NewsBusters Feed
NewsBusters Feed

NewsBusters Feed

@newsbustersfeed

Border Patrol Agents, Minn. Police Call Walz’s Comments ‘Dangerous,’ ‘Asinine’ ‘Irresponsible,’ ‘Reckless’
Favicon 
www.newsbusters.org

Border Patrol Agents, Minn. Police Call Walz’s Comments ‘Dangerous,’ ‘Asinine’ ‘Irresponsible,’ ‘Reckless’

The nation’s Border Patrol agents and Minnesota’s police and peace officers condemned Democrat Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s dangerous rhetoric attacking law enforcement following Wednesday’s fatal shooting of a driver who hit a federal agent during a protest. Gov. Walz, who routinely demonizes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for enforcing the nation’s immigration laws – calling them “modern-day Gestapo” – stepped up his incendiary rhetoric Wednesday following the incident, to the point of threatening to deploy state National Guard to oppose the efforts of ICE’s federal agents in his state. Walz’s fellow Democrat, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, launched into a vicious, profanity-laden tirade against ICE agents at a separate press conference following the tragedy, telling immigration officers to “Get the f---k out of Minneapolis.” "Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Frey should be held accountable for their anti-law enforcement rhetoric,” the national Border Patrol Union declared in a social media post explaining how the hateful incitement of Walz and the Minneapolis mayor threatens the safety of, not only law enforcement officers, but also the protesters who are inspired to endanger themselves: “It’s this type of asinine commentary that has gotten our ICE officers and BP agents put into these predicaments where they have been hurt and assaulted at an alarming and record-setting rate! “These agitators who impede and interfere with law enforcement officers put themselves at risk of arrest and in some cases, injury or death, due their unlawful activity.” “Law enforcement is not to blame! We stand with ICE and all of Law Enforcement!” the border agents’ union said. Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association Interim Executive Director David Titus echoed the border agents’ warning in a post: “Irresponsible, reckless rhetoric from political leaders attacking law enforcement has real & dangerous consequences for officers on the street. When officers are vilified, demonized, or used as political props, it fuels hostility, emboldens bad actors, and puts lives directly at risk. “MPPOA calls on leaders to stop the inflammatory language and respect the legal and investigative process.” “The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association stands firmly behind law enforcement officers, accountability under the law, and the safety of every Minnesota community,” Titus, the head of the largest organization representing public safety in Minnesota, announced. “Obstructing, impeding, or attacking federal law enforcement is a federal crime. So is damaging federal property,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi warned anti-ICE protesters in a separate post, promising to hold lawbreakers accountable: “If you cross that red line, you will be arrested and prosecuted.” “Do not test our resolve,” AG Bondi cautioned. If Gov. Walz incites rebellion and makes good on his threat to use his state’s National Guard to obstruct federal law enforcement, President Donald Trump should have him arrested and charged, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said Thursday in a post.   DEM GOV. TIM WALZ: "I have a very simple message: We do not need any further help from the federal government." "To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: You've done enough." "I've issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard. We have soldiers in training and prepared… pic.twitter.com/zWpwQIERuF — Fox News (@FoxNews) January 7, 2026  

Psaki Echoes Frey's Idea That Administration Is Spewing 'BS' On Minneapolis
Favicon 
www.newsbusters.org

