The mainstream media has largely never been fair to President Trump. They spin everything against him.
And now an MSNBC host made a despicable claim about President Trump that he’s going to be furious about.
The Media’s Riot Romance and Democrat Overreach
The mainstream media, led by outlets like MSNBC, has once again leaned into breathless exaggeration, framing the Los Angeles riots as some sort of noble stand against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. On Monday night, Rachel Maddow, with her characteristic flair for drama, claimed Trump was in a state of panic, describing the riots as a “joyful and sustainable opposition” to his agenda. Her remarks, dripping with ideological bias, gloss over the violence and destruction that have marked these protests, revealing a troubling disconnect between media narratives and reality.
The riots erupted following Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at a Home Depot, prompting Trump to deploy 700 Marines to support the National Guard in Los Angeles. This response was met with immediate disdain from MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, who downplayed the unrest as confined to a “tiny” and “isolated” spot in Downtown Los Angeles. “Most people living in Los Angeles, most Los Angeles local taxpayers never set foot in that part of Los Angeles,” O’Donnell claimed, suggesting the riots were inconsequential to the city’s daily life. His dismissive tone ignores the real impact on federal agents and property, framing the chaos as a minor inconvenience.
Video evidence from Saturday paints a starkly different picture. Social media posts showed an individual in a motorcycle helmet hurling rocks at ICE agents’ vehicles, shattering windshields and injuring at least one federal officer. The FBI has since identified the suspect as Elpido Reyna, offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and warning that he is armed and dangerous. Yet, MSNBC’s coverage sidesteps these details, preferring to romanticize the unrest rather than confront its consequences.
Maddow’s analysis took this distortion further, asserting that Trump’s deployment of troops was unnecessary and driven by personal insecurity. “I mean, even if these protests were 100 times the size that they are, there still wouldn’t be an operational reason to bring in active-duty troops or federalized National Guard,” she said. Her claim that Trump is “panicking and thinks that he looks weak” dismisses the tangible threats faced by law enforcement, as evidenced by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin’s footage showing the violent reality inside those targeted vehicles.
Maddow’s rhetoric reached a fever pitch when she predicted “tanks destroying the streets of Washington this Saturday” and described National Guardsmen and Marines “standing around Los Angeles wondering what this has to do with their military careers.” Her hyperbolic vision of tanks rolling through the capital is pure theatrics, designed to inflame rather than inform. The suggestion that these riots represent a “trenchant and joyful and sustainable opposition” reveals a troubling willingness to celebrate disorder when it aligns with her ideological leanings.
On the political front, California’s Democratic leaders have seized on the unrest to cast themselves as victims of an overreaching executive. Governor Gavin Newsom, in a Monday interview with POLITICO, labeled Trump’s actions as authoritarian, stating, “It’s just an extraordinary moment, and I don’t want to overstate it, but these are the words of an authoritarian.” His indignation conveniently ignores the property destruction and violence that prompted the federal response, framing California’s defiance as a moral stand rather than a calculated escalation.
Trump and his border czar have directly targeted Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, threatening arrests and unspecified federal actions if they resist. This hardline stance has fueled Democratic outrage, with Newsom accusing Trump of provocation. “He is unhinged, and he’s acting recklessly, and the threat of the Marines coming in the United States, this is a very serious and sober moment,” Newsom declared. Yet, his rhetoric mirrors the media’s tendency to amplify fear, casting Trump’s moves as a deliberate attempt to sow chaos for political gain.
California’s lawsuit against the Trump administration, filed Monday, challenges the deployment of National Guard troops as an overreach of federal power. Newsom framed the courts as the last bastion against Trump’s agenda, stating, “There’s maybe a second branch of government left in this country.” His assertion that the legislative branch has been “lost to Trump and Trumpism” is a dramatic flourish, sidestepping the complexities of governance in favor of partisan posturing.
The Democratic narrative, echoed by MSNBC, suggests Trump’s troop deployment is a ploy to distract from economic woes tied to his trade policies and his fallout with Elon Musk. This theory, while convenient, overlooks the immediate catalyst: violent protests targeting federal agents. By framing the riots as a justified response to Trump’s policies, Democrats risk excusing lawlessness, a stance that could alienate voters who value order and accountability.
Melugin’s reporting, in contrast, grounds the story in gritty detail. His videos and photos, including one showing an officer’s injury, highlight the human toll of the riots. The damaged windshields and scattered debris are not the hallmarks of a “joyful” protest but of targeted aggression. Yet, mainstream outlets like MSNBC seem more interested in crafting a narrative of resistance than acknowledging these realities.
Newsom and Bass have positioned themselves as defenders of California’s sovereignty, arguing that Trump’s actions are designed to provoke unrest for political optics. This claim, while not baseless, assumes a level of Machiavellian foresight that may overstate Trump’s strategy. The president’s aides have signaled further escalations, including deploying Marines from Camp Pendleton, a move that heightens tensions in an already volatile situation.
The media’s role in this saga cannot be overstated. MSNBC’s selective framing—downplaying the riots’ impact while amplifying Trump’s supposed panic—distorts the public’s understanding of the stakes. By lionizing the protests as “sustainable opposition,” figures like Maddow risk normalizing violence as a political tool, a dangerous precedent that undermines civil discourse.
Democrats, meanwhile, are doubling down on their defiance, with Newsom’s lawsuit and public statements only solidifying resistance to federal authority. “We are going to stand firm,” he vowed, casting California as a bulwark against Trump’s policies.
It's absolutely wild watching the liberal mainstream media coverage of the LA riots. They think it's still 2020!
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) June 10, 2025
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
