On Tuesday we learned that the FBI had thwarted an attack targeting Sunday's USC Freedom 250 event, which took place on the White House South Lawn, arresting five suspects, who were planning to use drones equipped with explosives, which would have targeted nearby buildings, with the ultimate intent of storming the White House during the ensuing chaos. On Tuesday's edition of Fox News's The Five, it was not surprising to see leftist Jessica Tarlov and Greg Gutfeld go at it once again, this time over which political side poses the biggest threat of violence in the country, even with V.P JD Vance at the table as a guest. When it was her turn to weigh in, Tarlov felt the need to immediately turn the conversation to Barack Obama.  TARLOV: This has been a problem for a long time and is growing exponentially.  Obama got three times the number of threats and 11 credible assassination plots. Then it went up under Trump, and  Biden had some but not as much, and then Trump again. So obviously we have a real problem with this. I think also the amount of conspiracy theorists and conspiracy theories that are flying around on the left and the right when things like this do happen like Butler for instance or what we saw at the White House Correspondent's Dinner where people thought that that was staged. It's an unhealthy place for us to be as a country. And as often happens, Gutfeld responded and the fireworks started. GUTFELD: I don't know. I mean when I hear you talk about Obama's threats, and I know that's been debunked.  TARLOV: What? GUTFELD: Hundreds and hundreds of threats. We're talking about-- TARLOV: Eleven credible assassination plots. GUTFELD: We can go through that in the break and you'll find out that a lot of these threats  were just like e-mails and phone calls. We're talking about people that tried to kill leaders. There's been nothing like this in the history of this country. The tell for this, is whenever you're talking to a liberal, they galvanize that evidence. They're so intent trying to tell you it's both sides. That tells you that it's not. We know that it's just one way. In May, Snopes reported that there were 14 assassination attempts against Obama, thankfully, only one involved an actual shooting attempt. Gutfeld continued with hardcore observations. GUTFELD: Dana (Perino) points out the language used. Capitalist elites, billionaires, AIPAC, Jews, right? I didn't know Platner and Hasan Piker had time to plan this. Because that's the same language they use. The motive, the rhetoric, is directly related to the inflammatory rhetoric of the mainstream left, which has become so mundane because you're supporting some asshole with a Nazi tattoo on his chest. This is why liberal outrage has no credibility. I can say bad things about Joy Behar, but no right wing group is going to go burn down her house.  A wrestler can call Michelle a man. I doubt a right wing group is going to her house in Hawaii. But you do a repetition of demonization about Nazis and fascists and white supremacists. Is it no surprise that  Charlie Kirk gets killed? Is it no surprise that Trump gets shot at? Is it no surprise there are these large terror plans that end up being thwarted? We're lucky they got thwarted. He then addressed Tarlov, and the two of them went back and forth. GUTFELD: You can look it up, go look up Obama. Google actual-- TARLOV: Oh I'm happy to look it up, this break is going to be amazing on the Google machine. There are Melissa Hortman who was killed, the pipe bomber, the people who are shooting up Walmart, that kind of rhetoric, listen to the rhetoric. GUTFELD: Do it side by side, it's one way TARLOV:  Communists. That sounds like Donald Trump talking about leftists. Calling people vermin, scum. Like, what, that we're traitors -- GUTFELD: : You're comparing that to a repetitive rhetoric, that's been going on for ten years. TRALOV:  It's been a broken record for ten years. GUTFELD: Where people are called Nazis and deserve to die. That's what conservatives hear every single day. Save it!  Then, as they usually do, things ended on a lighter note. TARLOV: I hear terrible things every single day on this show. GUTFELD: That's just from me. Tarlov turning the conversation to Obama, during a discussion on a planned massive attack at a major White House event is nothing more than intellectually vacant leftist trash. Expect much more to come.

