Latest news with #Trump-bashing
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Floats Drug Habit as Reason for Messy Musk Breakup
President Donald Trump wants to know whether his nuclear blowup with Elon Musk might be related to the SpaceX founder's alleged drug use. According to CNN, Trump has questioned some of his aides and advisers about the former administration fixture's reported drug habit, which was detailed in an explosive New York Times story last Friday. Publicly, however, Trump has declined to wade into the issue—at least officially. 'I don't want to comment on his drug use,' the president told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night. 'I don't know what his status is.' Trump also claimed that he hasn't even been thinking about Musk. 'Honestly, I've been so busy working on China, working on Russia, working on Iran, working on so many things—I'm not thinking about Elon,' he said, adding that he didn't have any plans to speak with Musk, either. Musk had already admitted to using ketamine, but the Times claimed his usage during the 2024 presidential campaign was more intense than previously known. His ketamine habit had been harming his bladder, the report said, and Musk would frequently use ecstasy, Adderall, and mushrooms as well. It's unclear if this continued once he became the de facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in January. In that role, Musk at times appeared to act erratically, like when he gave a salute that many said was a Sieg Heil. On CNN Friday night, tech journalist Kara Swisher said that the Trump camp is floating the drug topic to 'warm' Musk to put a stop to his Trump-bashing. 'You better keep it quiet or else we have things we could do,' she imagined them saying. 'But the problem is this is a guy who doesn't care obviously that much,' she said of the world's richest person, who initially lashed out at the GOP tax bill, but then escalated things dramatically by essentially calling Trump a pedophile. 'Now, he certainly has a lot of government contracts and other things that he has to pay attention to, especially shareholders,' Swisher added. 'But he is not someone that is easily scared, I think. We'll see. I mean, he may think it's smart to stop fighting with Donald Trump. It probably is a good idea for Donald Trump to stop fighting with Elon Musk, too, because no one's going to win in this particular fight."
Sky News AU
04-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
MSNBC's Jen Psaki sees 47 per cent dip in ratings last month compared to Alex Wagner, Rachel Maddow: Nielsen
The Psaki bomb has turned into a major Psaki dud for left-leaning MSNBC. The embattled cable news network — which is expected to be spun off by parent company Comcast later this year — has seen ratings plunge nearly 50% in the pivotal 9 p.m. slot since Jen Psaki took over full-time hosting duties from Rachel Maddow last month. The 46-year-old anchor, who made a name for herself with her quick-witted 'Psaki bombs' while serving as former President Joe Biden's press secretary — but has since insisted she never saw signs of his mental decline — has drawn an average of 971,000 viewers since 'The Briefing with Jen Psaki' debuted on May 6 through May 28, according to the latest Nielsen ratings. That's a staggering 47% falloff from the eyeballs attracted by Maddow and Alex Wagner in the timeslot. The drop-off is even more pronounced in the critical 25–54 age demographic prized by advertisers, where she drew just 78,000 viewers — a 52% decline compared to the 161,000 that Maddow and Wagner drew during their shows this year. 'She's kinda boring. She's not a great broadcaster,' one media insider told The Post on Tuesday Maddow, the network's highest paid star, returned to the anchor chair five days a week for the first 100 days of the Trump administration before going back to hosting her show just on Mondays at the beginning of last month. Wagner was pushed out for Psaki. Psaki's promotion from her weekend gig was part of a sweeping lineup shakeup at MSNBC aimed at injecting new energy into prime time and broadening its appeal. But early signs suggest the overhaul by new MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler, who took over from Rashida Jones in January, has backfired. Kutler quickly canceled Joy Reid's program 'The ReidOut' and replaced it with 'The Weeknight,' a rip-off of Fox's ratings champ 'The Five.' The roundtable show, co-hosted by Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele, averaged 772,000 viewers in May — a 19% drop from the 955,000 'The ReidOut' pulled in during its final month in February, according to Nielsen. Among the 25–54 demographic, the new crew averaged just 72,000 viewers, down 20% from what the Trump-bashing Reid garnered. Overall in primetime for May, MSNBC averaged 877,000 viewers, down 24% from the rest of the year. In the 25–54 demo, MSNBC averaged 73,000 viewers in primetime, a 34% drop. Across the full broadcast day last month, the network drew 545,000 viewers, down 33%, and just 49,000 in the key demo, a 41% decline. MSNBC declined to comment. 'In May, four months into the presidency, survey data shows rising news fatigue across all networks,' said a source close to the situation. The source added that Psaki has shown some signs of progress despite the overall downturn. ''The Briefing' builds on the audience of its 8 p.m. lead-in, which is a major improvement,' the insider said. News fatigue has apparently not affected Fox News' stranglehold in the ratings race. The conservative network, which shares common ownership with The Post, averaged 2.46 million viewers in prime time — up 23% — and 1.56 million across total day programming. In the demo, Fox pulled 262,000 viewers in prime time (up 32%) and 180,000 during the day (up 22%), according to Nielsen. Last-place CNN, meanwhile, continued to limp along, averaging just 426,000 total primetime viewers and 353,000 across the day, down 18% and 24%, respectively. The most-watched cable news show in May was Fox News' 'The Five' with 3.77 million viewers, followed by 'Jesse Watters Primetime' at 3.23 million. Fox also dominated with other top programs including 'Gutfield!' (2.92 million), 'Special Report with Brett Baier' (2.81 million), and 'Hannity' (2.73 million), who competes against Psaki. 'Since the election, Fox News has delivered the top 1,013 cable news telecasts,' the company said during an earnings call last month. 'This combination of an engaged audience and a dynamic news cycle led to record audience share in the quarter.' Originally published as MSNBC's Jen Psaki sees 47 per cent dip in ratings last month compared to Alex Wagner, Rachel Maddow: Nielsen
