Happy Holidays! Despite Donald Trump wishing a Merry Christmas to the haters and the losers and our corporate cable news overlords switching to their B-teams, this almost felt like any other week. Over on the networks that meant one thing: Soft and cuddly human interest stories by the dozen!
“Meet the Press” anchor Kristen Welker dedicated most of last weekend’s show to feel-good interviews with athletes like Michael Phelps, Sue Bird, and Megan Rapinoe. That definitely paired well with post-Christmas hot cocoa and my desire to keep the good vibes flowing, but it didn’t provide much in the way of useful journalism. It was a lucky break for Republicans, though, who spent much of the week locked in a bitter fight over immigration policy. If only the nation’s cable news viewers had heard about it.
Meanwhile, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash did their best to normalize America’s incoming authoritarianism with not one but two segments about the upsides of Trump’s anarchic approach to governing. After all, some folks “want a little bit of disruption,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told Bash. But not everyone is thrilled at how Trump is disrupting their lives—including groups that proudly voted for the president-elect back in November.
Here’s what you might have missed if you tuned into the networks this weekend.
Last week, Democrats and Republicans in Congress worked together to pass a last-minute government funding package that averted what would have been a costly federal shutdown. But that streamlined deal came at a steep cost. Over Democratic objections, Republican lawmakers stripped a budget item that funds millions of dollars’ worth of 9/11 first responders’ health care benefits. Now ailing firefighters and paramedics are at risk of losing access to that care.
That came as a shock to New York’s firefighting unions, many of whom endorsed Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. Now those same pro-Trump union leaders are absolutely furious that Republicans sold them out.
“We know that you cannot make America great again if you leave behind those that are sick and those that are dying that answered the call on 9/11,” Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro said.
The Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party strikes again.
The cable news media didn’t cover the stories of those 130,000 first responders who are now at risk of losing their healthcare benefits. Even so, firefighters across the city are starting to realize that Trump and his MAGA enablers played them. Unfortunately for New York’s first responders’ unions, they’re learning too late the high cost of trusting Trumpism.
It was always going to be a stupid social media post that brought about Republicans’ party-wide reckoning on just how much immigration they actually want to restrict. The party’s internal grumblings became public shouts the morning after Christmas, when professional grifter Vivek Ramaswamy posted an absolutely unhinged rant on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Ramaswamy blamed everyone from fictional TV characters to anonymous high school jocks for making Americans uncompetitive for high-income jobs in tech and engineering. It’s really a sight to behold, definitely give it a read.
RELATED STORY: MAGA world is at war after DOGE bros back immigration expansion
But Ramaswamy’s post—and its defense of America welcoming skilled immigrants on the H-1B visa program—set the party’s white nationalist roots a’blazing with nativist anger. To them, Ramaswamy’s mild pro-immigrant stance was nothing short of MAGA treason, and the party’s biggest loudmouths descended on Ramaswamy in force. Resident MAGA loon Laura Loomer even put X owner Elon Musk on blast for “silencing” her criticism of Musk’s toothless Department of Government Efficeincy—as if Loomer has ever been silent a moment in her entire life.
We didn’t see too much of this playing out on cable news—though this “Fox and Friends” Sunday stumble was delicious—thanks to a vested corporate interest in making Republicans seem competent. But the fight is currently tearing up the GOP, with Musk and even Trump himself coming to Ramaswamy’s defense. It’s one of the rare moments where the MAGA base is openly telling Trump they feel betrayed and let down by him, and the guy hasn’t even taken the oath of office yet!
It’s going to be an absolutely exhausting four years.
Internet troll and world’s richest man Elon Musk isn’t content to be the unelected shadow president of just one nation. He also has his eyes on Europe. Musk sent the German media into a frenzy last week after endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, in a Saturday essay for a German newspaper. This came after the billionaire tweeted “Only the AfD can save Germany” on Dec. 20. Not to be outdone, JD Vance joined Musk in praising the AfD, which has its roots in neo-Nazism.
Musk is clearly trying to build a global coalition of far-right leaders to support his more successful electioneering efforts here in the United States. In recent months Musk has also struck up a friendship with Italian leader Giorgia Meloni, who also leads a political party with its roots in Italy’s postwar neo-Nazi struggles. In fact, that seems to be about the only characteristic these various far-right parties have in common.
But Musk isn't limiting himself to Germany and Italy. He’s also been bankrolling far-right political movements in France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Musk sees himself as the Great Connector of a global far-right political revolution. The terrifying thing is that if European voters stay trapped in a social media outrage cycle curated by Musk and his allies, he may actually succeed in bringing those far-right parties back into power.
Hidden from the headlines and conducted away from the press, Musk’s effort to rally Europe’s far right has so far been an alarming success. It’s unclear what the global balance of power will look like when Musk has access to real White House power. One thing is clear: He won’t be shy in using it.
Keep the conversation going all week by sharing stories you think the media missed with me at @themaxburns on Bluesky! And remember: If you’re tuned to cable news, you aren’t even getting half of the story.
Until next week, keep your eyes peeled and stay inquisitive, friends—and RIP, President Carter!
