Last Saturday night's Washington D.C. speech by President Donald Trump at the National Mall, for America's 250th birthday, was a glowing tribute, full of praise and optimism for a nation the President referred to as history's biggest dream, full of winners, with nothing that Americans can't do. But that hasn't stopped many in the liberal media from calling it divisive, and Sunday on MS NOW's Politics Nation, Host Al Sharpton, took it much further. Sharpton began with a brief monologue which featured the language of Nazis.  SHARPTON: With the nation's 250th birthday commemoration largely behind us, Americans are turning from reflecting on the past to battling over the future of our deeply divided nation. President Trump and MAGA used this holiday weekend to remind us of their vision, one rooted in blood, soil, and total loyalty to a leader who's unable to tolerate dissent and unwilling to compromise. According to The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, "“Blood and Soil” (Blut und Boden) was an early Nazi slogan used in Germany to evoke the idea of a pure “Aryan” race and the territory it wanted to conquer. The concept was foundational to Nazi ideology and its appeal, though it predates the Nazi regime. Blood referred to the goal of a “racially pure” Aryan people. Soil invoked a mystical vision of the special relationship between the Germanic people and their land." We've all heard the liberal media refer to President Trump as a Nazi time and time again, but Sharpton has seemingly stooped to a new low. Don't expect an apology. During the introduction to his guest, Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Sharpton claimed that Trump's Saturday night celebration put people's lives at risk. SHARPTON: I want to start with the President's Salute to America 250 event, which went on late into the evening and early this morning in DC, seemingly with little regard for the safety of attendees who were braving scorching temperatures and severe storms. In fact, as reported by PBS, Trump didn't speak until 11:15 pm, due to stormy weather which forced evacuations and delays. "There had been some doubt the festivities could go ahead at all after federal and local officials told attendees earlier on Saturday night to evacuate and seek shelter in nearby federal buildings and museums due to "a severe thunderstorm."  Was Sharpton outright lying when he claimed the event proceeded with little regard for attendees, or was he just reading what someone wrote for him? Either way, the Congresswoman picked right up on Sharpton's Trump bashing, and made a bizarre reference to the weather. MENG: We have seen how Trump continues to put himself and billionaires and corruption over the everyday American people. And let's be clear Trumpism is not patriotism. He missed a big opportunity to bring together the country and celebrate our country's birthday, but instead used this opportunity to further divide us. And how ironic that even the weather wasn't cooperating and extended the celebration into the next day. Later in the show, Sharpton brought on the head of The Human Rights Campaign, Kelly Robinson, to get her reaction to the recent SCOTUS decision that went against boys identifying as girls participating in girls sports, and ask her about the reaction to the decision from Melania Trump, and pure filth spewed from Robinson's mouth. SHARPTON: Quoting from her own book, she said, quote, "we can support the rights of the LGBTQ IA-plus community, and also protect opportunities for female athletes," end quote. What was your reaction to her comments and also the point of her message? Do you think that it offered any real clarity or comfort to the families affected? ROBINSON: Not at all. And frankly, it's insulting that she used the last day of pride month to pee on our legs and tell us it was raining.  I'd love to tell you that Sharpton demanded some respect from Robinson, for the First Lady, who is not the President, but of course that did not happen. False accusations, Nazi slogans, and filthy gutter talk. That's how Al Sharpton and Politics Nation celebrated the day after our nation's July 4thth celebration.

