Welcome to Stop the Presses, a weekly newsletter about how right-wing extremism has exploited the weaknesses in American journalism and what we can do about it. 20 ‘rude’ questions the media should ask Trump and his MAGA henchmen get away with way too much. Mark Jacob Apr 7 Newsmakers know journalists have a short attention span. They know if they can stave off questions long enough, most reporters will move on to something else. And if the reporters keep asking tough questions, some politicians will deny them access. The journalists may even get in trouble with their own bosses if their questions come across as rude. That’s why newsmakers get away with a lot these days. Here are 20 questions I’d ask prominent people – politicians and media figures – if I got the chance. A question for Pete Hegseth: You promised that if you became defense secretary, you’d stop drinking. Have you? For Donald Trump: For more than three hours, your supporters assaulted the Capitol and you took no action to stop them. During that time, did you ever think about the police officers who were being beaten and brutalized just a few miles away from where you sat doing nothing? Also for Trump: What did you like about sex predator Jeffrey Epstein that made him your friend? For Jared Kushner: What communications did you have with the Saudis in the months before they murdered and dismembered U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi? Did you know beforehand that Khashoggi was targeted? For Elon Musk: Isn’t it a perversion of democracy for you to pay people $1 million lottery prizes to support your political positions? Also for Musk: How much money is enough for you? Is there any point where you’ll stop trying to amass more? For Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick: As Trump’s transition chief, you said last October that if he won, he wouldn’t consider hiring people from Project 2025 because they were "radioactive." Yet major figures in the administration are from Project 2025. Why did you lie about that? For Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem: Wasn’t it a bad look for you to pose in front of a group of miserable prisoners in El Salvador while wearing an 18-karat gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch worth $50,000? For Melania Trump: Your husband promised in August 2016 that you would hold a news conference “over the next couple of weeks” to explain your immigration history. It never happened. Will you schedule it now? If not, will you acknowledge your husband lied about you holding a news conference? For Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: You bought a $267,230 recreational vehicle in 1999 with a loan from a friend, who later said the loan was “satisfied.” But neither you nor he have released documentation on how much, if anything, you paid him back. Nor have you reported it as a gift on disclosure forms. Can you now share all the paperwork to clear the air on this ethics issue? For New York Times Executive Editor Joe Kahn: Last May, you said, “It’s our job to cover the full range of issues that people have. At the moment, democracy is one of them. But it’s not the top.” Less than a year later, we’re closer than ever to a dictatorship. Do you regret not prioritizing the defense of democracy? Also for Kahn: Was it a mistake in December 2022 for the Times to put its story about Trump’s call for “termination” of the Constitution on Page 13? For Rep. Elise Stefanik: During a baby formula shortage in 2022, you criticized Joe Biden for “sending pallets of formula to the southern border.” Did you want Biden to deny formula to babies because they were undocumented immigrants? For Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first choice for attorney general: According to a House report, there is credible evidence that you had sex with a 17-year-old and paid her. You were 35 at the time. Did you ever ask to see her ID or ascertain her age in any way? For ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos: Did you consider quitting when ABC settled Trump’s lawsuit over your on-air comments about him, giving him a $15 million win, harming your image, and encouraging future harassment against journalists? For Sen. Marsha Blackburn: You haven’t held an in-person town hall meeting open to the general public since you were elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018. Are you afraid of your constituents? For former President George W. Bush: Do you care if your fellow Republicans overthrow democracy? If so, why do you stay quiet about it? For former MSNBC President Rashida Jones: Why exactly did your network cancel Mehdi Hasan’s show? Was it because he asked hard questions like this one? For former Attorney General Merrick Garland: Why did your Justice Department take so long to start prosecuting Trump? If he overthrows our democracy, will you share responsibility? For Trump: You publicly identify as a practicing Christian and claimed in 2024 that you have been anointed by God. Can you recite the 10 Commandments? If your answer is yes, please do it for us right now. Advertise in this newsletter Do you or your company want to support COURIER’s mission and showcase your products or services to an aligned audience at the same time? Contact advertising@couriernewsroom.com for more information. That’s it for this week! 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