Trump’s future in right-wing media still bright after riots
WASHINGTON — Facebook and Twitter banned him. Cabinet officers have abandoned him. And members of Congress want to impeach him again.
But even as Silicon Valley and Washington drew the line with President Donald Trump after he encouraged supporters to descend on the U.S. Capitol last week — leading to a deadly clash — his potential future in conservative media looks largely unharmed.
“Donald Trump is a money-making commodity in media,” said Sam Nunberg, a former campaign adviser. “There will always be a space for him. He will always have a tremendous audience. Even people who hate him will watch him.”
Other social media companies also are taking steps against Trump, blocking his favorite avenues to reach supporters. But with a love for the limelight, he is expected to pursue media opportunities of some kind after he leaves office, according to many observers, whether it’s a book deal, a lucrative role at a news channel or his own media venture.
Hicks Equity Partners, a private equity company, has reportedly tried to raise money to create a right-leaning channel to compete with Fox Corp.’s Fox News, the most-watched cable news channel.
It’s unclear whether the company, led by Trump supporter Thomas Hicks, is still pursuing the idea or whether Trump would be welcome on the channel. A spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
What’s less certain is how much play Trump will continue to get in the mainstream media. For years, he helped outlets like Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and The New York Times boost their audiences and they’re unlikely to ignore him in the future.
While some major media executives denounced the attacks on the Capitol, they stopped short of blaming Trump directly for sparking them.
Bob Chapek, chief executive officer of ABC owner Walt Disney Co., called the violence “an egregious and inexcusable assault on America’s most revered institution and our democracy.”
John Stankey, CEO of CNN parent AT&T Inc., said the violence “makes clear that elected officials’ perpetuation of the fiction of a fraudulent 2020 presidential election is not only reprehensible but also a danger to our democracy.”
But for media conglomerates whose prosperity hinges on attracting audiences in large numbers, it can be hard to cut off purveyors of misinformation.
AT&T, for instance, owns the satellite-TV provider DirecTV, the largest distributor of the right-wing One America News Network. The pro-Trump channel has raised doubts about the election results and reported last week, without evidence, that “far-left instigators” infiltrated the protests at the Capitol.
MSNBC owner Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc., the two largest U.S. cable operators, carry Newsmax, where host Greg Kelly challenged the election results and told viewers last week that Trump supporters weren’t behind the attacks.
On Thursday, Simon & Schuster moved to distance itself from one backer of election fraud claims. The publisher, which is being bought by Bertelsmann SE, canceled plans to publish a book by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, citing his efforts to overturn the election and the ensuing violence at the Capitol.
But there’s a difference between a book by a lesser-known senator and one by Trump, Nunberg said.
“Simon & Schuster would love to publish a Donald Trump book,” he said. “That book will sell more than Obama’s. And it wouldn’t be 700 pages.”