The "comedy" writers at NBC's Saturday Night Live have a raging hatred of President Trump. In the fake-news "Weekend Update" segment, fake anchor Michael Che made a joke about Trump being assassinated at the theater like Abraham Lincoln. The president's been shot once and they caught a second attempted assassination before it could happen. None of that curbs the "comedy." Che first made an Antichrist joke: President Trump posted plans for his presidential library in Miami, which would be a massive golden skyscraper would be a golden escalator and a golden statue of Trump, as predicted in the book of Revelations [sic]. President Trump attended the opening night of Chicago at the Kennedy Center, and I think that’s cool that the President is going to the theater. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? 'SNL' fake-news anchor Michael Che joked about Trump seeing 'Chicago' at the Kennedy Center, makes a Lincoln-assassination joke. That's nasty, but the show's blue-state audience whooped and screamed in blood lust at the thought. Nobody you can hear in this joke sounds like a… pic.twitter.com/7FAA3VYsom — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) April 5, 2026   That's nasty, but the show's blue-state audience whooped and screamed in blood lust at the thought. Nobody you can hear in this joke sounds like a decent human being.  Earlier in the segment, fake anchor Colin Jost also scraped the bottom of the barrel by suggesting Trump might be behind Jeffrey Epstein being killed in prison.  This week, Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked to redact herself from her job. President Trump reportedly fired Bondi over her handling of the Epstein files, because the only person Trump has ever trusted to handle the Epstein situation is a prison guard with the cameras off. Colin Jost pegs Trump as a killer: "This week...Pam Bondi was asked to redact herself from her job. President Trump reportedly fired Bondi over her handling of the Epstein files, because the only person Trump has ever trusted to handle the Epstein situation is a prison guard with… pic.twitter.com/i00kEVNI5O — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) April 5, 2026   Jost made a naughty "sick burn" face after that one. He also threw in a joke at the vice president's expense. "J.D. Vance is releasing a book about his conversion to Catholicism. The Catholic Church is calling it, 'somehow the worst publicity we've ever had!'" Hunter Biden's memoir never drew a joke like this. They didn't joke about him walking out of a Catholic Church with his Dad. That would apparently be mean. 'SNL' fake-news anchor Colin Jost: "J.D. Vance is releasing a book about his conversion to Catholicism. The Catholic Church is calling it, 'somehow the worst publicity we've ever had!'" Hunter Biden's memoir never drew a joke like this. They didn't joke about him walking out of… pic.twitter.com/R6fhA3iAsd — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) April 5, 2026   The show's "cold open" skit amazingly did not satirize President Trump. Instead, it was a running joke about Charles Barkley's anti-deportation speech during the Final Four basketball coverage. Kenan Thompson's Fake Barkley did work in Pam Bondi: "As attorney general, Pam Bondi was, and I don't say this often, turrible! It is a shame when somebody gets fired, but we should all be glad that that freckle-chested dragon lady is gone. [Cheers and applause ] Yeah. And not to mention Kristi Noem, whose husband looks like he's starring in Big Momma House IV." They made a joke about the FCC chairman requiring equal time, so the Pam Bondi impersonator appeared for self-defense: "The truth is I am amazing at my job. I made history as the first woman ever to be fired as Attorney General. [ Laughter ] I shattered that glass exit door."

