Donald Trump has warned many times that he seeks vengeance against people who oppose him politically. At the top of his list is the so-called “liberal media,” who the president-elect describes as woke and out to get him. He plans to weaponize his Justice Department and his entire administration to silence these independent voices.
And sadly, these barbaric tactics seem to be working, as he has won a lawsuit against a major network and intimidated the hosts of a popular news show into paying homage to him at Mar-a-Lago. And just recently, fear of retribution by the MAGA clan has forced a prominent cable news network to banish one of their most popular commentators to the television desert.
Trump’s Intimidation Tactics Against ABC
Trump has always had an adversarial relationship with the mainstream media, and his November re-election seems only to have deepened that hatred. One only needs to recall the combative press conferences from his first term, when arguments would erupt if journalists asked any question of Trump that displeased him. Following those confrontations, his modus operandi was to belittle the news seeker and disparage their company. This has always been his strategy, and with his second election victory, he seems emboldened to ramp up his assault on the press.
The first example of his intimidation in this cycle is his successful lawsuit against ABC News. In an interview, the network’s George Stephanopoulos pressed Congresswoman Nancy Mace on her support for Trump. He asked Mace why as a victim of rape early in life, she would support Trump after he had been found liable for rape in a civil case. However, the statute of limitation on the rape charge had expired, forcing the jury to enter a verdict of liable for sexual abuse.
Trump and his minions jumped on this and filed a defamation suit against ABC, and ABC caved in to the tune of a $15 million settlement. The network did not want to lose its access to Trump for the next four years, and its parent company, Disney, will no doubt seek numerous approvals from the new administration. Trump took his usual callous victory lap and announced additional lawsuits against other media giants.
Morning Joe Bows to the Future King
The next example of Trump’s effective intimidation of the media involves the hosts of MSNBC’s popular morning show “Morning Joe.” Married hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski had spent the past nine years lambasting Trump for all of his prejudiced actions, provocative statements, and ineffective and hurtful position planks. This all seemed to change after this past election when the couple accepted an invitation to interview Trump at his Florida home.
After some backlash, Scarborough argued that spending time with a world leader is a no-brainer. However, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Scarborough and Brzezinski were concerned that they would face harassment from the incoming Trump administration. Lawyer and MSNBC host Katie Phang posted on social media, “Normalizing Trump is a bad idea. Period.”
Now, when you watch “Morning Joe,” you view the hosts neutered by their fear of Trump trying to defend the actions of the incoming administration. If not for the pushback by panelists such as Willie Geist and Michael Steele, you could easily slot this version of Joe comfortably into FOX News’ daily conservative format.
CNN Forces Jim Acosta to Walk the Plank
And yesterday brought us perhaps the saddest commentary on the success of this intimidation. Amid news that CNN was moving popular anchor Jim Acosta to the graveyard shift due to his many clashes with Trump, Acosta closed his show Friday morning with this statement.
“It’s always an honor and a privilege to be with you, hour after hour, week after week,”
The network appears to be throwing a bone to the incoming administration ahead of his second term. As a television executive expressed to media analyst Oliver Darcy for his newsletter Status.
“Midnight is not a serious offer when his ratings are among the best on the network.”
CNN’s viewership has dropped 49% since Trump’s re-election, according to Nielsen ratings. And perhaps Acosta himself summed it up best when he closed his Thursday show with the following statement.
“I want to take a moment to talk about something President Biden said during his farewell address. He warned the free press is crumbling in this country. I would add, that’s only if we, the people, let that happen.”
