Category: Viral

For more than 10 months, authorities and government agencies have been attempting to get to the bottom of what role—if any—Donald Trump had in the violent insurrection that took place at the Capitol Building on January 6th. And at every turn, the former president has used whatever excuse he can come up with (the phrase “executive privilege” has been mentioned on more than one occasion) to avoid being put in the hotseat. But U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan—the same person who laughed out loud last week when Trump’s lawyers filed a legal brief falsely stating that The Donald had been cleared of any January 6th misdeeds—proved yet again that she is not playing when it comes to the January 6th Committee’s investigation.

According to The Washington Post, Team Trump has been holding onto hundreds of pages of documents that the January 6th Committee wants, and using every excuse in the book not to hand them over. In a 39-page opinion, Judge Chutkan wrote that the agencies requesting these documents “contend that discovering and coming to terms with the causes underlying the January 6 attack is a matter of unsurpassed public importance because such information relates to our core democratic institutions and the public’s confidence in them. The court agrees.”

Team Trump, unsurprisingly, immediately filed an appeal. Taylor Budowich, Trump’s spokesperson, issued a statement on the former president’s behalf—on Twitter, of course—which said: “The battle to defend Executive Privilege for Presidents past, present & future—from its outset—was destined to be decided by the Appellate Courts. Pres. Trump remains committed to defending the Constitution & the Office of the Presidency, & will be seeing this process through.”

Chutkan, however, seemed to have intuited that response, as she addressed what she knew might be a sticking point in her ruling by essentially stating: There can only be one president at a time, and Trump ain’t it. And since the Biden administration has already approved the release of these requested documents, Chutkan’s opinion states that Trump’s “assertion of privilege is outweighed by President Biden’s decision not to uphold the privilege, and the court will not second guess that decision.”

Midway through her argument, Chutkan delivered the biggest blow when she wrote that:

“Presidents are not kings, and [Trump] is not President. He retains the right to assert that his records are privileged, but the incumbent President ‘is not constitutionally obliged to honor’ that assertion.”

As for Trump’s contention that what is being requested of him is “unprecedented,” Judge Chutkan stopped that argument in its tracks, noting that:

“[H]istory is replete with examples of past Presidents declining to assert the privilege. From President Nixon permitting the unrestricted congressional testimony of present and former White House staff members, 5 to President Ronald Reagan’s decision to authorize testimony and the production of documents related to the IranContra affair, including information about his communications and decision-making process,6 to President George W. Bush’s decision to sit for an interview with the 9/11 Commission to answer questions about his decision-making process in the wake of the attack, 7 past Presidents have balanced the executive branch’s interest in maintaining confidential communications against the public’s interest in the requested information.”

Your move, Donald.

You can read all 39 pages of Chutkan’s opinion here.

(Via The Washington Post)

The yearly drop of Parker’s Heritage Collection Limited Editions is often the most anticipated whiskey drop of the year. The releases from Heaven Hill — which honors the memory of their former Master Distiller Parker Beam — are very limited editions that are pulled deep from the company’s rickhouses. This year’s drop continues on the brand’s “heavy char” trajectory but with a wheat whiskey instead of a bourbon. Essentially, what we’re getting this year is a one-off and very unique edition of Heaven Hill’s Bernheim Wheat Whiskey, which is pretty exciting for fans of the brand out there.

Before we dive into what’s in the bottle, yes, this is a very rare bottle of whiskey. That means outside of very high-end whiskey shops and horse-trading for bottles, you’re not going to find this one randomly sitting on a shelf. In short, you have to want it and you have to then put in the work to get it. Good luck out there, folks!

Okay, let’s get into the latest release from Heaven Hill’s legendary Parker’s Heritage Collection.

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of 2021

• The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
• The Best Bottles Of Bourbon Whiskey For Under $20, Ranked
• Our Favorite Bourbon Whiskey From Every Price Point Between $10-$200
• All 19 Brands From The Buffalo Trace Distillery, Ranked
• Here’s Who Won Our Big Barrel Proof Bourbon Whiskey Blind Taste Test

2021 Parker’s Heritage Collection Limited Edition

ABV: 62%

Average Price: $140 MSRP

The Whiskey:

This year’s release is a wheat whiskey that’s small-batched from 75 barrels with a heavy char. The juice in those barrels is a mash of 51 percent wheat, 37 percent corn, and 12 percent barley. The whiskey was matured on the sixth floor of Rickhouse Y for eleven long years before batching and bottling as is.

