• 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.

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.

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.

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The stunning revelations come after CNN refused to promote a person of color to replace Jeffrey Toobin as the network's chief legal analyst. Toobin, who was fired by the New Yorker last year for masturbating on a Zoom call with coworkers, was reinstated at CNN in June after being given several months' worth of "time off while he deals with a personal issue."

Tapper's photos raise troubling questions about the prevailing culture of white supremacy at CNN, a network that claims to value racial diversity. 

The scandal prompted critics to revive the popular hashtag, #CNNSoWhite. 

Tapper alleged that "everyone is vaccinated and we took masks off for the photos." Sorry, but that's just not good enough. The Omicron variant doesn't care about your stupid sweaters! 

It wasn't the first time CNN staffers have promoted themselves while recklessly flouting science-based safety measures. Last month, the mostly white employees on Tapper's show held an office "bake off" and posed for a group photo WITHOUT MASKS.

Earlier this week, a maskless Tapper asked Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) if she felt endangered after Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) was spotted sitting next to her without a mask. 

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According to analytics provided by Nielsen Media Research, Wallace’s 4 p.m. show Deadline: White House has seen a nearly 80 percent drop in viewership since January 2021 in the critical 25-54 demographic. At the end of May, just 147,000 non-geriatrics above the age of 25 tuned into her two-hour MSNBC program per day.

Although Wallace has worked hard to channel her previous experience as a White House press secretary into her role as an unofficial spokesperson for the Democratic Party, the results have been abysmal with a Democrat in the White House. Her total viewership in the month of May is less than half of her total viewership in January.

During the Trump years, Wallace’s bizarre conduct—she once compared the firing of U.S. intelligence officials to the Holocaust and confused the sound of a soda can opening on air with gun shots—paid off handsomely. Although her explicit endorsements of candidates, such as Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren (D.), who she called a "really, really, really good candidate," or Michael Avenatti, who she said the press should not "underestimate" as a presidential contender, were almost certainly net negatives, Wallace managed to capture MSNBC’s audience.

With both the presidency and Congress under Democratic control, Wallace's work appears complete. Instead of offering strategic advice to Democrats on how to best defeat Trump, Wallace is now forced to run interference for career bureaucrats like Dr. Anthony Fauci. In an interview this month with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, Wallace said his newly disclosed emails make him "look good."

Wallace can take comfort in the fact that her loss of viewership is consistent with the performance of her other liberal competitors. Jake Tapper, who hosts The Lead on CNN, oversaw an over 66 percent decrease in viewership when compared to January 2021.

The post MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace Walloped By Ratings Nosedive appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"I lost two legs for Jake Tapper’s right to say whatever the hell he wants," Mast told the Free Beacon in response to Tapper's Wednesday remark. "But that free speech also protects the Republicans he is so eager to condemn for asking constitutional questions about the election."

Tapper took aim at Mast after the Republican congressman announced he would be voting against impeaching President Donald Trump. Mast questioned on the House floor whether the president was indeed culpable for the actions of his supporters who violently stormed the Capitol a week ago.

"Congressman Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, who lost his legs, by the way, fighting for democracy abroad, although I don't know what his—I don't know about his commitment to it here in the United States," Tapper said on his Wednesday show.

This is DISGUSTING.

CNN's Jake Tapper just questioned Rep. Brian Mast's commitment to American democracy.

Rep. Mast is a veteran and lost both of his legs while serving this country. pic.twitter.com/JlfKCnz3VD

— Mike Hahn (@mikehahn_) January 13, 2021

Mast served in the military from 2000 until after he lost his legs to an IED in Afghanistan's Kandahar region in 2010. He was first elected to the House in 2016 and was comfortably reelected last November.

Mast spent Wednesday morning meeting with military deployed to protect the Capitol during the current unrest.

Rep. Brian Mast, a military combat veteran, is giving history lesson to US troops deployed to the Capitol. Says he’s going to try to get them into the Speakers Gallery for the famous view. pic.twitter.com/WAfRXrlPsr

— Lindsay Wise (@lindsaywise) January 13, 2021

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With a winning bid of $1,825, one lucky individual will receive a deluxe firearms training package (for two) that includes 6-8 hours' worth of instruction and target practice under Gutowski's seasoned tutelage. The money raised will benefit Homes For Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds custom homes for severely injured military veterans.

In addition to Gutowski, several other notable celebs took part in the auction, including Jerry Seinfeld, George Clooney, Jon Stewart, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Gutowski's gun lessons were a hot item, obviously, generating more financial interest than the 30-minute Zoom calls offered by PBS journalist Judy Woodruff and Full House star Bob Saget.

Gutowski also managed to outraise celebrity actor Josh Gad, who contributed a personalized voice message as Olaf the snowman from Disney's Frozen, and brought in almost as much money as Sean Penn ($2,025), Joe Scarborough ($2,050), and Monica Lewinsky, who donated a vintage reversible handbag that sold for $2,025.

The auction was a stunning success, generating more than $400,000 for U.S. servicemen and women. A Zoom cocktail hour with MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace raised more than $11,000, while a coffee session with CNN's Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow raised almost $2,300. A half-hour Zoom call with Trump-era comedian Sarah Cooper raised more than $10,000.

The post Free Beacon Journalist Shines in Jake Tapper Charity Auction appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"We're all getting text messages from friends all over the country. A friend of mine in Kansas City watching her first debate with her sixth-grade daughter. Daughter bursts into tears, has to run to bed because she was so appalled, this sixth-grade girl, at what she saw from the president of the United States," Tapper relayed to his colleagues, who were also appalled.

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1311144937459777539

In the interest of fairness and journalistic integrity, the Washington Free Beacon reached out directly to children who watched the debate. We wanted to hear directly from them, and to provide an outlet for the kids to express their thoughts on Tuesday's debate—free of parental meddling. You might be surprised by what they had to say.

Johnny G., Age 10:

"That orange fella was awfully loud. I can see why some people took offense. But in my view, Joe Biden's refusal to take a position on court packing and ending the filibuster was simply disqualifying, and a real bummer—especially for someone like me, a member of the future generation."

Jasmine F., Age 9:

"That debate was turnt AF! I'm obsessed with listening to great minds battle it out in debate. Sure, there was a lot of interrupting, but it was the name-calling that really upset me. Joe Biden kept calling Donald Trump a 'clown,' which I thought was pretty tasteless and immature. My homeroom teacher is always telling us to respect others, even our enemies."

Lincoln W., Age 8:

"I guess now we know why Biden's campaign backed out of the ear-pierce inspection before the debate. Did you see that bulge under his suit jacket?"

Wario P., Age 9: 

"Joe 'Botox' Biden has the smoothest forehead I have ever seen. He's like that lame grandfather who gives out raisins and toothpaste on Halloween. Trump seems like a full-size candy bar kind of guy, which totally rules. I also found myself agreeing with most of his attacks on deadbeat Hunter Biden. What was all that foreign money for?"

Geraldine C., Age 7:

"All the adults are talking about how Joe Biden 'exceeded expectations.' Why, exactly? Because he didn’t make a mess on stage by peeing or pooping through his diapers? I think we should expect more from our presidential candidates."

McBraylen Q., Age 13:

"I was listening to a Blink-182 song the other day and the lyrics really struck a chord with me: 'Corporate leaders, politicians. Kids can't vote, adults elect them.' I don't think America's kids would vote for either of these geezers, but especially not Joe Biden. He said the Green New Deal would 'pay for itself,' but he doesn't support it? C'mon man."

Brendetta J., Age 10:

"I think Trump probably would have won if Chris Wallace hadn't teamed up with Sleepy Joe. I hate to say it, but the media really is the enemy of the people. I enjoyed the discussion about tax policy, but I wish they'd talked about more kid-focused issues, such as why Joe Biden still won't acknowledge the existence of the son Hunter fathered with that stripper from Arkansas. The DNA test was conclusive, and I thought Democrats were supposed to believe in science."

The post NO KIDDING: America's Children Weigh in on the Trump-Biden Debate appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"We are 35 days away from an election that is probably the most important election of our lifetime and our children's lifetime," she said on CNN. "The Republican leader of the Senate together with Donald Trump are, in the spirit of hypocrisy, trying to push through a nominee while the American people are voting. Joe has been really clear. Let's focus on what's happening right now. Deal with later later."