MRC Original: “I feel like I’ve been lied to my entire life about America,” an Australian entrepreneur recently proclaimed while visiting the United States, echoing a sentiment loudly heard in viral videos as the country hosts the FIFA World Cup. Is Apple News participating in the cover-up this Australian tourist alluded to? New findings from the Media Research Center suggest a pattern of selective coverage on Apple News that directly reinforces that perception. Tourists marveling at America have become one of the tournament’s biggest surprises, exposing the disconnect between the media’s portrayal of the United States and what foreign visitors actually experience. Yet Apple News, arguably the largest amplifier of media outlets behind that anti-American narrative, all but erased those viral stories from its June feed.  Of the 69 World Cup-related items it featured in its top daily feed, only one highlighted visitors encountering a very different America than the one often portrayed in the international media. Of the many impressions tourists shared, the only headline Apple News elevated about the experience highlighted something entirely different: the prevalence of air conditioning in America. MRC’s Findings: Despite promoting 69 World Cup stories, Apple News featured just one about tourists’ overwhelmingly positive impressions of America. Instead, the news app promoted stories about topics such as travel, politics, and health concerns. The World Cup stories that Apple News featured in June exemplified recent polling showing that only 27% of Democrats express high levels of pride in being an American versus 93% of Republicans. Given that Apple News is a hard-left news app, it is unsurprising that it ignored a multitude of viral stories from right-leaning outlets that explained how much World Cup visitors have found they love America. Out of 557 daily headlines from AllSides-rated outlets that MRC examined, Apple News promoted over 70% (393 stories) from left-leaning outlets and just under 2% (10 stories) from right-leaning outlets. Apple News showed slightly less bias against right-leaning news outlets in June compared to May, moving from a paltry 1% stories from right-leaning outlets in May to under 2% in June. Another 154 stories (nearly 28%) came from center-rated outlets. Apple News Gave Limited Attention to Tourists’ Viral Praise of America Tourists from around the world visiting the U.S. for World Cup matches have been pleasantly surprised by how much they have enjoyed America and its residents. Some tourists have rightfully blamed the elitist media for selling them a host of misleading and downright false narratives about the United States.  Apple News is one example. Of the 69 stories featured about the World Cup in its daily morning top stories, only one discussed the positive experiences of international visitors. Sadly, that positive story focused not on America’s freedom, beauty or culture, but on its air-conditioning: “European soccer fans enjoy a brief fling with America’s air-conditioned culture,” read the June 29 headline by The Washington Post.  Among the featured stories about the World Cup were many that focused on controversial issues, such as: “The World Cup Is a Petri Dish,” by Bloomberg on June 1. “How do you stop Ebola at the World Cup?” by Politico on June 7. “Somali referee is dropped from World Cup after turned back at US border,” by AFP News on June 9. “As FIFA forces stadiums to change names, one embraces its bland new brand,” by The Washington Post on June 11. “Frustrated Iran vents about restrictions after draw with New Zealand at World Cup,” by the Los Angeles Times on June 16. “Visa costs kept her from seeing her son’s star World Cup moment. Now she’s going,” by The Washington Post on June 18. “How migration, colonial ties and tweaks to FIFA eligibility rules have made this the diaspora World Cup,” by The New York Times on June 18. “FIFA revokes credentials of World Cup commentator after expletive-laden on-air rant,” by The New York Times on June 25. Apple News Shuns Right-Leaning Outlets Covering Viral Tourist Reactions Soccer fans from Europe, Asia, South America and Africa may have expected to find an inhospitable country when they travelled to the U.S. to watch the World Cup. After all, the elitist media's reporting reflects the growing dislike of America among Democrats and liberals. According to recent polling, 93% of Republicans are very proud or extremely proud to be Americans, while only 27% of Democrats said the same.   Apple News seemingly doubled down on this messaging, largely camouflaging the truth about America’s greatness and stories from international tourists about how much they surprisingly love America. It’s not as if there simply were no positive stories to promote. Apple News could have promoted headlines from some of the most-visited right-leaning news outlets in America, including: “Brits Visiting U.S. for ‘First Time for World Cup Apologize to Americans: ‘We Owe America a Huge Apology,’” by Breitbart on June 24.  “Europeans Visiting U.S. for World Cup Fall in Love with America: ‘The Most Wonderful People in the World,’” by Breitbart on June 22. “Bill Maher lauds foreign visitors at World Cup: ‘They are reminding Americans this place is kind of awesome,’” by Fox News on June 27. “World Cup fans fall in love with American culture, comfort food classics,” by Fox News on June 13. “World Cup tourists swoon over the real America – and they’re making us fall in love, too,” by the New York Post on June 15. “Foreign Soccer Fans Are Discovering Something Many Americans Forgot,” by the Daily Wire on June 11. “How European World Cup athletes have trained for US heat – as visitors admit: ‘We owe Americans an apology,’” by the New York Post on June 19. “Brits visiting US for first time during World Cup are apologizing to Americans: ‘We were wrong,’” by the New York Post on June 24.   