Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary turned MSNBC talking head, expressed shock on Tuesday that some Democrats will vote for candidates who questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

"Holy moly," Psaki tweeted on Tuesday, referring to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll.

\u201cHoly moly siena/NYT poll \u201cmore than a third of independent voters and a smaller but noteworthy contingent of Democrats said they were open to supporting candidates who reject the legitimacy of the 2020 election\u2026\u201d as they focus on economic issues\u201d
— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1666094347

The NY Times/Siena poll discovered that nearly 40% of registered voters are open to supporting candidates who questioned the outcome of the 2020 election results.

Breaking down those results along demographic lines, 71% of Republican voters said they are opening to supporting such candidates, while 37% of independent voters and 12% of Democratic voters also admitted they are open to supporting those candidates.

Meanwhile, the poll found that 71% of registered voters believe American democracy is "under threat" versus 21% of registered voters who do not.

The result of the poll suggests that American voters are susceptible to Democratic rhetoric that claims Republicans are threatening American democracy. But the results also prove that, when the rubber meets the road, voters are apathetic to that alleged threat or they do not believe that questioning election outcomes endangers democracy.

At the very least, it shows voters care most about other issues like the economy, inflation, and crime.

"I don’t believe that their opinion on whether or not the election was quote unquote stolen is important. ... I’m far more concerned about their stance on policies that actually matter," one independent voter told the Times. "How do you feel about the state of the economy?”

Perhaps the greatest irony of the NY Times/Siena poll is that respondents who said they believe democracy is under threat were more likely to attribute that threat to Democrats than Republicans.

At any rate, the poll results undermine the trite Democratic narrative that says so-called "MAGA Republicans" pose an existential threat to democracy because they do not accept the results of elections. Clearly, a significant portion of the electorate disagrees.

Screaming Democrats rush stage at Dave Rubin event with Ron DeSantis

A Democratic candidate for Congress interrupted a live event with BlazeTV host Dave Rubin of "The Rubin Report" and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Orlando, Florida, Thursday evening, demanding action on gun violence.

Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a March for Our Lives organizer who is running for the Democratic nomination in Florida's 10th Congressional District, stood up and shouted at DeSantis as he was speaking on stage at The Plaza Live, yelling that "Floridians are dying!"

The governor was in the middle of an interview with Rubin, who hosted the event as part of his book tour for "Don't Burn This Country," a book criticizing "woke" left-wing politics and calling for "Americans to live the freest life possible."

"Governor DeSantis, we're losing 100 people a day due to gun violence," Frost said. "We need action on gun violence!"

A video the candidate shared to Twitter shows security personnel escorting him away from the stage and out of the room.

"Hey buddy, nobody wants to hear from you," DeSantis said as Frost exited while the audience booed at the interruption.

"I just asked @GovRonDeSantis to take action on gun violence so we can save lives. That we lose 100 people a day," Frost tweeted Thursday. "His response? 'Nobody wants to hear from you!' We are dying and our Governor is too busy helping @RubinReport make money."

Rubin responded on Twitter, observing that Frost "didn't ask the governor anything."

\u201cHe/him/his didn\u2019t ask the governor anything. He/him/his bum rushed the stage at a sold out event and started yelling. \n\nThe entire night was about freedom and liberty. Find something better to protest, perhaps. But either way, thanks for buying tickets!\n\n\ud83d\udc0a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc0a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc0a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc0a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc0a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc0a\u201d
— Dave Rubin (@Dave Rubin) 1654260451

"He/him/his bum rushed the stage at a sold out event and started yelling. The entire night was about freedom and liberty. Find something better to protest, perhaps. But either way, thanks for buying tickets!" Rubin said.

Other Democratic activists who had planned protests of the event interrupted DeSantis and Rubin to make demands for gun control, Business Insider reports.

\u201c.@GovRonDeSantis wouldn\u2019t tell me why he wants to put guns into the hands of dangerous people. Props to my partners in #GoodTrouble @tomaskenn @MaxwellFrostFL @Jack_Petocz @NewsCHill\u201d
— Jen \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 SAY GAY \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f Cousins (@Jen \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 SAY GAY \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f Cousins) 1654219645

A producer for Rubin's BlazeTV show said there were more than six interruptions throughout the night. Videos posted to social media show activists screaming at the governor, demanding "why don't you care about my life?"

