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☆ Right-wing media ruptures over Marjorie Taylor Greene’s threat to oust Mike Johnson
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Marjorie Taylor Greene has exposed the fault lines in right-wing media. While The Journal has showered Johnson in glowing praise, Fox News and the Post have gone different routes. Yet, it’s unlikely she will emerge from this battle victorious — a reality that has underscored the importance of Murdoch’s right-wing media empire. While the winds might not entirely favor Greene and the MAGA Media hardliners in this very moment, they do appear to be shifting. That could very well pale in comparison to what the rising, more extremist wing of right-wing media delivers in the years ahead.

Persons: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mike Johnson’s, Rupert Murdoch, Greene, Johnson, ”, MOSCOW MARJORIE, They’ve, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s, Bannon, Charlie Kirk, MAGA, Trump, “, God ”, Tucker Carlson, ” Greene, Kirk, Carlson, Murdoch, Murdoch GOP kingmaker Organizations: New York CNN, Republican, MAGA Media, Fox News, Street Journal, New York, Kyiv, Post, Republican Party, Breitbart, Murdoch GOP, GOP, Trump Locations: New York, Ukraine, MAGA, Johnson

☆ Former National Enquirer boss reveals sleazy tactics the tabloid used to protect Donald Trump and smear his rivals
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But on Tuesday, former National Enquirer boss David Pecker lifted the curtain on the actual media collusion that took place in the 2016 election. Pecker revealed in granular detail how Trump worked hand-in-hand with the infamous national tabloid to boost his candidacy and, perhaps far more importantly, simultaneously smear his political opponents with shameful lies and innuendo. Meanwhile, Pecker worked with Cohen to smear Trump’s Republican rivals in the 2016 primary, including Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. At times, Pecker said that Cohen went as far as to contact him and direct the Enquirer to attack Trump’s GOP rivals. When the Enquirer published negative stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton, Pecker said that Trump was elated.

Persons: Donald Trump, David Pecker, Pecker, Trump, “, ” Pecker, Michael Cohen, Karen McDougal’s, ”, Dino Sajudin, Cohen, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, “ Michael Cohen, — Michael Cohen —, Hillary Clinton, Dylan Howard, we’re, Rupert Murdoch’s, Joe Biden, Biden Organizations: New York CNN, Democratic Party, National Enquirer, Trump Organization, Trump, GOP, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, MAGA Media, Fox, Fox News Locations: New York, Pecker, Manhattan

☆ NPR faces right-wing revolt and calls for defunding after editor claims left-wing bias
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Donald Trump, Fox News, and the other organs in the right-wing universe are holding up Berliner’s 3,500-word piece to demonize the outlet. And they are not stopping with a simple verbal assault, openly demanding that lawmakers strip the newsroom of its government funding. Trump on Wednesday, calling NPR a “LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE,” said that “NOT ONE DOLLAR” of government funds should be sent into its coffers moving forward. “NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM!” Trump ranted on his Truth Social platform. But the editor said that, for now, he is still employed by NPR.

Persons: Uri Berliner, Bari Weiss, Donald Trump, ”, Berliner, “, Jesse Watters, Trump, York Post’s Hunter Biden, ” Berliner, It’s, Edith Chapin, Chapin Organizations: New York CNN, National Public, NPR, Free Press, Fox News, Trump, Berliner, CNN, MAGA Media, York, Republicans, Republican, Gallup Locations: New York, LIBERAL, newsrooms

☆ Fox News hyped the bogus FBI informant claims against Biden. Now its refusing to walk them back
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Days after explosive bribery claims about President Joe Biden came ripping apart at the seams, Fox News and the broader MAGA Media universe have declined to walk back their factually-challenged narrative. (Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images) Erik McGregor/LightRocket/Getty ImagesThe lack of a retraction or any real sign of contrition comes as the Smirnov allegations continue to implode in spectacular fashion. The network functions as the main organ in the right-wing media universe and has tremendous influence over the Republican Party base. By refusing to fully acknowledge the false claims and press GOP lawmakers on their relentless promotion of it, Fox News is effectively giving GOP lawmakers permission to continue doing so. A Fox News spokesperson did not off me a comment on the network’s coverage of the revelations surrounding the informant.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, David Weiss, Alexander Smirnov, Smirnov, ”, Jesse Watters, baselessly, Sean Hannity, Hannity, Weiss, Donald Trump, Brooke Singman, Erik McGregor, contrition, ” Weiss, Harris Faulkner, ” Faulkner, Rupert, Lachlan Murdoch, Lachlan, Tim Miller, “, ” Miller Organizations: New York CNN, Fox News, MAGA Media, Republican, Capitol, ” Fox News, Trump, FBI, Getty, Wednesday, Republican Party, Fox, Dominion Voting Systems, U.S . Capitol, MSNBC Locations: New York, Trump Russia, Democratic, United States

