OPINION:
Something remarkable has happened in the last few weeks: The press has turned on GOP presumed presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Admittedly, the mainstream media has never really been “for” the businessman. But during the primary season, his coverage wasn’t all bad, and the folks over at MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” practically cheered him on. Co-host Mika Brzezinski won a truck.
Now, the giddy laughter has subsided. Earlier on, Joe Scarborough made every excuse for Mr. Trump. He helped defend his Nazi-esque salutes. He threw softballs during a town hall that the show hosted asking hard-hitting questions like: “Why did you decide to run for president?” and “How will you set yourself apart” from other Republicans?”
No longer. The show has turned into a vitriolic hate-fest for the GOP front-runner. Just look at this exchange Monday morning on the comments Mr. Trump made criticizing the judge overseeing his Trump University case. The judge was born in Indiana, but he is of Mexican heritage, so Mr. Trump is crying bias (a huge mistake, in my opinion, but Mr. Trump has been making them throughout his campaign).
“Can I just do a poll? Is that racism?” Ms. Brzezinski asked panelist Nicolle Wallace, who replied, “Yes.”
Mr. Scarborough said: “It’s completely racist.”
He then went on a tirade against all Republicans who have supported or endorsed Mr. Trump, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan.
“[Ryan] cannot say, ’Oh, well, Donald Trump’s Donald Trump.’ Donald Trump’s Donald Trump, but the House is — no, now he endorses Donald Trump. He endorses his racism against Muslims, Paul Ryan endorses his racism against Mexicans. Paul Ryan endorses his racism against Americans who may have, oh, I don’t know, 1/16th Mexican blood in there, saying they’re disqualified to be judges,” Mr. Scarborough ranted.
I’m not saying Mr. Scarborough’s comments weren’t justified — they just represent a huge tonal shift in his show.
This shift can also be seen in the newspapers.
The Washington Post, which has pledged 20 reporters to dig up Mr. Trump’s past, had the business mogul on its front-page every day last week. Not one of the eight articles were positive — with only one process-related, explaining Mr. Ryan’s endorsement.
Compare that to the coverage of Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Mrs. Clinton was covered on the front pages of The Post twice during the same time period — once for “hammering” Mr. Trump as “unfit” in her foreign policy speech, and the other describing her relationship with a liberal mentor.
“News outlets ought to rethink the purpose of their campaign coverage,” Margaret Sullivan wrote in the Style section of The Post Monday. “It’s not to be equally nice to all candidates. It’s to provide Americans with the hard information they need to decide who is fit to lead the country.”
Ms. Sullivan calls on the press to ask tough follow-up questions to Mr. Trump, to hold him accountable for the words he says — to not be swayed by the ratings Mr. Trump provides for many cable-network shows.
After Mr. Trump’s press conference last week — where he condemned the media for holding him accountable to make sure the money he raised for veterans groups actually went to veterans groups — columnist Paul Waldman, also noticed a shift in the media’s handling of Mr. Trump.
“If the tone of his coverage up until now has been ’Wow, is this election crazy or what!’ it could become much more serious – as is completely appropriate given that we’re choosing someone to hold the most powerful position on earth,” Mr. Waldman wrote.
Mr. Waldman gave an example of CNN fact-checking Mr. Trump’s statements, live on-air and on-the-fly, as responsible journalism we have yet to see this election cycle.
If Mr. Trump wants to win this election, he needs to be wary of this shift in coverage. He needs to stop giving both the left and anti-Trump Republicans ammunition to shoot down his candidacy. Stop talking about federal judges and their ethnicity, stop railing against those in the GOP who haven’t been overly supportive, stop talking about Trump University.
Start talking about Mrs. Clinton, her corruption, her deceit. Start making the press focus on her candidacy. Call her names, hold a press conference bashing her and her foreign policy failures. The jobs report was a disaster last week. Highlight that. What has the Clinton Foundation been up to? Where are Mrs. Clinton’s missing Wall Street speech transcripts? For how long have the Clintons personally profited off what was supposed to be their public service?
For the media tide seems to be turning, and in order to survive, Mr. Trump needs to keep his focus on the singular thing that unites Republicans: avoiding a third Clinton term.
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