--- title: President Obama Aides Launch Anti-Donald Trump Website description: Three aides to President OBama are launching "Crooked Media," a political website that makes no bones about its opposition to Donald Trump canonical: https://time.com/4627878/barack-obama-donald-trump-crooked-media/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-09T12:48:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:47.112Z article:section: Politics og:title: 3 Obama Alumni Are Launching a 'Crooked Media' Company for the Trump Era og:description: "We’re not journalists, we’re not unbiased, we’re not always serious og:url: https://time.com/4627878/barack-obama-donald-trump-crooked-media/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3bddc5ba5c6e3b6/6988b4c58e06013dc7468bee/jon-favreau.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: John F. Kennedy Jr Forum: The Language and Legacy of Presidential Speechwriting og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 3 Obama Alumni Are Launching a 'Crooked Media' Company for the Trump Era twitter:description: "We’re not journalists, we’re not unbiased, we’re not always serious twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3bddc5ba5c6e3b6/6988b4c58e06013dc7468bee/jon-favreau.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 3 Obama Alumni Are Launching a 'Crooked Media' Company for the Donald Trump Era > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=35f742bd-8402-4e97-8425-904e2d903fa0&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Blasts The Media Over Sexual Assault Stories [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Blasts The Media Over Sexual Assault Stories](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uqw45pIh.m3u8) (2:54)  _Published 2016-10-13. Donald Trump categorically denied multiple allegations of sexual assault Thursday, blaming the media and arguing that rival Hillary Clinton is systematically trying to destroy him._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 9, 2017 12:48 PM UTC  Jon Favreau, Former Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama at The John F. Kennedy School Of Government's "The Language and Legacy of Presidential Speechwriting" in Boston, Massachusetts on March 27, 2013. Jon Favreau, Former Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama at The John F. Kennedy School Of Government's "The Language and Legacy of Presidential Speechwriting" in Boston, Massachusetts on March 27, 2013. Paul Marotta—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 9, 2017 12:48 PM UTC Tommy Vietor, Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett didn’t think [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/) had a chance last November. Now the three former aides to [President Obama](http://time.com/4302043/barack-obama-2016-time-100/) are eating crow—and taking a page from his playbook. On Monday, the three are launching “[Crooked Media](http://www.getcrookedmedia.com/),” a political website that makes no bones about its opposition to the incoming president, and is designed as “ a place to talk about politics that informs, entertains, and inspires action.” Targeting Americans dismayed by Trump’s election, the former spokespeople and speechwriters are aiming to go around traditional media to reach young Democratic supporters. “We’re not journalists, we’re not unbiased, we’re not always serious and we’re certainly not always right,” Vietor, Favreau, and Lovett write in their mission statement. “But we promise a no-bulls–t conversation about politics where you can laugh, cry, scream, ridicule us daily, share your ideas, and hopefully decide that you want to help fix this mess too.” The three, who are working full-time on the project, said they want to move beyond analysis to encouraging political participation and activism. “I think the lesson for \[Democrats\] is that if you’re solely filtering your message through the media, you’ve already lost,” Vietor said. “He has Breitbart and Twitter and he’ll just swamp you. We need to do a better job of connecting directly and activating people.” Breitbart was a constant booster of Trump’s candidacy during the campaign, and its former CEO, Stephen Bannon, is set to assume a top White House position when Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20\. Conservative sites echoed Trump’s policies to the GOP primary base, while rallying [the so-called ](http://time.com/4569895/donald-trump-stephen-bannon-alt-right/) [“alt-right”](http://time.com/4569895/donald-trump-stephen-bannon-alt-right/) to Trump’s cause. Through much of 2016, the three former Obama staffers, along with former White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, hosted a biweekly podcast, _Keepin’ It 1600_, on The Ringer. Retitled as [_Pod Save America_](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pod-save-america/id1192761536?mt=2)_,_ it will be the inaugural offering of their new effort and re-launches Monday. They also plan to bring other podcasts, video, and written content to the site. ## Transcript I will not allow the Clinton machine to turn our campaign into a discussion of their slanders and lies, but will remain focused on the issues facing the American people. Anyone who challenges their control is deemed a sexist. A racist, a xenophobe, and morally deformed. They will attack you. They will slander you. They will seek to destroy your career and your family. The will seek to destroy everything about you including your reputation. They will lie, lie, lie. And then again, they will do worse than that. They will do whatever is necessary. The Clintons are criminals, remember that. They're criminals. Now we address the slander and libels that was just last night thrown at me. By the Clinton machine and the New York Times and other media outlets as part of a concerted, coordinated and vicious attack. Then there was a writer from People Magazine who wrote a story on Melania and myself. These vicious claims About me, of inappropriate conduct with women, are totally and absolutely false. But last night we hear that after 12 years. This took place 12 years ago, this story. A new claim that I made inappropriate advances During the interview to this write take a look. You take a look, look at her. Look at her words you tell me what you think I don't think so. I don't think. The claims are preposterous, ridiculous and the fighters common sense a logic [ INAUDIBLE ] We already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies. And it will be made public in an appropriate, and at an appropriate way very soon. Many of my friends and many political experts warned me that this campaign would be A journey to hell. Said that. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] But they're wrong, it will be a journey to heaven because we will help so many people. [ APPLAUSE ] That are so desperately in need of help. I never knew it would be this vile. That it would be this bad. That it would be this viscous. Nevertheless, I take all of these slings and arrows gladly for you. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4627878/barack-obama-donald-trump-crooked-media/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4627878/barack-obama-donald-trump-crooked-media/"},"headline":"3 Obama Alumni Are Launching a 'Crooked Media' Company for the Donald Trump Era","datePublished":"2017-01-09T12:48:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:47.112Z","description":"\"We’re not journalists, we’re not unbiased, we’re not always serious and we’re certainly not always right\"","url":"https://time.com/4627878/barack-obama-donald-trump-crooked-media/","keywords":["Media","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3bddc5ba5c6e3b6/6988b4c58e06013dc7468bee/jon-favreau.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3bddc5ba5c6e3b6/6988b4c58e06013dc7468bee/jon-favreau.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John F. 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