Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images.

Both houses of Congress passed a short-term spending bill on Thursday ahead of the government having to shutdown starting at midnight on Friday.

The Senate passed the bill, 65 to 35, that would fund the government through Dec. 3. Fifteen Republicans joined all Democrats in voting in favor of the bill. The House of Representatives later passed the continuing resolution (CR), 254 to 175. Thirty-four Republicans joined all the Democrats in favor of the measure.

The CR now heads to President Joe Biden to sign into law.

In addition to government funding, the bill includes natural disaster relief for states and funding for the effort to resettle Afghan refugees in the United States.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) had a moment of questionable tech aptitude in a hearing held to question Facebook officials on Thursday.

Facebook’s global head of safety, Antigone Davis, beamed into the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security for a hearing on revelations that Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, has a negative psychological impact on young people. The hearing also focused on reporting that the company knew about that impact.

Blumenthal serves as chairman of the subcommittee, and at one point in the hearing, he asked Davis with a straight face: “Will you commit to ending finsta?”

The problem: Finsta isn’t a product Facebook and Instagram actually provides.

As Merriam-Webster notes, “Finsta” is a shorthand for Finstagram, or “fake Instagram.” Numerous thinkpieces have been written in the past explaining why people make finstas — for example, some use finstas to post more liberally about their personal life to a more exclusive audience of friends.

Davis informed Blumenthal “we don’t actually do finsta,” and she proceeded to explain the term.

“But finsta is one of your products or services,” Blumenthal countered. Davis enlightened him of the term again, so the senator once again asked “will you end that type of account?”

Davis responded to that by saying Facebook allows finstas options that provide users greater levels of privacy.

Watch above, via Eric Morrow.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell assured lawmakers on Thursday that he does not intend to move toward banning cryptocurrency in the United States.

He made the comment during a committee hearing in response to a question from Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), who asked Powell, “Is it your intention to ban or limit the use of cryptocurrencies, like we’re seeing in China?”

“No,” Powell replied, before going on a brief tangent about digital currencies promulgated by central banks and prompting Budd  to interject, “But no intention to ban?”

“No intention to ban them, but they’re — stablecoins are like money market funds, they’re like bank deposits,” Powell said. “But they’re to some extent outside the regulatory perimeter, and it’s appropriate that they be regulated.”

Here’s the money quote #FederalReserve Chair #JeromePowell very clear that he has no intention to BAN #cryptocurrencies but they will regulate #bitcoin #dogecoin #Ethereum #crypto pic.twitter.com/OAzJbh1pjk

— Susan Li (@SusanLiTV) September 30, 2021

Stablecoins, such as Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), are digital currencies pegged to the price of the dollar or other real-world currencies such that their value does not change.

Powell said last week the Federal Reserve may seek to implement its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC),which would be akin to a stablecoin. The Boston Fed and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are expected to release a joint research paper exploring the issue before the end of the year.

Outside of a few pre-sold, franchise-based hits (The Good Fight, anything with the words “Star Trek” in the title), Paramount+ hasn’t managed much in the way of breakout hits since it was re-birthed from the ashes of CBS All Access earlier this year. But maybe that will change this month with the premiere of Guilty…

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Tom Brady is gearing up for one of the most highly anticipated matchups of his career.

That’s saying a lot for a quarterback who appeared in nine Super Bowls, but returning to New England to face Bill Belichick and the Patriots as an opponent undoubtedly has extra meaning for Brady.

While the 44-year-old Brady still looks like himself on the field, he didn’t sound like himself Thursday afternoon. Brady appeared legitimately sick during his press conference, sounding extra raspy and struggling to keep his voice from breaking while speaking with reporters.

“I don’t know. I’ve had a few of these days. I don’t know what the deal is, so I gotta try to figure this out,” Brady said after being asked about his health status. “I said my throat’s more tired than arm. Imagine that.”

Brady is reportedly vaccinated against Covid-19, as Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians previously stated the entire team is fully vaxxed. But wide receiver Antonio Brown did test positive for Covid with a breakthrough case last week. Brown was reactivated from the team’s Covid-19 list after being cleared to play on Wednesday, exactly one week after his positive test.

One reporter reminded Brady he had a similar hoarseness to his voice over the summer.

“Same thing — I know,” Brady responded. “It came back. I know. Very strange. Something must be a little — I can’t explain that, so.”

