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 Day by day Kos goes previous the spin to uncover the actual horror tales of our new Trump period.
Trump’s twisted speech
In the event you learn among the legacy media headlines the morning after President Donald Trump’s handle to Congress on Tuesday, you may be mistaken for pondering the almost two-hour rantfest was a fairly run-of-the-mill coverage speech. Besides as Day by day Kos reported, Trump’s speech was truly an unhinged laundry listing of racist tropes and faux statistics that may go down in historical past as one of the crucial inconsequential (and incoherent) presidential addresses in trendy historical past along with being the longest.
What The New York Instances referred to as a “defiant victory lap,” Day by day Kos referred to as a speech by which Trump by no means as soon as used the phrases “health care,” “abortion,” “gun violence,” or “civil rights”—however made no less than half a dozen references to Latino migrants as “savages,” “monsters” and a “corruption” that may destroy American communities. So, perhaps a little bit of a distinction of opinion there.
Day by day Kos additionally linked a couple of dots our associates on cable missed. Trump spent a lot of the night time boosting his international commerce warfare 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 desert the tariffs he’d simply launched, his hand compelled by polling that exhibits 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 might have fired a salvo of racism and bigotry at authorized and unlawful Latinomigrants, however the media positive isn’t keen to select up the story. Protection of immigration points in mainstream retailers 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.
New York Mayor Eric Adams
The media’s silence has been a boon for disgraced politicians searching for to salvage their careers by enabling Trump’s immigration raids. That’s the case for New York Mayor Eric Adams, who confronted robust 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. Day by 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 strategy Trump is utilizing as a mannequin to attempt to crack reasonable Democratic elected officers on the state and native stage. 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.
Unhealthy Schooling
Billionaire businesswoman and part-time professional wrestler Linda McMahon was confirmed to guide 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 mentioned throughout her affirmation listening to, Trump doesn’t even have the facility to try this. If he needs the Schooling Division gone, the White Home wants an act of Congress.
Secretary of Schooling Linda McMahon
Day by day Kos bought to the purpose in its protection this week, writing that “You can kiss public education goodbye—Trump’s about to kill it.” We additionally forged doubt on the knowledge of trusting somebody like McMahon, who has made large guarantees to Congress earlier than conveniently forgetting her previous phrases.
Headline Watch with Oliver Willis
Alternatively … it’s the very best presidential speech ever given by a felon.
Marketing campaign Motion