Apple News Once Again Focused Almost Entirely on Stories from the Left, Improving By Less than One Percent Since May According to the latest Press Gazette rankings, seven right-leaning news outlets are among the most visited news sites in America, including the following (in order): Fox News, New York Post, Daily Mail, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Newsmax and The Epoch Times. Apple News featured stories from only one outlet from this list.  Apple News promoted 557 articles from AllSides-rated outlets in the month of June. Of these, ten were from Fox News, the only right-leaning outlet featured by Apple News in June. This amounted to less than 2% of the daily top stories featured throughout the month. Apple News’s habit of favoring the left matters. According to the Pew Research Center, 86% of Americans turn to their digital devices for news “at least sometimes.” With Apple News coming preinstalled on every iPhone, and with approximately 150.7 million iPhone users in the United States, millions of users are exposed to its leftist bias by default. The tech giant boasts 125 million visits per month. MRC Free Speech America Intern Abel Jones contributed to this study. Methodology: During the time period of June 1 - 30, 2026, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories featured on Apple News each day at approximately 8:30 AM ET. MRC researchers used the AllSides media bias ratings, which categorize an outlet as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right” to determine the overall bias presented by Apple News and analyzed the results. MRC conducted manual reviews in search of World Cup-related stories.

On July 4, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) boasted of record membership. Meanwhile, a strong majority of Democrat Americans said they have a favorable view of socialism and a plurality say it’s a better economic system than capitalism, results of a new survey of U.S. adult citizens reveal. In a social media post on Saturday, DSA announced that it has become the largest socialist organization in U.S. history: “On July 4, 2026, Democratic Socialists of America passed 120,000 members, making us the largest socialist organization in United States history and surpassing the Socialist Party of America under Eugene Debs, which reached its peak dues-paying membership in 1912.” In a national survey of U.S. adult citizens, conducted June 26-29, The Economist/YouGov polled Americans’ views of socialism and socialist agenda items, including the following question: “Which is the better economic system?” One in three (34%) Democrats said that socialism is the better economic system, more than the 22%, or about one in five, who said capitalism is better. Another 43% of Democrats weren’t sure which is the superior system. Among all American citizens, 44% preferred capitalism, while 19% voted for socialism. In another question, the survey asked: “Do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of socialism?” Fully 58% of Democrats said they view socialism favorably – more than five times the 11% who said they have an unfavorable opinion of socialism. When all other U.S. citizens are factored in, 39% said they view it unfavorably, 32% said they have a favorable view and 29% weren’t sure what they thought. Likewise, 62% of Democrats said that they would vote for a candidate who identified as a “Democratic Socialist,” far more than the 24% of Independents, 3% of Republicans and 29% of all adult citizens who said they would be willing to do so. When it comes to health insurance, three-fourths (73%) of Democrats said they support the socialist goal of eliminating private enterprise and putting the federal government in complete control. Here, 73% of Democrats said they support a “national health plan in which all Americans get their health insurance from the federal government and private health insurance companies are eliminated,” while only 13% said they oppose a government takeover. In contrast, 54% of Republicans voiced opposition and 30% expressed support. Among self-described Socialists, 90% support eliminating private health insurance companies and replacing them with a federal monopoly of health insurance. Three-fourths (77%) of Democrats also favor taxpayer-funded college tuition for all students, while just 13% oppose having the government cover the cost of college tuition for everyone. Among Republicans, however, 54% oppose such a plan, while just 30% support it. Public housing is another socialist agenda item widely supported by Democrat adults, as 79% of those surveyed said “the government should build public housing.” Among Republicans, 35% said it should, while 47% said it shouldn’t. Despite their support for socialist ideals, just 15% of Democrats said they “think the Democratic Party is socialist.” Among all U.S. citizens, 31% defined the Democrat Party as socialist. Slightly more said they disagree (36%) or aren’t sure (33%). Nonetheless, Democratic Socialists’ influence in the Democratic Party is on the rise, thanks in part to the ascent of New York City’s DSA-member mayor, as The Washington Examiner explains: “[Mayor Zohran] Mamdani and a dozen other local candidates across the U.S. won in November 2025 with the DSA’s help in get-out-the-vote operations, outreach, and other campaign efforts. DSA candidates asserted more control over the Democratic Party in June with three primary wins in New York, prompting criticism from more centrist Democrats. …. “The group reported increasing membership after DSA member and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic primary win in June 2025.”

