Sen. John Kennedy Reflects on Media Bias and Political Climate

In the early months of 2017, I found myself grappling with my place in the U.S. Senate. It seemed like nearly everyone—Democrats, the media, and various think tanks—was directed at the newly elected president. The blame directed at him, well, it felt like they would have tossed his children to the wolves if they could.

I’ve been in politics for a while, but the level of hostility I witnessed was unprecedented, even compared to the rough-and-tumble of Louisiana politics. Rumors of Russian interference in the election morphed from whispers into a spectacle. The narrative shifted from mere allegations to active collusion. The media became fixated on this story, akin to an event that was sensationalized and repeated like a remote control stuck on one channel.

Every day brought fresh headlines, often based on anonymous sources. I’m an avid reader, and I took it all in, but skepticism was my default mode. My mother instilled in me a healthy dose of wariness—if she raised any fools, it was definitely not me. I didn’t need a PhD to see that these reports often missed the mark. Terms like Steele Dossier and Pee Tape? They felt like remnants of a bizarre fiction, yet in my initial days in the Senate, they were tossed around as if they were facts.

The Democrats have orchestrated a significant political deception, and it’s finally coming to light.

As time progressed, it became glaringly obvious that some of my Democratic colleagues had lost their bearings. Discussing Trump meant everything was tinged with madness. The media, already leaning left, veered even further away from objectivity, turning into shadows of their former selves. It was as if they’d tossed aside any semblance of fairness, and the bias that had been creeping in over the years suddenly exploded.

Young journalists, and some older ones too, began to see themselves as part of a resistance. They had little in common other than their disdain for Trump. Many seemed to forget that “resistance” typically refers to a small group of rebels. Watching the level of hostility directed at Trump and his supporters was astonishing—remarkably righteous and self-satisfied. At times, it made me want to escape from it all.

It’s time for the media to reassess and return to their previous integrity.

My experiences with media bias are not new. During my second Senate race, I faced a reporter who was ordered to ensure my opponent won. It was a blatant admission of bias, and it left me feeling sick. This decline in journalistic integrity has been ongoing, and the outright admission of bias was jarring.

Things worsened in Washington with the emergence of questionable evidence suggesting Trump colluded with Russia, leading many to believe the media swallowed it whole. Notably, the New York Times seemed shocked when confronted with Robert Mueller’s findings. Overwhelmingly, emotions took precedence over facts. Some journalists, influenced by their own biases, failed to acknowledge how their perspectives skewed reporting.

Media, often vital, has fallen into a troubling pattern.

It’s crucial to note that while media can serve a watchdog role, during the 2016 campaign and Trump’s early presidency, many journalists shifted from being objective reporters to attack dogs. They misrepresented stories and treated opinions as facts, pushing authenticity to the back burner. The Russian collusion narrative was just a stark example of this shift.

Some media members believe Trump poses a threat to democracy, leading them to justify any means to oppose him—even if it undermines democratic principles. Supporters of Trump, interestingly enough, often feel like they’re fighting against a system that they perceive doesn’t respect democracy either. And this disconnect breeds a distrust toward the media.

Were the media wrong all the time? Not necessarily. However, when a publication prioritizes opinion over fact or selectively presents information to advance a narrative, credibility falters. It becomes increasingly hard for the public to trust the truth. Just consider—how long did it take for the reality of Hunter Biden’s laptop to surface without being dismissed? Or the fact that President Biden struggles to finish a coherent thought? People noticed.