THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2025
Our press corps won't tell you about it: We correct ourselves for the second time concerning Jen Psaki's program.
Last evening, she did report and discuss what the president did--what he did for the second straight day. As you can see by clicking this link, her segment started like this at 9:47 Eastern:
PSAKI (12/3/25): Today, Donald Trump doubled down on his disgusting racist attacks against Somali immigrants. And to spare you some of the bile, I'm only going to play part of it. But I think some of this hateful rhetoric from the president of the United States is worth bearing witness to.
As you can see by clicking that link, she then played tape of the president's second-day assault. She then interviewed Rep. Omar, who the president had dismissed as "garbage" the day before, about the fellow's behavior.
As to why the president behaved in this way, it seems to us that he has perhaps been spiraling downward of late. Several medical specialists have recently advanced that thesis, though we'll set that possibility aside for another day.
We remain puzzled by the minimal way the president's disordered behavior was covered on other MS NOW programs. For today, we thought you ought to see what viewers of the nation's most-watched "cable news" show were told about this two-day event.
We take you to the set of The Five, where an all-MAGA panel had been assembled for yesterday's imitation of life. Indeed, the former VJ Kennedy sat in the "liberal" chair. On such days, this ludicrous four-on-one program become a five-to-zero parody of a panel "news" discussion.
A bit of background: The second segment of the show was built out of recent events in Minnesota, starting with the widespread fraud event reported in this lengthy front-page report in Sunday's New York Times:
How Fraud Swamped Minnesota’s Social Services System on Tim Walz’s Watch
The fraud scandal that rattled Minnesota was staggering in its scale and brazenness.
Federal prosecutors charged dozens of people with felonies, accusing them of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from a government program meant to keep children fed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
At first, many in the state saw the case as a one-off abuse during a health emergency. But as new schemes targeting the state’s generous safety net programs came to light, state and federal officials began to grapple with a jarring reality.
Over the last five years, law enforcement officials say, fraud took root in pockets of Minnesota’s Somali diaspora as scores of individuals made small fortunes by setting up companies that billed state agencies for millions of dollars’ worth of social services that were never provided.
From the Blue political / policy perspective, it's a horrible news report. We were struck by the fact that the Times included Governor Walz right there in its headline.
It was the sudden prominence of those fraud prosecutions which led to the president's outbursts this week. But what were viewers of The Five told about those poisonous outbursts themselves?
We can't recommend that you watch the whole segment. The conversation involves the usual fact-challenged inanities performed by co-hosts Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld. Also, a lengthy side-trip about public corruption in Sierra Leone was conducted by co-host Dana Perino.
To watch the whole segment, start here.
Sad! That said, near the end of this imitation of life, what were Red American viewers told about the president's poisonous outbursts? Believe it or not—and with a minor surprise yet to come—this is what viewers now heard:
GUTFELD (12/3/25): Oh, one last thing! It's kind of refreshing to see Trump be able to say that stuff about Omar and not be called all these names, because that whole "identity politics" thing doesn't work any more...
According to Gutfeld, it was "kind of refreshing" to hear the things President Trump had said over the prior two days! To hear him say that Rep. Omar was "garbage." To hear him say that Rep. Omar's friends were "garbage" too!
Yes, that's what this very strange "newsman" said. But now we give you the kicker:
Viewers had never been shown the videotape of the poisonous things the president had said! As you can see if you watch the whole segment, viewers had seen the videotape of Omar's rebuttal to Trump—and Gutfeld went on to criticize her for saying that Trump's remarks were racist, without letting viewers see what he had actually said.
Gutfeld and Watters and Perino oh my! We're all in Alice's Wonderland now, and the timorous Blue American press corps still won't tell you about it!
How is it “racist” to denounce Somalians and their culture? Africa is a big continent composed of 54 nations and inhabited by people of various complexions. If a Somali disliked the U.S. and Americans would that be racism?
ReplyDeleteCould be yes. Could be other reasons of course. But for sure, you a still a bigot.
