We begin today’s roundup with Eugene Robinson at The Washington Post and his analysis of Donald Trump’s campaign strategy:
I predict this will be a summer of nonstop, shameless propaganda from Trump and his minions. It will be clumsy, ridiculous and pathetic — but don’t ignore it. Call it out. Laugh at it. Recognize it for what it is: a sign not of strength but of fear. [...]
As the congressional investigations gradually pry loose financial information that Trump has done everything in his power to keep secret, as pain from the tariffs increases, as Trump finds himself having to work with Pelosi whether he wants to or not, and as Trump worries more and more about his reelection prospects, the propaganda machine — using its megaphone, Fox News — will crank up the volume.
Asawin Suebsaeng at The Daily Beast describes how Trump is leaning is to another propaganda network beyond Fox:
The overt flattery seems to be paying off. Fox News is still the president’s favorite media behemoth. But OAN’s team has been catching his eye. This year, Trump has tuned in more often than ever to OAN, two sources close to him say. There’s been a conspicuous uptick in his public promotion of OAN’s segments, including on his personal Twitter account. And, it appears, he’s even pitching the network to those roaming the halls at Mar-a-Lago.
Others outside the network have noticed this trend. According to a source familiar with the matter, over the last six months OAN has seen a clear rise in the number of groups strategically pitching stories to the channel in the hope of catching the president's attention. It’s similar to the way that activists and conservatives have often used their airtime on Fox News to get their causes in front of the cable news-obsessed president.