Blaze News original: When the mainstream media's left-wing bias costs them credibility



The mainstream media's left-wing bias is far from a brand-new topic.

Blaze News readers may recall a fairly big story in the fall of 2021 when Netflix employees staged protests in Hollywood against their company's decision to stream Dave Chappelle's comedy special "The Closer" due to what they characterized as his "transphobic comments" in it.

'The Fake News losers at CNN tried to fact check President Trump saying Biden spent $8 million on "making mice transgender," but President Trump was right (as usual).'

Amid the outrage, a prominent Netflix showrunner quit in protest; the company suspended three employees — including a queer trans worker — for crashing an executive meeting focused on Chappelle; and Netflix fired the organizer of a planned walkout for leaking confidential data related to Chappelle's special.

But during that very walkout, a big surprise took place: One guy showed up amid the furor to defend Chappelle. He's pictured below:

Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

As you might guess, the protesting militants tried to intimidate him and shut down his free speech, but it didn't work.

Not so surprising was that the Associated Press got the idea that the Chappelle supporter was the one screaming profanities at protesters — and Variety actually called him the aggressor. Well, both outlets eventually admitted their reporting errors and walked things back.

Fast-forward to President Donald Trump's March 4 address to a joint session of Congress and his eye-popping claim that among the long and still-growing list of governmental waste is "$8 million for making mice transgender."

On cue, CNN initially said Trump's claim was false, adding that it couldn't determine where the president came up with the $8 million figure. Soon, though, the article was corrected to say the claim "needed context" and deleted the content calling it false.

"An earlier version of this item incorrectly characterized as false Trump's claim about federal money being spent for 'making mice transgender.' The article has been updated with context about the spending, which was for research students on the potential human health impacts of treatments used in gender-affirming care," the article read.

The two versions were posted to social media by the popular Libs of TikTok account, and many mocked CNN over the error — and then the White House joined in on its official social media account: "The Fake News losers at CNN tried to fact check President Trump saying Biden spent $8 million on 'making mice transgender,' but President Trump was right (as usual)."

The same left-wing media bias and the same result.

The following are a number of other recent examples of when the mainstream media's left-wing bias costs them credibility:

Joe Rogan torches MSNBC for 'deceptively' editing video clip to appear he praised Kamala Harris when he actually was talking about Tulsi Gabbard


Joe Rogan slammed MSNBC for “deceptively editing” a video clip that made it appear that the massively popular podcaster was praising then-Vice President Kamala Harris when he actually was talking about Tulsi Gabbard.

Here's how it went down: During an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast with guest Michael Malice that aired July 30, Rogan torched Democrats for not embracing Gabbard as a presidential candidate, and he touted Gabbard as "a strong woman." MSNBC posted the clip on its TikTok page and edited it to make it appear that Rogan was referring to Harris rather than to Gabbard.

Gabbard on Aug. 2 posted the MSNBC clip on her X with the caption: "MSNBC is again EXPOSED as a propaganda machine for the Democrat Elite, and how they will brazenly try to deceive the American people." She described the MSNBC clip as "completely false."

MSNBC has since replaced the questionable clip and issued a correction: "We have removed an earlier version of this post that incorrectly implied Joe Rogan was talking more about Vice President Kamala Harris. He was referring to Tulsi Gabbard."

Rogan also commented on the edited MSNBC clip during a podcast episode, saying the news network "took a clip of me talking about Tulsi Gabbard, and they edited it up and made it look like I was saying great things about Kamala Harris." Rogan added, "They just deceptively edited the things I was saying."

Rogan blasted MSNBC: "They don’t care about the truth; they just want a narrative to get out there amongst enough people because most people are just surface readers."

“We’re in a very weird time with media, and I think truth is super important," he continued. "I think someone that’s willing to do something like that — that’s a real offense. It's a real offense. It's not a small thing. It's a real lie, and it’s a lie that changes other people's opinions."

Elon Musk joins chorus of critics dumping on the Associated Press over its trifecta of laughably bad hot takes — all committed on a single day


The Associated Press on Jan. 3, 2024, took plenty of heat for three tidbits it published.

Elon Musk, among the AP's many critics, responded to one of the awkward instances, writing on X that "the @AP has the woke mind virus growing out of its head like a giant mushroom!"

Blaze News detailed the first instance, noting the AP covered the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay with the following headline: "Harvard president's resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism."

But the AP's corresponding post on X was flagged with Community Notes emphasizing the absurdity of the title and the article's premise. Later in the day, the AP changed the headline to "Plagiarism charges downed Harvard's president. A conservative attack helped to fan the outrage." This alteration was executed without an editorial note.

The AP ultimately told Blaze News why it had made the change: "The initial story didn't meet our standards, so we updated it."

