M.L. Nestel joined Raw Story in 2023. An award-winning writer and editor, his work has been published in New York Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine and The Guardian, among other titles. He also produces and writes for true-crime genre TV shows. Prior to that, he served on the Newsweek masthead as a senior writer, wrote as a correspondent at ABC News and held the titles of West Coast bureau chief and senior writer at The Daily Beast. Priors also include working as senior national correspondent at The Daily Mail and investigative reporter at all three NYC tabloids: The New York Post,The New York Daily News and Newsday. He traveled around the country as a national correspondent at The Daily. M.L. published hundreds of stories about underground music and cinema — most notably as a critic for Box Office Magazine and the New York editor at Soma Magazine. He also headed development at Fountainhead Films. M.L. splits his time between Los Angeles and New York.
Decorum remained on the sidelines for a few seconds on CNN when a Republican operative tangoed with a Democratic strategist over whether he approved of a "felon and a crack addict" sitting in on White House senior staff meetings.
"Are you comfortable, Jamal, are you comfortable with Hunter Biden running White House senior staff meetings," Republican Scott Jennings said, goading Democrat Jamal Simmons. "Do you think this is good? Do you think this is good?"
What appeared to set off Jennings were revelations of Biden's questionable physical and mental health following last week's abysmal debate performance.
The New York Times confirmed that the mental lapses on display before 50 million people in the debate were not an anomaly and had become far more frequent.
"This is what you call a high-speed come apart," Jennings said. "The White House is off the rails. The president has effectively admitted tonight that he is not up to both campaigning for president and being president."
"I don't know where we're going from here but this has been a momentous day and I'll be shocked if there aren't more Democrats who come out and say what are we doing, we are walking into disaster if we stick with this."
Simmons gently reminded Jennings that Trump comes with conviction baggage of his own as he pursues his White House run.
"Are we sure, Scott, that you weren't talking about the criminal felon that had the secret documents that he was holding in his bathroom in Mar-a-Lago?"
Jennings snapped, raising his voice and pointing at the camera.
"Listen... I'm asking," he said trying to calm himself. "We're talking about Joe Biden — we're talking about Joe Biden tonight who is admitting to his own donors, people in your party that he can't both perform and campaign and you want to talk about the Mar-a-Lago documents case which is not going to come to trial before November."
"This is the sitting president you worked for him. I want to know if you were in a senior staff meeting would you want Hunter Biden looking over your shoulder that's my question?"