CNN anchor Jake Tapper said Joe Biden and Harris had not been willing to "give a straight answer" on the issue and noted after Harris's response she had dodged again.

Some Senate Democrats have voiced support for packing the Supreme Court if they take power in 2021 as retaliation for Republicans confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Biden previously opposed court packing but has been noncommittal in recent weeks. At Tuesday night's presidential debate, Biden said he would not answer Trump's question on the subject, leading CBS reporter John Dickerson to call it a "straight-up dodge."

During her failed presidential run last year, Harris said she was "absolutely open to" expanding the Supreme Court.

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Klobuchar said Sunday that the Senate should wait to vote for a new Supreme Court nominee until after the November election. In 2016, however, Klobuchar pushed for a Senate vote on Obama Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland ahead of that year's presidential election.

Asked about the reversal from her 2016 position, Klobuchar told CNN, "We are in modern history where literally just in the last time a justice was considered after someone died unexpectedly, Justice Scalia, a new rule was set by our colleagues."

The Minnesota senator also said Senate Republicans can't use "raw political power right in the middle of an election."

In 2016, Klobuchar said the Constitution required a Senate vote on a Supreme Court nominee during an election year.

"The Constitution is clear: The Senate must consider the president's nominee and then choose whether to vote yes or no," the senator said at the time. "We must do our job, hold hearings, and vote."

Republicans held a majority in the Senate when Barack Obama nominated Garland in March 2016 to fill the seat of late-justice Antonin Scalia. While Democrats pushed for a Senate vote on the nominee before the presidential election, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) refused to hold a vote on Garland's nomination.

McConnell said Friday that the Senate will vote on President Trump's nominee. Trump is expected to announce his nominee this week.

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His taped appearance with anchor George Stephanopoulos did not just mark his first interview on the Sunday morning circuit since launching his 2020 bid in April. Biden's 1,155-day streak stretches further back, to when Jake Tapper last interviewed him for CNN's State of the Union on Dec. 11, 2016.

Biden admitted during his appearance that he faces an "uphill fight" in this week's New Hampshire primary, where he is staring at another disappointing showing after likely finishing in fourth place in the Iowa caucuses. He also discussed the attack ad he released Saturday against former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg for his lack of experience.

Washington Free Beacon archives show the last time Biden appeared on This Week was July 31, 2016. His last appearance on CBS's Face The Nation was Oct. 30, 2016, and his last time on Meet The Press was Oct. 16, 2016. Fox News told the Free Beacon Biden hasn't appeared on Fox News Sunday for an interview since Sept. 16, 2007, more than a year before his election to the vice presidency.

While Biden has made other media appearances as a presidential candidate—such as an interview in October for CBS's Sunday night news magazine 60 Minutes—his avoidance of the Sunday morning shows had drawn criticism from the media. CNN host Jake Tapper called Biden out for skipping the shows at the conclusion of his interview last week with Buttigieg. CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter in September also criticized Biden for not doing Sunday shows.

The post Biden Makes First Sunday Morning Show Appearance in 1,155 Days appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"I want to note I fully appreciate you coming in and taking our questions," Tapper said to Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. "Vice President Biden has yet to do a Sunday show interview. You have done—I can't even count how many times you have agreed to do interviews, so thank you for taking our questions."

Tapper is not the first CNN anchor to take Biden to task for his conspicuous absence from Sunday news shows. CNN's Brian Stelter noted in September that Biden had not appeared on a Sunday news show in 2019.

"Biden has never sat down for a Sunday show interview all year long," the Reliable Sources anchor said. "I wonder if they are doing enough to combat Trump."

Biden has not appeared on a Sunday news show in 1,148 days.

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"They need four Republicans. Right now, the Democrats look like they're in trouble," Blitzer said.

"They sure do," Tapper responded.

Tapper said Sen. Lamar Alexander's (R., Tenn.) submission of an impeachment question along with two "Trump stalwarts," Sens. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Steve Daines (R., Mont.), indicated that the Democrats may have lost Alexander's swing vote on calling witnesses.

