Back in the early 1980s, a prominent liberal and a prominent conservative — television producer/People for the American Way founder Norman Lear and right-wing Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) — aggressively criticized the Religious Right and warned that the Moral Majority's Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., the Christian Broadcasting Network's Pat Robertson, and others in that movement wanted to turn the United States into a theocracy.

Goldwater viewed the Religious Right as terrible for conservatism. Yet the Religious Right only tightened its grip on the Republican Party.

More than 40 years later, the Religious Right is celebrating Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential race. And far-right evangelical Christian fundamentalists, according to HuffPost's Nathalie Baptiste, are ramping up their push to turn public schools into evangelical schools.

READ MORE: 'Wrong': Christian GOP senator fears 'slippery slope' of OK school chief’s Bible push

"From displaying the Ten Commandments to demanding that teachers use the Bible in their classrooms," Baptiste reports in an article published on December 6, "conservatives seem determined to blur the lines between church and state by infusing Christianity into public schools. And with Donald Trump headed back to the White House and a conservative majority in the U.S. Supreme Court, reshaping the country's education system is looking increasingly feasible."

Baptiste notes that in late October, the Texas State Board of Education "approved a Bible-based curriculum for public school students in kindergarten through 5th Grade."

"Texas schools will not be forced to use the curriculum, but those that do will be rewarded with extra funding — up to $60 per student," Baptiste explains. "The material uses the Bible in a variety of lessons, including directly quoting from it, as well as teaching about creationism — the Christian belief that God created the Earth in one week — and the crucifixion of Jesus."

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, Baptiste observes, far-right State Education Superintendent Ryan Walters has "mandated that all public schools must begin teaching the Bible." And in Louisiana, the reporter adds, the GOP-controlled state legislature "passed a law, in June, requiring schools to display the Ten Commandments."

READ MORE: Deep-red states meet 'wall of hostility' in forcing Christian nationalism on public schools

Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, warns that the Religious Right has "globbed onto schools as a place to indoctrinate students."

Laser told HuffPost, "They want to raise the next generation to learn false history, illegitimate science, and to favor Christianity over other faiths and nonreligion."

Heather Weaver, an ACLU attorney in Louisiana, is applauding the federal judge who struck down the Louisiana law as unconstitutional.

Weaver told HuffPost, "This ruling should serve as a reality check for Louisiana lawmakers who want to use public schools to convert children to their preferred brand of Christianity. Public schools are not Sunday schools, and today's decision ensures that our clients’ classrooms will remain spaces where all students, regardless of their faith, feel welcomed."

READ MORE: Christian nationalism’s 'fascist authoritarian agenda' exposed: analysis

Read HuffPost's full article at this link.

Donald Trump is not the first Republican president-elect to complain that Congress spends too much money. But he has made a proposal that is unusual even for a Republican: withholding money or "impounding" money that Congress has already appropriated.

Bloomberg News reporter Steven T. Dennis examines Trump's ability — or inability — to do that in an article published on December 4.

"Trump wants to hold back some money — 'impound' it, in the jargon of Washington — to slash the budget," Dennis explains. "The only problem: There's a 50-year-old law that forbids that exact gambit."

READ MORE: Why this Dem senator is 'considering voting yes on DeSantis' to replace Hegseth

The 50-year-old law that Dennis is referring to is the Impoundment Control Act in 1974, which Congress, Dennis notes, passed to "reassert its power over spending."

"While it set up a fast-track process for the president to quickly seek the approval of Congress if he wanted to override its spending decisions," Dennis explains, "it also established a mechanism for the U.S. comptroller general, who advises Congress, to sue the president for unauthorized impoundments."

The U.S. Constitution, according to Dennis, "explicitly grants Congress control over how much the government can spend."

Back in 1788, Dennis adds, James Madison referenced Congress' "power over the purse."

READ MORE: Senate Republicans 'uncertain they can back' Hegseth: report

Read Bloomberg News' full article at this link (subscription required).

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth — President-elect Donald Trump's embattled pick to lead the U.S. Defense Department — has been inundated with negative publicity for allegations of everything from sexual assault (which Hegseth has vehemently denied) to public drunkenness and extreme alcohol abuse. Trump has reportedly considered withdrawing the Hegseth nomination and nominating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the position instead, but Hegseth has vowed to keep making his case for confirmation.

In an article published by The Guardian on December 6, journalist Ben Makuch reports that various watchdog groups are sounding the alarm about Hegseth's "extremist" far-right views —and arguing that someone who holds such opinions is unfit for the defense secretary position.

One of those groups is Taskforce Builder, whose CEO, Kristofer Goldsmith, told The Guardian, "I think it's going to be an absolute disaster. Pete Hegseth is a domestic extremist."

READ MORE: Why this Dem senator is 'considering voting yes on DeSantis' to replace Hegseth

Hegseth's tattoos — some of which, critics say, underscore his far-right Christian nationalist views — have been drawing plenty of scrutiny. But according to Goldsmith, Hegseth's books (which include "The War on Warriors" and "American Crusader") are even more damning.

Goldsmith told The Guardian, "I know that there's been a lot of attention on his crusader tattoos. There hasn't been enough attention on his actual books…. The guy has tattoos … However, the bigotry and the hatred that he put in black and white, that is more important."

The Guardian also interviewed Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE).

Beirich told the publication, "Just as the insurrection was downplayed by Republicans, so too has extremism in the military…. Also, a new screening database for tattoos was created, some tightening up of clearances, and some more investigative clarity. But a more fulsome effort should have been on the table. Of course, Republicans are far more to blame, as they politicized the whole process, made light of the problem and claimed efforts to root out extremists were giving the military a bad name."

READ MORE: Senate Republicans 'uncertain they can back' Hegseth: report

Read The Guardian's full article at this link.

In a Wednesday, December 4 post on X, formerly Twitter, former Fox News pundit Monica Crowley announced that President-elect Donald Trump had nominated her for assistant secretary of state. Crowley, in her tweet, said she looks forward to working with Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) — Trump's pick for secretary of state — in 2025.

Because Rubio isn't one of Trump's more controversial nominees, he is likely to receive a bipartisan confirmation from the U.S. Senate next year.

Vanity Fair's Bess Levin, in a biting December 5 column, notes that Crowley is the 12th nominee for Trump's incoming administration who has a Fox News and/or Fox Business background — and she expects that number to keep growing.

READ MORE: MAGA media ramp up 'full-throated defense' of Trump’s embattled defense nominee

"When it comes to the people Donald Trump wants advising him in a second term," Levin argues, "the president-elect has a type. Accused of sexual misconduct? You're a shoo-in for a Cabinet gig. Did time in prison? Step right up. Related to him by marriage? When can you start? Another obvious plus, and one that apparently far outweighs actual experience, is having worked for Fox News or another Fox Corp. subsidiary."