Also in its article about Gay, the AP's Collin Binkley and Moriah Balingit highlighted a tweet from Christopher Rufo that reads, "SCALPED," in response to the news that Gay had resigned. The AP claimed Rufo's tweet was written "as if Gay was a trophy of violence, invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans."

But Musk opined, "Woe, the @AP hasn't merely drunk the woke Kool-Aid, they are swimming in it!" He added, "Somehow, indigenous peoples went from being referred to almost exclusively as baby-killing savages to almost exclusively being referred to as noble, peace-loving ecologists! In reality, all peoples back then did terrible things by modern western standards. Slavery, for example, was standard practice worldwide, including within Africa, until a few hundred years ago and was stamped out by force primarily by the British."

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary Jeremy Redfern asked Balingit and Binkley for a response after sharing an image of a white man who had been scalped as a boy by Sioux Indians. Finally, the AP edited the paragraph about Rufo — without an editorial note — to read: "On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote 'SCALPED,' as if Gay was a trophy of violence, invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans and also used by some tribes against their enemies."

The AP also on that day published an article titled, "Things to know about Minnesota's new, non-racist state flag and seal," which concerns the final decision on a new state flag from the Minnesota Emblems Redesign Commission. The AP apparently concluded that the old flag — which depicts an Indian riding a horse and a farmer plowing his field — is racist. The new flag by 24-year-old white designer Andrew Prekker is a minimalist, starred tricolor. Facing additional criticism, the AP changed the headline to "Things to know about Minnesota's new state flag and seal."

Blaze News staff writer Joseph MacKinnon noted: "The AP is evidently cognizant of its embarrassing errors, granted it has been desperately attempting to correct them. However, this corrective effort has been made all the more difficult by the fact that myriad publications across the nation routinely regurgitate the AP's articles — meaning those errors continue to live on coast to coast despite the agency's centralized efforts to make stealth edits and title changes."

Esquire article blasting Republicans contains falsehood so egregious that a correction and an apology aren't enough to save it


Esquire magazine published an article late last year that ripped Republicans' criticism of then-President Joe Biden for pardoning his son Hunter because, the piece said, former Republican President George H.W. Bush pardoned his own son Neil.

"Nobody defines Poppy Bush's presidency by his son's struggles or the pardons he issued on his way out of the White House," read the subheading of Dec. 3 article by Charles P. Pierce. "The moral: Shut the f**k up about Hunter Biden, please."

The problem? Bush never issued such a pardon. Soon, the humiliating falsehood was discovered, and Esquire issued a correction: "Editor's note: This story has been updated. An earlier version stated incorrectly that George H.W. Bush gave a presidential pardon to his son, Neil Bush. Esquire regrets the error." Before long, the magazine deleted the story altogether — but the publication was raked over the coals:

  • "Esquire Magazine is literally making stuff up to try to defend Joe Biden's pardon of Hunter Biden. The people who scream about misinformation are doing it to cover for Joe," said radio talk show host Erick Erickson.
  • "Even given the lengths to which some journalists will go to advance the approved narrative, this is unreal," responded Boston Globe op-ed editor Jeff Jacoby.
  • "How many people does an article have to pass through at @esquire, from idea to completion, before being published? 4? 5? Not one of them thought to check if the concept on which the article was based was true or not?" asked columnist Derek Hunter.
  • "How in God’s name did you get the George H W Bush/Neil Bush so completely wrong? Doesn’t Esquire have fact checkers anymore?" read another tweet.

Marco Rubio and JD Vance — on three occasions between them — get the better of CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan after she peddles false narratives during televised interviews


In early November 2024, CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan repeated false accusations suggesting that then-presidential candidate Donald Trump threatened former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.), prompting then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to correct the record.

It all started after Rubio argued that Trump would promote safety and security in the U.S. and abroad, after which Brennan said Trump spoke of "training guns on the face of Liz Cheney." Rubio shot back, "That's not what he said."

Brennan initially defended her assertion because, according to her, CBS producers had played a "sound bite" of Trump accusing Cheney of being a so-called chicken hawk. But CBS played only a sound-bite of Trump's remarks — not the full context.

"Donald Trump doesn't talk like someone who's been in Washington for 30 years," Rubio defended. "Training guns on her face?" Brennan replied, after which Rubio shot back, "He doesn't say it the way I would have said it, no, but that's not what he said, Margaret. You guys know that. Come on. I mean, everybody knows exactly what he was saying."

Brennan wouldn't concede, telling Rubio, "We played the sound-bite." But Rubio answered her with the facts: "No, you played a piece of the sound-bite, because, in another piece of it, he said he would give her a gun to go stand in conflict as well. You don't normally give a gun to someone that is going to be facing a firing squad, which is what much of the media made it sound like. The point he was making is not a new point. It is a point that has been made by people in both parties for decades. And that is: You're all for war, and it's easy to be for war when you're in some fancy building, and you're safe and sound in Washington, D.C." Only after that did Brennan give up defending her faulty point.

