The New Yorker Publishes From the Psychiatrist Sofa With Its 'Victorious' Kamala Magazine Cover

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

That the press industry in this nation is in a state of dysphoria following the November election is not debatable. In my Townhall media column, I covered just ahead of the vote when a network executive spoke with The Intelligencer about how a Trump victory could portend changes, or even the end of the media as they know it. That is a reality they are grappling with today, and they have been unspun since the election.

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Many outlets are dealing with this result, such as Time Magazine granting a cover to Trump where he comes in and wipes the Resolute Desk clean of Biden’s effects. Whether this was intended as a critique or an accurate portrayal is really based on perspective. (The animated version is best, as it highlights the trademark Aviator glasses from President Silveralert flying off the desk.) Another example of the interpretational imagery was seen at The Atlantic in September when they transformed its cover to a painting of Trump possibly arriving in a gloomy D.C. aboard a carriage with a shackled elephant. What they intended to be a dystopian image was one many on the Right saw as a glorious depiction of the candidate.

At The New Yorker, we see this political dismay on display as they felt the need to share their mourning about the Kamala Harris loss by showing a magazine cover that never was. The magazine tabbed an artist to craft a graphic of Kamala for its post-election edition, but that dream was dashed as she was soundly defeated on November 5.

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It is bad enough that the site saw a need to display its lament over the result like this, but it gets worse when you read the text from the entry they gave on the image. 

The portrait…would have been the cover of the November 18, 2024, issue of The New Yorker—that is, if Kamala Harris had won the election on November 5th. Instead, late that evening, when it became clear that the vote was going the other way, it was swapped out for a silhouette of soon-to-be President Donald Trump, drawn quickly by Barry Blitt. 

Based on this segment, it means they went to the lengths of commissioning a work for a Harris cover, but had no such preparation for a Trump win. This would indicate that the outlet was all-in with a Kamala victory — is that how we interpret things? Was The New Yorker swallowing whole the polling showing that she had a legitimate chance of winning the White House?

In its place, the hastily-made cover the magazine went with shows both the dashed-off quality and the cynical approach to a new Trump term.

As the less-than-joy-filled text explains: 

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Barry Blitt depicted Trump’s looming silhouette—a reminder that a second term, though bound to include more moves from his all too familiar far-right playbook, will also undoubtedly usher in a new era of unprecedented extremism and intensified uncertainty in America.

It is a prime example of the dysfunctional press unable to approach things in D.C. with an objective eye. They have been so invested in bringing down Trump that this result is something that not only did they not expect, but they are incapable of dealing with it rationally. The New Yorker going to the extent of showing their loss of composure like this is a publishing equivalent of stretching out on a therapist’s couch.  

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