President Trump is used to getting bashed and held to double standards by the legacy media, but now he's getting heat from more friendly quarters. The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and Fox News have all recently featured editorials and commentary criticizing Trump's tariffs. The Journal, in particular, published three editorials last week alone blasting various aspects of the tariffs.
It is somewhat notable that all of the aforementioned outlets are owned by Rupert Murdoch, whose liberal family members have been accused of trying to take over his company. Nevertheless, this type of coverage from the Wall Street Journal is nothing new to media analysts. "This is not really a surprise, I think, to people who are familiar with the Wall Street Journal's brand of conservatism," says Bill D'Agostino with the Media Research Center. "Anything that restricts global trade I think is pretty much a non-starter for outlets like the Wall Street Journal."
D'Agostino notes that there are still old guard Republican never-Trumpers at many right-leaning media outlets and organizations. "I wouldn't call the Wall Street Journal editorial board never-Trump, but it's a lot more Reaganite, a lot more say 80s and 90s Republicanism," he tells KTRH. "And because of that, I wouldn't really anticipate that they would support tariffs in any meaningful way."
That means while Trump will continue to get it from the left-leaning media, he'll need to keep a wary eye on his right flank too. "I think (Trump's) economic populism or protectionism, and his more dovish foreign policy are going to be the biggest sticking points with some corporate, right-wing media," says D'Agostino.
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