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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Fox News' Laura Ingraham has always been against the Iran war, unless you count when she supported it. Many such cases in the next few years, I'd guess

mediamatters.org

Laura Ingraham is rewriting her mealy-mouthed acquiescence of the Iran war into opposition from the beginning

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Reposted by John Knefel

sam @samthielman.com · 18/09/2026

He's done it before, he can do it again!

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade isn't satisfied with losing the Iran war. He'd like to lose another war to Ansar Allah (the Houthis) too

mediamatters.org

Fox & Friends keeps pushing Trump to expand the Iran war to Yemen

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

After publication, an email from someone purporting to be John Goodman, a right-wing activist pushing Trump to issue a national emergency declaration, emailed Media Matters. The person called Brian Kennedy a "hack" and "a rhino," probably intending to use the term RINO. Grab a seat, they're fighting

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A grim moment for Steve Bannon today when his guest admitted that a national emergency declaration -- the lynchpin of Bannon's plot to subvert the midterms -- would likely be overturned by the Supreme Court. Bannon was positively deflated by the end of the show

mediamatters.org

Steve Bannon’s guest admits that a national emergency declaration on elections would likely be overturned by the Supreme Court

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Who is the Las Vegas media gadfly pushing Trump to declare a national emergency and seize power over election systems? Meet Wayne Allyn Root, a pundit in Trump's orbit who spread birther conspiracy theories and falsely claimed the Las Vegas mass shooting was done by ISIS

mediamatters.org

Who is Wayne Allyn Root, the right-wing pundit pushing Trump to undermine the midterms?

Wayne Allyn Root, a right-wing media figure in President Donald Trump's orbit who has spent years spreading conspiracy theories, is trying to advance a plot to subvert the upcoming midterm elections b...

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Reposted by John Knefel

John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Some of Fox News' biggest names amplified the CBS News story yesterday smearing El-Sayed and misrepresenting comments he made about Covid an 9/11. Under David Ellison and Bari Weiss, CBS News now has the distinct honor of generating outrage slop for Murdoch media

mediamatters.org

Top Fox News hosts criticize El-Sayed for 9/11 comments that mirror their colleagues’

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

mediamatters.org

Top Fox News hosts criticize El-Sayed for 9/11 comments that mirror their colleagues’

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

CBS News trying to manufacture a scandal out of drawing comparisons between the pandemic and 9/11 death tolls. The thing is, that point of comparison was incredibly common at the time. It was everywhere, and trying to smear El-Sayed now is disgusting, if totally predictable under Weiss and Ellison

mediamatters.org

Embracing blatant Islamophobia, CBS News makes bizarre attempt to tie El-Sayed to 9/11

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

By any objective measure, Trump has failed in his war of aggression against Iran. But, what if the opposite was true? What if victory was at hand? That would really be something. Luckily for the White House, that alternative reality is just one right-wing cable news program or MAGA livestream away

mediamatters.org

The delusional right-wing media figures declaring victory in Iran

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Chris Van Hollen is thus far the only 2028 contender in the Senate calling for the Trump admin to free a 20-year-old American from Israeli detention. Nothing from Gallego, Booker, Kelly, Murphy, Ossoff, Slotkin, or Warnock.

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

For MS NOW, I wrote about MAGA media's fixation on a supposed "red-green alliance" and how they're relying on Islamophobia and the specter of socialism to hold their fracturing coalition together (pretty solid graphic too!)

ms.now

Opinion | Why MAGA media is obsessing over a fictional ‘red-green alliance’

Right-wing pundits are trying to hold their coalition together by pushing a supposed pact between communists and Islamists.

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Bannon predicted that Trump will declare a national emergency on elections the last week of August. "It's coming," he said last night. Guest Wayne Allyn Root had previously said that Trump's declaration would come in Aug or Sept and claims to have been in direct contact with the president about it

mediamatters.org

Steve Bannon predicts Trump will issue national security declaration on elections in late August

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Some MAGA pundits have scaled back their maximalist goals from the start of the Iran war, revealing a growing despondency among that cohort. EG, Benny Johnson has gone from wanting to rebrand the Strait of Hormuz in America's image to acquiescing to Iranian control if it brings gas prices down

mediamatters.org

The growing MAGA media despondency over the Iran war quagmire

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I spoke with @wajali.bsky.social about the Trump admin's plot to subvert the midterms, & how it is inseparable from the anti-immigrant bigotry that animates MAGA media. The racist "great replacement" theory braids election denialism and nativism together and they need to be understood as one issue

thelefthook.substack.com

This is the GOP's Plan to Steal the Election

Like helpful Bond supervillains, Trump and Republicans have already shared and begun their plans to try to steal or subvert the upcoming elections. How come nobody is stopping them?

