Our Risible Year: News Nonsense, Media Mirth, and Political Peculiarities From the First Half of 2025

Before tearing off the last page of the calendar, there is the inevitable and unenviable task of reminiscing over the year that was. Let’s be honest: Most of us were assured things would be a bit squirrelly, and while 2025 certainly delivered, in many ways it exceeded those expectations. This was not always a good thing. 

The reelection of Donald Trump to the White House was promised to make at least half of the country, and most of the media, behave in the imbalanced fashion of a bipolar agoraphobic who foregoes their medication. On top of that, our culture continued to meander in unpredictable manners, social media continued to ferment into a fetid swamp, and our general approach to people in public became a wary affair, as we waited for anyone to spin out of control at the slightest prompting.

So, for fun, let us look back through the first six months and recall those newsworthy distractions, the political curiosities, and the meandering media offerings. (The second half of the year shall follow.) We will examine the items that delivered important events, trenchant mockery, and distractions from the gravely serious events we were supposed to care about deeply and cling to the press for continued outrage. Let’s recall some of the mayhem.

     JANUARY

• With President Biden in his waning days in office, he decided to go on a pardon spree, giving everyone imaginable - from his administration, Dr. Fauci, his family, and any store clerk who cannot properly add up change on a receipt – a free pass. This move was explained by saying nobody did anything wrong. It was revealed that most of these were issued by use of the Autope. President Trump showed how unacceptable this was by appointing a Pardon Czar and commuting sentences of reality stars.  
• Donald Trump’s inauguration brought on all of the expected distemper in the press, as his first days in office saw the media complaining about problems he (supposedly) caused that were in place before he was in office. They also declared that Elon Musk was the true leader in the White House, apparently having performed a successful coup to unseat Vladimir Putin.
• There was a tragic mid-air collision in D.C. as a military helicopter ran into a landing commercial jetliner. Setting the stage for how the year of reporting would go, the Trump administration was blamed for the crash (nine days after Trump retook office), citing diminished air traffic controller positions, which had been vacant during the Biden administration.
• Canada’s Justin Trudeau announced he was stepping down, and we presume this sent shockwaves through the country, but this being Canada, nobody was really sure. 
• Trudeau's departure seemed to inspire President Trump, who decided he would expand the American footprint, as he declared a desire to annex Canada, retake the Panama Canal, and, for good measure, acquire desolate Greenland. We also had the Gulf of Mexico renamed the Gulf of America, and everyone who never cared about this body of water became entirely outraged by the name change.
• CNN was found liable for maliciously defaming a Navy Veteran over its slanted coverage of his work to extricate people from the Afghanistan withdrawal. Tellingly, the network that had trumpeted Fox News as being guilty of delivering fake news when it settled its case years earlier had very little to comment on after a jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff.
• DOGE was ramped up and unleashed, causing great turmoil among the press and Democrats as they argued in favor of…keeping government waste in place. Their arguments in favor of LGBTπ operas in South America and paying for pottery classes in the Middle East were precious to behold.
• California had terrible wildfires in the Los Angeles region, and Gavin Newsom displayed his supreme leadership by showing his belief that water was not a crucial component for firefighters.
• During the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Senator Bernie Sanders put on a display with a baby’s onesie, and people are still unclear just what the hell he was babbling about. 
• Meta, the owner of Facebook, announced it was ending its use of fact checkers on the platform, and the press behaved as if this was the end of news as we know it. The year of journalists leaving outlets was kicked off by Jim Acosta being dismissed from CNN and Chuck Todd departing NBC News. Their absence was so stark that some people even noticed.

     FEBRUARY

• President Trump made a firm display of how he was the new sheriff in town when he suspended a White House press briefing and kicked out an insubordinate Volodymyr Zelensky. Many were aghast that Trump did not lie on the ground with his belly exposed, in Biden-like fashion.
• Another indicator of new leadership came when the AP was removed from the rotating White House press pool over the news syndicate's refusal to acknowledge the Gulf of America. 
• Long-held hostage Marc Fogel was released to great fanfare everywhere except in the press circles, who are opposed to reporting on any news that might put President Trump in a positive light.
• Government employees were loudly outraged when they received a message from Elon’s DOGE team asking them to describe their job duties. Some were so offended that they wrote 1,000-word-long editorials that detailed how they did not have time to respond to an email.
• The media were equally outraged that one of the DOGE employees went by the internet alias Big Balls, and they displayed their displeasure by repeatedly placing his name in their headlines.

