One would be hard pressed to find someone who despises the New York Times as much as me. To be clear, my disdain isn’t for the entire publication, just those responsible for reporting on politics, Israel, and what the Times deems “misinformation.” The publication is stellar in other areas, particularly its coverage of California, where it once had – and possibly still does – more readers than in the greater New York City area.
Some of the Times’ California reporters still adhere to the publication’s motto to cover the news without fear or favor. Heather Knight recently provided some damning insight into Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Erin Griffith’s 2022 feature exposing the hypocrisy of Marc Andreessen was exemplary. Billionaires Zuckerberg and Andreessen are among the most powerful people in Silicon Valley and reading Knight’s and Griffith’s stories revealed a lot about their character, or lack thereof.
Still, if the Times fell on hard times because readers abandoned the paper in droves for some of its egregious dishonesty — including its discredited Trump/Russia collusion reporting for which it disgracefully was awarded a Pulitzer; its story claiming videos showing President Biden’s mental decline were “distorted” just weeks before a debate that forced him to quit the race; its dishonest coverage of Israel; and its smug science writer Apoorva Mandavilli who declared it was racist to think Covid leaked from a Chinese lab, when several government agencies have since concluded it likely did — I’d be among those cheering.
Trump’s $15B Temper Tantrum
Nevertheless, I’m alarmed and angered about President Trump’s nuisance defamation lawsuit against the Times and four of its reporters, seeking as much as $15 billion in damages. Unless America’s judiciary has been so dumbed down — admittedly that’s possible — it’s virtually impossible for public figures to sue for defamation.
That’s been the law of the land since 1964, when the Supreme Court handed down New York Times v. Sullivan. The ruling required public figures to prove not only that a statement was false but that it was published with “actual malice” — legalese for knowing it was false or showing reckless disregard for the truth. It’s an impossibly high bar, and intentionally so: the Court ruled that debate about public figures must be “uninhibited, robust, and wide open,” even if it includes mistakes.
And let’s be honest: it’s pretty hard to defame someone who was filmed boasting that being a star meant women allowed him to “grab ’em by the pussy.”
Gutting Free Speech
As biased and recklessly dishonest as the Times and the corporate media have been in their coverage of Trump, it’s frightening to imagine the consequences of Trump prevailing. It would drive a stake through Sullivan, which has for six decades prevented powerful people from muzzling their critics with lawsuits. Without it, billionaires and politicians could weaponize defamation claims as censorship tools. Imagine Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, or any other mogul with a bruised ego suing reporters into oblivion — that’s the playbook Trump is dusting off.
Free speech has long been a fundamental American right — and so has smearing political leaders. In some countries, criticizing the government can earn you a noose around your neck. In America, it can garner you an anchor spot on MSNBC.
Biden’s Selective DOJ
Any media outfit that strives to be credible – and even those that don’t – should be rallying around the Times and publicly decrying Trump’s lawsuit. But it’s understandable if Gateway Pundit founder and Trump supporter Jim Hoft can’t muster such charity. When Hoft filed for bankruptcy to protect his assets after losing several lawsuits, including one filed by Georgia election workers, Joe Biden’s DOJ filed a brief opposing the bankruptcy.
Biden’s DOJ turned a blind eye to Boeing’s management responsible for planes that employees warned were faulty and that ultimately killed hundreds. It also gave a pass to GM’s autonomous taxi subsidiary that filed a false accident report to regulators. Yet intervening in a civil matter to put a conservative publication out of business was apparently worthy of the agency’s time.
Most consumers of corporate media are blissfully ignorant of how America’s major publications and Big Tech were in cahoots with the Biden administration to censor critics of the government’s pandemic policies, even if the information was credible. Many also unaware how an IRS official paid a visit to Matt Taibbi, an independent journalist who reported on the censorship and was honored with a House invitation to testify before Congress.
Indications are that Big Tech is still censoring content critical of Democrats. I recently posted on LinkedIn how the Obama administration was as much a threat to a free press as Trump’s, noting that watchdog groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders sharply criticized Obama for a “war on leaks” and creating a chilling effect on investigative journalism.
CPJ in 2014 took the unusual step of issuing a special report condemning Obama’s record, noting the intimidation was systemic even if actual arrests were rare. LinkedIn lets me promote posts, but not the critical Obama commentary. Unsurprisingly, it garnered few views.
Cancel Culture Comes Full Circle
America is badly divided, and if Trump were a true leader interested in uniting Americans, he’d consider how his actions are fanning the flames. The Times does an exemplary job grooming its home page to keep its readers in a constant state of fear and agitation. Here’s a sampling of the alarming and accurate headlines that appeared this morning when I searched for the Times’ coverage of Trump’s lawsuit:
Conservatives understandably aren’t receptive to lectures on free speech from the same folks who pioneered and embraced cancel culture. They remember how, five years ago, even questioning the sainthood of George Floyd could cost you your job. Against that backdrop, efforts to silence those who challenged Charlie Kirk’s messaging — especially when it’s often misrepresented — feel like a double standard.
What goes around comes around. Too many liberals feign concern for free speech rights, but the sad truth is they only want to protect speech they agree with.
America’s Wealth Divide
Both corporate and conservative media are fanning the flames while ignoring the gravest issue threatening America’s democracy: the widening wealth divide and the country’s emergence as a plutocracy.
McDonald’s just announced it is bringing back its Extra Value meals to attract economically challenged Americans whose growing struggles one rarely reads about in the corporate media. CEO Chris Kempczinski said on CNBC that while upper-income households continue to spend freely, those on the lower rungs can barely afford a Big Mac.
“Particularly with middle- and lower-income consumers, they’re feeling under a lot of pressure right now,” Kempczinski said. “It’s really kind of a two-tier economy.”
Meanwhile, Fidelity Investments reported that the number of 401(k) accounts with a balance of $1 million or more jumped to 595,000 as of June 30, up 16% from the prior quarter. The number of IRA-created millionaires also rose 16% to a record 501,481.
Under Biden, the average S&P 500 CEO last year earned 285 times what their median worker took home — up from 268:1 in 2024. Chief executives on average pocketed a $1.4 million raise, bringing average total compensation to $18.9 million, a 7% increase in just one year. The median worker last year earned $49,500, up a measly 3%.
Rich Will Get Richer
The wealth divide will only widen under Trump, particularly with his corporate tax cuts, which won’t spur investments but will fuel stock buybacks to game markets and further enrich CEOs. His move to allow underperforming private equity funds into retirement plans is an effective bailout of a faltering industry that has destroyed countless healthy companies. Trump’s disdain for regulation ensures American consumers will keep getting screwed royally.
Bread-and-butter issues are what Americans care about, but they don’t get the attention they deserve. The media has morphed into a veritable Tower of Babel — a cacophony of noise and vitriol that distracts from the fact the very rich are getting filthy richer while the poor can’t even afford a Big Mac.
Little wonder the public cares not one iota about the dangers of Trump suing the New York Times. When you’re priced out of lunch, the First Amendment doesn’t feel like it belongs to you anyway.