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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.
“How about we take a beat, recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that, wave an American flag, be proud of what we accomplished,” Hegseth insisted during a briefing at the Pentagon.
Hegseth even complained about the reporting of one his former Fox News colleagues, Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin, for asking a mild question meant to verify the Trump administration’s claims about the strike.
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.
Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia made a similar demand of the press.
John McCormack, senior editor of the conservative outlet The Dispatch, asked Greene a series of follow-up questions following her mild criticism of Trump’s bombing. Greene alleged, without evidence, that McCormack sought to “twist” her words and said she would tell the Capitol police “you’re harassing me.”
In 2000, when he was first running for the presidency, President George W. Bush was caught on a live mic referring to The New York Times reporter Adam Clymer as a “major league asshole.” And Vice President Dick Cheney agreed, responding, “Big time.”
Decades before that, Vice President Spiro Agnew went after the media in a press conference in 1969. He fumed that the media responded to President Richard Nixon’s “silent majority” speech about the Vietnam War with “querulous criticism,” and he argued that the press was not effusive enough in its praise of Nixon.
Both Nixon and Agnew would later separately resign from their positions due to scandal.
The right works the media refs
The right has spent decades beating up on the media, with Trump repeatedly calling them the “enemy of the people.” The entire conservative movement has dedicated itself to the falsehood that the “liberal media” is an arm of the Democratic Party designed to take down the right.
Organizations like the Media Research Center have been funded with millions of dollars to hammer at this false narrative, with reports and other media releases purportedly showing media bias.
Trump complains about “fake news” when unflattering facts are reported about him, but he thinks nothing of lying as easily as he breathes. This has taken the form of racist conspiracies about President Barack Obama, the argument that climate change is a made-up “hoax,” and the insistence that COVID-19 would simply melt away in early 2020.
The “liberal media” is a GOP fantasy
The “liberal media” talking point is easily debunked.
Mainstream media is far more likely to broadcast and print false right-wing assertions without pointing out the lies to the public. It also loves to regurgitate narratives meant to harm Democrats, like Hillary Clinton’s emails, Joe Biden’s age, or the Bush administration’s serial lies about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.
Meanwhile, supposed “liberal media” bastions like The New York Times have openly portrayed an “age of Trump,” regurgitated easily debunked Trump spin, and lied to their readers by portraying GOP political operatives and their opinions as ordinary everyday Americans.
The world deserves ruth—not capitulation
Trump’s actions have serious consequences. He has a presidential track record of actions that led to thousands of unnecessary deaths during the coronavirus pandemic, and his rhetoric has inspired terrorism, racism, and crime.
People need to know the truth about someone like Trump and the sycophants in his orbit. There are early signs that outlets like The New York Times and CNN are somewhat pushing back against Trump’s cheerleading demands, but their track records on this type of resistance are spotty.
Honest journalism is vital and necessary—cheerleading is absolutely not.
Campaign Action Oliver Willis June 29, 2025 at 12:00AM From Daily Kos
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