2024 was the year where I grew severely disillusioned by most mainstream and left-leaning media outlets. So many people on MSNBC are persona non grata to me, we no longer subscribe to the Washington Post and I will never forget what the Washington press corps did to President Joe Biden, not to mention Kamala Harris. There was a strong sense, backed up by journalists speaking on the record, that they were actively rooting for another Trump term, mostly because they were bored by the Biden-Harris adminstration’s low drama and competence. They were rooting for Trump because they thought it would improve their ratings and their readership. Instead, Americans have been tuning out the media in historic numbers, with cratering viewership across cable news and tens of thousands of people canceling their subscriptions to newspapers.

I bring all of this up because it’s bizarre to me to see a cottage industry built upon “the media didn’t go hard enough on Joe Biden.” Enter Rainn Wilson, who appeared a podcast last week. Wilson’s comments went viral, especially on right-wing media:

Rainn Wilson is sharing his thoughts about the current political climate in the United States. During her recent appearance on Wilson’s “Soul Boom” podcast, MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle said that she believes President Donald Trump is making a “concerted effort to destroy the media,” while his right-hand man, Elon Musk, wants the population to “leave traditional media.” Wilson disagreed.

“This is where I would push back,” Wilson said. “I see this kind of insight and passion being directed at the current administration, and the lack of this kind of insight and passion being directed at the previous administration.”

Clarifying he was talking about “left-leaning news media” rather than just Ruhle herself, he added, “[Left-leaning news outlets] were kind of like, ‘La, la, la, la, la, Everything’s fine. Look, the economy’s great. La, la, la. Immigration’s not that much of a problem,’ and really, being Cleopatra, Queen of Denial.”

Ruhle said that she felt the American population stood up to Biden about immigration politics, but agreed that the Republican party is more “willing to talk about some of the unpleasant things that people feel” about the topic.

“When people say those things out loud, they’re immediately called xenophobic or racist,” she added. “And we have to make space for how people feel.”

“Most people, a large majority of people who have a problem with the current immigration crisis, and have for the last five or 10 years, are not racist,” Wilson said in agreement. “But are often kind of tarred as racist by the liberal left.”

[From Variety]

Left-leaning news outlets were NOT like “La, la, la, la, la, Everything’s fine. Look, the economy’s great. La, la, la.” In fact, ALL news outlets were actively doom-reporting the booming Biden economy and refusing to adequately report on Trump’s tariff plans, which Trump repeatedly spoke about on the campaign trail. WTF is Rainn talking about? Well, he saw that he was being praised by right-wing outlets, so he posted this to Instagram:

I guarantee this post won’t make to @FoxNews. Recently I was LAUDED by the Right-wing Pravda Billionaire-funded News-o-sphere for mildly pressing the brilliant MSNBC journalist and economist @StephRuhle about the left-leaning media for not challenging many narratives from the previous administration and Democratic Party talking points. All of a sudden I’m a hero of the MAGA set. (it should be noted that on this very same day. I was being awarded @Time “earth award” for my climate change activism. A scientific phenomenon denied & mocked by many who were recently celebrating me.)

This tiny clip, pulled out of context, is used to boost a convenient narrative by the right-wing press while allowing them to ignore their own obvious bias and outrage propaganda disguised as news. The fact is, as we often state on the @SoulBoom podcast – the toxicity of partisanship and its resultant polarization has spilled into almost every aspect of American life (shower heads! Lightbulbs!) – Including the media which should be only seeking one thing, the TRUTH. The bigger question should be why are we all such brain-dead suckers to a toxic two-party system and slobberingly nod along to its twin, distrust-sewing narratives?

We need more true independents who seek the truth for themselves and actively research issues instead of being spoon-fed a convenient, division-inducing political narrative. We are one country, not two. We must work, like Jesus Christ Himself modeled, toward unity, peace and understanding. Service. The media has an important role to play in this. Start a movement – a new narrative: shed the labels of Red and Blue, MAGA and Libtard, and seek to move toward a just and loving future for our descendants.

[From Rainn’s IG]

“The bigger question should be why are we all such brain-dead suckers to a toxic two-party system and slobberingly nod along to its twin, distrust-sewing narratives.” Eyeroll. Of course, if you think the “left-leaning media wasn’t saying enough about immigration and Biden’s failures,” of course you would think that the two-party system is “toxic.” One side wanted to protect the American people and treat immigrants humanely – the other side is deporting American citizens (some of whom are children) to El Savadorian prison camps. One side wanted to nurture a good economy and the other side wanted to break everything for sh-ts and giggles. BOTH SIDES SUCK, obviously! Wow, I never knew Rainn Wilson was such a disappointment.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.