Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with
you and Senator it seems to be a whole other
explosion of anti American rhetoric and many Americans now that
are saying around the country that they're supporting Hamas and
Palestinians over Israel altogether.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Well, that's right.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
It's really a growing trend of anti Israel pro Hamas
protests in many instances, anti American protests. We're seeing them
in Dearborn, Michigan, We're seeing them in the United States Senate,
and sadly and in today's Democrat Party they're unable to
distance themselves or condemn them, because more and more it's
the heart of the Democrat Party. We're going to talk
(00:39):
about that in depth on today's pod. We're also going
to get into a really stunning expose of NPR that
came out from a senior journalist at NPR who described
the pervasive media bias, the dishonesty, the propagandizing that NPR
does on the taxpayer's dime, and it really is revealing
of what is happened to a corporate media. We're going
(01:02):
to get into that in depth.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah, it's going to be very interesting for people to
hear that exactly what's going on and what he had
to say, kind of whistleblowing on NPR. In essence, I
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activation nine seven to two Patriot. All right, Senator, I
want to talk about what this trend is, and it
is one that is not going away. Of these pro
hamas protesters and protests that are happening all over the country,
(03:11):
it seems to be organized and it seems that this
is really a part of the Democratic Party now and
part of their apparatus.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Well, it's getting much much worse. We saw in this
past week a huge protest in Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn, Michigan
has the largest Muslim population in the country. Unfortunately, it
has a very high population of radicals there. And this
was a rally they were having. It was an anti
Israel rally where they were chanting death to Israel, and
(03:41):
they were chanting death to America. And this is really stunning.
This is in America. These are presumably Americans, or at
least they're living here. We don't know if they're here
legally or not. But here give a listen to some
of what they were saying at this anti American.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
RALLYDD Malcolm X said, and I quote, we live in
one of the rotten his countries that has ever existed
on this earth. It's not genocide, Joe, that has to go.
It's the entire system that has to go. Any system
(04:19):
that would allow such atrocities and such devilry to happen
and would support it, such a system does not deserve
to exist on God's Earth.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Centered.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Not only were these anti Israel activists heard chanting death
to America. They were also chanting death to Israel and
saying that we don't have a right to exist and
we're the worst country the world. We should be wiped
off the face of the earth. This is happening in Michigan.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Sadly, that's exactly right. The person speaking there is dearborn
activist to Wreck Bazi, who has told the crowd quote
that the chant death to Israel has become the most
logical chant across the world today. And he went on
to explain, he said, Imam Komani, the Ayatola who declared
(05:07):
international Alcud's day, this is what he would say to
pour all of your chance and all of your shots
upon the head of America.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
And by the.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Way, he's saying that about the former Iranian Ayatola, as
chance of death to America started from the crowd. And
and at that point it's it's this is when when
he says it's not genocide Joe that has to go,
it's the entire system that has.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
To go, and he goes on to side.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
It's not only that, it's the fact that he also
is sitting there in the greatest country world saying this
and the cameras are catching it while he is saying
that America should cease to exist, and this is happening.
A democratic representative, she leaves an area where she represents,
and she will not come out and condemn this either.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
No, that's exactly right. And if you listen to what else, uh,
this activist said at the rally, He said, any that
would allow such atrocities and such devilry to happen and
would support it, such a system does not deserve to
exist on God's earth. So he's saying the American government
does not deserve to exist on God's earth. He goes
on to say, quote, so when these fools ask us,
(06:15):
ask us if Israel has a right to exist, the
chant death to Israel has become the most logical chant
across the world today. And at that point his supporters
began cheering a chanting death to Israel, Death to Israel.
This is who these radicals are. And as you noted,
Rashida Telib is an elected member of Congress. She is
(06:37):
a member of the United States House of Representatives. She
was asked what she thought about radicals, radicals who support
her chanting death to America and listen to her response the.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Leipox News, I don't talk to Fox shot.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
At a rally in your district, people were chanting death
to America.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Do you condemn not talk to Fox News? Do you
condemn chance of death to America?
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I don't talk to people that use racist tropes.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Why can't you.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
Just say whether or not you condemn people chanting death
to Why.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Are you afraid to talk to Fox News?
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Is not not listen using racist tropes, where as my community.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Is what Fox chooses about. And I don't talk to
Fox News Death to America racist?
Speaker 6 (07:23):
Fox News is chanting death to America racist, talking.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
About your guys racist tropes. You know, you guys know
exactly what you do.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
I know you're flummable, but you guys got to go
deal with.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Me on your own self.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Not gonna use me there.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
It is Representative Rashid to leave saying she will not
condemn death to America. Chance because Fox News was asking
her is the excuse, which I think really comes back
to what she believes.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Sadly, this is more and more the entire Democrat Party.
The terrifying thing is the people screaming death to America.
The people screaming death is Yes, that's the base of
Rashida Telib that's who elected her. Yes, that's the base
of AOC. Yes, that's the base of Ilhan Omar, that's
(08:09):
the base of the squad. But understand, it's not just them.
That's who Chuck Schumer is listening to. That's who Joe
Biden is listening to. That's who Nancy Pelosi is listening to.
That's the thing that's really frightening. You look at these
extreme fringes. They are driving the so called mainstream of
(08:29):
the Democrat Party. It was Chuck Schumer who demanded Benjamin
att Yahoo be thrown out of office. It was Joe
Biden who led a resolution in the UN effectively condemning Israel.
It was Nancy Pelosi who signed a letter demanding that
we cut off military funding to Israel. And you know
why they're doing it. They're doing it because of the
angry mobs chanting death to America and death to Israel.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
So there's also another part of this.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
It's a really weird dynamic, and that is how the
Democrats are allowing so much of this rhetoric to make
it into the halls. In Congress, you had gaza protesters
repeatedly interrupted the Senate hearing with Pentagon leaders, and it
doesn't seem to be condemned by the leadership who are
(09:15):
in charge.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
On the Senate side.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
You also had protesters shouting at senators saying that the
Senate can't eat until Gaza eats, blocking the cafeteria so
that in theory centers wouldn't be able to eat. They
were doing this while they were blocking the hallways and
going into the cafeteria. Take a listen to these chants
again in the hallways of Congress. I mean, they have
(09:47):
completely infiltrated the Senate this week with some of these protests.
