WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – The chair of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday denied the government had censored CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and confirmed that the FCC is investigating ABC’s “The View.” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said Colbert could have run his interview with Texas State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, if the Late Show complied with equal time rules by airing interviews with competing Democrats or choosing not to air the interview in Texas. Talarico said President Donald Trump’s FCC had tried to censor the interview and “banned” him from the broadcast. The Republican-led FCC said last month that daytime and late-night TV talk shows are no longer considered “bona fide” news programs that are exempt from requirements to give equal air time to views of opposing candidates. For decades talk shows had been exempt from those rules. Colbert posted his Talarico interview on YouTube, where the video had been viewed more than 6 million times as of Wednesday afternoon. “There was no censorship here at all,” Carr said.”Every single broadcaster in this country has an obligation to be responsible for the programming that they choose to air, and they’re responsible whether it complies with FCC rules or not, and it doesn’t, and those individual broadcasters are also going to have a potential liability.” Carr also confirmed that the FCC had opened an enforcement action into whether the ABC daytime talk show violated equal time rules after an earlier interview with Talarico. On Monday, Colbert said the network’s lawyers barred him from airing an interview with Talarico. Colbert noted that the FCC issued new guidance on January that said daytime and late-night talk shows were not exempt from equal time rules for candidate interviews. “Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV,” Colbert said on Monday. Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the guidance and said the agency was violating the free speech rights of broadcasters. “The FCC has no lawful authority to pressure broadcasters for political purposes or to create a climate that chills free expression,” she said. Trump has repeatedly pushed Carr to take action against U.S. broadcasters and criticized networks for what he views as one-sided coverage. On Tuesday, CBS said it offered “legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.” Carr responded to Colbert’s criticism, saying the late-night host had “what he probably views as a long and distinguished career in the limelight, sees that that limelight is fading, is coming to an end. That’s got to be a difficult time for him. …That doesn’t change the facts of what happened here.” Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and David Gregorio The post Trump Official Says US Did Not Censor Colbert Interview but Is Probing ABC’s ‘The View’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

This Post is for Paid Supporters Reclaim your digital freedom. Get the latest on censorship and surveillance, and learn how to fight back. SUBSCRIBE Already a supporter? Sign In. (If you’re already logged in but still seeing this, refresh this page to show the post.) The post The Billion Dollar Business Of Breaking Into Your Pocket appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Being So Evil Is a Democratic Party Superpower

On Monday, ABC’s Good Morning America circled the drain of morality by gushing over former American Idol contestant David Archuleta’s new memoir and its thesis that, in order to truly “accept himself and embrace his sexuality,” he had to “lose his faith” in God and toxicity in the Mormon Church. It came as no surprise that Disney-owned ABC News has little interest in painting faith in God as a good thing given how the same newscast deceptively edited out on February 5 mentions of God, Jesus, and prayer from the first video by Savannah Guthrie and her siblings regarding the search for their missing mother. Filling in as co-host, chief White House correspondent and one-time Biden regime apple polisher Mary Bruce teased a segment with Archuleta explaining “how — his new memoir and — and how he had to lose his faith to find himself.” Monday's 'Good Morning America' celebrated David Archuleta's new memoir and gushed over the fact that he found happiness by ditching his belief in God and religion, specifically the Mormon Church pic.twitter.com/kSJXx5fHqr — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 16, 2026 She cued up correspondent Steve Osunsami to tell them more on Archuleta’s memoir “about growing up in the Mormon Church and how he learned to accept himself and embrace his sexuality.” Osunsami gushed the “book is as much a memoir as it is a story about healing and survival” with Archuleta “admitting to the fact that his struggles with sexuality and faith once led him to consider taking his own life,” but overcame it by realizing “the person who he’s learned to care about the most is himself.” “Singer David Archuleta says he started writing his new book after one of his concerts when he was approached by a gay fan who reminded him of his younger self, a young man who was Mormon and who was struggling to come out to his family,” he added. The conversation focused on his disgust with Mormonism and his father (click “expand”): OSUNSAMI: In his new memoir Devout, the now 35-year-old shares his journey from his childhood in the Mormon Church to his teenage years on American Idol to his recent exit from the church after revealing to the world that he is now dating men. ARCHULETA: I was so devout to my religion. I was so devout to the authority figures in my life. I was constantly