After less than a week in office, Democrat Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger – who ran as a moderate – is already considering a flurry of radical, leftist bills presented by her colleagues, now that the party has complete control of the state’s government. Before she took office on January 17, Democrats controlled the state legislature, but there was a Republican governor to temper their ambitions. But now, with Spanberger in office, Democrats are unleashed to impose their will on Virginians, no matter how extreme, and they’re wasting no time doing so. On his “Special Report” Fox News Channel program, Host Bret Baier rifled through a list of the controversial bills that Virginia state Democrats have put forward in the past week, ranging from creating/raising a host of taxes and changing election rules to punishing Second Amendment supporters while going easier on criminals (except drivers). “What a spectacular reminder that we no longer live in an era where there’s an existence of a moderate Democrat,” “Ruthless” podcast host Josh Holmes told Baier in the segment, noting that people who believed that Spanberger would govern as a moderate were duped by her party’s lies: “I think, for the last six months, to those of us who pointed out that the Mamdanis of the world have taken over the Democratic Party, were assured that ‘No, no, no,’ that’s not the face of the new Democratic Party – it’s people like moderate Abigail Spanberger. “I mean, she’s there for a cup of coffee - and all of a sudden we have a Communist Manifesto up in front of us. This is going fast and furious.” “But, it is how Democrats govern - regardless of what they say,” Holmes warned. Baier provided a graphic listing some of the objectives of the Democrats bills: New 4.3% sales tax on Uber Eats, Amazon, etc deliveries. New sales tax on admissions to a wide variety of businesses. Create two new higher tax brackets of 8% and 10% on people making over $600K. A new 10% tax bracket for anyone making over $1M. 3.8% investment tax on top of state income taxes. Raise the hotel tax. New personal property tax on landscaping equipment. Ban gas powered leaf blowers. Guarantee illegal aliens free education. Make it illegal to approach somebody at an abortion clinic. Extend the time absentee ballots can be received after election day to three days Allow people to cast their votes electronically through the internet. Expand ranked-choice voting. Extend the deadline for ballot curing to one week after election day. – Redact the addresses of political candidates from FOIAs. Add Virginia to the National Popular Vote Compact for presidential electors. Make it illegal to hand count ballots. $500 sales tax on firearm suppressors. "Assault weapons" and large capacity magazine ban. 11% sales tax on all firearms and ammunition. Prohibit outdoor shooting of a firearm on land less than five acres. Lower the criminal penalties for robbery. Ban the arrest of illegal aliens in courthouses. Remove mandatory minimum sentences. Allow localities to install speed cameras. Replace Columbus Day with "Indigenous Peoples Day." ? NEW: Fox’s @BretBaier says “elections have consequences” after reading a JAW DROPPING list of ‘moderate’ Spanberger’s extreme Democratic bills put forward in Virginia.@HolmesJosh reacts: “What a spectacular reminder that we no longer live in an era where there’s an… pic.twitter.com/H4STzcxaPK — TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) January 21, 2026  

On Thursday’s edition of Morning Joe, MS NOW reporter Josh Einiger claimed ICE arrests of previously convicted criminals did not fall under the Trump administration’s pledge to deport the ‘worst of the worst’ illegal immigrants. It was a blatant pivot from the media’s typical claim that those being arrested had no criminal record. The report came as the Department of Homeland Security began a new immigration enforcement operation in Maine titled ‘Operation Catch of the Day’ as part of the administration’s illegal immigration crackdown.     After being introduced by Morning Joe co-host Willie Geist, Einiger talked over a short video of ICE “targeting” a possible person of interest. Einiger did not report on the actual immigration or criminal status of the man in the car: This was on Tuesday morning, as about half a dozen federal agents surrounded a man who had been driving his car. They pulled him out of his car, put him in one of their cars and drove off, leaving his car on the side of the road. We don't know who he was, why they were targeting him, or how they found him.  