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Reposted by John Knefel

Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

We're talking about the GOP's Plot to Steal the Election with Media Matters Senior Writer John Knefel. It's happening in plain sight. The 3 step process is underway. Join us now. thelefthook.substack.com

thelefthook.substack.com

The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali | Substack

A political, cultural, and intellectual playground for the rest of us with writer Wajahat Ali. Click to read The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali, a Substack publication with hundreds of thousands of subscr...

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

As Trump's war with Iran congeals into a state of "no war, no peace, no ceasefire, no shipping" (with "more war" the most likely next option) it's remarkable to go back to what right-wing pundits were saying in March. It was "Mission Accomplished" nearly everywhere you looked

mediamatters.org

As the Iran war teeters on the brink, let's revisit the numerous "Mission Accomplished" moments from right-wing media in early March

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Reposted by John Knefel

Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

"We know that he is being tortured. We know that he is being held in an underground prison. We know that he is being held without any charges... I do not understand how people who speak about law and human rights can allow my father to be treated this way. And, it isn’t just my father."

zeteo.com

‘My Father Is a Hero’: Detained Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s Son Speaks to Zeteo

‘Being a doctor is not a crime,’ Elyas Abu Safiya tells Zeteo’s Diana Buttu, as his father’s health behind Israeli bars deteriorates rapidly.

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

This appears to be part of an emerging plot that has three stages: 1) release documents purportedly showing foreign interference (probably China) in US elections, 2) declare a national emergency, 3) issue an executive order along the lines of the SAVE America Act. More context here

mediamatters.org

The plot to subvert the midterms is getting stranger and more dangerous

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Former Colorado election official Tina Peters has been on a right-wing media tour since leaving prison. She's talked extensively about meeting with Trump in the White House and urging him to sign executive orders to curtail voting rights. Appears to be part of a larger plot to subvert the midterms

mediamatters.org

Tina Peters' right-wing media tour: Endless conspiracy theories about voter fraud and boasts about advising Trump on how to fix it

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Reposted by John Knefel

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

After Jan. 6, 2021, and all the treasonous MAGA moves before and after, we need to get serious about the threat that they'll again try to steal an election. This Media Matters story is not panicky or overblown. It simply states what MAGA extremists want to do, based on what they've said and done.

mediamatters.org

The plot to subvert the midterms is getting stranger and more dangerous

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

This is a weird one but stay with me. It seems that Steve Bannon, John Solomon, Cleta Mitchell, and two top officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are forming a plot to subvert the midterm elections by declaring Chinese interference in US elections as a national emergency

mediamatters.org

The plot to subvert the midterms is getting stranger and more dangerous

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Right-wing podcaster Steve Stern, who hosts calls with election deniers, praised Christina Norton when she ran the RNC's so-called election integrity shop in 2024. Stern complimented her a few times on Bannon's show. She's now a top official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

mediamatters.org

New top intelligence official Christina Norton was praised in election conspiracy theory discussions on Steve Bannon’s podcast

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Snide response is these people are losers who can’t win shit (correct) but the more substantive take is they are capital’s bulwark against rising working class power and that’s a legitimate problem given the US system

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

In March, JD Vance attended a donor event hosted by Rockbridge, a network of conservative elites helmed by Chris Buskirk. Buskirk also publishes American Greatness, which three days ago posted a full-throated defense of Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech.

Rivers of Blood: Remembering Enoch Powell, Belfast, and Henry Nowak
On the birthday of Enoch Powell, his “Rivers of Blood” warning is revived amid UK immigration tensions, recent violent incidents, and renewed calls for “remigration.”

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

The workers are making less but producing more value, and the owner doesn't have a problem with that? Well, I suppose that's the end of the story

Tipping isn't customary in many countries, but in the U.S., tips are central to workers' pay.

Anne Calimano, who co-owns Hurley's Saloon in Manhattan, told the New York Post her bar has been jam-packed with the NBA Finals and the World Cup, and her staff has learned to roll with the confusion.
"They know they're not going to get the 20% or whatever. And they're fine because they're busy and they're making money."

