Judge tosses Trump’s $15B lawsuit against New York Times

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/donald-trump-new-york-times-lawsuit-order-00573073

A federal judge threw out President Donald Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times, calling it an undignified public relations exercise meant to “rage against an adversary” rather than present a well-reasoned legal case.

“As every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective,” U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, said of Trump’s 85-page grievance-laden lawsuit. “A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally or the functional equivalent of the Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner.”

Merryday gave Trump’s attorneys 28 days to refile the lawsuit and ordered it to be limited to 40 pages, saying Trump must follow the rules requiring complaints to be clear and precise. He said the lawsuit, if it proceeds, must do so in “a professional and dignified manner.”

Vaccine panel that limited covid shot scrutinized after chaotic meetings

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/09/20/acip-vaccine-cdc-criticism-rfk/

The chair of a new panel of federal immunization advisers selected by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday that the group’s “enormous depth and knowledge about vaccines, about science” should be obvious to anyone listening to them work.

But medical associations and scientific experts who watched the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meetings Thursday and Friday panned the panel’s performance as the group reversed recommendations for coronavirus and a combined measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox vaccine.

They said the members were unprepared, misunderstood or ignored key data and highlighted flawed or inconclusive research often trumpeted by vaccine critics.

Critics argued the new panelists lack the expertise for the job and risk undoing measures that have long curbed preventable diseases.

During two days of meetings at a CDC campus in Georgia, committee members appeared at times uncertain about the issues before them or the powers of the panel, prompting staff to explain steps in evaluating data and setting vaccine recommendations.

Trump: ‘It’s no longer free speech.’

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/trump-no-longer-free-speech-00574219

President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his claim that critical television coverage of him is “illegal” and pushed back on criticisms that his administration was taking actions that chill free speech.

“When 97 percent of the stories are bad about a person, it’s no longer free speech,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, complaining about an apparent asymmetry between his victory in the 2024 election and his treatment by media organizations. It was not immediately clear what statistics or laws he was referencing.

Free speech storm intensifies as Trump goes after Kimmel

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5513095-trump-administration-pressures-abc-kimmel

The Trump administration’s pressure campaign against ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, which saw the Federal Communications Commission chief turn up the heat on broadcasters, is intensifying fears over the policing of speech — which were already rising before this week’s late night television uproar.

“I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Friday on his podcast. “But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying ‘we don’t like what you the media have said, we’re going to ban you from the airwaves, if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives.”

“Private employers have every right to dismiss employees, whether they’re television talk show hosts or otherwise, if they violate the standards of that company,” Pence said at an event hosted by The Atlantic. “Now, I would have preferred that the chairman of the FCC had not weighed in.”

“This is not a role for the federal government or the chairman of the FCC to be playing,” said Tom Wheeler, who was FCC chair under former President Obama, during a CNN appearance on Friday. “The danger here is authoritarian control of the media. The FCC for 90 years has promoted diversity of thought and now the Trump, Carr FCC is coming in and saying they’ll be the judge of what those views should be.” 

Sen. Mark Warner (R-Va.) shared a clip from Cruz’s podcast in which the Texas Republican said Carr’s threats against ABC were “right out of ‘Goodfellas.’”

“I don’t often agree with Ted Cruz, but when he’s right, he’s right,” Warner said.

CDC advisers vote to restrict MMRV vaccine options for younger children, delay vote on hepatitis B vaccine

 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cdc-advisers-dropping-universal-newborn-hepatitis-vaccine/story?id=125713736

The committee was not considering eliminating or recommending against either the MMRV or hepatitis B vaccines completely. But the changes that have been proposed could result in major disruptions and more illness, experts warned.

Experts say these changes could also cause confusion, more doctors' appointments and more individual shots for children, which could potentially lead to missed cases or more infections. It could also complicate vaccine supply and manufacturing logistics.

"The disadvantage of giving two doses, or as was suggested, separating the two doses, is that we know compliance falls, and the advantage of combination vaccines is that children and adults are more likely to complete the vaccine requirements if it's given as a single dose," said ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner.

Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension raises fears of a new censorship era

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2025/09/18/jimmy-kimmel-suspension-celebrities-react

Kimmel’s suspension was announced hours after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr criticized the comedian and implied that the FCC could retaliate against those who aired him.

Trump, who has complained about being the target of Kimmel’s jokes since long before Kirk’s death, reacted with glee to the show getting pulled.

Later, at a news conference as he visited England, Trump downplayed concerns about censorship. He said Kimmel was “fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else,” and added: “you can call that free speech or not.”

Later, at a news conference as he visited England, Trump downplayed concerns about censorship. He said Kimmel was “fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else,” and added: “you can call that free speech or not.”

And still later, as he flew home on Air Force One on Thursday, Trump suggested networks that give him bad publicity should “maybe” have their licenses taken away. (The FCC regulates local TV station licenses, not networks.)

Kimmel’s ratings were reportedly falling before his suspension. But the biggest owner of ABC-affiliated stations, Nexstar, did not cite ratings in a statement explaining why it pulled his show. The company instead blasted Kimmel’s “offensive and insensitive” comments about Kirk’s death, and said that “continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time.

Trump on Jimmy Kimmel: Networks that only criticize him ‘not allowed to do that’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5510784-trump-jimmy-kimmel-criticism

President Trump on Thursday suggested networks and late-night shows in particular should not be allowed to be overwhelmingly critical of him in the wake of ABC’s decision to take host Jimmy Kimmel off the air.

“They’re 97 percent against; they give me only bad press. I mean, they’re getting a license,” he continued. “I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”

The FCC, Disney and Jimmy Kimmel

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/fcc-disney-jimmy-kimmel-brendan-carr-media-regulation-197bdf0a?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

The right gives the left a dose of cancel culture and regulatory abuse.

Maybe now our progressive friends understand why these columns oppose government control of business and fought liberal cancel culture. Regulatory power in the hands of a willful President can too easily become a weapon against political opponents, including the media.

That’s what happened Wednesday as Brendan Carr, President Trump’s man at the Federal Communications Commission, threatened Disney and its affiliates if they didn’t punish late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for comments about Charlie Kirk. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Mr. Carr told a podcaster, in words that could have been uttered by a New Jersey mob boss.

Jawboning and Jimmy Kimmel

 https://www.thefp.com/p/jawboning-and-jimmy-kimmel-free-speech-censorship?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

The host appears to have been so isolated in his Bluesky bubble that he actually believed that Tyler Robinson was a man of the right when all the evidence suggests just the opposite. If ABC on its own had fired the host for clueless material, that would have been entirely within their rights.

But that is not what happened. Instead, Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr went on Benny Johnson’s YouTube show and offered Disney-owned ABC a choice. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” said the country’s top regulator of broadcast television. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

This is what’s known as jawboning—when state actors use threats to inappropriately compel private action. That’s an awfully nice broadcasting license you have there, Bob Iger. Shame if anything happens to it because of your Jimmy Kimmel problem.

Trump’s anti-media blitz that led to Kimmel’s suspension is straight from a European strongman’s playbook

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/18/media/trump-fcc-kimmel-free-speech-viktor-orban-hungary

Weaponize the levers of government for partisan political gain. Pressure privately owned media companies to toe the party line. Punish the owners who resist and reward the ones who acquiesce.

That’s how Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán consolidated control of the media in his country, according to scholars who witnessed Hungary’s democratic backsliding firsthand.

President Trump and his allies appear to be running the same playbook against media outlets in the US.

Using legal maneuvers, financial incentives and public pressure campaigns, Trump is persuading companies to make changes that benefit his party and bolster his own power. Wednesday’s decision by Disney’s ABC to sideline Jimmy Kimmel is the latest example.

"Lawrence: Trump wants us to talk about Jimmy Kimmel. So we'll talk about Trump & Jeffrey Epstein

Everything is Over

See Trump's free speech failure: Melber's definitive breakdown

Pam Bondi Defends 'Hate Speech' Crackdown After MAGA Backlash

 https://www.newsweek.com/bondi-charlie-kirk-hate-speech-maga-2130526

Savanah Hernandez, a contributor to Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization founded by Kirk, had hit back at Bondi's previous comments.

"'There's free speech and then there's hate speech' is the most destructive phrase that has ever been uttered," Hernandez said in a post on X. "And Pam Bondi just said it. She needs to be removed as attorney general now."