REPORT: Donald Trump Paid Actors To Cheer At His Presidential Announcement

Via the Hollywood Reporter:

Donald Trump's big presidential announcement Tuesday was made a little bigger with help from paid actors — at $50 a pop. New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump's event. "We are looking to cast people for the event to wear t-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement," reads the June 12 email, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. "We understand this is not a traditional 'background job,' but we believe acting comes in all forms and this is inclusive of that school of thought." Questions as to whether the Trump campaign had hired extras were first raised Wednesday by anti-Trump activist Angelo Carusone, who came across an Instagram photo showing a man he recognized as a background actor posing at the Trump event. Carusone screengrabbed the photo of the actor, Domenico Del Giacco, and published it in a blog post. The photo shows Del Giacco with a woman, identified in the now-deleted Instagram post as actress Courtney Klotz. (Del Giacco has since deleted his entire Instagram account.)

The Trump campaign is denying the claim. The casting agency is refusing to comment. Carusone, by the way, is a vice president at Media Matters.

Media Matters: Right Wing Rodeo

Ben Carson, Jan Mikelson, and Mark Levin.

Media Matters: Right-Wing Rodeo

Another classic Alex Jones meltdown, Fox News host denies existence of bipolar disorder, and more of Fox News attacking Disney's Frozen.

Oregon Officials: Lying Todd Starnes Is A Lying Liar From Liartown Who Tells Lies

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries today called out Todd Starnes for lying in yesterday's Fox News column about the possible fines faced by that anti-gay bakery. Via Raw Story:

Starnes incorrectly reported that bakery owners Aaron and Melissa Klein could face $200,000 in fines and damages – which an official with the BOLI flatly denied in a statement to Media Matters. “Todd Starnes is writing that the bakery owners face fines of up to $200,000 in damages. That’s false,” said Charlie Burr, the agency’s communications director. “In fact, it’s the Kleins who have asked for $200,000 in damages from our agency for our enforcement of the Equality Act.” An administrative judge rejected the couple’s request to dismiss the case and award them damages, court costs, and attorneys fees.

Starnes has not corrected his column at this writing. Don't hold your breath. (Tipped by JMG reader West)

More On My Husband's Not Gay Flap

Via Media Matters:

TLC denies claims that its newest show, "My Husband's Not Gay," helps promote the discredited notion that gay men can choose to be heterosexual. But one of the show's stars has a history of promoting "ex-gay" therapy, even acting as a spokesman for a major "ex-gay" organization. But one of the stars of TLC's show - Preston "Pret" Dahlgren - has a history of speaking on behalf of "ex-gay" ministries, repeatedly using his testimony to promote organizations that promote reparative therapy. Dahlgren is the former chairman of Evergreen International, a Salt Lake City-based ex-gay organization which catered to the Mormon community. The group promised to help people "diminish... same-gender attractions and overcome homosexual behavior," largely relying on the work of the notorious National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). At a 2012 Evergreen Conference Fireside, Dahlgren gave a speech defending efforts to help people overcome same-sex attraction, stating that "same-sex attractions are almost invariably rooted in deeper issues."

Dalgren is now on the board of new "ex-gay" Mormon group called North Star International. He and his wife have made a video for them too.

Breitbart Headline Of The Day

According to Breitbart, US Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch should face tough questioning before the Senate over her role in the 1992 Whitewater hearings.

The prosecutor has a long career built of some high profile cases but there is one case Lynch was involved in that few are talking about. Lynch was a part of Bill Clinton's Whitewater probe defense team in 1992. In 1992, the Clintons came under fire for investing in a perennially failing Arkansas real estate company known as Whitewater Development, a venture heavily subsidized by Clinton friend Jim McDougal in an effort to soften the losses the Clintons were experiencing as investors. The probe was widened to look into the failure of the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan to which it was connected. Eventually the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won several convictions handing jail time to the McDougals as well as Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker. The Clintons escaped any convictions in the probe. A New York Times article from March of 1992 reported that Lynch was one of the Clintons' Whitewater defense attorneys as well as a "campaign aide."

Slight problem. As reported today by Media Matters, Breitbart is shrieking about the wrong Loretta Lynch. The Lynch that was part of the Whitewater team is on the left in the photo below. Breitbart's post remains up and the usual screaming from the commenters is taking place. Vote Tea Party!

