Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, February 22, 2026 Real World News
“Um, you know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a um — this is, of course, a um, very long-standing, um, policy of the United States.”
That was merely a portion of New York socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s foreign policy flop at the recent Munich Security Conference.
“Epic, meet fail. It was embarrassing for her, it was embarrassing for the Democrat Party, it was embarrassing for America. But more than that, it was a total tell of how deeply the mainstream media in America covers for the Democrats,” Cheryl K. Chumley noted in a Feb. 16 op-ed for The Washington Times.
Conservative critics say AOC could not have possibly ascended to her role in the upper echelons of the Democrat Party without some heavy lifting on the part of legacy media, which serves more as her PR department then actual journalists.
Chumley wrote:
“Put the AOC parrot in front of a media microphone in the United States, and because she only does media hits with those who love and adore her, she’s much more able to smoothly slide across the airwaves and into the news her talking points, the ones her trolls and socialist friends are then able to edit and selectively share on social media as indicative of the good congresswoman’s intelligence. Take away the media protection — take away her supporters at MSNOW and CNN and elsewhere — and put her in a situation where she’s asked a real question by real journalists who really want to know her thoughts, and it’s quickly evident: she doesn’t really have thoughts.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, like AOC considered a possible 2028 Democrat presidential candidate, similarly failed in Munich.
Asked about Ukraine, Whitmer said, “Ukraine’s independence, keeping their land mass, I mean, um, the support of all the allies, I think is the goal, from my vantage point.”
Chumley noted: “Without a friendly American media, Democrats couldn’t sustain support at the voting polls.”
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times showed that being “friendly” to all Democrats had its limits, reporting on a secret PR strategy to boost Mayor Karen Bass who went MIA during the disastrous Palisades fire:
“The 13-page memo on LAFD letterhead aimed to shape media coverage of the Palisades fire after-action report.
The memo detailed plans to protect Mayor Karen Bass and others from “reputational harm” in connection with the city’s handling of the catastrophic blaze, records obtained by The Times show.
Bass wanted key findings in the after-action report removed or softened, sources told The Times this month. The mayor has said that The Times’ story was “completely fabricated.”
In case anyone doubts that this has been a massive coverup from Day One to deflect liability for the #PalisadesFire, here's more proof. Mayor Karen Bass, LAFD and the City's PR firm all had a plan to "protect Mayor Bass, the City and the LAFD from reputational harm" associated… pic.twitter.com/knc2F1C3I6
— 415FirePhoto (@415FirePhoto) February 20, 2026
Back in the Democrat camp The Associated Press wrote of California Gov. Gavin Newsom: “Newsom takes his anti-Trump arguments to Europe during Munich Security Conference,” Among his remarks: “I hope,” Newsom said, “if there’s nothing else I can communicate today: Donald Trump is temporary. He’ll be gone in three years.”
Chumley concluded: “The ability of the media to influence the public cannot be understated, and it’s when Democrats are forced to stand on an international stage and field questions from overseas journalists and serve on panels with foreign officials — and are left bereft of their usual friends in the media to run cover for them — it’s when these instances occur that it’s oh so evident: the leftists really are just faces and figureheads. Peer into their minds and strip away their media shields and what’s revealed is anger and a lust to destroy American Exceptionalism, and very little intellect.”
