Tim Dillon may not fit neatly into any political box, but when it comes to the media, his clarity is razor-sharp. In a recent sit-down with CNN’s Elle Reeve, the stand-up comic and podcast host delivered a masterclass in controlled pushback—methodically dismantling corporate media talking points with calm precision and just enough sarcasm to sting.
Reeve’s angle was familiar: suggest that podcast hosts like Dillon, Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and Andrew Schulz helped hand Donald Trump a second term by providing platforms for Trump and now–Vice President J.D. Vance. Dillon didn’t bite.
Instead, he used the moment to hold a mirror up to the real influence peddlers—not podcasters with open mics and jokes, but entrenched media institutions that have spent decades scripting narratives with manufactured authority and a declining grip on public trust.
“The media has become predictable and boring,” Dillon said. “And the Internet has been an antidote to that.”
Dillon didn’t need to shout. He didn’t need a viral meltdown. He did something far more devastating to the CNN brand—he calmly exposed their obsolescence.
NEW: CNN interviewer gets humbled after asking comedian Tim Dillon if podcasts are becoming a “new establishment.”
CNN’s Elle Reeve: Do you feel like you’re part of a new establishment that’s being created?
Dillon: “The idea that the power that Theo Von has would be equal to… pic.twitter.com/OEDpHbhO5S
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 19, 2025
“The news has said a variation of the same thing for a very long time,” he said. “And people tend to get bored.”
He argued that younger Americans, raised online, see right through the “fake, stilted corporate speak” of legacy outlets like CNN and Fox News. They’ve turned to digital voices—not because those voices claim to be right, but because they’re real.
Reeve kept coming back to the idea that Dillon and his fellow “Dudebros” cost Democrats the election. Dillon responded with a surgical takedown of that fantasy.
“It would be pretty difficult to look at these podcasts,” he began, “after running an incredibly unpopular candidate who was introduced very late in the race because an elderly man who could not be the president… [was] functioning as the president for the past four years.”
He went on to say what few in media will admit: Kamala Harris was never a political star, her communication was weak, and the Democrats’ platform in 2024 was flat-out uninspiring.
“So to hang this defeat all on a few podcasters and to say that they were the problem? I just don’t buy the narratives,” Dillon said.
The interview climaxed with one line that stuck harder than any viral meme or punchline:
“The idea that the power that Theo Von has would be equal to the power of the intelligence agencies or these massive Legacy Media institutions seems crazy.”
Crazy indeed. Yet that’s the illusion the corporate press has leaned on—deflecting from their own collapse by scapegoating comedians and conversationalists who’ve simply earned the trust they lost.
