Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was berated protesters outside a federal court house in Long Island Friday after appearing for charges on fraud and money laundering.

Santos made his first appearance in the court since pleading not guilt last month to 13 counts of fraud , money laundering, and theft of public funds, according to ABC News.

As he was leaving the court his legal team on Friday, protested could be screaming at the New York lawmaker before he entered his vehicle.

Protesters chanted, “Resign! Resign! Resign!” while others shouted individual statements, including one who exclaimed, “You killed Sapphire, George! You killed my dog!”

The declaration may be in relation to accusations that Santos allegedly stole $3,000 from funds for lifesaving surgery for the dog of two New Jersey Veterans back in 2016.

However, another member of the public could be seen greeting the GOP firebrand with an American flag.

Watch the interaction below:

Prosecutors earlier this week reportedly turned over 80,000 pages of documents to Santos’ legal team. Santos remained quiet throughout the hearing with his next court appearance scheduled for September 7th.

Last week it was revealed that Santos’ father and aunt helped pay his $500,000 bond, according to released unsealed court documents.

When white Americans refer to “pickles,” they are usually talking about vinegary, sour cucumbers, but that’s a narrow, ahistorical understanding of fermented vegetables. Pickles originated in the East as a form of food preservation. One of the prime purveyors of pickles you may not be thinking about? Japan.

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President Joe Biden cautioned “I better be careful what I say” as he dished to MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on what reporters have told him about how the modern media landscape shapes their coverage.

One part of Biden’s persona that has come into sharper relief during his presidency is his playful but punchy relationship with the press, whom he will let know when he doesn’t appreciate a line of questioning.

On Thursday’s edition of Deadline: White House, Wallace scored an extensive interview with the president, and got him to put on his not-infrequently-used media critic hat.

While discussing his poll numbers and predictions of doom that did not come to pass during the 2022 midterms, the president volunteered that a lot of reporters tell him it’s the necessity of building a “brand” that shapes their coverage:

BIDEN: I know the polling numbers are not good, but they were the same way when I ran and won. Everybody thought I was going to get clobbered in a primary. I got 80 million votes in the last election.

And the same thing — I remember I was saying that I thought the Democratic Party was going to do extremely well in the off-year election.

WALLACE: In the midterms, yes.

BIDEN: And other than the Bushes (ph), it did. I mean, and it was a great — and a victory by not having a significant loss. We were going to lose 40 seats and all that.

I just think that it’s a matter of — and this is not a criticism of press. It’s an observation. There’s a lot to be worried about around the world. And talking to a lot of reporters, they tell me — I better be careful what I say here.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: A number of reporters have indicated that there’s no editors anymore…

WALLACE: Huh.

BIDEN: … on what they do.

And I had one reporter tell me that: “You know, I’m a reporter, but I got my — one of my editors of the newspaper came to me and said: ‘You don’t have a brand yet. You need’ — and it was a major newspaper.

And he said: “Well, I’m not an editorial writer.”

“But you need a brand so people will watch you and listen to you because of what they think you’re going to say.”

And I just think there’s a lot changing.

Watch above via Deadline: White House.

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Once deemed an “all-conquering empire,” the Vice brand enjoyed a remarkable stretch of power and influence over the last 20 years. Now, the media company enters a period of incalculable uncertainty.

Vice Media Group — encompassing the namesake brand, several other media publications such as Refinery29 and Garage Magazine, and multiple video production companies — filed for bankruptcy on May 15. Now, a buyer is lined up, but ongoing financial woes and leadership turmoil has the newsroom on edge about the future.

The bankruptcy proceedings have allowed the company to continue operating while staving off collection or accruing interest on its significant debts. But steep bloodletting has continued regardless. On Friday, Vice COO Cory Haik told staff the company will be shutting down internal messaging service Slack and moving to Google Chat as “part of a wider effort to reduce costs,” according to an email reviewed by Mediaite.

In Vice’s initial bankruptcy filing, they reported that they owed Salesforce, the corporate owner of Slack, about $515,927 in unsecured claims. Based on those filings, Vice Media also owes tens of millions of dollars to IT and digital services providers Wipro and Workday, accounting firm Ernst & Young, and fellow media entities HBO and CNN, among several others.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that a group of buyers led by Fortress Investment Group — one of several lenders to whom Vice Media owed significant money to — bid $350 million to purchase the company out of bankruptcy. In a note to staff, Vice’s current co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala, said they would seek approval for the Fortress bid.

The deal is not finalized yet and will need approval from a bankruptcy judge before any official ownership changes take place, but it would set Vice on a new path after a period of profound uncertainty.

“To say morale is low is kind of an understatement,” a Vice editorial staff member told Mediaite. “Most of my remaining colleagues have lost count of how many rounds of layoffs they’ve survived at this point, and nobody in upper management seems capable of reassuring us. Even if they did, I wouldn’t believe them.”

“There are just a lot of unknowns,” they added. “Depending on the terms of the sale we could be business as usual or completely screwed. Nobody really has answers.”

Vice and its subsidiaries continue to operate — some have even debuted partnerships and new shows. But in the background, the company has enacted a series of layoffs in recent months, with the most recent wave coming in April. And since financial actions are restricted during bankruptcy proceedings, most of those former employees “are yet to receive a single dollar in severance,” according to Vice’s union. This week Vice filed for permission from a bankruptcy court to pay wages and severance owed to past employees, but the timeline for that to actually happen remains unclear.

Some ex-employees are surviving off the generosity of their colleagues. A fundraiser on GoFundMe started by former Vice editor Sara David has amassed more than $31,000 from nearly 350 donors as of this writing.

Meanwhile, the company has also cut back on its use of freelancers.

“We’ve had to stop commissioning freelancers because we are not sure they will get paid in the contractual time, at least on the editorial side,” the Vice employee said. “I’ve heard some contractors have started getting paid out for money owed, so that hopefully means the system is working now and everyone else will get paid soon, but who knows.”

The company’s financial woes have led to deals that have raised eyebrows among the rank and file.

In January, Vice struck a content deal with MBC Group, one of the largest broadcast corporations in the Middle East that is majority-owned by the government of Saudi Arabia (although MBC is considering going public.) Vice stopped operating in Saudi Arabia following the death of Jamal Khasoggi in 2017, but since re-established an office in Riyadh.