DeleteAnonymouse 4:40pm, that’s like your telling me that I’m a man. Duly noted (whatev…), but the racist label is coming from Bob. That merits some investigation.
DeleteIf you have to ask....you might be a racist.
DeleteJust sayin'.
Anonymouse 4:44pm, anonymouse logic- exactly. If you question it, you IS it… Again, I’m not questioning anonymouse silliness, I’m questioning Bob’s take.
DeleteBecause the Somalis in question are largely US citizens, many of them born here. I am glad that I could explain, Cecelia. Don't hesitate to ask for help again. It's not a sign of weakness.
DeleteIlya, and they are more than likely to have various complexions. It’s the dislike of a culture, not a race.
DeleteCecelia, it is a generalization about a people who are diverse, not all alike and certainly not as relentlessly negative as Trump portrays them.
DeleteTreating all people in a group as if they were the same as some negative stereotype is bigotry. It is racist because most people from Somalia are black and Trump holds negative stereotypes and views of all black people, regardless of their nationality and other characteristics. (Don't bother bringing up Clarence Thomas or Trump's black tokens, who he doesn't think any better of than other black people.)
Cecelia argues that Trump dislikes the Somalian culture. Trump doesn't know anything about that culture. He couldn't find Somalia on a map, even if you allowed him to read the country labels. To dislike a culture you need to know something about that culture. Trump is the most ignorant man in the country.
DeleteI'll bet Trump couldn't say what language is spoken in Somalia. I'll bet he doesn't know whether Muslims in Somalia are Sunni or Shiite. He has no idea what their culture is, other than believing they must be eating cats and dogs.
Cecelia, your comments here are a farce.
Allright, Cecelia, strictly speaking, Trump's statements were bigoted rather than racist. The charge of racism requires some interpolation from context and Trump's prior behavior. However, once that interpolation is applied, the charge is defensible.
DeleteIlya, so what if they’re US citizens. Many groups live in the US and have their own culture, outlook, and traditions, that are distinct from the larger culture. You can certainly see that as to what’s going on in Europe as to second generation Muslims. To carry that further, is it racist to say white males are bossy? White males think they’re God, etc. My take is that this is an opinion that is not about solely or intrinsically about skin color, strength, intellect, those sort immutable traits. It’s about attitudes, beliefs, traditions. It’s about culture.
DeleteQiB, do we have to pretend that we’re all the same and let everyone into the country? Must we do that? I certainly wouldn’t want Somolis to have to deal with my 95% of my Mississippi relatives.
DeleteCecilia - you ask how is trump calling Somali immigrants, most apparently here legally, "garbage' racist? you choose to characterize his remarks as "denouncing Somalians and their culture.," seeming to imply that there's nothing so bad about that. Seems to me that you are being disingenuous or dense. My view, out of step to some extent with a lot of dems, is that the dems have gone off the rails about "racism." It exists, but there is great exaggeration. But Somalis actually are black. Denouncing an entire group, who happen to black, for the actions of a few - lends itself to the charge of "racism." Would Trump call the entire Russian population of the world "garbage" - or the Germans or French or Canadians? [who knows what will be however]. Whether or not his calling the entire Somali people "garbage" is "racist", that is a vile thing for a POTUS to utter, and extremely stupid. Seems you are deflecting in your comment. And what is your thing about the shape of Somalis' heads? An attempt at humor?
DeleteAs previously stated, the charge of racism requires some interpretation of context.
DeleteWould Trump have said the same things about immigrants from a country made up of white people? I see no evidence that would ever happen.
AC/MA, by the same token, has Trump denounced Ethiopian culture? Kenyan culture? Angolan culture? They share continent and are not Caucasian. As to my observation concerning Somoli cranial shape…I’ve been informed that there is a medical explanation for it. Now go tip-toe thru the tulips all your life in order to avoid being denounced by politically motivated people who don’t really merit that concern.
DeleteFor me, the tells are the statements like these: "They destroyed our country," or "I don't want them in our country."
DeleteWho does the president refer to when he talks about "our" country. Yes, one could guess that he means native born Americans. I don't think that's what he meant though.
