I keep seeing this sentiment pop up around leftist organizations and governing bodies. The idea is that they're going to take measures to protect themselves from Donald Trump, who takes office here in a matter of days.
For instance, you have California who is apparently "Trump-proofing" the state as one of its major cities is currently burning to the ground.
As Bob Hoge wrote last week, California's Democrats set about holding a special session, not to address the fires, but how they can best keep their policies and ideals, like protecting illegal immigrants, safe while Trump is in charge of the federal government.
GOP Assemblyman Bill Essayli of California said it well in a post on X:
"For everyone saying this is not a time for blame, this is exactly the moment that the people who have been responsible for the mismanagement of California's fire policies be held accountable. Our governor has been obsessed with holding a special session to "Trump-proof" CA, when he should be focused on FIRE-PROOFING our communities."
How do you hyper-focus on something like that in good conscience?
I'll get to that.
An article popped up at The Hollywood Reporter where a similar sentiment was being displayed. According to THR, MSNBC is also doing some "Trump-proofing."
MSNBC had already been in the news for weeks before Jones’ exit. The channel saw its ratings decline after Trump won the 2024 election (though executives there are quick to note that the ratings appear to have begun to rebound over the last couple weeks or so). And an announcement that Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago bothered some viewers. Earlier in the year, the brief hiring and then firing of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel sparked an on-air revolt from MSNBC talent, including Maddow.
The Trump-proofing appears to mean Rachel Maddow is going to be featured more:
Still, Jones’ departure and Kutler’s promotion come at a critical moment for MSNBC. Not only is the channel set to split from NBC News and forge a path as part of Lazarus’ SpinCo, but it is preparing to shake up its lineup for the early months of the Trump administration, what Jones is calling “a consequential next chapter in American politics.”
Maddow will return to hosting the 9 p.m. hour Monday-Friday, with Alex Wagner, who had been hosting the hour most nights, set to travel the country to report “on the impacts of Trump’s early policies and promises on the electorate.”
Notice the similarities?
Both MSNBC and California are in a bad way. There are clearly things they need to do in order to reclaim some semblance of success and stability... yet, they're so hyper-focused on Trump that they're willing to let the both figurative and literal fires consume continue to destroy them.
This obsession with Trump boils down to ego, and how much these people can be seen resisting him. These are massive virtue signals that aren't signaling what they think they are. This is a leftover sentiment from 2016 that I think few people but the most anti-Trump radicals have anymore.
To be fair, both MSNBC and California are filled with people who actually have that radical anti-Trump mentality, but this is a dwindling pool, and as both entities continue to make the same mistakes over and over again, it's hard to believe that this pool will be large enough to support their anti-Trump obsession.
Remember, Trump won the popular vote and all seven swing states because the left had told itself that it was right and good to go after people who didn't think like them, and they bubbled themselves so badly that they poisoned their own minds. When the economy started to fail and the border became a significant issue, they continued to buckle down on their positions because not doing so would mean people like Trump were right all along.
And to them, that's more horrifying than societal collapse. It's better to rule over ashes than give up power, at least that's the sentiment they're giving off.
Californian voters are going to have to learn a hard lesson and hopefully begin voting out these people who are leaving them vulnerable to horrible circumstances, but sadly, I don't even know if the fires will be sufficient. Time will tell.
But as for MSNBC, I'm not too sure of its survival in the long-term. At least not as it is. It's pivoted heavily to podcasts, which might actually help it, but its status as an information source is broken in the age of the free-speech internet. It's refusal to become more centrist is proof few people learned any lessons, and not because they couldn't, but because they refused to.
Overall, this is proof that too many on the left are refusing to let go of the old ways and I have a feeling many will suffer as a result.
