Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner pressed Nikki Haley over her civil war comments regarding slavery after the former South Carolina claimed only the media cares about her remarks.

During a Wednesday morning interview on The Faulkner Focus, Faulkner noted that Haley’s refusal to talk about slavery when asked about the cause of the civil war has given her Republican opponents “fresh ammunition” to attack her and asked what has she “learned” since the gaffe.

Haley countered that the only ones that have talked about this issue is the media while noting that she tore down the Confederate flag from the state capital following the 2015 Charleston Church shooting.

HALEY: I’ll remind you that I was the southern governor that brought down the Confederate flag after we had a horrific shooting of nine African-Americans that were killed in a church. But, Harris, really, the media is the only one that has talked about this issue.

FAULKNER: No, that’s actually not true.

HALEY: Not one person on the ground in Iowa. Not one person on the ground in New Hampshire or Iowa are talking about it. I’ve done multiple town halls. We have done 150 town halls. I answer every question from Republicans, from Democrats or independents, and I’m happy to talk about this. We have a deep history in South Carolina when it comes to what we’ve dealt with, with slavery, when it comes to the fact that I had to deal with a shooting by, you know, an unarmed Black man who was shot seven times in the back with a from a dirty cop, We passed the first body camera bill in the country. We brought down the Confederate flag. We didn’t have riots. We had vigils. We didn’t have protests. We had prayer. And South Carolina got through what was a very heartbreaking and controversial time, not by demonizing each other, but by moving together and bringing out the best in people to go forward.

FAULKNER: And all of those are bright points. And all of those might have been things that you said at that moment. But when asked on a re-ask by and look, others have even said that was a Democratic plant who was in in that town hall, I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But others have said that. You have said that, in fact, whatever it’s a question put to you. And on a re-ask, “what would you have me say about slavery” was your answer. Clearly, you have plenty to say about slavery. I mean, the Civil War, April 12th, 1861, started in your state at Fort Sumter. I would imagine you would have a lot to say about it. A former HUD deputy secretary under President Trump, someone who’s not working in the media currently, but often a guess. Shermichael Singleton has said this about your comments on slavery in the Civil War. Quote, She should have been able to answer the blunt question and move on. She had a chance to be competitive even though she was always likely to lose the nomination. However, that’s over. Now she’s toast. Now, I do want to say he does appear on radio. I understand he might even have a radio show. I want my team to assure me up on that. But in the meantime, what do you say?

The former South Carolina governor said that she’s “moving on” from the controversy and that her record on regarding Southern history stands for itself.

“I will tell you that people in South Carolina know me. And it’s amazing how you’re going to take one question out of 150 where I said immediately, yes, I should have said slavery. That’s a given, 150 town halls I’ve done here. And so one question. I should have said slavery. I didn’t do it. I immediately the very next day came out and said I was wrong. I’ll do that. We’re moving on,” she concluded.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

There's a glitch in the PlayStation Matrix that could cause you to lose access to games you've paid for. If you've bought the PS5 upgrade for any of your PS4 games, you should avoid installing those titles via Sony's PS Plus subscription service. A Reddit user discovered that if you do this, you lose access to the PS5 upgrade entirely if your PS Plus subscription lapses.

What's going on with PlayStation upgrades?

If you purchase a PS Plus subscription, it's pretty tempting to claim the PS5 versions of games you already own on the service. After all, it's free, and it means you can avoid using the game's original PS4 disc in the first place. This creates the problem, however. Once you claim the PS Plus version of any game, it appears to override the purchased PS5 upgrade. If your subscription lapses at any point, you will lose access to the upgrade you paid for, and be stuck with the PS4 version only.

The PS Plus subscription service, which is like Netflix for PlayStation games, launched after Sony brought in the PS5 upgrade purchase option. This problem appears to be one of those edge cases that slipped through the cracks. Hopefully, Sony will update its PS5 software to fix the problem ASAP.

