Welcome to What the Media Missed, the place we dig into the various examples of legacy media malpractice that disgraced the nation’s entrance pages this week—whereas highlighting how Every day Kos goes previous the spin to uncover the true horror tales of our new Trump period.
Trump’s twisted speech
When you learn a number of the legacy media headlines the morning after President Donald Trump’s tackle to Congress on Tuesday, you can be mistaken for considering the almost two-hour rantfest was a fairly run-of-the-mill coverage speech. Besides as Every day Kos reported, Trump’s speech was really an unhinged laundry listing of racist tropes and pretend statistics that can go down in historical past as some of the inconsequential (and incoherent) presidential addresses in trendy historical past along with being the longest.
What The New York Instances known as a “defiant victory lap,” Every day Kos known as a speech through which Trump by no means as soon as used the phrases “health care,” “abortion,” “gun violence,” or “civil rights”—however made at the very least half a dozen references to Latino migrants as “savages,” “monsters” and a “corruption” that will destroy American communities. So, possibly a little bit of a distinction of opinion there.
Every day Kos additionally related a couple of dots our pals on cable missed. Trump spent many of the evening boosting his international commerce conflict and hyping up the cure-all energy of tariffs. It was clear Trump meant for his tariff legacy to be essentially the most enduring a part of his second time period, a landmark achievement all his personal. Besides it took Trump lower than per week to abandon the tariffs he’d simply launched, his hand pressured by polling that reveals a majority of voters blame the tariffs for elevating costs on the pump and the grocery retailer. Whoops!
Now that Trump has left congressional Republicans holding the bag on a bunch of looming tariffs, the president has launched into a daring new technique: Simply faux you by no means meant to enact these tariffs within the first place. Trump’s flip-flop (technically his third tariff flip-flop since January) has left his base (and the inventory market) pissed off and Republican credibility shot.
Silence on immigration
Trump could have fired a salvo of racism and bigotry at authorized and unlawful Latinomigrants, however the media positive isn’t keen to choose up the story. Protection of immigration points in mainstream shops declined each week of February, even because the White Home gears up for sweeping new deportation raids—together with doubtlessly revoking the authorized standing of greater than 240,000 lawful Ukrainian migrants.
The media’s silence has been a boon for disgraced politicians looking for to salvage their careers by enabling Trump’s immigration raids. That’s the case for New York Mayor Eric Adams, who confronted powerful questioning from New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over his plan to permit Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids regardless of New York’s standing as a sanctuary metropolis. Every day Kos additionally reported on how Adams was the one mayor in attendance who Republicans praised for his willingness to cooperate with ICE deportation raids.
Adams’ give up to Trump’s ICE insurance policies barely makes nationwide headlines, but it surely’s an method Trump is utilizing as a mannequin to try to crack reasonable Democratic elected officers on the state and native degree. As Adams’ defection proves, typically the well timed dismissal of a federal legal lawsuit by a pleasant president can work wonders to shift a craven politician’s values.
Whereas Trump could also be unfolding the subsequent section of his brutal anti-immigrant coverage exterior the headlines, that silence shouldn’t be confused with inaction. Humiliated by current deportation numbers that present him lagging behind former President Joe Biden, Trump is now decided to spend no matter it takes to mount the most important deportation operation in American historical past. Don’t look away.
Dangerous Schooling
Billionaire businesswoman and part-time professional wrestler Linda McMahon was confirmed to steer the Division of Schooling this week, simply in time for Trump to declare that he’s simply going to go forward and dissolve the entire division. However as even McMahon stated throughout her affirmation listening to, Trump doesn’t even have the ability to do this. If he desires the Schooling Division gone, the White Home wants an act of Congress.
When information of Trump’s transfer in opposition to the DoE emerged, the media did what they did finest by minimizing the thought as only a “draft” govt order, whereas publishing articles that offered Trump with a hypothetical authorized roadmap for learn how to defend his actions. Different shops urged Individuals to belief the court docket system, though Every day Kos reported on Thursday that federal judges are dealing with a rising variety of demise threats for defying Trump’s excessive needs.
Every day Kos received to the purpose in its protection this week, writing that “You can kiss public education goodbye—Trump’s about to kill it.” We additionally solid doubt on the knowledge of trusting somebody like McMahon, who has made massive guarantees to Congress earlier than conveniently forgetting her previous phrases.
Simply three days after her affirmation listening to, McMahon was already backpedaling on whether or not or not Trump had the ability to dissolve the DoE. “My vision is aligned with the president’s,” McMahon wrote in her first electronic mail as secretary of Schooling. “This is our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students.” That … doesn’t sound like a Cupboard secretary planning on a long run of service. Don’t fear! Nothing to see right here!
Headline Watch with Oliver Willis
However … it’s one of the best presidential speech ever given by a felon.