You never root for illness or injury in sports, but Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will undoubtedly take any edge he can get in trying to beat Brady and his Super Bowl defending Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With the game days away, Brady’s health status could be a non-issue by Sunday. Or it could wind up being his version of the Michael Jordan flu game, as Brady overcomes another hurdle to further cement himself as the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Either way, football fans are freaking out about the prospect of Brady being sick for the game as they theorize where the illness may have come from.

Tom Brady sounds insanely sick today!!

— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) September 30, 2021

I just listened to that Tom Brady press conference and he LOOKED and SOUNDED like death. He is as sick as a dog.

— Justin Ramos (@patriotsnews247) September 30, 2021

Brady looks like he has the SUDS pic.twitter.com/LWZSZgmlzK

— Extra Slutty Olive Oil (@ChillsforReal) September 30, 2021

He aged 15 years in a month wtf https://t.co/B0JpZPyM85

— matt (@BelowAverageOPS) September 30, 2021

The devil clearly returned his soul in exchange for his looks. Remains to be seen if his QB play is affected. https://t.co/driNPgobyL

— Adam Scherer (@ShipMyMoneyDFS) September 30, 2021

looks like someone got to the picture in the attic https://t.co/nnwhiP37vc

— Sen. Lemon Gogurt (I – Mic Dicta) (@Ugarles) September 30, 2021

if TB12 has a new covid variant that is immune to the vaccine, i blame Bill Belichick for creating it in a lab and infecting Tom https://t.co/RmEcDH4Oui

— Bills_Chick (@Bills_Chick) September 30, 2021

Oh lordy we’re getting a Tom Brady flu game in New England https://t.co/rMuNGo3j3N

— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) September 30, 2021

If this man comes down with any sort of illness in the next 3 days I will kms https://t.co/FpN0zobVRg

— Joey (@JoeyWright10) September 30, 2021

https://t.co/ZPn3DVeYFk

— Matt Perrault (@sportstalkmatt) September 30, 2021

If Brady somehow couldn’t play Sunday, I want the game postponed and scheduled for a future date this season. https://t.co/LKwXzloODW

— Andrew Bobeck Jr. (@ABobeck94) September 30, 2021

Idk how Bill did it but he’s one sly motherfucker https://t.co/VNVtZVCOpD

— Huge ACK-man (@kirkcuzzo) September 30, 2021

Sunday’s game would have to be postponed if true https://t.co/xJ70HPDoaa

— Buccamaniacs CAD (@Buccamaniacs) September 30, 2021

patriots already inflicting biological warfare, much like how bill belichick invented covid-19 https://t.co/TaNmKUZ6hN

— mac jones stan account (@abhiprofen) September 30, 2021

“Belichick resorting to biological warfare? Pretty cheap move on his part, Mike!”

“Agreed Tone…YOU can’t beat Brady unless he’s less than 100%” https://t.co/RAht5k8bOD

— Mark (@MarkPiselli13) September 30, 2021

Watch above via Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Marine Corps said Thursday it is investigating the Marine who saved an Afghan baby by lifting it over the wall at Hamid Karzai International Airport for appearing at a rally with former President Donald Trump.

The announcement came five days after Lance Cpl. Hunter Clark’s minute-long, Sept. 25  appearance with Trump on a rally stage in Perry, Georgia.

“The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) has initiated a command investigation regarding LCpl Hunter Clark’s attendance at the event last weekend to determine if any DoD policies were violated,” 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit spokesperson Capt. Kelton Cochran said in a statement. “Any details pertaining to this incident are not releasable while the investigation is being conducted.”

Clark gained prominence last month when he was recorded standing atop a wall outside Kabul’s airport, as it was thronged by Afghan citizens, and stooped to lift an infant to safety.

The Defense Department prohibits active-duty service members from actively campaigning for political candidates and from speaking “before a partisan political gathering, including any gathering that promotes a partisan political party, candidate, or cause.”

Clark did not endorse Trump and was not in uniform at the time he took the stage for what appeared to be an impromptu appearance. “You saw him, he did a great job, Lance Cpl. Hunter Ian Clark,” Trump told the crowd. “Lance corporal, get up here!”

