‘I Think You’re Full Of Crap’: Biden’s Fmr Assistant Gets Earful From Sean Hannity

'I Think You're Full Of Crap': Biden's Fmr Assistant Gets Earful From Sean Hannity

Fox News' Sean Hannity halted former Biden special assistant Michael LaRosa on Monday after he attempted to defend the former president's mental fitness, with Hannity calling LaRosa "full of crap." Democrats and corporate media have onlyrecentlybegun to question the former president's time in office, following the release of a new behind-the-scenes book, despite years of concerns from Republicans. While on "Hannity," the Fox host brought on Biden's former special assistant and pressed him on whether he had seen any decline during his time in the White House. "Michael, you're going to come on this program, and you're going to look America in the eye, and you're going to tell us that you did not see any cognitive decline in Joe Biden? Because we saw it. We chronicled it starting in 2019," Hannity said. "You're going to tell us that?" "Well, I am because I've been very consistent about that, Sean, with all of your colleagues on all of the Fox News programming since I left the White House at the end of 2022. That my three years — " LaRosa attempted to push back until Hannity cut him off. In May, CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson released "Original Sin," detailing concerns about President Joe Biden's cognitive state during his time in office. According to the two reporters, who interviewed a handful of sources, aides hadgrownso concerned about the former president that at one point they considered putting him in a wheelchair following the 2020 election.(RELATED: Biden Can't Quite Stick Landing On Pronouncing Most Famous Line In Founding Document) "Michael, let me interrupt you," Hannity said. "I don't believe you. I think you're full of crap. Let me be honest. Let me be straight here. We play — we have tape after tape after tape. I could spend the next hour." WATCH: "We spent an hour on Friday playing him struggling, shaking air, not knowing where to go, talking to dead people. He could barely utter a sentence," Hannity added. "He was a shell of his former self. Now, either you don't have eyes to see or ears to hear or you're just, you know, politically blinded. If I'm going to be charitable or just a political hack. But you can't say you didn't see it. I don't believe you." During Biden's time in office, videos of the president circulated online, showing himstumblingat times and misspeaking. The White House's former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierrelabeledthe videos as "cheap fakes," saying that they were used to make the former president look bad. She blamed Republicans. "OK, so, Sean, you have the highest rated programming on Fox News, on the highest rated cable network. In 2019 and 2020, the American people saw the same thing, had the same access that you did," LaRosa said. "He still won by seven million votes and has the most votes ever received by any president in American history. I'm not here to defend the cover-up." Hannity again interrupted LaRosa, pressing whether he saw Biden's decline during the 2024 presidential debate against President Donald Trump, to which he replied, "yes." LaRosa told the Fox host that it was the first time for him and "many people" that Biden's mental state became apparent. "I don't believe any of you. I just don't believe it. I think you're so politically biased. You can't see through. You hate Trump so much you can't see through the lens of politics," Hannity said. In June 2024, Biden appeared onstage alongside Trump, delivering adisastrous debateperformance in which he struggled to finish arguments and, at one point, froze mid-sentence. Immediately following the event, Democrats andmedia punditsbegan asking whether he could serve another four years in office. A list of Democrat lawmakerspubliclycalled for Biden to step aside, with party donorswithholding millionsuntil he was taken off the ticket. By July 21, heannouncedhe would withdraw from the 2024 race. Biden endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris as his choice for the party's nominee. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter's byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contactlicensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

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June 02, 2025

‘I Think You’re Full Of Crap’: Biden’s Fmr Assistant Gets Earful From Sean Hannity

'I Think You're Full Of Crap': Biden's Fmr Assistant Gets Earful From Sean Hannity Fox News' Sean Hannity halted former ...

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Suspect planned to kill all in group he called 'Zionist,' but appeared to have second thoughts

Suspect planned to kill all in group he called 'Zionist,' but appeared to have second thoughts

