The CIA called him Eggnog. He worked for Jack Anderson, a muckraking newspaper columnist who disclosed in 1971 that the Nixon administration tilted toward Pakistan in its war with India. We later learned that the Pentagon sent General Chuck Yeager to advise the Pakis.
The CIA launched Operation Mudhen and spied on Anderson’s office, noting who visited and following his staffers home. Eggnog was a legman, helping Anderson track down leads to stories. He said the CIA tracked his wife and their children to school.
Eggnog is Brit Hume, now the distinguished statesman on the Fox News Report at 6 PM.
On Monday, he weighed in on Trump banishing CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House:
Well, I think the president has a case. Some of the coverage that’s been done by the organizations that have now been banned from the White House, it has been almost comically unbalanced. And they’ve pursued all kinds of stories, the Russia collusion matter being chief among them that have ended up dead ends.
And it seems clearly motivated by a belief that Donald Trump’s presence in the White House is a national emergency, and that their job was to somehow take him down. Having said that, however, you’ve got to also ask this question: Will this be effective in any way the president wants?
After all, being banned and sharply criticized by the president to these people that we’re talking about here at these organizations is likely to be seen as a badge of honor. It will do them no professional harm. They’re not accountable to the president in our country because we do indeed have a free press. And the idea that the coverage will become more balanced because of this, I think is fanciful. I just don’t think it’s going to have that effect. And in political terms, Bret, this will rally the base.
I’ve seen by the reactions on social media that people who were MAGA, who were for Trump, think this is great, right on brother. But I don’t think it’s going to do much for him beyond that base. And at this point, with this midterm election coming, he needs to get people who may not have been part of his base, but voted for him in 2024, and may not this time to come back his way.
And I don’t think this advances that cause at all.
No one in DC has more credibility as a journalist because instead of mindlessly repeating the FBI narrative on Watergate—as Bob Woodward did—Hume faced harassment from the CIA. He was a White House correspondent who occasionally strayed from the pack.
Hume strays now by saying they deserved their punishment.
But his analysis of the political impact of exiling the TDS trio is short on the math. He states correctly that tossing legacy media from the White House pleases the base, but Hume underestimates the size of that base.
75 million people voted for Trump in 2020.
77 million people voted for Trump in 2024.
His base grew and stayed.
Presidential elections draw more voters than midterms. For example, 158 million people voted in 2020 but only 108 million people voted in the 2022 midterm.
155 million people voted in 2024 so a drop off to 105 million is not unexpected. Trump does not need to hold the base. He needs to get them to the polls. Booting CNN out of the White House pleases MAGA and makes MAGA feel good.
We call it winning.
Right now, the numbers look bad for Trump. Democrats have an 8.5% lead in the Real Clear Politics Average.
8 years ago, they had an 8.3% lead at this point in the race and picked up 41 seats on Election Day.
But Trump did well. He went toe-to-toe with Obama in the gubernatorial races in Georgia and Florida and won both.
Publicly, Trump’s position is he does not care about the midterms. He survived Nancy as a ripper, I mean speaker. Hakeem is ten times dumber.
“I gave absolutely no credence and WILL NOT give credence to the election when it comes to Iran. “It doesn’t even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. The cowards and traitors…”
[Audience erupts in applause]
“Thank you.”
8 years ago, the German UN delegation laughed when he warned about relying on Russia for energy. Now German energy needs are funding Putin’s war in Ukraine.
But President Trump wants to win the midterm. Money talks. MAGA Inc. is the main super PAC aligned with Trump. It has $416 million to spend this year. There is no Democratic super PAC of comparable size.
Republicans have booked about $221 million more in ads than Democrats for the final stretch through Election Day, according to AdImpact. Laugh at the demise of network and local TV as much as you want but the drop from 105 million cable subscribers in 2010-2012 still leaves 60 million viewers.
Redistricting helped. On paper, Republicans gained 8 to 16 seats in the House. Theoretically, Republicans could lose the national vote but maintain control of the House.
Trump also can deliver an October surprise regarding world events. He is the leader of the free world, albeit a smaller world due to globalists like Carney becoming heads of state.
Not to belabor the point but after decades of complaining about CNN, someone finally did something about it. Actions speak louder than words. I hate to disagree with Eggnog—usually, it is the other way around—but Trump just acted louder than his words and we all know that he does anything but speak softly.
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This article first appeared on Don Surber’s Substack. Reprinted here with permission.
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