The war that is being waged between Donald Trump on one side and the unholy union of the Left and the Press on the other side escalated to another level this past week. The Left claimed a couple scalps, in the resignation of Michael Flynn and the withdrawal of Andrew Pudzer, by engaging in the time-honored tactic of making mountains out of molehills. While there may be actual meat in the Flynn story, Pudzer’s takedown was rooted in scaring people with trivialities.
Trump, in response, decided to take the emboldened Press out to the woodshed yesterday, with an impromptu press conference that ran over an hour and included a healthy tongue-lashing. The Press presented this just as he predicted they would, by portraying it as “ranting” and the like. They also mined his words for content, and, as predictably, played the “gotcha” game. In particular, they derided him for yet another unforced error: his false assertion that he had the biggest electoral college victory since Reagan. Trump’s detractors on the Left have been peppering social media with the list that demonstrates his error.
To what end? Anyone who’s paying attention knows that the Untethered Orange Id isn’t particularly attached to speaking unassailable truths and hard facts, and, far more importantly, has already witnessed that this doesn’t matter to his supporters. As political columnist Salena Zito observed, Trump’s supporters take him seriously but not literally. No amount of “gotcha” fact-checking is going to change that reality. Rather, the incessant harping on what, in terms of policy and relevance to the big picture, are minor distractions is more likely to do harm to the detractors and their side of this war.
The Press lives and dies with its credibility, and that credibility is inextricably tied to objectivity and the idea that its reports are fair. If every gaffe from a known gaffer is descended upon with the frenzy of a Dan Quayle potatoe incident, people will increasingly lose trust in anything the Press reports. If every incident, great or small, is reported on as if it was a Mount Vesuvius eruption, more and more people will conclude the press simply has it out for Trump (yes, you and I already know that they do, but we’ve been paying attention). In short, the Press, goaded on by the subset of the Left that is making the most noise, is hurting itself as much as it’s hurting Trump with its over-the-top tactics.
Unfortunately, over-the-top has been what sells news ever since news started to be sold. Staid, objective journalism is boring to all but wonks, and wonks are a minority. Hyperbole and exaggeration are mainstays. In the language of warfare, they’re conventional weapons, used effectively for decades to fight conventional wars against conventional politicians.
The problem is, at least for the Press, that Trump is not a conventional politician. He hasn’t been and will not be cowed by such an onslaught, no matter how big or persistent. Yesterday’s news conference proved that. He’s tapped into a populist undercurrent that is actually fed and emboldened by the Press’s conventional tactics, and he knows it. So, yesterday, he stomped on the Press, to the cheers of his supporters. And, in doing so, not only took back momentum, but illustrated yet again for his opponents that he is not a conventional foe.
If the Press still considers it their mission to take Trump down, they’re going to have to alter tactics. While many still believe that relentless, across-the-board pressure will win out, it is a belief we’ve heard many times this past year and which has proven wrong every single time. Their continued application of the same old techniques is hurting them more than it’s hurting Trump. Yes, they’ve won a few battles, and have slowed Trump’s Hannibal- (or Sherman-) -esque march somewhat, but theirs is a war of attrition, and every sign points to Trump’s side having far greater morale, armament and endurance.
The Press, in destroying its own credibility, is emptying its figurative armories and magazines. And, as it does so, it weakens its ability to effectively criticize Trump and his administration on big issues. It also, counterproductively, hardens his supporters’ resolve and may very well tip undecideds, waverers and fence sitters over to his side. Turning a molehill into a mountain involves moving a lot of earth, and leaves holes behind. Too many such holes can capture the digger in a trap of his own making.
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