We’re not sure what the actual flex is for Courier Newsroom -- a literal fake news organization heavily financed by the George Soros empire -- to be co-hosting a supposed rebuttal to President Trump’s upcoming State of the Union address aimed at “bring[ing] together elected officials, cultural figures, journalists, veterans, and organizers for a live counter-address focused on defying Donald Trump's abuses of power[.]” Last week, the radical leftist anti-Trump group DEFIANCE.ORG put out a press release boasting of its supposedly star-studded speaker lineup for its boycott titled, “STATE OF THE SWAMP: The Rebuttal to the State of the Union.”  In one of the most ironic plot twists, DEFIANCE listed fake news outfit Courier Newsroom as one of the event co-hosts, which became notorious for spreading mass amounts of false information in past elections to manipulate voters. Courier Newsroom has been fueled with at least $20 million between 2021 and 2023 alone by Soros, emphasizing the leftist billionaire’s vested interest in the group’s antics. The operation was founded by Democrat Senator Chris Murphy's (CT) former girlfriend and leftist activist Tara McGowan, who was a frequent visitor to the Biden White House. McGowan once spewed in her Twitter bio: “[W]eaponizing truth to get Trump TFO.” McGowan, in a 2019 internal memo, explicitly outlined how Courier’s role was to help Democrats get elected. Go figure.  The event will also reportedly feature “satire, visuals, and direct calls to action. Attendees are encouraged to wear green or frog attire — a symbol of peaceful defiance and civic participation.” The Bible called, it wants its Egyptian plague back.  They keynote speakers for the event are Democrats Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose cities have become the nexus of violence and resistance against ICE officers carrying out federal immigration law. Looking at just some of the names on the list of “DEFIANCE” anti-SOTU speakers illustrates how much influence the Soros machine wields over the political and entertainment arenas: Actor Robert De Niro  Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) Soros-backed, former Democrat Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams  Actor Mark Ruffalo Former CNN host Jim Acosta Former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson Anti-Trump attorney-turned-New York Democrat congressional candidate George Conway Soros-backed former Color of Change president Rashad Robinson “We're not going to listen to the lies,” DEFIANCE.org co-founder/“Anonymous” grifter Miles Taylor railed in a statement. “We will be speaking over Donald Trump the entire time – and we will be amplifying the voices he's tried to silence. He's made a foolish miscalculation. By coming after us, he's made us stronger. But I wouldn't have expected him to crack a history book to learn that lesson.”  Earth to Miles: You've chosen to co-host your TDS-overload event with an actual fake news organization backed by one of the most notorious billionaires in global politics and you’re kvetching about not listening “to the lies?”

During Monday’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski continued their crusade against ICE and DHS with more comparisons of ICE to the Ku Klux Klan from a Clinton-appointed judge, while also allowing Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) to push the false idea that ICE’s budget was higher than the United States Marine Corps. In the lead to Gallego’s interview, Brzezinski was excited for a judge’s order to set up an ICE-bashing segment: The judge wrote that the arrest of 21-year-old Salvadoran immigrant was, quote, “indistinguishable from lawbreakers and amounted to”, quote, “the elimination of constitutional accountability itself, invoking historical parallels to authoritarian regimes and the Ku Klux Klan”. He added, quote, “a regime of secret policing has no place in our society." While ignoring the political leanings of the judge, a Clinton appointee and father of a former Democrat U.S. senator from West Virginia, Scarborough used the term ‘secret police’ to set up a Ruben Gallego monologue: But the fact that we have a secret police in the United States of America, I'm sorry, I've been around long enough to be able to say this freely, I agree with most Americans. That is un-american, isn't it? Gallego claimed ICE agents had a “blank check” in cities to “run rampant, violate civil rights, try to drag anybody in they can find, and hopefully find someone who's here in this country illegally.” Additionally, Gallego complained that ICE hurts the community's relationship with their local police, while ignoring that some Democrats literally wanted to defund police just six years ago.     Gallego then began his comparisons of budgets to the Marines: They just want a check without any other type of accountability. And they already have $175 billion. They have more money than the United States Marine Corps has, and yet they want more without any, any, any accountability that the American people are asking for. A compilation of the budgets of immigration related agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE, CBP, USCIS, show their combined budgets to be around $40 billion, while the Marine Corps budget is around $57 billion. Later on at the close of the segment, Scarborough recalled Gallego’s statement on budget. He asked Gallego, who said he was correct: SCARBOROUGH: That’s grotesque. That is grotesque. That is grotesque.  BRZEZINSKI: And that’s right now, not even what they’re asking for. SCARBOROUGH: Now I want to know, is there anything that Congress can do to claw some of that money back and actually give it to the United States Marines? Give it to members of the Navy. Give it to members of the Army. Give it to the VA. That is grotesque. We have people who have served - BRZEZINSKI: And they’re not even that good. The Senator and Morning Joe co-hosts continued their anti-ICE segment with various statements including: “They cut Medicaid to expand ICE,” “Terrorize communities,” and “they’re building internment camps.”  