Jill Biden blasted by Angel Reese, Shannon Sharpe for wanting women's basketball loser Iowa at White House with winner LSU. First lady seems to have walked it back.



LSU women's basketball star Angel Reese and NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe blasted first lady Jill Biden over her desire to extend a White House invitation to the University of Iowa women's basketball team — which lost to LSU in the NCAA final Sunday — along with LSU.

Biden made her comments Monday, ESPN reported, adding that by Tuesday morning her press secretary appeared to walk back the first lady's comments.

What are the details?

Biden was in attendance at American Airlines Center in Dallas when LSU beat Iowa 102-85, the sports network said, adding that on Monday she praised Iowa's sportsmanship and congratulated both teams.

"I know we'll have the champions come to the White House; we always do. So we hope LSU will come," Biden said, according to ESPN. "But, you know, I'm going to tell [President] Joe [Biden] I think Iowa should come too, because they played such a good game."

It's customary that only champion teams receive White House invites, not the runners-up.

Reese — who gained fame for taunting back at Iowa's star Caitlin Clark and being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player — ripped Biden's unorthodox invite suggestion with a succinct tweet Monday night, calling it "A JOKE" and adding a trio of laughing emojis:

\u201c\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23A JOKE. https://t.co/9SiOKQNqbj\u201d
— Angel Reese (@Angel Reese) 1680562634

Sharpe on Tuesday's edition of Fox Sports' "The Undisputed," which he co-hosts with Skip Bayless, said that the first lady "needs to sit down" in the wake of her comments.

Sharpe, who is black, added that "the people that won ... look like me, and the people that lost look like [Biden], now we're gonna invite the runner-up!"

He added that Biden is "a doctor," implying she should have known the competitive and racial dynamics between Iowa and LSU: "If she didn't know, she should have known before she opened her mouth and blurted this dumb scenario out!"

"Does Dr. Jill Biden understand how this looks? ... the losing side is white America, and she's like, 'You know what ... '" Sharpe also figuratively asked the first lady, before adding, "Did you forget who put your husband in the White House?" and predicting that Joe Biden would suffer ratings losses if Iowa gets invited to the White House.

Bayless agreed with Sharpe, saying Biden's invite suggestion was uncalled for: "You don't need to pat the Iowa women on the head and say, 'Oh, you poor girls. Why don't you come to the White House, too?'"

UNDISPUTED | 'A JOKE' Shannon sounds off on Jill Biden & said she needs to sit down youtu.be

Walking it back?

Early Tuesday morning Jill Biden's press secretary appeared to walk back the first lady's comments regarding an Iowa invite to the White House:

\u201cHer comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House.\u201d
— Vanessa Valdivia (@Vanessa Valdivia) 1680602782

"Her comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes," Vanessa Valdivia wrote. "She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House."

President Biden on Tuesday morning also tweeted a series of congratulatory messages to LSU and to the NCAA men's basketball champion, the University of Connecticut, adding that "I look forward to welcoming them at each of their White House visits." He didn't mention Iowa.

Anything else?

In regard to Reese's now famous taunting — which also included her pointing at her ring finger to signify a championship — NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal slam-dunked on Keith Olbermann for ripping Reese, telling the outspoken ex-ESPN anchor to "shut your dumb ass up" and "leave Angel Reese alone."

\u201cANGEL REESE TO CAITLIN CLARK \ud83d\ude33\u201d
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) 1680472338

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith opined that since both Reese and Clark engaged in taunting, the fact that it became an issue only after Reese engaged in it reflected a degree of racism.

"Here’s the reality of the situation: [Clark] instigated this kind of stuff," Smith said Monday on "First Take," Fox News reported. "Let’s call it what it is. She was waving. ... How about what she did to Raven Johnson? She didn’t just go into the lane and not guard her against South Carolina in the national semifinal. She waved her off, she didn’t mind being disrespectful. So, why is it that we’re hesitant to bring that up?"

Smith added, "We all know that there’s a white-black issue here because the fact of the matter is when Caitlin did it, people were celebrating it, and they were talking about nothing but her greatness. But then the second a sister steps up and threw it back in her face, now you got half the basketball world saying, ‘You know what? That’s not the classiest thing to do. That’s not the way to act.’ It was the exact same thing," according to Fox News.