And yet you don't see any of the leaders saying, hey,
you guys can't stop the business of the American people.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
They're letting them basically run the show.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, no, that's exactly right. They're shouting down hearings and
and and I want you to play the audio of
what they did in the Senate cafeteria. Now I will
know the Senate cafeteria is actually not senators. It's not
where where members eats, but it's it's where Senate staff he eats.
And and so there are lots of Senate staffers that
are down there. It's where they go get get lunch
most most days. And a bunch of pro Hamas protesters
(10:19):
came in chanting, and and take a listen to this,
because this is happening, and and and it's being allowed
to just shut things down. And by the way, this
is not outside on the public streets. You can have
protests on the public streets. This is inside of of
of the capitol office buildings, inside of the cafeteria, and
and and it's being allowed by by Senate leadership because
(10:40):
these are their base and so give it.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Give a listen.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Now, Senator, I just got to ask did you eat,
because they said you weren't gonna eat.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Yeah, I actually ate. And where they were is not
actually where senators eat. I'm not aware of whether staff
was stopped from eating or not, but they said that
you And by the way, look at look at the
end they said, they said, restore aid to unra Unras.
Of course, the UN agency that it's now been reported,
had multiple Hamos Terrists working for it that actually participated
(12:16):
in the October seventh mass murder. These people call themselves
Christians for Palestine. You know what, I don't know of
any Christians who excuse mass murder. I don't know of
any Christians who excuse mass rape. The idea that they
pretend to wrap themselves in faith while demonstrating the absolute
evil barbarism.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Listen.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
I have watched the videos, and I got to say
when I talked to these young lefties who are so ignorant,
they're so sure of what they think, and they don't
know a damn thing. I've watched the videos. I saw
one hundred and thirty eight people being murdered. I've seen
the photographs where these monsters that they raped little girls,
they raped women, They cut off their breasts, they cut
(12:57):
off their genitals, they burned them, they penetrated them with
knives and foreign objects.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
It is grotesque and evil.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
And the fact that they're in there feeling all self
righteous on behalf of those terrorists, I really don't have
words to speak.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
And listen.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Part of having judgment is recognizing the difference between good
and evil, and the Hamas terrorists who carried out October
seventh are the embodiment of evil. And what are those
guys chanting give money to unrupt which included those Hamas terrorists.
That is the phrase, useful idiots doesn't even begin to
(13:36):
cover that.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
There's also I think a second phase that is happening,
and it seems to be, as I mentioned earlier, organized
around the country. But ABC News had to report that
there were bags with anti Semitic messages as well as
unidentified substances found on cars and buildings in Lincoln Park.
The Chicago Police say they're investigating this after these dozens
(14:00):
of anti semic messages were found on cars and on buildings,
and it's not the first time. Lingonpart residents that woke
up this week that saw this disturbing imidst these zipwoc
bags containing these anti semic messages and what appears to
be a clear escalation this is from ABC seven, and
an unidentified substance that some believe may have been rat poison.
(14:22):
On every doorstep coming up the street, there were these bags.
I picked up a few of them, one of the
people in the neighborhood said, and was horrified to see
what they were. And of course my four year old was, Mommy,
what is that. It just broke my heart. I didn't
know what to tell him, said one of the local residents.
And this was in an area where there are a
lot of Jewish people that live sadly. We're seeing this
(14:44):
across the country. We're seeing this in Jewish neighborhoods. We're
seeing this in New York City, We're seeing this in Chicago.
We're seeing this all across the country. And we're seeing
this especially on university campuses. And I have to say,
many of the campus administrators are not willing to act
to protect their Jewish student. I will tell you been
one of the saddest things. I've talked with many of
(15:05):
my friends who are Jewish who have kids who are
in college, and over and over and over again, they've
reported that their kids are afraid for their physical safety.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
That's not right.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Look, it is any university's obligation to protect the safety
of every one of their students. And the fact that
there are so many Jewish students facing threats of violence,
facing harassment, facing vicious anti Semitism, with the college campuses,
the administrators, and the protesters at a minimum turning a
blind eye to it, in many ways, tacitly or even
(15:40):
explicitly agreeing with it, it is a sign of an enormous
corruption that has just infiltrated the Left in a way. Look,
I would actually like a strong and vibrant Democrat Party.
I think it's good for our country. It's good for
our democratic process to have two healthy parties where you
(16:02):
have real and substance of debate. We don't have that
right now. The Democrat Party is becoming radicalized at a
level that that is dangerous. And I will tell you
as I travel Texas, I do with some regularity encounter
people who tell me, they say, listen, I was a Democrat.
I used to be a Democrat. And I'm seeing this,
this anti Israel hate. I'm seeing this anti Semitism, and
(16:26):
I can't support a party that that that welcomes and
supports that. That is really bad for the country and
really bad for the Democrat Party. And I wonder are
there any Democrats with the courage to speak out against it.
We've seen John Fetterman, and in many ways, the fact
that John Fetterman is doing so it stands out because
(16:49):
nobody else is. Is there not one other election Democrat?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yes? No, no, Look, God bless John Fetterman. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
John Fetterman has really not bad down from him standing
with Israel and has taken a lot of heat from
a lot of protesters and a lot on the left
that are like, wait, dude, you're supposed to be a
radical leftist, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you doing this?
And he has refused to back down on it. I'm
glad you mentioned his name because it's important that we
say job well done to people on the left that
(17:17):
are saying I'm not going to be bullied into in
supporting Jimas.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Listen, a couple of weeks ago, I went over to
the Democratic cloak room where John was there, and I
just said, hey, I wanted to tell you thank you.
I really appreciate the courage you've shown on Israel on
speaking out.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
It matters, and I recognize it's not easy, it's not
without costs, and I will say, look, to his credit,
he viewed it as various matter of fact. He's just like,
it's the right thing to do, and I respect that.
It is not what I anticipated. And you know what's sad, Bennett.
It shouldn't be alone. I mean, in any normal world,
you and I should be listing a dozen Democrats that
(17:55):
have the courage to denounce the radical screaming death to America,
that have the courage to stand up and say no,
we stand with Israel that have the courage to say,
you know, there is a difference. There is a moral difference.