Levin continues, "While Pete Hegseth is the most prominent network personality to have received a nod — in his case, for defense secretary — he's far from the only one Trump has poached from the conservative broadcaster. Others include Sean Duffy for transportation secretary and Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general, plus multiple additional Fox News contributors."

The Vanity Fair columnist notes that Crowley has been nominated for "a job that deals in foreign diplomacy" but has, according to Media Matters' Matt Gertz, "pushed several bigoted conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama's heritage, including promoting a documentary about his purported 'real father.'"

"After serving as Treasury Department assistant secretary for public affairs during the first Trump Administration," Levin points out, "Crowley (according to Gertz) 'returned to punditry, claiming that the deep state has been trying to destroy Trump through COVID-19…. and assassination attempts.' She was also a contributor to Project 2025."

READ MORE: Why this Dem senator is 'considering voting yes on DeSantis' to replace Hegseth

Bess Levin's full Vanity Fair column is available at this link.

"War Room" host Steve Bannon famously said that a major tactic of the MAGA movement is to "flood the zone with s---." Bannon stressed that the more MAGA Republicans make their opponents feels overwhelmed and disoriented, the more progress they will make.

In a biting column published on December 6, the New York Times' Frank Bruni argues that President-elect Donald Trump's willingness to make so many controversial nominations for his administration is a "tactic," a "blitz approach" and "overkill meant to overwhelm."

The opinion columnist stresses that the terrible nominees are drawing so much attention that Trump will have an easier time getting the nominees who are merely bad confirmed in the U.S. Senate. The goal, according to Bruni, is "desensitizing" Trump's opponents.

READ MORE: Why this Dem senator is 'considering voting yes on DeSantis' to replace Hegseth

"It's galling that he chose a son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner, who spent two years in prison for witness retaliation, tax evasion and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, to live in 60,000-square-foot splendor in Paris and swan around the Champs-Élysées as the next American ambassador to France," Bruni laments. "But is that any worse than Kash Patel storming around America's capital in the role of FBI director?.... But there’s little sign of serious resistance to Patel's confirmation from Republicans in the Senate. They have slimier fish to fry — for example, Pete Hegseth, Trump's designee for defense secretary."

Trump has reportedly considered withdrawing his Hegseth nomination and offering the position to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead. And at least two Democratic senators, Pennsylvania's John Fetterman and Arizona's John Kelly, told CNN they would consider voting for DeSantis for secretary of defense.

DeSantis has drawn more than his share of criticism from Democrats, but Fetterman and Kelly's comments indicate that even Democrats would view the Florida governor as an improvement over Hegseth.

Bruni argues that "Hegseth's troubles better the odds that the conspiracy theorist and carcass fetishist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. winds up the secretary of health and human services and that the al-Assad apologist and Putin fangirl Tulsi Gabbard gets to run national intelligence."

READ MORE: Trump may end America’s place as 'the world’s preeminent cultural and economic force': analysis

"There's only so much resistance that Republican senators can muster — only so many times that lap dogs this thoroughly muzzled can bark," Bruni writes. "Trump's picks for lofty posts speak to his veneration of scoundrels — to his belief that rules are for sissies and the strong take what they want however it must be taken."

READ MORE: MAGA media ramp up 'full-throated defense' of Trump’s embattled defense nominee

Frank Bruni's full New York Times column is available at this link (subscription required).

With the embattled Pete Hegseth facing allegations of everything from sexual assault (the former Fox News host was never charged with anything and flatly denied the accuser's claims) to public drunkenness and severe alcohol abuse, President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering withdrawing his nomination of Hegseth for defense secretary — and nominating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead for that position. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, on December 4, told CNN's Manu Raju he would consider "voting yes" if DeSantis becomes the nominee.

But Hegseth is still Trump's pick for defense secretary, and he has vowed to keep fighting for votes from GOP senators.

During an appearance on The New Republic's "Daily Blast" podcast, Media Matters' Matt Gertz discussed the divide between GOP senators who would like to see someone other than Hegseth as the nominee and far-right MAGA media pundits who are aggressively defending him.

READ MORE: Senate Republicans 'uncertain they can back' Hegseth: report

When Sargent asked Gertz if there is "any way Hegseth survives this," the Media Matters reporter responded, "I think there is."

Gertz told Sargent, "What we're seeing right now is a test of the power that the right-wing media has within the MAGA movement. Some sort of flair clearly went up over the last 24 hours because after largely remaining passive and backing off from the nomination as all of these damning reports came out, people at Fox (News) and throughout the right-wing media have started rallying to Hegseth's defense."

Gertz noted that a "full-throated defense of Hegseth" has been "coming from the MAGA movement," including "people like Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec."

The Media Matters reporter predicted that MAGA Republicans will ramp up their demonization of the mainstream media in the weeks and months ahead.

READ MORE: Trump may end America’s place as 'the world’s preeminent cultural and economic force': analysis

"When the media actually reports facts about Trump and his administration and his administration figures and policies," Gertz told Sargent, "MAGA will turn everything into a test of whether Republicans are on the side of the liberal media or on the side of Trump. And since Trump has spent years threatening, in another administration, to use the power of the state against the media, he has raised expectations among the MAGA masses that this will happen. So when these big tests start arising, the pressure will intensify on figures in the government to actually do this stuff — not just talk about it, to do it."

READ MORE: Why this Dem senator is 'considering voting yes on DeSantis' to replace Hegseth

When Never Trump conservatives are asked why they supported now-President Joe Biden in 2020 and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024, many of them cite foreign policy as one of their top reasons. Biden and Harris, with their aggressive support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), are — as many Never Trumpers see it — more Reaganesque on foreign policy than President-elect Donald Trump, who they view as dangerously isolationist.

Another main reason is Biden and Harris' views on trade; the vice president was highly critical of Trump's tariff proposals during her campaign. Never Trumpers see Trump as having protectionist views that are a huge departure from traditional Ronald Reagan/Barry Goldwater conservatism.

Democrats won the popular vote in the most of the United States' post-1980s presidential elections; the exceptions were President George W. Bush in 2004 and Trump in 2024. In this year's close election, Trump won the popular vote by roughly 1.4 or 1.5 percent (according to the Cook Political Report).

READ MORE: CEO's murder provokes 'dark' humor in response to America’s 'dysfunctional healthcare system'

In a think piece published by Politico on December 6, author/journalist Joshua Zeitz argues that Trump's victory marks the end of "the American Century" and a time when the U.S. was "the world's preeminent cultural and economic force."

"Donald Trump's second presidential victory represents a sharp break, and perhaps a permanent one, with the American Century framework," Zeith emphasizes. "It's a framework that rested on four key pillars."

Those pillars, according to Zeitz, are: (1) "a rules-based economic order that afforded the U.S. free access to vast international markets, (2) "a guarantee of safety and security for its allies, backed up by American military might," (3) an increasingly liberal immigration system that strengthened America's economy and complemented military and trade partnerships with the rest of the non-communist world," and (4) "an America that valued — and exported to the rest of the world — its technical and artistic skills."

"Whether Trump can or will pursue his agenda remains to be seen," Zeitz explains. "But it's also beside the point. It's what nearly 50 percent of voters just endorsed — steps that would both dismantle and repudiate the American Century framework. Maybe that's not a bad thing."

READ MORE: 'Gut punch': Trump clashes with PA steelworkers over $14.9b sale

Zeitz continues, "At its worst, that framework resembled what scholars refer to as 'imperialism by invitation'…. But the American Century framework has defined the nation's trajectory for well over 80 years. For good or bad, it undeniably made the United States a very prosperous and powerful country."

READ MORE: Why this Dem senator is 'considering voting yes on DeSantis' to replace Hegseth

Joshua Zeitz's full essay for Politico is available at this link.

Despite reports that President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for defense secretary and withdrawing his nomination of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for that position, the embattled Hegseth has vowed to keep fighting.

Hegseth has been facing a variety of bad publicity, from a sexual assault allegation to allegations of extreme alcohol abuse. But the former "Fox and Friends" host has denied the sexual assault allegation, and he was never charged with anything.

On Thursday night, December 5, CNN's Kaitlin Collins discussed that case with Hegseth's attorney, Tim Parlatore — who threatened his client with a possible "defamation lawsuit."

READ MORE: 'Gut punch': Trump clashes with PA steelworkers over $14.9b sale

Collins noted that when he previously discussed the case with her colleague Jake Tapper, he said he believed "it was extortion."

"If you felt that it was extortion," Collins told the attorney, "why not go to the police at the time?"

Parlatore responded, "Well, it was a decision that we made…. It was something that, I don't know if it rises to the level of a criminal extortion that the police would take it on. But I think it certain does meet the definition under the California law for civil extortion. And it was something we were considering at the time."

Parlatore went on to say that if Hegseth is not confirmed for secretary of defense, "We may still bring a civil extortion claim against her" for violating a nondisclosure agreement.

READ MORE: Senate Republicans 'uncertain they can back' Hegseth: report

Hegseth's attorney added that if his client loses "future employment opportunities," it would be "worth bringing a lawsuit against her."

Collins noted that "some people" believe Hegseth's accuser should be "released from that nondisclosure agreement."

Hegseth responded, "This is a confidential settlement agreement that had confidentiality on both sides. That agreement has since been breached by her. And so, as a result, I sent notice to her attorney that that agreement no longer has any force in effort. That's one of the reasons I can talk about it here, because prior to that, the agreement prevented Mr. Hegseth from talking about her conduct."

The attorney continued, "So, there is no NDA to release her from. And if she wants to go and talk about it, she can do it. Certainly, she would do it at her own peril of a further defamation lawsuit…. If she doesn't tell the truth — if she repeats these false statements — then she will be subject to a defamation lawsuit. And she's well-aware of that."

READ MORE: Why this Dem senator is 'considering voting yes on DeSantis' to replace Hegseth

Watch the full video below or at this link.

On Thursday, December 4, conservative Republican Olivia Troye — a former national security aide to ex-Vice President Mike Pence who supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 election — reported, on X, that she had received a letter from Kash Patel's attorney threatening her with legal action and demanding that she retract her "comments on MSNBC about his unfitness to serve as FBI director." But Troye declared, "I stand by my statements."

Patel is among the Trump allies journalist Ross Rosenfeld discusses in an article published by The New Republic the following day. From Patel to "War Room" host Steve Bannon to anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Rosenfeld warns, President-elect Donald Trump's second term will have little or no tolerance for dissent.

"Trumpworld stands ready to stamp out dissent," Rosenfeld argues. "Not just the dissent itself, but the dissenters: those heretics who refute the Gospel of Trump and insist that his second coming, and his second administration, stands to deliver nothing but ill to the United States. Those with differing opinions are set to run afoul of those coming to power."

READ MORE: Republicans quietly admit Trump policies could 'prove disastrous' in their areas

Rosenfeld quotes Patel's own words, noting that during an appearance on Bannon's "War Room," he threatened, "We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media. Yes, we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections."

But Patel, Rosenfeld stresses, is hardly the only Trump ally who has no tolerance for criticism of "King Donald."

Trump has nominated RFK Jr. to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

"Robert Kennedy Jr. fits snugly within this movement," according to Rosenfeld. "Like Patel, RFK Jr. has promised to clean house when approved for his new position as secretary of health and human services. He's said he'd likely fire around 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health who don't see his vision."

READ MORE: 'It's a joke': Trump appointee Ramaswamy's economic plan blasted by expert

Rosenfeld adds, "He's also promised to fire, on Day One, 'every nutritional scientist at (the Food and Drug Administration) because all of them are corrupt — all of them are complicit in the poisoning of our children."

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Ross Rosenfeld's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.

On laptops and desktops, the top competing operating systems have been Windows and Apple's Mac OS. But on smartphones, the battle has been between Android and Apple's iOS (the platform for iPhones).

iOS debuted in 2007, and Android was unveiled the following year.

Now, in late 2024, the FBI is saying that text messages sent between iPhones and Android-oriented devices are facing a security threat.

READ MORE: 'It's a joke': Trump appointee Ramaswamy's economic plan blasted by expert

Cheddar, in a video posted on December 5, reported, "Stop sending texts between iPhones and Androids — that's the stark warning from the FBI. The agency says your messages may be vulnerable to hackers."

"According to reports," Cheddar warned, "Chinese hackers have infiltrated several U.S. network."

In its warning, the FBI wasn't talking about text messages sent from Android users to other Android users or texts between fellow iPhone users — they were strictly warning against Android and iPhone users exchanging texts.

The FBI, according to Cheddar, is recommending that iPhone and Android owners use "encrypted or secure messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal."

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Watch Cheddar's full video at this link.

With former Fox News host Pete Hegseth — President-elect Donald Trump's embattled nominee for defense secretary — facing allegations of sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse, Trump is reportedly considering offering that position to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead.

But Hegseth has vowed to keep fighting for the position. And Hegseth, Mediaite's Diana Falzone reports, has been conducting a "crisis management media tour in a desperate effort to salvage his nomination."

