On a busy news day, ABC and NBC made sure to devote significant A-block time in their national evening newscasts to one of the major pressing stories of the day. Of course, we’re talking about the algae bloom at the newly redone Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Here’s ABC’s entry, delivered by Mary Bruce: WATCH: @ABCWorldNews didn't find time to cover the SPLC boss funneling $1.2M to her neo-Nazi lover, the Antifa indictments out of Minneapolis, or to do a follow-up item on the various investigations into the Newsom Machine. Not when there is schadenfreude to be had over the algae… pic.twitter.com/2DluvgI6WJ — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) June 17, 2026 ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT 6/16/26 6:45 PM DAVID MUIR: Back here in the U.S., and to the reflecting pool on the National Mall. After President Trump spent millions in taxpayer money to have it painted blue, the water is now green and workers were on site today. Here's Mary Bruce. MARY BRUCE: Tonight, the National Park Service out in force trying to clean algae that's turning the reflecting pool green, just days after President Trump spent nearly $15 million to repaint it, quote, "American Flag Blue.” DONALD TRUMP: You have something you're going to be very proud of, and it’ll last for 50 to 100 years before you have to do anything with it. Very strong, powerful substance that we used. And we picked a color called American Flag Blue. BRUCE: Workers spotted this morning dumping hydrogen peroxide into the pool. TOURIST: It was supposed to look blue. It’s pretty green right now, so I don't know. I’d ask for a refund or something. BRUCE: It's one of several Trump renovation projects being paid for by taxpayers now under scrutiny. On a judge's orders, Trump's name stripped from the Kennedy Center, which he had tried to rename after himself. But tonight, the entrance still shrouded in a tarp. And there are new questions about his massive ballroom. He's promised it would be paid for entirely by private donations. TRUMP: We have no taxes. It's taxpayer free. We have no taxpayer putting up ten cents. BRUCE: Tonight, the Washington Post reports the contractor building the ballroom gave it one estimated price tag of $600 million, more than half of that reportedly coming from taxpayers.  And David, The White House tells us the ballroom project is, quote, “inextricably tied to the security of the President, The White House grounds, and the certain security infrastructure assets.” As for the reflecting pool, they tell us that the Park Service is using a, quote, “high tech, nanobubble ozone technology to kill that algae. MUIR: All right. Mary Bruce at The White House. Mary, thank you. Bruce led with the reflecting pool, before moving on to the Kennedy Center and the latest proposed costs of The White House’s ballroom. The report didn’t have to be snarky or over-the-top. The story itself serves to cast the Trump administration in a negative light. NBC’s wasn’t much better. And there was snark: WATCH: @NBCNightlyNews didn't find time to cover the SPLC boss funneling $1.2M to her neo-Nazi lover, the Antifa indictments out of Minneapolis, or to do a follow-up item on the various investigations into the Newsom Machine. Not when there is schadenfreude to be had over the… pic.twitter.com/C2yHpvsjE5 — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) June 17, 2026 NBC NIGHTLY NEWS 6/16/26 6:43 PM TOM LLAMAS: Back in Washington, one of the president's D.C. renovation projects facing criticism tonight. After millions of dollars were spent to turn the reflecting pool blue, it is now very much green. Ryan Nobles reports. RYAN NOBLES: President Trump has made the overall of the iconic reflecting pool on the National Mall a top priority. DONALD TRUMP: We used a dark blue. It's called American Flag Blue. NOBLES: Trump promising a new blue base, designed to be seen through crystal clear water, even driving the presidential Beast over the empty pool to tease the changes. But now, visitors are surprised by what they find. TOURIST: It's- the first thing we noticed was that it was green. NOBLES: Were you expecting green? TOURIST: No, not at all.  NOBLES: Haha! Is this- would you want to swim in that water? TOURIST: No. NOBLES: The goal was to have this pool a shimmering blue in the time for the 250th anniversary of the country. It’s obviously green. But crews are fiercely working to make that a reality. Dumping hydrogen peroxide into the water. Vacuuming up new algae blooms. The Department of the Interior promising new technology will eventually clear things up. Experts warn completely killing off algae in such a large stagnant body of water at the height of summer is no easy task. ROSALINA CHRISTOVA: When the conditions are favorable again, high temperature, high light, high level of nutrient ability, they just grow. NOBLES: The $14.6 million dollar pool project, one example of the Trump administration's effort to update several D.C. landmarks. And while tourists are hopeful the renovations will work, some are skeptical the price tag and the intense effort into the reflecting pool will ultimately deliver. DC RESIDENT: It doesn't really look like anything’s changed. DC RESIDENT: Gotta work on the algae control. It’s hard to prevent. NOBLES: Ryan Nobles, NBC News, Washington. There was no framing the Reflecting Pool with the other projects- just Ryan Nobles on site yukking it up with tourists and locals. We haven’t seen this much detail into a report on algae blooms since Florida beaches were hit with Red Tide a few years back. Then, as now, nature is merely a vehicle towards framing a Republican administration as incompetent. Both of these items ran on A-block, before the first run of commercials. And you may ask yourselves: what did these newscasts not report in order to make time for algae? Excellent question. For starters, there’s news of the SPLC boss funneling a staggering $1.2 million to her live-in neo-Nazi lover. Per The New York Post: A top Southern Poverty Law Center official is accused of helping funnel $1.2 million in donor money to an informant in the National Alliance white supremacist group — who was also allegedly her lover. The Department of Justice filed a superseding indictment against the SPLC accusing it of funneling donor cash to hate groups they were then telling donors they were fighting. One figure, referred to as “Employee-2” in the indictment, is described as a “person who would become Director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project.” The report goes on to note that two thirds of the monies funneled into the joint account were used for living expenses. The networks mostly omitted the original indictment, so it doesn’t come as a shock that they’d also blow off the superseding. Then there are the indictments of Minnesota Antifa radicals seeking to disrupt immigration enforcement operations which, to their credit, was covered on the CBS Evening News. WATCH: The sole broadcast network evening news report on the Minneapolis Antifa indictments was aired on @CBSEveningNews- a tiny brief. TONY DOKOUPIL: We turn now to Minnesota, where federal prosecutors have charged 15 people but with not just protesting ICE earlier this year… pic.twitter.com/swAXFhZMS0 — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) June 17, 2026 TONY DOKOUPIL: We turn now to Minnesota, where federal prosecutors have charged 15 people but with not just protesting ICE earlier this year but conspiring to, quote: "violently oppose immigration law enforcement." That sparked new protests outside the federal courthouse in St. Paul. Demonstrators clashing with U.S. Marshals after Homeland Security rounded up most of those charged. The U.S. Attorney says they are connected to an Antifa group that used metal beams and other barriers to block roadways. Additional detail, per Fox News: The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota on Tuesday announced that 15 Antifa members have been indicted for their alleged roles in conspiring to hinder federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis earlier this year.  The suspects, 12 of whom are in custody, are all charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, according to a 94-page criminal complaint, and some are charged with further crimes. Federal prosecutors allege that each suspect took part in a conspiracy to obstruct federal immigration enforcement officers, including ICE personnel, through force, intimidation and threats. The suspects are alleged members of the Antifa cell Direct Action Minnesota Network (DAMN), a radical far-left group accused of coordinating operations against federal immigration officers. We were reliably told that the Minnesota immigration protests were organic and peaceful, and not the work of well-organized and funded leftist goon squads. This inconvenient story proves otherwise, hence it doesn’t make it to air on ABC and NBC. You got stories about algae instead. As we often note, what you don’t see on the evening news is often more important than what makes it to air.   

