Cross-Examination

• Laken Riley’s mother excoriates Biden: Following Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech, wherein he referred to Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered in Georgia allegedly by an illegal alien, as “Lincoln,” social media lit up over the gaffe. Laken’s mother, Allyson Phillips, blasted Biden in a post on Facebook: “Biden does not even KNOW my child’s name — it’s pathetic! If you are going to say her name (even when forced to do so) at least say the right name!” Biden’s unscripted comment on Riley’s murder came as Donald Trump has been hammering him over his incompetence for failing to secure the border, calling it “a Biden invasion.” Making matters worse, Biden didn’t worry so much about mispronouncing Laken’s name as calling her killer an illegal.

• “Fiery” and “feisty” Joe ignites media: By now, it’s a wonder that Donald Trump hasn’t folded up the tent and called it quits on the 2024 race, such was the fire-and-brimstone magnificence of Joe Brandon’s State of Confusion the Union speech last Thursday. Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey suggests, with a heap of damning evidence, that the mainstream media colluded on a common theme with which to describe the speech and thereby bail out the Bad Ship Biden. As The Washington Post put it, “Fiery Biden takes on GOP, makes case for second term.” And Reuters: “Biden takes on Trump and Republicans in fiery State of the Union speech.” And the Associated Press: “Biden uses feisty State of the Union to contrast with Trump.” So, you see, the speech was both fiery and feisty, not nasty and divisive. Indeed, so powerful and persuasive was the speech that it prompted an op-ed advocating against the attendance of any Supreme Court justices at all future SOTU speeches, lest they themselves fall under the spell of a rhetorician as beguiling as Scranton Joe. Or perhaps the author’s intent was simply to prevent the justices from having to endure the sort of despicable scolding and threatening that this out-of-control president hit them with last Thursday.

• Biden’s hot mic faux pas: As Joe Biden was greeting and conversing with several Democrat lawmakers after giving his State of the Union speech, he was conveniently caught on a hot mic making a faux pas. Biden was overheard telling Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), “I told him, Bibi — don’t repeat this — ‘You and I are going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting.’” At that point, he was interrupted by an aid, who alerted him to the hot mic. Biden responded: “I’m on a hot mic here? Good. That was good.” The following day, at a campaign stop in Philadelphia, a reporter asked Biden about the comment, to which he answered, “You guys eavesdropping on things." While Biden’s reference to a "come to Jesus” moment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who obviously is Jewish, over the war against Hamas may have been a faux pas, it served to show the Democrats’ pro-Palestinian constituents that Joe is supposedly getting tough with Israel.

• Rigged J6 Committee withheld exculpatory evidence on Trump’s call for National Guard deployment: Just when we thought the reputation of Nancy Pelosi’s homogenous January 6 Committee couldn’t sink any lower, Liz Cheney comes along and sneers, “Hold my Chardonnay.” As it turns out, the Trump-deranged former Wyoming Republican congresswoman and her crew suppressed evidence that Trump pushed for a massive National Guard presence at the nation’s Capitol on January 6 to protect against possible violence, according to a previously hidden transcript. As The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway writes: “Cheney and her committee falsely claimed they had ‘no evidence’ to support Trump officials’ claims the White House had communicated its desire for 10,000 National Guard troops. In fact, an early transcribed interview conducted by the committee included precisely that evidence from a key source. The interview, which Cheney attended and personally participated in, was suppressed from public release until now.” Indeed, according to Hemingway’s extensive reporting, the rigged committee not only mischaracterized key conversations between the Trump White House and the Department of Defense, but it also hid those conversations from view. There’s a technical term that’s often used to describe what Cheney and her committee colleagues have done here. That term? Lie. What will ultimately come of it in this irreparably rigged town? Crickets and tumbleweeds.

• Did anyone know the Oscars were last night? We certainly didn’t. But the show must go on, as they say, and it did yesterday evening despite the efforts of pro-Hamas protesters to disrupt the glittering gala. As CBS News reports, “The Israel-Hamas war reached the red carpet of the Academy Awards on Sunday as Hollywood stars and others donned pins in support of Palestinian people on the Oscars red carpet.” Apparently, singer Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell — whomever they are — both wore red Artists4Ceasefire pins, a political stunt meant to pressure Joe Biden and Congress to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel is in the process of fighting an existential war against terrorist hordes hell-bent on the Jewish state’s destruction. As CBS News adds, “Mark Ruffalo, up for best supporting actor for his work in best picture nominee ‘Poor Things,’ also arrived on the red carpet wearing an Artists4Ceasefire pin.” We’ll say this: Ruffalo looks a lot less imposing — a lot more punchable, as it were — without his big, green CGI costume. Ironically, a self-hating Jew named Jonathan Glazer, who happens to be the director of a Holocaust film that won an award on Sunday night, used his one shining moment to slam Israel with false claims about what’s happening in Gaza.