With the Obama Presidential Center set to open to the public on Friday in Chicago, the liberal media is once again falling on their faces to grovel to Barack and Michelle Obama. ABC’s Good Morning America broadcasted a pre-taped interview with the former President and First Lady on Wednesday, praising the couple ahead of the ugliest museum in history’s dedication and opening.  “I was speechless, which is hard for me to be,” Michelle said to interviewer Robin Roberts in a rare moment of honesty. If there’s one thing we know about Michelle, it’s that she loves to run her mouth on her podcast, where she constantly degrades her husband, or on her endless media promotions. In the world of politics, both Obamas have appeared on the campaign trail for Democratic candidates such as Kamala Harris, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, making it hard to believe Barack’s claim they “prefer a quieter life.” Barack compared himself to George Washington, who retired from the presidency after only two terms in office: You know, my goal was to, you know, look at the example of our first president, George Washington. You know, he kind of - I don't have a horse to get on, but he kind of said, 'All right, I've done my stint, and now I'm going, you know, back home.'      But the Obamas are not relinquishing the spotlight anytime soon. Why would they, when the media trips over themselves to kiss the ground that Barack and Michelle walk on?  Roberts asked if there was “anything in looking back that [Barack] would do differently as President,” but Barack answered like he was trying to pass a job interview: I always used to feel like I was making a mistake a day. . .  I always felt that when we made decisions, we were making decisions with the American people in mind. No mention about how his "Affordable Care Act," which Barack suggested was his "greatest accomplishment," hasn't proven to be affordable at all. Or the failed Libyan intervention, or drone strikes that killed innocent American citizens. Despite those massive mistakes, the media still touts Barack Obama as one of the greatest presidents, but if they had been interviewing Trump, they would have attacked him for tiny things like his mean posts and comments before even getting to anything he did with the military.  Only a few seconds later, Roberts made a direct allusion to Trump: Walking the halls here, the museum really, it's about the promise of democracy. And it's very difficult for people right now when they feel a lot of their freedoms are being taken from them. They're very familiar now with Project 2025, many of your policies are being rolled back.  Roberts is probably referring to abortion, which the administration hasn’t touched, but she didn't attempt to explore exactly which freedoms were "being taken" -- as if the Democrats aren't the party that typically finds there are just too many "freedoms." Barack closed out the interview saying, “You know, how things get better is, us old folks, we kind of fade, and we got to get out of the way.” But unfortunately for the rest of us, the Obamas, despite what they and the liberal media say, will keep digging their claws into the American body politic for many years to come. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC's Good Morning America 6/17/26 8:31:49 a.m. Eastern GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now it's time for your big interview with the Obamas. ROBIN ROBERTS: It's really a special time for them because they are just days away from the opening of the Obama Presidential Center.  And with that comes, yes, reflection on their road to the White House and what was achieved while they were there. We spoke about that and what is happening now to some of the work they did while they were in office.  [Cut to interview] ROBERTS, VOICEOVER: This morning, the Obamas, just days away from opening the doors to their Presidential Center. MICHELLE OBAMA: It's done. It's finished. It is opening. ROBERTS: You had a private moment, able to walk through on your own- BARACK OBAMA: The two of us for the first-- M. OBAMA: Yeah, yeah B. OBAMA: --time since the exhibits. And the art has been- M. OBAMA: Well, the last time I was on this floor, it was still a-- B. OBAMA & M. OBAMA: --construction site. B. OBAMA: We still had hard hats on. M. OBAMA: I was speechless, which is hard for me to be. ROBERTS: And people are going to experience that when they walk through these doors. And they're also going to just learn more about your eight years as President of the United States of America.  B. OBAMA: They will.  ROBERTS: And what do you consider your greatest accomplishment? B. OBAMA: Look, there's a lot of stuff I'm proud of. I - for all the resistance from our political opposition, you know, the Affordable Care Act has-- [Cut to signing video] B. OBAMA: We are done! [applause] [Cut back to interview] B. OBAMA: --now helped 50, 60 million people, and continues to help people, even though the current Congress has tried to weaken it and taken away some of the subsidies that were really helping a lot of working people.  