President Joe Biden falsely claimed during the White House’s Hanukkah reception on Monday that he had “gotten over 100 hostages out” of Gaza and away from Hamas terrorists. The president referenced the horrific and unprovoked attacks perpetrated by Hamas in Israel on October 7th, 2023 — during which more than 1,200 Israelis were murdered and dozens more sexually assaulted, tortured, or kidnapped and taken into Gaza. He then went on to claim credit for getting back more than 100 of the 251 who were taken hostage. WATCH: BREAKING: At the White House Hanukkah reception, Biden claimed he has “gotten over 100 hostages out” from Gaza — which is obviously a lie. pic.twitter.com/5lVDZiVEe0 — Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) December 17, 2024 “The trauma of that day and its aftermath is still raw and ongoing,” Biden said of October 7th. “I’ve gotten over 100 hostages out. I will not stop until I get every single one of them home.” Of the initial 251 hostages taken, 117 have been returned to Israel so far: eight were rescued by Israel Defense Forces; 105 were released as part of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, and four were released by their terrorist captors. Critics responded to Biden’s claim, saying that he was lying to inflate his role in the negotiations that resulted in the release of some hostages and temporary ceasefire agreements between Israel and Hamas. “To be clear, Biden is lying,” Andrew Follett posted. To be clear, Biden is lying. pic.twitter.com/NL1C4pctce — Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) December 17, 2024 “What an insult he always manages to be,” another said. What an insult he always manages to be.? — Marla Hohner (@marlahohner) December 17, 2024 “Wait, what? When did ‘he’ do that?” RedState’s Bonchie asked. Wait, what? When did “he” do that? https://t.co/gezC2itJ4F — Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 17, 2024 “If hostages are released on inauguration day because of Trump’s threats the shameless Biden WH will take full credit for it,” Doug Powers added. If hostages are released on inauguration day because of Trump’s threats the shameless Biden WH will take full credit for it. https://t.co/PDkr57fylW — Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) December 17, 2024 “Disgusting that he’s taking credit for this,” another posted. Disgusting that he’s taking credit for this https://t.co/3vu1hOGcCC — Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) December 17, 2024 Biden raised eyebrows over the weekend, when he claimed at a holiday reception hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that he had run a campaign that was “basically scandal free.” CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Critics corrected the record on that statement as well, noting among other things that Biden had actually been forced out of his own campaign after members of his party realized they could no longer hide his cognitive decline from the people.

Federal law enforcement officials warned the public on Monday to not shine high-powered lasers at flying objects at night as the public increasingly looks for drone activity following recent media reporting. FBI Newark and New Jersey State Police said that there has been “an increase in pilots of manned aircraft being hit in the eyes with lasers because people on the ground think they see an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).” Authorities also said that there has been increased concerns about people firing weapons at what they believe are UAS but, in reality, are manned aircraft. “There could be dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly as UAS,” the statement said. “To improve accuracy and prevent false sightings, a variety of tools and techniques can be used to assist with the visual identification of suspected UAS,” the statement said. “Accurate identification is critical for maintaining safety and ensuring appropriate responses to UAS activity.” CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE The statement said federal, state, and local law enforcement officials were monitoring drone activity every night in the area in response to the drone sightings and that they would “track down operators acting illegally or with nefarious intent and using every available tool and piece of equipment to find the answers the public is seeking.” Authorities encouraged the public to also use publicly available websites and apps that show live flight patterns, satellite movement, and more to hopefully avoid misidentifying objects. pic.twitter.com/ELgIo1gnOt — FBI Newark (@FBINewark) December 16, 2024

