Former President Donald Trump often told his media antagonizers that they’d miss him when he’s gone and, much like many things Trump says that are mocked when he says them, time proved him to be correct.
With ratings down significantly across the board, particularly at Trump-hating CNN and MSNBC, networks that played a major role in defeating the former president in November, these entities are said to be “desperately in search of a replacement.”
That’s according to Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept, who exposed not only why the cable news networks were so engaged in attacking Trump, but also why they’re now embracing a dangerous narrative that America is “on the verge of civil war.”
Greenwald was responding to a tweet from American Economic Liberties Project’s Matt Stoller detailing the networks’ tanking ratings post-Trump — Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, who doggedly pursues the fact-based truth, being the lone exception.
Glorious. pic.twitter.com/BGIZGeRBUQ
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) February 4, 2021
The numbers suggest that fawning over 78-year-old President Joe Biden is not such a great sell, but Greenwald reminded followers of a critical point.
“Again: those who hated Trump most flamboyantly and monomaniacally — especially on TV — were the ones whose careers and bank accounts benefited most from him,” he tweeted.
Again: those who hated Trump most flamboyantly and monomaniacally —- especially on TV — were the ones whose careers and bank accounts benefited most from him.
Here’s what is starting to happen to them now that he’s done, and why they’re desperately in search of a replacement: https://t.co/rdFqtNyMVX
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 4, 2021
Look no further than alleged Republicans like Ana Navarro, or the grifters behind the tarnished Lincoln Project — co-founder Rick Wilson went from a zero to a hero in the eyes of the left, while his bank account swelled.
Greenwald took us back to the pre-Trump days to remind everyone how poorly CNN and MSNBC were doing, suggesting that Trump “single-handedly” saved the careers of those who came at him the hardest.
“People forget that in 2014 and 2015 almost nobody was watching MSNBC and CNN,” he said in a follow-up tweet. “So many of their hosts were on the verge of being fired, their shows cancelled. Trump single-handedly saved their careers: fear keeps people clinging to those shows, and they squeezed him for all of it.
People forget that in 2014 and 2015 almost nobody was watching MSNBC and CNN. So many of their hosts were on the verge of being fired, their shows cancelled. Trump single-handedly saved their careers: fear keeps people clinging to those shows, and they squeezed him for all of it.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 4, 2021
With Trump out of the limelight, at least until his potentially unconstitutional Senate impeachment trial next week, Greenwald pointed to the media hair-on-fire coverage of alleged domestic extremism as an alternative narrative to replace lost viewers.
“The only hope for these networks is to convince viewers America is on the verge of civil war, an existential threat to democracy,” he tweeted. “That’s why it’s so vital to call a few hundred people at the Capitol an ‘insurrection’ or ‘coup’: almost toppled earth’s most militarized country!”
The only hope for these networks is to convince viewers America is on the verge of civil war, an existential threat to democracy.
That’s why it’s so vital to call a few hundred people at the Capitol an “insurrection” or “coup”: almost toppled earth’s most militarized country!
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 4, 2021
As we’ve noted before, if you are to believe the protesters were out to overthrow the U.S. government, you have to accept that the “QAnon Shaman,” a shirtless man with reported mental health issues, wearing a horned bearskin headdress, was to assume the mantle of authority.
One thing is certain, the extremist media narrative is all the rage, even affecting the Super Bowl this weekend, as seen in a ridiculous headline making the rounds, based on a report from the Associated Press: “Officials: No Super Bowl threat amid rise of white supremacy.”
There was a suggestion that hating Trump was all about the ratings, though that lets the media off the hook for their corrupt bias in favor of the Democratic Party. It does explain why CNN and MSNBC all but dedicated 24/7 coverage to destroying Trump.
It. Was. Always. About. The. Ratings.
— Bob Sullivan (@RedTapeChron) February 4, 2021
There was also an argument asking why the networks would want to defeat Trump if they were dependent on him for ratings, which is a fair question.
But there were plenty of social media users who agreed with Greenwald’s assessment — here’s a sampling of some of those responses to the story on Twitter:
The replacement is ‘white supremacy’.
— TheDiggers (@TheDiggers4) February 4, 2021
Replacement is exactly what you predicted…..a massive moral panic against “right wing & white supremacist terrorism”
— Mike DeCarlo (@MikeDeCarlo14) February 4, 2021
And by the way, they haven’t learned their lesson – their next move is to anoint Marjorie Taylor Green as the head of the GOP. They want her to be President in 2024.
— dhanuraashi (@dhanuraashi) February 4, 2021
I’ve said it all along. It’s like a drug for these TDS-suffering Brunch Libs. They are now going w/out their fix, so in comes the methadone — Marjorie Taylor Greene.
— Assahollah Jewmeini (@whostheboff) February 4, 2021
Who will these media ghouls Russiagate next? Any idea? They need some sort of replacement to Trump right?
— GCB (@GCB79741306) February 4, 2021
Clearly they had no plan for a post-Trump world 😂😂
— Randall Stephens (@RockHound47) February 4, 2021
Anyone else wonder if youtube is closing all the real news channels in the hopes that people will watch msm since their ratings have tanked?
— Do What’s Right (@SalomonSpeaks) February 4, 2021
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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