There is a fundamental difference between psychotic, genocidal terrorists who
are murdering civilians, who are raping little girls, who are
(18:17):
murdering women, who are desecrating corpses. There is a fundamental
difference between that and the IDF Israeli defense forces that
are defending civilians and killing terrorists. They are not the same,
They're not morally equivalent. And I can tell you one
Democrat saying that, John Federman, to be honest, I don't
have a second name, I can tell you right now.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, And that tells you about the Democratic Party. And also,
I think the messaging from the White House, they've gotten
really silent on supporting Israel, really silent on standing up
on these issues. And yeah, the White House was asked
about this, It's like, yeah, of course people shouldn't be
saying death to America.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
That's a no brainer.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
But the fact that more Democrats are not willing to
come out and say the same thing is truly shocking.
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Speaker 1 (20:58):
Center.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
There was another story that broke, and this is one
that is for a guy that has spent my entire
career in media, NPR annoys me beyond a level of
frustration that most people can imagine because I don't understand
why my tax dollars are subsidizing a hardcore leftist organization
(21:20):
and why I'm paying their salaries at NPR, that's the reality.
But now we've got a guy that was there for
twenty five years who has blown the whistle on NPR
saying that basically, when Donald Trump was elected, it completely
broke in PR and they are there every day to
take down conservatives, take down Trump, take down anybody like him,
(21:40):
and our tax dollars are going to pay for MPR.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
No, that's exactly right, And this story is a big
deal because this is, as you noted, a whistleblower who
came clean and really wanted to describe what was happening
in a major media institution, one of the most important
media institutions of the country. And so the individual in
question is a guy named Uri Berliner, who was a
(22:04):
twenty five year veteran of NPR. He was a senior
business or editor at NPR, and he wrote a column
on the Free Press that came out April ninth, and
I actually want to read from a good chunk of
it because I think it's important what he said, and
it is very much whistleblowing. So here's how he starts quote.
(22:26):
You know the stereotype of the NPR listener, an ev driving,
wordle playing, tote, back bag carrying, coastal elite. It doesn't
precisely describe me, but it's not far off. I'm Sarah Lawrence, educated,
was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother. I drive
a Subaru, and Spotify says my listening habits are most
(22:49):
similar to people in Berkeley. I fit the NPR mold.
I'll cop to that. So when I got a job
there twenty five years ago, I never looked back. As
a senior editor on the businessiness desk, where news is
always breaking, We've covered upheavels in the workplace, super market prices,
social media, and AI. It's true that NPR always had
a liberal bent, but during most of my tenure here,
(23:12):
an open minded, curious culture prevailed. We were nerdy, but
not knee jerk activist or scolding. In recent years, however,
that has changed. Today, those who listened to NPR or
read its coverage online find something different, the distilled worldview
of a very small segment of the US population. If
(23:33):
you are conservative, you will read this and say, duh,
it's always been this way, but it hasn't For decades.
Since its founding in nineteen seventy, a wide swath of
America tuned into NPR for reliable journalism and gorgeous audio
pieces with birds singing in the Amazon. Millions came to
(23:54):
us for conversations that exposed us to voices around the country,
the world radically different from our own, engaging precisely because
they were unguarded and unpredictable. No image generated more pride
within an NPR than the farmer listening to Morning Edition
from his or her tractor at sunrise. Back in twenty eleven,
although NPR's audience tilted a bit to the left, it
(24:18):
still bore a resemblance to America at large. Twenty six
percent of listeners described themselves as conservative, twenty three percent
as middle of the road, and thirty seven percent as liberal.
By twenty twenty three, the picture was completely different. Only
eleven percent described themselves as very or even somewhat conservative,
(24:40):
twenty one percent as middle of the road, and sixty
seven percent of listeners said they were very or somewhat liberal.
We weren't just losing conservatives, we were also losing moderates
and traditional liberals. An open minded spirit no longer exists
within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience
that reflects America. That wouldn't be a problem for an
(25:03):
openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience, but for NPR,
which purports to consider all things, it's devastating both for
its journalism and its business model.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You listen to that, and it's a guy that's almost
like he's coming clean, realizing just how damaging what NPR
is doing to the country, and he's in paving it.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah, he's in pain.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
He also did an interview he set down talking about this,
and I want you to hear what he had to
say on honestly with Barry Rice.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Take a listen to this.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Everyone knew that NPR had a liberal bent. It was
like saying these days, like Fox has a conservative bent.
That was obvious to anyone. But you argue that it's
really gone from having a liberal bent or a liberal shading,
to really a bias. Here's one thing you write in
your essay. You write for the majority of your time
at NPR, despite the liberal bend, an open minded, curious
(26:00):
culture prevailed we were nerdy, but not knee jerk activists
or scolding ori. When did that start to change? When
did the thing that everyone sort of recognized as sort
of a liberal bias start to shift into something harder
than that until what you call a knee jerk activist
and even scolding quality.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
Well, I think it was a accumulative I don't think
it was one event. I mean, I think part of
it was Trump's election. You know, I think, like every newsroom,
every Legacy meeting, is when we were shocked, disturbed, distraught,
really troubled. We assumed Hillary Clinton was going to win
and she didn't, and it was really an unsettling experience.
(26:46):
But I also think to me it revealed that we
didn't really understand a lot of what was going on
in America, that we were out of touch. But I
think also we kind of locked down after a while.
I think for a while we started covering Trump in
a way that that, like a lot of the Legacy
(27:07):
news news organization, that we were trying to damage his
presidency to even it's flying, anything we could to harm him.
And I think what we latched onto was Russia collusion.
Like a lot of news organizations which was, as I write,
sort of catnip. Although it was just rumors and a
lot of it based on pretty shoddy documents. Evidence there
(27:30):
wasn't It wasn't really solid, but I think it was.
It was compelling and for us, you know, I think
a lot of newspapers you know, used documents or anonymous sources.
We really latched onto Adam Schiff. He was like our
muse to the Trump collusion story. We had him on
constantly a lot. I think I counted twenty five times,
(27:50):
you know, and in most of those conversations he sort
of alluded to evidence he may have had or sort
of teased out, yeah, Russia, you know, he was coluding
or the campaign was colluding with Russia. And then the
Muller report came out and no collusion, and you know,
I think we sort of went to sort of the
story kind of disappeared. But to me, that was like
a time for like what went wrong? Why did we
(28:12):
miss this? Like, you know, despite our feelings about Trump,
this is a story we should have sort of treated differently.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
You hear him say that they he said they were
trying to harm Trump. Now that is shocking for him
to say this because in translation center.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
That means and stop, stop and repeat that for a second.
