ABC News Bends the Knee To Trump and Throws The Rest of Us Under the Bus

ABC News bent the knee to Donald Trump’s vindictive lawsuit and not only compromised their journalistic integrity but also paved the way for future prosecutions and bullying against the rest of us.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Over the weekend, ABC News, owned by Disney, decided it would be in the best interest of their bottom line to “obey in advance” and settle a bullshit defamation lawsuit to the tune of $15 million.

Donald Trump sued ABC News for defamation after their host George Stephanopoulos said Trump was held “liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll case in which a jury found that Trump sexually abused and defamed her. It is worth noting the judge in the case wrote the following: “The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’ Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump did exactly that.” In addition to this damning statement, it would have been very difficult for Trump to prove that Stephanopoulos acted with “actual malice.”

So, why did Disney cave?

Some have suspected they wanted to avoid a potentially embarrassing discovery process that would reveal unflattering emails, and documents and cause more reputational damage. Perhaps. Or, like Meta, Washington Post, Amazon, and L.A. Times, they have deliberately decided to kiss the ring to stay in the good graces of their new, vengeful King. Zuckerberg and Bezos just pledged a million dollars a piece for Trump’s inauguration. The NYT continues its sanewashing with tempered headlines and “both sides” coverage. CNN has elevated Scott Jennings to the point where the L.A. Times has brought on the MAGA bootheel as an editor.

Same as it ever was.

Trump has always been a ratings and monetary bonanza for media companies. In 2016, Les Moonves, the former CEO of CBS, openly admitted Trump “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.”

Until it isn’t.

The one thing about fickle fascists is that they can always be counted on to turn on their most loyal allies. Trump is the same man who threw his own Vice President, Mike Pence, to the wolves on January 6th. Corporations and the wealthy bent the knee for Hitler in Germany in hopes of adding more money to their pockets and protecting themselves from persecution. American corporations are making the same bet, but they’re suffering from myopia and delusion. In the past 9 years, no matter how many times corporate media has softened its coverage of Trump, his MAGA base continues to refer to them as “the enemy of the people” and certain, unhinged Trump voters reward their acquiesence with violence.

MAGA has already been using and abusing bullshit defamation lawsuits as a means of bullying and intimidating the rest of us. Now that Trump has “won” this case, imagine what he will do against future media personalities and critics who comment on his numerous mistakes, failures, and lies. What about the rest of us who don’t have corporate backing, an army of lawyers, or a vast sum of wealth and political influence? What about people like former Iowa pollster Ann Selzer?

In his verbal diarrhea of a press conference on Monday, Trump said he would sue the pollster and The Des Moines Register which published her poll ahead of the election showing he was losing Iowa by three points. Selzer, normally an A+ pollster, was wrong like so many of us. Trump went on to win the state and the election. She admitted she was wrong, and she moved on like a normal, rational, mature adult. But this is Trump we’re talking about. He’s a vindictive, venal vulgarian who is still lying about winning the 2020 election that he bigly lost. This is the same man who encourages his supporters to storm the Capitol, beat up protestors at his rally, and mock the assassination attempt of Paul Pelosi.

He picks the target and then his base figuratively picks up the figurative torches and pitchforks. We’ve seen the uptick in stochastic terrorism against poll watchers, the press, doctors, teachers, law enforcement, and elected officials. Trump knowingly lied and spread the Nazi conspiracy about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and pets which resulted in threats against the Springfield, Ohio community. Trump didn't care. No lawsuits. No settlements. He won the election and moved on without consequence. He’s going to appoint the utterly unqualified Kash Patel as the head of the FBI where he said he will take vengeance against Trump’s critics, namely the media and politicians.

It’s clear as day that corporations, the wealthy, and our institutions are unwilling to exercise even the slightest resistance to Trump this time around. They are anointing him our Pharoah for life in exchange for clemency and higher profits. It’ll be up to the rest of us to do our part and not obey in advance and protect those among us who still remember that in America we don’t bend the knee to a King or an Emperor.

For now at least.