California Governor Gavin Newsom has frequently pushed himself as a stronghold of opposition to President Donald Trump. This Monday, Newsom issued a press statement claiming he was being politically persecuted by the Trump administration with references to an alleged federal investigation into his wife’s finances, and on Tuesday, CNN News Central was immediately ready to echo those claims. Discussing the details of the investigation, they made sure to push their narrative about the weaponization of the justice system along the way with, of all people, former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who declared: I should also say that the existence of that sort of investigation in normal times, the simple fact that it’s targ- It may be targeting a political family, a political person, his wife, doesn't necessarily mean that investigation is politically motivated. It shouldn't mean that.  But on the other hand, what we have seen so many times by this administration, unlike any other administration before it, is the very proactive, blatant use of the Justice Department to go after political enemies, to target political people, to try to drum up negative information about the people they don't like. And so now, in these very strange times, whenever you see someone from a political background, particularly a Democrat, targeted, you have to consider that politics and bias and revenge might be the real motive here.   CNN is very worried about the Trump DOJ harassing one of their potential 2028 Presidential candidates - except that the Trump admin didn't even open the investigation into Newsom's wife! pic.twitter.com/ZspnLzzHPt — James Waterman (@jwatermaniv) June 16, 2026   For all their worries about Trump’s DOJ targeting political opponents, CNN avoided mentioning a crucial detail about the Newsom case: the Trump administration didn’t open the investigation! It is a continuation of a variety of investigations around the family, in this specific case because whistleblower complaints were forwarded to the local US Attorney’s Office. Contrary to CNN’s faux concerns, the probe into Newsom’s family’s finances seems to be legitimate. The closest CNN got to acknowledging this fact is when Sara Sidner says: Look, the Justice Department insists that political leadership wasn't involved in opening this probe. Even their terribly brief acknowledgement of the facts is misleading, making it appear like the DOJ is covering its tracks rather than simply informing the public as to the nature of the investigation. Rather than properly explain the situation, CNN doubled down on their panic with commentator and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: This is because he's thinking of running for president. He is a political target. And worse than that, and I think the governor knows it - we talk often and frequently - the fact is, you're taking a Justice Department that is supposed to be a political-free zone and making it an instrument of politics. That undermines everybody's understanding and appreciation, that everybody will be held to the same standard of a rule of law.   Rahm Emanuel was absolutely freaking out about the investigation nonetheless, buying in entirely into the "political persecution" spiel. pic.twitter.com/ZzHo7zeDgm — James Waterman (@jwatermaniv) June 16, 2026   Thus, out of a typical criminal investigation CNN have boosted their golden boy future presidential candidate once more into the spotlight. We should expect to see them continue to reinforce his status as a supposed bastion against Trumpist oppression rather than report the actual facts, because at its root CNN is a partisan organization disguised as a credible news network. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read. CNN News Central June 16, 2026 07:29:52 A.M. JOHN BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, a source tells CNN the Justice Department is investigating the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom said he is being targeted because he has been an outspoken critic of the president, and he is considering himself running for president. [Cuts to video] GAVIN NEWSOM: One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hit list. And today, I proudly join that list. [Cuts back to live] BERMAN: Now, one source tells CNN Newsom himself is not being investigated. The probes are looking at possible tax crimes by people connected to him. Let's get more details on this from CNN's Katelyn Polantz. So what are you learning about who exactly is being investigated for what? KATELYN POLANTZ: Well, John, we're still trying to figure out the contours of this investigation, but it appears to be around Gavin Newsom's wife, Jennifer Newsom, someone who has been very active in nonprofits, is also a documentary filmmaker in California.  And indeed, the amount of information we've gained about this so far is that Gavin Newsom himself is not being investigated, and he himself has not received any subpoenas for information regarding an active grand jury investigation. However, the governor's office yesterday did tell us that both FBI and IRS agents - so that would be a tax probe indicating some sort of tax inquiry - that they were approaching contacts around the Newsom family, asking them questions.  And when they were asking those questions, it became apparent to the governor's office that those questions were about money that the federal investigators must have seen in Newsom's accounts, or somehow obtained information about Newsom's accounts, potentially indicating that there were subpoenas to banks or subpoenas around bank accounts of him and his family.  Now, Gavin Newsom, he is saying publicly that he feels he is being targeted, he and his family are being targeted because he is considering running for president. And he says he is adding himself at this time to the Trump retribution list, the people who have been targeted by the Justice Department because they are political enemies of Donald Trump.  We don't exactly know if this is that type of investigation, like the ones we have seen in two others, Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, James Comey, the former FBI director. But this appears to be an investigation that started a bit before. Here's what Newsom had to say yesterday, specifically about the part that this is looking into questions around his wife. [Cuts to video] NEWSOM: Put my name on every and any enemies list you have, but leave my wife and family out of your personal vendetta. I'd like to say something to my wife. These times are not normal, they're not ordinary. I love you, and I'm sorry he's doing this. You have not earned a single one of the indignities that he's trying to inflict on you and our children. [Cuts back to live] POLANTZ: So, John, we now wait, and we continue to report to see what else we can learn about this investigation, as we know that it is very likely coming out of the Eastern District of California, the Sacramento U.S. Attorney's office, and see what else might emerge out of California in the coming days. Back to you. BERMAN: Yeah. Whatever the legalities here, there are certainly political ramifications. Katelyn Polantz for us with the latest on all of this. Thank you very much. Sara? SARA SIDNER: All right. We're going to continue the conversation now with CNN senior law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe. I mean, I guess to you, there is this overarching question as to whether this is another case of a fishing expedition from the Trump administration in order to go after a political enemy or the family member of a political enemy. Have you seen any indication of evidence that there is a legitimate case? ANDREW MCCABE: Yeah, Sara, that's what makes this one a little bit tough, because we don't have anything official. We don't have any really solid evidence. It is simply the governor saying that friends and associates have been contacted by FBI agents and IRS agents, and they've been asked questions that are specific enough - presumably about specific transactions - that would indicate that they have had access to financial records.  Now, it's entirely possible that the governor or his wife are currently under investigation. If they were, agents could be using subpoenas to subpoena records from banks or phone companies or anybody else and you- they wouldn't know about that at this early point in the investigation. Those sorts of subpoenas are usually used with non-disclosure orders from the grand jury. So your bank can't tell you if the government has subpoenaed your records. So it could be happening. But we don't have any really solid proof at this point. SIDNER: Look, the Justice Department insists that political leadership wasn't involved in opening this probe. What would be normal investigative activity? Is this normal? You go around and you talk to some associates as you're trying to look into something? Does this just seem like a normal course of events, how they're doing it? MCCABE: Yeah. Well, you know, it could be. So let's remember that for- on the FBI side, to open a full investigation on someone is a very- there's a very low threshold. The FBI simply has to have information that indicates a federal crime may have been committed. And that's enough really to get you going, working with an assistant U.S. Attorney, using grand jury subpoenas, things like that. And in the course of that investigation, you might- you might talk to business associates or friends, people who are potential witnesses, or maybe even people who would cooperate with the government in that investigation.  So that could be happening. And I should also say that the existence of that sort of investigation in normal times, the simple fact that it’s targ- It may be targeting a political family, a political person, his wife, doesn't necessarily mean that investigation is politically motivated. It shouldn't mean that.  But on the other hand, what we have seen so many times by this administration, unlike any other administration before it, is the very proactive, blatant use of the Justice Department to go after political enemies, to target political people, to try to drum up negative information about the people they don't like. And so now, in these very strange times, whenever you see someone from a political background, particularly a Democrat, targeted, you have to consider that politics and bias and revenge might be the real motive here. SIDNER: I was going to ask you about that. The trust in the sort of process here with the DOJ has in many households been lost because of the obvious going after enemies when it came to Mr. Comey and Letitia James. Andy McCabe, it's always good to have you here to talk things out and do appreciate it. Kate? 07:41:37 KATE BOULDAN: We've talked a lot about, you know, interest in 2028. What - they were talking about, Gavin Newsom and this investigation just before we came here - What do you think of this? RAHM EMMANUEL: I think it's really, really a reckless act by the President and more so, reckless and his jus- And I say him, because there's no way if Gavin Newsom was lieutenant governor or mayor of San Francisco, they would ever do this. This is because he's thinking of running for president. He is a political target. And worse than that, and I think the governor knows it - we talk often and frequently - the fact is, you're taking a Justice Department that is supposed to be a political-free zone and making it an instrument of politics. That undermines everybody's understanding and appreciation, that everybody will be held to the same standard of a rule of law.  And I think this is an incredibly dangerous step. I mean, you just earlier on had a comment, the former deputy head of the FBI, who himself was a target and his own wife was the target. There is a pattern here, and I think it's a wakeup call to all of us. Regardless of what you want to think about Gavin Newsom's record: family and being a political opponent is not- doesn't make you a target of using the resources of the Justice Department and the FBI to destroy you.

The Elitist Media continue to play word games in order to delegitimize ongoing efforts to deport criminal illegal aliens from the United States. A recent ramming of an ICE officer was barely covered on the network evening news and featured a glaring mischaracterization. Watch the following report as aired on ABC World News Tonight: WATCH: @ABCWorldNews report on illegal alien that rammed an ICE Agent with a car in NJ downplays and conceals the alien's status, addressing him only as "the suspect." DAVID MUIR: Tonight, police outside New York City say an ICE agent has been injured by an escaping suspect in… pic.twitter.com/ofrD5b0CNt — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) June 17, 2026 ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT 6/15/26 6:45 PM DAVID MUIR: Tonight, police outside New York City say an ICE agent has been injured by an escaping suspect in Stafford Township, New Jersey, along the Jersey Shore. Authorities say the agent was struck by a van allegedly driven by the suspect. That agent firing a shot at the suspect’s vehicle as it drove off. Police now searching for the suspect, no word on the agent’s condition. Of course, there’s a lot more to the story. Per MRC Bulldog Award winner Jennie Taer of The Daily Wire: An illegal immigrant rammed his car into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an arrest operation Monday, forcing the agent to fire back, The Daily Wire has learned. Friedrich Castillo-Ormeno, an illegal immigrant from Peru, allegedly hit the officer as he was attempting to pull him over in Manahawkin, New Jersey, according to an ICE spokesperson. The officer discharged his weapon during the attack. The officer was later transported to a local hospital for the treatment of his injuries, ICE said. Meanwhile, Castillo-Ormeno remains on the run after fleeing the scene. The story goes on to note that the alien entered into the United States during the Biden administration, and that an immigration judge entered a final deportation order against him on January 30th. This is a person who had no business being in the country, was ordered to leave, and violently resisted attempts to enforce that deportation order. And yet ABC chooses to side with the alien by downplaying his status. Pitiful as it may have been, at least ABC provided a report. CBS and NBC couldn’t even bother to air one. CBS instead went with the UK’s social media ban for children under the age of 16, and with a stray cat that crashed a “Romeo and Juliet” performance in Turkiye. NBC went with noisy Amazon delivery drones.  The Daily Wire item also notes the increase in violence against immigration enforcement officers. This makes ABC’s downplay of a violent illegal alien’s status all the more egregious. We are reminded yet again that bias by omission is the most serious form of bias in the media.  