Stop and stop and repeat that for a second. This
is a senior editor at NPR. Mind you, they're finding
funded by US taxpayer dollars, and he is admitting the
entire institution and his words, was trying to harm Trump.
I mean, that is a damning admission. And at some level,
(28:53):
as he noted in what I read a minute ago,
it was obvious to any conservative, but it says something
for a senior editor to go and blow the whistle
like this.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
This NPR reminds me of Twitter before Elon Musk bought
it in many ways, where it's bloated, it's out of control,
it's activism. It's not run like a business because it's
subsidized by government taxpayers.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I'm fine with MPR existing center.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
They should figure out how to do it the same
way that everybody else does in media, which is to
make money instead of us giving them our tax dollars
to them, as he described it, try to hurt Trump
every time they could, and it won't just be Trump
in the future, it will be any other conservative based
on what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
It's not like they just went in against Trump. And
that was it.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
They're going in against every conservative on every story out there.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah, let me focus on two other segments of what
Uriberliner wrote. Quote, concerned by the lack of viewpoint diversity,
I looked at voter registration for our newsroom in DC,
where NPR is headquartered and many of us live. I
found eighty seven registered Democrats working in editorial positions and
(30:12):
zero Republicans.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
None.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Now, that's not vague or ambiguous, that's not equivocal. That
is explicit. Let me read this other segment.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Quote.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
In October twenty twenty, the New York Post published the
explosive report about the laptop hunter Biden abandoned at a
Delaware computer shop, containing emails about a sordid business deals.
With the election only weeks away, NPR turned a blind eye.
Here's how NPR's managing editor for News at the time
(30:48):
explained the thinking, quote, we don't want to waste our
time on stories that are not really stories, and we
don't want to waste our listeners and readers' times on
stories that are just pure distractions. But it wasn't a
pure distraction or product of Russian disinformation, as dozens of
former and current intelligence officials suggested the laptop did belong
(31:13):
to Hunter Biden, its contents revealed his connection to the
corrupt world of multimillion dollar influence peddling and its possible
implications for his father. The laptop was newsworthy, but the
timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was
(31:35):
being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues I listened as
one of NPR's best and most fair minded journalists said
it was good we weren't following the laptop story because
it could help Trump. When the essential facts of the
post reportings were confirmed and the emails verified independently about
(32:01):
a year and a half later, we could have fessed
up to our misjudgment, but like Russia collusion, we didn't
make the hard choice of transparency.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Why fix it if it's your ideology, right, If this
is what the ideology is, and it's being funded by taxpayers,
why stop?
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Which brings me to my final question on this.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
I've heard about this, and we've talked about this for
I hate to say it.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Twenty years.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
How on earth are they getting this type of government funding,
especially now if we know this from someone that worked
there for twenty five years.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Is there any way to say the NPR. That's fine.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
If this is what your mission is, go and do it,
but you're not going to do it subsidized by taxpayers.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Listen, I would eliminate the funding for NPR tomorrow. That's
the right thing to do. We shouldn't be in the
business of funding NPR. The problem is every Democrat wants
to spend your taxpayer dollars funding NPR because why wouldn't
you if you're a leftist, why wouldn't you be willing
to to use taxpayer dollars to fund a propaganda outlet
(33:04):
for your view? And I got to tell you in
the budget battles, too many Republicans are scared of taking
on NPR, and so between the two it keeps going. Look,
I actually think it speaks volume that where Uri Berliner
wrote this was the free Press. The Free Press was
started by Barry Weiss. Berry Weiss resigned from the editorial
(33:27):
board of The New York Times and wrote a letter.
If you haven't read the letter, we may do a
podcast where we just read the letter, because it's something
I actually think should be taught in every journalism class
in America. It is a letter where and listen Bury,
by our own description is left of center. She's a
liberal Democrat or voter for Obama twice, but she was horrified.
(33:47):
And actually Barry's resignation letter reads very much like Urie
Berliner's article. They are both people left of center who
actually believe in some modicum of free speech, some modicum
of fairness, and they look at the corruption of institutions
they respected. I look at Uriy Berlinner, and I'm reminded
of John F. Kennedy's famous speech at the Berlin wall
(34:11):
Ick ben I and Berliner, which which he thought meant
that that that he was a Berliner, a resident of Berlin,
but actually it was poorly translated German. And what the
better translation was is I am a jelly donut, which
which was not JFK's finest moment. But nonetheless I feel
the same sentiments. Urray Berlinner and I may disagree on
(34:33):
a lot of things, but I'm proud to stand with
Ariray Berlinner for daring to speak the truth, because free
speech matters, and I actually think it matters. I met
recently with the CEO of a major journalistic enterprise. I
won't say who it is, and I told him, I said, listen,
I actually believe in a free press. I defend you
(34:56):
even when you kick the crap out of me, even
when you attack me, because I think it's in I's
portant to democracy and free speech to have a real
and vibrant press. But when you guys are just corrupt ideologues,
when you're just propagandists, it hurts the entire country. And
so I give a big shout out to Urib Berliner,
like Barry Weiss, on whose platform he wrote this, There
(35:19):
are a handful of liberals, and I actually want to
call out Listen. I don't know that many fair minded
liberals in the media listen to Verdict, although we're close
to a million listeners, so maybe there are. If you're
a fair minded liberal working in the media and you
don't like the bias and propaganda, and I'm not saying
you're suddenly conservative and a right winger, that's.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Okay, that's okay.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
We can have reasonable discussions. But when people speak out
like Urie Berliner and Barry Weiss, it makes a difference,
and we need more people to do that.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Yeah, definitely, don't forget.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
We do this show Monday Wednesday, and Friday we have
our week in review. If you miss anything during the week,
we put those stories together for you on Saturdays as well.
