Media Matters

Friday

Cockburn

How the Big, Beautiful Bill got through the House

At the start of the week, The Spectator wondered how on earth Speaker Mike Johnson would get the Big, Beautiful Bill through the House, in the face of unified Democratic party opposition and seemingly intractable divides on the GOP side. The answer, it turns out, involved copious amounts of alcohol, side deals, naps, late-night staff shifts and the Democratic gerontocracy. Congressman Gerry Connolly’s sudden death on Wednesday shocked Washington. It also proved to be a boon to Johnson’s math. The Speaker ended up with more wiggle room, because one Republican who failed to vote slept through the late-night final tally. After months of debate, the House passed the bill 215-214; it now heads to the Senate, which is poised to change it and send it back.

big, beautiful bill

Monday

Cockburn

Ex-Media Matters influencer runs for Congress

Ex-Media Matters influencer Kat Abughazaleh announced a run for the US Congress today, telling Democrats, “It’s time to drop the excuses and grow a fucking spine.” Abughazaleh is fed up with the Democrats “cowering to Trump,” and says the party should be “standing up to authoritarians, not shrinking away when the fight gets tough.” So she decided to run herself. I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I'm running for Congress. pic.twitter.com/tEtaNcc5xL — Kat Abughazaleh (@abughazalehkat) March 24, 2025 The young graduate of George Washington University is bidding for the House seat of the 9th district of Illinois, where she will be facing off against 80-year-old incumbent Jan Schakowsky, who has now served the Prairie State for more years than Abughazaleh has been alive.

Kat Abughazaleh

Friday

Cockburn

Fox you, Media Matters!

You’d think Fox Corporation would be sick of lawsuits by now — but there’s life in the old dog yet. The company has sent a letter to Media Matters for America, after the left-wing watchdog spent the week drip-feeding what they’ve brazenly titled “FOXLEAKS.” So far the “scoops” consist of... Tucker Carlson cracking a few jokes between segments.Fox lawyers write that the footage was “unlawfully obtained.” This has ruined Cockburn’s chances of winning $5, because he was sure Fox were the leakers. Cockburn’s second guess was Abby Grossberg, the former Tucker booker suing her old bosses for maintaining a toxic work environment — but a source familiar with the show says they don’t think it’s Abby.

media matters

Tuesday

Kara Kennedy

Don’t ban harmless office humor

Work is hard, no matter what form it takes. I’ve toiled away as a waitress at a busy chain restaurant and I’ve also worked in the biggest newsroom in London. Both were highly stressful, both had me swearing like a sailor — and both were more fun when it was hectic. Silence is far more anxiety-inducing than marginally-orchestrated chaos.  Tucker Carlson, fired from Fox News last week, has been chastised for his office etiquette after videos surfaced showing him bantering with colleagues and guests.

vice president tucker carlson

Tuesday

Amber Duke

Confirmed: Media Matters is a garbage place

Timothy Johnson, a "researcher" with Media Matters for America, announced Monday that he had left the organization after ten years — and apparently not on amicable terms. Johnson not only accused his former boss of covering for a sexual predator, but offered a rare mea culpa for his time with Media Matters. Maybe —  just maybe — he notes, the organization dedicated to using out-of-context quotes, spurious accusations, and old tweets to destroy the livelihoods of its political enemies is not the virtuous place he thought it to be. In a long tweet thread, Johnson claims that Media Matters editorial director Ben Dimiero knew for years that a male staff member was engaging in sexual misconduct but did nothing to stop him. He writes: This man suddenly resigned.

Sunday

Amber Duke

The left’s real cause is muzzling its opponents

In February 2019, I appeared on the now-defunct NRATV to discuss anti-Semitic comments that Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib had made. Timothy Johnson, a so-called researcher for Media Matters for America who has spent nearly a decade lying in wait for conservative pundits, was watching. He didn’t like that I opposed the new de facto leaders of the Democratic party. In revenge, he posted several screenshots of inappropriate jokes about Jewish people I made on Twitter seven years earlier. The screenshots went viral. My mentions and DMs flooded with demands for an apology, calls for my firing and orders that I kill myself. Bookers reached out to tell me that upcoming television and radio appearances were canceled.

amber athey

Friday

Andy Ngo

How I became an ‘extremist’ overnight

Ever since being beaten and robbed by Antifa in Portland in June, I have continued to receive threats of violence, which have prompted attention from police. But the scale of the abuse I received on Tuesday morning after waking up was unprecedented. The source of the rage? A Daily Beast hit piece headlined, 'Right-wing star Andy Ngo exits Quillette after damning video surfaces.' This was followed by another story in the Washington Examiner, shared in a tweet, which said I was out at Quillette 'after controversial video surfaces showing him doing nothing to stop or report violent attack.' This was followed by more hit pieces on VICE and Media Matters.

andy ngo extremist

Friday

Cockburn

Tucker Carlson’s show hits #1 spot

There have been endless, gleeful reports about Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show losing nervous corporate advertisers. Far less attention has been paid to the fact that, for the last few days, his news show’s ratings have been creeping up. A week is a long time in politics, and an eternity on rolling news. On Sunday night, things looked bad for Tucker. He was trending nationally on Twitter after Media Matters surfaced old radio interviews in which he made some rather unsavory remarks. Influential public figures like Alyssa Milano from Charmed were campaigning for his ouster. It seemed like the presenter had a real risk of being #canceled by the outrage brigades. But a lot can happen in five days.

tucker carlson media matters