Breaking Fake News Update (v21)

Fake News Broke on September 22, 2025!

What's up with this bit of fake news?  Let's dive in.

You may recall hearing about companies making 'contibutions' to the FOTUSential library, after entering into 'discussions' or 'settlements' or 'negotations' with the government to resolve 'issues' impacting the firms. In case you don't remember who paid what, here's a refresher:

• ABC: $15,000,000;
• Paramount Global:$16, 000,000; 
• Meta: $22,000,000; and
• X, formerly known as Twitter: $10,000,000, some for legal fees and some for the libary.

And, of course, ABC's back in the news on the extortion front, after Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting, two of the biggest carriers of the network and its nighttime flagship show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, reacted to the backlash following Kimmel's alleged 'celebratory' comments after the murder of Charlie Kirk. 

Kimmel was suspended 'indefinitely,' (although real news is breaking that he'll be back on the air tomorrow), and during the time he was off, People.com reported that Kimmel had been given a "list of demands" from Sinclair, including that he

issue an apology to Kirk's family and make a "meaningful personal donation" to Kirk's family and Kirk's nonprofit, Turning Point USA.

So, there's that part of the fake news. Next up? Eric Trump, who has been noodling around about possibly running to replace his father in the White House. The linked Guardian article mentions an interview Trump did, in which he said

The real question is: 'Do you want to drag other members of your family into it?... You know, if the answer was yes, I think the political path would be an easy one, meaning I think I could do it.

He apparently hasn't made up his mind, but we'll hear more from him on his decision-making process, I'm sure, over the coming weeks and months.   

And, we'll hear much more from Erika Kirk as well, after she was tapped to lead TPUSA, as her husband wanted, and, in a moving social media post shortly after her husband's death said

They have no idea what they just ignited within this weife. If they thought my husband's mission was big now... you have no idea. 

She's vowed to continue he campus campaign, engaging and recruiting young conservatives into the movement. She will be, I'm sure, a force to be reckoned with - and more of a forc thatn Eric Trump ever dreamed of being. 

And that leaves us Brendan Carr, Trump's FCC head, Like others in the administration, he'll do anything to help his boss, including extorting companies with business before the FCC.  For those companies, including Nextstar, which is working on a $6.2B merger with TEGNA, Carr had this message: 

We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.

Seems pretty clear the administration is going to continue to be hands on with everyone, and will be putting a thumb or two on the scales to make sure that there's funding available for pet interests the FOTUS is interested in.

As always, we'll be keeping an eye out for fake news like this, and if it breaks, we'll bring it to you here. 

Sunday School 5/1/22

Lots happening in yesterday's classrooms, including multiple appearances by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. I'll address those in your Extra Credit.

For Sunday School, we'll listen in on a Congressman, a Governor, and a Senator, which is where we'll start. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chatted with What's-His-Name on Meet the Press, who asked if we needed to change our posture if the Russia expands beyond Ukraine into Moldova. Menendez said it wasn't going to "change our calculus" about direct engagement.

We need to keep our eye on the ball. And that is about helping Ukraine and Ukrainians ultimately be able to defeat the butcher of Moscow. And if we do that, the world will be safer... and others who are looking at what is happening in Ukraine will have to think twice. 

And, whether there's "a limit in how much support we're going to give" Ukraine, Menendez thinks we'll do whatever it takes, because it's not just about Ukraine. 

If Ukraine does not win, if Putin can ultimately not only succeed in the Donbass but then be emboldened maybe to go further, if he strikes a country under NATO, under our treaty obligations with NATO, then we would be directly engaged.

Stopping that from happening is critical, Menendez says,

so that we don't have to send our sons and daughters into battle. And I think that ability not to have to send our sons and daughters into battle is priceless.

Moving down the hall to the State of the Union classroom, Dana Bash talked with term-limited Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), who said that the lack of growth in the last quarter, coupled with other issues, could be a sign of a coming recession.

Whenever you have high inflationary pressures, whenever you have interest rates going up to slow the economy down, these are stressors on it. You add that to the supply chain woes that we have, we have got challenges...this administration needs to address those. And they need to do it quickly.

He said that cancelling student debt is a bad idea. Bash asked if doing that wouldn't be helpful to Arkansas families that are hurting now, even though he said his state is generally doing OK. 