Einiger then bizarrely claimed ICE detainment of at least three previously convicted criminals did not fall under the category of deporting the ‘worst of the worst’: We do know DHS released the pictures of four people they say they detained here in Maine over the past several days. They referred to them as the worst of the worst. But three of them actually were already convicted and adjudicated for crimes of various severity here in the state of Maine. Local officials say they weren't actually wanted for anything here in Maine. Previously, the elitist media’s go-to tactic was to claim those being arrested had no criminal record at all. Now, they’re fearing for those who were convicted. After playing a clip from the Mayor of Portland, Einiger interviewed a Somali activist who cried out against ICE operations in the Northeast. He ended his segment by fearmongering the residents of Maine: “And Willie and Mika, the - one of the biggest concerns here, is that people fear it's all just the beginning here in Maine” At the story’s conclusion, Geist and frequent Morning Joe guest Mike Barnicle complained over the clever naming of ICE operation by the DHS, while they also claimed ICE stopped people over skin color or accents: That’s it, you have an accent, you have - you have brown skin, everything like that. Pull them over. It's outrageous, and it's a daily, hourly basis that they're doing it. While Barnicle’s claims were nothing new, the report that tried to gloss over the previous criminal conviction of ICE detainees should not be forgotten. It would seem to be reasonable to many that those illegally in the United States with criminal records were pretty solid candidates for deportation. The transcript is below. Expand to Read: MS NOW’s Morning Joe January 22, 2026 7:43:39 a.m. Eastern WILLIE GEIST: As we were discussing earlier, the Department of Homeland Security says it has started to make immigration-related arrests now in the state of Maine in a new operation. Let's bring in MS Now reporter Josh Einiger, joins us live from Portland, Maine. Josh, good morning. How does it look on the ground there? JOSH EINIGER: Willie, good morning to you. We're here in front of Portland’s City Hall, where local leaders, much like their counterparts across the country, are basically in the dark about what ICE and DHS are doing here on the ground in the state of Maine. Sources tell MS NOW there are about 200 federal agents here for what they're now calling ‘Operation Catch of the Day’.  And we can show you cell phone video obtained by MS NOW, as this has started to ramp up. This was on Tuesday morning, as about half a dozen federal agents surrounded a man who had been driving his car. They pulled him out of his car, put him in one of their cars and drove off, leaving his car on the side of the road. We don't know who he was, why they were targeting him, or how they found him.  We do know DHS released the pictures of four people they say they detained here in Maine over the past several days. They referred to them as the worst of the worst. But three of them actually were already convicted and adjudicated for crimes of various severity here in the state of Maine. Local officials say they weren't actually wanted for anything here in Maine. We talked to the mayor yesterday. He spent 32 years in law enforcement before he went into politics. And he told me what concerns him the most is the tactics at play, or the lack thereof. [Cuts to video]   MARK DION (Portland Mayor): I'm concerned, I mean, I really would love to look at their training records. How much time did they spend preparing their people for the work they were going to be asked to do? I mean, we put Maine officers through 20 weeks of training in an academy. Most of them come back to their home agency. There's additional training. We add a year or year and a half of field - field training officer process. I mean, we invest a lot because those people are going to make serious decisions, life and death decisions. I don't know if that's been the same for all these new agents and ICE.   [Cuts to video] SAFIYA KHALID (Activist from Lewiston, ME): They're targeting Somali people. They are targeting immigrants. You know, if you're brown and you're black and you look like you may have an accent, they are stopping you. We are seeing what is happening in other parts of the country. So, Maine is just another target, you know? And right now we are being targeted. The Somali community is right now being targeted today, but tomorrow it can be another community. So no one is safe. We don't know their exact tactics and stuff, but it's really to put fear in people, right, to other us, and to intimidate us and say that we don't belong in this country.   [Cuts back to live]   EINIGER: And Safiya Khalid is a community activist in the Somali Community in Lewiston, which is about 45 minutes up the road from Portland and where Somalis, chiefly Somali Americans, by the way, make up about one-tenth of the population. But even though so many of that community are American citizens, they're just terrified. Most of them are staying home.  There's a main drag there of vibrant stores, of grocery stores, restaurants, a barber shop, and it's just been a ghost town the last few days. The owner of the ghost - of the barbershop told us, this is sort of like a second pandemic when it comes to his business. No one is going out knowing no one is spending money, people are just that concerned. And Willie and Mika, the - one of the biggest concerns here, is that people fear it's all just the beginning here in Maine. GEIST: MS NOW reporter Josh Einiger, live from Portland, Maine. Josh, thanks so much.   