Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called for President Donald Trump to boot adviser Stephen Miller from his administration on Sunday, with Tillis calling Miller a “big problem” who needs to be the next one out the door after Trump fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem last week.

Tillis ripped Miller during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union. The senator said he was fed up with how Miller has orchestrated Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and bashed Miller for what he said about the shooting death of Alex Pretti, as well as his push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland.

“It gives me pause that you have people like Stephen Miller calling the shots,” Tillis said. “It was Stephen Miller that was talking about a terrorist brandishing a gun, it was Stephen Miller who said it was the position of the United States that we should go after Greenland, it was Stephen Miller who has been repeatedly responsible for embarrassment for the president. Speaking first and thinking later.”

Tapper then asked him, “Do you think Stephen Miller should go?”

“Oh, of course I do,” Tillis answered.

“He’s not worried about substance. He’s more worried about form,” Tillis continued. “But I also think that he has an outsized influence over the operations of the cabinet. And I believe we’ve got qualified cabinet members there that sometimes are doing less than what they want to because of his direction and his outsized influence. He’s a big problem in this administration, he has been from the beginning.”

His harsh remarks about Miller come a few days after Trump announced Noem’s time running the Department of Homeland Security was coming to an end. Betting on Trump to listen to Tillis seems like a long shot, though, considering Miller has been one of Trump’s closest allies dating back to his first term in office.

Watch above via CNN.

The post Republican Senator Calls for Trump to Dump Stephen Miller After Noem Firing: ‘He’s a Big Problem’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Jesse Jackson Jr. took a not-so-subtle swipe at three former Democratic presidents who spoke at his father’s memorial service — Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden — saying they did not know the real Jesse Jackson. 

“Yesterday I listened for several hours of three United States presidents who do not know Jesse Jackson,” he said on Saturday.

Jackson Jr. continued, “He maintained a tense relationship with the political order, not because the presidents were White or Black, but the demands of our message, the demands of speaking for the least of these — those who are disinherited, the damned, the dispossessed, the disrespected — demanded not Democratic or Republican solutions, but demanded a consistent, prophetic voice that at no point in time sold us out as a people.”

The sharp opening to his eulogy was made in front of a crowd at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters in Chicago.

Jackson Jr. — who served as a Democratic representative from Illinois between 1995 and 2012 — made his remarks a day after the ex-presidents honored his father. Obama’s speech was the most political of the three former presidents, with Obama clearly dissing President Donald Trump at one point, without mentioning him by name.

“Each day, we’re told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other, and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don’t even count at all,” Obama said. “Everywhere we see greed and bigotry, being celebrated and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength.”

Ex-Vice President Kamala Harris made similar comments, saying it was hard to believe Jackson was not around to help America “get through” Trump’s presidency.

Clinton was less focused on politics, saying he was there “more as a friend than a former president. [Jackson] was my friend when I needed him.”

Watch Jackson Jr.’s eulogy above via CBS Chicago.

The post Jesse Jackson’s Son Swipes at Obama and Biden After Politically-Charged Eulogies: They ‘Do Not Know Jesse Jackson’ first appeared on Mediaite.

President Donald Trump addressed the leaders of Latin American countries Saturday at his “Shield of the Americas” summit by telling them he was too busy to learn their language.

The summit, held at Trump’s Doral Golf Club, was organized to “advance strategies that stop foreign interference” in the Western hemisphere, including “criminal and narco-terrorist gangs and cartels, and illegal and mass immigration,” according to the State Department. 

“I’d love to get to your countries at some point,” Trump said, continuing on about Secretary of State Marco Rubo, who is of Cuban descent.

He said:

Marco loves going to your countries. He’s always at one of these countries. He likes your countries the best, you know?

“Where are you?”
“I’m in Chile.”
“Oh, good, how’s Chile doing?”
“Good.”

He likes it, he feels very comfortable — we all like him, right? He’s got a language, he’s got a language advantage over me. ‘Cause I’m not learning your damn language. I don’t have time. I was okay with languages, but I’m not going to spend time learning your language. That much I won’t do. Just give me a good interpreter. Interpreter — very important.

When Rubio spoke, he asked for the president’s permission before addressing the leaders in Spanish.

“If I may, because some of these cameras cover in Spanish. You all right —”

“Good, please,” Trump said.

“Oh, good,” Rubio responded. “We don’t need an interpreter for this one,” he quipped.

After Rubio’s remarks, Trump introduced Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who assured the president, “I only speak American.”

The leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago confirmed their participation in the summit, Live NOW from Fox reported.