Well, sure it'd be helpful to them. It would be helpful to cancel rent for them. It'd be helpful to pay all their utility bills. It'd be helpful to help on mortgage payments. But the question is, what is the right solution?

He said his approach is different. 

... we're looking at not providing more relief, but trying to return more of what we're collecting in terms of taxes back to the taxpayers. That will help them. And it's a more long-term solution as well.

Here are his thoughts on other hot topics. 

• Kevin McCarthy (R-So What if I'm a Liar? I'm YOUR Liar!) will have some work to do if the Rs win and he wants to be Speaker. Hutchinson, a former Congressman, said "it all depends upon who the alternative is" when asked if he would vote for McCarthy if he had the chance.

• He feels the "tone has changed" in the GOP, from where people stood right after the insurrection to where they are now; he believes "that's an error." It won't be helpful for the folks who have "diminished the significance of that event," when we start having public hearings on it this summer.

• He thinks Disney handled the "Don't Say Gay" bill situation "very poorly." And, while he thinks we shouldn't be "teaching sexual orientation" in the lower grades, he doesn't buy into the government being "punitive against private businesses because we disagree with them." It's fine to debate special tax deals, but going after businesses is principled Republican behavior. 

And, the big question, "Are you seriously considering running for president?" He said yes, "that's an option that's on the table."

That's why he went to New Hampshire, and why he plans on being engaged this year in the national conversation, not just on the economy but on border security, going after the cartels, helping the states, and so on. And, what Trump does or doesn't do has no impact on Hutchinson. 

I have made it clear I think we ought to have a different direction in the future. And so, I'm not aligned with him on some of his endorsements, but also the direction he wants to take our country. I think he did a lot of good things for our country, but we need to go in a different direction. And so, that's not a factor in my decision-making process.

Finally, a recap of a Face the Nation conversation Margaret Brennan had with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Stands for REAL Republican) about the January 6th Committee, and more.

• He expects we'll hear new information once the public hearings get under way. He made it clear the DOJ will make decisions on the legality of things; it'll be up to us "to take the work (the Committee has) done and decide what they want to do with it or what they want to believe after that."

• He'd love to talk to everyone they've asked to testify, but didn't offer anything specific on additional subpoenas, calling that "both a strategic, tactical decision and a question of whether or not, you know, we can do that and get the information in time." 

• If some of the, um, interesting candidates Trump has endorsed end up winning, he agrees "it would be a sign" of Trump's continued hold on the party (Brennan used the term "still the leader and kingmaker within the party"). 

• He said his organization, Country1st.com, is focused on "playing in some of those primaries to bring at least reasonable people to the forefront" and encouraging people - particularly if they're in a guaranteed red district -  to vote (and vote against the Trump people, of course).

• He also reminded us of Trump's tactics: "If somebody starts falling behind in the polls, he always finds a reason to un-endorse them, because he doesn't like having a losing track record." That's important to keep an eye on.

• He supports the $33B Ukrainian aid package, and hopes it'll pass. He's introduced an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) which would give President Biden "congressional leverage or permission to use it if WMDs, nuclear, biological or chemical are used in Ukraine." He said "also, it is a deterrent to Vladimir Putin." 

The all-Mayorkas Extra Credit should be fun - look for that later.

See you around campus.

Wondering on Wednesday 4/20/22

Ready... Set... Wonder!

I wonder about the people who scream about 'cancel culture' and, at the same time, cheer the politicians who are, in some ways, on the verge of 'cancelling' Disney in Florida? 

And I wonder what happens when someone else in the Sunshine State is forced to pick up the costs of providing services to Disney properties, which (as I understand it), the company provides through their Reedy Creek Improvement District? And who, I wonder, will be the lucky people to assume that responsibility?

And I wonder, now that DeSantis has attacked the cruise industry for COVID rules, and the Mouseketeers for supporting LGBTQ folks, who's next on his radar? Will teachers be swept off the beaches? Blacks, maybe? Or librarians who dare to keep bad books on the shelves? 

And I wonder, when did DeSantis first stop liking the 'special districts' created before 1968? He mentioned in a press conference last month that, "a matter of first principle is I don’t support special privileges in law just because a company is powerful, and they’ve been able to wield a lot of power."  

