On Saturday’s The Weekend: Primetime, MS NOW hosts Antonia Hylton and Charles Coleman Jr. combined for a remarkable escalation—from stylistic nitpicking to smearing an entire group of Christians as extremists. After opening with a polished aside about Trump’s recent use of "God is good," which she said had not previously been part of his ‘linguistic repertoire,’” Hylton quickly pivoted to a jaw-dropping—and wholly unsupported—claim: that Trump is surrounded by religious advisers who are “telling him that he is God,” or effectively God’s representative on Earth. Hylton offered no evidence for the assertion, presenting it instead as her personal “read” based on following “extremist” Christian figures. But she didn’t name a single adviser making such a claim—let alone anyone literally telling Trump he is God. The segment only escalated from there. Substitute co-host Charles Coleman Jr. took Hylton’s premise and broadened it into a blanket indictment, declaring that this supposed “brand of Christianity” is “undergirded with the notions of white nationalism and white supremacy.” Hylton agreed: “Oh yeah.” MS NOW: Trump’s Christian Advisers Tell Him ‘He Is God’ pic.twitter.com/1EcVVQ3A1K — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) April 19, 2026 So in the span of a single segment, MS NOW went from parsing Trump’s phrasing to portraying his Christian advisers as both blasphemous and racially extremist—without offering concrete evidence for either charge. The charge is also hard to square with reality. Trump’s most prominent faith adviser, Paula White, has long been associated with a racially diverse network of Pentecostal and Charismatic leaders, and for years pastored a congregation in which non-white members made up a majority. Hylton's supposed proof point? A lighthearted remark from Rep. Troy Nehls—who is not a spiritual adviser to Trump—saying the president is “better than sliced bread” and “almost a second coming.” “Almost,” of course, means not. And paired with a “sliced bread” setup, the line reads as obvious hyperbole, not theology. But Hylton treated it as evidence of “blasphemy,” asking, “Does it get any more blasphemous than that?” Back in the MSNBC days, no one blinked when Newsweek published a provocative Obama the "Second Coming" cover story in 2013, or when MSNBC contributor Michael Eric Dyson suggested "Obama is Jesus" to many of his followers. From there, the conversation spiraled into broader claims about exclusionary, “white” Christianity supposedly threatened by the Pope’s more “inclusive” message. Lost in the rush to condemn was any attempt to substantiate the core accusation—that Trump’s advisers are telling him he is God—or to justify branding them as proponents of white supremacy. Here's the transcript. MS NOW The Weekend: Primetime 4/18/26 6:32 am EDT ANTONIA HYLTON: I've noticed in recent weeks that he has, just the way he speaks about himself has actually shifted. He started saying things like, God is good. Anyone who has actually spent their life going to church is familiar with that phrase.  CHARLES COLEMAN JR.: All the time.  HYLTON: All the time. That is not something that's been part of Trump's, you know, linguistic repertoire, I'll say, for the last several decades of his life. And so my read of it, because I follow a lot of the extremist sort of right-wing Christian figures around him, is that he's surrounded by people who are telling him that he is God. That he is basically their representative of God on Earth. Almost that he is their Pope, because the Pope is the vicar of Christ for for Catholics. And so, it's sort of filled his head with all of this, and so it he doesn't see this as something that actually is risky with that base. He sees it as very consistent with the message that he's sort of like symbiotically fed to and received back from that base that he has so depended on.  And I think evidence of that is like, listen to Congressman Troy Nels talking about the president on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Listen to this.  TROY NEHLS: I believe that Donald Trump is better than sliced bread. I think he's he's almost a second coming, in my humble opinion. I think he's done a fantastic job. He's got a very difficult job. Pope's got a tough job. You know, got issues in the church. But Donald Trump has a very, very difficult job to do. The toughest job in the world.  HYLTON: The second coming. That is a reference to the second coming of Christ. Yeah. I mean, does it get any more blasphemous than that?  . . .  COLEMAN: I think that there's also another really important point that a lot of people don't necessarily want to touch on, and that is, Antonia, you talked about the sort of connection that he has to this community. But it's important to understand that this is a brand of Christianity, if you want to call it that, that is very much so undergirded with the notions of white nationalism and white supremacy -- HYLTON: Oh yeah. COLEMAN: Which is how it goes, which is how it works.  And so that's one of the very, very ugly parts of what's not being discussed here. Is that for everything that you want to talk about in terms of how sanctimonious you might feel you are being, or how blasphemous he may be being in this moment, the underlying theme here is that this is a ideology that is intended to push out other and to other as many people as possible for a very select group of people in the United States.  HYLTON: And I think that's part of why they find the Pope's message so disturbing to them, because they are putting forward a version of Christianity that is white, very male-centered, whereas the Pope is incredibly inclusive, and he's traveling through Africa right now. 