The media tour, Falzone notes, included a "softball interview" with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly and an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.

READ MORE: 'It's a joke': Trump appointee Ramaswamy's economic plan blasted by expert

"In the Kelly interview," Falzone observes, "Hegseth defended himself against an allegation he raped a woman at a Republican conference in 2017, as well as reports that he has a drinking problem, mismanaged funds at two veterans groups he ran, and his long history of cheating on his wives…. The media campaign is a sign of how desperately Hegseth is fighting to remain Trump's nominee to run the Defense Department, amid reports the incoming president is considering dumping him for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis."

A Trump insider told Mediaite that Trump and his transition team gave Hegseth "special permission" to do the media tour in order to "repair his public image."

The insider said, "Pete needs better storylines…. If enough senators say no, Pete is dead."

Falzone notes, "If any further damaging information comes to light, Hegseth is likely cooked. The Trump insider added that if Hegseth's 2017 rape accuser comes forward, it would be 'hard to come back from' and would give wary senators cover to oppose his nomination."

READ MORE: Republicans quietly admit Trump policies could 'prove disastrous' in their areas

Read Mediaite's full article at this link.

The GOP scored a trifecta in the 2024 election when President-elect Donald Trump narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republicans learned that they will control both branches of Congress in 2025.

Republicans flipped the U.S. Senate, where they will have a small 53-47 majority. And they held onto their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Yet as former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan has been pointing out, none of these GOP victories are the "historic landslides" that Trump and his allies have been claiming they are.

READ MORE: Republicans quietly admit Trump policies could 'prove disastrous' in their areas

Trump defeated Harris by roughly 1.4 or 1.5 in the popular vote, according to the Cook Political Report. A 53-47 majority in the Senate is far from a supermajority. And the GOP's House majority will also be a small one — so small that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is warning fellow House Republicans that will have very little wiggle room in 2025.

According to The Hill's Mychael Schnell, Johnson is being candid with members of his party about how small their House majority will be.

"With former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigning and ruling out returning to Congress after his failed bid for attorney general, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) set to resign January 20 to become national security adviser, and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) expected to leave the chamber to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the GOP majority will shrink to 217-215 early next year," Schnell explains in an article published on December 5. "The first special elections are set to take place in April. That leaves a zero-vote margin for the Republican conference on party-line votes, assuming full attendance, making delayed flights and illnesses critical to legislative business."

Schnell continues, "If next year, for example, all House Democrats vote against a GOP-led measure and one Republican breaks from the party and votes with Democrats, the final tally would be 216-216 — sinking the GOP effort, since a tie loses in the lower chamber. That reality will spell trouble for Johnson and his deputies as they look to usher through President-elect Trump's top priorities in the first 100 days of the 119th Congress, with the slim majority making each Republican lawmaker a make-or-break vote on high-profile measures."

READ MORE: 'It’s a joke': Trump appointee Ramaswamy's economic plan blasted by expert

Johnson spoke candidly to reporters on Wednesday morning, December 4, telling them, "Do the math. We have nothing to spare."

The speaker, however, expressed confidence that hard-right and more moderate Republicans will be able to work together in 2025.

"Just like we do every day here," Johnson told reporters, "we've developed an expertise in that. We know how to work a small majority."

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Read The Hill's full article at this link.

During the 2024 presidential race, Republican Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts — the first in Butler, Pennsylvania a few days before the Republican National Convention, the second at his Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida on September 15.

The first assassination attempt was the focus of a House hearing on Thursday morning, December 5. And the hearing turned into a shouting match when Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe got into a heated argument with Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas).

Rowe grew angry when he thought that Fallon was "invoking 9/11 for political purposes."

READ MORE: Republicans quietly admit Trump policies could 'prove disastrous' in their areas

Rowe spoke of the "more than 3000 people that died on 9/11," telling Fallon, "I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center."

Fallon angrily shouted, "I'm not asking you that." And Rowe shouted back at him, demanding that he "show respect for our Secret Service members that died on 9/11."

Fallon insisted, "I'm an elected member of Congress, and I'm asking you a serious question." But Rowe told Fallon that he was "out of line."

As the shouting continued, a call for "Order, order!" was requested.

READ MORE: 'It’s a joke': Trump appointee Ramaswamy's economic plan blasted by expert

On X, formerly Twitter, journalist Aaron Rupar posted, "Holy s--- -- acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and Rep. Pat Fallon just had a huge, angry blow up during a hearing, screaming and yelling at each other."

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Watch the videos below or at this link.

President-elect Donald Trump isn't known for making a lot of political comprises. Many times, he has doubled down on his most controversial positions — for example, vowing to impose across-the-board tariffs of 25 percent on goods imported into the United States from Canada and Mexico as soon as he returns to the White House.

Trump's tariff proposals have drawn blistering criticism from countless economists and business leaders, yet he isn't backing down.

In an article published by The New Republic on December 5, journalist Greg Sargent details a variety of Trump proposals that are worrying Republicans even in GOP-dominated areas.

READ MORE: 'I've seen tougher guys at Starbucks': MAGA country star turns on Republican senator

According to Sargent, "Republicans or GOP-adjacent industries" have "already begun to admit out loud that some of his most important policy promises could prove disastrous in their parts of the country."

"These folks don't say this too directly, out of fear of offending the MAGA God King," Sargent observes. "Instead, they suggest gingerly that a slight rethink might be in order. But unpack what they're saying, and you'll see that they're in effect acknowledging that some of Trump's biggest campaign promises were basically scams."

Sargent continues, "In Georgia, for instance, some local Republicans are openly worried about Trump's threat to roll back President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into incentives for the manufacture and purchase of green energy technologies, from electric vehicles to batteries to solar power."

The New Republic journalist goes on to describe a variety of other Trump proposals that Republicans are quietly worried about, from mass deportations to abandoning green energy programs.

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

"NPR reports that various industries (in Texas) fear that mass deportations could cripple them, particularly in construction, where nearly 300,000 undocumented immigrants toiled as of 2022," Sargent explains. "Those workers enable the state to keep growing despite a native population that isn't supplying a large enough workforce. Local analysts and executives want Trump to refrain from removing all these people or create new ways for them to work here legally."

Sargent continues, "Even the Republican mayor of McKinney, Texas is loudly sounding the alarm. Meanwhile, back in Georgia, Trump's threat of mass deportations is awakening new awareness that undocumented immigrants drive industries like construction, landscaping, and agriculture, reports The Wall Street Journal. In Dalton, a town that backed Trump, fear is spreading that removals could “upend its economy and workforce."