The thing I'm probably the most proud of is the tone we set. I'm very proud of the message we sent to the country that we're representing everybody. ROBERTS: Is there anything in looking back that you would do differently as President? B. OBAMA: Oh, I - look, there's - I always used to feel like I was making a mistake a day.  The thing that we were good at and allowed me to sleep at night and get up and go back at it, was I always felt that when we made decisions, we were making decisions with the American people in mind.[Cut to video] ROBERTS, VOICEOVER: From Barack Obama's time as a State Senator-- B. OBAMA: Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty. ROBERTS, VOICEOVER: --to the Presidential campaign trail-- CROWD: Yes he can! ROBERTS, VOICEOVER: --and two terms in office-- [applause and cheers] ROBERTS, VOICEOVER: --the Obamas leaning on their message of hope.  [Cut back to interview] ROBERTS: Could that movement that you started then, could it happen now, Mrs. Obama, do you think?. M. OBAMA: It can always happen, you know. People just have to be fed up enough. They have to want more.  And I think the Presidential Center hopefully will remind people of just how close we are to move in this country in the direction that we want to move it in.  You have one exhibit where people thought that it could never happen, that a Black man, a Black family would never live in the White House, that America would never accept that. And lo and behold, the whole country, you know, the vast majority of the country believed differently. ROBERTS: Mr. President, when you left the office, I remember you saying this:[Cut to video] B. OBAMA: I want to, be quiet a little bit and not hear myself talk so darn much. [Cut back to interview] ROBERTS: But you also said when core values may be at stake, it would merit you speaking out. How have you been able to find that balance? B. OBAMA: I - you pick and choose your spots. I'm not suggesting I've done it perfectly.  You know, my goal was to, you know, look at the example of our first president, George Washington. You know, he kind of - I don't have a horse to get on, but he kind of said, 'All right, I've done my stint, and now I'm going, you know, back home.' And I think Michelle very much would prefer a quieter life for us. And on the other hand, there have been some folks who would like to see me out every day, right, banging the drum.  What I've tried to do is to move from player to coach. Part of our foundation mission here is, how do we encourage the next generation of leadership? ROBERTS: And walking the halls here, the museum really, it's about the promise of democracy. And it's very difficult for people right now when they feel a lot of their freedoms are being taken from them. They're very familiar now with Project 2025, many of your policies are being rolled back. How do you when you see these things happening, how do you deal with that? B. OBAMA: There has always been sort of contesting stories in America. One story is, you know, the - 'we find these truths to be self-evident, that all men, all people are created equal, endowed with certain unalienable rights.' But there's always been a part of this, our story that is about the strong trying to dominate the weak. This country wasn't designed to be everybody marching in lockstep.  The premise of this country is everybody gets a right to say, 'No, I don't agree with that. I challenge that. No, Obama, I think you're making a mistake.' You know, and then we have a conversation about it, and then it gets settled in an election and, all right, if enough people decide I didn't know what I was doing, then you move on to the next person. ROBERTS: And the next election we have coming up is a midterms.  B. OBAMA: That's correct.  ROBERTS: And both parties, the polling numbers are very low for both parties. B. OBAMA: People are a little discouraged right now. But I - again, I believe that we go through these cycles, and there is going to be a younger generation that pops up and they're going to be leaders who pop up where people go [snaps]. Michelle's mom was always good about saying this: 'You know, how things get better is, us old folks, we kind of fade, and-- M. OBAMA: You gotta get out of the way.  B. OBAMA: --we got to get out of the way.' [Cut back to live] ROBERTS: And the Obamas are keenly aware of their place in history, but they are also determined that their part of their legacy is about inspiring the next generation of leaders, as they said, 'to get out of the way,' and their Presidential Center focuses a lot on that. Yes, there is a lot of nostalgia, but they emphasize it's not about the change that happened for them going from the South side of Chicago, where the museum is located, to the White House, it is their belief that everyone is capable of change and, as they say, 'bring change home.' And you see that outside-- MICHAEL STRAHAN: Yeah. ROBERTS: --of the Center, 'to bring change home.'

