After initial reports were dismissed by Team Trump as "fake news" (or perhaps premature news), Politico's Daniel Lippman reports comedian and HBO Real Time host Bill Maher will receive the Mark Twain Prize from the Trump-Kennedy Center prize in June in a show made for Netflix in one of the center's last public events before it shuts down for a planned two-year renovation. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung tweeted "Literally FAKE NEWS" when The Atlantic published an initial scoop.  "Anonymous sources with half-baked information leaked to The Atlantic before conversations were finalized," an anonymous source told Politico. "There was nothing to confirm at the time and it is not appropriate to get ahead of any settled agreement between multiple parties involved." Maher stoked controversy on the Left for having dinner with the president last year, but Trump hasn't been kind to Maher since. Maher hasn't gone MAGA on anyone, with whoppers like comparing Alex Pretti's death at the hands of ICE in Minneapolis to the Holocaust. But Maher has also a fierce critic of wokeness, and called out Jimmy Kimmel and his wife for their intolerance of pro-Trump opinion, even within their own family. He called out the mass killing of Christians in Nigeria as a blind spot for the Left. "Thank you to the Mark Twain people: I just had the award explained to me, and apparently it’s like an Emmy, except I win," Maher said in a statement, according to Politico. "I’d just like to say that it is indeed humbling to get anything named for a man who’s been thrown out of as many school libraries as Mark Twain." Maher has received 42 Emmy nominations throughout his career, most for his talk show, but he's destined to lose to Jon Stewart and now to John Oliver in the category. His only win, in 2014, was as an executive producer of Vice on HBO.

Former CBS reporter Scott MacFarlane had an unintentionally funny defense of himself as he started his new job with the liberals at MeidasTouch. According to MacFarlane, joining the liberal outlet is actually a win for “independent journalism," and that it is actually the people criticizing him who are the hypocrites because they are the ones with opinions. MacFarlane read a post from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, “And there is a lot of chatter about the chatter here. People are giving their opinions of what they think of this new enterprise with MeidasTouch. The point of this is to be a reporter and not give opinions. So, it is noteworthy that there are people throwing opinions at us. It was the White House press secretary. It was the FCC chair. Let me read to you what they said. I do have it on my phone. The White House press secretary had an opinion, and the opinion starts with ‘Veteran CBS reporter joins far-left media company MeidasTouch as anchor, says they share the same ‘north star.’”   Former CBS reporter Scott MacFarlane tries to defend his decision to join the lefties at MeidasTouch by suggesting people who noticed are the problem "The FCC chair said “same job, new duty station.” I actually like that. It is the same job and it is a new duty station at the… pic.twitter.com/d73MNk260u — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 26, 2026   He then read a reply from FCC Chairman Brenden Carr, who said, "Same job, new duty station.” Apparently, MacFarlane actually believes that people whose job it is to give opinions are being hypocritical in criticizing him for giving his opinions in a job that isn’t supposed to be about giving opinions. Nevertheless, he responded to Carr by claiming, “I actually like that. It is the same job, and it is a new duty station at the Capitol in both cases, but reporting for you from a different organization. As for the press secretary saying that I'm a veteran CBS reporter, not a veteran CBS reporter. I am a former CBS reporter, but I am a veteran reporter and here to make news and break news.” Despite just saying he was not there to give opinions, MacFarlane cued up a clip of Kara Swisher at Syracuse University's Toner Awards honoring “heroic” jouranlists, “This did come up though. This shift from CBS to MeidasTouch did come up at an event last night here in Washington. The Toner Journalism Awards are awards given to some very worthy journalists over the past year from The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and ProPublica for their heroic work covering the Trump administration's first year of its second term. But there was some discussion about my shift. And it was a discussion led by Kara Swisher. Listen to what Kara said about the move to independent journalism. It's worth your time.” Swisher did her best ostrich impression during a discussion about problems facing the journalism industry. For her, it is not people’s lack of trust in them, but budget constraints brought on by modern technology and “by the purchasing of the media technology billionaires.”   