The Wheel of Fortunehost reflected on the last moments he shared with his father Gary Lee Seacrestbefore his death, including the last conversation he, his mother Constance Marie Zullinger, his sister Meredith Seacrest and her husband Jimmy Leach shared with Gary.
“It’s so vivid in my mind,” Ryan said during the Oct. 31 episode of his podcast On Air with Ryan Seacrest. “He said without much strength or energy that he loved us and that he was going to miss us. He looked over at me—and the power in the contact—he said, ‘Take care of your mom.’”
Ryan continued, “He said to my sister, Jimmy, ‘Take care of Flora, my granddaughter.’ And then literally a few seconds later he closed his eyes and said, ‘I’ve got to go.’ He knew. He was at peace.”
The 50-year-old—who confirmed Gary died following a yearslong battle with prostate cancer—also detailed on the last few days he spent with his father.
Dan Wetzel is a senior writer focused on investigative reporting, news analysis and feature storytelling.
LSU currently does not have a president, an athletic director or a head football coach.
Louisiana does have a governor, Jeff Landry, who essentially fired the latter two and, having apparently solved all the issues facing the people of his state, is spending his time lording over the athletic department.
That’s a task that always seems easy, whether from an internet message board or a Tiger Stadium bleacher.
Landry initially said the job of hiring a new coach would fall to a subcommittee set up by the school’s 17-member Board of Supervisors. After days of criticism, interim athletic director Verge Ausberry said Friday that a search committee was set up but that he had been given full authority to hire “the best football coach there is.”
Well, unless Landry empowers President Trump to make the selection.
“He loves winners, you know?” Landry said back on Wednesday.
Landry was joking. We think. Really, who can tell? After all, having a sitting president with no actual ties to a university selecting the football coach makes about as much sense as choosing one via bureaucratic committee.
(Who would Trump choose? Tommy Tuberville? Herschel Walker? Another job for Marco Rubio?)
“Total clown show,” said one rival SEC athletic director.
Even by the standards of the three-ring circus known as college football.
The question is whether the political involvement will hinder LSU from identifying the right athletic director/coach combination to lead the Tigers back to a national championship — or worse, scare the best candidates away.
This sport is tough enough without a meddlesome governor.
LSU dropped to 5-3 on Saturday via a humiliating loss to Texas A&M. It caused not just Landry, but many Tiger fans to lose complete faith in Brian Kelly, whom athletic director Scott Woodward hired away from Notre Dame 3 1/2 seasons ago.
Kelly was just 34-14 (19-10 in SEC play) in Baton Rouge. The program’s three previous coaches all won national titles. Kelly didn’t even manage a playoff bid. So Landry orchestrated a Sunday firing, complete with a $54 million buyout for Kelly and his “fam-uh-lee” to go away.
Days later, at a press conference about food stamps and behind a sign that read “Protecting The Most Vulnerable,” he set his sights on humiliating, and essentially firing, Woodward for hiring Kelly in the first place.
“I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting our next coach,” Landry said.
Kelly’s 10-year, $100 million contract obviously broke bad for the school, but that sum was also about the standard going rate and was unanimously approved by … the LSU Board of Supervisors.
Woodward whiffed on Kelly, an odd fit who turned out uncomfortable in the quickly shifting NIL/transfer portal era. Although, to be fair, it wasn’t a complete disaster. Those three losses this season were to three Top 10 teams — 8-0 A&M, 7-1 Ole Miss and 7-1 Vanderbilt.
Woodward, it’s worth noting, is also responsible for hiring LSU’s baseball and women’s basketball coaches — both of whom have led the school to national titles. Women’s gymnastics has also won it all during Woodward’s tenure.
In previous AD jobs, Woodward hired Chris Petersen to revive the Washington football program and Jimbo Fisher to lead Texas A&M. Fisher eventually flamed out and was owed his own massive, $76 million buyout.
“This is a pattern,” Landry said of Woodward being responsible for big payouts.