President Trump has reacted to the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America by sounding the alarm about communism, which greatly upset Associated Press fact-checker Melissa Goldin on Thursday because, according to her, only card-carrying members of the Communist Party USA can be called communists. Goldin cited two Trump quotes. The first was, “It’s the biggest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, September 11th.” The second was referring to Democrats as “hard core, godless communists.” She also lamented, “But experts say his claims, echoed by Vice President J.D. Vance and other Republican leaders, are off base.” After her introduction, Goldin delivered her verdict: THE FACTS: No candidate openly belonging to the U.S. Communist Party has ever been elected to state or federal office, according to experts. Although there are fringes of the Democratic Party that have expressed support for communist ideas, experts say that they still advocate for a market-based economy and that it is inaccurate to paint the entire party with such a broad brush. Trump recently began referring to Democrats pejoratively as ‘Dumocrats.’ If you were wondering where the AP fact-check article denouncing the left for calling Trump and Republicans fascists is, there isn’t one. There is this 2024 article by Will Weissert and Laurie Kellman that seeks to portray the issue as complicated. As for Goldin, she continued by citing one of her hand-picked experts, ‘“The reality is that none of these major political figures in the Democratic Party, even those further out on the left, are identifying as communists,’ said Marc Selverstone, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Public Affairs, adding that it’s an opportunity to portray Democrats as marginal figures.” She then continued, “Selverstone, who authored a book on international communism, noted that Democrats who are more closely aligned with socialism and democratic socialism are still far from supporting basic communist ideals such as the abolition of private property or central economic planning.” According to the AP, fascism accusations are nuanced, but when a Democratic candidate has a record of praising Kim Il-Sung, Fidel Castro, and Joseph Stalin, and endorsing government-run agricultural cooperatives, that is to be brushed aside as no big deal, as the fact-checkers did the same with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's own history supporting communism. However, Goldin was not done. Trying to sanitize the DSA, she wrote, “Rather, democratic socialists believe in providing a more extensive social safety net within the confines of democracy. The movement often centers on securing universal healthcare, higher taxes on the wealthy and stricter corporate regulation.” Eventually, Goldin pulled a page from The Daily Show’s playbook and said you cannot call the DSA communists because the CPUSA doesn’t, “Communist Party USA has a small footprint in current U.S. politics. It brought in about 20,000 members over the past several years and is in the process of assessing how many are active, according to co-chair Joe Sims. He agreed that recent Democratic candidates cannot accurately be described as members of his party.” Goldin also claimed, “Darializa Avila Chevalier, a declared democratic socialist who upset a fifth-term New York City congressman for the Democratic nomination to run in November, is facing scrutiny over deleted social media posts sympathetic to communism and related topics. She said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that she is ‘proud to be a democratic socialist,’ and her campaign confirmed that she does not identify as a communist.” She used similar logic when defending Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner. Wrapping it all up, Goldin recalled: There is a long history of U.S. politicians calling opponents communist or Marxist without evidence — perhaps most infamously, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who led efforts to blacklist accused communists in the 1950s. McCarthy’s chief counsel during his televised hearings was Roy Cohn, who became Trump’s mentor and fixer as he rose to prominence as a real estate mogul in New York. ‘I think it’s part of the arsenal of the right, which today means the Republican Party, largely, to pull out these accusations of communism, of godless communism,’ said Maurice Isserman, a professor of American history at Hamilton College and an expert in American communism. It should be noted Isserman was a founding member of the DSA but resigned after its “politically and morally bankrupt response” to October 7. Whether you call them communists or not, the DSA is not the American version of the archetypical Scandinavian social democrat. If the fact-checkers want to say that you cannot call socialists communists because they do not call themselves communists despite their history of praising communist dictators and their policies, then they should apply that same standard whenever Democrats call Republicans racists or fascists despite GOP denials.

