May 21, 2025 at 7:57 PM EDT
'Like we're in kindergarten': CNN host brutally fact-checks Trump's 'fiscal hawk' claim

During her show on Wednesday, CNN anchor Erin Burnett fact-checked President Donald Trump's statement declaring himself a "fiscal hawk." "I'm a fiscal hawk. I'm a bigger fiscal hawk. There's nobody like me as a fiscal," Trump told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday.

May 21, 2025 at 7:54 PM EDT
'Nobody wants to be on his radar': CEOs 'afraid of Trump' watching their words in public

Some CEOs of major Fortune 500 companies are now reportedly going out of their way to avoid saying anything publicly that could be construed as political, lest they end up in President Donald Trump's crosshairs. That's according to a Wednesday article in the New York Times, which reported that corporate executives have been on increasingly high alert when speaking to shareholders about Trump's tariffs. While the previous 145% tariff on China has since been temporarily lowered to 30%, CEOs are still apparently anxious to say out loud that they plan on raising prices to account for the loss in profits.

May 21, 2025 at 7:05 PM EDT
'America cannot afford this': Washington Post tears into Republicans' 'cynical' megabill

One of the nation's leading newspapers of record is now publicly calling for the defeat of President Donald Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill" over the financial harm it would cause in the coming years, should it pass. In a Wednesday editorial, the Washington Post expressed alarm that both Trump and the Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress were eager to pass legislation that the Congressional Budget Office projected would raise the deficit by $2.3 trillion over the next 10 years. The paper also reminded readers that Republicans are aiming to pass the bill shortly after Moody's downgraded the United States' credit rating for the first time in history.

May 21, 2025 at 6:10 PM EDT
'Cry night': Inside the secret tactics used at white evangelical church camps

One new book is delving into how church-sponsored summer camps across the United States can end up causing "harm" to kids in the cause of converting them into true believers. Religion News Service (RNS) recently interviewed author Cara Meredith, who wrote the book "Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation." Meredith described her Christian upbringing -- which included annual week-long stays at Christian summer camps -- as both happy and positive but also riddled with trauma when reliving old memories. Meredith went from attending summer camps to working at them seasonally, to being invited to address young campers as a guest speaker.

May 21, 2025 at 6:05 PM EDT
'Blatant violation': Outrage over Pentagon prayer that suggests Trump was anointed by God

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, an Evangelical Christian whose religious tattoos drew scrutiny during his confirmation hearings, led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon auditorium during official working hours on Wednesday. The event featured Secretary Hegseth's personal pastor from Tennessee, Brooks Potteiger, and included remarks describing President Donald Trump as "sovereignly appointed," according to The New York Times.

May 21, 2025 at 5:53 PM EDT
'Multi-pronged assault': Republicans launch new attack on voting rights

The Supreme Court may soon consider a Republican-led legal challenge that seeks to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day, Democracy Docket reported Wednesday. A directive issued by President Donald Trump in March targets this voting method, calling for stricter controls. In response, Republican-majority states have begun enacting legislation to prohibit the acceptance of such late-arriving ballots.

May 21, 2025 at 5:51 PM EDT
'Attempting to erase truth': Trump's DOJ just retracted a 2024 report focusing on bad cops

The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division announced Wednesday it will close its investigation into the Memphis Police Department and retract a December 2024 report addressing constitutional violations by police. The DOJ found police in Memphis used excessive force, engaged in unlawful traffic stops and routinely discriminated against Black residents after a 2023 investigation spurred by the death of 23-year-old Tyre Nichols when he was beaten by police officers during a traffic stop.

May 21, 2025 at 5:30 PM EDT
Ron DeSantis launches new tirade over investigation of wife's charity

Gov. Ron DeSantis called the investigation by a state attorney into First Lady Casey DeSantis' Hope Florida Foundation a manufactured political operation during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. The governor spoke at more length Wednesday than he'd done Tuesday when the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald first reported the open investigation by State's Attorney Jack Campbell in Tallahassee into the transfer to the foundation of $10 million from a $67 million Medicaid overpayment settlement with the state.

May 21, 2025 at 11:49 AM EDT
'Nonsense!' House Freedom Caucus chair explodes at reporter cornering him on 'moving goalposts'

President Donald Trump is making it clear that he wants House Republicans to pass his "big, beautiful bill" sooner rather than later. But GOP lawmakers are still fighting over the particulars, with hardcore budget hawks in the House Freedom Caucus and the Tea Party butting heads with Republicans in swing districts who are worried about the 2026 midterms. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), who chairs the Freedom Caucus, showed how tense things have become when speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, May 21.

May 21, 2025 at 11:20 AM EDT
'Borderline illiterate': Trump mocked as he 'runs his mouth' instead of running the country

President Donald Trump, says columnist Kevin Williamson, "doesn't run the country. He runs his mouth." Williamson described Trump to The Dispatch as a "borderline illiterate" who "has chosen a strange strategy as president: being a writer" of "memos and tweets and presidential statements."

May 21, 2025 at 10:57 AM EDT
'Is that true?' Kansas Republican refuses to toss political softballs at Trump officials

TOPEKA -- Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran pressed Trump administration officials on federal budget and personnel decisions by framing inquiries in terms of potential threats to the farm economy and public safety in Kansas. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins were on the receiving end of Moran's questions during recent Senate hearings.

May 21, 2025 at 10:41 AM EDT
'System is rigged': MAGA suffers full-blown meltdown following Trump foe's landslide victory

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is among the progressive prosecutors who MAGA Republicans love to hate. And much to MAGA's chagrin, he moved closer to a third term following a landslide Democratic primary victory on Tuesday, May 20. Krasner received an aggressive primary challenge from Judge Pat Dugan, who attacked Krasner as soft on crime and ran as a centrist Blue Dog Democrat. The Philly DA, however, defended his record, arguing that his emphasis on criminal justice reform has reduced, not increased, violent crime in the city. And Krasner made the election a referendum on national politics, railing against President Donald Trump and his ally, Elon Musk.