And so the mainstream news media’s sadomasochistic relationship with Donald Trump resumes. Our body politic will surely be the better for it.
The New York Times has seven—seven!—stories about Trump on the front page above the fold. Did he shoot someone on 5th avenue? Is the victim OK?
No the occasion is a Colorado court ruling to boot him from the ballot. This will surely be overturned by a higher court. If it’s not, it will surely backfire politically. If it doesn’t, it will not have an impact on the election as Colorado is solid blue. In other words, in the course of world events — which currently include mass atrocities in Gaza and a seismic shift in the electorate since young people disapprove of indiscriminate slaughter — it literally does not matter. Yet, the New York Times is making it matter:
Indicted or Barred From the Ballot: For Trump, Bad News Cements Support
Trump Is Disqualified From 2024 Ballot, Colorado Court Says in Explosive Ruling
Colorado Voters Share Sense of Unease After Court Disqualifies Trump
Trump’s Legal Jeopardy Hasn’t Hurt His G.O.P. Support, Times/Siena Poll Finds
Nearly a Quarter of Trump Voters Say He Shouldn’t Be Nominated if Convicted
Dude, all of these headlines could be tucked into a single story about the ruling, which could be way below the fold. “A Colorado ruling has disqualified Donald Trump from the ballot. However, the ruling may not sit well with certain Colorado voters. And it may play into Trump’s message of victimhood.” There. You covered this “story.”
Mainstream liberal media has been addicted to Presidential candidate Trump from the start. “He is good for business,” CNN executive Tony Maddox said in 2017. “It’s a glib thing to say. But our performance has been enhanced during this news period and how we’ve chosen to cover it.”
I guess I stupidly thought it’d be different this time. It never is! They never change!
Demanding that mainstream media give up Trump click bait is a pointless exercise but it’s worth noting why it’s bad.
It helps Trump. The Boomers frothing in rage over his unrepentant criminality are, obviously, not swing voters. Trump voters (as one of the seven stories points out!) eat up his narrative of victimhood. When mainstream media, which he’s marked as his, and their, oppressor, pays him undue critical attention, they prove his point. This happened over and over and over again.
When I went to the NRA convention in Texas a few years ago I was interviewing people and one guy grumbled, “You couldn’t say one damn bad thing about Obama, now you can’t say one damn good thing about Trump.” This statement is inaccurate. But making inaccurate statements does not disqualify people from campaigning or voting.
There was never much air in the GOP challenger field, but this just vacuum seals it.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Substance to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.