The Press Promotes Violence and Everyone Knows It

Cole Allen, the suspected shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner disaster, left behind a manifesto reading in part: I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. Donald Trump appeared on 60 Minutes last night. Correspondent Norah O’Donnell read the passage, eliciting a much-publicized quote from Trump: “I was waiting for you to read that” because “you’re horrible people.” That wasn’t all. Watch how O’Donnell tries to get Trump to connect the dots for her, as if surprised he’d see himself in Allen’s description: “Oh, you think he was referring to—?” Trump is not a person who needs to be lied about to be criticized. His provocations in word (“a whole civilization will die tonight”) or deed (using the military to bomb civilian boats, hitting civilian infrastructure because Iranians are “willing to suffer,” etc.) provide enough fodder for opponents. Lying not only isn’t necessary, it’s ineffective. False media narratives did more than anything to get him reelected in 2024. But we keep getting them, and getting assassination attempts and shootings, which are covered with increasingly undisguised sympathy for assailants. Why? Meanwhile across town, there was an episode involving my podcast partner Michael Tracey that everyone had a laugh over, but was tied to this mess. It was also symbolic of the repulsive clubbiness that marks the Correspondents’ Dinner (and sadly now, Substack events?) and is a major reason why the public despises reporters — they’re care more about protecting each other than getting facts right. Michael may need a remedial fashion class, but he at least knows what the job is and cares about it, while colleagues don’t take responsibility for birthing wannabe assassins: