When Legacy Media Fails To Challenge Trump, Independent Journalists Have To

In an interview with Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, Trump was able to lie constantly with little to no pushback

Photo by Metin Ozer on Unsplash

Trust in legacy media continues to plummet after the recent elections. There are many reasons for this. Now, after ABC News agreed to settle with the president-elect in what seemed to be an easily winnable case for the network, it appears the biggest news media outlets are ready to appease the man who is often referred to as a fascist out of what many perceive as fear. But it doesn’t end there. Their failure to challenge far-right lies being spread is a major factor.

There is no question that mainstream news often bolsters racist and xenophobic narratives alongside broader bigotry. Bias in the news has been a topic of contention for decades, particularly with how Indigenous and Black people have historically been portrayed. It’s an issue that has never adequately been addressed and has instead grown to encompass other marginalized communities that don’t fit the dubious straight, white, male vision of the U.S.

This recent Kristen Welker interview with Donald Trump highlights just how it happens.

From softball interviews with fascist wannabe Hitler-like people such as Trump and his cohorts to bolstering racist narratives and promoting them in their reporting, it has become clear that some things never change. While Welker did attempt to challenge Trump on a couple of issues regarding immigration, her attempts were weak. To say she was ill-prepared is putting it mildly. Is that her fault? Her boss's fault? Her staff’s fault? Those are the big questions.

So let’s cover some of his lies.

Trump suggested that immigrants should be tested before being granted citizenship and that they should know what the Statue of Liberty is. However, while he showed his ignorance, Welker didn’t challenge him. The truth is that immigrants have to pass a civics test to be granted citizenship – a test many argue citizens should have to pass too. In other words, they know who Lady Liberty is. Had Trump taken such a test, he would know the truth. Had voters taken one, they and Welker would have known he was lying too.

And yet, here we are.

Another lie he promoted was the idea that Venezuela is emptying its prisons and sending those convicted of crimes to the United States. This is a lie that has been used on various immigrant communities including Cubans in the 1960s. Despite this being debunked for months before the election, he will continue to promote it because he won using the false narrative. Allowing him to say it without being challenged only emboldens him, just as it does any run-of-the-mill racist.

He also continued to promote another broadly debunked lie. This one misinterprets data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) framing a story that suggests over 13,000 immigrants are convicted murderers and hundreds of thousands are violent criminals. Welker tried to challenge him but quickly yielded as he cut her off and she never clarified the record.

Trump also continued to push the lie that Venezuelan migrants are taking over entire apartment complexes. Welker, in this instance, did well in challenging him, but again, quickly moved on to her next question about the complicated logistics of mass deportations. In the end, Trump supporters saw this interview as a win for him as it did nothing to change their opinions about immigration. Instead, they treat it as if he “owned” her – meaning they think he called her out.

Another major issue the news media is complicit in is referring to all undocumented immigrants as criminals and saying they illegally crossed the border. They gloss over how the vast majority of the so-called undocumented community entered the country according to the law to claim asylum. Crossing the border anywhere for asylees is legal and a migrant must be on U.S. soil if they are claiming asylum. This is why the vast majority turn themselves over to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.

Even calling them “undocumented” is a bit of a misnomer since they are in the system and have cases pending. Suggesting they are without documentation portrays the idea that CBP or ICE doesn’t know their whereabouts and isn’t tracking them. To Trump, as many as 13 million migrants are here “illegally” and the legacy news media bolsters this idea with their overly simplistic terminology.

News media pundits and reporters now refer to them as “illegal immigrants” too and they’re only helping validate the claims made by far-right racists and bigots in Trump’s orbit.

This has brought us to a place where the administration’s answer to family separations is to deport entire families, more than 4 million of which are mixed-status families. As Trump’s pick for border czar, Tom Homan has said (and Trump himself reiterated), that means deporting U.S. citizens. In this instance they’re not talking about denaturalizing citizens as Stephen Miller suggested on social media, they’re talking about forcibly removing citizens of the United States.

It’s also worth noting that anytime the discussion about immigration comes up, the focus is on Latin American and Caribbean Island immigrants. Not only has the Trump campaign done this, but the news media has as well. Conversations and political rhetoric are always followed by the mention of countries south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Whether it’s Venezuela, Mexico, Haiti, or Cuba, the context they provide makes it clear who they’re talking about and it isn’t Indians, Chinese, or Ukrainian immigrants and it certainly isn’t Europeans who overstay their visas.

The targeting of Latin American and Caribbean Islanders is intentional and it’s largely based on fears of the so-called “Browning of America” which is founded on racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories like the “Great Replacement” that suggests there is a concerted effort, led by Jewish people, to make white people extinct. Yes, it’s as stupid as it sounds.

Legacy media must do better to avoid bolstering these narratives.

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I’m a freelance journalist. Find my work at Latino Rebels, Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber or donate on Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp