Frontpage videos

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calf.) hammered Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he appeared in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday over questions about President Donald Trump's fitness for office. Rubio's reactions led Lieu to claim he was lying under oath.

Lieu showed the footage of the December Cabinet meeting in which Trump appeared to doze off next to Rubio.

"Oh my God," Rubio could be heard saying.

Lieu asked whether Rubio had "been at more than one meeting where President Trump was asleep."

"That's false," Rubio said. "That's false. I've never seen him fall asleep. On the contrary, the guy doesn't sleep, which is a big problem because he calls me at two in the morning. He calls me at five in the morning. And, you know, I like to sleep a little bit. You know, not 12 hours, but at least six."

Trump's insomnia was addressed by CNN medical expert Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Reiner said that chronic insomnia can be “a severe illness," in large part because it can add "about 3-1/2 years to one’s age and [contribute] to a decline in mental functions."

"Secretary Rubio, I'm going to show you in a moment that you just lied to Congress," Lieu cut in.

"Oh, ok," Rubio said.

"This is a Cabinet meeting from last month where Donald Trump is sleeping while you are talking. Please show this video," Lieu said. "You are literally talking about issues of war and peace, and Donald Trump is sleeping right next to you."

Rubio denied it again.

Trump's disappearance from public view is raising questions, as he hasn't held any events or press conferences in about a week. Trump did speak to the New York Post on Tuesday in a interview that revealed a new medical malady.

"If Donald Trump cannot stay awake at these important meetings where the cameras are rolling, can you imagine what he is like when the cameras are not there? Have you been at classified meanings were Donald Trump has fallen asleep?" the congressman asked.

Rubio replied again that he'd never been in any meeting in which Trump fell asleep.

"So, you are lying again? Lying consistently to Congress," Lieu responded.

He went on to say that Trump's drowsiness "caused other countries to perceive him differently." He claimed that Trump is mocked as "weak and feeble."

Lieu then showed a clip from the French News in which Trump appears to fall asleep at a Memorial Day ceremony last month. His eyes appeared to be closed for a large portion of the ceremony.

"There's something wrong with his cognitive acts, and the fact that on a number of occasions Donald Trump will contradict himself and literally — in literally the same meeting or interview," Lieu continued. He showed another clip in which Trump "says the Iranian military is both destroyed and not destroyed at the same time."

Lieu closed by praising Rubio, saying that he's done a lot to travel around the world and trying to clean up the "mess that was left to you."

President Donald Trump, who had not been seen in public for a week, appeared on a podcast with a new malady: an apparently swollen right eye — along with a recurring swollen hand.

“Trump’s right eye clearly showed puffiness and looked oddly misshapen compared to his left eye, while his right hand looked much bigger than his left,” The New Republic reported, noting the president “continues to dodge questions about his health.”

The interview with Pod Force One was taped on Tuesday, a week after Trump’s third medical checkup in 13 months, and the fourth of his second term. He told Miranda Devine, “I do physicals, because I just want, I think I have an obligation to do it, but I just came out with very, very good results, and I took a test, a cognitive test, and I got 100 percent on it. I got, as the expression goes, I aced it.”

He went on to say he has a “great memory.”

Trump, who’s quickly approaching his 80th birthday, is facing heightened scrutiny over the state of his health. The White House took several days to release doctor’s notes from his physical last week, adding to questions about his overall health.

The New Republic noted that “it’s very difficult to dispute what people can see with their own eyes, and the president’s outward physical appearance coupled with his tendency to fall asleep on camera don’t inspire confidence in his health.”

On Sunday, Axios reported that the White House physician’s health readout left “key blanks unfilled.”

The “memo from White House physician Sean Barbabella didn’t put to rest persistent questions about apparent bruising on Trump’s hands, swollen ankles and his alertness during some public events.” It “again attributed the bruising of his hands to frequent handshaking and aspirin therapy and noted ‘slight lower leg swelling’ it characterized as improved from last year.”

Bob Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told Axios, “I think it’s quite unusual for someone … who doesn’t have chronic problems that require more frequent monitoring to come in more often than every year.”

An ex-Marine fighter pilot tore into President Donald Trump's Pentagon during a Wednesday appearance on CNN, taking the agency to task over damning new reports about promotions being blocked for women and minority officers.

Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had, potentially in defiance of military rules, intervened to block nine officers from being added to a list for promotions, half of whom were either women or people of color. This revelation came amidst a growing trend of Hegseth firing, demoting or otherwise disrespecting military officers who are not white men, or those who had previously participated in pro-diversity activities.

During Wednesday's edition of The Situation Room on CNN, co-host Pamela Brown discussed the reports with Amy McGrath, who previously served as a fighter pilot for the Marine Corps and retired after 20 years of service, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. She has also become a frequent Democratic candidate for Congress from Kentucky, running unsuccessful bids for the House in 2018 and, most notably, to unseat Mitch McConnell in the Senate in 2020. She also sought the 2026 Democratic nomination for McConnell's seat, but lost in the primary to former state representative Charles Booker.

In the interview, McGrath explained how the candidates put forward for this promotion list are already the "best of the best," having "spent their entire careers in doing very hard jobs, very high performance," and added that they face the "toughest scrutiny of performance records of any profession that I know" in order to get there.