QiB, I’ve been told that I have a vested interest in a certain opinion, so…. you do too. Frankly, I’d screen every Muslim who came into the country like they were my future in-laws.
DeleteIt is obvious that racism is still one of the most powerful forces in America.
DeleteThe average Black family has only 15 cents for every dollar the average White family has (some sources have it as low as 8 cents).
Saying "Dems are off the rails about racism" is loony.
That Blacks lag in every significant metric is not an accident of culture or individual effort, it is the cumulative result of racist behavior: slavery, the Black Codes, convict leasing, Jim Crow, redlining, exclusion from the GI Bill, exclusion from SS for decades, predatory lending, mass incarceration, exclusion from homeownership booms, employment discrimination, etc.
Facing these forces, the wealth gap is exactly what you would expect.
Wealth is generational, racism is generational.
Race is a social construct.
Race is a function of racism - it would largely cease to exist if racism were to fade. This fade would take some time, since racism today is more structural than personal (although clearly still both, and increasingly so since Trump came to the fore).
Racism is relatively new, it dates back to 15th century Spain - Spanish Christian (Catholic) limpieza de sangre (purity of blood) - and was then crystallized with the racial Atlantic slave trade. As noted historian Barbara Fields puts it "They did not create slavery because they believed in racism. They created racism because they had slavery.”
Whiteness in America too is relatively new; following Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, Virginia enacted laws that made "White" a legal category, gave privileges exclusively to Whites, and gave harsher penalties to Blacks. This was the birth of the White/non White divide, racialized profiling, and state enforced segregation. Historian Theodore Allen calls this “The Invention of the White Race", and the goal was clear: prevent poor Whites and poor Blacks from uniting - divide and rule.
In modern times, right wing rhetoric takes the *form* of anti-division messaging ("stop talking about race, you're dividing us") but the *function* is to preserve racial hierarchy.
Sorry, but naming injustice is not the source of injustice. Right wingers want to silence calling out racism not so we can unite, but so that they can remain dominant — in part by using racism. As MLK said when facing criticism from right wingers "You deplore the demonstrations taking place, but fail to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.”
When right-wing politicians say that talking about racism is “divisive,” they are not calling for unity, they are calling for silence. Silence does not heal inequality; it protects it. It is a modernized version of divide-and-rule: keep the public from naming the hierarchy so the hierarchy remains intact.
Calling out racism isn’t what divides us. Racism, and the demand that we ignore it. is what divides us.
Ilya, and they are more than likely to have various complexions. It’s the dislike of a culture, not a race.
DeleteWhat culture? They are US citizens. Some small number of them are grifters. Trump, of all people, should appreciate that and have a warm spot in his heart for them.
7:03 well said, good to know that info, provides important context.
DeleteAnother important context is that the fraud in MN was actually from a white woman. Shouldn't Trump et al then be attacking whites and white culture? Most crime is done by whites/Christians.
Ilya, we don’t need a passport, a ship, or an airplane to encounter cultural differences. Why in the past election anonymices told us that black and Hispanic men are largely sexists.
DeleteThat sexism exists among some Dems is readily evident.
DeleteHowever, it is not a driving force with Dems as it is with Republicans.
Republicans always ignore asymmetry.
Furthermore, no one singled out sexism among all Black and Hispanic men; it was noted that among all Dems there remains issues of sexism - notably, based on voting, Whites engage in sexism at a higher rate than Blacks and Hispanics.
No, instead what was noted is that Trump received a somewhat higher percentage of Black and Hispanic male votes, but again, you have to pay attention to the details - those Black and Hispanic men were not switching their votes, they were primarily low propensity voters that Trump managed to motivate more than usual, by using inflammatory rhetoric that tends to divide us.
7:03 above provides some fascinating historical context, much appreciated.
@7:03 - I recommend you read, "Economic Facts and Fallacies," by Thomas Sowell. Sowell is black, raised in poverty in Harlem, so you can't accuse him of racism. He's also super-smart, so he's apt to be right.
DeleteOne fallacy he explains is that groups differ in many ways -- ways that are not always clear. Attributing a difference in wealth solely to racism is sloppy thinking.