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Amid BRUTAL war, Ukraine President Zelenskyy and wife find time to pose for Vogue magazine



Between courageously defending their nation in the face of Russia’s brutal invasion and the non-stop rigors of cashing in on all those billions of U.S. aid dollars, it's a wonder that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska were able to find the time for a little photo shoot with Vogue magazine.

The magazine shared a few photos from the upcoming October 2022 issue on social media Wednesday.

\u201cFirst Lady Olena Zelenska and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kyiv, Ukraine, July 2022 / For @voguemagazine To Be Featured In Vogue Magazine, October 2022\u201d
— Annie Leibovitz (@Annie Leibovitz) 1658935119

People on Twitter seemed duly impressed:

\u201cNothing screams genuine struggle more than a wartime Vogue photoshoot.\u201d
— Avi Yemini (@Avi Yemini) 1658898217
\u201cwartime vogue photo shoots. very serious. let\u2019s keep sending ukraine weekly billion dollar aid packages to protect \u201cdemocracy.\u201d don\u2019t question it.\u201d
— Logan Hall (@Logan Hall) 1658862926
\u201cWhy did we send $54 billion to Ukraine, so Zelensky & his wife could pose for Vogue? \n\nYou\u2019re at war & you\u2019ve got time for photo shoots?\u201d
— #ThePersistence (@#ThePersistence) 1658928049
\u201cWhile we send Ukraine $60 billion in aid Zelenskyy is doing photoshoots for Vogue Magazine. \n\nThese people think we are nothing but a bunch of suckers.\u201d
— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1658922931
\u201cWhen your people are dying in a #NATO proxy war and you pose for Vogue you are not a leader, you are a morally bankrupt NATO-controlled parasite who sends his own people to death while dressing up & prostituting himself to Western warlords.\n\n#Zelensky #Ukraine\u201d
— vanessa beeley (@vanessa beeley) 1658890017

On "The News & Why It Matters" Wednesday, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales, BlazeTV host Elijah Schaffer of "Slightly Offens*ve," and head writer and researcher for Glenn Beck Jason Buttrill discussed the "portrait of bravery" and asked, "How many billions of dollars did the U.S. send Ukraine again?"

Watch the video clip below or find full episodes of "The News & Why It Matters" here. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.


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Seattle closes park ahead of Christian prayer rally, so supporters hold 'worship protest' outside instead



The city government in Seattle closed down a public park ahead of a planned Christian prayer rally, so the supporters held a "worship protest" service outside of the fences installed at the park instead.

Organizers planned the worship service at Gas Works Park on Labor Day, but the city said it would shut the service down "due to anticipated crowding that could impact the public health of residents," over the coronavirus pandemic.

"Seattle Parks and Recreation does not allow unpermitted public events to take place in Seattle parks and asks the public continue to adhere to current public health guidelines so that we can keep our parks open," the city added.

Sean Feucht Ministries condemned the decision and called out the city's hypocrisy on political rallies.

"This is the height of hypocrisy for the City of Seattle to turn a blind eye to riots, looting, and AntiFa, while refusing to let Christians gather in a public park to sing and worship," said Feucht in a statement on Facebook.

"First the government shuts down churches. Now it's shutting down parks to stop us from worshipping. Time to stand up church!" he added.

Protest worship

Hundreds of his supporters heeded the call and showed up on Monday to the "protest worship" service.

Worship leader @seanfeucht’s plan to hold a #LetUsWorship concert at Gas Works tonight was detoured when the city f… https://t.co/oYJtj5pOPR
— Vanessa Misciagna (@Vanessa Misciagna)1599523696.0

Feucht, a missionary and musician, led the event, and later posted a statement to his social media account.

"America was founded on the freedom to worship. Politicians can write press releases. They can make up threats. They can shut down parks. They can put up fences," he wrote.

"But they can't stop the Church of Christ from worshipping the One True God!" he added.

Here's video of the worship protest event:

#LETUSWORSHIP - Sean Feucht - Seattle, WA (Gas Works Park Closure) www.youtube.com

"We're here as citizens of America and citizens of the Kingdom of God and we won't be silenced," wrote Feucht.

Vanessa Misciagna of King 5 News noted that there were no counterprotesters at the event, nor were there any police present. She also said that the majority of attendees did not wear a mask, and neither did Feucht.

Here's a local news video about the worship protest:

Prayer rally takes to street, after being shut out of Seattle's Gas Works Parkwww.youtube.com