Who said it: The authors of the Politico Playbook newsletter published Wednesday morning.

Context: The Politico journalists were discussing how Gov. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) had hoped to overcome "a deluge of negative headlines" and "hit the reset button" by taking part in "a rare sitdown interview with a mainstream, nonpartisan media outlet: CNN."

However, the journalists wrote, DeSantis's big plans were thwarted by former president Donald Trump, who "stole the headlines" on Tuesday by announcing that he may soon face charges in connection with the storming of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

More context: The "deluge of negative headlines" about Ron DeSantis were published in so-called mainstream media outlets such as Politico and CNN that desperately want Trump to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.

CNN, for example, enjoyed soaring ratings and record profits during Trump's presidency. Ratings and profits have plummeted since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. Accordingly, Trump does not have to work very hard to steal headlines in media outlets desperate to write about him.

Why it matters: Most "mainstream" journalists are Democratic activists who falsely present themselves as "nonpartisan" arbiters of truth. It is important to hold them accountable for their lies.

Analysis: The facts do not support the claim that CNN is a "nonpartisan media outlet." Such an outlet would not employ a professional fact-checker who spends all his time fact-checking Trump and various right-wing Facebook memes while ignoring the gibberish routinely spouted by President Biden, the most powerful politician in the world.

• Chris Licht, the network's former CEO, tried to make CNN less partisan. It cost him his job.

• Given CNN's precipitous ratings decline, it seems like a stretch even to describe the network as "mainstream."

Go deeper: CNN Is a Clown Network Run By Creeps.

Verdict: We rate this claim 4 Fiery But Mostly Peaceful Clintons.

The post FACT CHECK: CNN Is a 'Nonpartisan Media Outlet' appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

• Celebrity actress Kristen Bell earlier this week posted a photo on Instagram featuring Tapper and his wife, Jennifer Marie Brown, enjoying a fancy dinner at the South Fork Lodge in Idaho.

• They were joined by a large group of celebrity couples, nearly all of them proud members of the white race.

• Social media users were stunned that the rich and socially enlightened liberal celebs would engage in such a flagrant act of white supremacy.

What they're saying: "Serious question for well-meaning white people. When you show up at a get-together like this, do you notice there are zero Black people, or nah?" wrote Twitter user Jay Perkins, a biracial black man and "antiracist" higher ed lawyer. "If so, do you say or do anything about it? To who? Please be honest. This is a safe space (unless you say something dumb or racist)."

What it means: The racially homogenous partygoers were most likely celebrating the Supreme Court's June 29 decision striking down race-based affirmative action in college admissions, an outcome backed by the vast majority of Americans.

• There appears to have been only one non-white celebrity couple in attendance. David Chang, the Korean-American restaurateur, was spotted at the dinner with his wife Grace, a Korean-born immigrant.

• The Supreme Court's ruling found that race-based affirmative action in college admissions violated the Constitution because it explicitly discriminated against Koreans and other students of Asian descent.

By the numbers: More than 82 percent of Idaho's population is white, according the U.S. Census Bureau, making it one of the whitest states in the country.

• The celebrity dinner party was even whiter. At least 90 percent of the guests were white, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis.

• Approximately 0 percent of the guests were black, meaning the dinner party was demographically equivalent to a Pete Buttigieg campaign rally.

White power party: In addition to the Tappers, a bunch of other fancy white people attended the now-notorious dinner party in Idaho.

• Jennifer Aniston, star of Friends, one of the whitest shows ever made; Courteney Cox, star of Friends, and boyfriend Johnny McDaid of Snow Patrol, one the whitest bands in the world; Jason Bateman, host of the all-white podcast SmartLess, and his white wife; art gallery owners Heather Taylor and Alex De Cordoba; actress Shiri Appleby and restaurateur Jon Shook; Jimmy Kimmel and wife; Jimmy Fallon and wife; Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard; comedian John Mulaney and his half-Vietnamese mistress Olivia Munn; David Chang and wife; actor Adam Scott and wife; YouTube celeb Mark Rober; improvisational comedian Tim Curcio and wife.

Why it matters: At a time when many of our nation's journalists insist on touting the so-called benefits of diversity and inclusion, we applaud Tapper's courageous decision to reject phony moral values and embrace the "taboo" of "white racial solidarity."

• There's simply nothing wrong with a rich white journalist wanting to hang out with a bunch of rich white people (and a handful of Asians) at a fancy lodge in Idaho. It's a free country.

• The vast majority of Americans oppose the explicit racial preferences struck down by the Supreme Court. If that is indeed what the mostly white partygoers were celebrating, there's nothing wrong with that, either.

Bottom line: For rejecting diversity and refusing to live his life according to the "enlightened" moral code espoused by his colleagues in the corporate media, Jake Tapper is the Washington Free Beacon Hero of the Week.

Go deeper: CNN's Jim Acosta Celebrates Painfully White Staff in Majority Black City

The post HERO OF THE WEEK: CNN's Jake Tapper Toasts Demise of Affirmative Action at All-White Dinner Party appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Those Democrats are talking to "possible replacement presidential candidates," according to the report, and urging them to "get ready." They say that "time is already running out" for Biden, who has officially announced his candidacy but hasn't named a campaign finance director, hired any on-the-ground staff in competitive states, or even opened a campaign headquarters.

What CNN called the "persistent sense" that Biden isn't running will likely heighten on Saturday, when the president is required to disclose the fundraising for the first few months of his campaign. It's already clear, the report found, that "multiple big donors aren't locking in," while "grassroots emails are sometimes bringing in just a few thousand dollars."

"Almost two dozen current Biden aides, top Democratic operatives and donors, and alumni of other recent campaigns" are worried about the Biden reelection campaign, CNN reported.

Biden's polling numbers, which have been underwater for two years, in June hit an all-time low of 35 percent. Nearly 60 percent of Democrats say they want the party to run another candidate, a Washington Post poll found in April.

Recent polls have found Biden either running even with or losing to Republican frontrunners Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, according to FiveThirtyEight.

The president's unpopularity has led some Democrats to embrace primary opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has consistently polled at around 20 percent against Biden. Kennedy's candidacy was bolstered last month by an Economist/YouGov poll that showed him with a net 19-point favorability rating. Biden, by contrast, has a net 9-point unfavorability rating.

Democrats' rush to find alternatives to Biden comes as the party seeks to avoid running Vice President Kamala Harris, whose poll numbers are even lower than Biden's. "Kamala Harris can't win" a general election, one Capitol Hill Democrat told New York magazine last year. Another alternative, California governor Gavin Newsom, is dead-set on running if Biden bows out, sources close to Newsom told the Wrap last year. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, meanwhile, have already launched or relaunched super PACs.