“There was great internal opposition to the company starting to work with Saudi Arabia,” a former Vice employee said. “As a country that attacks journalists, that goes against our entire journalistic body of work and everything that the editorial team stands for, but with Vice taking in water, it decided to do a deal with the devil.”

The deal is likely to remain a source of contention among staff and a headache for future owners.

Vice’s march from billion-dollar media empire to bankruptcy was not a quick one. In fact, sources who spoke to Mediaite says years of mismanagement are to blame.

One former Vice employee who worked at the organization during the 2010s and 2020s told Mediaite: “Make no mistake, Vice’s downfall is, by and large, due to year after year of terrible business acumen, terrible leadership, terrible decision-making, and the staff had to suffer at every turn.”

“Staff suffered through layoffs and young stars losing jobs — even though they had the brighter ideas — [and] management was bizarrely protective of more mediocre, senior people who wanted to control a lot,” they added. “Vice Media’s Union deserves every praise. Frankly, Vice would have gone to shit long ago if it wasn’t for the union.”

Two Vice co-founders, Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi (the third being Gavin McInnes, who has become more known for his creation of a neo-fascist group that is designated as a terrorist organization in several countries), are still part of the organization, though it remains unclear what role they will play going forward. Smith in particular has long been a source of criticism for the excesses of the company.

At the height of its rise from provocative indie magazine to global media empire in the 2010s, Vice was largely known for its work in foreign affairs journalism and video production. Thanks to a young audience and the prodigious salesmanship of Smith, the company attracted major investments that inflated its valuation to jaw-dropping levels.

Smith and Alvi’s cultural ferocity and risky strategy-making found them allies within the upper echelons of the industry, such as former Viacom CEO turned Vice board member Tom Freston, who greenlit one of Vice Media’s first major deals with MTV; former News York Post publisher Jesse Angelo, who would leave News Corp. to become a Vice Media exec in 2019 before departing this year to start his own company; and once-CEO of the A&E Networks Nancy Dubuc, who would invest hundreds of millions into Vice Media and serve on its board before later becoming the organization’s CEO herself. (She announced her departure from the role in February.)

Some were skeptical, even at the time. “When I first started writing about Vice Media, Shane Smith was a self-proclaimed billionaire,” Daniel Voshart, a critic of Vice and publisher of the blog NotVice.com, told Mediaite. “Eight years ago I called BS. Today his company is going bankrupt.”

As Axios media reporter Sara Fischer noted on Mediaite podcast The Interview in May, “Vice raised well over a billion dollars, We’re talking an extraordinary amount of money, and they did it at these very lofty valuations… They were always overinflated.”

Vice Media also became known for embarking on frenzied venture sprees with a range of partners and sponsors – including, at various times, HBO; Hulu; Showtime; Spotify; CNN.com; food companies in malls; and even beauty brand strategists — not to mention drawing significant investments from Disney, News Corp. and Soros Investment Fund, the firm for philanthropist George Soros.

Vice Media’s reliance on these deals for revenue would later contribute to its rapid decline; the international vertical Vice World News was shut down shortly after Antenna, a Greek broadcasting company that was a founding investor, refused to continue supporting the imprint. According to a former Vice employee, “A senior leader promised them a very impossible number of followers that Vice World News would reach by the end of year” after their launch in 2020, “and in order to reach this arbitrary number that was not realistic, six figures were dumped in paid media because of a terrible business decision, that then lost the company six figures. Imagine having those six figures back when you’re filing for bankruptcy.”

Based on years of questionable operational decisions, financial pressure, and a culture of harassment and intimidation that thrived under Smith and other executives, all of those who spoke to Mediaite agreed that Vice will continue to run into a host of issues of its own making, no matter who’s at the helm.

“The lazy thing to do in all this would be to blame their failure on some larger media apocalypse,” said Voshart. “This might explain BuzzFeed’s current struggle… but BuzzFeed was able to pass the regulatory checks of going public because it is a real company with a real audience.”

“Vice Media has tried to go public for over a decade,” he said.

Even if Fortress’ bid goes through, the company is a long way from profitability. Significant chunks of the business will likely need to be sold off or spun out into separate entities in order to keep Vice afloat.

“They’re making about $600 million a year. It’s not that it’s a non-business — the problem is, who wants to buy that business and then be responsible for managing all that debt?” Fischer said.

On one hand, Fortress acquiring Vice out of bankruptcy will likely allow them to operate the company without being directly responsible for the debt it accrued prior – including money owed to staffers and contractors.

That said, there remain concerns about the new overlords will run the business.

“The bankruptcy process seems to be wrapping up soon now that there’s a buyer, but nobody knows what will happen after the handoff,” said the Vice staffer. “On the other hand, we’ve seen what happens to other media companies after financial capital goons take over. These people typically don’t give a shit about journalism. Like so many other things these days, we are just playing cards in their casino gambling racket.”

The former Vice staffer agreed.

“What we’ve seen from Gizmodo Media Group and Deadspin is that when you have a changing of the guard in executive leadership, the goal often becomes to sell the company for parts, or to make the most money and use the least labor as possible. I really fear that there will be only further and further layoffs.

“Vice will inevitably become a ghost of itself,” they concluded.

My relationship with s’mores is muddled. Setting them on fire tickles my pyro-bone, but I get frustrated with the cloying sweetness of the marshmallow and questionable Hershey’s chocolate. One Friday evening I was pondering salted meats and it dawned on me: S’mores need bacon.

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Chris “Mag Dog” Russo has never been one to shy away from his bold takes, but his latest claims are unlikely to go over well with the top brass of the NFL.

On Wednesday’s episode of SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Unleashed, Russo discussed the complicated relationship between the NFL and sports betting. The league has continued to embrace sports betting as more states legalize it, but that hasn’t come without a slew of issues. In the last few seasons, a handful of players have already been suspended for using a variety of sportsbook apps to place bets online. The most notable example was Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley, who was suspended for the entire 2022-2023 season.

This season, four Detroit Lions players and a Washington Commanders player will serve suspensions for placing bets at team facilities.

