During a recent episode of his podcast “Soul Boom, ” actor and author Rainn Wilson, known for playing Dwight Schrute on “The Office, ” offered a blunt critique of the mainstream media’s credibility crisis, directly challenging MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle over the industry ’s partisan tendencies. The change pulled back the curtain on why American are tuning out in record numbers, and it was n’t because of Steve Bannon or Elon Musk.
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“Forty percent of Americans don’t believe mainstream media. Why is that? ” Wilson asked. “How did we get these? ”
Ruhle responded by framing the media’s plummeting faith as part of a broader administrative drop.
“We are seeing a big loss in respect of all of our institutions, ” she said without any self-awareness. “It’s the media, it ’s medicine, it ’s banking. ”
Ruhle called it “a great problem” and warned that politics depends on powerful, trusted organizations. She pointed to Trump-era language and what she called the “Elon Is press machine ” as criminals behind the drop. “They want you to keep traditional advertising and they want you to go to X, which is a fortress of misinformation … where there is no fact-checking. ”
But Wilson was n’t buying the tale. While Ruhle emphasized outside problems and what she characterized as “a conscious effort to destroy the press, ” Wilson cut through the blame-shifting and directed his condemnation at the press itself— specifically its unequal attention of those in authority.
“This is where I may drive up, ” Wilson said. “ When I see this kind of information and interest being directed at the present management and the absence of this kind of understanding and love being directed at the previous management …”
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Wilson made it clear he was n’t singling out Ruhle physically but had a broader concern with left-wing stores downplaying or dismissing problems under Democrat management.
“They’re kind of like, ‘La, la, la, la, la. Everything’s great. Look, the economy ’s great. Immigration is not that much of a difficulty, ’” Wilson quipped. “And actually being Cleopatra, wife of rejection. Bless you. Boom. ”
The moment was striking — not just because it came from a Hollywood figure — but because Wilson dared to voice what countless Americans now believe: the media has become an echo chamber, very generally acting as a shield for supported politicians rather than a watchdog for the people.
Ruhle did say that the internet has lost confidence, and I’d love to give her credit for that, but she does n’t view herself as part of the issue.
“You’re certainly untrue that the internet has lost confidence, ” she said, offering that “trust is gained in rain and lost in containers. ”
🚨NEW:” The Office” Co-Star Rainn Wilson refutes MSNBC Host Stephanie Ruhle for blaming Trump and @elonmusk for why faith in media has PLUNGED🚨
WILSON:” I would push back: when I see this kind of insight and passion being directed at the current administration and the lack of… pic. twitter. com/X9coaOMoGU
— Jason Cohen🇺 � � ( @JasonJournoDC ) April 22, 2025
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Wilson’s message could n’t be clearer: trust in the media won’t be restored until journalists hold Democrats to the same level of scrutiny they’ve relentlessly applied to Republicans. And if someone like Wilson, who’s hardly a conservative, can recognize the double standard, there’s no excuse for others to keep denying it. Until the media regains its backbone and stops playing favorites, Americans will continue walking away in droves to seek out voices that dare to tell the whole truth, not just the convenient parts.
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