POLL: What was the worst media quote of the week? (Vote below)   Watch the Worst Media Quotes from @TheView, @Acosta and Robert De Niro pic.twitter.com/8HRGmEfnRY — Media Research Center (@theMRC) June 18, 2026   NOMINEES:    Sunny Hostin to Vice President Vance: Your Administration is Erasing Black People “I’m talking about a host of things. I’m talking about black history getting erased from public spaces. Black voter districts are being dismantled. Black leaders are being sidelined from our ranks. Where do Americans of color fit in this vision?! Because it doesn’t seem like we fit!”— Co-host Sunny Hostin to Vice President J.D. Vance on ABC’s The View, June 16.   Jim Acosta: Trump’s Name Being Removed from Kennedy Center is Like Fall of Berlin Wall “This is a giant waste of time, and it’s a sign of what a petulant man-child he [Donald Trump] can be. But as we’ve been saying all night long and all day long, for that matter, this is very much like watching the Berlin Wall coming down. It is a sign that mankind, that humankind can stand up against tyranny.”— Former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta live-streaming on his podcast The Jim Acosta Show, June 13.    Robert De Niro: “I Can’t Love a Country Led by a Racist, Misogynist, Xenophobic Tyrant” “I can’t love a country that sends out masked militias to shoot citizens in the streets, torture our neighbors and separate families. I can’t love a country that’s led by a racist, misogynist, xenophobic tyrant. And let me just say it: I can’t love the country that’s led by Donald Trump and a sycophant Congress.”— Actor Robert De Niro at Rise Up, Sign Out: A Concert for the First Amendment, June 14.      Sponsored by James P. Jimirro

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has joined with four states in a lawsuit seeking to stop the leading medical organization focused on gender transition from deceptive practices misleading parents about the dangers of subjecting their children to transgender procedures. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the FTC alleges that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), an association of clinicians who profit from pediatric medical transition services, is making false and unsubstantiated claims to promote those procedures and portray them as safe. Additionally, WPATH is providing to doctors the means by which to market those procedures to children and parents, the lawsuit notes. Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, charging that WPATH is violating state consumer protection laws, as well as the federal FTC Act. The lawsuit seeks a court-ordered permanent injunction be imposed on WPATH, as well as civil penalties, cost-reimbursement and other forms of relief. “Today, the FTC filed a lawsuit against WPATH alleging that the organization made false and unsubstantiated claims regarding the necessity, effectiveness and safety of puberty blockers, hormones and sex-change surgeries,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in a statement. WPATH-recommended medical interventions “misled parents and children about the medical consensus and medical necessity, as well as the safety and effectiveness, of such services, in violation of the FTC Act,” the Commission charges. These gender-transition medical services for minors include drugs, surgeries, and other interventions. The lawsuit alleges that WPATH establishes, publishes, distributes, and promotes “Standards of Care” (“SOC”), which its members and other clinicians can use to justify and promote the sale of medical transition services – standards that omit and understate the potential dangers to children of the services. WPATH is alleged to dishonestly claim that its SOC are evidence-based and consensus-based clinical guidelines for providing medical transition services, including for children: “WPATH falsely asserts that its recommendations are the result of rigorous scientific procedures and expert consensus, even though WPATH disregarded established guideline‑development standards, ignored the results of its own evidence reviews, and removed age limits in response to external pressure rather than scientific evidence.” Other WPATH claims, such as that puberty blockers are fully reversible and that breast amputations improve children’s mental health and are “lifesaving,” are also unfounded and misleading, the plaintiffs say, citing research. Additionally, the SOC was created with the goal of portraying transition services as being medically necessary, so that health insurance companies would be compelled to cover them, the lawsuit says: “Major health insurance companies likewise rely on the SOC’s determination of medical necessity. That is no accident. In fact, WPATH crafted the SOC with the explicit goal of guaranteeing that insurers would classify virtually all medical transition services as medically necessary and therefore covered by their insurance plans. “Indeed, SOC-8’s drafters repeatedly emphasized in internal communications that SOC-8 should be written to guarantee insurance coverage—including by replacing objective criteria with provider discretion, removing age minimums, and issuing broad ‘medical necessity’ declarations for nearly every medical-transition intervention.” A 2016 regulation by the Obama Administration helped open the door for health insurance coverage for minors receiving transgender medical services. Through a rule relating to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Obama Administration prohibited federally-funded health insurers and providers from excluding or denying coverage of gender transition procedures based on age, among other categories - if the services are deemed medically necessary. What’s more, WPATH allegedly fails to disclose material information about the significant risks and life-long side effects associated with medical transition drugs, surgeries, and other interventions: “These misrepresentations and deceptive omissions have caused unspeakable physical and psychological harm to countless children, as reflected in the sworn statements attached hereto and described below.” Based on its allegations, the lawsuit charges WPATH with violations of each of the four individual state’s consumer protection laws. Regarding the FTC Act, it accuses WPATH of violating prohibitions on provision of the “means and instrumentality to engage in deception” via: “Deceptive Establishment and Efficacy Claims.” “Misrepresentations Regarding the Standards of Care.” “Failure to Disclose Side Effects.” As relief for the alleged violations, the lawsuit asks for the court to enter a permanent injunction to prevent future WPATH violations of the FTC Act and the states’ consumer protection laws, as well as for compensation to be paid to each state. “I commend Chairman Ferguson and the FTC for taking decisive action against WPATH,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement issued Wednesday: “The FTC’s action comes after growing scrutiny of the evidence base, guideline-development process, and conflict-of-interest practices surrounding influential organizations promoting sex-rejecting procedures. HHS’s Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices [PDF], released in November 2025, documented significant concerns regarding the development of WPATH’s Standards of Care Version 8 (SOC-8) clinical guidelines that have shaped so-called ‘pediatric gender medicine’ in the United States and internationally.” “When medical organizations prioritize advocacy over scientific rigor, they deserve to be held accountable,” Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brian Christine, M.D. added. “HHS review identified significant weaknesses in the evidence base and guideline-development process surrounding ‘pediatric gender medicine’ promoted by WPATH. We welcome FTC efforts to examine those findings and take action as appropriate to protect patients and strengthen trust in medical recommendations.” “The FTC will not allow parents and children to be deceived by medical organizations and providers who are prioritizing profit over children’s health and safety,” FTC Chairman Ferguson vowed in a social media post reporting the lawsuit: “While we can never undo the many harms caused by WPATH’s deception, we can prevent WPATH from making false and unsubstantiated medical claims in the future, and that’s what we intend to do.”

ABC’s “bona fide news” moderator Whoopi Goldberg’s mind must have slipped again, since she seemingly forgot that last week she defended President Trump’s attendance at game three of the NBA finals by citing his Knicks fandom. Yet, on Thursday’s episode of The View, despite the fact Trump invited the team to the White House, Goldberg wanted the players to go and force Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance to be around “all those black men,” as if they’d be uncomfortable. She also couldn’t stop bringing up race. Amid a longer conversation where they debated whether the players should attend the meeting owner James Dolan accepted, Goldberg proclaimed: “I want them to go. I want them to go.” “I want all those black men to stand in OUR house and remind all of those people as we try to remind the Vice President that when you try to destroy one part of history, you are destroying all of our histories,” she declared, hinting at Vance’s appearance on the show earlier in the week.   Whoopi proclaims "I want them to go. I want them to go" because she wants Trump and Vance to be around "all those black men." WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I want them to go. BEHAR: You want them to? GOLDBERG: I want them to go. HOSTIN: Do you? GOLDBERG: I want all those black men --… pic.twitter.com/Gpxvb6G63l — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 18, 2026   Goldberg continued to prove just how obsessed with race she was when she brought the conversation back around to the fact that the Knicks had black players (Tyler Kolek was the team’s only white player): GOLDBERG: The team doesn't have to accept this President. They are showing the world as a winning team filled with black men -- I can't stop saying it! I can't stop saying it! HOSTIN: And Latino men! GOLDBERG: And Latino men. Because it's important because of the way our history -- and frankly not just our history, but women's history, and white man's history.  I know, it sounds crazy, but all of our history is getting tattered and torn to shreds.   "I can't stop saying it!" Whoopi keeps harping on how the Knicks have black men on the team. "Because it's important." pic.twitter.com/GM4owRjRc4 — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 18, 2026   A common refrain from most of the cast was that Dolan put his players in a really bad position by accepting the invitation and just generally being friends with Trump. According to pretend independent Sara Haines, it was horrible: I think this puts the players in a really precarious position. Merely because Jim Dolan is admittedly a good friend of Donald Trump's. And to now put that on the players, your boss, the owner of the team you play for is extending this offer, accepting this offer. “I just think it's not fair to take any of the flowers and beauty of this moment and its unity and try to then place it on the players' back,” she added.   