Tasting Notes:

The nose draws you in with a honey sweetness that’s steeped in nutmeg and cinnamon sticks with a hint of ginger snap, peanut brittle, and a fair amount of that heavily charred oak bitterness. The taste sweetens on the front of the palate as the honey turns to a rummy dark syrup vibe and then the midpalate kicks in with a buttery vanilla touch next to spicy tobacco notes and a fleeting hint of candied cherry on the very backend. The finish does warm considerably with that Kentucky hug next to an almost espresso oil bitterness from the char and a slight inch towards a dry apple cider with a hint of cinnamon tobacco.

The Bottle:

Parker’s Heritage bottles tend to stand out on the shelf. They’re bottom-heavy with a slight taper and a very iconic label and embossed logo.

Bottom Line:

If you’re a fan of wheat whiskey (especially Bernheim Wheat Whiskey from Heaven Hill), then this is a must-try. This is a wheat whiskey that’s taken to eleven with an accessible nose and palate that’s pleasantly easy-drinking yet complex (and rare) enough to merit the price tag.

Ranking:

94/100 — This is delicious and a highwater mark for the wheat whiskey genre.

Mark Ronson has been one of the most in-demand producers of the past decade-plus, as he’s worked with everybody from Bruno Mars to Miley Cyrus to Kacey Musgraves. He’s made a lot of music in his day, so it’d be understandable if he didn’t have a perfect memory of all of his work. Indeed, that seems to be the case based on a funny story he told on Late Night With Seth Meyers last night.

Ronson, who was on the show to promote his Fader Uncovered podcast, told Meyers that he liked a song he heard in an airport, so he used the Shazam app on his phone to identify it only to discover it was actually a track he had a hand in making:

“I was in the airport, actually, and I heard this song playing [while I was] far from the speaker, like some duty-free… I was in the whiskey store at 7 in the morning in [London’s Heathrow Airport]. I was like, ‘Oh that’s cool.’ I was like, ‘Those drums sound cool,’ because I always hear drums. If the drums have a good sound, I want to hear the song. I ended up Shazaming it and I looked and I was like, ‘Oh, I made that.’ It wasn’t so amazing, but I was like, that’s so funny. ‘I wonder who did the drums on this song,’ and I forgot that I had done that song.”

Check out the full interview above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Breaking through in the historically male-dominated green space is hard. But the four women we’re profiling today have pulled it off in grand fashion. They’ve also successfully struck a balance between what it means to be an “influencer” and how to use that influence to make the world more ecologically sound.

Through their work, these women have helped us return to the most vital roots of environmentalism — stewardship and conservation. Interestingly, both are concepts that have been dutifully upheld by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) women globally since time immemorial.

These four dynamic women create and support movements that are changing the way we look at and engage in everything from fast fashion to the great outdoors to what products we put in and on our bodies. While this is a shortlist, it features stars in the movement — Following their careers will put you on the fast track to gaining a more nuanced understanding of the quest for true sustainability.

Meet Jhánneu:

Jhánneu is your go-to person for sustainable products. Through her social media platforms, she highlights alternatives to your everyday routine that will make your closet, cabinet, and shopping cart more eco-friendly.

Colorful infographics freckle her Instagram page, showing us sustainable alternatives to popular items such as cleaning products, underwear, electronics, and makeup. As a woman of color, she also uses her popular YouTube platform to showcase low waste methods for maintaining curly hair as well as a guide to Black-owned farms and food gardens.

Following Jhánneu will give you chance to refine your lifestyle. Utilizing her recommendations in your day-to-day also allows you to ease your impact on our fragile ecosystem in a tangible way. That’s a value you can’t put a price tag on.

Meet Summer Dean:

Summer Dean doesn’t just explain the climate crisis, but she offers feasible solutions. She uses her platform to break down complex solutions to climate adaptation like translating exascale computing into more understandable language.

Dean also promotes sustainable fashion by partnering with large brands to bring awareness to ecologically friendly methods of clothing manufacturing. She encourages us all to upcycle, reuse, and thrift-shopping clothes instead of purchasing new ones all while championing for an end to fast fashion.

Instead of shaming you into changing your habits, Dean works hard to celebrate those of us who can change our habits for the better with a focus on a more sustainable future in our everyday purchases.

Meet Evelynn Escobar:

Most people might not understand why hiking is a radical act, but Evelynn Escobar — founder of @hikeclerb — puts it into perspective. She created a hiking club that brings together BIWOC to heal together through nature. By creating an intentional space for women of color to experience nature, she is providing grounds upon which an ecological revolution is built.