In late January, Brennan tried her tactics with newly elected Vice President JD Vance, trying to corner him over the Trump administration's immigration policy and suggesting that removing illegal aliens and ending birthright citizenship is anti-American. "This is a country founded by immigrants," she declared.

Vance shot back, saying, "Just because we were founded by immigrants doesn't mean that 240 years later, we have to have the dumbest immigration policy in the world" and that "America should actually look out for the interests of our citizens first."

Brennan changed course and pressed Vance on the administration's moratorium on refugee admissions, insinuating hypocrisy on the part of the vice president. After more of her attempts to poke holes in Trump's immigration policies, Vance cut off Brennan and famously said, "I don't really care, Margaret. I don't want that person in my country, and I think most Americans agree with me."

Finally, Brennan was back interviewing Rubio last month and actually suggested that free speech set the stage for the Holocaust. Of course, Rubio wasn't having any of it, and he eventually told Brennan, "I have to disagree with you. Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews, and they hated minorities, and they hated those that they — they had a list of people they hated, but primarily the Jews."

Newsweek annihilated on social media over its bizarre framing of Trump's campaign stunt when he handed out Big Macs and fries at McDonald's: 'The Pulitzer Prize is on the way'


Remember when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump put on a McDonald's apron and handed out french fries from a drive-thru window last October? Remember when Newsweek tried to "debunk" Trump's obvious stunt, designed to mock his opponent, Kamala Harris, for claiming without evidence that she once worked at a McDonald's?

Newsweek's headline actually read, "Rumors have been circulating on social media that former President Donald Trump's visit to the popular fast-food chain was staged." You don't say!

As you might guess, critics mocked Newsweek's article into oblivion:

  • "I’m gonna have to spend some time contemplating the possibility that this was not a completely organic event featuring a former president taking a side gig at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s while he’s running for president," commentator Mary Katharine Ham sarcastically noted.
  • "Wait, you’re telling me that Trump didn’t fill out an application and organically start working at a PA McDonald’s where a film crew spontaneously showed up with SS vetted customers, he staged it all? It wasn’t for the $25 in wages??" responded blogger Courtney O'Dell with tongue firmly in cheek.
  • "Dust off the mantle, the Pulitzer Prize is on the way," joked satirist David Burge.
  • "Woodward and Bernstein who? Looks like @Newsweek just wrapped up the Pulitzer for investigative journalism. Next up. Rumors Santa may not be real," said Barstool founder David Portnoy.

Newsweek, again? Yes, indeed — and this time magazine claims Tucker Carlson 'launches' show on Russian-state TV. Uh, not so much.


A mere five months prior to Newsweek's mock-worthy piece on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump working the drive-thru window at a McDonald's, the magazine published a story claiming Tucker Carlson had launched a show on Russia 24 — a state-controlled Russian media outlet. Newsweek cited as its source a newspaper owned and controlled by the Russian government.

The story quickly spread online, leading to accusations that Carlson was "quite literally, a mouthpiece of the Russian state" and that Carlson "has now embraced his master," a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Of course, Newsweek's report was shown to be false, and the magazine updated and corrected its story. The false claim appears to have originated from Ukraine’s Institute of Mass Information and Ukraine Pravda.

New York Times columnist resoundingly ridiculed for regurgitating bizarre NPR claim against Israel amid its war with Hamas: '30 THOUSAND trucks?'


In March 2024, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof posted a bizarre claim from an NPR report against Israel amid its war with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip — and both NPR and Kristof were mercilessly ridiculed for it on social media.

Kristof reposted an outlandish detail from the NPR report — that there were an impossibly large number of relief trucks that Israel was holding up: "[Jane Arraf] of @NPR quotes a Jordanian official as saying that 30,000 aid trucks are stuck at the Egypt/Gaza border, waiting for Israeli approval to enter Gaza, with some Jordanian trucks stuck there for the last two months. Meanwhile Gaza kids starve."

Critics on social media immediately took Kristof and NPR to task for circulating such a ridiculous figure.

"Nick, I realize you’re an idiot, but does that sound right to you? 30 THOUSAND trucks?" responded Jonathan Greenburg, who went on to calculate that 30,000 trucks would take up 271 miles of street space. He added, "That’s twice the distance from Kerem Shalom to Amman, where @janearraf’s idiot source is feeding her fake statistics because he knows hacks like you are dumb and malicious enough to believe anything you’re fed." Greenburg also said, "They don’t even try to make their propaganda believable and the all stars in the Western media lap it up because OF COURSE the Jews have kept a line of trucks visible from Mars waiting at the Gaza border!"