He adds "This shift from CBS to MeidasTouch did come up at an event last night here in Washington. The Toner Journalism Awards are awards given to some very worthy journalists over the past year from The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and ProPublica for their heroic work… pic.twitter.com/T5cMMWhWBO — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 26, 2026   She then addressed MacFarlane, “Right, Scott. Good move. You'll love it out here. It's much better. You don't wanna work for the Ellisons. I've spent a lot of time with Larry Ellison. He's a terrible person.” Swisher also claimed: I don't think they'll be good owners. I don't. I think they've already shown several times, including editorial choices, which Scott knows more about than I, though, I know a lot, Scott, that they have no interest in journalism, and I refuse to work for an organization that doesn't respect journalists, and I don't mean not cutting. Listen, I got out of journalism because I understood the costs were too high, and I could make a lot more money if I did it in a more efficient, more digital way… The costs are out of line with the audience, right? That's just the way it is. That's not how you do it. It's a basic, like, disdain for it as anything useful, that there's not a way to reform it, except for hiring someone who isn't a journalist.” The insinuation that CBS has turned into MAGA TV is absurd to anyone who has watched it. CBS has become slightly less liberal than it was, and that is unacceptable to MacFarlane and Swisher, who think “independent” means bashing Republicans all the time. Here is a transcript for the March 25 show: MeidasTouch Network Scott MacFarlane Reports 3/25/2026 SCOTT MACFARLANE: And there is a lot of chatter about the chatter here. People are giving their opinions of what they think of this new enterprise with MeidasTouch. The point of this is to be a reporter and not give opinions. So, it is noteworthy that there are people throwing opinions at us. It was the White House press secretary. It was the FCC chair. Let me read to you what they said. I do have it on my phone. The White House press secretary had an opinion, and the opinion starts with “Veteran CBS reporter joins far-left media company MeidasTouch as anchor, says they share the same ‘north star.’” The FCC chair said “same job, new duty station.” I actually like that. It is the same job, and it is a new duty station at the Capitol in both cases, but reporting for you from a different organization. As for the press secretary saying that I'm a veteran CBS reporter, not a veteran CBS reporter. I am a former CBS reporter, but I am a veteran reporter and here to make news and break news. And I'll say this about the White House. I did send an inquiry to them about Iran last night, and they did respond with some background information. They are treating us as what we are: as reporters. This did come up though. This shift from CBS to MeidasTouch did come up at an event last night here in Washington. The Toner Journalism Awards are awards given to some very worthy journalists over the past year from The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and ProPublica for their heroic work covering the Trump administration's first year of its second term. But there was some discussion about my shift. And it was a discussion led by Kara Swisher. Listen to what Kara said about the move to independent journalism. It's worth your time. MARGARET TALEV: So the business of journalism, which is quite impacted by technology, by AI, by the splintering because of social media, but also— KARA SWISHER: —by the purchasing of the media technology billionaires. TALEV: — the ownership structure. SWISHER: Do you understand what they're doing? TALEV: I do. SWISHER: Right, Scott. Good move. You'll love it out here. It's much better. You don't wanna work for the Ellisons. I've spent a lot of time with Larry Ellison. He's a terrible person. [jump cut] I don't think they'll be good owners. I don't. I think they've already shown several times, including editorial choices, which Scott knows more about than I, though, I know a lot, Scott, that they have no interest in journalism, and I refuse to work for an organization that doesn't respect journalists, and I don't mean not cutting. Listen, I got out of journalism because I understood the costs were too high, and I could make a lot more money if I did it in a more efficient, more digital way. And I, I think a lot of the legacy organizations have been really stubborn in terms of understanding what's going on. That's not my issue. There has to be cuts. The costs are out of line with the audience, right? That's just the way it is. That's not how you do it. It's a basic, like, disdain for it as anything useful, that there's not a way to reform it, except for hiring someone who isn't a journalist.