Blacks suffered like no other group in America. It praiseworthy that you want to make of for centuries mistreatment. But, while I appreciate you genuine good will, I cannot overlook you economic ignorance.
No modern economist takes Sowell seriously, he is a joke in academia, he writes pop culture nonsense to provide cover for the corruption of his masters.
DeleteSowell is infamous for being a token abused by racists (and yes Blacks can engage in racism, particularly someone like Sowell who is primarily motivated to whitewash racism for personal gain).
It is true that wealth inequality is mostly driven by a broader urge for dominance; however, in America, concerning Blacks, racism is clearly the main driver, and ignoring this does not just indicate ignorance, it implicates racism.
Sowell is a Reaganomics trickle down right wing populist writer of roughly 50 books but has contributed precious little to the academic body of economic thought. To the extent that he appeals to rubes like DiC by reinforcing their prejudices he is revered by them as some kind of high level intellectual.
DeleteI agree with you @11:40 that Sowell hasn't contributed much to body of academic thought. But, Sowell demonstrated his brilliance in various other ways. Read his bio.
DeleteI have read a few of his books, there is nothing brilliant about Sowell, his views on economics are outdated/wrong, and his views on culture are beyond silly.
DeleteDavid you actually know nothing about Sowell or economics, you just have your talking points to mindlessly regurgitate.
As a single example of Powell's thought process, he has argued that the male/female wage gap is due to employers correctly assessing the relative inefficiencies that exist between the sexes in the workplace. His observations are commonly fact free examples of a prejudiced mindset. The fact that he is a proponent of Reaganomics despite decades of its empirical failure as economic policy attests to his overriding political bias.
DeletePowell= Sowell
DeleteThe hair splitting by Trump apologists above as to whether his commentary is an example of his racism versus cultural bias is humorous. Of course it's both.
Delete"Powell= Sowell"
DeleteAre you an Eastern European troll? Retarded Corby tells me you are, because P and S are not next to each other on keyboard.
Somerby is a racist.
ReplyDeleteIf he bothered to look into the case (and he may have and is being coy), he could have made a vastly different post today.
Here are the facts of the case:
------------------------------------------------
The Feeding Our Future fraud wasn’t designed by Somalis.
The mastermind was Aimee Bock, a white Christian woman and nonprofit director who controlled approvals, paperwork, and oversight failures.
Of the ~78 people charged, only six Somali-Americans have been convicted/plead guilty, and even those cases vary widely. Some knowingly committed fraud, but others believed they were participating in a legitimate federal program until it became clear the numbers didn’t add up. Several pleaded guilty because they were advised to do so once the system, designed by others, had pulled them in.
The structure of the scheme — created and normalized by non-Somali leadership — fits a well-known pattern where immigrant business owners are recruited into systems they neither design nor fully understand.
So framing the case as “Somali fraud” is factually wrong and racially inflammatory. It erases who actually created the scheme, who controlled the money flows, who normalized the paperwork practices, and who benefited most.
--------------------------------------
The NYT reporting is incompetent and uses classic framing techniques that exaggerate immigrant culpability and downplay structural or white-collar leadership roles; the NYT has a long, well documented pattern of putting their thumbs on the scale in developing narratives about immigrant communities (Chinese laundries, Italian mutual aid societies, Jewish charitable networks, Hispanic workers, etc), and this case fits that template perfectly.
In reality, this scheme was engineered by non-Somalis; a handful of Somalis were at worst intermediaries or low level participants, many did not understand the paperwork architecture controlled by the ringleader - a White Christian woman. The NYT collapses all the nuance into a sweeping cultural insinuation and moral panic, as they typically do.
Somerby does not challenge or criticize the NYT for its racial framing, just repeats it, because it might hurt Dems.
And then with a bit of sleight of hand, Somerby softens Trump and the Republicans' reaction by explaining it and rationalizing it to some extent. Somerby tries to reroute concern over racism to mere procedural criticism of cable news media.
Anonymouse 6:20pm, where you been?