“Notably missing at the event are the region’s two dominant powers — Brazil and Mexico — as well as Colombia, long the linchpin of U.S. anti-narcotics strategy in the region,” the report said, noting that Cuba was also missing.

On hand at the event was former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who will now serve as“Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.”

Watch the clips above via The White House.

The post ‘I’m Not Learning Your Damn Language’: Trump Addresses Latin American Leaders at His ‘Shield Of The Americas’ Summit first appeared on Mediaite.

Why is President Donald Trump raging at comic and pundit Bill Maher in the middle of an actual war? Because Maher has promised to deliver a new barrage in their feud — and it hits in a few hours.

The United States is in the middle of a war with Iran that has claimed the lives of at least six American servicemembers — with Trump reportedly telling senators that more will die before the campaign is over.

But on Friday morning, Trump peppered his social media feed with posts attacking Maher.

How we got here is a story that technically goes back years, as Maher has long been a critic of Trump, including a satirical bet lampooning the “Birther” obsession that resulted in a $5 million lawsuit from Trump.

But Maher attempted a “Nixon goes to China” moment by having dinner with Trump at the White House — an event he frequently describes with pride at his own open-mindedness.

Things took another turn on the Feb. 13 edition of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, during which one bit — a comical reading of a Truth Social post — caught Trump’s attention:

Hours later on Saturday morning, Trump lashed out over the bit in an epic-length post on Truth Social in which he accused Maher of peculiar behavior at their dinner. Those attacks were the basis for Trump’s posts this morning.

So, why is Trump lashing out anew, three weeks and one war later?

Maher was off last week, but he spent part of his Feb. 20 monologue this week rebutting Trump — and promised to devote his signature “New Rules” segment to a deeper dive when his show came back after a break:

BILL MAHER: I woke up Saturday morning to a blistering social media text from him. Went on and on. Valentine’s Day, by the way.

He was very mad at me because I didn’t get his joke about how China is gonna make Canada give up hockey. You know, I think we’re going to have to workshop that one for a while.

So he went off on me and said, you know, the dinner we had was a waste of time.

Well, I didn’t think it was.

And then I’m a jerk, and I’m at low ratings, lightweight, and all this sh*t. Because I never stopped criticizing him. I never said I would.

And I know how women feel now. A guy buys you dinner and then expects you to put out. OK? I’m not that guy.

And of course, he accused me of having Trump derangement syndrome.

OK, we’re off next week. The next week our show, I think March 6th, we come back. I’m going to address this at the end. His whole long screed. Yes, and prove that I don’t have Trump derrangement syndrome.

And a lot of other stuff he said that that wasn’t really true, that, you know, I immediately asked for a drink. OK, “he immediately wanted a vodka.”

OK, it was a margarita. It was not a vodka, and it wasn’t immediately. I had a drink before dinner, as people do. He said, I was nervous and scared, no confidence.

Bullsh*t! It’s so funny, because I got so much sh*t from the left for reporting honestly that, in person, he was very different, very nice, very gracious.

And then he says, no, he was scared. I’m like the Democrats with an election. I just can’t win!

The “New Rules” segment typically encompasses the last 15 or so minutes of the show, and is known for featuring some of Maher’s most blistering commentaries. That promise comes due a little over 12 hours after Trump’s posts.

Watch above via HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.

The post Here’s Why Trump Is Raging At Bill Maher in Middle of Actual War — The Big One Hits Tonight first appeared on Mediaite.

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Open-ear design earbuds have been gaining in popularity, likely because active noise-cancelling tech has gotten so good that people have forgotten what the world around them sounds like and don't want to shut it out anymore. The Ultra Open Earbuds are Bose's attempt at riding the trending tech wave, and they're a pretty good option at that, earning an 8/10 from our colleagues at CNET. And at their current price of $199.99 (originally $299.99), they are also something of a steal. This is the lowest price they've yet reached, according to price-tracking tools, and they are available in seven different colors. 

Bose Ultra Open

$199.00 at Amazon

$299.00 Save $100.00

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$199.00 at Amazon

$299.00 Save $100.00

Open-ear designs are not for everyone—especially audiophiles. They have the same downside as bone conduction headphones: They let noise pollution in, and the bass and some mids can sound weak. But the tradeoff may be worth it if you want to remain aware of your surroundings, and certainly with these buds you'll be able to hear if a cyclist is about to pass you as you're running on the bike path.

The Bose Ultra Open buds are not waterproof, but they are water-resistant; they carry an IPX4 rating, meaning they can take some splashes, but can't be submerged in water. The charging case uses a USB-C cable, but you can buy a wireless charging case (sold separately) for an additional $50 if you don't want to rely on a cable. Either way, you'll get about 7.5 hours of juice from the buds if you have the Immersive Audio feature off, and about two full charges from the case, for a total of around 27 hours.