The governor had the timing wrong, though. After some early success while Woodward was the AD in College Station, Fisher’s contract was actually renewed by Woodward’s successor. Landry also suggested that taxpayers were on the hook for Kelly’s golden parachute. That’ll be handled by private money.
But, hey, let’s not let the facts get in the way of things here.
None of this is to say Kelly or Woodward needed to stay in their jobs. It’s just that some tact was in order, if only for external perception. Nor was Landry all wrong about a few things — coaching contracts are out of control, too many ADs and coaches share agents, and most notably, LSU and its fans deserve a program that can win national titles.
Like most things in politics, there is just enough truth for almost any argument to work.
The problem for LSU is that this isn’t politics. It’s college sports. Passion fuels everything, but precision is what delivers.
If Landry thinks LSU is going to get Lane Kiffin to leave Ole Miss without a Kelly-esque contract (or bigger), then he doesn’t understand the business.
LSU has the resources, recruiting base and tradition to be considered a top-five job in the country. It is a special place, a coveted job. Hiring a coach, though, is a complicated dance. The best candidates have other great options — from Florida to Penn State to staying put. Recruitment is often done in secrecy, not via committee.
Ausberry, the executive deputy AD under Woodward, is part of the search group, along with select individuals from the Board of Supervisors and donors.
But are they really going to let an interim AD make a $100 million hire?
Even when they find a coach, no one knows if the new guy will be successful.
Now, LSU has to contend with the perception of chaos … and a wild-card governor who controls the very Board of Supervisors that will hire not only the coach, but a president and permanent AD who need to work closely together in a time when money stocks rosters.
You don’t just pick a coach; the coach has to be persuaded to pick you.
Louisiana in general, and LSU in particular, is always surrounded by a healthy dose of crazy. That’s part of its power, part of its appeal, part of what makes it special. Play Neck. Geaux Tigers.
It also, after a clumsy few days of political grandstanding, has become a self-constructed hurdle to overcome.
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ESPN Eliminator Challenge is one of the most fun games to play this NFL season. The rules are simple: pick one team, and as long as they win (or tie), you advance to the next round. If they lose, you are out. The caveat is you cannot pick the same team twice. If you’ve made it this far, give yourself a pat on the back.
Last week, favorites went 11-2 straight up and against the spread. However, the two underdog wins knocked out 39% of remaining Eliminator Challenge entries, the second-most devastating week of the season. The Cincinnati Bengals loss knocked out 20% of the field as they were the most-selected team last week. The Atlanta Falcons also lost as the fourth-most popular pick.
However, this column survives another week as the Indianapolis Colts won easily over the lowly Tennessee Titans. Less than 8% of ESPN entries remain active entering Week 9.
This week features four high-end options. The Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions are all big favorites, and none are likely to be favored by this much the rest of the season. There’s no reason to pivot elsewhere as there is a massive drop-off in win equity, so pick your favorite of the four.
This column’s pick will be the Rams, who are the most popular selection for a reason.
This is the second-most lopsided matchup the rest of the season according to ESPN Analytics. While the Rams have some future value, including Week 13 in Carolina, that isn’t enough reason to pass up this much win probability. The biggest reason to pivot elsewhere is selection rate, as the Rams will be the most popular pick. However, the time to eat that chalk is on a 14.5-point favorite that ESPN Analytics doesn’t project to be favored by more than seven the rest of the season.
ESPN Analytics chance to win: 83%
Mike Clay chance to win: 91%
ESPN BET line: Rams -14.5 (-1400 money line)
Eliminator Challenge: 28% selected
The Titans are one of the most obvious fades each week as they rank last in offensive efficiency and 31st in defensive efficiency. That’s why the Chargers are the second-biggest favorites this week by each model, even though they are tied for third in the betting odds. The Chargers have one more prime matchup after this week (Week 13 vs. Raiders), and they are also a potential option next week (vs. Steelers), but they have minimal future value outside of that.
