It was a vicious campaign, with the Republican candidate challenging a sitting Democratic president launching vicious accusations that the president was conspiring with others to change the outcome of the election.
No, this was the 1940 campaign, not 2024.
That year’s Republican presidential candidate, Wendell Willkie, accused Franklin D. Roosevelt of plotting to start World War II. Unfairly Accused Roosevelt called Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, urging them to “betray Czechoslovakia.” Maintained Just to stay in power, Roosevelt “invited the country into a war for which it was hopelessly unprepared” and for which he “resolutely did not want to enter.”
These allegations infuriated President Roosevelt, who called himself “Fight like crazy“ Philadelphia SpeechTrump denounced the vile accusations, telling partisan Democrats that “genuine electoral debate on public issues is essential to our form of American polity.”
but, He added“It is not permissible to deliberately misrepresent the facts, during an election or at any other time.”Intentional misrepresentationThe warnings cited by Roosevelt were that “the unfortunate unemployed people of the country will be driven into concentration camps” and that “the election of the present administration will mean within four years the end of American democracy.”
Roosevelt Explained the method It is a technique used by foreign dictators and domestic dissidents to gain support. “It is a very simple technique of repeating a lie over and over again, with the idea that by repeating it repeatedly and without contradiction, eventually the false statement will be believed.” As a result, he said,fear” and “DoubtIn government and in democracy itself.”
Nevertheless, he He reassured the audience. Democracy will prevail thanks to a free and fair press. “I find it hard to believe that deliberate and repeated false statements can prevail in a democracy such as ours.”
Today, Donald Trump repeatedly and deliberately makes false statements without any universally credible media source to refute them. Weekly newspaper circulation Viewership has fallen by more than half since 1940, and the three networks’ evening newscasts have the largest audiences. Is a fraction It’s a far cry from what it used to be.That is the reality. ”
Instead, we have a plethora of news media designed to comfort, not inform. Conservatives flock to cable channels like Fox News and Newsmax, while liberals tune into MSNBC. Pew Research Center Poll It turns out that most Americans want reporters to talk about their politics more than any other personal characteristic.
To reassure viewers, partisan news networks Highly acclaimedFox News is the ratings king, but with Donald Trump’s resurgence and courtroom theatrics, MSNBC is… Trump derogatorily calls them “MSDNC.”— rose to second place in viewership, while more traditional news outlet CNN saw its viewership fall. Lowest in history.
The development has created tensions within more traditional newsrooms. Recently explained MSNBC’s number one host, Rachel Maddow, berated her boss on air during a segment of Donald Trump’s victory speech on Super Tuesday. According to the Times, NBC’s established journalists “I’ve been repeating the cycle of resentment and giving upThe company has resented the partisanship of its sister networks, and local NBC stations have called on network executives to do more to protect its nonpartisan brand.
The result is a minefield of journalism and partisanship. Editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer Some pro-Trump readers regularly accuse him of alleged criminal activity, including ignoring the Biden family’s criminal enterprise. answer He stated bluntly: “The North Star here is the truth. We’ll tell the truth even if it offends the people who pay for information.”
But trusted, fact-based reporting is quickly becoming irrelevant, as viewers often tune in to news channels or log onto their favorite internet sites not to be informed but to confirm what they already believe.
As a result, Franklin Roosevelt’s assurance that democracy can be sustained by a free and fair press is no longer valid. A gifted showman like Donald Trump “Fake News” to find out which news executives care most about ratings.
During the 2016 election, then-CBS Chairman and CEO Les Moonves Said “It may not be good for America, but it’s very good for CBS,” he said of Trump’s rise.
Joe Biden speaks to reporters at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Said“In an age of disinformation, it’s more important than ever that people have information they can trust.” to add“And that makes you more important than ever.”
Returning to that Philadelphia SpeechFranklin Roosevelt reminded us that the presidency is a most sacred trust, “not a commodity to be sold by high-pressure salesmanship.”
Maintaining that trust isn’t just a responsibility that falls on those seeking the presidency — it’s the media’s responsibility to ensure that voters have accurate information when they enter the polls and fulfill their most sacred civic duty.
Today, that bond of trust has been broken, and our democracy is at risk.
John Kenneth White is a professor of political science at Catholic University. His latest book is “Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism.” He can be reached at: John Kenneth White.
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