Her impetus is to familiarize a community with its environment to lead to more reverence for the natural world. “The outdoors were essential for my own healing journey, so I wanted to bring, facilitate, and hold space for other women and for what nature can do for them,” Evelynn says. Hike Clerb started as a casual gathering of friends hiking in L.A. and morphed into a non-profit that hosts around 20 people per hike. “We speak to everyone from the person who has never been on a hike to the person with experience — outdoorsy looks different for everyone,”

Meet Quannah Chasinghorse:

Quannah Chasinghorse — a climate warrior and Indigenous woman — is breaking the traditional beauty standard in the high fashion industry. She speaks out against extractive industries (such as fossil fuels and mining) that harm the land that she holds precious. She’s modeled for brands such as Gucci and Chanel with publications in Vogue but mainly uses her platform to spread awareness of climate injustices.

“Being able to be an Indigenous youth in this space is so important,” she says. “I grew up never seeing any representation. Now, I get to be that person for a lot of others.”

Chasinghorse goes beyond just pointing out injustices on runways. You can see her actually marching on the front lines of pipeline protests and #MMIWG2S (Murder and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2 Spirit) rallies. Chasinghorse engages, talks, and protests while also demanding that the Euro-centric fashion world start taking Indigenous fashion seriously.

There’s a lot of scotch out there, folks. Currently, 36 bottles of Scotch whisky are shipped around the world every second. That’s well over a billion bottles hitting shelves each year. And remember, all of that whisky comes from only 134 distilleries across Scotland. It’s kind of mindboggling (and far eclipses bourbon’s numbers).

So we totally understand if you feel daunted when deciding which bottle of single malt scotch to pick off the shelf. That’s where blind taste tests come in.

Today, we’re tasting eight single malts from Scotland with two throughlines. One, all of these whiskies are unpeated single malts, sometimes referred to as sweet single malts. Two, all of these bottles should cost less than $100 at most stores. Beyond that, we’re ranking each expression based on taste alone.

Our lineup today includes:

• Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or
• Cardhu Gold Reserve
• GlenDronach 12
• Aberfeldy 12
• Arran Sherry Cask
• BenRiach 12
• Aberlour 16
• Balblair 12

Let’s get to it!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of 2021

• A Blind Ranking Of Affordable Blended Scotch Whiskies
• Our Favorite Scotch Whisky At Every Price Point From $30 To $500
• We Blind Tested Blended Scotches In The $40 Range And A Clear Winner Emerged
• The Best Bottles Of Scotch Whisky Between $50-$60
• Blind Scotch Taste Test — Which 12-Year-Old Single Malt Whisky Is Best?

Part 1: The Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

There’s a very soft opening with shortbread cut with lemon and vanilla with a clear butteriness and touch of fruit. The palate leans into buttery toffee with light oak and a soft spiced red berry pudding with a ginger/vanilla cookie sticking out of it.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Soft rings through this whole sip as the nose gently expresses toffee-covered apples next to light yet tart berries and a touch of suede. The taste has this chewy oatmeal cookie with plenty of spice and dried fruits vibe next to dark chocolate-covered toffee and apple cores on the very backend.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

This opens with spicy berries next to tart apples with a hint of lemon/lime and old leather. The sip leans into a honey sweetness with vanilla beans, dark plums, and spicy malts. The finish smooths out with a mineral water softness as old cedar boards mingle with a raisin tobacco chewy spice on the very end.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

This is pure leather and honey on the nose with hints of raisin-filled malt crackers just touched with vanilla extract. The taste delivers on that honey promise with a honey wafer cracker vibe next to a thin line of orchard fruits (especially apples and pears) with a very light brown spicy edge warming the end.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Eggnog nutmeg draws you in with a touch of dark cherry, meaty dates, and old leather on the nose. The palate shifts towards oatmeal cookies with a hefty dose of cinnamon and plenty of soft sultanas as a hint of ginger lurks in the background. Then this big and almost overpowering sense of green pinewood arrives and veers the taste towards orange rinds and not much else besides a chewy and warm buzz.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Pear candy dominates the nose with hints of fresh maple syrup adding more sweetness as leather edges in next to … blueberry? The taste circles back to the pear but stews them in holiday spices next to sherry-soaked plum pudding. The finish has a warm malty oatiness that mellows towards orange-infused marzipan covered in dark chocolate.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this one is all dark berries, old leather, and big chunks of nutty and fruity holiday cake with plenty of spice. The palate delivers on that while layering a lightly dried rose vibe next to clove-heavy plum jam, sweet cedar, and velvet mouthfeel. The end embraces those dark and spicy fruits with a jammy feel as a slight note of cellar cobwebs arrives on the backend.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

Apple cores and lemon candy hit on the nose with a touch of malty warmth. The taste leans into spiced honey with a touch of orange oils and woodiness. That wood turns into a dry cedar as an old leather pouch full of rich, spicy, and slightly sticky tobacco emerges on the finish.