The thing about watching coverage and analysis of the ongoing Iran operation is that you think it can’t possibly get stupider. And yet, each day’s stupidity is surpassed by that of the next. We are now at the phase of discussing Iran’s memes, a discussion that CNN’s Scott Jennings rightly mocked. Watch as Jennings clowns Obama White House official Nayyera Haq for hailing memes as an Iranian asymmetric ability comparable with the Shahed drone: WATCH @scottjenningsKY clowns Obama WH official Nayyera Haq for suggesting Iran's memes are a capability on par with the Shahed drone. NAYYERA HAQ: I think the irony in all of this is that Iran has shown its capabilities in two ways, where the United States is unfortunately… pic.twitter.com/ob7XuCtbVa — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 5, 2026 CNN STATE OF THE UNION 4/5/26 9:21 AM NAYYERA HAQ: I think the irony in all of this is that Iran has shown its capabilities in two ways, where the United States is unfortunately catching up. One is using cheap drones, which is -- they have been providing those to Russia to use in Ukraine. So they have lots of experiments with that. And the second is the meme war and Internet propaganda, which is something actually the Iranians have been known for and influencing. And so they had -- for all of our talk on our side of all the people killed in the regime, they have been pushing out through multiple channels around the world, images of the American army generals and military people who have also lost their jobs at this time. So, again, the way this looks out in the public is not a United States that is locked and loaded and working in one direction. SCOTT JENNINGS: Do you think that the Iranians would rather have their entire navy back or their memes? HAQ: Oh, I think the -- I think that, no, when we're talking a ... JENNINGS: I mean, come on. We have destroyed 13,000 military partners. And they have memes. (CROSSTALK) HAQ: This is a- just big distinction, is that we're fighting the war on their land. So they have a say. If they survive, that's a win for them. That's it. So their stakes are so much higher, but they have to do so much less to be able to maintain some kind of credibility. Second -- that's the Iranian regime I'm talking about. The people of Iran, even back to George Bush, have suffered. They have always had sanctions on them. They just want some relief. And President Trump started this whole thing by saying, this is your time. Now you can come and take over your government. And now they're losing electricity. They're losing civilian bridges. They're losing clean water. I mean, this is -- this is nobody, United States or the regime, is helping the people of Iran. This segment falls under what I’ve described as an ongoing campaign to discredit the Iran operation before the American public. There is no other rational way to explain the barrage of negative coverage against an operation barely a month in against a 47-year enemy. This is where the hailing of Iran’s meme operation and Scott’s mockery thereof come into play. It is a fact that the United States has hit over 13,000 targets. Hard targets. The Shahed drone is certainly a capability but to suggest that memes are somehow on par with that, even the regime’s Lego memes, is not rooted in reality. Jennings was right to make fun of that take, and compare the Khomeinist regime’s memes to their flattened navy and air force- particularly on a day where it is known that the United States went into Iran, built a covert air base, and cooked a bunch of IRGC and Basij before exfiltrating our downed pilots. Today’s cycle was certainly idiotic. But with the Strait of Hormuz and President Trump’s deadline still pending, there is the certainty of tomorrow.  

For a segment ostensibly about the (eventually successful) search-and-rescue mission for an airman downed over Iran, Friday’s PBS News Hour platformed a source who less than two weeks ago went on a radical radio show to accuse Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of enabling war crimes in Iran -- and who also snuck in his radical anti-war points into his News Hour discussion about the rescue. Co-anchor Amna Nawaz: For insight on what it takes to conduct a search-and-rescue operation for a downed combat aircrew, we turn to retired Master Sergeant Wes Bryant. He spent his career in Air Force special operations and participated in these kinds of missions….walk us through what would be happening right now in a search-and-rescue mission. What are they trying to do to locate and rescue this second crew member? Bryant spoke a bit of the tactics employed, before pivoting to criticism of the war itself, including its very legality. PBS @NewsHour brings on an expert, Wes Bryant, who hates Hegseth, denounces how