With the clock ticking on the two week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, and the 10 day halt to hostilities between Israel and Lebanon, the leftist media has been working overtime to convince viewers that Trump will cave, and in the end, Iran will be able to claim victory, Israel dragged Donald Trump into the war, and has been gratuitously bombing Lebanon. But Friday on Fox News's Hannity, fellow Host Mark Levin was unafraid in destroying those narratives and looking into the future. After being introduced by Sean Hannity, Levin went on an extended monologue, starting with Iran. LEVIN: Only Donald Trump could do this, only Donald Trump could bring us to this point and he's the only one who did. The Iranians are on their back, and they're gonna cut a deal with Donald Trump, and he's gonna cut a very tough deal with them. My concern is when Donald Trump leaves. You hear these Democrats....if they become president who's gonna uphold the deal? I'm very worried about that. They're not gonna send the military in, they're isolationist, they're anti-American, and their base won't allow them to do it. What about if it's another Republican? We have an isolationist wing among the Republicans. I don't see anybody doing what Donald Trump has done, they didn't do it before and they're not going to do it after. And I'm worried about that and I think the Iranians are thinking about that too.  Levin then made this analogy, and urged that Trump himself finish the job. LEVIN: You know at the end of WWll,  Patton, after we defeated Germany and all, he said, let's finish off the Russians. They said why, because our military is here, we're gonna have to do it one day anyway. Our military is there.  I'm a  commentator and that's why I will never be president like Donald Trump. I say we're there, let's finish them off. People can call me whatever they wish. In the next breath, Levin turned to Israel's battle with Hezbollah, first giving viewers a short history lesson. LEVIN: Lebanon is a surrogate of Iran. That is Hezbollah, I should say. Hezbollah in 1982 was basically sent to Lebanon to populate it, to secrete itself into its culture, into  government, into its politics, to destroy it. Lebanon was a majority Christian country, now it's majority Muslim country. Hezbollah controls Lebanon. If there's a cease fire between Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel and the Lebanese government and their President, that's fine but that has nothing to do with the problem which is Hezbollah, in my opinion. Why is Israel in Lebanon? Because they like to bomb buildings? No they don't want to bomb buildings, There was a ceasefire in 2024. Hezbollah violated it. They've shot 6700 rockets and missiles into Israel. Next he presented a perspective that the left wing media will never speak to. LEVIN: They've (Israel) had to relocate over 100,000 of their citizens and that's what Hezbollah is doing they're a terrorist organization. Iran has desperately lobbied to protect Hezbollah from the Israelis, who are trying to wipe it out and are close to wiping it out. So if we tell Israel, you're not bombing any more buildings, I'm Hezbollah, where do I go Sean? Into the buildings. If we say, no more, no more, then somebody's going to  have to disarm Hezbollah, who's going to do it?....And Israel's done a tremendous amount to degrade them. But if they're not going to disarm and defeat them, and the Lebanese army isn't going to disarm them and defeat them then it's on us. Levin finished with a dose of reality. LEVIN: And I'm just curious, is that really what we want to do and how are we gonna accomplish that? And furthermore, if I'm another country like Israel and they keep firing missiles into my country, I don't care what anybody says. Would we? If missiles were flying into our country from Canada, what would we do? We'd go and take care of business once and for all, wipe them the hell out. With all of the one-sided anti-Trump, anti-Israel coverage that permeates MS NOW, CNN and occasionally Fox News's The Five, Mark Levin's educational, unafraid, and refreshing rant is a slap in the face to them all.  