Schwarzenegger-Mamdani 2028! Don't laugh! After all, on today's Morning Joe, an oh-so-inclusive Arnold declared: "To me, it makes no difference if you're a Communist." That Constitutional thingy about presidents having to be native-born Americans? Stuff for small minds. The Austrian-born Arnold and the Ugandan native Mamdani are a match made in . . .  Scarborough and Brzezinski had Schwarzenegger on the show to talk about the so-called "Austrian World Summit" that he is hosting. The goal is to battle climate change, or, as Schwarzenegger suggested, the real focus should be pollution, since it kills seven million yearly vs. only 25,000 by climate change. "I use my movie lines, 'Hasta La Vista, Pollution,'" said Arnold. A top guest at the "summit" is Kamala Harris, who was seen offering the brilliant insight, based on her experience as California's Attorney General, that there have to be "consequences" for law-breaking. Who knew?  There was no pushback to Schwarzenegger from Joe or Mika. To the contrary, Scarborough unctuously called his spiel, "such an important message." Then came the signature pivot. Joe teed up Arnold to criticize Trump and Republicans at large about threats to democracy, referencing election skepticism in California and investigations of the Newsoms.  'Inclusive' Arnold: 'Makes No Difference If You're a Communist!' pic.twitter.com/haU5SbDs28 — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) June 16, 2026 Schwarzenegger dodged with a rambling ode to "inclusion." "The most important thing is that we are inclusive . . . Going in the direction of kind of like inclusion has always been something that I was taught by people here in Austria, and then when I came to America, I saw inclusion really in the highest level . . . I want everyone [to] be included . . . When we work on inclusion, I think that we will go and protect our democracy much more." Arnold even managed to work in a humblebrag that, learning from his experience as an immigrant, he donates 1,000 Thanksgiving turkeys every year in East LA "to feed the people that have less money." Mika played off that to end the segment with a closing shot at Trump world:  "Very different things happening with immigrants today, here in America, that is for sure." The guy who ran and won as Governor of California as the rough, tough, Terminator has fully morphed into a Hollywood open-borders, climate alarmist pussycat. As for MS NOW, it was just another day of liberal-celebrity lectures — zero pushback, maximum virtue signaling. Here's the transcript. MS NOW Morning Joe 6/16/26 6:23 am EDT KAMALA HARRIS: On the issue of what we will do to, to terminate pollution, and to save our planet, the policy must include, and, and my experience as attorney general reinforced that for me, the policies must include accountability and consequences for bad behaviors. JOE SCARBOROUGH: That was former Vice President Kamala Harris this morning, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Austrian World Summit taking place right now in Vienna. The summit is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, with climate leaders from several countries taking the stage to discuss and offer solutions now to fight climate change by bringing together governments, businesses, and individuals. And this year's theme is, 'We Are Unstoppable.'  And Arnold Schwarzenegger joins us now from Vienna. He is, of course, the host of the summit. Governor, thank you so much for being with us. We greatly appreciate it. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, thank you very much for having me, and, you know, I just want to, right off the top, correct you, because you said it's climate change. I want you to talk about fighting pollution. Because we have to terminate pollution, and that's what I always say, I use my movie lines, "Hasta La Vista, Pollution."  So this is the kind of things we have to talk about. Climate change, most people don't understand it, and they don't care about any of that stuff. I think they care about pollution, because pollution is the thing that actually kills seven million people a year. You know, climate change, you know, and with all the, the, the bad weather and the storms and the floods and all of this stuff, that kills maybe twenty-five thousand people, which is of course twenty-five thousand people too many, but pollution kills seven million. So this is why I always stress pollution rather than climate change. SCARBOROUGH: And what are some of the ideas right now that you're hearing this year, that you're getting excited about in some ways to fight pollution?" SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, you know, the theme of the conference is, that we are unstoppable. And the reason why it is, is because, as you know, in, America, we have an administration that doesn't really believe in pollution being a threat to our health and, that it kills all of these people.  