President Donald Trump has his enemies list, especially in the media. He signed the bill to claw back already approved federal funding for NPR and PBS, citing their “liberal bias” and celebrated the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “His talent was even less than his ratings.”
Trump also publicly sparred with radio personality Charlamagne the God this week, calling him a “racist sleazeball” after his recent appearance on My View with Lara Trump, where he criticized the policies of the Trump administration.
Now Gayle King has entered the chat. Donald Trump has gone on the offensive despite no previously publicly known beef between the two, responding to a piece in the New York Post that says King’s career at CBS is “murky” due to “low ratings.”
“Gayle King’s career is over,” Trump posted on Truth Social, including a link to the article. “She should have stayed with her belief in TRUMP. She never had the courage to do so. No talent, no ratings, no strength!!”
King responded Tuesday when she was caught leaving the CBS studio, and refused to roll in the mud with Trump.
“I’m sorry he feels that way,” she told TMZ.
The Post article claims that King’s show, CBS This Morning, which features anchors Tony Dokoupil, Vladimir Duthiers, and former NFL star Nate Burleson, is “too woke” and that ratings are down. The article says that despite CBS executives pushing for content to appeal to “middle America,” the show’s executive producer, Shawna Thomas, who is Black, is resisting those efforts. Thomas is one of the only Black female executive producers in network television. The Post article says that the current lineup of anchors is also alienating middle America viewers, as they are predominantly people of color.
(The New York Post is owned by News Corp., which Rupert Murdoch owns. The Murdoch family also has a controlling interest in Fox News).
Paramount, the parent company of CBS, is merging with Skydance, a deal that will be finalized on Aug. 7. To get federal approval for the merger, Paramount pledged to eliminate its DEI policies and monitor any perceived bias at CBS News.
Media insiders believe that Trump leaned on Paramount to fire Colbert, a consistent Trump critic. Both the network and Trump said it was due to low ratings. The show was doing well, although its production costs were likely high given its 200-person staff amid declining ratings overall for late-night TV. In another Truth Social post, Trump vowed that Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, the two last men standing in late-night network TV, would be next.
CBS This Morning has long been the lowest-rated of the three network morning shows. Good Morning America and Today are #1 and #2 in the ratings, and GMA has led the others for the last 13 years. The show has a diverse team that includes Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts. Today hosts include longtime weatherman Al Roker and anchor Shenielle Jones.
See sical media’s reaction at King becoming Trump’s latest target below.