Mike, we can put to the side for a moment the clever, gleeful titles they’re giving these—   MIKE BARNICLE: Catch of the Day.   GEIST: — Operation Catch of the Day, talking about human beings. But also this idea that they are getting the worst of the worst. They keep saying that over and over again, when their own internal data shows that’s just not the case. If they're arresting rapists and murderers, do it. Get them all. But that's not what's happening.   BARNICLE: They're also doing something that is forbidden by nearly every major police department in the country, in that they go to places like Auburn, Maine, or Lewiston, Maine, and they will stop people based on skin color alone. That's it.   GEIST: Or you have an accent   BARNICLE: That’s it, you have an accent, you have - you have brown skin, everything like that. Pull them over. It's outrageous, and it's a daily, hourly basis that they're doing it.   GEIST: From Minnesota, now to Maine with perhaps more to come.

CBS’s Stephen Colbert welcomed “non-violence scholar” Maria Stephan to Thursday’s taping of The Late Show to continue his crusade against ICE. During the two-segment interview, Colbert and Stephan promoted the idea of a general strike, suggested that describing Renee Good as violent is a hallmark of authoritarianism, claimed that Christian ICE agents should resign, and praised people who wear frog costumes. Colbert put the ball on the tee for Stephan when he wondered, “Let's talk about things like a general strike. Has America—it's a very European thing to have a general strike. Has America ever engaged in a general strike, like, “That’s enough, we’re not showing up for work tomorrow”?   Stephen Colbert welcomes "non-violence scholar" Dr. Maria Stephan to advocate for a general strike. She says "this Friday on January 23rd, there is an ICE Out of Minnesota day of action, it’s a shutdown day where people will be staying home from work. They won't be going to… pic.twitter.com/sm1IAh8agw — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) January 23, 2026   Stephan answered that we have not, but, “I can say what's happening this Friday on January 23rd, there is an ICE Out of Minnesota day of action, it’s a shutdown day where people will be staying home from work. They won't be going to school. They’ll be refusing to participate in economic activity. So, a power—and they are calling on Americans across the country to show solidarity.” Fact-check: Schools in Minnesota were closed on Friday due to weather, and Minneapolis had a pre-planned teacher work day. That aside, Colbert continued, “One of the problems with Minnesota right now is to have people like Kristi Noem or the people who are heading up ICE, saying that it's not nonviolent resistance. They are saying someone like Renee Good was actually a threat to those people or that filming an ICE agent, or they are saying filming an ICE agent, documenting, which is perfectly legal, is a form of threat and therefore it justifies use what they say is violence in return to the threat of violence from these people. What do you do when your nonviolent action is perceived of or called violent by the people who can use violence against you?” Driving your car at someone is a “threat of violence,” but, naturally, Stephan didn’t care about that any more than Colbert did, “Yeah, declaring peaceful protesters violent or domestic terrorists or outside agitators is what autocrats all around the world do. That is their playbook. Is to make people fearful and to try to undermine the legitimacy of protesters. That's their game.” She then went on to compare the current situation in Minnesota to the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, “Think about the Civil Rights Movement. Profound state violence used against protesters. They prepared, they trained, they role-played, they organized, all to make that political violence backfire. Think of Selma. The peaceful march. So, when Peaceful discipline protesters confronted the, you know, dogs, the hoses, the response, it revealed the cruelty. When the discipline protesters were faced with this form of violence. And so that's how disciplined nonviolent resistance can make state violence, repression backfire.” Later, Colbert lamented and asked, “You know, many of the people who are in support of this sort of thing, even some of the people who are in ICE, actually cite their Christian faith as a justification for this. What would you say to those people? Is there anything from your experience of faith that you would say to them?” Stephan urged them to quit, “I mean, I think I would remind them of our shared humanity in this moment. I would remind them of the greatest commandment: to love thy neighbor. I would remind them of Matthew 25. What you do unto the least of thee, you do unto me. And I would remind them that they have agency in this moment and they can walk away.”   