USA Today was mocked as “McPaper” when it debuted in the 1980s, that it was News Lite, an easy read for easily distracted people. Sometimes, it lives up to that, like in a gushy “you go-girl” profile of CNN host Abby Phillip. The headline was “Abby Phillip remains calm amid political chaos on CNN's NewsNight.” But the introduction from young reporter Jay Stahl was a sugar overload, as she was allowed to compare her primetime pundits with her four-year-old's behavior: Abby Phillip prefers to lead a life of softness. She bakes homemade sourdough bread and dreams of attending culinary school. Her favorite dish to prepare is beef short rib à la Martha Stewart. Phillip longs to play the piano again, a hobby she first took up at 5. Now 37, she spends any free time she can grasp away from the swarm of New York City’s bar-crawling social scene. On one recent March morning, she compared her role managing a rotating panel of liberals and conservatives on her sometimes-combative CNN show to her off-air priorities: raising her 4-year-old daughter, Naomi. "One of the things that you learn pretty early on is that if you match their energy with your energy, things just spiral out of control," Phillip told USA TODAY from her New York abode last month. "So sometimes you have to just sort of get people's attention calmly." Later, that promotional theme repeats. "It helps that I'm the person who's not doing what everybody else is doing at the table and is remaining calm ... It's just how I actually go through the world," Phillip said. She loved this article: Thanks for this great feature @USATODAY and Jay Stahl! https://t.co/GZ0JwrI9UF — Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) April 18, 2026 The McPaper's Reporter of Color is here to celebrate the Woman of Color, but they really go hard in noting that Phillip's 10 p.m. show is in "primetime," unlike the other black women hosting programs. This was the subheadline:  Phillip – the only Black woman to helm a primetime news program in the most coveted block of news programming – garners praise for keeping her cool as host amid the show's heated hour-long runtime. Then, in Stahl's story, they admit there are other black women hosting TV shows at night:  Phillip – the only Black woman to helm a primetime news program in the United States – has garnered praise for keeping her cool amid the show's heated hour-long runtime. Symone Sanders Townsend co-anchors The Weeknight on MS NOW at 7 p.m. and Laura Coates Live follows Phillip's program at 11 p.m. ET. But Phillip's show NewsNight occupies the most coveted three-hour block of evening programming to viewers. Stahl can't mention Fox News host Harris Faulkner in daytime. Maybe young Jay doesn't know who that is. Somehow, Phillip is held out as the Marquee Talent/Role Model for black girls:  It is rare for somebody like Phillip to become marquee talent on a broadcast like "NewsNight." There are no others who look like her – a Black woman – and none in her age bracket except Kaitlan Collins, 34, a CNN counterpart and personal friend. Ava Thompson Greenwell, a Northwestern University journalism professor whose research explores Black women behind the scenes in the TV industry, said, "The reality is she is representing for a lot of Black women, and I think she does a great job."

Last season, Apple TV’s drama Your Friends and Neighbors sparked outrage over a blasphemous scene mocking the Holy Eucharist in a Catholic Church. This season, their target is capitalism as young, smug teen Tori (Isabel Gravitt) goes on a liberal rant in an interview with a college admissions official at Princeton University. In episode 1, “We’re Here Until We’re Not,” Tori meets with a university official to discuss her goals as a potential student. She’s a legacy candidate since both her mother and father are Princeton graduates, which drives her to deliver a smug, disrespectful, liberal soliloquy. It was apparently supposed to be a mic-drop moment but instead came off as nonsensical, entitled and disrespectful: Hit @AppleTV drama 'Your Friends and Neighbors' slams capitalism while ironically benefitting from it in latest season. pic.twitter.com/mw9mqom4jl — Dawn Slusher (@BlondeBlogger) April 17, 2026 Jeff: I'm Jeff Pratt, with the Princeton Alumni Schools Committee, and I'll be conducting your interview. Tori: Got it. Jeff: I know your parents from back in the day. Are they well? Tori: Yes. Jeff: So, Tori. Tell me, why Princeton? Aside from the fact that both your parents went there. Tori: That's not enough? Jeff: Well, um, put another way, what is it you're looking to get out of your four years with us? Tori: Oh, are you on the faculty there? Jeff: What? No. Tori: I just assumed when you said "us." Jeff: Sorry. Figure of speech. Tori: Oh, okay. Jeff: There's no need to be nervous. It's just us talking here. Tori: Well, first of all, Jeff, I think we should acknowledge the pro forma nature of this interview. I'm a legacy kid, on both sides, whose father has been a consistent donor. And the reason he's been a consistent donor, the reason so many graduates of the Ivies continue to support their alma maters, is to make sure there's a spot for their kids there. Because, well, let's be honest, there are much worthier charities to support. You all torched the planet in the name of capitalism, and now, rather than try to undo the damage or feed the hungry or house the homeless, you're giving millions to 300-year-old institutions riddled with systemic racism, anti-Semitism, and sexism, in order to