America, Interrupted: Escalators, Propaganda, and the Fall of Free Media.

By Rob C.

Art by Oliver Schopf

TL;DR

The MAGA media has officially lost its collective mind over a stalled escalator and teleprompter glitch. When Trump and his wife’s UN escalator ride stalled, right-wing pundits declared it a Deep State assassination attempt. Turns out, it was one of Trump’s own staff who hit the emergency button. Oops. But while conspiracy-addled anchors screamed about “escalator-gate,” they stayed quiet on Trump’s unhinged UN rant. Meanwhile, corporate media giants like Sinclair and Nexstar flood local airwaves with cookie-cutter propaganda to sell Americans a Christian Nationalist fever dream, aided by a neutered FCC that’s supposed to protect our public interest. Every fascist knows – “He who controls the media controls the people” and if we don’t wake up, we’ll be the next victim.

Escalator-Gate: The Deep State vs. The Stop Button

Apparently, the most dangerous conspiracy rocking the Republic isn’t climate change, corruption, or creeping authoritarianism—it’s… the escalator. Trump and Mrs. Fascist were heading up an escalator at the UN when—gasp—it stopped. The MAGA-verse went feral. To hear them tell it, this was a covert op by the Deep State to assassinate America’s Orange Savior with… mild inconvenience? The tinfoil-hat factory went into overdrive. But within hours, the truth came out: one of Trump’s own aides had accidentally hit the red stop button. Conspiracy over? Nope! Fox, OANN, and Newsmax were racing to be winner of the Gaslighting Olympics.

Orange Jesus at the UN

While the media disciples dissected escalator mechanics, Trump had a teleprompter hiccup and MAGA world treated it like the Deep State had hacked into Trump’s script to make him look unhinged. (Spoiler: he doesn’t need help with that.), Trump delivered a word salad speech at the UN that was equal parts narcissistic grievance list and bedtime story for dictators. He veered from incoherent ramble to schoolyard insults, all wrapped in his usual victimhood routine. Yet right-wing media covered it like the Sermon on the Mount. Not one chyron screamed, “President Goes Full Crackpot at Global Summit.” An escalator stalling is a crisis but Trump babbling like your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving is “presidential.”

The Billionaire Propaganda Machine

Sinclair and Nexstar own more local stations than anyone else, and they force anchors to read identical “must-run” scripts, no matter where you live. Remember that viral 2018 clip of dozens of local anchors robotically reciting the same line about “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories”? That wasn’t journalism—it was corporate ventriloquism. Your “local” news is just another Fox knockoff, packaged to look like it knows your community. And it’s about to get worse if their mergers get approved by Trump’s FCC.

Whatever Happened to the FCC?

The Federal Communications Commission was supposed to stop exactly this nonsense. Created to keep the airwaves working in the public’s interest, it once required balance and accountability. But deregulation and corporate capture turned it into a rubber stamp for media conglomerates. Instead of protecting the public, it shields Sinclair, Nexstar, and their ilk. The watchdog doesn’t bark anymore; it fetches.

The Gospel According to Orange Jesus

Right-wing media has one mission: turn every Trump gaffe into divine prophecy while painting dissent as blasphemy. When he rambles incoherently, they call it genius. When he stumbles on an escalator, it’s a Deep State hit job. The formula is simple: invent outrage, pump it through the echo chamber, repeat until reality is unrecognizable. Call it “Christian values,” call it “patriotism,” call it whatever you want—This is not journalism; it’s propaganda wrapped in a flag and blessed by the MAGA thought police.

Final Warning: Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid

Every fascist playbook begins with media control. The Nazi regime, Mussolini’s Italy, Pinochet’s Chile—they all knew the formula. He who controls the news controls the people. And Sinclair, Nexstar, Fox, and their political puppets know it too. If we keep letting corporate conglomerates and Trumpist zealots script our “reality,” we’ll find ourselves living in the dystopian rerun of a show we never wanted to watch: Authoritarian America.