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A man in Boulder disguised as a gardener who wounded12 peoplein an attack on a group holding theirweekly demonstrationfor the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza had planned to kill them all but appeared to have second thoughts, according to authorities. Mohamed Sabry Soliman had 18 Molotov cocktails but threw just two during Sunday's attack in which he yelled "Free Palestine," police said. He didn't carry out his full plan "because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before," police wrote in an affidavit. The two incendiary devices he did throw into the group of about 20 people were enough to wound more than half of them, and authorities said he expressed no regrets about the attack. The 45-year-old Soliman — whose first name also was spelled Mohammed in some court documents — planned the attack for more than a year and specifically targeted what he described as a "Zionist group," authorities said in court papers charging him with a federal hate crime. "When he was interviewed about the attack, he said he wanted them all to die, he had no regrets and he would go back and do it again," Acting U.S. Attorney J. Bishop Grewell for the District of Colorado said during a news conference Monday. Federal and state prosecutors filed separate criminal cases against Soliman, charging him with a hate crime and attempted murder, respectively. He faces additional state charges related to the incendiary devices, and more charges are possible in federal court, where the Justice Department will seek a grand jury indictment. Soliman is being held on a $10 million, cash-only bond, prosecutors said. His next court hearing is set for Thursday. An FBI affidavit says Soliman told the police he was driven by a desire "to kill all Zionist people," a reference to the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel. Soliman's attorney, public defender Kathryn Herold, declined to comment after the hearing. Soliman was living in the U.S. illegally after entering the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on the social platform X. The burst of violence at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder unfolded against the backdrop of theIsrael-Hamas war, which continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. The attack happened on the beginning of theJewish holiday of Shavuotand barely a week after a man who also yelled "Free Palestine" was charged withfatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffersoutside a Jewish museum in Washington. Six victims hospitalized The victims who were wounded range in age from 52 to 88, and the injuries spanned from serious to minor, officials said. Six of the injured were taken to hospitals, and four have since been released, said Miri Kornfeld, a Denver-based organizer connected to the group. She said the clothing of one of those who remains hospitalized caught on fire. Members of the volunteer group called Run For Their Lives were holding their weekly demonstration when the attack happened. Video from the scene captured by witness Alex Osante of San Diego shows people pouring water on a woman lying on the ground who Osante said had caught fire during the attack. Molotov cocktails found Osante said that after the suspect threw the two incendiary devices, apparently catching himself on fire as he threw the second, he took off his shirt and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest before police arrived. The man dropped to the ground and was arrested without any apparent resistance in the video Osante filmed. The Molotov cocktails were made up of glass wine carafe bottles or jars with clear liquid and red rags hanging out of the them, the FBI said. "He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack," the affidavit says. He had gas in a backpack sprayer but told investigators he didn't spray it on anyone but himself "because he had planned on dying." Soliman also told investigators he took a concealed carry class and tried to buy a gun but was denied because he is not a legal U.S. citizen. Suspect hospitalized after attack Authorities said they believe Soliman acted alone. He was also injured and taken to a hospital. Authorities did not elaborate on the nature of his injuries, but a booking photo showed him with a large bandage over one ear. Soliman, who was born in Egypt, moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, where he lived with his wife and five kids, according to state court documents. He previously spent 17 years living in Kuwait. McLaughlin said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023 that had expired. DHS did not respond to requests for additional information. ___ Tucker reported from Washington.

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June 02, 2025

Suspect planned to kill all in group he called 'Zionist,' but appeared to have second thoughts

Suspect planned to kill all in group he called 'Zionist,' but appeared to have second thoughts BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A man in Boulde...

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Israel says 3 soldiers killed in Gaza in deadliest attack on its forces since a truce ended in March

Israel says 3 soldiers killed in Gaza in deadliest attack on its forces since a truce ended in March

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military said Tuesday that three of its soldiers were killedin the Gaza Strip, in what appeared to be the deadliest attack on Israel's forces since it ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March. The military said the three soldiers, all in their early 20s, fell during combat in northern Gaza on Monday, without providing details. Israeli media reported that they were killed in an explosion in the Jabaliya area. Israel ended the ceasefirein March after Hamas refused to change the agreement to release more hostages sooner. Israeli strikes have killed thousands of Palestinians since then, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel that ignited the war. They are still holding 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. Around 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the Oct. 7 attack, including more than 400 during the fighting inside Gaza. ___ Follow AP's war coverage athttps://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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June 02, 2025

Israel says 3 soldiers killed in Gaza in deadliest attack on its forces since a truce ended in March

Israel says 3 soldiers killed in Gaza in deadliest attack on its forces since a truce ended in March KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Isra...

