Trump, a man who has been locked in a high-stakes, multi-year, on-again-off-again romance with the concept of facts, wasn’t too thrilled when ABC decided to fact-check statements during the Republican primary debate. Because, let's face it, in Trump’s world, fact-checking is as useful as an umbrella in a hurricane. Who needs it when you’ve got your own version of reality, where the facts are made up and the points don’t matter?
In a recent social media tirade—because where else do these things happen—Trump accused ABC of bias and suggested that they should face consequences for their actions. Now, one might think that Trump calling for a media outlet to be punished for fact-checking is akin to a bank robber calling for the police to be defunded, but hey, this is 2024, and we’re just along for the ride. The real question is, what kind of punishment is he envisioning for these reckless journalists? A timeout? Public shaming? Or, more likely, being forced to watch old episodes of The Apprentice on a loop?
The former president’s wrath stemmed from the fact that during the debate, ABC’s fact-checkers actually did their job. They dared to hold candidates accountable for their statements in real time, instead of just nodding and smiling like a well-trained poodle. But in Trump’s world, fact-checking during a debate is basically the same thing as rigging an election. How else do you explain the logic that punishing someone for telling the truth is considered a win?
The idea of punishing ABC over this dastardly deed is clearly gaining steam in Trump’s mind, where every fact-check is a personal vendetta against him. And sure, this might seem like overkill to most people. After all, the job of journalists is to make sure that politicians—especially ones with a track record of massaging the truth into a soft, pliable lump—don’t get away with misleading the public. But to Trump, fact-checking is just the gateway drug to full-blown media betrayal.
Let’s not forget, this isn’t Trump’s first rodeo with facts or his disdain for them. He’s famously waged a war against the truth for years, and his supporters have embraced the idea that facts are more like suggestions—optional and entirely open to interpretation. When faced with inconvenient truths, Trump’s strategy has always been to shoot the messenger. This time, ABC drew the short straw.
It’s almost as if Trump believes that facts are a conspiracy invented by people who don’t want him to be happy. He’s probably somewhere right now, pacing in front of a mirror, practicing his next speech where he reveals that fact-checkers are actually lizard people from space trying to sabotage his career. (Spoiler alert: it might work as a campaign strategy.)
What’s really impressive here is the sheer audacity of Trump’s request. "Punish them for fact-checking" is the kind of sentence that would be at home in a dystopian novel, right next to “2 + 2 equals whatever we say it does.” The idea that a major news network should be penalized for trying to provide the public with accurate information during a political debate is so absurd that it circles back around to being almost comedic. Almost.
Of course, Trump’s call for retribution against ABC isn’t just about the debate—it’s part of a larger strategy to discredit any media outlet that doesn’t fully embrace his narrative. The irony is that Trump is no stranger to using media to his advantage. After all, this is the man who rose to political prominence by mastering the art of media manipulation. But when the media turns the tables and starts holding him accountable, suddenly it’s all “fake news” and cries of injustice.
But here’s the thing: Trump might be onto something. Maybe we’ve been getting it wrong this whole time. Who needs fact-checking? Let’s just go full-blown Wild West with our debates. Let politicians say whatever they want, no matter how outrageous, and let’s just assume it’s all true. After all, isn’t this America, where freedom means never having to be accountable for the things you say? Who needs boring old truth when we can have exciting, unfiltered nonsense?
In the end, Trump’s latest tantrum is just another chapter in the long, weird saga of his relationship with the media. By calling for ABC to be punished, he’s sending a clear message: facts have no place in his world, and those who dare to wield them are the real enemy. Whether ABC actually faces any consequences remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure—Trump’s war on truth is far from over, and the fact-checkers had better buckle up for the ride.
