As our Jorge Bonilla pointedly wrote when analyzing the Thursday night network newscasts, the liberal, elite media have shown — through their new interest in this tall tale about a five-year-old Minneapolis boy being used as “bait” by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to lure back his day — a concentrated, new, and sudden concern for the plight of children caught up in the illegal immigration fiasco wrought over the last four years. Friday’s lead morning and evening network newscasts were no different, expressing horror over the “disturbing,” “haunting,” “powerful,” and “upsetting” images and narrative (concocted by a slew of AWFLs that seem to run the school district the child was attending). By the evening, they zoomed out to also celebrate the anti-ICE mobs shutting down the area airport and, in one case, suck up to far-left Attorney General Keith Ellison (D). First up, we have CBS Mornings with co-host Gayle King channeling all the sympathy points of those not fully engaged on what seems to have happened: ‘CBS Mornings’ co-host Gayle King on the “very disturbing,” “very upsetting” “controversy” with the five-year-old and ICE... “Now to the newest controversy over the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. It involves a five-year-old boy, his name is Liam Ramos. Look at his face.… pic.twitter.com/RS9yZzSJIr — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 23, 2026 Correspondent Nicole Sganga picked it up from there: Friday’s ‘CBS Mornings’, using a team of AWFLs that run the school district which the five-year-old attended — fully leans into the emotions and narrative that ICE grabbed the kid and cruelly denied the school board chair the chance to take the child for herself pic.twitter.com/q0AHARxgtl — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 23, 2026 “We spoke with school officials who were there saying that they consoled the boy’s sobbing mother after ICE agents took her husband and son away from her...More than half a dozen federal agents were seen on cell phone video Tuesday surrounding this five-year-old boy wearing a bunny hat and a Spiderman backpack. Liam Ramos was taken into custody, along with his dad, Ecuadorian asylum seeker Andriana Alexander Conejo Arias,” Sganga explained. Amid a slew of soundbites from the AWFLs at the school district (whose story about the child having been “bait” now thoroughly debunked even The Washington Post issued a correction), Sganga threw in a few lines from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (click “expand”): COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT ZENA STENVIK: Over the last few weeks, ICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots multiple times and taking our kids. SGANGA: In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said “ICE did not target...a child,” adding he was “abandoned” by the father who “fled on foot” after officers tried to arrest him and further added that Conejo Arias wanted the child to remain with him once he was detained. DHS also said attempted to reunite the child with his mother, but she refused to take custody. But according to school board chair Mary Granlund, that’s not how it happened. She says she saw it herself. COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD CHAIR MARY GRANLUND: Somebody else saw me and said to the agents, school is here, the school is here. They can take him. And I said, yes, I am here. I am here. I can help with that. SGANGA [TO GRANLUND]: You offered to take him, and you saw ICE agents drive away with the five-year-old boy? GRANLUND: Yes. Two soundbites from Vice President JD Vance later (though one was Sganga arguing the federal government are the ones who have to be “turning down the temperature”), she concluded by parroting “the family’s lawyer” that the boy and his dad “entered the country in 2024 at a Brownsville border crossing down in Texas” and “submitted an asylum claim through what’s called the CBP1 app and were following through on steps throughout the immigration process.” Unsurprisingly, DHS says they have no record of the father actually doing the latter steps. Friday’s CBS Evening News took things to another level. The set-up even included the debunked “bait” narrative: Friday’s ‘CBS Evening News’ had yet another story on “the battle over the power of that powerful image of the five-year-old” with ICE that promoted the “bait” hoax, claims from the school district AWFLs, and a suck-up interview to AG Keith Ellison (D) fretting ICE came “to punish… pic.twitter.com/gDn4BdGCJq — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 24, 2026 Sganga opened by pointing to the “thousands” who “braved subfreezing temperatures in the Twin Cities to protest ICE, with businesses declaring Black-Out Friday.” Shifting to the child, she aired a brief soundbite from Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino “defend[ing] ICE agents” before reairing her exchange with the school board official