Latest news with #TheRushLimbaughShow
LeMonde
a day ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
'The ideological fusion between the American right and the media did not start with Trump, but he accelerated it'
The American radical right has always been ahead of its European counterparts when it comes to developing media ecosystems. What is happening today in the United States often signals, a little in advance, the major trends that will also emerge in Europe. It didn't all start with Donald Trump's arrival on the political scene, far from it. The right's conquest of the media can be traced back to radio: In the 1970s and 1980s, the AM band, which was then largely underused and faced few content restrictions, became the preferred platform for American conservatives. Rush Limbaugh embodied this trend with The Rush Limbaugh Show, which had an impressive run: Launched in 1984, the talk show continued until his death in 2021. Such programs were a success with the public and helped secure the victories of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, and later George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. At the same time, there was a boom in televangelists – preachers hosting religious television programs – who came to dominate many local radio and television stations. It was also during this period that Reagan, in 1985, granted American citizenship to media magnate Rupert Murdoch, originally from Australia – allowing him to enter the US media market with the goal of shifting it to the right. Murdoch replicated in the US the successful strategies he had already employed in Australia and the United Kingdom. In 1996, he launched Fox News, which would revolutionize the American right and its communication methods. Murdoch was not alone. Other right-wing magnates also set out to conquer the media market: John Dickey bought a small Atlanta radio station and, in 1997, turned it into Cumulus Media – a conglomerate that is now the second-largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the US (nearly 500). During the Bush era, another competitor, Sinclair Broadcast Group, owned the most television stations in America, and Steve Bannon launched the website Breitbart, which became the spearhead for the nationalist and populist far right.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's No. 2 Man at FBI Once Said All He Cared About Was ‘Owning the Libs'
The FBI will officially be headed by two men with no experience in the bureau, and a lot of blind loyalty towards President Donald Trump. On Sunday, the president announced that former Secret Service agent and right-wing podcaster Dan Bongino has been selected to serve as deputy and second in command to recently confirmed FBI director Kash Patel. According to a Monday report from The New York Times, the decision came shortly after the FBI Agents Association told its members that Patel said his deputy should be a bureau agent — given his own lack of experience within the law enforcement agency. According to a memo obtained by The Bulwark, FBI Agents Association President Natalie Bara met with Patel in January, when the then-nominee agreed that if appointed, the position of deputy director would be filled by 'an on-board, active Special Agent as has been the case for 117 years.' Somewhere between convincing people to support his bid for the job and actually getting, Patel has conveniently changed his mind. Unlike Patel, Bongino's role as Deputy Director does not require Senate confirmation — all the better for the former NRA TV host, who has almost as many liabilities as his new boss. Bongino began his career in law enforcement with a four-year stint in the New York Police Department, which he left to join the Secret Service as a protective detail to former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In 2011, Bongino left the agency to launch a failed bid for the Senate. Throughout his campaign, Bongino leaned heavily into his experience in the White House, claiming to have had access to high-level discussions that made him mistrust the Obama administration. Fellow agents denounced Bongino's claims, telling ABC News at the time that Bongino was trying to 'draw attention to himself and he's hijacking the Secret Service brand.' Bongino never made it into Congress — sinking in two campaigns for the House after his flop Senate run — but the Trump era propelled him to notoriety as a right-wing commentator and radio host. In 2018, he claimed he'd dedicated his 'entire life right now' to 'owning the libs.' His media career has included stints at the now-defunct NRATV, Fox News, and as a replacement host on The Rush Limbaugh Show following Limbaugh's death. All the while (and like many in his profession) Bongino raked in cash hawking dubious supplements and miracle remedies to his audience. As a political commentator, Bongino rarely broke step with the cyclical hysterias and conspiracy mongering that define right-wing media. He was a prominent peddler of 2020 election conspiracies (and a staunch defender of the Jan. 6 rioters), opponent of vaccine mandates, promoter of the great replacement conspiracy theory, and even enjoyed dabbling in QAnon. Bongino frequently leveraged his experience in law enforcement in conservative cable news discussions to justify police brutality and the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers. On Fox News, Bongino defended the killings by police of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, and in 2020 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee urged Congress to reject efforts to reform police departments and create more accountability for law enforcement officers. During the first weeks of Trump's second administration, Bongino has hyped up the president's power grab and revenge tour against his political opponents. Earlier this month, the radio host urged Trump to ignore a court order blocking the administration's attempt to place a widespread freeze on federal funding. 'Folks, threatening with arrest. Who's going to arrest him? The marshals? You guys know who the U.S. Marshals work for? Department of Justice. That is under the — oh yeah — the executive branch. Donald Trump's going to order his own arrest? This is ridiculous,' Bongino said. 'We need to set up a courtroom. Donald Trump can sit there. He can even wear, like, the wigs they wear in the UK court system, and he can just start making judicial decisions. They'll let them — 'He can't do that, bro.' The judge can't do it either. What's the difference? If the judge is the executive, why can't the executive be the judge?' In January, Bongino encouraged Trump to launch an investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith, who headed the two federal criminal cases against the president in the interim between his terms in office. Both cases were dissolved upon Trump's election. It's clear that the throughline between Patel and Bongino is not a wealth of experience qualifying them to manage one of the most powerful law enforcement agencies on the planet, but a devoted loyalty to the sitting president and a predilection for revenge fantasies. Patel has been open in the past about his desire to see the Trump administration prosecute the president's perceived enemies. His stewardship of the FBI could give him a powerful tool to do so. In selecting Bongino, the schism between agents at the bureau and the priorities of the Trump administration couldn't be more clear. More from Rolling Stone What Dismantling FEMA Will Really Mean When the Next Disaster Strikes Parroting Putin and Trump, Witkoff Says Russia Was 'Provoked' Into Invading Ukraine ICE's Next Deportation Target Is Unaccompanied Migrant Children Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