Gallego ended the segment by calling the Trump administration “the most anti-veteran administration in history.” Gallego’s idea of a budget of DHS’s related Immigration funding contains the around $75 billion allocated through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that allowed for increased infrastructure for immigration agencies, especially ICE (which meant Gallego added $100 billion out of no where). Once again, the Marine Corp’s budget was around $57 billion, about five percent of the US Military’s budget. Morning Joe and Gallego would do anything to misrepresent DHS funding to try and say there was too big of a focus on immigration enforcement while there happened to be a devastating surge of illegal immigration during the last administration. The transcript is below. Click to expand: MS NOW’s Morning Joe February 23, 2026 7:46:15 AM MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Meanwhile, a federal judge in West Virginia issued a scathing ruling against ICE last week, finding that agents violated the constitutional rights of an immigrant they arrested last month. The judge wrote that the arrest of 21-year-old Salvadoran immigrant was, quote, “indistinguishable from lawbreakers and amounted to”, quote, “the elimination of constitutional accountability itself, invoking historical parallels to authoritarian regimes and the Ku Klux Klan”. He added, quote, “a regime of secret policing has no place in our society.” The 21-year-old immigrant had a valid work permit when he was seized last month by a group of masked ICE agents who did not have badges and were in an unmarked Ford Explorer without a license plate. The judge ordered the 21-year-old's release, ruling that ICE’s conduct violated due process protections, and that the government failed to justify the use of masked agents in a routine civil immigration arrest. JOE SCARBOROUGH: Now a member of Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona. He's a Marine combat veteran of the war in Iraq. Senator, I can say this - and I can say this knowing that the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with me, agree with Mika, probably agree with you, that America - this is no place, as the judge said, federal judge said, for the secret police. This is no place for masked men in unmarked cars without license plates grabbing people off the streets.  That seems to me to invite illegal and unlawful behavior from those who may not be members of the secret police for the federal government. But the fact that we have a secret police in the United States of America, I'm sorry, I've been around long enough to be able to say this freely, I agree with most Americans. That is un-American, isn't it?\ SEN. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): Well, you know, people sense this too. You know, people have gotten very used to professional law enforcement. You know your police officers, you see them without masks. You could clearly identify them. In Phoenix, they actually have their name tags on their vests, so you actually talk to them. We know there's certain levels of accountability. We could discuss whether it's good enough or bad in some areas, but they're answering to somebody. What we've seen and what we saw in Minnesota, and if you saw some of the questions I did to ICE - the head of ICE and the head of Border Patrols, there seems to be a blank check that's given to these, mostly, men in these cities for them to run rampant, violate civil rights, try to drag anybody in they can find, and hopefully find someone who's here in this country illegally.  As a matter of fact, there are several instances of police officers, sworn police officers that were pulled over by ICE agents, by CBP in Minnesota because they were black or Latino looking and essentially having to prove that they were U.S. citizens. That is racial profiling. That's the kind of thing that really ticks off Americans, especially Latino Americans, which you're seeing a big switch coming up in the votes because of these specific actions.  But more importantly too, just as important, when you do this kind of stuff, when you do this type of overt power grab without any respect to communities, you're also putting law enforcement in danger themselves. Because at that point, the relationship breaks down, the trust breaks down, and that makes the whole system a whole understanding of security, community security, just starts breaking down and everyone becomes less and less safe JONATHAN LEMIRE: And senator, of course, ICE and their tactics and Department of Homeland Security at the heart of this partial government shutdown right now. So talk to us about where that stands. And Democrats who refuse to vote for this funding, what sort of negotiations or compromise, what sort of deal would be acceptable? GALLEGO: Look, we've been very clear: What has happened is not acceptable. We can't just stand by and keep funding a system that killed two Americans in two and a half weeks. As a matter of fact, we just discovered that ICE actually covered up the murder of another American in Texas last year. We see overt, you know, racial discrimination that's happening, racial profiling, you know.  In Arizona, for example, they just bought a $70 million warehouse, did not even speak to the governor, did not speak to any of the local city council members, which in the Republicans, you know, they're setting up these internment camps. And yet, when we asked for very simple things, things that would actually bring trust, security to our communities, they refuse because they just want the check.  They just want a check without any other type of accountability. And they already have $175 billion. They have more money than the United States Marine Corps has, and yet they want more without any, any, any accountability that the American people are asking for. So what are we asking for? Simple things, right. Masks off, warrants only, stop racial profiling. These are the things that come to understand and expect from professional law enforcement, and that’s not what we’re seeing from ICE right now. (...)  7:53:10 AM SCARBOROUGH: So did I understand you correctly? You say that DHS’s budget is larger than the United States Marine Corps’ budget? GALLEGO: That's right. Yes. I believe actually- SCARBOROUGH: That’s grotesque. That is grotesque. That is grotesque.  BRZEZINSKI: And that’s right now, not even what they’re asking for. SCARBOROUGH: Now I want to know, is there anything that Congress can do to claw some of that money back and actually give it to the United States Marines? Give it to members of the Navy. Give it to members of the Army. Give it to the VA. That is grotesque. We have people who have served - BRZEZINSKI: And they’re not even that good. SCARBOROUGH: - who are suffering that are not getting health care that they were promised. Can we not claw back that money from ICE and give it to our vets? GALLEGO: Joe, look, I think we can, we just have to wait for an election, unfortunately. But that money came from the cuts to Medicaid, right? That money came from those communities in rural Arizona. They're probably going to have to close down some of their rural hospitals because they needed more money to buy and buy up these big camps they're putting together to hire these ICE agents that only have about 45 days of training and are given a gun and sent into very stressful areas. There are people that are going and racially profiling people and rounding up Americans until they can prove their citizenship. That money came from kicking millions and millions of Americans off of Medicaid. It was the same bill. It was the same bill, the Big Beautiful Bill, whatever they want to call it. They cut Medicaid to expand ICE, and all that money is being used right now is to continue. They haven't even started yet with their full deportation policy. And what they've done so far is only terrorize communities and create distrust among Americans. SCARBOROUGH: Well, terrorize communities, create distrust, and actually gun down Americans in the street. And gut funding for Medicaid, gut funding for our grandparents, gut funding for children, gut funding - BRZEZINSKI: And they’re building the internment camps. SCARBOROUGH: - And again, not taking care of our vets. Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego. Well, go ahead sir. GALLEGO: No, I mean, again, like if you talk about to our veterans every day, we feel that this administration is just taking any reason and finding any reason to cut more and more of our benefits to disrespect the veterans that work at the V.A. And just look at how many veterans were just fired at the beginning of this year that just worked for the federal government. This is the most anti veteran administration in the history of this country. SCARBOROUGH: Yeah.

The annual State of the Union address is every president's golden opportunity to talk all over live national television for an hour and then some. We're poised for what happens afterward. They have touted Biden speeches as "forceful and feisty" and they have trashed Trump speeches as "intensely partisan." Look in the mirror, people. NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck and MRC Free Speech America VP Dan Schneider join the show to discuss the SOTU-squashers, like Mika Brzezinski insisting Trump's speech was dreadful and "the bottom line is his platform is based on hate and lies." Meanwhile, on the same show that year's Democrat in rebuttal, Stacey Abrams was praised as inspirational. Four years ago, after Biden's pre-midterms speech, ABC's Jon Karl insisted Biden “didn't have a partisan edge to this speech. In fact, the overriding message was one of unity.” Speaking of unity, patriotism at the Winter Olympics is something the Left cannot abide. HuffPost ran a piece channeling their angst: "If waving the American flag or chanting 'USA!' turns you off right now, you're not alone." We also discussed how the Big Four News Apps are already twisting this week's news, and won't be pushing the story of Bill and Hillary Clinton testifying before the House Government Reform Committee on their Epstein associations. Enjoy the podcast on video below. The audio is here.   

FBI Director Kash Patel raised some eyebrows over the weekend by partying and pounding beers with the U.S.A. Olympics Men’s Hockey Team following their gold medal win over Canada. Of course, this irked the liberal ladies of ABC’s The Views. While the Cackling Coven calling Patel unserious, during Monday’s show, they argued that the FBI’s time would be better spent preparing for an apparent coming war with Iran and retaking the swaths of Mexico that were captured by a cartel fighters. “I don't even know what Kash Patel was doing there,” groaned co-host Ana Navarro. “Honey, you’re not playing.” While complaining that “the world doesn't feel settled or stable,” co-host Sara Haines suggested that it was the job of the FBI director to deal with global disorder. Topping the list of what she felt should be Patel’s priorities was somehow dealing with the narco terrorists who launched attacks across Mexico and were battling the Mexican Army; even ahead of domestic cases:  HAINES: Beyond the money, it's the optics for me. Because I’m a little old school. But I like when the law enforcement and directors of FBI were like serious and like borderline boring. Like I don't want to see them, I want to know they are hard at work because there's so much going on. Today we wake up hearing about the head of a Mexican cartel being killed and we know there was a shooting and someone died at Mar-a-Lago. HOSTIN: Nancy Guthrie is still missing. HAINES: Nancy Guthrie is missing. It was a hypocritical demand since The View had previously came out against the Trump administration launching strikes on nacro-terrorists from Venezuela.   