So we want to encourage people here to just say, stop whining about the White House and about them not believing in that. I said, what is it that we can do?, I said. Because it doesn't really matter in the end who is in the White House. What really matters is what we're doing on the state and local level.  I said, we have to rely on ourselves. That's where the action is. And so when you think about, you know, what California has accomplished and what Texas is accomplishing right now, and what Massachusetts is accomplishing and Minnesota and all of those states, it's really remarkable because they just say, Okay we're gonna go and take the bull by the horn create the changes, and we're gonna set goals of updating our renewable energy, lowering our greenhouse gases, and all those kind of things. Let's not wait for the federal government to take the lead, let us take the lead.  So what we are doing is with this conference here is, really encouraging people to go and to just continue working themselves and thinking about what can I do versus what can they do. SCARBOROUGH: That's such an important message. I, I wanted to ask you, you've, you've said some very inspiring things about American democracy. And I always found that immigrants, have, have a better perspective sometimes than those of us who were born in America and were raised here, cause we just assume that democracy's always gonna be with us. We always assume that everything will always be the way it is.  You've given some very moving warnings in the past about your own family members that have been swept, that were swept up during—World War II, in, in Nazism, and, and, and you've warned Americans against this.  I'm wondering as you look at what's happening with Gavin Newsom and his wife, if you, as you look at what's happening where people are trying to say that California's elections are being rigged. You're the last Republican governor elected in California, and it took 30 days, that's the law.  How are we doing as a democracy right now? What are your concerns as somebody who has a perspective that maybe those of us who were born here don't have? SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, you know, it doesn't really matter where you live. The most important thing is that we are inclusive, and that we don't hate anybody because they feel differently than we do, or they belong to a different religion than we do, or they're belonging to a different party than we do. And this is the theme also of our conference here.  I tell, to me, it makes no difference if you're a communist, if you're a socialist, if you're Democrat or Republican, or if you come from a dictatorship, it makes no difference.  It's, come here to Vienna, and let's work together to solve this problem and to create a good environment. I think that if we work together, we are much more powerful rather than fighting each other and always alienating half of the people.  So to me, I think going in the direction of kind of like inclusion has always been something that I was taught by people here in Austria, and then when I came to America, I saw inclusion really in the highest level. You know, where people were kind of like really helpful to me as an immigrant that just arrived in America, they gave me pillowcases and pillows and, blankets and dishes and silverware and the black and white TV and all of this kind of things. I was shocked when I came to America and I got this much help. And I learned how to be generous, and, I do exactly the same thing now. I want to make sure that when it is Thanksgiving, that I go to East LA, and to feed the—people that have less money, and then I donate a thousand turkeys to them on Thanksgiving. I do exactly the things that was done to me when I came to America, and I want to continue the tradition, you know.  And since, and all the other stuff. I'm just in the, if it's bodybuilding, if it's fitness, I deal with the world, so I never ask when I promote bodybuilding or when I promote fitness, are you a Democrat? Are you an Arab? Are you, Israeli? Are you Australian? Are you from Africa? I don't care. I don't care.  I want everyone to be fit, I want everyone to enjoy the motivation when I say, 'Go and train and do something every day.' It doesn't matter what party you're coming from, if you believe in the things that I believe in, I want every, everyone be included. And so this is, I think, when we work on inclusion, I think that we will go and protect our democracy much more. MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Very different things happening with immigrants today, here in America, that is for sure. 

