigned to follow Trump and share information with other outlets — away from the White House Correspondents' Association and used that control to cut out newswires, another blow to the AP. This eliminates direct access for hundreds of outlets, including local news, that rely on newswires.
And now the Trump administration is threatening to change the seating chart in the briefing room, which currently gives the front two rows to major broadcast networks and papers, including CBS, NBC, ABC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
All of this builds on the trend set by the first Trump administration and then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer in 2017. Over 48 press briefings in a similar time period that year — January 23, 2017, through May 15, 2017 — Media Matters found that the reporters Spicer called on most were likewise from conservative-leaning outlets. And like Leavitt, Spicer elevated conservative-leaning outlets: 5 of his top 10 called upon — Fox News Channel, Fox News Radio, Newsmax TV, Fox Business Network, and One America News Network — were conservative-leaning. The current team led by Leavitt is continuing to emphasize traditional right-wing media while also turning to newer outlets like The Daily Wire and The Daily Caller.
By elevating more fringe right-wing outlets, Leavitt gives fewer opportunities for questions that hold the administration to account and more chances for sycophantic commentary. As Real America’s Voice’s Brian Glenn told CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, “I’m pro-Trump. The questions I ask, in my opinion, are going to help highlight the good things that he’s doing for America.”
Methodology...
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tdb 4 25
a Trump-supporting podcaster who was allegedly paid massive sums (https://www.thedailybeast.com/doj-bombshell-alleges-maga-media-group-is-backed-by-russian-money/) by Russian state media used his time during Tuesday’s White House press briefing to slam the reporters surrounding him.
Tim Pool, who was added to (https://www.thedailybeast.com/tim-pool-was-paid-by-russia-but-will-joins-white-house-press-pool/) the press pool late last month and opted to wear his signature beanie and a zip-up hoodie to the exclusive affair, introduced his question with a lengthy rant about a number of right-wing grievances concerning the mainstream media.
“Many of the news organizations that are represented in this room have marched in lockstep on false narratives, such as the ‘very fine people’ hoax, the Covington smear, and now what’s being called the ‘Maryland man’ hoax, where an MS-13 gang member—adjudicated by two different judges, I believe—is just simply being referred to as a ‘Maryland man’ over and over again," Pool said.
“Now, in an effort from the White House to expand access to new companies, you’ve created this ‘new media’ seat,” he went on.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to admit any wrongdoing in the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, even though a Justice Department lawyer admitted in court that his deportation was an “administrative error.”Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
“So, I’m wondering if you can comment on following this expansion, you’ve had numerous outlets disparage the companies that you’ve had sit here, as well as the reporters,” he said. “I’m wondering if you could comment on that unprofessional behavior as well as elaborate if there’s any plans to expand access to new companies.”
Leavitt replied that Pool is in the briefing room because the administration “welcomes diverse viewpoints.“
Influencer Paid by Russia Added to White House Press PoolWARM WELCOME (https://www.thedailybeast.com/tim-pool-was-paid-by-russia-but-will-joins-white-house-press-pool/)
Janna Brancolini (https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/janna-brancolini)
(https://www.thedailybeast.com/tim-pool-was-paid-by-russia-but-will-joins-white-house-press-pool/)
“We welcome unbiased journalists who really care about the truth and the facts and the accuracy,” Leavitt insisted.
Leavitt also refused to admit any wrongdoing by the administration regarding the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, even though a Justice Department lawyer admitted in court that his deportation was an “administrative error.”
“The president was always on the right side of this issue to deport this illegal criminal from our community, and it is despicable to see the media continue to refer to this individual as someone who is just a peaceful man living his life in Maryland,” she said. “This is, was, and always has been an illegal criminal, an MS-13 gang member, and a designated foreign terrorist; and the administration maintains our position to deport these individuals from our community.”
“So, thank you for being here, Tim. It’s great to see you. Thank you,” she concluded.
MAGA Influencers Say They’re the Real Victims of Russia PlotPUTIN’S PAYROLL (https://www.thedailybeast.com/influencers-tim-pool-benny-johnson-and-dave-rubin-say-they-are-victims-in-alleged-russia-propaganda-plot/)
Dan Ladden-Hall, (https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/dan-ladden-hall)Martha Mercer (https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/martha-mercer)
(https://www.thedailybeast.com/influencers-tim-pool-benny-johnson-and-dave-rubin-say-they-are-victims-in-alleged-russia-propaganda-plot/)
Pool was one of several right-right commentators who worked for Tenet Media, which prosecutors say received $10 million from two Russian media executives. According to The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/09/05/tenet-media-russia-rt-tim-pool/), he earned $100,000 per episode for his weekly show. Pool claimed he was unaware of the source of that money, and prosecutors say some employees were misled about the company’s funding.
“Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims,” Pool wrote (https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/04/politics/doj-alleges-russia-funded-company-linked-social-media-stars/index.html) last year in a post on X that was later deleted. “The show is produced in its entirety by our local team without input from anyone external to the company.”
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AN 4 25
When the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) was founded back in 1914 during Democrat Woodrow Wilson's presidency, the idea was to have an organization of journalists who covered the White House but were independent of it. Seven years later, the WHCA's annual dinner was founded, and the first president who attended was Republican Calvin Coolidge in 1924.
After that, every U.S. president from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama attended the dinner — until Donald Trump became the first exception.
