June 26, 2018

The Trump Media Game Continues Apace

Michael Candelori/Pacific Press via ZUMA

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The latest:

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is expected to receive Secret Service protection as soon as Wednesday, two sources familiar with the decision tell CNN, but they did not specify how long it will last.

Poor Sarah’s life is in danger from rude lefties! I believe my man Philippe has the right response to this:

Keep in mind, though, that even if this is the right response, that doesn’t mean it’s the best response. Like the man says, nobody promised that life would always be fair.

Remember: Donald Trump won the presidency by hacking the media. He’s a genius at that and he still is. When you’re thinking about the whole incivility schtick and whether lefties ought to be “nicer” or whatever, this is all that matters. It doesn’t matter if conservatives are even worse than us or if they deserve what they’re getting or any of that. When there’s no substance involved—and this particular dustup is as substance-free as it gets—winning and losing is solely a question of which side is better at playing the media game. Given the events of the past couple of years, I’d say that liberals probably ought to have a bit of humility on that score.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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