There has been an accumulating amount of evidence that many purportedly neutral news outlets are subtly putting their thumbs on the scale against Biden - most notably in their atrocious coverage of the booming economy. The recent import of British tabloid editors to run American newsrooms does not bode well for coverage in 2024. Trump was, indeed, good for circulation and it is in those former Fleet Street editors financial interest to keep Trump viable - even help him win. Reporters maybe be neutral or lean-Democratic, but the editors are the one's writing the atrocious headlines that are all people read.
All of this comes to a head when we look at Trump's recent rallies. As Chait notes, Trump has embraced the January 6th rioters and threatened revenge on the majority of Americans who hate him. Additionally, he's showing very real signs of cognitive decline. His rally speeches are filled with gaffes that if Biden uttered them, would end Biden's campaign. Biden is, in fact, old, but Trump is just about as old chronologically, but seems to be in real mental decline.
So, how do you cover that? The Ariana Grande voter is not a member of Cult 45, but they tend to believe objectively false things, like that we are in a recession. Some of this is the terrible news coverage/headlines that suggest the economy is struggling, when it is actually the best economy in the world right now, albeit one with significant inflation concerns. These voters are not really plugged in. Do they really know how much farther right Trump has moved since January 6th? Do they know how much of his rallies are just word salad?
The problem is that preconceptions are hard to overcome. People remember the Trump years as being good economically, and to a large degree they were - right up until they weren't. They blame Biden for the massive economic hit that took place in the last year of Trump's presidency. They think Biden is the old one, when they are both old. Biden looks to be in more physical decline, because he broke his foot a few years back and his gait reflects that. whereas Trump was always an idiot and is now in the early throws of what appears to be dementia.
So, do you cover Trump the way you did in 2016? Just show his rallies - or at least the "highlights" of his rallies? How much do you keep pointing out Project 2025? There's a not uncompelling argument that this merely mainstreams and normalizes Trump's fascistic madness. The question is whether enough Americans are immune to that madness.
No big deal. Just the future of democracy around the world is at stake.
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