The Trump Presidency Is Going Great

The Brendan Carr–run FCC has decided that if you can’t win the argument, you can always threaten the broadcast license. After Donald and Melania Trump got mad at ABC, the agency yanked eight ABC stations into an “extremely unusual” early license renewal process, because nothing says “small government” like using federal power to punish a late-night host.

A bipartisan lineup of former FCC heavyweights — Reagan’s Mark Fowler, George HW Bush’s Alfred Sikes, Obama’s Tom Wheeler, and assorted top staff — filed a blistering warning that this stunt is “unprecedented” and a “grave violation” of both the Communications Act and the Constitution. Translation: this isn’t edgy deregulation; it’s the government putting a gun on the table and pointing it at the press. They note that the petitions from the Media Research Center and the Center for American Rights demand the FCC police “bias” and editorial choices, which is a polite legal way of saying: state-run media, but make it American.

The ex-officials spell it out: Carr and the Trump administration are running a “sustained campaign” of legal threats against outlets that air speech Trump dislikes, sending a “chilling message” to every broadcaster in the country — air criticism and we’ll see how much you like license limbo. ABC’s stations now get to sit in regulatory purgatory with no clear timeline, watching a supposedly independent agency test-drive the idea that the First Amendment is optional if the president’s feelings are hurt.

Julie Masino is stepping down as CEO of Cracker Barrel, nearly a year after discovering the hard way that the most dangerous role in American business is Chief Logo Officer Under Trumpism. The company tried to modernize by quietly retiring "Uncle Herschel," the overalls-wearing man leaning against a barrel, and was immediately accused of being both "woke" and "sterile and soulless"—a fun two-for-one special in reactionary branding discourse.

Donald Trump, who apparently has nothing more pressing to do than rage-scroll restaurant logos, jumped in to demand on social media: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” and insisted the company "admit a mistake." The corporation, bravely standing up for its creative vision, instantly folded and reverted to the old logo, because nothing says corporate independence like obeying a 79-year-old man’s all-caps tantrum about a drawing.

Masino later told Glenn Beck she felt "fired by America," which is one way to describe being publicly flogged because you offended the nation’s most powerful nostalgia cult. Meanwhile, the article casually notes Cracker Barrel’s actual history of discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers and Black customers, reminding everyone that the real scandal in conservative America isn’t decades of racist and homophobic practices—it’s what happens to the cartoon on the sign.

As new CEO David Deno gushes about Cracker Barrel’s “timeless appeal” and “deep connection with guests across generations,” the political boycotts roll on: Democrats and Republicans alike are now shopping based on vibes and vendettas, while Trump and his imitators keep turning basic corporate decisions into loyalty tests. The message to CEOs is clear: you can systematically discriminate and settle for millions, but if you touch the culture-war comfort food mascot, that’s when the pitchforks come out.

Andrew and Tristan Tate — the misogynist influencers turned alleged rapist–sex trafficker duo — didn’t just wander into America. They were effectively airlifted in, after some suspiciously well-timed “diplomatic moves” from the Trump administration helped them leave Romania, where they were under house arrest on serious charges, and resettle in the U.S. Their lawyer all but winked into the camera: “Do the math. These guys are on the plane.” Now they’ve been re-arrested in Miami and face extradition to the UK, but not before enjoying a comfy stint as imported culture-war mascots for MAGA.

On the right, the Tates aren’t an aberration; they’re the user manual. Trump’s “grab ’em by the pussy” presidency normalized a politics where male supremacy is the glue holding together Christian theocrats, Silicon Valley eugenics bros, podcast warlords, and every guy whose personality is just three hours of YouTube rage. Tate’s alleged real-world violence simply matches the rhetoric: domination of women as entertainment, business model, and political identity.

The punchline: Democrats are mostly treating this as a scheduling conflict rather than a political gift. Instead of hanging Trump with his own pet predators and making the Tate saga Exhibit A in how MAGA’s hatred of women bleeds into hatred of democracy, party strategists are busy panic-fundraising $20m for “Speaking with American Men” and recruiting “manly man” candidates to reassure fragile dudes that feminism won’t steal their truck. The result is a stunning bipartisan consensus: male supremacy is a serious, structural problem … that no one in power actually wants to confront.