☆ Opinion: This overshadowed Trump ruling may be the one that matters most
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Opinion David Zurawik | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

If shareholders approve the merger, it would enable Trump Media to go public and Trump to own a stake worth about $4 billion. In the US, a political party’s presidential nominee has never owned a major media platform worth so much. Furthermore, the possibility of this added Truth Social muscle for Trump arrives as right-wing MAGA messaging finds more outlets at the national and grassroots levels. And, while Trump has stuck with Truth Social, X has become a haven for right-wing conspiracies of all kinds. MAGA-friendly, right-wing media is growing at the grassroots level as well.

Persons: David Zurawik, Donald Trump, David Zurawik Mich Rouse, Trump, MAGA, Jay Ritter, Julia Nikhinson, Joe Biden, Lyndon Johnson, Johnson, John F, Kennedy, Lady Bird, Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin, Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Eric Bolling, That’s, David Smith, Sinclair Organizations: Goucher College, Baltimore Sun, CNN, Trump, Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Trump Media & Technology Group, Trump Media, University of Florida, Getty, Republican, Federal Communications Commission, Johnsons, Twitter, Facebook, Fox News, Russian, Fox, Tucker Carlson Network, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Digital Locations: Conway , South Carolina, AFP, Austin , Texas, Texas, Maryland

☆ Sean Hannity and right-wing media claimed the ‘Biden crime family’ took millions in bribes. Their narrative just fell apart
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But MAGA Media personalities like Sean Hannity quickly shifted into hyperdrive last year when a supposedly “highly credible” FBI informant claimed to have smoking gun evidence of the conspiracy. The emergence of a confidential FBI informant coursed through right-wing media, where talking heads and outlets spotlighted the claims as damning evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Those actions were then celebrated in right-wing media. The charges dealt a blow to the narrative Fox News had championed on its air and Republicans had pressed in Congress. The stunning demise of the claim is just the latest in a larger pattern from Fox News and the broader right-wing media ecosystem in which it operates.

Persons: New York CNN — “, Biden, Joe Biden —, Hunter, MAGA, Sean Hannity, James Comer, Jim Jordan, Hannity, Comer, Alexander Smirnov, Harry Reid, David Weiss, Donald Trump, Smirnov, “, Joe Biden, Weiss, It’s Organizations: New York CNN, GOP, Fox News, incredulity, FBI, Media, Harry, Harry Reid International, Burisma, Fox, Republicans, “, MAGA Media Locations: New York, Ukrainian, hyperdrive, stoke, Las Vegas

☆ President Biden to skip second consecutive Super Bowl interview, citing Americans’ politics fatigue
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Edward-Isaac Dovere | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The pregame presidential interview is a relatively young tradition, stretching back only to Barack Obama’s first year in office, and one that Donald Trump skipped once himself. “We hope viewers enjoy watching what they tuned in for — the game,” White House communications director Ben LaBolt told CNN. In past years, the Super Bowl presidential interviews often drove news coverage for days. But the Biden White House has always been skeptical of the value of doing so, in part due to anxiety that a flub could become an unwanted distraction. Biden’s last major interview was on comedian Conan O’Brien’s podcast, recorded at the White House in December.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Barack Obama’s, Donald Trump, It’s, ” Biden, Kamala Harris, Ben LaBolt, Conan O’Brien’s Organizations: CNN, Advisers, Kansas City Chiefs, Super, San Francisco 49ers, MAGA, NFL, Democratic Party, White House, White, Saturday’s South Carolina Democratic, House, Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Lions, Green Bay Packers, Biden White Locations: Saturday’s, Wilmington , Delaware

☆ Here’s the real reason why right-wing media figures are targeting Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

From a bird’s eye view, the state of affairs among MAGA Media diehards as it sits today is remarkable. In fact, right-wing media stars have far more power over the GOP’s direction than most of its actual leaders, like Mitch McConnell. The right-wing media kingdom thrives when Democrats are in office and there are political opponents whom they can demonize. That’s not to say the right-wing media machine holds no power. And polling indicates that a good chunk of the country has bought some of the nonsense MAGA Media has been relentlessly selling.