Make sure you hit that subscribe, follow, or auto download button,
depending on where you're listening to this. You also say hey,
Siria Alexa, play Verdict and with Ted Cruz and it
will play it. And on those in between dates, make
sure you grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcasts wherever
(36:16):
you get your podcasts, and then Senator and I will
see you back here for a Week in Review tomorrow
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with
you and Senator it seems to be a whole other
explosion of anti American rhetoric and many Americans now that
are saying around the country that they're supporting Hamas and
Palestinians over Israel altogether.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Well, that's right.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
It's really a growing trend of anti Israel pro Hamas
protests in many instances, anti American protests. We're seeing them
in Dearborn, Michigan, We're seeing them in the United States Senate,
and sadly and in today's Democrat Party they're unable to
distance themselves or condemn them, because more and more it's
the heart of the Democrat Party. We're going to talk
(00:39):
about that in depth on today's pod. We're also going
to get into a really stunning expose of NPR that
came out from a senior journalist at NPR who described
the pervasive media bias, the dishonesty, the propagandizing that NPR
does on the taxpayer's dime, and it really is revealing
of what is happened to a corporate media. We're going
(01:02):
to get into that in depth.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah, it's going to be very interesting for people to
hear that exactly what's going on and what he had
to say, kind of whistleblowing on NPR. In essence, I
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activation nine seven to two Patriot. All right, Senator, I
want to talk about what this trend is, and it
is one that is not going away. Of these pro
hamas protesters and protests that are happening all over the country,
(03:11):
it seems to be organized and it seems that this
is really a part of the Democratic Party now and
part of their apparatus.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Well, it's getting much much worse. We saw in this
past week a huge protest in Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn, Michigan
has the largest Muslim population in the country. Unfortunately, it
has a very high population of radicals there. And this
was a rally they were having. It was an anti
Israel rally where they were chanting death to Israel, and
(03:41):
they were chanting death to America. And this is really stunning.
This is in America. These are presumably Americans, or at
least they're living here. We don't know if they're here
legally or not. But here give a listen to some
of what they were saying at this anti American.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
RALLYDD Malcolm X said, and I quote, we live in
one of the rotten his countries that has ever existed
on this earth. It's not genocide, Joe, that has to go.
It's the entire system that has to go. Any system
(04:19):
that would allow such atrocities and such devilry to happen
and would support it, such a system does not deserve
to exist on God's Earth.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Centered.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Not only were these anti Israel activists heard chanting death
to America. They were also chanting death to Israel and
saying that we don't have a right to exist and
we're the worst country the world. We should be wiped
off the face of the earth. This is happening in Michigan.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Sadly, that's exactly right. The person speaking there is dearborn
activist to Wreck Bazi, who has told the crowd quote
that the chant death to Israel has become the most
logical chant across the world today. And he went on
to explain, he said, Imam Komani, the Ayatola who declared
(05:07):
international Alcud's day, this is what he would say to
pour all of your chance and all of your shots
upon the head of America.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
And by the.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Way, he's saying that about the former Iranian Ayatola, as
chance of death to America started from the crowd. And
and at that point it's it's this is when when
he says it's not genocide Joe that has to go,
it's the entire system that has.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
To go, and he goes on to side.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
It's not only that, it's the fact that he also
is sitting there in the greatest country world saying this
and the cameras are catching it while he is saying
that America should cease to exist, and this is happening.
A democratic representative, she leaves an area where she represents,
and she will not come out and condemn this either.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
No, that's exactly right. And if you listen to what else, uh,
this activist said at the rally, He said, any that
would allow such atrocities and such devilry to happen and
would support it, such a system does not deserve to
exist on God's earth. So he's saying the American government
does not deserve to exist on God's earth. He goes
on to say, quote, so when these fools ask us,
(06:15):
ask us if Israel has a right to exist, the
chant death to Israel has become the most logical chant
across the world today. And at that point his supporters
began cheering a chanting death to Israel, Death to Israel.
This is who these radicals are. And as you noted,
Rashida Telib is an elected member of Congress. She is
(06:37):
a member of the United States House of Representatives. She
was asked what she thought about radicals, radicals who support
her chanting death to America and listen to her response the.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Leipox News, I don't talk to Fox shot.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
At a rally in your district, people were chanting death
to America.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Do you condemn not talk to Fox News? Do you
condemn chance of death to America?
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I don't talk to people that use racist tropes.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Why can't you.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
Just say whether or not you condemn people chanting death
to Why.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Are you afraid to talk to Fox News?
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Is not not listen using racist tropes, where as my community.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Is what Fox chooses about. And I don't talk to
Fox News Death to America racist?
Speaker 6 (07:23):
Fox News is chanting death to America racist, talking.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
About your guys racist tropes. You know, you guys know
exactly what you do.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
I know you're flummable, but you guys got to go
deal with.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Me on your own self.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Not gonna use me there.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
It is Representative Rashid to leave saying she will not
condemn death to America. Chance because Fox News was asking
her is the excuse, which I think really comes back
to what she believes.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Sadly, this is more and more the entire Democrat Party.
The terrifying thing is the people screaming death to America.
The people screaming death is Yes, that's the base of
Rashida Telib that's who elected her. Yes, that's the base
of AOC. Yes, that's the base of Ilhan Omar, that's
(08:09):
the base of the squad. But understand, it's not just them.
That's who Chuck Schumer is listening to. That's who Joe
Biden is listening to. That's who Nancy Pelosi is listening to.
That's the thing that's really frightening. You look at these
extreme fringes. They are driving the so called mainstream of
(08:29):
the Democrat Party. It was Chuck Schumer who demanded Benjamin
att Yahoo be thrown out of office. It was Joe
Biden who led a resolution in the UN effectively condemning Israel.
It was Nancy Pelosi who signed a letter demanding that
we cut off military funding to Israel. And you know
why they're doing it. They're doing it because of the
angry mobs chanting death to America and death to Israel.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
So there's also another part of this.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
It's a really weird dynamic, and that is how the
Democrats are allowing so much of this rhetoric to make
it into the halls. In Congress, you had gaza protesters
repeatedly interrupted the Senate hearing with Pentagon leaders, and it
doesn't seem to be condemned by the leadership who are
(09:15):
in charge.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
On the Senate side.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
You also had protesters shouting at senators saying that the
Senate can't eat until Gaza eats, blocking the cafeteria so
that in theory centers wouldn't be able to eat. They
were doing this while they were blocking the hallways and
going into the cafeteria. Take a listen to these chants
again in the hallways of Congress. I mean, they have
(09:47):
completely infiltrated the Senate this week with some of these protests.
