Not even the pretense of pursuing the truth.

AP Photo/Eric Thayer

If you watch only the legacy media, here are some of the things you believe.

You believe – because ABC, CBS, NBC, et. al. are expending the last bits of their dwindling credibility telling you so – that the riots in Los Angeles are spontaneous populist uprisings. These “mostly peaceful” demonstrations are the result of grassroots indignation over Donald Trump rounding up innocent, hardworking migrants who are just here seeking a better life.

From the same sources you are led to believe that President Trump’s tariffs have touched off a storm of rising prices that are making it hard for ordinary Americans to afford food and clothing.

You further believe that the economy is sputtering and could be headed for recession.

You are being told that because of Trump’s reckless tariffs, your 401(k) is in deep trouble because of massive selloffs in the stock market.

If your total news intake comes only from the rabidly ideological, fact-averse legacy media, you likely believe these things. If that’s you, you’re not alone. You’re part of a shrinking, yet still significant percentage of the population.

But here’s the truth.

What’s happening in Los Angeles isn’t “mostly peaceful.” Cars being set ablaze, concrete blocks being dropped from overpasses onto police vehicles, police officers being assaulted, stores and businesses being looted and burned, and the throwing of Molotov cocktails all combine to disqualify any use of the word “peaceful.”

Nobody is snatching migrant kids out of schools or raiding restaurants and grabbing up the hardworking busboys. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are executing perfectly valid warrants against illegal immigrants who have committed violent felonies. Recent polling by Insider Advantage shows public support for these arrests at 59 -39.

Just as was the case following the death of George Floyd that led to the 2020 “Summer of Love” riots, the Los Angeles riots are the result of well-organized and well-funded efforts by far-left agitators to use any pretextual excuse to destabilize the country. (Thus “riot supplies” like concrete blocks and frozen water bottles somehow magically appear at strategic locations.)

The economy is doing well and is poised to do better. Trump’s tariffs have had little discernible impact on inflation. Year-over-year inflation stands at 2.3 percent – the lowest since early 2021 – with prices for cars, clothing and food actually falling.

The U.S. trade deficit dropped by $74.6 billion from March to April – an impressive 46 percent decline. U.S. manufacturing was up 3.1 percent in May. Employment remains strong as evidenced by a robust jobs gain of 139,000 in May.

And your 401(k) is just fine. After dropping a bit less than 11 percent immediately following Trump’s tariffs announcement on April 2, the Dow Industrials Average has fully recovered and is up 1.5 percent as of Wednesday.

If the practitioners in the legacy media cared about you and the health of the republic, they’d be telling you these things. But they care only about their deeply held leftist ideology. So, they lie to you.

You can be forgiven for asking, “What else is new?”