What a busy time it is for the excitable members of our media circus. With so much going on, the emotional fervor seen from the press to dash out critical pieces on various topics meant the attention to detail was essentially left behind at the rest stop. Mounting protests in Minneapolis, in conjunction with another ICE shooting, saw frothing coverage and journalists in a frenzy.
A significant court case had the experts scrambling, a Nobel Peace Prize winner visited the White House and bothered the media, and we even had positive inflation figures that needed to be spun as a negative. It was a busy time, so let’s tug on our brand new set of hip waders for the 2026 onslaught and trudge our way through the swamp of news outlets this past week.
THE CONTENDERS
NBC News – In a segment on the ICE protests, they mentioned some uncomfortable details about the criminality of detainees and how protestors organize; in a subsequent broadcast of the same segment, many elements had been altered or removed. With its report on the new ICE shooting that took place, the network downplayed the agent being attacked and used a photo of “innocent” protestors with their hands raised. On the trans athlete decision being weighed by SCOTUS, Laura Jarrett saw fit to lecture the justices that they were ruling incorrectly.
Washington Post – When a WaPo reporter had her home raided in a DOJ leak investigation, the muted reaction in the press was rather telling. With the latest ICE shooting, the outlet initially buried the detail of three immigrants jumping the agent more than a dozen paragraphs deep in its report; later, it moved that detail up to a higher position in a stealth edit. When it rushed out with three reporters being critical of Maria Corina Machado for giving her Peace Prize to President Trump, their article needed numerous corrections as a result. In a stunted critique of Erika Kirk, their fashion correspondent questioned her not staying home to care for her children, then in the same column said her fashion choices promoted the stay-at-home philosophy of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
MS NOW – Katie Tur threw to a field reporter to interview an ICE protestor, and despite all the evidence to the contrary (a BLM hoodie, opposing ICE, blaming the president), the graphic came up declaring the man was a “Trump Supporter.” Ms. Tur was also bothered that DHS looked at criminals and did not “just” see them as caring parents. Lawrence O’Donnell was deeply critical of President Trump’s “vulgarity”; still, he had no condemnation for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry, or, for that matter, any of the profane Democrats heard in the past year. Lisa Rubin pulled an intellectual 180, stipulating that those on the right who were scorned for questioning science are now engaged in a “campaign of fear” for… following biological science.
New York Times – In a bold piece written by half a dozen reporters, the paper stated that a war crime was committed when a U.S. plane targeting drug boats was unmarked as a civilian aircraft – even as the paper went on to say it did not know what type of plane it was, nor could they describe the “illegal” markings. With another immigrant shooting, the paper of record had to downplay the ICE agent being ambushed. The Times took very different approaches to nearly identical inflation reports based on who was president. Remember when the science was “settled,” and anyone questioning results was a “denier?” Well, now it is acceptable to say science is “evolving” when it suits the trans narrative. After Maria Corina Machado dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump, the paper had to expound on how this upset the Norwegians.
THE WINNER
CNN
Abby Phillip was a one-person source for many of the foibles this week, with her show delivering numerous in-the-ditch segments that pushed her network to the top. (Er, the bottom?)
In a typical example of how Phillip runs her show, Tiffany Cross was allowed to filibuster with leftist nonsense, but Abby could not help but interrupt conservatives, even as she asks Scott Jennings a question, but would not allow him to answer.
Later, Ms. Cross was allowed to essentially call another guest a liar about the actions of the Minnesota protestors, when he was referencing a report shown that afternoon on the very same network.
Phillip also had on Charles Blow, insisting ICE was using white supremacist propaganda to recruit racists, and when asked for proof of this, he had to look it up. Mr. Blow concluded that images of George Washington were racist because American Nazis once displayed them at a rally in the 1930s.
In one amazing exchange, Abby accomplished the rare feat of debunking herself in the course of a solitary conversation.
Scott Jennings: “So, I asked the Department of Homeland Security about that video that we have been playing on CNN. First of all, I don’t know what happened to that lady, and I don’t know what her status is.”
Abby Phillip: “Well, they walked away and she was free to go.”… pic.twitter.com/Gyox0r7Z7v
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) January 16, 2026
Abby Phillip: “Well, they walked away and she was free to go.”
Scott Jennings: “Oh, really? So, she wasn’t detained.”
“She wasn’t being harassed. She got asked a question in a brief encounter.”
Scott’s the best!
Jake Tapper brought on Jacob Frey and allowed the Minneapolis mayor to spin with lies and never corrected him on any untruthful boasts.
Dana Bash also had a segment featuring a digital platform report that ICE is using white supremacist language in its recruiting, such as two words a noted racist may have used over 50 years ago.
Maze Moore found a CNN report that was praiseworthy of ICE immigration roundup efforts, except it was from the Obama administration.
The outlet had very different approaches to near-identical inflation numbers under Biden and Trump.
Editor’s Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
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