“It felt wild to see this cephalopod!"

MSNBC political analyst and podcast Alex Wagner joined CBS’s Stephen Colbert on The Late Show on Wednesday for a truly wild two-segment interview on everything from foreign policy to the No Kings rallies to the government shutdown. Colbert started off innocently enough as he kicked off the interview by asking, “I want to get into the politics in a second… What’s got your attention other than politics? What are you watching and or listening to?” Wagner claimed that, “I am watching The Diplomat on Netflix because its—I love Keri Russell and she’s a better diplomat than Jared Kushner, so that’s a break from reality.”     Kushner is arguably the most successful American diplomat of the 21st century. He negotiated the Abraham Accords and then got the Gaza ceasefire deal the left spent the last two years desperately claiming they wanted. Nothing personal against Keri Russell, but she hasn’t done either of those things. Later, Colbert turned to No Kings, “Many voters and even politicians have been angry with what they perceive as the lack of flight of the Democratic Party this time around. Some people have left the party. What do you make of the state of Democratic Party right now? Do you think—did No Kings have significant meaning to you? That wasn't organized by the Democrats It was organized by the No Kings, which is—” Wagner interrupted to claim that if a group calls itself No Kings, it really must believe it no kings, “People who don't want, you know, a kingdom, a monarchy in the United States.” Most people are old enough to remember President Obama huffing about his pen and phone or to have read a book about the history of the American left being big fans of executive power for over a century. Still, Colbert agreed with Wagner, “Exactly. That really wasn’t really a left-right thing. It was an autocrat-non-autocrat.” Wagner then heaped more praise on the protestors, “But we got to take the wins when we get them and when you have a march that's the largest public protest in 55 years that is a win for democracy. That is a citizenry that is alive and awake and engaged and that is foundational to American democracy as much as anything else is. So, that is a big deal. And I’m, honestly, I get it, it happened five days ago and, like, democracy has been further shredded since then but take that moment and put it in your pocket and remember the people still care.” This time, it was Colbert doing the interrupting as he couldn’t resist throwing around the left’s favorite political insult, “Right. And you’re not alone because a fascist wants you to think that you are alone and you’re the only one who’s upset.” Wagner agreed and while Democrats try to insist they are not responsible for the ongoing government shutdown, she praised Democrats for shutting down the government, “And the other piece is I think you are seeing, perhaps a little bit too late for a lot of people, but nonetheless you are seeing a Democratic Party that is united in principle in a really serious showdown with this Republican administration, shutting down the government, because they care about Americans having access to health care. They care that the sickest and the weakest among us do not have the very safety net that keeps them alive shredded. I think that is so admirable and it's a set of cajones I did not know congressional Democrats had. So, like, kudos to that.” Meanwhile, back in the real world, Democrats are actually fighting to protect Obamacare subsidies for rich people because the Biden-era expanded benefits removed the income caps on who is eligible for such subsidies. Here is a transcript for the October 22-taped show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 10/23/2025 12:19 AM ET STEPHEN COLBERT: I want to get into the politics in a second— ALEX WAGNER: Okay. COLBERT: —but let's just start with an amuse-bouche, what’s got your attention—a sorbet— WAGNER: Yes. I like it. A palate cleanser before we eat. COLBERT: —What’s got your attention other than politics? What are you watching and or listening to? WAGNER: Well, I am watching The Diplomat on Netflix because its—I love Keri Russell, and she’s a better diplomat than Jared Kushner, so that’s a break from reality. … 12:28 AM ET COLBERT: Many voters and even politicians have been angry with what they perceive as the lack of flight of the Democratic Party— WAGNER: Yeah. COLBERT: — this time around. Some people have left the party. What do you make of the state of the Democratic Party right now? Do you think—did No Kings have significant meaning to you? That wasn't organized by the Democrats.  WAGNER: No. COLBERT: It was organized by the No Kings, which is— WAGNER: People who don't want, you know, a kingdom, a monarchy in the United States. COLBERT: Exactly. That really wasn’t really a left-right thing.  WAGNER: No, but— COLBERT: It was an autocrat-non-autocrat. WAGNER: But we got to take the wins when we get them, and when you have a march that's the largest public protest in 55 years, that is a win for democracy. That is a citizenry that is alive and awake and engaged and that is foundational to American democracy as much as anything else is. So, that is a big deal. And I’m, honestly, I get it, it happened five days ago, and, like, democracy has been further shredded since then, but take that moment and put it in your pocket and remember the people still care. COLBERT: Right. And you’re not alone— WAGNER: And you're not alone. COLBERT: — because a fascist wants you to think that you are alone— WAGNER: Exactly. COLBERT: — and you’re the only one who’s upset. WAGNER: Exactly. And— COLBERT: Pardon my pointing. WAGNER: — And the other piece is I think you are seeing, perhaps a little bit too late for a lot of people, but nonetheless you are seeing a Democratic Party that is united in principle in a really serious showdown with this Republican administration, shutting down the government, because they care about Americans having access to health care. They care that the sickest and the weakest among us do not have the very safety net that keeps them alive shredded. I think that is so admirable, and it's a set of cajones I did not know congressional Democrats had. So, like, kudos to that. 