“Hey, my name is Lance Corporal Hunter Clark, and I’m here from Warner Robins, Georgia,” Clark told the crowd during his brief speech. “I am the guy who pulled the baby over the wall, and it’s definitely probably one of the greatest things I’ve done in my entire life.”

Valerie Macon, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Aaron Sorkin has broken his silence on longtime collaborator Scott Rudin’s alleged history of abuse and bullying. 

“I think Scott got what he deserves,” Sorkin said in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, referring to the mega-producer’s abuse scandal.

In April, The Hollywood Reporter published a bombshell exposé, in which several of Rudin’s former assistants and ex-staffers claimed the producer has a long history of physically and mentally abusing his employees.

Shortly following news of the allegations, Rudin announced that he would be “stepping back” from his Broadway productions, including Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird.

“After a period of reflection, I’ve made the decision to step back from active participation on our Broadway productions, effective immediately,” he said in the statement. “My roles will be filled by others from the Broadway community and in a number of cases, from the roster of participants already in place on those shows.”

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Sorkin revealed that there was actually only one conversation regarding Rudin’s future on the To Kill a Mockingbird team, during which it was made clear that his relationship with the production was over.

Sorkin went on to clarify that while Rudin is no longer compensated as a producer of the show, he has maintained his stake in the production as an investor.

Sorkin continued to address Rudin’s alleged history of abuse, saying that he “took it personally,” as some of the assistants who said they were being abused likely worked on projects that Sorkin wrote or directed.

“Whether it’s a movie set, or a rehearsal room for a play, or backstage for a play, or a television series, morale is important to me. And I take a lot of pride in creating a place where people are really happy to come to work, where they feel a sense of ownership, a sense of authorship, a sense of family,” he added. “And we have that at Mockingbird. We’ve always had that in Mockingbird. So this came as a big shock.”

In addition to the Broadway revival of To Kill a Mockingbird, Sorkin and Rudin have worked together on The Social Network, Steve Jobs, Moneyball, and The Newsroom.

Despite their history together, the director vowed he never knew of Rudin’s alleged abuse, yet revealed that he had his “own experience with Scott, and it’s a higher class of bullying.”

“The stories that I had heard over the last 12 years were the kinds of things that—they could have been scenes from The Devil Wears Prada, there was no violence,” he added. “There’s nothing physical at all in the stories that I heard. Had I known, there’s no chance I would’ve tolerated it, there’s no chance [director] Bart Sher would’ve tolerated it, that Jeff Daniels would’ve tolerated it. So we didn’t know. And once we did, we did something about it.”

When asked to expand on his own experiences with Rudin, Sorkin simply said that “Scott got what he deserves,” adding, “He’s lying flat on the mat right now, and I don’t know how it’s helpful for me to stand on his torso and kind of jump up and down.”

During a press gaggle outside the Capitol on Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) complained about Dollar Tree’s recent decision to offer items that cost more than a buck, though he gave the name of the wrong dollar store.

The press gaggle came as Manchin has been front and center due to his opposition to the Democratic $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, and as House progressive Democrats threaten to sink a bipartisan infrastructure bill that is expected to be brought up for a vote on Thursday.

Manchin confirmed to reporters a scoop published by Politico co-congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett earlier in the day that Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) signed an agreement on July 28 to cap the Democratic reconciliation bill at $1.5 trillion.

Politico obtained a copy of the agreement, which also included a stipulation that debate on the bill start no earlier than Oct. 1.

“I brought the $1.5 [trillion], as you’ve seen, I think, by now, the 1.5 was always done from my heart, or, basically, what we could do and not jeopardize our economy,” Manchin told reporters. “I asked for the strategic pause because after that then we basically had Covid coming back at us and we’ve got all the unknowns right now, especially with what the financial fallout might be or the geopolitical fallout, excuse me, the geopolitical fallout that might come from the Afghanistan departure and also inflation.”

Manchin went on to give an example, albeit by incorrectly citing Dollar General and not Dollar Tree.

“I’ll give you a perfect example. In West Virginia, I just saw today to where the One Dollar, what we call General Dollar Store, Dollar General, they’re no longer Dollar General, they are a Dollar-and-a-Quarter, a Dollar-and-Fifty-Cent General. That’s hard for West Virginia. A lot of people do shop there and that’s all they have,” he said. “We have to take all this into consideration. We have a lot of good things we can do. And here’s the thing. My goodness, you have the infrastructure bill, you’ve got this bill we have right now and we have reconciliation bill.”

