On Dec 11, 2024, it was reported that the post-election audiences for the leading liberal media, MSNBC and CNN, continued to drop: 46% and 33%, respectively. Some of MSNBC’s biggest stars, including Rachel Maddow, have been asked to take pay cuts as revenues and profits come under pressure. The dozens of Kamala Harris’s supporters, among actors, pop music figures, and TV host personalities, continue to announce their departures from the Trumpian U.S. to another country. It seems like one is at an airport where we hear departure announcements every few minutes. But no one seems to be paying any attention or shedding tears. Cooptation by the Democrats, their liberal media, and stars is a key in understanding the U.S. political system.
Co-optation: The Lesser of Two Evils Forever Delays New Forms of Struggle
In the realm of comparative democracy and elections, the chapter “Democracy in the U.S.” in Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion—this author’s second book, published in 2013—highlights an approach to the U.S. that, “rejects a superficial, blanket condemnation in favour of trying to discover how the political system actually works” (page xiv). In other words, the goal was to uncover the mechanisms that allow the current system to persist despite widespread opposition or cynicism.
Accordingly, the study identifies two of the most significant factors contributing to the system’s perpetuation: co-optation and racism. We will examine the concept of co-optation, as outlined in the volume mentioned above:
“… the recuperation of increasingly anti-status quo opposition is ground through the machinations of competitive two-party U.S. democracy. This is the co-optation instrument par excellence stemming from the U.S.-centric bias. Through this process, the system recovers itself. (page 28)
… Refusing to recognize how the U.S.-type of democracy actually works can lead to dangerous situations. For example, entire sectors of the population (trade unionists, some African-American and Latino activists, social activists, progressive academics and intellectuals, and people calling themselves liberals or leftists) were extremely dubious about the political system. However, many were ensnared into believing that Obama really represents change. This happened largely in the 2008 elections, resulting in Obama’s first mandate and repeated itself to a certain measure for the 2012 elections. The heart of the problem is the relentless and intrusive illusion that the competitive two-party system and its corollary, the “lesser of two evils,” can actually work in favour of the majority at any given time. (page 29)
… first, the two-party system and, second, the ‘lesser of two evils’ theory (choosing one status quo party over the other). These presumptions combined constitute the lifeline of maintaining the status quo and averting a crisis in the U.S. political system because these concepts and related actions block people from going beyond the two-party system. These visions forever delay new forms of struggle and political action with the goal of eventually attaining political power, no matter how difficult it appears.” (page 35)
Liberal Media and Personalities: How the Mighty Have Fallen
Perhaps the most scandalous example of co-optation since Obama’s rise to power has been largely overlooked—it unfolded during the lead-up to the 2024 election cycle. This involved the liberal networks CNN and MSNBC and their handling of the Palestine issue. In the first months following October 7, 2023, CNN was frequently on the ground in Palestine, unabashedly supporting the “justified” U.S.-Israeli aggression. This “reporting” prominently featured CNN’s Three Musketeers of white supremacist Zionism: Wolf Blitzer, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.
However, as global public opinion and significant portions of U.S. sentiment began to turn against the genocide, the liberal media adjusted their framing. Complying with the Biden administration’s and Zionist hawk Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s gaslighting efforts, which feigned “differences” between the U.S. and Israel, CNN redirected the growing outrage against the genocide. They shifted the focus toward opposition to Netanyahu’s persona, thus masking the leading role of the U.S. and sugar-coating its responsibility in the atrocities.
Despite this attempt at narrative control, a significant portion of the electorate refused to be deceived. Many punished the Democrats at the ballot box, for example, by abstaining from or voting for third-party candidates, simultaneously rebuking the liberal media for their duplicity.
Not far behind in the 2024 hit parade of co-optation coups were the Democrats and their liberal media, who assembled a cast of thousands to bolster their narrative. This effort was accompanied by a striking makeover through Time magazine’s front cover featuring Kamala Harris. Though likely unintentional, its introductory title was astonishingly accurate: “The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris.” Almost overnight, a widely despised Democratic Party, its leader, Biden, and an unknown, obviously vacuous figure, Kamala Harris, were transformed into stars in a makeover reminiscent of the dramatic rebranding of the Democratic Party under Obama. A host of celebrities rushed to endorse Harris, clutching their pearls in fear of Trump: Tom Hanks, Richard Gere, Lady Gaga, Barbra Streisand, Robert De Niro, Cardi B, Taylor Swift, Bono, Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey, Beyoncé, Harrison Ford, George Clooney, John Legend, Morgan Freeman and others.