:{:{In a biting op-ed published by The Hill on April 25, veteran journalist Owen Ullmann argues that the dinner and the WHCA shouldn't honor Trump in light of his disdain for the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment:}:
READ MORE: 'Selling out': Michigan Dem mocked after claiming voters don't know what 'oligarchy' means
"Now is the time to stop breaking bread with the Trump Administration, starting with tomorrow's White House Correspondents Association dinner," Ullmann writes. "Trump and his administration's acolytes have made clear they have no respect for the First Amendment, traditional news media, fair reporting or the truth these organizations reveal to the American public. Trump, the first president to skip the dinner during his first term, previously labeled mainstream media 'the enemy of the people,' and in February, started barring the Associated Press from attending some White House events, because its influential style book would not officially rename the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America,' as Trump insists it be called."
The Trump Administration, Ullmann laments, is "borrowing a tactic used by authoritarian leaders in other countries" when it gives preference to "friendly" reporters at the White House.
"In another chilling move against free speech," Ullmann observes, "the (Trump) Administration has detained and is deporting foreign nationals who are in the U.S. legally because it doesn't like their views in support of Palestinians in Gaza or other causes that displease the Trump crowd. In view of such behavior, the White House Correspondents Association would mock the very reason it was established, were it to hold the dinner this spring with Trump enablers in attendance — even if Trump himself boycotts the event again."
READ MORE:How to prepare for the uprising
*Owen Ullmann's full op-ed for The Hill is available at this link.
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4 25
The Trump administration has found itself embroiled in a number of scandals, which critics say are affecting governance as well as the United States' relations with its key allies.
But CNN's Stephen Collinson wrote in an article published on Wednesday that even the chaos currently at display will not stop some supporters of President Donald Trump for backing him. Collinson argued that his supporters don't judge the president's performance by a traditional yardstick.
He said despite America’s reputation abroad being impacted by Trump’s dismantling of USAID, his stance on the Russia-Ukraine crisis and abandonment of Africa, Trump and his supporters are not concerned about their allies. "He’d rather be feared than liked," Collinson wrote.
"By conventional measures, Donald Trump’s second presidency is already descending into disarray amid a legal morass, self-inflicted errors, and a vast gap between its massive ambition and its capacity to enact that vision," said Collinson, who covers the White House for CNN.
ALSO READ:Incompetence and chaos as Trump 2.0 crashes and burns
"Yet Trump’s tens of millions of supporters didn’t send a conventional president back to the White House – and don’t judge their hero’s performance by traditional yardsticks."
The writer noted that several crises on multiple fronts indicate a potentially failed administration, but this chaos means he is succeeding. "But as Trump attempts to destroy governing structures at home and abroad, chaos is itself a marker of success," Collinson wrote.
"A sense of disorder is mounting," Collinson added, pointing to the "backbiting and organizational chaos at the Pentagon" following the controversy surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared sensitive information about military strikes in Yemen on two Signal chats.
"Trump’s belief in almost absolute presidential power horrifies his critics. But millions of Americans voted for this. He made no secret on the campaign trail of his intention to weaponize presidential power and the Justice Department to pursue his enemies," the reporter said.
ALSO READ:'Need for chaos' powers Trump voters support for destroying government: psychologists
Collinson added that Trump enjoys this confrontation.
"But the White House loves the fight. It’s failed to prove Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and a gang member. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stoked the fire again on Tuesday. 'We were always right. The president was always on the right side of this issue to deport this illegal criminal from our community.' When Trump said last week that he’d like to deport US citizen criminals to El Salvador, he knew his audience," the article notes.
"And on this immigration issue, he has some genuine results to show for his efforts. Border crossings are down significantly compared with the days of the Biden administration."
This contentious presidency, argues Collinson, may appear to be a significant failure to one half of the nation, but the other half sees it as a remarkable success.
ALSO READ: Alarm sounded as 4,100 factory workers laid off amid Trump policy chaos
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an 4 25
Conservative political writer Myra Adams spotlighted the Trump administration's top women officials in an article published in The Hill Friday, referring to them as "mean MAGA girls" for mirroring what she called former President Donald Trump's "bullying leadership style."
The list included Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and rightwing influencer Laura Loomer.
"After nearly 100 days, Trump’s loyal Mean Girls are just warming up their 'don’t mess with us,' in-your-face bravado, so effective and pleasing to their man," Adams, who served on the creative team of two Republican presidential campaigns in 2004 and 2008, wrote in her article.
ALSO READ:**'I will not be bullied': Whistleblower accuses DOJ of sending 'armed deputies' to her home**
"These fine-looking ladies are always camera-ready for their frequent Fox News and social media appearances."
She said that these officials are "bullying into submission two of the three co-equal branches of government, resulting in the most powerful executive branch since President Franklin D. Roosevelt."
The author saidBondi turned the Department of Justice into Trump's "weapon of mass retribution."
"Bondi is rebranding DOJ as the president’s law firm, fighting for his all-encompassing MAGA agenda. Even Trump’s former private criminal defense attorneys are Bondi’s top deputies!," she added.
Adams said Bondi "mirrors Trump’s 'fight fight fight' persona, denigrating judges and persecuting the president’s 'enemies.'
ALSO READ:**'What is she taking about?' Ex-RNC chair rips press sec’s defense of Trump’s**
"That long-growing list includes former officials, the media, and institutions, organizations and businesses that don’t toe the line," Adams noted.
RegardingLeavitt, who is the youngest White House press secretary at 27, Adams said she displays a "prideful Mean Girl confidence well beyond her years."
