CNN and other liberal media outlets could hardly contain their jealousy on Monday after Donald Trump's much-anticipated interview with immigrant job creator Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) and other successful tech companies, enjoyed historic ratings.
More than 1.3 million listeners tuned in live to hear the business titans discuss current affairs on the social media platform's "X Space" livestream feature and has subsequently accumulated more than 1 billion views, Musk wrote on Tuesday. That is more than double the 606,000 primetime viewers CNN averaged during the first quarter of 2024, the vast majority of whom we can only assume are nursing home patients who fell asleep in their favorite chairs.
Not surprisingly, CNN and other liberal outlets published an array of negative headlines about the Trump interview. One CNN contributor compared it to "watching 'Grumpy Old Men,'" the 1993 comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Other articles on CNN mocked the "technical difficulties" and suggested the conversation was too "friendly" or intended to help Trump "slow the rise of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris." The network even let Daniel Dale out of his cage to conduct a "fact check" of the interview.
Since announcing his first campaign for president in 2015, Trump has repeatedly claimed to be the best thing that ever happened to the media. He's not wrong. Most media outlets saw their profits surge between 2015 and 2021. As soon as President Joe Biden took office, however, the journalism industry entered a period of dramatic decline. CNN's rating hit rock bottom in 2023, while the Washington Post lost $77 million that same year. CNN has laid off hundreds of so-called journalists in recent months in an effort to stop the bleeding.
During the record-breaking interview, Trump lamented the demise of the "fake news media" under Biden and attacked Harris for refusing to answer questions about her policy positions. Trump denounced the Democratic Party for embracing a "third-rate phony candidate" after Biden "failed in the debate miserably" and was forced out of the race by liberal donors. "We cannot have her," Trump said of Harris. "She's incompetent." (Fact check: Mostly true.)
Harris has a well-earned reputation as a politician of middling-to-low competence with no core beliefs who will say anything to gain power. Many have suggested that Harris could dispel concerns about her lack of competence by holding a press conference or making herself available for interviews. Alas, Harris continues to hide in fear even from friendly journalists. Her campaign even refused to participate in a fawning Time magazine profile touting the "reintroduction" of Harris as a cultural figure on a par with Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Barack Obama.
The most obvious reason why Harris is avoiding interviews is that she lacks the intelligence to answer even the most softball questions from an adoring press. Earlier this month, for example, Harris was asked a very easy question: How did she feel about the return of Americans held prisoner in Russia? She was unable to provide a coherent answer. "This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy and strengthening alliances," Harris said.
In perhaps her most notable act as vice president, Harris humiliated herself and the Biden administration during an interview with NBC's Lester Holt in June 2021. Harris falsely claimed to have visited the southern border, then grew flustered when Holt refused to accept her lies. "And I haven't been to Europe," she cackled. "And I mean, I don't—I don't understand the point that you're making."
It's been nearly a month since Biden withdrew from the race and anointed Harris as his successor, but she has yet to personally articulate a single policy position, notwithstanding the vague pronouncements of anonymous campaign officials.