Later Colbert invites Stephan to consider "Is there anything from your experience of faith that you would say to them [Christian ICE agents]?"Stephan replied that "I would remind them of the greatest commandment: to love thy neighbor. I would remind them of Matthew 25. What you… pic.twitter.com/30OzikgK7p — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) January 23, 2026   Of course, ICE agents believe they are simply protecting their community, and they are encountering violence more routinely than Colbert and Stephan want to admit. Nevertheless, Colbert agreed before moving on to frog costumes, “Yes, they’re not in the army. They’re allowed to quit. I love some of the things I've seen this past year, like all the frog costumes in Portland. The dinosaur costumes. Happened in Chicago too. You know, when the going gets tough, should the tough get silly?” Stephan affirmed the idea, “They absolutely should. Joy is resistance, Stephen, and there is such a powerful role for humor in this moment. Humor breaks through the fear. It inspires courage... So, the frog costumes, like, it has lit people on fire. Young people are inspired. It's a way for people to show up, to get involved.” The frog costumes also allow Colbert and Stephan to omit all the non-joyful aspects of the protestors. From violence to church stormings, if Colbert pretends like they don’t exist, it is easier for him and his guests to spin a tale of ICE being like the bad guys in Selma. Here is a transcript for the January 22-taped show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 1/23/2026 12:18 AM ET STEPHEN COLBERT: Let's talk about things like a general strike. Has America — it's a very European thing to have a general strike. Has America ever engaged in a general strike, like, “That’s enough, we’re not showing up for work tomorrow”? MARIA STEPHAN: So, we've never had a general strike, but I can say what's happening this Friday on January 23rd, there is an ICE Out of Minnesota day of action, it’s a shutdown day where people will be staying home from work. They won't be going to school. They’ll be refusing to participate in economic activity. So, a power—and they are calling on Americans across the country to show solidarity. COLBERT: One of the problems with Minnesota right now is to have people like Kristi Noem or the people who are heading up ICE, saying that it's not nonviolent resistance. They are saying someone like Renee Good was actually a threat to those people or that filming an ICE agent, or they are saying filming an ICE agent, documenting, which is perfectly legal, is a form of threat and therefore it justifies use what they say is violence in return to the threat of violence from these people. What do you do when your nonviolent action is perceived of or called violent by the people who can use violence against you? STEPHAN: Yeah, declaring peaceful protesters violent or domestic terrorists or outside agitators is what autocrats all around the world do. That is their playbook. Is to make people fearful and to try to undermine the legitimacy of protesters. That's their game. And so what are we seeing in Minneapolis right now? What have we seen in our history in this country? Think about the Civil Rights Movement. Profound state violence used against protesters. They prepared, they trained, they role-played, they organized, all to make that political violence backfire. Think of Selma. The peaceful march. So, when Peaceful discipline protesters confronted the, you know, dogs, the hoses, the response, it revealed the cruelty. When the discipline protesters were faced with this form of violence. And so that's how disciplined nonviolent resistance can make state violence, repression backfire. … COLBERT: You know, many of the people who are in support of this sort of thing, even some of the people who are in ICE, actually cite their Christian faith as a justification for this. What would you say to those people? Is there anything from your experience of faith that you would say to them? STEPHAN: I mean, I think I would remind them of our shared humanity in this moment. I would remind them of the greatest commandment: to love thy neighbor. I would remind them of Matthew 25. What you do unto the least of thee, you do unto me. And I would remind them that they have agency in this moment and they can walk away. COLBERT: Yes, they’re not in the army. They’re allowed to quit. I love some of the things I've seen this past year, like all the frog costumes in Portland. The dinosaur costumes. Happened in Chicago too. STEPHAN: Yes. COLBERT: You know, when the going gets tough, should the tough get silly? STEPHAN: They absolutely should. Joy is resistance, Stephen, and there is such a powerful role for humor in this moment. Humor breaks through the fear. It inspires courage. COLBERT: Should you really make jokes about the news, though? Not everything is a joke, Maria. STEPHAN: So, the frog costumes, like, it has lit people on fire. Young people are inspired. It's a way for people to show up, to get involved. COLBERT: Also, people don’t look like a threat when they’re in an inflatable frog costume. It really drives home the whole thing, like, “they’ve got guns, I’ve got a little fan on my butt.”