READ MORE: Alarm raised over Trump plot to install nominees without Senate approval

Greg Sargent's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.

On Wednesday, December 4, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed while walking in New York City.

The New York Police Department (NYPD), that day, didn't identify a specific motive, but detectives have said that the murder clearly was not random — that the suspected shooter acted deliberately and knew exactly what he was doing.

NYPD detectives have noted the suspect's use of a silencer.

READ MORE: 'I've seen tougher guys at Starbucks': MAGA country star turns on Republican senator

According to reporting from CNN the following day, the words "delay" and "depose" were "found on a live round and a shell casing tied to the shooter."

Those words, CNN says, may offer a clue on a possible motivation.

"Law enforcement sources told CNN 'depose' was written on a shell casing from a round that was fired into the victim," CNN reports. "'Delay' was written on a live round that was ejected when the shooter appeared to be clearing a jam."

CNN adds, "Police are exploring whether the words found indicate a motive, pointing to a popular phrase in the insurance industry: 'delay, deny, defend.'"

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Since narrowly defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the United States' 2024 election, President-elect Donald Trump has made one controversial pick after another for his incoming administration.

Some of Trump's more conventional picks are likely to be confirmed with bipartisan support by the U.S. Senate in 2025, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for secretary of state and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. But Trump's more controversial choices have been drawing vehement criticism from both Democrats and Never Trump conservatives.

Among them: Kash Patel for FBI director, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for national intelligence director, and anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

READ MORE: Alarm raised over Trump plot to install nominees without Senate approval

Hegseth is so embattled that Trump is reportedly considering nominating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for defense secretary instead.

But according to The Bulwark's Marc A. Caputo, Trump is ready to "fight" for RFK Jr. and Gabbard.

"The most imperiled confirmation battle involves Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host whose nomination for defense secretary has been weighed down by accusations of sexual assault and drunkenness, both of which he denies," Caputo explains in an article published on December 5. "Another pitched fight ahead involves longtime Trump loyalist Kash Patel, whose nomination to lead the FBI has triggered his own avalanche of controversy over his embrace of conspiracy theories and calls to incarcerate journalists. But the most critical fights for the president-elect, at least in regard to his immediate political legacy, center around Tulsi Gabbard and Robert Kennedy Jr., former Democrats tapped to head the nation's sprawling intelligence and health bureaucracies, respectively."

Trump's allies, Caputo reports, "view the stakes differently" with Gabbard and RFK Jr.

Veteran GOP operative Roger Stone told The Bulwark, "The appointments of RFK and Tulsi Gabbard represent a realignment in American politics that you saw in the election. He understands the historical significance of that realignment."

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Trump's allies, according to Caputo, expect the president-elect to "expend more of his political capital on Gabbard and Kennedy than on any of the other nominees."

A Trump adviser, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told The Bulwark, "Frankly, Pete (Hegseth) might not make it. We'll see. I'm not sure if the boss is willing to fight for that because there are people in our own camp who aren't sure it’s worth it. But Kash should get confirmed. And if they try to touch Tulsi and Kennedy, then it's war."

Another Trump adviser, also quoted anonymously, told The Bulwark, "If Tulsi or Bobby face real trouble, that's when Trump will really start to fight. They represent the challenging of the status quo of the bureaucracy. That's what MAGA is about.”

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Marc A. Caputo's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.

During the Cold War, countless Republicans were — along with Democrats — blistering critics of the Kremlin. But the MAGA movement has had its share of Republicans who aren't shy about defending Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The late conservative Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) considered Donald Trump a "disgraceful" Putin apologist. And Putin's vocal MAGA defenders have included former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who spent much of her political career as a Democrat but is now a far-right MAGA Republican.

Trump has nominated Gabbard for national intelligence director, but it remains to be seen whether or not she will be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2025.

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In an article published on December 5, The Guardian lays out reasons why many people in the intelligence community are so alarmed by the nomination.

Intel experts have been troubled not only by Gabbard's willingness to defend of Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but also, by her defense of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Within Washington foreign policy circles and the tightly knit intelligence community," The Guardian explains, "Gabbard has long been seen as dangerous. Some have worried that she seems inclined toward conspiracy theories and cozying up to dictators. Others, including the former secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, have gone further, calling her a 'Russian asset.'"

The Guardian adds, "Those concerns have been heightened by Gabbard's nomination under Donald Trump to the post of director of national intelligence, a senior cabinet-level position with access to classified materials from across the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, and shaping that information for the president’s daily briefing. The role would allow her to access and declassify information at her discretion, and also direct some intelligence-sharing with U.S. allies around the world."

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), a Never Trump conservative who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the United States' 2024 presidential race, has been an outspoken critic of the nomination.

In a scathing article published by The Bulwark on November 19, Kinzinger warned, "I worry what might happen to untold numbers of American assets if someone as reckless, inexperienced, and outright disloyal as Gabbard were DNI."

A Guardian source described as someone "familiar with discussions among senior intelligence officials" told the publication, "There is real concern about her contacts (in Syria) and that she does not share the same sympathies and values as the intelligence community. She is historically unfit."

READ MORE: Alarm raised over Trump plot to install nominees without Senate approval

Read The Guardian's full report at this link.

Pennsylvania showed how much of a swing state it is when — after favoring Joe Biden in the 2020 election — it chose Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris four years later, but only by roughly 1.7 percent. And the state's 2024 U.S. Senate race was another nailbiter, with incumbent Democratic three-term Sen. Bob Casey Jr. narrowly losing to Republican Dave McCormick.

Now, President-elect Trump is engaged in a major debate in Pennsylvania, where he is vowing to block the $14.9 billion sale of U.S. Steel to a Japanese company: Nippon Steele.

In a Monday, December 2 post on his Truth Social outlet, Trump wrote, "Through a series of Tax Incentives and Tariffs, we will make U.S. Steel Strong and Great Again, and it will happen FAST! As President, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!"

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But according to Newsweek reporter Sophie Clark, many steelworkers in Pennsylvania want the sale to go through.

"In the Pittsburgh area, where U.S. Steel employs about 3500 people, the company's sale to Nippon has proved popular," Clark reports in an article published on December 4. "Following Trump's statement, Jason Zugai, the vice president of the United Steelworkers Local 2227 branch in West Mifflin, southeast of Pittsburgh, said: 'For me, yeah, very frustrated with the news that came out last night. I didn't expect that to come out, so that was like a gut punch.'"

Clark continues, "Those pushing for the deal point to Nippon's pledge to, per The Guardian, 'invest no less than $2.7 billion into its unionized facilities, introduce our world-class technological innovation, and secure union jobs so that American steelworkers at U.S. Steel can manufacture the most advanced steel products for American customers.'"