The View whines that Knicks owner James Dolan accepted an invitation to have the team visit the White House: SARA HAINES: I think this puts the players in a really precarious position. Merely because Jim Dolan is admittedly a good friend of Donald Trump's. And to now put that on… pic.twitter.com/4tEFDBu6pw — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 18, 2026   That sentiment was echoed by co-host Sunny Hostin (Click “expand”): HOSTIN: I do think it puts a lot of pressure on these players and a lot of pressure on the captain of the team Jalen Brunson. I think it puts a lot of pressure - because Jose Alvarado, the Puerto Rican player was already approached and asked, 'will you go to the White House?' And he said - [Crosstalk] HOSTIN: I will do what my team decides to do. So, it's probably going to be a decision that's made between the coach as well as the captain and all players.   Sunny Hostin supports the Knicks players if they wanted to boycott the White House trip: "There's a reason why every single - the previous five NBA champions crowned during the Trump administration refused to go. I think there's a reason for it, that's because he politicizes the… pic.twitter.com/s2R4pAcDmZ — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 18, 2026   Faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin also bellyached about how Dolan did his players a disservice, but felt they should go: I totally agree. I think it puts the players in such an uncomfortable position, cause it was honestly the first thing I thought of once they won the championship, as a new Knicks fan, is like, "Oh no, they're going to get invited to the White House and there's this political discourse. Should they go, shout they not?" I think they should go if they want to. If they're comfortable going, because the White House is bigger than any one president and precedency.   Joy Behar mourns for the Knicks players, citing "the indignity of these poor guys having to go down there" to meet President Trump. She does suggest that it's best to show reverence for the office, not the man. pic.twitter.com/bG4MbbOhEU — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 18, 2026   Finally, co-host Joy Behar thought they should go but mourned for “the indignity of these poor guys having to go down there.” The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View June 18, 2026 11:04:12 a.m. Eastern (…) SARA HAINES: I think this puts the players in a really precarious position. Merely because Jim Dolan is admittedly a good friend of Donald Trump's. And to now put that on the players, your boss, the owner of the team you play for is extending this offer, accepting this offer. I don't - I know you might get people that refuse to go. I just think it's not fair to take any of the flowers and beauty of this moment and its unity and try to then place it on the players' back. ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I totally agree. I think it puts the players in such an uncomfortable position, cause it was honestly the first thing I thought of once they won the championship, as a new Knicks fan, is like, "Oh no, they're going to get invited to the White House and there's this political discourse. Should they go, shout they not?" I think they should go if they want to. If they're comfortable going, because the White House is bigger than any one president and precedency. HAINES: It's our house. FARAH GRIFFIN: They earned the right to go as champions, but I also think they have the right to refuse too. If any individual players don't want to, that's their decision. And I also they can use the big platforms they have. I mean, these guys all have millions of followers on social media. If they want to stand up for causes or if they want to potentially critique this administration, there's a way that everyone should win. I don't think it's fair if they do decide to go, I don't think they should get hate it. It's there place to. JOY BEHAR: Recently, they were trashing Michelle Obama.  I mean, you know. HAINES: You mean the UFC. BEHAR: Yeah. [Crosstalk] BEHAR: The whole - the indignity of these poor guys having to go down there. [Crosstalk] I have to say, I don't agree with the Republican position, I don't agree with Trump, I don’t agree with J.D. Vance. I was nice to him. I respect the position. I respect the office. And so, I'm feeling two ways about it. Like yes, maybe you have to respect the White House. You don't have to respect who’s in the White House though. SUNNY HOSTIN: But I think there's a reason why every single - the previous five NBA champions crowned during the Trump administration refused to go. I think there's a reason for it, that's because he politicizes the events that come before him. That's one of the problems. I don't think you can separate Trump from the White House, even though we would like to because it's the people's house. WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I want them to go. BEHAR: You want them to? GOLDBERG: I want them to go. HOSTIN: Do you? GOLDBERG: I want all those black men -- [Cheers and applause] BEHAR: Tell it! Tell it! GOLDBERG: - to stand in OUR house and remind all of those people as we try to remind - HOSTIN: The Vice President. GOLDBERG: - the Vice President that when you try to destroy one part of history, you are destroying all of our histories. And they, as champions -- not only as amazing basketball players, but as people who were down and came back up, this is what this looks like. HAINES: Yes! GOLDBERG: This what this looks like. So, I want them to go. I want them to go. If only so the kids know that nobody, nobody can keep you down if you are rising up. [Cheers and applause] HOSTIN: Yeah. GOLDBERG: That's what I want. That's what I want. HOSTIN: I remain very conflicted over it. I do think it puts a lot of pressure on these players and a lot of pressure on the captain of the team Jalen Brunson. I think it puts a lot of pressure - because Jose Alvarado, the Puerto Rican player was already approached and asked, 'will you go to the White House?' And he said - [Crosstalk] HOSTIN: I will do what my team decides to do. So, it's probably going to be a decision that's made between the coach as well as the captain and all players. (…) 11:08:18 a.m. Eastern GOLDBERG: The team doesn't have to accept this President. They are showing the world as a winning team filled with black men -- I can't stop saying it! I can't stop saying it! HOSTIN: And Latino men! GOLDBERG: And Latino men. Because it's important because of the way our history -- and frankly not just our history, but women's history, and white man's history.  I know, it sounds crazy, but all of our history is getting tattered and torn to shreds. (…)

The latest installment in the media’s attempt to portray President Trump as ruining the ongoing World Cup took place on Wednesday’s Amanpour and Company on PBS. During one segment, host Christiane Amanpour and author Simon Kuper tried to suggest that Trump is the reason why Cape Verde goalkeeper Josimar “Vozinha” Dias’s mother has not been able to acquire a visa, but there are compelling reasons to believe that is not true. Before that, Amanpour listed some other on-field stories she thought were worthy of mentioning, “What matches have stood out for you? You just mentioned the three who've just really done unbelievably. What about lesser-knowns? Like, I think Bosnia held their opponents to a draw. Iran held their opponents to a draw. I mean, they're not lesser known, but they're less high-ranked. And Cape Verde, tell me about that goalie. It's an incredible story.”   CNN/PBS's Christiane Amanpour and author Simon Kuper do some World Cup-immigration conspiracy theorizing. Amanpour notes that the State Department is trying to get Cape Verde's goalkeeper a visa, "Was she not allowed before?" Kuper says "I think Cape Verde is one of those… pic.twitter.com/2ngABj0kTw — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) June 18, 2026   Amanpour probably listed Iran probably to paint the narrative that Team Iran is being harassed and needlessly persecuted by Trump, but Iran was a heavy favorite to beat New Zealand, so a tie has to be considered a failure. As for the Cape Verde goalie, Kuper began by highlighting the significance of his performance, “Yeah, Vozinha, he plays in the second division in Portugal. He's 40-years old, and Spain were attacking the whole game, as you’d expect from the team that were the bookmakers' favorites to win the World Cup. And they couldn't even beat Cape Verde, playing its first World Cup with a team drawn heavily from its diaspora, a lot of players from Rotterdam.” He then added, “It's the first real Cinderella moment we've had so far. I think the whole world loved it. And the U.S. State Department is now even trying to bring the goalkeeper's mother into the U.S. so she can follow the tournament there.” Amanpour then ruined the feel-good story with some anti-Trump politics, “Well, wouldn't that be nice? And was she not allowed before?” Kuper simply retorted, “I think Cape Verde is one of those countries that it's very difficult to get visas for Donald Trump's USA. And so, there are whole countries that have not really been able to get any fans.” In an effort to crackdown on high rates of visa overstay, the Trump administration has required visitors from certain countries to put up a refundable bond as part of their application process. Vozinha has said his mother could not afford the $15,000 payment, but players’ families are exempt from the bond. Furthermore, according to AP sports writer Jim Vertuno, “A person familiar with the situation said that the State Department believes that Vozinha’s mother did not apply for a visa because she did not hold a valid Cape Verde passport, but that she is now in the process of getting one.” It is unfortunate that Vozinha’s mother could not be there to see him play against Spain, but that does not mean there was some grand anti-Cape Verde or anti-Africa conspiracy afoot. Here is a transcript for the June 17 show: PBS Amanpour and Company 6/17/2026 CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Yeah, and what matches have stood out for you? You just mentioned the three who've just really done unbelievably. What about lesser-knowns? Like I think Bosnia held their opponents to a draw. Iran held their opponents to a draw. I mean, they're not lesser known, but they're less high-ranked. And Cape Verde, tell me about that goalie. It's an incredible story. SIMON KUPER: Yeah, Vozinha, he plays in the second division in Portugal. He's 40-years old, and Spain were attacking the whole game, as you’d expect from the team that were the bookmakers' favorites to win the World Cup. And they couldn't even beat Cape Verde, playing its first World Cup with a team drawn heavily from its diaspora, a lot of players from Rotterdam. And it's the first real Cinderella moment we've had so far. I think the whole world loved it. And the U.S. State Department is now even trying to bring the goalkeeper's mother into the U.S. so she can follow the tournament there. AMANPOUR: Well, wouldn't that be nice? And was she not allowed before? KUPER: I think Cape Verde is one of those countries that it's very difficult to get visas for Donald Trump's USA. And so, there are whole countries that have not really been able to get any fans.