To repeat what Americans have heard a lot recently, our Social Security system is in very bad shape. Per the most recent report, in 2025, of the Social Security and Medicare board of trustees, Social Security is capable of paying out the entirety of promised benefits through 2033. After that, there is only capability of paying out 77% of promised benefits. That’s seven years from now. Anyone who got a letter from their investment fund or insurance program that said “We’re sorry but in another seven years we won’t be able to pay out what was promised” would immediately be on the phone to their lawyer. Why does this very bad news about Social Security not seem to trouble Americans? One reason is that we have no control. It’s not yours despite the fact that you paid for it. You would immediately be on the phone to your agent or your lawyer if your insurance company declared bankruptcy because it’s yours. You own it. Have you ever called Social Security or the IRS to ask a question? You will sit on the phone for hours and in the end, most likely you won’t connect. Try it and you will understand what hopeless means. On Aug. 14, 2010, President Barack Obama addressed the nation to note the 75th anniversary of the signing of Social Security into law. It was already clear then that the system was shaky. But President Obama assured the nation he will “safeguard” Social Security’s “promise to America’s seniors.” He assured Americans that he would never allow a reform enabling Americans to take ownership of their funds, “tying your benefits to the whims of Wall Street traders and the ups and downs of the stock market.”      When Obama made that statement in 2010, the S&P 500 stock index stood at 1079. Today, it stands at 6506. The average return of the S&P 500 from 1957 through December 2025 was 11.5% per year. From November 2007 to January 2009, the stock market, measured by the S&P, dropped over 46%. This was the biggest decline since the 1929 crash. Two Cato Institute analysts checked what would have happened to a couple who invested what they would have paid in Social Security taxes over a 45-year working life and then retired right after the huge market decline in 2009. The answer was that even after the crash, they would have earned an average of 6.75% per year and would have had a sufficient accumulation to payout 75% more than they would have gotten from Social Security. Needless to say, if they had retired before the crash, they would have had much more. But even so, the magic of compound interest over 40-plus years well overcomes a short-term disaster. Stock returns reflect the earnings of corporations, and the earnings of corporations reflect the growth of the U.S. economy. Let’s use some simple logic here. Anyone who is negative about the long-term returns on stocks is negative about the long-term growth of the U.S. economy. And anyone that’s negative about the long-term growth of the U.S. economy should understand that there will be few economic resources for the government to tax. What we keep hearing from politicians is about “saving Social Security.” I’m not interested in saving systems. I am interested in saving people. The only way the existing Social Security system can be “saved” is by taking a bad deal and making it worse. Raising taxes or cutting benefits. Or, for sure what we can expect from the progressives is to turn the system into another welfare program by disproportionately raising taxes on higher income earners. The country is ready for a major overall that will free Americans from the government plantation and allow them to reap the benefits of freedom and ownership. Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Her recent book, “What Is the CURE for America?” is available now.

President Donald Trump’s voter ID proposal, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act proposal, is popular by a wide margin.  But despite the President’s persistence (on social media and at public events) to get it passed in the Senate, the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) broadcast networks haven’t given the SAVE Act any oxygen, as they’ve mostly ignored it on their evening and morning news programs. NewsBusters has been tracking coverage of the SAVE Act since its passage in the House on February 11 and found the Big Three networks refused to cover it, perhaps hoping the popular bill would die on the vine. In fact, they had completely censored any discussion of the bill on their evening and morning news shows until a few small mentions began appearing on March 21. MRC analysts reviewed the ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning news shows from February 11 (when the SAVE America Act passed the House) to the morning of March 26 and found the broadcast networks have mostly hidden any discussion of the bill, spending a tiny 247 seconds (or 4 minutes, 7 seconds) on it. CBS has spent the least amount of time on the SAVE Act on their evening and morning news programs, airing a minuscule 45 seconds on the topic. NBC devoted 70 seconds to the bill. ABC aired the most coverage of the SAVE Act, coming in at a still scant 132 seconds (or 2 minutes, 12 seconds.)  Those total 247 seconds of coverage arrived in very brief mentions about the shutdown debate.  The following 28-second bit on the March 24 edition of ABC’s Good Morning America represented one of the longer mentions:  @ABC, @CBSNews and @NBCNews are mostly ignoring @realDonaldTrump's popular SAVE America Act bill. Here's just one of the very brief mentions of it, on the March 24 ABC's Good Morning America. pic.twitter.com/Y3zd97v7FA — Geoffrey Dickens (@GCDickens) March 26, 2026   CORRESPONDENT JAY O’BRIEN: Just hours before that Oval Office meeting, President Trump had publicly demanded that there should be no deal between Republicans and Democrats, unless it includes his Save America Act legislation that requires proof of citizenship before registering to vote. Democrats have said that is a non-starter, pointing out that it’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote and saying that legislation would put up unnecessary hurdles for legal voters. Michael?  CO-HOST MICHAEL STRAHAN: Yeah, it’s kind of unfortunate one thing control the other Jay, when it shouldn’t.           For this study, MRC analysts looked at the broadcast evening (ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News), morning news shows (ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, NBC Today) from February 11 through the morning of March 26.

