Elitist Media Reveal Their True Feelings About America’s 250th Birthday: What’s There to Celebrate?

Geoffrey Dickens
June 5th, 2026 4:00 PM

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As America celebrates its 250th birthday, the elitist media seem to be collectively asking the question: “What’s there to celebrate?” 

From CNN Bakari Sellers insisting there isn’t much difference for Black Americans in 1896 and 2026 to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman calling for a “thorough purging of [MAGA] from the United States” to MS NOW host Ali Velshi feeling a “deep unease” about honoring the birthday of “our so-called democracy,” the media elites have revealed their real feelings about this country. 

The following are the most obnoxious outbursts from leftist journalists and celebrities over the last month:

[LANGUAGE WARNING]

 

Bakari Sellers: Not Much Difference for Black Americans In 1896 and 2026

 

 

“If somebody fell asleep in 1896 and woke up today in 2026, they would simply say the only difference is now negroes have a TV show, and we wear nice suits. They’ve swapped out Klan hoods for Brooks Brothers suits.”
— CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, May 11.

 

Paul Krugman: We Need a “De-MAGAfication” Like We Had a “De-Nazification”

 

 

“We need to de-fang Trump, as much as possible and make sure that neither he nor anybody who follows in his footsteps has power after the next two elections. But beyond that we really need to do a thorough purging of the United States. We need a de-MAGAfication. And that is - you  know - I am not going over the top by using a word that is very similar to the de-Nazification that we pursued successfully after World War II in Germany.”
— New York Times columnist Paul Krugman on his official Substack account, May 31.

 

Ali Velshi: I Feel “Deep Unease” About Celebrating 250th Anniversary of “Our So-Called Democracy”

 

 

“In one month, America will mark the 250th anniversary of its founding. Like previous anniversaries, there is a deep unease about this. I feel a deep unease about these celebrations to which I am invited to mark the 250th anniversary of our so-called democracy because this 250th anniversary is taking place during yet another period of deep and fundamental and existential unrest in this country brought on by the country’s unresolved racial politics. That’s what this is. Women and Black Americans have seen their rights taken away. The Voting Rights Act has effectively been gutted.”
— Host Ali Velshi on MS NOW’s Velshi, May 31. 

 

The New Yorker Celebrates America’s 250th Birthday: “How Problematic Is Patriotism?”

“How Problematic Is Patriotism? National pride in America has plummeted in the Trump era. Is it worth trying to salvage?”
— Headline to May 25 The New Yorker article by writer Arthur Krystal. 

 

Al Sharpton: Trump’s UFC Fights on White House Lawn Is Him Bringing Back the “Fights for the Slave Masters” 

 

 

“Let’s celebrate how we grew and the people that paid the price for it, and that are continuing to pay the price now because when we’re dealing with this redistricting, Trump and others are trying to bring us back to an America that we struggle to get out of. So there is a connection of why they’re having these fights on the White House lawn, the UFO and all – the UF – whatever they call it, UFC and all that, because they’re trying to go back to that when, you know, they watch people have these fights for the slave masters and they’d be entertained by that. They’re literally going back to that.”
— Reverend Al Sharpton on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, May 28. 

 

Lawrence O’Donnell Trashes Trump’s “Temple of Violence”

“Donald Trump is desecrating the White House grounds to build a temple of violence where there was once a Rose Garden, and where there will next be an ugly and utterly pointless exhibition of men trying to savage - savagely beat each other as part of the Trump White House celebration of America’s 250th birthday. Trump and the men who will join him to worship the gladiator skills on display where there was once a Rose Garden don’t know the history of this country and don’t want to, and seem to believe that savage combat is really what this country is about.”
— Host Lawrence O’Donnell on MS NOW’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, May 27.

 

Joe Scarborough Rails Against Trump’s “Internment Camps”

 

 

“You look at Donald Trump’s approval ratings. When did they start really collapsing? The war didn’t help. But you look at what happened at Minneapolis. You looked at the fact that U.S. citizens were gunned down in American streets. You look at the fact that ICE officers abused people. ICE officers clearly not trained for the work they were being asked to do, and abused that power. And young people, children, being scooped up off the streets when they came home from school and thrown into internment camps, being treated much worse than the Japanese were treated in their internment camps, if you read history.”
— Host Joe Scarborough on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, May 29.

 

Democrats Lost Because of America’s “Backlash Against a Black Woman Being the Democratic Nominee”

 

 

“Why did Democrats lose?...Why did incumbent parties all around the world lose at that time? It was high inflation, and that was coupled with the problems of, you know, Biden staying in the race too long, and the backlash against a black woman being the Democratic nominee. There you have it. Pretty simple right there.”
— Former Washington Post/current News of the United States (NOTUS) columnist Dana Milbank on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, May 24.