seeking their approval. OSUNSAMI: One of those people was his father, who in his book says would belittle him and who had a reputation around Hollywood as a difficult stage dad. [TO ARCHULETA] How hard was it for you to write about your father’s role in all of this? ARCHULETA: It was difficult because I — I think I’ve looked at him so often as, like, a threat to my peace. I was still seeing things through the eyes of my younger self, and the way that I’d coped and, like, moved on from it was simply just cutting it off, blocking it out, even though I’m in my mid-thirties now. I — I would revert back to being a child and being afraid like I was as a kid. I’m like, why — why is — why is this happening? OSUNSAMI: At the same time, he says it was his same father who changed his life, surprising him with tickets to the finale of the first season of American Idol and encouraging him to sing here right after the show in front of cameras from Good Morning America. He was just 11 years old. ARCHULETA: Oh my gosh, that’s so funny. It helped spark a dream in me. And I think that’s where it was helpful to have my dad say, yes you can, even though I hated him for it, and we butt heads so much, and I was afraid of him. OSUNSAMI: His father told People magazine that “I love my son with all my heart” and doesn’t believe he was abusive, saying that “I’ve never felt like that was the case...I think a lot of times intention can be misinterpreted.” ARCHULETA: I was angry at myself, I was angry at my dad, but I feel like I channeled that into a healthy way to say no more. Enough. And when I came out, all he said was, David, I’m proud of you and keep it, keep doing what you’re doing. It — it meant so much. Like, it was healing for me. Asked to explain where he currently stands in his faith, Archuleta gave the most generic liberal, irreligious answer: I don’t consider myself religious now because if that’s what you say God is, then I don’t want that. But I believe that there’s something divine and something universal that connects all of us together. That’s why I wrote this book, that’s why I sing, because I wanted to connect to everything around me. Osusami concluded with more lamentations: “For so many years, he says the Mormon Church put him on a pedestal. He says all that began to change when he began to realize who he really is. He says he’s willing to continue conversations with the Church if indeed the goal is to bring more of God’s children into the fold.” Bruce responded this was “such a powerful and important message...for so many who may be struggling as well.” Exit question: Would ABC ever be caught doing a story painting Islam as judgy and anti-gay? To see the relevant ABC transcript from February 17, click here.

On Wednesday’s CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish and her panel managed to recast enforcement of federal civil rights law under Donald Trump as “enforcing ideology,” while a Democratic consultant insisted that DEI “was never a problem” until Trump took office. The segment opened with archival footage of Jesse Jackson defending boycotts, including the recent effort to intimidate Target after the retailer scaled back "diversity, equity, and inclusion" initiatives following Trump’s reelection. Cornish noted that Target’s CEO has acknowledged financial effects from the leftist boycott. The more revealing moment came later, during discussion of Trump’s State of the Union vow to end DEI policies across the federal government and, indirectly, the private sector. On "CNN This Morning," anchor Audie Cornish claimed under Trump, "the actual government now is involved in enforcing a different ideology" on race. Democrat Antjuan Seawright lamented “DEI was never a problem until Trump became President of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/w7c8O0f0YJ — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) February 18, 2026 After airing remarks from current Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas defending equal protection principles, Cornish framed the issue this way: “What it means is the actual government now is involved in enforcing a different ideology, so to speak.” No. It means the federal government is enforcing the law. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. For decades, debates over affirmative action and race-conscious hiring have centered on whether certain DEI-style practices cross that legal line. That argument did not begin in 2016 — much less in 2025. Some would start with the Supreme Court ruling in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke in 1978. Yet Democratic consultant Antjuan Seawright went further, claiming: “DEI was never a problem until Trump became President of the United States.” Really? California voters banned affirmative action at public institutions in 1996.  And just last year — during Joe Biden’s presidency — the Court ruled against race-conscious admissions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. On CNN, however, longstanding constitutional and legal disputes are recast as sudden culture-war inventions. Seawright also suggested that scaling back DEI resurrects an old injustice, invoking “this idea that black folks should always be on the menu and never at the table.” Opposing DEI makes you a cannibal? The metaphor implies that retreating from race-conscious corporate policies amounts to a return to exclusion.  Terry Schilling, executive director of the American Principles Project, offered the clearest counterargument: civil rights law was designed to "tear down" racial barriers, not replace one form of racial preference with another. For CNN, insisting that Americans be judged without regard to race is now the intolerably ideological position.

Vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer made record profits pushing experimental drugs during the pandemic that were nowhere near as "safe and effective" as marketed.Although their vaccines allegedly left some Americans badly injured and allegedly killed others, Big Pharma giants were largely protected from civil lawsuits as the result of special liability protections that were repeatedly extended by the Biden administration.'When it comes to vaccines, and in many cases the COVID vaccine, the rules are rigged.'Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) introduced legislation last week that would amend the Public Health Service Act to strip the liability shield from vaccine manufacturers."If a drug hurts someone, you can sue the company in court," said Paul, a licensed doctor of medicine. "You can hold them responsible through the normal legal process. But when it comes to vaccines, and in many cases the COVID vaccine, the rules are rigged: You're funneled into a federal no-fault program that limits damages, restricts your options, and — in many cases — leaves people without real justice. That's cronyism."Presently, persons seeking compensation for injuries sustained as the result of a covered vaccine must file a petition with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which is touted as a "no-fault alternative to the traditional legal system for resolving vaccine injury petitions."Those specifically injured by one of the experimental COVID-19 vaccines — which were in many jurisdictions required to remain employed, eat in public, stay in school, or visit loved ones — must file a petition with the related Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program.RELATED: Finally: Vaccine guidelines that make sense for parents Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesParents, legal guardians, and legal representatives of those individuals who were killed by the vaccines — the U.S. Food and Drug Administration admitted in December that "at least 10 children have died after and because of receiving COVID-19 vaccination" — can file on behalf of the decedents.The catch is that suffering an injury or dying around the time of the receipt of a COVID jab "is not sufficient, by itself, to prove that an injury is the direct result of a covered countermeasure."Since there is a high bar for proving causation, few Americans' petitions are successful.'Pharma giants are hiding behind legal protections to avoid being sued.'CICP data shows that as of Feb. 1, a total of 14,102 COVID-19 claims have been filed, 10,944 alleging injuries or death from COVID-19 vaccines and 3,158 alleging injuries or death from other COVID-19 countermeasures.Of the total, 6,556 were rejected outright. Of the 6,649 for which decisions were made, only 93 claims were found eligible for compensation — and of the 93, only 44 petitioners have actually received compensation.Sen. Paul's End the Vaccine Carveout Act, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and serves as a companion bill to the legislation of the same name introduced in the House in July by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), would reform the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program by allowing vaccine-injured individuals or the legal representatives of those killed by vaccines to pursue direct civil action in state or federal court without having to first try their chances at the no-fault federal system.Presently, vaccine-injured Americans are generally required to file a petition through VICP before seeking judicial relief. The Republican bill would eliminate that barrier to possible justice.The bill would also exclude COVID-19 vaccines from the definition of "covered countermeasures," thereby ending the immunity shield that has for years protected vaccine manufacturers, distributors, and administration from vaccine injury claims.Lee stated, "Pharma giants are hiding behind legal protections to avoid being sued by Americans experiencing serious vaccine side effects.""Many of these patients were forced to get vaccinated or lose their jobs during the pandemic and are now dealing with permanent and very serious complications," Lee continued. "Our bill will end these unconstitutional vaccine carveouts so that all Americans can receive the justice they deserve and hold Big Pharma accountable."Weeks after the 2024 presidential election, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the liability shield for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers through Dec. 31, 2029.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The curling cheating scandal that has rocked the 2026 Winter Olympics has the Canadian team accusing Sweden of illegal filming.Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs defeated Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin 8-6 on Friday, but the win included a viral moment that had the internet ablaze with cheating allegations.'I know we're not the only team that they've done that to.'Canadian Marc Kennedy had an intense altercation with Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson, who accused him of double-touching his stone after releasing it at the official line, called the hog line.Photos and videos circulated online showing Kennedy's pointer finger appearing to commit the foul, but the intent and his finger's ability to influence the approximately 42-pound object has been up for debate.Now, Kennedy has told reporters that he believes Sweden was setting his team up."They have come up with a plan here at the Olympics, as far as I know, to catch teams in the act at the hog line," Kennedy told reporters, per the National Post. "This was planned, right from the word go yesterday. From the words that were being said by their coaches and the way they were running to the officials, it was kind of evident that something was going on, and they were trying to catch us in an act."RELATED: Skier Hunter Hess changes tune after saying he has 'mixed emotions' about representing USA: 'I love my country' Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen claimed Sweden took video that violated filming rules in Olympic venues, citing that only Olympic Broadcasting Services is allowed to take footage. He said the allegedly incriminating footage was "outside of OBS rules."OBS said it did not produce the footage, but that anyone who is properly accredited with broadcast rights can film inside the venue.Canadian Coach Paul Webster said the "game was afoot" and accused a "Swedish fan or Swedish official" of possibly filming from the stands. "So they've got people up there videoing, and that whole thing was premeditated and planned," Webster added. "They were there, ready at the hog line, video recording."Sweden's Eden reportedly replied to the allegations and said "absolutely not.""We've been