The memo appears to have gone out, and the legacy media has pivoted in unison to launch a new line of attack against the incoming Trump administration. The key buzzword is “cruel.”
Don’t let the gaslighting fool you. When they attack Trump’s reforms, they defend the policies he intends to reverse — policies that showcase the left’s real cruelty and moral emptiness.
The left cannot claim the moral high ground here. The Biden administration’s policies caused far more suffering than anything seen under Trump.
Consider immigration. Left-leaning outlets are reviving claims of cruelty over Trump’s “family separation” policy during his first term.
“Migrant families separated under Trump still feel the fallout and they fear his return to office,” the Associated Press reported.
And MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow summed up the left’s new attack, calling Trump’s policies a “chaotic, intentionally cruel mess.”
Yet a “chaotic, intentionally cruel mess” more appropriately describe Joe Biden’s border policies that Maddow and others on the left are defending by default.
The truth is that the Biden administration is still separating families at the border, continuing the Trump practice. According to a new report to Congress, “298 children were separated from their parents in 2023,” even though border crossings had begun to trend down.
As the Biden administration tried to avoid bad publicity over children in detention “cages,” it ignored the trafficking of those same children. It admitted thousands into the country and released them to anyone who claimed them. Officials then lost track of 300,000 children, many of whom ended up in horrific labor conditions — and it gets worse.
“Forced labor, bad as it is, may not be the worst fate these children face,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “They’re recruited into gangs, sex trafficked, and abused, while the Biden administration has no idea where they are or what’s happening to them. This is a tragedy, and the blame falls on President Biden.”
The left cannot claim the moral high ground here. The Biden administration’s policies caused far more suffering than anything seen under Trump, effectively handing control of the border to criminal cartels that “tax” anyone trying to cross.
“Rape is part of the torture process to get the money,” the New York Times reported last year.
As my colleague Melissa Ford testified before Congress:
Rape, assault, and sexual slavery are everyday life for the women and children who attempt to cross. In our investigations, we have conducted interviews with Border Patrol agents and engaged with individuals involved in supporting and safeguarding female migrants. They estimate that an overwhelming majority of female migrants face some form of sexual assault during their journey toward the U.S. Furthermore, they have alerted us to a concerning surge in instances of child sex trafficking.
Immigration and “mass deportations” may be the left’s central talking point in the coming months, but don’t expect them to ignore abortion — long viewed as their cherished “sacrament.” They won’t mention the lives saved.
Slate warns of a “swift, brutal, and nationwide” crackdown on abortion, even though the U.S. Supreme Court returned the issue to the states and Trump has said he plans to keep it that way.
Meanwhile, Trump’s promise to end Social Security taxes is being framed as a cruel blow to the system, and his efforts to protect children from experimental “gender-affirming” treatments — including hormones and surgeries — are labeled “sinister” and “intolerable.”
The legacy media isn’t known for its originality; we’ve all seen those “Republicans pounce” headlines that ring out in unison when Democrats are caught doing something wrong.
Now, it’s becoming clear that the chorus for the next four years will be Trump’s “cruelty.” We can’t let the left forget the truth — Trump’s policies will make Americans safer, more secure, and more prosperous.
And in attacking Trump’s policies, the Democrats are implicitly defending the policies the American public roundly rejected on Nov. 5. Let’s not let them forget that, either.
