The 5 Pulitzer Prize Winners Donald Trump Is Probably the Angriest About

In one of his recent angry, lengthy weekend Twitter rants, Donald Trump expressed his anger with the “Noble Prize” committee and their choices of recipients for awards in journalism. Two things here. One: It’s spelled “Nobel.” Two: There is no Nobel Prize for journalism. The equivalent (in America) is the Pulitzer and it’s not clear why Trump had those awards on his mind since the winners hadn’t been announced yet.

Those awards—long with the finalists, which are named at the same time as the winners—were announced Monday, though, and there were a lot of really exciting results for journalism nerds to revel in.

Predictably, there were also a lot of announcements that are likely to make Trump and his base angry—or will make him angry, if Fox & Friends ever covers the results.

Here are the five winners most likely to make Trump the angriest:

5. Music – The Central Park Five by Anthony Davis

I haven’t seen this opera but according to NPR, Trump is a character in it. To this day, he has refused to admit that he was wrong and racist in the public comments he made in 1989 when he took out full-page newspaper ads tacitly calling for the death penalty for the five boys wrongly convicted of rape.

Davis himself has said that those ads were where Trump’s political career began. So he was campaigning on fear and racism and lies from the very start.

4. Explanatory Reporting – The Washington Post on climate change

In the past, Trump has called climate change a “hoax”—a view he’s walked back in recent years, but not to the point where he’ll actually say he believes it’s real or manmade. Earlier this year, he called climate activists “prophets of doom.” So I doubt he’d be too happy about the staff of the Washington Post being celebrated for their “groundbreaking series” on the issue. Fake News, I’m sure.

3. International Reporting – The New York Times on Vladimir Putin’s regime.

The Times was awarded a Pulitzer for “a set of enthralling stories, reported at great risk, exposing the predations of Vladimir Putin’s regime.” Given that Trump has stood by Putin through the assassinations of journalists, the many war crimes, and the interference in our elections, so I’m guessing he’d be pretty angry about this award.

2. Audio Reporting – This American Life on the Trump Administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy

This is the first time an award has been given for audio reporting and it went to TAL’s three-part series on the harm being caused by Trump’s war on refugees. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.

1. Editorial Cartooning – Barry Blitt, The New Yorker

Blitt won this award for “work that skewers the personalities and policies emanating from the Trump White House with deceptively sweet watercolor style and seemingly gentle caricatures.” It’s … not exactly flattering.

Of course, these awards aren’t really about Trump, they’re about celebrating incredible feats of writing. Imagining him fuming is just a bonus.

(image: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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