Was it just when Disney became 'woke' - 0r has he always thought that? And if he's always thought that, I wonder why he waited until now - during a special session of the legislature, called to cram his personal redistricting maps down everyone's throats - to address the issue? 

And if the 'cancellation' isn't going to take effect until June 2023, I wonder what DeSantis and the rest of them will do to punish the company for the next year? And I wonder, if Disney wanted to reapply for a special district, would DeSantis and the gang even consider it? 

And what about the Imagineers? I wonder if they're going to spend the next few months trying to come up with a theme park ride about a vindictive governor and his minions? Oh wait - can't be minions, maybe they can Imagineer a new name for the Rs in the legislature, and introduce that along with the ride?  

And what about the trailer? Disney always makes a mini-movie when they're ready to roll out a major new 'experience' at their parks, and I wonder, would I have to subscribe to Disney+ to see it, or would ABC carry it on broadcast TV?

And I have to wonder, how many other DeSantis-ish pols in other states will follow his lead and start attacking businesses in their own backyards? And who will be the first?

What are you wondering about tonight?

Sidebar: Sunday School 9/13/20 Extra Credit

For the second time in less than a month, I'm offering you the closing thoughts of Jake Tapper, just before signing off from CNN's State of the Union.

Back on August 23rd, he spoke of the callousness of the president (and of his daughter-in-law), and of his support for a conspiracy-theory-supporting Islamophobe for Congress, and his complete lack of empathy. You know - the characteristics of a person who would pretty much do anything to get elected.

And this week? Take a look at was what was on his mind.

Perhaps like so many Americans you've been trying to find a way to spend some time with your family, your children, safely engaged in some form of recreation. Education in a time of pandemic can be really tough and nothing is more clear about our government's failure to protect us then the fact that for so many American kids it's considered unsafe to go into a classroom.

The virus has not been contained. The widespread quick testing needed remains elusive. It's a huge failure by president Trump on down.

So then maybe you seek this respite and you subscribe to Disney+, Disney's streaming service, and you turn on their new live action film Mulan, fun, nice, family-friendly. But maybe you stay for the credits. And you see Disney thank the propaganda authorities of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Jinjiang.

That's right. Not only did Disney film this move, Mulan, in the epicenter of the part of China where the US State Department estimates the Chinese government has detained as many as 2 millionth ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in internment camps, places China claims are for re-education and job training, but the US government says they are subjecting Uighurs to torture and cruel and inhumane treatment.

But not only did they film Mulan there, Disney also thanks a local police department in their credits, a police department that was sanctioned by the U.S. government for its role in running these concentration camps.

Now, Disney's CFO says it's standard to, quote, acknowledge in the film's credits the national and local governments that allowed you to film there, unquote.

Really? How standard is it to film in an area where the local government has concentration camps and is being accused of genocide? I guess we should be happy no parts of Fantasia needed to be filmed in occupied Poland.

And, look, it's not just Disney. The star of the film went on Chinese social media and shared a Chinese state media image expressing support for the police in Hong Kong cracking down on pro-democracy protestors. Of course, that's just one person, a young actor. That's not the big problem. The big problem is Disney thanking people accused of committing genocide. Why? Money.

So, who cares about the concentration camps, right? It's an immoral position and one we've seen from the NBA, which was forced to cancel a training camp held in the same region of China. And, of course, sadly with president Trump who, John Bolton writes in his book, told Chinese President Xi Jinping that China should continue building these concentration camps for the mass detention of Uighur Muslims because President Trump thought that, quote, was exactly the right thing to do, unquote.

This summer two Uighur organizations lodged a complaint against the government of China at the International Criminal Court accusing the Chinese government of genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity.

This is the government to whom the NBA is bowing and president Trump is giving approval and Disney is openly thanking.

After a horrible genocide, the Holocaust, the world came together and pledged never again, never again. The NBA, president Trump, and the Walt Disney Company, they're making those words meaningless.

What's Tapper telling us? 

That we're better than this. That there's more to being a Great America than making money, or making movies. And sometimes, it's not worth it to get exactly what we want if we compromise what we believe in. And that the ends don't justify the means. 

Sadly, it seems these things have been forgotten recently. And, I think, it would do us well to remember them going forward.