Get access to Brad Slager's "Riffed From the Headlines," a daily VIP feature where he looks to bring accountability to the mainstream media. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!
Blue-anon – THE BULWARK
Your conspiracy theory would have been dispelled with 30 seconds of investigation.
It was breaking news this morning when it was reported that the FBI had raided the offices of Congresswoman Louise Lucas. In preparation for what is to follow, we inform you that Lucas is a Democrat; this meant that all manner of outrage, condemnation, and accusation from the press was assured to follow, and right on cue we get the Bulwark’s Sam Stein rushing in.
And, we have Stein tripping over his own crank in the process. Here we see Sam resort to the laziest of explanations, suggesting that this raid was a direct result of Lucas being a force behind the recent redistricting efforts in Virginia. For him to make this charge means that the FBI had gone in with no legitimate cause, just a vengeful mission to “get even” at the behest of the administration.
Recommended
This is not only ignorant of how FBI raids operate, with judges’ approval and warrants, but it also shows an abject lack of the barest curiosity by Stein. Had he bothered to search, he would have come across news items about the raid, which would have delivered the specifics that derailed his theorizing. There is that small matter that Lucas has been under investigation for years, in a process begun by the previous administration.
If @SamStein had done some basic research (that is a huge "IF" with today's media), he would find that this investigation began under the Biden administration, so his blue-anon theorizing is blasted into confetti.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) May 6, 2026
I mean, it is right there in the sub-headline from The Times. https://t.co/NaxbWlvS45 pic.twitter.com/Rb5hQjVoUc
Both Kinds Of Standards – THE BULWARK
So now it is objectionable behavior in the press?
Sam was also someone perturbed by the appearance of Fox News having an inside track in covering the Lucas raid.
i will say. some pretty remarkable instincts by Fox News to have its London correspondent placed in Portsmouth, Virginia right in time for the FBI raid of Louise Lucas
— Sam Stein (@samstein) May 6, 2026
It is always a tip-off when a reporter uses the phrase “to be clear”, it is a tacit recognition that they have been caught up in a false narrative to some degree. Sam realized that this had been a practice seen prior from the press; several people brought up the pre-dawn raid on Roger Stone’s home that CNN had managed to be camped out on his lawn in time to capture live.
So he tries to steer this onto potential hypocrites on the Right. What to know about why people are fine with this today? Because there was no condemnation delivered upon CNN for being tipped off about the Stone raid, and therefore it was considered acceptable. What you are describing now, if Fox was in fact notified prior, is what is called “playing by the rules you have established.”
Democratic Custodial Services – POLITICO
So, no comment about the possible crimes she committed, is that right?
Also bothered by the news of the Louise Lucas raid was Politico’s Jonathan Martin. Specifically, he was bothered by Bill Melugin, from Fox News, posting about the news with a particular photo of Lucas, and the insinuation that she was a close associate of Governor Spanberger.
I don’t know what’s more unsubtle, the picture or the laughable suggestion that she is a close ally of Spanberger https://t.co/7Rk67UqnEM
— Jonathan Martin (@jmart) May 6, 2026
Just like Sam Stein, the barest of research would have avoided this embarrassment. The “unsubtle” picture came from her bio on the Virginia Senate’s website. As for not being an ally of Spanberger, other photos also tripped up Martin, as Lucas was not only enthusiastically campaigning for Abigail, but at the inauguration in January, she was infamously recorded shouting “10 F*****g One!”, in reference to the new district ratio that was to emerge with the gerrymandering Spanberger put into effect.
It is time we had a Governor who will improve our public schools, keep Virginia affordable and protect the progress we have worked so hard for. I am endorsing Abigail Spanberger because she is the candidate who will fight alongside us and deliver for all Virginians. pic.twitter.com/OejjNaH99X
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) May 20, 2025
Low Octane Gas Lighting – CNN
Moving the goalposts while playing hide-the-ball.
Aaron Blake comes out with what is claimed to be a scathing report about the White House ballroom construction project. According to Blake, the projected $400 million cost has ballooned to $1 billion, and now the taxpayers will be on the hook for that sum. This is a fabricated misdirection.