ESPN Analytics chance to win: 74%
Mike Clay chance to win: 88%
ESPN BET line: Chargers -9.5 (-550 money line)
Eliminator Challenge: 18% selected
The Packers are the second-biggest favorites based on the betting odds. The Panthers are 4-4, but they are 1-3 on the road, beating only the Jets. Bryce Young is dealing with an ankle injury, and Andy Dalton posted the lowest Total QBR of any quarterback last week, so the Panthers should struggle to move the ball again. Green Bay has a few more appealing matchups, including Week 11 (at Giants), Week 12 (vs. Vikings) and Week 14 (vs. Bears). They have a similar remaining schedule to the Lions, but their matchup this week is slightly easier, so they slot ahead of Detroit.
ESPN Analytics chance to win: 76%
Mike Clay chance to win: 86%
ESPN BET line: Packers -12.5 (-1000 money line)
Eliminator Challenge: 14% selected
Both ESPN Analytics and Mike Clay rank this as the easiest matchup the rest of the season for Detroit, and they will be significantly less popular than the other top favorites. The Lions have also dominated this series, winning and covering all eight meetings under Dan Campbell. They are a sneaky option, especially if you want to avoid the chalk. Keep an eye on the status of J.J. McCarthy, as the Lions would rise up the list if undrafted rookie Max Brosmer has to start for Minnesota.
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro received a decent price drop during Amazon’s October Prime Day sale, but if you held off on picking them up, your patience has been rewarded. Right now, the noise-canceling earbuds are available for around $165 ($85 off) at Amazon and Best Buy, which is the lowest price we’ve seen in months. The discount only applies to the silver color, though, and Amazon shows the deal runs through the end of today, October 30th.
The Buds 3 Pro are one of our favorite pairs of wireless earbuds, especially for Samsung Galaxy owners. They feature an AirPods-style design, complete with an elongated stem that provides a secure, stable in-ear fit. They also offer an IP57 rating and about six hours of battery life with active noise cancellation enabled. They’re comfortable to wear over extended periods of time, too, and in his review, former Verge reviewer Chris Welch noted how his ears never felt fatigued after wearing them all day.
Samsung’s third-gen earbuds improve upon the sound of the prior model, too, which was already great. They deliver full, detailed sound, with an emphasis on bass and treble. If you spend a lot of time chatting with family or in work meetings, call performance is also quite good. However, perhaps the most impressive feature is their voice control performance. You merely need to say “volume up” or “next song” and the earbuds will execute that command through your phone — no wake phrase required.
As much as we like the Buds 3 Pro, they’re not perfect. They lack true multipoint connectivity, though they can auto-switch between Galaxy laptops, tablets, and phones. Meanwhile, the ANC performance falls short of what you get from the AirPods Pro 3 or even the second-gen model. That said, they offer an excellent transparency mode, and you can also take advantage of an adaptive mode that dynamically blends ANC and transparency based on your surroundings.
Clearly, it was the right move. The band’s 1975 eponymous album landed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart and featured hits like “Landslide,” “Rhiannon,” “Over My Head,” and “Say You Love Me.”
Afterwards, the group began work on their 1977 album Rumours, which would go on to win Album of the Year.
But as their star was rising, the relationships between Nicks and Buckingham, the McVies, and Fleetwood and his wife Jenny Boyd were all crumbling.
“When we joined Fleetwood Mac, everything was really rocky between me and Lindsey,” Nicks said in the Don’t Stop documentary. “I think we kind of all made a little silent vow: Let’s fix these relationships for right now, because we cannot breakup. We just can’t. If we do, there will be no Fleetwood Mac.”
However, the relationships did end. In 1976, the McVies divorced while Nicks and Buckingham split (Fleetwood and Boyd would also later breakup).
And if fans really listen to the track’s—including Christine’s “Don’t Stop,” Nicks’ “Dreams” and Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way”—they can get a sense of what they were going through.