Just three days before the election, Saturday Night Live (SN) featured Kamala Harris in the studio, a segment that CNN played as a continuous loop all day Sunday and into Monday. Additionally, Whoopi Goldberg interviewed Harris, and Taylor Swift’s support had been carefully orchestrated well before the election.
No Western country places as much importance on political satire TV shows as the United States, where these programs shape the Democratic Party’s liberal media narrative for mass consumption. Americans might overlook this phenomenon, as the U.S. population has grown accustomed to it. However, viewed from the outside, it stands out like a sore thumb. Satirists work tirelessly to reinforce the political duopoly by mocking it, all while subtly—and at times blatantly—promoting the Democrats, primarily through their relentless disdain for Trump.
On October 31, Jennifer Lopez headlined a Harris campaign rally as the featured speaker. In the final days leading up to the election, both Barack and Michelle Obama appeared at a separate rally supporting Harris. During the event, Barack Obama emphatically declared: “Nobody says it better than Michelle. Watch this—and then make sure you’re ready to vote tomorrow.”
Well, with this line-up, what could go wrong? Two things. First, the Democratic Party and liberal media underestimated the political awareness of the U.S. public. Did they not consider that when Jennifer Lopez spoke “as a mother,” many young people might have thought of the mothers and their children and families in Gaza and occupied Palestine—suffering under the Biden/Harris administration’s full support, with lives lost, families shattered, and entire communities enduring starvation, injury, and imprisonment at the hands of U.S.-backed Israel?
Second, did Democrat/liberal media not anticipate that CNN and MSNBC's open bias—masquerading as “journalism”—in favor of the Democrats and against Palestine would be too much for some to overlook? And did they fail to consider that Trump, ever shrewd, would almost daily seize on the “fake news” narrative? Given the obvious media favoritism toward Harris and the clear disdain for Trump, this catchphrase likely resonated with many potential voters.
Thus, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. One should not underestimate the significance of the collapse of the stars and the liberal media; it’s a crushing setback. Right after the election, on November 13, it was reported that news ratings for MSNBC plummeted by 54%, while CNN saw a 36% drop. Meanwhile, pro-Trump Fox News experienced a 21% increase in viewership. In the wake of this, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reportedly had her salary cut by $5 million, despite being dubbed “ratings Viagra,” as parent company Comcast faced a “difficult time” and prepared for massive layoffs at CNN “due to dismal election ratings.” The negotiations on her salary are still ongoing. Her viewer rates are now presently plummeting. However, her demise as one of the most hawkish Democratic shills, and thus a magnet for the illusions of duopoly, can only bring sighs of joy to many observers. The liberal MSNBC and CNN ratings continue to crash to this day.
Nevertheless, will independent media in the U.S. fill the gap left by the declining credibility of the liberal media, a process that is still ongoing? People from many parts of the world are counting on this further development, given the devastating importance that the U.S. plays on the planet.
Many people in the world were overjoyed to witness the crushing defeat of the Democrats, mainly because of the Harris-Biden Genocide policy against the Palestinian people. Kamala Harris was justly punished. It is the Democratic Party that acts as the gravedigger of progressive social movements. Thus, its shellacking further opens the space for those driven by the desire to build an alternative to the duopoly. Now, with the embarrassing defeat of the liberal press and personalities as the Democratic Party media wing of the duopoly, the stage is set for independent media to develop its influence further. This media deserves the support of all.
Arnold August is a Canadian journalist and lecturer, the author of Democracy in Cuba and the 1997–98 Elections, Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion and Cuba–U.S. Relations: Obama and Beyond. As a journalist, he collaborates with many websites in Latin America, Europe, North America and the Middle East. He is a contributor to Orinoco Tribune. His website: www.arnoldaugust.com
In this week’s segment, we discuss the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe in World War II, and the disinformation that centers on the U.S.'s role and dismisses the pivotal Soviet role in that…
Roger McKenzie is the international editor of the UK-based Morning Star, the only English-language socialist daily newspaper in the world. He joins us from Oxford to discuss his new book, “The…
The late Bruce Dixon was a co-founder and managing editor of Black Agenda Report. In 2018, he provided this commentary entitled, "US Fake History of World War II Underlies Permanent Bipartisan…
Nadiah Alyafai is a member of the US Palestinian Community Network chapter in Chicago and she joins us to discuss why the public must be aware of the Nakba and the continuity of Palestinian…
Black people who are among the rich and famous garner praise and love, and so do those who are in distress. But concerns for the masses of people and their struggles are often missing.