\u201cGrowing up, I watched in terror as mass shooting after mass shooting occurred. Today, I asked Ron DeSantis directly, why he doesn\u2019t care about my life and refuses to act on gun violence. Instead of answering me, he sent his security guards to kick me out. We deserve better.\u201d
— Jack Petocz (@Jack Petocz) 1654222604

Anti-gun activists have made a fevered pitch for gun control after two recent mass shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

DeSantis, who is running for re-election, is not the only GOP official to be heckled by left-wing candidates on the gun issue. Last week in Texas, Democrat Beto O'Rourke disrupted a press briefing on the Uvalde shooting held by Gov. Gregg Abbott (R), demanding new gun control laws.

Earlier Thursday, Rubin had welcomed peaceful protests of his event, provided they did not "interfere" with the proceedings. After it was all said and done, he brushed off the dirsuptions.

“They came. The screamed about a bunch of stuff that had nothing to do with the event and they were escorted out," Rubin told TheBlaze. "Frankly, I think they just need better hobbies, and should look into moving to Seattle or San Francisco.“

Jen Psaki heckled for ignoring questions 'across the room' during her last White House press briefing

White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s final briefing with the White House press pool was rather chaotic on Friday as one reporter took the opportunity to heckle the resigning press secretary.

As Paski emotionally began to thank members of the Biden administration and to take questions from the crowd, Simon Ateba, the chief White House correspondent for Today News Africa, could be heard yelling from the back of the press briefing room, the New York Post reported.

As Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller attempted to start the briefing by asking Psaki about the ongoing baby formula shortage, Ateba shouted, “Why don’t you take questions from across the room?”

After Psaki did not acknowledge his statement, Ateba shouted, “Why don’t you take questions from across the room? Because that’s not what you’ve done for the past 15 months.”

Psaki did not appear phased by Ateba’s lack of briefing room decorum, but the chaos continued as Ateba resumed shouting over his colleagues just minutes later.

He was heard repeatedly saying: “Jen, can I ask you a question from the back?”

As Ateba’s interruptions continued, his colleagues in the press briefing room grew increasingly frustrated. NPR’s Tamara Keith turned around in her seat and urged him to desist from heckling.

“Simon, please, stop,” she could be heard saying.

Nevertheless, Ateba’s crusade continued as his persistently shouted over other reporters as they asked Psaki questions.

Finally having enough, Psaki turned to him and said, “Simon, if you can respect your colleagues and other media and reporters in here, that would be greatly appreciated.”

After Ateba’s vocal protest settled down, Peter Alexander from NBC News said that he would voluntarily limit himself to only asking two questions so that his colleagues would have more time to pose inquiries to the resigning press secretary. Historically, White House reporters have adhered to an informal norm of limiting exchanges with the administration’s spokesperson to two questions.

Ateba and Psaki have come to blows multiple times before the former’s Friday outbursts.

Psaki has long been criticized for strictly taking questions from reporters in the first few rows of the briefing room, often excluding foreign media outlets like Ateba’s.

In December, Ateba shouted over his colleagues as he accused Psaki of lying to the media about coronavirus related travel restrictions.

“You are saying something that is false,” Ateba shouted at Psaki.

Ateba has also previously accused various COVID-19 travel restrictions of being “racist” and has a history of interrupting White House briefing guests.

Corporate media ran with 'Russian disinformation' narrative about Hunter Biden's laptop despite having no concrete evidence. Now it refuses to retract any of it.

The New York Times published an article earlier this month that verified key aspects of the New York Post report from October 2020 regarding emails from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden and reportedly abandoned at a computer repair shop in Delaware.

"People familiar with the investigation said prosecutors had examined emails between Mr. Biden, Mr. Archer and others about Burisma and other foreign business activity," the Times wrote. "Those emails were obtained by The New York Times from a cache of files that appears to have come from a laptop abandoned by Mr. Biden in a Delaware repair shop. The email and others in the cache were authenticated by people familiar with them and with the investigation."

Previously, the Times dismissed the bombshell story that broke during the 2020 presidential election campaign and questioned the Post's reporting process.

One day after the New York Post released its damning Hunter Biden laptop report, the Washington Post published an article claiming that then-President Donald Trump was being influenced by Russian misinformation.

