It had been a quieter week in the press circles this week, which is not unexpected. Summer can slow things down; Congress is still on break, focus is on the upcoming fantasy football drafts for many, and a holiday weekend was approaching. But while they lacked in volume, the press still managed to deliver some distinctively poor content.
The Minnesota school shooting tragedy unfolded, and that exacerbated the dysfunction on display. What we saw was a media complex rushing into a made-for-drama story only to become unraveled by a narrative-destroying shooter, and the spinning began to trample journalism ethics. It is time to hold our noses and get to tabulating by tugging on the hip waders, trudging through the muck and mire that is our media complex, all to determine who took top (bottom) honors this week.
THE CONTENDERS
NBC NEWS – During the coverage of the Minnesota shooter, they saw a need to make a correction for offending the dead murderer for misgendering him. Her. Them, whatever…The news that President Trump cancelled the Secret Service detail for Kamala Harris generated outrage, despite the fact that she had that protection for longer than other VPs normally enjoy. In a lengthy article on the official police reports of the residence of the transgender shooter, the outlet took pains to keep referring to the shooter as "her-she", even when some of the incidents predated the legal name change taking place.
CBS NEWS – The network was caught with another editing scandal, as a Kristi Noem interview saw CBS cutting out a lengthy portion where she detailed the many crimes Kilmar Abrego Garcia has on his rap sheet. They joined in with accusing Trump of cruelty over cancelling Kamala’s SS detail. Meanwhile, watch this White House correspondent have a fan-girl meltdown when she sees the news that Taylor Swift got engaged.
JUST IN: CBS news anchor ACTS LIKE A GRADE SCHOOL CHILD after finding out Taylor Swift is engaged to Travis Kelce.
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) August 26, 2025
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE HIRED TO REPORT AND ANALYZE NEWS.
Paying ATTENTION now?pic.twitter.com/Z0g8DvEftR
MSNBC – Former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was completely disturbing in the way she was lashing out at anyone offering prayers following the shooting, showing she was far more upset with the reactions of the devout than she was with the killer of children. She then tried to say MAGA was merely suggesting the shooter was trans and an anti-Trump leftist, despite those being provable facts. There was this desperate bid to blame the shooting on anything but the transgender shooter, including violent video games. Joe Scarborough struggled with math by saying that Louisiana has 400 times more murders than D.C.
CNN – Jake Tapper covered the Minneapolis shooting and took pains to be sure not to misgender the shooter. They tried to run defense for Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook and her mortgage scandal, suggesting she should not be punished because it may have been a filing she made by accident. In a report on Cracker Barrel changing back to its old logo, the outlet blamed right-wing backlash – and was roundly mocked when it was shown the Democratic Party account also had complained. The network continued with labeling the criminal illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia a “Maryland Man.” For reasons that defy explanation, S.E. Cupp saw a need to describe the victim Ashli Babbitt as a serial killer.
THE WINNER
ABC NEWS
With such an onrush of horrible media takes about the shooting, it would take remarkably bad reporting to stand out in the crowd. ABC News delivered the bad.
Aaron Katursky was especially repugnant during his live coverage as he proclaimed to have seen the shooter’s manifesto and videos, yet he never got around to mentioning that the killer was a transgender individual. Also, he detailed many of the things written on the weapons used, including saying President Trump’s name appeared on a gun. He tried to suggest the shooter was MAGA, but chose to eliminate the detail that what was written was “Kill Donald Trump”.
Later in the day, Mary Bruce editorialized in what was disguised as a news report, suggesting Donald Trump was at least partially to blame for being lax on gun restrictions. She says this as the president was engaged in fighting crime in D.C., especially lowering the murder rate instantly. Also, this is the same Mary Bruce who, along with the bulk of the news outlets, had been critical of Trump fighting crime directly.
Jon Karl was very upset over the John Bolton raid over classified documents, but had been perfectly content when Trump endured his own raid over the exact same thing.
The network joined in on the condemnation of Trump for not granting Kamala an extended Secret Service detail.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
Help us continue to expose their left-wing bias by reading news you can trust. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member