Psaki Echoes Frey's Idea That Administration Is Spewing 'BS' On Minneapolis

If MS NOW had a mascot, it would be a blue parrot. When The Briefing host Jen Psaki interviewed Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on her Wednesday show about the ICE shooting involving an agent and an SUV driver, she repeated his accusation that the Trump administration’s defense of the agent was “BS,” and Frey himself echoed Psaki’s echo by doubling down on the “BS” language. During an interview with Frey, Psaki was certain Frey was correct, “We wouldn't know what happened today without citizen activism and without citizens taking—recording from many angles. It's kind of incredible. That's how we know how many of these things happen. You called the Trump administration's portrayal of what happened today BS. I think I just tried to outline why it's BS. We again, we showed the video. I think a lot of people watching have watched this video. This is your community. I mean, what stuck out most to you specifically when you watched that video this morning?”     Whether the woman could be described as a domestic terrorist or simply someone who put an ICE agent’s life in danger for foolishly trying to flee from other agents doesn’t really matter. The point is, in the heat of the moment, the officer in front of the car believed the vehicle posed a threat to him. MS NOW has repeatedly analyzed the video by slowing it down and freezing it once the agent was next to the driver’s side window, but in the real world, the whole incident—from the moment the driver started moving forward to the final of the three shots—was about two seconds. For his part, Frey was happy to double down, “Well, I won't preempt the investigation that is going to take place in part through the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. But look, I got two eyes. I saw the video that all of you saw as well. The notion that this was domestic terrorism is garbage. It's BS. It's whatever other superlative you want to attach, but that ain't a factual or valid narrative.” He also added, “And we should all just be acknowledging, you know, the truth. The truth matters here. And our call has been twofold. Our call has been first, you know, ICE: get out of our city. Second, to our community members. You know, this is our moment to meet a whole lot of hate with a whole lot of love. This is our moment to do everything possible, that we're pushing for justice when you got an administration that is seemingly trying to deny it. This is our moment to show who we can be right now, and I'm confident that we can do so peacefully.” The lesson MS NOW and Frey—not that anyone can tell the difference—claim to want to draw is that ICE’s presence in big cities makes them less safe, but what they really desire is for certain areas of the country to be off-limits to federal law enforcement. That is obviously a non-starter, and no amount of profanity from a lowly mayor can change that. Here is a transcript for the January 7 show: MS NOW The Briefing with Jen Psaki 1/7/2026 9:15 PM ET JEN PSAKI: We wouldn't know what happened today without citizen activism and without citizens taking—recording from many angles. It's kind of incredible. That's how we know how many of these things happen. You called the Trump administration's portrayal of what happened today BS. I think I just tried to outline why it's BS. We again, we showed the video. I think a lot of people watching have watched this video. This is your community. I mean, what stuck out most to you specifically when you watched that video this morning? JACOB FREY: Well, I won't preempt the investigation that is going to take place in part through the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. But look, I got two eyes. I saw the video that all of you saw as well. The notion that this was domestic terrorism is garbage. It's BS. It's whatever other superlative you want to attach, but that ain't a factual or valid narrative. And we should all just be acknowledging, you know, the truth. The truth matters here. And our call has been twofold. Our call has been first, you know, ICE: get out of our city. Second, to our community members. You know, this is our moment to meet a whole lot of hate with a whole lot of love. This is our moment to do everything possible, that we're pushing for justice when you got an administration that is seemingly trying to deny it. This is our moment to show who we can be right now, and I'm confident that we can do so peacefully. I'm confident that we can express those First Amendment rights without hurting each other or the communities that have been built up so beautifully over the last several years. And I mean, I'm optimistic about this city. And at the same time, we're devastated for the family.

PBS Recounts SLOW Rebuild from L.A. Wildfires, But No Mention of Bass, Newsom, 'Democrats'
Favicon 
www.newsbusters.org

PBS Recounts SLOW Rebuild from L.A. Wildfires, But No Mention of Bass, Newsom, 'Democrats'

Several networks aired stories on the anniversary of the disastrous fires in Los Angeles, but none was as remarkably partisan as the PBS News Hour. In nearly nine minutes of reporting, PBS correspondent Stephanie Sy could never bring herself to utter the following words: "Democrats," "Mayor Karen Bass," or "Governor Gavin Newsom."  Someone might say, well they also didn't say "Republicans." Because they would have to mention Republican criticism of the Democrats. The state's very slow rebuild is somehow not an occasion for holding Democrats accountable. News Hour anchor Amna Nawaz introduced it:  "Today marks one year since wildfires set parts of Los Angeles ablaze, killing 31 people. And there's still anger and pain over the response to those fires." Anger at....whom?  Sy began with the problem: “In the Pacific Palisades, the scale of rebuilding hasn't come close to the scale of destruction. The number of rebuilding projects under way is in the low hundreds, but more than 6,000 structures were burned in this area a year ago.”   Sy spoke with journalist Peggy Holter, whose home was destroyed. “Today, going back to the site, Holter wonders at how quickly nature rebounded, when rebuilding for the majority of displaced fire victims has been slow, held up by a web of bureaucracy, insurance claim delays, and rising material and labor costs. Construction is starting to speed up; 14 percent of homes destroyed here have received rebuilding permits, according to a recent L.A. Times analysis.” Holter is part of a lawsuit against government incompetence, but notice how vaguely it’s described: SY: Holter suspects some of those losses could have been avoided. She is one of more than 3,000 Palisades Fire victims now suing for alleged failures by state and city agencies. HOLTER: The reason I felt that it was important to be part of it is that it's important for the city and the county and the state to know that they can't be sloppy about stuff like this. SY: They allege the fact that a major reservoir which serves the Palisades was offline undergoing repairs affected firefighting capabilities just as demand was overwhelming water supplies. HOLTER: I was furious, as was everyone, because how can you have something like that with 115 million gallons of water in it and then have it be empty? Sy found no party to be questioned: “Recently, questions have swirled around whether state policies protecting endangered plants may have hampered firefighters, preventing them from bringing in bulldozers to fully extinguish the initial fire. State officials have repeatedly denied those claims.” The PBS reporter also underlined how the unincorporated town of Altadena represented wealth creation for black families, but warned “some residents feared the disaster worsened inequalities. A recent study found nearly seven in 10 of severely fire-damaged homes in Altadena show no signs of rebuilding, with Black and Asian homeowners most likely to remain stalled.” The town is governed by the Los Angeles County Council, four Democrats and one Republican. They didn’t come up. PBS did mention Karen Bass....when it was an occasion to attack the Trump administration. Last July, then-PBS reporter Laura Barron-Lopez mentioned local ICE activity: "Karen Bass, the L.A. mayor there, said that this is another example of the administration ratcheting up the chaos."

The Views Claims Trump 'Dictatorship' Can and Will KILL Their Audience
Favicon 
www.newsbusters.org

The Views Claims Trump 'Dictatorship' Can and Will KILL Their Audience

After spending a lot of time in 2025 using inciting rhetoric to turn up the temperature and radicalize their audience against President Trump and his administration, The View’s rhetoric grew even more dangerous on Thursday as they took advantage on the ICE-involved shooting in Minnesota to ratchet up tensions. The leftist extremists of the ABC News program openly claimed we were living in “fascist America” where the Trump “dictatorship” can and would kill their audience members on a whim. “So, my question for the panel: are we in the middle of fascist America?” proclaimed deranged co-host Joy Behar. After reading a list of events from the week, including falsely claiming “[Secretary of War] Pete Hegseth started an illegal war for oil in Venezuela” and the shooting, Behar did some View math suggested it “adds up, to me, like a dictatorship in the making. That we are now in it.” Behar, who’s a multimillionaire, then attacked ICE agents for presumably being poor. “And these ICE agent, by the way, they get a $50,000 bonus when they sign up. They're highly motivated people who probably don't have much going on,” she sneered.   Inciting violence. Joy Behar claims we're now living in "fascist America" and wants Americans to "wake up" and realize there's a dictatorship. She claims the events of this week "adds up to me like a dictatorship in the making. That we are now in it. We are in it now." She… pic.twitter.com/KRW2bVqOBM — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 8, 2026   Ignoring the fact that the woman who killed was there to obstruct ICE’s lawful duties and tried to use her car as a weapon against an agent, ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg whined that people thought the show was a “waste [of] air” and claimed that anyone in their audience could and would be killed by ICE: That young lady could have been anybody in this audience. It doesn't matter what -- forget color. Forget everything. It could have been anybody and if they can do this to her, they can do it to you too.   Inciting violence. The View claims the Trump administration can and will kill their audience. Whoopi whines that most people think The View is a "waste of air," then claims the woman killed "could have been anybody in this audience." "If they can do this to her, they can do it to… pic.twitter.com/hQXRm3BO1r — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 8, 2026   The third instance of inciting rhetoric from the show came from pretend independent Sara Haines who warned protesters that they were in danger of being slaughtered in the streets by law enforcement: And Whoopi, when you say you are reassured because people are hearing it; people are hitting the street and we’re watching the temperature rise even further. So, I would say it's also really important to be careful. Although we have the right to protest, the right to stand up, you might be against people that aren't trained properly. So, be careful because it's not worth the win if you lose a life.   Inciting violence. Sara Haines warns protesters they may be killed by law enforcement at gatherings. "Although we have the right to protest, the right to stand up, you might be against people that aren't trained properly so be careful because it's not worth the win if you lose a… pic.twitter.com/0pzi63FjEE — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 8, 2026   Haines also spoke out of her rear, suggesting –without evidence – that the agent didn’t have the proper training. It had since come out that the agent had 10 years of experience. But that fact likely wouldn’t matter to Haines since she asserted that the recruitment campaign by the Department of Homeland Security was attracting “the wrong type of people to come and be undertrained to do this job,” because they were fans of videogames. Co-host Sunny Hostin also had her own braindead takes. She insisted that if you saw what happened as anything other than an “unlawful killing” as she did, it was “propaganda” and “Orwellian.” “You must believe what your eyes see,” she demanded – you listen to what she was telling you.   Sunny Hostin asserts that calling the Minnesota shooting anything other than an "unlawful killing" is "propaganda" and "Orwellian." "You must believe what your eyes see," she demanded. pic.twitter.com/IK6EiSdyB6 — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 8, 2026   Unironically, Behar demanded those who disagreed with them to “stop gaslighting us,” as Hostin claimed viewers that ICE was using vehicles as an excuse to “target” and shoot at people: Just one last thing. In the last four months alone, ICE officers have fired on at least nine people in five state and D.C., and in all of those individuals targeted in those shootings were in vehicles and they have claimed seven defense. No one has been charged. So, when you are out there peacefully protesting, which is your right under the Constitution, even if you're in a vehicle, please, please be careful because this is what's happening in this country right now. “Know that anything can happen now,” Goldberg gravely warned.   