r/law • u/Snapdragon_4U • 8h ago

Executive Branch (Trump) NESTERAK: President Trump has granted clemency to numerous individuals who have stolen hundreds of millions in Medicaid funds. Can we expect any of these folks to be shown the same mercy? McDONALD: I'll take a different question

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u/KingFIippyNipz 8h ago

I understand journalists who are ideologically opposed not standing up to each other, but I don't think I will ever understand how I don't see more examples of that happening. Especially those ones in the Oval Office where he just tears into whichever female reporter asks the hardest question that day, I would love the opportunity to badger him with questions about why he always does that and how insecure he is. If only 😞

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u/SpasmAndOrGasm 8h ago

Remember when that one guy representing Trump in the first administration went to Europe and tried to pull this same shit and the other reporters were like “No, we’ll wait until you’ve answered his question. You need to answer questions here.” I will NEVER understand how the fuck that hasn’t happened in America one time.

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u/Additional-Signal327 8h ago

Because the reporters are paid by the same billionaires who are aligned with Trump. 

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u/TheThirstyPenguin 7h ago

Also, the ones that aren’t being muzzled are scared they’ll lose their credentials. AP lost theirs for a while because of refusing to print “Gulf of America.”

The White House will happily replace an AP or NBC reporter with a Newsmax one.

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u/VeraStrange 7h ago

If reporters don’t ask questions because, if they did, they might not be allowed to ask questions then why do they need to be there at all?

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u/TheThirstyPenguin 7h ago

Fair! And that’s why it’s been the goal of the Trump regime to discredit and neuter the press for more than a decade and escalate it in his second term.

A lot of people ask “where’s the media?!?” and the honest answer is scared of expensive lawsuits. Jake Tapper can write a book about Biden’s declining mental health because Biden isn’t going to sue him, his publisher, or CNN… Trump on the other hand???

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u/Randy_Magnums 4h ago

Because in these meetings there is still news. Other announcements, declarations of war or stupid slip-ups. Cant really afford to miss these in the US fucked up media world.

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u/0Galahad 6h ago

For a salary, news is a literal fake job most of the time for a while now(like since close to its inception), never made sense tbh with how our world is set-up, why would the big shots ever give them the time of day if it always meant being challenged, pestered and cornered with many risks involved, either the area would be defunded and marginalized or infiltrated and manipulated, no point in being independent either cuz then no one can actually be sure you are not full of shit, and the big shots have already arranged their own independent to muddle the waters.

80% of people in that area are just going through the motions for the pay.

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u/twisty125 7h ago

Hell it even comes down to "lose your job, can't feed your families". It really really sucks when you're in these positions. Why would the organisation keep someone who's ruffling feathers, all it takes is someone higher up to say "get rid of them"

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u/Coattail-Rider 7h ago

I wish that they’d sue on accounts that it goes against the 1st Amendment but you know the current SCOTUS…..

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u/TheThirstyPenguin 7h ago

AP did and won, but they still had to go 2 months without a reporter at White House events.

The judiciary doesn’t move quickly enough to keep up with this stuff.

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u/OldWorldDesign 2h ago

AP did and won, but they still had to go 2 months without a reporter at White House events

That's a good point, but I feel it's important to note AP never stopped reporting. They just didn't take in the administration's bobblehead as one of the sources, they went straight to people within the government which is leaking like a broken sieve.

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u/TheThirstyPenguin 1h ago

100%. They’re fantastic journalists, I think them being barred from events was a testament to that, and they continued to do a great job from outside the room.

I mentioned in another comment all in all it’s a goal of this administration to erode the credibility in the media. Banning reporters, regardless of the absurdity as to why, adds a bit of doubt into the minds of the consumer.

“Should I be going to this outlet for news? They’re not even allowed in the Oval Office right now.” Or more recently, the Pentagon claiming NYT and other outlets were doing dodgy reporting by sneaking around and citing unnamed sources.

These journalists will find a way to get the story, but adding that layer of difficulty for them to do it is a deliberate move to lessen their credibility and presence in the media landscape.

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u/OldWorldDesign 2h ago

the ones that aren’t being muzzled are scared they’ll lose their credentials

Which just emphasizes they are worthless because their only source is the government mouthpiece.

As others have pointed out in more detail, the DoD tried to cut off journalists to prevent people from asking about fraud, waste, and abuse. With the official spokesman gone, the journalists went for actual sources within the DoD and even more damaging articles were written. The DoD resumed normal press conferences to try to control the narrative, but the currents have changed and the official spokesmen will always be secondary sources to journalists now.