"Leavitt disseminates whatever the White House 'Department of Propaganda' has prepared, likely from the all-powerful Stephen Miller," she added.
Adams noted that Leavitt heavily favors Trump-friendly new media.
ALSO READ:**'Neofascist revolutionary project': How MAGA is ramping up its propaganda 'machine**
"These foot soldiers in designer heels might be called the 'MAGA Mean Girls,'" Adams wrote.
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beast 4 25
A top Trump administration official said those demanding due process for a wrongly deported Maryland dad might themselves be accused of “aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists.”
Appearing onRob Schmitt Tonight on Newsmax, Donald Trump’s senior director for counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka, suggested critics of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s incarceration in a Salvadoran megaprison might even be committing a federal crime.
He said: “It’s not left and right, It’s not even Republican or Democrat. There’s one line that divides us: Do you love America or do you hate America? It’s really quite that simple.”
Bondi Says Deported Dad’s Family Better Off Without HimPLEADING FOR HIS RETURN
Gorka, born in the U.K. to Hungarian parents, suggested in the Tuesday interview that Democrats who argue that Abrego Garcia should be returned to the U.S.—per the Supreme Court’s orders—don’t “love America.”
The former Newsmax host added that those who dissent against the Trump administration’s actions are “on the side of the cartel members, on the side of the illegal aliens on the side of the terrorists.”
He went even further, saying: “And you have to ask yourself, are they technically aiding and abetting them? Because aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists is a crime in federal statute.”
Bolton Slams Trump’s Latest Cabinet Pick as a ‘Con Man’NO CONFIDENCE
Gorka failed to mention that Abrego Garcia’s alleged links to the MS-13 gang—used to justify his deportation—have been disputed and are based upon an allegation made in a field interview report from 2019, and a confidential informant supposedly telling police he was a member of the organization.
Gorka said critics of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation and apparent incarceration in an infamous supermax prison are “aiding and abetting” terrorism.Newsmax.
The cop who penned the field report was suspended in wild circumstances soon after he interviewed Abrego Garcia, yet his allegation is among the scant evidence the government has produced to support its MS-13 claim.
The informant reportedly claimed the father was part of the “Westerns” clique of MS-13. This is despite the fact that group operated out of Long Island and Abrego Garcia had never lived anywhere other than Maryland while in the U.S.
Additionally, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers were unable to interview the cop who supposedly spoke to the informant because of his suspension.
The government has also tried to justify the deportation of Salvadorian migrants based on their tattoos, using a point-scoring system to determine whether their ink relates to gang affiliation.
When he was arrested in 2019, ICE officers also reportedly pointed towards his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie as potential gang involvement indicators.[dollar over ears?]
The El Salvador native had fled his home country in 2011 at age 16 after gang members threatened to kill him. He was arrested while undocumented, found hanging around outside a hardware store looking for day labor work.
He was handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement without being charged with any crimes.
At his deportation hearing in 2019, ICE stated that he was a danger to the community because he had been detained “in connection with a murder investigation,” and local police had “verified” he was a gang member.
The Trump administration has ignored judges’ orders to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who was deported to El Salvador on March 15, to the United States.Abrego Garcia Family/Handout via Reuters
Abrego Garcia applied for asylum and was granted a “withholding of removal” order, a legal form of protection that says the government won’t deport someone to their home country if the person is “more likely than not” to face persecution there.
Since he was picked up by ICE again in March this year, the Department of Justice has not presented any evidence in court showing gang affiliations.
Government lawyers have even “abandon[ed]” their earlier position that Abrego Garcia was “a danger to the community,” a federal appeals court found.
But despite, this, top government officials continue to brand him as a danger and a “terrorist.”
His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told NBC News that these claims “endanger his life.”
A60 Minutes investigation discovered that at least three-quarters of the 250 men shipped to the infamous Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) had no criminal records at all. The facility is notorious for human rights abuses.
The Trump administration has admitted it deported Abrego Garcia after an “administrative error,” but still refuses to bring him home.
In fact, it has doubled down. In a Wednesday X post, the Department of Homeland Security again branded him an “MS-13 gang member,” and revealed a protective order his wife took out against him in 2021.
Sharing the documents, DHS officials echoed comments from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who said on Tuesday that he was “not the father of the year.”
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a history of violence and was not the upstanding ‘Maryland Man’ the media has portrayed him as,” the post said.
“According to court filings, Garcia’s wife sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, claiming he punched, scratched, and ripped off her shirt, among other harm. This MS-13 gang member is not a sympathetic figure.”
Abrego Garcia’s wife—Jennifer Vasquez Sura—addressed the restraining order in a statement to Newsweek.
“After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated,” she said. “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process.”
---
tim miller called out--- Tricia McLaughlin on abrego
jan 24
President Trump announced key appointments to the White House Office of Communications, Public Liaison, and Cabinet Affairs, which will be overseen by Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Public Liaison, and Cabinet Secretary Taylor Budowich.
COMMUNICATIONS
President Trump previously announced the appointments of Assistant to the President and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and Assistant to the President and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Today’s announcements include:
Alex Pfeiffer will join the White House as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Communications Director after previously serving as a Communications Adviser for the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign and Communications Director for MAGA Inc. Pfeiffer previously served as an Investigative and Editorial Producer for Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Kaelan Dorr will return to the White House as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director after serving as Senior Strategist and Spokesperson for MAGA Inc. Dorr previously served as Senior Advisor for Public Affairs at the Department of Treasury, Congressional Communications Director and Strategic Communications Advisor in the Executive Office of the President in the Trump Administration, Global Head of Marketing and Engagement for GETTR, Vice President of Communications for America First Policy Institute, and Chief Marketing Officer for Donald J. Trump for President.
