CULTURALLY SHOOK | How the Trump White House Is Turning Children into Political Puppets

Last week, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the new White House Press Secretary, read a 9-year-old boy’s letter to President Trump during a press briefing. This lucky 9-year-old boy is Dylan Harbin, also known by the nickname Pickle. Pickle is only in the 3rd grade, but he doesn’t know “why people don’t like” Donald Trump—he likes Trump so much he even had a Trump-themed birthday party!  

I don’t need to tell you that Pickle’s childlike fascination with the rude, noisy NSFW animation that is Donald Trump—while troubling—is clearly not rooted in any nuanced understanding of Trump’s domestic and international policy decisions. Liberals, leftists and anyone else who grows nauseated by the mere mention of our traffic cone-tinted Commander-in-Chief traipsing through the White House with all the grace of a tactless Neanderthal can agree that Pickle’s object of obsession is, to say the least, unfortunate.

OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM | Trump’s War with the Media

Last week, Donald Trump did something that broke decades of history and infuriated much of the media. It was also one of the least surprising decisions of his presidency. When Trump prevented several media outlets from attending a private White House briefing with Sean Spicer, he simply followed through on a campaign promise. After all, Trump engages in a self-declared “running war” with the media. In order to win his war, he seeks to limit the effectiveness of certain publications in covering him by cutting off their access and delegitimizing their sources.