After years of contending with the Biden White House and its anti-free speech Big Tech collaborators, free speech defenders face an administration far friendlier to their values and, as a result, a wildly different social media landscape.  During this 21st annual Free Speech Week, the Media Research Center proudly honored Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk as the sole winner of its 2025 MRC Free Speech Award for his dedication and for giving his life for American values. In addition, the MRC has recognized Trump officials and would also like to underscore the hard work and dedication of public and foreign advocates, legal officers and individuals in the legislature who have continued the fight for free speech.   In particular, members of the legislature have defunded Biden's censorship initiatives and blocked heinous anti-free speech legislation. They have also moved to shut down emerging threats, targeting foreign efforts to force American tech companies to silence Americans.  Of course, recent developments have taken the heat off of Congress. Big Tech companies responded to President Donald Trump’s victory by moving from open censorship to less obvious methods, such as presenting their users with AI chatbots and news aggregators that bury or ignore media to the right of MSNBC. Congress needs to be on the lookout for algorithmic bias, accomplishing much the same effect as the censorship of old: no one can see what conservatives post.  Trump’s AI action plan has prohibited federal contracts for Big Tech companies with woke and discriminatory AI models. But Congress still has its work cut out for it. Friends of free speech in Congress need to fight any attempts to force or allow Big Tech companies to enter into anti-competitive contracts with media sources to train their models. At the same time, Congress must hold Big Tech companies accountable, while continually looking for ways to ensure that these social media behemoths do not choke the life out of disfavored publications. Free speech warriors have beaten back widespread attempts to delete and ban speech that leftists hate. Now the job before Congress is to prevent aggregators, platforms, and chatbots from simply doing the same in the shadows, hiding the content leftist companies are now seemingly afraid to ban.  Going forward, these are the men and women who stood out in 2025 and who Americans can trust to fight the more insidious forms of censorship that Big Tech is moving towards.  The MRC is proud to recognize the following members of Congress for their actions in defense of Americans’ free speech rights: House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole For the second year in a row, Chairman Cole has fought valiantly to ensure that government appropriations cannot be redirected to platforms using censorship tools like NewsGuard and Ad Fontes.  Congressman Brandon Gill Congressman Gill has been a stalwart champion to end federal subsidies to media outlets that have used taxpayer dollars to silence conservative voices, including NPR and PBS. In addition, Congressman Gill has shown exceptional talent at committee hearings in highlighting the absurdity and extremism of the left’s censors.   Congresswoman Harriet Hageman Congresswoman Hageman has no equal when it comes to defending free speech rights. This Congress, she has again continued her quest to enact the First Amendment Accountability Act, which would allow victims of censorship to seek justice against the bureaucrats who unconstitutionally silenced them.  Sen. Bill Hagerty Senator Hagerty’s time in the Senate has been spent protecting Americans’ First Amendment liberties, leading efforts to reform Section 230, curb government abuse, combating China’s threat to our civil liberties, and empowering President Trump to complete his mission of restoring free speech.  House Speaker Mike Johnson Speaker Mike Johnson is the staunchest defender of free speech rights ever to serve as Speaker of the House. He has fought to end the Biden-era censorship initiatives, ended federal subsidies to media outlets that used taxpayer dollars to silence conservative voices, and made a goal-line stand against Blumenthal’s censorship bill, even after lame duck Senate democrats mounted a last-minute push in the final weeks of the Biden administration.  House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan Chairman Jordan has worked tirelessly and forcefully to uncover and document the conspiracy between the Biden administration and several Big Tech companies to censor American speech. He also fought to keep foreign censors from targeting Americans by requiring American social media companies to report to the House Judiciary Committee when they are pressured by foreign entities to censor information.  Sen. Mike Lee Senator Mike Lee, who held the line against the Blumenthal censorship bill, has continued to be one of Congress’s most vocal advocates for First Amendment rights and liberties, also fighting to defund and shutter the anti-free speech Global Engagement Center.  Sen. Eric Schmitt Sen. Schmitt, who took his fight with the jawboning Biden administration to the Supreme Court (Missouri v. Biden), has been outstanding in 2025 as well. Senator Schmitt continued his work of highlighting and investigating the rampant government censorship that occurred under the Biden administration. His work is critical to ensuring this type of censorship never happens again. In addition, Senator Schmitt worked to cut off the subsidization of fake news outlets NPR and PBS, which had long been zealous advocates of censorship.