"Takes months of review, and these boards, they make sure you've done the tough jobs," McGrath said. "They make sure you've done them very well. All of these officers have done this, or they wouldn't have gotten to this point. And for the names to be pulled by Secretary Hegseth, clearly, because of race and gender, is outrageous, and it's beneath what America stands for. And unfortunately, there's not much that folks in the military can do about it."

McGrath further touched on the broader campaign by Hegseth to purge the military of what Brown called "so-called wokeness."

"Pete Hegseth and his team are trolling the military records and social media accounts of officers, and they're punishing anyone who has ever served on a diversity task force, potentially in the past, or have said anything having to do with championing diversity in the past," she explained. "They're punishing anyone who was involved in the withdrawal of Afghanistan."

She continued later: "And this sends just a chilling message to everyone in the Pentagon and everyone within DOD. They're walking around, people are walking around scared right now... trying not to get fired. And that's, you know, a problem. It's ultimately a problem for our national security writ large."

McGrath also called it "absolutely wrong and outrageous" for officers to be punished for things in the past that they had no choice but to do once given orders, likening it to the purge of the Justice Department of any employees who were assigned to the classified documents case involving President Donald Trump and his Mar-a-Lago residence.

When right-wing SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly made an early June appearance on Shawn Ryan's vodcast, Ryan — a fellow conservative and former U.S. Navy SEAL — expressed major disappointment with the Trump administration. And Ryan is getting some angry responses from MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump loyalists on social media.

Ryan and Kelly, a former Fox News host, covered a lot of ground during their conversation, from the war in Iran to future of the MAGA movement to the recent resignation of National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.

Ryan told Kelly, "I just don't see any positivity coming out of this administration. It seems very self-serving. He had Todd Blanche do the dirty work so him or anybody in his family could never be audited by the IRS? What the f–– is that s––? The drone company, the $400M jet from Qatar, the Executives Club. Does this s–– look like he's serving the f–– people? No."

It didn't take Trump supporters on X, formerly Twitter, long to erupt in fury over Ryan's comments.

Blogger Sasha Stone tweeted, "Shawn Ryan saying MAGA's core is p–– and the Israel lobby is so beyond disgusting I can't even process it and Megyn not correcting him or pushing back in any way is shameful. She knows better."

The Real Daniel, defending Trump, posted, "Shawn Ryan went in on Trump during his Megyn Kelly podcast episode. He made some big claims…. Bottom line: These are legal settlements, private investments, an official foreign gift to the Pentagon, and a new private club. Shawn framed them all as 'corruption.' The facts show normal (if high-profile) business and government stuff that gets attacked harder when it's the Trumps. Context matters more than the headline spin."

MAGA Republican Gray accused Ryan and Kelly of becoming "woke."

Gray tweeted, "Keep talking s–– about MAGA and Trump, meanwhile you and your Woke Reich influencers continue to get the candidates you support obliterated in the midterms and everything you say ends up being the opposite. We (MAGA) will continue to rack up wins while you lose followers and watch your social media relevance disappear into the abyss… Shawn Ryan, brother, you sold out to be a millionaire instead of a patriot. Super disappointed in you."

Another MAGA Republican, Gina Milan, posted, "Shawn Ryan is a f–– pathetic tool. He brainlessly vomits left-wing propaganda like a trained parrot, and it's f–– disgusting to watch. If he really believed Kamala Harris was the better choice, he should've manned up and voted for her instead of this spineless, backstabbing flip-flopping. What a little f–– b––."

The equally MAGA Regina Connell wrote, "Shawn Ryan goes FULL EMO, BLACKPILLS his audience."

CNN co-host Sara Sidner was bewildered on Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced Bill Pulte would take on the role of Director of National Intelligence while also serving in his current role as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Trump announced on Truth Social that Pulte would take over after Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation.

Pulte is known for helping Trump find a way to target New York Attorney General Letitia James, a March report revealed. He sifted through James' mortgage application, searching for errors. He then claimed she "committed insurance fraud" and bank fraud when she listed two residences as her primary residence. The charges were ultimately dismissed without prejudice.

He targeted a member of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve, Lisa Cook, using the same tactic.

Gabbard had been using her office to question the 2020 election and "examine" voting machines in Puerto Rico.

Trump argued that because Pulte is an expert at "the safety and soundness of the Markets," he is perfect for the top national security official in the country. He will oversee all of the intelligence community in government, including the FBI, CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA). The post also advises the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security on intelligence matters.

Still, Trump said Pulte would do the job and "remain" in his current jobs, including as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Pulte's responsibilities will be key given that the U.S. is at war with Iran.

"I just want to confirm that he's going to take this director of national intelligence job and do the other jobs that are full-time work as well. Did I hear you right?" asked Sidner.

"That is what the president said. We have to see, though, how this is going to work," said White House correspondent Alayna Treene.

- YouTube youtu.be

There are two different anniversary-related events happening in the U.S. this year: "America 250" and "Freedom 250." One was organized by a bipartisan group to celebrate the birth of the nation. The latter was organized by President Donald Trump and was the subject of a Monday CNN panel mocking the president's failure to attract participants.

