Latest news with #Trump-bashing
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
ABC bosses urged The View to tone down its Trump-bashing. But are Whoopi & Co. listening?
In the days since it was reported that the top executives at ABC News and its parent company Disney urged The View to tone down its politics, the largely Trump-bashing hosts of the daytime talk show have only grown more strident with their rhetoric. At times, it's even seemed like the show's panelists — specifically long-running moderator Whoopi Goldberg and outspoken Never Trumper Ana Navarro — have made a point of defying the corporate request to pull back on their politically charged commentary. 'You know, people always want us to be respectful and do the things and talk about the stuff we talk about. We can do all of that,' Goldberg exclaimed last Thursday, holding up a pocket Constitution while condemning the president for accepting a luxury jet from Qatar. 'But when you are blatantly giving the country the middle finger, that is blatant,' she added. 'You're not supposed to do that!' Navarro, who recently spoke to Disney chief Bob Iger about the show's political tone and coverage, wasted no time going after Trump this week after returning from the Memorial Day break. 'If Joe Biden said that, we'd be talking about his cognitive skills and cognitive decline for days,' she said after the show aired a clip of Trump flubbing the word 'cryptologic' during a recent speech. 'You know, he calls the way he speaks the weave, I call the thing on his head the weave.' That was just one small blip, meanwhile, in a lengthy opening segment on Tuesday that focused intently on Trump using his Memorial Day speech and soxcial media post to attack and slam his political rivals. And much as she did on a few days prior, Goldberg appeared to deliver a not-so-subtle message to the C-suite about the editorial direction of the show. 'Whatever it is, it's on us. We have work to do,' she proclaimed to applause from the in-studio audience. 'We have to get out and make sure we put the balance back into this country.' Meanwhile, Wednesday's broadcast represented the third straight episode in which The View kicked off with a lengthy segment tearing into Trump and his administration, this time over the president issuing a pardon to reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley. The MAGA-backing couple, whose daughter spoke at the Republican National Convention, were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022 for defrauding community banks of $30 million in fraudulent loans. And at the end of the A-block on the show, Goldberg once again waved around her pocket Constitution while chastising the Trump White House, all while suggesting it is a moral imperative that the show call out the actions of this president. 'When you want to know 'does this pass the smell test,' all you've got to do is check it out here. See, because there are things you don't do in America that we — the Constitution says it. It's not us saying it. It's saying we don't do this in America,' she exclaimed. 'I get that your whole family has figured out a way to make money from the country. I get it. OK. That's what you do,' Goldberg continued. 'That's what you've always done. What I don't like is that you get pi**y with other people doing the same thing. Either it's not good for everybody, or it's good for everybody. Somebody make up their mind!' The Independent has reached out to ABC News for comment. The impassioned anti-Trump screeds, of course, are nothing new on this show. In fact, it has become a feature for the better part of a decade, even when Joe Biden occupied the White House for four years. Additionally, the past week's new shows have continued the basic format that has been in place in recent months. While the show typically leads off with a 'Hot Topic' centered on political news, the rest of the program tends to feature a variety of other issues that the panel tackles. For instance, on Wednesday's telecast, the Chrisley segment was followed by discussions centering on drama with a Real Housewives cast member and Gen Z taking 'adulting' classes, alongside interviews with Julianne Moore and Ashley Tisdale. However, with Trump back in the White House, and Disney welcoming him back into office by paying him $15 million to settle his lawsuit over Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos' inaccurate on-air assertion that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll, the media landscape has suddenly shifted. Now, the massive conglomerates and mega-billionaires who control the legacy media have shown their willingness to cozy up and capitulate to a temperamental commander-in-chief who has made attacking the free press a hallmark of his new administration. It is within this current environment that ABC News chief Almin Karamehmedovic and Disney boss Bob Iger asked the outspoken hosts of The View, which Trump and his allies have long complained about, to tone down the political tenor of the show and lean more into general interest coverage and celebrity interviews. 