Media ignores Lincoln Project founder’s solicitation of underage men
February 8, 2021
These past weeks reports broke about prominent anti-Trump group Lincoln Project co-founder John Weaver has been harassing and soliciting underage men. The problem is the accusation quietly came out last summer.
After months of pitching the story and verifying, reporter Ryan Gardusky wrote a full exposé January 11 on the allegations against Weaver. For weeks after that exposé, Weaver enjoyed dozens of interviews with mainstream outlets without a single question about the accusations.
The Lincoln Project, while being a Republican-leaning group, quickly became a media sweetheart through its anti-Trump campaigns during election season. Their message of “decency” and “values” echoed across the country.
After the election, it continued its pressure on the Trump administration by running ads claiming that Pence is “backing away” from Trump with intent to “get into his head”. Their efforts were deemed successful with the inauguration of Joe Biden on Jan. 20.
It was only when the New York Times decided to cover the accusation on January 31, 20 days later than the original break of the story, that media outlets acknowledged the allegations. The Los Angeles Times and Yahoo News, among others, jumped on the story after the Times story broke. The mounting public pressure ultimately led to the organization distancing itself from Weaver and his resignation.