After Trump announced the supposed musical lineup for his event, multiple artists dropped out. Trump then claimed on Truth Social that he'd simply do the concert himself and turn it into a huge political MAGA rally.

"I like that even our unifying events are divided," laughed CNN host Audi Cornish. "Am I the only person who's like, this is ridiculous?"

"It's completely ridiculous, but you're also seeing a bifurcation in terms of what 'Freedom 250' is going to put their stake in the ground versus the other group," agreed Sara Fischer, senior media reporter for Axios. "Notably, this UFC match seems to be very much sort of like a Trumpian 'Freedom 250' thing versus something that's a little bit broader. And I think that the UFC match was a turning point. As soon as people saw this big stadium, [they] could see it right here being built. It suddenly sent a big signal A: that this is coming up really soon. B: That this is very Trump-coded because it's happening on his birthday and on Flag Day."

Becca Wasser, a former national defense staffer for Congress, agreed, saying that Trump's big birthday parade was very clearly about him and had very little to do with celebrating the U.S. Army's birthday.

"So, there is this politicization of essentially American history, but also a continued politicization of U.S. forces with a lot of these events. And we might see that with the UFC event, where President Trump is reportedly allowing troops to come in and get tickets for free, and trying to also use this as a military recruitment, right?" said Wasser.

"If they fit the physical standard that he has set forth to qualify for these tickets," explained V. Spehar, who created "Under the Desk News" on social media.

"So you have to be hot and buff just to watch it?" a confused Cornish asked.

"Yes. And in your short-sleeve uniform, you have the proper waist height ratio. This is all published," Spehar replied.

As for the concert, the only people still performing are Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida.

"He doesn't speak in a bipartisan way," Spehar said. "So, of course, if you're going to come and watch President Trump speak, he's going to talk only to his MAGA base as if he's on the campaign trail. He never made that flip that presidents often make to, say, 'Okay, campaigning is over. I'm now the president for everyone.' The thing I'm missing right now, because I would love to go to an America 250 event. I love, all of that pomp and circumstance when we did the 200th in the 70s, man, did they have cool stuff going on,"

Cornish noted that if one looks at the 200th event from the 1970s, none of the materials singled out a specific president, only the founding fathers, etc. That isn't happening this time around. It's Trump trying to put his face on everything he can.

CNN media analyst Sara Fischer added that the way that corporate America is participating is also very different. In the 1970s, corporate America wasn't pressured to support it. Now, corporations are being pressured to speak out and not only about politics but about U.S. history.

Political analyst Ron Brownstein delivered a painful history lesson to Republican strategist Brad Todd on CNN’s “Arena with Kasie Hunt.”

Brownstein unleashed his bad news after Todd summarized how Democrats and Republican will go about trying to win elections this year in the lead up to the November mid-terms.

“The candidates who are running on the Democrat side hope to have an election about Donald Trump and the candidates who are running on the Republican side — if they're smart — will want a candidate who’s focused on where the voters are and where their lives are and how they can get better,” said Todd. “Focused campaigns that win [look through] the windshield and the campaigns that lose [look through] in the rear-view mirror.”

Todd added that on President Donald Trump's best day, “he's defending people who are forgotten. He's defending blue collar voters, people who that have been missed over by the elites on both coasts. On his worst days, he's focused on Donald Trump.”

But Brownstein pointed out that Trump is a whirlpool dragging down the most windshield facing Republicans on the campaign trail.

“What's the core Democratic argument for 2026? You elected Donald Trump to solve your cost-of-living problem,” said Brownstein, “but all he's done is make it worse with his tariffs, the gas prices and the war, the cuts in federal health care assistance, while he's focused on enriching himself and his family and rewarding his allies. And every day, from tearing down the East wing to the slush fund, to putting his name on money, to putting his name on buildings, he gives Democrats bullet points on that.”

And then Brownstein, a long-term veteran of politics and elections, unveiled his history lesson.

“And what if you're looking at the windshield or the rearview window? The fact remains that in Trump's first term in 2018 and 2020, every Republican Senate incumbent or challenger in a state where his approval was net negative in the exit poll lost — except for Susan Collins (R-Maine) in 2020. She was the only one who was able to swim past that undertow,” said Brownstein. “So, [Trump’s] standing mattered. No matter how hard you swim away, it matters if he continues to do things that diminish his standing with the public, because it's hard for Republicans to escape that kind of whirlpool.”

- YouTube youtu.be

CNN anchor Jake Tapper could not abide U.S. Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) looking past President Donald Trump’s duplicity fueling his controversial $1.8M slush fund.

What set Tapper off wre the examples of government’s “weaponization” that Flood used to defend the existence of the unpopular fund.

“Donald Trump has been under assault from actors in the federal government for a long time. But so have pro-lifers. So has Turning Point USA. So have school board members that were questioning our school board — people who cared about what the school board was doing. Parents, they were under assault in this lawfare world under Joe Biden,” said Flood.

But Tapper called out Trump’s own politicized DOJ targeting his perceived enemies with bogus investigations and indictments — many of which were too flimsy and contrived to survive a grand jury summary.

Tapper warned that “there are probably people that would disagree with you” on whether or not it was “inappropriate lawfare” on some of his examples, before going on the attack.

