Media

Brian Kilmeade surprised his Fox & Friends co-hosts Thursday by breaking with the conservative line on Confederate monuments — declaring that Robert E. Lee shouldn't have a statue because he "made a choice, and it was the wrong choice."

The moment came after co-host Carley Shimkus noted that a Lee monument removed from a Charleston, South Carolina, school campus in 2021 had been put back on public display, and that Italian American groups had filed a federal lawsuit seeking to restore a Christopher Columbus statue removed from Columbus, Ohio's city hall in 2020.

Conservative podcaster Candace Owens is facing a firestorm from within her own movement after speaking at a Kremlin-backed forum in St. Petersburg alongside sanctioned Russian officials — and the backlash from the right has been savage.

Radio host Mark Levin fired the opening shot Wednesday, calling Owens a "Woke Reich traitor" on X. Far-right activist Laura Loomer went further, demanding a federal investigation into whether Owens violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act — and suggesting she may be "auditioning to be the female Edward Snowden so she can avoid all accountability…" Loomer also took personal shots at Owens, appearing to mock a possible pregnancy and making an unverified allegation about her husband, George Farmer, and drunk driving.

Down from seven correspondents to four on “60 Minutes” after CBS News head Bari Weiss took a wrecking ball to the popular Sunday night newsmagazine, there are fears about the coming season’s launch as well as its long-term viability.

According to the Washington Post, newly fired correspondent Scott Pelley “ignited a firestorm in a Monday meeting, questioning the credentials of the show’s new boss, Nick Bilton, accusing CBS News head Bari Weiss of 'murdering' the show, and demanding answers about why his colleagues, including fellow correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, were fired the previous Thursday.”

Joe Rogan used a wide-ranging conversation with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas on Wednesday to unload on the Trump administration's immigration enforcement — warning that a militarized, unidentified police force on American streets sets a dangerous precedent regardless of who's in power.

"It is a very slippery slope when you give people — and they're trained for seven weeks — this militarized police force that has no identification on the streets," Rogan said on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. "That's a precedent that you might like when it's for a cause that you support, but that could easily be for a cause that you do not support."

Fired “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley unloaded on CBS News head Bari Weiss in a statement on Wednesday morning after it was reported she told staffers the network tried to mend fences with the distinguished correspondent.

According to the New York Times, the controversial Weiss met with Pelley to go over his criticism of her tenure and for pointing out that newly anointed “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton was over his head and unqualified to oversee the legendary newsmagazine. He was later fired by email.

In the wake of the firing of longtime “60 Minutes” host Scott Pelley, there are growing concerns among the remaining staffers that the show may not be in a position to return on time to the airwaves after the summer hiatus.

The turmoil at CBS News' flagship program was intensified with the firing of longtime host Scott Pelley on Tuesday night.

Late Tuesday newly appointed executive producer Nick Bilton, who has faced criticism over his lack of relevant qualifications, fired off a blistering email terminating Pelley's employment "for cause effective immediately," reported Oliver Darcy of Status.

Bilton accused Pelley of "hijacking" his first staff meeting to "disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt." The email suggested Bilton had sought to find common ground before concluding that Pelley's "antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear."

The firings represent the latest upheaval at the program following CBS News head Bari Weiss's sweeping purge that included longtime executive producer Tanya Simon, correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, and Executive Editor Draggan Mihailovich, among other senior staffers.

Inside the newsroom, the instability has created serious doubts about whether the program can even get on the air by fall.

"One staffer told me before Pelley's firing they believed there was a 50/50 chance the program will be ready for air after Labor Day. That's because while '60 Minutes' does go on a summer hiatus, staffers are still hard at work filling the pipeline for the next season. Stories are green lit, correspondents are sent on shoots, etcetera. 13-minute stories of the '60 Minutes' caliber are not produced overnight," Darcy reported.

The uncertainty extends to basic operational questions. It remains unclear which correspondents will even be available to pursue stories.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz found himself on the other side of the tough questions Tuesday, fielding a pointed inquiry about President Donald Trump's unusually frequent medical exams during his turn at the White House briefing podium.

Daily Mail reporter Elina Shirazi didn't let Oz — filling in for Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave — off the hook.

Donald Trump's decision to hand the nation's intelligence apparatus to his housing regulator landed with a thud Tuesday — including among members of his own party.

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson, founder of RedState, didn't mince words about the pick. "Bill Pulte is one of the worst members of the President's team and has convinced Trump to do more stupid stuff than anyone else in the past year," Erickson wrote on X.

In the aftermath of the explosive first meeting between the remaining "60 Minutes” staffers and new Bari Weiss hand-picked executive producer Nick Bilton, executives at CBS News are picking through the rubble of the very public spectacle of a news organization in crisis.

According to media watchdog Status, during the brief 15-minute Monday meeting, noted 60 Minutes co-host Scott Pelley raked Bilton over the coals as Pelley pointed out that his boss, Weiss, has "no qualifications for her job" and added that Bilton has “slender qualifications for this job."

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin had few words Monday for his loudest MAGA critic: "He's irrelevant to me."

Asked at a press conference about retired Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino and "the criticism he's been leveling at the department," Mullin didn't blink. "I never met the guy. He's irrelevant to me. I don't know who he is," the secretary said, then moved on.

The first day of Pride Month sent the hosts of The Charlie Kirk Show into a tailspin, with the two men warning that rainbow logos and a celebratory June are quietly steering America toward demographic collapse.

"It's a month that's turned into a celebration of degeneracy," declared co-host Andrew Kolvet, the show's executive producer, who complained he didn't want Pride "stuffed in my face and down my throat."

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley confronted new executive producer Nick Bilton and another CBS executive Monday morning in what Guardian US media reporter Jeremy Barr described as a "heated meeting," pushing back forcefully on last week's mass firings at the storied newsmagazine.

Pelley didn't mince words about who he held responsible.

Tina Peters walked out of a Colorado prison Monday morning and headed for Steve Bannon's War Room — where the convicted election denier told the MAGA faithful she wants a job in the Trump administration.

"I would like for President Trump — I'd like to be more involved in prison reform," Peters said on the podcast, adding she'd pursue it "if that's the way the Lord leads me."