Harrison Fields will return to the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary, having previously served as Assistant Press Secretary in the Trump Administration. Fields has also served as Senior Advisor to Congressman Byron Donalds and Assistant Director of Media and Public Relations at The Heritage Foundation.
Anna Kelly will join the White House as a Deputy Press Secretary after serving as National Press Secretary for the Republican National Committee. Previously, Kelly was Communications Director for Congressman Derrick Van Orden, Michels for Governor, and the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
Kush Desai will serve as a Deputy Press Secretary after serving as Deputy Battleground States & Pennsylvania Communications Director at the Republican National Committee. Desai also served as Deputy Communications Director for the 2024 Republican National Convention and Communications Director for the Republican Party of Iowa.
Ian Kelley will join the White House as Special Assistant to the President and War Room Director after serving as War Room Director for the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign. Previously, Ian worked as Rapid Response Manager for the social media platform GETTR.
Dylan Johnson will join the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Assistant Communications Director for Special Projects after serving as a Deputy Director of Communications for the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign. Johnson previously served as the Campaign Manager for the Greitens for U.S. Senate campaign and was an Executive Producer for Just The News.
Sonny Joy Nelson will join the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Media Affairs Director, after serving as Director of Media Affairs and Surrogates for the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign. Previously, Nelson served as Director of Media Affairs for the social media platform GETTR, Booking Producer for Real America’s Voice, Director of Media Affairs for the Republican National Committee, and Associate Director of Strategic Communications for Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
Dan Boyle will join the White House as the White House Director of Research after serving as a Research Consultant on the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign, and previously as Director of Research for MAGA Inc. Boyle previously served as the Research Director for Citizens United and as a Research Analyst for the Government Accountability Institute.
Johanna Persing will join the White House as Cabinet Communications Director after playing an integral role in the Trump-Vance 2024 campaign’s surrogate operation, including leading the media booking operation at the 2024 Republican Convention in Milwaukee. Persing previously served as the Deputy Communications Director for the Republican National Committee and as Communications Director for Congressman Ryan Costello.
Charyssa Parent will join the White House as Congressional Communications Director after serving as the Communications Director for Senator Roger Marshall. Parent previously served as the Deputy Director of Communications for the House Republican Conference and as the Director of Broadcast Media for the Republican National Committee.
Jacki Kotkiewicz will join the White House as Policy Communications Director after working as a Vice President at Argus Insight. Kotkiewicz previously served as the Director of Policy Research at the Republican National Committee and was a Research Analyst on the Trump 2020 campaign.
Jake Schneider will join the White House as Rapid Response Director after serving as Rapid Response Director for the Trump-Vance Campaign. Schneider previously served as the Deputy Director of Rapid Response for the 2020 Trump campaign and as Communications Director and Press Secretary for Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach.
---
an 2 25
President Donald Trump's ongoing boxing match with the media is escalating, with his spokesperson announcing a major change to how he'll be covered.
Politico White House bureau chief Desha Burns tweeted Tuesday that White House pool reporters will now no longer be chosen by the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA). Instead, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the administration's media team will now decide on which reporters will comprise the press pool.
New York Times editor Jonathan Weisman called the announcement "a big deal," explaining that the White House press pool — which normally rotates journalists in and out — is the primary source of coverage for the administration. Now, that's no longer the case, and Trump is presumed to make sure that only friendly reporters are able to ask him questions.
READ MORE:'No one knows who is in charge': White House's HR email is creating 'bedlam' for federal workers
"He can now hand-pick the reporters questioning him," Weisman said.
Other journalists also condemned the decision. New Yorker columnist Susan Glasser — who is married to New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker — said the "Trump White House [is] on the way to establishing its own version of a Kremlin press pool, approved media only." ABC 10 News San Diego reporter Adam Racusin said: "The White House should not be allowed to pick and choose who covers them." And high school journalism teacher Garrett Gordon (also a veteran broadcast journalist) summed up Leavitt's announcement by tweeting that the White House was "incentivizing publishing propaganda."
"When you’re doing loads of corrupt, illegal and unpopular s--- you need to make sure the only journalists who can ask questions are in on the grift," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted.
The controversial announcement comes on the heels of the White House banning the Associated Press (AP) from the press pool over the outlet's decision to continue referring to the body of water between Texas and Florida as the Gulf of Mexico, rather than the Trump administration's chosen "Gulf of America" designation. The AP argued that the international body of water is still known as the Gulf of Mexico by the rest of the world. Ed Martin, who is the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, slammed the AP in a tweet from his office's official X account, saying they "refuse to put America first."
READ MORE: 'Here’s a civics lesson for you': Stephen Miller schooled by Democratic congresswoman
NOTE KARO SPOX SORTA ACKNOWLEDGES SYSTEMIC MISOGYNY EXISTS, BUT DOES NOT MATTER BC YOU CAN JUST WILL YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS
musk bolso chainsawCPAC
no lnx an
'You have been gaslit': CPAC oozes MAGA's 'male inequality' agenda
People react as U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 22, 2025.
Matt Laslo February 23, 2025
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — This just might be the year American men finally overcome centuries of political, cultural and marital oppression that have ravaged the gender and kept guys locked out of key policies, like the Violence Against Women Act.