This was actually on TV 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/wTJk88WGvF

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2025

• As government agencies went through layoffs and closures, several Democrat politicians postured for the cameras as they stormed offices where the closures took place. Laughably, they were being locked out and told they had no sway because they, too, are government employees. 
• The press was so intent on blaming airline accidents (which were occurring at a lower rate than the previous year) on the new Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that he was blamed when a Delta plane crashed upon landing – in Toronto, Canada. 
• Chris Kluwe was a media fixture for days when he was arrested at a city hall meeting and then went on to lecture about the dire nature of the president. People all the country over were moved to the same reaction: “Why do we care what a former NFL punter has to say?!
• Laid-off national park workers were upset because the one guy with the keys lost his job, and fears were that visitors would become locked in the bathrooms
• Federal park workers at Yosemite protested government firings by unfurling a massive transgender flag at the park. President Trump was so moved by this, he suspended government layoffs and rehired all furloughed employees (...as if…)
• President Trump became the first president to attend a Super Bowl. Brian Stelter declared how his appearance was bothersome and that Trump was an inescapable presence – and then he proceeded to send constant updates throughout the game concerning what the president was doing in his luxury suite. (Somebody tell Brian that the Philadelphia Eagles won the game.)

BRIAN STELTER FROM THE SUPER BOWL:
“It is disgusting that Trump is here! It is impossible to get away from Trump, he demands attention!”

ALSO BRIAN FROM THE S-B:
“I can see him! Here is my play-by-play on everything Trump is doing during the game. And halftime show!!” pic.twitter.com/mjmYkjs3Vu

— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) February 10, 2025

     MARCH

• There was much upheaval after Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic had been accidentally added to a Defense Department group chat on the messaging app Signal, about the military strike in Yemen. The press called for resignations and impeachments over this fumble, while never getting so outraged over the Afghanistan pullout disaster.
• President Trump gave his initial address to Congress, and the big takeaway was how he had delivered misinformation about money wasted on research studies of trans mice. This had to be followed up by schooling the media with facts that these studies were actually taking place. 
• The “takeover of The Kennedy Center" by the administration had many in the arts community railing about the moves to improve the crumbling location. Many performers rage-quit performances…and then blamed the president for being removed(?!). In one stirring moment, the dire nature of this predicament was revealed when a dance protest was held outside the venue.
• Attacks on Tesla dealerships and individual cars became widespread, as people upset with Elon Musk's efforts with DOGE punished those with zero connection to the decisions. That many were arrested for not understanding that the vehicles have numerous cameras to record their crime was a pleasant bonus.
• Disney finally released its abysmal production “Snow White," and it managed to perform even worse than the advanced bad press had predicted.
• Two astronauts who had been stuck on the International Space Station were returned to Earth after an Elon Musk rescue flight. The press could not allow this good news, as it was insisted they had not been stranded but were on a compulsory supernal overtime mission, or some such recalibration. 
• Hearings in Congress were held with the CEO of both NPR and PBS testifying to retain their government funding. That they made matters worse for both of their outlets was made very clear.
• JD Vance memes became quite the rage on social media, and the outbreak was largely due to the vice president himself embracing the digital mockery and adding more to the stream of comedy.

pic.twitter.com/rPloNGHLej

— JD Vance (@JDVance) March 8, 2025

     APRIL

• A group of elitist females went into the stratosphere for a couple of minutes and came back to Earth to declare what a landmark and historical event they had just participated in for the cameras. Women who were actual astronauts were not made available for a historical perspective. 
• As tariffs became all the rage for the media to get upset about, some reports scalded the president for placing the restrictions on various islands that were uninhabited. While the move was done to preemptively prevent countries that might try moving incorporations to these areas from ducking the imposition, the press tried mocking these “mistakes” by describing them as penguin tariffs. 
• Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested for the bizarre act of shielding an illegal alien and blocking ICE agents to facilitate his escape.
• CBS made a settlement offer with its lawsuit brought by President Trump over the Kamala Harris interview, and the staff of the newsroom became a gaggle of petulant whiners, suggesting that the end of democracy was nigh. 
• Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro had his home firebombed. It was a media sensation until it was learned that the assailant was a hyper-leftist pro-Palestine sympathizer. Then the story was no longer important.
• Pope Francis passed away. At the funeral, dozens of mourners were pictured in blue suits, but only President Trump was said to be showing his disrespect for choosing that hue.

HOAX: If you heard anything about the Pope's funeral from the drive-by media you heard that Trump thumbed his nose at the Vatican by wearing a blue and not a black suit. Everyone from the Prince of Wales to Joe Biden wore a blue suit - the only way I know this is because of 𝕏. pic.twitter.com/NbPRPOARGU

— @amuse (@amuse) April 27, 2025

• Yale Professor Jason Stanley was a media darling for announcing he was moving to Canada due to the Trump administration. This news was so shocking that some people actually noticed!
• The Netflix show Adolescence had many in the media proclaiming this to be a vital and trenchant release. Some went so far as to all but demand others watch the “documentary” ...which is actually a fictional drama, a detail that somehow eludes the scope of a journalist. 