he said the USA has air superiority in Iran "in a propaganda-like manner," but "Iran still has sophisticated air defense capabilities. They have to be sophisticated in order to bring down something… pic.twitter.com/y4TkWoYGIY — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) April 5, 2026 Master Sgt. Wes Bryant (Ret.), U.S. Air Force: …. What we have seen here is clearly the collapse of what we call air superiority. The Trump administration, Hegseth himself, military leadership has almost, kind of in a propaganda-like manner -- not almost, but in a propaganda-like manner, told the world and the American people how much we have won in Iran, we have established dominance, we have established air superiority, there's no air defenses, there's no air force. That's never the case in any combat environment…. Later, Bryant again twisted a question to his liking. Nawaz: We see the Iranians, of course, offering a reward for the capture of this U.S. airmen. If that ends up happening, if the service member ends up in the custody of Iranians or in the Iranian regime, what would that change? What does that mean for the landscape moving forward? Bryant: Well, the Trump administration here, Hegseth himself, really our senior military leadership, have presented it really an utter failure to foresee the implications of this war. I mean, it's an illegal war. They have not foreseen the impact to regional partners here, the global instability, the regional instability, the energy crisis itself….  pic.twitter.com/1i36zLHVjI— Clay Waters (@claywaters44) April 5, 2026 The host once again let her guest's anti-war ranting go unchallenged. Nawaz went on to praise “Iran's existing capabilities. They were able to shoot down an F-15. It looks like also that A-10 Warthog. They shot at a Black Hawk helicopter that was able to return safely to base.” As a previous News Hour guest in April 2024, Bryant blamed Israeli Defense Forces for an accidental strike on an aid convoy in Gaza: “….this strike is just an effect or a demonstration of a broader problem. And that's a pattern of targeting negligence, a pattern of indifference towards civilian harm, and a pattern of disregard toward international humanitarian law that the IDF has….” During a recent interview with the radical Pacifica Radio host Amy Goodman on her show Democracy Now!, he referred to “my colleagues at Airwars,” a U.K. “civilian harm” watchdog partially funded by George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, before spouting about Hegseth directing "war crimes," not once, not twice, but four times. PBS made no mention of the Airwars affiliation. DEMOCRACY NOW! HOST AMY GOODMAN: Talk about Pete Hegseth, who he is, his policies right now, talking about not having to be politically correct, which seems to be code for what? Committing war crimes? WES BRYANT: Absolutely. Pete Hegseth has already directed the committing of war crimes. And unfortunately, our senior military leadership is bending the knee and carrying out whatever he tells them to do. And he expresses intent to commit even more war crimes, along with Trump himself, you know, talking about doing strikes on infrastructure just for the fun of it, talking about shutting down all of the power grid across Iran and then decimating Iran so that it can’t rebuild for generations — clear intent for war crimes. You know, Hegseth talking about giving no quarter to the enemy, a war crime. A transcript is available, click “Expand.” PBS News Hour 4/3/26 7:07:36 p.m. (ET) AMNA NAWAZ: For insight on what it takes to conduct a search-and-rescue operation for a downed combat aircrew, we turn to retired Master Sergeant Wes Bryant. He spent his career in Air Force special operations and participated in these kinds of missions. Welcome back to the "News Hour," Wes. Can you just tell us, based on what we know at this hour, walk us through what would be happening right now in a search-and-rescue mission. What are they trying to do to locate and rescue this second crew member? MASTER SGT. WES BRYANT (RET.), U.S. Air Force: Well, it`s twofold here. Obviously, it`s using -- prioritizing all assets available. That`s not just all air assets, but all intelligence assets, and anything we have potentially on the ground, Iranian sources, for example, people that are pro-U.S. causes here, to locate this downed F-15 aircrew member. And then, secondarily, it`s ensuring that we have protection of air assets that are going to push into Iran. What we have seen here is clearly the collapse of what we call air superiority. The Trump administration, Hegseth himself, military leadership has almost, kind of in a propaganda-like manner -- not almost, but in a propaganda-like manner, told the world and the American people how much we have won in Iran, we have established dominance, we have established air superiority, there`s no air defenses, there`s no air force.   