Other responses:

  • "30,000 trucks? LOL. People with an anti-Israel mindset will believe anything. Where are all these truck drivers sleeping? Who is feeding them? Where are the satellite photos of these trucks? Why hasn't this huge line of trucks at the border received any attention before now? I mean, some basic questions that anyone with common sense would be asking," David Bernstein replied.
  • "That’s what happens when your fervent conviction that Israel is to blame for everything addles your ability to think reasonably," replied Eylon Levy.
  • "30,000 trucks stuck at the Egyptian border? You want people to believe that trucks are lined up for 300 miles awaiting inspection by Israel? Reporters from the NY Times repeat other people's lies because it's easier than making up their own," responded Joel Petlin.
  • "Imagine pretending there are *30,000* trucks just sitting there at the border just to bash Israel. They don’t even try to make the propaganda believable," said radio host Jason Rantz.

Kristof eventually deleted the tweet.

NPR on April 17 issued the following "clarification" at the bottom of its story: "On March 27, NPR quoted a Jordanian official claiming there were as many as 30,000 aid trucks held up at the Rafah crossing with Egypt to enter Gaza. We were subsequently unable to confirm this figure and no longer believe it is accurate. Ahmed Naimat, spokesman for Jordan's National Center for Security and Crisis Management, said he based the number on satellite images but did not provide them. NPR's own analysis of later satellite images does not support that figure. Most aid groups currently estimate that as of early April 2024 there were generally between 3,000 and 7,000 trucks waiting to be allowed into the Gaza Strip pending Israeli security-related inspections."

NBC News tries to covertly revise article that originally contradicted Biden White House claim that it wasn't given choice between bringing home WNBA's Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, both held hostage by Russia


NBC News issued a December 2022 report contradicting the official narrative of then-President Joe Biden concerning the government's prisoner swap with Russia — then the news network changed its original story without saying it had done so. Only after being met with online criticism and a request for comment from Blaze News did NBC News publish a correction.

In its Dec. 8 prisoner swap with Russia, the Biden administration exchanged Viktor Bout, who conspired to kill Americans, for pro basketball player Brittney Griner.

The White House suggested the Biden administration never had a choice to bring home former Marine Paul Whelan from Russia — that "the choice became to either bring Brittany home or no one." But NBC News, citing a senior U.S. official, first reported that the "Kremlin gave the White House the choice of either Griner or Whelan — or none."

Rikki Ratliff-Fellman, director of programming at Blaze Media, noted a significant discrepancy between NBC News' original report and its revised article. Without issuing an editorial note, NBC News made a stealthy change to the article, such that it now reads, "The Kremlin ultimately gave the White House the choice of either Griner or no one after different options were proposed."

Some food for thought: then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Griner is "an important role model; an inspiration to millions of Americans particularly the LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color."

What's more, a paragraph was added to the NBC News article concerning Whelan's notification in prison about the "outcome of the negotiations" — and without an editorial note.

Blaze News reached out to NBC News, asking why it originally failed to highlight the change with an editorial note, whether someone at the White House asked for the change, whether its original source had recanted or stood by its initial claim, and whether it continues to stand by its source.

NBC News then issued a correction saying that "an earlier version of this article misstated the choice the Biden administration was given over hostages. It was to swap for Griner or no one, not a choice between Griner or Whelan."

Still, Whelan's lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov indicated that the deal involved a choice and implied that it was between his client and Griner. The lawyer said the exchange was a "one to one" and that "choosing Griner appeared 'more humane' because she is a woman and an Olympic champion, while Whelan was in the military and it is 'easier for him to be in custody.'"

After the beginning of his detention in Russia in 2018 and his espionage conviction by a Moscow court in 2020, Whelan finally was set free Aug. 1, 2024. Griner — who refused to stand for the American national anthem during home openers in 2020 — was arrested in February 2022 on smuggling charges after traveling to Russia with cannabis oil in her luggage.

Leftist media outlets walk back false reports that conservative host Michael Knowles at CPAC said transgender people 'must be eradicated'


Daily Wire host Michael Knowles during his 2023 CPAC speech stated, "For the good of society ... transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology, at every level."

Knowles also said, "There can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism. It is all or nothing. If transgenderism is true, if men really can become women, then it's true for everybody of all ages. If transgenderism is false, as it is, if men really can't become women, as they cannot, then it's false for everybody, too. And if it’s false, then we should not indulge it."

However, multiple left-leaning media outlets ran false reports saying Knowles called for the eradication of transgender people.

The Huffington Post published a piece originally titled, "At CPAC, A Call For Trans People To Be 'Eradicated' Gets Big Cheers." The Daily Beast ran a story originally titled, "Michael Knowles Says Transgender Community Must Be 'Eradicated' at CPAC." Rolling Stone — which has paid out millions for false reporting and defamation — ran a piece with the headline, "CPAC Speaker Calls for Transgender People to Be 'Eradicated.'"