The View whines that Kash Patel was in partying in Milan with the USA hockey team and not stopping the cartel takeover of Mexico and not preparing for war with Iran by dismantling their global terrorist network. pic.twitter.com/axYQoE1w32 — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 23, 2026   “He’s already under scrutiny for a thousand reasons, because this administration has not been the defining of competence,” Haines added. “So, I think when you have someone like that with all that's going on and then that's what you see, I just think it's a bit of an insult to the American people.” Filling in for co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who was away on maternity leave, never-Trumper Amanda Carpenter argued that Patel should be focus on Iran given the military buildup in the Middle East and their global terror network: It's not just the optics. He is not doing the job. If you look at the threats we are facing in the world, right now there is a huge military buildup outside of Iran. We might be on the brink of war. Iran has terrorist networks all around the world and he is chugging beer instead of paying attention to this! How was the FBI supposed to take part in a war against Iran? It’s one thing to point out domestic cases that should be focused on, but to point to international conflicts and suggest they were somehow in the FBI’s purview was more unserious than they claimed Patel to be. Speaking of which. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg, who was the only cast member not in the studio because of the snow, claimed that other FBI agents told Patel to go to the Olympics because they wanted him out of the office so they could do their jobs in peace and quiet: Maybe the folks in the FBI say, ‘yeah, Kash, go do that’ so they don't have to deal with him because they know he doesn't know what he's doing. They know that he is incompetent. They know that he is just -- he is a joke and he is a joke in the rest of the world, and because for most of the people working in the FBI it is not a joke. They are the ones whose eyes are on the ball.   Whoopi suggests the rest of the FBI told Patel to get out of the office to get their "incompetent" boss out of their hair so they could do their jobs: "I'm going to put a positive spin on it. Maybe the folks in the FBI say, 'yeah, Kash, go do that' so they don't have to deal with… pic.twitter.com/Fjof0tBmGn — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 23, 2026   Before switching topics, Carpenter and Navarro suggested that Patel and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth were just alcoholics drinking on the job. “I mean, who else gets to chug beer on a job like this as an appointed official?” and “Have you met Pete Hegseth?” they said respectively. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View February 23, 2026 11:05:48 a.m. Eastern (…) ANA NAVARRO: I don't even know what Kash Patel was doing there. I mean, he was - SUNNY HOSTIN: He was chugging beer with the team. NAVARRO: Honey, you’re not playing. And he's behaving like he is a member of Animal House, that show. SARA HAINES: Beyond the money, it's the optics for me. Because I’m a little old school. But I like when the law enforcement and directors of FBI were like serious and like borderline boring. Like I don't want to see them, I want to know they are hard at work because there's so much going on. Today we wake up hearing about the head of a Mexican cartel being killed and we know there was a shooting and someone died at Mar-a-Lago. HOSTIN: Nancy Guthrie is still missing. HAINES: Nancy Guthrie is missing. There’ just –Right now, the world doesn't feel settled or stable and you’ve the head of the FBI and the visual of chugging a beer in the locker room. I just think that it doesn’t – He’s already under scrutiny for a thousand reasons, because this administration has not been the defining of competence. So, I think when you have someone like that with all that's going on and then that's what you see, I just think it's a bit of an insult to the American people. [Crosstalk] AMANDA CARPENTER: It's not just the optics. He is not doing the job. If you look at the threats we are facing in the world, right now there is a huge military buildup outside of Iran. We might be on the brink of war. Iran has terrorist networks all around the world and he is chugging beer instead of paying attention to this! (…) 11:07:38 a.m. Eastern WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I'm going to look at this from a positive spin on. I'm going to put a positive spin on it. Maybe the folks in the FBI say, ‘yeah, Kash, go do that’ so they don't have to deal with him because they know he doesn't know what he's doing. They know that he is incompetent. They know that he is just -- he is a joke and he is a joke in the rest of the world, and because for most of the people working in the FBI it is not a joke. They are the ones whose eyes are on the ball. (…) 11:08:32 a.m. Eastern CARPENTER: I mean, who else gets to chug beer on a job like this as an appointed official? Seriously. Seriously. NAVARRO: Have you met Pete Hegseth? (…)

It’s time to find out who had the Worst Media Quote of the Week. This interactive series is where you — our loyal NewsBusters visitors and MRC supporters — get to vote on which leftist journalist or celebrity had the worst media quote of the week.   Much appreciation to all who voted last week via NewsBusters and the MRC’s various social media sites (Facebook, Instagram and X.com).   The results of the Worst Media Quote of the Week are in and the winner is… Ed O’Keefe! The CBS senior White House correspondent won with 62 percent of the vote. O’Keefe took first place for cluelessly asking White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt: “Where or when does the President believe he’s been falsely called racist?” ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir came in second place with 27 percent. Finishing last was CBS correspondent David Schecter at 11 percent.  Check out the following clip (via the MRC Video team) to see the nominees in action: