Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, believes it is an "opinion," not a matter of fact, that Donald Trump lies at a higher rate than most other politicians.
"A lot of politicians lie a lot," Soon-Shiong declared to me on the phone Tuesday evening, pushing back against the assertion that Trump is an abnormality in American politics.
It was one of several alarming comments that the California mogul made during a brief interview I conducted with him, which was abruptly ended by his spokesperson as I attempted to question the wealthy businessman on his apparent desire to stuff his newspaper's editorial board with dishonest pro-MAGA voices.
Earlier in the day, Soon-Shiong had written on X that he wanted Scott Jennings, the right-wing pundit who pollutes CNN's air with pro-Trump drivel, on the revamped editorial board he is assembling at the Times. Upon seeing the post, I reached out to a representative for the Times asking if the newspaper had a comment.
I never heard back from the Times, but my email was forwarded to Soon-Shiong's personal spokesperson who dialed me up and asked whether I would like to speak directly with the billionaire himself. No restrictions were mentioned, nor did I agree to any. I explicitly asked whether the phone call would be on the record. His spokesperson responded in the affirmative, and so I agreed. An hour or so later, I found myself on the phone with Soon-Shiong…
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The Information Wars
Donald Trump. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The Trump Slump: The Trump Show is not rating what it once used to — at least, among those not belonging to the MAGA crowd. Despite the chaos Trump has already infused into American politics with his alarming staffing choices, CNN and MSNBC have both seen low post-election ratings. In prime time in November, CNN averaged an anemic 448,000 total viewers after the election, whereas MSNBC averaged just 661,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. In the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic, MSNBC’s audience dropped 57% in prime time year to date (63,000 viewers) while CNN lost 44% of its audience (90,000 viewers). In fact…
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