MRC Watchdogs churn out breaking news on a daily basis. Don't miss Today's Highlights, where you can keep up with the top MRC content, whether it's the latest study on media bias, a glaring omission from the elitist media, or how the Big Tech companies are serving up the same leftist spin as the media.  Top Stories: CNN, MS NOW: What if Literally Everything Is Just a ‘Distraction’ from Epstein? VIDEO! Apple News+ Subscription Is as Inadequate and Biased as You Would Expect Chicago College Student Gunned Down by Venezuelan Illegal Alien VIDEO! Kimmel: Mullin 'Unqualified' To Be DHS Chief Because He Used To Be a Plumber Elitist Media Ignore Trump’s Top Priority: Popular SAVE America Act (updated 3/24/26)   CNN, MS NOW: What if Literally Everything Is Just a ‘Distraction’ from Epstein? VIDEO! CNN and MSNBC have declared war on reality: Since the Epstein files dropped in late 2025, hosts like Laura Coates, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, and Chris Jansing have branded literally everything Trump does, from routine Truth Social posts about the Idaho murders and Senate hearings to the State of the Union address and a DOJ probe into John Bolton, as a sinister “distraction” from Epstein. Their logic? If it doesn’t directly damage Trump, it’s automatically a cover-up. Epstein coverage is only news when it hurts Trump: The same networks that obsess over Epstein when it implicates Trump instantly pivot to calling evidence against Democrats, like photos of Bill Clinton on Epstein’s island or Ghislaine Maxwell’s audio interview, “distractions” from anti-Trump allegations. This selective outrage proves their real priority isn’t justice or transparency; it’s weaponizing the story against one political target. The media’s Epstein obsession has broken their brains: What started as conspiracy theorizing about Trump’s social media has spiraled into claiming tariffs, military operations, and even criticizing journalists are all elaborate ploys to bury Epstein news. This level of derangement doesn’t expose Trump, it exposes how unhinged and biased the legacy media have become when the facts don’t fit their narrative.   Apple News+ Subscription Is as Inadequate and Biased as You Would Expect Apple News+ is overwhelmingly left-biased: An MRC analysis of 162 rated outlets in Apple News+ found a staggering 51 left-leaning sources compared to just 3 right-leaning ones (National Review, The Dispatch, and The Telegraph). With inclusions like The Atlantic, Vox, Slate, Mother Jones, and The Daily Beast, but no Fox News, New York Post, Daily Mail, Breitbart, or Newsmax, the $12.99/month service functions more as a “megaphone for one side” than a neutral news aggregator. The subscription is inadequate and misleading for users: Apple claims access to “over 500 leading publications,” but the actual unique count is closer to 450 with many small, local, or regional papers. Subscribers often pay for content that’s freely available on the original websites (e.g., Sports Illustrated, LA Times, and Miami Herald articles), while missing major conservative and popular outlets from the top U.S. news rankings. Big Tech gatekeeping undermines fairness in news: Apple, as a powerful tech platform, fails its responsibility to provide balanced perspectives. MRC President David Bozell stated it “betrays its duty to deliver balanced perspectives,” and the heavy left tilt—especially at the local level—forces users into an echo chamber rather than genuine choice. The service lacks options for centrist or right-leaning hometown papers while pushing politicized ones.   Chicago College Student Gunned Down by Venezuelan Illegal Alien VIDEO! Innocent American college student murdered in cold blood by an illegal immigrant shielded by sanctuary policies: 18-year-old Loyola University freshman Sheridan Gorman was walking with friends near campus in a Chicago park when 25-year-old Jose Medina, an illegal alien from Venezuela who entered the U.S. unlawfully in 2023 under the Biden administration, approached and shot her in the back as she tried to flee.  