Knowles immediately called out the leftist outlets and demanded retractions.

The Huffington Post changed its headline to read, "CPAC Speaker’s Trans Comments About ‘Eradication’ Sound Downright Genocidal." The story itself had claimed, "There are an estimated 1.6 million trans people in the United States. Knowles told the CPAC crowd that these people should not have a right to exist." The word "essentially" was added so that the sentence reads, "Knowles essentially told the CPAC crowd that these people should not have a right to exist."

The Daily Beast changed the headline of its article to "Michael Knowles Says Transgenderism Must Be 'Eradicated' at CPAC."

Rolling Stone changed its headline to "CPAC Speaker Calls for Eradication of ‘Transgenderism’ — and Somehow Claims He’s Not Calling for Elimination of Transgender People" and provided an editorial note stating, "This post has been updated to include statements from transgender rights activists and additional comments from Knowles."

The augmented Rolling Stone piece contains commentary by Erin Reed, a male transgender activist, on Knowles' demand for a retraction, suggesting that it's "an absurd distinction. There is no difference between a ban on 'transgenderism' and an attack on transgender people." Reed also claimed, "They are one and the same, and there's no separation between them."

Following the changes, Knowles tweeted, "I’m pleased to see that both @thedailybeast and @RollingStone have at least partially admitted their dishonesty by changing their libelous headlines. I look forward to seeing the other outlets that are defaming me follow suit!"

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) commented, "It is indeed libelous. It’s an example of how a bad Supreme Court ruling from 1964 (NY Times v. Sullivan) has created a monster—giving the news media a license to lie about any public figure who can’t prove that the reporter acted with 'actual malice,' which is nearly impossible."

Canadian Press issues 3 embarrassing retractions after publishing 'hit piece' against Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre


The Canadian Press issued three retractions after publishing an October 2023 story saying Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for poor relations with India.

"BREAKING: Canadian Press forced to retract three separate 'erroneous statements' from one story alone," Poilievre wrote on his X page. "It was another false hit piece now thoroughly discredited. Remember that next time they attack me."

The Canadian Press issued a retraction at the bottom of its story two days after the piece was first published admitting that the headline included comments attributed to Poilievre that he didn't say: "Note to readers: This is a corrected story. In a headline on an earlier version of the story, The Canadian Press erroneously reported that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre cited Sikh aggression toward Indian envoys when blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for Canada's poor relations with India. In fact, Poilievre did not mention Sikhs during his interview with Namaste Radio Toronto, which was the basis for the story."

The retraction continued: "The Canadian Press also erroneously reported that Poilievre blamed Trudeau for 'aggression shown to ... Indian diplomats at public events.' In fact, Poilievre did not link those remarks to Trudeau." In addition, the retraction stated, that "the story erroneously reported the World Sikh Organization of Canada had argued that Poilievre was indirectly pointing the finger at Sikhs. In fact, the group's lawyer Balpreet Singh had argued that Poilievre was wrong to point the finger at anyone other than the Indian government."

Readers of Blaze News likely will recall a viral story just a week earlier about Poilievre casually eating an apple while giving simple answers to a reporter's dubious line of questioning. The reporter noted that "a lot of people" had accused Poilievre of "taking a page out of the Donald Trump book," after which Poilievre asked, "Which people would say that?" The reporter replied, "Well, I'm sure a great many Canadians, but ..." after which Poiliere shot back, "Like who?" The reporter soon changed his line of questioning.

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Leftist media backtracks after false reports that conservative host said at CPAC that transgender people 'must be eradicated'



During his speech Saturday at CPAC, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles said, "For the good of society … transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology, at every level."

Knowles was underscoring how deleterious the transsexual movement has been, not just on the individuals who have been sterilized and mutilated with the help of pharmaceutical reps and surgeons, but on women and girls whose sex-specific spaces (e.g., prisons, bathrooms, shelters) and events have been infiltrated by biological males masquerading as women.

Multiple left-leaning media outlets — the Daily Beast, the Huffington Post, and Rolling Stone in particular — ran false reports intimating that Knowles had made physical threats, calling for the eradication of transsexuals and their so-called community.

Knowles immediately demanded retractions.

Despite subsequent changes to their headlines and in some cases editorial notes, a number of these liberal outfits and others continue to intimate that opposition to an agenda is tantamount to "genocide."

The speech

Knowles, a conservative commentator, spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on Saturday, discussing marriage and gender issues.

He noted that conservatives "suffer from low expectations – we think the thing we can most hope for is that we halt the left exactly where it is."

Rather than accommodate the left, making concessions about the age children must be to undergo sex-change surgeries, Knowles suggested conservatives ought to reject leftist ideology outright, especially when it comes to transsexuality.