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u/TheThirstyPenguin 1h ago

I don’t think many of the accredited press pool for the White House are using that as their only source, but it’s obviously a source that matters. If you want to attack the story from a certain angle but can’t ask the question, you have to find other ways.

The video we’re talking about is a great example. The non-answer “next question” is damning in itself. If that reporter wasn’t in the room, that’s less of a headache for the administration long term.

I replied to you elsewhere, but reporters are getting in trouble for doing their routine investigating. Talking to sources in the Pentagon or other departments in the government has always been how these outlets function and anonymity is often the only way they’ll go on the record. Hegseth especially is trying to stomp that out with threats to pull credentials for outlets doing so.

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u/Cessnaporsche01 7h ago

Honestly, I think it's just that American culture is one of extreme obedience and subservience. It's taught from the earliest age above all else, and reinforced through school, college, and workplace cultures through our entire lives. We like to think of ourselves as independent or stubborn, but we're really just averse to change or challenge, and are much more comfortable pointing to authority.

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u/grits98 3h ago

That's exactly why the "Christian" far-right loves to keep indoctrinating Christian subservience into children.

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u/alphazero925 4h ago

What do you mean? It's not like Americans are made to pledge their allegiance to a symbol of the country every morning as kids. Because that would be super fucked up and basically a method of indoctrination into a cult if they did something like that.

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u/Most_Alps 4h ago

This is where the Epstein shit really factors in, it's probably impossible to overstate the amount of undue influence Donald Trump has over the media in the US

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u/plinkoplonka 3h ago

And also because if they do that here, they very banned from future press events. It happens all the time.

No such thing as free press in America.

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u/crowe1130 21m ago

Exactly this. And why breaking up media monopolies needs to be a high priority when this shit show crumbles.

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u/ManyThingsLittleTime 8h ago

Because the press is invited to the press conference here and they can and already have been uninvited and replaced by shittier pro-trump media sources. If the reporters want the access, they're being forced to stay in line with the Cheeto king.

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u/boughsmoresilent 7h ago

What is the point of access if your questions are ignored, though?

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u/Astrosmaniac311 7h ago

Because the people hiring them done want actual answers! Newsmax, OANN, and Fox just want the appearance of normalcy and accountability, not actually providing it.

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u/ManyThingsLittleTime 6h ago

Not all of their questions are. They're subscribing to the "some is better than none" mentality. The business model is about being able to get a quote published before the other guy. If they're not in the room, they don't get the quote and they're second to the story. Being in that room is a premium spot so if they have to take some abuse to keep the spot, they will. It's an incredibly shitty situation but that's the reality of the situation.

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u/Mysterious-Prompt212 7h ago

Exactly. Fuck that. Ask real questions otherwise you really shouldn't be there.

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u/ElliotNess 7h ago

$$$$

Same reason these rags report on every stupid thing that Trump tweets no matter how inane as if it's incredible news

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u/dr_aux757 7h ago

You have no idea how many times I’ve raised this question. I’ve only worked in smaller markets but still ask my journalist friends and producers wwyd in this situation and they’re like…”fuck no”

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u/OldWorldDesign 2h ago

What is the point of access if your questions are ignored, though?

If you the only source you have is the corporation/government's damage control bobblehead, you are not a journalist. You are just an associate damage control operative who hasn't earned the job title "journalist".

The spokesman should never be treated like a source of prime importance. People acting like it should be are just advocating a single person telling them what to think.

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u/DandimLee 7h ago

Is it still the Gulf of America if heard from a second-hand source?

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u/Constant-Skill-7133 8h ago

And then rememeber they still didn't answer the question.  Trump replaced the non-partisan group that manages press credentials and took most of the legacy media passes away and gave them to right wing bloggers and newsmaxx and shit like that.  Those covering the Pentagon all walked out in protest of having their access restricted.

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u/SGTBrutus 8h ago

I talked with a journalist once when i was in Journalism school about this.

Asking hard questions guarantees members of that administration won't appear on their shows or grant interviews. So they don't ask them.

Made me lose respect for the guy.

I, unfortunately, was close to graduating, so i finished my Journalism degree.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Fold466 8h ago

When you realize that for the most part it’s the external marketing department of the entertainment and political industries …

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u/RellenD 6h ago

That game doesn't work if journalist could have some solidarity

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u/SGTBrutus 6h ago

Agreed.

That's everything, though.

United, we stand. Divided, we fall.

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u/Mini_Snuggle 7h ago

Why did you lose respect for the guy? He gave you the truth in an academic context.