On Wednesday, the crew at MS NOW’s Morning Joe continued to react to the possible end of the Iran War in a segment that was began as an attack on the renovations to the reflecting pool on the National Mall. At the lead of the 7 AM, with a zoom in of the National Mall Reflecting Pool to the tune of “Green River,” co-host Mika Brzezinski remarked about the “algae-filled reflecting pool,” and Scarborough joked the “green algae adds a nice little contrast to it.” Brzezinski called the situation a “little bit of a metaphor,” before co-host Joe Scarborough turned to call the pool a “great habitat for insects of all kinds. He then remarked, “kids can go to the reflecting pool. Of course, they'll need to wear their masks, you know, their mosquito masks and - you know, and maybe walking mosquito tents. But still, what - it will be - it certainly adds a new dimension to walking down the mall right in the summer.”   Wednesday's Morning Joe joked about the new algae in the DC reflecting pool, as Joe Scarborough remarked that kids will need "mosquito masks" to visit. Willie Geist then implied the visitors will now have to take "all their vaccines" and "malaria pills." pic.twitter.com/c5PwUZ9k1R — Nick (@nspin310) June 17, 2026   It should be noted bugs have been an issue at the pool for many years, as according to this 2022 report on midges. Also, the use of hydrogen peroxide, a new cry from those against pool changes, has occurred before the second Trump term, including under Biden in 2022. Co-host Willie Geist turned and said everyone said the pool changes were a bad idea: And if only someone, everyone or people who know things had spoken up and said, ‘Well, if you painted a lighter color, it attracts more sunlight, it gets hotter, and it grows algae. That's a terrible idea. There's a reason we had it painted that way for all these years.’ If only someone had said that. He then implied the project was done only because Trump wanted to give someone a renovation project: “All the experts did say that. But Donald Trump had a pool guy. He wanted to give a contract to, right?”   Scarborough then closed the segment with a comparison of the reflecting pool to the Iran War: "...it's just like the Iran War, if people had only said this might have ended badly going into Iran." Mika responded with laughter: "Oh my gosh!" https://t.co/kYjkSL9meC pic.twitter.com/ZOqAO3ujG1 — Nick (@nspin310) June 17, 2026   After Giest was finished, Scarborough decided to connect it all to the Iran War: Well, I mean, if it's just like the Iran war, people have only said this might have ended badly going into Iran - As Scarborough seemed serious in his comparison, Brzezinski laughed at his comments and remarked, “Oh my gosh!” which was paired with laughter as she tried to regain composure. The freakout over changes to a poll that has had issues for many years has managed to still have taken up cover on many channels, including some of the big three of broadcast news, over more in-depth stories. The transcript is below. Click "expand": MS NOW’s Morning Joe June 17, 2026 7:00:43 AM Eastern MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Live look at Washington, D.C., and the algae-filled reflecting pool for you there. As we wake up on this Wednesday morning, top of the second hour— JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. BRZEZINSKI: — of Morning Joe, June 17th. So pretty, Joe. JOE SCARBOROUGH: I think it adds really - I think the green algae adds a nice little contrast to it. So, you know, it'd be boring— BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. SCARBOROUGH: — if it were just blue and nice like it used to be. So, the green algae kind of -  BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.  SCARBOROUGH: You know, you can kind of see it starting to kind of build and grow the center of it all. BRZEZINSKI: A little bit of a metaphor. Can't get it to go away. SCARBOROUGH: Listen, listen, this is going to be a great habitat for insects of all kinds. It's going to be very exciting.  BRZEZINSKI: 100 percent. SCARBOROUGH: Kids can go to—you know, Willie, kids can go to the reflecting pool. Of course, they'll need to wear their masks, you know, their mosquito masks and - WILLIE GEIST: Yeah. SCARBOROUGH: You know, and maybe walking mosquito tents. But still, what - it will be - it certainly adds a new dimension to walking down the mall, right, in the summer. GEIST: Yeah. You just got to get all your vaccines, like for international travel, if you go on a safari— SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. GEIST: — or something, you got to take your Malaria pills— SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. GEIST: -- and all that kind of stuff. If you're going to walk past the reflecting pool due to the wildlife now in the insects that will be attracted. And if only someone, everyone, or people who know things had spoken up and said, “Well, if you painted a lighter color, it attracts more sunlight, it gets hotter, and it grows algae. That's a terrible idea. SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. GEIST: There's a reason we had it painted that way for all these years.” If only someone had said that. All the experts did say that. But Donald Trump had a pool guy he wanted to give a contract to. SCARBOROUGH: Well, I mean, if it's just like the Iran War, people have only said this might have ended badly going into Iran - BRZEZINSKI: [Laughter] Oh my gosh!  SCARBOROUGH: - like, maybe - I do want to say this morning, though, just for people tuning in, there's thus far an unconfirmed report by Bloomberg, who has released the contents of the MOU draft— BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. SCARBOROUGH: — much of it has already been confirmed by the Wall Street Journal, confirmed by JD Vance. But Willie, I just want to go down to these numbers really quickly. Wall Street Journal talks about the ending of all sanctions, which is an extraordinary windfall that the Iranians could have never expected under any circumstances, certainly not before we began this disastrous war. JD Vance has admitted on TV to the 300 billion - he was asked about this $300 billion fund, which really is—it's reparations for Iran. It's as if we lost the war. $300 billion in the MOU language that we have seen, the draft language, says that the financing will be guaranteed by the United States of America.