'The move was not framed as an edict, one source said, but the suggestion alone rankled the hosts,' the Daily Beast reported about the meeting Karamehmedovic had with the show's stars and executive producer, which featured him pointing out the celebrity guest who drew high ratings. 'The group pushed back forcefully, with hosts like Navarro noting the show's audience routinely seeks out its perspective on politics, especially when the administration's radical attempts to upend the government can potentially affect their daily lives,' the Beast added. A source familiar with the matter told The Independent that the network 'constantly has conversations with talent based on viewer feedback, and this instance was no different,' adding that the meeting was merely 'about balance in the show on topics' and not necessarily 'talking about Trump.' While the meeting wasn't framed as an edict, and the hosts reportedly found Karamehmedovic's request to tamp down the politics 'silly' since it would 'look kind of bad' to their audience, the issue remained a sticking point for Navarro. She would eventually broach the subject with Iger, whom she ran into during Disney's recent upfront advertiser presentation. After Navarro thanked him for allowing the hosts to continue to do 'their job in a politically turbulent environment,' the Beast reported, Iger said that while he does support The View, he 'reaffirmed that the show needed to tone down its political rhetoric.' The conversation with Navarro revealed that the 'suggestion to tone down the politics went all the way to the top.' And though the corporate effort to tamp down the political coverage could very well be nothing more than an attempt to find the right balance for a talk show to broaden its viewership, it is impossible not to view it through the lens of the current administration's war against the media – which includes ABC. Despite Disney's settlement on the Stephanopulos interview, the president has continued to rail against the news network. Earlier this month, he fumed at an 'ABC fake news' reporter for grilling him on the luxury jet that the Qatari royal family gifted him. 'Let me tell you, you should be embarrassed asking that question,' he growled. Days later, he would threaten to sue ABC News over the way the network has reported on the $400 million jumbo jet from Qatar, wondering why Iger doesn't 'do something about ABC Fake News' while referencing his previous defamation suit against the network. Trump is also in talks to settle a $20 billion lawsuit against CBS News over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, even though legal experts have called the complaint frivolous and the network itself says it is 'completely without merit.' However, because the network's corporate parent Paramount is looking to complete a mega-merger with Skydance that it needs the administration to approve, Paramount chair Shari Redstone has urged the board to settle with Trump to push the deal through. The potential payment to Trump has resulted in the resignations of CBS News chief Wendy McMahon and 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens, who made it clear they would not apologize as part of any settlement.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Scott Pelley's anti-Trump diatribe was more of the same warped, distorted nonsense that puts the BS in CBS
Leaving aside that Scott Pelley probably spoiled graduation day for some Wake Forest University parents and students, his anti-Trump commencement screed last week still has its virtues. Namely, Pelley's outrageous fearmongering throws open the window to the mindset of a media figure at one of the nation's supposedly premier outlets. The view we get is so appalling as to be stomach-churning. Advertisement It turns out that the man from CBS is full of BS. But we already knew that, didn't we? The surprise is that he outed himself in such a revealing and public spectacle. Warped by partisanship Advertisement Pelley's description of America and Trump's agenda is so warped by partisanship that he can't see straight. His version of reality brings to mind the distortions of a fun-house mirror — without the fun. Carried away by his own grandiosity, he fancies himself a brave truth-teller and reaches for historic comparisons. Only the most celebrated will do, as Pelley links his juvenile scare tactics to the bold wartime broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow while Hitler was bombing London and the prescient warnings of George Orwell about fascism. Advertisement After quoting Orwell as saying, 'If liberty means anything at all, it means something worth saying that some people don't want to hear,' Pelley not so humbly adds: 'I fear there are some people in the audience who don't want to hear what I have to say today. But I appreciate your forbearance in this small act of liberty.' What courage! What humor! He never mentions the president's name, but doesn't have to. Advertisement His language steals from the headlines of Trump-bashing media everywhere. It's a testament to their conformity that we know who and what he's talking about because the legacy outlets all think and speak in lockstep. Day in, day out, the heights of journalism plumb the depths of conformity. Everything Pelley said, we've heard 10,000 times before. And often with more insight and balance. But he didn't go to Wake Forest to be fair. He went to recruit those who don't hate and fear their president by trying to scare them half to death. 