The last gasp of legacy media?

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This week, alleged comedian Stephen Colbert had CNN's Kaitlan Collins to talk about the 2024 presidential election. Halfway through the interview, Colbert began asking Collins a question, in all sincerity: “I know you're objectives (at CNN), just report the news as it is.” Colbert presumably hoped his audience, all Kamala Harris fans, since Colbert is the most left-leaning host on late-night television, would nod.

Instead, they laughed.

They laughed because everyone in America knows, at this point, that the media has become a shorthand for the Democratic Party. This process was underway decades ago, but it accelerated dramatically under Barack Obama. Obama's candidacy was not treated like a normal candidacy in 2008; relevant stories ranging from his association with America-hating radical anti-Semite Jeremiah Wright to his corrupt connections in Chicago politics were quickly swept under the rug, deemed irrelevant in the search for Obama from the White House. The media became cheerleaders.

And they haven't stopped.

They spent four long years treating Donald Trump not only as an outcast, but as a traitor to the country. Every tweet from Trump was treated as a declaration of war on the American people; each of Trump's policies was met with the kind of horror normally reserved for nuclear war. Meanwhile, non-legacy media were considered disinformation and disinformation, threats to the republic itself. The social media that deigned to allow the distribution of these alternative media were themselves singled out as permanent dangers to democracy.

Then Joe Biden was elected. For the next three and a half years, the media did their best to treat his policies as benevolent and intelligent, even as inflation rose to four-decade highs and the Middle East burst into flames . They treated his obvious senility not as a matter of controversy, but as established fact: it was a fact, they said, that he was fine. Sure, it might be old, but it was all there.

Then Joe Biden blew it all up. Insisting on his own durability and intellectual command, believing his own press clippings, presumably, Biden engaged in a debate with Donald Trump. He proceeded to crash on national television.

And for about three weeks, the media did their job. They asked questions. They lobbied Democratic lawmakers and White House pundits.

And Joe Biden stepped aside.

Then, quick as lightning, the legacy media reverted to their Obama-era identity: as water carriers for Kamala Harris. The same candidate they had once considered incompetent and awkward, the same vice president they had once considered irrelevant and unpleasant, was now a goddess of political oratory. His inheritance of the Democratic nomination meant a new round of inherited media prostration before the newly crowned heir.

And the heir must not be questioned. Not about his lies. Not about his administration's policies. It's not about his kaleidoscopically shifting positions or his horribly dishonest choice for the vice presidency.

We're 25 days away from Kamala Harris' nomination. She has not answered a single opposition question. He hasn't sat for a single interview, even with allies. He hasn't even held a serious press conference.

And the media rejoice.

this this is why colbert's audience mocks cnn. Because they know the truth, like everyone else: that the legacy media is a propaganda outlet on behalf of the Democratic Party. That they act as praetorian guard for Kamala Harris. That they deserve less than zero respect for their pseudo-journalism.

They may be able to maintain the current cone of silence around Harris. They might be able to propel her into the White House on vibes alone. But sooner or later, the American people will wake up to the legacy media and realize that it belongs on the ash heap of history.

Ben Shapiro's new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is now available. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author. To learn more about Ben Shapiro and to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and artists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Ben Shapiro, 36, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show” and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps, The Right Side of History, and Bullies.

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