The president could also face a challenge from Democratic senator Joe Manchin (W.Va.), who has not ruled out a third-party presidential bid. The centrist group "No Labels" is floating Manchin as its candidate, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

The post Top Dems Prepare Replacement for Biden appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

At the end of the segment, which included interviews with people from Nashville and Chicago about the continuing controversy surrounding Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney, national correspondent Ryan Young referred to Mulvaney with male pronouns.

"One bar was telling us, basically, they’re not going to serve [Bud Light]," Young said, "because they don’t like the way Dylan Mulvaney was treated after this whole controversy started."

"He of course is the transgender person they were going to sponsor and go along with, with Bud Light. They didn’t like how Bud Light didn’t stand by him after all this."

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan issued an apology the following day.

"Yesterday in a segment about transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who was featured in Bud Light’s recent campaign, she was mistakenly referred to by the wrong pronoun and CNN aims to honor individuals’ ways of identifying themselves and we apologize for that error."

Bud Light has faced sustained backlash and boycotts after partnering with Mulvaney in early April. The brand lost its spot as America’s top-selling beer in June, with sales plummeting by over 25 percent compared to last year.

The post WATCH: CNN Anchor Apologizes for 'Misgendering' Dylan Mulvaney appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Tapper, who was booted off prime time last year due to poor ratings, justified smearing Roberts because she had retained a former Donald Trump aide as an expert witness in her lawsuit against Biden.

"We should point out, just for the sake of fairness," Tapper said, "that [the child's] mom, who you know had the incident with Hunter … has been caught up in some far-right folks, that Ziegler guy."

Garrett Ziegler, who worked under Trump adviser Peter Navarro, has published a 600-page report on Biden's abandoned laptop. When Roberts was working with Ziegler in May, Biden's legal team appeared concerned about the former Trump aide's testimony and tried to have him disqualified as an expert, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Biden and Roberts have since reached a settlement in the lawsuit.

President Joe Biden has refused to acknowledge Roberts's child as one of his grandchildren, leading even some liberals to criticize the president. In a New York Times column titled "It's Seven Grandkids, Mr. President," Maureen Dowd criticized the president for showing a "cold shoulder—and heart" by not acknowledging his granddaughter.

"Joe Biden's mantra has always been that 'the absolute most important thing is your family,'" Dowd wrote. "Callously scarring [his granddaughter's] life, just as it gets started, undercuts that."

The post WATCH: Jake Tapper Takes Shot at Mother of Hunter Biden's Unacknowledged Child appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The drugs were reportedly discovered in a restricted part of the White House, and on a day when public tours were not offered. To most people, this would suggest the drugs belonged to someone senior in the Biden administration or in the Biden family.

But those theories are too simple for the media, who have instead suggested that a White House visitor carried the cocaine past heavy security, at considerable personal risk, only to leave the drugs behind.

The powdery substance discovered by Secret Service at the White House on Sunday is confirmed to be cocaine. A leading theory by law enforcement officials is that the bag of cocaine was brought in by an individual on a tour of the West Wing, CBS News' @weijia reports. pic.twitter.com/IEXQvnmMGK

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 5, 2023

• The Washington Post: "Cocaine Found in White House Near Where Guests Enter West Wing":

Jean-Pierre added that Biden was briefed on the matter, and she stressed that many outsiders set foot in the area where the cocaine was found." This is a heavily traveled area of the campus of the White House," she said. "It is where visitors to the West Wing come through." Law enforcement officials cautioned that because the area where the cocaine was discovered is so highly trafficked, it may be difficult to determine who was responsible for bringing the drug into the White House.

• The New York Times: "Secret Service Investigating Who Brought Cocaine Into the White House":

The small plastic envelope was found in an area of the West Wing that visitors and staff members often pass through during the day. When staff members want to bring relatives or friends on tours of the West Wing, they usually do so at night and on the weekends. A person familiar with the investigation said that the baggie was found near an area where guests are screened for security and leave their phones in small cubbies. The Secret Service would not say where exactly the substance was found in the lobby or whether the agency was working with the White House to review guest logs. People familiar with the investigation say that the area is frequented so often by so many groups of people that it may be hard to find the person who left the baggie.

Curiously absent from these reports is any mention of the fact that President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, who has struggled with cocaine addiction, is reportedly living in the White House. Nor do the stories note that Hunter Biden was photographed alongside his father on the West Wing balcony the day the baggie was found.

But the press doesn't seem interested in finding a culprit. In fact, they've simply declared that we'll never know who brought the drugs.

• NBC News: "Lab Test Confirms White Substance Found at The White House is Cocaine":

It is unclear how long the bag was in the White House. The blurry timeline and the number of people who walk through the area where the cocaine was found could make it difficult to determine who was responsible, an official familiar with the investigation said.

• CNN: "Lab Tests Show Substance Found at White House Was Cocaine":

The Secret Service, the official said, is doing "everything possible" to try and identify who brought what the official described as a "dime-sized bag" into the West Wing. The official noted that identifying the culprit may be difficult because of the size of the bag and the number of people who would have had access to the area.

The whole situation is just silly anyway, per CNN:

CNN jokes about cocaine being found in Joe Biden's West Wing.
"I want to know blow-by-blow who was responsible for this." - Sara Sidner while snickering.
"There is no 'too soon' ... It's an illicit drug at the White House. Why can't you have a little bit of fun?" - Kate Bolduan pic.twitter.com/mtR6VEPH6M

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) July 5, 2023

And nothing new.

I'm going to venture that Hunter Biden is not the only person who has stepped foot into a White House to have once used cocaine. In fact — you may wanna sit down for this — Barack Obama dabbled with it earlier in his life

— Sam Stein (@samstein) July 5, 2023

The post Cocaine in the White House: Nothing To See Here! appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

• The pair enjoyed a sunset dinner on Ponza, a swanky island enclave near the Amalfi Coast, while attending the wedding of Hollywood talent agent Jay Sures. They were joined by Lemon's husband, Tim Malone, and Zucker's mistress, Allison Gollust.

Why it matters: Zucker and Lemon are rumored to be "plotting a bid for the embattled network," according to the Daily Mail.

Crucial context: CNN's ratings have persistently declined since former president Donald Trump left office.

• Zucker was ousted in early 2021 for failing to disclose his relationship with Gollust, a subordinate executive.

• Chris Licht, who succeeded Zucker as network president, was fired last month for attempting to purge CNN of left-wing partisan hackery.

• Lemon, a partisan hack, was fired in April for being an obnoxious misogynist.

What they're saying: The Washington Free Beacon has semi-legally obtained a recording of Zucker and Lemon's dinner conversation in Italy. What follows is a partial transcript of that conversation. Please enjoy responsibly.

DON LEMON: I don't believe you. [laughing]

JEFF ZUCKER: Never happened. Why? Did you guys have a three-way with Chris Cuomo?

LEMON: F— off! [laughing]

TIM MALONE: Too much roid rage.

