Article in Mediaize by Lawrence Rudmann, 7/26/25
“tRump orders Mattel Corp to cease making woke American Girl dolls depicting negative periods in U.S. history. ‘Our little precious American girls should only be allowed to have dolls representing the classic “all-American, girl next door” image, said tRump. To pacify tRump, Mattel might issue a special ‘Ghislaine Maxwell American Doll.’ ”
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Article in The New Republic by Greg Sargent, 7/18/25
Headline: “Trump Press Sec Snaps at Media as Queries about His Mental State Grow”
Subhead: “As Karoline Leavitt seethes at questions about Trump’s unhinged anecdotes and reaction to the Jeffrey Epstein mess, a press critic explains how her performance exposes MAGA’s most dangerous pathologies.”
“President Trump is in trouble. The Jeffrey Epstein files are killing him with the base. New polls show him cratering on many issues. And questions are mounting about his mental fitness due to a bizarre story he invented about his uncle and the Unabomber. At her latest briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt grew angry at reporters for questioning Trump’s unhinged responses to the Epstein mess. She also belittled a journalist who probed Trump’s mental state by asking about the Unabomber weirdness. . .”
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https://newrepublic.com/article/198096/trump-press-sec-snaps-media-queries-mental-state-grow
Article in The Contrarian by Josh Levs, 7/16/25
Headline: “Media gives crazy legitimacy to Trump’s ‘assurances’ “
Subhead: “Here’s an idea, journalists: How about reporting his track record?”
“To understand what the legacy media has been up to in recent days, it helps to think of The Emperor’s New Clothes, but with an added element. In this case, picture reporters running around the crowd, interviewing people about how lovely the emperor’s (non-existent) clothes are.
“That’s what we’re seeing as big news agencies come together to form a narrative: that GOP lawmakers decided to support the ‘One Big Beautiful Act’ after President Donald Trump gave them ‘assurances’ . . .”
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https://contrarian.substack.com/p/media-gives-crazy-legitimacy-to-trumps
Article in Media Matters by Gideon Taaffe & Torri Lonergan
Headline: “Right-wing media claimed the ‘worst of the worst’ would be housed at Florida’s new immigrant detention center. Hundreds of detainees have no criminal record.”
“Right-wing media have heralded the Trump administration’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ as a detention center for ‘pedophiles’ and ‘drug traffickers,’ but new reporting shows over 250 detainees have no criminal charges.
“Contrary to right-wing media’s narrative about the detention center, detainees include asylum-seekers and people who have been held over minor infractions like traffic violations — despite insistence from right-wing media figures that the harsh camp would be reserved for ‘the worst of the worst’ and the ‘baddest of the bad hombres,’ with one calling the detainees ‘subhuman’ . . .”
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Article in Huffpost by Lydia O’Connor, 7/15/25
Headline: “Right-Wing Media Is Now Falling In Line With Trump On Epstein”
Subhead: “Days after criticizing his administration for closing the Epstein case, conservative personalities suddenly don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“Conservative media’s outrage over Attorney General Pam Bondi saying she wouldn’t release more Jeffrey Epstein files appears to have been short-lived. After President Donald Trump stomped his feet and told his supporters to move on over the weekend, his base seems to have fallen in line.
“An assessment by the journalism watchdog group Media Matters found that Fox News has largely stopped talking about Epstein over the past two days. By noon on Monday, the network had mentioned Epstein zero times, the group found. That’s compared to 46 mentions of former President Joe Biden in that window . . ”
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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/right-wing-media-trump-epstein_n_6876888fe4b0eb54312b8108
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Article in Media Matters by Gideon Taafffe & Reed McMaster, 7/16/25
Headline: “Right-wing shows field angry calls about Epstein and the Trump administration”
“The Trump administration’s release of the Epstein memo has caused turmoil in right-wing media, and some callers on conservative radio shows are demanding answers. They’ve said they’re “angry,” accused President Donald Trump of “the ultimate betrayal,” and claimed Attorney General Pam Bondi “messed up” in her handling of the situation. . .”