ensure that yet another generation of privileged rich kids will continue to hoard the lion's share of what's left of the planet's remaining resources, while the unwashed masses go to war over the scraps. So, I appreciate you taking the time, but let's be honest. We both know I'm going to be accepted because you all engineered the system to do just that. Jeff: I didn't engineer anything. Tori: Sorry. Figure of speech. Also, tennis. Jeff: What? Tori: I'm being recruited for tennis. I probably should have led with that. Oh, Tori, you poor, deluded child. You’re ironically mocking capitalism while relying on all the comforts it provides. Tori needs an education in what capitalism really is and what it’s done for the world, including lifting billions out of poverty, extending life expectancy, reducing child mortality, and creating the very technologies environmental extremists such as herself rely on to measure, track and address ecological issues. The clean energy innovations, medical breakthroughs, and global supply chains that keep people fed didn’t come from socialism. They came from markets, incentives, competition and innovation. Of course, there are downsides. Any system involving humans will have them. But alternative systems such as socialism or heavy centralized control have historically produced far worse outcomes like stagnation, scarcity, and, ironically, environmental devastation on a massive scale. Because when no one owns anything, no one takes care of anything. As far as claiming Ivy League schools are “riddled with systemic racism, anti-Semitism, and sexism,” it’s a bit laughable given how aggressively progressive colleges and universities are now. If anything, it’s white people who are discriminated against as these institutions overcorrected and swung too far the other way from the days of racism towards people of color. Modern Ivy League schools now prioritize ideological conformity and identity politics to a degree that sidelines merit and true inclusion for all. The anti-Semitism is sadly true, however, because it’s the left that has grown increasingly hateful toward Israel and Jewish Americans after Israel’s retaliation for the October 7 massacre in Gaza. Democrats are also divided over funding for Israel now in light of the war on Iran. The central theme behind Your Friends and Neighbors from show-runner Jonathan Tropper has been classist from the start. Tori’s father Coop (Jon Hamm) is portrayed as some sort of noble Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to keep his family from becoming poor after losing his prestigious job. His wealthy “friends and neighbors” are depicted as shallow, superficial, and materialistic, all while the show's millionaire producers and actors enjoy financial security from the very capitalist system they want to cancel for the rest of us. After all, it’s easy to trash capitalism when you’re cashing in on Hollywood paychecks and enjoying every luxury it provides. So, as Your Friends and Neighbors continues another season of sanctimonious, liberal virtue signaling, let’s not pretend its liberal lectures are anything more than performative hypocrisy.  

Amid the fallout from Rep. Eric Swalwell's resignation after multiple allegations of sexual assault, MS NOW Justice reporter Ken Dilanian was on the network’s Ana Cabrera Reports and alleged Trump's Department of Justice was targeting a Democratic “enemy,” like he was the victim in this scandal. Dilanian and Cabrera also minimized his alleged relationship with Chinese spy Fang Fang. The fallout from the assault allegations had led to Swalwell’s resignation this week, as reports said he had been accused of assault by five women so far. In his resignation letter, he did not take accountability but instead said he resigned because he felt the attention would have him “distracted” from his duties.   On Friday's Ana Cabrera Reports, MS NOW Justice Reporter Ken Dilanian discussed a DOJ investigation into former Rep. Eric Swallwell's sexual assault allegations with the caveat that: "We should also keep in mind here that this is an enemy of the president. This is a Democrat." pic.twitter.com/Nx32VYsmDa — Nick (@nspin310) April 17, 2026   But, still, Dilanian said a Trump Administration DOJ investigation had a caveat to be kept in mind: But we should also keep in mind here that this is an enemy of the president. This is a Democrat. And it's fascinating to me that news of this investigation was so quickly confirmed by Justice Department officials, when we see other questionable conduct around the government that isn't being investigated. Fellow panelist Catherine Christian, a former assistant Manhattan District Attorney, said there was no reason for a federal investigation unless there was evidence of sex trafficking, but acknowledged the fact that in Washington, D.C. sex crimes are charged by the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro.  After Christian clarified the law, Cabrera turned to help Dilanian’s point of Swalwell as a target of the DOJ amid the credible sexual allegations. She mentioned FBI Director Kash Patel's wish for an investigation of Swalwell’s relationship with Fang Fang before the accusations came out.   As he treated Swallwell like a victim, he continued on as he and host Ana Cabrera also minimized the allegations of Swallwell's relationship with the Chinese Spy Fang Fang. pic.twitter.com/jnuHIHybM5 — Nick (@nspin310) April 17, 2026   Cabrera called the Fang Fang situation a “decades-old investigation into his association with a suspected Chinese intel operative.”  