LEMON: I bet you'd be up for it though, right? Chris and Andrew at the same time. Jeff can watch.

ALLISON GOLLUST: Hard pass. [laughter]

LEMON: Well, clearly your standards are low.

ZUCKER: Clearly?

LEMON: What are you, late 50s?

GOLLUST: I'll be 51 in October, thanks for asking.

LEMON: Same age as Nikki Haley. Just saying. [laughing]

GOLLUST: I beg your pardon?

LEMON: Pre- or post-menopause? You know I'm fascinated by this stuff.

GOLLUST: We know.

ZUCKER: Calm down, Don.

WAITRESS: More wine, signore?

ZUCKER: Yes, please.

LEMON: Ah sì, I like-ah s'more-ah wine-ah. [laughing]

MALONE: Slay.

WAITRESS: Sì, signore.

LEMON: What's your name, doll?

WAITRESS: Giovanna.

LEMON: Yo quiero three cube-ohs de ice-o.

WAITRESS: Ice cubes for the wine?

LEMON: Three.

WAITRESS: Certo.

LEMON: You speak English, right?

WAITRESS: Yes.

LEMON: How many fingers am I holding up?

WAITRESS: Three, signore.

ZUCKER: Don, let's talk.

LEMON: Hold on, Zuck. Excuse me? [snaps fingers]

WAITRESS: Sì, signore.

LEMON: What are you doing?

WAITRESS: Bringing more water for—

LEMON: Excuse me. I thought you said you understand English.

WAITRESS: Yes.

LEMON: Were you listening five seconds ago? I asked you to bring me three ice cubes for the wine. Tres ice cubes. This many. Three.

WAITRESS: Of course, signore.

LEMON: No, I meant right now. Bring them now. Not after you fill up her water or flaunt your tits at Guido over there.

MALONE: He's a celebrity. I'm sure you understand.

WAITRESS: Certo.

LEMON: No, I'm not sure she does understand.

ZUCKER: Don, let it go. We have business to discuss.

LEMON: In a minute. You, girl, come here. [snaps fingers]

ZUCKER: This is why they fired him.

GOLLUST: Yeah, that and his crappy ratings.

LEMON: See these driving moccasins? They're Italian, like you. [laughing]

WAITRESS: Yes, I see.

LEMON: Cordovan leather. How much do you think they cost?

WAITRESS: I don't know.

LEMON: Of course you wouldn't know. But I want you to guess. How much?

WAITRESS: Your shoes are very nice, signore.

LEMON: I'm sorry. No, lay off, Zuck. She's speaking English, so I know she understands.

WAITRESS: Yes, I understand.

LEMON: I am telling you to guess how much you think I paid for these Italian leather driving moccasins. Guess.

WAITRESS: One thousand.

LEMON: A thousand. [laughing]

MALONE: As if. [laughing]

GOLLUST: Good, she's going.

ZUCKER: Finally.

LEMON: Four thousand five hundred. Euros. Where'd she go?

ZUCKER: To get your ice cubes. Now, sit down, Don. As you know, I'm putting together a bid for CNN. That Polish prick Zaslav is in over his head. We hear he'd happily let it go for pennies. Do you want in on the action?

LEMON: You know I do. This face belongs on television.

ZUCKER: I agree, but no more female cohosts. That was a disaster.

LEMON: Women don't get my sense of humor.

ZUCKER: They clearly don't. We need to get a lineup together.

LEMON: Let's do it. When I got fired I went out to the Hamptons and took a bunch of ayahuasca. Between that and the intermittent fasting, I came up with a ton of good ideas.

ZUCKER: I'm sure you did. So a few things are already locked in. Andrew and Chris are filming a pilot next week for Cuomo and Cuomo.

LEMON: Kinky.

ZUCKER: Shut up. Stelter has agreed to lose 80 pounds so he can hide in the bushes at Mar-a-Lago and try to get some voyeur shots of Trump taking a dump. We gotta do something to get the ratings up.

LEMON: I love it.

ZUCKER: Hunter Biden has been in touch about a special correspondent role.

LEMON: Nice.

MALONE: He's really hot for his age.

ZUCKER: We could send him on an art tour of the Gulf states, or to investigate illicit prostitution in European capitals. We'll figure something out. Those were his ideas.

LEMON: Here's what I was thinking. The White Face Chronicles.

ZUCKER: Go on.

LEMON: Don Lemon goes undercover as a straight white man to expose the racist underbelly of American society.

ZUCKER: Sure. Let's table that for now. What else you got?

LEMON: Tears of Equity: Billionaire businessman Don Lemon travels back in time to lead a slave rebellion in South Carolina. But he's too successful, right? He ends up freeing all the slaves and the Civil War never happens, and Barack Obama's white ancestors are killed in the uprising, so Don Lemon becomes America's first black president.

ZUCKER: Okay.

LEMON: But then the real Barack Obama travels back in time to stop Don Lemon from killing his family. At first they fight, but then they fall in love.

ZUCKER: Yeah, that's pretty interesting.

WAITRESS: Your ice cubes, signore.

LEMON: Are you serious right now? These are round. Do you not know what a cube looks like, you stupid bitch?

The post EXCLUSIVE: Here's What Don Lemon and Jeff Zucker Discussed on Vacation in Italy appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Here are some of the strangest takes.

"We're coming for your kids—kidding!"

The 'coming for your children" chant has been used for years at Pride events, according to longtime march attendees and gay rights activists, who said it’s one of many provocative expressions used to regain control of slurs against LGBTQ people. https://t.co/2VvDAKyyWy

— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 28, 2023

• NPR, "Ahead of Father's Day, We're Hearing Voices of Dads From Different Backgrounds":

Kayden Coleman is one of the dads we're hearing from this week in honor of Fathers Day. The educator and transgender dad talks about what being a father means to him....

COLEMAN: Especially for someone like me who is also Black, also low-income, things of that nature. Especially 10 years ago, people weren't interested in learning about transmasculine people navigating pregnancy. So I had to do a lot of advocating for myself, and I experienced a lot of pushback and discrimination within the medical system based off of preconceived ideas of what a pregnant person is supposed to look like.

• CBS News, "Gender-Affirming Care For Trans Youth: Separating Medical Facts From Misinformation":

Gender-affirming care is a broad term for many distinct treatments provided to children, teens, and adults. Puberty blockers, for example, are medications that inhibit puberty by suppressing the body's production of sex hormones, while hormone therapy is the administration of testosterone or estrogen to alter secondary sex characteristics.

One common misbelief heard when legislation is discussed is that gender-affirming medical interventions are provided immediately to any trans or nonbinary kid who walks into a gender clinic....

The age at which trans minors receive gender-affirming hormone therapy depends on the patient's ability to provide informed consent for the treatment, which can happen when they're as young as 12 or 13 years old....

