The mainstream media’s coverage of President Trump’s military parade in June 2025 revealed a stark disdain that bordered on outright hostility, framing the event as an authoritarian spectacle unfit for American democracy. Outlets like CNN and MSNBC lambasted the parade—held on June 14 to commemorate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary—as a wasteful display of ego, with critics decrying its estimated $45 million cost and likening it to dictatorial pageantry. Commentators on NPR and The New York Times warned that it sent the “wrong message,” threatening protesters with force and dishonoring troops through perceived contempt. Even opinion pieces in the Los Angeles Times portrayed it as a humiliating low point, emphasizing Trump’s alleged manipulation of the military for personal gain. This relentless negativity painted the celebration of American might as a threat to democratic norms, amplifying progressive outrage over what was essentially a patriotic event.

In sharp contrast, the same media outlets showered adulation on the Chinese Communist Party’s massive military parade in Beijing this week, on September 3, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. CNN highlighted China’s “newest weapons” and advanced technologies like lasers and AI, with experts marveling at the display’s sophistication. The Guardian and Reuters described it as a “highly choreographed” showcase of “military might,” noting bold messaging to the U.S. and allies, while AP and The Washington Post emphasized Xi Jinping’s projection of unstoppable power flanked by allies like Putin and Kim Jong Un. Time Magazine framed it as China parading its “high-end weapons” in a unified front, with little criticism of the authoritarian undertones or the event’s role in glorifying the CCP’s revisionist history. This glowing portrayal celebrated the parade’s scale and strategic implications, treating it as a legitimate expression of national pride rather than a propagandistic overreach.

This glaring double standard in media treatment—deriding Trump’s parade as despotic while fawning over the CCP’s—betrays an underlying sympathy for Maoist ideologies, where collectivist authoritarianism is romanticized when wielded by leftist regimes. By vilifying American military displays as fascist while extolling Beijing’s as impressive feats of strength, outlets like CNN and The Guardian implicitly endorse the CCP’s totalitarian model over democratic traditions. Such hypocrisy suggests a deeper ideological bias, rooted in cultural relativism that excuses Mao-era echoes in modern China but condemns any perceived nationalism in the U.S., ultimately revealing how mainstream narratives align more closely with socialist sympathies than objective journalism.