Trump, 79, Delivers Deranged Threat to TV Networks in Yuletide Meltdown
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
Tasos Katopodis / Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump has entered into the Christmas spirit of peace on Earth and goodwill to all by threatening to terminate the TV networks that don’t praise him.Trump, 79, embarked on a fiery festive rant on Truth Social in the very early hours of Wednesday morning, Christmas Eve, that ended with the president prematurely wishing his followers a “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!” 24 hours early.Read more at The Daily Beast.
Read the original story:
The Daily BeastHow We See It
New Republican Times Editorial Board
The Daily Beast can’t just disagree with Trump here, it has to pathologize him. Calling a late night post a “deranged meltdown” is a way to pre-load the reader with contempt, not context. It treats media power as neutral and any pushback as unstable.
Conservatives don’t need to pretend presidents should police programming. Government should not pick winners and losers in speech, and threats to “terminate” networks are a bad habit no matter who says them. But the press also shouldn’t act shocked that voters see a closed ecosystem where the same outlets demand deference while rarely offering fairness.
The real issue is public trust. Networks enjoy immense influence and legal protections, and they should earn legitimacy through basic standards of accuracy. At the same time, the rule of law means disputes get handled through transparent regulation and courts, not rhetorical retaliation. Institutional stability matters more than scoring points on either side.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.