"U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House last year that President Trump's personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence, according to four former officials familiar with the matter," the report alleged.

On Oct. 19, 2020, more than 50 former U.S. intelligence officials disregarded the New York Post's laptop story as Russian misinformation in a letter.

The letter was signed by Barack Obama's former director of the CIA, John Brennan – who is now the senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. The letter was also signed by Obama's former director of national intelligence, James Clapper – who is now CNN's national security analyst. Former Director of the National Security Agency Michael Hayden – who was appointed by George W. Bush and is now a national security analyst for CNN – also signed the letter.

The former intelligence officials claimed that is their "view that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue."

"We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement – just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case," the letter stated.

During the final presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee, President Joe Biden parroted the letter, "Look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what this, he's accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said that this has all the characteristics – four – five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he's saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except him, his, and his good friend Rudy Giuliani."

During the second presidential debate, Joe Biden claimed that the election was about character and telling the truth. He then went on to blame Hunter's laptop on a Russian plot.pic.twitter.com/h7j7l1xnn4
— Hans Mahncke (@Hans Mahncke) 1647526990

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki amplified the letter on the day it was released.

Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials sayhttps://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276\u00a0\u2026
— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1603161923

The Times declared days after the letter was published, "No concrete evidence has emerged that the laptop contains Russian disinformation."

In September 2021, the Times described the article about Hunter Biden as "unsubstantiated." However, the Times later removed the "unsubstantiated" description.

"Notably, the change was not accompanied by an editor's note or other acknowledgment of the original error," the National Review reported.

The New York Post recently reached out to all of the former intelligence officials who signed the letter asserting that the emails obtained from the alleged Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. The overwhelming majority of the officials did not respond or had no comment.

Of the 51 officials, only four provided responses – including James Clapper who said, "I stand by the statement made AT THE TIME, and would call attention to its 5th paragraph. I think sounding such a cautionary note AT THE TIME was appropriate." The other respondents said they stand by their decisions to sign the letter claiming Russian disinformation.

Corporate media outlets heavily spotlighted the report from the former intelligence officials despite the letter clearly stating that they "do not have evidence of Russian involvement."

Politico was the first to publish the letter, and ran with the headline: "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say."

TheBlaze has reached out for comment to Politico as well as several other media outlets and cable news networks that ran with the Russian disinformation narrative. The media outlets were asked about issuing a correction or update to the Hunter Biden story in light of the New York Times authenticating the emails from the abandoned laptop. At the time of publication, TheBlaze did not receive a response from Mother Jones, MSNBC, NBC News, the Hill, the Daily Beast, or Huffington Post.

A 20-minute video compilation of legacy media pushing the narrative that the emails from Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop are Russian disinformation despite lacking actual evidence highlights how feverishly cable news networks attempted to dismiss the laptop story. The compilation was created by a political video editor by the name of "Kanekoa the Great."

Psaki's tough talk on Russia, China comes days after Biden admin reportedly got fleeced in Iran deal negotiations: 'This looks like plain ol’ stupidity'

The Biden administration this week rightly called out Russia and China as liars and cheaters that can't be trusted. Yet apparently, that notion did not occur to White House officials when they invited those officials to take part in Iran nuclear deal negotiations earlier this year.

The nearsightedness raises concerns once again that the Biden administration — despite its tough talk — remains woefully naïve regarding the nefarious intentions of two of America's greatest geopolitical foes.

What happened?

Serving as a mouthpiece for the administration on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki raked Russia and China over the coals in a lengthy Twitter thread. She brandished the nations' government officials as "preposterous" propagandizers and asserted that President Biden and his administration have "[taken] note" of their past transgressions while being on the "lookout" for more.

But that type of sober-minded vigilance seemed remarkably absent in recent days and weeks when the White House not only tolerated Russian and Chinese participation in Iran deal negotiations — but actually invited their involvement.

"U.S. seeks Russian and Chinese support to salvage Iran nuclear deal," a Guardian report in December said.

The negotiations reportedly ended in a disaster, with Russia's top negotiator, Mikhail Ulyanov, bragging publicly that his country, along with their Chinese partners, essentially fleeced the U.S., securing more for Iran's nuclear proliferation than previously thought possible.