• U.S. evacuates its embassy in Haiti: There are many reasons why Haiti is the poorest, sorriest hellhole of a nation in the Western Hemisphere, and high on that list must be its history of violence. Indeed, the country’s capital city, Port au Prince, is largely “governed” by gangs, and the violence has gotten so bad that the U.S. has taken the extraordinary step of evacuating its embassy there. The gangs “have taken over the capitol and the US-backed government has left the city to gangs,” Not the Bee reports. “The Prime Minister of Haiti is stranded in Puerto Rico because he’s afraid to return. The United States has also evacuated their embassy and left Marines there to guard the embassy from the rebels. To say things have gotten out of control is an understatement.” According to a statement by U.S. Southern Command, American staffers have been airlifted out of the embassy compound, adding, “No Haitians were on board the military aircraft,” a point that seems to indicate that the Haitian government wasn’t being evacuated. So the Haitian people appear to have this much going for them: The government may be corrupt and incompetent, but its leadership hasn’t skedaddled just yet.

• RNC election: The Republican Party has increasingly become the party of Donald Trump, as the Republican National Committee on Friday unanimously elected the Trump-endorsed Michael Whatly for party chair and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara as co-chair. The election comes after Ronna McDaniel, who had chaired the RNC since January 2017, stepped down after Trump effectively gave her a no-confidence vote. Republicans repeatedly suffered disappointing election results under her leadership, especially when the GOP lost control of the Senate, and the widely anticipated red wave in the 2022 midterm elections never materialized. Thus, McDaniel’s RNC position became tenuous. Despite the fact she had been picked by Trump for the post back in 2016, her lack of serving up wins for the GOP finally spelled her fate. The question is, will these latest Trump picks see Republican election fortunes turn around?

• Pentagon found no little green men: On Friday, the Department of Defense released to the public a comprehensive review ordered by Congress of U.S. classified programs since 1945 that have been the basis for decades of UFO-related conspiracy theories. Unsurprisingly, the review noted that the DOD found no evidence of extraterrestrial activity. Furthermore, the DOD did discover a proposed 2010 Department of Homeland Security program dubbed “Kona Blue,” whose aim was to reverse-engineer any recovered extraterrestrial aircraft. However, that program was rejected by DHS “for lacking merit,” as no extraterrestrial craft had been recovered. As the report stated, “It is critical to note that no extraterrestrial craft or bodies were ever collected — this material was only assumed to exist by KONA BLUE advocates and its anticipated contract Performers.” The mere proposal for the creation of a program based upon dubious beliefs was taken by some as supposed evidence of the government having actually encountered extraterrestrial craft and lifeforms. As the review’s acting director, Tim Phillips, explained: “That was reported as ‘that’s where they hide bodies.’ That wasn’t true. The prospective program was never formally approved by leadership and never possessed any material or information.”

Headlines

• According to 2009 Chuck Schumer, President Biden was absolutely correct using the term “illegal” instead of “undocumented” (Not the Bee)

• Senate Democrats block bill that would ban illegal immigrants from voting (Townhall)

• Biden signs $459 billion spending package after Senate rejects conservative amendments (Daily Wire)

• No Labels to launch presidential campaign (Washington Free Beacon)

• Fifty people injured by “strong movement” on Boeing plane flying from Australia to New Zealand (Fox News) | Justice Department opens criminal probe of mid-flight blowout on 737 Max plane (Washington Post)

• Three killed in National Guard helicopter crash in Texas (Washington Post)

• Netanyahu pledges to ignore Biden’s “red line” and invade Rafah (Washington Examiner)

• Vatican: Pope Francis’s “white flag” remark a call for negotiations, not Ukraine’s surrender (CNA)

• Policy: A lesson for America: Green policies crush German economy (Daily Signal)

• Satire: Oscars observes moment of silence for undocumented murderer tragically called “illegal” (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.