American Renewal: Trump Plays the Media

Commentary

The election of President Donald Trump was a providential gift to us all. So many good things have happened since he assumed the presidency; so many accomplishments and so many victories can be linked to his winning.

One big surprise has been the self-immolation of our leftist media—the unveiling of how biased and how deeply corrupt they have become. For decades, they have been the vanguard of the Democratic Party. For decades, they have been skewing the news, misreporting the news, and, much of the time, manufacturing news to form narratives that simply aren’t true. They’ve gotten away with it; they’ve triumphed doing that.

Their crazed reaction to Trump’s win changed all that.

The leftist media opposing and hating what conservatives stand for isn’t new. What is new since 2016 is how intensely upfront this hatred has become. Trump beating their favorite candidate was the first time in over a decade they had lost a narrative battle. Since then, Trump has been a singular object of their hatred. The epic battle between the leftist media and the Trump presidency has raged. He didn’t start it, but in spite of appearances, he’s winning the war. That’s a joy not experienced since Reagan.

The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Reading what the amendment actually says is eye-opening. It barely mentions the press, yet you have this gaggle of geese—the press corps—constantly claiming they are the most important people in the world, ever. Without them, they say, we would become nothing but fodder for a demagogue or dictator. Without them shining a light on things, we would be forever lost in darkness. Without their incredible genius, we would never know anything.

And therein lies the true problem. They believe they are the gods of this life.

But they’re not.

They think they know more than anyone about anything.

But they don’t.

Let me say this up front: The leftist mainstream media has become a disaster and has been biased toward the left for a long time. They aren’t all that smart; they are more like lemmings or groupies. They are comprised of shallow people, the epitome of groupthink. They aren’t deep investigators; rather, they have trained themselves to go after only certain approved (or disapproved) people or ideas. They have been trained to present themselves as “unbiased reporters,” rather than the hard-left partisans they are. This group has burrowed itself into the body politic.

If I didn’t say that strongly enough, let me rephrase: Most of our leftist fourth estate has become ugly, dangerous, deranged, and despicable. It has been joined by the hordes at Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other new “platforms” the left has herded into a monolith of political PC posturing, meaning they want us to only think in certain ways. Not through example, or persuasion. Rather, they want to bully everyone into thinking one way.

Their way.

I know, I know. Not all of them. Just most of them. I know, I know, there is a new media that conservatives have carved out—talk radio, Breitbart—and there are some pretty straight news organizations still alive. Just not many.

The left’s schtick has worked. They have gotten their way for a long time; they have destroyed most who fall in their sights with their Alinskyite tactics. For decades, they have been virtually 100 percent successful in taking down who they wanted to.

Yet suddenly, they failed to take out Trump. And that infuriates them.

I began a list of media lies, discovering that Sharyl Attkisson had made one as I wrote. I suggest perusing the list. It does not capture the absurdity that is the Russia probe, nor the ridiculous daily charge of Trump being a racist, but it’s still excellent.

The left’s inability to destroy Trump, or punish his family for beating them at their own game, has driven them mad. As we have seen, it isn’t for lack of trying.

Every week, sometimes with multiple putsches per week, the leftist media has tried to destroy him and what he is doing. We have seen them lying, distorting, and destroying before. We’ve just never seen anything like what they have unleashed since 2016. We may have watched the most coordinated, sustained, and concerted effort in our history to destroy one man. Not even Abraham Lincoln was the object of so much anger, vitriol, hate, and intended malice (though he was a close second). We’ve certainly never seen anything like this.

Which gave Trump his great opportunity.

He didn’t force them to become so obviously biased; he didn’t force them to do a daily demonstration of their partisan makeup. They did that on their own. Instead of the daily two minutes of hate, it became 24/7.

But I do think he devised a strategy to beat them: Just give them little shoves. Lots of little shoves.

It began at his rallies when he started to address the dishonesty of many in the media. Not only did he address it at every rally, but he also pointed to the press as he admonished the terrible reporting.

And, oh, did that prick their pride and arrogance. So they got worse. A lot worse. By the time he began his presidency, they morphed into destruction mode with their invention, their hatred, and their bias. I forget who on the left first began to talk about the news being “fake.” They meant that Trump was making up things, so they would have to correct it with “real” news. Which was already over the top in its fraudulence.

Then, Trump used their phrase to brand them. “Fake news,” he called them. And it stuck. He has never stopped using that phrase in describing them, and they haven’t recovered.

Oh, they have hated being fought back against. They hate being called out with the truth. They hate having been branded as fakes. Trump has been masterful in his fight against them. He has devastated their reputation by pointing the finger of truth at them.

Which is one main reason they keep getting worse. For almost two years, they have been desperate with their “reporting.” It’s so bad that most polls show the right-of-center world considers them as fakers. Not only fake, but some 80 percent of the center-right now think the mainstream media is “the enemy of the people.” A staggering number. Heck, these same polls show half of Democrat voters are disturbed by the lack of veracity in the news, as well.

It was all done with a seemingly minimal effort. Trump’s handling of them has been magnificent. He postures in ways he knows will make them angry. He says things he knows will make them angry. He sometimes tweets things he knows will make them angry. And he’s good at this, making them respond to him in ways that make them look bad. Trolling at its finest. His outing of their bias is more extraordinary than what Reagan accomplished. Trump has succeeded in getting the American public to see just how awful our mainstream media is. No one has done it better.

They are hanging themselves with their own hatred, extremism, and hubris. Sure, they still have power to influence the leftist base of crazies. Their influence isn’t gone, but their power to shape the narrative is diminishing daily.

Sooner than later, the public distrust and disdain of the mainstream media will kill them. Eventually, their hate will destroy them. Their arrogance will make them the rightful objects of ridicule. The joy of watching a group this deserving of self-destruction will be wonderful.

While they rage at insignificant things, Trump deftly continues to accomplish a list of great achievements for the country.

Keep pushing them, Mr. President. Your ability to make the media reveal its true nature will be among your greatest achievements.

Oh, and don’t forget to give Sarah Huckabee Sanders the Medal of Honor.

David Prentice is a writer and novelist from the Midwest.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.