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Right-wing media figures, especially in Murdoch world, are furious at the MOU between the US and Iran. A Fox contributor said: "This doesn't feel like a victory." No, no it doesn't, because it isn't.

mediamatters.org

The right-wing media revolt against Trump’s proposed MOU with Iran

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Right-wing media figures, especially in Murdoch world, are furious at the MOU between the US and Iran. A Fox contributor said: "This doesn't feel like a victory." No, no it doesn't, because it isn't.

mediamatters.org

The right-wing media revolt against Trump’s proposed MOU with Iran

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

The feedback loop between Trump and Fox News has been a defining feature of the Iran war. Now, the network's hawks may get the escalation they've wanted since the paper-thin ceasefire started in early April

mediamatters.org

Fox’s Iran hawks are getting the escalation they’ve wanted

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

An ill-conceived, short but brutal bombing campaign? Why, wherever could Trump have gotten that idea?

mediamatters.org

Fox News is selling Trump the fantasy that he could defeat Iran in “two weeks"

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Whatever Trump ends up doing next, it's worth noting that his semi-official advisors at Fox News have spent months telling him he can achieve a military victory over Iran in two weeks

mediamatters.org

Fox News is selling Trump the fantasy that he could defeat Iran in “two weeks"

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Several talking heads at Fox News have spent months selling Trump on the fantasy that victory in Iran is a mere "two weeks" away, if only he'd unleash the U.S. and Israeli militaries. No reason to believe it but it's all the more worrisome given Trump's promise to retaliate for the downed helicopter

mediamatters.org

Fox News is selling Trump the fantasy that he could defeat Iran in “two weeks"

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

There's a right-wing media campaign to discredit the Medicaid home health care program, which millions of people with disabilities & elderly people rely on. It's the same playbook the right used to go after day care centers in MN -- this time in OH, also targeting Somali communities there

mediamatters.org

Right-wing media’s focus on fraud paves the way for cuts to Medicaid home healthcare services

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

There are flashing red signals in energy markets, but right-wing media figures are doing everything they can to reassure their audiences the higher costs will be short-lived. Some are appealing to notion of shared sacrifice to prop up this unprovoked and profoundly stupid war (my words, not theirs)

mediamatters.org

Oil executives warn of imminent price spike as right-wing media downplay risks

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Reposted by John Knefel

Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergfeed.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Exclusive: How a prisoner ended up alone in the war court in a death penalty case at Guantanamo Bay. --A look back at a most unusual pretrial hearing in the long-drawn-out 9/11 case at the place the Pentagon calls Camp Justice. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/03/u...

nytimes.com

How a Prisoner Ended Up Alone in Court in a Death Penalty Case

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Right-wing media figures are doing everything they can to support the Trump administration's efforts to enact regime change in Cuba

mediamatters.org

Right-wing media team up with the Trump administration to sell regime change in Cuba

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Reposted by John Knefel

Vesper Henry @newsrepertoire.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I am heartbroken to announce that I am no longer at Media Matters for America due to the hostile litigation campaign against the organization. I dedicated nearly four years to improving LGBTQ coverage in mainstream media & challenging right-wing propaganda. It wasn't easy, but I am proud of it. 🧵

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Media Matters for America @mmfa.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Fox News personalities are encouraging Trump to begin bombing Iran again as a tenuous ceasefire shows potential signs of collapse.

mediamatters.org

Fox News figures push for Trump to start bombing Iran again

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Fox News figures are desperately pushing for Trump to start bombing Iran again. At least two sit on the boards of directors of defense contractors that could benefit from a resumption of active hostilities.

mediamatters.org

Fox News figures push for Trump to start bombing Iran again

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Right-wing media is turning to an old playbook as Trump's unpopular war with Iran curdles: Blame the press. It may be the only lesson conservative media learned from the Vietnam War.

mediamatters.org

Right-wing media's last ditch defense of Trump's Iran war: Blame the press

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Who remembers the Friedman Unit?

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

I wrote about Gen. Jack Keane, one of Fox's most vocal cheerleaders for the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, who also happens to sit on the board of directors of two military contractors. The network doesn't seem to have disclosed this conflict of interest over at least 59 appearances on Fox News/Business

mediamatters.org

Retired Gen. Jack Keane is a major Fox News Iran war hawk. The network appears not to have disclosed that he sits on the board of two defense contractors.

Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane is a vocal supporter of the Iran war from his perch as a Fox News senior strategic analyst, regularly arguing that the United States and Israel should escalate their joint...

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

mediamatters.org

Retired Gen. Jack Keane is a major Fox News Iran war hawk. The network appears not to have disclosed that he sits on the board of two defense contractors.

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John Knefel @johnknefel.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Whatever this means specifically, more generally the United States and Israel have already jointly carried out a genocide, specifically in Gaza. Once that line is crossed and those actions justified, there is no limit to what these countries can and will do

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