Part 2: The Ranking

8. Balblair 12 — Taste 8

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $70

The Whisky:

This entry-point single malt from the Highlands is an easy drinker. The juice is aged in a combo of ex-bourbon casks and “double fired” or charred, used American oak barrels. The results are touched with a little water to bring it down to proof and then bottled.

Bottom Line:

I’ve had a really hard time getting into this whisky. Part of that is the hardness of the nose. It’s also a little one-note for me and feels more like a solid cocktail mixer than a sipper.

7. Arran Sherry Cask — Taste 5

ABV: 55.8%

Average Price: $60

The Whisky:

This Islands whisky is aged exclusively in sherry oak for an undisclosed amount of time. The casks are slightly small format, allowing more of the flavors from the oak to impart into the spirit. The whisky is then vatted and bottled without filtration or cutting.

Bottom Line:

I was really digging this until that over-powering raw wood note took everything over on the mid-palate. I definitely need to try this again on its own and add some water to see what’s going on.

6. Aberfeldy 12 — Taste 4

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $45

The Whisky:

This Highland malt is the cornerstone of the much-beloved Dewar’s Blended Scotch. This whisky is a very accessible single malt that spends 12 years resting before it’s married and proofed with that soft Highland water and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This didn’t necessarily fall flat today. It’s more that it felt a little thin compared to the other offerings. That being said, it was still very tasty with all that lovely honey, fruit, and spice.

5. BenRiach The Twelve Speyside Single Malt — Taste 6

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $75

The Whisky:

Dr. Rachel Barrie’s reimaging of BenRiach has been a stellar success. This dram marries 12-year-old malts that matured in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-port casks before vatting, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This went down very easily but there wasn’t a wow factor anywhere in this sip. That’s not saying it isn’t good but just not as big as I wanted it to be.

4. GlenDronach 12 — Taste 3

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $67

The Whisky:

This Highland malt is blended by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the brand’s Master Blender to highlight the beauty of those Scottish Highlands. The juice is a blend of whiskies aged for 12 years in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks before vatting, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This being in fourth place doesn’t mean much. I think had I been in a different mood or the weather been different, this could have been number one or two. It’s a solid sipper that’s really hard to find a single fault with.

3. Cardhu Gold Reserve — Taste 2

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $50

The Whisky:

Cardhu is one of the oldest Speyside distilleries in the region. The juice in this bottle is a “cask selection” of their 12-year-old expression which basically means that these were the honey barrels that came together in the vat to create a heightened sense of the brand’s style and structure.

Bottom Line:

This was so soft and lush while still being distinctly flavored. It’s hard not to really like this whisky but it didn’t quite hit the top rank today. That is in no way disparaging. This stuff is pretty delicious.

2. Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or — Taste 1

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $82

The Whisky:

This dram from Glenmorangie is a much-loved Highland malt. The juice is matured in ex-bourbon barrels for an undisclosed number of years. The whisky is then transferred to French Sauternes barrels which held sweet dessert wines where it spends two more years finishing.

Bottom Line:

This remains one of my favorite single malts at this price point. It really is just a wonderful dram that drinks incredibly well.

1. Aberlour 16 — Taste 7

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $96

The Whisky:

This small Speyside distillery has been producing quality whisky for over 200 years. This expression is aged 16 years in both ex-bourbon and ex-Olorosso sherry casks. It’s then married and proofed with soft Speyside water from the Highlands and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This is delicious. Maybe it’s the season but this dram was far and away the whisky I wanted to drink more of right now. In fact, it’s going to be hard not to finish this bottle as the snow starts to fall and the holiday candy arrives.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

I don’t know if I can say I was surprised the Aberlour 16 won. That brand has been killing it lately with their whole line. Also, it was the oldest and most expensive bottle on the list. So it’s not a shocker.

Overall, this was a welcome break from all the bourbons I’ve been drinking lately. The softness of every single one of these single malts was delightful. I felt comforted while still getting to drink some serious whisky. It was a nice change of pace.

