2X2 Report

Fox Business host Stuart Varney pressed Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) over Donald Trump’s recent claim that he will “go after” his political rivals if her returns to the Oval Office. During a Thursday morning interview on Varney & Co., the host played a clip of Trump suggesting he could use the DOJ to prosecute his rivals in a Wednesday evening sitdown with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Last week, the former president was found guilty by a Manhattan jury of 34 counts of falsifying business records regarding hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. Trump has claimed that his three other criminal indictments and his conviction last week are a result of “election interference” from President Joe Biden’s administration.

Former President Donald Trump cited five Fox News pundits and frequent network guest Alan Dershowitz to claim he did not commit the crimes he was convicted of committing. On Thursday, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments intended to prevent his extramarital affairs from becoming a campaign issue in 2016. Republicans have baselessly insisted that President Joe Biden was behind the prosecution. Trump is also under indictment in three other jurisdictions.

Former President Donald Trump absurdly claimed to Sean Hannity that he “thought it was terrible” when his rally crowds would start chanting “Lock her up!” — despite copious evidence to the contrary. Despite a recent effort to distance himself from them through lying, Trump has freely enjoyed chants of “Lock her up!” since the 2016 campaign — which his crowds were still chanting just last week. In an interview with Fox & Friends Weekend, Trump falsely claimed, “Hillary Clinton — I didn’t say lock her up, but the people said lock her up, lock her up.” Hannity scored an exclusive interview with Trump, to which he devoted Wednesday night’s edition of Fox News Channel’s Hannity.

Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin took U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to task for kicking the can down the road yet again in Donald Trump’s criminal case in Florida. The former president has been indicted in federal court for what Special Counsel Jack Smith says was his willful retention of classified material after leaving office. Prosecutors alleged Trump attempted to obstruct their retrieval by the government. Cannon, who was appointed to her post by Trump in 2020, has made a series of rulings that have confounded legal experts, who say she is slow-walking the case to ensure that it does not begin before November’s election, when Trump is slated for a rematch with President Joe Biden. Last month, Cannon flat-out postponed the trial indefinitely.

MSNBC’s Joy Reid called Missouri a “slave state” over their restrictive abortion laws, claiming pregnant women are the “property” of their husbands and the state. Reid was joined on Wednesday by Claire McCaskill, a former senator from Missouri, and Reid ripped into Missouri after McCaskill said abortion access in the state has gotten “nuts.” The segment was centered on Senate Republicans blocking a bill this week that was built to protect access to contraceptives for women. “This didn’t have to be a show vote. All the Republicans had to do was vote yes,” McCaskill said.

As a former Judge, Jeanine Pirro is expected to offer wise and measured legal and political analysis to Fox News, the network that employs her. Unfortunately, that judgment was not on full display Thursday afternoon when she fell for a fake clip posted by the Republican party that purported to show President Joe Biden looking to sit down in a chair that was not there to show how Biden is “not home” or mentally deficient and can not serve as commander in chief. The thing is, however, the clip, as presented, was not at all similar — in fuller context — to what actually transpired.

Sure, buddy.

We already knew this but it's nice to see official confirmation from the sellou--- I mean, the authorities. SUPORT THE CHANNEL

He said the meme...LOL.

Sonny should retire under the stupid nonsense clause of her contract -

too fragile to stand trial for stolen top secret documents, but wants to fight everyone that calls him out on his blatant lies, pathetic.

18% is way too low.

A drug addict telling us how to think. No.

Oof. Donald Trump’s historic conviction has sent shockwaves through America’s political landscape. Many are calling the verdict ‘politically motivated’ while others joyfully celebrate; including some of Piers Morgan’s guests for his debate on the ruling. Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary, criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos, Daily Wire commentator Michael J. Knowles and progressive political activist Francesca Fiorentini hold nothing back as Piers discusses the potential backlash the case could cause for the Democrats down the line. Michael and Francesca in particular trade arguments and insults over what is sure to become a political firestorm.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that former President Trump could be a loser president

Dr. Anthony Fauci faulted Fox News and prominent conservatives for the death threats he has received since overseeing the nation’s Covid-19 pandemic response in 2020. The former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases testified on Capitol Hill on Monday before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Republicans have accused Fauci of recommending draconian precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and have alleged he covered up the origins of the virus by suppressing evidence showing it was created in a lab in China. Predictably, the hearing was a dramatic affair, complete with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) refusing to address Fauci as “Doctor.” Later in the evening, he appeared on CNN’s The Source, where Kaitlan Collins asked him about death threats he has received.

CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju asked several House Republicans representing swing districts about Donald Trump’s conviction in New York. The former president and presumptive GOP presidential nominee was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Republicans have decried the verdict as the result of political persecution. The GOP holds a narrow majority in the House heading into November’s election. In interviews that ran during Monday’s OutFront on CNN, Raju spoke with Republicans in swing districts who are hoping to hold their seats even though their party’s leader is a convicted felon.

Fox News Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume deemed it “political malpractice” for Donald Trump’s media surrogates to attack former Republican Governor Larry Hogan, who is the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in Maryland. Polls show a tight race in deep-blue Maryland in an election cycle in which Republicans hope to retake the Senate. Last week, Hogan rubbed Trump allies the wrong way with a boilerplate remark about the former president’s criminal trial in New York. After news broke that the jury had reached a verdict, Hogan urged “all Americans to respect the legal process” and “the rule of law.” Soon after, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Hogan’s anodyne post drew the ire of Trump backers, including the ex-president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who called his remarks “ridiculous.” Meanwhile, an adviser to the former president tweeted at Hogan, “You just ended your campaign.”

Fox News anchor John Roberts responded with receipts to President Joe Biden’s campaign accusing him of a “blatant lie” after he noted that insulin co-pays had dropped to $35 under former President Donald Trump. “Fox host tries to claim Trump, not President Biden, capped insulin at $35/month,” Biden’s campaign wrote on X, following up with a “FACT CHECK” that branded the message a “blatant lie” and argued the current president deserves credit for lowering insulin co-pays through the Inflation Reduction Act.

Michael Richards addressed his 18-year-old comedy club meltdown where he hurled racial slurs at a heckler, telling the hosts of The View he “cancelled” himself out of Hollywood after the incident. While performing at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles in 2006, Richards was captured on camera hurling racial slurs as he insulted a heckler who told he wasn’t funny. Richards is best known for starring as the character Kramer on Seinfeld from 1989-1998. “I don’t believe in cancel culture,” Sunny Hostin told Richards. “I believe in consequence culture, and you’ve paid a lot of consequences.”

Fox News’ Bill Melugin poured cold water over President Joe Biden’s new attempt at addressing the crisis at the southern border on Tuesday, arguing that Biden still intended to bring “tens of thousands of migrants” into the country every month. After playing a clip of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) criticizing Biden for not taking action earlier and describing Biden’s executive order now as “window dressing,” Sandra Smith asked Melugin for his thoughts. “I mean, think about how many years we’ve been down here doing live shots, showing these massive lines of people waiting, almost like they’re in line at Disneyland just to get processed by Border Patrol, smiling, waving to our cameras, thumbs up, no fear of deportation year after year after year. And we kept hearing from the White House year after year: ‘There’s no crisis at the border. It’s not an issue,'” began Melugin.

Maher should be happy. A second Trump presidency gives him four more years of material calling Trump and his supporters dangerous and blabbity blah blah blah.

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy blasted longtime nemesis Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), saying that the lawmaker should be convicted of having sex with underage females. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice said it was declining to bring charges against Gaetz after it investigated whether he had sexual relations with a minor. Though criminal charges are seemingly off the table, Gaetz is the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe regarding possible sex trafficking. The committee has reportedly reached out to a woman, who was 17 at the time of an alleged sexual encounter with the congressman. In October, Gaetz filed a motion to oust McCarthy as speaker that was ultimately successful. Gaetz alleged that he moved against McCarthy over broken promises, but the former speaker denies this and said Gaetz wanted him to quash the Ethics investigation, which he refused to do. The Floridian reportedly admitted as much to colleagues in private. Seven Republicans joined Gaetz and all House Democrats in voting to remove McCarthy.

Trump attorney Alina Habba was grilled in a BBC interview about whether or not former President Donald Trump will run for president “even if he’s locked up” in a “jail cell.” Habba has been making the rounds since the jury in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial returned “guilty” verdicts on all 34 felony counts last Thursday — and Judge Juan Merchan scheduled sentencing for July 11. That sentencing looms large, as Trump maintains a defiant public facade even as those close to him have consistently said he dreads the prospect of going to jail.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) went off on his Republican colleagues after a hearing erupted into a brawl over whether to refer to Dr. Anthony Fauci as “Doctor.” On Monday, Dr. Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and head of the team that advised then-President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden during the COVID-19 pandemic, testified at a hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. That contentious hearing devolved into chaos when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) refused to call Fauci a doctor, and was scolded by the chair.