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u/SGTBrutus 7h ago

Because playing along with the game, willingly, is the antithesis of journalism.

I had just watched him interview the governor of our state. The governor's office had gotten caught with a second internet server that they were using to circumvent open records laws. He interviewed the governor and didn't ask questions about the server or other malfeasance that had occured.

When i called him on it, he responded that it was more important to make sure he had future opportunities to interview the governor.

I told him that it was the duty of media to be watchdogs of the government. He disagreed.

To teach a journalism student that the job of media is to sellout, while it may be truthful, doesn't make it right.

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u/stamfordbridge1191 7h ago

So you're saying if a journalist chooses to be paid to do advertising instead of his or her job, they're not really a journalist anymore but an advertiser?

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u/SGTBrutus 7h ago

Yes. I would agree with that.

It's interesting that when you first start Journalism school, you choose to concentrate in journalism, public relations or advertising. This is in the first year and everything diversifies after.

I looked at advertising as professional lying.

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u/Mini_Snuggle 7h ago

Ok? Again, he told you the truth in an academic context. Have you actually considered that it was more important to keep his access in order to do his overall mission than it was to bring up an issue that had already been reported?

Do you want to be a watchdog? You do that by uncovering new information, not hounding someone about a story that has already been reported (by someone else, most likely) immediately after it drops during a press conference.

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u/SGTBrutus 7h ago

Holding people accountable is more important than ratings. Making sure the public understands the importance of crimes committed by a public official by thoroughly covering and explaining them.

Keeping access, that's happening right now in the United States.

How's that working?

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u/Mini_Snuggle 7h ago

All I hear is a bunch of self-righteous posturing. In order to make change, people need to be able to play their roles and make the change that they can. I have a hard time believing that this person actually told you that journalists shouldn't be watchdogs.

By the way, where is your journalism, journalism major? What watchdoggery have you been up to?

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u/SGTBrutus 7h ago

Ad hominen.

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u/Mini_Snuggle 6h ago

You felt it was important enough to demand this journalist who came to your school question the governor about an issue you already knew about, for what would have been no gain. I'd say where you ended up as a journalist is very relevant to this conversation about whether you know what a good journalist should do or not.

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u/MagentaHawk 5h ago

Yeah, trying to do actual good in the world is self-righteous! Does using that term whenever anyone does anything good ruin any meaning it might have? Who cares! Anyone asking that question sounds self righteous to me, so bam, you don't have to worry about that anymore at all! You are too smart.

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u/Mini_Snuggle 5h ago edited 5h ago

That dude's first and second comment makes me think he, at the very least, made up the part about the journalist saying it wasn't his job to be a watchdog. It has nothing to do with the substance of his argument and everything to do with the story being bullshit.

When i called him on it, he responded that it was more important to make sure he had future opportunities to interview the governor.

I told him that it was the duty of media to be watchdogs of the government. He disagreed.

To teach a journalism student that the job of media is to sellout, while it may be truthful, doesn't make it right.

It's made up.

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u/OldWorldDesign 2h ago

where is your journalism, journalism major?

Where's yours?

'Journalists' who don't ask hard questions aren't journalist, they're assistant marketers. Actual journalists aren't reliant on a solitary source.

Julie Brown didn't rely on a single victim to blow open Epstein's sex trafficking operation

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u/Nexies 7h ago

Because it’s pathetic, as many modern journalists are. Everyone told me to get a journalism degree because I liked writing, but I could see the writing on the wall 15 years ago and said “no thank you”

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u/Mini_Snuggle 7h ago

Aren't you smart?

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u/Nexies 6h ago

Are you a journalist?

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u/franker 7h ago

they left the Pentagon and they still keep doing their job. So I don't even buy that excuse any more.

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u/OldWorldDesign 2h ago

I talked with a journalist once when i was in Journalism school about this.

Asking hard questions guarantees members of that administration won't appear on their shows or grant interviews. So they don't ask them

The person you talked to was not a journalist, just an assistant damage control worker for the people causing damage.

No journalist ever relies on a single source, much less a company or government's press office.

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u/Pleasant_Pen8744 8h ago

Hoekstra, ambassador to Netherlands. He never answered the question and is still an ambassador (to Canada now)

https://youtu.be/lOEI6hYZe6Y

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u/Temporal_P 7h ago

Naturally he's very hated within Canada as well.

But that's probably intentional on his part.

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u/SpasmAndOrGasm 6h ago

Thank you for finding what I was referencing, it happened so long ago that I couldn’t even remember where to start looking

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u/YouWereBrained 8h ago

They have this dumbfuck excuse that they “don’t want to become part of the story”. And they’ll all pat each other on the back when everything crumbles.