Behar had the nerve to demand "stop gas lighting us" as Hostin warned people that ICE was using vehicles as an excuse to shoot at people. Whoopi also warns that "anything can happen." pic.twitter.com/kch4c6CSWD — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 8, 2026   If you thought the token “Republican” on the panel offered any pushback, Alyssa Farah Griffin was as useless as ever as she claimed the agent took the law into this own hands. “In America the punishment for evading law enforcement in a vehicle or on foot is not death. It simply is not. That's not how our system works,” she bloviated. As NewsBusters noted in our roundup of The View’s worst moments of inciting rhetoric in 2025, their technique at the time was: erroneously claim that Trump was a dictator, the country had no future, and that people didn’t have access to the ability to effect change via the ballot box, thus leaving impressionable extremists only one option: violence. In 2026, they’ve added the threat of death into their toxic cocktail. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View January 8, 2026 11:04:13 a.m. Eastern (…) SARA HAINES: She [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem] said this law enforcement agent was following training. It is basic law enforcement training to not step in front of a vehicle that can move, because it creates an opportunity for that vehicle to become a death threat and therefore unnecessary shootings like this. So, although we don't know who this agent is or many details about him, we do know there was an increased goal last year to double the amount of ICE agents. And to hit that number, what they did was they removed all age requirements and cut the training program to less than half of what it had been, while also recruiting people using visuals. I think we have a couple here. That are warlike images like with Uncle Sam and also references to Halo which is a single shooter war game that talks about “destroy the flood” which is kind of presuming that all of these immigrants are parasitic alien enemies. So, it is also recruiting, potentially the wrong type of people to come and be undertrained to do this job. (…) 11:05:32 a.m. Eastern ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: In America the punishment for evading law enforcement in a vehicle or on foot is not death. It simply is not. That's not how our system works. (…) JOY BEHAR: So, my question for the panel: are we in the middle of fascist America? Because in this - WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I told you that yesterday. BEHAR: Just this last week I'm just going to give you a summary of what we've been through. One work. Pete Hegseth started an illegal war for oil in Venezuela, Stephen Miller threatened a military takeover of Greenland, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slashed childhood vaccine recommendations, and ICE shot and killed a United States citizen in Minneapolis. That sort of adds up, to me, like a dictatorship in the making. That we are now in it. GOLDBERG: Yes! BEHAR: We are in it now and American people, I think, have to wake up to this a little bit more than we are. We try very hard to give you what we know. But people have to start reading and watching and paying attention a little bit more than we have. Because we can lose it, you know. And these ICE agent, by the way, they get a $50,000 bonus when they sign up. They're highly motivated people who probably don't have much going on. (…) 11:08:29 a.m. Eastern SUNNY HOSTIN: When I looked at the video from several different angles, which is what lawyers are trained to do, I saw an unlawful killing. I think that's very clear. And I think we need to be at the point in this country that we call a thing a thing and stop listening to propaganda and being Orwellian in terms of not believing what your eyes are seeing. You must believe what your eyes see. Right? GOLDBERG: People are taking to the -- this is what -- HOSTIN: They are believing now. GOLDBERG: This is what is really gives me great hope. People are starting to recognize from whatever -- wherever they voted from that something is terribly wrong. And it makes me - BEHAR: Feel better? GOLDBERG: -- feel like I can take a breath. Because for a long time-  it felt like people just thought we were, you know, just talking to waste air, but people are seeing things because everyone is affected by this. That young lady could have been anybody in this audience. HOSTIN: Well, that's -- GOLDBERG: It doesn't matter what -- forget color. Forget everything. It could have been anybody and if they can do this to her, they can do it to you too. (…) 11:11:00 a.m. Eastern HAINES: And Whoopi, when you say you are reassured because people are hearing it; people are hitting the street and we’re watching the temperature rise even further. So, I would say it's also really important to be careful. Although we have the right to protest, the right to stand up, you might be against people that aren't trained properly. So, be careful because it's not worth the win if you lose a life. (…) 11:11:34 a.m. Eastern BEHAR: And stop gaslighting us! We can see that happened! Cut the crap! HOSTIN: Just one last thing. In the last four months alone, ICE officers have fired on at least nine people in five state and D.C., and in all of those individuals targeted in those shootings were in vehicles and they have claimed seven defense. No one has been charged. So, when you are out there peacefully protesting, which is your right under the Constitution, even if you're in a vehicle, please, please be careful because this is what's happening in this country right now. GOLDBERG: Its what we tell you all the time. Follow -- know that anything can happen now. And be smart about what you're doing. We'll be right back.

