Where's CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter on this … this is big media news. Ryan Lizza has left POLITICO over political differences. Apparently, POLITICO isn't meeting this moment of "democratic peril" we are facing. POLITICO is far from pro-Trump … they recently got ratio'd over their headline about the "wrongly deported Maryland man." Sen. Chris Van Hollen would certainly love to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the states and make him an official Maryland constituent. They could sip margaritas together in Annapolis.
Ryan Lizza writes that he’s left Politico to launch a Substack: “The main reason? Their style of political coverage is not meeting the unprecedented moment of democratic peril we are facing.”
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) April 21, 2025
That is not the main reason.
Here's another asylum seeker at Substack. I'm old enough to remember when Substack was considered a far-right-wing hangout for white supremacists. Former Ministry of Truth chair Nina Jankowicz left Substack because of its platforming of extremists and purveyors of disinformation. Now it's the platform of choice for all of the people who are dropping out of legacy media.
But what did Dylan Byers mean by "That is not the main reason"? Let's look to the New York Post for answers:
Ryan Lizza rips Politico as he leaves after sexting scandal involving ex Olivia Nuzzi, RFK Jr. https://t.co/aZePEmVHeH pic.twitter.com/HUGkDl6bgP
— New York Post (@nypost) April 22, 2025
Sexting scandal? Give us the dirt! Emily Crane reports:
Politico’s former top reporter Ryan Lizza, whose ex-fiancée Olivia Nuzzi was embroiled in a sexting scandal with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., abruptly announced his exit from the online outlet — wildly trashing its weak coverage while asking for money for his new venture.
In his first post for his new “Telos News” Substack, Lizza said he had “recently left” the publication because he believed “their style of political coverage is not meeting the unprecedented moment of democratic peril we are facing.”
“This publication is my earnest attempt to cover the crisis in Washington with a clear-eyed understanding of what is actually happening,” wrote Lizza, who had been Politico’s chief Washington correspondent since 2019.
…
Lizza’s evisceration of his now-former employer came after he was placed on leave late last year after his ex, who was then a New York Magazine political reporter, accused him of physical and sexual abuse in a messy court battle.
Politico, at the time, denied that the shakeup was connected to the Nuzzi-Kennedy saga.
That controversy had spilled into public view when Nuzzi was reported to have engaged in a months-long, personal relationship with Kennedy while she was covering his independent presidential campaign.
I completely missed out on the Olivia Nuzzi/RFK Jr. sexting scandal. What does Google have to say? Well, People Magazine picked it up last October:
Recommended
Lizza reportedly alleged in his filing in Washington, DC’s Superior Court that after he discovered Nuzzi and Kennedy's alleged relationship, Nuzzi claimed Kennedy wanted to "control," "possess" and "impregnate" her.
Lizza, the Chief Washington Correspondent for Politico, claimed that Nuzzi described the relationship as "toxic," "unhealthy," “stupid,” psychotic,” “crazy,” and “indefensible," acknowledging the “huge power disparity” between her and Kennedy, per CNN.
How did that not come up during RFK's confirmation hearing? Or did it, and I just missed it?
Anyway, it's hilarious that Lizza now says POLITICO is kowtowing to Trump, even after DOGE canceled all of the POLITICO PRO subscriptions that USAID was paying for.
“I saw up close how easy it was for a media conglomerate to grovel before the Trump administration when the wrong people are in charge,” he wrote.
He described the conference [CPAC] as a “sewer of media bashing and cheerleading for the degradation of our democracy where some activists were publicly organizing an unconstitutional third term for Trump — in other words, a coup.”
“A friend of mine who served in Iraq once tried to explain to me how psychologically disorienting warfare can be for soldiers the first time they’re in full-scale combat. It’s so horrific, so unlike any human experience, that the initial instinct is to deny that what’s happening is actually happening,” Lizza said.
So this dude is apparently comparing reporting politics for POLITICO to full-scale combat in Iraq — man, we can't wait to shell out for a subscription to his Substack so we can get more of this unvarnished truth.
Russia collusion hoaxer Ryan Lizza has departed left-wing propaganda outlet Politico. https://t.co/VH2cvqRAv0
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) April 22, 2025
In the 80s we'd have stuffed his pansy nerd ass in a locker.
— Mazer Rackham (@TheUndertowCM) April 22, 2025
Same schmuck whose girlfriend cheated on him with RFK, Jr.? And now he loses his gig? Sounds like karmic retribution for all that Russia collusion hoaxing. 🤣
— Old Sport (@OldSport_X) April 22, 2025
He's so left wing he fell off the bird.
— Kurtis 🍀 (@Kurtis1978) April 22, 2025
Does this mean he will have to report as a foreign agent now that publishers aren’t covering for his style of journalism?
— Not Jerry Maguire (@theLEBRONofQUAN) April 21, 2025
Politico is open to lies and a measure of hysteria, but Ryan wants to leave behind any connection to reality.
— wraithby (@wraithby) April 22, 2025
Politico has shifted to "resistance coverage" a la Wash Post and CNN. The idea that they aren't moving fast enough to being "anti-Trump" is pretty funny.
— Abe Froman (@sausageking_af) April 21, 2025
It wasn't much of a shift.
John Nolte over at Breitbart has his own take:
This is so delicious…
A few weeks earlier, Nuzzi was forced to go on leave from New York Magazine after she was caught trying to pursue a personal relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while reporting on him. According to reports, the married Kennedy wanted no part of Nuzzi and all the trips to the free clinic that would follow. Nevertheless, she persisted by sending him racy photos and making flirty phone calls. Even after he reportedly blocked her number, she’d find a way to get to him. Apparently, the Kennedy family’s pet rabbit somehow survived the ordeal.
Nolte also helpfully lists all of the media shake-up of the last few months:
- Ruth Marcus – Washington Post columnist, resigns.
- 538 – Disney/ABC’s wildly biased polling site shutters.
- Paul Krugman – Always wrong New York Times columnist forced out.
- Jim Acosta – CNN anchor forced out.
- Norah O’Donnell – Failed CBS anchor out.
- Chuck Todd – NBC’s former Meet the Press host, DEI’d out.
- Andrea Mitchell – NBC harridan ages out of job.
- Chris Wallace – Son of Someone out at CNN.
- Joy Reid – Racist MSNBC anchor, too racist for MSNBC. Fired.
- Neil Cavuto – Fox News anchor, scurries away.
- Alex Wagner – Demoted at MSNBC.
- Ayman Mohyeldin – Lost MSNBC show.
- Olivia Nuzzi – Out at New York Mag for allegedly stalking RFK Jr.
- Katie Phang – Lost MSNBC show.
- Jonathan Capehart – Lost MSNBC show. Steps down as Washington Post editorial board.
- Lester Holt – Out as NBC Nightly News anchor.
- One-third of New York Times Editorial Board – Say, bye.
- Eugene Robinson – Washington Post columnist quits in snit.
- Ryan Lizza – Scurries to Substack over credible misconduct allegations.
As Nolte says, "What a glorious, glorious time to be alive."
At least there are podcasts and Substack to fall back on.
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