While these earbuds don't have multipoint connection, they do have a feature to pair two devices simultaneously and switch between them by pressing a button on the earbud—a controlled multipoint connection of sorts. They are compatible with Bluetooth 5.3 and work with the AAC, AptX Adaptive, and SBC codecs, so Android devices will get better audio than Apple users. Both users will be able to customize the EQ on the app and use features, which you can read more about in CNET's 8/10 review.

CNN critics berated the White House Thursday for splicing clips of actual strikes on Iran with scenes from the popular video game “Call of Duty.”

The White House is “reaching out to a very important, very big part of the population, including and especially those, I think that they consider their base — gamers,” said Dana Bash with Inside Politics, referencing the post that opens with a scene from the game.

Bash added that White House communications director Steven Cheung responded to the post, “Ws in the chat, boys!” — a gaming term when players do well they put “Win” in the chat field.

Nia-Malika Henderson said the video was “in keeping with the way Pete Hegseth is also talking about the war.”

“He of course, had a press conference yesterday talking about utter dominance, talking about the war, likening it to a football game, I think was one of the analogies that he used,” Henderson said of the Defense secretary. “And it’s part of the sort of the ‘bro culture’ that Donald Trump used to win. It’s part of Pete Hegseth, why he’s the secretary of war and why it’s not the you know, the Department of Defense anymore. So it’s part of the selling of the war, and we’ll see if it’s effective.”

Henderson added, “I think listen, if you were part of the families who have lost Americans — six Americans have died — This is quite distasteful to liken war to a video game because, you know, these are soldiers lives who are at risk.
And so, to liken them to a football game or a video game, I think is is offensive to a lot of people.”

Panelist David Sanger, with The New York Times, said he’s “never seen anything like this, that sort of takes the real footage and tries to basically suggest this is a game.”

Sanger continued, “It does fit in, and it also fits in with secretary Hegseth’s criticism of the press for making too much of the casualties.”

“Yeah, which and I think everybody would agree with this: Nobody’s making too much of casualties,” Bash said. “People who are reporting on it are honoring their service, the giving the ultimate sacrifice, not doing so to offend President Trump. It’s about the soldiers, not the commander.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post CNN Critics Berate Trump WH For Splicing Real Clips of Iran Strikes With ‘Call of Duty’: Like ‘This Is a Game’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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If you lose something important, invariably it will happen at the worst possible time—say, your keys disappearing right before you need to leave the house, or you can't find the remote and the big game is starting. Bluetooth trackers exist to help solve this exact problem, and now is a good time to pick up a bunch of them at a discount: A four-pack Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 is currently $44.99 on Woot, compared with $55.99 on Amazon.

The bundle includes four trackers. Prime members get free standard shipping, while everyone else pays $6, though the item does not ship to Alaska, Hawaii, or PO box addresses. Woot lists the deal as running for a little over three weeks or until it sells out, whichever happens first. Price trackers also suggest this deal is about as low as these trackers have dropped.

Samsung SmartTag2

A four-pack of Samsung's Bluetooth tracker

$44.99 at Woot

$99.99 Save $55.00

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$44.99 at Woot

$99.99 Save $55.00

Each tag weighs less than half an ounce, and Samsung has redesigned the casing to include a larger metal-reinforced loop to make it easier to attach the tracker to bags, bikes, or a pet collar without needing a separate holder, notes this PCMag review. The SmartTag 2 uses Bluetooth Low Energy to connect to your phone when you are nearby, so you can trigger a ring to help track something down around the house. If the item is farther away, the tag can still show its location through Samsung’s SmartThings Find network, which uses nearby Galaxy devices to anonymously update the tag’s location. Some newer Galaxy phones also support ultra-wideband (UWB), which adds directional guidance on the screen, so you can walk toward the tracker once you are close.

The tag itself is IP67-rated, so it can handle rain, dust, or being tossed into a gym bag without much concern. Samsung also uses a replaceable battery that can last around a year, so you won't need to replace the tracker every time it runs out of power. That said, the biggest catch is that this tracker is built for the Samsung ecosystem, given that it only works with Samsung Galaxy phones or tablets running Android 9 or newer, and it relies on Samsung’s SmartThings Find network. If you use an iPhone or another Android brand, this is not the right tracker for you (Apple’s AirTag works better for iPhones, while Tile Pro is a more flexible option for mixed-device households). For Galaxy users, though, the experience is simple, and the tracking network works well in busy areas.