Most medical centers require individuals to be at least 18 years old for bottom surgery and chest, or "top," surgery, though some do perform top surgery on younger teens if the patient, their parents, and health care providers agree the procedure is appropriate.

• ABC News, "'Genocidal': Transgender People Begin to Flee States With Anti-LGBTQ Laws":

Susan has a 7-year-old transgender daughter, Elsa, whose parents asked that she be referred to by a pseudonym for safety reasons, who they say may one day need such care.

Elsa's parents describe her as wise beyond her years. She had expressed that she was a girl from an early age and guided her parents through her gender journey – asking to wear dresses, change her name, and to be referred to as a "daughter" by her parents.

"When she was 3, one day, she told me, 'I'm a girl person,'" Susan said in an interview with ABC News. It was National Daughters Day, "and she said, ‘Can I be your daughter?’ – which made me cry.

But it wasn't all controversy. The media were there to put a Pride spin on everyday life:

• New York Times, "What Financial Planning Looks Like for L.G.B.T.Q. People":

Of course, I knew people were given money for their weddings, but this seemed like an abstract, heterosexual concept to me: free money, for loving someone? In my experience, nothing about being a lesbian came without, at minimum, a metaphorical price tag.

But that’s just my experience. In June, which is Pride Month, many people honor the history, struggles and joys of L.G.B.T.Q. people. It’s also a time to celebrate the ways we are different and how we relate to the world around us — which got me thinking about money.

• Washington Post, "10 Recipes For Pride Month as Colorful as the Rainbow":

The gay tea dance originated in New York and spread across the country in the 1950s and '60s. "At a time when same-sex dancing was criminalized and club raids were common, the afternoon soirees functioned as discreet spaces for gay and lesbian people to socialize safely," Post style reporter Janay Kingsberry wrote. Thankfully, there have been a number of advancements for LGBTQ+ rights since then — along with some setbacks — and I for one am looking to celebrate this Pride Month to the fullest.Should you want to throw your own tea dance and hark back to the original inspiration of afternoon tea with snacks and beverages, here are some recipes that are fun and colorful to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride this month....

Pride started as a riot, so should you want to light something on fire, this take on the fruit salad is the way to go.

There were achievements to celebrate:

The giant canvas pink triangle that is one of the LGBTQ+ community’s Pride month symbols in San Francisco is bigger than ever this year. Volunteers said they are taking a stand for their rights amid a national pushback from conservative lawmakers. https://t.co/teT4iTOFxY

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 22, 2023

• NBC News, "Pride 30: Drag performers Who Made 'Herstory'":

Now that the centuries-old art of drag has become a preferred target in the current culture warfare, we chose to dedicate this year’s annual NBC Out Pride 30 list to the performers who have put this art form on the map. …

Lady Bunny got her start go-go dancing with her friend RuPaul while living in Atlanta in the early 1980s. The pair moved to New York City together in 1983, and Lady Bunny spent much of this period in the city’s nightclubs, a place where other "club kids" were experimenting with outrageousness, gender, art and fashion. In 1984, Lady Bunny organized the first Wigstock, an annual drag queen festival in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood. With a wide-ranging and diverse oeuvre, Lady Bunny is now considered one of the most legendary drag queens working today.

The media were there for the highs:

This Pride Month is @DarcyDrollinger's first year as San Francisco’s official drag laureate. She takes the new position, in a year that has seen a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced across the country. @AliRogin speaks to Drollinger for more. pic.twitter.com/8Bqw2CwUbi

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) June 25, 2023

• Washington Post, "LGBTQ+ Pride Month Reaches Its Grand Crescendo on City Streets From New York to San Francisco":

Thousands of effusive marchers danced to club music in New York City streets Sunday as bubbles and confetti rained down, and fellow revelers from Toronto to San Francisco cheered through Pride Month’s grand crescendo.New York’s boisterous throng strolled and danced down Fifth Avenue to Greenwich Village, cheering and waving rainbow flags to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall uprising, where a police raid on a gay bar triggered days of protests and launched the modern movement for LGBTQ+ rights.

• New York Times, "'Padam Padam': You Hear It and You Know It’s Pride":

Kylie Minogue’s latest single appears to be on the fast track to gay-classic status. We asked D.J.s booked for Pride events to weigh in on the track’s devoted cult following.

… and the lows.

• MSNBC, "Drag Queens Describe a Pride Month Like No Other":

While many are celebrating Pride Month, the community remains under attack. Stephanie Ruhle sat down with a roundtable of drag queens on those threats and what America doesn’t understand. Rosé, Julie J, Nicky O and Mariyea join.

• Bloomberg, "Pride Planners: How We’ll Celebrate Despite Anti-Drag, Anti-LGBTQ Laws":

In America’s ever-more-polarized political environment, annual celebrations of diversity are as fraught as ever. Here’s what’s happening with festivals big and small in states inundated with anti-LGBTQ legislation.

• ABC News, "Target Faces Criticism From Artists Involved With Pride Month Products Over Response to Boycott: 'Quick to Fold'":

Kennedy Davenport, a drag queen, rejoiced when she learned last year that she would be featured on apparel in the forthcoming Pride collection at Target.

"You never imagine opportunities like this," Davenport told ABC News, comparing the breakthrough to her previous role competing on the TV show "RuPaul's Drag Race.

"For Davenport, elation turned to disappointment last month when Target announced it would remove some Pride products from stores in response to anti-LGBTQ harassment faced by employees, she said. Davenport says she does not know whether products with her image were removed.

• CNN, "Pentagon Cancels Drag Show at Air Force Base as Pride Month Begins":

The Pentagon forced an Air Force base in Nevada to cancel a drag show at the start of Pride Month that had already been approved, according to three officials familiar with the situation.

The drag show at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada was scheduled for June 1 and recognizes the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender service members and civilian personnel. According to a military official, it would have been the third annual drag show held at Nellis, known as "The Home of the Fighter Pilot" and the Air Force’s center for advanced fighter training.

Despite the previous two events being held at the base, this one was not allowed to move forward after the Pentagon intervened on Wednesday, according to two defense officials, forcing the base to cancel the event or move it to a different location.

There was plenty of coverage of the media's favorite villains:

Drag activist Sister Roma was honored during an annual LGBTQ+ Pride Month ceremony in the state Capitol. She was welcomed with a standing ovation in both the Assembly and Senate, while some Republicans walked off in protest as Roma was recognized. https://t.co/ve7e2pIxGy

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 6, 2023

Congressional Republicans from Mississippi are demanding the Department of Veterans Affairs remove a temporary pride flag from the Biloxi National Cemetery, arguing its presence is disrespectful to veterans. https://t.co/ASseVzjxI3

— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 6, 2023

Throughout June, many Republicans including presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis have sharply criticized Pride celebrations, and some have resurfaced fights over same-sex marriage. https://t.co/aDUkw3u5dW

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 30, 2023

And tons of… unique opinion pieces:

• New York Times, "Yes, We’re in an L.G.B.T.Q. State of Emergency":

I recently spoke with several leaders of L.G.B.T.Q. groups and historians who have documented the community’s history, and they all raised the alarm about the severity of what we’re seeing.

There have been other periods of backlash against the queer community, including with the passage of oppressive legislation, but this one has moved with alarming political calculation and efficacy.

"This is a terror campaign against our community," said Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and chief executive of GLAAD, the pre-eminent L.G.B.T.Q. media advocacy organization.

• CNN, "Opinion: How to clap back against anti-LGBTQ attacks this Pride month":

Here’s how to clap back against the anti-LGBTQ vitriol this Pride:...

Encourage passive allies to step up and become active ones. Change your social media profile image to the Progress Pride flag and consider that a starting point, not the sum total of expressed allyship. Honor that symbol by calling out misinformation about LGBTQ people that others share on social media....

Young adults can check out Maia Kobabe’s "Gender Queer," the most banned book in America in 2022, and André Aciman’s "Call Me by Your Name," about a romance between two young men....

For every handful of rainbow glitter we throw at a fabulous pride celebration, let’s spend time helping to correct the record and defend LGBTQ family, friends and community members against the onslaught of attacks. Don’t underestimate the inherent power of that bedtime story, that emailed article, that conversation struck at the bus stop or dinner table. It may just be the catalyst that tips us into a safer, brighter and more equal future.

And finally, there was the reason for the season—sales:

• New York Times, "Gay Pride? There’s a Candle for That":

Every year, millions of people flock to Manhattan festooned in rainbows and feathers and leather to celebrate the annual Pride March. Many of them will traipse down Christopher Street, home of the Stonewall Inn, the epicenter of the modern gay rights movement in New York.

But have you ever stopped to wonder what that smells like? What scents waft through the air, mixed with the ever-present aromas of summer in the city?

No? Well, there’s a candle for that. It smells like jasmine and sandalwood.

• NPR, "LGBTQ+ Creatives Rely on Pride Month Income. This Year, They're Feeling the Pinch":

Leggett, the nonbinary designer behind the gender-fluid sustainable clothing company Official Rebrand, said companies that usually reached out to them for sponsored partnerships ahead of Pride Month have not approached them this year.

After talking with their peers, Leggett said they realized, "it wasn't just me."

"It's just been a really stark contrast from years before," they said. "Every single year, my friends and I and my colleagues always get these additional jobs."

In recent years, businesses big and small have seen June as an opportune time to position themselves as inclusive and to show their support of LGBTQ+ communities with Pride Month campaigns. Brand allyship has come in the form of collaborations with queer influencers and creatives with significant online followings.

Until next year!

The post The Media's Weirdest Pride Coverage of 2023 appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

For years, the mainstream media warned about the nefarious influence of parents who dared to run for school board elections after growing concerned with what their children were learning.

Associated Press: "Some School Systems Pause Diversity Programs Amid Pushback":

In some districts, proposals aimed at making schools more welcoming places for students from diverse backgrounds have been reversed as a result of turnover on school boards, while work elsewhere faces a chill from acrimonious debate around topics that have been mislabeled as critical race theory.

School administrators say critical race theory, a scholarly theory that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions, is not taught in K-12 schools. But that has done little to sway opponents who assert that school systems are misspending money, perpetuating divisions and shaming white children by pursuing initiatives they view as critical race theory in disguise.

In a fraught political climate that already had escalated fights about pandemic mask and vaccine requirements, divisions are taking a toll, said Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association.

ABC News: "Teachers, Librarians Targeted by Angry Parents Over LGBTQ Books Speak Out":

A middle school teacher in Illinois says she was forced to resign from her job after parents called the police on her for including the book "This Book is Gay" in a slate of books made available to students during a reading activity.

Sarah Bonner, who has been a teacher for roughly 20 years, says she is just one of many teachers facing pressure from certain parents to shun LGBTQ identities from classrooms.

CNN: "Activist Moms Spy on Each Other in Culture Wars Over Schooling":

There were no confrontations at the Moms for Liberty meeting held in a Mexican restaurant in Colorado Springs. There was some provocative talk about purported sexual content in library books—Schoening claimed a book about "how do two men pleasure each other" was available to first graders. (She did not name the book or say what school it was supposedly found in.) But the attendees spent more time on how to wield their power.

Associated Press: "‘They’re opposed to government. But now they are the government.’ One county’s hard-right shift":

Shortly after being sworn in last fall, the new majority of the Sumner County Commission in Tennessee acted to update one of its official documents. The new version said county operations would not only be orderly and efficient, but "most importantly reflective of the Judeo-Christian values inherent in the nation’s founding."...

They have been motivated by pandemic restrictions, false claims related to the 2020 presidential election, disagreements over race and gender education, or a desire to reign in what they see as unaccountable bureaucracies, with a goal of taking control of school and library boards, county commissions and city councils. ...

A Republican and mother of two, Aumiller said she became concerned about the rise of the Constitutional Republicans group during the pandemic and attempts to push their agenda in local schools.

"At one point, I was ignorant, totally oblivious with what is going on—whoever is in office, it’s all interchangeable. That’s because I believed there were safeguards," she said. "What I am seeing, they don’t care about laws. They don’t care about rules. I have never seen anything so fragile as our government."

A heated debate in North Carolina on teaching kids about sex highlights the difficulty for many school districts around the country. The Cumberland County board of education voted Tuesday to get rid of its Planned Parenthood sex education program after criticism from some parents pic.twitter.com/N6xVVkfemG

— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 14, 2018

Angry parents battling over critical race theory.

A lawsuit over the use of transgender students’ pronouns.

A raucous school board meeting.

Loudoun County, a wealthy area outside D.C., is fast becoming the face of the nation’s culture wars. Here’s why. https://t.co/7Lzq05oCvz

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 8, 2021

In several states and districts around the country, protesters have been disrupting school board meetings.

They're opposed to mask policies. Vaccine mandates. LGBTQ rights. Sex education. And teaching about race and U.S. history.https://t.co/pZS5Mh9B6d

— NPR (@NPR) October 30, 2021

As parents protest critical race theory, students fight racist behavior in class.

One 15-year-old told her school board: 'It's bad enough we have to deal with racism in the real world — we shouldn't have to deal with it in school."https://t.co/h0NHIb7gry

— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 16, 2021

But the media have finally found a group of parents whose school board candidacies they support.

Spoiler alert: They're progressives.

ABC News: "Progressives Launch Their Own Campaign To Flip School Board Seats Nationwide":

A progressive group plans to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into an effort to elect hundreds of left-leaning school board members across the country—underscoring how those local races are increasingly drawing the attention of noted advocacy groups and politicians. ...

Some high-profile Democrats are mounting their own campaign from the other side of the spectrum, as seen with Illinois' Gov. J.B. Pritzker's recent outlaw of book bans.

[The Progressive Change Campaign Committee's] fundraising launch on Friday comes just a week before conservative nonprofit group Moms for Liberty holds its annual meeting in Philadelphia, where several Republican 2024 hopefuls, and Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are slated to speak.

Hannah Riddle, director of PCCC's candidate services, told ABC News that she sees efforts from the right as "really serious and not theoretical threats."

PCCC will be focusing its efforts in battlegrounds like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, as well as Illinois and Virginia, where several school boards seats will see vacancies, Riddle said.

It's the latest in the media's efforts to frame local progressive efforts as democracy-in-action.

NPR: "Local Libraries Have Become a Major Political and Cultural Battleground":

The changes at the library since conservatives took over the governing board have infuriated liberal patrons.

"We're really upset that the library is being used in the culture wars," said Jean Menard, a home-school mom who says she depends on Lafayette libraries for her two teenagers' education. Menard started an anti-censorship Facebook group, Supporters of Lafayette Public Libraries. The group has more than 2,000 members.

"It is not the board of control's position to micromanage the library," she said. "Librarians need to be able to manage the library. This is a public library. It's for everyone. [If] they don't like the programs or materials, don't attend, don't check out the material!"

Associated Press: "Young Climate Activists Take Montana To Court For Its Role in Global Warming":

The plaintiffs and their attorneys were cheered by supporters as they arrived outside the courthouse on Monday. Inside, Seeley’s small courtroom was packed with observers and members of the media. Environmentalists have called the bench trial a turning point because similar suits in nearly every state have already been dismissed. A favorable decision could add to a handful of rulings globally that have declared governments have a duty to protect citizens from climate change.

Conservative efforts to do the same? Not so heroic.

As conservatives target schools, LGBTQ+ kids and students of color feel less safe https://t.co/KIfxzlsZNk

— 9NEWS Denver (@9NEWS) June 7, 2023

The post The Media Demonized Parents' Rights. Now They've Found a Group They Like. appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Who said it: Donald Trump, former president of the United States, according to an audio recording obtained by CNN.

Context: A portion of the audio recording was cited in the Biden administration's indictment of Trump on charges of mishandling classified information. CNN released a longer version that includes the following exchange:

• Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, a registered sex offender, served 16 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor in 2017.

• Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 after accidentally posting a photo of his engorged private parts on Twitter. He initially claimed to have been "hacked" before ultimately admitting to sexting with multiple young women.

• He is the ex-husband of Huma Abedin, a longtime aide and confidant of Hillary Clinton. Several weeks before Election Day in 2016, the FBI found emails related to their investigation of Clinton's private server on Weiner's laptop. The rest is history.

Analysis: Trump was right once again. In 2013, when Weiner was running for mayor of New York City, Trump declared: "We don't want perverts elected in New York City. No perverts." New York City voters agreed. Weiner lost the Democratic primary, receiving less than five percent of the vote.

Verdict: We rate this claim Zero Clintons.

The post FACT CHECK: CNN Trump Audio Reveals Inconvenient Truth About Democrats appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Now: Ahead of Biden's inauguration, Dale stressed that "the same 'intensity and rigor' should be applied to the incoming president," with the only difference being that "Biden doesn't lie as much as Trump." And Dale's Twitter bio continues to advertise that he's all about "Fact-checking the president."

But the last time Dale fact-checked Biden was on March 30. For nearly three months now, Dale has exclusively fact-checked Republicans. Eighteen of those 29 fact checks have been of his old bête noire, Trump, who is running for president again.

Trump’s '1,850 boxes!!!" attack on Biden is bunk. Those boxes are…papers from his Senate career, which he donated to U. of Delaware, which is entirely normal, because senators, unlike presidents, own their records and can do with them what they please:https://t.co/DVhGAdx4wn

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 9, 2023

Breaking down Trump's 'Soros' attack on the Manhattan DA https://t.co/h3NbA1iYGj

— CNN France PR (@CNNFrancePR) March 31, 2023

Meanwhile, Biden has continued to tell plenty of whoppers.

Washington Post: "Biden’s misleading deficit claim earns him a Bottomless Pinocchio"

New York Times: "Fact-Checking the Kickoff to Biden’s Re-election Campaign"

Washington Free Beacon: "FACT CHECK: Joe Biden Said Republicans Are 'Banning Books' Like 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' Verdict: 4 Clintons."

Daily Beast: "Joe Biden Strangely Repeats False Claim That His Son Died in Iraq"

Then: By comparison, here are some of Trump's statements as president that Dale deemed in need of fact-checking.

As part of a scaremongering segment, Trump warns people that Democrats want to put up windmills (wind turbines) and you'll look out your window and see a "big monster churning."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 20, 2020

FACT CHECK: President Trump promoted a fake Ronald Reagan quote about him.

While the photo is real, the supposed quote is fake. Reagan never said of Trump, "...when I met that young man, I felt like I was the one shaking hands with the president." https://t.co/drZXKogcpq pic.twitter.com/uWHF6Tz4fd

— CNN (@CNN) July 9, 2019

Prominent Native activist Faith Spotted Eagle tells me Trump's "Pocahontas" is an "emotional assault" that "carries as much weight as a physical assault."

"He can phrase it and twist it and distort it any way he wants, the fact remains: that name does not belong in his mouth."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 27, 2017

Dale did not respond to the Free Beacon's questions about why he is MIA on his beat. But it isn't the first time.

FACT CHECK: CNN Fact-Checker Daniel Dale Is 'Fact-Checking the President'

VERDICT: No, not really.

Via @AndrewStilesUSA https://t.co/65bAjjd8mw

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) January 17, 2023

Dale would hardly be alone in moving the journalistic goal posts since Trump left office.

President Biden tripped on a sandbag and fell as he completed handing out diplomas at the US Air Force Academy commencement in Colorado. He appeared fine afterward, walking without assistance to his seat in the stands. https://t.co/PBJZayPWp0

— CNN (@CNN) June 1, 2023

President Trump defends cautious walk down ramp, which raised questions about his health https://t.co/z68ZleNtQ9 pic.twitter.com/VBI3aEfB16

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 16, 2020

The post CNN's Presidential Fact Checker Hasn't Fact-Checked Biden in Months appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Coverage ahead of Father's Day on Sunday celebrated dads who are sensitive, gender nonconforming, and pregnant.

MSNBC: "Katie Phang's Message to Dads"

Many of us grew up in a time where tired, old gender roles dictated that men couldn't show their emotions for fear of being perceived as weak or even too 'feminine.' Tired, old social norms forced men to hide their emotions and suppress their feelings. ...