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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 7/7/25
Headline: “MAGA media eat their own after Trump administration denies their Epstein conspiracy theories”
“. . .The White House brought 15 MAGA influencers in to meet with Bondi in February, sending them home with glossy binders labeled ‘The Epstein Files: Phase 1.’ When those binders did not satisfy the MAGA faithful, the attorney general reportedly tasked ‘hundreds of FBI employees’ with reviewing Epstein investigation documents for release. In May, Patel and Bongino were sent to Fox to make the case, with the fervor of the converted, that Epstein had actually killed himself. And now the FBI and DOJ have produced a memo detailing their findings and released footage taken from outside Epstein’s cell in the hours surrounding his suicide.
“The final result left Trump’s most zealous online allies with two options: They could finally acknowledge that they had been peddling nonsense for years — or they could insinuate that the Trump administration itself is part of the cover-up. . .”
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Article in FAIR by Keiwana Grant-Floyd & Julie Hollar, 7/1/25
Headline: “FAIR Study: Sunday Talkshows Downplayed Criticism During Trump’s Second Transition”
“. . . After Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2016 and 2024 elections, the Sunday shows had an opportunity to hold up both his campaign promises and his cabinet picks to scrutiny. With his campaigns’ racist attacks on immigrants and diversity initiatives, as well as his movement’s assaults on the rights of women and trans people, inviting guests who more accurately reflect the diversity of the country would seem to be a journalistic imperative. Yet a new FAIR study finds that the Sunday shows’ coverage of the Trump transitions were even more heavily white and male than usual.”
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Article in Poynter by Clara O’Rourke, 6/30/25
Headline: “When Jon Stewart took over ‘The Daily Show,’ satire became a trusted news source”
Subhead: “Fed up with ‘partisan hackery,’ Stewart trumped traditional media for some fans — even with a show that followed ‘puppets making crank phone calls’ “
“. . .While he didn’t invent political satire, ‘The Daily Show’ evolved into a trusted source of news under his leadership, especially for some younger Americans who turned to it not just for laughs, but for clarity about what was actually happening in the world. By lampooning news cycle after news cycle, Stewart reframed what reporting could look like and who could credibly relay — as he said opening his first ‘Daily Show’ as host . . .”
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https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2025/poynter-50-jon-stewart-satire-news/
Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 6/28/25
Headline: “Why Republicans desperately want the media to be their cheerleaders”
“Following the decision to bomb Iranian nuclear targets without first seeking congressional approval, the Trump administration renewed its ongoing war against the media for reporting factual information.
Republicans want cheerleading, not journalism.
“President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and other Republicans challenged reporting that revealed that the Pentagon did not believe Iran’s nuclear capability had been decimated. In fact, the Trump administration argued that journalists should celebrate Trump’s actions. . .”
Republicans, particularly Trump and his orbit, have spent more than a decade whining about media coverage—which has largely been laudatory of him and has promoted his favored (false) narratives—but this week’s behavior explicitly argued that the press should “cheer” for Trump, as Hegseth said. . .”
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Article in Daily Beast by Sarah Ewall-Wice, 6/25/25
Headline: “Trump, 79, Melts Down in Incoherent Rant About ‘Hero Pilots’ “
Subhead: “The president attacked the media for reporting on the initial intelligence assessment on Iran.”
“President Donald Trump accused the media of demeaning the military after the initial U.S. intelligence report on Iran leaked.
“The president did not deny the existence of the preliminary assessment or its content, which suggested the strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities resulted in limited damage, but he insisted it was wrong.
“He also claimed to have spoken to one of the pilots, who told him it was a ‘perfect’ bomb drop.
Trump first harangued reporters with claims that they attacked the brave men and women who carried out what was an operationally successful mission on Saturday night to drop the bombs and exit Iran without being fired on.
“ ‘They were maligned and treated very bad, demeaned by fake news CNN,‘ Trump claimed on Wednesday. The media did report on the U.S. intel assessment, but it did not demean pilots who carried out the mission. . .”
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-melts-down-in-incoherent-rant-about-hero-pilots/