Humiliation Rituals Abound

For politicians, scandal and controversy can be bad. But becoming the object of ridicule can be even more devastating. So if Kamala Harris happens to read these words, we'd advise her NOT to watch CNN's 7 am Christmas Day hour. What she'd find under the tree would be something worse than a lump of coal. It'd be a steaming pile of . . . ridicule.  It's almost 2026, so why not a horse race segment on 2028 presidential contenders? After former Biden aide Meghan Hays and Republican strategist Melik Abdul named their favorites, Abdul observed:  "Notably, who we're not talking about: Kamala Harris." Host John Berman put it to Hays: "Why aren't we talking about her, Meghan?"  Abdul was manifestly amused to see Hays thusly put on the spot, and even Berman couldn't suppress a grin. Hays proceeded to engage in an extended bout of nervous laughter. She questioned whether Harris would run, and was dubious about the existence of a Harris base or her ability to raise money. On second thought, perhaps Kamala should view the segment—and draw the appropriate conclusion from it. There are 23 universities in the California state system. Surely at least one of them must have an opening for a new president!  Note: Abdul said that the potential Dem candidates that Republicans should most fear are Newsom and Shapiro. Abdul praised Newsom as "stately." I'd call him slick. He peremptorily dismissed the chances of Wes Moore and JB Pritzker, saying of the former that "no one cares about the governor of Maryland," and that Pritzker's money "won't matter." Earlier in the segment, Berman called attention to Ron DeSantis' twitter [X] feed in the last six months, pointing out that he's posting about sports, music, and offering "unplugged commentary." Berman suggested that either "this guy has no more Fs to give," or that he wants to show a more relatable side of himself in preparation for a potential '28 run.  Here's the transcript. CNN News Central 12/25/25 7:33 am ET JOHN BERMAN: One curveball here, Meghan.  I'm a little bit obsessed with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his Twitter feed over the last six months. Because, look, he ran for president and did not do well, right? And I think a lot of people saw him as stiff, unapproachable, prickly.  So on social media the last several months, he's tweeting about music. He's tweeting about sports. He's offering sort of unplugged commentary. I don't know if you've had a chance to see it, But it's the kind of stuff that makes you think either this guy has no Fs left to give, or, he thinks I need to show a different side of myself if I'm going to have a future in politics.  . . . Melik, who do you think Republicans fear the most?  MELIK ABDUL: I think that Republicans, well, who they should fear the most, I would argue it's between Shapiro and Gavin Newsom.  You remember the Fox News debate between Gavin Newsom or Ron DeSantis? Gavin Newsom actually performed very well. And even though he's from California, he is very, he looks the part. He's very stately. And those types of things matter from an optics perspective. But also, Shapiro being from a battleground state. I think that that is something that we also have to watch. I don't think that Wes Moore, he's the governor of Maryland. No one cares about the governor of Maryland. I don't think Pritzker, he has a lot of money. It won't matter.  I think that the two standouts will be Gavin Newsom, and Shapiro. And notably, who we're not talking about, Kamala Harris.  BERMAN: Why aren't we talking about her, Meghan? [Abdul chuckles.] MEGHAN HAYS: [Nervous laughter] Uh, [Abdul laughs out loud] you know, it's interesting [more nervous laughter.]  I just am not sure [Abdul having a ball, continues to chuckle] she, I don't know that she's going to run. I know she talks about leaving the door open, but I think running, you have to have a base. You have to be able to raise a lot of money, and I think there's a lot of people in the race, and I'm not sure that that's a path she wants to take again. But, you know, again, there's probably going to be 20, 25 candidates. So, the water is warm. 

The social media team for the Los Angeles Chargers was reviled by many for apparently editing a video to make it appear as if an opponent team's player had yelled a racial epithet on the field.The video was posted to the X platform but deleted after Cooper Beebe of the Dallas Cowboys criticized the post and denied the suggestion that he had used a racist slur.Beebe's words were bleeped out, which he said gave the false impression that he had said something racist."Imagine bleeping out what I said to make me seem racist. You guys are POS," Beebe posted in response.Beebe explained that he was calling out a play on the field but was accused of using an expletive. The exchange led to a penalty on the team and more trash-talking."He was talking s**t to me," said Chargers player Daiyan Henley in the video. "He called me a bad word. I don’t know what he said — he said something, he pointed at me, [and] he called me a bad word. That’s called karma. Instant karma."Beebe's words were bleeped out, which he said gave the false impression that he had said something racist. He later deleted his message from social media.The Chargers' social media team was castigated by many for the post."So we just move on pretending like the [C]hargers twitter account didn’t delete a tweet accusing [C]ooper [B]eebe of being racist?" read one very popular response. RELATED: Christian NFL star apologizes for reference to kids' game that likely left LGBTQ crowd seething "Cooper Beebe is literally one of the nicest people in the league. @chargers Stop being mad cuz you have like 5 total fans and a stadium nobody likes," read another response.The Chargers went on to beat Dallas by a score of 34 to 17 in the game depicted in the video.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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