Fox Election Coverage: Flattery & Free Ads

Sullivan Backs Matthew Shepard Truthers

"The question here is whether the crime was solely a function of the homophobic hatred of two strangers who beat up and brutally murdered someone merely because he was gay. That’s the official line of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Human Rights Campaign. Of course these motives could also have been involved. I’m arguing that meth can explain all of it, but may not be the only factor involved. I can’t read the meth-addled minds of the foul murderers. I can detect bullshit from the gay rights establishment. No one wants to confess a meth robbery gone haywire, and they may have thought the gay panic defense might work – and it didn’t. The Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Human Rights Campaign should not be smearing and demonizing good faith work by a courageous openly gay journalist. They need to apologize, and correct the record. At some point, their convenient untruth must stop." - Andrew Sullivan, responding to the uproar that followed after the Guardian this week published an essay in praise of the widely-debunked book which claims that Shepard's murder was not an anti-gay hate crime. Sullivan has long opposed hate crimes laws.

RELATED: Media Matters' Carlos Maza reports on the flap.

On October 25, The Guardian published an article by columnist Julie Bindel titled "The truth behind America's most famous gay-hate murder." The report focuses on the widely discredited 2013 book The Book of Matt, in which author Stephen Jimenez attempts to make the case that Matthew Shepard's brutal murder in 1998 was drug-related and not, as it is widely believed, motivated by anti-gay hate.

The book has been criticized for relying on shoddy sources and omitting key facts about the case, prompting the Matthew Shepard Foundation to condemn the book for being based on rumors and innuendo. Jimenez's book has been described as "fictional" by the lead detective in the case. People familiar with the murder - including one of the killer's appellate attorneys, Albany County Sheriff Dave O'Malley, and Albany County Undersheriff Robert Debree - have condemned the book as factually challenged.

But Bindel didn't include those criticisms in her piece. Instead, she portrayed Jimenez as a victim of gay activists' blind desire to hide the truth about Shepard's murder. It's unclear why Bindel failed to mention the numerous flaws with Jimenez's book. She has previously been criticized for claiming that she chose to be gay and for making inflammatory comments about the transgender community.

Excerpts from the book have been published on many anti-gay sites and hate groups leaders frequently cite it as evidence that hate crimes laws are unneeded and exist only to stifle Christianity.

Media Matters: Right Wing Rodeo

Recapping the last week's worst in wingnut media.

NYT Writer Ross Douthat Apologizes For Speaking At Hate Group Fundraiser

"I was not aware in advance that this event was a fundraiser and had I known, I would not have agreed to participate. I was invited by an events organizing group, not by ADF directly. I understood this to be a public conversation about religious liberty. This is my fault for not doing my due diligence, and I will be declining the honorarium." - New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, in a statement to Media Matters. Earlier this year Douthat expressed support for Arizona's attempt to legalize anti-gay discrimination, a campaign that was partly organized by Alliance Defending Freedom.

Media Matters: Right Wing Ebola Hysteria

Headline Of The Day

Fascinating analysis by Media Matters. Highly recommended.

The Right's Worst Smears About Holder

Media Matters Debunks Top Five Myths About LGBT Non-Discrimination Laws

Carlos Maza does a great job. Watch this.

Media Matters: Right Wing Rodeo

"The week's worst in conservative media." This week: Rush Limbaugh says when women say no to sex, sometimes they mean yes.  Sean Hannity says the government will make it illegal to teach kids that being gay is wrong. Greg Gutfeld rails against Media Matters for calling him out on Benghazi.

Media Matters: Right-Wing Rodeo

Erick Erickson: "The minimum wage is for people who have failed at life." Lou Dobbs: Drunk women pretty much get what's coming to them. Phil Robertson: "Convert them or kill them."

Media Matters: Right Wing Rodeo

The week's worst in conservative media.

Media Matters: Right Wing Rodeo

"The week's worst moments in conservative media."

Media Matters: How The Right Wing Insults The Appearance Of The First Lady

Nothing enrages me more than the disgusting and often racist attacks on the appearance of our gorgeous and fit First Lady. Nothing. And I've got a lot on my rage plate.

Media Matters: Right Wing Rodeo

The week's worst moments in conservative media.