Traditional news outlets fell down on the job when it came to Donald Trump's abortion statement. Here's how Daily Kos stacked up:

Friend, the traditional news media is utterly incapable of covering this election, and the coverage of Donald Trump's abortion statement this week proves it. [I'll explain more in a minute, but first I have to ask: The need for independent, progressive news has never been greater than right now. Unfortunately, there's never been a harder time for news outlets. Please support the work Daily Kos does day in and day out with a donation of $5 or more today.]( [PLEASE DONATE]( Matt Gertz from Media Matters [explained]( the complete failure of the news media this week when he wrote: Major news outlets are falsely claiming that Trump said abortion “should be left to the states” in a video announcement Monday on his Truth Social platform. In fact, Trump said only that abortion “will” be left to the states, a statement of law that does not address how he would respond if Congress passed a federal abortion ban or how regulators would treat abortion under a second Trump administration. Gertz took to X (formerly Twitter) to share [a number of headlines]( from several traditional news outlets, including CBS News, CNN, and the New York Times, who made these claims. Here at Daily Kos, though, you got a very different story. First, Daily Kos Chief Content Officer Kaili Joy Gray [broke down]( how Trump's statement—"now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint"—was completely bogus: Sure, now abortion is available where everyone wants it—except in the 21 states where people want it and yet it is banned or restricted because lawmakers decided it shouldn’t be. [...] In Texas, for example, Kate Cox sued for the right to an abortion under the supposed exceptions to the state’s ban. Despite a court agreeing that she was entitled to an abortion, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened to prosecute any hospitals or doctors who provided such care. The state Supreme Court sided with Paxton. Cox ended up fleeing the state in order to exercise her will. A day later, Daily Kos Founder Markos Moulitsas [wrote:]( In short, Trump both advocated for a ban, fueling the very pro-abortion energy that has electorally cost Republicans so dearly over the past two cycles, while also refusing to outright call for a ban, claiming that his own political exigencies were more important. Yet conservatives have backed themselves into a corner—if abortion is murder, then any compromise is an obscenity. That’s why these same zealots are going after IVF and contraceptives. There is no starker example of how Daily Kos refuses to buy into easy media narratives than this week's coverage of Trump's abortion statement. That's why I'm asking: [Can you support progressive, independent news by donating $5 or more to Daily Kos today?]( [PLEASE DONATE]( Thank you, Michael Langenmayr, Daily Kos If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. If you wish to unsubscribe from Daily Kos fundraising emails, please [click here](. You will still continue receiving other types of Daily Kos emails. If you wish to unsubscribe from ALL Daily Kos emails, please click the link at the bottom of the email. Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.