“My songs were all about Lindsey, and Lindsey’s songs were all about me,” Nicks added, “and you just had to blow it off and play the song.”
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Jamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.
BALTIMORE — After most games at M&T Bank Stadium, fans gather above the stairs that lead to the Baltimore Ravens‘ home locker room. This is the place where coach John Harbaugh has celebrated many of his greatest victories by slapping hands with supporters and waving to them in jubilation.
Earlier this month, Harbaugh walked off the field following a 44-10 loss to the Houston Texans and heard a chorus of boos, which served as a reminder of how a season loaded with expectations had unraveled so unexpectedly.
WATCH: Ravens end painful 44-10 loss to Texans as John Harbaugh hears boos off the field. pic.twitter.com/5y2LJxabKg
“When people look back and say, ‘Hey, when things were the toughest, when things looked the worst, how did you handle it?'” Harbaugh recently said. “I’m looking for people to come out fighting and give their best in those kinds of situations. That’s what you have to do. When you do that, you come out the other end.”
Only 1% of teams in NFL history have started 1-5 or worse and rebounded to make the playoffs — although ESPN Analytics gives the Ravens a 43.2% chance of winning the wide-open AFC North. With QB Tyler Huntley filling in for injured Lamar Jackson, Baltimore took a step toward a turnaround with a 30-16 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Those inside the organization believe this Ravens team can defy these challenging odds because of Jackson’s impending return, improving health, a favorable schedule and Harbaugh’s leadership.
When Baltimore plays at the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video), the Ravens can prove to the football world that they’re capable of a historic run.
The Ravens (2-5) are convinced they can rebound from one of the most tumultuous starts in franchise history, which has been defined by a fourth-quarter collapse in Buffalo, some humbling blowout losses and a violation of the NFL’s injury report policy involving Jackson.
During training camp, Harbaugh was asked if this season was Super Bowl or bust. Now, despite the season not being halfway over, the question is whether Baltimore can reach the postseason at all.
“I feel like getting into this position — and we haven’t really been in this position [before] — it’s easy to kind of put your head down and mail it in,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said. “But we still feel like we’re talented enough to make the playoffs [and] make some magic when we do.”
Ron Rivera, the coach of the last team to start 1-5 and make the postseason, can see the Ravens following the footsteps of his 2020 Washington Football Team.
“There’s enough guys on that team with veteran experience and veteran pride that, if they get a little momentum, they can be dangerous,” Rivera said. “They really can because of who they are. They’re a physical football team. And playing that style, you can wear people down, especially as you start getting later into the season.”
LAST WEEK, RAVENS outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy was asked how much of a spark the return of Jackson would bring.
Van Noy paused, tilted his head and raised his right eyebrow.
“Do I even answer that question?,” Van Noy replied. “I think the answer to that, it’s almost disrespectful to him.”
The Ravens expect Jackson, who has missed the last three games with a right hamstring injury, to start Thursday at Miami.
The two-time Most Valuable Player is among the league’s biggest X factors. Since Jackson became Baltimore’s starting quarterback midway through the 2018 season, the Ravens are 74-32 (.698) with Jackson and 5-12 (.294) without him.
Jackson emphatically nodded his head when he was asked whether it’s going to feel like playoff time for the rest of the season.
“Coach [John Harbaugh] touched on that with us in a team meeting: Each and every game going to be like a win-or-go-home game,” Jackson said. “It’s the first season ever starting off this slow. It’s do-or-die right now, each and every week.”
Before injuring his hamstring Sept. 28, Jackson again was playing at an MVP level. He led the NFL with a 130.5 passer rating, throwing 10 touchdowns and one interception.
This is the time of the season when Jackson has spearheaded many hot streaks. Jackson has a 39-10 career record (.795) after Week 9, with 110 total touchdowns and 24 interceptions.
In his first season with the Ravens, Jackson took over a 4-5 team and won six of seven games to lead Baltimore to the AFC North title. Last season, the Ravens trailed the division-leading Steelers by two games in Week 14 before Jackson guided Baltimore to four straight victories to capture the AFC North again.