and later when she indirectly accused Homeland Security of lying about the father’s immigration status. The bottom really dropped out as she never brought up the Somali welfare fraud and took Ellison at his word that the ICE surge was some vague “political tactic…to punish municipal leaders.” And, when Ellison said he can state for a fact the federal government won’t investigate the ICE agent in the Renee Good case, Sganga expressed horror: “I think that’s going to make a lot of people in the state and in this country angry.” Shifting to Good Morning America, they were still running full-speed aboard the disinformation train: ABC — the most anti-Trump broadcast network — went out on Friday’s Good Morning America with lies about the five-year-old and ICE in Minneapolis, saying “the haunting images spark[ed] a firestorm” and promoting the debunked lie the child was “used...as bait” to lure the father pic.twitter.com/WCxMnCaqaU — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 23, 2026 Correspondent Matt Rivers claimed: A preschool boy standing in the Minnesota cold, swept up in the ICE crackdown. Schools officials say five-year-old Liam and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, had just pulled into their suburban Minneapolis driveway Tuesday when agents took that father into custody. The school then saying an agent “essentially used the five year old as bait,” directing him to see if anyone else was home before taking the boy away. Witnesses say multiple people, including the boy’s mother, offered to take him. Rivers would only for ICE’s position that said “DHS [has been] telling different story saying, ‘ICE did not target a child,’ claiming Liam’s father is undocumented immigrant who ‘fled on foot - abandoning’ his son in the driveway.” Once a short soundbite ran of Vance wondering “what are” ICE agents “supposed to do” in that situation, Rivers went back to the other side of the coin (click “expand”): RIVERS: The attorney says father and son entered the U.S. legally. MARK PROKOSCH: Liam and his dad did enter at port of entry to seek asylum and they have shared their information with the government and they were following the process. RIVERS: Now, the school district says four students have recently been detained. We now know that Liam and his father are both being held together at a processing facility outside of San Antonio.  Rivers stuck around for Friday’s World News Tonight and, on the positive side, he must have thought it was time to tell viewers about Thursday morning’s three arrests in the anti-ICE mob’s Sunday attack on a church: PATHETIC: After nothing on either of ABC's major newscasts Thursday (AM or PM) and Friday morning, Friday's 'World News Tonight' spared 15 seconds from correspondent Matt Rivers to mention three from the anti-ICE, church-storming mob are facing charges from the Justice Department pic.twitter.com/iaUCyGm5rK — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 24, 2026 In totality, however, the piece was still heavily pro-mob: Friday’s ‘World News Tonight’ featured more anti-ICE slop on ABC, touting the “tens of thousands in the streets” and “ICE defending its own agents after taking this five-year-old boy into custody after the local school district said [he] had been detained” and “[t]he family… pic.twitter.com/8FRIn2bhDD — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 24, 2026 NBC’s Today went with co-host Craig Melvin saying Vance “blam[ed] local Democratic officials and agitators for the ongoing tensions there amid new arrests, and the growing backlash after federal agents detained a five-year-old boy.” Of course not admitting the media’s role in driving this, correspondent Maggie Vespa said “the spotlight on the story of this preschooler…is growing rapidly” and a symbol of “the mayhem surrounding President Trump’s immigration crackdown.’ After a he-said, he-said between DHS and the family’s advocates, Vespa touted part of her questions to Vance at a Thursday press conference about whether he sympathizes with those who feel ICE’s existence in the Twin Cities “makes them feel less safe.” Vespa at least had the courtesy to spend 40 seconds on the charges against the ringleaders of the St. Paul church storming. Vespa’s Friday NBC Nightly News report was a catch-all of liberal narratives, including one to keep an eye on in the days to come. Friday’s ‘NBC Nightly News’ trumpeted the “massive protests against ICE,” new images from the controversial incident” with a 5-year-old, that they “pressed” Gregory Bovino on the fact that people are “outraged at the idea of little kids being held in custody,” and a new case… pic.twitter.com/K8ixAn1err — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 24, 2026 To see the relevant transcripts from January 23, click here (for ABC’s Good Morning America), here (for ABC’s World News Tonight), here (for CBS Mornings), here (for the CBS Evening News), here (for NBC’s Today), and here (for NBC Nightly News).

