By Matthew Balan | December 17, 2015 | 4:32 PM EST

On Wednesday's CNN Tonight, left-wing analyst Rula Jebreal and Columbia University's Ahmed Shihab-Eldin unleashed against the Republican presidential candidates, in the wake of Tuesday's CNN debates. Jebreal asserted that Ted Cruz was "nostalgic for Arab dictators," and concluded that "this is racist. This is pure bigotry." She later likened the GOP contenders to the Nazis: "What you are hearing from these people is a criminalization of an entire group of people — something that, actually, we heard...in Europe before World War II."

By Kyle Drennen | December 17, 2015 | 3:43 PM EST

On Wednesday night, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly pressed NBC’s Ted Koppel on the state of the country: “...a new Wall Street Journal poll says just 20% of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction....do you believe the USA is in bad shape right now, Mr. Koppel? And if so, why?” Koppel dismissed the public’s pessimism and tried to minimize the threat from ISIS terrorists: “I don't think the country is in as bad a shape as your question implies. I think we’re scaring ourselves to death with this ISIS threat."

By Scott Whitlock | December 17, 2015 | 1:16 PM EST

Lord of the Rings and X-Men star Ian McKellen on Wednesday asserted that Islamic terrorists have a “legitimate complaint” about the west. Appearing on Larry King Now, the actor discussed the “dreadful” murder of 130 people in Paris. McKellen equivocated, “I’m sure the legitimate complaint that your country and my country have meddled in their affairs is a fair one.” 

By Scott Whitlock | December 17, 2015 | 11:41 AM EST

All three network morning shows on Thursday covered the breaking news that Defense Secretary Ash Carter used private e-mails for government work. But only ABC deemed it an “embarrassment” for Barack Obama himself. Good Morning America’s Mary Bruce asserted, “This is no question this is an embarrassment for the White House and will likely draw attacks from Republicans who say the administration isn't doing enough to safeguard sensitive information.” 

By Mark Finkelstein | December 17, 2015 | 8:47 AM EST

A modern-day variation on "better red than dead" . . .  Joe Scarborough says that Haley Barbour and many Republican leaders would "much rather" have Hillary be president than to let Trump win and represent the GOP.

On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough said that if it looks like Trump will win the nomination, something Scarborough sees as very plausible, he envisions Mitt Romney or Michael Bloomberg jumping into the race as a third-party candidate. Not really with the goal of winning, but rather to "take a bullet," splitting the vote and denying Trump the White House.

By Curtis Houck | December 17, 2015 | 3:02 AM EST

On Wednesday, the late-night comedy show hosts gave their thoughts on the previous evening’s Republican debate and, naturally, the jokes skewed to the left. Most prominent, Late Show host Stephen Colbert trashed conservative donor Sheldon Adelson as a “part-time Kuato” (a reference to the alien in the movie Total Recall) and Late Night host Seth Meyers joked that each of the nine major candidates “had definitely been radicalized by ISIS.”

By Curtis Houck | December 16, 2015 | 10:29 PM EST

Chiming in with his latest ramble against conservatives, CNN political commentator and former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein took to the airwaves of Wednesday’s AC360 to denounce the GOP candidates for “their bellicosity” in Tuesday’s debate that featured “a recklessness that was astonishing.”

By NB Staff | December 16, 2015 | 9:21 PM EST

Near the end of his Fox Business Network (FBN) show on Wednesday night, host Lou Dobbs played and discussed with his panel video released on Tuesday that featured MRCTV’s Dan Joseph asking MSNBC’s Chris Matthews if he still has “the thrill” up his leg all these years later about President Barack Obama. Of course, as many readers now know, Matthews fired back by ignoring Joseph’s question and repeatedly telling him to “go to hell” and “leave me alone.”

By Ken Shepherd | December 16, 2015 | 8:53 PM EST

Chris Matthews has made no secret of how much he loves the "perfect" Barack Obama in everything from his speaking style on down to his family life. But far be it from the hyperpartisan Hardball host to see Rubio's good looks and polished speaking style as plusses for him in a hypothetical general-election contest against Hillary Clinton.

By Matthew Balan | December 16, 2015 | 1:26 PM EST

CNN's Chris Cuomo made a gaffe regarding the religious faith of ISIS and other similar groups on Wednesday's New Day. When Senator Lindsey Graham accused Donald Trump of "playing into ISIL's hands," Cuomo replied, "Sixty percent of your party agrees with him. They think all jihadis are Muslim." Since jihad is a concept from the Islamic faith, a jihadi, by definition, would indeed be a Muslim waging a religious-based war for Islam.

By Scott Whitlock | December 16, 2015 | 1:17 PM EST

During a live, post-debate edition of Hardball on Tuesday night, Chris Matthews declared Hillary Clinton the likely winner in 2016 and immediately moved on to 2020. Matthews, who famously had a “thrill" up his leg for Barack Obama, ended a segment on the current Vegas odds by declaring, “I think Hillary is favored. I think she'll probably win the general. Probably. Probably.”

By Kyle Drennen | December 16, 2015 | 12:13 PM EST

Interviewing Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus on Wednesday, the hosts of both NBC’s Today and CBS This Morning pushed the idea that the 2016 Republican field was so divided that there would have to be a brokered convention to pick the party’s nominee. In 2008, instead of discussing a possible brokered convention, all three morning shows excitedly promoted the idea of unifying Democrats around an Obama-Clinton “dream ticket.”