'Our sacred rule of law is under attack. Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack,' Pelley insisted. Advertisement 'An insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak. In America?' 'Speaking' of irony Is this a commencement address in 2025 or the introduction to a 1950s late-night horror movie? The theme song of 'Jaws' would have made a fitting backdrop, with Trump as the frightening Great White. Because no self-respecting graduation speech is complete without citing Abraham Lincoln, Pelley goes for the obvious, saying that 'If our government is — in Lincoln's words — 'of the people, by the people and for the people' — then why are we afraid to speak?' Advertisement Yet there he is, speaking! Actual fairness doesn't interest him or his network. The once-trusted CBS has become just another dog barking at shadows. Worse, Pelley is a member of the '60 Minutes' team that is leading the charge downhill. Advertisement It denied the legitimacy of Hunter Biden's infamous laptop long after The Post proved it was real, and even after the FBI authenticated its damning contents. And neither Pelley nor any of his colleagues saw the slightest hint that Joe Biden was suffering from serious cognitive decline. To admit it would have helped Trump, so they looked the other way. You know, to save democracy. The program continued to shill for Biden up until the minute he dropped out of the presidential campaign, then immediately shifted gears to shill for Kamala Harris. Advertisement The selective editing of a '60 Minutes' interview with her is the target of a Trump lawsuit and is spurring fears among top management that a corporate merger with Skydance Media will be blocked by federal agencies. Oddly, that fear is having something of an admirable impact in that some segments on '60 Minutes' and presumably elsewhere on the network are being more closely scrutinized for fairness before airing. As for Pelley, he made it clear he doesn't like the oversight by recently lionizing the program's former executive producer, Bill Owens, who resigned by saying he had lost control over the contents. Career death knell? Perhaps Pelley also fears for his own paycheck, which could explain why he's forsaking journalism and diving into the darkness of propaganda. He'd fit right in at MSNBC. Whatever the cause, his speech should mark the death knell of his CBS career. How can it be otherwise when the underlying assumption is that if you aren't consumed with hate and fear over the president, there's something wrong with you? It breaks my heart to say it, but this is the ethos of most contemporary journalism, where independent thinking is verboten. Only one thought per customer is permitted, and it must conform to the party line. 'Tuition liberation day' is what many parents call graduation, but Pelley didn't even have the grace to make anything other than a passing reference to those who paid the outrageous bills Wake Forest charges. All they got was a lecture about what a horrible country they and their children live in because there is a monster in the White House. Things are so bad that Pelley felt compelled to compare the current mood to the run-up of the Civil War, the early days of World War II and the campus rebellions over Vietnam. The fact that Trump was elected — and carried — North Carolina, where Wake Forest is located, never figures into the screed. That's not an accident. To acknowledge that a contrasting point of view exists would cast doubt on Pelley's dogma. He calls himself a 'reporter,' as if he's Detective Joe Friday, another television creation who just sticks to the facts. In Pelley's case, that's not only false modesty — it's also inaccurate. Just the facts? Hardly Former CBS giant Dan Rather used to say the same thing about himself — right up to the moment he got booted for using phony documents to try to help Al Gore defeat George W. Bush. Similarly, Pelley has come out as a rank partisan and can never again be trusted to cover anything remotely related to Trump or politics. Consider that a majority of North Carolina voters backed Trump, meaning that some of the adults in Pelley's audience, including faculty and parents, and possibly many students, voted for the man their graduation speaker described as a wannabe fascist dictator. And a racist. Because in addition to his silly comparisons to World War II, Pelley likened the current atmosphere to the run-up of the Civil War. Get a grip, man! Then there's Wake Forest itself. It's an elite private school where full-time tuition and other costs surpass $90,000 a year. It's not exactly a middle-class bastion or in any way representative of the concerns of most American families. Then again, neither are Scott Pelley and CBS.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
MAGA Troll Calls For Sending ‘The View' Hosts to Guantanamo Bay
Fox News has fired shots at ABC's The View after it was revealed earlier this week the show's hosts had been told to cool it on the Trump-bashing by their own network executives. 'Whenever I watch these five trolls on 'The View' it confirms I am 100% gay,' right-wing influencer Link Lauren told Fox News at Night on Friday. Dubbed the 'MAGA Malfoy' for his bleach-blonde hair and uncanny resemblance to the Harry Potter antagonist, Lauren went on to say he thought the ABC show's hosts—who he accused of 'going down that rabbit hole' with their famously fiery takes on Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda—ought to be rounded up and deported to Guantanamo Bay. Fellow conservative influencer Tiffany Brannon was quick to weigh in with her support for Lauren's tirade, saying she thought he 'makes a great point' and agreeing 'they've gone down the rabbit hole pretty far.' The exchange follows The Daily Beast's exclusive reporting this week that executives at Disney and ABC had told hosts of The View they'd need to broaden the topics of their discussions—and to tone things down when it came to their political takes. The guidance comes in the aftermath of Disney agreeing to pay Trump's presidential library $15 million and $1 million in legal fees last December, when the then-president elect sued the network over an interview in which ABC anchor George Stephanoupolous mischaracterized a verdict in which Trump was found liable for sexual abuse. Lauren later shared a clip of his diatribe via X with the caption: 'The View is an utter calamity. I stand by everything I said! Ship them to GITMO and never look back!' The comments section under his post has since been peppered with vitriol from pro-MAGA accounts, with one person writing: 'Keep it up Link, you just continue to to hit the nail on the head every time.'
Sky News AU
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
MSNBC host Jen Psaki makes stunning admission about liberal network's coverage of Trump
MSNBC host Jen Psaki admitted Tuesday that her cable news network's liberal-leaning audience only tunes in to watch coverage of President Trump that is 'typically not going to be positive.' Viewers of the embattled network don't expect to hear favorable news coverage or commentary about the commander in chief, Psaki, the former press secretary for former President Joe Biden, revealed during an appearance on 'The Grill Room' podcast. 'There's obviously a rooted value in the kind of … that MSNBC viewers expect of like we're going to talk about the opposition, and we're going to talk about what the opposing party is up to, in terms of the Democrats, and we're going to talk about future leaders and things,' she told Dylan Byers. 'And, we're also going to talk about Trump, and it's typically not going to be positive. I don't think anybody watching expects it to be positive, right? There's not like a North Star thing written on a card, and everybody does it slightly differently but I think that's fairly the vibe.' Psaki noted that while she has featured Republicans on her cable news program, she's never been directed by her bosses to appeal to right-leaning viewership. 'I have not experienced this like, 'You have to move to the center, you have to have Republicans on, you have to be more moderate, you can't say that thing',' she continued. 'What's unique is that every show kind of has a bit of a North Star, but the vibe is, kind of, under the same umbrella.' Psaki recently secured a new primetime slot as part of a massive shakeup at the embattled network – taking over 9 p.m. duties Thursday through Fridays from ousted host Alex Wagner in two weeks, the network announced in February. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as a senior political analyst. The bloodbath at the left-leaning network by new president Rebecca Kutler — who Psaki called a 'big advocate' of her show — also includes shaking up shows hosted by Ayman Mohyeldin, Jonathan Capehart, Katie Phang and Jose Diaz-Balart and axing Trump-bashing anchor Joy Reid. Paski's latest promotion will see 'The Rachel Maddow Show' reduced from four days to one — with Maddow's show only airing Mondays. Following the network shakeup, Byers questioned whether MSNBC can be more than 'a scream pillow for the left' — noting Maddow's 'power' in shaping policy at the height of her career. 'First of all, there is only one Rachel Maddow,' Psaki said, explaining that the MSNBC bigwig has highlighted fierce protests against Trump during his first 100 days in office. 'One of the things that she's talked about internally, and probably publicly, too, we can't project fear upon the audience. People are scared at home, you have to give them some sense of what else is also happening.' Psaki, who left the White House and joined MSNBC in May 2022, skewered the mental acuity of her 82-year-old ex-boss after his disastrous June debate against Trump that prompted him to drop out of the 2024 presidential election. And Psaki, who expressed her concern and heartbreak for her former boss, was then tasked with informing viewers of his decision not to seek re-election when the news broke during her program. Originally published as MSNBC host Jen Psaki makes stunning admission about liberal network's coverage of Trump
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
MSNBC bigwigs leaked layoffs plan in stunning gaffe — and staffer found grim ‘kill list' morning of bloodbath
Bungling MSNBC bigwigs accidentally printed out details about the left-leaning network's impending jobs bloodbath — and the top-secret document was found by a stunned staffer who leaked the details to co-workers, The Post has production assistant stumbled across the 'kill list' at MSNBC's 30 Rock headquarters in midtown Manhattan shortly before the cuts were announced on Monday, Feb 24, sources close to the situation said. The printed pages, which were viewed by The Post, laid out meetings to be held with workers and 'talent' about their fate in ominously-dubbed 'impact conversations,' the insiders said. 'On the Monday, management accidentally printed the list of people and teams getting fired or being made to reapply for their roles.' said one source close to the situation. 'Entire teams in primetime learned that they were getting fired from a printout that a PA found sitting on a printer.' The screwup is the latest episode in MSNBC's botched layoffs plans after Trump-bashing anchor Joy Reid and her staff learned they were about to be fired from a New York Times report on Sunday, Feb. 23. The intended confidential memo reveals a callous play-by-play beginning Feb. 19 and leading up to the Feb. 24 massacre in which about 100 people were canned. It includes a legal review with human resources, a talking-points script on the cuts and a scheduled pow-wow between NBCUniversal chair Mark Lazarus and NBC News Group chairman Cesar Conde. MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler was also slated to discuss show cancellations, time changes and new job placements, according to the document. MSNBC declined to comment. On Feb. 24, the ratings-challenged network ended up firing staffers on 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' and canceling programs hosted by Alex Wagner, Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, Ayman Mohyeldin and José Díaz-Balart. The document revealed a packed day of back-to-back meetings with the above talent, in addition to others including on-air talking heads Alex Witt, Ana Cabrera, Jen Psaki and Richard Lui — who was referred to as 'Tier 3 talent' despite having received Peabody and Emmy Awards during his time at CNN. By the end of the day, MSNBC had posted 100 new jobs, and according to the document, the network intends to make all its new hires by April 7 and get them to start by April 14. One network insider lashed out at the 'absolute humiliation' of some staffers being asked to re-apply for their own positions. Another brushed off the notion that employees might find new jobs at the embattled cable network. 'NBC and MSNBC always say employees can reapply for jobs after they're laid off,' the person said. 'For [MSNBC] lifers, it's difficult because there are generally fewer postings for senior jobs.' The overhaul is part of a plan by MSNBC parent Comcast to spin off the beleaguered left-wing network and other distressed cable properties. Lazarus will head up the new entity, dubbed SpinCo. Kutler, who was named interim president after Rashida Jones stepped down earlier this year and then had that label lifted last month, has been widely seen as an architect behind the remaking of the network. 'She was dealt a tough hand in essentially having to build out a new company with all of the changes,' said a network source. 'She has had a rough start.' One source said employees were caught off-guard by Monday's mass culling after the New York Times reported a day earlier that Reid, host of the 'ReidOut,' would be fired. 'Everyone thought the cuts were only affecting 'ReidOut' and a couple of other shows,' one source said. Network star Rachel Maddow blasted her bosses on air for the changes – especially their decision to fire Reid – in what has been described by sources as a 'polarizing' move. 'Management was pissed and talent was like, 'relax Rachel'' said a source close to the situation. While the dustup put the powerful anchor in the spotlight, others wondered if it also made her more vulnerable. 'Rachel made this big play to try and protect Joy, but then Rebecca fired her anyway,' the source told The Post.