That’s what one conservative vendor peddled at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference. And they’re not alone. The oft-repeated message being subtly driven into CPAC attendees – is that the era of male victimhood is over.
Culture wars are now king.
In years past, the conservative confab focused on fiscal responsibility and cutting federal spending. This year — even as Republicans in Congress and the White House debate trillions of dollars in budget cuts — leaders stoked gendered culture wars.
“Don't allow this broken culture to send you a message that you're a bad person because you're a man, because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends or because you're competitive," Vice President J.D. Vance told CPAC attendees Thursday.
Eradicating diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives may have merely been a stepping stone. Conservatives have rallied behind a new, if antiquated, gospel of manhood as they work to turn back time and eviscerate what they call "wokeness" in real time.
At CPAC, this is truly a man’s world, or will be soon if the resurgent right succeeds.
“Male Inequality”
Masculinity is everywhere here at CPAC. It’s tangible, making this year’s conference feel more like an all-male retreat than the policy-focused escape the annual event was before President Donald Trump remade American conservatism in his image.
In these conservative confines, there’s no gender pay gap (even as statistics show women earn roughly 75 cents for each dollar a man makes). Women’s suffrage, practically speaking, is a fairy tale of a bygone era. While Bibles abound, the Book of Ruth and its strong, central female cast, is an afterthought (if a thought at all).
The real problem is “Male Inequality,” according to the newly launched Men’s Equality Network, or MEN.
‘Areas of Male Inequality’ — a pamphlet MEN are handing out at this year’s CPAC.
At CPAC, MEN seeks to drum up support for the hashtag #genderequalityformen, while also giving away free caps emblazoned with “Watchdog: Stop the gender agenda.”
MEN's tagline succinctly sums up the mission that drives the group: “assuring due process, fairness and equal opportunities for men.” And while they may only be a few weeks old, MEN has already attracted 18 partners, ranging from United Families International to the Child Custody Coalition.
The group is so new, it hasn't held its first meeting. But MEN soon plans to start hosting monthly training sessions with partner organizations, then storm the marble halls of Washington, demanding equality for men.
And MEN has allies in powerful places in Trump’s Washington.
"Our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge, you should try to cast aside your family, you should try to suppress what makes you a young man in the first place," Vance opined from the CPAC main stage. He, like MEN, provided no evidence to support his contention.
While the group is surely easy to single out, it's far from alone in its drive to restore manhood to its properly patriarchal perch at CPAC but also throughout society.
"Go fu#% yourself Planned Parenthood”
Entering this year’s hall of vendors at CPAC, it’s seemingly impossible to miss the loud magenta “Go fu#% yourself Planned Parenthood” banner next to a cardboard cutout of President Trump.
Defund Planned Parenthood photo (Photo credit: Matt Laslo)
A few rows away, at first blush, the booth for "Date on the Right" seems dedicated to online romance for Republicans. But the material seems more focused on connecting hardline conservatives with their policy dreams.
Instead of promising long-term love, the group’s selling point feels more politically inclined than lifemate: “Dating for conservatives: only two genders – male and female allowed. No pronouns but male or female allowed.”
Other booths are dotted with free swag seeking to uproot political correctness — “I support free speech, not political correctness,” reads one sticker — through slogans like, “God, Guns and Girly Things” or “Woman: an adult human female.”
“We have an entire generation of young men who are smoking weed, watching porn, not getting married — not even pursuing women,” American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told CPAC attendees. “We have this thing called incels — involuntary celibates. It's terrible. And we can't become a great nation again — we can't make America great again — until our men are great again.” //TUCKER MAINSTREAM GRT?
“You’ve been gaslit to high heaven”
For attendees, conservatives are undeniably victims. The thousands gathered at CPAC are set on righting those past perceived wrongs.
“You’ve been gaslit to high heaven every time you picked up a newspaper in the United States,” conservative anchor Megyn Kelly told the crowd. “Every time you’ve turned on CNN. You’ve been lied to. You’ve been bullied — or seen others with lesser power — bullied by the media and the leftist Democrats. You have been a victim of overbearing and controlling leftists who think they are the final arbiters of what’s best for you and your life.”
While this may be MEN's year, conservative women aren’t going quietly.
CPAC may be a man’s world these days, despite all the powerful women in today’s GOP, like White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who, at 27, is the youngest person to ever hold the prestigious role.
On the CPAC stage this week, former White House communications director Mercedes Schlapp — wife of CPAC chair Matt Schlapp who a sheriff wrote up earlier this month for allegedly groping a man — asked Leavitt about being a woman in Trump world.
"Look at the White House and look at the exceptional Cabinet President Trump has put together," Leavitt said. "While we don’t care about identity politics…the president has appointed Susie Wiles, our first female chief of staff in United States history; Brooke Rollins heading up as our secretary of agriculture — look across the entire Cabinet. There are incredible women — Linda McMahon, leading the Department of Education — the list goes on and on." ACTUALLY DOESN’T?
As for her advice to young women, Leavitt departed from her party’s new man-centric mantra.
"Stay strong, speak the truth and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t achieve your dream, or you can’t get to that next step. Just believe in yourself, because there will be a lot of people who don’t believe in you, who cast doubt on you, who talk bad about you," Leavitt said. "Screw ‘em. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter." DEFIANCE FIGHT FIGHTFIGHT PWR OF POS THINKING; SEEMS NOT BE REF TO MEN BUT TO DEMS?!
NOW READ: Whoever tries to tell you that Trump is Christian needs to look up this passage in the Bible
--==
doge fail fired nuke security, does not have info to recall
---
an 2 25
Trump’s Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, pushed a claim Monday on Fox News that there may be many dead people receiving Social Security payments. Experts have pushed back against that idea, which has come from Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, indicating that the numbers are off or misinterpreted.
“President Trump has directed Elon Musk and the DOGE team to identify fraud at the Social Security Administration. They haven’t dug into the books yet, but they suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people who are receiving fraudulent Social Security payments,” she said.
“And so their goal in going into the Social Security Administration is to identify three things. Number one, to identify duplicate payments and to end them. Number two, to identify payments that are going to deceased people who are no longer living and should no longer be receiving that money, and number three, to protect the integrity of this system for hard working Americans who have been paying into it their entire lives.
“There are maybe hundreds of deceased people receiving fraudulent benefits, not tens of millions. There are about 70 million people TOTAL receiving Social Security — does anyone really think one third+ of them are dead???” Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, posted on X.
Over the weekend, Musk posted a table supposedly showing that the Social Security database has millions of people in it over the age of 140.
“What's especially frustrating about Musk making it seem as if millions of Social Security checks might be going out to people aged 100+ is that we know how many Social Security checks went out in December to people aged 99+: 89,106,” journalist James Surowiecki posted on X. He added: “89,106 is, as it happens, fewer than the number of centenarians in the U.S., as estimated by the Census. So we are, again, not sending out billions in SS checks to people aged 130.”
Ninety-eight percent of social security number holders who are age 100 or older do not receive benefits, Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, explained on X. “Why are there dead people on (this one table of) the social security database? They died before the use of electronic death records,” he added.
READ MORE:'Time to think of Plan B': Musk ripped after forcing out Social Security chief
“Should government databases be cleaner? It's a cost-benefit question. Cost: $5-10m to clean out the old records Benefit: Only "limited benefit" because "almost none" of these records are receiving payments. This hardly feels like big potatoes, either way,” he explained.
At Wired, David Gilbert wrote: “Computer programmers quickly claimed that the 150 figure,” or the idea that 150-year-olds were collecting Social Security, “was not evidence of fraud, but rather the result of a weird quirk of the Social Security Administration’s benefits system, which was largely written inCOBOL, a 60-year-old programming language that undergirds SSA’s databases as well as systems from many other US government agencies.” He added: “COBOL is rarely used today, and as such, Musk’s cadre of young engineers may well be unfamiliar with it.”
“Musk could also have simply looked up the SSA’s own website, which explains that since September 2015 the agency has automatically stopped benefit paymentswhen anyone reaches the age of 115,” Gilbert wrote.
“When everything they say is designed to mislead, you're left to wonder why,” Wolfers wrote.READ MORE:Lawmaker vows 'strong resistance' if Musk agency recommends Social Security or Medicare cuts
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an 2 25
During her Wednesday daily briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to get flustered after a journalist pointed out that her claims of "fraud" in the federal government didn't meet the general definition.
The New Republic noted that during the briefing, Leavitt waved around screenshots of what she called "receipts" proving that there were "contracts upon contracts" that involved widespread fraud, waste and abuse in federal agencies. Leavitt heaped praise on centabillionaire Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency," or "DOGE" (which is not yet a Congressionally authorized federal agency) for terminating contracts they deemed as wasteful.
As evidence of supposed fraud, she referenced a $36,000 contract for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during former President Joe Biden's administration. She also identified a $3.4 million contract for "inclusive innovation" at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Patent and Trademark Office, and a $57,000 contract for work on climate change in Sri Lanka.
READ MORE:**DOGE teen with access to sensitive data had been fired for leaking 'internal information'**
"That is against the president's policies and America first agenda," Leavitt said. "I can continue to go through these."
At one point, CBS News White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs asked Leavitt: "Are all of those things you just mentioned fraud, or are they waste, or are they just contrary to the president's policies?"
Leavitt insisted that "all of these things are fraudulent, they are an abuse and they are a waste of the American taxpayer's dollar," though she ultimately confirmed the premise of Jacobs' question by insisting they were "contrary to the president's priorities and agenda."
"If anybody in here wants to argue the federal government is not fraudulent in some capacity, be my guest," Leavitt added.
READ MORE:**'Bring him back': JD Vance wants Musk to rehire 25 year old DOGE 'kid' after racist posts**
Watch the videos of the exchange below, or by clicking this link.
---
01/29/2025
by
- Will Weissert @ The Associated Press: At signing of Laken Riley Act, Trump says he plans to send migrants in US illegally to Guantanamo
At the signing of the Laken Riley Act, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is directing the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 migrants who are living illegally in the United States and cannot be deported to their home countries.
- Travis Gettys @ Raw Story: Defense agency takes aim at MLK Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day in leaked memo
A leaked memo from the Defense Intelligence Agency shows personnel were instructed to suspend observances of certain holidays that do not specifically honor white men, including Holocaust Remembrance Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month.
- Jeff Stein and Tony Romm @ The Washington Post: Trump White House rescinds freeze on federal grants, reversing course
The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash.