“I’m willing to sit down and work through that 1.5 to get by our priorities and they can come back and do later and they run on the rest of it later,” continued Manchin. “I think there’s many ways to get to where they want to, just not everything at one time.”

Manchin said that he has shared the $1.5 trillion figure with President Joe Biden and Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ), who is also against the $3.5 trillion package.

Watch above, via CNN.

In news that will be a relief to any streamer who has ever been targeted on Twitch, the video-streaming site unveiled a new set of tools this week aimed at preventing “hate raiding” and other harassment. The much-longed-for features give creators and moderators greater control over Twitch’s chat by allowing them to…

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is in a virtual tie with former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to a new poll.

Respondents to the survey, conducted by Carter Wrenn on behalf of estranged former Trump senior official John Bolton’s SuperPAC, were asked “If the next Republican primary for president in your state was held today, and the candidates were Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Josh Hawley, Kristi Noem, Mike Pence, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott And Donald Trump for whom would you vote?”

The top two results were separated by a single point — well within the poll’s margin of error — with Trump receiving 26.2 percent support, and DeSantis close behind at 25.2 percent. In a distant third place was former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 7.2 percent.

Bolton issued a statement along with the poll:

These numbers will probably come as a shock to Donald Trump. After 20 years in Afghanistan, it’s clear that Americans are unhappy with leaving as we did. Voters were smart enough to see that President Trump started the withdrawal and legitimized the Taliban through negotiations. They recognize that withdrawal carries more risks for the homeland than keeping a U.S. and NATO military presence in Afghanistan. Biden bears the responsibly for the final embarrassing moments and his corresponding drop in support reflects that, but it’s not lost on anyone that Trump, like Biden, wanted to withdraw and shares the blame for the failure. National security matters to voters, especially when failure leads to greater risks, so you rightly see conservatives quickly considering options other than Donald Trump.

Now, Bolton’s poll did use a narrower “likely voter” model, and the former Trumper-turned-critic has made it his mission to get in Trump’s head, but these results represent a whopping 20-point drop in support for Trump since Bolton’s last poll, in which 46 percent supported Trump. DeSantis was runner-up then, too, at just 13 percent.

And the poll also comes on the heels of another survey in which 61 percent of Republicans said they want Trump to either face a primary challenge in 2024 — or not to run at all.

Usually seeking opportunities to bash the NBA and its players, Outkick founder Clay Travis has recently lauded the league’s stance on Covid vaccine mandates.

Despite 90 percent of the league already getting the Covid jab, Travis is highlighting the NBA’s vocal vaccine-skeptics, especially those who already experienced and survived the virus.

“I’d encourage everybody to go watch Jonathan Isaac answer the question about why he’s choosing not to be vaccinated,” Travis said on Fox News. “Same thing for Bradley Beal, those are two high profile NBA players who have spoken out and both of those guys said they had Covid.”

“Natural immunity…has shown to be more protective than vaccinated immunity,” Travis claimed, citing Israeli data. “We’ve got a broken system, I believe because it’s not taking into account the possibility of natural immunity.”

Studies almost universally agree that natural antibodies provide some protection from getting reinfected by Covid-19. How much protection remains debatable. There are studies that claim natural immunity provides strong resistance against the Delta variant, but there is still significant research to show adding the vaccine to natural antibodies will significantly increase protection from Covid.

“77 percent of adults 18 and up have gotten at least one Covid vaccine,” Travis said on Fox & Friends. “Of the remaining 23 percent, what percentage of those people have already had Covid and recovered from it like Jonathan Isaac and Bradley Beal?”

90 percent of NBA athletes are vaccinated against Covid. And although the league cannot enforce a vaccine mandate, the NBA is not excused from local laws, some of which will prevent unvaccinated players from stepping into arenas.

According to Travis, the “broken system” stems from not viewing natural immunity and acquired immunity as equal in terms of vaccine mandates, despite conflicting data regarding which provides stronger protection for yourself and those around you.

Watch above via Fox News

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

Chrissy Teigen shared a heartbreaking tribute to Jack, the son she “almost had,” on the first anniversary of her pregnancy loss.