That`s never the case in any combat environment. And as we can see here, Iran still has sophisticated air defense capabilities. They have to be sophisticated in order to bring down something like an F-15. So that`s twofold. AMNA NAWAZ: Yes. MASTER SGT. WES BRYANT (RET.): That`s securing the pilot`s location on the ground, and then ensuring that the assets that are going to be sent in to get that aircrew member will be safe when they get sent in. And that`s a difficult task at this point... AMNA NAWAZ: Let me ask you... MASTER SGT. WES BRYANT (RET.): ... because things are -- as we have been told... AMNA NAWAZ: Let me ask you, if I may, about the specifics in this case with this war in Iran, because there are examples of rescue missions for U.S. service members behind enemy lines in other nations, right, Afghanistan more recently, earlier than that, Vietnam, Korea. Of course, everyone remembers the infamous Black Hawk Down mission in Somalia in the early `90s. What are the challenges here that are different from those previous episodes? MASTER SGT. WES BRYANT (RET.): Well, we have really no ground forces to speak of, no partner force of any substantial nature that can push in and what we say cordon and secure an area. In many of those cases, we had at least some kind of aligned partner forces that could help in these situations. And then, of course, there`s this -- there`s a shock factor for the U.S. military, frankly, where we don`t have the superiority from an air platform standpoint that we apparently believed we did. So now getting forces in, getting those ground components in, which are going to be a lot more at risk in low-flying helicopters, those can be shot down with rocket-propelled grenades, for example, even rifles at times. So you don`t need sophisticated air defense assets to shoot these troop carriers down. So getting those forces in is going to be far more risk and far more difficult to plan here. AMNA NAWAZ: We see the Iranians, of course, offering a reward for the capture of this U.S. airmen. If that ends up happening, if the service member ends up in the custody of Iranians or in the Iranian regime, what would that change? What does that mean for the landscape moving forward? MASTER SGT. WES BRYANT (RET.): Well, the Trump administration here, Hegseth himself, really our senior military leadership, have presented it really an utter failure to foresee the implications of this war. I mean, it`s an illegal war. They have not foreseen the impact to regional partners here, the global instability, the regional instability, the energy crisis itself. That`s one problem of many, and then, most importantly, the incredible risk, the undue risk to U.S. forces here. And so I would hope that Iran wants to keep this aircrew member safe, for sake of ethics and morality and adhering to Geneva Conventions. My guess would be that they want the leverage. And that will be incredible leverage, because the U.S., for better or for worse, we have a very low tolerance for U.S. casualties, and especially for U.S. prisoners of war in the hands of a regime like the Iranian regime. That`s going to be a whole lot of leverage against the Trump administration, unfortunately. And the most important part here is that we get our airman back safe and sound. AMNA NAWAZ: In the minute or so I have left, you mentioned how this is a bit of a revelation in terms of what it shows us about Iran`s existing capabilities. They were able to shoot down an F-15. It looks like also that A-10 Warthog. They shot at a Black Hawk helicopter that was able to return safely to base. Does all of this and could all of this change the U.S. war effort moving forward, how operations are planned and carried out? MASTER SGT. WES BRYANT (RET.): You know, I certainly hope so. It absolutely should. There should be a pause to operations. Typically, with downed aircraft, down crew members, there will be a pause sometimes theater-wide, and all assets, all priorities are put to that recovery effort. But there should also be a pause and a reassessment of what we call risk to the force, to U.S. forces versus risk to the mission. Continue -- we have -- the U.S. has bombed so many targets in the last few weeks. Making the decision to just continue forward and continue a strike campaign with a risk that we haven`t properly assessed yet to our own forces would be, frankly, just incredibly irresponsible at this point. So I hope there is a halt and a reassessment strategically and operationally here. AMNA NAWAZ: That is Retired Master Sergeant Wes Bryant joining us tonight. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. MASTER SGT. WES BRYANT (RET.): Thank you.

The Elitist Media continue to frame any effort at improving the nation’s election integrity as an attack against our democracy, or some variant thereof. The latest such frame comes via a notorious political operator who continues to masquerade as a “journalist.” Watch as ABC’s George Stephanopoulos introduces an interview with two like-minded Republicans opposed to the voter integrity executive order: ORWELLIAN: ABC's George Stephanopoulos suggests election security efforts intend to "subvert the midterms, sow doubt about the results." pic.twitter.com/ezfshlownf — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 5, 2026 GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: President Trump signing an executive order to limit mail-in voting, his latest move to subvert the midterms, sow doubt about the results as his party faces political headwinds.  This is a recurring theme for Stephanopoulos, who set up today’s segment with a similarly-framed report on Good Morning America: IRONY ALERT: ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and Mary Bruce argue President Trump’s executive order on voter integrity is a new chapter in “President Trump’s attempts to interfere with the midterm elections,” “sow distrust,” and “undermine confidence in the nation’s elections” pic.twitter.com/Q3bPGjOmIZ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 1, 2026 This is how the media frame any attempt at securing our elections. Election reform laws in Florida, Georgia, and other states were smeared as “voter suppression acts.” These outlets gave oxygen to efforts to remove the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta due to the passage of such a law, for example. And they are attempting a similar play now. The Save America Act, for example, draws scant mention on these outlets despite having broad support from the American people. The requirement of voter ID and proof of citizenship before registering to vote, much less voting, is treated as a horrendous attack on democracy. So, too, are efforts to secure mail ballots. This is where today’s segment comes in, which serves to promote a lawsuit to be filed by a group called the “States United Democracy Center”, co-founded by MS NOW frequent flier Norm Eisen, seeking to overturn the executive order on mail ballots. The segment featured the idea of contrast by booking two Republicans, but no real ideological balance inasmuch as they were both opposed to the executive order. So it was basically 10 minutes of bashing the EO, with no one on hand to defend it on the merits. Thus ABC assumes the editorial position that any effort to secure our election is a subversion or an attack, or some other catastrophic undermining of our democratic principles. This begs the question: what democratic principles are upheld by curtailing election integrity, blocking commonsense voter ID, or stalling ballot transparency? After years of watching nearly EVERYTHING framed as an “attack on democracy”, it is wild to see the media obstruct efforts to defend it. Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned segment as aired on ABC This Week on Sunday, April 5th, 2026: DONALD TRUMP: I’m very happy to be signing the Voter Integrity and I think it’s going to be really great. So if you don’t mind, I will take some time and I’ll make the signature absolutely perfect.  I don’t see how anybody can challenge it. I don’t see how they can challenge it. And remember, it’s about voter integrity. We want to have honest voting in our country.  (END VIDEO CLIP)  GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: President Trump signing an executive order to limit mail-in voting, his latest move to subvert the midterms, sow doubt about the results as his party faces political headwinds.  I’m going to speak to two Republican election experts after this report from Chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce.  (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)  MARY BRUCE: With just seven months until this year’s midterm election, President Trump this week attempting to crack down on mail in ballots.  TRUMP: I think this will help a lot with elections. BRUCE: The president signing an executive order directing his administration to create a list of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state and to ban the postal service from mailing voters ballots unless they are on a state’s official absentee voter list. That list must be given to USPS at least 60 days before an election.  TRUMP: I believe it’s foolproof, and maybe it will be tested. Maybe it won’t.  BRUCE: But it’s not clear the president has the authority to do this. The order already facing at least four legal challenges, including one filed by the Democratic Party’s campaign arm and top congressional leaders, and another filed by 22 Democrat-led states, plus D.C. Those states writing, “Neither the Constitution nor any act of Congress confers upon the President the authority to mandate sweeping changes to states’ electoral systems or procedures.” ADRIAN FONTES: He’s trying to pick his own voters, and that’s not how we do it here in America.  BRUCE (voice-over): For months, the president has railed against mail-in voting, claiming without evidence that it leads to, quote, “cheating”. But cases of fraud involving mail-in ballots are extremely rare. And just last month, the president himself cast a ballot by mail to vote in a Florida special election, even though he was in town when early in-person voting was available. Trump defending his decision.  TRUMP: You know what? Because I’m President of the United States, and I decided that I was going to vote by mail-in ballot because I couldn’t be there because I had a lot of different things.  BRUCE: The president has increasingly sought to sow distrust in the nation’s elections ahead of the midterms, as he’s remained fixated on his 2020 defeat. The administration actively investigating Trump’s baseless claims that he beat Joe Biden in Georgia and Arizona in that election.  Trump also recently called to nationalize elections, and the Justice Department is attempting to force at least 29 states to turn over voter data.All this as the president pushes Congress to pass the Save America Act, legislation that would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote, and a photo ID to cast a ballot in federal elections. But the bill has no clear path forward.  (END VIDEOTAPE)  STEPHANOPOULOS: Thanks to Mary for that. We're joined now by two Republican officials who've overseen elections in battleground states. The Secretary of State of Pennsylvania, Al Schmidt, and the former Recorder in Maricopa County, Arizona, Stephen Richer. Thank you both for joining us. Secretary Schmidt, let me start off with you. A series of lawsuits have been filed, including one from your state. Are you confident that the courts are going to strike down the president's order? And what happens if they don't? AL SCHMIDT: I am confident of an outcome in our favor. Americans should rest assured, despite all the back and forth in the courts that we will inevitably see, despite all the back and forth in the press, that Pennsylvania, the birthplace of our republic, and Governor Shapiro are going to stand up for our voters and know that the Constitution is on our side. STEPHANOPOULOS: And Stephen Richer, you made the point that in your state, it isn't even necessary.  STEPHEN RICHER: Well, in some ways, it's not, because we have some of the underlying features that President Trump aspires to have in all elections, which is that we have documented proof-of-citizenship requirements in Arizona. We have a mail voter list that you have to be on in order to receive a mail ballot. And of course, we, like 46 other states, have intelligent barcodes that allow voters to track their ballots and allow election officials to track those ballots, too. So, while I agree with some of the elements in the executive order and some of the aspirations, the form does matter, and I agree with Secretary Schmidt that this is probably going to be enjoined very quickly. I think someone on the Internet said this will be enjoined faster than a cheetah on speed, or something like that.  STEPHANOPOULOS: You guys seem pretty confident of that. Mr. Schmidt, so what is your biggest worry going into November? The president has taken several steps to sow doubt about the election returns.  SCHMIDT: I would say my biggest concerns are twofold, one, that things like this cause some degree of confusion. We want voters to know that the election is going to be free, fair, safe, and secure, and that everyone knows what the rules are prior to going into this. So, confusion is never a positive thing, unless you are seeking to sow distrust in the outcome of an election.Otherwise, our election administrators in our 67 counties in Pennsylvania and our Pennsylvania Department of State prepare for every conceivable problem or issue that might occur on Election Day or leading up to Election Day. It's just that, now, we're in a slightly different realm, where the inconceivable is something that is very much on the table that we have to prepare for.  STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Richer, the president is still investigating the state of Arizona, trying to investigate the state of Arizona, trying to overturn the results of 2020. What are the prospects for that?  RICHER: Yes, I don't think that's going anywhere. 2020 has been investigated up the wazoo. In Arizona alone, we've had 11 different independent investigations and audits. The attorney general of Arizona previously spent over 10,000 man-hours investigating Arizona, but this seems to be a trend, and I don't know what to end other than to sow further confusion, sow further doubt in the election process, which is why I'm very disappointed with what's happening in Riverside, California, disappointed with what's happening in Fulton County, Georgia.  A number of election officials and I have a report coming out this week about Fulton County, about how the underlying allegations that serve as the basis for the warrant are completely baseless. And so, we'll be putting that out with a group called States United Democracy Center later this week.  STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Schmidt, are we heading towards another situation after these midterms, like we saw in 2020, where the results are going to be challenged and the doubt is going to be sown?  