Politico, leaning entirely on the results of a focus group consisting of nine (count 'em, NINE) people has been able to somehow determine what they see as a big political trend out there reflected in the title of this story on Friday by Samuel Benson, "These Gen-Z Trump voters don’t want JD Vance in 2028." The subtitle reinforces what looks to be a dire (as projected by Politico based on the focus group NINE) political future for Vance: "A recent focus group of 18- to 24-year-old Trump voters suggests weaknesses for Vance among young Republicans." Benson presents his case of supposed lackluster support for Vance based on NINE focus group people: Vice President JD Vance is the Trump administration’s unofficial envoy to Gen Z. But young Trump supporters may not be all that enamored with him as they weigh their 2028 options. In a focus group of nine young men who supported Trump in 2024, conducted Monday by Longwell Partners and shared with POLITICO, they showed tepid enthusiasm about the vice president and suggested he is too bridled by the baggage of Trump’s second term. Is this not convincing? Mr. Benson didn't rely on a mere three or four people to conjure up that Vance was in big political trouble. Nope. He went for a scientific sample of NINE whole people. And who chose those young people to be sampled? Well, Benson does mention in passing the focus group was conducted by Longwell Partners and then that name disappears into the ether never to return to the story. It takes less than a minute of checking on the web to find out that the "Longwell" in Longwell Partners is Sarah Longwell, the President and CEO of Longwell Partners. A few more seconds and keyboard taps later reveals that Sarah Longwell is also the publisher of the Never Trumper website, The Bulwark. And finally, if Benson had taken just a few more moments of journalism in action, he would have easily discovered that Longwell has gone way beyond merely a Never Trumper to a virulently anti-Trump actor with George Conway levels of TDS. Two weeks ago, she was on a Bulwark podcast after Renee Good was shot titled "JD Vance Hopes Your Eyes Don't Work." However, since Samuel Benson seems to think that something of value can be gleamed by analyzing NINE focus group members chosen by someone with a great animus towards Trump, let us play along with the fantasy for now: “I feel like it’s just time for someone new, especially for the Republican Party,” said Alexandre M., a voter in Maryland, who raised concerns about Trump’s handling of the Epstein files, “because JD Vance was also pushing that as well.” Fringe comedic benefit: Not only do we get to somehow draw conclusions from NINE focus group members chosen by a Trump hater but those same members are anonymously identified only by first names and the initials of their last names. And now some more input from the initials: When the 18- to 24-year-olds were asked who else they would like to see as potential candidates in 2028, they named Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback. When the moderator asked who wants to see Vance as the GOP nominee, just one of the nine raised their hand — and even he later signaled he is still unsure of his support. Others in the group raised concerns about electability as well as Vance’s changing views. “I don’t think Vance can win, because I think he’s too connected to the current political establishment in Washington, which I think has a very negative approval rating right now,” said Sam Z., a voter in Minnesota. “If you look at what he was about in 2018, 2019, 2020, and you look at what he’s about now, it’s very, very different. … Somebody younger running in office would be awesome. So that’s the one thing I wouldn’t mind for Vance. But overall, I just don’t think [he] can win. I think he’s kind of flip-flopped on a lot of issues.” Please don't think that Samuel Benson's report is utterly worthless due to the laughable size of the focus group as well as the ulterior motives of who chose that group. What Benson's story inadvertently revealed is that the Republican presidential candidate that both Democrats and Never Trumpers fear most in 2028 is ...JD Vance.