Updated list of player gambling suspensions the last 2 years:

At least 1 year (bets on NFL):
– WR Calvin Ridley
– CB Isaiah Rodgers
– LB Rashod Berry
– DT Demetrius Taylor
– S CJ Moore
– WR Quintez Cephus
– DE Shaka Toney

6 games (non-NFL bets but done at work):
– OT Nicholas…

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 29, 2023

Russo claims it’s hypocritical for the league to levy such severe penalties — stating that he believes Commissioner Roger Goodell, as well as team owners, also bet on games.

“I’m not sure what the solution is with players,” he said. “I understand you can’t have the whole league play fantasy football and gamble. Maybe you lower the suspensions. Maybe you give them a game suspension.

“But a year suspension for a league that is in bed with FanDuel, DraftKings, and every gambling establishment known to man; that put a Super Bowl in Las Vegas on the strip, where you can go out there and bet the games. And I guarantee if you go out to Vegas this year, you’ll see Roger betting. You don’t think Roger’s going out there, playing a little bit?”

Russo then named several owners and accused them of doing the same, without providing any evidence to back up his claims.

“You don’t think (Kansas City Chiefs owner) Clark Hunt — and I love Hunt — you don’t think he has some fun with it?” he continued. “On a Monday night, his Chiefs have a bye week, and the Monday night game is Houston and Indianapolis — a horrible game — and he’s gonna sit there and watch it. You don’t think he says, ‘You know what? What the hell. Put a hundred bucks on the Colts.’ What are you, crazy?”

“The Rooneys,” Russo said in reference to the Rooney family, which owns the Pittsburgh Steelers, “they own Saratoga (County). All they did was bet the horses … How about (former NFL owner Carroll Rosenbloom)? (He) bet a quarter of a million dollars on the Giants-Colts in 1958. Lost, but he won because he bet the spread — which was three-and-a-half — and (Johnny) Unitas was throwing the ball all over the place when all he needed was a field goal.

“Stories will continue.”

Listen above via SiriusXM

Brick is a hardy, durable building material that conveys a sense of classic design and old-school charm. At the same time, it’s super tough and requires relatively little maintenance. That makes brick desirable for folks who are house-hunting, and also makes exposing brick walls inside your house almost irresistible…

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Hard-boiled eggs are a perfect food. They’re great for bulk cooking and meal prepping. They keep for days in the fridge, they’re satisfying, hand-held, filling, and you can adjust the cooking time for a yolk that’s gelatinous and runny, firm and velvety, or somewhere in between. However, there is the small issue of…

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This past week, Paramount+ caught flak for making like Max and Disney+ and removing content so its parent company could take a tax write off. This included nixing Paramount+ Originals like Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies (which only finished releasing new episodes on June 1) and, most controversially, rescinding…

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Former President Donald Trump promoted Fox News host Mark Levin’s new book, The Democrat [sic] Party Hates America, on Wednesday in spite of his vendetta against Levin’s employer.

“I’ve said it for a long time, ‘The Democrat Party Hates America,'” began Trump on Truth Social. “Now the Great Mark Levin has written a Book exposing the Total and Complete Depravity of the Radical Communists, Marxists, and Fascists who want to destroy our Country. It is in serious Decline, but the incredible Patriots who love America will save it, and make it greater than ever before. MAGA!”

“Preorder your copy today,” he added before linking to the book’s Amazon page.

Trump has repeatedly ripped into Fox over the last several months over what he has described as its unfair coverage of him. Even on Wednesday morning, shortly before he began hawking Levin’s book, Trump was complaining about its literal portrayal of him. “Three people in New Hampshire asked me why FoxNews [sic] uses such ‘horrible’ pictures of me when doing or promoting a story,” he whined before continuing:

The coloring, distortions, everything are just so bad. They must sit and look at 100 different shots, and then take the 10 absolute worst. My staff has even complained about it for months, but to no avail. Fox is just bad news, but I’m leading in the Polls by record numbers, so perhaps their bull…. is just not working. They are down 37% for a reason!

Prior to that, Trump complained about his GOP primary competitor, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), supposedly receiving more favorable coverage than he was.

“FoxNews just covered, from beginning to end, the Ron DeSanctimonious very boring news conference at the Border, but didn’t cover one minute of my two big speeches on Saturday and Sunday night, one for Faith & Freedom in D.C., the other about trade in Michigan, where I was presented with the ‘Man of the Decade’ Award,” he asserted despite the network’s coverage of remarks he made at both events.

Despite Trump’s frustration with the network writ large, Levin has been an adamant defender of Trump, characterizing his indictment by the Department of Justice as “an insurrection” and drawing a rebuke from ex-Trump administration Attorney General Bill Barr on Fox’s airwaves.

In his book, Levin argues that “Every legal, legitimate, and appropriate tool and method must be employed in the short- and long- run to defeat the Democrat Party. The Democrat Party must be resoundingly conquered in the next election and several elections thereafter, or it will become extremely difficult to undo the damage it is unleashing at breakneck pace.”

There are cheaper options than a brand-new computer. If you need to run demanding apps, stick with an appropriate high-spec machine, but if you just need a laptop to browse, respond to emails, or get a little work done, this 2015 MacBook Pro is on sale for $262.99 (reg. $399).

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Porn is fun, and a great way for us to explore sexual pleasure by ourselves or with a partner, but mainstream pornography is also problematic. It’s often catered to the male gaze, offering depictions of women in degraded or dehumanizing ways, and is usually exploitative of both the performers and production team, with…

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On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected independent state legislature theory in a 6-3 decision, in which as many Republican-appointed justices joined the majority as dissented from it.

On Monday, the Court decided not to hear a case that would have threatened an African-American majority congressional district in Louisiana. A couple of weeks prior to that, the Court ruled that Alabama had violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by packing African-American voters in the state into a single district.

In 2021, a majority including Justice Clarence Thomas rejected a challenge to the Affordable Care Act. The year before that, the Court decided that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protected gay and transgender employees from adverse employment decisions on the basis of their identity. And a few years before that, it created a constitutional right to gay marriage.

Yet even in the face of countless decisions by the originalist majority-Court, year in and year out, demonstrating that it’s anything but a partisan monolith, the press continues to treat it as such.

A PBS segment from last August fretted that the “U.S. Supreme Court’s increasingly partisan divide”  was raising “questions about ethics.” At The Atlantic, Adam Serwer has accused the justices of “lying” when they explain that submit that differing judicial philosophies — not partisan allegiances — explain their votes.

And on the day of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in October 2020, the New York Times ran seven consecutive opinion pieces panicking about her ascension, with some advocating for court-packing and others advocating for the Court’s replacement altogether.

Even on Tuesday, as some progressives on Twitter celebrated the Court’s most recent decision, others insisted that the ruling wait was part of a nefarious effort to lull observers into thinking the court to be “surprisingly moderate,” as FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich put it.

It feels like the Supreme Court is getting its liberal-friendly rulings out of the way early—perhaps in a bid to get (premature) favorable coverage for being “surprisingly moderate.” This strategy worked in 2021! https://t.co/JvAxhfbYHR

— Nathaniel Rakich (@baseballot) June 27, 2023

“Remember, justices are politicians — they know how to work a news cycle!” he added in a follow-up.

This kind of conspiratorial analysis is embarrassingly endemic to the media’s coverage of the Court and is a disservice to the public. For the originalist wing, it’s “heads, you’re a partisan hack; tails, you’re a clever partisan hack.”

Because the media is unwilling to engage with the similarities and differences among the originalist wing’s members’ judicial philosophies, or the fact that the justices are bound by the facts of each individual case, they attribute decisions they oppose to political allegiances and those they favor to political machinations.

Rakich’s mental gymnastics are gratuitous. In truth, the cause of the Court’s decisions is simple: The justices, each of whom brings their own approach to interpreting the law, vote according to those interpretations. Justice Neil Gorsuch has a civil libertarian streak. Justice Thomas is irreverent of past precedents. Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh generally advocate narrower rulings. Their different tendencies lead to divergent votes in disparate cases.

Curiously, the media never raises concerns about why the Court’s liberal wing almost never finds itself divided on the controversial cases that so often split the originalists. Its march in lockstep is ignored while the originalist wing’s is fabricated. Partisanship and political motives can only be attributed to Republican appointees; it’s a frightening abandonment of reason that can only be chalked up to the partisan motives that the press projects onto conservatives.

Some of the shrillness can doubtlessly be traced back to the perceived gamesmanship of Senate Republicans around the Court. They refused to confirm Merrick Garland during Barack Obama’s last year in office, but had no such qualms when Donald Trump nominated Barrett ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

But anyone with historical context knows that Republicans are only responding to Democrats’ politicization of the confirmation process. Robert Bork, Thomas, and Kavanaugh all endured unspeakable smears that Republicans never leveled against Garland. And in any case, partisans’ preference for certain nominees over others does not render those nominees partisan actors. Just ask Trump, all three of his nominees declined to even hear his case to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The media’s insistence on teaching the public to view Supreme Court decisions through the lens of partisanship is far more to blame for increasing distrust of the Court than those decisions themselves. When the media devotes an inordinate amount of time to telling the public it should be suspicious of the judiciary, it should come as no surprise when it is.

Whether it’s laziness or malice or just pure partisan brain worms that’s the cause of this misleading coverage, those in a position to remedy it have a responsibility to do so.

By October, I am no longer precious about preservation. By that time of year I am just throwing shit in jars. End-of-season harvesting is exhausting, and I am ready to settle into the fall and winter, where I get to enjoy the literal fruits of my labor and have friends ooh and ahh over my wall of colorful jarred goods.

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We love Costco around here, but if there isn’t one near you—or you won’t use the perks it offers enough to justify the higher membership fees—Walmart-owned Sam’s Club is a totally viable option for all your bulk buying needs. Especially when you can get a year-long membership for 50% off.  

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White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton defended President Joe Biden after Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked about Hunter Biden’s attendance at a state dinner, and noted comments MSNBC host and former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki made about the “optics.”

Some in the media have questioned why the president invited Hunter to a state dinner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India last week, shortly after his son reached a plea deal on tax and gun charges.

At Tuesday’s press briefing, Heinrich asked Dalton — filling in for Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre — about Hunter’s appearance at the dinner and at Camp David for the weekend, and noted some of what Psaki said earlier in the day on the subject:

JACQUI HEINRICH: What message is the president trying to send to the American people when he invites his son to the state dinner? And Camp David, as we saw this past weekend, amid everything he’s going through?

OLIVIA DALTON: Every president of the United States has invited their family to a state dinner. This president also has a family. He is no different. And beyond that, I’m just not going to engage on this.

JACQUI HEINRICH: The former White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, acknowledged that optically, that might not have been easier for the White House. Can you elaborate on on that at all? The decision to to invite the president’s son amid everything that he’s going through and what challenges that poses for for this White House to explain.

OLIVIA DALTON: Like every other administration, like every other president, this president has a family. And he did exactly what many prior administrations have done. And beyond that, I really don’t have any comment on this.

That wasn’t all Psaki said. Asked about the dinner on Tuesday morning’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Psaki said:

I think, you know, what we saw with Hunter appearing at the state dinner was, in my suspicion was the president, his son wanted to come, so his son’s going to come to the dinner.

Was that optically easier for the White House and the White House communications team? Absolutely not.

But I suspect that was more in the family circumstance of him wanting to come and wanting to, just the president wanting to show that he loves his son and he’s standing by him.

Dalton’s answer was similar to the one KJP gave last week when asked a similar question.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA, Sipa via AP Images

With three little words — “What’s a Uyghur?” — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez went viral, but it was his attempt to explain away the gaffe that really had people scratching their heads.

Suarez tweeted about his failure to answer Hugh Hewitt‘s question regarding the minority group in China.

“Of course, I am well aware of the suffering of the Uyghurs in China,” Suarez wrote. “They are being enslaved because of their faith. China has a deplorable record on human rights and all people of faith suffer there. I didn’t recognize the pronunciation my friend Hugh Hewitt used. That’s on me.”

The International community has accused China of genocide regarding its treatment of the Uyghurs. The group of Turkic-speaking Muslims in China that number about 12 million.

Journalists and podcasters were quick to pounce on Suarez’s mistake.

Toward the end of the interview, Hewitt asked, “Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?”

After Suarez’s now infamous answer, Hewitt quipped, “Okay, we’ll come back to that. Let me, you won’t, you’ve got to get smart on that.”

It was Suarez who brought up his gaffe before signing off.

“And you gave me homework, Hugh. I’ll look at what a — what was it? — what did you call it, a Weeble?”

“The Uyghur,” Hewitt answered. “You really need to know about the Uyghurs, Mayor. You’ve got to talk about it every day, okay?”

“I will talk about, I will search Uyghurs,” Suarez said. “I’m a good learner. I’m a fast learner.”

Earlier this month, cable news hosts discussed Suarez’s “mostly ceremonial” role as Miami’s mayor and whether he was capable of leading at the presidential level.

On Fox News, Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL) said Suarez “fools people into thinking he’s a lot bigger than what he really is, and, again, I wouldn’t really waste my time with him, he’s just, he’s a fraud in my estimation.”

If you want to learn a new skill, you have plenty of options online, but watching YouTube videos and reading tutorials doesn’t work for everyone. If you don’t do well with completely self-guided learning, you might benefit from a more traditional online class.

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We’re a little more than a year away from the 2024 presidential election, and if you think things are ugly and crazy now, just wait a few months. We’re more ideologically divided nation than even before, and it’s partly by design. Fear and hatred are the keys to winning modern elections, so count on strategists and…

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The View’s Ana Navarro got emotional when talking about Joe Biden‘s relationship with his troubled son, Hunter Biden, saying, “Biden will never give up on his son.”

Last week the president’s son agreed to plead guilty to federal misdemeanor tax charges and a felony gun charge that will not have him see any jail time. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg played tape of press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly refusing to answer reporters’ questions about Hunter’s presence at the state dinner for India’s prime minister.

“The Hunter Biden story, the scandal, the this, the that — it’s also the story of a father’s love, and Joe Biden has never and will never give up on his son Hunter, and will never treat him lesser than,” said Navarro. “He is a father first; take it or leave it. That’s who he is, that is part of his heart. There was 380 people at this dinner. It’s not like Hunter was sitting at [Attorney General] Merrick Garland‘s lap. It was a bunch of people…and I think that the reason he’s been able to get out of addiction is because Joe Biden embraced him entirely the entire time.”

Sara Haines said she didn’t fault the Bidens for inviting their son.

“What I take issue with, is, he should have sat this out, if we’re being honest…he just got charged with a felony charge, misdemeanors, you’re going to a dinner where your dad is front and center, he’s trying to campaign…like, sit it out. Sit at home just for a minute. Just take a seat. This is about your dad and your family,” she said.

“If I was charged with a felony and misdemeanor, I would not be at a state dinner with the most powerful people on the planet,” argued Alyssa Farah Griffin. “So, I think the optics were bad, and I guarantee that Biden’s staffers were trying to talk him out of being there, and Merrick Garland, who’s tried to remain above the fray in this, and is now seen hobnobbing with them.”

Watch the video above via ABC.

A French TV anchor confronted John Kerry over whether U.S. condemnations of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s bloody and baseless invasion of Ukraine come as hypocritical in light of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Kerry, who serves as the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate and was in Paris for a climate summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, appeared for an interview with veteran journalist Darius Rochebin on French news channel LCI Sunday night. They discussed Kerry’s work to combat climate change and the Russian war against Ukraine, which prompted Rochebin to bring up recent criticism of President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 from countries in South America.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Rochebin noted, has criticized the U.S. for unfair expectations for his nation on both addressing the climate and condemning foreign interventions.

“We have to judge Putin for crimes of aggression, of course. But you, the Americans, you committed the crime of aggression in Iraq,” Rochebin said. “These countries of the Global South say, should we judge George Bush? Why isn’t Bush judged in the same way?”

“No,” Kerry shot back.

“Why?” Rochebin asked.

“Because there’s never even been a direct process or accusation or anything with respect to President Bush himself,” Kerry said. “Have there been abuses in the course of that war, yes.”

“Was it not a crime of aggression to enter into Iraq on the basis of a lie?” Rochebin replied.

“No, no, no,” Kerry said. “Well, we didn’t know it was a lie at the time. You know the evidence that was produced, people didn’t know that it was a lie. So no, again, I think, you’re stretching something. That’s not a constructive way —”

“But he lied,” Rochebin said of Bush. “He lied. He lied.”

“Sir, I’m not going to re-debate the Iraq war with you here right now,” Kerry said. “We spent a lot of time doing that previously. I was opposed to going in, I thought it was the wrong thing to do. But we gave the president the power, regrettably, in the Congress, based on the lie. And when we knew it was a lie, people stood up and did the right thing.”

“I get that. But you understand that for the countries of the South, of course, justice, equality, principles, it’s their impression that there is a double standard. And that weighs today, including on the debate of the climate,” Rochebin said.

Kerry replied that the U.S. administration is clear about its condemnations of the invasion of Ukraine and dealing with the climate crisis in an equitable way.

Watch the exchange above, and the full interview here, via LCI.

This post is part of our “Big Talks” series—a guide to helping parents navigate the most important conversations they’ll have with their kids. Read more here.

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A group of Proud Boys confronted a rival clan of neo-Nazis at an Oregon City rally on Saturday by surrounding them and pulling off their masks.

The Proud Boys, a right-wing group involved with the storming of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6th, 2021, protested a LGBTQ+ pride parade over the weekend in Oregon City. However, the rally went from peaceful to violent when a group of local neo-Nazis, known as Rose City Nationalists, decided to protest alongside the organization.

“Get the fuck out of here,” one Proud Boy shouts as other members shove the masked White supremacists while screaming homophobic slurs and threats, according to footage posted on social media.

A shoving match ensues between the groups, resulting in multiple Proud Boys punching the neo-Nazis and beating them with an American flag pole. As the Rose City Nationalists scatter in confusion, a Proud Boy member can be seen ripping off their masks while others shout, “Demask them! Demask!”