CNN suggested on Monday that a segment that was produced by correspondent Clarissa Ward in Syria last week — where her team helped free a man who was locked inside of a jail cell — was false because Ward had been duped. The man “was a former intelligence officer with the deposed Syrian regime, according to local residents, and not an ordinary citizen who had been imprisoned, as he had claimed,” CNN said. Verify-Sy, part of Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network, looked into the man, who identified himself as “Adel Gharbal,” and determined that there was no record of that person existing. Instead, Verify-Sy says it identified the man as “Salama Mohammad Salama,” a man they say was “a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence, notorious for his activities in Homs.” CNN acknowledged that Verify-Sy’s reporting was accurate after the network obtained an image of him from a local resident that showed him on military duty at a government office. The network said that facial recognition showed that the photo was a 99% match with the man who appeared in their segment. They did not release the photo because they wanted to protect the identity of the person who took the photo. However, Verify-Sy published the purported photo: @VeSyria reveals a new photo of Salama Mohammad Salama, a former Air Force Intelligence officer, strengthening evidence of his past activities after his appearance in a CNN report. Read the full story ?https://t.co/5WGHqlGx4I pic.twitter.com/nvSxfvWGPV — تَأكّدْ EN (@VeSyriaE) December 16, 2024 The report said that “multiple residents” confirmed to the network that he was notorious for “extortion and harassment.” “It’s unclear how or why Salama ended up in the Damascus jail, and CNN has not been able to reestablish contact with him,” the report added. “Salama’s current whereabouts are unknown.” Verify-Sy said the residents indicated that the man worked at a checkpoint that was “infamous for its abuses.” The report continues: Abu Hamza reportedly managed several security checkpoints in Homs and was involved in theft, extortion, and coercing residents into becoming informants. According to locals, his recent incarceration—lasting less than a month—was due to a dispute over profit-sharing from extorted funds with a higher-ranking officer. This led to his detention in one of Damascus’s cells, as per neighborhood sources. Despite his seemingly innocent and composed demeanor in the CNN report, Salama has a grim history. He participated in military operations on several fronts in Homs in 2014, killed civilians, and was responsible for detaining and torturing numerous young men in the city without cause or on fabricated charges. Many were targeted simply for refusing to pay bribes, rejecting cooperation, or even for arbitrary reasons like their appearance. These details were corroborated by families of victims and former detainees who spoke with Verify-Sy. CNN said in a statement on Sunday that no one knew that Ward and her team were visiting the prison featured in the report. “The events transpired as they appear in our film,” the network claimed. “The decision to release the prisoner featured in our report was taken by the guard—a Syrian rebel.” “We reported the scene as it unfolded, including what the prisoner told us, with clear attribution,” the statement continued. “We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity. We are continuing our reporting into this and the wider story.” Ward was reporting from a secret prison inside the regime’s Air Force Intelligence headquarters, where she claimed that she was looking for Austin Tice, an American journalist held captive in Syria since 2012. “We don’t find any hints of Tice, but come across something extraordinary,” she claimed as the camera crew and an armed guard — who the network identified as a “Syrian rebel,” many of whom are Islamic terrorists — discovered a prison cell with a blanket inside that was allegedly locked. She claimed the guard made them “turn the camera off while he shoots the lock off the cell door.” Then, despite the alleged danger, Ward and her camera crew entered the cell first ahead of the armed guard. Ward then started calling out in English — in a country where Arabic is the official language — to a person appearing to be hiding under the blanket: “Is there someone there? Is someone there?” The guard approaches the blanket, and at that point, a man emerges from underneath and raises his hands, claiming to be a civilian. The man they found hiding under blankets wore relatively nice clothes, looked fairly clean, and did not appear to be starving. His hair and beard appeared to be decently groomed, and he did not appear to have any visible injuries. He claimed to Ward that he had been locked up for three months and had been without food and water for several days. Ward then jumps in and plays the role of a caretaker: “You’re OK. You’re OK. You’re OK. You’re OK.” She dramatically exclaims that he “Clutches my arm tightly with both hands” as she cries out for water for the man. “Does anyone have any water? Water?” she cries out. “OK. It’s water. It’s water. OK. OK. OK. You’re OK. You’re OK. You’re OK.” Once they brought him outside, Ward and her crew got him a chair set up so they could interview him. She claimed that he was so weak that he could “barely lift [food] to his mouth.” “His body can’t handle it,” she claimed. “OK, you are OK. His captors fled during the fall of Damascus, leaving him with no food or water. That was at least four days ago.” The man claimed that the Mukhabarat Intelligence Services imprisoned him over something on his phone. He claims that he was beaten and kept in the dark the entire time he was in prison. When asked during a follow-up interview on the network what more she knew about the man and how he ended up in prison, Ward claimed: “Well, we don’t know that much because you can see from the report that he’s in a deep state of shock.” WATCH: “You’re okay, you’re okay.” A remarkable moment as CNN’s @clarissaward and her team find a Syrian prisoner left behind in a secret prison, alone and unaware the Assad regime was no more. pic.twitter.com/Cz6TBWHvts — Lauren Cone (@LConeCNN) December 11, 2024

