Watching the left’s reaction to President Trump’s decision to repair and expand the White House is like watching a tantrum in slow motion — the new nickname “Ballroom Derangement Syndrome” is unfortunately earned. Conservatives have called out the hysterics for what they are: predictable, performative outrage aimed at scoring cheap political points rather than dealing with the facts.
Here’s the practical truth the media won’t properly cover: crews began demolishing parts of the aging East Wing to make way for a privately funded ballroom, not a taxpayer-funded vanity project, and presidents of both parties have long updated the executive mansion. Yet the same people who cheered renovations under past administrations are suddenly historians and guardians of the republic when Trump renovates — hypocrisy by any fair standard.
That’s why sensible voices on our side — including media critics like Joe Concha on Fox & Friends First — are rightly calling out the dishonest outrage. Concha and other conservatives note that Democrats will oppose anything Trump does, even when the work is privately financed and celebrates America’s institutions rather than erodes them. This isn’t debate; it’s a reflexive smear campaign meant to distract from the Left’s failures.
Meanwhile, the same political class that lectures Americans about decorum is caught on national television making chokehold metaphors and throat-slash gestures. Texas State Rep. Jolanda Jones told CNN she would “go across your neck” and made a slashing motion while pronouncing she’d “wipe out” Republicans, a comment that should alarm every lawmaker who values civility. The footage speaks for itself, and it’s chilling that such rhetoric was delivered on a mainstream cable show.
What’s worse is the media’s muted response to that violent imagery; too many outlets either normalized the comment or shrugged it off, exposing a double standard where Democrats’ extremes are tolerated while conservatives are policed for the slightest misstep. If the roles were reversed, the same networks that now look the other way would be howling for resignations and bans — but selective outrage is their business model.
Hardworking Americans deserve leaders who build, not just politicians who perform. They deserve a media that treats all threats to civility the same, and they deserve political opposition that argues ideas instead of brandishing metaphors of violence. If Democrats want to bemoan a ballroom while one of their own talks about slashing throats, the voters will decide which party is serious about governing and which is serious only about spectacle.