And yet you don't see any of the leaders saying, hey,
you guys can't stop the business of the American people.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
They're letting them basically run the show.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, no, that's exactly right. They're shouting down hearings and
and and I want you to play the audio of
what they did in the Senate cafeteria. Now I will
know the Senate cafeteria is actually not senators. It's not
where where members eats, but it's it's where Senate staff he eats.
And and so there are lots of Senate staffers that
are down there. It's where they go get get lunch
most most days. And a bunch of pro Hamas protesters
(10:19):
came in chanting, and and take a listen to this,
because this is happening, and and and it's being allowed
to just shut things down. And by the way, this
is not outside on the public streets. You can have
protests on the public streets. This is inside of of
of the capitol office buildings, inside of the cafeteria, and
and and it's being allowed by by Senate leadership because
(10:40):
these are their base and so give it.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Give a listen.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Now, Senator, I just got to ask did you eat,
because they said you weren't gonna eat.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Yeah, I actually ate. And where they were is not
actually where senators eat. I'm not aware of whether staff
was stopped from eating or not, but they said that
you And by the way, look at look at the
end they said, they said, restore aid to unra Unras.
Of course, the UN agency that it's now been reported,
had multiple Hamos Terrists working for it that actually participated
(12:16):
in the October seventh mass murder. These people call themselves
Christians for Palestine. You know what, I don't know of
any Christians who excuse mass murder. I don't know of
any Christians who excuse mass rape. The idea that they
pretend to wrap themselves in faith while demonstrating the absolute
evil barbarism.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Listen.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
I have watched the videos, and I got to say
when I talked to these young lefties who are so ignorant,
they're so sure of what they think, and they don't
know a damn thing. I've watched the videos. I saw
one hundred and thirty eight people being murdered. I've seen
the photographs where these monsters that they raped little girls,
they raped women, They cut off their breasts, they cut
(12:57):
off their genitals, they burned them, they penetrated them with
knives and foreign objects.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
It is grotesque and evil.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
And the fact that they're in there feeling all self
righteous on behalf of those terrorists, I really don't have
words to speak.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
And listen.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Part of having judgment is recognizing the difference between good
and evil, and the Hamas terrorists who carried out October
seventh are the embodiment of evil. And what are those
guys chanting give money to unrupt which included those Hamas terrorists.
That is the phrase, useful idiots doesn't even begin to
(13:36):
cover that.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
There's also I think a second phase that is happening,
and it seems to be, as I mentioned earlier, organized
around the country. But ABC News had to report that
there were bags with anti Semitic messages as well as
unidentified substances found on cars and buildings in Lincoln Park.
The Chicago Police say they're investigating this after these dozens
(14:00):
of anti semic messages were found on cars and on buildings,
and it's not the first time. Lingonpart residents that woke
up this week that saw this disturbing imidst these zipwoc
bags containing these anti semic messages and what appears to
be a clear escalation this is from ABC seven, and
an unidentified substance that some believe may have been rat poison.
(14:22):
On every doorstep coming up the street, there were these bags.
I picked up a few of them, one of the
people in the neighborhood said, and was horrified to see
what they were. And of course my four year old was, Mommy,
what is that. It just broke my heart. I didn't
know what to tell him, said one of the local residents.
And this was in an area where there are a
lot of Jewish people that live sadly. We're seeing this
(14:44):
across the country. We're seeing this in Jewish neighborhoods. We're
seeing this in New York City, We're seeing this in Chicago.
We're seeing this all across the country. And we're seeing
this especially on university campuses. And I have to say,
many of the campus administrators are not willing to act
to protect their Jewish student. I will tell you been
one of the saddest things. I've talked with many of
(15:05):
my friends who are Jewish who have kids who are
in college, and over and over and over again, they've
reported that their kids are afraid for their physical safety.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
That's not right.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Look, it is any university's obligation to protect the safety
of every one of their students. And the fact that
there are so many Jewish students facing threats of violence,
facing harassment, facing vicious anti Semitism, with the college campuses,
the administrators, and the protesters at a minimum turning a
blind eye to it, in many ways, tacitly or even
(15:40):
explicitly agreeing with it, it is a sign of an enormous
corruption that has just infiltrated the Left in a way. Look,
I would actually like a strong and vibrant Democrat Party.
I think it's good for our country. It's good for
our democratic process to have two healthy parties where you
(16:02):
have real and substance of debate. We don't have that
right now. The Democrat Party is becoming radicalized at a
level that that is dangerous. And I will tell you
as I travel Texas, I do with some regularity encounter
people who tell me, they say, listen, I was a Democrat.
I used to be a Democrat. And I'm seeing this,
this anti Israel hate. I'm seeing this anti Semitism, and
(16:26):
I can't support a party that that that welcomes and
supports that. That is really bad for the country and
really bad for the Democrat Party. And I wonder are
there any Democrats with the courage to speak out against it.
We've seen John Fetterman, and in many ways, the fact
that John Fetterman is doing so it stands out because
(16:49):
nobody else is. Is there not one other election Democrat?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yes? No, no, Look, God bless John Fetterman. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
John Fetterman has really not bad down from him standing
with Israel and has taken a lot of heat from
a lot of protesters and a lot on the left
that are like, wait, dude, you're supposed to be a
radical leftist, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you doing this?
And he has refused to back down on it. I'm
glad you mentioned his name because it's important that we
say job well done to people on the left that
(17:17):
are saying I'm not going to be bullied into in
supporting Jimas.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Listen, a couple of weeks ago, I went over to
the Democratic cloak room where John was there, and I
just said, hey, I wanted to tell you thank you.
I really appreciate the courage you've shown on Israel on
speaking out.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
It matters, and I recognize it's not easy, it's not
without costs, and I will say, look, to his credit,
he viewed it as various matter of fact. He's just like,
it's the right thing to do, and I respect that.
It is not what I anticipated. And you know what's sad, Bennett.
It shouldn't be alone. I mean, in any normal world,
you and I should be listing a dozen Democrats that
(17:55):
have the courage to denounce the radical screaming death to America,
that have the courage to stand up and say no,
we stand with Israel that have the courage to say,
you know, there is a difference. There is a moral difference.
