It has been an active week in media circles as a couple of lingering storylines were joined by two others to occupy the attention of our journalists. Easter meant that Vatican activities were a focus, with Vice President JD Vance on the receiving end of some dysfunctional coverage. Then there was the attempt by the press to once again target Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, as that desperate effort continues to deliver dispiriting returns for the eager journalists.
With a pope’s passing, the hectoring against Hegseth, and the ever-developing deportation issues continuing, only added to the media’s busy week. Let’s start mucking around in the media swamps and see who took top (bottom) honors this week.
THE CONTENDERS
New York Times – The Gray Lady kicked off the week of Pete Hegseth hysterics with its anonymous claims of a new Signal scandal. There was a flurry of excitement over a Larry David editorial slamming Bill Maher for meeting with President Trump, describing him as (get ready), Adolf Hitler. In a weepy piece about another deportation, the paper made light of the individual spending 15 years in jail for kidnapping, with a deportation order made at his sentencing decades ago. Liz Bumiller gave a psych evaluation of the “Trump Billionaires” in the administration; “Psychologists say that extreme wealth does change people and their views of those who have less.”
CBS News – On “60 Minutes,” it was said that Trump’s closing of USAID is a Constitutional crisis, as it was created by an act of Congress – when in fact it was formed via executive order from President Kennedy and operates under the guidance of the president and Secretary of State. Speaking of the show, Executive Editor Bill Owens resigned, livid that the network brass was dictating that he report the truth on his show. The news division declared some oil companies were directly responsible for trillions of dollars in environmental damage. One joke of an exclusive report on Pete Hegseth and a makeup station in the Pentagon was walked back in less than one hour.
CNN – Joined in with others citing anonymous sources claiming Pete Hegseth messaged war plans to his wife and brother (with no specifics given), anchor Jake Tapper was upset over the Bill Owens resignation, saying “60 Minutes” committed no journalism violations, according to his source from …”60 Minutes.” Meanwhile, Kaitlan Collins was shamed when her network promoted a book that stated how Biden was inept during debate prep last year, as she is seen at the time raving about his skills and the sharp manner he was performing.
ABC NEWS – The network attempted a new anonymously-sourced hit on Pete Hegseth, saying he has an unsecured laptop with Signal installed on it; they give nothing whatsoever about him messaging anything objectionable, just that he has this computer. On “Good Morning America,” they spent most of an hour raving about how Pope Francis had been a great liberal, and how he battled “conservatives” with his radicalism as pontiff. They reported that the detainment of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil took place without a warrant – leaving out that deportation orders do not require such. The network was hysterical over the arrest of the New Mexico judge who harbored an illegal immigrant to hide them from ICE authorities, AND acted the same with the Wisconsin judge hiding an illegal from ICE.
THE WINNER
THE DAILY BEAST
The outlet initially claimed that Pope Francis refused to meet with Vice President JD Vance over policy disagreements – then altered the headline when images were shown that the two did in fact meet up.
In a new report on the two meeting up, the publication then repeated how the Pope slammed Vance over those same policy disagreements.
Days after it was a debunked story, the outlet claimed Vance committed an “embarrassing gaffe” by taking photos inside the Sistine Chapel. Not only was the picture taken by the official White House photographer, inside its own article they eventually detailed that Vatican officials were with the official team and permitted the pictures to be taken.
They ran a story of back-stabbing allegations made by former staffers involving alleged cocaine use in the headline, while using an image of Hegseth. It was a charge made about use prior to being in the DoD, has no involvement with Hegseth, and the accused individual is no longer in the Defense Department.
Joe Kasper, former chief of staff to Hegseth, has called the accusation that he used cocaine “egregiously stupid.”https://t.co/JzzjCMGZih
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 26, 2025
Editor’s Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie.
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