"The question was, please compare the bipartisanship in the Nixon impeachment, the Clinton impeachment, and the Trump impeachment. One of the very many loaded questions, in which they're actually just trying to make a point," Tapper said.

"I think it's almost been a return to the beginning of the week before the big New York Times bombshell about the Bolton book where the Republicans are just trying to run out the clock and not make any mistakes," CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin said.

Toobin added that there seems to be more confidence in the Republican camp on the question of calling witnesses. He said that the Republicans "certainly are ahead" on the issue of whether or not President Trump will be acquitted.

Four hours of closing arguments are planned for Friday afternoon before the vote on whether or not to call additional witnesses. If the vote fails, then an up-or-down vote will occur on the two articles of impeachment.

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In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Warren described Soleimani, the leader of a designated terrorist organization, as "a high-ranking military official" and "government official."

"Look, it was a targeted attack on a government official, a high-ranking military official for the government of Iran, and what it has done has moved this country closer to war," Warren said. "We are not safer today than we were before Donald Trump acted."

The Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential candidate questioned the timing of the U.S. attack on Soleimani, prompting Tapper to ask whether she was suggesting this was a distraction from impeachment.

"I think that people are reasonably asking about the timing, and why it is that the administration seems to have all kinds of different answers," Warren said. "In the first 48 hours after this attack, what did we hear? Well, we heard it was for an imminent attack, and then we heard, no, no, it was to prevent any kind of future attack, and then we heard from the vice president himself, no, it was related to 9/11."

Warren made the same suggestion in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press.

"We know Donald Trump is very upset about this upcoming impeachment trial," she said. "But look at what he's doing now. He is taking us to the edge of war."

Warren was similarly critical of President Donald Trump's stated intention to strike 52 Iranian sites if Iran attacks any American assets. Warren decried Trump's threat as preparation for "war crimes." She did not mention an Iranian general's threats against 35 U.S. targets prior to Trump's tweet.

You are threatening to commit war crimes. We are not at war with Iran. The American people do not want a war with Iran. This is a democracy. You do not get to start a war with Iran, and your threats put our troops and diplomats at greater risk. Stop. pic.twitter.com/RoXRgb9GsK

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 5, 2020

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"The president says that this is all about Democrats not able [sic] to get over his win in 2016. About Pelosi, he says, 'You view democracy as your enemy,'" Tapper said. "Honestly this is almost like a letter that Kim Jong-un wrote. The hyperbole is really, really strong."

Tapper further quoted a section of the letter in which Trump writes to Pelosi that "no intelligent person believes" her claim that she is approaching impeachment "somberly, reservedly, and reluctantly."

"You know, that's not accurate," Tapper said.

The White House sent the six-page letter, which blasts the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, to Pelosi on the eve of the House's vote on impeachment. It accuses Democrats of "an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power... unequaled in nearly two and a half centuries of American legislative history," and says that they have "cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment."

"More due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials," the letter reads.

The House is expected to vote on Wednesday on two articles of impeachment against Trump. A Senate trial is expected once the Senate returns from its recess in early 2020.

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Stelter to CNN Contributor: Does Fox News remind you of state-run media?

CNN's Brian Stelter asked New Yorker columnist Masha Gessen if Fox News reminds her of state-run media in totalitarian countries.

"I wonder Masha if—as the author of books including The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, if what we're seeing here in the United States reminds you at all of state-run media in other countries," Stelter asked. "Is what we're seeing something similar at this point?"

"A bit. What you see in a totalitarian country, which of course this country is not and most countries are not, but what you see is a forced reality," Gessen said.

"The subject of a totalitarian state is told, 'okay, you have had to inhabit this reality, this is the only available reality.' Observable facts are not part of the thing that's available to you. And that relies on state terror," Gessen said. "What's amazing about Trump, he's created this completely encapsulated reality without relying on state terror."

Stelter's Reliable Sources once featured a guest who claimed Trump "may be responsible for many more million deaths" than infamous dictators like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Mao Zedong.

Dem Rep Defends Schiff's Handling of Whistleblower

Appearing on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Rep. Val Demings (D., Fla.) defended House Intelligence chairman Adam Schiff, who has come under fire for lying to the media about when his committee learned about the Ukraine whistleblower complaint.

