It was never supposed to happen. Democrats and their propaganda arm, the legacy media, were certain that by this time, Donald Trump would be convicted of multiple felonies and be wearing an orange jumpsuit. They would attend holiday parties and spend them high-fiving and slapping each other on the back, reveling in their success at finally getting rid of Trump once and for all. However, the American people had other ideas, and now, the media faces the prospect of a second Trump presidency, of which, in some twisted way, they will be the victims.
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Trump answers press questions at Mar a Lago.
He is answering more questions than any Democrat has in the last 4 years.
Kamala and Biden hid from press and Legacy Media never called them out for that. #MAGA pic.twitter.com/bbuWU6rXMd
— Տᗩᑎᗪᖇᗩ🎗️Citizen Journalist (@SandraXFreedom) December 16, 2024
The apparent catalyst for the media’s fear of Trump stems from the recent settlement by ABC of a lawsuit brought by Trump over a false statement made by “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos. The settlement includes $15 million to go toward Trump’s presidential library and $1 million towards payment of Trump’s legal fees, plus a public apology from Stephanopoulos.
READ MORE: NEW: ABC News Apologizes to Trump, Pays Large Settlement in Defamation Suit
The speed at which Trump is preparing for his second term reportedly has legacy media White House correspondents, used to the Biden Administration calling a “lid” at 9:30 a.m. “exhausted” already. But the extra work is not what is scaring them. AP National media reporter David Bauder laid it out this way,
“Journalists anticipate a renewed hostility toward their work under the incoming Trump administration. Perceived threats are numerous: lawsuits of every sort, efforts to unmask anonymous sources, physical danger and intimidation, attacks on public media and libel protections, day-to-day demonization.”
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So, are we now to believe that the media is making themselves out to be victims of the incoming Trump administration? The short answer is yes, yes, they are. Bruce Brown is the executive director of the Reporter’s Committee for the Freedom of the Press. He described a bit of the media strategy for dealing with Trump the second time around.
“Some challenges to the free press may be overt, some may be more subtle. We’ll need to be prepared for rapid response as well as long campaigns to protect our rights — and to remember that our most important audiences are the courts and the public.”
Trump needs to sue Joy Reid, the View and Rachel Maddow next and become the first president in US history to have a presidential library built completely on restitutions from the mainstream media.
— Rising serpent 🇺🇸 (@rising_serpent) December 15, 2024
In a moment of irony, Brown added, “The news media is heading into this next administration with its eyes open.” Really, that is precisely what Donald Trump is doing in a way he didn’t in 2016. If, for the entire time legacy media has been covering Donald Trump, they have done nothing wrong, what are they afraid of? Could it be that Donald Trump and those who will be serving in his administration have the media’s number?
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The reason the ABC lawsuit settlement has them so spooked is because that is exactly the kind of journalistic malpractice they have engaged in from the time Donald Trump came down the escalator in 2015. But things have changed since then. There is a reason he is the inventor of the phrase “fake news.” He now knows who and what they are and how they work, as do the American people. They are also in a snit because Trump was able to go around them during the campaign and was able to get his message out to voters through podcasts and other forms of media. The media is upset that he ignored them, denying them the chance to vilify him. How hostile of him.
The media are not victims. The “intimidation” they think will happen is not intimidation. It is Trump calling them out on the nonstop nonsense they attempt to peddle. Being unable to practice journalistic malfeasance and being questioned is not intimidation. But after the last nine years, the best they can do is portray themselves as being picked on by Trump. Former Washington Post editor Martin Baron said of Trump, “I do think he will use every tool in his toolbox, and there are a lot of tools.”
Note to the legacy media: Donald Trump is not going to “intimidate” you. You are just not that important.
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How is this legal? The mainstream media in this country is seriously corrupt and broken. pic.twitter.com/GE1pfsEHZK
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) October 10, 2024