POLL: What was the worst media quote of the week? (Vote below)   POLL: The Worst Media Quote of the Week, with @DavidBozell 1. Don Lemon: That kind of Christianity is White Supremacy 2. Jennifer Welch: [Don Lemon] is prime bait for Trump’s white nationalists 3. Jim Acosta: If ICE can murder a citizen, we’ve become a Putin-like thugocracy pic.twitter.com/qWQh1e74qE — Media Research Center (@theMRC) January 22, 2026   NOMINEES:    Don Lemon After Invading Church: That Type of Christianity Comes from White Supremacy “There is a certain degree of racism there and there’s a certain degree of entitlement. I think people who are, you know, in the religious groups like that, it’s not the type of Christianity that I practice, but I think that they’re entitled and that — that entitlement comes from a supremacy, a white supremacy…It’s religious freedom, but only if you’re a Christian and only if you’re a white male.”— Former CNN anchor Don Lemon on the I’ve Had It podcast, January 19.    Jennifer Welch to Don Lemon: You Are “Prime Bait” for Trump’s White Nationalists “That is one of those white evangelical churches that turn out to vote for Donald Trump, 80 plus percent of that sect of Christianity….These are the people who feel like America is for Americans and Americans only. These are white nationalists, and the DOJ got their panties in a wad because these protesters went straight to them and addressed their hypocrisy. You, a gay black journalist, are – I mean, prime bait for them to drum up these charges.”— Host Jennifer Welch to former CNN anchor Don Lemon on the I’ve Had It podcast, January 19.    Jim Acosta: If ICE Can “Murder” a Citizen, We’ve Become a “Putin-Like Thugocracy” “ICE has gotten to a point, I mean, take a look at what happened in Minneapolis. If we have a situation in this country where the government can go out and murder a U.S. citizen with no – without any investigation that is credible, then we’ve become a Putin-like thugocracy.” — Former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on the I’ve Had It podcast, January 15.     Sponsored by James P. Jimirro

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: TV News Hammers ICE Border Enforcement With 93% Negative Coverage Not MAGA TV: CBS Has Spent Only 13 Seconds on Anti-ICE Mob Storming Church Google News in December: Holiday Cheer for Some, Censorship for Others GDP Growth in 3rd Quarter Exceeded Economists’ Expectations, Previous Commerce Dept. Estimate    TV News Hammers ICE Border Enforcement With 93% Negative Coverage In the 10 days following the January 7 fatal shooting of left-wing agitator Renee Good left-wing broadcast networks ABC, CBS, and NBC spent more than two hours of airtime blaming the city’s out-of-control chaos on immigration officials, of which a whopping 93 percent was negative toward federal immigration officials. ABC - 91% negative coverage NBC - 91% negative coverage CBS - 96% negative coverage   Just 1.6% of the Minneapolis-related coverage included any mention of crimes committed by the illegal aliens whom ICE agents were there to apprehend. CBS never explicitly admitted that Nicole Good hit agent Jonathan Ross with her car moments before he fired at her. ABC and NBC did so only once each. Although all three networks acknowledged that the ICE agent involved was hospitalized for internal bleeding, they each buried this crucial detail, mentioning it only once during the entire 10-day period of coverage. CBS - 26 of 27 sound bites aired were hostile toward federal agents, effectively silencing the law enforcement perspective. Both ABC & NBC - 21 of 23 sound bites aired were hostile toward federal agents. On January 12, CBS correspondent Nicole Sganga accused ICE agent Jonathan Ross of murdering Nicole Good: “DHS this weekend released a video showing the minutes leading up to the murder of Renee Good. She and others are heard honking car horns. Trump administration officials claim