Early in Donald Trump’s new presidency, mainstream media outlets confirmed fears of how they would cover him—by avoiding the truth, equivocating on his abuse of power, and even praising him.
The actions by widely read and watched outlets was the continuation of a recent trend that has seen outlets like ABC News, MSNBC, and The Washington Post cave to Trump, even before he was sworn in.
“Time to Admit It: Trump Is a Great President,” reads the beginning of a Politico headline published Tuesday. Contrary to its appearance, the column was not written by Trump himself or even one of his many MAGA acolytes in the media. Instead, it is the work of Politico co-founder and current Global Editor-in-Chief John F. Harris, a longtime mainstay of Washington journalism.
The gushing goes beyond the headline as Harris writes, “[Trump] is someone with an ability to perceive opportunities that most politicians do not and forge powerful, sustained connections with large swaths of people in ways that no contemporary can match. In other words: He is a force of history.”
When the mainstream press isn’t prematurely declaring Trump’s greatness (and ignoring the death toll of his previous stint of making America “great”), it equivocated on one of his first acts, which gave a green light to hundreds of criminals.
Trump pardoned about 1,500 people convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, over the protests of millions—including the police officers battered and bruised by insurrectionists attempting to overturn the election.
But at The Washington Post, this was the equivalent of President Joe Biden’s decision to preemptively pardon figures like Anthony Fauci, retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the Jan. 6 congressional committee whom Trump and his MAGA movement have targeted.
“Biden started the day with pardons. Trump finished with many more,” reads the Post headline—as if pardoning Enrique Tarrio, convicted of sedition against the United States, is the same thing as pardoning Dr. Fauci, who MAGA world hates for the sin of telling Americans to mask up during a global pandemic.
Things aren’t much better at The New York Times. Their headline on Trump’s pardons: “In Dueling Pardons, an Intensified Fight Over the Meaning of Jan. 6.”
Apparently, the Times believes that Biden issuing a pardon to Milley, whom Trump has lambasted for calling him a “fascist,” is on the same level as Trump’s pardon of the man who stormed the Capitol with a “Camp Auschwitz” hoodie.
At a post-inauguration rally for Trump, his Co-President and campaign benefactor Elon Musk—the richest person in the world—gave a Nazi salute. Twice.
Yet, at The Washington Post, it was merely an “exuberant speech.” Meanwhile, for The New York Times, the furor at the hand motion was explained away: “Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture.”
Meanwhile, NBC’s Chicago affiliate apparently posted a video of Musk’s speech where the feed cut to a shot of the audience at the precise moments of the offensive salutes.
Over the course of the 2024 election, the mainstream press made clear that it would prioritize criticism of Democrats like Biden and Vice President Harris while playing down offenses by Trump. Now that Trump is back in the Oval Office, the press is continuing that trend.
The press has long been described as the watchdogs of democracy, but these outlets show that the watchdog has gone on a break.
This post was originally published on here
