#rob schmitt

Right-wing NewsMax anchor Rob Schmitt claimed Friday that SNAP recipients use the benefits not to procure much-needed food, but to “get their weaves” done.

Schmitt made the eyebrow-raising comment while interviewing Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on the food stamp program relied upon by some 42 million Americans that is set to expire on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown.

Alyssa Tirrell, Sage Hodil, and Jack Wheatley at MMFA:

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled against a Louisiana election map, narrowing the Voting Rights Act in what NPR described as “the latest in a series of rulings that have all but gutted the landmark 1965 law.”  Right-wing media figures and outlets celebrated the ruling and described majority-minority districts as “DEI” and “no-whites-allowed” while denying the negative impacts of the decision on Black Americans, with one commentator claiming that it actually “increases the influence of Black voters.”

The Supreme Court decision is the latest ruling that threatens to “dilute” the political power of minority voters

On April 29, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The court “blocked an electoral map that had given Louisiana a second Black-majority U.S. House of Representatives district.” In his majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito argued that the country had undergone a “vast social change” and that such protections were now unnecessary. [Reuters, 4/30/26; The New York Times, 4/29/26]

Experts and reporters say the ruling will allow Republicans to “draw districts that dilute Black residents’ voting power” in certain states. Reuters reported that the ruling “will make it harder for minorities to challenge electoral maps as racially discriminatory.” According to NPR, the ruling could also result in “a historic drop in representation by Black members of Congress.” [The Atlantic, 4/29/26; Reuters, 4/30/26; NPR, 4/30/26]

A previous 5-4 Supreme Court ruling struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which established “a formula to identify states that may require extra scrutiny by the Justice Department regarding voting procedures.” The decision also effectively hollowed Section 5 of the law, which depended on Section 4 and required “certain states with a history of discrimination to have changes to any voting procedures approved by the federal government.” As CNN explained of the 2013 and 2026 decisions, as well as the court’s 2023 decision ending affirmative action, “Taken as a whole, the pattern would mean fewer chances for minority voters to elect candidates of their choosing.” [NPR, 6/25/13; CNN, 4/30/26]

Evan Hurts at Wonkette:

We regret to inform you that many of the white conservative people are still upset about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance. Now, lest you think they’re being dramatic, remember that many white conservative people are highly uneducated, they don’t understand what they saw on the TV that night, it scared them, Black people scare them, and Black men really scare them. Also Serena Williams did a funny dance and ain’t none of them never done a dance like that, must be the DEI dance. Rob Schmitt, a white man pointless and interchangeable enough to be hired as a host on Newsmax, had a funny little rant last night, let us poke him and laugh at him and berate him in front of the girls in his class.

Cry more, Rob Schmitt!

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Elise Carson-Holt at LGBTQ Nation:

Conservative anchorman Rob Schmitt lost it on Wednesday night on his Newsmax show when he found out about a gay flag football team sponsored by the Buffalo Bills. During a segment called “News From the Left,” Schmitt announced that “finally, when you thought you could escape all the Pride Month propaganda by watching football, apparently not, the Buffalo Bills is the latest NFL franchise supporting a new National. Gay. Flag. Football League! What?!” On Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills of New York state issued a statement announcing their sponsoring a local Gay Flag Football League in Buffalo. “We are thrilled to bring inclusive flag football to Buffalo with the support of the Buffalo Bills. This exciting addition joins 27 other cities, and over 4,000 players, including straight allies, in the National Gay Flag Football League,” said NGFFL Commissioner Joel Horton in a press release.

Jane Lee, Isabella Corrao, and Helena Hind at MMFA:

In the wake of Democrats’ sweeping election victories across the country on November 4, right-wing media quickly focused their ire on young women, who voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates.  Figures across right-wing media expressed fear over the demographic, with Newsmax host Carl Higbie labeling “liberal white women” as “the biggest threat to America — they will literally vote for their own destruction and take everyone down with them.” The response from right-wing media to women exercising their right to vote ramps up a trend of conservative voices attacking liberal women in the past year. 

Payton Armstrong, Reed McMaster, and Jack Wheatley at MMFA:

Many right-wing media figures backed President Donald Trump’s vow to take control of Greenland, a move that threatened the NATO alliance formed after World War II, telling Denmark to “just sell us Greenland” and arguing that it’s “worth talking about” taking Greenland by force because “that's the only way that America exists in the first place.” Some in conservative print media outlets came out against Trump’s threats, suggesting that some of his tactics were “dangerous,” calling it “Trump’s lesson in how to turn U.S. allies into China’s friends,” and asserting that his “foreign policy needs to distinguish between friend and foe.”

Trump vowed to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally

Trump has said acquiring Greenland is critical to U.S. national security and recently threatened a trade war with Europe. The Associated Press reported that “President Donald Trump’s pledge to provoke a sweeping tariff fight with Europe to get his way in taking control of Greenland has left many of America’s closest allies warning of a rupture with Washington capable of shuttering the NATO alliance that had once seemed unshakable.” On January 21, Trump for the first time ruled out using force to acquire Greenland, saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos that “I don't have to use force, I don't want to use force, I won't use force.” Trump later further softened his position, posting on Truth Social that he would not enact tariffs and that he had agreed with the head of NATO on a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security. [CBS News, 1/21/26; The Associated Press, 1/20/26, 1/21/26]

Trump has repeatedly brushed off NATO allies who have offered diplomatic solutions meant to address his alleged security concerns but do not include U.S. annexation of Greenland. As The New York Times noted, Trump “has shown no interest so far in looking for diplomatic offramps, or the kind of defense partnerships that NATO has long fostered. Every time the Europeans offer solutions — everything short of outright American ownership of the Danish territory — Mr. Trump turns them aside.” [The New York Times, 1/19/26]

Even some Republicans have criticized Trump’s actions involving Greenland. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) condemned Trump’s tariff threat, criticizing the “advisors who are actively pushing for coercive action to seize” Greenland and calling the move “beyond stupid.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) called Trump’s tariffs “unnecessary, punitive, and a profound mistake,” adding, “They will push our core European allies further away while doing nothing to advance U.S. national security.” [Time, 1/19/26]