Tuesday, December 17, 2024

CHILLED

 


Chilled

Rick Wilson

Dec 17

 

No, I’m not talking about the massive Christmas cold front about to plunge the East Coast into the proverbial depths of winter.

I’m speaking, of course, about ABC’s capitulation to one of Trump’s endless chain of nuisance lawsuits against his critics and against people who report on him. Given my recent experiences with the Mike Flynn Lawfare Machine, even I could tell you that capitulation is never the answer.

I am once again compelled to remind my fellow Americans that the majority — a narrow, non-mandatey majority, but an Electoral College majority nonetheless — support a man who has been adjudicated to be a sexual assaulter.

And yet, ABC bent the knee.

First, a caveat: ABC remains a place where exceptional journalists do excellent reporting, but this was a corporate decision made way above the editorial level. Large corporate conglomerates are—or perceive themselves to be—uniquely vulnerable to the kind of big-government authoritarian statism and kleptocracy Trump has promised.

Don’t attack the journalists or editors at ABC over this. It was way over their pay grade, and I’m sure they’re as deeply disappointed in this decision as you are.

 

ABC did this for the same reasons Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook whipped out a million-dollar check for Trump’s inaugural committee. They did it for the same reasons everyone else in corporate America seems to be bending the knee to Trump: premature capitulation. They did it for the same reason Tim Cook went to Mar-A-Lago to, as some speculate, bend the knee to avoid tariffs on Apple products.

It’s the wrong reason. They think bowing down, paying the baksheesh, and dropping their defenses will make Trump eat them last. It’s the same fallacy my grandmother called “Fried chicken and the alligator.” You can sit on the dock throwing fried chicken bones to the alligator, but eventually, when you run out, he’s coming up on the dock to eat you next.

Tell me you can’t easily imagine this conversation: “You gave me a million, Zuck, sure, thanks. The price went up. Now, I need $100 million invested in Truth Social, and Facebook needs to lease office space in the Trump Silicon Valley Tower you’re going to help me build.”

It’s easy to excuse as merely transactional, but extortionists aren’t transactional. They use the threat of force or exposure to pain or humiliation.


The ABC News settlement with Donald Trump in his defamation lawsuit isn’t just a legal headline—it’s a canary in the coal mine for the future of journalism, political power, and press freedom in America. If you think this was just a check written to shut up the world’s loudest complainer, think again. The implications here are deeper, uglier, and more dangerous than they first appear. Let’s break it down.

Chilling Effect on Journalism:

First, let’s not sugarcoat it—this is a win for Trump, and it’s a warning shot to newsrooms everywhere. Trump’s obsession with weaponizing the courts to silence the press just got a fresh dose of encouragement. Every editor, every journalist, and every media executive now has to wonder: is the truth worth the price of a defamation suit, no matter how spurious? And for too many, the answer might soon be “no.”

Trump’s modus operandi has always been to bully, intimidate, and drag his enemies into the filth, and this settlement will embolden him to keep the pressure on.

Worse, it sends a message to every other wannabe authoritarian with a grudge against bad press: sue first, suppress second, and count the wins later. Journalists don’t just face the prospect of legal fights—they face the creeping shadow of self-censorship. If reporters start pulling punches to avoid the courtroom, the First Amendment doesn’t just take a hit; it starts to bleed out.

 

The Media-Politics Power Struggle

Let’s call this settlement what it is: a capitulation. ABC didn’t win, they tapped out.

Whether it was to avoid legal costs or because they feared Trump’s wrath, they blinked. And Trump? He’s strutting around like a boxer who just knocked out the champ.

When media organizations behave like deer in the headlights instead of watchdogs for democracy, it’s bad for journalism and a gift to politicians who see the free press as an obstacle to crush, not an institution to respect.

Don’t be naive.

This will change how political figures are covered, especially those with power and a litigious streak. Trump has now proven that dragging newsrooms through court is an effective strategy. What happens when smaller outlets, without the war chests of networks like ABC, find themselves in the crosshairs? Do they keep reporting the hard truth, or do they fold like a cheap suit to save their own necks?


You Want To Lose More Public Trust? This Is How.


Of course, Trump’s base is already doing their victory laps. To them, this is proof positive that the “fake news” media is finally being held accountable. But this settlement is deeply disappointing for the rest of the country—the part that still expects journalists to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire.

ABC looks weak, or worse, it looks scared. This erodes public trust in ways that are hard to repair.

The narrative that “the media” is corrupt, cowardly, or simply unwilling to stand up to people like Trump is demonstrably worse than the tired “liberal press” epithet.

That’s a big problem because, in a healthy democracy, the press exists to challenge power—not to cut checks to it. ABC might have made what its ownership group sees as a pragmatic business decision, but pragmatism in the face of authoritarianism doesn’t inspire trust, and it sure as hell doesn’t protect the truth.


The Long-Term Threat for Press Freedom


Let’s not lose sight of the long game. Trump may be addicted to the media, but in his role as a candidate, and most certainly in the eyes of his movement, he has always treated the press like an enemy—“the enemy of the people,” in his words. He wants a media that is docile, deferential, and obedient. A press that’s too afraid to ask the tough questions or call out the lies. This settlement inches us closer to that dangerous reality.

Legal experts are sounding the alarm, and they’re right to.

When politicians realize they can use defamation suits as tools of intimidation, the press doesn’t just lose its teeth—it starts losing its voice. And when the media gets quieter, the lies get louder. A free press is the lifeblood of democracy, but it only stays free when it’s willing to fight for its freedom. Capitulation isn’t just bad optics; it’s terrible for the country.

ABC’s settlement with Trump wasn’t just a one-off legal deal—it’s a seismic moment that will ripple through newsrooms, courtrooms, and campaigns for years to come. The implications touch everything: press freedom, public trust, and the balance of power between journalists and politicians. Trump got what he wanted—a win, a warning, and a chilling effect that’ll keep reporters looking over their shoulders.

The question is whether the press learns the wrong or right lesson.

The wrong lesson is to pull back, to play it safe, and to treat figures like Trump with kid gloves. The right lesson? That when the powerful come swinging, the truth is worth fighting for.

Because if the press doesn’t stand its ground now, it might not get another chance.

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