“What about President Trump telling Attorney General [Pam] Bondi to go after [Sen.] Adam Schiff and [state prosecutor] Letitia James and [former FBI head] James Comey?” demanded Tapper. “What about the investigation into Cassidy Hutchinson? What about the investigation into E. Jean Carroll, allegedly for perjury?”

“Do you not see that other people can look at what's going on right now and say, 'that's also lawfare, except it's against the president's critics?'” Tapper added.

But Flood refused to acknowledge the hypocrisy.

“Well, in those situations that you just talked about, it takes a grand jury in the federal system, probable cause before they indict. Same thing with Trump. As we have seen several times throughout this current president's term, his second term they have attempted to get grand jury indictments and grand juries have said ‘no.’”

Flood also insisted that Comey “was a government actor” with “government resources” and “arguably did things that were out of bounds.” He then defended Trump’s DOJ investigating Trump’s sexual assault victim Carroll, claiming it “was proven in some sense that she, in fact, did have her efforts underwritten by a donor,” which he claimed qualifies “as perjury.”

But Flood refused to acknowledge Trump’s own misbehavior in abusing DOJ resources to target his people on his political hit list, as other critics have claimed, saying only “if it's happening under President Trump, then those individuals should receive compensation from a fund like this.”

- YouTube youtu.be

Austin, Texas, single mom August Tapia says she’s had it with President Donald Trump’s economy.

“It's a little daunting. I'm not gonna lie,” Tapia told MS NOW reporters. “Even though I have the support of family … the prices are just through the roof. I'm on a very fixed income. I'm only bringing in $400 a month.”

Tapia said she worries about not being able to afford groceries, and not being able to give her daughter “three meals a day.”

And she said the impact of Trump’s policies on gas prices are swooping in to take what little she has to give every time she fills her tanks.

“I went from filling up my tank for $50 to $85 this last Monday. That $35 is, you know, extra money if I need,” said Tapia, adding that she could have used that blown money to but “socks for my daughter, clothes for my daughter, extracurricular activities.”

“If I wanted to take her to the splash pad or if I wanted to take her on an ice rink — I mean, those $30 are pivotal,” she added, pointing out that she bought “nine items today” (water, ground beef, potatoes, bread, strawberries, two lemons, a juice and milk) costing $49.16.

Every shopping trip, no matter what, she said is not between $50 to $150.

“Unfortunately, women in my position are feeling the brunt of it,” Tapia said.

When asked if American were “going to feel a reprieve” from Trump-era inflation anytime soon, Catherine Rampell replied “it is highly, highly unlikely.”

“If anything, there are a number of forces conspiring to probably make grocery prices, food prices in general higher throughout the year. That's because of the Iran war, which has driven up fertilizer costs, diesel costs, other inputs that go into producing food. We haven't seen the full effect of those yet,” Rampell said. “… But in addition to all of that, you also have the early effects of the so-called one Big, Beautiful Bill that passed last year, which to date has kicked at least 700 000 children off of food stamps, just across the 12 states that have reported data thus far.”

Rampell added that the nation now has “fewer manufacturing jobs today than we did when Donald Trump took office, and that's partly because of his own actions” by tariffing materials that U.S. manufacturers need to manufacture their own products, including steel, aluminum, lumber, as well as chemical and industrial inputs. This has driven many U.S. employers to either go under or lay off workers or pause production.

“That alone, is quite problematic,” said Rampell. “It's very difficult for this president to deliver on many of the promises that he made when running for office, given that his economic agenda undercuts pretty much all of them.”

- YouTube youtu.be

Audio has emerged showing how police officials reacted to an alarming call about gunshot noises supposedly heard at the home of a prominent Supreme Court justice, which later ended up being revealed as an attempt at "swatting."

On Thursday, Andrew Leyden, a freelance photographer based in Washington D.C., revealed in a post to X that conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's home had been visited by local police after they received a call alleging that gunshots had been heard there. It was later determined that this was an attempt to get a SWAT or other emergency response team called to the home.

Leyden also shared an audio clip in which a police dispatcher and officer can be heard handling the call, redacted slightly to hide certain sensitive details.

"Police responded to a call for the sound of gunshots at the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett last night, but quickly realized it was a swatting call and cleared after meeting with her security detail," Leyden wrote in his post.

"Attention all units responding to the suspicious noise at [redacted]," the dispatcher can be heard saying. "There is an LOI [location of interest] for this address that has 24-hour security coverage for a high-priority resident of the county. Units responding to suspicious noise, be advised, we have not been able to get an answer on callback to the complainant's phone number. Unknown if it's going to be a swatting situation..."

Later, an officer responds after arriving at Barrett's home.

"Just made contact with security that's on scene," the officer said. "They should be outside in an Explorer. He said he hasn't heard anything. We're just going to meet up with him first, just to go over anything."

Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump in the waning days of his first term, following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In the years since, she has generated controversy after taking part in numerous conservative majority opinions, including ones that ended Roe v. Wade abortion laws and another that struck down affirmative action. She has also, however, run afoul of Trump's staunch MAGA followers over a handful of instances where she broke with the rest of her conservative colleagues.

In March of 2025, reports emerged that Barrett's sister, Amanda Coney Williams, had received a bomb threat, claiming that an explosive device had been left in her mailbox. A bomb squad later determined that there was, in fact, no bomb.

