Richard Stengel
@stengel
Former Under Secretary of State in Obama admin & Editor @TIME. Political analyst @MSNBC. Book: "Information Wars." + @rickstengel.bsky.social
I always told my journalists, there aren’t two sides to a lie. Yes, you should be non-partisan, but not neutral. Journalists must be biased in favor of the truth and facts. Biased in favor of democracy itself. We protect the press so the press can protect democracy. Let’s do that
"It’s hard to describe how thoroughly Trump is disrupting and corrupting our system of justice. At every turn, the pattern is the same. His friends catch a break, and his foes get the boot." nytimes.com/2025/07/20/opi…
This is literally superpower suicide. These are some of the most talented public servants doing critical work. Champagne corks are popping in Beijing and Moscow after they already emptied the wine cellars celebrating the end of USAID.
HAPPENING NOW!! Moving scene - tears, hugs, and cheers - inside the State Dept HQ tonight, as diplomats gathered in the lobby to clap out their laid off colleague, some of which have served for decades 👇🏻
Over the last six months, the independent press in the US is facing what media has had to confront in Russia, Hungary, and other states with autocratic leaders. Same playbook. Diminish. Demean. Marginalize. Criminalize. It can happen here.
📅 NOW | 12:30 pm ET Nicole R. Hemmer, @jacobwe, @gmochkofsky, and @stengel will explore the shifting landscape of journalism, the influence of political pressures, the broader implications for press freedom and more. Watch below ⬇️ on.cfr.org/4m1PJRu
Just asking, but what is he trying to distract us from? nytimes.com/2025/07/21/us/…
Delighted to join Ali Velshi to discuss a difficult topic, American decline. It predated Trump, but he is accelerating it in a way few would have predicted. He is undermining many of our strategic advantages, take just one for example, higher education. msnbc.com/ali-velshi/wat…
Greetings on #MandelaDay2025 "It is in your hands," Madiba said, which is why @UNSCC and @NelsonMandela Foundation are starting the Mandela Center for Social Change at @cpowellschool at City College to create a new generation of leaders who can overcome polarization like he did.
The rescission bill the House is voting on will cut $100 million for UNICEF's efforts to feed toddlers in emergencies. Meanwhile the recent OBBB included 3x that for Mar-a-lago security.
Among the little-noticed benefits tucked into the One Big Beautiful Bill: $300M to protect Mar-a-Lago and Trump’s homes.
According to ICE's own data, of the estimated 10ok deported through June 24, convicted murderers totalled 0.58%; kidnappers 0.42%; sexual assault, 1.2%. Of those with criminal records, most are traffic or immigration offenses. cbsnews.com/news/trump-adm…
The framers of the Constitution thought political parties might cause the death of the republic, but they always believed that members of Congress would stick up for their designated powers even above party loyalty. I guess they were wrong about that. nytimes.com/2025/07/17/us/…
"Goldman Sachs economists estimate that U.S. consumers will end up paying 70% of tariffs’ direct costs." This is a tax, folks, and American consumers are paying it! wsj.com/economy/inflat…
Xi is hiring more diplomats. Trump is cutting ours. Xi is expanding his international media. Trump just destroyed ours. Xi is increasing foreign aid. Trump just ended ours. Xi is promoting autocracy. Trump is ending democracy promotion. If we keep on this course, we will lose…
His foreign policy is from the 18th century; his economic policy is from the 19th century; and his social policies are from the 1950s. Moving America Backward. nytimes.com/2025/07/13/us/…
Just wondering whether this is what people voted for? A soon-to-be $300 billion tax on American consumers that will make almost everything more expensive. reuters.com/business/trump…
The EU, our largest trade partner, is now making “deals” with Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Southeast Asian nations—and pretty much anyone frustrated by our wild and inconsistent trade policies. America First = America Isolated = America in decline. nytimes.com/2025/07/13/wor…
Trump’s budget would close 10 laboratories run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that help predict life-threatening weather, including one in Miami that sends teams of “hurricane hunters” to fly into storms to collect critical data. Right now, 30 of the 122…
The expertise, knowledge, and experience of the Foreign Service has no rival. I never knew what party any of them may have been a member of. They served the American people.
It is now clear that average tariffs on August 1 are set to be higher than they were on "Liberation Day." Only a fool would look back to the chaos of early April and conclude that the problem was that the announced tariffs were too small. If you're not worried, you're not paying…