The most Biden-sycophantic network newscast was unable to help itself on the day of the election of the first American pope. During a roundup of presidential reactions to Pope Leo XIV, correspondent Rachel Scott went to a tired but true hook: “Joe Biden, devout Catholic.” Watch the report in its entirety, as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Thursday, May 8th, 2025: ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT 5/8/25 6:47 PM DAVID MUIR: And back in the U.S., President Trump, former Presidents Biden, Obama, Bush and Clinton all sending messages about this first American pope. The opportunity for unity and their hope for the new leader of the Catholic Church. Rachel Scott at The White House tonight. RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, the American president calling the election of the first American pope “a great honor for our country.” DONALD TRUMP: What greater honor could there be? And- we’re a little bit surprised but very happy. SCOTT: Each of America’s former presidents sending their good wishes. Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, posting on social media: “Habeas papamom(SIC). May God bless Pope Leo XIV of Illinois. Jill and I congratulate him and wish him success.” Barack Obama posting: “Michelle and I send our congratulations to a fellow Chicagoan. His Holiness Pope Leo XIV…we will pray for him as he begins the sacred work of leading the Catholic Church and setting an example for so many, regardless of faith. George W. Bush calling this “...an historic and hopeful moment for Catholics in America and for the faithful around the world. And Bill Clinton, citing the Pope’s first words today, saying: “...His Hiliness Pope Leo XIV spoke to billions…calling for unity and offering peace, a message the world needs now more than ever.” SCOTT: And President Trump says he looks forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV, saying it will be a very meaningful moment, David. MUIR: Rachel Scott at The White House for us tonight. Rachel, thank you. ABC News had already provided material support to Joe Biden’s image rehabilitation efforts, what with their interview on The View, or “swaddling”, as described by our colleague Nick Fondacaro. The panelists at The View did their level best to prop Biden up, ahead of potentially brutal revelations forthcoming in the slew of books about to drop.  Rachel Scott did likewise here, by reminding viewers that Biden also professed the Catholic faith. Devoutly, even. But as we all know, the “devout Catholic” label doesn’t always get trotted out when reporting on Biden. We didn’t hear the “devout Catholic” label get trotted out when Biden support for abortion, or when he had a trans event at The White House.  Likewise, we heard no such label when Biden’s Department of Justice went after both adherents of Latin Mass and parents seeking to protect their children from overly sexual materials in school. In the eyes of the Legacy Media and as demonstrated by ABC News, “devout Catholic” is an accessory to be placed upon Joe Biden when it is convenient, with no expectation of his upholding the tenets of the faith.  

A Democratic representative mourned a huge change to a government agency responsible for massive censorship. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem put him in his place.  Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) went after Noem during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, criticizing President Donald Trump’s proposed $491 million funding cut for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). In response, Noem told Case that the DHS would stop wasting money and funding censorship.  [Story Continues on MRC Free Speech America] 

After Cardinal Robert Prevost became the first American ever to be elected Pope on Tuesday and took the name Leo XIV, MSNBC’s Katy Tur picked and chose what aspects of his beliefs to amplify and which ones to downplay or ignore. Naturally, for MSNBC, she highlighted his “rebuking” of conservatives and Republicans, but not of liberals and Democrats. Tur asked former Time managing editor and Obama Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel, “Do you foresee this having some legs in the American political landscape?”     Stengel was hopeful that it would, “Yeah. You summarized it well. I mean, it may indeed be a rebuke of some of those conservative ideas. I don't know that the cardinals are thinking about American politics as much as we are, but he's a different kind of American.” He contrasted Leo with Trump, “He's a different kind of American. He represents values that are different than the values on the world stage of the MAGA Trump administration. Concern for the poor, concern for immigrants, all of the things that Francis talked about. I think it's a boon to the idea that Americans don't have to be this kind of autocratic model that we're seeing with the Trump Administration.” Leo also claimed that Kamala Harris’s support for abortion meant the 2024 election was about the need to “choose the lesser evil.” He has also claimed that protecting society’s most vulnerable means “ensuring their dignity is upheld from the womb to the end of life” and “Bishops are called to be shepherds who defend the sanctity of life, ensuring no one — neither the unborn nor the aging — is left without the Church’s love and protection.” Tur, however, wanted to stay with immigration, “He’s lived an integrated life. I mean, he's lived in many other places. He speaks multiple languages. He's an American who has not isolated himself in American—in