DeleteThis is too rich! I am not usually as anti TDH as others, but my god is his blog today disgusting, completely obfuscating that the scandal was actually from a white woman, not Somalis - apparently Somalis were mostly the victims here.
DeleteI am starting to reconsider, maybe Bob does struggle with racism.
I caught a bit of this on NPR last evening; the bit about Aimee Bock, whom I am sure Trump will pardon, should this turn out to be a federal case.
DeleteAnyways, well done sketching things out!
You say twice that Aimee Bock is Christian. Do you have any evidence for that statement?
DeleteAimee Bock's Feeding Our Future was connected to many Christian organizations, and Aimee was highlighted as a "Christian leader" by another prominent Christian humanitarian aid organization.
DeleteSo Bob is a racist because he excerpted from a report in the NYT?
ReplyDeleteOh look, our resident excessively literal troll.
DeleteNo, it seems like the point being made is that Bob POINTEDLY quoted the NY Times article, which hid the pertinent fact that the fraud was actually from a white woman and wrongly put the bulk of the blame on Somalis; he did that in order to launder Republican racism, making it seem like the Trump/Republican reaction was more a reasonable reaction, slightly bigoted instead of an inherent trait of racism. The end result is that Bob spreads fear about Somalis, legitimatizes a misleading NY Times article, minimizes Trump's overt racism, and produces the exact racial implication he pretends to lament.
The Times article says "scores of people made small fortunes." Another article says there are 75 defendants. But you say it's all down to one white woman, so you can bash Bob with your cockamamie theories.
DeleteAs has been noted the Times article was biased and skewed, so its narrative is misleading. In reality, the fraud was led by a white Christian woman.
DeleteBrain-dead Zombie-in-Chief and his brain-dead tribe fail again:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hNK9ANeV1Q
Here is useful information on the scandal of Aimee Bock and the Somalis:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_Our_Future
Thanks for the article.
DeleteSo there's a table that lists 54 people convicted of crimes like wire fraud, money laundering, bribery. Of these 54, 52 have what appear to be Somali names.
So doesn't seem like it's all Aimee Bock. I'm sure 6:20 will apologize now for calling Bob a racist.
Apparently Aimee was the ringleader.
DeleteYes, many of the defendants were Somali-American, because the fraud ran through Somali-serving institutions.
DeleteBut the fact that a fraud follows community pathways does not mean the community caused the fraud.
Without the white-run nonprofit that orchestrated the scheme, and without the structural vulnerabilities of immigrant small-business owners, there is no fraud.
“Most defendants were Somali” is a demographic observation. Turning it into a cultural explanation is racism.
In reality this fraud originated and was implemented by a white Christian woman - Aimee Bock - the Somali community was targeted and exploited; they did not design the fraud, nor benefited the most, or even understand the scheme fully - they were structurally positioned where the fraud happened.
6:20 has nothing to apologize for.
These trolls like 10:01 never do competent research, they just find some out of context info to then hang their inaccurate and misleading narratives on.
Delete2:17,
Deleteare you saying that Somalis are too stupid to "originate" and "implement" (your terms) a large-scale fraud?
I'm sure your disgusting racist slur has nothing to do with reality.
ReplyDelete"According to Gutfeld, it was "kind of refreshing" to hear the things President Trump had said over the prior two days!"
Why, yes, and there is no need to act surprised, Bob.
In the context of decades of Democrat speech-stifling "political correctness" it is exactly "kind of refreshing". And disappearing this context makes you, Bob, one of the ritualistically bullshitting Democrats. Sorta like the professional Democrat bullshitter Jen Psaki.
And then, over the surreal plasma horizon arose a gargantuan fanny. It must have been several miles in width and height.
ReplyDeleteI immediately shielded my eyes as a show of respect.
However, had I known what was to unfold next, I would have shielded my ears and my nose.
As I opened my eyes to reassess the situation, the giant cheeks began flapping relentlessly and the loudest roar was heard, followed soon thereafter by a hurricane-force gust of foul-odor wind, nearly blowing me out of my shoes in a most dramatic fashion.