Media Research Center President David Bozell joined The Dana Show with Dana Loesch on Wednesday afternoon to discuss Vice President JD Vance’s recent appearance on ABC’s “The View” and CBS’s Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss potentially taking editorial control over CNN, along with Scott Pelley’s “press tour” following his firing from 60 Minutes. It came as a shock to many that The View even invited Vice President Vance on the show, especially given that an MRC NewsBusters study found that they had featured only two conservative guests compared to 128 liberal guests in 2025. Notably, they have characterized the Vice President as a “sociopathic liar” and accused both him and Elon Musk of treason in relation to President Trump, alleging attempts to seize control. As Bozell stated, “That narrative just falls flat when you actually meet the man. If you're the host, you have to try to cash that check, and they didn't do it. There was a lot of excitement leading into that interview, but the whole thing just felt flat.” A few months back, The View spent half a show accusing JD Vance and Elon Musk of committing treason against the President and trying to take over for him. This just kind of falls flat when you meet the man. @DavidBozell and @DLoesch react to The View hosting JD Vance pic.twitter.com/RL7XGzR8D6 — Media Research Center (@theMRC) June 17, 2026 Leftists are also growing increasingly concerned that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss could assume editorial control at CNN and shift the network toward a more balanced news approach. Those concerns, more broadly, reflect unease over her potential influence across elitist legacy media institutions. This includes, as Bozell put it, “...to throw out some of these 'legacy 'boomer' reporters who think they can do no wrong, like Scott Pelley." Under the oversight of Weiss, 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton fired Pelley after an alleged confrontation in which he raised his voice and insulted the program’s news director and producer—conduct that, as the account goes, would typically be considered grounds for termination in most workplaces. Of course, Pelley painted himself as the victim in an interview he did shortly thereafter with The New York Times. These legacy boomer reporters, like Scott Pelley, think they walk on water.@DavidBozell and @DLoesch roast the unhinged egos in the elitist media on @DanaLoeschRadio pic.twitter.com/vKJoF4Lcu3 — Media Research Center (@theMRC) June 17, 2026 Watch the full segment below:

Monday’s PBS News Hour marked America’s upcoming 250th anniversary in typically perverse fashion, turning the national story inside out and showing, in the words from the introduction by substitute anchor William Brangham, how “America's celebrations have always been plagued by a deeper contradiction, a nation devoted to liberty while repeatedly denying it to millions of its own people.” Brangham introduced News Hour co-host Geoff Bennett’s taped interview with left-wing Princeton prof Eddie Glaude Jr. about his new book America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries. CO-HOST GEOFF BENNETT: This book, you open it with a striking line. You write: "I do not love America and never have, especially now." Why did you choose to begin there? What are you asking readers to reconsider about their relationship to this country? The author responded with a sad anecdote from his childhood involving being called a racist slur, then used it as an excuse to ditch patriotism for life. EDDIE GLAUDE: ….So I'm really asking the question, how can you expect me to love the country, given the reality of my experience and the experience of race in the country? Asked by Bennett why criticism can’t be “an act of love,” he responded by casting aspersions on patriotism: GLAUDE JR.: ….I'm more interested, Geoff, in loving closer to the ground, not the abstractions, because whenever I hear a certain kind of invocation of patriotism, it sounds to my ear like a Rebel yell. Asked why criticism of the United States can’t be “an act of love,” author and professor Eddie Glaude Jr. responded by likening patriotism to white supremacy "....whenever I hear a certain kind of invocation of patriotism, it sounds to my ear like a rebel yell." pic.twitter.com/RNonT97Xp3 — Clay Waters