Watch the interaction below:

Footage from a protest in Oregon City, Oregon yesterday. Rose City Nationalists (white nationalist group) decides to push into area where they were unwelcome. When told to leave, they refused and got physical. Proud Boys fought back and removed their masks, and them, from the… pic.twitter.com/o4vOG5pf9h

— HoneyBadgerMom (@hunnybadgermom) June 25, 2023

Well would ya look at that! #ProudBoys are STILL the ONLY organized group to actually stand against and remove fascists!
Rose City Nationalists (Inbred Nazis) decided to come and try to stand with the Proud Boys counter protesting #OregonCityPride.
Watch What Happens!
Video… pic.twitter.com/3dJtDD9p54

— Robert R. Zerfing – The Common Sense Conservative (@RobertRZerfing) June 25, 2023

Some conservative accounts on Twitter accused the Rose City Nationalists of being “feds,” or uncover members of U.S. law enforcement. However, there is no evidence to suggest the white supremacists were working the federal government.

This is the BEST video on the internet right now.

– Pro-America Patriot rally ongoing
– Feds show up dressed as “Nazis”
– Patriots force Feds out of rally
– Unmask the Feds, who PANIC
– The “Nazis” cry, tremble in fear
– Cops rush to save Feds

WATCH:

pic.twitter.com/kWBdRiu9hw

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 25, 2023

Assaulting a federal officer is a serious crime. https://t.co/LXdYj4UjEw

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) June 25, 2023

This is how it’s done.

– Fed’s decide to photobomb a patriot rally.
– Patriots are having none of their Fed LARPing BS
– They confront them and demask a few
– Watch how scared they are, covering up their naked faces with their hands as they fear being ID’ed. https://t.co/oU7njlMlUw

— Chris “Context Matters” Martenson, PhD (@chrismartenson) June 25, 2023

Proud Boys decide to let the Nazi’s (Feds) know that they are not welcome to join them. Now looking forward to them doing to the same anytime “Patriot Front” shows up. https://t.co/LRuLd8209h

— Neil Kiernan (@VTV115) June 25, 2023

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) released a tweet on Sunday stating that she believes someone is spying on her through a television after it “turned on by itself.”

“Last night in my DC residence, the television turned on by itself and the screen showed someone’s laptop trying to connect to the TV,” the GOP firebrand wrote in a post on Twitter.

Greene then appeared to allude to the fact that someone may want to cause her physical harm, stating, “Just for the record: I’m very happy. I’m also very healthy and eat well and exercise a lot. I don’t smoke and never have. I don’t take any medications. I am not vaccinated. So I’m not concerned about blood clots, heart conditions, strokes, or anything else.”

She added, “Nor do I have anything to hide. I just love my country and the people and know how much they’ve been screwed over by the corrupt people in our government and I’m not willing to be quiet about it, or willing to go along with it.”

Last night in my DC residence, the television turned on by itself and the screen showed someone’s laptop trying to connect to the TV.

Just for the record:

I’m very happy.
I’m also very healthy and eat well and exercise a lot. I don’t smoke and never have. I don’t take any…

— Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) June 25, 2023

The congresswoman then sent a follow-up tweet linking to a CBS News article from 2019 where the FBI warns that Smart TVs equipped with facial recognition, microphones, and cameras are not properly secured and susceptible to online hackers.

Before and after entering Congress, Greene has thrown her support behind conspiracy theories that have enabled her opponents and baffled her fellow GOP lawmakers. She has questioned the official story behind the 9/11 attacks, spread QAnon conspiracy theories, and doubted the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

During the pandemic, Greene’s Twitter account was suspended for stating that people under 65 who are not obese could not be harmed by Covid-19.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) stood by her comments made to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) where she referred to the GOP lawmaker as a “little bitch” on the House floor, adding that it was “unfortunate” Boebert leaked the interaction to the press.

The Daily Beast first reported earlier this week the argument between the conservative firebrands, citing three sources who either heard the conservation or were familiar with the exchange. Greene later confirmed the reporting, but there is no evidence that Boebert was the one responsible for leaking the comments.

During an interview on Media Buzz with Fox News host Howard Kurtz on Sunday, Greene justified the remark by claiming Boebert did not communication with the rest of the GOP caucus about her plans to introduce impeachment articles against President Joe Biden.

“I find it unfortunate that Lauren Boebert leaked that conversation that we had to the press. But once she leaked it out, I had to confirm that that’s in fact, what I said,” Greene told Kurtz. “But here’s the real issue. I’ve introduced articles of impeachment, and each time I do so, along with my other bills, I communicate with all of my Republican colleagues and ask for support by asking their co-sponsorship because I co-sponsor many other Republicans bills.

“I had asked her to co-sponsor my articles of impeachment against Joe Biden on the border, and she never responded and apparently refused to do so,” Green added. “Then when she introduced her own and forced them to the floor with a privileged resolution without even having the courage to talk to any other Republican in our conference before doing so.”

“Yeah, we had a tense conversation when she confronted me about things I had said about it. But this is unfortunate that this becomes public on the House floor,” she concluded.

Since Biden entered office, Greene has  long sought to impeach him, introducing an impeachment resolution the day after he was sworn into office.

Watch above via Fox News.

Former vice president and current 2024 GOP candidate Mike Pence refused to tell Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream whether or not he would pardon Donald Trump if elected because promising that would “assume” his guilt.

Trump was indicted earlier this month on 37 counts by FBI special counsel Jack Smith for his handling of classified material at his Mar-a-Lago estate. If found guilty, the former president could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Various GOP candidates running against Trump have found to pardon him if they are elected to the White House in 2024. However, Trump’s former running mate and VP of four years has refuses to give an exact answer to reporters on this question.

“I would take the pardon authority very seriously. You know, I’ve been a governor. I’ve actually granted pardons to people. And there’s a very careful process for evaluating that.  I would apply that to every single case in that matter,” Pence told Bream.

“I don’t understand why some of the other people running for president in the Republican primary assume that the president will be found guilty. I think it’s terribly premature and it shows really a disrespect for our judicial system. To talk about that now,” He added. “The charges in the indictment are serious and I can’t defend what is alleged. But the president’s entitled to his day in court. I think we need to let the process go forward, let the former president make his case. And for my part, I’m going to stay focused on the challenges facing the American people.”

Pence is currently polling at the bottom of the crowded GOP nominee field for 2024, while Trump, despite his legal troubles still holds a commanding lead of 52.1%, according to Real Clear Politics.

Watch above via Fox News.

Twitter / Daniel Lippman

Conservative firebrand Dan Bongino was photographed over the weekend as he seemed to be thrown out of an Italian restaurant in Palm Beach, Florida.

Politico reported that the former Fox News host was “forcibly removed from Cucina Palm Beach by several restaurant employees” after an incident around midnight on Friday. Reporter Daniel Lippman produced a photo of Bongino being physically ejected from the premises.

The nature of the incident is unclear, though Politico reported that it happened after Bongino ordered bottle service at Cucina. When asked for comment, Bongino told Lippman “That’s an absolutely FASCINATING take on what really happened. Does Politico support physical violence against women? You’ll have to tune in to my podcast on Monday for the real story.” He did not elaborate on why this was relevant.

Bongino parted ways with Fox News back in April, citing failed negotiations for an extension of his contract with the network.

Bongino has also spoken about his difference with Fox about the “vision” of his role there, but he still has his Rumble podcast and his fights with left-wingers on Twitter.

In the past, Donald Trump has wanted the American public to cover him for his legal bills. Now a new report says he’s doing that by taking the money for his legal expenditures from his 2024 presidential campaign.

New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher published a story on Sunday about Trump’s online fundraising, reporting a change they noticed on his website. The change pertains to how much donated funding goes to Trump’s campaign, and how much goes to the political action committee Trump is using to cover his legal costs.

From the Times:

When Mr. Trump kicked off his 2024 campaign in November, for every dollar raised online, 99 cents went to his campaign, and a penny went to Save America.

But internet archival records show that sometime in February or March, he adjusted that split. Now his campaign’s share has been reduced to 90 percent of donations, and 10 percent goes to Save America.

And the existence of the group has allowed Mr. Trump to have his small donors pay for his legal expenses, rather than paying for them himself.

The Times report indicates that the arrangement allows Trump to skirt around the rules declaring that PACs can’t spend money directly on a candidate’s campaign, and a campaign committee can’t directly pay for things for Trump’s personal benefit. The report also says that in the course of the past year, Save America’s coffers were down by over $100 million as it covered Trump and his allies over the course of their legal battles. This was before Trump’s indictments this year, both of which, he has attempted to fundraise off of.

“In February 2022, the PAC announced that it had $122 million in its coffers. By the beginning of 2023, the PAC’s cash on hand was down to $18 million, filings show,” the report says. “The rest had been spent on staff salaries, on the costs of Mr. Trump’s political activities last year — including some spending on other candidates and groups — and in other ways. That included the $60 million that was transferred to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that is supporting Mr. Trump. And more than $16 million went to pay legal bills. Mr. Trump’s rivals are not similarly splitting their online proceeds with an affiliated PAC.”

The report goes on to examine how Trump’s campaign seems to be trying to save money, judging by his attendance at events held by others, plus his lack of large political rallies.

Newsmax host Eric Bolling reported Friday night that Miami Republican Mayor and declared 2024 presidential candidate Francis Suarez was forced to remove video of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson from a campaign ad in order for it to run on the network — a move Carlson biographer Chadwick Moore called “Stalinesque” on Friday’s The Balance.

Bolling talked first with Chapin Fay of SOS America PAC, which created the ad, about what changes were made in order for it to air on Fox News. Fay said that in addition to removing “all images and video of Tucker Carlson,” they had to remove “violent crime scene footage that included guns or shootings, or they wouldn’t air the ad.”

“We revised it and sent them a new ad so we wouldn’t be off the air there,” said Fay, who noted that Newsmax did not request any changes in order to air the ad.

After interviewing Fay, Bolling spoke to Moore about Fox News making the demand.

“A little history here: I — Fox tends to do that. If they bounce someone, if they fire someone or get rid of someone, they scrub them from as many aspects of Fox as they can. Off their website. Are you shocked that they did this? I was shocked that they did this. You know, it seems like they, they want to double and triple down on this firing of Tucker,” said Bolling.

“It’s Stalinesque!” Moore said first. “Didn’t he have people removed out of photos when he didn’t want them pictured anymore? You know, Tucker is Voldemort! It Is he who shall not be named.”

Moore said it was “bizarre” and that he was “surprised they were so direct” with the PAC about removing Carlson from the ad.

Bolling said his former network has a history of “scrubbing” people, including Roger Ailes and himself on anniversaries of the network and the show The Five respectively.

“I was there for six and a half, almost seven years. On their ten year anniversary, they did some look-backs of the first few days and Kimberly Guilfoyle and Eric Bolling were edited out of all of those look-backs,” said Bolling. “It just seems so mean-spirited.”

“It’s so nasty,” Moore agreed.

The full interview with Chapin Fay about the ad:

Watch the clips above via Newsmax.

Fox News guest Rebekah Koffler claimed during an interview with host Eric Shawn on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin worked with Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin to stage the recent armed coup as a “classic false flag.”

Over the last 24 hours, chaos has upended the military and political establishment in Russia after Prigozhin marched his paramilitary group from Ukraine into Russia, taking over two cities and marching his men toward Moscow. In a sudden turn of events, however, Prigozhin reportedly called off the armed coup after negotiations with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

The rebellion represented the largest existential threat to Putin’s regime since he took control of Russia over twenty years ago.

Koffler, an intelligence analyst, claimed during a long-winded nine-minute rant on Fox News that Putin orchestrated the coup to boost his political power in the Russia.

“My intelligence analysis suggests, Eric, that this is a classic false flag operation that’s been orchestrated by Putin and Prigozhin,” Koffler told the cable news host. “Prigozhin is not a stupid man. He’s a highly intelligent formerly convict. He turned his life around from a prisoner to a hot dog stands owner to the owner of a multi-million catering business that served the Kremlin, including Putin himself.”

Koffler notes that the Wagner group 50,000 men in Ukraine while Putin’s National Guard, created in 2016 to put down social unrest, has 340,000 men enlisted into the group and the Wagner forces were being tracked every minute” by the Russian security service.

“So again, what has changed from this in the last few hours? All of a sudden he decided to turn his troops around and made this deal? No, this is all staged,” she added. The analyst then appeared to claim that Putin used the rebellion to boost the mobilizations of recruits for the military.