There is a fundamental difference between psychotic, genocidal terrorists who
are murdering civilians, who are raping little girls, who are
(18:17):
murdering women, who are desecrating corpses. There is a fundamental
difference between that and the IDF Israeli defense forces that
are defending civilians and killing terrorists. They are not the same,
They're not morally equivalent. And I can tell you one
Democrat saying that, John Federman, to be honest, I don't
have a second name, I can tell you right now.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, And that tells you about the Democratic Party. And also,
I think the messaging from the White House, they've gotten
really silent on supporting Israel, really silent on standing up
on these issues. And yeah, the White House was asked
about this, It's like, yeah, of course people shouldn't be
saying death to America.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
That's a no brainer.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
But the fact that more Democrats are not willing to
come out and say the same thing is truly shocking.
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Speaker 1 (20:58):
Center.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
There was another story that broke, and this is one
that is for a guy that has spent my entire
career in media, NPR annoys me beyond a level of
frustration that most people can imagine because I don't understand
why my tax dollars are subsidizing a hardcore leftist organization
(21:20):
and why I'm paying their salaries at NPR, that's the reality.
But now we've got a guy that was there for
twenty five years who has blown the whistle on NPR
saying that basically, when Donald Trump was elected, it completely
broke in PR and they are there every day to
take down conservatives, take down Trump, take down anybody like him,
(21:40):
and our tax dollars are going to pay for MPR.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
No, that's exactly right, And this story is a big
deal because this is, as you noted, a whistleblower who
came clean and really wanted to describe what was happening
in a major media institution, one of the most important
media institutions of the country. And so the individual in
question is a guy named Uri Berliner, who was a
(22:04):
twenty five year veteran of NPR. He was a senior
business or editor at NPR, and he wrote a column
on the Free Press that came out April ninth, and
I actually want to read from a good chunk of
it because I think it's important what he said, and
it is very much whistleblowing. So here's how he starts quote.
(22:26):
You know the stereotype of the NPR listener, an ev driving,
wordle playing, tote, back bag carrying, coastal elite. It doesn't
precisely describe me, but it's not far off. I'm Sarah Lawrence, educated,
was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother. I drive
a Subaru, and Spotify says my listening habits are most
(22:49):
similar to people in Berkeley. I fit the NPR mold.
I'll cop to that. So when I got a job
there twenty five years ago, I never looked back. As
a senior editor on the businessiness desk, where news is
always breaking, We've covered upheavels in the workplace, super market prices,
social media, and AI. It's true that NPR always had
a liberal bent, but during most of my tenure here,
(23:12):
an open minded, curious culture prevailed. We were nerdy, but
not knee jerk activist or scolding. In recent years, however,
that has changed. Today, those who listened to NPR or
read its coverage online find something different, the distilled worldview
of a very small segment of the US population. If
(23:33):
you are conservative, you will read this and say, duh,
it's always been this way, but it hasn't For decades.
Since its founding in nineteen seventy, a wide swath of
America tuned into NPR for reliable journalism and gorgeous audio
pieces with birds singing in the Amazon. Millions came to
(23:54):
us for conversations that exposed us to voices around the country,
the world radically different from our own, engaging precisely because
they were unguarded and unpredictable. No image generated more pride
within an NPR than the farmer listening to Morning Edition
from his or her tractor at sunrise. Back in twenty eleven,
although NPR's audience tilted a bit to the left, it
(24:18):
still bore a resemblance to America at large. Twenty six
percent of listeners described themselves as conservative, twenty three percent
as middle of the road, and thirty seven percent as liberal.
By twenty twenty three, the picture was completely different. Only
eleven percent described themselves as very or even somewhat conservative,
(24:40):
twenty one percent as middle of the road, and sixty
seven percent of listeners said they were very or somewhat liberal.
We weren't just losing conservatives, we were also losing moderates
and traditional liberals. An open minded spirit no longer exists
within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience
that reflects America. That wouldn't be a problem for an
(25:03):
openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience, but for NPR,
which purports to consider all things, it's devastating both for
its journalism and its business model.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You listen to that, and it's a guy that's almost
like he's coming clean, realizing just how damaging what NPR
is doing to the country, and he's in paving it.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah, he's in pain.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
He also did an interview he set down talking about this,
and I want you to hear what he had to
say on honestly with Barry Rice.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Take a listen to this.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Everyone knew that NPR had a liberal bent. It was
like saying these days, like Fox has a conservative bent.
That was obvious to anyone. But you argue that it's
really gone from having a liberal bent or a liberal shading,
to really a bias. Here's one thing you write in
your essay. You write for the majority of your time
at NPR, despite the liberal bend, an open minded, curious
(26:00):
culture prevailed we were nerdy, but not knee jerk activists
or scolding ori. When did that start to change? When
did the thing that everyone sort of recognized as sort
of a liberal bias start to shift into something harder
than that until what you call a knee jerk activist
and even scolding quality.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
Well, I think it was a accumulative I don't think
it was one event. I mean, I think part of
it was Trump's election. You know, I think, like every newsroom,
every Legacy meeting, is when we were shocked, disturbed, distraught,
really troubled. We assumed Hillary Clinton was going to win
and she didn't, and it was really an unsettling experience.
(26:46):
But I also think to me it revealed that we
didn't really understand a lot of what was going on
in America, that we were out of touch. But I
think also we kind of locked down after a while.
I think for a while we started covering Trump in
a way that that, like a lot of the Legacy
(27:07):
news news organization, that we were trying to damage his
presidency to even it's flying, anything we could to harm him.
And I think what we latched onto was Russia collusion.
Like a lot of news organizations which was, as I write,
sort of catnip. Although it was just rumors and a
lot of it based on pretty shoddy documents. Evidence there
(27:30):
wasn't It wasn't really solid, but I think it was.
It was compelling and for us, you know, I think
a lot of newspapers you know, used documents or anonymous sources.
We really latched onto Adam Schiff. He was like our
muse to the Trump collusion story. We had him on
constantly a lot. I think I counted twenty five times,
(27:50):
you know, and in most of those conversations he sort
of alluded to evidence he may have had or sort
of teased out, yeah, Russia, you know, he was coluding
or the campaign was colluding with Russia. And then the
Muller report came out and no collusion, and you know,
I think we sort of went to sort of the
story kind of disappeared. But to me, that was like
a time for like what went wrong? Why did we
(28:12):
miss this? Like, you know, despite our feelings about Trump,
this is a story we should have sort of treated differently.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
You hear him say that they he said they were
trying to harm Trump. Now that is shocking for him
to say this because in translation center.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
That means and stop, stop and repeat that for a second.
