If you've been paying attention to how the legacy press handles Republican administrations—especially a Trump administration—you know the drill by now. It’s not about one big lie. It’s about a thousand small cuts, each one designed to slowly chip away at credibility, policy, and public support. And this week, we got another example of that playbook in action—courtesy of New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
At a recent White House press briefing, Haberman tried to corner Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt over comments made by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on CBS’s Face the Nation. The problem? She cherry-picked Lutnick’s words to make it sound like the Trump administration is pushing to bring back outdated, low-skill factory work to the U.S.—a caricature that’s not only inaccurate but intellectually dishonest.
On Sunday, Lutnick sat down with Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan for a conversation that—like most network interviews these days—was more interrogation than journalism. The topic? President Trump’s reciprocal tariff strategy and the types of jobs those tariffs are meant to bring back to American soil.
Lutnick was clear: this is not about reviving 20th-century manual labor. It’s about building a modern industrial base powered by high-tech, automated manufacturing—the kind of advanced production that requires skilled workers to build, program, maintain, and support robotics, AI-driven systems, and sophisticated infrastructure. That means electricians, software engineers, machine operators, construction crews, and service techs. In short, real jobs for real people in the modern American economy.
That nuance didn’t make it into Haberman’s question.
At the briefing, Haberman took a swipe by framing Lutnick’s comments as backward-looking, implying the Trump administration wants to drag the country into some dusty, outdated version of blue-collar work. But Leavitt wasn’t having it.
She calmly—and firmly—corrected the record, pointing out that the administration’s vision of manufacturing is forward-looking and workforce-driven, not based on hand-cranked assembly lines but on high-skill labor that supports national security, reshoring, and economic independence.
The frustration on Haberman’s face said it all.
This wasn’t just a bad-faith question. It’s part of a broader pattern we’ve seen for years, including from Haberman herself. When conservative ideas gain traction—especially when they help working-class Americans—the media’s instinct is to discredit them, piece by piece. Misquotes here, selective editing there. Nothing individually explosive, but collectively, it creates a false narrative meant to undermine conservative reforms before they even get off the ground.
That’s the strategy. And it's one we've seen time and again anytime Trump takes office.
The Trump administration's goal is clear: rebuild America’s industrial base with next-generation jobs that support families, communities, and economic security. But legacy media outlets like The New York Times continue to pretend this is about nostalgia and nationalism rather than real economic strategy.
We know better. And clearly, so does Karoline Leavitt.