Persons: MAGA Media diehards, Bud Light, Taylor Swift, Swift, Travis, Charlie Warzel, “ They’ve, they’re, ” Warzel, Evan Siegfried, Mitch McConnell, Don’t, Kevin McCarthy, Donald Trump, That’s, MAGA, Alyssa Farah Griffin, “, ” Organizations: New York CNN — Conservatives, MAGA Media, Disney, Pfizer, Major League Baseball, Fox, Fox News, GOP, Republican Party, Republicans, Media, Trump White House Locations: New York

☆ Right-wing media targets Taylor Swift with Super Bowl conspiracy theory ahead of the Super Bowl
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Oliver Darcy | Andrew Kaczynski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Right-wing media is burning red at Taylor Swift. “Taylor Swift is an op,” Benny Johnson, a right-wing media personality who boasts millions of followers across different social media platforms, wrote on X. You’re being played.”“The Democrats’ Taylor Swift election interference psyop is happening in the open,” added Laura Loomer, a self-described Islamophobe who has been embraced and promoted by Trump. “It’s not a coincidence that current and former Biden admin officials are propping up Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. They are going to use Taylor Swift as the poster child for their pro-abortion GOTV Campaign.”“The NFL is totally RIGGED for the Kansas City Chiefs, Taylor Swift, Mr. Pfizer (Travis Kelce),” agreed Mike Crispi, a Salem Media host.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Joe Biden, Swift, Jesse Watters, Travis Kelce, Biden, ” Vivek Ramaswamy, ” Ramaswamy, Jack Posobiec, Roseanne Barr, Posobiec, ” Donald Trump, Barr, “ Taylor Swift, ” Benny Johnson, You’re, ” “, ’ Taylor Swift, ”, Laura Loomer, “ It’s, “, Mike Crispi, ‘, ’ Joe Biden, Kelce, ” Crispi, drivel, Jared Holt, ” Holt, they’re Organizations: New York CNN, Kansas City Chiefs, Media, NFL, Democratic Party, Fox News, Pentagon, Chiefs, Pfizer, The New York Times, Super, Trump, Biden, Salem Media, KC, MAGA Media, Republican Party Locations: New York, Salem

☆ Guilty pleas from ex-Trump attorneys deal blow to right-wing media outlets that amplified election lies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —It’s raining “guilty” pleas in Trump-world. The rapid succession of guilty pleas not only marks a big blow to Trump, but also to the right-wing media apparatus that championed and disseminated his election lies to the masses. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, both Ellis and Powell toured across MAGA Media, becoming heroes to Trump’s fans as they sowed doubt about the legitimacy of the election. Fox News, which repeatedly hosted Ellis in the wake of the 2020 election, suddenly became disinterested in the former Trump lawyer. The result is that a good portion of the channel’s audience, made up of legions of viewers who willfully seclude themselves in right-wing media safe spaces, will likely miss the consequential news.

Persons: Jenna Ellis, Donald Trump’s, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Trump, Ellis, Powell, they’re, ”, Donald Trump, ” Ellis, Matt Gertz, Trump’s, Rupert, Lachlan Murdoch Organizations: CNN, Salem Media, MAGA Media, Media, Fox News, Voting, Dominion Locations: Trump, Georgia, Fulton

☆ For GOP debate, NBC partners with right-wing outlets with history of peddling extremist rhetoric
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —NBC News is uniting with a pair of strange bedfellows for the third Republican Party primary debate. It’s no surprise that the GOP, which veered sharply to the right during Donald Trump’s presidency, would select Salem and Rumble as partners. Before Trump upended America’s politics, Salem was a run-of-the-mill conservative media organization. When I asked NBC News on Monday if the network was actually comfortable collaborating on the third GOP debate with Salem and Rumble, given each company’s history, a spokesperson declined comment. Most conservative media outlets are not what they were pre-2016.

