What's Worse Than Wokeism? Greg Gutfeld Explains.

When you look back on recent history, you might conclude that wokeism was the most destructive movement of the last decade, and that would be a spot-on guess. When you think about how woke ideology has impacted popular culture and has made people on the left hypersenstive to pretty much anything and everything, it seems rather obvious. However, Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld recently shared his perspective on what he believes to be the most destructive movement of the past decade, and it isn’t what you might expect. 

Gutfeld argues that a greater menace lies in “the media’s lockstep anti-Trumpism.” In his view, the media’s unwavering opposition to former President Donald Trump has had far-reaching and devastating consequences, shaping public discourse and policy in ways that have deeply harmed the country.

In a lengthy post on X, Gutfeld explains that anti-Trumpism wasn’t merely about opposing the former president’s policies; it created a climate of mass delusion, where critical issues were downplayed, ignored, or twisted to avoid aligning with Trump’s views. He contends that this media-driven narrative led to some of the nation’s most damaging decisions during pivotal moments.

He gives four examples to prove his point.

The first is the rise in crime. He argued (correctly) that the media refused to acknowledge the negative impact of leftist policies on public safety, stating, “If you admitted that progressive policies energized criminality and cost many innocent lives, that would put you on the side of Trump. So you can’t do that, decides the media. So theft and violence became routine. Recidivism exploded.” The result, he argues, is a society where criminal behavior has been normalized, with disastrous consequences for communities.

Immigration is another area where Gutfeld believes the media’s anti-Trump stance had dire consequences. He explains, “If you admitted that unfettered illegal immigration stressed all our country’s systems, as well as introducing more violent crime, that would put you on the side of Trump. You can’t do that, decides the media. So it kept going, and people died.” This refusal to address the realities of immigration policy has led to avoidable tragedies and a strain on national resources.

The third example is COVID. He recalls the media’s role in distorting truth for the sake of opposing Trump. Boy, is he correct here. Gutfeld cites the reluctance to explore the lab leak theory as a plausible origin of the virus, remarking, “If you admitted that COVID came from China, likely a lab leak, then you were on the side of Trump. So you can’t do that either—that would be racist, said the media. Instead, we embraced absurd notions about bat soup.” Last year I wrote a lengthy post on how anti-Trumpism made the pandemic worse, and one of the biggest examples was the media war on hydroxychloroquine, which Trump had promoted as a possible therapeutic. The media promptly trashed Trump for suggesting it, and pushed the narrative that hydroxychloroquine was dangerous. Studies have since shown the antimalarial drug reduced the Covid fatality rate by roughly 50%.

For our VIPs: How Anti-Trumpism Made the COVID Pandemic Worse

Finally, Gutfeld turns his attention to President Joe Biden, claiming that the media’s protective stance has contributed to a lack of honest scrutiny. He pointed out that “if you admitted he was unfit for office and reported on it honestly, you were siding with Trump. So you can’t do that. In fact, you must say that Joe is better than ever, and those who disagree are cruel, ending up with a rudderless country sinking in chaos.” For Gutfeld, this represents the culmination of the media’s refusal to prioritize truth over ideology.

Gutfeld concluded that “a mass delusion driven by bitterness, ego, and an emotional infantilism brought this country to the brink.” He urges his audience to reject the media’s alarmist tendencies, stating, “So when the media starts hitting the panic button, laugh at them. They caused this mess. We’ll clean it up. They no longer matter.”