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Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
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‘Killed off Elmo': Jeffries brings along stuffed friend for stunt on House floor
Elmo has a friend, indeed. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., brought along a stuffed friend to help make a point on the House floor Thursday. Jeffries held up a stuffed Elmo doll while accusing Republicans of targeting beloved children's shows like "Sesame Street" in their push to slash federal spending."Today, we are on the floor of the House of Representatives debating legislation that targets Elmo. And Big Bird. And Daniel Tiger and 'Sesame Street,'" Jeffries said, waving the puppet as he railed against the GOP-led rescissions Sends $9.4 Billion Doge Cuts Proposal To Congress, Targeting Npr, Pbs The moment, widely circulated online, came during debate over the Republican-backed Proposed Rescissions of Budgetary Resources from President Trump, which would eliminate over $9 billion in unspent or low-priority federal funds. Among the targeted programs: $3 million in taxpayer support for an international version of Sesame Street in Iraq. Democrats objected to what they characterized as cultural and humanitarian vandalism disguised as fiscal responsibility. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., delivered one of the sharpest lines of the day: "While you all have killed off Elmo, I urge my colleagues to vote no on this trash and I yield back," Garcia said. Read On The Fox News App Republicans dismissed the theatrics and defended the package as a commonsense rollback of bloated, ideological spending. The bill also includes broader cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports PBS and NPR, long-time targets of fiscal conservatives who argue the taxpayer shouldn't subsidize public Lisa McClain, R-Mich., rebutted, "I never realized Elmo was more important to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the American people." House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., pushed back forcefully: "The Minority Leader held up a Sesame Street character here on the floor as if Sesame Street's somehow going to go away," Scalise said. Sesame Street's Pride Month Post Sparks Backlash From Republican Lawmakers Amid Pbs Funding Threats "I was watching a commercial on TV yesterday where the Cookie Monster was actually doing an advertisement for Netflix because a private company is paying money to run Sesame Street. It's not going away. It's doing just fine. Very lucrative." Scalise argued the bill doesn't threaten Sesame Street's survival, only its taxpayer subsidy, and called out what he described as "far-left, radical views" being promoted through outlets like NPR and PBS."There is still going to be a plethora of options for the American people," he said. "But if they are paying their hard-earned dollars to get content, why should your tax dollars go to only one thing that the other side wants to promote?" He concluded bluntly: "They can still watch Sesame Street in Iraq. But let the Iraqi people pay for it — not the taxpayers of the United States of America's children." Even more eyebrow‑raising was the inclusion of taxpayer‑funded global health spending for procedures like the line items flagged by GOP lawmakers: $3 million to subsidize circumcisions, vasectomies and condoms in Zambia, alongside similar grants for transgender surgeries in Nepal. Republicans contended that pulling back these types of low-impact or ideological slush funds was a logical first step toward returning more than $9 billion to the U.S. Treasury. The bill passed the House Appropriations Committee earlier this week and Senate Democrats have signaled strong opposition. The bill passed the House in a 214–212 vote. Four Republicans, Reps. Mark Amodei, R-Nev.; Mike Turner, R-Ohio; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; and Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., broke ranks to vote against the bill. All Democrats voted article source: 'Killed off Elmo': Jeffries brings along stuffed friend for stunt on House floor
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NPR chief admits dismissing Hunter Biden laptop story was a mistake
NPR CEO Katherine Maher conceded during her congressional testimony on Wednesday that her organization missed the mark in its lack of serious coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election. Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger were grilled by House Republicans on the newly formed Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee regarding accusations of biased news coverage backed by federal funding. "I do want to say that NPR acknowledges we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner," Maher told Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas. She later reiterated "we made a mistake" about not covering the laptop in a separate exchange with Rep. Brian Jack, R-Ga. Maher was named CEO of NPR in 2024, so she wasn't with the taxpayer-backed outlet at the time the story first broke. Npr, Pbs Chiefs Set To Clash With Gop Lawmakers During Doge Subcommittee Hearing The New York Post's bombshell reporting on the laptop was released in the heat of the 2020 election where then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden faced off against President Donald Trump. The story shed light on Hunter Biden's overseas business practices and his father's possible involvement, and the laptop also had shocking videos and photos of drug use and lewd acts. Read On The Fox News App Many mainstream news outlets disparaged the story at the time and even credulously repeated suggestions the laptop was a Russian disinformation operation. At the time, NPR public editor Kelly McBride addressed a listener's question about the news outlet's blackout of coverage. She said the Post's reporting had "many, many red flags," including its potential ties to Russia, and the assertions within the story weren't significant. "We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners' and readers' time on stories that are just pure distractions," NPR managing editor Terence Samuel told McBride. "And quite frankly, that's where we ended up, this was … a politically driven event, and we decided to treat it that way." Trump Says He'd Love To Yank Funding For Npr, Pbs, Would Be 'Honored' To See It End In a stunning tell-all essay published last April, then-veteran NPR editor Uri Berliner recalled the attitude of his liberal colleagues to the laptop revelations. "The laptop was newsworthy. But the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched," Berliner wrote. "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's reporting were confirmed and the emails verified independently about 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," he continued. Npr Editor Rebukes Own Outlet's Coverage Of Hunter Biden Laptop, Covid Lab Leak And Russiagate During her exchange with Cloud, Maher also acknowledged the legitimacy of the Wuhan lab-leak theory by the CIA after NPR previously dismissed speculation about the COVID pandemic's origins at the time. Maher remained adamant that NPR is a "nonpartisan" news organization despite her article source: NPR chief admits dismissing Hunter Biden laptop story was a mistake
