The District of Distortion

On Tuesday morning, Benny Johnson began broadcasting his show live from the White House. Wearing a navy suit in front of an E pluribus unum backdrop, the MAGA influencer lavished praise on the Donald Trump-led White House for bringing “the barbarians” to “the gates.” He declared he was “excited” to be shooting his show from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at “one of the most important moments in American history.” That moment was Trump’s declaration of federal control over the Washington, D.C., police force and his deployment of the National Guard—citing a public safety emergency after a former DOGE staffer nicknamed “Big Balls” was assaulted in an attempted carjacking.

From his White House perch, Johnson painted the nation’s capital as an unlivable wasteland. He called it a “kill box,” a “death trap,” and a “lawless hellscape,” even describing it as a “scar on the face of our national conscience.” Entire neighborhoods, he suggested, should “probably be emptied” and “bulldozed” to solve the problem. Trump, he told viewers, was “doing God’s work” and warned them not to “believe the bullshit” from journalists, who like to peddle pesky facts which run counter to his preferred narrative. Later, former Fox News host turned U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro joined the broadcast to add her own fire. “There’s too much crime” in D.C., she said, before insisting, “We’re not politicizing it.” She, too, thanked Trump—who notably incited an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol and pardoned those who participated in the attack—for his supposed commitment to combating crime.