‘NBC’s Gone Down the Tubes’: Trump Publicly Snubs ‘Fake News’ Network Despite Comcast’s Ballroom Donation

Despite efforts by NBC News’s parent company, Comcast, to improve its relationship with President Trump, he seems unswayed in his interactions with reporters from NBC News, which is staying with Comcast after its sister news operation, the more overtly liberal MSNBC, is spun off into a new company. During an event at the White House on Friday, a reporter from NBC News, Monica Alba, tried to challenge Mr. Trump on his claim that prices have gone down during his presidency. Ms. Alba claimed that Walmart’s Thanksgiving meal bundle “contains less” than it did during the Biden Administration.Mr. Trump interrupted, “Well, I haven’t heard that. Who are you with?”When she identified herself as an NBC News reporter, the president said, “You’re fake news. NBC’s gone down the tubes along with most of the rest of them.”Still, she pressed on, asking why there is a “disconnect” between how the president describes the economy and “the way many Americans say they are feeling.”“They feel better about our country right now, other than the shutdown, obviously, which is caused by the Democrats … they feel much better,” Mr. Trump said as he touted jobs numbers.He later brushed off another question from Ms. Alba, saying, “NBC Fake News, I’m not taking your question. Next.”His snub comes after Comcast came under fierce criticism for donating an undisclosed amount to the construction of a new White House ballroom, and as Comcast is spinning off left-wing MSNBC and all but one of its other cable networks into a new company, Versant.There is speculation – including from MSNBC’s biggest star, Rachel Maddow – that Comcast may have donated to the ballroom to curry favor with the Trump Administration, as the media giant is reportedly considering attempting to acquire the studio and streaming businesses of Warner Bros. Discovery. The federal government would need to approve the acquisition. And media insiders believe that it is unlikely the Trump administration would green-light a deal that would enrich and increase the power of the Roberts family that controls Comcast.WBD owns CNN, but Comcast is not believed to be interested in WBD’s cable networks. Current plans at WBD involve the company splitting into two, with studio and streaming operations (“Goodco”) separated from cable networks (“Badco”). A veteran media reporter, Matthew Belloni, noted that Mr. Trump “hates” Comcast because of its association with MSNBC, which will soon be known as MS NOW and lose its iconic Peacock logo. Meanwhile, a Trump administration official told the New York Post that the future of WBD is “very important to the administration.”Despite the naysayers, Comcast executives seem confident that they can buy the ”Goodco,” the lucrative streaming and studio businesses of WBD. Whether or not Comcast would make an offer for the streaming and studio businesses that is accepted by WBD is yet to be seen. WBD executives said this week that they hope to disclose whether they plan to sell the company by Christmas.Amid swirling questions about WBD’s future, Skydance, which is controlled by the Ellison family, is also eyeing an acquisition. The CEO of Skydance, David Ellison, is the son of the world’s second-richest man and Trump supporter, Larry Ellison. Skydance has made three offers to acquire WBD, which have been rebuffed because they were seen as low-ball offers. Unlike Comcast, the Ellisons want to purchase all of WBD, including CNN.Earlier this year, Skydance finalized its acquisition of Paramount, which owns CBS News, and has committed to unbiased journalism and ending diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Mr. Trump has signaled his approval of Mr. Ellison’s management of CBS News so far. During an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” the president said, “I think one of the best things to happen is this show and new ownership, CBS and new ownership.”“I think it’s the greatest thing that’s happened in a long time to a free and open and good press,” he said. By contrast, Mr. Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the chairman of Comcast, Brian Roberts. In February, he labeled Mr. Roberts a “lowlife” and the head of “Concast.”While Comcast has tried to distance itself from MSNBC’s anti-Trump coverage and donated to the ballroom, to apparently limited success in improving relations with the Trump administration, its staffers have criticized their corporate bosses.Ms. Maddow said on her show last month, “For every corporation—like our parent company, for another hot minute, Comcast—that wants to pay for Trump to take a literal wrecking ball, excuse me, I mean an excavator to the White House, those public-facing companies should know there’s a cost in terms of their reputation with the American people.”“There may be a cost to their bottom line when they do things against American values, against the public interest, because they want to please Trump, or buy him off, or profit somehow from his authoritarian overthrow of our democracy,” she added.A far-left media reporter, Oliver Darcy, wrote in his Status newsletter that NBC staffers are “already unsettled by Comcast’s ballroom donation” and what “currying Trump’s favor could mean for their newsroom’s independence.”NBC News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

‘NBC’s Gone Down the Tubes’: Trump Publicly Snubs ‘Fake News’ Network Despite Comcast’s Ballroom Donation

‘NBC’s Gone Down the Tubes’: Trump Publicly Snubs ‘Fake News’ Network Despite Comcast’s Ballroom Donation

More from the New York Sun

Watching K-Pop Can Get You Killed in North Korea, and It May Be About To Get Worse

One in Five Germans Is Now an Immigrant. The Crime Numbers Are Impossible To Ignore

Pakistan Is Selling Billions in Weapons Across Africa. Washington Should Be Paying Attention

The Strange Word Charles III Uses To Describe the Death of ‘Much-Loved Kinsman,’ King Harald V of Norway

Rogue OpenAI Models Tried To Cover Their Tracks in Hugging Face Attack

Child Brides, Grown Men: Why Won’t the UN Call ‘Child Marriage’ What It Is?

Five Years After Kabul Fell, Afghanistan Doesn’t Register on America’s National Security Radar

What AOC Didn’t Tell Us About Her Odds of Success From Freezing Her Eggs

More from the New York Sun

Watching K-Pop Can Get You Killed in North Korea, and It May Be About To Get Worse

One in Five Germans Is Now an Immigrant. The Crime Numbers Are Impossible To Ignore

Pakistan Is Selling Billions in Weapons Across Africa. Washington Should Be Paying Attention

The Strange Word Charles III Uses To Describe the Death of ‘Much-Loved Kinsman,’ King Harald V of Norway

Rogue OpenAI Models Tried To Cover Their Tracks in Hugging Face Attack

Child Brides, Grown Men: Why Won’t the UN Call ‘Child Marriage’ What It Is?

Five Years After Kabul Fell, Afghanistan Doesn’t Register on America’s National Security Radar

What AOC Didn’t Tell Us About Her Odds of Success From Freezing Her Eggs