Knowles said, "There can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism. It is all or nothing. If transgenderism is true, if men can really become women, then it is true for everybody of all ages. If transgenderism is false, as it is, if men really can become women, as they cannot, then it is false for everybody too. And if it’s false, then we should not indulge it."

Here are the remarks with some context:

\u201c. @michaeljknowles this is deeply concerning language (no matter how bad the idea is). Ideas, good and bad, must flow freely at a public level.\u201d
— Jeffrey Harmon (@Jeffrey Harmon) 1678020850

Leftist apoplexy and disinformation

The remarks were not well received by the left.

John Knefel of Media Matters called the speech "[e]liminationist, genocidal rhetoric."

Adam Vary, a senior entertainment writer at Variety, tweeted, "Pay attention. This is genocidal. That is not hyperbole or alarmist; this rhetoric is calling for the eradication of a group of people for who they are."

The California Democrat, who proposed offering "Drag Queen 101 as part of the K-12 curriculum" and introduced legislation softening penalties for pedophilic statutory rape, suggested Knowles had called for genocide.

State Senator Scott Wiener tweeted, "It’s a straight up call for genocide. That’s what this fight is about. They want us gone."

The liberal media happened to agree.

The Huffington Post ran a piece originally entitled, "At CPAC, A Call For Trans People To Be 'Eradicated' Gets Big Cheers."

The Daily Beast originally ran a piece entitled, "Michael Knowles Says Transgender Community Must Be 'Eradicated' at CPAC."

The Rolling Stone, which has paid out millions in the past for false reporting and defamation, ran a piece with the headline, "CPAC Speaker Calls for Transgender People to Be 'Eradicated.'"

Geoff Wetrosky, Human Rights Campaign’s national campaign director, told Rolling Stone, "Their words rile up far-right extremists resulting in more stigma, discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ people. The rights and very existence of trans people are not up for debate."

It would appear that, contrary to Wetrosky's suggestion, the inciting language was not in Knowles' speech but in the liberal media's false coverage of his speech.

Pseudo-revisions

Knowles immediately called out the liberal outfits, accusing them of libel.

He tweeted to Rolling Stone, stating, "This headline is libelous, and I demand a retraction."

The Daily Wire host wrote both to Christopher Mathias of the Huffington Post, who also reported on Twitter that Knowles had "called for trans people to be 'eradicated,'" and to the Daily Beast, noting, "I never said that and demand a retraction."

\u201cI never said that and demand a retraction. @HuffPost\u201d
— Michael Knowles (@Michael Knowles) 1677972965

The HuffPost has since amended its article's headline to read, "CPAC Speaker’s Trans Comments About ‘Eradication’ Sound Downright Genocidal."

Previously, it claimed in the body of the article, "There are an estimated 1.6 million trans people in the United States. Knowles told the CPAC crowd that these people should not have a right to exist."

It covertly added in "essentially," so the sentence reads, "Knowles essentially told the CPAC crowd that these people should not have a right to exist."

The Daily Beast changed the headline of its article to "Michael Knowles Says Transgenderism Must Be 'Eradicated' at CPAC."

The Rolling Stone changed its headline to "CPAC Speaker Calls for Eradication of ‘Transgenderism’ — and Somehow Claims He’s Not Calling for Elimination of Transgender People" and provided an editorial note stating, "This post has been updated to include statements from transgender rights activists and additional comments from Knowles."

The augmented Rolling Stone piece contains commentary by Erin Reed, a male transsexual LGBT activist, on Knowles' demand for a retraction, suggesting that it's "an absurd distinction. There is no difference between a ban on 'transgenderism' and an attack on transgender people."

Reed claimed, "They are one and the same, and there's no separation between them."

Following the changes, Knowles tweeted, "I’m pleased to see that both @thedailybeast and @RollingStone have at least partially admitted their dishonesty by changing their libelous headlines. I look forward to seeing the other outlets that are defaming me follow suit!"

\u201cI\u2019m pleased to see that both @thedailybeast and @RollingStone have at least partially admitted their dishonesty by changing their libelous headlines. I look forward to seeing the other outlets that are defaming me follow suit!\u201d
— Michael Knowles (@Michael Knowles) 1678066644

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) commented on the leftist outfits' false headlines, writing, "It is indeed libelous. It’s an example of how a bad Supreme Court ruling from 1964 (NY Times v. Sullivan) has created a monster—giving the news media a license to lie about any public figure who can’t prove that the reporter acted with 'actual malice,' which is nearly impossible."

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'Progressive' freelance writer branded a 'racist' for reportedly accosting a random Asian man who he thought was journalist Andy Ngo



A self-described "progressive" freelance writer reportedly accosted an Asian man who he believed to be journalist Andy Ngo at a bar in New Orleans. However, Ngo said the writer bullied a random Asian man because he was not in the state of Louisiana at the time of the harassment.

