Jake Tapper CRASHES OUT On Ryan, Zohran

The hosts assert that the intense media scrutiny on NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Dwaji, regarding her historical Instagram likes and his dinner with activist Makmoud Khalil, is a deliberate political campaign. They theorize this campaign aims to generate 'destructive hatred towards Muslims' to build public support for US military actions against Iran, following statements by figures like Marco Rubio and Mike Johnson.

Ryan Grim states, 'My theory on what's going on here is that Marco Rubio I think drove some people completely insane when he said out loud that the reason we attacked Iran right now is because Israel was going to attack.' He adds, 'I think you got to jin up a little bit of destructive hatred towards Muslims if you can. And who better to go after than Zoran Mdani.' (00:50-01:50)

The hosts express shock and dismay at the quality of reporting from CNN and The New York Times on the Mamdani controversy. They criticize Jake Tapper for hosting a segment with Jonah Goldberg and Karen Finney that 'trashed' Mamdani, his wife, and Makmoud Khalil without an opposing viewpoint. The New York Times is lambasted for a story that criticized Mamdani for not using TikTok after a terrorist attack and for seemingly attempting to SEO-optimize an article by gratuitously mentioning his wife's name.

On CNN's segment, one host states, 'I was shocked at this segment. Like genuinely appalled.' (10:05) Regarding the New York Times, 'This is the New York Times desperately wanting a piece of the story... The clearly what's happening here is this is the New York Times. They want a piece of this Instagram likes action, but they know it would debase the paper too much to put Instagram likes in a headline.' (16:59-17:45)

The hosts challenge the mainstream media's portrayal of 'systemic sexual assault' during the October 7th attacks. They argue that despite widespread claims, there has been a notable absence of named victims, forensic evidence, video evidence, or photographs to support these assertions. They contrast this with other conflict zones (Rwanda, Myanmar, Sudan) where extensive evidence and named victims exist for systemic sexual violence, suggesting a double standard or a lack of due diligence in reporting.

One host states, 'a massive number of people have actually looked at it have read the actual reports and have noticed that there are not any like victims who have said that it happened to them.' They add, 'This would be the first case of systemic sexual assault carried out in a conflict zone that left no evidence to support it.' (30:10-32:00) They also critique the DINA project report, stating it argues 'that you should be able to use deduction and circumstantial evidence to make your case' instead of traditional evidentiary standards. (32:50-33:20)

The hosts argue that mainstream media exploits the genuine desire of many Americans to see people 'freed from oppression' by pushing narratives that justify military intervention. They illustrate this with Jake Tapper's segment featuring an Israeli analyst who claimed Iranians 'overwhelmingly' support US and Israeli actions against their own regime, likening it to a 'playbook' used before the Iraq War.

One host describes the media's approach as 'exploiting the goodwill of a lot of Americans who... do want to be like quote liberators who have a good reason for wanting to see people free.' (26:40-27:30) They mock Tapper's segment, asking, 'Can you imagine if Iranian state TV brought on an Iranian analyst who said he had ties to Iranian intelligence and they asked him, 'How are the Israelis feeling about the Iranian bombing campaign on Israel?'' (24:20-24:40)