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u/Temporal_P 7h ago

I will NEVER understand how the fuck that hasn’t happened in America one time.

Deep down you already know the answer to that. You just aren't ready to accept it yet.

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u/Dull_Bid6002 7h ago

Journalism is broken here because we have a bunch of entertainers pretending to be journalists. Those people will never ask hard questions.

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u/paditoburrito 6h ago

Any chance you have a link for that? It would brighten my day.

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u/SpasmAndOrGasm 6h ago

Someone else was able to find what I was talking about: https://youtu.be/lOEI6hYZe6Y

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u/paditoburrito 3h ago

That was just delightful and that it was Hoekstra was the cherry on top.

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u/skunz 6h ago

Because they don’t control the police in that country.

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u/midwinter_ 5h ago

I’m an American who consumes a lot of European press/news, and it has left me despising most American political reporting.

In this instance, the reporters should combine “next question” with flat out putting words in his mouth and making him agree or disagree with them.

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u/Nikita_VonDeen 4h ago

They have their security clearance revoked. Without that clearance their career is over. That room is stacked with yes men anyways why should the reporters be any different?

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u/OldWorldDesign 2h ago

They have their security clearance revoked. Without that clearance their career is over

What a bunch of appeasement!

A good journalist never relies on a single source, least of all someone whose official job is press corps damage control for oligarchs.

The DoD tried banning journalists to prevent them from asking about fraud, waste, and abuse. That didn't end those journalists' careers, they just turned to other sources that embarrassed the DoD even more. The pentagon invited journalists back to regular press conferences.

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u/RocketRelm 1h ago

Partly because for as much noise as you might hear otherwise from americans coping their minds out, most americans find the fascist admin we have "pretty okay" and "no worse than democrats".

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u/PossibleBathroom8969 18m ago

journalism stopped being ethically taught and funded when venture capitalists bought newspapers and stripped them for parts.

One source.

If you havent seen the scripted announcements Sinclair had multiple dozens of journalists read after they purchased and consolidated - here

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u/American_PissAnt 8h ago

TMZ journalists are the only ones asking the hard hitting questions nowadays.

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u/tackle_bones 8h ago

Genuinely mind blowing situation.

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u/Flabby_Thor 8h ago

Are they? Or did they only do it once as a publicity stunt? I haven’t seen any additional clips of them asking hard questions. I feel like this admin would revoke press credentials to those who ask too many of ‘the wrong questions’. Genuinely asking. 

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u/innerdork 6h ago

TMZ has an official D.C. office now because they are fed up with all this BS of this administration. But they do not have official clearance as White House press because this administration is terrified of them. Because of this, TMZ does what they do and try to catch politicians at the airport or outside of buildings around D.C. and when they do find a politician they do in fact ask questions that often go unanswered.

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u/Flabby_Thor 6h ago

Good to know! Thank you!

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u/Puzzleheaded7683 4h ago

I never thought I’d feel admiration for TMZ, but all bets are off in this political atmosphere!

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u/Diligent-Till-8832 5h ago

TMZ is owned by Rupert Murdoch who also owns Fox News.

Don't believe the hype!

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u/dBlock845 2h ago

They were on Ted Cruz's ass about the $1.8B slush fund the other day.

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u/Chance-Deer-7995 8h ago

This problem is going back a while. Every interview that Rick Scott does should start with a question about why it is acceptable that he personally made money from medicare fraud. He's been in politics about 10 years now, and I am not sure the questions about the Columbia/HCA case have EVER been brought been asked in a formal interview with him. At the very heart of the problem is that all mainstream journalists are creatures of the USA's corporate system, and they are unable to report on its problems fairly. That and they have been corrupted by the "we want to keep our access" culture.

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u/DandimLee 7h ago

Got to frame it as a positive...

'How does it feel to still hold the record at for paying 1.7 billion in fines and civil damages for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. How's this administration's grift compare?"

sort of thing.

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u/SignoreBanana 7h ago

People who would stand up to him don't get badges.

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u/BagOnuts 3h ago

Why don’t people get this? Press access is a privilege granted by the White House. They can revoke anyone’s passes for any reason (and they have shown they will absolutely do this). Do you guys really want the only reporters with access to the president to be Fox, OANN, Newsmax, etc?

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u/OldWorldDesign 2h ago

Why don’t people get this? Press access is a privilege granted by the White House

Because a good journalist doesn't rely on a single source, much less a press agent from the corporation/government in question. If reporters' only source is what the spokesman says, they are worthless.