- Nick Schwellenbach @ Project On Government Oversight: “Raging Misogynist” Now Federal Government H.R.’s Top Lawyer
Andrew Kloster, a self-described “raging misogynist” with a public history of racist comments and insistence on loyalty to President Donald Trump, has been installed as general counsel for the federal government’s human resources agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
- Angry White Men: Antisemites And Christian Nationalists Apply For White House Press Credentials
At a Jan. 28, 2025 press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that, under a new policy, “independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators” will be able to apply for White House press credentials. Since the announcement, several antisemitic and Christian nationalist figures claimed to have applied.
- Katherine Stewart @ The Contrarian: How Trump is Spearheading the American Christian Nationalist Movement
The Christian nationalist ideology sits at the core of Trump's plans for America. From cutting DEI programs to stripping away reproductive freedoms, Trump is privileging one, specific group.
- Sarah Jones @ Intelligencer: For MAGA, the Line Between God and Trump Has Blurred
Trump owes his initial rise in part to Christian nationalists, who once considered him a modern Cyrus, or a flawed vessel for God’s will. In the years since he first came to power, he has become something of a holy figure, whom many consider to be anointed by God. When he survived an assassination attempt last July, some had all the proof they needed. God’s hand was on Trump — and to oppose God’s man was to oppose God Himself.
===
an 1 25
President Donald Trump set off yet another controversy when, on Tuesday, January 28, he declared a federal government funding freeze. Many Democrats were quick to express their outrage, arguing that he had no right to do that — as the funds in question had already been approved by Congress.
But the following day, a brief memo from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) informed federal workers that the freeze had been "rescinded." The memo didn't offer a lot of details but read, "If you have questions about implementing the President's Executive Orders, please contact your agency General Counsel."
White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt, however, is saying that the freeze has not been rescinded.
READ MORE:**Outraged Trump lashes out at Seth Meyers as explosive Jack Smith report unveiled**
In a Wednesday afternoon, January 29 post on X, formerly twitter, Leavitt wrote, "This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction. The President's EO's on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented."
MSNBC's Michael A. Cohen tweeted, in response, "Even for the White House, this is impressive lying. The OMB memo is the federal funding freeze. It has been rescinded. Not happening. Trump's EO on federal funding is something different."
Politico's Kyle Cheney, responding to Leavitt's tweet, wrote, "This is causing widespread confusion -- but we may get clarity in an hour when DOJ has to represent to a federal court what is going on here."
The memo announcing the rescinding of the freeze is getting many other reactions on X. And a word that is being used a lot is "chaos."
READ MORE:**GOP lawmakers staying silent as Trump 'runs roughshod over Congress'**
Daily Kos reporter Emily C. Singer tweeted, "After causing chaos to order a blatantly unconstitutional freeze on congressionally appropriated funds, the Trump administration backs down with a whimper."
NBC News' Peter Alexander tweeted a copy of the memo, noting, " Trump’s White House OMB rescinds federal aid freeze."
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colorado) posted, "House Republicans spent the past 24 hours shamelessly defending President Trump's unconstitutional funding freeze — only for him to rescind it this morning!"
Bloomberg News noted that the order, before it was rescinded, froze "an array of federal grants, loans and financial assistance in a dramatic reversal."
Democratic activist Ron Smith commented, "We need to put more pressure on him so he can at least start listening to the American people."
Another Democratic activist, Lucas Sanders, wrote, "BREAKING: Donald Trump has officially released a memo rescinding his federal freeze of grants and loans. Thank you to everyone for speaking out."
WCTV Eyewitness News in Tallahassee, Florida posted, "President Trump's budget office Wednesday rescinded an order freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country, according to two people familiar with the matter."
Pathfinder Research founder Derek Martin remarked, "This OMB order was so misguided that the Trump admin rescinded it in 48 hours. These people aren't revolutionaries, they're uninformed trolls who got the key to the castle. They won't be able to help you're family because *they don't know how to.*"
The group New York Women for Action tweeted, "CHAOS. Trump White House reverses course, rescinds freeze on federal grants after Americans deluge Washington with angry posts, calls, letters."
Tracie Delgado, a professor at Seattle Pacific University, commented, "Looks like we are back in business. Now that was chaotic."
Documentary filmmaker/historian Dan Manatt wrote, "NOW DEMS: ATTACK! Trump is Emperor of Chaos Trump White House reverses course, rescinds freeze on federal grants."
---==
01/24/2025
by
- Will Saletan @ The Bulwark: How Republicans Learned to Excuse Political Violence
They used to oppose pardoning the thugs of January 6th. Now they say it’s fine.
- Ross Rosenfeld @ The New Republic: The Sick Message That Trump Is Sending to MAGA America
It’s OK for cops to murder innocent people, for husbands to abuse their wives, and for everyone to target trans people.
- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Trump finds another group of politically allied criminals to pardon
For Trump, presidential pardons are effectively party favors to be handed out to people he likes, agrees with or sees as political allies.
- [Clair Heddes @ NOTUS](https://www.notus.org/whitehouse/trump-white-house-press-secretary-200k-illicit-contributions "(opens in a new window)"): Trump’s White House Press Secretary Reveals Her Failed Campaign Spent $200K in Illicit Contributions
On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt’s failed congressional campaign amended every FEC filing it had ever made to reveal that she failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in excessive contributions that she never paid back, in violation of the law.
- Griffin Eckstein @ Salon: Republican introduces measure to allow Trump a third term — but not Obama
Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles carefully crafted the proposal to exclude past presidents.
asn 12 24
Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was a major donor to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, and the president-elect has offered him a position in his second administration.