The goalposts on Trump’s ballroom keep moving. Now it involves taxpayer money.https://t.co/4tVCm2lTuh
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) May 5, 2026
What Blake references (and is aware of) is the separate expenditure that is allocated for the security bunker that is going to be situated below the ballroom. That security area, while at the same location, is a segregated project, one funded by the Department of War. The congressional designation for this expense even stipulates that the two projects are to be independently funded. Despite Blake’s complete deception of his coworkers across CNN shows, no goalposts have been moved regarding the ballroom spending.
Actually, if you read the literal bill text, it does: $0 on the ballroom, Sam. https://t.co/4SE4PBbnE7 pic.twitter.com/Em9mEQP2NK
— Clare Slattery (@clare_slatts) May 5, 2026
Pathological Media Amnesia – THE INDEPENDENTS
The convenience of Trump being in the wrong on both sides of an issue.
The revealing news out of Indiana last night was focused on the primary elections. What was seen was that most, if not all, of the GOP incumbents who are up for reelection lost to challengers. This is regarded as a firm reaction to that state’s legislature refusing to go forward with planned redistricting plans, and President Trump backing the upstarts to unseat those recalcitrant RINOS.
Chris Cillizza looked at these results and he tut-tutted about the fact that President Trump retains a stranglehold on the Republicans. Apparently, we are to consider it a bad thing when a president is the voice and power in his party.
And yet…
We have a rather sharp recollection that over the past few months, there has been a steady stream of new reports about how the Republican Party is dividing daily, and that Trump’s core supporters are fleeing. In fact, Chris Cillizza’s claim that Trump has this authoritarian control is defied by reports that Trump has lost control of the party…made by Chris Cillizza.
Now I’m confused:
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) May 6, 2026
For months the press has been claiming there is a fracture in the GOP and that scores of MAGA voters are walking away from Trump.
So which is it @ChrisCillizza ?? https://t.co/OjD9Ll4cDZ pic.twitter.com/ZMBItnHJDy
DNC PR Firm – MS NOW
Yes, Jenny, it is too bad there are not more Republicans acting like socialist Democrats…
Another one bemoaning these elections in Indiana was former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. She was speaking with presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg about the results and she was intrinsically bothered that these “sensible” Republicans had been voted out of their positions.
“We’ve talked before about what politics could be - what we all hope it will be again — these Republicans in Indiana, you probably don’t agree with them on much, I don’t agree with them on much in terms of their policies, but they knew what was coming if they stood up to Trump. I just wonder, how different you think our country and our politics could be if more Republicans had that in them.”
Yes, this would be a grand country if Republicans would just behave and vote like Democrats!
What Mrs. Psaki needs to avoid in her Pollyanna speech is that these Republicans were not removed forcefully by President Trump; they were voted out by their constituents for not representing them in the manner they saw fit. This is because when it comes to Jen Psaki’s positions, the Republicans in Indiana do not agree with her much.
Jen Psaki and Mayor Pete from Indiana are sad that the Republicans in his state who “stood up to Trump” lost their seats.
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 6, 2026
They lament how much better the world of politics could be if all Republicans could just be more like those Republicans. pic.twitter.com/gINu3Mt012
Reporting On The Mirror – CNN
There is no denying his impact; that is a certainty.
Ted Turner is a man with a lengthy list of accomplishments. For us here, he is most recognized for literally creating cable news. When he concocted the idea of 24/7 news coverage almost 46 years ago, it was regarded as either a curious experiment or a bat-guano crazy and expensive farce.
Today, across multiple networks, it is a staple for Americans. Whenever news breaks out, turning to a news channel at any point in our day is an afterthought.
Ted Turner passed away at the age of 87.
Ted Turner, the billionaire media entrepreneur and philanthropist who launched the 24-hour cable TV news revolution when he founded CNN in 1980, has died. He was 87. https://t.co/61G2Kuh8Vz pic.twitter.com/SqGmFOE48R
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) May 6, 2026