New York Post
03-06-2025
- Business
- New York Post
MSNBC's Jen Psaki sees 47% dip in ratings last month compared to Alex Wagner, Rachel Maddow: Nielsen
The Psaki bomb has turned into a major Psaki dud for left-leaning MSNBC. The embattled cable news network — which is expected to be spun off by parent company Comcast later this year — has seen ratings plunge nearly 50% in the pivotal 9 p.m. slot since Jen Psaki took over full-time hosting duties from Rachel Maddow last month. The 45-year-old anchor, who made a name for herself with her quick-witted 'Psaki bombs' while serving as former President Joe Biden's press secretary — but has since insisted she never saw signs of his mental decline — has drawn an average of 971,000 viewers since 'The Briefing with Jen Psaki' debuted on May 6 through May 28, according to the latest Nielsen ratings. Advertisement That's a staggering 47% falloff from the eyeballs attracted by Maddow and Alex Wagner in the timeslot. The drop-off is even more pronounced in the critical 25–54 age demographic prized by advertisers, where she drew just 78,000 viewers — a 52% decline compared to the 161,000 that Maddow and Wagner drew during their shows this year. 5 Jen Psaki's prime time MSNBC debut has gotten off to a rough start, according to the latest Nielsen figures. MSNBC Advertisement 'She's kinda boring. She's not a great broadcaster,' one media insider told The Post on Tuesday Maddow, the network's highest paid star, returned to the anchor chair five days a week for the first 100 days of the Trump administration before going back to hosting her show just on Mondays at the beginning of last month. Wagner was pushed out for Psaki. Psaki's promotion from her weekend gig was part of a sweeping lineup shakeup at MSNBC aimed at injecting new energy into prime time and broadening its appeal. But early signs suggest the overhaul by new MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler, who took over from Rashida Jones in January, has backfired. Advertisement Kutler quickly canceled Joy Reid's program 'The ReidOut' and replaced it with 'The Weeknight,' a rip-off of Fox's ratings champ 'The Five.' The roundtable show, co-hosted by Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele, averaged 772,000 viewers in May — a 19% drop from the 955,000 'The ReidOut' pulled in during its final month in February, according to Nielsen. 5 Psaki's show drew just 78,000 viewers from the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic — a 52% decline compared to the 161,000 that Rachel Maddow (above) and Alex Wagner pulled during earlier 2025 broadcasts. MSNBC Among the 25–54 demographic, the new crew averaged just 72,000 viewers, down 20% from what the Trump-bashing Reid garnered. Advertisement Overall in primetime for May, MSNBC averaged 877,000 viewers, down 24% from the rest of the year. In the 25–54 demo, MSNBC averaged 73,000 viewers in primetime, a 34% drop. Across the full broadcast day last month, the network drew 545,000 viewers, down 33%, and just 49,000 in the key demo, a 41% decline. MSNBC declined to comment. 'In May, four months into the presidency, survey data shows rising news fatigue across all networks,' said a source close to the situation. The source added that Psaki has shown some signs of progress despite the overall downturn. 5 Wagner was removed from her 9 p.m. prime time hosting slot from Tuesday through Friday as part of a lineup revamp. MSNBC ''The Briefing' builds on the audience of its 8 p.m. lead-in, which is a major improvement,' the insider said. News fatigue has apparently not affected Fox News' stranglehold in the ratings race. The conservative network, which shares common ownership with The Post, averaged 2.46 million viewers in prime time — up 23% — and 1.56 million across total day programming. Advertisement In the demo, Fox pulled 262,000 viewers in prime time (up 32%) and 180,000 during the day (up 22%), according to Nielsen. 5 MSNBC remains ensconced in second place in the cable news ratings race behind Fox News and ahead of CNN. Last-place CNN, meanwhile, continued to limp along, averaging just 426,000 total primetime viewers and 353,000 across the day, down 18% and 24%, respectively. The most-watched cable news show in May was Fox News' 'The Five' with 3.77 million viewers, followed by 'Jesse Watters Primetime' at 3.23 million. Fox also dominated with other top programs including 'Gutfield!' (2.92 million), 'Special Report with Brett Baier' (2.81 million), and 'Hannity' (2.73 million), who competes against Psaki. Advertisement 5 Fox said the network had 'one of the highest rated quarters in cable news history.' The channel shares common ownership with The Post. Ralf – 'Since the election, Fox News has delivered the top 1,013 cable news telecasts,' the company said during an earnings call last month. 'This combination of an engaged audience and a dynamic news cycle led to record audience share in the quarter.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- 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
28-05-2025
- 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.