The actual worry with Swalwell and the Chinese spy was related to Swalwell’s placement on the House Intelligence and Homeland Security committees. Nevertheless, Dilanian called the situation “politicized,” but called “the conduct of which Eric Swalwell is accused is horrific.” He moved to discuss Fang Fang and recent FBI interest: But then you have this situation where the FBI is operating in a way that's not on the level, and we already know that they were trying to embarrass him with, as you mentioned, his interactions with a woman who turned out to be a Chinese spy and was essentially expelled from the country. Cabrera injected, “Which was like a decade ago.” Dilanian, in full minimization mode of the scandal, then said:  Exactly. And he was not charged with any wrongdoing in that case. And he remained on the Intelligence Committee in Congress, although Republicans criticized Democrats for allowing that. But there's no evidence that he did anything wrong. He cooperated with the FBI. I mean, it does take on a different cast now that we have these allegations about Eric Swalwell. (...) The last line from Dilanian was a huge understatement. A man with multiple sexual scandals, a now lesser one, the affair with the Chinese spy, and the assault allegations, should have been out of Congress a long time ago, and does not get to play the victim card, even as Dilanian and MS NOW might have wanted to play it for him. The transcript is below. Click "expand" MS NOW’s Ana Cabrera Reports April 17, 2026 10:17:59 AM Eastern (...) KEN DILANIAN: Good morning. Anna. Well, the U.S. Attorney in Washington, Jeanine Pirro, has sort of put out a call to victims to come forward to talk to the federal government. As we understand it, this investigation is being run in conjunction with the one undertaken by the Manhattan District Attorney, and also the sheriff in L.A. Is probing. And, of course, the federal interest here would be interstate crimes, crimes that cross state lines, because sexual assault is a state crime, principally.  But there are - we've seen examples of the federal government prosecuting sexual assault related crimes and human trafficking.  But we should also keep in mind here that this is an enemy of the president. This is a Democrat. And it's fascinating to me that news of this investigation was so quickly confirmed by Justice Department Officials, when we see other questionable conduct around the government that isn't being investigated. ANA CABRERA: Again, New York and LA, Catherine, already launching state probes. Does it make sense that the federal government would also have an investigation going? CATHERINE CHRISTIAN: No. Unless they have some proof that a sex crime occurred through state lines, sex trafficking on federal property, clearly they can prosecute that.  Now, D.C. Is unique because the D.C. U.S. Attorney's office, which is federal, prosecutes basically street crime and other crimes in D.C. So, that would make sense if Jeanine Pirro, who's the United States attorney for D.C., is investigating, if there are allegations that Mr. Swalwell committed a sex crime in D.C.  But other than that, if it's Manhattan, it's State DA’s office la the State DA’s office. It's really rarely a federal crime unless you have some sex trafficking component, which means someone was transported across state lines. CABRERA: And again, all these entities are investigating to determine whether there is enough to prosecute. But would you anticipate the state investigators would be working with federal investigators now? CHRISTIAN: Only if there's some allegations. If someone was raped in Manhattan, there's really no need for federal investigators to get involved unless she was brought to Manhattan from another state, then you'd have that sex trafficking. But if it occurred in Manhattan, if it occurred in LA, those district attorneys can handle the case. CABRERA: And, Ken, you mentioned how Swalwell has been a focus for this administration already before these allegations surfaced, in particular of the FBI Director Kash Patel and Swalwell recently accused Patel of a smear campaign over a decades old investigation into his association with a suspected Chinese Intel operative.  Just after the allegations against Swalwell surfaced this week, Patel said Swalwell would be welcome to sit down with the FBI investigators to discuss these new assault allegations. Is this typical behavior of an FBI director? DILANIAN: No it's not. They tend to never comment on pending cases and pending matters like this. I mean, this thing is so politicized. The conduct of which Eric Swalwell is accused is horrific. Of course, we can all agree on that. But then you have this situation where the FBI is operating in a way that's not on the level, and we already know that they were trying to embarrass him with, as you mentioned, his interactions with a woman who turned out to be a Chinese spy and was essentially expelled from the country -  CABRERA: Which was like a decade ago. DILANIAN: Exactly. And he was not charged with any wrongdoing in that case. And he remained on the intelligence committee in Congress, although Republicans criticized Democrats for allowing that. But there's no evidence that he did anything wrong. He cooperated with the FBI.  I mean, it does take on a different cast now that we have these allegations about Eric Swalwell. But nonetheless, it's just a messy situation when you have an FBI operating the way it is right now. (...)