"With the president being accused of using his power and abusing his office to coerce a foreign country to assist in an election, it's kind of amazing that we would try to make the news of the day centered around Chairman Schiff's words as it pertains to contact with whistleblower," Demings said.

"Chairman Schiff, as you know, has served several terms in Congress," she said. "He has been a person who has provided exceptional leadership and Chairman Schiff said he could have stated—responded to that question in a more clear way."

Demings added that Schiff misunderstood the question he was being asked.

The Washington Post awarded Schiff four Pinocchios for misleading the media, writing that he had made a clearly false statement during an interview with MSNBC.

Klobuchar: I Would Not Be Comfortable With VP's Child Serving On Board of Foreign Company

Presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar told Jake Tapper she disapproves of a vice president's child serving on the board of a foreign company.

"Senator Harris and congressman O'Rourke have both suggested that they would not be comfortable with a child of their vice president sitting on the board of a foreign company," Tapper asked. "Would you?"

"No, I wouldn't," Klobuchar said. "And I can promise you right now my own daughter, who is only 24, does not sit on the board of a foreign company."

Klobuchar added that the real issue is the conduct of the president, not former vice president Joe Biden's. She argued that "what really matters is that the president was repeatedly trying to get dirt on a political opponent."

Biden has pushed back on criticisms of a potential conflict of interest stemming from his son's position on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company.

The post Brian Stelter Asks CNN Contributor If Fox News Reminds Her of Totalitarian, State-Run Media appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The Minnesota senator told CNN's Jake Tapper that she agrees with Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) and former representative Beto O'Rourke (D., Texas), both of whom expressed concern about former vice president Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, sitting on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

"Senator Harris and congressman O'Rourke have both suggested that they would not be comfortable with a child of their vice president sitting on the board of a foreign company," Tapper said. "Would you?"

"No, I wouldn't," Klobuchar said. "And I can promise you right now my own daughter, who is only 24, does not sit on the board of a foreign company."

Klobuchar insisted, however, that the real "issue" is President Donald Trump's conduct, not Biden's.

"There is no evidence that the vice president did something wrong here. And so what really matters is that the president was repeatedly trying to get dirt on a political opponent," Klobuchar said.

While Biden was serving as vice president, his son Hunter was on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma despite having no substantial experience with Ukraine or in the energy industry.

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Warren endorsed the single-payer system long championed by Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), one of her chief rivals for the 2020 Democratic nomination. Unlike Sanders, who has acknowledged that taxes will go up to cover socialized medicine's $40 trillion price tag, Warren has steadfastly avoided saying a middle class tax hike would be necessary to pay for her plan. In debates, town halls, and even late night television interviews, the Massachusetts senator has instead insisted that "costs" will go down for everyone except large corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Liberal comedian Stephen Colbert pressed Warren on the issue during an otherwise friendly interview on Sept. 17, noting the matter had come up in multiple debates.

"You keep being asked in the debates how are you going to pay for it, are you going to raise the middle class taxes," Colbert said, before coyly adding, "How are you going to pay for it? Are you going to raise the middle class taxes?"

"So, here's how we're going to do this," Warren said. "Costs are going to go up for the wealthiest Americans, for big corporations … and hard-working middle class families are going to see their costs go down."

Colbert again asked Warren if middle class "taxes" would go up; she refused to directly answer. Colbert advised her to compare Medicare for All to public schools in her pitch to voters, saying they might find the added costs worth it.

"I accept your point, and I believe in your point," Warren said. "Health care is a basic human right. We fight for basic human rights, and that's Medicare for All. Everyone gets covered."

Colbert asked the same question of Sanders several weeks after the Warren interview. The socialist Vermont senator did not shy away from admitting a tax increase would be necessary for his plan, while emphasizing that overall costs, such as health insurance premiums and deductibles, would decrease. Sanders has also acknowledged the need for middle class tax hikes to pay for government medical care on the debate stage.

Warren avoided the question when ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos asked her about Medicare for All during the Sept. 12 debate.

"How do we pay for it?" Warren asked. "We pay for it, those at the very top, the richest individuals and the biggest corporations, are going to pay more. And middle class families are going to pay less. That's how this is going to work."