“Putin wants us to believe that he’s weak, that there’s an ongoing threat of a military insurrection,” Koffler claims. “So this is a pretext to declare martial law, which Putin has already done. He made an amendment today that anybody who is violating the martial law is going to be imprisoned for 30 days. Another very interesting and revealing point is that Putin just authorized that men with a criminal record can join the military.”

“So this is a justification for extra mobilization of the Russian forces to send them to the meat grinder in Ukraine. It is also to demonstrate to President Biden that, no, Russia is not a threat. Russia is actually, you know, involved in its own domestic turmoil. But this is all a classic distraction and classic Putin,” she said.

“What you’re describing is like three dimensional chess. That’s a type of thinking that is just beyond,” Shawn said in response to Koffler.

Near the end of her interview, Koffler predicted that Putin will remain in power and potentially used the coup to get rid of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

“In the meantime, Putin is going to gain momentum, mobilize additional personnel, and re-energize his offensive on Ukraine,” she concluded.

Watch above via Fox News.

Maryland Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin torched ex-President Donald Trump on the House floor with an epic ID intro that included calling him “the twice-impeached-inciter of insurrection-sexual abuser-defamer of women” and more.

During House floor debate that eventually resulted in the censure of California Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, Raskin ripped the proceeding as a distraction from Trump — to whom he referred with a lengthy Game of Thrones-style intro:

Today we meet not to lower the costs of prescription drugs. Nor to expand President Biden’s infrastructure plan, nor to protect the voting rights of the people, or in order to protect the health care choices of women across America. Because we know they’re definitely not interested in that.

Now we meet rather for another stop on the GOP’s endless revenge tour against Democrats who dared to tell the truth about Donald Trump and his repeated sellouts and betrayals of the American people over the last six years. It’s all about Donald Trump tightening his stranglehold over Republicans for the 2024 campaign and driving out anyone who dares to think for himself or herself.

But don’t take my word for it. Just read Friday’s statement by the twice-impeached-inciter of insurrection-sexual abuser-defamer of women and indicted pilferer of national security secrets, war plans and top secret classified documents himself.

On Friday, Trump posted this order to his followers in this unveiled threat to anyone who would dare to defy his control over the GOP. Quote “Any Republican voting against Adam Schiff’s censure or worse, should immediately be primaried,” he wrote.

The Luna resolution is a weapon of mass destruction from Trump’s indictment by a Florida grand jury on 37 federal charges relating to obstruction and unlawful retention of defense information for storing dozens of classified, secret and top secret documents at his Florida resort, in his bathroom, his bedroom and beyond, and then refusing repeatedly for more than a year to return any of these official documents to the archives and the FBI. It’s amazing to me that they have to change the subject from one of Donald Trump’s current offenses against America to one of his older offenses, welcoming Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

CNN anchor Chris Wallace pressed Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker about Hunter Biden’s business dealings, asking if they’re troubling “even if he didn’t break the law.”

After news broke Tuesday morning that President Joe Biden’s only surviving son Hunter has reached a plea deal on three federal charges — two tax misdemeanors and one gun felony — ex-President Donald Trump and many other Republicans immediately complained loudly about the deal.

On this week’s episodes of Wallace’s Max/CNN series Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, Wallace interviewed Senator Booker and Hollywood legend Harrison Ford.

The host took those Republican criticisms to Sen. Booker during their interview, and Booker pushed back.

But Wallace also asked if the allegations about influence peddling are “troubling” even if they didn’t result in charges, and Booker gave several lengthy responses that were, if nothing else, lengthy:

WALLACE: One more question on Hunter Biden though it seems likely that he is going to face no punishment any charges for all of the business dealings that he had for years in which he made a lot of money in China and in Ukraine. Even if he didn’t break the law does it trouble you at all the idea that Hunter Biden was having very lucrative business deals in foreign countries at the same time that his father was the Vice President of the United States. I mean, doesn’t it smack of influence peddling

SEN. BOOKER: Ok at the end of the day I think we have a lot of cleaning up to do of ethics. I think that our American government is losing legitimacy. People are losing their faith in the Supreme Court. In Congress and more. We should be doing sweeping work to put stronger ethics regulations on our governmental entities. I think this is as important to restore the strength of democracy.

WALLACE: So specifically on the question of Hunter Biden, I don’t think there’s any doubt that his name had been Hunter Smith, he wouldn’t have been on the board of Burisma he wouldn’t have been involved in these big, lucrative deal in China. Does that lessen faith in government

SEN. BOOKER: If you love this country, love our democracy, you’re going to do the things not that are going to fall into the typical partisan battles and begin to stop being a partisan and being a patriot. And a patriot means talking not about these ways that pit us against each other. But what are the ways that we should come together as a country and start to say, look at our government, the influence of corporations, the influences of billionaires on our supreme court and say, We need to start talking solutions that can bring us together and not just getting the tit for tat back and forth. That’s going on

Watch above via Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace.

After the Wagner Mercenary group took over the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, civilians began taking to the streets to welcome the new conquerors with food and water.

Rostov is an essential city in the southern part of the country that the Russian military has used to supply units across the border in the Donbass of Ukraine. After mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin announced the city had fallen on Friday, videos on social media begun to show Wagner troops occupying the streets of the city with tanks and military equipment.

The Wagner forces, who represent the biggest threat to President Vladimir Putin‘s regime since 2000, were met with little resistance from the civilian population and were instead given food as well as water.

Watch below:

Locals in Rostov have begun bringing food and drink for Wagner fighters.pic.twitter.com/LmvCS90kwY

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) June 24, 2023

“Why do we water? It’s a humane thing, they look tired, they obviously want food, we just have kind like that, ” one woman said after giving a mercenary member a bottled water. “I’m not the only one giving water, other have brought pirozhki, apples, and crisps. A shop over there is empty, it has nothing, everything was given to the boys.”

“Some are refusing, others are taking. This is just an act of kindness,” she concluded.

Putin denounced the uprising in an address to the nation on Saturday morning as a “stab in the back,” while vowing to punish the organizers of the coup. A large convoy of Wagner military units are currently making their way through the southern highway of Russia towards Moscow, according to multiple outlets.