Joe Kovacs cheered President Trump’s latest assault on the media in an April 28 WorldNetDaily article:
President Donald Trump says pollsters for major media companies including the New York Times, Washington Post and Fox News should be investigated for election fraud, as he expresses outrage at recent surveys about his approval rating.
In a Monday message on Truth Social, Trump stated: “Great Pollster John McLaughlin, one of the most highly respected in the industry, has just stated that The Failing New York Times Poll, and the ABC/Washington Post Poll, about a person named DONALD J. TRUMP, ME, are FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.
“The New York Times has only 37% Trump 2024 voters, and the ABC/Washington Post Poll has only 34% Trump Voters, unheard of numbers unless looking for a negative result, which they are.
“These people should be investigated for ELECTION FRAUD, and add in the FoxNews Pollster while you’re at it. They are Negative Criminals who apologize to their subscribers and readers after I WIN ELECTIONS BIG, much bigger than their polls showed I would win, loose (sic) a lot of credibility, and then go on cheating and lying for the next cycle, only worse.
“They suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, and there is nothing that anyone, or anything, can do about it. THEY ARE SICK, almost only write negative stories about me no matter how well I am doing (99.9% at the Border, BEST NUMBER EVER!), AND ARE TRULY THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! I wish them well, but will continue to fight to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Kovacs failed to mention that McLaughlin worked for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, making his objectivity highly suspect. Indeed, McLaughlin is not objective at all but a right-wing pollster whose biased results are favored by the likes of the Media Research Center to advance its right-wing agenda.
Kovacs is also silent on the ultimate implication of Trump’s temper tantrum: He wants to criminalize criticism of him. As a Business Insider writer noted:
You might also point out that even if Trump is serious, it’s not clear which federal agency or official could carry out his wishes. While Carr theoretically gets to weigh in on the likes of Comcast and Paramount because they own broadcast licenses, the FCC doesn’t have any oversight of the Times or the Post. (I’ve asked both Carr and the White House for comment.)
But one thing we are learning about 2025 is that things Trump writes or says — even if they are illogical or impossible — sometimes get turned into action, anyway.
If I’m running a media organization — or simply someone who thinks the federal government shouldn’t be threatening media organizations because it doesn’t like what they publish — I wouldn’t brush this off completely.
WND purports to support media independence and press freedom. Why won’t Kovacs call out Trump’s opposition to same?