In this time of intolerance, we should encourage everyone to say goodbye to old harmful gender stereotypes and allow them to freely express themselves. To be vulnerable and open and to embrace and celebrate that open vulnerability.

CNBC: "Here’s the No. 1 Phrase Dads Are ‘Sick of Hearing’ on Father’s Day, Says Parenting Expert—What To Say Instead"

When my son was in kindergarten, his class celebrated Father’s Day with a song written by the teachers. It went a little something like: "Oh, my dad is big and strong!"

This chafed against my better judgment. When I told the head administrator that I felt the song was a stereotypically masculine message to impart to young kids, her response was: "Oh, it’s just a sweet, harmless song."

But as a father and author of "Better Boys, Better Men," I’ve spent years studying conversations around gender identity, masculinity and society. I’ve found that there’s one message in particular that many dads are sick of hearing on Father’s Day: "Thanks for being our rock."

So this year, instead of telling dads how strong and emotionally bulletproof they are, consider saying: "I’m grateful for the time we get to spend together, and I want to know more about how you’re feeling."

New York Times: "Daddy, Are You an Influencer?"

Unlike some dadfluencers who lean into tired tropes of fatherhood—dads are hapless morons who can’t do anything, while moms are exasperated, overbearing multitaskers—[Kevin] Laferriere and [Evan Kyle] Berger are intentional about focusing on the universal fact that parenting is hard, regardless of who is doing it. "You’re going to make mistakes. That’s where the ‘dumb dad’ aspect comes in," Mr. Berger said. "But we’re not about the weaponized incompetence that you see in a lot of dad content."

They both recalled a cleaning product commercial from their childhoods that depicted a mom coming home from work, clearly tired, to find her husband scaling a fish in the kitchen, proudly claiming that he had "dinner handled" as fish guts flew everywhere.

"Like, really? What picture are we painting of what a father is supposed to be? We don’t do those types of jokes," Mr. Laferriere said. "We get enough material from being involved parents who make mistakes like everyone else. It’s healthy for us to talk openly about this stuff. Screwing up, looking stupid. It’s relatable."

Also relatable, albeit more fraught, is dads complaining.

NPR: "Navigating Pregnancy as a Dad"

In 2013, [Kayden Coleman] had just had top surgery—a double mastectomy—and had temporarily stopped taking hormones for the procedure. Coleman, who is transgender, said doctors had told him he couldn't get pregnant. A few years later, assuming that he'd been taking hormones long enough to avoid another pregnancy, he found he was expecting again.

Today, he is raising two young daughters.

Coleman shares his experiences with fatherhood and pregnancy as a transmasculine person on social media, hoping to change perceptions and expectations. ...

"I experienced a lot of pushback and discrimination within the medical system based on preconceived ideas of what a pregnant person is supposed to look like," he says. ...

Both pregnancies were difficult because he "spent more time fighting for autonomy over myself to just get an equitable space comfortable enough for me to give birth" and didn't get a chance to "actually enjoy the process of being pregnant." ... 

"For those of us who identify more on the masculine spectrum, just because we identify as such does not take away our desire to have kids. If we have the body parts to do so, why not?"

Your tax dollars at work
NPR Exploits Father's Day for a Trans Lesson: 'Navigating Pregnancy as a Dad'https://t.co/xml5nQMhv2 pic.twitter.com/bTm0Y9GEbx

— NewsBusters (@newsbusters) June 18, 2023

In addition to masculinity, the media used Father's Day to take on some of their other favorite villains, including racism and former president Donald Trump.

CNN gets a Father’s Day community note about a misleading article they did. https://t.co/o4felRy8IU pic.twitter.com/eExky09IhB

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) June 18, 2023

Newsweek: "Donald Trump and Joe Biden Had Very Different Father's Day Messages":

Shortly after the Father's Day message, Trump reverted to his common tactic of using social media to hit out at the criminal investigations that have been launched against him, while continuing to claim the 2020 election was rigged.

Can the media take one holiday off?

Opinion: This Fourth of July, covid-19 is forcing us to confront America’s many weaknesses https://t.co/BSoGhjnLbb

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 4, 2020

The post 'Vulnerability' and 'Top Surgery': How the Media Made Father's Day Weird This Year appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Tapper stated Tuesday that CNN would not air the speech in its entirety because the former president "says a lot of things that are not true and sometimes potentially dangerous," Mediaite reported. The speech began with Trump criticizing charges against him for mishandling classified documents, leading Tapper to call Trump's remarks "untrue and unfounded" and accuse him of trying to "undo an election."

After being arraigned at a Miami courthouse, Trump went to a nearby Cuban restaurant to mingle with locals, an event that CNN filmed. The former president's supporters sang him "happy birthday," a scene that one CNN commentator called a "spectacle." After some criticism of Trump, Tapper refused to pan back to the restaurant, telling CNN's control room that "I don't need to see any more of that. He's trying to turn it into a spectacle, into a campaign ad. That's enough of that. We've seen it already."

Trump shot back at Tapper on Truth Social. "Fake Tapper just demanded that his broadcast be closed down from Miami because there was far too much enthusiasm on the streets for 'Trump,'" the former president wrote. "The good news is, he was the only one to do so, perhaps a good explanation as to why CNN’s ratings are so low!"

CNN's ratings have plummeted since Trump left the White House, the Washington Free Beacon has reported. The media have a complicated relationship with the former president. While mainstream networks are heavily critical of Trump, covering him boosts their ratings, which skyrocketed for the CNN town hall and during his prior arraignment in April.

The post CNN's Tapper Refuses To Cover 'Potentially Dangerous' Trump Remarks appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"Even though your network can hire Andrew McCabe, who was fired from the FBI for leaking classified documents, did you remove him from your network?" McCarthy asked. "No, you continued to put him on to give judgment against President Trump."

The post BEASTMODE: Kevin McCarthy Exposes CNN for Hiring FBI Leaker appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"This is preposterous, this has been pending ... since 2018," said Elie Honig, senior legal analyst at CNN. "This spans the Trump administration and the Biden administration. Someone's gotta make a call on this case, I don't know what is going on, but it's beyond anything I've seen before."

Biden is under investigation for purchasing a firearm while using drugs, which is a federal offense. He is also at the center of a probe by the Internal Revenue Service over his taxes.

Honig added that the investigation should have taken "five weeks," not five years.

Two whistleblowers have come forward from the IRS to say Biden is receiving special treatment in the investigation.

The first whistleblower, Gary Shapley, came forward in April and claimed that the Biden administration is showing "preferential treatment" toward the president's son and holding back in the investigation. He also alleged that Attorney General Merrick Garland gave misleading testimony in March when he said that the U.S. attorney in Delaware, who has been in charge of the Biden probe since 2018, has been allowed to proceed without interference.

