OPINION
Premium

The Times of London-de Blasio Story Gets Weirder, and It Is Now Fashionable to Dump on Karine Jean-Pierre

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Oct 30, 2025
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

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 POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership!

Hoax & Change – THE TIMES OF LONDON

  • When victims of a scammer become duped by themselves.

This has been a story we had to pull twice now, as it has evolved and become stranger with each new iteration. Originally, there was to be coverage of our news media choosing to ignore former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio saying that mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s policies were not financially sound.

But then, The Times of London pulled down the article. This was due to de Blasio coming forward to say those were not his quotes, and he had never spoken to the outlet. It was said the paper had been duped by an impersonator, someone claiming to be the former mayor. “Our reporter had been misled by an individual falsely claiming to be the former New York mayor.”

But now THAT story has shifted, and it appears the paper is at least partially responsible for this error. According to Max Tani of Semafor, the paper did in fact speak to Bill de Blasio – only it was not the former mayor. There is another man by that name who lives on Long Island, and when contacted for comment, he obliged the reporter. “I never once said I was the mayor. He never addressed me as the mayor,” de Blasio told Semafor. “So I just gave him my opinion.”

Reporting on the Mirror – CBS NEWS

  • Well, this is one way to quiet down the shrieking from inside the news division.

While it had been suspected to take place, CBS News has announced that it is conducting significant layoffs in various divisions. The network is laying off around 100 employees, and doing so in a fashion that continues to see DEI-adjacent policies being jettisoned.

It was just a few weeks ago that NBC News went through layoffs that mainly affected its race and gender-based offices. Now, CBS News has announced it is doing something similar. Among the cuts are the streaming versions of its weekday morning show and the evening news, as well as the hosts and producers of its Saturday version of the morning programming. 

But also cleared out is the network’s “Race & Culture Unit,” which was instituted after the George Floyd riots. This was a division that would analyze any news items that concerned various races or marginalized groups to ensure they were covered appropriately and vetted the content for correct approaches to those concerned.

News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS

  • And, just like that, reports on weaponizing lawfare are not enthusiastically covered.

It has been amusing this year to see the complaint made repeatedly that President Trump has been using the DOJ to seek revenge or retribution on his political opponents. What the press needs to leave unspoken is exactly what it is he is supposedly getting this revenge over. As we know, this is because it leads back to Joe Biden using the DOJ to go after Trump, and then all of the wailing seen in the press would expose the fact that they appeared just fine with what took place when it was Biden leveraging the laws.

Well, this contradictory position is now becoming exposed as we are seeing more and more coming out to show just how widespread Biden’s Arctic Frost targeting effort had been. Numerous GOP senators had their phone lines targeted by Jack Smith, and now we learn that essentially 200 subpoenas had been issued in a fishing expedition that rivals industrial long-line nets. 

And not a whisper of this is seen from major news outlets that clamor to report on any legal maneuvers from the Trump administration.

Anti-Social Media – GLAMOUR MAGAZINE

  • Exactly who are you appealing to with this idiocy?!

In one of those efforts that used to be made to generate issues being sold, but these days might still drive some web traffic, Glamour has come out with its “Women of the Year” issue. Maybe that should be typed out as “Women” of the Year. The source already challenges credulity by having as one notable luminary the repellent and insufferable actress Rachel Zegler, who successfully made “Snow White” an enormous bomb for Disney.

But for its U.K. edition, Glamour decided on a group photo for the WoY cover: it is a gaggle of trans women in “Save The Dolls” t-shirts. That is to say, they featured nine males for Women of the Year honors.

Matching Media Memorandum – VARIOUS OUTLETS

  • The list of outlets “coming clean” on KJP is mounting.

We are getting more outlets willing to now step forward and proclaim that Karine Jean-Pierre is not very good at speaking. Not “public speaking,” or “promotional commentary,” but speaking in general.

It is just a marvel to watch how many outlets are now willing to say the things that got us branded as sexist/racist/homophobic in the past few years. Now that she no longer serves a purpose, it is safe to accurately describe her lack of a skill set.

Legalized Press-titution – THE BULWARK

  • The polling may not be going so well, considering this push by the “true conservatives.”

Right on the heels of us discussing Tim Miller touting Zohran Mamdani yesterday by saying he somehow “deprogrammed himself” from communist thinking (just two years ago), now we get Bill Kristol coming forward to also state he is backing the avowed socialist.

You have to wonder if this is some way of the site to start tapping into a new donor base.