We have breaking news tonight. Remember the live-fire artillery drill in California that I exclusively reported on earlier this week? One of those shells detonated early, directly over Interstate 5, and damaged a vehicle in Vice President JD Vance’s security detail.
When I first reported this plan, critics called it “fearmongering.” They said it couldn’t be true. But this is exactly what happens when people sane-wash what is happening in America. When we convince ourselves that reckless and dangerous behavior is somehow normal, we stop holding power accountable.
We cannot do that. And I will never do that.
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What Is “Sane-Washing”?
“Sane-washing” is a term I’ve started using more often lately. It refers to a growing trend where both the media and the public normalize or excuse alarming political behavior simply because it has become familiar, especially when it comes from Donald Trump or members of his administration.
We see it every day in the casual phrases people use to dismiss outrageous headlines: “It’s just Trump” or “Trump will be Trump.” But what those phrases really mean is that we have lowered our standards. We have decided that behavior once considered unthinkable for any public official is now just part of the show.
And we are seeing that play out in real time. Earlier this week, I exclusively reported for MeidasTouch that Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were planning to fire live artillery rounds into Camp Pendleton as part of the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary celebrations. Many dismissed that report, accusing me of “fearmongering” or exaggerating the situation.
They were wrong.
Yesterday, Vance personally oversaw the firing of artillery shells over Interstate 5, forcing authorities to temporarily close the highway for safety reasons. Just minutes ago, new information confirmed that one of JD Vance’s vehicles was damaged after an artillery shell prematurely detonated, scattering fragments onto a California Highway Patrol vehicle and a motorcycle that were part of the Vice President’s security detail, according to an official patrol report. I have exclusive photos of the fragments below:
That is not normal. That is not politics as usual. Yet the reaction from much of the media and the public has been muted, as if the President firing live munitions over a major interstate is just another day in American politics. That is sane-washing in action.
A Disturbing New Normal
Take just the past 24 hours as an example. In response to the massive “No Kings Day” protests, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video showing himself in a fighter jet, wearing a crown, dumping feces on Americans who were protesting, including Democratic activist Harry Sisson.
Instead of condemning the video or calling for a basic level of presidential dignity, JD Vance went on Twitter to attack Sisson and promised to ask Trump personally why he posted it. This was not an offhand comment or a late-night rant. It was a deliberate statement from the Vice President while the government remains shut down for nineteen days.
Meanwhile, as federal workers go unpaid, the President spent the day lashing out at critics on Truth Social, and the Vice President mirrored his tone on Twitter.
Now imagine if the roles were reversed. If President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had shared the same type of doctored videos targeting private citizens during a shutdown, every conservative outlet in the country would be demanding their resignation. The outrage would be endless. But because it is Trump, the story barely breaks through.
The Dangerous Ripple Effect
This normalization is not limited to Washington. It is seeping into how everyday Americans process the news.
When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently claimed during a meeting with a Qatari official that Qatar would “build” a military facility at a U.S. base in Idaho, the internet immediately erupted with disbelief. Thousands insisted he must have misspoken or did not know what he was talking about. Why? Because many assumed he was still a Fox News host, not the Secretary of Defense.
That knee-jerk disbelief, the assumption that something so absurd could not possibly be true, is itself a product of sane-washing. The news cycle has become so chaotic that our instinct now is to dismiss shocking developments as exaggerations instead of reckoning with how real and dangerous they are.
The Media’s Role and Ours
The media has a crucial responsibility here. It must hold all leaders, Republican, Democrat, or Independent, to the same standard of truth and accountability. When journalists minimize or rationalize misconduct because “that’s just how Trump operates,” they erode the public’s understanding of what is acceptable in a democracy.
I refuse to do that. Every day, my work is rooted in calling things what they are, not what we wish they were, not what is politically convenient, and not what we have grown numb to.
Because when we stop expecting integrity, when we start normalizing chaos, when we convince ourselves that “it’s just Trump,” we are no longer protecting democracy. We are participating in its decline.
And that is exactly why we have to stop sane-washing America.