Short Stack: Trump Means Profit For The New York Times?

Some progressives argue that The New York Times wants Biden to step down precisely so that Trump can win and The New York Times can start selling newspapers again.

This is a short stack piece – brief, yet the topic is too rich to ignore.

It is no secret that The New York Times is loudly and persistently advocating for Joe Biden to step down and decline to run for a second term as President.

The editorial board is publicly stating that they want Biden to step down—not necessarily because having a President in the declining stages of dementia or senility is bad for our nation, but because they worry a Democratic candidate who cannot speak a coherent sentence will lose the general election and Donald Trump will therefore win.

The New York Times is also publishing guest essays making the same arguments and appeals for Joe Biden to bow out of the November election.

Here’s where it gets interesting, and where we can learn about human nature and the effects of blinding partisanship:

After President Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate with former President Trump—during which Mr. Biden resembled the featured character from Weekend at Bernie’s—Democrats across the nation immediately demanded that the President not run for re-election.

“He cannot win,” millions of Democrats said. For about a day or two.

Then, as it became clear that President Biden is not stepping down—that he is going to continue his campaign right through to November—those same millions of Democrats retracted and reversed their opinions.

Within 72 hours, Democrats were assuring each other that Biden is the best hope they have, that they need to rally behind him because with their support, the sitting President can win after all.

Why, then, does The New York Times—a progressive publication that is typically a satellite marketing organization for the Democratic Party—persist in saying that Biden cannot win and begging the President to step down? Why isn’t the Times flip-flopping on the subject of Joe Biden every day or two like ordinary Democrats are?

On The Other Team?

Get ready for the answer. It’s a hoot.

The conclusion some progressives have reached is that The New York Times is a business, the owners of which merely care about making profit (and I’m pretty sure they spit the word “profit,” with contempt and disgust, when they speak it through their lips).

Further—remember, this is not my argument, it’s the argument being promoted among progressives—Biden’s Presidency has been bad for business for The New York Times because there have been no negative or sensationalist stories to report.

President Biden is merely a quiet, humble man doing the humble, mundane work of running the United States of America every day, without any bad news.

---

---

Yes, you read that correctly: According to progressives, there was no debacle leaving Afghanistan. There have been no new wars exploding in Ukraine, Israel, and other parts of the world. No attacks anywhere by Iran. There have been no riots and violent protests on university campuses all across the United States. The federal government under the Biden Administration has not been pushing the trans agenda every opportunity they get.

Nope. No bad news to report. So how is The New York Times supposed to sell newspapers?

Progressives say: The Times wants Biden to step down precisely so that Trump can win the general election, be inaugurated as the next President, and inundate the White House and the rest of the world with controversies and scandals.

Then, progressives argue, The New York Times will have no problem selling newspapers and can get back to making the dirty, selfish profits they so love.

I suppose these progressive critics are half-right, in a way: All the established, legacy media outlets certainly aren’t bored when Donald Trump is President! Then again, established, legacy media outlets don’t ignore world-shaking events when Trump is President, the way they do when Biden is in the White House.

And what about The New York Times? Does this mean progressives respect it, or hate it?

Probably both, in a confused way. They likely love The New York Times when it advocates for progressive cultural causes and socialist policies. But when progressives reflect on the fact that The New York Times is a business—and every business aims to be profitable—it probably makes them nauseous.

As every progressive claims to know, after all, profit is the real and ultimate source of every social pathology and injustice. They learned this from a 19th-century failed economist most of them have never actually read.

---

Dear Readers, Which do you like better, these “short stacks” or the longer essays? Let me know. And, thank you!

—Tom