“I feel like we always have a chance to make something happen,” Jackson said. “And we still do.”
“He is the most electric player in the sport,” tight end Charlie Kolar said. “So obviously we’re excited to get him back.”
Since the Ravens drafted Jackson with the last pick in the first round of the 2018 draft, the only season they haven’t reached the playoffs was 2021, when he was sidelined for the last four games with an ankle injury. Jackson has won four AFC North titles in the five regular seasons he has finished.
IN 2018, THEIndianapolis Colts were so banged up in Week 5 that they couldn’t fill up the game-day roster. Indianapolis had eight injured players and only seven spots on the inactive list.
After a 1-5 start, the Colts began to get healthier and won nine of their last 10 games to clinch a wild-card berth.
Since the first NFL postseason in 1933, only four of 358 teams — which amounts to 1.1% — made the playoffs after starting 1-5 or worse, according to ESPN Research. Those teams were the 2018 Colts, along with the 1970 Cincinnati Bengals, the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs and the 2020 Washington Football Team.
“Once everybody bought in, that’s when everything started rolling,” Colts defensive tackle Grover Stewart said this month of those 2018 Colts. “It just felt different. You could tell the whole energy in the locker room was just crazy. We felt like we were the baddest when we went out there “
In 2020, the turning point for the Washington Football Team was the return of quarterback Alex Smith. After overcoming a compound leg fracture that almost cost him his right leg, Smith helped the team capture the NFC East by winning five of six starts.
“I think the guys fed off of his energy, his toughness, his want to be out there and play,” Rivera said. “I thought that was a really big deal for us.”
The Ravens can relate to the Colts and the Washington Football Team. In that 34-point loss to the Texans on Oct. 5, Baltimore was without its six highest-paid players because of injuries: Jackson, Hamilton, defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, cornerback Marlon Humphrey and middle linebacker Roquan Smith.
Now, the Ravens should have everyone back from injury against Miami except for Madubuike, who is out for the season with a serious neck injury. Baltimore hasn’t been this healthy since the start of the season.
“I feel like we’re all rejuvenated, so it was very beneficial for everyone [to get] more healthy,” Roquan Smith said. “We all know who we are and who we need to be, play in and play out and game in and game out.”
HARBAUGH SMILED WHEN he was asked whether he took time out of his bye week to calculate how many wins the Ravens need to make the playoffs.
“It’s not that hard to figure out,” Harbaugh said. “It’s pretty simple math. I don’t have to think that long about it, to be honest with you.”
Harbaugh didn’t specify an exact win total, but the target is likely 10 victories. Since the current playoff format started in 2020, 10-win teams made the postseason 88% of the time while only 40% of nine-win teams earned berths. For Baltimore to get to 10 victories, the Ravens will need to win eight of their next 10 games.
The Ravens benefit from a much easier schedule going forward. Baltimore’s first seven games were ranked the second toughest in the league, according to ESPN Analytics.
Over the final 10 games, the Ravens’ strength of schedule is 24th in the NFL. ESPN Analytics has Baltimore favored in its next eight games: at Miami, at Minnesota, at Cleveland, vs. New York Jets, vs. Cincinnati, vs. Pittsburgh, at Cincinnati and vs. New England. ESPN BET lists their over/under as 8.5 wins.
“Everybody can say what they want about our schedule being tough or this and that or whatever, but at a certain point, we’re going to have to beat these teams anyway in the playoffs,” Hamilton said. “So, I don’t really like that excuse. I think we should go out and win every game that we play. For it to be a scheduling thing or the schedule quote-unquote ‘lightens up’ later … I don’t really like that perspective at all because everybody in this league is good.”
Baltimore currently trails Pittsburgh (4-3) by two games, but the AFC North title is essentially a coin flip at this point. According to ESPN Analytics, the Steelers’ chances of winning the division are 46.9% and the Ravens’ chances are 43.2%.