SCHMIDT: I certainly hope not. And I hope that we don't see or revisit any of the ugliness that we all experienced across the country in 2020, where there was an effort to undermine confidence in election results based on no facts whatsoever.  So again, it's all about us being prepared. It's not about us worrying. It's about us preparing. And that is exactly what Pennsylvania is going to do in the lead-up to this election. STEPHANOPOULOS: And Stephen Richer, you took some heat for standing up in 2020 against the claims of fraud and against the doubt that the president seeded about the election. What's your message to Republicans today?  RICHER: That at the end of the day, the only person you have to be consistently happy with is yourself. And so, while there might be political pressures and while you might have political ambitions and while members of your precinct committee chapter might be yelling at you, you have to do what you know to be right because you have to live with it for the rest of yourself.  Fortunately, I've had some wonderful models and some wonderful companions like Secretary Schmidt, like the guys in Georgia, like Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney. And I hope that as more and more people do this, people will eventually see that there is no there there, because we've been saying fraud, we've been saying the time has come for about six years. And the fact remains that the president has not produced a single scintilla of evidence to suggest that the 2020 election was stolen. And so I’d suggest that this is more about ego, but that we move forward because the president is president now and he has the opportunity to do whatever he wants to do as president.  STEPHANOPOULOS: Thank you both for your time this morning.  

Much of the Elitist Media’s claim to credibility is premised on the access to knowledge and expertise, combined with reporting backstopped by rigorous editing and fact-checking. But it is often the case that this claim is exposed as hollow and outright false. Consider a recent exchange on NBC’s Meet the Press.  Watch as host Kristen Welker unironically asserts, despite widely available evidence on the public record, that there is currently “no head of DHS:” NBC's Kristen Welker: "there is no head of @DHS." @SecMullinDHS was confirmed and sworn in TWO WEEKS AGO pic.twitter.com/x5TqgojQDU — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 5, 2026 KRISTEN WELKER: Secretary Johnson, weigh in on that point and the fact that there is no head of DHS right now at a time when DHS is shut down. Does that do real damage? JEH JOHNSON: Yes. I am concerned that these perpetual shutdowns do long-term to aviation security, counterterrorism, cybersecurity. Last Sunday, Senator Lankford told you he was sponsoring the Prevent Government Shutdown Act. I support that. It's a bill that would, if you run out of time, if they go past October 1- automatically you revert to a continuing resolution at last year's funding levels. The detractors say “well, that takes away our leverage and it promotes complacency.” Well, on the other hand, a piece of legislation like that also says we're limiting your congressional travel. In other words, you can't go home until you finish your job. I think -- I think in concept that's a good idea because we're getting into these shutdown modes year after year, more often than once a year. We have to decouple policy disagreements in Congress with funding. The most basic function of Congress is keep the lights on and fund the government. Welker brought Obama-era DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson into a discussion on the recent firings of Cabinet officials such as Attorney General Pam Bondi and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Johnson did not correct Welker on her glaring error, instead going into a mild rebuke of Congress attempting to settle policy disputes via government shutdown that avoids directly confronting both the authors of the still-ongoing DHS shutdown and its underlying rationale.   The record is clear. Markwayne Mullin, former U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, was confirmed as DHS Secretary on March 23rd, 2026. Welker reported his nomination on March 5th: Here's Welker, one month ago today, reporting on the nomination of Mullin to lead the agency: pic.twitter.com/XYqTQMy2yJ — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 5, 2026 KRISTEN WELKER: We begin with breaking news and that major shakeup in the Trump Administration, the president announcing on his social media feed this afternoon that he's firing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and naming Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin as his pick to replace her. How do we go from this to Welker confidently saying that the DHS has no head a month later? It appears that standards and rigorous fact-checking give way to whatever Trump-deranged talking point is currently en vogue. Something to consider as the “media reporter” clerisy continues to try to smear conservative media as spreaders of disinformation, despite so-called “legacy” outlets’ demonstrated inability to master even the most basic of facts.