When Trump goes too far, many of them feign ignorance. This is particularly true of Speaker Mike Johnson, who almost always pleads ignorance when confronted by the press about Trump’s misdeeds or the consequences of things Trump has done. Trump is literally the alpha and omega of Republican thought: The party platform in 2020 and 2024 boiled down to “whatever Trump thinks it should be at this instant.”

The media is culpable, as well. Once upon a time, far-right-wing media was limited to A.M. talk radio, Fox News, and Breitbart. Today, there is an entire ecosphere of insanity that’s only getting worse. Pseudo-intellectuals like Ben Shapiro are fading, and Nazi-brained nutjobs like Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens are ascendant. The MAGA population that started out uninformed is now living in a separate reality that has nothing to do with our own. This reality is crafted by Trump, confirmed by Republicans, and further amplified by the media.

Previously, traditional media outlets could be counted on to at least pretend to be centrist. They are now under assault, or already institutionally captured by Trump’s billionaire associates. Viktor Orbán advised Republicans to “get their own media,” and they have done so. Larry Ellison’s CBS News is being run into the ground by Bari Weiss. The Jeff Bezos–owned Washington Post has eaten itself alive and is now primarily an editorial vehicle singing the praises of the billionaire class. The New York Times has written a slew of concern-trolling hit pieces on transgender people, without disclosing the beliefs of hate groups it cites, and is sanewashing the administration.