People have to stop treating Donald Trump like some endlessly fascinating anomaly, like he’s worthy of the press coverage because of his unlikely and relentless rise to prominence, or because he’s usually good for an outlandish statement or three.
In many ways, Trump is old news. He’s had his fifteen minutes for way longer than anyone deserves. He’s a manipulator. He’s a master of distraction, likes setting traps, and it often appears that various media outlets keep falling right into them.
The relationship between Trump and the press is largely adversarial, or at least ironic, in that he’s usually complaining about one network or another, yet finds a way to use any and all coverage to his advantage. Trump looks for allies and sycophantic loyalty, and most of the time he finds it with Fox, OANN, and Newsmax. The rest can go pound sand, as far as he is concerned.
“Fake news” ABC, CBS, and NBC are likely on his hit list, as is PBS—you know, any organization that tries to report the news Murrow or Cronkite style. Can’t have that in Trump World. Just one more reason why he deserves to be lambasted most of the time, not trusted, and certainly not treated like a sacred cow.
Maybe “bias” isn’t always a bad thing, though it is a slippery slope. The gloves have been off for a while now, though. Haven’t they?
3 Cents' 