Persons: It’s, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Salem, “, Hugh Hewitt, ”, Charlie Kirk, Dinesh D’Souza, Sebastian Gorka, Jenna Ellis —, Kirk, Joe Biden, baselessly, Benjamin Netanyahu, Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes, Hewitt Organizations: CNN, NBC, Republican Party, Republican National, Monday, Miami, Salem Radio Network, GOP, ” CNN, MAGA Media, NBC News Locations: Salem, Romania

☆ Dark and sinister rhetoric drenches right-wing media amid Trump indictments
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Millions of Americans are immersed in a twisted world where language used to describe autocrats is being applied to America’s democratic institutions. The draconian rhetoric, once reserved for the likes of tyrants and dictators, has become commonplace in right-wing media when referring to President Joe Biden and the elected government he leads. It’s all part of a larger trend that has dramatically disfigured the conservative media since Trump ascended to power. Arguably, the rhetoric saturating mainstream right-wing media today is more extreme than the hyperbole used in the weeks leading up to the insurrection at the US Capitol. In those weeks, just like now, right-wing media forces set the stage and gathered the tinder for Trump — who was happy to light a match to the gasoline-soaked kindling gathered before him on January 6.

Persons: Joe Biden, Donald Trump’s, Biden, ”, —, Charlie Kirk, Trump, ” Charlie Sykes, “, aren’t, ” Sykes, leaners, America’s Organizations: CNN, Fox News, Biden, Gestapo, Department of Justice, Department of Injustice, Trump, Democratic, MAGA Media, gestapo, Republican, Trump — Locations: America, American

☆ Trump’s media mouthpieces have faced legal peril over his election lies. Now it’s his turn
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump’s dangerous lies about the 2020 election, which saturated right-wing media after the presidential contest and led to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, have finally put the disgraced former president in serious legal jeopardy. Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News have already been hurled into legal peril for their roles in disseminating Trump’s election lies to the masses. Each of them have faced colossal lawsuits from Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems, two voting technology companies at the center of Trump’s lies. In the indictment handed down Tuesday, special counsel Jack Smith alleged Trump knew the lies that he was pushing about the election were false. Now, Trump will be forced to step into the same dangerous arena as his media allies.

Persons: CNN — It’s, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Trump’s, Rupert Murdoch, Jack Smith, Murdoch, Joe Biden, “ Organizations: CNN, Capitol, Republican, Fox News, America, Voting Systems, Trump, Dominion, MAGA Media Locations: Smartmatic, Trump’s, Dominion

☆ Right-wing media wages war on U.S. justice system after Trump’s historic federal indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here. The assault on the American justice system was swift and savage. On Fox, the historic legal action was portrayed as President Joe Biden weaponizing the Justice Department to target his political opponent. In effect, Fox News is once again platforming those who are leading vicious and irresponsible attacks on the country’s criminal justice system. Across the right-wing media ecosystem, the narrative that a sinister deep-state was unfairly targeting Trump to knock him out of the 2024 presidential contest was pervasive.

Persons: Donald Trump, Joe Biden weaponizing, “ BIDEN, INDICTS, ” Sean Hannity, Hannity, ”, Fox, Trump, HUNT, Breitbart, Rupert Murdoch Organizations: New York CNN, Fox News, MAGA, Fox, Justice Department, Trump, Voting Systems, U.S . Capitol Locations: New York, America, U.S

☆ Tucker Carlson raged against Trump in private. But in interview with the former president he took a very different tone
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Carlson made no effort to press the disgraced president on any of the issues that an actual news anchor would. Carlson’s refusal to disclose to his viewers his true opinions of Trump reflect the grip the former president still exerts over the Republican Party. Even Carlson, the most popular MAGA Media figure whom most of the GOP fears, thinks it is necessary to kiss the ring of Trump. Carlson, himself, confided in a producer after the 2020 election, “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. On Tuesday night, as Carlson bowed before Trump at Mar-a-Lago, he demonstrated exactly that.

☆ Déjà coup: How election lies sparked the violent attack on Brazil’s government
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Election lies lead to election violence. And, like in the US, the warning signs were apparent for some time, with election deniers mobilizing on social media ahead of the attack. “We did see this coming,” Wendy Via, the president of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told the Associated Press. I say 100%, because it’s the same playbook.”That playbook is one of information warfare, where a propagandistic media machine is wielded to disseminate lies casting doubt on unfavorable election outcomes. This can have a devastating effect swaying public opinion, especially in our modern society where lies quickly go viral on social media and trust in mainstream institutions has weakened.

Trump's Save America PAC released a photo showing the former president meeting with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on January 28. It added: "President Trump will always and forever be a champion for the American People." Millions of Trump supporters would likely follow Trump to a new political party — if he chose to break away from the Republican Party. Afterward, McCarthy predicted intraparty peace, saying in a statement: "President Trump committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022." "President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House."

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