Repeat criminal released by sanctuary Chicago despite prior arrest: Medina was arrested for shoplifting in Chicago just months after illegally crossing the border, but the sanctuary city let him go. He skipped his court date, a warrant was issued, and he remained free, exactly as local “welcoming” policies intended. Democrat priorities exposed: protecting illegal aliens over American lives: While Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson aggressively defend sanctuary policies and have loudly condemned ICE actions (even calling to abolish ICE after incidents involving assaults on agents), they have remained largely silent on this innocent young woman murdered by one of the very criminals they’ve bent over backwards to protect. This tragedy highlights how the left prioritizes stacking voter bases and open-border ideology over the safety of American citizens like Sheridan Gorman.   Kimmel: Mullin 'Unqualified' To Be DHS Chief Because He Used To Be a Plumber Jimmy Kimmel's elitist snobbery on full display: On his March 24, 2026 monologue, ABC host Jimmy Kimmel mocked newly confirmed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin as unqualified simply because he once worked as a plumber (and low-level MMA fighter) before building a successful family business and serving in the U.S. Senate. Kimmel joked, “We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?” revealing Hollywood contempt for anyone without elite credentials. Ignoring real-world experience and Senate record: Mullin didn’t get the job off a random jobsite, he grew his family’s plumbing company into Oklahoma’s largest, then served as a U.S. Senator with direct oversight of Homeland Security issues before his confirmation to replace Kristi Noem. Kimmel conveniently erases this track record to push a class-based attack, pretending only career politicians or Ivy Leaguers can handle national security. Classic liberal double standard exposed: While late-night hosts like Kimmel belittle blue-collar backgrounds when it suits their anti-Trump narrative, the same crowd celebrated “diverse” non-traditional paths (like bartenders in Congress). This plumber smear highlights Hollywood’s disconnect: they claim to champion the working class but sneer at actual working Americans who rise through grit, business success, and public service.   Elitist Media Ignore Trump’s Top Priority: Popular SAVE America Act (updated 3/24/26) President Donald Trump made it very clear that passing his very popular voter ID bill – the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act – is his “number one priority.” Yet, Network News coverage has been scant. ABC, CBS, NBC Evening and Morning Show SAVE Act Coverage (2/11- 3/24 morning): ABC = 86 seconds; CBS = 45 seconds; NBC = 70 seconds Total = 3 minutes,  21 seconds Overwhelming Public Support for SAVE America Act Is Being Deliberately Suppressed. Recent polls show the SAVE America Act enjoys massive bipartisan backing — 71% overall support, including 69% of independents and half of rank-and-file Democrats — with even higher numbers for core provisions like voter ID (81%) and purging non-citizens from voter rolls (80%). Yet the elitist media refuses to inform the public about this broadly popular commonsense measure to ensure only American citizens vote, hoping the story simply “dies on the vine.” News Apps Join the Media in Ignoring or Smearing Trump’s Election Integrity Push. Major news aggregators (Apple News, Google News, MSN) ran 180 combined top stories over three days with zero mentions of the SAVE America Act. Yahoo News mentioned it only twice — both times from left-leaning outlets that framed the bill negatively, claiming it would “disenfranchise millions of voters” and create “hurdles” for women changing names after marriage, while downplaying noncitizen voting concerns. This pattern reveals coordinated omission and bias against a measure most Americans clearly support. Media bias by omission hides a clear pattern of migrant crime. Fox’s Bill Melugin correctly labeled this “Laken Riley 2.0,” yet the Big Three networks refused to connect the dots or air the family’s demand that Gorman’s death “not be dismissed as ‘wrong place, wrong time.’” This is the same playbook networks used after Riley’s murder: downplay the perpetrator’s immigration status to protect the narrative on border policy.