Summer Walker has left her supporters in tears with her newly-released sophomore album, Still Over It, which details the singer’s struggles with love. To promote the new album, she stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform “Unloyal,” an early standout. A live band provided a jazzy touch to the performance while also covering for Ari Lennox, who appears on the official song but was not present for the appearance.

Walker’s performance came as she broke several records on Apple Music with Still Over It, which earned the biggest album debut ever, the biggest R&B album debut ever, and went No. 1 in 40 markets globally. She also responded to a recent report from Rolling Stone that claimed she signed a “brutal” record deal and described her as “effectively an indentured servant for a series of albums.”

“I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter online,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “I didn’t say anything because I wanted to stay focused on releasing my album. Yow let me clear the air. What that article said is not my current record deal. Over the years my deal has changed many times. I’ve always had my own representation and full support from LVRN. Thank you to my fans for always having my back and for all of the love ya’ll keep showing my new album. Appreciate y’all!!”

You can watch Summer perform “Unloyal” in the video above.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Last week there was great and long-awaited news: The FDA granted emergency authorization for children ages 5 to 11 to finally get the Pfizer vaccine. There was much rejoicing amongst parents, who’ve long had to sweat over their kids’ possible exposure to a highly transmissible disease, and much naysaying amongst Republicans, who have taken out their frustrations on Big Bird and the Muppets. But of course, not everyone is on board. And, alas, one of them might be running for governor of Texas.

As per The Hill, Oscar-winning actor and possible gubernatorial candidate Matthew McConaughey has come out against establishing a mandate for vaccines in schools for young children, at least for now. He dropped the news at the New York Times‘s DealBook summit, where he tried to draw a line between preaching for the efficacy of vaccinations while claiming they shouldn’t be required.

“I’m vaccinated. My wife’s vaccinated. I didn’t do it because someone told me I had to — [I] chose to do it,” McConaughey said. “Do I think that there’s any kind of scam or conspiracy theory?” he asked himself. His reply: “Hell no.”

But. “Right now I’m not vaccinating mine, I’ll tell you that,” he added.

McConaughey claimed that he’s “quarantined harder” than his friends since the pandemic began in earnest about two years ago. Part of that has been using a “heavy amount” of COVID-19 testing. “I’m in a position though where I can do that, and I understand that not everyone can do that,” he admitted.

That, of course, is still a marginally better position than that taken by current Texas governor Greg Abbott, who has, like many Republican governors with high cases of COVID cases and deaths, downplayed the pandemic and come out against vaccine mandates. But it’s still a very low bar. And it didn’t impress one person: US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.

“Many kids have died. Sadly, hundreds of children — thousands — have been hospitalized, and as a dad of a child who has been hospitalized several years ago for another illness, I would never wish upon any parent they have a child that ends up in the hospital,” Murthy told CNN mere hours after McConaughey’s statements went public. “And the vaccines have shown in these trials for children 5 through 11 they are more at 90% effective in protecting our kids from symptomatic infection, and they are remarkably safe as well.”

McConaughey was also asked about another problem plaguing his native state: the draconian abortion law that went into effect Sunday, prompting panic as well as satirical and amusingly saboteurial attempts to discredit it. The actor called it “overly aggressive,” but added, semi-cryptically, “It doesn’t doesn’t seem to open up the room for a sensible choice to be made at the right time.”

His more elaborate response may not exactly ease the nerves of advocates for safe and legal abortions in Texas. “I believe in this: more responsibility, more personal responsibility to make the right choices,” he said. “And we got to pick context with each situation, and each person’s situation, each woman’s situation.”

(Via The Hill)

At the end of last month, Ed Sheeran returned with his first full-length album since 2019. Entitled =, it wound up continuing a streak of chart-topping releases, becoming his fifth consecutive album to go No. 1. He also stopped by Saturday Night Live to perform “Shivers” and “Overpass Graffiti.” Long story short, things have been going pretty well for Sheeran lately, but he feels like he’s not getting enough love from his fellow pop peers.

During a recent interview on The Breakfast Club, Sheeran opened up about his anxieties. “I’m not accepted by my genre,” he claimed. “I thought it was quite telling that my album came out and the only people that emailed me in-depth about liking it were like Dave and Stormzy and people from the UK rap and UK grime scene.” He added, “My peers largely, I feel, in the pop scene often don’t want me to succeed. … I’ve never felt accepted by my scene.”