For the late night comedy shows, the first half of 2026 was defined by the final airing in May of CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. But the political agenda of Colbert and his late night colleagues remained unchanged in January through June this year: No one expressing conservative views was ever granted a guest slot on a late night comedy show while 112 liberals were awarded guest appearances. This study looked at the five daily late night comedy shows: ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show from January 5 through June 25. Colbert’s last episode was May 21. No joke! So far in 2026, late night comedy shows have had ZERO conservative guests on. Instead they platformed leftist nuts like these people: pic.twitter.com/sm1tQiHbCy — Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 7, 2026 As is tradition for MRC late night guest count studies, guests were divided into two categories: partisan officials and then journalists and celebrities. A complete breakdown of all 112 guests can be found here. When it came to partisan officials, the count was 24 Democrats to zero Republicans. The Daily Show led the way with 12, Colbert—despite being on the air one less month than his fellow hosts—placed second with nine, Kimmel placed third with two, and Fallon came in fourth with one. Meyers hosted zero Democrats during the studies’ runtime. The count included five Democratic senators (Mark Kelly, Bernie Sanders, Jon Ossoff, Elizabeth Warren, and Raphael Warnock), and six Democratic governors (Abigail Spanberger, Josh Shapiro, Mikie Sherrill, Andy Beshear, Gavin Newsom, and Tim Walz). This count does not include Texas Senate candidate James Talarico’s Late Show appearance because that was only posted online due to concerns about equal time rules. For celebrities and journalists, the final tally was 88 liberals to zero conservatives. Colbert led all hosts with 41 liberal guests, The Daily Show placed second with 20, Kimmel came in third with 17, Meyers took fourth with seven, and Fallon finished last with three. Here is a list of some of the most left-wing moments from the past six months from the celebrities and journalists, such as Bruce Springsteen and Jake Tapper, that the late night hosts chose to promote: “So, I think a lot of people forget, including Russians, that Russia and the Soviet Union were the vanguard of world feminism.” – actress Julia Inhoffe on The Late Show “There are parallels to all sorts of different slices of what we are seeing right now, but we've never had a president who thinks he should rule without being subject to elections.” – MS NOW host Rachel Maddow on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “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.” – activist Maria Stephan on The Late Show “What we've seen on the streets of Minneapolis is that in fearlessly—in a fearless and disciplined fashion, refusing to give an inch to the regime, you expose its malevolence. And that's what happened on the Edmund Pettus Bridge when the cops started beating up the protesters.” – MS NOW host Chris Hayes on Late Night “And Renee Good, trying to calm this untrained, scared ICE officer. Then going, ‘Dude, I'm not mad.’ You know? It's really been remarkable what we've seen coming out of Minnesota.” – MS NOW host Joe Scarborough on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “This is nobody's country. I don't know who told small-pecker white men that this is their country, but it's not!” – actress Ms. Pat on The Daily Show “He was kind of like fascist Oprah out there. Like, ‘You get a medal, you get a medal!’ – former Obama staffer-turned podcaster Dan Pfeiffer on Trump's State of the Union address on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “I mean, obviously as a journalist I'm really not supposed to say this, but I feel deeply ashamed, and I think it belies a staggering lack of humility, and frankly, it doesn't really matter so much what I think or feel about it…I think it just plays into the worst stereotypes about America and how America wields its power and what America cares about. And for so many in this region who have just felt dehumanized and humiliated for decades now, yeah, it's just, it's a lot.” – CNN reporter Clarissa Ward on the administration's Iran War