From the outset of the reoccupation of the White House by Donald Trump, much of the mainstream media seemed to have concluded that it would be in their best interest to shamelessly kiss his…let’s say ring, in order to be rewarded with some sort of presidential gratuity. It turns out that that wasn’t a particularly smart move.

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Trump’s diseased personality has long been observed to combine the worst aspects of cowardice and bullyism. He exhibits the classic behavior of a malignant narcissist. Thus, he is known to rely on pitiful whining and rhetorical intimidation to get what he wants. Unfortunately, there are too many weaklings in the media business who will succumb to that sort of coercive abuse. And one of those media companies is the Paramount conglomerate that owns CBS News.

SEE THIS: Paramount Caves to Trump’s Extortion, Disgraces CBS, Pays a $16M Bribe to Settle a Bogus Lawsuit

Paramount is not alone in paying off Trump’s extortion. ABC News did the same thing. As have others in academia and law firms. They were all seeking to gain some sort of business or regulatory benefit for their ransom. However, Media Matters has noticed that a different anticipated benefit that CBS might have expected never actually materialized.

The article was headlined “Legacy outlets that bent the knee to Trump haven’t just lost credibility — they’re bleeding readers and viewers.” And in the article they wrote of the “cheers from Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for making the network more palatable to their aims.” The article elaborated that Trump’s billionaire buddies who own Paramount, David and Larry Ellison…

“…installed conservative journalist Bari Weiss at the helm, promising that her ‘entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision’ would ‘invigorate’ the network. But six months into Weiss’ rightward makeover of CBS, the fruits of her labors include…complaints from the CBS newsroom that she is dismantling its independence — and, it now appears, a viewer exodus.

“Status’ Oliver Darcy got ahold of some CBS News ratings data from the first quarter of 2026, and it is brutal. CBS Evening News has lost 7% of viewers year-over-year, placing it ‘on track for its lowest-rated first quarter of the 21st century in both total viewers and the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic,’ while CBS Mornings plummeted 13% and ‘is pacing toward its lowest-rated quarter on record in both total audience and the key demo.’ Meanwhile, the audiences of competitor shows at ABC News and NBC News grew over the same period.”

Those efforts to transform CBS News into Fox News Lite are not only failing, they were doomed to failure from the start. Why would any Trump-loving Fox News viewer ditch the network that has so thoroughly brainwashed them, for one that they have been conditioned for years to despise and distrust as “fake” news? American television audiences aren’t looking for more sycophantic, right-wing, stenography that sucks up to Trump and his White House regime. They get more than enough of that from Fox News, Newsmax, and dozens of MAGA-tist social media “influencers” who have repopulated the White House press briefing room.

MORE HERE: Trump Declares Himself King of the White House Press Corps, Will Now Decide Who Can Question Him

What’s more, the timing of CBS couldn’t be worse. Trump has been descending to historic new lows in job approval. And even his most faithful MAGA minions – both media mouthpieces and audience – have been deserting him because of his betrayal on their core issues of releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, and avoiding more unnecessary wars. Not to mention their being burdened by higher costs for everything from groceries, to gasoline, to housing, to healthcare, and more.

So just as Trump is becoming a political dead weight, CBS is chaining itself to that anchor as it sinks rapidly to the ocean floor. Any media, legal, and academic enterprises that follow suit will suffer similar hardships. And they will deserve it. It’s just too bad that the rest of us will also suffer the loss of honest, independent services that were available before the Trump poisoning of American culture.

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• Crybaby Trump Whines About Getting Bad Press and Demands that the Offending Media Be Terminated

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