Opinion | Defensive caution can’t compete with right-wing propaganda

Is it so hard for journalists to clearly state that the Trump administration is lying?

Posted Monday, January 26, 2026 11:37 am

Margaret Sullivan | American Crisis

There’s a line from a Yeats poem that keeps going through my head.

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

I thought about it all weekend when I examined the media coverage of the latest horror in Minneapolis, the shocking killing by federal agents of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti.

The right-wing media— led by Fox News, as always — was immediately spilling out its propaganda with, yes, passionate intensity. The reality-based press proceeded with an overabundance of caution and, at times, the willingness to hand a megaphone to liars.

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Opinion | Defensive caution can’t compete with right-wing propaganda

Is it so hard for journalists to clearly state that the Trump administration is lying?

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