Some Pennsylvania steelworkers, however, share Trump's opposition to the sale.

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Interviewed by WTAE-TV Channel 4 (an ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh), United Steelworkers President David McCall said of Nippon Steel, "I don't trust them. And more than that, the fact that they're spending billions — or millions and millions of dollars in PR campaigns, as opposed to answering the needs of our members, concerns us a lot."

McCall added, "I think U.S. Steel in the Pittsburgh area, I think it's an economic engine. Everybody understands that — certainly, good-paying, family-supportive jobs, thousands of them. And so, it's important that we maintain steel, steelmaking here in the Mon Valley."

READ MORE: 'I've seen tougher guys at Starbucks': MAGA country star turns on Republican senator

Read Newsweek's full article at this link.

Democrats suffered three major disappointments in the 2024 election when President-elect Donald Trump narrowly defeated Vice President Kamala Harris and Republicans flipped the U.S. Senate while keeping their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. But progressive journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan has been arguing that Republicans are being disingenuous when they use words like "landslide," "historic" and "blowout" to describe the election results.

Trump, according to the Cook Political Report, won the popular vote by roughly 1.4 or 1.5 percent — which, as Hasan has noted, is far from a "landslide."

In 2025, Republicans' 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate will hardly qualify as a supermajority. And House Speaker Mike Johnson, the New York Times' Catie Edmondson emphasizes in an article published on December 4, will have very little wiggle room in 2025 when he leads a narrow majority.

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"Speaker Mike Johnson's small majority just got even smaller," Edmondson reports. "On Tuesday night, (December 3), the final House race was called after Rep. John Duarte of California, a freshman Republican, conceded to Adam Gray, a Democrat, cementing a 220-215 majority for Republicans in a margin even slimmer than they have now, at 220-213.

Those margins will erode even further in January, when Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Waltz of Florida resign to take jobs in the Trump Administration.

The Times reporter adds, "Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has also given notice that he will not return. Republicans will then be down to a 217-215 majority, on par with the narrowest controlling margin in House history."

With a majority that small, Edmondson notes, Johnson will have precious little room for error.

"If all Democrats are present and united in opposition to a measure," according to Edmondson, "Mr. Johnson won't be able to afford a single defection on the House floor until those vacancies are filled later this spring. Even then, no more than three Republicans can break ranks without dooming a bill's passage."

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Edmondson also points out that not all of the Republicans serving in the House in 2025 will be far-right ideologues.

"Even with total control of government," the Times reporter observes, "Mr. Johnson will have to balance the demands of hard-right lawmakers who have agitated for drastic spending reductions against more centrist members who generally oppose harsh cuts.

READ MORE: 'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

Read the New York Times' full report at this link (subscription required).

Far-right MAGA conspiracy theorist Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, has made no secret of his desire to target prominent Democrats for retribution — including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

But Mother Jones' David Corn, in an article published on December 3, stresses that right-wing non-MAGA Republicans are also plentiful on Patel's "hit list."

Patel, Corn notes, laid out that "hit list" in his 2023 book "Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy."

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"This lineup also includes a number of Republicans and onetime Trump appointees," Corn explains. "These include Bill Barr, who served as attorney general for Trump; John Bolton, one of Trump's national security advisers in his first White House stint; Pat Cipollone, Trump's White House counsel; Mark Esper, a secretary of defense under Trump; Sarah Isgur Flores, who was head of communications for Trump's first attorney general, Jeff Sessions; Alyssa Farah Griffin, the director of strategic commissions in the Trump White House; and Stephanie Grisham, former chief of staff for Melania Trump."

Corn cites Barr as an "especially absurd" choice for Patel's "hit list" — as he was a staunch Trump defender before they had a falling out over the 2020 presidential election results.

"Barr, as attorney general, undermined (former special counsel Robert) Mueller's investigation of the Trump-Russia scandal — an inquiry that according to Patel was a deep state plot," Corn points out. "Why would a deep state denizen do that? And while Barr did not back up Trump's baseless claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him, he endorsed Trump's presidential campaign this year — another curious move for an anti-Trump conspirator."

Corn notes that Trump has had glowing praise for Patel's "Government Gangsters" book.

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"Patel has signaled he’s looking to conduct revenge-a-thon, and Trump endorsed this work as a 'brilliant roadmap highlighting every corrupt actor,'" the Mother Jones reporter observes. "He declared, 'We will use this blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government!'"

Corn adds, "That indicates Patel's list could end up as a to-do — or to-get — list for Trump. Not only Democrats should worry about that."

On X, former Twitter, conservative Republican Olivia Troye — who served as a national security aide to former Vice President Mike Pence and went on to endorse Kamala Harris for president in 2024 — described a letter she received from Patel.

Troye, on December 4, tweeted, "Today, Kash Patel sent a letter to my counsel @MarkSZaidEsq - threatening legal action & demanding that I retract my comments on MSNBC about his unfitness to serve as FBI Director. This aligns with his threats against the media & political opponents, revealing how he might conduct himself if confirmed in the role. I stand by my statements — my priority remains the safety & security of the American people. I am not the only one who has expressed concerns about him. So why me? And so it begins."

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David Corn's full Mother Jones article is available at this link.

President-elect Donald Trump has been drawing vehement criticism from Democrats — as well as from Never Trump conservatives — for his more controversial administration picks.

In the U.S. Senate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for secretary of state and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior are likely to enjoy bipartisan confirmations. But controversial Trump picks like Kash Patel for FBI director and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could run into problems if enough Senate Republicans join Democrats in voting against them.

The Bulwark's Marc Caputo, during a Wednesday, December 4 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," predicted that Fox News star Pete Hegseth — Trump's choice for defense secretary — will suffer the same fate as former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), who withdrew from consideration for U.S. attorney general.

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But the Trump pick who may be the most vulnerable, according to The Hill's Al Weaver, is former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — a former Democrat turned far-right MAGA Republican who Trump is proposing for intel director.

"Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) is emerging as a tough confirmation lift for President-elect Trump, even as other nominees such as Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for the Pentagon, run into serious hurdles," Weaver explains in an article published on December 4. "Gabbard, Trump's pick to become director of national intelligence, has received less attention in recent days compared to Hegseth — who has seen multiple bombshell reports pop up about his treatment of women — or Kash Patel, the president-elect's controversial pick to lead the FBI. But a number of aides and senators view her path as the most difficult of those three."

Gabbard's views on foreign policy have been drawing intense scrutiny. Her critics see her as an apologist for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine, and state-operated Russian media outlets have dubbed Gabbard "Russia's girlfriend."