Biden's lawyer said in April that Shapley broke the law by telling Congress about his concerns.

A second whistleblower claimed in May to have faced retaliation for raising concerns about the agency's investigation into the first son.

The post WATCH: CNN Analyst Says It's 'Preposterous' How Long DOJ Has Taken To Investigate Hunter Biden appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Allison Gollust, who then served as CNN's chief marketing officer, had previously worked in Cuomo's office, but she kept in contact with the governor after her departure. She implored the governor to speak with Ann Sarnoff, the studio chief of parent company WarnerMedia, according to the texts, revealed as part of CNN's ongoing court proceedings with former host and brother of the ex-governor Chris Cuomo over his termination.

"[Sarnoff] is bummed you don't open theaters in NY, but perhaps you can hear her out," Gollust wrote to the governor, apparently asking him to speak with Sarnoff, who lobbied him to open New York's shuttered movie theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, Semafor reported. Opening the movie theaters would have benefited WarnerMedia, which owned several film studios.

CNN's relationship with the former governor has been a topic of controversy for years.

Many accused the network of being too soft on Cuomo over his policy of sending COVID-positive patients into nursing homes. In 2021, the network revealed that Chris Cuomo had advised his brother on the handling of sexual harassment allegations that eventually led to the governor's resignation.

The post CNN Used Ties With Andrew Cuomo To Benefit Parent Company appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

About the job: The purpose of the role is to develop and implement a communications strategy that endeavors to 1) Publicly humiliate Free Beacon editor in chief Eliana Johnson by, for example, letting a journalist accompany her to a personal training session or Botox appointment, 2) Foment sophomoric angst among Free Beacon employees, and 3) Create an untenable status quo that forces Johnson to step down in disgrace.

Required qualifications:

• At least 11 years experience as head of strategic communications at a mid-tier cable news network such as CNN

• A demonstrated disdain and disregard for conventional journalist practices

• Must love dogs (and manspreading)

• Must have solid industry connections

• Must love America

• Must have bold fashion sense

• Must be willing to go topless

Preferred qualifications:

• Previous experience facilitating the forced exit of a chief executive at a major media company

• Previous experience being defended by former CNN employee Brian Stelter

• Proficient in Microsoft Excel

• Ability to execute flawless "raised leg" pose in a variety of settings

About the Washington Free Beacon: The Washington Free Beacon is a woman-led (for now) neoconservative war blog based in the United States of America. Our reporting has been denounced in a variety of esteemed publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, the New Republic, the Economist, the Atlantic, Reader's Digest, Popular Mechanics, National Geographic, Architectural Digest, Better Homes & Gardens, Teen Vogue, Playgirl, Cat Fancy, Inspire, and many others.

How to apply: Pay the $2,375 application fee then send résumé, cover letter, head shot, full-body shot, Social Security number, and two dozen original haikus to biffdiddle@gmail.com. Good luck!

The post HELP WANTED: Free Beacon Seeks Experienced Communications Professional with Cable News Background appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

• Licht is leaving CNN amid the "near-total decimation of staff morale" following his Sisyphean attempts to reform the network by cracking down on shamelessly partisan journalism.

• Brian Stelter, Don Lemon, John Harwood, and public masturbator Jeffrey Toobin were among the partisan hacks Licht fired during his brief tenure as CNN chairman and CEO.

• CNN executive Amy Entelis, a 72-year-old graduate of Vassar College, will serve as the network's interim leader.

What they're saying: "In the eyes of so many at CNN, there isn't anything Licht can do at this point to win over their support. They've hit the wall with him," CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy said on Tuesday.

Context: Darcy was "visibly shaken" last month after Licht reportedly berated him for being too "emotional" in his coverage.

• The outburst occurred following CNN's town hall event with former president Donald Trump, a desperate attempt to boost the network's horrendously low ratings.

• CNN journalists and other liberals were outraged at network leadership for giving Trump a platform to unleash "a firehose of disinformation" and imperil the sanctity of American democracy or whatever. "It's hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies," Darcy wrote, emotionally.

Why it matters: CNN's shamelessly partisan journalists will continue to produce the shamelessly partisan content its shamelessly partisan viewers crave. They will hysterically denounce Trump as a threat to democracy while doing everything in their power to ensure he wins the Republican nomination in 2024.

Fun fact: Licht was honored as a Washington Free Beacon Man of the Year in 2022.

The post Stelter's Revenge: Chris Licht Tried To Make CNN Less Partisan. It Cost Him His Job. appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The news was first reported by the website Puck on Wednesday morning, and Licht confirmed to Axios that he is stepping down.

Licht, a former CBS executive producer who replaced Jeff Zucker at CNN, has been under pressure in the days following a damning report in the Atlantic magazine.

Among other criticism, Licht has taken heat for the network’s decision to broadcast a May 10 town hall with former Republican president Donald Trump. CNN’s ratings have been sagging, even as the company attempts to get more Republican viewers.

Licht pushed to moderate the network's image, firing anchors including Don Lemon and Brian Stelter who were seen as stridently partisan. His efforts were met with resistance from employees of CNN.

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Nick Zieminski)

The post CEO Chris Licht Out at CNN appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Licht is the focus of a damning Atlantic feature story titled "Inside The Meltdown at CNN," which ran Friday and has called into question the CEO's future at the media company. It details inner turmoil and employees' lack of confidence in him.

"That anti-Licht sentiment is shared by many in the CNN rank and file, and has existed to some extent for months, but The Atlantic article cemented it. In the words of three employees: 'He’s over.' 'He’s done.' 'There’s no coming back from that profile,'" Stelter reported in a Sunday New York magazine story about CNN employees' frustrations with Licht.

Stelter said it's the first time he's reported on his former employer since he was fired from CNN in August 2022.

Right before the Atlantic piece dropped, CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, announced the hiring of a new chief operating officer at CNN, David Leavy. Anchors told Stelter that staffers immediately began reaching out to Leavy and complaining of a loss of confidence in Licht.

"I feel like a quarterback without a coach," an anchor told Stelter.

Stelter said employees at the network didn't feel close to Licht and that he was distant.

"Licht kept most CNNers at a distance, or at least that’s how they felt. Correspondents likened him to a ghost and bemoaned his lack of feedback," Stelter wrote.

Licht vowed to turn CNN into a more trusted and less left-wing political source when he took the reins in May 2022, and he canned vocally anti-Trump hosts including Stelter and Don Lemon who he said were "off mission." He said last week that he is only halfway through his "gut renovation" of the network.

Ratings at CNN have hit record-lows in recent months. In March, CNN hit a three-decade low in viewership. Its primetime show ratings fell by 25 percent in May from the year before.

The post ‘He’s Over’: Ex-CNNer Brian Stelter Reports on CNN Chief Who Axed Him appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.