Jonathan Swan (born August 7, 1985) is an Australian-American investigative journalist at The New York Times whose 2020 interview with US president Donald Trump drew media attention and acclaim.[1]
Raised in Sydney, Swan started out in journalism with Australian papers before emigrating to the United States. In 2016, he joined the newly founded media outlet Axios, covering Trump's first administration. Swan broke several major stories and became a rising figure in political journalism, contributing to Axios's rise to prominence. But some of his reports, such as his 2018 interview with Trump, were called out for lacking insight and critique.
Swan interviewed Trump again in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He was praised for fact-checking Trump's falsehoods and constantly challenging his remarks, which, according to journalists, exposed the president as unprepared. His stunned facial expressions made in response to Trump's statements became a viral internet meme. A year later, Axios won the Emmy Award for Best Edited Interview for Swan's work.
At age 25, Swan entered into journalism, covering politics for The Sydney Morning Herald.[6] Around this time, he was a national political reporter for Fairfax Media.[7] Swan became known for his scoops—most notably, his revelations on parliamentarians abusing taxpayer funds and his unearthing a video of a senator hurling kangaroo feces at his brother.[3][8] In 2014,[6][8] as part of a fellowship with the American Political Science Association, Swan emigrated to the United States to work as a congressional aide in Washington, D.C.[6][9] American politics intrigued him, and he had long aspired to venture into American journalism.[9] After approaching several national media outlets, The Hill hired him.[8]
United States career
Beginnings
Swan began reporting on politics at The Hill in 2015.[9] A year later, he joined Axios shortly before the company's founding,[10] and it is at Axios that his career "accelerated", writes journalist Paul Farhi.[6]
Swan's reports made him a rising influence in the journalistic scene,[6][8] but his efforts did rouse controversy. Some commentators accused him of favoring "access over accountability"[3][8] in light of his refusal to strongly challenge the White House's actions and, in Farhi's view, the lack of depth in his articles, with the one detailing the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital being just 55 words long.[6][a] According to The New York Times, some held that "he irritates the White House, but rarely infuriates it".[8] His paid speaking engagements, earning him as much as $25,000 per speech,[6] also attracted criticism.[8] In September 2018, Swan reported that Deputy Attorney GeneralRod Rosenstein had resigned, which caused a stir in the media. The report, however, was false. This damaged Axios's reputation, which had already been questioned owing to their articles' perceived shallowness.[8] Nevertheless, Farhi observes that Swan's peers regarded him as a "rigorous and independent reporter".[6]
First Trump interview (2018)
Swan in his 2018 interview with Donald Trump, as he grins exuberantly while inquiring the president on his plan to repeal birthright citizenship
Swan interviewed Trump in October 2018.[12] In one preview clip, Trump revealed that he was planning to end birthright citizenship in the US,[6][8] a constitutionally protected right.[6] Swan did not challenge the president's claims, some of which were untrue;[6][8] for example, when Trump falsely declared that no other country had birthright citizenship, Swan said nothing in response.[6] Commentators also pointed out that Swan appeared gleeful and overexcited.[8][12]
Swan faced stern backlash.[6][8] Journalist Sam Biddle described the interview as "the ne plus ultra of media toadying"[8] and Libby Watson deemed it "less a news story than … a press release".[6] It only worsened Swan and Axios's reputation of favoring access over accountability.[3][8] Shortly after the interview, Axios hired a journalist to improve its reputation by lobbying for changes to the Wikipedia articles on itself and Swan; he pushed for promotional material to be included, such as an "Awards and Honors" section, and recommended that controversies related to Swan be whitewashed.[13] Conversely, veteran journalist Bob Woodward argued that he was not soft—he was "tough but fair".[6] Swan regretted his performance.[8][11]
Second Trump interview (2020)
Two years later, Swan interviewed Trump again. The interview lasted 38 minutes[14] and aired on Axios's HBO series on August 3, 2020.[12][14] The US was then engulfed in the COVID-19 pandemic that had killed upward of 100,000 Americans[15] as well as nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd.[16] This time, Swan's approach was more critical.[11] He pointedly challenged and spotlit the president's false and misleading statements throughout.[11][12][17] When Trump, for example, described the pandemic as being "under control", Swan responded, "How? A thousand Americans are dying a day."[18]
Swan in his 2020 interview with Donald Trump, as he gives a befuddled expression in response to the president's statements
According to commentators, Swan managed to challenge Trump by deploying an aggressive line of follow-up questions.[11][19][20] When Trump ambiguously said, "people say…", Swan replied, "Which people?".[21] The president often could not answer such questions.[20]Daniel Dale of CNN wrote that, in his interviews, Trump would state one false claim after the other in a "hit-and-run" strategy, and interviewers would generally let them pass. However, Swan kept asking "how?", "what?", and "who?", which thwarted Trump's strategy.[19] Journalist David Brody asserted that while Trump often dominated interviews by "commandeering" them, Swan humbled him.[12] This left Trump stumbling through responses as he appeared baffled and unprepared.[18][21]
Swan was also noted for his facial expressions made in reaction to some of Trump's claims. They shifted between confusion, fury, bemusement, and bewilderment.[11][21] Beyond the pandemic, commentators pointed out that Swan exposed the president's unwillingness to praise the recently deceased civil rights activist John Lewis[20] as well as his doubling down on "wish[ing] [ Ghislaine Maxwell] well" after her arrest for abetting child prostitution.[18][22] The interview was widely praised,[3][12][17] with TheNew York Times'Ben Smith suggesting it was "the best interview of Mr Trump’s term".[17] Commentators noted Swan's efforts at fact-checking Trump;[17][21] his approach, they argued, ensured that the president was kept accountable.[11][21][23] For his work, Axios was awarded the 2021 Emmy Award for Best Edited Interview.[10] The interview proved a media and internet sensation,[17][21] and Swan's stunned facial expressions became a viral internet meme.[3][11][21]
Karl, Jonathan (2021). Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show. New York City, New York: Penguin Random House. ISBN978-0593186329.
Kikerpill, Kristjan (2022). "Misinformation, Scandalization, and the Trump Show: Audience Responses to President Trump's Pandemic Narrative". In Chen, Shing-Ling S.; Allaire, Nicole; Chen, Joyce Zhuojun (eds.). Discordant Pandemic Narratives in the U.S. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN978-1-7936-5533-2.
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