"Direct question," Stephanopoulos said. "You said middle class families are going to pay less. But will middle class taxes go up to pay for the program? I know you believe that the deductibles and the premiums will go down. Will middle class taxes go up? Will private insurance be eliminated?"

"Look, what families have to deal with is cost, total cost," Warren said. "That's what they have to deal with. And understand, families are paying for their health care today. Families pay every time an insurance company says, 'Sorry, you can't see that specialist.' Every time an insurance company says, 'Sorry, that doctor is out of network, sorry, we are not covering that prescription.'"

"And the answer is on Medicare for All, costs are going to go up for wealthier individuals and costs are going to go up for giant corporations," she added. "But for hard-working families across this country, costs are going to go down, and that's how it should work under Medicare for All in our health care system."

During the CNN debate on July 30, Warren told moderator Jake Tapper middle class families will "pay less out of pocket for their health care" when asked about taxes.

"Now, Senator Sanders has said that people in the middle class will pay more in taxes to help pay for Medicare for All, though that will be offset by the elimination of insurance premiums and other costs," Tapper said. "Are you also, quote, 'with Bernie' on Medicare for All when it comes to raising taxes on middle class Americans to pay for it?"

"So giant corporations and billionaires are going to pay more. Middle class families are going to pay less out of pocket for their health care," Warren said, going on to criticize the profit models of insurance companies.

Tapper gave her another chance to answer whether middle class taxes would go up, but she again referred to "costs" in her response.

"Costs will go up for billionaires and go up for corporations," she said. "For middle class families, costs—total costs—will go down."

Liberal MSNBC host Chris Matthews accused Warren of dodging Tapper's questions after the debate, but Warren protested at his language about taxes.

"It's how much of your costs because it's how much families end up spending," Warren said.

"Will you pay more in taxes?" Matthews asked. "Why don't you want to answer that question? It's not a Republican talking point. It's a question."

"It's a question about where people are going to come out economically," Warren said.

"That's not my question," Matthews said. "My question is, how much will taxes go up?"

"I spent most of my life studying families that went broke, and a huge chunk of them went broke because of high medical bills and many of them had health insurance," Warren said. "So the question is not do you have health insurance or not have health insurance. The question is how much are you going to have to dig in your pocket to pay."

Matthews repeatedly tried to get a direct answer, but Warren replied it was "costs" that mattered to people.

The Washington Post referred to the issue as the "question Elizabeth Warren won't answer," saying how she'll pay for this "massive expansion of government is still murky."

Her 2020 rivals have taken notice as well during Warren's September surge in the polls. South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg called Warren "extremely evasive" in an interview and challenged her to defend her stance in "straightforward terms." Former vice president Joe Biden said her health care plan would be expensive and she would "raise people's taxes doing it."

Warren will join 11 other Democratic candidates on stage for the fourth Democratic primary debate on Oct. 15.

The post Warren Repeatedly Dodges Whether She'll Raise Middle Class Taxes for Medicare for All appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

O'Rourke appeared on CNN's State of the Union, where he was critical of Trump's rhetoric and his behavior after the deadly mass shooting in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio last weekend.

"You said to me last week that you thought President Trump was a white nationalist. I just wonder, sir, President Trump won your home state of Texas by nine points," host Jake Tapper said. "Almost 63 million Americans voted for him. Do you think it is racist to vote for President Trump in 2020?"

There was a long pause from O'Rourke before he said, "I think it's really hard."

"I think it's really hard after everything that we've seen from his time as a candidate in 2016 to his repeated warnings of invasions to his repeated calls to send them back," O'Rourke said. "Sending back people who are U.S. citizens, sending back people who were born in this country."

"His description of white nationalists and klansmen and neo-Nazis as very fine people. His warnings of Muslims as  being somehow inherently defective and attempting to ban them from entry into this country, and his transgender troop ban and his attack on anyone who does not look like or pray like or love like a majority of the country," O'Rourke continued.

O'Rourke went on to say Trump is "dangerous to the future of America and will destroy what makes us so unique."

The former Congressman has repeatedly called Trump a white supremacist. Earlier this week, he told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace that Trump has made it "very clear" he is a white supremacist.

"He dehumanized those who do not look and pray like the majority of people here. He said I wish we had more immigrants from Nordic countries because those from Haiti bring AIDS, those from Africa are sh------ nations," O'Rourke said.

The post O'Rourke: It's 'Really Hard' to See People Voting for Trump If They Aren't Racist appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

For the second straight year, CNN will televise a gun event in the aftermath of gun violence in the United States. It comes less than week after a pair of unrelated shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, left 31 dead, and it relit a fierce debate over gun rights.

Hosted by liberal primetime host Chris Cuomo, Wednesday's event is entitled "America Under Assault: The Gun Crisis," and the topics discussed will be "gun violence in America; white nationalism and the rise in hate crimes; and whether or not the President and Congress will take any action to make America safer."

"I hope they learned from their last attempt and are doing this in the interest of good-faith discussion, but I’m not optimistic," Loesch told the Free Beacon. "After their last town hall on guns, where I was called a horrible mother and a murderer, the network allowed guests’ accusations against the character of law-abiding gun owners to continue unchallenged."

Loesch was one of the participants in an emotional event on CNN last February called "Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action," where she was repeatedly jeered by the crowd as she jockeyed with then-Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel (D.) and took blistering questions about gun rights.

She previously criticized the town hall as set up like a "WWE event," and she ripped CNN's producers for their handling of the sensitive matter. She said she needed a security detail to leave the arena.

CNN won the Walter Cronkite award for best "National Network News Program," receiving praise for how it helped "advance the national conversation on gun control and violence."

Moderated by Jake Tapper, it was held exactly one week after a gunman killed 17 at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Gun control advocates Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), Rep. Ted Deutch (D., Fla.) and Israel attended the event, as did gun rights supporters Loesch and Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.). President Donald Trump and then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R.) declined invitations to appear.

The event was highly charged from the outset, with parents and classmates of the victims asking pointed questions. One student, addressing Nelson, said she wanted to ask Loesch if "the blood of my classmates and my teachers" was "worth your blood money." Another student, Cameron Kasky, told Rubio he reminded him of the Parkland killer. Another, Emma Gonzalez, questioned Loesch's fitness as a mother.

Israel encouraged students to vote for candidates who supported gun control measures, and he clashed repeatedly with Loesch over her pro-gun stance. Loesch was heckled as a in various chants, and she was jeered when she told the story of a rape survivor who wished she had been armed. Rubio was repeatedly booed for his responses, including when he said he would continue to accept NRA donations and wouldn't support banning every semi-automatic rifle in the United States.

Nevertheless, Loesch said she didn't regret participating.

"I would not have skipped last year ... I will always go in good faith to where the discussion is and needs to be," she said. "We all value precious lives and if we value life as much as we say we do then we need to show it the respect it deserves and come from a position of love on this subject when discussing it with others. I hope CNN chooses to encourage this."

The aftermath of the event was instructive.

One day after Israel's triumphant speechifying at the town hall, he was answering questions about his deputy's failure to enter the building as the shooting was ongoing. That Sunday, Tapper grilled him about his department's numerous failures before and during the shooting. He expressed skepticism when Israel claimed he had provided "amazing" leadership for the county.

Two months later, Israel received a vote of "no confidence" from the deputy's union, and new Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R.) fired him shortly after taking office in January.

Kasky, the student who likened Rubio to his school's attacker, later left the March For Our Lives movement and expressed regret over his questioning, saying he was only trying to "embarrass" Rubio.

Nelson is out of the U.S. Senate, ousted by Scott in a tight race last November. Student activist David Hogg said last year of Scott's hopes of winning the U.S. Senate: "We're not going to let that f—ing happen."

Loesch has had her share of run-ins with CNN. She expressed frustration with host Alisyn Camerota last year after the latter allowed Hogg to call the NRA "child murderers" unchallenged. Camerota denied it, but Loesch's charge was correct.

She also drew criticism last year for saying many legacy media members "love mass shootings" because of the ratings they generate.

Rubio didn't return a request for comment, and Tapper declined to go on the record.

The post Loesch: I Hope CNN Learned From Last Year's Gun Town Hall But I'm Not Optimistic appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.