On September 30th of last year, Teigen announced that she and John Legend had lost their third child after several weeks of pregnancy complications, which ultimately put her in the hospital.

“To our Jack – I’m so sorry that the first few moments of your life were met with so many complications, that we couldn’t give you the home you needed to survive,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “We will always love you.”

Teigen, who often shares personal and vulnerable moments with her fans, is now opening up about her loss a year later, calling it “the greatest pain I could ever imagine.”

Teigen first posted a tribute for her son Miles, writing, “Crap if he grows up and sees I posted for daughter’s day and not son’s, will he be mad? Are these going to be the grievances our kids have?? Anyhow I love you so much, son!!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen)

Teigen then went on to pay tribute to Jack, who passed on September 28, 2020 — sharing a heartbreaking picture of her and Legend at the hospital last year:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen)

“And to the son we almost had,” she wrote in the caption. “A year ago you gave me the greatest pain I could ever imagine to show me I could survive anything, even if I didn’t want to. I didn’t get to take care of you but you came and went to get me to love myself and take care of myself because our bodies are precious and life is a miracle. they told me it would get easier but yeah, that hasn’t started yet. mom and dad love you forever.”

Teigen has been open about her healing process throughout the year, reflecting on her postpartum body and sharing that she has been 70 days sober since Sunday, September 26 — her “longest streak” yet.

Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R- WY) took a moment during Wednesday’s Afghanistan hearing to apologize to General Mark Milley for “despicable” comments from her colleagues.

The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing Wednesday to press top military leaders on the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The hearings yesterday and today have also been notable for questions to Milley about his calls to China, first reported by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in Peril.

Matt Gaetz in particular went on a tear against Milley Wednesday, excoriating him on Afghanistan and bringing up the book to accuse him of “undermining the chain of command.”

Cheney started her time by bringing up the January 6 rioting at the Capitol, saying, “In the aftermath of that attack, many of the members of our constitutional system failed to do their duty. Many of them punted. Many of them today are still attempting to obstruct the investigation into that attack, attempting to whitewash what happened.”

Cheney is one of two Republicans on the January 6 select committee, which issued subpoenas to several Trump allies last week.

And without referring to anyone in particular, she continued with the following:

General Milley, you found yourself in your constitutionally prescribed rule standing in the breach. And for any member of this committee, for any American, to question your loyalty to our nation, to question your understanding of our Constitution, your loyalty to our Constitution, your recognition and understanding of the civilian chain of command, is despicable. I want to apologize for those members of this committee who have done so and I want to thank you for standing in the breach when so many, including many in this room, failed to do so.

Cheney moved on to press Milley over Afghanistan.

You can watch above, via Fox News.

Dr. Anthony Fauci emphatically refused the idea of resigning in response to Americans who don’t see him as an effective spokesman for public health.

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases gave a lengthy interview to Hugh Hewitt where he tackled Covid misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and the ongoing debates within the government about booster shots. As Fauci defended CDC Director Rochelle Walensky over her recent booster shot recommendations, Hewitt read off a list of controversies that shaped the course of public health throughout the pandemic.

“I’ve lost confidence in the CDC and the FDA,” Hewitt concluded after the recital, “and I actually believe a lot of Americans, a significant part of America, now have lost confidence in you, Dr. Fauci.”

This inevitably led to Hewitt asking: “Is there a point where you will say I do more harm than good because people don’t listen to me anymore and step aside?”

“No, absolutely, unequivocally no,” Fauci answered. He reminded Hewitt that public health policy had to change over time in order to account for new data and current events.

I think the thing that gets lost in the discussion, and that people need to understand, and I do know that some people don’t understand it and don’t accept it even if they, you know, smart people who evaluate it in their own context, is that we have been dealing with an evolving situation. And I just get back to what I’ve said before, and I totally understand and respect your differences, Hugh, that when you have an evolving situation and data are rapidly evolving in something that’s unprecedented and unknown, you have to evolve with it and look at the data as it exists now, and make to the best of your ability a decision, a recommendation, all the kinds of things that go into the evolution. And things have changed. We didn’t know things early on. I always get asked the question, it’s a very common question, what would you have done back then if you knew what you know now. The question answers itself.

