NEWS: Trump threatens MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace

The press retaliation gets weird and personal.

Bottom Line Up Front:

Donald Trump launched a public attack against MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace on Sunday, calling her a “loser,” mocking her career, and declaring she will be “fired soon.” His campaign of revenge against the media is taking a dark and personal turn.

---

WHAT HAPPENED

On Sunday after Trump returned from his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, he went on the offensive against the MSNBC host, who has led withering coverage of the controversial summit with the Russian dictator.

First, Trump posted a cryptic message on Truth Social: “Bela.” In response, one of his followers posted a doctored and deranged photo mocking MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, including captions like “Typhoid Mary Nicole Wallace,” “Clown News,” and “Nicole Wallace is afraid of losing her job. Get her a Waaambulance.”

Then Trump jumped in with his own attack:

“She is a loser, with bad ratings, who was already thrown off of The View. She will be fired soon! MSNBC IS DEAD!”

Photo credit: Christopher Dilts / NBC Universal

---

WHAT IT MEANS

I suspect Nicolle Wallace will wear these words as a badge of honor — because they are proof that her on-target truth-seeking has unmoored the president. But I also suspect they’ll alarm her as me — because they show that she was right about the danger of re-electing this man.

Nicolle has been one of the few consistent voices in the mainstream press who never “moved on” from Donald Trump. Even after his defeat at the polls in 2020, even after the violence of January 6 and his humiliating exit, even after he was charged with crimes… Nicolle insisted on telling the harder story that Trumpism remained a live threat to democracy. That story has only gotten more urgent and, apparently, more dangerous to tell.

That’s precisely why Trump wants her off the air. We cannot forget that a sitting president attacking a named journalist by declaring she should be fired — and declaring her network “dead” — is not normal. It’s not democratic. I understand folks are still uncomfortable with the term “authoritarianism,” but this is precisely what it looks and feels like.

Since returning to power, Donald Trump has unleashed a coordinated assault on the free press unlike anything in American history. He’s personally attacked journalists he wants removed; he’s revived his “enemy of the people” designation against the Constitution’s only protected profession; he’s sued major outlets for coverage he deems unflattering; he’s threatened to revoke broadcast licenses of outlets who don’t cater to his preferences; he’s weaponized the FCC and effectively installed a personal “bias monitor” to oversee CBS News; he’s hijacked Voice of America and turned it into a pro-Trump global news outlet; he’s de-funded organizations like NPR and PBS; he’s changed long-standing Justice Department policies to make it easier to monitor journalists, to seize their records, and to search their homes; and more.

This is not a man seeking to “reform” the media ecosystem. This is a man in pursuit of submission.

---

WHAT’S NEXT

I have a simple request: support Nicolle Wallace. I know she doesn’t need it. I know she will use this as motivation to continue her commitment to honest reporting. But please make sure she hears from all of us that we are grateful for her truth telling — and that we stand with her. Repost this article, tag her on social media, or write something supportive in her comments.

If you care about a free press, this is the time to pay attention, while the intimidation is still verbal and the resistance is still possible. If Trump can successfully assail someone like Nicolle Wallace through bullying and baseless attacks, he will move down the line. Every journalist who challenges him becomes a potential target.

Nicolle Wallace is doing what democracy requires, and she’s a symbol of the free press at its best. She’s asking hard questions, contextualizing facts, and refusing to be gaslit into silence. That makes her a threat — not to America — but to the man who seeks to control it according to his whims.