HHistorians have shown that a Republican candidate who could not put together a coherent sentence, was grossly underqualified, and was rife with infidelity, not only won the election, but became one of the most popular presidents in U.S. history. You've probably been worrying about what's going to happen for a long time. .
The first candidate to understand how to effectively use “new media” in a presidential campaign was, as expected, immediately taking a vacation to play golf instead of taking up work in Washington after the election.
Despite all this, the candidate became increasingly popular among his “stone-headed” supporters – “a small-town yoke, a political lowly serf, or someone who rarely speaks words of more than two syllables.” An audience of idiots who can't understand and can't pursue policy at all.'' More than 2 centimeters of rational ideas. ” Of course, I’m talking about Warren G. Harding and his 1920 presidential victory.
A poetic description of Harding's pre-Maga fan base comes from H.L. Mencken, a fellow newspaper reporter with Harding. Mencken helped found the Baltimore Evening Sun, where the above quote appeared, while Harding (the first and only professional journalist to become president of the United States) cornered the Ohio newspaper market and first He used this to propel himself first to state office and eventually to the presidency.
Back then, as now, the media were partisan news organizations promoting worldviews and political objectives. Each candidate and party had a paper, and their market was people who shared their ideology. Then, as now, the truth mattered little to these markets, and newspapers were full of unsubstantiated gossip and exaggerated claims about the other side.
However, the social media age has forced news organizations to make tough choices between publishing stories that generate the most clicks and those that motivate subscribers to pay for news. Both of these come together at the exact same point: Trump.
President Trump has an instinct for generating hyperbolic headlines and is the easiest topic to click on and subscribe to for viewers who consume news, whether they like it or not. This week, I sat glued to cable news election coverage while pundits ranted, “Why is he so popular?!” We covered him completely for 327 hours straight.
Behind it, then and now, is a network of businessmen, fueling a noise machine that keeps us at odds with each other while we get carried away. Discuss Trumpmania.
Here in Australia, you might see some of the symptoms in your own feed. Turn on Sky News After Dark or its YouTube feed and you might be mistaken to think you've encountered a Trump anthem bent on turning Australia into Alabama.
If you go to the comments section of a Facebook post talking about offshore wind in the Illawarra, you'll see the Maga bot sharing the same content it does in New Jersey.
Check out our global membership in the fossil fuel-backed Atlas network, which promotes President Trump's policies globally, and our local Public Affairs Institute and Advance Australia, part of the Indigenous Voices No Campaign. You can find it. Trump is a global figure and your passion is part of his plan.
These factors: a partisan media ecosystem; The crowd of supporters went wild. Wealthy benefactors intent on exploiting the first two factors for their own financial gain, these are what gave us Trump.
Just ask Fox News. When the station tried to get President Trump off the train, his supporters turned away in droves, but they decided to get back on board, even if it was dangerous. denied the 2020 election results they knew to be legitimate. In the end, the settlement with Dominion Voting Machines was $787 million.
Just ask the New York Times. On the verge of bankruptcy In the years leading up to 2016, President Trump's shock victory caused all the haters to rush to subscribe in defense of fact-based journalism. Now, their motive is to maintain subscribers with a constant stream of Trump schadenfreude. The MAGA movement would call this a revenue model based on Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Elon Musk, who used the acquisition of a social media platform to create a misinformation-laden Trump jab that has become the object of cult-like adoration among crypto buddies, UFC fans, and Andrew Tate followers. I want you to listen to it.
Our hatred is as much oxygen to his fire as the love of his supporters is its fuel. Depending on which side of the fence you sit, prepare for four more years of vindictiveness and obedience. But the end result is the same, and as Mencken warned when faced with the fact that people are driven by emotion rather than feeling, “candidates either roar with the crowd or lose.” is”. Apparently, the same goes for the media.
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Ed Coper is a political commentator and author of Facts and Other Lies: Welcome to the Disinformation Age. He is the CEO of communications agency Populars and is credited with founding the “Teal” political movement.
