First, this post is not about RFK, but I do want to note his hearings begin today, and I remain deeply concerned by the cowardice of the pro-life community in standing up on this issue. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is the only pro-life group speaking up. I’m glad to see Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom join the fight. But the greater pro-life movement is behaving shamefully.
I fear Kennedy might get confirmed because, just as so many pro-life groups are lacking spines, we have senators involved. Senator Cassidy of Louisiana wants to run for Governor. Senator Lankford of Oklahoma is licking wounds from the immigration fight. I hope fearless Senator McConnell holds his ground. But there need to be more than four senators (some Democrats will for the pro-abortion nut), and too many have personal political ambitions that outweigh protecting Americans from a lunatic abortionist with an expansive appetite for using government power.
Senators Cassidy and Lankford both know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Kennedy is unacceptable. But politics is politics, and some men and women are able to rationalize decisions for their own political sake. So we’ll see if any spines stiffen.
This piece in Christianity Today provokes the topic I want to discuss. The title is “Trump’s First Week Sends Shudders Through Immigrant Churches and Ministries.”
The Erickson Rule of Press Coverage is very simple. When Democrats are in charge, the press covers individuals who benefit from the Democrats’ policies. When Republicans are in charge, the press covers individuals who are perceived as victims of the policies.
The American public, according to The New York Times, turns out to be much, much more against transgender advocates’ positions now than just a few years ago, when most Americans were against it. But the news network still ran stories that portrayed the boys in girls’ sports as victims and the girls being deprived of wins as the villains, along with Republicans.
Trans-soldiers cannot serve on the front lines. I know they claim they can, but in reality, they cannot because of the regular use of hormone therapy and drugs needed to sustain their cosplay. The other day, CNN had on a trans-soldier affected by President Trump. They had to highlight the victim. There was zero nuance in the discussion about how the trans-soldier cannot serve on the front lines in combat. Every soldier, even those not regularly serving in combat roles, must be ready for the fight. Trans-soldiers are least able to be ready because of their medical needs. God forbid we point out that this is one of the major objections to the admission of trans-soldiers.
And that gets me back to Christianity Today and the press. Christianity Today is not a partisan publication. But much of the press has an animus towards Donald Trump and his voters, and I think, if the folks at Christianity Today were really honest, they’d admit they have it too. It may be understandable, given the frankly terrible treatment heaped upon the publication and many of those who work there by people embracing MAGA.
But whether it is CNN, the New York Times, ABC, Christianity Today, or a variety of other outlets and groups, I think many in the press have allowed their critics in MAGA to radicalize them, and now they stake out positions, viewpoints, and coverage in opposition to whatever MAGA’s cause du jour is. And immigration is a big one.
We saw this during the George Floyd riots. In the spring of 2020, small business owners who were primarily conservative and white protested to open their businesses back up. Press coverage from reporters, not just pundits, was deeply critical. When rioters marched in the streets and burned down buildings after George Floyd’s death, many reporters who were critical of the small business owners insisted people needed to protest in the summer.
MSNBC White House correspondent, and at the time a CNN analyst, Apri Ryan, wondered if the small business owners wanting their businesses back open should have to sign waivers to be deprived of ventilators if they got COVID while protesting. She supported people exercising their civil rights in the summer protest season. Others, like George Stephanopoulos at ABC News, were belittling those who opposed lockdowns while he was repeatedly seen out of his house.
On the issue of immigration now, Christianity Today and other press outlets are highlighting the fears in immigrant communities. It is a fair and fine thing to cover. But it comes in the absence of coverage of the other side. There is a reason Americans are upset with the massive wave of over 10 million illegal immigrants who flooded into the country.
I’m the big talker on the radio in Springfield, OH. I was the only voice in conservative talk radio who was openly dismissive of the claims that Haitians were eating people’s pets because, in part, I have a large audience in Springfield, and they all said it was not an issue.
But they were deeply frustrated that the national press ignored the real issues as the press responded in opposition to Trump and MAGA. Healthcare waiting times for the poor have increased. Costs for interpreters and social service workers have gone up at local schools. There were fewer resources for those who pre-existed the influx of Haitians.
The press did not care about those people and concerns. They only reacted in opposition to Trump, which meant defending the Haitian population and denying the real stresses on the local populace. Springfield wound up voting for Donald Trump. The city limits of Springfield had not voted Republican for President in years, but the issues affected residents so much that they supported Trump.
But to listen to the major press coverage, it was not just that Trump was lying, but that there was no problem.
The press likewise relied on Democrat officials in 2024 in Aurora, CO, to claim the Venezuelan gang problem had been overstated. Not only had it not been overstated, but the gang turned violent in that one apartment complex shortly thereafter, and just in the past few days, over 50 violent gang members were arrested. Guns and drugs were seized as well.
I appreciate that Christianity Today and other press outlets are covering the fallout from Trump’s orders and actions in the immigrant community. It is a relevant story. I just wish the press as a whole was less dismissive of concerns about illegal immigration from existing American citizens.
We get lectured about loving our neighbors, but the press, including Christianity Today, seems way more interested in showing love to the illegal immigrants over the Americans. If we pick favorites, perhaps American press outlets should favor the law-abiding American citizens whose communities and resources are being taxed. Perhaps they should not downplay or ignore that the focus of these deportation exercises is criminals and those already ordered to be deported who have not.
Otherwise, all they are going to do is provoke even more strident reactions from Americans who feel like the press has ignored them in favor of sympathy for the illegal aliens who have raped, murdered, stolen, or dealt drugs and all the other illegal aliens stressing social systems.
I mean, the press, at this point, cannot even bring itself to say “illegal alien.” And for those in the press who defend “undocumented,” the rest of us know it is a word choice used to downplay and minimize what is happening while hiding behind AP rules. Progressives, after all, change language to try to reshape reality.
Cover the fallout in the immigrant community. But show some understanding of fed-up Americans without treating them as racist or immoral. And maybe start saying “illegal alien,” like Americans actually do.