Hewitt acknowledged Fauci’s rationale, though he stuck to his point that some parts of the American population have chosen to “actively reject” what Fauci says for a multitude of reasons. He brought this back to his question of whether Fauci should say “Mr. President, I think my time is up as a successful and effective spokesperson?”

“I just completely disagree with that premise, because there are an awful lot of people who do listen, who do the right thing from a public health standpoint,” Fauci replied. “So because there are a lot of people who have ideas about conspiracies and changing minds and flip-flopping, that’s not a reason to step down. Not at all.”

Watch above (start at 8:30), via The Hugh Hewitt Show.

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich drew attention to ABC News on Tuesday for editing an interview with former President Barack Obama to omit his assessment that open borders were “unsustainable.”

“Immigration is tough,” Obama told Good Morning America in a portion of the interview that was cut from television but quoted in the 12th paragraph of a story on ABC’s website. “It always has been because, on the one hand, I think we are naturally a people that wants to help others. … At the same time, we’re a nation state. We have borders. The idea that we can just have open borders is something that … as a practical matter, is unsustainable.”

The comment was notable due to its implications for President Joe Biden, Obama’s former vice president, and his handling of Haitian migrants flooding the United States’ border with Mexico. In an evening segment on Bret Baier’s Special Report, Heinrich noted that Obama’s analysis had been “cut” from the interview “and published only in the online article.” She also ran the tape of her exchange with White House press secretary Jen Psaki earlier in the day, where Psaki denied “open borders” posed any problem.

“Does President Biden agree with President Obama that open borders is unsustainable?” Heinrich asked Psaki in the exchange, which took place at the daily White House press conference.

“We don’t have open borders, so yes, he agrees,” Psaki responded.

Outside Fox, CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell also provided Obama’s comment brief play in a direct quotation for her viewers on Tuesday evening, noting, “The 44th president also spoke in an interview about the immigration crisis, saying that ‘Americans want to help others but the idea that we can just have open borders is unsustainable.'”

Watch above via Fox News.

Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to NBA stars spreading misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who asked the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert about “vaccine lies” coming from top athletes.

Ninety percent of NBA players have been vaccinated against Covid, but some have refused inoculation, including Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who has flirted with nutty conspiracy theories about the vaccines on social media.

“Kyrie Irving and other major stars in the NBA refused to get vaccinated,” Hewitt noted to Fauci, the chief Covid adviser to President Joe Biden, on his radio show. “They suggest there’s a lot of things wrong with the vaccine. Would you speak directly to Kyrie about the damage he is doing by spreading vaccine lies?”

“I think you have to put it into perspective of what is going on in the country with regard to Covid-19, the now, you know, inching close to 700,000 deaths with a vaccine that unequivocally from a scientific and public health standpoint has been shown to be highly effective and safe,” Fauci replied.

He continued by noting the “societal responsibility” of younger and healthier Americans to get vaccinated in order to protect the more vulnerable:

And although I do respect people’s individual rights to make their decisions, there is also a part of it, Hugh, that is what I refer to as societal responsibility. And although there are individual choices that people can make, when you’re dealing with a deadly pandemic, you’ve got to also understand your responsibility to the society within which you live. So I wouldn’t want to be pointing a finger at this young man, but I would hope to be able to get him to understand that by allowing the virus to infect you, even though as an individual you say I’ll take my own chances, I don’t care, I’m young, I’m healthy, the likelihood that I’m going to get a serious disease is low, which is true. You can’t deny that. But what happens is that when you do get infected, it’s very well likely that you might pass that infection on to someone who would suffer very terribly from that virus. So you don’t want to be a vehicle for the propagation of an outbreak that unequivocally has devastated society.

Hewitt interjected to note that some NBA players like Irving “put stuff online that suggest that the vaccine is dangerous,” and implored Fauci to respond to them directly.

“Well, you know, you tell them that it’s untrue,” Fauci said. “The fact is these are people, they’re not stupid people. And yet, they are somehow or other, been convinced of things that are just not factual.”

“I mean, you look at the data. The data are overwhelming that these are highly effective and safe. And if you look at the track record of vaccines in general, what they’ve done for society and the benefit/risk ratio overwhelmingly weighs in favor of the benefit. And it’s just factual. I mean, it’s, sometimes it’s inexplicable that people can look at data and just say it doesn’t exist. I mean, it does.”