Excluding the two head-to-head matchups between Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the Ravens’ remaining opponents have a combined record of 25-36-1 (.414) and the Steelers’ remaining opponents have a combined mark of 33-28 (.540).
The players say the mantra coming off last week’s bye is: “New season, new us.” But Hamilton doesn’t entirely buy into that.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword, because you want to [be] forward-thinking and go 1-0, but in the grand scheme of things, we’re 2-5,” Hamilton said. “If you would’ve told me in Week 8 we’d be rejoicing about a win to get to 2-5, I’d be like, ‘That’s B.S. You’re lying. It couldn’t be possible,’ but here we are. So, we have to acknowledge where we’re at, but I love the outlook. It puts pressure on us, which I think we will be able to deliver on.”
THE RAVENS HAD just started training camp in late July when Harbaugh received an unexpected text. He looked at his phone to see a message from Huntley, a free agent at the time, who wanted to see whether he could return to Baltimore. Huntley was with the Ravens from 2020 to 2023.
Harbaugh called Huntley immediately.
“You’re in these battles and fights together, and the relationships are built and they do last forever,” Harbaugh later said. “You always have those moments that live on. And so, when someone calls you or texts, you talk about — you’re right back in that moment.”
Huntley eventually signed with the Cleveland Browns for a 19-day stint before joining Baltimore on Aug. 27. Then, two months later, Huntley stepped in for Jackson on Sunday to help the Ravens win their first game in 42 days.
When players are asked about Harbaugh’s strengths, they typically bring up his communication.
Last week, Harbaugh moved from his usual spot where he watches special teams practice and spoke at length to cornerback Jaire Alexander. During the final minutes of Sunday’s game, Harbaugh walked up to Smith and gave him a hug as the Ravens beat the Bears, Smith’s former team.
“He is one of the best coaches in the league for a reason,” center Tyler Linderbaum said.
In the midst of his 18th season, Harbaugh is currently the NFL’s second-longest-tenured coach behind Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, who was hired one year earlier. Under Harbaugh, the Ravens have enjoyed their greatest success, with a Super Bowl triumph in 2012 and a dozen playoff berths.
But, as players and coaches have acknowledged, this rocky start has tested everyone. In the second half of a 17-3 loss to the Rams on Oct. 12, a chant of “Fire Harbaugh” could be faintly heard.
Instead of being upset, Harbaugh is focused on the fight it will take for his team to pull off one of the most challenging comebacks in NFL history.
“I know how much [fans] care and how much they want us to be great — and even when they’re frustrated, and even if they say things that are hurtful — it’s OK, because that’s our job,” Harbaugh said. “It’s also going to be great — it’s going to be wonderful — when things are rolling again, and they can enjoy it like they’re supposed to, and that’s why we’re working so hard to get it where it needs to be.”
At a Senate hearing Wednesday on government censorship of tech platforms, a Meta executive expressed regret to Republican lawmakers for failing to speak out more against the Biden administration’s requests that it remove health and election misinformation, including satire. Google, meanwhile, held firm in its stance, saying that evaluating — and often rejecting — government content requests is business as usual. Democrats questioned why Congress was relitigating years-old moderation decisions instead of the Trump administration’s recent speech crackdown — even as Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) hopes to recruit them for a new anti-jawboning bill. And Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, whom Cruz has promised to question over threats to broadcasters, was nowhere in sight.
Meta VP of public policy Neil Potts said the company takes responsibility for its own content moderation decisions, but expressed regret about not pushing back more openly against the Democratic administration’s urging. “We believe the government pressure was wrong and wish we had been more outspoken about it,” he said in written remarks. “We should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction, and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”
Meta recently removed a Facebook page for tracking Immigration and Customs Enforcement action following “outreach” from the Department of Justice; whether it considered itself pressured was not questioned in the hearing.
