CNN’s Dana Bash threw down with Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers (R-MI) over the president’s rhetoric about his opponent, Abdul El-Sayed.

Bash played video of President Donald Trump mocking El-Sayed’s name and calling him a “jihadist.”

“The President is effectively calling your opponent a terrorist. You’re a former special agent with the FBI, former intelligence chair in the House. Are you comfortable with that?” Bash asked.

“Listen, I’ve never called him a terrorist. I wore the uniform of the United States of America so people can pray any way they want. That is not the issue here,” Rogers said. “What has become the issue is his relationship and his family relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in five Muslim countries.”

Rogers continued to talk about his opponent’s alleged extreme ideology as Bash tried multiple times to interrupt.

“Congressman, I want to go back to what the president said,” Bash managed.

BASH: I want to go back to what the president said, and that you disagree —

ROGERS: I don’t speak for the president. I don’t represent the president —

BASH: I know, but I want to say, do you wish that he doesn’t say that? He’s coming to Michigan.

ROGERS: I’m running my race right here in Michigan, Dana. I’m running my race in Michigan.

BASH: But do you wish that he wouldn’t call him a jihadist?

ROGERS: I know you guys want this to be about Trump. This is about Michiganders who are looking for hope and opportunity —

BASH: Right, the president isn’t —

ROGERS: Two-thirds of our fourth graders can’t read. And the fourth grade. That means you have a 70% chance of going to prison or going on welfare —

BASH: Right, the president is inserting himself in that race because pretty much every time he talks, he says something about Abdul El-Sayed.

Bash played video of El-Sayed’s interaction with a town hall participant who asked him about disavowing the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization.

“So he said, ‘Yes, sure,” Bash said.

“He didn’t disavow it,” Rogers said. “He goes on this word salad, trying to get around the fact —”

“He did say, ‘Sure, yeah,'” Bash repeated. “I don’t want to debate with you!”

“I don’t know why the press is so eager for him to protect this,” Rogers said.

“Congressman! I just want to be factual,” Bash insisted.

“It’s an ideology, it’s not about him being a Muslim,” Rogers argued.

After several more minutes of back-and-forth, Bash ended the interview, saying, “And just for the record, I’m not defending anyone. I’m just trying to be factual and use the words that he used, which is, ‘Yeah, sure.'”

“Sure sounded like it to me,” Rogers shot back.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post CNN’s Dana Bash Throws Down With GOP Candidate Mike Rogers About Trump Calling El-Sayed a ‘Jihadist’ first appeared on Mediaite.

(Photo via: @McConaughey on X)

Matthew McConaughey called on his fellow Americans to embrace Independent candidates heading into the 2026 midterms, saying the old cliche that Independents like himself are limp “fence-sitters” is bogus. In reality, he said they are the best representation of how most Americans feel and can act as a “permanent check” on the Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

The Interstellar star made his impassioned plea during a six-minute video posted to X on Sunday.

“Independents belong in the fight. not as a protest, not as a spoiler, but as a real and potential winner on the ballot and considered seriously by us,” he said. “Independent does not mean you’re middle of the road. Independent is the original road. Before there was ever a Republican or Democrat, there was an American.”

McConaughey, in his trademark Texas drawl, told his 2.8 million followers he is tired of acting like Independents represent some fringe community. Instead, he pointed out more Americans identify as indies than Democrats or Republicans — a claim backed up by a Gallup poll earlier this year, showing a record-number of Americans (45%) identify as Independents, compared to 27% each for Dems and Republicans.

That reality makes it even tougher to stomach the Dems and GOP having a stranglehold on American politics, he said.

“The system has never been more lopsided,” he vented.

McConaughey added, “I am not here today to endorse a candidate or party. I am here endorsing two things: fairness and reality. See, I believe in a fair fight, and a fair fight is not just two fighters throwing the same punches at each other for 50 years. A fair fight is when the fighters who oughta be represented in the fight are actually in the fight!”

He closed his clip by saying if there were 3-5 Independents in the Senate, they could act as a “toll booth,” where politicians have to “stop at the booth” and make sure they’re not pushing anything too partisan.

“The extreme stuff can’t pay the toll,” as he put it.

That would lead to a Congress which better reflects what the American people actually want, McConaughey argued.

Watch above.

The post Matthew McConaughey Issues Rousing Call for Political Independence: ‘The System Has Never Been More Lopsided’ first appeared on Mediaite.

(Screengrab via CBS on YouTube)

The Obama Foundation is grappling with an “income inequality problem” that has pitted its well-paid executives against its pro-union staffers, according to a Saturday report from Fox News Digital.