 

MAGA Doesn’t View Blacks as Full Citizens, Wants “Brown People Sent Out of the Country” 

 

 

“They don’t view us as full citizens, right? There, there are, there are forces at work in – MAGA forces at work in this country, who have as their aim and end, right, to put us in our place. Their, their, their design, whether it’s an assault on DEI, whether it’s an assault on federal contractors, whether it’s an assault on college admissions, even Yale Medical School, right? Across the board, and now voting rights, there’s a sense in which there are folks who believe that this country must be and must remain a white republic, and that begins with the diminution of black political power.”
— MS NOW contributor/Princeton Professor Eddie Glaude on MS NOW’s The Weekend, May 16. 

 

 

“I think what the MAGA base wants is more deportations. Their problem in Minneapolis, or not even their problem. I don’t think they cared very much about what happened in Minneapolis, frankly. And they want to see more brown people sent out of the country.”
— Political analyst John Heilemann on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, May 15. 

 

Eugene Daniels: Democrats Can Win By Talking About “Kitchen Table Issues” Like Services for Trans Kids

 

 

“You can use ‘identity politics,’ quote unquote, as a kitchen table issue, right? When you talk about whether or not people can have access to healthy abortions — safe abortions, that is a kitchen table issue, right? Whether or not a trans kid can get the services they need, that is a kitchen table issue for families.”
— Senior Washington correspondent Eugene Daniels on MS NOW’s Chris Jansing Reports, May 21. 

 

Clueless Katy Tur: Is Mike Johnson “Putting God Over the Declaration of Independence?”

 

 

“What about this passage from [Speaker of the House] Mike Johnson declaring that ‘our rights do not derive from government, they come from you, our creator and heavenly father?’ Is this him putting God over the Declaration of Independence?”
— Host Katy Tur to The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins on MS NOW’s Katy Tur Reports, May 18.

 

Joy Behar: Once Trump Puts His Name on Prescription Drugs, “We’re All Going to Die!”

 

 

“Once Trump puts his name on prescriptions, we’re all gonna die! Okay? He put his name on the Trump shuttle, the Trump vodka, the Trump University, the Trump hotel and my favorite, the casinos that all went bankrupt.”
— Co-host Joy Behar on ABC’s The View, May 19.

 

Sunny Hostin: “We Need to Form a Rebellion” Against Trump

 

 

ABC’s The View co-host Sunny Hostin: “You want to lead by example, and you want to be above the fray. That is not how this Republican, Trumplican party works, and we are feeling the result of not having a resistance. A valuable resistance.”
The View executive producer Brian Teta: “You do really have to watch Andor. Let me tell you. It’s all about the resistance.”
Hostin: “I know! You’ve been telling me about Andor! We’re both such sci-fi and fantasy fans.
Teta: “It will change your life. It’s all about forming a rebellion.”
Hostin: “I’m going to start - We need to form a rebellion. A true resistance.”
— ABC’s Behind the Table podcast, May 19. 

 

Sunny Hostin: “Very Limited Destruction” During BLM Protests

 

 

“I just think we need to make it clear that there can be no comparison between the Black Lives Matter movement and what we saw on January 6th. I just want to make that clear….There were very limited destruction of property and violence during the uprising of — the Black Lives Matter uprisings.”
— Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, May 21. 

 

The View: Trump Only Wants “American-Born White Children,” “Toddler White Nationalists”

 

 

Co-host Sunny Hostin: “I think that the intent can be questioned behind these new Trump policies. There was no acknowledgement of the black maternal mortality crisis because black women die at a much higher rate than any other demographic….This administration is not concerned about that. I think it’s true he wants Trump babies, which implies he wants American-born white children.”
Co-host Joy Behar: “He wants toddler white nationalists.” 
— ABC’s The View, May 12.

 

Jon Stewart Hoping for the “Electorate” to Repudiate “Putrid” Trump Administration

 

 

“Oh, people, close your eyes and dream. The day that the electorate in this great nation we call home repudiates this putrid administration – the day that that happens. My brother, my brother, there will be – and I mean this. The day that that happens, there will be a joyful noise from the bowels of this great country that will make Hungary’s repudiation of [Viktor] Orban look like an Amish Sabbath.”
— Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host Jon Stewart on CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, May 19.

 

Bruce Springsteen to Stephen Colbert: “You’re the First Guy in America” Who Lost His Show Because “We Got a President Who Can’t Take a Joke”

 

 

“I am here in support tonight for Stephen, because you’re the first guy in America who’s lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke. And because Larry and David Ellison feel they need to kiss his ass to get what they want….These are small-minded people, they got no idea what the freedoms of this beautiful country are supposed to be about.”
— Singer Bruce Springsteen on CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, May 20.

 

Pete Davidson Makes a Sick Joke Referencing Charlie Kirk’s Murder

 

 

“Tony [Hinchliffe] reminds me of Charlie Kirk, in that he’s definitely been on camera letting a guy unload in his throat.”
— Former NBC Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson mocking comedian Tony Hinchliffe at Netflix’s The Roast of Kevin Hart, May 9. 

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