“We believe the government pressure was wrong and wish we had been more outspoken about it”
Google VP of government affairs and public policy Markham Erickson did not go so far as Meta. Google regularly hears from governments around the world about content they think it should remove, he said, and sometimes — including in response to some Biden administration requests — it says no. “No matter how the information comes to us, we feel a responsibility and are proud of the way we handle those communications to make independent decisions,” he said.
The different strategies are significant at a time where tech companies are spending millions on lobbying and other projects that critics argue could constitute bribes to the Trump administration. Tech companies have poured money into Trump’s inauguration fund, settledlawsuits over their suspension of his accounts after the January 6th insurrection, and changed policies to be more in line with conservative wishes.
Meta in particular made a stark change to its fact-checking policies at the beginning of the year, addressing long-standing critiques from the right. CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said he regretted not speaking out against the Biden administration last year, telling the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee that Biden pushed him to “censor” content. In fact, a number of its decisions — including calls on posts about covid and false election claims, plus its suspension of President Donald Trump — occurred under Trump’s presidency.
Wednesday’s hearing pointed to differences in how tech companies are dealing with political pressure. But Google has also taken actions that could appease Republicans, including criticizing the Biden administration’s content moderation demands. It told the House Judiciary Committee it is “wrong and unacceptable when any government, including the Biden Administration, attempts to dictate how a company moderates content.” And it recently instituted a “second chance” policy for YouTube creators banned over election and covid misinformation, among other categories.
One of the hearing’s goals was letting Cruz, the Commerce Committee chair, preview the legislation he’s working on to provide more transparency into government officials’ communications with tech companies, and allow people who believe they’ve been wrongly censored at the government’s behest to collect damages. All four witnesses — Potts, Erickson, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) legal director Will Creeley, and Public Knowledge senior vice president Harold Feld — said they were generally supportive of Cruz’s approach, with the caveat that they haven’t seen the final text.
“While I fundamentally agree that this committee must examine the state of free speech in the US, today’s hearing once again misses the mark”
Cruz seems keen to capitalize on Democrats’ allegations of censorship against the Trump administration to gain bipartisan support for the JAWBONE Act, which he has not yet introduced. But at the hearing, Democrats largely criticized Republicans for focusing on years-old incidents that had already been litigated before the Supreme Court. They argued that actions by Trump and his administration — which have repeatedly deported legal immigrants over political speech and used its regulatory power to pressure media companies — have been far worse than anything Biden officials had done.
“While I fundamentally agree that this committee must examine the state of free speech in the US, today’s hearing once again misses the mark,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said. “This is now the second hearing to focus on accusations from years ago rather than the near-constant attacks the Trump administration has leveled against free speech rights today.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the Biden administration actions but far too little talking about Donald Trump’s repeated and far more serious threats to the First Amendment,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said, including the president’s threat to imprison Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and urging the Justice Department to “criminally prosecute” Google for allegedly surfacing primarily critical news stories about him. Markey asked Potts and Erickson if President Joe Biden or any of his officials had threatened to prosecute their CEOs. Neither was aware of such a threat.
Feld said that even Trump’s threats would normally be what he’d consider an exercise of the bully pulpit. But in Trump’s case, “we’ve seen he means it.” There’s even a notable difference between Trump’s first and second administration, he said, pointing to Trump’s first FCC chair Ajit Pai’s refusal to revoke NBC’s broadcast license after the president’s criticism of its coverage, compared to Carr’s threats against station owners following comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death.
“We might have the right hearing, but I’m not sure we have the right witnesses”
Cruz was one of a handful of Republicans who forcefully condemned Carr’s remarks over the Kimmel incident. Still, Democrats repeatedly turned their focus to the FCC chair. “My fundamental question still is where is Brendan Carr?” Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) asked in her opening remarks. “We might have the right hearing, but I’m not sure we have the right witnesses. We might have the right questions, but I’m not sure we have the right administration we’re calling into question.”
Cruz said he expects Carr to testify before the committee as part of its oversight of the agency. That hearing may be the true test of whether bipartisan action against government censorship can hold.
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