The Big Four News Apps just completely ignored the March for Life in a blackout so intense that even the pro-life marchers couldn’t find significant related coverage. MRC researchers found that Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News all ignored reporting on the 53rd annual March for Life on the morning of Jan. 23. Instead, these digital gatekeepers reported on anti-ICE protests and an incoming winter storm stories from featuring leftist and elitist media like Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Salon, The Daily Beast and The New York Times. MRC Free Speech America, along with MRC Video, spoke with some marchers who braved the cold to stand to protect the unborn, asking them whether their Apple News or Google News apps presented users with articles about the March. Not one person who MRC spoke with found coverage of the March for Life prominently featured on the Big Four News Apps. Just one person found any coverage of the event at all, but only after laboriously scrolling through the curated list of articles.  Google News was particularly egregious as it pushed the elitist media narrative about Minnesota businesses’ anti-ICE “protest,” while the other three apps also covered Minnesota protests. The Big Four News Apps largely determine which stories and outlets Americans see first when they open a pre-installed news app on their phones, check their email or do a search.  MRC Free Speech America Director Michael Morris responded to the Big Four News Apps burying the March for Life. “If the news apps, some of which cater to user preferences, won’t even show coverage of the March to passionate pro-life activists on the day of the March for Life, it’s likely that they are not showing that coverage to anyone,” Morris said.  The Big Four News Apps treated massive crowds speaking up for the millions of slaughtered American babies in the heart of America’s capital as not newsworthy. President Donald Trump even addressed the marchers remotely, while Vice President J.D. Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson showed up to speak in person, and yet the Big Tech digital gatekeepers offered zero coverage about the largest human rights demonstration in the world.  Methodology: The Media Research Center tracked the home pages of news aggregator websites Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News at 8:30 on Jan. 23. Researchers analyzed the top 20 results for each aggregator. Later that day, researchers spoke to attendees at the March for Life.  Conservatives are under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

Media Research Center President David Bozell joined The Derek Hunter Show on WMAL Friday evening to dissect the elitist media’s handling of ICE enforcement and the alarming consequences of its coverage. From selective outrage to misleading reporting on a 5-year-old child, Bozell illustrated how the press’s bias against ICE both misinforms the public and incites dangerous behavior.   Citing a recent NewsBusters study, Bozell exposed the media’s bias against ICE: “93%, to put a number on it—of coverage of ICE is negative,” Bozell explained. “Less than 2% of all of the coverage even dares to mention the underlying crimes that ICE is arresting these people for.” He focused on the Washington Post’s breathless reporting of a 5-year-old boy allegedly used as a “stage prop,” by ICE agents, revealing the crucial missing context: the father had abandoned the child. “To suggest ICE went and grabbed a 5-year-old to use him as a prop is a bold-faced lie,” Bozell said. “The father ran away. He put his own rear end ahead of his son. … That kind of coverage encourages a nut to take a shot.” Derek Hunter added, “Somebody’s going to get hurt, and the Democrats are perfectly seemingly fine with that.” The segment underscored a pattern the MRC has consistently documented: biased media spin that misleads the public and fuels calls for violence. Bozell’s warning was blunt: media bias doesn’t just misinform; it can put people at risk.

Arizona’s Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes’ public advice that people in Arizona could use the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law to justify shooting federal officers - especially masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents - has been roundly condemned by the Arizona Police Association (APA). “Law enforcement is inherently dangerous work. Recent public comments by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes have the potential to make it even more dangerous,” APA explained Thursday in a statement denouncing Mayes’ comments in a local television news interview: “The interview quickly shifted to a discussion of Arizona’s self-defense and ‘stand your ground’ laws. “In that context, Attorney General Mayes went on to describe scenarios under which a person could claim legal justification for shooting a law enforcement officer, specifically citing the possibility that ICE agents might not be easily identifiable due to masks or nontraditional uniforms.” “Even the interviewer expressed concern and attempted to redirect the conversation,” APA Executive Director Joe Clure notes: “Despite this, the Attorney General continued to outline how deadly force could be justified against law enforcement officers under those circumstances.” “Officers across Arizona, including members of the Attorney General’s own investigative teams, routinely operate in plain clothes or wear protective face coverings when circumstances require it,” the police officers remind Mayes. “This does not diminish their legal authority or status as law enforcement.” “Publicly speculating about how someone might legally justify shooting an ICE agent sends a dangerous and irresponsible message, particularly in an already tense and polarized environment,” APA warns. “Words from elected officials matter. It only takes one unstable individual to interpret such commentary as permission or encouragement to use deadly force against police officers,” the statement says, noting that the Attorney General has a responsibility to de-escalate, not inflame: “We find these remarks reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous to the safety of all law enforcement professionals in this state.” The Arizona Police Association’s statement concludes by calling on all elected officials in the country to stop demonizing enforcement of the nation’s laws for political gain, since they’re putting officers’ lives at risk.