More than half of its employees pulled in six-figure salaries, according to its 2025 tax filing. That included CEO and former White House senior official Valerie Jarrett, who is banking $771,000 for leading the foundation — up $15,500 from the year prior — and Executive Vice President Robin Cohen, who is making about $666,000.

For comparison, Jarrett and Cohen made more than the CEOs leading five other major presidential foundations, according to a review by Fox News Digital.

“The Reagan Foundation paid its CEO approximately $735,000 and the Carter Center $531,000 for fiscal years ending in 2025, while the George W. Bush Presidential Center paid its top officer $661,000, the George & Barbara Bush Foundation $426,600 and the Clinton Foundation $425,000 for 2024,” the report said.

Saturday’s report comes as employees at President Barack Obama’s organization are pushing to unionize. The workers accused the foundation in a letter sent to foundation execs earlier this month of rolling back benefits at the same time their workloads have been beefed up.

Those workers also pointed to Obama’s 2016 comments where he said he would join a union if he was looking for a “good job” or wanted to address workplace issues. The foundation told Fox News Digital it supported its workers’ push to unionize.

“We are deeply committed to the fundamental right of workers to organize and make their voices heard,” the nonprofit said in a statement. “As members of our staff explore union representation, we approach this process with immense gratitude for their contributions, deep respect for unions, and a sincere commitment to working collaboratively with our partners in labor.”

The foundation also pushed back on the idea its leaders are paid too much; its executives are paid rates “competitive with the market,” according to a statement shared with Fox. The Foundation did not immediately respond to Mediaite’s request for comment.

Overall, the foundation has seen its annual payroll jump from $18.5 million in 2018 to $50.4 million in 2025. The Obama Foundation spearheaded the fundraising and planning for the ex-president’s new library in Chicago, which opened earlier this year.

The post Obama Foundation Rocked By ‘Income Inequality Problem’ as Staffers Push to Unionize: Report first appeared on Mediaite.

The Trump donor whose corruption allegations led to the ouster of Kimberly Guilfoyle bragged Saturday after he dropped audio of a call with a GOP rep in Greece who leveled stunning claims against the former Greek ambassador.

Eric Deters — who sued Guilfoyle this week for defamation — took to Facebook to tease his critics, a day after he released a recording of a call with Jonathan Constantine, who heads the Republicans Overseas Hellenic Chapter.

“All you haters wanted that word I hate so much…receipts… see them below jackwagons!!” Deters wrote.

“Cracks me up. Trump cultists( there is a difference between them and rational thinkers) and the crazy left with their TDS both are mad at me for what? Being pissed off the administration can pardon PG Sittenfeld and not help the Dr Durrani victims? Revealing a major scandal connected to KG and the administration ignoring since March all posted below? Yeah I am the bad guy. “

“We caught her red-handed,” Constantine claims in the recording of the call with Deters in reference to Guilfoyle, adding “before she even arrived she had set up a system for collecting bribes.”

“In the last year things have gone completely haywire. We can’t get through to anybody,” Constantine said.

“We have very, very detailed reports on what’s going on here, and I’m an attorney, my specialty is financial crimes,” he claimed.

Constantine said 40,000 members of his group in Greece were “extremely disappointed in Kimberly. I mean the woman is just completely out of it.

“It’s just, ‘Gimme money, gimme money, gimme money,’ ” he claimed of Guilfoyle.

“This woman has done a lot of damage to the United States’ interest,” he later added.

Constantine then appeared on YouTube with Deters.

Deters exploded into the public consciousness last week after The Wall Street Journal reported messages Guilfoyle allegedly sent him begging him to pay her $100,000 American Express bill in exchange for influence in the Trump administration.

“Honey, please,” Guilfoyle had reportedly written to Deters.

Guilfoyle, who was once engaged to Donald Trump Jr., resigned Tuesday after Trump told her to go.

The president, who fawned over Guilfoyle a few months ago, coolly proclaimed, “She was never part of my family.”

“Serving as the United States Ambassador to Greece has been the honor of a lifetime,” she wrote as she announced her resignation. “From my first day as Ambassador, I have worked tirelessly to advance President Trump’s America First agenda, strengthen our strategic alliance with Greece, and deliver meaningful victories for the American people.”

She denied the corruption allegations in a statement accompanying her resignation.

“These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity. I have dedicated my professional life to fighting for justice, standing up for what is right, and defending the values that make America exceptional. I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service.”

A lawyer for Guilfoyle could not immediately be reached on Constantine’s allegations.

The post Trump Donor Who Sparked Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Exit Brags After Dropping Audio With Damning Allegations From GOP Official in Greece first appeared on Mediaite.

