Following the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump's estate at Mar-a-Lago on Monday night, right-wing media had a meltdown over the supposed weaponization of government agencies that they claimed are at a supposed “war with the American people.” Right-wing media figures and their guests have been using the same narrative in response to the increase in IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.
On August 6, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act along party lines, after Democrats spent over a year in deliberations. The bill will “authorize the biggest burst of spending in U.S. history to tackle” climate change, reduce Medicare prescription drug costs, raise taxes on some large corporations, and add about $80 billion in additional funding to the IRS. The IRS funding will allow the agency — which is currently hampered by reduced workforce and underfunding — to pursue billionaires and large companies for tax compliance.
Two days later, on August 8, the FBI executed a search warrant at the former president’s Florida residence reportedly in connection to his handling of classified documents that may have been brought to Mar-a-Lago, according to CNN.
Almost immediately after the news broke, conservative media — particularly Fox News — started fearmongering that the FBI’s search proved no average American is safe from politically motivated persecution, and arguing that the real target of the Biden administration is the middle class or “anyone who dares to call out” the establishment.