America. He's not a nationalist. In fact, when he was rebuking JD Vance, he was rebuking the idea that Vance put forward, which is that in the Christian faith, you love yourself first, your family next, your community after that, and then everybody else. And the rebuke from Pope Leo XIV before he became pope was no, Jesus did not say that. There is an order to your love. This is a man who has been global as America in this moment is becoming much more insular.” A few minutes later, Tur raised the subject of sexuality with the former head of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the U.S., Father Timothy Kesicki, “Yeah, I'm curious about, you know, Pope Francis was open to gay marriage, and there are a lot of gay and lesbian Catholics who felt like this was a real step in the right direction for them, renewed their faith in the Church, felt like they were a part of it, and there was worry, a lot of consternation about who might be chosen next and whether it would be somebody much more conservative who would take that away from them.”     Fact-check: Francis was not open to gay marriage. Nevertheless, Tur rolled on, “Where do you see Pope Leo XIV falling on this? I know he chose the name, it’s social justice, but do you expect that he's going to follow in the footsteps of Francis when it comes to LGBTQ issues?” Kesicki tried to be delicate, “Well, we have not seen anything formally written by formerly Cardinal Prevost about this issue… So, I think what you're going to see is someone who is a deep listener, who is going to step into this new role, listening to the many pastoral concerns of the church. And he's going to kind of hold in balance the fundamental teachings of the Church with the pastoral needs of those in front of him.” We may not have any formal writings, but we know that he believes that a “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children” are “at odds with the Gospel.” It is also a matter of public record that Leo is opposed to “the promotion of gender ideology” because it “is confusing” and “seeks to create genders that don’t exist.” Over the next several days, as Leo’s papacy is still a new story, expect the media to focus on his historical comments about Vance and how Leo is “a different kind of American.” However, that does not mean that they will hype the fact that he is also different from their liberal culture warrior selves. Here is a transcript for the May 8 show: MSNBC Katy Tur Reports 5/8/2025 3:32 PM ET KATY TUR: Do you foresee this having some legs in the American political landscape? RICHARD STENGEL: Yeah. You summarized it well. I mean, it may indeed be a rebuke of some of those conservative ideas. I don't know that the cardinals are thinking about American politics as much as we are, but he's a different kind of American. TUR: I'm thinking of. I mean, he's thinking about American policy, if not politics. STENGELL: Yeah. No, I think he's been, you know, righteous about that. You know, it reminds me that Joe Nye died this week. Joe Nye was the great Harvard political philosopher who came up with the idea of soft power. Soft power as opposed to hard military power, the power of culture, the power of influence. This has an enormous soft power index for America in a positive way, as Governor Kasich said. He's a different kind of American. He represents values that are different than the values on the world stage of the MAGA Trump administration. Concern for the poor, concern for immigrants, all of the things that Francis talked about. I think it's a boon to the idea that Americans don't have to be this kind of autocratic model that we're seeing with the Trump Administration. TUR: He’s lived an integrated life. I mean, he's lived in many other places. He speaks multiple languages. He's an American who has not isolated himself in American—in America. He's not a nationalist. In fact, when he was rebuking JD Vance, he was rebuking the idea that Vance put forward, which is that in the Christian faith, you love yourself first, your family next, your community after that, and then everybody else. And the rebuke from Pope Leo XIV before he became pope was no, Jesus did not say that. There is an order to your love. STENGELL: Yeah. TUR: This is a man who has been global as America in this moment is becoming much more insular. … TUR: Yeah, I'm curious about, you know, Pope Francis was open to gay marriage, and there are a lot of gay and lesbian Catholics who felt like this was a real step in the right direction for them, renewed their faith in the Church, felt like they were a part of it, and there was worry, a lot of consternation about who might be chosen next and whether it would be somebody much more conservative who would take that away from them. Where do you see Pope Leo XIV falling on this? I know he chose the name, it’s social justice, but do you expect that he's going to follow in the footsteps of Francis when it comes to LGBTQ issues? TIMOTHY KESICKI:  Well, we have not seen anything formally written by formerly Cardinal Prevost about this issue. But first of all, I think we know that he understands the issue from his experience in the United States, as well as his decades in South America. He would have paid attention to every step Pope Francis took to love every member of the church. So, I think what you're going to see is someone who is a deep listener, who is going to step into this new role, listening to the many pastoral concerns of the church. And he's going to kind of hold in balance the fundamental teachings of the Church with the pastoral needs of those in front of him.

The Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals made history Thursday by electing the first American pope, Robert Prevost, who took the name Pope Leo XIV. The liberal media celebrated Leo as a pope cut from a similar cloth to Pope Francis, while downplaying the reported Republican streak to his voting history. But during an appearance on CNN News Central, liberal Catholic writer Michael Sean Winters (of National Catholic Reporter) lashed out at conservatives and told them to search their souls and change their politics. “Can you talk a little bit about you know, what the task at hand is for this pope when it comes to unity and or reforming?” asked co-host Brianna Keilar. Winters argued that it was “very clear” that the Cardinals had elected Leo to “land the plane” of Francis’s reforms: So, I mean, the cardinals were very clear in choosing Cardinal Prevost to be the pope, that they want to continue the reforms Pope Francis has started. And Prevost is a very great manager. He will maybe be able to institutionalize some of them, some of these reforms in ways that Francis had just begun. Somebody who can land the plane, if you will.     He scoffed at talk of unity within the church as just a “conservative talking point” and suggested that those conservative Catholics “change” their politics: You know, that unity talk has become a conservative talking point in recent weeks. You know, so long as it's not a heckler's veto, I'm all for unity. But we're Catholics; you get behind the pope. And there's only one pope. And if he's teaching the gospel in a way that doesn't cohere with your politics, as a Catholic, you have to ask yourself if your politics need to change. Near the end of the interview, when asked about tensions in the church over the direction its heading, Winters again chided the conservative wing. According to him, it was merely a small but loud group that needed to search their souls: But I think the tensions especially in America, there's a conservative group that's been very well funded and very well organized. But I've been saying for two weeks, since Pope Francis died, that they were really a minuscule part of the population and they have to do some soul searching, now. “I think they thought this archconservative was going to come in and role everything back. And clearly, the cardinals of the worldwide church said, no, we're moving ahead,” he mocked. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: CNN News Central May 8, 2025 3:57:00 p.m. Eastern (…) BRIANNA KEILAR: Can you talk a little bit about you know, what the task at hand is for this pope when it comes to unity and or reforming? MICHAEL SEAN WINTERS (National Catholic Reporter): So, I mean, the cardinals were very clear in choosing Cardinal Prevost to be the pope, that they want to continue the reforms Pope Francis has started. And Prevost is a very great manager. He will maybe be able to institutionalize some of them, some of these reforms in ways that Francis had just begun. Somebody who can land the plane, if you will. You know, that unity talk has become a conservative talking point in recent weeks. You know, so long as it's not a heckler's veto, I'm all for unity. But we're Catholics; you get behind the pope. And there's only one pope. And if he's teaching the gospel in a way that doesn't cohere with your politics, as a Catholic, you have to ask yourself if your politics need to change. BORIS SANCHEZ: Wow. (…) 3:59:10 p.m. Eastern KEILAR: And just really quickly, Michael, is you mentioned there is some tension there in the church in the direction people want to see it go. What is the challenge facing this pope? WINTERS: Well, clearly there wasn't much of a challenge division within the College of Cardinals. Relatively quickly, they reached a two-thirds-plus-one decision, to continue with Francis's reforms and to entrust them to Pope Leo, who will be his own man and will do things differently. But I think the tensions especially in America, there's a conservative group that's been very well funded and very well organized. But I've been saying for two weeks, since pope Francis died, that they were really a minuscule part of the population and they have to do some soul searching, now. I think they thought this archconservative was going to come in and role everything back. And clearly, the cardinals of the worldwide church said, no, we're moving ahead.

After proving themselves to be his greatest sycophants with their gushfest of an interview last September, former President Biden reciprocated by giving the liberal ladies of ABC’s The View his first post-presidency interview. Of course, as Democratic propagandists, they swaddled him in love and softball questions, largely teeing up questions about controversies in easy-to-knock-down ways, and helping him rehabilitate his image. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg opened up questions with a fast ball about how he was doing, which Biden used to hawk the book he was supposedly writing himself. Pretend independent Sara Haines followed up by ignoring the fact that Biden didn’t drop out willingly but was forced out by Democratic Party insiders and donors, and commended him on his “selfless and very difficult decision” to drop out. When asked why Vice President Kamala Harris lost despite Democratic optimism, Biden seeming suggested that America was sexist: HAINES: Democrats were feeling optimistic about the vice president's chances of winning the presidency, but then election night came, and it was like 2016 all over again. So, why do you think the vice president lost and were you surprised? BIDEN: I wasn't surprised, not because I didn't think the vice president was the most qualified person to be president. She is. She's qualified to be president of the United States of America but I was surprised -- I was surprised because they went the route of the sexist route the whole route.   Sara Haines commends Biden for his "selfless and very difficult decision" to get out of the race, but wanted to know what he thought was the reason for Harris's defeat. Biden seems to blame it on Americans being sexist: "I was surprised because they went the route of the sexist… pic.twitter.com/IRgS19rfim — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 8, 2025   As Biden’s biggest fan on the set, Joy Behar had the gooiest things to say about him. Completely ignoring how both President Obama and Biden blamed their Republican predecessors for their own failings until they left office, Behar whined that Trump was blaming Biden after the first 100 days. “As of late April, he had mentioned you and your family and your administration at least 580 times. That's -- we're talking shrink land now,” Behar declared, suggesting there was something wrong with Trump’s brain (something she refused to entertain with Biden). Of course, it was an easy softball for Biden: BEHAR: Why is he so fixated on you and blaming you for everything? BIDEN: I beat him. In a follow up question sometime later, Behar admitted that Biden’s handlers had requested she ask him a specific question about his use of an autopen to sign his family’s pardons and admitted that she promised to do it: BEHAR: I promised I would ask this question, because – [Whoopi Goldberg gestures to the producers] They want me to ask it. Not only is he obsessed with you and blaming you for everything, he's also obsessed with the fact that you used an autopen to sign the pardons, you issued right before you left office for members of your immediate family. Now, he's calling for investigations and claiming the pardons are void and vacant! BIDEN: Oh, he’s vacant.   Joy Behar admits that Biden used an auto pen to sign his pardons. She also seemingly admits that Biden's handlers wanted her to ask about it and admitted that she promised she would. "He's vacant," Biden responded. pic.twitter.com/Bnh3LXgqEa — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 8, 2025   Previously, The View cast cheered Biden’s pardon for his son Hunter. They praised how Biden gave his son a “great gift, the gift of freedom.” As one of the fake conservatives on set, Alyssa Farah Griffin’s question regarding the books detailing Biden’s cognitive decline never drilled down on any of the specific examples. She simply asked: “What is your response to these allegations and are these sources wrong?” “They are wrong. There's nothing to sustain that,” Biden answered. Late in the interview, Goldberg decried how "everybody lost their mind" because Biden simply had "a bad night" at the infamous debate. "Why do you think that caught fire? Why do you think people bought into it?" Goldberg asked. Biden claimed he was just "sick." "It's an explanation," Behar defended him.   Whoopi decries how "everybody lost their mind" because Biden simply had "a bad night" at the debate. "Why do you think that caught fire? Why do you think people bought into it?" Whoopi asks. Biden claims he was just "sick." "It's an explanation," Behar defended him. pic.twitter.com/ZJpppjnhSC — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 8, 2025   For her part, co-host Sunny Hostin had a bit of a selfish question. Trying to wash herself clean of the major damage she did to the Harris campaign with her “weaponized” question about doing things differently from Biden, Hostin wanted to know if Biden pressured her to answer the way she did: [W]hen the vice president was here, I asked her if she would have done something differently than your administration over the past four years. And because of all the successes that your administration had, I think her response was ‘there is not a thing that comes to mind.’ Now, that answer was weaponized against her, and there has been some reporting that you encouraged her for there to be no daylight between the two of you. First, is that true, and do you think in retrospect she should have tried to differentiate all the wins that your administration had? “Well, look, first of all, I did not advise her to say that. Number one. Like I said, I was vice president. I understand the role,” Biden said. At the very end of the show, Goldberg wanted viewers to know "you're not in this alone, we're all in it together" against Trump. "We got them!" Behar proclaimed as she jumped up to hug Biden.   Hostin brings up her question to Harris about what she would do differently from Biden (which helped sink her campaign), and whines it was "weaponized against her." Hostin tries to wash her hands by blaming Biden for it: "[T]here has been some reporting that you encouraged her… pic.twitter.com/fJ1pWFT4vG — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 8, 2025   The relevant portions of the transcript are below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View May 8. 2025 11:04:22 a.m. Eastern (…) SARA HAINES: Mr. President, last time you were here was a little over a month before the election, and you had made the selfless and very difficult decision, I'm sure, to step aside. And Democrats were feeling optimistic about the vice president's chances of winning the presidency, but then election night came, and it was like 2016 all over again. So, why do you think the vice president lost and were you surprised? FMR. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I wasn't surprised, not because I didn't think the vice president was the most qualified person to be president. She is. She's qualified to be president of the United States of America but I was surprised -- I was surprised because they went the route of the sexist route the whole route. (…) 11:10:16 a.m. Eastern SUNNY HOSTIN: … [W]hen the vice president was here, I asked her if she would have done something differently than your administration over the past four years. And because of all the successes that your administration had, I think her response was ‘there is not a thing that comes to mind.’ Now, that answer was weaponized against her, and there has been some reporting that you encouraged her for there to be no daylight between the two of you. First, is that true, and do you think in retrospect she should have tried to differentiate all the wins that your administration had? BIDEN: Well, look, first of all, I did not advise her to say that. Number one. Like I said, I was vice president. I understand the role. (…) 11:19:22 a.m. Eastern JOY BEHAR: So, I've noticed that Trump can't stop talking about it. He's obsessed with you. As of late April, he had mentioned you and your family and your administration at least 580 times. That's -- we're talking shrink land now, because, you know, when you're obsessed with somebody you have to look at yourself and say,’ what is going on here?’ And at Trump's cabinet meeting your name was invoked 52 times and he blamed you for the economic mess that his tariffs are causing. Why is he so fixated on you and blaming you for everything? BIDEN: I beat him. (…) 11:25:05 a.m. Eastern BEHAR: I promised I would ask this question, because – [Whoopi Goldberg gestures to the producers] They want me to ask it. Not only is he obsessed with you and blaming you for everything, he's also obsessed with the fact that you used an autopen to sign the pardons, you issued right before you left office for members of your immediate family. Now, he's calling for investigations and claiming the pardons are void and vacant! BIDEN: Oh, he’s vacant. (…) 11:32:19 a.m. Eastern ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Mr. President since you left office there have been a number of books that have come out deeply sourced from Democratic sources that claim in your final year there was a dramatic decline in your cognitive abilities. In the final year of your presidency. What is your response to these allegations and are these sources wrong? BIDEN: They are wrong. There's nothing to sustain that. (…) 11:36:52 a.m. Eastern WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Well, you know what freaked everybody out, was that debate. BIDEN: Yeah. GOLDBERG: Wasn't a great night. It was a bad night. BIDEN: Terrible night. GOLDBERG: And everybody lost their mind because no one has ever had a bad night when they were -- nobody tries to have a bad night. Sometimes it happens. JILL BIDEN: Yeah. GOLDBERG: So this is what started -- BIDEN: Yep. GOLDBERG: -- both sides with this, ‘oh, he can't do this. This needs to stop.’ Why do you think that caught fire? Why do you think people bought into it, especially the Democrats? BIDEN: Well, first of all, we still were winning primaries. We were still doing everything. (…)