On Thursday's CNN This Morning, in a discussion of the memorandum of understanding with Iran, host Audie Cornish tried to corner former Trump White House Communications Director Mike Dubke. After noting some conservatives were "squawking" over the deal, Cornish turned directly to Dubke and declared, “Mike Dubke, your favorite person just posted to Truth Social.” She then read Trump’s post highlighting record stock market highs and falling oil prices before asking whether critics of the MOU were “jealous, bad people, or stupid?” Dubke defended the agreement as only a framework for further negotiations, not a finished deal. He noted Iran’s degraded military capabilities, reduced ballistic missile stockpiles, and diminished ability to fund proxies like Hamas and the Houthis. After co-panelist Meghan Hays -- who like Dubke was a White House communications aide, and was tagged as the costumed Easter Bunny who led Biden away from reporters at the Easter Egg Roll -- snickered at his points, and later claimed the U.S. was spending $300 billion-plus on the deal, Dubke’s irritation was clear. “I appreciate the laughter on my left,” he said sarcastically. And he pushed back hard on the cost figure: “We did not spend $300 billion in this deal, I just can't let you get away with that." Cornish is not in the habit of mocking Hays with references to "your favorite person" Biden. Cornish closed the segment with a snide historical shot. Noting the signing of the MOU at Versailles, she remarked that in foreign policy circles, to call something a Versailles agreement is “kind of an insult” — “a self-defeating agreement.”   Cornish Tries To Corner GOP Panelist On MOU: ‘Your Favorite Person’ Trump pic.twitter.com/oPGuiIGDbk — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) June 18, 2026 Cornish was alluding to the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. The United States never signed it, and the harsh terms the treaty imposed on Germany are widely believed to have created conditions leading to the rise of Hitler. The whole exchange had a familiar CNN feel: personalize the Trump connection to corner the GOP panelist and force him onto the defensive, let the stacked panel do some of the dirty work, then slip in the loaded analogy at the end. Dubke, no raging MAGA partisan, kept his focus on the pragmatic “stop digging” framework while visibly annoyed by the snickering and spin from his left. CNN's focus was less about the substance of the deal and more about needling anyone who won’t reflexively bash Trump. Here's the transcript. CNN This Morning 6/18/26 6:04 am EDT AUDIE CORNISH: Like, why would all these conservative voices be squawking about this, right? Why would the Lindsey Grahams of the world, who were all too happy to be a part of these strikes and have these demands on Iran, be so frustrated with what was signed? . . .  Yeah, it's interesting. As we are speaking, Mike Dubke, your favorite person just posted to Truth Social. President Trump says, look, "These fools who think I haven't been tough enough on Iran, when the stock market just hit a record high and oil prices are tumbling down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid." So let's talk messaging. MIKE DUBKE: Well, first of all, this is just a framework. This isn't the total deal, so we need to keep that in mind. I mean, we keep — all the rhetoric I keep hearing is, "You know, this deal, this deal, that." It's a framework to get to a deal. So we can argue whether or not that's great or not, and I appreciate the, the laughter on my left. The other thing is, when you're in a hole, what's the first rule? Stop digging. And I think that's where we are with this particular framework, this particular MOU, is that we are at a point: the military in Iran has been degraded, whether or not it's been blasted to the stone age again, we can debate that. The ballistic missile stockpile has been degraded, their ability to fund Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, has been degraded. . . .  MEGHAN HAYS: We spent a billion dollars a day fighting a war that no one wanted to go to, so we spent over a hundred billion dollars there. We spent three hundred billion dollars in this deal, so now we're four hundred billion dollars when Americans don't have healthcare. We — DUBKE: We did not spend $300 billion in this deal, it — I just can't let you just get away with that. I just can't let you just get away with that. CORNISH: Let me give the fact check. There will be a $300 billion dollar investment fund. But a lot of people say, why should Iran have almost immediate access to investments in the world economy if it's still sitting on its enriched uranium, and so much of this is not worked out yet? Let me give Zina the last word because he's here, and this was signed at Versailles. Lots of things have been signed at Versailles. So usually, when you call something a Versailles treaty, it's a, in foreign language, in foreign policy land, kind of an insult, right? It's a self-defeating agreement.