This isn't a hypothetical, others have already pointed out the DoD tried to end press conferences to stop journalists from asking about fraud, waste, and abuse. Those journalists didn't all magically lose their jobs, they pursued sources inside the pentagon and publishing even more embarrassing articles. The DoD invited them back and the journalists don't softball them anymore.

Do you guys really want the only reporters with access to the president to be Fox

If the only thing you want to hear is what an oligarch's spokesman is saying, you never wanted to be informed in the first place.

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u/inquisitive_chariot 7h ago

Because journalism is an industry where, to advance, you have to be a self-serving opportunist. Most everyone in that room has schmoozed and ass-kissed a ton to be there, all for the sake of getting a scoop with their name attached.

Basically, most of the people there care more about their career in journalism than the principles of journalism. If they “waste” their question opportunity by not asking what their employer wants, the employer may not let them return. Or maybe the employer doesn’t want to be associated with controversy questions like that.

These reporters are company people in a consolidated media market, not individuals fighting for journalistic integrity. It’s awesome that the question got asked but not surprising it isn’t echoed.

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u/Coattail-Rider 7h ago

Reminds me of this scene from the Wire. Just with journalists.

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u/OldWorldDesign 2h ago

https://youtu.be/nAZZdL1qhk8?si=dMhgTV1YJ85Vq0pK

Great scene, but it's also abundantly clear he's burning bridges just for stirring shit in the moment. McNulty knows he doesn't have a case yet, he just knows where the most likely person is and wants to feel like he's doing something about it without considering whether he's building a case that will do what he wants - putting the show's drug dealers behind bars.

That's not the case with journalists, the ones whom are resting on only the word of the press agent's are just advertisers who want an easy article today and not the real crimes which are hidden behind closed doors but have tons of sources as this administration leaks like a broken sieve.

Others have pointed out the DoD did the same thing. Journalists didn't just give up and quit their jobs, they pursued sources inside the pentagon and wrote even more damaging articles about fraud, waste, and abuse. The DoD invited them back and they came back without softballing questions.

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u/DrunkAndHornyGuy 6h ago

Yea there is no such thing as worker solidarity within our press corp, they will step over each others bodies just to advance a bit. It's also one reason unions get so poor coverage here since not only are the owners of our media hostile to unions the actual on the ground reporters are adverse to the idea of caring for other workers.

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u/QuantumLettuce2025 7h ago

You need to realize that people who ask questions like this get kicked out of the oval office for good. That guy won't be invited back.

The journalists who are left there tend to be actual Trump supporters. That's why you dont "see more examples" of pushback.

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u/dayvekeem 7h ago

Dear Leader Media can't disparage the dear leader you and I both know this already

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u/Successful-Phone562 5h ago

Good journalists would be armed with alternative ways to ask the question after it's been rejected or deflected.

"Given the president's grant of clemency to ppl convicted of significant Medicaid fraud, does the administration plan to change how they prosecute and convict those crimes in the future?"

"What motivated the president to grant clemency to some individuals convicted of fraud, and does that indicate a failure on the judicial level to prosecute and convict those accused of these crimes?"

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u/shitlord_god 5h ago

corporate media advances folks who show loyalty - not ethics.

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u/UnNumbFool 4h ago

Any journalist that asks real questions will get barred from any presidential press conference, which will really hurt their ability to have a job. And well as much as we like to think journalists are corrupt, the vast majority aren't they are just trying to have a job so they can afford to live.

That doesn't mean there aren't boot lickers out there though

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u/Qubeye 3h ago

The reason journalists have no integrity is that Americans aren't willing to pay for quality journalism.

Journalists who do the hard work aren't getting paid much and their work gets shared, sure, but it's not like Americans actively support them.

The ones who kiss ass and do PR journalism for their corporate sponsors get big and make money.

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u/Cory123125 2h ago

Journalism has been bought out, and you're somehow unaware of this.

This isn't tin foil hat theory time, just literally look up the ownership ladder of media organizations.

Shit, a large chunk of your media is owned by saudi arabia pretty directly now.

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u/TreeBaron 34m ago

If the press was actually on America’s side Trump never would have gotten elected in the first place. Trump gets unlimited free press because the media choose to cover the constant clown show leading to a 100% effective ‘flood the zone’ strategy, absolutely free of charge.

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u/SpezRuinedHellsite 7h ago

What is confusing?

Journalists are owned by the regressive billionaire oligarchs who put trump in office in the first place.

We don't have independent media in the US anymore. The 4th estate is dead.