memes on The Late Show “All the married women that have changed their names are going to have to go to the registrar and prove that they are who they are. In other words, to your voting registrar, this is what I understand.” – actress Meryl Streep on the SAVE Act on The Late Show “There are a bunch of us that are going to be wearing these. These are from the Reporters Committee for the Free Press. They may be some guests there that are unfamiliar.” – CNN host Jake Tapper on the White House Correspondents Dinner on The Late Show “He doesn't need another Stephen Colbert as a hobbit. He doesn't need another Stephen Colbert as a wizard. But I know you love The Lord of the Rings. So, I painted you this. – Tapper while presenting Colbert with a painting of him as Gollum on The Late Show  “You’re as relevant as the Bill of Rights” – actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus while roasting Stephen Colbert on The Late Show  “Well, boosters are folks that shoplift and sell at a discount price. So it is something that, as a broke rapper for many decades, I have definitely had to have around me in order to stay fly because staying fly is part of the job requirement.” – director and self-styled communist Boots Riley on his new movie I Love Boosters on The Daily Show “But to the folks at CBS in the words of the great Ed Murrow, good night, good luck mother[bleep]." – former Late Show host David Letterman on The Late Show “I am here in support tonight for Stephen, because you're the first guy in America who's lost his show because we got a president who can't take a joke. And because Larry and David Ellison feel they need to kiss his ass to get what they want. So, these are— Anyway, Stephen, these are small-minded people, they got no idea what the freedoms of this beautiful country are supposed to be about. This is for you.” – singer Bruce Springsteen on The Late Show “We want to organize the entertainment industry to not cooperate with what is happening because our democracy is being destroyed. Our rights are being taken away.” – actress Jane Fonda on The Daily Show  “You are made exactly the way you are supposed to be, and your transness, your gayness, your lesbianism, your bisexuality, these are all divine. – activist Laverne Cox The Daily Show Kimmel did interview former boxer Mike Tyson and press him on his work with the Trump administration, especially HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but he was not included because NewsBusters analysts do not consider promoting healthy eating to be sufficiently political. NewsBusters also does not consider libertarians to be sufficiently conservative to be counted as one. Therefore, Jenin Younes’s January 12 Daily Show appearance is counted as liberal because while she did say some things critical of the Biden administration that conservatives would agree with on the issue of free speech, she also said that the Trump administration has been worse. More than usual during an MRC late night guest count study, the late night hosts helped promote each other. This was largely due to Colbert’s farewell tour, as each regular host plus The Daily Show Monday host Jon Stewart each appeared at least twice on Colbert’s show. Fellow late night host John Oliver of HBO led all guests with four appearances, including three with Colbert. MS NOW’s Chris Hayes, Stewart, and Fallon tied for second with three appearances. All six of Fallon and Stewart's combined appearances were with Colbert. Meanwhile, PBS’s Henry Louis Gates Jr., actress Jane Fonda, Pod Save America’s Jon Lovett, actress Wanda Sykes, actress Meryl Streep, The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson, Kimmel, and Meyers each had two appearances. Of Johnson, Kimmel, and Meyers's six appearances, five were with Colbert. Johnson also had one appearance with Kimmel. Desi Lydic also appeared once with Kimmel, and Colbert once joined Meyers on his goodbye tour. As for other media outlets, CNN personalities were promoted five times, The New York Times made four appearences, PBS had three, and The Atlantic two. ****** NewsBusters has been tracking late night comedy guest counts since September 2022, and the cumulative total now stands at 716 liberals and Democrats versus 15 conservatives and Republicans, or 98 percent liberal.