The EEOC’s discrimination lawsuit against The New York Times is MAGA catnip

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s new lawsuit against The New York Times — on behalf of an unnamed white man who reportedly didn’t get a promotion — is a hat trick for the Trump administration. It’s an attack on traditional civil rights legislation and diversity, equity and inclusion policies; it’s an attack on the press; and it’s red meat for a MAGA world that’s convinced itself that white men — who have typically enjoyed the lion’s share of America’s resources and opportunities — are victims in today’s society.

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The priorities of this administration are clear: Protect the advantages of white men at all costs.

It’s red meat for a MAGA world that’s convinced itself that white men are victims in today’s society.

According to the lawsuit the EEOC filed in federal district court in Lower Manhattan, in denying the white male plaintiff a promotion, The New York Times violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. “No one is above the law — including ‘elite’ institutions,” EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said in a statement. “There is no such thing as ‘reverse discrimination’; all race or sex discrimination is equally unlawful, according to long-established civil rights principles.”

By waving the proverbial scepter of litigation over a titan like The New York Times, the Trump administration is using the EEOC to send a message to news outlets to watch not only their editorial content but their employment practices as well. The intent here is plain and unambiguous. The newspaper has embraced DEI policies, but the administration, with this suit, hopes to have a chilling effect on diversity in newsrooms. We have already seen plenty of examples of the administration attempting to control what news is told; now the same administration is arguing that who

tells the news should be within its purview.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is poised to file a civil rights lawsuit against The New York Times, centered on the allegations of a white male employee who did not get a sought-after promotion and argued it was because of his race and gender.

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2026-05-03T21:20:04.335416Z

It’s likely that the administration also sees the EEOC’s lawsuit as a much-needed distraction. The administration is currently entangled in controversy and scandal, and the president is facing historically low approval numbers. Attacking the Times now provides fodder and fuel for the culture wars that many on the right have successfully used to galvanize their base of supporters.

Lucas is correct that there is no such thing as reverse discrimination; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 wasn’t intended to grant special accommodations to Black people on account of race. Even so, as a former senior trial attorney with the EEOC, I clearly understand the mission of the agency, I understand the laws that give it the power of enforcement, and I know that it was intended to protect the rights of Black people and other classes against the systemic ills that unjustly barred them from equal opportunity in the workplace.

Charles F. Coleman Jr.

Charles F. Coleman Jr. is a civil rights attorney and a former Brooklyn, New York, prosecutor. He is an MSNBC legal analyst. Follow him on Twitter @CFColemanJr.