White House communications director Steven Cheung did something you don’t see every day from a Trump official: He praised a liberal media outlet.
However, the reason why Cheung gave cheeky compliments to MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) was a lot more commonplace ― he was trolling, baby.
Cheung posted a segment from “Chris Jansing Reports” that discusses the Trump administration’s recent decision to promote its war with Iran using videos combining real-world destruction with violence from video games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; films like “Tropic Thunder” and “Braveheart”; and footage of MLB players hitting home runs.
During Jansing’s segment, she played one clip that interspersed footage of Iran being attacked with footage of Nintendo Wii characters using tennis rackets, golf clubs and baseball bats to hit bullseyes.
Jansing noted that while the video she showed “got a lot of blowback from Democrats,” a new “Washington Post” poll suggested that opposition to the strikes “dropped in a week by 12%,” and wondered if the White House messaging is taking hold.
The poll she cited shows that 42% of Americans now approve of the war, while 40% disapprove, compared with the previous week, when 52% disapproved.
Although the Washington Post poll suggests the messaging is working, an NPR/PBS/Marist poll shows that only 36% approve of how Trump’s handling the war, while 56% of respondents oppose it.
Jansing’s guest, former George W. Bush advisor Mark McKinnon, noted that “using video games as parallels for wars” has “a desensitizing element to it,” which he pointed out just makes people think, ’Oh, it’s just like a video game” after a while.
Enter Cheung, who took to X after the segment aired to thank the network “for playing our videos and showing it’s having a positive effect on polling and messaging.”
JS reached out to MS Now for comment on Cheung’s post and to the White House for additional proof that MS NOW’s showing of the Iran war promo videos has had a noticeable impact on approval ratings for the conflict.
MS NOW didn’t immediately respond, but Cheung claimed to JS that “by playing our videos over and over again, they are helping spread our message to their liberal audience.”
That doesn’t mean MS NOW viewers are being converted to Trump’s side, especially after network star Lawrence O’Donnell called the videos the “stupidest propaganda videos in the history of propaganda anywhere in the world.”
He’s not the only one. Earlier this month, Ben Stiller blasted the White House for using the “Tropic Thunder” clip. Stiller directed and co-wrote the 2008 comedy.
CNN’s Jake Tapper also criticized the videos, and after noting the presence of famous Hollywood villains like “Breaking Bad’s” Walter White and Kylo Ren from the third “Star Wars” trilogy, wondered, “Does the White House even care who the good guys and bad guys are these days?”