Listen above, via The Hugh Hewitt Podcast.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has been considered the modern-day Howard Stern by some. Although he passes that title on to Joe Rogan, with Portnoy noting he’s become more corporate as he grows the Barstool brand.

“Building a company has for sure made me more careful of what I wanna say because it effects things that have nothing to do with me,” the Barstool founder admitted on The Dave Portnoy Show with Eddie & Co.

Commenting on the recent clash between two media titans, Portnoy touted Rogan’s relevancy and ripped Stern for drastically altering his content in recent years. Rogan has been a voice for people against the Covid vaccine in the last year, while Stern regularly victimizes those who oppose the jab and mask-wearing.

“From a side, he seems like he’s sort of become hypocritical,” Portnoy ranted. “He seems like somebody who slung it and would do anything and he’s quick now to wag his finger at you. He almost seems like he’d be wagging his finger at his younger self.”

Stern’s career has carried out an overt shift, where his show was once filled with NSFW bits and highly offensive humor, it’s now built on a more measured conversation that’s ingratiated by most of Hollywood. But those who criticize the modern Stern should at least credit him for being ahead of the curve.

At 67-years-old, it would have been nearly impossible for Stern to approach a daily radio show with the same type of tenacity he did four decades ago. Stern went politically correct on his own timeline, before it was demanded by society.

“He went that route and I think people were very upset because he could have been the one leading the charge against the whole PC bullsh*t,” Portnoy’s co-host Eddie Farrer added.

Watch above via The Dave Portnoy Show with Eddie & Co

In our body-obsessed culture, you may experience an understandable urge to say something—anything—when you notice a friend, co-worker, or acquaintance has lost some weight since you last saw them. But even the most well-intentioned comments can end up sounding dismissive, fatphobic, or simply rude.

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One of the more bizarre parts of Stephanie Grisham’s new tell-all concerns the musical Cats.

The Trump White House press secretary makes some serious claims in the book, including sexual remarks the former president made about a young press aide that apparently Grisham tried to keep away from him.

There is also, according to the New York Times, this weirdness:

At one point, she writes, Mr. Trump’s handlers designated an unnamed White House official known as the “Music Man” to play him his favorite show tunes, including “Memory” from “Cats,” to pull him from the brink of rage.

Presumably Trump was listening to the version of “Memory” sung by Betty Buckley, who played the role of Grizabella when the show debuted on Broadway. Her version of the hit song was played at multiple Trump rallies. Both Buckley and Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted Trump to stop it, and Buckley in particular said late last year, “It makes me angry every time I see it… The song is about connection and compassion, a cry to remember connectedness and unity. That’s what so upsetting about his campaign using this song. They are the antithesis of empathy and compassion.”

So she naturally had some thoughts on this bizarre new claim from Grisham:

Indeed…this would be my mission. https://t.co/alysjxnDGK

— Betty Buckley (@BettyBuckley) September 28, 2021

And Buckley was far from the only one taken aback by this news:

now just thinking about Trump humming along to “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” https://t.co/MdhjT8cKC4

— Matt Berman (@Mr_Berman) September 28, 2021

I covered Trump rallies for a year and despite everything else, the constant inclusion of “Memory” from Cats in the rally soundtracks struck me as the most bizarre element of the entire spectacle https://t.co/tZjh8UgnIZ

— Jimmy Jenkins (@JimmyJenkins) September 28, 2021

“The film adaptation of ‘Cats’ was widely considered to be a critical and box office failure. But it held the key to understanding America in the Trump years. In this essay, I will…” https://t.co/UvhBO0AXkR

— Mike Madden (@MikeMadden) September 28, 2021

this guy, he comes up to me with tears in his eyes. big guy, straight out of central casting. and he says, sir, sir, well i never. was there ever a cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) September 28, 2021

Ah, I see the problem here. Rodgers and Hammerstein are the antidote for brink of rage, NOT Andrew Lloyd Webber. If only they’d asked https://t.co/8vdI9o2V4V

— rosanne cash (@rosannecash) September 28, 2021

Trump tearfully lowering the nuclear football as Grizabella saves us from nuclear armageddon for the fifth time in 2019 https://t.co/X3Qn8pIBLz

— JP (@jpbrammer) September 28, 2021

Big Gorilla Channel energy here https://t.co/oNftuFKsbF

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) September 28, 2021