     MAY

• The Jake Tapper-Alex Thompson book “Original Sin” was released. The amount of revisionist journalism that took place was beyond remarkable, as Tapper, in particular, was expecting to be lauded for reporting the truth about Joe Biden’s condition, after he participated in avoiding the facts about his condition. He even tried to criticize those who had attacked the pair of Wall Street Journal reporters who were covering Biden honestly, despite being among those who were critical of their reporting. 
• Controversy over a new Air Force One being gifted by the country of Qatar had many outraged about implied payola. Jonathan Karl claimed to break the story, though the Wall Street Journal previously reported that this plane was commissioned by another government agency, during the Biden administration, and likely will not be finished for Trump’s use.
• South Africa was a focus of controversy as movements attacking and even killing white farmers were exposed. For some reason, defenses were put up, including actual denials that the killing was taking place, only to have photo evidence of the commemorative markers of those murdered being shown.
• After years of promoting gay rights issues — including the infamous feud with Ron DeSantis over the Parental Rights in Education legislation called the “Don’t Say Gay Law” — the Disney Corporation has opened a theme park in Abu Dhabi, where homosexuality is criminalized.
• The Democrats decided the best way to fix their political fortunes was to spend $20 million on figuring out how to appeal to male voters.
• A shooter murdered two workers at the Israeli embassy while spouting pro-Palestine propaganda, but the New York Times and others were baffled over a motive.

The copy directly below their handiwork:
2/2 pic.twitter.com/EWyHxia3sb

— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) May 23, 2025

• In what was sure to have been thought of as a repudiation of the president, but became an embarrassing piece of partisanship, the Emmys awarded 60 Minutes an award for Best Editing regarding the Kamala Harris interview over which the network settled its court case.
• The defunding of public broadcasters went through, and it was said by less-than-cogent thinkers that the government no longer giving out free money was somehow a violation of the Constitution.  
• The Vatican selected its new Pope, and went with an American to lead the Catholic Church for the first time. Of course, the only way the press could cover this selection was in reference to how he would treat President Trump. 
• The Democrats thought they had an effective anti-marketing effort with TACO: “Trump Always Chickens Out.” This included trying to park a taco truck outside the GOP headquarters…but it had to be moved to a side street where the only patrons were Dem staffers sent over to get handouts, and it shut down an hour earlier than planned.

     JUNE

• The U.S. conducted a bombing mission against Iran’s nuclear program that was largely seen as massively successful, except by those in the press who have a deep animosity towards President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
• Anti-ICE riots broke out across Los Angeles. The press was so desperate to recast the violence during an approved uprising that they needed to resort to the “mostly peaceful” canard and insist the destruction was only in a tiny portion of the city. There was even the strained attempt to say it was not violent; it was just residents coming out to calmly watch the police cars being torched.
• There was a deification in the press for Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) as he attempted to storm the stage when Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was giving a presser. He was sainted as an oppressed minority, even as he was on video behaving like a rabid badger.
• With not enough upheaval taking place in the country, a wave of No Kings protests was staged. This was done to oppose the president, who had been democratically elected.
• And just to put a cherry on top of the idiotic sundae, at the Salt Lake City protest, a father of two was killed by someone assigned to work the protest as a “peacekeeper.”  
• Israel took out an Iranian news network when it had been broadcasting live on the air. 

Footage showing strikes moments ago by the Israeli Air Force on the studios and offices of the Iranian state-run broadcaster IRIB in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/V5sBiyEM6p

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 16, 2025

• The British rap act Bob Vylan spouted off aggressive anti-Israel commentary during a live performance and had its U.S. tour canceled for its credentials getting yanked. The BBC aired the concert, which meant it was technically in violation of that nation’s aggressive anti-hate speech laws.
• In Boulder, Colorado, a man firebombed a pro-Israel gathering. This did little to sway the media into condemning antisemitism aggressively, and later reports were even sympathetic to the fact that the man’s daughter was among those deported as a result of her father’s actions.
• The Florida Panthers became back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, which continued some impressive streaks. It was the sixth straight year a Florida team was in the finals, and it marked over three decades since a Canadian team won that country’s biggest trophy, in that country’s most passionate sport.

THE FLORIDA PANTHERS HAVE WON THE STANLEY CUP FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

WE ARE BACK TO BACK CHAMPIONS!!

MY HEART CANNOT HANDLE THIS @FlaPanthers#TimeToHunt
🌴🐆🏒 pic.twitter.com/ht5Qv9RVdG

— Adam (@AGBRSports) June 18, 2025

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 the promo code MERRY74 to get 74% off your membership.