Mikenzie Frost, a local anchor at Baltimore’s FOX45 News, grilled Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) this week, following a viral confrontation between Harris and University of Maryland journalist Cat Murphy.

During a Tuesday night campaign stop, Harris was heckled by audience members, resulting in the Republican incumbent chastizing a woman at the event: “You should let me finish the sentence, Ma’am. You are rude!”

The 69-year-old physician and member of the House Freedom Caucus took questions from reporters after the event, but got into it with Murphy, whom Harris accused of illegally recording him and making statements as opposed to asking questions.

Here is a quick transcript from the exchange:

HARRIS: You do not have my permission to record. If you record, we will refer you to the prosecutor.

MURPHY: Everyone in here is recording

HARRIS: But you are not allowed to. We are in a two-party state. You are not allowed to record.

The back-and-forth ended with Harris insisting, “Take her camera. You’re gonna take a camera. She is violating the law. In fact, get an officer in here. She’s violating the law on two-party, two-party recording.”

“We need an officer” he continued. “Video and audio, and video have to have two-party approval in Maryland now they may not have to have it in Washington DC. They have to it in Maryland. She needs my approval to record.”

“Sir, we are in public. We’re in public,” insisted Murphy.

The exchange quickly went viral, and Frost questioned Harris about it.

“Congressman, before I let you go, I want to ask you about the event in Cambridge. During that event, you talked about your First Amendment rights when someone in the audience was interrupting you, but after that, you threatened a student journalist with prosecution for recording you while asking questions. What happened during that moment, and do you regret how you handled that interaction?” Frost asked.

“Look, the bottom line is, it’s not very newsworthy that the liberal media badgers a conservative politician. What was newsworthy is that I actually pushed back against it. She was not asking questions,” Harris replied, adding:

She actually started by criticizing the way that press gaggle was being conducted. That’s not the role of a journalist. And what I did in the end is just say, “Look, this is all done,” and just left.

Frost hit back, “Well, Congressman, that’s not exactly all you did, though. You threatened to bring in the police, and you threatened to have her prosecuted for recording you. And you falsely claimed that there was a need for two-party consent when that wasn’t the case.”

Below is the rest of their exchange:

Harris: Oh, there is clearly a need for two-party consent, but it would have applied to everyone. That’s why, in the end, I just left everyone in their cameras and left the room.

Frost: Do you believe you owe that student journalist an apology for how you treated her?

Harris: You know, if she called me and asked, I would tell her what bothered me. What bothered me is that she didn’t ask a question. She criticized the way I was conducting the news conference. She’s a journalism student; I think she should realize that’s not really your purpose.

That’s not your purpose, to attempt to run a press conference. And yeah, I think we’d talk it over.

Frost: Do you think that it is your purpose to tell a reporter how to do their job?

Harris: Uh, no. Uh, she was telling me how to do my job. That’s not– that’s not what she was telling me, how to conduct the press conference. Again, pushing back against the liberal media badgering a conservative politician is really what’s newsworthy here, because they’ve been doing it. Liberal media has been doing this for years. Nobody pushes back. I pushed back. Liberal media got offended.

Frost: Do you think that the liberal media got offended because she was pushing back, or do you think that people covered a newsworthy event between a sitting congressman and a student journalist?

Harris: Well, look, I was there to answer questions. The liberal media was not there to answer questions. The liberal audience was there to heckle and to cause trouble. And the liberal media just followed right up on that afterwards.

Frost: Alright, Congressman Harris, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

Harris: Thank you.

Watch the clip above.

The post Local Anchor Excoriates GOP Congressman Over Confrontation With Student Journalist: ‘Not Exactly All You Did!’ first appeared on Mediaite.

NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo admitted he “f*cked up” when he told viewers to be “open” to voting for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

On The Chris Cuomo Project on Thursday, Cuomo was joined by author Malcolm Gladwell and during a discussion about Trump, Cuomo admitted he did not see Trump as a big of a threat he does now and he regrets it.

Cuomo said he didn’t “properly contextualize” when he told people in late 2023 to be “open” to voting for Trump or then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Cuomo said:

Recently I have been not just owning it, but saying, yeah, I f*cked that up. When I said to people when I came back into the media…Harris versus Trump, and I was like, well, look, you’ve got to be open, you got to be open to voting for Kamala Harris, you got to be open to voting for Trump, and you have to go. I was giving a textbook answer. That’s the right answer for journalists to give, okay? However, it was the wrong answer. It was the wrong answer.