Thor Benson is a freelance writer for left-wing media outlets such as The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, NBC News, and Business Insider. On Friday at 1:26 a.m., Benson proudly boasted on Twitter: "I just ran into Andy Ngo at a bar in New Orleans. I politely told him he's a 'garbage person.' Lol."

"I was at a dive bar and he came in and started talking to people and I put my hand on his shoulder and said it and then went out for a cigarette," Benson said of the alleged encounter.

Benson claimed that the man he harassed "just left," adding, "I think my comment made him nervous lol."

I just ran into Andy Ngo at a bar in New Orleans. I politely told him he's a "garbage person." Lol
— Thor Benson (@Thor Benson) 1649395586

Some of Benson's followers advocated that he should have assaulted the man at the bar.

One of Benson's followers replied, "Did you throw a whiskey sour with a brick garnish at him? He needs the attention."

Thor Benson, a white freelance writer, thought he found me & instead harassed a random Asian in New Orleans & made him leave a bar. Benson's followers said the man should've been assaulted. @TracyConnor @CorinneIOZO you okay w/your contributor doing this?https://twitter.com/thor_benson/status/1512300815549186049\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/C1NBGxq9VQ
— Andy Ng\u00f4 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Andy Ng\u00f4 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1649477142

However, Ngo disputes Benson's story.

"Thor Benson, a freelance contributor to @thedailybeast, @PopSci & others tried to racially profile me in public & instead ended up harassing a random Asian victim," Ngo wrote on Twitter. "Benson announced this proudly & his followers urged violence against the man."

Ngo pointed out that he was "live streaming on GETTR on Thursday night" around the time that Benson claimed he confronted the journalist.

The Post Millennial – where Ngo is the editor-at-large – reported: "Ngo, a Portland, Oregon, native, was not even in New Orleans, nor Louisiana, at the time Benson approached the stranger and harassed him until he left."

Reactions to the situation blasted Benson for the alleged confrontation and branded him a "racist."

Podcast host Lauren Chen: "White journalist harasses random Asian person at bar wrongly thinking he's Andy Ngo Because I guess we all look the same."

BlazeTV host Steven Crowder: "I don't throw this term around flippantly. But you are a genuinely racist, pathetic excuse for a man. And you deserve everything coming your way."

Journalist Jonathan Choe: "ASIAN MEN BEWARE: It's a good thing the Asian American Journalists Association Convention @aaja won’t be in New Orleans this year. @thor_benson and some of his followers are going after Asian guys who look like @MrAndyNgo but they got the wrong Asian. #StopAsianHate."

Attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon: "Bigot can’t tell different Asians apart. Who is the garbage person?"

Editor JD Rucker: "It wasn't actually Andy Ngo but I guess we all look the same to racists."

Journalist Ian Miles Cheong: "Liberals are now harassing random Asians because they can’t tell them apart from Andy Ngo."

Columnist Rita Panahi: "Racist Leftist loser thinks all Asians look alike. Abuses random Asian guy & comes on Twitter to brag about it."

Author Douglas Murray: "It wasn’t him. And you’re a racist. You gonna do this to black guys next? If they look like other guys you hate?"

Former Acting Director of the United States National IntelligenceRichard Grenell: "Yesterday’s champions of diversity are today’s intolerants."

Commentator Stephen L. Miller: "'Andy Ngo is the white supremacist' screams the guy chasing random Asians out of bars because I guess they all look the same."

Editor Chadwick Moore: "You racially profiled a random Asian man you thought was Andy and then accosted him LOL #StopAsianHate."

Keith Olbermann shared a fake screenshot claiming that Ngo was assaulted by a sex toy, a claim that Ngo declared, "That’s a fake tweet that was made by a far-left account to fool gullible people like you."

The fake screenshot reported swirled around the internet in August 2021 after being shared by an account that has since been suspended.

Ngo gained national attention for his reporting of Antifa in Portland – which has drawn the ire of left-wingers.

Ngo was attacked in June 2019 for being a journalist and covering an Antifa rally in Portland. He was taken to the hospital for his injuries.

In June 2021, Ngo was once again assaulted by leftwing assailants during a protest in Portland.


Fellow GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweets 'Matt Gaetz needs to resign' after new report of payments to women



Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) has called for fellow GOP Congressman Matt Gaetz (Fla.) to resign, citing a new report that alleges Venmo records show Gaetz paid a friend accused of sex trafficking who passed funds along to women — including an 18-year-old.

Gaetz himself is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice under claims of sex trafficking a 17-year-old, which reportedly sprang out of the same indicted friend whom he paid.

What are the details?

