By Robert Reich
What they have to teach us about effective communication in the time of a neofascist
Friends,
I’ve been spending much of the last month watching and listening to Democrats trying to find their core message for the upcoming midterms.
The sad truth is that (with a few exceptions, such as Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, and AOC) a clear Democratic message isn’t getting through about the dangers Trump poses to America and the world, and what must be done.
So I’ve begun to look farther afield for effective messengers.
The best advertising I’ve seen alerting Americans is being done by the The Lincoln Project. Some excellent videos are being done by More Perfect Union and, modesty aside, Inequality Media Civic Action.
Several individuals in the media are doing an excellent job educating the public about the dangers of Trump. Among the most effective are Amy Goodman, co-founder, host, and executive producer of the independent news program “Democracy Now!” Also, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell and Ali Velshi and John Oliver of “Last Week Tonight” (on HBO). I’d add New York Times columnists Jamelle Bouie and Michelle Goldberg, Dana Milbank (formerly with The Washington Post and about to join a new Allbritton-backed news organization), actor Robert DeNiro, and The View co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin.
But my candidates for the people who have been most successful in educating the public about the dangers Trump poses are listed below. In my view, each can teach us a great deal about how to be effective communicators and powerful voices against the neofascist takeover of this nation and world.
Hence, your Office Hours assignment today is to select from the following list the person you think has been the most effective of all, or suggest someone else and explain why. Here’s the list:
1. Jon Stewart
Stewart has transformed modern political satire by blending sharp media criticism with authentic outrage. He’s known for being the host of the satirical news program “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2015 and part-time since 2024. From 2021 to 2023, he hosted “The Problem with Jon Stewart” on Apple TV.
Stewart’s satire is powerful because his deadpans are brilliant, and he combines extraordinary comic timing with courageous truth-telling.
One example occurred years before Trump — in Stewart’s televised exchange in October 2004 with then-CNN correspondent Tucker Carlson and Carlson’s co-host, Paul Begala, on a show called “Crossfire.” Stewart had been invited on to take the “liberal” side of that evening’s arguments but instead criticized the state of television journalism and told the show’s co-hosts to “stop hurting America” — referring to both Carlson and Begala as “partisan hacks.” (Later in the show, when Carlson told Stewart, “You’re more fun on your show,” Stewart responded, “You’re as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.”)
In January 2005, CNN announced it was canceling “Crossfire.” Referring to Stewart’s appearance, CNN’s president said, “I think he made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day.”
2. Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel is the host and executive producer of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” which has aired on ABC since 2003. His strength is not just trenchant criticism of Trump along with great satire but also a cheerful and positive disposition that shines through it all.
Soon after Trump’s 2016 election, ABC executives asked Kimmel to lay off Trump so as not to alienate Republican viewers. Kimmel responded that if he could not tell Trump jokes, he would leave the show. Since then, Kimmel has been unrelenting, declaring that “one of the most fun parts of my job is knowing that he hates being made fun of, and making fun of him.”
In his September 15, 2025, opening monologue, Kimmel commented on reactions to the assassination of Charlie Kirk that “[w]e hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” Disney bowed to pressure from the White House and Trump’s FCC chair, Brendan Carr, and took Kimmel off the air.
The public response was swift and furious: They wanted Kimmel back. They love his smart-alecky takes on Trump and his rapid-fire put-downs of the man now occupying the Oval Office, and they admire Kimmel’s relentlessly good cheer and his insightful responses to the news of the day. On September 22, Disney announced that after “thoughtful conversations” with Kimmel, the show would return. (Brendan Carr is now threatening to revoke ABC’s broadcast license.)
3. Rachel Maddow
Maddow hosts “The Rachel Maddow Show,” a weekly television show on MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) and serves as the cable network’s special event co-anchor. Maddow’s special sauce, it seems to me, comes in the intensity and detail of her reporting, combined with an authenticity that’s rare in communicators.
She has been called by Rolling Stone magazine “America’s wonkiest anchor” who “cut through the chaos of the Trump administration and became the most trusted name in the news.” Maddow has stated that her show’s mission is to “[i]ncrease the amount of useful information in the world.” She says her rule for covering the Trump administration is: “Don’t pay attention to what they say, focus on what they do … because it’s easier to cover a fast-moving story when you’re not distracted by whatever the White House denials are.”
Maddow often begins her broadcast with a lengthy story, sometimes longer than 20 minutes, incorporating video clips from events in past years or decades, which she connects with the news of the day. “The thing that defines whether or not you’re good at this work is whether you have something to say when it’s time to say something. Because you’re going to have to say something when that light goes on … I want to have something to say that people don’t already know every single night, every single segment, and that makes it hard to get the process right because that’s the only thing I care about.”
4. Stephen Colbert
I posted yesterday about Colbert, so there’s no reason to repeat it here — except to point out that, like the other three above, he has been enormously effective in alerting the public about the dangers of Trump. It seems to me that what we can learn from him in particular is that he has skewered Trump with great wit along with a kindness and civility that are very rare. Due to Trump’s pressure on CBS’s new owners, Colbert’s last show will be tomorrow night.