How to protect your purchased PlayStation upgrades

At the moment, the only solution to protect your upgrades is to avoid installing the PS Plus version of these games, and continue to play them via the PS5 upgrade you've already purchased. Most of us, including the aforementioned Reddit user, don't enjoy repeatedly inserting the disc to access the PS5 upgrade. Even if you bought the PS5 upgrade to any game such as Gran Turismo 7, God of War Ragnarok, or Death Stranding, you'll still have to insert the PS4 disc to access the upgraded version if you claim the game. You've been warned.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper did a shot on live television to celebrate the new year, and according to Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), this is a clear sign that America is suffering under President Joe Biden’s policies.

While discussing the economy under Biden’s administration, which is actually making slow but steady progress, Fox Business host Cheryl Casone asked Cammack for her take. And with a straight face, she dragged CNN’s ratings and their star anchor into her predictable criticism of the Democratic president.

After Casone played a clip of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve host Ryan Seacrest talking to President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden about their reflections on 2023, with the president celebrating 14 million new jobs and his wishes for a “healthy, happy, and safe new year,” Cammack immediately dismissed the optimistic message as “tone deaf”:

Well, Happy New Year, and wow, yikes. Just watching that with Ryan Seacrest, it just… It’s uncomfortable because obviously it is another example of a tone-deaf White House on so many issues. They have ignored the everyday American people. They have said that the border is secure. The border is not secure. We have historic numbers every single month, breaking records of illegals from over 151 different nations coming here.

You can’t buy a house if you’re a millennial because you’re, you just don’t have the funds to do it because inflation has wiped out your savings, your ability to purchase everyday goods and services. If you’re on a fixed income, you have it even tougher. Not to mention the fact that we have an opioid crisis that is killing over 100,000 people every single year, a crime wave that has gripped the country.

Nothing is better under Joe Biden’s America. Heck, even Anderson Cooper is doing shots on live television. And I think that speaks to both CNN’s ratings as well as what’s going on in America today.

Going by the other clips from Cooper’s New Year’s Eve coverage, Daddy and his juice seemed to be having a great time, unless he’s just giggling through all that pain.

Watch the video above via Fox Business.

Winter has officially locked its arms around us with its icy embrace, but there are a few ways to make this frosty season more bearable. One of my favorite winter-coping treats is a steamy mug of thick, creamy hot chocolate. I use regular boxed cocoa mix most of the time, but one little trick allows me to make a hot chocolate that rivals even the most bougie cafe’s drinking chocolate: I make my cocoa with cornstarch. 

Cornstarch is a versatile and forgiving thickener you can easily incorporate into your cooking repertoire. You don’t need much; just a teaspoon or two can be enough to help suspend ingredients, like melted chocolate with low-fat milk or whisked eggs in egg drop soup. The only thing you have to be aware of is controlling when you activate the starch’s thickening properties. 

Cornstarch is a super-fine powder you can buy in the baking aisle of most grocery stores, but you can’t simply plop a spoonful into boiling soup or hot cocoa. Cornstarch will gelatinize in temperatures just below boiling (starting around 145°F, and reaching full potential at about 203°F), but if you don’t mix the cornstarch with another ingredient to disperse the powder, you could get lumps when you add the boiling liquid. Avoid this by either making a “slurry” with the cornstarch and a cold liquid (cold liquid won’t start the gelatinization process), or mix the dry cornstarch with another powder or granulated mix, like sugar, or hot chocolate mix. 

I respect a scratch-made hot cocoa powder mix as much as the next person, but, personally, I’m crushing the store-bought boxed pouches this winter. Luckily, you can use this cornstarch trick with any version of hot chocolate to give it a more luxurious and thick consistency. 

How to make thicker hot chocolate from a store-bought mix

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

For powdered mix, add the cornstarch directly to the powdered ingredients, and whisk these dry ingredients together thoroughly for about 30 seconds. There should be no identifiable bits or clumps of white cornstarch hiding anywhere. Then heat up your liquid of choice to boiling, or near boiling. I usually use a mixture of water and almond milk, but with this trick you can use water alone and it still tastes decadent. I heat up my electric kettle of water until boiling and immediately pour it into my cornstarch spiked powdered mixture. Whisk it in and the mixture will be smooth and chocolatey with that cafe-worthy silken consistency.  I use between one and two teaspoons of cornstarch for every six ounces of liquid, depending on how luscious I want my drink.

How to make thick hot chocolate from scratch

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

You can also use cornstarch to thicken stove-top hot cocoas, or, if you’re looking to smother yourself in comfort, drinking chocolates. Instead of mixing the cornstarch into the dry ingredients, because there may not be any, make a cornstarch slurry. For a cup of milk or water, pour three-quarters of it into a small pot. Turn the heat on medium-low.

While that heats up, with the other quarter cup of liquid, make a slurry. I use a teaspoon and a half for one cup of liquid if the recipe has chocolate in it. If the recipe uses cocoa powder, I’ll use two teaspoons of cornstarch. Add the cornstarch directly to the small amount of liquid and stir it until dissolved. Once the pot of liquid begins to boil, stir in the cornstarch slurry. The milk will thicken slightly within 10 to 20 seconds. Turn the heat off and whisk in the other ingredients until fully combined. 

The following recipe is for a rich, decadent cup of drinking chocolate. Although any chocolate chips or chunks will work, I use slightly better quality chocolate than TollHouse for this recipe. Often the melting point of bar chocolate or Ghirardelli chips is lower, so you won’t have to work as hard to whisk the mixture into a thick, silken chocolate potion. 72% chocolate will create a velvety, bitter chocolate drink, but if you think it should be sweeter, simply stir in a spoonful of sugar or honey directly into your mug to adjust. 

Easy Drinking Chocolate Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cold liquid (water, milk, or a combination), divided

• 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

• ⅓ cup (2 ounces) good quality chocolate chips

• Pinch salt

• 1 tablespoons sugar (optional, if your chocolate is very bitter)

1. Divide the cold liquid. Three quarters into a small pot over medium-low heat, and one quarter of the liquid in a small bowl with the cornstarch. While the pot heats, stir the cornstarch and water to dissolve it fully.

2. Once the milk begins to bubble strongly around the edges, stir in the cornstarch mixture. Stir continuously until it thickens, about 10 to 20 seconds. Turn off the heat and add the salt and chocolate chips. Let the mixture sit for one minute to soften the chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Taste the drinking chocolate. Add sugar if desired, and enjoy immediately.

A Fox News guest slammed minimum wage increases taking effect in 25 states this year, claiming that the measures will lead to job cuts and costly fast food.

Leading the way is Washington state, whose minimum wage ticked up to $16.28 an hour in 2024. A minimum wage worker making that amount while working 40 hours a week would earn $33,862 in a year.

That figure is too daunting for Brandon Arnold of the National Taxpayers Union – a conservative nonprofit that has received funding from the Charles G. Koch Foundation.

Appearing on Fox News on Monday, Arnold said the minimum wage hikes will weaken the job market and potentially prompt McDonald’s franchises to raise the cost of a Big Mac to $15:

As [employers] start to see these labor costs increase, they may not lay people off immediately. But when times get tough, they’re gonna have to make changes. They’re either gonna have to raise prices, start to reduce those labor costs or a combination of both. And that’s not fair to those employees that are getting laid off, nor is it fair to the customers that are all of the sudden paying 12, $15 for a Big Mac.

As of July, the average cost of a Big Mac in the United States was $5.58.

He went on to say that small businesses won’t be able to afford to comply with new minimum wage laws.

“So, you’re gonna see [a] 10, 12, 15% reduction in the number of jobs available,” he continued. “All of those people would much rather be working for , eight, nine, $10 an hour than to be on the unemployment line.”

A worker making $8 an hour while working 40 hours a week would earn $16,640 for the year.

Watch above via Fox News.

Jim Schultz, who served as an associate White House counsel under Don McGahn for former President Donald Trump, predicted that his old boss would lose his claim to immunity on CNN Monday.

Asked about Trump’s argument that he is immune from criminal prosecution for acts he committed during his time in office, Schultz predicted that Special Counsel Jack Smith would “swiftly” get the better of Trump on this point.

“So Jack Smith has a winner on this one, right? I do not believe that the Supreme Court — it is now, the Supreme Court rejected the idea of expediting this — but it still goes to the D.C. Circuit Court, and it’s common knowledge in the legal community, D.C. Circuit Court is kind of the warm-up act for the Supreme Court,” argued Schultz.  “A lot of Supreme Court justices have come from the D.C. Circuit and this this this is the right tribunal to be hearing it. And I think in this instance, the D.C. Circuit Court is going to act swiftly, and I think they’re going to knock down this immunity claim, you know, very swiftly.”

Trump has insisted that he cannot be prosecuted for the actions he took in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

“I wasn’t campaigning, the Election was over. I was doing my duty as President to expose and further investigate a Rigged and Stolen Election. It was my obligation to do so, and the proof found is voluminous and irrefutable,” he argued on Truth Social on Christmas Eve. “Therefore, among other reasons, of course I am entitled to IMMUNITY. ADDITIONALLY, I DID NOTHING WRONG. Stop the Witch Hunt NOW!”

Smith has disputed those arguments, submitting in a recent filing that if the court accepts Trump’s “broad immunity theory,” it “would grant immunity from criminal prosecution to a President who accepts a bribe in exchange for directing a lucrative government contract to the payer; a President who instructs the FBI Director to plant incriminating evidence on a political enemy; a President who orders the National Guard to murder his most prominent critics; or a President who sells nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary, because in each of these scenarios, the President could assert that he was simply executing the laws; or communicating with the Department of Justice; or discharging his powers as Commander-in-Chief; or engaging in foreign diplomacy.”

Award-winning journalist Ben Collins, a senior reporter in the investigations department at NBC News, has more hardware to display on the shelf today in honor of his less than prolific 2023 output.

Collins wrote just four stories for his employer in 2023, and consequently has been recognized by the Washington Free Beacon for still managing to collect a paycheck.

“We’re no fans of socialism here at the Washington Free Beacon, but the idea of sitting on your ass all day and letting the cash roll in is the kind of European tradition we can get behind. And no one did it better this year than NBC reporter Ben Collins,” declared the Beacon in an article announcing that he had won one of its tongue-in-cheek “Man of the Year” awards.

The Beacon continued with no shortage of sarcasm:

As of this writing, Ben has not filed a story in 78 days. Before then, he published a roughly 400 word piece entitled “Fake Picture of Explosion at Pentagon Spooks Twitter” in May. In total, Collins only wrote four stories where his name was the only bylined author (another of which was called “Cat and Dog Torture Videos Litter Twitter, Adding to Concerns About Moderation”—the Free Beacon could not confirm any sightings of these videos).

We’re told Ben is still employed at NBC, although none of his colleagues we spoke with seemed to have any idea what he does other than cry on Twitter all day. But the joke’s on them: Ben is still getting paid.

At some point this year Ben’s beat changed from “disinformation” to “investigations.” So far he hasn’t broken the next Pentagon Papers, but his liberal sugar daddies at Comcast Corporation don’t seem to mind.

Collins has long been the subject of mockery on the right for his bias and emotional outbursts online.

After noting that Collins had professed to be considering leaving journalism even though he didn’t “have skills or family connections or money or anything,” the Beacon concluded by suggesting he remain right were he is.

“We don’t know about Ben’s family or personal finances, but we certainly can’t disagree about his lack of skills. But for someone with absolutely no ability, Ben has found the perfect gig,” it declared. “Don’t give up Ben, you have a whole lot of nothing to look forward to. Only now, when you do nothing, you’ll do it as a Free Beacon Man of the Year.”