The Daily Beast reported Thursday that according Gaetz's Venmo records — which used to be public — the lawmaker made "two late-night Venmo transactions in May 2018" to former Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg totaling $900.

Greenberg has already "been federal indicted on 33 counts, including sex trafficking crimes involving a 17-year-old," The Beast noted, adding that "Gaetz and Greenberg are both connected through Venmo to this then-18-year-old woman—who now works in the porn industry."

According to the outlet, Greenberg passed along the payments to three women, including the 18-year-old, and labeled the transactions as being for "Tuition," "School," and "School."

The New York Times reported last week that that DOJ is focused on Gaetz's and Greenberg's "involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments" from the men in exchange for drug-fueled hotel romps.

Gaetz has adamantly denied all the allegations against him, and wrote in an op-ed earlier this week that while he is "not a monk," he's "certainly not a criminal."

Also on Thursday, Gaetz's office sent out a statement from the women who work in the lawmaker's congressional offices, which read that "at no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect," adding that they "uniformly reject" the allegations against him "as false."

The same day, The Times revealed the Gaetz lost another high level aide, reporting that his legislative director, Devin Murphy, "abruptly quit in recent days." Gaetz lost his communications director, Luke Ball, last week.

But the purported records of transactions highlighted by The Daily Beast led Kinzinger to share the story online and become the first Republican to publicly call on Gaetz to leave office, tweeting, "Matt Gaetz needs to resign."

Matt Gaetz needs to resign. https://t.co/AygfqAxQJX via @thedailybeast
— Adam Kinzinger (@Adam Kinzinger)1617932422.0

Anything else?

Kinzinger was one of 10 House Republicans to vote for impeaching former President Donald Trump the second time around.

The only member of GOP leadership to vote for impeachment, Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), was attacked by Gaetz over her vote. The Florida congressman then held a rally in Cheney's native Wyoming to call for Republicans to boot her from office with a primary challenge.

Meanwhile, Trump issued a statement Wednesday refuting reports that Gaetz has asked him for a blanket pardon before he left office. He added that "It must also be remembered that he [Gaetz] has totally denied the accusations against him."

Trump team responds to Democrats' impeachment testimony request: We won't take part in your 'public relations stunt'



After Democratic impeachment managers formally requested that former President Donald Trump testify under oath at the Senate impeachment trial next week, Trump's legal team shot back calling the whole ordeal a "public relations stunt" and "unconstitutional."

"We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt," wrote Trump attorney David Schoen in a response letter to lead impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).

"Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you cannot prove your allegations against the 45th President of the United States, who is now a private citizen," he added. "The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games."

According to the Daily Beast, Trump adviser Jason Miller clarified in a statement to the news outlet, saying, "The president will not testify in an unconstitutional proceeding."

senior Trump adviser Jason Miller goes a step more definitive, telling @thedailybeast earlier this hour: “The presi… https://t.co/bgOX7WYLPX
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@Asawin Suebsaeng)1612472264.0

Raskin had made the request in a letter to Trump and his attorneys on Thursday, alleging that they denied "many factual allegations" in their legal answer to the impeachment charge filed on Tuesday.

"You have thus attempted to put critical facts at issue notwithstanding the clear and overwhelming evidence of your constitutional offense," Raskin wrote in the letter. "In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate impeachment trial, concerning your conduct on January 6, 2021. We would propose that you provide your testimony (of course including cross-examination) as early as Monday, February 8, 2021, and no later than Thursday, February 11, 2021. We would be pleased to arrange such testimony at a mutually convenient time and place."

Raskin asked that Trump reply with an answer by 5 p.m. Friday.

House impeachment managers request former President Trump testify under oath in his Senate impeachment trial next w… https://t.co/jpUfaokhE2
— Craig Caplan (@Craig Caplan)1612462393.0

On Tuesday, Trump's legal team rebuffed charges laid out by Democrats that he incited the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 or that he attempted to disrupt the counting of Electoral votes. Instead the defense claimed that Trump was acting within his constitutional rights by expressing "his belief that the election results were suspect" and in no way directed his supporters to act violently.

While the formal request by no means requires Trump to testify, it perhaps serves as a sign the Democrats plan to make an aggressive case against him.

However, despite the Democrats' bluster, the trial is not expected to result in a conviction. Last week, 45 of the GOP's 50 senators voted to object to impeachment proceedings in a procedural motion, leading Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to call the whole prospect "dead on arrival." Democrats would need at least 17 Republican senators to vote in support of impeachment to convict Trump.

The Associated Press reported that GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), a staunch ally of Trump, said the letter is nothing more than a "political ploy."

This week, Graham threatened Democrats against turning the dead-end trial into a lengthy "political commercial" by calling witnesses, warning Republicans would open up "Pandora's box" and turn the spectacle back on them.