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The Bulwark Podcast

James Bennet: Trump Is Still Hacking the Media

The Bulwark Podcast

The Bulwark

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.68.9K Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2025

⏱️ 70 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

More than 10 years in, journalists still have not figured out how to cover Trump. He understands the media environment better than a lot of reporters, and knows his outrageous acts and statements command attention—and that people will not be able to finish processing one outrage before the next one comes down the pike. But now he's laying down the terms of how he expects to be covered, and media orgs are complying by hiring or giving airtime to MAGA avatars. In the process, journalists are failing to hold the powerful to account. Plus, Dems actually went on offense and got their hands on the Epstein birthday book, and Israel is aggressively embracing the age of impunity.

The Economist's James Bennet joins Tim Miller.

show notes

Transcript

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0:36.2

Hello and welcome to the Bullwark podcast. I'm your host Tim Miller.

0:39.5

Delighted to welcome a long-time journalism hand.

0:43.8

He has previously the editorial page editor at the New York Times, editor-in-chief at the Atlantic.

0:44.7

That's the way I've called you old.

0:48.2

Also a former White House correspondent and bureau chief in Jerusalem.

0:53.7

Now he's the Lexington columnist for the economist, where he has to spell maneuver, M-A e u v r e like a limey freak it's james

1:00.9

bennett how you doing man i'm good tim yeah they got a different word for everything the brutes it turns

1:06.6

up i had to triple check maneuver this morning when i was reading one of your recent columns. I was like, what is that atrocity? Yeah, it's not just the spelling. It's like learning a whole new language. Yeah, the way they shape their mouth, it's got to be related to the teeth somehow, you know, that the pronunciation is different. Anyway, we've got a lot to talk about. I want to do some media gossip stuff with you at the end,

1:30.2

for candy for people who care about that. But we have actual real news on several fronts. And so we have to start with Jeffrey Epstein, as is our obligation until we figure out who killed them.

1:41.4

The Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published portions of the

1:44.4

birthday tributes that the Wall Street Journal had written about, the 50th birthday for Epstein.

1:49.3

We get to see the Trump, whatever you want to call it, poem scene of the very nubile-looking

1:56.3

young woman that he drew for Epstein, where he talked about how they have so much in common

1:59.7

and he's wishing for him a lot of wonderful secrets.

2:03.4

We found another page in the book as a photo of Epstein holding an oversized check,

...

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