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OAN's Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion

OAN's Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion

Assigned to cover the Pentagon for the conservative outlet One America News Network, Gabrielle Cuccia didn't pretend to be an unbiased reporter. She describes herself as "a MAGA girl" who is unapologetically defiant in her support ofPresident Donald Trump. Yet days after publicly criticizing a Trump appointee,Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Cuccia found herself out of a job. In taking to Substack last week to express a personal opinion about a figure she covers, Cuccia did something that would be frowned upon in many legacy newsrooms. The message that she was sent, however, is most likely to resound in places where opinion is fine — but only a certain variety. Cuccia'slengthy Substack post, "The Secretary of Defense-ive," was posted three days after Hegsethissued new rulesthat banned reporters from accessing large areas of the Pentagon without being watched by his minders. She criticized him for limiting freedom of movement in the name of national security. Cuccia praises responsible Pentagon reporters "The Pentagon wants to paint a picture that journalists are freely roaming classified spaces, sneaking into (secure areas), and leaking top-secret information," she wrote. "And that is simply not true. There are security cameras everywhere, protocols in place and quite frankly, it would be painfully obvious if a reporter was in a space they didn't belong." Cuccia said the real leaks from the Pentagon have come from Hegseth's own team and other senior officials. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality,was embarrassedin March when The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was mistakenly included in a Signal chat in which the defense secretary discussed upcoming military strikes. She criticized Hegseth for not yet holding a media briefing at the Pentagon. "The Commander-in-Chief welcomes the hard questions ... and yes, even the dumb ones," she wrote. "Why won't the Secretary of Defense do the same?" Three days after her Memorial Day Substack post, Cuccia said her Pentagon access badge was revoked. "By Friday," she said, "I was out of a job." The Defense Department did not pull Cuccia's credentials, according to a Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues. Cuccia said OAN told her the Substack piece had been "put on their radar," but she wouldn't say by who. She wouldn't speak further about what her employer told her, and OAN president Charles Herring told The Associated Press that it does not discuss personnel issues. "When a reporter asks inconvenient questions about government overreach, the response should be accountability — not silence, and certainly not separation," Cuccia said. Traditionally, the legacy media does not want its journalists expressing opinions about people they cover, since it calls into doubt their ability to report without bias. But exceptions are often made in cases where media access is at issue, said Tom Rosenstiel, a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. The New York Times, for example, institutionally called upon Joe Biden to meet more often with journalists when he was president. The Pentagon Press Association said Hegseth's restrictions were a direct assault on the freedom of the press. Making no secret of allegiance to Trump One America News Network makes no secret of its allegiance to Trump. When Matt Gaetz's nomination as Trump's attorney general fell apart following the election, OAN quickly signed him up as a contributor. OAN faced lawsuits — and negotiated settlements — for its promotion of Trump's false theories that he did not lose the 2020 election. When Hegseth earlier this yearevicted several news organizationsfrom their Pentagon workspaces and gave more room to friendly outlets, Cuccia was assigned space formerly held by NBC News. Before Hegseth aide Sean Parnell's only media briefing, Cuccia said Hegseth's team reached out to her in advance to find out what questions she wanted to ask, something that would never be done for most media outlets. If OAN is responsible for removing Cuccia, it's a "take no quarter position," Rosenstiel said. "There is no room, if you're on the team, to say anything that is negative." He said he'd be interested to see if any representatives from pro-Trump media outlets defend her. "Are they silent, or do they rally to her in any way?" he asked. Trump, in the past, hasfrequently criticizedFox News Channel for saying anything on the air that he deemed negative. Part of Cuccia's Substack post sounded almost prescient about what might happen to her, when she reminisced about the energy of the early Make America Great Again movement. Questioning government then, she noted, was a point of pride. "Somewhere along the way, we as a collective decided — if anyone ever questioned a policy or person within the MAGA movement — that they weren't MAGA enough," she wrote. "That they were deep state, that they couldn't be trusted, that they didn't love America as much as we do and that ... to put it bluntly, they sucked." ___ AP correspondent Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him athttp://x.com/dbauderandhttps://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social

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June 02, 2025

OAN's Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion

OAN's Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion Assigned to cover the Pentagon for the conservative outlet One A...