A Senate GOP aide, making a Gabbard/Hegseth/Patel comparison, told The Hill, "I think Gabbard, out of the three, still has the toughest path. (She) is the most at risk…. There are members of our conference who think she's a (Russian) asset."

READ MORE: Data shows dire election postmortems could soon be in store for GOP: columnist

Weaver stresses that although Gabbard is a "favorite of Trump World," the "Senate Republican conference remains a different type of playing field" — one in which GOP "defense hawks" will have a major problem with her Putin-friendly views.

"Some members of that crowd remain skeptical of Gabbard, especially due to her past remarks about the Ukraine War that were sympathetic to Moscow and echoed by Russian state media — which has also praised her selection," Weaver reports. "She also has views on the Middle East that break with the political establishment of both parties."

A Senate Republican, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told The Hill, "She's not going to get any Democratic votes. You can do the mental math."

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Read The Hill's full report at this link.

Before the United States' 2024 presidential election, liberal/progressive filmmaker Michael Moore predicted that female voters — angry over MAGA Republicans' attacks on reproductive rights — would show up in huge numbers and give Vice President Kamala Harris a decisive victory. But President-elect Donald Trump enjoyed a narrow win, defeating Harris by roughly 1.4 or 1.5 percent in the popular vote (according to Cook Political Report).

According to Statista, Harris received 54 percent of the female vote compared to 44 percent for Trump. But among white women, Trump received 52 percent of the vote, while Harris received 47 percent. And in the end, Harris was unable to cross the finish line — although it was a close election.

Forbes' Elizabeth Pearson, in an article published on December 2, reports that many women who voted for Harris are quite worried about Trump's return to the White House in 2025 and are experiencing a "high-functioning depression" because of it.

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"Donald Trump's reelection has sent ripples through the professional world — particularly among women," Pearson explains. "For many, this outcome has been more than a political loss; it feels deeply personal. Many mental health experts have witnessed a startling trend among their clients: a wave of high-functioning depression. Women are still showing up at work, fulfilling their responsibilities, and appearing outwardly composed, but beneath the surface, they're struggling."

The "immediate online rhetoric from misogynistic men" that followed Trump's victory has, according to Pearson, "left many women feeling downright depressed and anxious."

"If you — or some women you know — have been feeling 'off' since November 6," Pearson reports, "you're not imagining it…. Studies have shown a link between political outcomes and mental health. According to the American Psychological Association, 68 percent of Americans reported the 2020 election as a significant source of stress, with women disproportionately affected."

Pearson adds, "Fast forward to 2024, and the stakes feel even higher, with many women interpreting Trump's return to office as a symbolic and tangible step backward for gender equity, reproductive rights, and workplace equality.

READ MORE: Data shows dire election postmortems could soon be in store for GOP: columnist

Read Forbes' full report at this link.

During the United States' 2024 presidential election, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was hoping to be Donald Trump's running mate. But her hopes were dashed because of an anecdote in her book, "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward."

Noem, in the book, bragged about taking a puppy to a gravel pit on a farm and shooting it. The South Dakota governor evidently thought that the anecdote showed her to be tough and decisive; instead, the so-called "Puppygate" scandal sunk her chances of being Trump's running mate.

Regardless, Noem's allies still admire her for being an unwavering Trump loyalist. And now, she is the president-elect's pick for secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

READ MORE: 'Check please!' Political experts mock second Trump nomination withdrawal

But according to Washington Post reporters Peter Jamison and Isaac Stanley-Becker, some South Dakota residents are worried about how Noem, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2025, would handle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). And they are critical of her response to disastrous flooding in the state.

"If confirmed," Jamison and Stanley-Becker explain in an article published on December 4, "she would oversee not only immigration enforcement, but an agency that has become increasingly important in a nation battered by frequent fires and floods: the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That alarms victims of one of the most serious disasters to affect Noem's state during her six years as governor."

The journalists continues, "In North Sioux City, whose 3000 residents live across the Big Sioux River from Iowa, many fault Noem for overseeing a response to the catastrophic June floods that they describe as disorganized, delayed and often simply nonexistent. Although she urged people in a development several miles away to move to safety, Noem did not order or even suggest that residents of McCook Lake evacuate their homes, leaving people to scramble for their lives as the Big Sioux overflowed its banks and tore through their neighborhood."

Noem, according to Jamison and Stanley-Becker, "waited more than a month to ask President Joe Biden for a disaster declaration."

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South Dakota resident Kathy Roberts, one of the victims of the disaster, is vehemently critical of Noem's response.

Roberts told the Post, "I feel foolish for thinking that my government would take care of me in an emergency. Where are her priorities, and who is she looking out for? Because it's definitely not me. It's definitely not my neighborhood."

READ MORE: Data shows dire election postmortems could soon be in store for GOP: columnist

Read the Washington Post's full report at this link (subscription required).

President-elect Donald Trump has made no secret of his contempt for the mainstream media, which he has repeatedly described as "the enemy of the people" and providers of "fake news."

Moreover, far-right MAGA conspiracy theorist Kash Patel — Trump's pick to replace Christopher Wray as FBI director — has even said that journalists who rejected claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump should face criminal prosecution.

Trump, after losing to now-President Joe four years ago, falsely claimed that he was the real winner — a claim that has been repeatedly debunked. And Patel, during a 2023 interview with "War Room" host Steven Bannon, threatened, "Yes, we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're going to come after you. Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out. But yeah, we're putting you all on notice.”

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According to The Hill's Dominick Mastrangelo, Trump and his allies are planning to "dramatically change" the White House's James Brady Briefing Room by favoring "podcasters, internet personalities and media deemed more friendly to him" over traditional mainstream outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post. The overtly pro-Trump media, Mastrangelo reports, would be placed near the front — while the Times and the Post wouldn't.

In an article published on December 4, Mastrangelo explains, "Reporters covering The White House, in conversations with The Hill this week, described a feeling of annoyance, frustration and dread at such an idea."

Mastrangelo notes that traditionally, NBC, CBS, ABC, The Associated Press, CNN, and Reuters have "occupied the first row of the James Brady Briefing Room" while "other larger outlets like The Wall Street Journal, CBS News Radio, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Bloomberg have seats in the second row."

Reporters for The Hill, according to Mastrangelo, have been placed in the fourth row during Biden's presidency.

READ MORE: Data shows dire election postmortems could soon be in store for GOP: columnist

A White House reporter, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told The Hill, "It would be a total mess. I would expect people would probably boycott the briefings, though that would put certain outlets in a tough spot deciding if they want to go along with what the Trump people are trying to pull."

Veteran White House reporter Julie Mason told The Hill, "If they think they're going to end White House reporting by throwing everyone out or clearing out the first three rows, good luck, because that's not how that works. They would really beclown themselves if they put three rows of Gateway Pundit clones in the briefing room."

Mason continued, "This administration wants to be taken seriously.… By doing this you make a joke of the briefing. It just makes the whole thing look ridiculous."

READ MORE: 'Check please!' Political experts mock second Trump nomination withdrawal

Read Dominick Mastrangelo's full report for The Hill at this link.

After President-elect Donald Trump narrowly defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the United States' 2024 election, MAGA Republicans were quick to hail the victory as "historic" and claim that he had won by a "landslide."

But according to the Cook Political Report, Trump won the popular vote by roughly 1.4 or 1.5 percent — which is far from a "landslide" or a "blowout."

Some MAGA Republicans have even claimed that Trump enjoyed the biggest win of a GOP presidential candidate in more than 100 years, which ignores President Ronald Reagan's reelection victory of 1984. That year, Reagan defeated the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Walter Mondale, by 18 percent in the popular vote and won 525 electoral votes. In contrast, Trump, according to Cook, won 312 electoral votes compared to 226 for Harris.

READ MORE: 'Check please!' Political experts mock second Trump nomination withdrawal

Reagan in 1980 and 1984 and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 were blowouts; 2024, however, was a close election.

In a biting op-ed published by The Guardian on December 3, progressive journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan slams MAGA Republicans' 2024 "landslide" claims as a "post-election lie" that is easily debunked.

"Yes, Trump won the popular vote and the Electoral College," Hasan explains. "Yes, Republicans won the Senate and the House. But, contrary to both Republican talking points and breathless headlines and hot takes from leading media outlets ('resounding,' 'rout,' 'runaway win'), there was really nothing at all historic or huge about the margin of victory. Repeat after me: there was no 'landslide.'"

Hasan continues, "There was no 'blowout.' There was no 'sweeping' mandate given to Trump by the electorate. The numbers don't lie."

READ MORE: Data shows dire election postmortems could soon be in store for GOP: columnist

The former MSNBC host notes that Trump's "miniscule" victory in the popular vote was, according to the New York Times, "smaller than that of every winning president since 1888 other than two: John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Richard M. Nixon in 1968."

Hasan argues, "We actually know what a landslide in the popular vote looks like: the Democrat Lyndon Johnson defeated the Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964 by an enormous margin of 22.6 percentage points!.... We actually know what a landslide win in the Electoral College looks like: the Republican Ronald Reagan won reelection with a whopping 525 Electoral College votes in 1984!.... Repeat after me: there was nothing unique or unprecedented about the election result last month."

Hasan continues, "Republicans may feel they won a huge victory over the Democrats. And Trump may feel his election win was historic. But, to borrow a line from the right, the facts don't care about their feelings."

READ MORE: Chomsky at 96: The linguist, educator and philosopher's massive intellectual and moral influence

Mehdi Hasan's full op-ed for The Guardian is available at this link.

In the United States, liberals and conservatives have been having heated debates for generations. But the country has been especially divided in recent years.

Following President-elect Donald Trump's narrow victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, many MAGA Republicans are delighted that he will be returning to the White House on January 20, 2025. Democrats and Never Trump conservatives, however, view Trump's incoming second administration as a full-blown threat to democracy and are slamming some of his nominees — including Kash Patel for FBI director and Pete Hegseth for defense secretary — as flat out dangerous.

Trump's supporters and detractors, many political experts have said, live in separate worlds.

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But the divisions between the left and the right did not start with Trump and his MAGA movement. And research highlighted in 2020 offers insights on why Republicans and Democrats can process information so differently.

In an article published by Scientific American, journalist Lydia Denworth delved into "political neuroscience."

Hannah Nam of Stony Brook University told Scientific American, "Brain structure and function provide more objective measures than many types of survey responses. Participants may be induced to be more honest when they think that scientists have a 'window' into their brains…. Neurobiological features could be used as a predictor of political outcomes — just not in a deterministic way."

Denworth noted that the differences between conservatives and liberals were on full display when the National Review's William F. Buckly famously debated liberal author Gore Vidal back in 1968.

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The journalist pointed out, however, that conservatives and liberals aren't necessarily black-and-white in their thinking, and that both can have nuance.

"To study how we process political information in a 2017 paper, political psychologist Ingrid Haas of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her colleagues created hypothetical candidates from both major parties and assigned each candidate a set of policy statements on issues such as school prayer, Medicare and defense spending," Denworth explained. "Most statements were what you would expect: Republicans, for instance, usually favor increasing defense spending, and Democrats generally support expanding Medicare. But some statements were surprising, such as a conservative expressing a pro-choice position or a liberal arguing for invading Iran."

Denworth added, "Haas put 58 people with diverse political views in a brain scanner. On each trial, participants were asked whether it was good or bad that a candidate held a position on a particular issue and not whether they personally agreed or disagreed with it."

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Based in Beverly Hills, California, the Archewell Foundation is the charitable outfit operated by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and Meghan Markle.

In an article published on Tuesday, December 3, the Daily Beast's Tom Sykes reports that Archewell has made some generous donations to members of President Joe Biden's family —including his daughter, social worker Ashley Biden.

Ashley Biden's charity, according to Sykes, received $250,000 from Archewell in 2023.

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"The huge sum of cash given to social worker Ashley Biden's Women’s Wellness Space in Philadelphia was the biggest single grant made by the couple's Archewell Foundation last year, according to a newly filed tax return," Sykes explains. "In their glossy annual impact report, the Foundation said that (Ashley) Biden's project, which helps women in need, was 'a trauma-informed wellness center for women in North Philadelphia' which 'aims to offer a safe haven and community for women impacted by trauma, providing resources such as nutritious food, exercise, meditation, and therapeutic interventions.'"

Sykes notes that the Biden Administration has "been accused of protecting Harry and Meghan" by not granting a Freedom of Information Act request from Heritage Foundation.

Heritage is a right-wing think tank and the author of Project 2025, a controversial, widely criticized 920-page blueprint for a second Trump Administration.

"A federal judge ruled in September that Harry was entitled to privacy in the matter, and his paperwork should not be released," Sykes reports. "However, the new revelation will do little to quieten chatter in the right-wing blogosphere that the Sussexes and Bidens are inappropriately close, with (First Lady) Jill Biden having been a vocal cheerleader for Harry's Invictus Games."

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Sykes adds, "In September 2021, Jill Biden hosted an online Invictus Games event with Harry."

READ MORE: Data shows dire election postmortems could soon be in store for GOP: columnist

Read the Daily Beast's full article at this link (subscription required).