Let’s hear a loud, soldier’s “HOOAH” for the fight against Mother Nature! At least, that’s what a nutty op-ed from The Hill is suggesting for top brass at the United States military.  William Becker -- executive director for the eco-extremist Presidential Climate Action Project, obviously unaffiliated with the White House  — went on a cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs rant against the U.S. military’s lackluster approach to taking down the climate change boogeyman. “Climate change threatens national security — how are the generals responding,” whined Becker in his October 20 headline.  Presuming to speak for climate-conscious military leaders, Becker pontificated how “America’s military and intelligence leaders know that [President Donald] Trump is jeopardizing national security by dismissing climate change as a hoax.” Climate change is a "threat multiplier." The Left makes climate panic the primary mission of every fraction of government, including the Pentagon: Trump mocks and denies climate change.  He has defunded climate science, shut down USAID, cut billions from foreign aid, withdrawn America from the Paris Climate Agreement, accelerated U.S. production of fossil fuels, used the threat of trade tariffs to extort other countries into buying U.S. oil and gas, He has and wasted the armed force’s resources by deploying them against Democrat-run states and cities to fight a nonexistent “enemy from within.” Yet, in terms of national security, the “enemy within” is within the White House.   Being a "climate denier" is treasonous? Is Becker suggesting U.S. generals should commit treason and willfully circumvent their Commander-In-Chief? This is the same goofball who boasted in a 2017 HuffPost blog that he was “Proud To Be An 'Alarmist.’” No kidding. What’s humorous is the editor’s note now attached to his blog after HuffPost did away with its free-for-all contributors program: “This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.” Just amazing.   Becker made a deranged prediction of military Armageddon should the U.S. military not take up arms now against South Park’s ManBearPig: Those countries include the U.S. At a minimum, America’s military forces will be diverted to conduct humanitarian missions in other nations destabilized by climate impacts. In the worst case, the U.S. could be drawn into wars within and between other countries. Holy mackerel. Old habits die hard?  For evidence, Becker cited U.S. White House agency reports between 2012-2016, during the term of the climate-obsessed Obama administration. Becker didn’t mention former President Obama’s name at all, of course, since doing so would rip the objectivity of his evidence apart. But Becker continued ranting like an eco-doom prophet: Climate change poses a direct threat to many of the U.S. military’s 750 installations across 80 countries. Many are within reach of intensifying coastal storms and sea-level rise, and are located in countries expected to be hit hard by climate impacts …  How should America’s top military officers and intelligence officials respond? Certainly not with stony silence. The only thing U.S. generals should do in response to Becker’s rambling screed is laugh it all the way to the garbage.

POLL: What was the worst media take of the week? (Vote below)     NOMINEES:    1. Elie Mystal: Chief Justice John Roberts Is the “Biggest Enemy Towards Black People” Since Dred Scott Decision  “John Roberts has been an enemy of the Voting Rights Act – as you pointed out in your opening – for his entire career. John Roberts is the biggest enemy towards black people that this court has seen since Chief Justice Roger Taney, who authored the Dred Scott decision….Whenever black people are asking to have equal representation….in this country, John Roberts is the man standing at the door telling us no.”— The Nation’s justice correspondent Elie Mystal on MSNBC’s Velshi, October 19.    2. Robert De Niro Rages Against Donald Trump and His Jewish “Nazi” Stephen Miller Host Jonathan Capehart: “You said earlier, Mr. De Niro, about the President, he will not leave the White House. This is where you and I are on the same wavelength.”Actor Robert De Niro: “No way. He will not. We see it, we see it, we see it every –  we see it all the time. He will not want to leave. He set it up with his, I guess he’s the [Joseph] Goebbels of the cabinet, Stephen Miller. He’s a, he’s a Nazi. Yes, he is, and he’s Jewish, and he should be ashamed of himself.”— MSNBC’s The Weekend, October 19.    3. Sunny Hostin: Trump’s Rise Due to “Racism and White Supremacy”  “Trump’s rise – in part – was based in racism and white supremacy. And that is the truth!” — Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, October 16.     Funded by James P. Jimirro

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