This could be one of the reasons why Sheeran’s new album is an entirely solo effort. However, he and Taylor Swift do have a song they wrote together on the way. It will appear on Swift’s upcoming album Red (Taylor’s Version), which arrives on November 12.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On Monday, Denver Nuggets center and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was ejected after an incident with Miami Heat forward Markieff Morris. Following the incident and the game, members of the Heat chose not to address the media, but things spilled into the media to the point where Jokic’s brothers and Marcus Morris, twin brother of Markieff, got involved in the discourse. Opinions on what transpired, and what potential discipline should be, flowed on all sides, but the NBA officially announced its discipline on Tuesday evening.

The end result was a one-game suspension without pay for Jokic for what the NBA described as “forcefully shoving” Morris from behind. In addition, Morris was fined $50,000 as a result of the Flagrant 2 foul that “initiated an on-court altercation” with Jokic. Within the same release, the NBA announced that Heat star Jimmy Butler was fined $30,000 for “attempting to escalate the altercation and failing to comply with an NBA Security interview as part of the review process pertaining to an on-court matter.”

Many speculated that Jokic could receive harsher discipline and, for the Nuggets, this may seem like a lucky escape. After all, Denver is heavily reliant on Jokic and that is doubly the case with current injuries to Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. leaving the team without shot creation. The NBA indicated that Jokic’s suspension will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 10 against the Pacers, which would presumably allow Jokic to return to action on Friday for a home game against the Atlanta Hawks.

Remember earlier this year when Republicans tried to save Dr. Seuss, Pepé Le Pew, Mr. Potato Head, and more from the evil libs? We’re well past that. This past weekend, the GOP has had another one of their unpredictable changes of heart. Now they’re mad at Big Bird, all because the fictitious avian told children to get vaccinated. It’s been wild and weird, with everyone from Ted Cruz to Laura Ingraham coming for a fictitious character who dared tell kids to stay healthy during a once-in-a-century public health crisis.

And now Newsmax has stepped into the ring. As per The Daily Beast, host Eric Bolling — who left Fox News in 2017 amidst sexual misconduct allegations — devoted a section of his show Monday to denouncing Big Bird and his neighbors, bragging that he said “15 years ago that Sesame Street are a bunch of communists,” as a completely sensible adult human is wont to do. On Tuesday, he was back at it, this time extending his ire to their cousins the Muppets.

Like the folks on Sesame Street, Bolling and the Muppets go way back. He’s had their number for ages, telling his audience that this isn’t the “first time these little felt communists have tried to infect the minds of our youngest and most vulnerable children.” (It’s true, Big Bird has been preaching for vaccinations for almost 50 years.)

Bolling then showed clips from his other battles with inanimate objects brought to life by human puppeteers with funny voices. There was that time, during a 2011 Fox Business segment, when he compared the Muppets to “communist China.” Bolling was one of many far right commentators who railed against that year’s revival movie, entitled simply The Muppets. It’s not that they felt it let down the franchise. Rather, they were insulted that the villain was a Texas oil baron named Tex Richman, played by Chris Cooper. (No such brouhaha happened when 1979’s The Muppet Movie made its baddie an evil Southern capitalist played by Charles Durning.)

“Here’s what happened: The Muppets were blaming an oil baron for closing down the studio. That’s cute, you little oppressive Muppets,” Bolling said after his clip. “They didn’t even try to hide their disdain for success by naming the guy Tex Richman, but I took them to task.” He sure did.

Bolling also showed a clip of him first apologizing to Kermit the Frog for helping create a ludicrous controversy over a movie about puppets, only to dare he and Miss Piggy to a debate — moderated, he suggested, by Donald Trump. (Again, this was 2011.)

The Newsmax host added that Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy “never took me up on that offer.”

It was clear Bolling remained bitter. In a tone that wavered between sarcasm and seriousness, he called Miss Piggy a “portly pink dummy who took to the media to trash me for exposing her leftist tyranny.” He then re-extended the offer to characters who aren’t real.

“Guess what? The invite is still open Miss Piggy, if you or your emasculated frog boyfriend Kermit ever want to join this desk, it’s free,” Bolling crowed while looking at a Kermit doll. “First, I thought they were mere ideologues and now I think they’re just stuck on stupid.” He added, “I mean, they don’t get it.”

At least Bolling attempted to be humorous, however awkwardly. Ted Cruz and Laura Ingraham almost seem to they think they’re angry at real, anthropomorphic animals.

(Via The Daily Beast)