UPDATED: ABC Continues To Hide Minnesota Fraud, NBC Plays Defense for Somalis
Favicon 
www.newsbusters.org

UPDATED: ABC Continues To Hide Minnesota Fraud, NBC Plays Defense for Somalis

Last week NewsBusters published a study which found ABC's World News Tonight had spent just 25 seconds covering the widespread Minnesota fraud scandal involving allegedly sham businesses set up by Somalians. As of this morning, Wednesday, January 7, that number has climbed to a still-pitiful 35 seconds. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: ABC's World News Tonight remained almost silent on the story. They have mentioned this scandal just twice, for a total of 35 seconds, and they have spent about three and a half times more airtime portraying Minnesota's Somalian population as the victims of ICE and the Trump administration. NBC Nightly News was initially disinterested in the story until late December, when YouTuber Nick Shirley uploaded a video allegedly showing daycare fraud in the state. Since then, the vast majority of their coverage has revolved around his own independent reporting. They're up to 364 seconds, or just over six minutes. CBS Evening News has diligently covered this scandal, with their total attention paid amounting to 12 minutes and 44 seconds. MRC analysts examined every edition of the big three broadcast networks’ flagship evening newscasts from December 1, 2025 through January 6, 2026, for any discussion of the Minnesota social-services fraud scandal. Through the 6th, ABC still has spent just over half a minute on the story on the evening news. Until this past week all of their coverage was limited to a single 25-second mention during a December 3 report about ICE “sowing fear” among Somalian neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. Anchor David Muir also briefly alluded to the scandal on January 6, 2026, bringing the total up to 35 seconds. Before December 29, NBC’s total coverage amounted to 65 seconds across three different broadcasts. Since then, however, their coverage has climbed to a much more respectable 364 seconds, or just over six minutes. Their more recent reporting has focused almost entirely on the investigative work of journalist Nick Shirley, who uploaded a video in late December which purported to show a throng of fraudulent Somali-run daycares. NBC’s reporters initially seemed credulous of Shirley's investigation, but in a January 5 report they adopted a more skeptical tone, citing a denial by Democratic Governor Tim Walz's administration of any day-care fraud. CBS continued to far outperform its counterparts, granting nearly thirteen minutes of airtime (766 seconds) to the scandal, across six full-length reports and several additional news briefs. CBS remains the only of the three networks to report on the sheer extent of the fraud, which has since allegedly reached as high as $19,000,000,000. ABC spent significantly more time attempting to defend the Somali population in Minnesota and scoffing at President Trump’s harsh criticism of Somalians during a cabinet meeting. This vicarious outrage outpaced their coverage of the actual fraud by approximately 3.5-to-one (122 seconds vs 35 seconds).  Before December 29, NBC’s sympathetic framing of Somalians in Minnesota got over twice as much airtime as the scandal (148 seconds vs 65 seconds). Since then, however, their coverage has become much more focused on the fraud aspect of the story, and they only spent an additional 25 seconds explicitly defending the accused fraudsters. While CBS Evening News co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois routinely adopted this same Somalians-as-the-real-victims framing, the detailed reporting by Jonah Kaplan instead focused primarily on the scandal itself. As a result, CBS was the only network to offer more coverage of the actual fraud allegations than the resulting backlash against the alleged perpetrators (496 seconds vs 103 seconds). While NBC’s sudden interest in this scandal is a positive development, it’s likely they would not have paid it nearly as much attention if not for the work of independent journalists like Nick Shirley, who's been routinely dismissed as a "conservative YouTuber." CBS deserves credit for consistently giving this story its due. In fact, correspondent Jonah Kaplan is the only broadcast reporter who appears to have done real investigative work on this topic, given he’s uncovered and broken new details about the scandal, rather than simply rehashing the work of others. ABC, meanwhile, remains the most journalistically bankrupt of the three big broadcast networks. As of January 7, 2026, anyone who primarily relies on World News Tonight for their news likely has no idea that anything is going on in Minnesota at all – or what exactly is behind Governor Walz's resignation.