"I am absolutely sincere in this regard. Iran got much more than it could expect — much more," Ulyanov said in a victory lap following talks. "Realistically speaking, Iran got more than frankly I expected, others expected. This is a matter of fact."

"Our Chinese friends were also very efficient and useful as co-negotiators," he added.

Shocking video: This is the lead Russian negotiator for the Iran nuclear talks, Mikhail Ulyanov. \n\nHe's bragging about how Russia, Iran, and China teamed up to deliver huge wins for Iran's nuclear program in Vienna negotiations.pic.twitter.com/oiTOgfh99i
— POLARIS (@POLARIS) 1646574051

It's no wonder Psaki's words rang hollow.

What did she say?

The press secretary fumed at Russia for alleging that the U.S. was involved in biological weapons labs in Ukraine. The Kremlin, it seemed, pushed the propaganda as a pretext for invasion.

"This is preposterous," Psaki wrote, stating elsewhere that "it’s Russia that has a long and well-documented track record of using chemical weapons."

This is preposterous. It\u2019s the kind of disinformation operation we\u2019ve seen repeatedly from the Russians over the years in Ukraine and in other countries, which have been debunked, and an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent.
— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1646862488

It\u2019s Russia that has a long and well-documented track record of using chemical weapons, including in attempted assassinations and poisoning of Putin\u2019s political enemies like Alexey Navalny.
— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1646862488

Also, Russia has a track record of accusing the West of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating. In December, Russia falsely accused the U.S. of deploying contractors with chemical weapons in Ukraine.
— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1646862489

Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them. It\u2019s a clear pattern.
— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1646862490

Psaki went on to call the move "an obvious ploy" by the Russians, further noting, "We should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them."

One might ask, where was the "lookout" before Biden's White House called on Russia and China to assist in the revival of the Iran nuclear deal?

Anything else?

Reacting to Psaki's statements, Hot Air's Ed Morrissey wrote, "So explain to me again why we invited Russia to negotiate a deal over illegal WMD development in Iran?"

"Having Mikhail Ulyanov on hand to negotiate Iran’s compliance on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is akin to having Ted Bundy mediate Jeffrey Dahmer’s sentencing," the conservative writer quipped. "Were they really that naive?"

"Rather than naïveté, this looks like plain ol’ stupidity," he concluded.

(H/T: Hot Air)

Pittsburgh bridge collapses, injures 10 — just hours before Biden set to visit city for infrastructure talk

A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bridge collapsed early Friday morning, injuring at least 10 people, according to reports.

The snowy collapse took place just hours before President Joe Biden is set to visit the city for an infrastructure address.

What are the details?

The collapse took place in the the area of Forbes and Braddock Avenues just before 7 a.m. local time on Friday.

Neighbor Wendy Stroh told KDKA-TV that the sound of the collapse was terrifying.

"It sounded like a huge snow plow," she said, "pushing along the surface with no snow. I didn't know what it was. ... It was very frightening."

Later Friday morning, Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones told reporters that at least 10 people were injured in the collapse. Three people were transported to area hospitals for treatment, but none of the reported injuries were life-threatening.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey (D) said that the bridge, which spans across Hot Dog Dam Dog Park, was inspected in September.

Councilman Corey O’Connor told the station that the bridge collapse isn't minor.

“This is a vital road, artery, in our area,” he said. “This is a road that a lot of use in the east end, going around the tunnel. We’re looking at a couple-year closure here possibly.”

According to the Washington Post, several vehicles — including a Port Authority bus — were on the bridge at the time of the collapse.

Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph confirmed to the Post that the bus driver and two passengers were able to escape from the collapse without injury.

“We are extremely thankful that no one from the bus reported any injuries, and grateful for the first responders who risked their own lives to save others,” Brandolph told the outlet.

What else?

White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted about Biden's visit and said that the administration is "grateful" for the city's first responders.

".@POTUS has been told of the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh," she wrote. "Our team is in touch with state and local officials on the ground as they continue to gather information about the cause of the collapse."

She added, "@POTUS is grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time. The President will proceed with trip planned for today and will stay in touch with officials on the ground about additional assistance we can provide."

@POTUS is grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time. The President will proceed with trip planned for today and will stay in touch with officials on the ground about additional assistance we can provide.
— Jen Psaki (@Jen Psaki) 1643377655

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