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Dana Bash Recalibrates Both Sides of ICE Protest, and Sen. Cruz Is Guilty Before a Problem Arrived

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jan 21, 2026
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Reporting on the Mirror – CNN

  • Legal may need to sit the boy down again.

As we mentioned here yesterday, CNN was on the precipice of a lawsuit when panelist Cameron Kasky declared President Trump was part of an international sex trafficking ring. We mentioned it was something the management would want to address, and it appears they sent Cam a note to go out and try to fix things. He delivered a retraction on social media.

It remains to be seen if this was sufficient. Calling it an "accident" does not measure up, considering he repeated the claim several times, going so far as declaring that Trump was "proven" to have been involved in a sex trafficking ring. That sounds far more intentional than an accidental slip-up.

News Avoidance Syndrome – PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE

  • Really? That was all you have on the incident?!

As we have noted, the national press corps has been pretty standoffish regarding the Don Lemon-hyped storming of a church by activists. At PBS, they typify the lack of real interest. The network has been quite willing to detail many of the protests in Minneapolis and has gone into great detail regarding numerous incidents involving ICE agents in the city. So it seems more than revealing to look at how the network addressed this major disturbance in town on The PBS News Hour.

With a lengthy report on the actions in Minneapolis, here is a rundown of how many details the show provided about that BLM mob that stormed the church during Sunday services:

  • Mentions of Black Lives Matter: 0

  • Mentions of Don Lemon: 0

  • Mentions of the federal laws that were violated: 0

  • Amount of sentences the field reporter dedicated to the incursion: ONE

Seriously. This was the solitary comment made about it from their correspondent in the field.

Yesterday, the Justice Department announced a separate investigation into protesters who disrupted a church service where they believed a local pastor was also an ICE official from the St. Paul office.

It hardly seems like anything other than a trivial disagreement; best to just move on.

Gilded Reframe – CNN

  • Folks, Dana has completely abdicated her job as a news agent.

In a remarkably desperate example of this category, Dana Bash has nearly pulled a ligament as she strained to reclassify an uncomfortable event. After she tries to hide a protester's activism by insisting ICE agents assault a "handicapped woman," she goes on to address the church mob episode in the most laughable way possible.

Dana attempts to make it a case of Republicans pouncing on a distraction, as she describes the planned swarming of that church by the activists as their "using it as a staging area."

Unreal.

They were inside the church, disrupting the services, and walking throughout the pews to harass the parishioners. Dana's wan attempt to relabel this is as pathetic as it gets.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – THE AUSTIN STATESMAN

  • Blaming the man for something that might happen is true investigative journalism.

Recall a few years back when Ted Cruz made the unacceptable move to bring his family to Mexico during a winter storm? Well, he is at it again…they predict.

Senator Cruz was spotted on a plane to California, and the local press exploded that he was repeating his retreat from responsibility with another ice storm looming.

Did you catch that last word there? Yes, Texas is in the crosshairs once again, but the storm is not expected to arrive until the weekend, and any kind of crisis like that experienced in 2021 is not at all assured – but he is still guilty of…something. Like that past example, no one is really able to provide definitive proof of what the senator failed to do, considering relief, rescue, and aid efforts are all done locally, but he is assuredly not doing it again. When the storm eventually gets there. And if there is another emergency crisis.