Molly Jong-Fast, perched on MSNBC’s The Weekend on March 9, 2025, dropped a gem so detached from reality it could double as a comedy sketch: “There is not the same strong mainstream non-partisan media there was in 2016.” As NewsBusters’ Tim Graham skewers in his biting takedown, this isn’t just a flub—it’s a window into the stunted reasoning of liberal media personalities who’ve marinated in their ideological bubble so long they can’t see past their own noses. These are the minds that muse, “Well, it’s raining today … I wonder if I should take my umbrella?” What happens when you live in an airtight echo chamber? You get a parade of pundits whose grasp on logic is as flimsy as a paper towel in a storm—and the fallout’s a mix of hilarity and havoc.
NewsBusters: MSNBC’s Jong-Fast Claims ‘Strong Mainstream Nonpartisan’ Media From 2016 Is GONE
One of the weirdest things that leftists can say in the second Trump term is that there’s not an opposition media to Trump. On Saturday’s The Weekend on MSNBC — which is peak opposition media to Trump — Molly Jong-Fast dropped this flop-bomb:
“There is not the same strong mainstream non-partisan media there was in 2016. So it has fallen on a lot of these Democrats to narrate what’s happening, to explain what they’ve seen in the last 7 weeks. If they don’t do it, no one else will.”
Jong-Fast’s claim? She’s mourning a mythical “non-partisan” media golden age—2016, apparently—while sitting on MSNBC, a network so steeped in opposition to Trump it might as well tattoo “Resist” on its logo. The irony’s thicker than a brick wall: she’s lamenting a lost neutrality from a platform that’s been a Democratic cheer squad since Obama’s first term. Graham nails it—MSNBC is peak opposition media, yet Jong-Fast’s bubble-blinded reasoning can’t compute that. Her world’s so insular she thinks “non-partisan” means “agrees with me,” and when reality—like Trump’s 2025 border wins—intrudes, she’s left flailing, insisting Democrats must “narrate” because no one else will. It’s not analysis; it’s a toddler’s tantrum over a toy that won’t fit the script.
This isn’t unique to Jong-Fast—it’s the liberal media’s chronic condition. Look at Nicolle Wallace, another MSNBC stalwart, whose ratings tanked 35% post-2024 election after she smeared a kid’s cancer recovery with Jan. 6 fever dreams. Or Rachel Maddow, spinning Trump border stat conspiracies in February 2025 despite CBP’s clear data, her own 20% viewership dip be damned. These are grown adults whose reasoning never evolved past “If it doesn’t rain Trump hate, it’s broken.” Years in a bubble—where dissent’s a sin and facts bend to fit—have left them intellectually adrift, clutching at narratives like life rafts while the public swims elsewhere. Gallup’s 2024 media trust score of 31% isn’t a glitch; it’s a verdict on this disconnect.
What’s the fallout? They double down, not out. Jong-Fast’s ilk won’t rethink—they’ll just scream louder, leaning on Democrats to “explain” a world they can’t fathom. Wallace keeps ranting, Maddow keeps theorizing, and CNN’s former talker, Oliver Darcy, whines about owners nudging toward center, as if balance is betrayal. X users see it: “MSNBC’s a clown car,” one quips; “Jong-Fast’s lost the plot,” another jabs. The bubble’s not bursting—it’s calcifying, trapping these personalities in a loop where “Trump bad” is the only compass. Meanwhile, their influence wanes—cord-cutters ditch them, trust erodes, and they’re left pontificating to a shrinking choir, wondering why the rain won’t stop but never grabbing an umbrella. It’s not just sad; it’s a self-inflicted wound on journalism’s corpse, and they’re too blinkered to notice.