Cuomo argued Harris could not have been anywhere near as bad as Trump’s second term, and the NewsNation host said he didn’t put enough blame on Trump for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

He said:

To see Kamala Harris — and I have this debate with people all the time now — what could she have done that would have been worse than what we’re living? Just tell me. What do you think was possible? And that’s my rejoinder to them. And people will say, well, you just hate Trump. No. I didn’t believe that Donald Trump had what we’re seeing right now in him. And you can say, how, what about January 6? I didn’t give him enough blame for January 6. I see him as an instrument too much and not an originator and I thought my knowledge of him as a person for all these years was more informative than it turned out being. And I was wrong.

Gladwell said he had sympathy as he struggled to see Trump as more than a “buffoon” who went to “parties” and dated “Russian models” over the years.

“It’s been really hard to sort of transition in our minds from that initial understanding of who he was to what he’s become so I have sympathy. I share your — I did the same thing. I just thought he was a buffoon,” he said.

Cuomo noted he was wrong about Trump years after Gladwell.

“I should’ve said, no, he disqualified himself. He’s disqualified himself and, look, if you want to argue that Harris is disqualified because the party f*cked up the whole process and they just gave her this nomination, yeah, alright, you can argue that too, but it’s not the same kind of toxicity that we’re dealing with here,” he said.

Cuomo added that he now sees Trump as such a threat that he also regrets pushing back on people who have predicted the president and his administration will somehow “cancel” elections.

Cuomo recently pressed Trump ally Steve Bannon on whether he’ll accept the midterm election results if Democrats regain control of Congress — something Bannon would not agree with.

“Where the f*ck is my confidence coming from? Where is my confidence coming from when you get these people who stand in front of Congress on TV and they refuse to say who won the last election?” he said.

Watch above via The Chris Cuomo Project.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report.

The post ‘I F*cked That Up’: Chris Cuomo Eats Crow Over Telling Viewers to ‘Be Open to Voting for Trump’ in 2024 first appeared on Mediaite.

While ChatGPT might have been first out of the generative AI gate, Google has established itself as more than a major player in this new technological race. While plenty of people use Gemini free of charge, there are also a plethora of paid subscribers who want access to Google's latest and greatest models. Like other AI subscriptions, Google's best plans are wildly expensive, but it's cheapest paid tier, AI Plus, is much more reasonable: For $4.99 per month, you get access to faster Gemini models, and bump your Google storage up to 400GB to boot.

But if you're subscribed to Google AI Plus for access to better versions of Gemini, change is coming. Google is warning subscribers this week that they're losing a major perk—perhaps the perk—of the AI Plus subscription tier, as subscribers will soon no longer have access to Gemini's advanced models.

How Google is changing its subscription tiers

As 9to5Google reports, this isn't necessarily out of the blue. When Google rolled out Gemini 4 Argon, the company advertised that its latest model would only be available on AI Pro and AI Ultra plans, not AI Plus. At the same time, the company said that its plans meant AI Plus subscribers would soon lose access to all Gemini Pro models. It now seems those plans are now rolling out—one Redditor shared an email they received from Google as an AI Plus subscriber, which reads:

We wanted to let you know about changes to the models that you can access with your Google AI Plus plan.

Starting on 13 November 2026, the ability to select Pro models in both the Gemini app and AI Mode in Google Search will only be available to Google AI Pro subscribers and above. You’ll still have access to our latest Flash-Lite model and Flash, built for speed and intelligence. Your previous chats using the Pro model can be continued with a different model.

To learn more about these changes, you can visit our Help Centre article for additional details. You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time.

Thank you for being a Google AI Plus subscriber.

– The Google One team

According to the message, AI Plus subscribers have less than a month left to access Gemini Pro models. On Nov. 13, these users will be limited to Flash-Lite and Flash in both the Gemini app and AI Mode. While it's fortunate that previous Pro chats will still be available, users will need to use one of these less powerful models if they want to continue those conversations.

So now, access to models in Google's AI subscriptions looks like the following:

• Free: Gemini Flash-Lite

• AI Plus ($4.99 per month): Gemini Flash-Lite and Gemini Flash

• AI Pro ($19.99 per month): AI Plus perks, plus Gemini Pro models and access to Gemini 4 Argon

• AI Ultra 5x ($99.99 per month): AI Pro perks, plus higher access to Gemini Pro models and 5x higher usage limits

• AI Ultra 20x ($199.99 per month): AI Ultra 5x perks plus 20x higher usage limits and highest access to Pro models

It always rubs me the wrong way when companies take away features after customers have already paid for them. If Pro models were always locked to a higher tier I could think, whatever, that's just what Google charges. But the fact that AI Plus subscribers have paid for access to Pro models, and now the same $4.99 subscription is missing a major feature for no particular reason, is, in my view, scummy. If you're subsequently rethinking your choice of Google subscription, here is a full breakdown of all perks across the various subscription options.