she intended to ram ICE agents before she was shot.” Not MAGA TV: CBS Has Spent Only 13 Seconds on Anti-ICE Mob Storming Church Major Networks Are Minimizing Significant News Despite a dramatic incident in Minneapolis where an anti-ICE mob — including a high-profile figure — stormed a church service to confront congregants and protest over the Renee Good shooting, CBS only devoted about 13 seconds of coverage to the story across its flagship morning and evening broadcast shows. This is media bias by omission on matters involving anti-authority protests.CBS’s Coverage Choices Reflect Editorial Priorities CBS’s brief mention was limited to a single sentence on CBS Evening News noting the Justice Department was “considering federal charges” — with little context on who disrupted worship services or why it was notable. In contrast, the broader pattern across networks showed more emphasis on debates about enforcement tactics than on reporting the disruption itself.Media Accountability and Public Awareness The dramatically unbalanced airtime — minutes and seconds devoted to different angles of the Minneapolis unrest — raises questions about whether major broadcast news is fulfilling its role in informing the public about politically charged conflicts, especially when federal investigations and First Amendment issues are involved. Google News in December: Holiday Cheer for Some, Censorship for Others Google News skewed coverage by promoting left-leaning outlets 70.3% of the time, out of all stories, while limiting right-leaning sources to just 1.3%, resulting in a ratio of 52 left-leaning stories for every one right-leaning story. The bias is consequential because in the month of December alone Google News had 93 million visits -- the 10th most visited news site in the country.  This isn't just a minor tilt; it is a systematic suppression that prevents users from seeing a balanced spectrum of political reporting, effectively creating a one-sided information bubble for the average American news consumer. While Google positions its news platform as a neutral aggregator of "top stories," the results are curated with a heavy thumb on the scale. By disproportionately boosting liberal-leaning outlets for general search terms, Google is engaging in "algorithmic censorship." This practice manipulates public perception by ensuring that conservative viewpoints are treated as fringe or non-existent, even when they are reporting on the same major national events. GDP Growth in 3rd Quarter Exceeded Economists’ Expectations, Previous Commerce Dept. Estimate The "Trump Boom" Consistently Outperforms Expert Pessimism The U.S. economy grew at a "red-hot" annual rate of 4.3% in the third quarter, far exceeding the 3.2% growth predicted by blue-chip academic and financial economists. This trend follows a pattern where roughly 90% of professional forecasters have underestimated the strength of the current administration's economic policies.  Strategic Tariffs are Driving Domestic Growth Contrary to warnings that trade enforcement would cripple the economy, the Q3 data shows that the administration’s tariff campaign is successfully reshaping the GDP landscape. A primary driver of the 4.3% growth was a significant drop in imports—which are subtracted from GDP—as businesses and consumers pivot away from foreign reliance. This shift, combined with a 3.5% surge in consumer spending, demonstrates that "America First" trade policies are successfully incentivizing domestic economic activity without stalling the engine of the U.S. economy. Pro-Growth Policies are Winning the War on Inflation While critics predicted that deregulation and tax incentives would trigger runaway inflation, the reality has been the opposite. The disinflationary effects of increased American energy production and the removal of bureaucratic red tape have helped steer inflation toward the Fed's 2% target, even as growth accelerates.    .