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Mexico's ruling party headed toward control of newly elected Supreme Court, vote tallies show

Mexico's ruling party headed toward control of newly elected Supreme Court, vote tallies show

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's ruling Morena party appeared to be heading toward control over the Supreme Court, preliminary vote tallies ofthe country's first judicial electionindicated. While votes were still being counted for the majority of the 2,600 federal, state and local judge positions up for grabs in Sunday's judicial elections, results rolled in for the nine Supreme Court positions. The majority of the newly elected justices share strong ties and ideological alignments with the ruling party, shifting a once fairly balanced high court into the hands of the very party that overhauled the judicial system to elect judges for the first time. Experts warned the shift would undercut checks and balances in the Latin American nation: The governing party would now be close to controlling all three branches of government, and President Claudia Sheinbaum and her party also would have a easier path to push through their agenda. "We're watching as power is falling almost entirely into the hands of one party," said Georgina De la Fuente, election specialist with the Mexican consulting firm Strategia Electoral. "There isn't any balance of power." A Morena-leaning court and an Indigenous justice Some of those headed toward election were members or former members of the party. A number of them, who were Supreme Court justices prior to the election, were appointed by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum's mentor who pushed through the judicial overhaul last year. Others were advisers to the president or the party or campaigned with politically aligned visions for the judiciary. Not all of the prospective winners were explicitly aligned with Morena. One standout was Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, an Indigenous lawyer from the southern state of Oaxaca. He has no clear party affiliation, though Sheinbaum said repeatedly she hoped to have an Indigenous judge on the court. A political controversy That Morena would emerge from the election with control of the judiciary waswhat critics had feared. The vote came after months of fierce debate, prompted when López Obrador and the partyjammed through the reformsfor judges to be elected instead of being appointed based on merits. The overhaul will notably limitthe Supreme Courtas a counterweight to the president. Critics say the judicial reform was an attempt to take advantage of high popularity levels to stack courts in favor of the party. Sheinbaum and her mentor have insisted that electing judges will root out corruption in a system most Mexicans agree is broken. "Whoever says that there is authoritarianism in Mexico is lying," Sheinbaum said during the vote. "Mexico is a country that is only becoming more free, just and democratic because that is the will of the people." The elections were marred bylow participation — about 13% — and confusionby voters who struggled to understand the new voting system, something opponents quickly latched onto as a failure. De la Fuente said Morena is likely to use its new lack of counterweight in the high court to push through rounds of reforms, including electoral changes. Late Monday, more than 85% of the ballots had been tallied and counting was to continue overnight. The leading Supreme Court candidates — Hugo Aguilar Ortiz was the big surprise from the election. The Indigenous lawyer led all vote-getters, including several sitting Supreme Court justices. He's known as a legal activist fighting for the rights of Indigenous Mexicans and has criticized corruption in the judiciary. — Lenia Batres was already a Supreme Court justice and was appointed by López Obrador. Previously a congresswoman, she's a member of Morena and clearly an ally of Mexico's president. — Yasmín Esquivel is a Supreme Court justice who was appointed by López Obrador. She focused her campaign on modernizing the justice system and has pushed for gender equality. She was at the center of a 2022 controversy when she was accused of plagiarizing her thesis. She is considered an ally of the Morena party. — Loretta Ortiz is a justice on the Supreme Court who was appointed by López Obrador. She also served in Congress and resigned from Morena in 2018 in a show of independence as a judge. Despite that, she's considered an ally of the party. — María Estela Ríos González is a lawyer who acted as legal adviser to López Obrador, first when he was mayor of Mexico City and later when he became president. She has a long history as a public servant and work in labor law and on a number of Indigenous issues. — Giovanni Figueroa Mejía is a lawyer from the Pacific coast state of Nayarit with a doctorate in constitutional law. He currently works as an academic at the Iberoamericana University in Mexico City. He's worked in human rights. While he holds no clear party affiliation, he supported the judicial overhaul pushed forward by Morena, saying in an interview with his university that the overhaul "was urgent and necessary in order to rebuild" the judiciary. He said some of his work in constitutional law was cited in justifying the reform. — Irving Espinosa Betanzo is a magistrate on Mexico City's Supreme Court and has previously worked as a congressional adviser to Morena. He campaigned for the country's highest court on a platform of eliminating nepotism and corruption and pushing for human rights. —Arístides Rodrigo Guerrero Garcíais a law professor pushing for social welfare with no experience as a judge, but who has worked as a public servant and has experience in both constitutional and parliamentary law. He gained traction in campaigns for a social media video of him claiming he's "more prepared than a pork rind." — Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra is a prosecutor specializing in human rights for Mexico's Attorney General's Office. She's worked on issues like gender equality, sexually transmitted infections and human trafficking. In 2023, she worked onthe investigation of a fire in an immigration facilityin the border city of Ciudad Juárez that killed 40 migrants.

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June 02, 2025

Mexico's ruling party headed toward control of newly elected Supreme Court, vote tallies show

Mexico's ruling party headed toward control of newly elected Supreme Court, vote tallies show MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's ruling Mor...

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