Stop and stop and repeat that for a second. This
is a senior editor at NPR. Mind you, they're finding
funded by US taxpayer dollars, and he is admitting the
entire institution and his words, was trying to harm Trump.
I mean, that is a damning admission. And at some level,
(28:53):
as he noted in what I read a minute ago,
it was obvious to any conservative, but it says something
for a senior editor to go and blow the whistle
like this.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
This NPR reminds me of Twitter before Elon Musk bought
it in many ways, where it's bloated, it's out of control,
it's activism. It's not run like a business because it's
subsidized by government taxpayers.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I'm fine with MPR existing center.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
They should figure out how to do it the same
way that everybody else does in media, which is to
make money instead of us giving them our tax dollars
to them, as he described it, try to hurt Trump
every time they could, and it won't just be Trump
in the future, it will be any other conservative based
on what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
It's not like they just went in against Trump. And
that was it.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
They're going in against every conservative on every story out there.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah, let me focus on two other segments of what
Uriberliner wrote. Quote, concerned by the lack of viewpoint diversity,
I looked at voter registration for our newsroom in DC,
where NPR is headquartered and many of us live. I
found eighty seven registered Democrats working in editorial positions and
(30:12):
zero Republicans.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
None.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Now, that's not vague or ambiguous, that's not equivocal. That
is explicit. Let me read this other segment.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Quote.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
In October twenty twenty, the New York Post published the
explosive report about the laptop hunter Biden abandoned at a
Delaware computer shop, containing emails about a sordid business deals.
With the election only weeks away, NPR turned a blind eye.
Here's how NPR's managing editor for News at the time
(30:48):
explained the thinking, quote, we don't want to waste our
time on stories that are not really stories, and we
don't want to waste our listeners and readers' times on
stories that are just pure distractions. But it wasn't a
pure distraction or product of Russian disinformation, as dozens of
former and current intelligence officials suggested the laptop did belong
(31:13):
to Hunter Biden, its contents revealed his connection to the
corrupt world of multimillion dollar influence peddling and its possible
implications for his father. The laptop was newsworthy, but the
timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was
(31:35):
being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues I listened as
one of NPR's best and most fair minded journalists said
it was good we weren't following the laptop story because
it could help Trump. When the essential facts of the
post reportings were confirmed and the emails verified independently about
(32:01):
a year and a half later, we could have fessed
up to our misjudgment, but like Russia collusion, we didn't
make the hard choice of transparency.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Why fix it if it's your ideology, right, If this
is what the ideology is, and it's being funded by taxpayers,
why stop?
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Which brings me to my final question on this.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
I've heard about this, and we've talked about this for
I hate to say it.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Twenty years.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
How on earth are they getting this type of government funding,
especially now if we know this from someone that worked
there for twenty five years.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Is there any way to say the NPR. That's fine.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
If this is what your mission is, go and do it,
but you're not going to do it subsidized by taxpayers.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Listen, I would eliminate the funding for NPR tomorrow. That's
the right thing to do. We shouldn't be in the
business of funding NPR. The problem is every Democrat wants
to spend your taxpayer dollars funding NPR because why wouldn't
you if you're a leftist, why wouldn't you be willing
to to use taxpayer dollars to fund a propaganda outlet
(33:04):
for your view? And I got to tell you in
the budget battles, too many Republicans are scared of taking
on NPR, and so between the two it keeps going. Look,
I actually think it speaks volume that where Uri Berliner
wrote this was the free Press. The Free Press was
started by Barry Weiss. Berry Weiss resigned from the editorial
(33:27):
board of The New York Times and wrote a letter.
If you haven't read the letter, we may do a
podcast where we just read the letter, because it's something
I actually think should be taught in every journalism class
in America. It is a letter where and listen Bury,
by our own description is left of center. She's a
liberal Democrat or voter for Obama twice, but she was horrified.
(33:47):
And actually Barry's resignation letter reads very much like Urie
Berliner's article. They are both people left of center who
actually believe in some modicum of free speech, some modicum
of fairness, and they look at the corruption of institutions
they respected. I look at Uriy Berlinner, and I'm reminded
of John F. Kennedy's famous speech at the Berlin wall
(34:11):
Ick ben I and Berliner, which which he thought meant
that that that he was a Berliner, a resident of Berlin,
but actually it was poorly translated German. And what the
better translation was is I am a jelly donut, which
which was not JFK's finest moment. But nonetheless I feel
the same sentiments. Urray Berlinner and I may disagree on
(34:33):
a lot of things, but I'm proud to stand with
Ariray Berlinner for daring to speak the truth, because free
speech matters, and I actually think it matters. I met
recently with the CEO of a major journalistic enterprise. I
won't say who it is, and I told him, I said, listen,
I actually believe in a free press. I defend you
(34:56):
even when you kick the crap out of me, even
when you attack me, because I think it's in I's
portant to democracy and free speech to have a real
and vibrant press. But when you guys are just corrupt ideologues,
when you're just propagandists, it hurts the entire country. And
so I give a big shout out to Urib Berliner,
like Barry Weiss, on whose platform he wrote this, There
(35:19):
are a handful of liberals, and I actually want to
call out Listen. I don't know that many fair minded
liberals in the media listen to Verdict, although we're close
to a million listeners, so maybe there are. If you're
a fair minded liberal working in the media and you
don't like the bias and propaganda, and I'm not saying
you're suddenly conservative and a right winger, that's.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Okay, that's okay.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
We can have reasonable discussions. But when people speak out
like Urie Berliner and Barry Weiss, it makes a difference,
and we need more people to do that.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Yeah, definitely, don't forget.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
We do this show Monday Wednesday, and Friday we have
our week in review. If you miss anything during the week,
we put those stories together for you on Saturdays as well.
Make sure you hit that subscribe, follow, or auto download button,
depending on where you're listening to this. You also say hey,
Siria Alexa, play Verdict and with Ted Cruz and it
will play it. And on those in between dates, make
sure you grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcasts wherever
(36:16):
you get your podcasts, and then Senator and I will
see you back here for a Week in Review tomorrow
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