No one’s even trying to get this story right
Unfortunately, for much of the last decade, our top media outlets have lurched dangerously to the right, eagerly broadcasting whatever the latest Republican nonsense is without much regard for filtering the truth to what they’re doing. That’s why Donald Trump played pretend on Tuesday morning on the White House lawn, acting as if he were stepping onto a car lot to buy a Tesla as a favor to his co-president, Elon Musk.
That’s pretty much all that happened – and yes, it was a fairly egregious violation of the Emoluments Clause, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone, but it’s not what you’ll see anyone in the media report on – aside from Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, the only one who’s even attempted to get this story right.
While it appeared that Trump was buying a Tesla for his granddaughter, a move meant to get his supporters to buy more of the cars, O’Donnell noted that there was no bill of sale and no money exchanged during the entire stunt. None of this would have been picked up on from someone casually glimpsing at social media or seeing the pictures posted by the White House.
Unfortunately, this is why our media needs to step up their game – particularly as their ratings continue to plunge. It’s also why we should do our part by not tuning into every narrative they’re looking to craft. By merely transcribing without actually bothering to see what the Trump administration is doing (in this case taking a bribe from Musk that likely won’t get Tesla out of the hole that it’s in), all they’re doing is amplifying Trump’s message – though if the economy continues to perform the way it is, these images are likely to just further enrage people.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making