The latest Trump tirade is being directed at CBS’s “60 Minutes” after the show’s Sunday broadcast in which they ran stories on Ukraine and Greenland. In a Truth Social post the president wrote that “Almost every week, 60 Minutes…mentions the name “TRUMP” in a derogatory and defamatory way, but this weekend’s “BROADCAST” tops them all.” He said the network was out of control and should “pay a big price” for their coverage. He went on to call for the Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr to fine or otherwise punish the show “for their unlawful and illegal behaviour.”
The Associated Press notes that Trump has an ongoing $20 billion lawsuit against “60 Minutes” for what he claims was an unfairly positive portrayal of candidate Kamala Harris in the fall. The network denies this but there are now apparently ongoing settlement talks between Trump’s lawyers and the CBS parent company. FCC Chair Carr has also begun an investigation of CBS about the Harris case as well as others involving ABC News, NPR, and the Walt Disney Company among others.
Complaints have been about things like how ABC News moderated the pre-election TV debate between then president Joe Biden and Trump in 2020, on-air comments made by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos about the E. Jean Carroll case, NBC allowing candidate Harris to appear on Saturday Night Live, Meta’s suspension of Trump’s Facebook account over January 6th, and claims against ABC and the Walt Disney company about DEI hiring practices that the FCC suggest violate equal opportunity employment opportunity regulations.
As one would imagine, these suits have to be taken seriously. In addition to ongoing talks with CBS noted above, there has been a $15 million settlement by Disney/ABC in the Stephanopolous case. In January Facebook-parent Meta payed $22 million towards the future Trump presidential library, plus another $3 million in legal fees to settle their case.
It’s quite the mess and not likely to slow down if Trump’s most recent rant against “60 Minutes” is any indication. That some media outlets have already settled or are in negotiations is disturbing enough. What is more problematic is that Trump is always working the refs; he is always trying to control future behaviour by signalling to any person or institution the world of hurt that could be brought to bear by the government of the United States of America if he just says the word.
If the media start to obey in advance because they believe they can placate this wanna-be dictator in the Oval Office, we are not going to like where this leads.
Retired political staffer/civil servant. Dual U.S./Canadian citizen writing about politics and the arts on both sides of the border.