Former White House press secretary Alyssa Farah Griffin cannot figure out why President Donald Trump would want to spend the 2026 midterm elections rehashing some of the worst scandals of his career.

CNN reported Wednesday that the Justice Department is now targeting E. Jean Carroll, who won a civil suit against Trump for defamation when he attacked her multiple times publicly over her allegations of sexual assault. Two juries ultimately agreed that she was sexually abused and that Trump was held liable for defaming Carroll was awarded a combined total of $88 million. Now Trump's DOJ is accusing her of committing perjury when she was asked whether she got any outside funding for her legal fees. Later, her lawyer said that they had received funding. It's unclear if Carroll knew that at the time, however.

Griffin told CNN host John Berman she can't understand why the Trump administration would want to rehash some of the biggest scandals throughout his history six months before an election.

"I will never understand why this administration wants to put some of the worst associations of the president back in the headlines," Griffin said. "Most of us have kind of forgotten about the E. Jean Carroll suit, the allegations, what he was ultimately found liable for, and now he puts it front and center. It's very similar to the January 6th cases. DOJ wants to keep rehashing them."

Meanwhile, she added, Republicans attack Democrats, saying they keep talking about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"No, this president keeps talking about the election lies [and] January 6th. So from purely a standpoint of wanting to focus on his domestic agenda and move forward, this makes zero sense," she said.

Berman said it was related to his follow-up question: What is Trump and the administration getting out of bringing all of these issues up again?

"Absolutely nothing," she said frankly. "It's not a headline that they want. And we've seen a number of these cases go forward. James Comey and others, where they overreach. DOJ was not able to get the outcome that they wanted. And I suspect this will be a similar case. I'm not from a legal perspective, but based on what we know, this should be the last thing Donald Trump wants to talk about in the twilight of his presidency. He should be focusing on the economy, gas prices, the war in Iran, not relitigating this."

Berman went on to ask her if those in Trump world are afraid that once Democrats take over, there will be investigations into the weaponization of government, and anyone who worked for Trump will become part of that. Griffin explained that it isn't fear; they've accepted it.

"I think folks knew to lawyer up and be ready, because this is a president who was very clear that he was going to be doing a bit of a revenge tour," Griffin said.

Trump should "focus on actually delivering for the American people," instead, she closed.

A former Republican congressman has a message for Democrats: They can turn President Donald Trump’s weaponization of the Justice Department against him.

“Here’s the thing,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) posted on X on Wednesday. “Trump and his people sue everyone all the time. If I was president I’d have a group at DOJ start going through their depositions.”

Kizinger added, “If republicans are ok with this, then they must recognize the standard they set.”

The former GOP lawmaker was replying to a post by The Daily Beast’s Julia Davis, who wrote that “the Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.”

Trump is investigating Carroll for supposedly perjuring herself when she sued the president, although experts are skeptical that the case has any merit. Between his two presidential terms, a jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll when he was still best known as a real estate mogul and she was a famous writer. Trump has repeatedly denied the accusations, but Carroll presented enough evidence that a jury found in civil court it was more likely than not that Trump did indeed sexually assault her. She was awarded more than $88 million over two separate trials.

A former Air Force officer, Kinzinger has been a staunch critique of Trump despite his self-professed conservative opinions. Earlier this month, he appeared on CNN to blast the president’s foreign policy and behavior toward the military

“I can never remember a secretary of defense doing any campaigning for anybody whatsoever. Aren’t we at war? I thought we were at war,” Kinzinger told CNN. He later added that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has sent the message to the military that “he’s not serious… I’ve heard from more of my friends negative things about Pete Hegseth than I’ve heard about any other defense secretary. It didn’t start out that way. Initially, there were some things they were doing that they liked — reduction in some of the ancillary training that each military member had to do — but it’s turned into a show. It’s turned into an act.”

Kinzinger added that many in the military are angry at Trump’s lack of transparency and war against Iran.

“Many of them are engaged in the war in Iran in some way or another, and they knew the truth,” Kinzinger said. “Some of the missiles were getting through the defenses, and Hegseth would go out there and say everything’s fantastic and perfect and we won. So I think there’s been real damage to the trust the military has of Pete Hegseth.”

He has also warned that Trump is hurting the Republican Party through what he describes as humiliation rituals.

“He asked them to accept that his 91 criminal indictments were a political witch hunt — and they did, turning his mugshot into a fundraising image,” Kinzinger wrote. “Each ask was larger than the last. Each capitulation required more of them — more willingness to contradict their own eyes, their own values, their own stated beliefs.”

He added, “Every time MAGA accepts something they previously would have considered unacceptable, Trump’s hold on them gets stronger, not weaker. Because now they’ve paid a price. They’ve told their neighbors, their families, their coworkers, that they believe this. Walking it back would mean admitting they were wrong. And the movement doesn’t allow that.”

President Donald Trump’s politicized Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who successfully accused Trump of sexual assault, but former Fox Host Gretchen Carlson said she was still waiting for the DOJ to do real work.

The DOJ’s investigation is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to her two civil lawsuits against the president – one alleging he sexually abused her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and a second for defaming her when in 2019 he repeatedly denied the assault after he was convicted by a jury of his peers.

Hearst Senior Data Analyst Editor and Columnist Phillip Bump called the probe “dubious” on a CNN panel, and suspected it would be quickly thrown out for “vindictive prosecution” if pursued.

“We treat this like it's a real case because it's the Department of Justice. …. But there's no reason for us to assume the justice department is acting in good faith. And that's an entirely new category of existence in the United States,” said Bump.

But Carlson could not seem to contain her anger at this investigation, which was one of several the DOJ has launched against Trump’s perceived enemies.

“As a nation, I think that every American should be just really p—— off tonight, because what the hell is the department of justice doing?” Carlson demanded. “What are they actually doing for the citizens of the United States of America? We are wasting time on cases that, according to legal experts, are not credible, all to fulfill the mission of one man called the president of the United States, who's on a retribution tour,” said Carlson.

“I'm sorry. I'm angry about this,” Carlson continued. “I'm angry about this. Not really about the sexual nature of the alleged crime. But as an American, like, what are we doing? What are our tax dollars paying for with this department of justice? Are there a plethora of other cases out there that they should be looking into?”

The probe is the latest attempt in the department’s efforts to target Trump’s long-standing personal foes. The DOJ is allegedly investigating ex-CIA director John Brennan over his role in a 2017 intelligence assessment concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election to help Donald Trump. And the DOJ has launched indictments against former FBI head James Comey, a vocal Trump critic.

- YouTube youtu.be

U.S. Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) got testy at CNN anchor Brianna Keilar after repeated questions about the House Republican’s support of President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion shush fund for so-called “weaponization,” which includes the prosecution of people involved in the Jan. 6 attempted disruption of democracy.

Keilar first warmed up Flood with a clip of Flood getting berated by constituents at a recent town hall meeting wherein audience members demanded Flood and Republicans “tax the rich” to pay for Trump’s unpopular policies, including Trump’s war in Iran, the White House ballroom, immigration enforcement, the Trump arch and the “slush fund for crooks,” according to one audience member.

“We pay for it by making — by making decisions …” Flood began to answer before he was inundated by catcalls from the audience to “tax the rich!”

“So, your solution is to tax the rich?” Flood demanded of the audience amid the rancor.

His question was answered by being buried beneath a sea of cheers.

It was then that Keilar brought on Flood to answer for Trump’s woefully unpopular slush fund.

Flood offered no replies on how to oppose the fund, or even to oppose it, saying the fund should be used to pay cash to anti-abortion protestors who locked answers with the law, among other victims. He only insisted that he made “very clear” that he didn't think money from this fund should be given to people who assaulted police.

Keilar pointed out that acting attorney general, Todd Blanche picks four of the fund commissioners, and the president can fire them at any time. But Flood again offered no response, which prompted Keilar to point out that Senate Republicans all but revolted against the fund by abandoning the Capitol.

“Should House Republicans be approaching this the same way?”

“I don’t know why they left last week,” Flood said, before again defending the fund’s use by alleged government victims. “… but we've moved on. We've moved on. This fund exists. There will be Congressional oversight. What it will look like, I can't predict right now.”

And when Keilar pointed out that Trump’s IRS settlement bars the IRS from ever auditing the president and his family, Flood first played ignorant, but then exploded in protest.

“I have not read the settlement agreement. I intend to read the settlement agreement. I'm sure every American that is interested can look at it. You're not a tax attorney. I'm not a tax attorney. I don't know what the standard practice is in these situations. We might be talking about boilerplate language that is used in a common settlement. We don't know. I'm talking about—you’re asking me questions about a legal document that I have not reviewed.”

“It's not, it's not boilerplate language,” insisted Keilar. “It's not boilerplate language. But I understand that you are not in a position to speak about it.”

- YouTube youtu.be

President Donald Trump, who turns 80 in three weeks, posted a seemingly-private message on his public Truth Social media account — and in the process continued the ongoing conversation about his mental fitness.

“Mike: Thank you for your nice words on Fox,” Trump posted on Truth Social at 7:30 AM on Monday, seemingly in reference to Speaker Mike Johnson’s recent appearance on Fox News. “We are on the same path. Keep up the great work. Good luck on the Show! President DJT."

This is not the first time Trump has apparently shared a private message on his public account. On Sept. 20, Trump publicly posted a private-seeming note to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in which he urged her to prosecute his perceived enemies like former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action,” Trump wrote at the time. “Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’”

Regarding his most recent post, The Mirror chronicled several users who argued the posts are further evidence of Trump suffering an apparent cognitive decline.

“ Sh–- like this is why he gets 3 checkups in 13 months,” one X user wrote.

A different user added, “Time to ace another cognitive exam.”

“How do I open a PDF File???” another joked. “President DJT.”

In Facebook comments under The Independent’s post about Trump’s comments, a user named Edmond Dowling posted “And he has the codes folks!! 😄😄,” a seeming reference to Trump controlling America’s access to nuclear weapons.

“Soooo, the ceasefire is over in .0005 seconds already?” a user named Gustave Bizimana added. He was joined by a user named Pilar Cuesta, who quipped “Do the Iranian Ships have the Epstein Files on them?”

Speaking with AlterNet earlier this month, Dr. Henry Abraham — an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Tufts University who led a group of 36 top physicians and mental health experts that issued a public statement to Congress warning about Trump’s mental state — explained how Trump appears to exhibit symptoms consistent with cognitive decline.

Citing his recent Substack post which described that “this is not an academic exercise” because “the president’s condition appears to be deteriorating,” Abraham told AlterNet that “there has been a frightening progression of symptoms. These include grandiosity without moral safeguards, paranoia, impulsivity, vindictiveness, easy misperception of being harmed, moments of omnipotence, uncontrolled rage, and sole control over the use of nuclear weapons in a time of war.”

He concluded, “As a psychiatrist reviewing these, I can only say Yikes!”

President Donald Trump was reelected in 2024 in no small part to the support he received from so-called “manosphere” influencers like podcaster Theo Von — and now those same influencers are being put in the hot seat.

“So I have a conversation with two different types of MAGA people,” journalist Van Lathan told conservative commentator Tim Miller during a talk that was posted on The Bulwark on Monday. “One is the people that are in that 35 percent. They gotta get f——. I'm sorry. Okay. I'm with you. But I'll tell you something that happened at Equinox, the gym up here.”

Lathan proceeded to talk about how he ran into Theo Von at the gym and the two began talking about their shared Louisiana roots. Then Lathan found himself feeling like a “bitch ass n——” who was “cucking out” because he refused to tell Theo Von what he really thought of him. Von, despite claiming to be “politically homeless” and non-partisan, threw his support behind Trump in the 2024 election and attended his subsequent inauguration. He is also an integral part of the pro-Trump podcasters ecosystem that includes figures like Joe Rogan, Andrew Schulz and Tony Hinchcliffe.

“I pulled Theo to the side and I'm like, ‘Hey man, I was really, and have been really, disappointed in you and some of the stuff that you've done with your podcast. I've been pissed off at you. We've been taking some shots at you,’” Lathan told Miller. He then impersonated an uncomfortable Theo Von who reportedly responded by saying, “Man, I really didn't know he was gonna be like that." At that point, Lathan said that he wanted to “snip his nuts,” but thought instead to “push on that a little bit.”

“What do you mean?” Lathan said, describing the conversations that anti-Trump Americans can have with pro-Trump Americans like Theo Von. “Talk to him for a little bit, and he starts telling me stuff. And it's clear that that is somebody who you could probably move, right? You could probably get somebody like that, with that type of platform, with that type of reach, to come over. And if you can do it to that person, then you have to do it.”

He added, “My job is to tell Theo, ‘I'm gonna f—— over you every chance I get.’” Yet he urged conservatives like Miller to try to reach out to anti-Trumpers whenever possible, characterizing the effort to change minds beyond his hard-core base as being painstaking but still worthwhile.

Theo Von has attempted to put some distance between himself and the Trump administration. He has criticized the Iran war and Trump’s alliance with Israel, called out the administration’s cover up of the president’s friendship and alleged shared pedophilic predilections with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and even demanded that the White House not use him to promote its anti-immigrant policies.

In September, when Trump’s White House used a clip of Theo Von to push its agenda to deport immigrants, the podcaster replied that "didn’t approve to be used in [the video].”

"I know you know my address so send a check,” Von wrote. “And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos."

He added, "When it comes to immigration my thoughts and heart are a lot more nuanced than this video allows. Bye!"

Conservative commentator Dave Rubin, who for months has been a top booster of President Donald Trump’s illegal war with Iran, was inundated with mockery on Sunday after a viral video exposed months’ worth of his failed predictions about the conflict.

The video, which was posted on social media Saturday, begins with Rubin telling viewers to not listen to any of the prognostications being made by critics of the war, which Trump launched in late February without any authorization from Congress.

“I’m pretty good with predictions,” Rubin says. “And my prediction here is that everything the media is now going to say about Iran—it’s going to close the Strait of Hormuz, and energy prices are going to go crazy—none of this is going to come to pass.”

The video then cuts to Rubin wrongly predicting that gas prices during the conflict “will continue to come down,” before switching to claims that Iran lacks the military capability to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed in the face of US military power.

“If the United States wants to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, which it does,” says Rubin, “and Donald Trump says we’ll escort ships through if we have to, it’s going to stay open.”

From there, the video shows Rubin hyping of the prospect of Iranian dissident Reza Pahlavi swooping in to take over the country after the war, and then getting fooled by a fake artificial intelligence-generated video of Iranians giving thanks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bombing their country.

The video compilation of Rubin’s failed predictions drew immediate ridicule from critics.

“He’s the Jim Cramer of Iran war predictions,” joked Krystal Ball.

Commentator Adam Mockler wrote of Rubin that “it’s brutal watching him make failed predictions week after week.”

Journalist Glenn Greenwald argued that the video should be the last nail in the coffin of whatever credibility Rubin had left.

“Imagine having sat through and listened to all of this Israeli propaganda, which turned out to be (predictably and completely) false,” commented Greenwald, “and then thinking there was some value in continuing to listen to this person.”

The Bulwark’s Tim Miller said that while he knew Rubin was “a smooth-brained hack,” he still “couldn’t even fathom how bad these war takes would be.”

Political analyst Omar Baddar, meanwhile, said the video should erase any doubt that Rubin is “the dumbest man on the internet.”

