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Tapper and Thompson Suddenly Clam Up As Gavin Newsom Works to Silence Larry O'Connor Over Public Content

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jun 12, 2025
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Both Kinds of Standards – CNN

  • For the first time in weeks, he is going to clam up.

In an interesting twist regarding the release of the book “Original Sin,” a congressional hearing is set for next week to look into the matters of the Biden administration and who was operating the White House. Headed by Senator John Cornyn, he is seeking testimony from a variety of the figures from the previous leadership, but he has also sought to have authors Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson also come to The Hill.

Cornyn stated that the pair have demurred on making an appearance. This sounds curious given they are both speaking to anyone to promote their book, but it is not completely surprising given the history of reporters being hesitant to divulge much in the way of their reporting. But this also would indicate just how much of their book relies upon the anonymity of those detailing what took place.

First Amendment Strike Force – GAVIN NEWSOM

  • How exactly does one copyright a public address?!

Gavin Newsom is having a tough go of it this week, as his veneer as a smooth leftist has been pummeled by riots, President Trump, the courts, and — in the form of a broadcast address — also public opinion.

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That speech that he gave, meant for Californians but centered on Trump, was a risible mess of hubris and lies. Governor Brylcreem is apparently perturbed by those in the media who have dared to criticize him over this disastrous speech, evidenced by the fact that he went after our own Larry O’Connor for using clips from that speech.

This was a patently asinine move given that it was a public address, not a private dose of entertainment. 

Low-Octane Gaslighting – NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

  • The only people buying this nonsense are already listeners.

The desperation from NPR to stop the effort to defund public broadcasting is hitting the red zone. Katherine Maher, CEO of NPR, is still out there pleading her case, but you have to wonder if she is running out of cogent arguments.

For starters, she was speaking on the matter of the defunding – in London. That…is not likely to help. But in her explanation of the vital nature of her outlet, she gave this quixotic defense: If you defund her network, people will not be able to get clean water. (Yes, we made that same expression.)

These local stations is they play a critical role in emergencies -- not only in terms of emergency broadcasting, warnings, tornado watches, things along those lines, but recently, there were -- in the last year, Hurricane Helene, which hit North Carolina terribly hard. The residents of Asheville and the surrounding area went without drinking water, showering water, cooking water

NPR is not the only radio station in the Asheville area, and if there was some reason the local stations were not broadcasting, it is hard to figure how listening to the national NPR feed would direct people to bottled water distribution centers.

News Avoidance Syndrome – THE NEW YORK TIMES

  • Yes, Peter — we wonder what that would look like…

Peter Alexander looked at reports of President Trump attending a performance of “Les Mis” at The Kennedy Center and receiving loud responses to both the positive and the negative, with boo-ing and “USA” chants heard.

Peter was bemused by the idea that so much of our culture these days is infected with political divisiveness, and he was in need of being reminded that his own outlet was largely responsible for the very condition he was carping about.

Artisanally-crafted Narratives – THE INDEPENDENTS

  • When Chuckles has to lie about the video link he provides…

In a dose of amusing desperation, we get a glimpse of exactly why Chuck Todd was cut loose by NBC News. He was commenting on a press conference called by a Brevard County sheriff in Florida, where the law man was referencing the violent outbreaks seen in Los Angeles and gave a harsh warning that any activist violence in his county would be met with firm force, and could lead to death.

We can almost picture Chuck turning ashen upon hearing these words, and then diving for the phone so he could then go on to say this LEO was pledging to kill people for simply protesting.

Anti-Social Media – THE DNC

  • For that money couldn’t you find people worth listening to?

For full disclosure, we are not at all certain on the accuracy of this claim, but one TikTok account has come out to state he had been approached to be paid $200 a day to put out content in support of “No King’s Day,” a leftist attempt to impugn Trump, ICE, and the deportation efforts.

While this is not fully confirmed, there is ample evidence this is valid, as suddenly there was seen a flood of influencers coming out who all had the very same messaging to be heard. The uniform fashion that illegal immigration was compared to jaywalking is kind of the tell here.