• Trump has done “more to monetize the presidency than anyone who has ever occupied the White House,” per The New York Times. The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles claimed he “hasn’t really enriched himself relatively all that much.” Meanwhile, Ben Shapiro decried the “skeeziness” around Trump involving crypto investments: “This sort of skeeziness is likely to have really bad political effect.”

• War Room host Steve Bannon and his guest agreed that Trump should suspend habeas corpus if the Supreme Court doesn’t end nationwide injunctions. 
• Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany said CBS’ Scott Pelley should have been arrested following his commencement speech at Wake Forest.

• A Media Matters analysis found that Fox Business, Fox News, Newsmax, and CBS News all seemingly failed to cover Trump’s controversial pardon of tax cheat Paul Walczak. 
• Fox goes off the deep end decrying the U.S. Court of International Trade’s ruling that Trump’s tariffs are illegal. 
• An intelligence report debunked MAGA media claims that Tren de Aragua is being directed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s administration. A Trump official is now under fire for reportedly ordering the report be redone.
• A Fox Business panel called raising the retirement age “the easiest solution” for Social Security.

Fox News and Fox Business hosts are lashing out at CBS News’ Scott Pelley for criticizing President Donald Trump’s attacks on free speech and civil society, even as his network’s parent company reportedly prepares to capitulate to the president’s assault. 

“Journalism is under attack,” the 60 Minutes correspondent said in a May 19 commencement speech at Wake Forest University that went viral last weekend. “Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack.” 

While Pelley did not mention the president or the White House by name, Fox’s stable of pro-Trump zealots started attacking him, calling him a “Trump-hating former anchorman” who is “full of rage” and should be arrested. 

Media Matters’ Matt Gertz wrote this great analysis explaining how Pelley’s corporate bosses at Paramount want to fold to Trump’s attacks. I recommend you read it here.

After years of assuring his audience that he regularly gets his yearly flu vaccination, Fox’s Sean Hannity has suddenly changed his tune, casting doubt on the efficacy of the “stupid flu shot” during the May 28 edition of his radio show. 

The MAGA propagandist’s comments come as harmful anti-vaccine policy takes root in the Trump administration, with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bucking the normal scientific review process and removing the COVID-19 vaccine from the CDC’s recommended immunizations for children and those who are pregnant. 

During the May 28 edition of The Sean Hannity Show, Hannity said “Every year, they will start producing a flu virus. They’re guessing what flu is likely to hit. They don’t know for sure.” He continued, saying “My understanding is they’re wrong 75% of the time, and people, you know, annually go get the stupid flu shot anyway.” 

Rewind the clock back to April 2020 when the Fox host told his radio listeners it was “my choice” to “get a flu shot every year.” Months later, he said his choice to get his annual shot is “what freedom’s all about.” Hannity’s sudden reversal on the “stupid flu shot” is in line with his yearslong assault on the COVID-19 vaccine and Fox’s dedication to pushing anti-vaccine narratives. 

Meanwhile, the American Medical Association recommends that “everyone aged six months or older should receive an annual flue shot.” If you would like to read more about the flu and COVID-19 vaccines, check out the AMA website here.

Two things are true about President Donald Trump’s relationship with the press: He takes a lot of questions from reporters, and he’s directing a wide-ranging and unnervingly effective effort to chill critical coverage by punishing news outlets and threatening journalists. On Wednesday, Politico’s flagship Playbook newsletter opened with an item written by Jack Blanchard lavishing Trump with praise for the former while soft-peddling the latter. 

Blanchard’s piece plugs Trump’s “remarkable record of public availability” in office, “especially when compared to his famously sheltered predecessor,” adding that he is “on course to being just about the most-accessible president in modern history.” In a telling “aside,” though, Blanchard notes Trump’s “lamentable attempt to ban AP.” 

In reality, the White House is continuing to punish the AP for its content — and it’s merely a single salvo in a multifront attack on the press that aims to quell critical coverage of Trump. As Media Matters’ Matt Gertz writes, “Trump is leveraging the federal regulatory apparatus against the parent companies and corporate owners of media outlets in order to keep them in line. And that effort appears to be finding some success.” 

If you want to learn more about how Politico is covering for Trump’s assault on the press, I invite you to read the whole piece here.