Going towards Donald Trump‘s second inauguration on January 20, 2025, the Deadline ElectionLine podcast spotlights the 2024 campaign and the often blurred lines between politics and entertainment in modern America. Hosted by Deadline political editor Ted Johnson and executive editor Dominic Patten, the podcast features commentary and interviews with top lawmakers and entertainment figures. The campaign is over, but the news continues, follow everything on the ElectionLine hub on Deadline.
There’s no point in sugarcoating it or sanesplaining it, Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election and return to the White House will be a major test for national and local news outlets – to say the least.
As we discussed today on the Deadline ElectionLine podcast (and you can hear above), the 45th and now 47th POTUS has attacked journalists throughout his career and has sought to pressure owners of major media entities. In this race against Vice President Kamala Harris, that rhetoric has become more violent and threatening than ever.
To that, the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post, as well as the LA Times and other outlets, declined to endorse any candidate — even though their editorial boards had pieces backing Harris all ready to go.
As postmortems focus on what mainstream outlets did wrong and whether they will be relevant anymore, the more urgent question will be how the Trump administration will handle issues of press access, or whether the president will retaliate against outlets via the regulatory agencies.
In the aftermath of the election, Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News host, shares her reaction to the race and its result with us today. The woman’s rights advocate who took on then boss Roger AIles and the Murdoch-owned FNC with a sexual harassment suit in 2016, also details what she believes Trump’s big win means for Fox and journalism in America. Carlson tells Ted and Dominic of the challenging and uncertain road she sees ahead, with Trump appointees at the FCC able to review broadcast licenses, and the administration able to select reporters’ access to the White House.
Frequently appearing on CNN nowadays, Carlson also talks about the strategy of her group, Lift Our Voices, which successfully pursued federal legislation that restricted employers’ use of arbitration and NDAs to conceal sexual harassment and sexual assault cases. Additionally, the small screen veteran puts a spotlight on the future of the #MeToo movement in a Trump 2.0 nation, having a sexual abuser as President and the greater implications of the extensive rape and sexual assault allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Take a listen.
Subscribe to the Deadline ElectionLine podcast on Spotify, Apple Music, iHeart and all podcast platforms.