Now that President Trump is halfway through his second term, the leftist media is turning their hateful gazes towards Vice President J.D. Vance. They want to paint him as another threat to democracy, possibly worse than Donald Trump. And you can count on them intensifying their attacks in the lead-up to this November’s midterm elections and the 2028 presidential race. MS NOW, as one of the Democratic media’s favorite lapdogs, happily obeyed these new commands as they sent out the aging host of The Last Word, Lawrence O’Donnell, on Monday to fearmonger about Vance using ICE to rig the elections. During the in-between show handoff with Rachel Maddow, O’ Donnell cited the New York Times report that “the Vice President strongly advocat[ed]” invoking the Insurrection Act in the midst of the chaotic Minneapolis anti-ICE protests. But even though the report doesn’t mention elections or polling places, O’Donnell went ahead and dug in on that conspiracy theory: So that would be the device they would use to get federal troops, American military, on the ground, on the streets, possibly at polling places in this country.  Maddow and her wilting pompadour also wasted no time in dogpiling on that baseless allegation with a pointed attack on the Vice President: Yeah, and if anybody was thinking that J.D. Vance might be, sort of a more democracy-minded leader than Donald Trump, consider that within the Trump administration, according to this new reporting, J.D. Vance was the loudest voice asking to deploy active duty military against the American public on American soil.      Later in the show, O’Donnell barked about how “the Insurrection Act remains a loaded weapon that some observers have suggested could be aimed at our polling places in swing states like Georgia.” He welcomed Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia’s comments that “this President has demonstrated time and time again, and his Vice President, as we hear in these words, that they are willing to do anything to stay in power.”  Continuing to drum up election conspiracy theories, Warnock and O’Donnell made a series of outlandish claims, including voter suppression directed against married women: WARNOCK: They've been trying to flood the zone, throw everything at us, and now we're seeing some of the things that they're thinking about throwing at us. And part of the work that they're trying to do is to convince the citizenry that there's no need to push back.   (...) O’DONNELL: With all of the gaming out of worst case scenarios, including Donald Trump using the Insurrection Act at J.D. Vance's urgings to send federal troops to your polling places in Georgia because, you know, they're sending to Georgia, right? They're not sending them to Massachusetts. They're going to send them to the place, the swing state, where it can make a difference. (...) WARNOCK: If they put ICE in front of polls, that's illegal. It's unconstitutional. They can't do it. That doesn't seem to bother this administration that much. . . They're trying to squeeze the voices of voters out of their democracy, Black voters, through this awful gerrymandering that the court has approved. They're trying to squeeze the voices of women as they're still trying to pass the SAVE Act, which would disproportionately hurt married women.  And to top it all off, O’Donnell and Warnock seasoned their conspiracy theory-riddled slop with a heap of the violent and dehumanizing language we hear all too often from the left: WARNOCK: We cannot give in to those who are trying to weaponize despair. . .what we learned by watching the wonderful folks of Minnesota is that standing up and resisting does make a difference. I was just inspired by the people of Minneapolis. . . And clearly that got J.D. Vance's attention. He is, in my estimation, one of the most craven politicians on the American landscape.   (...) O’DONNELL: So, it's so true that the subtitle of your book, Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America, you know, you have a President who has never once reflected on that. WARNOCK: I don't - that's to put it nicely. I mean, he's at war with it. O'DONNELL: At war with it, yeah. WARNOCK: And so it's a dark moment in our country as we approach this 250th anniversary.  We can’t lower the rates of political violence when the dogs in the left-wing media hound each of their political opponents with bad-faith attacks and hateful rhetoric about conspiracy theories involving voter suppression and military interference in elections. But, of course, these dogs won’t come back to the kennel anytime soon. The full transcript is below. Click “expand” to read: MS NOW's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 6/15/26 10:01:21 p.m. Eastern (...) LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: And it also, Rachel, is highly relevant to that reporting that the New York Times is now running from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's new book called Regime Change, where they were reporting today in the New York Times about the Trump administration considering invoking the Insurrection Act, something that we were all kind of guessing about. This is the inside story of exactly how they considered it. The Vice President strongly advocating it.  So that would be the device they would use to get federal troops, American military, on the ground, on the streets, possibly at polling places in this country. RACHEL MADDOW: Yeah. And if anybody was thinking that J.D. Vance might be, sort of a more democracy-minded leader than Donald Trump, consider that within the Trump administration, according to this new reporting, J.D. Vance was the loudest voice asking to deploy active duty military against the American public on American soil. That's - that is-- O'DONNELL: Yeah, he was the leader of it. And he could be the top name on the Republican presidential ticket in the next presidential election, in the White House, advocating the same thing for that election. (...) 10:14:45 p.m. Eastern O'DONNELL: The Insurrection Act remains a loaded weapon that some observers have suggested could be aimed at our polling places in swing states like Georgia that could go either way in the November election.  