Trump has proposed a new agency that would be called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and he would like Musk to lead it along with MAGA businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), according to Washington Post reporter Michael Scherer, voiced her concerns about Musk, possible conflicts of interest and the incoming second Trump Administration in a letter sent to the president-elect on Monday, December 17 — and staffer Karoline Leavitt "responded by calling her 'Pocahontas.'"
READ MORE:['How long it’ll be until he sues an economist': Experts blast Trump's lawsuit against pollster
"Pocahontas" is an insult that Trump came up with for Warren in response to her claim to have some Native American ancestry. Trump repeatedly called her "Pocahontas" when she was running for in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
In her letter, Warren wrote, "Putting Mr. Musk in a position to influence billions of dollars of government contracts and regulatory enforcement without a stringent conflict of interest agreement in place is an invitation for corruption on a scale not seen in our lifetimes. As your Transition Team Ethics Plan makes clear, the role of government is not to line the pockets of the wealthiest Americans; a strong, enforceable ethics plan for the world’s richest man is a necessary first step for delivering on that promise."
Leavitt, according to Scherer, "did not address Musk’s ethics commitments in her response to the letter."
Leavitt, who Trump has chosen for White House press secretary, responded, "President Trump has assembled the most impressive and qualified team of innovators, entrepreneurs, and geniuses to advise and staff our government. Pocahontas can play political games and send toothless letters, but the Trump-Vance transition will continue to be held to the highest ethical and legal standards possible — a standard unfamiliar to a career politician whose societal impact is 1/1024th of Elon Musk's."
READ MORE:['Damning information mounts': Trump's 'worst' nominees could be in for a rude awakening
In her letter, Warren wanted to know if Musk plans to "recuse himself from matters affecting Tesla, Space X, X, or any other company he owns or in which he has a substantial investment."
The senator wrote, "Currently, the American public has no way of knowing whether the advice that he is whispering to you in secret is good for the country — or merely good for his own bottom line."
===
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an 12 24
press seccretary went from praising Pence to becoming a 'staunch election denier'
Karoline Leavitt in Tampa, Florida on July 23, 2022 (Gage Skidmore)
December 02, 2024
Donald Trump had four different White House press secretaries during his first term as president: Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham (who supported Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race), and Kayleigh McEnany. And when he returns to the White House on January 20, 2025, that position will be held by 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt.
According to CNN's Andrew Kaczynski, Leavitt will be "the youngest person ever to hold the position of White House press secretary."
Leavitt was 23 after the 2020 election. In an article published by CNN on December 2, Kaczynski details Leavitt's journey into "election denialism" — after having decried, in two tweets, the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.
READ MORE:[Why Kash Patel is Trump's 'scariest hire yet': report
In one of the tweets, Leavitt posted video of then-Vice President Mike Pence describing the attack as "a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol." And in the other tweet, she praised one of the police officers who was at the Capitol that day as "a hero."
But Leavitt later deleted those tweets, and when she unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. House seat via New Hampshire in 2022, Leavitt had — according to Kaczynski — become "a staunch election denier."
During an appearance on far-right One America News (OAN), Leavitt told host Natalie Harp, "I'm the only candidate in this race to say that President Trump won in 2020, and I will work my hardest every single day to make sure we get to the bottom of it."
Kaczynski reports, "Leavitt's shift from praising those who defended the democratic process on January 6 to embracing election denialism reflects a broader trend among Republicans who initially distanced themselves from Trump after the riot, only to rally behind him later as his grip on the party tightened. As Leavitt steps into her role in the briefing room, her past statements and actions will likely draw scrutiny over how she balances messaging on behalf of Trump with maintaining credibility in the press briefing room."
READ MORE:['Quickly rot from within': Expert reveals 3 traits the US shares with declining empires
*Read CNN's full report at this link.
---
Donald Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt took to X on Tuesday night, saying she was enraged that a Washington Post reporter would ask her to comment on an alleged hate crime two days after the election.
In the incident in question, Dawn Hines, who is Black, found "I hate n-----s sorry not sorry" spray-painted on her fence — which prompted an outpouring of support and solidarity from the mostly-Black community in Lawnside, located in southern New Jersey near Philadelphia. The reporter, Emmanuel Felton, reached out to Leavitt for comment about his article on the incident.
"What happened in Lawnside was part of a wave of racial incidents that occurred in the days following Trump's reelection," wrote Felton. "Around the same time that Hines's fence was sprayed, Black people across the country were receiving text messages that said they'd been 'selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.' And at the same time that Lawnside residents came together to discuss the graffiti on Hines's fence, a group of self-identified neo-Nazis marched and shouted the same slur in Columbus, Ohio. While none of these events can be traced directly back to Trump, experts say that his rhetoric has been tied to an increase in hate crimes across the nation."
Hate crime rates have doubled since Trump first ran for president a decade ago.
But Leavitt, who has previously defended the racist joke about Puerto Rico at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally and claimed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's legislation on tampon access was a "threat to society," took umbrage over the assertion.
"I just received one of the most absurd emails EVER from the Washington Post," she wrote. "This 'reporter' is doing gymnastics to try and sow division and blame President Trump for something that he admits in his email has no trace to him whatsoever; This is exactly why NOBODY trusts the Fake News Media; Jeff Bezos warned his staff before the election, and they’re still not listening to him!"
The Bezos remark alludes to the Amazon billionaire thwarting the Washington Post editorial board's intention to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. Bezos argued it would taint public trust in the paper's straight news reporting, though political endorsements are standard practice for the editorial divisions of many newsrooms.