saying this for maybe seven, eight years or something," Eden went on. "The media crew decided to place the camera on the hog line to see what was happening, to explain it to the people watching. It was Swedish media. The people covering the game that did that, we were told, at least. I have no idea, but that's what we were told afterwards."RELATED: Team USA women's hockey hands Canada its worst loss in Olympics history On Sunday, Canada's women's team was hit with a double-touching violation in their match against Switzerland, prompting even more rumors."Apparently everyone knew that Canada was cheating," sports podcaster Dan Katz said on Monday, citing insider reports. "Sweden had their own broadcast cameras basically set up on the hog line to catch them in the act. Then they called them out on it."Canada's Kennedy added fuel to the fire, saying, "I know we're not the only team that they’ve done that to," in terms of filming. "So I think this was — I don't know what the word is for that — but like a premeditated plan to try to catch us."Coach Webster also claimed Sweden "actually had videos for the Italian team as well."Great Britain has since been accused of the double-touching violation.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A Utah mother murdered her 11-year-old daughter in a Las Vegas hotel room, then committed suicide during a cheerleading competition trip, according to authorities.The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that officers were dispatched for a welfare check of a mother and daughter at 10:43 a.m. Sunday at the Rio Hotel & Casino.'There are no words for the loss we all feel. Our hearts are completely shattered for the family and friends of Addi.'Police officers knocked on the hotel room door several times but did not get a response; they left the hotel because "there was no belief that either was in danger" based on the details at the time."As the day progressed, security personnel got additional requests to check on the mother and daughter," according to the press release.Police said "security personnel" from the hotel entered the room at approximately 2:27 p.m., and they "located the two females unresponsive."The news release said the mother and daughter were "both suffering from apparent gunshot wounds."Both were pronounced dead at the crime scene when police arrived, according to the statement.Police stated, "Based on the preliminary evidence at the scene, detectives were able to determine the mother shot her daughter before shooting herself."Police Lt. Robert Price revealed there was a note left in the room but did not specify what the note said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.Price added, "This is a sad and tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family."According to KSNV-TV, the Clark County Coroner's Office confirmed the identities of the deceased as 34-year-old Tawnia McGeehan and 11-year-old Addilyn Smith — also known as Addi.A spokesperson for the Rio Hotel & Casino told KTNV-TV, "We are aware of the incident that occurred at the resort."RELATED: What was to be fun Florida trip ends in 'cold-blooded' triple murder: Elderly tourists dead, suspect earlier beat murder rap The New York Post, citing court documents from McGeehan's divorce, reported that the girl's parents "went through an ugly custody dispute" in 2015.Court docs added that McGeehan and her ex-husband, Brad Smith, spent nine years fighting for custody of Addi after their divorce.The couple were "ordered to park their cars five spaces apart during custody handovers at Addi’s school, and she was made to walk between the parents’ vehicles by herself," the Post reported.When Addi didn't go to school, both parents went to the Herriman Police Department in Utah to exchange the child, according to court documents.The Review-Journal in a separate story citing Provo District Court records reported that Addi's parents had "disputed about a number of things, including custody, child support, and where the girl would attend school."The situation escalated in 2020 when a judge granted Smith sole custody of Addi after revelations that McGeehan had "committed domestic abuse in the presence of the minor child" and was "subjecting the child to behavior on the spectrum of parental alienation," court records said.According to the Review-Journal, "A year later, the court required that McGeehan’s visits be supervised by friends and relatives."The paper noted, "Much of the case file is sealed from public view, making it unclear which parent had physical custody of Addi at the time of her death."Addi was a cheerleader for Utah Xtreme Cheer, which was "heartbroken" over the "devastating news."Utah Xtreme Cheer released a statement:With the heaviest hearts, we share the devastating news that our sweet athlete Addi has passed away. We are completely heartbroken. No words do the situation justice. She was so beyond loved, and she will always be a part of the UXC family. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers and continue to send them love as they navigate this unimaginable loss. We ask that you respect their privacy during this time. Addi, we love you tremendously.The cheerleading group also noted that all classes and open gyms "will be cancelled for the remainder of the week" as they attempt to "navigate through this difficult time."The Black Diamond Gym said on social media:There are no words for the loss we all feel. Our hearts are completely shattered for the family and friends of Addi. The cheer world will never be the same, the hole in our hearts will never be filled, we are absolutely devastated by this loss. Addi was a longtime athlete of Fusion and current athlete of UXC, I can’t imagine what they are going through. We love you so much and are so sorry for your loss.The Salem Police Department in Utah said in a press release that Addi was the niece of one of its sergeants."While the details of this loss are difficult to process, we are coming together as a department to support Sergeant Smith and his family during this unimaginable time," the statement read.A GoFundMe campaign was launched by Addi's uncle to help pay for funeral expenses."My brother Brad is facing an unimaginable loss after his daughter Addi was tragically taken from our family," the crowdfunding page said."This heartbreaking event has left the family in deep shock and grief, struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of Addi in such a way," the GoFundMe campaign stated.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A consummate, road-tested professional, he sat down at his Wurlitzer electric piano and improvised a blues-based boogie-woogie riff. The post Ray Charles: ‘What’d I Say’—An Accidental Classic appeared first on Best Classic Bands.

'People In Glass Houses ...' : Mehdi Hasan and Jennifer Welch Hate Scott Jennings' Face