“Are we going to pretend dude isn’t wearing a mask?”

Retired US Navy Vice Admiral Robert Harward appeared on the Fox News show “America’s Newsroom” with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino earlier this week to defend US President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, but clips of the interview have now gone viral—sparking wild conspiracy theories and people desperate for an explanation—as it looks like Harward was wearing a high-quality silicon or latex mask the entire time.

One really has to see it to believe it, especially in an age of deep fakes and other online misinformation. However, as people pulled recordings from their own devices and verified that the circulating clip of the broadcast had not been doctored, the questions only deepened.

“What in the Jim Carey have I just been looking at?” asked one social media user in response to a clip highlighting the appearance of what looks like the seam of a mask at Harward’s neckline.

Harward is a regular guest on Fox News and other right-wing media outlets, using his status as a former Navy SEAL to add credibility to his hawkish views on foreign policy.

Here is the full 10-minute and unedited segment that includes Harward as it was posted to YouTube by Fox News:

With so many images and previous clips of him available, online sleuths were providing side-by-side comparisons to make the case for the mask theory—even as they poked fun at the absurdity of the situation.

Meanwhile, skeptics like Adam Keiper, editor of The Bulwark, insisted that what appeared to be a mask was actually just an optical illusion caused by the particular lighting in the Fox News production setup.

“Dying of laughter seeing so many [online commenters] taking seriously the notion that this Fox News guest was wearing ‘a very realistic face mask’—because they see his neck and they apparently have no idea how lighting and shadows work,” said Keiper.

“I laughed too,” said one respondent to Keiper’s post. “Then I watched the actual Fox clip. Either they manipulated the clip before uploading, or he had neck surgery. I try hard not to fall for conspiracies and vet everything I can. But something strange is going on here.”

“It’s just a shadow!” Keiper exclaimed as others remained unconvinced.

Republican strategist and political commentator Scott Jennings fielded no end of hard questions on CNN after Republicans appeared to reject President Donald Trump’s controversial $1.8B weaponization fund orchestrated solely by his personal appointees.

Cooper noted Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) saying “so the nation's top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops. Utterly stupid, morally wrong. Take your pick.” And he asked Jennings if he agreed with the senator.

Jennings found himself in the unfamiliar position of agreeing with a Trump opponent.

“Well, I certainly agree that anybody who assaults a police officer should not be getting any payment,” Jennings said, adding that he was “not surprised the president's having trouble with the Senate” on financing the fund.

“He already had a few senators that weren't happy with him. And … now there's a couple more that have nothing to lose, really, by standing up to him,” said Jennings. He added, however, that “some people were over prosecuted” and other “swept up unfairly.”

“I think if you have been treated unfairly by the government, you ought to be able to apply for some restitution. But whether this fund is the correct vehicle for that, I think the Congress is going to want to talk about that,” Jennings said.

But Democratic strategist Paul Begala, who described the fund a grift, called out the many people injured by the government that Trump was not targeting for reparations.

“I got to say, if we're going to compensate anybody, let's start with the families of Renee Goode and Alex Pretti: peaceful, patriotic protesters. They weren't prosecuted. They were shot and killed. And I don't see that,: said Begala. “In fact, President Trump's aides slandered them, smeared them, called them terrorists.”

Cooper then asked Jennings about restitution for FBI agents forced to retire or fired, after decades of service for being assigned to an investigation of Trump.

“Should this go back decades to the Civil Rights Movement and the legions of people who were imprisoned, beaten, or fired from their jobs?” Cooper asked Jennings. “I mean, there's been generations of people who have been abused by various federal governments.”

“The short answer, Anderson, is, ‘I don't know,’” said Jennings. “I've not been handed any parameters for how this fund is going to be applied.”

- YouTube youtu.be

Trump former attorney Ty Cobb expressed professional regret at the transformation of another President Donald Trump lawyer who has clearly fallen over the edge into cringe territory.

Speaking to MS NOW anchor Erin Burnett, Cobb cited acting attorney general, Todd Blanche’s failed attempt to sell Senate Republicans on Trump's $1.8 billion “weaponization” fund on Thursday. Blanche and many other critics describe the fund more as a “slush fund” for Trump and his minions charged with trying to overthrow the 2020 election.

Cobb called Blanche’s embrace of a clearly illegal fund “the culmination of [his] transformation from a once decent lawyer into the complete toady that he's become.”

“He's given up any character and integrity that he ever had,” Cobb told Burnett. “Lawyers who used to work with him and actually were optimistic that he would perform his duties consistent with the oath, no longer feel that way. It's never been apparent to me that he was worthy of that confidence, but he's shown that he will do anything that the president wants, including giving away $2 billion that belonged to the taxpayers in an effort to buy the attorney general permanent position.”

Cobb went on to say that Blanche wasn’t like his predecessor Pam Bondi in that he was not a dyed-in-the-wool MAGA cultist.

“He doesn't have her excuse. I mean, he's not an ideologue,” said Cobb. “He was not wedded to Trump. You know, for years and years … he didn't have the MAGA credentials of Pam Bondi. This is pure and unadulterated ambition. And somebody who, you know, for dollars and power has sold his soul.

- YouTube www.youtube.com