Leading off our discussion tonight is Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia. He serves on the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. He's also the author of the new book, The Crooked Places Made Straight: Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America. Senator, thank you very much for joining us tonight.  In the previous hour, Rachel was reporting on a task force assembled by Chuck Schumer that includes you, it includes others outside the Senate. Marc Elias, who appeared with Rachel talking about these very issues of, what is the worst-case scenario facing us on Election Day? What do we have to be prepared for? And it comes on a day when we read Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's report of the discussions of the Insurrection Act in the White House, that sure looks like the kind of loaded weapon that could be aimed at our elections. SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): No, absolutely, and great to be with you.  This President has demonstrated time and time again, and his Vice President, as we hear in these words, that they are willing to do anything to stay in power. And I think that we shouldn't be surprised by that, we've seen plenty of evidence. What is - what has been striking is the extent to which colleagues of mine in the Congress are willing to go along on this ride.  And so, we are remaining vigilant. We have to be prepared for this moment. We have to take it very seriously. But here's what we cannot afford to do. We cannot give in to those who are trying to weaponize despair.  We - they've been trying to flood the zone, throw everything at us, and now we're seeing some of the things that they're thinking about throwing at us. And part of the work that they're trying to do is to convince the citizenry that there's no need to push back.  And what we learned by watching the wonderful folks of Minnesota is that standing up and resisting does make a difference. I was just inspired by the people of Minneapolis. I had to go and stand there. It was freezing cold. You know, I'm from Georgia, way below zero. But night after night after night, those folks were standing there and looking out for their neighbors.  And clearly that got J.D. Vance's attention. He is, in my estimation, one of the most craven politicians on the American landscape.  And it's deeply concerning to see this reporting. We've got to remain prepared. We know something about the government overreaching in Fulton County, remember, they sent the FBI in to snatch ballots from the 2020 election. They are harassing election workers with subpoenas, demanding information from people who are just volunteers.  And so, we remain focused on this. But part of what we need people to do is prepare to show up, show up, show up, show up. And we'll be using every, every tool that we have to try to keep our democracy intact. O'DONNELL: With all of the gaming out of worst case scenarios, including Donald Trump using the Insurrection Act at J.D. Vance's urgings to send federal troops to your polling places in Georgia because, you know, they're sending to Georgia, right? They're not sending them to Massachusetts. They're going to send them to the place, the swing state, where it can make a difference, where they think they might be able to keep Jon Ossoff out of the Senate, things like that, places like that around the country. Is voter turnout - is it possible for voter turnout to be so big, even in the face of American troops, that the voter turnout could overwhelm, could be the ultimate weapon to overwhelm these kinds of tactics? WARNOCK: Well, we've got to use all our tools. The answer to this attack on democracy is more democracy. We've got to use the tools of our democratic experiment.  And we saw that in Minnesota, with them standing up, protesting night after night, looking out for their neighbors.  And yes, people need to show up in Georgia. What I know from experience from somebody who's run a couple of races in that purple state, is that - you know, voter suppression is not really about, you know, you don't have to take millions of votes. You know, you just make it difficult for people to show up. You undermine people's access a little bit here, a little bit there, shave around the edges even before you get to something like troops on the street. And that can swing an election. (...) 10:20:23 p.m. Eastern WARNOCK: So these things are close and they can go a little bit here, a little bit there, which is why we have to remain vigilant on every front. We have to use the courts. We need an army of lawyers. We need to continue to raise questions around ICE. If they put ICE in front of polls, that's illegal. It's unconstitutional. They can't do it. That doesn't seem to bother this administration that much.  And yes, showing up makes it harder to steal an election. As we're watching this gerrymandering that's going on all across the south as a result of this awful decision made by the, you know, the partisans on the Supreme Court.  They're using every tool. And so we've got to show up and overwhelm their projections about who's going to show up. (...) 10:30:59 p.m. Eastern (...) O'DONNELL: So, it's so true that the subtitle of your book, Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America, you know, you have a President who has never once reflected on that. WARNOCK: I don't - that's to put it nicely. I mean, he's at war with it. O'DONNELL: At war with it, yeah. WARNOCK: And so it's a dark moment in our country as we approach this 250th anniversary.  You know, the United States of America goes through its moments. There are moments when, when the democracy expands, there are moments when it contracts. And this is a contraction moment.  They're trying to squeeze the voices of voters out of their democracy, Black voters, through this awful gerrymandering that the court has approved.  They're trying to squeeze the voices of women as they're still trying to pass the SAVE Act, which would disproportionately hurt married women.  And we've got to push back, because here is what every mother knows, that contractions are painful, but they are necessary for new birth.