The U.S. military carried out airstrikes against Islamic terrorists on Monday in Syria and Yemen. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) first announced strikes against ISIS in Syria as officials are becoming increasingly worried that the terrorist group could reestablish a caliphate there with the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. The precision airstrikes targeted “known ISIS camps,” CENTCOM said in a statement. At least 12 ISIS terrorists were killed during the operation and damage assessments were underway to determine the overall effectiveness of the strike. “The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, preventing the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek opportunities to reconstitute in central Syria,” the statement said. The strikes were carried out in areas that the Syrians and Russians used to control to prevent ISIS from taking over. “CENTCOM, working with allies and partners in the region, will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla. CENTCOM also targeted Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen on Monday, carrying out CENTCOM Conducts Precision Airstrike Against Iran-Backed Houthi Facility in Yemen “a precision airstrike against a key command and control facility” in Sana’a. “The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” a separate statement said. The strike comes as there have been scores of attacks on merchant and naval vessels traveling around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the last 14 months following Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack in Israel. “The strike reflects CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment to protect U.S. and coalition personnel, regional partners, and international shipping,” the statement added.

A new animated Christmas movie “That’s Christmas,” which is geared towards families with kids, jokes about abortion as it mocks the nativity scene depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Netflix movie — from the Hollywood director of 2003’s “Love Actually,” Richard Curtis — a group of school kids decide to put on a Christmas play complete with three wise women instead of three wise men, and instead of animals, the shepherds herd vegetables, CBN reported. The production opens with one of the kids explaining that the story won’t be “boring,” like Christmas stories they’ve seen in the past. “He [Jesus] wouldn’t have wanted us to do the same boring Christmas story year and year, right parents?” the child asked. “He’d want a strictly vegetarian, multi-cultural fun fest with lots of pop songs and stuff about climate change.” However, the scene that is getting the most attention involves the child playing the role of Mary, Jesus’ mother, who carries a watermelon with a face on it that is supposed to be baby Jesus.  The character Mary sings a solo rendition of Madonna’s 1986 song, “Papa Don’t Preach.” In the song, the pop star is singing about the choice of a teen girl to not abort her child after becoming pregnant. At the end of the song, the child holds up the watermelon, which is then accidentally knocked to the floor by another child, and the insides of the watermelon squirt out all over the audience. After the performance, the parents are asked to share their thoughts, and one says, “I don’t think Jesus and jokes go together, dear.” The movie is described as “an unforgettable Christmas” for the people of Wellington-on-Sea, a fictional seaside British town, where “the worst snowstorm in history alters everyone’s plans — including Santa’s,” the outlet noted. The reviews on Rotten Tomatoes seemed to be mixed, with many who watched it saying it wasn’t for kids. “This movie uses the same concept as Cocomelon,” one person wrote. You’ll never see a shot longer than 6 seconds. Don’t watch with kids.” Another person wrote, “Really poor. It was just a box ticking exercise, we got Santa in there, naughty kid who really is nice, bumbling idiot dads, trunchbull who is nice really, kids left to fend for themselves, etc I think there wasn’t enough made of the main characters of Danny & Sam it seemed a little strained for flow. Certainly my kids weren’t overly impressed. I don’t think it will be one we watch again next year.” Related: The Worst Woke Kids Content That Came Out Since Last Thanksgiving